Impromptu Hiatus

So, I recently went from being an unemployed freelancer to joining the 3 hour round trip commute, 9-5 crowd. Is this blog dead? No, I just need time to settle in to the job and get back into the flow of things.

So, my nails have met an unfortunate demise last week and they're currently growing out. :( For now, this blog will only be updated if I do something "special" with my nails. Unless I receive a request for something in the comments below, I won't be posting any swatches. My collection can be found under the 'Stash' tab and is always kept up to date.

For those of you here for the orthoblog there will be a 6 month update for sure. I haven't forgotten about it it's just more of a hassle than I thought it would be when I set out to do monthly updates. I have the photos for each month though so if anyone wants to see those I'd be more than happy to post them if requested.

The word of the day is...

Procrastination!

I'm still here, still taking photos...just not updating. :/ By the end of this weekend I hope to have everything caught up so I can delete this boring text post.

UPDATE 8/15:
3/6 have been posted and backdated for the nail blog. More to come tomorrow.

NOTW - Boogie Nights

Base coat is nail-aid 3 Minute Artificials, 2 coats OPI Glitzerland, 1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Set the Stage, 2 coats China Glaze Medallion, top coat is Seche Vite.

NOTW - As Mist, As Vapor

"He can appear as mist, as vapor, as the fog, and he can vanish at will."

Base & topcoat Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener, 4 coats Fantasy Makers Night Glow, 1 coat China Glaze Black Mesh.

wet n wild Fantasy Makers - Night Glow

Base coat is Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener, 4 coats wet n wild Fantasy Makers Night Glow.

NOTW - Jawbreaker

After 3 days. I really should have added another coat of Matte-ly in Love.

Base and first topcoat is Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener. I used essie Waltz and Love My Nails White for the jawbreaker's 'outer shell'. For the speckled bits I used a mix of Sally Hansen Cherry Red, Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow and ORLY Kinda Cool. Final topcoat is Hard Candy Matte-ly in Love.

More photos after the jump!

NOTW - Candy Sticks

I finally picked up the entire Revlon Sweetly Seductive collection (seen below) at Rite Aid on a BOGO 50% off. I'd been eyeing it for a while and couldn't believe my luck when I saw the little sale sticker on the display!

Base and top is Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener. Each finger is between 2 and 4 coats to reach full opacity. For the striping I used essie Waltz with a photo retouching brush. (I really should have just taped it off though.) The left middle finger is 1 coat essie Waltz, 1 coat Orange Fizz, 1 coat Pineapple Fizz. The right index finger is 1 coat of Apple-tini Fizz between 2 coats Mint Fizz. 

As a side-note: they smell like fruity scratch-and-sniff stickers, nothing more - nothing less. Well aside from Colada Fizz, which smells kind of...musky. I've had this 'mani' for 4 days and can still smell them through the top coat. Obviously not not nearly as strong as day 1 without a top coat but I still catch the scent every now and then. They also haven't chipped on me yet and have a small amount of tip wear.

L-R: Watermelon Fizz, Grapefruit Fizz, Orange Fizz, Pineapple Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz, Colada Fizz, Mint Fizz, Grape Fizz

NOTW - Mermaid's Tail

Top & bottom coat is Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener. 1 coat Sally Hansen Barracuda, 1 coat Nail Savvy Aquamarine, 2 coats Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor. Ring finger is the same plus 1 coat Sinful Colors Nail Junkie to hide streaked scales thanks to Sally Hansen's nail fail art pen in white.

Numb/Burned Tongue

So I've been using Crest Pro-Health Multi-Protection Night (cetylpyridinium chloride 0.07%)  mouthwash with Crest Pro-Health Night toothpaste for a week now and I've lost all taste/sensation in the tip of my tongue. I'm also experiencing dryness and slight tongue swelling. This exact same thing happened when I used Peridex (chlorhexidine gluconate 0.12%) oral rinse after my wisdom tooth removal. Both burned the same areas of the mouth during and after rinsing.

For now I'm going to discontinue the use of just the mouthwash and wait for improvement...or gargle with it and hope it kills my gag reflex. Either way.

Day 1 - The Rocky Horror Ligature Show

Day 0 - Before Braces

ORLY - Dazzle

The Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stone 1996

If you weren't thinking it before, you are now. NGL, this is primarily why I bought ORLY 'Dazzle'. This is 3 coats with 1 coat ORLY Top2Bottom as the base and top coat. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hop in my DeLorean and travel back to the mid-90's to tell my 12 year old self how "rad" nail polish is in the future.

Well Hello!

No, no wait don't run off! I know, it says that this a photoblog up there...at the top, and it is! In the future, if there's a wall of text (like this) it'll be behind the jump. Each section will also have the appropriate tags so you can get to what you want easily.

Adult Orthodontics: So, this blog came about because I wasn't happy with the lack of photographic documentation of adults in braces. I'll be getting braces on (for the second time in my life) on the 20th of June  this Friday and will have them for approximately 2 years. In that time, my goal is to let the photos do the talking for themselves. I'll post short, to the point snippets about measurements, appliances/bands, setbacks, tips & tricks, etc. I may do a couple of vlogs, I may not.

Nail Polish: I've been buying and collecting polish for around 16 years. Some of them I still own and use. "The horror!" I know. I'm fairly picky about buying new polish and it's generally something with glitter that makes it into the collection. There's an abundance of lacquer blogs, I know; this section will likely only get updated if I change my polish or buy something new.

Yoga: I generally haven't found any (trustworthy) before and afters for yoga toning/weight loss/posture correction. I may or may not document this, it's still up in the air. I did yoga and piyo for a little over a month, 6 days a week and "trimmed down and toned up" considerably compared to cardio and weights at the gym. During that time I was also doing beginning ballet and indoor rock climbing 1-3 times a week.

Now that that's out of the way, welcome to my blog!