Getting To Know You (No Swatches, But A Tag)

Hello, Hello, Hello.

A thousand apologies for the long hiatus, lovelies. As much as I would love to just blame it on real life work business, I really can't. The truth is I got into a bit of a funk and didn't feel like connecting with people on any level really. 

Which sort of brings me to the point on today's post. I started this blog to share my love of nail polish, but I think to effectively do that I need to inject a little bit of sharing who I am as a person past the bull description that makes up the first post of this blog. I found this random tag over at the fabulous Nouveau Cheap, and have always been a random loving girl, so thought it would be a great way to put myself out there. Likewise, I would love if you my dear readers would comment with your answers, or post this on your own blog. So here's a few random things about me!

What's a nickname only your family calls you? Bee... This came from a speech impediment I had as a child where I pronounced the beginning of every word except "yellow" with a B. 

What's a weird habit of yours? Ask my friends and boyfriend and they will say polishing my nails every day, lol. I would say it's that I fold origami cranes obsessively when I'm nervous or stressed. 

Do you have any weird phobias? I am TERRIFIED of swans, geese, and loons. I was attacked by a black swan when I was six, even the Swarovski logo makes me nervous. Geese are mean, and loons are like creepy demonic ducks with red eyes, sharp teeth, and haunting calls.


What's a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you're alone?  

Elton John... so incredible. 


What's one of your biggest pet peeves?

People who open food in grocery stores before they pay for it... Just because they intend to buy it doesn't make it theirs.





What's one of your nervous habits?


I mentioned the origami above, but I also bite my bottom lip A LOT when I'm nervous.


What side of the bed do you sleep on?


I don't care which side I sleep on, I'm a stomach sleep, so sides don't matter that much.


What was your first stuffed animal and its name?



I have a pink stuffed Hippopotamus from when I was a baby that I named Henrietta. I still have her, she's been sown up so many times over the years from when I would take her literally everywhere. When I had my appendix out when I was 17 I tucked her into my purse before I went to the hospital just so she would be close.


What's the drink you always order at Starbucks?


I actually can't stand Starbucks, and I don't drink coffee, so I can't really say.


What's the beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice?


Applying foundation properly. I have really really temperamental skin, so I really rarely wear foundation, but I am always telling my friends how to apply it.


Which way do you face in the shower?



Front towards the water mostly.



Do you have any weird body skills?


My fingers bend backwards. All of them. Three of them can actually touch the back of my hands.


YOU ARE WARNED THIS IS KIND OF GROSS!!!!

What's your favorite comfort food thats 'bad', but you love to eat it anyways?



I have had to stop eating traditional "Comfort Foods" when I was told 3 years ago that I can't have gluten (the protein in wheat, barley, and rye), but I indulge by baking cupcakes with So'Fella Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix... it's so delicious.


What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?


"Gorram It!" - I love me some Firefly and Serenity.


Time to sleep - what are you actually wearing?


My oversized comfy T-Shirt that says "Dating a vampire is a pain in the neck" and my Eeyore sleep shorts :D






So there you have it dear readers, a few random crazy things that allow me to feel like I'm putting myself out there. Looking forward to see responses... for the record the questions are:


What's a nickname only your family calls you?
What's a weird habit of yours?
Do you have any weird phobias?
What's a song you secretly love to blast and belt out when you're alone?
What's one of your biggest pet peeves?
What's one of your nervous habits?
What side of the bed do you sleep on?
What was your first stuffed animal and its name?
What's the drink you always order at Starbucks?
What's the beauty rule you preach, but never actually practice?
Which way do you face in the shower?
Do you have any weird body skills?
What's your favorite comfort food thats 'bad', but you love to eat it anyways?
What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?
Time to sleep - what are you actually wearing?


Until next time.

He's Going In Circle's Under Water

Hello Hello Hello.

I recently was stocking up on some cotton balls at Dollar Tree (because we all know how fast us polish lovers go through them) and I saw that my local had restocked all the 2 packs of nail polish that they sometimes have. This time it was tons of the old Maybelline express finishes, and I scooped up some beautiful shimmers, one of the matte finished ones, and a bunch of the water polishes (the super sheer jellies).

Now here is a confession... I kind of hate jellies. Now don't get me wrong, I adore the super shininess of them, and the OPI "sorbet" finishes are gorgeous, but in general I hate that they never seem to dry quickly and ALWAYS show nail line. So naturally it kind of surprised me that I got a bunch of super super sheer jellies, but immediately upon returning home I realized an awesome way to wear them... layered over pale holographic polishes.

This is my first attempt: China Glaze's He's Going In Circles (a super pale seafoam green holographic) topped with 2 layers of Maybelline Express Emerald Water (a very blue leaning green ridiculously sheer jelly).

Layering these two polishes just amped up the color of HGIC but didn't take away any of the holo effect.

What do you think? Are you a fan of jellies on their own or do you have to layer them?

Until next time :)

I'm Cracking Up!

Hello All!

How is everyone? I've been crazy busy, but ridiculously happy.

Today I have a quick photo of a super pretty crackle polish combo... it reminds me of a venetian glass necklace my mom had when I was growing up and I'm super smitten with the different finishes contrasting.

This is OPI's Rising Star (a super rich, almost copper leaning gold) topped with China Glaze's Crushed Candy (a bright turquoise crackle polish).

  
I'm not a huge fan of gold or turquoise, but somehow the combination is very appealing to me. As I said, the real beauty of this manicure is the differences in the finishes, with that rich gold metallic shimmer that glows underneath the creamy turquoise when light catches it.

Until next time!

Chaotic & Colorful

Hey All,

Sorry I've been gone for so long, work had our manager fired and another girl quit on the same day, so I've been covering both of their hours. All the chaos at work though inspired today's manicure, a super bright and crazy colorful water marble.

This is my 4th water marble, I'm finally getting the hang of it. This was OPI What's With The Cattitude, Who The Shrek Are You, Zoya Mira and Areej, and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky.

The thumbs are my favorite.

Are you a fan of nail art? If so, simple, crazy or both?

Oh Em Gee!!!!!

Hello!

Earlier this year I posted about my first successful lemming capture with China Glaze's No Way Jose. Today, I have the Holy Grail of lemmings for me... China Glaze's OMG. I lucked out on ebay and while it's the most I've ever spent on a singular polish, I didn't get scalped for it, and it's worth every penny. OMG is the most holographic holo that I own. It's a crisp, cool, super linear holo silver that pictures really don't do justice to... but I'm posting them anyway.

I love it so much I want go to bed with it and kiss it in many soft private places. The only downside to this saucy little minx is that it's fickle; the wear time is next to nothing before it starts chipping. That's okay though, I still love it.

What's your Holy Grail polish?

Until next time.

Battle Of The Birthday Glitters

Hi again!

So I was looking back at my entries, and I realized I never posted the comparison for Milani Gems and Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday that I promised to. Since that first post I have gotten my hands on 3 potential dupes for Happy Birthday: Milani Gems, Ulta Pinata-Yada-Yada, and Wet N Wild Party of 5 Glitters.

I know that Gems has added large pink hex glitter since I bought my bottle, so it's now even closer to HB then this photo shows. Pinata-Yada-Yada is the closest color match to some of the colors of HB. Party of 5 Glitters is not even close, but it's the cheapest at $1.99 a bottle, so if your care more about price then true duplicability, it's a definite contender. All of these "dupes" have hex smaller glitter, while HB has square, also HB's small blue glitter is a bright royal blue, while the others are more of a cyan color. Of them all I prefer HB, but Gems and Pinata-Yada-Yada are tied for me as the best dupe (both are available for about 5 dollars).

Until next time!

In A Tizzy Over Tanzy

Hello all!

As a general rule, I severely dislike summer. I don't like 110 degree temps, I don't like kids being out of school everywhere, and as a natural redhead the sun is my worst enemy. The thing I do love about it though is the nail polish collections, filled with neons and sparkles and glass flecks oh my! So since my southern California weather has decided that summer is on its way, I chose to break out one of the absolute beauties of the new Zoya Sunshine collection that I used the BOGO code they released to get. This is Tanzy, a stunning tangerine sparkle, foil, something or other (not sure what to call the finish on this one except to call it AWESOME). I am completely in love with this color, even in super dim light it glows, seriously can't-stop-staring fantastic color!

This was two coats. This polish applied beautifully, dried fast-ish, no word yet on ease of removal, but I'll let you know when I take it off (though I'm expecting it to be a sit and soak kind of removal without a lot of rubbing a la OPI Burlesque's shimmers).

Until next time!

Geek Meets Gleek

Hello!

Ever had a polish that the name just brings something to mind that makes you happy for some geeky reason? For me that polish is Jesse's Girl "Firefly". Every time I think of it, I immediately picture Nathan Fillion in tight pants and suspenders aimin' to misbehave, and I love that. You may or may not remember this polish from my photo-fail day. Today I was super feeling wearing Firefly and giving it another shot to do well in photos, but the problem is that it's not even remotely opaque, so I searched my stash and came up with a gorgeous combo.

This is 2 coats Sephora for OPI "Slushied" from the Glee collection with 1 coat Jesse's Girl "Firefly"

So far this has been my favorite combo for layering "Firefly". It's bright and shimmery and awesome.

Is there a polish that brings out your inner geek?

Until next time.

Why I'm Blue About One Day Without Blues

Hello all!

So a couple of weeks ago there was news around the nail blogs about Toms Shoes and Essie teaming up to give away 5000 bottles of a "special" color called One Day Without Blues, a tribute to Toms Shoes annual One Day Without Shoes in support of impoverished children. The deal was go on Toms facebook page, like them, potentially win a bottle of this super special polish. Well I did win one, but when it arrived today I instantly thought it looked familiar, and upon comparison, my suspicion was confirmed that One Day Without Blues is indeed Coat Azure. Don't believe me? Here are the pics.

Thumb, middle, and pinkie: One Day Without Blues
Index and ring: Coat Azure

Index and ring: Coat Azure
Middle and pinkie: One Day Without Blues

Now, that being said, I still love and adore this color... it's a beautiful shimmery blue that applies wonderfully, I was just disappointed that it's a re-release under a new name. Granted, that means if you didn't win the promotion  it's not like you can't get your hands on this color if you don't have it already, which is good.

As always, until next time!

Tronica Completed

Hello all!


Today I had enough of a break in the torrential rain to get super fast swatches of the last two polishes from the China Glaze Tronica Collection. So here we have Gamer Glam (holographic dusty purple) and Hyper Haute (holographic raspberry pink).

As you can see, Gamer Glam is much more holographic then Hyper Haute, but it's still not a super heavy holo. I think both are gorgeous color wise, and they both applied wonderfully just like the rest of the collection... the above swatches are each 1 coat, no topcoat, no streaking or bald spots and dried completely in less then two minutes. Overall I can say that this entire collection, while not quite as holo as I would have liked, was definitely a welcome addition to my stash.

Until next time!

Essie Has A Dirty Mind

Hello all!


Anybody ever notice the craziness of some of these polish names? OPI and China glaze tend to try and be punny and/or sexual (Mmm... Vould You Like A Lick-tenstein/Limbo Bimbo), some brands intentionally go for slutty and crazy names (Cheeky Monkey, which I'm dying to get my hands on some day), but I find that Essie has some of the most overt names to their polish (Meet Balls, After Sex, one of my favorite reds BTW). Today's swatch is one of those crazy named semi-sexual polishes, Over The Knee.


Over The Knee is a super-cozy chocolate milk color with gorgeous red shimmer in it, like a lighter redder version of China Glaze's Ingrid. Colorwise it's most like the first and last pictures, but it changes a lot depending on the lighting I've noticed.

Well there it is, hope everyone is doing well. Until next time.

Not So Drab...

Hello!

Okay so today's polish I can't find swatches of anywhere. It shows up on no lemming lists, and there isn't a swatch on a google search to be found, which is a total shame, because this polish is capital B Beautiful. Seriously, I can't believe Scrangie wouldn't have this posted anywhere.

I found this lovely little girl when I walked into a beauty supply store on my way to work hoping to find OPI's Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry collection. When I managed to get the only one in the store (I just love being that lucky girl) I decided to do a quick scan around. I found myself at the Jessica rack, and while most of the rack (like 99%) was your typical reds, pinks, and nudes, the very last slot had this one lone ugly duckling that just screamed "Take me home with you!"... so I totally did.

This is Camouflage by Jessica, a metallic, shimmery, olive green with heavy golden tones.

This was really hard to photograph because of the gold to it. Really it's slightly greener (The second sunlit picture is most color accurate). I don't have anything quite like it in my stash, Zoya's Irene is too green with none of the gold, China Glaze Peace On Earth is too dark, more brush strokey, and has none of the shimmer.

A note on formula: This was a little weird... first off, CHEMICALS... this is so not B3F and stank to high heaven. It takes a while to dry even with a coat of Seche Vite and some dry drops. As for application, I found that it wasn't hard to work with per se, just odd. Some nails applied thick and almost...chunky, maybe? But they leveled out smoothly, while other nails were thinner. I suspect I may have just needed to give it a good shake, but anyway, oddness, and definitely a pretty one that is deserving of more blog-lovin'.

Until next time, be good humans.

I Need A Hero

Hey there!

Ok so a quick one pic post of my 2nd attempt at nail art (my first was some horribly deformed Stormtroopers). I was actually pretty happy with this one, but alas, it is gone now after a rough night of work.

So without much ado... JUSTICE LEAGUE NAILS!!!!

I was really shocked at how well Superman came out... Batman disappointed me though.

My other hand just had little random dots in corresponding colors to each of the above nails. Am now thinking I should do an Avengers manicure (for Thor or Captain America movie... whichever comes first).

Until next time... Be good humans.

Holy Holographic Batman!

Hey there!

Today I got a "Get anything of your choosing free" coupon from Sally Beauty in the mail, so I decided to stop in when I was out and about. Well, as I was opening the door my eyes zoomed over to the display for the Tronica collection from China Glaze (which officially launches tomorrow in Sally's but mine put them out early). Well, I damn near ran to it and promptly picked up every color in the display (sadly Hyper Haute and Gamer Glam were nowhere to be found). Here I have sunlit skittles of the other 10 in the collection.

Note: Please pardon the lack of clean up... My hand is still broken (I took off my splint for the pics), and I didn't have time before I lost the sun to clean up the cuticles.

Electric Magenta... pinker in real life, and more holographic then this picture indicates

3D Fantasy... GORGEOUS... rosy, bright, slightly less holo then the rest of the collection, but the color makes up for that.

Digital Dawn... holographic roan... brown with a strong red lean, really different

Cyberspace... Pretty holo neutral. one of the strongest holo effects in the collection.

Hologram... great holo silver... reminds me of Color Club Worth the Risque and China Glaze's OMG's lovechild. 

Virtual Violet... My favorite new holographic purple... rich, not too red, fairly strong holo-y goodness.

High Def... pretty, kind of acid-washed looking blue. One of the least holo in the collection.

Techno Teal... Teal, pretty, but underwhelming. Not a very strong holo, but applied beautifully.

Laser Lime... The most holographic polish in the collection... Not this pale in real life, very summery feeling.

Mega Bite... Much yellower in person, with a stronger holo... I prefer this to the gold from the OMG collection.

A note about these holos... They are a softer holo then the OMG polishes, but they apply so much better then the OMG's, with no bald spots and seven out of ten of these swatches are 1 coat, the 3 with 2 coats are Laser Lime, Hologram, and Cyberspace. The pigmentation of these are lovely, all of them are bright and attention grabbing (with the exception of the very neutral Cyberspace, which gives me holographic mannequin hands in person, though these pics don't show the awesomeness). Anyways, that's my haulage... I feel that I will pick up the last two from the collection as soon as I find them.

Until Next Time.

Good News & Bad News

Hey there!

So the good news first... I'm finally getting a break from my crazy crazy work schedule, meaning I'm having the time to polish and post (cue the emoticon cheerleaders)

*\o/*   *|o|*   *\o/*

The bad news is I broke my hand. Specifically the hand I photograph for my swatches. Granted, I'll still photograph it even with it in it's ugly ace-bandage-y brace (because I refuse to cast it), but it means I can't change my polish anywhere near as much as I was planning to, so bear with me.

In the meantime, here's a pretty pretty I had sitting in my unposted folder.

This was one coat of China Glaze Happy Go Lucky under two coats of China Glaze Lighthouse. I wish these showed how multicolored the shimmer in Lighthouse was... there are tiny flecks of green or blue in it and they are STUNNING. I couldn't stop looking at my nails with this combo.

I love yellow polish. Especially bright happy uber-shimmery yellow polish.

Anywho, I'll be back soon with some of my more awesome formula'd polishes.

Bad Blogger, No Cookie.

Hey There!

Yes, I know I am a very bad blogger, but unfortunately (and fortunately I guess) I've been working crazy crazy mad hours this month since a girl at my work quit and I've been covering everyones' shifts...  I'm planning on getting on a blogging schedule as soon as the month is over and my hours normalize again, so bear with me... In the meantime, I have a couple of different manis to show you today... one of my photogenically fail mani from this morning (that in person was STUNNING... stupid photo fail), and one of the current shiny non-photo fail mani... so here we go...

This was Sephora by OPI (SOPI)'s Who Let The Dorks Out from the new Glee collection, a super gorgeous metallic teal with a slight purple duo-chrome, topped with Jesse's Girl High Intensity nail polish in Firefly, a slightly milky whitish jelly base with gold/green/blue glass flecks... In reality it had this light underlying purple flash and depending on the light those gorgeous little gold flecks looked spring green, but alas this was the only photo I could get of it that was even half way decent so I took it off this morning. 

Now on to current events... OPI's Show It & Glow It from the Burlesque Collection

This is a super pretty mostly purple and silver glitter polish with bits of orange, blue, yellow, and a teensy bit of green thrown in. Two coats to be completely opaque, dries in a flash, miserable to remove, needs thick topcoat to be smooth, but is so very very pretty.