Nail Adventures: Julep Mystery Box

Because I don’t seem to have enough nail polish in my collection (insert massive sigh), I decided to add on even more with the February Julep Mystery Box.

You were able to pick between three boxes this month. One focused for manicures, one for pedicures, and one for facials (I think? I don’t quite remember). You could get one or all three!

Y’all think I bought all three, don’t y’all?

I didn’t. I can exercise some restraint! 😀

I actually went for Aphrodite, which was the box for pedicures. Here in the frozen north, it isn’t anywhere near time for flip flops or sandals or anything but fuzzy socks and boots, but I really want to do my toes and treat myself.

Enough talk. On to the pictures!

So, what you see there is a combo of the box, Cupid’s Add on, and Rosa, the February Birthstone Polish. Close up swatches:

Mint Condition Pedi Creme. New item for me, so I can’t wait to try. I also got the DoubleStep friction stick (repeat from past boxes but I love it so much I don’t care!) and a new foot file. I was actually going to get myself a new one, so, score!

Polishes:

From left to right: Claudette (orange-red creme), Aphrodite (pink with silver shimmer), and Karen (pale shimmery orange)

From left to right: Stefani (silver creme with gold glitter), Kennedy (yellow-beige creme), and Angela (teal metallic creme).

And finally, the February birthstone polish. February’s birthstone is amethyst, and this is an amethyst glitter named Rosa.

Karen is a duplicate from one of my first boxes I got, but it’s so pretty I know my bestie will love it. Rosa I picked up because it’s named for Rosa Parks, who was born in February. Honestly, I was a bit underwhelmed with the color selection this month (it’s a bit more neutral than I prefer), but Aphrodite is really pretty and Rosa is pretty high coverage glitter. Love! Can’t wait to take it for a test drive!

In all? Seven new polishes, plus a foot creme and file. My feet will be sandal ready, even if the weather isn’t!

But seriously, can we give it a rest with the snow? It’s enough now. 🙂

Nail Adventures: Gamer Style

I can never call myself a gamer. I enjoy watching others play, and I do enjoy my Mario Kart and Just Dance.

But gamer? Nah. I’m nowhere near good enough.

I can, however, make a game come to life on my nails!  One of my favorite games to play when I was a peanut was PacMan. So I thought: why not put PacMan on my nails? The inspiration for this look came from two different videos I found on YouTube:

This one is from HannahRoxNails.

And this one is from PolishPedia.

I loved elements from both of these videos, and combined them to create this look:

Right Hand

Left Hand

I was able to freehand PacMan there. Practice does make perfect! Despite my ambidexterity, circles elude me when I have to make them with my left hand, so right hand only got the maze and dots. The side eye from the ghosts make me giggle every time I look down at my hands. So cute!

And now, off to fall back down the YouTube hole and find some other looks!

Nail Adventures: February Julep Box Quick Hit

Almost forgot to show off the Julep box for February!

Partly because my apartment suffered a mini flood (snow, you can leave now. Please and thank you.)

Anyway.

This month we got three colors and a liquid eye shadow.

From left: Cameron (purple textured glitter), Rooney (deep taupe/brown creme), and Love (gold shimmer with red glitter). Love was a bonus color included in all boxes this month. I got the fig shimmer eye sheen. It doesn’t crease! Although my eyelids eat everything, it wears well.

Stay tuned for a look featuring Cameron and Rooney!

Nail Adventures: Heavy Metal Nails

I went to a meeting for work, and I did my nails up all fancy for the occasion.

I picked up Push and Shove from OPI’s Gwen Stefani Collection. Its this really cool silver that, when used with the Lay Down That Base base coat, turns into this beautiful high chrome silver with mirror reflection. I got the set of two:

Picture from Google.

I used Essie’s Licorice as the black accents, and added a fancy bow charm and rhinestones. The result?

Right Hand

Left Hand

This is a look I absolutely loved, but it doesn’t last long. In order to get the chrome look, you can’t use top coat (adding top coat will take it to just a regular silver color.) Also, the charm kind of worked my nerves a bit; I was petrified that I would knock it off of my finger! But since that wasn’t a day that I worked with my hands, it was all good.

I should note that this mani took me a while to get done (about midnight). It’s bad when your obsession keeps you up at night.

Totally worth it, though. 😀

Selfie Revelation

I have never really been one for pictures. I rarely smile in the ones I took when I was younger (baby/toddler/elementary school pictures excluded). In fact, for my senior pictures, I did smile in some, and everyone requested my serious pose. That’s how they knew me, my friends said, and that’s how they wanted to remember me.

As I got older, and less secure in who I was (and am), I hated pictures more. They’re for beautiful people. They’re for skinny people. They’re for folks with perfect skin. All I got going for me is smarts, but I can never be pretty. I can never be attractive. I can never be wanted.

I belong in the background. Not center stage.

Even now, despite having selfies all over my Instagram feed, I don’t always feel 100% comfortable posting them. When no one likes them, I still feel a touch of sadness, even though I only have a handful of followers that have their own busy lives to contend with. Irrational as it is, I still sometimes feel like pictures are for people not me.

The beautiful ones.

And yet, Sunday, for whatever reason, I decided to join in the #sundayselfie craze that goes on every week. Can’t explain why. Devil made me do it, perhaps.

And there I am. No makeup, no filter (I was tempted), hair tied up in a green and blue head wrap, favorite off the shoulder tee.

And I love it.

May not mean anything to anyone else in the webisphere, but damn, that is something serious for me. I look good, and I’m not ashamed to say that.

And that scares me a little.

As a fat, black woman, daring to love who I am is a radical act. It shouldn’t be, but it is. I’ve had people tell me about I’m almost perfect except I am fat. Almost perfect except my teeth aren’t completely straight (and now you know why I rarely smile.) Almost, but not there yet.

It has taken me years to realize I am not something that needs to be fixed. I’m not broken. Society is. And I am not gonna feed the machine not one more day.

I still have my moments of “ugh, bad everything day,” but more and more I am able to push that to the side, puff my chest out, and strut anyway.

Revelations from one picture.

And more to come.

Quick Hit: Valentine’s Day Nails

Did y’all miss me? 😀

I managed to get both bronchitis and laryngitis which left me with enough energy to work like a zombie then come home and pass out.

Now that’s passed, let’s get on with the nail stuff!

I don’t fool with Valentine’s Day mostly, but I do makeup for a living and I do love to experiment with different colors.

Right Hand

Left Hand

I used OPI’s Pink A Boo and Revlon’s Velvet Rope for this look, and added some pink stones for sparkle. I had to add a white base to my nails, as Pink A Boo is sheerer than I prefer. Once I got a coat of white, two coats of pink worked just fine. Then, I took my nail brushes and pens and started designing from there with Velvet Rope. This mani was a lot of fun, especially because I don’t normally do pastel pink, and I love how it turned out.

I hope y’all had a lovely Valentine’s Day or an awesome half-off candy day (Feb 15th!)