Happy (Extra Belated) Earth Day! + Maui's Dolphins

Hey guys! Sooo almost one absolutely miserable week later, I finally have the last post for Earth Week for ya'll. 
This time, it's Maui's Dolphins:

I love their nubbly little fins and chubby bodies.

    Maui's Dolphins are a tiny group of dolphins endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. They're a sub-species of another Kiwi species of dolphin, Hector's Dolphin. Like most dolphins, these guys are a really social and clever species and can be observed playing and chatting with each other as they go about their business. They're also really cute, unless you're one of those people who are terrified of dolphins. But anyway, a combination of the Maui's Dolphin's tiny living space and reproductive cycle, which includes waiting like 9 years to have kids and then only having one baby every 2 - 4 years means that its numbers have traditionally always been on the low side, compared to most dolphin species, but they've been steady. But lately, their numbers have been declining at a crazy fast rate with there only being 55 of them left the last time anyone checked. 55! In the whole world. The reason is that fishermen will use nets to catch other fish and will end up catching the dolphins instead. Dolphins caught in a fishnet can't get to the surface to breath, so they drown to death, which is a terrible way to go for anyone, but even more sad for marine mammals like Maui's Dolphins. Of course, an easy way to stop these guys from going extinct is to make stricter rules about or outright ban the use of nets in the dolphins' habitats, but nobody wants to do it. Why are people so mean and selfish to the animals? ;___;

For their vaguely greyish-blackish coloring (which up-close is apparently quite beautiful), I decided to wear Sephora by OPI If You Got It, Haunt It, from their Halloween 2010 Collection. 

If You Got It, Haunt It is a bunch of tiny black and silver glitter in a black jelly base, with larger pieces of blue-green opalescent hex glitter mixed in. It's pretty interesting. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      If You Got It, Haunt It is quite pretty...it looks a lot better in person lol. Sometimes, black-grey glitter comes out kind of dull or bleh-looking even with topcoat, but I find that's not the case with this. It's not super-sparkly or anything, like Milani Silver Dazzle, but it sparkles just enough to get a hint of the glassphalt look. The opal hex glitter is also a nice touch. It's kind of subtle and doesn't come across too well in the pics, but in real life, I can look down at my nails and get little glints of other colors amongst the black, which I love. 

    Formula-wise, I didn't have any trouble with If You Got It, Haunt It. It was opaque in three coats, went on easily, and dried quickly. Cleanup was also a snap because it was pretty easy to control, and I actually found that it wasn't as gunky as some other glitter polishes. So yep, I am a happy camper. 

And that is the end of Earth (Semi)Week! 

Sorry for missing so many days, but I will try to post some pretty things this week to make up for it lol. And I'll be posting a giveaway soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome night!

Chinese Giant Salamander

Hi guys! So today's animal is definitely not a good-looking one. I know I said that about the condor yesterday, but even it had its redeeming features, like the bright colors on its head, its glossy black feathers, and the cuteness of its babies. But today's animal really doesn't have anything that people would like to look at, unless you like big slimy things that creep about in the night. However, ugly creatures should not be wiped off the planet just because they are ugly. They deserve help too. So the animal we're gonna look at today is the Chinese Giant Salamander:

I wonder why this one is peach-colored. I also wonder why it's smiling like that.

    The Chinese Giant Salamander is kind of cool because it's actually the biggest amphibian in the whole world. It can grow up to six feet, although most adult salamanders today only make it to about 3 feet and 66 pounds. Which is small for the species, but still scary big for a salamander. They spend most of their time underwater in mountain streams, are nocturnal animals, and eat insects, frogs and fish. But sadly for them, they  are coming awfully close to extinction because they are losing their habitats due to pollution and development. This has forced them into smaller places, which is partly why they never really grow into the magnificent giant salamanders that they are supposed to be. They are also seen as a delicacy in China, so people will overhunt them to use in presumably delicious dishes. They actually can't see and hunt by feeling vibrations, which makes it extra unfair, because people can just kind of run up on them and snatch them up before the salamander even knows what's happening. It's like kidnapping a blind person. Poor salamander, right? :(

So here are my Chinese Giant Salamander nails. I tried to replicate the splotches on the salamander's skin:

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     To do this, I started with two layers of OPI Bling Dynasty. Then I used Sally Hansen Sequin Scandal and a dotting tool to apply random splotches and dots to my nails. Last thing was to carefully apply topcoat, so the pattern didn't smudge and that was that. 

    Overall, I like how it came out. When the design is supposed to be random, it's easier to get away with stuff lol! My only thing is that I wished I had done a few more splotches and maybe made it matte. It would have looked really cool matte.

P.S. If you're wondering what happened to my nails, I broke a large chunk of corner off one of them in a horrible collision with my desk, and in a fit of rage and maybe madness, I filed all the rest of my nails into pointed nubbins. It's weird not having square nails anymore since that's been my nail shape for the past...three years. But it's cool too, and I kind of want to see what happens with them as they grow out. 

But that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

California Condor

Hello people! The animal we're gonna look at today is the California Condor. Warning, there's nothing cute about it.

Except for the baby. The baby is kind of cute. 

     The California condor is a gigantic bird that lives in Arizona, Utah, and of course, California. It's a carrion bird, so it pretty much only eats things that are already dead, being particularly partial to the bodies of large mammals like livestock, coyotes, and deer. The California condor is perfectly content to live its life minding its own business and peacefully eating dead things, but it is facing extinction today because of dumb people. Dumb people killing them to put them in museums and dumb people hunting them out of fear that the condors were killing domestic animals. A quick trip to the library would tell you that these animals are lazy and don't even like to hunt. Finally, the condors were dying from other things like lead poisoning, flying into electric wires, and eating meat poisoned by pesticides The government has been trying to bring their numbers up by breeding them in captivity and teaching them to avoid dangerous things, but these birds are still very close to extinction right now, which would be sad because in a way, they're the last of their kind.

 For my California condor nail look, I did this:

This was about as easy as it looks. I did two layers of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Radiate, and then put one thick layer of Zoya Loredana on top, in a v-shape. Lastly, I put a little yellow gem at the bottom of the V. I didn't use any topcoat, because I wanted to keep the flatter texture of the colors. 

This time around, I didn't want to do a literal thing for the bird, but more wanted to represent the colors on the condor in the same proportions that they appear on the actual animal. My index finger came out kind of janky and the lines on the other fingers are not straight (I should have used tape), but all in all, I'm happy with how this turned out. In real life, you can't see the imperfections, so it looks a little smoother. I also like the contrast of Radiate's brightness against Loredana's darkness and the flatness.  So I'm a pretty happy camper.

And that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday!

Earth Week 2012 + Polar Bears!

      Hi guys! So Earth Day is exactly one week away, on April 22, which means that it's time for Earth Week around here. Last year, I did a week of nail colors based on endangered species and people seemed to like it okay (plus it was fun to do) so I thought it would be good to have that as the theme again. I can't promise a post every single day, with the way my life is going nowadays, but I'll do my best lol. 


The first animal we're gonna look at is one that everyone is probably very familiar with, the polar bear!

      Polar bears are really great animals. They live in the Arctic Circle and spend most of their time strolling across sea ice and swimming in the ocean. They eat mostly seals, although they will eat other kinds of meat if they can't find what they normally like. They're also very smart and surprisingly gentle, unless they are hungry or someone is bothering them, which is when they can get angry and vicious. And since they are huge and powerful creatures, the last thing anything wants to deal with is an angry polar bear. Unfortunately, these guys have alot to be angry about. The ice that they depend on for pretty much everything is quickly becoming a thing of the past thanks to climate change, as as a result, polar bears are starving to death or are having trouble caring for their young properly. Of course, this means fewer polar bears in the future, so if we don't want to lose these guys forevah, we have to take better care of the Earth so it won't be so damn hot anymore. 

I don't think my nails came out quite as cute as I intended, but here they are:

   To do this, I started with two layers of Color Club Pretty in Platinum, and then applied a layer of Studio M Fast Play on top. When that dried, I used Color Club Where's the Soiree and a dotting tool to draw the bear faces. Then I put topcoat on, and that was it. 

 In retrospect, maybe I should have left the faces off? Or made the lines finer? Or put on ears? Something. 

Oh well though..what's done is done and that's my polar bear look. 

To wash the sight of my nails from your eyes (even though what has been seen cannot be unseen), here are some gratuitous shots of adorable polar bears doing adorable polar bear things:

I love this. 

And that's all from me today!! 

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Sunday! 

NARS Mash + Egyptian Tortoise

         Like all good things, Earth Week must come to an end. So the last animal we'll be look at will be the Egyptian Tortoise, also known as Kleinmann's Tortoise.

Look at the little legs and toes!

I find this picture particularly amusing because it wasn't photoshopped at all. 

The lying down turtle looks so unconcerned too. 

(Photograph courtesy of Sexecutioner)

    The Egyptian Tortoise is a little desert tortoise native to Egypt and Libya, and is usually yellow, brown, or green. Like the rest of the endangered species we saw this past week, Egyptian Tortoises are largely victims of habitat degradation as a result of development. Also because of their cute tiny-ness, they are very much in demand as pets. So poachers will kidnap them from the wild and illegally sell them, which I guess is better than being killed. But it still sucks. 

I didn't have a color that would perfectly match the Egyptian Tortoise, but when I think of yellow, brown and green, I think olive. And when I think olive, I think NARS Mash. Since I needed to reswatch Mash anyway, here we are. ^_^

Mash features a slightly dark shade of olive green, with small golden, green, and what looks like amber shimmer in it. There's mostly gold though.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Mash is so super hot. I don't  think it really looks good on me (olive in general doesn't look so good on me), but I absolutely love it. It's so mossy and sexy, and the shimmer gives it that beautiful effect where it's bright in the middle and blackens towards the edges. I'm happy that NARS brought it back, and I'm even happier that I bit the bullet and bought it. If you've been considering it and get a chance, I would surely recommend that you pick up Mash.

    I also have no complaints about Mash's formula. It took three coats before I was really satisfied with the coverage and was a tad bit brushstrokey, but it went on really smoothly and the shimmer helped cover up the brushstrokes. 

And with that, Earth Week is ovah!! 

I hope that these posts were as informative and fun to read as they were to write, and that they've somewhat inspired everyone to be (or to continue to be) more considerate of our planet and all the life forms that also call it home. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! ^_^

Zoya Cheryl + Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit

          Happy Easter everyone!! 
          With today being what it is, I thought it would be fitting to look at an adorable and completely non-creepy little bunny. Meet the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit:

     

    Although people in the U.S. generally think that we have too many rabbits, this particular one is in some real trouble. It only eats the plants that are found on the mid to high marshlands of the Florida Keys, making it particularly susceptible to environmental pollution and habitat degradation. The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit also gets into altercations with cats and dogs, with the household pets usually winning. :(

  Based on the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit's beautiful chocolate brown fur, I chose to wear Zoya Cheryl, from their Wicked Collection.

Cheryl is made of chocolate brown and like...rose-ish? flat and metallic shimmer pieces in a deep mahogany base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Cheryl will always be very near and dear to my heart, because it was gifted to me by the wonderful Kris over at My Lucid Bubble. But even if it had been a regular polish, I would still like it. Cheryl is so pretty! The shade of brown is strong and flattering, and it does that beautiful bright in the center, dark at the edges thing that I love so much. The flecks of shimmer also give it some nice sparkle and depth.. I still don't like brown polish, but Cheryl can be the exception to that rule. ^_^

     As far as formula goes, Cheryl's was quite good. I needed three coats for the opacity and depth that I like, and it went on nicely. I also found the dry time to be quite agreeable. 

And that's all from me today. n_n

 Thanks for reading, and I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Easter!!