Simple Mani Monday

Hello, readers! 

So I've been slacking a bit. I haven't swatched my Zoya Earth Day Exchange yet, and I've been pretty busy so I haven't had the chance to do any crazy nail art. Luckily, Nail Vinyls make simple manicures look like I put in a lot of effort ;) 

This week I did a lightning bolt manicure using two colors from Orly's Summer 2015 "Adrenaline Rush" collection. 

Orly in "On the Edge" and "Thrill Seeker"

Full disclosure, I actually only kept this mani for blog post photos. After that, I removed the design off my index and pinky fingers and just wore that lime green "Thrill Seeker" color all week. That tennis ball color got me several compliments throughout the week! 

Sometimes I get so wrapped in trying to do interesting designs for the blog that I don't ever get to wear my polishes as-is; just one color on all ten fingers. It's something I may try to work on in the future. 

Next week, be sure to check back because I will be doing an entire post on my favorite SPF beauty products! 

Color of the Month: Peridot

Quick blog post today! The birthstone for August babies is peridot, which is said to "host magical powers and healing properties to protect against nightmares and to bring the wearer power, influence, and a wonderful year", according to American Gem Society. 

I also found it interesting that most of the world's supply of peridot is found right here in our own country, specifically in Arizona. Cool!

To capture that perfect peridot green, I used Zoya in "Tilda" as my base color. Then I created the lightning bolts using Nail Vinyls and Zoya's "Stassi". 

Happy birthday to all you August babies this month!

Pride 2014 Weekend

For those of you who don't know, June is National LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride Month. The point of this movement is to encourage people of differing sexual orientations to be proud of who they are and to embrace their gender identity. With so many states legalizing gay marriage, it is an especially exciting time to be a part of the LGBT movement!

To celebrate Pride month, several cities around the country have huge celebrations. This past weekend, I went to Philadelphia with my husband, and my friends Lindsey and Joey (aka Jnano) to join in the festivities. 

Saturday night, we went to Woody's (which is a gay bar). It wasn't much different from any other night at Woody's, except that maybe there were more people and more streamers. Still, on any weekend, a night at Woody's is a blast. I dressed for the occasion with rainbow eye makeup (including purple eyelashes!)

My dress also had rainbow Hawaiian print and a heart cut out of the back. 

Sunday was the parade which was a LOT of fun! There was a color guard team called "Flaggots" who did a choreographed dance to "Timber". There were drag queens galore, men and women in the tiniest metallic shorts I have ever seen, women wearing only stickers on their nipples, and rainbows EVERYWHERE. 

Hubby even bought me this sweet rainbow boa. 

The overall feeling of love and acceptance was really powerful. Everybody was just there to support one another and have a good time. It was really amazing to see so many floats of churches, republican groups, etc.  promoting LGBT rights. 

Of course, in honor of Pride weekend, I had to do something special with my nails. I recently bought some lightning bolt vinyls from Nail Vinyls, as well as Maybelline's Bleached Neons collection. This is what I came up with:

Maybelline Color Show "Bleached Neons" collection, L to R: "Pink Punch", "Coral Heat", "Bleached in Peach", "Lime Accent", "Day Glow Teal", "Ultra Violet".

I LOVED this mani. It even glows under black light! 

My favorite colors in the collection are "Day Glow Teal", "Ultra Violet", and "Coral Heat". I felt like the blue and purple looked the best together, and I may end up combining them in another mani sometime soon :) The neutral color in the mani is OPI's "My Vampire is Buff". 

Did you do anything fun for Pride? Tell me about it in the comments section!