Nails and Ales

Uinta Brewing Co’s Dubhe Imperial Black IPA: Beer Fest...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:26:10 -0400

Uinta Brewing Co’s Dubhe Imperial Black IPA: Beer Fest Edition!

I apologize for being MIA this year, folks. Job searching and Winter hibernation have taken over my life lately but now that Spring is just around the corner, the beer and polish will flow! Last weekend I went to the NYC Craft Beer Fest and, as usual, had a flippin’ blast. I decided on Uinta’s Dubhe (pronounced “doo-be”) as my muse because 1.) the label is sweet and 2.) I just happened to have a bottle in my fridge that I bought a few months ago to use for the blog. It was meant to be! BUT, when I walked over to the Uinta table, I was saddened to see that the Dubhe tap did not have the label on it. SAD FACE. I had based the nails on the tap I found online, which is always a gamble when doing nails for a beer fest. This is just the first time I lost. Here’s an image of the tap, for reference:

Nails: Not going to do my usual step-by-step here because the coloring just wasn’t coming out right in the photos and it also would have been about 10 boring steps for you guys to read through. Instead, I’ll give the basics:

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Black Out and waited until it was completely dry. All of the next steps are simply layering acrylic paint. I painted the outline of the canyon first and once that dried, I added the black shadowing. Next, I added the orange sky streaks and once that dried, I painted the yellow accents. Last step was painting the stars with a very tiny dotting tool. I didn’t notice this until I read the beer description on Uinta’s website, but the stars are the big dipper! I love how all of these colors go together. I usually don’t like using flash when I take these photos, but it really made the colors pop! Here’s a daylight pic so you can see the difference:

Ale: Everything about this beer suggests that it would be extremely (almost too) heavy, but it is just the right amount of heavy, especially for 9.2%. It pours a very dark brown, almost black color with a medium head:

Smells like a sweet coffee stout and those scents linger in the flavor as well. The taste is just a perfect balance of sweet, chocolate, coffee, citrus and hops. I really don’t think I could get enough of this beer. They were pouring this at the spring seasonals beer fest and I think that’s a testament to the drinkability of this brew. I would definitely enjoy this in the dead of Winter or on a warm Spring day.

Who am I kidding? I would enjoy this beer every day if I could. Psssh.

Thanks to JGo for offering up her phone for pictures and sitting in my living room for a few hours while I ignored her and painted my nails instead. :)

Another thanks to all these jerks for coming to the beer fest and making it such a great time (and wearing my signature pretzel necklaces). And another thanks to JGo and Jenni for helping me make all of them!

Valentine Mani w/ Dugges Ale’s Idjit! Imperial...

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:40:48 -0500

Valentine Mani w/ Dugges Ale’s Idjit! Imperial Stout

Nails: Alright people. I put lots of pink and hearts on my nails for YOU this week. I don’t “do” Valentine’s Day (yeah, I’m one of those people, shut it) so you better appreciate this! And you better send me cards and teddy bears and flowers and chocolate. (“But Meg, I thought you didn’t ‘do’ Valentine’s Day?”) ;)

Enough with this lovey-dovey stuff. Let’s talk nails!

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Diamond Strength “It’s Chiff-on!”. Using a long, fine-tipped brush and acrylic paint, I placed a dot where I wanted to heart to eventually sit and from that dot I drew about 5-6 lines out to the edge of the nail. I filled in each of those lines so they were thinner out toward the edge and thicker as they came together.

Next, instead of using the same base polish to make the inner design, I mixed acrylic paint together to match the polish color (using the polish doesn’t work well because you would need to use 2-3 coats of it to get the same color). I used the same steps as the lighter color, but simply made the design smaller.

Once the hard part was over, I used a dotting tool and acrylic paint to add hearts in the center of each design:

Even though I’m not much of a hearts and pink person, I like that this design came out with a comic book feel to it, which I can dig!

Ale: I have used a Dugges beer for Nails and Ales in the past (here) and it’s easy to see why. These guys like to have fun with their labels but they’re also serious about their brews. This imperial stout is no exception to that rule. First sip of Idjit! felt like all of my taste buds got punched in each of their little taste bud faces. It pours very dark with little head and almost non-existent carbonation:

The nose is very strong, with sweet chocolate and coffee coming through immediately. It almost had a little rustiness to it as well. (Side note: I don’t know how long this beer had been sitting around, but looking at the browned price label on it, I’d say it was in the store for a while…) Coloring is a really nice deep brown. This is one thick, syrupy beer. Like I said, the first sip was a bit much, but then I was able to focus on the dark, bitter chocolate and coffee flavors. Everything was amplified in this stout. I also caught some licorice in there, which I am not fond of at all. Overall, it wasn’t the best dark stout I’ve had, especially because of that licorice. And at almost $20, I don’t think I would pick this one up again. 5 out of 10 nails!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Here’s an example of a valentine I will never give to anyone:

Electric Mani w/ 8 Wired Brewing Co.’s Super Conductor...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:34:24 -0500

Electric Mani w/ 8 Wired Brewing Co.’s Super Conductor Double IPA

Long time, no post! Hope everyone is having a lovely 2013. Let’s start this off with a “jolt” of fun! (Go ahead, you can boo at me for that one, I’ll allow it.)

Nails: Started off with 2 coats of Milani’s Breezy. Since this mani involves a tape design, you have to wait until the base color is COMPLETELY dry before moving forward (when I know I’ll be using tape, I try to paint the base the night before). Then I sketched a lightning bolt onto pieces of painter’s tape that were cut (with scissors or an x-acto knife) to match the length of every individual nail. The bolt should be placed so that it moves from one of the top corners to the opposite bottom corner:

Only work on one nail at a time, as you want to pull the tape off immediately after painting over it. If you don’t do that the paint gets tacky and when you pull the tape off, it will stick to it and ruin your nice, straight lines.

Next, using a very fine-point dotting tool and the same base color, I added some messy lines through the middle of the bolt. Using the same dotting tool, I used acrylic paint to add black lines on either side of the bolt and tiny red and white dots:

Clean up any rogue paint with an orange stick, cover it up with a thick top coat and you have yourself one “shocking” manicure! (I’ll be here all evening, ladies and gentlemen! Don’t forget to tip your waiter!)

Ale: This. Beer. Is. So. Good. It comes all the way from New Zealand, which is probably why I paid $16 for it, but damn…it was worth it. I’m a huge hophead so when I saw this “warning” label, I was happier than a pig in you-know-what:

Surprisingly though, this beer has an equally sweet side to it. The nose is pretty fruity, almost like blueberry. It pours a nice, foggy amber color with a small head that dissipates quickly:

The sweetness in the nose is not lost in the flavor. Yes, the bitterness is definitely there, but the sweetness pulls through and mellows it out in the most wonderful way. I am not a fan of fruity notes in my beer, but this just goes together perfectly. I wish I could get this beer at a cheaper price because it is now on the top of my list. If I ever find any of the other beers 8 Wired makes, I will definitely be buying them. This one gets a 10 out of 10!

Merry Christmas Mani w/ Great Lakes Brewing Company’s...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 11:36:07 -0500

Merry Christmas Mani w/ Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Christmas Ale

Merry Christmas people! I am currently visiting my family in the Cleveland area and, DUH, of course I chose Great Lakes Christmas Ale for my personal holiday mani. Us Clevelanders live for this beer. I don’t feel like spending my Christmas morning typing though, and I’m sure you don’t want to spend it reading this post, so here are a bunch of pictures! ENJOY!

Nails:

Final step: add the gold accents on the tops of the ornaments and the sides of the train, clean up any rogue paint around the cuticles, add a top coat and BOOM:

Ale: Like I said, Clevelanders live for this beer and I’ve had Christmas Ale too many times to count, so of course I’m going to give it a 10 out of 10. I do want to say that many people have told me they like Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas better. I hadn’t tried Thirsty Dog’s yet and yesterday I finally was able to do a side-by-side comparison. I’m happy to say that I still chose Great Lakes:

I can see why people would like Thirsty Dog more as it isn’t as sweet and still let’s that bitterness come through. I’m all for that, but when it comes to Christmas ales I like to embrace those sweet, warming flavors, which Great Lakes does oh so well. All hail the Christmas ale king!

And just for fun, here’s a picture of me with a junky Santa at the VFW in Mayfield a very long time ago. Why anyone would let their child sit on this man’s lap is a mystery to me. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Winter Wonderland Mani w/ Sierra Nevada’s Celebration...

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:16:00 -0500

Winter Wonderland Mani w/ Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale

Nails: I enlisted my friend Julia to be a nail model for this post and her choice of holiday brew was Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale which, surprisingly, I had never had before. The label proved to be a bit difficult to come up with a design for, as I had no choice but to paint something really literal and realistic. There was no way I was painting a log cabin on her nails, so I focused on the backdrop and the poinsettias. To start, I painted the thumbs, rings and pinkies with Milani’s Gold Glitz and the pointer and middles with Revlon’s Dreamer:

We’ll go over the snowy nails first. I used Sally Hansen’s White On to sponge an ombre fade onto the pointers and middles to act as the snow and then I covered it in Sally Hansen’s Angel Wings to add a little sheen to it (TIP: adding any light, sheen-y polish over an ombre really helps to smooth out the sponging and make it look a bit more blended):

I used dark green and light green acrylic paints for the tree colors. Using a small, thin-edged brush, I lightly covered the end in the paint (dab excess paint off on a paper towel) and VERY lightly dabbed the brush on the nail horizontally making each “branch” smaller as I worked up the tree. I used the lighter green for the smaller tree in the front to give the 2 trees some separation:

Moving on to the poinsettias…I mixed 3 different shades of red (light, med., dark). Starting with the medium red and a small brush, I painted the basic shape of a poinsettia. This first step won’t look so much like a poinsettia, but have no fear! Once the shading is added and you define the petals, it all comes together. Next step I used the light red to color in half of each of the large petals. Then using a fine-tipped brush (you could also use a dotting tool) I added a line down the middle of each large petal and the “veins” coming off of it. I also lightly colored over the little petals that lay lower in the flower to give them some depth. Using the same greens I used in the trees, I painted 2 small leaves on each. To top it off, I used some large glitter to act as the buds in the middle of the flower:

Top it off with a coat of Seche Vite and Julia was all set to go deck the halls! (Really? Could I GET any cheesier?):

Ale: So, when I see Christmas- or Winter-themed labels on beer, I assume it will have some of those classic Christmas ale flavors: nutmeg, cinnamon, honey…all the things that warm you up. I could also be thinking this because I’m from Cleveland and I was raised to bow down to Great Lakes Christmas Ale, but alas, I was surprised at the lack of those standard Winter warmer flavors. Putting that thought aside, this beer was GREAT. Beautiful deep amber color and a nice sweet, yet hoppy, nose:

I’m a huge hophead and Celebration definitely embraces them. It’s wonderfully balanced though, as there are hints of sweetness to it so the bitter hops, while still very strong in flavor, are never too overpowering. This would be a great year-round brew. I’m giving this one 9 out of 10 nails!

I want to thank Julia and Mike (my fellow beer nerds) for letting me invade their apartment! And for the lovely dinner that Mike made for us to pair with the beer: chicken stuffed with apples, fennel and gorgonzola, Brussels sprouts, and whipped sweet potatoes (TIP: if you forget to buy twine to truss the chicken, a few orange sticks will stand in quite nicely!). My friends are pretty dope:

Mr. H Mani w/ Tröegs Perpetual IPA Nails: The NYC Craft Beer...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:49:55 -0500

Mr. H Mani w/ Tröegs Perpetual IPA

Nails: The NYC Craft Beer Festival: Winter Harvest was held this weekend and I probably spent about 5 days going over all of the beers that would be in attendance and finally decided on Tröegs. I have been gravitating toward Tröegs lately and have been loving what they’re doing. They also have awesome labels, so I decided to take on this challenging design.

For those of you who don’t know who The Letter People are, I feel sorry for you. We watched this show in Kindergarten and I just realized that this label reminds of Mr. H, who had horrible hair. Let me introduce you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy4vCYoIQcY

I even dressed up as him for Halloween when I was 6. No, I don’t have a photo to show you (trust me, I wish I did…) So there’s my reasoning for the mani name and here’s how I did it: started with 2 coats of Petites Color Fever in Vintage Gray:

Next I used Sally Hansen’s Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue for the blue hair in the background. Using a small dotting tool, I started in the center of the nail and just made some squiggly (getting super technical here…) lines heading outward. I decided to do a literal take of the label on my ring finger, so I made a blue triangle in the center of that nail:

I mixed some acrylic paint for the next color, as I didn’t have a polish that matched and simply did the same thing as the blue:

Final step for every nail except the ring finger was to add gold dots to mimic the gears in the label:

For the ring finger, I placed gold dots for the “eyes” and “mouth” gears and then I filled them in with a smaller dot of blue. In the blue triangle, I repeated the eyes and mouth dots and added another small red triangle (if you can’t see on the label, they make the image go on and on in the red triangle, like an infinite mirror). I then added the tap coming out of the mouth and the beer below it. Here’s the process:

This was a pretty intense design that was difficult to do and I think it would have been much better if I had a bigger canvas to work on. Thanks to the guy running the Tröegs taps for letting me get in his way while I snapped some photos!

Ale: I was pretty surprised at how light and golden the coloring was. The nose was hoppy, but also very sweet. That sweet smell doesn’t come through in the flavor though, as it’s a very hoppy and bitter beer. Mmmm. There was a good amount of carbonation which added a nice feel. I had heard this was a great IPA and those people were not lying. Next time I see this on tap, it will be in my hand shortly thereafter. 9 out of 10 nails!

Thanks for another amazing beer fest, Hand Crafted Tasting Co.! This was my 3rd or 4th NYC Craft Beer Fest and they never disappoint.

Swirl Mani w/ Anchorage Brewing’s Galaxy White...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 13:08:58 -0500

Swirl Mani w/ Anchorage Brewing’s Galaxy White IPA

I’m gonna get crazy today and review the beer first…hold onto your hats, people!!

Ale: Here’s something that will tickle your funny bone (or make me look like an idiot. Either way…I do it for your enjoyment. Don’t you ever forget it):

I have never had a beer from Anchorage Brewing before. This label caught my eye and then I got REALLY excited when I saw that it was a white IPA, which has been on my list of “MUST DRINK ALL OF THEM!” for a while. The label states that this beer was “Bottled with Brett” and there is an image of a man’s head next to it. Here it is:

I thought that meant that this Brett character helped them bottle the beer. “Hmm,” I thought to myself, “Brett must have some REALLY special bottling skills! I wonder if he’s single…” What? Anyway, I’m not kidding when I say that I thought Brett was a person. Only after I drank the beer and started doing some research did I realize that I really have a lot to learn.

“Brett” stands for brettanomyces which is a yeast that grows on the skins of some fruit (grapes in particular) and can be used in wine-making and beer brewing (although it is more welcomed in wine and considered more of a contaminant in beer). When it comes to beer, it is used most commonly in Belgian ales and here is where I put 2 and 2 together and realized why I don’t like Belgian beers.

The nose of Galaxy is unforgiving. It reminded me of a baby changing station and it was difficult to take my first sip. I couldn’t shake it. A review on BeerAdvocate.com says “the brett really shines with a moderate light horseblanket covered in barf with underlying peppercorns.” And then he gave the beer 4.75/5. People be cray. This is simply not a flavor I am willing to accept in my mouth. This beer had too many Belgian qualities and I was hoping for a bit more of those bitter IPA tones to come through. As it warms, it gets a bit more bearable with fruitier notes and a more subtle brett flavor. Very large, soapy head on the pour and a nice stinging carbonation that reminded me of champagne:

All-in-all, it was a challenging beer to drink with many different flavors and surprises throughout (albeit some funky ones). I appreciate the complexity of this beer and if you’re a fan of witbier, than this might be the beer for you to explore. I give it 4 out of 10 nails. Also, Anchorage Brewing has a really awesome site. Go check it out: http://anchoragebrewingcompany.com/beers

Nails: This label is pretty intricate, but I couldn’t resist. I wanted to go all out and recreate the hop vine swirls on all of the manis but once I saw the simple green swirls on their own, I decided to stick with a couple accent nails and rock this mint/chocolate look. I might do this same design for X-mas but with red and white to give it a peppermint look. I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure in Haute Chocolate:

Then, using Sally Hansen’s Nail Art Pen in green, I drew a green hop bud on each nail and swirls coming out of the bud in a counter-clockwise direction. After each nail had dried, I went over the green for a second time to make the color a bit stronger:

On the ring and thumb nails, I used a black nail pen to outline the bud and each swirl and add some details to make them look like vines:

(Forgive my cuticles…being a Browns fan during football season = bad cuticles.)

Final step was using a dotting tool and some white polish to place some white dots throughout the swirls and there you have it!

On another note: As some of you know, I live in Brooklyn, NY. Last week we saw some pretty intense damage to our surrounding areas due to Sandy. Jersey Shore, the Rockaways, Red Hook, Long Island and many other areas are devastated. A nor’easter is hitting us today as well and people are still without power and heat. While a lot of people have gone back to normal life, there are still many that will not be able to do that for quite some time. Help is still needed and here is an article that outlines various ways you can help: http://gothamist.com/2012/10/30/heres_how_to_volunteer_time_money_t.php

Suck it, Sandy.

Jack o’ Lantern Mani w/ Southern Tier’s...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:04:00 -0400

Jack o’ Lantern Mani w/ Southern Tier’s Pumking

Nails: Pumking is my favorite pumpkin ale and I hadn’t had one yet this season, so I went with it for my Halloween post. It’s just an added bonus that Southern Tier has well-designed labels! (And not just this beer, all of them. I wanted to do their Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale for 4th of July, but couldn’t find it…) While I’m still not sure if I’m happy with the outcome of this mani, it was a good learning experience. It was my first time doing a…I don’t know, what would you call this? A “puzzle” mani? Sure, that sounds good. It was my first time doing a “puzzle” mani and I plan on trying some more in the future. I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed:

To get the tree bark look in the background of the label, I used Sally Hansen’s Crackle Overcoat in Snow Blast:

TIP: I haven’t used a crackle coat since they first came out on the market (I want to say in the 90’s?) so this was a fun little blast from the past. I have to say the polish is quick to get chunky and I found it very helpful if I put the cap back on and shake the bottle after every 1 or 2 nails I painted. You also don’t need to use a thick coat at all, but I guess it all depends on how much you want the crackle color to cover the bottom color. I didn’t want it to cover the orange very much, so I applied very thin coats and still got plenty of white coloring.

After the base was set, I used a black Sally Hansen nail art pen to draw on the eyes and mouth of the pumpkin:

To make the mouth part easier on myself, I downloaded a photo of the pumpkin and flipped it upside down on my computer so that I could hold my nails in a more comfortable position to draw on:

Yes, that’s a cat riding a piece of bacon in space. Get over it. After the eyes and mouth were drawn, I slapped on a thick top coat and we were all set to go trick-or-treating! (or sit back and finish my Pumking…)

Ale: I can remember the first time I tried Pumking. It was fall of 2008 and we were on a NY Craft Beer Week bar crawl in Park Slope. One of our stops was The Gate (awesome place to drink some awesome and not-so-easy-to-find beers on tap) and Pumking was one of the 3 or so beers they offered for the crawl. It was love at first taste and it has remained my go-to pumpkin ale since that day. The bottle instructs you to pour this beer into a goblet but alas, my apartment is goblet-free…

Pumking pours a very bright, beautiful orange/bronze color with little to no head. There is medium carbonation and the nose smells EXACTLY like pumpkin pie. Strong cinnamon smell with the rest of the classic pumpkin pie flavors: nutmeg, clove, ginger, allspice and vanilla. With the nose, I would worry that the beer would be too sweet, but it’s definitely not. The cinnamon still carries through in the taste, but there is a very balancing bitterness to this beer that evens out the sweet notes. I’ve had many pumpkin ales and some are too sweet while others are too bitter. Southern Tier really got it right with this one. 9 out of 10 nails!

And here’s a pic of Chuck “helping” me carve the pumpkin…or contemplating how to use that knife on me:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

LA Manis w/ Eagle Rock Brewery’s Revolution XPA and...

Sat, 20 Oct 2012 09:57:57 -0400

LA Manis w/ Eagle Rock Brewery’s Revolution XPA and Populist IPA

Ahhhh, LA. Land of beautiful people, beautiful landscapes and beautifully fresh air:

(Let’s just say it was foggy that day, ok?) This was my first time spending a decent amount of time in LA and it was quite a blast. I chose Eagle Rock Brewery as my muse this week and I am so happy I did, for so many reasons (more on that later). I was staying with my friend Danielle this week and she was gracious enough to let me paint her digits for this post (THANK YOU D!).

Populist IPA Nails:

We started out with Dashing Diva’s Grand Central Station on every nail except the ring, which we painted with Essie’s Sand Tropez (2 coats each):

Next, I painted every nail diagonally with the opposite color using the polish brush (again, 2 coats):

Third and final step was using a very tiny dotting tool to paint the wheat design on the ring and pinky fingers (again, using the opposite colors). I just followed the pattern on the bottle as much as I could:

Revolution XPA Nails:

I went a little crazy with this one. Took me 3 hours to complete and it was the night before my flight…not the greatest time management ever. I actually ended up doing this manicure TWICE; once before my trip and once right after because I didn’t get any good pics of it while I was in LA and by the time I got home, the mani was a mess. Oy. My back hurts.

I painted every nail with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Cherry Red and the pinkies got 2 coats of Essie’s Sand Tropez. Then the fun began. I started with one shade of red acrylic paint and used a small, flat brush to paint 3 small triangles on each red finger. Then I mixed another color into that batch (white, peach or a different shade of red) and paint 3 more triangles on each nail. Each shade of triangles should be sporadically placed, but placed within a patterned grid. As long as you have slightly different shades of red each time, you’re good. I only mixed one batch of color and painted every nail before changing the shade because I didn’t want to risk the paint drying out while I worked. I used about 5 different shades of red. Here they are from the first step to the last (sorry, not the best lighting here…):

Of course, once all is said and done, I clean up around the nail with an orange stick dipped in remover. Then I used a very tiny dotting tool to paint the wheat graphic on each pinky. 3 hours later!:

And just for reference, here are all the supplies I used for these manis:

Ales: Eagle Rock Brewery was established in ‘09, but you wouldn’t know it by the taste. The brewery is nestled in the bowels of LA (am I allowed to say that? I don’t even live there…it felt tucked away though. Don’t be mad, almost all of Brooklyn can be considered “bowels”). Aw shit, I just offended 2 majors cities. This post really is full of multiples!

Anywho, website said the brewery opened at 4pm and as my friend Ed (THANKS ED!) and I pulled up at 4:05, we wondered if we’d be those weirdos waiting for the doors to be unlocked so we can get our fix. Nope. The place was almost full! I soon realized why. Almost all beers on tap were $5 and you can get a nice flight for $2 per beer. Also, they were all amazing. Here are some pics:

Above is the flight. I chose (from left to right) Solidarity Black Mild Ale/Manifesto Wit Bier/Revolution XPA/Populist IPA/Nitro (I think was Double IPA)/Unity 2012 Berliner Rye w/ Prickly Pear

Not going to review them because that would be a lot, but they are all worth trying, no matter what your style preferences may be.

The more I look at these labels, the more I love them. I’m big on clean lines and geometric shapes. These labels simply have a nice, clean design. We bought the pint glass because it was so pretty. Multiple people have said they like it!

The Populist IPA: Since this was the beer I used on Danielle’s nails, I asked for her input (keep in mind, her fave beer is Bud Light.) She said the color looks like “my pee after a good night.” Her beer reviewing career is off to a running start, folks! Needless to say, I stopped asking questions after that one. Love you, D.

Being in NYC, I don’t drink west coast IPAs very often, so it’s a somewhat new experience for me. This brew has a hazy golden color and a small head that dissipates quickly. Medium carbonation and a sweet, fruity, hoppy nose. Even with the fruity notes, the taste was still rather bitter and full of hops (which most of their beers carried…and I don’t mind at all). Overall, it was a well-balanced (west coast) IPA. 7 out of 10 nails!

The Revolution XPA:

Due to the focus of malt in typical pale ales, I don’t usually gravitate to them. Revolution is different though. It is very bitter and hops are definitely present. The nose seemed to be non-existant. Color was golden and very translucent. At first taste, the hops are in the forefront and there is not much else, but as it warmed I picked up a sweeter, honey-like flavor. It was delicious and surprising for a pale ale so I’m giving this one 8 out of 10 nails.

A note about Eagle Rock Brewery: Eagle Rock has a female co-founder, Ting Su, and she does a lot to help educate women about beer, which I love. I came across a lil’ documentary on her in which she and her husband (another co-founder, along with his father) talk about how the brewery was founded and about the rarities of female brewery owners. Check it out here: Ting: A Documentary

While at the brewery I met Jerry and Andrew manning the taps (forgive me if I got your names wrong!) and I want to thank them for their enthusiasm about this blog! You guys rock and I hope to visit again soon. Cheers!

Gust Mani w/ Birrificio del Ducato’s Sally Brown...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 08:55:26 -0400

Gust Mani w/ Birrificio del Ducato’s Sally Brown Caffè Baracco

Nails: It’s Fall and starting to get a tad chillier outside so I chose this coffee ale because the flavor would fit the season…it was an added bonus that the label does the same! The brownish-green background of this label screams Fall and the white/yellow brush strokes remind me of illustrations of gusty wind.

I picked up a bottle of Sally Hansen’s Magnetic Nail Color in Golden Conduct last week and decided that this would make for the perfect base for this design as it helps to add some texture to the background. This polish is pretty great and I even wore it last week on its own because it makes such a cool design. It’s a super easy way to add a little flare to your nails! You basically paint one nail and immediately place a magnet (provided with the bottle) over your nail for 10 seconds. Lift up the magnet and, voila, you have nail art! The only issue I have with this polish is that the magnet should be curved to fit the shape of your nail. Right now it’s flat and that means that sometimes the sides of your nails will not get the design (especially on your larger thumb nails). That’s ok for this mani because I would be painting over the sides a bit anyway:

Next, I mixed together some white and yellow acrylic paint to make a light yellow (the color of the brushstrokes on the bottom of the label) and I used plain white to paint the other strokes. I had practiced this mani with a small brush at first, but I found that by using a very tiny dotting tool I was able to control my design a bit more and I still got a brushstroke look:

You can be a bit loose with this design, as the label doesn’t warrant a very precise look:

Ale: I lurv me some coffee, not just for the caffeine but for the wonderful smell and flavor. When I stumble upon a really great coffee porter or stout, I am in heaven. I was curious about Birrificio del Ducato’s Sally Brown here because it is labeled as an “ale brewed with coffee.” You don’t usually think of this beer style being paired with this kind of flavor (or at least I don’t):

The head is frothy like a Coke and it quickly dissipates. Color is a very deep brown, again like Coke. The nose is coffee and sweet chocolate through and through. At first taste, there is a punch of flavor (again, coffee and chocolate) but that quickly gives way to a very watered down aftertaste. It’s a very thin beer in flavor and consistency (although it does have medium carbonation, which can give it the illusion of being a bit thicker for a second). When I think of coffee flavor in beer, I think of porters and stouts and I think of thickness. While Sally Brown had some flavor, it lacked in body. I’m going to give this brew 4 out of 10 nails.

Been sick this week so no new nails, but I did want to give a...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:19:06 -0400

Been sick this week so no new nails, but I did want to give a shout-out to @sallyhansen for the most amazing swag bag EVER. (Cat not included) I don’t want to do anything but stay home and paint! Thank you! (Taken with Instagram)

“Owlsome” Mani w/ Hitachino Nest White...

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:29:58 -0400

“Owlsome” Mani w/ Hitachino Nest White Ale

Nails: This beer has been hanging out in my fridge for months now so I’ve had plenty of time to think about this one. Of course you’d look at the label and automatically want to paint the owl but that was intimidating to me and it seemed like it would be a lot of work and, let’s face it, sometimes I can be a lazy asshole. So there the beer sat until this week when I realized it was the only beer left in my fridge (I haven’t gone to the store in…a while), so Hitachino Nest it was!

I love the blue colors that make up the background of this label, so I started with 2 coats of Dashing Diva’s Water Taxi as the base for 4 nails on each hand and Sally Hansen’s White On on one nail per hand for the owl:

To mock the brick-like design, I used Sally Hansen’s Bluetylicious. I started out trying to simply use the bottle brush to make the small rectangles, but quickly learned that a dotting tool made this task much easier by giving me more control. The design is a bit messy itself, so there’s no need to make perfect rectangles here:

After the easy step, I moved onto the owl accent nails. I applied red acrylic paint with a very tiny dotting tool to draw up the eyes and wings of the owl and then went back over those parts with a bit of white to add the details. Here’s a pic of the final owls (pointer finger on my left hand and the pinky on my right hand):

It didn’t turn out to be too difficult to paint and, again, using a dotting tool instead of a brush made things much easier. I also have an extremely tiny dotting tool, which was a blessing. I thought that these owls on my nails would be too kitschy for me, as I like prefer to use more designs/patterns on my nails instead of literal interpretations of labels, but these owls are too adorable to hate!

Ale: I have used a Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale beer for Nails and Ales in the past (which you can see here) and I loved it. The White Ale was a different story. I’m not sure if it was the witbier qualities of this beer (my tastebuds gravitate away from that genre…) or if sitting in my fridge for 4 months altered it, but the flavor was not up my alley. This beer pours a very hazy, dull yellow with barely any head:

The nose was sweet and herbal. The mouthfeel was intense and almost had a stinging quality to it. Coriander and nutmeg were pretty prominent to me at the beginning of the sip but then the taste trailed off with citrus notes that seemed watered down. I’ll admit that it was interesting to drink this beer, although the flavors aren’t my jam. I would think that a person who likes Belgian beers would be pretty intrigued by this Japanese take on the style. I give this one 5 out of 10 nails. Hoot!

Browns Tailgating Mani Taking a different route this week and...

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 09:33:00 -0400

Browns Tailgating Mani

Taking a different route this week and forgoing the normal step-by-step and beer review that I usually do (unless you REALLY want me to review Bud Light…) and simply posting some nail and football porn. If you don’t know already, I am a huge Cleveland Browns fan and I try to make it back to Cleveland every year for the home opener. Why I would do this is anyone’s guess, as we have only won ONE home opener in the past THIRTEEN years. Being a Browns fan makes me a stronger person…or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

I celebrated my early season optimism by paying tribute to my team on my nails. Those little Browns helmets were the bane of my existence, but they didn’t turn out too bad. My only regret is that I should have painted them facing the other way so they wouldn’t be upside-down while drinking beer. It kind of worked out though because, if you look hard, the helmet on the field was upside-down from my seats anyway!

Below is a shot with the Muni Lot (Cleveland Browns tailgating headquarters) in the distance. I was going to use Great Lakes Brewing’s Cleveland Brown Ale for this mani pairing, but it turns out they don’t sell it in bottles anymore…so I settled for this lovely can of Bud Light, which matched perfectly! (judge-free zone):

Here are some nail-free shots for ya, in case you would like the full tailgating experience:

(yes, that’s a meatloaf stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon.)

On that note….GO BROWNS!

Antique Mani w/ Dogfish Head’s 75 Minute IPA Nails: Hello...

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:47:53 -0400

Antique Mani w/ Dogfish Head’s 75 Minute IPA

Nails: Hello strangers. Sorry I completely biffed on posting last week. I had painted my nails for this Dogfish brew, but they just weren’t what I wanted. So I tried again last Friday with a different spin. Wore them for a night and, again, it just wasn’t right. I was feeling like fuckin’ Goldilocks here. Finally, last Saturday morning I got it juuuuust right and here we are! To be honest, I think I was so anal about this look because I spent $22 on this 22oz. bottle of beer. Let’s do some math, kids. That is 1 dollar per OUNCE. Whaaaat?! Still undecided on whether or not it was worth it, but the label is so beautiful I just couldn’t resist:

One would look at this label and think “Oh, well of course you should focus on the stars and hearts for the nail design!” Well, I’m not into stars and hearts and shit. I really loved the antique look of the label, so I focused on that. I started with 2 coats of Dashing Diva’s Bluetylicious:

The next step really threw me for a doozy. I thought I had the PERFECT way of getting the antiqued look: crumple up a piece of paper, dip it in gold polish, and dab on my nails. Nice try, Meg. That looked like shit, so then I got creative and tried to use the pumice stone collecting dust in my shower. Another bust. Finally I went searching for a sponge. The only one I had was all beat up and living in a dark corner beneath my kitchen sink. I still tried it (don’t judge) and that too did not look right. At this point, I’m 12 ounces deep in a 7.5 abv and things are looking bleak.

As I sat there and stared blankly at my cat hoping he would give me a brilliant idea, I noticed the paper towel I had been using to paint on. LIGHT BULB. I ripped off a small square, dabbed some gold polish on it, and gently dab-rolled it over a nail. It was perfect (don’t mind my stubby thumb nail. I sliced it off with a knife while chopping some veggies):

I just bought Milani’s Gold Glitz that week and it was the perfect polish for this. It’s a brilliant gold sparkle with a hint of red, which is exactly what the label has. I made a video to show you guys how to do this, but it was taken with the cam on my computer and it looked stupid and the soundtrack was Mike Birbiglia’s “Sleepwalk with Me”. (which actually made for a funny combination, but alas). I promise videos are on their way, but it won’t be until October, so hold onto your horses.

In the meantime, if you want this look, take a small piece of paper towel (the kind I used had larger divots in it, which I think would work better than smaller) and paint some gold polish on it. Then, dab it lightly with another piece of paper towel to get off any large globs of paint. Next, lightly roll the paper from one side of the nail to the next. You should be done at that point but if you notice some areas that didn’t get covered with the design, go ahead and dab the paper towel straight up and down over that specific section (try not to dab over the areas that were already covered, as this will simply make it look like a solid layer of glitter on your nail.)

Next, I painted the pinky nail with the Gold Glitz and used brown acrylic paint and a teeny brush to paint a zig-zag down the center. Then I used a VERY teeny dotting tool and a lighter gold polish to add the small dots along the zig-zag path to mimic the border of this label:

And there we have it. What a road it’s been! Here is the final look:

But to REALLY complete it…

(How could I resist?)

Ale: My friend recommended this beer to me because of the awesome label, but also because of the fact that he really really loves it. I am a fan of Dogfish’s 60 minute IPA, so I decided to check it out for myself.

The color is a very hazy orange and it pours with an EXTREME head, as shown above. It was very frothy at first and then thinned out along the edge of the glass into big airy bubbles, while remaining frothy and thick in the middle:

Haven’t seen anything like that in a while! The nose was sweet and tangy and the carbonation stung my tongue. The initial taste is smooth and sweet (due to the maple syrup they use in it), but that quickly turns bitter with a sharp bite to it. The aftertaste goes right back to smooth and sweet, which is surprising. It’s definitely a roller coaster for the tongue! I’ve had the 60 minute before, which I love, but when I’m looking for something more and I drink the 90 minute, it tends to be too much. The 75 is a “juuuust right” blend of the two. (FULL CIRCLE!) high five. Dogfish 75 is getting 8 nails out of 10 from me!

Tat Mani w/ Shmaltz Brewing Company’s Coney Island...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:36:00 -0400

Tat Mani w/ Shmaltz Brewing Company’s Coney Island Lager

Featuring a trip to Coney Island! Photos by the amazing Daniel J. Moody. Check out his work HERE.

Nails: My coworker, Kate (thanks Kate!), gave me this beer for my birthday and I immediately knew what I was going to paint. I know the label is very colorful and fun, but I was drawn to the tribal tattoos on the face of the label (Shmaltz actually collaborated with a Brooklyn tattoo artist to design them, according to the site). I opted for a nude base (Essie’s Sand Tropez) on every finger except the pinky, where I planned to showcase a nautical star tattoo over red (Sally Hansen’s Cherry Red):

To draw the tat lines and dots, I used Sally Hansen’s Nail Art Pen in black (Thanks for the gift, J-Go!). Like I mentioned earlier I drew a nautical star on each pinky, which took some practice rounds on paper before committing to the nail. As for the rest, I really didn’t have a set design for each nail going into it. I had never used a nail art pen before and it worked quite well, fyi. They work MUCH better on completely dry nails though. I just made up each design as I went, using the bottle for reference:

This mani was definitely a test of my…ambidextrous-ness? Ambidextrosity? (According to Merriam-Webster, that is actually a new word. You learn something new every day.) I’m pretty good at painting with my left hand (honk honk, beep beep), but I hadn’t really tried something as intricate as this before. Here are my “painting with your non-dominant hand” tips:

TAKE YOUR EFFING TIME. Seriously, if you’re going to commit to something very time intensive, why rush? It’s just like relationships! HA! Just kidding, I know nothing about that.
Paint on a full stomach, but not one that’s full of coffee. Your non-dominant hand will already be shaky; coffee and/or an empty stomach will just make it unbearable.
Place the hand you’re painting into whatever position (no matter how uncomfortable) is most convenient for your non-dominant hand. Beauty is pain, right? Nod your head “yes” or else I will punch you in the face.

Here’s a photo to compare my right and left:

Well, that’s about it here since I can’t really talk to you about a specific technique because this is mostly freehand. Have fun with this. The nail art pens make lines so precise that it looks like you have a decal on your nail instead of hand-drawn art. I love this mani and was pretty upset when I had to take it off for next week’s post…but the good news about DIY nail art? You can do it again whenever your little heart desires!

Ale: I had tried Coney Island Lager years ago and I remember it not being a pleasant experience. Now I wonder why:

The nose is orange and rust and a bit abrasive at first. The mouth has a tangy, acidic flavor and light carbonation. There is a prominent malt presence. I found this beer to be oddly sweet in a way, despite it’s sometimes sharp flavor. I don’t know why I have a memory of not liking this beer, as it really enjoyed this time around. It gets a solid 7 out of 10 nails.

PS: Dan and I stopped by the “world’s smallest commercial production brewery”: Coney Island Brewing Company, while we were out there. It is brought to you by Shmaltz and I can attest to it being, um, small. We walked into the space that was about the size of my living room (keep in mind I live in New York…my living room is not large at all). It may have been smaller than that even. Anyway, one guy behind the bar and another standing in the “brewery,” which is essentially a metal countertop with only enough equipment to produce 1 gallon per brew. Here’s a pic of Dan and the brewery:

It smelled glorious inside; just like a freshly boiled mash. I came to find out that the man standing at the metal table did not work there. He was a guest brewer for the day and they had just finished brewing a saison. Turns out they let random home brewers come in and brew in their space. That’s pretty cool, Coney Island Brewing Company. We talked brews for a bit and then asked what we were allowed to drink. There were only 2 taps available but there was also a fridge full of Shmaltz beers and homebrews.

The guy running the place (shit, I forget his name. Sorry if you’re reading this!) was awesome. He offered us his personal concoction: a beer brewed with chili and pink peppercorns. Of course we said yes:

We also got the Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale:

Both were delicious, but the chili beer blew us both away. It was the last bottle he had (seriously, thank you) and we are willing to go all the way back to Coney to drink some of the next batch! All-in-all, an amazing day in Coney Island.

THANK YOU MAN DOODY!

To see the entire photo album, go here!

Special Edition Newport Folk Festival Hurricane Mani w/ Newport...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:19:00 -0400

Special Edition Newport Folk Festival Hurricane Mani w/ Newport Storm

Nails: Ahhh…the Newport Folk Festival. One of the best weekends of the year. Awesome music, awesome scenery and awesome vibes from everyone. It truly is a magical time. I mean, check out this dude chillin’ in a dinghy like he doesn’t have a care in the world:

It doesn’t get much better than that. In the past few years, Magic Hat has been the official beer of the fest, but this year they went local and handed that title to Coastal Extreme Brewing (or The Newport Storm Brewery, as they are more commonly known). I had never heard of or tried any brews from these guys, as they do not yet distribute to NYC, so I did some photo research online and hoped to match my nails to some of their taps. I had no idea which beers they would be serving at the fest, so I simply used 5 different colors to make sure my bases were all covered! I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s White On:

From thumb to pinky, I used Sally Hansen’s Pacific Blue, New York Color’s Times Square Tangerine, Sally’s Green with Envy, Mellow Yellow and Cherry Red:

The nice thing about this mani is that you don’t need any special brushes or tools to do it, all you need is your bottle of polish. After the white has completely dried, grab a color and paint one half of the nail in an “S” shape pattern with the polish brush. It’s like a softened zig-zag movement that goes up-down-up:

Then do the other side following the same pattern, but leaving a bit of white in-between so the white looks like a thin hurricane symbol:

Annnnd here’s the final look!

The people manning the taps were super friendly and I want to say a huge THANKS to the Newport Storm team for letting me invade their space for a few minutes. You guys rock. We are planning on staying in Newport for a whole week next year, so I will make a point to stop by the brewery!

Ale: They were serving their Hurricane Amber Ale, Rhode Island Blueberry Ale and the Summer Hefeweizen. We all know how I feel about hefeweizens, so I only took one sip of that and I have to say that it wasn’t so bad! Very light and refreshing and not too heavy on that classic hefeweizen taste I despise.

The Amber Ale was my first try of the weekend while my girlfriends opted for the Blueberry Ale. The amber was delicious.

A nice deep copper color with a slight head and a somewhat light flavor for an amber ale, which made it the perfect beer to drink at a weekend-long festival. Definitely did not get sick of it. I brought some of these back home with me, so I’m trying it out of the bottle for the first time as I type this and I couldn’t stop thinking about how it reminded me of another beer, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

After a couple more sniffs and sips it finally it me; this stuff tastes like a less sweet and less thick Great Lakes Christmas Ale! One of my all-time favorite beers and that’s not just because I’m from Cleveland and you kind of have to love that beer if you’re from Cleveland. Definitely less honey and nutmeg flavors in the Hurricane, but it’s still slightly sweet, smooth and warming. I simply enjoyed this beer all-around.

The Blueberry Ale was had once by me and I probably would not have even tried it if it weren’t for my friends.

They loved this stuff. I tried one myself and agreed that it was a rather pleasant brew. I’m not a fan of fruity beers (hence me only having one or two glasses all weekend), but this was really nice. The nose was a really strong blueberry smell but the taste was not, which gave it a few extra points in my book. After trying all 3 of these beers, I can’t wait to visit Newport again and hit up the brewery. I’m going to give all 3 of these brews a combined 8 out of 10 nails. And I am now dubbing Newport Storm the Official Beer of FUN.

Thank you again to the folks at Newport Storm Brewery, the Newport Folk Festival and my friends for making that weekend one to remember! See you next year.

Surfs Up Mani w/ Ballast Point’s Pale Ale Nails: Took me...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 10:57:55 -0400

Surfs Up Mani w/ Ballast Point’s Pale Ale

Nails: Took me a while to figure out exactly what I wanted to do here, as I sure as hell wasn’t about to paint a fish on my fingers. I thought I’d paint the background blue and and do a white moon with rays, but that would just look like Sarita’s mani. So, I opted for a little bit more depth. I painted 2 coats of Sally Hansen’s Blue It and then I used some yellow acrylic paint in the bottom far corner of each nail to mimic the sun shining through the water:

Next, I painted 1 coat of Dashing Diva’s Water Taxi on top so the blue wasn’t so harsh:

Then I took on my handy-dandy fan brush to work on the “waves.” I love this brush for many reasons, but it’s so perfect for getting a fun swipe on your nails:

As you can see above, I mixed some white and blue together for a light blue color to start and I simply laid the brush flat and swiped from the bottom, far corner to the top near corner on each nail:

This light blue color is the base shade of the wave, so you can make this stroke a bit longer so it will peak through the next color. Next up was white (I waited until the light blue was completely dry). Same placement and motion, but a smaller stroke:

Those bottom corners where all the paint is were a bit sloppy, so I took a small-tipped brush and filled them in with white to make them clean, topped them off with Seche Vite and we were off to the beach! (I wish):

Most people who saw this mentioned right away that it looked like a wave, so my job here is done. You can do this in so many other fun color combos too. I just love the swipe method. Also, did you notice my new nail shape? I’m trying out the almond shape here a bit, as my nails are now long enough to do it. Not sure I like it…definitely feel like my grandma. Maybe it’ll grow on me.

Ale: Never had me a Ballast Point brew before (from San Diego), but they really love their fishies. All sorts of different ones on the label:

What is this guy? A yellowtail? I think so. Anyway, the beer wasn’t up my alley. It poured a cloudy yellow with minimal head. The taste of bitter dough and yeast were overwhelming. No traces of hops. I am definitely willing to try a different Ballast brew, but this one was not for me. I give it a 3 out of 10 nails.

Sorry this post was so short! I’m heading out the door right now to go to the Newport Folk Fest and ambush Newport Storm Brewery with my nails. Special edition post coming your way next week!

Hippie Mani w/ Ithaca’s Flower Power IPA feat....

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:08:38 -0400

Hippie Mani w/ Ithaca’s Flower Power IPA feat. Maggie

Nails: My first traveling NailsandAles! I went up to the Upper West Side last Saturday to paint my friend Maggie’s nails. She had this beer picked out for months (gotta love that)! We decided to try out the water marble technique, which I have never done before but thought it would be perfect for that 60’s look we were trying to accomplish.

First, you need to tape around the nail so you won’t have to spend a ton of time on clean-up later:

Our first “dip” was a bit of a fail:

The colors we used weren’t right here. They were also really light, so we did a base color of China Glaze’s Peachy Keen to help make the pattern pop a little more. The yellow and green were too similar and we also didn’t dip the finger in the proper area to get a good pattern. Placement is everything. So, we added an orange to the dip and thought a bit more about where we were placing the nail:

Pretty! Also, here’s an action shot:

It was really nice having other people there to take photos. (Thanks Alan!) Also-side note- I know that my next step has to be shooting video as pictures of these steps don’t really show people how to do them. I’m workin’ on it people, so just hold your horses! (but also be prepared for gratuitous action shots of my cat).

Moving on. Let’s talk about some tips here. You can Google “marble water nail art” to watch some videos on this technique but here’s what we found out:

* move fast. Before you start dropping paint in the water, make sure all the tops are unscrewed on the paint you’re going to use. You want to drop the paint really quickly because once this paint starts to dry, it’s difficult to draw a design into it.

* we used room temperature bottled water here and while I’ve heard you have to change it out after every nail, I was able to use the same water for at least 3 nails with no problem. Don’t waste water, people.

* I painted Maggie’s nails with a peach color before dipping them, just to get a more vibrant pattern, as the paint color thins out significantly after you drop it into the water. Darker shades definitely work better here.

* once you’ve “drawn” your design in the paint, choose your favorite spot to dip the nail. Don’t go dipping all willy-nilly, you don’t want to have to re-do anything.

Here’s the final outcome:

Love this look! There are so many things you can do to make this your own and every nail is going to look different. I used a dotting tool to paint a flower on the middle fingers and we were done!

Ale: The name and the label of this beer don’t really match the flavor. You look at this label and think “Hmm, it’s going to be fruity and sweet in flavor and maybe light and girly.” (ewwww, “girly”!) But then you take a sip and holy shit, it’s a really amazing and flavorful IPA.

As I have said before, IPAs are my fave so maybe I’m biased, but this IPA was just wonderful. Flower Power is Maggie’s favorite beer and I can see why. The color is this lovely golden amber and it pours with a light head and medium carbonation. The nose is very flowery, which I assume helped to give it its name, but the taste does not have that same flowery note. Perfect blend of hops and light citrus. Maggie noted that she actually isn’t an IPA drinker but she likes this beer because it tastes OF hops, but not LIKE hops and it almost had a wheat beer flavor coming through. As someone who loves the smell and taste of hops, Flower Power satisfied me. Maggie’s right, it’s not too strong, but it’s definitely there. An IPA that hop-haters and hop-lovers can both enjoy? We are one step closer to world peace, people (annnnd this post has come full circle). Flower Power gets a 9 out of 10 nails. And is Toby-approved:

(THANKS MAGGIE!)

Border Mani w/ Birra del Borgo’s Rubus Raspberry...

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 09:24:25 -0400

Border Mani w/ Birra del Borgo’s Rubus Raspberry Ale

Nails: This post took me weeks to complete. That’s sad. A couple weeks ago I sat down to complete this mani and decided to mock up the raspberries on the label (the photo is a negative and in green, so I actually didn’t know they were raspberries for a while…). So I painted my base in Sally Hansen’s The Real Teal and then I dipped a drinking straw into some acrylic paint and made a sort of chain-link design on the nails:

But it just wasn’t right. The paint I used was too red so I kept meaning to add some more pink to it but never got around to it. Also, people kept saying it looked like a turtle shell, which it did. I liked the design, but it just wasn’t working here. Eventually I had to take it off and I just got around to re-doing this one. “Second time’s a charm” is the saying, right?

Take 2: I painted a base of So Laque’s Rose Vamp (just one coat):

(Wait for this to completely dry or else the next step will be shit.) Then I used Sally Hansen’s The Real Teal and (very slowly) painted the inside of the nail, leaving a thin pink border (2 coats here):

After letting this dry, I used the pink again to paint a draped french tip. This was a pain, as this polish is on its last legs and trying to paint a design with sticky polish is the bane of my existence. I added some nail polish remover to the bottle to try and keep it alive for this mani and we barely made it through! Crisis diverted. As with every mani, I slapped some Seche Vite on top and we were off!

Ale: This was a gift given to me for my bday and the labels colors are so fun and perfect for spring/summer. Birra del Borgo is in Italy and after translating their website, here’s what you get:

“The love story all in pink between the Raspberries and the Duchess. Made sweeping adventure of spontaneous and controlled fermentation, passion and time. An extraordinary plot to Enjoy.”

haha, I fucking love that. Some things are better when they’re lost in translation.

As I do with most fruit-flavored beers, I expected the beer flavor to be at the front, with the fruit flavor playing a much smaller role. This was the complete opposite, but I love raspberries so I didn’t mind! The color is thick and dark, almost red:

Carbonation is at an extreme minimum, which is probably why this beer bottle comes with a reusable cap(!) as you could probably keep it for a couple days after opening. Rubus has a super authentic raspberry flavor with a tangy bitterness that makes you pucker after every sip (in a good way!) This is definitely more of a dessert beer or something to enjoy one of, very slowly. I really enjoyed this “le bizzarre” ale: 8 out of 10 nails.

PS- They have a beer called “Hoppy Cat”!! OMG. I’ll be looking for this one. In the meantime, here’s a pic of Chuck and my nails:

Happy 4th! At Kobayashi’s new hotdog eating contest....

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:26:13 -0400

Happy 4th! At Kobayashi’s new hotdog eating contest. #crifdogs #kobayashi