Abstract Autumn Nails

It's still really warm outside, but all anyone can talk about is Autumn.

Pumpkin Spice flavored everything is popping up everywhere. I'm not really a fan. Don't get me wrong, I like pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving dessert. That's just pretty much it for me.

The thing that does excite me is that the mountains are starting to change color. The fall leaves are absolutely one of my favorite things. That is the true sign of Fall.

Autumn is absolutely my favorite season. I was born in the Fall, so was my husband, and we were married in the Fall too. Those dates are all in October.

I love all of it. The cooler weather. The bulky sweaters. Wearing a hat and a scarf with just a jacket. Leggings and tights. Boots! Smelling wood smoke. Rainy days. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Football. There's just so much to love!!

In honor of the beginning of Fall I decided to do a subtle Autumn look.

I didn't want something that screamed "LEAVES AND PUMPKINS!!" I wanted something a little more understated. Since it's so hot, I just wanted a nod to the new season.

I had a really hard time getting the color to show up correctly in the pictures, so I painted some white paper and sent it through my scanner to try and show it properly.

It sort of worked.

The base is Color Club Mod in Manhattan, another one of the gifts from my friend Kristin. I'm pretty sure she got it in one of her Birch Boxes, but if you really like it you can probably find it on Ebay. I'm not really a fan. The color worked perfectly for what I wanted, but the formula was too thick and streaky. It was hard to deal with.

Full sunlight and showing my thumb.

I taped off the square with nail accent tape and then painted on Color Club Put A Pin In It. Still really loving this one. It went on perfectly and looks gorgeous. It's also from Kristin and her Birch Box.

The final dots look black, but they're really a rich bronze brown. They also smell. That's because they're done in Revlon Parfumerie Autumn Spice. They don't smell bad. Just kind of... Autumn spicy.

They look a lot cooler in person than they do in these pictures, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Once the leaves really start changing I'm sure I'll have some more Fall looks, but for now this is perfect.

Cinderella Nails

I needed a little retail therapy to lift my spirits, and Ulta came through for me. I got a mailer from them with a $10 off card in it. No exceptions, it was basically a $10 gift certificate except that I had to spend it all.

I bought nail polish. Of course.

I splurged and spent the whole thing on one bottle. Actually, the polish was $11. Totally worth that extra buck! How could I resist that sparkle?! The polish is Nails, Inc. London Special Effects in Knightsbridge. (The anglophile in me just adores this!)

I named this look after the blue base color, Sinful Colors Professional 1106 Cinderella. It's a light blue with iridescent pink undertones. A very princess-y blue. I used OPI Natural Nail Strengthener as my base, did two coats of the blue, two coats of the glitter (only going half way) and followed up with one layer of OPI Top Coat.

I've been completely mesmerized by my nails. I love how the light catches the glitter and shows so many colors. I've already got some ideas for other looks using these polishes.

I've been doing my nails so much that I'm getting pretty good at doing my dominant right hand with my very not dominant left. This time my manicure looks just as good on my right hand as it does on my left! This pleases me greatly.

I finished this look yesterday and took pictures. Today I thought I'd have a little fun and painted a matte top coat on my right hand so I could compare and contrast the two looks. The shiny top coat on my left makes the look much more vibrant and sparkly, but the right has it's own interesting effect. I think it looks like Winter, snow and icicles. Muted glitter.

Shiny on the left, matte on the right. 

Which one is your favorite?

For the record, I redid the shiny top coat after I took these pictures. I'm just not in the mood for mismatched hands and I wanted the vibrant sparkle.

September Ipsy Bag

I received my September Ipsy bag on Tuesday, but I was too distracted to post about it.

You see, my dearest lovely friend graduated from Esthetician School on that day. It's a wonderful accomplishment, but it also meant that she was moving back to her home state of Washington. I was thrilled and proud, but also sad. There were too many emotions going on to worry about makeup.

I'm so proud of you Kristin! 

I also have to confess that this month's bag had a product that I gave away before I could get a picture of it. It was Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask for hair. My hair is short, non-damaged, and non-colored, so this was completely wasted on me. I handed it over to a friend with long hair that she dyes, so it went to a good home.

So here's what this months bag looked like after I gave away the conditioning mask:

Sorry the quality is so bad. I had a hard time with the lighting this time. 

First, let me just say that I love the actual bag. My 13 year old begged me to give it to her, but I'm keeping this one! It's buttery soft too, I've been using it as a purse the last few days!

Here's what it contained: NYX Hot Singles Eye Shadow in Rehab (Now I just have to try a smokey eye look!), Pacifica Natural Water-Proof Eye Pencil in Fringe, a Crown Brush brand Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush, and Cailyn Art Touch Tinted Lip Gloss in Basic Instinct (I am in love with this lip gloss. It goes on with a gloss wand, but it looks and feels a lot like a lipstick. And the color looks great on me! I went to the Cailyn site and not only did I get a full size to try, the retail price is $19! That means the $10 I spent on this months bag was well worth it!!)

I seriously love Ipsy! Remember if you want to get an Ipsy subscription you should do me a favor and sign up through my link. Then I get points to put towards free stuff! Woo hoo!!

http://www.ipsy.com/r/69qo?sid=ipsypoints&cid=general

Indigo Glitter Nails

I've been feeling sick and I knew I wanted white tips with glitter, but I couldn't decide which glitter to use.

So I let Joey pick.

He chose blue glitter. Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in Indigo-Go Girl to be specific.

In direct sunlight. 

It's definitely not what I would have picked, but I think it looks interesting. I think I'm going to have to try this again with dark blue tips instead of the white.

Diffused sunlight. 

White tips were done with a thick coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in 120 Whirlwind White. I did two coats of the blue glitter and followed up with one layer of OPI Top Coat.

At night with flash. 

Sparks Fizzle Nails

I've been trying to get this manicure done for two weeks! Every time I get the base on I end up doing something that ruins it. That's the life of a mom!

The base color is Wet 'N' Wild FastDry in Silvivor. I like this polish a lot. it goes on nice and thick. Since I was putting a glitter over top, I just did one coat over my normal base coat.

The glitter is called Sparks Fly by Pure Ice.

It should be called Fizzled Out.

In the bottle it looks so much more interesting. A clear base full of tiny blue glitter with copper circles and large silver stars.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I shook it up I couldn't get the glitter to distribute at all.

I managed to get one star on my thumb.

I guess I should have expected this from a polish that only cost a dollar, but I was really hoping for more. The blue sparkle is kind of pretty, but the lighter glitters just fade away in the light base. I thought about trying again over a dark polish, but I don't think there's enough of the light glitter to make it worth it. I might give it a shot over a bright red, but I'm not sure.

I didn't bother to add a top coat. I'll probably be removing this tonight and doing something new.

Sunflowers

I got a hole in my dish washing gloves and so my nails have been mangled.

Since I have nothing else to show you, I give you pictures I took of some sunflowers.

I was driving home from dropping my kids off at school and the light was so perfect and the sky was so pretty. I just couldn't resist. I pulled over and took some pictures with my phone. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person, crouched on the side of the road wearing sweat pants and a hoodie, but the pictures are worth it.

This one is sized to be the desktop on my Chromebook. 

This is the sky looking East. The other pictures are facing West. 

All of these pictures were taken at about 8:30 this morning in West Weber, Utah. I used my phone, a Samsung Galaxy s5. I only say this because some people really care about those kind of details.