Just a short, quick one for you guys tonight :) If you are reading this from the Blogger Dashboard please do me a favor and click on the blog name to go to the blog and read this. There isn't that better? The reason for that is I made a few design changes and I would like your opinion :) So please look at the background and the text and tell me what you think. I've had some complaints about the comment text being hard to read, I'm hoping it's better now. If you have some other ideas (or you know are great at blog design and wanna hook me up for free let me know heehee). I think I like sticking with the heart kind of theme since it goes with the name but I'm still thinking about header images and all of that stuff. Any input (positive!) is appreciated :)
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
Monday, June 25, 2012
This world and the people that live in it
Today I want to talk about the people I see in public. I have always been an observer, particularly of people. I look around and I notice things. Since I've gotten into nail art I've especially started noticing manis of course, but also just people. I wonder what people think and why they decide to do what they do.
We've all seen the people of WalMart pics and whatnot so I'm sure you'll see where this is going lol. I am definitely not in the least bit able to cast stones (though I totally do lol). There's a reason I save the back of Glamour for last and that reason is Don'ts. I like to look at those pics and say to myself WTF was she thinking?!
If you hang out with me on my Facebook page you may know that the bf and I tend to go to the stock car races every Sunday. It never fails that I see some things that make me scratch my head and think to myself, "Really? What was she thinking?" So here are a few things that someone may be thinking when you see them in public:
1. Unsupported saggy boobs. Chances are you don't have boobs like a porn star. They aren't perfectly perky and you need some kind of support. Wear a freaking bra! It never fails, every time we go to the races I see chicks free-boobing it when they really shouldn't be. Now if you don't care a bit then good for you, just know that others are thinkin it. (I frequently see older women without a bra with their boobs hanging down to their belly buttons lol.)
2. Perfectly made up but dressed like you crawled out of the reject bin at Goodwill. I see chicks that have perfect hair and makeup all done but they are dressed in hacked off sweat pants and a tank top that looks like it's been at the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper for 2 weeks. What the hell? If you are gonna do it, do it all.
4. Stupid tattoos. Today I saw a girl with a barcode on the back of her neck, a pot leaf on her shoulder, and a Playboy Bunny by the back of her ear (she had more but I couldn't tell what all they were. To me this is ridiculous. I love tattoos and I have one with plans for more but when it comes to stupid things, just Don't!
3. Fat rolls. Cover that nastiness up! Believe me no one wants to see it. Oh and if you are a guy keep your shirt on! Nobody wants to see your beer belly jiggle like a bowl full of jelly.
5. The wrong clothes for the weather. I saw a guy a couple of weekends ago wearing shorts, tennis shoes, and a stocking cap. Really dude? It's too hot for a shirt but not too hot for that hat? Wow!
6. Ridiculous facial hair. I get that it's your choice but don't expect me not to snicker and point out your choice to the bf.
10. Leggings. I cannot tell you how many chicks I see that have leggings on and either don't realize they are see through or don't care. They wear shirts that are too short and you see their underwear (or not ewww!) or they randomly bend over. I went with my sister's family to the St. Patrick's Day parade this year and this chick ran out in the middle of the road wearing leggings, bent over at the waist to grab a piece of candy and not only could you see every single bulge and ripple along with her underwear (so glad she was wearing them!) but they were also ripped and worn out in the thighs so everyone saw that too.
7. Well dressed people who don't bother to dress their kids. I understand kids are messy and go through clothes quick or they may have had an accident so I try to look past this. But if your kids are wearing pajamas in the middle of the day I have to wonder.
8. Skinny jeans. Most ridiculous fashion I have ever seen. I hate them, loathe them in fact. And it takes a certain body type and outfit to be able to pull them off. I count them up there with mom jeans.
9. Rooster hair and other crazy hair styles. I saw a woman with bleached white hair and she looked like a rooster. Seriously what are you people thinking? There was a kid we saw at the store yesterday who either had cut his own hair or someone thought he was a dalmation since he had spots all over his head. C'mon mom fix that!
8. Skinny jeans. Most ridiculous fashion I have ever seen. I hate them, loathe them in fact. And it takes a certain body type and outfit to be able to pull them off. I count them up there with mom jeans.
9. Rooster hair and other crazy hair styles. I saw a woman with bleached white hair and she looked like a rooster. Seriously what are you people thinking? There was a kid we saw at the store yesterday who either had cut his own hair or someone thought he was a dalmation since he had spots all over his head. C'mon mom fix that!
So there you have it! 10 things that make me scratch my head in wonderment lol. I hope you are all baffled along with me but if not, let me tell you right now that I will not tolerate any rude comments. Your opinion is your opinion as is mine,
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
Friday, June 22, 2012
Butterflies!
If you hang around my Facebook page then you may know that I recently got a ring from Copious. While I love the ring it does have the capability to turn me green lol (thank man for clear fingernail polish!) You may also know that I was having quite a bit of trouble the other day with Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue. I REALLY REALLY wanted to use it to do a mani that matched my gorgeous new ring so I decided to try it again before I called it crap and got rid of it. It didn't want to dry at all and it was ridiculously bubbly :(
2 coats of Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue (FAIL) and the ring:
Can you tell how bad that is? Seriously, it was complete crap. But try again!
3 coats this time, stamped with Kleancolor Metallic Aqua and Sapphire and 1 coat of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Teal:
Woohoo! Better definitely though the Blizzard Blue still didn't want to play nice :(
And with the ring :) So what do you think? Have you ever tried to match jewelry with a mani? Would you?
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
2 coats of Sally Hansen's Blizzard Blue (FAIL) and the ring:
3 coats this time, stamped with Kleancolor Metallic Aqua and Sapphire and 1 coat of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Teal:
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Guest Post: Answers!
Samantha, cuticle remover and cuticle softener are two different products. Only use cuticle remover if your cuticle growth is excessive. As far as softener, you can use it, or just very gently push cuticles back after a shower/bath. And again, only trim if the cuticle material is split or unruly! Also, be sure to use cuticle trimmers, by Mehaz or Tweezerman, not the little v-shaped 'cutter' that you get at the drugstore!
Cuticle oil, or any moisturizer, is really about personal skin type and geography. Keeping your hands moisturized slows the aging of your hands, keeps nails from becoming terribly brittle, and can help maintain your mani for an extra day or so! Even grapeseed oil is wonderful!
The only reason for a gap between your cuticle and polish is: our skin produces oils to keep us moisturized, (in theory) :) and if you have not properly removed cuticle growth before polish application, your polish will lift and peel quickly. If you have prepped your nails properly, take your polish right up there! It looks fresher longer, and you'll be happier with the end result! Just be sure to clean up your 'messes', so your mani looks amazing from day one!
As far as my personal routine...I wear acrylics, so I use pure acetone to remove polish. I rebase ~ twice a month, unless I'm being lazy :) I change my polish/design as often as once a week to as rarely as once a month! Depends on how much I like what I put on, and how bad I mess 'em up at work or in the garden! I have VERY dry skin, and I live in Colorado...there's not enough lotion on this continent to keep me moisturized! Find what works for you, even if its a generic! And never apologize for it! :D
Yellowing of your nails is common and annoying...you can try different base coats, but some people yellow no matter what! A 5-10 minute soak in hydrogen peroxide will usually help...or if you have great nails and are in a hurry, a purple buffing block, (very fine), will take that stain right off! Some polish brands are more likely to stain than others...some pigments are more likely to stain...you just have to decide what you're willing to tolerate :)
Keep asking me questions! I will try to keep answering!
Have a great night all! Last hours of the Summer Solstice...enjoy!
Cuticle oil, or any moisturizer, is really about personal skin type and geography. Keeping your hands moisturized slows the aging of your hands, keeps nails from becoming terribly brittle, and can help maintain your mani for an extra day or so! Even grapeseed oil is wonderful!
The only reason for a gap between your cuticle and polish is: our skin produces oils to keep us moisturized, (in theory) :) and if you have not properly removed cuticle growth before polish application, your polish will lift and peel quickly. If you have prepped your nails properly, take your polish right up there! It looks fresher longer, and you'll be happier with the end result! Just be sure to clean up your 'messes', so your mani looks amazing from day one!
As far as my personal routine...I wear acrylics, so I use pure acetone to remove polish. I rebase ~ twice a month, unless I'm being lazy :) I change my polish/design as often as once a week to as rarely as once a month! Depends on how much I like what I put on, and how bad I mess 'em up at work or in the garden! I have VERY dry skin, and I live in Colorado...there's not enough lotion on this continent to keep me moisturized! Find what works for you, even if its a generic! And never apologize for it! :D
Yellowing of your nails is common and annoying...you can try different base coats, but some people yellow no matter what! A 5-10 minute soak in hydrogen peroxide will usually help...or if you have great nails and are in a hurry, a purple buffing block, (very fine), will take that stain right off! Some polish brands are more likely to stain than others...some pigments are more likely to stain...you just have to decide what you're willing to tolerate :)
Keep asking me questions! I will try to keep answering!
Have a great night all! Last hours of the Summer Solstice...enjoy!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Born Pretty? Pffft No Thanks!
I would like to start off this post noting that this is MY blog and as such I will post whatever I'd like to. I also know that how well things go with this blog depends on you my readers so I try to keep things clean and upbeat. This will NOT be one of those posts. This post is a rant.
If you have been reading for a while you may know that I purchased some stamping plates from The Born Pretty Store (post seen here). Now I got a lot of plates all at once for my birthday and as I don't always do a stamping mani I haven't gotten around to trying all of them yet though I used a Born Pretty plate for this mani seen here. I picked that image out and tried it and it worked great so I felt comfortable thinking that like all of my other plates I wouldn't have a problem. I went ahead and replied back to their email saying yes I had received my order and that all appeared well.
This was absolutely not the case! I tried to use another plate on my last mani seen here and here. I found a super cute flower and figured I would just stamp it real quick since we were on our way to a party and I just wanted a little something extra. The first one I picked didn't work at all no matter what polish I tried or which stamper I used. In fact no matter what I did it wouldn't work. SO I tried a different plate. That one wouldn't work either. Well by then I didn't have time to keep messing around and just used a different set (MASH ) and found an image hurried up and stamped so we wouldn't be late.
I pretty much put it out of mind with everything that has been goin on here lately figuring I would get back to it later and keep trying. I was supposed to do someone else's nails the other day and I knew they would want Hello Kitty and since my BP plates were the only ones I have with that image I pulled them out again to practice and get some ideas. I was pretty annoyed when it refused to work (I could only pick up a corner of the bow).
So I emailed the customer service who had previously been so nice and I waited for a reply. Now anytime I have had to deal with something like this before the company is generally very reasonable. I figured it would be a somewhat simple matter to correct, after all I had spent good money on these items. I got an email back giving me advice telling me to take off the film and "that it is impossible that the plates can't work well".
Maybe this wouldn't offend you but let me tell you I was VERY offended. Basically I felt I was being called an idiot. In two emails they are saying its not their product but me that is the issue. Now I had already told them that I was a blogger before (I had emailed them asking for a coupon code to share with you guys). So it's not like I'm exactly inexperienced with stamping and the mechanics of it all. I emailed them back Friday less than a minute after I had received an email from them telling them I felt I was being blamed for an issue I feel to be theirs, that I was sure it was a mistake in quality not a deliberate issue and that I had already tried everything they suggested and nothing would work.
They have ignored that last email so I emailed them today telling them that due to their complete disregard of this issue I would never purchase anything from them again and that I would urge everyone else I could to do so as well. Will they get back to me? I doubt it. I am one person and they are popular with bloggers due to sending items for free to be reviewed. Where I sit right now out of 12 plates 5 do not work at all, 4 plates almost all the images work and 3 work somewhat (one plate only 2 images work).
I hate to say a bad word about anybody but after this kind of 'customer care' I would never ever do business with them again and I hope you all think about this issue if you decide to. I also know I'm not the only one who has had issues and gotten the run-around.
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
If you have been reading for a while you may know that I purchased some stamping plates from The Born Pretty Store (post seen here). Now I got a lot of plates all at once for my birthday and as I don't always do a stamping mani I haven't gotten around to trying all of them yet though I used a Born Pretty plate for this mani seen here. I picked that image out and tried it and it worked great so I felt comfortable thinking that like all of my other plates I wouldn't have a problem. I went ahead and replied back to their email saying yes I had received my order and that all appeared well.
This was absolutely not the case! I tried to use another plate on my last mani seen here and here. I found a super cute flower and figured I would just stamp it real quick since we were on our way to a party and I just wanted a little something extra. The first one I picked didn't work at all no matter what polish I tried or which stamper I used. In fact no matter what I did it wouldn't work. SO I tried a different plate. That one wouldn't work either. Well by then I didn't have time to keep messing around and just used a different set (MASH ) and found an image hurried up and stamped so we wouldn't be late.
I pretty much put it out of mind with everything that has been goin on here lately figuring I would get back to it later and keep trying. I was supposed to do someone else's nails the other day and I knew they would want Hello Kitty and since my BP plates were the only ones I have with that image I pulled them out again to practice and get some ideas. I was pretty annoyed when it refused to work (I could only pick up a corner of the bow).
So I emailed the customer service who had previously been so nice and I waited for a reply. Now anytime I have had to deal with something like this before the company is generally very reasonable. I figured it would be a somewhat simple matter to correct, after all I had spent good money on these items. I got an email back giving me advice telling me to take off the film and "that it is impossible that the plates can't work well".
Maybe this wouldn't offend you but let me tell you I was VERY offended. Basically I felt I was being called an idiot. In two emails they are saying its not their product but me that is the issue. Now I had already told them that I was a blogger before (I had emailed them asking for a coupon code to share with you guys). So it's not like I'm exactly inexperienced with stamping and the mechanics of it all. I emailed them back Friday less than a minute after I had received an email from them telling them I felt I was being blamed for an issue I feel to be theirs, that I was sure it was a mistake in quality not a deliberate issue and that I had already tried everything they suggested and nothing would work.
They have ignored that last email so I emailed them today telling them that due to their complete disregard of this issue I would never purchase anything from them again and that I would urge everyone else I could to do so as well. Will they get back to me? I doubt it. I am one person and they are popular with bloggers due to sending items for free to be reviewed. Where I sit right now out of 12 plates 5 do not work at all, 4 plates almost all the images work and 3 work somewhat (one plate only 2 images work).
I hate to say a bad word about anybody but after this kind of 'customer care' I would never ever do business with them again and I hope you all think about this issue if you decide to. I also know I'm not the only one who has had issues and gotten the run-around.
As always, thanks for stopping by :)
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