Wednesday, February 29, 2012

OPI Pink Friday & Zoya Chloe

I'm such a sucker for a pink creme.  That has got to be my ultimate color and finish combination, closely followed by pink holos.  I was pretty bummed out when it was revealed that Pink Friday was a creme and not a holo as anticipated.  But nevertheless, I still love a pink nail polish.

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Flash

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If you're noticing the lack of smoothness, you're right.  This is with no topcoat because I wanted to add Chloe without adding too many layers to avoid chipping.  This is three coats (sigh, kind of one too many) over Orly Bonder.  It was splotchy in some parts, touchdown marks were hard to avoid.  Not the greatest formula on this one.


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I finished this mani with one coat of Zoya Chloe and sealed it with OTD.  It sparkles a lot more in real life; I've never been good at capturing flakies and I'm scared to alter my camera settings for fear of never getting them back.  I think Chloe helped turned what may be considered a boring mani into a fun one.  What do you think?

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Updates & China Glaze Pull Me Close

Whoosh!  My absence hasn't been so much from school being too much as it is life in general being busy.  I went to Wisconsin to visit my BFF Britty and her new adorable baby, who just so happened to be my Valentine, hehehe.  I just got back on Tuesday and had a test that night, I'm still wiped from playing catch-up from being gone for a few days but it was nice to get out of NJ and clear my head and spend some time with a dear friend.

I just want to get on my soapbox for a minute and rant about one of my most prominent grievances: I hate commuting.  I live about an hour from my school and go three days a week.  I take night classes because 1. I function better at night and 2. Traffic.  There is traffic going to school, but my school is towards the city.. and everyone commutes home from the city at night so I don't have as much traffic to deal with if I went earlier in the day.  I feel like I spend soooooooooooo much time in the car.  I take double period classes, so they're 2 hours and 45 minutes but I'm seriously out of the house for about 6 hours because of the commute, parking and the walk to class.  That is all. I could rant for days, though, you know me, lol.

Another update is I have reached the 250 follower mark (and uh, a little beyond, too!) and I intended to hold a giveaway when I reached that milestone.  I mentioned in my Blogger Appreciation Giveaway that there would be another one soon.  Plans are still a "Go" as far as I'm concerned, I just need to figure out what to giveaway.  I promise - I haven't forgotten!

On to the nails, China Glaze Pull Me Close:


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The mani I have for you today is an utter disappointment.   Yea, it looks cool but ugh.. it was such a pain in the ass.  This is a one handed mani, meaning I never did my right hand due to complications.  To start, I don't think magnetic nail polish is for those with a deep C-curve.  Mine is pretty serious:



Well, that's a weird angle.  But it is hard to get a flat magnet to work with such curvy nails, ya know? I know I know, roll the magnet with the natural curve. It took about 4 tries per nail to get an "acceptable".  No base color, so it didn't take as long as it could've.  Luckily I think most magnets are opaque enough to be used on their own.

I couldn't get the chevrons or star to look decent so stripes it was.  It was time consuming and polish was wasted.  I love the effect but I couldn't do it on my right hand, no matter what I tried.  I ended up giving this away to a friend a long with my Layla Magnetics.


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Flash


Such a damn shame! All of the attempts on my right hand looked like my pinky or thumb; just really weak.  My middle finger looks the best, but just to remind you that was about attempt number five.  I don't think its the company's fault because I had the same problems with the Laylas.  Oh well, one trend I suppose I won't get to relish in is all!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Essie Navigate Her & Lynnderella Attitude Adjust-Mint

Essie Navigate Her photographs a lot more green than it really is.  In a side-by-side bottle comparison to Da Bush, they look really very similar.  It appears lighter to me as well, but when photographed it leans much more green and less like a pastel.

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This is two coats over Orly Bonder sealed with OTD.  The formula was really good on this Essie, no streaks as you might expect with such a light color.

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I figured it would be a perfect match for Lynnderella Attitude Adjust-Mint. I put Glitter Tamer over Attitude Adjust-Mint.


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I had a difficult time capturing this one.  The glitter is mostly iridescent, which I didn't know actually. You can see on my ring finger a HUGE hex glitter.  I love that, I really like the unpredictableness (not a word) of this one!  I did have problems with this combo chipping within a few hours though.

Blogger Appreciation Giveaway Winner Announcement!


I want to first say "Thank You!" for all of those who entered and to those who continue to follow, read and comment on my lil' blog.  It gives me something to look forward to everyday and I truly do appreciate it.  When I get a chance to sit down and do it, I'm going to go through all of the entries and follow your blogs as well.  There are so many wonderful bloggers out there, I can't wait to see what you've got!

Now, on to the winner..


Mimi from Makeup Withdrawal!
Mimi has an amazing blog which you can visit HERE.
She has already responded to me with her info, so congrats Mimi!!


The Prize:
- Sally Hansen HD DVD
- Sally Hansen HD Byte
- Sally Hansen HD Laser
- Two surprise Zoya Polishes

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Lynnderella Love Lace & Lilacs

This attempt with using a white glitter was much better than my previous one.  With Sweets to the Sweet the base color I used killed the mani.  I love the results of this manicure!

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Instead of using a white creme, I used a white sheer/jelly.  It's really a little of both.

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I used Brucci French Opaque.


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I used two coats of French Opaque over a coat of Orly Bonder.  Then I used two coats of LL&L and one more of French Opaque, to "sandwich" it. Then it is sealed with OTD.  LL&L applied very nicely and this manicure was strong, no chipping and lasted wonderfully!

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Thanks for reading! (=

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Blogger Appreciation Giveaway ends Saturday!

Ends this Saturday, Feb 11th - Get your entries in! (=


The Prize:
- Sally Hansen HD DVD
- Sally Hansen HD Byte
- Sally Hansen HD Laser
- Two surprise Zoya Polishes

The Rules:
1. Must be a follower.
2. Must provide GFC name & contact email.
3. Giveaway closes at 11:59 PM on Saturday, February 11th EST.
4. YOU MUST HAVE A BLOG THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE A LINK TO.
5. This giveaway is International!
6. The winner has 48 hours to reply; in the event they do not, a new winner will be chosen.

A few things worth mentioning:
- It doesn't need to be a blogspot blog. Any host is fine.
- It doesn't need to be a nail polish related blog, any subject is acceptable.




Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Essie Tart Deco & Hello Kitty Stamping

I'm dealing with a bit of an anomaly here.  In the bottle, Tart Deco looks quite pink and did it on my nails until I put on my topcoat.  Then it leaned very orange.  The sides of my nails where I missed with some topcoat, looks more peach, too.  I used NYC Grand Central Station and I'm not sure if its that topcoat in particular or what, but it really changed the hue of this polish.

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This is two coats of Tart Deco over Orly Bonder, sealed with NYC GCS.  If you google swatches, only a few appear as orange as mine.  It's supposed to be more peach.  I also took a ton of pictures of this color and I'm not sure why but lucky you gets to look at them all. Whooo!!


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Even in these pics, some nails appear more orange and others a little more peachy. WTF. Whose fault is this?  It's a pretty shade regardless, but it's trying to be too many things at once!  The formula was really nice on this one and it wore nicely on me, too.  I don't usually have any issues with Essie.

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I used plate KD1 which I ordered off of Ebay for $5.  I used Zoya Demi and Konad Special White for dots and stamping. And I'm incredible peeved I didn't see that piece of hair over my nail. Urgh.

Flash


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Lynnderella ChocoLotta Love

I did something incredibly wrong with this manicure.  It chipped on me within 2 hours which resulted in me peeling it all off during my Praxis test.  I'm not sure why it chipped so easily.  I know me and glitters don't mesh well but 2 hours?  Love Lace & Lilacs wore like iron, as well as Connect the Dots. I'm not sure what I did here but I'll have to try a different method next time I wear it.

"Natural" Light

I'm thinking it may have just been too many coats of polish.  This is one coat of Orly Bonder, two coats of Zoya Dea, two coats of ChocoLotta Love, one coat of Glitter Tamer and then one coat of OTD.  I also don't think Bonder likes me either.  I've had bubbling issues with polish I've put over it.


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OOOOOOOH!

Zoya Dea makes a great pair of underwear for this one!  I need to tweak my treatment combinations though, I think that's a factor in the peeling and chipping.  I'm trying out Bonder but I don't think it is for me, at all.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Lynnderella Connect the Dots

I am so excited to finally have this baby in my possession!  Glitters and I don't always get along, as they tend to sheet off, but this lovely wore like iron!  Not a bad thing to say about it.  Connect the Dots, I think, is a somewhat fool proof polish. I can't imagine it looking bad over anything and additionally, I think it adds something special to existing polishes.

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This is two coats of Lynnderella Connect the Dots over two coats of China Glaze Dance Baby.  Base coat is CND Stickey, top coat OTD.


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Look at those two GIANT glitters on my thumb!

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When I was younger there were these bouncy balls that were designed to look like fake rocks.  They were irregular in shape and gray with black and white speckles on them.  CtD reminds me of them, a lot.

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Yum. Does anyone want to set up residency in this bottle with me?