China Glaze C-C-Courage

Happy Wednesday! We're half way through another work week ::sigh::  Today I have China Glaze C-C-Courage for you. C-C-Courage is from the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection. It's a dark grape purple with blue undertones and tiny purple/lilac glitter. I have had this in my untrieds for over a year and I regret not wearing this sooner. This polish is gorgeous. If you like purples you should keep an eye open for this (I know it's not a stock item at Sally's, but it's on 8ty8beauty.com still)

For the photos below I used two coats of C-C-Courage and topped it with a coat of Seche Vite. I'm not sure if I'm losing my mind, but I feel this did dry a tad more blue than it appears in the bottle. I'm not really a fan of the name. I get where they were going with it, but how much easier would just 'Courage' be?

I hope everyone has a good day today :)

Twinsie Tuesday - Holographic Polish (Layla Ocean Rush)

This week's Twinsie Tuesday topic was an easy one for me - a holographic polish. I hoard holographic polishes like nobody's business. I actually had a very special one picked out, but my camera didn't do GOSH Holographic any justice and I had a major chip in a few of the pictures :::womp womp:::  Luckily I had pictures of Layla's Ocean Rush waiting to be published.

Ocean Rush is a bright medium blue polish with a medium holographic effect. This isn't the most holographic out of the Layla collection, but I'm pretty sure it's the most holographic blue polish that I've come across. This one is gorgeous!

The formula is the tricky part. I wore this twice as a mani, and the first time my manicure was botched to no end. I learned that once this polish is laid down you can absolutely not go over it a second time. This mani did take three coats, but I've read that issue can be alleviated with the use of NFU Oh Aqua Base (but I refuse to buy from Fabuloustreet.com due to past ordering issues). The photos below show three coats of Ocean Rush and a coat of Seche Vite.

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsies!
I actually had to let Ocean Rush go during my last blog sale, so I'm wondering if I'm going to have a Twinsie today since it was bought by a very special lady who is part of the TT posts  ;)

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Cordia at Srsly Swatched
Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

Essie Lapis of Luxury

Happy Memorial Day to all of those who have and will serve our country! I hope everyone is having a good day. It's pretty hot and humid in New York, so I'm trying to keep cool. Before I get to anything else I want to thank everyone who took the time to purchase something from my blog sale. THANK YOU! The good news is that my dog Milo has come home from the vet and *hopefully* with a restricted prescription diet he should be ok. They can't pin point what caused his pancreatitis but it shouldn't interfere with his Addison's disease. They also found stones in his bladder, so we're going to have to keep an eye on that. At five years old this dog has put through the ringer. As loving and healthy as he is, I will never again purchase an animal from a puppy store as puppy mills are making a profit and the dogs are the ones suffering. Lesson learned.

Today I have an oldie but a goodie for you. I was lemming the new Bikini So Teeny shade from Essie and when I finally found it I walked around Target with it for about 20 minutes. I looked down at the bottle at one point and it instantly reminded me of Essie's Lapis of Luxury, which was sitting in my stash at home untried. In order to share the love with my existing stash, I put Bikini So Teeny down.

Lapis of Luxury is a periwinkle blue with hints of purple. For the photo below I used two coats of polish and topped it off with Seche Vite. I definitely think I could have used a third coat, but I  was lazy  don't want to waste polish lol.

Overall I'm loving this shade and I can't believe it was in my untrieds for so long! I'm waiting for someone to do a comparison with Lapis of Luxury and Bikini So Teeny.

I probably won't have any swatches of any new polishes from anything that is released from this day forward for a while. Due to incurred vet bills and the cost of the monthly medicine for Milo's Addison's and now his prescription diet, I'm definitely going to be on a tight income. I hope everyone will stick around while I swatch some oldies :)

Just for some fun, here are some photos of my little guy:

Puppy days

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day!

More Polishes to Purge (Blog Sales Part 1 and 2)

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good start to their weekend. For those of you that are interested, I've added another part to my blog sale. You can find it under the tabs listed as Blog Sale Part 2. Part 1 is still active, and instead of crossing them off which looks messy I think I'm going to remove them from the list as they are sold.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased thus far. I don't necessarily want to purge so many of my HTF polishes, but I came home to the unfortunate news that my dog was taken to the emergency animal hospital where he will be spending a few days, so I need to purge to help cover costs.

All polishes can be seen here:
Part 1
Part 2
Thank you for your interest :)

Zoya Rory

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Today I have one of the new Zoya polishes from the Beach & Surf collection. Rory is from the Surf portion of the collection. Per Zoya's website, they describe Rory as "Medium mauve pink with lilac tones, gold and silver reflective metallic shimmer accents, and a foil-like finish. The gentle color of this polish gives the foil finish a softened appearance."  If Barbie liked foil polishes, this would be her pick.

For the photos below I used two coats of Rory and topped it off with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Since I've had so much trouble with my SV and Zoya, I've been using Sally Hansen ID without any problems (just an FYI for all you suffering to part ways with your SV, like me lol)

While I do like this polish, I'm a little on the fence about foils. I basically have a love/hate relationship with them. I feel there is a fine line where a polish starts to look too frosty. Something about Rory keeps it very metallic looking.

Sorry for the pool of lotion on my pointer finger. I've been a greasy mess lately with trying to let my cuticles grow back. I literally apply cuticle oil 10x a day in addition to lotion/cuticle cream. I also slather on Lanisoh at night to keep them hydrated, which has been doing a pretty good job since I started religiously three days ago. It's just strange to own nipple cream for nursing mothers when I'm using it for my cuticles haha. I'm a lurker on MUA and always see Lanisoh spoken about, so now I can happily recommend it.  :)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Twinsie Tuesday - Ombre Mani

Good Morning! The theme of this week's Twinsie Tuesday is an ombre mani. This is honestly the first time I've done an ombre. While they are cute on other people something about it just doesn't seem wearable for me on a daily basis. Before I even start, I am not proud of this mani. I mixed up the two end colors, so my ombre is a little off. On top of that I only have one photo. I'm trying to stop cutting my cuticles, which seems to be quite a challenge. They are going through a terrible/awkward stage that I can only hope gets better (otherwise I'm breaking out all my tools again). So I apologize for the one sideways pic, it hides them best lol.

For my ombre I decided to go with purple cremes. From left to right I used Bettina Flip Flop, OPI Do You Lilac It, Essie Nice is Nice and OPI Rumples Wiggin. All were two coats topped with a coat of Seche Vite.

Make sure you check out the ombre manis by the other Twinsies!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi
Cordia at Srsly Swatched
Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch
Tara at Polishy of Truth

Deep Space by Two Birds One Store (Sarah from See Sarah Swatch)

Happy Friday! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been super busy and I'm trying to keep up. Today I have a super special indie polish for you, this is Deep Space from Two Birds One Store on Etsy. Two Birds One Store is run by two sisters, one being Sarah from See Sarah Swatch. I've been a follower of Sarah's blog for quite some time and her layering and frankens always amaze me. If you aren't familiar with Sarah (you should be, she's a fellow Twinsie!) you have to check out her blog.

The first time I saw Deep Space swatched on Sarah's blog I fell in love. I've been obsessed with blue glitters lately (mostly sulking over not owning Essie SSN lol) and I've bought a few. This is hands down my favorite. Sarah described Deep Space as "a deep deep blue jelly with purple holo hex glitter and blue iridescent smaller glitter. This is what space SHOULD look like! Blingy, blue, and fabulous." I couldn't agree more. The jelly base on this is gorgeous and the glitter gives it such depth. I'm training a new guy at my job and he even commented on these nails. Formula was smooth and this did not dry gritty one bit. The photos below show two coats of Deep Space and a coat of Seche Vite. This post is a little picture heavy, because this polish shows depth differently at each angle. So enjoy.....

I'm glad I broke my no-buy to get my hands on this. Sarah's frankens are all limited edition with no custom or special orders. The polishes are full size bottles and retail for $8 with reasonable shipping. I also have a bottle of Kiss De Girl which is SO gorgeous, I look forward to posting those swatches. (Even though she is a fellow Twinsie, this review is completely unbiased. Even if I knew nothing about Sarah this polish would leave me more than satisfied with my purchase). She has some amazing frankens up her sleeve so keep your eyes open. Per the announcement on her page, the store will open again in late May/early June with new and permanent colors. She still has quite a few gorgeous polishes available so check them out.

What is on everyone's nails this weekend?
I'm rocking Zoya Wednesday with Lynnderella Shape Shifter and my nails are blinging! lol. I'm hanging out with my bestie tonight (who is also polish obsessed) and planning on going to Bushkill Falls tomorrow in the Poconos with my boyfriend. We went last weekend but missed closing time.
Does anyone have any fun plans this weekend?

See you all soon :)

Twinsie Tuesday - Favorite Polish (China Glaze Atlantis!!!)

Good Morning! I can't tell you how relieved I was that this week the Twinsie Tuesday theme was an easy one lol. The theme for this Tuesday is our favorite polish. I own expensive polishes and I own cheap polishes. This cheap(er) gem has a permanent home in my collection, and two back up bottles.

China Glaze Atlantis is my favorite polish. Teal jelly base, holographic glitter....what more can a girl ask for in appearance? This polish dances in the light like nothing I've ever seen before. While I hands down love love love this polish, the formula is hands down a-w-f-u-l! It's one of those polishes that doesn't just chip, you lose the entire nail. I wore this last week. I painted my nails around midnight and went to bed. I woke up the next morning, showered and started my drive to work. By 8:15am I noticed I was already missing an entire nail (luckily, I found it on the floor in my car and stuck it back on lol). By 9:30 I was missing a second. The thing that saves this polish is layering it.

For the photos I wanted to keep this polish in it's original unlayered state. I used three thin coats of Atlantis and a coat of Seche Vite.

If you don't already own Atlantis, what are you waiting for?!?!

Be sure to check out the other Twinsie Girls! I'm excited to see what everyone picked.

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Srsly Swatched

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...

Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Tara at Polishy of Truth

Thanks for stopping by!
And a big special THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased from my blog sale! <3  

Blog Sale....updated again! Prices lowered and more brands/polishes added!

Since I've had quite a bit of satisfaction letting go of my polishes (strange, huh?) I updated my blog sale page again. I lowered prices and added more brands.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Please see my Blog Sale page for contact information. Here is the list of polishes I am currently looking to purge:

LaylaOcean Rush (2x) $12

OPI
OPI Santiago Sangria (BN) $10
OPI A Roll in the Hague (1x) $6
OPI How's it Snowin? (BN) $7
OPI Down to My Last Penny (BN) $8 (blue marker on bottom label, legible)
OPI Glacier Bay Blues (1x) $8
OPI DS Couture (usage just under the O, cap discolored and scratched) $10
OPI DS Reflection (1x) $7
OPI DS Radiance (1x - MISSING LABEL) $7
OPI DS Magic (BN) $7
OPI DS Mystery (BN) $7
OPI DS Opulance (BN) $7
OPI DS Temptation (1x) $7
OPI You Ottaware Purple (BN) $6
OPI Play Til Midnight $7 (sharpie marker line on label and code scratched off bottle)
OPI Lighten Up, You're Two Pence (BN) $6
OPI Don't Toy With Me (BN) $7
OPI Catherine The Grape (BN) $7
OPI All A-Bordeaux The Sled (BN) $7
OPI Shimmery Chic (BN) $8
OPI Friar Friar Pants On Fire (BN) $8
OPI Light My Sapphire (BN) $6
OPI Ali's Big Break (BN) $6
OPI Diva of Geneva (BN) $6
OPI Melon of Troy (2x) $4
OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous (1x) $5

A-England
Bridal Veil (1x) $10
Order of the Garter (1x) $9
Ascalon (1x) $10
Princess Tears (1x) $10

GOSH
Golden Dragon (BN) $9

Claires & Icing
Icing Epic Winning (BN) $4.50
Icing The Golden Age of Glitter (BN) $4.50
Icing All Night Long (BN) $4.50
Claires Magnetix Green (1x, wonky brush) $4.00

Essie
Essie Bobbling for Baubles (BN) $4
Essie Jamaica Me Crazy (BN) $4
Essie Size Matters (1x) $4
Essie Beach Bum Blu (BN) $4
Essie Sexy Divide (1x) $4
Essie Lacy Not Racy (1x) $4
Essie Jam & Jelly (1x) $4
Essie Very Cranberry (BN) $4
Essie Yes We Can Pink (BN) $2
Essie Blushing Bride (BN) $2
Essie Alligator Purse (BN) $4

Nicole by OPI
NOPI Green Up Your Act (BN) $6
NOPI Party in the Penthouse (1x) $5
NOPI Yellow it’s Me (1x) $5
NOPI Snow-man of My Dreams (BN) $5
NOPI My Sleigh's In The Shop (BN) $5
NOPI Orna-ment For Each Other (BN) $5

Orly
Orly Berry Blast (BN) $4
Orly La Chateau (BN) $4

China Glaze
China Glaze LOL (BN) $20.00
China Glaze Ultamate Holiday (BN) $8.00
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Anklets of Amethyst (1x) $3.50
China Glaze Admire (1x) $3.50
China Glaze Hey Doll (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Brownstone (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Mango Madness (1x) $3.50
China Glaze First Class Ticket (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Midnight Mission (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Blue Paradise (BN) $4.00
China Glaze Little Drummer Boy (1x) $3.50
China Glaze Meditteranian Charm (1x) $3.50

Random:
Butter London No More Waity Katie (BN) $9
MAC Style Clan (BN) $9
Estee Lauder Red Lights (80%) $7
Borghese Belissima Rose (BN) $2
Borghese Plumaggio Purple (BN) $2
Borghese Principessa Ivory (BN) $2
The Face Shop RD301 (1x) $6
Julep Diane (BN) $5
Glitter Gal Green 3D Holo - small size (1x) $10
Hits Mari Moon Dreamer (BN) $7
Hits Mari Moon Cool (BN) $7 (brush is wonky, you will have to email Llarowe for a new one)
Jessica Iridescent Eye (1x) $5
Sinful Colors Green Ocean (BN) $3

Duri:
Duri Devil Wears Duri (BN) $3
Duri Mystic Elements (BN) $3
Duri Fallen Angel (1x) $3
Duri Night Before Christmas (1x) $3
Duri Dragontini (1x) $3
Duri Angels and Demons (1x) $3
Duri Black Diamond (BN) $3
Duri Addicted to Fame (BN) $3

Color Club:
Color Club It’s a Hit! (s2x) $2
Color Club Wish Upon a Rock-Star (s2x) $2
Color Club Backstage Pass (s2x) $2
Color Club Earthy Angel (1x) $2
Color Club Lumin-icecent (BN) $3
Color Club Nouveau Vintage (BN) $3
Color Club De-Luxe-Cious (BN) $3
Color Club Wild & Willing (BN) $3
Color Club Feel the Beat (BN) $3

Jordana & Milani:
Jordana Purple Glam (BN) $2
Jordana Coral Spark (BN) $2
Milani Gems (2x) $3
Milani Beach Front (BN) $5
Milani Blue Flash (1x) $4

Sally Hansen:
Sally Hansen Glass Slipper (BN) $4
Sally Hansen Bling-tastic (BN) $4
Sally Hansen Prisms South Sea Pearl (BN) $2
Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Model Behavior (BN) $4
Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Problem Child (BN) $7

Sally Beauty Supply Brands:
Nina Ultra Pro Purple X-ing (BN) $4.00
Finger Paints Comets Collar (BN) $400
Finger Paints Winter Sky (BN) $4.00

Thanks for looking! :)

Lynnderella Mercurial

Good Morning! Today I have swatches of Lynnderella Mercurial for you. This was one of my biggest lemmings and one of the first polishes I tried when I received my Llarowe order a few weeks back.

Mercurial consists of different size and shape silver, gunmetal, black and lavender purple glitter in a slightly tinted gray base. Formula was decent, with the exception of the large silver hex glitter. The large hex pieces curled and wouldn't stay down no matter how long I held them down flat during dry time. I took a macro shot of the hex glitter so you can see what I'm referring to. I actually left the hex glitter in place for the photos and picked it off later. I removed the hex glitter from my (unphotographed) right hand during application.

The photos below show two coats of Mercurial over China Glaze Concrete Catwalk...

Damn you curly hex glitter! lol

I wish I had chosen a different base for this, this seems too matchy-matchy for my liking.

Don't forget to check out my new *Blog Sale* page. I looked at my old stash list and I must be around at least 800/850/900 bottles by now. I NEED to unload! I'm too scared to actually count lol.

Check Out My Blog Sale...

Here

Help me clear some of my stash :)

Twinsie Tuesday - Funky French

Today we have another Twinsie Tuesday post. This week the theme was funky french. I spent a little while on Sunday trying to put together a real 'funky' mani in my head. I looked down at my traffic cone orange nails and decided I might as well work with the amazing orange I already had, which I'm sure is funky to some of you lol. Before I begin, I don't like this mani one bit. It's pretty much atrocious. I dislike this so much that you are only going to get one single photo. I kept my previous mani of Zoya Paz (two coats) and on my tips I picked up a few of my glitters from the Burlesque collection by OPI. From left to right, I did two coats as 'tips' of the following:

Pointer: Glow Up Already

Middle: Extra-va-vaganza

Ring: Sparkle-icious

Pinky: Bring on the Bling

 

I ended up with this hot mess.....

 

I apologize for the unclear photo. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had a hard time getting Zoya Paz to photograph accurate, and under my indoor lighting this looks like a mess.

Don't forget to go check out what my Twinsies are sporting for today's theme!

Amanda at Amandalandish

Anna at Going to the Showing
Anne at Grape Fizz Nails
Ashley at Art Evolve
Brandi at The Collegiate Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Cordia at Srsly Swatched

Jenn at All That is Gorgeous...
Jenna at I'm Still Thinking...
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Meredith at Polish and Charms
Nory at Fierce Makeup and Nails
Rachel at Top Coat It
Sarah at See Sarah Swatch

Tara at Polishy of Truth

Thanks for stopping by! :)