!Kendal

Fowl Play

2011-12-06T05:08:00.000-05:00

This polish is hard as hell to capture on camera. It's much more purple than this post will lead you to believe.

Orly "Fowl Play"

I bought a three pack thingy from Sally's just for this polish. I'd seen it floatin' around the tubes and decided I need it on my nails. I kind of liked it, though it made me want to eat my fingernails for some reason.

I am suffering through the tail end of a cold. Work made me get a stupid ass flu shot (I've never had the flu, but it was either the shot or promise to wear a mask around patients) which in turn gave me a stupid ass cold. Figures.

Strobe Light Pink

2011-11-05T19:52:00.000-04:00

I was inspired by this post over at r/RedditLaqueristas to go out and buy some glitters. Haven't done that in a dog's age! I picked up Strobe Light, Twinkle Twinkle, Set the Stage, Pink-y Ring (all Sally Hansen), and Frenzy (Hard Candy). I also got a (red, duh) bottle of the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri stuff. I'm liking that so far!

Here's my manicure ~~blatantly ripped off of~~ inspired by that Reddit post.

China Glaze "Something Sweet" + Sally Hansen "Strobe Light"

OOO MAMA.

My cats destroyed my light box, so from now on my pictures will all look like poop. I hope that's okay for everyone.

Has it really been six months?

2011-09-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

Ohhh noooo. It has. :(

I'm the worst .. everything. I just lose interest in things so very quickly. Rekindling friendships lead to getting super busy with video games, and my brain just totally pooped on polish. On top of that I started working full time, and I feel like I never have time for everything I wanna do.

However, I got some long-lemmed Eyekos in the mail yesterday, and did a little experimenting while I was watching Survivor this morning.

This was my first attempt at these trendy ass vintage flower things. I think it turned out well. The original mani was all black except that ring finger -- it had some taped off white stripes. I left that and played around with my remaining four fingers.

Thumb - Eyeko "Vintage Polish" with some bangin' flowers
Index - Eyeko "Military Polish"
Middle - Eyeko "Posh Polish" with some white dots (courtesy of Sassy Nails' polish pen thingy)
Ring - Black and White stripes
Pinky - (not pictured because it looks like poo because I can't draw straight lines) Eyeko "Rain Polish" with some shitty vertical lines

I know this is one helluva disappointing post, and I by no means promise to get back into posting. My heart just hasn't been into it lately.. though I did find this foray to be slightly thrilling. I'm sorry, loves; I hope you're all doing splendidly.

Matte Diagonals

2011-04-26T23:18:00.000-04:00

TWO POSTS IN ONE WEEK? What is this madness?

Started off shiny.

China Glaze "Cheers to You" + Wet 'n Wild "Black Creme"

Wore it matte.

Sorry for the impromptu/non-light box pictures. I was in a rush to take these before work! Enjoy.

Sweet lovers love the spring...

2011-04-25T04:00:00.000-04:00

HOLY BALLS, GUYS. SHE'S UPDATING.

Right? Right.

I can't express how sorry I am for having fallen off the lacquerista bandwagon, but I've been stretched thin between work and .. well, video games. I was a gamer long before a polish addict, so it kind of takes precedent. I've been playing lots of Minecraft with friends, some of which have also gotten me back into League of Legends, and I beat Portal 2 last night.

Anywho, I got some downtime tonight and decided to do my nails.

I don't have a dotting tool, so the yellows are kind of wonky. :(

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Essie, Pretty Edgy; China Glaze, Sea Spray
Stamp Color - Konad, White
Other Colors - Sally Hansen, Lightning (for the yellows)
Plate - Konad, M3
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Jade is the New Black

2011-04-11T05:39:00.000-04:00

Here's an insanely boring manicure!

Super nubbins. I got this polish in a giveaway and am kind of in love. I've already worn it three times. LOVE. It looks so chic on my shorties.

Workin' Lady

2011-04-01T04:44:00.000-04:00

Okay, I do my nails for work but hot damn -- 12 hour shifts don't give me much time for creativity! Here's a recent example of how I tried to "match" with my scrubs.

These pictures were taken on the fly! Very little preparation. The pink is from one of my Goldies, which I like to call "Barbie". Then I stamped some white flower things on top!

Dueling Pinks

2011-03-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

China Glaze "Something Sweet" with Depend Pink Crackle Effect on top.

Rick said it looked like peppermint bark, but I don't really agree! In any case, a pretty cute pink crackle mani. :]

I'm keepin' this post short 'n sweet.

Ulterior Motives

2011-03-26T03:25:00.001-04:00

I recently picked up the "Keep it Under Cover" pack of Color Club's "Alter Ego" collection. Here is Ulterior Motives:

This color reminds me of China Glaze "Reggae to Riches" but with microglitter. It's a really fun, bright fuchsia/purple/pink with a blue flash. It's almost jelly like, and looks super squishy!

Poopy cell phone picture, teehee.

This is the example I was referring to in my last post! Matching my nails to my scrubs alllllmost perfectly. My polish was Essence "Movie Star" and my scrubs are a dusty grey color. My coworker loved it, haha.

My job is really fun so far! I'm a night shift PCT/PCA/CNA (certified nurses' assistant) on the geriatric side of a psych unit in a local hospital. It's super interesting. I think I'm going to like it there. :D

I can't stop listening to this song:

Mmmm!

Oh dear..

2011-03-24T00:45:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in forever, guys. I feel horrible. I started my new job and just haven't been doing my nails all fancy. Mostly manicures to match my scrubs.. I'll add an example to this post when I get home, perhaps.

In any case, you can have my apologies and this Rebecca Black .gif!

Frosted Sapphire

2011-03-13T00:12:00.002-05:00

I've seen some really interesting polishes come out of Hot Topic, so while I was at the mall last I made a pit stop there. I came out with two bottles; A star glitter, and a shimmery blue/pink duochrome. According to Hot Topic's website today's polish is called "Frosted Sapphire".

The polish is pretty sheer.. I felt like it might build up on its own eventually, but I decided to layer it. This is two coats of China Glaze "Sea Spray" with two coats of Hot Topic "Frosted Sapphire". I reeeeally liked the outcome.

Don't let the word frosted scare you away; This is a truly beautiful polish! Very unique duochrome.

I love Hot Topic's polish bottles, too!

We Interrupt This Broadcast!

2011-03-11T17:41:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Bright Lights, Big Color to do this handwriting meme thingy! I always enjoy these, even if they make me jealous. My handwriting looks like merde compared to everyone else's. I feel like handwriting is a really personal thing, though, so I love seeing these memes float around.

I made this a separate post because I felt like my Hologram post was already bloated.

1. What is you name? And your blog.
2. Blog url
3. Write: the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
4. Favorite quote
5. Favorite song
6. Favorite band/singers
7. Say anything you want
8. Pass it along to a few bloggers

That was fun! Do it even if I didn't "tag" you.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

I'm just a hologram!

2011-03-11T16:48:00.002-05:00

Today's polish reminds me of "Hologram" by Katie Herzig based on word associations alone. Onto the goods!

A warning, I took.. an epic poopton of pictures of this polish. I don't know why. Even though I like the polish, it was my least favorite of the three Tronicas I bought. I guess I'm just burnt out on silvers; I felt like this one deserved some sticking up for, though! So I took a bazillion pictures and you all have to endure it. I even made a .gif and took a video. I'm sorry. I will try to just put the meaty bits of the post up, then the extraneous photos behind a jump. No promises, though!

China Glaze "Hologram"

Oh yeah. These pictures were taken AFTER my nails endured a not-so-brief encounter with bbq wings last night. I don't just eat wings; I destroy them. So it means something when a manicure survives in tact.

In low light it's just an unassuming, sparkly silver.

Here we have a very shoddy macro.

Ooo, a .gif! I'm so technological.

And there's the video! If you're still interested, there's a few more photos behind this jump.

Quite blurry, but I felt it showed the nice holo.


These pictures may look the same, but I can tell a difference. That's all that matters, right?

LASER LIME

2011-03-09T23:27:00.001-05:00

Okay, so. Back when I first heard about Tronica I wet myself a little because, "Yay, holos!" -- Then everyone started swatching them and my lady boner almost immediately went flacid. "These aren't HOLO," I thought.. Little did I know I'd love them anyways! I'm even finding myself defending the collection over at MUA.

After doing a mani with Techno Teal, I knew I had to at least have the other two I was interested in: Hologram and Laser Lime. Sally's didn't disappoint (for once), and neither do these polishes!

Today I bring you Laser Lime!

Tada!

Not to be mistaken for this!

All of these so far were taken in the sun!

It's a really lovely, slimey limey green that comes alive in the light.

An awkward picture of my hand in the Crap Box.

IT'S GAWJUS.

Because we all love .gifs! Looks holo enough to me. Even Rick said they were holographic when I quizzed him!

I've also found that these polishes, while a bit tricky to apply, are super easy to clean up and remove. A huuuuge plus in my book.

Scattered 'n Capped

2011-03-08T00:12:00.002-05:00

While idly painting over my last manicure, I came up with this next mani. I kind of love it. It's somehow both glamorous and creepy.

Three coats of China Glaze "White Cap" with China Glaze "Black Mesh" on top.

I got some slight shrinkage with the crackle because I didn't think to wrap my tips with it..

I thought the crackle came out best on my thumb. Rick says it looks like people dancing. He promptly showed me an example, claiming it to be a "polish dance".

"White Cap" is just.. breathtaking! It glows like no one's business. That luminescence paired with the long, black tendrils of the crackle made me happy!

I took a video of my thumb in attempts to catch just how sparkly "White Cap" is.

Manicure aside, the giveaway winner got back to me!

Congratulations Meagan!

Thanks for so many entries, guys! :D

Glitter below deck!

2011-03-06T13:39:00.001-05:00

Perhaps it's because they arrived in the same TD package, but I couldn't stop wanting to pair China Glaze "Below Deck" with OPI "Show It and Glow It!". So, hey, I did.

"Below Deck" applied like a dream. I think I could have covered everything in one coat, but messiness on my part left some balding.. so I did a second coat to even things out.

The accent nail was three coats of "Show It and Glow It!" then a tape starburst of "Below Deck". The Burlesque glitters are so mesmerizing, even in the bottle. I could stare at them all day and not get bored.

Here's another picture that is basically the same as that first one.

While doing this manicure I got to thinkin'.. You know, this color actually looks familiar. Lo and behold:

Essence "Walk of Fame" and China Glaze "Below Deck"

They are both on my thumb in the same order as the bottles. The arrows were my attempt at being helpful. "Below Deck" has a touch more purple in it, but they're sort of close! "Walk of Fame" looks a little lighter, but I just thought it was a funny coincidence.

Oh, here's a macro of "Below Deck"; I forgot it!

I just want to add.. those of you blogger who do giveaways? You all deserve medals, because hosting them is a bitch. Tabulating entries is not my idea of fun! I had over 600 entries with ~160 entrants. I *have* picked a winner (using Random.org), and once they get back in touch with me I will post the results/their name!

Scintillant!

2011-03-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

MMMMM, GLITTER.

French tips with OPI "Simmer & Shimmer"

Woo, my TransDesign order came in yesterday.

OPI - Simmer & Shimmer
OPI - Show It and Glow It!
Color Club - Fashion Addict
China Glaze - White Cap
China Glaze - Below Deck

Oh baby, glitter. I go through phases where I'm like "Glitter? YUCK.", but now is definitely not one of those phases. I cannot stop staring at my fingertips. Even as I'm typing this; I'm surprised it's coherent! Bling bling bling!

Glitzy!

Apologies for this weird keyboard/dark picture, but it shows both blurry and crisp glitter and and..!

I don't even know. I'm glad to finally have my hands on these Burlesque glitters. In fact, I think MOST of my OPIs come from that collection...

Oh yes, also a reminder! My 100 follower giveaway ends tonight. I feel quite silly about it, now, since with all the link sharing I now have over 250 followers. Oh well!

Tronica Swatches

2011-03-02T16:18:00.001-05:00

Just kidding.

I am too poor and apathetic to swatch an entire collection. My local Sally's JUST put out Tronica and the Crackles during a terrible thunderstorm the other day, and I grabbed the (very few) that interested me: Techno Teal, Crushed Candy, and Black Mesh. Though I'm rethinking Hologram.

ANYWHO. I knew I wanted to put on Techno Teal for my trip to get pierced, so without any further ado!

I took a lot of pictures because I am kind of smitten.

It's techno!

It's teal!

It is aptly named.

A sunlight picture. Click for the subtle holo! Please ignore how lobstery my hands look in the sun. I think I'm allergic to daylight.

So, like most bloggers have been saying, these aren't the holoiest of holos. With this one I didn't mind so much. It's still super sparkly, and has a subtle holo. It's ringing my bells!

For those interested in my new piercing, read on!

Yesterday my friend (Amy) and I drove down to Columbia, SC to get my daith (right ear!) pierced. I've written about the experience a few times already, so I don't feel like doing it all over! I will just say that it was exceptional. The piercer was knowledgeable and friendly, while the piercing itself was quick and practically painless. I'm very pleased with the outcome! The shop was Immaculate Body Piercing, and I highly recommend them.

Phone camera pictures!

Day of (yesterday! 3/1/11)

An actual camera picture taken today. Ignore how shiny the inside of my ear is.

Silver 'n Crack

2011-02-27T21:10:00.000-05:00

China Glaze "Cheers to You" with Depend Blue Crackle on top.

I also tried pink crack on my right hand.

This didn't come out entirely the way I wanted. I didn't bother cleaning it up because I detest cleaning silver (and gold) polish. Please excuse the tip wear! I still kind of like it. :]

I've made a few polish orders here and there -- TD, a couple of blog sales. Perhaps it'll reignite my inspiration!

Flaky

2011-02-25T17:47:00.000-05:00

This manicure is not my favorite. Not at all. So you all only get one picture of it.


Pure Ice "Rumors" + Nubar "2010"

I'm super tired! I've been busy all morning dealing with paperwork and getting stuck with needles for this new job. I already have my schedule for all of next month. I'm not one hundred percent sure about the nail polish policy there, but I'm hoping it's lenient!

I'm getting a new piercing this coming week, so I've been brainstorming mani ideas. I want the nice piercer ladies to liiiiike me.

A little peace..

2011-02-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

China Glaze "Peace on Earth" with OPI "Glow Up Already!" on my ring fingernail.

Ooo, sparkly.

You are lookin' at the fingers of a newly employed lady! I had a few interviews, and got offered my top preference job. I'm super excited to get started even though I have a crapton of paperwork/health forms to wade through. Woooo, moneyyyy.

I quite like this color! There's hidden copper/red shimmer throughout. It's kind of lovely.

Berry Ombre!

2011-02-20T22:44:00.000-05:00

Hahaha, as in this manicure is "berry ombre" but also an ombre manicure using berry colored polishes. OHohoho, I am a riot.

It's not even all that ombre, really. Apparently I do not have an eye for these kinds of things. I guess maybe it's more of a skittle? I'm just.. I'm horrible at this. Uh. It looked cute?! Well, it did.

A lot of those Goldie polishes fell into what I thought was berry territory, but perhaps not. ANYWHO, onto the goods.


Guest appearance by my Thumb, which is almost never seen.

I made a gif!

... Apparently it turned horrible when I saved it? I don't know what happened! Oh well. I also made this cool macro color bar thing!

It makes the colors look much more cohesive than I'm giving myself credit for. Go me!

What I used:
(The Goldies all have made up names. Yes I suck at making names; I refuse to apologize!)
Thumb - LA Colors "Berry"
Index - Goldie "Berri"
Middle - Pure Ice "Rumors"
Ring - Goldie "Blush"
Pinky - Goldie "Rose Tea"

BONUS TIME. Because we all love bonuses. Click on yonder linkage to partake of the rest!

THIS was the horrible outcome of that blue from my previous post:

Ye gods, it looks like a smurf massacre. It was all over my hands, too, but I didn't get a picture.

Since I may soon be employed I decided it was high time to get organized!

I spent a large chunk of my evening doodling all over that calendar.

That's it, folks.

Unknown brand, ahoy!

2011-02-20T12:10:00.000-05:00

I do not like shopping. At all. For anything, usually, even nail polish. People crowd me and stare at me funny and I get all panicky and just bleh. However, I was in serious need of "interview appropriate" clothing, so I forced myself to go to Ross and Marshall's. I found some digs, yadda yadda, but also found some interesting polish.

I've definitely seen the (super cute) Goldie polishes around, but Color Zone? Never heard of 'em.

I picked up the Color Zone three pack thingy, because I really liked that blue in the middle AND HEY. What the fudge, it even shows up super blue here. It reminded me very much of ...

(Borrowing this photo from ALU! I saved it on my own computer, blah blah)

American Apparel "Peacock", and I've no idea why it's photographing so blue. Perhaps I've screwed up some setting on my camera. It's the "Annoy the Bajeezus out of Kendal" setting, and I've turned it up to a 10.

All of these polishes were nameless. IT IS NOT THIS BLUE, WAHHAHFHDSLJ.

Also, because I didn't have time to take photos of this mani my index nail suffered some mysterious trauma. We're ignoring it, okay?

I liked the color, I did, and it only took one coat to opacity. BUT. BUUUUT. The cleanup was a bitch, as was removal. This stuff was almost like acrylic paint. Blue was everywhere. Afterward it looked like, to borrow a phrase from Arrested Development, I "blue" myself.

BONUS PICTURE!

I started henna'ing my hair about six months ago. Last week I finally un-lazy'd up and got on it. This was day 2 or so after the act, and it's darkened a bit more since. I can't be assed to take more photos, though. :(

When Halley's Comet met Atlantis..

2011-02-16T16:55:00.001-05:00

Great things happened. I promise.

Either I'm getting shittier at taking photos, or my camera is just not picking up color the right way. This mani is much more green than these pictures would lead one to believe. TRUST ME.


Couple o' layers of Orly "Halley's Comet" topped with China Glaze "Atlantis"

I know I've layered with Atlantis before, but I don't even care!

Get this, I even went outside (gasp!) to snap some shots.

..Me going outside is a rarity.

It was even blueish outside! Perhaps I am going color blind after all. Wouldn't that just be the cat's pajamas.


WOOOO, super up close blurry picture for multiple glittergasms. Was it good for you too, baby?

I even made this crappy gif because.. well, there wasn't really a good reason to make it. I JUST DID.


Normal > BLING > Normal > BLING!

I kind of dread removing this because, hey, glitter. I doubt they will take me very seriously at my interview on Friday if it looks like a mermaid puked on my nails! Mermaid's have very pretty puke.

Poop

2011-02-15T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, poop. That is how I feel about this manicure. I thought I was on a hot streak what with the cute Valentine's Day manis, but I GUESS NOT.

I am posting this because I haven't posted in a few days. Feel free to point and laugh.

H&M "Fashionista" with some heart glitter thingies.

I didn't get a good macro shot of this. To be honest, I only took like, ten pictures of this mani because it was offending my eyes with it's horribleness.

That's not a chip on my ring finger, there; It's a pale pink heart. However, that IS a chip on my index finger. "Fashionista" went to war with a plate of soy beans and lost. I quite liked the color of this polish, but the heart glitter just wasn't greasin' my gears.

I have a job interview this Freitag! What's your favorite "interview appropriate" polish? I'm thinking either Perplex or Demure Vixen. Those are two names I see a lot whenever this topic is bought up on MUA.

Broken Heart

2011-02-11T22:44:00.000-05:00

Another Valentine's Day-esque manicure for you guys. It's more of a morose take on the holiday!

China Glaze "White on White"; The heart is Depend Red Crackle Effect.

And now here is a nail shaped close up of the heart!

Yeah, that's not weird at all.

VD! I mean.. Valentine's Day! Stuff!

2011-02-09T20:08:00.003-05:00

Wooooo, my meds have made me not want to post lately. I just feel like poop. I was feeling blah, so I just threw Petites "Black Diamond" on my nails the other day. I didn't feel like it was worth pictures, and before I could change my mind the stupid stuff started peeling/chipping. So whatever. I mentioned earlier that I want to try a shooting star mani, so I used my chipped "Black Diamond" to test out glitters. I guess that was fun.

I've been forgetting my biotin, and my (picture hand) middle finger nail decided to peel a whole bunch today so I took revenge by hacking my nails off. I'm starting to prefer nubbins. They're "cuter". Or something.

I'm not much of a theme person, but I like hearts and the like, so here's a VERY simple Valentine's Day manicure.

WOOOAH, super close up.

It's pretty plain, but I took a lot of pictures anyways. That's how I roll.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - China Glaze, Something Sweet (aww)
Stamp Color - Sally Hansen "Insta Dri", Rapid Red
Plate - Bundle Monster, BM03
Top Coat - Seche Vite

I was also tagged over at Let Them Have Polish for this seven things.. thing. Read on after the jump!

7 things I have to do before I die:
* See Penn & Teller live in Vegas!
* See Wicked on Broadway. Or somewhere. Anywhere.
* Meet my (online) friend, Nick (or "The Fish" as I've dubbed him).
* Travel (I've never been out of the United States).
* Meet a few other internet friends, I suppose!
* Win.. the.. lottery. Yeah, I'm reaching here. I've not got much ambition.
* Live!

7 things I say all the time:
* Poop balls.
* A variety of curse words.
* Um.
* Like a boss.
* LOOK AT MY NAILS!
* Wheeeere, there it is!
* I'm bored.

7 things I'm good at:
* Playing the flute.
* Watching TV.
* Killing specials in L4D2.
* Video games in general.
* I read good.
* Complaining.
* Sarcasm.

7 flaws:
* Lazy.
* Body issues.
* Having little to no ambition/passion.
* My vision sucks.
* I love carbs and hate salad.
* I can be pretty mean.
* Impatient.

7 qualities:
* Just random qualities? Okay, um. I am self concious of my voice.
* I like food.
* My hair is silkier since switching to sulfate-free crap.
* I currently feel like poop.
* I sometimes just blurt out whatever comes to mind. It's not always good.
* I'm an awkward hugger.
* People keep saying I'm funny, but I just don't see it.

So I'm gonna pass this on to 3 blogs I really like and just found recently.
- Asa Nisi Masa
- Ever Changing Beauty.
- Yacking About Lacquer

CRACKalicious!

2011-02-07T01:12:00.000-05:00

I've actually been wearing this look for two or so days because I am lazy, and also because I was playing catch up with manicures. I LIKE playing catch up with manicures, even though it feels like I'm lying to you guys.

I tried to conquer Endless Soup, Salad, & Breadsticks for the first time at the local Olive Garden today, but alas. I failed. I am a pansy.

Here's the crack! I know you all want it.

China Glaze "For Audrey" with Depend Red "Crackle Effect"

It's like the crackles are high fiving.

PARTY PARTY PARTY, yeah?

My friend said it was a little patriotic, but I dunno! The blue is light and refreshing. I really want to do a shooting star manicure (I particularly favor THIS ONE by Asa Nisi Masa), but I have no stars! I need stars, people.

My giveaway is getting a lot more response than I had imagined it would! Goody. :]

CRACK but more.. "demure"?

2011-02-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

So, since Millie was kind enough to send me all these crackle polishes, I feel MORE THAN INCLINED to use the crap of out them. Today is a manicure brought to you completely by her gifts. H&M "Hunt Me Down" (creepy name, much?) with some purple crackle accent nails.

Please excuse my weirdly yellow skin and greasy cuticles. I swear I have not been to KFC today; I thought this cuticle oil would've absorbed by now! Guess not.

"Hunt Me Down" (boo, hiss, this name skeeves me out) is a REALLY nice army greenish griege creme. This is one coat shown. At first I was going to put the crackle on all of my nails, but then just did my thumb and ring finger. The purple didn't show up exceptionally well, but I think it's nice for a more toned down look.

I quite like the H&M bottles. I mean, if you're unsure of what you're buying it's RIGHT THERE. On the bottle. Just in case, y'know? The handles are a little bulky, what with being huge squares and all, but ah well. I will suffer with my ever present awkwardness for preeeetty polish. Preeeeeeeeeeetty.

Here's a macro of "Hunt Me Down" (>:[)

It's a bit lighter than this macro shows, but you know what.. I am too lazy to retake the pictures. My greasy, yellow skin in these pictures has made me sad.

It was demure crackle today but be prepared for MORE PARTY CRACK tomorrow. Oh yeah.

Don't forget about my GIVEAWAY. I already have so many entries, holy poop.

100 Follower Giveaway!

2011-02-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

Okie dokie, gals and guys, since I hit 100 followers I decided it was time for a (tiny, possibly crappy) giveaway. This is my first one, and I have no idea what I'm doing.. So please, tell me if I'm doing it wrong. Dear god, I hope this works.

Up for grabs is the Untamed Luxury set from Color Club (Soft as Cashmere, Jewel of a Girl, Wild Orchid, Snakeskin, Red Velvet, Untamed Luxury, Ready to Royal), Revlon "Perplex", and a Sally Hansen Nail Prism Duo (Diamond, Golden Cinnabar). This giveaway is open to international readers as well!

The giveaway will end on MARCH 3RD, 2011. That is because it is easy for me to remember 03/03.

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That gives you a chance at ten total entries! I made a little facebook thingy and put it in the left sidebar; Just for reference on that last question!

If you have any helpful hints as far as hosting giveaways goes, PLEASE PLEASE email me (heartkendal(at)gmail(dot)com). I'm disabling comments on this post since the entries are form only!

CRACK

2011-02-03T19:30:00.001-05:00

OH MAN, so I got Edyta on my nails then went downstairs and a delicious package, complete with foreign stamps, was lookin' back at me. I tore into it as I usually do with mail; Mail excites me. POLISH, POLISSSSH. Delightful polish. Millie over at Perdy Claws sent me a gift which included two H&M polishes and four of the Depend crackles! So thoughtful of her. <3 Here's the mani I did with one of the crackles.

Sally Hansen "Lightning" with Depend Pink Crackle Effect

Are you aware that there is a party going on at the tips of my fingers?! If not, this polish is a huge clue of what's going on.

Here's a picture of my Millie Haul:

I love them all!

And more pictures of this super fun mani!

Amagad, this one is so cool. I don't want to remove it. :( You can't make me!

So, I totally hit 100 readers last night whilst I was sleeping. I am gathering things to host a giveaway! Yay! I apologize in advance if it is shitty, and I will probably have to ask someone how to mail polish. Because I am a derp.

ALSO. I totally made a Facebook Page for my blawg. I will attempt to keep it updated as well, and you guys can all like it and stuff. And maybe talk to me! I like talking.

Edyta

2011-02-02T22:04:00.000-05:00

This polish felt much more green to me in real life..

Zoya "Edyta"

I was hoping to like it more for some reason, but it just wasn't blowing me away? Mayyyybe because I got a little somethin' somethin' in the mail via the lovely Perdy Claws. THAT will be in a special post for tomorrow. :D I love everything she got me!

You can kinda see the green here.

This is an awfully blurry macro shot. I don't know what happened, and apparently the macro shot thinks there is lots of hidden blue sparkle in Edyta. WHATEVER, MACRO.

I seriously can't wait to post tomorrow. It's gonna be good.

My friend likes Slytherin, apparently!

2011-02-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

I was doing my nails last night while playing online Scrabble (I could be Liz Lemon's younger sister, let me tell ya), and I asked my friend, Mike, how I should do them. He said "Silver!" to which I replied "Nah, I do that a lot. How about some sort of silver design on top of another color?" He said, "Okay, green!"

I guess it turned out okay in the end, though!

The camera was doing odd things to my pinky nail, so we're going to ignore it for now! Mike, you didn't do so bad, buddy. I like this stamp pattern; It reminds me of something from Dr. Seuss.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Essie, Pretty Edgy
Stamp Color - Color Club, Worth the Risque
Plate - Bundle Monster, BM20
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Half-Assed Manicure

2011-01-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

Apparently my meds are making me feel like shit! I sat down to do a mani and just wasn't feeling it; THIS is what came of that not feelin' it feeling:

China Glaze "Light as Air" with NYC "Starry Silver Glitter" over it.

Blergh, my head hurts, and I'm all groggy!

This might be love!

2011-01-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

My heart grew a size yesterday as I opened the mail to find this lovely polish nestled in bubblewrap. Nubar "Reclaim" is a grassy green holographic polish that LOOKS unassuming in the shade, but as soon as you add light in the mix -- well, you better watch yo'self.

I tried to take pictures of it in the shade, but they all turned out horrible! Let's just pretend I did, okay?

These are under my lamp.

AND THESE. THESE ARE IN THE SUUUUN!

Hot damn.

Me: Rick, come look at this polish.
Rick: Oh, that's pretty.
Me: What color is it? (I always ask what color, to make sure he's really looking!)
Rick: Green..
Me: What else?
Rick: It's holographic.

:D

Gray Area

2011-01-28T14:47:00.000-05:00

Can we say top ten polishes? Because if we can't, I don't know how I'll talk about this upcoming one.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Gray Area" is, well, amazing? I'm pretty sure it is. It might look simple, but it's a deceptive little minx. A grurple (a very hard-to-say word I've made up to describe gray purples or purple grays. Go on, try to say it.) that sometimes looks brown, and sometimes looks black; "Gray Area" is super chic and almost glass like. So shiny, like a shiny chocolate candy. Mmm. I took horrible photographs of it, and here they are.

I am so piiiink!

I am just the worst photographer ever, guh.

You can totally see the reflection of my camera in this.

I was tagged by Love. Varnish, chocolate and more... for this nameless award/survey thingy ma bob. I thought the questions were interesting, so I will give it a go after this break thing. Click on, if interested!
1. When and how did you start your love for polish?
Lindsay (Yacking About Lacquer) posted something on an LJ community we're both in. I can't remember what it was, but it made me look at her profile, which ultimately lead me to her blog. All of her manicures were (and still are!) so pretty, and her photography was awesome (which I already knew, she takes really nice pictures of her plugs). From her blog I found OTHER nail blogs, and there the addiction started.

2. If you could choose to do anything in the world, what would it be? (Eg. Ski in the Swiss alps, fly in a fighter jet, create a unicorn etc.)
Move to NYC, without having to worry about money, and live in a tiny studio apartment; Complete with loft bed, book nook, tiny eat in kitchen, and a balcony big enough to crawl out on. I'd like to be able to stroll in Central Park and see Broadway shows whenever I pleased.

3. What's your favorite love story?
Jitterbug Perfume is my favorite book love story. If you haven't read it I strongly recommend it. "The major themes of the book include the striving for immortality, the meaning behind the sense of smell, individual expression, self-reliance, sex, love, and religion. Beets and the god Pan figure prominently. The novel is a self-described epic, with four distinct story lines, one set in 8th century Bohemia and three others in modern day New Orleans, Seattle, and Paris."

I have a lot of favorite musical love stories (and a lot of non-lovey music that evokes feelings/memories of love), but two Daft Punk songs really hit it home for me;

Digital Love

Last night I had a dream about you
In this dream I'm dancing right beside you
And it looked like everyone was having fun
the kind of feeling I've waited so long

Don't stop come a little closer
As we jam the rhythm gets stronger
There's nothing wrong with just a little little fun
We were dancing all night long

The time is right to put my arms around you
You're feeling right
You wrap your arms around too
But suddenly I feel the shining sun
Before I knew it this dream was all gone

Ooh I don't know what to do
About this dream and you
I wish this dream comes true

Ooh I don't know what to do
About this dream and you
We'll make this dream come true

Why don't you play the game?
Why don't you play the game?

and

Something About Us

It might not be the right time
I might not be the right one
But there's something about us I want to say
Cause there's something between us anyway

I might not be the right one
It might not be the right time
But there's something about us I've got to do
Some kind of secret I will share with you

I need you more than anything in my life
I want you more than anything in my life
I'll miss you more than anyone in my life
I love you more than anyone in my life

Crap, I also really like this song by Florence and the Machine..

Cosmic Love

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

Okay, I'll stop this now! :D Enjoy the music, if you listen to it (you better, it's for your own good).

Ivanka lotta polish..

2011-01-27T14:05:00.000-05:00

Tee, hee, hee.

Zoya "Ivanka" is WAY more grass green than my camera wanted to show you guys. I think it picks up more blues than usual.. Whatevs!

The accent nail is China Glaze "Jingle Bells", which is awesome. A really rosy golden color.

I attempted to adjust my camera to get the true color; Ah well.

And a macro!

I mattefied one of my nails on a whim, and of course Rick preferred it. He always likes matte better! Weirdo.

Gray's Anatomy

2011-01-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

This is Essence "Movie Star" (two layers) with Wet 'n Wild "Gray's Anatomy" (2 layers) on top.

What da hayle, look at that bottle.

These photos caught the green very well, but in real life this polish is pinkish most of the time.. Which wasn't captured. Shrug! "Gray's Anatomy" definitely needs to be layered, IMO. It's super sheer.

Thin Blue Line

2011-01-25T16:28:00.000-05:00

Ha ha, ho ho, hee hee. I really shouldn't be allowed to make puns/allusions to other things in my titles, BUT IT IS SUCH FUN.

I'm not one hundred percent behind today's manicure. I thought I was, but as I was painting I felt kind of "Meh!". My top coat issues are still happening, and neither of the polishes used today were Zoya. I think I subconsciously dislike it, because within seconds of applying topcoat I somehow smudged that middle finger. Bollocks!

China Glaze "Caribbean Blue" + Essence "Underwater"

I did a couple coats of "Underwater" then taped off a stripe. I covered the whole mess in a thick coat of "Caribbean Blue" and there you have it.

My thumb! You guys almost never see it.

Aaaand a closeup of "Caribbean Blue" because it really is a lovely shade.

Do you all like these macro circles? I am fond of them.

I am also fond of movies about time travel; The Hubs and I watched one yesterday that just won't get out of my head. Primer, done in 2004 I believe, was amazingly smart and hard to wrap my mind around. I was blown away by how .. I can't even describe it. It was simple but extremely complex at the same time. I had to watch it twice.

Thus Spoke Zara

2011-01-24T18:38:00.000-05:00

Zoya "Zara"

I would almost deem this polish "work appropriate". It's quite soft at first, but the gold sparkle really packs a pow. Show here is two coats; After inspection under my lamps, though, it could've used a third. There was a bit of balding in some spots.

A little up close 'n personal.

Has anyone else had trouble with tip shrinkage and Zoya? I even used a fresh bottle of SV today, but still got some shrinking on my tips. My top coat even managed to wrinkle my layers of color somehow. Hm..

Included for bling purposes.

Half Moon Pumps

2011-01-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not posting. I kept Across the Universe on for a third day to show a friend how it looks in real life. We went to Ulta and found squat. It wasn't a very productive polish day (though I did buy a goodie off of ebay. >:D ) Here's what I did tonight as I watched some Skins:

China Glaze "Ruby Pumps"

Half moons are hard, even WITH liquid palisade! Perhaps because I cannot draw very well. This took a very tries.. I think next time I will try some paper reinforcements. I see this "retro" look done with red cremes a lot, but I felt like the sparkles in Ruby Pumps gave it an extra somethin' somethin'.

I've gotten a few more blog awards, but I'm much too lazy to post them.. However, I'm sending a big thanks to Colorful Bottles and Persistently Polished for the tags!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

Limitless undying love..

2011-01-21T21:00:00.002-05:00

..which shines around me like a million suns.

You guys, today was total garbage. The plan was to go have my eyes checked and pick out new glasses. As the doctor was checking my eyes I noticed them doing extra tests I'd never had done before. This escalated into the doctor saying my optic nerves were swollen and I should go see a specialist -- right then, and there. Well, shit, fine, whatever, bleh. No glasses, no prescription. I see the specialist and HE tells me I should get a freaking CT scan -- right then, and there. WELL, SHIT. FINE. :'( Because apparently I could have a brain tumor or something completely harmless. So I'd had a million drops in my eyes, and my pupils were dilated, and they'd shined several bright lights in them, and I might have freaking head cancer. I got the CT (which was unpleasant; I thought I was going to throw up, and I never throw up), and it was negative. So yay, but still. Super scary day. All I wanted to do was get new specs and maybe shop for nail polish at Ross! Yeesh.

In any case, my nails looked fab while all this was going on:

"Across the Universe"

My Deborah Lippmann arrived today!

To be quite honest I wasn't blown away by this at first. I got a LOT of tip shrinkage from Seche Vite, once again. I should have done a layer of some other top coat before SV, but I am dumb. It came out much darker than I was expecting; almost dark enough to hide the lovely glitters. In the sun, though, it's kind of a show stopper. Next time I wear it I'm going to experiment with layering.

Rick said he liked it, but he was probably just trying to make me feel better about the whole maybe-tumor thing. He said it looked "like the ocean at night".

Son nom est Alegra..

2011-01-20T15:41:00.001-05:00

Seche Vite and I are not playing nice, lately. I think I need some thinner.. It really bubbled up on my middle finger today.

Zoya "Alegra" French tips

Zoya "Alegra" photographs a lot more red than it is. It's way more pinky fuchsia in real life. I'm not blown away by this manicure, but it's not the color's fault. I was just having a bad time with SV and the tape and bleh! Ah well.

Marry me, Adina!

2011-01-19T13:50:00.002-05:00

You know those polishes that look amazing in the bottle..

And not on the nail?

Well, this isn't one of those. I apologize in advance for the inordinate amount of pictures I am going to post of this manicure.

Zoya "Adina"

I take it back; I'm not sorry! You all needed to see this.

Adina is a strong purple/green duochrome. It is beyond words.

I even took a short video.

She is a goddess among polishes! Now, excuse me while I go stare at my nails until I pass out from an overload of awesome.

Smells Like School Spirit

2011-01-18T17:37:00.003-05:00

Today was super-mail day!

My Zoya freebies minus Edyta (back ordered!)

Oh baby.

I don't even want to put them away in my Helmer. They're like little pieces of art. <3 I can't emphasize enough how awesome the people over at Zoya have been during this promotion. People have bitched and moaned about their orders, but Zoya has handled everything with a smile. Kudos to them, and yay to me for now owning such lovely lacquers!

The bottle of Liquid Palisade I won!

I asked Rick which of the Zoya polishes I should put on today and he said, "The blue one."

"The blue one" aka Zoya "Crystal"

Goooooold!

I wanted to play with my Liquid Palisade as well, so I decided to try the "ruffian" (cough, rough-ian, cough). This is what it looks like when you put it on.

Aaaaand the finished product!

Still a bit messy, but I believe precision comes with practice. Overall conclusion: nice! Liquid Palisade is super fun and fairly simple to use.

Like my friend, Annamax, I will forever and always equate blue and gold with my (our -- we went to the same school!) high school. I actually really enjoyed high school! I felt like I had a lot of friends and found my niche in marching band. Today's manicure reminds me a lot of my alma mater.

I began an epic adventure to look for crawfish to eat, and made a pitstop at a different Rite Aid. I found (and purchased) Jesse's Girl "Firefly"!

Mmm, shimmery white.

Bonus picture!

What I did yesterday while holding out on my Zoyas. My "Worth the Risque" mani with some "Wild at Heart" stars 'n arrows.

Worth the Risque? I think so.

2011-01-16T15:13:00.002-05:00

I quite honestly don't know what took me so long in getting this polish on my nails! It's not the most blatant of holos, that's for sure, but it is still so, so lovely. In dim lighting it could be mistaken for a light grey shimmer (which I think is amazing in and of itself), but when the light hits it this polish comes alive -- rainbows, whee! I had the hardest time photographing this polish, and I'm still not convinced these photos are worthy of its awesomeness. I think that's why I included so many pictures.. These first three are in my light box/with lamps:

Color Club "Worth the Risque"

I was all like, "Come on, you stupid holo! Show up on camera! I freaking see you right there under my lamp, now show yourself!" Apparently I wasn't very convincing. I waited until the sun was at an angle to hit my balcony, and tried to take some photos out there:

The sun makes my skin look all pink. :(

Success! Kind of.. These will need clicking in order to be properly drooled over.

I was tagged by Crazy for Polishes to do this thingy, so I did it!

Things I want to do before I die:
—Skydive.
—Live in a tiny studio apartment complete with a loft bed and a cute little balcony with potted plants.
—Sit naked in a jacuzzi.

Things I say all the time:
—"Gimme kiss!" (For a while I obsessed over talking birds ((I still love birds; I want one!)), and there was this one video of an Indian Ringneck talking to a stuffed bunny.)
—An amazing array of curse words. (I have one of the worst potty mouths.)
—"Holy poop balls." (A current favorite phrase. Thank you, Whitest Kids!)

Things I'm good at:
—Killing specials in Left for Dead 2.
—Kitten snuggling.
—Car dancing (where you bust a groove while driving alone).

Flaws I need to work on:
—Controlling behavior.
—Overeating.
—My dwindling attention span.

Qualities:
—Stubborn.
—Blunt.
—Short.

How are you guys liking the new comment system? I think it's nice/prettier, but I have an account -- didn't know if it was very "user friendly" for readers or not. Let me know if it sucks!

Life Post!

2011-01-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

Woo, woo, woo! I passed my CNA boards. :D I'm so relieved. Granted.. I had to wait around from 9 AM (when I finished the written portion of the test; technically I was there at 7:30 AM) until 4 PM (for my skills evaluation results). Holy shit, the wait was traumatizing. I was starving by the time I got home! Anywho..

Dance for me, Simon!

This means it's job time, finally. Job time means short nails, but I can deal with that. It's just the cutting them/filing them part that bothers me -- it hurts, and leaves my nails all horrible.

Here, have a crap cell phone picture of my shorties:

A year ago this would have been long to me. I mentioned in the random facts post that I completed training to be a massage therapist, well, apparently strangers don't like being scratched all over! Nails were a no-no in class. I feel like short nails are streamlined and cleaner looking, while longer nails are elegant. I can handle the nubbins!

Apparently I was tagged for the same Stylish Blogger award over at Aurora's Nails! :D I already did my seven random things and tagged all those people, but I will write to thank her for awarding me. <3

Another blogger friend, Annamax, recently changed her commenting system to Disqus. I once attempted to change commenting systems, but it was overwhelming! I really hate Blogger's default comments.. Do any of y'all have suggestions for different ones? I would like if if I could reply to each comment and have it start a thread -- a reply that alerted the person that they were responded to! Any tips would be helpful!

Whew, it's been a long day. I'm sorry this wasn't really nail related, but I'm just so bushed. I needed to vent a little. We'll return to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, I promise!

Five glitters!

2011-01-15T00:48:00.000-05:00

WnW "Party of Five Glitters" over WnW "Black Creme"

Look at how crooked my fingers are, hahaha.

Quick 'n dirty entry.

Demure Vixen: Appropriate name, or most appropriate name?

2011-01-14T11:29:00.000-05:00

Seriously.

I love this polish. It's like Perplex's lighter, younger sister.

Essie "Demure Vixen"

It's a pale pinky purpley beige kind of nude (that almost gave me mannequin hands if you couldn't see the flash) with a hidden blurple/fuchsia flash. Very ladylike with a hint of scandal; a demure vixen, indeed.

My stamping gave me a bit of trouble today. It seems like my stamps come out messier when using the "special" polish. That's kind of why this looks half-assed -- I got annoyed with the stamps. This ended up looking like a normal French, but with a twist. I felt very posh!

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Essie, Demure Vixen
Stamp Color - Konad, White
Plate - Bundle Monster, BM18
Top Coat - Seche Vite

In other news, I ate my first crawdad last night. It was delicious. I have no aversion to sucking out all of their yummy insides. I also got a couple of the dorky TV-named Wet 'n Wilds, one of which I will post tomorrow. This is actually yesterday's manicure, and today's involves one of those WnWs.

TOMORROW is my CNA boards. I am super nervous, and I will have to chop my nails off tonight. :'( Wish me luck!

Also, for your viewing pleasure, I'm just going to leave this right here:

Hubba hubba.

Watch Misfits! Simon demands it of you.

Stylish Blogger Award!

2011-01-13T00:22:00.004-05:00

Wow! I didn't expect this. Thank you, Lindsay! You don't know this, but you're the one who actually got me into polishes. I found your blog through your LJ and kind of went crazy for it. Thanks so much for the award. :] I didn't even know you kept up with my blog! ETA: Apparently I was also tagged over at Imperfectly Painted as well! :D Thanks, Stephanie.

These are the rules for this award:
1. Thank and link the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers to tell them about this award!

1. I have a thing for those plastic frame glasses and have been wearing them since high school. I started off with a black pair, but eventually branched out into bold colors:

The bottom picture is my current pair (that I've had for three years, ugh). I desperately need new ones. I was mulling over a chunky, grey pair at Costco, but IDK. I always tilt my head the same way.. even going back to, like, freshman year in high school, hahaha.

3. We currently own three kittens:

Lulu (orange) and Arthas (black)

Ember

4. I'm an (un)licensed Massage Therapist. I finished school, passed my boards, then never paid for the license. I don't know if I lost interest, or if I just wasn't confident in my "skills" -- It's probably a combination of the two. I can still give a pretty decent massage.

5. I'm a total band nerd. I started playing the flute in the 6th grade, and kept on playing into high school. My closest friends dropped out of Marching Band after Freshman year, but I continued -- eventually moving up to the piccolo, then to Drum Major! Basically I was head geek. Marching Band is one of my favorite times. <3

My friends and I on the band bus after a competition.

6. I really enjoy body modification. I don't have any tattoos, but my septum is pierced (and stretched; currently 10g, but aiming for 8g and possibly larger), and I'm in the process of stretching my ear lobe piercings (10g currently, goal size is 1/2" but I'm in no hurry). I would like conch and helix punches eventually.

7. At one point we owned seven guinea pigs. Suki, Miso, Nori, Futo, Zoni, Buta, and Tsunami. Here's a video!

This video was pre-Buta and Tsunami. We got Suki first. She was always very skittish and preferred human company to other guinea pigs. Miso was obtained after learning that guinea pigs prefer company (haha, not Suki!). She was always bossy to Suki. Nori was very smart, and could do circles. Zoni was kind of just a fat jerk. Futo was her sister, but she was a little less jerky. Buta was probably my favorite. She was bought from a breeder (gasp, don't stone me!) because she was a specially sought after breed. Having been hand raised she was SUPER sweet. She would just sit on you and lick and lick and lickkk. So cute. <3 Tsunami was our neutered male, rampantly humping the members of his "harem". He was pretty anti-social as well, but he was handsome! We found our that our apartment here in SC was too small for them to be taken care of properly, so they've all found homes with friends now.

Bloggers I tag (in no particular order):
1. Ever Changing Beauty.
2. Perdy Claws
3. Concrete and Nail Polish
4. Short 'n Chic
5. That's SO Fresh
6. The Brrrds Nest
7. The Polished Perfectonist
8. Zombie Claws
9. ABC Nails
10. Annamax
11. Clever and Colorful
12. Colorful Bottle
13. Jessica v. Polish
14. painted Lady Fingers
15. Polish This!

Night Lights

2011-01-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised by my door bell earlier. Sally Hansen "Night Lights" arrived! I'm listening to some Benny Benassi as I post this, which seems appropriate..

When I opened the package I was a little whelmed:

Meh.

BUT THEN I TURNED ON THE LIIIIIGHT:

SHABLAM!

Razzle dazzle, complete with video.

I knew this polish was more of a layering dealio, so I did some experimenting.


The middle nail is Night Lights over China Glaze "Light as Air". Doesn't work so well over pastel/light colors. Kind of just muddled it down.

At the suggestion of my friend, Meagan, I layered it over China Glaze "Recycle" and there you have today's mani.

Here's Recycle on its own.

+ Night Lights

These definitely need to be clicked to enjoy the full effect. Here's another video!

Fishnets

2011-01-11T11:59:00.001-05:00

Or carbon fiber, whichever! This is Petrilude's manicure -- the first one that got me interested in Konad stamping. I've said I hate black polish, right? Yeah, well. That still stands. I like the way it looks, but damn it's messy. I dropped my polish brush and got it all over me/my pants. Woo.

WnW "Black Creme" + China Glaze "Cheers to You"

Cheers to You is SUCH a great stamping polish. Probably my favorite. <3

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - WnW, Black Creme
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Cheers to You
Plate - Konad, m57
Top Coat - Seche Vite

I painted my nails early today which means I'll probably get my Zoya order after lunch. :P I won't be able to play with them because I won't feel like removing all this black polish.

I've been watching this British show, Misfits, and I LOVE it. <3 Simon.

Snot!

2011-01-10T13:11:00.000-05:00

When I saw Piggy Polish "Green and Bear it" in a discount bin at Ulta I kind of had to have it. Yacking About Lacquer's post convinced me. Lindsay describes the color as "the naughty younger sibling of China Glaze Zombie Zest", and I agree completely!

Today I did a manicure inspired by this one over at Chloe's Nails.

The white was just something hat came in an old french mani kit.

This is three coats (four on my index finger), and there's still a VNL. I think this would look best layered.

More accurate representation of the snotty color.

Ugh, there is lots of snow outside. I dislike snow.

No-Mani post!

2011-01-09T22:57:00.001-05:00

Yeah, well, sorry. I loved the green gradient sparkles so much that I've kept it on for another day. During my out-and-abouting this morning I picked up some foam shelf liner material. When I returned from all my errands I lined my Helmer and tidied it up a bit.


Thar she blows, in all of her off-white glory. There's about two inches of space between the top of the Helmer and my desk (another IKEA product, which I love!).

Drawer 1 -- Reds, Pinks, Oranges, Yellows. Plus my main base/top coats, tape, cleanup brush, scissors, and avojuice.

Drawer 2 -- Greens, Blues, Purples. It's like a bar graph!

Drawer 3 -- Greys, Nudes, Silvers, Blacks, some glitter top coats.

Drawer 4 -- Lots of minis, backups, makeup brush cleaner, other top coats, files.

Drawer 5 -- Image plates, stamper, cc, file, my kit thingy, more avojuice, beads.


Drawer 6 -- Homemade nail spoons bagged according to color.

I realize this is a sorry attempt at an update, but there you are.

OH. I won that bottle of Liquid Palisade! :D So I will have that to play with/show y'all when it arrives.

Haul + Glitter Gradient

2011-01-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

I lost my glitter gradient virginity today.

It was a good day overall -- field trip to Greenville. It's a larger city than where I live and about 30-45 minutes away. It has lots more food options and the Ulta. Which I found AMAZING DEALS AT, H'OMG.

Essie -- Knockout Pout, Haute as Hello, Pretty Edgy, & Demure Vixen

Piggy Polish -- Green and Bear it, Copper Harbor, & Pink-nic

LA Splash -- Golden Seahorse; China Glaze -- Light as Air; OPI -- Glow Up Already

M(mmm)ango Avojuice!

I got all of this for less than twenty bucks. I was ecstatic. Then I had delicious udon and found boba tea in the mall. Om nom nom.

I came home to play with my new toys. My first idea was to do Knockout Pout as a base and do a weird stripey thing with Demure Vixen, but it looked like poop. Trust me.

There's Knockout Pout on it's own. Two coats and still a somewhat VNL. It also dried to a plastic-like finish. This is sans top coat.

Mmm, Demure Vixen was the main reason I wanted the mini-kit. Look at that flash.

When that manicure failed I decided to do a gradient with Pretty Edgy and Glow Up Already:

Pretty Edgy by its lonesome. A really nice, grass green creme. Vibrant!

I took lots of pictures of this one. Gawjus.

A dark picture that made the glitter look super cool.

Two things about giveaways: First, I may have won a bottle of liquid palisade for getting seven friends to "like" them on facebook! I haven't heard back, but hopefully I will here soon. I was itching to try the stuff, but didn't want to spend the money just to play around.

Second, Bright Lights, Big Color is having an amazing giveaway -- The whole Anchors Away collection coming from China Glaze!

You can enter HERE, though I advise you not to. ;) I want it all for myself.

Testing things!

2011-01-07T13:01:00.000-05:00

I don't typically make separate posts for giveaways, but I'm making an exception for two reasons: 1) This is a freakin' huge, awesome giveaway and 2) I'm still testing some syncing stuff with Facebook and Twitter.

Parokeet's 2nd Birthday Giveaway!

Enter HERE!

I will leave you with a picture of my disgruntled looking cat, Arthas.

Tape Starburst

2011-01-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

I had it all in my head to do some sort of fishnet stamping manicure before I saw these posts by ~~Chloe~~ Erika (easy mistake!) over at Chloe's Nails! I swear, I get half of my ideas from this lady. Her manicures are creative, simple, and always stunning.

Even though I have swatched Essence "Choose Me!" I decided to try my unused Orly "Halley's Comet" for this one:

Orly "Halley's Comet" + Wet 'n Wild "Black Creme"

If my ring finger looks weird and smudgy it's because I tried to blur out the black polish residue from my cleanup. I have the toughest time cleaning up black polish -- any tips?

This manicure was actually reaaally easy. Hally's Comet looks more green in real life, so the design came out a bit.. pot leaf-ish. :( I like it, regardless! My fancy shmancy new camera captures the sparkles really well, I think! Thank you, Chloe, for the inspiration!

Me-ow!

2011-01-06T05:49:00.002-05:00

LOOK, JUST LOOK AT THIS:

My prize from Aurora's Nails arrived yesterday! I wasn't expecting a four set, and they're all colors I didn't have. :D Hooray!

I'm still wanting to play with my m57 plate, so I did this:

Little Drummer Boy

Oh, oh oh oh. This blue has such depth! That's one coat, people. ONE COAT. The only downfall to this polish is that it's so pigmented that it was a bit of a job to clean up (as evident by my messy cuticles in the finished manicure below).

Then I slapped some leopard spots on in China Glaze "Cheers to You"!

The spots made the base blue looks black, but you can still see it if you look closely! I'm slowly getting better at stamping. :]

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - China Glaze, Little Drummer Boy
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Cheers to You
Plate - Konad, m57
Top Coat - Seche Vite

When zebras get funky

2011-01-05T02:55:00.001-05:00

Before I left for my trip I ordered my first "real" Konad plate: m57. I've had my eye on it ever since I saw this video by Petrilude way before I got interested in polish. I was initially interested in the carbon fiber-y pattern, but I'm liking the two animal prints as well -- as evident in today's mani:

These are with my new camera so the clickable is giant and shows all my wonderful flaws. I'm digging this manicure.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - China Glaze, Strawberry Fields
Stamp Color - Konad, White
Plate - Konad, m57
Top Coat - Seche Vite

On the way home from Virginia we made a pit stop at Ikea for my Helmer!

That's it on the left. I had to settle for off white because they were out of everything else! I didn't think it was too difficult to assemble. I'm liking how much storage it provides! :D I organized according to color.

In other news, I have a new favorite sea animal thing.


Cownose Manta Ray!

Look at how happy he is. I got to pet lots of them at the aquarium in Virginia. I have a secret dream of becoming a marine biologist and sitting in ray tanks all day.

Manicures: The Vacation Edition

2011-01-04T22:54:00.001-05:00

Not gonna lie, the trip up north was so draining that I only really did two manis and they were very similar.

First up we have Essence "Movie Star" topped with Pure Ice "Heartbreaker" -- A layering idea I blatantly stole from polishSWATCHES.

Apologies for these shitty pictures!

A couple of days into the trip I attempted to wind down with a nail-session, but ended up frustrated. After a spastic dance with a Nail Prism I defaulted back to "Concrete" with "Heartbreaker" on top.

My cuticles are a travesty. These (and any pictures forthcoming) were taken with my new toy (Canon PowerShot SX130 IS). I'm still fiddling with the whosits and whatsits, but I think these turned out okay. I have a tendency to take shadowy pictures for some reason. My camera gets in the way of my light source. :( I need some noob camera tips!

At home my diet consists of mostly rice, Lean Pockets, and pho so a sudden infestation of lobster, filet mignon, and cornish hens has my stomach in constant cramps. Ow ow ow.

Hands up if you're totally excited about all the new China Glaze collections a comin'! /raises hand.

I'm so glad to finally be home with my babies (read: kittens). I missed them so.

Gala Matte

2011-01-02T02:11:00.001-05:00

Because this stayed on my nails longer than usual, it gets its own post!

I almost liked it more in matte (if only because I creepily like to stroke my nails when they're matte). It's like the gold flecks got pressed down into the purple. Woooo, it's like candy to my eyes.

I scheduled these last two posts to be put up while I'm gone. If I don't get lazy I will paint my nails and try to take pictures up there, but no promises!

See you all when I return. :]

GALA-MOROUS! (Wow, I'm lame.)

2011-01-01T01:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, so somewhere in the blogosphere I came across a post about Sally Hansen's "Purple Gala". Following that I googled the polish mercilessly, further convincing myself that I NEED THIS. So, as I attempted to change my sleep schedules (by staying up for 20+ hours), I decided to waste time hunting it down.

Jackpot.

Purple Gala

Gala is a super sparkly stormy kind of purple with bookoos of what almost reminds me of gold foil tossed in.

There was one eentsy issue, though. I bought two bottles.

Right, right, good.

Then I opened the second one!

Whaaaaat is going on here?

Upon closer examination I noticed the crusty bottle was only about 2/3 full!

I was a little peeved (mostly at myself for not checking in the store, blinded by my excitement!), but things all worked out. I went to another Rite Aid and exchanged it for a fresh bottle. I hope they don't put it back on their shelves.

Then Kendal and Purple Gala rode off into the sunset, where they lived happily ever after. The End.

A Hot Mess

2010-12-31T00:01:00.003-05:00

Remember my last post where I said I felt off my game? Yeah, well. That's still happening. I asked Rick what sort of nails I should do and he suggested fire and flames (manly!), so I attempted. Twice. Both were utter fails:

I tried a flame colored gradient, but it was goopy and gross looking.

I tried an orange base with "flame" stamping, but .. uh.

I was fed up with wasting all of my time on THAT project, so I just did a black with China Glaze "Atlantis" over it. It's a dense glitter with lots of blue/green/holo pieces suspended in a teal tinted base.

Atlantis

Blurred for ultimate sparkleness.

I even took a video to relay just how frocking sparkley this glitter is.

Concrete

2010-12-30T00:22:00.000-05:00

I really like this creme-y, taupe-y, lilac-y, sophisticated, demure (shall I go on?) shade. Apologies in advance if my cuticle area looks bloody -- it's not blood. I was going to do a weird tape mani with Concrete and Pure Ice "Rumors" but uh. It was shit, so I just went full on Concrete. I am off my game lately.

Concrete

Then I added an accent to my ring fingers, which I really loved! The accent color is Essence "Movie Star".

Movie Star

"Ruby Diamond", silly name..

2010-12-29T00:20:00.001-05:00

Rubies and diamonds are different things, but who can stay mad at Sally Hansen when this polish is so pretty.

Ruby Diamonds

I wouldn't even say "Ruby Diamond" is ruby.. it's more of a pinkish red, but it's still lovely. "Mystical Mandarin" is also more pinkish red than the orange I expected. I'm hoping there's a bigger difference between this and the "Blush Diamond" that I also purchased..

In lieu of my "holo with corresponding tips" kick here's "Ruby Diamond" with tips in Pure Ice "Rumors".

Ruby Diamonds + Rumors

I liked it less than my previous two, but oh well.

Pttthbbbbtttt

2010-12-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

That's the sound when you do a raspberry at someone, right? That's kiiiind of how I feel about my manicure.

Don't get me wrong. Pure Ice "Rumors" is beaaaautiful raspberry creme that I love. I picked it up last night before seeing Black Swan (don't get me started on that disappointment). It caught my eye because I thought it was similar to Tea Rose, but I think it's darker. It's very demure.

Rumors

I thought it was a little plain so I decided to stamp over this. With China Glaze "Recycle". Uhh.

I mean, it's not TERRIBLE. I dunno.

In other news, a couple of my nail prisms arrived today and we took our sick kitten, Ember, to the vet:

She is cuddling her rice-sock heating pad in front of the portable heater.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Pure Ice, Rumors
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Recycle
Plate - BM, 21
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Ahhhh, refreshing!

2010-12-27T01:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas is over. (Secret whoo!) My nails make me look like I'm preparing for Easter a few months early. I don't caaaare! I keep looking at them because they look like fake press-ons.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - China Glaze, Re-Fresh Mint
Stamp Color - Konad, White
Plate - BM, 19
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Back to my marathon of Gilmore Girls!

Filigree Tips

2010-12-26T01:05:00.000-05:00

I think this was my most favorite mani yet.

Cowgirl Up (a lovely, rich, plumish red shimmer with just a hint of blue sparkle) for the base color and Cheers to You for the tips. Let me tell you guys.. Cowgirl Up has stolen my heart. It's such a pretty, sophisticated shade. I just love it. I don't even have the worrrds.

Can you see the blue?

Ignore the mess, and just bask in its glory!

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - China Glaze, Cowgirl Up
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Cheers to You
Plate - BM, 18
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Houndstooth

2010-12-25T00:53:00.000-05:00

My "Midnight Kiss" kind of lost it's gold-ness in the stamping process. I made a mess. I'm not so good at stamping.


Bonus right hand which got polka dots as an experiment.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Wet 'n Wild, Black Creme
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Midnight Kiss
Plate - BM, 19 (both hands)
Top Coat - Seche Vite

Happy Holidays!

Got the blues?

2010-12-24T00:05:00.001-05:00

I already corrected my last post, but I want to state again just to clarify that: I AM A MORON. Those plates that I thought were "too shallow" actually just still had their plastic film on them (which were a bitch to remove, let me tell ya). I am just really really dumb and should never talk about anything. To sum it up, Kendal's dumb, plates work, the end.

Anywho, onto the goods.

Firstly, I took this cool picture for my Owned Polishes page. :]

Also, I've gone back and added watermarks to all of my pictures, and will start watermarking from here on out. I don't even care if people steal them (Which I doubt they will, my pictures are kind of crappy), but if they do I want people to follow them back to my blog! I'm sorry if it's obnoxious. :(

Here's my mani for today, blues!

Sally Hansen Insta Dri "Blazing Blue", Essence "Underwater", China Glaze "Caribbean Blue"

A "during" picture, which I thought looked cool by itself!

Finally I'd really like to post about an AWESOME giveaway that Beautyburg is hosting.

What we're giving away!!!!

Benefit Coralista blush
China Glaze Party Hearty Nail Polish
China Glaze Oh, Ruby Deer set - with Ruby Deer, Sugar Plums nail polishes
China Glaze Rejoice! Set - Mistletoe Kisses and Mrs. Claus lacquer with holiday candle
Milani Jewel FX in 530 Gems
MAC Blue Ming Nail Lacquer
OPI Burlesque Glimmer & Shimmer Set - Let Me Entertain You and Show It & Glow It lacquers with 1 Body Shimmer
OPI Couture Color 3 Mini Set
OPI Ulta Exclusive in Gift of Gold
OPI Ulta Exclusive in Plum Full of Cheer
Nars Zulu Nail Polish
Nars Mash Nail Polish
Sally Hansen Xtreme Beauty Kit - with Night Lights
Sephora by OPI 18 Minis Collection
Wet n' Wild Wild Shine in Confetti
Wet n' Wild Megalast Nail Color in Blackmail

Just LOOK at all of those goodies. The entry is here and the contest ends on January 31, 2011. :]

My first Zoya!

2010-12-23T04:22:00.002-05:00

I recently purchase Zoya's "Freja" and some Bundle Monster plates in a blog sale. My package arrive today, so I was quick to get it on my nails and start playing.

Freja


Ignore how messy this is. It was taken pre-stamping/pre-cleanup, just to show the color.

A filigree type plate.

The "full" designs don't cover my thumbnails!


I did these stripes on my right hand. I liked them (even though some lines were wonky).

Materials Used

Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Base Color - Zoya, Freja
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Cheers to You
Plate - BM, 20 (both hands)
Top Coat - Seche Vite

~~Sadly, most of the plates that intrigued me the most were etched too shallow. :( They wouldn't catch polish, therefore no stamps for me! C'est la vie.~~ Holy crap, I am so stupid. Apparently the film was still on most of these plates, and I am just a moron.

Purple diamond tips!

2010-12-22T02:45:00.002-05:00

This is a play on yesterday's mani -- the holo base with a corresponding tip:

Sally Hansen "Purple Diamond" with Essence "Break Through" for tips.

Ugh, I love Purple Diamond so much I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant. I heart Nail Prisms so much that today I went'a eBay snoopin' and scooped up a few more. I still have my eye set on Turquoise Opal, but I wasn't willing to shell out the bucks for it. YET.

I like these sort of manicures! I apologize if they're not astoundingly original, but hey. They're pretty!

I won second place in a giveaway from Aurora's Nails!! Like, what the hell, I never win stuff. :D How exciting. I just wanted to shoutout to her and say thanks for hosting such a generous giveaway (first prize was ALL of the China Glaze holiday colors!).

I also wanna say that it's so cool how much my little blog has grown in just a month. <3 Thanks guys.

Do you want me to get naked and start the revvvolution?

2010-12-21T00:48:00.001-05:00

Yeah, you know you do. (Bonus points for those who recognize the quote.)

Revvvolution

Just look at that delicious holo.

Color Club's "Revvvolution" is a delightful black holo polish, and I'm kind of in love with it. So I added tips.

Tips are Wet 'n Wild Black Creme.

*drool*

My fugly ring fingers are always encroaching on my pinkies.

Sea Green

2010-12-20T06:52:00.001-05:00

Apparently I picked this color up from an Asian dollar store back when I lived in San Diego. I didn't realize I had such lovely taste before I even got serious about ~*lacquer*~! It's a really beaut. Sea foam green with gold shimmer. Opaque in three coats.

Sea Green

Come to mama.

Then I layered CND's Sapphire Sparkle over it:

Holy guacamole.

The Nyquil I took is starting to kick in, so there's no telling how much longer I will be coherent, so I guess that means good night.

'Til next time!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-19T00:27:00.003-05:00

I loathe Christmas music, and I don't decorate for it -- My friend Amy calls me a Scrooge. That's pretty accurate, but I kind of just had to do this manicure.

Emerald Sparkle + Ruby Pumps

Flash to show the pattern better.

I got my free Zoya spoons today!

Indigo, Edyta, Roxy, Charla, Akyra, & Vivi

I was really impressed by the cute packaging! I like the first four to the left, and Vivi, but I'm not so sure about Akyra. For the Free Three I've got a few sets in mind: Crystal, Adina, Ivanka -- Ki, Alegra, Zara -- Shivon, Tallulah, Deidra -- Kotori, Midori, Mimi. Now, however, I'm considering Indigo and Edyta.. Hmm.

China Glaze Peppermint Cuticle Oil

I stopped by Sally's to pick up a new bottle of SV, since mine is getting low/gluggy, and they had these mini bottles on sale for $2.50! I'd been wanting to try it, so I had to snag one. I kind of love mint, and it absorbs quickly. <3

For funsies I took a photo of my desk. This is what it looks like on any given day (the middle part near the screen anyways) -- just switch out polish for whatever I have pulled out at the moment. I am messy. :( I desperately need to make an Ikea trip for a Helmer. I hope it fits under my desk.

My desk's current state of affairs.

I've overhauled my blog, but it's still not terribly original. Apologies!

Now it's time for kitten snuggling! Adieu.

Stellar Matte

2010-12-18T18:53:00.001-05:00

I love how matte-ifying Stellar Notte turned it into a rich purple with just a hint of teal sparkle.

Oh yeah, baby.

I have a "Christmas-y" manicure to show you all tomorrow. I'm not usually one to get into holidays, but since I had both colors on hand.. Well, you know! I actually woke up feeling like poop today -- sore throat, achey, general malaise. So, I'm going to eat some hot pho, put on a movie, and chill out.

Oil spill..

2010-12-17T19:51:00.001-05:00

An easy mani after my last day at clinicals.

I keep accompanying my friend Amy to Greenville (aka Ulta), which is just bad news for me. Or good news if you don't look at it from my wallet's perspective. I spotted Borghese's Stellar Notte under a "$4 sale!" sign and had to have it.

Stellar Notte

It's a gorgeous, dark, oilslick color. A two coater, a real beauty.

Wild Lady!

2010-12-15T14:29:00.001-05:00

I couldn't wait to try my new Color Club holos!

Wild at Heart

A dark purple, scattered (subtle) holo. I have yet to see it in the sun, so maybe it's got more SHABAM out there? I still really like it.

Then I stamped my nails with Cheers to You.

Me likey!

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Color - Color Club, Wild at Heart
Stamp Color - China Glaze, Cheers to You
Plate - Konad, m3
Top Coat - Seche Vite

I got bored of WoW last night, and went on a swatch-making rampage.


Just a fraction of my work.

Raaaaainbow! Still missing some I deemed in need of re-swatching.


Some examples!

1. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms - Purple Diamond
2. Color Club - Revvvolution
3. Color Club - Worth the Risque
4. Rimmel - Night Before (Finally caught this color on camera!)
5. LA Colors - Sea Green (I didn't even know I owned such a pretty color. It was an impulse buy from an Asian dollar store way-back-when, before I knew anything about ~*lacquer*~)

By the end of the night my upper traps were frocking killing me! Swatching is back breaking work.

~Mystical~

2010-12-14T15:14:00.003-05:00

Mystic Lilac over two coats of Concrete.

Concrete (ignore any bald spots, I knew I was gonna layer!)

Whee!

I added a stamp to my thumb.

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Color 1 - Sally Hansen, Concrete
Color 2 - Sally Hansen, Mystic Lilac
Stamp Color - Essence, Break Through
Plate - Konad, m2
Top Coat - Seche Vite

When I woke up this morning my Trans Design package had arrived!

CND Amethyst Sparkle over Mystic Lilac (just testing!)

As always, pictures get larger when you click them! I like the effect of the dual green and purple sparkles of Amethyst over Lilac. :] I even loved Concrete by itself -- the cool tones complimented my skin!

My popsicle sticks arrived shortly after my haul, and I'm excited to get started! However, people are demanding I join them in WoW. Oh, MMOs. You'll be the end of me!

Night Before

2010-12-13T18:06:00.002-05:00

This update is quick and dirty! Night Before by Rimmel is a dark purple jelly-ish with pink shimmer. It's quite the stunner!

Night Before

I had the hardest time capturing this color. Every time I looked through the camera it showed up blue (instead of the deep, grapey purple). This blurry cell phone pic was the closest I felt I was gonna get.

I want to make popsicle swatches, so that's what I set out to do today. As it turns out, my town (which sucks, as we already know) doesn't have popsicle sticks at Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, or Dollar General. I was not driving across town just to be disappointed again, so I ordered a 200 count pack from Amazon. Supposedly it'll be here tomorrow! In the meantime, I suppose more WoW is on my agenda for tonight.

Also, hello to all my new followers! :D

No longer Perplex'd!

2010-12-12T18:40:00.001-05:00

I finally found this, and all it took was a trip to Ulta. I don't know how all you other bloggers manage to get the shimmery sheen on camera, but I just couldn't manage. It was subtle in real life, too, so who knows? Perhaps my camera is just too shitty for this shade!

While there I also found ANOTHER bottle of Mystic Lilac. I, of course, couldn't help myself and snatched it up. Maybe I'll do a giveaway one o' these days and include it? I have no idea!

Lush's cuticle cream has been on my wish list, but it's not exactly readily available in the US. I kind of sort of hate shipping prices, so when I read a blog talking about this Burt's Bees cream I decided to give it a shot! I really like it so far. I'm not exactly fond of lemons, but the scent is pleasant enough. The cream is very moisturizing and absorbs quickly. I can already feel a difference in my cuticles. I recommend it!

Since my delicious holo order with the evil Luxury Parlor didn't happen, I made an order with Transdesign. I crossed off some CND and Color Club polishes from my wish list, as well as a couple China Glaze. Exciting!

Zoya totally hit 20k fans super fast. I already have my colors picked out! What about y'all?

Luxury Parlor: Don't Do It!

2010-12-11T21:28:00.000-05:00

After another trying day at the old folks' home, I'm much too lazy to take pictures of my nails/Ulta "haul". For that, I apologize! Instead I came to warn you:

DO NOT ORDER FROM LUXURY PARLOR!

I went to their website and was taken aback at the low prices of China Glaze OMG collection -- I had to have some! I ordered seven polishes on Dec. 1, 2010. I received a confirmation email that said yes, I had placed an order, and that they would email again with shipping notification or some sort of notification about back-orders. Well, coolio! It's now ten days later and no emails (or contact) from them what-so-ever. I've emailed them three times, and sent them notes through their contact form. No luck. After a few days I began to Google and found all of these horror stories about the site. :( I am sad that I will probably never see my polish, but I don't know how long to wait before I call my credit card company. I think I will give them until Monday.

I suppose it's what I get for not doing my research beforehand.

Bow-tiful!

2010-12-09T22:12:00.002-05:00

I kind of "missed" with the stamp here and there, but overall it's a nice effect! Taped v-tips with a teeny bow. I don't know if I recommend these tiny Sally Girl colors.. this one got very gluggy after one hand. It's a shame, because the shade is nice!

Materials Used
Base Coat - China Glaze, Strong Adhesion
Nude Base - Perfect 10 #415
Tip Color - Sally Girl Mini, Aqua
Stamp Color - Konad, White
Plate - Konad, m3
Top Coat - Seche Vite

:( I did do THIS manicure to begin with, buuuut.. I hated it. The idea was great, but my execution was far from flawless (whee, alliteration!).

My thumb was the only one that turned out okay.

See? :( What poop.

On my latest Perplex search I stopped by Rite Aid. While scanning their polish displays my eyes landed on a Sally Hansen rack.. Is that!?

WHY YES, YES IT IS.

THE MYSTICAL "MYSTIC LILAC"!

Let me reiterate: omg.

I grabbed up Concrete too, because of this post by Lindsay at Yacking About Lacquer. She uses Concrete as a base for Mystic Lilac since Lilac is sheer-ish.

It's not Perplex, but it's a pretty good consolation prize.

First attempt at V-Tips..

2010-12-08T00:15:00.001-05:00

Um..

Apparently I have no idea how to prevent leakage under a tape mani. I would have liked this more if it hadn't leaked! I added the green dot as an afterthought, and I'm not really loving it. It takes away from the V. I have initially meant to sort of chevron the thing, but that was too much work. /lazy

Wet n Wild Black Creme, Sally Girl emerald color, Perfect 10 #415.

Let me just say that Black Creme is SO SO thick. It applied really well, but the polish was so dark that I couldn't tell how much I had on my (black) brush. So sometimes it got.. messy. Perfect 10 #415 is, well, the perfect French mani base. I'm even considering wearing it to clinicals because it looks natural, but will also protect my nails kinda. Or make them not look so ugly naked.

The first part of the tip process.

See how I got the ring and pinky super sharp? I don't know what I did wrong on the first two fingers, but damn it's annoying.

One day I will be as awesome as Chloe! Until then: back to Cataclysm.

Girl gone grey

2010-12-05T19:20:00.001-05:00

I was so excited to try some more scotch tape manicures, so that's what I did this morning! I had originally planned on three stripes, the last being silver, but it didn't look great. Here's what I ended up with!

Movie Star + Recycle

I like it! Gloomy greys, ilu.