making a comeback.

HELLO! I've taken an unintentional almost month-long hiatus, but I'm back now (I hope). If at least just a weekly post, that's certainly better than nothing. I guess like many others (at least I think) the upcoming new year has me thinking about resolutions and bad habits I've acquired this year. Read: my constant lack of blogging and my horribly inconsistent healthy eating and gym visits. Those are really the only two things I'd like to change. I'm quite happy with everything else... 

I'm dating someone amazing who I love very much... I can't remember the last time I was able to say that, but I am so grateful for him. Work is good, which thus means money is good... which will hopefully also mean my savings account gets to see some of that. I'm also starting my student teaching the end of January which I'm so very excited/extremely nervous for. 

I'm hoping to get back to posting here regularly because I have so many exciting things going on that I need to share with the world! :) For now let me share some of my recent manicures that haven't been featured in blogland yet. 

 

I wore this on Christmas. Candy canes! 

 

This one I wore to my family Christmas party. Not crazy about the colors but I was in love with this rhinestone tree!

 

This was my first encounter with rhinestones, and as you can tell from all of these manis I am OBSESSED ! 

My nails have been pathetically naked for about five days now, but I'm about to dazzle them up for New Years Eve, my FAVORITE HOLIDAY! I still don't know what the boy and I are doing but I'm super excited! This'll be my first NYE as a 21 year old ;D 

Now time to go do my nails and get myself ready for bed. I have an early wakeup for work tomorrow. Have a great (& safe) New Years, everybody!

peacock print

Hi all! Happy Tuesday! I'm actually writing this Monday night and scheduling it for Tuesday so I can get this out of the way and study for a Spanish exam that I have tomorrow (well, technically today at this point). There are a bunch of different verb tenses on this test and I want to make sure I'm ready for it!

I'm pretty excited about the manicure I'm showing you today! It's something that's not necessarily complicated, but it looks great and really professional, at least if I say so myself. 

The print I decided to recreate was peacock feathers. I originally wanted to do a full peacock on my thumb and peacock print on the rest of my nails but that was a bust. I was happy that I decided against this, and I went with peacock print on all five of my nails:

 

The base color I used on my thumb is Zoya Ivanka. I used Zoya Charla on the rest of my nails. My ring finger has Charla topped with Ivanka on the top diagonal half. These two polishes are a match made in heaven. They go together so nicely. I stamped with Color Club What A Drag, a really great & inexpensive stamping polish. The plate I used is bundle monster 212. 

What do you think? Is this a look you'd try?

but we're never gonna survive unless we are a little crazy...

I've been MIA this week and I apologize for that! Life takes its toll on you and you lose track of your daily routine. I've been pretty busy as of late and I find myself wanting to do nothing more than just sleep. Unfortunately it never works out like that for me. I got inducted into an honors society on Friday and had an awesome dinner with my family, boyfriend and best friend. I'm pretty blessed when it comes to the support system I have. The mani I'm showing you today is the one I wore to that event. 

Unfortunately right now I'm sporting naked nails. To you ladies who swatch multiple times a day (or at least it seems like that), props to you. I work two jobs, babysit, tutor, and go to school full time and try to do my nails every day but it's so hard. Ahhhhh. I went to a concert last night: 

 

Alanis Morissette, YES she was awesome! Not quite what I was expecting. Her opening act was a rapper, who we found out was her... husband? Uh. Yup. His stage name is Souleye, look for his stuff on Youtube! He sort of reminds me of Channing Tatum. I think he's cute. The two are adorbs together. 

Source

Alright, back on topic.. here is the mani I am showing you today!

For my base, I used three coats of Zoya Ivanka. I sponged on top of Ivanka with China Glaze Optical Illusion, from the Prismatics Collection. Ivanka is as gorgeous as in pictures, but I didn't like how sheer it was. I thought it would build up better and be almost opaque in one or two coats, but it took three. Not a huge deal, and worth it for the beautiful shade, but I thought I'd throw that in there. Optical Illusion is yet another gorgeous Prismatic. I wasn't sure how I'd wear this one because it's green and not as versatile as the others (fun fact: green is my favorite color but I more or less hate green polish. Hmph.). 

I like this look I came up with, and I got a lot of compliments on it. It gave me something to stare at while I was sitting on stage during the BORING awards ceremony last Friday, that's for sure!

What do you think?

blue opi + zoya ombre

Hey hey! It's a rainy Friday here in western Massachusetts and I have an outdoor concert to go to tonight.. boo. Ah well, concerts happen rain or shine. To match the weather, I did a rainy day blue ombre manicure using some awesome shades of blue. Check it out:

 

Here are the colors I used:

pinky: OPI Teal The Cows Come Home

ring finger: Zoya Tallulah

middle finger: Zoya Tart

index finger: Zoya Song

thumb: OPI Russian Navy

I like how this looks! The formula on all of these was excellent but I didn't particularly love Tart. OPI Russian Navy is a classic favorite of mine that I really need to revisit. I think it would look excellent with some silver stamping on top. Maybe I'll do that soon!

What do you think? Which is your favorite blue polish?

paisley print + some food porn from the big e

Hiiii guys! Happy Monday! Hope you all had a most excellent weekend. I certainly did. I worked all of Saturday which is actually okay because my hours keep getting cut and I need the money. I took Sunday off so I could hit up the Big E. For those of you who don't know what the Big E is, you are missing out. It's this pretty big New England fair that happens every September during the last two weeks of the month. It's the same every year and that's why I like it. It's one thing in my life that I know won't change. The food, the music, the atmosphere... I just love it all. 

Before I post some nailz I must share some food porn from the Big E. Plus a few more..

My two best friends and I stage-side: we had front row seats to see Rodney Atkins!

The giant pumpkins! A favorite of mine EVERY year.

Something new this year: fried. lasagna. Can you say heaven?

An annual favorite: baked taters from the Maine building

And these...? --->

Yup. Fried samoas.

Oh, how I love the Big E.  I genuinely try to eat pretty healthily and work out regularly but these two weeks... nope. No diet, no exercise regimen. I just enjoy myself. And it's worth it. 

As far as manicures go... this is what I wore to the Big E yesterday:

 

This is two coats of Zoya Charla stamped with Sonia Kashuk Smoke & Mirrors. The stamping plate is from bundle monster's third collection- I forget the exact plate number. It's gorgeous, and comes out so well! I absolutely love the way a silver foil looks stamped over shades like Charla- think OPI Catch Me In Your Net, etc. My fave. 

What do you think?

Day 9: RAINBOW

Happy Sunday, my fellow polish fiends! Today is day nine of the challenge! For today, the theme is rainbow! I can honestly say I've never done a full-out rainbow manicure. There's gotta be a first for everything, right?!

 To me, the "rainbow" idea is a little daunting because of how many colors it requires... I am not an artistic person, and sometimes matching colors is hard for me (i.e. which "purple" or "green" is right). I was a little nervous about this challenge day. The fact that there was so much creative liberty scared me. Red is red. Blue is blue. Polka dots are polka dots. Stripes are stripes. But rainbow? You can do anything with rainbow. Ahhhh! The possibilities are endless.

I ended up with a rainbow base and a black stamped manicure. Check it out.

 

My first thought process was.. roygbiv = 7, my fingers = 5. This is where the idea to do half-colors on my nails came from. Then... I stamped.

 

I'll list the colors I used from pinky->thumb:

pinky: OPI Overexposed In South Beach, Love & Beauty Dark Purple

ring finger: China Glaze Shower Together, Brash Electric Sky

middle finger: OPI Don't Mess With OPI, Piggy Polish Poet-Tree

pointer: Zoya Pippa, Essie Meet Me At Sunset

thumb: Essie Ole Caliente, Cult Nails Evil Queen

HOLY POLISH! I've never used this many colors in one manicure! It was a lot of fun to do, though, that's for sure. I used however many coats it took to reach full opacity. For the yellow, it was a few more than for the red. Actually, I only used one coat for my thumb nail- Cult Nails polishes rock! 

I stamped with bm-205. I really like this butterfly/bow-looking image. It looks whimsy & fun over the rainbow design, something different.

What do you think? Are you wearing rainbow today, too?

 

Pink Wednesday: reswatch of Zoya Kimber

Hiii! It's my favorite/least favorite day of the week.. I love wearing pink on Wednesdays so I can call it Pink Wednesday and say Mean Girls quotes in my head all day... least favorite day because Wednesday at work is sooo long. I don't have much to say today besides that.. 

 

This is two coats of Zoya Kimber. This was one of my favorites of the recent summer collection. It's so so pretty! Application was perfect. I did this mani so quickly and it came out great! 

What do you think?

Orly Mermaid Tail PLUS...an impromptu giveaway!

When I heard that the Orly Glam FX were on clearance at Sally's, and clearance was an extra 50% off this weekend, I literally went to three different Sally's stores looking for them. I. am. crazy. But anyway, I picked up four! The one I'm about to show you, the blue one, and the pink one (way too lazy to remember or even look up names, but you'll see them in future posts I'm sure). 

I actually picked up two of Mermaid Tail. Two? I don't need to. Which is why I'm giving one away on Instagram! All you need to do is follow me on Instagram and like the picture I posted about the giveaway. Pretty simple way to win an absolutely GORGEOUS polish, no? My instagram username is c4rped1em. Now what are you waiting for? Go for the gold!

Alright, enough rambling. Here it is!

 

I used two coats of Color Club Perfect Mol-ten and one coat in a gradient style of Orly Mermaid Tail- my accent finger is just two full-on coats. I'm a weirdo when it comes to green polish. Green is my favorite color but I've never been much of a fan of green polish. I think that's slowly starting to change, as I absolutely LOVED this manciure. Loved it! I ordered Zoya Ivanka in the recent promo and I am super duper excited about that green.

Let me leave you with a picture of myself and my adorable cousins. I love these kids. They live a few hours away but yesterday we drove up to visit and get lunch. It was such a nice day. I'm stunned that MacKenzie is going into fourth grade and Joseph is going into kindergarten. That makes me feel so old. I forget they can even read sometimes because I still imagine them being babies.

Ignore how much of a hot mess I am. ;D

Have a nice day, lovelies! Don't forget to enter my Instagram giveaway!

Zoya Jo and Essie LuxeEffects Stroke of Brilliance

Howdy! Having a pretty productive morning- got some good sleep, went to the gym, had a good breakfast and now having lunch and getting this post up! I work 12-8 today... yuck. Looking forward to getting out of work tonight- playing some night tennis! Night tennis is always a lot of fun. 

I bought Stroke of Brilliance from Essie's Luxe Effects collection when I was at Transdesign in Georgia last month. I've been trying to decide what to do with this for weeks! Here's what I tried-

This is two coats of Zoya Jo and one coat of Essie LuxeEffects Stroke of Brilliance on my ring and middle fingers. I'm sorta mad with how this came out- not the colors, but the potential Seche shrinkage? I've never had this happen before but it's really annoying. It's like tipwear without actually doing anything to have tipwear happen. It's very faint but it pisses the perfectionist in me off. Might be time to switch back to Poshe.

Do you ever have Seche shrinkage? Which is your top coat of choice?

My One & Only Lynnderella...

this post was scheduled ahead of time! enjoy!

-> right now I'm in Washington, DC on my road trip! today i'll be able to cross seeing our nation's capital off of my bucket list! i also get to visit with my aunt & uncle in maryland who i haven't seen in four years and meet my twin cousins who were born last year! 

I never hopped on the Lynnderella train simply because I thought her polishes were way too overpriced. Last year I was in a nail polish group on Facebook and I joined a group buy to purchase two of her polishes. I was in LOVE with them. I have since sold them just because I don't want any association with the terrible business etiquette and lack of manners that her "company" has displayed. Howeverrrr, I received a Lynn in a "Secret Santa" type of swap from the awesome Jodi @ Captivated Claws. Go check out her blog when you get a chance; it's great!

 I couldn't part with this one because it was such a great gift!

Colors Used: Zoya Gilda (I'm pretty sure... like, 95% sure. I just can't remember which of the many pinks I used), Lynnderella Love, Lace & Lilacs

I got a ton of compliments on this manicure! People are drawn to it because of the different sizes of glitter, I'd say. Plus, this pink is AWESOMEly bright! So gorgeous. I wore this one on the 4th of July (yep- no Patriotic mani for me, sorry America). What do you think?

Gorgeous Glassfleck: Zoya Gilda

don't forget to enter to win Floam, Fantasy Fire & Flecked !!

Hi everyone! I hope you all have some awesome plans for the weekend! I'm pretty excited, I only have to work in the morning today! I took the night off (I usually work 12 hour shifts on Saturdays) so I can go to my little cousin's play tonight! I'm super excited. He is 11 and is a member of the cast of Oliver. I can't wait to watch him perform on stage.

I went shopping a couple of days ago, and I was in the area of the closest ULTA to my house. I couldn't help but stop in. I was proud, though- I only spent $25! The most expensive item I purchased was Zoya Gilda, a gorgeous glassfleck pink which satisfied my recent pink craving.

 

Colors Used: three coats of Zoya Gilda

 Not sure why but this polish was hard to photograph.. it was gorgeous but I just wasn't happy with how my pictures came out. I think it's partly due to my awkward nail length... some are long and square, others are short and round.. I've since improved this (I did some major chopping off of my nails!) but it annoyed me with this manicure. I'd love to re-try this color out when my nails grow out longer... try to see if I can get some better pictures.

More Zoya Love... Zoya Kimber!

Hi guys! I have another Zoya to show you all today! I was really impressed with Zuza that I had to try Kimber next. Kimber is just as pretty. Check it out.

What I Used:

1 coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat 

2 coats of Zoya Kimber

1 coat of Poshe Top Coat 

I love this! It's just the right amount of pink/coral for me. What do you all think? Sorry this post is a little rushed.. the pictures are all that matter, right?

I'm Baaaack! - with Zoya Zuza

Hi ladies! I'm back! I'm not totally completed with my semester but I finally painted my nails and I had to share it with you! Zoya Zuza was the one color from the new Zoya Surf Collection that I immediately wanted. It's a really pretty blue that's unlike anything I have in my collection. Here it is:

 

What I Used:

1 coat of OPI Natural Nail Base Coat

2 coats of Zoya Zuza

1 coat of OPI Can't You Sea

1 coat of OPI Save Me on my accent nail

1 coat of Poshe Top Coat

 
So very in love with this... I can't stop staring at my nails! My nails haven't been this long in a while so it's exciting.. I'm hoping they don't break anytime soon. What do you all think? What is your favorite polish from the collection?

Zoya Dannii

I'll admit it, I'm a tad bit obsessed with purple polish. Purple isn't even my favorite color (although it's slowly climbing the ranks) but I just love purple polish. Zoya Dannii is no exception. I got this from a blog sale during the days when I was obsessed with blog sales. I'm so glad I did, though. This polish is amazing. Check it out for yourself.

 

weird lighting in this one..sorry!

What I Used: 

1 coat of OPI Nail Envy

2 coats of Zoya Dannii

1 coat of Poshe Top Coat

I love this! What is your favorite Zoya? Your favorite Zoya purple?! I want to hear!