Very Berry Flower Nails

My YouTube Video

How I Support My Nail Polish Addiction

I just wanted to mention three ways I support my nail polish addiction.  You cannot make much money doing any of these things. But every little bit helps.

Amazon Mechanical Turks

This is crowdsourcing at it's best.  You perform HITS.  You choose which ones you want to do.  If you decide after you have accepted one that you don't want to do it, you simply return it. The average HIT pays anywhere from .01¢ to $1.00.  There are some that pay more.  The HITS are things like transcription, writing, and surveys.  There are a lot of other things too; but, that is just an overview.  I have my Turk account connected to my Amazon Payments Account.  Once a day you are allowed to transfer your earnings to either a bank account or your Amazon Payments Account.  I choose Amazon Payments.  So when I see something on Amazon I usually have a credit to either pay for the whole thing or pay for at least part of it.

Humanatic

This is a company that pays you to listen to calls.  Once again, you will not make any serious money doing this.  You get paid approximately 1.5¢ per call. Each call averages about one minute.  You will determine things like (1) if an appointment was booked, (2) is it a new customer or existing customer calling, or (3) was it related to business. Those are just examples.  Once you determine ten in a row correctly, they will sometimes post a small bonus to your account. They pay through PayPal and you can cash out when you reach $10.  You do not need a phone to do this.

Swagbucks

I just recently started doing this again.  You accrue SwagBucks by searching on their search engine, shopping, watching videos, answering questions, surveys and other things.  You are not going to get rich doing this one either.  But once you reach certain goals, you can convert your SwagBucks into gift cards.  I have always chosen Amazon gift cards for the same reason I do Mechanical Turks -- nail polish.

It is all about the nail polish!

I do have a work-at-home job that does pay a living wage, but more about that later, alligator.

Matronista T-Shirt Came Today!

My good friend, Angel Sharum, created the Matronista logo for me.  She surprised me with it and I adore it.  So she created a T-shirt, coffee mug, and make-up bags for every Matronista out there!  Click the link so you can see how to get yours!

Matronista T-Shirt

Not a Plate!

Just watched my first video.  First I want to apologize for screaming.  Also, I told Mr. Smarty Pants to film me from just the first double chin up.  I think he got all of them.  Yep, just re-counted. He got all 16 of them.

Isn't it amazing how needing steroid shots will do that to a girl's face ??!!

Then, I thought about if I had any credibility doing a channel like this.  I am not a fashion plate.  I am more a feather bed -- at least that is what my youngest daughter used to call me.

Here is the link to the video if you missed it.  Let me warn you to turn the volume down.  I am talking loud enough for the people in the next county can hear.

Matronista First YouTube Video

Stay Away From Gel Manicure Lights! Can Be Dangerous to Your Health!

Please stay completely away from gel manicures!  They are long lasting and beautiful, no doubt.  But part of the problems with my nails/hands is from a Red Carpet Gel Manicure Kit I bought. The kit comes with a light that dries the gel.

I used it a few times and noticed all these bumps on the end of my fingers.  At first I didn't associate it with the light. However, it didn't take too long for me to put it all together.  If you look at the first pictures I posted on Matronista FB, you will see what I am talking about.

This is one video from YouTube that warns of the dangers.  This is the sanitized video.  There is one that will simply horrify you if you chose to look for it.

Gel Manicure Hazard Video

This is not a gel manicure obviously.  It is a water-marble manicure.
If you look carefully, you can see the damage and the bumps.

I cannot attribute damaged cuticles to a gel polish.
I can attribute them to the home Red Carpet Light that dried them out.

Do not let this happen to you.

Dry cuticles and bumps could be the least of your problems.

Look at some of my very first nail art pics!

 This is using metallic nail polish.

This is my 4th of July nail polish.

Cutting Cuticles Can Cause Infection

I have been hearing from several sources lately that cuticles should never be cut.  It can cause redness and infection.  It can also make your cuticles harder.  I am posting about this because that is why my nails look "tore up."

What can help your nails is using an orange stick to push the cuticles back.  Then, use cuticle oil and gently rub into your cuticles.  Make sure you are moisturizing your hands as well.

Trim all the hangnails you want, but not those cuticles!

(Can you imagine calling the doctor and saying, "Doc, you've got to see me stat!  I am having a cuticle 911.")

I don't know why that struck me as funny.  First World Problems, I guess.

The Tube of You

I am right in the middle of doing a nail art design that I love and cannot wait to post about.  But until then, I was going to look at some videos on Youtube.  Just the standard ones like Young Wild & Polished and Grav3yardgirl.

But I cannot help transposing words around since I saw on Facebook a cheerleader referring to herself as a "woman of cheer."

I hope this madness ends soon.

I want to thank Angel Sharum for creating the cover on my Facebook page.  I think it is beautiful and so thoughtful.  Here is the link:

https://m.facebook.com/matronista

Randy thought Matronista was a silly name.  I don't think he understood my vision.  The term "fashionista" has been batted about in recent years.  I didn't want to portray myself as that because that term means to me someone who is just fabulous ALL the frickin' time.  I simply am not fabulous all the time.
So I wanted a name that matched how I am feeling and Matron seemed to fit and the "ista" part just followed (and made the Matron part not seem to serious).

I have felt bad about myself for more years than I care to count. Just about all of my adult life.  Then something changed a year or so ago.  I came out of the fog and began to learn that I too was entitled to have fun, experiment with fashion, nails, makeup, etc.

I no longer felt like a monster and decided painting unicorns on my nails makes me very, very, very happy.  I want to encourage anyone who might know the feelings I had to join me and we will paint unicorns, flowers, butterflies, hearts or anything else we want to in our lives today!

Let the Nail Polish Rain

I wanted to start this blog as a way to encourage ladies of a certain age to start experimenting with new beauty concepts!

Why should just the young heifers have fun??!!  (Yes, I said it!)

My particular way of having fun is painting my nails. There is so much out there now to use to make your nails truly a fashion accessory and in turn a statement about your personality.

Back in the day, it was risque to wear blue nail polish.

Now you can wear any color of the r a i n b o w !

You don't have to limit one color at a time.  Use all the colors at once.

Do like I do!  Take all the colors throw them up in the air and just let the color rain down.  It will make a mess but your nails will be beautiful!  Just like you!