Tacky Christmas Nails to Match Your Tacky Christmas Sweater

Okay, they aren't THAT tacky, but these days it's generally considered pretty tacky to wear red and green. It seems like "holiday" colors nowadays that are safe to wear are things like gold, silver, blue, and white. I figured I'd go cheesy, and I'm glad I did because I personally love this manicure :D
I used Zoya "Kristi," which is a very pretty pure red, and China Glaze "Party Hearty" on top of that, which is a ridiculous Christmas glitter polish that I LOVE. I just used a plain white striper to do the candy cane stripes and put a coat of Seche Vite on top. Now all I need is an oversized red sweater with a big Rudolph face on it.

Have a lovely weekend! :)

Lacey Corset Nails using OPI "Mermaid's Tears"

I don't normally buy OPI polish (it's a tad out of my price range at $8.50 a bottle) but I sort of had a fit over this color when it came out. It's been a while since it came out, it was part of that Pirates of the Caribbean collection they had a while back. The name alone sold me (I've always had a thing for mermaids) but the color is GORGEOUS! It's so "me." Anyway, I did this cute little design yesterday and thought I would share. My bows are a little wonky, but it's not that noticeable from far away.

I used a black striper polish for the lines and little curves, and a dotting tool to make the bow shapes. It was a little tedious, but it wasn't hard. I think this would be cute with a pink or purple polish too.

Oh, and if you guys are still in Black Friday mode, I've been having a sale going on in my Etsy shop. Everything is 20% off with the code "crystalball." It's active until Monday. The link is on the right side of this page, or just go to www.annamax.etsy.com. I actually broke my no buy and bought a few things this weekend from Morgana Cryptoria, so expect some swatches whenever they get here. It's been too long!

Have a lovely evening!

Nebula Nails and New Layout

This design is actually from a little while ago, but I never got around to posting it. I got tons of compliments on it, probably because it's so sparkly. I was worried it was going to end up looking like nail polish vomit, but I think it turned out pretty good. I got the idea from cutepolish from Youtube.


First, I painted my nails a solid black. Then I took a piece of a makeup sponge and dabbed white, then pink, then blue, then yellow polish across the nail in random directions. I just used white polish and a toothpick to make the stars, then painted a layer of silver glitter polish on top to make it even more starry. Pretty cool, eh?

By the way, what do you guys think of the new layout? I don't quite have a degree in graphic design yet, and also did the banner in one afternoon, but I think it looks much better than before. It just needed more purple! I think I already mentioned this a while ago, but the illustration was a commission by guibb on deviantart. Isn't it awesome? I highly recommend checking him out if you want a little person for your website, blog, or what have you.

I hope everyone has a lovely week!

Sparkly Purple LOTD + Mermaid Nails

I felt like I had been neglecting Fyrinnae lately, so I figured it was time to do a look using some. I know I do purple looks a lot, but I can't help it, it's my favorite color :) I wore this to go see the movie "Limitless" at the cheap-o theater. I don't recommend it, I felt like the moral of the story was "Do drugs, and you'll turn out great!" Plus, way too much Bradley Cooper. Anyway....



Face:
-Cover Girl Aqua Smooth foundation in "Classic Ivory"
-e.l.f. Complexion Perfection
-Clinique blush in "Smoldering Plum"

Eyes:
-TFSI
-Aromaleigh "Frutti di Bosco" on the outer V
-Sugarpill "Bulletproof" to darken the crease
-Fyrinnae "Sequined Master" over Pixie Epoxy on main lid
-Fyrinnae "Sakura" inner corners
-Glamour Doll Eyes "Phyrra" on lower lashline
-MAC "Feline" on waterline
-Kat Von D tattoo liner in "Trooper" along upper lashline
-Covergirl Lash Blast black mascara (the one in the purple tube, I forget the exact name)

Lips:
-Lime Crime "Airborne Unicorn"

I kind of wish I had used some green to bring out the green sparkles in "Sequined Master." That color is ridiculously sparkly and beautiful.

I think I've posted this nail color before, but it's definitely worth posting twice! Zoya "Charla"I love this color, but I'm definitely not looking forward to removing it... :D

Have a lovely Saturday!

Cherry Blossoms NOTD

I can't take full credit for this manicure, I got the idea from MissChievious from Youtube. I don't really watch her videos often, but this one really caught my eye. Obviously I didn't use the same colors she did, but it turned out pretty similar. I figured it would be appropriate, what with all the chaos going on in Japan right now. I can't believe all the negativity I've been hearing about this situation..it makes me really sad.


I used China Glaze "Refresh Mint" as the main color, black Stripe Rite for the branches, Wet n Wild for the white, and Zoya "Happi" for the pink in the flowers. I love how this looks, the color combination looks so refreshing and springy. Refresh Mint is probably my favorite nail polish of all time.

Have a lovely evening!

Springtime Manicure with China Glaze "Starboard" + an Outfit

It was so warm this weekend! I am so sick of the cold. I have to walk outside a lot to get from class to class and it is NOT fun when it's freezing. It was about 70 degrees this Friday and Saturday. Perfect. It inspired me to do this cute Springtime manicure using China Glaze "Starboard" from the new Anchors Away collection. I also have Lighthouse, which is beautiful.
I used Wet n Wild white polish for the stamp and China Glaze "Solar Power" for the flower centers. I knew it would come in handy!
I'm actually really pleased with how this turned out. You can't tell me it's not cute, and Starboard is a really lovely green. If you like the color green but don't care for obnoxious nail colors, I'd definitely recommend this one. I think it's totally "wearable," if you will.

For funsies, here was my outfit. Caleb and I took some "we're really bored" pictures on Saturday, so I got some decent shots of what I wore. A couple of you mentioned you'd like to see more posts about my outfits in the giveaway comments. Most of the time I dress pretty boring, but if I wear something interesting I'll try to share from now on. :) (Sorry about the random just Caleb picture, I just thought this turned out really well and wanted to share!I got that skirt at Goodwill for practically nothing. I love when that happens! I shop at Goodwill and seasonal consignment stores more than anywhere else. You can't beat it, you really can find some gems if you look hard enough.

Have a lovely evening! :)

Happy Friday! Turquoise Eyes and Red Nails

I know I don't usually post this early in the morning, but my 2 hour drawing class was canceled today so I've got some time to kill. The eyes and the nails aren't really from the same day, but I'd been meaning to post both so I figured I'd stick them together.


What I Used:
-TFSI
-Persephone Minerals "Sailor Mercury" in crease
-Persephone Minerals "Mercury Crystal Power" all over main lid (this is my favorite eyeshadow of all time, seriously)
-Persephone Minerals "Princess Mercury" inner corners
-Aromaleigh "Aqua Nightmare" on lower lashline and mixed into the crease color
-Kat Von D tattoo liner pen in "Trooper" on upper lashline
-No mascara, because I hate it :)

For the nails, this is Zoya "Kristi." It's a gorgeous red, and it looks perfect in just two coats. I added some black stripes for accent on the fourth fingers.
See, I told you I have too many polishes that are this color. I can't help it, red nails are just the best.

I've really been enjoying reading all of your comments on my giveaway! If you haven't entered yet, hop on over and do so here, especially if you like this nail color because I'm giving away a very similar China Glaze one. :)

Have a lovely Friday!

Zoya "Charla"

I finally got my three Zoya polishes the other day. It took FOREVER, but I can't complain since they were free. I got Adina, Charla, and Happi.

I pretty much immediately put Charla on both my fingers and toes.
I had a really hard time photographing this color. I feel like it looks sort of "meh" here but it's notttt it's my new favorite! Imagine if you took a mermaid, liquefied her, added some gold glitter and sweet rave party and you'd get this color. I have a feeling I'll be wearing this a while.

Did anyone else order from the Zoya sale? I'd like to know which colors everyone got.

Have a lovely evening!

China Glaze Secret Periwinkle and Solar Power

I feel like it's been forever since I've written anything on here, sorry about that. I'm going to go ahead and blame school, this semester isn't fun. Anyway, I bought a couple of China Glaze nail polishes the other day, one of which I really love, and the other I really hate. I'm going to show you both and you will see why.

Secret Periwinkle:
This one I really love. The color is cute and casual, and is perfect for spring time. The finish is so shiny it doesn't even need a top coat. I actually took these photos after wearing this a few days and my index fingernail was a little chipped, which is why I'm hiding it. The only reason I took this color off is because my Zoya polishes finally came in. In short, definitely a winner.

Solar Power:
Now, I would first like to say that I gave this polish as much time to dry as I always do. Nail polish should not take longer than 10 minutes to dry. This is two coats. Check out what happened.Umm, gross. The reason I bought this color is because I realized I don't have any yellows. Yellow isn't the best color on me, but I figured having at least one was a must. It was between this one or "Lemon Fizz" which is a really pale pastel yellow. Needless to say, I wish I'd gotten the other one. I'm not sure if this is the polish's fault, or if it's old...? I don't know. I did this in the afternoon and even by late in the evening it was getting bumps in it. Not to mention the color looks disgusting with my skintone. Major disappointment here. Oh well. You can't win them all.

I love China Glaze. I'd actually go so far as to say it's my favorite brand of nail polish. Solar Power just isn't their best. I plan on keeping it to use in designs for flower centers and that type of thing. I LOVE Secret Periwinkle, though, so not all was lost.

I'm going to be showing all of my Zoya polishes very soon, when I can manage to photograph them accurately. The colors I got are Happi, Adina, and Charla. I'm wearing Charla right now and I'm in LOVE.

Have a lovely Saturday! :)

Plaid Lunar Eclipse

Don't you love how clever that title is? Leave me alone, I'm sick. I can't be clever when I'm sick.

Even though I feel too yucky to do makeup, I've been okay for nails. My nails had gotten too long and were scratching me so I cut them, and it feels so weird! I always have them long so my fingertips feel naked.
I used Orly's Lunar Eclipse as the main color and China Glaze's Midnight Kiss as the stamp color.
Sorry about the yucky no-flash pic, it's the only way I could get the pattern to show up. Also, check out how short my nails are. Weird!
Lunar Eclipse is a really lovely color, but the formula is kind of difficult. You really need 3 coats to get it opaque, though this is only 2. I figured it didn't matter since I was putting a design on it anyway. The first coat looks super gross, but by the third, it's gorgeous. Midnight Kiss actually works pretty well as a stamp, even though it's subtle.
I can't help but think about my high school when I look at this. The school colors were blue and gold. I kind of hated my high school, so I can't say I'm in love with this design. haha Oh well. What do you expect, I'M SICK! *cough* *sniff* Okay, that was the last time. XD

Have a lovely evening!

Checkerboard Tips

As I mentioned earlier, I finally got a couple Konad plates. I'm not very good at doing it, and it helps that I don't have the "special" polish. I'm thinking I'm going to get some in black, white, and red. Those are probably the colors I'd use the most. Anyway, I did this using the m56 (I think) plate. If you zoom in, you can see where I went in and dotted some more white over the design to make it show up more. Regular polish just doesn't do the trick in one stamp (not plain white or black, anyway).
(Do my nails look stained to you? Uh, "Midnight Kiss" did that. Bad. Definitely recommend using a base coat with that one.)
I LOVE Orly's "Liquid Vinyl." I've been using a crappy .99 cent black polish and finally got fed up with it and got that one. It's really dark black, but still not black enough for the stamping. I actually painted my tips black and used the white as the stamp. It's not perfect (at all) but I like it. I added a little silver stripe to give it a little something extra, and I think that's what makes it.

I'm definitely going to get some more plates when I get the polish. Which ones should I get? I have this one (m56) and m60.

Have a lovely evening! :)

Perplexed!

So, I won my first giveaway the other day! I've entered probably about a million, but I finally won something. Revlon's "Perplex." I got it from The Peach over at Just Peachy. Everyone should go follow her now, she's a total sweetheart. Here's what it looks like:
I'm not really sure how to describe this color. It's definitely purple, but it's sort of..smokey taupe/gray/purple but with a subtle violet shimmer. It's hard to describe but it's gorgeous! It only takes 2 coats for it to be completely opaque. After I found out I won this, I looked for it whenever I was in stores that sell Revlon, just to see. Nope. I never saw it anywhere. Apparently it's supposed to be an exact dupe for Chanel's "Paradoxal" and judging from the pictures I've seen (because I'm not paying $23 so I can compare), it is. Thanks, Jill! :D

I also received my Hautelook package. Kevyn Aucoin products were featured recently and one particular lip gloss caught my eye. It's called "Alurabliss."Calm down, it's totally sheer. I'm actually a little disappointed at how sheer it is. I wasn't expecting neon blue or anything, but a little blue tint would have been nice for layering. The blue sparkles are very subtle but lovely, though. It smells sort of like..Smartees? Pixie Stix? I can't put my finger on it but it's definitely a subtle candy smell. This stuff retails for $27 and I got it for $9. Thanks, Hautelook, sometimes you're useful! I can't wait to try this over red lipstick.

Have a lovely evening! :)

EOTD using WnW Lust Palette

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. My excuse is nothing interesting, just been busy/lazy (yes, both) because of Christmas. I've done lots of pretty looks, I just never seem to have time to take a picture before I have to run out the door. Today, though, I was able to. I only used colors from the Wet n Wild "Lust" palette. I LOVE this thing. They don't have names, so bare with me on the descriptions, but I really like how this turned out.


Eyes:
-Too Faced Shadow Insurance
All from Lust palette:
-gunmetal color all over main lid
-pale cream/peach blended from crease up to brow
-deep matte purple and dark sparkly purple in outer crease and lower lashline
-grape-y matte purple blended into edges of crease colors
-pale pink/purple on browbone
-Kat Von D black tattoo liner on upper lashline
-Maybelline black eyeliner on waterline
-Wet n Wild lengthening mascara (LOVE THIS STUFF.)

I got my mom two China Glaze nail polishes for part of her Christmas present("Rainbow" and "Heaven") and they were buy 2 get 1 free so I got "Midnight Kiss" for myself. I'm in love with this color. It's gold, but it's pale, almost champagne. It's very shimmery. It is completely opaque in 2 coats, but this is 3 because I wanted it to last a while.Pretty, right? I wore that ridiculous "Party Hearty" color on my nails all through December, but this is what was on my nails on Christmas. I wanted to keep it classy :)

Just so everyone knows, I have not forgotten about the giveaway I promised. There are a couple reasons why I haven't posted it yet. First, I wanted to wait until after the holidays were over just to get all of that out of the way. Second, I don't have all the prizes gathered yet. I have a China Glaze nail polish, a mascara (the one I used in this EOTD, new and unopened of course) and a full-sized Aromaleigh eyeshadow. I'm thinking of getting some mini jars from Fyrinnae for this but I'm not sure which colors to get. Help me out. They're for you guys, after all. :)

Have a lovely evening!

Festive Green and Silver LOTD

In my last post I mentioned I had been pretty uninspired lately and asked for some color combination suggestions (since my mom picking out colors for me made it so easy). I only got two suggestions (thanks, Serena! :D) and one of them was green and silver. I just got my Sugarpill Black Friday order today and one of the colors I got was Tiara. Perfect timing, amirite? Anyway, this is what I came up with. I used all Sugarpill.

Man I suck at doing cut creases. This is why I never do them haha

Face:
-Hard Candy tinted moisturizer in "Light" (new stuff, I'll let you know what I think later)
-Hard Candy blush in "Pin-up" (also new)

Eyes:
-NYX jumbo eye pencil in "Milk" smudged out all over the lid
-Sugarpill "Tiara" applied wet all over main lid
-Sugarpill "Midori" directly in crease
-Sugarpill "Darling" blended up above Midori
-Sugarpill "Lumi" on browbone
-"Milk" again in the waterline and lower lashline
-Kat Von D black tattoo liner on upper lashline
-Wet n Wild mascara (can't remember what it's called specifically)

Lips:
-Avon lipstick in "Sparkling Peach"

I think this look would be so cute for a Christmas party. It's not TOO tacky or in-your-face, but it's definitely festive.

This is what's on my nails:China Glaze "Jolly Holly" with "Party Hearty" on top. Now, I'll admit, THIS is in-your-face Christmasy. I love it, though! It doesn't photograph very well, but it's really pretty. It looks great layered on top of all sorts of colors. I've tried it on top of dark red and seen it over silver and gold. I'm not normally a fan of chunky glitter polishes, but I had to have this one.

Anyway, keep your color combo suggestions coming, and have a lovely evening! :)