U: Urban Utopia, Maybelline

Just in the nick of time... two hours before closing.

I apologize for the total lack of creativity for letter "U".  I stopped by the drugstore on the way home from work looking for a U nail polish to buy especially for this week, or last week I should say.  This was the only bottle I that started with U.  Urban Utopia from this year's Maybelline spring collection.  This is two coats and I did not have any issues with the formula.  A beautiful medium teal....

So  that is it for now, on to letter V in a few days....

See you!

Go see the other wonderful ladies in this challenge!

O: On Her Majesty's Secret Service, OPI vs Winter Wonder, Sinful Colors

It's Wednesday!  Like I need to remind you.

For the letter "O" I swatched OPI's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, from the 007 collection.  This is the only polish I bought from the set. OHMSS is a nice blue, grey, metallic foil with multicolored shimmer/micro glitter. Formula's a bit thin, but not problematic at all. Below is three coats.

I include the picture below because in the top two finger you can really see the small glitters sparkle.

A couple of weeks after I bought OHMSS, I found Winter Wonder from Sinful Colors, they are dead on dupes.

Below is one coat of each polish.

AND a bottle shot, for those of you who like to look at bottles, such as me!

Neither of these polishes are in stores anymore, but they are online. Online the prices are all over the place, but when they are in stores, OPI is $8 and SC is $2 here in the states.

Meet my cat, Demi. I woke her from a nap with the camera. She's my buddy. In the last couple of years has become quite attached to me and likes to sit with me while I paint my nails.

So that is it for today!

K: Kinetic Candy, China Glaze

Today's ABC challenge features Kinetic Candy from last year's Spring, Electropop collection.  I wore this last year but I didn't take pictures of it.  I was surprised to see that KC has a trace amount of grey in it, just a trace.  The formula is fantastic, creamy, not chalky.  There was no wait time between coats therefore really easy to work with.

Here's a simple swatch of two coats.

Then I added glitter.  Santee's M89, Gift Sparkle, such a generic name.  

And... a quick comparison.

Well that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this post!

J: Jacob's Protection, Essence Twilight Series

Believe it or not, I only have three bottles of nail polish that start out with the letter J.  So this week is just a quick swatch of Jacob's Protection, from Essence Twilight Series.  JP is a black jelly polish with blue shimmer. The shimmer isn't very strong and looks black most of the time.  I have a bunch of these types of polishes, I should do a comparison post one day.  Anyhow here is two coats which were super easy to apply and dried pretty fast.

I got my bottle in a swap with the beautiful Criminal Nails.

That's it for now.  Thanks for stopping by!

Orly Green with Envy and Haul Swatches

Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

I think my nails are screaming for winter to be over!  My middle and index fingers keep breaking and corners keep chipping from the dry indoor heat and frequent handwashing. So I had to file them all down and some are squoval and some are square.  Some nail website actually recommended to "limit handwashing" during winter months to prevent breakages. Really?! This is cold and flu season! I'm still going to wash my hands, my nails will just be short, so what, big deal!

Well, it is March and all the new polish collections are out!  I went over to Sally's and bought a few items.  First I'll show you a quick swatch and then my haul.

I can't seem to get enough teal this winter. Here's another one, Orly's Green with Envy. This is an old polish but a good one. It goes on sheer and milky, cloudy even. Reminds me of milk glass. It dries really glossy. If your the type that likes to skip out on top coat this one's for you!  Above is two coats with Out the Door top coat. I always wear top coat and base coats. ALWAYS.

Above is my haul.  The cashier gave me two free mini bottles of Orly argan cuticle oil. I haven't tried it yet.

Oh and the new Finger Paints collection comes with a free cocktail ring.  The bands are elastic, but it's still too big for me, even if I wear it on my thumb.  My ring finger is size 5.5, in case your wondering. If your a normal sized person, the rings will probably fit. I have to say the quality isn't too bad for a freebie. The ring is metal and the rhinestones are decent.

Below are swatches on a nail wheel, as they are, with no top coat.

Skinny Dip dries matte and has a iridescent sheen that's hard to see in this picture.

Peaceful Opposition is like a jelly sandwich in a bottle. PO is a sheer white with silver, square and hex glitter.

Itsy Bitsy Spider has a strong blue shimmer that is also hard to see.

I'm a bit disappointed in Moasic Madness and Razzle Me Dazzle me.  I thought they were black jellies with glitter, but they're not.  They kind of look messy to me.

Budding Romance has a really nice creamy formula.  I can't wait to wear that one, seems more appropriate for fall though.

Dandy Lyin Around is a white polish with a nice white, subtle iridescent shimmer to it. I have to return this one, it has a bad cap and I can't get it to close properly.  So if Sally's does not have another bottle you won't get to see this one on my hands later.

Well, that is it for now.  I will be posting my ABC challenge late next week because I have to go out of town to see my parents.  Until then... happy polishing!

Finger Paints - Cupcake Heaven

Happy Saturday out there!

This weekend I have a really nice pastel to show you. New this spring from Finger Paints is Cupcake Heaven.  Such a beautiful blue teal, I can't seem to stop buying this type of color.  Cupcake Heaven is brighter and more blue than China Glaze's For Audrey, if you need a comparison.  Today I paired it with a copper glitter also from Finger Paints, called Fall of Surprises.

Below is two coats of Cupcake Heaven by itself.  I didn't have any issues formula wise on this but it did dry with my vertical ridges showing and my ridges aren't that deep.  Probably need to remember to wear a ridge filling base coat with this one next time.

I got my bottle at Sally's and now I don't remember the price, plus I think in the last couple of weeks they raised all prices for nail polish.  China Glaze I saw is now $6.49 a bottle if your not a club member.  Oh and the new Finger Paints spring collection comes with a bunch of matching fish eggs - bead thing-y-s.  I skipped out on those.

Side note: Have you seen the new Orly bottles?  I should have taken a picture... oh well.  I hate the new font, looks cheap and they got rid of their signature "O". Bad!  I'm glad they kept the new rubber caps though.

Here's how the room is coming along:

PULL up the carpet!!!

Remove tack board and about 1000 staples with crow bar and screwdriver!  Talk about tedious!  Vacuum up dust, dirt and debris...

This is the entry to my bedroom, which is also the front door, "foyer", not much of one, but it is/was tiled with slate. There's hubby chiseling away to remove the stone and concrete underneath.  What a dirty and messy job. The removal of slate took 6 hours alone, for such a small space, maybe only 25 square feet. Hubby said, "We will see if hard work builds character". After a long day of hammering away, he concluded, "It does not."

If your just now tuning in, click back post by post to see how this all started.

Next we put down new hardwood floors!  I will post again on Wednesday with the ABC challenge hosted by Kimber at Lacquer Korner.  We are working on letter "H".  See you then!

Zoya Wednesday

I can not wait until "W" or "Z" in the ABC challenge to come around to wear Wednesday!  So you get to see it today!

I have to tell you Wednesday has a very nice retro, mid-century feel to it. Very close to China Glaze For Audrey, just more green. For Audrey is more blue. They're not dupes but they are pretty darn close and they have the same effect from afar when worn alone.  I'm glad I have both.  I think if your into nail art and added red the differences will become obvious.

Here's two coats of Wednesday.  A very nice creamy formula too, I might add.

Went a little picture crazy.

Here's a comparison to the other teals I own.  Wednesday is the same shade but more green than For Audrey, and it is one shade lighter than Sweet Addiction.  Barielle's Sweet Addiction by the way is a possible one coater, and it is sitting in my untried pile.  I did a swatch of Athens last spring.



Here is a shot at the bottles.

I like any shade of teal or cyan. I wanted to get Bevin too.... must have discipline!

Oh, here are two pictures of the demolition of the bench.

This took three hours or so to take apart.  Inside was lined with cedar so we salvaged that, which is why it took so long.  I am totally relieved to find dry wall behind the bench, but whoever installed it ripped out the windowsills, so I'm going to have to get a carpenter to put those in and fix all the broken molding.  And look gross brown carpet that came before the cream carpet!

Click back two posts to see before photos.

More to come, enjoy the photos!

B: Barielle Blackened Bleu

I decided to join the ABC challenge. I hope I can keep up!  Today is B, Barielle's Blackened Bleu.  BB is a sheer black jelly with blue shimmer. This is three coats and it feels really thick.  The formula is really nice and easy to work with though.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think this would be really nice to layer with.  The first coat I put on was really sparkly.  The more coats I added the sparkle kind of subsided.  Still pretty though.

I have a blog sale going on right now, and a giveaway.  Don't miss them.

Pirate Polish What's Up Doc w/ OPI Ski Teal We Drop

Continuing with my green theme, this month, I've got a green glitter to show you today, from Pirate Polish, What's Up Doc? I've been looking for the perfect teal to pair with this glitter and here it is with OPI's Ski Teal We Drop, from the Swiss collection.  

Ski Teal We Drop is a dark, rich teal cream polish.  This is two coats, decent formula and dries fast.

Below are a couple of bottle shots of What's Up Doc.  The orange bars look like carrots, don't they?

Pirate Polish is an indie brand and can be found at Etsy.com. Lacquer Tracker is the maker and she has a blog, click here.  Pretty!

Sinful Colors - Savage

Hey there!

I have a quick swatch to show you for this weekend.  Savage by Sinful Colors reminds of those polishes that have a rubber-matte like finish.  I didn't have any issues applying this, and the blue is quite bright.  I'm not sure if Sinful intended the finish to dry this way.  Maybe it does dry flat, because is leans neon and some neons dry flat.  Here it is two coats.

I did not add a top coat because I ended up adding an indie glitter on top, called Sea Monster by Priate Polish.  Click here for that post.

If you like mattes, a matte top coat would probably even out the paint. 

That's it for now.  Enjoy.

Pirate Polish - Sea Monster

Hello out there!!!

Tonight I have another indie glitter to show you, from Pirate Polish called Sea Monster.  Sea Monster is an aqua glitter with some holographic square glitter and matching jumbo hex glitters.  Maybe the jumbo glitters are the monsters in the sea of aqua glitter, which could represent all the plastic trash swirling around in the real ocean.. maybe? 

Well to me, looks like crushed crystals.  It's really pretty, very sparkly, I never once thought of monsters or swirling trash, or seaweed or what ever the heck else is in the sea.... anyhow.  I wore this over three different polishes, so hang on, this is going to be a pic heavy post, and I'll keep the text to a minimum. 

One coat over Sinful Colors Savage

One coat over one of my frankens...

I tried a glitter gradient here, over one of my frankens, I'll post later.

Bottle shot here.

Over a lavender, Sugar Plum Fairy by Funky Fingers.

Artsy photo, I thought the lighting was interesting here. 
Also over Sugar Plum Fairy, click two posts back for a swatch.

Do you like???  I do!!!

The jumbo glitters stick out, but they all do.  Just slap a thick, thick coat of top coat over it and it will be fine.

Pirate Polish is made by the very talented Lacquer Tracker, she has a blog and and etsy store.  Check it out here.  Oh, and her Christmas glitters are out now.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ruffian Gone Wrong

Hey Guys!

I really love this color combo, but need to find another way to wear it.  Rose gold with Tiffany blue.... I tried to do a ruffian with Anise's Wildcat and China Glaze's For Audrey.  Maybe Wildcat wasn't thick enough?  I don't know....

Below is one coat of Wildcat.

I wasn't impressed with Wildcat's formula, it was actually kind of sticky and I kept pulling the paint off with my brush... goes on like a pastel.  One stroke and leave it alone, can't go back over painted areas or else it just pulls off and clumps.  Anyone tried anything from Anise?  They're available at DSW shoe warehouse for $6 a bottle, but they are always BOGO 1/2 off.  This is my first bottle from them. 



You MUST CLICK ON THE VIDEO, before you leave, it is only 3 seconds long!

OPI - Unfor-Greta-bly Blue

Post Election nails!

I decided to wear blue to mark the occasion of President Obama being re-elected.  So here is OPI's Unfor-Greta-bly Blue, from the Germany Collection... a royal blue with blackened shimmer, along the same lines as Germanicure and Oktoberfest.  The formula is a little thin, but builds nicely, and dried uber smooth.  I did three coats.  The top coat is Out the Door.

Under florescent light.

Under halogen light.

A very nice, fall, wintery blue to have in a collection.

That's it for now!

Revlon Royal

Hey guys!

I've got another quicky swatch post to show you today.  Revlon's Royal, a bright yet dark royal blue jelly polish.  Dries to a dull finish, but with Revlon's quick dry top coat its super shiny.  I used two coats and you can still see my nail line, in bright light, but I'm okay with that.  I originally wanted to add glitter, but I totally enjoyed this all by itself. 

I picked this up at Walgreens during their BOGO 1/2 off... not bad at all.  Regular price about $5 and easy to find and almost any drugstore. 

I think Royal is a must have!  Do you have any Revlon favorites that we should know about?

Illamasqua Phallic

Hey guys!  So sorry I've been missing in action this week.  I'm going to try and catch up but I can't make any promises.  I've been at work and I wore ChG's Desert Sun and Sinful Color's Slate, again. Since I already swatched those, you haven't really miss out on anything.  :)  I had one day off and I've been craving dark polishes so I wore Illamasqua's Phallic for a day.  I had high hopes for this one and while it is dark, its a bit murky when not in direct sunlight.  Such a shame because the shimmer is really pretty when it does come out.  Check out the two, highly pigmented coats below. 

Under fluorescent light.

Indoor, indirect sunlight.

Below is a phamplet that was in the box my polish came in.  In case you aren't familiar with Illamasqua.... its a British cosmetics brand, that stands out amongst the other cosmetic companies by specializing in theatrical make up. 

Illamasqua is at Sephora, their nail polishes are $14 a bottle.   The formula wasn't bad at all, and at $14,  I'm probably only going to buy odd ball colors from them. 

Have you tried anything from Illamasqua?

CrowsToes - Gomez

FI-NAL-LY! *clutch fists* After waiting three full weeks, my bottle of Gomez arrived.  Gomez is complex glitter bomb made up of various sizes and quantities of black, blue, gold, silver and purple hex glitters and some black bar glitter.  Here it is layered over Sinful Colors, Slate, a medium gray shimmer polish. 

Right hand.  Thicker coat of glitter.

Left hand, glitter is more sparse here.

I had a much better time controlling the glitters with Gomez, than I did with, I Make the Path, the other CrowsToes polish I posted.  Gomez seems to have more clear base in it.  My right hand has one thick coat and the left hand has a thin coat.  Sometimes I really don't like my glitters so crowded but in this case they were pretty both ways. 

The mixtures of glitters in Gomez are very nicely done.  The black adds some depth and dimension. The gold, silver and blue sparkle.  Blue, I would say is the main color and the small amount of purple is a nice surprise and balance.  I think Gomez will definitely be in my top 10 polishes for 2012!  Its like crusted jewels.  Extraordinarily engaging!

I got my bottle of Gomez from shop.llarowe.com, for $14.  Expect delays, in this case, I think it was worth it.  I probably sound like a whiny, impatient child, but I'm used to store bought polish, and when I buy polish online I generally buy from eBay.  Which many times, polish ships out in one business day and shows up in my mailbox, two to three days later (domestic mail), not three weeks later.   However, I can forgive, because I did get a couple of mass notification emails about shipping delays, which is better than no communication at all.  I highly suggest visiting my other CrowsToes posting on I Make the Path. In the comments sections there's a discussion on shopping experiences with Llarowe.  Please check your bottles as soon as you get them in the mail.

Thanks for stopping by!