Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Lacquer Legion Reinvention: Nail Art Inspired by The Nailasaurus


Hey guys! If you haven't heard yet the ladies from Chalkboard Nails, The Nailasaurus, Work/Play/Polish, and Rebecca Likes Nails created a group called "The Lacquer Legion". They have monthly prompts to get you inspired! Go like their Facebook page here.

This month's theme is reinvention. I was stumped for a little bit, but then I went to The Nailasaurus so I could recreate this beautiful design by her! Isn't it just beautiful?!


Here is my take on the design! I did them all free hand with a nail brush and dotting tools! There are way to many polishes to name but I did use Seche Vite for a top coat!


Thanks for reading and have a great day (or should I say night?)

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Flash of Lightning Behind The Mountain by Charles Bukowski Review

The Flash of Lightning Behind the Mountain by Charles Bukowski

Who is Bukowski? Bukowski is a crazy alcholic bastard who gets his feels for having sex, drinking, and writing. Or well he was before he died a while back. Charles is my favorite poet of all time. He expresses himself so much and literally throws himself into his writing.

There seems to be two main categories for Bukowski's poetry:

His drunken, women filled, madness of a life.
And his struggle to get through his own life.

I love both of them but I prefer the second. His feelings and emotions in his broken poems are so real. So real that I was brought to tears with his honesty and story.

I have a quote wall. I write on post-it notes and just stick them on my wall. I swear that Bukowski owns at least 75% of that wall. Because honestly Bukowski writes about a lot of what I feel everyday. No, I'm not an alcholic or anything truely like Bukowski, but I feel like him.

I felt marvelous, I felt like I owned a piece of the sun.

Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.

I write poetry as well. To get through a lot of personal problems and because I just love writing beautiful poetry. It seems to me that Bukowski and I have very similar poetry, maybe that is why I like him so much.

If only there were more magic people to help us through this strange life.

They simply don't understand do they, that sometimes solitude is on of the most beautiful things on this earth?

Bukowski is the guy that got me into poetry. Also that it is true, Poetry truly does happen when nothing else can. But you can't just make the words come out, they have to happen. Swish threw our brain and unto the paper like magic.

How brave we are to continue walking through this terrible flame as the sun stuns us, as we go on our way, as we float in our pain, kick our feet, wiggle our toes, while listening to inept melodies that float in the air, as agony eats the soul. Yes, I think we are admirable and brave but we should have quit long ago, don't you think?

So am I recommending this book and author to you? Well it depends. I think that it takes a type of person to like his work, but I sure as hell do.

All of those small inevitable details and sorrows rub and push continually against
the moments,
the days,
the years,
until one almost wishes, almost begs for a larger more meaningful destiny.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles #4) Book Review

Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia


The Beautiful Creatures was one of the books that I saw the movie before I read the book. I mean, come on? That movie was good when I saw it. Then I read the book and I realized that the movie was really pure crap. They changed so many things about it. That was where the obsession started.

The Caster Chronicles is original, intense, dark, and beautiful. I fell in love with the dark southern community the second I turned the first page. Which is why I am so sad that it ended.

Beautiful Redemption was really really heartbreaking. It seems like everybody in Gatlin (alive or dead) was sad in someway or another. That may be why it took so long for me to read it. Or maybe I just didn’t want it to end. But either way, this took at least a week for me to read.

Spoilers from here on, if you haven’t read Beautiful Chaos.

So Ethan is in the other world. He is a ghost and lives with his mom and he is depressed. Well yeah, he killed himself to save the world, but its not like he wanted too. He is happy to see his mom, but in the end he just wants to be with Lena. What a surprise right?

Back at Gatlin, everyone is just the same, depressed. Do you see a theme? Yup, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e is depressed. Well except for his Dad, because nobody tells him that Ethan is dead. They have some back story. I honestly felt pretty bad for the dad. I get what they were trying to do, but I know I wouldn’t want it. If I was Ethan’s dad I would want to know that my kid was dead.

Ethan finds a way that he could possibility come back to live. What a surprise right? But he has to go through a lot to come back. It is a really entertaining read. It is action filled and we even get a look through Lena’s eyes for a few chapters. Lena’s poetry makes it even more interesting.

"surrounded by strangers who love me
(un)strangers made strange
by pain"

Literally, Beautiful Redemption is the perfect end to this series. I am so thrilled that Garcia and Stohl are coming out with a spin off series based on Link and Ridley, even though I’m not Ridley’s biggest fan by far, I will still probably read it. Anyways, MY EMOTIONS AREN’T UNDER CONTROL.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Retro Flower Freehand Nail Art

Hey guys! Inspiration comes from everywhere. Even a shirt that you haven't worn in like 2 years. I was going threw my closet the other day and found a shirt. I really hate wearing it, but I instantly knew that it was make for some insanely awesome nail art! So I took little bits and pieces of the shirt's design and made some nail art!



 These designs are all done free hand with nail art brushes or dotting tools. They are all topped with Seche Vite!

Polishes I Used:
  • L.A. Colors Black Velvet
  • NYC French White Tip
  • Revlon Midnight
  • Sonia Kashuk Contessa
  • Sinful Colors Beau Khaki
  • NYC High Line Green
  • OPI Nail Envy
  • Seche Vite Top Coat




 Did you guys like these? Let me know in the comments and have a great day! :)

Monday, January 20, 2014

Sonia Kashuk State of the Art Nail Set Swatches

Hey! This weekend has been awesome! It was #sharethelove weekend and I gained over 500 likes on Facebook! Which brings me to 650! I also found some really awesome blogs that I will be following! Did you find any good blogs this weekend? Let me know in the comments!

Today I have the Sonia Kashuk State of the Art nail polish set for your viewing pleasure! The set comes with 3 mini polishes and two nail art brushes! The polishes are really really mini (.15 ounces). So they are more of a trail set, to see if you like the color. It comes with Fairy Princess, Contessa, and By The Sea! I love all of the colors! They are great! You can buy this set here.

Instead of going threw and talking about the formula for every polish, I'm just going to say right now that all of the formulas are amazing. They remind me a lot of elf's polish. They smooth out very well, are the perfect consistancy, and dry fairly quick. They were great to work with!



Fairy Princess:

Fairy Princess is a mint green color with some light blue shimmer. I really like this one wet, but as it drys it gets more creamy and less shimmery. It's not bad or anything when it drys, but I just wish that it was a little more shimmery. Here is 3 coats without top coat.



Contessa:

Contessa is a vibrant dark blue creme. Well its not "dark" but it is a little darker than a normal blue. I love this one! It is my favorite by far. The color is just so vibrant and beautiful! Here is two coats without top coat!




By The Sea:

By The Sea is a dark bluish purple. Sonia Kashuk describes it to be "a cobalt blue" but its not. It is more purple than a cobalt blue. This color is gorgeous and completely unique to my collection. Plus it is a true ONE COATER! That's right, I only had to use one coat for this beautiful polish. So here is one coat with top coat!



 
I hope you all loved these as much as I do! You can find this kit at Target for $12.99. It might sound a little bit pricey, but you also get two nail art brushes for the kit! You can buy it here. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Black & Gold is All I See

Hi friends! It seems like I am never doing nail art, just to do nail art. I am either doing it for a challenge or nailing the book. I never seem to do nail art, well, just to do nail art. I used to all the time. So I want to get back to that! Today I have nude, black, and gold nail art.



The polishes I used in this design are:
-L.A. Colors Black Velvet
-China Glaze Mingle with Kringle
-NYC French White Tip
-Sally Hansen Silver Streamers

On my thumb I used a dotting tool for a dot gradient. I like this one A LOT. 
For my pointer, I used striping tape.
On my middle finger, I have a sticker, and I don't remember where I got it, sorry. 
On my ring finger I have Silver Streamers over Mingle with Kringle. 
I did this half moon free hand. The glitter is from a pack of glitters I got at the dollar store.
I topped all of my nails of with Seche Vite.
 


Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Nailing The Book: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare Nail Art

Hey there! Today has been rather.. boring. I did school, cleaned up, then I had to fill out some paper work. It has been a really joyous day, for sure. I'm going to be doing some nail art in a little bit for the fun of it!

Today I have nail art for the book City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. I gave this one 5 stars. AH-mazing! Click here to see my review. It is the second book in the Mortal Instrument series. I once again, based these nails off of the cover of City of Ashes. I'm not sure why, but I was having a hard time getting anything from the cover. My thumb and pinky are runes. My pointer and middle finger are the city scape and my ring finger is an abstract version of the girl's (Clary) hair.

City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2)




I used a nail art brush on all of these designs.
For my thumb and pinky, I used Elf Dessert Haze and L.A. Colors Black Velvet.
For my pointer and middle finger, I used Color Mates Little Blue Box, L.A. Colors Black Velvet and NYC French White Tip.
For my ring finger, I used Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights, NYC Times Square, and Sally Hansen Sun Kissed.
I topped all of them off with Seche Vite. 




Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

City of Glass (Mortal Instruments 3) by Cassandra Clare Review

"There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there's a life after that, I'll love you then."

City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)

I CAN NOT. GUYS. OH MY FEELS. I hate writing reviews for my favorite books, because I have no clue how to. Like how can I possibly give this book enough praise? I can't. But I can try.

Me: How in the actual hell. OH MY GOD. I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE THE NEXT BOOK I AM STILL GOING TO CRY MY LITTLE HEART OUT.

Me: *Bangs head on the desk* IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL

Me: WHY CAN'T THERE *Sniffle, tear* BE MORE GUYS LIKE JACE. ITS NOT FAR TO THE HUMAN RACE.

Me: My heart won't stopping racing. If I didn't know better, I would think that I was having a heart attack. 

Me: Wait. I have to write a review on this? Fuck this. How can I possibly put Clare's utterly beautiful words and make a review out of them? I can't do this.

Me: Yes you can! You are smart, go get that review.

Me: But...

Me: But nothing. Go write the damn review.
 
So here I am. It's 1:30 am and I have school tomorrow.  I promised my mom that I would go to bed at 11. Well..... techinally I was in bed.. just not sleeping. I promised myself that I would finish this book today. I only had like 200 pages left! Well guys I have an important lesson for you: Reading is superior to sleep any day.

In City of Glass, Clary and the gang are in Idris (Like the main shadow hunter city) finding a cure for Clary's mother. There are a lot of moments were I was really pissed at Jace in this one. He was acting like an ass for show. How surprising. Not. But I swear that Jace is probably my favorite fictional (or real) male in the world. He is just so caring and bad ass.

Clary really stepped up her a-game in this book. She goes with her impulses and stands up for herself. I really like her character. I actually liked Simon in this book too. In the past Mortal Instruments books, I really didn't enjoy Simon's character. But in City of Glass, he was selfless and really a cool guy.

Unlike the first two books in the series, I literally prodicted the whole ending. Not even slightly joking. I can't tell you guys about the ending, I refuse, but I knew like the whole thing, and I couldn't be happier. It was kind of a shock since City of Bones and City of Ashes were such shockers for me. But I couldn't have asked for a different ending.

If I didn't know that Clare was going to this trilogy (series), I have no clue what I would do. Probably pout and complain for a few days, without leaving me room. But I do have the next book! And I intend to read it after Beautiful Redemption (Caster Chronicles 4), since Beautiful Redemption is a library book and all. But guys, go do yourself a favor and read The Mortal Instruments! You'll be happy you did!


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Sally Hansen Disco Ball Swatches & Review

Hey guys! Sorry, I have been pretty busy lately. My brother's comfrimation was yesterday at 3 pm. I spend most of the day cleaning and making food then we went to the service and then had a party afterwards. It was pretty fun! Today I was either sleeping or playing with my little cousin the whole day. But I figured I would get a post in before going to bed today!

I got Disco Ball, a few days ago? It is one of those glitter tops with white glitter and holographic glitter. It's hard to explain, but I have seen many companies fail at this glitter combo for some reason. I thought Sally Hansen did a pretty good job. I haven't seen this one in stories before, so I think it is pretty of the new Xtreme Wear glitters they have in their section. It had a good formula and I love this glitter topper! The only reason this wasn't a great formula (instead of a good formula) is because it was a little thick, but totally workable.

I did a gradient, so you could see this glitter over different colors. From thumb to pinky: Revlon Diva, NYC Times Square, NYC Times Square Tangerine Creme, Essie Tart Deco, and Nicole by OPI Hit The Lights. Here is two coats over each of those colors, with top coat.






Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Nude Palette Swatches & Review

Hey guys! My first make up post huh? Yes! Well I got the Nude palette for Christmas and I must say that i'm pretty impressed. It is basically my go-to palette for every day. This is going to be SUPER picture heavy, so why don't we just get into it?

First of all, my I just say how adorable this packaging is? Its black and pink lace all around with a little cute pink bow on it! 

At first, I wasn't sure what to think about this brush. I don't use it that much, but I did find that the pointed part is great for filling in your crease and doing small details. But other than that, I just use a normal eyeshadow brush with these.

For my swatches, I am actually going right to left, starting with the lightest shade and ending with the darkest. Since they don't have names, I'm using numbers. Like I said above, 1 is the lightest shade of the right, then it goes in numerical order all the way up to 9! All of my swatches and dry and without primer. 


Number 1 is a light shimmery white. It looks very yellow in the packaging, but its really not. It has a little bit of a hint of yellow, but not much. 


Number two is a shimmery light copper. I really like this color, I also think that it works well with my eye color and skin tone!


Number 3 is a darker copper color. By darker I mean, darker than number 2. Its a pretty light shade. I like the color but the formula was a bit iffy. I thought it was a little flaky, but maybe that's just me.


In the palette number 4 looks like a light shimmery pink, but its really a light shimmery rose almost. I like this color but it is kind of weird, since it look nothing like I thought it would.


Number 5 is a dark dusty tan. Like the rest of the shades, it is very shimmery. I like it a lot, and I think it goes really well with blue eyes.


Number 6 is a dark shimmery brown with a hint of copper in it. I don't like this one on its own, but would be great in a smoky eye.


Number 7 is a light shimmery tan. This is probably my first of the palette. Its really pretty and subtle.


Number 8 is a dark shimmery brown. This is the darkest true brown in this palette. Just like number 6, I don't like it on its own, but I use it a lot in smoky eyes for my crease.


Number 9 is a shimmery brown. I honestly will probably never wear this. Not that I don't like it, its just not really my thing. But for what PF was trying to do here, they did a good job.

Overall thoughts?

I like a lot of these colors. It wasn't awful in the formula department, but it wasn't the best I have seen either. It does have a good formula for a drugstore product though. I got mine for around $10 and I think its a good deal. Its not perfect by any means, but if you are looking for a cheep UD Naked dupe, you got some here.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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