The most enjoyable thing that I have been indulging in lately is something that I feel like I can’t even talk about right now. I feel like I have a gag around my mouth. I fear talking about it, but I learned long ago that if I do what I fear, I achieve more than I could have hoped for.

Every weekend, I have been getting a pedicure and a manicure. I found a lovely nail shop within walking distance of my home. It is family-owned and I love going there every week. The technicians don’t talk my ear off while they work on me, so I am able to relax and truly enjoy the pampering.

The reason why I have been reluctant to write about this weekly delicious pleasure is because of an entry I wrote long ago (Todd Oldham Update). In that post, I mentioned my pampered feet. Back then, I pampered my own feet, but I have to tell you that it’s much better to have someone else take care of me. That post is the cause of at least one email a month from someone wanting to get a picture of my feet.

They are polite emails, but they scare the bejeezus out of me. They scare me so much that I haven’t talked about my favorite weekly reward for months now. I never respond to the emails. I file them, hoping that the police won’t need them for evidence in the future.

The funny thing is that allowing that one gag into my writing makes the act of writing about other things harder, and I have many of those gags. I don’t write about my feet. I don’t write about sneezing anymore because one entry (Sneezing) attracted another group of scary emails. I don’t write about my full time job because I signed a non-disclosure agreement when I started there. I don’t write about my relationship with Mike. There are things that I don’t write about that I’m not even willing to mention the existence of.

With so many things gagging me, it’s a wonder I am able to write at all. Sadly, everything I write when I feel gagged feels like it’s not the full truth. For weeks I have enjoyed a happy ritual every Saturday morning, but I felt like I couldn’t tell you.

The truth of the matter is: no matter what I talk about, there are people who are going to get weird about it. There is no way to escape small groups of the strangely obsessed on the Internet. The world is so large that I can’t hide without removing myself from the blogging world and I’m not about to do that.

So, today I take off the foot gag. Today, I take off the sneezing gag (though I really have nothing else to say about sneezing, but if I wanted to, I could). Two less muffles stifling me. The other gags fill most of my day so I refuse to collect any more.

I’m feeling a little excited about my patriotic fingernails I did today, so I wanted to share them with you.

If you’d like to read how I did them, there’s more after the break: (Continue Reading…)

I redid my nails last night and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

I took Sally Hansen’s Commander in Chic polish and put on two coats.

I used the Konad black polish for the stamp.

I used the Konad stamping plate #M24 for the stamp.

I’m surprised at how good it looked and I hope it lasts as long as my last manicure.

My Commander-In-Chic Manicure lasted almost two weeks, but it was time to change my polish. I call this one Flowers in the Quicksand.

Matching Pedicure:

Continue reading for the tutorial: (Continue Reading…)

I did my nails last week and never posted the picture. I’m quite proud of how well it turned out. I call this manicure, Hibiscus and Tulips.

Here is the matching pedicure.

I used the OPI 2012 Holland Collection, Kiss Me On My Tulips nail polish as the base and the Bundle Monster Plate BM-313.

I love how well it turned out and that it has lasted over a week without major chipping. A perfect manicure for the end of the summer!

I wanted a simple manicure after all the fancy stuff I’ve done lately.

For a base, I found this Wet ‘n Wild Megalast polish called On a Trip (213C) and I have been VERY happy with it.

I am SO impressed with this polish. It was only three bucks, had a nice, large brush inside and the coverage is wonderful. This polish is as good as the Sally Hansen Salon polish. In fact, I liked it as much as OPI polish and has lasted just as long.

Even though the polish looks great all by itself, I wanted a little pizzaz, so I put on one coat of the Jordana Glitters polish in Celestial (12).

I expected this polish to be pretty subpar because it cost less than a dollar at Kmart, but I am so happy with it, I’m going back to buy the other Glitters polishes. I love the different sizes of the glitter. It makes it look VERY textured.

Here is the matching pedicure.

This manicure has lasted me a full week with very little chipping. I’m beginning to believe that I can make ANY manicure last two weeks as long as I have two coats of the OPI top coat.

I also bought the Wet ‘n Wild Megalast I Need A Refresh-Mint (218A). I can’t wait to use it on my next manicure!

My manicure this week is pretty simple. It’s called Rusted Bronze.

I did a base coat of Bronze by Love & Beauty at Forever 21.

Over the top of that, I put one coat of Rust by Love & Beauty.

Here’s the matching pedicure.

Despite two coats of OPI Top Coat, I had chipping on the manicure within a couple of days, so I guess the OPI Top Coat isn’t quite the miracle worker I thought it was. The polish HAS last almost a week with touch ups, so that’s pretty good for a three dollar bottle.

I have been shockingly pleased with the Sinful Colors Black on Black nail polish. It goes on well and covers much better than an inexpensive polish should. I bought it at Walgreens for only a couple of dollars, so I expected far less from it. It looks especially good highlighted on the tips with the Jordana glitter polishes.

I really did this manicure as an experiment. I was going to try to do a matte black with shiny tips, but at the last minute, I chickened out and just did glitter tips instead. I’m glad I did, because I’m really pleased with this manicure.

Black is such a hard color to work with and if I mess up at all, it’s really hard to get off my cuticles and skin. I think I’ll try this kind of manicure with a softer color and see how it turns out.

I’m surprised at how fun just playing with fingernail polish can be. It feels like a little bit of art that I get to do and enjoy for the brief moment before it is obliterated by all the physical things I do with my hands every day.

Sorry, no matching pedicure this time…

When I saw this Eyeballs Halloween Manicure Tutorial, it looked so fun that I thought I’d try it.

Of course, so did Pintester. When she tried it however, it didn’t quite turn out like the video. As she said, she should have stopped while she was ahead. In her own words:

And then I went off-book. Because I’m a rebel. And occasionally Goth. That’s right, people. I found a bottle of glow-in-the-dark nail polish and decided that this whole get-up needed a top-coat of spooky green glow.

I was wrong.

Also, I feel I should tell you that it didn’t really glow that much, which would have made it less of a fail, I think.

Here’s what happened, comparing what it SHOULD look like with what it actually looked like:

If you’re planning on doing a spooky Halloween manicure for your costume this year, make sure you do it the night before so you have plenty of time to redo it if you run into problems.

I got a bottle of Ulta’s Army of 1 nail polish in a free makeup kit that I received because I spent a certain amount of money at the store.

I’ve never been particularly impressed with Ulta products, but I ADORE this polish.

I’ve never even been a big fan of creme polishes, but this one goes on so smooth and buttery without streaking.

I also love to use it as a base for more sheer colors. Tune in tomorrow for an example of that.

I absolutely adore the look of this manicure. I started out with a base of two coats of Ulta’s Army of 1 nail polish.

Then I added two coats of Beetle by Hard Candy.

This manicure looks so good. I love how Ulta’s Army of 1 is a great base coat for Beetle.

The camera can’t fully capture the iridescent hue of Beetle and how it reflects green, yellow and purple depending on the angle of the light. Gorgeous!

How I wish I had left well enough alone with this manicure, because what I did next completely RUINED it. Tune in tomorrow to see what happened.

This manicure is an example of “Leave Well Enough Alone.” I started out with a base of two coats of Ulta’s Army of 1 nail polish.

Then I added two coats of Beetle by Hard Candy.

After that, I added one coat of the second step of Revlon’s Moon Candy Orbit.

Even though it was only one coat of that polish, the pretty mylar pieces made the manicure feel thick and lumpy.

I hated the result so much that I took the polish off within a half hour of it drying.

I had no idea that the FEEL of a manicure is so important. The jagged and lumpy mylar pieces were gorgeous, but they made this manicure feel scratchy and unpleasant. I should have left well enough alone…

For years, I have looked for a nice, chocolatey creme polish to replace my aging Revlon Java Bean polish that I loved so much. I didn’t want any glitter, even though I’m a fan of glitter. I didn’t want any metallic, even though I’m a adoring fan of metallics. All I wanted was a creamy chocolate brown for my nails.

I’ve finally found it with Essie’s Mink Muffs polish.

Although not exactly the same hue as Revlon’s Java Bean, it is very close and looks very good with my skin tone.

It takes two coats to fully cover the nail without streaking.

I’ve been pretty happy with this color and how it looks as a base for stenciling.

Tune in tomorrow for the Fall Foliage Manicure that uses this polish as a base.

This manicure didn’t last me very long because the stenciling at the tips wore away quickly, but while it was here, it sure was pretty, very much like the changing leaves in Fall.

I started with two coats of Essie’s Mink Muffs.

Then I used the Bundle Monster Stamping Plate #BM217 and the Konad Special Polish in Green.

I was going for an autumnal sort of feel with the leaves and the brown.

I particularly like how good the two colors look together.

The stamping wasn’t quite as clean as I would have liked, but it turned out good enough.

Whenever I’m feeling down, it’s always a pick me up to do my nails. When they turn out as well as this manicure, it makes me even happier.

After the failure of Pick Me! » The Leave Well Enough Alone Manicure, I took it all off and tried a new one. I started again with two coats of Ulta’s Army of 1.

I had seen something on Pinterest about making my own glitter polish, so I decided to try it. Here is a link to the tutorial:

• Lexy Levin – DIY: GLITTER POLISH

I bought an inexpensive bottle of clear polish and some glitter.

The two kinds of glitter are different in size, because I wanted the polish to be REALLY glittery.

I dumped out 1/4 of the bottle and kept adding glitter until it was full. The bottle looks like this now.

The result was a REALLY glittery polish. This is ONE coat of the polish.

Unfortunately, the polish is really thick and difficult to apply evenly. Look at how much it pops up on the nail.

In the end, I’ve decided to leave glitter polish crafting to the professionals. They do so much better than I do.

I was shopping at Target, when I found this 14 piece nail polish set from e.l.f. I have NO need for more nail polish, but it was so cheap (only 10 bucks!) and I liked so many of the colors that I bought it. I am so glad I did, because I ADORE this set!

You can find it online here:

• e.l.f. Nail Polish Cube – 14 pc : Target
• e.l.f. Nail Cube 14 piece Holiday Set

All the colors are VERY pigmented, and I put only ONE coat on my nails for these photos. They were as buttery as Essie polish and covered without streaking as well as OPI polish does. Best of all, the entire set cost less than two bottles of Essie or OPI (as cheap as one bottle of OPI if you don’t know the good places to shop).

This set would make a great Christmas present to anyone who needs the basics. There are a bunch of wonderful neutrals in it and the colored polishes are perfect. Every woman needs a good red, a good neutral and a good edgy color. This set has a great selection of all three, so if you think it might be a good present, IT WILL!

I have only two complaints about the entire set. Firstly, the lids are asymmetrical, so it’s difficult to get them back on the way they were when I bought them. I hate how they will be sideways on the bottle and I’ve never figured out how to get them back on properly. Secondly, the glitter polishes aren’t quite glittery enough for me, but if you’re conservative with your glitter, you’ll love them.

My absolute favorite in the group is Glamor Girl. It’s a creamy neutral, but when you catch it in the right light, there is a pop of glittery gold that makes it stunningly glamorous.

Glamor Girl is just one of 14 beautiful colors in that set and I can’t believe how much I love them ALL! You can see the rest of the swatches after the break… (Continue Reading…)

I have been wearing this manicure for the last few days and I have been quite happy with it. I call it: Shannon’s Violet Velvet Attitude Manicure.

More photos and how I did it after the break… (Continue Reading…)

I was feeling in the Christmas mood, so I did a Christmasy manicure called, Christmas Camping. You can see it here:

Click to read how I did this manicure and for more photos: (Continue Reading…)

Here is a shimmery manicure that is great for a Christmas party or any wintery day.

You can see how I did it after the break… (Continue Reading…)

I absolutely LOVE my latest manicure and couldn’t WAIT to share it with you! I call it Javablue Snowflakes and it’s so Christmasy!

You can see how I did it here after the break… (Continue Reading…)

The incredible NakedJen picked up these Loreal Nail Lingerie stickers for me at Sundance in January. I love them so much that I refuse to USE them. I have literally looked at them, planned on trying them out and deciding to “save” them for a special event at least three times. It’s not like I have a special event planned anytime soon. I just think they’re too pretty to just put on for the fun of it.

Instead, I made my own manicure, imitating the style. I used OPI’s My Very First Knockwurst for the base coat.

(Continue Reading…)

One of the first manicures I ever pinned on Pinterest was this one from normandlou:

• Lots of Dots – normandlou

I finally tried one on my own that looks awesome for spring.

Here is a close-up of one of the fingers.

For the base coat, I used On A Trip by Wet N Wild. It’s a lavender hue, even though it turned out almost blue in the photos.

For the dots, I used:

• I Need a Refresh-Mint by Wet N Wild
• OPI Flashbulb Fushia
• OPI On The Same Paige

I had a lot of fun doing this manicure and although it was twice the work of my Faux Nail Lingerie Manicure, I like it even better.

I watched a video from Polish and Pearls the other day and was inspired to try one of my own. I did the rosebud manicure.

Here is a closeup of the rosebud:

I used the following polishes: (Continue Reading…)

Stacey and Dan bought me the BEST mini fingernail polish set last week! It’s called Life’s A Beach from Sephora. I immediately did a manicure the night they gave it to me because I loved all the colors. Mike talked me out of coloring a different color on each finger, despite the fact that they had conveniently given me TEN colors and TEN fingers to match. Instead, I took my favorites and made a manicure that I LOVE!

I used Havana Dreams for the base color. For the flower, I used It’s All About Me for the petals and IM Beauty for the center.

Here’s a closeup of the flower.

I had so much fun with this. I know this manicure will last about a week, but I’m so tempted to take it off to do another one with the colors from that mini kit!

I love this manicure from Nailside: 4th of July nails.

I did a similar manicure last year: Pick Me! » Patriotic Fingernails