For the Love of Purple



New year, new attempt at blogging, all that stuff.

I wanted to start off the year with my favorite color: purple. So I chose two shades that are at the opposite ends of the purple spectrum - the darker purple is OPI's "A Grape Fit!" and the lighter, lavender shade is Revlon's "Lily."  I did the dots with an Orly dotting tool.  It's simple but cute, and I've gotten several compliments on it this week. 

I love the way these 2 colors work together.  And I have to say that A Grape Fit definitely ranks in my top 5 favorite purples.  I've always dreamed of owning a purple baby grand piano, and if I had the means to buy one (and a place big enough to put it!), I would buy it in the color of this nail polish!

I spent a good part of the new year's holiday weekend working on a very ambitious project:  alphabetizing, cataloging and photographing my entire nail polish collection.   I found a handy app on my phone that allowed me to enter each polish into a database that included brand, name, collection, and shade.  The only category I wish it had that it doesn't include is finish, but I was still able to get them all entered.  Along with each entry it allows you to photograph the polish.  So I got them all entered and took a pic of each one.  This was no small task and took me about 5 hours broken up over 2 days. 

The great thing about finishing this project is, I was able to reorganize all my polishes into 2 Helmers and still have 3 drawers left over for supplies.  Plus I put them all in alphabetical order by brand, so I can quickly and easily find exactly the color I'm looking for.  Another bonus of having an accurate record of exactly what polishes I own that it is with me at all times.  It already came in handy today when I went to Sally for buy one Orly get one free.  I picked up 2 different colors that I thought were pretty, checked my database and found that I already owned them both.  Then, I complimented myself on what good taste I have, and put them both back!

The downside to having such an accurate record of all my polishes, is knowing exactly how many I own.  I knew it was going to be a pretty high number, since it had been a really long time since I counted them all, but I have to say I was shocked at the final count.  When I think about how much money this collection represents, it makes me feel a little guilty.  But, then again, I work and I earn my own money and I feel like I can spend it however I want! 

I've been contemplating doing one of those 30-day challenges.  The only reason I've never done one before is I don't want to commit to doing my nails every single day.  I hardly EVER have my nails painted just a plain color - I've always got some kind of nail art on them.  And I'm not that good so it usually takes me a good 2 to 3 hours every time I do them.  So after spending that much time and effort on a mani, I hate the thought of having to take it off every day.  So it's possible I might try one just on my own - but make it more of a 30-manicure challenge wherein I do all the designs but not necessarily in 30 days.

Tomorrow is the first playoff game for the Pack, so I might do some kind of Packer mani tomorrow afternoon.  GO PACK GO!!!!! 

Shatter Polish Vs. OCD

When I first saw shatter/crackle polish in a YouTube video several months ago, I was so enthralled and couldn't wait to get my hands on a bottle of it! I went all over town and finally found it at a salon not far from my house. If they hadn't had it there, I was going to buy it off eBay.

The first one I bought was the basic OPI Black Shatter. I don't have any pictures of it on my nails, because I never ended up even wearing it out of the house. I have just been completely unsuccessful in getting it to look the way I want, which frustrates me to no end.

I've since tried numerous other colors and brands, and I have yet to find one that actually shatters the way I think it should. It's either too thin and the cracks are s small that they are barely visible, or it is too thick and it doesn't crack at all.
Colette is my shatter idol, and if I could get mine to look like she does, I would wear it happily and often.

However, mine usually ends up more like this:



Not only does it not look good to me, it also annoys me that I can't get every finger to look (somewhat) the same. I guess that's kind of the point of shatter/crackle polish in the first place, to have a unique design on each finger, but my OCD just will not let that stand.

So, I've all but given up my pursuit of perfect, crackled nails. I gave the black shatter polish to a girlfriend of mine because I just can't see myself using it anymore. It's too much of a pain for me because if it doesn't look perfect (at least in my mind) then I have to take it off and try again, which also means I probably have to reapply the base coat too.

Way too much trouble.

So because of all this shatter drama, it made me even more interested in the Konad Stamping System. And I finally got one this weekend! More on that later. :)