Nails of the Week: Rainbow Gradient

This week I finally decided to try something I had been wanting to try for a long time, a rainbow gradient. I went out and bought a yellow a couple months just so I could do it, but I never got around to it. Since it's almost the end of summer for this teacher, I decided to go ahead and try it.

Surprisingly, this was the first color gradient I have ever tried. I've done glitter gradients, but those are a lot different. In order to get both colors on each nail evenly, I used these makeup sponges. 

The colors I used are (from left to right):

• China Glaze Shocking Pink
• China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy
• Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow
• Finger Paints Silkscreen Green
• Essie I'm Addicted
• Ulta Tutu Cute

On top of everything I used Sally Hansen Disco Ball to pull it all together.

Liebster Award

I was nominated for the Liebster Award last month by Heather at Love To Be Busy. I found her blog through Instagram a while back and instantly loved it. I really liked that she was a teacher and blogger just like me and totally had a fangirl moment when she followed me back on Instagram.

Rules of the Liebster Award:
1.  Create a post thanking the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
2.  State 11 interesting facts about yourself
3.  Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
4.  Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 500 followers.
5.  Create 11 questions for the bloggers to answer.

11 Facts About Me:

1. While I look incredibly young (I often get mistaken for 18), I am actually 25. My cousin likes to joke that I'm a vampire because she says I look the same as I did in when I was 18.
2. I'm a teacher; I teach 5th grade. I love to see the look of shock on people's faces when they ask me about school (thinking I'm in high school or college) and I tell them I'm a teacher.
3. I am obsessed with nail polish. While I love beauty and fashion, nail polish is my first true love. Unless I'm wearing gel polish, I do my nails once a week.
4. I love the water. I was on a swim team by the age of 6, and after taking a LONG time off, I am now on a Master's swim team. My love of the water doesn't end with swimming. I love the beach, laying by the pool, boating, and in the past couple of years I have gotten into wake surfing.
5. The teacher in me can't stand it when people use incorrect grammar online. I don't care if it's Facebook, know the difference between your and you're and use punctuation.
6. Even though I was raised in Houston, I have never really felt like I belonged in Texas. I was born in California and have always felt like a Californian at heart. I go there every summer to get my fix.
7. I am an only child and have been told several times (by my boyfriend) that I have "Only Child Syndrome."
8. I hate elevators. I have this crazy fear of getting stuck in one, especially by myself. I have a mini freakout every time I get in an elevator alone and would much rather take the stairs.
9. I love to read. In my opinion, books are always better than the movies and I love to "critique" movies based on books with my friends who have also read the books. Well, if I'm being honest, I love to talk about books in general. Right now I'm dying to see The Giver, The Maze Runner, If I Stay, and of course Mockingjay.
10. I am addicted to chap stick. I always have a ton of them stashed around the house, in my purse, and even on my desk at school. I don't go anywhere without it.
11. I learned how to skateboard this summer. I bought a Penny board and learned how to ride it so I could take it to California this summer and ride on the beach.

Questions:

1.  What is your favorite beauty brand or product?

I really love the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I find myself using either the Naked 1 or Naked Basics almost every day.

2.  Where would you love to live?

Like I said, I have always been a Californian at heart so I would love to live in California. I probably would live there if it weren't for 1) it costs a lot to live there and 2) my parents living in Houston.

3.  What is your best quality?

I feel like I am someone who always gives people the benefit of the doubt. I try not to judge people before I get to know them and get the whole story before I jump to a conclusion.

4.  Who is your favorite celebrity?

I love Jennifer Lawrence. She's so funny and down to earth, and she has a really good sense of humor. Not to mention that she's a really talented actress.

5.  Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I wanted a place to share my nail art. I already had a YouTube Channel, but it wasn't a good place for me to share the manicures I did on a weekly basis. I few weeks prior, I had started reading some beauty blogs and thought it would be perfect for my nails. From there, I expanded it to also include beauty and fashion posts.

6.  Favorite TV show, if you have one.

My favorite show of all time is Friends; I am obsessed. I have seen every episode several times and constantly quote and make Friends references in my daily life. My Friends obsession started early, but when my boyfriend and I were in college and didn't have cable, we watched the Friends seasons on loop.

7.  Favorite place to shop.

Some of my favorite stores are Buckle, Victoria's Secret, Target, Ulta, and Sephora. Last month while I was in California, I visited Brandy Melville for the first time. It's not a store that they have in Texas, but I see myself shopping there from now on because they had some very cute, comfy pieces that I bought and am now in love with. 

8.  What is the one food you can't live without?

Tex-Mex. I'm not a big foodie. Half the time I'd rather reach for a smoothie or yogurt, but Tex-Mex is something that I definitely crave. When my boyfriend and I go out to dinner, it's usually at a Tex-Mex restaurant. And yes, there is a difference between Mexican and Tex-Mex!

9.  What is the best trip you've ever taken?

Recently my boyfriend and I spent the night in Galveston at the San Luis Resort. Galveston is very close to where we live, but we wanted to take some time for ourselves and have mini vacation. I've definitely been to nicer beaches than Galveston, but the atmosphere at the San Luis was just so great and we had a balcony overlooking the water so the view was beautiful. It was just nice the be there and spend time together.

10.  What do you splurge on?

I am someone that will splurge here and there on things I really want, but the thing I consistently splurge on is shoes. I feel like shoes are stable pieces that need to be high quality so they can last a long time and continue to look good as you wear them. I think you get out what you put into them. If you buy a cheapie pair of shoes, they will probably fall apart within a couple months. But if you buy a pair of quality shoes, they will last you for years.

11.  What is your dream job?

I would love if my full-time job could be blogging or being a YouTuber. I love sharing my love of beauty and fashion and it would be a dream come true if I could do it for a living.

The blogs I nominate are:

Pardon Muah

QuinnFace

Perfectly Periwinkle
The Anonymous Beauty Blogger
Makeup Madeline
The Beauty Section
the glossier
Fiona Wright
Beauty by Izz
Libby Loves
joebybear

Questions for My Nominees:

1. What is one beauty product that you could not live without?

2. How did you get into blogging?
3. What is currently your favorite fashion/beauty trend?
4. What is something on your bucket list?
5. What do you splurge on?
6. If you could do anything and money wasn't an issue, what would you do?
7. What are your hobbies?
8. What is your latest beauty/fashion purchase?
9. What is something that you have been wanting to purchase, but haven't yet?
10. What are your favorite stores to shop at?
11. What is your favorite movie?

California Haul 2014: Brandy Melville, Steve Madden, Pac Sun & More

I love to do some serious shopping every time I go to California. Ever since I was in high school, I have always done my summer shopping in California with my cousin. Watch this video to see everything I bought while I was in San Diego this year.

What's In My Carry On?

When I travel, I always take way too much stuff with me. I just can't seem to help myself. Watch this video to see what I take with me in my carry on when I travel. 

Don’t forget to check out the collab vlog (also on my YouTube Channel) that I did with my cousin Destiny on my way to San Diego.

Nails of the Week: Shocking Pink with Fairy Dust

So this week I decide to yet again go for a Gelaze polish, go figure. I went out and bought 3 new colors last week and went with a pink (Shocking Pink) and glitter (Fairy Dust) over the top for my nails this week. I wanted to do my nails with gel polish for California because I'll be here for 10 days and I don't want them to chip.

I didn't get a chance to take a photo of my nails before I left for California because I did them late at night and left before the sun came up, so I took this picture on the plane with my phone. I loved the way the light hit my nails in the photo, it captured the glitter perfectly.

Drugstore Dry Shampoo Review: Batiste, Garnier Fructis, Not Your Mother's + More

Dry shampoo is such a time saver; I don’t know what I would do without it! I have been trying out and researching these dry shampoos for several months. Watch the video to find out what I liked and disliked about each brand and which one I most recommend.

If you have a dry shampoo that you really like, I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment below and tell me what you like about it.

June Favorites

My June Favorites are now on my YouTube Channel. Go check out what I loved in the month of June. Don't forget to follow and subscribe!

Nails of the Week: Ruby Pumps by Gelaze

Okay, I am officially obsessed with Gelaze gel polish! After taking off Dorothy Who?, I wore some regular polish for a week. That polish chipped within a couple days, so I am right back to the gel polish again. It seems like this is the only polish that I want to wear now. The fact that this polish won't chip is just too irresistible. 

This week I reached for the only other color that I own and haven't personally tried yet, Ruby Pumps. I used it on my mom when I first bought the set. Although you can't see it in the picture (bummer), this is a glitter like Dorothy Who? The glitter is slightly more subtle than Dorothy Who?, which I think is why it didn't show up as well. The color pretty much looks exactly like the bottle.

Unlike Dorothy Who?, I got full coverage with two coats of the color, but I think that is because I did thicker coats with this polish. I would recommend doing three thin coats instead of two thick ones though because I got a little messier with this than I did with Dorothy Who?

Overall, I am really liking this color and I'm looking forward to see how long it will last.

Review: Gelaze by China Glaze

As promised, here is my review for the new Gelaze line from China Glaze. Gelaze is their new line of gel polish. I had been wanting to try this out for a long time, but was hesitant because it is kinda pricey and I already have a ton of regular nail polish.

From left to right: Ruby Pumps, Rose Among Thorns, Dorothy Who?, top coat

Eventually I wanted to try it badly enough and decided to buy some. To start out, I purchased the Gelaze Necessities Kit from Sally's for $34.99. It came with Ruby Pumps, the top coat, a file/buffer, a rosewood stick, and cleansing wipes that wipe off the sticky residue at the end. I also purchased Rose Among Thorns for $11.99 because I wanted a summery color. I already had an LED light which I got for Christmas, so I was able to save there.

Items included in the Necessities Kit

Red Carpet Manicure LED light that I got for Christmas

In order to use this polish, there are some steps that you have to take before you start painting. This doesn't bother me because I always prep my nails before I paint them, but for other people, this may add some extra time. After you shape your nails, you have to push your cuticles back (which I always do anyway) and then buff your nails with the white side of the file included in the kit to rough up your nails so the gel polish will stick. The Gelaze website used to have a video showing all the steps to take before and while painting your nails, but for some reason it is no longer working. It was very helpful, and I wish it was still working. Here is the link to the Gelaze website in case you want to check it out. Even if you can't find the video, the Necessities Kit comes with instructions.

The next step is to wipe off your nails to remove any dust after buffing your nails. The instructions that come with the kit say to use a cleansing wipe, but I didn't want to waste the wipes on that because they don't sell the wipes separately at Sally's, so I put some rubbing alcohol on an eyeshadow brush and wiped my nails with that. So far, I haven't had any problems doing it that way.

When you start painting you nails, they say to start out with a very thin coat of polish. At first, I didn't understand why the directions were stressing this, but after doing the first couple nails I understood. If you use too much polish, it will pool in the corners of your nail and drip onto your skin. I didn't think that was a big deal at first, but soon realized that after you cure the polish under the light, it WILL NOT come off of your skin. Usually when I paint my nails, I can get a ton of polish on my skin and just wipe it off with acetone and an eyeshadow brush when I'm done. This is NOT the case for gel polish. Because of this difference, the first time I painted my nails with this polish, I had a good amount left on my skin that I couldn't get off. However, the second time I painted my nails with it, I was much more careful and had a better result. If you want to see the result of that, click here to see my Nails of the Week post about it.

Overall, I really like this line of gel polish! I think the best part about it is how long it lasts. I had Dorothy Who? on for two weeks and it didn't even chip. I only took it off because my nails had grown out so much. Now, when I had Rose Among Thorns on it did chip in a couple places, but I think that was more because part of my nail peeled up. I had that polish on for two weeks as well. I am wondering though if the glitter polishes like Dorothy Who? stay on longer than the cremes like Rose Among Thorns because that is usually the case with regular nail polishes. I will have to investigate that further and keep you updated.

Another great thing about this line of gel polish is that it doesn't have a separate base coat, the color has the base coat already in it. This is great because it saves a step, and therefore saves time, which I like. I have not tried any other gel polish (yet), but I like the fact that you don't have to do another step and don't have to buy another polish.

So, to sum up my really long explanation of this new gel polish, I think it's great and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to try out gel polish for the first time. If you do try out, let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions about the polish feel free to ask me.

Happy Painting!

Nails of the Week: Dorothy Who? by Gelaze

It's been a long time since I've posted a Nails of the Week. I got really busy with work at the end of the school year, but now that it's summer I'm hoping I will have more time to post. 

This nail polish is from the new Gelaze by China Glaze collection. It is China Glaze's new gel polish line. This is the third color from this line that I have purchased and it is by far my favorite! I will be doing a review on the Gelaze line soon.

The color goes on a little lighter than what it shows on the bottle; it is more of a teal blue than a royal blue (which isn't quite evident from the picture). At first, I was upset that it was more of a teal color because I wanted it to match a new swim suit cover up, but I still really like the color. It also took three coats to get full coverage. According to the directions, you are only supposed to have to do two coats to get full coverage, but that's not something that really bothers me. I think the color is gorgeous and I love the way the glitter looks in it.

I have had this color on for about a week and a half now and it's still going strong. I have had absolutely no chips! That's a plus for me because I do my nails EVERY WEEK to prevent having any chipped nails. So I love that I am able to wear this color for two weeks.

Nails of the Week: Essie's Bikini So Teeny with Polka Dots

With Easter just around the corner, this week I wanted to do a pastel, springy color. To me, Bikini So Teeny by Essie is the perfect color for spring. It looks so good by itself that I considered whether or not I should even do the polka dots. For some reason though, polka dots just seem fitting for spring so I decided to go for it. I am happy I did because they turned out super cute and are perfect for Easter. Although, let's be real, my nails will be different by the time next Sunday rolls around.

Top Ten Favorite Nail Designs

Anyone who knows me understands that I have been obsessed with doing my nails for a very long time. For as long as I can remember, I have done my nails once a week, every week. I can't stand to have chipped nails or cracking nail polish so once a week they must be done, no matter what. It wasn't until about two years ago though that I really started getting into nail art. Since my blog is new, but my obsession is old, I thought I would share my top ten nail art favorites from the past.


1. Multi Colored Leopard Print
This is probably the first true nail art that I really did. Before this, I had probably experimented with some other designs, but none were really successful. This design was created using nail art pens that my mom bought. I guess it was those pens that gave me the courage to try some nail art, but I have since found that I am able to successfully do nail designs without them.

2. Zebra Print

After trying out leopard print, I was of course anxious to try my hand at zebra print. I had used the Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips to have zebra print nails before, but I wanted to be able to create them on my own. I used black acrylic paint and a small paint brush to carefully paint zebra stripes on my nails.

3. Pink Zebra Print

Since the first zebra print design turned out so well, I decided to try it again. This time I paired it with my favorite color, 24/7 by Sinful Colors. I really liked the way the zebra print looked with the hot pink.

4. Blue and Gray Chevron

Sometime last year, I discovered how to make a template for chevron nails with pinking shears and tape. I had been wanting to do a Chevron Mani for a long time because I had fell in love with chevron stripes. This was not my first time doing chevron (which did turn out well), but I really liked how well the gray paired with the light blue in this design. I liked it so much that I did my toes to match. For this design I used What's with the Cattitude (blue) and French Quarter for Your Thoughts (gray), both by OPI.

5. Polka Dots

This design from last summer was the first time that I tried polka dots. I was worried that doing full polka dots would be too much to handle so I decided to do it on only one finger of each hand. I have since done polka dots on all my nails and really like it. However, when I don't feel like doing ALL that work, I will do polka dots like this. The coral color I used was Flip Flop Fantasy by China Glaze.

6. Gray Chevron

This design was from last fall. I was wanting to do chevron, but I didn't want to do anything too bright because that wouldn't have been season appropriate. So I decided to do it with gray. This gray is the same color as the above chevron. However, this time I wanted to try the chevron free-hand for the first time. It wasn't as perfect as using a template, but it was a lot faster and I was happy how it turned out. The best part of this design was that I was able to create an outfit that matched, all the way down to the sparkle on my jeans and shoes! Again, those of you who know me also know I love to match.

7. Penguins and Polka Dots

This design is from last Christmas. I had been getting up the courage to try a penguins since the year before and I finally decided to try it. I thought penguins would be too hard to do on all my nails so I decided to do polka dots on all the other nails and alternate between red and green to bring in some Christmas flair. I also did a YouTube tutorial on this design which is linked beneath the picture. 

8. Christmas Lights

To keep in the Christmas spirit after my penguin nails, I did some Christmas lights. I used acrylic paint to do the wire and nail polish and a dotting tool to do the lights.

9. New Year's Eve Mani

Around Christmas time I had gotten a gorgeous gold glitter, My Favorite Ornament by OPI, that I really wanted to use. So I paired it with black to create a New Year's Eve look. I used tape to create the gold triangles. I actually filmed a tutorial on it, but got really sick and was unable to finish it. I plan to finish it and post it for next New Year's.

10. Valentine's Mani

This design is from this past Valentine's day. I put loose pink glitter over pink polish to create a really glittery effect. I made the heart by painting a heart with nail polish on a plastic baggie. When the heart dried, I peeled it off with tweezers and stuck it on my nail. 

I hope you enjoyed my top ten nail art favorites. Stay tuned for more nail art posts!

Nails of the Week: Turquoise Chevron

For my nails this week, I decided to do something creative since I've been rocking plain colored nails for the past couple of weeks. This mani is inspired by my favorite scarf that I got from Kohl's several months back. The blue color isn't exactly the same, but it looks pretty darn close.

The nail polishes I used were:

• Turquoise- China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise. 
• White_ Ulta Snow White
• Silver- Sally Hansen Celeb City under an Orly silver glitter 

I did the chevron free-hand with black acrylic paint and a small paint brush. I used to do the chevron with tape and pinking sheers, but I found that it got a little messy (especially if I didn't let the white dry long enough).

Nails of the Week: L'oreal Macaroon Me Madly with Glitter Gradient

Given that it is spring and the weather is warming up (for the most part) here in Texas, I decided that my nails for this week should be more of a spring color. I chose Macaroon Me Madly by L'oreal, a light pink almost salmon color. While I have been on quite of a plain, one-color mani kick lately, I didn't want to do something completely plain. I don't think this color works well for that unless you are really tan. So I decided to do a gold glitter gradient, my first one ever. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, especially since it was first time doing a glitter gradient. I will definitely be doing it more often.