Yes. I'm alive.

Sorry guys. I just graduated from college, am in the process of moving, and am also hunting for a job. And you know how it is for job interviews: NO funky nails. I normally would tell people to piss off, but I kinda need money, haha! So boring nails it is. Actually, my nails have been bare for about a week now and boy does it feel weird. I've chewed them down to nubbins! Gah! Damn you life, making me grow up!

Geez. . .this took long enough!

Whew! Busy, busy week! I got tired of wearing dark and shimmery colors (which is basically the entire collection of the dark Alter Ego set), so I busted out some of my Ulta polishes. First up is Mint Condition.

It's actually a little brighter in real life. It was very refreshing to wear a spring appropiate color. While I was at it, I tried to remember the last time I did a water marble design on myself. . . It was quite a while back. So, marble it is!

Let's see, I used three colors all by Ulta: Mint Condition, Blue Streak, and Celebutante.The result was really pretty if you ignored all the smudges and little bubbles.

Damn you bubbles!

Just a minor FYI: My next couple of weeks are going to be pretty. . . uh. . . busy, to say the least, so I probably won't be posting much. But don't freak out, I'll be back soon enough!

No stuff like free stuff!

My new set of *cough* free *cough* Bundle Monster plates actually came in quite a few days ago, but I had just painted my nails and didn't want to remove my mani right away. So I waited a few days. Good lord, the wait was freaking hard!

I decided on my base color- 909 Alter Ego from Color Club. (How cute, a polish named Alter Ego IN the alter ego set. . .)

I had actually used this color about a month ago on my toes, and I noticed it was a bit sheer (as in needs-four-coats-for-coverage sheer). So, I prepped my nails this time around with a coat of nude colored polish. Well, close to nude; maybe a brown nude? Whatever. I only used two coats of Alter Ego.

This polish looks pretty boring indoors, but it's reflective as hell outdoors. Made me think of aluminum foil. It's got so many different glitter colors in it- brown, gold, pink, silver, and I think I see green too.

It's neither a holo nor duochrome polish. It's just alright, so I snazzed it up with a Bundle Monster stamp! Plate BM-203 to be exact!

Oh yes. I already like my new plates. The full finger images fit my thumb; how freaking sweet is that?!

I'm facing a dilemma here- too many images and not enough nails. *Shakes head* Why wasn't I born with more fingers?!

Let's party under cover!

Yes. Let's. And I shall wear Color Club's 913 Ulterior Motive. It's a glittery number from the keep it under cover Alter Ego set.

The photo doesn't do it justice. It's not color accurate at all. It has more of a blue/purple tint to it in real life. Probably because there's blue glitter in the polish. Along with magenta glitter. It's got a really pleasant sparkle to it. As if you can see.

I wore this color "as is" for a day, and then I had to add something to it. Something as in a really dark maroon stripe.

Wore that "as is" for another day, then added one more thing- a stamp!

Notice that I'm only showing you my right hand. Why? Well. . .lining up the stamp was much harder with my non-dominant hand (yeah, I'm a lefty). The result was a bit sloppier than I liked. I mean, my stamp didn't even land near the stripe! I need more practice.

This must be Deja Vu

I couldn't stop thinking about stamping a pink kitten to imitate Mew. I decided that I just had to redo my Pokeball mani!

My free hand skills still suck though. I painted my middle fingers last, and I sort of regret my decision to do Mew (he's supposed to be "flying" around with silver stars). . .I just see a pink cat. D'oh!

Man, it's deja vu all over again. But hey, it's a super fun mani to wear!

Ahem.

Guess who was one of the winners for Bundle Monster's nail art contest? That's right, me! Muahahahaha! (It's supposed to be an evil laugh) I placed 18th, Bee-yatches!

Ok, all gloating put aside, I'm really happy that I won. Thank you to anyone who took the time to vote! However, I have to say something. Most of the winners (including myself) only had so-so designs. Seriously. If you've taken the time to look at all the entries, the damn good ones didn't win. I kinda feel bad for winning. . .kinda. Though if any of you are following Bundle Monster's fan page. . .there are some pretty sore losers out there. I'm not going to link you guys to it, but you are free to take a look for yourself. It's almost a jab in the side how bitter one some of them is are. Ouch. Cry me a fucking river. Don't enter a contest if you're going to come out bitching. It ruins the mood for everyone, winners and losers alike.

Warning!

So my boyfriend was looking at this blog the other day and he said to me, "You know, your posts sound a little vulgar sometimes."
Oh.
I asked him, "Is it funny vulgar or offensive vulgar?"
His answer was, "Depends on who looks at it."

He had a point. I do like to use foul language (and my sense of humor is pretty dirty too). BUT- I'm not going to apologize for it; that's just my preference. However, I am going to apologize to you guys for not providing a warning beforehand about my. . .er, choice words. I'm sorry! I've tried to be pretty tame so far, but be warned! I may include some nasty-ass words in the future (and they are all fair game)!

That being said, I'm going to start a new Color Club polish set soon. It's the other Alter Ego set- Keep it under cover. The colors are much much darker. Here is a mani I did to sample one of the colors.

Cute, huh? I used scotch tape to move the pointy end further down my nails than my Ich bin krank post. I painted the entire nail on my ring finger because I really liked the polish color.

I put on a cute white kitty from my Bundle Monster plate and added some tiny hearts (also Bundle Monster). I made the kitty black for my thumbs.

I'd consider this mani a success. It's been a while since I painted just my tips. You know, I just thought of something- If I made the cats pink, I could call them Mew! The silhouette is uncanny!

It's alright

Alright, last polish from Color Clubs's Alter Ego (Reveal Your Mystery) set. It's 908 Give Me A Hint. Oh give me a break.

How do I describe it? Gray-purple? Grurple?

It's pretty. Took three coats. Or was it four? That's the thing I've noticed about using Color Club polishes- they require some pretty thick-ass coats, and lots of them. Why? Uneven coverage. And they streak a little each time you add another coat. Geez. . .

Yes, I removed the polish from my ring finger and painted it a shimmery pearl color. Long story, don't ask. For the tips, my Bundle Monster plate had stamps designed to go just on the tips; however, my skill at this technique is pretty much nonexistent. So I taped off my tips and stamped them like normal. Hence, the lines are straight and not curved (trust me, I would rather have them curved).

I'd say this design falls under the "Meh" category. I swear, everything I've done looks like ass ever since my Love Letter design.

By the way, are you guys voting every day like me? (Haha, I lie. I only vote every other day.) Get on it!

For those without Facebook.

You can still vote using this link!

Aw Sh*t!

Voting has started on the Bundle Monster contest, so get clicking! (If you have a Facebook account)
Go to their Facebook page now!

Here are the entries I really need you to vote for:
Love Letter (by Amy Gray)
My Fruit Salad Mani (by Sonal Nahar)
Cassie's Cupcakes (by Laurie Nieven)
Minty Bloom (by Karin Ruiz)
Single Valentine's (by Cherish Boomhower)

Aw hell, while you're at it, go ahead and browse all the entrees and vote Yay or Nay for them. I believe you can vote for each entree once a day. So I freaking need you guys to vote. Every. Freaking. Day. (Don't call me crazy, just vote!)

Oh no she didn't!

Oh yes, I did. Know how I stamp my nails with Bundle Monster plates? Well, Bundle Monster's got a Facebook page, a new set of plates coming out soon, AND they're holding a contest for a chance to win the new plates! Hot damn! I want me those plates!

The contest involves submitting a photo of your nails that include any of Bundle Monster's products. So I created a Facebook page and entered my Love Letter mani! (I absolutely loved that design).  Click here to check out their Facebook page. (Sidenote- no one's paying me to do this, I really want you guys to check them out!)

Now, if any of you guys are interested in entering the contest, you've got until the 13th to do so. Click here to go straight to the contest. (You can read the full rules too, I'm too lazy to repeat them). Voting doesn't start until after the 13th and all you have to do is "Like" a person's mani. The 25 people with the most "Likes" wins the new set of plates.

So guess what I'll be doing in about a week? Telling YOU all to vote for my design! Dur! I had a follower ask me if it was alright for her to copy one of my designs (can't tell you which yet!) for the contest. Hell yeah it's ok. If she's got the plates and nail polish, she can do whatever the hell she wants. Picture stealing is excluded, of course.

Now, go check out the contest and enter if you feel like it. If you don't have Bundle Monster plates, then it sucks to be you, don't it? Oh- give me a heads up if you want me to "Like" your mani, I am all yours to abuse!

Ich bin krank.

I'm pretty sure that's German for "I am sick." Which is very true. You know you're really sick when you don't even feel like painting your nails for over a week. (Scary thought, ain't it?) I'm getting better, but it's slow going. This Color Club polish is 904 Revealed. Dumb name. Again.

It's orangey-peach. Bit of pink too.

If you look at the bottle when I am holding it, there's some pink shimmer going on. However, on my nails, there was nothing. (And I looked real hard too.) I really like this color, especially in sunlight. Problem: application was Nasty with a capital N. Freaking thing took four coats because it kept streaking on me. And it dried lumpy/chalky, like an eggshell or something. Whatever, all I know is that I did not like applying this polish. Boo on you.

Anyway, because I was sick, I didn't do a design for three days. Then I finally cranked this out:

Pretty simple. Scotch tape made it a snap. I got this design from two bloggers that I follow:

Choe's Nails
Forever The Ugly Duckling

(Can you tell I have no original ideas? Always stealing from others; what a shame. . .) But hey, they have nice ideas! Why not copy them? I thank the kind ladies for giving me the design aid.

Hm, this Alter Ego set has one more polish to go. Well. . .two, but one of them is a "Milky White Basecoat," so I'm going to ignore it.

Dotted Tips

So I got my nail design from Simply Rins, who made a great tutorial video. She's extremely talented at real nail art (unlike me with my pitiful stamps, hah!) and I learned how to make a design from layering dots together! So easy! Thank you again Rins; your video made this mani go smoothly!

Today's Color Club polish is 903 Get A Clue. Considering that I don't love pinks, this one is actually pretty cute.

Ahem, sorry for the dots. I was so excited about trying out the design that I forgot to take a photo sooner. This took three coats, but I saw some streakiness in the polish. Maybe four would have covered everything, but I draw the line at three (after all, I do have to add dots and a top coat someday).

I have to admit, I originally wasn't going to dot all of my middle finger. . .but I kinda messed it up (pretty badly), so I covered the mistake with more dots! Also, if I get angry at someone, I can give them an eyeful of dots. Haha!

*Nods head* Yep, this mani was definitely fun to wear and easy to do. Two things I like put together.

I'm calling it lace.

This color is 905 Incognito. It's very flesh-colored (almost matches my skin, not that the photos show it well). For a nude color, I like it.

My only problem: I used three coats and I can still sorta see my nail line. I'm not a fan of that. Anyway, this color gave me an idea to make a faux lace look with my Bundle Monster plates.

I decided to add a flower/four leaf clover looking stamp randomly. (Actually, I stamped wherever there was a mistake, haha!) Topped it off with white rhinestone centers for a little umph and ooh-la-la.

I'm satisfied with this mani. Almost feels sexy!

Next up!

I chose a purple color this time, 906 Secret Rendezvous. I'm partial to purples, so I really enjoyed this pretty puppy.

I tried my hand at sponging and the result was just ok. I got my idea from Silence is Loud. She used blue for hers and I like her mani much more than mine.

Amazingly, all of my stones have stayed on and I've been wearing this mani for about four days now. I'm impressed.