Life Events

Sometimes a lot of big and important things have to happen and change in your life in order for you to grow. Very recently, one of those big and important life changing events happened to me.


I changed the shape of my fingernails.


GASP!!!  


I know. This brings out a lot of mixed emotions in you right now. It's ok.  Society puts come very heavy pressures on nail shapes and I think it's time we as people got together and talked about this. As adults. As people. As one.

There is no steadfast rule that says I am bound to a nail shape!
I didn't sign any papers and it's not a question on my credit check! (in 2013)

So when I let my nails grow long...aka I've been too lazy to cut and file them... I decided that I would try some Pinterest Projects for you guys to do some in depth 20/20 style reporting on nail art. Ya know...get into the heart of the story.  But my first project was the ever pinned Reinforcement Sticker Manicure.  Which is a quick and easy way to get a rounded french manicure.  

And here was the problem. It's gonna look better on round filed nails.   I don't have round filed nails. I'm a ride or die Squoval!

But what I needed was a Round or Almond shape.

So there, in the hot light of the bathroom one early summer night.  I took to my file and I rounded my nails.  That's right, I did it.  I went out the next day and ya know what......noooo one cared!!!!    Because seriously, who cares about the shape of my nails??  Well, Ali does, but she don't live here no mo'.

So they've been round for a few weeks now.  And it's going surprisingly well!! Except that I haven't quite gotten the filing down so I have to concentrate and it takes me a lot longer, which is why I haven't been filing them, which is why they are soooo long right now that I hate them.  So I did my Pinterest Project tonight so that I can cut these suckers tomorrow!

Pinterest Project: Reinforcement French Manicure

 Tools: Nailpolish(s), Reinforcement stickers, Polish remover (Not shown:) Tweezers, q-tip 

Reinforcements from any office supply aisle or store or old box of school things. Polishs Left: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Slick Slate Right: Color Club Wanderlust Collection in Reign in Spain

 Start with a DRY base color, or clear. 

 Get stickers in place on all 10 fingers. 

You don't want to adjust stuff with wet polish.  

I used 2 for my thumbs. 

My other hand was lined up better.

 Apply 1 coat of color. 

Try to make sure you're using a fairly opaque polish. You don't want to have 4 coats on the end of your nails, it will make a deep line and chip much faster. 

Apply 2nd coat to one hand. Remove stickers with tweezers.

Then proceed to 2nd hand for 2nd coat of polish. 

Clean up edges with remover and q-tip. 

Apply a good top coat and that's it!

Yeah, this hand has a bit of a widows peak happening on my thumb. My right hand is done much better. But if anyone actually complains about it, they are far too close to my personal bubble and we have a whole other set of issues besides my thumb nail. 

Conclusion:  SUCCESS!!   Super easy. Very fast. Tons of possibilities.   

However I'm cutting my nails immediately.   

I can't live like this. 

DIY Knob Hooks

It's a DIY Friday!

Here's how to use pretty cabinet hardware to make a hook for your things rather than the standard Drunk Octopus. 

/\/\ Drunk Octopus...eehh

\/\/ Pretty crystal knob...yuuus!!

Here's what you need:

1. Knob of choice. Crystal knob seen here $2 at Home Depot
2. Loctite Super Glue $6 if not on hand
   (ps. you should buy this anyways. It's crucial to your glue collection. What, doesn't everyone have a glue collection?)
3. Wall Anchors (link is for the 50 pack) $4
   NOTE: there are many types of wall anchors. You're looking for a self drilling wall anchor with a wide base like the ones in the link. I chose these because they were metal and I figured it would be better to glue metal to metal. 

Instructions:
These are very hard and extensive, so bare with me.....

1. Glue the wall anchor to the back of the knob
2. Let dry overnight
3. Screw newly made Knob Hook into wall

PHEW!!

Result: Organized things with no hook marks!

I keep seeing knob hooks all over the interweb but never really found out how they did it. This is my version. So far they've been up for a few months and seem like they aren't going anywhere. 

Disclaimer: If you are a renter, the wall anchors will leave a significantly larger hole in the wall than a picture hanger. Like, a for real hole. So please keep that in mind if you're not a Handy Andrea. 

If you're really set on this look but can't afford the wall holes, then I suggest using a piece of wood to screw the knobs into to make a hook rack. If you do that, you can just screw the knobs on from the back sans glue and attach the rack on the wall as usual! 

DIY Friday: I Get It Together...A Little

After I made the Wall De Jewelry, I decided to organize ALL the things!! I'm currently at about 73% organized. Naturally. But for a while now, I've needed a better system for my makeup. I generally only wear what is accessible and the rest is put away only to be seen on very random days.  I did tons of interweb searching and brainstorming...tubs, drawers, boxes, glasses, trays, DIY holders... nothing screamed at me. Well, nothing useful anyways.

One day I decided on plastic storage because I found these Snap N Stack storage bins for 50% off at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I got 2 different sizes, came home, reorganized my things, everything fit great and I thought I was super cool!  Well... until I realized that all I did was put everything in new bins that still required a few steps to access. Now, the thing is, my lazy factor sort of reaches an all time high in the bathroom. If I can't see it and grab it easily, it's not getting used.  So it was back to square one.

About 2 days later I ended up with this. No, this isn't everything I own.. I have a full sink/vanity with drawers and also a small closet. All to myself and all full with other various things.  I have a problem. So what??

Here's what I did:

Top Shelf: I got all my perfumes that originally took up a whole shelf and put them on a 2 tiered turn table from Wal Mart for $6.  I can't find this particular one on their website, but it's in the kitchen department near the utensil holders and cabinet organizers. 

I don't love that it's white plastic and will probably take some spray paint to it at some point, but right now I'm still in awe of how much room it's given me and wondering why I never did this sooner!

There are lots of options for something like this. Like this bamboo one from walmart, or stainless steel one on amazon.

The rest of this shelf holds my very useful, albeit ugly, clock, some cd's for my Indian guests and my radio/cd/ipod player, which I can't live without. These items have been here all along and I imagine will never leave. Kinda like the Black Eyed Peas.

Middle Shelf: After realizing drawers were the way to go, I got 2 Sterilite 5 Drawer Mini organizers for $5 each at Walmart (the website only shows a set of 4, but you can buy them individually in the store) All my makeup, so far, fits into these 10 small drawers. No snaps or locks so I can see and access everything without any excuses. Again, I'm not crazy about the look, but it's function over form at this point.  My research kept bringing me back to the Muji acrylic drawers, which look great and have excellent reviews, but I decided to go the economic way. 

For my makeup brushes, I took the easy Pinterest route and stored them in a Dollar Store candle holder and some clear beads I had left over from my bestie's Bridal Shower and boom...insta brush holder! I've actually been using a lot more of them now that I can see them. Again, why didn't I do this before??

The basket I was using near my sink for my daily makeup things is now used to wrangle all my daily creams and such, so now they aren't floating about like homeless products. Throw in my trusty fan and the middle shelf is complete!

Bottom Shelf: aka the Case Shelf. The silver train case holds my first aid things and sanitary items. Everything is close by but not out and exposed.

My Old School Caboodles case holds all my nail things. That's right, I still have it. It's ugly as sin, but I simply can't let it go. And it's the only case big enough to hold my unnecessary amounts of nail polish.

My other silver case is a New School Caboodles which is currently unemployed, but I'm sure I'll find something to fill it with shortly. That's never a problem. 

So far the re-do has been great and given me much more access to my things. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect counter top tray for some daily things near my sink. So far no luck, but I haven't lost hope! Perhaps there will be a Christmas Miracle on it's way. 

PS. Up top is the giant toothbrush I made in college. It still makes me laugh so I keep it always.

P.P.S. Yes, the bottle of perfume that is too tall to go on the turn table is indeed a J. Lo perfume from many many moons ago. No, I did not buy this. And no, I don't know why I still have it. 

Some DIY Shoes

You may or may not have noticed, but I've added a DIY button to our little family here at Blush. So far it contains a few beauty DIY's, plus my jewelry organizer Diy. The thing is, diy runs deeps in my blood. I come from a long line of 'I can do it myself"!  Or maybe that's just me and my dad, but either way, I can't help myself. So instead of keeping them to myself, I will try to share them with you folks. At least the stuff that pertains to beauty and fashion and the like.

So today I'm going to show you how this happened....

These are the shoes that I wore for Halloween, and probably will in life as my costumes tend to end up there.
It was all very easy. I would say a 1 paintbrush on the DIY scale of 5 paintbrushes but is slightly time consuming because of paint drying time.

Supplies:

Nail Polish Remover

Cotton

Some paint brushes ( I found the cheap regular brushes to work best for me with this paint)

Fabric Paint

• fabric paint is flexible, which is why it works best in this situation. If you were doing just a heel or part of the shoe that isn't in an area that is constantly flexing, then you could get away with using a regular acrylic paint
• If you're painting real leather, invest in some leather paint like Angelus.
• The Tulip paint I used said 'matte' but it actually contained some glitter in it, so it made it a bit chunky. But it was the color I wanted. I would suggest their regular Soft Fabric Paints or going with the Slick. 

Shoes to be painted. (mine are a fake leather pair from Payless)

Bowl of candy optional, but totally advised. 

STEP 1. Using the cotton, clean all the surface to be painted with the polish remover. Try to make sure there is no dust left on the shoe

STEP 2: Start painting! Start with nice thin coats.  

This is a photo of the first coat. Yes, it's very thin....this is going to take some time.  Give some drying time between coats. 

Around coat 4

Around coat 7 or 9

 From here on out I started layering it on much heavier. Fabric paint dries flat so your brushstrokes won't be seen very much so it's ok to use a heavy hand now. 

And somewhere around coat 25 you get this!

STEP 4: Clean up any paint that made it onto the soles or areas you didn't want painted. I personally just scraped away at it with my nails because the soles were rubber and the paint came off ok that way. You can use the nailpolish remover and some cotton or q-tips, or you could avoid this step by using some masking tape or painters tape to cover the areas you don't want painted beforehand. I mean, if you wanna be fancy with it. 

STEP 5: Let the shoes 'cure'. You want to let the paint sit for about 3 days, if possible, to really make sure the paint is dry and ready to be worn. You can also hit them with some acrylic sealer, but I haven't done those to mine just yet, but I'm mulling it over. 

STEP 6: Wear in public like a one bad DIY mofo!

 

Being Organized Isn't a Crime

This post isn't about makeup products or hair or skin care, this post is about the time I came home with a bunch of necklaces after a shopping trip and realized that I've completely run out of room in my jewelry box area and something needed to be done.

I've known for a while now that my accessories were getting out of hand and that my only option was to start moving vertically. So on Sunday, I gathered some supplies and came up with this to create a super mega organizational wall!

I'm not going to lie to you folks. This is not everything I own. Not even close. But this is wall now holds most of the necklaces I own, along with some large earrings that take up considerable real estate in my jewelry drawers.  

The whole project probably only took no more than 3 hours and it was surprisingly cheap! But that all depends on how fancified you want to get with this. 

Materials:

Cork Board $8 at walmart

Wood Frames. I had these on hand, but you could find similar ones at a Dollar Store

Cork Tiles. Also on hand, but can be found at Walmart for about $5, or craft stores.

Felt in black and white. Around $4 at Jo-Anns. The white was a remnant piece, so even cheaper! 

5/8 in. Cup Hooks, I had these on hand, but you can get 100 for $4 at Home Depot

1 in. Black Paneling Nails, Less than $3 at Home Depot. These also come in white, light brown and dark brown. 

Picture hanging hooks, on hand. 

Tools:

Scissors

Xacto knife

Hammer

Something with a flat edge, like a butter knife or putty knife. 

I don't have step by step photos of this because it all came together pretty fast. So I will do my best to explain it all in words. 

I started with the small 4x6 frames. Once I took out the back and the glass, I used my Xacto knife to cut the cork tiles the same size at the back of the frame and a piece of white felt about 1/4 inch bigger all the way around. 

I simply laid the felt down, cork on top and popped it into the frame and closed up the back. No glue no nothing! 

I figured out the placement of the nails by just laying the earrings on top and made sure to put the nails in at an angle. 

At the bottom of the frame, I screwed in 3 cup hooks and that's it! Small frames complete! 

The larger board was even simpler. First I started by spray painting the molding a chrome silver. You could use anything here, acrylic paint, fabric, new molding, embellishments, there are really endless possibilities. I choose some spray paint I had on hand because it was simple and quick. 

Cut a piece of felt slightly larger than the board. Lay that on top of the cork board and using the flat edge of something like a knife or chisel, push the felt into the molding until all four edge are under the molding and it's nice and taught. 

From here I laid out my necklaces on the board to see how many would fit and how I wanted them to line up. Then I hammered in the paneling nails at an angle like this...

 And that's it! 

Use the picture hooks to get everything on a wall, or use the small frames as table top frames. And you're done!

There are really endless possibilities to this project. I chose to use black nails on black felt for the larger board so that I can move the nails around or add more as I need them.  I didn't use very ornate frames or anything because I wanted simple clean lines but this is definitely something you could have fun with. And for about $15-$20, this is pretty much an organizational steal. 

I loved the way this turned out and how much more accessible my things are. I've seen many versions of wall boards for jewelry floating around the internet, but this whole display is perfect for me in just about every way. 

Now if only all those pearls and stones were real...

Halloween Happened

So yes...it's been a while. Without going into too much detail, it's been a rather hectic and stressful time for my family due to some really unfortunate turns of events in my sister's health. I've spent the end of summer and my fall so far mostly in D.C. with her and her family helping out best I can.  I can't say with total confidence that we're out of the woods just yet, but things are progressing as best they can and my sister remains just truly amazing and is taking this all in stride......and Percocets....which make her hilaaarious!

As planned, I came home late October because I. Love. Halloween.  It's this amazing holiday that adds up everything I love in the world and puts it all into one day! Costumes. Makeup. Candy. Parties. YES PLEASE!!  Normally I spend my summer deciding on my costume, or how to best create it because more than the candy and beer, I love making my costume. This year I had to go with my Plan B Costume. You have to have a Plan B costume, people.

I was Truly Truly Outrageous Jem!

 Holly also had the right idea. I mean, the only thing better than Jem is TWO Jems!

Costume: Simple Dress

                Glued Belt

                Light up earrings from the Bachelorette Party section

                Black pumps painted a million times over

                Purple tights that I wore all day but kept on because it was cold and I'm apparently old now. 

                Problematic wig that sheds more than I do

                Hot pink makeup. That I had on hand.....naturally.

It occurred to me sometime after midnight that I didn't have a makeup photo for you guys. So this was the best I could do.

Makeup:  Milani Eye shadow in Shocking Pink
                Cover Girl Eye Enhancers In Drama Eyes, I used only the white silver
                Bare Essentuals Round The Clock Eyeliner in Midnight
                Cover Girl LashBlast Fusion Mascara in Very Black
                Cover Girl Lipperfection Lipstick in Spellbound
                Urban Decay Primer Potion

The makeup was really simple to do. First I used the Primer Potion all over my lid and under my eye and on my cheekbone as well. On top of that, the Milani shadow went on great. I managed to make the line with only my brush and went in with a q-tip only at the end to clean it up.  On the inside corners of my eye and on the top of my cheekbone, I used the white silver color shadow from the Cover Girl quad to give the pink some pop. Lined my eyes, put on some mascara and another coat of hot pink lipstick (another coat because I had been wearing it all day) and viola! Brown Jem I became!

I wasn't dance battling anyone that night so I can't say the makeup would last through an intense performance, but I never touched my makeup all night and it stayed pretty darn well!

This year however, Halloween felt different.  First, I had to go with Plan B, but then there's the business of Superstorm Sandy.  sigh.  As an East coaster  Stupidstorm Sandy has taken over my life for the past week.  Last year we had snow ON Halloween, this year we had no power. My house was one of the lucky ones and we got our power back on Halloween night, but there are plenty of people out there still in the dark, a full week later.

If you were able to get up this morning and take a  hot shower and get dressed inside a warm home with a roof on it, then you are truly fortunate also. At any time, but especially in times like this, I urge you to donate your time or money to foundations like Red Cross or the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. There are plenty of organizations out there helping out and every bit helps.

I am truly grateful to have our power and luxuries back on. Without them I wouldn't even be able to compete in the War of the Wig Hair.

Seriously wig people. What are you using to keep that plastic hair on?? Spit??

I shall not go down in this war without a fight! 

I Spy A Bad Spy

My spying skills consist of me saying to The Indian (a friend), whom I'm partially staying with on this trip to D.C ..."hey. I'm behind on the blog cuz of this trip so imma go through your stuff and use it and write about it."  I know. Soo smooth.
The Indian being The Indian, or as my people call her TIC (The Indian Chick) got very happy about this and threw at me a small tub of something. She said she made her own exfoliator and would love for me to try it and write about it.
My first free beauty swag!!!
This morning I tried out this concoction of coffee grounds, cocoa powder and olive oil. All great ingredients on their own. Nothing toxic....this can't be too bad. Right??
First when I opened the tub I was greeted with the amazing smell of coffee with a hint of cocoa, perfect for a morning before a busy day. I scooped some up with my fingers and got to scrubbing. The coffee was the perfect consistency for exfoliating. It wasn't scratchy or too soft and I could feel it getting the dead skin off. Right away the olive oil sank into my skin and made it so soft! I was rather pleased!
After getting through my limbs and washing it off, I could feel a layer of oil on my skin. Had it been nighttime I might have left it as is to allow it to soak into my skin overnight, but I have a full day to go so I decided to use some mild St Ives Mineral Therapy to wash off the remains of oil. Even after that my skin remained soft and smooth.
For exfoliation, I give this homemade recipe an A+. For skin softening I give it a solid B, only because of the oil residue. But I definitely can see myself using this in the winter regularly and giving the oil content an A come January.
Well done TIC! And thanks for letting me pseudo spy!

DIY Lip Palette

Finding proper purple shades for my lips has becomes one of those lifelong missions for me. Everything is either too dark or too frosty or just not a flattering shade. I've bought countless tubes over my lifetime yet can count the times I've gone out in public with a purple lip.  The color that I want is not one that I've found in just one tube so I've taken to mixing my lip colors to create something custom.  Which is fine and dandy until I, you know, do things. You just can't deny the fact that lipstick needs reapplying. sigh.  That is admittedly the reason I don't go out in purple lips, because I refuse to carry 2 or 3 tubes of lipstick with me.



In walks the empty lip palette.

I found this empty lip palette by e.l.f. in Target for $1 !!! It came complete with lip brush, which was crucial for me. 

I decided on my 4 best purple mixing colors and got to work!

Revlon in Black Cherry #477, Revlon in Berry Haute #660, Cover Girl in Divine # 330, Revlon in Va Va Violet # 663

Cutting slices off the tube I arranged them into the empty spaces. 

 I was rather shocked that each round took the entire tube. 

Here's where it got a little hairy. I assumed putting it in the microwave to melt the lipsticks into place a bit would be a great idea. Nope, not a great idea. Soon as I hit start there was a loud POP! The top of the mirror sparked and began to melt. I turned it off immediately.

My 2nd run as melting I decided to use the toaster oven. I turned it on for a min and then turned it off. I put the palette on the tray and put it inside. Everything was going smoothly!! Until......

I heard the POP and saw that the mirror cracked.Straight down the center from where it began to melt earlier. I pulled the palette out and as it cooled the mirror cracked twice more on either side, creating a rather unflattering cracked cross. The lipsticks melted wonderfully, but the mirror....not so wonderful.

I pushed around the lipstick a bit with my finger and flat top of the Revlon tube and cleaned up the mess I made with a thousand Q-tips.

The Result.

Minus the mirror mishaps, the palette worked! The lipsticks cooled very quickly into their original texture and all the colors stayed true. I'm very excited to be able to have all my favorite purples in one convenient place to play around with as I wish!  

And maybe on another lazy Sunday I'll work up to popping out that broken mirror and putting in a new one. 

**Pro Tip:   

• Since I was going for function over form, I didn't bother making the finish of the lipsticks very smooth and flat. Perhaps some wax paper or cling wrap over the palette to smooth it down to a flat surface would work, if you were so inclined to do so. 

Plaid Nails

Anyone with access to Pinterest or the internet itself has been seeing these photo tutorials about making your own nail stickers or strips with nail polish and scotch tape. I decided to give it a try.

It's a pretty straight forward process, here's what I did:

I painted some scotch tape with nailpolish. I did this first to give them time to fully dry. Then I painted my nails in a neutral grey and let them dry completely. A simple clear coat would work just as well.

Once the polish on the tape was dried, I cut the colors into very thin strips so I could create a plaid.  This was way more time consuming than regular stripes or shapes. Next time, I'll stick with something easier. For now I kept the same pattern on every nail. Tad overload?? Maybe. But it's only nail polish!

The long ends that were left I cut off with cuticle scissors and then pressed each nail well to make sure everything stuck.

I covered everything with a good top coat and VIOLA!! 

Plaid Nails!!

Colors I used:

Base grey: Petite Color Fever in Vintage Grey, Turquoise: L'Oreal Color Riche in Club Prive, Lime Green: Sinful Colors in Innocent, Hot Pink: NYC In A Minute in MoMa, Orange: NYC In A Minute in Spring Street, Silver: Milani Nail Lacquer in Ms Milani, Top Coat: Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat

Oh Scotch Tape...turns out you are so much more than just something to create funny faces and tape up my hands with when I'm bored.