Texas Polish Haul

Oh.  Hi y'all!

I apologize for the delay in today's post.  Apparently the last few days have fallen into a black hole where the only things that exist are hot water bottles, Midol, and Downton Abbey on the DVR.  Don't judge me.  However, I promised you a haul post from my Texas trip, so I dragged my lazy fat butt up the stairs and set to work taking pics of all the pretty things that I'd already managed to put away but it's okay because it's for you and you're like family.  F'realsies.

Firey Striping - WIDW

Hey y'all!

I'm back with another What I Did (With It) Wednesday!  Today I'll show you the nail art I created with my swatch of Finger Paints Surreal Sunset - this black and matte striped design that is full of fire!

Hey, Swatch It! Finger Paints Surreal Sunset

Hey y'all!

Happy Saturday!  Today's Swatch It features a brand that I fall more in love with every time I try on a new polish from them.  This is Finger Paints Surreal Sunset, a fabulous color-shifting shimmer from last year that reminds me of a Texas sunset, for sure!

12DOC: Christmas Trees

Hey y'all!

I'm back with the second prompt for the 12 Days of Christmas challenge, and today we're covering Christmas trees!

Matted oxblood flakies nail art

Hey y'all!

Wow... looking at the date today, and I'm instantly transported back in time four years, when I made my first trans-Atlantic trip with two girlfriends on our first big-girl vacation to Ireland.  We spent 10 days touring and eating and drinking and it was hands-down my favorite vacation of all time.  To commemorate the trip, we all got matching shamrock tattoos dated 10-10-10.  There's no point to that story, really - I just felt like sharing it.  LOL.  Today I have a nail art look created for the Inspire Me Nails group challenge prompt: Unusual, Untried, Unloved.  I've created a matted oxblood nail with flakies.

Stamping Plate QA89 for bornprettystore

*** This post contains items which were sent for review and affiliate links. ***

Hey y'all!

Today I have a new stamping plate to show you featuring some arabesque patterns and some adorable florals that I received from bornprettystore for review, and I've created a simple and elegant floral mani to go with it.  Since the images are rather large, I slapped on some stiletto falsies for this look.

Colour Me Crazy: Red Hearts Tips

Hey y'all!

Quickie double-post today for two reasons.  First off, the British Nail Bloggers have started a new weekly challenge centered around colors, and this first week is all RED!  I am sooo late to the ball game on this one, but I'm gonna sneak in really quick before the linkup closes.  Secondly, I wanted to announce that I won 2nd place in BGPolish's first week of nail art competitions with my duochrome lace mani, so I will receive a 30% off coupon for Dark Metal Lacquers, a UK indie.  So that's cool.  Anyway... to kick off the Colour Me Crazy challenge, here's my tribute to red.

Nailsxo World Cup Nail Art Competition

Hey y'all!

Emily over at Nailsxo decided to host a friendly nail art competition in honor of the world cup which starts in a little over a week.  Each nail artist who signed up was randomly given a country with a team in this year's World Cup, and we were to make nail art in honor of that team.  I somehow managed to draw England!

Hols Haul!

Hey y'all!

First off... today's my birthday, but I'm finally going to the doctor to take care of the lingering sinus and sore throat problems that we brought back with us from Texas last month.  As promised, I wanted to give you guys a haul post that trip, and today's your lucky day.  I certainly did quite the spree, beginning in January by online ordering things and having them shipped to Momma Faff's house.  By the time it was all said and done, there were a few too many boxes and she got onto me about it.  I couldn't help it - I needed things!  Anyway... the morning after we arrived, I sat down to the most wonderful breakfast of coffee and opening boxes, and managed to consolidate everything into one tiny pic that went on my Instagram feed immediately.

Purple Roses? Ombre, claro! LNTC

Hey y'all!

Today's prompt in the Llama Nails Technique Challenge is Ombre, which is a look I hadn't yet really done but just couldn't leave it plain, so I spruced it up with some stamping using the same colors on staggered nails.

Llama Nails Holiday Challenge - Oktoberfest, plus some fantastic news!

Hey y'all!

I just got the best email and I'm so excited I have to share.   I just received my VIP invitation to the grand opening event of the European e.l.f. Cosmetics Store, which opened a couple of weeks ago in Cardiff!  I've been totally psyched about this store opening since I first heard the announcement just after I moved to England.  Cardiff is a little over an hour away, and I cannot WAIT to see the store!  I haven't really posted about it yet, but I'm a huge e.l.f. fan and about 90% of my cosmetics are e.l.f. brand.  In fact, part of my Texas haul was a huge e.l.f. order with a ginormous freebie inside, and I will be doing a post about that as well.

So the event is smart dress and I'm pretty sure I already know what I'm going to wear, but now I have to decide how to do hair, nails, and of course MAKEUP.  Squee!  Looking forward to rubbing elbows with some other beauty bloggers and maybe doing some networking while I'm there, as well.  I'm also sure Hubby will be bored to tears with me in yet another cosmetics shop, since he about had his fill of that while we were on vacation.

Either way... that's all I have to say about that.  Let's move on to some nails, shall we?

About a month ago, I joined a group on Facebook for nail bloggers called Llama Nails.  From what I can tell, this is a VERY talented group of girls and I'm very excited and happy to have been able to join them.  Like many other blogger groups, they do challenges, and I'm going to start my first challenge today.  Technically, I'm a week late, but since I was in Texas, I think I'm allowed.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post week 2's challenge entry.  Anyway... here's the challenge schedule:

Texas Recap and Mani Parties!

Hey there guys and gals!

So I've had a very busy last two weeks.  Hubby and I have been on vacation to visit my family and friends back home, and I may or may not have gone a little kooky picking up new polishes to add to my collection.

Totally did.