Countdown to the Big Chop – 17 Jun – Bantu Knot Fan
As I prepare to cut my hair on August 3, I’m trying to do something creative with my hair daily. Here’s today’s offering:
Nail Art
Vertical Gradient Leopard Print – Cheeky Jumbo Wild at Heart
Hello Beauties! I’ve been thinking about doing a leopard print manicure for a while. I’ve seen a couple free-hand tutorials (shimmyshimmySHIMMER, Andrea Konecki, love4creativity) and wanted to do something with an image stamp. I went back and forth on what the base color would be, and then I think I saw something in a magazine with […]
Shout Out to Kayla – Free Hand Nail Art Artist (and more!)
Hello Beauties! While hanging out with Dad for Father’s Day, I got to share Beauty Novice with my niece, Kayla. Kayla is a special girl. She’s 12 years old, a cancer survivor, and a very talented artist. I shared my Father’s Day manicure with her, which she thought was cool. She’s been doing the family’s […]
Nail Art Lessons of the Week – 16 Jun 2013
Hello Beauties! It’s been a good week of manicures. I thought I would share my lessons of the week: Shimmer polishes are more difficult to get off your skin then cream polishes. I use a lot of shimmers, and I notice that when I’m cleaning up my cuticle, it really takes a lot to get […]
Hair
Countdown to the Big Chop – 20 Jun (44 days left) – Braided Crown Band
Hello Beauties! On my walk to work yesterday, I noticed two different women wearing crown bands. They were headbands that fit over the bangs and around the crown (as opposed to under the hair like a headband). That gave me the idea for the braided crown band. I parted some hair along the front on […]
Countdown to the Big Chop – 19 Jun (45 days left) – Three Bun Faux Hawk
Hello Beauties! Inspired by chescalocs I first separated my hair into three ponytails down the center of my head. Then before twisting each bun I removed the rubber band. I twisted the hair, wrapped it around into a bun, then tucked the end into the bun. What do you think? Stay beautiful!
Countdown to the Big Chop – 18 Jun – The Ropes Course
Today’s design is a ropes course, of sorts. We’ve got twists holding the hair back, then a twisted scarf framing it all.
Fitness
Pressing the Reset Button
Looking back at last week Ugh! It was another rough week. Second one in a row. I worked out three (and a half) times. I tracked my food and was within my calorie goal only two days this week. The major struggle has been motivation and discipline. Key victories this week When I […]
Focus T25 – Week 2 Results
Looking back on the week Ooh, this was a rough week, y’all. I didn’t track my food two days this week. I struggled to get my workouts in. I felt discouraged and defeated. Then, as my favorite hippie likes to say, I started my ‘moon time’ and it all sorta made sense. Key victories this […]
T25 – Week 1 Results
I worked out every day for a minimum of 25 minutes for the first two months of the year. But I found myself more focused on my “streak” than on the quality of my workouts. So I decided to end the streak, start Shaun T’s Focus T25, and focus on quality over quantity. I’ll still […]
Other Recent Posts
Nail Art Lessons of the Week
Hello beauties! Since I’m learning so much from my explorations, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my lessons with you. From the shades of brown tile gradient manicure, I learned that different color qualities will have an impact on your finished product. For example, three of the four colors […]
Shades of Brown Tile Gradient Nails
Hello Beauties! I was really excited to try this week’s manicure. If you’ve listened to my style journey, you know that I only wear colors in my color palate: browns, oranges, greens, yellow/gold, etc. I saw this rainbow ombre and thought I could do something with that in my color palate. So here’s what I […]
I’ve got it bad!
Hello Beauties! Last week I attended a workshop for my day job. On my lunch break, I wandered over to CVS Pharmacy and found myself in the nail polish section. I was interested in finding yellow and/or gold polish that could potentially be good nail stamping polish. Ten bottles later, I walked out of the […]
In search of…French tip guides
I’ve got a good guy. What I need is a good guide — a good French tip guide, that is. If you read the Memorial Day manicure takes one or two, you know I had a hard time with the guides. I’m wondering if good guides even exist. It’s kind of a tricky dilemma. They […]
Memorial Day Manicure Take Two: Bundle Monster Plate 321
Ok, maybe my colleagues are right. Maybe I have lost my mind. Or maybe I’ve gone nuts for nails! I re-did my Memorial Day manicure last night. (Do you do that? ) I was convinced I could do a better job, and I made a couple different choices. See my first attempt here. First, I […]
Memorial Day Manicure: Bundle Monster Plate 321
Hello Beauties! Today is Memorial Day in the US, the day we honor those who have given their lives for their country. I thought I would pay tribute with a Memorial Day-inspired manicure. Being the Beauty Novice that I am, it turned out to be quite an adventure! I used Borghese Espresso Brown for the […]
Nail art: Bundle Monster Plate 310
I hear some women can do a polish change in about 20 minutes. Not so for the novice! The color scheme on my latest manicure is similar to my last manicure. I guess I’m partial to the dark green/gold combination. I used China Glaze Westside Warrior for my background color, with China Glaze Midnight Kiss […]
Nail Art: Bundle Monster Plate 322
Hello Beauties! Today’s manicure was inspired by this tutorial by eunique nails. She uses MASH plate 45. I don’t own any MASH plates and I also don’t have the exact colors she used, but I thought I would try to do something similar. I used Bundle Monster Plate number 322, Zoya’s Shawn as the background […]
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