Ciate Haute House

Another gorgeous Ciate collection!!! The pigment is so intense! I love it! It was really hard to capture this mani...but...oh, well! I used tickle me fancy, for the frill of it, and oil slick. Oil slick isn't party of the haute house collection, but it's sti gorgeous! I love colors that are "shade-shift-y."  

With no flash: 

I guess you can tell that the base color is a green shade better this way. 

 Base coat is tickle me fancy and then I sponged some oil slick and for the frill of it on the nails arbitrarily. I personally love the way it turned out! 

Thanks for reading! 

- Marissa 

MoYou London stamping plates

Umm...amazing!!! MoYou london literally has any design you've ever wanted on a nail stamp!!! 

I bought the rock star plates in 06 and 07. I needed the 07 plate because it has Miley on it...and...well, you KNOW I have to be prepared for the Miley concert in Charlotte on August 6th!!! 

Anyway, I saw the rock star plate 06 and noticed Kurt Cobain...so I had to have that! 

Added bonus: Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls on the 07 plate...basically, this  stamping plate was made for me!!! 

The quality of these plates is incredible! 

They come in these precious little protective sleeves...which makes me breathe easy since I don't have any containers to keep stamping plates "safe." I'm not really in the "stamping scene," but I think it's going to happen thanks to these amazing plates!

They're really sturdy too! So that makes stamping even easier-- you can transfer so evenly...if that makes sense! 

They're made of hard plastic, and it's awesome!!!! 

I love these things! Such great quality! 

This picture quality isn't too fabulous...but you get the idea! Great stamping plates and I will definitely be purchasing more in the future!!

Thanks for reading!

- Marissa 

Strawberry nails

So...Ciate posted a contest requesting your Ciate strawberry mani for mani Monday...well, here's mine! As we all know, Ciate is my favorite!!!!!!! 

The colors are Ciate's palm tree, Boudiour, Christmas tree caviar, enchanted rose, and very colourfoil in shout. I kind of have a problem--I'm completely obsessed with all of Ciate's products...since the theme was Strawberry manicure...and it's a Ciate contest--well, you see my point. 

It was kind of a pain to pick out the gold caviar beads one by one...but I had a vision and I had to complete it!

Totally worth all of that sorting though...but this mess will not be fun to clean up:

And poor, poor Dan...he's so clean and organized...and I'm so crafty and messy. It's a sad life for him. 

I almost made the mani without the foil...but I love it so much better with the foil...it looked pretty terrible without it:

I like the "semi-abstract-ness" of the baby strawberries though...yes, that's a made-up word...but how else would I describe them? 

Like most of my manis, they're not perfect...and I like it that way. 

Thanks for reading, 

- Marissa

Mermaid nails!

Since my wedding, I'm completely obsessed with everything mermaid...my hair is even colorful...anyway, I joined The Nail Art Guild (@thenailartguild on insta) in their #tnagthesea nailart...and here's what I came up with:

I'm so obsessed with how they turned out!!! 

The fingers are: a mermaid's tail, an ombre, a net with pearls, and sea glass. 

I lovveeee how them so much!!

Colors used are mostly Ciate...duh, it's my favorite! 

Point finger is China Glaze in turned up turquoise.

Middle finger is an ombre using Ciate morning dew and she's eclectic and China Glaze turned up turquoise with Ciate's twinset and pearls as the top coat. By the way, twinset and pearls is such a gorgeous, gorgeous color! I'm sad that I didn't have it before now!!! 

The ring finger is Ciate she's eclectic with risky business over it and then a white striper to make the net design. I bought the pearls on Amazon.

The pinky is Ciate Pepperminty with glitters from the Kiss Ursula nailart kit on top. What I'm telling you is, even my glitter is "sea-themed." Yes, I do have a problem. Hahahaha.

Here's a few more random pictures of these nails! 

Decoration from my wedding hahaha

I love how reflective the pinky finger is!!!

Thanks for reading!

- Marissa 

Bubblegum machine nails

I don't know how these crazy ideas keep popping in my head...but...oh,well. I'm gonna roll with it. 

 

Polishes used: 

Ciate holiday blues, baby doll, pool party, morning dew, and twinset and pearls.

OPI push and shove

Striper brushes in black, white, and red 

Starting from the top arrow: pool party, holiday blues, baby doll, morning dew, push and shove, twinset and pearls, and pool party

I tried to label these individually but my phone was being ridiculous...sooo...

It's basically impossible to capture the face on the quarter! 

Before I actually put it on my nails, I practiced on a nail wheel...If my nails were longer (like this nail wheel) I could have made a bigger bubblegum machine like this one!!!   

I guess that's all there is to say about this! Whoo! Thanks for reading!

- Marissa

GRIT cardio

I think I'm gonna vomit. No, for real. Haha. Why didn't Calli and I manage to do the 6am session? Because we are dumb? Yes.

I've come to the conclusion that I should only come in the morning! 

I'll be honest though...I was excited all day about GRIT...what's happening to me? Haha

 I'm getting stronger...but this never gets easier...you have to do more reps and the coaches are certainly not playing any games. They know what we're capable of and expect nothing less. 

Painful. But worth it.

Lost 3.5 inches on waist and 5 on hips.

Calli and I stayed for body pump...did the squat track with 30lbs on each side of the bar...couldn't get the bar up there...but wasn't that bad when it was on my shoulders...I can def handle it...

We will see what I think about it tomorrow...anyway...goodnight! 

Saturday GRIT

Thank you, Jesus. Today's workout was Cardio. It's my favorite of the 3. I did a of the regular push-ups with a lot more ease than I ever have. That's a good accomplishment! Whoo! 

Why didn't I take before pictures? Ugh, oh well. My inner thighs are looking better than they have in YEARS. 

I'm signing up for the second session for sure. 

3 instructors means 3 x the yelling. Haha 3 x the encouragement? Haha...sure

I need to start going to every Saturday GRIT no matter what...to increase my results...need to work our even more really...but I'm tired...all of the time...I'm an old lady...haha

I hate the GRIT workouts while they're happening...but not after. Worth every penny and drop of sweat!