Minx #1 Instant Manicure & Pedicure Review

Hola amigos!

       Ready for my first review?  I'll be reviewing something I've wanted to do for a long time: nail stickers! Particularly these Minx #1 Fashion For Your Fingers and Toes.

I picked these Diamond Diabolique holographic silver and black 

stickers to try out. On sale for 99 cents at Ulta!

It includes two sets, one for a pedicure and one for a manicure, as well 

as two alcohol wipes for clean fingernails

Which I used :)

I put the stickers over my fingernails to see which would fit my nail better.

Make sure they are not too big (I'll show you what happens).

Smaller is better!

Peel them off and stick them to your nail. Careful to make it straight!

Cut them to the length of your nail.

File them downwards so you don't lift the sticker.

Tada!  All done.  I did my thumb and pointer finger first...and figured 

out how to do it better with subsequent fingers

(no creases on the ends, smaller as opposed to too big of a sticker)

Overall I would rate these nail stickers a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

*they were easy to apply

*once I figured out to rub the ends to smooth creases it went a lot better

*they are so pretty! I wouldn't be able to do this with polish...maybe some of you could!

*there are extra strips to accommodate ALL sizes of nails which is awesome

HOWEVER

*it is my second day of wearing them and I am already seeing tip wear :(

*I was worried that they would lift last night and during my shower this morning

Try them out for yourself and tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading

~NomiGirl~

XOXO

p.s. sorry for awful cuticles!

Ulta Haul (Finally Some Real Makeup!)

Hola amigos,
       I would like to think that I am a somewhat dedicated makeup enthusiast...I rode my bike all over town in 104 degree weather searching for the cheapest Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows.  My final destination ended up being Ulta and I spent much more than I was planning to! (And I didn't even get the item I went out looking for!)

mini haul

These captured my interest because I have never tried the ready-made sticker-like polishes before.  And these were only 99 cents! I couldn't pass it up. I got the Minx #1 nail stickers in Diamond Diabolique and Triangle Tango.  And they have two sets inside, one for fingers and for toes!

Benefit's Stay Don't Stray primer for concealers and eyeshadows in light/medium

I got this for free because I spent $30 on another benefit product!

I also got this for free, it's a mini creaseless cream eyeshadow from benefit in the color No Pressure

My hair has been feeling lackluster and frizzy at the ends so I bought a mask ($4) I have heard missglamorazzi talking about a lot!

Especially in this summer heat, my makeup has been sweating off like crazy (I have annoyingly oily skin as well which doesn't help!) so I bought the POREfessional face primer from benefit ($30).

I was only going to buy the Revlon Colorstay for combination/oily skin ($11.99) but one of the Ulta ladies offered to match me in L'Oreal true match and it was pretty cheap ($9.99) so I couldn't say no :)

I have horrible hyperpigmentation on my skin from old acne marks and I was trying desperately to find a concealer that would have full coverage but not look cakey and the nicest Ulta lady ever helped me to find two, Jump Rope Concealer Playstick from benefit as well as Tarte Amazonian Clay concealer.  She gave me the biggest samples ever for free!

I think I will be doing reviews on all of these products to show you what they look like and if I was impressed.  First up will be the Minx #1 nail products!

Thanks for reading!

~NomiGirl~

XOXO

Geisha Girl

Hola amigos,
       I'm going to ditch the Spanish for a minute because we're heading to another country: Japan.  I've always loved Japan for it's anime, manga (Japanese comic books), language, and culture.  I especially love the geishas and maikos!
      For those of you that don't know, geishas are entertainers that dress up in white face paint and kimonos to play instruments, sit and speak with restaurant-goers, sing, dance, etc.  Maikos are their apprentices, and they will one day become full-fledged geishas themselves!
     Geishas and maikos traditionally wear white makeup which is said to have been popular in China then migrated to Japan, for the Japanese at one time held the Chinese in high regard and adopted many of their ways.  They also wear red eye shadow and red lipstick because red is a very happy color in Japan.  Source         
     Geishas typically take about 2 hours to do their hair and makeup, and I can't say I was any different! Here is what I came up with after looking at many different pictures of geishas and maikos for inspiration:

Yes it's my own hair! I curled it then teased it then used LOTS of hairspray.

Love

I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!

~NomiGirl~

XOXO

DIY Dip-Dye Shorts for Summer

Hola amigos,
      Are you all feeling the heat yet?  It's been 108 consistently where I live!  Time to find some cute summer fashions I think!  Like I've said before, I'm a recent college graduate with absolutely no funds. Sad face.  So I like cheap alternatives to the stunning $400 shorts in boutique windows!  And guess what...you can do it yourself, I promise.

Tutorial for dip-dyed (EASY!) summer shorts:

Step 1: Buy your dye!  I went for Dylon fabric dye.  Many people like Rit dyes but while Rit is a very cheap and affordable brand, it also washes out and fades fairly quickly.  Choose which works best for you.

Step 2: Buy jeans or shorts that you like from the thrift store.  If you chose jeans (like me) choose how long you want your future shorts to be (perhaps while wearing them) then make a mark there.

 (see the mark?)

Step 3: Measure how many inches/centimeters the mark you made is from the BOTTOM of the jeans, NOT the top (measuring from the top will make the hemline all wonky!) Make marks all around.

Step 4: Cut!

(different pair of jeans!)

Step 5: Fill a bucket with bleach and choose were you want the bleached or colored part to be on your new shorts.  Then submerge that part into the bleach

WARNING: be careful with bleach! It is very abrasive and can harm your skin, and definitely don't get it in your eyes.  Use gloves or poke with a stick like I did :)

ALSO: If you want a SECTION of your shorts bleached or colored, do not put the whole section into the bleach!  Bleach will not only remove the color from the submerged section but will continue to eat its way up!  So leave an inch or two of "bleach eating room" that is not submerged.

Step 6:  No picture here but after your shorts are sufficiently white (don't leave them in for too long! Bleach will make your material very weak, it's very abrasive) remove them from the bleach with gloves (or a stick!) and rinse them thoroughly so the bleach stops working.

Step 7: Colorize!  Make your dye according to the package (usually one cup of warm water, all of the dye, mix, then add enough water so the fabric can be fully submerged) then add your shorts

You can either dye them one color or do multiple colors using the technique I used above of only submerging part of the shorts!  You can also lay the shorts out on a plastic bag and use a paintbrush to add dye where you would like it.

End result:

using a paintbrush to add color in stripes

with studs

hello butt!

I hope you liked this tutorial!  Let me know if you would like more details or more tutorials in the future :)  I hope I made your summer a little more colorful.

~NomiGirl~

XOXO

Nail Art & How to Get Lusciously Lovely Long Nails

Hola amigos,
       I don't know about you guys but I was always envious of the ladies with talon-like claws on the ends of their fingertips.  Mostly because I couldn't grow my own nails past my fingertips.  I was a nail biter!

small picture but see where the color ends? My nails ended there too!

Sad times for a girl obsessed with fashion and trying her hardest to look like a grown up.  I tried everything to stop biting them: the nasty tasting "polish," pinching myself when I caught myself biting them, I even tried taping my nails over completely with painters tape.  Then I found a solution:

I painted them every day!

(and it worked!)

I started getting into nail art as well, and who wants to ruin a masterpiece?  I was so proud of my work that I just couldn't bring myself to bring my nails to my mouth.  And then this happened:

they grew

and grew

and GREW!

(and I got a little better at nail art!)

It is so much fun having long nails now, I can do so many things to them!  Here are some more pictures, let me know if you would like to see a tutorial or anything. :)

And this next one is my favorite design that I have ever done:

Thanks for reading!

~NomiGirl~

XOXO

Out popped Harley Quinn

Hola amigos,
    How's it going? How's life?  I wanted to share another side of me today...I love to sew!
Now, I'm not amazing at it, but my mama used to design her own patterns and sew a lot of her own clothes, and I've been learning bits from her my whole life.  So a couple Halloweens ago I combined my love of sewing with my love of makeup and out popped Harley Quinn!

I did have some help with the bodysuit pattern, but I sewed it completely by myself and designed the neckpiece and headpiece.  It's not perfect (I couldn't put the cuffs on in time!)  but it helped me win an iPod at a costume contest. :)  My first iPod!  I love those shoes, too.  They were close to $100 at a local lingerie boutique but I found them a little scuffed at a local thrift store for only $18.  I used Ben Nye for my face paint and spirit gum to stick the mask to my face.  It stayed on all night!

As you can tell, I don't have the best photography skills in the world or the best camera, but hopefully as this blog goes on I will improve in that aspect.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated, especially with lighting and such!

One more thing: I might not have the body type to play a perfect Harley Quinn but I say who cares!  Go out there and do what you WANT and LOVE to do.  If people give you funny looks give them funny looks right back.  If you always let peoples' comments and judgements tear you down, you will never have fun.  My dad always says the one thing he wishes he could do if he could go back and do it again is to not let other people bother him.  Don't have this regret! :)

Thanks for listening!  I'd be happy to answer any questions about the process, the makeup, the material, etc.

~NomiGirl

XOXO

You Don't Nomi, But You Will!

Hola amigos,

    I know how much we all like knowing about the details of other peoples' lives or blogs wouldn't be so popular, so I figure that's how I'll start!

-My name is Naomi

-I'm 50% Mexican, 50% Portuguese

-I JUST graduated with a B.S. in Justice and also in Psychology

-I love animals

-I've never done this before!

-All of my favorite bloggers are from overseas...maybe it's the accent?

-I've only been to California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Mexico, Italy, Austria, and Germany and I want to expand that list! Want to come with me?

-I love hot pink

-I got my ears pierced at 16 (I didn't want it before)

-I can speak Spanish and English

-I can't wait to start regularly blogging and hopefully spread some inspiration through the makeup, clothes, discussions, pictures, costumes, and ideas that I share.

Thanks for reading, below are some of the things I will hopefully be blogging about in the future. :)

~NomiGirl~