Inadvertent Hugs

I got some new nail polish this week because I wanted to get a new white, since my mom's old one was clumpy and I use it a lot in nail art, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were on sale for buy two get one free. Clearly that meant that I needed to get three. I got the white, a red (since I was just using my mom's and don't have my own creme red), and a silver since I didn't have any and it's one of my favourite colours.

I decided to do my nails this time using the tape that I got from my nail mail and the new silver. I was happy with this silver which is Metallica by Wet 'n' Wild Shine. I was happy about how well it applied for being such a cheap nail polish. (The three bottles were each regularly only 93 cents!)

My taped up fingers

 When I painted my nails green over the tape and removed the tape, they weren't as nice looking as I had hoped. I think that my problem was that I was not patient enough to allow the nail polish to fully dry before removing the tape, so it pealed some of it away where it was supposed to stay. (As you can tell, I didn't even care enough to try to clean up around the nails.) Then they got smeared and I just decided to start over.

I kept my ring finger because that was the only nail that actually turned out and I decided to keep using that pattern on the rest of my nails.

They ended up getting a bit messed up, but not at all compared to how they were before. This time they hadn't fully dried when my parents called from the store to help start lunch. A couple of my nails got a little squished and paint moved around, but I tried my best to repair them with my small brush instead of starting over. I'm pretty happy with the final product. I showed my mom and she said that they reminded her of Hershey Kisses wrappers, although I think that it's actually the Hugs that have the stripes. Either way, I really want chocolate whenever I see my nails now!

Nail Mail! (and a whitening tip that sort of works!)

I took off my last manicure last night and my yellow nails disgusted me, so I looked up more ways to try to whiten them. I don't think that it matters that much that my nails are yellow underneath since I always wear nail polish now, but I was thinking about how they are often the first clue to something being medically wrong. I wouldn't want to go in to the hospital, they take off my nail polish and then they see my yellow nails and think that I have liver failure! (Not that I'm expecting to go any time soon, but I have had a tendency to make ER trips in my life.

Anyway, the other trick that I read, that we actually had the stuff for in our house, was lemon juice. I used some from the bottle instead of an actual lemon. I applied it a few times and then left it over night. It's hard to tell from my pictures, but the yellowing actually did improve quite a bit.

Before

Applying with a q-tip

After. I promise they looked better in real life.

I also got my nail mail today! I had ordered some things from Born Pretty Store. Their stuff is really cheap and they ship for free world-wide. That will especially be nice when I'm in Australia because shipping there is ridiculous! It took a bit longer than expected, as I had ordered it on the 10th and just got it today, but a big part of that is probably because I was just so anxious to get it.

I ended up ordering a roll of nail tape (for designs so I don't need to cut up masking tape into small strips), a set of 15 brushes (I only had one small brush and one dotting tool for my nail art before), a temperature changing nail polish, a glow-in-the-dark nail polish, and a mystery bag. The mystery bag contained another roll of tape and some flowery nail designs.

 I was so excited to try my new nail polish that I did one hand with the glow-in-the-dark and the other hand with the temperature changing one. This is my right hand with the glowing one.

With flash in my closet

Without flash in my closet for total darkness.

 The temperature changing looks really awesome in real life because it provides a natural gradient as my nails get colder at the tips. It changes from blue to purple. It was really hard to tell in the pictures, though, so I tried different ways to get the purple more purpley, including putting my hand in front of a fan and putting my hand in the freezer for a bit. I still couldn't really get a picture to portray the effect, so here are a few. Also, the bottle looks like a mix of purple and pink, so I thought that they had sent me the wrong one. However, I went to paint my nails and the polish instantly turned from purple to light blue as it went on my nail. It was really cool to watch!

Spot It!

I am working temporarily at a tutoring company called Mathnasium. The kids come in for one hour sessions and at the end of their session we always play a "cool-down" game. There are a few options of different board games, but one sticks out as the most played game. That is Spot It. I decided that it would be fun to do the different symbols for my manicure. I guess I'll see at work tomorrow if the kids spot my fingernails!

The object of the game is that each card has a bunch of these symbols on it, although there are more than just what appears on my hand. Every card has one and only one symbol the same as any other card in the deck. It's a fun game to see who can spot the similarity between their card and the one in the deck in the middle. I almost always win, as long as the kid that I'm playing with doesn't try to cheat. I do let kids get cards that I mentally spotted first, though, so it's not always a complete blow-out.

The weird thing on my left thumb is the symbol for the spot it games. It's a purple hand with a giant eye and smile. It's very strange.

Q and A

I was invited by Emma from Emma's Space to take part in a Q and A. I thought it would be fun, so I decided what the heck and decided to do it.

1) What are you wearing?
My pajama pants, a t-shirt, and my gray fluffy jacket that I wear around the house to keep warm.

2) Ever been in love?
Yes and we're getting married in July!

3) Ever had a terrible breakup?
Nope. I'm lucky enough to be marrying my first love.

4) How tall are you?
5' 4.5" (That half an inch is important!)

5) How much do you weigh?
About 135 lbs

6) Any tattoos?
No, the sergeant from the State Police thought that was funny when I answered no to that question when I had to get fingerprinted for my background checks for my Australian visa. He apparently thought that was abnormal for someone in my generation.

7) Any piercings?
Only my ears, which were done when I was in kindergarten.

8) OTP? (One True Pairing.)
I don't really have one. I guess it would have to be something from Harry Potter, which is my fandom of choice, so I'll go with Ron and Hermione. My fiancé and I are sort of the Slytherin version of them.


9) Favourite show?
I watch too much tv to just pick one favourite. I suppose it is probably Survivor, but that depends a lot on the season since the people on the show always change. Modern Family is probably my favourite non-reality tv show, though.

10) Favourite bands?
Not a band, but my favourite songs are mostly from Glee. The show is horrible and I mostly watch it like a train wreck, but I like the songs. I mostly listen to songs from musicals/Glee, though.

11) Something you miss?
My fiance. I haven't seen him since early August because of visa and immigration issues that caused me to go back home to America and not go back to Australia yet. Hopefully they will be resolved soon, though, and I can make it back before our wedding!

12) Favourite song?
That's a tough one because my favourite song and the ones I listen to the most are not the same. My favourite song when I'm happy and want to sing is probably "In Summer" from Frozen. My all-time favourite song is Permanent by David Cook. It is a song that he wrote for his now-late brother that died of brain cancer. The year that David won American Idol is also the year that I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had my own struggle with it, so the song hits close to home and makes me cry almost whenever I listen to it. For that reason, I hardly ever actually listen to my favourite song.

13) How old are you?
23 years old

14)Zodiac sign?
Gemini

15) Quality you look for in a partner?
My best friend

16) Favourite quote?
"I guess some people are lucky enough to have been born in the right places; others have to find it."- Winifred, 'The Last Big Attraction'
I always thought that I belonged in the first group because I loved the city where I grew up. Then I met my fiancé and knew that I belonged with him, which happened to be just about the exact opposite place on the Earth!

17) Favourite actor?
Darren Criss. I loved him in A Very Potter Musical and I was thrilled when he got cast in Glee.

18) Favourite colour?
Green, without a doubt. I'm a total Slytherin and love green and silver.

19) Loud music or soft?
It depends on the song and my mood. Usually I like it loud so that I can sing at the top of my lungs and dance!

20) Where do you go when you’re sad?
My bed so that I can take a nap or perhaps to wherever my dog is so that I can hug him.

21) How long does it take you to shower?
Around 15 minutes, but my dad seems to think that it takes me 3 hours. Maybe that's just because I'm usually blasting the Frozen soundtrack and it drives him crazy and makes him think that it's forever.

22) How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
Probably 15 minutes. I usually shower at night so I really just need to get dressed and brush my teeth.

23) Ever been in a physical fight?
I've hit someone, but it's not something I'd care to talk about. It was at a very dark time in my life.

24) Turn on?
I'm weird and don't really have a turn-on.

25) Turn off?
Smoking, drinking, swearing, excessive muscles

26) The reason I started blogging?
My first blogs were when I was studying abroad and wanted my family and friends back home to be able to keep up with what was going on in my life. I started doing this blog because I started to get in to nail art and found other blogs. It seemed like a great place to keep all of my creations since I can't write a lot on the caption of the pins on pinterest.

27) Fears?
My dreams would suggest that I have a huge fear of losing my teeth. In real life, though, my biggest fears are clowns and tall people. I'm not really scared of tall people, per se, but they make my uncomfortable when they're standing.

28) Last thing that made you cry?
Probably missing my fiancé. Long distance relationships are hard.

29) Last time you said you loved someone?
Today

30) Meaning behind your blog name?
I'm a huge nerd. It's just who I am. I also like to do my nails so I am a nerd and I have nails.

31) Last book you read?
Probably my epidemiology textbook about a year ago. I've read parts of books but I don't remember reading anything else since then. (Also, I really loved the epi textbook, so it's not as boring as it sounds!)

32) The book you’re currently reading?
I'm not reading one.

34) Last person you talked to?
My mom

35) The relationship between you and the person you last texted?
My dad

36) Favourite food?
Hot wings. I make the best ones and they must have Frank's RedHot!

37) Place you want to visit?
As nerdy as it is, I want to go to London for two reasons.
1) To visit King's Cross Station Platform 9 3/4
2) To visit the Broad Street Pump, which was made famous by John Snow and the Cholera outbreak. It's important to epidemiology and I'm a huge epi nerd!

38) Last place you were?
Well, I didn't work today so I haven't left my house. I guess the last place that I was was my sister's new house. Her family moved this weekend to a new house, so it was a busy weekend.

39) Do you have a crush?
Um... does my fiancé count?

40) Last time you kissed someone?
If a dog counts, then today. If my mom counts, then last week. If you mean a romantic kiss, then August when I last saw my fiancé.

41) Last time you were insulted?
I have no idea.

42) Favourite flavour of sweet?
Usually strawberry or raspberry

43) What instruments do you play?
I took piano lessons as a kid, but I would by no means say that I can play it.

44) Favourite piece of jewellery?
My engagement ring. There's no competition.

45) Last sport you played?
Quidditch, yes, it's actually a sport that people play. I helped start the Quidditch team at Hope College and we even played other teams. The last time that I played was probably about 4 years ago, though. I just don't do physical activities.

46) Last song you sang?
I'm basically always singing a song whether it's just in my head or out loud, so I really don't know. I'm going to assume that it was probably something from Frozen, though. That or I was singing to my dog. I like to randomly put his name in songs.

47) Favourite chat up line?
Uhhh... I have no clue.

48) Have you ever used it?
Clearly not.

49) Last time you hung out with anyone?
Does my family count? We had a family reunion for my dad's side on Saturday because my cousin came up from Atlanta. Other than family, I really haven't hung out with anyone since my friend from college visited in November.

50) Who should answer these questions next?
I don't actually know anyone that has a blog and would answer these, so I'm just not going to put someone down.

Whitening nails

My nails have gotten really stained from the constant nail polish that I've had on them. I've tried to leave them without nail polish overnight between manicures, but they still have a yellowing. The nails that had red as the base colour for my last manicure also had a red/pink staining. I decided to try a couple of techniques that I've found online to see if they would remove the staining. I didn't have much luck.

First I found a spare toothbrush that we had in the bathroom and tried scrubbing my nails with whitening toothpaste. I forgot to take a before picture of my hand that I tried this on, but I did get a before picture of the other hand. This is my right hand before I did anything.

 This is my left hand after I scrubbed the nails several times with Colgate whitening toothpaste and a toothbrush. It's hard to tell because it is a different hand, but I think that it did get rid of the pink staining and it made the yellow slightly less, although it wasn't enough of a difference because it still looked horrible.

I decided to go back to the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixture that I have tried before. Last time I added water and soaked my nails in the solution, but that didn't work, so I left out the water and tried scrubbing the paste on this time. It may have worked a little bit, but the results really weren't worth the effort. 

I'll keep trying to find a better way to whiten my nails, but I really think that my best bet is to wait for the yellow to grow out and take better care of my nails in the future so that I don't continually wear nail polish without giving my nails some air!

Games Night

On Saturday, my aunt had organized a family game night. It's like a family reunion that we have, usually when one of my cousins comes back to town. I have a really large family with probably around 20 or so cousins on each side. In this case, my cousin who lives in Atlanta was coming up to visit for the first time since she had her baby, who is about 3 months now. There were actually five babies born in 2013, including a set of twins, so we wanted to all get together and have lots of baby-playing time. We didn't actually get around to much game playing, but it was a lot of fun to see all of the babies. Plus I got to do my nails for the occasion anyway. I even got complemented on my nails by the cashier at a convenient store, so that made my day!

For some reason, when I put on my top coat, which is new since my fiasco last time, it still smudged part of the polish, which I am blaming on the white nail polish. Here's a before shot of my left hand because some of the art looks better. I did a tic-tac-toe board, a twister board, dice, a queen of diamonds, and a game piece.

 My left hand cleaned up a little better. The dice were clearly smudged, but I tried to fix them a little bit more than they ended up being at first.

My right hand. I went with an ace of spades on this hand because I wanted a different card and the queen of diamonds was on the other hand since it's my ring finger with my engagement ring. The top line on the tic-tac-toe board is crossed out because I made it one spot at a time and realised that "X" had to win no matter where I put the "O" on the round before.

Happy Spring!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, so I wanted to do something fun and Spring-themed for my nails. I liked the way that they turned out until I added the top coat. I don't think that it was completely dry underneath or it could just be that the top coat was so thick and gooey. (I got a new one today when I was at the store) Either way, it ended up getting all smudged and weird looking. I'm not going to bother trying to fix it, though, because I'm doing a new manicure tomorrow or Friday anyway.

Pre-black outlining.

I was really happy with how the butterfly turned out, but the rest was just ok. The sun and bee got really squished with the top coat fiasco.

Day 4: Freestyle or Recreate

I decided to go with Lucky Charms cereal for today's challenge. I thought they'd be fun and nothing says Irish more than hearts, stars, horseshoe, clovers and blue moon, pots of gold, and rainbows, and the red balloon! I had to mix a lot of nail polishes to get the correct colours, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

The first four Lucky Charms marshmallows and a bowl of cereal. (The orange was a mix of Jail Bait and Cream Puff. The light green was a mix of Glowstick and Cream Puff while the darker green was a mix of Glowstick and the Old Navy polish.)

The last four Lucky Charms marshmallows and the logo. (The yellow in the rainbow was a mix of Belsize Park and Cream Puff. The gold was a mix of Belsize Park and Jail Bait.)

The nail polishes that I used. The new ones were the purple called Touch of Class by boe, the "cereal" and background was Cozu-melted in the Sun by OPI, the pink was Ballerina by the Color Workshop, and the creme red was something old that I found in my mom's stash that doesn't have a name or brand on it any more.

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Day 3: Rainbows, Pots of Gold, or Leprechauns

I was pretty happy with how my nails turned out today, especially considering my previous failings in this challenge. I was hoping that my new nail tools would arrive in time for me to do my nails, as I've ordered them online about a week ago, but they hadn't come. I decided to change my idea around a little bit as a result and I did a dot rainbow.

I first painted them a light blue. I chose this colour to represent the sky behind a rainbow.

 This is my dotted rainbow complete.

And with the pot of gold! (I used my little brush for the pot and the dotter that I used for my rainbow on the gold to make it look more like coins.)

The nail polishes that I used for the rainbow, pot, and gold were the same as yesterday. The light blue was No Room for the Blues by OPI.

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Day 2: Ireland inspired

I had a lot of fails on this manicure. It was awesome in idea, but it failed a lot. I now realised that the reason was because the white that I was using was an old one that my mom has and it is chunky. Because of how they ended up, I just did some major clean-up but I decided not to waste my time cleaning them nicely.

This is my base colours. I ended up changing the rainbow colours as I added more.

 My nails part way done.

I had a lot of dots all over my ziploc baggy so that I could use my fine brush.

 My finished nails. Pot of gold, rainbow,  map of Ireland, Irish flag, leprechaun hat.

Green beer, Irish flag, horseshoe, Celtic knot, shamrock

All of the nail polishes that I used: Plugged-in plum from OPI, Animal-istic from OPI, Frostbite from China Glaze, Cream Puff from Creative, Belsize Park from Nails Inc, unnamed from Old Navy,  Glowstick from Wet'n'Wild Fergie, Wet'n'Wild something black that had it's label worn off, Gold Fusion by China Glaze Magnetix, Color Flip by Revlon, and Jail Bait by Spoiled 

 This is the nail polish thinner that I used on the white nail polish after I had completed my manicure.

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Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge Day 1: Shades of Green

I saw a St. Patrick's Day nail challenge a few days ago and I decided to take part. The first day was shades of green. I decided to try my hand at marbling again. I had tried it before but had a LOT of fails. I read about a technique called dry water marbling, where you do a similar thing, but instead of putting your nail in the water, you put a piece of plastic baggy, take it out, let it dry, and transfer it onto your nails. I started doing that last night because I couldn't sleep.  I learned some valuable lessons trying this manicure. It failed a little bit, but I've definitely improved and learned how to do it better next time. Here's my finished nails and then I'll show the process.

 First fill a cup with water. I learned this time that it needs to be purified water at room temperature. I've also learned that you can't use a styrofoam bowl because I used that last night and was wondering why it took so much water. When I emptied the water, I found that a few nail polish drops had gone to the bottom and corroted holes in it! Good thing I had a towel underneath it!

Once you have you have your cup with water, alternate nail polishes that you want to marble. In this case, I did different shades of green. The one that looks blue is actually a blue/green but looks blue next to the others. I didn't use it in my end up using it for my final nails.

 

Then swirl the colours with a toothpick. Be careful to not lift up the toothpick too much as that results in it collecting nail polish and getting messy and clumpy when you put it back.

These are some finished ones. I decided to use black as my first colour because it made the other colours pop. They were too dull without the black.

Then cut the correct part that you want to add to your nail. Make sure that it is the right size. Mine were big enough, but I had other problems.

 Here's the first finger I did, my right thumb. It actually looked good and I was really optimistic.

My index finger didn't turn out too well as there wasn't much of the bright green. Here's the process on my middle finger.

 It looked pretty good, too. However, the other nails all seemed to fail. I decided to just try doing a regular water marble on them since it seemed like I was having more luck with the marbling that I did last time.

Here's my nails after dipping them. I decided to dip all of my nails at once in order to waste less nail polish. They were hard to clean and in retrospect, I should have gone to get that Vaseline out of the bathroom. I was just too lazy, but it really does work like magic, as I found out the first time that I tried to marble.

Here's another picture of the final product. They're messier than usual, but I wanted to make sure that I finished this post before heading off to the U of Michigan hockey game with my dad.

EDIT: I forgot to add the polishes I used...

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