#19seconds: SUCCESS!

Whoo!  That's a lot of pink!  How did you do?  Need an incentive to finish?!  Everyone who participated in my #19seconds Challenge will be entered to win a bottle of Rainbow Honey's BCA polish, Keep Believing and a jar of Sunny's Hand Cream in the scent Lavender Apple & Oak!

Each posted mani gives you one entry, so the more completed manis you have, the more chances to win!  You've still got a few days, good luck and don't forget to spread the word about self examination and early detection.  That's what this is all about!

Facebook!

You can now find me on Facebook here!

Tragedy!

Yesterday, tragedy struck!  I had a catastrophic break in my pointer finger's nail and there was no way to fix it or save it.  I'd been trying to catch up on the list of manis I wanted to try when all of a sudden, I went to put a new base coat on my nails and the tip was just... gone!  I have no idea what happened!

I cried.   Yes, I cried.  I debated for a while what to do and finally decided to just start over.  You see, once my nails get a certain length, they just curl under.  They get pretty hard to shape and paint, and the one had actually gotten too long to really stamp.

 I spent about half an hour trimming and trying to reshape them.  Now they're pretty dang short, but as they grow I'm hoping to be able to coax the same even claw shape out of them.

In the meantime, I'm going to use the time to my advantage and actually track how quickly my nails grow and keep an eye on their progress.  I plan on using only products from 365,  Sunny's Body Products.  I don't know how inspired I'll be design wise, but we'll have to see.

Wish me luck!

365 Days of Awesome

One evening the image of a cute little pot of cuticle balm crossed over my Instagram feed.  I clicked on the link and soon found myself lost in a world of balms and oils and lotions, oh my!  365 Days of Color Polishes features Sunny's Body Products.

I right away ordered the Halloween box, which included:

Werewolf Cuticle Oil:  Fresh citrus highlights sparkle around the floral heart of lavender and ylang in this sensuous blend. An earthy signature of patchouli and spiced wood leads to a base of warm animal tones. Leather and musk balance with balsamic undertones as hints of powdery vanilla complete the blend.

Boogie Man Intensive Oil: Begins with notes of geranium, bergamot, and rich Indian spices; well rounded with notes of amber, woods, and musk.

Kiss of Death Lip Saver: Beware of this totally kissable scent! It might just kill you!! A sexy aroma very similar to Hawaiian punch! 
 
Bite Me Cuticle Balm: The scent description is fresh notes of lime and orange sparkle with highlights as they lead to a luscious blend of berry and cherry in a playful scent. Leafy green accents add intensity along with a base of sweet vanilla.  
 
Poison Pie Hand Cream: This smells of fresh picked blueberries and fresh cut granny smith apples smothered in butter, cream and cinnamon with a background of fresh baked crust.
 
Tricks and Treats Hand Scrub:  This begins with top notes of pumpkin, persimmon and apple followed by middle notes of blueberries, elderberries, currants, orange and cinnamon. It has base notes of sugar cane and vanilla.

Everything came in well sealed tubes and jars and labeled with coordinating spooky labels. 

I also took some time to peruse through Sunny's list of over 170 scents and decided to just order whatever sounded interesting.

Opening the box was exciting and I sat at the kitchen table with my mum, who's visiting, and opened and smelled everything.  We made it a game, I had her smell and guess what she thought it was.  So far I've been using the balms and intensive oil.  I'm a bit obsessive about keeping my cuticles and nails moisturized.  

The Miracle Balms are a very nice consistency.  It's not soft or oily at all and melts into your skin and nails easily without leaving a greasy mess.  Any little dry patches are smoothed over tamed.  Full sized pots are 1/2 an ounce and cost 4$us each or you can get a set of three samples that are 1/4 an ounce for 6$us.  The little pots sneak easily into my pants or sweater pockets for easy use.

The Intensive Therapy Oils are amazing.  Ah-may-Zing.  A lot of cuticle oils on the market have a lot of jojoba in them and I wasn't sure how this would work, considering it doesn't boast jojoba.  Instead it's a blend of argan, coconut, flax, apricot seed, hazelnut, and rosehip (jojoba is the main ingredient in her cuticle oils).  It reminds me of a posh hair treatment and seems to completely condition my cuticle immediately.  It soaks in easily, although I do tend to massage it a bit.  It's, again, not overly greasy and doesn't leave an uncomfortable feeling on your fingers.  Full sized vials are 15mls and 7$us or you can get a set of three samples that are 8mls each for 9$us.

Right now she is offering a Fall Exclusive Box for only 22$us:

You will receive 1 full size cuticle balm, 1 full size cuticle oil, 1 full size intensive therapy oil, 1 full size lip balm, 1 one ounce hand cream, and one 1 ounce hand scrub!

Balm: Pumpkin Crunch Cake: aroma of creamy pumpkin pie filling; surrounded with freshly baked yellow cake, melted butter, pecans, and hints of spice

Cream: Pumpkin Apple Butter:notes of orange, apple, pear, pineapple, and cherries; middle notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove; with base notes of warm vanilla.

Scrub: Autumn Mums: features a sparking top note, a floral heart combining neroli, rose, carnation and marigold, with a base note of twigs and earth.

Intensive Cuticle: Caramel Apple: the aroma of a big red juicy apple dipped in warm, buttery caramel.

Cuticle Oil: Autumn Harvest :Crisp apples, vanilla, nutmeg, sweet pumpkin and cinnamon make this a perfect Autumn blend!

Lip Balm: Pumpkin Pecan: A delicious blend of pumpkin spice and pecan cream filling!

Although it's sold out right now, she will be restocking it, so keep an eye on it! I ordered one within minutes of it being available as well as a few more samplers set.  The small sizes are wonderfully handy for travel, and I'm often on the train back and forth to Rome and then out with clients.  I've sacrificed one of my little balm samplers to a client with notoriously dry hands and he's been remarkably happy with it as well!

Don't forget, I'm also giving away a mini set of oils and a balm in my #00Muertos giveaway/contest!

Day, Of the Dead

I've always loved the imagery surrounding the Mexican holiday of Dia De Muertos, or The Day of the Dead.  I asked Alison of Candied Apple Polish to create two custom polishes inspired by the sights and colours of the festival.

Day is a bright aqua crelly filled with confetti and skulls and Of the Dead is it's dark and somber black counterpart.

This month I'll be giving the pair away each along with a cuticle goodie assortment from 365 Days of Color including a mini lip balm in Pumpkin Pie, a cuticle mini oil in Pumpkin Vanilla, and a mini cuticle balm in Pumpkin Patch.

To enter, create a Day of the Day mani of your own to post on Instagram.  They must include the note "00 Muertos @bondgirlstyle" and be tagged #00Muertos!

• The giveaway is open internationally.
• You must be 18 years or older to enter.
• Manis must created just for this giveaway, no sneaking!
• The giveaway runs from 11 Oct 2014  through 20 Oct 2014.
• The winners will be chosen and posted on 22 Oct 2014.

Good luck and have fun!

#31dc2014: October 1-6

I thought I'd share with you the first six manis of my massive #31dc2014 undertaking!

#19seconds

Every 19 seconds someone somewhere in the world is being diagnosed with breast cancer.  My goal this October is to get everyone who reads my blog and follows my IG to start giving themselves self exams (if they don't already) and asking those they love to exam themselves as well.

In October I will post 19 different pink manicures, all with the hash #19seconds.  I invite you to join me in this challenge to spread awareness.  Sometimes it's not about money.  Sometimes it's just about caring for yourself and others that might make the difference.

The importance of finding breast cancer early.

 The goal of screening exams for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms.

Screening refers to tests and exams used to find a disease, such as cancer, in people who do not have any symptoms.

Early detection means using an approach that lets breast cancer get diagnosed earlier than otherwise might have occurred. Breast cancers that are found because they are causing symptoms tend to be larger and are more likely to have already spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be smaller and still confined to the breast. The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are some of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis (outlook) of a woman with this disease.

Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests. Following the American Cancer Society’s guidelines for the early detection of breast cancer improves the chances that breast cancer can be diagnosed at an early stage and treated successfully.

Indie Dossier: Candied Apple Polish

 Alison from Candied Apple Polish is one busy lady, but I managed to steal some time away from her to sit down and be the subject of m first Indie Dossier!

 How did you get into polish mixology?

When my husband was deployed last year I started painting my nails. It was so relaxing for me and was a sort of "Deployment Therapy" for me. I had never really even painted my nails before this and I only owned (gasp) 4 bottles of polish. Starting to buy more polish and having so much fun with nail art really inspired me to want to create my own!

Did you know right away you wanted to open a shop?

I started mixing and creating with the idea that I would open a shop eventually! I experimented and let my family and friends test my products for several months. When I was happy with the end result I opened up my store.

 

What was the biggest challenge?

I would say that the biggest challenge for me was probably things that weren't even about the actual polish. Just figuring out the most efficient way to ship things and wanting to make sure that I had good quality labels, bottles, brushes. There are so many little things that go into it that I hadn't thought of at the very beginning when I was just mixing.

 

How did chose your brand's name?

My brand name came from a lot of brainstorming sessions with my sister. I am originally from Western New York where apples are very prevalent. I really wanted my brand to represent the core of me so I just knew I had to include "apple" in the name. When we came up with this, it just seemed right!

 

What's your process when designing a new polish? Do you just throw stuff together or start from an idea?

This is different every time. A lot of times color combinations come to me when I am laying in bed. I am constantly making notes to myself to try things out in the morning. Sometimes I am inspired by very specific things. For example- "Warm Georgia Breeze" This is a polish that is very special to me because it embodies everything that I love about Georgia. I am an Army wife so I move quite frequently. This makes for fantastic adventures but also means that I miss a lot of places that I once called home. I wanted to make a polish that was a tribute to Georgia. The warmth, the peaches, the ocean and sand. All of the good things I left behind. Some other polishes just come from colors I love together and then the name comes later.

 

Do you have a favorite polish you've ever made?

This is always a hard question for me. I love them all so much! It is always changing as well, because I create new things and then they are my favorite :) Some of my very favorites are- "Dreams of the Tamarin" "Dreams of the Lorikeet" "Midnight Sprinkles" "Burnt Raspberry" "Brightest Light" and "Lilac Fizz." I could list things all day though lol!

 

What are some of your other favorite indie brands?

I don't think that it is any secret that my all time favorite Indie is my duo partner in crime, Jessica of Drip Drop Nailpaint. Flawless formula and so much creativity. Things I would never think to combine. That is definitely one thing that I love so much about Indies, so much of our own unique personalities goes into what we create. It's amazing to see.

My other favorite indies are Polish by Jessica Jean (always craving more beautiful "frostings"), Shop Eighty4, and Noodles Nailpolish. All of these brands are created by wonderful, kind ladies who I am so happy to support.

I just love indies though so this list could also go on and on! So many talented, creative ladies out there!

 

Where do you see CAP in a year? 3? 5?

I just want to continue to have fun! I have been overwhelmed by the amazing outpouring of kindness and support I have received since my shop has been open. This was a journey I started not really knowing if anyone would even buy anything! It has exceeded my expectations and I am just so grateful for this. As long as I can keep sharing what I love with all of you, that is what I want to focus on for the future :) You all make it worth it and I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!