NAILS | Blue and Gold #CBBxManiMonday

I have been finding it difficult to sit down and blog the last week or so. I don't really have any posts I am itching to write and though many beauty bloggers go through a burnout, I feel like it's more about wanting to enjoy the summer, read my books and just chill overall before September whirls around. Now, we are officially in August and I see some people already thinking about their Halloween decorations?! I mean, let's slow it down and enjoy ourselves a little bit!

Polishes purchased by me

NAILS | Here Kitty, Kitty #CBBxManiMonday

Whenever I go on a staycation, I am SUPER productive the first few days as I have all of these fantasies of getting everything done that I had been putting off like cooking new things and in my case, learning a new instrument! I became obsessed with the song "Wagon Wheel" sung by Darius Rucker on Saturday night and then my husband and I started talking about banjos which then led to an Amazon Prime order of a banjolele (fusion of a banjo and ukelele) that arrived at 2pm this afternoon! It was so spontaneous and spur of the moment, but I was so incredibly excited to have a new instrument to play! One that I could also not bother our neighbors with as violin is so incredibly loud to practice on! I learned my first song today ("You are My Sunshine") and shared it on Instagram Stories almost as a way to hold myself accountable to keep practicing! By the time I was done playing with my banjolele, it was time for us to start making dinner hence the delay in nails! I better treasure the length of my nails here because as of this afternoon, they are nubbins because I couldn't do any of the chords with the length they were at. So sad!

Press samples

NAILS | Going in Circles #CBBxManiMonday

The first #CBBxManiMonday of 2021 and the three of us were having some trouble coming up with a theme and after a bit of discussion, we realized that we were all wanting to go through some untrieds and things we hadn't had a chance to get to in 2020 so in a way our "no theme" is more like "doing things we didn't get to do last year" which is fine by me! I am still enjoying my holiday themed nail polishes, but done with holiday designs so this worked out perfectly! Also, am I the only who despises this first week back? What I hate about it is that OTHER people feel the need to get things done and put that pressure on us when really the only thing has changed is them not us! Everything that people put off last month now suddenly becomes of utmost importance come January because of whatever resolutions people have set out to accomplish. February is ok too! Or heck even Spring!


PR samples

NAILS | Look to the Stars #CBBxManiMonday

Alrighty, it's that last week of the year where half the week is "normal" where the mail runs, banks are open and there are no holiday hours followed by the second half where everything is closed and you don't know what day it is because New Years Day is on a weekday. Even during a pandemic, I am still a bit confused, but soon enough it will be 2021. I think because we have all "lost" so much of the year to lockdowns and staying at home, it feels like I just said goodbye to 2019. Though we have all been continuing our days, I feel like I never quite hit "unpause" from March. As my sister-in-law put it, I am cautiously optimistic about 2021, but I have no expectations about whether things will get better. I hope they will, but I am not going to expect the allowance of big gatherings, concerts or not mask-wearing in public spaces to change. It will be interesting to see how the vaccine changes things and how humanity deals with the new coronavirus variant and the way we interact with others going forward. Now, that we have all (hopefully!) celebrated Christmas with our bubble, it's time to celebrate New Year's Eve with the same bubble! My husband and I are again looking forward to a quiet night with some champagne and a nice meal at home as I have been given the gift of Dec.31st - Jan.3rd off! Lots of time to recover and recharge!

Press samples

NAILS | Bring on the Candy Corn! #CBBxManiMonday

I got into the candy corn game pretty late in life. It's not exactly an Asian candy you grow up with and I honestly only saw it on TV or in the bulk candy section, but didn't understand why people liked it. Then I got a little pack of it and LOVED it when I trick-or-treated for the first time in my FIRST YEAR OF UNIVERSITY. Yes, I know, it's crazy that even with growing up and going to school in Canada, I never got to go trick-or-treating with my friends! The reason? I grew up in a Christian household where I couldn't dress up or have anything to do with Halloween. Fast forward to when my younger sister was old enough and SHE got to dress up and go out trick-or-treating so I was pretty choked about that! She always had the best costumes too because my mom was a seamstress and could sew whichever Disney character struck her fancy. Anyway, I finally got to go collect candy when I was 18 with a friend and when we ended up unknowingly hitting up her Econ prof's house I was like "Listen, we need to stop. We're too old!" 

 PR samples

NAILS | Well, "Holo Fall"!

I'm not to let go of holos and summer yet! What was sad with these photos was that I purposely time my holo manis with the weather going as far as checking the weather for when the sun will be coming out and then painting my nails the night before. The weather report went from sunny one day to cloudy the next which left me with not as holo-looking nails for you to look at, but still pretty at least! 

 Purchased by me

NAILS | Neon Geometric #CBBxManiMonday

It's a hot one tonight with Vancouver being at over 30 degrees today and humid which I know is fairly common out East and in Asia, but here it's not the norm and most houses and apartments do not have air conditioning so it can get really sticky and uncomfortable. I even had a cold shower and now I'm just as hot as I was before so I have a feeling that sleep will not be something I will have a lot of tonight, but thankfully it will cool down later on in the week. I do try to enjoy Vancouver summers as we often get rain most of the year, but feeling hot just makes me feel so unproductive and lazy and I think THAT'S what I don't like about hot weather. Ooh, and as I type this, there is now thunder! 

 Some polishes PR gifted

NAILS | Pretty & Polished Candy Corn #CBBxManiMonday

This is definitely a first as my ManiMonday is coming out on a Wednesday, but work has been extra crazy and I am now finally finished working seven days in a row which rarely happens, but had to this time as I am currently on my way to the LDBeauty event! I have been fortunate to be able to attend this media event for the last 5 years and it's always a fun time. This week's manicure also uses an untried thermal indie polish from the now defunct Pretty & Polished as well as some very Halloweeny nail vinyls!

Purchased by me

NAILS | "Walkin' Into Spiderwebs" #CBBxManiMonday

It's crazy that we are now on the last Halloween ManiMonday of the month and though I would like to do one more set of Halloween themed nails on the 31st, I really don't know if I will have the energy to do something incredibly creative, but for today's manicure, I have mixed feelings mainly because it didn't go according to plan and I did not have time to redo them since I am one of those people who prefers to paint at 10pm the day before she has to get up early for work. On top of that, I am still sheet masking every night which NORMALLY I wouldn't do because it's just too many things to do in the 4 hours I have free every work night. When it comes to saving on time while providing amazing results, nail vinyls are my go-to option and I have been dying to try these spiderweb vinyls from Whats Up Nails since last year!

Some PR samples featured

NAILS | Jack-O-Lanterns #CBBxManiMonday

Last week just whizzed right by as we were preparing for Inventory at work and then actually doing it over the weekend which for anyone who has worked in a large retail environment, takes a ton of planning on the management side and traditionally has been quite stressful even if we know what's coming. It's like a combination of wedding planning and writing a final exam since there is a score at the end. Now, that Inventory is over, I am fighting the beginnings of a sore throat and a canker sore which is just FANTASTIC.

I had ordered a couple of Halloween nail vinyls from WhatsUp Nails last year, but then they got lost in shipping and ended up having them replaced in November, but WhatUp Nails was kind enough to gift me an equivalent amount of vinyls for Christmas so that I could still do some holiday-themed nail art. Big thumbs up for customer service there! I also realized in my zombie-like state last night that I had no nails for today so luckily I remembered that I had these replacement Halloween vinyls!

PR samples and gifted vinyls

NAILS | Halloween Black Kitty Cats #CBBxManiMonday

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I had mentioned on Friday through my Instagram stories that I had to work all the way through until today, but hubs and I did end up having a quiet Thanksgiving dinner when I got home from work. I'm not big on family dinners and get-togethers (I know, I am the daughter from hell) and especially with how I always feel when I come home from my job, I am just devoid of energy. I expend so much of my brain power at work that I find it physically difficult to socialize much afterwards so thankfully Casey is a fan of both cooking and having quiet dinners! 

Some PR samples featured

NAILS | I Love Sephora #ManiMonday

This wasn't intentionally a tribute to Sephora, but when I added the red hearts it started looking much more familiar. I won't be seeing a Sephora bag for awhile as I am challenging myself to a no-buy beauty ban this month. I have never believed in no-buys, but a friend brought up trying it so now at least I have someone to hold me accountable if I fall off the wagon. God knows I don't "need" anything beauty-related as I am fully stocked on everything from skincare to makeup so may this be the month that I use things up, blog more and free up some space in the office!

NAILS | Cozy Mittens Winter Nail Art

You might say that I am "mitten smitten" right now because I adore how cutely this manicure turned out! I was all prepared with winter nail vinyls from Whats Up Nails back in October and NOW look at me. December 27th and I am only using my second set now. For SHAME!  

NAILS | Coral with a Touch of Grey #ManiMonday

I will keep this brief as I seem to be struggling with jet lag here in Montreal and though I have been enjoying going out and catching up with family, I have been feeling a bit nauseated and just gross at night for whatever reason. I am hoping I start feeling better soon because I am only here for the week and I feel like there is still a lot to do!

This month's CBB theme is "grey" and I was so fixated on green for St.Patrick's Day that I never even gave grey a chance. I have always loved the combination of grey and any bright colour so I thought maybe coral would be a nice little segue into Spring!