That is, if blogger will stop being a wanker. It just deleted an entire sentence. You guys have no idea what we bloggers go through for our addiction to just having to tell you about our makeup or our nails or our hair or whatever.
My life has changed dramatically since I last wrote. I have a new job but we're only talking about good things on here. It has two significant things going for it: my gas gauge doesn't move at the end of the day, it's that close, and I'm not driving into the sun both ways like I used to do. I will give it that.
In the interviewing process, I busted out all the neutrals. I wound up with one completely reliable didn't have to worry about it look that worked. I knew it was pretty but neutral and it wasn't attracting any attention. I've worn it several weeks since you last heard from me...and I have no swatches of it. Sorry. I will one day do it again so those of you out there who have or will struggle with this same problem of interview nails, this, or a similar better for your complexion look may well be your answer. I read a lot of advice online looking for the correct answer to the interview nail problem (there is a point to all this, I promise. Don't I always have a point? It's been so long since I have posted you may not remember. Yes. I always have a point.) and what I found a LOT was "just go with a nude nail". Or "go with a nude buffed nail". AUGH! OK, if I haven't done this rant before, buffing your nails, while making them look nice, will also cause your polish to slide off like water off a ducks back. Plus, it weakens the top layer of your nail...just...NO. I only buff if they are peeling and only to get off that nagging little bit that wants to peel but won't and if it does you're going to end up trimming, etc etc etc.
Besides, you need to be comfortable when you go in to face the firing squad, Emma Right? I know. I am. If you are a dedicated polish hound, like I assume you are if you're sticking with me through my prattle, then you realize immediately the problem with the "nude nail" philosophy. You're so used to having polish on that a nude nail just feels WRONG. Plus, they feel weak, though probably they aren't because you're devoted to your strengtheners, right? Oh please say you haven't given up on your nail care products! Have I taught you nothing? *sigh*
The moral of the story is, a nailista doesn't feel like herself without her polish and that is a bad sitch to put your psyche in when going to an interview. Do I rock some Illamasqua crazy for it? No. But I don't go in nekkid, either. It would be like not wearing...make up. WTF?
Incidentally, for my new job I went to training at our corporate office and was the only female in a room of 8 wearing makeup. I immediately regretted NOT rocking the Illamasqua bright yellow and fuschia-purple eye look I had created for my last week at my other job (So long, farewell, auf wiedersein, fuck off!) because it would have freaked some people right out. Ah well.
So in this process, I tried a lot of different toned down stuff.
In the process, I came across this little lovely in my drawer that I had not forgotten, but not busted out, either. I thought...a beige holo. Woo. But I bought it because I adore almost all things ButterLONDON, though...I haven't tried the lippys yet. They have lip gloss now. Yes. I have yet to try it.
When Alexander McQueen died, RIP - Moment of Silence for the Genius of McQueen....
...
Butter did a little group of polishes to pay homage to the amazing designer. Marrow, which is gorge and I believe is in this blog somewhere, Bumster, which is a yellow, and this little gem. Now...I had full sunlight for these swatches and I took full advantage of it. In fact, it was this darling of a polish that convinced me that the fight to put out the blog is worth it! You HAD to know about this.
Originally put out as All Hail McQueen it was changed after I bought my initial bottle. Yes, I have two bottles of a polish I thought was ho-hum because I'm psychotic. It's no longer available under it's original name so this is and can be purchased wherever you like to purchase your butters as The Queen. As in "All Hail The Queen". Maybe there was a copyright infringement on his name, who knows. But if you fall in love with this, forget all about that McQueen stuff. You won't find it unless it's on that evil site and it won't be mine. I'm holding onto this sucker because it looks like this in the sun:
Now. I do not have any non-sunlight pics, but I assure you, on the death of my polish collection, the most sacred vow Tricksie can give, that this is perfectly great for an interview. It's a nice sedate tan cream in indoor lighting. None of that diamond in the rough thing shows up when you're inside. In fact, Ruby Pumps commented on it at dinner the other night. "You're doing very tame nails these days". I shrugged and said "New job..interviewing...keeping it appropriate" because...even I will wait to gauge the workplace before I bust out the yellow.
This is some hard core holo action for you. Look at that. I mean...just LOOK at it! I recommend clicking the pics and seeing them larger. Not that the holo is exactly hidden here.
And let me just add a caveat to that: I mean WEAR. Dishes, paperwork, typing...the new job...well, let's just say there are employee papers that haven't been filed since 20 TEN. Yes. 2010. I found them shoved in the back of a drawer. So after I get finished meeting the myriad of daily deadlines, which is lots of paper and typing, I work on that. These nails have plowed through stacks of papers. This manicure took some abuse and then lasted another two days.
This is me playing with new ways to take pics. I'd do something arty and whatnot but my phone doesn't have a place for a tripod. Yeah...I take my swatches with my phone. See...I live in BFE. I love that. It's quiet and if the neighbors are a pain in your butt you can just feed them to the pigs. Not really. I don't have pigs. But the downside to all this rural quaintness is a limited internet usage. I have wifi...don't get me wrong. We have all our teeth out here, and we read and have indoor plumbing and everything, but unlimited internet is a decade away for us out here. So with my phone, I have unlimited internet, but not using it as a hotspot. Are you bored yet? Don't blame you. So I use my phone to take the pictures because...getting it? I can upload them for free from it. Yep. Tricksy Tricksie.
I wanted to take wear shots for you last night because it was good for this, but then...it all started to peel off in sheets for some weird reason. I had just done a lot of dishes...it could have been a combination of hot water and Seche, I suppose. Very odd, though. That not withstanding, this wore for a solid six days of hard use. This manicure was not coddled and I didn't reapply anything, though I should have.
So. This is sort of the perfect lacquer for the job hunters out there. Definitely wearable, definitely neutral, definitely suitable for many different skin tones - on some luckies possibly even nude. However. In natural sunlight, this will satisfy even us nail hounds who love to wear something different. Something the other girls aren't wearing. And you can sit in your interview and smile because ya wanna know why? You have a secret! Yes. This is the little black thong of nail polishes. "I LOVE to work overtime, Mr. Interviewer Man" SMILE SMILE SMILE! **I'm secretly wearing some wilder than normal nail polish, Mr. Interviewer Man, but you can't see that!**
Whether you wear a black thong to an interview is your business entirely.
So my mechanics on this were:
1 coat Sech Base Coat
1 coat Nailtiques 2 Plus (I'm having terrible peeling issues right now. I had been off the Nailtiques but I'm back on)
2 coats Seche Rebuild (Had been off this, too. Seeing improvement with just one mani.)
2 coats butterLONDON All Hail The Queen
1 coat Seche Vite Top Coat
It's possible my great wear stems from everything being brand new and unopened. I don't know that, but it occurs to me writing this that they were all brand new, every drop. Well, The Queen had been in the drawer a long while, but never opened.
I hope you like this. I am thinking that in this economy, I need to do a good interview mani post from time to time. I'm sure many of us are struggling out there, and part of the point of this blog, if anyone has read back that far, is to offer up honest information on wear so you know if you're spending your nail lacquer money wisely. It's one of my promises to you guys as readers. I'll tell you if it chips, if it doesn't wear well, repair well, etc. No matter how gorgeous it is if an expensive polish doesn't wear well then I want you to at least spend that $24 wisely. (I'm looking at YOU, Chanel!) Regardless, I really struggled when I started interviewing. I knew I couldn't feel confident and comfortable following the advice out there to go nude, and I really needed help. I worked it out on my own, thank you Rescue Beauty Lounge, but BMWWU turned it up a notch and it's worth filling you in.
I hope you're glad I'm back! I'm glad to be back!
I will probably not be posting as much as I was. I want to get back to my roots which is posts on wear, on care, on not torturing bunnies...I've found some new brands I want to try, I want to tell you about those. I want to talk about the trends and how to use what you already may have. And...I want to give you GOOD suggestions on what to rock in an interview that won't make you feel self-conscious but self-confident, even if you're interviewing at a bank, which I personally did. I'm adding it as a label to this post, actually. "Interview appropriate". I would have appreciated that when I was looking. Maybe I can help someone who is feeling stuck. I may branch out more, talk more about makeup and skin care. I have finally found something that works on my difficult tangly hair! Maybe we should talk about that! I don't know! It's not tested on animals and it smells like...yum.
I also have a lot of swatches that I did before that I want to get edited and talk about now that I think I have this photo thing figured out. I hope I do.
So. All that very long post aside, Happy Talons!!
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