Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I'm still here...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  First K got a cold that wiped him out, and then I caught the same cold.  It's amazing how something little like a cold can just drain you.  I got a sub for today and I'm just going to stay home, lay on my couch, and catch up with General Hospital and Dancing With the Stars.  I hope to be back to my regularly scheduled programming here soon...I still have lots of polishes to swatch and post!
Thanks for sticking with me!!!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Zoya Ivanka

I didn't get the chance to post yesterday.  I've been so busy this week between school and a Scentsy party I was supposed to do today.  But the hostess called me last night and cancelled.  I was a bit bummed about that I just didn't feel like doing much of anything.

I was looking through my pictures and found these images of Zoya Ivanka that I took over the summer.  I have NO idea why I never posted them on here. 


I have 3 coats on in these images.  Ivanka is a green glittery shimmer with flecks of gold.  You can see the gold sparkling here and there in the above image.  At certain angles you can see a bit of blue duochrome, but I didn't seem to capture it very well.  But the best part?  It's green!!!!  What is it about green nail polish that gets so many of us excited?  :)


You can tell this is older, my nails are longer.  Anyways...Ivanka was released this past summer with Charla in the Sparkle collection.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

China Glaze Meteor Shower

Meteor Shower is part of China Glaze's special edition Glitter, Shimmers, and Cremes that came out last year.  There are 50-ish polishes in this collection (please correct me if I'm wrong).  I do have a bunch, but not nearly all of them.  They're still available too!


Meteor Shower has a blue jelly base and TONS of multi-colored, multi-sized and shaped glitter.  It's a chunky glitter...I have on two coats of Nubar Diamont in these pictures and you can still see how rough it is.


I'm wearing 2 coats of polish in these images.  It's definitely enough coverage, any more and you would start to have major chunky chippage.  It's such a fun color, isn't it?

I do want to get more of these, and I'll definitely post them as I do, I'll also have to dig through my stash to see how many other's I have from this collection.  The Nailphile has swatched them all and has a nice page dedicated to them as well.  Take a look!

Thanks for stopping!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Nubar Peacock Feathers

Wow...I can't believe it's Monday...how come the weekends seem so short?  DH did good for my birthday...definitely took care of me.  He also got me some Nicole by OPI polishes that I'll have to swatch for you all.  What a good boy!  :)

Peacock Feathers was a long time lemming of mine that I finally fulfilled during the recent Nubar sale.  It's actually the first Nubar I've ever tried!  It did not disappoint either!!!


Peacock Feathers is a purple-based duochrome.  I've always heard that no one does duochrome like Nubar...I believe it too!  I really wished my pictures properly captured the awesomeness that is this polish!  I tried so hard to capture the green flashes, but I don't think I did a good enough job.


This is 3 coats.  This is the polish that I wore during my Zoya Color Lock wear test, so I know that the wear was pretty decent as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Giveaway Winner!

Congrats Nailish Ramblings!  Random.org picked your to win the Happy Birthday to ME Giveaway!

Thanks again to everyone for entering, following my blog/twitter, and tweeting about the contest.  I really appreciate it...hopefully I'll have some stuff to get together for another giveaway sometime...hmmm, maybe one for getting to 200 followers?  ;-)

Thanks again, and congrats to the winner!

Icing Money Talks

Just an update on my giveaway - I'll be drawing a name when I get out of work later and will let you all know who won, and contact the winner!  I can't wait to see who won!!!!!

Icing Money Talks was release MANY years ago and I've been wondering why I was just swatching it now!


Money Talks is similar to Wet N Wild Morbid, which I just talk about this week as well.  It's a black base with green shimmer...the difference is Morbid has more a pearl look to it, while Money Talk has tiny particles.


This is 4 coats as it's a bit sheer initially.  You could always layer it over black, which I may try next time.

Thanks for stopping by ya'll...let my birthday weekend begin!  (It's actually on Sunday)!  :)  Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

China Glaze LOL

WOW!!!!!  We're at over 100 followers!!!!  I'm so excited you guys...thank you so much for following me and helping my little blog to grow.  I'm having so much fun with it!

LOL was released as part of China Glaze's OMG collection in the Spring of 2008.  I do believe you can still find *some* of the polishes at certain etailers, but I'm not sure if you can get ALL of them or not.  Some of my favorite holo polishes are from this collection...let me show you why.


LOL is a deep purple holo.  The holo particles from the OMG collection are so smooth.  It's such a neat effect.  You can only really see the true brilliance of this under bright lights or out in the sun.  Indoors it looks nice, you don't really see the HOLO.


This is 3 coats and my pictures were taken in the sunlight.  These dry REALLY quickly, but not to the point where you can't work with them.  Make sure you click on the images to get a better view of this!

Well, today is the last day to enter my Happy Birthday to Me Giveaway.  There are A LOT of entries, I'll be using random.org to pick the winner...GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO HAS ENTERED!  And if you haven't entered, you still have until 10pm eastern time tonight.  I'll post and notify the winner as soon as I can, hopefully tomorrow, but I have a lot of appointments and meetings after work with Scentsy and such, so I'm not sure! 

Have a great day everyone!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Wet N'Wild Craze: Morbid

When these came out last summer, Scrangie swatched the entire collection on her blog.  MADE ME FALL IN LOVE.  Of course, most of the time when she swatches something I fall in love.  I didn't pick up the entire collection, but I did get most of it.  Up until these came out, I hadn't used Wet n Wild polish since I was a teenager...a LOOOOONG time ago. 


Morbid is a black polish with teal shimmer.  I wish I could pick up the color of the shimmer better than I did...it's there though, I promise.


Application was great, these pictures show 3 coats.  Smooth and quite well pigmented.  I never did pick up the Craze that came out this past summer.  First of all, I never even spotted them in my smallish town until about a month ago.  Second of all, while I thought they were pretty...they also seemed like colors that I already have. 
I do believe you can still get Morbid, even though it came out last year.  The last time I was at my Rite-Aid, they were still there.
Remember to enter my Happy Birthday to Me Giveaway!  It ends on Wednesday!!!!  Thank you to everyone who has already entered!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Zoya Color Lock System Test

Recently, I won the Zoya Color Lock System giveaway hosted by Pretty In Dayton.  I wanted to use the system up against my normal base coat/top coat combo of Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network and Nubar Diamont.  I have been getting great wear from this combo...usually at least 4-5 days with nothing more than tip wear.  Now, up until the time when I did this test I have only been using Diamont for a few weeks.  It's a great topcoat to use for this, because unlike my former HG (Seche Vite) it doesn't bubble like a bitch with Zoya nail polish.

For the first stage of my test, I used a non-Zoya color.  (You can tell I'm a science person).  I used Nubar Peacock Feathers.  On my index/ring fingers my Diamont/Fiberglass Network combo were used and on my middle/pinky fingers Zoya Anchor and Armor were used.

Day 1

Day 5
In the Day 1 image, for some reason it already looks like some nails were chipping...they weren't.  I think that's some sort of reflection.
As you can see, there wasn't a terrible difference between the two combo's with the Nubar polish.  There is a small chip on my index finger, besides the tip wear...but it was pretty much even.  My pinky looks REALLY good, but usually my pinky nails don't chip.

The second stage of my test was done using Zoya Raven.  I used the same set up:  On my index/ring fingers my Diamont/Fiberglass Network combo were used and on my middle/pinky fingers Zoya Anchor and Armor were used.

Day 1
Day 5
Now, let me explain something about the day 5 picture.  I dropped something on my middle finger, RIGHT before taking the image, so a bit of polish chipped off.  I was REALLY irritated because in my opinion the test showed some REALLY interesting results with the Zoya polish.  The fingers using color lock (middle and pinky) had a bit of tip wear and that was it.  My index finger had the Fiberglass Network/Diamont combo and was terrible looking. 

The result?  With non-Zoya nail polish, the Color Lock System gives me the same result as my normal combo.  With Zoya nail polish, the Color Lock System is HANDS DOWN the way to go.  They are formulated to work together, so it just makes sense. 

Do you agree?  Do you think I should try this again using a different top coat?  Seche will bubble (at least in my experience), so what do you recommend?

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Orly Cosmic FX

I know that this collection has been posted everywhere at this point, but I still wanted to post it as well.  I debated whether or not to get this set for awhile.  I heard about dupes and whatnot, but I also knew that I only had a couple of the "dupes".   Speaking of dupes, there have been plenty of blog posts dealing with comparisons.  Scrangie and Magic Maid both had great posts, and I'm sure there are plenty more out there.

There colors are so complex and I'm not sure my pictures really do them justice!  Orly touts this collection as being infused with crystals, which is where the multi-dimensional shimmer comes from. 

It's Not Rocket Science



 It's Not Rocket Science is a mossy green infused with gold and green particles.  I've seen some blogs comparing this to China Glaze Zombie Fest from the the Awakening collection. I honestly haven't swatched it yet, so I can't comment on that.   I really like this color...it's a little odd initially, but it grew on me. 

Halley's Comet



I wish my pictures did this justice.  I couldn't seem to capture the gold/green shimmer in it.  From what I'm gathering around the blogger-verse, Halley's Comet is the most disappointing of this collection just because we've seen this color from a couple of different brands.  It's pretty much a dead on dupe for OPI Catch Me In Your Net (which I don't have) and REALLY close to Zoya Charla (which I do have).  If you want me to do a side by side comparison of Halley's Comet and Charla, let me know!

Out of This World



Out of This World is a dark purple with a green/gold flash of shimmer.  It's really pretty, but I guess it's comparable with Zoya Julianne, which I don't have yet.  Styrch has a great picture showing them together. 

Lunar Eclipse



Lunar Eclipse is a vibrant blue with a pink/purple duochrome flash to it.  It's definitely a "me" color!  I've seen some talk about it being pretty dupe-ish to Sally Hansen Laser.  I'm looking at the two bottles side by side right now, and I think Lunar Eclipse looks a *bit* darker in the bottle...DH agrees and he's a guy!  I also think the particles are a bit bigger in Laser.  If you'd like me to do a side by side of these two, please let me know!

Galaxy Girl



I LOOOOOVE this polish.  It's my second favorite.  It's so complex and interesting.  The base color is a red/purple with a purple and turquoise shimmer.  It's so neat looking and I couldn't stop looking at it.

Space Cadet



First of all, excuse the ink mark on my pinky.  I took this picture after our first day back at school!  I definitely think that Space Cadet is the star here.  It totally embodies the duochrome properties that this collection boasts.  It flashes between pink to purple to green.  People comment that they think I'm wearing a couple different colors because my nails look different every time they see me.  Love it!  I think my pictures do a pretty good job at capturing the duochrome...I'm actually pretty proud of these images...lol!

Well, that's my take on the Cosmic FX collection.  All in all, I'm not dissappointed at all in it and I'm really glad I got it.  If you have the dupes you'd have to evaluate what you want to do, but I'm a collector and pretty much had to get it!

Have a great Wednesday, and don't forget to enter my Happy Birthday to ME Giveaway...You only have a week left!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Fashion Bug Silver

Happy Labor day to all of my US readers!

I was in Fashion Bug (don't judge!) awhile ago and noticed they had nail polish at the register.  Well, OBVIOUSLY I had to get a couple.  The selection of colors wasn't that great.  I want to say they had about 10 or so different colors?  Nothing really struck me as anything unique, but I still wanted to check them out.  I picked up this one that I'm about to show you and a blue shimmer that I haven't swatched yet.


Fashion Bug Silver can best be described as the darker, more pewter-like cousin of Orly Shine.  The foil look of it is identical.  I think it's a really gorgeous color, quite honestly.


It was pretty well pigmented, with great, 3-coat coverage.  I can't attest to the wear, as I didn't have it on long enough to tell. 

Have a great last "unofficial" day of summer everyone!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Orly Royal Navy

Today is the last day of teacher workdays.  Tuesday we have students.  Even though this will be my 7th first day of school, I STILL get nervous.  lol  My in-laws are coming in today as well.  This means that I will not be allowed to touch and/or care for my children in any way, shape or form for the entire weekend.  Can you tell that my MIL stresses me a bit?

I've been looking for Royal Navy for a long time.  I found it when I was at Ulta with my mother this summer. 


It's such a ME color....blue and PRETTY shimmer.  I had a bit of a wonky brush, so it was hard to apply...other than that, no problems.  Nice three coat coverage.


I don't know if you can tell in these pictures, but it dries more on the satiny side.  I didn't use top coat when I took the picture, but to wear this as a full mani, I definitely would.

Thanks for stopping by...wish me luck this weekend!   ;-)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Color Club Halloween!

I got this in my email the other day.  WooHoo, Halloween nail polish!  Check out Color Club's mini set for Halloween this year:

Press Release image

I just love Halloween nail polish and can't wait to try these!

Be sure to check out their re-designed website at http://www.cosmeticgroup.com/

Deborah Lippmann Does the Emmy's!

Deborah Lippmann did manicures for Lea Michelle and January Jones at The Emmy Awards the other night.

Lea Michele
Lippmann Lady Sings the Blues
Lea Michele wore one of Deborah’s newest shades from the All That Jazz set called Lady Sings The Blues, a silver-sparkled navy blue.



January Jones
Lippmann's Dark Side Of The Moon

Presenter January Jones wore Dark Side Of The Moon, an absolutely aubergine shade, in an almond shape. “To achieve the almond nail, file away the sides to create a tapered shape—just like an almond,” Lippmann instructs. “The idea is to create an elegant, elongated shape, not a severe point.”

WOW...both looked gorgeous!

Lady Sings the Blues is available as part of the All That Jazz collection.  Both colors are now available online at DeborahLippmann.com and also at Nordstrom.com and Nordstrom stores nationwide.

Thanks for stopping by!