coloured in

Update!

2010-07-17T10:40:00.003-05:00

I do understand it has been quite a while.

In short, my mani-hygeine has fallen short, and I've barely been noticing my nails at all.

In September-February we were having a fiasco. My mother left us for a man she got hooked up with on Facebook, and though the scar is healing, she can be a ***** sometimes and turn back around and cut up the sore again. Otherwise, we're managing.

I've been getting in with horses since January, but I've had a few bad experiences with one trainer so I decided to cut back and stop seeing her, and focus on buying a horse myself. Rather, I am now focused on getting a job, then a car so I can drive places, /then/ things FOR the horse, THEN the horse =]. And I'm hoping to compete. I've found something I can do with my disability, and it's inspiring.

Anyways, that's all that's up!

Sinful Colors: Frenzy

2010-04-28T09:38:00.002-05:00

To begin, I would like to have apologies for my absence. I shall put this shortly. To begin. School. Life. My grandfather was diagnosed with leukemia and beginning last October and continuing on through here, my mother has been having an affair, left us, and still is hitting us with some words and events that only stab at the wound that is trying to heal.

Now, I had no real interest in continuing with here, in particular because nail polishes never really worked well for me. I was doing my normal girl thing, pick up some cheap nail polish. This was, two dollars maybe? I've had it on for days without any problem. Just that bottle doesn't look /that/ amazing until you put it on, and...dang. That's all I can say.

ELF Palette

2009-12-01T20:50:00.002-06:00

I bought the new palette, the large one for my birthday. I'm just going to have a bit of a short review.

First off , the colours are great. The lips are sheer and buildable, as is the eyeshadows. The variety of colours is very acceptable. They are pigmented, although wearable, and easy to blend from what I've seen so far. The blushes and bronzers are ridiculously pigmented--to the point where it's frightening to put on. I love all the colours though, and think ELF is very good quality for the value. The concealers, eh. They are very sheer and thin, and work well for blending colour correcting, but I haven't touched those much. There are different finishes, and a wide variety...I'm very glad I bought it.

My Halloween

2009-11-01T10:43:00.005-06:00

Oh boy, so much stuff has been going on. There have been so many family issues, school issues, etc. I went to Dallas and saw Star Wars in concert! Only on the day of Halloween did I buy my costume, so I shall treat with pics. Feel free to zoom.

This is my brother. Today's his tenth birthday. Good luck finding him, he's so well camouflaged.

Sephora Haul

2009-10-18T15:29:00.017-05:00

Alrightyy. So, good good week. I got my haircut that I love. As well as being completely broken out now, I have experienced more and more pain, and my dosage was increased to 4x3, which is 3600 mg, the complete maximum dosage allowed for gabapentin..and since this isn't exactly working my doctor is going to switch me over to something that hopefully will work. =] And..my braces are still breaking. The stripping is gone out on one of them, and the screw popped off again today. I'm grateful I'm going to the place who makes them tomorrow, to get them redone to accomodate for the hardships on them and the growth I've had!!

So today we celebrated my birthday, a month early, by going to Sephora. We'll be going again to receive my birthday gift and I'll probably buy something else alongside it, =].

First up is a Sephora concealer. It has a cream texture. It was difficult to swatch because as it should be, the colours were decently sheer and very blendable, which made me happy.

I also brought this cheap brush cleaner, which does its duty for mee.And this adorable brush set. I've been needing good quality brushes, and these are very much so. This is a paper which describes all the brushes and what they do.
And here are the brushes themselves! They're very beautiful, and the case is adorable and pink and closes magnetically. The only problem I have is that the little flaps which cover up the brushes are a tad bit annoying and want to flip down when you wish for them to flip up.Little eyeliners were on sale for $3.50 in Sephora brand. They are very high quality and took forever to wash off... I don't, however, have a picture.Andd..dun dun dun...I bought the Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume II!! It came with this pretty little overview of all that's inside of it.Alrighty. So the packaging is a tad bit annoying. The little tray comes out of the box which you pull, and it makes the whole thing kind of large since it stays in there! It doesn't come out. This is the eyeliner. They are very pigmented, very creamy and soft. The only issue I have is that the brown one brokee. =[ From top right to bottom left.. Misdemeanor, Homegrown, Flipside, Jinx, YDK, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Twice Baked,

From left to right. Perversion, Gunmetal, Ecstasy, AC/DC, Nylon, Sellout, Mushroom, Sphynx.
All of those are without the Primer Potion that is also available in the box. AC/DC, Nylon, Mushroom, Sphynx, Jinx, Homegrown, and Misdemeanor are all colours exclusive to this box. It speaks of "hidden trap doors". We'll see how that turns out..

And what is all of this without a look? Well.

This is produced with Jinx, Flipside, Homegrown, and Misdemeanor in the crease deepened with Perversion, and Sellout I think on the highlight. =]

That's all for today...

Laterz and love,

D.B.

Haircutt

2009-10-17T16:25:00.002-05:00

I got a hair cuttt.

I tried another polish from that kit and it lasted me about five minutes and looks awful so I'm not going to swatch or post it. I guess it was just that colour.

Laters and love,

D.B.

A Note About Pictures FOTD

2009-10-10T13:30:00.003-05:00

So, my FOTD inclues a bit of a purple scheme. With purple lid and sparkling silver crease, and a bit of a purple gloss. I think it is a Jade eyeshadow palette, a moderate drugstore brand. Foundation is Neutrogena Liquid--I'm not sure what it is, but it's oil free and promotes health, and the powder is Neutrogena as well--a powder I swear by, because it gives me a pretty flawless finish in real life /and/ heals blemishes.

Speaking of blemishes. I don't like putting pictures up, because I think it scares people. Really, who wants to look at /that/? The reality is, is that I'm fifteen years old. I have acne, and I know that most people in their teens and twenties and even thirties can be affected by it as well. Blemishes can completely destroy ones life. Checking your face every thirty minutes to make sure you're concealed, it can lead to depression. Depression can lead to suicide. This is Depression Awareness Month, and it's good to support depression. Lots of people are affected by depression, and most don't think it's a big enough problem to talk to anyone about it. Personal appearance can lead to depression. I don't know about any of you, but when I see gurus like Michelle Phan--who is absolutely incredible--anyone's skin can look terrible. The gurus seem flawless. Celebrities seem flawless. And looking at these pictures can make you feel bad.

I'm getting better, really, at..not worrying too much about what others think. Finding humility. And my skin isn't /that/ bad, really. I have a few breakouts on my cheeks and a few whiteheads every now and then, but it's really during my special time of the month. Like seriously, there's this ten day period of every month where I'm terrible, like now. It doesn't just look bad, it hurts. And it makes me feel depressed and terrible all day. The truth, really--it doesn't matter, it really doesn't. And three years ago I would have been fine not wearing makeup, I didn't care at all what anybody thought--and my friends, sometimes I can't stand because they hate makeup, but you know, I've come to realise that they're better than I am, that they have the mental attitude that I think everyone needs, to not worry about appearance. That someone should love you because of who you are, not what you look like. And I'm trying to get more towards that goal. I've stopped carrying makeup with me wherever I go. It's like a temptation--if I have a mirror, I'm going to make sure I look okay. I think I look bloody brilliant, and when I take a picture it looks terrible! But I mean, I am what I am. And really, nobody is going to see that blackhead from five feet away, unless you completely pack it down with concealer and make a big notice out of it, or spend ten minutes every class period powdering yourself. That just..I don't know, it looks stuck up and arrogant to be so obsessed with your appearance in a place where you should really just let it go and be yourself.

Anyways, sorry that was a big long rant.

Love,

D.b.

Unnamed Dark Purple Drugstore Nail Polish

2009-10-10T11:08:00.002-05:00

I received a set of four nailpolishes and a nail file in a Christmas present last year. I actually received two of these sets in the same colours, but wasn't enthused to try. The formula is thick and drippy.

I sustained my patience and found this to be an absolute jewel. Although application took some talent, the colour is beautiful. It is a very deep purple that shimmers with little pink specks, and looks almost black in some lights. The wear of this is very good, and lasted my nonwriting hand--since I was doing a plethora of writing and homework during my wearing of this--several days, and my writing hand at least three without a dent.

Love,

D.B.

Another Haul

2009-09-20T15:30:00.004-05:00

Revol Apricot Fantasy

A cheap Bari blush, not sure of the name at the moment.

I was eager to try L'OREAL HiP, so this is Poppy.

And this is a swatch.
That's all,

D.B.

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Lavender Marquis

2009-09-20T15:21:00.003-05:00

This is a rather finicky little one. I was caught by it's frosty shimmerness of lavender, although I'm not so sure about the polish itself. It is very pretty, doable at just a single coat it looks beautiful. It is a frosty lavender with a bit of a yellow shine to it, is what I see in it. It's very pretty. Application, however, was not pretty. The formula is very thin and tends to run, a lot. In order to apply, it is necessary you take off a ton and ton of polish from the brush in order to apply, and put on thin coats. However, it is a subtle beauty I will wear again.

That's all for today.
Love and God Bless,
D.B.

FingerPaints Brush With Fame

2009-09-10T19:15:00.008-05:00

Today has been such a great day for me. I went and had a meeting with my principal, counselor, band director, and mom. They were very pleased with my academics, had a ton of papers, and emphasized their care for me so that I have several accomodations. What I actually received was a five minute early or late pass, a home set of textbooks, an elevator pass if I need to go to the other building's second story, a handicapped bus that brings me right to my house, and a threat that if the principal ever sees me hurrying again he'll personally call all my teachers and tell me to leave five minutes early. I was also blessed with receiving a top locker in the midst of all of my classes, and permission not to punish me if I accidentally am a bit dozy from all my medicine! Life is good.

I rounded my nails. When they were more squared, I notice that the corners of them would always break and chip. In the case of my longer nails, they might actually decay a little in the middle on the side, making things annoying and maintaining ridiculous. I've begun to notice the attraction of more pointed, rounder, realistic looking nails. So, I rounded my nails. I don't know if it makes too much of a difference or not, but I do like how they look. I'm not sure what I might do in the future.

This is FingerPaints Brush With Fame. I bought it at Sally's for maybe a dollar because it was on sale. The colour is very similar to what is in the pics, but with less lighting it looks a bit more brown. Relate the picture to the bottle colour as well. In the first day there has been definite tipwear, although no chips.

Thanks, love you, and God Bless,

D.B.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science verypictureheavy

2009-09-08T20:36:00.025-05:00

Well, anybody who has known me for a while knows that if I get a hold of a camera and get in a place with shimmery, shiny things, I am most likely bound to snap away at every single thing I see. Here..I actually did. My mom took a small minority of the pictures at the museum, although I took a good bit. There are tons and tons and tons of pictures, and the only thing I wasn't able to take pictures of were the Indian and B.C./A.D. sort of things on the third floor.

A bit of the overall message, I think. I'm going to try to not comment on anything specific.

All of the rocks/gemstones are insanely gorgeous in the pictures, but the camera can't go anywhere near to the beauty they show. Full view EVERYTHING if you can, and pretend that each of those facets are lit up. The gemstones were INSANELY beautiful, but they didn't show up at all in the pictures! I loved all of the stones there, they blew me away like they do every time. There's a few dino pics.

And that's it =]
A side note--the plesiosaur, you kind of have to look for some random guy in the photograph, but that is one HUGE dinosaur, and /that/ is a 1/4 scale model!

That's all
Love and God Bless,
D.B.

Mini Walgreens Haul

2009-09-06T21:10:00.021-05:00

Sew. I went to Walgreens today. I spent twenty five dollars, although it's normal that my dad buys my foundation, so cut off about eight of that. ^_^ My dad was going, so I seized the opportunity.

This is the CoverGirl TruBlend Whipped Foundation. I've heard various mixed comments about this, so I thought I'd give it a try.

CoverGirl's website: So silky, so light, you won't believe you're wearing makeup! The luxurious whipped formula of TRUblend Whipped Foundation glides on for silky-smooth coverage, a lightweight feel and a natural, fresh-looking complexion.

First Impressions: Now, this is the first non-liquid foundation I have tried. The issue is in reviews, is that about 80% love the heck out of this foundation, and the other 20% hate it. When I opened it it was indeed very smooth. While some had complaints of it not being smooth and silky appearing, well, mine was new and fresh, just fine. I tried on a little bit and I do completely agree with the claim on the website. It's a very smooth coverage. A little goes a long way, and it is very natural and fresh. It doesn't feel like you have anything on at all. The only thing I can say opposed against this is that the smell is indeed, incredibly strong. A side note is that this contains 28 mL where most foundations have 30 mL, which is very good, considering a large amount of liquid foundation needed for a similar coverage is hardly comparable to this.

I picked up Maybelline's Moisture Extreme Lipcolor in Nude Blush too. Sorry for the photo quality. It is very creamy, and has a buildable pigmentation.

I'm a sucker for cheap lipgloss. Really, who would pay thirty dollars for lipgloss? This is Jordana InColor Shine Luxury Gloss in Cute. Again, bad photo. I saw this by the checkout for a dollar or so. It is a pretty neutral, but very bronzey lipgloss. It's a little too shimmery for me to use, personally, and has a very high pigmentation. I think if I worked with the amount I use then I'll find a good medium.I picked up Maybelline's EXPERT WEAR Bronzer in Sun Light too. It's a very neutral, kind of light, peachy colour. I love the sun in it. The only thing that I can disagree on now is as most powder blushes, it's real powdery and tends to get all inside it. It's very shimmery.Jordana Cosmetics Nutmeg Lip Liner. 99c. It's creamy and nice. =]So yes, I did swatch. The blush is on the hand, lipliner, gloss, then lipstick.

The lighting's a bit off. =/ Eh.

We also went to Kohl's today. I picked this up. =] Rawr. This was like..ten dollars! It's amazing how cheap the clothes are getting. You go one week then the next and next, and they're getting progressively cheaper. Right on! Soon they'll be paying me to buy there! Bought with a Kohl's Certificate thing. You get $20 for every $50 you spend.

Also, a tad bit of a personal story.
I got these last Christmas as a gift. I'm a sucker for accessories, and hook earrings seem to be the most convenient for me. I don't have to open and close any tight clasps, I just put it in and poof. Well, about a week, seriously, after I got these I lost them.

Yeah.

Well, one appears in our yard. A neighbour kid found it. Which means..wow. So, I get it and don't know where the other one is.

Well, a few months ago I saw the other one. Then, forgot where it was.

The other night I remembered! And voila!

Love,

D.B.

Nubar Pastel Fever Lemon Sorbet and Oh Baby Pink

2009-09-05T20:09:00.005-05:00

I feel absolutely terrible that every time I get on it's for an apology, but there is absolutely no way to keep up with things. I'm still trying to conserve my battery, snapping pictures as I can. I haven't even been able to get on the internet considering all of my afternoon time is consumed by homework and practice. Advanced courses do well providing you what you need for the college tests, sure, but there is hardly any time for anything and I'm also trying to maintain the highest average I can so that my regular (elective) classes (which are scaled to 4.0 instead of 5.3 like the advanced or GT (which is above that) don't pull down my GPA).

Rambling enough much. Well..I haven't actually been doing my nails lately. I've been too tired, and too busy. I went to the Muscular Dystrophy Association again for another appointment with a new doctor, discovered that I can't hardly feel any temperature in my hands and none past my knees. They put me on gabapentin, which I can say still isn't helping with my pain, but it's better than over the counter drugs. -shrug-

Anyways, this is Nubar Oh Baby Pink from the Nubar Pastel Fever collection released the past spring. This is one of my favourite collections of all time, and I'm not quite sure or not if I had posted this colour or not. The application is smooth and creamy, and very good, although you need about three-four coats of application. That's keeping in mind, I normally do very thin coats. I don't really like Nubar's brush size, although with precision and stabilizing my hand I am getting better at managing.

Nubar Lemon Sorbet is also very excellent. It is the most streak free yellow I've ever tried and definetely the lightest and palest. It is an absolutely gorgeous colour and doesn't make me look red although it does in the picture. >.> I used two coats, although a third is quite obviously necessary for opacity.

S'well, I went to the local museum and am dedicating an entire post to that in a few moments. ^^

That's all for now,

D.B.

Clothes and a Konadicure, Neon Removal

2009-08-09T18:11:00.004-05:00

Alright. So I got "in the mood" to change my nails, considering they were lasting "forever" in my book. So, I got the nail polish remover out and attempted to remove it.

Harder than I thought.

All glittery things are hard to remove. It took twice as much cotton and about five times as much nail polish remover to get it off. The funny thing is, is that when Blue Sparrow was partially removed, it had this intense silver glitter, hiding underneath all that blue. That look alone I would've totally gone for.

ANYWAYS. So I pulled out from Nubar's Pastel Collection Green Tea, and Konad plate m55. I experimented, failed a little bit, and ended up just putting random designs. Sorry it looks so bad, I was kind of annoyed from the removal and didn't feel like spending forever on my nails. Besides, it's just practice. [=

This is the original sloppy pic with no Konad.

So it was my dad's birthday, and while we were at Bass Pro I did some back-to-school shopping.

These are all Natural Reflections, size small. Priced 30-45 dollars, and each was like..10-15, I think. I also got the best corduroy pants ever. Best pants EVER, and they were ten bucks.

Not cold enough yet, but it will be for CHICAGO.

I'm so afraid to stain this x.x

That's all.

Love and God Bless,

D.B.

China Glaze -- Neon Blue Sparrow

2009-08-06T18:52:00.012-05:00

Aha! So, wel, indeed I did find batteries, and I stole an extra pair. I hope to keep pictures sparse and only when necessary--not fumbling around searching for the right position or for me to get the great face of the day shot--just simple, when I'm ready to go, snap and off camera. I'm hoping this with my new batteries stolen will last me a while. If not, hopefully there might be a few more to snag in the junk drawer downstairs. /Hopefully/.

Now NORMALLY I don't like to take pictures outside? You know why? Because I see wonderful glorious photographs of pictures in the perfect lighting that I LOVE, but when you try them on indoors, where you are most of the time, it's dull! Now this I happened to see the shocking beauty of when I did go outside, so I felt the need to take a picture.

Anyhow, this is neon neon. I wore another from the neon collection-- the In the Lime-light in the pictures where I was riding my friend's horses in Mississippi, and those stood out more than anything! You could see them a mile away. I'll try to make up for my nailish absence with a bit of a decent review.

Well, to start off. As I said, this is NEON NEON. It is so bright, especially when you're outside in the sun. The application was iffy. I had a hard time getting the right amount of polish on my nails, because it's very thick, but also watery. It ended up in huge glops, and when I did get the right amount it thinned out in random spots. This was two coats. I should've done three, maybe it would've made things a bit mor even. In true light you can see all the opaqueness issues. This took forever to drydry. I used a coat of Seche with this, and it seemed fairly dry, but after nearly forty-five minutes it insisted on smudging and tearing off and just being that semi-dry kind of jam-likeness. So, some parts would smudge off, literally, and then I'd smudge it back on and it'd dry that way. So far, since my application of it about six hours ago, has it chipped or shown any signs of wear. Even if it did, this nail polish is so amazing that I'd wear it anyways. You really need to FULL VIEW to see the intense sparkles and brightness of it. The colour is darker inside, but outside it really shows it's beauty. I can't even explain it--it's just GORGEOUS. It's like the intensity of the sparkles on a brand new BASS BOAT, yes, that's what it is. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm usually one for creamy, matte like things, but this absolutely took my attention away.

I decided to practice a little of Konad on this. From the basic plate #2 or..#3 -rubs head-. Flowers and hearts, index and ring. I'm getting slightly better at it, all for practice. I'm hoping eventually I'll reach the point when my mom can trust in me and not squander money with a pedicure.

This is the inside post w/flash.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b223/onono4542/006.jpg is the link to fullview. I can't get it to work. >.>
FULL VIEW.

Anyways, that's all for now.
Love and God bless,

D.B.

Vacationy

2009-08-05T21:28:00.010-05:00

So, I'm sorry, but I've still been busy and gone and here and there, and the battery's still are all out of. So I'm going to post pictures (taken with my mommy's camera, not mine XD), of our trips and doings and such. First off, New Braunfels. Here's a "few" pictures, but it's hard to get them into any order--so they aren't.

Here's the entrance to it. All big and noticable like.

One of their reticulated pythons in a big cage.

Another.

The bigg cage with all em in it.

The alligator and crocodile feeding!

This guy was so cool. Knew lots of stuff--and I'm like his biggest #1 fan =]

Retic. This is a BEAUTIFUL SNAKE -faint-.

Anaconda

So I took pics with Apollo-the famous snake off Dirty Jobs. He took two professional pics--the one that's all grainy is that one cuz it was scanned. Other my mom took.

We went to Kirbyville and to my great aunt/uncle's ranch. My third cousin (my mom's cousin's son) hooked up a horse called Bud we all rode on a little--him mostly leading the kids. I went out a lot--they had four horses, and fed them and played with them. This one's called Crack. Apparently he's on it.

Anyways--hope to get back on topic soon.

Love,

D.B.

A few random photos

2009-07-17T22:43:00.002-05:00

Alrighty. So, I'm trying to make this quick.

This isn't anything special or important, just something that I did. Unfortunately, we're out of batteries and I lost the battery charger ages ago to recharge the rechargables. x.x So until then, no more pics.

I've concluded I suck terribly at taking pictures of myself.

But this one my mom took of me, at Kemah.

This is a picture of my puppy--from when we got her. ^^ She was only a few months old.

We're leaving tomorrow to go to New Braunfels and Fiesta Texas. Snake Farm! woo!!

God Bless,

D.B.

My time is limited, so I'm going to try to make it short.

Yesterday we went to Kemah with friends--my mommy took a picture =]

China Glaze Thataway

2009-07-14T14:28:00.002-05:00

Heya there. This is just a short post.

This is China Glaze Thataway. It's a frosty orange. This is two coats. The first coat is very uneven and sheer near the tips, but the second coat clears things up. It can be a little streaky.

That's all for today. Sorry =]

Love,
D.B.

Snakes and 4th of July!

2009-07-05T22:20:00.009-05:00

Happy Independence Day, to everyone =] On this day, I went out to Toledo, with my great uncle's lake house. I conversed and ate with some relatives of mine who live a bit close, and some a bit far. I didn't participate in boating or swimming or playing any of those games the boys did, but I did have fun talking.

This was an absolutely terrible manicure. It's just that and a top coat, but there are several issues. I think maybe a base would've helped--the white, OPI Timeless is More (because I hate starks and it's the only "opaque" white in my collection, seemed to peel right off. The others, China Glaze Frostbite and OPI ..erm..I can't recall the name now. ^_^ Those chipped, with great ease. I guess maybe it was because I was partially in the dark that the application wasn't great--but nobody there was a professional, and they thought it was cute. So hey, I /tried/ to do something more than simple.

So yes, I snapped some of Stevo. He does not like having his picture taken! He's finally three foot long, and hopefully will be growing past four.

Tangles. It's so interesting, she's outgrown this tiny little hut and yet she still finds reason to lay in it. See how she's pushed it up!

That's all for today.

Love,

D.B.

OPI Little Red Wagon, Nubar Orange Creme, and Pets =]

2009-06-30T23:00:00.004-05:00

I would have enjoyed to put this in some sort of order, but I failed. Sorry. I'm going to try to keep this short and to the point. I've been still so /very/ busy, and it's quite getting on my nerves. All of the camps/parents' ice cream social/family visiting/us visiting family should be over soon, I'm hoping. My father and I are going to start building a 4x3x2 snake cage for Heimlich!!

Anyways. This is my NOTD for yesterday, OPI Little Red Wagon. I hadn't intended on posting this, but it was SO BRIGHT that I just felt it needed the attention. The brush was a bit small, it was one of those sample bottles, but the application was fantastic. The manicure lasted a whole twelve hours, chipping in the shower and being half-gone through the next day. I was disgusted and surprised--it just came right off!

This is Heimlich. ^^ He was out and about.

And my Cocker Spaniel!! And..messy bed. Ignore that.

This is my NOTD from several days ago--ignore the messy application, Nubar brushes hate me. Nothing incredibly good or bad to say about this.

That's all for today!

Love,

D.B.

Outlet Minihaul and Some Other Pics

2009-06-18T22:15:00.013-05:00

I took this picture, today I think. That piece of black 'sleep' under my eye is really annoying me, and it's real shimmery. Cameras pick up way too many things that you can't see in real life! The pics below also makes me feel like I REALLY need to learn how to smile.

I know it's not really important, but my dad took some pics of my mommy and me in Joe's.

A few days ago we went to a small outlet mall. I'm not really sure the brand or the store I was at exactly, but I bought some shorts =] The colourations are really pretty, and have neutral shades in them that match well with most anything.

I'm totally digging them!!

This is a lipstick case I got at a street on Harwin. It's in Houston, and is a very long street famous for great knock-off purses and a great selection of all sorts of things. There's an asian store with Hello Kitty galore, kimonos, and all sorts of cute little things like this. It snaps close and has a mirror inside, and I have one that's black, orange, and green also.

That's all for now.

Love,

Life Update (Beware of Long Posts)

2009-06-17T22:03:00.018-05:00

Posted yesterday: This is just another life update.

I know, sorry. I just feel like as well as a blog for all sorts of cosmetic-like things, I'd like to post some interesting things in my life (and my snakes!)

Speaking of my snakes, starts off with that. Well, yesterday.

We'll start with yesterday at Scout Camp. They all made rain gauges, by taking foil and either cutting out paper with it on it, or imprinting it by tracing and cutting out the trace they made in the foil, then colouring and decorating it with Sharpies or paint, double-sided taping these dragonfly wings to two popsicle sticks together, as well as a self-marked glass cylinder to be the measurement for the water as well as the body of the dragonfly.

There were multiple problems with this. Mainly, the den leaders don't do nearly anything. Although I'm signed up to do the older kids, I prefer to do the younger ones, about six or seven (the youngest age available). After a while we just gave up on the double-sided tape because hot glue was offered, so we just instantly sent the kids there. It was pretty hectic, passing out the foil and the paper to trace/cut the wings with, scissors, markers, cylinders, popsicle sticks, and making sure there was a sheet taped down with the measurements, or that they had rulers given to them. Most of them I had to do myself, but I had a decent time.

Very tired and in much pain, I went home to thawed mice to feed for my snakes. I cut open the bag as usual, and something I never like to see. Three mice, horizontally packed, one quite bloody. This is problematic for me because I drop them in the cages, and it's easier to hold onto the ones in the back and let one in the front drop out, but these were all neck n' neck. Consequently, Stevo's worked out alright. Tangles and Heimlich were very much out, as you can see here.

That's how he was when I got in! Now when you're opening a cage with a bloody mouse in a plastic bag in your hands with a snake like that, it can be kind of frightening. Even though they've never bitten me, Heimlich's snapped, and I'm still wary when I have food because they might mistake ME for food.

Now, today's Twilight Camp went far better. It was pretty cool. Although Josh continues to be full of himself, bossing me to go to this mandatory youth meeting which I still didn't go to, and talking about how he is very nationally amazing for scouts (he has all these smart words for it), it started out well. One of the head people came up to me and mentioned my braces and said she felt awful for me, knowing it must be painful for me and hot wearing all of my stuff, and thanked me for working hard and said I could sit down whenever I want. Now, that's a good thing to hear! What a nice woman!!

Today went far better. I don't really remember the first little block. =] We were making bug catchers. They glue the pieces together and glue the net on, and little green felt strips on top. One of the sides has a hole for a cork that's provided to keep the bug in! It was a very messy job, especially glueing the net on and the felt. They used popsicle sticks to paint the glue on, but many just used their hands! They sanded it, and one kid commented, "We don't want the bugs to get splinters!" How cute!! They were all really sweet. We had our break, in which I set up a few tables for the next round, then lunch. The next group I had was really good. At that stage the parent is required to be with them for pretty much everything, and I had tons of den leaders that helped their kids (these are groups of about fourteen). I still got quite messy. Then, there was a group still in that block of time that hadn't gotten a table and had been patiently waiting for one!! So I had to cram them in and do pretty much everything in ten minutes, which was HARD, considering it takes lots of time to glue! Because of that, the next station got a bit behind, but it all worked out very well. =]

Now, -phew-. Glad, I told /somebody/. Or at least I can think that somebody will read all of that.

For the fun part =] Vacation Bible School is a blast. Craft time, snack time, everything is soo much fun!

These two are Ethan and Elliot, two brothers. They're the best brothers I've ever seen in my life. Elliot being the youngest, he's adorable. He's supposed to be in the younger preschool class, while I teach the older, however he cried and clung to his brother, so we let them stay together. Boy, they love being together!! Ethan will hold him and cuddle him, and they're just the sweetest thing to watch.

Elliot is a sweetheart. At three, he's very, very nice. He gets upset really easily, and will cross his arms and go into a pouty, curl-up mode. I don't really know why, but I can't comprehend a word he's saying ever (his brother talks normal), and it makes things difficult, but he loves being held, cuddled, and I can usually coax him into at least coming out into the group, or standing and dancing in a song.

He /loves/ taking his picture taken. It completely cheers him up!

This is Danielle, and behind Erin with food on her nose. Snack time =]

This is Luke, also at snacktime. He claims he's not ticklish.

And Evan, at snacktime, a /complete/ cutie.

Posted today:

VBS Today was great! I can't believe that tomorrow's the last day. =[ Good news is that tomorrow I'm going to a friend's house for a birthday party, and I get to skip TC.

Well, I think I've rambled enough for now. I'll catch you guys later.

Love and God Bless,
DryBones

Life and OPI Kreme de la Kremlin

2009-06-15T23:22:00.011-05:00

Hiya! I really find this a great opportunity to speak to you, and ramble on and on about my personal life. I've kind of lost track, but I'm pretty sure in the few posts I've had, I have shown a picture of Kreme de la Kremlin, but I feel like I really didn't do a sufficient job with that at all. So, sorry.

First off, I want to talk to you about a few things that have been happening.

The first thing that happened was band rehearsal. Boy, Wind Ensemble is intense. We have to play grades 1-6 (way beginner easy to the highest grade level colleges play). Our grade six is Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss (famous for operas, etc, not the piano guy--that's his son). Now, this piece of music, well, the band arrangement, is 654 measures. To start off my summer I measured it incorrectly, and had to completely erase all about 650 measures and rewrite it all. Somehow I managed to get back on track but alas, I forgot to not erase those. Quite frustrating. The music we're playing is fun, and meant to challenge us. However, the Midwest Clinic is a musical showcase of the four "best" bands in America, and several others in the country, and it's meant to show the new, hottest composer's music. So, we're playing something of Balmages, who is a very hot composer of the 21st century. The music we're playing needs to have lots of variety in both genre and difficulty. It takes a mature musician to write music that's whole notes and half notes and have any interest to it, so we're going to be searching to find the perfect performance for this December in Chicago. I think it'll be fun, so long as we prepare for the 45-minute concert.

Sunday night we went up to the church (we meaning I) for our little Vacation Bible School meeting. We set it all up. It has a dock theme, and the hallways have a dock-looking type of pathway (that is very very slippery). Nets with rubber fish and corks are hanging from the ceiling, and our room is very grassy, watery, with a few alligators. This morning from 9-12 we begun! I'm teaching the preschool with my friend, and we split into crews, and I take six kids--being the older. I know most of them, and they really are sweethearts, and so much fun to work with. I think VBS really gives me the opportunity to grow closer to these kids, and these parents too. Preschool is one of the hardest grades to work with because first off ,we have to do everything for them. We make their crafts for them half of the time, and really playing with the toys at the church is far more fun than a Bible related game about how god is with us (and each time a student hears that you raise your hand up and shout Fear not!, which the kids love). It's very interactive and nostalgic. I think it has a good basic knowledge, and they sing some fun songs with handmotions (though my kids are always too shy!!) We're just starting out, but I think the week will be fun. They watch Chadder's Theatre and his adventures, play games, do crafts, and have healthy snacks. It's good to be able to lead a class who are always willing to sit in your lap, too.

Of course, that is the good part of this week. The "bad" part of this week is Twilight Camp.

No, they aren't turning the Cub Scouts into vampires. Twilight Camp is for kindergarten thru fifth grade. My brother is a fourth grader, a "Weebelo," I think. They do all sorts of things, the older groups focusing on teamwork and leadership. My dad, mom, and I and our little Home Depot buckets for chairs and a cooler for snacks and a dinner are working with many others in the crafts section. It is kind of cool because we are shaded, but on the side that the sun sets so around seven it hits really hard. Today they painted flags for their den, and it was really messy and quite a hassle. The rest of the week they'll be building things with kits, and one day they'll be hammering. That's eighty kids hammering at once!! I do, of course, need to mention that there is a very sweet, adorable guy. I perchance might take interest, even though he might talk too much. My last relationship didn't turn out so great (whiny little thing, who constantly sends me text messages claiming that he understands I want him to leave me alone and yet begs me to tell him to stop so that he knows he's supposed to). -shrug- Whatever happens, happens. The good thing about this is that they always have a tub in the front of water and of Gatorade! Free Gatorade!! The only thing is that it's a "bit" watered down. =[

I'm starting to experiment with my cheap little camera, and was possibly thinking of maybe posting some FOTD. Nothing drastic, of course. On general, I'm not very good with makeup. I like to do simple things, because to tell you the truth I have very little. I have a set of cheap brushes given as a gift, and I make do with cheap palettes and drugstore products. Some are good, but most aren't. Maybe it's good development for a good artist, to use lipbrush as a crease brush and a eyeshadow brush for /everything/, in which the angled and straight "shader" brush is far too fluffy but not round, but still flat? It's slightly frustrating, but I'm making do. I don't really understand lighting, or taking any good pictures of myself. Heh. I'm cheap enough to use a thin line of blended lip gloss as liner for a perfect contour, but then again, I'm not a professional. My only true hobby my parents help me spend money on is my snakes, and thank goodness for that! I can't pay for the electricity bill, the aspen bedding, the fresh water supply in my faucet, and weekly doses of frozen rodents, can I?

So, I tried it. God, no, I can't take pictures, at all. Especially of myself. It's kind of like...when you look in the mirro and say, "GOD THAT LOOKS GREAT!!!" and then you take a picture of it a thousand times and can't seem to make yourself look normal? And you go, you know if this were live, or perfect timing, then it would show how I actually look, not some weird angle of me and me taking pictures of myself. Bleh, I give up. Anyways, that's some glimpse ^ of me.

To the main point. =] Kreme de la Kremlin.

First off, I want to talk to you a little bit of where I do my nails. I don't do my nails on a table, hands laid across. In fact, I could never ever do my nails like that! Especially not my left hand, I couldn't possibly twist up my hand like that to do it. No, I actually do my nails in my bed. I have a Best of the Beatles easy piano book from when I was younger, and it has become my nail polish base. I use it when filing my nails, cleaning my nails, everything. I turn on my side and rest my right elbow on a pillow, and do my nails on this book. Lame, I know, but it makes me comfortable and I have actually less issues than if I were in a more "proper" position. My right hand I paint flat, and my left I paint by curling my hand slightly.

Anyhow, this just proves I'm human, and sometimes get a little too excited. Or careless.

In my slight humour, I actually slapped on a coat of Seche Vite, figuring it was better for it to dry quickly than for me to get it on something else trying to clean it! (Who would waste cotton?)

Anyhow, that is my attempted manicure. First things first.

Application. It was pretty wonderful to me. I had wonderful control of the polish. The brush is amazing, and I could usually get all of my nail covered in one thick swipe. This is two coats, but one will do it. If you're not careful you'll get a bit of uneven coating. It doesn't really show, but sometimes, especially up in the tip, you can see a bit of sheerness, especially in really bright conditions.

I love this colour, I really do. I love cremes, anyone would know that, and this just has that kind of "mom" tone to it. It's pretty and neutral, and would fit well with any skin tone. The only downside to this is the wear. I'm not so sure if it's just me and nail polishes, but nail polishes that last several days last a day or two to me (except that recent Koni I did, which lasted a very long time). I used this with Seche Vite last night, which always gives wondrous results to me. Now this nail polish seemed very interesting. Tips never wear for me, I always get chips. Even if it's a high end brand, I think I'm just hard on my nails or something. It's hard, too, and I think I gotta deal with it. Becasue I'm poking the small premade circles of foam in tiny gator parts to make a necklace! Definite nail workout! After a day, I've had major tipwear, and a bit of corner wear too. It's equal on both hands, majority being my thumb and index finger.

Still, big thumbs up. I will always love this polish.

Well that's all (ha) I have for you today. =]

Love,

DryBones.

KOTD: Nubar Baby Pink w/m63

2009-06-09T18:00:00.003-05:00

Well I've decided to post. ^_^

This is Nubar Baby Pink (I think, I forgot), and the whole manicure took way longer than I really wanted it to. Part of it I think was a lack of patience. Baby Pink took forever to dry, and with short nails I was really unable to paint my nails properly, so it was a huge pink waxy mess that I had to clean up with several Q-tips and several minutes wasted. The brush was fine, under normal circumstances, but it was too big for my now small nails, and I couldn't get the right amount of polish on it. The polish is thick, not really runny but a good consistency, but when I would wipe it off because I had too much then I wouldn't have enough. It was really frustrating.
So frustrating, I almost didn't want to follow through with my Konad. However, I did. I'm still quite new at Konading, so I guarantee this isn't as bed as it should be. Although my nails are short, I'm liking the shape and the strength so far. I'm just really experimenting and getting the hang of it.

Evie was on my bed, so I took a picture of him. ^^

That's all I have for you today!

Love and God Bless,

D.B.

Ssnakes

2009-06-07T17:07:00.005-05:00

Well, summer's here!! I'm quite excited. I should be. My band is going to Chicago for the Midwest Clinic this December, as I've mentioned. It's very prestigious--it's going to be very difficult music, though, so we're already having band rehearsal this week.

June 10-12.
Isn't that a bit early for band practice for the fall?

I have VBS and Cubscout Camp coming up. I'm trying to live a little freer, closer to God. I'm really blessed to be able to have lots of things, but when I watch blogs I always see people with tons of things I don't have. It makes me really..quite envious.

Isn't that a commandment?

Anyways, yes. I'm trying to stock up (huh? Yeah, I know. A bit contradictory). So, I'm saving up for some more hauls. I cut my nails, because they were thinning and peeling and just awful. So, I chopped them clean! I'm barely brave enough to show my nails when they're a little bit on the average side, considering how gorgeous some blogger's nails are. It'll be a bit before I'm brave enough, or they grow a bit longer.

Now, I can post pictures of my snakes. Surely I can! I think I love my snakes too much. I can't wait until Tangles is old enough to have eggs!! Tangles is from a wonderful professional breeder, Don Soderberg (I know I've said this already) at South Mountain Reptiles. Their shipping is great, but he's kinda -_- personally.

Great snake breeder, but he thinks I should be more focused on business.

Anywho, I'm hoping I can keep a few pretty ones. =]

First up is Heimlich, my BCI.

Love that tannish colour. He's really starting to darken. The nail polish is..Meg'N? I think, by Ice. I've had several chips and major tip wear after like..a day. Then again, I didn't use /anything/. Well..I think I used a base coat..

Heimlich is supposed to be like..four feet long in a few months. He's only two and a half now, but he hasn't really been eating as much as he /should/ (Don't worry). He'll get to eight feet =]

^ I did clean that waterbowl, fyi.

Tangles is just a gorgeous sweetheart, as always. Well, she's rattled her tail a few times. What's really cute is when my cat will be on my bed, and Evinrude will jump up and see her. Tangles will reach her head up to him, and whenever Evin jumps down on the floor (So he can jump on the dresseR) her head will follow him. And the kitteh pats the glass.

My dad thinks that the snake things that Evin is just a big fluffeh mouse.

That's all I really have.

Love,

D.B.

China Glaze--For Audrey

2009-05-26T21:11:00.002-05:00

Well here I am today, with one of my favourite nail polishes. This is China Glaze, For Audrey, a very pretty tiffany blue. As you can see from my nails they aren't really deciding on any length or shape, however although I like rectangular nails, I am beginning to see from my index and middle finger that I really like the round-shape.

This is my right hand, also. ^^ I'm left handed, so I suppose it's more accurate. Also, my left hand's shape has gotten kinda butchered and short lately and well, that's no fun. And with short nails, I can barely paint straight.

Hope this satisfies.

Love,

D.B.

China Glaze: Tempest

2009-05-25T14:49:00.002-05:00

I tend to forget how important Memorial Day is while I'm doing absolutely nothing, off from school. Although I do remember, and like to acknowledge all of the veterans and current soldiers fighting for our country (and others).

My NOTD is China Glaze, Tempest. Two coats. Although it's a bit thick in application, it is alright and somewhat decent if you get used to it. Just looking at on the hand, it appears more of a bluish indigo, however there's a purple shimmer to it.

That's all for today.

Love,
D.B.

Tangles and Evie

2009-05-23T11:20:00.003-05:00

I promise I'll get some pictures of some nails up, but for now I'm going to put up some pictures I took last night and this morning of Tangles and Evin. ^^

Sorry for the blurs, guys.

Love, D.B.

OPI Timeless is More

2009-05-19T17:28:00.005-05:00

I'm sorry for my prolonged absence. Life has been quite busy. ^.^ I made the time to update with one of my favourite nail lacquers, OPI Timeless is More. As of this year I believe, it is discontinued. A shame, I think it is one of the most brilliant off-white colours. Although it is sheer in the picture, from a slight distance including the light shimmer it has, it seems pretty opaque. Really gorgeous. Application fantabulous, really just a great nail polish.

Of course, I'll say that about nearly everything.

I'll try to post more often.

Love,

D.B.

OPI Sit Under the Apple Tree

2009-04-04T11:14:00.002-05:00

Ah, the stresses of schooling. Some days I just can't help but go insane. It's my first free weekend since forever, and I'm so happy that my dad let me stay home from the family fishing trip. Sure I have a broken foot and I'm a bit sick--and a very important screw for my braces fell out again, but c'mon, that's the best thing ever!

So after giving the spaniel a bath, and playing off a few tests for band, I did my nails. This is a polish I've been very eager to try, just because of the namesake. I love apples, but really only the green ones, of any cultivar, I just happen to frankly dislike red and yellow ones. I'll eat them sure, but I find the green ones to be best. I also hate eating them whole. I can't stand biting into it, and pulling out, I never end up eating but a few outside bites. I love what I call octoplifiers, cutters that slice an apple into eight beautiful slices you can put in a fruit salad ^^

Sit Under the Apple Tree is from last summer's Retro Fun in the Sun collection. I think this nail polish looks exactly to be the same colour as an apple. It's quite sheer, and as this is four coats the nail line is still barely visible. It doesn't remind me of candy, or anything, just the fruit, and has a real fine little sparkle in it that's a bit of yellow-green. Application was perfect.

Love,

D.B.

Out of this World and Frostbite with Konad m27

2009-04-01T19:47:00.007-05:00

To start, this is one of my favourite nail polishes of all time. It's called Out of this World, which was released a long long time ago and I'm sure is discontinued. It smells of bad chemicals. Application is perfect texture and thickness, it just slides right on and is easy to control. I love the colour one, because it's orange and two, because it is so dull and creamish. It is absolutely beautiful and very hard to find, as far as I know of.

As you've heard, I've received my Konading things. I've only done a few so far, and I've tried to be subtle. I've done a few full-nail konad designs, though none of them have been good enough to photograph. Although, these ended up on the camera and I thought I might post.

This, as you can see, is a dolphin. I really do love sealife..and frostbite reminded me of water, so I added it. It's a bit hard to tell because there is a glare, but it turned out nicely.

That's all I have today.

Love,

D.B.

*click to enlarge pictures

China Glaze Frostbite

2009-03-29T16:43:00.003-05:00

I just got back from a camping trip. I've had several different nail polish changes, and received my Konad things, though I'm saving them all until I'm desparate, or get a decent picture.

This is China Glaze Frostbite, released I think in the surf collection a few years ago, maybe even last summer (I have no idea). On the hand it appears more shiny than shimmery that reminds me of metal. In the picture it is the darker hue visible. Really gorgeous. Reminds me of blue Christmas ornaments.

Love,

D.B.

Horse Ranch

2009-03-21T22:02:00.006-05:00

These pictures became incredible out of order. BAH!

Oh well.

I'm not going to talk too much, I hope. My mom's friends have a horse ranch in Mississippi, where we spent two nights over our spring break. My mom took over a thousand pictures, though I just wanted to share a few.
This babe was born the day before we arrived.

This one is a week and a half old.

Whoa, momma!

This is my mom's friend's son Cody, who's VERY experienced and was halter breaking this one.

Love this shot!

My mom wanted to take a picture of my dad and I riding side-by-side. Sorry I look awful (and fat), I wasn't wearing any makeup!! You can actually see the glow of my nail polish and its brightness.

Her lab, Heidi, tagged along a bunch. (I still look awful =[) The horse is very pretty!

Hair much?

They're so gorgeous!! They have about thirty-two horses and a hundred and twenty acres of land!

My daddy got comfortable REAL fast.

Overall, it was a very exciting trip. Now that I've discovered I LOVE horses, I want to get more involved. That place is amazing, and has tons of dogs, chickens, cows, cats, you name it! Even a few donkeys. I had the time of my life, and realised I need to lose a TON of weight. ><

Love,

D.B.

--That flaming-green nailpolish, btw, is China Glaze's In the Lime-Light! (My mom and I stopped by a Sally's on the way and I picked up a ton of stuff. <3 My mom so much, I wasn't expecting that)

Oh, and you can probably click and zoom in. ^^

Snake Attack

2009-03-18T11:39:00.003-05:00

Well, I don't have any nails today, but Tangles was out and about. My corn snakes think they have rattles, so they rattle their tails.

Very weird.

It makes the neatest sound though! Meanwhile, Evin, my ragdoll kitten (I don't remember how old he is ^^) discovered him upon my dresser, and is seeking to attack the snake.

Poor snake?

Love,

D.B.

Baby Blue & Heimilch

2009-03-17T22:29:00.004-05:00

I had a really, really, really bad day. I took a few shots tonight and decided to wear a polish from the Nubar Pastel Fever Collection.

Shortly after a meal, Heimlich is out and about! Zoom in on this one, he's so gorgeous!

This colour -- Baby Blue -- is absolutely GORGEOUS. My attempts to grow out my nails keep dying. Something always happens to one of them, but I'm trying. ^^ The application was wonderful, although it was a bit streaky on the first few coats. The saturation was hard to capture on camera. The first picture is as taken by a camera, the second is adjusted, though I feel the colour of the polish itself is somewhere in between.

Hope this satisfies.

Love,

D.B.

Nubar Green Tea

2009-03-14T23:58:00.004-05:00

Nubar Green Tea is part of the Pastel Fever Collection I recently acquired.

I've seen this colour a whole bunch, everywhere. It's really a gorgeous colour in the bottle, I really really wanted to love you...

and I did!

The application was spectacular. I feel I too am getting better. ^^ The polish was opaque and streak-free in only two thin coats. The colour is gorgeous--but what else could be expected from Nubar than perfection?

Love. It.

Feels very St. Patrick's Day like, no?

Love,
D.B.

Nubar Lavender

2009-03-13T15:40:00.008-05:00

I recently received Nubar's Pastel Fever Collection, and thought that I would gradually begin to post their colours up here.

We shall note that my camera is very picky, and makes things a bit brighter--I don't have brilliant application by any means, albeit my camera tends to make minor ones which would not normally be noticed jump out.

It's a gorgeous colour, and looks precisely as it would in the bottle. The bottles themselves are to love, and are well balanced. The cap fits in perfectly and has a nice texture that is easily held and gripped by myself at least. I have small nail beds, and the brush is a bit large for me, though besides that everything was brilliant.

The Lavender shade, and as I've heard of all of this collection, was quite streaky. A third coat might have helped, tough my coats are average and not super-thin, so I was satisfied.

I'll hope to get back soon with the rest of the collection. ^^

Love, D.B.

Heimlich & Stevo

2009-02-22T21:29:00.006-06:00

I figured that I would post some snake pictures today. ^^

All of these, save the red one--is Heimlich.

The red one is Stevo.

Heimlich's a sweetheart. Isn't he so pretty--I love that pink in him!

Stevo refuses to, he insists on running away into my sleeves.

Love,

D.B.

Solar Power, because it's /so/ sunny outside.

2009-02-15T18:30:00.012-06:00

Thursday morning I left.

Saturday evening I came back.The TMEA convention is, as a family friend puts it, "old hat to you, right?" I think my CMT is not favouring the convention, because over the past few years it has been getting progressively worse to walk about to and from the clinics and up and down the out-of-order escalators, and to and from the shuttle bus, whose driver persists on parking at the far end of the parking lot rather than simply the middle. At times I felt perhaps that cars did not exist, or perhaps we were too poor to buy one, when we walked from our really quite nice hotel (we always stay at motels, a Holiday Inn was a nice treat) to dinner and back in the dark. I woke up early in the morning, and found myself falling asleep with boredom by nine or eight-thirty. My dad enjoys the nice conducting clinics and such; I enjoy the booths. I enjoy walking past the fundraising booths such as Little Caesars and lollipops, who insist on offering us free samples, and at a certain extent now know our name because we go by perhaps every fifteen or thirty minutes wanting another slice of their delicious garlic bread or cookies. There are instruments everywhere, people playing them constantly. Trumpets play as loud and as high as they can to make a statement, but saxophones will play the most insanely difficult thing to do. Normally I'll play a few bassoons, and the small bassoon I fell in love with (it's a soprano, I believe just an octave above the regular one, and absolutely adorable!), but I left all my reeds at school and did not wish to spend that crisp twenty dollar bill my parents let me have for the convention be spoiled on a seventeen dollar reed. There's lots of technology, marching band attire, concert band attire, sound systems, practically anything and everything, even things you put on braces to make it easier to play a horn with. However, this year they were overcome with touring places, DisneyWorld and California and New Orleans trips for bands--and those were quite a bore. I did get numerous free pens, though..

I did, however, regain my former obsession with tin whistles--and after much looking for after I remembered what they were called because a man passing us just happened to be playing one, I bought a five dollar one. ^^ I really am a dork. Instead of buying solos or books or music..I buy a tinwhistle.

Oh well. I saw Coraline--incredible. I've always been someone who loves stop animation, not just because of the style, but because I appreciate how much work it takes to get to that. I loved the 3-dness to it, it was really really fascinating. Although Tim Burton always has a way of making things creepy, it's never dark. Things might be a bit odd or eerie, but it's always cutesy or romantic or sad, and nothing about this movie was anything but horrifying. Some parts of the movie made me question it's rating and the young children seeing it. I was sincerely moved, it is a thought-proving movie that will most certainly horrify any young innocent girl who sees it-nevertheless, I absolutely loved it. I loved/hated the music. It did its job and scared the living daylights out of me, because it is gibberish sung by a boy's choir, playful music, in the most evil key possible. Real creepy. Fabulous. Danny Elfman couldn't have done that style, I don't think.

He's too /fun/.

-phew- Sorry about that, I believe you're all caught up now. I tend to ramble on a bit..Anyhow, I find it ironic that the nail polish I've swatched for you today (Solar Power--by China Glaze) depicts the opposite of the past few dark, stormy days. Cheers.

Solar Power is a really cool colour, and is part of the E-Collection (or whatever it's called) of China Glaze. I do like the hue, a lot, but it doesn't work with my skin tone at all. And sorry about my wretched fingers, and the intense dryness. Yellows bring out redness. Like most yellows, this was quite streaky. This is three, maybe even four coats. It took to opacity quite quickly, but took a bit to even out. The formula was a bit dry and clumped, and runny--as if it wasn't mixed properly--and I shook it a lot, which seemed to temporarily work. Ah well, it's a nice colour.

Love,

D.B.

Snakes and China Glaze - Harmony

2009-02-07T11:23:00.004-06:00

To start things off, the last thing I believe I mentioned was my JCL competition. I got third in my category, and our level got third in Certamen--which is cool, because I was drafted!

I think I've had some major wants lately when it comes to nail lacquer, major..major..and I'm just a kid who occasionally works for my parents and no allowance, which = very little $$. I'm eager to get the new Summer Day's collection from China Glaze once Sally's starts selling them--because with a Sally's Beauty Club card you get them (regular about six dollars) for $3.25, a wicked deal! I've also been wanting Nubar's Pastel Collection --needs-- and to start working on Konading, something I've been saving up for for a while, but whenever I get that whole twenty dollars I need to have free shipping, I end up buying something else with it.

Speaking of which--Palais Royal sale. Doubt I'll go to it. =[

Anyhow, I remembered that most snakes are tamed at a young age. Meaning, if I just feed them and take care of their environment, but never ever hold them, they'll most likely to be more violent and snippery when they're adults (most in particular, my BCI, and I would rather he be friendly when he gets to be eight feet long). So today I spent a bit holding Tangles and Heimlich, and I took a few pictures.

Now Tangles, she is the sweetest most beautiful snake in the world. In some areas her scales are such a bright rich yellow I absolutely adore, and instead of the common maize (corn)-like appearance of this corn snake on the bottom, she is white. I think she is absolutely gorgeous--of course, most snake lovers wouldn't say that at all..but she is absolutely adorable! She's a bit more than a year old, and still quite tiny. She's about 32 inches long, and very very thin.

Heimlich is a little bit less than 32 inches long, a little bit more than two feet, however he's quite the thickness. He doesn't really like to take pictures, but he'll move his upper body up in a straight line about half a foot in any direction and that doesn't entirely work for photographs. I'll admit that I am a bit afraid of him during his feeding time, when he can be snappy, and has snapped at me once (but not in attempts to bite), but generally he is quite friendly and already has a good muscled crimp on my arm.

Good moustache, too.

You might have heard rumours about the opacity of the Romantique collection. This collection looks quite bland and boring inside the bottle, but outside it is gorgeous. I only own one, Harmony, of the China Glaze Romantique Collection, and I hope to buy more soon. These rumours are true. Complete opacity was gained after ONE COAT. It's unbelievably pretty, but it doesn't want to take pictures well. Forever, it would take blue and silvery pictures--and let me assure you that this nail polish is far from anything but purple. I wasn't entirely patient on waiting for it to dry, and so it got a bit denty.

I hope to stock up a bit more. I have plenty of nail polish, but none of it is exactly of any worth or interest. I'll just take a picture when I put it on and maybe put them all up if it comes to that.

--Loves questions, comments, concerns, etc.

Love,

D.B.

OPI -- Don't Toy With Me!

2009-02-01T21:04:00.003-06:00

Thought I'd put in something new--now, it's not the best quality picture. I find those little caps and brushes a bit hard to manage with with the little ones--I really don't think its me, I usually don't have this much trouble with application. Excuse that, please...I really don't think it's bad until it get on the camera.

Take my word for it--this is an absolutely gorgeous nail polish. My favourite of the Holiday in Toyland collection without a doubt. The bottle colour is pretty accurate, it is a burgundy ish with lots and lots and lots of shimmer and sparkle that my camera didn't catch all too well at all. I really like to think I'm getting better, and then something like this comes along. It's the best colour in the world, and then I do a terrible job of it.

Love,

D.B.

Sally Hansen -- Ruby Sequin

2009-01-30T22:11:00.008-06:00

The recent attempt at cheap nail lacquer left me a bit distraught and frustred, as well as the Junior Classic League competition. This involves being at my school early in the morning, to drive over to a city's school for all day competition, which consists of physical games, exams of our choosing, and "certamen"--which is a game such as Quiz Bowl, with the buzzer and the peson interrogating you on information you don't know all too well. In order to be qualified to compete in this, each level in each school is required a minimum and maximum amount of members. Apparently someone dropped out, so without even consulting me on the subject, I am now to be a part of this competition tomorrow as well. Latin is a strong subject of mine, but this is something I've never done before in my life. Yikes!

I chose a nail polish with a bit of a lighter tone. I was in a hurry, I do think that the camerawork was a bit better, though. I'm a big fan of Sally Hansen, I think it's wonderful. And it did most certainly cheer me up a bit.

Love,
D.B.

Pure Ice - Watermelon Ice

2009-01-30T20:32:00.005-06:00

I received a nail polish with the brand of Pure Ice, Watermelon Ice, as a gift along with several other small cheap things from the third wife of my late widower grandfather. I've never seen this brand before, and so I decided to try it out. Now, I assumed that it wasn't a six, seven, or eight dollar bottle of nail polish. I assumed it was maybe a one or two dollar of nail polish, for a cheap brand somewhere in Wal-Mart or Target she'd happened to catch sight of and think, "Perhaps this would be a good colour for my relative." And I'm a thousand percent sure she did. She was right.

The style of this nail polish absolutely made me go "Wow!" I wasn't expecting much, really. This is completely jelly, completely shimmer and sparkly and a really really pretty shade a bit lighter than the one in the photo I managed to take, and that all makes up for the bit of sheerness. It almost looks like a lip gloss. In fact, it feels like one too. I'm a bit rough on my nails, but this I was completely surprised at how awful it held up. It held up about..thirty seconds, dents and all, and to tell you the truth I'm not sure about redoing my hands to get this back. The application was fine. A bit thick (the brush picks up a ton), and a bit hard to handle, but I had assumed that this would be decent. Let's just say that I learned a bit about my camera in the process of making this, and am getting better when it comes to the lighting and clarity of my pictures.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has had any experience with this band of nail polish. Questions, suggestions, comments, always welcome.
Love, D.B.

OPI Glamour Game

2009-01-28T15:59:00.003-06:00

It's been more hectic than anyone would like to imagine. The snakes haven't eaten in a while, because all of their meals come from the same packaging and I was waiting for Heimlich to shed--however, the chances are that I will end up feeding them tonight.

As if anyone really cares about that. Anyhow, my camera is completely terrible. I think I've managed to correct the camera's lighting, however the blur is still a slight bit of an issue. This nail polish is very very sheer--this is two coats, although I'm sure I could have used three because the nail line is slightly visible up close. The shade is very neutral, shines at a well "champagne-gold" as described, though it could be easily mistaken for a silver. A bit metallic. The formula was brilliant, as expected, and out of the OPI Holiday in Toyland box collection I got, this had the best application and it's very pretty too. ^^

OPI -- Glamour Game

Once more, sorry for the quality. This is the best I got after an hour of attempts.

Love,

D.B.

OPI Little Red Wagon

2009-01-25T16:43:00.005-06:00

I figured I would just post up a NOTD swatch for whenever I managed to actually get something. It's not the best of quality, but I figure I better start posting all the things that I have, one by one, as I manage. I'd prefer not to force myself to do this, and to just do it naturally and take pictures whenever I happen to wear it...so I will. Besides, practice is always quite good now, isn't it?

This is OPI Little Red Wagon, part of their 08 Christmas collection Holiday in Toyland, I believe. The formula was fine. It's very opaque, and takes about one coat, though I used two. I took these pictures while wet, and I did clean up and touch it a little afterwards, but the battery was near dying--lame excuse, I know, I know.. This I received in a gift set containing Brand New Skates, Glamour Game, and also Don't Toy With Me!, so they are all cutesy mini bottles. Despite this, I'm a thousand percent sure that the brush is also smaller, making it a bit more challenging for me to use. I somewhat managed. I also somewhat managed to get the camera to be a bit more accurate. ^^

OPI Little Red Wagon, a pretty dark red.

Heimlich, Tangles, and a Swatch

2009-01-18T16:00:00.024-06:00

I've been attempting to start taking photographs of my mini, ultra cheap nail polish collection, when I discovered that no matter how perfect my nails might appear to my eyesight, when the picture gets ahold of them they are absolutely dreadful looking. The pictures as well don't necessarily work out so well; the lighting is off and the picture blurry. I'm going to probably apologize fifty thousand times for my lack of skill, mostly being experience--I'm sure I'll get better, but I'm an avid perfectionist and can't handle it being below quality.

To save you the trouble of starting with such dreadfullness I'm going to post up pictures of my other two snakes.

This is Heimlich, my BCI (boa constrictor imperator). I'm guessing he's a he, but to tell the truth I'm not all too sure at all. He's probably about nine or ten months old now, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure about that either. He's fairly large for a baby, I think, being about two and a half feet long perhaps and quite thick and heavy in some areas (most of which is all muscle). When he is full size he will be about 8-10 feet and a good fifty pounds (my mother is very pleased to hear that). He is very gentle and friendly, and although he does burrow, it is not as often as the corns. He spends lots of his time roaming around though, likes exploring, and can be snappy when hungry. (This picture is old)

Tangles is my other corn snake. I received her from Don Soderberg (http://cornsnake.net/), a wonderful and reliable cornsnake breeder with a brilliant selection, and she is a homozygous Butter morph. This means that whenever I get around to breeding her, the F2 generation will present this yellow recessive gene that will be hidden in her children. She is a sweetheart, and named because she likes to tangle.

They are both entirely colourful, in particular Tangles. Right after she sheds, she glows this fantastic bright yellow, that is almost unbelievable for a snake. I hope that her babies are just as beautiful (whenever she's old enough to be bred, of course)!

I've had very little luck with my photography with nails. I dislike my hands, and am terrible at application, but due to hammertoe and a surrealistic foot drop from my CMT, let's just say that attempting toenails would probably be more challenging for me and less attractive to you. I'm not too good at any of this, at all, especially the picture taking. This picture isn't the best, but I find that it is a very accurate representation of the colour itself. Lots of swatches I've seen online are very light, but it takes very special lighting to get close to that and the only lighting I have here is sun.

For Audrey--China Glaze, 2 coats

As I've mentioned, I don't have much experience with nail treatments or anything, I just try to make them look decent. Suggestions, comments, that sort are always welcome--I would be honoured to hear advice from someone with twice as many years on them than myself. I'm also open to any questions, or concerns, or anything like that.

Love,

D.B.

Introductory

2009-01-13T21:20:00.014-06:00

I go by D.B. (DryBones), a common nickname taken from the adventures of the Biblical prophet Ezekiel. I'm a fifteeen-year-old freshman in a three or so thousand student high school in southeastern Texas. I play bassoon in the band, but due to Charcot Marie Tooth neuromuscular dystrophy I can't march. I'm in advanced classes, but don't try all too hard, so I make As and often times low Bs. I love to play piano and sing, even though I'm not too good at either. I love jewelry, but due to the CMT my fingers are absolutely terrible and I can't work anything small, including buttons, and those teeny little clasps they insist on putting on earrings and chains. I love cosmetics, in particular eye makeup and nails, though I'm on a cheap budget and don't have all too much experience. It's a hobby I thought maybe I'd want to be sharing with you! I'm going to try to offer good swatches and a variety of colours, which I love, and in addition to makeup, I find my other hobby full of colour! This hobby is, unfortunate to most -close your eyes-, is my snakes. I want to be a snake breeder. I have two corn snakes and a boa constrictor, and they're my best friends in the whole, whole wide world.

I'm completely knew at all of this blogging and formatting business, so I'm terrible with pictures--this is Stevo, my first corn snake. He's about a year and a half old now (yeah we're both super young). Though, he is a gorgeous fellow, and I think--full of plenty of colour. I'll try to get pictures of my other two up here if I get the chance. Stevo is an okeetee (or normal) corn snake. This is the colouration most commonly found in the wild. Corn snakes in general are found in the United States most commonly from Virginia and so and down the southernish area into about Louisiana. As reputation goes, corn snakes are absolute sweethearts. He's way sweeter than my ragdoll kitten.

I'm going to try to make my nails look a little bit presentable and start posting swatches of my pathetic little cheap teenage-girl's collection. I'd love any information from nail care and art to photo-taking, basically anything. I'm going to try to keep this focused on nails, but trust me--I'm going to be slipping in probably more information about my life and snakes than you would like to know. This is a hobby: I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and I'm sure I'll get better over time.

Love you,

D.B.

coloured in

Update!

Sinful Colors: Frenzy

ELF Palette

My Halloween

Sephora Haul

Haircutt

A Note About Pictures *FOTD*

Unnamed Dark Purple Drugstore Nail Polish

Another Haul

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Lavender Marquis

FingerPaints Brush With Fame

The Houston Museum of Natural Science *verypictureheavy*

Mini Walgreens Haul

Nubar Pastel Fever Lemon Sorbet and Oh Baby Pink

Clothes and a Konadicure, Neon Removal

China Glaze -- Neon Blue Sparrow

Vacationy

A few random photos

China Glaze Thataway

Snakes and 4th of July!

OPI Little Red Wagon, Nubar Orange Creme, and Pets =]

Outlet Minihaul and Some Other Pics

Life Update (Beware of Long Posts)

Life and OPI Kreme de la Kremlin

KOTD: Nubar Baby Pink w/m63

Ssnakes

China Glaze--For Audrey

China Glaze: Tempest

Tangles and Evie

OPI Timeless is More

OPI Sit Under the Apple Tree

Out of this World and Frostbite with Konad m27

China Glaze Frostbite

Horse Ranch

Snake Attack

Baby Blue & Heimilch

Nubar Green Tea

Nubar Lavender

Heimlich & Stevo

Solar Power, because it's /so/ sunny outside.

Snakes and China Glaze - Harmony

OPI -- Don't Toy With Me!

Sally Hansen -- Ruby Sequin

Pure Ice - Watermelon Ice

OPI Glamour Game

OPI Little Red Wagon

Heimlich, Tangles, and a Swatch

Introductory

A Note About Pictures FOTD

The Houston Museum of Natural Science verypictureheavy