Here's another oldie but goodie!! I've had this one on the back burner since the Purple Crumpet Fairy Spring Challenge! Ah! The wonderful Miss Claire featured it on her blog during our guest post challenge so I thought I'd save it for awhile before showcasing it here on my own blog.  I was sort of inspired by some nails that were featured ages ago on The Daily Nail blog.  Mine aren't nearly as lovely as Melissa's but I think they came out rather well anyway!  I love retro designs and even though I've been really anti-animal print leopard is so easy and it always looks so cool on your nails!  I've started to really like doing it!  In fact it's kind of become my go-to pattern when I'm feeling a little lax on the art side of things.  Now zebra on the other hand...that might have to grow on me some more!  These have a retro vibe too which I adore. :)  I hope you all enjoy and thanks for following!!

Base is OPI Red and Models Own Concrete Mixer.  Leopard is China Glaze Ingrid and Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black.

These are some nails I've had sitting in my blog cache for awhile.  Awhile back there was a huge Tiffany & Co. nail art trend going on and since I'd done them just before, I wanted to wait a bit to let it die down before throwing mine into the bunch!! But since I was just at Tiffany & Co. a few days back...I thought it was a good time to do it!  I started with a base of For Audrey.  There are two different versions of For Audrey and one is a bit more green than the other.  I think mine is the more blue version and it's lovely though not EXACTLY the color of the Tiffany box.  Then I stamped on some bows and added in Audrey with some stamping and a bit of free handing to finish her out.  I think they came out pretty nice considering!  I'm still working on my stamping and some of the bows are a little lower or higher than the others but I kind of liked that better when I finished because it makes it look less uniform. Thanks for following!! I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

May has finally arrived and that means it's time for my May Make-over Rehab Your Nails series!  Each week there will be one post about getting your nails healthy and in shape!  At the end of the month there will be a giveaway of products to help you get your nails looking their best! :)  If the series does well, and it seems to be something you guys are interested in learning more about, I'll continue it throughout the year but at a slower rate!  As always, there will be a new sidebar for you to click to easily access these posts and there will be a tab at the top of my blog for easy access as well (look for it when the giveaway goes up!)  So without further delay...here's Part One of the series!!

How to Properly Remove Acrylic Nails:

It's prom time here (and prime wedding time!) and I'm noticing a lot of people with acrylic nails.  Many of those only have acrylics this time of year and therefore are eager to remove them when the event is over.  But removing acrylic nails improperly can actually do severe damage to your nails!  And most people, even those who are trying to remove them properly, are still causing damage to their nails that they don't need to.  So here's how to do it properly and cause your nails the LEAST amount of damage possible!*

*Side note:  Improper application of acrylics as well as cheap product can also cause damage to your natural nail.  Whenever possible, try to go to a nice salon with a good reputation for doing nail enhancements.  Yes, you will pay more for your nails but you will also save yourself a lot of pain and your nails will last longer and look much nicer!

These are the basic supplies you need to remove your acrylics:

1. 100% Pure Acetone: resist the urge to get the kind with additives.  It just slows down the process and it won't damage your nails any more or less.

2. A small bowl: I'm using a miso soup bowl. This is optional but will speed up the process.

3. A glass cup: I'm using a shot glass. A dappen dish will also work. It should fit inside the small bowl comfortably and also accommodate at least two fingers.  If you're not using a bowl then choose a glass dish/bowl which will comfortably accommodate your fingers.

4. Cotton balls, pledgets, or cotton pads: your choice. Whichever you normally use to remove your polish is fine.

5. Buffers: This is a 320/400 and a 180.  You can choose any grit above 180 but I recommend at least having a 220/400 so that you can get your nails as smooth as possible after removal.

6, Orange wood Stick: For removing the acrylic

Other optional supplies include:

1. A nail file: This is a 180/400 OPI file. It's good for shaping nails after removal

2. Nail Brush: These are pretty cheap at nail supply stores. It's good for getting the acrylic dust off your nails.

3. Cuticle Oil: To treat your cuticles after removal.  I'm using OPI Avoplex

4. Nail Strengthener: This is Nail Envy.  Since nails are often thin after removal this is great for helping them bounce back.

5. Lotion: To treat your skin after removal.  This is because of the drying effect of the acetone.  Avoid AHA lotions for this purpose and choose one with intensive moisturizers. This is Hempz lotion.

Tips:  Try to wait until you're two weeks out of an acrylic application before removal.  The more of your undamaged natural nail that you have to work with, the better your nails will fare.  To set up, fill your small bowl 2/3 full with hot water (NOT BOILING!!!).  Then fill the glass dish 2/3 full with acetone and sit it inside the bowl.  This will heat the acetone and speed up the removal process.  DO NOT MICROWAVE ACETONE OR PUT IT ON A STOVE.   This method is the ONLY safe way to heat acetone.  Lightly buff the surface of your nail before submerging it into the acetone.

Step One:  Submerge nail(s) for 10 minutes in warm acetone.

 This is what your nail(s) will look like after 10 minutes in the acetone solution.  Now you can use your orange wood stick to GENTLY push the acrylic off your nails.  Lay it on the top of the first layer of acrylic (DO NOT attempt to push from the base of the acrylic where it meets the nail plate. You want to remove the top layers before the base layers) and gently, at an angle, push the acrylic towards the top of the nail.

The acrylic should 'flake' off with little pressure.  If it gets difficult to push it then you need to soak the nails again.  I soak in five minute intervals after the initial ten.  Before submerging back into the acetone, use an acetone soaked cotton ball or pledget to swipe the loose acrylic off your nail.

Continue this process until all or most of the acrylic is removed. You may notice if your nails are particularly thin that pushing, even gently, on your nail plate is painful after awhile.  If that happens you can use your buffer to LIGHTLY buff the remaining acrylic off your nail.  Just be sure to use gentle pressure and keep the buffer parallel to your nail plate.

On the left you'll see my nail with the acrylic removed and just gently buffed with the 320 side of my buffer.  On the right is my nail after buffing a second time LIGHTLY with my 400 buffer and then brushed with the nail brush.  At this point, for all intents and purposes, you're finished.  That said, you might want to give your nails a little boost to keep them healthy while the damaged parts are growing out.  Do that by applying your cuticle oil over the ENTIRE nail and the cuticle and leaving it for at least five minutes.  You can also wrap them in hot towels to assist them in soaking up the oil.  Then apply lotion to your hands.  Gently wipe the nail plate with alcohol or acetone to cleanse it and then apply your nail strengthener according to directions.  I found that using the Nail Envy not only kept my nails stronger, but it also soothed them. They HURT a lot when my acrylic was first off but the Nail Envy really helped ease the pain.  If your nails are VERY thin it might be best to cut them to below the top of your fingers as well to prevent damage.

Tada! Finished, acrylic-free nails!  The arrows point to the thin areas of my nails where they were prepped for the acrylics.  I also had tips on my nails at some point so you'll notice closer to the free edges that there are some white-ish areas where the tips left damage and residue on my nails.  My thumb had the worst damage and I didn't cut it down like an idiot, but it was so thin that several days after this it lightly caught my hair and bent upwards to the point where my nail looked like a saucer!  I had to cut it down.  My middle finger also broke back recently.  The more they grow right now the weaker they get because when that pink line I'm showing you reaches the free edge it's the thinnest part of the nail.  And it WILL suck.  Keeping them cut back and covered with strengthener DOES help.  I coated my right hand with the Nail Envy and left it polish free reapplying the Nail Envy according to the instructions. This hand was polished with the strengthener being used regularly as a base coat.  I have no breaks on my other hand.  A basic manicure will help a lot too! So watch for that post to come!! 

Thanks for following along!! Is this how you remove your acrylic nails?

Today I have something extra special for you guys!  My very first indie polish review.  This is a SoFlaJo polish and it was made by Jody Alu.  She makes some really amazing polishes and her most recent, Year of the Dragon collection was just absolutely stunning.  I've been dying to get my hands on some of her creations so when she offered me the chance to review one of them for her I was elated.  I was NOT disappointed!  Jody has been making personal care items since the 80's and currently has her polishes available at her personal shop as well as via Etsy.    This particular polish is from her new Happy Hour collection.  It's called Shirley Temple.

Jody describes Shirley Temple as a cherry shimmer.  I think it leans a little orange in some lights, more of a tomato type red than a cherry.  It's not enough of a shift to be a duo chrome but it has a hint in there which makes it extra special and gives it a little oomph.  Definitely not your standard red polish.  And just look at that shimmer!!  I really encourage you to blow up the picture (just click it!)  so you can see all the gorgeous shimmer packed in to this polish. It's just lovely.  How was application, you ask?

Here we have two coats of Shirley Temple photographed in natural light.  You can really see the orange hint in this picture but it's more noticeable in artificial lights while in natural light it leans more reddish.  The application was a dream.  I've noticed with some indie polishes I've gotten recently that they're very thick, not very smooth, or that pigments in them separate easily. This is not the case with my SoFlaJo. I even let it sit without moving it for a solid week and there was NO hint of separation.  The first coat of this is a bit sheer but two coats builds nicely.  I think three would be ideal but I also love that the sheerness of it allows you the possibility of layering it over other things.  As far as wear time and dry time goes I'd liken this to an OPI.  It dried fairly quickly and shiny (there is no topcoat in the above photo)  and it lasted three days with no chips.  I'm VERY hard on my hands and my nails are damaged and thin at the moment so I imagine someone who is less hard could easily go a week with no chips or little wear with this.  Definitely worth the investment!  I can't wait to pick up more of these polishes!  You can purchase Shirley Temple (or one of Jody's other fabulous polishes!) by clicking on the links above! 

 Thanks for following! Do you have any SoFlaJo polishes? How do you like them?

You're a man of science. I'm a man of faith. Do you really think all this is an accident? That we, a group of strangers, survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? You think we crashed on this place by coincidence?  Especially this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason — all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.

And so it ends.  I hope you all enjoyed my LOST series.  I SO loved this show and it was so much fun to be able to relive it through nail art this week!!  In conclusion of my series I leave you with some of my most favorite LOST quotes, an extra mani (check the middle of my art collage!) and my most favorite mani's from the wonderful ladies who joined me on this challenge. :)

I don't know what kind of Commie share fest you're runnin' up in Cavetown, but down here: possession is nine tenths. -- Sawyer

These are the lovely Miss Emma's nails for season two.  Emma had some amazing nail art throughout the challenge and she played with texture in a very interesting way.  This has to be my favorite of all the ones she did though.  The blast door map.  That thing rocked my world. And I have to say, when the hatch finally exploded...I was sad to think of it's demise. Emma did a great job bringing it back to life! :)

 You know when I used to get high, I'd watch nature programmes on the Beeb. Polar bears are meant to be quite clever, very clever. They're like the Einsteins of the bear community. -- Charlie 

These nails belong to Sarah, otherwise known as the stamping queen!  I love the gradient on this and also that she did some free handing (which came out amazing!).  It's a tribute to one of my favorite characters, Charlie Pace and it was her season three mani. :) 

Dude, you've got some...Arzt...on you -- Hurley

These are my favorite of Debbie's nails! They're her season two nails and they came out so pretty.  I love the color combo, the representation of the numbers (who didn't love those numbers?) and the cool Dharma-like art.  The color combo worked well too. :)

Yes Charlie, if only we were all wearing license plates. -- Sayid

Also from season two? Kerrie's number nails! I love these! The numbers were such an integral part of the entire series.  And at the end of the day, I'm STILL not 100% sure what they mean! But that's the fun of the series isn't it?  Kerrie also did some cool Dharma van nails and some fun 70's tie dye which were very cool.  But I think the number nails were the ones I liked the best!

 Those things had to happen to me. That was my destiny. But you'll understand soon enough that there are consequences to being chosen... because, destiny, John, is a fickle bitch. -- Benjamin Linus 

These are my favorite of Kirsten's nails.  They're her season one art.  I LOVE that she did the Swan Station because it was one of my favorite things about the series.  I also love that she represented Aaron and Charlie's nickname for him, Turnip Head (even though technically, Turnip Head wasn't used until season two! :P).   Her 815 nail is stellar too.  I love how clean and crisp the design is! :)  She had some really freaky happenings with the photography of her season 6 set of nails so don't miss checking that out! :)  

Thanks to all these wonderful ladies for letting me participate in this challenge.  LOST remains my most favorite television show of all time.  Every time I watch it I have new questions and I learn things I missed before.  I still have my BIG book of LOST which I used to write theories and different things in.  :)  For me, it will never end.  

And one more quote for the road...

Well, I lived in these houses 30 years before you did; otherwise known as last week -- and I have no idea where the hell we are. -- Miles

Thanks so much for following along!! My first rehab your nails series will be up this coming week! How to remove acrylic nails PROPERLY! :)  I can't wait to share it with you!

Every question I answer will simply lead to another question.

How true that is.  I don't want to ruin the ending of this glorious show for anyone out there so I'm changing things up and not summarizing the season for you.  It was bittersweet for me...much like the nail art I ended up with!! There were some interesting similarities with other seasons, especially with show titles.  Previous seasons featured: What Kate Did, Everybody Hates Hugo, The Long Con, and The Beginning of the End which season six answered with What Kate Does, Everybody Loves Hugo, Recon, and The End.  I based my nail art this season on the thing I thought was the most important of the season: the reunion of all the losties.  Jacob rounds them up in various locations throughout the season, offering that 

"You were all like me. You were all alone. You were looking for something you couldn't find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you."

He is helped by Desmond, who is represented by the Scottish flag on my thumb nail.  

The index is a pair of handcuffs to represent the reuniting of Sawyer, Miles, Kate and Sayid.  Sawyer is now a detective working alongside Miles and they are involved in an accident with Kate.  Later, they catch up with Sayid after an incident at a restaurant.

The middle is an ultra sound.  Juliet gives Sun an ultrasound while Jin watches and later she is reunited with Sawyer at a vending machine.  She also reunites with Jack who turns out to be her ex husband.

The ring is Charlie's Drive Shaft ring.  He is reunited with Claire at a charity concert where his band plays alongside Daniel Faraday, now a musician (and does it seriously get any dreamier than a British pianist who is also a mega smart physicist?)

The pinkie is a neon light featuring the numbers.  It represents the bar where Hurley and Sayid reunite with Shannon and Boone.

Pinkie: Revlon Black Lingerie, LA Nail Art Pen in White and China Glaze Wicked Style

Time it's like a street, all right? We can move forward on that street, we can move in reverse, but we cannot ever create a new street. If we try to do anything different, we will fail every time. Whatever happened, happened.

And that just about sums up season 5!!  Season five was a mess of time travel, time shifts, and back filling of storyline.  While it did answer SOME questions for us...like that the freighters were all linked to the island...it also opened up a ton more holes in the story.  After the time shift Ben creates at The Orchid, Locke makes it his personal business to stop what Ben has started.  Meanwhile Daniel leads the left behind losties to the Swan to try to figure out what "time" it is. Charlotte starts to have violent flashes and ultimately dies which is sad for Daniel but on the whole, not really so sad. The lefties (hehe) try to fit into their new life on Lost Island by fitting in with the Dharma Initiative.  Sawyer takes on a new name, LaFleur and starts shacking up with Juliet.  Jin gets picked up by an old favorite, Rousseau, now eight months pregnant and newly stranded with her science team. Locke manages to turn the wheel and land himself in a present day (2007) Tunisia and eventually makes his way around to see the O6. He learns that Helen has died and he tries to convince some of the O6 to return to the island.  Unfortunately, Ben kills him before he can do much.  Desmond has a strange dream of Daniel Faraday (who wouldn't like one of those!?) and he and Penny, with their aptly named son Charlie in tow head off to England to meet with Daniels mother. Jacob starts to show up and eventually rounds up the O6 on flight 316 on Ajira Airways to Guam.  Lawnmower man reappears as...you guessed it...the pilot.  

"We're not going to Guam, are we?"  

Well spoken Frank.  There is so much more I can say about this season! Ben as a kid! Wowza,  The O6 reach the island in 1977, three years since the lefties got stuck there, and they assimilate as new recruits.  Sayid turns out to be a future assassin for Ben. And Ben goes crazy and kill Jacob.  The season was up, down, and all over the place!  But it was a good one. :)  On to the nails!

My thumb is the logo for Ajira Airways flight 316 which the O6 return to the island aboard.

The index finger is Jughead, the massive bomb left on Lost island in 1954 which is later used to destroy the island. 

The middle finger is the compass Richard Alpert gifts to Locke in order to help him fulfill his purpose.

The ring is the frozen donkey wheel that both Ben and Locke use to turn time at The Orchid.

And the pinkie is a yin-yang which is meant to represent Jacob and the Man In Black.  

Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark. 

Colors are listed below as always!! D

Don't forget to check out my fellow losties: Debbie, Emma, Kerrie, Kirsten, and

Sarah's amazing art for this season!
And look for tomorrow's post at 4:20 PM!


Thumb: China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Winter Berry, and Models Own Nail Art Pen in Black
Index: Essence Just the Nude of Us, China Glaze Mahogany Magic and Lemon Fizz and OPI Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees Suede
Middle: China Glaze Fast Track, Mahogany Magic, Lemon Fizz, and butterLONDON Bluey
Ring: OPI Suzi Ski's in the Pyrenees Suede and butterLONDON Diamond Geezer
Pinkie: Revlon White on White and Black Lingerie