Nail Polish Review [#1]

A few of my friends and a few of the blogs I follow do reviews on nail polish and I wanted to give my opinion. I'm going to try and focus on mostly nail polish that are inexpensive but hopefully has great qualities and great colors in some different but fun combinations. 

I'm going to be reviewing these nail polishes in the next few posts. So check back often!

I had mentioned in my thrift store adventure with my boyfriend, I Only Got $20 In My Pocket, that I bought two Essie nail polishes for $5.50 each. I'll be reviewing Smooth Sailing from that post and Revlon's Celestial FX. I got it for $4.99. These aren't the cheapest nail polish but for someone on a budget, this is not as much as some other well known brands.

Smooth Sailing is from Essie's 2011 Summer Collection, Braziliant. This polish has a rich indigo color with tiny bits of silver sparkle throughout. It only took two coats for me. I really like the sheen and the color is really pretty.

Depending on the lighting, there are these purple hues in it. It's a very fun color. I figured since it had this silver sparkle to it, I'd top it with Celestial FX.

It has large holographic diamond, star, and moon shapes along with tiny glitter pieces. It also is fast drying, so you have to work fast or keep the bottle capped.  

It was really difficult getting the larger pieces of glitter to stick to my nails and stay. If you want to coat your nails in fine glitter, you could do it in one coat with this but It took a lot of dabbing and placing to get a star or a moon. 

It was nice that it dried fast, but I started noticing that the bigger pieces of glitter would stick out a bit or you'd feel the pointy parts of them not sticking all the way down. 

I figured I'd put a coat of matte on it and that would seal those bits in.

Sadly, it did not. I could still feel them poking me and sticking up. I'm the type of person to pick at things like that when I'm thinking or bored.  And it just is a pet peeve of mine, so I removed the nail polish after a day.

Sorry I can't say how long it could have lasted or how well it held up to daily use and any chipping. 

Point is...

I'm going to give Celestial FX another try. I think it'd look great on a darker color. I'll keep you posted. Happy Polish Hunting!


UPDATE

Tried Celestial FX again. I'm much happier with the results. Just a lot more patience and took my time getting it right.

Target 101

So I have been a customer of Target for some time. I love shopping there and tend to find myself there many late nights with friends or when my boyfriend is at the gym and I wanted to get out of the house too.

The one by my house is open till 11PM or midnight, so when everything else is closing, I usually end up there. I try to just peruse, but I mostly end up spending money. I buy clothes, accessories, food, movies, beauty supplies, random items, and gifts. I go there so often, it was a benefit for me to open a credit card with them just to save 5% on everything I buy.

I do love a lot of their brands and the brands they sell. I love that I can go there to shop for clothes and food all at once. It's super convenient. (There is two by my job as well.) So I go there on my lunch break when I need to resupply my snack draw.

Point is...

Since I go there often, I would like to  write some post about what I get there and how the products fair. Whether I love or hate, I'll give my honest opinion.

I will talk about some of the items I bought today in my next post.

Sand It Down

I've noticed that the trend in nail polish has turned from crackle, to neon, to caviar/beaded and now sand/texture. I've read some reviews on these types of nail polish. Some people love it, some get use to it, some dislike it completely.

 

  

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I have seen it at my nail salon with samples of the color. It felt so gritty and the possibility of it getting caught on certain clothes or cotton balls doesn't sound pleasant. I'm a color girl, so no matter the brand, I usually buy nail polish based on color. The colors of some of these are really pretty and some have hints of sparkle.

I'm just curious if it weighs down on your fingers more and just the feeling of that texture. I might find myself picking at it or cringing when it rubs against certain things.

What do you think? Anyone try out these types of nail polish? If so, what's your take on it?

Me, My Macbook Pro, and Adobe CS 6

So I mainly started this blog to talk about my creative side. As a graphic designer, all I do is use my imagination and my skills to create beautiful graphics. But before I showcase my work, I should talk about myself, where I started, and where I am now.

I started getting really interested in art while I was in middle school. I started on Paint Shop Pro 7 and use to make fan art for actors or musicians I loved to create pixel dolls, too. By the time I hit high school,  I had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go for college.

In my Senior year, I was still making fan art, learning about web design. I was already coding websites, myspace layouts and blog layouts all on my own. I realized that I could do this for a career. So, I dropped math and science and started art classes that year.  It was tough, especially since I had no experience before then; I was mostly self-taught. But through hard work and practice, I was able to gain skills, create a portfolio and I applied to SUNY Farmingdale.

I got into the Visual Communications program there, met great friends that I still have today and graduated 4 years later. I'm now working as a graphic designer; Learning new skills, gaining more confidence and just showing what I can do with my creativity and imagination. Best part is that I get to have a lot of fun. I work for the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. I'm sure most of you know who the Girl Scouts are, but here is just a short explanation:

"We are a non-profit youth organization. We are helping girls become great people who change the world with their courage, confidence and character. We don't just sell cookies, we go camping, we learn new skills, we help our communities, and aspire to be successful in whatever we choose."

It's a lot of fun, but its hard work and we volunteer with our spare time. And I get to design different things for girls, adults, volunteers, and much more. It's all about being eye-catching and really connecting with a younger generation. 

But back to the main subject...

During college, I started to freelance under "Anise Design".  The name is kind of a hommage to my ethnicity. Anise is a type of seed similar to Star Anise, Fennel, and Licorice. It's use as a medicinal herb and it's very a simple, white flower plant. I thought it was pretty and I liked that idea that it was different, even exotic, but helpful in some way. That's how I wanted to represent my design. It's simple yet creative. I also like to consider myself a very technical designer and a perfectionist. 

Here is where my freelance brand started and where it is now. 

My First Brand Design - 

I started with this design half way through college. I chose aqua and brown as my base colors. I also chose a very fun font with rounded edges and customized the logo with stars as the counter (the space inside certain letters, such as "o" or "b"). My business cards were a custom size; much smaller than standard size cards.  Also the business cards and even my letterhead had one rounded edge. I basically wanted to make it fun and I thought it was awesome.

Obviously as time went on, I took more classes and learned more about design. And I realized that it wasn't the greatest design.  Also it was a hassle to cut the corners to round them. I started to hate it and wanted to change it up.

Second Brand Design - 

My palette of colors became darker. This one has yellow-green, light yellow and dark gray. I chose a new font with more of an edge and was a script. I actually created this in my final year at school. This was what I gave out during interviews. It took some time for me to find a job; about 6-7 months. 

Thankfully, I was hired at my current job. I've been there for 2 1/2 years. And I've grown as a designer since then. I have been given more responsibility in my organization and I started to broaden my ideas and find other inspirations. 

You can visit my website, www.anisedesign.com, to see some samples of my work and the second brand design. I never really got to finish my website. The page up there now is just a one-page website just to have my resume up there and some of my portfolio pieces.

My Final Brand Design (for now) - 

Currently, I have changed the colors again. I went for a turquoise color and standard black and white. Also kept the with gray to compliment the turquoise in my website. I changed the font of my logo again to a different script font that is smooth, connected and girly.  My last logo had too many hard edges and points that I really didn't like. It's a little whimsical and reminds me of a old-school bakery but that is my retirement dream, to open a bakery.

Besides that, I haven't had a lot of time to spend on making this brand complete. I'm hoping to get that urge to finish it and have it for whenever I do decide to look for another job. 

Point is...

This is my story and the journey I'm on to become a great designer and be successful and happy with my life.

I Only Got $20 in My Pocket

Recently, I went to the Tri-County Flea Market with my boyfriend. I haven't been there since I was a baby and I've been wanting to go to a flea market for a while. I just love walking around to all the different shops and aisles and see what they are selling. It brings back a lot of childhood memories, especially when you see old VHS tapes of Disney movies and Playskool toys you use to have.

It's also hilarious to see what they are selling and for how much.  I don't know what it is but it seems like a lot of people had rooster related items. We saw several things, from trays with rooster imprinted on it to salt and pepper shakers. 

This one was my favorite.

"What up, I am a big cuckoo!"

We also found some other items.

A cute glass dog with one ear up and one ear down.
(My boyfriend attempting to copy him, too)

The creepiest ceramic mask. :heebie jeebies:

And the cutest dinosaur book end who was missing his pair.
I really wanted to buy it but I took a picture instead.

After walking up and down and all around, I got tired. But before we left, I went into the beauty supply store they had there.  Since I was itching to buy more nail polish, I figured I'd check out what they had.  I found two Essies that I really liked and they only cost $5.50 each. That's the cheapest I've ever found for Essie.

I purchased these two.

Smooth Sailing and Haute As Hello

After that we went to the mall. I got to finally go shopping for Spring/Summer clothes. I have been doing good at not spending all my money and shopping for clothes and pretty things. Also, I've been working out with a Personal Trainer and going to the gym regularly to get more fit and in shape.  I've been skinny my whole life. I'm not complaining and most people would probably say I'm lucky.  I am but I'm not. I've been a skin and bones since I hit puberty.  I've been made fun of for how sickly I looked and that I had no butt or boobs. I've been asked several times if I was anorexic. I could never find clothes that fit me. I wore children sizes up until high school.

Now that I'm older, I've had enough of it.  I'm eating more but healthy.  I'm working out to become stronger and I'm happy. I've gained 10lbs since last November. I'm actually considered normal weight for my height and age. But now, most of my clothes don't fit. I have a lot to clean out and donate, but until I find more time to sort, I got to purchase some fun clothes that fit my body and make me super happy. Especially since my lovely boyfriend bought my clothes for me. He is an amazing! 

Then we went out for all-you-can-eat sushi at Minado. It was super delicious. I wasn't being "Asian" enough that day. We were super hungry so I don't have any pictures of the food, but I have a cute picture of my boyfriend being silly.

I'm a walrus!

Point is...

I'm starting to realize that I do a lot with my life. I work hard and play hard when I can. I'm really starting to take more enjoyment in my life and the time I get to spend with my boyfriend and everyone else. And just starting to feel less anxious about where my life is going to take me and just let that day come when it's ready.

And the fact that I get to doodle at work is pretty fun too.

Working on a magazine and sketching out the photo idea for it.

I hope I get to post about my design work soon; So many projects, so little time!