Wish List

I am pretty proud of myself.  Since last week, I had gone on a no-buy and have been faithfully sticking to it.  So far.

But that does not stop me from wishing and wanting these polishes:
1.  China Glaze Fortune Teller - perfect for Halloween
2.  China Glaze OMG Collection - these are (I believe) very hard to find (VHTF) polishes, so these will be expensive on eBay.  Boo.
3.  Milani One Coat Glitter Polishes
4.  Milani Jewel FX Polishes
5.  Milani 3D Holographic
6.  China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection
7.  China Glaze Crackle Glaze
8.  China Glaze Calypso Blue
9.  China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway

I can hear my wallet crying at the thought of buying these polishes.  Oooh, I can't wait to get my hands on them.  Not all at once, of course, but perhaps, a few at a time?  I'll most likely save the OMG Collection for last.

Oh, give me strength to resist!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

My First Nail Stamp

I have owned a few nail plates for a while, and have played with them a little bit, but I haven't really taken photos to share. Until now. :)

I managed to grab OPI's Last Friday Night (from the Katy Perry Collection) about a month ago. It has fine blue and silver holographic glitter in a light blue jelly base.

OPI's Last Friday Night

(taken in my new light box)

I applied Seche Clear base coat, 3 coats of Last Friday Night, and then Seche Vite top coat. I then stamped over it with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Night Flight using Bundle Monster plate BM 224 (the swirly pattern on the plate).

I loved how these turned out. Not too shabby for my first official attempt to stamp, right?

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

It's Heeere!!!

Yup, my new light box arrived.

It actually arrived more than 3 weeks ago, but I didn't have much time then to tinker with it too much.  Boo.

 Here's the box it came in.  Please excuse the open flap, in my excitement, I had forgotten to take photos before I opened the box. :p

Here it is, out of the box.

It came with the light box that folds into a storage bag, 4 background cloths, a mini tripd, and 2 lamps for lighting.

Here is the whole set-up.

I can't wait to start using this!

Thanks for reading and harve a great day!

Light Box

Now I've really done it.
After several weeks of debating whether I should get a light box or not, I have finally decided to go ahead and get one.  I figured there was no point in writing about nail polish if I can't occasionally show photos of them on my nails.  And I bought it just in time, too.  August 31 is the last day of Sears' One Day Coupon Event, where you can get 5 to 15 percent off the selling price.

I got mine for around $28, excluding tax + shipping.  This is what I got, in case you're wondering.  I'll take a photo of the actual set up once it arrives.

So, hopefully, I can start showing swatches of polishes, nail stamping, etc. with my new light box.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 2011 Fall Colors

Here are a few of the colors from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection for fall 2011.

(L to R) Deep Blue Sea, Midnight Sky, Time to Shine, Very Cherry

(Without flash, hopefully the colors show better)

These shimmery polishes have little flecks of very fine glitter which blend smoothly with the metallic cobalt blue, dark gray-black, bronze, and bright pink-red polish base.  I love the fact that I could wear these and have the effect of glitters, without the pain of removing the them later on.  I think I will be wearing these plain (no layers), although I think they will look amazing with a dark base, too.  I'm not sure how opaque they are (as always, I haven't swatched these yet), but I can't wait to find out. :) 

(L to R) Set the Stage, Twinkle, Twinkle, Pumpkin Spice, Teal-y Cool

(Without flash, hopefully the colors show better)

I'm not sure if Set the Stage and Twinkle, Twinkle are really part of the Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear's fall release, but they were on display with the rest of the collection.  In any case, these two were beautiful glitters.  Set the Stage is a blend of fine gold and silver glitters and larger hexagonal gold glitters in a clear base.  I wore this as a manicure for work, and I got a lot of compliments on my nails.

Twinkle, Twinkle is a similar blend of fine silver and purple holographic glitter with larger flecks of hexagonal silver holographic glitter suspended in a clear purple base.  I wanted to wear this as a mani,but I'm not sure how work appropriate this is.  Otherwise, I would definitely wear this this weekend.  Can you imagine it by itself, or layered over a nice cream color?  Love, love, love.

Pumpkin Spice is fine orange glitter in a clear black base.  I picked it up and pretended it was China Glaze's Fortune Teller, which was released several years ago for Halloween and is one of the hard to find polishes (in my opinion).  If you own Fortune Teller, you can see that Pumpkin Spice is nowhere close to it (I can tell that much from the beautiful swatches of Fortune Teller online), but until China Glaze brings it back (please, please, please), I will have to content myself with this.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with Pumpkin Spice and I will be wearing this in the weekends close to Halloween, but unfortunately, it does not stop me from drooling over Fortune Teller.

Last is the teal-aqua glitter polish, Teal-y Cool.  It consists of fine gold and aqua glitter and larger blue and green glitter in an aqua base.  At first glance, it looks more like a summer color, but I can see layering this over a black polish and wearing it over the holidays. 

 P. S.  I did not haul all of these in one go, they were purchased a few at a time over several weeks. :p

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!



Similar Shades?

As soon as I got home, I compared these polishes side-by-side because as much as I love nail polishes, I don't want to have different brands of the same color.

First up, the shimmery gray-blacks.

(L to R) OPI Lucerne-tainly Marvelous and China Glaze Jitterbug

Both have flecks of fine silver glitter.  On the nail, Lucerne-tainly Marvelous looks like a deeper shade of gray, with a hint of some olive green (?) undertone.

Then we have the espressos.

(L to R) OPI Get in the Expresso Lane, Zoya Codie

They look more similar without the flash.

In real life, Zoya Codie is a darker espresso, while OPI Get in the Espresso Lane is a lighter, taupe-y brown.

Thanks for looking and have a great day! 

Pick Me Up!!!

I had a rough day at work today, so I swung by my local Ulta to "browse."

The problem with "browsing" is that eventually, I do end up buying something.  In the event of a particularly rough day, sometimes, a few somethings here and there.  Of course, I justify the purchase by the fact that I needed a pick-me-up.  Yes, some people drink coffee; I buy nail polish.  Shame, shame.

I bought several OPI polishes (among others).  The guilt of buying does not eclipse the joy of knowing that these polishes are now all mine, though. :p  I had a few OPI's, because they were a bit hard to find in my area.  Ulta is the only place I know that sells them, but I know there's a Trade Secret store at the mall that may sell them, too.  My goal this weekend is to check out the local Trade Secret to see what they have.  Yep, this time, it will be to really just see, since I've maxed out my limit for nail polish this month.

Anyway, on to the polishes.

(L to R) Uh-oh Roll Down the Window, Get in the Expresso Lane, A-taupe the Space Needle

These are from the Touring America collection.  These (and Roadhouse Blues, which I bought previously and did not take a photo of, sorry) were the only polishes in the collection that appealed to me.

(L to R) Opi Ink, Brisbane Bronze, Glitzerland, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous 

I picked these polishes because I love the shimmer of these metallics.  I was drawn to Glitzerland first, because I saw a shimmery gold polish on a lady I met yesterday, and it looked amazing on her.  I thought gold would look dated, but I guess I was wrong.  Of course, the glimmer of the other polishes drew me in, too.

(L to R) Gargantuan Green Grape, Do You Lilac It?, Hawaiian Orchid, Ski Teal We Drop

I fell in love with the light apple green cream of Gargantuan Green Grape.  In the store, it looked like it might be a great last few days of summer pedicure.  When I got home and wore it, it looked more light neon green to me, but maybe it's my skin tone and my lighting?  I will swatch this (and the others in this post) as soon as I get myself a light box.  The others were just because I love pinks, blues, and purples, and even if I do have several polishes of these colors, I just couldn't resist.



 (With flash)

(Without flash)

(L to R) Tickle My France-y, Barefoot in Barcelona, You Don't Know Jacques!

And last, but not the least, my neutrals.  I bought these because I heard about them so much from the nail polish community.  I think they will be excellent work-appropriate polishes to wear on my nails. :)

Thanks to an Ulta coupon, I got 20% off my total purchase.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!



The Rest of the Haul

Here's the rest of the polishes that I've purchased these past weeks:

(L to R) China Glaze's V and Bahamian Escape

I've wanted V and Bahamian Escape for three years and have been on my "To Buy" list since then, but I resisted the urge until now.  See, occasionally, I can exercise restraint.

I got interested in matte polishes because of Erika of Chloe's Nails.  She has awesome manicures using OPI's Linkin Park After Dark Matte.  Since I was having a hard time finding that polish, I decided to invest in a matte top coat instead, with the idea of turning my nail polishes into matte polishes.

I also got this from 88beauty.

  China Glaze Matte Magic

With the full-sized China Glaze bottle for size comparison.

These cuties, I got from Ulta.

  (Lto R) Orly's Lollipop, Je t'aime, Wandering Vine, Blackout

Here they are again without the flash, since the flash reflected off Lollipop.

I've enclosed a full-sized China Glaze bottle for size comparison.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! 



Dupes?

Could it be?  Could these two be dupes of each other???

See what I mean?  From the bottle, they look almost identical.

(L to R) Adore, Metallic Muse

China Glaze's Adore and Metallic Muse are both metallic green shades.  Adore is from Romantique collection, and Metallic is from Khrome collection.  Both were released in 2009.

Here they are on my fingers:

(From pinky to pointer) Adore, Metallic Muse, Adore, Metallic Muse

Adore is a dark green-blue metallic shade.  One coat on the pinky, two coats on the middle finger.

Metallic Muse is a silver, blue green shade.  One coat on the ring finger, two coats on the pointer.

The verdict?  They are similar, but they are not identical.  I took these indoors, under artificial light.  I think the differences between the two will be more stark in natural light.

I love these greens/blue greens, I love how well they apply on my nail (please excuse the smudge on my cuticles on the photos.  I really did not notice them until after I took the photos).

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Excited for Halloween

I was browsing the 88beauty site prior to ordering a couple of polishes several weeks ago, and I saw these on the home page.

(L to R)  It's Alive, Ghoulish Glow, Black Mesh (crackle) and Fast Forward (top coat)

I'm sorry I did not take a photo with the packaging, I was too excited when they arrived and I just popped them out of the box.  I got these for the Goulish Glow polish, which is a glow-in-the-dark top coat.  Unfortunately, the site was not selling Goulish Glow individually, so I was "forced" to buy the set.  Yup, twist my arm. :p

It was actually a great deal.  I got a free top coat (China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat) with the purchase of the three polishes, all for $9.48 plus shipping and handling.

I already have the OPI Shatter in Black, and I like it okay, but I could not resist this deal.  Besides, when I searched online, some sites were selling the Ghoulish Glow for around $9.00.  Boo. :(

I'm already planning my Halloween manicure!!!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Did I Get Similar Shades?

This is what happens when you let the "C" word rope you in -- you let the impulse of wanting to buy the rest of the collection override the possibility that you may end up with nail polishes of similar shades,

From the color in the bottle, China Glazes's Delight, Magical, Poetic, and Robotika are all similar shades.  The first three are part of the Romantique collection, Robotika is part of the Khrome collection.

(L to R) Robotika, Delight, Magical, Poetic

See what I mean?

After swatching them, I'm happy to say that I was actually wrong.  Yes, I am taking the plunge and showing you my short nails. :p  When looking at the photos, please keep in mind that I am a newbie to the world of nail photography, and my nails are not pros at posing for photos (yet).  Sorry.  I hope I will get better with practice.

I have no daylight left, I took these photos indoors with artificial light.  Sorry.  Someday, I would like to have a lightbox to photograph my nails better.

    (From pinky to pointer finger) Robotika, Poetic, Magical, and Delight

 Here they are without the flash.

Robotika is a darker, metallic espresso-brown.  Poetic is a metallic rusty shade.  Magical is similar t poetic with a silver sheen.  Delight is a darker, shimmery rust/brick color.

I'm not sure how well the photos do the polishes justice, but application was a dream.  Opaque, smooth in one coat, better finish in 2.  I used Seche Vite top coat.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Two from China Glaze's Khrome Collection

I'm proud of the fact that I own only two of the polishes that are part of China Glaze's Khrome collection.  It was not for lack of desire to own the other four colors, it was because I knew I missed my chance to buy them by a couple of years  The Khrome collection came out in 2009 as part of the fall/winter release.

I managed to snag these two from 88beauty.

(L to R) Metallic Muse, Robotika

Metallic Muse is a metallic, rich green shade, and Robotika is a nice dark metallic brown. 

The other polishes in the collection are Millenium, Sci-fi, 2030, and Hi-Tek.  I doubt if any of their owners out there will be willing to trade them for something.  If I were them, I will not trade them either!  Of course, I am very tempted to check eBay to see if there are sellers who are selling these guys, but I really don't want to pay an exorbitant price for them, no matter how beautiful they look. :(  So, I decided to content myself with just these two from Khrome.  That justified my purchase of the whole Romantique collection, by the way.

Again, I became intested in them because of the reputation these polishes earned when used in nail stamping.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day! 

New to Me China Glaze Romantique Collection

I like to think of myself as a late-bloomer, rather than late. :p

For example, I just acquired the China Glaze Romantique Collection, which was part of China Glaze's Spring 2009 releases.  I made my first order from 88Beauty Supplies, a wholesale beauty store based in New York, and they had the whole collection still available.

II was a bit worried, since they do not have a shipping calculator in their website.  I had to wait for an invoice to be e-mailed to me (although the website said I could call to find out the shipping costs prior to ordering), and I did not really mind that since we were soo busy at work that I did not have time on my hands to watch my order.  I'm happy to say that I was impressed with my first transaction with 88Beauty Supplies.  They processed my order and shipped it promptly.  They packed the polishes well, and I got them all with no breakage.  Yay!

Anyway, again, these are for Konad-ing and Fauxnad-ing, since I read somewhere that the China Glaze chrome polishes (Khrome and Romantique Collections) stamp excellently.

As they say, better late than never. :D

The China Glaze Romantique Collection

(They have a soft metallic, chrome-y sheen in the bottle.)

 

(L to R) Awaken, Devotion, Passion

(L to R) Delight, Magical, Poetic

(Yes, the bottle shades do look similar in real life, although I'm hoping that they will be more distinct when I swatch them...otherwise, boo for picking out similar colors!)

(L to R) Cherish, Adore

(L to R) Admire, Harmony, Joy Emotion

I can't wait to stamp with these babies!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Nail Polish Storage

Before I embarked on adding to my nail polish collection, I Googled how other polish-aholics stored their polishes.

Some used nail polish racks, which hang on walls.  I do not have a lot of room in our apartment, so wall racks are unfortunately out of the question.  Other girls used nail polish display stands, which rest on their desks/make up vanity, but because of the same lack of space reason, I did not get these stands.

The other more popular storage method is the Ikea Helmer, which consists of six drawers on casters.  The Helmer is available at Ikea for $49.99 and it comes in 3 colors:  white, black, and red.  When I went to Ikea last weekend, they did not have the black available, but they had it in silver.

Of course, like all things that I do in my life, I got the Helmer in the nick of time -- five minutes before closing time.  Hubby and I dashed to Ikea, looked up the location of the white Helmer, paid, and lugged the box out of the store (it was heavy).

Assembly took me around 45 minutes (if I let hubby help me, I would have been done much sooner, but I wanted to do it myself).  I struggled with the metal tabs and the screws (which do not fit cleanly into the pre-drilled holes) but I was pretty proud of my work.

The only drawback (in my opinion) is the fact that the drawers have no stoppers, so it looks like this when I pull it out more than halfway:

Of course, when I put the nail polishes in the drawer, the drawer hangs down.

I'm still 50-50 on the fact that it was made of metal -- I thought from the photos on the Internet that it was wood/board/laminate, which might be sturdier (since the polishes could get heavy).  As I said, I was rushing to buy it so I did not really take the time to read the tag, or to check the showroom floor for a sample. 

I still like my Helmer, and I will be using it to store my polishes.  I hope I won't fill the drawers up for a long, long time (read:  I am going on a no-buy for now).

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Preeesenting...Sally Hansen Insta-Dri's

(Warning:  This is a picture-heavy post.)

Yes.  Once again, I've fallen prey to the that "C" word -- collection, and I kept buying and buying until I completed the available Sally Hansen Instra-Dri collection.  Ulta has a "Buy one, get one 50% off" promotion, which broke my resolve.  I'm sooo weak, I'm sorry. :\

To give myself credit, it took me several months to get the existing/available Insta-Dri's.  I think there are other discontinued colors that may be available in eBay or Amazon, but I'm pretty happy with these, so I'm almost positive I won't be chasing after them.

As you can see, I've sorted them by color.

The Silver/White

(L to R) Silver Sweep, Whirlwind White

Here they are without the flash (my flash made the Silver Sweep almost blinding, I think).

The Reds/Pinks

I broke them up into smaller groups so you can see the colors better.

(L to R) Rapid Red, Magenta Motion, Sonic Bloom, Racey Rouge, Speedy Sunburst

(L to R) Flashy Fuschia, Rose Run, Rose-a-go-go (my first Insta-Dri ever), Presto Pink

(L to R) Fuschia Flare, Peachy Breeze, Pink Blink, Petal Pusher

Here they are again without the flash, since the flash made Pink Blink look almost white.

This is Wined Up,  I can't believe I almost forgot about this baby.

The Browns

(L to R) Cinna-snap, Expresso, Slick Slate, Quick Sand, Beige Blast

The Yellow/Orange

(L to R) Snappy Sorbet, Lightening

The Greens

(L to R) Mint Sprint, Jade Jump, Lickety-split Lime, Chartreuse Chase

The Blues

(L to R) Blue Streak, Brisk Blue, Blue-Away, Night Flight, Blazing Blue, Co-Bolt Blue

The Purples

(L to R) Lively Lilac, Raspberry Race, Instant Iris, Uptempo Plum, Pronto Purple, Grape Going

When I first tried the Insta-Dri's (Rose-a-go-go), as much as I loved the color, I did not like the application.  It did dry fast (great when I'm in a rush) but I thought it was too goopy.  But then, that was several months ago, and the formula seems to have improved since then,since the other polishes apply so much better (in my opinion).  In any case, I bought these for one reason -- to use with Konads (and Fauxnads), so all other pros of these polishes are a bonus! :D   

Thanks for reading and have a great day!