NOTD: Bubble Trouble

Hey guys! I snatched up this bottle of Revlon Bubble at Target yesterday. It was a steal as it was already clearanced down to $3.17 and then I had a $1.00 coupon on top of that. Woot woot!


I really like this shade of pink... it seems a little more purplely in my pictures but it's not. Revlon got hot pink right on this one in my opinion. The shade is purely pink but it's not neon looking like a lot of hot pinks are, so it compliments my fair skin instead of washing it out.



I called this post Bubble Trouble because I had some trouble with my design. From a distance, my flower looks like an eyeball, lol. I think it has something to do with the Seche Vite taking the detail out of the gem in the middle... it went from a little sparkly stone to a black blob. Ugh.

Which leads me to ask, what do you guys use to attach your embellishments?

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Irene is Coming!

Unless you haven't looked at a computer or T.V. in a few days, I'm sure you've heard about Hurricane Irene that's heading up the east coast... I just happen to live in North Carolina but fortunately, I live about 200 miles inland. We're still expecting some rough thunderstorms though so I have my storm kit ready. I took this picture this morning about 11:30 and the storm clouds were already rolling in. Icky stuff!


So in honor of Ms. Irene, I went with gray and blue nails to match the storms clouds. The gray is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement and the blue is OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I did a tape mani which I first learned about on Chloe's Nails oh so long ago. She has amazing tutorials and was one of the very first nail blogs I started following. She hasn't updated in a looong time but I hope she comes back soon... I miss her awesome designs.






I love the gray polish... the color reminds me of an elephant which means it's the prefect shade. It's an actual true gray which is hard to find sometimes since a lot of them tend to lean towards blue or brown. And at at about $3.00 a bottle, it's a great deal. :o)

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

Old Navy Jean Review!

Hey guys! I participated in another Old Navy sample from Crowdtap... they sent me a coupon for a free pair of jeans and all I had to do was go to the store and pick out the pair I wanted. I chose this amazing pair of Hi-Rise Retro Flare jeans in Senegal blue and I purchased a pair on my own in the Black Jack.


I'm a plus size girl and my figure is more apple shaped so I have a heck of a time finding jeans that fit my body comfortably and still look good. My hips and thighs are more of a size 18 while my midsection is a 22 which leads to a lot of awkward times in the fitting room, lol. I managed to walk of the fitting room with two pairs of these in a size 18... yay!

Cardigan, Button Down, Tank, and Jeans: Old Navy; Belt: Lane Bryant


Bella wanted in on the pictures again... cute puppy!

When I saw these were high rise, I was elated since that is a style that is comfortable for my body type. And then, when I tried them on, it was like a hallelujah moment and the lights shown down from heaven... aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. The denim is soft and stretchy and hugs my curves with out being too tight. The only "con" about these is that I'll have to hem them since they didn't have short length available in the store. I'm okay with that though since I'm used to the plight of the short people, lol. I'm 5'5" so I actually hem a lot of my pants so no biggie. Also, I've been wearing these all afternoon and they seem to be holding their shape really well which is another great thing... nothing worse than a saggy booty.

The backside.

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, I would rate these a 9. (And that's just because I have to hem them, lol.) So, if you're like me and are apple shape, you need to check these out. They're available in store up to a size 20 and they were on sale at my local Old Navy for $19.50. The website has them listed at $29.50 to $34.50 but I would still get these even at the higher price. In fact, I'm contemplating ordering the lighter wash as we speak since they didn't have that one in store, lol.

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Pretty Purple Pansies

Hey guys! Before I get to the nails, I wanted get your thoughts on the new blog design. I was getting a little tired of the pale watercolor look I had going and wanted something a little bit edgier. I modeled it after my profile picture, lol. I think it's cute but I feel like it needs something else... hmmm.

Anyway, I came across this super simple tutorial by Nail Art Express and I was instantly inspired to do my own version. I love her nail art and if you aren't following her, you definitely should! She has some amazing ideas and is always willing to share what she knows.





For this mani, I used China Glaze VIII (the dark purple) and Sally Hansen Delphinium as my base colors, the flowers were done using China Glaze Spontaneous and VII, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, and Zoya Gemma. The dots are the Whirlwind White and Essie Licorice. If I were to do this one again, I think I would make the outsides of the flowers the dark purple and the inside the light. But anywho, thanks for reading!

- Kim

NOTD: Big Beautiful Blue Blooms

Hey guys! I swear I am addicted to these flower mani's. I did this version using Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White and Blue Away and my newest Essie polish, Mesmerize which is a nice true blue. I love it! (Please ignore my worn tips and dry cuticles... I didn't get around to taking pictures until I had worn this look for a bit.)






I didn't have a specific image I was referencing for inspiration... I just knew in my mind that I wanted this to be a blue and white floral pattern like antique dishes my grandmother used to have. I was pleased with the end result but when I showed Mr. N&W this mani, he said "Oh, blueberries... that's nice." My little heart was broken, lol. So what do you guys think? Are these flowers or blueberries?

Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Bling Dynasty

Hey guys! Quick post today... I did a random design using Bundle Monster image plates BM-208 and BM-221. My base color is OPI Bling Dynasty and the stamps are done with China Glaze China Rouge, Orly Luxe, and Essie Licorice. It's very different than what I would typically wear but I think it's pretty none the less... I'll still probably end up taking it off tomorrow though, lol.






Thanks for reading!
- Kim

Adventures in Baking: Mini Donuts!

This is totally unrelated to nails but I wanted to share about this awesome Babycakes donut maker I bought. I had a 15% off coupon to Kohl's plus $20 bucks in Kohl's cash that I needed to use before it expired. I searched the store high and low for something to spend my coupon on and nothing was really appealing to me until I spotted this guy.


It was on sale for $29.99 so with my various discounts, it came out to less than $10. Sweeeet! The set comes with a couple of recipes for donuts but after browsing for more online, several people recommended using cake batter for softer, fluffier donuts. So that's what I did... and look at the yummy goodness!


I used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Decadent cake mix and man, they super tasty... I'm ashamed to admit I've had about 5 of them with all the fixings, lol! And as an aside, Babycakes has makers for mini cupcakes, cake pops, and whoopie pies... I want to try them all.

Thanks for reading!
-Kim

NOTD: Roses and Baby's Breath

Hey guys! Just a super-quick post today... I did a 5 dot flower manicure using OPI Mermaid's Tears, Jade is the New Black, Koala Beary, and Italian Love Affair and Orly Terra Mauve and Pointe Blanche. (The Koala Beary and Italian Love Affair were mixed together to make a lighter fuchsia color for the accents on the flowers.)





Thanks for reading!
- Kim

NOTD: Kind of Like 80's Wallpaper

I picked up this cute smocked tube top at Target the other day and I was feeling inspired by the fabric pattern... it reminds me of this hideous 80's bathroom wallpaper a friend used to have at her house. I like it better on the shirt than the walls so decided to see if I could imitate it, lol. I started to freehand the design but I thought better of it and broke out my Bundle Monster plates... I went with the feather pattern on BM-214 since it was the closet thing to the palm leaves.

To get this look, I painted my nails with a base coat of Essie Smooth Sailing and then layered stamps of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blazing Blue, Pink Blink, and Brisk Blue and Essie Sand Tropez in no particular order. It was a little time consuming to do that many stamps but I needed the mental break today so I didn't mind. :o)





On a side note, if you're interested in this buying this top, you may want to check out your local Target before getting it online. Mine had these on clearance for $8.98 but the website is still selling them for $17.99 for whatever reason. I swear I will never understand why the prices vary like that, lol. But anywho... thanks for reading!

- Kim

Tutorial: Easy Five Dot Flowers

Hey guys! As promised, here is the Five Dot Flower tutorial. This is my first attempt at an actual "how to" so bare with me and I apologize... this baby is a little photo intensive, so be warned. (Maybe one day, I learn how to put all this mess into a video!)

To get started, you will need 5 polishes: a base color, two shades for your flower blossom, and two shades for the leaves. You can get away with one color on leaves but I think two gives the them more depth. Totally up to preference! For the tools, all you will need is a large dotting tool (a bobby pin will work) and a detail brush. You can buy the fancy ones from the beauty supply store or you can do like me and buy the cheap-o kind from the art store. (Keep in mind what the bristles are made of... natural is better since you'll likely have to clean them with nail polish remover. Acrylic and nylon ones can melt!)

For these flowers, I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Magenta Motion and Fuchsia Flare. The leaves are Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Chartreuse Chase and China Glaze Tree Hugger. My base is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White.





You will also need something drip your polish on.... I just use paper. It protects my workspace and keeps everything neat and tidy in one place. Let's get started!

• Paint your nails your chosen base color. In this case, it's the white...
  

• Then, place a dot of your main flower color on the paper workspace. Using the dotting tool/bobby pin, place a dot on your nail. Work your way around in a circular shape, placing 5 dots (petals) in a flower shape. I did a crappy job of photographing this step so here's an illustration...
  

• Once you have your flower dotted out, drop a bit of your flower's accent color onto the paper. Using the detail brush, go around your flower adding small curved lines for the edges of the petals... work your way to the center of the flower. I like to finish mine with a little swirl in the middle. How detailed you get is completely up to you... I keep mine a little abstract since it's quicker that way. ;)

• Alright, wipe your detail brush clean of any polish. Now it's time to add the leaves. Drop a bit of the lighter green onto you paper and use your brush to add little swooshes of the green next to the edges of your flowers. I like to put two leaves on one side and a single leave on the other because I'm obsessive like that...
  

• Good so far! Now here's that optional part... go back and add a line of the darker green to each leave. See the difference? I think it just looks more polished that way, no pun intended.
  

And voila! You're done! I told you guys this was super easy and it's great for beginners just venturing into nail art. There are some really great tutorials out there for more complicated and detailed designs but this one is so simple that once you've tried it a time or two, you can knock out full flower mani's in 20 minutes flat. I kid you not!

And for a little more inspiration, here are couple of designs I came up with using the five dot flower... so many possibilities!


I hope you guys found this tutorial helpful and if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to hit me up in the comments!

Thanks for reading!
- Kim