Etsy Scented Oil Purchase

My whole life I've been acutely aware of how intensely scents trigger memories and emotions - the hair gel I used in the Eighth grade, the lip balm I wore on my last vacation to Disney World, the cologne of an old flame, etc. Having worked at Lush Cosmetics for over two years now, that point is being driven further home than ever. I'm constantly striving for new scents. More and more I'm seeing myself pulling away from the typical strawberry or vanilla, closer towards cedarwood, sage,sandalwood, etc. I find earthy scents both grounding and freeing simultaneously. That being said, I do still enjoy the sweeter scents when the mood strikes so it's nice to have those options available when need be.

Today on Etsy I purchased some perfume oils, which I am just dying to receive. I was originally led to rosemarygrace's shop by clicking a link to her Toasted Marshmallow inspired oil, which I found very intriguing. Sweet with a hint of char? I'm for it!

The next on my list, which I am extremely excited for, is the Coffee inspired oil. I love the smell of coffee, but most of the time nowadays drinking it seems to upset my stomach. This will be a great way for me to get that "freshly brewed" wake up without the pain and jitters.

I then came across the South Fire Ritual oil, which is is Rosemary and Mint. Um hello! Those are two of my favourite herbs, what a glorious find! Choosing which to use first is going to be a difficult task.

Paging Dr. Harper comes up next, which is Basil and Grapefruit. It'll be interesting to try, considering the description says it's a little bit medicinal in scent. I'm expecting a quirky and refreshing oil. I used to really enjoy citrus but as of late I've been finding it too simple to earn my full appreciation, so I'm curious to see how the basil changes things for me.

Campfire was my second last choice. I was a bit hesitant about this one because campfire smoke is my ultimate favourite scent in the history of scents. I didn't want to risk tarnishing something so so so beautiful to me, but I'm taking the chance and going for it. Hopefully it doesn't smell exactly like campfire, because that might take away some of the magic, but I'm anticipating it will touch on it enough to get by.

Lastly, I purchased Fresh Dirt. My curiosity got the better of me this time around. I have a shower gel from Lush called Grass, so why not an oil called Dirt? Suffice to say that I love the outdoors and everything about fresh, summery scents. This, to me, seems like a no-nonsense scent that will go a long way in creating an unusual atmosphere in my home.

I'm expecting these to be here in a couple of weeks, she said she would be shipping them in a few days. So until them I will bide my time and settle for the oils I currently have. I cannot wait to review these products!

NOTD: Newsprint Manicure & Tutorial

Ahoy there!

Turns out my life is a little chaotic right now to actually blog, but I had some free time this afternoon so I decided to check back in. My nail polish obsession is continuing to grow and evolve into quite the hobby, and I'm finding myself starting to experiment with variations of a regular old manicure.

The one I've been playing with this week is called a Newsprint manicure. The first one I did I used only text and it turned out beautifully.

 

The base colour is American Apparel's "Cotton".  This was a great choice for this mani because it really contrasted the lettering from the newspaper .

Following this I decided to try things out with a variety of newspaper cut outs, including: advertisements, crosswords, photos of people's faces, comic strips, etc. I found that I had a difficult time with any images with a lot of grey and little contrast. It was hard to get definition from the print. However, I was surprised when some colour lifted from the paper onto the nail! I wish I had used a lighter polish to actually see this a little bit better. 

You can see some blue and peach on my middle finger from the comic strip

For that manicure my base colour was Rimmel's Grey Matter.

Instructions (sorry, I don't have a pics for the steps yet - baby blogger still!):

Things you will need:
Base coat
Light shade of nail polish
Newspaper
Scissors
Rubbing alcohol
Shot glass/small cup
Top Coat

1. Cut out strips from the newspaper, slightly larger than your nail. Choose sections/images that have high contrast, anything with too much grey won't turn out nicely.
2. Pour rubbing alcohol into shot glass, set aside.
3. Apply your base coat and your polish and wait for it to dry completely. Don't use drying drops, as you will still be applying your top coat later on.
4. Dip your thumb nail into the alcohol and wait 10 seconds. You want to make sure the nail is completely saturated.
5. Apply a strip of newspaper on your nail face down and press firmly for 5 seconds. Make sure you are covering the entire surface.
6. Once you peel the paper back the image will be printed on your nail! Repeat with your other nails.
7. Apply your topcoat only once you've finished all your nails. Try not to rub the print before applying it because it could rub right off! You absolutely need a topcoat for this manicure.
   Tip: Apply the topcoat generously! I dropped it onto my nail in dollops and simply guided it across to cover all the print. If your brush touches the ink or you don't have enough polish on there you could smudge your work (see my thumb nail in the first photo).
8. Wait for your topcoat to dry completely and voila! You're done!

Hopefully I get a little more into blogging now, we'll see how things get rolling.