Can You Believe It's Manicure Monday?!?!

Because I can't.

It's been far too long. Far, far too long. But not without good reason. I have been really really busy getting engaged. And working through all of everything that comes with being engaged.

I love these picture update moments, so here we go...

Zach and I have been together for close to seven years. This is a picture of us going to his prom when he was a junior in high school and I was a freshman. We grew up going to the same church with our families and started growing as friends earlier that school year. I had had a pretty consistent crush on him since I was...12, maybe? so those early convos on AIM were pretty much dreams come true.

We started dating when I turned 16 and spent the rest of Zach's time in high school together.

Zach graduated and headed to college in Virginia and I finished my last year of high school. We were already planning to be with each other for a while. so we just kind of let long distance happen. 

I went to school in New York. Zach visited me my sophomore year and my friend Ashton took some pictures for us. Some people were suspicious and thought they might have been engagement photos, but we weren't planning to get married until we both had graduated, so there was no reason to rush things.

And then Zach did propose to me. For real. I knew we were going to get married, but I had no idea he was going to ask me when he did. Happiest October 4th of my life yet.

He brought all the letters I have written him and all the cards I have made and laid them out in a path to him. And then he started to read me something from a letter I wrote him as he was leaving for college. I couldn't handle myself for a moment.

Being proposed to was genuinely one of the most joyful and exhilarating experiences of my life. If getting married is important to you, I sincerely hope you get to experience a proposal (from either side :)). And another huge thank you to all our friends who helped with the planning and executing...of the plan.
In case you aren't tired of pictures yet, I'll just share a few more from our inevitable engagement session. Once again, with the fantabulous Ashton. 

I feel like this one just screams "Christmas Card." Am I right?

Oh, and Zach has a puppy. So I also have a puppy.

For anyone who plans on getting some pictures taken for any reason but isn't sure about finding a photographer or being able to afford one, I'd like to just take some time to share what I worked out for these photos. I found a friend who likes to take photos. My fiance happens to have a nice camera, but even if he didn't we still would have gotten some perfectly fine shots with a basic digital. Then I used PicMonkey, which is a free online photo editing website. I just tweaked the pictures til I liked the way they looked, and they save in really high quality. Money saved. Check it out here. 

Now for the manicure. Can I just say that I am also fantastically excited about the nail polish I am about to show you? It is most definitely a new favorite color, and I was more than impressed with the virtual lack of chipping. 

Meet Revlon's "Fearless."

The lighting never seemed to be ideal, so I don't necessarily have a fantastic picture of this polish in action. Here is a shot in natural, but very cloudy, light.

This is really not a normal color for me. I tend to stay away from reds in general; I just don't usually love how either average or bold or bloodthirsty they look. But this caught my eye the last time I was in Wal-Mart and I took a little risk on it. Turns out it is going to be one of my all time favorites. It applied nicely; two coats and I had the opacity I wanted. It's a really bright, clean, orangey red. Not necessarily the first color I think of for the winter months, but I l-o-v-e-d the way it looked with some of my cheetah print accents and gold jewelry, and it really just gave me a nice pop of brightness in the middle of the snow and rain and grey. If I ever get a picture that does it justice you will be the first to see it. 

As usual I used Orly's Bonder Basecoat and Polishield Top Coat. This polish wore for a good week with only some shrinkage from the topcoat. No real chipping to speak of. Awesome. 

Thank you oh-so-much for stopping by. I'm going to get caught up with some fall posts and then all the winter-themed thoughts in my head are coming your way. 

Manicure Monday! Featuring Revlon's "Foxy"

I'm not happy about it, but it is time to accept the fact that fall is here to stay. I will certainly miss sunbathing, swimming, and tank tops, but now it is time for chunky sweaters, boots, and hot drinks from the coffee shop. Truthfully, I do look forward to fall styles, trends, and colors, I just don't like being cold as much as I adore being warm. But those chunky sweaters do help soften the blow ;).

I've got something of a fall nail polish lookbook coming your way later this week, but I want to share my first manicure of the season with you now. You'll see me go on and on about why I don't generally ascribe to the rules of "seasonal colors" later, so suffice it to say that while I will wear any color I want on my nails regardless of the season, I do like to be inspired by the changes of climate and nature as I dress myself, do my makeup, and paint my nails.

Let's just get to the polish.

Please excuse the minor rubbings at the tips of some of my nails. I had just spent the afternoon at the barn moving fences.

Meet "Foxy" by Revlon. I picked up this shade at a Meijer grocery store. I wish they existed around me because it was basically a store with the relative fanciness of Target and the prices of Wal-Mart. (At least the one I visited.) That's a lot of winning. I grabbed a Revlon polish because I was curious about the inventory and the price of makeup items, and I have to say I was very pleased with both. You are blessed if you live near a Meijer.

I used the usual Orly Bonder Basecoat and Polisheild Top Coat with this manicure. 

"Foxy" is a lovely, deep, purply, brownish sea of rich chocolately goodness in nail polish form...I think.
It makes me think of those barrel-shaped rootbeer flavored candies but with a bit of purple thrown in there. The normal two coats gives a basically flawless finish with completely opaque color, and the polish applies very easily, as most of Revlon's do. In the bottle you can see silver bits of shimmer worked through the color, and that's what helps it give such a high shine. I'm hoping the above picture helps you see how it is very brown and also very purple at the same time.

I highly recommend this polish for all skin tones, no matter the season, but especially in the fall. Thanks for viewing another Manicure Monday! I've got a lot planned for this week, so don't go too far.

Two Manicure Tuesday! I owe you one...

Ok, so I owe you more than one. I've got two pretty unrelated manicures for you this evening. One is from some time this summer and the other is what I've got on my nails currently. I don't really know that there is any snazzy way I could introduce these, so, here we go.

The First:

Just in case you want to see it only moderately closer than the image above...

What I Used:

ORLY's Bonder Base Coat

2 coats of e.l.f.'s "Misty Haze"

One the ring finger: 1 coat of Sinful Colors's "Glittery in Pink"

There is actually no top coat on this mani, which you might have been able to tell by the lack of super shine. This was a testing manicure for the power of ORLY's Bonder Base Coat, which has been a somewhat long-time favorite of mine. I like to test my go-to products every once in a while to make sure that they are still performing to the standards I expect, and this time around, I was not disappointed. The nails with "Misty Haze one them stayed essentially chip-free for about five days while I was working in a horse barn bathing large animals, cleaning stalls, riding, and much more. And the accent nail lasted for more like 7 days with NO CHIPS. Glitter always comes through.

Because I believe deeply in the quality of e.l.f. nail polishes (especially the reliable smooth finish of their cream shades), I want to make it really easy for you to try them out. Just click here :).

The Second:

To be entirely honest, it's a bit of a weird one. I think it's growing on my, but I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this color. Take a look.

What I Used:

ORLY's Bonder Base Coat

2 good coats of Revlon's "Chameleon" (I would suggest two thicker coats or three thin ones)

ORLY's Polishield Top Coat

Honestly, It was really difficult to pick a realistic picture since this polish changes so much depending on the lighting. Sometimes it looks really thick and rich on my nails (usually in sunlight or natural lighting) like in the third picture. Other times (in more fluorescent or indoor lighting) it looks thinner and a little more imperfect. It changes color depending on the lighting and the angle from which I'm viewing it, but generally it is a golden yellow with some green and/or brownish tinges. "Chameleon" is a very interesting color, but I'm not sure it's for everyone. The formula was quite easy to work with, as most Revlon polishes are, and I didn't feel like it was overly streaky, especially considering it is a metallic shade, and those can tend to streak. It does not do much to cover imperfections in my nails such as uneven areas or splits.

There you go. Stay tuned for a beautiful guest star in the next post at Curly Girlie!

Manicure Monday! Hey, I'm Still Around.

So hey everyone. I think this was actually the busiest summer that I have ever experienced. Now that I am back at school, I am super ready to get blogging again since I will have so much more time to devote to it. That's not usually how the world works, but I can dig it.

Here's why I didn't find the time to blog even remotely as much as I wanted.

First, I went to an internship at a stable. I met this cutie pie. His name is Donkey, he is a donkey, and he brought me a lot of joy this summer.

Then my sister got married. She was beautiful. He was beautiful. It was beautiful. I'm still pretty gushy about it.

You can actually see tendrils of love floating between them. Told you it was beautiful.

That's my dad and my sister dancing. I think it's the best.

I managed to take a large wooden board to the eyelid, so makeup was a little out of the question for about a week. I don't have any good pictures of that, sorries :/.

Then I got to see my boyfriend be the best best man ever at another beautiful wedding. Also, had a super time getting ready for that :)

I'm thinking about doing an outfit of the day of sorts for what I wore. What do you think?

Then I got to do this. Actually, I got to do this kind of stuff all summer, but here are some of my favorite moments.

Now that you have the official updates on my life, let's talk about a manicure. I did this one to accent my orange dress for the wedding I attended. I wanted something to pop against the blank canvas of the dress, so I got out the good old color wheel in my brain and choose some greens and a blue. Here's the official list:

As usual, I started with one coat of Orly's Bonder Base Coat.

Then two coats of e.l.f.'s "Teal Blue" on my thumb, ring finger, and pinky. This polish is actually super opaque, and I really could have gotten away with just one coat. Also, it's really not at all blue...

On my index finger is e.l.f.'s "Thunderstorm." This is another super opaque polish. I only used one coat and then topped it with Revlon's "Ritzy," which is a build-able black formula with silver glitter. I didn't want the nail to be straight up black, which is why I used "Thunderstorm" underneath, since that polish has some really deep green tones in it. 

On my middle finger is Wet 'n' Wild's Megalast Polish in "I Need a Refresh-Mint." I would highly suggest picking up this polish if you are looking for a fun and easy blue to wear. It is also very opaque; one good coat and you can be done. 

Not as usual I topped this look with Orly's Polisheild Top Coat. I picked up a different one this time and I am interested to see how it compares to the Orly Won't Chip. So far, I can say that I do like it. 

I have to say that I really like pretty much every nail polish that I have from e.l.f. I order from them every once in awhile when they have really great sales and I usually end up getting a least one nail polish each time. I have to say that I can't think or any off the top of my head by which I have been disappointed. Their cream finish formulas are particularly impressive; I know of a lot of more expensive polishes that can't pull off such opacity and smoothness. You can take a look at their color options here.

Thanks for visiting :) Stick with me.

Two Manicure Tuesday!

So recently I have had many computer problems and scheduling problems and time management problems and just haven't been able to get the posts up that I want to. It's sad, really, but there are bigger things.

To make up for it a little bit, I'm giving you two manicures for the price of one. But not really, since reading this page doesn't actually cost anything.

Here we go!

I mean I think I am probably the star of nail art right about now. Except not so much. I won't even show you the heart on my right hand. It was a struggle.

I had several polishes that I wanted to test out, so I figured I would just put them all together and get that job done. 

Here's what's going on:

Orly's Bonder Base Coat.

The medium purple is Funky Fingers's "Violet's Vineyard."

The light pink is L'Oreal's "Penthouse Pink." I used that on the accent nail and as the color for the dots on my thumb and the heart on my pinkie.

The light pink sparkle (sorry you can't quite get the true effect of the color) is Sinful Colors's "Glittery in Pink." It's an icy pink in natural light, and almost looks rose goldish in artificial light. Unfortunately it was part of a holiday collection, so I don't know if you'll be able to find it if you want to try it out.

The darker sparkle coat on my ring finger is Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Sequin Overcoat in "Cheery on Top." It's a polish of different size glitters in pinks, blues, and purples. 

And on top, Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

Full Disclosure Time: Combined, "Violet's Vineyard" and "Glittery in Pink" did not do so hot. Each polish has a good formula that is easy to apply and  lasts for awhile on its own and with other color combinations I've tried, but these two polishes together peeled off within just two or three days :(

I used the smaller end of a dotting tool to do the dots on my thumb and the larger end to make the heart on my pinkie. It's amazing how unsteady one's hands become as soon as one desires to participate in the nail art frenzy of our time. 

On to the next one...

I have to say that I am something even more than excited to share this manicure with you. You might say I am beyondstokedfantabulouslyinterestedoutofmyownsmallworldreadyand justplainhappy to be sharing this nail polish with you. 

It's by Orly. It's called Bubbly Bombshell. And it is one of my favorites. Ever.

I mean, just look at it.

In the bottle it just looks like another clear base with a pretty decent fuchsia glitter. I bought it on a bit of a whim, hoping it wouldn't turn out to be too sheer and just another glitter. I was not at all disappointed. Turns out in two coats this polish is an absolute opaque masterpiece of glistening pinks and purples. Boom.

Underneath I used Orly's Bonder Base Coat and on top is Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat. That probably goes without saying.

This is what the camera picked up under indoor lighting. It actually looks much more pink in person.

Thanks for sticking with it. See you again soon.

Manicure Monday! Those Baby Blues.

Here is today's manicure. I guess I'm just in a blue mood recently...

I really want it to be spring. 

Here are the polishes I used:

Orly's Bonder Base Coat

Two Coats of Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Polish in "Barracuda"

One Coat of Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Polish in "Twinkle Toes-ty"

And, as always, Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat

I just did this yesterday, so I can't tell you how it wears yet. I can tell you, though, that as much as I love the color of "Barracuda," its formula leaves something to be desired. It's a bit thick, and goes on with some difficulty. But don't worry. Glitter saved the day. As it always. does. The clear base of the gold glitters in "Twinkle Toes-ty" smoothed everything over quite nicely. Once again, say thank you to your glitter. Unfortunately, "Twinkle-Toes-ty" was a holiday special edition glitter, so you might not be able to find it if you are looking for that exact polish. here's the best closeup I could get of it. Sorry my cuticles are well, unattractive. 

I like this image because even thought the polish looks fine, you can see a little bit of the issues I had with the thickness in the way it builds near my cuticle. 

Thanks for visiting :) Come back soon. 

Manicure Monday! Rose Gold Glam.

So hey.

I took a bit of a hiatus from all of the responsibilities to spend time with my family, my dog, my friends, and my HuluPlus subscription. Also, many bubble baths happened. But I really did miss blogging, and I am excited to share this manicure with you!

This is another one from the summer, and since it is FINALLY starting to get a little warmer, I am going to suck all the vicarious living I can out of this little bugger.

Here it is.

To get this look, I used:

Bonder Base Coat

2 coats of Revlon's "Copper Penny" Nail Lacquer (you could definitely get away with one)

1 coat of Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Polish in "Strobe Light" (you might need two, mine was a little old and, thus, a little thicker)

And Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat

I really thought that this was going to chip super quickly since I used two coats of "Copper Penny" when I didn't really need to and an older glitter polish. But it still lasted a good week for me, so I was pretty happy with the Orly products once again, since I attribute a lot of my manicures' staying power to those two little gems. 

Since glitter can be so darn difficult to photograph, I tried to get a closeup for you. This doesn't quite do the polishes justice, but hopefully you can still get an idea of what it was like.

And here is one last image :)

Thanks for visiting!!! See you again soon.

Manicure Monday! featuring e.l.f.'s "Thunderstorm"

Today's manicure is a little more seasonal than the past few. Take a look.

To get this look:

I started with Orly's Bonder Base Coat, as usual. Then two coats of e.l.f.'s Essential Nail Polish in "Thunderstorm." I'll talk more about that little beauty later. For the accent nail, I layered one coat of Revlon's "Stunning." And then, as usual, finished with Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

I really love e.l.f.'s "Thunderstorm." On the website, the swatch shows it as being a really dark, grey-ish taupe-ish color, but as you can tell, when it's on the nails in natural light, it's pretty darn green. It can look navy, though, depending on the lighting, and I had a lot of double takes from my friends as they tried to determine what color it really was. Regardless, I love the color, and for two bucks, it's a great polish that goes on smooth and is perfectly opaque with two coats (you may be able to get away with one, even). I've been pretty satisfied with e.l.f.'s polishes overall, and when they redid the formula last year they came out with some great new colors. You can get "Thunderstorm" and more here.

Thanks for checking in. Have a happy Monday.

Manicure Monday! (On a Tuesday)

So I was very busy yesterday, and as much as I would love to say that my blogwork is more important than my schoolwork, I just don't think I can say that. It's probably not allowed.

So here is yesterday's manicure. It's another one from this past summer, well, because I just can't take the cold any more. I'm rebelling. Going on strike, you might say, from working through this terrible, terrible winter. 

Here it is :)

I like the french manicure, but I can only pull it off in the summer. My nails get too short from the cold and the chores I do in the winter. My only problem with them is that I can never seem to get the tips as perfect as I would like them to be, so this time around I covered the whole look in some sparkles. IMPORTANT: Any nail looks that ends up streaky or less than perfect can be "covered" with a good coat of glitter. Glitter is fabulous; it literally makes up for the mistakes of other polishes. Thank your glitters.

Polishes I Used:

Orly's Bonder Base Coat

Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure in "Pink Slip" (2 coats)

Avon's Nail Art Enamel in "White" (But you should try to find a white that you like, and even try out some different nail art brushes to see what you can make work best. The tips are always the worst. I did them free hand also, since I haven't found a taping method that I like very much.)

Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails in "Disco Ball"

Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat

Here are some more pictures, just in case you'd like to look at my nails for a little longer. The lighting did not do the sparkle justice, but I did what I could.

 You guys are great. I've got lots of new things I am working on. Give me a few more days and there should be some very exciting things happening on Curly Girlie.

Manicure Monday! Neutral + Sparkle Ombre

Welcome. Today is another Manicure Monday!

This is one of my favorite looks for a neutral nail, and I have to admit, it was inspired by a manicure I saw on The Only Way is Essex, which is kind of like the British version of The Hills. It is a decidedly guilty pleasure. One of the girls in the show had a taupey-brown polish, like the one I used, with rhinestones along the cuticle of an accent nail. It was flipping perfect.

To get this look, I used:

Orly's Bonder Basecoat
Two coats of Wet 'n' Wild's Megalast Salon Nail Color in "Wet Cement"
Ulta's Nail Lacquer in "Chic Peek" (it's a super old polish, so just try to find something that is darker brown and shimmery, if you're looking to try this out)
L.A Colors's Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer. I don't know what the color is called, it's just the silver glitter one.
I topped it off with Orly's Won't Chip Top Coat.

In order to get the sparkly ombre, I applied the polish with small sponge applicators, the kind you get with small, usually drugstore brand eyeshadow palettes. Then I put some blobs of color on a plastic baggy, which I dipped the sponge in. From there, I kind of just winged it, and tried to get the majority of the polish by the cuticle. Then I just used less as I moved toward the tip of the nail. Sponges work great for this because they hold product for awhile, so you shouldn't have to keep dipping. The Ulta color is underneath the silver, and I took it up a little higher to give the look another layer of sparkle. It's subtle in the picture, but I like the effect it has under the silver. If you want to see all this in action, be sure to comment and I'll see about filming this whole process for you :)

Thanks for reading. And see you tomorrow. 

Manicure Monday! Mixed and Matched Mint

Here's a mint green, sparkly, shimmery, silvery manicure. I felt like going a little nuts, so every nail has a different look, but the mint green ties them all together in a neat little, figurative, bow. 

Polishes I Used to Make This Look:

Orly's Bonder Basecoat.

The Mint Green: Revlon's "Electic"

The Shimmer on the Thumb Nail: Love & Beauty's "Seafoam Galaxy" also known as "Mint"

The Silver on the Index Finger: Revlon's "Silver Dollar"

The Glitter on the Middle Finger: Funky Fingers's "Flashing Lights"

The White on the Ring Finger: Coastal Scent's COAT Polish in "Star" (The silver is Revlon's "Silver Dollar" as well.)

The Sparkle on the Pinky Finger: Revlon's "Stunning" 

I topped them all off with Orly's Won't Chip Topcoat.                                                                                                                                     

So that was fun. Hope you thought so, too :)

See you again soon!