Wedding Nails

My Bible study leader from my Freshman year of college got married this past weekend, so I had the honor of witnessing the confirmation of their love in holy matrimony :) it was the first time I've attended a friend's wedding.  Thankfully it was super casual, so I get to slowly practice appropriate wedding etiquette.  My knowledge and understanding of wedding etiquette will come in handy for the next 10 years as my friends get engaged and married!

But friends, if you're reading this, please pace out your weddings so I can attend all of them and not skimp out on wedding presents :D

My dress was a nice mint color, so I wore these nails to help encourage the summer spirit:

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Bonder by ORLY
• Thumb, Ring, & Pinky - coral polish by bonita, Saaya by Julep, & Laree by Julep; stamped with royal blue by b.m.c using BM-023 plate by Bundle Monster; gradient made using make-up sponge
• Pointer & Middle - coral polish by bonita, Saaya by Julep, & Laree by Julep; gradient made using make-up sponge
• Top Coat - Out the Door by inm

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

To be perfectly honest, I was internally freaking out about how fancy I wanted my nails to be.  I can't have nicer nails than the bride...can I?  I don't think she ever saw my nails, so I think I was able to get away with this set of nails this one time.  Actually this is the one thing I still need to figure out, and I'm sure it varies by bride.

SO LADIES.  IF YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED AND I'M A GUEST, PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW TONED DOWN MY NAILS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE BECAUSE I CLEARLY DON'T KNOW.

Alright, that's enough from me for today.  Have a wonderful day, and I hope I will be able to post again soon! :)

Dots and Flowers

Hello all!  It's finally 2015, meaning...that it's 2015.  That was about as deep and profound as I get.

Here are my nails to start the year off right!

And just like the title implies...dots...and...flowers...

For this manicure:

• Base Coat - Base Coat by Finger Paints
• Base Colors - Char by Julep & coral by bonita
• Dot Color - Bunny by Julep
• Stamp Color - noir black by b.m.c.
• Stamp Plate - BM-016 by Bundle Monster
• Top Coat - Top Coat by Out the Door

Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours

I'm enjoying my new set of stamp plates from Bundle Monster!  The images are large enough to cover the length of my short nails...but the full sized images will not be large enough to cover the length of my longer nails.  But such is life.

New nails and a new year :) what's not to love?

How I Do It: Basic Manicure

Hello all!  I hope you're all doing well :) meanwhile, my stay at home has been wonderfully plagued with thunderstorm/tornado/flash flood warnings.  But that's okay because my mom makes the most amazing food.  Priorities, you know.

Anyhow, most of you may not find my nail art to be too practical...and that's okay.  I get you.  So here's a post on the basic manicure! :D It will be picture heavy, but I hope it's crazy helpful because if it's helpful, then I did my job right :)

If this interests you, please read on after the jump! :)

Julep May Maven Bombshell Box Review

Hello all!  Today I will be reviewing my May Maven Bombshell Box from Julep.  The Maven box is a monthly subscription, and for $19.99 a month, you get a box of either two full-sized nail polishes and another full-size cosmetic item of their choice, or you can opt for just three full-sized nail polishes, or you can just get the cosmetic items.  They're also letting customers customize their own boxes now, and I believe that costs $24.99 a month.  For each box you purchase, you earn reward points, which you can use to purchase other Julep products or the next Maven box.  I paid $19.99 for my box, so this review isn't a paid review.  I dished out money for this.

This is what came inside my box:

The feature item of the month was their Plié Wand.  According to the Julep website, this wand is supposed to help you paint your dominant hand by giving you more accuracy and more control.  The longer handle improves leverage, comfort, and control, and leaves the user with a better manicure.  It also twists and turns to accommodate the user's grip and angle.

I attached the Plié Wand to my nail polish bottle, and you can either have the handle stick straight out like so:

Or you can have the handle bent, like so:

It really depends on the way you prefer to hold your brushes.  I painted my dominant hand using the straightened Plié Wand.  I must say though, this Plié Wand is really something.  Normally, even I hesitate for a little bit when I paint my dominant hand, but since the Plié Wand is so freaking long, it really lets your entire non-dominant hand grip around the handle, which does lead to increased stability and control.  I painted my dominant hand and did even less clean up than I would normally have to!  I would definitely recommend you trying this new Plié Wand, but only if you own Julep polishes...because at the moment, they're only Julep-polish compatible.  But if you're sick and tired of having a really awesome non-dominant hand and an okay-ish dominant hand, give this wand a go.  You'll see big improvements in your manicure :)

And this is what my dominant hand looks like:

Even I'm not the best at painting my dominant hand, but I'd say this was a pretty good job.  Read on to find out more about these lovely polishes! :)

Lace for My Birthday!

Hello!  It's finally time.  And by that I mean it's finally my 21st birthday!  Because I am actually from Colorado, that means I can legally buy two things: pot and alcohol.  Wow.  Isn't it amazing how crossing a certain time and date means that the market is much friendlier to you now?  I find that a bit ridiculous, like 21 is some magic number.

But anyways, here are the nails I did for myself for my birthday:

The lace flowers are from a set of lace stickers that I bought from Born Pretty Store! :)  I will be telling you more about the design AND about Born Pretty Store after the jump!