Tag Archives: talons

Nov11

They’re Baaaack

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They’re Baaaack

Hi everyone and TGIF! Okay, so this week’s Monday Update involved me freaking out because I broke one of my natural nails that I have been trying so freaking hard to grow out in lieu of getting acrylics. Well, two days after that, another nail broke so I said “fuck it” and went to get my claw babies back on Thursday. After about a year of being talon-free, it felt so good being back in the trusted and true hands of my beloved nail tech, Vinny.

As I mentioned before, asides from dying my hair, getting my nails done is my absolute favorite way to pamper myself. I love being able to sit back, relax, and let Vinny work his magic and make my nails look pretty. One of the things that I love the most about long nails is how they make my hands look. Naturally, my hands are quite small and stumpy but lengthy nails make my hands look elongated and beautiful. When I had to cut my natural nails after two of them broke, I was so sad to see my hands shrink down to their bitty size right before my eyes. But now, everything is as it should be and having janky nails is one less thing for me to worry about. Take a look:

nails

The other main reason that I wanted to get my nails done was for my graduation which is coming up on December 15th. I told myself that if I can’t get my natural nails how I like them, then I would treat myself to my acrylics and I am so glad that I did! I do wish that they were a little bit longer but they will do for now and Vinny said he’ll take care of it when I get them filled – he’s such a gem! :*)

Now my graduation ceremony beauty check list for looking fab as I strut across the stage looks something like this:

  • Get nails filled.
  • Dye hair.
  • Get a hair cut.
  • Put together a graduation ceremony worthy outfit!

I am so happy to have my nails back but it has been a doozey of a twenty-four hours while I get used to living my life with talons again! So far, everything is going just fine minus a small scare with my car door. Other than that things are A-okay – especially now that I can put my babies to work on my laptop keyboard again! LOVE IT! ❤

I hope everyone has a super fun and relaxing weekend! What kind of outfit do you think I should wear for graduation? Who else has a passion for long nails? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Mar12

Beauty Bloggers: HELP!!

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Beauty Bloggers: HELP!!

Hello everyone and happy weekend! Once upon a time, I had the longest, fiercest, and sharpest acrylic stiletto nails in the world. I loved them so damn much but unfortunately, the price of upkeep was just getting to be too much. I’ve been without my talons for a solid half a year now and I’m missing them something fierce. But here’s the rub, I really don’t want to pay for acrylics now that I haven’t been shelling moolah out for nail maintenance for six months!

I’ve been trying to grow my nails out to at least get them somewhat lengthy but I’ve been having a really hard time. After the removal of my acrylics, my nails were really brittle and would barely grow. Luckily, I’ve moved past that stage and my nails can and are growing. My nails start out strong in their effort to grow out but then they will reach a certain point and just get flimsy as can be. We’re talking that if I bent them hard enough, they would probably break.

I would really love some suggestions from the beauty gurus on here about how to strengthen and grow out my nails. I’ve been trying to keep my nails hydrated with hand creams like I’ve been told on Facebook. I also recently just applied a hardening base and top coat when I painted my nails over the weekend because my BFF said that that might help. I know that I’ll never get my real nails to be anything like my old claws seen below but I would love to at least have some length to them!

talons.jpg

Beauty Bloggers – I need your Help now more than ever so if you have any tips at all it would be so very appreciated! I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jan18

Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

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Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend! On Friday I got nominated by my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the Beauty Blogger Award. I was so flattered to be nominated for the second time by such a fantastic blogger so make sure you check out her page! With all of the fun blogging awards comes rules, of course, so take a look and then see how I answered the questions that Kezzie asked her nominees:

The Rules:

  • Tag and thank who nominated you.
  • Respond to the questions that your nominator gave you.
  • Nominate 10 new beauty/fashion bloggers.
  • Create 10 new questions for these bloggers to answer.
  • Tell the blogger that you nominated them.

Got it? Good! Now let’s take a look at Kezzie’s questions:

Q & A:

Are you studying? If so what?

Yes, I am! I’m currently working towards getting my Associate of Arts degree at Tri-C in Cleveland, Ohio.

What are you reading right now?

I just started The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I’m about one hundred pages in and I really like it so far!

What is your favorite lipstick shade?

That’s easy! I love NYX’s Pure Red matte lipstick. It’s seriously the best matte lipstick I’ve ever used and the shade is perfect for Lil Red!

What is your go to outfit for winter?

During the winter, I like to wear my black skinnies (obviously), with a chunky sweater, my Michael Kors booties, one of my many peacoats, and the super warm gloves my boyfriend got me for Christmas.

What is your favorite all time TV character?

This is also an easy one. Elaine from Seinfeld will always be one of my all time favorite TV characters. I want to be her when I grow up.

Do you have a favorite Youtuber?

Not really, I don’t go on YouTube very often.

What inspires you the most in life?

People who are working their asses off to improve their lives and themselves.

What do you do when you are having a bad day?

Hmmm…Before, when I had a bad day I used to use really unhealthy coping mechanisms. Now that I’m clean from that, I like to take bubble baths, write, and binge watch Netflix in bed when I’m having a bad day…So basically what I do every day. 😉

What is your favorite nail polish shade?

Black. Black. Black. I don’t paint my nails often but when I do I always paint them black. Lol, I sound like the Dos Equis guy! When I used to have my talon like fake nails, they were always black with red for an accent nail and a cross on both of my middle fingers. I miss my fake nails so much but they were a lot of upkeep and not having them is a total money saver. Now every time I do something that definitely would have broken a nail, I breathe a little sigh of relief in knowing that I won’t have to rush to the salon to get it fixed!

What is your favorite makeup store?

I love The Body Shop and a lot of my makeup does come from there but honestly, I’m just as happy getting the last odds and ends of what I need at Target. They have a shockingly wonderful makeup selection and I like to use Covergirl and Rimmel. For a treat, I like to use their Pixie brand!

My Nominees (I’m only doing three):

My Questions For You:

  1. What is your favorite beauty item that you treat yourself with?
  2. What was one of your worst fashion or beauty moments?
  3. If you could raid one celebrity’s wardrobe, who would it be?
  4. Would you rather wear the same outfit every day for a week or not wear makeup for a month?
  5. Bubble baths or long showers?
  6. Did someone teach you how to wear makeup or did you learn how to do it on your own?
  7. What is your favorite makeup or clothing store to score a bargain?
  8. What was your favorite fashion or beauty moment?
  9. How would you describe your style?
  10. Everyone has a color that just looks perfectly awful on them. What color is that for you? What about the color that looks best on you?

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: My Second Beauty Blogger Award Edition! Thank you so much again to my friend, Kezzie, at: kezziescorner for the nomination! How was everyone’s weekend? How would you answer some of the questions that I asked my nominees? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep28

Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition

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Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition

Hellooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! So something kind of crazy happened this weekend that is so out of character for me that I have a hard time believing it myself…I took my acrylic nails off. Those of you who are familiar with my blog will know that I am (was) simply obsessed with my longer than life talon-esque fake nails, but something happened this weekend that just made me snap. Check out the story behind my breaking point and then we can mourn in my loss together:

On Saturday everything was running smoothly. I had a great few days with my boyfriend that I returned home from in the morning and my mom and I had a lovely shopping outing in the evening. But then…then a tragedy happened. As I was sitting on my bedroom floor scrolling through Facebook on my iPod something inside of me made me get up from my laziness to go downstairs and work on homework. I reached my hand back onto my bed to hoist myself up and then CRACK, the acrylic on my left hand middle finger broke clean in two.

“Well shit,” I thought to myself, “what am I going to do now”? It was too late for my salon to be open and it’s closed all day on Sundays (the following day). Then all kinds of thoughts began swarming in my head. Should I hold out until Monday and get it fixed? Should I bite the bullet and go to a different salon tomorrow? And then I began to inspect my natural nail that was visible from my unfortunate uh-oh. My nail was brittle, cracking, and dry as a bone. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised…I haven’t worn my nails natural since November of 2014 but I had no idea that they were that bad.

Upon further inspection of my nails, I decided that they desperately needed some TLC. After I made this realization I took a deep breath and began to gather the supplies needed to take my claws off at home – because after I thought about it, I refused to pay ten to fifteen dollars for something I could do from the comfort of my own bathroom. I grabbed a glass bowl big enough to fit both of my hands in, acetone nail polish remover, and nail clippers then I headed into the loo to take care of business.

I sat my sweet ass on the floor of the throne room and got to work by clipping my acrylics down to the nub. This was painful physically and emotionally. My clippers are obvs not salon quality so I had to apply hella pressure to get my nails declawed. With every snap crackle pop of the acrylic being cut off my heart sank deeper into my butt….But finally, the deed was done. I filled my bowl with the nail polish remover, pulled myself together, and descended downstairs to watch Arrested Development as my nails soaked off.

After my TV time, my nails were loose enough that I could pry them off and just like that, my acrylics were gone. I stared down at my bare hands and looked at them as if I were seeing them for the first time. “Jesus Christ…What did I just do?” I continued to gaze down at my nails with a critical eye and all I could see were stubby fingers and the most unhealthy nails ever and I seriously could have cried. After a “you’re a strong independent woman who don’t need no nails” pep talk, I did what had to be done…Apply enough lotion to fill up a bathtub onto my hands, put some socks on over them, and walk around my house performing sock puppet theater. #Ihatemyself

The next few days without my nails were weird, to say the least. Texting on my phone and typing on the computer without hearing my claws clacking away felt foreign and strange. Running my hands through my hair without feeling my talons grazing my scalp felt uncomfortable. Even scratching an itch with my bare nails felt unfamiliar. I was so lost…and then I got used to it.

I took my acrylics off for a reason, which was to get my natural nails healthy and damnit, that’s what I’m gonna do. It will definitely take some time to grow accustomed to life without my long fake nails, but that’s okay. It’s going to save me money to not have to get my nails filled every month and most importantly it’s going to get my real nails back to normal, which is something I’m taking very seriously. #gosarahgo

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Farewell Fake Nails Edition! Have any of you lovelies had an experience similar to mine after taking off their acrylics or another beauty staple you use? What are some tips that you have for healthy natural nails? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun26

Princess Manicure Day!

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Princess Manicure Day!

Helloooo everyone and TGIF! I had a fabulous afternoon yesterday with my beloved nail tech, Vinny!! He crafted my talons to perfection, we ate food, drank Patron, and had a gay old time! Before I went to the salon I went to Starbucks and got Vinny’s usual 4/4 White Lightening for him – it’s the least I can do considering all he does for me. I then headed over to Empress Nails for some princess style pampering! My sweet Vinny spent close to two hours filling, sharpening, and shaping my claws and here’s the end result:

talons

^^^ So in love!!! As usual we did all black with a blue accent nail on each hand. The blue was Vinny’s idea because the last time we hung out “Blue On Black” was playing on the radio and Vinny was amazed that I knew the song and was able to sing along with him! My new thing when I get my nails done is getting a cross airbrushed on both of my middle fingers, which I’m sure is not everyone’s cup of tea – but hey, I like it!

While Vinny was working his magic on my acrylics I asked him if he wanted to go visit my sister, Kristen, with me at the restaurant she works at once he was done at the salon. To my surprise, he said that we can go after he finished my nails! So after my talons were nice and dry we piled into the Vinny Mobile and spent the entire afternoon playing hooky from our responsibilities! We spent the next few hours at Kristen’s restaurant where we hung out with her and the other employees, ate lunch, ate ice cream, drank some Patron, and enjoyed each others company. While we were talking with Kristen, she mentioned how badly she wanted Subway – so once we got back into the Vinny Mobile, Vinny decided that we should get her some Subway and bring it back to her. He’s seriously the sweetest guy with the biggest heart in the whole wide world. We found the nearest Subway and I ordered for Kristen since we both pretty much get the exact same veggie sub from there and then we backtracked to the restaurant to bring it back to her. Kristen was so gracious and so was I because we both have the best friend in the history of EVER!

After we brought Kristen her food, we headed back to the salon so I could collect the Little Red Love Machine and Vinny could work for a bit more. It was a beautiful afternoon and I’m so happy that I got to spend it with my best friend! ❤

^^^ Vinny told me that “Blue On Black” is his favorite song so this goes out to you! I LOVE YOU!!! #teamvinny

I hope all of you are having a great Friday so far! What is everyone up to this weekend? Do any of you have a special friendship with one of your hair stylists or nail techs? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May6

Nail Tech Love!

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Nail Tech Love!

Helloooo everyone and happy Hump Day! So as you guys know, I have a deep love for my acrylic nails which are really more like talons than nails. And as you guys also know, I have a deep love for my beloved nail tech – the man who makes it all possible, my boo thang: VINNY!!! Last time I got my nails filled he sharpened the talons to perfection and gave me my usual black nails with two white accent ones. They turned out flawless! Take a look:

pronails

^^^ OBSESSED. #pronails #teamvinny

I usually get my nails filled every three weeks at 1:30 on Thursday like clockwork. But last Thursday I stayed at school in Cleveland later than usual to get some tutoring, so I called up Vinny as I left campus to make sure that he could still see me by the time I got there. Of course he told me that he would make all the time in the world for me! He also asked me to get him his usual 5/5 White Lightening from the Starbucks down the street from the salon, which I was more than happy to do! While stopped at a red light, I checked my phone and he texted me saying that I didn’t have to pay for my nails today since I was buying him his coffee. SO SWEET. Vinny already won’t let me tip him, so he was spoiling me completely rotten. Once I got to the salon, he was outside waiting for me and smoking a cigarette because he says I make him nervous, haha! My favorite thing about going to Vinny to get my nails done (other than the fact that he’s a dear friend and our conversations are fabulous), is that he really takes his time fixing up my talons so that they always end up perfect. He always spends an hour or more filling, sharpening, and painting them and it’s so nice to take that time out of my day to get pampered. And let me tell you, he did a bang up job on the sharpening this last time…the following day I accidentally scratched my cheek while I was putting a shirt on and my nails were so sharp that they left an unsightly red streak on my cheek for the entire day, I swear, they’re like the more fashionable version of carrying around pepper spray! No one should mess with Lil Red! This morning I woke up to a text from my sweet Vinny, which read:

“If I have to scale mountains, endure torture, and defeat ninjas with my kung fu – nothing can prevent me from texting you :)”

Well let me tell you, Vinny…the feeling is one hundred percent mutual! I love you!

I hope all of you guys are having a wonderful day so far! Do any of you have a hair stylist or nail tech that goes above and beyond for you? What shape do you get your acrylics in? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah