Guest Post: niftyBA!

Today's post is brought to you Ali from niftyBA!

Hello, all! I'm Ali from NiftyBa.com, and I am super excited to be here! I absolutely love Imperfectly Painted not only for her nails, but Stephanie tackles some tough issues that are rarely discussed in nail blogging. We're all unique, and Steph helps me (and many others!) feel accepted online. It's a tough place, yo! Thank YOU!

Anyways... we both live in Central Florida, which can be weird at times, but it has its perks! I'm not a hardcore Disney fan, but I adore it (the music is my favorite!) and I am lucky to have theme park passes. Just a couple of weeks ago, it was announced that three US Disney parks would start off summer with a 24-HOUR KICKOFF to begin 2013's Monstrous Summer celebrating the upcoming Disney-Pixar film, Monster University.

Three things immediately happened.
1. Whatever 5 year wedding anniversary plans that were in place for that same day went out the window.
2. I went into crazy "How do I survive Magic Kingdom for 24 hours?" preparedness mode.
3. I slapped on some Monster's Inc nail art.

The day after the announcement was made, I had already planned to go to Magic Kingdom. Being the dork that I am, I had to try "simple" Disney nail art (and I rarely do nail art). This one thing was so hard to do! Kudos to those who know their way around a brush! It made for great conversation, and I wore it for five days. My base is China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard, and Mike Wazowski is made up of Wet N Wild French White Creme, Black Creme, and Color Club Chelsea Girl.

   

 Hope this doesn't succeed in frightening you- I do not have a BA in Scaring!

When not jumping for OOTD pics on NiftyBa.com, Ali changes her nail polish every day and chooses the perfect outfit to match and then jump in. More often than not, you can find Ali nomming at food trucks with her husband, book wrangling at the public library, and hugging massive orange kittens. Follow her @nifty_ba on Twitter, or on Instagram (the best obsession ever!) @niftyba.

Thanks Ali!

Happy Tuesday!

Guest Post: Adventures of a Brand Stinking New Mom

Today's guest post is brought to you by Alicia from Adventures of a Brand Stinking New Mom. Alicia chose to share with us a great story about how she received her bottle of HARE Asteroid Turf!

A special HARE came to see me for Easter! 

Sometimes a small gesture can make a huge impact, even in the nail polish community. I am currently obsessed with nail polish, so much so, that even the Easter Bunny knew it! So what are the odds that that big ole hare dropped off some HARE polish while leaving the kids some goodies!

Hare polish is handmade by a brilliant lady named Nikole. Nikole is one of the nicest people around. After I told her about how desperate I was to get my hands on Asteroid Turf but could not pay ebay prices, she told me she would be restocking a few bottles at her shop. She told me to keep my eyes and ears open to announcements on facebook.

The stalking began!!! Asteroid Turf turned into my unicorn, my great white whale, my totally fat free cheesecake! A myth that could actually be in my reach?! Say it isn’t so!! Too good to be true!

Of course the restock happened while I was working! Well, actually while I was sleeping, because I work nightshift at a local hospital lab. I woke up in a haze and grabbed my phone, checked HARE etsy store, then HARE facebook page and saw I missed Asteroid Turf by just minutes!

I honestly thought I was going to cry! I wrote Nikole and told her I appreciated her letting me know that a very limited amount Asteroid Turf was being restocked, but I was too late. I overslept. The early bird catches the worm, and the late bird just sees the poop the early bird left behind after finishing his meal. 

Nikole was so sweet. She told me that she had one bottle set aside incase I contacted her saying I missed it. At that moment, I really did begin to cry!

That touched me to the core. I had been through so much recently trying to recover from a major car accident. I was blindsided by another vehicle, rolled over 3 times, landing upside down, and had to climb my way out of an inverted car. Everyone who came to my aid thought I was dead. They were shocked to see me sitting next to my car relatively okay.

I walked away with minor bumps, cuts and bruises, but my mind took the biggest hit. My emotions were all over the place, worse than when I was pregnant! It has taken many tears, panic attacks, counseling, and pretty nail polishes to get my mind at a somewhat normal state.

So, when Nikole did this out of the kindness of her heart for me, a total stranger, it really touched my soul. It wasn’t so much about the polish itself anymore. It was the fact that someone I would never meet face to face in my lifetime did something really nice for me. For crazy ole me! I will forever be thankful to Nikole for her small gesture that made such a big impact.

You can find Hare Polish at Llarowe.com and  http://www.etsy.com/shop/HAREpolish

Thank you Alicia! That is a wonderful story, and it reminds me of how wonderful many people are in the nail polish community. Be sure to follow Alicia on tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram! 

Happy Monday! 

Guest Post: My Life in Polish

Today's guest post is brought to by Sara from My Life in Polish!

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be guest posting here today. I'm Sara from My Life in Polish. This is my very first guest post and I could not be more excited for it to be on Steph's blog. She has been a true inspiration to me since I began this journey. I knew that I wanted to do something different for this but I'm terrible at nail art. I decided to try (yet again) a jelly sandwich. I haven't had much success with this yet. I do believe this mani changes that. I used three polishes to get this look. I know it's a lot but I think it was worth it. This is LCN Lilac Blossom (supposedly a dupe for OPI You're Such a Budapest), OPI Polka.com followed by a coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu. I love the finished look. It looks so soft, almost like it was just one polish rather than three. The first photo was taken in the sun. The second one was taken in the shade.

So there you have it. My first successful jelly sandwich for my very first guest post. Now I want to put Don't Touch My Tutu on everything! What's your favorite jelly sandwich combo? Thanks for reading. A big thanks to Steph for letting me post today. Have a great day!

Sara

Thanks Sara! Be sure to follow My Life in Polish on her blog and Facebook. 

Happy Friday! 

Guest Post: Refined & Polished

Today's guest post is brought to you by the lovely Lakeisha from Refined and Polished!

Hey dolls! It is my pleasure to provide a guest post for Steph as she moves and gets settled in to her new place. I’ve followed Imperfectly Painted for the longest and I’ve always admired Steph’s blogging style. Today I wanted to combine several shades that I feel always look good together, gold and turquoise. I started with a base of China Glaze Custom Kicks, a gorgeous turquoise with hidden gold shimmer. Next, I applied striping tape in a horizontal manner and then polished over it using a England Holy Grail (new edition), an antique gold metallic. On the other accent nail, I used one coat of Hit Polish Peacock Plumage, a gold, copper, turquoise, and purple glitter top coat.

I love the way this skittles mani turned out! Turquoise and gold pair so well together; they give off a very luxurious vibe. Striping tape has become my go-to form of nail art because of how simple it is to create versatile looks. I hope you all have enjoyed this guest post. Feel free to keep up with me on Refined& Polished, facebook, or instagram.

Thank you, Lakeisha! 

Happy Thursday! 

News & Updates

Next Monday, I'm going to be moving! Not far. I'm moving only about 10 miles from where I am now. I haven't ever shared why I'm moving on my blog, but those of you who follow me on Facebook know already. I don't share this for attention seeking reasons. This was seriously the craziest moment in my life, and it would be weird not to share it.

*Skip this next part to "Getting to the Point!" if you don't like long stories.

There is no way to put this lightly. There was a triple shooting/double murder in the apartment next door to me in February. I heard everything, it was behind the wall where we sleep. I wouldn't wish what I heard or saw that night on anyone. The event really shook me up, and I can easily say it was the most defining and terrifying moment of my life. I am safe. My bf and kitty are safe. I am thankful.

I have lived in this place for 6 years, no problems, but after this event I did some more research on my area and I was really ignorant to a lot of crimes that take place here. Since that one shooting in February there have been at least 3 other shootings within 2 miles of me (seriously what is wrong with people?---very sad). Also, living next to where something so horrific happened has left us pretty uneasy. Needless to say a move was in order!

Bf and I did some research on neighborhoods and found a place we like in early March. Yay! Sadly, the apartment complex I'm in now did not think murders next door to me was a reason enough to break a lease (really?!?) so we've had to wait it out.

Finally. the time has come and we move on Monday! My mom and grandpa are coming to help us move. Thanks for that!  We're actually moving about 3 miles outside of the Disney World area, so I'm very excited about that! I even heard that you can see Magic Kingdom fireworks from our complex. I SO hope that's true! Lots to look forward to. I'm not a big change person, but I think something new and different will be good.

Getting to the Point!

So, yes while we finish packing, move, and settle in, you will be graced on Imperfectly Painted with some lovely guest posters! The guest posts will start tomorrow. I'll still be around Facebook and Instagram, but I'm taking a break from blogging during this process. This means that this coming Sunday there will not be a Share With You Sunday. You can still submit your links if you'd like, but they will be posted on the following Sunday's post.

I will be back next Friday May 17th from my new headquarters! Yay! Let's hope my 3 Helmers full of nail polish can make it up 3 flights of stairs!

See you next week!

Happy Wednesday!