Sunday, June 28, 2009

Gah! Konad...

Just when I thought I was on the road to conquering your pink plastic ass, you go and make my right hand application your bitch. I'm doing pretty well using my right hand to apply the designs on my left hand, but my right hand looks like complete shite. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Sometimes, the design isn't even coming off the stamper. I'm sure it has something to do with the angle and pressure using my left hand, but gah... I'm frustrated. I guess it just takes practice, practice, and more practice. Tonight, I did master getting the design completely on the scraper, something that has plagued me since I got the damn thing.

So, long story short, my right hand blows. I will have pictures tomorrow once I charge my battery. Mani is Essie Clambake with Konad white polish and Maybelline Golden Cloud topcoat.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Picture Updates

Goodness, I've been so busy this week, I haven't had a good chance to sit down and update. I have a few pictures of my recent manis, like I promised, but I they aren't very good. Either timing, lighting, or my own photography skills conspired against me.

Here's OPI Rose to the Ovation:




Sorry for the blurriness, but it's the only one, out of the 10 or so I took of this color, to actually show the true color. It's a gorgeous color, but I have a hard time describing it. It's not pink, it's not wine. I guess deep rose shimmer is the best descriptive I've come up with. It's d/c and HTF, though there are a few bottles for jacked up prices on eBay. I found mine for $8 on eBay. The seller's store is Shades of Beauty7. Good prices and low shipping.


That's the mani I wore to Charlotte. My next one was the OPI Ink/OPI California Raspberry combo.

There is also konadding, but it's hard to see. I liked this, but I did get bored quickly.
That's all for now. I'll get on later today to update with my current mani and few other things going on in my head. I just wanted to post these while it was on my mind.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Back in town...

As I mentioned last week, my sis and I headed to Charlotte, NC over the weekend to visit our cousin. Had a good time, but now I'm exhausted and wishing for a nanny for my twins so I can nap all day. We drove 11+ hrs in a 54 hour period. I'm so tired, and La did the majority of the driving.

I had plans to haul a few NPs, but it didn't happen. The BB&W in the Southpark Mall was out of Lippmanns, the Sephora looked like children had dug in all the sample pans and I just couldn't handle spending $9 on Sephore by OPI when I get OPI from TD for $5, considering the bottles look like shite. I did want to check out the NARS, but like I mentioned, everything was messed up. I did like looking at the Kat von D display and I'm planning on get my sis a KvD eye palette for her b-day. I did want to look at the Chanel counter, but it never happened. I was too worn out by then to haul my ass to Nordies. Thank goodness, Cheesecake Factory was there to save the day. :)

I redid my nails last night using a previous untried, OPI Ink. I love this color. This is what I wanted OPI RN to be like. It's a deep purple/blue with tons of blue and pink-red shimmer. RN and Ink look very similar in the bottle. On the nail, however, it's day and night. I like the color, but I was bored and I got my new Konad plates from OCNailArt over the w/e, so I tried plate m54. I used OPI California Raspberry to try and bring out the pink-red shimmer and I like the way it looks, but it's hard to photograph. I also did a funky french w/ the CR. I like the way it turned out, but it is different, that's for sure. Nothing like french in purple/blue and pink-red. This one may just last 2 days, though. I can see me getting bored quickly.

I do have pics, and I will post them later. I also have pics of OPI RttO and I will post them as well.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Okay, scratch that...

I'd had a bad day. My kids were being little hell-beasts. They were 2 steps ahead of me all day, so when I finally put them in their rooms to nap, I figured I'd get some work done. They were both quiet, so I ran outside for 10-15 minutes to mow the front yard. Yes, 15 minutes. Front yard is way tiny. So when I get back in, not only where they not asleep in their beds, but Blake had gotten up on the piano, reached in through the pass-through to the kitchen, turned the faucet around and water was pouring out all over my piano. Nice. Don't know how long that'd been going on. Piano seems, okay, but it's more a piece of furniture than an instrument. Anyway, before I ramble myself into 2 paragraphs, the moral of this story is that when I get pissed, I buy nail polish.

I'M WEAK!!!

I ordered:
ChG Turned Up Turquise
Orly Sol Cabana
Orly Midnight Star
OPI Catherine the Grape
OPI You Ottaware Purple
OPI Kinky in Helsinki

Hmmm... you think I like purple? LOL. I got TuT and SC because they look so pretty and summery and I think both of them will be great for Konadding. I got Orly MS because I'm hugely, muchly lemming OPI PPP and I'm not one for dusty hunting and there's never one on eBay. Well, there have been 2 on eBay that I've seen. One was $30 and the other one is on there now, but it's in England and shipping alone is almost $10 (seller quoted me 6 GBP), and no telling how high the auction would go. Plus, it's used and I've got weird issues about used things. Anyway, I've seen pics of MS and PPP side-by-side and they are almost EXACT dupes. So, as much as I've disliked Orly's formula in the past, I figured I'd give it a try. I got all the above polishes for $30+ shipped. Not too shabby. Now, I really need to hold out til fall to place another big order (planning on Zoya Truth, Zoya Dovima, and 4-5 colors from OPI Spain.

Also, I'm going to be in Charlotte, NC this weekend and my sis and I are planning on checking out this huge mall that has many stores we don't have here in Knox Vegas. I may have to take a little peek at Sephora (we do have one here, but it's on the other side of town), BB&W for Lippmanns (same deal as Sephora... flagship on other side of town), and possibly Nordies for Chanel. Shhhh. I'm excited. Husband and CC are not. LOL. I know, I know... I just posted about being more frugal, but I have been budgetting this trip. I have a little saved up for this weekend. I'm a SAHM who doesn't go anywhere but the grocery store. I'm having a little fun at the mall. Dangit. :P

Lastly, I did my nails tonight and put on OPI Rose to the Ovation. I'll have pics soon, but I wanted to give a quick review first. Holy smokes! Gorg.e.ous. Like I think this is the most beautiful polish I own, gorgeous. It's definitely in the INRAW, Soho Nice to Meet You, Bogota Blackberry family (and others, I'm sure... these are just what I have), but it takes it to another level. There is this fine shimmer in it that makes it just come to life. It looks very similar to the 3 I mentioned above in the bottle, but once it's on, it has so much more depth. Swoon. I got it on eBay (and when I post my pics, I'll give the seller a shout out), for $8 + shipping. I snatched it up like nobody's bidnez when I saw pics on nailgal. Other sellers have it for $25 and I can see why someone would pay that for this color. I wouldn't b/c I'm a cheap-ass and the $15 I forked out for Star-ring the Rockettes was bad enough. If you see it cheap (or at a price you feel comfortable with), get it. You won't be sorry.

Monday, June 15, 2009

An addendum to my previous post...

I think I'm going to be taking a break from np blogs and from the MUANB. I've spent myself into a little bit of a hole and I've got to work at getting myself (us) out. So, in an effort to avoid temptation, I plan on removing it from my life, at least for the time being. Sounds like a juvenile thing to do, I know... after all, I'm an adult, I should be able to read a blog and not buy more np, but it never works like that. I keep thinking... "oh, it's just $6 on eBay or I need some ____ colors, and I haven't ordered from TD in awhile". The straw that broke the camel's back was that I FORGOT MY CAR PAYMENT. Who does that? I'm upset and more than a little embarrassed, so what I thought was a decent-sized cushion for these 2 weeks because a lot less cushiony. Anyway, I still plan on blogging about my own collection, struggles with my nails after acrylics, and nail art, I just won't be blogging about the latest trends and collections.

On a happier (though what got me into this problem) note, OPI Rose to the Ovation came today. OMG. It's so pretty. I can't wait to use it. I may use it for weekend mani. My sis and I are going to Charlotte, NC to see family and I don't want any strange looks about my weird nails. LOL.

Restraint

Now that Zoya has made Truth, Dare, and Matte Velvet available for pre-buy, I am really fighting placing an order. I want all of Truth, Ibiza from Dare, and possibly Posh from MV. Both Scrangie and ALU have pictures of the sample nails and Truth looks amazing. I am really feeling metallics right now, so these are right up my alley. The colors in Dare look amazing, but since 80%, possibly more, of my collection is made up of non-cremes, I'm just not a huge creme person. They are okay and I have some I love (V&C, anyone?), but I love sparkly, glittery nails, so that's why I'm loving Ibiza. It looks so gorgeous on the sample nail. Also, I like the look of Posh better than some other mattes new on the scene (looking at you, OPI). It looks more like a satin than a total "absence of shine" matte. I may get it, too. Plus, there are 2 Zoya glitter polishes that I'd like to try... Kiki (pink) and Sienna (orange). Just trying to hold out for a few months.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

NOTD: ChG Blk-Bila-Bong



This color is from the 2007 Surf Collection from China Glaze. It's d/c and not available at TD, but I bought mine from my favorite eBay seller, Imf0rsale. I paid approx. $16 shipped for 3 colors from this collection. That's $5.33 each. A little on the high side for ChG, but certainly doable. I also got Pink-Rox-E and White-Kwik-Silvr. I bought these b/c I am absolutely in love with the ChG glass fleck shimmer. And colors from the Surf collection aren't super HTF like other glass flecked collections (Tequila Toes, Martini Pedicure and others). I also have 3 otherglass flecked polishes... Strawberry Fields and Raspberry Festival from Summer Days and Blue Island Ice Tea from the Bahama Blues collection.

I love this color (with a few caveats). It's so beautiful in the light. However, I had the same problem with BBB that I had with Russian Navy, though RN was never redeemable for me. BBB looked a little flat and muddy on the nail. Thankfully 3 coats of TC fixed that. Plus, it's black w/ teal flecks, but it just looks black unless you are studying it, so it has a tendency to look a little goth. Also, I left my glue-ons a bit long for this mani, so the black wasn't doing me any favors. All along, though, I knew I wanted to do something with this color and OPI Teal the Cows Come Home. I thought TtCCH would be the perfect compliment to BBB and really bring out the teal shimmer. I was right. :) This mani went from being stark and slightly off-putting to gorgeous by adding a french and a bit of konadding.

Let me just say that the using konad with TtCCH was rather difficult. My original plan was to do use the konad on all my fingers, but I just stuck with the ring fingers because I had problems. I had a hard time getting it to scrap and transfer. Could have been a problem w/ the plate, though, now that I'm thinking of it. I had really good luck with m2 last week, but m40 has always been a PITA for me. It's like the laser cuts don't go deep enough or something. I have a hard time w/ it working with special konad polish. Much less another brand.



Also there are some girls on the NB that do amazing frenches, both with guides and freehand (jealous). I am not one of those girls. I do okay. I haven't bought any guides and I'm trying to not buy anything np related until August. I've been really spendy the last few months. So, I'm just going to make do for awhile. So, as you can tell, I'm not a freehand french expert, but I think it looks okay, especially from arm's length. LOL. It's when you get to macro closeups that it looks like shiz.

All in all, I really like BBB, maybe even love it, but I think for me, having a color, like TtCCH to offset the starkness of the black is a must. Maybe trying shorties is a good option for BBB also. Also, this would probably look good with a Sinful glitter over it. Like Pearl Harbor. Also, I've heard that BBB is a good dupe for Chanel Nuit de Russie from last fall's Moscou collection. I don't own NdR and I'm not going to own it as it's sold out (nevermind it was $30 retail to begin with) and it's going for $50 on eBay. Crazy talk. Steph's Closet(http://www.stephscloset.com/) even mentions BBB as a good alternative to NdR. So if you've been lemming NdR, perhaps BBB will be a good substitute.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Finally figured out Konad (pretty much).

I got bored w/ my INRAW mani pretty quickly, but I've been so busy, I didn't have time to change my nails. Plus, my cuticles are a little ragged from the acetone, so I wanted to give them a break. So, after looking at my nail art decals and finding nothing I wanted to use, I decided to break out the Konad. Here's a pic:
INRAW looks really vibrant in that picture, it's not as tomatoey in real life, but we all know what INRAW looks like. LOL. Anway, I used Misa Got to be Real and Konad Plate No. 2. I also freehanded a french in Misa GtbR. Considering this was my first time having decent success w/ Konad and my first time ever freehanding a french successfully, I think it turned out okay. It's been about 3 hrs and it's still dentable, so hopefully, it will cure okay. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and I have a funeral to go to tomorrow evening, so I won't have time tomorrow to redo this. Please don't look like crap. Please. Perhaps not so appropriate for a funeral, but like I said... no time to change.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

So the Gold/Silver mani didn't last 24 hrs.

It may have not lasted 12. I can't remember exactly when I put it on last night, but I took it off around 9a this morning. It wasn't solely the mani's fault. I also had breakage on my thumbs. Stupid Nailene thumbs. I've put on Kiss 1s on my thumbs now, so we'll see if they hold up better than the Nailene.

And I was right. I did get a WTF? from my sister. Granted, the nails were gone by the time she got here, but the pics did get a look. Awesome. :P Aside from a red,white, and blue skittles mani I have planned for 4th of July, I don't think I'm going to do many more skittles. It just made me feel confused.

As for today's NOTD, I went old school and cracked open ye old bottle of INRAW. Yes, it's overused, and yes, it makes me think of 1999-2001, but dang if this isn't a gorgeous color. I couldn't decide between INRAW, Bogota Blackberry, or Soho Nice to Meet You and I was about to use SNtMY when I noticed it needed some thining and I didn't want to deal with it right then. I plan on using the other 2 soon, but I'm so happy with INRAW on my nails. I need to remember to use this more often. I'll try and post pics soon.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

NOTD: Silver and Gold Skittles and Updates


Right Hand


Left Hand


So I was super bored so I figured I'd give this a shot. Gold is Essie Shift Power and Silver is Misa Got to be Real. I like it, I just don't think I love it. I'll probably leave it on for 2 days and take it off. However, I do like both GtbR and SP on their own and I think they play nice together. Shift Power was a little brushstrokey and it was harder to work with than GtbR (which looks more like a brushed silver than a shiny silver). I just don't know if this suits me. I look at it one minute and I like and I look at it another minute and I'm meh about it. I'm sure tomorrow when my sister comes over to pick up my nephew, who is spending the night, she'll be all "WTF did you do to your nails". LOL.


Like I (kinda) mentioned above, I'm trying a new strategy of leaving the glue-ons on for 2 days and then I give my natural nails the next night off. I apply ProStrong, Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition, and Sally Hansen Diamond Nail Hardener as well as lots of cuticle cream while I have the glue-ons off. It seems to be working. I am getting quite a bit of new growth and I'm hoping I can put polish on my natural nails in the not-so-distant future. I've also switched my nail glue to Kiss Pink Gel. It's much easier to use and it doesn't hold as long as other glues. Which you would think would be a reason not to use it, but considering I've shortened the time between application and removal, I'm cool with it not being as resilient. Also, I'm having a lot of breakage and bending on my thumb nails. I've tried 0s and 1s and it doesn't matter, they both have a tendency to bend or break on the sides. I'm using Nailene and while I think I prefer them in general, I think I may try using Kiss on my thumbs. They seem to be a bit sturdier, if they do look less natural.


Lastly, I have a picture (finally) of Lippman Purple Rain. As you can see, there are a 1000 things wrong w/ it, but, for me, the color wins me over. It's so pretty.


This was taken at night, in my kitchen (my office, LOL), because I was taking them off that night and I wanted to make sure I took a picture.

This is why I can't be on a no-buy...

why I have to use the terminology "no big haul buy". Because I get the kids and the husband to bed and I shop on eBay. Last night, I got Essie Barbados Blue, and OPI Star-ring the Rockettes and Rose to the Ovation. I hadn't even been lemming BB or RttO. I'd bought OPI Greece Just Blue Me Away and unfortunately, the seller said it was OOT. Why their listed stated they had 8, I have no idea. I hate it when sellers do this. So I was going to buy it from another seller when I looked around for frosty blues. I thought Essie Blueberry Crumb was what I wanted, but while I was searching for BC, I found BB and I knew that was it. It all stems from me feeling nostalgic and wanting to get some of those frosty pastels I had in my youth. I found it for a good price w/ low shipping, so I was happy.

As for RttO, I hadn't even been looking for it. However, I was looking at pics of the Holiday Rockettes collection and I saw RttO and happened to do a nailgal search. Holy Cow. Gorgeous. Most of the eBay sellers had it in the $23 range, but one had it for a much lower price. Here's hoping it's not fake.

Lastly, I paid too much for StR. Like $15. Crazy. But once I saw the pics, I knew I had to have it. It came out when I was in my "just had twins" fog, so I just recently became aware of this collection.

Good thing my husband doesn't like money. :S

Monday, June 8, 2009

OPI Mattes

So I was looking at a couple blogs, ALU and VV, and they have swatches of the new OPI Mattes. I absolutely love La Paz-itively Hot matte. That one is going on the WL for sure (which desperately needs to be updated, btw). I also like YDKJ matte. Weird, since that one is described as dirt, but I really like it. I also like the shiny YDKJ, which I don't have. I need to add both of those to the WL as well.

I've heard OPI will be adding RBL-esque glitters in August. Though, the blog I read, NOTW, is in Europe, so who knows if the US will get them. We'll see. If so, that will be great. I've balked at $18 for RBL, but man... I'm dying for Locavore.

I'm on a no-big-haul-buy until Fall. Bummer.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

NOTD: Lippmann Purple Rain

No pics right now. Camera battery is charging and it's late, so I'll have to wait until I have a charge and sun. :) I just wanted to give my quick "first impressions" review of this color while it's fresh in my mind.

I wanted to hate this color. Well, first I wanted to love it. Then I saw how problematic it was and I wanted to hate it. But I couldn't. I couldn't hate it at all.

The color is gorgeous. It's a frost, but it kind of looks like purple tin foil, but it's not a foil polish per se. It kind of reminds me of a Maybelline lilac frost I had when I was 9 or 10. It was part of the first batch of nail polishes my aunt gave me for Christmas that year. There was a lilac, a blue, and a pink. All frosts. I think she just did it to piss of my father who was staunchly anti-polish, but I didn't care. I loved them. Couldn't use them worth a damn and ended up painting my Care Bear's nose with the blue and my desk with the lilac, but I loved them just the same. I'd love to have them back.

So that's why I love this color. It takes me back to a particular time and place. It would have to be something beyond this polish for me to love it as much as I do, because frankly, it's a PITA. Very brushstrokey. It also bubbled and took hours to fully cure, so there are a couple dings and because it's a frost, it should just have a neon arrow pointing at them.

It went on okay. Was opaque in 1 coat, but I used 2 to even out the brushstrokes. Hate Deborah Lippmann's handles and brushes. Too short, squatty, and oddly shaped for me.

However, for all it's faults, I still love it. I can't tell you why because I should hate it, but I don't.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

NOTD: Misa Carmine Treasure



Um... why did I wait this long to try Misa? Seriously, it's awesome. And I'm only basing that on my swatching last night and my NOTD today. The formula is amazing. Super smooth and highly pigmented. Also, it's cheaper than OPI and Essie at e-tailers and the bottles are great. The remind me of the Lippmann bottles, but they aren't as squatty and the brush handles are longer (read better).

As for Carmine Treasure, I mainly chose this as my NOTD because there are no swatches of it anywhere. I love it though, it's such a pretty pink. It's bright pink, a little on the warmer side, with gold shimmer. This was fine with 1 coat, but I did 2 just because I can't help myself. It was $2.99 at TD. I bought 7 of them. :S

Also, quick update on Blind Love, as I only had it on 2 days and had to re-do my glue-ons to change polish. The wear was fine, I just got bored w/ the color. It was gorgeous, but like I thought earlier, it didn't work with my skintone.

Monday, June 1, 2009

All moods change with platinum!

So, here I was feeling uber depressed today because of my shitacular nails, and nothing was getting me out of my funk. Just looking at them made it worse, so this evening, I put on a set of glue-ons. Instant happy. Out of sight, out of mind. :)

Well, I still know that they are under there and I just need to take better care of my nails. I need to give them some time between glue-ons and I need to stick to soaking them off. No more popping them off. It's easier and I don't have to mess w/ stinky acetone, but it's not doing my nails any favors.

Once I had the nails on, I had the hardest time deciding on a color. I was on the phone with my mom and I'd narrowed it down to BB Couture Blind Love or ChG Sneakerhead. Both are untrieds. Of course, my mom did not approve of the Blind Love after I described the color, she said it wasn't natural. Naturally, that's the one I picked. LOL.

Lemme tell you, it is gor-g-us. Seriously, I know it's a very close dupe for Chanel Kaleidoscope, and if I'd found Kaleidoscope first, I'd see no problem w/ forking out the cash just for the color alone. I'm glad to have just spent $8 on it, but the color is worth $20 easily. However, since I've heard iffy things about Chanel's formula, I'm happy to have the BB Couture. It was so easy to apply, and while I did a second coat, it honestly would have been okay w/ one. It is a bit brush-strokey, but I think that is inherent to this color. It doesn't detract from it in anyway. The texture just adds to the metallyness of the color.


Here's a pic:



It is so amazingly pretty, I can't stop staring at my fingers. I don't know if it even works w/ my skintone, but I love it so much I don't care. This will be another one that I'm going to be sad to see it go.

Also, I may actually do a pedi w/ this color and that's saying something. I haven't dealt w/ my toes in awhile, other than general maintenence. I tend to only wear close toed shoes, so pedis are kind of worthless to me. However, I am going on a short trip in a few wks and I do plan on wearing sandals that weekend, so a pedi with this color (and that's saying something considering I usually prefer red on toes) may just be in order.

In short, I love, love, love and I'm kinda mad I didn't try it sooner. LOL. :)

BTW, I love the length my nails are now. Kind of in-between my BB Couture Dragon's Breath (longer) mani and my OPI Oui Bit of Red (super short) mani.

Additionally, while I was dealing with my horribly nubby nails, I really worked on them to help them grow. Here's a list of all I used:

- ProStrong BioFusion Nail Grafting Serum
- ProStrong ProAccelerator
- ProStrong ProCal
- Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition
- California Mango Mend
- Revlon Cuticle Moisture Oil

And as you can tell from the pic above, my cuticles look better and the skin around my nails is less red. I've also been applying lotion religiously today, which is something I normally neglect to do.

I need to really make a point of being nicer to my fingers. Hopefully, it'll work.

One last thing... I caved and placed a TD order. Hell, I figure if my husband can eat lunch out everyday, this SAHM who has frozen meals for lunch everyday can replace nail polish for meals out. LOL. Didn't order any OPI (gasp), though. I figured I'd give Misa a go. Here's what I got:

- Misa Got to Be Reel
- Misa Forbidden Lust
- Misa Toxic Seduction
- Misa Russian Sage
- Misa Chocolate Icing
- Misa Dying Love
- Misa Carmine Treasure
- Essie Sexy Divide
- Essie It's Genius
- ChG Strawberry Fields
- ChG Blue Island Ice Tea

Should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. Can't wait!

Depressing

That's the only word I can think of in describing my natural nails. It's now been 3 months, +/- a few days since I removed my acrylics. And, they aren't any better than they were when I removed them. :( I know that if I didn't wear the glue-ons, they would probably grow much faster, but honestly, I can't leave the house w/ my fingers looking like this. It looks like I stuck my fingers in a garbage disposal. I took the glue-ons off last night, b/c I couldn't stand Man of La Mancha one more minute, and I'm letting my natural nails take a break. I'll probably put glue-ons on either tonight or tomorrow. I applied a regimen of products in hopes that will spur on some growth. I'm just hoping they weren't damaged beyond repair, b/c as much as I like the look of the glue-ons, I really would like to be able to polish my natural nails at some point.