Birthday LOTD and Nail Art

Today's post does not feature a review (at least not in the standard sense). It's just me showing off :) My birthday was a little more than a week ago, and to celebrate, my two best friends (both male) and I road-tripped up to the Mall of America- about a three hour drive from home. I was privledged enough, while shopping with two men, to walk through the doors of Sephora for the very first time! Sadly, I did not purchase anything, as I was absolutely terrified! Of the selection, of the price tags (!), and of the 30 people working in a store the size of a slighty larger than average gas station. 

While I drooled over amazing brush sets, Kat Von D color palettes and Nars Orgasm (which I really wish that I HAD purchased!), the boys were very sweet and patient with me. Zach called my attention to many things he though I would enjoy. And Dane discovered the polish bar! When I said today's post didn't feature a review, I meant by me :) While I, very unfortunately, did not manage to capture any photos, I do have a few quick man-thoughts on some higher-end blue polishes. 

Julep Marisa and Nails Inc Primrose Park both earned a spot on one of his fingers, but he really didn't have anything to say about them one way or the other. 

Illamasqua Serenity (with the rubber finish) "dried funny. Isn't is supposed to be shiny?" 

Nails Inc Connaught Square (3D glitter) "Horrible! All the glitter was on one side of my finger, and then nothing on the other side!"

And finally, Nails Inc The Strand (star magnetic): "Really pretty, very cool. Even though I couldn't get the magnetic to work. You should have gotten that one."

So there you have a quick man-review of the blue polishes available at Sephora. 

Now onto the meat of this post: my nail art and makeup look for the day! If you follow me, you know that I'm not really into nail art. I'm bad at it, and it's time consuming. This mani took me three and a half hours! But I'm SO proud of the finished result that I had to show off :) All nails, and the makeup look, were inspired by things I found on Pinterest. I will link back to them when possible.

Left hand (featuring my favorite shirt, and the inspiration behind my black/grey/white mani)

Right hand

Polished used:

Sinful Colors Snow Me White

Sinful Colors Black on Black

a franken mix grey- equal parts black and white

Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

Shimmer Polish Vanessa

Darling Diva Polish Diabla

Once Upon a Polish Scuttle

Left hand photo that actually includes my thumb. I used striping tape (for the first time!) to create most of these designs, plus dotting tools on my left thumb and both index fingers. If you want a full "how I did it" explanation, let me know and I'll post it! But for now, I'll just go through a few of the nails I was most happy with.

Left index: Base coat of Snow Me White. I used striping tape to section off the square in the middle and painted it with the grey franken. Once that was dry, I dotted on the black X. It seemed a bit bare, so I freehanded on the red on the sides. Bad idea. I had to go back with more tape and repaint the red. Overall: I love the argyle! Inspired by Topcoat It's Argyle Mani (I didn't follow the tutorial though!)

For the peekaboo glitter, I painted the whole nail with two coats of Shimmer Polish Vanessa. When it was dry, I randomly placed my tape and covered the whole thing with black. Inspired by this beauty from Madame Luck.

This one didn't end up anywhere near its inspiration. I tried to do something like this , but Ruby Ruby does NOT work well for stamping. So I started over. Grey base. Striped off the lines, covered it in white. Topcoat of Darling Diva Diabla. 

Other fingers were inspired by:

 A Girl and Her Polish (left thumb)

Manicurator (left pinkie)

Holy Manicures (right thumb)

Rin's Nail Files (right index)

The rest failed when I tried to execute something fancy, so I just kludged together stripes and whatnot. Overall, I am so incredibly happy with the way this turned out! But I won't be doing it again soon, as it took forever!

And because this post isn't long enough, a quick makeup rundown as well! I tried to copy this look from Bows and Curtseys, also found on Pinterest.

Products used:

FACE:

NYC Smooth Skin Perfecting Primer #684

Loreal True Match Liquid Foundation in Alabaster

Loreal True Match Pressed Powder in Alabaster

EYES:

Hard Candy Eye Shadow Primer

Cover Girl Perfect Point Eye Liner in Black Onyx (waterline) 

Sundara Cosmetics Loose Shadow in Edward (brow bone and inner corners) 

Sundara Cosmetics Diamonds and Coal (lid, and blended out above crease)

Makeup Your Face Red from the Stars and Stripes Creme Shadow Trio (red liner)

Sundara Cosmetics Bindi (red liner)

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Gel Liner in Black

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Waterproof Mascara in Very Black

LIPS:

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Scream

Black Widow Balm in Kiss of Death

So, there you have my look of the day, all in one incredibly long post! Hope you liked, and we now return you to your regularly scheduled Indie Reviews :)

Cheers, 

-Liz-