Blood Splatter Halloween Nail Art Tutorial

I must confess that I was originally going to do a different design on each nail in the name of Halloween. However, my nail art pens were leaking and it wasn't pretty. One of the nails was going to be blood spatter from the Refinery 29 nail art inspiration. Another was going to be a mummy nail. I kept the mummy nail and did the rest blood spatter. Since this is so messy... I decided to use gloves!

I used Essie's "Marshmallow" as my white base color. It really helps to wait a good 10 minutes in between coats to build up the color; white can be tricky.

The next step can be quite messy. Lay down lots of paper towels and tape off around your nail. I cut holes in latex gloves (blood spatter nails and latex gloves lol!) to protect the rest of my hands. Then splatter away! I used Nailtiques "Havana" which is a deep red color.

Let the nails dry.

Peel the tape off and clean up around the nail.

For the "mummy" nails I cut French tip stickers and criss-crossed them.

I feel like the mummy nail kind looks like a bandage, which gives it a creepier effect... I like!

Voila! If think that this manicure not only work for Halloween but gives a Dexter vibe (lol!)

How did you celebrate Halloween on your nails?

CityFabric's 'Wear You Live' Tee

My sister introduced me to this Kickstarter by CityFabric to show Wear You Live. Their goal is to get people talking about their community. They make tees, tote bags, and even pillow cases. They were really cool about updating us on the progress. They would send emails of photos of the shipping warehouse saying "600 more orders going out!" I really felt a part of the company.

Depending on how much money you pledge, you get certain items. I pledged $25 so I got a tee and the basics, which include stickers and a pin.

They started project in Raleigh but everyone was asking about the shirts so they decided to expand. They are available in 12 cities but of course I chose Manhattan. I told them what part of the city I lived and they created a map.

I love the t-shirt! It's so soft and I love that it is personalized. Very few people will have this t-shirt which I love and I'm sure it will be a conversation piece.

You get a sneak peek at my Halloween nails which will be posted about tomorrow!

Get 20% off your purchase with the code "KICKOFF20"

Great Reads of the Week: Halloween Edition

It's Halloween weekend - so excited! Here are some posts for you to enjoy:

- Fashion Me Chic agrees with Cathy Horyn during a recent interview where she encourages fashion bloggers to be reporters first. Do you agree?

- Stylish Thought gives 33 ways to find your passion - great tips!

- Average Girl's Guide shares the sad truth about serving sizes - good to know.

- Sugar and Spice shows us how to dress for work in the winter - will be needing this soon!

- Wardrobe Oxygen tells us how to wear formal fabrics before 5pm - definitely agree about sequins!

What are your Halloween plans?

Image via We Heart It

DIY: Pumpkin Body Scrub Recipe

Not Kim

One of the new job requirements working at Spa Week was becoming a spa chef! I created a recipe that featured pumpkin because of the many benefits it has for your skin.

What you'll need:

The recipe:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup granulated brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey

Feel free to change the amount of sugar. I like a lot of scrub so I added a lot plus some white cane sugar to add to the texture.

Doesn't it look yummy?

I did my usual shower routine but instead of using my body wash - I used my new pumpkin scrub. My bathroom smelled delicious! When I got out of the shower my skin felt like a baby’s bottom. I was very impressed by the softness. This scrub is great for getting rid of dead, dry skin.

Pumpkin is chock full of vitamins and is a rich source of nutrients and antioxidants to help your skin achieve a healthy glow throughout the season. I suffer from dry skin during these brutal New York winters so I’ll definitely be using this again.  I say don’t limit this recipe to just your body. You can add more honey to create a moisturizing face mask.

Would you give this recipe a try?

Check out Spa Week's blog!

I Want to Decorate Like Every Day is Halloween

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As I've mentioned - Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Especially for the decorating! My apartment consists of black furniture with skull accents. You've seen my: skull sheets, skull spatula and skull candle. So when Halloween comes around, I can find lots of items to decorate.

These are a few things my mom picked up for me this year: more skull candles, skull bowls, skull towel (which I display on my oven), pumpkin lights and of course I have to get a real pumpkin for the season.

Here are some decorative ideas I love:

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This is one of my favorite from Google image search (lol!) It's gorgeous!

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Do you take decoration inspiration from any holidays?

Top Wedding Moments From the Movies

I wrote a post for Wedding Wednesday on Spa Week's blog about the Top 10 Wedding Moments From the Movies - check it out!

What are some of your favorites?

Blake Bee Charming Event

One of the bloggers of the NYC Fashion Blogger Meetup Group, Blake of Style Island, makes charm jewelry on the side. She invited us to her home to do some shopping - all for a great cause. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so portions of the proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Such a fun project!

They graciously cooked us pink cupcakes and LOTS of goodies. Served pink cocktails in honor of the occasion.

Our goodie bags honored the occasion - pink!

I ended up ordering a personalized charm bracelet with a Statue of Liberty charm and a four leaf clover literally taken off the necklace I was wearing. The necklace is from my best friend so the charm means a lot to me so I can't wait to get it! It will be a great addition to my arm candy party.

Check out her eBay store "Beecharmer" to order your own!

I Will Not Be Dressing Like A Slut For Halloween... EVER!

I get so excited for Halloween! It is one of my favorite holidays - second to my birthday! It combines my two favorite things: candy and playing dress up (oh and skulls). I love fashion so of course I love dressing up. I am usually planning my costume WAY in advance. It's so much fun! You can make a witty commentary on some pop culture event or scare the crap out of someone. No other holiday allows you such pleasure.

As a kid, I was a devil 6 years in a row (slight exaggeration), a witch or some form of candy. I never really wanted to be the princess or bride unless it was a zombie bride. But even as a child, I knew there were other options for girls rather than princesses and fairies.

Now that I'm in 20s...Halloween has a taken on a whole new meaning. It is now the official holiday where girls dress like sluts. I'm not sure if women agreed to this idea or guys made an excuse to create a holiday around this. My sister was trying to find a costume for her office Halloween party and she said they were all inappropriate. Why can't a woman find a non-slutty costume? It doesn't exist. Yes, it forces to create original costumes ourselves. But the point is that Halloween stores market to women with the idea that they want to dress slutty. Someone must be buying them if they invent new ways to slutify (my own word) a costume every year.

Slutty Spongebob?!

Even if you Google female Halloween costume, this is what comes up:

I don't see anything I would wear. Why does Halloween have to be sexified? There are plenty of costume ideas for women that don't have to be slutty.

For example, one costume idea I have is "Chuck" from the NBC show with the same name but of course, the female version. All I need are black slacks, a white button up, converse sneakers and a tie. Done. Nothing slutty about that!

What are you dressing up as this Halloween?

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Mani of the Week: Newspaper Nails

I've been wanting to try this nail design for a long time. I saw an easy tutorial on Beautylish and thought I'd pass it along.

What you'll need:

- Rubbing alcohol
- Scissors
- Newspaper
- Paper towels
- Nail polish

What better color to help achieve this look than Zoya's "Dove" gray color.

Cut out newspaper clippings.

Lay the small newspaper square on your nail then wet the paper towel with the rubbing alcohol. Don't soak the paper towel, just gently dab.

Voila!

Would you give this nail art a try?

I-Ella.com's 4Aces Shopping Event

I haven't been to a blogger event in ages! I was invited to an I-ELLA.com shopping event hosted by the ladies of 4Aces, a blogazine, where we could shop the closets of New York celebrities. I had never heard of I-Ella before but it is a pretty amazing site. You can sell and shop people's closets online and 10% of the purchase goes towards the charity of your choice.

How gorgeous is this jacket?

A wall of shoes!

They were recently feature in InStyle's November issue in their Best of the Web, which I happened to have at home so I snapped a picture of it.

I chatted with Nydia Charles who is a (very pregnant) jewelry designer of her own namesake collection. She makes all the pieces herself and orders custom beads from India. She also names all her necklaces after cocktails like "Tequila Sunrise." Check out her collection on I-ELLA!

There were cards on the table with "5 Rules to a Better Closet" that I think are good rules to follow:

1. Edit your closet each Fall and Spring.
2. If you haven't worn it in a year, its time to sell, swap or donate. (I follow this rule!)
3. If it doesn't fit, let someone else benefit. 
4. Invest in the basics. Good quality basics, that is.
5. When you share your closet at I-ELLA.com, you're really giving back.

Have you ever shopped I-ELLA.com?