Miercoles de Manicuri... Mani Wednesday?

I've never gotten the chance to do a blog piece about nails because I've been prohibited any type of fun or cool nails because of my job. But finally, finally today that changed. I went to Foz do Iguaçú, Brazil today to find the best place that could work with my acrylic nails. Acrylic nails don't exist here in the area and the next best option is gel nails. So, I went to Esmalteria Nacional in downtown Foz which is one of the verrrrrrrry few places that specialize in only nails. If you want your nails professionally done here in Latin America, you would normally go to your favorite hair salon.

The ladies were very friendly and put up with my pickiness and bad Portuguese.  They said that my acrylics were so well done that they didn't need to apply any gel to the nail and just filed them down for me and they look great. They had never seen pointy nails before and none that are as long as mine! But now that I'm liberated from server rules for a few months I will keep you posted on any new manicure ideas I have. If you're ever in the area, check out the store or check them out on Facebook or Instagram @esmalterianacional. 

Nunca podía escribir un blog sobre uñas porque me prohiben el use de cualquier tipo de uña o esmalte divertido o cheto en el trabajo. Pero finalmente, finalmente hoy eso cambió. Me fui a Foz do Iguaçú hoy para encontrar el mejor local para trabajar con mis uñas de acrilico. Uñas de acrilico casi no existen acá en America Latina así que la mejor opción fue uñas de gel. Entonces me fui a Esmalteria Nacional en el centro de Foz, lo cual es uno de muy pocos locales que trabajan solamente con uñas. Si usted querría hacerse las uñas profesionalmente en America Latina, uno normalmente iría a su peluquería o salon de belleza. Yo estaba muy impresionada con el local. Las señoritas fueron muy amables y aguantaron mi exigencia y portugues horrible. Nunca habían visto uñas a puntos como las mías! Muito chic. Ahora que estoy liberada de las reglas de una mesera por algunos meses les informaré de los ideas para manicuris que tengo. Y si esté en el area, pasá por el local o fije su página de  Facebook o en Instagram: @esmalterianacional.

Sephora Falsies and How to Care for Them

This is a review of a pair of false lashes that I received (Thanks Kaity ;)) and a guide on how to take care of them.  These are the "Astonish Lashes" by Sephora and I used them for the second time this weekend and I love them! They were a little bit too much for me when I first got them, so I trimmed a small amount of lashes off from the inside corner of the lashes to get more of a natural yet cat eye look. The glue is great that comes with them. It is already pretty tacky, so you can put a drop on one end and stretch it out to the other end and it will apply the perfect amount.  Wait only a few seconds before applying and then you're ready to go for the whole night (or day...)! I was out until 5 a.m. and had no problems at all. 

Here's the link to buy them online or you can go to any Sephora and see all the options that they have. (Trust me, there's alot.) They are significantly more expensive than drug store brands, so it's important to be able to use them more than once. If you didn't know, you can clean and reuse false lashes many many times. 

First, get your supplies: Rubbing alcohol, an eyebrow brush or spare mascara brush, some paper towels. 

Let the lashes sit in the alcohol for 15 to 20 minutes.

 Use the eyebrow brush to lightly brush off the glue from the inside of the lashes. It should start to peel off easily. 

 After all the glue is off, use the mascara brush to get off any left over mascara on the lashes. I really didn't have to use mascara after I put the lashes on.

Finally, let dry and store in their box. All done! I hope you found this useful. Leave a comment to let me know what else you'd like to read about! Besos!

'Merica Reversible Swimsuit

This was an extremely fun project that I made for one of my friends. I thought it would be easier than it turned out to be. The problem wasn't the sewing. It was making it reversible and seamless at the same time. To this day I don't know how to make a Speedo bottom reversible without having to cut it at the crotch. :/

 Here's  my mess when I was making the design. I elected to make one side red in front, blue in the back, and white on the side with gold accents in the waist band. The other side is all gold (front and back) with white on the sides. Making the patterns took the most time out of everything. I didn't have Josh there to get all his measurements, but I knew he was a size 32 waist.  So... I had to get creative from there.  I used pictures from the internet and some whitey-tighties to somehow make a pattern. And then change the pattern. And change it again. And again. Until I finally had it right. The photos below are of the work in progress. I only have the sides sewn here. 

This is where things got complicated.  Everything is sewn up except for the elastic in the leg holes.  Okay. Easy right? Well, I got the one leg hole done beautifully. Perfectly ruched with the right amount of swimsuit elastic. I turned the right sides together again to do the other leg hole. Again, perfectly executed. I went to turn the swim suit right side out and I had some how created a tesseract in which it was a never-ending time warping connection of fabric.  Don't ask how it happened. I was perplexed for over half an hour wondering how I could fix it. Always sew right sides together, right??? I guess not when it comes to reversible Speedos. Anyways, took that out and had to cut at the crotch. Sew everything up again and violá! 
Anyways, it actually fit Josh and he enjoyed it for his pool party. I enjoyed the challenge. And the party. :)