I Believe The Medical Term Is 'Burnout'.

Okay. So. Things are still pretty crazy around here. I really thought I'd be able to settle in faster, but this is taking forever. I feel like I can't even catch my breath, I'm just so busy with work and taking care of Jericho (he had to stay at the animal ER for 36 hours this week, poor guy) and trying to get this house clean little by little and people are coming and going and I'm just like O_O.

(Sigh.)

I did finally get a chance to paint my nails, though. It's already been several days, so they're all chipped and haggard looking at the time of posting. And I haven't found the time to paint my toenails in, like, a week and a half.

(Siiiigh.)

I don't know how regular people function. How the hell to people get up, get ready, work for eight (or more!) hours a day, then come home, take care of their house/family/errands, and still find time to, like, shower or put on pants or feed themselves? Because I'm trying so hard and I am SUCKING at it. : (

One good thing did happen recently, though. I got my very first raise ever yesterday. So that's pretty rad. I can definitely use the extra money.

Anyway, the color I'm wearing right now is Wet n' Wild Fast Dry Greys Anatomy; a lilac to pale mossy green duochrome. My eight (nine?) year old brother, Efin, picked it out for me on his own for Christmas. He did an awesome job. (Thanks, Ef!)

The duochrome action with this polish is pretty subtle in real life, and my camera had a bit of trouble picking it up. Also: Can you tell I've been doing a lot of scrubbing lately? My hands have been screaming for lotion lately.

This polish does go on pretty sheer, and I needed four coats to get to pretty opaque. It probably could've used another coat, but it was taking a while to dry, despite being a quick-dry formula, and I had other things to do.

Mmmmmmcolorshifty.

I can't remember what day I put this on--the past two weeks are pretty much a blur in my head--but I know i got pretty good wear out of this because, as I mentioned, I've had it on for several days now, and it only just chipped last night.

Then, because I can't resist accent nails, I added two coats of  Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Ice Queen, a clear base with holo glitter and pale pink and cyan large hex glitters, that my sister's boyfriend, the amazing Phil (the guy's a goddamn puppeteer and writes poems about my sister--how awesome is that!?) bought me for my birthday.

When you look at this from the purple angle, the pink hex glitters look kind of blah, but from the green angle, they really pop.

I feel like I haven't rocked a duochrome in ages, so this was fun.

And, just because I only have one picture of this manicure, here's my shot of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet, a fuity, peachy-orange that shows shimmer in the bottle that's almost invisble on the nails (which I don't necessarily mind).

This makes me want dreamcicles soooooo bad.

I'm usually not a huge fan of oranges. I own a few, 'cause I feel like I have to, to round out my collection a bit, but I'd contemplated buying this polish for weeks before I actually did it, 'cause I was pretty sure that, unlike some oranges, this one would flatter my skin tone. And I'm glad I bought it, because it did flatter my skin tone. And it makes me happy to know that I have an orange that I like to wear.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention that I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Quick Dry Top Coat for both of these manis.

So yeah. That's it. Sorry I've been so slow lately. I don't know when work's going to slow down, and it really does feel like it's taking forever to get this house to where I want it. But I do think about you guys and miss reading your posts--I haven't even had time to sit down and catch up on all the blogs I follow. WHAT ON EARTH HAVE I BEEN MISSING!?

Plus the very sweet Stacy of Wickless & Polished helped me add the new, fancy buttons to my sidebar, and was so friendly and patient with my slow replies (I think I never even responded to her last email--Eek! Sorry, Stacy!). I really appreciate it!

But, uh, yeah. It's getting close to midnight, so I should go eat something and get ready for bed. I'm trying to get myself on a better sleep schedule, and it hasn't been easy. Ah well, if at first you don't succeed, bitch about it on your blog, then eat something weird while standing at your kitchen counter in your pajamas. That's what I always say.

Night, kiddos.

I Guess "WTF Is A Pinkie Pie!?" Was The Wrong Answer.

The other day, I posted on my Facebook that I didn't know what color to paint my nails next. And within seconds, my friend, Vince, posted, "PINKIE PIE NAILS!".
 
I'm not really up on trends, so I had no idea what he was talking about. But I rocked my Google-fu, and figured out that Pinkie Pie is apparently one of the characters on the My Little Pony TV show.

Now, I definitely haven't have the time or patience to do anything requiring much skill this week--work's been absolutely ridonkulous--so I knew this manicure needed to be pretty simple. But I didn't even have the right colors to do a Pinkie Pie manicure, so I had to specifically go out to find a suitable pink. And I don't even like pinks that much. But now I own two more (one of which I didn't even need for this manicure), because I have zero will power.

Anyway, Vince, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if this isn't Pinkie Pie-ish enough for you, but it's all you're getting...

For this mani, I used OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Bubblegum Pink, OPI Just Groovy, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. Plus the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat, which I'm hating more and more, but I'm not even going to get into that right now.

Ate Berries In The Canaries is pretty much my favorite pink polish. Like I've already mentioned, I'm not terribly into pinks, but ABITC isn't a pinky-pink. It's a juicy, magenta creme. Except... more berry-y. Yeah. I don't know. But it flatters my skin, and it's not too girly, and I can't help but love it. So that's the main color I used for this manicure.

On my accent nail ('cause I loves me a good accent nail), I used the Bubblegum Pink, which is a light pink with shimmer that's more subtle on the nail than in the bottle, and then I added Pinkie Pie's yellow and blue balloons with the Mellow Yellow and Just Groovy:

I don't know if you guys can see it, but my fingers look so grubby to me in these pics, 'cause it was right after I had a miserable time removing brown nail polish.
Artificial light, no flash.

Lol, my balloons are blobby, but I don't mind.
Artificial light, flash.

 I don't know why my polishes refuse to dry properly lately. It's gotta be the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat. These nails had hours and hours to dry before I went to bed. There's no reason they should've gotten all sheet-marked like this.
Direct natural light.

True My Little Pony-related story: When I was little, I used to have Hoppy the kangaroo, and I loved her. And then, one day, my step-cousin told me that if I didn't give her my Hoppy to keep, she was going to tell her mom that I wasn't sharing. And I was terrified of her mom. So I gave her my Hoppy. And I never saw Hoppy again... *sniffle*

Anyway, I don't know. I really just wanted to get this post up and be done with it, so I'd have one less thing to stress about (like I said, work's been insane--I was actually in tears today). And I feel bad, because my posts are more and more rambly and less and less about the nail polish. But I guess that's kind of how I am, so...

Ummmm. Yeah. Pinkie Pie nails. Kind of.

Also: Feel free to check out my brand spankin' new Real Cute Nails Facebook page.

Annnd I'm done.

Why Didn't Anyone Ever Tell Me That Funfetti Is Just Vanilla Cake Mix With Jimmies In It? I Could've Been Making Ghetto Confetti Cakes This whole Time, You Jerks!

Okay, so. This has nothing to do with nails, but it does have to do with one of the main reasons I feel shitty all the time, which is why I never feel like posting. And it's kind of gross, but hey, this is my blog, and I'll share what I want.

Anyway, yesterday, I finally passed the kidney stone that's been putting me through hell for the past several months. Seven goddamn millimeters long, and four millimeters in diameter. And sharp and jagged as all get-out. So yeah, while it's been super fun having that little bugger tearing through my insides, I'm sososososo glad that it's finally out.

So glad, in fact, that I insisted on baking a cake to commemorate the occasion. My very first Funfetti cake. Which was not only delicious, but fun to look at! If I could, I'd share my cake with you, my dear, loyal readers. I still have sixteen pieces left, and after demolishing not one, not two, but three pieces by myself last night, I'm kinda caked-out, so there's more than enough to go around.

So yeah. Like I said, it has nothing to do with nails, but I'm telling you anyway, because I'm still excited about my little kidney baby (I named it Martin Luther King Jr. Jr. in honor of its birthday) and about cake. Because I love cake. You have no idea. Really.

Okay, okay, okay, I'll stop talking about my kidney stone cake and get on with this post. Sheesh. You guys are picky today...

So. Much like my last post, I'm not thrilled with the quality of today's pictures, but they're all I've got, so we're all just gonna have to suck it up. And since I only took, like, one and a half pictures of each manicure (okay, maybe I took three or four, but some of them really sucked), I'm going to post two manis today--for a staggering total of four pictures. Lame, I know. I'll try to do better next time.

(Well, I mean, not next time, since I already have some new mani shots waiting to be edited, and they may suck, too. But the next time I take pictures, I'll try to do better. More shots, better quality, etc.)

Right. Anyway. So. The first mani I'm posting today utilized five of my Kleancolor Metallics: Metallic Aqua, Metallic Blue, Metallic Purple, Metallic Fushcia (damn you and your wonky spelling, Kleancolor!), and Metallic Pink. Although it's not actually ombre, since the colors aren't all from the same family, I decided to dub this mani "Techno Ombre".

Now, back when I wore Kleancolor Metallic Green, which is one of my favorite polishes ever, I think, I noticed that adding a topcoat seriously transformed the finish of the polish. It went from being a kind of flat looking lime green metallic to some kind of deep and beautiful acid green anodized aluminum finish that I just couldn't get enough of. So when I ordered the rest of the Kleancolor Metallics collection, I figured the rest of them would react similarly to topcoat.

Well, I was mostly right. Sadly, of the eleven metallics, there are three of them (I think) that don't amazingly transform after topcoat is applied. And of of those three, one is Metallic Aqua, which kind of breaks my heart, 'cause if Aqua had a finish like Green does... *drools*

Annnnnyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is because the picture I have of my Techno Ombre mani is a side by side shot.

The left side is the colors with no topcoat (I think each color is two coats--these have great coverage). The right side is with topcoat.
Both taken in artificial light, with flash.

It's not as easy to see in the pictures as in real life--it's most apparent on with Metallic Fushcia and Metallic Purple in the picture--but once you add a topcoat to these colors, the finish kind of melts into... I don't even know. Pure awesomeness, I guess.

Except for Metallic Pink. That one doesn't get to be ranked as "pure awesome" for one huge reason: Although the finish does "melt" and get all deep and pretty looking, it also completely changes color! I don't know if this is just because of the topcoat I use, or if it's a problem with the polish itself, but adding topcoat to Metallic Pink turns it from sort of a cool based pink to a weird yellow-y pink that my camera always wants to pick up as borderline orange.

Wtf, Pink? Seriously!? Left: without topcoat, right: with topcoat.
Artificial light, flash.

 

 

I was actually pretty disappointed about the pink thing, since the way the color changed kind of messed up my color blend in this mani. But I still think it looked pretty cool overall.

A few of these colors (namely Metallic Teal, Metallic Blue, and Metallic Pink) did stain my nails a bit, even with basecoat. And after removal, my cuticles were all different colors for a day or so. But I like the finish on these puppies, so they'll definitely maintain their place in my polish rotation.


The second polish I have for you today is OPI Designer... De Better! from their Muppets collection. My dad and his girlfriend, Tracey, gave me the Muppettes mini collection--containing Designer... De Better!, Warm & Fozzie, Wokka Wokka!, and Excuse Moi!--for Christmas, and of the four colors, I was immediately drawn to Excuse Moi! (mmmmmglitter) and Designer... De Better!

I've seen a lot of other reviews call Designer a silver foil, but to me, it looks much more champagne-based. In some lights, it does look silver, but, to my eyes, in the vast majority of lights, it has a warmer color to it than I'd feel comfortable calling "silver". Not warm enough to be considered pale gold, but somewhere between pale gold and silver.

Now, normally, I think a champagne color would have me all "Meh.", but Designer... De Better! also has pinky-copper bits in there, too, and for me, that's what makes this color stand out. It's still a bit on the conservative side for my tastes, but it's far from blah.

I only have the mini-bottles (for now...), so I could only fit two nails on the bottle for pictures.
Artificial light, no flash.

Oh, OPI. Thank you so much for paying tribute to The Muppets. I LOVE YOU, JIM HENSON!
Artificial Light, flash.

I used three coats of this color for full coverage, and the finish was so nice and smooth. I think maybe I'm just so used to adding glitter on top of everything these days that I'm getting accustomed to kind of bumpy finishes. Removal was a little annoying, since the little particles really wanted to stick to my nails, but a little bit of elbow grease did the trick.

...

Oh my God, I hate when I start getting sleepy or distracted while typing up posts and lose my train of thought, but that's exactly what just happened. I yawned, and everything else I was going to say instantly blinked out of my head.

So, uhhhh, yeah. Two manicures. And kidney stones and cake! And I guess that's about it. I'm totally going to wrap this up right now so I can go back to bed for a few hours.

Oh, the joys of working from home. <3

Have a colorful Tuesday, everyone.

I'm Sorry That My Titles Are Often Non Sequitur-esque. Okay, I'm Not, Really, But... (Also Known As: The Longest Blog Title I'll Probably Ever Have)

I apologize in advance for the quality the pictures in this post. Usually the macro setting on my camera works pretty well, but I'm still figuring out the best lighting for nail shots (probably full sun), as well as how different lighting affects the clarity and color of the pictures. Unfortunately, none of the pictures that I'll be using in this post came out quite as clear as I'd like. Oh well, you live, you learn.

Anyway...

I bought Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink, which is a glitter-beast consisting of magenta-y pink, red, blue, and gold microglitter in a clear base, on the same day that I bought Wet n' Wild Party Of Five Glitters. So late August. And it's just so sparkly and pink and sparkly and glittery and sparkly that I knew right away that it was the polish I'd be wearing on New Year's. So I swatched it on my nail wheel, and then tucked it away for four months.

I was so excited on December 31st when I finally got to pull it out and use it. At first, I thought I would probably have to throw on a base color, so I tried swatching it over a few of my Kleancolor metallics, but in the end, I just ended up using my regular basecoat, four coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink, and two coats of topcoat to even things out (since the glitter is super fine, it's not terribly rough, but it does eat topcoat more than a non-glitter polish would).

Mmmm, blurry.
Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I'm pretty sure this was after the first coat of topcoat, so you can see that it's still looking not-quite-smooth. Much more color-accurate than the first picture.
Indoors, artificial light, flash.

Mmm, blurry again! A close up, so you can see the glitters better. Not great, but better.
Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Rockstar Pink gives pretty good coverage with four coats, as you can see. But, with that many coats, (plus two coats of topcoat) it also ends up chipping like crazy after about three days, as I mentioned in my last post.

Removal was tricky. I could've peeled most of it off in chunks by the fourth day, but I don't like what that does to my nails, so I tried the foil method, and I think this is the first time the foil method has ever failed me. So, in the end, I ended up having to scrub the crap out of each nail with two or three cotton balls soaked with remover, and got little, tiny glitters all over the goddamn place. This is NOT my favorite polish to remove.

It is very sparkly (and glittery and sparkly and pink and sparkly), though, and even though I'm not a super pink-y type of girl, I really liked it. At one point, I think I described it to my boyfriend as "Barbie diarrhea". But you know, in a good way.

Will I be wearing it again any time soon? To be honest, probably not, 'cause it was a pain to take off. But it looks so pretty in the bottle and on my fingers that I can't swear it off completely.

Now, usually, I feel so guilty for not posting more often that I end up cramming multiple manis into each post. But I'm cutting myself off at one today. That leaves me with two manis in my "Ready For Blog" folder, so hopefully I'll feel more motivated to post again soon. Hopefully...

Any of you wear any good glitter-bombs lately?