Adventures in Mani-land

The Winner of my Giveaway for the Sake of Having a Giveaway - Take 2!

2013-07-23T11:23:00.001-05:00

Sadly, the first chosen winner did not contact me within the 24 hour time frame. Therefore, I have selected a new winner. Congratulations to Rachel A! She has been contacted and, hopefully, will respond within 24 hours to claim her prize. Fingers crossed!

I'm Swatchin' You - China Glaze Re-fresh Mint

2013-07-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

As you know, I used China Glaze's Re-fresh Mint as my Mint Mani in memory of Talia Joy Castellano on Friday. However, I did not give any details on the polish out of respect for her memory. So today, I'm just providing the details on my experience with this mint green creme.

The formula was great. The first coat was a bit streaky, but the second coat provided solid coverage. I stopped at two coats. And I loved how easy this polish was to clean up. With such a light creme, I was expecting to end up with that whitish film after cleaning up. I was pleasantly surprised to find no residue at all.

As I said on Friday, I am not a big fan of mint greens...or any light green for that matter. I bought this specifically to remember Talia Joy. I just thought the name, Re-fresh Mint, was perfect for the Mint Mani memorial. It was the first polish that came to mind. Which led to another thought. Wouldn't it be fantastic if China Glaze would change the name of this polish in her memory? Or maybe they could even issue a special limited edition version of this where the proceeds can go to cancer research? I'm thinking Talia's Joy would be a great name! Hmmmmm......

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

And the Winner of the Giveaway for the Sake of Having a Giveaway is...

2013-07-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

Laura A! Thank you to all who entered! The big move is happening next week, so I will be crazy busy with that. I will be trying to post as often as possible, so please bear with me. Once I'm settled in, I will get back in full swing. Hopefully, with a few more giveaways, too!

The winner has been e-mailed and has 24 hours to respond. In the event she does not respond in time, I will chose another winner. Thanks again for those who participated! Talk to you soon!!!

Mint Manis in Memory of Talia Joy Castellano

2013-07-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

As you may have heard, the beauty world lost a beautiful and amazingly talented young girl on Tuesday morning. Talia Joy Castellano lost her battle with neuroblastoma and preleukemia. Her makeup and nail videos were enjoyed by millions on YouTube. She had also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Talia Joy's last Instagram pic was of a mint green mani. In memory of her, many people have gotten together to honor her memory by sporting mint green manis today. Bloggers have united with Nail Polish Wars to do so.

Now, I do not own any mint green nail polish. I don't like mint or the color mint green. However, I was so saddened by Talia Joy's passing, how could I not participate? So I went out and bought mint green polish just for her. And what is more appropriate than China Glaze's Re-fresh Mint? Now, whenever I use or see this polish, I will remember dear Talia Joy. Since this post is in memory of her, and to keep the focus on Talia Joy, I will do nothing more than show you my mani.

Rest in Peace, Talia Joy.

I'm Swatchin' You - Zoya Stevie

2013-07-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

You know what I'm going to say...head over to my giveaway. Time is running out! For today, I'm showing you Stevie by Zoya, a light purple textured matte with metallic glitter. This is from their 2013 Pixie Dust collection.

The formula on this was amazing! It was easy to apply with even coverage. It builds beautifully and quickly. Due to it's matte finish, it dries very quickly. I have to say, this was just as pretty as a one coat sheer. But I loved how it built up, so I did three coats, which is what is pictured. The glitter does kind of hang off the nail a bit, making the edges of the nails feel rough. You can probably kind of see this in the photo above. But it smooths out with a bit of wear after a couple of hours. Love this one! Which are your favorite colors from this collection?

SH Double Duty as a base with no topcoat.

I'm Swatchin' You - Sinful Colors Snow Me White

2013-07-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Once again, don't forget to get in on my giveaway! Today, I'm swatching Sinful Colors Snow Me White, a white creme.

The first coat was a bit streaky, but that's to be expected with a pigmented creme. The second coat provided good, solid coverage. I ended up leaving this at two coats. The formula was great. And this is a great white for stamping...another plus! I thought clean up would be much more difficult than it was. All in all, a great polish that should be a staple in any stash. My only complaint? It doesn't play well with SV. You may be able to tell in the photos that it puckered a bit after I topped it with SV. Bummer.

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

3 Colors Nail Art Brush Review - Born Pretty Store

2013-07-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hello and happy Tuesday! First of all, be sure to get your entries in for my giveaway! It ends next week. As for today, I'm reviewing a product from Born Pretty Store. This is their 3 Colors Nail Art Brush set.

The set includes a fine detail brush (red), medium liner (green), and a long striper brush (blue). They are also numbered 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Other than the fact that they look like pens, the brushes are of decent quality. I don't know that they will necessarily last, but they're great for someone just starting out with liner brushes (like yours truly). And at $2.57, they are definitely a deal. And if you hit the Born Pretty Store banner in my sidebar, you can use the code there (GMG10) for a 10% discount! I like that they come with protectors over the bristles. Makes storage much safer. I did play around some with all three brushes, experimenting to get an idea of how they work.

The brushes loaded well (I do have experience with painting...just not with nail polish, as some of my epic failure manis have proven). I did find that the brushes stained fairly easily with highly pigmented colors, but this didn't affect their performance. Then, I decided to try my hand at a mani. So...I bring you my Purple Pixie Stripes mani.

I started with Zoya Stevie for the main color. My accent nail is a base of ChG Sweet Hook. Then I used the fine detail brush (the easiest brush to work with for a beginner like me) to add three stripes using SH CSM in Bewitched. I topped my accent nail with a coat of SV. Not too terrible for a first attempt at striping with liner brushes, is it?

Anyway, get in on the giveaway, and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

This product was sent for review.

Zoya Giveaway for the Sake of Having a Giveaway!

2013-07-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

I know it's taken some time for me to get this going. Thanks for bearing with me. Life is absolutely crazy, and for added fun, I'm in the process of moving halfway across the country! Eek! I really appreciate all of you hanging with me and hopefully, I'll get more good stuff going soon. This move and everything else is just demanding a ton of time. But enough babbling. On to the good stuff!

I have 5 pretty, pretty Zoyas up for grabs (including one of my all time favs). Check them out!!!

L to R: Nimue, Anja, Yara, Cynthia, and Tao

Due to limited funds and the impending move, this is open to only U.S. residents. I'll try to get something up to include everyone again sometime after getting settled. Sorry!

Please note that you MUST be a public follower of my blog. You will be asked to provide your GFC follower name or, if you follow by some other means, a link to your user profile.

All entrants must also provide an e-mail address. I absolutely will NOT share your e-mail address. This is just so that I may contact you if you win. Also be sure that if you choose to gain extra entries through sharing the giveaway on Facebook, the share must be public so that I can see it.

The giveaway closes on 22 July, and I will announce the winner on my blog and contact them via e-mail. The winner will have 24 hours to reply or another winner will be selected. All prizes are brand new and were purchased by me. Good luck!!! Oh...and my fav in this group? YARA!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

12 Colors Rhinestones Kit Review - Born Pretty Store

2013-06-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! Despite my ravaged cuticles (due to neglect thanks to crazy, busy life stuff), I had a lot of fun doing this mani to review a product from Born Pretty Store. First, the product. This is their 12 Colors Rhinestone Acrylic UV Nail Art Kit W/Box & Pen.

There are two 12-compartment boxes filled with rhinestones and a rhinestone picking tool (fancy term for wax pencil).

One box contains 6 compartments of black rhinestones, and 6 compartments of crystal/clear rhinestones.

The other box is an assortment of colors. There is crystal/clear, red, aqua, black, yellow/green, lavender, blue, green, orange, pink, light blue, purple.

The wax pencil is something you could probably get from a craft store. But since it came with the kit, bonus!

I really love the assortment of colors. I do wish that the compartments in the assorted box did not contain more black and crystal/clear rhinestones since you get a whole box of just those. I would have liked to have seen two other colors included instead. Overall, the assortment and number of total rhinestones included is excellent. It is really a deal, priced at $7.59. And you can use coupon code GMG10 to get 10% off (you can always find this in my sidebar...check it out!).

The rhinestones are great quality. And can I say how much I love the boxes! Each compartment is numbered. They are great storage boxes that can be re-used. Love that! And I must say, the wax pencil/picker tool made easy work of picking up and placing the rhinestones. So...on to the mani!

First, a quick explanation. Waaaayyyy back when I was in junior high and high school, I used to love playing around with nail polish. Believe it or not, this was not a very popular practice back then (yes, it was THAT long ago). My favorite go-to mani was to paint my nails to look like dice. No tools, just good old-fashioned patience with bottles of white and black polish. I would occasionally even paint my pinky as a red die (the advent of the accent nail???). Someday, I will go through my old box of pictures from that time to see if I can find one that shows my nails. But for now, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Anyway, when I saw that box half-filled with black rhinestones, I decided to go way back in time to recreate the look using rhinestones. First of all, SO much easier than using polish. Wish I had these...er, um, cough, cough, hack...*mumble* years ago.

I started out with a base of SH Double Duty, and added two coats of SC Snow Me White. Then, using a little dollop of SV, I used the picker tool to pick up and place the black rhinestones. I finished with a coat of SV and BAM...I was transported back in time. Like I said, ignore the cuticles. Sorry about that. Truly trying to get my rear in gear.

This product was sent for review.

These Are a Few of My Favorite...Swatches Part 2!

2013-06-26T07:32:00.001-05:00

Coming soon...a review and a giveaway! Woohoo! And for today...

Revlon Not So Blueberry

Revlon Royal

SH DVD

SH Wined Up

SC Glass Pink

Spoiled I Don't Drink Cheap Wine

Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie

WnW 414

Do you think it's a coincidence that two of these names include wine? Neither do I.

These Are a Few of My Favorite...Swatches!

2013-06-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Let's just dive right in!

CC Daisy Does It

CC Pardon My French

Ciate Guest List

CQ Golden Green

The Hungry Asian Strawberry

OPI DS Classic

OPI Take the Stage

Orly Rock It

PP The Right to Bare Feet

Pure Ice Magic

More to come tomorrow!

These Are a Few of My Favorite...Manis!

2013-06-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Wow...when life happens, it really happens! With so much going on, my brain has gone into shut-down mode from information overload. So, in an attempt to find some inspiration to help me get back on track, I thought I would go through and re-visit some of my favorite past manis. I've added links that will take you to the original posts, if you are interested in the colors used, techniques, etc.

I also wanted to let you know to stay tuned! A follower appreciation giveaway will be coming soon. And later this week, I'll be posting my first review for Born Pretty Store. In the meantime, if you are looking to pick up some items from them, use the coupon code in my sidebar to score 10% off!

On to the manis!

Angelic Silver Flowers

National Day of Silence

Hemi

Mermaid's Tale

Oz-olutely Fabulous

Queensday

Raging Olive Squared

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Nails

Born Pretty Store Coupon!

2013-05-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

Hey there, everyone! Check out the link on my sidebar...a 10% discount code for Born Pretty Store! Just enter the code at checkout to receive 10% off your order. I have personally shopped there. They have a wide variety of products at reasonable prices and free shipping.

In addition to new swatches coming soon, look for some product reviews from Born Pretty Store, too. And you KNOW I'm working on a killer giveaway to say thank you for being so wonderful and patient with me over the past months. You're the best! So excited for things to come!!!

So Sorry!

2013-04-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! As you may (or may not) remember, I have been out of town dealing with some stuff lately. But I'm back and looking forward to get back to swatching. And more importantly....USING MY LIGHT BOX!!! If you've been following along, you know I've been missing my light box. The slightly OCD part of me almost wants to go back and re-swatch all the polishes I've swatched without my light box. Maybe someday, I will. But for now, I'm going to surge ahead and keep showing you a new color each day. And I hope to get back to bringing you some fun, weekly features, too. I don't know if I will go back to my usual Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Tuesday and Feature Friday posts, but I'll come up with something. Would love to hear your ideas...anything in particular you would like to see? Let me know in the comments!

See you soon!!! And as always, thanks for sticking around. I'll work on a very appreciative giveaway for you guys!

I'm Swatchin' You - OPI Romeo & Joliet

2013-03-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Up next is a pretty red-brown shimmer from OPI, called Romeo & Joliet. I classified it as a red since I think the red hue dominates. Sorry this doesn't translate well to the photos. Light box, light box...where art thou, light box??? Oh, but the bandages abound!

The formula was only so-so. There was no sign of leveling. The first coat was a bit streaky, but improved with the second coat. I went with a light third coat to fill in the streaks. But it is a pretty color, vampy with a touch of class!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Essie Wicked

2013-03-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today, I get to show you my first Essie! It's the vampy beauty, Wicked, a red jelly.

I have classified this as a red. It's a deep, dark black-red. I was excited to finally try my first Essie. Sadly, I wasn't too happy with the formula. There was no leveling, and uneven application. This took three coats. However, the third coat should be very light just to fill in the streaks that remain after the first two coats. The formula was also quite thin. But how could you not love the color or the name?!?

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - China Glaze 108 Degrees

2013-03-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today's pretty little polly is coming to you from China Glaze's Summer 2011 Island Escape collection. This is 108 Degrees, and fuchsia pink shimmer. Holy double bandages, Batman!!!

This took two coats. I have to say, I was not impressed with the formula on this. The first coat was streaky with no signs of self-leveling. Thankfully, the second coat evened out the look. And I did experience some minor cuticle flooding. The bottom line: nice color, weak formula.

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Revlon Chili

2013-03-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Bright orange, ahead! This is Revlon's Chili, a bright orange creme.

I did one coat with this color. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but there is a slight VNL. So if you want solid coverage, go for the second coat. I wasn't too thrilled with the formula on this one. Mine was very thin. I left the bottle open for an eternity, and still had cuticle flooding. She just didn't want to behave for me. It is a pretty nice color, though.

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Sinful Colors Hazard

2013-03-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Today's color is coming to you from Sinful Colors. It's a pretty, summery peach creme called Hazard. And oh, my...the virtual bandage has an offspring! I must learn to be kinder to my hands.

You are looking at two easy coats. The formula on this was great. It levels well, and cleans up with ease. I have heard that Hazard is a stainer. I only had this on for a few hours, and did not have any staining, so I can't really confirm that for you.

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Bus Stop Crimson

2013-03-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to show you this amazing color! It's Bus Stop Crimson from Orly. This is a deep, red creme.

I have nothing bad to say about this polish! The color is gorgeous, and the formula was excellent. This took two coats. Application was smooth and even. Love it!

On a side note...I really miss my light box! But I should have photos using my light box coming to you within the next week or two! Now if I could just get around to getting my cuticles back in shape! Thanks for hanging in there with me!!!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Sally Hansen Coral Reef

2013-03-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Next up...Sally Hansen's Coral Reef. This is a peach creme that leans a bit pink from the Xtreme Wear 2012 line. And the bandage keeps on covering!

A lot of the polishes from the XW line are one-coaters. Coral Reef didn't make the cut. The first coat balds a bit too much for one coat to be enough. Therefore, you are looking at two coats. The formula was excellent in terms of self-leveling. The color is very pretty and worth the second coat.

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Color Club Hot Like Lava

2013-03-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today's color is coming to you from the amazing Foiled collection by Color Club. This is a hot pink foil called Hot Like Lava. And of course (duh-duh-DUH), the bandage strikes again!

The foiled collection is known for being great one-coaters that stamp well. I have tried stamping with this one, which you can see here. And you are looking at one coat. The formula on mine was a bit wonky. For lack of a better word, it was clunky going on. Not necessarily chunky or thick, but not smooth either. The color is definitely worth the effort!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Milani Digital

2013-03-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to show you my first Milani! This is from their 3D Holographic line. It's a gorgeous pink holo called Digital. And the virtual bandage continues on...

Digital is a pink jelly base with holo glitter. The base goes on like a jelly with the first coat, but builds quickly as you can see. This is two coats. The formula was absolutely amazing, self-levelling beautifully. And the color is very delicate and pretty. This is one of my new favorites! That's right...I now have a PINK among my faves!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Pure Ice Jamaica Me Crazy

2013-03-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Up next is another Pure Ice polish. There is a bit of background to this one. My mother has used OPI's Pompeii Purple for ages. For whatever reason, I absolutely hate that color. Pure Ice's Jamaica Me Crazy is very similar. It's an iridescent fuchsia pink. However, since I had nothing like it in my stash, I decided to buy this one instead of the OPI. And...I still don't like the color. Ah, well. But welcome back our old friend, the virtual bandage!

The formula on this was great. I am quite impressed with Pure Ice's formula. Easy application and easy clean-up. This took two coats. I just really can't get behind this color. I may have to give this one to my mother!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.

I'm Swatchin' You - Orly Rose Radiance

2013-03-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today's color is another one I had trouble with classification. It's Orly's Rose Radiance. I have chosen to consider this a metallic. And although the name suggests pink, it looks more like a light purple to me.

This took just one coat. The formula was excellent. You will get some visible brush strokes, but it's such a pretty color...who cares!

SH Double Duty and SV as base and top.