AaaaaaachOOOOOOOO!!!

Bleargh! It's that oh-so-loverly time of the year, again.

Allergy season.

:P

Ah, the sneezing, the sniffing, the watery eyes that burn and the clogged up throat. Spring has sprung. lol I bitch about my allergy symptoms and I like to feel sorry for myself and mope around about them a bit. I am lucky, tho. My symptoms aren't as bad as many sufferers. They are annoying and can be a bit of a pain in my considerable ass but I don't have them so bad that they interfere with my life, send me to the doctor in misery and require my taking a ton of medication just to function.

Could be worse. :D

I got out, yesterday and did a little running around, went to Sally's and Walgreen's and CVS. Spent too much money on stuff and had a blast doing it. I don't know how I managed it... I went to get base and top coat and French tip guides and ended up buying them and some decorative decals, several polishes, cotton rounds... You know how it goes. :P Sometimes it is just fun to cut loose a little and do something one absolutely shouldn't. Even if it isn't a major bank breaking splurge.

Oh yeah, I also got brow gel and an eyeliner. I am out of control. lol

Happily, tho... I am in control with my eating and how I am feeling. I had a very good day, yesterday. Calories were a tad low again but I still got enough nourishment. I didn't get shaky or light headed or feel hungry or anything so it was all good. 1005.

Brekkie this morning was two cups of coffee and oatmeal and diced pears. Iz'e stuffed. :D

I have green nails.

Piccies later. :D

Mani of the Moment: China Glaze Lubu Heels

Oh My Gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This colour is Gorgeous!!!!!!!

Seriously.

Gorgeous.

I am in love. The more I wear dark, vampy colours, the more I like them. And today I got as vampy as I ever have. Today, I wore black polish for the first time in my life and I really want to know what the hell took me so long?

I imagine I was looking for this colour. China Glaze Lubu Heels. More than likely the only Lubu heels I will ever own. lol That's okay. I can live with that, as long as I have this beautiful polish for my nails.

This polish is a black jelly, I guess it would be called; packed with deep, deep red fire in the form of fine glitter. To the casual glance, it looks black or deep, deep, deep burgundy. Let light... Any light hit it and the red glitter jumps to the surface and sets this enamel on fire. The effects are mesmerizing. I can't stop looking at my nails.

I have to get a back up bottle of this shade. If China Glaze ever discontinues this shade, I do not want to be without it.

I was a tad dismayed with it, at first. The first coat was thin, grey, uneven and streaky with little glitter and I felt a little nervous. Then coat # two went on and suddenly it started to look black and the glitter began to come to life. By coat # 3 I had the colour that the bottle promised me. And I was happy and all my doubts and fears melted like snow in the Spring sunshine.

I did today's mani with a coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base, three coats of Lubu Heels and a coat of Seche. My Seche is suddenly turning thick and gloopy and so my finish is a bit... lumpy??? kinda looking in spots. Blech! What a time for my Seche to turn. :P

For the heck of it, I decided to post pics before clean up. Yikes! What a mess! But, with tips I have recently learned and practice, the pre clean up mess isn't as bad as it used to be. lol

Indoors, (post clean up, of course.. lol) with flash.

Outdoors, direct afternoon sun, no flash. Look at that dark, deep red fire. :D

Outdoors, in shade. No flash.

Close up, in direct sun. No flash. To show just how magical this colour really is. If you thought that you could/would never wear black polish, I encourage you to try this colour.

Super close up in direct afternoon sun. No flash. The deep red glitter looks like embers from a dying fire, shining softly in a blackened fire pit. (Ignore my awful ridges, please. Those ridges are a result of years of acrylics and harshly ripping them off more times than anyone ever should. Lessons learned. *le sigh*)

So, there you have it. China Glaze Lubu Heels. Off my lemming list and on my nails. :D :D

Celebrate Spring! Paint your nails some fabulous colour that you never thought you would ever wear. :D

I Can't Resist the Sparkle

I think that I have created myself a monster. I had to repair a small chip in my polish on the outer corner of the middle finger nail on my right hand. I don't know how it happened. It was there when I got out of the shower. So, I repaired it and the repair looked acceptable enough. Then I started thinking about how I could make the repair look even better. A thick, glossy top coat? Sure.

Or...

Glitter!!! Yes! Glitter. It would cover any sin, add sparkle and be fun. So, out came the Pure Ice in Don't You Wish. Two coats, letting them dry in between. Then a coat of Seche. I usually hit my nails with Seche immediately but I didn't want to drag a bunch of glitter into the bottle, so I let the glitter coats dry before doing top coat.

I like this. :D It is sparkly and fun and the Don't You Wish looks good over the Frostbite. Almost as if they were meant to be together.

Awww... :P

At present I have... Nine coats on my nails. Nine. It isn't uncomfortable, really. But I do think that it looks as if I am wearing acrylics. lol Should be nice and protective. :D

Anyway, on with the pictures:

Indoors with flash.

Outdoors. Shade, without flash. You can really see the glitter clearly, here.

Outdoors. Shade, no flash. I think that this pic best shows the depth of the base blue (especially on my thumb nail) and the shine of the glitter coat.

Outdoors. Direct late afternoon sun, no flash.

I briefly considered starting a polish blog, but I changed my mind. Honestly, I like having all of my random stuff in one place. :D :D I hope that you all don't mind the chaos. :D

New Manicure

My poor China Glaze Ruby Pumps manicure finally gave up the ghost and I couldn't do any further touch ups. So, it was time for a change.

Can I just mention here what a pain in the ass removing glitter polish is? It took me forever to get every last trace of that polish gone. I think I need one of those remover jars with the brush thingies in it for getting glitter polish off. Especially since I plan to get my hot little hands on more of them. :D

Today's mani is OPI An Affair in Red Square. A beautiful red with a deep red and gold shimmer. I love this colour so much. It is just stunning. And, like Ruby Pumps, kind of hard to capture the true depth and shimmer and all the different shades that live deep in this polish.

I did the best I could. :D

Indoors with flash.

Outdoors in shade with no flash.

Outdoors in direct afternoon sun. No flash.

Outdoors, direct sun. No flash. This kind of shows the gorgeous shimmer. Kind of.

This mani was done with two coats of China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base, the first coat allowed to dry before the second went on. Two coats of OPI An Affair in Red Square and one coat of Seche. I need to do a second coat of Seche... I'll do it later when I am done for the evening and can just let it dry and cure. :D

Here is hoping for a mani that will last nearly as long as my last one did. :D I was amazed at how long my last mani hung in there, looking good. If I get three solid days out of a mani, I am happy. I think I got a full five, out of the Ruby Pumps. :D :D :D

What is with stupid Blogger? It isn't making my paragraph breaks as it should, again. Gah!!!

Nails Today: Ruby Pumps

It was time for a fresh nail look and I decided on China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I really like this colour. It is red-red and has a lovely flash and sparkle. Yes, I likes me a little sparkle, now and again. :D

Clean up after this polish is a bitch. This is the first time I have cleaned up a glitter the way I recently learned from a fabulous polish fanatic blogger and I had to really work at it for a while. In fact, I had to work at it so much that I got a little carried away and ended up with rather large cuticle gaps. Oops. *cringe* But it isn't too tragic, so I will leave it.

For now. :D

These pics were taken outside in somewhat diffused late afternoon sun. Trust clouds to be present when I want a really bright sunlight picture of my nail polish. lol Don't you just love Arizona?



Between my old camera just not cutting is as well anymore and my crap photography skills, this polish is just not done proper justice in these pictures.

Franken Mani in the Sun

I took pictures of my franken manicure in the sun, yesterday. The colour shows the purple and some of the hidden shimmer, too. :D

This one is holding up nicely. I did a little touch up on my free edges and some small chips where my nails strike the keys when I type then went over it with another coat of Seche Vite. Hopefully, it won't peel off in the shower, tomorrow. That is the biggest problem I have with my polish. After a few days, it starts peeling off, especially after a shower. *sigh*

Hello!

Welcome to my strange, strange blog, my friends. I now have three followers. *tickled pink*

Typical of capricious Arizona weather, today was very cold, cloudy and spitting rain, snow and even a few ice pellets. then it would stop, the sun would shine a bit and big patches of blue sky would show, then clouds closed in again and the rain started up, again. It is supposed to be stormy, tomorrow, too. I am delighted, as I adore nasty weather. The darker, wilder, wetter and windier, the better.

I am one of those weirdos who get bummed with the sun comes out. lol I do enjoy sunshine but I need regular cloudy days and rain, to keep me balanced. I should be a Pacific Northwest dweller. Blissing out on all of the clouds and rain and savouring the sun, when it does come out. :D

Dang it, I need to do my nails. I would like some new polish colours. Maybe some blue? Deep, dark purple. Soft lavendery purple. I have a thing for OPI polish. I love their brush and the colours are beautiful and I love the shade names they come up with. OPI is the best polish I have ever used.

I am munching on jelly beans. I know... I was craving a sweet and these seemed the least harmful. I measured out a small serving and left the bag safely in the kitchen. ;) Yum! Orange. My all time favourite flavour of jelly bean.

What I am really craving is Cadbury Creme Eggs. And Caramel Eggs. Gah! Easter time is a hazard, with all the chocolate and eggs. *hiding*

My stupid cold still lingers in my life. It has decided to inhabit my chest for a bit. I have a light, irritating dry cough. I am drinking a lot to help tamp it down. It isn't serious. Just a minor irritation. I'll live. If my head ever clears out and my beak ever unstuffs (I know... not a word lol) it's self.

Spring training began, today. Just pitchers and catchers, so far. Go, Cubs, Go!

My husband likes The Andy Griffith Show. A lot. Too much. And Gunsmoke and other oaters. I swear, he is morphing into his father, right before my eyes. And it is really beginning to frighten me. Thank God I have my puter. If I had to live through all of those shows without this distraction, I don't know what I would do. But I think that it would involve a clock tower and a high powered rifle.