Leviosa Lacquer: Essie

"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!

I'm dedicated. So dedicated that, despite being out on the ocean this week working, I still wanted to write a new post.

Even if my manicure experienced some wear before I could photograph it.

Even if my hands and cuticles are super dry due to long exposure to the cold over the past few days.

Even if two of my nails on my photo hand broke (doh!).

Because I figured, a crappy manicure is better than no manicure at all, right?

I guess you will be the judge of that.

So this weekend/upcoming week has been pretty busy for me. From Friday until this upcoming Friday, I've been scheduled to work Ocean Trawl.

"What's Ocean Trawl?" Well, I'm glad I narrate this blog to pretend like you asked.

Five times a year, I go out on this research vessel (that's "boat" to you and me) to collect data on what kind of fishes are swimming around off the coast of New Jersey. We computer generate about 30 or so random locations along the coast called "stations".

On the way to Cape Mayyyyy

Once we get to a particular station, we drop this huge net in the water, drag it around for about twenty minutes, and then bring it up on deck and empty it out on this big table.

Then begins what is the most tedious games of One of These Things is Not Like the Other. We have to sort everything into bushels or buckets by species. Sometimes, this takes 5 minutes. Sometimes, this takes an hour or more.

It's basically exactly like this. (I'm only partly joking)

Once everything is sorted, we weigh the bushels and record that data. Then, we measure individuals of each species and record that data before releasing everything back into the water.

I also get to dress incredibly sexy.

The information we gather helps us see what is abundant during different times of the year, what fish are steadily decreasing in population, and more. It's basically like a census of the sea, if you will. And once the January survey is over, I go back to collecting unemployment and applying for jobs in my pajamas while eating cookies for breakfast until April.

Thanks, Obama

It's pretty interesting stuff, but also incredibly tedious and physically/mentally demanding. Physical labor aside, the days are anywhere from 12-18 hours, and since I just got promoted to hourly biologist, that means I have to work every trawl day, back to back.

Which is why I was so excited that a little snow flurry cancelled two days of trawl (conveniently enough, Saturday and Sunday!) and I was able to go to Radio 1045's Winter Jam in Philadelphia to see MSMR, New Politcs, Switchfoot, and twenty one pilots.

And to bare witness to this guy in a Chewbacca jacket.

I highly recommend you see New Politics and twenty one pilots if you ever get the chance. From climbing on the stage tent to playing drums on top of the crowd both were spectacular entertainers.

Drumming. On the audience.

And while I was in Philly, I took a little time to do a quick manicure inspired by workinggirlnails (go check out her IG!) called the Opal Maniure. I figured it would be pretty enough to blog about, but low maintenance enough for ocean trawl. I'm not going to be that upset when this chips out at sea, because it didn't take me hours to do.

The technique involves layering flakie/glitter nail polishes on top of one another and then finishing it off with a sheer pink shade. It is a truly beautiful look that has sparkle and depth that my phone camera just can't capture.

Polishes used

My favorite flakie polish of all time is Essie's "Shine of the Times". Basic bitches are paying $12+ for this hard to find, coveted shade. I found mine in a clearance bin at my local beauty supply for $2.50. And why wouldn't I grab it?! Look at that rainbow of colors!