Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Taking the plunge... into water marbling

Hey guys,

So last post I mentioned water marbling my nails and unfortunately I didn't get to try it for St. Patty's Day (to be honest I didn't do much for St. Patty's day). I had done a few mock up nails with some acrylics I had laying around, but unfortunately the colors I liked for my St. Patty's look weren't working with the water. I learned that not all nail polishes or colors work. So far OPI has worked the absolute best. I managed to make my first successful water marbling on my own nails about a week and a half after the last post. I used OPI's I'm A Princess, You're Not (a color that I absolutely love! It has gorgeous purple and green sheen to it as the light hits it, it's a sheer iridescence.)OPI's No Room For The Blues (a fun, bright, mid tone blue), and Victoria's Secret Midnight Glamour from the Winter 2010 Midnight Glamour collection (a gorgeous metallic navy blue that's very rich in color). I marbled the three of these over Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle in Gentle Blossom (a pretty, slightly shimmery mint green.)

I watched about a dozen tutorials and read tips online before starting and I think that really helped. I recommend watching a few videos just to get an idea of how the process goes. Here's how I did mine:

What you will need:

- A glass (not too wide, and one that you don't care if it gets dirty)
- Room temperature water (I use water that's slightly warm, cold water just won't work)
- Toothpicks or an orange stick
- 2 or more colors you'd like in the nail look (I don't recommend more than 2 or 3 colors to start since it can be a little tricky. If you want to try more colors after you've done a few, go for it!)
- Cheap lip balm stick (or tape if you can figure it out)
- Nail polish remover
- Cotton balls
- Q-tips (cotton swabs)
- Paper towel (to wipe the toothpick or orange stick)
- PATIENCE! :)

- Remove old polish, push back cuticles, apply cuticle oil and base coat, etc. (Basically prep your nails as you normally would. I also happened to file and shape my nails that night.)
- DO A TEST RUN! I can't stress this enough, some colors really won't work for water marbling as I learned. It has nothing to do with price or brand. I had some that were $1 polishes that were working great and some more expensive ones that either just sat there or sank to the bottom. As I mentioned before OPI seems to work across the board (I've tested about 8 colors so far with equal results.). Before you start painting your nails attempt to marble the colors on the surface of the water.
To do this, fill the glass almost all the way with the room temperature water. Shake the nail polishes and open them, leave the handles resting on the rim, you will need to be able to pull them out of the bottles fairly quickly. Take the brush out of the first bottle and instead of wiping the excess on the sides as you normally would, drip a drop of color gently onto the surface of the water, don't have your hand too high or the color will just sink. The polish should spread over the surface and become more transparent. Next take the second color and do the same, but within the first color, it should do the same. Keep repeating this until you have a bulls-eye. Next, take a toothpick or orange stick and drag it through the colors making whatever designs you like. Try dragging it into the middle, out of the middle, or even swirling, be creative! If this all happens then the polishes will work! If one or all of the polishes sink or just sit at the surface, you may need to use a different polish. Glitters tend to be difficult, but some do work!
- Now that you have colors that will marble, apply a base color. This isn't a necessary step, but is nice if you are using any glitters or transparent colors since the base color will show through. If you are using opaque colors, feel free to skip this.
- Once your nails are dry rub the lip balm all over the edges of the finger, the fingertip, and down the finger. Something I learned is that there really isn't too much you can apply. Make sure the nail itself is free of lip balm. By doing this step you have an easier clean up at the end. I also tried the tape method on my second water marbling, but wrapping my fingers in clear tape was difficult to do, but the clean up was fairly easy. I just prefer the lip balm method since it was easier to apply.
- Repeat the steps you did to test the nail polishes.
- Find a piece of the design you like and with your nail facing the water (fingerprint side up) insert your finger into the water just enough to coat the nail, HOLD IT THERE!
- Take a toothpick or the orange stick and insert it into polish around your finger. Twirl and sweep, removing the excess polish from the surface, then once removed, remove your finger. It will dry on it's own. You can sometimes do 2 fingers at a time and this helps the process to go faster. Be careful that you get all the polish off the surface, since if there is polish left behind it will "double dip" your nail so to speak and the pattern will be ruined and you may get bubbles in the nail polish as well.
- If you notice that the polish isn't spreading at any point, place a large drop on the surface and using the toothpick or orange stick drag it to all the edges and give it a few seconds to dry (it's ready when a gentle blow shows a tense, and therefore solid skin of polish) then twirl to remove any bits and pieces that the skin will have picked up. Voila! New, clean surface!
- If the toothpick or orange stick is accumulating polish, just wipe it off on a paper towel.
- Once all the nails have been coated you will want to start cleaning your nails. Using a cotton ball, clean up the finger and hand, basically any large splashes of polish on the skin. Then with a q-tip (cotton swab, clean the area near the nail, be careful not to get too close since you don't want to ruin your design.
- Clean up the edges with an orange stick with polish remover.
- Add a clear topcoat to protect your design.
- Take in all the compliments!

It takes me about 30-40 minutes from start to finish, but I have the feeling it gets faster with practice. A lot of people complimented my nails and I've never met anyone else around here who has done them, so it was fun and totally worth it. (I was tempted to write Totally Fort-Worth It [very cool new color from OPI Texas line] I'm such a dweeb!) I bought a few new OPI colors and did a new marble today with I'm A Princess, You're Not, Chapel of Love (a medium to light pink) and Red Hot Ayers Rock (an almost red, hot pink) and I think it looks pretty good (though I managed to smudge two of my nails while hastily leaving the house (drying drops are on my shopping list.)I have a few other OPI colors I've been eying and I'll probably pick them up this week. I'm debating a bright orange, though I usually HATE oranges and yellows, maybe I'll try something out of my comfort zone.

Quick updates outside of makeup, got all of our furniture in the house (woo!) and we only have a few things left to get moved in! Greg got a job in the Macy's fine jewelry department and I am not complaining.

Well that's all for now (I'm pretty sure this came out as an enormous post...) pictures of the nail looks will be up soon as well as pictures of my beautiful new mint green lipstick :)

So I leave you with this:
What crazy nail looks/colors have you tried or wanted to try? Any suggestions?
Do you want videos?

(I have two looks I'm going to be doing Laffy Taffy/Cotton Candy and Creamsicle :) and once I do those I'll post those too.)

Take care until next time!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Finally a good week!

Hey guys!

So I have to say the last week has been really great! Greg has had 4 interviews and 4 job offers over the last 2 weeks, we're finally getting a fridge, and the apartment is almost moved in! My mother's friend is giving us a TON of furniture and I'm already planning out where all of it is going and what is getting refinished! I started working on a painting for one of the walls and I'll upload some of those pictures soon.
Also VERY excited I won a contest for a pop romance lipstick from Lime Crime! I never win anything so it's pretty exciting! As soon as it comes in I'll post some pictures. I decided on Mint to Be, a pretty mint green shade. I was considering Coquette which was a pale pink/nude color, but I have It Girl from VS which is close.

St. Patty's is tomorrow and I always do something as far a makeup look. I'll probably try the nail marbling tonight and I'll take pictures of that and the makeup and post them.

I've also been doing more research for the makeup line and even though I'm further behind then I'd like, I still have a lot researched. I can't wait to get started.

That's all for now, hopefully I'll post again soon.

What are you all doing for St. Patrick's Day?

Monday, March 14, 2011

Almost moved in?

Hey guys!
I have to start this out by saying I'm proud of myself for blogging twice in the same week! Hooray for better habits! Little shoutouts here at the beginning, today is Pi day for those of you who don't already know and also the birthday of a dear friend! It also would have been Einstein's birthday today, apt seeing as my friend is a genius too!
On to news. So after much wifely (is that a word?) ... persuading, I think we might actually get the apartment moved in! It's been 2 1/2 months, but I'll take it! A good friend of my mother's is also moving and is being EXTREMELY generous and giving us a ton of her old furniture. We're going to sand and stain some of it, but a few pieces are antique and I think they're going to look great in the apartment. It really is a lifesaver as anyone who's been through their first apartment can attest to. Another lifesaver is the fact that my boyfriend's father is buying the fridge! Thank the Gods! I seriously don't know how much shopping for one dinner I could do. It's very hard to be economical when you can only buy what you're making for dinner and you have to get rid of any leftovers. We haven't been able to buy any perishables or stock up on anything that's on sale since we haven't had a fridge to put things in, so this is going to be an amazing improvement.

We're both getting rid of a lot of old stuff, throwing away the unusable, donating what is and considering a Spring yard sale. If we have the yard sale we'll be able to use the money to get some new things for the apartment (which these days is looking kind of barren).

As we get the furniture and refurbish and decorate I'll try to take and post pictures.

Until next time, comment below with some of your stories about moving and getting your first place. What was it like and what are some helpful tips?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

My intentions are good...

...but my procrastination is better! Just popping by to do a quick post. Greg and I went to see Blue Man Group and it was AWESOME! Pictures will be up on facebook and hopefully I can get a few on here too! I've been thinking more and more about my creative outlets lately and the makeup line is definitely up there. I've been having quite a bit of fun trying new nail looks lately and I'm thinking I might do a nail tutorial :) exciting, but nerve-wracking! I've never done a tutorial of any kind before, but I want to try it out!
Hopefully you'll hear from me soon since Spring Break is next week!

Until next time!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Maybe I did get kidnapped... just kidding

You would think that by the title and contents of my last post I might actually have posted soon thereafter... of course not. Life has been so hectic and so much has happened. With school starting next week I thought I might try to get one blog post in before I go back to not having time (or having less of it rather.) I believe in my last post I was still working at the cafe and I was absolutely miserable there, save for the company of one person. Now however I am working at Victoria's Secret and I'm in love with it. The job is phenomenal, the people are great, the hours are pretty good, I couldn't ask for more! It's been great! Although, I did have one incident of a woman threatening to hit me... other than that, I haven't had a bad day yet!

This new job leads me into my new year's resolution, 2011 edition. Every year people say they're going to go to the gym, eat better, quit a bad habit, etc. I had determined before Christmas that I wanted to go the gym and I'm already back into better eating habits and I couldn't really think of a good resolution. About a week and a half into January, it dawned on me. I am going to have all of my debt paid off by June. It's doable, yes it will be difficult and I will have to be more frugal and mindful of my money, but it's a good lesson to myself. I'm also trying to have a savings goal. I have a giant bottle in which I save my change, and by estimate when it's full it's between $200-300 which is pretty damn good for change! Just before new years I emptied it and deposited it with the goal to have it full by June and then again by December. If I can manage that on top of the money I'm having myself deposit weekly, then by the end of the year I could have as much as $1000 extra in my savings. This might not sound like a lot to some, but considering how hard times are and how little I make it would be a nice bonus. I really am hoping Greg and I can take a small vacation this year, I know we could both use it. There are other things I'm saving for too though...

So what is everyone's resolutions?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

No, I didn't get kidnapped

So even though I'm writing this while completely exhausted and already laying in bed, I decided I haven't been very good about keeping up with my blog so why not jot down a quick entry.

It's been an interesting summer I must say...

I suppose I should do this chronologically (as best as I can recall)
After getting kicked out, my boyfriend and I looked for several places to live, and even found a few we liked. I even got offers to stay with people while I found a place, but I couldn't do that. Truth is, I never left. That's right, after all my bitching and moaning, here I am, in the same bedroom as when I wrote my last post. Though I know it may be anticlimactic to think that after my fight for my right to speak my mind, I'm sitting here accepting the way things are, truth is, I'm not. Nope, I'm still looking for a place and so is he. We even started looking at foreclosed homes and land for sale. That's right, in the face of adversity, we're looking to go above and beyond to better things. Excelsior! (Sorry, just got to see Stan Lee)

So my mother and I had a lengthy conversation and I've decided to stay here for a while. She thinks I'm staying until the end of college, but I'm just staying until my bills are paid and I have enough money aside to move out.

Speaking of college, I'm about to go back at the end of this week and the summer could not have gone by any faster :( I only got to go to the beach once or twice, though I'm hoping to go tomorrow. I worked Monday to Friday day shifts every day all summer and still didn't get ahead on my bills :( The job (I won't mention where) is completely stressful and I've actually cried a few times. I get screamed and sworn at for minor things and it isn't worth it. I'm looking at a new (less stressful) job and I think the interview went well. I should know by the end of the week.

Spent quite a bit of the summer trying to fill up my school schedule for the fall, and guess what, with school starting in 3 days, I only just got my last class. Many of the courses I needed to take aren't being offered this year and so I have to wait even longer to graduate (those who know me, know I was supposed to graduate at the end of this year) and I'm not pleased. So now I'm taking random filler classes in order to stay full time. UMass needs to get themselves together. I'm sick of paying $10k a year just to pay them. This is ridiculous already.

In more ridiculous school news, I finally got a chance to check out a school I've been looking at since high school. I looked at two graduate programs and I'm thinking of doing the one I originally wanted back in the day. Their PA program has ridiculous standards and is a 3 year masters program... I might as well do the extra year somewhere else and then get a PhD...

School is frustrating.

Other news (for a quick blog post, this is getting quite lengthy)
After long debating dropping the cash, I purchased some expensive, bright cosmetics. They're great, don't get me wrong, it's just that afterwards I ended up reading some reviews and seeing some color swatches and realizing they were just repackaged... I won't mention any names...

So out of the bad came some good! I decided that hey, if this person can get away with repackaging and making a fortune, I could probably make a business out of making creative, but wearable blends. I won't reveal too much now because I'm still in the early phases, but I'm working on colors and lines at the moment and am hoping to start production as early as the beginning of next year. :D Super excited!

I'm looking for feedback from people of all age groups, styles, skin tones, everything!
What colors do you look for in eye makeup that are difficult to find or that you wish you could have?
Do you like a matte (flat color) or shimmery/shiny finish on your eye makeup?
etc.
Basically, tell me what you look for and want!

Well, I'm pretty exhausted, I shall have to finish the updates sometime soon.
For now, take care!

- Crash

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

View from the bottom

Well this has been an interesting week, :sigh:. Where do I begin? So during one of my oh so frequent fights with my mother, she decided to hit me, so I did what any angsty daughter does... I posted my anger on facebook. Well it turns out someone told my mother about my desire to "break her arms" so she wouldn't hit me. Turns out my mother didn't take very kindly to that. Her reaction was to, I dunno, kick my ass out. -_- I wouldn't mind it so much if I only had one of those, what are they called? Oh yeah, a real job. On top of that, it wasn't so much the getting kicked out so much as the barrage I received verbally from my grandmother who proceeded to call me a monster and a prostitute and tell me that I'm a horrible person who my mother has had the displeasure of having to suffer with since the day I was born because of what a wonderful person she is. I was also told how lucky I was to be born of my mother and not of my grandmother or else I would have been beaten every day of my life since I was born so I would know what was good... call me crazy, but maybe that's where things went wrong in the first place. I'd also like to mention that my crazy ass family actually believes my mother when she says I elbowed her across the face and broke her earring... yeah because that's what everyone calls it when someone puts their arms in front of their face to not get punched...

Anyway
Now I have 36 days to not only find a decent job, but find a place to live and a way to survive... we'll see how this goes. I'll keep you posted readers.

Wish me luck!
- Crash

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Never eaten a crayon!! Your missing out :p

I shall have to find one and indulge in it's delicious waxiness lol

Ask me anything :)

Summer begins....

So I think I can officially say it's summer. I mean, I know it's not summer summer, but it's summer enough for me. Though work and finances aren't where I want them to be right now at least I'm done with school for now. My grandmother and aunt arrived well yesterday and it should prove to be an interesting next 6 weeks. My grandmother always brings a lot of peace (much needed in this case) to my household, so that will be nice. There's also the added bonus that the end of her trip will also be taking my family (minus me) back to Brazil. I'll have a nice quiet house for a while at least. They drive me crazy, but I know I'll miss them, at least I'll have Jack and Dexter for company.

Today was a good day overall, family loves my boyfriend which is a perk, mom has calmed down a little, the weather was nice, and I'm back to designing which is fantastic. I'm going to use the time my grandmother is here to work on not only my curtains for my room (which I am in dire need of thanks to my creepy neighbors), but also my Halloween costume as well as a few pieces I'm designing. It's a lot cheaper to make dresses for summer than to buy them, plus you get the added bonus of a better fit and it being exactly what you wanted. Same goes for things like jewelry, I make very basic designs, but at least I know I like them. Which leads me to another great things this weekend...
I had wanted an agate necklace like some I had seen from top designers, the only problem was that even the cheapest ones I could find from designers no one had heard of, were several hundred dollars! I knew I couldn't afford one from Gucci (even though I was in love with it) because it was several thousand dollars, so I asked my grandfather for his help. The area of Brazil my family is from is rich with mines, from gold to jewels, it's fertile with beautiful things. My grandfather is good friends with a jeweler. I sent him the designs for what I was hoping to get and this weekend it came to fruition! I received two BEAUTIFUL agate necklaces as well as a keychain with the same cut. I can't wait to wear them!

Well, it's been a long day, so I'm off to bed.

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to summer.

- Crash

What is your favorite color? What color best describes your mood? Have you ever eaten a crayon? 0.o

My favorite color is a.d.d. lol I have a few favorites, but I think my top three would have to be purple, red, and black. My mood would be a purple. It can be very subtle and mellow, but change the hue and it can be bright and bubbly or dark and smoldering. I find that purple is one of those colors that can be very versatile. And no, I've never eaten a crayon... though I have wondered about the macaroni and cheese one...

Ask me anything :)