Indie Nail Polish Spotlight: Greetings Earthlings by Enchanted Polish (Swatch and Review)

I have a gorgeous, unique glitter topcoat to show you today- Greetings Earthlings from Enchanted Polish. This is a lovely melange of holographic micro and bar glitter, small black, pink and teal glitter, and green gold shimmer. Lots going on here, for sure! Here is one coat of Greetings Earthlings over NYC Color Mint Macaroon: 

I love it! This is a topcoat that would look great over so many colors.. mint, pink, green, teal, white, black... I think a better question would be "What color doesn't it look good over?". 
Do you like to spice things up with glitter topcoats or do you prefer to stick to more "traditional" creme and shimmer finish polishes?
Thank you so much for reading! 
All the best, 
Jessica

will you actually try...

ph: Among Dreams

Let's go back to the beginning. It was quite unexpected you see, you and I. You had your eyes on me even while I was in a 3 year relationship. Things didn't work out of course. You asked me out on dates, I refused. What can I say? I was afraid.. afraid of meeting someone new, afraid of trying once again, afraid of the pain that love brings. So who'd have guessed that after a year of not seeing each other that things would change?

It was a casual dinner. I thought of it as nothing more than hanging out. But yet, as the night wore on, that instant connection and chemistry was there. We ate, we talked, we laughed. There was such a comfortability between us.

As time wore on, our relationship progressed. My friends loved you, your friends loved me. Everything seemed right. Although there were kinks in our relationship, we tried to push through them. Maybe it was your lack of experience of being in a relationship. Who knows? All I do know is that I love you. But yet, something holds me back from being head over heels in love. I need that gentleness, I need someone to wrap their arms around me and tell me they love and miss me. Yet, you hold back. You say that you are not used to opening up about your emotions and that hurts. If you truly care about a person, all that should come second nature. Well at least to me it should. I feel my walls are back up.. and I hate that feeling. I want to move forward with you, with US, but yet I hold back. You told me the other day that I complete you. Yet, as those words spill from your mouth, I wonder if you complete me. I know what I want in life and I know what I want from the one I love. The questions in my mind eat at me everyday. Can you be the one to give that to me? Will actions speak louder than words? Will you actually try versus just saying that you will? Do I see myself with you for the rest of my life? Or have I simply made a mistake and once again will be left hurt from all the pain that love brings?

Once a Cork Board, Now Necklace Storage!

You've seen this idea everywhere because... well, it's genius. Take a cork board and use it to hang and organize your necklaces!

Here's how I created mine:

I first stopped at Goodwill and found this cork board for $2.99. You can buy them new from the store for a fairly decent price, especially if you use a coupon, but I almost always see cork boards at Goodwill in the picture frame section. I'm just cheap thrifty like that!

I gave her a beautiful coat of navy blue spray paint around the trim and brought her inside for some fabric.

I had extra fabric leftover from some pillows I recovered for our bed (you can see them behind my Felt Flower Pillow HERE and find my Envelope Pillow Cover Tutorial HERE) so I cut the fabric to the size of the cork board with about a half inch extra on each side. I folded the extra fabric over and ironed it down to create a nice, finished edge.

Instead of glueing the fabric to the board, I picked up some decorative nail heads (I found them at Joann's) and pinned the fabric around the edges of the board, starting with the four corners first.

I nailed a sawtooth picture hanger thingy on the back with my trusty pink hammer.

SIDE NOTE:
If I have one piece of advice for every wife out there, it's this:
Buy a set of PINK tools and keep them inside the house. You'll never have to go search through your husband's messy garage to find a tool you know you own 6 of, but can't find a single one. Your husband will never steal a pink hammer.
It's just one of those things that keeps peace in a marriage. And you'll thank me for this advice when your husband has to come ask for YOUR pink hammer because he can't find HIS anywhere.

You're welcome : )

Now all that's left is to find the perfect spot for your new necklace organizer. I put mine in our closet above a tall dresser. 

Now fill her up with all your pretties! I used clear push pins to hang them all for a cohesive look. 

I find myself wearing SO much more jewelry because it's displayed out where I can see it now, not shoved in a jewelry box. Organizing the necklaces by color and size helps you easily coordinate your outfits. And you could really use this for bracelets and earrings too, but I have another plan for those saved for another day : )

So how do you store your necklaces? 

And what do you think about the minty green, navy blue, and white color palette I'm using for our bedroom? I'm loving it!

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Mystery Giveaway!

Exciting news! 

I along with 11 other fabulous bloggers am hosting a mystery giveaway! 

12 winners will be chosen, each winning a mystery prize from one of the participating bloggers. All prizes will be makeup or nail related! Fun, right? 
Here are the bloggers participating.. you can get a head start by visiting their blogs and following! 

College Polished 
Jilltastic Nail Design
365 Days of Color
DIY Polish
Munchy's Nails
Beyond Beauty Lounge
XO, Noelle
Peace Love Lacquer
Tall Girl In Heels
Princess Polish
Manicurator

You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.. good luck!

Thank you so much for reading! 
All the best, 
Jessica 

P.S - Since I hate posting a blog entry without any pictures, but I can't show you a picture of the prizes,  please enjoy this candid photograph of my handsome cat Amigo perched atop a door in a gravity-defying act of cuteness: 

(U.S only, must be 18 or older to enter.. full terms and conditions can be found on the rafflecopter widget)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

the most important thing

ph: Viola Cangi | bosquetango

i want to be with you

ph: Alexandra Sophie

I needed to share this with someone, so ill share it with you..

I am a true believer in love but I thought that my time was over, I had given up and I still feel that way but hopefully there is a chance for me and for everyone out there. I want to believe that there is someone for everyone.

This story is about Paris and a man that I met there a few months ago when I was visiting a friend. I don’t know if this was for real or if I am just imaging it to have been as good as it actually was.

I met you on my first night in Paris, we started talking when the bar owner introduced us, I told you we where going to another place later and I gave you my number. I never thought that you actually would call but you did two hours later and you actually came.

I was happy, we went out to smoke and we stayed out talking for several hours, it felt so unreal to meet someone that fast and feel that you’ve known each other forever. We talked about everything, I didn’t know what to do I didn’t want to leave you. We spent the night together that night and the night after that and the night after that. Three days passed by as five minutes and then I had to go home, I didn’t want to leave you, not so fast, I wanted to be with you more and you said that you wanted it too.

I went home and back to my life; before I left you promised me that we would meet this summer. Now I don’t know, I think about you every day, every minute and every second. We don’t talk as much as when I came back and you are now in a totally different world on a different continent.

I want to see you this summer, I just don’t know if you want to see me again, I believe that what we had was something special, I know it seem silly and that I am a dreamer. I want to believe that you are my love and I want you to be my love.

I wish I could talk to you about it, face to face but I don’t know if I have to courage to tell you.

I want to be with you.

Guest Post at Cherished Bliss: Modern Botanical Art

Hi Friends!

Today I'm guest posting for Ashley at Cherished Bliss while she's busy moving. I'm super excited because she's one of my fav bloggers!

I'm sharing a tutorial for this Updated Botanical Art.

Follow me on over to Cherished Bliss to see how I made it!



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Artsy Wednesday: Nail Art Inspired by Jewelry

This week's Artsy Wednesday challenge was to create a manicure inspired by a piece of jewelry. I have a lot of fun, colorful pieces by Betsey Johnson, so I thought it would be fun to choose one of those to mimic. I chose a bracelet with large colorful flowers and a rhinestone skull detail. Here is the manicure (and the bracelet!):

I used Color Club Jackie Oh for the pink base, but it was a bit too neon for this, so I added a coat of Zoya Kate to more closely match the color of the flower. I added dots with Milani White on the Spot. The skull was done with Barielle OutGreyGeous and Essie Set in Stones for sparkle. I used Zoya Robyn for the bow and Wet n' Wild Black Creme for the black details. 
I think this manicure came out cute.. and its very Betsey! 
Be sure to check out the manicures from the other ladies participating in Artsy Wednesday:

Lab Muffin

Pretty Purple Polish
An Accent Nail

Maria's Nail Art
Polished Genius
Nails by Ms. Lizard
Kaka Beauty Blog
Unnaked Nails
Nail & Polish

Thank you so much for reading! 
All the best, 
Jessica

Amazing Luxury in the August Glossybox!

Since I started receiving a Glossybox in the mail each month, I haven't been disappointed with one. Each month's box has been carefully curated and filled with high value samples, often actually full size items. All of the boxes so far have been excellent.. but the August box blows my mind! 
The theme of this month's box is "Pure Luxury", and the contents of the box really fit the bill! 

Included this month are:
Sample of Biolage ExquisiteOil Replenishing Treatent
Full Size Ellis Faas Creamy Lips 
Full Size Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Purity
Sample of Ole Henriksen Truth Serum
(Nearly) Full Size Touch in Sol Feel Like Honey Moon Skin Base.. I say this is nearly full size as this is a 1.06 oz sample, and a full size is 1.13 oz! 
GLOSSYMag Mini Magazinea

The value on this month's box is insane! The full size Ellis Faas alone retails for 35 dollars, the Illamasqua polish another 14. The Glossybox subscription is 22 dollars a month, and it delivers incredible value that I have not seen in another subscription service. Besides the value, I love the variety here. Skincare, makeup, hair care, even a nail product. Its not just that the products included are expensive.. they're GOOD! I already own an Ellis Faas lip product, and it is excellent. I'm very happy to add another to my collection. I already love the skin base, too. 
Amazing products this month.. I'm so excited to try the Illamasqua polish! Keep up the good work, Glossybox! 
Now is a perfect time to get a subscription, as they are offering a where if you get a three month subscription, you get a fourth month free! Click the below image and use coupon code: NYFW 

Thank you so much for reading!
All the best, 
Jessica

disclosure: This was provided for review. All opinions are my own. *post contains an affiliate link

let's make out

ph: weheartit

THE PLAYGROUND

I AM SO EXCITED TO SHARE MY PHOTOGRAPHS WITH YOU FOR WESTFIELD'S SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTIONS! I WAS SUPPOSED TO SHOOT IN LA AND NEW YORK BUT FED EX & CUSTOMS HAD OTHER IDEAS AND DELIVERED THESE SAMPLES RIGHT BEFORE I WAS ABOUT TO CATCH THE TRAIN TO BOSTON WITH MY FAMILY TO SEE WHERE MY DAD GREW UP. I MUST SAY I AM SO HAPPY THEY WERE RUNNING FASHIONABLY LATE BECAUSE I LOVE THESE PHOTOS! AND AS I DIDN'T PACK MY TRIPOD OR REMOTE, MY DAD STEPPED IN LIKE THE LIFESAVER HE IS AND SHOT ALL THESE IMAGES HIMSELF. THANKS DAD! HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THEM TOO AND THAT YOU'LL JOIN CLAIRE FABB (WWW.STYLEBYYELLOWBUTTON.COM)  LIAM MCKESSAR (WWW.FRONTROWSUIT.COM) AND I THIS THURSDAY AT THE WESTFIELD BONDI JUNCTION ELECTRIC LOUNGE!

WEARING BALLY, ZIMMERMANN AND SASS AND BIDE FROM WESTFIELD'S SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTIONS

Review and Swatch: Cult Nails Let Me Fly

I have a gorgeous polish to show you today- Let Me Fly from Cult Nails. Let Me Fly is a dusty blue/teal color with blue and purple micro shimmer. This muted blue shade is right up my alley.. I love this color! I also love how you can wear it year round. It is one of those chameleon colors that it appropriate for any season! 

Shown here in direct sunlight, you can really see that beautiful shimmer throughout. Upon close inspection in the bottle the shimmer almost looks like tiny micro flakes of purple, blue, and silver.. so pretty! The formula is great (like all Cult Nails polishes I've tried), very nearly a one coater! Shown is two coats. The polish applies like butter.. no streaks or patchiness.
Let me Fly is definitely a must-have! 
What do you think of Let Me Fly? You can find this and many other lovely shades at cultnails.com . 
Thank you so much for reading! 
All the best, 
Jessica

i came across this boy

ph: Inès☆

I was on ChatRoulette one night, a website created to meet random people from all over the world and sometimes you'll find perverts showing off their private parts on the webcam but sometimes, you actually get to meet decent people, really decent people. And that was what happened to me.

I was on the website, had the cursor on the next button so I could just click instead of scrolling to find a next button if I were to come across with say a 40 year old pedo wanking in front of the webcam. To be honest, there were pretty a lot of normal guys I met on the website but most of them had trouble communicating in English and I got pretty bored so I pressed next, next, next... until I came across this boy, who looked decent enough but that wasn't what made me stay to talk to him, it was the set of drums at the back of him that got me intrigued.

So there we were, talking on ChatRoulette with the shitty connection and after what seemed like half an hour, we exchanged our Skype ids and continued our conversation on Skype. We talked just about everything. Our music taste, our perceptions of life, our jokes- we immediately clicked. We talked for about 5 hours before I headed to bed. Since that day onwards, we Skyped every single day for hours. I am 6 hours ahead so sleep had to be sacrificed and to be honest, it was worth it.

I showed him how my college looked like, brought him a tour around my campus. I showed him my house, my friends. We shop together online and show the things we bought. It was like he was here already but the most frustrating part is that, he isn't. How he could just stay there, spinning in his chair, juggling things to kill time while we were on Skype because I had to study for my finals. How I stole glances at him while I did my notes.

But then again, have you ever considered the slight possibility that it could be, fate? I mean, seeing him on ChatRoulette and if I pressed next, I probably would have missed the chance of feeling this way. If the connection was shitty and we didn't manage to exchange any information about one another, if I accidentally closed the website. Anything, I mean, what are the odds?

How is it possible that a boy who lives 6000... 6258.05 miles away to be exact, is able to give me the butterflies?

Felt Flower Pillow

Time for more pillow updates!

I may have developed a slight obsession with recovering pillows and discovering all kinds of ways to dress them up... My bed is going to overflow soon if I don't find a new obsession!

None the less, this felt flower pillow design I saw at Southern Lovely ABSOLUTELY darling and couldn't be simpler. It's a great way to add a pop of color and gives a great amount of texture and dimension to your space!

Here's how mine turned out:

Cute, right?

Well you can have one too!

Here's how:

Start with a pillow case. Use one you already have or make a new cover. Whatever floats your boat. You can find my super easy tutorial for envelope pillow covers HERE.

I prefer to use a white backdrop to make the color of the flower really pop. 

Next you're going to need to cut out your felt flower petals... about a million of them. 

Ok, maybe not quite that many, but you'll want about 30 each of small, medium, and large petals.

The size and shape of your petals are totally up to you. I just eyeballed mine according to the size of my pillow. Here's a picture of the different sizes I used:

This is the easiest way I found to cut all the petals:
 First cut out your largest petal then copy it twice. Trim your second petal a little shorter than the first, and trim your third petal even shorter than the second. By gradually trimming down your largest petal size, you are able to keep the shape of your petals consistent.

Once you have the template for your small, medium, and large petals, use them to cut around to create the rest of your petals. No tracing required!

Arrange your petals around the pillow starting with the largest petals on the outside and working your way into the center to the smallest petals. You'll want to lay it all out before glueing to make sure the petals are spaced correctly and overlap nicely.

Once you like the way your pillow looks, start glueing all the petals down, again starting on the outside and working your way in. I only glued the bottom edge of the petals so the top could fan up and add lots of dimension to the pillow.

Finish the pillow off by adding a flower to the center using these instructions:

1) Cut 6 medium size circles from felt.
2) Place a drop of hot glue into the center of a circle and fold it in half.
3) Place another drop of hot glue in the center...
4) and fold in half again.
5) Hot glue the tip of the folded circle.
6) Press the glued tip into the center of another circle.
7) Repeat steps with 3 more circles, folding them into quarters and glueing them onto the circle.
8) Fold the last circle into quarters and glue into the middle of the flower.

Hot glue your flower onto the center of your pillow and stuff your pillow inside!

 I just love this pillow! It adds such a feminine touch to my all-boy household! And I don't even think my husband minds the flower since I used a masculine dark gray felt.
Except when I told him it's a "Pretty Pillow" which translates to Do Not Use!
: )



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