Welcome to My Blog!

Hello, world! Welcome to my blog, Unsweetened Nails! I decided to start a blog for a couple of reasons: first, because I am trying to get back into writing, and maintaining a blog seems like a good way to stay interested and active; second, because I have over 500 bottles of nail polish and no intention to stop buying more, and blogging about my collection is a great way to justify having/expanding it! I'll be honest here: I took these pictures over a week ago, and since then I have been agonizing about starting a blog. What am I going to write? Am I really going to post these sub-par photographs that were clearly taken by someone who has no clue what she is doing? Am I good enough to be a nail blogger?

I have a motto, though, that I default to in times of uncertainty. My motto is "Go for it!" Let's face it: if you don't do something, it doesn't get done. If you want to start a blog, go for it. Maybe in a couple years, I will have readers who will look at this post and wonder, "Why isn't this blog called 'Neurotic Nails'?" Right now, it's just me and my goals. Without further ado, allow me to introduce my stash.

My Helmer and various stuff

This is my Helmer. It was originally grey, but prior to assembly I spray-painted it with some granite-style paint because I thought it would look cool. It didn't really turn out! In the clear container, I keep base coats, top coats, miscellaneous treatments, and minis. I'll show the pink box on the left in a minute.

My dresser top

This is the top of the dresser I share with my boyfriend. You can see my swatch-stick collection and some perfume and Bath and Body Works sprays (I collected BBW stuff before I got into polish; my job has fragrance restrictions but no one cares what I have on my nails, so that's convenient). The dresser top is where I keep all my ILNPs. The top drawer of my Helmer is my indie drawer, but before I took all the ILNPs out, it was basically the ILNP drawer.

Spicy Tiger

This is the pink box that I keep on the left side of that clear container. I think it was originally a box that Influenster sent me panty liners in, but I covered it with some pink crepe from inside a Birchbox and taped a tiger that I cut off the front of a box of tea (Bengal Spice, IIRC). The little drink umbrella adds a touch of class. In this box, I keep top coat refills, Seche Restore, a big thing of Bliss Kiss Simply Pure, and the eye dropper and syringe that I use to refill my bottles.

Here be swatch sticks!

This is the profoundly stupid way I store my rings of swatch sticks: on a novelty Halloween pirate hook.

My workstation

Formerly a dining room table that we kept tabletop games on, this spot is now where I do my nails. I've got my Simply Neat mat, a couple of lights (I am still working on my lighting situation, as you will see from the next photo), jars of brushes and Sharpies, acetone and fake Remove +, scissors, body butter, other nail art supplies (in the container on the left), and a box with commonly-used base coats, top coats, and treatments (particularly Orly Cutique, which I try to use weekly). I keep my file out here, and cotton balls to remove polish with. The black thing under the light has Cards Against Humanity decks in it, but I use it as a backdrop for photos. It's a work in progress.

Vapid Spellcaster

Last but not least, here is a photo of the polish I was wearing when I took all these pics. This is how my nails looked when I decided to start a blog. This is not how they look now, but you'll see more of them on Wednesday. Welcome to Unsweetened Nails, I hope you like what you see and stick around for more!