Polish Days - 7 Deadly Sins

Hi guys & dolls, how's it going on this fine Tuesday? Here in Southern Nevada we're experiencing the typical crazy spring weather, one day in the high to mid eighties and the next blowing 60mph winds and rain in the low sixties. Fun stuff! The bright side is that I got off of work super early yesterday so I could spend some quality time with my little pup, Bette! Yep, that's right, I got a puppy! I'll share some photos down at the bottom of this post, they're from instagram but still awesome if you haven't seen them yet. <3

Now, if you read as many nail blogs as I do I'm sure you're aware that today is another installation of Polly Polish's Polish Days! I didn't get to participate recently due to my nail-blogging-hermit-itis but now I'm ready to go. This month's theme is 7 Deadly Sins: "Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. Unless you're a saint there's a chance you're guilty of at least one."

For my Polish Days mani I decided to go with a theme that I believe represents each and every one of The Sins in one respect or another, money... dirty money. People go bonkers over the stuff, something that only represents the idea - the concept - of value. What we value, what we don't. Us polish fiends fork over handfuls of our cash in the name of physical beauty. A form of beauty expression that very few people even take the time to notice. Outside of our sphere, all across the globe regardless of social status, education, occupation, or culture, people murder, lie, cheat, and steal all in the name of putting more cash in their pocket. But what does money get us, anything we want? What about what we can't have... how far will some go to get it? BAM! Dirty Money.

On my right hand I did a skittle mani using a handful of untrieds aquired during my retail therapy stage of heartbreak recovery, let's break it down! 

• Dirt:  On my thumb and index finger I used OPI What Wizardry Is This?, three coats I believe even though it only really needed two to be opaque. 
• You can't shine shit but you can roll it in glitter:  I added two coats of Gealous and a coat of SV to give my index finger some shine. 
• The green stuff:  On my middle and ring finger I did a sponge gradient with Illamasqua Venous and Sinful Colors Calypso on a base of Venous. 
• I like gooooooold:  Over the gradient I dabbed on a single thick coat of OPI The Man With The Golden Gun 18K Gold Top Coat on my middle finger. 
• No gold in Fort Knox:  My ring finger was stamped using aEngland Holy Grail (new version) and Winstonia plate W112.
• Elvis' velvet wallpaper:  Pinkie is two incredible coats of aEngland Holy Grail stamped with Konad Special Polish in Gold Black using Winstonia plate W112.

Sunshine!

On my left hand I kept it simple with two luscious coats of aEngland Holy Grail. I never bought the first version because it was way too yellow for me but this dirty olive gold wins me over every time! It removes like a foil.

How gorgeous is this in the sun!?

For funsies, here's a list of polishes used: aEngland Holy Grail, OPI What Wizardry Is This?, OPI The Man With The Golden Gun (super awesome and random Ulta score utilizing a major coupon), Illamasqua Venous, and lastly Sinful Colors Calypso.

As if you haven't scrolled through enough photos... prepare to squee... meet Bette the Weimaraner! Bette came home Saturday afternoon and has been a very busy girl settling in to her new home, terrorizing a geriatric Shih Tzu, three unsuspecting and wide eyed kitties, and snuggling in my lap. Also, she's a big fan of belly rubs. *love*

Now that you've had your daily fill of Squee, check out the other amazing manicures created for this month's Polish Days!

Winter is coming... A blue GOT lover's NOTD

Good evening everybody, have you all been enjoying your holiday weekend. Whether you celebrate Christian or Jewish faiths, or just spiritualism, humanism, or atheism... we can all enjoy a lovely weekend with family. The bulk of my family is in the midwest, Indiana to be exact, and my dad has been sending me a series of pictures/texts bragging about their yummy feasting. I'm super jealous since I had yogurt and granola for lunch today. Still delicious, but not a juicy ham. Mmmm pork. Moving on...

So, tonight is the season premier of Game of Thrones and I am SO EXCITED! Only, not really since I don't have HBO and even if I did I have to get up at 4 am Monday morning for work. Anyone want to watch it and Skype with me?? Ok, well I'm kidding about that but I do have a manicure to show you tonight that is GOT appropriate.

Tonight I've got Essie Butler Please and Smitten Polish Winter Is Coming, both polishes being gifts from lovely ladies doing their best to raise my spirits when my heart was broken. In fact, this manicure is from way back in February. Butler Please was a gift from Nicole at Polish Me, Please! and Winter Is Coming was a gift from Amanda Mae at Mae's Beauty. If I remember correctly I'm wearing two coats of each polish, but just to be safe there might be three coats of Winter Is Coming. Wear time was great on the Smitten Polish (it wore like IRON) but Butler Please didn't hold up in the field quite as long. In fact, it was chipping off after about three days which is unusual for any of my manicures. A week long manicure is standard for me so this was a surprise.

In other news, PUPPYGEDDON (also known as the day Bette comes home) is in T minus 5 days. Can you believe it!? I'm excited and nervous and hoping I've done everything I can to prep for her arrival. Remind me to pick up puppy food... I think that's all I'm missing at this point. 

Have a great week everyone!

Let's Celebrate... Polish me, Please! is Prego!

Good evening everyone, I know its super late and I'm way tardy to the party, but I'm here to share a manicure I did for a woman in the polish community whom I consider to be a very good friend, Nicole from Polish Me, Please! Nicole is one of the wonderful and amazing women who've reached out to me to lend support while I struggle to find balance in my life and I couldn't be happier to share the good news with you all, she's expecting! Yep, a baby! 

Nicole is finishing her first trimester and due in late September, so its still a mystery if its a boy or girl. How exciting! In honor of the good news, a few special ladies (including Pregs herself) have put together baby themed manicures. You know what that means? Pink, blue... and pastels. Lots and lots of pastels!

The other ladies participating today are all special to me and I'm proud to be sharing this day in celebration of Nicole's good news, so be sure to stop by and say hello:

Cynthia of Of Life and Lacquer

Frosso of Lacquer Me Silly 

Lesley who you can find on Twitter HERE

Nicole Pregs McGee of Polish me, Please!

Siobhan of For the Love of Nail Art

Are you ready for these pastel, baby-celebratin', nails?? Since we don't know the sex yet, I went gender neutral. Enjoy the photo spam, I was indiscriminate in my photo editing. :)

For this lovely dotticure I used:

• China Glaze Lemon Fizz
• Zoya Neely
• Sinful Colors Sugar Rush
• Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth
• OPI Pink Friday

Now, is it just me, or do these nails remind you of Dippin' Dots? Or Easter candies? I swear it wasn't intentional! It doesn't help that the light I used after digging out my light box made these colors appear much brighter than they appear in person. I'll get some sunlight pictures up soon to compare.

Its been a long time since I've posted, for that I apologize. I miss you all and hope to be back up to speed soon. <3 

Color Club Halo Hues - Cherubic NOTD

Hello and good evening everyone! I know its late but it has been another busy week and I'm here to show you another lovely gift from a friend, Frosso at Lacquer Me Silly! Frosso sent me Cherubic, a Color Club Halo Hue, an insanely perfect nude linear holo. *SWOON* I die.

Somehow, Cherubic manages to be the perfect nude for my skin tone and a warm neutral holo. Its so much better than a silver holo, any day of the week. I wore two coats for this manicure that applied flawlessly, I have absolutely no complaints, only pure adoration. Application, cleanup, and removal were all a breeze and wear time is amazing at well over a week for me. Not to mention I get lots of complements on this. <3 Oh, and I've worn this several times in the last month. Its that special.

This week has been a roller coaster for me emotionally. One minute I'm doing well and being my own cheerleader and the next I'm losing sleep at night sobbing well into the early hours of the morning. That in and of itself drives me bonkers. There is an incredible amount of pain involved in being unceremoniously pushed out of the life you knew and dreamed of, not to mention finding out that you just aren't loved anymore. Whatever bullshit that is. Through the help and counsel of friends I find that maybe I am reaching a point where I can commit (to myself) to just disconnecting myself from this person entirely. Blocked on Facebook so his now "happy" life doesn't show up in my feed. No more texts. No more calls. No more pretending we can be friendly. No more communication - he doesn't deserve it. And it wrecks my day. Its always me that reaches out anyway, and I don't want to demean myself that way any longer.

In other, exercise related news, I tried an aerial silks class at a local climbing gym yesterday morning and oh my god I have discovered muscle groups that not even yoga enlightened me to before! Did you know that there were muscles in your armpits that could even get sore?? Today I'm moving at "80 year old lady" speed, aka slow motion. No matter how crazy this soreness is I recommend this workout to everyone, its so much fun! I also bought a few supplies in preparation for PUPPYGEDDON 2013, otherwise known as the day Bette comes home with me. I also got some much needed squee's in at the pet supply store making googly eyes at all the fluffy critters. And lizards.

I know I'm rambling a little now but it is so cathartic to share this stuff with you guys as I work through it. One of these days I'll sit myself down for a swatch-a-thon and show you all some of the goodies I've been stockpiling. Toodles for now!

Illamasqua Superstition - Sephora Exclusive

Hi everyone! Today, miraculously, I'm managing to be super productive... despite this being my only day off this week. Get this, I worked almost 70 hours last week and I'm lined up for another 70 starting Monday morning bright and early. And for the next few weeks after that too. No, it isn't the best kind of fun a girl can have but it sure does pad the bank account nicely!

Today I have the pleasure of showing you one of my retail therapy purchases, a spectacularly gorgeous Sephora Exclusive Illamasqua, Superstition. OMG are you ready for this!? Not only is this a neon fuchsia, it has a creme/jelly (crelly if you will) finish that is to die for at two luscious coats. le sigh. There is a special place in my heart for fuchsia. 

As you can see, I did a simple stamp on two of my fingers just for fun using Konad Special White and stamping plate BM-322. Just because I could, I added a little something extra before I stamped that's hard to see in these outdoor photos, a thin coat of butterLONDON Disco Biscuit. I bought Disco Biscuit forever ago but never had the inclination to layer and layer and layer to get it to opacity. Layering it over a similar shade was perfect and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. It darkened Superstition only in the slightest. If you squint maybe you can see a tiny blue iridescent microglitter peeking through my stamping!

On my right hand I left Illimasqua Superstition alone so I could gawk at its beauty all on its own. Oh, except my thumb. On my thumb I added butterLONDON Disco Biscuit as well. It really is the perfect combo.

In other news, I'm doing remarkably well for working two full weeks worth in the last 6 days. It has kept me busy and my mind occupied so I don't feel so spaced out and zombified with sadness in my free time. There is no free time. Overall, that's improving but the slightest errant though will put a tear in my eye. Everything running through my mind is a contradiction. One moment I'm angry and feeling betrayed or sad that things transpired the way they did... but always I miss him. I miss the life that I had with him. I wish it didn't sound so damn cliche to say it, but Adele really hits it on the head with Rolling In The Deep. "The scars of your love remind me of us/They keep me thinking that we almost had it all." 

So this post doesn't end quite so depressingly, how about some good news? I'm getting a dog of my very own since I lost my two boys in the split (they were his when we met). I did a lot of research and soul searching, contacted a breeder and somehow charmed them (simply by being me) into bumping me to the front of the wait list. My pretty Weimaraner pup was born on February 11th and I've named her Bette. She comes home to her antsy pants mamma April 5th. You better believe you'll be seeing pictures. Lots and lots of them. Now, I'm off to finish my taxes. FUN!

Barry M Indigo + Girly Bits Shift Happens

Hi everybody, long time no polish eh? How's everyone doing this weekend? I'm in a bit of a weird place right now but I thought I would muster enough focus to show you a NOTD I sported at the end of January. Miss Lesley, a good polish friend of mine sent me a package around the holidays as a sort of graduation/holiday gift and it took forever to reach me since it ended up in the next state over, returned to her, and eventually re-mailed. C'mon U.S. Postal System, get it together! Anyway, she's such a doll and sent me Barry M Indigo and biscuits for my dogs. And some amazing Ghirardelli chocolates. They were sooo tasty.

Here is two coats of Barry M Indigo, the formula was creamy and easy to apply, I had no issues during cleanup, and as a bonus it dries super shiny without any top coat. Oh, and no staining upon removal. You know I love me a blue creme, way to go Lesley!

For funsies I added a single coat of Girly Bits Shift Happens over Indigo for that "Unicorn Pee" look we all love. Gawk and enjoy!

These next two photos aren't the best IMO, one is washed out/over exposed and the other is faded out since I had to lighten it. I wanted to show you that hint of green shift that comes out at extreme angles from Shift Happens. I had planned to do some stamping over this design but unfortunately plans get derailed. In this case it was my breakup. More on that later.

So here's the deal ladies and gents, I'm having the worst time finding motivation to do anything more than get up for work in the morning. I thank my lucky stars that I have such an amazing and fulfilling job and stellar coworkers who have been nothing but the best kind of support. My friends, both in "real" life and here in the polish community have rallied around me in a way that I've never experienced before. I feel forever grateful and indebted to the people who have reached out.

I think its obvious that this life event has impacted me to a level I've never known possible. While I feel moments of happiness daily, at the end of each day when I come home I feel like a zombie. Or robotic, as if I'm only going through the motions. Sleep, work, shower, eat if possible, repeat. Sleep doesn't come easy and daylight comes too early each morning. I don't feel as if I am in a full blown state of depression but I am struggling to find happiness in all of the things that once put smiles on my face. Yes, I enjoy the things I do while I am doing them but it is so hard to do them in the first place. Like my nails.

The manicure I've shown in this post was what I was wearing when the course of my life changed. I almost just trashed these pictures rather than reliving that day through this post. Its funny, Friday night I almost stamped this manicure like I had been intending but opted to sit on the couch with my now ex giggling about funny animal photos on BuzzFeed. I figured I would get around to it some time Saturday afternoon. Instead, I spent my Saturday packing my belongings.

As of today I have managed three manicures since letting this one rot off, two of which I've managed to photograph. Only I don't have a photo setup anymore, or a place to do manicures at all. I mean to buy a lamp but don't find the motivation to schlep to Target and buy one. I'm still in various states of unpacking. I've binged on lots of polish as retail therapy. I think of this blog often but barely manage to function as its author. Emails have gone unreplied to, packages unsent. Every day I intend to be productive and fail. I'm being crippled by a bone deep sadness.

I know in my heart that there is a light at the end of the tunnel however, and I'm moving closer to reaching it each day but it is a slow and tiresome journey. I'm doing all in my power to embrace this change in a positive way and it is working bit by bit but again, it is a slow process and I am an impatient woman. Ultimately my point to all of this rambling is this: I love this blog and the people I've met and made friends with because of it and won't be abandoning OUaP any time soon. Even though my posting and responses may be sporadic or infrequent, I am only trying to recover.

So, until next time (which I hope will be sooner rather than later) please enjoy some more photos of my work in the field:

Snow fog... or are they just low lying clouds?  It was cold.

3 to 4 foot tall Buckhorn Cholla cactus... its a cactus jungle out there.

Hoards of Banana Yucca - these suckers are very pointy and my thigh has a scab to prove it.

Small mammal burrows, snake trails, and fox tracks in the sand.

Giveaway Winners!

Hello lovelies, happy Sunday!

Today I've got an announcement to make, the winners of my giveaway have been chosen! Congratulations to  Maria, Lucie, and Christina! I've contacted them via email and they have 48 hours to respond, if I don't hear from any one of these lovely ladies I'll select another winner and make another announcement  Thank you so much everyone for following and entering my giveaway, it was a pleasure to see such an incredible response to these prizes and to read through everyone's feedback.

Honestly, the feedback was great and I'd like to address some of the topics in today's post! There was so much to read through but every comment and suggestion was positive so lets get started! These are in no particular order.

• More stamping: Done. I love stamping and since I'm finally equipped and organized I'm all over this suggestion.

• TUTORIALS: I've always admired bloggers who have the time and photography skills to do tutorials. I will do my best to attempt a tutorial in the future but my camera set up atm isn't conducive.

• Comparison posts of similar colors, different brands, dupes, and high end polishes: I love doing this but haven't in a while mostly due to time constraints. Also, designer brands are expensive.

• More freehand nail art: I haz no skillz. Freehand nail art takes lots of practice and my perfectionist side has a hard time dealing with the fails. And messing up perfectly good manicures. :)

• Bloopers: I should do these if only because I usually just get so angry at my fails that I remove it immediately without taking any photos. 

• Drugstore reviews: Can do, I love the thrill of the drugstore hunt! 

• New collection reviews: I don't currently receive press samples so cost is a factor here in swatching and reviewing new collections. Cost restrictions mean I only purchase the colors I like or want.

• Swatching in artificial v. natural lighting: I like this too and try to do it when possible, it makes a huge difference in color representation I think.

• More indie brands: Here's a secret about me - I prefer creme finished or subtle shimmers and mostly dislike glitter toppers. Since indie brands have been putting out more finishes I prefer I have purchased gobs. They'll be shown more frequently!

• More Creme polishes: Umm, yes please! Creme finish is my favorite so don't you worry, you'll always be seeing those.

• Nail and hand care advice: I've been wanting to do a general nail and hand care products and routine post for quite some time. This is something that people ask me regularly in real life and I'm happy to share my successful routine. Everyone is different though, what works for me might not work for everyone.

• Topcoat/basecoat reviews, advice, and tips: I am a serious creature of habit and have been using the same basecoat and topcoat routine since before I started blogging. I've tried various other brands once or twice but always return to my standard. I will do a post on this in the future!

• Swatches!: Like, swatch spam or collection swatching? I love swatches and swatch marathons but haven't had the time recently. Spring collections are coming out so I'll be getting on that as soon as I go on a polish binge.

• More Orly: When they put out more interesting shades... There have only been a bottle or two I've been interested in from several of their recent releases. C'mon Orly, step up the game!

• More Zoya: You got it! I'm just waiting for another promo. :)

• More colors: Of nail polish? I admit, I tend to wear greens, blues, and purples mostly with a smattering of browns and uglies thrown in every once in a while. I find pink boring, red unoriginal, and yellow does horrible things to my complexion. I should try more reds though.

• More color on blog: I prefer simplistic design and am happy to work on improving my blog design bit by bit, but you just won't find a hot pink background around these parts. Ever. Plus I think that the clean white background lets colorful nail photos really pop and not distort the perception of the polish's color.

• More active on instagram and facebook: Agreed. I need to improve on this front. I'm mostly active on Twitter.

• Wear time on polishes: I try to address this in my NOTD and NOTW posts. To be frank, I usually wear a full manicure for the duration of a week and sometimes longer when my schedule is full. Swatch marathons don't allow for wear time testing.

• "Where to purchase" info: I don't officially endorse any sellers or online retail websites, nor do I post affiliate links that provide me with kickbacks. What I do do is mention where I purchase indie brands since they are only available at specific sites. Also, if I happen to post on a product that is a LE or if I got the early scoop I definitely mention where I purchased that item so fellow drugstore hunters can start the search.

• Haul posts: I'm thinking I can work this in but on a monthly basis. I was on a "no-buy" for a while but recently took part in some serious retail therapy that will most definitely be showcased on this blog.

• "Best of..." and/or Top 10 posts: I hope to get my act together this year and be able to participate in this sort of yearly roundup. I always enjoy seeing these posts from the blogs I subscribe to.

• Brush shots: This is a neat idea and I've only really seen one blog do brush shots regularly and not just when complaining about a particular brand (like I tend to do). 

• Nail challenges and themed weeks or months: Ahh... the nail challenge. These are hard and I had to bail on the last one I got involved in due to the semester from hell. Nail challenges are a possibility for the future and themed weeks are also a definite possibility. 

• "Week in Photos" or Sunday Review posts: I like these posts and will see what sort of "Week in Review" ideas I can come up with - I'm thinking it would end up more like a monthly review. 

Wow, so that was a lot! I hope you didn't go cross eyed from all that text. I haven't posted these last two weeks (I didn't even give myself a manicure) due to a personal issue but hope to get back into the swing of things soon. Until then, enjoy this jackrabbit I stumbled across last week at work.