Hunger Games Stuff!!

      Hi guys!!
So yesterday, I got to go see The Hunger Games in IMAX, and it was a super-glorious experience. Like all film adaptions, it didn't quite match up to what I expected from reading the book, but I really did enjoy it. Except for in Effie's case, I think they could have been a little more creative with the makeup and wardrobe, I wish they had paid closer attention to detail (they forgot President Snow's rose a few times for example), and I wish they had stayed truer to the book because they cut out some parts that I felt were important, but despite those quibbles, it was definitely worth seeing.


Also, I was really pleasantly surprised by Peeta! When I heard who was playing him, I was like no no no nooo this shit is not going to work. But Josh Hutcherson did a really good job...once he started acting, I forgot my complaints and started being able to root for him the way that I did when I was reading his character in the books, so that was a relief. Nothing is worse than watching a movie and having this one character ruin it for you LOL. But enough blabbing about the movie...I don't want to spoil it for others. I will just say that it was great, and if you are still on the fence about seeing it, I think you should do it. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.


But anyway, for this momentous occasion, I of course had to do a girl on fire mani. I suck at free-handing or making nice-looking flames (I know because I tried), so I just did a little konad stamp-on thing.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Close up of the design.

Sunlight, no flash.

    This was pretty simple to do. I did two layers of China Glaze Electrify (I'll review that by itself soon), and put a layer of topcoat. After letting it dry, I used Color Club Where's the Soiree? to stamp on a vaguely flame-y pattern from one of my random knockoff konad plates. Then, I put a red gem in the gap at the top of the flame-y pattern, sealed it all in with topcoat, and that was it. So yep, very easy. 

    I was also really happy with how it came out. The black flame-y thing pops out great against the glittery base, and the gem pops out nicely from the black. And in sunlight, the base is so sparkly that it really does look like my nails are on fire. I don't really like how the pictures look (toooo much detail lol), but in person, it's beautiful and didn't look like Beetlejuice at all for once. I was so proud of myself ahahaha. I also got compliments all day, and some people were even able to guess that I was going to see/had seen the movie that day, so that was nice. 

I also did my eye makeup like one of my favoritee characters in the whole series, Cinna. I know, I usually don't show makeup and will most likely never do it again, but I was so excited that even with my makeup ineptitude, I didn't come out looking crazy LOL. So I wanted to share. 

Here was the original look:

And this was my version:

This was also really easy. I used a thin liner brush to put some primer and then some Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy close to my lashline. Then I used a little water and glycerin to apply Shiro Cosmetics Triforce  over the Pixie Epoxied part of my skin. On top of that, I did a thin line of Wet n Wild's Creme Eyeliner in black. Then, put some pencil liner on the inner lids, both top and bottom. The last thing I did was to curl my lashes and apply Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume. 

   I was nervous that I would look like a freak, because the gold was very bright and intense, but I actually got alot of compliments, which was nice because no one ever compliments my face lol. So yep, it was an all around good day. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! And if you've seen the movie and want to talk about it, please comment! I'd love to hear what ya'll thought about it. 

Black History Month Nails!

    With February drawing to a close, I wanted to do a nail look to commemorate Black History Month. I always plan to do a really pretty and complicated look for this, because BHM is near and dear to my heart, but then I'm always too busy and end up rushing it at the end. This year was no exception unfortunately, but I did like what I ended up with.

It was as easy as it looks LOL.

I started with two layers of China Glaze Go Crazy Red and let that dry for about twenty minutes.  Then I put a thick layer of Gelous on my ring finger, let it get tacky, put in the green and black gems, and finished off all my nails with a layer of Barielle's quick drying topcoat. 

Easy peasy. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Close up of accent nail.

I hate how I always get bubbling with jewels. -__-

Ottlite, no flash.

    After finishing it and thinking about it, I do wish that I had done some things differently, because it did come out kind of overly simple, and doesn't really read Black History Month. Like, I feel like you would have to think about the colors to get the connection, which isn't good. The one I did last year was more obvious, so I think I liked it better. But besides that, I think this came out pretty well and enjoyed wearing it. I also got some good wear out of it...I've had it on since Monday, and it still looks pretty presentable, so I am satisfied. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Friday!

I'm going to go watch Coral Reef Adventure in IMAX at the Smithsonian, so I'm really excited. ^_^

Uncle Sam's Tuxedo

    Happy Fourth of July guys!! For Independence Day, I did a tuxedo mani with a bit of an Uncle Sam twist. 

So this was actually pretty easy to do. I started with two layers of Color Club Pretty in Platinum, and then drew on the suit with Zoya Kimmy. I used Funky Fingers Alice and a bobby pin (I lost my brushes and dotting tool...maybe they got left at school) to make the tie and then put a gemstone in as a tie pin. I finished it by using the bobby pin and Pretty in Platinum to make a vaguely lapel-ish thingy, and sealed everything up with a thick coat of Poshe.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Even though this came out janky (as usual), I actually like it. In person, you can't really see all the mistakes, so it looks better. And the sparkliness from Kimmy and Alice make it really festive and fun, and distracted people from noticing how many hot dogs I shoved into my face. I'd like to try it again though when I actually have some real tools, because I wanted a bow tie and not a neck tie. 

I'm gonna go away now because I'm still in a haze from my hotdoghamburgerothermeatsvegetablefruitsodaicedtea rampage this afternoon, and can't really think clearly or even breathe right.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a fabulously amazing Fourth of July! And if you don't celebrate this particular holiday, I hope your Monday was fabulously amazing all the same. ^_^

No Two Are Alike!

            First off, I'd like to give all of you a big hug and thank you, because The Phalanges Files reached 400 readers last night, which is...surreal to me. I'm kind of broke at the moment, so it may take a little bit of time, but I'm going to figure out something that I can do to celebrate the occasion and thank you guys.
        After enjoying Milani Molten Rock on its own for a day, I wasn't in the mood to get rid of it, and decided to mess with it a little bit. Also, I took these pictures on a rather overcast day, so all the pictures are in natural light. 

I used China Glaze 2030 to stamp on the snowflake pattern from Konad plate M20. Then I put in two blue rhinestones in random sunflakes, and sealed everything up with topcoat. 

 

     I really really like how this turned out. But for some reason, I had a ton of trouble getting the whole snowflakes on the stamper...little chunks would just not pick up. I tested it with other paints too, but it just did not work. Maybe my plate is defective or I was scraping it wrong. But most of it got on there, so whatever, I'm happy. LOL. 

Finally, don't forget that today is the last day to enter my Lady of the Lake giveaway! It ends at 11:59 EST, so if you'd like to enter, please go sign up soon! (The graphic in the sidebar will take you to it.)

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday! 

Lazy Person Nail Art (n_n)

        So today's post is going to be really short, since I was too lazy to remove Sally Hansen Grape Going! last night. I didn't want to leave it the same either though, so I used some of this mountain of nail art stuff and made a little spring-y nail look for myself.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    So this was really easy to do and took all of like three minutes. I just used some decals from God knows where...maybe Rite Aid, and a fimo butterfly. I wish I had done some sort of stamping on the background and it's a bit late for spring nails, but overall, I like it! 

Oh yeah, unrelated to this polish, but I wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to be extending my Lady of the Lake Giveaway for an additional three days. I won't be able to get to the post office over the weekend anyway, so I figured why not. The new end date will be June 20, 2011, so if you'd like to enter that, you have a little more time. 

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading!

Burning Hearts

         Happy Valentine's Day!! 
        I actually don't really like Valentine's Day. Back when I was adorable, I was obsessed with it. But as I got older and more....facially challenged, my enthusiasm sort of died down. If I were boss of the world, I would cancel Valentine's Day and just have Christmas twice a year. I feel like that's a much better use of everyone's time.  
        But since it's Valentine's Day and not Christmas Part II, I did some appropriately themed nails anyway.

I started the party with three coats of Color Club Worth the Risque.

Then I stamped on one of the patterns from BM11 with Color Club Where's the Soiree? 

Next came a layer of Gelous, and the heart gems, which I got from Rite Aid. I don't remember the name of the manufacturer though. 

I finished everything off with a thick layer of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, and that was it. 

This was the plate, and I used the pattern on the far left in the bottom row. 

Photo courtesy of http://moriesnailart.weebly.com

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

  This could have been way better if I had made more of a tip, or could have found smaller heart gems. Also, actually putting the gems in straight would have been good. -__-

What also would have been good was if I could have used something more holo...Worth the Risque is already on the weak side, and all the topcoat layers extinguished what little was there. 

     But even with that stuff, I think it's okay. I didn't want to do anything too Valentine's Day-ish, because I'm gonna have to wear this for like three days, so I like how this mani doesn't scream Valentine's Day. It more whispers it in a firm voice. I also really like how the gems look. They catch the light and glow so nicely, like they have little embers in them. 

And that's all I've got for ya today! I hope everyone is having a beautiful Valentine's Day! ^_^

And So The Lion Gobbled Up The Lamb, Like It's Supposed To

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I don't care about Halloween, but everyone makes such pretty manis for the occasion that it's hard to not want to join in. One of my favorite blogs for Halloween-themed designs is Deez Nailz. Her nail art is always so neat and freaking adorable, and I especially like her Dracula post. So I went ahead and copied it. Or tried to, with disastrous results.

Please don't laugh!!

I started with two coats of Color Club Pretty in Platinum. To make the faces sparkle, I applied a thin coat of Nubar Angelic Glitter over each nail. Then I used the Kiss Brush-On Nail Art in black to put on the hair and mouth. The fangs were done with Kiss Brush-On Nail Art in white, and then tipped with Milani Ruby Jewels. I then used a red oval gem for the eyes, and put a dot of black in the center of each gem for pupils. I put angry eyebrows above the gem-eyes, and that was it. No topcoat or anything.

I wish I had used Icing Peacock for the base though, because I think you can't really see the fangs.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I meant for them to look menacing and evil (as vampires ought to be, vicious bloodthirsty creatures that they are), but they just look....special. Especially the pinky one. Its eyes are so crazy, among other things. I feel like if I were accosted by a vampire that looked like this, I instead of dying of fright or exsanguination, I'd die of laughter. Smh!

On a more cheerful note, there's a blog award!! I was tagged for it by the lovely and talented Varnish Vixen, so a giant thank you goes to her. The rules are that I gotta answer some questions, so here we go:

I love Spongebob so much.

1. Why did you create the blog?
 Well, firstly, my polish stash was getting out of control, and I needed a place where I could keep organized pictures and detailed thoughts about each polish. I considered fotki and flickr, but ultimately decided on Blogger. Plus, I wanted to make friends with other nail bloggers because this seemed like such an awesome community (it really is), and I wanted another hobby, because crocheting was getting boring and obsolete since spring was coming. 

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

Mostly nail blogs. I also follow some weight-loss blogs, some hair blogs, and one very special and hilarious blog, Hyperbole and a Half. 

3. Do you have a favorite make-up brand? 
I like covergirl (hate their animal testing though) and milani. 

4. And a favorite clothing brand?
Nope! If it fits and looks okay, it's good enough for me.

5. What make-up products are essential for you?
I don't really wear makeup, but I need to have my Wet n Wild liquid eyeliner, Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse foundation, and Covergirl Lash Blast Luxe or Volume. They make me look human. ^_^

6. What’s your favorite color?
 In general, blue. For nail polish, it's a tie between purple and green, although blue is a close third.

7. What’s your favorite perfume?

Britney Spears Fantasy....don't look at me like that. 

I'm extremely partial to Hidden Fantasy, with Midnight Fantasy running a very close second.

8. What’s the film you liked the most?

Bleh....too hard. But a rule of thumb is if Tim Burton made it, I love it. With the exception of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Favorites specifically are Big Fish, Pan's Labyrinth, Constantine, Zombieland (great Halloween movie), Memoirs of a Geisha, 300, Wedding Crashers and a Beautiful Mind. 

  
9. What countries would you like to go to?

Heehee...you don't even have time to hear this list. I'd love to visit Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, India, Slovenia (Slovenians seem so sweet and friendly), Ecuador via The Galapagos Islands, Peru, Spain, Italy, Russia, The Phillipines, South Korea, Tunisia, Greenland, Brazil, Norway, The Maldives, Tibet.....I just want to go everywhere. ^_^


And now I get to tag people, but I'm gonna be a little unorthodox with it and tag all the blogs I follow. Is evil, no? I blame the Halloween spirit. (n_n)
So if I'm your follower, and you haven't been tagged with this award yet, then consider yourself tagged. Muahahaha! (That's an evil laugh, not a mirthful one.)

Wishing you ladies and any munchkins in your lives a safe and happy Halloween!