Birthday Mani: Maybelline Neutral Statement & O.P.I. My Favorite Ornament

Sorry about the lighting in these pictures. Sadly it will only keep getting worse, so I have no idea how I will do any of my holiday manicures justice. 

I'm 28 today!! Since I didn't even acknowledge my birthday last year, I'm making up for it this year. I'm going to spend the day with my family today, have an amazing dinner tonight, and tomorrow night I'm off to downtown L.A. with my boyfriend, bestie, and her husband. We'll eat at Canter's, squeal over Christmas decorations at the Farmer's Market, and more than likely I will buy bon bon's from See's and possibly a very expensive pair of shoes. I will also wear a freaking amazing bow in my hair. 

I also worked up the courage to try a ruffian accent nail, which I think I nailed (heh). If I'd known how easy they are to do, I'd have been wearing them constantly. I used a base of Maybelline Neutral Statement, which looks better in real life than it does in the pictures-the sun sort of warmed up the color too much-there's less beige and more pink-white in it. There's also some sparse deep coppery-gold sparkle that you can detect close up, but fades into the background at arms' length. 

My Favorite Ornament is one of my favorite pale gold glitters. Expect to see it over and over in the next month. 

The formula on Neutral Statement wasn't the greatest-a more patient painter could have gotten away with 3 coats, but I did four to even out the streaks. My Favorite Ornament was flawless (no surprise there) at 2 thin coats. 

Essie Fashion Playground

I've been flat on my back for the better part of four days with a serious neck complaint. I don't know if I've sprained a muscle or if a disc slipped out of place again. Today is the first day I've felt coherent enough to paint my nails. 

Fashion Playground is a bright, delicate pistachio pudding color with subtle, silvery shimmer. I'm normally not a fan of green on me, but it's soft enough that it doesn't make my complexion look ruddy. 3 coats with top coat. I was really impressed with the formula. 

Essie Bikini So Teeny

I'm forcing myself off the pink track to show you a polish I've been wanting to wear for a very long time. I bought it in...must have been January or February, and had to force myself to wait for spring. Because really, you can't get more spring than a soft blue. 

However, there is some disappointment attached to this polish. First, it would NOT photograph properly. The color you see in the pictures is accurate in sunlight, but it's not the true color of the polish. Bikini So Teeny is a beautiful periwinkle blue, but in the sun it's more bright sky blue. I really wanted to show you the periwinkle, but it just freaked my camera out too much. But rest assured, it's beautiful. There is also some gorgeous multi-colored hidden shimmer that is visible in the bottle, but takes a back seat on the nail, and adds dimension.

Secondly, the smell is...weird. It's really acrid and...farty-smelling, I guess? I don't know. I'm pretty used to nail polish fumes at this point, but I got a mean headache before I was done painting. 

Lastly, formula was a bit finicky. It took four coats for everything to even out nicely, but on the upside, it dried very fast. 

I did notice that the color does go well with my new phone cover:

I never expected to own an iPhone, but here it is, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. The case is from Pelham Cases on Etsy. They're based in Santiago, Chile, but the wait for this case was so, so worth it. It's drop-dead adorable. I kind of love kitties.

In other news, my boyfriend and I have decided to foster a dog. The doggy daycare he used to work at housed a sweet, very shy Shiba Inu/cattle dog mix named Ripley. Her owner paid to keep her there permanently, but about a week ago we received the news that she would probably be euthanized at the end of the month. This is atrocious in and of itself, but we were especially devastated because she and my boyfriend have such a close bond. We scrabbled around trying to find a no-kill rescue that would take her and Grace Rescue volunteered. So we will foster her and take her to adoption events on the weekends. If you live in the Southern California area and are looking to adopt a sweet and quiet little girl, come check Ripley out!

Her info should be up on the site soon!

O.P.I. You're Such a Budapest

Ugh. Daylight Savings hit me over the head with a club. I want to just crawl back into bed and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

However, before I do that, I want to do this pretty polish justice. I wasn't too impressed with the Euro Centrale collection when it came out (except Eurso Euro...how am I not supposed to freak out about a TARDIS blue polish?) but over the course of the year I've managed to acquire three of them (starting to want Suzi's Hungary Again-what is it with me and pink all of a sudden?). I guess I appreciate collections once they're gone...not a good habit to have. 

You're Such a Budapest is a true periwinkle. A perfect combo of lavender and blue, nice and light, but really striking and bright. I love colors like this-soft, with a punch. For all intents and purposes it's a creme, but there is definitely some shimmer there. It's sparse and very shy, but present. I see small flashes of pink, purple, and bright blue.

I know Imperfectly Painted blogged about this color last month (she inspired me to pull out my bottle) and had a lot of trouble with the formula. I found my bottle very easy to work with, however. It's thin for a creme, but I didn't experience the streaking she did. This was my usual three coats with Rejuvacote and GCS on top. I can't rave enough about Duri Rejuvacote; it's done wonders for my nails. 

P.S. Excuse the ding on my thumb and the other little scratches. When you want toast at 3 a.m., wet nails won't stop you.

Essie Parka Perfect & O.P.I. This Gown Needs a Crown

I've been itching to do a manicure with these two colors for the past week, and had planned on it yesterday, but the best laid plans...blah blah blah. You know how it goes.

I spent most of yesterday in the E.R. with my sister and grandmother. Turns out, Nana's got a blood clot in her leg, so now we have to give her Lovenox shots twice a day. As if there weren't enough on our plates...but we're grateful that it's in her calf and not her thigh, so at least when the clot dissolves there'll be a much lower chance of a piece of it going to her lung. 

But along with taking my medication on time and regulating my sleep, I'm practicing a C.B.T. exercise called "Pleasant Place". It's really helping. 

So. This color combination is just about the greatest thing ever. In the last year I've warmed up to blue considerably, and Parka Perfect is as pretty as they come. It's a soft blue with silvery grey undertones, and hidden icy shimmer flecks. It reminds me of a cross between Illamasqua Raindrops and Sephora by O.P.I. Cartwheels on the Catwalk, two polishes I love very much...so naturally it had to be mine. 

This Gown Needs a Crown is a polish I've been so excited about. After I saw pictures of it on Swatch and Learn  I began trolling beauty supply stores looking for it. I hesitate to say there's a bit of a holographic element to it, but when you see it in direct sunlight (especially when wet) there is a bit of prismatic shimmer. It has a new satin finish so it dries smooth and matte, but still sparkles and shines intensely. I'm so happy the O.P.I. Gwen Stefani collection has a gold version. Because gold is like, everything. 

As for the formulas, Essie was what I expected it to be. Streaky and uncooperative on the first coat, but two more evened it out and topcoat made it perfect. I was worried when I saw the hidden shimmer in it because I thought it would have a similar formula to colors like To Buy or Not To Buy and Rock the Boat (i.e. bumpy, gritty glitter flecks that make application a nightmare), but was pleasantly surprised when everything dried smooth and even. This Gown Needs a Crown was divine and quick to dry. 

And since my right thumbnail is recovering from a break and looks like hell, I'll show you the left one:

As well as one of my dogs, who decided she wanted be in the photos:

Have a great weekend everyone!