Tunes Tuesday: Lana Del Rey, "Once Upon A Dream"

In addition to "Manicure Monday," I want to start "Tunes Tuesday," where I'll be posting songs I'm currently loving! If you watched the Grammys the other night, then you likely saw the new promo for the new movie "Maleficent" coming out this summer. It. Looks. Awesome!!! The movie clips were set to a haunting version of the usually cheery "Once Upon a Dream," yet it was still hauntingly beautiful. I later saw the version was by Lana Del Rey and also figured out you can download it here for free through Google Play! Enjoy!

Red & Robin Mini Talons

After creating my "talons," I decided they needed some fancifying! I used my striping tape to create my points and did three nails at a time, giving them little time to dry in between, as to not have the polish stick to the tape and create a funky, thick line. Both polishes are OPI.. the red is classic Big Apple Red and the blue is odd... the bottle says it's Gargantuan Green Grape, but it's most definitely not, so I don't really know what color it is, but it is very pretty! I did three coats of the blue and waited a bit for it to dry, as to not spread the blue. As if this all wasn't enough, I added a rhinestone to each of my ring fingers, giving it a little pizzaz! I've gotten loads of compliments on them and absolutely love the color combo!

How to Do Mini Talons

I've been wanting "talons" for a while.. so bad that I've even considered getting acrylics (but nah). So, when my nails were a bit longer than usual, I decided to make them into mini talons! (Mini because they're not as long as regular talons usually are.) They're really quite simple to do if you have longer nails! Just clip both corners and file to rounded points! It's that easy! Decorated/finished talons ova here!

Winter White Nails

With this blast of cold weather we've had here (Florida), I figured my nails should match this wintry goodness! First I did two coats of Sally Hansen's White Out and let it dry for a little. Then I took Sinful Colors' Ice Dream and began my glitter ombre! My method: 1. Paint two coats of just the tips of your nails with the glitter. 2. After those coats are semi-dry, put a glop of the glitter on the tips again and lightly brush it back, towards your nail bed. 3. Touch up any areas that you feel don't have enough glitter. (I typically wipe as much excess polish as possible, so I'm left with barely any liquid on the brush, and just dab/wipe it towards the nail bed.) Seal with a top coat and done... winter wonderland on your nails!

Plum Opal Nails

Nail time! Currently I have this lovely NYC plumish wine color on (Manhattan #248). I love it by itself, but I wanted to add something, so I threw on this new China Glaze top coat I got (Luxe and Lush #1132) and love it! It reminds me of little opal flakes and what really impressed me was that it picked up the plum color! In the bottle they were sort of iridescent, but when I put it on, it reflected the plum! Can't wait to put it over different color polishes!

How To Unclump Polish

When I was doing my manicure from the other day and went to open my glitter polish, it was all clumpy and would be absolutely horrible for the thin lines I needed to do! After some research and recall of my paid manicure days, I figured out the perfect solution: nail polish remover. Sounds completely bizarre, but it really works! Add nail polish remover (I used non-acetone) to the clumpy polish and shake well. Add it gradually and shake in between so you're sure not to add too much! If you try it out, let me know how it works for you!

Golden Globes 2014

I absolutely LOVE award season, mainly the red carpet, and this past Sunday was the kickoff to award season: the Golden Globes! The Golden Globes are my favorite of all awards because it has the both the television and movie actors and some singers! (And also because Tina and Amy hosted and they're my faves.) I'd say it was definitely a good start for the season fashion-wise, however... ugh. I HATED all the slicked hair. Literally everybody had it and it made me cringe. But anywho, below are my most noteworthy looks, the good and bad. Let me know your thoughts! Who was your best dressed?

Taylor Swift - Carolina Herrera

So I’m definitely a pro-Taylor person and typically love everything she wears, since it’s mostly feminine and sparkly, and this dress was definitely included! Love the silhouette and the nod to “Red,” (purposefully meant or not).

 

Lupita Nyong'o - Ralph Lauren

My vote for best dressed of the night. No clue who this girl was before, but now I (and I think the rest of the fashion-loving world) do. The cape, the color, ah! Absolutely flawless. FLAW. LESS.

Emma Roberts - Lanvin

She looked amazing! Love the style of the dress and the off-the-shoulder top and statement earrings!

Sofia Vergara - Versace

Definitely one of my favorite dresses she’s worn because 1. It’s not her regular silhouette of a dress and 2. This is my favorite type of dress. Frou-frou princess all the way! A lot of people didn’t like the necklace with it, however I’m okay with it. Would’ve preferred something smaller or nothing at all, but I can deal with it and I like the pop of color.

Zooey Deschanel - Oscar de la Renta

Love. The skirt is my favorite part of the outfit… so whimsical and princessy. I liked the skirt and shoes as well, however two complaints: blah nail art (as she usually has masterpieces on her nails) and her hair. I think her hair made the outfit a little frumpy… especially with the flower.

Emma Watson - Dior

I absolutely love this look! She definitely took a fashion risk and I think it paid off! From the front I just thought, “Eh cute, okay,” but when she turned around... BAM. I also absolutely adore her one Dior Mise en Dior earrings… definitely going to try to DIY them.

Jennifer Lawrence - Dior

I hate to say this because I love her and usually love her fashion choices, however: what the heck was she thinking?! It seriously looked like she rolled up a sheet and tied two things of black rope around it. If the bottom black strip wasn’t there, I’d like it much better and I think it’d fall nicer. Also, it was too reminiscent of her dress from the Oscars last year (color and silhouette). She did give me my favorite red carpet moment though: interview bombing Taylor Swift and her conversation with her. Love her.

Kelly Osbourne - Escada

Love her dress. She was looking fierce. (I also really love her hair color and would absolutely love to dye my hair that color someday, but would never have the guts.)

Julia Roberts - Dolce & Gabbana

For real, what was she thinking? For someone who makes rare red carpet appearances, she should’ve killed this red carpet, but she miserably failed. It looked like she was going to the office and all I wanted to do all night was pull that stupid shirt off (in a non-weird way). The outfit and hair completely aged her and she could’ve done much better.

Lena Dunham - Zac Posen

Love the dress, just not on her. Completely ill fitting and does nothing for her. Felt so bad for her boobs.

Zoe Saldana - Prabal Gurung

I’m so torn about this dress. I like it, but it is very piecy, but also funky, and yet still feminine. I think it would’ve done better at a not-so-dressy event, like perhaps the Grammys.

Jessica Chastain - Givenchy

Love the dress and she totally reminds me of Jessica Rabbit, however, I feel like something was off with her makeup.

Paula Patton - Stephane Rolland Couture

My worst dressed. I don’t even know what to say. I can’t even think of a good description for that thing. Crumbled up toilet paper? I don’t know… just absolute disaster.

Margot Robbie - Gucci

So at first I just thought this dress was nice, but then I realized the trim was emerald and I’m currently loving emerald (see: Matthew McConaughey), therefore I love this dress. The surprise emerald (rather than black), just added so much more, along with the complementing shoes.

Matthew McConaughey - Dolce & Gabbana

Alright, alright, alright, he is looking gooooood. An emerald velvet tux? Like. Amazing.

Chevron & Striping

I'm a huge fan of nail art and regularly participate in Manicure Monday on Instagram and Twitter and plan on posting pics and tutorials of my nails on here! Today, I did accent nails with striping tape and glittered chevrons! For the grey, I used OPI's Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! and for the pinkish nude, I used OPI's My Very First Knockwurst. I'll admit, the grey was a couple days old and I didn't feel like completely changing my polish, so I decided on some "sprucing." (The grey does have to be completely dry though, as the mani involves pressing down tape.) I used this artist tape I picked up from Joann's and it works perfectly for striping! Cut the tape at angles and line them up as two points (like ^). Paint two coats of the pink and quickly pull off the tape (if it dries too much, the edges get funky). Then I used a glitter striping polish (Milani's Art of Silver) and outlined the chevrons. For my pointer finger, I simply did two stripes of silver striping tape and a top coat. However, the striping tape barely lasted me twelve hours (and half of that was spent sleeping!) I'm going to have to figure out how to make it last because I loved the look!

Hello!

Hi there, I'm Rachel and welcome to Of Whim and Wonder! I created this blog to share beauty and fashion trends that I'm obsessing over (or not so much), my favorite recipes, and fun DIY projects! I've started many blogs before and they've sort of... passed on. (Due to neglect.) This one is here to stay though, and I am so excited to begin this adventure and hope you follow along! xx