Colors in the Face of Cancer

Jackie Clark, a writer and outreach contact for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance reached out to me several weeks ago, extending an invitation to partner and present a touching and inspirational story to the readers of my blog.

Please enjoy her insightful words below, detailing just one of the tough issues women face when diagnosed with a tragic and sometimes fatal prognosis.

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Colors in the Face of Cancer
By: Jackie Clark

Are you a woman struggling with a cancer diagnosis who feels like she can use a new paint of coat on life? Or are you a daughter whose mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer? Why not try nail polish and enjoy having some cute cuticles, despite the circumstances you may be under.

As inconsequential as it may seem, a manicure can really brighten up your perspective. Let’s face it there is nothing fun about cancer. Yet, in the midst of your darkest emotions, brightness can be found in the form of gorgeous, silky nails. A simple act like painting her nails can refocus a woman on her femininity and innate beauty.

When facing a daunting diagnosis and the subsequent treatment options, it is easy for a woman to feel overwhelmed. One of the first things a woman allows to fall to the wayside is her personal upkeep and beauty. Yet maintaining ties with current trends in fashion and beauty can serve as a wonderful way for a woman not to lose herself as she faces the biggest battle of her life.

If the idea of a full makeover is overwhelming, there are small and simple ways for a woman to maintain a sense of style. The reason why a manicure is such a wonderful idea is because it an easy and time efficient way to pay a little attention to your own needs. A manicure may be the absolute last thing a woman has on her mind while battling cancer, yet it may be just the thing she needs to renew her sense.

Being pampered is a great way for a woman to ease back and allow herself to be treated as a princess, even as she struggles with one of the many cancers woman are faced with including mesothelioma from asbestos exposure.

If a trip to the salon for a manicure simply isn’t in the budget, then a woman can still enjoy the same blissful pampering at home. All it takes is a simple drug store bottle of nail polish and her husband, friend, or children to elegantly apply the nail polish as she sits back relaxes. The soothing human touch paired with adding bright, beautiful colors can be a truly transforming and healing experience. After endless appointments with doctors and treatments following the cancer prognosis, hands that provide a beautiful touch can be a refreshing change.

Painted nails are a sign to the world that a woman no matter how many struggles she may have faced, has not given up on herself or her fight against cancer. Remembering the importance of beauty no matter how small an act proves that she has not lost count of her value as a woman.

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Painting your nails, getting homegrown manicures, and creating details on your nails truly is effortless with today's tools. As all of you know, I'm a huge fan of dotting tools, but an even more effortless tool available at low prices to almost every country are stamping plates. From Konad to Red Angel to Bundle Monster, these patterns take about two tries to master, and then you too could be creating beautiful designs such as this.

Confidence is key, and a beautiful manicure can empower anyone.

Jackie, thank you for your insightful, inspiring and beautifully written post!

Silky Stamp

This pattern and color combination reminds me of a tapestry I hung on my dorm room ceiling sophomore year in college. It was a bedspread I got from Urban Outfitters, and it's truly stunning. The damask pattern is silver, and the material is a sheer white. I hung it right below a light, so the light dimmed down and spread out throughout my entire room. Man that was a good room.

For the base of this, I used French White Creme (Wet n' Wild) and stamped with Passion (China Glaze). I realize I used that color last night, but the color was so striking I wanted to use it again. (I have a feeling it'll be one of those bottles I'll need 2 of.) The plate is RA-109, from the increasingly popular Red Angel line. I remember when I first bought the set in November, there was one or two reviews. Now there are 109 reviews, and I'd like to think I'm a part of that. I hadn't seen the set used on any of the blogs I followed, so I took a risk at $12.99 and wound up with one of the best sets out there. Have you bought your set yet?

Gilded Leaves

Recently, I won my first giveaway by luck of the draw over at grape fizz nails. The prize was the coveted Whimsical (Revlon) and another beauty, Violetta Sparkle (Avon). That package arrived today from Canada, so I decided to use my prize for tonight's manicure.

I had an impossible time trying to get a good picture of the combination I came up with, so these pictures aren't the best. You get the general idea though.

The plate used is BM-11, which is quickly becoming my favorite plate to stamp with. (I used it a while back during my mini self-challenge and again for Secret Agent Lila.) The polish to stamp with is Passion (China Glaze). They're more fun in person. I couldn't quite get the shine from Seche Vite to show up properly.

Thank you again Anne for the lovely giveaway, and the great prizes!

Guest Post: Embellished Nails

So today was supposed to be my guest post over at Embellished Nails. She went on a cruise for a while, and asked for some guest posters. So ahead of time, we all sent in our posts for her to set up. Mine went through...mostly. Unfortunately, I don't see the images, which, let's face it, is the best part of nail blogs!

So, if you care about the story behind these nails, head over to Emily's blog for my guest post.

Since the images aren't working over there, I'll put them here. In honor of Emily's cruise, these are my sailor nails!

A Bit of Glit

February 14th is just around the corner ladies, so it's time to start gearing up with some festive manicures.

Valentine's Day is probably the easiest holiday to prepare manicures for for several reasons. A) I can't think of a single girl who owns nail polish that doesn't have a pink, red, or purple in her collection. B) Hearts are the easiest thing to create, besides dots. They're basically just three dots, strategically placed. C) Cute is easy to do.

My first act in this series of pinks and cutes is a simple stamp over some girly glitter.

I started this off with Heavenly (Savina), and then added one thinnish layer of Candy Cane (Color Club). After sorting out the stamping plates that would go well with the colors and theme, I finally landed on one I was almost sure I'd never use, but actually quite like. Bundle Monster's BM09 plate has this sort of tattered "LOVE" stamp, so if any imperfections arose as a result of the transfer, no one's the wiser. It also grits up this glittering manicure a bit. Black on Black (Sinful Colors) stamps lovely though, so I imagine there aren't too many issues.I should have stamped it facing the other way for photographic purposes, but the unusual post-production rotation will have to suffice.

Snaky Subtlety

I've missed stamping! Today's manicure used a stamp (BM-220), and I forgot how much I love using those things. With the setup I have, it's so easy, and I can do it without thinking about anything. (Would anyone be interested in seeing how I set up before and after stamping?) This was particularly helpful last night, when I was thinking about what the nonsense and laughter that came out during "Wild Women Wednesdays" (name pending). Thanks Chloe & Bree!

The base for this stamp is Color Club's Nomadic Nude. I can't remember if I've used this before, but dang is it pretty. The stamp is Poetic (China Glaze).

There's not a whole lot else to say about this manicure, but I think it could pull as a work or interview appropriate manicure. Maybe the details are too much, but the color combination is enticing. I think an interviewer would notice it enough to think "Ok, good, this person takes good care of their looks", but not be distracted by it as you delivered your carefully thought out answers.

For my first interview, I honestly have no idea what I did with my nails. I know that I cleaned them (I had made sure to write that down on my hand as a reminder, which ultimately, was stupid, because then I spent a good 5 minutes scrubbing my hand to get the ink off), but I don't know if they were polished. This was back in high school, so forgive my forgetfulness. I do however remember one of the answers I gave. As my "worst work quality", I said I was sometimes too detailed. Sneaky answer, but coupled with my other answers and personality, it got me the job on the spot. I started working at Hollywood Video (may it rest in peace) that week.

Secret Agent Lila

Sometimes a manicure can completely flop. The vision in your head is cool and will surely produce some cool results, but then you finish one whole nail and ask yourself what the heck you were thinking. You try and try to come up with a clever solution to salvage the disaster while still remaining close to your fantasy, but no matter which way you shake the 8-ball, it's an inevitable failure.

That is not the case for this manicure.

It was almost the case, but I salvaged it.

Originally, I wanted to use Lila (Savina) and Secret Peri-Wink-Le (China Glaze) to create a cool gradient under a white stamp that would cover my whole nail. However, the obviously visible line created by the two polishes was absolutely visible under the white polish. It looked terrible.

I wanted to scrap everything and start over, but I had already painted on both Lila and Secret Peri-Wink-Le and felt bad ripping up the foundations. I searched through my stamping plates, and BM 11 saved the day. Using black (Black on Black, Sinful Colors) instead of white, I created "Secret Agent Lila".

It appears more purple than periwinkle, but that's expected since there's a few layers of that hot pink living underneath.

Saved the day today, but I'm sure I won't be able to avoid a complete disaster for too long.

Beta Nails

The title does not refer to testing nails. Denver houses one of the country's best night clubs, Beta. Andy, Bree, Chloe and I went to see Gabriel & Dresden last night. Before we left, I had to paint some sexy club nails, so I decided to use some stamps to get that look.

The base is Black on Black (Sinful Colors), and the stamp (BM-222) was done using China Glaze's Devotion. We were in a hurry to catch the bus to Denver (safety first as we all planned on having at least a few drinks), so the pictures I snapped weren't the best. Sorry about that.