Meehhh

Hey lovelies. Today's post is going to be totally lame. Just warning you.

I'm sick =/ So.annoying. Stomach flu from my dad, who was kind enough to share. sdj;aJD;ska

I have a Valentine's Day mani on right now, but I haven't had the energy to bother with pics yet, so those will come tomorrow. I'm not sure I like it very much anyway. 

First I wanted to share this awful experience I had today while going on a quick dusty hunt. I took my little brother to work and on the way home I passed a nail salon that I see all the time. I got a manicure done there several years ago for prom, and I was unimpressed so I never went back. NOW I remember why! I must remind you that I am very new to the art of the dusty hunt, and perhaps I didn't follow proper etiquette but who the hell cares! I went in, and no one was in there but two women watching TV. They literally glared at me when I came in. I'm pretty bubbly and nice even when I don't feel good, but I was greeted coldly. I asked if they sold any polishes, and they both said "No" rudely and dismissively, so I scurried away. Usually I'll fight the good fight but today I wasn't up to it. 

A couple hours later, as I was thinking of the SIX holographic China Glazes they had on their polish rack, I realized I hadn't asked if they sold their used polishes. Dumb, I should have asked. Curiosity piqued, so I called and said "Hi, I came by earlier and I forgot to ask if you sell your used polishes. I saw a few I'd be very happy to purchase from you, if possible." Sweet as friggin honey. 

hold on to your bonnet. this is what she said to me. 

"I remember you. Let me make something clear.. this is a SALON, not a convenience store. I don't sell any polishes here. Didn't I already tell you that?" WHOA Tacky Tina, I was just asking! Sheesh! Stunned, I said, "Yes, but I was asking about used ones. I'm a collector and I was just looking for a particular color." Bitch McBitchenstein says "Listen. You can go to Sally's. I don't have anything for you." She was so snotty and hateful for absolutely no reason. Firstly, if 7-11 carried ChG OMG do you think I'd be traipsing into LE Nails to have a tussle with Tina? Probably friggin not. 

So I got attitude, a stomach bug, and no OMG. :( Sigh. 

To keep up with the general theme, here's my first ever stamping mani. I used Sinful Colors White on White and Kleancolor Metallic Black. It's so icky. And chipped. And I was so friggin proud. Wore it for about five days. /Lame

and here's my second stamping mani.  I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Essie Mesmerize. Again, I was so proud. It was like a newborn child. 

haha! pitiful. anyway, thanks for reading :) you all make me smile. hope everyone is having a wonderful day. :) 

Glam Polish Giveaway!

Isn't it nice when a few of your favorite things come together? I've read The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins several times. The plot is unique, the characters relatable and well developed, and above all the books are so well written. I find that many popular series now are definitely not well developed... (Ahem Stephenie Meyer) so Suzanne Collins really exceeded my expectations, and swiftly turned me into a major fan.

So, because the first Hunger Games movie is coming out in March, China Glaze has created an entire collection dedicated to this unique and exciting series called Colors from the Capitol.

I'm so excited I could pee. Seriously. But I won't, because I'm too busy drooling over the new polishes. What's even more exciting is that Glam Polish, a really awesome beauty blog, is hosting a giveaway of six of the Colors from the Capitol polishes. So. Friggin. Stoked. :) You can enter here! Please do, so everyone can have a chance to win these amazing colors.

Yay! Go enter!

Rachael 

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

...when you're faaast asleeeep... OMGCINDERELLA

Here's the dish.

I have a stomach bug. Couldn't go to class today, couldn't do much of anything. So. Annoying. I was going stir crazy, and when that happens... I shop. I finally had to leave the house and there's a Walgreens riiiight down the street, so that's where I ended up. Okay moooviingooon, I found a new Sinful Colors display. Well, it was more like a few little rows of polishes pretending to be a display. Here's a bad cell phone pic.

Correction: REALLY bad cell phone pic. There was a rude lady eyeballing my Cinderellas and she was about to get a smackdown, so it's a little blurred. Okay, don't remember the names... But we have a pretty medium green, a nice shimmery medium blue, CINDERELLA, a light peachy pink, a lovely medium purple I forgot to get, a pale shimmer, hot shimmery pink called Bikini I think, a pale pale pink, and a color that looks exactly like Bikini but is really not, and yet another potential Zoya Charla dupe, maybe called Starry? OMG long winded. 

Disney's Cinderella, in her beautiful sparkly dress that I always envied when I was a kid... and maybe still do, whatever... 

I grabbed two Cinderellas and might get the last one. I only need one, so I'm considering putting the other in a giveaway soon, unless someone wants to swap :) I haven't done one yet and I'd absolutely love to. Hint hint! 

Sinful Colors Cinderella is a beautiful pale blue with pink glass flecks that shift to gold at the right angle. Of course my camera sucks and refused to capture the shimmer. It also made this polish look gritty, and after three coats it's pretty damn smooth, so ignore that. In all these pics do not do this polish justice. It is absolutely beautiful. I can feel a Disney-inspired mani coming on...

here's a little fun fact about me. I've been to Disneyworld every year since I was two. My grandfather took me, and he passed away a few years ago. He was 82 the last time he took us to Florida and there were still some rides he would get on with enthusiasm. I miss him very much, and all things Disney remind me of him and help me cope. I'm thinking of a tattoo of the castle... maybe. :)

So, when I saw Cinderella, I had to have her! :)

three coats, no topcoat, florescent lighting 

"We have to help Cinderelly!"

<3

I apologize for the awful pictures. You can see the pink glass fleck a little better in my thumb in that last pic. 

SO, yay Disney, and YAY Sinful Colors, because this polish is a definite win. It isn't like anything I have in my stash. 

oh, and just for fun...

                      seriously Jaq and Gus Gus, get cuter. Ohhh but you can't. /presh

EDIT: I originally posted this with shittastical pictures and couldn't live with myself, so I retook some and I think these are better. I apologize if you saw the bad ones! *hangs head in shame*

OPI DS Fantasy

Hello lovelies. I was dusty hunting yesterday 'cause the old panty store paid me my meager bimonthly wages. yaay. Soooo off I went from salon to salon, peddling my "I'm a collector" story, when I came across this little gem. The silver cap caught my eye and whabam, it's DS Fantasy. I don't know exactly when it came out... 2007 maybe? It's a gorgeous deep blue with a mysterious inner shimmer and sparkle. It's not exactly holographic, but in the pics you can see a little tiny bit of holo sparkle. It applied like butter in one coat. These pics are before cleanup :) Oh, and fab cuticles right? Ugh. Top coat of SV. 

Lamp light 

laaamp. i love lamp. i do. i love it.

uhh i think my picha taking skills are getting better.... maybe. :)

FAAANTAAASY

omgomgomg 

natchurall light. window and stuff. SPARKLESNSHIT

i think this pic is the best one. i feel professional! ish. anyway isn't this pretty?? i feel like if those little shiny spots made nose it'd be "bliiiiing!"

yay! dusty hunting! i picked up a few more so i'll have those coming soon. :) let me know what you think of this mani! and, what have you picked up from dusty hunting lately? thanks so much for coming!!

btw... tell your friends! i picked up a couple more polishes for the future giveaway! i'm thinking... 50 followers? i'd love for lots of people to get a chance to win, so spread the word :)

have a wonderful day!!!

-Rachael

Random

DISCLAIMER: This post is not nail polish related. Instead, you will be delighted (maybe), awed (prolly not), and dazzled (twilight much?) by a random list of Rachisms. Yes, that's right. Rachisms.

Hurr's some tidbits about me.

1. I love cupcakes. Not so much so I can eat them, but so I can look at them. I have a cupcake coin bank, cupcake earrings, cupcake socks, and awesome cupcake zipper pouch that I may or may not have made myself. Okay okay, I totally did. Sewed that shit and everything.
2. I never match my socks. It's always nice when I can look down my feet and see little pops of colors, like whatever I dragged out of my sock drawer early in the morning before class. I have two drawers actually.
3. I work at a popular lingerie chain. I won't say the name just in case I pitch a fit about something related to it. No slander here!! No way! (btw bras and panties... after a year, they suck. hard. and so do the snotty rich women that come in to buy them. not all of the customers are snotty rich women. there are some really cool people that shop with us. but mostly they're snotty. and rich. and womanly. wait what?)
4. The f key on my laptop is all wonky. I love that word. Wonky. If I try to type out fffuuucc etc, i end up with uuucc. cause. you know. wonky.
5. My boyfriend is my saving grace. I'm a little crazy and a lot obnoxious, and he puts up with me.
6. I'm not skinny, I'm not a model, I'm not flawless, and I'm not Scarlett Johansson "curvy". I'm real, and I'm squishy, and I'm so very happy. A little jiggle never killed anyone. Cushion for the pushin'. Ohh I said that oh stop
7. I'm listening to this song right now.

Gypsy and the Cat - Jona Vark. They're weird and they're mellow and this is the only song I know, but I effing love it. Listen to the beginning. Please.
8. I have three cats and three dogs and a bird and fifteen koi. The koi are my mom's, like the bird.
9. I am firmly against the buying and selling of domestic cats and dogs. ie, breeding. There are too many in pounds and shelters that need homes. /endrant. i love my babies. i found two cats wandering the open road, two dogs same way, and i got my siamese Lily from a pound. I'll tell that story sometime. It's a good'n.
10. Despite my crazy typing, I'm an English Literature major and I actually have decent grammar. Promise! I wanna be a lawyer one day.
11. I love nail polish, buuut I'm poor. I have trouble buying colors that are similar to something I already have, and I won't buy a polish for the brand. Again, poor. Sorry Chanel Peridot. You can't come home with me. Sorry Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, get back on the friggin shelf.


Soo if this wasn't weird enough I may post more stuff like it. I love late night ramblings.

And I love you guys. All 20 of you. Plus you other jerks that flip through my blog and don't like my cuticles so you don't follow. they don't like you either. omg i'm kidding. my cuticles suck. that should be the name of this blog..

wow all of you are going to unfollow when you read this. Sorrrrry.... this is how I am. Weird. And I like it. oh, and because this is a polish blog, here's some nails.

seriously, what did you expect?

Colorful Camo + Stamping

Hey lovely followers! How's everyone tonight? It's a little after seven pm for me. I have an eight am class tomorrow so I tried to get this mani done earlier than usual. I'm a night owl, so I always end up being up too late despite my best efforts. Oh well.

ontoooo the goooods! For today's mani I thought I'd do more sponging. I started with one coat of my only decent base coat, called Seal the Deal from Bath and Body Works. I've had it forever and a day, and just haven't gone to buy a better one yet. I'd love to hear about your favorite base coats in the comments! :) 

Then I used one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Lacey Lilac. I love this color. It's a soft pastel purple with a fantastic one coat formula that dries very quickly. For about $2.5o a bottle, it's perfect all around! You can see it underneath the sponging here. Sorry, forgot a pic of it alone =/ Then I sponged on Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- Blue Me Away!, Zoya - Ali (the pretty hot pink), OPI - Mermaid's Tears, which is the barely visible pale green, and Sinful Colors  - Snow Me White. I used torn off bits of cosmetic sponges. They're so squishy!

the hot mess I ended up with after sponging. I just used the back of one of my stamping plates and put a drop of each polish as I went along. 

Then I topped with a coat of SV, and when that was dry, I stamped SHANY plate m76, pictured below, with Kleancolor Metallic Black.  Then another coat of SV, and voila!

indoor light 

up close!

L-R: SH- Blue Me Away!, SH- Lacey Lilac, OPI- Mermaid's Tears, Zoya- Ali, and SC- Snow Me White

Konad Stamper in the fleshhh. Er, plastic. I love this thing. $2.99 on amazon.com.

Not really sure what that design is.. Sorta looks like someone dragged through it with a needle. Oh well, it's fun!

Hope you liked today's mani! I'd love to hear what you think. For my second time sponging, I don't think it's too bad! And my cuticles are much better than they used to be, thanks to Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, and SH cuticle oil, and lots of patience. 

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day :)

Rachael 

Haul!

hi hi! This week I bought quite a few polishes. Most are not from new collections but I'm very excited to have them regardless. In comparison to some my 18 polish haul isn't a big one, but it seemed like a lot to me! A new polish is always so much fun. :)

L-R: Orly- Sweet Peacock, Orly- Lucky Duck, SH- Fairy Teal, Essie- Pretty Edgy, FingerPaints- Comet's Collar

This array of colors is probably my very favorite. I'm crazy about greens and blues, more so than I used to be. Every time I go to find the colors for the NOTD I look at shades like these. Anyway, Sweet Peacock is the new polish love of my life. Maybe I'm easily impressed, but the pigmentation in this color is astounding. It has so much depth and shine. *Sigh* I could ramble on, but I'll quit :) Next is Lucky Duck, also from the Birds of a Feather collection. It's a lovely jade green. I got these in a set with Fowl Play, but I think I'll be putting that one away for some other event. Maybe a giveaway :) Fairy Teal I found at CVS for $1.49. Pretty happy with that purchase! Essie: Pretty Edgy came from Ulta, and Comet's Collar for $1.99 at Sally's. It had been on my wish list for awhile so I was so happy to find it. Sorry about the rambling! I get so pleased with myself for buying great polishes for even better prices. 

L-R: Orly- Purple Crush, Orly- Lift the Veil, CG- Magical, CG- Passion, SH- Flirt

I found the China Glazes at Ulta. It's on the opposite side of town so I haven't been there yet, but holy goodness am I glad I went. They had several of the Romantique Collection (Harmony, Awaken, and Admire) that I had never seen before in person, only in swatches. I am such a sucker for frosty metallics, so these are right up my alley. I think I need to go back for a few others. I'm excited to utilize in some stamping adventures. Sally Hansen Xreme Wear- Flirt is such a pretty deep purply-red color. It was 75 cents at CVS, and it also stamps well. 

L-R: Milani- Blue Flash, Milani- Silver Dazzle, Hard Candy- Beetle

Oh Milani. How you have eluded me. I found them in a little town aout 45 minutes away at a tiiiiny K-Mart. Thank goodness for my fellow bloggers who pointed me in the right direction! These are the only two they had, but I snatched them up without a second thought. Swatches soon. HC-Beetle is an Orly- Space Cadet dupe. The $6 difference in prices made this an easy buy, too. 

L-R: Essence- Lime up!, Essence- Break Through, Essence- Walk of Fame, Orly- Oui, Orly- Ma Cherie.

These little Essences are so fun! At 99 cents I can get tons and be guilt free. The Orly minis came in a candy cane I got on sale at Sally's for $1.99. It also came with Androygnie, which I forgot to put in the pics! Whoops. 

YAY DEALS, and YAY POLISH HAUL!

I'd like to take a second to thank my sweet followers for giving me a little of their time each day. I really appreciate you and hope to keep things interesting around here.

Hope everyone is having a great day!!

(i)Rachael(/i)

First Spongicure!

I may or may not have made up that word. Haha... just in case, I won't take any credit :) Today I wanted something bright and fun, and since I actually had time during the day I took advantage of the nice lighting outside. It's very windy and cloudy here but the pics I took turned out rather alright, especially when compared to the pics I've taken before!

Sooo on to the gooods. I started with a base of Zoya- Ali, a really gorgeous hot pink that dries to a satin finish. I found this beauty on sale at Ulta and had to have her. I probably say that a lot.. haha. This is two coats of Ali since it's a little streaky, but that may have just been my application. I'm no professional! On my ring finger is one perfect coat of Orly- Sweet Peacock. I can't get over how beautiful this blue is. Deep and metallic, with dreamy one coat application. Orly really astounds me again and again. This first pic is the most color accurate. Ali is not a peach or a coral, she's a true magenta, and the color didn't come through in the pictures.

Sweet Peacock. Look at that shine!!

then I sponged Sweet Peacock onto my other nails. This is my first time sponging and I really liked the effect. Much easier and faster than stamping.

Add caption

a little blurry, but look at that shimmer

topped with a coat of old faithful, Seche Vite Quick Dry

shimmershimmershimmer

Zoya Ali 

Orly Sweet Peacock

I'm quite happy with the result of this mani. Kinda reminds me of a superhero, though I'm not sure why! 

What do you think? Do you like combos of super bright colors like these two? 

Have a wonderful day!!

-Rachael

Puuuurrrple

Hello hello! I had such a wonderful day today. Spent the whole day with my sweet Brian. He didn't even mind driving me across town so I could rummage through another Ulta's clearance rack. I picked up a few more polishes... oops...

Today we actually counted my stash. I have 127, without topcoats or treatments. I had no idea I had that many. And 12 of them came home with me today! Yay! Granted, three were Essence Color N Gos and three were from Brian, so I really didn't spend too much. It's so tough to stay budgeted! I'm sure many of you can relate. I work in retail and go to school full time, so I really have to be careful where my dollars end up.

1 coat of Kleancolor IT Purple, no topcoat

Anyway, on to the NOTD. I wanted to do a color I hadn't posted yet, so purple it is. I poked around in my stash and Kleancolor IT Purple made an impression, so that's what we have! Here it is with flash, indoor lighting.

How beautiful is it? So shimmery and lovely. And only one coat!

this one is a perfectly color accurate.

Then I stamped with China Glaze Magical, from the Romantique collection. I found it today and knew it had to come home with me. Stamped beautifully, though my ring finger looks like half is missing. Weird camera effect! haha. I used Konad plate m73 and my Konad stamper, but not the scraper. I prefer used gift cards so they don't scratch the plates. 

Then I used a coat of Seche Vite Quick Dry, but I must have applied it too early because it dragged the base color through the stamp and lost a lot of the effect. After it had dried I just re stamped, and I like the result. It's kind of 3D if you look really closely. 

Here's the inspiration for the title! This is my sweet Siamese, Lily. She's a few years old, and soft and silky like a mink. I adopted her from a shelter when she was 11 weeks old. Best purchase I ever made, polishes included!!

Lily, lazing around

I wonder if this tastes good...

What do you think? What are your latest buys and from where?

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. :) 

Progress!!

Hey there! I got my camera all fixed up. Now I have to learn how to get it to take pictures like I want, because when I attempted to capture the purple color of my previous mani, it was a hot mess. I was horrified by the huge mistake I called a mani in my last post, but this should make up for it. I am so proud. It's like.. my first born child. I mean mani. Haha. Check it out!

Essie- Pretty Edgy

OH HOLY NIGHT it's gorgeous. I can't get enough of it. Not only is kelly green my favorite color, but Essie has managed to create a perfect creme version of it that I only recently discovered. Last on the shelf at Ulta. Gift card in hand. It was fate, seriously. Can't even handle this. I also can't handle my shockingly dry skin but ohh efff my nails are so pretttyyy.... I'll get over it. I put lotion on and two seconds later it's all soaked in. Siigh, the troubles of winter. Meh.

So obviously this is Essie- Pretty Edgy. I think it's Pretty Freaking Awesome. Application was a dream, perfectly controllable and opaque in two glorious coats. I topped it with a healthy layer of SV and then... stamped. And it's gorgeous.

I stamped with BM plate 05, in Kleancolor Metallic Sapphire. I love Kleancolor for stamping. There's a place in Texas that has them, near my grandmother's house, and last time I was there I bought out their metallics. Worth the $1.95, and much more. I used a dotting tool and put a tiny bit of Sinful Colors Queen of Beauty, a really pretty silver glitter. Then... I kept playing. 

I filled in my the design on my ring finger with Color Club Kiss Me Mistletoe, a lovely green foil I'll be swatching soon. Can you tell I love me some green? :) 

Sigh. Perfection. This mani has made my whole day. Er, night. I'm having dinner with the boyfriend's parents tomorrow and didn't want something too ostentatious. This mani is "me" enough without being in anyone's face. Not that I'd care much. Breaking them in slowly! :)

Anyway. I'm just so excited that I got my camera working and that I could finally bring a decent post. If I had a glass of sparkling grape juice I'd prolly be celebrating in style. Hope everyone is having a great day :)


By the way... I know this is very early on, and I only have a couple followers, but if we can spread the word my first giveaway will come that much faster. I already picked up a couple things. :) Can't... stop... shopping!!!


Did I mention I found a bottle of Seche Vite today for $2.15? On clearance? How does that even happen?

See you soon!!!

-Rachael

Orly Purple Crush

Hey everyone! I just got home from Sally Beauty... and Ulta... and Target... and Walgreens... oh yes. I hauled. Pics to come later. I got a nice selection of polish brands I haven't tried before, like Hard Candy and an Essence. The others are mostly OPI and... well, you'll see!!

I've been having trouble with my camera.. That means terrible picture quality again. Sigh. This should be the last post with phone pics. Promise!! I keep checking out other blogs and my little new one feels so very inadequate, and the pictures are NOT helping. Anyway, on to the mani!

I started with an OPI base coat and then one coat of Orly- Purple Crush. I think it leans more magenta, especially in the bottle. Let me tell you, this polish was a one coat wonder. It dries to a satin finish, and pretty quickly actually. These pictures, while of terrrrrible quality, are perfectly color accurate. Yay! One thing my phone can do right! After one (yes, only one!) coat of Purple Crush, I stamped random little flowers from Bundle Monster plate 20, in Kleancolor Metallic Black. Then I topped it with a coat of SV. Not my favorite design, but my mom picked it and I couldn't decide anyway. It turned out pretty cute! I think I may use Purple Crush in a sponge mani tomorrow.

the flowers are on there somewhere, promise. This is the best pic I had of the color, but definitely not the best quality! Here's a slightly better pic.

...I did say slightly. This is horrible. If my camera isn't working by tomorrow I'm getting a new one. I'm so sorry!!

Here's to better posts and better pictures!! Baby steps. :) I hope one day I look back at these and cringe because I've gotten so much better. Haha. Hope everyone had a great day, and we'll see you tomorrow :)