Hi gang! Oh man, I'm such a terrible blogger. I've barely even done my own nails this month. It's been a combination of starting grad school, getting a HUGE response to my fall collection (which was awesome, but having to pour, pack and ship over 60 orders was a little scary!), and then getting stomach flu last weekend. Fun times!
I did do some fun Greece-inspired nail art that's featured today over at Polish Those Nails, so please go take a look! It was so nice for Marisa to ask me!
Friday, September 25, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Swatch: Zoya Cecilia
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Hi gang! I wanted to quickly show you the polish I wore on my first day of classes last week! This is Zoya Cecilia, a bright turquoise creme. It's from the latest summer collection, but I think it works great for early fall as well!
The formula was unfortunately a bit thick and sticky. (That might have been partly due to the high temperature/humidity in my office.) So make sure not to overload your brush. On the bright side, it was nearly a one-coater.
I'm going to try to do some nail art for class this week. Gotta make a good impression!
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Hi gang! I wanted to quickly show you the polish I wore on my first day of classes last week! This is Zoya Cecilia, a bright turquoise creme. It's from the latest summer collection, but I think it works great for early fall as well!
 |
| Zoya Cecilia. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat. |
The formula was unfortunately a bit thick and sticky. (That might have been partly due to the high temperature/humidity in my office.) So make sure not to overload your brush. On the bright side, it was nearly a one-coater.
I'm going to try to do some nail art for class this week. Gotta make a good impression!
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
August's Museum-Worthy Manis!
Hi folks! Today was my first day of classes...very weird to be back in a classroom again, especially as the topics are completely new to me!
I finally have my favorite nail art from August to share with you. Lots of summery manis this month! Please make sure to visit the original artists' posts and leave a nice comment!
1. My Picture Polish by Glitterfingersss
Yep, those flowers are freehanded! I'm drooling over these nails. I love florals in unexpected colors--these have a very mermaid-y vibe to me.
2. Beach Landscape by PiggieLuv
Don't you want to be on that beach right now? Impeccable landscape as usual, right down to the tiny footprints!
3. Nails Literally on Fire by Simply Nailogical
Actually, I think a more accurate title for this mani would be "fire literally on nails", but I digress! Simply Nailogical always has something interesting going on with gradients. I can't stop staring at this one!
4. Park Guell Inspired by Nailbees
This mani reminds me of a really fancy swimming pool! This is one of those techniques that's relatively straightforward but turns out stunning (which means I have to try it at some point!).
5. Reverse Stamp Floral by Manicurator
These are some absolutely immaculate stamping decals! Love the abstract floral pattern. This mani also makes me appreciate how well the Zoya Island Fun collection goes together!
Honorable mention: Abstract Stained Glass by Fashion Polish
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
August's Gimme That Polish!
Happy September everyone! Of course I have to start the month with my top five lemmings from last month! This time I have some "weird" colors on the list--they always seem to come out more in the fall, which is fine by me! Make sure to visit the original bloggers' posts for more info.
1. Frenzy Polish - All Magic Comes With a Price
Ooh, love this odd nude/glitter combo! It definitely evokes the supernatural. Plus, this one is inspired by Once Upon a Time, one of my favorite TV shows! (Frenzy Polish shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)
2. Sindie Pop - Golden Raspberries
Mmmmm, this one looks good enough to eat! The added shimmer really makes it. (Sindie Pop shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)
3. Femme Fatale - Always Tea-Time
Femme Fatale continues their streak of amazing collections! I love the contrast between dull and saturated here. (Femme Fatale shop | swatch by Very Emily)
4. I Love Nail Polish - Spiced Eggnog
Everyone else is probably going nuts over ILNP's amazing holos from their fall collection, but this is the one that jumped out at me. It does look just like eggnog, doesn't it? (ILNP shop | swatch by Very Emily)
5. Sayuri Nail Lacquer - Never Truly Lost
Let's just revel for a moment in this vampiness of this polish. I'm definitely getting in the mood for fall now! (Sayuri shop | swatch by Very Emily)
Honorable mention: Potion Polish - Rainy Day on the Couch
Monday, August 31, 2015
Swatch: Indigo Bananas Acid Ocean
The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.
Happy Monday everyone! It's the last day of August, but summer is definitely hanging on here--it's over 90 degrees today. Yuck!
Today I have a swatch from one of my favorite indie brands, Indigo Bananas. Last year she released a bunch of polishes with beautiful color-shifting flakies, and this was my top lemming from the collection. Acid Ocean is a dark teal jelly with green-blue-purple shifting flakies, plus what looks like some Fantasy Fire-type shimmer! So squishy and ethereal!
The formula was on the runny side for a jelly, so I needed three coats to build up the color. Otherwise I had no problems with it! The flakies are the classic type that lie perfectly flat.
Yet another gorgeous IB polish! It's available here for $12 for 15 ml, or $7.25 for 8 ml!
The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.
Happy Monday everyone! It's the last day of August, but summer is definitely hanging on here--it's over 90 degrees today. Yuck!
Today I have a swatch from one of my favorite indie brands, Indigo Bananas. Last year she released a bunch of polishes with beautiful color-shifting flakies, and this was my top lemming from the collection. Acid Ocean is a dark teal jelly with green-blue-purple shifting flakies, plus what looks like some Fantasy Fire-type shimmer! So squishy and ethereal!
 |
| Indigo Bananas Acid Ocean. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat. |
The formula was on the runny side for a jelly, so I needed three coats to build up the color. Otherwise I had no problems with it! The flakies are the classic type that lie perfectly flat.
Yet another gorgeous IB polish! It's available here for $12 for 15 ml, or $7.25 for 8 ml!
The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Today's mani: Watercolor stamping
Hi kids! Today I tried out a new nail art technique that I just discovered--it gives your mani a watercolor look using a stamper! I saw the tutorial at Chit Chat Nails, so go check out her post for the details!
I started with a white base and added the watercolor with ILNP A Twist of Lemon, ILNP Sniffany, Essie Vibrant Vibes, Essie First Timer and Essie Chillato. I did three applications on each nail for more depth. It's a very peaceful blend of colors!
Afterwards I decided to do a subtle accent nail by stamping on a flower design from MoYou Pro 08 using Bundle Monster Angelic White. I'm getting a lot of zen from this mani!
Have a great week!
I started with a white base and added the watercolor with ILNP A Twist of Lemon, ILNP Sniffany, Essie Vibrant Vibes, Essie First Timer and Essie Chillato. I did three applications on each nail for more depth. It's a very peaceful blend of colors!
Afterwards I decided to do a subtle accent nail by stamping on a flower design from MoYou Pro 08 using Bundle Monster Angelic White. I'm getting a lot of zen from this mani!
Have a great week!
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Our experience with Blue Apron
Hey gang! Happy Sunday! This weekend was sales-tax-free weekend here in MA, so we celebrated by walking around a mall near our new place that we'd never been to before. I ended up getting some new clothes for school. I had never heard of tax-free weekends before I moved to the East Coast, but I think it's a nice idea!
So this past week we got a free trial of Blue Apron from my parents, who have been using the service for a while. Never heard of Blue Apron? Well, if you cook just for one or two people, you've probably come across this problem before: you find a new recipe you want to try, but it requires some obscure ingredient that you can only buy in large amounts, so you end up with way too much, and it eventually goes bad and you have to throw it out.
Blue Apron gets around that problem by sending you three recipes per week, along with the exact quantity of ingredients that you'll need. And it sends you ALL the ingredients; you only have to supply cooking oil, salt and pepper. They even sent me a pat of butter for one recipe! You can choose between a two-person and a family plan, and let them know your dietary restrictions.
The ingredients come in a refrigerated box via express shipping, so everything was in good shape, including the meat. The produce was all beautiful and perfectly ripe, and it looks like they try to get their products from small, local farms.
Let's check out the meals we got! (Sorry for the lame phone pics.)
Our first night I made North-African style beef meatballs with a squash salad and garlic toast. The meatballs were strongly seasoned and tasty, and made a good contrast with the raw squash, but the inclusion of lemon and mint in both components linked them together nicely. We found the meatballs to be a little too salty, but that was probably my fault, since I was adding seasoning along the way.
Day two was a Thai-style ginger and basil stir-fry with chicken thighs, eggplant and peppers, on top of coconut rice. This was deeeeelicious, sweet and gingery and not too spicy for me. But the star was that coconut rice...I could eat a pound of that stuff.
On day three we had ratatouille over parmesan polenta with cheesy garlic toast. The ratatouille had eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, zucchini and onion and was amazingly simple yet tasty. And polenta is another thing I could eat all day every day. I actually got quite a bit of leftovers from this one!
As far as the cooking goes, the recipes were all very easy; I think the hardest thing I had to do was make rice. Basically, if you know how to saute, you will do fine. Nothing took more than an hour to make.
The major downside to Blue Apron is the price: $60 per week for the two-person plan, or $10 per serving. (Note: you can pick and choose which weeks you receive recipes, so it's not every single week unless you want.) While I think that price point is totally reasonable for what you get, it's a bit beyond our budget at this point. But I'll definitely be keeping Blue Apron on our radar for later on--I think it's a great way to try a variety of food without wasting any produce!
What do you think--would you try this service?
So this past week we got a free trial of Blue Apron from my parents, who have been using the service for a while. Never heard of Blue Apron? Well, if you cook just for one or two people, you've probably come across this problem before: you find a new recipe you want to try, but it requires some obscure ingredient that you can only buy in large amounts, so you end up with way too much, and it eventually goes bad and you have to throw it out.
Blue Apron gets around that problem by sending you three recipes per week, along with the exact quantity of ingredients that you'll need. And it sends you ALL the ingredients; you only have to supply cooking oil, salt and pepper. They even sent me a pat of butter for one recipe! You can choose between a two-person and a family plan, and let them know your dietary restrictions.
The ingredients come in a refrigerated box via express shipping, so everything was in good shape, including the meat. The produce was all beautiful and perfectly ripe, and it looks like they try to get their products from small, local farms.
Let's check out the meals we got! (Sorry for the lame phone pics.)
Our first night I made North-African style beef meatballs with a squash salad and garlic toast. The meatballs were strongly seasoned and tasty, and made a good contrast with the raw squash, but the inclusion of lemon and mint in both components linked them together nicely. We found the meatballs to be a little too salty, but that was probably my fault, since I was adding seasoning along the way.
Day two was a Thai-style ginger and basil stir-fry with chicken thighs, eggplant and peppers, on top of coconut rice. This was deeeeelicious, sweet and gingery and not too spicy for me. But the star was that coconut rice...I could eat a pound of that stuff.
On day three we had ratatouille over parmesan polenta with cheesy garlic toast. The ratatouille had eggplant, tomato, bell pepper, zucchini and onion and was amazingly simple yet tasty. And polenta is another thing I could eat all day every day. I actually got quite a bit of leftovers from this one!
As far as the cooking goes, the recipes were all very easy; I think the hardest thing I had to do was make rice. Basically, if you know how to saute, you will do fine. Nothing took more than an hour to make.
The major downside to Blue Apron is the price: $60 per week for the two-person plan, or $10 per serving. (Note: you can pick and choose which weeks you receive recipes, so it's not every single week unless you want.) While I think that price point is totally reasonable for what you get, it's a bit beyond our budget at this point. But I'll definitely be keeping Blue Apron on our radar for later on--I think it's a great way to try a variety of food without wasting any produce!
What do you think--would you try this service?
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