It's My Birthday!

So yeah, I was planning on doing another Sherlock-themed manicure this week, but then I remembered- today's my birthday! Hooray! So enjoy this quick little post on my birthday manicure. 

Here I've got a gradient of China Glaze - White on White and OPI - Sparrow Me the Drama, with the '17' written with an Art Deco Striper in black. Yeah, I'm 17 now! Geesh. I feel old. Wow. 

Anyyywayy, the candles are OPI - Cajun Shrimp, E.L.F. - Purple Pleaser, and Mary Kay - Pink Bamboo, and the flames are Sally Hansen - Sun Kissed and Sally Hansen - Lightening.

Bonus: A (semi) accurate portrayal of the typical celebration of my birthdays. I'm not a party girl in any way, so anything with large groups of people usually ends up with a grumpy Allie hiding in the corner. Instead of a party tonight, I'm quietly celebrating out at Biaggi's (ah, who else would die for their bread) with my family. That's the best way to celebrate, in my opinion! 

Oh, does anyone have any unusual birthday traditions? I was born during the half time of the 1997 Superbowl, and although they've changed the date so it will never line up on my birthday again, my parents always it as celebrate my "second birthday" and spoil me with my favorite foods. Ahh, the joy of birthdays!

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments what you thought about this manicure, or what strange birthday traditions you have. Next week I will (for sure, this time) be back with another LynBDesigns Sherlock polish, to mark the end of the show's third season. See you all then!

LynBDesigns - Lost Without My Blogger (Swatch/Review/Fangirling)

Howdy folks! So... guess what today is!

No, not Sunday, sillies! I mean, it is Sunday, but that wasn't what I was going for.

Nope, today is the day... a very special day... the day Sherlock series 3 airs in America! Yes, I may have possibly... not so legally... already seen all of the episodes online... but today's the first day I get to watch the first episode of the new series legally, without any streaming issues or crappy video quality. Huzzah!

In honor of this very important day, I figured it would only be acceptable to do a Sherlock related manicure. I mean, this day only comes three times every two years- better make it count, right?

And never fear, I shall be keeping this post completely spoiler free for anyone who had enough self control to wait and watch the episode legally; however, this does include some things we've seen in the released trailers, which could be considered spoilers if you've decided not to watch those.

Sound good? Then read on!

So for today's episode, I knew I just had to wear one of my Sherlock-themed polishes from LynBDesigns. If you haven't tried any of her polishes yet... seriously. Go buy one. Or two. Or ten. They are completely, utterly awesome. Anyway, I decided to put on Lost Without My Blogger for today, as I'd just ordered it the week before and figured this would be the perfect chance to try it for the first time. You ready to see the complete perfection that is this polish? Keep scrolling!

*Swoons* Look. At. That. Glitter.

So much glitter.

This is two coats of Lost Without My Blogger, with one coat of good ole HK Girl on top. It's a gren jelly base completely stuffed with... well, a ton of different types of glitter that I'm not going to try to list. You've really got everything in here. Silver and green glitter. Circle, hex, shard glitter. Really, you've got the whols shebang in here. 

Oh, and did I mention that application was INCREDIBLE? I have been known for being super picky about my glitter polishes due to their application... but I am in love with this one. 

I would note that as this is such a glittery polish, you're definitely going to need a couple coats of top coat to smooth it down- one wasn't quite enough (but this polish was so gorgeous that I was too busy trying to get pictures taken to remember to add a second layer of top coat). That really just comes with the territory for glitter polish, though, so I wouldn't consider it as a complaint at all. This polish is too perfect to have any complaints about. 

*Bam* close up squishy glitter photo! LOOK AT ALL THAT GORGEOUS GLITTER.

And now for the fangirling portion of this post!

Since this polish is based off of everyone's favorite army doctor, I figured it would not be complete without some bit of nail art to remind everyone what this polish is about. And that is why you might have noticed a very John-esque mustache on my accent nail.

I started out planning to have just a random mustache on the accent nail, without any eyes, but it ended up... not really looking like a mustache. Therefore, eyes had to be added so everyone could tell what it was! It was at that point that I realized I probably should've made the mustache blond. Ah, well, too late! Hopefully you still get the gist. If you're wondering, the white is China Glaze - White on White, the eyes are Sally Hansen - Black Heart, and the mustache was made with a black Sharpie (yeah, I was too lazy to get out my nail art brushes and do it the proper way, but I think the Sharpie was still pretty successful).

But can we just talk about that mustache for a second? Please tell me I'm not the only one who spontaneously bursts into giggles whenever she sees it. Seriously, John, what were you thinking? Maybe he's training to be a part-time plumber who chases a princess all across the countryside. Maybe he grew it to cope with the loss of Sherlock. Do people do that? Grow mustaches when their best friends die? Is this a thing I don't know about?

(had to insert a semi-polish-related reunion theory here- I am
so proud of my Paint drawing skills, I have to admit)

Anyway, let me know your opinions on mournstaches and army-doctors-turned-plumbers in the comments. Make sure to leave some fangirling about the upcoming episode below, too (no spoilers, of course)! And what do you think about this polish? Are you as in love with it as I am? Lost Without My Blogger can be found at LynBDesign's Etsy site for $8, and if this one isn't enough to feed your Sherlock obsession, there are also sixteen other Sherlock-themed polishes in Jenna's Baker Street Collection for you to choose from.

Thanks for reading! I shall be back next week, with another Sherlock-related, fangirl-filled post. See you all then!

*Note: The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.*

Holy Schnitzel it's my 100th Blog Post!

^ Yeah. What the title says.

Originally, I was planning on just doing a simple 2013-in-review post for my 100th post, but then I realized I had too much to say to fit everything in one post, so that will be coming sometime this week. Right now... time to talk about all of my wonderful experiences. Enjoy this (slightly non-polish-related) post about my amazing past year and a half!

Let's start with a flashback to Monday, April 26, 2012. The date of my very first nail post. Here's what my photos looked like back then:

Yeah.

I have honestly thought about deleting some of these older posts loads of times, but they're definitely fun to go back and laugh at. 

And now, a more personal background from that first blog post:

When I started writing this blog, I was fifteen, nearing the end of my freshman year in high school.  I was unbelievably socially awkward, with the self-esteem of a dead snail, and no self confidence whatsoever. I hated everything about myself- how geeky I looked, how I couldn't talk to someone I didn't know without avoiding eye-contact and stumbling over words, how everyone in the world seemed to be better than be at everything. It was a really, really rough time in my life. At a school where everyone is insanely talented at everything, I felt like a complete nobody who had no talent to call her own. And then... yeah, I discovered nail art. 

It is the most amazing feeling in the world to finally find something you're good at, that you can call your own. Instead of being that awkward girl no one cared about, I was finally someone interesting, because I had a real-life talent that was unique, and I turned out to actually be pretty good at it. 

Now skip forward to a year and a half later: 

After months of photography and nail art practice, my photos have completely changed. No more awkward shadows, or pictures with only one finger in them, or polish in my cuticles, no siree! I still have a huge way to go, I'm sure, but I love looking back at older posts and seeing how much progress I've made. 

And now, the personal background for now:

I'm currently in the second half of my junior year in high school. I've always felt a little strange being on the younger end of the spectrum of nail bloggers, but I love this community more than anything- everyone here is so amazing. I know there are always some oddballs and meanies out there, but for the most part, the nail polish community is full of amazing, wonderful people that I've been so glad to get to know. But anyway, personally, nail art has helped me out so much in my life. Yeah, I'm still slightly socially awkward, but having something I'm good at has completely boosted my confidence in myself. I've had people I rarely talk to go up to me and say they love my nails, or ask to see what design I have on that day. It's such an incredible feeling. 

Finally, onto something huge (and amazing) that happened yesterday:

So know how I was talking about how wonderful everyone in the nail polish community is? Yesterday, I got to experience that when NailNation shared a link to my Facebook page on hers, to over 80,000 followers. 

And then this happened:

Over 92 followers within a minute? At this point I was making awkward hand flailing motions and messaging every person I knew to tell them how excited I was.

I spent ten minutes refreshing my page, watching the number of followers grow, and grow, and grow... I went off to eat lunch and came back to this a half hour or so later:

I was completely stunned. I really had no idea if I should be throwing confetti in the air and throwing a miniature celebration party, or if I should be sitting in my chair in fetal position, sobbing as a result of happiness. I ended up staring at my screen blankly for ten minutes, trying to comprehend what was really happening. 

I checked Facebook again a bit after midnight, and the count was over 2,000 page likes. Silly sleepy me forgot to take a screenshot, but I was definitely an extremely happy girl. 

And then I woke up this morning to this message from a friend: 

So yeah, definitely an incredible way to start off the day. I'm honestly the happiest girl in the world right now. All I've ever loved is being able to share my passion with others, and now there are over 3,000 to share it with. You all are AMAZING! But for such a huge page to share mine in the first place... that's what I love about this community. Everyone helping each other out. Maria at NailNation made a small dream of mine come true, and that's something I will never, ever, forget. 

Oh, and I feel like this is a big enough accomplishment that it calls for a reproduction of my feelings via a Microsoft Paint drawing:

^ Pretty accurate. Other than the confetti. But still accurate. 

And now for my cheesy thanks:

First of all, of course, Thank you to Maria for sharing my page, giving it a chance, and allowing me to meet so many wonderful new followers.

Second, thank you to everyone who's been with me from the start. You all are the best for sticking through all of this with me, even some of my less-than-incredible first few months of posts. We all start somewhere, and everyone who encouraged me during that time had a part in motivating me to keep on going and improving. 

Third, to Kathryn and Esther, who have been the most extraordinary friends throughout both my best and worst moments. You two have put up with all my nail art problems and adventures, from dealing with the "help, I have no idea what to paint my nails, give me ideas," to the "oh my god I suck at nail art I can't do this anymore I want to quit." You have kept me going with your endless motivation for forever and I love you guys more than anything in the world! 

And finally, to all of my new Facebook followers! I haven't known any of you for very long, but I'm so glad to have you all here. I hope you enjoy my blog and my nail art, and I'd love to get to know all of you in the comments. 

So... I think that's all! Wow. 100 posts done. I'm so proud of this milestone. I can't wait to see how much everything has changed by my 200th post, but that's a long way away, so for now... later taters! Thanks for reading!