Color of the Month: Diamond

"A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl's best friend"-Carol Channing

When I was a little kid, my mom had me trained to say this phrase whenever we passed by a jewelry store window in the mall. Diamonds are the most valued gemstone of them all. Why? Let's dive into the history first. 

According to about-birthstones.com:

"No more notable it its uncut state than a plain pebble upon the beach, the true beauty of the Diamond was not revealed until the 16th century, when gemstone cutting and polishing techniques were perfected.  Prior to this time, it was considered taboo to modify the original state of a Diamond.  Today, the value and appeal of this stone depends largely upon how skillfully it is cut and faceted."

DeBeers was the first diamond company in existence to drive the concept of an "engagement ring", which significantly increased the demand on an already valuable gem; however, the first known recipient of a diamond ring happened in 1477, well before the DeBeers company took off. 

But what do most people care about diamonds? They're valuable, and they're pretty. They also happen to be April's gemstone (lucky April babies!). 

I sort of came up with this manicure idea last minute. Since diamonds are clear, I had to get creative with my polish choices.

L to R: OPI "Solitaire", Zoya "Purity", Essie "Set in Stones", Julep "Coretta"

Luckily, I went to some polish names for inspiration. "Solitaire" and "Set in Stones"... See what I did there? Eh?? 

Here's what I came up with. 

I used nail tape to make diamond designs at the bottom of my two middle fingers before painting "Solitaire", a white textured polish with micro silver shimmer, on top. I then did a glitter gradient on the rest of my nails using "Purity" for the base  and layering on Julep's April Birthstone color, "Coretta", and topped it off with "Set in Stones". 

Looking at it, I probably should have used "Purity" as a base so that "Solitaire" would pop more on top of it, but now I know better for next time. Homegurl didn't have the patience to re-do that ish tonight. 

Had to feature my beautiful diamond ;) the camera could NOT focus on all the sparkle at once, though. 

Keep an eye out for some brand features and new color swatches that I'll be posting in the next couple weeks!

Hoppy Easter Every Bunny

I know, I know, super lame post title, but I couldn't help it. Today is Easter Sunday. I was raised episcopalian, but stopped practicing a long time ago. Not that that means I'm not spiritual; it's just I'm a lot more comfortable with the chocolate-and-bunny side of Easter than I am the church-and-Jesus version. 

I also don't have any kids, but still enjoy the idea of Easter baskets, so I made baskets for the two men in my life: my husband and my cat. 

My husband isn't a big candy eater, but he does enjoy some basic stuff like Kit Kat and M&M's. So for his basket I got him a box of protein bars, peanut butter crackers, and some Kit Kat bars. I then found these totally sweet Darth Vader shaped Easter eggs and filled them with M&M's and Rollos (because I'm the best wife there ever was). 

Is it blasphemous to put the Dark Side and second coming of Christ together? 

For my kitty I got a brush for his fur, some lids for his open cans of food, and fun stuff like cat nip, cat nip bubbles, toy mice, and a laser pointer. 

He really is enjoying everything

For my Easter/Birthday gift, my parents hand-made me four beautiful wooden nail polish racks. I can't wait to fill them up! 

I die. 

And, of course, I had to do an Easter themed manicure. For my nails I used Zoya's "Awaken" collection. For my accent nails, I hand painted an Easter egg motif and a rabbit. Check it out!

Colors shown clockwise: "Rebel", "Hudson", "Purity", "Dot", "Cole", and "Dillon"

No matter how you spend your Easter, make it a good one (a little chocolate couldn't hurt, either ;) )

Summer Neon Brush Stroke Mani

The weather has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL this week. I've been opening the windows up inside and it has actually been warmer in the house than what the thermostat is set at (we have the heat set at 65... It is currently 72). As I am writing this, I am sunbathing on my back deck. 

Naturally, this weather has given me a serious case of spring (summer?) fever. I decided to go super bright for my manicure this week! 

I found a manicure by badgirlnails on Instagram and knew I wanted to replicate it. It is called a "brush stroke manicure". 

Start with a white base (I used Zoya's "Purity"). Then, pick 3-4 different colors to use on top. Starting with the first color, wipe almost all the polish off the brush, and paint random strips of your nail. Repeat the process with the other colors so that they overlap and cover up the white base. 

L to R: Fresh Paint in "Guava", "Passion Fruit", and "Honeydew"

The idea is to have very little polish on the brush so that you get a streak-y, distressed look. It is a LOT harder than it sounds/looks. I think I was maybe only truly successful with four nails, ha. 

Anyway, this is the outcome:

I swear, this manicure borderline glowed in the dark. It was so bright and fun, it was perfect for the warm weather. I can't wait to play with these colors more on an individual basis in the summer. 

My First ILNP Polishes!

Last week, as you know, was my birthday; however, with my tendency to spend gift cards faster than I can acquire them, I still have birthday gifts rolling in. My friends Jessie and Mike got me a $25 gift card and wrote that they "hoped I got lots of nail polishes".

All right, twist my arm ;)

So I used the gift card to get a couple of polishes from a brand that I have been lemming after for a while now: I Love Nail Polish, or ILNP for short. 

I first heard of ILNP on Instagram, naturally. The woman who makes the polishes creates everything from glitters to holographics to cremes, but the most unique polishes she makes have to be her Ultra Chromes. 

A Multi Chrome polish is one that shifts between two different colors. An Ultra Chrome can shift between three or more colors. Some of ILNP's polishes have five or more colors packed into one bottle! They're amazing. 

I decided to buy Cygnus Loop, one of the first polishes I saw from her Ultra Chrome collection, and Reminisce, which is a newer one. 

L to R: Reminisce, Cygnus Loop

Conveniently enough, they both arrived just as I was finished prepping my nails for a manicure, so naturally I used one of these guys immediately. 

I chose to do my manicure with Reminisce. My polish collection is somewhat lacking in greens, and what I do have I don't wear very often. 

The thing about color shifting polishes is that the color looks completely different depending on the lighting you are in and the angle of your hand, so I took LOTS of pictures to get the point across. 

Bottle shot

Are you not entertained? Wait. 

Watch as Reminisce shifts from a Kelly green...

...to a chartreuse...

...to jungle green, all in three movements of my hand. 

Hey, is that blue? Why, yes, it is!

And like I said before, lighting makes a difference, too. Here are some shots in direct sunlight:

Green!

Blue!

I am completely in love with these polishes. I can't stop staring at my fingers. The one downside to these types of polishes is that they are pretty unforgiving in terms of hiding imperfections on the nail bed. Currently my nails are in terrible condition and you can definitely see the indentations where my nails are peeling/splitting through the polish in the pictures. 

Polishes are $12.50 sold on ILNP.com. 

I also got a paraffin treatment tub from my parents, and new polish racks coming my way soon, so look for that stuff to be featured on an upcoming post!  I wanted to do a paraffin treatment in time for this post, but I still have some cuts on my hands that need to heal.