Birthday post!

So it's been another few days since I wrote but February has been a really trying month for me. My birthday was this past Saturday and although I have a great man who loves me, I was unable to enjoy my day like I would have liked to. Mostly, I was bothered that out of the six people in my very small family, only two called and wished me a happy birthday. Of course there have been other things plaguing my thoughts but this was overwhelming. It still makes me sad to think about, but I digress.

I just want to take a few minutes to thank the one person who was truly there for me from the beginning. Ever since we met, you have been my strength, my rock, my everything. Miguel, thank you for being the bestest best friend anyone could ever ask for. Thank you for loving me despite all of my faults. Mostly, thank you for being YOU...  you are truly amazing.

***

On a different note, I couldn't decide how I wanted to paint my nails for my birthday so I ended up trying out two of my newest polishes, OPI "Not Like The Movies"  and Finger Paints "Asylum" Flakies. I'm not entirely sure I love the outcome, but it was different. Here is a quick snap I took with my new macro lens for my iPhone.

As far as gifts go, Miguel, his parents, my little brother and our neighbors gave me some pretty awesome stuff which helped make my day brighter. Here's a pic of the loot.

Miguel did not have birthday wrap so he opted for Christmas. lol

His parents gifted me this sweet Lomokino camera with its very own film viewer. I already shot almost a full roll. Can't wait to get in the darkroom and develop it. I'm hoping it'll look awesome! :)

Miguel gifted me the Xbox Kinect sensor that came packed with four games (Kinect Adventures, Fruit Ninja, The Gunstringer, and Child of Eden)! After battling with some xbox live updates for the better part of four hours, I was finally able to get it working today! I played a tiny bit of Kinect Adventures and The Gunstringer. I have yet to play Child of Eden, but I will very soon!

The Kinect is pretty fun but it takes a little getting used to. Incredibly though, I managed to actually break a little sweat and tire my arms out. I fully realize this means I am completely out of shape! lol

I also got some cool socks, a tiny macro lens for my iPhone 4s, an Anthropologie dress (which sadly, was a size too big), some earrings, a scarf, two cute tops, and some nice little kitchen gadgets (measuring cups and spoons, a little cutting board, and a graduated cylinder/measuring cup).

Here's a pic of a cute little dinosaur that came with my socks from Edge of Urge




















Here's a pic of me holding the duck (with beaver tail) that held my leftovers from dinner at El Divino.

Here's the duck again next to a pic of my birthday dessert (banana spring rolls)

My birthday may have started out rough, but it ended on a good note. Thanks again to Miguel, and everyone who thought of me and made me smile.  :) I really appreciate it!!

Pink Nail Gradient

Thursday night, I finally took some time to do my nails. I decided to try my hand at polish gradient (grading) which I had seen a few times but had yet to experiment with. I went with a pink palette (which I'll probably be sticking with for the month of February) and I think it worked out pretty well considering it was my first attempt.

These are the colors I used:

Essie's Vanity Fairest

Essie's Pink Diamond

Nicole by Opi All Kendall-ed Up (from the Kardashian Opi Line)

Essie's A Cut Above (Luxeffects)

Essie's Shine Of The Times (Luxeffects)

The gradient process is pretty easy, but like most polish projects, it is a little time consuming. I usually start with a clear base coat to protect my natural nail. Next, select a nice color scheme and begin with the lightest color you chose. I used two coats since my base color was so pale. 

Here is what the first polish looks like by itself... This is Essie's Vanity Fairest.

After it dries, use the next lightest color in your scheme. Place a few drops on a piece of paper and with a makeup sponge or a eyeshadow sponge pick up a little bit of the polish. If you pick up too much polish it will ruin the effect, so make sure to dab the sponge on the paper before you use the sponge on your nail. 

I didn't take pictures of each step of the grading process, but here are pics of the finished product.

Start dabbing from the bottom of the nail towards the top (cuticle) but only go about 3/4 of the way up your nail. You should get a stippling effect.

Then, use the next color in the scheme and follow the same steps but this time, you're only going to apply the polish about half way up the nail. Follow the same step with the next polish but only go a quarter of the way up the nail. 

Once it dries, use a clear glittery polish over the whole nail to blend the layers together and give a nice glittery effect to the whole look. Finally, just top with a clear top coat to protect your work and keep it from chipping! 

For a good step by step video on nail grading check out this video from KlairedelysArt. Click on the link for her youtube channel.

What did you think? Will you be trying this technique out? Have you already tried it? If you have, feel free to post or link to some pics! Would love to see different takes on the nail gradient technique!  :)

Thanks for reading!

Damarys

Shellac and Konad Pedi Time!

 I finally got a chance to give myself a pedicure on Tuesday night! I used some of my shellac polishes and I decided to try using my konad stamps to add a little something special.  I am happy to report it was a success!

I did one coat of Red Baroness Shellac polish, one coat of Zillionaire Shellac polish and I topped it off with white konad hearts from the M3 plate.

The Zillionaire Shellac polish is a very thin glittery polish. It is great for layering with other polishes. I like the subtle effect it gave my nails. For more of a sparkle, try using two coats instead. 

You can see a little of the sparkle effect on the bottle in this pic. Below, is the end result!

Hope you guys like it! Getting ready to do my mani now. Will post pics soon! Stay tuned!

Damarys