Purple Rain

So I did only do my manicure yesterday, but shortly after the lacquer dried I had a new idea.  I became mildly obsessed with a deep plum purple polish with flecks of gold and purple in it.  So I went hunting, but came up empty handed.  Luckily, my sister is as much of a polish addict as I am and happened to have the perfect colour.  It's Rimmel's Night Before, which I did two coats of and then added purple sparkles to the base of the nail.  I'm not sure how old this polish is, but I found it came out rather clumpy.  In its defense it did even out after a moment or two of settling.  Overall I'm pretty pleased with the result.  For all of my manicures I use Seche Clear's basecoat and Seche Vite's topcoat, which has an unparalleled finish.  Honestly, it dries SO FAST and has great wear.

The Elephant in the Room

So along with all my other interests, I have a passionate relationship with nail polish and nail art.  As such, I'm going to try and regularly post my manicures for those of you looking for some inspiration.  This week's manicure was actually inspired by an elephant bracelet my aunt bought me when traveling in Costa Rica.  I used a white nail pen for the details, and the base is Particulière by Chanel, which I sorely need to wear more often to justify spending like thirty dollars on it last spring*cringe*.

 

Update:

I went digging around on my Blackberry and found some old-ish manicures which I think qualify as cool enough to post.  First up we have my Christmas manicure, inspired by Starbucks' holiday cups.  I used OPI's Malaga Wine, sprinkled ruby red sparkles over it, then used my white nail pen to do the snowflakes and gave them silver sparkle centers.

Up next is a version of a manicure I saw on Emerald Sparkled.  She titled hers Whimsical (I'm too lazy to hunt her version down, but if you do a search on her site you'll find it.  Hers was an interpretation of a manicure she saw on someone else's blog, but I like hers best.  I used Sweet Rose by Gosh, Essie's Van D'Go, Essie's Innocent, and Sparkle Me Happy from Icing by Claire's nail polish line.  The stripes and the bow I did using my white nail pen.

This next manicure was a bit of a convenient mistake.  I wanted to go for a sparkly zebra print, but instead it wound up looking like a view of the galaxy.  I used Lunar and Star by Revlon, then used a stamp to add a silver zebra print.

Reading List Upcoming Reviews

A little taste of what's to come.... eventually.

The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, Naomi Wolf

Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle, Chris Hedges

The Purity Myth, Jessica Valenti

Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School, C.J. Pascoe

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy

The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins

Listening To:

For those of you who are in search of some new tunes, these are the songs I currently can't get out of my head.

1. Stereo Hands - The White Panda.  A truly great mashup is one that improves on each of the songs it incorporates.  As Borat might say, great success!
http://www.thewhitepanda.com/music/releases

2. Never Let You Go - Chairlift and Violens.  This is not only a very cool song, but it's a neat concept too.  These guys made what is apparently called a "sgin", a song that is made to synch up to a music video made by someone else, in this case, Justin Bieber.  Being a closet Bieber fan myself, this hit all the right chords for me.  It takes a minute to load, but it's worth it.
http://itp.nyu.edu/~amc630/SGIN/never_let_you_go.mov

3. Blame It - Jamie Foxx featuring T Pain.  Yeah, I know, I'm behind the times on this one.  Regardless, it's ever so catchy, both the original and the Glee version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfjtpp90lu8

4. Your Love - Nicki Minaj.  Many of you will probably have heard of Nicki Minaj, and she is quite the character indeed.  A friend of mine recently saw her on Ellen, and apparently she has some kind of multiple personality thing going on.  However, no one can deny that she is incredibly talented.  It's not easy for female rappers (speaking from 100% experience), and she has something really cool going for her.  If you like what you hear, also check out Super Bass.  A really good example of her style is her appearance on Kanye's Monster, but you'll have to suppress any issues you have with that track's supremely anti-feminist tone before you can really enjoy it.  Update: they seem to have yanked the Monster video from youtube, but if you do some digging I'm sure you can find it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSFyrrhKj1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5p1plMqGYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6e0hHCLDqc&feature=fvst

5. Last Friday Night - Katy Perry.  I've already dedicated a full post to this song, so I'll keep this one short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYo4JOUQnGI

6. We Are the People - Empire of the Sun.  You may be more familiar with Empire of the Sun's hit Walking on a Dream, and We Are the People could be called a variation on a theme.  My love for them was guaranteed upon seeing their album cover - awesome just doesn't quite capture it - and then I saw some of their music videos.  Seeing is believing with these guys.  It's just too cool.  Anyway, if you liked Walking on a Dream, you'll probably like We Are the People.  Also, check out Without You for something a little more chill, and if you've been living under a rock for the last year and a half, definitely give the Wiz Khalifa remix of Walking on a Dream a listen.
We Are the People: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN5X4kGhAtU
Walking on a Dream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eimgRedLkkU
Without You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVarVeryQFo
Walking on a Dream Remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0K2TsJJkCs

Knock knock, it's Real Life

A link to this Dr. Seuss parody appeared today on my facebook news feed, and I laughed my way through it partially because it's hilarious and partially because the alternative was to sob over how accurate it is.  It was extra special for me because upon graduating a friend of mine gave me Oh The Places You'll Go, and just the other day while reorganizing my parents' library (insert joke here) I stumbled across another copy addressed to my sister, which she most likely received on graduating from high school/university.  I sent her the link, and it probably made her cry, too.  Spread the joy, kids.

Last Friday Night

So right now I can't seem to stop listening to the new Katy Perry song, Last Friday Night (TGIF).  It has a super catchy melody, and it's pretty fun to sing along to.  While singing along though (something I only do when no one is within earshot), I couldn't help but process what she was singing.

"It's a blacked-out blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled.
Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot.
Last Friday night...
...This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again"

Once upon a time my life was like Last Friday Night.  It was called second year, and after two months I came down with mononucleosis (you haven't been to university until you've had mono) which effectively put an end to my partying days.  Now all that's left of those days is singing along to Katy Perry in front of my laptop, bag of crispy minis in hand and NO PLANS for This Friday Night.  Someone call an ambulance before my cat eats me alive.

Moral of the Story: Epic Fail

Alright kids.  I have an apology to make.  I have been very M.I.A. over the last few weeks, and for the few of you who check regularly it's annoying.  Most recently some renovating has been going down in my humble abode, and so it has taken most of my time and energy, and then last week I was off to my old Alma Mater to get my grad photos done.  It was quite the trip and definitely worth the foot of snow that greeted my arrival.  None of that would be toooo troubling to my blogging though.  The real problem has been my hard drive's recent decision to crash.  Permanently.  So, off my laptop went to get fixed, where it was given a whole new hard drive.  The important part is that I lost all my usernames, passwords, and PHOTOS.  So all the work I've been putting in to collecting photos for the blog are now gone, and it seems like quite the Herculean task to reassemble them with all this other business going down.  Pardon the complaining, but ARRRRGGGGGGGGGG.  Anyway, to try and make up for my epic fail, I'll throw ya'll a fashion tidbit until I can come up with something better.

One trend I've noticed emerging over the last year or so is that of cargo pants - specifically green skinny cargo pants.  You may have seen such celebrities as Leighton Meester, Victoria Beckham, and Vanessa Hudgens among others all rocking this look.

I love the neutral colour and also that they're a fun alternative to jeans and leggings, which I seem to live in.  What stopped me from getting them was a concern over the bulk - the flap pockets on the sides and back made me worry they would create a lumpy silhouette on anyone not supermodel slim.  So for a while that was that, and I forgot about them.  Then recently our (only) local clothing store went under, and so they've been having closing sales for the last week or so.  Today I went to check it out, and what did I find but skinny green cargo pants!  Unable to resist temptation I threw them on, and after some debate (which was quickly settled by 40% discount) I brought them home.  I am now totally pleased.  it seems the key to avoiding bulk is to find a lightweight stretchy fabric - I barely notice the pockets.  Thanks to their celebrity following I already have lots of ideas on how to wear them and they blend nicely into my closet full of muted neutrals.  I wouldn't recommend breaking the bank to buy a pair as cargo pants are generally only good for a year or two before they become dated and work their way out again.  However, if you really want to, the celebrities are all wearing the J Brand interpretation.  I myself went for a pair of Mavis that are very similar (both pictured below).

 Top: J Brand Bottom: Mavi

 If you're looking for a quick way to update your wardrobe, skinny cargoes are great for their versatility and comfort: if you live in jeans it will be a smooth transition.  If you'd like some inspiration for how to wear cargoes, College Fashion has done several posts with suggestions, such as this one: