Friday, February 20, 2015

50 Shades of Blue Nails

Nope, sorry that was a total lie. It's only 2 shades of blue. Just enough to do some diagonal color-blocking on my accent nails.

Two-toned color blocked blue nails
I used 3 coats of Essie's Lapiz of Luxury on all of my nails. Once those were dry, I placed a small strip of an Essence Nail Art sticker (shown here) across my ring and thumb nails on a diagonal, then painted above the sticker with Sally Hansen's Pacific Blue.

Light blue and bright blue nails

Before that dried, I quickly used a pair of tweezers to peel away the sticker and then topped everything with a coat of Seche Vite to smooth out all the lines.

Essie Lapiz of Luxury, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue nail polish

I was actually originally planning to do this two-tone mani with a kelly green and a turquoise, but my bottle of Turquoise & Caicos was SUPER gloopy when I removed the cap! Guess I'll need to replace that. Both Lapiz of Luxury and Turquoise & Caicos came from the same Resort Collection from Essie, and I featured them together in one of my more Pinterest-popular manis here.

Color blocked blue nails and cute coffee cup wire ring

Also - I'd love to draw your attention to the adorable rings in the picture above. I spotted the coffee cup ring on Pinterest and literally clicked right through to the Etsy page and bought it. For only $9 plus shipping, it was absolutely worth it. And to my delight, the seller, Lorelei, included a little hand-written note in the parcel, as well as a surprise extra midi ring!

I didn't yet own any midi rings so this was pretty exciting for me. Bonus point to you, Lorelei! #FistBump. And just FYI, she had no way of knowing that I have a blog or that I was going to shout out her shop, so this isn't at all sponsored. But if you are as charmed by these delicate and affordable rings as I am, you should prolllllllllllly head over to her Etsy shop - My Rings and Things - and support some hand-made craftsmanship. Tell her I sent you, for good measure ;)

In other news entirely, this has been a week of dental issues and acupuncture... separately, not at once. (Though maybe the acupuncture could relieve the gum pain I'm having.) I've got a wisdom tooth coming in that's not treating its host very kindly right now. It's growing in at an atrocious angle and digging into my cheek, so I had to get a consultation today with an oral surgeon to see what I should do about it. Perhaps you remember the tale of getting my first wisdom tooth removed (if not, you should go check it out - it's even illustrated). Well I should probably have gotten all four of them extracted back when I was living in Canada with affordable dental insurance... but the first one just hurt SO MUCH that I couldn't really bare the thought of getting the others removed. Especially because none of them were even erupted yet - they were all still chilling deep under my gums.

Anyway, now it'll probably cost me quite a bit to get them removed, so.... to everyone who told me to just bite the bullet and get that shit taken care of when I was in Canada... you were right, you sonsofbitches. I was wrong. HAPPY NOW?

As for the acupuncture - that was just a random thing for me to try out, because I figured with all of the emotional and physical turmoil I've been through over the last 6 months or so... it couldn't hurt to try. My friend Kara has been going to an acupuncture place in Cambridge, so I headed there on Wednesday to check it out. The place I went to - Acupuncture Together - has you sit in a comfortable chair in a room of others who are doing the same, and you just kick off your socks/shoes, roll up your pant legs... and relax while they stick you with needles. The needles - shockingly - don't hurt as they go in. I know, you probably don't believe it. They do feel a little itchy/burny if you move the wrong way while they're in you, but it's nothing as bad as what I'd been anticipating. And no, I didn't feel any differently after my first session, but Kara and I are going back there together tomorrow morning for another round!

Alright I've clearly rambled enough for now... I hope you have a great weekend!

Anyone else dealing with unruly wisdom teeth or have any tips about relieving teething pain?
Have you ever tried acupuncture?
What are you rocking on your nails today?


16 comments:

  1. Absolutely loving that mani (and of course the "pinterest popular mani)! Don't throw your gloopy polish away! Just pick up nail polish thinner (not acetone or nail polish remover) from Sally's! I think I got mine for like $3 or less. Drop a few droplets in depending on how goopy it is then roll it between your hands! Add more drops if it's still too thick! Promise, it's saved many a goopy polish in my day!

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  2. Bailey, I am LOVING this mani. Awesome colour combo and doing the diagonal line for feature nails is so creative!! Your coffee ring is super cute, and how nice of her to include a midi ring! I love me some midi rings.
    Serious bummer about your teeth. I have three of my wisdom teeth still in (one freakishly didn't grow in) and I'm always scared when I go to the dentist because I don't want to get them taken out. Even more a bummer, though, is that you'll have to pay so much more!! Gross. I hope you can find somewhere reasonable.
    I've tried acupuncture before, but it totally freaked me out. I had to lie down on a table, and the guy told me to keep my eyes closed and breathe. I did that, for a while, but I was left alone for so long that I eventually opened my eyes to see that there was a mirror above me!! Needle-less to say, (haha) seeing my face and chest all full of needles, looking like a terrified, feminine version of Hellraiser, didn't do much for the relaxation portion of the treatment. To add insult to injury, before I could leave, I had to drink this really disgusting tea to "detox." I'm sure you'll be surprised to read that I haven't gone back. Haha! Your version sure sounds better, though! I hope that the second round helps! :)

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  3. the diagonal accent nail is probably one of the easiest things to do. even i can't mess that one up lol

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    1. Why do I never think to do it?!!? Easy peasy and a great way to use two colors at once :)

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  4. Sorry about your teeth- ouch! I had mine taken out in HS, so I don't really remember too much pain... maybe just for one day after surgery. I have never had acupuncture. My nails are dressed up as birthday nails! Hot pink & black baby!
    -Chelsey
    -http://chelseypatti.blogspot.com

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  5. Absolutely LOVE these nails AND that coffee ring!!!!
    I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed the summer after high school. Before that, I did a lot of chewing on rubber things to help with the pain. I was so relieved to have them finally removed, even though I looked like a squirrel for a few days after.

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    1. This coffee ring is definitely smile-inducing ;) I am at the point where I'll be happy to have these teeth removed too - teething is probably JUST as painful as getting the damn things taken out! #SquirrelFaces

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  6. I (painfully) waited until I was 25 to have my Wisdom removed. Let me tell you, I have a permanent hole in my cheek because I waited too long and one of them was so impacted that it messed up my other back tooth so it now lives sideways. Go get them pulled as bad as it hurts. I feel your pain :-(

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    1. I had my first one removed at age 28! It's really interesting to hear how everyone has totally different experiences with their wisdom teeth. Some people older than me still don't have theirs in yet! I'm definitely getting the visible one removed, and probably the one opposite that as well, even though that one is still under my gums right now.

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  7. Beautiful nails! I found you through the Fab Favorites link up and I'm enjoying your blog :)

    The latest. Beauty & Colour || Bloglovin

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  8. The nails are awesome and the ring is everything!

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  9. Pretty blues. I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out at once & I was 21 (long time ago). They were impacted. Not fun at all. I was out of work for a week.
    http://therantingsofadramaqueensmum.blogspot.com

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    1. Eeesh - at least I work from home, so I can take it kind of easy during my recovery without missing work.

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