Kell's DIY Nails

I recently saw a blog post about Impulse Cosmetics and I was intrigued by the idea of a lipstick palette with colors you can use to mix up and transform colors. But before I order a full sized palette I placed a sample order for 5 of their lipsticks; 2 Opaque Matte and 3 Metaluxe.  Top (Metaluxe); from left to right: Affluent, Texas Tea, & Infatuation. Bottom (Opaque Matte); from left to right: Laughing Gas & Electric City. I did swatches on my hand without any lip primer for you. I also tested these out on my lips but didn't take any photos since I wasn't wearing foundation at the time. But I did take one photo for you of me wearing Texas Tea. Top to Bottom: Electric City, Affluent, Laughing Gas, Infatuation, and Texas Tea. Close up of Electric City, Affluent, and Laughing Gas. Close up of Infatuation and Texas Tea. The Opaque Matte lipsticks are not a drying matte, more like a satin and they are very creamy and don't dry out my lips. They also have really nice...

Week 5 of the Polish Swap Society Nail Art Challenge is Cornucopia of Fruit! Create a fruit themed mani. Watermelons, fimo fruit, whatever you chose! I didn't use a tutorial; just kind of had an idea pop in my head and I ran with it. We have a Tangelo Tree in our backyard and twice a year we get a bumper crop of these delicious sweet tarts. Tangelos are a hybrid of the orange and grapefruit, so they are a sweeter version of an orange. They are a good sized fruit leaning towards the size of a large orange. They are also easier to peel than an orange (much like a tangerine). So, as you can see they combine the best qualities of all the citrus fruits. The easiest way to identify a Tangelo is by the little nub on the top at the stem.  My base color is Barielle, Teaser . Fantastic formula! Applied like a dream and I didn't have any clean up. I used 2 coats for opacity and dry time was average. I love this green; it's absolutely beautiful and it's a very close dupe of OPI,...

I no longer say 'Happy Memorial Day' because I had a vet tell me he hatred it when people said that. He didn't know why anyone would be happy on a day that honors those who perished in battle to protect our freedoms. That makes since. It really shouldn't be a 'Happy' day but a day of rememberance and respect. It's a Memorial, not a BBQ or pool party. But that's how most people view it; it's an excuse to get an extra day off and to have fun. To be honest I too used to see it that way. You don't know until someone educates you. So, now, I simply have a moment of silence and prayer for our fallen. I think hard about the ultimate sacrifice they (and their families) made. So, yeah, no Happy Memorial Day over here; instead I give thanks to those who have served and put my life above their own. It's tradition for my hubby and I to go out camping with our Uncle Jimmy (Special Forces, Navy) and his military brothers. We drive out to Death Valley in a ...

Week 4 of the Polish Swap Society 's Nail Art Challenge is a heart-themed spring mani using this tutorial.  These little hearts are harder than the video looks; at first I was concerned because I don't have a nail art brush like the one used in the video (flat with a pointed tip) but then I remembered I had my mom's box of acrylic paints with a bunch of paint brushes. I quickly found one quite similar.  I then had the daunting task of choosing my colors. I've been dying to wear orange lately so I knew I was starting with an orange. I also had Orly's Starburst from the Galaxy FX collection which has orange glitter in it. My vision was coming together. I knew I wanted to go with white dots but what color should the hearts be? I didn't want pink or purple, nor black. After staring at my colors for a bit I had an idea to go with peach and yellow.  I painted my ring, middle, and thumb with a base color of Barielle, Fire Me Up  from the Vibrants Collection . I love t...

It's always been a battle for me to find a good foundation. Between adult acne, acne scars, redness, enlarged pores, under eye circles, deep lines, and an Oily T-Zone... I'm screwed. Ha! Ha! Sorry, you just gotta laugh. I mean, if I ever find anyone with more going on I would have no choice but to cry for them. I also have the annoying issue of my skin sometimes deciding to change its mind during season changes. I can go 6 months with incredibly oily skin and then wake up one morning with my skin so tight and dry it feels like it's about to tear. I sometimes battle dry patches on my chin and by my lips. Which makes no since because I always wear lip balm, moisturizer, and my T-Zone is often so oily you can oil up a hinge with the oil on my face by 3pm.  I've been hearing raving reviews all over the blogosphere about Cover FX products so when I heard they were coming out with this new BB Gel I instantly knew I would be ordering it.  Now, this product is not cheap at $4...

So where have I been lately... Oh just running around like a chicken with my head cut off is all! Had some 'life' come up and so nail stuff got sent to the back of the line. I almost missed a week but to be honest the submission was not up to blog standards so I didn't even post it here. I'll post it at the very end of this one in case you wanna see it. So for the 3rd week of the Polish Swap Society Nail Art Challenge the theme is a sweet treat inspired mani. Cupcakes, sprinkles, whatever you like! I looked up a few different tutorials on Google and such and found this one:  http://www.beautylish.com/v/sriuj/candy-frost-nail-art-tutorial So here are my tweaked version of frosting nails. Frosting is perfect because my husband is notorious for simply buying a tub of frosting. Makes me wanna gag. I always ask him why not get a cake mix too so he could cut his frosting a little. LOL I used a base color of Pokerface by NARS . Oh. My. Goodness. I'm now hooked and need mo...