Yeah, well, um.

So I generally do my manis in the early evenings, after work. And yeah, yesterday I had plans to do my pink mani.

And then I came home and slept for four hours. ::scratches head:: So yeah. Not so much with the pink.

I'm actually having a bit of an issue with tiredness, as you may be able to tell. The godforsaken boulder from Hell -- aka renal calculus, aka kidney stone -- left me with some unexpected anemia, and man, it's kicking my not-insubstantial booty. I think I could sleep 18 hours a day if it were allowed.

And also: Hmm, I am evidently besotted with this Nfu Oh polish. I kept staring at it yesterday, and this morning instead of doing a new mani I added a third coat and another top coat. It is even MORE ravishing. I honestly think this is the polish for the stranded-on-a-desert-island scenario. I love it that much.

So of course I had to order more polishes. There's a blue flakie and a green flakie on their way to me, along with one of the holographic polishes -- pinkish, I believe.

I also like my current length. It's long enough to be pleasing without being talons.

Oh, this polish is killer. I feel like kissing the bottle. That sounds like a game we played in junior high, doesn't it? Heh.

So: Fail with the pink this week. But utter WIN with the new polish. ::swoon::

Okay, this is not pink.

Although it is Pink Wednesday. BUT! I went back to work yesterday, which was VERY much a Monday for me. Which makes today functionally my Tuesday. Which means! Tomorrow is Pink Wednesday, not today! \o/

Yes, I know you saw what I did there.

The REASON today is not Pink Wednesday is -- impatience. I got my bottle of Nfu Oh 51 the other day and I could not wait any longer to try it.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh la la, yes, now I see why so many people freak over this line of polish, and this color too. I did not know enough about it to layer it, and so it is a bit sheer and unevenly applied, but OH.

I do now think it would be even more spectacular layered over a dark complementary polish -- I think I'll try it over Russian Navy and see what happens. But oh, it is gorgeous. The flakies are SO PRETTY. Gahhhh.

(I've, erm, blanked out the booboo for your eyes' safety. Lightning bolt in honor of Harry Potter.)

In a very blurry photo suddenly showing me how desperately my carpet needs vacuuming, here is a candid shot of Bei Bei the Tailless Wonder Kitten, complete with Mini-Me Toy. Light of my life, and bane of the existence of Mei Mei the Older and FAR More Sophisticated Cat Who Came First, Damn That Little Red-Haired Usurper.

And one of these days I'm going to get my cuticles and fingertips under control again. But. Evidently that day is slower in coming than I'd like. Bleh.

Pink tomorrow! ;-)

Booboo in pink.

The past week has been MOLTO difficile, and I strongly recommend against ever acquiring a kidney stone. Last Sunday and Monday -- well, let's just say that this revised pain chart accurately depicts it, as in TOO SERIOUS FOR NUMBERS.

And then taking all gorram week to feel remotely human again. I don't even know. The upshot of which, nail-wise, is cuticles ripped to shreds. I am sparing you the bulk of the horror. One picture only, and the worst booboo is kindly blacked out.

The polish, however, is so much fun! Another of my gift OPIs, Ladies and Magenta-men. LOOOOOOOOOOVE.

I get my stent removed tomorrow, and I hope that this marks the end of this decidedly unpleasant episode. Then to attempt to heal the nail damage and forge ahead. Ugh.

Drinks LOTS OF WATER, folks! Water is your bestest, bestest BFF!

First of the new haul

My friend has awesome taste, and picked out some colors I am just dying to try. First off is OPI Significant Other Color. It looks pale purple/metallic in the bottle, but my skin pulls the pink in shade. In the sun, though, holy cow, iridescent green shimmer! My camera had a small cerebrovascular incident trying to capture the green in the sun, but wowie.

I saw some commentary on this polish here and there that mentioned it being sheer. It is a bit sheer, but honestly? This is two coats, and I have only a tiny bit of VNL. Now, I like a bit of VNL so it's not problematic. But also I use Nailtek Foundation II base coat/ridge filler, which is a bit opaque, so that could explain why I got decent (IMO) coverage from two coats.

I really, REALLY like this. Indoors it does go a bit on the pinky/lavender side, which is very pretty. Again, not the easiest to capture for some reason.

And in the sun it really sings.

SO PRETTY! Anyone else tried this?

Oh, Pink Wednesday --

-- you snuck up on me. I'm just not feeling up to doing anything nail-related tonight, still sorta bleh-feeling, but I CAN say --

YAY!!!!! I got a delightful package from a friend, with six new-to-me OPIs inside! And she knows my taste and chose the most glorious colors. There's a fuchsia that I really, really wanted to do for Wednesday, but anyway -- oh man.

So I'm pretty much set for some time, because I still have about five polishes in addition to those that I haven't yet tried. And I'm really wanting to give stamping another try. I read some tips about scuffing the pad before picking up the polish, and I think that's the part I was missing.

Time for a visit from my new best friend, H. Codone. Hy for short. Y'all have a lovely evening and hopefully I'll be back on course for next week's Pink Wednesday.

Hello, with a side dose of whining.

I had no idea how much it REALLY wasn't my week last week. Nor this one. Yeah, a little surgery yesterday, got out today, felt awesome, now feeling -- way not so awesome. Word to the wise: Be kind to your kidneys and ureters. They are not the forgiving sorts.

And I had the same polish on for days and days, and I was so TIRED of it but, yeah, sick as the proverbial dog, and all I wanted to do when I came home was paint my nails. But by the time I actually got around to it, I felt cruddy again, so I've done the worst manicure of my life, and will only subject you to two pics. If I were you I would not click on the enlargements. I had LOTS of time to royally screw up my cuticles. And bleh, bad painting.

I did have a new polish to try -- OPI Russian Navy -- and I adore it. Only realized after I'd finished that it's supposed to have a suede finish. Oh well! C'est la vie and alla that.

I...think I'm gonna go not feel so good now. But looking at all the polish blogs updates just really cheers me up. There is just so much new pretty out there!

Ciao bellas.

Well, best-laid plans.

Pink Week was a bust, unfortunately. I'm in the midst of experiencing that infamous state of affairs: the kidney stone. My nails have gone utterly by the wayside.

Regular service will resume presently. I have good meds and lots of drinkables, and that's about all I can ask for at this point. Short of a house falling on me.

(I almost said "Short of the Vogons showing up to create way for a new interstellar bypass." Which is symptomatic of my re-reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Along with my conviction that kidney stones probably feel about like it would to listen to Vogon poetry.)

(Anyone else ever listen to the BBC radio broadcast from back in the day? It is pure and utter brilliance. I have a huge set on cassette tape somewhere. I'm not however sure I still have a cassette player. Hrrm.)

Wishing you all cool days and excellent health.

Pink Week, Wednesday edition

This week's festival of daily pinks interrupted by yesterday's, well, this:

In the midst of a highly aggravating phone call to an insurance company at work yesterday, I went OW, and realized I'd just ripped the ever-loving bejebus out of my left thumb. That is to say, yes, the left thumb lateral nail fold. So I have a booboo. I put the bandaid on to keep myself from worrying at it.

In any case, I bared the horror to the world again today, and oh well. It is what it is.

Tonight's Pink Wednesday polish is OPI Play the Peonies. Which is, honestly, juuuuust baaaaaaarely pink at all. Any paler and it'd be white. I missed the evening sun again (what IS it about days getting shorter so FAST, so soon after the solstice? I realize it's probably my imagination, but MAN), and I'm not certain you can make out any pink at all. Nonetheless, erm, supposed to be mega-pale pink.

I really disliked this after the first coat. Ick. Wonky to apply, and sorta streaky. And then I did a second coat and some Poshe top coat, and now I fancy it pretty well.

I admired this polish a great deal when I was seeing it on others. I can't say I'm just nuts about it on myself, but I don't hate it. It's nice. I just wish it were REALLY sheer. I guess I'm weird, but I like some VNL. What I'd love to find is a very, very, very sheer milky green. Like jade for your fingers. Anyone know of such a thing? For some reason it just sounds yummy to me.

Now I shall take my whiter-shade-of-pink nails and crispy-fried tater-tot cuticles and go play Cityville. Y'all have a great evening.

Pink Week!

In honor of the *cough*five*cough* pink polishes I got this weekend, it's now Pink Week over here at NWR. \o/ I loves me some pink, I guess you could say. None of these are new polishes to anyone but me, but that's okay! Yay pink!

Tonight/tomorrow day is OPI Princesses Rule! And I LOVES ME IT. Sadly I missed the sunshine tonight, and my pics all came out somewhat-to-very blurry. I sharpened these as best I could, but nothing special.

All left hand tonight. I have come to the conclusion that I am insufficiently hardcore yet. Today was fiendishly busy at work, and I just tend to forget to apply any lotion or oil to my hands.

And...okay, I confess it. I have ripped my right hand nearly to shreds the past few days. That old miserable lateral nail fold. I'm far, FAR too embarrassed to show the world my right hand. Left is bad enough -- witness that poor index finger there -- but oh, the right is so bad.

So. Back to rehab. Problem is, I do much of the damage unconsciously, stranded on the phone at work, that sort of thing. Too late, I look down and YOWIE, poor fingers.

Wish me luck. I may purposefully blur my pics for the next week or so, so's to save your eyes from the horror.

In closing: PIIIIIIIIIINK. \o/

Green again.

I tried a green a month or so ago, and was not particularly happy. Translation: Could not get it off my nails fast enough. Lobster hands, something, but yellow/apple green, she does not flatter me:

Friends STRONGLY recommended cooler greens to me. I didn't take the plunge until recently, and I'm more pleased now. This particular polish is China Glaze Watermelon Rind. Seems a bluer green indoors, a very clear cool green outdoors.

I saw a couple of reviews which pointed out it's pretty sheer; appears people were doing three coats. I don't mind VNL, and it seemed okay to me, so this is two coats. It's probably a little too Christmas-y for me at the moment, but I do like the color.

I also hit up the Mecca of OPI polishes locally, Drug Emporium, and now have a number of new additions to try out. PINKS! I got all but one of the Nice Stems collection. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Soon.....

Well. Bleh.

Sorry for the brief hiatus; things somewhat busy and frantic this week around here.

I found out I'm having mail and packages stolen from my porch, among them a much-anticipated shipment of polishes from a dear friend. CUE SOBBING. No kidding.

So I rented a PO box, and took myself to Sally's last night for some retail cheer. One of the polishes that caught my eye was an unfamiliar brand -- Nina Ultra Pro -- in Molten Gold. (Molten Copper also, but I finally went with Gold since it had a tiny bit of pink duocolor in it.)

Erm. Not with so much of the liking. It's thick, maybe old, not sure, and for no reason I can determine it's -- ugh -- bubbly. The pink hardly shows, and not at all in the photos. Mostly it looks like a rather brassy gold.

I'm also using a new top coat, Out the Door, and I guess it's all right. But it doesn't go on as cleanly as Poshe. And man, I don't like the smell. I don't mind regular polish-smells, normally, but this one smells fairly foul. Works all right, I guess.

Possibly I should apologize for my cuticles yet again. But really: I hate this polish so much I'm going to blame everything on it instead. See what I did there? (ETA: Oh, that booboo on my index fingers looks just horrid. It doesn't hurt, and I'm surprised it looks like such a WOUND. Yeeeikes. Sorry about that!)

So. Feh. I got a new China Glaze that's very interesting, so I may change to that shortly. Green!

We're...in the pink, still.

I fail at remembering to hold off on my new pink mani until today -- I posted the pics last night, even though I actually wore that mani today. Anyway! So, erm, peek at yesterday for today's actual, uh, pink Wednesday.

In my defense I'll say that last week's root canal is still problematic, for some reason, and the dentist's office is closed for vacation this week, which means, y'know, sucking it up until next week, I guess. Take care of your teefs, y'all, you'll be glad you did.

Also shakeups at work. But for dinner tonight we had surprise!barbecue with all the homemade trimmings, and that never fails to please. (I am going to HOUND my cousin for her potato salad recipe. Man, that shit was a FOOD GROUP. So good I could cry, even if I did have to chew on one side of my mouth. Hey. I was motivated.)

Monday? No, Tuesday. No -- Monday.

I've been confused all day.

Was looking forward to tonight's polish, a new one for me, last of my Ativan-fueled shopping last week. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 260, So Much Fawn. I'm hard-pressed to say exactly what color this is. It's a slightly brown-tinged pink, except when it looks like a dusty rose. However, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Indoors, using the new *eek* camera:

Couple of outdoor shots:

I'm very much happier with the shape of my nails this week. The square/squoval look is growing on me, and I'm looking forward to gaining a little length back.

Now, to smear this entire tin of shea butter on my fingertips. Y'all have a good one -- hey, we actually had some minor amount of water fall from the sky today. Is the end of the Great Drought of 2010-11 over? Not yet. Stay tuned.

(Trivia for the day: Around here, many, many people pronounce it "drouth." I have no idea why, but both my parents do it, along with lots of others. Can't figure it.)

Hoooly hot dog!

My mom has a later generation of the Coolpix -- 7600 -- and it has a better macro function on it.

Annnnnnnnnnd, ah, yeah, my nails are SO NOT READY for their closeup.

::cringes:: Wow. That's pretty damn unforgiving, that close. Hiiijo.

NOT coming to a blog near you, until I can, I don't know. Muster up my nerve.

Happy 4th!

Outside the air is fragrant with wet grass and barbecue grills. Guess people are watering the yards, because ain't no rain fallen here. Still, clouds and still only around 80*, so I won't complain too much.

I gave some thought to trying out some sort of American-flag mani today, but at this point red will have to do. I might get adventuresome later. ;)

Milani Ready to Wear Red. I've worn this once before and really liked it, and still do. It's creamy and levels itself out well, a definite plus for Ms. Shaky-Hands here.

I began looking at cameras yesterday, and may go with the nth-generation from my current one -- I have a Nikon Coolpix 4100, and looking at an S8100. Not too horribly pricey, and will allow some features I don't currently have.

There's just something about deep vampy red that I cannot resist.

Have a happy and safe holiday, you Americans out there celebrating, and see you later!

Recidivism

Mani later. But first:

Watched a movie last night, and suddenly in the midst of things exploding and developing intrigue I realized I was --

ARGH --

nibbling my cuticles.

What an awful habit, and awfully hard to stop. I hate to lose ground after working pretty gorram hard to get them in better shape. It's not horrible, yet -- no blood, ugh -- but my right thumb and index finger are rough and unpleasant. I've done my best this morning with trimming, and will be moisturizing like crazy.

But I wonder if I need to do some kind of MAJOR trimming. The trouble is that my cuticles are never soft. Even at their best they are hard and callus-y, and they crack if you look at them funny, no matter how much goop I smear all over them.

What do you do with the Intransigent Cuticle? The brick-hard long-term repeat offender? I'm not even sure this part of the fingertip IS the cuticle. The cuticle at the base of my nails is perfectly fine. It's the sides of my fingers, esp. at the tips. For all I know this could be pure callus and scar tissue. Ew, that doesn't sound good, but really -- it ISN'T good. It's frustrating and exasperating. But if I trim off too much I wind up with a bit of a cavern there, and I really run the risk of taking too much and wounding it.

Maybe this is something I just have to shrug off. The actual cuticles are decent. I need to go consult Loodie's chart and see what this part of the fingertip is actually called. Uh, it may just be called "skin." Abused, calloused skin.

EDIT: Okay, according to Loodie's chart, this portion of the nail is called the lateral nail fold. And HOLY ORANGE STICKS BATMAN are there some gross pictures if you Google that term.

MY EYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Hokay. My lateral nail folds are not as bad as all that, it appears. And I refuse to consult Google again. There be dragons.

(However, after making my eyes bleed just now, I deduce that I'm pretty damn lucky not to have given myself some sort of far worse problem, as much abuse as my cuticles and skin have endured over the years. HOOOOOLY dooly.)

Does anyone else have trouble with the lateral nail fold area? Keeping it soft and supple? We talk a lot about trimming the cuticle, but what about this lateral area? Is it safe to trim? Are there any therapies that can soften it up when it's hardened to nearly as resilient as the nail itself?

Wow, my pictures suck.

Sorry for the exceptionally poor quality of the shots tonight. Missed my daylight shots -- was busy mainlining most of the entire season of Game of Thrones (holy crap) -- so it's flash city with my little camera.

I was inspired by Loodie Loodie Loodie's paean to milky white polish and remembered I had a new polish picked up during the Ativan-enhanced trip the other day. Her pictures are, I'm sure I do not need to add, so vastly superior to my own as to make me, uh. Really plan on getting a new camera one of these days. And less shaky hands.

Essie Mademoiselle. Not white, but such a milky pale pink that the difference is negligible.

I flooded my cuticles a bit there, sorry, but what a pretty, pretty pale polish. I wonder why milky is so attractive, but I do find it so.

I also noticed I... ::scratches head:: ...need to work on the shaping a bit. But! Tra la, live to fight another day.

Y'all have a good night now. And be safe this weekend. No fireworks for Looooobock TX this year.