Brain Cancer Awareness Nails

CW: cancer, death

My father passed away on September 1, 2020. He had been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer, in April of this year. 

Colores de Carol Double Trouble

TW: cancer, death

A year hiatus and I come back with this. I deeply apologize.

What an awful year. As if a global pandemic isn't bad enough. Not only is it around the second anniversary of my aunt's death, but my father has also been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. If my family is fortunate we have 18 more months maximum with him. TS Eliot was right- April truly is the cruelest month.

I barely purchased any polish this year. It's not that I'm not interested in polish anymore. I still very much enjoy nail paint. Between trying to cut down on debt, focusing on weight loss (2019 was the year of the road to gastric bypass), and now my father's illness, my nails were very much on the backburner. I went bare for days before finding enough energy and motivation to resume my routine. My plan was to only buy nail polish if I really wanted it and could afford it or as a non food reward. Upon my father's diagnosis I permitted myself a small amount of retail therapy as well. As a bariatric patient, a few dollars on new toys is preferable to binge eating when stressed (a major trigger of mine).

Today's polish was one of my retail therapies.

Natural Light

Girl Scout Cookie nails

It's Girl Scout Cookie season! This was my favorite time of the year when I was in Scouts along with platform tent camping in the fall. I felt strangely festive for it. You know where it's going.

Valentines Day mani featuring Nvr Enuff Roses

Long time, no see! Between getting back into dolls and pursuing weight loss surgery, nail polish is kinda on the back burner. I don't feel myself running out of passion anytime soon. I'm just not changing my polish as often lately.

For Valentines Day I decided to do a rose themed mani. What else was more perfect than Nvr Enuff Roses? It's inspiration is Tuxedo Mask, who is best known for throwing roses at enemies.

I don't wear a lot of black or super dark polish but I do love this one. Maybe it's that Sailor Moon connection? Maybe it's the shimmer? Who knows. It's just pretty. I like pretty.

The roses were reverse stamped. I'm more of the "color in the design directly on the stamper" versus "making decals on a mat" kind of person. I just can't seem to get the mat method down. Luckily I have enough stampers to make enough for a hand at a time. I'm pleased at how vibrant that the roses are against the dark background.

What was your Valentines Day mani?

Items Used:
Base Polish: Nvr Enuff Roses
Stamping Polish: Cirque Colors Momento Mori
Red Polish: Sally Hansen Insta Dri x Crayola Scarlet
Stamping Plate: Pueen Nature Lovers 02

Happy 90th birthday, Tintin!

I'll admit that this is a last second entry. I was wearing OPI's Mermaid Tears on its own, only to be reminded that today is Tintin's birthday. Not just that, but the character (and series)'s 90th birthday/anniversary! The big 9-0 for one of my favorite comics! Wow! After a couple minutes of consideration I broke out my paints and brushes and painted Tintin and Snowy, his dog.

They looked better before topcoating, trust me. The paint looked dry, I swear. Wait, wait, wait with acrylic before topcoating. Otherwise your Tintin needs a future visit to Doctor Pimple Popper.

Items Used
Base Color: OPI Mermaid's Tears
Tintin and Snowy: acrylic paint

OPI Skyfall and Goldeneye

Happy Christmas Eve! What's everyone's plans for tonight? My family is planning on making pizza (our yearly tradition) and watching holiday specials.

Today's mani is brought to you by two cult fave OPI polishes. Both come from the James Bond Skyfall collection back in 2012!

JReine Lagniappe over OPI My Twin Joey

Who's already set up their lights and/or tree? Congrats, you're faster than my family. My dad is currently out setting up some lights and I'm about to make some room for the tree after writing this. Christmastime is finally here!

As it's finally getting more festive here, I decided that I didn't want to go with a simple creme polish like I've been wearing lately. Not just holo, either. We're gonna get showered by some Unicorn Pee in this joint!

Pokemon Go Community Weekend nails

Pokemon Go had a special Community Day to cap off the year. Instead of a single Pokemon hogging the spotlight for three hours, all the previous Community Day pokemon spawned at higher rates for an entire weekend. Got a bunch s'more Larvitar and Beldum candies so I'm happy.

OPI Green on the Runway

I had to cut my nails back recently. Slipped down my porch in drenching rain and snapped off almost all of my nails, lucky me. Fortunately, none broke beyond my smile line. At least my nails grow fast.

I recently found OPI Gelcolor Pro Health base and top coat at Marshall's for $4 each, so I'm trying that as a gel base over RNP now. First up is an old OPI called Green on the Runway.

Magica de Spell nails

I'm always waffling between whether or not Magica de Spell or Flintheart Glomgold is my favorite Disney Duck villain. Probably Flintheart. But Magica's a super close second. Both are awesome.

Goosebumps Monster Blood

Being a 90s kid, Goosebumps was absolutely part of my childhood. The iconic book covers creeped me out, the famous TV show theme song haunted my ears, and there was a year where I read almost exclusively Goosebumps during DEAR time at school. You bet I watched that Jack Black movie that came out a few years ago. It was a nostalgia gold mine. Now that that movie is getting a sequel that's debuting this weekend, why not get covered in Monster Blood?

Chikorita Nails for Community Day

Today's the Autumn Equinox in the northern hemisphere, which means that Fall is officially here! Now it just needs to get colder...

Anyone play Pokemon Go? Every month the game hosts a "Community Day" around a certain pokemon which includes all sorts of bonuses from increased shiny drop rates to exclusive moves. This month's Community Day is for Chikorita. Gen II is my favorite game wise, and Chikorita was my starter in both Silver and Crystal. It was only natural that I wanted to do a mani for it.

Scottie Stamping

This mani is the result of nostalgia and alma mater pride. As I mention in my about me page, I attended a women's college. Its name is Agnes Scott College, and its mascot is appropriately (and adorably) the Scottish Terrier.

Her name is Irvine, BTW.

I have a lot of great memories about college and miss it a lot. Occasionally I'll see something that reminds me of it. So when I saw the Scottie design on this dog themed plate that Bundle Monster had awhile ago, I had to have it. Today's design was already in my head.

Team Rocket Nails

I figured that since I recently did a Pokemon mani, why not do another? Last time was Pikachu and pokeballs. This time is inspired by everyone's favorite band of wannabe Pika-nappers, Team Rocket!

Pokemon Nail Art ft OPI Hello Kitty polishes

Still on that nail art kick. I've always wanted to do a Pokemon mani or two, and finally got around to doing one this weekend.

Nail Art Ft Cirque Colors Socialite and Crystal Tokyo

I follow color seasons for the most part. I'm currently in a transitional period where now that it's September, I want to do more autumn based manis now, but it's warm enough that I still want to do summery ones. For my first mani of the week, I decided to wear my untried Cirque Colors Socialite since it's a bright neon pink. It's cute, but felt too plain. It was super late in the evening when I painted my nails and I wasn't up to stamping or gradients. (That, or the design ideas I had were more appropriate for Valentine's Day.) That's when glitter toppers are your friend. It's definitely the easiest way to "bling up" a mani. Swipe and done. I decided to see what Crystal Tokyo, also from Cirque, looked like over it.

Topic Tuesdays: My First Instagram Nail Pic

I follow a nail prompt instagram called Topic Tuesdays. Their latest prompt was to share the first nail related pic you ever uploaded on Instagram. This is not only my first nail pic on Instagram, but also my first post on that site period. It was originally uploaded in March 2016.

*drumrolls*

Femme Friday: Femme Fatale Mermaiden's Adoration

Greetings, y'all! Happy Friday!

Along with this blog, I regularly share my manis on Instagram and on appropriate Facebook groups. Many of these manis are entirely or partially from Femme Fatale Cosmetics. I adore their makeup in general, but their polishes? Be still, my heart! They make up a good fifth or more of my polish stash. And I have a boatload of polish. Nothing beats a good Femme.

Since I have a lot of pictures and Femmes, I figured I do a sort of series on my older Femme Fatale manis. I'll post an old mani every Friday. Ergo, Femme Friday. For this series's first entry, I'll be focusing on a summery glitter topper called Mermaiden's Adoration.

Femme Fatale Mermaiden's Adoration over nude base, direct sunlight