Swatch: Avon Strawberry

Another Parade of Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Action Month post today. This time I really dug deep in my collection for stunning and simple pink that came from non other than AVON. My mom used to sell Avon when I was younger so we could always expect stocking stuffers and random little gifts from Avon, especially nail polish and bath products, and I have a bunch of nail polishes that I should probably use more often. This one is from the Avon Speed Dry+ collection in Strawberry (or if you're French..."Fraises"). Strawberry is a creme polish that dries in less than 30 seconds!! Wahoo thank you Speed Dry+! No more thirty minutes chillin not using your hands because you feel like the slightest contact would wreak havoc on the tips of your digits! According to the Avon website, this formula includes volcanic rock too, which is pretty cool, and retails for $6 (but is on sale for $3.49). These polishes are also Big Three free which I know my more chemically conscientious readers like myself will appreciate. The first polish is under natural light with no flash:

Lastly, Breast Cancer fight fact: The risk of breast cancer can be reduced by up to 18% by doing as little as two and a half hours per week of brisk walking. That doesn't seem like much exercise at all!

Swatch: Ruby Wing Peony

I honestly have no idea where on earth the polish I used today came from or how I came by it to add it to my collection of over 350 nail polishes. Quite literally I had to google the brand to see if it was an old or new brand. I may have found a new obsession! Ruby Wing nail polishes, most famous for their color changing nail polish, is a vegan brand in New York City that is completely non-toxic, never animal tested, and environmentally safe. Also, this brand must have known what I was doing with my Parade for Pink Breast Cancer Awareness Action month because Ruby Wing works with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Yes, I know this isn't breast cancer research but ANY cancer fight support is wonderful and I was ecstatic to see they work with a cancer research fund. Now onto the polish:

I chose Ruby Wing in Peony, a neon (?) peach that changes in sunlight to deeper fuschia-y pink. I only put 2 coats on but I think it needed a third coat in order to be fully opaque -- there are a few streaks that were more noticeable in the photo than on the nail itself. I failed to capture a photo of the "outdoor" pink so all of these are of the "indoor" color. How gorgeous is it?? This first photo is inside with flash:

 Inside without flash:

Inside with flash:

 Inside without flash:

You can really see the difference in the neon when you have flash versus natural light. This polish might become my new go to!

Breast Cancer Fight fact of the day: It is projected that if every woman over 50 years old had her yearly mammogram, breast cancer deaths for women over 50 could drop by 25% or more!

Swatch: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

Another swatch post for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Action Month's Parade of Pink here on NikkisNailFiles. Today is the first post featuring a pink OPI polish by the name of I Eat Mainely Lobster....which yes makes me so hungry for lobster! Like yesterday this polish is another coral and is stunning in photos. It's a gel polish with a shimmer finish that goes on opaque in 2-3 coats and I have no clue why I don't wear this polish more often.

A photo with flash:

Another with flash: 

Natural light without flash:

In this last one you can really clearly see the shimmer finish. It's a photo with flash:

Today's breast cancer fact: There are more than 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today. That's more than the amount of people living in the entire city of Chicago!

Swatch: China Glaze Conga To My Cabana

Today's post is another Parade of Pink post for Breast Cancer Awareness Action Month. I chose China Glaze Conga To My Cabana because it's sort of a coral or salmon color with a tiny bit of golden shimmer to it. It's very tasteful but it's difficult to capture with my camera (Nikon D3300) so I took some photos with flash, without flash, and just under natural light to show all facets to this polish. It's gorgeous but the polish does take quite a few coats before it's completely opaque. I ended up doing FOUR coats. The largest photo below is only at 3 coats so you could see the difference.  

The photo on the left here is with flash indoors. The photo on the right is natural light (without flash) near my patio door.

Another with flash but with only 3 coats of polish:

And another in natural light but with 4 coats.

 Natural light away from the patio door (sitting in front of my couch):

Today's Breast Cancer fact: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women. However, an estimated 2,150 MEN will also be diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Swatch: Second-Hand Silk

Today's post is the first of my Parade of Pink in honor of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I chose one of the colors I used in my Always Aware manicure from October 2010. Yes, five years ago. Anyway, I decided to only do simple swatch posts for this October because after some research I learned that the Breast Cancer pink ribbon image is used to confuse consumers into thinking that products support breast cancer but in reality are just products sold by a corporation during October to benefit their button line. For this reason, no ribbons here this year. However, I couldn't let go of the pink color because really what other color would I use?? For today's swatch I've got China Glaze Second-Hand Silk, a gorgeous pastel-ish pink creme polish. Seriously if you have no other pink nail polish in your collection GET THIS ONE!

And today's BCAM fact:

Do your research and do what you can to support the fight against Breast Cancer (or any cancer).

October means...BCAM

And by BCAM I mean Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Although we definitely do not need to spread awareness of breast cancer (who doesn't know about it really?), to do my part this year I decided to take some action. I researched and supported some legitimate cancer research and will transform my blog into a Parade of Pink. Many posts this month will feature a swatch of a pink nail polish in my collection and will contain information about breast cancer. 

However, I know that during October so many things become "Breast Cancer Support Products" and pink becomes THE color but be sure to do your research and make sure that the product or charity actually does support breast cancer. So many charities and corporations claim to sell products or collect money that benefits the cause but in reality there is little or no benefit actually given. Visit Think Before You Pink, a campaign of Breast Cancer Action ("the only national breast cancer organization that does not accept funding from entities that profit from or contribute to cancer") for more information.

So during this October, if you or anyone you know is a survivor or is currently battling breast cancer, I wish you strength, courage, and hope. You're not alone. And every bit of support helps.

That Time I Tried on a Wedding Dress

Now that Steph's wedding is over I can finally post this and cross it off my bucket list. When we went to look a bridal gowns a funny thing happened....I ended up trying on a wedding gown. Now, before you go rolling your eyes thinking geez what an example of an overly eager maid of honor stay with me. I tried it on at my sister's request! She couldn't make her mind up between two absolutely gorgeous bridal gowns and she wanted to compare them while they were both on someone. So I stepped in to help her out, and in the process got to wear a pretty snazzy get up!

She ended up going with the one I had one because she liked the back more. 

A True Love Story Never Ends: Steph's Wedding Recap

It's finally time for a Wedding Recap! As you all know my older sister tied the knot September 18th and along the way I've kept my readers well updated about the various wedding related things. I blogged about when Matt popped the question, fancy tuxes, the engagement dinner, when Steph asked me to be Maid of Honor, going to a bridal expo, the venue, dress shopping, planning Steph's bridal shower, Steph's bachelorette, and, of course, choosing wedding nails). Sheesh! Is this a blog about her life or mine?? Just kidding. I'm thrilled that I get to now blog about the culmination of all of that.....her actual wedding. But first, the nails I wore for the wedding. They were inspired by a manicure I found on AllForFashionDesign painted by an instagram user kiss_it_chic.

You know the drill, everyone got hair and makeup and then we helped her with her dress. The dress looked like it had beautiful covered buttons but it had a hidden zipper so it was a lot easier and quicker to handle. She looked stunning and her dress was beautiful! The pearl bracelet around her wrist was my wedding day gift to her. My uncle is a jeweler in California so it was custom made and featured a gorgeous diamond clasp. It was stunning and she loved it. I'm glad she chose to wear it as her "something new" on her wedding day.

After we were all finished dressing and primping we took some photos outside my house. Then we all loaded in the limousine and it was off to the church we went! I don't know if she was nervous but if she was she didn't show it at all. She was very excited and she looked amazing in her dress. See, nothing but smiles from the soon to be Mrs! 

Steph and Matt chose to get married in the same church that my parents got married in and the church that we used to go to every Sunday when we were younger. We had a couple minutes before the ceremony so we shared a few laughs while waiting to walk down the aisle. Not the best photo -- we're both making faces -- but I just love how candid it is so I wanted to use it anyway.

We all paraded down the aisle (so awkward) and then she said "I do" and got married! Official Mrs. status!! From left to right is her bridesmaid Alysha (who actually got cut out of this photo), Steph's college best friend Kelly, the flower girl (our cousin), me, Steph, her groom Matt, the best man (Matt's cousin and best friend), my broski Matt, and then the final groomsmen Matt's brother (who got cut out of this photo). I was a little annoyed that the priests stood in front instead of behind the couple. Way to block the visual, Fathers!

Following the ceremony we took a bunch of photos. Some were staged and classic but others were more candid and fun. I enjoyed this one because everyone seems to be freestyling. 

During the reception, I made the Maid of Honor toast. As a surprise I asked one of her bridesmaids to join me AND we sang Steph's toast! We changed lyrics to popular songs like Happy by Pharell, the Friends theme song, Backstreet's Back by the Backstreet Boys, etc. Everyone loved it and Steph and Matt obviously loved it if the photo below is any indication!

Check those big smiles!

I can't believe it's over. They are officially Mr. and Mrs. and I have fulfilled my Maid of Honor duties above and beyond what Steph could ever have anticipated. Who knows, maybe before too long we'll be planning another wedding here on The Files. Maybe mine!!

Cruise Recap: Island Adventure - Cozumel, Mexico

Today's post is the final in my Cruise Recap series. If you missed any of them you can read about the ship we were on and our days in Haiti, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. The final island was Cozumel, Mexico and this one may have been my favorite of all of them.

We arrived in Cozumel but traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula so we could visit the Tulum Mayan Ruins in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Tulum was one of the final cities inhabited by the Maya and survived about 70 years after the Spanish started to occupy Mexico. I'm talking 13th to 15th centuries here! It was surreal to be standing somewhere that an entire civilization used in a time I can only imagine. The buildings were incredible and we were told that Tulum has a few of the best preserved ruins. We had an amazing tour guide who gave everyone headphones and packs so we could hear him without having to follow him too closely. It was so cool to get the history and hear stories about the Maya.

The focal point was clearly the Pyramid El Castillo (which translates to "The Castle") and I couldn't take enough photos of it. Seriously, when I was going back through my photos I had like 40 shots of it!

It was SO hot that day! I felt like I was baking at a few points. There were also some iguanas that just lounged around and crawled into the buildings. A few of the ruins you could walk through which was pretty neat.

The picture below is of the God of the Winds Temple . So incredible.

There were also really pretty flowering trees and crazy iguanas that were huge and just chilled out in the sunlight.

So there you go. I have now bored you with my entire trip! I hope you at least enjoyed the photos!

Cruise Recap: Island Adventure - Cayman Islands

Today's post is the a follow up to the Cruise Recap series and will talk about our day in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. If you would like to read about the ship and stuff, our day in Jamaica, or our day in Haiti.

Cayman is seriously gorgeous. There was shopping of course all throughout where we were but we decided to do a bit of snorkeling first. I never snorkeled before but it was so much fun!

 The excursion we did was "Reef and Wreck Snorkeling" and was basically just snorkeling in two different locations. The first location was a shipwreck and then we also went to a reef to see all the fish. The boat had a glass bottom and enabled you to see the bottom between the locations. I saw one of the largest sting rays I have ever seen in person or on TV. The thing had to be 2 feet wide! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready for that so I didn't get to snap a photo :( Just FYI, the snorkeling gear is super stylish and the mouthpiece gave me the best looking lips ever....

 

Seriously, who needs botox? Just walk around with a snorkeling mouthpiece on. Jk, that'd be a little weird. Anyway, a sneak peak of the reef is behind Andrew in this photo:

All in all, the snorkeling was so much fun and I can't wait to try snorkeling again! And if you can believe it, this was the only nail photo I took the entire trip! I figured having the backdrop of a reef underwater was too good to pass up. Pardon the chipping nails!!