The Nailaholic

Yet Another Update

2012-05-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I want to assure you that no, I am not dead! (Kidding. Bad joke.) Honestly, I feel like nothing I say is going to be enough right now. I haven't blogged in a MONTH. I feel like I am letting everyone, myself included, down. A lot has happened. Since I feel like I know a lot of you, and I feel like a lot of you somewhat care, I don't mind sharing personal stuff here. Even if I don't do it often. I want you to know that is the reason I am sharing, not because I feel like I owe you an explanation. So, here goes.

First of all, you all know that my phone screen pretty much shattered at the beginning of the month. I posted my blog sale, which was very successful, so I would be able to replace it... and I haven't. I had to have a lot of things done with that money, so my screen is still cracked. Bills had to be paid that my pay check didn't cover, I have dental bills out the ass.... Trust me, I didn't get ANYTHING fun with that money! Again, I want to thank everyone SO much for helping me out! I took the sale down since I wasn't really advertising it anymore... and I didn't feel like I wanted to deal with it anymore. But, I will probably put a new one up soon. Besides wrapping everything up, it was actually a lot of fun! So, we'll see what happens there. :)

Also, my internet was down for almost a week (again.) and in that time my power cord stopped working and I had to get a new one sent to me. My Apple products gave me hell there for awhile!

Dental bills. Yes. Big ones! I was so excited earlier in the year when I qualified for dental insurance. I know it sounds lame, but my entire life I have been very susceptible to cavities and what not. I just didn't get good teeth genes. Well, my excitement didn't last long. As good as my insurance is, it doesn't even begin to cover the train wreck condition my mouth is in. Thanks to my wisdom teeth and one bastard of a tooth that broke a long time ago. This is also where the bulk of my issues have come from this month. My wisdom teeth are AWFUL. Without going into details, I get them pulled in three weeks and it won't be pretty :/

Since going to the dentist to find all this lovely information out (and getting a good cleaning....at least they look good!), my impacted molars have been swollen. We are going on a month now. They are causing all kinds of problems. My jaw is swollen and in pain, my neck is tender, all the rest of my teeth hurt, my sinuses..... Everything neck up hurts. I'm also having bouts of lightheadedness from it. Needless to say, I can't WAIT for them to come out! Bring it on! In fact, I'm upset there isn't an appointment sooner.

On top of all that, I'm working more. Some Saturdays I'm working 16 hour days. It's summer, so it means I'm working at the racetrack, and doing other little seasonal things. Some nights, I just don't feel like being online, or writing, or doing my nails or anything.

So, between all of that and allergies, I'm sleeping WAY too much. So, I have put Facebook groups, my Facebook page and my blog on hold. I am starting to feel a little bit better, and I'm hoping to be back on schedule soon. I don't have a ton of new content, but I still have vault pictures, some collections and other things that I've put on hold that will be shown soon.

Finally, my trip to NYC has had to have been postponed. I am very, very disappointed! I had planned on using some of the money for that trip for giveaway prizes. Sadly, since I don't have that money for the trip... I won't have money to buy for a giveaway prizes. I had something awesome planned, so I'm pretty upset. I'll have to do a 1.5 yr giveaway or something. lol

Now, I was going to put some teaser pictures in here... but my iPhone won't send them to me! I guess I have to change my email settings on it. LOL I still haven't figured it out completely :)

Enough talking! I feel like I'm giving you every excuse in the book! I am going to go try out some of my new neons (I haven't bought in a month and went a little crazy today...) and think of a new post for Monday! Thanks to everyone who still checks in on a regular basis and thanks to my new followers! Love you all, and will try so much harder!
Thanks for reading!

Sale "Issue" Clarification

2012-05-01T15:29:00.000-05:00

Okay. I am VERY happy at the response to my blog sale! I'm pretty sure I will be adding more things later. Yay! Now that I've said that, I got a very disappointing email today.

Zoya contacted me and told me that I would no longer be receiving PR or samples because a "twitter fan" informed them that I was selling their samples for profit. I wasn't upset with Zoya at all, and I totally understand where they are coming from... However, the "fan" that made the assumption that everything I'm selling was sent to me for free is preposterous! I belong to MANY swap groups, and I do tons of in country swaps, how is it not possible that those were sent to me? Or that I bought extras?

I do (as you've seen) have samples on my sale. I am not selling any of them at a price that I will be making money on them. In fact, I think I have *most* of my items at a lower price than I could actually get for them! I am "selling" those to help cover shipping costs. If any of you have shipped anything before, you know that it costs more than what I am charging for shipping. So really, I'm only making a minimal amount on anything I have listed.

I am very disappointed in what happened today. There seems to be SO much drama surrounding Zoya. They are an amazing company, and no matter what the outcome of this situation would be, I would support them fully. Luckily, we were able to talk and get things figured out.

Summary? If you have a problem, or you feel somebody isn't doing something right, be an adult and ask THEM about it. It will solve a lot of problems before they are even created!

NOW, I just wanted to let you know that some of my international friends have talked to me... and I've decided to sell internationally! Same drill for all of you, just quite a bit more shipping :( If you are interested in any, shoot me an email listed on the sale page and we'll get you set up!

To everyone else, thank you SO much again. I love all you guys! Thanks for reading :)

Quick Nail of the Day and Blog sale info!

2012-04-30T22:42:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Finally posting a mani! It's been awhile! I honestly can't come up with a reason why I didn't post at all last week. The only two days I can account for are Thursday and Friday. I worked all day Thursday, and I wasn't home until Saturday, then worked Saturday night. So, I'm sorry I suck so much. :(

I have a mani that I actually wore quite awhile ago! These polishes came from Mary at Mobile Digits in my Easter swap package. I love everything she sent me!

The colors I chose to wear first from that package were Sinful Colors Sweet Dreams, and I put Sally Hansen Let's Dance on the accent nail. In pictures, I don't like how this mani looked... but irl it was very pretty! Sparkly! :) Thanks, Mary!

Now, on to the blog sale info. I have decided to do it. I pulled the trigger. And I am SO glad I did! I've had tons of interest already! So, go to the sale tab to check it out! I have most of the info you need, I believe. If not, feel free to ask questions at the email provided! Thanks for being so awesome guys! I'll have a new phone in no time!!! (and a super strong case so I don't have to do this again! LOL)

Blog Sale?

2012-04-30T18:27:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I will have a post up later this evening (I promise this time...), but first I have bad news. I broke my iPhone. I need $100 to fix it before I render it completely unusable.. That being said, I am selling all the Julep products I have. The company pissed me off beyond repair, and I have no use for them anymore. I know many of you like them though, since they formula and colors really are nice! I have the Prismatics I would like to get rid of, and I'm going to go through the rest of my stash as well to figure out what I could bear to get rid of. Would anyone be interested? Let me know!

Long Lost Franken Baby

2012-04-20T22:02:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! Posting from the phone tonight, just for fun! So if the pictures suck, I'm sorry and I won't do it again!

Last night I was going through a box with close to 700 polishes on it, hoping to find some inspiration. I thought I wanted a mint green, or maybe a lavender or pink or, hell, I had no clue! What I stumbled upon was a Franken I had made last summer. I called it "Acid Pop.". Yes, after the Harry Potter candy. It is a light mint base (don't ask what it is. I'm ashamed to say I don't remember!) with party of 5 glitters mixed in.

When I put it on, I loved it even more than when I made it! Just a little bit ago, though I wanted to be creative. I got the new Cheeky stamping plates so I stamped one of those designs on top and used China Glaze glitter crackle in Luminous Lavender as an accent nail. I rather like the results! What do you think?

Thanks for reading!!!
<3 Kate

China Glaze Prismatics: Review

2012-04-20T00:07:00.000-05:00

Hello ladies! Today I have a post I've been sitting on for awhile. I'm not really super motivated to write it! But, I will anyway :) The polishes are the new Prismatics from China Glaze. All swatches are one coat, no top coat.

This shot was "ruined" and doesn't show the colors, but I LOVE it! So I'm using it anyway. :)

Ray-diant

Ray-diant is, in the bottle a light green glitter bomb. As you can see, in the sunlight (where these polishes are actually best viewed), it is almost silver. The color does pop out a little bit over black, but I'm disappointed that it loses it's pretty green-ness. *sad face*

Liquid Crystal

Liquid Crystal was one of the ones I was most excited about! I actually really like this one. It is a darker blue with a purple duo-chrome. Unlike Ray-Diant, this one seems to keep both it's color, and it's duo chrome! Check out the swatch over black!

Full Spectrum

Full Spectrum is a pink glitter. It doesn't loose it's color either! I'm not sure how I feel about it by itself, but I like it over the black!

Optical Illusion

This is the light blue of the bunch. It actually keeps it's color as well. It's nice, but not my favorite.

Polarizen

Polarizen is a "standard" silver glitter. None of them are really standard, but it describes the color (not the finish).

Prism

Finally is Prism. This was another I was excited about! It is supposed to be a lilac-ish color with pink duo chrome. It lives up to that pretty well! You can especially see it on the black nail.

Now, the conflict comes in here. I asked to review these because I really didn't think I would like ANY of them, but knew a lot of you would. I just have problems with that damn multi-colored glitter! What the hell are companies thinking? I felt the exact same way about the OPI Muppets Collection. Excuse Moi was great, but would have been tons better without that multi colored crap ruining it.
That being said...... The polishes in this collection that I really don't like are ones that I wouldn't have liked regardless. So, I guess I got over it! lol Mostly *sly look*

The texture on these is super gritty (it IS a flu coverage glitter after all!), but can be smoothed out. The biggest downside for me is (besides the multi glitter) the fact that some of these don't look like the promo pictures AT ALL. I was a lot more excited before swatches started coming out! The ones that live up to the promo pictures, however, are Prism and Liquid Crystal. Those are BY FAR my favorites! If I could have done it over again, I wouldn't have bought Prism or Ray-diant. Yes, bought. I was only sent a couple and felt I needed the rest after seeing what these look like layered (which is another upside. AWESOME for layering!). Overall though, this collection was pretty hit and miss. One that you have to try for yourself!

How many of you have these? Agree or disagree with the multi glitter? Let me know your thoughts below! Thanks for reading :)

*Some products provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!*

How Do You Like Your Leftovers?

2012-04-17T23:14:00.000-05:00

Hello hello! Today I have a leftover mani from back in February when my internet wasn't working. SO glad it's back on! This is a simple polka dot mani that I did with various pinks and white. Don't ask me the names, I don't remember! (sorry!) However, pretty much all colors work for polka dots!

Is it just me, or do my fingers look really ashen in these pics? They didn't in some of the bad ones. Nothing I'm worried about, it's just strange!

So, what do you guys think of polka dots? Have you seen them a ton lately like I have?? Thanks for reading!

OPI Pink Friday with Super Bass

2012-04-16T00:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, ladies! As you may have noticed, I failed my "review week" challenge I set for myself. However, I have caught up with most of the "big" posts I needed to get up! I'll sprinkle the rest in here and there. Truth is, I got distracted. I started eating healthy and working out again, and I've let it take over. Which is good! If I don't, chances are I would eat entire pies in one sitting. I've never done that before, but you all know how cravings are! So far, I'm not sure if it's water weight or what (which it probably is), I've lost four pounds! I've also found work outs that make me FEEL like I've worked out. I hurt! lol So, I may post updates here and there. If you are interested, let me know. I may start up my other blog about it again!

On to the polish. When OPI released the Nikki Minaj collection, I was really excited! Then I saw them in person. I wasn't so excited anymore. That green is hideous, the blue has soooo been done, and the pink looks like a million others. The only one I was interested in was Super Bass!

Well, I was looking at clearance items at Regis, and I had gotten an extra paycheck so I actually bought the (mini) collection. First thing I did when I got home was put on Pink Friday with Super Bass! I HAD to try those out, since those were the only two I would have bought on their own.

We'll start with Pink Friday. Now, I don't know if it was my bottle, or if it was because it's a mini (which is still a bad reason), but the formula was HORRID! It is thick, streaky, needs three coats (at least. I only put two on since I was adding shatter) and is just an overall mess. Turned me WAY off and I am so glad I just bought the minis!

Super Bass, on the other hand, was amazing. I didn't have any problems with application, none with the shatter effect, none with the formula. It is a gorgeous dark magenta type purple with shimmer in it. I love how it looks!

What do you guys think? Is it just my bottle? Ugh. I hope you all had better luck! Thanks for reading! :)

China Glaze: Hunger Games

2012-04-13T00:30:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I posted this one WAY late, didn't I? I apologize! Rough day and all lol Tonight I have China Glaze Hunger Games to show you! I am not going to comment on which district these represent for two reasons. 1) Most of the names don't fit AT ALL. I added stickers to these with the original names on them. They fit much better. However, I don't know if it would be smart to talk about those much, so I won't. 2) You've probably already either read the descriptions a million times, or figured it out. That said, I will ONLY be commenting on the color and formula. All swatches are two coats and no top coat, unless otherwise stated.

First is Dress Me Up. This is a simple nude cream polish that actually works really well with my skin tone! Who would have thought. It is a pink leaning tan. Very appropriate for work.

Foie Gras is a nice taupe. We've seen in the past that China Glaze does taupe well, and this is no exception. The bad part, though, is that it actually reminds me of foie gras! That won't stop me from wearing it. It looks very nice on!

Mahogany Magic is kind of strange to me. I can't think of how to describe it! It doesn't look like wood, though. Maybe a pudding? I don't know. I DO know that it is a yellow based brown. I'm not sure if I like the color or not, but it doesn't clash with my tone, so we'll see!

Hook and Line is a pearl metallic. The base is a sheer silver which gives it that pearl effect. It actually smoothed out very well, but it was still brush stroke-y. Not sure how I feel about it. This took three coats to achieve the color you see here.

Fast Track is, surprisingly, one of my favorites. It's a nude, but a nude with a twist. A very light, almost cream, colored base that has gold shimmer in it. Heavy gold shimmer. This is beautiful in the sun!

One of the two glitters in this collection is Electrify. It consists of red and gold glitter, which actually almost make it look like there is orange as well. You can see in my swatch though, that there is no orange. On my index and ring fingers I layered one coat over Fast Track, and the middle and pinky fingers have two coats.

The other metallic in this collection is a gorgeous copper color called Harvest Moon. While I like it, and have nothing else like it, I've seen plenty of shades like this before. It's still pretty, though!

Riveting, if you have in fact read other blogs, was the surprise fan favorite. The promo pictures looked nothing like this! Even my mom thinks it is beautiful... and she thinks I have addiction issues so she tries not to encourage me... Riveting is a red based orange with a strong gold shimmer. It looks just like fire!

For me, another surprise in this collection came in the form of Agro. The promo pictures showed a lighter green that I wasn't very interested in. What we got was more of a mid-tone green with gold duo chrome. Kind of. Indoors, it's a darker green with yellow shimmer. Outdoors it is a slightly lighter green with yellow flashes or, in strong sunlight, the color changes completely. It can't be defined! :)

What can I say about Smoke and Ashes? For me, this shade was both a triumph, and a disappointment. Strange, I know. On the one hand, indoors it looks exactly like it's promo picture. Very very dark blue with blue and green duo chrome micro glitter . Outdoors, it looks like a slightly less dark blue with blue shimmer. I guess I expected the glitter to stand out a little more. BUT it is a very gorgeous color if you can get over it's almost blackness!

Stone Cold is a shimmery steel grey matte. The formula on this was very smooth, and I love the color, unfortunately, it doesn't last very long. At all. I'm talking two hours. So, you definitely have to sandwich this one! That really bums me out since one coat provides full coverage. :(

Last, but certainly not least, we have Luxe and Lush. LaL is a mylar flakie that is meant to make your nails look crusted in jewels. Or, something like that. Very similar to that. The flakie pieces are much larger than in other top coats with mylar, and that fact does give the polish a jeweled look. They flash just about every color you can imagine, and would work great with anything! This is one coat over Stone Cold.

The Hunger Games collection was very hit and miss for me. While all of them look nice on me, and are actually nice colors, *geek alert* I'm not sure how many I would have bought if they were not HG related. I know I would not have grabbed any of the first four, and Electrify and Stone Cold wouldn't have been much more likely, although I must confess I have a soft spot for those finishes! I have no doubt in my mind that the rest of the collection would have come straight home with me, though. So it really is divided.

The formulas on these were really hit and miss as well. As I said, most of the creams were nearly perfect, as always. Hook and Line was watery and streaky, and took more coats. Stone Cold was a liiiiiitle bit thick. Of course, that can be fixed. As well as any problems with the rest of them.

Overall, I think this is a nice collection. It has a good variety of both work appropriate, and fun, colors to choose from. I'm just not sure it fit the theme as well as they had hoped. For example, if I were making a polish based on The Capital, it would be as flamboyant and out there as I could get it. Maybe a super bright teal or something.

If you are interested in these, you can buy them at various etailors and supply stores. Prices range from $3-$8 depending on where you get them and where you are! (Another pet peeve of mine.) You can also check out http://chinaglaze.com/ for more info.

Zoya: Beach and Surf

2012-04-11T22:40:00.000-05:00

Good evening! I am finally getting my post up for the night. Nothing quite like waiting until the last minute, eh? So, I'm gonna show you Zoya Beach and Surf collections! Yes, just one post. I only ended up using one picture of each, so I figure they would all fit here! Also, I decided to do my review a little differently. I am posting the Surf, and the matching Beach color together instead of doing one collection and then the other. In the post, if there is a shade that I say may not be 100% accurate, you can refer to the bottle group shot for accurate coloring. I don't know why cameras will photograph bottle color correctly from a distance, but not while it's in my hand! (All swatches shown two coats, no topcoat, unless otherwise stated.)

First up is Tracie from the Beach collection. Tracie is the only non cream in the Beach collection, opting instead for a nice shimmer finish. The color is a brighter version of the sage that we saw so much last year, with a more yellow toned base. Running throughout is a soft silver shimmer that gives it a glowy look. While this isn't my color (at ALL), the formula was standard Zoya greatness! I had no problems getting it to look great.

Next up is Meg from the Beach collection. THIS is more my style of green! It sort of reminds me of grass in a field. If that makes any sense. The green foil has silver and yellow shimmer in it to add depth. I absolutely adore the shimmer! The yellow just adds a little something extra.

Wednesday is a gorgeous robin's egg blue. I instantly fell in love with it since I am (for some reason) obsessed with the "pastels" that are coming out! Pastels that are bright and pack a punch are probably my favorite things for spring. You'll see more of those farther down the page! Wednesday was not chalky at all, and zero streaks. I am loving the formula on these!

Zuza is probably my favorite of the whole bunch. It is GORGEOUS. The coloring in this picture is almost accurate, but it's missing some green. You really should check out the promo shot of this. That's the most accurate! I'm not really sure how to describe this except that it is a gorgeous aqua water color (like really clear oceans!) with silver that pushes it into metallic territory. Love!

Arizona is in that "bright pastel" category I was talking about. It is a light yellow based orange that really just pops on the nail! This was the only one I really seemed to have problems with, though. The formula was much thinner and I had a harder time getting even coverage. Three coats did the trick though!

Myrta is a red based orange metallic. The base is gorgeous, and add in the gold shimmer and you have a total winner! This one was hard to take a picture of, but between my fingers and the bottle this is pretty close.

Shelby is another favorite! It is a bright bubblegum pink. You all know how I love my pinks! This is similar to China Glaze Dance Baby, but it is either a tad brighter, or has a bit more blue in it. I haven't decided yet. There really wasn't any trouble with application on this either. Two perfectly smooth coats!

Rory is an amazing color. It is shown a little bit dark here. It is actually a light lilac-y type pink. If you've had a lilac bush and seen "pink" lilacs, you know exactly what I'm talking about! The shimmer, like most others in this collection, is silver and just makes it super interesting! I would definitely not skip this one!

Lara is the darker older sister of Shelby. It is more blue based as well. Not much else to say. It's just pretty! haha

Kimber is just what I would expect from it's name. It is a HOT magenta foil. And yes, it really is that bright! I am reminded of Kimber on Nip/Tuck when I see this. I'm not sure if that's where the inspiration came from, but it's perfect for her!

Reagan is the oldest sister of the pinks in this collection. She is an almost dusty, very blue based "dark" pink cream. This is actually perfect for those days that I don't want to wear a blinding polish, but still want pink. :)

Finally, but certainly not least, is Carly. Um.. WOW. Carly is a dark purple metallic with a pink shimmer to it. In the sun, this baby dances! It is by far the prettiest of this collection! My friend, Mary, pointed out that it looks like those polishes that came out last year (Congeniality is My Middle Name, and it's dupes), but without the gold duo effect. I am IN LOVE with this shade! Highly recommended!

The formula on all but two of these was classic Zoya. They were amazing. For the most part it was non-streaky and self leveling. Two coats was perfect. I love the concept of mirrored collections that Zoya does. Even if all the shades don't match PERFECTLY, they all have a shade that they would either work well with (i.e. Zuza and Wednesday) OR they have a counterpart that would suit a different mood (i.e. Carly=Sexy, Reagan=flirty).

My recommendations on this are definitely Carly, Rory, Shelby and Zuza. Ones to skip would be Tracie, Meg and Arizona (though I'm sure I'll wear them all!).

You can find Zoya products at zoya.com or at various salons and retailers for $8 each.

So there you have it! My long awaited Zoya summer review :) What do you think? Thanks for reading!

*Products in this post were provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own*

BIG Zoya News!

2012-04-11T14:17:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone! For the few of you that don't yet like Zoya on Facebook (and really, why wouldn't you? lol) I want to let you know of some big news they just announced.

From Facebook:
"Okay so VP just told this little fairy that we could do the following if we make our 100k goal today (today - not tomorrow - today EST)... a code for a BOGO (Buy one, Get one) plus a bonus 100 SHARE THE LOVE (STL) points in any account that uses the BOGO. I'd recommend telling everyone you know about this NOW #justsayinwewillbebusytomorrow"

Isn't that exciting?!? Also, if you sign up for an account at zoya.com using this link, you will receive a free polish! I think you have to use it at a different time, but it is SO worth it!

I really encourage you all to check this out. It is an amazing deal all the way around! Thanks, everyone!

SoFlaJo: Dragon Heart

2012-04-10T23:42:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone! This review has been a long time coming (as the rest have), and I apologize! I am going to show you a polish one of my Facebook, and fellow bloggers, Jody released in her first collection!

I'm sure you've all heard of SoFlaJo by now. The first collection released was in honor of the Chinese New Year called "Year of the Dragon." All of the magic inspired polishes in the collection are color changing topcoats with micro glitters. They are all beautiful! The one she sent me was Dragon Heart. I put it on top of a plum and a dark green to show what different colored bases show up like. (You can see it over black on the shop page of her blog).

Revlon Sugar Plum

Hard Candy Envy

1 Coat of Dragon Heart

With one coat of Dragon Heart, the main thing you can see over these bases is the holo glitter. I love that added touch! You can also see the main color of the topcoat, the red. Especially when it is over green. I had a hard time capturing the color change, but in some of the pictures you can see the gold trying to pop out (That is another you can see on her shop! The picture there is MUCH better than mine!).

IRL I was really impressed with the color change. I'm so mad I couldn't get it on camera! I'll have to try again outside since it's warm enough out now to stand out there and take a million pictures.

If you like Indie Brands, or color changing topcoats - and really, who doesn't? - then I definitely recommend checking these out! I especially want Three of Pentacles and Enchantment! They are all beautiful!

She has also released a brand new collection (which I'm hoping to get my hands on soon), called Happy Hour. All the polishes are inspired by cocktails! What a cute idea, right?

You can buy SoFlaJo polishes on her website, or at her etsy storefront (which I recommend) priced at $5 for a mini bottle, or $10 for full size. I hope you all check them out!

Electropop: Part 2

2012-04-09T19:14:00.000-05:00

Hi ladies! I am back for part two! I'll jump right into it, this is my favorite half!

Aquadelic

Aquadelic is a gorgeous pale teal cream. I've heard it compared to a robin's egg (too green) or For Audrey (too green, too bright) but this color is completely unique to my collection! Again, the formula was incredible, especially for a "pastel!" These photos were taken inside since the sun washed out the green.

Dance Baby

Dance Baby is a blue based bubblegum pink. This is right up my alley! I fell in love with it before I even bought it. *giggles* It is a tad less bright than it shows up in this picture. The bottle in the first picture is most accurate. Two smooth coats!

Sweet Hook

SH is a beautiful pale lavender. This has the same great formula as the rest! I used to coats to make it look like this. So pretty.

Fuchsia Fanatic

This photo is WAY off! FF is a true fuchsia cream. The brightness is accurate, but the color is way off! In the group shot above, the bottle shows accurate. It is the last polish on the left side.

Wicked Style

WS is a bright coral cream. This is totally accurate! It went on smoothly in two coats.

Techno

Finally, we have Techno. Think Servin' Up Sparkle from OPI. I'm actually getting rid of my OPI in favor of this version. It has silver glitter, with hex holo pieces in it. This is one coat.

My sentiments on this half of the collection pretty much mirror what I said this morning. The formula is amazing (MUCH better than last years Up and Away), and every color is gorgeous. I love every single color in this half! Overall, the collection is a HUGE win for me. I only had problems with application on two of the twelve, and one of those can be fixed pretty easily. As far as colors, I'm thrilled with 10 of the 12, as well as Techno! If you are a collection hoarder, I highly recommend this one!

*SOME of the products in this post were provided for review. The rest were bought by me. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own*

China Glaze Electropop: Part 1

2012-04-09T07:14:00.000-05:00

Good morning, ladies! This is officially day 2 of my review week, and I wanted to get ElectroPop posted.... FINALLY! I have had them forever, and I redid them several times. I finally got enough sunlight to do all of these outside, and I am very satisfied. Except with two. But I'll get to that later. On with it!

ElectroPop is the spring offering from China Glaze. As usual, there are plenty of gorgeous pastels in this collection, but this year they added brights as well! If China Glaze does one thing well, it's spring collections. We'll start off with Kinetic Candy.

Kinetic Candy

Kinetic Candy is an almost dusty baby blue. The formula on this one was a tad thick, but that's almost a nice change from the streaky formulas pastels usually have. A couple of drops of thinner and this will be perfect! It took two coats to cover completely.

Electric Beat

Electric Beat is a gorgeous periwinkle-type blue. There isn't quite enough purple in it to go that far, though. I don't think anyway. There is just enough of that tone in there to make me like it though! (I only like unique or super dark blues usually). It dries a tad darker than in the bottle, as you can see in the picture. This was two smooth coats!

Sunshine Pop

I didn't want this polish. I saw the promo and hated it! So I was actually pretty happy that it was one of my review polishes so I wouldn't buy and hate it. Well, I am very very happy they sent it to me! HOLY SHIMMER! This is a "taxi" yellow with a yellow shimmer throughout. It just POPS. There's no way you can't like this after you see it on! This was the only polish I used three coats for.

Gaga for Green

GfG is a "squishy" grass green cream. I would call it a jelly, but it definitely has jelly qualities. It's a pretty color, but I don't think I'll be wearing it very often. This is two coats, as well.

Gothic Lolita

This baby is so much more than she seems! I would like to direct your attention to the first photo. On the first nail you can see a shimmer that is very hard to capture. On the other two nails, you can see the colors that make up that shimmer! So, we have a medium toned purple with a blue/pink shimmer. It is truly unique! Two coats.

Wicked Style

Finally, we have Wicked Style. I'll tell you right now, this is not color accurate. It was VERY hard to photograph! In fact, I split the bright pinks into two posts because they almost look the same *grumbles*. The shade is actually very bright, but is more orange toned. Yes, I said orange. It might be a coral, but the pinkest coral you can get without actually calling it pink. If that makes sense! It IS accurate in the group bottle shot. It is the fifth polish on the right side. This was two coats and I LOVE it!

While this was not my favorite part of the collection, I still actually really like it! The only one I'm not sure about is Gaga for Green. I would definitely check out Gothic Lolita irl. I haven't seen a picture yet that is accurate!

Overall, these polishes have an amazing formula that I have come to expect from China Glaze. They were much smoother than collections of this type tend to be and I really enjoyed putting them on. It made my job a lot easier!

China Glaze can be bought at various supply stores and etailers, with price depending on what kind of shop you get them in, and what state you are in. (That actually annoys the crap out of me! lol)

What do you guys think of these? Like, love, hate? Let me know! I'll post the other half tonight!

*SOME products in the post provided for review. All others were bought by me. All thoughts and opinions remain my own*

Pure Ice Crackle Duos: Strike A Pose and Lightning Strikes

2012-04-08T22:41:00.002-05:00

Hi ladies! I am starting small with my "review week." Something short, that won't have ten million pictures. I'll do that tomorrow! lol Tonight I have two Pure Ice crackle duo sets to show you. I was sent one for review, and won the other on Facebook. We will start with the one I won, Strike a Pose:

Beware

Basic silver glitter. I used one coat in this picture. I would have tried to make it opaque, but it smells SO BAD. Seriously, it had an insanely strong metallic/chemical smell. I will not be using this again!

Strike A Pose

This is the better half of the duo. In promo pictures (and even at the bottom on the bottle in this pic) it looks like a duo chrome. On the nail it is identical to OPI Teal Shatter. I actually put OPI on one nail. Can you guess which it is??

Good thing I won this duo because it was a complete strike out for me. This makes me sad given my deep love for this brand! However, I can't even recommend the glitter.

Moving on to the next duo: Lightning Strikes. This duo contains Not Now, a rich emerald green shimmer, and Lightning Strikes, which is the silver crackle.

Not Now

In the promo pics, this shade looks to be a blue duo chrome. Imagine my (delightful) surprise when I got this duo and it was a gorgeous emerald! The shimmer in this is amazing. It took two coats to cover. (forgive the bump on my middle finger. I'm not sure what was going on, but I don't THINK it's a bubble. Just weird nails!)

Lightning Strikes

LS is a simple silver crackle. It has a great formula and I was really impressed with how it cracked. The colors looked amazing together too! The shine coming off of the silver is even without a top coat. This is a winner!

This duo fared MUCH better with me than the first. I am absolutely in love with Not Now! Seeing them together, I really should have worn them for St. Patrick's Day as intended. Oh well. I'll make up for it!

Overall, I like the idea of the duos. The colors are paired nicely and I've always said I like crackle for fast nail art. Since they are paired already, you won't have to worry about the colors working together! On an individual basis though, I would nix Beware completely from the line. Unless, of course, I just got a bad bottle. (which is possible, but I've smelled other glitters like this, just not as strong. I'm guessing it's the type of metal used.)

Duos can be bought on their website for $5.98, or at select Walmarts.

*Products in this post were sent for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

Easter Nails

2012-04-08T16:11:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter everyone! Here is the mani I wore to work today:

I got tons of compliments, and it was super easy! I used all China Glaze polishes in the shades Kinetic Candy, Lemon Fizz and Sweet Hook.

Hope everyone is having an amazing holiday! I will be back tonight to post the first review of "review week" lol. Thanks for reading!

Swaps!

2012-04-07T23:31:00.000-05:00

Hi guys! I haven't been doing AS MANY swaps since I've been in kind of a financial pinch, but I did get one in February, one in March and one just the other day! I jump around, but you'll get the idea :)

First up is from my friend Mary! Yes, the same Mary that did the guest post. We are in a couple of fb groups together, and one wanted to do an "Easter" swap. Of course I signed up! She sent me some amazing things! Isn't that Kitty just SO CUTE? I love everything, Mary!

I don't know why this picture is so weird. I can't get it fixed! So I'll just type to the side. Just this once. I hate it! lol This next swap was actually the one I got in February, so technically the first swap. Sorry for the confusion! lol I swapped with one half of the amazing Inky Polisholicious. These girls are based in Singapore. I love just about anything she can get her hands on! She posted my half of the swap on Valentine's Day, and I was supposed to.... but as you know, my internet was down. :( So here it is now!

Isn't this Sasatinnie set so cute? I love all the colors too!

I got TONS of glitter with this swap! I kind of like that it was "themed" lol

These are just hard candies. I'm amazed at the detail in them, though! The flavors are pretty awesome too. I wish it said what they were!

The treats. The first pic is for those of you who have never seen Hello Panda (nom nom!). The second picture is an Apollo. It is chocolate on the bottom, and strawberry flavored on top. Yum!

The last swap I got last month. I felt SUPER bad about this one! She sent my package a LONG time before I got hers out. I kept getting delayed :( Luckily, it did finally get there to her! I'm hoping I can do another with her soon because.... She is in Brazil! I am talking about, of course, Estilo de Unha! This girl sent me some truly amazing things! I am IN LOVE with the Mari Moon and hope to get the rest soon!

Pri and Mary, I just want you to know that I put up so many more pics of the Singapore swap because I forgot to get a group shot. Your group shots show everything pretty well! I love your packages too! :)

What do you think? I'm going to be honest. I am SO glad I got into blogging because of these ladies. And others, of course, that I have met along the way. The FB groups are awesome support, and swaps are incredibly fun! I never would have gotten to do any of that if I hadn't started blogging! I love you guys!

Thanks for reading!

Dare To Wear: Pearl Colors

2012-04-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! A while back, Le Chat offered to send me a few more colors to review. Of course I said yes! I luh luh LOVE the Dare to Wear line! Let's check out what I was sent!

On The Wild Side

This is a pearl/frost blue with an amazing mint green shift to it. It is gorgeous! It is a little brush stroke-y, as most with this finish are, but it's uniqueness makes up for it. It is three coats here, but I'm betting it would look AMAZING over a blue, black or white!

Madras

This is a pearl/frost pink. There is a blue shift that keeps it from being a boring sheer pink! Again, this is three coats. I'm thinking this would be gorgeous over several underwear colors as well. However, as much as I love the color, I hate it with my skin! This went to my cousin, who is giving it a good home. :)

Pisco Sour

PS is a sheer white frost with a pink shimmer running through it. Same thoughts as the others. I didn't like this one on either. Still, very pretty.

Flirty Lace

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Do you see how awesome this shade is? IRL it is a TAD more peach instead of orange, but it still looks like fire on the nail. Out of the four, this has the strongest duo chrome, the least brush strokes and the most opaque coloring. This was only two coats as opposed to the other's three! I love it!

Overall, I was surprised by these. I usually have zero desire to wear pearls or what not. The two I kept will definitely be put to good use! Actually, I should have used Flirty Lace in my Hunger Games mani! (which you will never see. Sorry. lol) Oh well.

Dare to Wear can be found in various supply stores (none around me, of course), and online retailers. Vistit their website for more information!

Would you guys wear any of these? What do you want to see me post tomorrow? Thanks for reading!

Review Week

2012-04-06T21:49:00.001-05:00

Okay, you have all seen me say how behind I am. By behind, I mean AT LEAST January. That's a ton of polishes! So, I think starting Sunday I'm doing a review week. It will be all the reviews I have to catch up on. If it needs to be a two part post, I'll post half in the morning, and half in the evening. I have to get caught up! I feel like, by doing this, you will be able to see MY take on new collections *and less well known brands*, but I won't be ages behind in the future. If I don't do this, it would be May before I got current collections up!

So, stay tuned for that! One of my reviews may have a little something special hidden in it! Thanks as always for understanding! Have a great weekend! :)

Cherimoya Matte.N.A- The Metals!

2012-04-05T21:59:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! First and foremost, I need to apologize. I am a ver sporadic poster. I know a lot of bloggers only post twice a week or so, but I don't want to be that way. I get behind. I get so many manis, collections, etc that I don't want to sort through everything and just PICK something already! That's what happened when I was preparing for, and participating in, the nail challenge. I haven't updated on that because I ended up not finishing. But, that's why I was behind. I didn't know how to catch up! I'm getting my butt in gear in the next couple of days, though, and I PROMISE that I will be back to a normal schedule in the next week or so! So, on to today!

Here is my final installation of the Cherimoya Matte.N.A. polishes. These are, as I said earlier, the "metals" as I call them. I won't add much to what I said in the other posts. These were all one coat as well! Enjoy! :)

Blockbuster

Classic silver "foil" matte. Gorgeous.

5 Stars

A bronze-y shimmer matte. This looks very rich and metallic!

Oscar

In the first pic, it looks a lot like 5 Stars. The second is a little more accurate! They are very similar irl, though.

So there they all are! What do you think of the matte trend? What about "suedes" (aka shimmer mattes)? Let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading!

A Collection I'd Like to See Get Made

2012-03-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

No nails tonight. I just wanted to show you what I found when I was going through my pictures. I got this from Twitter (from @Lord_Voldemort7). Wouldn't you buy these shades? LOL Have a good night everyone!

Purple Ombre

2012-03-30T22:35:00.000-05:00

Hi guys! Today I have another ombre mani for you. I have wanted to do this particular one ever since I started seeing these posted. I LOVE the purple ones! Check it out:

Again, as with the last ombre I did, I used a mid range shade, then black and white to adjust for each nail. In this particular case, I started with China Glaze Grape Pop on my middle finger. Easy peasy! I also think that, when done right (i.e.: NOT how my thumb looks!) this is a very elegant look. Not so much with the pink!

I really love how this looks and I think I'll be doing it again sometime soon! Have any color suggestions for me? Thanks for reading!

Kleancolor Bikini Green

2012-03-29T22:20:00.000-05:00

No chit chat today! Honestly, sometimes I feel stupid typing all that out. So, straight to the color!

Kleancolor Bikini Green came to me by accident. I had ordered it from a swap, but the bottle leaked. Usually, I would just clean it up and not worry, but the polish seemed to have eaten the cap! So, I poured it into an empty bottle and sent off an email to the seller. Thankfully, they sent me another one and I got to keep what was left of the bad bottle! YAY! I am SO glad I did, too. This color is AMAZING.

Bikini Green

I seriously had never intended to buy this shade for myself. In pictures, it doesn't look as bright as it really is. It's a true neon! It also looks super pale in the bottle. I adore it on, though. It will be perfect for this summer!

Long story short, I hate that I don't have access to brands like this. They always look so much different online! Do any of you have this? Thanks for stopping in!

Cherimoya Matte.N.A: The Darks

2012-03-28T20:55:00.000-05:00

Hi ladies! For this Pink Wednesday, I have the second part of my Cherimoya Haul! I call them "The Darks." Mainly, the two darkest pinks that I got and a dark purple. Two of my favorites are in this part! I mean, I like them all.. but some are just way more amazing than others! We can't all be princesses, right?

Fantasy

Fantasy is a mid-range blue based pink. It is super metallic and somehow still shines a bit. Very pretty!

Mystery

This one is different than the others we've seen so far. It is still "shimmery" (especially with a top coat. Oh. My. God.), but it seems flatter. The shimmer is a lot more similar to the base in this one. My favorite of the entire bunch!

Hollywood

HW is somewhere between the "flat" and "metallic" mattes in this collection. It is a little more shimmery than Mystery, but a little less metallic looking than Fantasy. I love it!

All of the mattes used today were one coat. ONE COAT! These bottles will last me forever that way! Yay! They are super amazing, and this second group is my favorite from the whole order. :)

How do you guys like these? Are you going to pick any up? Thanks for reading!

Cherimoya Matte.N.A Part 1

2012-03-27T07:14:00.000-05:00

Hello! I have been holding on to these pictures for quite some time. I'm not sure why I haven't posted them yet! After I received the Matte.N.A polishes from Cherimoya last year, I fell in love! I finally went and bought some more! I got 9 of the 10 "sparkly mattes" that I didn't already have. I'm actually regretting not getting the last one! Oh well. Later. :)

I'm going to post in three parts so you don't have to go through a million pictures at one time. They have three "themes" as well. Today will be the "light" pinks, and there are also the "dark pinks/purples" and "metals."

Fairytale

Fairytale is a "frosty" matte. It is a light pink, but almost has a hint of neon to it, as you can see in the bottle. Dries a tad lighter than bottle color. I needed two coats for this one.

Cannes

Here we have a blue based mid-tone pink. It is very metallic, but still very matte. It is very interesting! This is a one coat polish.

Rom-Com

As you might have expected, Rom-Com is my favorite from this bunch! It is a sparkly, HOT pink matte. It is super interesting, gorgeous and ONE COAT! I love it. <3

The application on these was amazing. Two of the three only required one coat! You can also see that application was even and not really thick or complicated at all. It dries super fast. They have normal wear time for mattes. That is, crappy. I would suggest sandwiching these! I haven't found a matte yet that I don't have to change the next day. The good part about that is I change my polish almost every day anyway! lol

I bought these from porkdaisy.com. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend them. I got them fast enough, and they were cheap ($2.35), but if you have a problem... Forget about getting it taken care of. I have a crack in my Fairytale bottle and after several months I still haven't received a replacement. In fact, even though they asked for a picture to "process" my complaint, I was never given a definite answer! HOWEVER, they are the only authorized seller that I have found. If you don't care about that, you can get them for about the same price with cheaper shipping from ebay or amazon.com.

Final thoughts: LOVE the polish, hate the seller. Get them!

What do you guys think? Do you know of any other sellers? I would love to know (I NEED that last one!!!!)! Thanks for reading!