Mint Green Jewels

I was in the mood to do something fun so I decided to try this mani:

I simplified it a little bit because my nails are so much shorter than the ones in the picture, but I like the results!

First, I painted my nails with Revlon Minted as the base. Then, I used a small brush to paint an outline with Diamond Cosmetics Party Hearty. It's a rose gold as opposed to the regular gold in the picture, but I think it works well enough. Lastly, I added the rhinestones and bullion beads. It's actually not as complicated as it looks! Gluing on the beads/stones takes a little bit of time but it's so much easier and faster than, say, painting a floral print. I love the placement of the stones but I think my favorite part is actually the gold outline, I like the way it frames the mint green. As I've said before, I love doing manis with lots of rhinestones because it looks ornate but isn't a lot of work. You can obviously experiment with different colors and placements as well of course. If you're intimidated by nail art, try something easy and sparkly!

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Set

Woohoo, I just picked mine up!

I got it at my local Sephora. It was in the back, not on display yet so if you are looking for one, call or ask the sales associates to check the back! I wasn't sure whether to get the Naked palette for the longest time because although the colors are very useful, I didn't want to spend so much on just neutrals since I really like color. This palette is a great compromise because it does have lots of neutrals but also plenty of bright, beautiful colors. Also, the packaging is just beautiful! I love that there's a space beneath to stash some other stuff. It retails $55 and according to Sephora.com customer service it will be available on their website sometime next week. Definitely worth the splurge!

Chanel Pearl Drop

I was looking for a color that was summery but still a bit understated, I think this fits the bill!

I don't own many whites because most of the time I don't find them particularly unique but this one is pretty. I like the pearl finish and gold shimmer, it looks elegant. I am wearing four thin coats but you could definitely get away with two or three. Next time I think I will try this over a white cream, to see if it would look a bit brighter. The consistency was very easy to work with, dried fairly quickly.

Hope everyone is beating the heat!

3D Rose

I really like 3D acrylic nail art but I need a LOT more practice so I don't do it very often. Every once in a while though, I like to just sit down and practice a bit. This is the result of my last practice session.

Here is my 3D acrylic rose with flower and leaf rhinestones. The peach color is Essie Van D'Go and the white is MAC Vestral White. It actually took me about a good hour to make two decent roses, haha. Honestly, I'm not super happy with the overall design (I think the rhinestones are a bit much) but I'm pretty proud of the flower! Now if only I could do it on the first try...

French with Catrice Mona Lisa Is Staring Back

It's been a while since I did a nice, plain French and I really wanted to try out a new Catrice color I received in a swap so I went for it.

This is Mona Lisa Is Staring Back (with MAC Vestral White on the tips). It's a sheer, peachy nude with gold flecks. I am wearing two coats, one more would bring it to full opacity or you could stop at one for a sheerer look. I actually like this color a lot more than I anticipated. I am not usually a fan of sheer nudes but the gold in this one makes it more interesting.

One more reason to wish that Catrice was sold in the states!

Shopping Haul!

This post isn't makeup/nail related but I thought I'd share my latest purchases!

Gilly Hicks tanks:

The first one is sheer gray lace, the second is white with a chiffon ruffled bow, and the third is cotton with lace overlay in the front and ruffles. Love these, they're so girly! I think I might be returning the white one though, it's a bit too short for my liking. There's a lot of cute stuff on sale so check out the store or website! I also LOVE their underwear.

Melissa Royale flat:

Hearts in the back!

These are actually a (belated) birthday gift for my sister. I like how they look like a classic cap-toe flat but the hearts in the back make it unique.

Melissa Love flip flop:

More hearts! Aren't they adorable? Since I wear flip flops all the time, I can always use more.

Old Navy gold glitter belt, lace Melissa Ultragirl flats, Joe's Jeans Lennon clutch

I'm not really a belt person but I'm hoping this one will add some shape and sparkle to looser tops.

Melissa lace Ultragirl:

I fell in love with them when I saw them online and they're really cute in person too but I feel a little weird about wearing nude shoes? Definitely looks a bit strange with blue polish on my toes, but they are cute shoes.

JJ Lennon clutch front:

Back:

Inside:

I've been wanting this bag forever! I missed out on it a while back so I grabbed it when I saw it on ebay. It's a big clutch so there's plenty of room and the leather is buttery soft. I also adore studs and they're actually functional, they add some texture to the clutch so it's much easier to grip.

Joyrich/LeSportsac heart-shaped mini crossbody bag:

Ha, I didn't realize I bought so many heart-shaped things! I've been eyeing this ever since it came out and I finally bought it! If you enlarge the pictures you can see that the pink spots are glittery! Hm, I'm inspired to do a leopard mani...

Burberry watch

I've wanted a white ceramic watch for a long time and finally bought one! I like that this actually combines two trends, ceramic watches and watches with rectangular faces. The subtle check pattern is a nice touch, too.

Last, but certainly not least, Fendi Deco pumps!

I saw these on the cover of a Sephora catalog a while back and fell in love. Before getting them I was thinking about dyeing them a different color but I actually like these.

Whew, no more shopping for a while!

FREE NAIL STRIPS!

*EDIT* The nail strip deal is gone but you can still get $10 credit when you sign up to use towards other deals!

Use my link to sign up. You will get $10 credit and use it to buy the $6 deal for Nail Fraud nail strips!

Fourth of July Mani

Happy Fourth, everyone! I wish I had been able to post this before today but I actually didn't even think about doing a 4th of July mani until late last night. Here it is:

The white base is MAC Vestral White, the red is OPI Rock-apulco Red, the blue is Blue from love & beauty (sold at Forever 21, same as L.A. Girl), and the glitter polish is Deborah Lippmann Today Was a Fairytale. I used a striping brush (you can find them cheap on ebay) for the stripes. My right hand actually turned out okay, though the stripes are a bit thicker and messier, haha. I realized after finishing my mani that it looked a bit abstract but if you want to make it look more reminiscent of a flag you can always to horizontal or vertical stripes instead of diagonal, or paint on stars or use star-shaped glitter instead of a glitter polish.

Hope the weather is nice for all of you and you get to eat some yummy BBQ!