September SquareHue Box

Now that I realize it's almost time for the October box, I really need to get the September swatches posted! I've been a slacker this month!

 

The Serengeti Collection

The first color is called Grassland Safari. It's kind of a chartreuse green...not my favorite. I'm not a big fan of this color green in general, but I really didn't like it on me. It completely matches the preview picture that they posted for this collection though. The formula was a little thin, I used 4 coats for this photo and still have slight VNL. As always, it's got amazing shine. That's probably one of my favorite things about SquareHue polishes.

Second color is Savanna Sundowner. I don't really know how to describe this color. It's greenish with a pretty golden shimmer to it. I liked this one more than I thought I would. This is 3 coats, no topcoat.

Last color is Swahili Charm. A beautiful chocolate brown. I love this one. I think it's going to be a great color for fall! This is 3 coats, no topcoat.

Have you signed up for SquareHue yet? I really like the variety of colors that I've gotten from them. A lot that I really like and probably wouldn't have chosen for myself.

Dexter!

The series finale of Dexter was Sunday night. I was so sad to see it end! I absolutely love that show! However, I wasn't thrilled with the way it ended...

SPOILER ALERT!!

...I was bawling when he drove into the hurricane, but I felt like it should have ended there. Him showing up as a lumberjack was just weird. It didn't make sense, and it just wasn't realistic. We're supposed to believe that he survived the hurricane? I don't know if I would have been happy with any ending though, I'm just upset that it's over :(

Well, being one of my favorite shows, I had to have my nails done for the occasion. So I went with this drip technique. This is the first time I've tried it, and it was easier than I expected. They fit perfectly with the blood splatter theme I was going for.

We had a Dexter finale party at our house with a few other friends, so I made some awesome cupcakes! I was so excited with the way they turned out! Edible glass and everything! Thank goodness for Pinterest! And they were just as yummy as they look :)

The results are in!

Hello all! I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last post. This summer has been so busy, the last month with the kids returning to school being no exception.

This post may be a little text heavy, this mani has a story with it.

Awhile back, as I was getting into bed one night, I had a tender spot on my right breast. I started feeling around and felt a lump. I decided to wait a few days and see if it would go away, maybe it was just a sore muscle. A few days went by and it no longer hurt, but the lump had not gone away, so I made an appointment with my OBGYN. She checked me, and based on my family history, which has a lot of cancer, she scheduled me to get a mammogram and an ultrasound. I was starting to get nervous, I mean, I'm only 27! A couple days later I had an appointment with a surgeon, he reviewed the scans and said they weren't very helpful, and the only way to know for sure what it was would be to biopsy the lump. Two days later, I went to the hospital for surgery. While coming out of the operating room, still quite drugged up, I heard one of the nurses say, "She did awesome." So naturally I chimed in, "I am awesome." :) Then I'm pretty sure I fell back asleep. Then a bit later, a male nurse was going to get my husband, so he asked, "Are you married?" I said, "Yep, sorry." Then fell asleep again. Apparently I'm a little sassy when I'm drugged up! 

The night before I went in for surgery, I did my nails. And what would be more appropriate for a breast biopsy than breast cancer awareness ribbons? I started with two coats of OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Stamped with Calvin Klein- Sheer Sparkle, added dots with Color Club- Blushing Rose, and topped with HK Girl. They were perfect. And the nurses loved them.

About five days after my biopsy, I got a phone call from the surgeon's office and the biopsy was negative for breast cancer!! A huge relief after a few very busy, very stressful weeks.

China Glaze- Astro Hot

I want to begin by saying, I apologize for all the time you're going to waste with this information... Do you play Candy Crush on your iPhone or iPad? Hate waiting for your friends to send you lives? Here's a trick...when you run out of lives, change the date on your phone to a day ahead, switch back to the game, then change the date back to today's date. There you have it, infinite lives. I don't know if it will work on other devices as I've only tried it on these two. At times I wish no one would have told me this. Although it did help me pass level 65 in only about half a day, which according to my sister, is kind of a big deal. I'm now struggling through level 133.

Down to business...for my birthday, I got a few of the Hologlams. They're such pretty colors, but I do wish the holo was stronger, like the Color Clubs. Those are incredible. Though in the sun, or lightbox like these pictures, the holo looks great. This is 2 coats of Astro Hot.

This is such a great color! I should have taken a picture out of the lightbox so you could see it without all the holo goodness. It's still really pretty.

August SquareHue Box

The Endless Summer Collection

I got this month's box super quick. I mean like, August 2nd kinda quick. It was great! I don't really know what I was expecting, but I was surprised when I saw the colors. I saw a gradient someone did with these, and it completely made sense. These are perfect for a summer sunset. That's on my to-do list for this week so you can see what I mean.

The first color in the box is Bikini Beach. A very bright, golden yellow creme. As always, their cremes are super shiny. The formula was a little sheer, kind of a pain...this is 3 coats, no topcoat.

Next up is Scorched Summer. It's more of a burnt orange color. This picture doesn't seem quite right to me, it's a little more red than it appears in real life. I couldn't get a photo that looked right. Look at that shine! It's so shiny you can almost make out my reflection in it! This was super opaque, I could have easily gotten away with one coat, but I used 2 here, again, no topcoat.

Last, and my absolute favorite from this collection, we have Surf Gypsy. The first glitter I've gotten from SquareHue! It's a gorgeous cranberry color packed with holo glitter. Unfortunately, I swatched these at night after my kids went to bed, so I didn't get a picture of this in the sun. You can see a bit of the holo though. It's super pretty. I'm sure this will be a go-to this fall. This is also 2 coats, no topcoat.

The September box is called The Serengeti Collection. Check out squarehue.com to sign up!

Braided

So I finally did it. I took the plunge. I download Candy Crush. I probably shouldn't have, but at 3am when I couldn't sleep, I needed something to do! And now I'm hooked. And stuck. On level 34. I've heard about the dreaded level 65 and am not looking forward to it.

On to today's look...I have lots of braided nails on my Pinterest board. I love how they look. I've always wanted to try it, but like I always say, just never got around to it. I got so many amazing new polishes for my birthday, I really need to work my way through them! So I used 3 of my new ones for this look.

I started with 2 coats of Essie- In the Cab-ana on all but my ring finger. This color is amazing! The formula was perfect, I could have easily gotten away with one coat. On my ring finger I did 2 coats of OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I've been lemming that color for a loooong time, and finally got it :) For the braid part, I used those two colors along with Essie- Bobbing for Baubles. It looks pretty black in these pictures, but it's such a gorgeous dark gray. I love it.

I thought my braid actually turned out better on my right hand (weird since I'm right handed!) So I threw in a close up of that one as well.

Have you done braided nails? I thought doing it just as an accent would be easier, but after playing a round of Candy Crush in between each swipe to wait for it to dry, my phone died and I realized if I had done them all braided, by the time I got to my 10th nail, the 1st would be dry and it probably would have been quicker in the end. Talk about a run-on sentence!

Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil™

I've been following the Simple Nail Art Tips Facebook page for months now. I read pretty much everything that Ana posts, and I feel like I've really learned a lot, but I still hadn't tried her nail oil. I've seen so many amazing before and after photos from people using her oil from 3 days to several weeks. It really seemed to make such a difference! A few weeks ago, she dropped the price of the nail oil pen to just $4.99, and I guess that was the push I needed to take the plunge. I decided to give her "Get Naked Challenge" a try.

I ordered the pen from Amazon and the shipping was very fast. After I placed my order, I was disappointed to realize that I had selected the fragrance free oil. I was so anxious to see how wonderful it smelled since everyone raved about it. When I got the package, Ana had included little samples of all 3 scents! That was so exciting for me and an awesome touch. The summer scent smells incredible!

To be honest, I didn't think I would see much of a difference. I change my polish 3-4 times a week, I use cuticle oil every time I polish, and I use Lush Lemony Flutter, or Burt's Bees Cuticle Balm every night before bed. I felt like I took pretty good care of my nails/cuticles beforehand, so I wasn't sure if this would do that much. I was pretty shocked when I first put it on, unlike other oils I've used, it didn't bead up on top of my nails, it soaked in really fast!

Below is my before and after pictures from the 3 day hydration treatment. My cuticles and all the skin around my nails was so much more moisturized and my nails just look healthier. So far, I'm loving it and plan to continue using it for sure! You can tell from the pictures how much of the pen has been used after the 3 days, so I'll need more very soon. Apparently my nails were a lot more thirsty than I thought!

You can get Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil™ on Amazon here or straight from Ana's shop here. If you follow her page on Facebook, she does giveaways 3 days a week, and posts tons of great information. I just learned this last week the difference in the cuticle and eponychium. I had never even heard of eponychium before! It's all very interesting and informative :)

My Birthday Nails!

I turned 27 yesterday! Woohoo! It's really not nearly as exciting these days as it was when I was little. I'm just starting to feel old. But, it was a good excuse to do something bright and fun on my nails!

I started with one coat of Sinful Colors- Snow Me White as undies. Then sponged China Glaze- Fancy Pants and Ahoy! for my gradient. You can't see much in these pictures, but they both have the same amazing pink shimmer in them, it was really cool how the shimmer was all the same through the gradient, I wish I could have gotten it to show in photos. The stamp was done with BM-315 and Snow Me White.

And last, but not least...my birthday haul! This is all a combination of polishes from my Mom, my friend, Sarah, my kids, and some that I picked up with birthday money :)

Ahh....aren't they beautiful?!?

Mint Manis for Talia Joy

It's always sad when cancer takes a life, but even more so when it's a child. This look is in honor of Talia Joy. I'm sure you've all seen a lot of mint manis today. Her last Instagram photo was of mint nails, so it seems only fitting for us all do to the same. I read this from Nicole at Nail Polish Wars...

Talia was a beautiful thirteen year old girl who was battling two horrible forms of cancer, neuroblastoma and preleukemia. She was also a supremely talented make up and nail artist.  You might have seen her amazing appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, where she was also made an honorary Cover Girl!

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen- Mint Sorbet. On my ring finger, I added one coat of Orly- Sparkling Garbage. On my middle finger, I stamped with BM-02 and Essie- Go Overboard.

#mintmanisfortaliajoy
‎#TaliasLegacy‬

July SquareHue Box

I apologize if my photos aren't the best quality these days. I think the 117 degree weather in Vegas fried something in my camera! Every picture I take is super blurry and the color on the LCD is all sorts of messed up. So I've had to use my phone for my pictures the last few weeks.

Also, sorry it's taken me so long to get this SquareHue box swatched! I was really sick last week and didn't get much accomplished.

Down to business... the July box was called The Salute Collection.

The first color is Valor. A pretty sage green color. Very Army green. At first glance, I really didn't care too much for this color. It was prettier than I expected though. Although I'm not sure I would wear it on it's own. Like all of their cremes, it's super shiny. This picture is 3 coats, no topcoat.

The next color is Patriot. A very vibrant, royal creme. I immediately loved this one, and when I put it on, that didn't change. It was gorgeous! In this picture, there is a hint of visible nail line, but in real life, there was none at all. This is 3 coats, no topcoat.

The last color is Honor. A really pretty gold shimmer. This one is super pretty, but I don't like gold with my skin tone. It will be great for nail art though, and I have a couple of little divas that no doubt, will love it. This is 2 coats, no topcoat.

Overall, this wasn't one of my favorite boxes. I ended up not getting the June box, and kinda wish I had gotten that one instead of this one. Oh well, I guess you can't win em all! I'm anxious for the next box, it's called The Endless Summer Collection...very intriguing...

Cheers!

My husband made sure I saw this commercial. He skipped back and said, "this is so you." I thought you would all enjoy it as well :)

Blue Reciprocal Gradient

I've seen the reciprocal gradient around a few times. On challenges, and a lot on Pinterest, and I've always wanted to try it myself. It was a little intimidating and looked time consuming, so I kept putting it off. The other night, the kids went to bed early, and we didn't have any shows on, so I had plenty of time to spend on my nails, so I decided to go for it! And I'm so glad I did! I love them!!

I started with a base of one coat of Milani- White on the Spot, then did my gradient with a makeup sponge and White on the Spot, Sally Hansen- Blue Away, and NYC- Water Street Blue. I topped that with HK Girl and gave it awhile to make sure it was dry. Then I cut 30 little strips of striping tape and used tweezers to place them all on my nails. I used the same colors in reverse order over the tape. I made sure to pull the strips of tape off white the polish was still wet to get clean lines. 

This was my halfway point :)

After removing all the tape, I topped it with one final coat of HK Girl and I'm absolutely loving the results!! Let me tell you though, clean up was a nightmare!! I think next time I do it, I'll tape off my nails before starting.

What do you all think? Are you going to give this look a try?!

4th of July!

A few days late, but better late than never, right?! This is what I wore on my nails for the 4th of July this year. It was also my 4th wedding anniversary! And I'm still quite fond of my sweet hubby :)

I started with 2 coats of Milani- White on the Spot. Then I used hole re-enforcers to tape off the half moons, and sponged Calvin Klein- Bombshell and Wet 'n' Wild- Denim Chrome on the rest of the nail. Then I stamped with White on the Spot and W-107 from the Winstonia set.

I really loved these! They turned out just how I imagined in my mind, and they were so festive!

Geometric Double Stamping

We're leaving for Vegas this morning! Woohoo! Watch out Sephora, here I come!

I really love abstract or geometric designs in pretty much anything, so I've been wanting to use this design for awhile and finally got around to it!

I started with 2 coats of SquareHue- Day Glow, then stamped with Konad Special Black and BM-203. I wasn't quite satisfied with that, so I stamped again with Sinful Colors- Snow Me White and stamped the design upside down over top of the black. Topped it with one coat of HK Girl. I really love how this one turned out, it was really striking in person as well

 

See you all when I return from vacation!

Color Club- Cloud Nine Swatch

I don't use the term "OMG", but if I did, this would be an appropriate time. I just can't get enough of this polish. Every time I put it on, I just ooh an aah and annoy my husband telling him he has to come and see how amazing this is....again.

Two gorgeous, effortless coats is all it takes to wow me with this one.