can i get a wah wah!!

So, I've been loving Wah Nails for the past couple of months and seeing their designs on Instagram inspired me to try out a very Wah look!

In real life, the blue is electric and the pink is purpley...

Well, It's about time!

WHY AM I SO BAD AT POSTING THINGS??

Luckily, school is over in only two weeks (I'm freaking out a little over this) so I'm going to have some more time to post things soon! And I really hope I can start doing some fashion/beauty posts!

But right now, I have tests to study for and projects to complete so I'm going to share what I looked like at prom! After those posts about my promblems, I am happy to report that things went really well that night and I am beyond happy that I went with someone who is just a friend because it just made everything so much easier!

Going from the top down:

Hair- I am so glad that I went to a salon because I would never have been able to do this on my own. I'm not bad at doing hair but after months of nothing to work with (the pixie), I've lost some of my touch! ALSO, I HAVE A BOB... MEANING THAT I'VE OFFICIALLY GROWN OUT MY PIXIE! (that's another post I have to get around to— the long journey of growing out hair)

Makeup: on my eyes, I did a quick grey/brown smokey look with thin black liner on the top and I used MAC's Vegas Volt on my lips.  The lip collage of the color is from temptalia.com, an absolutely amazing beauty blog with a huge selection of drugstore and high end swatches and reviews. 

The Dress: I posted a picture of it in a previous post but this is me with it on! I decided not to go with the insane pink platforms because they made me too tall and I decided that it would be better to just return them and get my money back because everyone takes their shoes off pretty early at prom. Instead, I wore my sister's gold heels and while they were a half size too small— and because of that, very painful— I'm glad I made the last minute shoe switch.

I almost forgot to share my nails!! Because of the cliche prom theme "a night to remember", I did galaxy nails and I'm really happy with the way they came out! 

And of course, nails

Just a quick nail update:

Springy floral nails

Cleopatra nails

If you want to see my nail designs more or less right after I do them, follow me on Instagram @anisatav 

Promblems.

Woah. I have heard people talk about how stressful prom is but now that I'm a junior, I finally understand.

My dress and shoes were easy to find. I got my dress online fairly quickly and despite buying a different dress and going dress shopping with my mom about three times, that step was moderately stress free. To get my shoes, I brought my dress to the shoe department at Bloomingdale's and bought the first pair that I tried on.

These are them! I haven't finalized my accessories but I know that they will be gold and simple.

The only problem is that these are the only things that have been planned. For example, I don't have a date (and I've more or less given up on that hope) and tickets are only on sale next week. You want to know the saddest thing? I almost feel guilty about wanting a date. Maybe guilty isn't the best word... I feel like I'm betraying some false perception that people have of me. To give an example of that, a good friend of mine was shocked to hear that I want a date because I'm a feminist or something. Wow, really? 1. caring about gender equality doesn't make someone an aspiring cat lady or freak  and 2. I'm 17, it's prom, do the math. The way I wrote that brings up another problem— I'm too harsh. I am fully aware that I come off that way but I almost can't help it! ...Almost. Yes, I could stop sharing my opinions but what fun would that be? Maybe I won't get a date to prom because I like substantive discussion and I'm not afraid to stand up for what I believe in (or maybe that's totally not the reason) but at least I'm going to look great unique. I don't know where this is supposed to be going.

Also, no duh, I did my nails. I'm boring. Maybe that's why I don't have a date. And mom, if you're reading this, I don't want to go with one of your friends' sons.

Wondering why this picture is so much better than the other ones? It's because I got an iPhone!

More nails...

As my mom pointed out to me, the content on this blog is really getting bland. Yes, I love doing my nails but I would like to write something soon. Unfortunately, I will have to hold that off until after about a week into May when my important AP tests are done.

But for now, more nails! The first one I did for a friend and the second one is me.

Also, my birthday was dandy and my grandmother got me the red/orange pants that I wanted! So I guess this means that I can't say that I never get stuff from those wishlists....

Pre-Blog Nails

Unfortunately, I started doing nail art before I started this blog so there are some cool designs that I've done that won't get their 15 minutes of fame. Luckily, I found pictures of two nail looks from before I started my blog! I'm not going to explain them. I'm tired.

tur-da!

Preparing for a great birthday

This post is going to be very short but I wanted to share that I GOT MY LICENSE! and I painted festive (birthday) nails yesterday. 

So first, the nails. I've been digging Make My Day, which is a nail blog/artist/company thing (I honestly don't know what it is). The designs on the website are so interesting to look at and while I'm clearly not the best at designs that rely on being precise, I thought I would try one of the simpler designs.  

To complete the look, I started by painting my nails a very very very very light green (almost white) and then I went in with one color at a time to do the chevrons.

And my license— the test went surprisingly well! It was my second attempt (my first try ended right after  I just barely failed parallel parking) and I was very lucky to have a cheerful person administer the test. The entire time, the woman judging my driving skills was talking about her motorcycle, hybrid cars, gas prices, and the other kids who take the test. After I was told that I passed, I couldn't stop smiling! If I had failed, it would have made for a decently bad birthday. Now, I have nothing to complain about! ... but not really. 

Roses are blue, violets are red?

IT'S NAIL TIME!! Here are the nails, they never fail! They make me wanna wag my tail! When it's Friday, I want to wail "nAiL"!! (Blue's Clues is for winners)

I don't know how many times I've seen this type of design on nail related blogs and Tumblrs but it's probably about 6. Not an insane amount but enough to seriously get me interested. Upon further analyzation, I saw that contrary to previous judgements, the look was easy to accomplish. Other than a quick scare when my black nail art pen began to run out of juice, nothing went wrong. No runaway globs of polish, no opacity issues, and no misjudgments of rose size! I've gotten a lot of complements on this design (which always helps) and I think it's become one of my favorites. Will I do it again? How should I know? I usually like to mix things up but if I'm ever out of inspiration, there is a good chance that I will turn to these roses. Maybe in different colors but still, these roses. (Oh, I guess I do know if I'll do it again— but not really)

How to: paint nails a color, let it dry, add circle(y) things, add green triangles, outline the green and create "disconnected spirals" with the black.

And just as a side note— I know that by saying this everyone will see it but is anyone else bothered by my askew pointer finger? I couldn't get it to straighten when my thumb was down and now I'm concerned.

I'm pretty eager to switch it up again because I did this on Tuesday but I can't bring myself to take it off! This picture was taken earlier today so as you (no one because no one will read this) can see, my nails haven't chipped. I think the universe is looking out for me now that my birthday is ONLY FIVE DAYS AWAY(!!!).

Which reminds me, I seriously have to post some sort of birthday/wishlist. The only problem is that I have no way of creating a collage of the pictures. Bleh. Life is hard. But nails make things better. (Exhibit A ^)

Prada Flames

Hopefully, you have heard about the crazy new shoes that Prada has come out with. These shoes, in a variety of colors, styles, and functions, are adorned with cartoonish flames. And they're awesome. While I would never want to own a pair or be able to buy a pair, I can enjoy the shoe in a different way. And what do I do when I want to experience colors and patters? Nails!

 Inspired by this pair of the shoes, I did a very springy color combination. Both the blue and the pink are from the Gap which is a great place to buy nail polish because they are $6 but the store is always having sales that apply to every item.

How to complete the look:

1. Paint nails a solid color

2. Using a thin paint brush, outline where the flames will go in white and fill those in with the white. Remember to make this part a little thicker than the desired thickness of the flames.

3. Using a thin brush or a toothpick if necessary, add in the pink but remember to leave a white outline to make it pop. 

4. Apply a top coat. 

The only problem with this design is that it's really difficult to make it look steady and smooth because of the curves and the precision that is needed. I would also especially recommend giving yourself a lot of time to get it done because you won't want to rush the flames!

Quick note: the April wishlist will be a bit late because I'm going on a bunch of college visits and I won't have much time to complete it.

Nude Nails 2.0 and a bunch of updates

Oh boy. Once again, I've been lazy with posting. I'm always coming up with ideas for things to write on here but my problem is that I always think of things at really inconvenient times— in the shower, at school, in the car, while I'm doing homework. So this post will probably be jam-packed with the exciting things that I've been up to. And to make things easier for myself, I'm going to number them. Deal with it.

1. My Nails! 

Yes, yes. I know that it's not Friday... or even Saturday. It's Sunday! It seems like Nailday isn't really working out too well. To be honest, I did plan on doing it and I painted my nails on Friday night but it got late and I got am lazy. Remember, late is better than never! 

So as you can see, it's not very exciting. But it's still more interesting than plain beige! At first, I was going to keep it simple and go for nude nails but similar to the situation with my Valentine's Day nails, I got bored with it. To jazz things up a bit, I added gold triangle-ish things to the tips of my nails. My only disclaimer is that the flashes of gold are really distracting when I move my hands so paint with caution! 

2. LUSH!!!! 

For a while now, I have watched "beauty gurus" on YouTube talk about how much with love Lush products and I have always wanted to try them out. Well, the other day, a friend of mine mentioned that she went to the Lush store at our local mall (with is HUGE) and I was confused because I know most of the mall stores and I have never noticed Lush (once again, because the mall is HUGE). So yesterday, I went to the mall with my mom to sort out some prom dress issues and I decided that I absolutely had check out Lush. After finding a mall directory, I spotted the Lush store and headed straight to where it was. I wasn't surprised that I hadn't noticed it before because the store is located in an area that I don't usually go to. When I stepped in, I was overwhelmed. The soap! The lotion! The face masks! The solid shampoo! I wanted it all.

After testing out a few things and smelling almost everything, I ended up walking out with a soap and a solid shampoo. These products smell amazing and while I was a bit skeptical of the solid shampoo, I was impressed by it when I showered last night. I didn't expect for the shampoo to lather very well because it feels very solid—it does crumble or anything like that— and because when I rubbed it in my hands to get some bubbles, my hands had barely anything on them. But, when I started to rub my hands into my hair, THERE WERE SO MANY BUBBLES!! It lathered perfectly and I could definitely see myself using the solid shampoos from now on.

3. The Hunger Games
I'm going to keep this one short because it's less exciting than nails and soap. I haven't read the books yet but everyone seems really into them. As of now, I'm almost half way through and I'm not blown away but it but it's interesting. We'll see. Hopefully, I'll get around to a review.

4. I'm a crazy person
Last night, instead of getting work done or posting anything on here, I cleaned out my bathroom countertop. To those of you who have never been through my bathroom— so everyone except my sister who shared it with me until she left for college last September— the countertop is cluttered with half empty bottles of products that don't get used anymore and containers filled with old junk.

Now, the unused and very old products have been thrown away, the junk-filled containers have been emptied, and things are looking a little better. Also, I emptied out an organizer that was on my dresser collecting jewelry from my middle school days (junk) and moved that into my bathroom to use for nail polish storage. The top compartment now holds things like nail clippers, files, dotting tools (pens and pencils covered in nail polish), and nail art pens, and the three drawers hold the polishes, arranged by color. Top drawer: neutrals including black, white, greys, and glitter. Middle drawer: warm colors. Bottom drawer: cool colors.

I think it's because of the Lush things but I now have a really strong desire to redo my bathroom. It also doesn't help that the walls are a watermelon pink and lined at the top with a wallpaper that features sail boats and smiling suns— a tragic choice made by the people we bought the house from.


I guess I'm done for now. I could have talked about Draw Something Free or the weather but this post is getting too long. 

Party Nails!

I know, I know! Technically, it's not Friday anymore but does it really matter? Things are really crazy for me right now so Friday/Nailday might not be 100% consistant and at least it's close to Friday!!

How I did this look:
1. Choose a few colors — I chose a red/orange, blue, orange, and purple— and complete a basic swirled design. Apply a top coat. 


2. Wait at least 30 minutes for everything to dry to ensure that this first layer won't budge.


3. Take a color that will really 'pop' against the ones that you swirled with — I chose black— and swipe upward from one end of the cuticle to the middle of the nail. During this step, don't hesitate! Because if you do, the line might end up shaky or incomplete. In that case that you mess up, see if it is possible with the polish that you are using to swipe your finger or a tissue across the nail to remove the messed up areas. If your bold polish is the right consistency and if your base layer is properly dried, this strategy should work out well because any funkiness on the sides will get covered up. 


If you need to use tape, take a small strip and line it up so that the straight end of the tape goes in the diagonal, leaving the part that will be painted over exposed. When using tape, complete one direction of the diagonal on the whole hand before moving on to the other side. Also, remember to leave adequate drying time for the first part of the negative triangle! 
**Another tape tip: touch the sticky part of the take a few times before using it to keep it from peeling off your nail polish. 


4. Finish off with a top coat!

And why "Party Nails"? Because I'm going to a semi-fancy party with my family tomorrow night  (although technically tonight) and there is no way that I would show up with out something festive on my fingertips! 

Leap Day!

Yes, it's not leap day anymore but it's Friday so that means NAILS!! 

I did this nail design in honor of the Leap Day colors assigned by the 30 Rock episode from last week (blue and yellow) but it was way too bright for me so it only lasted a couple of days.

Also, I got my wisdom teeth out yesterday! I only had two on the bottom— lucky me— so everything was fine and I don't have much swelling right now.

Dots!

I have made a decision: from now on, Friday is Nailday. So, without further ado, the first official Nailday post!

The goods: All of the polished I used for this look are Sally Hansen and the colors are as follows—Double Duty base and top coat, Sea in the Smooth and Perfect line, and Pat on the Black in the Complete Salon Manicure line.

Paint nails a solid color. I got Sea intending for it to be a light pistachio but it turned out to look mostly white. While it was a disappointing at first. it works well with the dark purple spots.

Dotting time! Get a medium-large dotting tool —I used a clicky pen with a rounded click thing (do official terms for these things exist?). Create three dots in the middle of the nail and it doesn't really matter if the dots get cut off by the length of your nail but don't let the dots touch!

Get a smaller dotting tool and create three dots on each side of the larger dots. TA DA!! Easy, right? And now, all there is left to do is dazzle. And finish it off with a top coat.

Valentine's Day Nails

I think the image is pretty self explanatory...

And just as a little comment, I had originally painted my nails a very light shade of pink(which I never do) and after getting bored with it, which took only a few hours, I decided to jazz up the look. Naturally, because Valentine's Day is coming up, the negative space heart thing came into being. Ta Da!

Blue/Green Swirled Nails!

So one thing about me— I love nail art. I'm not sure if it's because of that whole thing about how economic recession increases nail polish sales or because I think my nails are tiny canvases but I really enjoy the colors and the images that can be translated and worn. While my collection isn't very large or flashy, there always seems to be some new and exciting design to try.

My most recent nail design is this one. It is a swirl of the four colors shown (the tiny picture in the bottom right corner only shows three colors because my fourth color— the one on the left— was running out by the time I got to that finger).

How I did it:
1. I painted my nails gray
2. I put large blobs of each color on my nail
3. I swirled the colors together!
              Tips for this step:
                -When doing this, it is important to push the polish along the edges of the nail to get a complete look
                - Use a pencil or toothpick to do the swirling
                - If the swirling leaves areas without polish, tap the swirling device over the area to cover it up
4. I finished it off with a top coat