Halloween costume nails

Now that it's two days before Thanksgiving, I'll share what I wore on my nails for Halloween!

Derek and I went as Bob and Linda Belcher for Halloween this year!

 

It was such an awesome costume!  Although my wig was pretty atrocious.  The picture on the bag was a cute little 50s flip, and I ended up with this tangled mass of not even slightly flipped hair.  But at least it was more accurate to Linda than my chin-length blonde-and-blue hair!

I wasn't quite sure what to do with my nails for Linda, though.  We never really see Linda's nails - in fact, the only instance of anyone's nails being drawn into question I can remember is when Louise Belcher gets those ridiculous talons on the cruise ship.  So, I had to improvise.  What would Linda Belcher wear on her nails to a Halloween party?

Perhaps... some awesome trick-or-treat water decals!

I got these decals from KBShimmer a few weeks ago.  I wasn't sure what to expect from using full-nail decals for the first time; my nails are super curvy, so laying flat things on them doesn't tend to work out very well.  But water decals are incredibly flexible, and they're also so thin that two coats of top coat completely smooths out any wrinkles!  I was very impressed.

The color is also really nicely opaque.  I was nervous for the black background over white polish, but it looks great!  I am definitely a satisfied customer with these water slide decals - and I'm really glad that I bought some hilarious kitty Christmas decals!

I want to take a moment to rave about how much I loved dressing up as Linda.  First of all, it was super cheap: I already owned the jeans, and I got the shirt and apron at a thrift store; the wig and glasses were pretty inexpensive, too!  Secondly, it was really comfortable.  I mean, my jeans are a bit snug on me, which sucked, but I got to wear long sleeves, long pants, and sneakers for Halloween!  The worst part about the costume was the wig cap and wig - they pulled at my scalp a bit and made my head hot and itchy.  But, clothing-wise, this is hands-down the most comfortable costume of my life.  And practical, too!  The apron had big pockets, big enough for all of my essentials so that I didn't need to carry a purse with me!  Big win.

But another reason I was so happy with this costume is a bit more psychological.  Linda Belcher is a Mom, and she has a Mom Bod.  Of course, I know that people of any body type can dress as any character they want.  If I had the seamstress skills, I would dress as Uma Therman's Poison Ivy in a heartbeat, even though I pretty much have the opposite body type as Uma.  But I have never felt so in-character with my jiggly bits!  It was really refreshing to not feel like my body type is an inaccuracy.  It was probably the most comfortable in my own skin I've been underneath my costume!

Bonus costume photo!  Frosting is cake skin right?  Lemme lick it!

What did you do for Halloween?  Let me know or show me in the comments, I really want to see!

Fun with Salon Perfect Halloween glitters!

Oh my gosh, you guys, I still have TWO MORE Halloween nail art posts to share with you.  I'm so sorry that I've been lagging behind my regular schedule lately!  I guess working 3 days a week has been harder on me than I thought it would.  I do absolutely love my job, but usually on my two days off I just feel like lazing around instead of doing any blog work!  Anyway, I'll probably post the next 2 Halloween manis in the same week so I can start posting some more seasonally appropriate nail art!

Last year, Salon Perfect and Nail It Magazine teamed up and gave away 100 sets of Salon Perfect nail polishes.  And I was one of the lucky 100!  I got 4 Halloween-themed glitters, a clear top coat, and green, orange, purple, and black polishes.  None of the glitters made it in to last year's Halloween challenges, but I wanted to feature them this year since I wasn't sticking to any specific challenges!

I couldn't settle on one design for these polishes, so I pretty much used all of the designs!

I was super, super happy with that purple-to-green gradient!  I almost wished I'd done it on all of my nails, but I do rather like the solid nails, too.  The larger glitters on my first 3 nails is called Witches' Brew, while the tinier glitter on my pinky is Wicked.

I'm pretty sure the Halloween glitters were limited edition last year, but Loopy Lime and A Royal Affair (the green and purple) are part of Salon Perfect's core collection.

Are you ready for this?  You're about to see my Cinderella hand!

I was too impatient to use the other glitters to wait for another full manicure, so I did a different mani on my right hand. :)  Traffic Cone, Oil Slick, and Sugar Cube (the orange, black, and white) are all core collection polishes, while the glitter, Trick or Treat, is once again limited edition from last year and no longer available.  I tried using the other glitter that I won, Spider Legs, but it had far too many black glitters for it to show up, even over this gradient!

Which of these two looks do you like better?  What did your nails don for Halloween, the most awesomest day of the year?  Let me know (or show me your nails) in the comments!

Winter is coming...

This is a sponsored post.  All opinions and thoughts are my own!

It's getting to be that time of year.  Starbucks has released their for-some-reason-controversial Holiday Cups, early birds are putting up their Christmas trees, and the weather is beginning to go from blissfully crisp to a bit chilly.  Pretty soon it will be downright cold every day!  The cold weather is absolutely brutal on the nails.  The other day, I noticed that I had deep cracks in three of my nails.  One of them, of COURSE on my left pinky which simply cannot stay long these past few months, broke off clean across.  I decided to cut all 10 nails down a bit to be on the safe side, knowing that the weather is getting harsh for my nails.

I know, they're still considered long by most people's standards. 

But I liked how much longer they were before! :(

The #1 most important line of defense for your nails this time of year, in my opinion, is keeping your nails healthy and strong.  That's where Groupon comes in!  Groupon has tons of coupon offers for dozens of companies, including several for the Vitamin Shoppe.  Keeping your body healthy and strong year-round is always important, but right now, your nails can probably use a bit of a boost.  That's why I take Biotin!  I really like the Natrol dissolvables, which are a powerful 10,000 mcg of Biotin and taste like a Smartie candy. :D  With the deals listed on Groupon, you can save a lot on all types of vitamins.  If you're not already taking a Biotin supplement (I take it year-round for maximum nail health), I highly recommend that you start taking it now!

Another great distributor that Groupon offers coupons and sales with is Overstock.com (link is to the Groupon coupons, not Overstock itself).  Did you know that overstock.com stocks nail polish and nail art tools?!  They stock Essie, Sinful Colors, striping polishes and brushes, nail care tool kits, nail wraps, UV lamps...  and right now is a GREAT time to shop because of pre-Black Friday deals.  I kinda hate the whole concept of Black Friday (can we at least NOT have it the day after we're supposed to be thankful for what we have? and why are there so many pre-sales all month long? doesn't that defeat the purpose of Black FRIDAY, which is only one day?), but I am a huge sucker for a great sale, so, yeah.  If you're looking to buy holiday gifts for the polish lover in your life, or treat yourself during this time of year, definitely check out overstock.com, and head to the Groupon coupons to see what you can save!

Do you use Groupon coupons when you shop?  What are your favorite types of coupons to shop with?  Let me know in the comments!