Nobody look impressed...

Nobody look impressed unless you are impressed that I actually managed to do a thing.  I'm pretty much an open book, so I don't mind telling you all that I feel like I'm struggling with depression.  I'm not really doing so great overall, but yesterday was somehow mostly fine and I got a lot done, including nails.  Today I am fading into a lump of nothingness again, but maybe it'll pass.  In case any of you might worry, fear not - I made an appointment at the mental health center.  I'm not too happy that they can't see me until October 25th, but I guess that's what I get for being poor and unimportant.  Yay, Alabama!

So the last time I did my nails was July 13th - before Scooter died.  It was the caterpillar nails and you can probably see the effort and creativity that went into them.

That is not the case with these.  There was no creativity involved (though there was unintentional effort.  Yay for being stubborn).  These nails were done with nail foils and aside from them being a complete pain in the ass to apply, they are meant to be a quick and fancy manicure.  If you feel like being impressed, be impressed with my patience because SERIOUSLY - I had forgotten how terrible foils are to work with.

They come with glue, which is milky and runny, and you have to wait until it dries clear, and then wait EVEN SOME MORE before you stick the foil down.  If you don't, then the image gets all crinkly.  After you touch the foil to your nail you have to rub hard (with an orange stick, your other fingernails, or something) to transfer the image.  When you go to pick up the film it was transferred from you are more than likely going to break the image.  So you stick it back down and rub some more.  Repeat until infinity and hope the cracks don't show.  (If you are smart and used a coordinating base coat, you might get lucky there.)  😉

The other downside to foils is that they are brittle.  You would think that a normal, kick-ass topcoat would seal them down, but no.  A normal, kick-ass topcoat will cause them to wrinkle.  You have to use a runny, milky, water-based topcoat to seal them.  THEN, you are allowed to use the topcoat of your choice.  AND EVEN THEN your normally kick-ass topcoat won't keep these on for long.  I just looked down and the whole freaking foil has popped off of my pointer finger somewhere between the time I left work and got home to type this.  So.  That's some old crap, but it was pretty while it lasted.

In case you all want to run out and try foils now (I mean - who wouldn't after how fun I made it sound?) this is where I got them:

http://www.dollarnailart.com/cat_pages/foils.html

I ordered this abalone-looking stone print a long time ago so I don't know if they still have that, but it looks like they have a ton of cool stuff.  If you have the patience to work with foils I'd say give it a shot.  The rest of my nails are intact, so I probably lost the pointer finger because I was typing a super lot at work today.  I would say that if you wanted a foil manicure to last a week or so you would probably be disappointed, but usually if you wrap your tips, you're good to go for a couple of days, at least.

Nail Foils

We're getting ready for bed.

We're getting ready for bed. She's putting away her stuff, too. 😂❤️

We went to Sally's today...

We went to Sally's today, which got my attention for a few minutes.  I was kind of tricked by the sales lady into buying more nail polish than I meant to, but I can't really complain.  I got an Ever Glaze color by China Glaze and its topcoat.  They are supposed to be gel-like in that they can last 7 - 10 days, but they don't require a light.  We'll see.  And I also got a Finger Paints One-Step gel which does require a light, but my lamp was delivered today (on a Sunday, what?!), so that's ok.

This is not a great way to cope with things...

This is not a great way to cope with things (I recently lost a pet), but I've immersed myself in some retail therapy.  I've done a lot of research on gel nails and the different kinds of gels and how they cure, and since I was basically ALL IN at "chrome" I went ahead and bought a UV lamp.  I did not get one of the crazy expensive ones, but it was a best-seller with great reviews on Amazon.  So, there's that.  Unfortunately, my lamp will be here before my chrome powders, but that's ok.  I really don't need too many distractions before my Biology final.

People have been trying FOREVER...

People have been trying FOREVER to get me into gel polish and I have resisted.  LOL  But, CHROME NAILS are now an achievable thing - legit, shiny, mirror-like chrome nails, and you can achieve that with chrome powders and a UV gel topcoat.  I think having silver or gold nails would be cool, but there are some crazy rainbow shifting colors out there, too.  😳  So, I'm in.  It's not like I have tons of time to do my nails lately, anyway, so I can't really view it as a down-side if they last a long time now.

Another bonus is that I think you can still use regular polish and seal it with a gel topcoat, but I'll have to look into that.  If I could still use all of my beautiful colors and stamping plates, etc, that would be awesome.  I love using my current setup and I don't think that will ever change, but I guess I'm finally ok with branching out.  LOL

So... chrome powders and topcoats are on the way.  I just need a UV lamp.  Any suggestions?  I'm not trying to spend a lot, but I don't want a piece of crap, either.

I feel like I found my creativity, thankfully...

I feel like I found my creativity, thankfully, but just in time to go back to work and be too tired to put something like this together again.  🙁  Boo!

So I know this is totally spring and not summer, but I don't care.  I felt inspired by a plate and I went with it.  I'm happier with these nails than I've been with any of them over the last few months, but with as much other stuff as I have to do I guess I should be glad I have time to paint my nails at all.  Putting the same design on every finger can look really nice, but it's just not me.  Unfortunately, having so many options can be overwhelming, so it usually takes longer for me to decide what to do than to actually do it.  😕

Anyway, I did this the other day and it was ok, but I had stamped the caterpillar down in just black outlines and I really ended up being disappointed that I didn't do a decal instead.  SO... I took that finger off and started again.  😛  Originally I was going to make the caterpillar a cute little pink one, but, well... it made her look kind of phallic, so Shaun picked a blue and we went with that instead.  She's got green leaves and vines around her, as well as pink bow on her head and a yellow flower beside her.  That is much better than trying to discern what you're looking at with no color definition at all!

The background for all of the nails was done using plastic wrap - it's a lime green base with two other greens dabbed on top for texture (probably most visible on my thumb).  If you don't remember what I'm talking about since it's been so long since I've done it, you just crumple up some plastic wrap, dab it in some polish, and then lightly dab your nails until it looks how you want.  Super easy!  It's great for getting a marbled appearance and things like that.

The rest of the nails I explain on Polish All the Things if anyone is interested.  I wasn't planning to make a long post about these nails, but it looks like I did it twice.  LOL  Oh well.  My brain feels all swimmy from lack of sleep.  I think I am rambling.  Ok, done.

Any questions on methods or products, let me know!  ❤❤❤

Various polishes;
Research plates;
Embellishments from BornPretty;
Stamping Decal, Stamping, and Taping Techniques

I guess I went from light and bright to dark.

I guess I went from light and bright to dark.  LOL  These again, are not super fancy - just basic stamping, but I love this polish so much!  It is Tails of Love by FingerPaints.  The polish looks chrome, but it's got small round pieces of something (clear glitter?) in it to give it texture.  I know that a lot of people hate textured polish, but sometimes it's just what I need!  I love how deep it looks!

I used one coat of topcoat over the polish itself and then another over the stamping to seal it in.  This is a very hungry polish because I can still feel the texture on my nails, but I don't mind that.  If you wanted it to feel smooth, it would probably need 3 or 4 layers of a thick topcoat.

Sadly, I'm about to take these off.  I've been meaning to post them for days, but just didn't get around to doing it.  LOL  But my left hand is chipping like crazy, so it's time.  🙁  The chipping is the only downside (for me) of wearing super - thick polish.  Also, my right thumb is bugging me.  The stamping image actually wasn't wide enough to cover my whole nail and while I COULD have gone back in with another stamping of the image and tried to line it up I was just like "Nah." and went to bed.  I'm being super lazy right now.  LOL

Tails of Love by FingerPaints;
Research plate;
Stamping technique

I went through tons of nail pics...

I went through tons of nail pics over the last few days looking for inspiration.  I was like "Ooh, I'm on vacation.  I should do something crazy and elaborate!"  And then I realized that I wasn't having fun, so I quit putting pressure on myself.  I went with something goofy and colorful.  I recently got these neon dots in from the Born Pretty Store, so they were out on my nail art table and I just went for it.

I'm planning on playing in reptile dirt today and as cute as I think these are I hate wearing white nail polish.  It's more about the way it feels than anything.  Chalky or something.  So, my feelings won't be hurt if I mess these up.  LOL

This is a monster bag clip that a friend gave me.  I didn't have the best lighting setup today, so I needed something in my hand and a white bottle of polish wasn't cutting it.  Goofy all around!  PERFECTION!

White polish;
Embellishments from BornPretty

I got nail mail today! 😃

I got nail mail today! 😃 I've been reading for ages about how great stamping polishes by Mundo de Unas are, so I ordered some last month. They finally arrived!

Since I am on vacation I am gonna be playing with my new stuff later. I am so excited! So far, I am having a pretty good day! 😃

Kicking off vacation in these goofy things!

Kicking off vacation in these goofy things!  I was trying to be less "the same" on every nail.  I think I did a good job.  Well, except that I think my thumb might accidentally resemble a penis.  😕

So, I'd seen this video online that someone came out with stamping plates for stones - basically a template of a design that you arrange your stones into and then you pick them up and apply them with a stamper.  Sure beats putting them on one at a time!  Well, it's cool and all, but it was kind of expensive for what it was.  So, I tried just lining up some stones on top of the design I used to stamp polish on my nail and then picked them up and put them on with my stamper.

It worked pretty well.  They held formation on a sticky stamper head and since I have a clear stamper, placement was extra-easy.  I'd been wanting to try that out and I'll probably do some more of this in the near future.  I'll just need to keep a better eye on what my shapes come out like.  For the record:  On my thumb I was going for a smaller triangle inside a bigger triangle.  I maybe needed a few more stones on there.  LOL

Research polish;

Research plate;

Embellishments from BornPretty