Essie Ladylike

All my nail polishes had a little competition, like a mini Oscars but for nail polishes. Essie's Ladylike came first in the category "Best Spring 2013 Colour that isn't Emerald because say what you like Pantone People I will NEVER wear green nails"

I don’t have a bad word to say about Essie’s new shade, Ladylike. It is a very soft, heather-like, purple shade. It is incredibly wearable and looks beautiful glossy and matte. I always apply a base and top coat, today I used Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat and Matte About You Top Coat.

Ladylike, calming and intimidating at the same time. It is me in a nail polish bottle.

I wear this colour when I want people to think they are in the presence of an adult with their head screwed on the right way. Like if there were to be a crisis people would rally around me because my nail polish is both calming and assertive, they would say, “Wow, her nail polish is so soothing to look at but I am mildly intimidated because she is obviously on trend, she will know how to put this fire out.”

I talk rubbish sometimes, this is a good one. Buy it.

Pedicures at Home | Pretty Feet for ALL!

If you work on a yacht you will understand the term “Yachtie Feet”. If you do not work on a yacht I will elaborate slightly for you benefit, perhaps you will be able to relate and then we can all work to solve the problem.

There is a blanket ‘no shoes on boats’ rule, some captains do relax it and some owners prefer the crew to wear deck shoes, but for the most part we go barefoot. Now in my experience the wealthier you are the colder you like to be, consequently, the poor stews run around all day in the freezing, dehydrating AC. If that isn’t the case then we are running Margaritas up and down the unforgiving teak decks. As a result our feet get very dry and sore quickly. We can’t have horrible looking feet particularly if they are on display all the time, it is a big problem.

Most stews jump at the chance to rush off the boat as soon as the guests have boarded their flight home to get pedicures and rectify this. I cannot think of anything worse. I have really tried hard to like them but the thought of putting my feet into a bath where other people have had their feet is none to appealing. I also cannot abide other people clipping my toenails and cuticles. I am fussy that way. Also I feel I can do a better job. I will tell you how.

Now, due to a lack of time and space I usually do several beauty processes at the same time. Face masks and foot soaking will generally happen at the same time. It is magical. I lock myself in the bathroom with my iPod and book and when I come out I am just a ball of glorious.

Epsom Salts, Apple Cider Vinegar and Tea Tree Oil. Can't beat them.

Anyway, ignore the face stuff for now. Here is what you will need:

-       Tub / basin / bucket big enough for you to immerse both your feet in water

-       Apple cider vinegar

-       Epsom salts

-       Tea tree oil

-       Sugar scrub (make your own or use a store bought one)

-       Pumice stone / Foot file

-       Cuticle pushing back thing

-       Nail brush

-       Nail clippers

-       Towel and paper towel

-       Some sort of lotion

Nivea Creme is my current favourite moisturizer. You can apply it to any dry areas , like elbows and knees

Fill the tub with hot water, not too hot but it will cool rapidly so try start out with it being as hot as you can handle. Add a cup of apple cider vinegar (you can use white distilled vinegar too), half a cup of Epsom salts and a couple of drops of tea tree oil. The vinegar will work at breaking down rough skin, the Epsom salts are great for soothing aches and pains and also assist in drawing nasty toxins out of your system and the tea tree is a natural anti bacterial oil that smells really refreshing too.

Soak your feet for 15 minutes and then use a pumice stone or foot file to gently removed any dry skin you may have, you shouldn’t need to scrub too hard because the vinegar will have loosened the skin. Finish off by scrubbing your feet with a sugar scrub. I will usually go all the way up my calves to help out my circulation a bit. Then push your cuticles back, I am not a fan of cutting my cuticles at all, they are there for a reason, don’t hack them off.

Dry your feet thoroughly, use the paper towel to get in between your toes. Once your feet are nice and dry apply a nice thick cream or lotion, in the past I have used body butter but at the moment I am loving Nivea Crème, my mom (and her mom) swear by Ingrams Camphor Cream, treat yourself to an extra long foot rub, you deserve it. If you need to clip your nails then do so, once you have done that put a pair of thick socks on and relax. Your feet will be softer than ever.

I will usually apply polish (a nude shade mind you, unless your guests are off for a while) the next day to give my feet an extra dose of moisture, if you need to apply sooner though wipe the nails with a little rubbing alcohol to get rid of the oils and moisturizer so you have a lovely fresh, dry surface to apply the polish to.

Enjoy it

xxx

On Essie and Sinful Colors (Colours)

It took me a really long time to write / come to terms with how I would write colours. Before I start I will present my quandary: EVERY English speaking person in the entire world spells colour like I just spelled it there, however Americans don’t understand the ‘ou’ part so they went on a ‘u’ culling spree. I am surprised they even spell our correctly but they do so there you go, taking one of the most complicated languages and making it that much more difficult.

Now growing up in South Africa, which is more Eurocentric than you may think, yes we do use giraffes instead of elevators and most houses (mud huts) come with a pride of Lions as a security measure (Wild Dogs for the less affluent – Lions are pricey) nevertheless we do enjoy the odd espresso and we like the ‘u’. I was always dead set against converting to American spelling because I thought Americans were inherently wrong about most things, they are, but I live there now and I must assimilate, if you hear me speak you can barely tell where I am from. I am a mutt.

So there we go, I assimilated but through clever use of parenthesis I showed everyone I still know how to spell and before I break out into a chorus of Rule Britannia I will actually start writing about what I initially intended to. Nail Polish. Not spelling.

Here we go.

I am an Essie snob. I love Essie, Essie make my favourite colours, (look at all the u’s! – Word HATES me! Big red squiggles abound!) granted some are more pigmented than others and some require more than two coats but I actually don’t care. I am brand loyal. Now I am mainly living on a boat and when I am not living on a boat my life must be able to be packed into two small (like carry on small) bags so I can’t have a large variety of nail polish. It hurts my heart but there you go. The sea is a cruel mistress. I tend to carry about 10 colours at a time, also a base and two top coats (one fast drying and one matte). I will review all my colours in a later post.

There is one thing that can get me out of snob land though, one thing does entice me to climb down from my throne and get my nose out of the air. Bargains. I am a bargain magnet too, I will walk into a store and the bargains will all go, “Heeeeeee!!!” and leap into my outstretched arms. This normally happens with clothes though, mainly because I prefer shopping for clothes and usually get all my cosmetic products online. I love the rush of online shopping.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to go aimlessly walk around Walgreens because I didn’t really have anything else to do. There I was, nose in the air off to the Essie section to buy something very bright and I noticed a red square under the Sinful Colors stand. Red squares mean “buy me I am cheap I will give you a rush because I am cheap”. I will make you feel like a good, smart shopper. How could I resist?

Turns out I couldn’t and I bought the shade Orange Cream. I would call it The Colour of that Antibiotic Medicine I had that One Time. I only needed one coat of colour (I used an Essie base coat and a Rimmel top coat – matte) I am impressed. I feel like a good, smart shopper. Thank you red square and thank you Sinful Colors. Your brand name is lame but your product is good!

Sinful Colors in Orange Cream #notanailartist #dealwithit