Getting older.

I decided a couple weeks ago that it was time to break down and try some nail stamping.  I went with the Bundle Monster plates from Amazon (which you can find here).  At twenty-one plates for $17.99, it was definitely worth a shot.  My first few attempts were pretty disappointing, but I think that's to be expected.  And then I got this:

Thankfully this particular manicure worked out very well.  I love houndstooth.  It wouldn't be a stretch to say that it's my favorite pattern. :)  This was two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out (I believe that's what it's called) with a stamped coat of Studio M French Tip.

 

You can tell that I didn't clean the plate before doing the index and middle finger on the second picture.  I know better now, hehe...  I stamped every finger vertically, and then stamped each thumb horizontally.  Since the stamping color was white, cleanup was the easiest thing. :)

I adored this manicure!  I believe that I wore it for three full days before I forced myself to take it off and put something new on, just so I wouldn't get out of the habit.  It hadn't even chipped, though. :)  A definite success, if you ask me.

As for the title of this entry, I am getting older.  Today is my birthday. :)  I don't yet know how I feel about turning twenty-five.  I don't feel like I've achieved the accomplishments that I thought I would have by now.  Shouldn't I have an actual profession?  Some sort of road map detailing the plans for the rest of my life?

Though I'm not always sure of where I'm going, I am always certain of this:  I love the life I've been given, no matter how uncertain I become.  I am blessed every single day, even when I'm being too self-absorbed to see it.  The good in my life outweighs the bad in an outstanding way.

I have parents that love me, and sibling that I connect with, and family that looks out for my well being.  I have friends that always listen and persevere, even if I'm the one that's made things hard.  I have an amazing man in my life that overfills my heart with joy every time I see his smile.

Even if twenty-five is uncertain, I do know.  If this year to come is as richly blessed as the year that's passed, I am fully ready for it.

 

:)

Thank you for reading!

Studio M - Wicked Hot + IsaDora Grafitti fun!

Good evening!

Can I share something with you?  I love Daylight Savings Time!  I live in Indiana, and up until a couple years ago, we didn't observe Daylight Savings at all.  While everyone else was switching their clocks forward or back, we very conveniently ignored all of that. :)  Being the little interwebernaut that I was before the switch, it was very frustrating.  I had friends all over the country and world that I wanted to keep up with!  What time was it where Friend A lived?  Is it okay to call Friend B, or is it too late?

Now that we're finally caught up with the rest of the country, though, I very much enjoy the change!  People here still grumble about it, but my being super happy about it balances out some of the grumpiness.


On the docket for today, I have Studio M's Wicked Hot!

I MUST show you my Grafitti fun first, though!!  I was extremely happy with this outcome.  This is one coat of IsaDora's Masterpiece Pink over two coats of Studio M's Wicked Hot.  I wore Wicked Hot on a Friday, and was attending a friend's birthday gathering that night, so I slapped on a coat of Masterpiece Pink.

I admit that I wasn't certain how I felt about a light pink crackle polish like this, but I've been entirely impressed with it every time I've worn it.  I LOVE that it leaves jagged cracks more frequently than it breaks into big sections with thick veins of the base polish between the crackled portions.  Does that make sense?  I see that a lot with the Barry M Nail Effects polish that's big now, and I don't like it.  I love the way this one looks! <3

Also, it was tons of fun trying to set my camera timer and hold my hands perfectly for the shot.  This was the best one I had.  After about ten pictures, I was sick of it.  Haha!

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled program.

This is two coats of Wicked Hot.  The first coat was somewhat sheer, so I can't help feeling like this is something of a jelly?  It was a pretty standard color, but I enjoyed it for a day.  Very pretty for Fall and Winter.

Why do they put sale stickers RIGHT on the front?!  P.S. These polishes are great stuff for $2.99, and finding them cheaper is even more fun!  The collection put out for Fall didn't really make a big splash where I live, I guess, so there's still plenty of these colors floating around. :)

And here's a quick bottle shot so that you can get a better idea of the color.  Think the deepest, juiciest grape juice you've ever drank, and that's the color you'll get on your nails.

I don't know if I'll be wearing this color again soon, but it was a pretty hot shade.


In more exciting news, I have another giveaway planned!  I had so much fun giving polishes away last time that I really want to do it again!  More details will be coming within a week or two, so please stay tuned! :D

Studio M - Sophisticated Lad

I've been really blog lazy.  Which should not be confused with lazy in real life.  Work has been beating me halfway to Sunday this last week, and I'm still in the process of overhauling my living space in a big cleaning venture.  Oy vey.  There's always good and bad that come with cleaning, so I'm trying to stick with the positive aspects.  At least until I can see my floor again.  Haha!

I've still been taking pictures, but my camera is buried somewhere in this mess.  So unfortunate...  So you get a slight oldie.  Don't worry, though.  It's still fresh.  I sniffed it.

Urgh, why do you do this to me, pointer and middle fingers?  I need a good ridge filler.  This peeling business is ridiculous.

This was two easy coats of Studio M's Sophisticated Lad.  This is the first Studio M cream I've worn in a long, long while.  I was pretty impressed with it!  Sophisticated Lad turned out to be more of a greige than a beige, in my opinion.  There are slight cool undertones that lean purple, but don't make the polish itself look purple.

Very simple, but much more simply pretty than I expected.  As far as I know, though, Studio M polishes are only available at Meijer stores, which are only located in parts of the Midwest.  Indiana, Michigan, and parts of Illinois, if I'm not mistaken.


I found a fun book when I was cleaning.  It's called "The Conversation Piece Collection" by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie.  My parents got it for me when I was pretty young so that we would have things to talk about when we were out on trips.  It's a hefty little book filled with open ended questions. :)

If you could fly in a hot-air balloon over any city in the world, what city would you choose?
I'm not into heights.  I probably wouldn't even get into the balloon in the first place.  If I had to choose, though, I'd probably pick a tiny little town in Nepal, so that I could see the Himalayas.  Or some little touristy niche in Arizona so that I could fly over the Grand Canyon.


How about you?  Where would your hot balloon fly?

AGH!!!

OH.  MY.  GOODNESS.

I am so irritated right now!!

I bought a bottle of Studio M "Slamming Red."  Before I even started reading the blogs, I would pick it up in the store and check it out whenever I went by.  But just opening the bottle was enough to make me put it back on the shelf.  There's so much glitter in the polish that it is SO, SO THICK.

Earlier this week, though, I gave in.  The color was too great.  The glitter was too dazzling.  The swatches I'd seen were too perfect.  So I bought Slamming Red and a bottle of polish thinner to fix it with.

As of right now, I've mixed fifteen drops of thinner into it.  There's a noticable difference, but it's still way too thick and goopy to work with.  I tried it out on one hand and just couldn't continue.

Should I keep adding thinner to see if I can fix the consistency, or is this a lost cause?