Friday, May 24, 2013

I'm Still Here, I Promise!

Hey everyone! Huge apology for being absent for so long! I was on vacation in Oklahoma from the 15th-22nd and the couple of weeks leading up to it were crazy busy and stressful! I was actually there during those awful tornadoes that went through. The one that went through the first day just BARELY missed us and we were even standing out by the storm shelter ready to jump in at any moment. The bigger twister on the second day was about 40 minutes away from us and we were so blessed that we are all safe and sound.

Like any vacation, I feel like I need a vacation to recover from it! So I'm hoping to have some posts up next week because I miss you all terribly! The worst part is that my nails are in terrible shape between traveling with 3 small children and the stress of the storms! But it's good to be back and see you soon! MWAH!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Avon Suede Soft Violet - Revisited and Redeemed

Happy Humpday y'all! I have a massively pic-heavy post for you today! I decided to revisit my very first mani that I ever did on this blog. As painful as it is to do so, I fee that this poor, poor polish was grossly misrepresented by my complete lack of skill, knowledge and experience! Oh how far I've come in such a short time!
 
The polish in question is a gorgeous purple beauty by Avon in their suede nail enamel line, appropriately named Soft Violet. And, like taking off a bandaid, I prefer to do this quickly and get it over with! Here is the awful pic that I originally used...
Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet
 
There are so many things wrong with this I can't even count! One of the biggest things that jumps out at me are the grooves in the base of my nails, especially on my ring and middle fingers. I had stupidly decided to trim my cuticles and misjudged the angle of the trimmer and cut a neat little furrow right into my nail beds. Some of you are probably thinking, OUCH! But I didn't feel a thing and I didn't even notice it at the moment or I wouldn't have done it to all the other nails too! If you peek back at my early posts, you will see that groove grow out verrrrrryyyyyyyy slowly! Then we have the fact that the paint job is patchy and you can even see my nail through it in places! Then comes the cleanup. While I have seen worse...I have DEF seen better! The photography itself wasn't all that bad but looking at it now, I think I would have preferred for it to be dark and blurry!
 
So I decided to correct this awful disservice that I did to this poor polish by revisiting it and giving it a new identity! Much better this time, don't you think?

Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet

Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet
 
Then I just had to slap on a coat of Seche Vite and whoa baby is this stuff GORGEOUS!!! These pictures don't even do this justice. It was so cool shiny and I really prefer it that way!
 
Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet

Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet

Nails4Dummies - Avone Suede Effects Soft Violet

 
Then, because I wasn't ready to be done with her, I slapped on a coat of Catrice - Iron Mermaiden and some stars! This polish is a fabulous green to purple duochrome and looked purdy! 
 
Nails4Dummies - Avon Suede Effects Soft Violet & Catrice Iron Mermaiden

Nails4Dummies - Avon Suede Effects Soft Violet & Catrice Iron Mermaiden

Nails4Dummies - Avon Suede Effects Soft Violet & Catrice Iron Mermaiden


Nails4Dummies - Avon Suede Effects Soft Violet & Catrice Iron Mermaiden
Wow...that was a lot of pics but at least I can say that I did this polish justice finally and I no longer have to think of it as, "that ugly mani polish!