Essie Luxeffects Swatches and Review

I bought these as a present for myself and couldn't wait to play with them! My first Essie polishes! This is a very picture heavy post, so I'll let the pictures do most the talking...

Essie Luxeffects: (L-R) Set In Stone, As Gold As It Gets, A Cut Above, Pure Pearlfection, Shine of the Times

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength 3K or more!

I noticed a lot of these new Sally Hansen Diamond Strength nail polishes have some wedding related names. This one's a bit cheeky, eh?

Sally Hansen 3K or More! is a very warm, peach with shimmer. Nice and neutral, very flattering even though it's a pale peach. Leans very yellow.

Sally Hansen 3K or More!

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink & Glitter Badge

Speaking of glitter, I have a fun one to share with you guys! I love glitter polishes, and although I'm not super big pink fan, I am a super big fan of this polish. Gritty, but that's expected, dried quickly, and covered in two coats. I used three because I'm OCD and can't stop at two!

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, three coats, sunlight 

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Smokey Eyes for Green Eyes

Good morning lovelies!

Today I have for you Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Smokey Eyes for Green Eyes. I picked this up, not because I have green eyes (eek, I'm such a rebel) but because I like greens and purples on my eyes. And I'm a shimmer addict. 

Physicians Formula Smoky Green Eyes

Look at all that beautiful shimmer! Gah!

Physicians Formula Smoky Green Eyes

Physicians Formula Smoky Green Eyes, shade
Top - bare hand
Bottom - over UDPP

Physicians Formula Smokey Green Eyes, sunlight
Top - bare skin
Bottom - over UDPP

Color payoff is better over UDPP but then again, that's true for just about every eye shadow in the world, so no big surprise there. Blending is good, staying power is great (but again, over UDPP). 

I'm going to have to look into the other shimmer strips now. I think I'm in love.

Here is a random eye look I did with it (using UDPP, Urban Decay Cream Eyeshadow in Grass, Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Naked and Buck, and Physicians Formula Cream Gel Eyeliner for Brown Eyes in Brown)...

Christmas Challenge WrapUp & Versatile Blogger Award!

So I was totally in love with the all inclusive picture Theodora did on her blog, and she made me one. Isn't she the best?!? I wasn't expecting her to go through all that work for me, but I sure am glad! Here is my pic (but hers is much better since she's got MUCH better skillz with the nailz)

24 Days of Christmas Nail Art Challenge Recap

Aaaaaannndddddd...

I received this fun award from Theodora (have I mentioned enough that she's totally awesome!) and Emm... Yay!

There are 2 rules that come with this award: 

1.) List seven things about yourself

2.) Pass to 15 bloggers

SEVEN THINGS ABOUT ME...

1. I used to work as a nail tech in high school. I used to have a ton of polishes and do my nails (and my friends nails) but it never really grew into an obsession until recently.

2. My favorite color is purple. It would be glitter if glitter were a color.

3. I went to THREE different high schools in the span of four years. I was always the new kid.

4. I love doggies! I have three that I rescued (but they live with my parents, sad) and I constantly bug my husband about getting one.

5. I am scared of flying, stinging insects even though I've never been stung. I have no idea why, but the longer I go without getting stung and the more people tell me about it, the more I freak out when they are near me.

6. I love sci fi and action movies. I've been told I have the movie tastes of a 16 year old boy.

7. I've been sky diving and I LOVED it.

Whew!

I forward this to ...

1 Rubys Nails
2 The Classy Turtle
3 KK Nails
4 Short N Chic
5 me, myself, and nail polish
6 Polished Pretties
7 Basecoat Topcoat
8 Polished & Not Quite Put Together
9 Simply Beauty
10 Polished River
11 The Glam Goddness
12 My Wet Nails
13 Bling It ON!
14 Nails.N.Details
15 Stuff I Swatched

China Glaze Tinsel Town

I thought I'd catch up a little bit on my swatches while I'm on vacation! Wee for vacation spam!

China Glaze Tinsel Town is a gorgeous deep grey glitter with large silver glitter. As usual with the 2011 glitters, it covers in about three coats and dries fairly smooth.

China Glaze Tinsel Town, three coats, no topcoat, shade

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays (and stamping!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays for all you out there in the world! I'm spending time with family and friends today.

I had asked Santa for some stamping stuff this holiday, and he delivered, early! And in a postal outfit. Strange.

I got this idea from Sarah in her manicure of Stamped Rose Pattern and KNEW I had to do it. So it was the first one I tried after a few random stamps on naked nails just to see how to do it. Mine is nowhere near her quality (hers are actually spread out evenly and beautifully and her photo skills are beyond compare) but I thought I'd share my first stamping attempt with you!

Day 24 - Favorite Manicure

Oh my gosh! It's over. This is very bittersweet. I have really enjoyed the challenge of this and getting to know some of you (at least your nails) very well. Sniffle.

I wasn't sure if favorite manicure meant my favorite of what we've done or my favorite manicure to wear. So I went with the latter. When I first swatched the China Glaze Let It Snow collection, I knew this would be my Christmas manicure. I'm so excited to finally have it on my nails!

Behold the beauty of China Glaze Twinkle Lights over China Glaze Glittering Garland!

China Glaze Twinkle Lights over Glittering Garland

Day 22 - Elf

I'm such a ditz. I forgot to post this. I did do it, on time even! Just saved it as a draft. Sigh... Here it is!

I thought about doing a whole elf, but that's too complicated. Then I thought about doing half an elf, and that was too complicated. Then I pondered doing the face, and guess what, I thought that was too complicated. So I thought about what do women love most other than nails and makeup? Shoes!

Day 23 - Santa

Wee! Tomorrow is the last day! I'm so ready for the holiday break, all this nail polish and acetone is killing me! =)

You get TWO today! First, the one I did under my santa hat a few days ago ...

Day 21 - Reindeer/Rudolf

OK, so I got this idea from a gift bag at work. He was too cute so I tried to re-create the little bugger.

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Ice Baby Collection Update

I found one of the missing polishes! If you saw my post a few weeks ago on the Wet N Wild ColorIcon Ice Baby Nail Polish Collection, I added an edit at the bottom that there were TWO MORE colors that I hadn't found. I have since stalked my local stores for these colors, and I succeeded in finding one - Believe Me, It's Real. They had one left, so I snatched it up!

Wet N Wild Believe Me, It's Real is a medium blue glitter with large purple hexagonal glitters. It covers beautifully in three coats, as did most of the others in the collection, and dried slightly rough, but a coat of SV will usually do the trick. I LOVE this polish! It's gorgeous.

Wet N Wild Believe Me, It's Real

Day 20 - Sled/Sleigh

I had a hard time with this one, as a sleigh seemed impossible to draw on one of my tiny nails. And of course, now as I'm typing, I'm thinking, you could have drawn a sled/toboggan. Oh well. Here's my sleigh full of presents!

NutraNail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color Swatches and Review

NutraNail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color is a new gel color system that gives you "rock solid" nails in 5 minutes. It comes in a variety of colors, mainly neutrals and light pinks, but they have a few dark and red colors in the bunch. I first saw it on Ulta and ordered it, but when I saw it at Walgreen's a few days later, I bought it because I'm impulsive and impatient.

NutraNail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color in Champagne

Day 19 - Santa Hat

OK, this one is totally simple, but it was a personal win for me since I got a special package in the mail.

Liebster Blog

Nails.N.Details gave me this fabulous award, which is super awesome! I'm so excited! Thank you so much!

"Liebster" is a German word, meaning dearest or beloved, but it can also mean favorite.  The idea behind the Liebster Blog Award is that it is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers in order to create new connections and bring attention to these wonderful blogs! 


The rules are as follows:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.

2. Reveal the five blogs you have chosen and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Copy and paste the award onto your blog.

4. Request that people you have sent the award to forward it on to their favorite bloggers.

My nominations:

1. Nail Reflections
2. Ruby's Nails
3. Nail Polish Anon
4. High Above The World
5. RlyRandomReviews

Day 18 - Stockings

I know this is such a cop out, simple design, but I  figure, I'm brand spanking new at this. I'm still trying to figure out how to use a paint brush on my nail, so I'm like a preschooler in a nail art challenge with cool girls in high school. Major experience gap. =) I figure if I decide to do another challenge, I'll have to step up my game. Right now I'm just trying to survive.

Day 17 - Garland/Tinsel

I tried to do a string of garland, connecting all the fingers. The concept was nice, the outcome, well, looks more like barbed wire. On a side note, whenever I hear the words "barbed wire" I think of Pamela Anderson's movie, even though I've never seen it. 

Day 16 - Lights

This one is a total copout, even though it seemed cool in my head. My execution sucked.

Day 15 - Presents

I think I'm getting worse. Yes, I have the nail art skills of a 5 year old. Sigh.

Day 14 - Ornaments

So I totally did this design thinking I'd have bigger ornaments, but that didn't turn out. Then I was thinking, "Dang, I should have done nails with ornament designs on my nails, not drawing an actual circular ornament." Then I thought, "Nah, I've done this and I don't have time to start over before bed." Yes, I do talk to myself a lot.

I think these colors are pretty, so I included more pictures. Even though the ornaments aren't much, I used a holo polish to give them some sparkle and color.

Day 13 - Christmas Tree

So I totally stole this idea from fellow blogger Alexandra R.C. Glitter Trees posting. I liked it so much I threw out my ideas and did hers! I think it came out much better than what it would have been. I think it's beautiful. I used a stringy glitter and a shimmery base color to mix it up a bit, but otherwise, I stuck pretty close to her nails.

Comparison: Wet N Wild coloricon versus Sally Hansen GEM crush

A few days ago I mentioned that some of the Sally Hansen GEM crush colors looked awfully similar to the recently released Wet N Wild coloricon colors. Here's a quick look at some of the close colors, and we'll see if they're really similar.

These look kinda similar ...

Day 12 - Holly

I almost tried to do a portrait of my best friend Holly but I figured it wouldn't be well received. And if I think drawing a plant is hard, I can't even imagine trying to draw an actual person. I'm not looking forward to elves or Santa later this month.

I just did a simple accent on my nails. I can't wait for my nail art stuff to come in so I can stop freehanding with weird brushes. =)

Weee!

Day 11 - Wreath

Oh my gosh, Day 11 already. I tried to have fun with this one. My bows are very .... impressionistic .... but the wreath on the thumb was fun!

China Glaze Fireside Glow and China Glaze ULTAmate Holiday Swatches and Review

OK ladies, I know this is the third post today, please don't take away my nail polish. But I have goodies to show you and I didn't want to wait because you NEED to see these!

China Glaze has two exclusive polishes available through ULTA - Fireside Glow and ULTAmate Holiday.

China Glaze ULTAmate Holiday (L) and Fireside Glow (R)

Top 10 Award!

Yay! It means so much to read everyone's comments and the support and advice when my nails aren't well, good. Haha.

This award comes to me from Shannara. If you don't already follow her, you should check her out!

Day 10 - Poinsettias

So I've given up on all nail manicures. I'm not that patient nor talented. So I've been working on accent nails, so to speak.

I've been tagged!

And not by a cops radar gun! I've been tagged by Patricia at For the sake of giveaways...

Day 9 - Red/Green

I had originally thought to try a gradient or water marbling but I didn't have time to get that worked out, so I went simple and tried to do plaid. Mine kinda looks like drunken plaid, but it's red and green so we'll call it good.

Day 8 - Candy Canes

Today is candy canes! I had a hard time thinking of what I wanted to do, so again, I went simple. I think it's becoming a theme. That, or I'm lazy. =) I actually did these the night before and decided I could photograph them the next morning. I forgot about the not so recent time change and I was waiting until 7:30am to take pictures. I was so late to work.

Sally Hansen Gem Crush Collection Swatches and Review

I recently heard about these and (by chance!) found them while perusing the shelves of a local drugstore. I wanted to do a quick preview to share the colors!

The formula on these was nice. Not runny, but it was thin. Sparse at first but built nicely, most of them were opaque at three coats.

Necessary bottles shot:

Sally Hansen GEM crush

Day 7 - Gingerbread Man

OK, so I only have one picture today. And good thing too. I tried to make a cute little guy again but this is just creepy. I kept messing up. It looks like Tim Burton's version of a gingerbread man.

Day 6 - Penguins

So I think today's turned out kinda cute! Still working on clean, small details but even though he's messy, he's cute! 

Meet my penguin! I named him Pablo.

Then I decided his head was cold, so I gave him a hat.

I used China Glaze White Cap, Sally Hansen Black Out, Sinful Colors Nail Art in Bad Chick, Flower Girl, Lagoon, Orange Alert, and My Day.

Other challengees ... Ally-Rose, Kelly, Lexi, Steffi, Kirshten, Salpi, Sabine, Shannara, paint that nail, Theodora R., Jessica, Bridget,  Stella

Day 5 - Snowman Face

I went back to simple today. Those little snowmen wore me out! My poor little faces are all uneven. Sorry about some of the blurry shots. They aren't very clear on my camera LCD so I can't tell they're blurry until I've already done all the pictures and then some. Sigh. I'll get used to all this technology one day.

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Ice Baby Glitter Nail Polish Collection

Today I have for you the new Wet N Wild ColorIcon Ice Baby Glitter Nail Polish collection. Actually, it's the wet n wild coloricon collection. Technically. Since I saw the initial swatches of these I have been stalking my local stores waiting for them to get stocked, and I could never find them! I was at Walgreen's recently and I found them. Bet you'll never guess where. Go on, guess... I found them in the hair accessories aisle way on top, where they put extra stock when it doesn't fit on the shelves. I was like, WTF are you doing there?!? I had to stand on my tip toes to reach them. Good thing I'm super tall.

Enough of my drama, let's get to the good stuff.

This collection is a set of six glitters. I have a few swatches today, full sets soon I hope.  Too many polishes, not enough time.

Token bottles shot...

Wet n Wild Coloricon collection bottles

Day 4 - Snowman

I actually had a lot of fun with this one. I was a bit more adventurous, and I was giggling my way through it. My husband thought I was high, I'm sure. I think it turned out cute. Not the best I've ever seen, but it was totally fun! I was sad to remove these little guys!

Nail Art Friendly

This makes me happy. Extremely. (Especially because my nail art is a bit of a massacre! hehe) I'm having so much fun with this blog and seeing others art, it's truly inspirational. I received this badge of honor from Shannara at nailsandstuff. Love her! Great nails and great nail art!

I'm going to pass this along to Ally-Rose of allyrosenails! You should check her out if you haven't already. Good stuff.

Day 3 - Icicles

Day 3. These are coming so quickly! Ack! Day 3 is icicles. I went simple. And glittery. Glitter makes everything better. You don't notice the bad things. You think, "Hey isn't that line a little crooke- oooh it's sparkly." At least that's what I do.

Day 2 - Snowflakes

I'm having so much fun with this nail art challenge! I'm especially having fun seeing everyone's nails and ideas. So many interesting interpretations! I use a lot of exclamation points.

!!

I had a great image in my mind (actually the idea was stolen from the awesome thatleanne Simple Holiday Nail Art Ideas) although hers is MUCH better. I need to find a different brush to do fine lines. And get bigger nail beds.