Sunday, November 25, 2012

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 12 - Purple Ombré

Kate's Nails 
This week the Ravens take on the Chargers.  I'm wishing I was is San Diego for the game today - I'm hating this chilly, windy, Maryland weather!  
For these nails, I painted Butter London's Teetotal on my thumb, and then did the laces in Sinful Color's Snow Me White.  On my index finger, I painted Spoiled's 2 Weeks Sober.  Then for all the other nails, I mixed 2 Weeks Sober with Snow Me White to get progressively lighter colors.  I made sure to not use any fast drying colors so that I could keep mixing as I painted and not have to worry about the colors getting goopy.  This is an easy way to do ombré nails without having to coordinate a bunch of different polishes. 
Go Ravens!!


Saturday, November 24, 2012

November Birchbox

Time for a review of the products in my November Birchbox!  This is a bit late, but November has been a crazy busy month so far.  If you're wondering what a Birchbox is, or if you want to see last month's post, click HERE.
This month's box.  So exciting!

So here's the lowdown on the products.

ModelCo Fibre Lashxtend Lengthening Mascara:  
Well, my Birchbox just paid for itself.  Twice.  This is a full sized mascara ($24), and I love it.  It's a perfect mascara for a light, fresh-faced look.  It doesn't clump, and it gives you a very natural enhancement.  As someone with eye allergies, I'm pretty picky about my mascara.  This one feels like you aren't wearing any mascara, and doesn't bother my eyes at all.  This one is a win!

Lulu Organics Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder:
Ok, I'll admit it.. I have greasy hair.  I have to wash it every day or else my blonde hair turns brown.  I have tried dry shampoos in the past and not had any success with them.  Unfortunately, I didn't have success with this hair powder either.  It didn't do anything to revive my hair, and it smelled pretty bad.  Oh well.  (Full Size - $30)

Mox Botanicals Pomegranate & Fig Lip Butter:
I have mentioned before that I'm a lip gloss snob.  Last month's lip balm was a winner, but this one didn't do anything for me.  It was a bit sticky and waxy, and I ended up giving it away.  
(Full Size - $16)

One Love Organics Aromatic Body Serum:
This serum spray had a pretty overpowering scent, but I used it anyway.  I used it on my feet, elbows, and knees, and it did a good job of softening them.  I probably wouldn't buy it again, just because of the scent.  But if they came out with an unscented version I'd be all about it!  
(Full Size - $39)

John Varvatos Artisan:
The theme of this month's box was "Give", so they included this sample of cologne to share with a "lucky guy".  I gave it a sniff before giving it away, and it was a nice scent.  Not overpowering or too musky!

So there you have it.  I'm pretty happy with this month's box, mostly thanks to the awesome mascara!  If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox (or giving a subscription as a Christmas gift!) you can use my referral link herehttps://www.birchbox.com?raf=xdgbr

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Turkey nails

Cara's Nails

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I have been terrible about posting this week. My nails were starting to look pretty rough and I thought they needed a little breather. But now I'm back with a Thanksgiving inspired turkey manicure. 


Sorry for the quick post. I'm doing this during a short break in cooking Thanksgiving dinner!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kate's Nails 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!  Today's post is going to be super short, since I'm heading to my parent's house shortly for the day.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Polishes Used:
Revlon Cherry
OPI Schnapps Out of It
China Glaze Liquid Leather
Ulta Sun-Sational
China Glaze Fast Track
Essie Good as Gold
OPI You Don't Know Jacques

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 11 - Purple Cheetah Print

Kate's Nails
This is my first manicure in a week! I decided to give my nails a week off to let them breathe, and heal a bit.  They were looking pretty rough, but with the help of nail whitener, cuticle gel, a buffer, and some Vaseline, they're looking much better now!
So this week is a big week in Raven's football.  We are playing our biggest rival - the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It's always a good game when we play the Steelers, and I would love to beat them on their home turf tonight!  
For this week's nails, I went with a purple cheetah print.  I'm not usually one for animal prints, but I really loved Cara's PINK CHEETAH NAILS, and have been wanting to try out her method for creating them.  I started with a base of Essie's Lilacism and then used Bundle Monster plate BM-221 to stamp on the black.  My stamping polish was Wet N Wild's Ebony Hates Chris. I then used my small dotting tool to fill in the spaces with Wet N Wild's On a Trip.  The football nail is my usual combination of Butter London's Teetotal and Milani's White on the Spot.
Go Ravens!!!!!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 10 - Drips

Kate's Nails 
This week the Ravens have a home game (woo!!) against the Raiders.  I had a much more elaborate manicure planned for today, but I was out late last night and didn't have time to pull it off.  So I decided to go with some purple drips.  
Here's hoping the Ravens can keep the home game winning streak alive!
Polishes Used:
Milani White on the Spot
Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober
Butter London Teetotal


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Social Distortion Nails

Cara's Nails

I had the great pleasure of catching Social Distortion live last night. Easily one of the greatest bands of all time! These guys have been rocking out for over 30 years and they still don't disappoint live. Here are the nails I wore to pay homage to this great band!


The base coat is Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie. This is a very cool shimmery black. In certain lights is picks up some purple tones. It's a nice alternative to wearing a straight black polish during the fall/winter months. The Social D symbols were painted using acrylic paints. 

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Baltimore Ravens Nails - Week 9 - Ruffles

Kate's Nails 
This week, the Ravens are off to Cleveland to take on the Browns!
I've done a bunch of RUFFLE manicures before, but realized that I had never done a Ravens themed one.  So here it is!  I used the following colors:
Spoiled 2 Weeks Sober
Essie Good as Gold
Essie Lilacism
China Glaze Liquid Leather
Milani White on the Spot
Butter London Teetotal

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Pattern Mixing with "Where's My Chauffeur?"

Kate's Nails 
At a trip to Ulta yesterday, we came across Essie's winter collection.  The "Leading Lady" collection features a pretty wide variety of colors and polish types.  I picked up Where's My Chauffeur? which Essie describes as "an opulent turquoise".  I'll definitely be getting more polishes from this collection in the future!  You can see swatches and reviews from The PolishAholic HERE.  For this manicure, I started with a base of Zoya's Farrah. I then used regular tape, striping tape, and a small dotting tool to create the different designs.  I love these two colors together, and will definitely be wearing them together again!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Monarch Manicure

Kate's Nails 
I've seen this monarch wing design all over the place, and have been wanting to try it out.  I figured that today would be an appropriate day to give it a go, since the monarch is a symbol of the Day of the Dead.  I didn't have the time or patience to do a full manicure of wings, but I'm loving this accent nail!  It turned out much better than I thought it would, and I'm thinking I need to do a full manicure soon!
My nails are painted with LCN's Tokyo Expression, which might be my favorite all time polish.  The monarch nail was done with a base of Sally Hansen's Mellow Yellow. I sponged a layer of Sally Hansen Sun Kissed on that, and then sponged some parts with OPI's Schnapps Out Of It on top of that.  I lined it in Tokyo Expression, and then did the dots in Milani's White on the Spot.
If you haven't checked out Cara's Día de los Muertos manicure yet, you have to see it!!