Stamping and Ombre Nail Art for NAIL

20 Wednesday May 2015

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I am still down with the hip flare and am using a combination of a cane and  walker to get around. Last Wednesday I went climbing but I felt really good afterwards. My current flare did not start until mid-Friday so I don’t know if they are related but I cannot see any other correlation!

Unfortunately, I was supposed to clean my room and bathroom this weekend but could barely get out of bed without assistance. A cluttered room does not usually bother me but when I am sick it gets on my last nerve. I just can’t stand laying in a disorganized environment when I cannot do anything about it. Do you feel like cleaning more when you’re ill, too?

Sometimes, if I do not have the luxury of a full clean I lightly tidy. During a bad flare I am unable to move very much so I incorporate a little re-organization when I do get up. It only takes a couple of extra minutes to put little things away and I feel a whole lot better! Of course, this is not the time to do any heavy lifting, like vacuuming, but a little dusting goes a long way! If I have to get up to go to the bathroom or get something to eat I might as well do a little housework as well. I feel like I am actually getting something done without tacking on extra movement.

 

I wanted something quick and easy for today’s nail art. The ombre style is very RA-friendly and a no-hassle way to include multiple colors! I hope you like my slightly embellished ombre look!

 

Blue Stamping Ombre | The Rite of AgingBases (from index to pinky nail):

Glitter Gal Bluemerang

China Glaze UV Meant to Be

Pop Beauty Pacific Hoot

Anise Neon – Make Waves

I stamped with Pueen Cosmetics plate PUEEN 76 and Konad Special Polish White.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Pink and Purple Asymmetrical Dotticure Nail Art

16 Saturday May 2015

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As a kid, one of my favorite past times was “sailing”. I placed an empty laundry basket in the middle of the laundry room floor, fill it with snacks, hydration, books, and blankets and pretend I was in the middle of the sea. I was shipwrecked until I reached land.

After my father helped me out of bed I grabbed anything and everything I could possibly need for the rest of the night. Once I stand up and am leaning forward, I can move around relatively easily. Relative, of course, to getting out of a sleeping or sitting position.

I grabbed my various technologies, books, magazines, nail polishes and anything else I thought I might need and curled up for the evening. I was not in the mood for too intricate a nail art so I settled on a fun asymetrical dotticure! I hope you like it!

 

1-DSCF6367_fotorI started with Pahlish Reinette as my base.

I detailed with Milani Power Periwinkle, Barry M Grapefruit and Rhossilli.

 

1-DSCF6357_fotor

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Blue Saran-Wrap and Water Decal Nail Art

16 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in Nail Art, Reviews, Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Question: Would you prefer I separate my RA and nail art posts so if you are only interested in one or the other you don’t have to read both? I will provide links to and from each post.

 

 

I posted this on Instagram last night as I had some weird hip pain and struggled to find a comfortable typing position. Right now, I have no range of motion. I am in excruciating pain every time I move.

I’m not sure this is a flare. During my typical episode, I am painful throughout my body, I am nauseaous, tired, and fatigued. Today’s discomfort is acutely concentrated in my hip area and just when I move. I feel alert, hungry,  and in any other manner, great. I am struggling to move yet I want to. I don’t know why this is happening. I woke up in the morning and I felt great I was in no pain I climbed the stairs and all of a sudden it hit me during breakfast. My morning routine was the same.

 

But, before I get into the nail art…I’m going to quickly talk about how I clean the house.

I clean house on my days off from work. This way, I can “schedule” tasks around my high and low pain points. I mentioned in another post, my sweet spot for pain is about two hours after I take Tramadol and Tylenol. This would be when I start the heavier cleaning like vacuuming. I rarely ever start before this two hour mark.

Once I’ve finished vacuuming I take a nap.  I’m serious. Personally, Vacuuming takes the most effort and when I’m done I’m usually very tired. This is the perfect time for a nap. It’s okay though I have the entire day.  two hours is usually the longest I allow myself to sleep, otherwise I I cannot go to bed at night.

 

When I wake up, I eat and hydrate and finish by dusting. I use a Swiffer duster wand so with one quick swipe I’m all set. Laundry is for another day.

 

Now, onto the nail art! I decided to go with a blue cling wrap. I loved the marbelized water look. My new Chanel polish called to me so I centered the entire color palette around it. I needed to add more but a black decal would not show up. The pack of Pueen Cosmetics decals I bought came with an assortment of white ones as well. The last time I tried one it disintegrated while I removed it from the backing. I had low expectations of these flowers but they worked quite nicely.

I hope you like it!

 

Blue Marble Cling Wrap Nail Art | The Rite of Aging

Blue Marble Cling Wrap Nail Art | The Rite of AgingI started with 3 coats of Glitter Gal True Blue Aussie as my base. Llarowe was having a massive sale on this brand and I picked up a few on a whim. This dark blue polish was very squishy, almost jelly-like and dried very glossy. However, it pooled into my cuticles and stained them badly.

I bubble-wrapped with Chanel Mediterranée, Glitter Gal Bluemerang, and China Glaze UV Meant to Be.

Blue Saran-Wrap Polishes | The Rite of Aging

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Green Saran-Wrap Nail Art

12 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Nail Art, Reviews

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Well hello there!

 

Why didn’t I think of cling wrap manicures before?? They are probably the most RA-friendly of all the nail art techniques. I drop the polish right onto the nail and use bubble-wrap (easiest to keep from nail mail) to create the look I want!

 

I finally jumped on the latex cleanup bandwagon and bought the Color4Nails Crystalline Nail Veil! At some point I would like to try Kiesque’s Liquid Palisade but decided to try the cheaper alternative first. The product came yesterday and I was so excited to use it! Why, oh why, did I not purchase this sooner?? We all know I gravitate towards messier nail art techniques. This should have been my first purchase. Ever. I cannot change the past so on to the present and future!

It took a while to apply the product and wait for it to dry; arguably just as long as acetone cleanup at the end. But, cleanup was so easy. I used tweezers to remove the product easily and with one swift motion.

This may not be the case for everyone but while I do not have a latex allergy it still dries out my skin. This isn’t a surprise as my hands do become very dry when I wear latex gloves. And, all things considered, my skin does not dry out as much as when I use pure acetone.

 

Crystalline Nail Veil

 

Below is the finished look. I hope you like it!

 

Green Saran-Wrap Nail Art | The Rite of AgingI started with Pahlish Sunless Sea as my base.

I detailed with bubble-wrap, Pahlish La Royale and Girly Bits Supersonic.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Purple Waterspotting Nail Art

11 Monday May 2015

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I’ve been asked to blog a bit about how I  live day to day with RA so I will start incorporate that in next posts.

 

This probably goes without saying but I never do anything before I take my medications in the morning (except make the breakfast to eat them with). I’ve made the mistake of replacing my bed covers, playing with the pets or typing which all ended in pretty bad flares and even worse days. When I’ve slept well I feel energetic, I have reduced pain and I forget I have RA…for the time being.

 

I take some of my medications two to three times a day depending on my pain level. If I have errands to run or, on the rare occasion, I go out or climb I time my medications a couple of hours before I need to be “alive”.

This timing varies per person but after some trial and error I realized my “sweet spot” for feeling my best lies around two hours after I’ve taken my pain medication.

 

For today’s nail art, I have an easy RA-friendly water-spotting look. I got the Color4Nails Crystalline Nail Veil today and was super excited to try it out! It works really well, though, it may be easier just to tape my fingers with the water techniques. Otherwise, I’d use way too much product.

 

1-DSCF6047_fotorI used American Apparel Neon Purple and Color Club Pucci-licious as my bases.

I waterspotted with hairspray L’Oreal Paris Sexy in Sequins, Color Club On the Rocks, and Julie G Butterflies & Rosebuds.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Dotticure Nail Art for NAIL: 1980s

10 Sunday May 2015

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I was not sure how to approach this week’s prompt as I was born at the end of 1980’s. I decided to stick with pop culture references. Andy Warhol’s popularity was technically during the 60’s but I took inspiration from a 1981 piece he made of Madonna.

 

AndyWarholMarilyn

There is no way I was going to paint this on my fingertips so I decided to go with a RA-friendly asymmetrical dotticure instead. I hope you like it!

Can we take a moment to talk about how GLOWING this neon pink is? It is probably one of my favorite pinks and the bottle is almost empty. I tried to brighten the photo a little for skin tone purposes but it washed out the pink!

 

Neon Bright Dotticure | The Rite of AgingI used Color Club Warhol as my base. I did not realize the coincidence until just now writing this post!

I dotted with Zoya Pippa.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other 80’s manicures below!

RA-Friendly Glitter Gradient and Water Decals Nail Art

07 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in Nail Art, Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Did You Know?

Rheumatoid arthritis is often diagnosed late or after joint damage begins. Symptoms are often mistaken as having a less severe cause.

When I first noticed symptoms it was six months before my diagnosis. I sustained a wrist “injury” that took six months to heal. In retrospect, this type of problem should not have eaten away at my mobility, let alone over six months. This was a huge indicator of a larger problem. As the wrist healed, I noticed issues in my other joints.

Thinking even further back, I may have experienced symptoms during college! I lived on the third floor of my dorm and I thought my knees and ankles and hips hurt because I carried my textbooks and heavy backpacks up and down the stairs all day, all over campus. I was unhappy, excessively tired and I just assumed it was stress. How wrong was I?!

I was always healthy before this. I got the occasional cold and sinus infection but there was no indication I could be seriously ill. I just chocked these symptoms as “college life”.

Here’s a tip: NEVER EVER blog before you’ve taken your medications. I woke up at 5 am this morning because I needed to pee. Prednisone is a diuretic and the higher the dose, the more urgent my bladder becomes. I forgot I cannot drink water after 11pm at night before and well, I did. After I woke up I remembered I Love Lucy was on and then I was fully awake.

I thought about using my Dragon Dictate (voice recognition) software but didn’t? I have no good reason for not using it.

As a result of this second of stupidity, I was tired, run down, listless, today,..(heh! [minus the listless]) and I had a boatload of errands to run. So, today, I present a seriously RA-friendly nail art: sponged glitter and water decals.

 

Sponge Glitter and Water Decals | The Rite of Aging Early

 

Sponge Glitter and Water Decals | The Rite of Aging EarlyI started with 2 coats of Color Club Twiggie as my base.

I used a sponge tip applicator to apply a generous helping of Serum No. 5 Happy Special Day! to the cuticles.

I applied Pueen Cosmetics water decals to random fingers.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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