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 ;) )

New Job and Spring Inspiration

As some of you may know, I recently got employed at Pier 1 Imports. I'm really excited about it! It is my first job in sales, but so far I am really loving it. The company seems awesome, and they really support their employees. Anybody who isn't Assosciate or Assistant Manager works part time hours, however, I can still apply for benefits and after 6 months I can pay into a 401(k), which the company matches! 

So far the hardest part has been trying not to spend all my earned money on items in the store. I already found an awesome shag rug that would match our love seat way better than the black one we currently have, and I've already set aside my first Christmas gift for someone. 

The other benefit of working at Pier 1 is that there are colors and patterns galore to be inspired by for nail art use. Our current ad is focusing on rolling out spring colors, and when you walk in, the main focus is grey and yellow 

Our scent of the month is Honeysuckle, at 20% off! (Never stop hustling)

Individually, I'm not a big fan of yellow, and grey is just okay. But together, they are gorgeous. I decided to do a Saran Wrap manicure using this color palette. 

What's a Saran Wrap manicure, you ask?  Simply put, you paint a base color on your nail. I started with the grey...

China Glaze in Pellican Grey

After your base coat dries COMPLETELY, paint another color on top of it. 

Sinful Colors in Unicorn

Then, while the second color is sill wet, take a piece of Saran Wrap, crumple it up a bit, and gently roll it across your nail. The Saran Wrap will pick up some of the top color, allowing the base color to peek through and creating a cool marble effect. 

Like so

You'll want to work one nail at a time so the second color doesn't dry before you saran it. 

I added a coat of China Glaze's "Fairy Dust" for some sparkle and topped it off with Zoya's top coat and quick dry drops. The top coat gently blends the colors together so there aren't any harsh lines like in the above photo. 

Ta-da!

Dry cuticles are still a problem. 

I'm pretty happy with the result. If I did it again, I'd use the yellow as the bottom color so that the grey wouldn't give it a greenish tinge. But I'll definitely be doing this design again with other colors. 

The rest of the March is pretty hectic; I was planning on doing St. Patrick's Day nails, a Color of the Month Manicure, and Birthday nails, but I may only get to 2 out of 3. We will see!

Zoya "Awaken" Spring Collection (Monet All the Colors!)

It's beautiful, isn't it?

Everybody has launched their spring lines, but, in my humble opinion, NONE of them compare to Zoya's "Awaken" collection. Even OPI's "Brazil" collection had me feeling lukewarm in comparison. 

The line includes six beautiful pastel shades and a topper called "Monet". Four of the six shades have a silvery metallic undertone to them, and the remaining two are light creme shades. 

I have two shades and the topper to show you today. I was hoping to have a third shade in the mail by now, but it is on back order due to high demand. 

L to R: "Dot", "Dillon", and "Monet"

First up is "Monet", which has beautiful, iridescent cellophane hex glitters and micro glitter suspended in a light pink base. It is reminiscent of the watercolor impressionist style of the artist Monet, which I assume is where it got it's name. 

Had to go macro for this one

As you can see, the glitter shifts between every color of the rainbow. It is mesmerizing. 

It is meant to be worn as a topper over any of the colors in the "Awaken" collection, but here is a swatch of it alone. 

Sooo pretty

I also found that this topper looks great over pastel shades from some of Zoya's older spring lines, such as "Blu", "Neely", and "Jacqueline" 

See?

So, basically, "Monet" all the colors. My one complaint about it is that it is a little goopy and somewhat difficult to work with, but I think the payout is worth it. 

Next, I have Dot, a pretty, no frills, light pink creme. Typically, I don't wear a lot of pink on my nails. Especially not light pink. Which is exactly why I bought it. I believe this shade and possibly the orange one first debueted in a line for a fashion designer, and Zoya added them to this collection. I'm not 100% on that though. This color is pretty sheer, so I used three coats, and there was still some visible nail line. Just use your discretion. 

"Dot" with "Monet" on accent finger 

Macro of "Monet" over "Dot"

I was really pleasantly surprised with this shade. It has classic beauty, looked great against my skin tone, and is totally work appropriate. In fact, I ended up sticking with this color for my mani for the week. 

...with "Monet" on top, of course. 

Finally, I have "Dillion", which Zoya describes as a "full coverage, green mint metallic with a silver shimmer". I think that this color actually falls around the bluer end of the green spectrum. Is it just me? I used two coats. 

Again, "Monet" accent finger. 

I really love "Dillon". I don't have a lot of green variety in my collection, and this shade definitely added something different to the mix. It is also surprisingly very flattering against my skin tone, which is something that can be difficult to find in a green. The application was also beautiful; the formula is smooth as butter. 

I am still waiting on "Hudson" to come in the mail, which is a gorgeous purple shade. I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the collection, though! They are all so beautiful and perfect for spring. I'll probably be wearing these shades on my nails for a while.