Grey Nails with Sparkle Dust

Whooops, blogging has taken a backseat to getting my bedroom in order this week. Sawryyy.

It's been a month since I moved in, but the whole place is still a bit of a work in progress. Not only is my bedroom floor still sporting a thin layer of "random stuff" and lacking an actual bed frame for the mattress that's on the floor, but there's also no furniture in the living room or a dining room table (don't ask - I don't know why). The lack of a living room doesn't seem to bother my roommate, but personally I'm going to want to get to that sort of stuff sooner rather than later.

For now, I've already ordered a bed frame, which should be here in a week. Installing new curtain rods/curtains in my bedroom is also on the "next up" list, as well as putting up tonnns of pictures on my walls. In my unpacking, I discovered a stash of framed collages that I made over the last 6 years... and I'm thinking about trying to sell them. They're not all amazing, but several of them - UM - are. #DustsOffMyShoulders. Without any real sentimental attachment to them, there's no reason to hold onto them and let them collect dust, right? Right. So it's settled. I'm selling them.

Alright well enough of my rambling about the state of my bedroom. It's Nails Day!

Here's what I'm rocking this week:

Yup, definitely lookin' like fall around these parts nails. The cloudy, breezy weather called for something cloudy on my nails, so I went with 2 coats of Recycle by China Glaze, and used 3 coats of Urban Outfitters' Dust as an accent nail.

I did a whole post about Dust back when my blog first launched in the fall of 2012. You can go check that out here, especially if you love throwback nail polish blog posts featuring absolutely atrocious cuticles. Eek.

Tonight I've got a date with my cousin Catherine, who is going to come into the city to hit up a bar with me and shoot zee shit. Other than that, I don't have a single thing to do all weekend, except continue the work in my room. Eventually I'll post a bedroom tour here on the blog, because I'm pretty pleased with the way things are coming together.

What shenanigans will you be getting into this weekend?
Anyone else recently moved and trying to put their life bedroom back together?
What's on your nails? Share with me on Twitter or Instagram!

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Spring Maxi Dress Guide 2014

Last year I did a round up of spring time maxi dresses, and it's been one of my most popular blogs! An update seemed in order, especially given the abundance of MAG-freaking-NIFICENT dresses I've been seeing around zee web lately!

SIT BACK LADIES (and gent?) and let's get to browsing some of these diverse maxi dresses from Modcloth, Forever21, H&M, Urban Outfitters, and Victoria's Secret!

MODCLOTH

Flow This Way Dress

I love that this dress mixes neutrals and brights for you. 

And check out the cute crochet detail on the back!

Lower Haight Lady Dress

This bohemian-esque dress has ALL THE STRIPES and a crazy cage-style back.
I really like the "sea glass" colors of this dress.

Plethora of Panache Dress

Classic navy and white combo. The white lace detail on the arm area is slimming, and the lace on the lower portion of the dress is so pretty! It even has a cute keyhole in the back.

Woo Me with Whimsy Dress

This patchwork style dress brings out the country girl in me. The ruffly panel in the bodice area would also be pretty flattering for a small-chested lady such as myself!

Bon Vivant in Vegas Dress

Black and white is looking reeeeal good in this dress. 

I love that the chevrons vary in width towards the bottom.

Artisanal Arrangements Dress

This is one of my favorites because it's so simple, yet so pretty! 

And you all know that I'm a sucker for orchids.

FOREVER21

Strappy M-Slit Dress

I love the colorful pattern of this dress, plus the slits that make it easier to walk in. Perfect for me because I like to walk REALLY FAST.

Cutout Rose Maxi Dress

UM this floral dress is gorgeous. And dat back doe.

H&M

Patterned Maxi

Just give me a beach, some sun, and a coconut to sip out of, and I'll be ready to rock this dress.

Sleeveless Dress

This black hi-lo dress is so versatile - you could probably find a reason to wear it once a week from now till September.

URBAN OUTFITTERS

Sparkle & Fade Open-Side Colorblock Maxi Dress

This one seems effortless and sporty, with cutouts in just the right place! There are other color options available - including a navy/grey one that I also liked.

VICTORIA'S SECRET

Chiffon Trim Maxi Dress

Heyooooo gypsy dress. This has a "beautiful rags" feel, doesn't it??

Knife Pleat Maxi

This super pleated, flowy dress comes in lots of colors, but I love this Aqua Frost the best.

In the navy picture, you can see what the back looks like.

Short Sleeve Maxi Dress

I adoooooore this dress!! It reminds me of mint chocolate Dippin' Dots, which isn't weird at all. As a bonus, it's on sale right now.

Hopefully this maxi dress round-up has been helpful or inspiring for you! I had a few other dresses picked out, but they are already sold out! Better snag 'em fast guys.

Did you have any favorites from above?
What are some of your favorite stores to find spring and summer dresses?
Don't you just love Dippin' Dots? Mmmmm....

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Forever21 vs Urban Outfitters: Lollipop Polish Dupe-Off

Apparently I've got a big hang-up on the two Urban Outfitters nail polishes I bought back in the fall, because they seem to keep coming up in my blogs. Here we go again.

I was in Forever21 in Vancouver recently - surprise, surprise - and as I waited in line for the register (with an absolutely G.D. adorable summery dress, by the way), they totally "got" me with the bins of stuff in the checkout line.

Is anyone else a total sucker for that shit near the registers? Why am I even asking, I know that you are. We all are. It's (social) science.

What caught my eye was thissss little guy - a pinky-lilac based polish with tons of blue, red, silver, green, and yellow glitter, which came in both tiny little round glitter specks and slightly larger hexagonal specks.

.  pink icing by love & beauty  .

SOUND FAMILIAR? If so, it's because it's almost the same exact description that I used to describe Lollipop, the Urban Outfitters polish I was raving about back in October.

.  lollipop by urban outfitters  .

So I decided to snag this Love & Beauty brand polish - adorably called Pink Icing - just to see how it stacked up against Lollipop. A Dupe-Off, if you will. ("Oh lawd Jesus, it's a dupe-off!") Here are my conclusions:

First I applied a base coat and a coat of white polish to all of my nails. Knowing how sheer Lollipop is, I wanted to make sure I had an opaque base for these swatches.

On my left hand I then applied two coats of Love & Beauty's Pink Icing...

.  pink icing outside  .

.  pink icing inside  .

And on my right hand I applied two coats of Lollipop:

.   lollipop outside  .

.  lollipop outside close-up  .

.  lollypop inside  .

As you can see, Lollipop has much more glitter than Pink Icing. Specifically, it has a LOT more of the larger hexagonal glitter, which gives it a much chunkier feel. Pink Icing is a lot more concerned with being "pink polish-y" than with being the headliner of Glitter Fest 2K13. It's also got a much more opaque base than Lollipop.

So the Forever21 version is not exactly a dupe, but these polishes are sort of like first cousins. The Love & Beauty version was $3.80 CAD, and the Urban Outfitters was originally $6, but I bought two of them at the time at 2-for-$8. So at nearly identical prices, you might as well go for the one that has a buttload of glitter in it.

I said back in October that Lollipop reminded me a lot of those old school plastic clown/balloon cake toppers from back in the day, whereas Pink Icing appropriately reminds me more of the frosted animal crackers you can find in stores nowadays:

.  pic from flickr  .

Sidebar, here is the dress I bought that day at Forever21 - I can't wait to find a reason to wear it this summer:

Which one of these lilac-y, glittery polishes do you prefer?

Orchid Lollipop Nails

When I first began keeping a blog in October 2012, one of the first nail polishes I posted about was Lollipop by Urban Outfitters. It ended up being one of my most popular blogs, and I couldn't tell you why! I can no longer find Lollipop being sold in UO stores, so I hope you already scooped yours.

Here's a new way that I used it recently:

Polishes used:

- Beware by Pure Ice

- Orchid by Love & Beauty

- Lollipop by Urban Outfitters

Get it done:

1. Paint all nails except ring finger two coats of Orchid.

2. Paint ring finger several coats of Beware.

3. Paint two coats of Lollipop over the Beware on your ring finger.

Lollipop has a very sheer lilac-colored base, so I like the way Beware looks beneath it. It gives it a more opaque - yet still glittery - background.

Hope you like! If you try out something similar, Tweet me a picture at @akaBailey!