Friday Favorites: Comet Vomit Nail Polish

I am not typically one to do 'Friday Favorites'. I have always done product reviews randomly, under the title of 'Get Pretty Reviews', or, for non-beauty related products, 'Stuff I Love Saturdays'. I figured I would try something different out, and maybe find at least one thing a week I want to talk about!

One of my best friends in this whole world, Tiffany, is a lot of things. A few years ago, she decided she wanted to learn to bake cakes, like Ace of Cakes. She did it. She started cycling seriously because she wanted to - she inspires me to go after everything I want. Earlier this year, she became interested in nail art, and in that different nail polishes. As her collection grew, she learned about how nail polish was made up. Just like with cakes, she very recently taught herself how to make her own! She chose the name Comet Vomit, and you can find the beginning of her line on Etsy here. She opened the shop just a couple of weeks ago, and had a lot of support from the Reddit community starting out.

Imagine my surprise when she texted me to tell me that she was making me my very own blend of her new polish! All of it has great space-y names, like "Protect Ya Holodeck" and "Hubble Bubble", just to name a couple. My blend is called "Planet Packer", after my favorite football team and the beloved team of my hometown, the Green Bay Packers. It was a bit more awesome before they got creamed this past weekend, but let's not talk about that.

With a light green sparkly base, there were a couple of different colors of green chunky glitter, and it went on easily and was easy to layer. She told me I could put it over something else, and I decided not to. I just layered it a couple of times, and came out with a great result. I topped it with an OPI fast-dry top coat, and to be honest, it didn't even chip or crack for over a week! I was mad about the game and wanted to take it off, to be honest!

All that being said, if you are looking for a new, different polish, try these! I promise, you will not be disappointed.

How To Tuesday: Nail Fail!

Tonight, I was 100% ready to try out nail water marbling. I got out my nail polish and other supplies, and was ready to write a tutorial on this pretty popular new nail style.

Hypothetically, it seems pretty simple. You need nail polish, a small bowl, room temperature water, and a stick to stir the marble effect into. Once you get the marble effect you want, you dip your nail into the polish and are supposed to have an awesome effect. 

...Unless you're me. Then, you wind up with a barely-identifiable blob of purple and teal. And you somehow scrape all of the polish off of one of your nails. I realized that I forgot the final step of the dip process, which is pulling the excess away before you pull your nail back from the water. Whoops. 

Undeterred, I decided, "Okay, let's try Scotch tape nails instead!" So I painted them a single color, and figured that I would wait for them to dry and do a simple geometric design. 

That is, until I realized that I hadn't waited long enough and pulled off almost all of the first color I painted. Since it was already screwed up, I figured that I would pile on a bunch more of a second color just to see how it would look.

...And it looked bad. So I took it all off and maybe I'll pay better attention to the directions next time, and maybe not get quite so frustrated. Oh well - every DIY can't be perfect, now can it?

Get Pretty! - Version 2.0

This week, I wore makeup - eep! - TWICE. In one week! I was surprised at myself. So here's two separate looks, one with a product list and one without.

I wore this to host a trivia show last minute - for nearly a year I've been a part-time trivia host in the Milwaukee area, and I was called on Thursday evening a couple hours before the show was supposed to start (and about four beers into my drinking for the evening) and wound up having to throw something together pretty quickly. The photo sucks, I know.

This weekend - hold your breath - I was asked on a first date! And you know what? It went well, and he actually spoke to me the next day! Perhaps there's hope for me after all! So this weekend I've been taking extra care of myself and actually taking time out for me each day. This was today's look!

I opted to get white trashy with it - that, and I really wanted to rock out my Free the WM3 shirt for one of the last times - unless I craft a revision to it, which I haven't thought too far into.

• Foundation: Cover Girl Clean Oil Control/MAC Studio Fix
• Brows: Dark half of the Clinique Coffee Shop eyeshadow duo
• Eyeshadow Base: LASplash Splashproof Sealer
• Outside Corner: Kat Von D shadow in Prague
• Middle: Kat Von D shadow in Long Distance
• Inner Corner: Kat Von D shadow in Sugar Skull
• Highlight: Kat Von D shadow in Sugar Skull
• Liquid Liner: Kat Von D Autograph Liner in Turbo Lover (currently on sale for $5 at sephora.com!)
• Lashes: Prestige My Biggest Lashes in Very Black
• Loose Powder: Cover Girl Professional Loose Powder

One thing I know I forgot to mention in my last Get Pretty post was how I set my makeup - and this may be strange and do it at your own risk - but I use Aqua Net. Just close my eyes, spray my face, and go. Works as well as anything else. Chap Stick also makes a good eyeshadow base in a bind.

It was also time for new nails, and once again, because I'm addicted, I went for the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips, this time in "Wild Child". They're fun! If I felt like having a real zoo on my nails, I'd have paired them with what I have left of the leopard print, but I decided that would be too much. 

That's all I have for this one! Until next time!

Get pretty! - Version 1.0

I can prettymuch promise that these types of posts will be few and far between. Back in May, I started a new job in what is, for all intensive purposes, an auto shop. Five days a week, I'm in work blues and change into a t-shirt and jeans for the duration of my day. Before yesterday, I hadn't worn makeup or - eep - waxed my eyebrows in I don't know how long. I'd been shaving off my overgrowth. I don't suggest going that route, seeing as I've had what I affectionately call 'goth mistakes' including shaving off giant portions of my eyebrows. Frickin' whoops! So yeah - have the patience to take care of yourselves, ladies - don't end up a half-eyebrowed freak of nature.

Sunday, I had what I called 'Get Pretty Day #2'. 'Get Pretty Day #1' included me dying my washed-out red/orange/pink/blonde/burgundy mop an auburn color I actually really love, and re-dying the undercut (shaved) side of my hair what I like to call 'mystery purple', where I mix Punky Colour in Red Wine and N'Rage in Purple Plum and see what happens. For the first time in awhile, I felt dang cute!

When I woke up on Sunday, I decided that I was actually going to take the time to look good - for me! In that, I waxed eyebrows, put on a full face of makeup, actually wore jewelry, and all to go to the craft store and on my weekly drive to nowhere. I loved every second of it!

lookin' like a new woman!

I think I did a dang good job! Now, I don't not wear makeup because I don't like it or anything of the sort. I just don't like wasting makeup I pay pretty decent money for on doing nothing more than sweating and running around a dirty auto shop with the boys. I've been told I'm pretty good with a makeup brush on several occasions - even had some friends ask me to do theirs! What a compliment. For maybe the first, and only time in history, I actually took stock of what I used as far as makeup went. Immediately after waxing my eyebrows, so blame the redness on that, not a creepy skin disease.

don't mind my junky skin! i've learned to live with it!

• Foundation: Covergirl Clean Oil Control/MAC Studio Fix
• Brows: Dark half of the Clinique Coffee Shop eyeshadow duo
• Eyeshadow Base: LASplash Splashproof Sealer (this stuff rules!)
• Outside Corner: Kat Von D shadow in Prague
• Middle Color: MAC Hepcat
• Inner Corner: Kat Von D shadow in Rehab
• Highlight: Kat Von D shadow in Sugar Skull
• Liner: MAC Penultimate in Rapidblack
• Lashes: L'Oreal Carbon Black Double Extend
• Loose Powder: Cover Girl Professional Loose Powder

And to think - all of that to make just one look happen. A lot of things in my makeup kit I've had for a long time, but I do have a few products I live and die by. I love Kat Von D's eyeshadows and lipsticks. I like the fact that I can get a bunch of colors for $36 (or $17 like the last palette I had), and the staying power is ridiculous. Her line also boasts my favorite lipstick of all time, Hellbent Red. I like to mix up drugstore and higher end makeups to complete my looks, and it's never done me wrong!

Now a look is definitely not complete without a good nail polish job. I have one better - and a new product to fall in love with - I know I did!

Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips are officially my new jam. I've used them three different times now (pictured above), and am in love. I bought my first set ("Kitty, Kitty" - leopard print) about a month ago, and was completely surprised by how well they stayed. I didn't experience any chipping with them, they just pulled up from my nailbeds as my nails grew, and didn't look as good as they once did. Second, I tried "Glitz Blitz", a crazy gold glitter. Loved that one, too. My newest nail strip endeavor has been "Laced Up", which I applied during "Get Pretty Day #2". I think out of these three, my favorite is still "Kitty, Kitty", but I haven't tried all of them yet!

As a former Minx enthusiast and addict, this is basically the exact same thing, only it saves you about $20 and a trip to the salon (you can pick them up for about $8.50 at Wal-Mart or Walgreens). I notice that these stay much better, also. Even though I'm always washing my hands and handling auto parts, typing, and knitting - I haven't experienced so much as a chip at the tips of my nails, which is incredibly impressive. I keep them on for around 10-14 days before taking them off, and they come off best with an acetone polish remover. The difference between these and Minx is that these are actual nail polish (they smell like nail polish and everything), that's about 95% dry, and it finishes drying as soon as you apply them to your nails. Application takes around 5-10 minutes, and there's no dry time! Some people like to use a top coat, but I don't and have been just fine. It's a personal preference for sure.

Until next time I decide to wear makeup...