Today’s the LAST day to vote for your fave in the Rite Aid Nail Extravaganza!
and only THREE days left to enter my Rite Aid Nail Extravaganza Giveaway!

COMING SOON!! I have a NEW giveaway launching Monday (May 27).
Open to US Residents AND readers abroad…I promise it’s big!
One prize. One winner. Anywhere in the world!

It’s Friday! Woot! I have a mini-celebration every time Friday comes around. I’m especially happy about this Friday since we have a three day weekend in the United States. Monday we observe Memorial Day, a day of remembering those who died while serving in the US Armed Forces. I work in the defense industry, so this occasion is near and dear to me.

Today I have the first of two Nicole by OPI Neon Collections. Scandalous! NEONS retails for $10 and includes four mini polishes – one white base and three colors. These are actually the first neon polishes released by NOPI (press release here).

Each mini holds 3.75mL. That should really be classified as a super-mini. I actually think NOPI was smart in releasing their first neons in this way. Neons are everywhere right now. So one way to differentiate is to offer a selection of samples. This not only caters to the polish lovers who are apprehensive about the neon scene, but also gives the polish addicts a reason to buy a kit…vacation!!

I had a really difficult time photographing these polishes. No matter what settings I used, the camera kept washing out the brightness (even though the colors are deep – how does that make sense?) So keep that in mind as you look at my swatches. First up is my fave, Blue Neon. This wasn’t an “alien” neon, but it did have a glow to it and dried to a matte finish. It reminded me of Essie Butler Please, but a little deeper. My swatch took three generous coats over one coat of white.

Next is Purple Neon. I would describe it as a bright purple creme. It had just a faint neon quality about it. It’s very pretty, just not traffic-stopping. My swatch is three coats over white.

The last of the Scandalous! NEONS pack is Neon Pink. This was a pretty, bright pink with a soft glow.  I used three coats over one coat of white for coverage.

These three polishes were definitely bright, but not the most neon I’ve tried. And while I believe offering the neon shades in a sample size makes perfect sense, I’m not sure there’s enough white base in each kit to last through multiple manis with the other colors. Fortunately, most people have a white polish in their stash. The other mini pack, Notorious! NEON, includes a green, fuchsia and orange. I’ll show you those in a separate post.

The Scandalous! and Notorious! NEON mini packs are available now for $10 each at retailers including Meijer, CVS, Duane Reade, H-E-B, Kroger, and ShopKo. In Canada, the kits will be available for $12.50 each at Loblaw, Jean Coutu, Rexall, London Drugs, and Shoppers Drug Mart.

For more information, visit nicolebyopi.com and follow Nicole by OPI on Twitter @NicoleByOPI and Facebook!

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided by the manufacturer, their PR firm or retailer for my review. This post may contain affiliate links.

Before I jump into the post, I want to remind you to enter my
Rite Aid Nail Extravaganza Giveaway! (only 4 days left)

COMING SOON!! I have a NEW giveaway launching on Monday (May 27) that will be open to US Residents AND readers abroad! And it’s big.
One prize. One winner. Anywhere in the world!

Okay, let’s jump into today’s post! I’ve decided I must be feeling subconsciously guilty for my lack of blingy-ness during Digit-al Dozen Bling Week. Because here I am…gettin’ blingy with it…and I have absolutely no requirement to do so. I used a product that is completely new to me from the Born Pretty Store, Round Noble Sheet Nail Art Glitter. I started this mani with two coats of Zoya Blaze from the 2012 Ornate Collection. This Collection is still one of my faves ever. Each polish has micro-fine holographic glitter, the perfect base for this mani.

Maybe all loose nail art glitters are like this and I’m just the last to know…but they are surprisingly thin and light.  Almost like paper. (I think “Noble Sheet” refers to the membrane the glitter is punched from, but I’m really not sure. Anyone know?) For just $3.89 (and 10% off if you use my coupon code: CRL91) you get a small, clear container of glitter with a screw-on cap. It comes in four varieties: (1) round and (3) sizes of hexagons, the smallest being practically a dust. The round ones have a silver holo finish. Here’s a ginormous picture of the container. Just in case it’s not big enough for you – you can click it to enlarge. :P

Before I started this mani and before I downloaded that giant pic above from my camera, I actually thought there weren’t that many glitters in the container! I actually wondered if I could even get one mani out of it. Isn’t that hilarious!?  Um…don’t bet on me in any “how-many-jelly-beans-are-in-the-jar” contests! Because in reality there are TONS of glitters. Like I will never run out in my entire lifetime! To apply them, I coated one nail at a time in Seche Vite. I used a dotting tool to pick them up one-by-one and lay them on the nail. I went really fast. The finished product is so disco-ball-ish in the light that you can’t even tell if they’re straight or not. These are a great addition to any nail art supply stockpile!

If you’re not familiar, the Born Pretty Store is an online nail art superstore. They carry 1,000′s of products and ship worldwide for FREE! Visit the Born Pretty Store homepage to shop or click here to go directly to the product page for this item. . And don’t forget to use my coupon code (CRL91) for 10% off!

Anyone have any solid bling disco ball manis they want to share? If so, post them to the WPP facebook so we can all ogle them!

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided by the manufacturer, their PR firm or retailer for my review. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Could this be you?

Rite Aid’s 2^nd Annual Nail Extravaganza is a competitive nail art contest complete with public voting, celebrity judges and huge prizes. And it’s going on now! Don’t delay – head to www.riteaidnails.com this very second to read the official rules and upload your favorite nail art creation. The entry and voting period end on 24 May! There’s no time to waste!

But I’m nail art challenged…

Maybe doing nail art isn’t your strong suit…but you still love to follow the latest and greatest designs. You can still play along! Go to www.riteaidnails.com to vote for your favorites by 24 May. You can vote once daily and share your picks with friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. But that’s just the beginning…

The Finalist Round

Then the competition really heats up. The top 20 vote getters will advance to a second round where Rite Aid levels the playing field. Each finalist will receive the same standard palette of nail products to create their next look. These 20 looks will be judged by a panel of three expert judges. Personally, I can’t wait for this part. It will be so interesting to see what 20 different nail art gurus do with the same arsenal of products from the incredible list of contest sponsors.

How about a prize for you…right now!

The winners of the Nail Extravaganza will get some amazing prizes. But first, here’s some prizes you can enter to win right here, right now. No nail art required! Rite Aid has provided two awesome prize packs for WPP readers. The first Prize Pack will include an assortment of items chosen from items in this amazing spread. The Deluxe Prize Pack will include a similar assortment of items PLUS the SensatioNAIL Starter Kit with LED lamp (the kit alone is a $50 value). Enter via Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

[Nail polishes in the photo are representative of polishes included. Some were broken in transit and I'm waiting on replacements which may or may not be exactly the same as shown here.]

Prizes for the Nail Extravaganza Winners

1 Grand Prize Winner

• $500 Rite Aid gift card
• 20% off storewide  as a wellness+ Gold status member for a year
• Featured in an upcoming Rite Aid email
• Highlighted on Rite Aid’s Facebook page
• Two nail care packages from exclusive Rite Aid suppliers

2 First Prize Winners

• $100 Rite Aid gift card
• 20% off storewide  as a wellness+ Gold status member for a year
• Featured in an upcoming Rite Aid email
• Highlighted on Rite Aid’s Facebook page
• One nail care packages from exclusive Rite Aid suppliers

17 Finalest Prize Winners

• $50 Rite Aid gift card

Again, the contest site is www.riteaidnails.com. Go there to upload your nail art or vote for your favorite. You can also follow Rite Aid on facebook, twitter and instagram! And show some love to the sponsors.

Enter Here for the WPP Giveaway

Official Rules found at the bottom of the Rafflecopter widget. Open to US residents of the contiguous 48 States only (Sorry International Readers! But I promise…a week from today I’ll be launching an International giveaway!! One prize…and believe me…it’s a good one!!)

BONUS! Enter just one way below and activate the “Share This” option. Send the giveaway to your friends and you get an extra entry for every referred friend who enters (up to 10)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Monday! It’s here again. I spent a good part of the weekend at a track meet. I did really well. I placed in two events: snacking and cheering. :P

Today I have two polishes from the Butter LONDON Summer Holiday 2013 Collection. I was intrigued when I first saw the press release (here). Initially, the colors didn’t seem like a summer bunch to me (no neon or primary colors like we’ve seen from most summer collections). But now I think the range is perfect…tan, turquoise, precious metals. It may not be backyard barbecues and Florida beaches…but it’s definitely Saint-Tropez.

First I have Sunbaker, a rusty orange shimmer/metallic. This is one of those stunners that practically glows. Application was perfect. Not brushstroke-y at all like I expected. My swatch is two coats.

Sunbaker reminded me of Zoya Amy (swatched here). But after comparing them, Sunbaker’s orange shade is rustier and the finish is more metallic and less glittery.

Next is Bit Faker, a dense, full coverage bronze. Wow. This is really gorgeous. It was absolutely opaque in two coats. My camera freaked out a little. Isn’t it amazing?

Because the fine glitter is so dense, I had to give the bottle a good shake mid-mani to prevent globbing. But the result is smooth and a topcoat makes it super sparkly and brings some gold out of the bronze.

Finally, these two polishes are perfect together, so I had to try some easy nail art. I taped off my Sunbaker mani in a triangle at the tip and used one coat of Bit Faker. I added topcoat and a small Essence gold bead at each point.

Butter LONDON is 3Free and retails for $15 (11ml bottle). If you’re in the UK or USA, you can buy Butter LONDON from their website (just choose your country at the top). Canadians can purchase direct from here.  Butter LONDON also retails from a variety of shops USA-wide, including selected Macy’s, Dillard’s, Nordstrom and Ulta stores. Check here to see where it’s available in your state.

You can keep up with new collections and promotions by following butter LONDON on facebook, twitter, and Instagram.

I think I might pick up Champers (the rose gold) and Bobby Dazzler (the silver chrome) also from this collection. Does anyone have either of these polishes? What do you think?

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided by the manufacturer, their PR firm or retailer my review. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

It’s the final day of Digit-al Dozen Bling Week. I’ll get to the “bling” at the end of the post. First, I have a new Pure Ice shade to show you…which is a little bit of a mystery. Maybe my sleuthing readers can solve it. (Or maybe by the time I post this, it will be old news!) So anyway, Pure Ice sent me a few polishes to review and in the package was this pretty periwinkle crème called Castle of Dreams. A note in the package said it was part of a new Limited Edition Collection called Belle of the Ball.

I’ve always been a fan of Pure Ice. For a polish that retails for only $1.99 at Walmart, the formulas are nice, the color range is huge, the glitters are complex and the fancy finishes (suede, matte, etc.) seem high end. Castle of Dreams was like the rest. It was smooth and opaque in two coats. So what’s the mystery? Below is the only thing I know about this collection. There isn’t any info on the Pure Ice website or Facebook. It’s appears to be targeted at Prom season…which I believe is NOW, right?

I did find a blurb about the collection on the Beauty Blitz website. [Beauty Blitz was given an exclusive about this collection before Pure Ice could do any blogger outreach.] There’s a giveaway scheduled for today!  (Go enter!) But even in the giveaway announcement, there’s no mention of what colors or how many colors are included in the collection. In fact, I don’t even think the polishes in the picture are from the Belle of the Ball Collection. Castle of Dreams is #1046. Currently the Pure Ice site and the Bari Cosmetics site only go up to #1029.

I found an eBay seller listing new Pure Ice polishes with numbers around #1046 with names that fit the theme. There are bottle shots but I won’t include them here (just google!). Here are the other polishes I believe are part of this collection:

• Playful Princess (#1041) – A teal crème.
• Riding in Style (#1042) – A blue-red or fuchsia crème? Shimmer.
• Belle of the Ball (#1043) – Looks very similar to Riding in Style in the pics.
• Touch of Glamour (#1044) – Maybe a coral-leaning pink crème?
• Fairy Godmother (#1045) – Lavender Crème. Looks a little dusty.

And after all this googling…I find a facebook profile that has swatches of three of these shades! Are they in stores already and just haven’t been publicized yet? Am I the last person on the planet to know? LOL. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened! I haven’t checked my local Walmart. Maybe they were silently stocked and no one knows the difference? Well, hopefully they’ll be more info soon and we can all race out to grab them before they’re gone! I’ll be sure to update this post as soon as I learn more.

Alright…so let’s get to the bling. I realize this is a stretch, but I’m calling this “blingy” because the colors are so flashy. I actually did add some glitter to it – and it ruined it. :(  In addition to Castle of Dreams I used two summery shades from the Pure Ice 2013 line-up. Wild Thing (#616CP) is a chartreuse creme and Flirt Alert (#617CP) is a bright pink. I used a few combos of colors. I love this!

So that concludes Digit-al Dozen week. June’s theme is BOOKS. What? How? Help? Click the link below to see the other final manis from the rest of the Digit-al Dozen.

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided by Pure Ice PR. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Then I took diamond-shaped, gold holo glequins from an Essence Nail Art Decoration kit and randomly placed them on each nail in loose gradients starting from different directions. I used a dotting tool to pick them up and set them down into a coat of Seche Vite. I purposely didn’t cover the glequins up with topcoat because having them lay at slightly different angles on the nail made them reflect more light. If I’d topcoated the look, I don’t think the smooth finish would have been so blingy.

This is seriously WAY more sparkly than the pictures show! Orly Sparkling Garbage is so unique. But I’ll save my fawning over it for the swatch post!

So four days down, one to go! Click here to meet the group and see all of my previous DD manis. Click the link below to see the other day four looks from the rest of the Digit-al Dozen.

Disclosure: I have no material connection to the products used in this post.

Sound the alarm! It’s my second post of the day. Today is day three of bling week and my mani is completely ridiculous and impractical. It’s actually just a ruse to show you another beautiful Super Black Lacquer (SBL) called Purdy! So here’s the finished mani in all of it’s gawdiness. I used two coats of Purdy and attached a single self-adhesive iridescent gemstone using Seche Vite. The gems really don’t look that green in person. I think they heard me making fun of them and conspired to reflect their least attractive facet for the photo.

The gemstones are made by The Paper Studio. I picked them up at a local craft store in the paper and cards area. They’re ginormous, aren’t they? They don’t even lie flat on my nail. I actually contemplated going one size up! LOL. The Seche Vite was surprisingly strong. These babies didn’t come off until I picked them off.

Here’s the real star of the show, SBL Purdy. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of this newcomer indie line (see my first review here). Purdy did not disappoint. It’s an unusual light purple semi-matte creme with a hidden red shimmer. You can’t really see the shimmer until you apply topcoat. It’s very subtle, but cool. The formula on this one was a little thicker, but I owe that to the finish. It applied easily in two smooth coats.

Isn’t it gorgeous? All Super Black Lacquers are 4-free. You can purchase them from the SBL online store. In addition to glitters, SBL also has solid and holographic shades.  You can stay current on all things SBL through Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr too.

So Day 3 is done. We’re heading into the home stretch of Digit-al Dozen Bling Week. Click here to meet the group and see all of my previous DD manis. And please check out today’s other works of art! Click the link below.

Disclosure: Polish was provided by Super Black Lacquers. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Today will be a rare day with two posts. I love Digit-al Dozen week – but I hate to delay swatching polish that deserves to be swatched! My third Digit-al Dozen bling mani will be posted this afternoon. Sorry in advance for SPAMMING my email subscribers!

If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I recently received a beautiful package of goodies from Barbra at I Love Nail Polish (ILNP). This was seriously like Christmas for me. I love ILNP nail polish (ILILNPNP - I need a bumper sticker!)  Today I have four polishes from her new holographic line, three jewel-toned colors and one clear topcoat. All have an ultra-fine, scattered holo effect. It’s subtle…but not quite as subtle as my photos depict…my indoor shots don’t do the rainbow-y goodness justice. All four polishes really come to life in the sun.

First up is Grape Alicious. The name is perfect. It’s a deep, eye-catching Welch’s Grape Juice purple. It’s really spectacular outdoors. My swatch is three coats.

Next is Raspberry Beret. Stick the letters B-E-R-R and Y into any polish name and I’m on board! I’m swooning over this one. In fact, I may need a backup! This is three thin coats.

Next is Simply Adorable. ILNP describes it as an aqua. It was a little darker than I was expecting…closer to a jade shade. But very beautiful. My swatch is three coats.

And the last one I have for today is My Private Rainbow, a clear holographic topcoat. ILNP has two versions, a scattered holo and a linear-scattered holo. My swatch is the scattered version. In keeping with the jewel-toned theme, I layered just one coat of My Private Rainbow (S) over China Glaze First Mate. The result is really fantastic. My Private Rainbow reminds me of China Glaze Fairy Dust – but the ILNP formula is much smoother. The other day I wore My Private Rainbow over Dior Purple Mix and got a TON of compliments! It’s a great polish to spice up any other color in your collection.

Application for each was a breeze. The formula is really buttery and easy to apply. I had to use 3 coats of the colored polish for coverage – which is typical to achieve a saturated result with a holo polish. ILNP has a new polish base which doesn’t have a strong odor like before (but personally, I like the smell of strong nail polish…tee hee). All swatches are finished with a coat of Seche Vite – which didn’t effect the holo at all.

I really like these four polishes. They aren’t in-your-face holo, but sometimes it’s nice to have a subtler version. While the colors don’t specifically scream “Spring” or “Summer” to me, they are beautiful year-round shades and I believe that’s what Barbra intended for this holographic line. Right now there are 13 total colors. You can buy ILNP from the online store for $10 (12ml). You can also get cute ultra-minis for $3.75. These 3ml bottles are a perfect sample size if you want to try out a new color or just throw a bunch in your bag when traveling.

Get social. The ILNP facebook community is a MUST-follow for every polish addict. Interact with nearly 150,000 other lacquer fanatics and see awesome manis from around the web. You can also find ILNP on Instagram.

So which one is your favorite? Anyone picked up any of the other holos not featured here?

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided by ILNP. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Zoya Katy is the pink and the tips are Pure Ice Beeware. I added KISS Nail Art Stickers from my May Nail Art Society kit (for more info on the kit, see yesterday’s post). The decals are clear and include the rhinestones. Application was foolproof – I literally just stuck them on. Then I took an orangewood stick and pressed down any areas that weren’t sealed to the nail (otherwise it looked sort of like an air bubble). I finished it off with black striping tape along the tips and a big ole’ coat of Seche Vite.

I wore these nails to the office the next day. (Just kidding…no I didn’t.) :P

Click here to meet the group and see all of my previous DD manis. And don’t forget to check out today’s other blingy masterpieces! Click the link below.

Disclosure: The Nail Art Society kit and Pure Ice polish was provided for my review.

Good morning! I can’t believe it’s Monday already! But it’s not just any Monday…it’s the first day of Digit-al Dozen Week! This month’s theme is “bling”. Bling may not be the first (or even fiftieth) word someone would use to describe me, but I tried to have fun with it. Luckily I just received my very first Nail Art Society kit (more details on that later in this post). It contained all sorts of goodies that were perfect for this week. I loooove my first mani! It’s a quilted design accented with faux rhinestones.

This look is really very easy to execute…no art skills required, just major patience – especially if you’re OCD like me and ensured that no rhinestone color was repeated in the same position (seriously, I did that. I can’t help myself!) I polished one coat of Pure Ice Silver Mercedes as a base. I chose Silver Mercedes because it ‘s creamy and really dense. I knew if I had to do some touch up that it would cover the black.

I used striping tape to block out the diagonal stripes and polished over it with one generous coat of essie Licorice…removing the tape immediately after polishing each nail. Then I touched up any edges that weren’t perfectly clean with a small nail art brush. Finally, I used one thick coat of Seche Vite to attach the rhinestones using small tweezers. I placed a large stone at the center intersection and smaller ones at the other points on each nail.

The rhinestones are KISS brand. As I mentioned, I received them as part of my first Nail Art Society kit. The kit was pretty impressive, containing a variety of items that were perfect for this month’s theme. I calculated the value of the box at about $35 retail…which is a nice return for a $9.95 investment. Be on the lookout for future looks using the items from this box!

The Nail Art Society (NAS) is a subscription-based service. For $9.95, NAS will curate and deliver to your door, the latest tools, polishes, and nail art accessories for you to recreate current nail trends at home! All NAS members have exclusive access to Q&A’s, video tutorials, trend reports, and tips from Celebrity Nail Artists, Bloggers and Beauty Insiders. To join their exclusive nail art society, simply choose the Nail Art Society membership that best suits you. They offer monthly, quarterly, and yearly memberships.

Even though some of these items are things I wouldn’t normally purchase on my own…I still think it’s a really fun box. It allowed me to experiment with products I may not have otherwise tried. And isn’t that really the point of beauty box subscription?

Do you subscribe? Good or bad…let me know what you think.

Click here to meet the group and see all of my previous DD manis. And don’t forget to check out today’s other blingy masterpieces! Click the link below.

Disclosure: The Nail Art Society kit and Pure Ice polish was provided for my review.