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Nail Polish Of The Day

FEATURED - Wednesday, June 4th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Dior Golden Nugget

These last two days has just been horrendous in the KY and OH region.  Tornados, thunderstorms, and flooding, oh my!  Hopefully, everyone else is staying dry and cool today.  Two straight days of constant stroms has me feeling quite blah.  I felt the need to spice it up a little with Diors gorgeous, Golden Nugget nail polish. 

I know many of you have asked me about my nail polish swatches.  And, I apologize for my lack of posts but, my nails have been going through a little rehab.  Sometimes it's best to chop 'em all off and start fresh.  Rescue my nails book gave me some great tips on how to get my nails in top-notch shape.  Great book, ya'll should check it out!

Today was the first chance I had to wear Dior Golden Nugget polish.  And, it's a gorgeous bronze metallic nail polish with gold shimmer.  Throughtout the day I kept glancing down at my nails admiring this gorgeous summer color as the light brings out the nautral gold shimmer.  I really think this color is going to appeal to ladies of color and warmer skin tones.  It's more of a deeper bronze color but, the gold shimmer shines like the sun.  This color looks great paired up with Dior's new Eyeshadow quint in Golds 569 ($54).  A new release in their summer collection 2008.  Check out the photo swatches below.

Summer beauty trends are pretty much a given.  From year to year it usually never changes admiring the traditional sun goddess.  Color shades of: Bronze, Golds, and Coppers.  All colors that are right up my alley, that I never get tired of.  Dior 5 colour iridescent eyeshadow quint in golds includes shades of: dark copper, light gold, champagne, golden olive (green-gold) and gold.  This is one of my favorite quints that I purchased this season.  Dior's quints have great color pay-off and staying power. 

I have a ton of nail polish swatches that I'll be posting in the next couple weeks.  Being in nail rehab has my swatches backed up big time.  Some of the collections include: Essie's Summer, OPI Mod about brights, Zoya and some others.  Stay tuned.

Have a great day peeps!

xoxo

FEATURED - Thursday, June 12th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Nicole Blue Lace

Nicole by OPI's Blue Lace - an aqua blue shimmer with yellow-green undertones makes this color oh-so fabulous.  A perfect color to go with MAC's gorgeous Cool Heat eyeshadows.  Now, I know ya'll may be thinking, MAC's Plasma Blu.  But, nope.  There are some noticable differences between the two.  What you can't see in the pictures is the yellowish undertones that gives this color green appeal!  And, I love green envy!  Plasma Blu has clearly no greenish or yellow undertones and is much more frosty.

Blue Lace is most defintely an cameleon kind of color.  She's had a chance to show off at the MAC store and at Applebee's for dinner with my Seafoam Green tube top.  I had to actually hold my nails against my top just to make sure it was still blue.  I loved how the seafoam green top reflected off my nails and gave blue lace a huge boast of green. 

This was my first bottle of the "Nicole by OPI" brand.  Being an polish by OPI, I had no doubts.  The application applied smoothly and only two coats were needed.  Nail polish makes me so happy when only two coats are needed.  I absolutely dread applying more than two coats of polish because I can't sit still.  My morning was so busy, I didn't have a chance to apply a topcoat.  And, I'm happy to report - no chipping yet!

    

Blue Lace matches perfectly with the blue-green eyeshadows from the Cool Heat collection.  If MAC featured a Nail Lacquer in this collection, Blue Lace would be her!

FEATURED - Saturday, June 14th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: MAC Whirlwind

I know your probably thinking -  Summertime's here and I'm still wearing dark nail polish!  Well, I have sort of a fetish for darker colors.  And, I have an even bigger fetish for MAC's whirlwind nail polish.  This has to be one of my all-time favorite nail polishes in general and from MAC.  Described as an gorgeous forest green with aqua blue shimmer that was introduced in MAC's storm signals collection.  Whirlwind is truely one of the most unique colors I own.

Two heavy coats were used in my photo swatches or you could get by with three light coats.  Good color pay-off, no chipping and the staying power was definitely there.  This is most certainly a must have color if you love blue and green nail polish shades.  However, it is an limited edition color but, I'm sure you can still find it on ebay.  Candid shot below.

Dark nail polish colors never go out of style, even in the summer.  But, I know it's time I jump on that summertime color wagon.  So, you'll be seeing some pretty electrifying colors to come!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, June 18th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: China Glaze IDK

I'm showing some love to one of my favorite brands, China Glaze.  IDK (I don't know) featured in the OMG collection was the shade I picked - a light lilac purple holographic polish.  The formula applied easily and dries to a matte finish.  A top coat is recommended if you desire that glossy finish.  The holographic colors are eye-catching and hard to caputre a true image. Check out the candid photo below.

If your not familiar with China Glaze's holographic polishes - well, they are much like OPI's Designer Series.  Not neccessary the same colors, just the same appearance.

FEATURED - Friday, June 20th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Nicole Virtuous Violet

Happy Friday, ya'll!  The weekends about here and I wanted to spice it up with something fun for tonight.  Nicole by OPI in Virtuous Violet has been sitting on my shelf screaming to be used for quite sometime now.  And, what on earth was I waiting for?!  I usually buy polishes on a whim and just forget about them, until one day.   Virtuous violet turned out to be so much prettier than I ever excepted.  You can never judge a nail polish color by it's bottle - that's what I love.  The shades are always unpredictable.

The texture and shimmer reminds me of OPI's Russian Navy and Ink.  Vitruous violet can easily be the cousin of those two colors.  Think ink and russian navy but with an periwinkle purple base color.  Looking at the bottle you don't see the periwinkle color because it applies rather sheer.  But, the blue and pink shimmer makes it a deeper purple.  I used three coats in my photo swatches.

What is Nicole by OPI?  Don't let the Nicole name fool you because the quality is just as good as professional OPI.  This brand is marketed for the average consumer verses the salon quality. ;You'll notice that Nicole is sold in most your local walmart, target, and many others.  I didn't put on a top coat until this morning and it was in perfect shape.  It may have been sheer but the quality was just as good.  Check out some comparisons below.

Check out some photo comparisons below.

Sally Hansens's Spark and is almost 100% identical to OPI's Russian Navy.  I have yet to see a comparison this close!

Have a great weekend peeps. Be safe.

FEATURED - Monday, June 23rd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Nicole's Fav

Ya'll have to check out the Nicole by OPI brand, seriously!  The unique nail polish colors are just as fabulous as OPI.  Today's polish is named Nicole's Fav and I can see exactly why it's her fav!  The color is described as an gorgeous vibrant orange with gold shimmer.  A perfect color for summer and to go perfectly with all the summer collections out there.

Everything was perfect about this color - the pay-off is amazing and only two coats of color needed.  Check out some close up pictures below.

The swatch above was taken in natural light and below in sunlight. 

Amoungst all my polishes, orange is a shade you won't see much - only because I haven't found a nice, wearable color.  So, I'm happy to add this to my small and growing orange collection.  In the meantime, check out Stephanie at The Polish Addict orange comparison's.  Her nails rock.

Hope your having a great day!

FEATURED - Monday, June 30th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: NYX Jungle

Happy Monday!  Hope ya'll had a great weekend.  It's been mostly cloudy and fairly chilly in the eastern region.  Can you believe this crazy weather?!  Anyway, today's nail polish is NYX in Jungle - an aqua blue color base with green and gold shimmer.  This is my second nail polish purchase from NYX and I'm overly impressed.  The color applied like a charm with three light coats and the drying time was perfect  - not fast drying, yet not slow.  Add additional coats and you'll see the green and gold shimmer shine through.  In the sunlight, you'll notice the gold shimmer gives the color more of an yellow undertone.

Another great color is the new version of Las Vegas which, was one of my first purchases from NYX.  This gorgeous forest green with shimmer is a must have color espically, if you love Nar's Zulu or deep green shades.

Two coats is a light aqua blue with green and gold shimmer.

 Three coats is more of an blue with noticeable green shimmer.

Four coats totally rock this color.  I'll be the first to admit, applying that many layers of nail poliish is such a drag.  But, the color difference from each application is huge.  The color is described as a deep kelly green with gold shimmer that is really pretty and the blue is hardly noticeable.    

So, I have alot going on this week.  Today was pretty exciting when I received my shipment of new Chanel nail polishes - Gold Fiction and Kalediscope (drool)!  Both are gorgeous colors, espically Kaledicscope - a pewter metallic with green undertones.  I'll be posting those in a couple of days.  Also this month - Chanel is releasing the Robertson Blvd collection - an highly anticipated collection of pink, orange, yellow and purple nail polishes (whohoo)!  Girls - you don't want to miss out on that collection, the colors are hot!

FEATURED - Tuesday, August 5th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Chanel Melrose

Chanel in Melrose is a true bubblegum pink shade that's sexy yet feminine.  Two coats applied perfectly for me in the swatch above.  At first, Melrose wasn't so impressive because it's just your standard bubblegum pink  shade.  Before looking at my other polishes, MAC Steamy or Essie's Hard to Get were colors I had in mind but, Chanel proved me wrong again.

Check out the photo comparison below.

All the polishes above are completely different than Melrose.  Zoya's Sweet may look simliar in the picture but, in real life is more pastel pink.  However, Melorse is probably going to be the easiest to dupe out of the Robertson Blvd Collection.  Hope everyone's having a great Tuesday.

FEATURED - Tuesday, August 12th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: MAC Cosmetics Perplexing

Today's nail polish of the day is MAC Cosmetics in Perplexing that was recently introduced in the Lustre Twins collection.  A vibrant purple color with blue and pink shimmer that dries to a thin matte - satin finish.  Now, the bad news - the formula is plain awful.  Honestly, I lost track of how many coats in my photo swatches - yes, it was that many!  Since it applies rather thin, it's easy to pile on the applications.

Perplexing texture reminds me of Rainy Day from the Storm Signals collection but, in a shimmer version.  It applied very blotchy and the visible brush strokes was very disappointing.  It's a great color but bad execution MAC.

Check out more swatches below.

Tonight is the MAC launch party for Cult of Cherry collection and I'm uber excited, woot woot.  Godiva choclate cherries and campagne - yum!  And the best part the Cult of Cherry collection - a much anticipated collection for fall.  Dark, vampy colors are right my alley - can't wait.  Hopefully, I'll have my swatches up tomorrow morning - if I make it outta there alive.

FEATURED - Friday, August 22nd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon Amber Ablaze

It's Friday - yeah!  Hope ya'll are off to a good start for the weekend.  Today I'm sporting one of Revlon's newest fall colors - Amber Ablaze.  A deep rustic orange shade with gold and red shimmer that's very stunning and a must have shade this Fall.  Wow, this is really gorgeous and a perfect match to MAC's Cult of Cherry quad in Spiced Chocolates.

My swatches above were applied with three coats (my usual norm) drying to a semi satin finish with good shine factor.   The formula dried alot quicker than I liked but, no big deal and certainly not a disadvantage.  You'll want to apply three to four quick swipes and your ready to go. 

Check out more pics below.

The best way to describe this color is Brash in MAC's Spiced Chocolate quad which, is gorgeous btw. 

Have a great week and be safe!

FEATURED - Monday, August 25th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Borghese Palermo Plum

Today's polish of the day is Borghese nail lacquer in Palermo Plum (oops, mis-spelled in my pic above) - a deep purple wine shade that's an divine color this fall season.  My photo swatches applied flawlessly with two coats.

This is going to be my official review on Borghese Nail Lacquer since I haven't had a chance to do so.   Palermo Plum was my second shade of Borghese.  The brush and formula is absolutely marvelous and my favorite by far.  When it comes to painting my nails - I'm not a professional my any means.  Sure, I can paint within three swipes but not without touching my cuticles.  The brush allowed me to apply pefectly with hardly no clean-up.  Very impressive. 

If more brands were like Borghese - I could do more swatches for you guys!  Check out the candid shot below.

This color may look more of a reddish-wine but, actually has more purple distinction in real life.

Monday's are so blah, aren't they?  It's overcast, hot, muggy - just rain already and stop with the tease!  As much as I'm a Califonia girl at heart but living in KY - I'm ready for the cold weather and Fall to come.  How about you guys?   

FEATURED - Tuesday, September 2nd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Milani Disco Lights

Hope you guys had a fabulous labor day weekend!  At least it's only a four day work week for some of us.  Milani's Disco Lights is such a fun color, isn't it?  An ultra feminine, pink, party shade that's screaming for fun and excitement!

When I'm browsing nail polish, it takes an interesting or unique shade to catch my attention.  And, Disco lights was calling me from da club.  I mean - what girl doen's like to sparkle?  This may not be your practical shade you can sport around at the office or anything but, it's pretty to look at.

The application applies thin and takes three or more coats to achieve bottle color.  Tomorrow I'll be posting my pedi picture in this color.  It looks so much better on toes than it does nails!

FEATURED - Friday, September 26th 2008

Nail Polish of the day: MAC Seasonal Peach

Happy Friday everyone!  I vouched to myself that NYC's molten metal wasn't coming off.  But, I really wanted to try MAC's new polish from the Cremesheen collection.  First off, I totally regret removing it because it wasn't worth it, for sure.

Seasonal Peach - a peachy pink creme that reminds me of Nars Orgasm but in a creme form.  For this "so called" revolutionary formula, it was everything but that.  My application was just awful.  Infact, I tried applying this two different ways.  Thin coats and thick coats and it just didn't work out for me - leaving the finished results rather streaky.

The good news: it's a nice soft feminine color that looks great on lighter skin tones.  My NC-35 skin tone was just was too extreme for this shade.  Giving the appeal of a brighter peach that stood out like a sore thumb.

   

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

FEATURED - Saturday, September 27th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: MAC Cosmetics Vin Goth

So, it wasn't two minutes and that crappy Seasonal Peach was off my nails.  It so - does not deserve a Saturday.  Heck, it don't even deserve a Monday at that! 

It's Saturday and I wanted to go out in style with some Vin Goth from MAC.  This is an oldie - but definitely a gorgeous one at that.  A purple grape loaded in purple-pink and silver shimmer that is oh so drool-worthy.  One particular reason this color's so fab - it actually looks purple indoors and not a dark black shade.  The subtle pinkish shimmer keeps it from getting to goth.

Check out another swatch below. 

Your probably thinking - your such a tease since this is one of those hard to find shades..  Hard to find but not impossible.  I've seen these pop up on Ebay (even tho I don't condone it) at okay prices.

Hope your having a fabulous Saturday!

FEATURED - Sunday, October 5th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Loreal Fanatic Fuschia

Hope you guys are having a great weekend.  Today I'm wearing one of Loreal's newest fall colors.  Fanatic Fuschia - a deep fuschia pink shade that's actually more appealing in real life.  This picture didn't turn out quite as I hoped.  Sadly, the color represtentation isn't as accurate for some reason.

In Loreal's new fall display, two limited edition nail colors are featured - Fanatic Fuschia and Plum Pop.  Orignially, I didn't pick up Fanatic Fuschia because it wasn't so unique.  But, after seeing this several times at the store, my mind was changed very easily.  Plum Pop - is another shade I picked up and is more of a black purple color that's featured on Penelope Cruz in the promo display.  I'll be posting that sometime next week.

So, this weekend I was able to check out MAC's Emanuel Ungargo - which was slightly disappionting.  But, don't worry because Chanel's Holiday 08 collection certainly makes up for that!  The true stunner is the gold highlighting powder.  It's truely magnificent and quite different from the Gold Fever highlighter that was featured in the Fall 08 collection.  I'll be posting the holiday swatches and reviews shortly!  Stay Tuned!

FEATURED - Wednesday, October 8th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Sephora Metro Chic

Happy Hump Day, ya'll!  At my previous job, one of my co-workers would come in every Wednesday and say "Happy Hump Day".  It drove us girls bonkers to the point we'd always laugh.  It's been rainy here and I just want to crawl back into bed.  But, I didn't.  Instead, I decided to finally open my Metro Chic ($10.00) that I've been stashing for quite sometime.

This baby has been getting alot of press lately.  So, I wanted to see what all the rage was about.  A grayish purple creme that certianly lives up to the name "Metro Chic".  The formula was thicker than I liked and applied rather streaky at first.  But, eventually smoothed out when it was all said and done.

Metro Chic is different and unique.  Metro Chic is always sold out at sephora stores and online.  Giving those two reasons - it's bound to be all the rage, duh!  But,  please, don't get stupid and pay those insane ebay prices.  Because all in all, it's not worth more than the retail price of nine bucks.  I share the same views with one of my favorite nail polish blogs, The Polish Addict.  So, make sure you check out her blog and put an end to this madness.

 

Ok, enough about my rant.  One reason I like Metro Chic - it's a cross between purple and gray, two of my favorite colors.  Indoor lighting, the grayish appears more visible and outdoors you'll notice a purple gray shade.  But, don't let the "temporarily out of stock" on Sephora's site get you down because they will be restocking this.  Infact, they've replinished stock three times already.  So, don't give up all hope.

Although, there may not be an exact dupe - we have some good contenders,  I'll be posting in the next few days!  Have a great Wednesday, you guys!

FEATURED - Monday, October 13th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon Steel her Heart

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  One of Revlon's newest Fall colors, Steel her Heart ($4.99) is my nail polish of the day.  A metallic charcoal steel with matching shimmer.  I'd say this is a true charcoal steel metallic and is much different from your basic silver or even Gunmetal shades.

My only problem was the application.  As you see in the my swatch above, it was fairly streaky.  But, that could have been from my sloppy application.  I may have to give this a go at another time.

So, my nails were starting to get super long.  And, even though I like short square nails - long nails are the bomb.  If only and I say this delicately, they would just stick around already.  Needless to say, I didn't break a nail - just went a little (mean alot) file crazy.  Being a perfectionist - I just couldn't accomplish a good shape therefore, their short again!

Have a great day guys!

FEATURED - Sunday, October 19th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Sinful Coco Diamond

Can you guys believe it's almost November?  October seems like it's just flying on by and we know what that means - cold temperatures - yuck!  Anyway, today's nail polish of the day is a new one from Sinful, Coco Diamond ($1.99).  This may be a little hard to describe but I'll try my best.  A taupish grey base color followed by a minty green shade with green and aqua blue glitter/shimmer.

My application required three coats with no true problems.  Within my first coat I noticed the greyish taupe shade to be more visible but, was more of an minty green following the second and third layers.  Coco Diamond would also look great topped over a grey or black.

 

I found a small Sinful display at my local Walgreens consisting of five of six colors.  The only shades that caught my attention was Coco Diamond and a blue shade that I'll be posting in a few days.

Hope ya'll had a great weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, October 22nd 2008

Holiday 08: Dior Black Sequins Nail Polish

 

Today's nail polish of the day is the new Black Sequins ($19.00) from Diors Holiday collection. A black lacquer filled with silver almost duocrome-y fleck like shimmer. So I don't know if I'm going crazy or what. I'm really seeing these flecks turn bluish in the sunlight. Even in some of my swatches you'll notice a silver/blue effect.

My application was smooth with no true problems. Black Sequins drys to a glossy/very slighty semi matte. You'll probably need a topcoat to accomplish a glossy look. If your wondering - is this the most uniuqe?  Well, probably not. So, if your not head over heels for black polish - I'd pass on this one. If you love black - go for it girlfriend.  

 

Let's start off with the closest comparison which would be Chanel's Black Satin. Black Sequins is more chunkier with slighty visible blue/sillver shimmer compared to Black Satin, but both are similar. It's a great alternative, espically if you wished Black Satin had a little more kick.   

Dior's Black Sequins ($15) is now available at Sephora for a limited time only.

FEATURED - Thursday, October 23rd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Creative Rock Royalty

Rock Royalty ($2.99), a deep purple with pink and blue shimmer, is one of my favorite purple shades.  One main reason Rock Royalty tops my favorites, this vampy "purple" color is actually visible indoors and outdoors compared to, for example, Sally Hansen's Plum it.  Sally's, Plum it, is an fantastic color but tends to look on the blackish side with indoor lighting.

Creative Nail Design introduced this vampy goodness last fall in the Imperial Anarchary release.  Since this "old" but "not forgotten" collection still available online, I'll be reposting the photo swatches in the next week or so.  It's a nice selection of six colors ranging in reds, pinks, charcoal, purples retailing at $2.99/ea.

Check out some comparisons.

Here are some purple nail polish comparisons.  Another fabulous shade is Sally Hansen's Plum it.  If you haven't had a chance to pick this one up, I would highly recommend it.  Purple also looks hot on toes.

Hope your having a fabulous day!

FEATURED - Friday, October 31st 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Essie Groovy Grape

Happy Friday and Happy Halloween!  It would've made more sense to have a halloween manicure as my nail polish of the day, but I was too excited to try out this groovy color.  Plus, Halloween isn't as fun all grown up.  Sure, we can dress up and go to costume parties, but I want candy dammit!

One of my readers and fellow nail polish bloggers, Katee, was kind enough to send me this gorgeous Ulta Exclusive in Groovy Grape ($8.00).  A rich, dark vampy purple with red shimmer that is stunning.  I absolutely love it, thanks doll!

The application was simply perfect and a dream applying.   

Groovy Grape is available for a limited time only at Ulta stores.  Hope you have a fabulous and safe Halloween friday!

FEATURED - Monday, November 3rd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon Crushed Crimson

Happy Monday!  I've been enjoying the fantastic weather these last two days, while it's here anwyay.  Today I'm sportiing one of Revlon's new fall colors in Crushed Crimson ($4.99).  Described as a mix between cinnamon, plum, and brown with fine subtle shimmer that's actually very pretty.

Crushed Crimson isn't the usual suspect you'll see on my nails or in my collection.  But, after having two close encounters with this shade, is a clear sign it was meant to be, obviously lol.

A few days ago, I picked this up but decided to put it back right at the last minute.  Then, just yesterday as I was browsing through my November issue of Instyle magazine, there it was again, bingo!

My application required two coats and no true problems with the formula.  Crushed Crimson is now available at most stores.  Have a great day!

FEATURED - Tuesday, November 4th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Rock the Vote

Can you believe Election Day is finally here, whohoo!  Today I decided to go a little patriot considering this being a history making day with either a black president or a woman vice president.  If your wondering who I voted for?  Obama all the way baby, even though my heart will always be with Hil.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not an "Nail Art" girl, but polka dots are one of the easiest designs you can do.  The colors that were used are OPI Blue my Mind (two coats), China Glaze High Roller (two coats) and Sally Hansen White Patent leather for the polka dots.

Sometimes I resort to an white acrylic paint for the polka dots because it's thicker and much easier to deal with.  In this case, I just used Sally Hansen's White Patent Leather along with a old MAC 203 lip brush to paint the dots.  When working with polka dots, a fine pointed tip brush seems to work best for me.   

Hope your having a great election day!  Get out there and vote, Change is coming!

FEATURED - Wednesday, November 5th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Nars Saratoga

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I'm wearing the insanely gorgeous Saragota ($16.00) by Nars cosmetics.  A ruby red shade drenched in gold shimmer that's my new favorite holiday red.

Sephora is constantly restocking this baby because it's such a popular color.  My swatches don't even justify the beauty and sparkle of the gold shimmer that makes this the perfect red.  

Check out more swatches below. 

 

Saratoga is now available online at Sephora.  If you see "temporaily out of stock" don't fret, they will be restocking this soon!

FEATURED - Friday, November 7th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: OPI My Private Jet

A few days ago, when I was organizing my nail polish stash, I set aside this piece of eye candy for one of my notd's this week.  OPI's, My Private Jet is unlike any polish.  Described as a smokey gray holographic glitter that looks gorgeous on your nails.

My Private Jet was originally released back in 2007 with the Night Brights collection.  Since then, OPI released a new version that is quite different from the original.  Read more from The Polish Addict on the MPJ drama.

Check out more swatches below. 

 

There's really no way to tell which version if available.  I'd just pick up two bottles and hope for the best. 

Have a fabulous and safe weekend!

FEATURED - Tuesday, November 11th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Petites Shimmering Bark

Shimmering Bark ($1.39) isn't "officially"my nail polish today, but it certainly was a few days ago!  I've been recouping this weekend from watching my four year old neice and didn't have a chance to post this.  Thank goodness we can give her back though - whoa such a handful.

I'm all about different and unique colors when it comes to drugstore nail polishes and Shimmering Bark ranks up there.  A hard shade to describe, mauve/plum/brown/taupe with purple and pink shimmer.  Can that description possibly get any longer, lol?!

It's different, yet a nice fall plummy color to coordinate perfectly with the OPI "France" family.  Priced at $1.39 a pop, Petites offers a nice range of colors including, a few really spectaular shades that I'll be posting as my NOTD's this month.

Petites are available at Walmart stores.  Have a wonderful day!

FEATURED - Saturday, November 15th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Givenchy Purple by Night

Happy Saturday!  It's 86 degrees, sunny and beautiful at Captiva island in Sanibel, FL.  Since Wednesday, we've been vacationing in FL and the gorgeous beach and warm weather keeps holding me back from opening my laptop.

I've had Givenchy's Purple by Night ($15 for .018 oz) for quite sometime now and I'm just getting to this, sorry guys!  Described as a purple loaded down with fine purple, gold and silver shimmer that's insanely gorgeous.

Although this is a fabulous purple shade (probably one of the best out there) I find it hard to recommend because it's so darn expensive - which is one reason I'm not going to go on and on!  Darn that Givenchy - Why does fabulous colors have to be so expensive!  

The sun wasn't working on my side and the only pictures I was able to capture was indoors with a flash.  But, I feel the color representation is pretty accurate.  Application was flawless and opaque in two coats, but I'm a die hard three coater.

Purple by Night ($15) is now available at Sephora for a limited time only.

Hope your having an excellent weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, November 19th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: CK Steele

It was incredibly hard to choose a nail polish of the day with so many new choices from my vacation, but CK Steele ($10) came out on top.  A true metallic steel nail color that's rich and extremely pigmented.

With Steele being so heavily pigmented, my usual three coat "rule" was thrown out the door.  The application only required two coats due to fantastic color pay-off.  However, I did have a little trouble with my application and it wasn't the formula, but more so the wide fluffy brush.

Sometimes a wide brush has their disadvantages, espically in my case.  Since my nail beds are rather small - a full, wide, professional brush may not be best and I found CK's brush just that - fluffy, wide and a litte hard to navigate on my small nail beds.  If you notice a unusually large gap between my cuticle and the nail color, well that's becuase of the wide brush.

Crossing my fingers, hoping it's just a brush defect, which may be a good possibilty.  Regardless of the brush situation, this is a fab-tastic metallic color!  I have another shade coming this week that I'll be testing out. 

CK Calvin Klein cosmetics are only available at Sephora. 

Collections I've had forever, but haven't posted yet: Misa Poised Passion, OPI France, China Glaze Under the Mistletoe, OPI Holiday, OPI by Sephora Swatches, NFU Oh colors, Misa Fall Runway....shoowee - lots to do!

I'm going to leave ya with a little tune-age today.  One of my favorite songs that I listen to compulsive-obsessively! Great song with a good meaning too - check out the lyrics.

 

FEATURED - Saturday, November 22nd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: China Glaze Recycle

Happy Saturday Ya'll!  Today I'm sporting around the lovely, yet grungy Recycle by China Glaze.  Since tonight's ladies night, I wanted to coordinate my outfit with my polish and what better way than a universal shade such as gray!

Recycle is one of those highly unique shades that just don't have an comparison.  Infact, it's the only true gray color in my entire nail polish collection - so what's up with that?!  We need more of an gray selection, damnit!

When the E-collection released back in Spring, I wasn't to thrilled about this color.  And, I just think it didn't fit with the typical "spring" shades.  But, hold the press - this is super hot to coordinate with the fall and winter trends going on right now!  Gray certainly appeals more than you may think - blues, teals, blacks - the possibilites are endless.  Give it a shot girlfriend.

Have a safe and awesome night!

FEATURED - Monday, November 24th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Hot Topic Gray Muted

Happy Monday!  It's your typical start of the week - cold, rainy and the perfect time to just crawl back in bed.   Today's nail polish of the day is Hot Topic's Gray Muted ($2.99).  Best described as Recyle and Teal's long lost cousin.  A stormy gray-blue creme that had excellent color pay-off with just one simple coat!

Talk about unique, different and cheap.  All rare qualities in the nail polish world nowadays.

Check out more swatches below.

Some photo comparisons below.

Although Recycle and Gray Muted may look very different, it was hard to notice a difference under artificial lighting at Hot Topic.  It's such a complimentary wardrobe color - gray, blue, teal, black.

Hope ya'll have a wonderful Monday!  Think short work week!

FEATURED - Wednesday, November 26th 2008

NOTD: Nail Fantasies Twist and Shout

Happy Wednesday - or should I say Friday for most of us!  The night before Thanksgiving was always a huge night for me back in the day.  Nowadays, the government's buckling down and it's not worth risking someone's life or your entire world as you know it.

It's winter for sure!  And I'm hating it since my return from the gorgeous sunshine state, Florida.  With all the blah weather at hand, I need some cheering up with an eye opening shade such as Twist and Shout ($2.20) by Nail Fantasies.

So, there's a story behind this one, but isn't there always a story with nail polish?!  This is the only shade at my local Walmart that totally stands out - yet is always sold it.  I've seen Twist and Shout for months and months now.  And, always thinking "who would ever wear that color anyway!"

Well, guess who just bought it and loves it now! *running away with her foot in her mouth* 

Check out the swatches guys! 

 

The green shade on all Cetaphil products is the best way to describe Twist and Shout.  A true apple creme that applied fairly well in three coats.  No brush stroke problems either.

I've never heard of Nail Fantasies products, but I beleive it may be an extension of love my nails cosmetics.  So, If you like this color - check out the love my nails makeup displays.

Have a safe and happy pre-thanksgiving! 

FEATURED - Friday, November 28th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Claires Cosmetics in Envy

Hope everyone's Turkey day was fabulous!  Today, I'm staying glued to the couch and you couldn't pay me enough to deal with the shopping maheim!

Claire's nail polish in Envy ($3.50, .5 oz) was my shade yesterday for Thanksgiving and it's still on today - so, you gotta know I love it!  Described as a fairly sheer dark grey base with mostly green shimmer and some blue.

The only negative aspect about Envy is the base color is pretty sheer and requires at least four applications to obtain bottle color.  But, for me, it was well worth the four coats.

To eliminate additional coats you could always start with a dark creme base such as OPI Black Onyx or Milani's Black Magic and build from there.

Check out some more pics. 

 

Overall, Evny tends to looks like a blackened forest green shade and at $3.50 it's quite a steal.  Have a great day!

Envy should be available at all Claire's stores.

FEATURED - Monday, December 1st 2008

Go Red For World Aids Day 2008

December first starts off with a boom, literally!  So many things are going on today, folks.  First off, Today marks the 20th anniversary of World Aids Day.  Show your support by sporting a red ribbon or even going the extra mile and making a donation.  Always remember to be safe and protect!

Today, I'm showing my support with all reds.  My nail polish of the day is Loreal's, Target red ($2.99) that's specially created for Target stores.  Described as exactly that - the red you see at Target stores.

Application was perfect and applied with three coats (two coats for opaque). 

Other than National Aids Day, it's Cyber Monday and the one year anniversary of Steph's Closet!  Yeah!!  Time goes by so fast, doesn't it?!  This month, I have a huge basket full of goodies that I'm giving away!  Stay tuned, you don't want to miss out on that!

Have a great Monday!

FEATURED - Tuesday, December 2nd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Claires Starry Nights

 

Today's nail polish of the day is Claire's cosmetics in Starry Nights.  Described as a black holographic nail polish with loads of silver glitter.  With the sun not being out for several days now, I was only able to capture these inside with a flash, sadly.

Starry Nights isn't a My Private Jet by any means, but it's a nice alternative espically if your looking for a deeper black color pay-off like myself.

My application was pretty much flawless and only takes two coats to be opaque, which is nice compared to MPJ's three and sometimes four coats.  The texture is somewhat gritty, but now worries, any topcoat can fix that.

I'll be posting photo comparisons tomorrow when I'm able to get some good picutures.

FEATURED - Wednesday, December 3rd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon Berry Jeweled

So, I'm a little bummed out because the sun isn't cooperating with me today and I really wanted to show you guys the gorgoues-ness of this holiday gem. 

Usually, I'm never lucky.  It's always been pretty much the opposite.  Bad luck always seems to hunt me down someway or another.  But, on a recent trip to Big Lots luck must have been on my side when I spotted Revlon's LE holiday Berry Jeweled nail polish.

My oh My - it's soo blingtastic!  Described as a deep berry shade loaded with gold and silver shimmer that applied perfectly in three coats.  Since Berry Jeweled is literally drenched with shimmer, it gives the apperance of a berry foil like shimmer.

Love this shade?  I picked up two extra bottles that I'll be giving away this month to celebrate Steph's Closet one year annivesary.

Love it - Hate it?  Speak up folks - I love to hear from ya!

Have a excellent Wednesday and just think tomorrow is pre-friday.

FEATURED - Friday, December 5th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon in Jaded

TGIF!  Hope your having a fabulous Friday!  Revlon's nail polish in Jaded is another steal I picked up on my Big Lots shopping spree and my NOTD for yesterday.  Sorry guys - I was slammed and didn't get a chance to post this.

Described as a mint green shade with shimmer - that's quite different than any shade I own.  Application was perfect.  Revlon has the bomb formula - I never seem to have any problems.

Did you guys know Big Lots, Dollar Stores or any other discount stores have rare and discontinued nail polish colors?  It's TRUE!  They do and lots of them.  Everytime I go out of town or on vacation one of my priorities is hitting up Dollar Stores or Big Lots.  Not only will you find rare colors, but ridiculously cheap! 

 

Here's my cat, Luv, she's such a wus!  This weekend we'll be painting our kitchen cabinets and let me tell you I am SO not looking forward to that.  Actually, I'm dreading it.  The only thing I love painting is nails!

Have a great weekend and try to stay sane while dealing with the holiday madness!

FEATURED - Wednesday, December 10th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Loreal Blue Laguna

Good Afternoon lovelies!  Today's nail polish of the Day is Loreal in Blue Laguna ($4.99).  A mid tone blue with shimmer that applied perfectly in two applications.

Loreal's flat brush really works well with my small nail beds - I actually enjoy appling them.

Whereth have the sun gone to?!  Seriously you guys, it's been MIA for several days now, which only means I'm severly backed up with all my nail swatches.  I'm currently trying to get OPI's Holiday collection posted, but it's just not happening.  

Blue Laguna is a LE color from the summer, but you should be able to find it in stores.  It's been lurking around for months now due to the low popularity.

Have a fabulous day!

FEATURED - Thursday, December 11th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Barielle Date Night

 

Barielle's new winter shade, Date Night is such a fabulous green color - a nail polish of the day post was much deserved.  Since the sun's been MIA for a week now *sigh*, I haven't been able to officially swatch my Barielles and couldn't hold out any longer.

Wow, this one's insanely gorgeous!  Rich, opaque, and packed with tons of color.  Application was perfect in two coats or even with one thick coat.

The picture above was taken indoors with a flash and below outside in shade.   

Only 14 days left until Christmas - Have a great night!

FEATURED - Sunday, December 14th 2008

My Favorite Holo: Nicole's Seasons Graytings

How's everyone doing on this unusually warm Sunday afternoon.  Today's nail polish of the day and my all time favorite holographic, Nicole's Seasons Gray-Tings.  A gray based holographic polish that's amazing and beats out my second fave, OPI's My Private Jet.

One thing that makes this shade so spectacular - it's actually gray and only takes two coats to accomplish the bottle color.

Check out more pics below. 

Season's Gray-tings may be a little hard to find, but not entirely impossible.  Hope you guys have a great Sunday afternoon. 

FEATURED - Monday, December 15th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Loreal Bijou B Fearless

Happy Monday, yall!  Hope your having an awesome day to start off your work week. Today's nail polish of the day is one I picked up at my local Dollar Tree (3 different colors in the package for a buck, wowza) that's quite a steal.  It's definitley worth stopping by your dollar store to see if they have any of these.

Described as a medium blue with rainbow colored glitter giving a holographic and prismatic effect.  Application was pretty good - no visible problems with three coats.

Check out one more pic below. 

Tomorrow I'll be posting my December giveaway list and photos!  There's a ton of nail polish - so stay tuned!  Have a great night guys!

FEATURED - Wednesday, December 17th 2008

NOTD: Carolyn NY Frankie Joins the Navy

Hi Guys!  Sorry I'm getting my nail polish of the day in so late.  I've been messing with my new lighting this evening and totally lost track of time!  Since it's winter, the sun has the tendency of never coming out anymore and I just have to find another resource.  With a little practice, my new lights are going to work out perfectly! Yeah!

Carolyn New York in Frankie Join the Navy is a darkened teal shade with subtle shimmer that's extremely pretty.  The shimmer isn't very noticeable to the naked eye.  It almost resembles a creme like texture.

My application was perfect in three coats.  The formula was ultra glossy and applied as a jelly like formula.  Perfecto!

Hope you have a great night - I'm so ready for bed now.  Nighty - Night, Sleep Tite!

FEATURED - Friday, December 19th 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: NYC Glossies Cognac

Happy Happy Friday!  Today has been the craziest weather related day.  Unseasonably warm in the mid sixty degrees, thunderstorms, crazy sidewards rain, sun, rainbows and in between all that I was able to get a picture in the sun. Yeah!

Tonight I'm going out with some of my girlfriends and wanted to sport around a break-taking shade such as NYC Glossies ($1.99) in Cognac.  Described as a deep burgandy with loads of gold shimmer that's simply stunning and a perfect shade that everyone can love this season.

Target is the only store I've seen Cognac available and is well worth making a trip.  If you do, make sure to check out Saffire.  Another great color close to MAC's Whirlwind if you love deep tealish shades.

Have a great weekend - be safe!

FEATURED - Tuesday, December 23rd 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: OPI in Jasper Jade

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!  OPI in Jasper Jade was my nail polish of the day this past Sunday.  I've been extremely busy dealing with the holiday madness, I forgot to post this rare beauty.

Usually, I don't like to post rare hard to find colors because their just that, hard to find with a ridiculous price tag attached.  But, I just couldn't resist this dreamy forest green stunner.

This is undoubtedly my favorite all time green and one of my prize possessions in my collection - even beating out Rainforest, another one my favoirtes.

These next three days are going to be jammed packed because we have three, yes, three Christmas events.  Tomorrow, we'll be spending time with my husband's mom. Thursday his dad's and Friday at my house with my parents.

By that time, I'll be literally drained.  Heck, I'm drained now just thinking of it.  Have a great Christmas Eve and Xmas! Merry Christmas, Ho Ho Ho! 

FEATURED - Thursday, December 25th 2008

NOTD: Holiday Silver and Red French Mani

 

Ho, Ho, Ho - Merry Christmas!  Hope you guys are having a wonderful Holiday.  Today, I wanted to create something a little different from the traditional holiday red manicure.

So, I wasn't quite sure how this was going to turn out because the tips had to be done freehanded with no room for any mess-ups.  The result in the end was absolutely fantastic and couldn't be more pleased.

 

In real life, the colors are super blingy and look phenomonial when paried together in a french.  It was hard making a decision between Ruby Pumps and Emerald Sparkle for my tips, but there was no denying how fabulous red looks with silver.

 

Have a great Christmas everyone!  We're off to my husbands dad's today, then only one more event tomorrow. Shoowee!

FEATURED - Thursday, January 15th 2009

NOTD: OPI I Get A Kick Out of Gold

Happy Thursday!  Today's nail polish of day is a piece of Gold heaven to cheer up your Thursday blues.  The beauty of OPI's I get a kick out of gold is just breath taking, period blank. 

Described as a muted gold metallic that has an foil like appeal with gold and silver glitter.  Applied perfectly in two coats with no application problems.

I get a kick out of Gold was realeased back in 07 with the Night Brights collection.  So, this may be a little hard to track down, but not entirely impossible.

Hope your having a great Thursday! Keep warm and safe!

FEATURED - Wednesday, December 31st 2008

Nail Polish of the Day: Essie in Pama

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  Some of you may remember, back in November Essie teamed up with Pama Liquer to give away free nail polish to celebrate National Pomegrante Month.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I totally missed out on it.  Can you guys believe that?!  I can.

Thanks to my girl Vanessa, she hooked me up with a sweet little bottle of this red pomegranate shade.  Thanks again doll!  Pama is described as a deep cherry red creme almost burgandy but not quite.  Much more red tones in there.

I've actually been wearing this for last couple days and just decided to keep it on for new years eve!

You guys have your resolutions planned out yet?  Hope you a safe and fabulous new year!

FEATURED - Friday, January 2nd 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: MAC Varicose Violet

Happy Friday everyone!  This crazy holiday week is finally coming to an end and what better way to celebrate with some spring purple fever.

Varicose Violet ($10), a semi-sheer light purple with pink and blue shimmer that was released with the Dame Edna collection last week.  To acheive bottle color you need a firm three coats or more.  I see alot of us passing on this because of that reason, but it's very pretty.  Perhaps one of the key products in the release.

Check out one more swatch below.     

The blue shimmer is more overpowering than the pink and leaves a blue like iridescent glaze on top.  But, it's not exactly a true lavender purple.  The pink undertone makes it a smudge lighter towards purple-pink.

Tonight, my hubb's sister and boyfriend are coming over and it's about wii!  Have a great night!  Think postive thoughts all.

FEATURED - Thursday, January 8th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Sally Hansen Lightening

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today, I wanted to start off with a bright electrifiying color such as Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri nail polish in Lightening.

Described as yellow creme that's just a tad lighter than Rescue Beauty's Yellow fever minus the sublte shimmer of RBL's.

A month ago, when I reviewed the Insta-Dri polishes, I was uncertain how the wide tapered brush was going to pan out.  But, after testing these babies out, I ended up really liking them.

The brush fit perfectly in my nail area and allowed me to achieve the two and three coat swipe that the Insta-Dri's are intended for. 

Check out one more swatch below.

The Insta-Dri polishes are now available at stores and retails for $4.99/ea.  Hope your having a fabulous day!

FEATURED - Saturday, January 10th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Hot Topic Silver

Happy Saturday everyone!  It's cold, rainy and I'm literally exhausted from going out last night.  What better way to spend the day in bed getting caught up on my blog entries and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Hot Topic in Silver Glitter ($2.99) was my NOTD a few days ago that I forgot to post.  Oops, sorry guys.  Isn't this so Mork and Mindy retro?  Described as a silver foil like metallic that has it going on - fo sho.

This has a little bit of everything.  Glitter, Metallic, Opaque, Foil.  And, only required two coats for bottle color, which is absolutely fantastic for a silver.  Formula was a little thick like most Hot Topic's, but nothing to worry about. 

The only discrepancy I have with Hot Topic is the ackward size of the brush.  It's a little hard to navigate, but I make it work just because their color selection rocks.

You can find Hot Topic nail polish at most Hot Topic stores usually located in Malls or online that retails for $2.99/ea.  Have a fabulous weekend - I'm in for the long haul.

FEATURED - Wednesday, January 14th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Zoya Sweet

Happy Hump Day Everyone!  With Valentine's day creeping up next month, I wanted to break out some Sweet Zoya perfect for those candy lovers.

Described as a true pink bubblegum creme that applied perfectly in two coats.  No streaking or application problems.

Zoya's Sweet would also make for a hot pedicure shade.

Check out one more swatch below. 

Sweet was released with the Candy Collection which retails for $36.00 per set or $6.00/ea at Zoya. 

Hope you guys are having a fabulous day.    

FEATURED - Sunday, January 18th 2009

NOTD: New York Summer Amaranth

Happy Sunday!  I hope your having a terrific weekend so far!  With all this cold weather we've been having lately, I'm ready to Spring forward with a shade like New York Summer's Amaranth Green ($1.59).

Described as a bright grass green jelly that applied fairly sheer in three coats.  You'll need at least three or more coats to achieve the bottle color.

Amaranth isn't your typical grass green shade.  It's much brighter and has tealish undertones that you can't really noticable in my swatches. 

Check out one more swatch below. 

New York Summer Amaranth retails for $1.59 and is available at Transdesign.  Have a great night peeps!

FEATURED - Monday, January 19th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: CNY Summer in the City

Happy MLK Day Ya'll! Today the UPS came a knockin with sweet little package from Carolyn New York.  And, I was most excited to try out Summer in the City because of two reasons.

First off, there was no online swatches of this perfect pastel yellow shade.  Secondly, I've been totally obsessed with yellow ever since the debut of Yellow Fever by Rescue Beauty Lounge.  So, I had to see it!

Boy oh Boy, is this a beauty!  Infact, Summer in the City is creeping up to be one of my favorite yellows.  A light yellow pastel creme that has white undertones and is fairly opaque.  The white base is what makes Summer in the City so unique compared to all the other contenders.

Check out more pics below. 

 Pic taken outside in Natural Light. 

Summer in the City is truely unique.  The closest competitior I own is Square Pants.  As you can see their still way off.

The application was perfect for a yellow.  No streaking and you could possibly get away with two thick coats.  With cremes, I find it much easier to apply heavier coats.

Summer in the City retails for $7.99 and is available at Carolyn New York.

FEATURED - Tuesday, January 20th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Essie Starry Starry Night

Happy Inauguration Day everyone!  Today has just been amazing to put it bluntly.  It's the beginning of change.  A new day, A new year that I'm most excited to get on with.   And, what better way to ring it in with some fabulous Starry Starry Night ($10) by Essie.

Described as a mid blue to navy blue jelly loaded down with blue and silver glitter that applied perfectly in three coats.

Essie re-released this dreamy shade back in the summer which is when I picked my bottle up.  But,  I've actually seen this shade on ebay just as reasonable. 

Check out one more swatch below. 

Later this evening, I'm going to give Starry Starry Night some Edge.  I'll be adding some silver tips with SH's Silver nail art pen. 

Check out some pics below.

 

 

Have a most excellent day and remember "Change" is on the way.  Things will get better, that's our destiny.

FEATURED - Saturday, January 24th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Borghese Milano Taupe

Happy Saturday folkies!   Today's nail polish of the day is a fabulous spring color named Milano Taupe ($6.99).  A truely uniuqe shade containing a little gray, plum and rose pink thrown into a creme texture.

The uniuqe shade of Milano Taupe was impossible to capture in my swatches.  Borghese formula applied perfectly in three light coats.

Check out all the swatches below.

 

 Taken indoors with Flash

 Indoors with Natural Light

To give you guys an idea, I've included some other plummy shades close to Milano Taupe.  Sephora's, Don't Call your Mother is the closest alternative.  But, as you can see in the picture above, Borghese's is much lighter with gray and pink undertones.

Milani Taupe is now availabe at CVS and retails for $7.99.  Have a great evening - Be safe all.

FEATURED - Sunday, January 25th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Sinful Morph Streak

Cold temperatures and snowy weather has officially returned to the Tri State area.  Hopefully you guys are having an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.  Today, I went scrambling through my nail polishes to find a truely special shade for my NOTD. 

The unique spectrum of colors you'll see in Morph Streak is one of the reasons I fell in love with nail polish from the start.  It's all about the colors.  Not name brand or price.  In my collection you'll find more off brands than name brands.

To truely appreciate the gorgeousness of Morph Streak you'd have to see in person.  It's unbelieveable.  Blue, Violet, Purple, Pink, Gold.  Wow!  A holy grail color for any blue or purple lover!

Check out more swatches below. 

 

In Natural Light Morph Streak looks more blurple.

The Bad news.  Yes, it's hard to find but not impossible.  Nothing's impossible, that's my theory at least.  And it's worked pretty good for me this far.  Postive attitude = Positive Outcomings.

Have a great day!

FEATURED - Saturday, January 31st 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: OPI Hollywood Blonde

Hope ya'll are havin a great Saturday morning.  Today's polish, OPI Hollywood Blonde, is a shimmering pink nude that debuted in the '07 Holiday in Hollywood collection.

Blondes do have more fun. The saying don't lie.  And, little miss attention grabber wants you to recgonize and take notice.

It's all thanks to the peculiar shade of Miss Hollywood Blonde that has me turning my hate relationship  for nudes and pinks into la, la, love!

Check out more swatches below.

Outside in Shade

Comparisons of Chanel's Delice, OPI Hollywood Blond and CK's Barefoot.   Hollywood Blonde is a discontinued shade, but I've seen her around Trade Secret and some other beauty stores. 

Have a great day!

 

FEATURED - Wednesday, February 4th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Fingerpaints Lilac Love

Hope ya'll are having a fabulous Tuesday.  I'm trying to keep my head high but it's hard.  Everytime I turn on the Tube - helloo " bad news."  Think positive though and stay away from that TV!  Lets gettie on to some good news folks.

Ever since the gray plum trend took off this winter, I've been intrigued by any lilac gray color like this one.  I stumbled across Fingepaint's spring collection at Sally's and Lilac Love was the only color out of six that caught my attention.

Described as a pink lilac with subtle white rainbow micro shimmer that has grayish undertones.  This was interesting, very interesting...  Infact, I didn't like it until the third coat.  Lilac Love applied as a pastel pink lilac but after the third coat become more of a grayish lilac pink. 

Three coats to achieve bottle color.  If you wanted to apply a fourth coat (which I forbid to do) the grayish undertones would probably shine through better.

Fingerpaint retails for $6.99 and is available at Sally's beauty store.  Have a great day.

FEATURED - Saturday, February 14th 2009

My Hello Kitty Mani: Hot Pink Polka Dots

Happy Valentines day everyone!  Hope your having a fabulous day on this Saturday.  Today I'm posting my Hello Kitty manicure that I sported last Thursday for the MAC event.

I'm really impressed how the hot pink polka dots on black turned out.  It was a big hit at the party and fit in perfectly with the whole HK girly theme.

Pictured above is MAC's Hello Kitty bracelet available online.    

What I used: Two coats of Wet n Wild black creme nail polish sealed with SV fast dry topcoat and two applications of SH nail art pen in Hot pink sealed with an additional topcoat.  

I was totally going to do a Valentines day post with the Maybelline and Nicole hearts, but my patience ran thin dealing with the little critters.  One word, P - A - I - N in the you know what!

Have a great night ya'll, be safe!

FEATURED - Wednesday, February 18th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Black Radiance Sensual

Happy Wednesday ya'll!  It feels like forever since I posted a nail polish of the day post.  This past week I've been jammin on spring swatches and haven't had any time to actually paint my nails until now.

Today I'm bringing you a pretty spectacular shade from Black Radiance's Bold & Sexy line.  Sensual, is a cross between silver and pewter metallic that's simply stunning I tell you!

Everything about Sensual reminds me of Chanel's Kaleidoscope including the application.  The formula's thick, opaque and applied like butter in just two easy coats.

Check out the swatches below.

Chanel Kaleidoscope (left) and Black Radiance Sensual (right).

Here is a photo comparison of Kaleidoscope and Sensual.  Both are very much alike with the exception of Kaleidoscope being two shades darker with a pewter tint.  Overall, if your looking at the comparison side to side it's hard to distinguish the difference.

The Bold & Sexy lines are only available where the Black Radiance cosmetics are sold and retail for $3.79 - $4.50.  This line consists of eight new sexy and sassy shades that's worth checking out!

FEATURED - Sunday, February 22nd 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Massini Starry Violet

Happy Sunday, ya'll!  Hope your having a fabulous & relaxing afternoon.  Today's nail poilsh of the is a starry violet pink with silver glitter that's really pretty on.

Massini nail polish retails for $2.99 and I've only seen this brand at Meijer (or fred meijer) stores.  So, I'm not sure if this line is available elsewhere.

On my swatches, three coats were used, but you could get away with two easily.  The silver glitter is more obvious with three.  Starry violet dried to a matte finish and I topped it with OPI rapid dry topcoat.

Today, I plan on finishing up my Spring collections then on to Summer.  Have a great day!

FEATURED - Wednesday, February 25th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Milani Totally Cool

Happy hump day everyone.  You know what Wednesdays are at Steph's closet?  Nail polish giveaways, yah!  On top of my Wednesday giveaway, I'll be giving today's nail polish of the day to one of my Twitter followers.

I'm bringing you a Totally Cool ($3.49) shade from Milani cosmetics.   And, totally cool is such an understatement for this exceptionally drop dead gorgeous shade.  Smokin Hot or Shimmer Ho would be more appriporate in this case.

How freakin awesome would a nail polish called Shimmer Ho be?

Wow, I haven't been this excited about a drug store color in years.  Seriously, years I tell you!  Described as a blue purple jelly drenched with gold and pink micro shimmer that's to die for.

The good news, totally cool will be a permanent color in Milani's nail polish line.  If your store is anything like my CVS, their always out of Milani and I expect this color to be a hot commodity.

 Outside in Sun. 

Inside under lighting, no flash.  For best results, you'll need three coats to achieve bottle color. Plus, three coats bring out the gorgeous-ness of the shimmer.

I'll be posting the nail polish winners later this afternoon.  Have a great day!

FEATURED - Wednesday, March 18th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Stargazer Green 138

Happy Hump Day!  Hopefully you had a safe and terrific St. Patty's day yesterday. Today is just perfect -  sunny and high 70's. I'm sporting an insanely gorgeous green from Stargazer that I just couldn't wait to wear.

138 reminds me of another favorite of mine, OPI Jasper Jade.  Both have a blackish base with green and gold shimmer.  Although, Stargazer has more visible goldish shimmer which gives a brighter appearance compared to Jasper Jade's more blackened green.

Stargazer is a UK based company that offers nail polish, cosmetics and much more! Overall, the quality was perfect besides the fact that the formula was a little on the thick side, but no biggie.  

Check out one more swatch below. 

Hope you have a grand Wednesday!

FEATURED - Friday, March 27th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: CQ Tahitian Green

It's Fridayy!! Hopefully your having a fabulous afternoon on this gloomy day. Today I'm bringing you a brand new color from CQ, Tahitian Green ($2.19). Described as a deep minty green with teal undertones and bright green shimmer.

This minty green shade was standing out like at sore thumb at Walmart just callin' my name. In fact, it's the only green they had in the makeup isle period.

To give you an idea where the color falls, Tahitian Green is much like China Glaze's, Passion in the Pacific. CQ's base is more green and both have the same colored shimmer.

The only place I've seen CQ cosmetics is at some Walmart and Rite Aid stores that retail between $2.00 - $2.50/ea. Hope your having a great weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, April 1st 2009

NOTD: Icing Roger That and Sunset Shimmer

Happy April Fools day! Can you believe it's April 1st already? To start the month off right, I'm super excited to show you guys two new colors from Icing by Claires.

Sunset Shimmer is one of the best peach shimmers I've seen in a long time. More peachy than MAC's Seasonal Peach and much lighter than Chanel's Orange Fizz and L.A. Sunset.

Check out one more NOTD below.

Roger That is just intoxicating! I suggest ya'll get over to Icing and grab a bottle or two! A must have color, espically if you love China Glaze's Watermelon Rind and Rodeo Fanatic.

Described as a marine blue green (mid tone teal) loaded down with aqua and silver shimmer. A more blue version of Watermelon Rind and teal version of Rodeo Fanatic. Just gorgeous!

Check out one more swatch below.

Hope you guys have a wonderful day - it's a perfect sunny day here!

FEATURED - Tuesday, April 7th 2009

NOTD: Revlon No Shrinking Violet

Happy Tuesday! Hope you guys had an excellent weekend. Today, I'm sporting around a lovely new shade from Relvon. With all this cold and rainy weather we've been having lately, I needed a purple fix to brighten up my day!

No Shrinking Violet ($4.79) is actually really pretty. And, I don't rave enough about Revlon's brand as much as I'd like, but it's superb. Described as a deep purple with violet undertones and silver and purple micro shimmer.

My application was perfect and you'll only need two coats to achieve bottle color. Great color pigmentation. No Shrinking Violet should be popping up in the stores within the next couple weeks.

And, one more for ya!

 

Pink Pursuit, is one of three, limited edition colors to help support breast cancer. 10% of all Revlon sales will be donated to fight breast cancer.

Descibed as a medium pink loaded down with silver shimmer that's featured on Jessica Alba in the promo ad.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

FEATURED - Wednesday, April 8th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: OPI DS Desire

Happy Hump day ya'll! Today I'm bringing you a lovely holographic shade I picked up from Trade Secret not too long ago. Desire, described as a golden brown holo that applied perfectly with three coats.

Quite honestly, I think holographic textures are the best thing to hit the nail polish industry. Being infatuated with holo's, it's no suprise I fell head over heels with the entire Designer Series line.

The DS line offers a rainbow of colors to choose from and retail around $12.95/ea or $6.95 at etailers or discount beauty stores. Often you can find discontinued DS colors at Trade Secret up to 70% savings.

And, some more nail candy for your viewing pleasures.

DS Couture - peachy pink holographic (more peachy than pink). 

DS Fantasy - a bold, gorgeous royal blue holographic. 

 

DS Exclusive - a berry pink holographic. 

Hope your having a wonderful Wednesday! I have mass swatches to show you guys this week and next - Claire's holo neons, Essie Summer, China Glaze, Massini neons, Orly Tiki, Color Club neon, SH Tracy Reese Spring, Zoya! Shoo wee!

FEATURED - Monday, April 13th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: KO Red Hot Karen

Hope your having a wonderful Monday! Now that you've seen Knockout's Calamine, a soft powder pink perfect for any occasion, Today I'm bringing you a hot red number sure to spice up the night.

Introducing...the sexy and sassy, Karen. Inspired by Karen from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a classic, red matte that's packed with color and applied perfectly in two applications. To check out my official review on Knockout nail polish, click here.

Karen's bold, red shade combined with the matte texture makes this a A++ in my book, and tops as my favorite from Knockout.

Knockout Cosmetics retails for $22.00/ea and is available online. Have a good one!

FEATURED - Monday, April 20th 2009

NOTD: Color Club Revvvolution, Electro Candy

Happy Monday, Ya'll! Did you guys miss me? Last Thursday, I took a mini girls weekend trip to Gatlinburg, TN and was hoping to get my NOTD and POTD up, but as you can see that didn't happen.

Color Club's Revvvolution is one of my favorite holo's from the Femme Fatale collection. The color pay-off is incredible with only two coats needed.

Check out my pedicure below. 

My pedicure is Color Club's Electro Candy with black polka dots from the Neon collection. I haven't had a chance to post yet the Neon collection yet, I'm hoping to get to that today after I get caught up with all my emails and comments.

Disclaimer: Neons polishes are much brighter than the actual swatch and looks great on toes. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, April 22nd 2009

Earth Day Mani: Color Club Wild Child

Happy Earth Day ya'll! Hopefully you guys were able to take advantage of Butter London's free nail polish promo going on today. Due to the mass volume of traffic, the site was down for a little while, but eventually came back up.

With summer creeping around the corner, I wanted to sport one of my favorite green neons for the occasion.

Color Club's Wild Child, is a bright neon green that you've probably seen Rihanna sporting around. Not like your typical neon polish, Wild Child dried to a shiny finish with only three coats needed.

Hope everyone's having a fabulous Tuesday!

FEATURED - Sunday, April 26th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Massini Fashion Addict

Hope your having a fabulous Sunday! This weekend has just been beautiful with temperatures reaching almost 90 degrees. And, for the first time in four years, I'm sick with a severe head cold.

To cheer me up, I wanted to put on a brand new color from Massini. Fashion Addict is a light pink  purple holographic that has every resemblance to Color Club's version, including the name.

This is pretty much the same color as Color Club's. Massini is manufactured by Forsythe, the same company as CC. Chances are, if you love Color Club's nail polishes, you'll surely love Massini's brand. 

Massini nail polishes are pretty awesome. Averaging a huge .6 oz a bottle and retailing $2.99 is quite a steal! The only problem, Massini is only available at Meijer stores. I'll be posting some neons and glitters soon.

Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

FEATURED - Tuesday, April 28th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Claires Ocean Breeze

Happy Tuesday! I'm feeling much better from this dreaded cold I've had the last several days. Today I wanted to show you guys a cool shade from Claires 3 in 1 mixables called Ocean Breeze.

Clarie's mixables are three different nail colors in one bottle that you don't mix up. But, in this case there's actually four different colors. Ocean Breeze is a combination of four pastel colors of blue, pink, purple and green. The end result is a lilac purple with pink undertones that's really pretty.

The hardest part these babies: you can't mix or shake these. I know, it's really hard because it's just habit to shake or roll a bottle.

 

And here's some polka dot nail art using another Claire's mixables in Hawaii. Described as a bright hot pink color.

Claire's mixables are available in several different colors and retails for $5.00/ea at Claire's Boutiques. Have a great day!

FEATURED - Wednesday, April 29th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Dior Purple Candy

I want Candy... Introducing Dior's newest vernis addition, Purple Candy. Part of the Summer 09 Cristal Collection, is a magenta pink with a splash of violet undertones that has very subtle shimmer. The shimmer is so subtle in this one, I'd be more comfortable grouping this as a creme.

Overall, Purple Candy is a little more "pinkish" than I imagined, but a nice universal color all around. And, not to mention the fantastic application. The high shine formula is excellent and applied smooth as butter like most Dior nail polishes. Perfecto formula wise.

My swatches were used with three coats except on my pinky finger, which was with two. Purple Candy is definitley a two coater. Even with three coats, the color pretty much stayed the same.

One more swatch below.

Just to give you an idea where Purple Candy falls, I paired up with my pedi using Color Club's Electro Candy. I haven't attempted to look at my comparisons, but I'd say there's a few alternatives to Purple Candy.

Just to clairfy, Dior's has a total of 5 summer nail polishes. Most of them being "pink toned" except Sweet Orange. Next week, I'll be posting all five.

Paprika (nordstrom exclusive), Grenade (macys exclusive), Sweet Orange (sephora exclusive), Purple Candy and Bubble Gum (dior counter) and retails for $20.00/ea. Have a great Wednesday!

FEATURED - Sunday, May 3rd 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Orly Mint Mojito

Happy Sunday! Hopefully you guys had a wonderful weekend. I was really hoping to get this post in earlier this afteroon, but fell short of time quickly. With all the rain we've been having lately, it feels like ages since I've last swatched anything. I'm back logged like you wouldn't believe.

So, on to this fabulous color from Orly. Mint Mojito, recently released from the Tiki Summer Collection that I have yet to swatch, is described as a true mint green creme. This one is so pretty and a definite standout from the Tiki Collection.

The application was fairly good. A little streaking with the first coat or so, but evened out after the second coat to perfection.

Mint Green is all the rage this season, and Mint Mojito tops that list. The color is really unique and quite different from the other greens we've been seeing such as: MAC Peppermint Patti, OPI Hey Get in Lime, Essie Greenport and rumored to be Chanel in the Fall 09'.

One more swatch below.    

To add a little jazz to Mint Mojito, I applied some blue tips with Sally Hansen's nail art pen. This probably wouldn't look half bad if I didn't gnaw off my pinky nail the day before!

Have a great night and Monday morning!

FEATURED - Thursday, May 7th 2009

NOTD: MAC Cosmetics Love and Friendship

Happy Thursday! Hope your having a wonderful week so far. Today's nail polish of the day is a new one from MAC's A Rose Romance Collection. When this collection was originally released, I was in Gatlinburg and didn't have a chance to check it out until now.

Looking at the bottle, I would have said, "this one don't look so unique?" But, boy was I wrong! Wow, what an interesting color... MAC describes Love & Friendship as a dirty mid tone lavendar creme on the website.

Not your typical lilac or lavendar shade. Perhaps a little mauvey plum and grey thrown in there to create a different species of purple that I'm totally digging. The overall color is really nice, and will probably appeal with most skintones.

 

Any Dupes? Not Really. I dug out my lilacs, lavendars and plummy grays, the only one that was remotely close is Icing's In Bloom, which is a shimmer in a LE set.

My Application was pretty good. No formula issues or streaking with three coats. Love & Friendship sold out super fast on MAC's website, but shouldn't be to hard to track down. Try Dillard's, Macy's or Nordstrom online.

Have a wonderful Pre-Friday, were almost there!

FEATURED - Monday, May 18th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: SH Turquoise Opal

Happy Monday! Hope you guys had a terrific weekend! It's absolutely gorgeous outside and makes for a great start to the week.

It was only a matter of time before I dragged out these gems from Sally Hansen. And, wow, that's all I need to say! These are certainly magical in every way.

Once upon a time, Sally Hansen introduced an amazing line called Nail Prisms. Each bottle is filled with massive amounts of shimmer that reflects off light to create a rainbow of duochrome colors.

Turquoise Opal, one of my favorites from the nail prisms, distinctly flashes four obvious colors: teal, blue, pink, and purple. On the pictures above, I tried to get both teal & blue and purple & pink captured. 

One more swatch below.

In this swatch, I used one coat of black polish as a base and two coats of SH nail prisms. And, you can kinda see a gradient of all four colors.

I'm not sure how many Nail Prisms colors were produced, but I know there's many. I personally own over thirty something and still see new colors popping up on ebay.

Where can I find these? It's not impossible, you just have to look. Ebay is the most obvious place. Also, check your Dollar Tree and Flea markets.

This past weekend, me and my hubsand went to the Flea Market and I stumbled upon this booth with over 300 discontinued Sally Hansen's, NYC, Naturalisitcs, etc. I was literally in heaven, but sadly I already owned most of the nail prisms they had. Wanna see my mini haul.

Have a wonderful Monday!

FEATURED - Thursday, May 21st 2009

Chanel Cosmic Violine: Nail Polish of the Day

Hope your having a wonderful Thursday! Today I'm bringing you one of Chanel's newest shades, Cosmic Violine, from the Celestial Lights collection. Described as a muted or dirty reddish brown loaded with gold, red, and pink glitter.

Maybe it's the dull finish, or just the fact this reddish brown shade should of been released late summer. Either way, it's not getting much love from nail polish lovers. But, I'm here to give it some love, because I really do like it. Come fall, it will be a different story and Cosmic Violine will be MIA.

The application was smooth and pigmented with only two applications. Check out the comparison swatch below.

Is Cosmic Violine unique? Yep. I really don't have an exact comparison to show you guys, it's that toned down finish that makes it different than the other red and brown's.

Have a wonderful night! TGIF tomorrow!

FEATURED - Sunday, June 14th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Orly Satin Royalty

Hope your having a wonderful Sunday! With the all Matte craziness we've been having lately, I wanted to pull out an oldie from Orly's Satin Hues line.

Satin Royalty is a pefect example of a matte nail polish with visible shimmer.  A sheer, light purple with pink and blue shimmer. The application was more sheer than I like, but the end result is really pretty with four coats.

I'm not sure when Orly introduced Satin Hues, but it's been quite sometime. While this line isn't readily available, you could still find these discontinued gems at Dusty's, Ebay, or beauty stores that carries discontuned lines.

Let's talk about Matte vs. Satin - Is there a difference?  Well, it really depends who you ask. To me, matte is satin. Anything with no gloss or shine, flat or satin looking is matte. Of course, some finishes may be more satin or flatte, but it all falls under the same category.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

FEATURED - Wednesday, May 27th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Maybelline Purple Party

Happy Wednesday! Hope you guys had a great memorial day weekend. Since it's been raining for the last several days, I've spent most of the weekend finishing up painting.

Purple Party, a dollar tree gem I picked up a while ago, described as a gorgeous magenta pink - purple jelly loaded down with silver and pink shimmer. This one applied pretty sheer, but it's definitely worth the four coat application.

Here's some more eye candy for ya. These are my past NOTD's from the weekend that I neglected to post.

When it comes to sheer's, I run away as far as possible...but I just can't help staying away from this one. Satin Sheets, a sheer white loaded down with gold/pink shimmer.

 

Allure's June issue (pg 131) inspired this classic vampy shade from Chanel. Vamp, a dark blood red with shimmer. Have a wonderful day!

FEATURED - Saturday, May 30th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Finger Paints Lilac Lagoon

Hope your having a wonderful Saturday afternoon. Today's nail polish of the day is a gorgeous lilac from Finger Paints Sunburst summer collection. 

Lilac Lagoon, a semi sheer, juicy lilac loaded with flecks of goldish copper glitter. Since the texture is a semi sheer jelly, I needed four coats to achieve bottle color.

The Brand. You don't hear too much coverage on Finger Paints, but I definitely love the brand as a whole. Perhaps some of the colors aren't as unique as I'd like, but overall the quality is fab.

Finger Paints are available at Sally Beauty Supply stores and retail around $4.99/ea. Have a great weekend!

FEATURED - Friday, June 5th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Pure Ice Kiss me Here

Happy Friday! Hope your having a fabulous afternoon. It's just gorgeous outside - makes for a perfect end to the week. Have ya'll checked out Walmart's new Pure Ice nail polish colors lately? Well, they have some pretty spectacular new colors, and Kiss Me Here being one of them.

Described as a medium gray creme that applied fairly well with two coats. A close dupe to China Glaze's Recycle and Carolyn New York's Hangin on the Stoop, the only difference being Kiss me Here may be just a pinch darker.

Some other drool worthy new colors from Walmart: Excuse Me - Buttery frosty yellow, No Means No - purple with blue and pink shimmer, an excellent alternative for MAC's Violet Fire, French Kiss - Superman blue creme, Cheatin - clear base with blue, pink and purple glitter, Beware - clear base with silver glitter, Strapless - clear base with turquoise glitter, Don't you Wish - clear base with rainbow colored glitter.

Pure Ice nail polishes are available at Walmart and retail around $1.85/ea. Have a great weekend! So, fess up - who loves Pure Ice? I do, I do!

FEATURED - Thursday, June 11th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: CG He's going in Circles

Happy Thursday! Hope your having a fabulous week so far. I just returned from my camping trip yesterday. It  was fun, but I'm glad to be back to reality. Today I'm bringing you some holo nail spam from China Glaze.

Going in Circles, is a cross between a silver and light green holographic from China Glaze's older Kaleidoscope collection.

The Kaleidoscope collection seriously kicks butt. I'm sure most of you already know that! And, if you love holograhic nail polishes, it's a collection you don't wanna miss. You can still find this collection online at Head2Toe and TransDesign.

Have a fantastic Thursday!   

FEATURED - Friday, June 19th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Icing by Claires Lily

Happy Friday! Hope your having a wonderful evening. Today's nail polish of the day is a new color from Icing by Claire's, Lily. Described as an opaque, gorgeous lilac creme. You'll only need two coats to achieve bottle color.

Love Icing polishes, but sometimes the brush comes out a little funky. That's certainly not going to stop me from buying them though, because the color selection rocks. I have about five other new colors I'll be posting in the next couple of days.

Check out a comparison below.     

Icing's Lily and OPI's Done out in Deco are pretty similar, but not exact dupes. Lily is a little more gray toned comarped to OPI's slight bluer tones. Both are very gorgeous.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

FEATURED - Wednesday, June 24th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Revlon Tidal Wave

Happy Wednesday y'all! It's been such a crazy week! First, my site's been down for a few days, which I sincerely apologize to my faithful readers. My visitor traffic has been overwhelming lately, with tripling digits in the last month or so. But, I have new servers and I'm ready to go.

Today I'm bringing you an oldie from Revlon's Super Top Speed line called, Tidal Wave. I picked this one up at Big Lots a while ago. Big Lots has a nice selection of older Revlon colors, so make sure you check them out. Infact, they actually had a nice variety of Dark Pleasures too.

Described as a ocean green wilth silver and teal shimmer that's very gorgeous. It's more green than your average teal. Tidal Wave is super opaque and only requires two coats or less for bottle color.

Hope you had a great Wednesday!

FEATURED - Sunday, June 28th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Maybelline Shooting Stars

Happy Sunday! Hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend. Maybelline's Shooting Stars was my NOTD this past Friday that I neglected to post. sorry for that.

Described as a holographic glitter in a clear base that I picked up at my favorite Dollar Tree. Check out some more dollar tree gems below.

Jean Jacket is so much prettier in real life. Described as a denim blue with gorgeous pink and gold shimmer.  

Blue Chill, a blue gray with pink and blue micro shimmer. Very unique and different.

I'm spending the day catching up on some swatches, so you should see some new posts soon. Have a wonderful Sunday!

FEATURED - Tuesday, June 30th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: SOPI Skinny Jeans

Happy Tuesday! Hope ya'll had a wonderful weekend. Good news is, it's a short week! Super yay for that! Today's nail polish of the day, Skinny Jeans from Sephora by OPI.

On Sephora's site, Skinny Jeans is described as an metallic aqua nail colour. I wouldn't necessarily classify this one as a true metallic shade that were used to. It's much easier to apply, unlike some metallics. No application problems - perfecto.

I really love Skinny Jeans, it's one of my favorites from Sephora by OPI. Maybe not as unique as some blues out there, but definitely stunning, espically for summer.

Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday! I'm hoping some get a massive post out today on BB Couture for Nails. Enjoy!

FEATURED - Saturday, July 4th 2009

Nail Polish of the day: My 4th of July Mani

Happy Independence day everyone! Today marks the Fourth of July in the US, a celebration commemorating the adopotion of the Declaration of Indpepence on July 4th, 1776 declaring independence from Great Britain! Ok, enough with the history lesson Steph, on to Nails!!

When I think of the fourth of July, of course I think about food, good company and beer (lol), foremost fireworks and explosions come to mind...So, I wanted to create something blingy for that extra sparkle.

Update: To make a long story short, I wasn't satisfied with my first 4th of July nail design and this is my second finished design. I like it so much better! 

Check out my supplies below: 

What I used: Claire's Liberty (red), Maybelline's Twinkle, Twinkle (blue), Art Deco (glitter) and Sally's dotting tool.

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful 4th of July. It's actually raining here, but we have plans for tomorrow too!

What's everyone's mani for today? Check out some of my blogger gals: All Lacquered Up, Scrangie, The NailPhile, CasualLavish.

FEATURED - Monday, July 6th 2009

NOTD: Chanel Robertson with Polka Dots

Update: This post was intended for yesterday, but didn't want to update. It must be those Monday blues.

Happy Monday! Hope ya'll had a wonderful 4th of July weekend, for those who celebrated. Today I'm revisiting Chanel's Robertson Blvd collection from last summer.

Initially, this collection received a lot of buzz through blogs and magazine promo ad's, but the outcome wasn't nearly an instant sell out. However, I did like this collection. Particularly, how each shade coordinates perfectly together, especially paired up with cute lil' polka dots.

Application was perfect on these. All were used with only two coats. Hope you have a wonderful day! I'll be posting Pure Ice Strapless, that's actually my NOTD for today.

FEATURED - Thursday, July 9th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: SH Emerald Amethyst

Happy Thursday! Today I'm dragging out another one of Sally Hansen's fabulous Nail Prisms. Emerald Amethyst, described a duochrome shade that flashes between a grayish purple and bronzy green. As you can imagine, there was no possible way to capture all the amazing shades in this one.

You can still find Nail Prisms at discount stores, flea markets, and occasionally on Ebay. All my swatches were used with three coats with no major application issues. In the next few weeks, I plan on posting some more nail prism shades, there's a ton!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

FEATURED - Monday, July 13th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Zoya's Zara

It's another Monday and the good news is - its super sunny out, which makes for a great day for swatching my NOTD. This week, I'll be giving you guys seven glorious days of Zoya, starting with one my favorites, Zara.

Need I say more? Zara is breathtaking, intoxicating and just marvelous! This gorgeous summery shade is a mix between a light violet and purple jelly loaded with flecks of gold that is certainly special indeed.

My application was perfect...You could get by with two coats, but I'd definitely recommend three as the flecks of gold show through more.

Check out a comparison below. 

She's so special, I don't have anything like her. Each swatch above was done with three coats. Zara is available online at Art of Beauty or fine salons and retails for $6.00/ea.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

FEATURED - Wednesday, July 15th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: Zoya Richelle

Hope ya'll are having a fabulous Wednesday! I'm continuing with my Zoya themed week with a gorgeous foiltastic shade from the Flourish collection.

Richelle is a warm bronze metallic with gold shimmer that's perfect for those summer days. In the sunlight, the color turns into more of a foil finish (see blurred pic above) that's gorgeous for those bronzed beauties.

My application was used three coats, even though you can get by with two. It's just my three coat thing, I can't seem to get past.

Have a great day - I have some good stuff coming up this week!

FEATURED - Wednesday, July 29th 2009

Nail Polish of the Day: China Glaze Crystal Ball

It's Wednesday and were finally over that hump, creeping closer to Friday - woot woot! Today I wanted to pull out a really cool, hard to find shade from China Glaze called, Crystal Ball. It's described as a deep burgandy red with silver holographic glitter.

You know me, I'm not the biggest red lover..But I tend to pull out Crystal Ball quite often. It must be the silver shimmer and holo glitter that has me hooked, line and sinker! Oh yeah, gotta love the sparkle!

Speaking about China Glaze..They've finally hopped on the Twitter wagon. Have you? If not, you're missing out on great contests! China Glaze is giving away a free set of Retro Diva polishes every day until August 4th. Make sure you follow them and tweet @ChinaGlaze I want 2 win a ChG Retro Diva Collection.

Before scoping out Ebay for Crystal Ball, try searching online at a few of the e-tailers. Have a wonderful day!

FEATURED - Tuesday, July 28th 2009

NOTD: Sephora Under my Trench Coat

Hope your having a wonderful Tuesday! With all the Dark Room sadness yesterday, I figured you guys could use a little cheering up with Sephora's, Under my Trench Coat.

From the polish name, down to color - I love everything about Under my Trench Coat! One of Sephora's standout shades from the Fall collection, Film Noir. It's described as a grungy khaki beige with gold micro-shimmer that's really gorgeous!

My Application: On my swatches above, I used three coats. The polish applied streaky at first, like some Sephora by OPI colors, but evened out in the end. No real issues.

 

Unique? Definitely! Meet Sephora's Run with it! distant cuz. A more brown version, but with the same gold micro-shimmer in both. A true khaki compared to RBL's Grunge and Orly's Country Club Khaki, which has more "mauve" undertones.

Under my Trench Coat is available at Sephora and retails for $9.00/ea. Have a fantastic day!

FEATURED - Sunday, August 16th 2009

NOTD: RBL Yellow Fever Matte, OPI Ink

Happy Sunday! Hope y'all are having a fantastic weekend! Today I'm bringing you a few Nail polish of the day swatches to make up for my absence this past week. Let's start with the gorgeous OPI Ink.

Ink was my favorite color released in the Summer 07 Night Brights collection. It's a gorgeous mixture between blue and puple with pink shimmer that's really fabulous! If your a blue and purple fanatic, Ink is a must have.

On Saturday, I met up with two lovely bloggers from the Ohio Region, Michelle from All Lacquered Up, Sarah from Pretty in Dayton and sported this sunny color. We had a great time chatting and shopping at the Fashion Place in Cleveland, OH.

It's been a while since I've pulled out my Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes and I forgot how fabulous the quality is! The horse of all nail polishes that's superior, really?! And I just couldn't resist adding a matte coat to Yellow Fever. Totally loved this mattified!

Surprise! One more pedi swatch to end the day. This was really simple and quick using Sally Hansen's nail art pen and my dotting tool.

How was everyone's weekend? Have a great night!

FEATURED - Friday, September 11th 2009

NOTD: Sally Hansen HD Opulent Cloud

Happy Friday! Hope you've had an excellent day so far! Today I have a goodie to show you, and if your following me on Twitter you've already seen a sneak peek of this one-of-a-kind shade created by fashion designer, Tracy Reese.

Without further ado, introducing Opulent Cloud. I thought the time would never come. You first made an appearance back in Feb 09' at New York Fashion Week and I've been thinking about you ever since. You are amazing!

Amazing is an understatement. Opulent Cloud is a shade you'll have to see in person to appreciate. A somewhat duochrome-y charcoal that flashes distinctly purple and steel with an overlay of gold shimmer that's so pretty! I don't have another like her!

Check out a comparison below.  

What's so unique about Opulent Cloud, it's more purple toned compared to other charcoal grays out there. And Barielle's Out-Grey-Geous is a bit more blue than OPI's Brand New Skates.

Opulent Cloud is a limited editon color and will available at Meijer and other stores that carry Tracy Reese displays. The retail cost is $5.99/ea.

I'm crossing my fingers you guys can find this! Have a wonderful weekend!

FEATURED - Thursday, October 1st 2009

Hard Candy Officially Launches at Walmart

Please note: Picture above is not an accurate color representation.

 

Happy Thursday guys and dolls! Hopefully you're having a fantastic week! Today I'm bringing you a sneak peek at a prestigious cosmetics line that just launched at Walmart called, Hard Candy. Ever since WWD broke the exciting news, I've been dying to check out some of their products.

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of my NOTD. It's been cloudy the last two weeks and I haven't been able to capture quality images.

Frenzy is a new color from Hard Candy. It's an sky blue creme that applied like butter to perfection! The formula is opaque and a bit thick, but not overly.

Check out one more swatch below.   

Break Up is really cool. A glitter topper with hexagon shaped chunks that flash different colors depending on the lighting.

Check out some more pictures from Hard Candy's line.

  

Hard Candy is expected to roll out into 3,000 Walmart's by the end of this year. Stay tuned, I have some fabulous nail polish swatches to show you guys!

Who's on board for Hard Candy? Has the brand hit your Walmart yet?

FEATURED - Saturday, January 23rd 2010

NOTD: Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

Happy Saturday, gals! This morning I had some spare time to whip up a fresh manicure for the weekend and decided to paint my nails with the lovely Scrangie. During Rescue Beauty Lounge's fabulous VIP sale, I picked up this beauty along with a few other goodies.

What can I say other than, wow! It's described as a bluish-purple with blue and green shimmer with a touch of gold glitter. The gold glitter and green shimmer sets this apart from most purples I own.

Check out a low cost comparison below.

Since Scrangie is a limited edition, sold-out color you may a little trouble tracking her down... but there is still hope. Not exact dupes, Sally Hansen's Grape Going is a budget friendly alternative that's a bit more blue. I have to warn you though; I've had many problems with Insta-Dri polishes staining my nails. Use with caution.

Overall, perfect color, application and all around awesomeness! Go Team Blogger!

Did you guys snatch up Scrangie before it sold out? Did you take advantage of RBL's 50% off sale? If you did, what colors did you snatch up? Have a great weekend!

FEATURED - Wednesday, January 27th 2010

Icing by Claire's: Mint 2 Be Nail Polish

 

I'd like to introduce the new kid on the block. She's sassy, refreshing and worth jetting to your nearest mall to snatch her up. Mint 2 Be is Icing's newest addition, she's described as a creamy, pale mint green pastel.

The application was dreamy more or less... Is that even possible from a pastel? Even though the formula was on the thick side and even applied semi streaky, it dried to perfection. No streaks or bald spots with two coats.

Check out one more swatch below.

If you're wondering and I know you are, Mint 2 Be is more pale and lighter to most pastel greens I own. Since I haven't had a chance to compare, I'm guessing Icing's might fall close to China Glaze Re-fresh Mint.

Can you handle all these mint greens? Why yes, I think we can! Have a wonderful Wednesday!  

FEATURED - Saturday, January 30th 2010

Preview: Color Club Who Are You Wearing

Happy Saturday! How is everyone enjoying their weekend so far? This morning Mother Nature came knockin' at my door and left a load of white stuff we all love (ha, ha). .  But I'm ready to move on to Spring, aren't you?  So let's start with a preview from Color Club's newest collection called, Rebel Debutante.

Who Are You Wearing is one of nine new colors from Color Club this Spring. Hmm... How do we describe this one? A little bit of white, beige and lavender combined in a semi sheer, creme formula.

Since the formula was a bit sheer, I did have some application problems. The first two coats applied rather streaky, but I was able to even things out with the third. Nonetheless, I love the color and was determined to make this work. It pops with tan or darker skin tones!

Check out a comparison below. 

 

Who Are You Wearing falls somewhere between Light Affair and Lavender Cloud. Not as beige as MAC's and not as stark as Sally's.

Having some polka dot fun with the collection colors!  

What do you guys think of Who Are You Wearing? Stay tuned, I'll be posting the reminder of Rebel Debutante in a couple days!

FEATURED - Monday, February 8th 2010

Nails of the Day: Arissa in Rockin Amethyst

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Today I'm bringing you what I'd like to call an "unofficial" bargain of the day. The color itself is insane - purple, jelly, flecks! But tracking this gem down may be the gray area, which is why it didn't make the official cut.

Arissa in Rockin' Amethyst is a juicy purple jelly laced with blue shimmer/glitter throughout. I think it's safe to call this glitter/shimmer combo a glass fleck goodness. And the application - perfect in three coats.

Where can I find this? You can start looking at Family Dollar, General Dollar, Deals, etc... Any Dollar Store that usually carries higher priced items. The cost is $2.00/each (.5 oz).

What do you think of Rockin' Amethyst? Have you ever tried Arissa Nail Polishes? 

FEATURED - Saturday, February 20th 2010

Hot Topic Forest Green Metallic

Happy Saturday, chicas! Let's kick off the weekend with an early St. Patty's Day cheer from Hot Topic.  Rich, Opaque, Jeweled Tone... Seriously, can it get any better than this?! Forest Green Metallic is a jaw-dropping emerald green with fine shimmer. Absolutely Stunning!

Formula is perfecto - smooth like butter, despite the "out of control" application brush. Just to give you an idea where the color falls, it's a bit deeper and not as shimmery compared to Date Night and Greener.

All in All, awesome color and formula! It's definitely one of Hot Topic's best. Forest Green Metallic is available online at Hot Topic or in stores. The retail cost is $2.99/ea.

What do you guys think? Love this, Hate this? Have a wonderful weekend!

FEATURED - Monday, March 1st 2010

Going Green: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

Happy Monday! Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend. It's officially March, can you believe it? A month long celebration of green is in order, don't ya think? Today I'm starting out with one of my favorite greens from China Glaze.

Let me count the ways I love thee! Emerald Sparkle is a deep emerald green that's ridiculous. This little package has it all - glitter, sparkle and color. It's dazzling in all ways. The application is great too, two coats for full coverage.

Check out a mattified version below.

You can still find Emerald Sparkle at Head2Toe, TransDesign and other e-tailers. What's your favorite green? Have a wonderful night!

FEATURED - Wednesday, March 3rd 2010

Going Green: Nubar Reclaim Nail Polish

Happy Hump Day! How is your Wednesday going? Since Spring is right around the corner, I thought it was necessary to salute with all-star green from Nubar's fabulous Summer '09 release.

Don't be surprised if you see the entire collection featured this month, because frankly, it's well deserved! Nubar hit the collection spot on, perfect 5 stars in my eyes.

Reclaim is a grassy, spring approved green with a smooth holographic effect. She's perfectly flawless in every way. And you won't find another alike.

If you love green and matte stay tuned, I have a special treat to share tomorrow and it's not Zoya Veruschka - but just as worthy.

Did you guys pick up Nubar's Going Green last year? What are your faves from the collection?

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