Nail Anarchy: Summer Skittle

Hi loves! *waves* Urmegerd! I am running another post today! *gaaaaasps* IT IS THE END! It is the end of all humanity as we know it! Whyyyyyyyyyy Thea, whyyyyyyyy??...okay no, not really! It’s the Nail Anarchy Challenge day today and I am actually taking part! Who would’ve thunk?? 

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I’m actually not too sure how this challenge came to fruition but all I know is a bunch of my nail art loving friends wanted a challenge and then suddenly it was like Oprah stepped into the building because next thing I know is “YOU GET A MONTH’S THEME, YOU GET A MONTH’S THEME, ER’BODY GETS A MONTH’S THEME!”. There might’ve been some tears, there might’ve been some gross jumping and hugging and there might’ve been some weird “OMG” silent mouthing...I don’t know! All I know is I didn’t take part the first few months and decided it’s high time I get my butt back into gear and this was the perfect way to do it! January was Mama Zombie Mumble’s theme month and she chose Summer Skittle...okay...so mine is a skittle but it looks more like easter. Not on purpose though mkay?? I had the mother of a nail breaks on my smexy hand so no way could I do my cute chibi ice cream nails like I wanted to so I decided to use my Cinderella hand for this challenge. So dots and zig zags (or chevrons) is what I went for! Also, please excuse my weird hand look and noob-esque photos! I am not a lefty at all!

I started by laying down bases of the following colours on my nails: Index finger – Essence Love Is In The Air, Middle finger – OPI Do You Lilac It?, Ring finger – Tip Top Nail Chic Beach Babe, Pinky – Tip Top Nail Chic Melting Marsmallow. With a dotting tool I then made the dots on my ring and index finger using L.A. Girl Glissand and L.A. Girl Green Sand. Lastly, I layed down some zig zag nail vinyls on my pinky and middle finger and added Essence L.O.L. over my pinky and OPI If You Moust You Moust. 

Ok, so this feels insanely “Meh” to me. I really wish I could’ve done this mani on my left hand because I could’ve done so much more but for now I’m working with what I got. My ring finger LOVE though! The colours just pop against each other! Love it!

Please go have a look at all the other lovelies taking part

Lots of mad love...

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm really sorry!

Hi lovelies! Wow, for being away for so long a person would think I have tons and tons to say but sitting here typing this post out I’m really struggling to put something together. I guess I can start at the most important thing and that is that I’m sorry for disappearing? I’m sorry for neglecting my passion, I’m sorry for not letting you guys in when I felt the most alone and scared and I’m sorry for anyone else I might’ve hurt in the process. I will try and give a bit of an explanation of what happened.

I’ve been suffering from anxiety since I was 10 years old. Did I know I did? No! But I knew something wasn’t right. A logical healthy mind doesn’t wake up one morning and think “Hmmm, I don’t want to go to school because my parents might disappear!”. This lasted for about 3 months but then went away. Not completely though because in the back of my mind there was always this irrational fear of nothingness lurking. Then around 2010 it came back full blown right after I lost my job and made me think the most ridiculous things about my life, my relationships and my insecurities. This stuck around for about 6 months which caused me to struggle sleeping and when I did sleep I got horrible, vivid dreams. Waking up was also horrible. I just wanted to lie in bed and fade away. Anything was better than having to go through another day of just thinking the same things over and over and over again! But again, the “fog” started to lift around 6 months later even though I knew it was still there. But a few years went by and I finally kind off started to forget about the fog until September 2014. In the middle of the 30 Day Challenge the fog came back in full force and in the worst way possible! Again irrational fears, insecurities, unresolved suppressed 10 year old Thea came back. For 2 weeks I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I was terrified to go to work, I was terrified of my fiancé! Which crushed me because he is my everything. I hated myself and then...I just stopped feeling. I was this numb floating thing who would look in the mirror and not recognise herself. The class clown. Happy go lucky me was finally the joke. I don’t want to say this to gain sympathy, not at all. But at times I would even think to myself I’d rather not live than not to “feel” anymore. The only things that kept me holding on were my fiancé, my family and my religion. I prayed so many evenings away in my bed, got up early before anyone in the house and prayed to God, begging just to get myself back. Then one evening when I was laying in bed, praying the same chant over and over I suddenly had a moment of clarity and realized that this isn’t normal and that I needed help. So the Monday I made an appointment with our family doctor and went to him on the Wednesday. This alone was horrifying! What if he said it’s all in my mind and that I just need to pull myself together?? What if I don’t get help?? What if I make a laughing stock of myself?? I needed to get better! But alas, he was more than understanding. He listened to my story and spoke to me for quite some time. Then he gave me the diagnosis that I suffer from anxiety. Yes, it is all in my mind but that’s a good thing because all the crap that I feared wasn’t true and I just needed to teach myself that. So for the next few months he put me on a very small dose anxiety medication and gave me some great advice on how to beat the “fog”. As you can see, it has taken me months to finally master the anxiety. I’m now at a stage where even if my body feels the anxiety, my brain or “me” still stays in control. I do still have small episodes here and there but instead of it taking me hours to scrape together the pieces of mental exhaustion, it now takes me about 2 - 5 minutes minutes max! And I don’t fear the anxiety anymore! Also, for the first time in years I can really REALLY breath!

 I hope you guys can forgive me. I really missed everyone immensely and wished I could reach out but I just couldn’t. It’s kind of hard to explain something to someone that you barely understand yourself. News flash though, I’m back! “Me” is back and man, did I miss me! So I will be starting up slowly. Probably a swatch here and there, some reviews and my favourite, nail art! Also, please prepare to be SPAMMED with wedding shenanigans! Only 50 more days till my big day! EEEEEEEEEEEEEP! 

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 18: Half Moons...Ripply blue nails

Hi there lovelies! I am one of little words today and wont bore you with a silly little intro or rant. I’m blaming it on my epic mental tiredness at the moment...I’m saaaawry! But you guys are here for nails right? Let’s get to it then shall we?

Day 18: Halfmoons 

Aaaaah, one of the very few prompts I was not looking forward to. Half moons plainly said, just looks weird on me. I don’t know if it’s the shape of my cuticles or my short nail beds but like I said, it looks weird! So after I scouted the net a bit and consulted with my adviser aka Ordinary Misfit, I decided to reach for my stamping plates once again.

I started out by laying down 2 coats of Zoya Song on all my nails except for my ring finger. When this was dry, I stamped on my cuticle area with Bundle Monster Plate BM-426 and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. On my ring finger I layed down 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White and with the same Bundle Monster stamp, went in and stamped randomly all over the nail with Zoya Song.

Even if this is a halfmoon mani, I really like how it came out! The stamping kind of reminds me of water ripple and man, I love love LOVE Zoya Song! But that being said, I do love blue so I might be a teensy bit biased!

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 17: Glitter aka...Sparkly honeycomb sparkles

Aaaaaaaaaah! I am posting before sunset! Yes, I classify that as a SUPER WIN! I do apologize for my sporadic posting lately but I’ve just been feeling a little out of it. I am getting back on track now though so YAY for me! Today we are hitting the Glitter Prompt of the #31DC2014. Such sparkle! Much amaze!
 

Day 17: Glitter

I didn’t have a stack load of ideas for this prompt but I did want to do glitter placement. I love the honeycomb style of hex glitter placement and have been dying to give it a try! So what better opportunity than the Challenge right?

I started by laying down 2 coats of Morgan Taylor Invitation Only on all my nails. When this was dry, I layed down zig zag chevron nail vinyls by Nail Vinyls over my index finger and pinky and layed down a thick coat of OPI Grape...Set...Match over it, pulling the vinyls off immediately. On my middle finger I layed down a coat of clear polish and placed loose hex glitter from Born Pretty Store on the topcoat. Lastly, I layed down some more vinyls on my ring finger and filled half in with OPI Grape...Set...Match and placed a few more loose glitters on the other half.

I love how the 2 polishes make each other pop! Yes, my honeycomb glitter placement is anything but perfect but I still like it! I just wish I can find some matte hex glitter because the glitter picks up the glare of my lamp immediately. And I just love me some matte glitter! Any advice??

Lots of mad love...

#31DC2014 - Day 16: Geometric aka ...Do I need a aka?? Nah!

Hi lovelies! Okay, is it just Pretoria or did your seasons also not get the memo about making a slowish “transition” into the next season?? Just over 2 weeks ago we were freezing our butts off and now we are complaining about how hot it is! No pleasing us, is there?? Now if only we can get some rain so this damn static will get the hell out! IT HURTS DAMMIT!

 

Day 16: Geometric Print 

I once again did not have too much inspiration for this post except for I knowing that I had to use Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale. She has been sitting in my polish case since 1 September and she has been calling me! I swear it! So after digging around in my stamping plates, I found a geometric-esque pattern that gave me happy feels and went to town.

I started by laying down 2 coats of WOW Nail Polish #393 on all my nails, except for my ring finger. I then placed stamping decals that I made using WOW Nail Polish #393, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale and Bundle Monster Plate BM-414, on my nails. On my ring and index finger I cut the decals with a straight line and covered only certain sections of my nail. I also lined the area around my cuticle with WOW Nail Polish #393 and a thin are brush. Lastly on my ring finger I layed down 2 coats of Morgan Taylor Hot Hot Tamale and placed little triangles on the nail that I made with polish blobs that I cut down.

 

Really camera?? Of all the times I want you to make a polish shine in all her glory you go and spazz out?? Just because she is bright and luscious! *gasp* Shame on you! Other than that I think it looks quite cute! Not too hard to do and still fun! Oh, and have you noticed my nails are shorter? Stupid tear that turned into a full on break on my index finger. But luckily I like shorter nails!

Lots of mad love...