The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents: Animals - Going to the Zoo to see Seals

Oh thank goodness, it's the last day of this animal theme and these decals! I had such a good idea, use a song from my childhood and create it in mani form. Who knew that this song would create nightmares! This here is a seal. Yep. That red thing? Oh it's a beach ball, can't you tell? Ya, me either, that's why I pointed it out. >_<

Hey, at least it sort of looks like a seal. Right? I mean, it's grey so that's something! :)

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Well, the seals in the pool all honk-honk-honkin'
They're catchin' the fish and honk-honk-honkin'
The little tiny seals all honk-honk-honkin'
And we can stay all day

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Read more: Peter, Paul & Mary - Going To The Zoo Lyrics | MetroLyrics

There are more versus to the song, but thankfully this theme is only four days long. Shucky darn. I know, I know, you all wanted me to continue with the demons animals. Don't worry, there's always all the other times when I attempt nail art to look forward too! Yay! I wonder if anyone is actually reading these four posts and realize just how much I've lost it. I think it's the polish fumes or maybe the monkey and the bear have really made me insane!

I used Layla Softouch Effects in 09 and 10 (10 is the sparkly one!). Wet N Wild Black Creme for the spider eyes dots and background of the beach ball with BarryM Blood Orange (appropriate) for the rest of the ball. Seal monster is part of those darn acrylic decals I made over a week ago.

This is the seal I had in mind when creating this mani:

Don't forget to check out the other Day 4 manis that are better than this one! Hahahahaha! ;)

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents: Animals - Going to the Zoo to See Bears?

Ah! For the love of all that's holy! When good ideas go horribly wrong! Bear with me now, bahahahahahaha! You see what I did there? I so punny! This ladies and gentlemen is a bear, I think. (I think it's stealing my soul with it's eyes!). I'm so glad I can take my self so seriously, because honestly this would be -wait for it- unbearably difficult if I couldn't! Badum-ching!

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

There's a big black bear, he's a huff-puff-a-puffin'
His coat's too heavy, he's a huff-puff-a-puffin'
Don't get too near the huff-puff-a-puffin'
Or you won't stay all day

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Read more: Peter, Paul & Mary - Going To The Zoo Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Extreme freaky close up! Mumble mumble....frickety frack...what the dump...bleh. Bahahahahahahahahahaha! 

Seriously, I can't say anything about this. No words.Wow. Really. Wow. 

Well, the polish is a stunner! It's OPI DS Indulgence. I used it because it looked like fire! Bear, fire, get it? No, not that this bear should burn! Smokey the Bear - "Only you can prevent forest fires!". The "bear" is acrylic paints nail decal made over a week ago. *shakes head*

Only one more day of these nail decals! One. More. Day.

Please go check out real nail art for day 3!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents: Animals - Going to the Zoo to See Monkeys!

Have you ever had a mani that you planned out (made decals for it a week before!) and when you did all but the decal you were in love with how it was, right then and there? Just like that? That's me with today's animal prompt for the Nail Challenge Collaborative.

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

See all the monkeys, they're scritch-scritch scratchin'
Jumpin' around and scritch-scritch scratchin'
Hangin' by the long-tail
And we can stay all day

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Read more: Peter, Paul & Mary - Going To The Zoo Lyrics | MetroLyrics

So, this is Barielle Panama Pina Colada. Have you ever seen a more beautiful yellow? This is two coats of lovely-ness. I created my dots using Wet N Wild Black Creme and stamped using Konad Black and Cheeky CH42. 

Perfection, at least in my mind. 

But then I had to add the decal, had to right? I mean it's an animal prompt but there is not animal truly depicted with my mani.

Here's the freaky monkey!

Ahhh! He is sucking my will to live! (memo to self, memo to self: remember pupils when making decals!) He's to big and too...creepy...err...ogre...what the heck...yikes! Bahahahahahaha!

So here's the mani with the monkey. Now you see why I used the monkey-less mani to start with. Wasn't going to scare people away from my blog! :) Oh and I used acrylics to create the soul-less monkey.

Don't forget to check out the other Day 2 Animal manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Nail Challenge Collaborative Presents: Animals - Going to the Zoo to See Elephants!

That's right, let's leave the NCC until the last four days of the month (or almost!). Who's bright idea was.....err, never mind, I slacked. >_<

Daddy's takin' us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Daddy's takin' us to the zoo tomorrow
And we can stay all day

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

See the elephant with the long trunk swingin'
A great big ears and a long trunk swingin'
Snuffin' up peanuts with the long trunk swingin'
And we can stay all day

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Read more: Peter, Paul & Mary - Going To The Zoo Lyrics | MetroLyrics

These are my elephants! I used OPI Sparrow Me the Drama as my base. I used China Glaze Elephant Walk (but of course, right?) for the dots.

I created my elephant decals.......last week! >_<

So here they are all fresh and drying. I used NYC In a New York Minute Top Coat with acrylic paints to create my elephants. I then sealed them with the same top coat. I knew I wasn't going to be using them that night (had no idea it was going to be a week later!) I decided to add HK Girl Top Coat to make them last longer. It helped, but I think it was the HK Girl that made them really stiff, so that they can't lay flat.

Stay turned for the rest of the NCC posts this week, and if you know the song, you'll know what's coming along! (yep, more stiff animal decals! Hahahahahaha!)

Don't forget to check out the other Animal Day 1 manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

Ah junk drawers...because of you...there is family time!

source

Ah junk drawers....because of you....there is family time! You know it's true. We all had one growing up, usually found in the kitchen. The place where everything was put but you could never find what you were looking for. Junk drawers, what would we do without them? You try to organize them but it's pointless, they never stay like that.

Junk drawers were a treasure trove of possibilities! What would you find today? Staples for the stapler that's been empty for a month? Dead batteries (even though you put them in there when they were good and they magically die). Flashlight without batteries (always!). Those bread tags:

Yep, those, always those no matter the distance from a counter that you would actually put bread on. And if there was one there would be many. They multiplied like rabbits! These too:

Once these fell out of the box they were everywhere! And you would use these to make those paper plate skeletons that their arms and legs move because of these amazing pieces of metal (brads) (tried to find a photo of one of those skeletons, everyone ties them now. What? That's not fun!).

But really, junk drawers were the best. You had to clean up the counter? Junk drawer! Just open up the drawer and throw it in. Not sure where random item belongs: game piece, screw, dice (always dice right?), put it in the junk drawer. The quickest way to clean up because it'll be safe there, right? (Not always. I think sometimes junk drawers are a crack in space, things go in and never come out and vice versa.)

But it is because of these junk drawers we are able to sit down and have some quality family time of talking and laughing and playing the Wii until you need new batteries and they are freakin' dead in the junk drawer! :)

Because you know this is what family time really looks like. :)

Boo-yah! Took out three writing prompts with one post! Ah yeah! (the prompts were junk drawers, because you (close enough to because of you), and family time). It was really fun and random to write this post. Brought back a few memories too, weird I know, but it did. I thought about all the different junk drawers in houses I grew up in. There are always those exact same items in everybody's junk drawers, they are like universal junk drawer items (scissors, tape, stapler, all the above mentioned items, and the random candle).

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of whatnot and ramble. :)

A Whole Lotta Empties!

Alrighty then, brace yourselves, and let's get ready for a whole lotta empties! I was going to do a video, but I didn't really feel like doing any editing. Video editing is a pain in the butt! So I took a bunch some photos and have decided to do a post on my empties.

I warn you, there are a lot of products because these empties have been collecting for awhile. >_< But they do not include empties from February, I'm trying to do monthly empties now but have to get this pile out of the way. I've put them in collage form to make it a bit more easier to deal with? :)

The red x's are no to buying again, green checks are yes to buying again, both is I liked it but I will use something else, and nothing is mixed or no feeling towards it. :)

First up are some cleansers. As you can see I was pretty happy with these four. 

- I really liked the Simple Cleansing Micellar Water (Micellar is like the trend product). Granted, I didn't empty this fully because I was half way through and then the bottle fell into the toilet. Um, nope, no thank you, I can't finish it now. But I really liked what I was able to use. It is really gentle, does it remove all my stubborn makeup? No. But if I use an eye makeup remover then I love it! I will be purchasing this again Bought this at Target.

- Vichy Purete Thermal 3in1 Calming Cleansing Micellar Solution. My first Micellar to try and I liked this one too. Very gentle and clean feeling. Makeup? Again, not so much eye makeup. I really liked this so I gave it a green check mark but I think for the price I would buy the Simple brand. I got this as a sample from Ulta.

- Philosophy Purity Made Simple. One of their top selling products and I agree. This cleanser is pretty fab. If you massage it for a bit on your eyes it will remove eye makeup (as long as it's not waterproof, in my opinion). I also love love love using this to clean my beauty blender. Oh and it is fabulous to use with my Clarisonic. Will buy again, after I use up all my other bottles. Got this from Ulta.

- Michael Todd Jojoba Charcoal Facial Scrub. Ok, at first I was like ew, black gritty and ew. But the more I used it the more I really liked it. It is a scrub so I need to be gentle with it or my skin hates me. But I felt like it really did deep clean my skin and not strip it. I wouldn't mind repurchasing this but I have a few other products to go through first. I got this from Birchbox.

- Up & Up Nail Polish Remover. There isn't a check mark next to this because it was just a normal polish remover, nothing special. I wouldn't highly recommend it nor not recommend, make sense? It just is. I got this at Target.
- Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara. This type of mascara was the first high-end brand I ever tried. It was also the first mascara that didn't make me want to claw my eyes out! I really do love this mascara, but I have found new ones that I love even more! So this doesn't get a check mark either as it's a good one but I prefer others now. And technically I never finished this one, I just got my others and forgot about this one. >_< I got this from Sephora.
- Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. This here is my favorite mascara that I currently own! I would totally recommend it hands down! This deluxe sample lasted about three months! I love that this mascara goes on so smooth, no clumps, no fall out, and it comes off easily with makeup remover! I got this from Ulta.
- Mally Volumizing Mascara. This was one of the first Mally products I ever used and it is pretty fabulous. It goes on velvety smooth and stays on, no clumps, easy removal. My only issue is that the tube seems to dry out more quickly than others. But other than that I love it! I got this from a class for Ulta.
- Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm in Medium. I love this stuff. I know I've reviewed it before but I finished another normal one (for some reason I finished this one faster than the first, about 5 months) and two deluxe samples. I didn't totally finish these two as I noticed that they smelled a bit off and realized they had expired. >_< Whoops! I got these all from Ulta.

- Wet Ones. I used these to clean my brushes daily. When I was finished with a brush I wiped them over a wet one to get the daily grime off. I would then deep clean them later. I liked these as they are cheaper than makeup wipes, sanitizes better, and tend to stay wet longer. I got these at Target.
- Sephora Express Cleansing Wipes. I didn't like these as a makeup wipe at all, they don't stay wet very long and I feel they don't take off the makeup very well. But they worked as a brush wipe so I was glad to use them for something. Obviously I got these at Sephora.

- Bosley Bos-Renew Texturizing Dry Shampoo. Um, this is the best dry shampoo I have ever used! No white residue whatsoever! I can spray the product right up against my hair and nothing! It gives great volume and has a minty fresh smell that really makes you feel clean. It's a bit pricey ($18.95) but so worth it! I bought these on Amazon because they were a little cheaper than the $18.95 price at Ulta.
- Short Sexy Hair Play Dirty. I really love this spray wax and would totally recommend it! The only thing is that they have changed packaging and it seems like the new version (all black version) isn't as good. This one has a 5 hold and the new one I think is a 2 or 3 hold. Sad. But I still use the new version as I can only find this on Amazon.
- Style Sexy Hair Spray Clay. Meh. Not even sure what this was suppose to do. Add texture? No. Hold? Not really. At least it was a small size. Got it at Ulta.
- Redken Wax Blast 10. Bought this to try and see if it was anything like the Play Dirty. Nope. I feel that this is way stickier and goopy. I don't recommend it. Got it at Ulta.
- TIGI Bed Head Hard Head. This is a pretty good go-to hairspray if you want your hair to stay. And I mean stay. I would recommend it if you like a bit of helmet head. :) Got this at Ulta.
- Redken Shape Factor 22. I know I have reviewed a smaller package of this and I still recommend it. It is the stickiest shaper that they have so it gives a lot of hold and texture while allowing for piece-y bits of hair. Totally recommend. Got it at Ulta.

- DermOrganic Intensive Hair Repair Masque. Meh. Not too thrilled about this because it's really heavy for my hair. But I can see others liking it, just not me. I got this at Ulta.
- Orofluido. Mmmm. I love this stuff. It is an elixir for your hair and surprisingly it doesn't weigh my hair down. I love the smell and the way it makes my hair feel. I got this from Birchbox and have since bought it at Ulta.
- Beauty Blender Cleanser. Meh. I don't like this at all. The smell really bothered me and I felt like it didn't really clean my Beauty Blender. Philosophy Purity cleans much better! I got this from Birchbox.
- DDF Brightening Cleanser. Another meh. Didn't notice a difference, didn't really like how my face felt after using it. It just didn't feel clean. One plus is that I didn't have any sensitivity to it. I got this from Birchbox.

- Freeman Bare Foot Peppermint and Plum Foot Lotion. Ah, good ol' peppermint and plum lotion. I've had this for years! Eeks! Finally finished it. It took me so long to use it because it just isn't that great of stuff. Kind of watery. I got this at Walmart.
- The Body Shop Vitamin E Sink-In Moisture Mask. Ack! No! Uh-uh! I put this on (there's a lot in that package!) it was all gooey and weird but then came the burning! Oh how it burned! Ouch! Cleaned up my face and it was bright red! Thankfully not hives or anything but no way! I got this at Ulta.
- AHAVA Mineral Water Mineral Hand Cream. Love this brand. Can't go wrong with it. Really hydrates. Just wish it was a bit cheaper. Got this from Birchbox.
- The Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion. Ok, now this one didn't bother me at all. In fact, I love it! It has helped to clear up my face! Yay! It is pretty fabulous stuff. I put it on at night over my scars and blemishes and watch them fade over time! I got this at Ulta.
- Derma E Vitamin E Severely Dry Skin Creme. Another product that I totally love! It also helped to clear up my skin and keep it hydrated at night! I slather this and the Tea Tree Blemish Fade on my face every night and have noticed a huge difference! I'm not using as much concealer anymore! Win! I got this at Ulta.

Finished! Yay!
So did you make it all the way through? A lotta empties huh! There'll be less next time because I want to keep up with it each month. Do you like these types of posts?

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Valentine's Day

I'm in love! 

You know that special feeling you have when you plan out a mani in your head and it actually turns out the way you want!? Ah, true love has never known such happiness! C'est l'amour!

Final day of The Digit-al Dozen does pattern on pattern with today being tied for my favorite!

I started with BarryM Miami as my base and stamped using BarryM Pomegranate and BarryM Silver Foil. I used Bundle Monster BM-311 and BM-317. And to have the foil really pop I used Essie Matte About You top coat.

Any manis that you've had that special feeling for? :)

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Patterns on Patterns: Bleep Bloop Bloop Bleep!

Bleep bloop bloop bleep! That means I love you in robot! :) Today I have some stamping, not just double stamping, no no, that's child's play, I have triple stamping (that's right I'm playing with the big boys now! *cue Prince of Egypt Steve Martin and Martin Short song).

I started out with this glorious SpaRitual polish Nomad (sandy matte shimmer!). Look at the flecks in there! Ooo-weee! She's a beaut! I then proceeded to goop up my cuticles with hair glue. I use a little plastic spatula that you use to get creams out of jars. You know, those sample ones that Sephora gives you or that you see at Ulta. 

I stamped using the beautiful Briar Rose by A England. I've been using my Creative Shop big huge stamper and I'm in love! I used MoYou Sailor 03. Thank goodness for the goo!

Next I added what ended up looking like holographic spiderwebs using Color Club Cherubic and Bundle Monster BM-316. It's like a laser show!

Finally ended up added some adorkable love bots from MoYou Sci-Fi 02 and A England Saint George. I did top it off with HK Girl Top Coat and *le gasp* shrinkage! Say what? HK Girl has never done this to me before. So sad! I mean, I guess I can't really wrap my tips when I have no free edge now can I? :)

Ack! Giant thumb! D'aw but cute little love bot.

I really liked this mani but I think I really liked the base stamping photos best. But a little love bot love never hurt anyone! Am I right?

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Kissed Smooshed Camo

Eeeks! Surprise! Surprise! I have a right hand! Rarely does it ever get in the spotlight, good reason too: my left hand stinks at nail art and painting! But as I didn't want to take off my Flowers over Dots mani I created this one on my other hand.

So I started out with two coats of BarryM Waikiki. I then did the Smoosh Attack that I learned from Roberta's (Bob Plats with Polish) IG photo here. (Found out that Elle aka @with21 on IG invented the Smoosh Attack) Funny thing is that Amanda from Lady Maid Nails also did a version of this technique yesterday! I wish I would have thought to do lighter colors like Amanda did. There's always another day! :)

I smooshed together BarryM Chai, BarryM Mustard, and BarryM Watermelon. I then stamped using China Glaze Infra Red and MoYou Hipster 08 topped with HK Girl Top Coat.

Of course I had to matte it using Essie Matte About You. So this isn't the greatest, not what I had planned but I think lefty did an alright job and was able to let righty shine....err...matte? :) Can I just say, it is really awkward trying to take a photo of your dom hand! I had no idea how to hole the polish bottle! So many awkward photos I had to sort through, so so many. Hahahahahaha!

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Colorful Birds

Day 2 brings you multi-colored birds over a chevron. I was inspired by this photo here, but alas it didn't come out as planned. One thing being, I don't own a really good chevron stamp, say what!? I know! Cra-zy!

Used BarryM Cardamom as my base. Stamped the chevron using Konad White and VividLacquer VL 006. The birds are: BarryM Grapefruit, BarryM Mango, and BarryM Plum using MoYou Hipster 08. Topped off with HK Girl Top Coat.

Add a chevron plate and some better floral stamps to my list (any good ones I should know about?). I think if the birds were a bit bigger it would have helped. But I'm still learning this whole double stamping thing! :)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their manis!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Digit-al Dozen Does Patterns on Patterns: Flowers over Dots

Welcome to another month and another week of The Digit-al Dozen!  This month's theme is Patterns on Patterns. There has been a lot of mumbling about what to create. You'd think it would be easy, but it was a bit interesting coming up with ideas. Can't wait to see what everyone does!

I thought I would show you how I created this mani. I use hair glue that I got from Sally's and put it around my nails. This stuff is amazing! It kind of stinks but it dries fairly quickly and comes off super easy! I used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as my base. I stamped using BarryM Waikiki, BarryM Chai, and BarryM Cancun to stamp with using Vivid Lacquer VL020.

I then stamped using BarryM Watermelon and MoYou Suki 01. I topped it off with HK Girl Top Coat. I love the way this turned out! Probably one of my favorites! I didn't want to take it off!

I decided to add Essie Matte About You and loved it even more! I think this is one of my most successful double stamping ever! Woot! Truth be told I did look over Katee's blog, A Girl and Her Polish, to know what colors I should stamp first, which would show up best over each other.

Look! Out image for this week is flower over dots too! :)

Don't forget to check out the other ladies and their posts!

An InLinkz Link-up