Bear Pawlish Custom and Other Big Things!

HI. How ARE you guys? Is anybody still there?

I'll start with some polish, because this is a polish blog. But don't get too excited about it, because I might not post again for another X months. But maybe I will...! But maybe I won't. (I will).

I got acrylics. :x Don't judge, my nails refuse to grow out past my fingertips anymore. Plus car seats are brutal, dawgs. They're almond shaped! This custom that I ordered from Bear Pawlish is called Helix Crash (though it says Garnet Rising on the label because I forgot to tell Tennessee what I wanted to name it, eh heh) which is an anagram of my son's name, because I'm super clever. It's a fiery garnet super-holo with holographic red glitter and the giggles of every child who's ever lived. Behold:

Um, yeah, right? All pictures were taken under OttLite without topcoat. I've since filed my nails to be less bulbous 'round the edges, but of course now I need them filled. Acrylics are hard. I'm struggling to type, but my hands look BAD. ASS. *death metal guitar solo*

So, remember how I was pregnant? Well, after nine months I just couldn't do it anymore. HA HA. A little over 41 weeks, actually. Labor was nutz, but I won't freak you out with the deets. Labor though... shudder, shudder. His name is Alex, and he's THE BEST BABY EVER. Seriously. My first was a crazy baby, but Alex is so unbelievably calm, and happy, and easy. And cute.

He was born on January 21st at 8:40pm, 7lb 14 oz, 20.5". He's growing so unreasonably fast:

LOOK AT THOSE FEET THOUGH.

Finally, this happened:

Sorry for the sucktastic picture, but this broad is ENGAGED! After four years and two kids, we're finally making things "official". Andy took me to a movie for our anniversary (which was the 22nd, but we celebrated on the 26th) but it wasn't a movie at all, it was our faces as babies on the big screen, then as kids, then awkward high schoolers, then together, then our kids, then he proposed! And all of our family and friends were there too, but I didn't see them before because it was dark in the theater. Gaaaahhh it was the best proposal ever, and I'm seriously the luckiest gal alive. What a shitty cliff's notes version of a really awesome thing.

Also we had sushi, and went bowling, and I drank too much sake, and I kind of love my liiiife.

So, that's what's been going on in my life. I miss blogging, and I've definitely still been playing with polish. I hope to keep this posting thing somewhat steady. How are you guys? What'd I miss?

My Son, the Artistic Genius

Ah, blogging hiatus with no foreseeable solid continuance...

Bought lots of polish/sold lots of polish. Also, my nails are ALL GONE, really. The nubbiest of nubs you could possibly imagine.

In other news, my due date is 62 days away.

In more other news, my 2 year old drew me a picture (upon my request) of me (also upon my request) and it's fabulous. Every non-mom out there is rolling her eyes right now, ha ha.

I've labelled my parts, for your convenience:

Like, I know it's a seismic mess but EYEBROWS THOUGH. Sigh!

Anyway, I miss you guys. Hope you're all well. I truly haven't turned into a "mommy blogger" (I guess I'm not any sort of blogger, at the moment) but mommy-things are just kind of at the forefront of my life, obvsss.

<3

Rainbow Honey - October 2014 Mystery Bag

Well hi!

I picked up Rainbow Honey's mystery bag this month because *mysteries* but also because I haven't gotten one in a while and I missed it. I went with the $10 mini version because *broke* and still made out like a dang bandit.

Included in this month's mini mystery bag:

Cafe Con Leche 5mL - Basically couldn't have been named anything more appropriate. Super creamy nude with gold and silver shimmer: the perfect polish for my skin tone for mannequin hands! Smooth, easy formula. 2 coats + topcoat under OttLite.

Zi 5mL - Purple jelly packed with blue, gold, magenta and silver micro glitter. It almost looks like a glass fleck, but like, a micro glass fleck, if that makes sense. A bit on the thin side color-wise, this guy built to opacity in 3 coats. The first picture is under OttLite, the second is under crappy kitchen light to show more accurate color/shimmer (both swatches are with topcoat).

All Your Base base coat 15mL - Full size! Yeah girl! I, uhhhh, very rarely wear base coat (scoff!) because of how often I change my polish, but this one apparently has pretty good reviews. I actually got the mini size of All Your Base a few months ago and HAVE used it, thank you.

L'orange Ganache nourishing lip balm .15oz - I can never have enough lip balm during the winter. This one smells like chocolate with maybe a hint of orange, but I mostly just get chocolate. And it tastes kind of sweet, which is nice, because nothing is more disappointing than a yummy smelling lip balm that tastes like nothing. :( I have it on right now, and it feels, you know, nice. My lips are happy.

Sweet November Eu de Parfum Rollerball 4mL & Shimmer Soap .5oz - I loooove sweet scents, so this couple is perfect for me. I'm glad RH includes an info card detailing the products or I would have described this scent as 'Um... sweet... there's like, vanilla and maybe, like, some caramel notes..?' Officially, Sweet November is "a warm sweet musk with notes of coconut and vanilla sugar". It makes me want to wrap up in a big, warm blanket and lay in front of a fire surrounded by Christmas lights.

Like, I HATE winter, mind, but I really love feeling cozy. This smell makes me feel very cozy.

So heck yeah, right? I'm never disappointed with these bags, especially for the price. I love how much of a variety of products are included, too. It's nice to see an October mystery thing that isn't specifically Halloween-related.

Remembrance Day

Hello, my little lovely friends.

October is, and I wasn't aware of this until two years ago, Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month with the 15th being Remembrance Day. I know today is the 17th... I'm always late to everything, okay?

Before June 27th, 2011, I didn't know what an ectopic pregnancy was. I had my very first surgery that day, the removal of my right fallopian tube, and it sort of changed the way I thought things worked. I wasn't confident, for the first time in my life, I would actually be able to conceive naturally (especially without any solid idea as to why the fertilized egg got stuck in the tube to begin with). My fears, thankfully, were completely unfounded as only four remarkably short months later I was pregnant again with my now two-year-old son.

Most days are Remembrance Day, for me, because I look at my little boy and wonder about the life that could have been, if only she would have kept moving just an inch and a half more. I think about the strange emptiness I felt in the weeks following my surgery, even though I had only been pregnant for two months, and how the whole experience altered my moral foundation -- what were my priorities before then? All I had wanted, after seeing that blue cross magically appear on the little white stick, was to be "mommy". I hadn't felt like I had a real identity before then, and suddenly I knew my place in the world, and then it was gone.

Mostly, I look at my son and I am just so freaking overwhelmed with awe that it worked out. I know all parents say this about their kids, but he is amazing. Like, amazing. And also a maniac. And I am so thankful, because it doesn't work out so brilliantly for everybody. I remember how lucky I am.

I haven't done nail art in about 6546938368 years, a lot of it having to do with my nails looking like total crap, but I figure if there was ever an occasion for it, it would be the one that changed my life. I used:

Lilypad Lacquer - Baby Boy Blue
CoverGirl - Peek-a-Boo Pink
PinkDipsyBulle - Indian Ocean

some striping tape
and a little heart guy.

Sinful Colors - Splatter Spell, Cauldron Couture and Mystery Moonshine Swatches & Reviews

Firstly, these swatches suck large amounts of horse hineys (autocorrect wants to change "hineys" to "chimneys" which, if horse chimneys were a thing, these swatches would be sucking those as well). I wouldn't even pretend to be mad if somebody told me so, either. I agree with you, friend. Such suck.

But it's what I have, soooooooooooooooo...

Found these bishes at Walgreens a couple weeks ago on an un-built display, still in their boxes. I sneakily snuck one of each out, even though I'm pretty impartial to glitter toppers. I figure for Halloween maybe I can get into it a little bit.

Bleh.

The problem with drugstore glitter toppers, I've found, is that the ratio of glitter to base is pretty weak. I mean, obvs I'm not looking for a full-coverage glitter, but as thick as these polishes were, I would have liked to have gotten a better payoff, you KNOW? I had to do some fishing for an even layer of glitter. All swatches were taken under OttLite (even though it's a beautiful day out and likely one of the last of its kind this year :/  ).


First up is Splatter Spell which is a metallic orange shard/hex and various-sized black hex glitter mix in a clear base. Shrug. I kind of wish the orange was more saturated, I guess.

Shown below is two coats plus a few dabs over Sinful Colors - Enchanted.

Cauldron Couture is similar to Splatter Spell but it's, oh you know, metallic green and black instead. There also seemed to be a much higher glitter concentration in this one, making it my favorite of the three, and I still don't really even like it that much.

Shown below is two coats plus a few dabs over Sinful Colors - Innocent.

I thought Mystery Moonshine was going to be my favorite because of the lack of black hex glitter, but this one can just go straight to heck. It was a goopy nightmare with very little glitter payoff, plus the super-thick base was tinted pinkish (though I don't know if it was intentional or because of glitter bleeding).

Shown below is two resentful coats plus countless dabs over Sinful Colors - Cool Gray.

I'm only keeping these guys because I collect Sinful Colors and they look pretty in the bottle, but I very highly doubt I'll be actually using them anytime soon. Whatever, they were $2 a pop (because somebody didn't just wait until Walgreens was having their $.99 Sinful Sale...).

Whatever, I say. Hey, Halloween isn't until, like, a month from now. I have time to find successful Halloween polishes, right?

PinkDipsyBulle Franken Polish - Queen Conch, Golden Apple, Nebula and Lady of the Lake Swatches & Reviews

GUYS HEY!

I'm 23 weeks pregnant yesterday and I can no longer bend over without grunting. So, anyway...

I actually have some swatches for you today! That is your reward for still subscribing to my junk... you get to see some stuff sometimes. Quality blogging, right there!

*Hallelujah Chorus interlude*

It's no secret that I'm a total PinkDipsyBulle fangirl, and I could not have been more excited to review some polish at the request of The Shimmer Wizard herself (which I'm going to call her from now on... sorry). If you'll recall, my first favorite indie polish ever was Indian Ocean and it continues to reign as champion of my heart; it's also the only polish in my entire (kind of pathetic, comparatively) 300-ish bottle collection that I have a backup of. That being said, my fanatic raving is completely genuine and honest.

First up is Queen Conch, a cool-toned bubblegum pink with electric blue flash. Good formula on this guy; the brushstrokes are much less apparent in person than the OttLite picture would have you believe, so don't let that deter you. The blue flash is also more flash-tastic in real life, of course.

Shown below is three thin coats with topcoat.

Sunlight

Sunlight

OttLite

Sunlight

Next stop: Golden Apple, a soft mint green with bright golden flash that seriously glows on the nail. The way this dude looks in the bottle makes me want to eat it... it looks as though maybe it would taste like the best, like, magic taffy in the universe. Can we just pretend there's any amount of sense in that? Thanks. So, uh, yeah... I've always wanted a shade like this but none that I've found that were similar (mint base/golden flash) had enough oomph, you know? Another good formula, also less brushstroke-y in reality.

Shown below is three coats with topcoat.

Sunlight

Sunlight

OttLite

Sunlight

OttLite

Now we're at Nebula, one of three recently released multichrome toppers. This guy shifts between violet to blue to teal, and has gold to green shifting glitters. Pretty much bottled divinity, if you wanted to know how I really felt.
A bit on the thicker side but not in an unreasonable way, which made for an easier application as I only needed one steady coat to achieve righteousness. If this polish doesn't make your extremities tingle even a tiny bit then I don't even know if we can be friends anymore.

Shown below is one coat with topcoat over black.

Sunlight... kinda

OttLite

OttLite

Shade

Shade

OttLite

And lastly, we have Lady of the Lake, a grape-violet jelly base with bright blue shimmer. Reminds me of Rescue Beauty Lounge - Scrangie, except with a cooler, jelly-er base. A bit less opaque than the first two, I was still able to build to opacity in three coats. Lady of the Lake is a limited edition polish (read: she's only going to make a handful so I suggest jumping all over that noise if you want it). The blue shimmer in this is effing glorious -- it almost reads as a duochrome in some lights, and it has this sparkle that is just so yes.

Shown below is three coats with topcoat.

Sunlight

Sunlight

OttLite

Shade

Sunlight

Sunlight

So, right? And she has a whole shop full of polishes like these -- here! Each goes for $6 for 10 mL and they're 3-free. She's also releasing two other limited edition polishes along with Lady of the Lake and they're also gorgeous, and that's all you get to know.

On a side note: my pinky nail snapped in half the day after I was asked to swatch these, so I kept the nail in order to glue it back on for swatch purposes, but then I lost the damned nail. So I'm wearing a false nail for the photos which is why it looks kind of bizarre compared to the rest of my nails, in case you noticed that. Poor little freak-nail. 

Well maybe I'll see you around soon, you know? I'm still buying crap-tons of polish, just not swatching them so much these days. I've been workin' from home, with two endlessly energized children and the third in my belly, making not taking naps pretty much not an option if I get the opportunity. 

Oh, by the way, he's a boy. A little boy without a name yet and he's currently kicking me just to the right of my belly button. THERE IS A SMALL HUMAN BEING LIVING INSIDE OF MY BODY. It seriously doesn't get any less freaky the second time around. Pregnancy is SO WEIRRRRDD.

I used to seriously get gaggy thinking about just having organs. A HUMAN. Anyway. Hope you're all well. I miss you. XOXOX

Orly - Just Peachy Swatch

Don't go getting used to this two-days-in-a-row crap. Der Boyfreuden is working late tonight, the kids are asleep and I only have like 20 more minutes of the finale of Top Chef Season 10 so I was all like, "Oh I know, I'll swatch this polish that I've had for-ehhh-ver".

I put up a DISO* post in a nail polish facebook group I'm part of, basically begging for Orly - Just Peachy. Remember that whole thing, like six months ago or whatever? A darling babe actually sold it to me, under the conditions that I would neither 1. resell it for any sort of profit and 2. not love it. Cool man, right?

Just Peachy is kind of a tricky polish in that it was never a part of any collection by Orly but rather manufactured without hitting the market and instead sent to discount retailers like TJ Maxx (or possibly only to TJ Maxx... I don't know that I've heard Just Peachy being spotted anywhere besides) which is d to the umb because it's freaking DANG. You've got this bright, warm pink base packed to heck with gold shimmer, right? And it's a texture polish too, which you and I both know that I am ALL about, girlfriend.

Shown below is two coats with topcoat under OttLite. I added topcoat because it brings out the color of the shimmer in photos.

Ughhh. I can't wait to use my regular watermark font again, side note. Pretty fabulous though, right? And I'm starting to really love the shape of my nails, now. Plus they're super good for scratchin'. Super happy I got my grabby-hands on this little friend without having to cut off my foot or whatever bizarre sacrifice I was willing to provide to the giver-of-the-polish.


*Desperately In Search Of, ya donk.