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! 

China Glaze Electrify

   Hi guys! For today, I have the second (and last) polish that I got from China Glaze's Colors from the Capitol collection, Electrify.

Electrify is a bunch of small, bright gold and slightly larger red hex glitter in a clear base. There's alot of red, but more gold. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

        Electrify was named for District 5 (which is in charge of giving electricity to all of Panem) and happens to be my absolute favorite polish from the collection. At the most superficial level, I love this because it's ridiculously sparkly and fun, and ya'll know how I feel about GLITTAH. But I also like that you can see how the district fits in with the polish, and I can also see some other Hunger Games stuff in there too, like the girl on fire costume and even the cornucopia. My only sadness is that more of the collection didn't come out like this, but I guess my wallet is relieved about that. But bottom line, Electrify is magic. Get you some. 

    Formula-wise, Electrify was good. I used three coats for the pictures and was really happy with the coverage. However, Electrify does dry gritty and dull, so to get the most out of it, I needed two layers of topcoat: one thick layer of Gelous and another thick layer of Poshe on top. It was hellish to remove, but at least everything dried lightning quick and was absolutely gorgeouss. 

But that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading guys, and have an awesome Thursday!! ^_^

China Glaze Riveting

I know my last post was full of orangeness, but I guess I have one more for you guys still. Here's China Glaze Riveting, from their Colors of The Capitol Collection. 

Riveting is a vibrant but slightly burnt orange jelly base with tons of golden glass-flecks floating in it. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    When I heard that China Glaze was doing a Hunger Games themed collection, I was really excited. I've always considered them to be one of the more creative mainstream brands out there and THG included some incredible visuals for them to draw from, so I really thought they would turn out some magic. I ended up being really disappointed though....the collection was so boring and in my opinion, not worthy of being associated with THG. I know that's kind of harsh, but this is nail polish and books/movies. It's not a game, people! 

     But in all the gloom and doom, Riveting (inspired by District 3, which supplies Panem with technological goodies) was one bright spot. And I do mean bright...the shade of orange is one of those awesome ones that are deep but still very vibrant and eye-catching. I also love how the glass-flecks sparkle in the sunlight, but in regular light, glow with this gorgeous intensity. They also stand out well against the base shade, and the whole thing works together to be an amazingly satisfying and beautiful polish. It kept a smile on my face all day and also won me a few compliments, which was nice. 

    Riveting also features a fab formula. I only needed two layers of polish for full opacity, although I think three is needed for the maximum depth of color. I used three for the pictures. But anyway, the polish went on super-smoothly, was easily controlled, and dried quickly with no incident. I am such a happy camper with Riveting. It's absolutely marvelous.

But that's all I've got for today! 

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having an awesome Saturday!

Who Likes Orange Polish?

  Chi-Chi doesn't like orange polish. I don't, I don't, I doooooooon'tttt. I don't like orange things in general. Except for orange foods, but that's just because I'm greedy and do not discriminate against food. But with the warmer weather we've been having lately, I've been in the mood for it. Orange polish, I mean. So last week, I wore a couple and was pleasantly surprised. Maybe I like orange polish after all lol.

First, I wore Barielle Joytini. 

All pictures are with an Ottlite, no flash. 

Joytini is a bright, but kind of light cantaloupe jelly-creme hybrid. 

    Joytini is a great color for spring...it just has that soft, milkiness that goes well with the feeling of the season. I also thought it was very flattering on my skin and loved the shiny, slightly jelly finish. What I didn't like was applying Joytini. The formula was very sheer and needed about four or five coats to be opaque. Of course, my nails got all thick and unattractive because of all the coats, which ruined the softness of the color somewhat. In the future, I'll have to use underwear with it.

And then I wore China Glaze Papaya Punch.

These pictures are in sunlight, with no flash.

Papaya Punch is a bold yellow-orange creme.

   Papaya Punch is a fun one! It's bright and tropical-looking, without being neon, and makes me feel like I should be laying somewhere on the beach. Wearing it, I am reminded of Sunny Delight, which is disgusting to the taste, but quite pleasing to the eyes. And while I liked it on my hands and even got a few compliments on it, but I think I might even like it more on my toes in the summertime. It's just one of those colors, you know? Formula-wise, it was also pretty agreeable. It was kind of thick, so I only needed two coats, and they went on fairly easily. The wear on Papaya Punch was not so good though. I wore it for about three or four days and while there were no chips, every single nail had cracks running through the polish. It was horrific, and I found myself actually wishing for chips so I would have a real excuse to remove it lol. 

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