Seize the Sparkle

Summer 2013 is turning into a drawn-out Wilden whodunnit season. And it's moving veeeeeeery sloooooooowly. That being said, his death is definitely connected to the disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis. I'm 88% sure of it. Last week's episode had a little bit of action. This week's episode was mainly exposition topped with more exposition.

Aria
Her brother Mike started taking self-defense classes with Jake. According to Jake, the guys on his lacrosse team were giving him a hard time. She's worried about him going out after a game, but Jake kept her company. Awww.

Spencer
She found her mom's intern with a couple of boxes from Wilden's case in her kitchen. They were sent to the house by mistake, so Spencer did a little digging. Turned out, when Wilden was just an Officer, he investigated Toby's mom's death. Eddie Lamb was working at Radley that night, so he was interviewed. By Wilden. Wilden's interview with Eddie differs from that of Dr. Palmer. Wa…

It's been entirely too long since I've worn a glitter sandwich. This one is full of milky, glittery, patriotic goodness, quite by accident, I must admit.







Polishes Used:

1 Coat Sally Hansen White Veil
3 Coats L.A. Girl Celebrate
2 Coats OPI Bubble Bath
1 Coat Seche Vite

With Gray Suede on my nails last night, I decided I need some glitter on my nails. It was either that, or nail art, and the glitter won. (It usually does.)

White Veil is a really pretty glitter polish from Sally Hansen that I forgot I owned and have never tried. It's a white and gold hex glitter mix that I thought would look stunning over a neutral polish. I painted on 1 coat and didn't really like it.

So, I used L.A. Girl Celebrate instead.

3 coats using the dab-and-go method gave me a generous coating of glitter on my nails. Mostly red, blue, and silver glitter with an occasional fuschia. 2 layers of Bubble Bath were needed to completely tone down the glitter and finish off the sandwich. 1 thick coat o…

This polish is one of my favorite nude shades from my stash... if not thee fav-o-rite. Simple and classy... this shade does exactly what you want a neutral polish to do... complete and compliment without competing. (Try saying that five times fast. Whew!)





Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats Revlon Gray Suede
1 Coat Seche Vite

Nude polishes are tricky. If you've ever been on the hunt for the perfect one, you know what I'm talking about. Too much yellow, not enough pink, too gray, not enough brown... I could go on and on, and those are just complaints I've had about some of the not-quite nudes in my collection.

Then I found this one.

Gray Suede from Revlon was honestly a one in a million find. Seriously. It's part of their core collection, and a pretty decent match to my skin tone, but not a complete match. The shade compliments my skin tone without looking harsh or garish. Gray is a bit of a misnomer, considering this is a warm, slightly pink leani…

Am I fan of the name? No. Not at ALL. But, do I love this color? YES!!! From OPI's Holland Collection for Spring/Summer 2012... I Have a Herring Problem.





Polishes Used:

1 Coat Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats OPI I Have a Herring Problem
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite

If Jeans don't already come in this color, they totally should. This is THEE perfect shade of antique dusty blue. OPI added in some superfine shimmer, most noticeably gold, and a bunch of other colors if you REALLY look at it.

This polish came out in the Holland collection OPI put out last year. That came on the heels of a bunch of denim colored polish collections. A few of those blues were similar to this color, but I don't recall any of them having the shimmer included. That DEFINITELY sets this polish apart, in my opinion. Contrasting shimmer was a bit of a thing for me last year, and I Have a Herring Problem was a must-have when I spotted it. 

It's been a long time since I wore it, a…

If you're familiar with DIY manicures... I'm sure you've seen half-moon manicures made using reinforcement stickers. Instead of reinforcements, I used foil star stickers for a unique and different shape. This is my first official foray into Nail Art AND my first tutorial. Enjoy!

Materials Needed
Foil Star Stickers like these
Nail Polish
Tweezers

Step 1
Paint your nails. I cheated a bit and used the polish I was already wearing as my base. Why? I've tried the half-moon thing in the past, and every time I try it all at one go, I end up pulling off base coat. This was a stress-free way to be sure that my base coat was dry. Here are the layers for my base:

2 Coats Beauty Secrets Ridge Filler
3 Coats Bongo Catching Kisses
1 Coat Borghese Clear Coat
1 Coat Seche Vite


Step 2
Anchor one point of the star on your skin, and firmly press the star onto your nail. The point anchored on your skin will make for easy removal with tweezers once you're finished painting. Double-check y…

This week's episode kicked it up a notch compared to last week, but not by much. While some rather interesting things happened during this episode, we're still laying groundwork for bigger plotlines and weaving Ravenswood into the storyline. So, without any further ado...

Aria
Early in the episode, a Lacrosse player named Connor asked for her help on an English paper. She helped, he tried to kiss her, she wasn't interested, but he lied and told his friends something more happened. Aria's brother Mike believed what Connor said, and angrily confronted Aria. She then stormed into the boys locker room to set Connor straight, and he made some rude comments about her relationship with Ezra. She's conflicted because while the comments are crass... the affair did really happen. Later, Mike apologized and said that he'll make it up to Aria. Towards the end of the episode, in a montage set to Shana's violin, Connor's car is vandalized. Was it Mike... or A? The wor…