Nail Polish Addiction Anonymous

Guess What I've Been Up To?

2011-01-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

Remember back a few weeks ago when I mentioned the dress I'm supposed to wear in my brothers wedding and how uncomfortable I was about it? Well, I think it's exactly what I needed to get my butt in gear and do something about my weight, instead of always complaining about it. Last week I joined Weight Watchers and had my first weigh-in last night. I lost 3 pounds!!!
So what did I change? Well, I've cut down on my consumption of diet pop. I used to drink about 4 cans of Diet Pepsi a day. Now I'm down to 1 or 2, and hopefully I'll be able to cut it down even more over time. I've upped my water intake to 64 ounces a day, and I'm hoping this week to increase it even more. I've been on plan most days this week. I did take a day off the day of K's 2nd birthday party, but I've been pretty good about getting my whole grains and protein, plus I'm eating a ton more fruits and veggies.
I'm pretty encouraged though. I have a lot more to lose, but I'm focusing on small goals. The first goal is 5% weight loss. Next on the list is to get more exercise. I LOOOVE doing EA Active, but right now our Wii isn't hooked up to the TV and DH keeps forgetting to get a new cord, and I keep forgetting to remind him. So I told him last night after my meeting, that it's our big goal this week. Get the darn thing hooked up so I can get moving again!
So are any of you on WW? Any tips or advice?

Thanks for listening...I'll keep you all updated!

Stylish Blogger Award!

2011-01-08T19:49:00.001-05:00

This past week I was awarded my first blogger award, the Stylish Blogger Award! Thank you so much to Jenny from Polishology!

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!

Here are seven things about me...although I do warn you, I'm not an interesting person! ;-)

1. I love doing anything crafty…especially knitting and crochet. The problem is I probably have about 20 projects started and will never finish them.

2. I’m terrified of bugs. Especially spiders. I’ve been known to call my husband, who works at least an hour away, in tears because there was a spider in the house.

3. The first time I saw a joint was the summer of ’06 at a Tom Petty concert. I know, I’m sheltered.

4. We had to go through fertility treatments to conceive R. Took us 3 years to get pregnant. We never considered that we wouldn’t have to do the same thing if we ever decided to have another child, and then one day, after I had been feeling sick for about a week, we found out we were pregnant with K (who just celebrated a birthday on Friday! He's TWO!!!). It was the best surprise ever!

5. I don’t remember much about elementary school. Apparently it was so bad that I actually blocked things out. People have told me about things that happened that I have NO recollection of.

6. I have a very entrepreneurial spirit. I used to sell soaps and candles back when we lived in Central NY, before K was born I had a shop on Etsy.com that I was very involved with, I used to sell Mary Kay for about 9 years, and now I sell Scentsy.

7. I’ve never tried a cigarette. People NEVER believe me when I tell them that.

And now for the 15 bloggers that I've decided to tag. This was HARD...you have no idea!

1. Pretty N Polished
2. Running With Polish
3. Pretty in Dayton
4. Polish Infatuated
5. PinkNailBlog
6. Never Unpolished
7. Ali's Nail News
8. For Your Nails Only
9. In a Fabulous World
10. iPolish
11. Let Them Have Polish
12. Bright Lights, Big Color
13. Chloe's Nail
14. The College Students Nail Guide
15. Getcha Nails Did

Some of these are newer...some have been around awhile. It was a really tough decision deciding who to tag. I must have visited about 40 blogs or so. Something about these blogs just struck me when I visited. Not to say the others didn't do anything for me...just depended on my mood perhaps.

Thanks for visiting...hopefully I'll get a few swatches posted this week!!!

OPI Shim-Merry Chic

2010-12-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

Hello all! I'm currently in NY visiting family for the holidays, but since we have a bit of down time, I thought I would post a polish I wore recently (if you consider Thanksgiving recently).

Shim-Merry Chic was released last year as part of OPI Holiday Wishes collection (and therefore I'm not sure if it's still available anywhere). It's a brown with bronze/gold shimmer plus FLAKIES!. I love this because it's not like anything else I have. I wore it this year over Thanksgiving...I thought it was the perfect fall color. My only complaint was the dry time was TERRIBLE. I put it on at 4pm on a Sunday, and woke up the next morning with sheet marks! I haven't had that problem in quite some time.

I have some pictures on my memory card that I'll try and post here and there while we're home, but as you know, family comes first, so I'm not going to promise anything. :-)

I want to wish all of my readers a Happy Holiday!!! Thanks for visiting here and reading my ramblings and looking at my mediocre pictures...I appreciate each and every one of you!

See you soon!!!! :-)

And finally...China Glaze 'Tis the Season to be Naughty or Nice part IV!!!

2010-12-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post this collection! Here are the links to parts I, II, and III if you haven't seen them!

Midnight Kiss

Midnight Kiss is a gold foil that reminds me of Orly Luxe. I've mentioned before that I'm not too big of a gold fan, but I like the way this one looks on me! I have 3 coats on in these pictures.

Cheers to You

Cheers to You is a gorgeous silver foil. I have 3 coats on in these pictures. Reminds me of Orly Shine, although a bit less streaky going on. I love silver nail polish, so this is a winner for me!

Frosty

Excuse the dent on my ring finger. It happened right before I took the pictures. :( Frosty is a gorgeous white shimmer. I have 3 coats on in these images and you can still see some visible nail line, although you really couldn't see it in real life. I'm a fan though, it's unique...I can't think of any polishes I have like it!

Snow

I, admittedly, don't have a lot of experience with white creme nail polish...but Snow applies so nicely! This is 3 coats, and it does need it because it's streaky up until this point...the the third coat evens the whole thing out. I know whenever I have worn other whites that they're very hard to get nice like this.

Whew! This was a big collection for me to swatch! I have to say though, all in all...I REALLY like Naughty or Nice. No real big disappointments for me. I can't wait to put Party Hearty on for Christmas next week! I'm still trying to decide which to layer it over...any suggestions?

Until next time!

China Glaze 'Tis the Season to be Naughty or Nice part III

2010-12-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ok...I FINALLY finished swatching this collection, so I guess it's about time that I post it, right?

Be sure to check out the links to Part I and Part II if you haven't seen them yet.

Sugar Plums

Sugar Plums is one of my favorites from this collection, and no matter what, my pictures don't do it justice. This is a burgundy shimmer with holo glitter throughout. You can't see the holo unless you're under bright light...it looks more like silvery glitter in ordinary light. It can look a bit bubbly/rough without topcoat (which I'm wearing in these images...you just can't tell). This is the second set of photo's I took, because I didn't wear topcoat in the first set and it looked like I buffed with sand paper, although the lighting and colors were better...I just can't win! This is 3 coats, btw.

Peace on Earth

Ok...excuse me a minute while I toot my own horn and say, I think these images look pretty good! :)
Peace on Earth is an olive green color with gold shimmer...bordering on a frost. It is very pretty, and looked better on me than I thought it would. This is 3 coats.

Little Drummer Boy

Ahhhh...my kind of color. Little Drummer Boy is a deep navy blue shimmer. It's not one of those so-dark-it-looks-black blues...Very deep and rich, and the pigmentation is fantastic! This is 2 coats! I usually can never get away with that!
Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells is an antique-gold foil. I'm not sure I like this color on me...it's pretty, but not me. I have 3 coats on in these images.

Only 4 to go! Stay tuned...I'll get that up in the next day or two. :)

China Glaze 5 Golden Rings

2010-12-10T11:14:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for my sporadic posting this past month or so. I don't want to turn into one of those bloggers that just disappears from existence! Life has been crazy, plus getting ready for the holidays with 2 little ones...I'm sure you all know what I mean. Thanks again for sticking with me!!!

5 Golden Rings was released last year as part of China Glaze's "I Love You Snow Much" holiday collection. The collection also contained Ruby Pumps, Emerald Sparkle and Tinsel, which I already had. Luckily I happened to catch 5 Gold Rings on it's own at Sally's after the holiday. Sad part is, I didn't actually wear it until a few weeks ago!

The base is a VERY pale yellow and contains a mix of pale gold shimmer and darker gold glitter. I have 4 coats on in these images and was quite pleased with the coverage. The other plus is that the wear was phenomenal. I think it was about 3 days before I even saw a chip! This was released as a limited edition last year, but it's still available online at places like victorianailsupply.com or head2toebeauty.com.

Have a great day!

Zoya Free Color Spoon Friday!

2010-12-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

The perfect opportunity to try these if you haven't yet. For more information on color spoons, check out my post from when they were first released.
Have a great day!

Black Friday Mystery Hostess Event!

2010-11-26T13:38:00.000-05:00

I try to keep my Scentsy business off of this blog...but I did want to mention that this weekend I'm running a special...if you are interested or have any questions, let me know!

Remember to click if you can't read it! :)

China Glaze 'Tis the Season to be Naughty or Nice part II

2010-11-26T10:16:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry my posting is so disjointed lately. We've had some drama in our lives lately. If anyone noticed my little gripe on Twitter last week...We had a friend get arrested for a DUI. She's currently going through a divorce and they're having a custody issues with their 22 month old daughter. Long story short, she didn't want her DH to find out, but since this isn't the first time drinking has been a major issue we felt it wasn't something that should be hidden from him. We told him, she's pissed...it goes on.

Last week I posted part 1 of China Glaze's 'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice Holiday collection. I'll probably finish swatching it sometime this weekend...but I did want to post more more photo's.

Mrs. Claus

Mrs. Claus has a sheer red, jelly-ish base and small pieces of pink glitter. The glitter is a bit more sparse than what a lot of people were expecting. I have 3 coats on in the above images. I kind of like it still! It's quite blingy...perfect for the holidays. If you were to layer it over something it would probably be even better...I've never been much into layering though...only doing it when I have to.

Party Hearty

Speaking of layering...Party Hearty is going to be the perfect go-to layering polish for Christmas! It's has a clear base packed with large, red hex glitter, smaller green round glitter, and even smaller silver and gold glitter. I have 3 coats on in the above images. My only problem is deciding which polish to layer it over for the holiday!

Mistletoe Kisses

Mistletoe Kisses is sheer-ish green jelly packed with tiny, silver glitter. It's pretty unique and probably one of my favorites of this collection. Coverage is really good...I have 3 very thin coats on in the above images. It's one of those polishes that you don't want to take off when you're swatching. :)

Jolly Holly

Jolly Holly is a deeply pigmented green shimmer. For some reason, while I had it on all I could think of was Sinful San Francisco. Looking at the pictures, though, they're not close at all. This is much deeper and more rich. It really is a beautiful green...the shimmer is multi-color in the right light. I couldn't say enough about application...very smooth. I have 3 coats on in the above images...although most people seem to be getting away with 2.

Thanks for stopping...I'll try to get the rest of these up ASAP!

Ummm...help?

2010-11-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

Ok...So, I'm in my brothers wedding next October. It's a huge honor, and I'm excited, but I found out the what bridesmaid dress looks like:

Ok...I'm not a size 2...I'm overweight and well-endowed. I'm really nervous about this dress. I have no idea how I'm going to wear a bra...and I NEED to lose a considerable amount of weight so that I don't feel like a cow in the dress. HELP ME!!!!! Please...tips, advice...Anything.

Thank you. :)

Introducing Art Club GLAM

2010-11-21T18:44:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning to find this press release and photos in my mailbox:

"Fashion-forward nail designs are a cinch with GLAM. The high-quality, amazingly self-stickable decals lay right over nail, and a layer of top coat seals the deal.
Mix and match patterns, use on natural nails or embed them in gel, or over polish – it’s all up to you!"

These are going to be brought to us by the same company that's behind Color Club nail polish. I'm interested in these because, as I said before, I suck at nail art. Mad for Plaid look especially cute!

Where have I been? and China Glaze holiday Part I

2010-11-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

Wow...It's been about 3 weeks since I've posted! We were hit up with sickness and then I just got REALLY busy at work. DH had the flu about 2 weeks ago...now he has bronchitis. The kids and I have been passing around a bug as well. SO FUN! Plus, our grading period ended last week at school, so I had mountains of grading to get done for my students report cards. Things were just a bit hectic and something needed to give.
I do appreciate all of you who were here checking and those of your that sent your well wishes with the crazy flu bug. The kids and I are feeling better, and hopefully DH will be soon as well!

Well...I've slowly been swatching the new China Glaze 'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice Holiday collection. They release 16 (!) polishes in this set! I'm going to break it up in 4 posts of 4 polishes because my kids aren't going to let me sit down and swatch that many at once! :)

Naughty and Nice

Naughty and Nice is a blackened plum creme. I think the bottom picture is the best color-wise. The other 2 make it look a TAD more red than it is. Sorry for the awful condition of my index finger. My cuticle looks terrible! I have on 3 coats in these images.

Mommy Kissing Santa

Mommy Kissing Santa is a red shimmer. Very pretty, and great coverage with 2 coats. Near impossible for me since I apply such thin coats! :)

Phat Santa

I'm normally not a fan of red or creme polishes, but I actually really like Phat Santa. It has cooler undertones, so it works with my skin tone. I have to say I kind of felt glamorous wearing it! :) I have 3 coats on in the above images.

Ruby Deer

Ruby Deer is a bit more of an orange-based red. Photographing this and Phat Santa made me realize my camera doesn't like red nail polishes. They end up looking almost neon. I enjoyed wearing this color as well as Phat Santa...they gave me a new appreciation for creme's...although my fingers were red for some time. lol
I'm wearing 3 coats in the above images.

I will get the rest of these up as soon as I can. I still have some more to swatch. It's quite a bit, and a bit of an overwhelming collection to swatch. I really like all of them so far though!

Thanks for stopping!

Nubar Sale!

2010-11-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry I disappeared...we've been dealing with illness and crazy schedules...I'll explain more in my next post. Anyways, onto the reason for this post...Nubar has another sale! The offer is 30% off retail orders of $30 or more now through November 30th with code NOV3030. Free shipping on orders of $75 or more after the discount is applied. Visit their website at http://www.bynubar.com/ to take advantage of this offer!

Let me know what you get!

Rescue Beauty Lounge VIP 50% Sale Today!

2010-11-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

Rescue Beauty Lounge is running their 5-hour, 50% sale today. It goes until 4pm EST.
Check out the link to see what's available!

Have fun!

Birthday wishes....

2010-10-31T09:34:00.000-04:00

Today is R's 4th birthday. When anniversaries and birthdays roll around I start to think about what I was doing at that moment...So for the past few days I've been reminiscing about what I was doing four years ago. At this moment 4 years ago, DH was driving me to the hospital (or should I say, BACK to the hospital, they sent me home the night before) A 45 minute drive, when you're in labor is no fun, let me tell you. I was excited to meet my little man, but scared because he was my first and I didn't know what to expect of the whole process.
I was in labor for the better part of 3 days...it wasn't fun, but the outcome was so wonderful. R was God's attempt at teaching me patience (although I think the lesson fell on deaf ears...lol) We tried for 3 years to get pregnant with him...had lots of poking and prodding and testing...procedures, drugs...it was NO fun. But in the end I ended up with this perfect little boy. He's my pride and joy and I love him so much!

R at 2 weeks old

R yesterday at his party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BOY!!!!!

China Glaze Fortune Teller

2010-10-29T09:00:00.002-04:00

I think this may be my absolute favorite Halloween nail polish!!! Fortune Teller was a Sally's Beauty Supply exclusive last year...believe me when I say that I STALKED my Sally's for this!

Fortune Teller has a black base and multi-sized orange glitter. There is small and large hex glitter, plus regular glitter.
I'm wearing 3 coats of Fortune Teller and on my accent nail I have 2 coats of Wet N Wild Black Creme and decals from the Cina Nail Creations: Haunted Nights Nail Art Decals pack (picked it up at Sally's this year). R picked out which decals I would wear. He's so funny when I do my nails. He gets really into it and loves to see the colors. :)
It's a busy Halloween weekend for us...R turns 4 on Halloween, and my parents are coming in to visit. I hope you all are well...Thanks for stopping!

Check out this article!

2010-10-29T06:55:00.001-04:00

The other day I received a message on Flickr asking if Bellasugar.com could use one of my photo's for an article. I have a photostream on Flickr...most of the pictures you all have seen, some I haven't posted here just because they're from a while back. Anyways...of course I said yes!
Well, here's the link to the article. It's on different ideas for Halloween manicures. There are some really neat ideas in it! Check it out y'all!!!

China Glaze Spellbound

2010-10-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

I picked this up last year...not sure if it's still available or not...I'm thinking it was limited, but if someone can let me know, I'd appreciate it.

Spellbound has large silver glitter (very smooth and shiny) and small and hexagonal orange glitter. I'm wearing 3 coats in these pictures. It's meant to be a topcoat, but I honestly like it on it's own...I think it's a bit too dense for a topcoat. I think I've mentioned it in the past, but my only complaint is that since it's a glitter, the wear (for me at least) is terrible. I don't change my nail polish everyday...I like to get a good 3 to 4 days before I see chipping...this usually starts chipping at about 2 days. And it's not little chips...it's more like chunks. But again, it's a glitter, and that's what they do. It's really pretty, don't you think? My camera had a hard time focusing, so these are a bit blurry, but you all get the idea! ;-)

This for stopping!!!!

Halloween Mani!

2010-10-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite Halloween mani's because it's simple enough to me to do it. I'm not a nail art person, nor will I ever try to impress upon anyone that I'm an expert. I've been known to Konad from time to time, although I still don't have the famous Bundle Monster plates. Anyways...check it out!

What I have on is:
3 coats of Sally Hansen Glow
2 coats of the Pumpkin Nail polish string glitter (also contains a little bit of multi-colored regular glitter) that can be found at Rite Aid during the season sometime. Although I didn't see it this year.

If I'm planning on wearing this for a few days I'll put on a couple of coats of glow in the dark nail polish over the Glow before adding the string glitter. Looks kind of cool in the dark.

There you have it...simple-enough-for-me-to-do Halloween Mani....told you my nails art skills aren't that great! :)

I still have a couple more Halloween polishes that I want to post this week...stay tuned!

China Glaze Awakening

2010-10-22T09:00:00.001-04:00

Every year I try my best to buy any Halloween polishes that come out...we take the holiday pretty seriously in our house. It's ALWAYS been DH's favorite holiday, and on top of that R (our oldest...the one that took us a long time to have) was born on Halloween...talk about coincidence.
I was pretty pumped to get China Glaze's new Awakening collection. The colors are just perfect!

Mummy May I

Mummy May I has a purple jelly base with purple glitter. I have 3 coats on in these pictures. It's not a chunky glitter by any means, but it does need a topcoat (which you can tell I'm not wearing in these pictures).

Zombie Zest

This one is cool! Zombie Zest has a yellow/green jelly base with fine green shimmery glitter. It's dupish (although not dead on) to Orly It's Not Rocket Science. Love it...This color starts of REALLY mossy and yellow looking...as you use more coats it builds to a really cool green color. I'm currently wearing this as a mani, and the wear has been incredible. 5 days in and I only have tip wear! I'm also getting tons of compliments on the color. I'm wearing 3 coats in these pictures.

Ick-A-Bod-Y

The PERFECT Halloween polish! Ick-A-Bod-Y is a dark green jelly with lots of orange glitter. The glitter is the size as the glitter in Mummy May I, just more dense. I wore this as a mani last week, it lasted a few days before chipping...but glitter tends to chip very quickly for me, so I was pleased with the wear. It was the perfect way to start off my Halloween nail polish wearing season!

I have a few more Halloween mani's planned...I'll post them on here as I get to them! Have a great weekend everyone!

Finger Paints BCA Nail Polish

2010-10-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

I went to Sally's Beauty Supply recently because I was out of conditioner. They had a display right in front of the register will all sorts of Breast Cancer Awareness merchandise. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, they released two new shades in their popular Finger Paints nail polish brand. I normally don't go for pink nail polish, but I always contribute to something that helps to raise awareness to breast cancer.

I'm a Survivor

First of all, excuse the bubble on my middle fingernail.

I'm a Survivor is a bright pink color with silver glass-fleck-looking shimmer. I have on 3 coats in this picture, but could have done 2 coats if I applied thicker. (I know I always say this). Did I say it's really bright? My camera wasn't a fan.

I Pink I Can

Don't ask me what was going on with my pinky nail...I didn't even see the smudge when I took the pictures.

Anyways, I Pink I Can is a soft, baby pink with a silver shimmery sheen. It's very pretty, although not something I usually go for. I have on 3 coats in these pictures. The formula of this was a bit thicker than I'm a Survivor and a kind of hard for me to work with.

While I was editing these I kept thinking "wow, it actually looked pretty good on me" and then I ran into a picture that reminded me of my mom's hands...this is DEFINITELY her kind of color.

No offense to anyone that likes this...I'm not calling you my mom...I love my mommy...she just has different taste in nail polish than I do. I'm sure people think I'm strange because I'm 34 years old and love to wear bright, bright colors...ANYHOO...

What I'm gathering around the internet is that while the proceeds for the actual sales of the nail polish won't go towards BCA, Sally Beauty will be making a $65,000 donation to Cancer Support Community this month.

Deborah Lippmann All That Jazz Trio

2010-10-14T06:29:00.001-04:00

Hello! This past weekend I had a Scentsy booth at a local festival, and it was quite the success! The only thing is that I managed to break just about every nail. lol I've been working on this post for about 4 days now. My blogging time this week has been severely cramped.

Recently, I was put in touch with the company that does PR for Deborah Lippmann. Such nice people! Anyways, they asked if I ever had the opportunity to try her nail polish before, and unfortunately I had not. She (the girl I've been talking to) offered to send me some. It showed up in the mail last week...I was so excited! I expected maybe a bottle or two, but they sent me the entire All That Jazz trio! I've had the opportunity to play around with them for the past couple of days, and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to try Deborah Lippmann.

Razzle Dazzle

Razzle Dazzle has a dusty pink jelly base with bright pink, multi-sized glitter. I absolutely love this color!!!! I have 3 coats on in these pictures, and if I used slightly thicker coats I could have gotten away with 2.

Some Enchanted Evening

Some Enchanted Evening....you will find a strangerrrrr! I admit it...I'm a nerd. I love musicals. Used to be in the drama club in high school. Not sure if South Pacific was the inspiration for the name of this nail polish. It is entirely possible that I'm too big of a geek to know where it came from. lol
Anyways, Some Enchanted Evening has a clear base with both small pink glitter and pink hex glitter. I'm wearing 3 coats in these pictures. The pictures make the pink glitter look more red...not sure if it's my camera or my top notch (NOT!) photography skills...either way...it's pink. Believe me. For some reason, when I had this on I kept thinking it would look SO NEAT as a top coat over blue nail polish. I may have to try it someday.

Lady Sings the Blues

Lady Sings the Blues has a dark blue base with small and hex-shaped silver glitter. It's so pretty! My only wish is that the blue base had more of a jelly quality to it...perhaps the glitter would have shown on the nail more...it almost gets lost. Still love it! I have 3 coats on...again, if I had been more careful and applied a tad more quick, I could have done 2.

All in all...I absolutely love this collection! The formula is perfect...it's just so easy to work with. Razzle Dazzle is my favorite, followed by Lady Sings the Blues, and finally Some Enchanted Evening. I'm so happy I finally got the chance to try this brand...I'm going to have to get some more now! :)

Thanks for stopping!!!!

This product was sent to me for review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Taking a Break from Nail Polish to Support Breast Cancer Awareness!

2010-10-08T10:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! I haven't gotten much swatching done this week because I've been preparing to sell Scentsy at a local festival tomorrow. But seeing this is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I wanted to inform you all about Scentsy's "cause" warmer.

First of all, for those of you who aren't familiar with Scentsy, let me give you some info that can be found at scentsy.com:

Scentsy is a wickless candle system. Our wax is called a Scentsy Bar or a Scentsy Brick, and is a highly fragrant wax bar that is warmed to release fragrance into the air. Because the wax is gently warmed rather than burned, it can hold more fragrance oil than a traditional candle. And, because there is no flame, there is no smoke, soot or lead. Scentsy wickless candles are a safer alternative to traditional candles.
Scentsy's wax is warmed in Scentsy's beautiful ceramic warmers. The warmers house a low-watt light bulb that slowly melts the Scentsy Bar or Scentsy Brick, filling your home with one of more than 80 unique, long-lasting scents.

The combination of a Scentsy Warmer with a Scentsy Bar is known as a Scentsy System.

Every catalog season we sell what is known as our "Cause Warmer". In our last catalog we sold a warmer that benefited the Sunshine kids, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting children with cancer. Through the sales of our Sunshine Kids warmer, Scentsy was able to donate more than $150,000 to the foundation!

This catalog our cause warmer is called Love, Life, Hope.

Scentsy will donate a portion of every sale of this warmer to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, whose mission is to save lives through early detection and provide mammograms to those in need.

To find out more about this warmer, or other Scentsy products, you can either email me, or visit my Scentsy site at jenniferanderson.scentsy.us.

To learn more about Scentsy’s Charitable Cause Warmer and other philanthropic programs, visit scentsyfamilyfoundation.org.

My Birthday Nicole by OPI Polishes!

2010-10-07T16:36:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that DH got me some Nicole by OPI polishes for my birthday. I wanted to swatch them for you all. When I asked him why he got that particular brand (I love Nicole, but he wouldn't know that) he said they were the most expensive ones at Target...LOL

Mis-Magenta Me?

Nicole Mis-Magenta Me, 2 coats

Mis-Magenta Me? is a bright pink foil. It really blew me away. This is 2 coats, and quite honestly I could have gotten away with one. It was so well-pigmented and smooth. I loved the application AND the color!

Fell From the Tree

Nicole Fell From the Tree, 3 coats

Fell From the Tree is a nice, true green with shimmer It was a bit thinner and less pigmented than Mis-Magenta Me? as I needed more coats for full coverage. It's not a terribly unique color, but it's still a nice green.

Such a Go-Glitter

3 coats

2 coats Such a Go-Glitter over 2 coats Wet n Wild black creme

Such a Go-Glitter has small blue and holo glitter suspended in a clear base. I assume it's meant to be used as a topcoat, and now that I think about it, I should have worn it over another blue polish becuase I think it would look AMAZING. I did like it over black as well, though, and the good thing about it is, it's a smooth glitter and you don't need a ton of topcoat to keep it from feeling gritty.

Pitch-Black Glimmer

3 coats

2 coats Pitch-Black Glimmer over 2 coats Wet n Wild black creme

Pitch-Black Glimmer has black and holo glitter mixed in with silver micro-glitter in a clear base. I absolutely love this one and ended up wearing it at my mani a couple of weeks ago. It's a smooth glitter, like Such a Go-Glitter, so I only needed one coat of top coat.

All in all, DH done good! He knows what I like, that's for sure!

Thanks for visiting!

Rescue Beauty Lounge - Housewives of Tudor England

2010-10-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

When I found out about this collection back in July, I was pumped! I LOVE Tudor history...especially anything to do with Henry the VIII's wives. The collection is inspired by the wives of Henry VIII and the iridescent thread of the brocade fabrics they wore.
Anne Boleyn has always been a favorite of mine, I loved watching The Tudors when it was on, and I even frequent a blog about Anne Boleyn. The collection has four polishes named and styled after four of Henry's wives. He had six wives, but the four in the collection were the four that did not fare so well in their marriage to him.

Catherine

Catherine is named after Henry's first wive, Catherine of Aragon. He was married the longest to her and had one child, Mary I (Bloody Mary) with her. As she aged, and it was obvious she would never bear him a make heir, he grew tired of her.
The polish is a dusty purple with pink, blue, purple, and gold shimmer. My camera made this *slightly* warmer than it is in real life, but it's actually not too far off.

Anne

As I said before, Anne Boleyn has always been a favorite of mine. She's gotten a bad rap throughout history, and it's just recently where some of the myth's about her have been dispelled. RBL's website even calls her a sorceress. She was not. She did, however, have A LOT of enemies in her time. Henry left Catherine of Aragon for her, plus she was very prominent during the reformation of the Catholic church in England. In the end, she was charge with treason (completely trumped up charges I might add) and beheaded. She gave Henry one child, Elizabeth I. I always think it amazing that the woman who was demonized in her time gave birth to one of England's greatest monarchs!
Anne is my favorite polish in this collection. It's so beautiful! It's olive green with gold and fuchsia/pink shimmer. I have a feeling it will end up in my top 20 polishes!

Jane

Jane is named after Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife. It is said that she was his favorite...possibly because she gave birth to his one and only son, Edward I. Throughout history Jane was portrayed as a meek, mild woman. Actually, she was probably as conniving as Anne, just a bit more subtle about it. Henry was betrothed to Jane the day after Anne was executed. Tragically, Jane died from complications just two weeks after the birth of her son.
The nail polish Jane, is a putty color with a very subtle gold/slight green shimmer. My pictures are kind of crappy, so I do apologize. My middle fingernail had a bubble, and I smudged that same nail. But I did like that I caught some of the shimmer. It's MUCH easier to see in the bottle than on the nail. This is totally a color that I normally wouldn't go for, but once I put it on I was able to appreciate how pretty it is!

Catherine H

I don't know as much about Catherine Howard as I do about the other wives of Henry VIII. She was his fifth wife and very young when they were married. They did not have any children together, although it is said that he really was in love with her. He was probably in love with her youth...but unfortunately it was that youth that was her downfall. She was convicted of treason (pretty much she cheated on him) and met the same unfortunate fate as Anne Boleyn.
The color of this polish is really pretty. It's wedgewood blue with purple/blue/pink shimmer. You see the shimmer more in the bottle as it gets lost a bit on the nail though.

The formula and pigmentation on these, like any RBL polish, was phenomenal. These could all have been 2-coaters if I was a bit more careful when applying. I used 3, but I tend to use VERY thin coats.

What do you all think of this collection? I do like every polish in it. Anne, is of course, my favorite. I think I like Catherine H SLIGHTLY more than Catherine, and then Jane is my least favorite (but still very pretty).

Thanks for stopping...Have a great Monday! :)

China Glaze Holiday 2010 Gift Sets

2010-10-03T09:23:00.002-04:00

In my previous post I posted the press release from China Glaze that introduced their 2010 holiday collection, 'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice. According to the release, some of the colors will also be available in adorable gift sets that look perfect for stocking stuffers. The following images and descriptions are from the press release.

Celebrate in Style Collection

Includes Little Drummer Boy, Peace on Earth, Mommy Kissing Santa, Jingle Bells and a holiday necklace

Merry Mint Set

Includes Naughty and Nice, Mrs. Claus and a complimentary China Glaze Peppermint Oil

Rejoice Set

Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Mrs. Claus and a special red holiday candle

Cheers to You

Includes Midnight Kisses, Cheers to you and a China Glaze shot glass

Dreamin’ of a Green Christmas

Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Midnight Kiss and Jolly Holly

Oh, Ruby Deer

Includes Sugar Plums, Ruby Deer and a stuffed animal

Peppermint Kisses with Holiday Wishes

Includes Mrs. Claus, Phat Santa, Snow and Frosty

Let me know if you guys can't see the pictures. As I mentioned before I'm having a lot of problems with Blogger the last few days. And if you CAN see them...sorry about the image quality, I've been having problems publishing them in their original size, so I had to make them smaller. :-(

China Glaze Holiday 2010!!!

2010-10-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

'Tis the Season to be Naughty and Nice! Reminds my of DH's favorite pair of holiday boxers, which he wears all the time mind you. LOL
China Glaze's Holiday collection looks amazing this year. I can't wait to see these bad boys in person! I'm so excited to be able to share the info and images I received in China Glaze's press release today!

CHINA GLAZE INTRODUCES

“TIS THE SEASON TO BE NAUGHTY AND NICE”

Celebrate the Holiday Season with Sugar, Spice and Everything In Between

Los Angeles, CA – (September 2010): Ring in the holidays this year with 16 brand new colors from China Glaze that are sure to bring festive cheer to your hands and feet!

Naughty and Nice: Deeply rich wine crème.

Sugar Plums: Plum shimmer.

Mommy Kissing Santa: Deep cherry red shimmer.

Phat Santa: Red crème.

Ruby Deer: Bright red crème.

Mrs. Claus: Red glitter.

Party Hearty: Green, gold and red chunky glitter.

Mistletoe Kisses: Green glitter.

Jolly Holly: Forest green shimmer.

Peace on Earth: Olive green shimmer.

Little Drummer Boy: Navy blue shimmer.

Jingle Bells: Champagne shimmer.

Midnight Kiss: Gold shimmer.

Cheers to You: Silver shimmer.

Frosty: White frosty shimmer.

Snow: White crème.

Certain colors will also be available in the following gift sets:

Celebrate in Style Collection: Includes Little Drummer Boy, Peace on Earth, Mommy Kissing Santa, Jingle Bells and a holiday necklace.

Merry Mint Set: Includes Naughty and Nice, Mrs. Claus and a complimentary China Glaze Peppermint Oil.

Rejoice Set: Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Mrs. Claus and a special red holiday candle.

Cheers to You: Includes Midnight Kisses, Cheers to you and a China Glaze shot glass.

Dreamin’ of a Green Christmas: Includes Mistletoe Kisses, Midnight Kiss and Jolly Holly.

Oh, Ruby Deer: Includes Sugar Plums, Ruby Deer and a stuffed animal.

Peppermint Kisses with Holiday Wishes: Includes Mrs. Claus, Phat Santa, Snow and Frosty.

The 16 seasonal colors will be available for a limited time only, so catch them fast before the holidays are over.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

China Glaze is a division of American International Industries.

About American International IndustriesFor nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women. Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks, Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s, and Youthair. For more information, visit our website: http://www.aiibeauty.com/.

I will try and post images of the stocking-stuffer type gift sets as soon as blogger stops being a pain in the a$$! :-)

I'm still here...

2010-09-29T08:21:00.000-04:00

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

Zoya Ivanka

2010-09-25T08:56:00.000-04:00

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

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

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

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

China Glaze Meteor Shower

2010-09-22T16:40:00.000-04:00

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

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

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

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

Thanks for stopping!

Nubar Peacock Feathers

2010-09-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

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

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

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

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Giveaway Winner!

2010-09-17T18:21:00.000-04:00

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

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

Thanks again, and congrats to the winner!

Icing Money Talks

2010-09-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

China Glaze LOL

2010-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day everyone!

Wet N'Wild Craze: Morbid

2010-09-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

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

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

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

Zoya Color Lock System Test

2010-09-10T09:00:00.004-04:00

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

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

Day 1

Day 5

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

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

Day 1

Day 5

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

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

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Orly Cosmic FX

2010-09-08T09:00:00.007-04:00

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

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

It's Not Rocket Science

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

Halley's Comet

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

Out of This World

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

Lunar Eclipse

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

Galaxy Girl

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

Space Cadet

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

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

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

Fashion Bug Silver

2010-09-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Labor day to all of my US readers!

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

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

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

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

Orly Royal Navy

2010-09-03T09:00:00.002-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

Color Club Halloween!

2010-09-02T09:00:00.015-04:00

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

Press Release image

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

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

Deborah Lippmann Does the Emmy's!

2010-09-02T09:00:00.014-04:00

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

Lea Michele

Lippmann Lady Sings the Blues

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

January Jones

Lippmann's Dark Side Of The Moon

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

WOW...both looked gorgeous!

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday to ME Giveaway!

2010-09-01T14:05:00.002-04:00

Hehe. My birthday is coming up this month (can you believe that it's September!) Plus, I just wanted to celebrate the growth my wee little blog has experienced over the past couple of months. Who knew?

I just wasn't sure WHAT to offer for this giveaway that would show my appreciation to you all properly. It was a hard decision, but I think I have a couple of neat things. So, what am I giving away?

1) Some Bare Escentuals eye colors in Clarity and Socialite, plus an eye color brush. Both colors are green, but a VERY neutral green. I'm able to wear them, and I usually can't do green eye makeup.

2) A bottle of the ever elusive Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. For once I was able to find a ltd. edition SH nail polish...NEVER HAPPENS HERE! hehe. When I found it I made sure to pick up an extra for just such an occasion.

3) The new China Glaze Awakening Halloween collection. I wasn't sure I would be able to find this in time to do a giveaway for my birthday...but I did. Whew!

4) plus whatever else I may find that would be interesting.

To enter:
- You must comment on this post and leave me a valid email address. I need to be able to get in touch with you
- Extra entries if you follow my blog or follow me on twitter (@polishaddiction). Even better, do both! :)
- Extra entry if you post this RT on twitter: RT @polishaddiction Enter to win my Happy Birthday to Me Giveaway! http://bit.ly/bVSUEP #nailpolish #giveaway

International entries are welcome!
~~Contest will end on Sept 15th at 10pm EST~~. Winner will be chosen at random, and I'll notify the winner via email.

ETA: Contest has ended....thank you to everyone who participated!!! There are around 150 entries!!! I'll notify the winner as soon as I can! THANKS AGAIN!

Good luck!

Introducing the Zoya Color Spoon!

2010-09-01T09:30:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago, I received the following email from Zoya announcing the launch of their new Color Spoons: *click so you can actually read it!*

From Zoya Press Release

Image from Zoya Press Release

So there you have it! Zoya offers us a no-risk way to try their colors! I think this is pretty amazing myself because I KNOW that I can't be the only one who buys a color of nail polish and just doesn't like the way it looks on me...Or how many of us have bought something only to realize that we have 2 other bottles that look exactly like it?
So, what do you think?

China Glaze It's My Turn

2010-09-01T09:00:00.005-04:00

Another oldie, but goodie! (Not really OLD, but you know what I mean). It's My Turn is from the Kaleidoscope Collection released back in 2006. Last month I posted another polish from the same collection.

In another post, I mentioned that I don't like the way gold nail polish looks on me. This is one of the exceptions. I think it's because it's more of a brown-based gold. It doesn't look half bad.

Yummy-holo goodness. I used 3 coats in these pictures. I suggest clicking on the picture above to get a better look at the HOLO.

Keep an eye out, I'm posting some news in a minute, plus later on today I'm posting my giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chi Sultry Nights

2010-08-30T09:00:00.003-04:00

First Monday back to work. K ended up with pink eye over the weekend and I thought for sure that today I would have to try and entertain a 19 month old while getting my room ready for the school year. Luckily we have probably 18 bottles of drops at home, since the boys get it so much at daycare. He woke up this morning looking MUCH better.

Another Chi polish! Sultry Nights is a dark, dark blue with a bit of shimmer. In certain lights it could even be mistaken for black. I bought this WAAAAY back in 2007!

I used 3 coats in these pictures. It's so highly pigmented that I could have gotten away with 2 thicker coats, though. I didn't do that because I have a problem with this one bubbling. I have to be careful to use really thin coats and give them a minute to dry before I apply more.

You're able to see a bit of the shimmer in this shot.

My birthday is coming up next month, and I thought it would be fun to do a little giveaway for it. It took me some time to come up with something, but I made a surprising find the other day, so hopefully you all will enjoy it when I post it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I appreciate all of my readers!

Color Club Worth the Risque

2010-08-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

I was back to school yesterday. The first day back for teachers is a little daunting (at least for me) because I'm trying to figure what I should be doing first. There's the big teacher breakfast, meetings, etc....and them I'm in my classroom wondering where I put everything in June! lol

Worth the Risque was released in Spring of '09 with the Femme Fatale collection. I'm embarrassed to say that this is my first Color Club polish that I've ever worn!

You can't tell in the above picture, but Worth the Risque is a densely packed holo polish. It's so pretty!!! The next picture shows the holo a bit more (remember to click for a bigger image), but if I had some sun it would be even better!

I used 4 coats for a nice, even coverage. There was a big of a drag for me when I applied, so you'll have to be careful there.

Sorry for the lighting in these pictures...I've had very little sunlight the past few days and had to make do because I was in desperate need of doing some swatching!

Thanks for stopping by!

Orly Shine

2010-08-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

Orly Shine was another one of my Ulta purchases last month. Our local Sally's didn't have it, so I was thrilled to find it. Shine was released as part of Foil FX collection this past spring.

Orly marketed this collection to be "minx-like". I could see them passing for that from a distance. Up close you would be able to see the metallic particles that make these a foil. Shine is obviously a silver foil...VERY shiny. Probably one of the shiniest silver's I own. Unfortunately it's another polish that my camera doesn't like. I edited the hell out of these. My hands were orange and the camera had a hard time focusing, probably because of the shimmer...I don't know. I could just suck at taking pictures too.

I used 4 coats to get even coverage. It was a bit patchy before that. I haven't tried the others from this collection yet, do I don't know it that's a common thing with them. I also have the other two polishes from this collection, Rage and Luxe. I'll swatch them soon hopefully so that I can complete it on here.

See you soon!

Ulta Chic Peek

2010-08-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

When I was in NY visiting family last month I visited my very first Ulta store! It was so wonderful...lol There were about 20 polishes in there that I wanted to buy as well as other cosmetics, but I limited myself because I'm sure the hubby wouldn't have appreciated me spending $100 on cosmetics. When his cousin found out I was going there, she texted me and said "You + Ulta = lots of nail polish!" How true...lol

The Ulta polishes were on sale when I was there, so I picked up a few. I LOVE this one.

Chic Peek is a brown base with lots of tiny silver shimmer. It was hard to get a good pic because for some reason my camera would pick up the brown and turn my hands orange. I've been having that problem a lot lately with the camera...I may have to think about getting a new one. hmmm... (or someone needs to tell me what I'm doing wrong...lol)

I used 3 coats. It had such a great, even coverage that if I used slightly thicker coats I could probably have gotten away with 2 coats.

Thanks for visiting!

Chanel Paradoxal

2010-08-20T09:00:00.006-04:00

Well...here it is! Any of you who follow me on twitter witnessed my excitement when I bought this. I think I was more surprised that I found more than anything. I know you've seen picture after picture of this...but you know what...I'm posting it anyway! :)

Other this, I only have one other Chanel nail polish (Kaleidoscope). I have a problem paying $20+ for nail polish, but I kept seeing more and more pictures of this and wanted it more and more. I went into Macy's (and hour away from me) and figured, well if they even have it, I'll think about it. I stood there looking at their nail polish display and there was no Paradoxal. I was with my cousin and my boys at the time...I was about to walk away when the Chanel lady said "oh we have these as well". I looked at my cousin and told her that I was weak....as soon as I found out they had it, I knew I would get it. lol

You can see some of the purple shimmer in the bottle in the bottom picture. And that's how it looks on your nails in the sunshine...inside it's a dark taupe and you don't see the shimmer at all. In this next picture I used my flash to capture it...sorry for the washed out looking picture:

I found this a little hard to apply. The brush seemed like it didn't want to listen to me and the formula was thicker that I would like. I ended up using 3 coats to get even coverage, but they were three THICK coats.
In other news, I used Nubar Diamont top coat for the first time with this mani. So far I really like it. I felt it dried really quickly and it didn't give me the shrinkage that Seche Vite (my HG) does. I'm going to give it some time and decide whether or not I'm going to switch...don't want to be too hasty about these things!

Well, this was the last full week of my summer vacation. What a busy week too. Tuesday we had some friends over for a bbq and video games...they were my husband's friends obviously, and yesterday we drove to Richmond to take the kids to see the Wiggles. They were so cute! My youngest, K, sat on Daddy's lap and danced to every song. My oldest, R, was in awe of the whole experience. Next week, the kids will be back at daycare, and then on Thursday I go back to school. Teachers report on Thursday, but we don't get students until after Labor Day...so it won't be too bad yet. Hehe.

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Cowardly Lyin'

2010-08-18T09:00:00.003-04:00

Cowardly Lyin' is a part of China Glaze's Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection. I was completely unaware of this collection when it was originally released in 2001. I did not have my current level of obsession for all things nail polish at the time. I lived in a town that was about 30 minutes from anywhere up in NY...had just gotten married and was sporting *gasp* acrylic nails. I'm so glad that China Glaze listened to their fans and re-released it!

Unfortunately for me, Cowardly Lyin' just doesn't look that good with my skin tone. I think it's so pretty though, and I'm not that much into gold nail polish (probably because they look like crap on me)!

Cowardly Lyin' is a very pretty, light gold with tiny gold glitter particles.

It's quite sheer...I used 4 coats and still had visible nail line, although you can't tell as much in the pictures. You'll want to click on the images to see the detail of the gold glitter. Very pretty!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sally Hansen Laser

2010-08-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

This past spring Sally Hansen released 8 more shades into their HD collection. Laser was part of that release. This color SCREAMS me. It's blue, glittery and duochrome! I wore this polish as a mani for about a week, and had such a hard time NOT looking at my nails!

Laser has a dark blue base, with glitter that gives flashes of purple. In the right light it looks more purple than blue. If you click on the images you can see a bit more detail. I think I picked up the flashes of purple, although I wish you could see it more. In my pictures you can only see it in the bottle, but in real life it's very evident on the nail as well.

I needed 4 coats to get even coverage. The polishes released in this collection are sheer, but buildable colors. If you are into layering (I'm really not) then you'll love these!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sinful San Francisco

2010-08-13T09:00:00.003-04:00

First off, I have to say, excuse my nubbins. I mentioned the other day that in the craziness of doing the fair last week that I quite honestly just didn't take very good care of my nails. They're very prone to splitting and breaking if I'm not constantly taking care of them.
I had heard so much about Sinful nail polish, but was never able to get them because we don't have a Walgreens in my little boondock-ish town. Imagine my surprise one day when I walked into Rite-Aid and found a big display! I was so caught off guard that I didn't even know which ones to get. I ended up picking the one I had heard the most about, San Francisco.

This picture makes it look like it's a blue-based green, but it's not. In my opinion it's more yellow-based...but leaning towards just pure green. This picture is more accurate:

I needed 4 coats to get even coverage. It was kind of streaky up until that point.

What do you have planned for your weekend? The hubby is going on a man-date with some friends to see The Expendables, so his cousin wants to go shoe shopping with me. I've never been a shoe shopper...bring me to a make-up store and I'm in heaven though...LOL

Have a great weekend!

Zoya Charla

2010-08-11T09:00:00.003-04:00

Well, I was going through my pictures and found some that are pre-nubbin. I admittedly didn't take very good care of my nails last week with the fair. There was some labor involved and I was REALLY tired. They're probably not going to grow fast enough for me to get them past my tips before I swatch again though. I guess worse things have happened, right? :-P

Charla is part of the Zoya Sparkle collection, released this summer. It's been described as mermaid scales in a bottle. I think it's pretty darn accurate.

Nothing I can say can do Charla justice...it's SOOOO gorgeous! I practically drooled over this color once I got it in the exchange. I accidentally left it home when I went on vacation last month, so it sat here for 2 weeks waiting for me...such a crime!

I used 3 coats. Wear was great, as always. Even though it's glitter, it wasn't a pain to take off...so greatness all around!

Thanks for looking!

OPI Russian Navy

2010-08-09T09:00:00.005-04:00

Hello all...happy Monday! Today is my parents 35th anniversary...WOW! You go mom and dad! On the downside, it would have also been the anniversary of a couple that the hubby and I are friends with, but they are currently going through a divorce. It's so sad to watch, but they both seem really happy and at peace with the decision, so I guess that's all we can hope for.

Onto less depressing discussion...

I was digging around my untried box (or ONE of my untried boxes) and found this baby. I can't believe that I've never worn it!! I love blue for crying out loud! This is such a DARK blue, but not one of those dark blues that would be mistaken for black.

Russian Navy was released in fall/winter 2007 in the Russian Collection. It's a very dark navy blue, but with tiny blue/pink/purple shimmer. In the right light you can see the sheen of purple. So pretty!!! The pigmentation is great, and it applies so SMOOTHLY.

You'll have to click on these pictures to enlarge them to see the shimmer. I tried to sharpen these up a bit so you can see it.
Beautiful, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Nubar Sale!

2010-08-07T09:32:00.000-04:00

Very excited. I've been DYING to try Nubar nail polish and they have a sale going on right now, so I took advantage.
If you enter the code AUG2030 you will receive 20% off of your order of $30 or more. You can still receive free shipping on your order of $75 or more after the discount is applied. The sale ends today though, so hurry!!!! You can purchase Nubar polishes at http://www.bynubar.com/

OPI DS Perfection

2010-08-06T09:00:00.002-04:00

Ah...Friday....The last day of the fair is tomorrow. It's been fun, but man, am I tired!!! :)

Can we talk about how friggin' cool this polish is???? I didn't want to take it off when I was wearing it. I LOVE the Designer Series polishes. It is my secret (I guess not so secret anymore) wish to own all of them. I'm thinking I missed out on some of them, because there have been discontinuations and such, but I'll do my best to find them all. This isn't the only one I have by any means, I'm just not sure which ones I have right now. hehe

*sigh* I love it. This is 4 coats...it's a little sheer at first. It's dark pink with a foil/glitter finish. It's a little duochrome too, look at the bottle and you can see the reddish/orangish color too. In real life you can see it on your nails too.

I seriously couldn't stop looking at my nails when this was on them. It's just so cool!!! What do you think?

Have a great weekend!

Zoya Laney

2010-08-04T09:00:00.001-04:00

The fair is doing well and amazingly I'm awake enough for a post! I'm not getting in until 10:30 pm every night , don't get to bed until about 11:30 and the kids don't let me sleep in past 7 am. Not good, as I need a decent amount of sleep to function. It's only for the week though, so I'll manage!

I received Zoya Laney during this year's Zoya polish exchange. It's another polish from this spring Reverie collection, like my previously posted Adina.

Laney is a silver based duochrome. You can see a little flash of green on my nails in the above image (click to see a bigger pic), and in the bottle there is also a slight flash of pink. I did see the duochrome on my nails, but it just didn't translate into an image well.

While the duochrome isn't as strong in this as in Adina, it's still pretty cool looking. As you can see in my image, the polish is susceptible to brush strokes, so be careful there. Obviously I had shaky hands putting this on (look at my middle fingernail!). I used 3 coats...it was pretty streaky, so it was needed...I highly recommend it though!

Have a great day!

Chi Out on the Town Brown

2010-08-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

Good morning, and happy Monday. Today is the first day of that fair I was telling you about. We set up over the weekend, so far so good. Our only problem is that the building we're in is not air conditioned, and we sell wax that melts at very low temps. Should be interesting.

Chi is another brand of polish that I can only get when I escape from the boonies. I love it though, and it wears well. But I only have 3 colors! :-(

Out on the Town Brown is so not a color that I wear very often...plus it's not very summery. It is perfect for fall though. Like I said, I don't wear brown's very often, but when I do wear them, I love them. It just looks so cool! It's a nice chocolaty brown. You need to wear 3 coats though, because it builds and looks really reddish with the first 2 coats.

I hope you all have a great day...wish me luck tonight!

Sephora by OPI - Queen of Everything

2010-07-30T09:00:00.001-04:00

I bought this polish in during a trip up to Western NY to visit family. It's the only time I get to stores like Sephora and Ulta. There are times I don't like living in the boonies so much.
Queen of Everything caught my eye because I'm a sucker for metallic polishes. Yes, they are brush strokey (love making up my own words), but they just look so cool! But, as you're going to see in the next picture, such a polish can show ANY flaw...

I had a little fuzz of cotton caught on my nail. Didn't see it there until AFTER the pictures.

Fixed up a bit. The color is more accurate in this image. Sorry about the cut on my middle finger, by the way. Every time it's close to healing I catch something else on it! I would describe the color of this polish as a pewter frost. I have 3 coats on in these images. The unfortunate thing is that it chipped rather quickly.
I wanted to let you wonderful readers know that I'm participating in our county fair next week. I will have a Scentsy booth ALL. WEEK. I will try to keep posting semi-regularly, but I can't promise anything. I'm sure you all understand though. :-)

Have a great weekend!!!!

Zoya Adina

2010-07-28T09:00:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I wanted to post one of the polishes I received in the Zoya Polish exchange this year. I got 12 polishes this time. I love that Zoya does this every year. It forces me to go through and purge polishes that I don't love as much as I thought I would.
Zoya Adina is part of the Reverie collection released this past spring. The entire collection consists of duochrome colors. Zoya describes them as having an "oil slick" effect. Definitely true.

Here you can see the green flash of duochrome. I wish it translated into my pictures more because it really is quite fascinating! Such a cool polish!!!

Did any of you participate in the exchange? What did you get?

Thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild vs. Milani Hi-Res

2010-07-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

I recently posted the discontinued China Glaze Octa Gone Wild and in the post mentioned that Milani Hi-Res was similar. I decided to do a side by side comparison of the two for you all.

The colors are similar and both have a holo finish, but the particles are smaller in the China Glaze, and the holo is smoother looking. I took a picture outside to see the holo better.

It's quite over-exposed, but you can REALLY see the differences in the holo finish. Plus here Hi-Res seems to be a slightly darker, warmer shade of purple.

For those of you who missed out on Octa Gone Wild, that Hi-Res is a decent alternative. It's not a dupe by any means, but Milani is great quality, and you can get it just about anywhere.

Hope this helps...have a great day!

Playing with eye make-up

2010-07-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

A few months ago I signed up for The bareMinerals Eye Club. I thought it would be a really good way for me to build my eye makeup "wardrobe" but it would also force me to use some colors that I normally wouldn't buy for myself. This month, I received the "Clarity" collection. Bare me with me on the eye closeups. I've never taken a picture of my own eye before...thought it would be fun to try though!

For this look I used:

Bare Escentuals Prime Time Eyelid Primer

Clarity Eyecolor from lash line to brow

1980's Eyecolor on lid and in crease

Socialite Eyecolor along upper and lower lashes

Maybelline Telescopic mascara (love)

And this picture made me realize that I need to start using eye-cream more regularly:

I'm sorry, but I think my eye looks kind of old in it! Any rec's?
Happy Friday, and thanks for stopping by!

China Glaze Sexy in the City

2010-07-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is such a pretty blue (leaning toward turquoise) color with a GORGEOUS shimmer. I picked it up at my local Sally's a little while ago. It was a *bit* thin and runny, but not impossible. I'm not sure if this came out with any collection, per se? Please someone let me know if I'm wrong, so I can edit that.

I think it's such a pretty spring/summer color, don't you? Great for pedi's as well.
You need 3 coats for this not to look streaky, which is what I have on in these pictures. And it does give you smurf fingers when you remove it.

I really like this color (I'm a sucker for blue), and got quite a few compliments on it when I wore it. What do you think? Have a great day everyone!

Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud

2010-07-19T08:00:00.007-04:00

I know...it's not out anymore...but I love it so much that I want to post it anyways. You don't even know what I went through to get this beauty! I had three people looking in different parts of Virginia, none of us could find it. I called my sister up in Niagara Falls and asked her to look. After she laughed because I was asking her to look for nail polish 300 miles away (she just doesn't get it!), she said she'd look. She couldn't find it. I then called my MIL and asked her to look...SHE FOUND IT!
I believe this came out last fall? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm still looking for optimal lighting conditions to take my pictures in...if I could find the light box I have in the basement I'd be set!

Anyways...Opulent Cloud *sigh* It's a pewter/purple color with gold shimmer. These pictures are 3 coats.

I like this shot because you can really see the gold shimmer. In case I haven't mentioned it, you can click on my images to see a much larger version. I try to leave these bigger so that you can see the detail.

Well, happy Monday all....Thanks for visiting!

China Glaze Octa Gone Wild

2010-07-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

Oh Friday...Even in the summer I'm excited for Friday because even though I'm not at work, it means I get to see my DH all weekend. He has a 90 minute commute and usually doesn't get home until like 6pm...so basically he gets home, we eat dinner, put the kids to bed and go to bed ourselves. I just feel like I don't get to "see" him too much during the work week.

ANYWAYS...Octa Gone Wild came out with the Kaleidoscope collection WAY back in 2006. It's been discontinued unfortunately...the whole collection is AWESOME.

HOLO!!!! Anyways. The particles are bigger then some other HOLO polishes, but they still just look so cool. I would sit out in the sun and stare at my nails all day if I could. Even though this is discontinued, I've heard that Milani Hi Res is very similar.

Application was fantastic, dry time was great. I have on 3 coats in these pictures. The first coat was a bit streaky, but after the second it looked great. I did chip in only a few days, which is a rarity for me. I wore this last week when we left for vacation, so it may have just been all the packing and travel.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great weekend!

Sally Hansen Pedal to the Metal

2010-07-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

After spotting the limited edition polishes from Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure collection, I actually started looking at their core line. This one just popped out from the display.
Pedal to the Metal is a pretty purple/silver frost. I have to say that I was more impressed with it in the bottle though. Once I put it on it just didn't look right on me. It's a frost, and has a tendency to show brush strokes, so you're going to want to be careful about that.

There is a slight shimmer that I only noticed in the bottle. My camera picked it up in the sunlight, but I didn't really see it. The brush for the Complete Salon Manicure collection is VERY full and holds a lot of polish. You have to be very careful when applying that you don't get it all over the place. I did notice that it was more stiff in Hidden Treasure and therefore easier to use. I'm not sure of all of the limited edition polishes are like that because I haven't used them yet.

What do you think? Do any of you have this as well?

Thanks for stopping by...have a great Wednesday!

OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight

2010-07-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! The fam and I arrived in Virginia last night. It was a good week home, I wish we could have stayed longer!
I recently purchased Lincoln Park at Midnight...I absolutely LOVE it...I can't believe that I JUST got it.

It's sooo pretty, and has such a subtle shimmer. I am definitely a shimmer gal. I don't purposefully buy cremes. Sometimes I like a polish collection so much that I get the whole thing and inevitably there are cremes in it. But sometimes, I like to wear something that isn't terribly flashy, but has a bit of a oomph outside. This polish definitely fits that bill.

I picked this up the salon where I got my pedi a couple of weeks ago. They sell OPI's for $7. Not bad since you can't get them on the etailers anymore. I was wondering how I was going to afford all of my OPI's now...I'm hoping they get the Swiss collection in the fall because there are a few in that one I'm looking forward to.

Have a great Monday all!

Savvy: Femme Couture - Knightly Armour

2010-07-09T09:00:00.002-04:00

I recently spotted this collection at my local Sally's. At first I didn't pick any up, but this bottle was calling to me. It's so pretty...It's a pale purple based shimmer. In certain lights you can even pick a pink shimmer out of it too.

My only problem with this polish is that it's very sheer. My pictures were with 4 coats and you could still see visible nail line. I'm not sure if a 5th would have helped...but I hate wearing that many coats. You could definitely layer it over something. I'm not a layering fan, but I think over white it still looks like the bottle color. Layering it over black turns it into something completely different.

So pretty...What do you think?

Well, happy Friday everyone!

Finger Paints Be a Pal-ette

2010-07-07T09:00:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! Today, the fam and I are on our way from my parents in Niagara Falls, to DH's parents a couple of hours away. We try to split our time between the families as much as possible.

So, I have a love/hate relationship with Finger Paints. I really do think the polish is a great quality. They have pretty colors, and you can't beat the price. My problem is that every time I've tried FP, it's rather streaky on me. I usually have to do 4 coats to get even coverage. In my pictures I used 3 coats, and you'll notice that it doesn't look even on all of my nails.

Be a Pal-ette is purple with red undertones. I has a really pretty shimmer with purple and red/pink particle.

All in all...I like Finger Paints...I just have to use more coats that normal. You can find Finger Paints at your local Sally's.

Have a great day!

OPI Royal Rajah Ruby

2010-07-05T09:00:00.005-04:00

How was the holiday weekend? I'm in Western NY right now visiting with family. We had a picnic at my parent's house yesterday, so I got to see a bunch of friends and family. It was fun showing off my kids, because no one has seen them in six months. It's especially noticeable with my youngest. He's almost 18 months old now, and he's learned SO much in the past six months.

Onto my swatches and review. This polish came out with The India Collection in early 2008. I'm not usually a berry or a vampy girl...but my Lord I love this polish! It's so rich...

I got great coverage in 3 coats...pretty standard for OPI on me. I, unlike a lot of people that I've run into, LOVE OPI's brush. There are times I wish I could get a bunch and stick them in all of my polishes. My nails must be the right size or something...

Look at that hidden shimmer that comes out in the sunlight!

So, do you all like the comparison pictures between indoor natural light and the sunlight? I do it because I think some polishes take on a whole different personality in the sun. Let me know! Have a great day!

Milani Molten Rock

2010-07-02T08:00:00.028-04:00

Happy Friday all! The family and I are currently on our way up to Western NY to visit our families. We haven't been there since the holidays, so it's a much needed vacation.

Last week I found out that I did not get a job I interviewed for. I'm trying to move to another school district. We'd like to be closer to my husband's job in DC (his commute is about 90 minutes each way), and I want to be able to teach a certain course. I was a little bummed, but it wasn't unexpected either. DH decided to buy me this nail polish to make me feel better...what a well trained hubby! He picked it out because he liked the color, and it was shimmery, which he knows I tend to prefer.

Indoors, I would describe Molten Rock as a teal color, but outdoors it transforms to a really neat looking blue:

The top is indoors, the bottom is outdoors.

Another angle:

Again, top is indoors, bottom is outdoors

I used three coats of Molten Rock...the wear has been fantastic...this last picture was taken 4 days after I applied it:

See? Barely any tip wear...

Have a great holiday weekend everyone...what do you have planned?

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure is a limited edition polish (part of their Complete Salon Manicure line). I thought that I would NEVER find it in my tiny town. We just NEVER get the limited edition stuff here. But low and behold, a spur of the moment trip to our Rite Aid scored me TWO bottles! I just couldn't believe it when I walked in the door and found the display completely full!

I wore this recently over Urban Decay's Apocalypse (I plan on swatching this on it's own soon as well).

This is only 1 coat of HT over Apocalypse. Once I put HT on, you couldn't tell that the polish I was wearing it over was purple, it made it look more black. I got SO many compliments on this mani...I very rarely have people notice my nail polish, besides students that is. I was very happy, and I love HT so much that I kept my second bottle. It's the only polish that I have a back-up of at the moment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Jo

2010-06-28T08:00:00.005-04:00

So I haven't really posted anything this past week. I've been fighting the flu. Not fun, let me tell you. My body always decides to get sick when I'm done with school for the summer.

Recently I wore Zoya Jo as a mani. I think I've mentioned before that I LOVE Zoya. I love their colors, and the polish wears so well for me when I use their Color Lock system. This mani lasted a week with little more than some tip wear. This is three coats of Jo:

Jo is more of a cornflower blue than this picture shows. My camera picked up more purple for some reason. It has a subtle silver shimmer. So pretty! Here is a close-up:

I wore this around the time that I picked up Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure, so of course I had to put a coat on top to see what happened:

The picture is a little blurry because I really tried to get a good close-up, but you get the idea. Jo picked up some really pretty pink and gold shimmer in the flaky glitter in Hidden Treasure.

I'm waiting for my Zoya Exchange package to get here as well. I have 12 polishes coming in that one. I'll post pictures of it all when it gets here.

Have a great Monday!

Milani Liquid Metal

2010-06-23T11:36:00.000-04:00

My first multiple swatch post! Yay! It was more work than I thought it would be...I give credit to all the bloggers out there that do this on a regular basis. I discovered that I can only do this when both kids are at daycare. Telling a 3yr old and a 1yr old that mommy is playing with her nail polish and don't touch these things doesn't really work...lol.

Anyways, onto the collection. I really like all of the colors, they look good with my skintone. I did 3 coats with all except for Just Browsing...did 4 with that one.

Dot Com

I already talked about this one in a previous post. I did try to get some better pictures of it though. I really wanted to try and show how cool the gold shimmer looks in this.

Just Browsing

This is the polish that I had to do 4 coats with. It's quite sheer, and even with 4 coats I still have visible nail line. On it's own it's pearly white...reminds me of a color a bride would wear on her wedding day. I think it would be great for layering as well.

My Network

This one is SOO smooth and shimmery in person. A yellow-based gold. Looks pretty good with my lighter skin-tone. I can see myself wearing this and I don't say that much with golds.

PC Girl

Silvery goodness. I'm a girl who can never have too many silvers, and this one is so pure and smooth...LOVE!

I'm Online

I had the hardest time getting a good shot of this...and even this shot isn't the best.

I'm Online is a light copper/rose foil. I know copper and rose are no where near the same color, but it really does depend on the light. It's not a ME color, but I still couldn't stop looking at it while I was wearing it.

2.0

Besides Dot Com, this one was my favorite! It reminded of me of coal...Black with silver shimmer. I'm going to be wearing this as a full manicure soon I think.

If you all have any pointer on improving the quality of my pictures, I would really appreciate it. I've never been the best "photographer" but I would like to get better looking shots.

Thanks for looking!

How Do I Support My Nail Polish Addiction?

2010-06-20T12:14:00.000-04:00

I buy A LOT of nail polish...I've decided that I'm going to start swatching everything as time permits because I'm not exactly sure how many bottles I own. I seriously have polishes that I bought 2-3 years ago that I've never worn...it's a crime really! I'm also going to start a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. But, I've had people wonder how I can afford all of my polish on a teacher's salary. About 5 months ago I became a Scentsy consultant and I've been using the money from my commisions to support my addiction. If you've never heard of Scentsy you should check out my Scentsy blog.
Stay tuned because this week I'm planning on swatching and posting Milani's Liquid Metal collection.
Have a great Sunday everyone, and Happy Father's Day!

Milani Dot Com

2010-06-14T16:05:00.001-04:00

Ah...school is finished, so I finally had the chance to go through my pictures and find a couple of good shots of Milani Dot Com. First of all, let me say that I love the color!!! I found the bottle to be a little misleading in that this was a bit more purple than I expected. There is lots of gold and purple shimmer in this. I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of this, especially in the sun!
I found this at my local CVS, along with the rest of the new Liquid Metal collection. I only grabbed a few of the colors from the collection, but I'm really thinking that I'm going to pick up the rest later on today. The formula was great, and I pretty much got almost a week of wear with nothing but tip wear. I'm also testing out a new base coat, so that may have had something to do with it. I'll tell you all about that after I've had the chance to use it through a few mani's.
Onto the pics!!!!

This one was taken under artificial light. The angle I was able to get the bottle at shows just how "complicated" this color is...really hard to describe, but as you can see it's more purple looking on the nail.

Look what sunlight does to this!!!! It's quite mesmorizing!!!

I read somewhere that there was a concern about how close this might be to Hard Candy Mr. Wrong (in my top 20 polishes) so I thought I'd do a comparison swatch (sorry for the awful glare):

As you can see, Dot Com is a much darker purple, and Mr. Wrong has more gold shimmer in it. Nothing alike.

Well, there you have it...If you can find this one, I highly recommend it!

HOLY ABANDONED BLOG, BATMAN!!!

2010-06-09T08:36:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that's it's been so long since I updated!
You know that newborn baby I would talk about? He's now a year and a half old...running around and causing trouble...cute as a button though! :) My oldest is 3 and a half...he's such a smart little man...he was learning to add recently! I didn't even know all my colors when I started kidnergarten, this kid is going to be doing algebra when he starts!
The school year has come to an end, and I've been hauling like CRAZY! I'm going to have to post some pics of my recent haulage. I'm also going through my stash this weekend to get some things ready to send back for the Zoya exchange. I got about 15-20 polishes during is last year and this year I'm aiming for about 10. Craziness!
My current NOTW is Miliani Dot Com. LOVE IT! It's very similar to Hard Candy Mr. Wrong...so I'm going to do a comparison swatch to see. I'll post pics of both asap.

Stick around ya'll...I promise not to disappear again! :)

NOTW - China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

2009-03-22T12:50:00.005-04:00

I wanted to be green for St. Patty's day, which is why I chose this mani. I LOVE China Glaze. I get better wear from it than I do OPI, and it's cheaper....can't beat that. This color was introduced with this past holiday season's "Sleigh Ride" set along with the much loved Ruby Pumps and Tinsel. Everyone went CRAZY for this color, as it's a green version of Ruby Pumps and just as amazing. It's kind of HTF, although as far as I know, not discontinued.

Onto the pics. I had a hard time this week finding a nice sunny day, so these were taken in indirect sunlight:

Thanks for looking!

Philosophy

2009-03-16T13:23:00.002-04:00

While I was on maternity leave I had a lot of time to watch TV. I ended up watching a lot of QVC. My mother is obsessed and so I too became obsessed. They had Philosophy products on a couple of times and I had always like what Philosophy I had tried, so I took the plunge and ordered their 8 piece Radical Skin Makeover kit. WOW, this stuff changed my skin. I was dreading having the same issues as after my first child. My skin dried out terribly. It was so bad that my cheeks were red and chapped and painful. People thought I was wearing a lot of blush, but no, just my skin! Now, maybe this wouldn't have happened again, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Since I've been back to work I have had SO MANY compliments on my skin. Apparently I looked like crap before? But it is better...so soft and smooth and even the fine lines on my forehead are starting to smooth out. <3 it!!!!!! So, if you've been contemplating trying this brand, I say GO FOR IT!
See you soon...NOTW is China Glaze Emerald Sparkle....LOVE IT...can't wait to post pictures!

NOTW - Nicole Boys'N Berry

2009-03-14T20:05:00.007-04:00

Hello! I haven't posted in a little while. I started back to work this week, and it's all been a blur. Once we get home the craziness doesn't stop. It seems like I hardly get to sit down except when I feed the baby. I wanted to post earlier, but even my Saturday's are a little hectic in the mornings - it's my time for my bellydance classes...that's right, bellydance. It's fun, and I'm really trying to get into better shape. Hopefully it'll help!

Anyways, this week I pulled out a Nicole by OPI polish. I really love this brand. This is an older color, although I think they re-released it. This is obviously an older bottle, it was a little thick to apply. It'll definately need some thinner the next time I use it. The color is nice, although I think I like it better in the bottle than on me. The bottle has a bit of a duochrome cast that unfortunately didn't show up on my nails. Let me know what you think!

This angle shows the duochrome that I was talking about:

Thanks for visiting!

NOTW: Icing Signature Runway

2009-03-03T22:25:00.017-05:00

I've own this bottle of nail polish for well over a year, I think I bought it in December 2007 (how I remember that, and not what I did 5 minutes ago I'll never know). This is my first time using it. I usually have problems with Icing bubbling, but not this time. It's holding up very well and still looks great. I did my mani on Sunday, and it still looks almost like new. I'm just now starting to get some tip wear. Can't complain about that. It's a very sheer color, takes at least 4 coats to get bottle color, maybe more, so I layered it over black.

This picture doesn't really do it justice...the red glitter really has a fire-like glow. This has been compared to China Glaze's Lubu Heels, and while I have yet to do my own comparison, I think Lubu Heels is a little more opaque.

I think this picture shows the glitter a little better:

Icing nail polish can be found at Claire's/Icing stores.

Thanks for looking!

News from Zoya

2009-03-02T10:46:00.002-05:00

Hello all! Well, it's my last week of maternity leave so I'm a little depressed. I hate to leave my little man. It doesn't help that he's such a mama's boy, but I know he'll be well taken care of. We're sending him to the same daycare that my 2 year old goes to, and they all love him there. They can't wait for Kaden to start next week. It's time though...my students need some structure and authority. They haven't been doing their work I guess. I don't know this batch of kids, we switched semesters while I was on leave. Should be interesting!

Onto the Zoya news. They've been doing a polish exchange...you send in old bottles of nail polish that you no longer want, and they send you brand spankin new Zoya polish in exchange. All you do is pay shipping and processing. A sweet deal if I do say so myself. I know I complained a *little* about Zoya in my last post, but honestly, that mani lasted me a whole week without chipping!! Anyways, the exhange was supposed to end on Saturday, but since it was so successful they extended it through 4/28! So, look through all your polish, get rid of the ones you don't want for some new Zoya's! For more information on the Zoya Polish Exchange visit http://www.zoya.com/exchange.

See you soon!

NOTD - Zoya Kotori

2009-02-25T11:56:00.006-05:00

Zoya is one of the brands of polish that the lovely ladies at the MUA board introduced me to. I LOVE the unique colors that this brand sells. The unfortunate thing for me (and I've heard, some others) is that it is notorious for chipping. When I bought my first bottles of Zoya, I also purchased their Color Lock system (minus the new Ridgefiller, it wasn't out at the time) because it has been said that this is the only base and top coats that you can use with success. My thing is that when I used it, I got terrible bubbling...probably because I didn't give enough dry time between coats. That and I'm so used to WONDERFUL Seche Vite that I wasn't prepared for the amount of time that I would need to for my mani to dry. I then tried Zoya with my HG's, Orly Bonder and Seche Vite. It chipped the next day. Badly.
With this mani I again used Zoya's Color Lock system. With a little patience it does work quite well. I DID have to top it off with Posche (I find it doesn't shink dried polish as badly as Seche does) because even after a few hours my nails were tacky. I was afraid to go to bed!
On to Kotori. I LOVE this color!!!!! I'm having a hard time NOT staring at my nails! It's a little sheer, took 4 coats to be opaque, which is odd for Zoya. I can usually get bottle color in 2 coats, a feat for me, the habitual 3 coat-er. I'm also going to show you a swatch of 2 coats of Kotori over black (although 1 probably would have been fine). I love the look. It gives the polish so much depth.

Zoya Kotori - outdoors

Kotori over black -

Thanks for looking!

Past NOTD's

2009-02-24T13:24:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post something while I try to get decent pictures of my current mani (Zoya Kotori). If you are at all curious to see some of my past NOTD pictures, you are more than welcome to check them out at my Flickr page. Let me know what you think!

NOTD - Misa Dying Love

2009-02-20T10:57:00.009-05:00

I used to think that wearing black nail polish was WAY too much...too edgy. I would never wear a color like that to work (I'm a high school teacher). My, how things have changed. Most of the polish I own now are colors that I would never dare to wear to work. I finally realized that no one cares!

This is my first time trying Misa. While I still love OPI and China Glaze more, I gotta say I'm like the Misa too. It was very smooth to apply, very easy to work with. While this is a black shimmer, you have to be outside to see it. Indoors it looks like a black creme. All in all, very nice, I could see myself wearing it again! You can click on the pictures to see a larger image.

Outdoors:

Indoors:

Oh, I wanted to edit this to add that this polish lasted 5 days before it chipped, with only minimal tip wear...NICE!

Enjoy!

Biotin

2009-02-19T23:34:00.003-05:00

I'm needing me some biotin. Us nail freaks know that it grows our nails long and strong. I'm just not sure if I can take it while nursing my son. I'm trying to find out, and the minute that I hear I can I will be running out to Rite-Aid to get some. People think that it's the prenatal vitamins that help grow your nails when you're pregnant. It's actually not true...while they do help, it's the hormones. I've been on pre-natals for the better part of 6 years. Between TRYING to get pregnant the first time, to being pregnant, nursing Riley for a year, and then getting pregnant about 6 months after I was done nursing Riley...All that time though my nails only grew REALLY well when I was either on biotin or had those wonderful pregnancy hormones helping.

I also have some problem nails that I need help with. My thumbs both consistantly split along the sides. I've tried the popular silk wrap patch. For some reason it doesn't work for me. I just split through that, resin and all. I also have an index fingernail that starts to curl in on one side when it gets too long. It's almost like one side of the nail grows faster than the other. There is even a ridge that goes down the nail where I think the difference is. Other than these nails, I can grow them pretty well as long as I'm keeping them polished and taking care of them. VERY frustrating!

So, does anyone know about the biotin? Can I take it while nursing?

I'm going to give this blogging this a try!

2009-02-17T22:59:00.009-05:00

Ok, I have to say it...I LOVE nail polish. My sister recently told me that I need to join a support group for my addiction, hence the name of my blog - Nail Polish Addiction Anonymous. It's very fitting. While my stash may not be as huge as some people, it's pretty big. I probably will never wear ALL the polish I own simply because I don't change my mani very often (only once a week), and I keep buying more. In fact I'm due for a haul pretty soon!
Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm in my 30's, married, and have 2 beautiful boys. In fact my youngest will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. I teach high school chemistry in a small town in Virginia. I grew up in Western NY...miss it terribly, but I do like the life my husband and I have made for ourselves here in VA.
I'm finally starting to run out of room in the small space alloted in my linen closet for my polish. I told DH that I have to buy one of those plastic rolly carts for it because at this point in my life I can't have small boxes of polish scattered throughout the house.

This is my current mess:

I REALLY need to get organized!

Anyways...as I said previously, I don't change my mani very often. Once a week, tops. I have 2 small boys and I work full time...I WISH I could do it more, but it's a stretch. So, you won't see NOTD posts very often. Plus, the polish that you see is probably going to be out of season, but hopefully that will inspire you to dig through your stash and get out something you haven't worn in awhile!

So, there you have it, my new blog. PLEASE...if you can think of a way to improve this, let me know...I'm still learning!