Pop Culture Giveaway! Day 1

Ok, so I mentioned it on my Twitter and on the Facebook page, and though slightly more delayed than I'd hoped, this is the start of my celebration of having 7,000 awesome reasons why I blog!

Now, I'm not sure if it is my background as a graphic designer, or my weird notice of insignificant details, but I have a weird habit/skill of being able to recognize (and sometimes match) things from TV shows, movies, and album covers. Things like wallpaper, or pillows, or knick knacks. I've had the idea for this contest/giveaway in my head for months, just waiting for the right moment to employ it. Today is that day.

To explain:

There will be five (5) different opportunities to enter. Each photo will be something from a movie, TV show, or album cover, sometimes something obvious, sometimes something less so. I will give 2 hints to help figure out what it is from. If the first 24 hours have passed with little response, I'll give 2 additional hints.

There will be one prize per photo, you can choose between the prize determined for the day or you can choose it's equivalent in Indian cosmetics (you can choose nail polish or other cosmetics). Bear in mind, if you choose Indian cosmetics/polish, it will be over 1 month until you receive your prize. Also, this will be open to international readers, so if there is a cosmetics site in your country that you'd rather the prize be from, let me know, and I'll try to work something out if you win.

There will be a 48-hour period to enter for each photo, and only correct answers qualify. (sorry!) Entries from the Rafflecopter widget below will be the only ones accepted, the comments for these posts are closed.

OK, I think that's it. On to the first photo!

The hints:

1. This design is a wallpaper pattern on two different shows, one on CBS, the other on Showtime.

2. Both shows star a sarcastic female lead.

If you can name both shows, enter the name of one in the Rafflecopter field, and send the other to thedailynailcontest@gmail.com, but be sure to mark that you've done so on the Rafflecopter widget, or it will not count.  You have 48 hours- GO!

Ace of Spades

So if you're a big Kate Spade nerd like me, you got an email last Tuesday with the pattern of the month for April. If not–you missed out, kid!  One of the things I love the most about Kate Spade bags and accessories is the amazing use of color, and the super fun patterns! My favorite Kate Spade bag that I've ever purchased is the Maeda bag in Pacific Blue- it looks super retro, and it's pretty much the exact color of a Pan Am stewardess bag! I was on the fence about it, because it was a tad more than I wanted to spend, but I'm so glad I ended up buying it!!  Anyway, the pattern of the month for April is a fun and swishy robin's egg blue over white/ivory, and I think it's totally adorable. :)

I decided to do my interpretation of the newest Kate Spade pattern on my nails to usher in Spring (although Spring was officially skipped here in Chennai, and it was pretty much summer in February). This pattern was created by Australian artist Florence Broadhurst.

To get an idea of the pattern, here's a bag with it:  Florence Broadhurst Fingers Bon Shopper.

And now, here's the nails! :)

Hey look!  It's my favorite Maeda bag! :) (the handles, at least)

I used Lakme Color Crush 08 (white) as a base, with American Apparel The Valley for the design. I topped it all off with two coats of Seche Vite top coat. :)

Are you a fan of handbags? Who makes your favorite? Do you have an all-time favorite bag purchase like me?

You Lie Like a Rug!

Hey there, kids! Despite the rather unhappy sounding name of this post, I’ve got a fun design for you–at least I think so!

When I’m uninspired, tired, or just plain lazy, I tend to turn to textiles for inspiration and ideas. In fact, this design came from a rug that I found online. I LOVED the color combination, and it looked retro to me, which I can rarely resist, so I added it to my inspiration archive, knowing that it would soon make it onto my nails. :)

It’s kind of funny to me how the designs that seem like they’d be relatively straightforward and simple, easy even, take the longest time to paint. I guess when a design is simple, you notice flaws easier, so you have to do your best to make sure it’s as neatly done as possible. Who would’ve thought that concentric circles would take so long to do?! Lol The changing colors added time too, but man! When I was painting, I was like a 6-year-old in the backseat of the car on a long road trip…is it DONNNNNEEE YETTT?! I rushed the end a bit, and I think you can kinda tell, but Homer was dancing around (he was very bouncy last night) to go outside to play, and I reaaaally wanted to go to bed. :) (After I finished watching Mean Girls for the 1,000,000th time, of course–don’t judge me!)

Anyway, now you know why the post is named so negatively, because of the inspiration, so now we must go on to the actual NAILS! :)

I used MAC Rich Dark Delicious as a base, with (starting from the center of the circles) American Apparel The Valley, American Apparel Lopez Canyon, Barielle Aura Angora, American Apparel Trenchcoat and American Apparel Cotton mixed, Essie Very Structured, Zoya Tamsen, American Apparel Army Jacket, and Barielle U Concrete Me. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Where do you get your inspiration from when you're feeling uninspired?!

Creme of the Crop?

I can only stomach about one regular sized one per year, or a few of the mini ones, but I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs. I love the chocolate, I love the gooey inside. YUMMMM!  I wish they were sold here! Unfortunately, they're not, so I decided to do an homage to them on my nails for Easter. :) I must confess though, this wasn't the original design. I started out with a manicure that featured a variety of delicious Easter candy treats. When I finished that manicure, the only nail I really loved was the middle finger- the opened creme egg, so I decided to redo the rest of the nails!

Here is the final design:

and the original design:

For the final design, I used:

Thumb: The egg!

Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, shaded with a mix of Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme and American Apparel Hassid, and highlighted with a mixture of Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, American Apparel Cotton, and CND Bicycle Yellow.

Middle: Opened Cadbury Creme Egg!

American Apparel Cotton as a base for the filling, with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme over it for the chocolate shell. For the 'yolk', I used American Apparel Manila. To shade, I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme mixed with American Apparel Hassid, and to highlight, I mixed Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme with American Apparel Cotton.

Index, Ring & Pinky: The foil wrapper!

Zoya Trixie as a base, with China Glaze First Mate for the Blue, CND Bicycle Yellow for the yellow, and American Apparel Downtown LA for the red. For the white, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White on!

For the original design, I used:

Thumb: Easter basket with Peeps Bunnies

American Apparel The Valley as a base, with CND Bicycle Yellow for the bunnies, shaded with Zoya Jancyn. For the basket, I used Color Club Yum Gum, shaded with OPI Do You Think I'm Texy, and American Apparel Crescent Heights and Nubar Forest for the grass.

Index: Creepy closeup of chocolate bunny eye

Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme as a base, mixed with American Apparel Cotton to highlight and American Apparel Hassid to shade. For the eye, I used ORLY Lemonade shaded with Zoya Jancyn and Zoya Robyn for the pupil. I also used Essie Matte About You over the eye since they're that crunch sugar royal icing type candy.

Middle: Opened Cadbury Creme Egg

American Apparel Cotton as a base for the filling, with Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme over it for the chocolate shell. For the 'yolk', I used American Apparel Manila. To shade, I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme mixed with American Apparel Hassid, and to highlight, I mixed Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme with American Apparel Cotton.

Ring: Cadbury Mini Eggs- MY ONE TRUE LOVE.

ORLY Lemonade as a base, lightly sponged with a mix of acetone and Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, then topped with Essie Matte About You to get that matte candy shell look.

Pinky: Jellybean

OPI Do You Think I'm Texy as a base, with American Apparel Port to shade and sponged lightly to create the spots. Highlighted with a mix of OPI Do You Think I'm Texy and American Apparel Cotton.



In case you're wondering what is all over my hands, it's mehendi! (or mehndi, depending who you ask)

Here are the pictures of it! These pictures were taken when it still wasn't at its darkest- on my palms it was so dark it was nearly black in places!

Oh, and have you guys seen/heard of this?

The Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted?!?!  WHAAAAAAAT?!  Can someone send me this? Please?  

Cadbury, are you listening?!

Ok, enough candy/chocolate p o r n for tonight.  Happy Easter! 

Shut Yer Pie-Hole Tutorial! and POLL for Tutorials!!

As promised (though a couple of days late), here is the tutorial for my Shut Yer Pie-Hole! design. Because of YouTube time restraints, I had to break it into two videos.





I finally got a 'rig' figured out to be able to film easier, I made it out of a snack can (a metal can slightly smaller than a coffee can) with a slot cut through it for a ruler, a plastic ruler to create an arm for the camera, 2 rocks to counterbalance the camera, a piece of masking tape, 2 bendy led lamps, and for the camera? My iPhone. Shoots HD, and is way better than my actual camera for video. I'll post a picture of it later today. :-P It's pretty amusing.

Anyway. Because of that, I hope to start doing some more tutorials, because I get a lot of requests, and because I want to try to branch out a little. This leads me to the following...if I DID start doing tutorials, what would you like to see? I'd like to stick to my own designs at first, but feel free to enter what you want to see in the box below. Keep in mind the spirit of the blog when you enter your requests- I likely won't do Hello Kitty nails or flowery pink shit, or stuff other bloggers kick ass at already - things like Water Marbling, sponging, and french manicures (there may be exceptions to this at some point, who knows). They do them way better than I can, and the internet is saturated with those tutorials already.

Any information you give on either question will only serve to make this blog a better place, so please don't hesitate to be 100% honest. :)

XO

-M

I Painted my Nails!

So after last post's rambling, I knew I had to make up for it with some cool nail art. One of the hardest things about doing my 365-day project was having to remove a design that I reallllly liked in order to paint another one each day. In addition to that, I was not allowed to repeat a design, so I coudn't redo some of my favorites unless it was done on my toes. So because of that, I decided to paint my nails in some of my favorite designs over the last coupla years!! (I hope you don't mind!)  I think I might do a series of these, just to get it out of my system. What do you think?

From left to right: La La La La La La La La La La Laaaa!,  Whats the Mod-der?, Between a Rockabilly and a Hard Place, Bacon is Great!, and iNails. :)

Hope you like them!!

:-D  April Fools!

It's My LIIIIIIIFFFFFEE!

Hey all!

So this post is less crazy nail art, and more chat. It's been a busy week! This past weekend, our friends Rose and Jason came to visit from the US, and brought us some much-needed goodies. I got 2 BIG bottles of pure acetone (a godsend!!), a set of the Sephora for OPI Bohemian Brights minis (awesome!!), and the pièce de résistance—all the fixings to make a real, genuine Starbucks Caramel Macchiato. Seriously one of the best surprises ever!! (I've had one every single day this week!) I'm talking the Starbucks Expresso Roast, the Vanilla Syrup, the caramel, even the Starbucks CUPS! All I supply is the milk! :)

They even brought a battery-powered milk frother from IKEA and an Aeropress- this awesome french press that utilizes air to force the coffee THROUGH the paper filter and into the cup. Amazing. Gifts aside, I'm glad they're here. Although this is my first time meeting them, it's been nice to have some familiar faces around, not to mention, they're superfun and hilarious at Draw Something!! (as evidenced below)

Having them around has given us the opportunity to get out and do some of the stuff that we have yet to do, as well as some stuff that we do regularly. (like ride in Autos- which was hilarious to see their reaction) Rose and I bought fabric to be made into Kurtas and Saris (or sarees, depending who you ask), I had my first tailor experience, and just walking around the city has been fun! This weekend, there are hopes to go to Mahabalipuram or Pondicherry, and also get some Mendhi (or mahendi) done. (Rose is a tattoo artist, and has half sleeves already, so I think its going to look super rad on her.) During the week, Rose and Jason went to Kerala, and got to ride and get blessed by an elephant—which is high atop Chris and I's list to do next! :-P Sunday night, after the tailor left, we all had dinner and hung out with our friend Sheba- and us girls decided to do manicures! The thing that spurred us to do it was that Rose mentioned a super sweet tutorial her brother told her had seen on tie-dyeing your nails- known to us Nail Nerds as Water Marbling. I insisted that it was easy, and we decided to do it. Sheba went first, and chose Zoya Trixie, Zoya Indigo, and American Apparel Mount Royal. Rose went next, choosing American Apparel Cotton, Finger Paints Cordur-Orange, and Finger Paints Catwalk Queen.

Here is the result:

The colors they chose ended up looking like they represented Night and Day! :) This was Sheba's first time getting nail art (she never even paints her nails), so I was really excited that she let me do it. She seemed pretty excited about it when she left, too! :D Made my night!
The next adventure happened last night.

I was just sitting down to do this simple design- a copy of the nails Effie Trinket sports at the Reaping in the Hunger Games movie.

 Then I get called to the back porch by Chris... I figured he was going to show me another lizard (he loves the damn things, so do I), but when I got to the door, he posed the question 'How do you propose I kill this?'. I looked up, and THIS is what I saw...

You can SEE the fur on its legs from HERE!! (also, see the mosquito for size reference)

Mind you, this picture does no justice, as there is nothing to judge it's scale (except the mosquito I suppose), but trust me, I'm not afraid of spiders, and I wanted to scream like a little girl. This thing was HUGE—its legspan was easily a few inches across, and you could see the fur from the step (the spider was right above our heads). We had no idea if it was poisonous, and Chris decided not to wait to find out- he didn't want it to fall on us or Homer and cause any damage. I suggested bug spray, since it had a straw that would concentrate the spray to a precise location. (I also suggested a lighter in addition to it, but that's another story–torch the sucker!!) As soon as the spray hit it, it dropped (luckily on the ground) and started running away like a crab! It was SO fast, and the hilarity of Chris running after it spraying will not soon leave my memory banks. After a minute of spraying (and about half a bottle of spray- the damn thing wouldn't DIE!), this is what it looked like- with a quarter for comparison:

Ick.

After some research, I feel confident in saying that it is just a Hunstman spider- relatively harmless. Eats geckos, skinks, cockroches, and other pests. Leaves a painful bite on humans, but not deadly.  I feel a little guilty that Chris killed it, but I respect that he didn't want to take a chance this time since we don't know the spiders here yet.
 
So yeah, that's my some of my life recently! In the next day or so, I'll be posting a tutorial for my 'Shut Yer Pie-Hole!' nails, and a poll to to mention and vote on which tutorials you'd like to see. :)