March 7, 2012
Hi Guys! As you know, or may not know, every year I give up something for Lent-even thought I’m not Catholic. This year my sacrifices are: Nail Polish and Coffee .. Why Nail Polish and coffee you ask?
1. Nail Polish: This one has a stipulation. I am allowed to use my Nailtiques nail protein, but no buying or painting my nails. I realized that I have a bit of an obsession with buying polish and painting my nails when I purchased 5 bottles in one week. So I decided to challenge myself to not do any . I believe Lent should be a challenge. Also, healthy nails are important, so I’m going to take the time to continue fortifying my nails with the Nailtiques. My natural nails look pretty healthy, but I do feel they start to get weak when I add/remove polish too often. That saddens me. I want ridge free nails!
The nails around the apples have no polish on them and were taken about 2 weeks ago, prior to Lent.
2. Coffee. My sweet love coffee. I feel that when I shed the most weight was the last time I gave up coffee. I also know myself and that knowing that, I still am unable to shack my coffee habit alone. I need the challenge.. God Speed to me. I have discovered the tea lattes at Starbucks however. This time around I’m drinking more than just my White Peach Mango Lipton Tea. I’ve had Trader Joes White Pear Mango. Some herbal tea with lemon (bleck) and now the tea lattes. I tried the Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte at Starbucks only to discover it was caffeine free, but still delicious! The next day I tried the Awake Tea Latte with vanilla flavoring. YUM. I can’t get too hooked though, the whole point is to shed calories, not find an equally caloric tea drink.
Posted in Cleo's Rants | Tags: challenge, coffee, lent, nails | 2 Comments »
January 26, 2012
I realized while talking to someone over the weekend, I have been holding out! I have not been sharing in my nail journey with my blog. I mean I LOVE my nails. Designs are so fun and actually having healthy nails is a task. The ultimate compliment I got was when my nails were plain and someone said, “wow your nails look so healthy!” * cheese *
So here are some nail designs I have done myself over the last year or so. Many of them are inspired by looks I’ve found online. I read and watch tutorials. I also am obsessed with buying nail polish and nail care things. I also practice. As you can see from some of the pics. One thing I wanted to try but never got around to was the tribal nail. Maybe next summer.
Some of my fav designs here. You have the mood changing polish, depending on if you’re body temp is hot or cold it can be pink or purple. That was my most recent birthday. The nails I literally JUST did are the baby doll pink with black matte leopard accent nail. I was inspired by some photos of black and gold matte leopard nails and wanted to try to recreate. Right before those was the terracotta color, which is Zoya Natalie (the pink was Zoya Flora). Zoya is an all natural polish and I stocked up on some great colors due to their buy 2 and only pay shipping sales! #WIN. I love the neon yellow. I did that using a tip from diynails.tumblr.com, which was to apply coat(s) of white underneath the yellow to make it stand out because when I first did it, you couldn’t even see it. It made my nails look like jaundiced yellow “/
In one corner you have my blood splatter design from Halloween. I got that idea from reading www.refinery29.com They have great DIY nail blogs, especially for holidays. I also love the nude with polka dots. The nude is Zoya Shay (FREEE) and that was in November. I did the white with orange polka dots when I went to ATL in May for PhDubb’s graduation. I also love the teal color at the bottom and a similar color is on my nails in the top corner.. the bottom is Mattese Elite, which is exclusive to Ricky’s in NYC. Buy with ME had a sale, spend $20 and get $40 for use at Rickys. I bought 5 bottles of Nail polish. There are some designs I didn’t talk about but if you have questions on them, I will gladly answer. As you can see I am passionate about nails! My coworker swears I’m in the wrong profession.
My nail polish habit is sick. I had more bottles but discarded a few. Last I counted I had about 31 and I bought more after that. That’s not including top coats and base coats.
Nail Care ::
My nails were in pretty bad shape at one point. I didn’t really know to file in one direction only. I would file with damp nails. I would bite. Use my nails as a tool. All the things you shouldn’t do. My friend introduced me to Nailtiques, which is a nail protein and my nails, while not extra long, have grown to be extremely healthy and flexible due to the use of that and better technique. It retails for about $20 bucks a bottle but lasts for at least 1-2 months. Nailtiques can be used as a base and top coat, but when I use it I typically just do it bare nailed and go hard for 2weeks or more depending.
For a base coat, I’ve recently been using the Seche Vite
Ridge filling base coat. I also use their quick dry top coat, which if you google, gets AWESOME reviews. It reallllly is quick dry. That came as a bday gift from the same friend who introduced me to Nailtiques.
Lastly, for cutiles. Essie Disappear Trick. NO trimming. Just 15 second application. push back with orange stick and you’re hands look ah-maz-ing.
I recently watch a Deborah Lippman video on manicures and took away some great tips that I’m working into my routine. I also want to splurge on either some Deborah Lippman or Chanel Polish.
Posted in Cleo's Rants | Tags: diy, essie, fashion, mattest elite, nailcare, nails, polish | No Comments »
April 17, 2011
I’m completely obsessed with nail polish and designs these days. Especially ones I might be able to create myself. So, I read a tutorial on http://diynails.tumblr.com on how to do Cheetah Nails .. And decided to try it ..since I’m overly harsh I think my attempt sucked but I have to relax it was my first time and after doing further research, I needed a dipping tool (or toothpick) to make the spots .. I used a Qtip lol.. You live and you learn! Check them out!
I think next time I’m going with a lighter base coat, like tan, with pink cheetah dots and the black outline. For me the green spots are too close in color to the black .. And I was rushing so it smeared. 
Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry. Excuse my typos and other errors “/
Posted in Cleo's Rants | Tags: fashion, nails, random | 1 Comment »
October 27, 2010
One thing I happen to love is nail polish!
I don’t know when it came over me, but I do now. I’ve even taken my own nail polish with me to get manicures. My latest find: O.P.I Only Gold For Me top coat. When I first saw it in Sephora, I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. but then I put a coat on over my electric blue nail polish and LOVED it. I immediately knew I wanted to go home and apply it over O.P.I’s Black Onyx polish I had. The results:
Here they are 2 days later, slightly chipped, but not as chipped as they usually are after 2 days.
I’m sold. I even did my toes to match.
I think this color is going to rock out for the next few weeks. And I NEVER wear red nail polish, but I’m imaginging this over red nails for the office holiday party.
Posted in Fashion Friday | Tags: beauty, entertainment, fashion, hot, nail polish, nails, o.p.i. | No Comments »
The nails around the apples have no polish on them and were taken about 2 weeks ago, prior to Lent.