The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.
Hey guys! I'm posting on vacation! I'm having a great time so far. I just wanted to show you what I'm wearing on my nails right now (and please ignore my mediocre paint job!).
This is Emily de Molly Absent Minded. It's a purple jelly with copper, red, blue and iridescent hexes. I absolutely love it, so deep and sparkly! Unfortunately there was no sun today, so I only have shade photos for you.
The formula was terrific, really nice for a glitter jelly.
See you guys soon! Safe travels if you're going somewhere for the holidays!
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Today's mani: Ikat chevrons for Hanukkah
Good evening and happy Hanukkah! Although I'm only Jewish by proxy, I decided it would be fun to do a Hanukkah manicure since I'm seeing my in-laws tomorrow. Plus, the blue/white/silver color combo looks really good on me!
I decided to try my hand at an ikat-style mani for the first time. I have to say, ikat is a lot harder to do than it looks! It's supposed to be a little messy, but not too messy, and that's the hard part. I'll definitely have to work on this!
The colors I used were Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, OPI My Signature is "DC", Zoya Sailor and OPI My Vampire is Buff.
We'll be traveling starting tomorrow, but I'll do my best to keep you up-to-date on all my nail-related activities!
I decided to try my hand at an ikat-style mani for the first time. I have to say, ikat is a lot harder to do than it looks! It's supposed to be a little messy, but not too messy, and that's the hard part. I'll definitely have to work on this!
The colors I used were Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, OPI My Signature is "DC", Zoya Sailor and OPI My Vampire is Buff.
We'll be traveling starting tomorrow, but I'll do my best to keep you up-to-date on all my nail-related activities!
Labels:
blue,
chevron,
Hanukkah,
holiday,
ikat,
nail art,
nail polish,
OPI,
Sally Hansen,
silver,
Zoya
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Recipes from the past six months!
Hi all! Are we getting into the holiday spirit yet? My husband and I will be traveling soon, first to my in-laws and then my parents, so we're going to have a fun and busy couple of weeks!
Today I decided to do some catching up with the food I've cooked for the last several months. I've gotten in the habit of posting pics on Instagram, but I've been bad about blogging. Almost all of these recipes were spur-of-the-moment decisions that I made with stuff already in my pantry. That's the best kind of recipe in my opinion!
We happened to buy some blueberries one week back in June, and out of the blue I wondered "can I make a crisp with these?" The answer was yes, as long as you have some basic baking supplies around, like flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. The whole process takes maybe half an hour. Unfortunately I don't remember what recipe I used, but I just Googled "blueberry crisp" and got a million very similar results.
I was inspired to make these during a Good Eats marathon on Netflix. (Here is Alton Brown's recipe.) Ridiculously easy to make. Mine are a little smaller than normal because I didn't have a popover pan, only a muffin pan. I think I just baked them for slightly less time than the recipe calls for.
Another Alton Brown-inspired dish! (Recipe is here.) I used white onions instead of green, and it worked perfectly fine. Usually the only thing I can think to do with canned tuna is make tuna salad (and I make a pretty damn good tuna salad), so it was nice to learn how to do something else! These get nice and crispy and golden-brown on the outside. They remind me of the salmon patties my mom used to make us.
(Apologies for the ghetto cheese slices.) Cincinnati chili is something my dad would make for us occasionally after he came back from a business trip to Cincinnati. It has a lot of wintery spices like cinnamon, allspice and cloves, as well as chocolate! It's traditionally served over spaghetti with cheddar on top. (I used this recipe.) I replaced the beef with black beans because I had a can sitting around in the pantry.
This Thanksgiving at the in-laws', everyone contributed something to dinner. My husband and I volunteered to do dressing (well, I always call it stuffing, but this was technically dressing!). We used a very simple recipe (here) because we had to keep it kosher and dairy-free. Also, his family doesn't normally eat dressing at Thanksgiving (what???) so we didn't want to overwhelm anyone! This photo is halfway through the cooking process, so it got all crispy and browned after this. It tasted just how a traditional stuffing should taste, lovely and herbacious!
Not Pictured: I made Martha Stewart's chocolate chip cookie recipe and they were AMAZING! Soft and chewy, just the way I like them! I don't know why I forgot to take pics!
That's all for now! Have you cooked anything fun lately? I'll have to write another post all about the ice cream I've made this year!
Today I decided to do some catching up with the food I've cooked for the last several months. I've gotten in the habit of posting pics on Instagram, but I've been bad about blogging. Almost all of these recipes were spur-of-the-moment decisions that I made with stuff already in my pantry. That's the best kind of recipe in my opinion!
Blueberry Crisp
We happened to buy some blueberries one week back in June, and out of the blue I wondered "can I make a crisp with these?" The answer was yes, as long as you have some basic baking supplies around, like flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. The whole process takes maybe half an hour. Unfortunately I don't remember what recipe I used, but I just Googled "blueberry crisp" and got a million very similar results.
Popovers
I was inspired to make these during a Good Eats marathon on Netflix. (Here is Alton Brown's recipe.) Ridiculously easy to make. Mine are a little smaller than normal because I didn't have a popover pan, only a muffin pan. I think I just baked them for slightly less time than the recipe calls for.
Tuna Croquettes
Another Alton Brown-inspired dish! (Recipe is here.) I used white onions instead of green, and it worked perfectly fine. Usually the only thing I can think to do with canned tuna is make tuna salad (and I make a pretty damn good tuna salad), so it was nice to learn how to do something else! These get nice and crispy and golden-brown on the outside. They remind me of the salmon patties my mom used to make us.
Vegetarian Cincinnati Chili
(Apologies for the ghetto cheese slices.) Cincinnati chili is something my dad would make for us occasionally after he came back from a business trip to Cincinnati. It has a lot of wintery spices like cinnamon, allspice and cloves, as well as chocolate! It's traditionally served over spaghetti with cheddar on top. (I used this recipe.) I replaced the beef with black beans because I had a can sitting around in the pantry.
Thanksgiving Dressing
This Thanksgiving at the in-laws', everyone contributed something to dinner. My husband and I volunteered to do dressing (well, I always call it stuffing, but this was technically dressing!). We used a very simple recipe (here) because we had to keep it kosher and dairy-free. Also, his family doesn't normally eat dressing at Thanksgiving (what???) so we didn't want to overwhelm anyone! This photo is halfway through the cooking process, so it got all crispy and browned after this. It tasted just how a traditional stuffing should taste, lovely and herbacious!
Not Pictured: I made Martha Stewart's chocolate chip cookie recipe and they were AMAZING! Soft and chewy, just the way I like them! I don't know why I forgot to take pics!
That's all for now! Have you cooked anything fun lately? I'll have to write another post all about the ice cream I've made this year!
Friday, December 12, 2014
Swatch: Powder Perfect Grief
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? Mine was pretty good, other than the constant precipitation we've had here! At least we don't have a foot of snow like some places yet!
Today I've got a swatch that my fellow blue polish lovers will enjoy: Powder Perfect Grief. This is a denim blue scattered holo with hidden blue-green iridescent glitter that only pops out in certain lights! It's very understated but still fascinating to look at.
The formula is good as long as you keep your coats thin. I noticed a tendency for the polish to drag with thicker coats. The opacity and dry time were good.
I don't see Grief on Powder Perfect's Australian shop site at the moment, but definitely check their international stockists!
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? Mine was pretty good, other than the constant precipitation we've had here! At least we don't have a foot of snow like some places yet!
Today I've got a swatch that my fellow blue polish lovers will enjoy: Powder Perfect Grief. This is a denim blue scattered holo with hidden blue-green iridescent glitter that only pops out in certain lights! It's very understated but still fascinating to look at.
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Powder Perfect Grief. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat. |
The formula is good as long as you keep your coats thin. I noticed a tendency for the polish to drag with thicker coats. The opacity and dry time were good.
I don't see Grief on Powder Perfect's Australian shop site at the moment, but definitely check their international stockists!
The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.
Labels:
blue,
glitter,
holographic,
nail polish,
Powder Perfect,
review,
swatch
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Review: Old Factory Soy Candle Gift Set in Fall Harvest
The products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.
Hey kids! As you might know, I love basically everything that's scented. Lotion, lip balm, whatever--the smellier the better! So when I had the opportunity to review a set of scented candles by Old Factory, I was like "heck yes!!"
Old Factory candles are made of soy wax and hand-poured in the US. They come in sets of three different candles, and each set has a theme. Since I can't get enough spicy fall scents, I chose the Fall Harvest set, containing Pumpkin Spice, Cranberry and Autumn Leaves candles. Yummm...
Each of the scents is fantastic! My favorite is definitely Pumpkin Spice, although it reminds me more of a cinnamon bun. But I can't complain about that! The Cranberry scent is tart and has a bit of spice to it as well. Autumn Leaves is the most subdued and has a natural woodsy fragrance.
The candles are fairly small (2 oz., about 2 inches in diameter), so they won't smellify your whole house, but the fragrance is definitely strong enough to fill a room plus a little more. The company claims these will burn for 20 hours, but I can't vouch for that. I didn't notice any problems with smoking or sputtering.
I appreciated the sturdy glass jars the candles come in. I love the packaging too! It feels rustic but still professional. And of course the punny name is great!
So, overall, I had a great experience with Old Factory candles and would definitely consider buying more! These are sold exclusively on Amazon ($25 per set right now), and it looks like some of the sets are sold out at the moment, so I would go check and see what's available! These candles would make a great holiday gift!
The products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.
Hey kids! As you might know, I love basically everything that's scented. Lotion, lip balm, whatever--the smellier the better! So when I had the opportunity to review a set of scented candles by Old Factory, I was like "heck yes!!"
Old Factory candles are made of soy wax and hand-poured in the US. They come in sets of three different candles, and each set has a theme. Since I can't get enough spicy fall scents, I chose the Fall Harvest set, containing Pumpkin Spice, Cranberry and Autumn Leaves candles. Yummm...
Each of the scents is fantastic! My favorite is definitely Pumpkin Spice, although it reminds me more of a cinnamon bun. But I can't complain about that! The Cranberry scent is tart and has a bit of spice to it as well. Autumn Leaves is the most subdued and has a natural woodsy fragrance.
The candles are fairly small (2 oz., about 2 inches in diameter), so they won't smellify your whole house, but the fragrance is definitely strong enough to fill a room plus a little more. The company claims these will burn for 20 hours, but I can't vouch for that. I didn't notice any problems with smoking or sputtering.
I appreciated the sturdy glass jars the candles come in. I love the packaging too! It feels rustic but still professional. And of course the punny name is great!
So, overall, I had a great experience with Old Factory candles and would definitely consider buying more! These are sold exclusively on Amazon ($25 per set right now), and it looks like some of the sets are sold out at the moment, so I would go check and see what's available! These candles would make a great holiday gift!
The products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Today's mani: Sideways ruffian for my birthday!
Good evening ladies and gents! Today I turned 29. That means after today I've officially stopped aging forever (right???).
The highlight of my day is the chocolate cake, still upcoming, but of course I did a fun mani as well. I used a brand new polish that I bought myself as an early birthday present: OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid. It's a pretty light teal that I think is different from anything else in my collection. I decided to do a sideways ruffian, because I've just started seeing the design everywhere and it's really classy!
The sideways ruffian is very easy if you want to try it. First you polish your nails with your base color and let it dry completely. Then stick down a French tip guide along the curve you want for the ruffian (use tweezers to make it easier). Paint the side of your nail with color #2 (in this case Zoya Ziv) and immediately remove the tip guide. Done!
The highlight of my day is the chocolate cake, still upcoming, but of course I did a fun mani as well. I used a brand new polish that I bought myself as an early birthday present: OPI My Dogsled is a Hybrid. It's a pretty light teal that I think is different from anything else in my collection. I decided to do a sideways ruffian, because I've just started seeing the design everywhere and it's really classy!
The sideways ruffian is very easy if you want to try it. First you polish your nails with your base color and let it dry completely. Then stick down a French tip guide along the curve you want for the ruffian (use tweezers to make it easier). Paint the side of your nail with color #2 (in this case Zoya Ziv) and immediately remove the tip guide. Done!
Friday, December 5, 2014
November's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Hi again! Happy Friday! Any fun plans for the weekend? My birthday is Monday, so we might do something fun this weekend, but I'm not sure. At least my cold is going away!
So today I have my favorite nail art from last month. I didn't notice until I put the collage together that they're almost all black + metallic. Funny! But if you can't do that color combo in winter, when can you do it?? As usual, please go and look at the original artists' blog posts for details!
1. Give In To the Darkness by Chalkboard Nails
This mani is like a creepy take on the traditional French tip! I love the fuzziness of the border of the French tip--it's like an evil force slowly crawling up the nail! Plus the combo of black and nude is just so eye-catching.
2. Edgy Purple and Black Holo Fishnet Gradient by Simply Nailogical
Sexy!! Check out that reciprocal gradient on the accent nail. I really need to check out some of her gradient tutorials, because she is the master. I also love the slight hint of purple--it doesn't pop out, it just adds a little extra interest.
3. Light Years Spiral by Wacky Laki
Whoa, I'm getting dizzy! What a great choice to use this stamp over a holo--it just screams "carnival" to me. I don't usually go for 3D nail art, but those studs really pull everything together.
4. Inspired by Chuck Pinson by PiggieLuv
It wouldn't be Museum-Worthy Manis without one of Narmai's astounding freehand manis! Please go read her post and see the closeup photos of those trees! It's really mind-boggling to me.
5. #WNAC2014 Metallic Colorblock by Lacquerstyle
This is just straight-up classy to me. Love the mod colorblocking pattern and the choice of metallic polishes: they're different enough to be distinguishable, and you get these glints of different colors, but they give a monochromatic effect overall. Super cool!
Honorable mention: Green Hills of Africa by May Contain Traces of Polish
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