New Year's Eve

This is my last post of 2013.



This post makes 95.



95 blog posts this year.



Compared to 7 last year.



Ha. That's a bit of a difference.



These, as you saw yesterday, are my New Year's Nails.

Teehee.


I don't really know what to write about today. Ha. It's an early post today because soon I'll be hopping on a train to Chicago and then on another train to Dearborn, where my guy will be picking me up and we'll be headed to Detroit for New Year's. He headed home back on the 26th, to try and get something in his car fixed, so I will be joining him later today. Never taken an Amtrak train before, so it will be a new experience. Ha.

Dream Water Review

Since I'm awake, I suppose I could give a quick review on something I purchased earlier today in hopes it would help me sleep. It was obviously not completely successful.


Dream Water

This stuff has been around for quite a while now, but they cost around $2 a bottle, and each bottle is one serving. So I was not able to justify picking one up to try it - especially if it worked and I found myself stocking up on this stuff. Alas, though, I found a ton of this in the clearance section at Walmart for only $1 each, so I picked up two bottles.

I am awake.

I am awake.

Words cannot express how immensely frustrating that fact is. It's 3:30 in the morning, and I have a full day ahead, and I am awake.



I've always had trouble with sleep. I don't think my brain likes sleep as much as I do.

It's especially bad though, when I know I have a full day ahead.



Then I'll be all like, "Oh I'll wake up early the day before, so I can go to sleep early and get a good night's sleep!"



And brain is like, "NOPE!"

And so here I am, at 3:43am. Hard boiling some eggs for a late night snack. Hoping I'll feel sleepy enough to at least nap before I have to "wake up" in the morning.




Thanks brain.

IGGPPC Secret Santa!

I mentioned quite some time ago that I had joined a site called the International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club, right? Right.


Well, because of that club, I participated in two Secret Santa exchanges. One for the vlogging iggles. (I shared those fantabulous presents I got here.)  And one for the whole club. But I sent out my gifts for both exchanges as soon as I could, and eventually, just forgot about the second exchange.

A year in Nails... [pic heavy]

Over the past year, I've found I've taken quite a few pictures of my nails. I put them all up on my facebook page the other day, but thought I would also place them all here in a post.


I don't have exact dates, but I do have the approximate months, so that's how I'll sort them.



February

Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Ulterior Motive Review

A few days ago I mentioned a friend getting me some presents for a Secret Santa Exchange. Today I tried out one of the polishes out for my New Year's nails. This is one of the Revlon Nail Art Expressionist Polishes in Ulterior Motive.

This polish duo has a nice, dark, dim gray base color, with a rosy pink multi glitter accent color. I really love the color combo of this duo. I'm a fan of dark grays, the darker the better, and this is a great gray.

 I used two coats for my nails in these pics. The nail still showed through two coats alone - especially at the tips, but also figured I'd be adding on some glitter, so it would be less noticeable.

Fixing my broken nail.

Ripped part of my nail the other day. And I've been getting frustrated at the cracks and rips in my nails lately, so I thought I'd give the tea bag wrap a try.

Things I used, an empty tea bag, a nail file, scissors, a base coat, scissors, and tweezers. In the picture, there's nail glue, but I didn't use it for two reasons - 1) because I read a base coat is sometimes better, and 2) because my nail glue had dried up. lol




My partially ripped nail:

Next to it is a snippet of empty tea bag.

Covered the nail in a base coat.

While still wet, place the piece of tea bag on to the nail, be sure to cover the rip.

Once dry, cover it again in a base coat.


Didn't take pictures of the next steps, but basically, once the base coat was dry, you file down tea bag just a tiny bit, so it blends well with the nail. Might repeat the steps a bit, until the nail is nice and smooth.

Cover in nail polish and voila. Apparently this gives a temporary fix, so I won't have to cut the nail down until it grows out a little. I'll let you know if it actually works. I hope it does!

Freak Show Polish - Yuletide Cheer Review

As mentioned in yesterday's Freak Show Polish Review, I got a mini of Yuletide Cheer along with my prize of A Very Merry Christmas Tree.

So today I'll be reviewing Yuletide Cheer.

Taken from the official description:

"Yuletide Cheer is a mint green polish somewhere between a jelly and a crelly. It is packed full of fine purple, cinnamon, copper and sand hexes. You can layer two coats for full opacity or add on top of a cream for a quick and easy mani."


First thoughts on this polish; here's a mint glitter polish - I LOVE MINT!

The Chocolate Garden Review

This past Thanksgiving was spent in Detroit with my guy. On our way back from there, he informed me we had time to kill, and asked if we had passed any billboards that advertised something I was interested in visiting. I immediately thought of the billboards for The Chocolate Garden. Those billboards have been there for years. I remember pointing them out as a kid, wanting to visit, but never getting the opportunity. So here was my chance. We caught sight of one of the billboards, and followed the directions to what I had always imagined would be a chocolate paradise.

Visiting their Facebook page days later, I came across this comment made by a person who visited them a month before me:

"maybe a name change.....something snappy like "we only have truffles".....or how about "if you were looking for a chocolate shop you will be horribly let down"....how about that?"

The comment made me laugh, because that is exactly what I thought when I left that place.

Freak Show Polish - A Very Merry Christmas Tree Review

Back on the 19th, I mentioned that Accio Lacquer was having a scavenger hunt, and that I won two rounds. I received Lacquered Bliss's Deck Your Holos, and was still waiting on the other prize.

I got the prize in the mail on Christmas Eve, and unfortunately was already running out the door to my Sis-in-law's family's house, so I couldn't open it or play with the polish. And then Christmas came along and I was again busy. I wasn't even able to open it until the 26th, when I promptly started playing. lol.

I had the opportunity to choose a polish from Freak Show Polish's Christmas Under the Big Top Collection, and I picked A Very Merry Christmas Tree.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the package and saw a full size of my chosen polish and a mini of Yuletide Cheer! Eeee!

This review will be on A Very Merry Christmas Tree, tomorrow I'll do a review on Yuletide Cheer.

Taken from official description:

"A Very Merry Christmas Tree is a white jelly full of red and aqua squares, green, silver and iridescent hexes and blue bar glitters. Layer two coats for a squishy jelly look or add on top of a cream polish for a more subtle look."



When I first saw this polish, I fell in love. I just adored all the pretty glitter shapes. I immediately removed my Christmas nail polish to try this one out.

A fast drying top coat and waterproof Retro Glam

I caved. I finally decided that I need a fast drying top coat in my life. I remember earlier this year having seen this Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat business on a review somewhere, and then again and again. All positive. But I never actually went and got some.


I finally did.

And wouldn't you know it, since getting it and looking up reviews, I've been seeing a lot of negative on this product. ROFL.

So far I've only had it for ten days. Some of the reviews say it's tricky to use, but I have no problems at all using it. Mayhaps I just instinctively understand it.  And I haven't noticed any polish shrinkage or lack of shine, but it might be too early to tell.

So far I love it. I don't know why it took me so long to pick up a fast drying top coat. I'll keep you posted on whether my love continues. lol. And maybe in the new year I'll try some other fast drying top coats as well. :D





I also finally found the waterproof version of the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara!

This formula is a lot more watery than the regular formula, and takes more coats to get the same look.

So I tend to layer. Waterproof first, then regular, then waterproof again. It works

What I Got For Christmas

I got a bunch of lovely gifts for Christmas, but instead of sharing all of them, (There's quite a few small stocking stuffers. lol) I thought I'd share the bigger stuffs.

First up, these are some of the bigger stocking stuffers.

There's fuzzy cow socks, Squirt the turtle from Finding Nemo, a manicure set, PEZ, mini Lincoln Logs, (official name is "Micro Timbers" I believe)  Duck Tape, (It's a duck with a tape measure that comes out of his bum. hehehe) and an Earth Therapeutics Hello Kitty Form Fitting Sleep Mask. That sleep mask got me excited.

Gifts from a friend!

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a nice Christmas! Mine was lovely. :D

So yesterday morning, before coming down for Christmas, I opened my box from a buddy.

First I grabbed the card, which informed me of my secret santa and a birthday present. :D

Merry Christmas!!

Nope. Nothing else to say today. :)

Hope your Christmas is a lovely Christmas.

*hugs* ❤  - noxy

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve. 12:30pm. Yesterday I had less than a handful of hours of sleep, same goes for today. I want to take a nap, but am unable to do that successfully. I am one unhappy camper. Ha.


So I figured I'd come here and write a blog post. Today I shall share some presents I recently received. Last night my friends and I had our gift exchange, and later I hopped in to There to wind down a bit.


First off, I got a package from a friend. But I can't open it.

That's what is written on the package. LOL. The revenge is because back in late September, I sent packages out to her and a few friends, but I wrote on the envelopes that they couldn't open it until like, October 17th or 19th or something. So I suppose this is payback. Hehe. I have the package up in my room, next to my bed, so when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be able to open it. lol.



And now the gifts I got from my friends. :)

Meet Elliot

Yesterday I mentioned Elliot.

"I took the pictures quickly with Elliot still attached to my phone, which means all of the pictures have a pink tint to it. I'll have to introduce you to Elliot sometime soon."


Elliot is my phone case. I got a Galaxy S4 a few months back, but didn't get a case for it. I drop my phone too many times for this to be okay. So in November, I ordered three cases from Amazon. The first one was a plain green case, which doesn't fit well so I don't really use it. The third one still hasn't arrived. The second one, is Elliot.

Isn't he adorable?!!? He's a pink cow. Hee hee haha. I found him here: linky.

I always wondered what it would be like to have a huge, adorable phone case. And now I have one.

That was taken shortly after it arrived. SO CUTE.


I got used to the size pretty quickly. Sometimes he slips off if he's in my pocket, as I'm taking the phone out. No biggie. lol. The only issue is that he tints my photos pink. Not if I'm taking closeups most of the time, but if it's a further away pic, I have to slide him off in order to avoid the tint. For my cupcake photos, I didn't bother taking him off.

I named him Elliot after one of the Youtubers I watch, Elliot Morgan. My old phone's name was Toby, after Toby Turner. So I thought it'd be appropriate to choose another Youtuber name.

So there you have it. There's Elliot. Heee.

Belated birthday post.

Today is my brother's 26th birthday. So, naturally, I shall share some pictures from my birthday. lol. Actually, that sentence reminds me of my 16th birthday party, which was held on his birthday, because it was a weekend, and my birthday was a school day. Ha.

Anyhoo... my birthday was the 17th, this past Tuesday.

 Last year, I chose not to do anything for my birthday. Then, late at night on the 16th, I decided I would go out solo to do some Christmas shopping. My guy took that opportunity to invite all our friends over for an impromptu surprise party. It was a big surprise, and it was sweet, and fun.

But this year I decided to do something a bit more mellow. I chose to invite our friends over to our favorite hookah lounge. (if it's your birthday, your cover charge is free... so yay me. lol)  My guy and I argued over bringing store bought cupcakes, but he won... and one of my friends brought homemade cupcakes, so bah. I ended up just passing out the store bought cupcakes to everyone else at the lounge. lol.

When my friend's birthday came about, I made her cupcakes, put one candle in, and we sang to her that way. But for me, my guy was hell bent on getting the appropriate number of candles. So, naturally, I told him they all had to go on one cupcake. Just one. None of that "one per cupcake" nonsense. Here are the pictures that followed.

Cough Sneeze Cough Cough

Yesterday, this is how I felt most of the day. It felt like there was a cold, sticky lump in the middle of my chest that occasionally released mucus. (tmi I know)  My entire body was aching like I'd worked out every muscle vigorously. My nose was blocked, attempts to unblock proved unsuccessful. Coughing was constant - especially immediately after laughing. (My guy kept trying to make me smile, despite also being sick) Sneezing was just plain painful....

This was a picture I took yesterday, my shirt's minion's mouth expression fit how I felt nicely. The day before? All I had was that cold, sticky lump in my chest. I barely even coughed. And then it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

I don't need to say this, but I will: Being sick sucks.

Today I'm feeling a LOT better, but still quite sick. That cold, sticky lump in my chest is still there, but feels smaller. Coughing is still constant but not as painful. Sneezing still hurts but actually makes me feel a lot better afterwards. Nose isn't as stuffed up. I guess, on a personal sickness scale of -5 to 10... (-5 being awful and 10 being good, obviously) the day before yesterday I was a 7, yesterday was -5, and today is more of a 4. Haha-COUGHCOUGHCOUGH.

I spent most of today trying to nap away the sickness, though only managed to successfully take one nap... which took place from 7-9pm. Might explain why I'm up so late. Also, to explain, in noxy speak, "yesterday" is defined as "before I last went to sleep". Just like "today" is "The time I woke up from last sleep, till now". Naps don't count. It may be the 22nd technically, but as I have not slept yet, "today" is still mostly the 21st. And the 20th was when I felt awful.

I took some time today adding pictures to my noxyism facebook page. Pictures of myself and my nails. I'm going to try to be more active on that page. Hopefully that works out for me.





While looking at old blog posts I found this song:


And I've been playing it on repeat ever since. I really do love this song.



And now I'm having a sneezing fit. I suppose I should go to bed... I'm just hoping my guy and I can get well enough before Christmas Eve, since we're supposed to go hang out with my Sis-in-law's family. If we're not well enough, we'll have to skip it, because there will be adults, kids and babies there, and I don't want to risk getting any of them sick.  Here's hoping. I'll leave you with my Christmas nails:

How to Make a Paper Wreath from a Book [Pic heavy]

I stumbled across a couple of tutorials on Youtube the other day. They were on how to make a paper wreath out of antique books. I fell in love with the wreaths. (One and two.) The second one uses a book from 1882. Geeeeze. Okay, first off, I'm not necessarily against re-purposing books to make things, but a book from 1882? Maaaaybe not - even if the book is in a different language. I don't think any of my thrift stores even have books from that far back.

So I decided I'd do the "aging" affect on a newer book. Now, I tend to get attached to books rather easily, so I knew the best way I could acquire a book for this task was to quickly choose one without thinking too much in to it. I went to the Dollar Tree, and picked one up that was around the size I was looking for. A book for a dollar. Woot.


I... I took a picture of my materials before I started. I swear I did. Multiples in case one didn't focus! But the pictures have fallen in to the void, somewhere in Narnia I suspect. So I shall instead illustrate the items you shall need for my method. Do be sure to click on the picture to get the full effect. You're welcome. LOL.


Okay!

Supplies needed:
~One cheapo book that has around a hundred pages in it. (mine had pages that were about 6inches by 9inches)
~Foam core board
~Instant coffee
~Water
~Tape
~A towel
~A compass (Or something that lets you draw an 8in circle and a 4in circle)
~A spray bottle
~Ornaments
~A stapler
~Staples
~Scissors
~Paper binder clip
~A glue gun
~Extra glue sticks

Phew! What a shopping list. Luckily, I already had a few of the things, so I only needed to purchase the book, instant coffee, ornaments, spray bottle, and extra glue sticks. Less than ten bucks spent.

Nail Polish Canada is having a giveaway! Win a MIRACURL by BABYLISS

Don't know what this magical contraption is? Well let me TELL you!

Miracurl is this fascinating curling iron that does all the work for you. You place your hair in to the iron, and when you close it, the Miracurl sucks up the hair, holds it for 8-12 seconds, then you open it and BAM! Perfect curl.

I'm going to throw the info video in here if you want to see it in action:




I'm pretty fascinated by this product. I must confess, I have trouble curling my hair. I can never get the curls even - one side of my head always has better curls than the other. And I get distracted counting to ten. What a great attention span I have when I can't even count to ten properly! lol. So I would absolutely love to try this product someday.

I haven't even told you the best part yet! Well... I have if you read the title of the post, but still...


Nail Polish Canada is trying to raise awareness of this magical Miracurl by having a

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Christmas Miracurl Giveaway!

NailPolishCanada.com is giving away 3 Babyliss Miracurl’s ($600 value)

Every holiday season millions experience a sense of sadness at the flatness in their life. In an effort to cope some find themselves straining important relationships.

Could people go without curled hair? They could, but experts agree such a lack of regard and care is sure to result in a coal filled stocking.

Today Nail Polish Canada has announced their plans to take a stand and solve this important issue with the Babyliss Miracurl. In just seconds the Miracurl literally sucks your hair right in, curls it, then beeps letting you know it's done.

In order to raise awareness Nail Polish Canada is giving away 3 Babyliss Miracurls, to whoever can convince us they are the most “in need” of one.

“This will impact people’s lives. Together we can make a Christmas Miracurl”
- Nikki Smith, VP Glitter

Simply describe why you or a loved one is in need of a Christmas Miracurl at: http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/products/miracurl-by-babyliss.html

In the spirit of a true Christmas Miracurl the winners will be announced Christmas Day!

Notes about nominations: Feel free to stretch the truth a bit and most importantly have fun.

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So there you have it, go check the Miracurl out, and enter the contest to possibly win one for Christmas!

How to Repair Cracked Powder Makeup

There are a lot of how to's for this problem, and I've watched quite a few videos with different methods. But they all cover similar processes, and I thought I'd share the way I fixed mine recently.

My lovely essence all about matt! Fixing Powder cracked in my purse at some point, so I finally had the opportunity to try this out.

I only used four items* total:
~Rubbing Alcohol
~A butter knife (or something to break apart the powder and spread it evenly)
~A paper towel (or tissue/clean towel/piece of fabric)
~Broken Pressed Powder
*There's also a zippy bag in this picture. I watched a few tutorials saying it was good to keep things clean, but I found I didn't need it.

Lacquered Bliss Polish Deck Your Holos Review

So back on the 2nd of this month, Accio Lacquer was having a sort of scavenger hunt. She would hide a certain picture somewhere in her blog and the first person to find it won a polish. I won two rounds - the last hunt on the 2nd, and one of the hunts on the 29th. While I still haven't received the prize from the 29th, I did get sent my prize for the second win. My prize was a polish of my choice from a couple of collections within the shop Lacquered Bliss. And so naturally I figured I'd review it!


 I chose a polish called Deck Your Holos, a pale reddish, dusty rose scattered holo from the Yuletide Polishes collection.

First impressions? This bottle was a LOT bigger than I thought it would be. Which was great, because it looked like a great color!

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara review

Last but not at all least from the Rose VoxBox*, the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara.

Taken straight from the Influenster RoseVoxBox card:
The 60's are back in full swing with a thicker, fuller, wide-eyed look! Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara brings you a bold, wide-eyed look, fanned out volume, and no clumps for lashes that are up, out, and over the top!
(Price according to card: $5.99)(Price according to my Walmart: N/A)



My first thought? MASCARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lindt LINDOR Truffles Review

And now, from the Rose VoxBox*, we have the Lindt LINDOR Truffles!

Taken straight from the Rose VoxBox card:
Smooth, Melting, Luscious. When you break the shell of a LINDOR truffle, the irresistible smooth filling starts to melt and so will you. Available in 10 smooth, melting flavors. 
(Price according to card: $3.99 for a 5.1oz bag) (Price according to my Walmart: $3.00 for a 5.1oz bag)


My first thought? SCORE. I know Lindt truffles. Of COURSE I know these truffles! I love these truffles. They're my favorite chocolate truffle! Haha.

Kiss® Gradation Polish Review

And now we'll be focusing on the Kiss Gradation Polishes from the Rose VoxBox*.

 Taken straight from the Influenster RoseVoxBox card:
Give yourself a trendy gradation manicure in no time with Kiss Gradation Polishes. Quick and easy to apply in three easy steps, you will end up with a mani filled with glitter and shine in no time! Available at Walgreens.
(Price according to card: $6.99) (Price according to my Walmart: $6.97)

My first thoughts? Excitement! I looove doing gradation nails, and if this is truly a quicker and easier method, then AWESOME. They come in four lovely colors, Film Noir, (Silvery to black) Exposure, (silvery to dark gold) Big Break Blue, (Silver to light blue) and Freeze Frame. (Silvery to Pink)  I received the Film Noir set.