Just two Saturdays ago, I joined hundreds of other people in my town and celebrated Pride Month with a festival right in the middle of downtown, literally a block away from an old confederate statue adorned courthouse. There were groups with booths, food vendors, and a very fabulous drag show. It was hot, but we had some rain come through - we even had a double rainbow appear in the middle of the show! We even cheered at the fact that there were no protesters or hecklers at all during the event. Living in Houston, there were plenty of pride events that weren't considered taboo. Now living in East Texas, I've come to realize how incredible it is that an event like this wouldn't get protested. We left the festival marveling at how far the LGBTQ community had come in this East Texas area. It certainly was a great feeling.
Then, less than 24 hours later, I woke up to find that 49 of the same kind of people I just spent the afternoon celebrating with had been gunned down in Orlando - the victims of an Islamic terrorist hate crime. The feelings of sadness and shock were overwhelming. I fought tears throughout the day thinking of the horrors that everyone at the night club experienced overnight, and also of the horrors that their friends and families had to wake up to. All they wanted to do was to celebrate love and life in a place that for many was a safe haven, a place they could truly be themselves.
More than a week removed from the awful night in Orlando where innocent people were gunned down, I still find myself thinking back to all those beautiful lives that were lost. I feel like the only thing that gives me and the rest of the world comfort is seeing how the LGBTQ community has come together across the world and lend their support. I admire members of the LGBTQ community because they're a group of people that know who they really are in their hearts and embrace it. Some of them in the face of horrible bigotry and discrimination. They are still PROUD of the people they are and the journey they have taken to get this far. I've always been an active supporter of the LGBTQ community and supported their right to live just like everyone else. The Tuesday after the tragedy, I stood with a lot of the same people who attended pride three days prior and had a candlelight vigil on the lawn of the previously mentioned courthouse. We sang and signed books of condolences in honor of all the victims. A small gesture to send our support to the friends and families.
I am posting this as a celebration of Pride Month and as a tribute to the victims of the tragedy in Orlando.
First, I'd like to start off with swatches of the recently released Sinful Colors #PRIDE collection. I saw this collection at Walgreens around April or May. The colors themselves aren't terribly unique, and the glitter topper, Pride is part of their permanent collection. But, I saw that some of the proceeds went to a group called The Trevor Project. This group is a crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ youth. (http://www.thetrevorproject.org)
So I picked up two polishes with the cheekiest names and honestly, they turned out to be some of the best basic cremes I own.
The first is called Resilient. It is a super pigmented red creme. It had great coverage, but, as you can tell by my pointer finger I had a bit of staining. My nail beds are now sporting a slight tinge of pink, which is a nice break from the usual yellow staining, so I'm not complaining too much.
Here is Resilient topped with one coat of Pride.
The second polish has probably the best name ever. This bright beautiful yellow creme is called Bye Felicia!
This is Bye Felicia topped with one coat of Pride.
Last but not least is the showstopper herself, Pride. This is a rainbow assortment of metallic hex glitters in different sizes in a clear base. I got full coverage in the photo below by sponging on my second and third coats.
Next up, I wanted to throw in this beauty as a suggestion! Twinkle Lights was released under a holiday collection by Nine Zero Lacquer, but it's definitely a festive Pride polish! I am obsessed with this polish. Although I haven't bought any, the ROY G BIV collection that was just released by Nine Zero would be a great celebratory polish.
Part Two is the nail art portion. This first look is a design I did last year. I can't remember all the colors I used, unfortunately, but my Instagram hashtags tell me some of them came from the China Glaze Electric Nights collection? I do know the glitters came from I Snow You Love Me in the Mariah Carey collection by OPI.
The next nail art is a rainbow dry brush look I did recently using the two polishes from the Sinful Colors #PRIDE collection, OPI Landscape Artist, and Zoya Thandie, Neve, Belinda, Sia and Aspen for the base. I topped it off with Julie G's matte topcoat.
Lastly, is a pastel rainbow look to commemorate the angels in Orlando.
Polishes used are mostly from the OPI Retro Summer collection: SPF XXX, I'm Getting Tan-gerine, Towel Me About It, Sailing & Nail-ing. Green is OPI That's Hula-rious, Purple is Orly Lollipop.
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