L8R Miami... Hello St. Louis!

Hey Ladies!

Long time no see! Life has been crazy but its stabilizing again. I am officially in St. Louis for the entire summer! So, an update: I finished finals and I started to prepare myself for the summer. I had to pack for my vacation and start packing for St. Louis. Then I went on my cruise vacation and it was awesome. Wish the vacation would have been longer. But don't we all wish that? LOL! Then I came back from my vacation and I immediately had to finish packing because I was leaving for St. Louis the next day. Packing for 2 months is not easy. I didn't want to overpack but I didn't want to be limited to 2 pairs of jeans and 5 tops all summer. LOL! That was an overwhelming experience. It looked like my closet had thrown up all over my room. It was a war zone!

So now I'm in St. Louis and I've been here for a little over a week. The first week was very hectic. I started summer classes right away so I was doing homework. I was trying to find a way to accommodate all my stuff. I was trying to get used to the new routine. And if that wasn't enough, I had my first terrifying experience on Day 2... Tornado Warnings! I'm from Miami. We don't get any of those there. All we get are hurricanes. Personally, I prefer a hurricane over a tornado. Hurricanes give you plenty of warning that they are heading your way. Plus, homes in Miami are built to withstand them. However, a tornado doesn't give you much warning. It's more like "BAM! I'M HERE!" And can you even build a structure to withstand a tornado? Either way, we got bad weather and were under tornado warnings for most of the day. So I was glued to the news and had no idea where things were happening. Imagine that while being in a new city. I didn't know where the counties and cities they were mentioning were located. So I didn't know how close or far the tornado sightings were. I was literally sitting there with a map open on my laptop trying to follow the news. And then I heard the tornado siren going off outside. I think I almost crapped my pants... Seriously! I hope I never hear that thing again in my entire life! Luckily, nothing happened here. 

Needless to say, my nails have been naked for far too long now. I finally painted them this week. Go figure I chipped a nail the next day. LOL! I'm going to post up the backlog of manicures I have and then I'll start posting my most recent ones. You'll notice when I reached recent ones because I don't have a light box here. So I have to depend on the sun to get good pictures. Well, enough of my rambling and on to the nails!

This is Chrysanthe-mum's the Word from FingerPaints Spring 2011 collection. Yeah, the bottle doesn't have the name on the bottom sticker because I got this collection from a blogsale and they had received this collection for review. I'd describe this as a pastel lime green. Very appropriate for spring and summer. The formula was great. 2 coats for full application. I then applied 1 coat of China Glaze's L8R G8R to my ring finger because I was bored. LOL! L8R G8R is a light green holo from the OMG Collection.

Happy Polishing!

China Glaze Crackle Metals

THE HOTTEST METALS GET CRACKLED

China Glaze Introduces Six New Crackle Glaze Polishes in Sparkling Metallics for Summer 2011

Los Angeles, CA – (June 2011):  Set your summer style to “sizzle” with China Glaze’s new Crackle Glaze Metals collection.  The pioneer in crackle technology, China Glaze takes the beauty phenomenon to the next level with this second-generation polish that pairs the edgy innovation of crackle with the elegant beauty of metals.  The China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals collection features six sparkling metallic colors including:

·        Tarnished Gold: Warm, honeyed hue

·        Platinum Pieces: Shimmering silver

·        Haute Metal: Pale pink

·        Cracked Medallion: Bold bronze

·        Latticed Lilac: Soft lavender

·        Oxidized Aqua: Deep aquamarine blue

Create dramatically different looks with just one sweep of China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals.  Layer over different base colors to create bold styles.  Use a lighter coat to create a fine crackle, a thicker coat for a deep shatter effect.  As versatile and edgy as China Glaze’s biggest celebrity fans (Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Nicole Ritchie and Kelly Osbourne, to name a few), Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals is sure to be this summer’s hottest beauty trend!

The China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals collection will be available as open stock colors and 12 piece counter display with a unique Crackle Glaze screen and including an instructional hang tag.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde.

China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com or follow China Glaze on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChinaGlaze

Grrr to Blogger!

Hey Ladies!

It's been a crazy week and an even crazier day. I don't have the mental energy to get into it right now so I'll share the details later. Either way, I apologize for my absence. There is a reason to all this madness. 

Some of you might recognize these pictures... That's because I had already posted them. Apparently something happened to Blogger on Friday the 13th and this post was deleted! Unfortunately, I don't have the mental energy (as I just mentioned) to type up everything I had typed up earlier regarding these polishes. But I still say that this is 2 coats of Sephora by OPI's Sue vs Shue from the Glee Collection.

Then I added Sephora by OPI's diamond topcoat Celibacy Club (also from the Glee Collection). It makes any color shine as if it were a holo. I love this stuff!

As a short summary: I don't remember having any application problems. Formula was fine. My only real complaint is the size of the bottle. It was hard to grip the bottle cap comfortably during application. But that is what I get for purchasing the mini bottle set. Either way, I think it was still worth it since you get a variety of the colors from this collection for a not-too-crazy price.

I will be back to posting regularly soon. Maybe even tomorrow. No promises though. I'll keep you all posted and I promise we haven't disappeared from the blogging world. Seems a lot of bloggers are doing that these days... and I miss them all!

Happy Polishing!

Zoya's 2011 LE Touch Collection!

2011 limited edition, full coverage nude nail colors

TOUCH

soft  sensual  sexy

Zoya Nail Polish presents 3 new, full coverage nude nail polish shades designed to coordinate with a variety of skin tones ranging from light to dark. Each softly kissed with a bit of metallic to make them ultra wearable.

Zoya TOUCH Collection

Minka (ZP561) - latte beige cream with a metallic kiss

Shay (ZP562) - desert rose sand beige cream with a metallic kiss

Pandora (ZP563) - mauve beige cream with a metallic kiss

Zoya is the new color of fashion...

The Zoya TOUCH collection was designed to recreate the custom looks developed for and inspired by the runways of New York Fashion Week.

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are free of harmful industrial chemicals like toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find Zoya TOUCH as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion Zoya shades at www.zoya.com. As always, each and every Zoya color is made for women so we name them after women.

TOUCH by Zoya

PRE-ORDER May 25 - May 31, 2011

shipping JUNE 1, 2011

Sug. Retail $8.00 per 0.5 fl. oz. bottle (US)

Reclaiming my freedom...

Hey Ladies!

Freedom... I can almost taste you. I have my last exam on Wednesday and a paper/motion due by Friday. I can't wait! In the spirit of freedom, here is a mani I wore almost two months ago. LOL! Better late than never! This is Nubar's best color ever (then again, I think this is the only Nubar color I've used): Reclaim! Reclaim is an amazing pure green linear holo. I believe this was just 2 coats. I don't remember experiencing the drag problem during application that you tend to see with holos. This color is gorgeous. This is one of my top favorite holos (right after Nfu-Oh's 65 and China Glaze's DV8).

I think this color is a must-have for every polish lover out there. I would have worn this longer if it wasn't for the fact that I have an entire Helmer drawer full of untried polishes. On another note, I haven't really tried Nubar polishes (besides this color). Mari owns one other Nubar color (I think). Any recommendations or other must-have Nubar colors that I'm missing out on?

I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day yesterday. My niece is too cute! She just turned 5 and I guess she has the concept of Mother's Day a little confused. She kept telling me "Happy Mother's Day" but added that she didn't make me a card. I told her it was ok because I wasn't a mom. She said "I know but I'm telling you because you're someone's mom!" LOL! Such cute innocence. 

Well, until next time (which will probably be on Wednesday). Happy Polishing!

BornPrettyStore Stamping Plate Review

Hey Ladies!

Happy Mothers Day! Happy Sunday to those of you that aren't mothers (like me)! Also, thank you for the sweet and understanding comments regarding my super busy final exam period and lack of posts.

Just wanted to make a quick post for my promised continuous review of the BornPretty stamping plates. I have tried and tried to remember what polish I was wearing when I stamped these over and I can't remember. I usually do these reviews right before taking off my polish for a new manicure. I'm sure I could figure it out if I looked a little harder but I don't have the brain function for that right now. I think this color might have been a swatch and not an actual worn mani. Whatever. LOL! I stamped using Konad's Special Polish in Black.

My initial review can be found here. My opinion on the overall quality of these plates is detailed there and I don't feel like typing it again. So these are my 4 favorite images from the BornPretty plate labeled m11. We've got a butterfly, a crown, a flower, and a rose. The only thing I really want to add is that I wasn't able to get the entire crown image to lift off the plate. See what I mean? It isn't completely solid. I retried applying black polish and lifting with the stamper but I could see it wasn't full before stamping on the nail. I gave up after a few attempts. Other than that, I'm happy!

The m11 plate is a part of this set. This set can be purchased from BornPrettyStore. You can't beat the price ($12).

These stamps were sent to us for review. Please read our disclosure policy (here).

Your poison has me hypnotized...

Hey Ladies!

I am sooooooooo sorry for the disappearance! I've been in finals, Mari was out of town, and her nails are healing from some bad breaks. This last week and a half has been brutal. I didn't paint my nails until 2 nights ago. I decided I deserved a break and gave my nails some love! I worked my butt off to finish a take-home exam and outline/study for my other exam so I could afford to spend some time with my boyfriend last weekend since he was visiting. I just barely made it. First, take-home exams are not easier! Having the ability to use your book, notes, outlines, etc doesn't do much when professors come up with insane scenarios on an exam question. LOL! And lets not talk about that second exam... Lets just say everyone walked out of there saying "what the hell was that!?!?!" I have one more exam and a mini paper/motion to go. 

I can't wait for all this to be over! I go on a cruise in 2 weeks. My niece turned 5 this week (and I had to  miss her birthday party at her school because I was stuck taking my final exam) and we are going on a Disney cruise to celebrate. And then I come back from the cruise and have to quickly pack 2 months worth of stuff! I'm going to spend the summer in St. Louis with the boyfriend and take classes up there. I leave the day after I get back from the cruise. I'm so excited! But the thought of packing 2 months worth of stuff is a little scary! Of course I'll be taking nail polish with me! I'll keep photographing and posting but I won't have my light box (I'm not packing that, LOL). Hmmm... Maybe I'll make one up there (if my boyfriend won't think I'm an official weirdo). LOL!

Enough of my ramblings! I'm sure you rather all see some polish! However, this is not a current manicure. As I said, I took time to paint my nails and photograph them. But I haven't uploaded those pictures yet. So I'm posting one of my "crap I'm behind in my posting" manicures. LOL! (And I still have plenty of those to go... Some as far back as February!)

So this is Essence's Hypnotic Poison. I got this color from an international swap I did with an awesome blogger (Colour Victim). I had seen this color on All You Desire and I fell in love with it! I'd say Hypnotic Poison is like a wine red color with very very very subtle pink shimmer (super subtle). It only took 2 coats for full coverage. I think the application and formula was great. My only complaint (and this is a general one for Essence) is the size of the bottle. It's not as comfortable to hold while painting your nails. I like bigger bottles that you can get a sturdy grip on. At the end of the day, its really not a deal breaker considering the awesome colors and the awesome price (I can only speak for the price on the bottles available in the US, $0.99). 

Again, sorry for being MIA. I promise I'll TRY to set up some posts this weekend just in case my time gets a little crazy again before my last final. 

Happy Polishing!

Make Me Smile!

Hey Ladies!

Hope you all had a great Easter! This is going to be a short (scheduled) post because I'm supposed to be studying. I feel like this exam time period is going to take forever! I'm looking forward to seeing my boyfriend this weekend. He will be in town and I can't wait! That is helping me survive the week. I still haven't painted my nails so these are pictures from some of my many manicures that I have yet to post. This is Misa's Quirky Smile from the What I Like About You Collection (Fall 2010). Quirky Smile is a gorgeous teal shimmer. 2 coats of perfection. Perfect application and formula.

Until next time! 

Happy Polishing!

Now Serving Eggplant

Hey Ladies!

I just want to say that "it" has arrived. No, I don't mean a polish order or a new collection for review... The "it" I'm talking about is the scariest "it" out there! LAW SCHOOL FINALS! I hate this point in the semester. It's bitter sweet. Classes are over (hooray) but then the dreaded exams start. I hate the stress and anxiety that comes along with it. Bad enough that I haven't painting my nails in a week! Yeah, my last two posts are from a few manis ago. I promise I'll try to keep posting during finals. But at the end of the day I have to put school first. I'm literally just setting my sights on a few things happening after exams to help me get through the next 2 weeks. So please forgive me if I disappear a little during this crazy time.

This is Wet n Wild's popular Eggplant Frost. It's a plum purple with intense blue shimmer/flash. You see that blue the moment the light hits. Its impossible to avoid it but why would you want to? LOL! This was 2 coats. The application was easy to worth with. No complaints. I had seen so many bloggers posting this one so I decided to go for it when I saw it at a local Walgreens. No regrets here! 

Happy Polishing!

Zoya's Mira

DREAM application.  Super smooth and could have been a one-coater, EASY, but of course, I always do two at minimum.  This is Mira by Zoya.  The bottle pic because of the lighting tends to be a little light, but the other pictures are true shade accuracy.  Just a great purple.... which are my FAVES!

Happy Polishing!