First Manicure of the New Year - OPI The Show Must Go On

Happy (late) New Year! How has it been so far? Mine has been pretty good. I got a set a Burlesque minis for Christmas and the one that appealed to me the most was 'The Show Must Go On'. Its a pretty red-ish pink that shifts orange in certain ligthing. It looks gorgeous and unfortunately I wasn't able to capture how cool it really is. That's partially because I waited too long and partially because colours like this can be tricky to photograph.

I took the picture with China Glaze Peppermint Cuticle Oil since its hard to take pictures with the mini bottles. I recommend checking your Sally's clearance section; I found tons of discounted polishes at mine, especially ones from holiday collections. I also picked up this cuticle oil since they had a whole container full of them for .99 cents each. I actually really like it and the peppermint smell is nice.

On an entirely different subject...I have some cute pictures to show you! When I asked my boyfriend Chase what he wanted for Christmas the only thing he said he wanted was a kitten. So I got him one. He is so cute but don't let that fool you...he's a troublemaker as well! It was nearly impossible to take pictures of him. Most of them came out blurry. He even tried to attack the camera.

His name is Riku and he was about 8 weeks old when we got him. He's so small he gets in to everything but he is so adorable you can't be mad at him.
Once again, Happy New Years! Have you made any New Year's resolutions?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Grunge Nails ☆

How was everyone's holiday? I had a good one. On Christmas Eve I spent time with family and Christmas day I just spent time with my boyfriend, sister and parents. I got 3 OPI mini sets for Christmas: Go Goth, Swiss, and Burlesque. For this manicure I used Obscurity (a matte black) and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous. (a sparkly gunmetal grey).

I tried to make a gradient effect with the gunmetal grey colour but it didn't turn out exactly like I pictured. I still like it though, its very grunge looking. We didn't have any makeup sponges so I used a semi-fluffy craft brush and patted the grey on top of the matte black. 

It only took 2 coats of the matte black to be opaque. I was pretty impressed with it, normally I have trouble with matte polishes. I also didn't have as much trouble with the mini bottles as I normally do. They haven't changed or anything, I guess my application must have improved. I think Lucern-tainly Look Marvelous would look spectacular on its own with top coat. Lightly applied here it doesn't look too glittery but in the bottle it flashes blue and pink sparkles. 

My mom got me a really neat nail file for Christmas and so far I love it. It works so much better than emery boards and I even like it better than the glass and crystal files. After I use it for awhile I might review it if you're interested. Its a little pricey ($28) so I'll let you know if I think its worth purchasing.

What did you get for Christmas? How was your holiday?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Happy Holidays! (Red and Silver Nail Art)

I can't believe its Christmas Eve tomorrow...time flies! I'm not much of a holiday nail person, but I wanted to use some festive colours.I used 3 coats China Glaze Thunderbird as the base and then painted silver X's on my nails with L.A. Colors Art Deco silver striper.

I wish the sun would have come out today! I took these pictures this morning before going out for sushi with my aunt. She is the only one who will go with me so I'm glad she is back in town. =) I'm thinking about changing the layout of my blog after the new year...any ideas on colours I should use?

I'm really hoping to get some neat nail art stuff for Christmas this year. What's on your wishlist?

Peace, Love, and Happy Holidays!
Serena

Christmas Confetti

Yay! Finally I have a new blog post. =) I've been waiting to use China Glaze Party Hearty since the last week of October, when I first purchased it. I wanted to wait until closer to Christmas to wear it. I'm not really a seasonal person. Last Christmas I was wearing neon green. This colour has been layered over emerald green, silver, gold, white, black, and red by other bloggers so I wanted to think of something different. I chose to layer it over Joe Fresh Mint, a pretty mint green. It took three coats to become opaque. I painted one coat of Party Hearty, then touched up a few areas that didn't have as much glitter. It wasn't as gritty as I thought it would be but it definitely needs topcoat. 

My mom bought that cute violin ornament you see in the last picture. Both me and my sister play the violin. I love this combination, I wasn't sure if it would look good but I've received several compliments on it. I have a feeling it will be my only Christmas manicure. I'm just not in to doing seasonal stuff. I do whatever I get inspired to do. 

I need recommendations for a really moisturizing cuticle oil/hand cream. I already have dry skin and it is getting really bad in this cold weather. Solar Oil hasn't been working for me ever since it got cold.Thankfully it hasn't snowed yet!

I was tagged today by (Squoval)iscious! with an award/questions tag. I was surprised to find I wasn't following her yet! She has some really beautiful designs on her blog and I am thankful she tagged me.

1. Why did you create the blog?
I had been reading nail blogs for a year and finally decided I wanted to create one too. I liked the idea of sharing my manicures and I was just getting in to nail art too. The community is my favourite part; I love receiving feedback from the comments.

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?
Mostly nail and beauty blogs. I am following a few random blogs, like a Beatles photo blog and a couple blogs about Japan.

3. Do you have a favorite make-up brand?
I'm not much in to makeup but I do like Fyrinnae. I love smaller companies because they always seem to have excellent customer service and unique products. Their products are often cheaper as well.

4. And a favorite clothing brand?
Not brand conscious at all! I can't really think of too many brands, I just wear what I like.

5. What make-up products are essential for you?
Lip Balm, mascara, lip gloss, sunscreen. I only wear eye makeup occasionally when I feel like it!

6. What's your favorite colour?
Purple or teal.

7. What's your favorite perfume?
I don't have a specific one. I like fresh scents like lemon, mint, cucumber. On the other hand, I enjoy fruity scents too. I really like most scents except sugary, vanilla, and cookie type scents.

8. What's the film you liked the most?
Ehh...I don't know. xD

9. What countries would you like to go?
I've already been to Germany and Austria but I would LOVE to go again. I also want to visit South Korea, Australia, the UK, and Japan. 

I tag/award Starving Nail Addict! I love her designs. =) 

I realized I haven't updated my blog link list in awhile so I am going to do that now. There are a lot of blogs I need to add to it. Also, I checked to make sure I am following everyone who is following me. If you follow me or comment on here I will most likley check out your blog and follow. 

It's nice to post again...thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,

Serena.

Update: Time flies when you're writing essays!

Essay + Finals= no posts. I can't believe how long its been since I posted anything! I have been seriously swamped with school work, essays, etc. that I haven't had an extra time to blog. I haven't even been commenting on blogs as I usually do. December 17th is my last days of school for this semester so I will get back in to the swing of things then! I wanted to do this quick update just to apologize and let all of you know what was going on. If you're interested in more random details about my life and what has been going on the last few weeks, keep reading. If not, I will have a relevant post up Sunday or Monday! The picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I added it in for two reasons: 1. It accurately depicts what has been going on inside my mind (pure chaos) and 2. I can't write a post without adding pictures.

Procrastinating my online class was not a good idea. Most of the insane work I have been doing lately has been my online Government class. It's a semester long course and is required for graduation in the state of Oklahoma. I had to take it online because my schedule couldn't fit another class. My schedule is like this: 1st hour: Orchestra, 2nd hour: Math of Finance, 3rd hour: Chemistry, 4th hour: British Literature. Next I have lunch then I go to a technical/vocational school in my area. I take a class called "Graphic Communications" which includes graphic arts/design, photography, printing, page layout, screen printing, typography, and bindery. We learn Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and a little bit of Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. So long story short, due to Orchestra and my Graphic Arts class I didn't have time to take Government at school. At this point I really want to avoid online classes. The particular program they use for online classes is irritating. I have a teacher overlooking my course who grades projects and essays. She also has to unlock tests for me. I'm not sure why she has to do that...my counselor mentioned something about students skipping the essays and assignments and just doing the tests. My response to that is: wouldn't you fail the class if you skipped all the work and just did the tests? I have never in my life taken a class that had so many reports and essays. In total I have written 7 essays for this class in one semester. 1,000 word essays on Feudalism, Open Door policy, the U.S. Senate, political parties, etc. Another thing that irritated me about this online class is that when I submitted my essay it entered it in as a zero until it was graded by the teacher. The first time I turned in an essay I freaked out because my grade dropped from an A to D. I wish it would have just marked it as N/A or something like that until it was graded.

Besides my Government class I had a six to eight page research report for English, worth 1000 points. I got it done, it wasn't too bad and I am confident I did well on it. I won't know for awhile though, seeing as she has probably one hundred of them to grade. I procrastinated more than I should have on it but in the end it got done. I can't believe the first semester of my senior year is almost over. Time flies when you're writing essays having fun!

Congratulations if you read this far, sorry for rambling/complaining about my life. I'm more than ready for Christmas break, hopefully I will have time to post more often then.

Since I actually I have some free time right now I'm going to relax, comment on some blogs and do something fun!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Nail Fraud Review

About a week ago Nail Fraud posted on their facebook page that they were giving out one free kit to anyone who sent them an email with their name and address. I had seen Nail Fraud on a blog once and wanted to try them out, so I sent in my information. Yesterday I got them in the mail and decided to use them today. I was sent 1 kit which includes 20 nail 'stickers' and an emery board. The instructions say to clean your nails using acetone or polish remover (regardless of whether or not you have polish on) and fit the stickers on your nails. The set comes with different sizes and for the most part I didn't have trouble fitting them onto my nails. It was a bit difficult to line them up straight and get them on your nails smoothly. I did have a few bumps. These decals are stretchy though so you can pull them to conform to your nails. Pulling them can also help take out creases. Here is how mine turned out:

These reminded me a lot of Incoco nail appliques, except these come in fun patterns. I wanted to like these but there are many things that prevent these from becoming an A+ product for me. The sticker started to come up less than an hour in to wearing these, so I put top coat over them and so far they have stayed. (I've been wearing them for about 3 hours now.) Also, they are a bit difficult to apply and not all your nails will come out perfect. I'm not sure if you can see the imperfections in my nails in the picture. (click to enlarge the images) The packaging says they're fast to apply but this product isn't really any quicker than painting your nails. I will probably keep these on until I get bored with them or they start coming off. Without topcoat, these don't last at all. One thing that bothers me about the website is that the leopard pattern on there doesn't match the one I have, which makes me wonder how accurate their product pictures are.

Pros: Fun patterns, relatively easy to apply once you get the hang of it, comes with more than needed in case you mess up.
Cons: Only available on their website, $12 for one application, inaccurate pictures,  requires topcoat to last for more than an hour.

I'm not really sure if I recommend these or not. They are pricey and I wasn't impressed with the wear (before I applied topcoat) but they are kind of fun and the designs are cute. I'm curious how they compare to Incoco so I might test those out as well. The only reason I haven't yet is because their colour selection (in my local Walgreens) is really unimpressive. I will have a final verdict on the wear of these at the beginning of my next post.

I have been so busy lately with finals, research papers, the holidays, etc. I haven't been able to post two times a week as usual and I haven't been commenting on other blogs either. I will probably only post once a week until Winter Break starts. (December 17th) I can't wait to be off school again...these essays are killing me! >.<

Have you tried Nail Fraud or Incoco? What did you think of them? Do you think they're worth the money? Let me know what you think.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Peace On Earth (China Glaze Holiday 2010)

I LOVE THIS COLOUR. I'm really happy China Glaze included this in their 2010 Holiday collection; it is an unusual colour, especially for a Holiday collection. This would be my first olive green polish and I can already tell it won't be my last. I also love the name, Peace on Earth.  About a year ago I probably would have cringed at a colour like this. (That was back when I wouldn't wear anything but purple or teal/turquoise/blue-green on my nails.)

Yuck...my skin looks weird in the sunlight. I was catching the last bit of available sun at this point!

Despite my love for this colour, it does have some formula issues. =/ There are very slight brushstrokes and I had a hard time getting this too look even. It has the same troubles many metallic colours have. I used 2-3 coats. Some fingers have two coats, some have three. You might not have these same issues if your application skills are better than mine. The small flaws don't bother me too much though, I love this colour and it is unique in my collection. Plus the bottle has a silver cap! =)

Tomorrow is my last day of school before Thanksgiving Break and I'm excited! I really need a break; school has been tough lately.  I normally like to do 2+ posts a week but that hasn't been happening lately. Hopefully during this break I can get to some of the posts I've been wanting to do. School should be slowing down soon though and before long I will be off for winter break. (December 17th I believe.) My senior year is flying by...

Thanks for reading!

Peace and Love,

Serena

Plum Plaid Nail Art

I love plaid patterns. I can't believe its taken me this long to do plaid on my nails. I used Essence Plum Perfect as a base and used LA Colors Art Deco polishes for the stripes. The sun is setting even earlier now...I did this design immediately when I got home and rushed to take pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera so I almost missed daylight. I charged it enough to where I could take some picture though.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. There are only 5 lines on each nail: a silver one slightly off centered, a white one on one side, a black one on the other side, and two stripes across the whole nail.

I'm working on a post soon about nail art and the tools I use. I'll probably keep this design on for awhile. Sorry about the lack of posts lately, school and life in general has gotten busier. I can't wait for Thanksgiving Break! I reached 100 followers not too long ago and I just want to say thanks to all of you. When I first started I wasn't sure if anyone would read my blog.

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Joe Fresh Cherry Konad

No matter what shade of red I wear I always think it looks odd on me. I used to hate red nail polish and I would refuse to wear it. Now, I don't mind it so much. I didn't like it so much on its own so I stamped a circular patten to the tips of my nails using plate S06. The design even matches the polish bottle.

This is the first Joe Fresh polish I have used, and I had no problems with it. Its a jelly so it took 3 coats to cover. The brush is wide and flat so application is easy. I can't believe Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be here soon, which also means the school semester will be over soon. I have a feeling my senior year will go by really quickly once the new year starts. I'm already seeing Christmas displays out! Personally, I think Christmas displays should wait until after Thanksgiving.

I appreciate all the interesting feedback regarding the Rush topcoat review. It just goes to show that not all products work for everybody. Speaking of feedback, does anyone have any nail art ideas? Unfortunately I've been lacking inspiration lately. I've also been busy with school stuff too. Let me know in the comments if you do!

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Fail Topcoat Review (Rush 60 Second High Speed Nail Lacquer)

At the very least all topcoats should give your nails shine and help protect them from wear. A good, basic top coat should also last on nails. This one can't even do that. There are only two positive things I can say about this topcoat: It is inexpensive ($4.99 at Sally's) and it does dry quickly. Other than those two things this topcoat was a complete failure for me. After using up Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, I went to Sally's and picked up this topcoat to try out. When I first used it I wasn't extremely impressed, nor was I disappointed. It dried quickly, left a shiny finish and wasn't too thick. I did notice it was unusually thin and it didn't give as much of a glassy finish as most topcoats I'm used to. I figured I had probably just got used to that from using Seche Vite and Insta Dri so I continued to use it. One thing I noticed about this topcoat is it doesn't last. I painted my nails around noon one day and by 6:00 PM the shine was noticeably diminished. My nails also had that feeling like they didn't have topcoat on them. I painted another coat on that night. At that point I wondered if I would get even halfway through the bottle.

As far as nail art goes, the first few times I used it my design smeared so I always took blog pictures before I used topcoat. Back when I did my Breast Cancer Awareness manicure I started to become fed up. The polish I used in that manicure didn't dry shiny, it had more of a suede finish. (Not completely matte, but slightly.) I noticed the topcoat wearing off with this manicure the most. I painted it on and my nails looked shiny, then 5 hours later they looked dull again. After my Hidden Treasure manicure I decided to get a new topcoat. Flaky polishes usually aren't too gritty but they do have a texture to them. This topcoat did not smooth out that texture.

Pros: Dries quickly, inexpensive
Cons: Topcoat wears off really quickly, defeating the purpose of applying topcoat. Smears nail art. Doesn't give as glassy of a finish as I would like. Not recommended for glitters at all, it wouldn't even make Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure feel smooth.

Have you tried this topcoat? I'm wondering if anyone else has had a bad experience or if it's just me.

EDIT: Just added a box under followers where you can like my facebook page without having to go to facebook. It took me way longer than it should have to figure it out, the code kept messing up. It still doesn't look quite like I wanted it to but it serves its purpose. Plus I'm tired of messing with it.

Peace and Love,
Serena