Friday, June 29, 2012

Orange Skittles

Hello darling Ninjas!

Two days until I get to leave for NYC! I'm all packed and ready to go but I have one more day to work. I'm sure the day will seem like it lasts foreeeeever. I'm a little nervous about leaving my dogs for a week but they're in good hands with my friend Anna. It's nice that they can stay in the house instead of a kennel. Onward to adventure!

This manicure was initially intended to be an ombre but one of the colors ended up in the wrong position. They looked a lot different under a lamp than they looked in sunlight! Ah well, this was a fun manicure to wear! In no particular order, the oranges are HITS Ceres, Zoya Paz, Zoya Myrta, Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Essence Wake Up!, and Finger Paints Courder-orange. These were VERY hard to photograph together! It was nearly impossible to get Paz to show neon andhave Ceres show holographic. Ah well, this was fun!




Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Rimmel London Red Lava

Hello Ninjas!

Tonight was graduation at work so I was busy during the day. This month's graduation was pretty small so it wasn't as stressful as it usually is. Only four more days until I'll be in N isYC for my week off! I'm pretty excited since my husband and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary in NYC which is where we spent our honeymoon last year. We're hoping to go see all sorts of new shows and places this year, I'll try to take cool pictures to share!

Tonight's color is Red Lava from Rimmel London. I ended up wearing this color when I got a request to match my new hair color which is a very dark auburn. This is a wonderful blackened jelly base with vibrant red shimmer that really shines in the sun. Two thin coats were opaque and dried very quickly. I wish every polish could be this easy!




Monday, June 25, 2012

Confetti Manicure!

Hello lovely Ninjas!

Today is my 23rd Birthday and I spent it working. It's ok though, work is cool and the people are great and very nice. Lots of birthday wishes to go around. Since I didn't do anything particularly festive for the day of, I decided to show you lovely readers what I did a while back.

This is a simple layering manicure that I did a while back. The base is two surprisingly easy coats of Sally Hansen Crinoline and one coat of Light with Caution from the Wet n Wild Sparks & Stripes collection. Crinoline is a very pale pinkish cream polish that applied incredibly well for such a light pastel. The glitter of LwC applied evenly which was a plus, I only needed to do thin coats to get good glitter distribution instead of globbing the polish on to get the hexes to stick.




Saturday, June 23, 2012

Zoya Reagan and a Starry Glitter

Hello Ninjas!

Sorry I'm late on the posting again. I'm always so busy on my days off that I tend to forget I have other things to do! I had a lot of fun yesterday, I went to a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, took a tour of the local TV station (UNC TV!), got a great massage, took a much needed nap, then watched Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter! Not to mention that I went as saw the midnight showing of Brave :) All in all it's been a great weekend. I even got to go shopping for cute clothes and new shoes to wear on my trip to NYC!

Tonight I've got a swatch from a few month ago of Reagan from Zoya's Beach Collection for Summer 2012. Zoya describes Reagan as, "a deep, cool fuchsia pink with subtle blue undertone and an opaque cream finish." Which is pretty close. When I wore this polish, it was a super easy two coater that was very very bright. I almost consider this a neon fuchsia with the way it caught light and was highly complimented. This is something I could see Barbie's punk sister wearing. After a day of wear, I added a LE Wet n Wild polish I picked up from the Spark's & Stripes collection for the Fourth of July, Stars & Stripes. S&S is a clear base with holographic star and mini bar glitters in it.



Reagan provided by the Zoya PR team for my honest review.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Recent Scent Hauls

Hello Darling Ninjas!

I seem to have lost my muse as far as the scent stories go. I'm not entirely sure why I was writing them in the first place but they were really fun. I still wear scents every day but I'm not always inspired to do the stories anymore. Of course, if the inspiration strikes, I'm sure I'll do more scent stories, until then, here's a picture of my two most recent large hauls of smell-good items!

The first picture is of the huge haul I received when Caitlin of Shiro Cosmetics de-stashed. There's indie and non-indie perfume oils alike in this group. I think there was something like 48 samples altogether?



This second picture is of perfumes I picked out of a traveling perfume box.  This box basically started the same way my first haul did: someone de-stashed a bunch of scents and sent it traveling around the US to other scent lovers who took and added scents as they had time. I'm excited for these, they're the newest additions to my collections. I also got a bunch of scents from Darling Clandestine the week before the traveling box arrived. I hope to get a picture of my DC things soon!


Monday, June 18, 2012

Layla Hologram Effect: Mercury Twilight

Hello lovely Ninjas!

It's a nice mild day here in NC, it doesn't seem at all like a Monday. Alas, I do have to go back to work in a while. That's ok though because it's Stripe Week at the dojo. That means that I'll get to test for my first stripe on my blue-white belt. There are three stripes on each belt so I'll be a third of the way to my next one! Time flies when you're having fun.

Today's polish was a gift from my Mother-in-Law for my birthday. After spending some time together at Ulta, she commented that I couldn't leave without at least one polish. I showed her the Layla display and she let me pick one out. This is the first Layla I've ever owned and it's sort of a signature holographic color, bright silver. This wasn't the easiest polish in the world to work with but I've since read up on some ways to make it more manageable in the future. Since my MiL bought me two more Layla polishes, I'll get a chance to try the tips out. I don't know how many coats this was, I basically kept going until there weren't any bald spots. This polish did wear wonderfully and the holo was great to look at, even indoors. My camera had a really hard time picking up the rainbows though so I apologize for the less than stellar pictures.







Saturday, June 16, 2012

Essie Armed and Ready

Hi Ninjas!

Eek, sorry for the late post. Yesterday was sort of a bad day for me so I didn't get the time, or inspiration, to go ahead and do a SotD post. And I have company over tonight so I don't have time to spend on typing one up. Here's a manicure!

This is Armed and Ready from Essie's Go Overboard collection released in early Spring at Target. AaR is a great murky army green with a lovely golden/bronze shimmer. Two coats was perfect for this, he formula was great without any of the watery issues Essie can be known for. One coat woud do it if you had a heavy hand and minimal free nail edge. On to the pictures. The sun wasn't out to play so you miss the glory of the metallic shimmer.




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

SpaRitual Sacred Ground

Hello Ninjas!

I've been watching the show Smash recently on Hulu and I'm addicted! I'm about to finish what's already posted though and I can't wait to see how it ends. Oh the suspense and drama of making a musical. Watching Smash has made me even more excited to be visiting NYC in July! Hubby and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary back in NYC where we spent out honeymoon; how awesome is that?

Today's color is Sacred Ground from SpaRitual. I've heard that SpaRitual is the grown up version of Orly polishes with their lovely rounded bottles and rubberized caps. I can totally see where they have a production team in common. Sacred ground is described as "Sacred Ground is a silver-gray color with multi-colored sparkles." Which is pretty accurate. The sparkles are mostly purple and a light gold color which make a lovely combination in the dark grey jelly-ish base. This is two coats with Seche topcoat.  Because of all the glitter in this, SG was a little onthe hungry side. Two coats of topcoat probably would have given this a lovely glassy finish but only one coat gets eaten and isn't as perfectly smooth as I'd like.



Sacred Ground purchased with a gift certificate from sponsor SkinCareRx.com.

Monday, June 11, 2012

SotD: The Trials of St. Urho


Hello lovely Ninjas!

Today has been lovely. I did my second water element class and had a lot of fun. It’s still definitely not easy yet but it’s starting to make sense! The weather was stormy today and it made me think of the episode of Doctor Who where Eleven sees Amy’s face on a perfume ad for “Petrichor”. If you’re a Doctor Who buff or you have a huge vocabulary, you’ll know that petrichor is the “The name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain." The easy version of that is the smell of dust after rain! I didn’t get to go outside while it was raining but it’s still an interesting thought for a perfume, don’t you think?

The perfume oil for today is from ZOMG Smells and is called “The Trial of St. Urho”. I’m not entirely sure why it’s named that. I did look up St. Urho and apparently he’s a made up figure created by a Finnish-American to give Finland its own version of St.Patrick’s day. According to his story, St. Urho saved all of the Finnish grape crops by driving the grasshoppers out of Finland; which, of course, makes him the patron saint of Finnish wine makers.



The Trials of St. Urho: Our paean: the scent of a grape orchard in dawn's first chilly light. Ripe and fine Muscat grapes, woody vines with slow, bitter sap, and the cool wet air of a morning on which great things will be done.

On Me: The very first note is grape and not the most pleasant kind. A little on the artificial side but it mellows down nicely. The next smell that comes up before the real dry down is of lacquered aromatic woods.  Once the very woody smell fades it becomes a sweet and fruity smell that is reminiscent of the Muscat grapes I was hoping to smell as the first note. It’s a rich sun warmed smell that I’d expect to find in a ripe vineyard ready for harvest. Definitely lovely!

The Scene:
He’d been working in one of the local vineyards during the day and was absolutely sick of his hands being stained purple from harvesting. At the hot springs he would spend nearly an hour scrubbing at his hands, trying to erase the trace of the violet fruits from the skin. At least the smell wasn’t entirely unpleasant, he liked grapes but he didn’t think he needed to look like one. As the sun set in the west he smiled in anticipation of seeing her.

She was surprised her mistress hadn’t bothered to stop her from going to the spring each night. Then again, the lady really did like her scented baths. As long as she was allowed out of the manor to go to the springs each night, she really didn’t care how many baths she had to pour milk and flower petals into; as least it gave her a way to see him.

By this time they’d set up a deal with the boy who sat by the springs to carry water. When she passed him by, he was to start bringing buckets of water up to the lady’s chamber and leave them undisturbed. Nodding to the boy as she passed, she smiled and hummed softly to herself. When she saw him with his back to her at the spring he was still scrubbing his hands from work that day. Sliding her arms around his waist and kissing his neck, she whispered in his ear, “Hey stranger, are you trying to wash your skin off?”

He smiled and set the soap on the side of the spring as he turned to her. Greeting her with a soft kiss, he brushed her hair back behind her right ear. “Not exactly, just trying to get the damned purple off my hands. Those grapes are trying to turn me unto one of them, I swear.” He kissed her again with a more heat this time then hugged her close.

“Well, you do smell like a grape. A very tasty grape at that!” Laughing softly, she nibbled on his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. “You’ve been working in those vineyards so much lately but you never bring any wine back with you. I’m beginning to think it’s not very good, maybe they need better grapes.” Her hands came to rest on his waist as she watched the water bubbling up through the hot springs. 

“Actually, I did bring us some wine. I think it’s from three years ago so it hasn’t aged too much, nothing fancy. I hope you like sweet wines, that crop got amazing amounts of sun and the vineyard made most of it into brut.” He kissed the tip of her nose and leaned into her until she sat on the ledge. After rummaging around in his bag, he came up with a small bottle of wine and two glasses that he set next to her on one of the flatter rocks. “I’ve never been much of a wine man myself but I’ll try anything once in the right company.” He poured them both a glass and handed her one of the cups. “Hope it’s good.”

“Thank you.” She took the wine from his hand and took a sip. Since she wasn’t the most sophisticated person, she didn’t know what notes there were to pick out but the wine was good. It evoked a sunny day and a vineyard full of heavy fruits ready to fall off their trees. “Oh it’s wonderful.” She kissed him and the taste of the wine sweetened their kiss. 

“Sure, it’s ok. You however, are lovely.” Which only led to more grape sweetened kisses.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Jolly Green Gradient!

Hello lovely Ninjas!

Sorry about the slightly delayed posting. I had intended to post yesterday but got thrown out of whack my parts of my schedule moving around. A good friend of mine graduated from High School today! I've successfully gotten her interested in nail polish even though she's a pretty devout tomboy type XD Converting the people of the world to polish, one person at a time! I'm like a lacquer superhero.

Today's manicure is a two part process! I wore Zoya *Wednesday for two days by itself then added Zoya Shawn to make my very first sponge gradient. *Wednesday only took two lovely coats for opacity and was great at self leveling. I'll never get over how wonderful the formula is on Zoya polishes is, it makes other brands very irritating at times though! Zoya describes *Wednesday as, " Faded dirty medium turquoise with green undertone and an opaque cream finish." Which is pretty accurate! I wasn't expecting Wednesday to lean so green on me but it wasn't unpleasant so it all worked out. I need a more teal version of this though, I love teals. Sorry about my cuticles and the cut on my right index finger, that's where my bigger dog mistook my finger for a french fry!

On to the pictures:



*Wednesday provided by the Zoya PR team for honest review.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

SotD: Tapadero


Hello Ninjas!!

Finally back to the Scent of the Day routine, Yay! I had my first class as a blue-white belt today and it was awesome. I had a lot of fun learning a new way to move and how to do some wrist locking techniques. It’s definitely a big change from the yellow and white belt moves which were in the earth element; I have to learn how to make my movements fluid at a 45 degree angle instead of a strong up and down movement. I kept doing super “earthy” versions of the blue moves and not getting the right results. That’s why you have to go to class though, to learn :)

Today’s scent is Tapadero from Darling Clandestine. I have a spreadsheet of all the scents I own that lists their maker, name, and scent notes. Since I was wearing a new pair of jeans I bought that had leather and stud embellishment, I knew I wanted a scent with leather notes. Tapadero fit that bill and it was a really new-to-me version of a perfume! I’m so used to foodie or floral scents that I wasn’t sure what to think at first but I loved this!



Tapadero: begins bold and bright with sage and roses, and ends with dusky sweet smoke and leather. Unisex, clean and cuddly.

On Me: Starts off like a new leather coat that’s been rolled in a sage bush. This was the perfect smell for my outfit that day and it mellowed out wonderfully. As it dried down, Tapadero sweetened on me and I got a lovely undercurrent of roses that was twined with a little bit of smoke on cold air. Looooove it!

The Scene:

At this point they were finding ways to meet. It wasn’t easy because an apprentice worked all day to learn their trade with little time to themselves at night. Not to mention that a squire was meant to be at his knight’s every beck and call which was a round the clock job. Nevertheless, they managed to steal time to be with one another at least twice a week. However, the coming day was a huge festival day for the village. Every minor apprentice, squire, child, or student was given the day off to enjoy their young lives to the fullest. The days before were overloaded with preparation work but the sweet bliss of free time was well worth the labors.

She had spent the last three days making barrels full of rose water for the upcoming festivities; she didn’t think she’d ever get the smell of those evil thorned flowers out of her hair! With the new sage scones some lordling or another had requested, she wasn’t exactly sure how she must smell to the general population. “Probably a lot like an inept baker’s apprentice…” she muttered to herself as she slid the last tray of scone free of the oven. Their scent steamed into the air and she did her very best no to trip over anything as she put them on the cooling rack. That was it, she was ready to get home, bathe, and prepare for the one day she was allowed to spend as she pleased.

He was on a mission, he needed to find the best leatherworker in town for procure his gift. He wanted something that would catch all of her wonderful glossy hair away from her face and the heat of the ovens. Her kerchief could only do so much and he knew she hated those lopsided apprentice baker caps. He had something better in mind, something befitting her beauty. After finally finding the shop he had been looking for, he asked to see the best lengths of leather braids to be had. After much decision, he chose two lengths of the softest colored leathers offered, paid the late-working apprentice and ran home.

She slept until after the sun rose! What a wonderful feeling to get enough sleep to feel rested in the morning. Laid out the night before, she’d picked out her favorite outfit; she liked to think the moss green color went well with her eyes and the cream accents were perfect, if a little worn. Hurrying to get dressed, she tripped over a small stool with last night’s clothes on it. As she caught her apron, she sighed and knew all her scrubbing was for nothing, she would see him still smelling like sage and roses. Picking up two of last night’s scones and a flask of the rose water, she tucked their breakfast in her pockets and hurried out the door.

They met in the berry fields, far away from the day’s festivities. Sure, the town would be abuzz with hundreds of conversations, games, feasts, and concerts, but they were finally able to spend time alone. Finally, they’d gotten past the point of blushing when they saw each other and they grasped hands with shining smiles this morning.

“I brought breakfast” She said as she took the flask and scones of out her pocket, carefully unwrapping them. 

The sage scent wafted to his nose and brought a smile. “Sage! Ah, that reminds me of my childhood. My mother had a lovely herb garden and she made sage biscuits. This is perfect.” He took a scone and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Well, I could live happily never seeing sage again! Ugh, and rosewater, I reek of those flowers. Thought you might like some though.” She offered him the flask as he finished the scone. As he took it in his hands, she laughed and brushed the crumbs from his face. “You really do like sage, don’t you?”

Smiling, he took a draught of the rosewater. The cool, sweet water soothed his thirst as he offered the flask back to her. The sweet tang of rose and sage mixed was new to him but a welcome scent when paired with her pretty face. “I brought you a present, it’s not much but I thought it would look prettier than those hats you hate.” He offered her a small paper bundle and watched with mild apprehension as she delicately undid the folds.

Taking the lovely gift from the paper, she examined the braids in the sunlight with awe. Made of the softest leather she had ever felt, the headband was made of two colored braids, one the color of lilacs that graced their first meeting, the other the mossy green she was wearing. Pressing the fine leatherwork to her lips to feel of supple workmanship, she gasped at the feather-soft smoothness of each braid. “These are amazing! I can’t imagine how much this must have cost you.”

“May I?” He took the braids from her hands and tied them delicately in her hair, pulling it back from her face and letting her bright eyes shine up at him. “There, that’s lovely.” He kissed her forehead and took her hand. Together, they found the cool shade of a large willow tree to sit in as they talked about their thoughts, dreams, and wishes on their day away from the world.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Peachy Glitter Gradient

Hello Ninjas!

Sorry this isn't the usual Scent of the Day post that I do every other post. I felt a little under the weather today and wasn't really able to create anything with my little ole mind. Hopefully the next post will have a new scent and a new story for you to read. Until then, here's a very springy/summery combination I did a while back.

This is who knows how many coats of Maybelline Peach Petal with OPI Pirouette my Whistle on the tips for a glitter gradient. PP is a very sheer light peach polish with a pretty silvery shimmer to it. This probably took four coats to get to the opacity you see here. I love this color but after 4 coats there was still VNL which is why I added the glitter. This was a pretty manicure but not the easiest to photograph!



Saturday, June 2, 2012

Blue White!

Hello lovely Ninjas!

Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday so my next post might be a little bit late. Hopefully you won't mind, it's sort of a big one for him, he'll be 25! He keeps harping on how old he'll be because it's a quarter of a century but I think he just wants an excuse to feel old. Also, my larger dog accidentally took a little bite of finger with a treat I was giving her so I've got to be careful with polish remover on my right hand. Hopefully this won't mess with my polishing!

Here are the nails I did for my Yellow-Black to Blue-White graduation! These are two coats of Revlon Royal over my existing silver polish decorated with a white striping polish. I should have done this in better lighting to prevent my bubbles but my right hand turned out ok. That's why these are non-dominant hand pictures! For your viewing pleasure: