War is Over! (If You Want it)

He was part of the British Invasion, one of those mop-tops from Liverpool that we all know and (whether you are too hardcore to admit it or not<---you know who you are) LOVE. There isn't a person today that hasn't heard of John Lennon or The Beatles, and the awesome that springs from them. Did you know that there is a little known bootleg album called 'A Toot and a Snore in '74' which is the only known recording where Lennon and McCartney played together after the breakup of The Beatles. The album was recorded during Lennon's 'lost weekend', the 18 months he was separated from Ono and was living with his former assistant, May Pang. Also on the album were Linda McCartney, Stevie Wonder (at one point Lennon asks, "You wanna snort, Steve? A toot? It's goin' round", in reference to cocaine), Harry Nilsson, May Pang, Bobby Keys, and Jesse Ed Davis. It's definitely an interesting album if you can snag it. (and if you're a Lennon fan) I have to say though, one Lennon song that I will ALWAYS love, Christmastime or not, is 'Happy Xmas (War is Over)'. I <3 that song. The title lyric is based off a poster campaign that John and Yoko did in 1969 in protest of the Vietnam War. Yoko's Official Flickr has the posters in several different languages available for download HERE. Plus- if they don't have your language- all you have to do it translate that phrase into your language and email them, and they'll make it!

In honor of what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday tomorrow (Oct. 9), I did the IMAGINE cover on my nails today! <---So you guys can do it for tomorrow!!

 I used American Apparel Cotton as a base, with American Apparel Hassid for the black, Essie Foot Loose for the hot pink hair. CND Electric Orange for the orange hair, Color Club Ms. Socialite for the mouth, Pure Ice Wild Thing for the nose, ALDO Sea You in Ibiza for the left side of the glasses, and a mix of ALDO Sea You in Ibiza and Essie Foot Loose for the right side of the glasses. Topped it all off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Imagine.

My 2 Jessica polishes...

Venus Was Her Name, is one of my top 10 polishes of all time. She is gorgeous, and in my opinion, better than Chanel's Paradoxal. I love everything about her, from the deep murky purple, to the bright purple shimmer, that hides inside. The minute I saw a pic of this, I had to have it, and for once, it wasn't LE, and was available. I got these two of of Jessica's website.
Application was amazing, and only 2 coats for both. I really need to get more.

Here she is (trumpets playing in the background) .....
Venus Was Her Name!!!!!!! (cheering)

The 2nd one I got was Greta, which I gues is nice, but looked way better on the site (sigh) oh well

Water Marble Magic

My first water marble

Hi guys! For today I've got something different from usual: a water marble. My first one actually! Well.. the first one I didn't immediately want to wipe off ;). It's still not how I wanted it to look, and it's nothing compared to others', but I wanted to share anyway! If you're not familiar with this technique: water marbling is putting drops of nail polish into water, creating patterns with a stick and dipping your finger in it. There are many tutorials on this crafty business but definitely get inspired by Colette from My Simple Little Pleasures, because she's got super duper water marble skills!

The polishes I used were Nox Twilight Beauty Crush - a very bright pink - and It's You! by Misa - a duochrome-y dark shade! Not all polishes will work for water marbling but the well pigmented ones are usually fine. There are several ways to avoid getting those dirty fingers, taping and vaseline for example. Vaseline (or unpetroleum jelly in my case) worked really well for me, you apply it on your skin and cuticles and after you're done, you can wipe the polish off - just like that! I got this tip from Michelle from The Lacquer Files, thanks girl!

I hope you enjoyed this post, thanks for stopping by!
- With love, Michèle

My standard french manis.................

Standard french manis are not my favorite type, but in my opinion look best on shorter nails. Two nights

ago I ended up trimming mine down to little nubs, and decided to do this. I used to do standard french manis all the time, but ever since being on MUA, my world has been completely changed. I was just not fully aware of all the awesome colors, finishes and nail designs that were around. I'm so thankful for that too! Anyways, back to my mani, I used OPI's Bubble Bath for the base, and Sinful's Snow On Me White for the tips. I used my regular technique that can be seen HERE, to do my tips.