Fun and Mental Changes

Ok, so here's my ultra quick homage to the Scream franchise (serious Halloween fun)... and a fun, creepy image for my black Halloween mani!!! Shown here is CND Shellac in black pool with the fauxnad image I got from Beautiful Scratchers , image plate T29.  Word of warning with these fauxnad plates:  the images are much larger than other image plates so in order to actually wear this image, I had to grow my nails out.  Only my ring finger was long and wide enough for this image, which is completely fine since it's quite popular and fashionable to have nail art on only one nail.  And this one sure does look cool!!!  That black looks like glass!  Yep.... I'm heartin Shellac again!!! And more on the image plates from Beautiful Scratchers .... while large, the images are UNIQUE AND AMAZING!!!  I'm going to be getting a few more of these image plates in the future.  You'll definitely want to check them out.  I give Beautiful Scratchers 10 Hi...

I am GIDDY with excitement this year and am ALL OVER Halloween party design ideas!!!  So for my feature today on Spectrum Noir's blog, I featured THIS little guy: ISN'T HE GREAT!?!  He's actually an old image I bought from The Octopode Factory , but for some reason never used (silly me).  He is PERFECT for this treat bag place holder!!!  Here's a little tip for those who might want to give this one a try for an upcoming Halloween party.... color the image, scan it and then print multiple copies.  It is a WHOLE lot easier than coloring a ton of them for each and every guest.  Well, of course, unless you really love your guests and want to give each of them something you personalized for them.  But depending on your guest list, that might be A LOT of coloring!!! hehehehe! Here is a list of all the Spectrum Noir markers I used: Rabbit, Trousers and Shoes:  GG1, GG2, GG3, GG4, GG5, GG7 Ears and Nose:  BP6, BP1 and PP2 Hat and Shirt:...

OK, so I keep posting my Halloween makeup pics on Facebook and I keep getting comments about how weird I am.  Please let me assure you that while I certainly AM weird as all get out, the Halloween faces are NOT part of my weirdness.  Actually, it's really quite normal!  It's all because I ordered theatrical makeup this year for Halloween and ever since it arrived I've been compelled to play.... WOULDN'T YOU?!?  I mean, it's like getting a new toy.... it would be weird if I DIDN'T play with it!  Right?  And I suspect, like all new toys, this makeup will get "played out" and will eventually get old and I won't play with it as much (but let's hope not).  So until it does get old, how about we just say that I'm doing a "Halloween Series"?  That makes this whole "playin in the makeup" a little less weird.  Yes?  Alright!  Next up in the series: This makeup reminds me of some sort of voodoo tribal makeup.... I feel like I...

I think this is what drowning feels like.  I lost a friend yesterday.  And I'm afraid that I am just having a very hard time finding the words to express what the world lost.  I'm having a hard time KNOWING she's gone.  I just can't believe that Trisha Giallella died yesterday. I've known Trish for a large chunk of my life; she was the sister of my sister's ex husband. But for all the years that I knew her, I never REALLY knew her until very recently.  Oh sure, over the years I would listen in awe at all her stories.... stories of making movies in Hollywood, the wild parties and dating Rick James.  To a young girl of 15, those stories seemed like something from TV itself and far removed from my own piddly little life.  The fact that she even shared her stories with me sent me into a stuper.  I always had stars in my eyes when I listened to Trish talk, she was so glamorous and very, very tough... very passionate and good at "living".  I...

A few weeks ago I placed an order for theatrical makeup and just received it a short while ago.  I CANNOT believe how much easier it is to put a look like this together with the right makeup!!!  My last Halloween makeup post was all about keeping Halloween inexpensive, but this post is about what can happen when you invest a little!!! I literally completed this look (with hair) in under a half hour!!!  Halloween makeup has NEVER taken me less than an hour.  Oh, and that time included the contacts!  Hard to believe I know.... but I've been practicing.  See, my last Halloween makeup post included a link for a sale on Halloween contacts and I just COULDN'T pass up the great deal (click HERE for deets on the "great deal").  So when both pairs of contacts arrived, I quickly stored them in solution and have been popping them in once a day.  My poor husband!  He has NO CLUE what color his wife's eye's will be at any given time when he looks at ...

Oh how I missed you!  This is a mani I haven't done in quite some time and I JUST realized that it NEVER got posted on my blog the first time I did it.  I can't believe it!  It's one of my favorites... and NOT just because it's a Halloween mani (mostly, but not entirely).  I like it because of all the Konad image plates I get to use to create this wonderful Halloween collage on my nails!  So here it is for the first time here on FunandmentalChanges.com!!!  And check out my thumb.... My thumb is sort of an exception to the rest of the manicure because the scary jack-o-lantern is off of a "fauxnad" plate, but the rest of the Konad images plates are M3, M17, M18, C01, C04 and C05.  Wow.... that really IS a lot of plates!!! So my base coat is Nail Aid's Pink Growth Therapy, then one coat of Orly's Mirror Mirror and then the various images stamped in Konad's special black and white polishes.  I LOVE THIS ONE!!!  The inspiration for this ...

Alright.... just a quick one today since I'm in the Halloween spirit, I thought I'd do my nails using one of my favorite past Konadicures.  Some of you may remember this one from a couple of Halloween's ago and it just so happened to be my first run at a Halloween manicure!!!  So to recap, I just simply used a base coat of Nail Aid's Instant Wrap so that my nails had a nice strong base.  Then I polished just the tips using OPI's Tangerine Scene and topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite Quick dry top coat for a fast dry.  Once dry, I stamped the lace image from Konad image plate M69 using the Konad gold-black special polish.  Finally, I stamped the spider from image plate M1 using Konad's special polish in black and applied another top coat of Seche Vite.  That was it... couldn't have been easier.  This is probably one of the easiest manicures, but sure does pack a creepy yet gorgeous punch!!!  This was the perfect mani to keep me from miss...

Ok, as promised, here's my Shellac manicure after taking great care to use rubber gloves whenever my hands were in water or I was going to be doing something that was rough on my hands.  I'll start with the before pic.... Welp, they didn't make it the full 14 days, but they made it 11.  And to look at the picture you wouldn't know that they didn't make it because they still look shiny and incredible, but TWO of the nails pictured have some lifting of the product (I marked the lifting areas with arrows.  You can sort of see it in the picture on the ring finger).  The lifting is enough that it's catching on my clothes and being a regular pain in the butt.  So honestly, I probably COULD have gone the full 14 days if I didn't mind a couple of chips in the product here or there.  And truth be told, I've never been able to keep anything on my nails for a full 14 days (even fake nails had a hard time lasting that long) so I'm used to continual cha...

Ok, so I rented it and I loved it!!!  I hate that I loved it!  And I hate myself even more that I'm running out to buy it!  But watching this HILARIOUS movie remake reminds me of all the broken dreams and unanswered questions I was left with as a teenage girl while I manipulated and maneuvered my black and white TV antennae unavailingly to give me a clear picture of the hit Fox TV show. Back in 1987, Fox was a new station and did not come through very clearly on that trusty black and white and most nights it was as if my beloved Penhall was communicating to me from the other side through all that white noise.  Yes, I was in love with Officer Doug James Penhall and that teenage ritual would literally foreshadow the pain and heartbreak I would endure watching the end of 21 Jump Street the movie... and I'm STILL compelled to buy it.  If you haven't seen the movie yet, this post might come as a shock and should definitely be considered a spoiler for anyone readin...

Ok gang.... Halloween is in exactly 49 days.... YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!  And I've got to tell you, I'm EXCITED!  You can probably tell from the pic.  I sort of did a "dry run" today.  I mean, it's not like I grabbed my trick-or-treatin-pail and hoofed it door to door in my neighborhood asking for candy. Although, I'm not gonna lie, I was tempted.  How could I not be after spending the day at my favorite local costume shop, Mardi Gras . I was tipped over the edge when my special order theatrical makeup arrived in the mail.  So here I am in all my vampyric glory.... well, minus the fangs.  Or maybe there ARE fangs?!?  I mean, check out those canines baby: WHOA!  Extreme closeups make me look more like a werewolf than a vampire.  WOW.... I have some serious peach fuzz happenin here!!!  But this is a great pic to show just how doable an inexpensive costume can be.  Here I used three different shades of red lipsticks I already ow...

Ok, so yesterday was Labor Day and thankfully my Shellac Tropix manicure made it through the BBQing festivities!!!  Today begins another test!!!  What you see here is CND's Shellac Rubble!!!  THIS TIME I'm shooting for a full 14 day wear.  I picked up some lovely (and quite stylish I might add) rubber cleaning gloves.... I intend to wear these babies whenever I'm working with my hands.... for dishes, yardwork, etc.  I also strategically placed Konad nail art from image plate M36 on only ONE nail to see if the Rubble darkens like the Tropix darkened.  We shall see how long this manicure is going to last me.  Wouldn't that be great if I got MORE than 14 days of wear simply by making this one little change??? Hmmmmmmmm.... this might turn out to be quite an economical experiment!!!  I'll let ya know! :)

Welp.... it has been 8 days EXACTLY!!!!  CND Shellac is supposed to wear for 14 days, but for me, it only makes it to day 8.  And that is fine for me!  Honestly, NOTHING else wears that long or that beautifully... check out that shine (click on pic to enlarge)!!! So the pic above is the exact same Shellac manicure that I wore for the past 8 days.  Day one features a white Konad nail art design (Click HERE for deets).  Day four features a black Konad nail art design from image plate M70 and day 8 is shown with all nail art removed using a non-acetone nail polish remover.  There are a few things to mention: 1)  The Shellac color DID darken over 8 days.  The color variations in the pictures is not a lighting effect.  I don't know why this occurred.  My first thought was it was just because the darker nail art on day 4 was just making the color appear darker.  But once I removed all the nail art on the final day, I did notice the...