Hanami is Ephemeral

It is Wednesday again, time for Go Pink Wednesday!

 

Another reminder to feel the girls every month.  Any changes, go see a doctor!  As a daughter and a niece of breast cancer survivors I can assure you that prevention is crucial!

My aunt found her tumor in a self-exam.  She caught it in stage 1.

My mother found her tumor in a routine mammogram.  She also caught it in stage 1.

This is why both of them are survivors.  The earlier the cancer is caught, the far better chance for survival!

Today I picked a pair of pretty pink polishes from Rainbow Honey.  I started off with 2 coats of Ephemeral, a light shimmery pink.  I have to say the application on this one was a mess.  It was extremely thick to apply and needed a lot of effort to get it to apply properly.  This is the reason that there are no photos of this by itself, I simply didn't have any good ones to show.  I added thinner to this for future use as was recommended to me by the manufacturer.  Mind you this is a week old brand new bottle.  So bottom line is, beautiful color, but needs some love to get it to apply properly. 

Then I put one coat of Hanami on over top.  Hanami is a beautiful pink top coating polish.  This polish was more in line with the other Rainbow Honey polishes I've applied, it applied easily.  It was a perfect consistency and spread easily on the nail.   

I think the combo of these two looked perfect to me and so I'm glad I stuck it out with Ephemeral.

Both of these polishes are part of Rainbow Honey's Pink Promotion that donates a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer research.  For more details go here. 

Please check out the amazing bloggers who also have joined in for Go Pink Wednesday.  I have found so many great blogs through this event, I encourage you all to click on the links and find some new amazing blogs! 

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Noot gets Gobsmacked

I was in a dark and stormy mood when I painted my nails, so these colors called to me.  To start out I had two coats of Zoya Noot, a perfect grey for a stormy mood.  As with all of my Zoyas, this went on like a dream.  Their polish is really amazing, I've yet to be disappointed.  It is so easy to control with the brush, easy to clean up because you have such great control and goes on easily.

Then I topped it with one coat of Butter, London Gobsmacked, a beautiful grey shimmer polish.  Together these were just stunning and I loved the combination.  Sort of like lightening to cut through the storm.  Again, this polish was also perfection in one easy coat.  I felt it was sheer enough that it needed a base coat underneath, and I loved how these two paired together.

Doing my nails always makes me happy anyway.  :-)

Until next time!

Zoya Noot

Gobsmacked

Close up!

Zoya and Butter, London polishes can be purchased at Ulta.

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Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is pregnancy and infant loss awareness day.  I honor all of those mothers who have had to say goodbye to a sweet angel.  Sadly, I know too many of these mothers.  

After trying for nearly a year I got pregnant with my first child.  At 7 weeks my ultrasound showed no viable fetus.  My blood work was redone and it was found my levels were all plummeting.  A week later a follow up ultrasound showed that miscarriage was eminent, still not viable fetus and I needed to have surgery immediately.  I sobbed and sobbed.  Even at only 8 weeks that child was a part of my heart and my life. 

It was one of those times where I was dying inside and the rest of the world simply moved on with life.  I was the only one left to remember the baby I lost, the future I dreamed of.  Coming on the heels of losing my father, I felt like with my dad I lost part of my past, with my unborn child I lost part of my future.  

I went on to have two beautiful and healthy sons that I am thankful for.

Knowing how hard losing a baby at 8 weeks was, my heart goes out for those that I love who have lost children at 20+ weeks, whose babies have been born still, who have held their infant children in their arms until they took their last breath.  I simply can't imagine.  I've cried with them, I've listened to them, I think about them all of the time.  

The thing about pregnancy and infant loss is that it seems so "taboo".  We don't want to tell anyone we are pregnant early on, because "what if".  But as someone who had the "what if" happen, it was awful to have to go through that without the support of my friends and family.  So I told them all anyway.  They never had a chance to share my joy, only my pain.  

Light a candle tonight for all of those babies who have gone before us long before they should have.  For all of the mothers whose arms still ache without their babies in them.  

For this manicure, I started off with Essie Instant Hot, a soft pink hued white.  I striped the tips with my Milani Silver Nail Art bottle because it reminded me of a halo.  Then for the ribbon, I did the blue half with Zoya Skylar and the Pink half with Zoya Kissy.  To top it all off I wanted something ethereal, so I went with a coat of Essie Pure Pearlfection.

I have to say I loved this so much.  It turned out perfect, exactly what I wanted.  Soft, delicate and from the heart.

Debbie, my dear friend, this is for you and your beautiful Sophia.  <3

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Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

The theme for the Girly Girl Nail Art Challenge this week is "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice".

I decided to try out some nail art.

I started off with three coats of China Glaze Exquisite, the perfect shimmery pink.  Then I did chevrons freehand on the tip using China Glaze Hello, Gorgeous! from their new United line promoting breast cancer awareness.

I loved Exquisite because it reminds me of sugar, soft and shimmery.  Then Hello, Gorgeous!  is like the spice on the tips.

I was pretty happy with how this turned out.

China Glaze can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta.

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Mauving the Frozen Treats to Manitoba

I started off with two coats of OPI Mauving to Manitoba.  This was a generous ROAK from a friend that I got on a day that I was feeling really down.  As soon as I saw it, I knew this was the base I had been looking for for Candy Lacquer Frozen Treats, you see two coats of Frozen Treats in the photos below. 

The formula on the OPI was great, I was worried as my applications with frosty types of polishes never goes well, but this one defied my curse.  I loved the color next to my skin tone as well.

Frozen Treats went on like a dream, was easy to get on the nail and laid down very well.

It looks deeper at certain angles.

 Adding Frozen Treats overtop.  I loved how the shine of Mauving for Manitoba brought this whole look together.

Close up of the glitters - gorgeous!

Candy Lacquer can be found at her Big Cartel store.  OPI can be purchased at Ulta.

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Defying Gravity

Today's manicure is another Halloween theme (prepare yourself to see a lot of them!).  I took one look at the bottle shot of Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Wicked and I knew I had to own it.

The green shimmer jelly base is evocative of Elpheba's skin tone (the Wicked Witch of the West).  The added in red and black mini hexes, white medium hexes and these amazing circular large black glitters.  It was surprisingly easy to get these big black circles from bottle to nail.  You see two coats on my nails below.  This mani did need a good top coat of Gelous to smooth it out.

Because Wicked is so sheer, I layered it over two coats of China Glaze Tree Hugger.

Such a great and amazing combination.  I've always had such a deep love for the amazing Whimsical Ideas by Pam's polishes.  This is no exception!

Close up of the shimmer!  WOW.

China Glaze can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply.  Whimsical Ideas by Pam can be ordered through email, for details check her Facebook page.

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Rumplestiltzkin does some Hocus Pocus

Today's post is the amazing OPI Rumples Wiggin from the Shrek collection.  A friend found this at her local CVS and was nice enough to buy it for me and ship it.  I love this purple creme!  You see two coats below.  Applies perfectly with great coverage.

Then I put two coats of F4 Hocus Pocus.  I scored the entire set of their Halloween line and I loved the color spread on this one, black and purple mini-hexes with larger green hexes thrown in.  The coverage was perfect and as with all of my F4 polishes, applied perfectly and had great wear time.  

Rumples Wiggin by itself.  (excuse the cuticles, my son was ill so I was washing my hands near constantly).

Hocus Pocus on top.  Such a fun polish!

Check out the gorgeous glitter spread!

F4 Polishes can be purchased at their Etsy Store.  OPI can be purchased at Ulta.

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Pink Water Marble

It is Go Pink Wednesday again!

Another reminder to feel the twins often!  Just remember, the earlier it is caught, the better.

Some facts for you from the Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2011-2012 paper.  

In 2011 it is estimated that there was 57,650 new cases of In Situ breast cancer, 230,480 Invasive breast cancers, and 39,520 deaths caused by breast cancer.

In 2011.

These are our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, our aunts, US.

The only other cancer with a larger death toll for women is lung cancer.

Of all women who have cancer, 1 in 3 of them will have breast cancer.  The good news is in every year since 1990, breast cancer deaths have decreased.  This is in large part due to early detection and better treatment. 

Today I tried for a water marble.  Meh, as with all of my water marbles, I get like 2-3 good nails and the rest suck.  I won't even show you my right as it was a disaster of epic proportions.

I used 2 coats of OPI Pedal Faster Suzi as a base.  For the marble I used OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips, OPI If You Moust You Moust, Zoya Kissy and Sally Hanson White On.

Close ups of my favorite nails:

Here there was some spread in the water, so you really can see Pedal Faster Suzi well.

This one shows the least amount of colors, but I love it the most.

OPI and Zoya can be purchased at Ulta, Sally Hanson can be purchased Ulta or any local beauty stores.



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The Huntsman gets a Germanicure

Today I have one of the OPIs from the Germany Collection - German-icure.  This was one of those polishes the minute I saw I knew I had to have!  It is a gorgeous polish that applies easily and completely.  I believe I used two coats in the first photo.

Then I sponged one of the polishes I finally snagged on ebay, the Snow White  Collection from Essence.  Here you see the Huntsman, a collection of gold glitter.  At certain angles, the gold will flash green.

I loved this combo, so very pretty!

German-icure by itself.

Essence The Huntsman

Here you can see the gold is changing to green with the different angle/background.

Close up!  

OPI can be purchased at Ulta.  Essence polishes can also be purchased there, but for this collection, you need to go to eBay or find a European friend to swap with!

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