Work it, girl!

Time off does the mind some good!

I'm home right now to celebrate the holiday and my brother's 16th birthday tomorrow. It's so enjoyable to have company (I live by myself...which gets very very boring) and I always enjoy spending time with my family. I've mowed the lawn, had lunch with my mom, seen my boyfriend, and spent more than a few hours sipping wine and watching the entire Game of Thrones series with my sister! My nails of the day look like this:

You can see a tad around the edge of my index finger that my nails were painted white originally. I have to say, adding the lighter salmon-pink polish over the white polish really made it stand out!!

An occasion to di(amond) for!

Yesterday night the families got together to officially celebrate the engagement of Steph and Matt. It was at this beautiful mansion called the Bella Tori and the food was mmmmm so good! It was nice to see Matt's side of the family and catch up with them. I hadn't seen them in a while. I was in charge of the favors so my mom and I devised a plan for diamond decorated cupcakes. That's what inspired my manicure too! For this I used China Glaze First Mate for the base, Zoya Trixie for the diamond, and a rhinestone.

The cupcakes were vanilla with pink buttercream icing accented with a diamond decoration on top and served in a peek-a-boo box (so you could see the diamond) with a seal and message. They were a big hit and everyone loved the idea. I do believe I heard whispering of Matt's mom using the idea for another occasion in fact! What can I say, my family lives to inspire. Also, since it was on my Aunt's birthday I wanted to incorporate something to celebrate that too so I used some pink striped cupcake liners I had from a present she had given me a year or so ago. They went perfectly with the pink of the icing! Anyway, to the photos:

A quick post for today to say Happy Birthday!

Today is my Auntie Les' birthday! When I was younger I would always remember her birthday because it was double mine: my birthday is the 11th and hers is the 22nd. Anyway, I hope she has a special day full of birthday cheer and family fun! I'm thinking of you all and missing you very much! Love you Cali fam!

For these I used Zoya Trixie (a present from my law school buddy for my birthday!!) and OPI Flit A Bit.

MAYhem: CoverGirl #285

How much do you love this blue?! Seriously, it just might be one of my favorites I've ever gotten. Unfortunately I don't actually know the name of this polish so I just go by the number #285. Does Cover Girl  name their polishes? Anyway, it's gorgeous and a perfect spring color because it's whimsical and festive. It makes your nails pop and is extremely eye-catching....so for a polish fiend like me it's a must have!

MAYhem: Ciate Fade to Greige

Take a look at today's MAYhem polish: Ciate's Fade to Greige. It's a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous purple gray. I'm suddenly getting way into purple nail polish for this spring and I'm also getting into this brand. Fade to Greige is one the polishes from my Christmas Haul Ciate Advent Calendar thing. I love it and it seems chip-resistant even without a top coat so I'm debating on whether or not to even use my Seche Vite.

MAYhem: Ninja Nails

Watch out or these nails will sneak up on you! I'm calling them ninjas but I suppose they could also pass for nuns too. Some people have been doing border nail designs where you paint the whole nail one color and then the border another color but I wanted to do something a bit more.

For this I just used ULTA It's Nude to Me and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

MAYhem: Nicole by OPI Freshly Squeezed

Today's Nail Polish MAYhem post is Nicole by OPI Freshly Squeezed. This is the only Nicole by OPI polish in my collection but I always check them out when I'm see them at Target and Beautyland. Nicole has the best collaborations with celebrities (think Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Kardashians, etc) and the greatest colors. This one was given to me by my mom to try out and I have to say I really like the bottle and the color. It took a few (3-4) coats to become opaque and honestly I prefer a super thick opaque polish in 1-2 coats but the color is so vibrant and fun, it's perfect for summer (sort of like International Flare by China Glaze).

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to mommas everywhere....especially mine!!! I hope you all got treated to a Mother's Day Manicure or at least some form of pampering and that you took it easy today, spending time with family and enjoying a nice Sunday. I was thinking about my mom today since I couldn't see her (I have my last final tomorrow for Property and needed to stay here to study and prepare) and if  you're wondering where my polish habit comes from it's a funny story. My mom used to keep a large basket of nail polish in her master bathroom and I used to steal some and polish my nails....so that's where it comes from! Thanks Mom for always kick-starting and fueling my hobbies!! I hope you had a great day with "a puud and a pud" (the other "puud" spent today cramming her head full of property law and thinking about you!

It just might be BIRTHDAY TIME!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE!

Yep, this girl is turning one year older today! And as part of one of my fantastic presents I got the coolest manicure kit from Ciate! It's a chalkboard nails kit and it comes with a chalkboard black base coat (to the right!), four "chalk" pens, and a matte top coat sealer. Seriously, the base coat is incredible. It actually dries to the texture of a chalkboard and everything. Then you have four fancy pens in pink, blue, white, and yellow that are like "chalk" and you use them to draw. How neat?!

This is what I created with the new Ciate kit!

MAYhem - Swatch: Eyes Like Sapphires

Today for MAYhem is a Swatch post of China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires. This is one of my favorite blue polishes. Blue polish isn't as easy to find as pinks and reds so I always pick them up when I see them. China Glaze has a pretty good selection of blue polishes so I have quite a few of them. I really like the China Glaze formula and the application that CG has so I'm a huge fan of the brand. This particular polish is a go to for me when I'm looking for a popping but not overly insane polish to wear. Some of my polishes are gorgeous but can only really be worn for special occasions because they're a little too crazy colorful for everyday wear. Eyes Like Sapphires isn't like that. I could wear this all the time and be totally fine with that.

What do you guys think about this polish? 

Would you wear it every day or save it for a special occasion?

MAYhem - Swatch: ULTA Always A Bridesmaid

I have been holding onto this polish for sooooo long now and now it's perfect to use especially since Steph's now engaged and I'm hoping to be AT LEAST a bridesmaid...if not Maid of Honor! I know I've used it before just as a plain manicure on my nails and now is the most perfect time to swatch it.  ULTA Professional Always A Bridesmaid is a really pretty pink shade with a bit of shimmer. I think it would make a really pretty bridesmaid dress color for anyone who can pull off pink. The application was good and it was opaque within 2 coats.

I do have one issue with the ULTA Professional line brushes. They're really thick and the boxy-applicator can make it tough to apply comfortably.

MAYhem - Swatch: Mary Kay Pink Sand

This polish is the perfect barely-there-soft-pink. It'll be perfect for when I'm working as an attorney and can't rock the fun and wild colors/designs I rock now. This is also one of only maybe 2 Mary Kay polishes that I have! Both were given to me by my boyfriend but he got it from one of his old high school teachers that sells Mary Kay who, from what I hear, also has a nail/nail polish habit like me!! I never had any Mary Kay polished before these and I have to say I really like them both. The polish took 4 coats to get to the opaque-ness that I was looking for but I feel like that's true of literally every light/soft color I own. Random tip: if you want to save the color rather than use 4 coats try a white base and then you the color. Anyway, I really like this polish and the bottles are cute too because they're short and round. The brush is a tiny bit awkward in your hand because of how fat it is but other than that minor detail it's a good polish. I'll have to use my second polish to get to swatch that one too for you. I'm sure I will....I'm a nail polish hoarder, you know. 

 With a flash it comes out a lot more pink...

 But it really looks like this...

Nail Polish MAYhem - Swatch: China Glaze Pool Party

Now that I'm almost done with my first year of law school I have more time before I start my internship to do some nails and update this blog! Welcome to Nail Polish MAYhem! For every day left in May I'm going to try to do a swatch post with a new polish or at least a polish that I've never used before! First up: China Glaze Pool Party. China Glaze Pool Party. Can I just say I love the color of this polish but I HATE the actual polish. I used it quite a few times last summer and it would dry matte even though it looks shiny in the bottle. ALSO, it chips in 0.25 seconds and comes off in big chunks even with Seche Vite.

When I added a top coat the it helped combat the matte-ness of the polish...

Swatch: China Glaze Admire

China Glaze Admire is one of my more intriguing polish colors. It's a light pink with a chrome-metallic finish that looks so pretty in the bottle but is a totally different story when it comes to putting it on my nails. Either I'm not very good at painting my nails or this polish just has horrendous application if you're not careful. No really, brush strokes is actually a well known problem with the polishes in the Romantique Collection. As you can see there are lines/creases in my middle finger and ring finger. I think this was 3 coats because I wanted to try and see if I could get rid of the indents in the polish but...nope, no luck with that. I either had indents or brush stroke lines and so I really can't say that I'm fond of this polish. In fact, Admire might be one of my least favorite polishes that I own. And that's so upsetting because it looks like it would be just stunning in the bottle. This is definitely a bummer polish for me. Maybe I can use it for bases in nail designs and for stamping or something. Or maybe I'll swap it out with someone. If anyone wants to swap Admire for something else, comment below and let me know.

Also, as I was just labeling this post (the usual: brand, color, etc) I noticed that I've never once used this. I've had it for over a year and a half and I haven't used it once....that's saying something.

Review: Avon Mosaic Effects

I love the crackle polishes that became super popular as much as the next nail blogger so I was psyched to be able to add yet another to my collection: Avon Mosaic Effects Top Coat in Blue Flash. I have to say I was completely surprised by how well it worked. I have a few China Glaze CrackleGlaze polishes that do NOT crackle as well as this Avon polish does. The flecks in it make the crackle even more spectacular and I'm going to add this polish to my My Favorites list. I layered Blue Flash over Zoya Kristen.

 Ah, gorgeous! I'm never taking this off my nails! Ok...maybe I will.

Requested by Caitlyn: Tuxedo nails

Aw, my nails are dressed to the nines today! This manicure is pulling double duty today as the second installment in my Requested by Caitlyn series AND to further celebrate my sister's engagement.

To make these fancy fingers yours, it's super simple: paint your nails white (I used Zoya Snow White) and then use black (Orly Liquid Vinyl) for the rest of the design.