Vlog!

So, does anyone remember a while back I mentioned that I got a video camera and I wanted to start doing a vlog? Well, I made one!

When I first thought about doing vlogs, I had no idea what kind of theme I wanted. I knew that I definitely wanted to incorporate harp videos, but it didn't have to be a central focus. Once I started pursuing a diagnosis, I realized that having an adult voice on the internet for motivational disorders was a pretty important goal. There are so many of us out there, and not many people to speak for us. So here I am.

The video speaks for itself (literally!) so I don't have much to add, but a few general questions are in order:

How often do you guys think I should try to update? Should I even have any kind of rigid schedule, or should I just post when I have something to say?
What topics do you want me to talk about?
What things should I put up to decorate my wall? (I don't have any posters, so I'm really open to suggestions)
Is this the kind of thing you would watch on a regular basis?

Thanks for watching!

I also put up a nail art post today, you can find it over here :)

NOTD: Mini mani miracle!

Oh man, starting a post with a pun. I deeply apologize, I couldn't help myself.

I am now the proud owner of a set of self-inflicted nubs! I'd like to start practicing harp more frequently, and my tips were in tragic shape anyway because of my job. So I filed them down to as small as they go, and now I have baby-fingers.

There are unexpected perks to tiny nails, though! I've mentioned before how my manis almost never last through a single kitchen shift, due to powdered latex gloves destroying the polish. Apparently, nubs can survive! I'd guess it's in part due to having healthier tips, and in part due to the gloves getting less surface area to work their evil wiles.

Without further ado, here is a small picture spam of my nails after not one, but two kitchen shifts at my job:

Left hand, shade

Left hand, sunlight

Right hand, shade

Right hand, sunlight

My camera was behaving itself today, so I actually got pretty decent shots. Also involved was the fact that I was lucky enough to catch a few minutes of bright sunlight, which always helps.

This is a pretty simple striping tape mani, so I'll just list the colors:

• LeChat "w/o compassion" (the turquoise)
• WOW Cosmetics 431 (the purple)

NOTD: Stripes and stripes

BAH FUZZY CAMERA, A POX ON THEE

Either way, I've decided that I'm going to share as many of my NOTD pictures as I can, because I love making things, even if they're simple. I'll probably recreate the best of them once I can take good photos.

My right hand actually came out better this time! Plus it's the hand that survived work with only a couple of minor chips. I suppose that worked out well. As you can see, this look was inspired by my stripey fingerless gloves- I can't wear them at work, but the idea was to wear the glvoes with the mani and make everyone's eyes cross.

I achieved this look using striping tape. Colors used:

Perfect Chic- Base Coat
WOW Cosmetics- 393 (basic black cream)
WOW Cosmetics- 350 (basic white cream)
Chic Metalix- Hot Fuschia
Chic Metalix- Peacock
Giyora Sharvit top coat

A cool thing happened to me today at work! One of my customers was so enamored of my nail design (and such a simple one, too!) that she actually took my phone number and wants me to do a nail design on her. I don't know if she'll actually call in the end, but it was really gratifying!

NOTD: I have a crappy camera edition

So unfortunately, there was neither sunlight nor a HQ camera for me in the end, so no high quality photos for me today :( Still, I liked this mani so much that I decided to share it, blurry pic or not!

I achieved this look using striping tape.
Polishes used:
Perfect Chic- Base coat
WOW Cosmetics- 434 (which, for the record, is a black jelly with a teal shimmer, but my camera couldn't capture it so it just looks like a dull black)
Chic Metalix- Peacock
Chic Metalix- Citrine Gold
Chic Metalix- Hot Fuchsia
Color Club- Wild At Heart
Seche Vite top coat

Unfortunately, this picture doen't show how amazing and sparkly this was, in reality it looked like a stained glass window. All of the polishes involved are glass fleck jellies. Still, I will probably recreate this look one day (perhaps on all five fingers!) and I will do my damndest to have good photos of it next time.

Bonus picture: My friend Han came over today, and she had adorable Finding Nemo nails! I grabbed a quick photo of her thumb (same quality, unfortunately), to show off my favorite nail- Dory!

Han's comment: Dory looks really crazed in this picture...

Better camera luck next time!

Quick post for the weekend

I have really awesome nails right now, but again with the mediocre-at-stills camera situation. Plus it's been raining here like there's no tomorrow, so I can't take proper daylight pictures. I've grabbed an indoor light picture, but it's not that great. If by some miracle my mani survive's tomorrow's 10 hour shift, I'll be able to get a daylight image on Monday morning. If not, I'll post what I have, crappy quality or not!

In the meantime have a gif of a cute kitten.

ETA: It lasted the day, and my friend is bringing her HQ camera when she comes to visit tomorrow so there may be actual photos taken! Now all that remains to be seen is if there's any sun (doubtful).

LEMMINGS ACHIEVED! (and new ones acquired)

Merry Jewishmas to me! I had a great day, how was yours?

As a rule I try to avoid lemmings. Most of the polishes I see swatched by my favorite bloggers are brands that are impossible to get in my country, and my budget is too limited at the moment to do online orders. (I've yet to see anywhere that charges under $24 shipping alone.) For example: OPI, China Glaze, and Color Club are available if you look reeeeally hard- I found one shop about an hour away from where I live that carries all three, and their selections are limited (plus OPI and CG go for ~$15 a bottle, so no way I'm buying those, at least Color Club is only ~$6). I can get a limited range of Orly at my local pharmacy, which has quickly elevated them to my favorite polish brand. Even Orly has a limited range, but what they do have is really pretty, so I'm not complaining!

Now, MAC is an interesting story- we do have a MAC store at my local mall, and I know they're pretty expensive to begin with, so the prospect of shelling out $11ish isn't as insane. And unfortunately, they also hold Mean & Green, which is a dupe for Orly's Space Cadet, which I have lusted after from the moment I laid eyes on it. But every time I went to try and buy it, they were out of stock.

Until today. I lucked out. They had it. THEY HAD IT. I have fulfilled my longest-standing, most desired lemming ever! GO ME! *flailing around*

My friend Hannah came over to spend the day, and of course polish hunting was on the menu. We meant to stay at our local mall, but after getting high off the success of snagging Mean & Green, we decided to head out to Tel Aviv, where the one store that has other brands is located. Plus, I've been looking for purple hair dye for a month or so with little luck, and Tel Aviv is a great source for finding weird things that no one else seems to have.

To our delight, we found a teeny little cosmetics store practically straight off the bus. And not only did they have a wild range of hair colors with the most delicious purple, but they had something I didn't even know I'd been lemming- Seche Vite topcoat! I had become resigned to the fact that what everyone else considered the industry standard was something I could never obtain. And there it was. It was fairly pricey, but that I had to give a shot.

I'll probably do a SV comparison post with my current default topcoat (a domestic brand called Giora Sharvit). It'll have to wait until I find myself a proper desk job though- working in a coffee shop is a real nail killer. Especially when I'm working kitchen shifts and have to wear latex gloves. Did you know that the powder inside latex gloves is completely ruinous to your polish? I do.

Unfortunately, when we went to the store with the big name brands, I found something both wonderful and awful: They have the new OPI Skyfall collection. And man if I didn't immediately start craving three of them on sight. I mean, I've seen swatches for them all over the place, but in person- WHOA! I want to buy Live and Let Die, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and The Living Daylights. As if that weren't bad enough, I finally saw Just Spotted The Lizard in person for the first time. I know that nearly every single company has a dupe for that these days. I even thought after seeing a hundred and one swatches of the thing that I was pretty over it. But in person, hot damn! I need this in my life.

So now I need to save up $60 to buy lots and lots of OPI polish. Sigh. Too bad I'm too old for Hannukah gelt!

I haven't died, I promise!

...I just have no time frame in which to take pictures these days. And my manis generally don't last very long because of my job. I'm usually working 6 AM- 3 PM these days, and by the time I get home it's too dark to properly take photos.

Hopefully some time soon I will have at least one of the following: A job that is not minimum wage, a job that does not ruin my nails, a job that pays enough for me to buy a camera which takes good quality macro shots, or all of the above.

This December has been "greenicure month" for me, I've been wearing nothing but green. I might make this an annual thing :). To be fair, mostly it's just plain polish, no designs, since I have to replace it pretty much every day. But this week I did a marble and managed to stretch it for two days before it chipped off! And tonight I'm doing newspaper nails. There's even a minute chance that I'll have time to grab a sunlight photo before work, since I'm starting a little later tomorrow.

Anyhow, since I've done nothing in this post but complain, I'm going to wrap it up here. Hope to be blogging more frequently soon!