Saturday, September 14, 2013

Feather Manicure

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!
<3
-WW
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I came up with this completely out of...I have no idea, it just sort of hit me, actually.  I just had a box of feather sitting around I'd bought that didn't work for the project they were intended for, so there they sat.

Edit: hilariously, this idea started popping up EVERYWHERE shortly after I posted this, so it must have been a mutual strike of inspiration as I hadn't seen it anywhere and I know I'm not popular enough here for anyone to have seen it, really...funny how that works!! :)

Alone.

Neglected.

Sad.

We can't have that, now can we?  I've been on sort of a nail kick lately and I'm running out of ideas (nail art is a superb idea until you realize you can't draw) so now I suppose I'm just randomly affixing things to my nails in search of something new, and this is what I came up with:






Not the most awesome thing ever, but I dig it and can't wait to try it with other colors and feathers...And on tips since my nails are so short this was actually kind of difficult.

Pardon me if this attempt at a nail art tutorial sucks, its my first one. =)





First, put down your base coat if you roll that way and your base color.  I used a light blue...My idea was sort of a feather floating through the sky thing although it looks nothing like that, lol.





Then, you'll need your feathers, some tweezers, a top coat, and some scissors (not pictured).





Ok, now there's some pictures missing here since I only have two hands and they were both occupied.  I tried two different methods with this:  I trimmed the feathers before applying and some I applied THEN trimmed before I mashed them down...Those turned out way better.

Anyway, pick your method...the above is one I trimmed first.  Then, apply a coat of clear, grab the feather with your tweezers and lay it on your nail on top of the still-wet clear coat.  Before you press it into place (I just used my finger, but if you are fancy you can use an orange wood stick), be sure to go ahead and trim any edges you may have missed that will hang over.





Then, press the feather gently down into the tacky gloss so it sort of sticks and lays flat.





Keep going...And once you've done them all, put a nice, thick clear coat over the top to seal everything in.





Voila!





Feather nails!




...And feather toes...Please to ignore the scratches on my toes, I do own a cat.  I tried to do feathers on the right foot on the smaller toes as well, but it didn't work so well.

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Review - Almay One Coat Dial-Up Mascara

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!
<3
-WW
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Note - this review is my opinion, was not compensated for and I purchased the mascara myself, for personal use.  If I'm ever paid for a review, or receive a product for free, I'll let ya know....Hell, I'll probably be so excited I'll let everyone know, but will always use my honest opinion no matter what.  If someone wants to send me free stuff to review or pay me for one, I think that's great, but I'll still not kiss ass for it.







This stuff is ok.  Not the best, but I'm not pissed I bought it.  I'm not sure what it goes for retail because it seems to have been discontinued in my area and I got it on clearance.  I have no idea what settings 1 and 2 do on the clicky thing, but seriously, who the fuck cares?  I can't imagine anyone using those settings because, to me, mascara is all about dramatic lashes.  If I want to look natural, I'm honest about it and don't wear makeup.

This goes on brilliantly and I've never, ever had a clump out of it.  Although it is advertised as one-coat, it truly does look better with two.





I could only find it in black-brown, which isn't usually a color I'd use, but I love it in this.  The brush has plastic-y knobby things instead of the spiral wire-twirl brush (loving those descriptions, aren't ya guys?).  Somehow the mascara seems (to me, anyway), to go on much smoother and I attribute the non-clumping to the brush because when you pull it out of the tube, you can look at it and tell right away if there's any clumpy problem-causing parts on it and wipe them off.

The only drawback is that this stuff is rather thin and takes for.  fucking.  ever.  to dry.  After you put it on, for the next 3 or 4 minutes, you'd better not dare even think about sneezing, eyeliner fixes, blinking, or anything else.  If you can go into a deep meditation and slow your breathing, all without closing your eyes, that'd be great.

Its a good thing to keep around for when you have lots of time to do your makeup, but I can't tell you how many times I've ended up with smudged mascara because I was in a hurry and had nothing else to grab.

This exact mascara?  Not bad, but not a re-buy for me due to the drying time, which is a pity because I liked everything else about it, but I just had to clean up WAY too many times and it gets frustrating after awhile.  This type of brush?  I will  hunt down to the ends of the earth.  Or clean this one after the tube is empty and use it on my next mascara of choice if it doesn't have this same kind.

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Review - C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries Lemon Body Creme

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!
<3
-WW
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Note - I have been in no way compensated for this review.  I bought the product myself, for my own personal use, and for my own personal huff-the-smelly-good-stuff junkie fix.

This stuff is my very favorite moisturizer for legs/feet.  If I could afford to, I'd use nothing else.  Ever.



It is, sadly, a bit too oily for me to use on my face, but it does absolute wonders on my legs and feet.  Your feet and legs can go from dry and horrid to pretty and moisturized in about ten seconds flat and with sandal/shorts season upon us, that is AWESOME.







I have no clue why my hand looks so freakish in that middle picture.

However, back on track, this stuff is very thick, creamy and has a pretty strong scent, so if you're not into strong scents, this probably isn't for you.  The scent is not strong in that "fake, perfume-y" sort of way though, its strong in that "natural, lemony,  herby, fresh" sort of way.

As I mentioned before, it is a bit oily, which I LOVE for my legs because it leaves a bit of a glowing sheen behind, but somehow does it without leaving your legs feeling greasy to the touch, only soft.

This little container cost about $7.50, which is a bit pricey, but it can sometimes be found at outlet malls and snatched up for half-price, which is where I tend to get mine because $7.50 for a small jar of body cream is just a bit more than I'm willing to pay...If it were a large jar, I'd spring for it, but this one is a bit small for that price...However, the quality is good enough that if I had that kind of money to blow on something like this, I'd use it all the time.

I recommend, not only this particular product, but other things by C.O. Bigelow as well.  I've tried 4 of their lip glosses and a lipstick as well and have not been disappointed with any of it.  Quite frankly, I can't wait until my next trip to the nearest outlet mall so I can try to stock up on and try more of their stuff.

<3
The Wookie Wifey