Manicure Monday: Pink Popsicle

Hello pretties, all my pretties, you pretties. Hahaha. I am in such a great mood today and I am not sure why! And I frankly don't need to know why!! :D

Switched up my nails today to a pretty pink. Pink is my happy color. I either wear it because I am in a great mood or I wear it to put me in a great mood. Today's choice of pink is called Pink Popsicle and it's from Pop Beauty. This is the first time I am using this ever since ordering it from Hautelook a while ago. I actually did a post about it, click here if you're interested.

I also used a glitter top coat from Sephora by OPI that I also ordered from Hautelook. You can also check that out above! :)

Pop Beauty Nail Glam Nail Polish in Pink PopsicleSephora By OPI Nail Color in It's Bouquet With Me

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

Pink Popsicle is a pretty pale pink shade. It is not too pale that it is almost white, but not too pink that it is bubble pink. Which is great because I own nothing like this shade. It is truly very beautiful.

The formula is very creamy and more on the runny side. Ya know how some nail colors can be a bit too thick and makes the application so much harder? Well this applies like a dream. Two thin coats and it is good to go. The shin is amazing as well; what you see in the pics above are its own shine, no top coat necessary. Dry time takes about 15 minutes for the first coat, and about half an hour for the second coat.

I am not really liking the glitter formula from Sephora by OPI, it is too watery for my liking. Unlike nail colors, I prefer my glitters to be more thick. This is not by any means a bad glitter; I can definitely use it for other things.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: "Keep Me On My Mistletoes" "Mr. Right Now"

Hello Monday everyone!! How was your first Monday back to work after a looooooong, food-filled weekend? Haha. :P On the bright side, we are now in December, the last month of 2014 already. 20 days until it is officially Winter and 24 days away from Christmas. It's all happening so fast it feels so surreal.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it was one heck of a weekend for me. Shopping, dinners, gatherings, everything threw my sleeping cycle out of whack and I could not sleep for the life of me last night. I literally laid there wide eyed, staring at my ceiling then as I drift to sleep, I somehow jerk up and cannot fall asleep again. That, mixed with tossing and turn and the lack of getting comfortable. I probably slept no more than two hours combined so needless to say, I am running on no sleep and zero patience. Imma further tire myself out by killing myself working out. Hopefully that's enough to make me just pass out tonight.

Anyways, it's Monday so y'all already know what day it is!! Yep, time to switch them manicures up! It was one heck of a task to accomplished, I've realized if you are as dead tired as I was. Since it is December, I felt festive and wanted red talons. I ordered a bunch of Sephora by OPI nail colors from Hautelook on several occasions and I have yet to even use all of the shades. Amongst the shades was a deep, cool-tone red called Mr. Right Now which caught my eyes when I was going through the nail colors. And that is what I used today. :)

Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Keep Me On My Mistletoes & Mr. Right Now

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

In person, the shade is a cool-tone red shade but from these pictures, they appear to be a warm red. Either way, the shade is super gorgeous, wouldn't you say so? I figured having red on all ten fingers might be too boring so I used a gold for my accent fingers.

Both shades required two coats to appear even and streak free. As always, I did two thin coats, allowing each coat to fully dry before applying another, which did not take long at all, maybe 10 minutes tops.

After my nails were all beautifully applied, it still looked kinda plain so I dipped a toothpick into Keep Me On My Mistletoes and created a free-hand bow on my thumb. I should have stopped there but I went a step further and created several red bows on my gold accent nail.

I did not apply any top coat to these nail colors. The shine you see is all Sephora by OPI nail color's shine.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon!!

Manicure Monday: Zoya

Monday greetings my pretties. I hope y'all are having a lovely Monday because it is one fine, new day and I am grateful to be healthy and alive. Thanksgiving will be 10 days away, don't just wait until then to be grateful and give thanks. It should be done year round, all the time, for the big, small and not so little things. Around this time, every year for the last 3 or 4 years, I would donate food, canned goods and/or clothing and would make time to volunteer. I know it's not much, but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The Holiday Season is to spread warm love and joyous cheers, and I try to do exactly that.

Any who, today's post was originally supposed to be a tutorial on How To Winterize Your Nails but something came up midday and I was unable to finish it so as a back up, today's post is of my manicure for this week. I doubt that the tutorial will be able to go up next week as well because I will be doing special Thanksgiving manicure. I'm guessing that the tutorial will go up in about two weeks. I apologize to those who were looking forward to it. 

Zoya Professional Lacquer in Julie & Neve

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

Julie is the lavender shade and Neve being the deep, dark blue. Both shades took two thick coat to come out evenly and streakless. The waiting time to dry is approx. 20 minutes, but even so, do be care not to touch it or it might dent or be messed up. 

I did use a base coat to protect my nails but I did not use a top coat. I hardly ever do wear a top coat, not unless I know that I need my manicure protected until the end of the week or else I just allow the nail color to fend on its own.

Again, I'd like to apologize for the confusion and delay. But please try to understand that in life, unexpected things occur that I cannot control. I'd like to thank you for your understanding. Like I said, the tutorial will go up in about two weeks. I want to do it to the best of my ability and not just BS it, because you guys deserve the best.

Although here are the steps I have created earlier. I am not 100% satisfied with the way it came out so I will redo them but just so you can get the gist of it.

Y'all enjoy the rest of your night now. Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading, Please come back soon. :)

Manicure Monday: "On A Trip"... To The Galaxy!!

Monday greetings dearest...est! :P Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. I sure as heck did, still trying to recuperate as of now and I spent all day yesterday pampering myself. LOL. 

Now that we are officially in November, let's declare it Holiday Season already. Well, technically it started on the 31st of October, but shush shush. Thanksgiving is only weeks away, followed by Black Friday. Oh man, Black Friday, it is SO on! Ever since November started, I guess Arizona felt left behind or something, but the temperature dramatically dropped. We are now in the mid-70s to high-60s and lemme tell ya, it is CHILLY!! Light sweaters must come out to play now. Ahhhh, super excited to be switching gear to Fall/Winter fashions. I mean, short gal here loves my shorts, but jeans and sweaters, well... Haha.

Annnnywho, after my extravagant manicure last week, I decided to tone things down a bit this week. I trimmed my nails short to grow it out again. I dunno about y'all, but after having my nails long for too long, I not only get bored with the length, but my nails become weaker. So maybe once every two or so month, I trim them short to start the process all over again. I think it's fun to experiment with all sort of nail length.

Wet N Wild Mega Last Salon Nail Color in On A Trip
Wet N Wild Color Icon Toppings Collection in Icing Backup

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

For this week, I decided to go with purple, a more vibrant shade of purple because I didn't feel too dark. LOL. I then topped it off with a glitter topper and accidentally created a galaxy-esque look. I like it a whole lot.

For On A Trip, I did two thin coats; allowing both coat to completely dry before applying anything else. It took no more than 5 minutes, but I waited 10 just to be sure, since I had time today.

After the second coat of On A Trip is completely dried, I applied a generous coat of Icing Backup to each nail. Only one coat was necessary. Now, this took slightly longer to completely dry, and even after it dried, the feeling of tackiness will linger for a good 'nother hour or so. 

Again, I did not apply a top coat this time either. I didn't think it is necessary. But feel free to apply a top coat if you find it necessary.

I hope y'all enjoyed this post and like the manicure for this week. Oh! Before I forget, Icing Backup was part of a limited edition collection called Toppings that came out, I believe Spring of 2013. I'm not sure if it is still available anywhere. But in case someone who does own this, top it off a blue or purple and it's incredibly beautiful.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please do come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: My "Golden Goddess" Just "Leaf Him At The Altar"

Monday greetings to you all! Hope y'all had an pleasurable weekend and received much relaxation. We all need that in our lives. Haha.

After yesterday's Honey-Almond Moisturizing Mask, my skin felt completely rejuvenated! Love that mask so much! If you haven't already checked out my DIY Sunday Mask recipe from yesterday, please do go check it out. Just a few simple, natural ingredients, takes up no more than 10 minutes to prepare but it will live your skin so lively it's not even funny.

Last week, I had on a plain gray nail color so it is to no surprise I was craving for something shimmery this week. I went through the bunch of nail colors I recently ordered off of Hautelook and this gorgeous green caught my eyes! I looked at the name and it gave me a chuckle, "Leaf Him At The Altar", they do come up with the darnest names. Haha.

After applying the green, I wasn't completely satisfied... like something is missing. And I was right! Not enough sparkle, sparkle!! I went through my glitter polishes and Golden Goddess was the answer. What a relief that the two complement each other well or I would have to redo the manicure. LOL.

Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Leaf Him At The Altar
ELF Essential Glitter Nail Polish in Golden Goddess

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

I absolutely love this particular shade because the formula is just amazing! It glided on like butter evenly without the streaking. The drying time was well under 3 minutes for a even, thin coat. If I had done a better job, I could have left it with one thin coat, but there were certain areas not covered so I went in with another thin coat. The second coat took a tad longer to dry but it was well under 5 minutes still. 

After Leaf Him At The Altar was completely dried, I went ahead and applied a coat of Golden Goddess to each and every nail. I kinda had to scrape the speck of glitter from the bottle and strategically place it on the nail. Basically you get what you pay for; for $2, I really cannot complain too much. It is a fine glitter polish that can last for up to a week even without a top coat. The only issues I have with it is that the formula is too thick, thus needing more effort to apply and the drying time takes forever and a day. 

And that's about wraps up this post. Hope y'all enjoyed this week's manicure. Next week will be a Halloween inspired manicure. :P I gotta get to brainstorming.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please do come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: Metro Chic

Happy Monday all! Hope you're all faring well on this Monday. I somehow feel like this will be one long, strenuous week; mostly because my week started off kinda bleh if y'all know what I'm talking about. Just woke up not feeling like it's a good day at all. 

Maybe that was why I wasn't in the mood to jazz up my manicure in this week. I felt like I wanted something simple. Just simple. No glitter, no sparkles, no nothing of the sort. 

Gray is amongst the Fall nail trends and I snatched this Nail Color from a recent Hautelook order that I will do a post on soon.

Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Metro Chic

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

I was able to get even, full coverage with two thin coats of Metro Chic. The drying time is amazingly quick. I also did not apply a top coat either.  I find that Sephora by OPI's formulas are made to be lasted for at least a week. I have worn other shades without top coats and they lasted me for a week.

So yeah, just a simple beautiful shade on the nails this week. Nothing special. Still hope y'all enjoyed it though.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please do come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: Pink For The Cure #Pinktober

Hello Monday all! Hope y'all had a great weekend. One day down, four more to go until the weekend again. Haha. :P

As y'all may know, October is the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we also call it Pinktober because pink is widely used and symbolizes breast cancer.

All of October, whenever I wear makeup, I would incorporate something pink in honor of Pinktober. By far, I was able to keep my words on that. Since today is Monday and I usually switch up my manicure today, I thought I would do 'em pink for the cause.

As women, I urge you guys to go get yourself checked, whether self exam at home or go get a mammogram done. Be aware of what could happen guys. Because...

Self exam yourself will only take a few minutes, but it could save your life.

Moving along, today's manicure is all about pinks, accent with a pink ribbon.

Sinful Colors Professionals Nail Color in Pink Poppys
Sinful Colors Professionals Nail Color in Pink Forever
Sally Hansen Hard As Nail Xtreme Wear Nail Color in White On

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

Pink Poppys is the slightly darker pink on my thumb while Forever Pink is the lighter of the pinks on the other three fingers. Each shade took one thick coat to get that result, including White On.

I used a medium sized dotting tool, dipped it in Forever Pink to create the pink ribbon. 

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading all. Enjoy the rest of your night. Please come back soon! :)

And always remember guys...

Manicure Monday: Prime Purple

Happy Monday everyone! Ugh, I know, I know.. It's Monday, I shouldn't be this enthusiastic about Monday. But you know what day it is today! Manicure Monday!!! :D

I'm feeling the Monday's purple today y'all. Not blue, but purple. In fact, Prime Purple to be exact. This is one of the new SILK formula from Sinful Colors. It basically is a matte finish is what SILK is.

Sinful Colors Professional Nail Color in Prime Purple
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

It was such a pain to remove the previous color. I redid my nails a couple of days ago for the funeral, so it still had somewhat of that staying power of newly applied polish. The fact that it was nearly black didn't help either.

I had to scrub my nails real good to get rid of all the products left behind. It somewhat stained my nails already, even though it was barely applied days ago.

Any who, I applied a base coat afterward to protect my nails from this week's manicure. Still using the Sally Hansen Diamond Shine.

I applied two thin coats of Prime Purple to my nails. If I would have done the first coat thicker, I think I could have left it at that. My nails were fully covered evenly. It took no more than 3 minutes to completely dry to the matte finish. This formula seems to be a tad thicker than their original. It's a little frustrating to work with, maybe it's just me this time. I'll give it another try before I completely judge it. 

Too jazz it up a little, I took my Seche Vite and applied it to the matte finish at random, like a horizontal, vertical and diagonal strike to have some contrast of shine and matte, It doesn't show up well with this shade. Maybe on a darker shade it will.

But yeah, that's it for this week's manicure. I'm really loving this purple. It makes me cheery looking at it. What do you guys think?

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: "I Need A Refresh-Mint" of "Cake Toppings" (late post)

Hi guys. How have you all been?

As promised, I am back today with a beauty post. I am in a much better mood than yesterday, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. But I'd still want to thank those who left me comforting and encouraging messages. I truly appreciate it so much. I've really found much solace in your thoughts. Thank you.

Although I was able to pull myself together to do my nails, I was in no mood to be all artsy and creative. I apologize. A follower on Instagram requested for cookie nails last week and I promised I would get to it this week, however... things happened and yeah. If you're reading this right now, I'm sorry I couldn't do that this week.

About this week's manicure, simple turquoise nails with pink accents. Plain and simple.

Wet N Wild Mega Last Salon Nail Color in I Need A Refresh-Mint
Sugar Nail Frosting in Cake Toppings

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

Wet N Wild Mega Lasts' formulas are just amazing-ness in a bottle. They're so pigmented, so much that it only takes one coat. They apply evenly, especially with the wide brush, application is a breeze. The drying time is also quick, quick. Like I said, I only did one thin coat for my nails.

This Sugar Nail Frosting was one of the few that was able to be rescued from the tragedy of an explosion. Although the bottle itself is covered in glitter and what not, the polish inside is unharmed. In order to let the Nail Frosting show up better, I applied a thin layer of white polish before applying the Nail Frosting. I did three thin coats of the topping.

At first, I was kinda bothered with the white peeking through at the bed of my nails, but now it just looks like frosting poking out. Lol. I like it. Learn to appreciate the little mistakes in life.

On a brighter note, I think I've found a guy I actually like... Um, I'm so giddy like a little girl in a candy store. Haha, more on that over at my Heart To Heart Diary page if you're interested. :D

I'd like to thank you once again. Please bear with me these next two weeks. I'm still trying to get things together. Please understand.

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon. :)

_________________________

RIP EunB

In all my years of being a K-Popper, I have never read something with such a heavy heart. Ladies Code debuted not even two years ago, they were the gems of the rookies and yet... I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that EunB has passed away and two other members in critical condition. I'm actually at a lost for words right now. What is going on with K-Pop this year?!?!?

Rest in peace EunB. You are loved and shall forever be missed.

Please stay strong Sojung and RiSe....

Manicure Monday: The Lone Strawberry

Hey, hey, heeeeey! What's going on guys? How are y'all doing this fine Monday?

Welcome back to another Manicure Monday! :P Who here has the Monday blues? Nope, not me this week. I'm having a Monday GREEN! ;) Lime green to be exact. Haha.

This new shade is the latest addition to my collection. I picked this up last week while I was at Target. I was "just happening" to browse the cosmetic aisles when I came across some of the Pixi and Set products on clearance. Dear ol' Lime Lustre here was one of 'em. I believe the original price was $8? I picked it up for $2.40. The shade is so gorgeous, I knew I HAD to wear it this week. So here they are, my manicure for this upcoming week. Oh, and a strawberry to keep things fresh.

Pixi Nail Color in Lime Lustre
NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in Big Red Apple
Sinful Colors Professional Nail Color in Garden Party

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat

This is my first time ever using a Pixi nail color. The formula is too thick for my liking. The thickness made application harder than most nail colors and also took forever and a day to dry in between coats. Other than that, it's a pretty good nail color. I could have stopped at one coat, but there were some unevenness so I decided to apply a second coat.

As for my lone strawberry, I applied the red nail color to 3/4 of my nail and waited for it to dry completely before moving on. Then I used Garden Party on the top 1/4 of my nail and overlapped  it with the red to make the leaves more realistic. I waited until that was thoroughly dried before I used Lime Lustre to add a little oomph to the leaves and dotted my strawberry as the seeds.

I did not use a top coat for my manicure with the exception of my strawberries. I want to see how well Pixi nail colors will fend on its own.

Alrighty, that's it for today. My mini haul post will most likely go up tomorrow. Just a few things I picked up at Target and Ulta the other day.

Thank you for dropping by for a visit and thanks a bunches for reading. Come back soon! :)

Manicure Monday: "IM Beauty" In Bright Yellow

Monday greetings all! How is everyone doin' ?

I welcome you back to another Manicure Monday. My manicures have been very abstract lately so I want to go back to simplicity today. Just one color, that's it. I'm in the mood for a BRIGHT, in YOUR face color. Orange? Red? Yellow?!

Sephora by OPI in IM Beauty
Sinful Colors in Sapphired Up

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat (not pictured)

Last week I used It's Hippo To Be Square which only needed one coat for a full coverage. This week, I am using IM Beauty, another creme formula from Sephora by OPI. Sadly, this nail color took me three coats for this even, full coverage. The shade is beautiful so I don't mind the extra coat honestly. Other than needing three coats, this nail color does not differ much from the other nail colors. Applies very creamy and evenly, drying time is within three minutes.

All ten fingers in yellow can look a tad boring, so I left my ring fingers as accents. Simple does not mean boring guys. I had forgotten to paint a coat of blue before I applied the glitter but that's okay. I did probably five or six coats to get the glitter flakes to completely cover my nails.

Alright y'all, that's my nails for the week. Show me what's on yours!

Thank you for visiting and thanks for reading. Please come back soon. :)

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MEN CRUSH MONDAY #MCM

WINNER

SONGS OF THE DAY

Too much feels! They FINALLY made their debut, one year overdue. But to YG standards, this is on time. Still cannot believe WINNER finally debuted. The album is nothing short of AMAZING. Proud INNER CIRCLE!

Manicure Monday: "It's Hippo To Be Square"

Hello Monday wonderful peoples! How was your weekend?

Arizona received some "rain" again last night, enough to wet the ground... and that's about it. Nonetheless it's rain so I am not complaining. Because of the rain we received over the weekend, the temperature really dropped today, to only 98 degrees.

Let's kick off the week with a new manicure shall we! The 12th bottle of Sephora by OPI I ordered from Hautelook finally arrived Saturday, the shade is of a lilac called It's Hippo To Be Square.

Annnd that is what's on my nails today!

Sephora by OPI in It's Hippo To Be Square
Sinful Colors in Sizzling

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat (not pictured)

I was utterly surprised how crazy pigmented this polish is! One thin coat was enough for my manicure. That's it. One thin coat of even application, even coverage, opaque. This took no more than 4 minutes to be dried. I love it so much!

I tried using tape at first, but that didn't really work out so I ended up just winging it free hand. It would have been a lot neater with tape but I kinda like this too, it adds personality. Haha.

I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine as a base and top coat. I think I am almost finish with it, after this is used up I will purchase a different base coat to try. Is there any ones you might recommend?

My manicure this week is simple with a little bit of edge. I am pretty content with it, love It's Hippo To Be Square, love the color combo and love the simple design.

Hope y'all enjoyed this little manicure post. Show me what's on your nails this week! :P

Thank you for your visits and thanks a bunches for reading. Please come back soon! :)

__________________________

SONG OF THE DAY

_____________________________________

#9irlsGenera7ion #7YearsWithSNSD

7 Years With Girls Generation (SNSD)

Manicure Monday: Fiery Passion

Hi guys! Who's suffering from the Monday blues? *raises hand* I am! For some odd reason, I am feeling super sluggish today. I usually get up and stay up at 5 but I somehow fell back asleep until 8. Even with the extra three hours of sleep, I had a super hard time getting out of bed. When I finally rolled out of bed, I took forever to get through my morning routines. Setting foot outside wasn't a great idea either, but it had to be done... Had to pick up a new treadmill.

I honestly think the reason why I'm so sluggish is because it's been three days since I worked out. I was so busy all weekend that I didn't get to exercise yet pigged out all three days. Believe it or not, working out daily really helps me stay active and energized. Thank goodness the new treadmill is set and ready to go. I can finally do some real work outs now. My old treadmill's incline broke and the speed did not allow me to go pass four. I miss running on inclines.

Back to the order of business, I welcome you back to another Manicure Monday. To brighten up my Monday's blue, I went with a bright, feisty, fiery color for this week. I decided to call it Fiery Passion.

Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Color Me In Petals
Sephora by OPI Nail Color in Go With The Flow-er
Sephora by OPI Nail Color  in How Cute Is That?

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat (top pictured)

After I prepped my nails, I always paint a base coat to protect my real nails from staining. I have been using Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat. I wait until the base coat is completely dried before I continued.

For my thumbs, index fingers and pinkies, I used two thin coats of How Cute Is That? for the opaqueness. The formula is the same as before, easy to apply, no streaks, not too watery, not too thick and dries fairly quick. The smell is not too strong either.

I left my thumbs and pinkies as is, but I applied a thin coat of Go With The Flow-er on my index fingers. This took no more than a minute to be completely dried.

For my middle and ring fingers, I cut a loose leaf paper reinforcement in half and stuck it on  my hand a few times before applying it on my nails. This will give me that half moon manicure that's all the craze right now. Depending on how far up or down you want to place it, stick it onto your nails. I did two thin coats of Color Me In Petals and immediately pulled off the reinforcements. If you leave it on for too long, the paint will dry will wrinkle when pulled off. I waited for the colors to be completely dried before I applied a thin coat of Go With The Flow-er on top.

using this for papers are so '90s

When every single nails are all dried, I used the base coat I used earlier as a top coat also. This will help prevent premature chipping and fading and hopefully will help this manicure last until next week.

The shades are so bright and Summery, I love it! What's on your nails this week? Please share your manicures with me. I always love to see pretty nails.

Until next time, thank you for joining me again. Thank you for reading. Please come back soon! :)