Last Day to Enter

Crystaliciousss's giveaway. It's huge, so go enter here if you haven't already.

Illamasqua Giveaway

YGN is having this great giveaway for some Illamasqua products, so go ahead and enter for your chance to win an awesome giveaway.
Enter here by October 2.

Manicured Monkey's Giveaway

First off guys, I promise I'm coming back soon! I almost have everything sorted out with my camera. I lost my charger and I refuse to buy a new one but I did get some pics before the battery died (and I found my adapter) so I should have them uploaded soon!! I can't wait! I missed blogging while physics took over my life this summer. Anywho, onto the subject of this entry.

Where can you enter this giveaway? Here!
When does it end? October 16th at 6 PM, Pacific Standard Time.
What is she giving away? Go see for yourselves!

News

Sorry for the lack of updates this summer, but Summer School is kicking my butt. Plus, I wanted to post this weekend, but I didn't have the time because I had a wedding to attend in San Diego. I'm trying to get a post up tonight or tomorrow, so I'll be posting soon, and I am working on putting a giveaway and a contest together, so I haven't forgotten about you guys. Hopefully, I'll be back to posting regularly soon! Love you guys!!

Beautiful Blue Monday

I can't believe I haven't shown you guys this polish yet!! It's so beautiful! I love it so much, and it applies perfectly. If you do thick coats, it's a one-coater. Otherwise, two thin coats will suffice. And it dries super fast! I bring you none other than Revlon Midnight Affair.

Of course, it looks almost black in some lighting, but in the sun, it is so hard for me to keep my eyes off it. Hope you love this as much as I do!

Happy Polishing,

J

Folica Deal

Just wanted to let you guys know that Folica has a deal where you can save $40 by signing up to recycle your old blow dryer! Click here to be directed to this deal. I've been procrastinating on getting a new blow dryer for months now, so I bought a Solia hair dryer today for 44.99 with the coupon code, originally 159.95, but on sale for 84.99.

And no, I am not associated with Folica, nor are they compensating me for blogging about this. 

Quick Update

Sorry for my absence, but it's been a hectic summer! Anyway just wanted to show you guys one of my latest acquisitions, OPI Bubble Bath!! And I managed to get the original formula!!

Indoors, no flash, artificial light.

I'm such a sucker for these kinds of colors. It's really sheer and milky, so it took 4 coats to get it to look like this. And there was still VNL.

Stamped with Color Club Revvvolution. Indoors, no flash.

I used M.A.S.H. plate m57, which I believe is the same as Konad m57. I felt pretty good about this stamping since I hadn't done full nail designs before.

You can't see it in the picture, but in the sunlight, the holo particles in Revvvolution were so sparkly and awesome!! That's it for now!!

Happy Polishing,

J

Color Club Back to Boho Swatches & Comparisons

Yes, it is interesting that after being gone for over a week, I would have swatches of Color Club's Fall Collection for you. No, Color Club did not send me these polishes in advance. So, you want to know how I got them, ey? Well, I decided to buy some polishes from a seller on Scalpers United AKA eBay, and I saw a set of 8 Color Club minis for a pretty decent price, so I bought them back in May. I got them and decided to look up the colors, but I couldn't find any info on any of the colors except Where's the Soiree?. So I decided that maybe these were super old colors that Color Club had never released. Not really, I thought they were fakes, but the bottles and labels were so legit. Then recently, I started seeing all these press releases for Color Club's fall collection. I check them out, and I own 5 of the 12 lacquers due to be released in September. Ok, enough talking, on to the swatches/comparisons.

l-r: Sally Hansen Silver Sweep, Color  Club Boho Mojo, China Glaze Devotion

As you can see, I have no close dupe for Boho Mojo. It's supposed to be a silvery, beige pearl, but to me it looks like the smallest amount of green or brown is in there. I haven't decided which one yet. I think this is 2 coats, but it might be 3. Boho Mojo and Voodoo You Do are the sheerest ones that I own. It's a bit harder to apply from a mini, so you probably only need 2 coats for opacity if you own a full size.

l-r: Voodoo You Do, Revlon Matte Suede Emerald City

Again, no dupes for me! Honestly, Emerald City was the closest in my stash. Color Club describes this as the perfect charcoal grey for the season with blue undertones, but I see green undertones, not blue. This was definitely 3 coats. It's a nice color, but not really up my alley. Any fans out there?

l-r: Color Club New Bohemian, China Glaze For Audrey

Close, but not dupes. Color Club describes it as a new 70’s take on Tiffany Blue, which it kind of is, seeing that is is super close to For Audrey, but I think it's closer to OPI Mermaid Tears (which I don't own). New Bohemian is a touch more green and muted than For Audrey. Nice shade, but I took forever to wear For Audrey, so we'll see how often I reach for New Bohemian.

l-r: Color Club Rad Nomad, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Grey Area

Another close comparison, but still not dupes. Color Club says Rad Nomad is a purple brown crème. It is a touch more brown/red than Grey Area, but if you're not into these types of shades and you already own Grey Area, I say skip it. I totally love these kinds of shades, so I will probably buy a full bottle of Rad Nomad.

l-r: Color Club Nomadic in Nude, Essie Sand Tropez

Ok, I won't lie. Nomadic in Nude is probably my favorite out of what I've seen of this collection so far. I'm a total sucker for nudes. While they aren't dupes, if you're not into nudes, you probably won't end up getting Nomadic in Nude. That sounds like something sexual. Nomadic in Nude is a touch more brown, while I see a bit of pink in Sand Tropez. If you needed a nude with more brown, get Nomadic. In Nude. I realized I really like saying that. I'm such a goofball.

Overall, I haven't seen anything spectacular from this collection yet, but I hope the 7 other shades are more enticing than these 5. Hope you liked this post!!

Happy Polishing,

J

Tara's Giveaway

Tara is having a giveaway for reaching 200 followers, and I'd just like to say congrats on reaching 300 followers now. You have until July 28 to enter her giveaway, and you can enter it here. There will be 2 lucky winners!

Recent Hauling

Sorry about not posting yesterday but I was feeling a bit under the weather. I do, however, have some pictures of my lovely goodies! Hope you enjoy looking at them!

First up, my stamping plates. I got 4 Konad brand plates (my first official Konad brand plates!) and the MASH set of 25 that is sold on Amazon for 17.99. Cheap! If you look on top, you'll see that the MASH plate is the same as the Konad plate.

Konad plate, MASH plate.

I did this on purpose because I read a review that said that the MASH houndstooth image had an error in the engraving. I didn't see any errors but I did notice that the image on the upper right differs slightly in the pattern. I have a review coming up comparing the stamping on these plates, but I'll let you know right now - the MASH plate stamps better.

I got my order from Altered Ego cosmetics! Yay!! I ordered 5 for $10 and then the color of the week and I got one for free because of another blog! They enclosed 3 samples with my order. Swatches coming soon, but trust me, my swatches have nothing on how awesome they look.

Nail supplies I bought on evilBay. :) These were cheap though. I got 10 nail wheels, assorted striping tape, and some nail strips/decals. I guess I should do a review of those decals, huh?

My pretties!!! I love all of these, just not equally. But they are awesome. From Left to Right: Color Club Fashion Addict, China Glaze Entourage, Custom Kicks, B-Girlz, Cheers to You, Bad Kitty, Frosty (major lemming killed!), and Blue Paradise (my least fave out of these). I also scored these on evilBay for a good price with decent shipping (6.95) all from the same seller.

Last but not least, my first Kleancolors!! They are not lying when they say that these stink to high hell!! I got these at my local 99 cents and Up store for a little over a dollar a piece. My total was around 4.20 for these. Cheaper than Beauty Joint for me!! From left to right: Kiss Goodbye, Midnight Seduction, Holo Green, Sparkle Emerald (talk about a misnomer).

Hope you enjoyed my haul. Let me know if there's anything you want to see on my nails ASAP. I have swatches on a nail wheel, I just have to take better pics.

Happy Polishing,

J

Frenched Cherry Blossoms for Pink Wednesday

I'm a busybody. I couldn't leave this simple cherry blossom design alone, and that's how I ended up with today's nail design. I used China Glaze Innocence for the base, China Glaze White on White for the petals, and black and pink Kiss nail art stripers. Then, it turned into this:

I used Orly Passion Fruit for freehanded tips and then the black Kiss Nail art striper. It was pretty simple but I think the tips were overkill.

Happy Polishing,

J

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms + Sneak Peek

Heads up! This post contains a motherload of pics!

Today's manicure is Zoya Juicy with Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Ruby Diamond. I used two coats of Juicy on all my nails and then added 2 coats of Ruby Diamond on all nails except my ring fingers. I thought Ruby Diamond was going to be sheer so that's why I applied Juicy first. Ruby Diamond covers in 2 coats, just make sure to spread it evenly so no brushstrokes appear. I also thought Juicy was closer in color to Ruby Diamond than it ended up being. And Juicy is a semi-jelly. It's not quite opaque at 2 coats and it dries really glossy. I used Poshe top coat on all my nails and it didn't hide the holo. Yay!

Excuse the wrinkles in my nails. That was my fault. I had on too many coats of base coat and so it didn't dry properly and caused my polish to slip off.

Sneak Peek: I got my order from Fyrinnae so I'm gonna swatch them and upload them for you! They are so pretty in the jars and I bet they'll be even prettier swatched!

Flash, indoors.

No flash, indoors.

Happy Polishing,

J

China Glaze Giveaway

Konad Addict is having a giveaway where you could win the entire Crackle Collection or the entire Island Escape collection. I know which one I would want to win!! Enter here for a chance at winning!

My 4th of July Mani

This has been my most time consuming mani to-date. And it's not even that great. Oh well. I'm honestly really lazy and don't feel like writing out the polishes I used, but here's a pretty comprehensive list:

Zoya Kimmy

NYX Girls Ink Heart

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City

SH Insta-Dri Whirlwind White

SH Insta-Dri Rapid Red

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Various acrylic paints

Hope you enjoy my mani. I'm not a really big fan of it, but since it took forever, I'm settling and plan on doing a much better one for next year.

Happy Independence Day,

J

I Have Something That You Don't!

Sorry for taunting you in the title, but I just wanted to let you know that I won The Nailventuress's Traveling Polish contest, so I will be receiving the traveling polish, Manhattan 610K, sometime soon. I'm so excited!! I did not think that I was going to get it but I just entered for the fun of it. I can't wait to put it on my nails. I just hope the chips on the sides are less obvious by then!

Happy envying,

J

What Shall I do for July 4th?

New Bohemian, Shade.

I'm busy trying to figure out my American Independence Day mani (I get to do 2 in 2 different color schemes since Jamaica's is in August and is black, green & gold) this weekend and I've seen a whole bunch of manis but I'm not inspired...yet. So I decided to show you an old swatch from the set of color club minis I purchased on ebay. I can't find any info about these colors, so if they end up being fakes, they were the best fakes ever purchased. This one is called New Bohemian.

If you zoom in on the last two pics, you can see the shimmer from Golden Rose Multi Dimensions 04 on my middle finger, which has also been mattified. This reminds me a little of Mermaid's Tears from the OPI Pirates collection, but I don't have it, so I can't do a comparison. Any questions, ask away!

Happy Polishing,

J

Nfu Oh Giveaway

The gals over at Legally Lacquered are having a giveaway that ends on July 4th!! I know many of you want this polish as much as I do, so enter here for a chance to win a bottle of Nfu Oh 61!! It's sold out on Fabuloustreet so this may be your only chance to get your hands on a bottle!

Revlon Oh My Magenta

Just catching Pink Wednesday before it's gone. I got this polish on clearance for about 2 dollars. I'm not sure if this shade is being discontinued. I swore this was a creme until I swatched it and saw the shimmer. Not much to say, just enjoy the pics.

Closeup of the shimmer

Happy polishing,

J

Pink & Purple Gradient

Sorry this is so sloppy but I just wanted to make a post before it hits midnight here on the West Coast. I used China Glaze Innocence for the base and then sponged on Awakening & Coconut Kiss also by China Glaze.
I promise to have something of better quality tomorrow.

Happy Polishing,

J

A England Giveaway

Hey guys,
Quick post to let you know about a giveaway that ends in a couple of days. Fashion Polish is giving away 3 A England polishes on her blog, so for a chance to win, click here. If you win, you get a chance to try out this brand for free (if you haven't already tried it)!

Floral Stamping

Check out those stamping skills!!! I felt like I did a pretty good job for it being my first time attempting a stamping manicure. This post is for Floral Monday on Polish-aholics Anonymous. I used NYX Girls Between Mauve And Purple as my base color. That is a really long name, isn't it? I used the Bundle Monster plate BM14. On my accent finger, I stamped with Julep Natalie, and I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Silver Sweep on the rest of my fingers. I really liked the way this came out! Sorry about the bubbles, my Sally Hansen Insta-Dri has not been the best lately. More pics!!

The silver makes things go out of focus sometimes.

My favorite finger!

 Happy Polishing,

J