Quick Update

Wow I really disappeared for a while that time. Things have just been a bit chaotic these past few months. I was getting ready for a 1500 mile move, which ended up stressing me a lot more than it should have. I did manage to move 2 melmers of polish with no casualties, but I'm still trying to find all my manicure stuff. It is amazing what ends up disappearing in a move.

Right now my nails are in horrible condition. My cuticles are gross because I haven't found my cuticle remover yet. My nails keep breaking because of all the unpacking. My skin is freaking out due to the sudden cold winter weather, washing the dishes, and all the paper and cardboard. To get any moisture to stay involves cuticle oil, cuticle butter, and lotion. Then if I go near paper my skin immediately dries out again.

I know I'm complaining a bit, but Ohio is really beautiful. We live outside of town and have woods behind our house, which is so much nicer than having an alley behind the house.

This was actually a double rainbow, but my camera decided to only pick up one of them. Everyone was laughing because they were taking cell phone pics and I ran inside to grab a real camera. And yes, fall colors are awesome.

Ooooo look at that sunset. I missed gorgeous sunsets like that.

And of course, snow. I went from New Mexico in October to the beginning of an Ohio winter. Hopefully it isn't as bad as a Minnesota winter.

So, that is what my past few months have been like. Definitely a bit crazy. And now, a random bonus pic:

This is what a 90 pound lap dog looks like. My puppies were so mad that I arrived in Ohio smelling like another dog, but they eventually forgave me.


~Kelly

KBShimmer Beach Please and Hexy Bikini

Nothing to Disclose

Today I have two incredible polishes to show you. I'm sure by now you've seen a million pictures of KBShimmer's anniversary collection, but they are so amazing you probably don't mind seeing them again.

This is 2 coats of Beach Please and 2 coats of Hexy Bikini on my ring finger. Beach Please is slightly darker and more blue-toned than this picture shows. Hexy Bikini was top coated with 2 coats of Gelous and 1 coat of HK Girl, which left it with just a slight bumpiness. I could not stop staring at this and wore it for a week. The only thing I would do differently would be put a peel off base under Hexy Bikini because I had a glitter explosion all over my hands trying to get that off. Oops..

The other color in this collection is Shore Thing, which I wore as a pedicure color. It is so gorgeous, but I didn't take any pictures of my feet, so I'm not showing it right now. This collection screams summer, and I always love a good bright summer color.

~Kelly~

I'm Back!!!

Nothing to Disclose

I know I've been disappearing a lot recently, and I can finally explain why. Things have just been a little rough for me this past year. But, after a bunch of testing, seeing two different specialists (in addition to all my doctor's appointments), and getting sick way too many times, I finally know what is wrong (we think...).

Let me start from the beginning. Back in September (yup, it's been going on that long), I caught a really bad cough that made me lose my voice. So, I went to the doctor, he gave me antibiotics and an inhaler, and had me schedule another appointment to make sure the treatment worked. I went back in November, and was still having a little bit of a cough. He put me on a stronger inhaler and had me schedule another appointment. Fast forward to February, and I was on inhaler number three to try, plus another medicine with it, and ended up sick 3 times in one month. Obviously something else was wrong. That led to me being put on yet another inhaler, and having to do breathing tests. Then a chest x-ray. Then I had to go see a pulmonologist to see what he thought was wrong, and he had me do a blood test, and gave me a nasal inhaler to try along with my other inhaler. And then I got sick again because of the meds. I went to see an allergist, and he had me get a sinus x-ray. After all of that, every single test came back just fine. I know that is a good thing, it was just frustrating that after 9 months no diagnosis was found. 

Finally in July I was back at the doctor and seriously frustrated with the lack of progress. Basically I had my entire respiratory system checked, and nothing was wrong, but I still had a mysterious cough. The diagnosis that was decided on was that I'm too stressed and I'm making myself sick. This is why I haven't been blogging much, I have had zero energy because of all this. I'm in the process of figuring out how much I can blog without making myself sick. I'm thinking of starting out with 1-2 posts per week. Hopefully this is the last time I have to blog about my health.

If anyone had any ideas on natural stress relief, I would love to hear them. So far I am looking into aromatherapy and I will be trying yoga. "Puppy therapy" is another thing I am trying. Hopefully soon I will have my stress under control and be back to my normal self.

Luna is also interested in learning yoga...

~Kelly~

KBShimmer Rollin' With the Chromies

Nothing to Disclose

Wow, I'm actually posting again!! Sorry for the random disappearing, I will try to make a post about that to explain. To keep it simple for now, there has been a lot going on. Now, onto the polish!

This was taken with indirect Ott-Lite lighting. Don't you just love my random orange fingers? This was 3 coats of Rollin' With the Chromies, and WOW I couldn't stop staring even before I turned the Ott-Lite on. That multichrome is so gorgeous and even in not so good lighting I could see the holo.

And here is direct lighting. This one shows more of that gorgeous holo, and makes my fingers look a little more natural in color (or lack of color). Seriously, I was staring at this all day at work, and then started wondering if it would be possible to make a hair dye that matched it. How awesome would multichrome holo hair be? 

Why did I wait so long to buy KBShimmer polish? I am seriously in love with her polishes, and now I feel like I need to buy all her multichrome holo polishes!

~Kelly~

Influenster Surf's Up Voxbox

Influenster Sample

***These items were provided by Influenster in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own***

Recently, I received the Surf's Up Voxbox from Influenster. It has some really interesting products, but the one I was most excited about was this

This is the Covergirl Bombshell Curvaceous by lashblast in very black (I am so not going to type out that long name again). I absolutely love mascara, but with long lashes I have to be careful what I buy or else I am stuck with lashes hitting my glasses the entire day. This is a very simple mascara to use, all I needed was one coat of each step for "OMG YOUR EYES ARE SO HUGE" lashes. Yes, that was pretty much the exact reaction I got when I wore this. I will attempt to have some before/after pics up at some point, but I can't guarantee they will be really good quality since I am horrible at taking pics of myself. I definitely recommend this for anyone who wants dramatic lashes.

The next product is a pain relief drink. This is a product that I will not be trying.

It contains something called choline salicylate and caffeine. The reason I am not trying this is because my doctor has recommended I do not take any salicylates.

This is the Hawaiian Tropic after sun lotion. I haven't had a chance to try it since I haven't been out in the sun a lot, but I love the scent of it.

Sinful Colors Burning Bright is a little bit darker than this picture looks (it did not want to photograph at all). It looks like a great summer shade, and I will definitely try it when I get a chance.

The last thing I received were some coupons to try Jamba Juice smoothies. I will let you know how they taste after I go pick some up (I know, I am horrible at this right now)

~Kelly~

Happy Memorial Day

Nothing to disclose

Happy Memorial Day! Today I have some patriotic nails to show you.

The striped nails were inspired by The Lacquerologist's patriotic 1940's nails. I used Zoya Blaze and Dream for the stripes and gradient.

~Kelly~

3 Polish Galaxy Nails

Nothing to Disclose

I love the look of galaxy nails. Sadly, although most bloggers will tell you they are super easy, I can never get them to look right. Luckily I figured out a way to make them work for me, and it only took 3 polishes (plus top coat of course).

If you follow me on instagram, you might have seen my pictures of a pendant/ring set I was working on, along with a comment about wanting to do a matching mani

Yup, 3 polish galaxies - a multichrome, a semi-sheer white, and of course holo top coat for the starry look. I know the angle is slightly awkward, but it was the best way to show the color shift of the base. Last night I decided it was time to try out the matching mani

Finally a galaxy mani that worked on me!! The multichrome really adds a lot to the look of this.

Look at that base! Don't worry, I only have one more picture left to show you.

I honestly can't stop staring at this. Especially when I am out in the sun. Sorry some of the pictures aren't centered properly - it was really late when I took the pictures and I was too tired to care

~Kelly~

Finger Paints Inkblot Blue

Nothing to Disclose

Today's mani is for Simples week 1 - accent nail. I always forget how nice a simple accent nail can look. I chose to use Finger Paints Inkblot Blue with an accent of Laugh My Art Off over it on my ring finger.

So simple and subtle. I have tried this combo before, but had orange fingers in all the pictures (stupid phone camera).

Yikes, those fingers don't look natural. Luckily my lighting and camera (and background)  have improved since I took that picture.

~Kelly~

Polish Me Silly Freckles

Nothing to Disclose

I have been such a bad blogger recently :(. I do have excuses though... At the beginning of the month I had a tooth extracted (OUCH!!!), and I guess healing from it took a bit out of me, so now I'm stuck with a nasty cold that is exhausting me. But I do have a pretty polish today.

This awesome polish is Polish Me Silly Freckles (worn over plain white polish). Unlike most glitter toppers, it applies easily. My pinky was just brushed on like a normal polish, and it isn't all clumped at the tip! The other fingers are done with the normal dabbing technique. I did not want to take this polish off, and ended up wearing it for a week with minimal chipping.

~Kelly~

New Polishes!!!

Nothing to Disclose

So today I have something new to show you. I've been having fun mixing up some polishes, and I have enough successful colors to make a post! I'm thinking of naming them "Controlled Chaos" just because, well, it kind of describes how things feel right now...

Hershey Kisses

This polish is both a success and a failure. The color it ended up being is pretty, but I was going for more of a Devil's Food Cake color. So I decided this looks like a Hershey's bar, and one of my mom's friends had a dog named Hershey Kisses (all brown Australian Shepherd), so the name just fit. It is just a basic brown polish with a little bit of holo glitter because holo makes everything better.

Unnamed #1

This one was supposed to resemble Key Lime Pie. The color ended up being a little off for that, but still pretty. It is a nice light green with a subtle blue flash that was made even more subtle when I had to mess with the formula (it was still sheer at 3 coats before). By the time I got to swatching this one, I was tired enough that I completely forgot to do clean up before taking pictures.

Unnamed #2

Why does yellow hate me so much??? As you can see in the bottle, it is a pretty shade of yellow. With my skin tone, it looks horrible. This was supposed to be Lemon Meringue Pie, but again I didn't quite manage it. It is just a simple light yellow with a subtle gold flash (maybe gold wasn't the best choice in yellow?). 

As you can see, I still have some learning to do. I will have some more swatches later, my sister was awesome and got me more supplies for my birthday, including multichrome, glow in the dark and neon. Just for fun, can anyone guess what I was trying to base my color names off of (not just desserts, but what else they have in common)?

~Kelly~ 

365 Days of Color The Boy Who Lived

Nothing to Disclose

Sorry I have been so MIA recently. I've had to have some dental work done and part of that involved having an impacted tooth pulled out. So I got to spend my birthday recovering from that :(. But I have a super gorgeous polish to show you today!

This was my attempt at photographing 365 Days of Color The Boy Who Lived, 2 coats swatched over black. My camera decided the glitter was way too much to focus on and wouldn't take a good picture. So I added matte topcoat.

Much better. This polish is just so pretty I didn't want to take it off.

~Kelly~

FingerPaints Be a Pal-ette

Nothing to disclose

Today's color is FingerPaints Be a Pal-ette. Absolutely beautiful color, horrible formula. This is 3 coats, I tried to make them thin coats but the polish was so watery it kept going wherever it wanted to go. I will have to try this again when I have more patience (I am so not patient). Hopefully next time I can make it cooperate more.

~Kelly~

Here Comes M'hija Cottontail

Here comes M'hija Cottontail, prancing down the puppy trail. Waggity, waggity, Easter's on its way...

This is a pic of M'hija from 2 Easters ago. She was so small back then! Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

~Kelly~

China Glaze Sun Worshiper

Nothing to Disclose

Today's polish is a bright neon orange by China Glaze called Sun Worshiper.

It took 3 coats for decent coverage, and required top coat for a non-streaky finish. Being a neon, it dries matte, but for some reason the matte finish on this looked HORRIBLE on me. Top coat fixed that issue, but the application was annoying enough that I probably won't wear this a lot.

Why do the pretty colors have to have application issues?

~Kelly~

Squishy Face Polish Pink Anemonemone

Nothing to Disclose

Today I have a polish that I recently received as a gift. It is my first Squishy Face Polish and I love it!

It is a gorgeous dusty pink holo that applies easily. I believe that this is two coats (I really need to write this stuff down). This is a perfect holo for people looking for a subtle color.

~Kelly~

Meet Luna

I see you...

A little under two years ago, about 2 months after we got M'hija, we decided that we wanted another dog. We went to the pound and found an adorable 6 month old yellow lab mix.

Look how cute I am

There was definitely an adjustment period with these two. Both are stubborn and want to be the center of attention. Luckily they started getting along, and now they love each other so much that they hate being separated. When one goes to the vet, the other will whimper until she comes home.

Apparently this is comfortable

The amazing thing is how different these two dogs are. M'hija is more laid back, but when she wants to play, watch out. That dog has some strength. Luna doesn't play as much, but she is clingy. She loves randomly coming up to us and snuggling. Also, she has a kissing problem. We joke that she has perfected "ninja sneak attack kisses" because she will suddenly attack you with kisses.

So, those are the puppies. I hope you love puppy pics as much as I do, because these two will be on the blog a bit.

~Kelly~

Meet M'hija

Look at that adorable face

A little over two years ago, my family made the decision to get a dog. The last time we had a dog was before 1996, and it was a little Lhasa apso. Our cat was bigger than he was, and I grew up thinking it was normal for a cat to chase a dog. For a long time I just really didn't like dogs because most of the dogs I knew were brats and didn't like me much. So, even though I liked the idea of having a dog, I wasn't sure if it would work for me.

We went to the local pound to look for the perfect dog for us. When we started looking, the amount of Chihuahuas was crazy. The only big dogs seemed to be older, and we wanted a puppy. Then we found this adorable 3 month old black lab that had just been dropped off. She immediately chose us, and totally stole our hearts.

Her first St. Patrick's Day

When we got her, her name was Daisy. We decided she needed a new name. Friends were suggesting names like Shadow and Smoky, but nothing really seemed to fit. Where we were in Texas at the time, you would hear people use "mi hija" a lot. My dad started calling her that, and we ended up shortening it to M'hija. I know the spelling isn't the "correct" way to spell it, but we decided this spelling looked more like a name than "mija".

Why does she have to be so adorable?

As you can see, my attitude towards dogs has definitely changed. I love the enthusiastic greetings I get even if I haven't been gone long. M'hija has the most adorable butt wag for a greeting, and if she is really excited her entire body wags. She is also so cute when she plays. Or misbehaves..

You never know what she will play with

Yup, she was running around the yard playing with the rug from the patio. And our first reaction was to grab cameras.... It was just too cute!

So, that is M'hija. I will have a post up about Luna sometime soon.

~Kelly~

Sweet Heart Polish Swatches and Review

PRESS SAMPLE

***These polishes were provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own***

I recently received 3 polishes from Sweet Heart Polish for review. This is my first experience with the brand, and I am impressed. I received Blue Sky, a light blue glitter, Matthew, a silver holographic topper, and I, Am A Librarian!, a red holographic polish. All of them applied easily, and the glitters only needed one coat.

I, Am A Librarian!

I, Am A Librarian! is a red holographic polish that is opaque in 3 thin coats. I had no problem with applying this polish.

Sweet Heart Polish I, Am A Librarian!

Look at how gorgeous that looks! Also the name is absolutely perfect because I work at a library. I'm not a librarian, just an aide, but it still works.

Blue Sky

Blue Sky is a slightly iridescent light blue glitter polish. One coat was all I needed for good coverage.

 Sweet Heart Polish Blue Sky over Black Ombre

First I decided to try it over a black ombre. I am loving how it looks over a dark gray.

Sweet Heart Polish Blue Sky over Blue Ombre

And over a nice blue ombre. I honestly like how all of these look. Each shade of blue has such a different look.

Matthew

Matthew is a holographic glitter topper that can become full coverage in 3-4 coats, depending on how thick you like to apply your coats.

Sweet Heart Polish Matthew Over Black Ombre

I applied one coat over the index, ring, and white, and my middle finger is 4 thin coats. I'm loving how Matthew looks over light gray, it is so nice and subtle.

Sweet Heart Polish Matthew Over Skittles

And finally one thin coat of Matthew over a skittle mani. How awesome is it over that purple?? Please ignore the slightly bumpy nails, I was dealing with a sick puppy while swatching.

Sweet Heart Polish can be purchased at her Etsy Shop

~Kelly~

Meet Kelly

Hi everyone, my name is Kelly. I've been over on Instagram (@polishednailsandtales) since summer posting about my nails and my two adorable little fursisters. Now that I have a computer (mover broke my old one - long story), I decided I should start blogging. I was going to start my blog when I started my Instagram, but the computers kept randomly not working. Now I have the fun of attempting to learn Windows 8.1

My homework for the weekend

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know my two puppies. Both of them were rescue puppies. Our black lab is named M'hija (pronounced mee-ha, our version of the Spanish mi hija meaning my daughter). Our yellow lab mix is named Luna. They are both about 2 1/2 years old. I will have a post up for each of them later this week so you can get to know them better.

Luna

M'hija

I will try to keep this blog focused on nails and my puppies, but sometimes I may go off topic (a weekly post on amusing book titles found at the library?).

Time for me to go work on painting my nails for St Patrick's Day, bye!!

~Kelly~