NOTD: Butterfly wings- and a comparison!

Okay, so the "nail of the day" thing is a bit of a misnomer, considering I took these about a week ago. I even have pictures for another entire post prepared, and I'm gonna try to get those up some time this week. A modest goal, hopefully, but we all know my track record.

Anyway! This is the first time I've used acrylic paint in a design on my own nails, so that's a milestone. Did I mention that acrylics are a dream to work with? They're not good for everything, but for this kind of picture they're so much better than regular polish. I do wish I had a better range of colors, I guess that'll add up over time like my regular polishes did.

Surprisingly, my right hand turned out quite well too. As you can see, I still need to work on my control over the paint when working on myself, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of  it quickly. I already work with it on other people/nail wheels much more effectively than I did with polish.

If you'll notice, the OPI I'm wearing (Sprung) is suspiciously familiar to GA-DE Tangerine Garnet, which I swatched in my last photo post. I did some comparison shots, click the jump to see them!

Reeeeeally quick update

Just checking in to let y'all know that texture polish is apparently something I can tolerate on my fingers. I got myself OPI What Wizardry Is This as a paycheck reward, although I was leery of trying out texture polishes because I couldn't cope with rhinestones. Apparently this I can deal with!

And it's pretty, to boot. I don't have my camera with me, but for good swatch photos I'm always going to recommend Swatch And Learn because she is my favorite polish blogger.

See ya!

Haul of Shame swatch spam

Look look swatches!

Dear readers,

I have been a terrible blogger these days. I know this in the depths of my soul. Case in point: I committed a massive haul of shame about two weeks ago, and I haven't even mentioned it on here yet! Nor have I edited my third vlog (which I have recorded, and it sits there on my desk top staring at me accusingly). Also I am doing a convention this Wednesday and Thursday, and you've heard nary a whisper of that.

By way of apology, I've swatched five of the 22 (!) polishes I picked up in my protracted haul, which took place over several days.

Click the jump for closeups and reviews.

Vlog #2- Dreams (part 1)

New vlog, new vlog!

This is a living process- I learned a bunch of things from making the last video I made, and I learned new things from making this video. Hopefully I'll keep improving my editing and recording skills until I can present a much more polished finished product to everyone! (that's fancy talk for- I made a bunch of mistakes on my first video, and I've made fewer this one, but I keep surprising myself with new and creative ways I've managed to screw up the process and make it more difficult and weird all around)

I hope you enjoy(ed) watching this, and I would love to hear feedback if you feel like leaving me some!

Transcript below the jump:

NOTD: Dotticure!

Hey everyone! I did a dot manicure on Friday, and managed to capture some pretty decent sunlight pics, too!

My nails are pretty short (I'm maintaining them as semi-nubs for now), so there wasn't much room, and I only have one dotting too size. Still, I'm really pleased with how this turned out! It's much prettier in real life. I debated wearing this with a matte topcoat, but I decided I prefer it shiny. Maybe in a few days I'll mattify it for variety! (That's right! I said a few days, I'm not going to take it off unless it chips off, because I really love it!)

Colors used:
WOW cosmetics 366 (magenta base and contrasting dots)
WOW Cosmetics 438 (turquoise base and contrasting dots)
WOW Cosmetics 304 (metallic teal dots)
WOW Cosmetics 315 (metallic purple dots)
Chic Metalix Peacock (microglitter turquoise dots)
Chic Metalix Hot Purple (microglitter magenta dots)

I did two posts in a row today, so don't forget to also check out my vlog post!

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)