Deborah Lippman's Spring/Summer 2011 Collection- OMG YES!!!

I had a disturbing realization today. For my entire life, I have spent summers inside, quietly seething that summer was so infernally hot. I don't like hot weather, I don't like being outside with the bugs and the humidity, I just don't like summer at all. My hair frizzes, I sweat and smell funky after just a bit of being outside. Louisiana summers can get over 100° f with 100% humidity. At that point, the air feels like a hot wet sponge smacking you in the face when you step outside.

However, this year seems to be a bit different. Instead of stepping outside into 85° weather and complaining, I seem to be enjoying it this time. I'm wearing sundresses and tank tops, and for once, I feel kind of happy to be in the warm sunshine! It's weird.

Ah well, I'm not complaining! I'm also not complaining about all the summer collections coming out! I am absolutely DYING to get my hands on the Deborah Lippman Spring & Summer 2011 shades. These polishes look downright juicy!

Lara's Theme is such an incredible, warm, wearable-looking orange. I am dying to try it on! It's described as "a dare to wear shade of hot-hot orange," and is Deborah Lippmann's latest celebrity shade. Honestly, what else could you possibly want in an orange polish?


I Know What Boys Like is a deep, slightly muted blue. The press release says about this one, "A creamy periwinkle that credits to both the 80’s and my clients. Several of my clients have asked for interesting blues. This one is a blend of blue and purple with a creamy finish, which gives it a slightly retro look that is so playful and hip." Will I be able to wear this one? I don't know, but I'm certainly going to try!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun looks very similar to Lara's Theme in the photos, so I'm interested in seeing just how similar they really are in reality. This one is described as "a smooth, vintage coral that everyone can wear because it’s bold yet velvety – a sort of carefree, creamy coral." Hello, I'm DYING here...


Finally, Yellow Brick Road blows my mind! It's a yellow jelly!! How on earth... no, I'll wait. I have to see this one on myself! It's described as "a sheer mellow yellow with a jelly finish. The proof that it wears beautifully on all skin tones: it complements me and Lady GaGa, who wore it first for her “Born This Way” performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards."

This definitely fills my mind with thoughts of hot sandy beaches, of gulf waves washing over my toes while we laugh and walk... of summer, of family, of peaceful happiness. This is a set I want.

Also? GIVEAWAY- it's ending in just a few days, so you're running out of time!! GO ENTER ALREADY!!

Base images were provided by the product's PR firm for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Weird Wedding Nails & a Giveaway Reminder!!

Lovely (?) nails celebrating the royal wedding.
Image courtesy of Beautylish.com. 

I get some strange email sometimes. Last night, I was flipping through emails and I saw one from Beautylish showcasing three fun looks for the upcoming royal nuptials. One was a sweet nude nail with a ring finger inspired by Kate's engagement ring. Next was an absolutely gorgeous butter London shade named No More Waity, Katie, and let me tell you I'm loving the looks of that one!

The third one, though... I'm just not sure about this one. Someone decided to combine two exciting trends: they took the royal engagement photo and had it printed onto nail decals. Now, maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure about this. I don't even know them! Maybe I'm just too old to understand this craze. I can understand doing nails in her wedding colors (if they're known), or perhaps using things inspired by the couple themselves.

However, I just can't quite accept the idea of having some couple I don't even know hanging out on my fingernails! What's next, the queen mum in one of her cute little hats? Maybe the royal pets? I'm just too stodgy, I suppose, but I think I'll just pass on this one.

However, if you'd like to own a fun bit of history, you can buy your very own royal wedding nails here! With luck, you'll get a giggle out of it too!

Also, if you haven't joined my giveaway, you'd best get to registering, because there's only a few days left! You can't win if you don't register, and if you don't register, you're missing out on a chance for some fun stuff!

Til next time!

I want a personal air-conditioned bubble around me for summer!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Kiss Your Way to the Dress of Your Dreams!

Enter Kiss Bridal Sweepstakes to Win a $3,000 Wedding Dress

 

Summer brides listen up!  Here’s your chance to win the wedding dress of your dreams valued up to $3,000 simply by entering the Kiss Bridal Sweepstakes via www.kissua.com.


Kiss Products, the leader in artificial nail technology, has created new bridal inspired nails that give a perfect French manicure for the wedding, and throughout the honeymoon.  For a subtle hint of pearly shimmer, brides say I do to the Everlasting French Pearl Nails, and for those wanting a minimal design, then the French Design Nail Kits come in 3 different designs.

Complement any wedding dress with the new Everlasting French Pearl Nail Kit ($5.99) or the Everlasting French Design Nail Kits ($6.99)
available at Walmart and Walgreens stores nationwide.

The Prize

The winner of the Kiss Bridal Sweepstakes will receive a gift certificate to their nearest participating wedding retailer to use towards a wedding dress of their choice, valued up to $3,000.


Prize value will vary depending on the particular dress selected by the winner. Alterations and accessories not included. Prize is not redeemable for cash or transferable; and no substitutions are allowed except at the discretion of the Sponsor, who may substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Certificates for prizes must be redeemed within 120 days of notification that the entrant has won the monthly sweepstakes.

* Offer ends June 30th 2011.

How to Enter

Visit http://www.kissusa.com/649/PROMOTION, then click to enter. You'll be taken to a short form where you can enter your information, and then you're good to go! Also, while you're there, why not sign up for their future promotions- Kiss and Broadway are always giving goodies away, and there's nothing more fun than opening up your mailbox to find a package filled with fun stuff!


Good luck!

Information and images were provided by Kiss.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Pink Sparkles make me smile!

Wow. I am utterly exhausted, you guys. I did a photo shoot on Wednesday and ended up taking 2000 pictures of the girl, and even though it was lots of fun, it TOTALLY wore me out. I did get a few shots of my nails, though! ;)

I sat down looking for something in particular. I feel guilty for passing up things in the review box, but sometimes you have to feed your soul first! I wanted deep pink color with super sparkle, and BOY did I get it! I went with layering, using my standby perfect pink topped with a super glass fleck that is absolutely stunning!

I was so happy, because in the sunlight this was absolutely gorgeous. I loved catching the happy pink on my nails every time I glanced down. It absolutely made my day!

Unfortunately it didn't wear terribly well. Two days later I had chips and massive tipwear. I'm unsure whether I should be wearing a base coat over the Qtica Nail Growth Accelerator, but this makes me think I should be. I don't know... anyone have thoughts about this?

Also, if you haven't signed up for my giveaway, what are you waiting for? Go sign up!

I never liked pink. I wonder what changed?

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Blast from the Past...I'm in the mood for a bit of Heaven!

I love this polish, it totally helps cheer me up! I
need a backup of it!!

Have you ever had one of those days when you're just moody as heck for no real reason¹, and every time someone speaks to you, you either want to scream at them or curl up and cry? Yea, me too, only mine seems to be one of those weeks. Very frustrating!

I'm taking a new medication for my fibro, and unfortunately it's got a list of side effects that's pretty unnerving: simple ones like blurred vision, dry mouth, weight gain, and drowsiness; and more upsetting ones like back and forth eye movements, chest pain, fainting, loss of coordination, memory loss, speech changes, twitching, and worst of all- "new or worsening mental or mood changes (eg, depression, agitation, anxiety, panic attacks, aggressiveness, impulsiveness, irritability, hostility, exaggerated feeling of well-being, restlessness, inability to sit still)."²

Now, normally I wouldn't be too concerned about this. There's just one little thing... I took another drug that's very similar to this one and ended up having extremely bad "mood changes." I won't go into it, but let's just say the doctor got me off of it really quickly after we explained what happened. Knowing that, my doctor and I discussed whether I should even try this drug, and we're in the process of slowly building up to a theraputic dosage of this drug. Right now, I'm taking the dose they'd give an unwell 80 year old woman. My doctor said that I won't notice positive results yet, but hopefully if I do react badly, it won't be nearly as bad as before.

Unfortunately (it seems I'm saying that a lot in this entry... ah well...) my doctor left the clinic two months ago. My last visit was with the nurse practitioner (whom I absolutely adore), and Monday I'll get to meet my new doctor. I'm a bit anxious about this, bu I'm optimistic, and if it doesn't go well, I still have options. I'm just afraid I won't be taking this medicine any longer, and I really was hoping it would work well for me.

That's a heck of a long introduction to explain why I'm in the mood for happy things!! However, between overdoing it on our little vacation the last couple of weekends and this new medicine, I'm one grumpy camper. I'm working very hard not to snap at the people around me and not to be a total pain in the butt. To help with this, I'm finding myself doing little things to cheer myself up.

For example, I am writing this blog wearing my pink penguin pajamas, with the absolutely adorable patch on the shirt that has a sweet little penguin dressed in a lime green scarf and hat and absolutely covered in green microglitter! The glitter doesn't even come off, it's mixed into a clearcoat, so it's not scratchy or anything! I love these PJs more than I should, probably, considering I'm a thirty-something mom!

Also, I've been experimenting with nail colors. I've been a bad blogger and not taken photos, but you'll have to forgive me. With the fibro acting up, I've had a hard time carrying the camera, much less dealing with Photoshop. You'll have to make do with photos from the archive and vivid descriptions, sorry!

Two days ago I painted my nails again. I was in the mood to experiment, so I started with Sally Hansen Salon Reddy to Mingle. It's a sheerish red with a very slight shimmer that's really intense, and slightly on the warm side. Absolutely gorgeous, and one coat did all I needed. I decided I wanted to warm it up even more, so I added a coat of Sinful Colors Let's Meet, a sheer shimmery yellow that I absolutely adore. Between the two, my nails were a very nice slightly streaky orange that I really liked. I wanted to up the sparkle factor, though, so I added a coat of Revlon Glimmer Gloss in Grapefruit Glimmer.

The final result was a gorgeous reddish-orange with super sparkle. I don't think I could have gotten any more sparkle without adding glitter! I liked the way the color was built up of sheer colors, because it wasn't that flat opaque look you sometimes get. There's nothing wrong with that, but this was interesting, and you should know by now how much I like interesting!!

Today has been a busy day, and I managed to twist my knee while I was out and about. I'm icing it now, and I decided I wanted a bit more ... more. So, I dug deep into the polish vault and dug out one of my all-time favorites- Ruby, by Heaven Nail Lacquer. I started with a base of Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff Nail Coor in Red Forever Creme. This polish is super-old, I don't even remember when I bought it! However, it's still a fantastic polish, and one coat is all I need. I topped that with two coats of Ruby, and oh my goodness, does this sparkle. This is definitely doing the trick, although I've got all sorts of other ideas now for glitter polishes.

And of course, I topped them off both times with Seche Vite. I'm starting to twitch, because I'm almost out! Looks like I really need to get those Etsy listings up! C'mon brain, you can do it!!

So, that's my day, and my nails for the next few days. Let's hope my mood improves, so I don't have to tell my new doctor on Monday that this medicine is making me do all sorts of awful things. Cross your fingers for me, ok?

¹ I don't even get PMS anymore, so I can't blame that!

² Side effects copied from http://www.drugs.com

³ This was well before my polish obsession, back when I didn't know how to properly clean up my nails, or how to use cuticle remover. And I wondered why I had trouble keeping my polish on!

Trying new medication sucks. I don't recommend it.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Crafty Things To Keep My Brain Happy!

When I first made this blog, I thought for a long time about what to call it. I love nail polish, and at the time that's what I was focused on, 100%. However, I also wanted to leave room to write about other things I love, so I wanted the name to be flexible. I decided Layniefingers was perfect, because not only would it cover what was on my fingers, it also covered things I've made with my fingers. I haven't done a crafty post in a while, so I'll just share a few pictures of things I've been working on lately.

First, the crochet. I'd talked about the blanket I was making for a friend- I've finished it and am now working on a second one. I love the way it turned out. I giggled the entire time I was stitching the little face onto the hood. It's just so sweet, and I can envision a baby wrapped in it... a toddler throwing the hood over her head and running through the house at full toddler speed... or that same toddler clutching it close as she drifts off to sleep.

I'm hoping this one turns out to be the child's favorite, and it could even be passed down to her own kids, many years from now. Keep in mind, you can click the pictures to make them larger.

The next blanket I'm working on is a simple granny square blanket in alternating colors. Pretty, soft, and fluffy- how can you go wrong? :D

I've also done some amigurumi¹  recently. I'd bought this yarn simply because I loved the colors, but I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it. I thought about knitting something, but I don't really know how to knit. Also, it's Red Heart yarn, and that stuff is super rough. I wouldn't want to wear it anywhere close to my skin.

But toys? It's perfect for this! First is the little girl figure I made. At first I didn't know what I was making, really... only that I was making it. I didn't use a pattern, I just sort of made it up as I went along, taking a few notes to help the arms and legs match up.

Once I got to the hair, I realized this was a girl. She's got a punky mohawk, and it can be styled in several ways. I rooted each individual strand of hair so that I could decide how I wanted it styled. Then I spent about an hour playing with the hair, pushing it to one side or the other, making tiny updos or funky mohawks. Seriously, even I was stunned at how long I played with this thing!

I set out to make another one, only with longer legs and arms. Only, as I was crocheting the first leg, it didn't want to be a leg. No, it was very clear- it wanted to be an octopus.² Who am I to argue with an inanimate object? So, an octopus it was...

I haven't named either of these, and I still haven't come up with an idea of what to do with them. I suppose there's always Esty...


I've also been making jewelry off and on. While we were at my friend's house the last two weekends, I made some necklaces for her. First off, I wore a wire-wrapped pendant I'd made on a leather cord. She took that one and had me shorten it for her!³ It's fun to see someone so excited to wear something that they take it from your hands and immediately put it on!
 

 

So yea, that's been my last few weeks. Every time I tried to paint my nails, it was a disaster, but I was able to make a few goodies. Go fibro, yea? :D

So tell me, what have you been doing the last few weeks? Do you have any hobbies you really enjoy? Share with me!

¹ Amigurumi is Japanese for "knitted stuffed toy." I don't know why people called crocheted toys amigurumi, but hey, I didn't make the name up. I just make the stuff!

² Seriously. What do you do when your yarn starts telling you what to do? I wasn't up for fighting my yarn, so I said sure, why not... and made an octopus. I didn't want to wake up with a mouth full of yarn, suffocating because I didn't listen!
³ Not really. I told her it was for her, and she didn't want to take it because I was wearing it to see if it was comfortable or not. Still, she did take it off my neck and have me resize the cord for her!

 

What I wouldn't give for an evil monkey sidekick...

See my disclosure statement for more information.

It's Giveaway Time!! **ENDED**

Hiya!! This is a very quick post to let you know I'm holding a giveaway! The fine folks at Kiss have once again sponsored a sweet giveaway for my readers, and I'm super excited to share with all of you!

Kiss has recently released a selection of nail art products that I am absolutely in LOVE with! First off, there's sweet collection of nail art stripers that come with tip guides so that you can make your own French tips! There are several combinations, so I'm not sure which one you'll get.

I got a set that had blue, lavender and bright pink. I wouldn't call them pastels, because their colors are too saturated. In fact, the pink is so intensely bright that it would probably be suitable for a certain fashion doll known and loved by all.  I played around with them and they are so wonderfully saturated that one single stroke gives you perfect full color. They also dry quickly, which is a nice little bonus!

The set of three polishes not only includes tip guides, it also comes with a sheet of adhesive rhinestones! I love these because they're the perfect size, and very sparkly. They're a wonderful addition to any french tip. You'll receive one package of three nail art paints with 2 types of tip guides and one sheet of adhesive-backed rhinestones.

Then there are the nail art pens. Now, don't get me wrong, I've used quite a few nail art pens. I love different pens for different purposes. These pens, though, may just be my favorites! They have such a fine point that you can easily write whatever you like with them and have it be readable. I LOVE these pens! You'll receive one package of two nail art pens, either the black and white or the pink and silver.

You'll also receive a package of the new flat nail stickers. I love these... they're so pretty, and they're super easy to use. They're also very detailed, so it looks as if you've had your nails airbrushed at the salon! You'll receive one package with three sheets of stickers.

Finally, and perhaps my favorite, you'll receive one package of Broadway Nail Dress stickers. Oh my goodness, can I even begin to tell you how much I love these things? They are very easy to use, and they look like you've just been to the salon! I wore mine for three days with absolutely no lifting or chipping, and they removed easily with nail polish remover.

So, how do you win this kickass package? Easy. First, you need to be a GFC follower of mine. You should  also leave your email address, so that I can know how to contact you. That gets you an entry into the giveaway.

However, you can get additional entries. If you "like" Kiss and Broadway on their facebook pages, you'll get an additional two entries. Following Kiss and Broadway on twitter will also give you 2 entries. Following me on Twitter earns you an additional entry, as does friending me on Facebook. Tweeting about my giveaway will earn you an additional entry, as will blogging about it (or putting it into your sidebar- I'm not too picky!). And finally, if you're a frequent commenter on the blog, I'll give you an extra entry. I'm lenient, so you don't have to add that on the entry form.

Also, be aware that yes, I actually do doublecheck to see that you've done everything you say you've done. If I see you've said you did something you didn't actually do, you will be disqualified. Also, I'll frown at you sternly and you may not get dessert with your dinner. Seriously, it's annoying. Don't do it.

So- that's lots of entries for this sweet package! You've got until April 30, 2011 to enter- if it's still April somewhere in the world, then the entry form will be available.  What are you waiting for? Enter already!!

Sorry, the giveaway has ended.

This giveaway was sponsored by Kiss and Broadway.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Vacation!!

Wow! I'm such a slacker... My husband and I had a bit of an impromptu vacation come up. We were only planning to spend the day, but we ended up spending several days with my best friend from college. It was her birthday week! (I know, not just her birthday but the whole week!) What was going to be an afternoon turned into something entirely different!

I know, I know... I'm surprised I'm showing this photo because
of how awful I look in it. But isn't that the sweetest puppy ever?

We started out visiting, just catching up on old times. We hadn't been able to get together in over 2 years due to money, schedule, etc. Turns out a lot can happen in 2 years! Her kids... omg, they're such adorable little guys, and they're WAY too smart for their own good! And her dog... I have no words. That dog was glued to me for at least 75% of the time we were there. He's a lab mix, and is the most gentle affectionate dog I think I've ever met! We spent most of our time like this:

Matty has perfected the "poor widdle me" look.

He's such a demanding guy, too! If I stopped petting him, he'd start making the petting motion with his paw, as if to say, "Hey, petting lady, you stopped with the petting! Here, you do it like this!" If I didn't start up again, he'd slowly sit up and turn to look at me, giving me this face.

Honestly, how could you deny that face?? He's so gentle and loving, and he didn't cover my face in kisses which was a good thing. Other than the occasional little lick on the hand, he just wanted to snuggle, which was fine by me!

I know, I'm talking too much about the dog. But come on, can you blame me? We did more than just hang out with Matty, too!

I love sharing!

Since it was my friend's birthday, I brought my polish with me. Yes, almost all of it... it took 4 boxes to manage it, too! I let her dig through and pick, and boy did she pick some good ones! I had some small empty bottles too, so polishes I wasn't willing to completely part with I decanted for her. Can I just say she fell in total love with the BPAL polishes?

We also got to go out to dinner with more friends I haven't seen in years, as well as making new friends! Then we got wild and went to a casino in Biloxi! It was fun stopping at the beach to take pictures. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera with us, so they're on other people's computers. Still, it was wonderful!

All in all, this was a fantastic vacation that I got to spend with some of my best friends in the whole world. I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I had so much fun, and I hope we helped make my friend's birthday a great one.