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the Rite of Aging…early

~ Navigating Rheumatoid Arthritis through Beauty and Nail Art

the Rite of Aging…early

Tag Archives: Essie

Orencia – Month Seven | Rheumatoid Arthritis & Nail Art

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by MonicawithRA in Nail Art, Rheumatoid Arthritis

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

China Glaze, dotticure, Essie, Glitter Gal, infusion, matte, Milani, Nail Art, Orencia, Pop Beauty, rheumatoid arthritis, Zoya

I have been on Orencia Abatacept for seven months. This is around the time we see the effects plateau. I took Orencia three times previously, both in subcutaneous and interveneous forms and each time I saw a dip in its effectiveness.

Orencia always works better than the other biologic medications. I feel less fatigued, painful and swollen. I also do not have any reactions to it which is a huge bonus.

And, even though this medication works best, the effects only last a couple of weeks. When I feel well, I wake up early and only need a short nap during the day but as the Orencia wears off I sleep later in the mornings and pass out for hours at a time during the afternoons. Sleeping is the best. I love napping but if I look back on the past five years I realize I spent more than half of it not awake! That’s a lot of time wasted…

When I go in for my infusion I am down for the count for a couple of days. I am not necessarily lethargic or painful, just a little out of it. Once the following week rolls around I snap back to attention, I have a bounce in my step and I feel “better”.

As the Orencia builds up in my system I do not think I will feel “better” immediately after each infusion but I shouldn’t feel worse. I still crave sleep and feel a noticeable dip in energy toward 3 or 4 pm. I am not sure if this is normal for seven months into this medication.

I sometimes feel like climbing after work but more often than not I just feel tired. The farther I have to drive (for work) the less likely I can do anything afterwards. I am usually too exhausted to even do my nails!

 

Regardless of my grievances, I prefer Orencia more than the other biologics but I wish it worked even better. But, I guess, beggars can’t be choosers!

Below, is the nail art I made for this month’s Orencia post. I hope you like it!

1-orenciadotsBase: Milani Power Periwinkle (old formula)

Dots: Zoya Crystal (un-matte), China Glaze UV Meant to Be, Pop Beauty Pacific Hoot, Glitter Gal Australia Bluemerang, Milani Blue Print (new formula)

Matte Top Coat: Essie Matte About You

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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A New Year’s Metallic Waterfall | Nail Art

02 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by MonicawithRA in Nail Art

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Tags

Chanel, Essie, Nail Art, OPI, Serum No 5, waterfall

I still maintain my purchase of the limited edition Chanel Le Bleu nail polishes was completely necessary because when I combed through my collection of polishes for something to wear on New Year’s Eve none of them seemed right. Fortissimo was the only one that spoke to me as the perfect midnight blue for a late night. It definitely did not disappoint! The color and sparkle were quite noticeable, necessary for the glitziest night of the year. Sure, I had other midnight blues but they looked dull next to this gorgeous Chanel!

I also wanted to use this great polish as the base for a fun New Year’s look and thought metallics would pop against the color. I created something that reminds me of fireworks without the extra work of drawing them out and I am very pleased with the final result!

I hope you all had a great start to the New Year and I will talk to you soon!

 

New Year's Eve Metallic Waterfall Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBase: Chanel Fortissimo

Waterfall: Serum No. 5 Sleepy Holo, OPI I Drive a SuperNova, Essie On a Silver Platter

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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Pink Snow Globe | Nail Art

22 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by MonicawithRA in Nail Art

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Born Pretty Store, Bundle Monster, Christmas, Deborah Lippmann, Essie, holiday, Konad, Nail Art, Sally Hansen, snow globe, snowflakes, stamping, water decals, winter

Water decals purchased by me.

The Born Pretty Store Christmas decals are my absolute favorite and I purchase them every October. This year was no exception and I paid special attention to the snowmen  and reindeer who are absolutely adorable.

Today’s nail art is fashioned after a snow globe nail art I did two years ago (linked here) except this time I managed the look a little better.

I am on the fence with this one because I like last year’s better.

Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen pink and used a clear top coat for the layers? I do like it but something about this one isn’t quite right. I actually considered not even posting it but it took me so long I just had to! And, I mean, look at those smiling faces!

I hope you like it!

 

Pink Snow Globe Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBase: Essie Mademoiselle

Details: Deborah Lippmann Popular, Sally Hansen Petal Pushers

Stamping: Konad Special Polish White, Bundle Monster plate BM319

Water Decals: Born Pretty Store Smiling Snowmen Water Decals (scroll down to see the different sheets…and they even featured my review nail art!! How cool is that?!)

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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Neon Sugar-Spin | Nail Art

18 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by MonicawithRA in Nail Art

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

American Apparel, Color Club, Essie, Halloween, matte, Nail Art, neon, sugar-spun, Wet n Wild

Neons in October strongly remind me of Halloween. There is something costume-y about day-glo colors! Admittedly, since my freshman year in college I have gone to every Halloween party as a neon something or other. My absolute favorite thing to do is pull out my neon makeup and clothes and go wild.

Am I the only one who thinks this? Doesn’t neon have that Halloween vibe?

 

I tried something new. I matte-fied the base and attempted to matte the sugar spin as well by mixing the neon polish with a matte top coat. It didn’t work out exactly as planned and the matte top coat changed the consistency of the polish. It took down some of the shine but not enough to make a real difference. The polish became too thick and not in a yummy drizzle sort of way but in a globs to the toothpick and doesn’t pull across the nail way.

Not sure how I feel about this. Definitely not one of my favorites but as you can probably guess with this technique there is not enough time in the day to do a sugar-spin again! I definitely want to try this again without dulling the neons!

 

Neon Sugar-Spin Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBase: Wet n Wild Black Creme, Essie Matte About You

Sugar-Spins: American Apparel Neon Yellow, Neon Green, Neon Purple, Color Club Wham! Pow!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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#31DC2015 – Glitter Gradient Nail Art

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by MonicawithRA in Community, Nail Art

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Tags

31DC2015, blogging community, Deborah Lippmann, Essie, glitter, glitter gradient, Nail Art

For today’s glitter prompt I went with an oldie but a goodie: a simple gradient. I have actually done this look before but on serious nail nubs. Can we talk really quickly about my nail length? I always always always since the beginning of my time had short nails. It was impossible to wear long nails because of rock-climbing and my vet tech work. I was so used to short nubs even going a little longer felt strange and I always thought my nails would break. As my blogging progressed I started favoring longer nails (I know they are still considered short but for me these have serious length!) I can still climb and work but how times have changed. What’s next? Changing my nail shape??

 

#31DC2015 - Glitter Gradient Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBase: Essie Mademoiselle

Glitter: Deborah Lippman Happy Birthday!

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Follow me on Bloglovin’ | Twitter | or Facebook to keep up with me during the challenge!

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Bubblies Under the Sea with Born Pretty Store

21 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by MonicawithRA in Nail Art, Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Born Pretty Store, China Glaze, Essie, Glitter Gal, holo, INM, matte, review, SinfulColors, water decals

Some items provided for review.

 

A while ago I attempted the recently popular bubble nail art technique. You know, the one where you paint a blob on your nail, let it set for a few seconds, then absorb the middle pigment with a dry Q-tip? Well, the result turned out worse than when I tried the blobbicure so when I saw these neat bubble water decals on the Born Pretty Store website I did not even think twice about grabbing them. Get the same look without the hassle and stress? Can someone shout “RA-friendly”!

I had no complaints with these particular decals. They separated well from the backing paper. The decals are thin but sturdy and did not flip or crumple while I worked with them.

I could not decide between holo top coat or a matte one so I used both! This is definitely a simple look but I really dig it! I hope you do too!

 

Bubbly Water Decals Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBases: China Glaze UV Meant to Be, Glitter Gal Bluemerang over SinfulColors Whiteboard. I am not very keen on the Glitter Gal polishes. They were on sale at LLarowe for $1.50 and it appears they were for good reason. Bluemerang is extremely sheer and difficult to build to opacity. For my own sanity I applied two coats over Whiteboard.

Everything is topped with INM Northern Lights Silver and Essie Matte About You.

Decals: Born Pretty Store (one sheet retails for $1.64 here)

 

Don’t forget to use my 10% off coupon if you are interested in these or any of the website’s massive stock!

10% off code

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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Kitteh Full Nail Stamping and Water Decals Nail Art

09 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by MonicawithRA in Community, Nail Art

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Barry M, born pretty stamping plate, Born Pretty Store, cats, Essie, Konad, Nail Art, Pueen Cosmetics, stamping decals, water decals

Every time I stamp I want to try the decal thing. As I ready myself to try it: set up my table, pool out the polishes, line up my dotting tools and grab my stampers; I shrug off the feeling and finish with a traditional stamp. 

Well…alright. Next time?

 

There are quite a few challenges taking place in the Instagram world right now and I am picking and choosing which to participate in.

Today’s/yesterday’s (by the time I snapped photos, uploaded and edited them I was too exhausted for words) look combines the #dreamnailschallenge (cats) and #glamnailschallenge (paws).

While it is not too surprising I own multiple paw print and feline stamps, which I accumulated randomly over the last few years, it is surprising how difficult it was to choose the final products.

In the end, I decided on a mix of easy water decals and my Born Pretty Store (BPS) kitty plate. I filled in they eyes with a teal as Sunsilk’s pupils are rimmed with that exact color. This is my first first attempt at full nail stamping decals and I have to say they came out pretty well! Execution could use a little work; I was so upset when I used too much acetone during cleanup and dissolved portions of the decal! No matter, I just need more practice!

 

kitteh decals inspiration

I hope you like it!

 

Kitteh Stamping and Water Decals Nail Art | The Rite of AgingBase: Barry M Chai

Stamping: BPS plate BP-59, Essie Naughty Nautical, Konad Special Polish Black

Water Decals (paws): Pueen Cosmetics

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

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