Monday, November 30, 2009

Progress?

It's been a week and half since I took off my last set of glue-ons and started using Dermelect.  Just to remind you, here's what I started with:
















and here's where I am today:















Both pictures are of my naked nails.  I do have Mango Mend on in the second picture.  As you can tell by the cut on my index finger cuticle, the cold weather is really drying them out. 

I titled this post with a question mark because I'll occasionally get discouraged, but I think they are actually doing pretty well. 

Also, in the interest of total disclosure, I am also using Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition 1-2x a day.  My finger tips hurt so badly, up to a couple days ago, that I needed some fast growth.  The NN gives me pretty fast growth, but my nails are not much stronger.  I think the Dermelect products are what's helping with that.

Lastly, I applied my coat of Dermelect Launchpad and my coat of Dermelect Makeover, then I decided to put some color on my hideous nubbins.  I used Essie Porcini.  It's a pretty taupey, mauvey pink with gold micro-shimmer.  It looked better in the bottle than it did on my nails, but it wasn't a bad color at all.  The one thing I didn't like was that my polish looked glumpy (gooey+clumpy) and I was reminded why I never liked polishing my natural nails.  However, I'm hoping that in the next few months after all the ridges and bumps are gone my polished nails will look much better. 

Also, the one problem I'm having with the Dermelect products is a lot of bubbling after I apply the topcoat (High Maintenance).  Their info states that it's fast drying, but I'm finding drying times to be a bit slow, but the main problem is the bubbling.  Seriously, it's worse than the bubbling I always got with Seche Vite.  I don't know if that's because it's a naturally thick product or if there is some other reason.  I had to remove my Porcini mani within 30 minutes of application due to the bubbling.  Here's a pic, though I doubt if you can see the bubbling.  Maybe on 1-2 of my fingers.















This mani is 1 coat Launchpad, 1 coat Makeover, 1 coat Porcini (could have used a 2nd, but I don't like using too much polish on my natural nails) and 1 coat of High Maintenance TC.  Application on the Essie was fine, but I hate Essie's brushes.  I can never get the right amount of polish on them.

Tonight, I will apply another coat of the Dermelect base coats/ treatments.  I wish I hadn't had to take them off to begin with, but the bubbling was too bad.  I plan on retrying the HMTC a couple more times, maybe with a thin fast dry TC over it, to see if that helps with the bubbling.  I'll let you know if anything changes.

EDIT: I tried using a thin fast dry top coat over the Dermelect High Maintenance top coat and it made the bubble issue go away.  I used Beauty Secrets from Sally's.  Nails dried very fast due to the Beauty Secrets TC and feel very protected thanks to the HMTC. 

Saturday, November 28, 2009

In the Meantime...

As I'm not really able to polish my nails at the moment, I'm coming up with other (more constructive) ways to occupy my time.  After I had my monthly panic attack, after paying bills, I decided to clean my garage.  We live in a pretty small house (app. 1200 sq ft), so our garage is more like our storage space, rather than where we park our cars.  We gave up on that years ago.  It's where I keep my pantry, our lawn and garden stuff, and any other odds and ends that won't fit in the house.  It's also our laundry center.  Usually about 1-2x a year, I do a major overhaul of the space.  I always have plans to totally reorganize it, but I usually peter out 2/3rds through.  Well, I was determined not to do that today.  Over the past few months, our garage has really gotten gross.  No organization at all, and it's pretty much where our crap went to be forgotten.  So, I tried to forget about our money woes and focus on something positive for a couple hours. 

Girls (and guys), it looks amazing.  Now, I still have some final organization to do, and we are now planning on moving our exercise equipment and possible the Wii out there, but from where it was at noon today, it looks awesome.  Once it's all finished, I plan on posting some pics, but as it's not complete, I'd rather wait for the big reveal. 

And now that this is (almost) complete, I can start on other rooms in the house.  As it's hard to really clean a room in the house when the garage is junkie (because it seems like I'm always moving stuff out there for storage).

As for my nails... I'm actually getting some growth.  The tips are no longer painful and I think I'm on the road, though at the beginning still, to recovery.  I'm sans Dermelect at the moment, as I took it off right after T-day and haven't had a chance to put it back on.  I plan on doing that tomorrow.  Also, I've applied about 4-5 applications of SH Nail Nutrition as I know that's a sure fire way to get some quick growth on my nails.  I plan on definitely still using the Dermelect, though, as while I'm getting a bit of growth, my nails still need thickening and repair.

That's all for now.  I hope everyone has a great Sunday.  I'll be back soon with a forgotten picture from my camera (a DT Maybelline), as soon as I can find it.  LOL.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

No Thanksgiving Day mani this year.  I'm still sans glue ons and my super nubbins just aren't ready for polish, so I'm still sporting the Dermelect Makeover ridgefiller color.  It's nice, but not the OPI Music Hall Curtain Call konad I had planned.  It was probably going to be another "falling leaves" mani, so I'll just post the one I did a couple months ago.  Pretend it's on my nails now.  :P


Sigh.  Maybe one day my real nails will be that long.  I doubt it, because my natural nails are pretty thin and brittle, but I know a lot more about taking care of nails, due to the MUA NB, so I'm hopeful, if still skeptical.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving...  In a year where I didn't think I would have had a lot to say I'm thankful for, due to my husband's current job situation, I'm having to find myself look at things from a different perspective.  Maybe it's that my meds are starting to kick in, but despite my fears that the current plan of Tim getting a TSA job, no matter his experience, won't pan out (and I think that's just my general pessimism kicking in (I tend to be an optimist towards anyone other than my immediate family), I'm feeling pretty happy this year.  I know.  Buh?  LOL.

So here's my "thankful" list (I'm a bit long winded, so fair warning :P).  Feel free to share yours as well...

- I'm thankful for my family.  Not just my little one, of Tim and my twins.  I'm thankful for all of them.  I still think of myself as part of my parent's family in addition to the fact that I know I have my own family.  I'm crazy close to both my mom and my sister, and my father, too, though to a lesser degree.  I have a wonderful BIL, who has been with us for 14 years now, so he's pretty much my brother at this point.  My nephews are the coolest little boys, and I can't believe they are now 7 and 5.  M and T, why do you have to grow?  Stop it.  LOL. 
- I'm thankful for my daddy.  We almost lost my daddy this year.  On January 30th, my mom called to tell me they were taking daddy to the ER from the doctor's office.  His BP was low and he had a "spot" on his foot.  My father is diabetic, and is prone to infections like staph and MRSA (super scary stuff).  By the time he'd been in the ER an hour, the spot (which was sepsis) had taken over half his foot.  They had to do an emergency amputation and we were told he probably wouldn't make it through the surgery.  My sister and I were actually planning who would handle what regarding final arrangements since we knew my mother couldn't handle it.  Well, he pulled through.  He was in the hospital a month and had to have more of his leg amputated to just below the knee.  He's now on a prosthesis and doing so much better than he was before.  He can still be a surly ass, but we are very thankful and grateful to have that surly ass still with us.  :)
- I'm thankful for my husband and my children.  I love you Tim, Blake, and Amelia.  Tim, you will get a job soon, and I am so fortunate to have you.  You are willing to move 8 hrs away from your children just to change our situation, and I love you so much for doing whatever has to be done.  Blake and Amelia, you are doing so well in school.  All your therapies have helped you so much and I know by the time kindergarten rolls around, you will be so prepared.  I can't believe you will be 4 in January.  Being your mommy is the best thing in the world.  You are awesome little monkeys. 
- I'm thankful for my in-laws.  Sure, like everyone, I sometimes think my ILs, especially my FIL, are from Mars, but for the most part, I really lucked out.  They don't intrude in our lives and they are great with their grandchildren.  They have also helped us so much during these 3 months.  I don't know what we would have done without them. 
- I'm thankful for my beliefs.  I'm a Christian and I'm so thankful I'm saved, and everything that entails.  I'm such a private person regarding my beliefs that it's very hard for me to put that out there, as I think religion is such a personal thing, but as long as I'm naming thankful things, I might as well name the big one.  :) 

Okay, I think that's it.  Oh, I could say I'm thankful for our house, and our cars, and our savings that helping us make it through, but that just seems silly.  I am thankful for all those things, but they just don't seem to matter all that much in the big scheme of things.  Wow.  These meds are really kicking in.  Okay... I'm thankful for Effexor.  :P  LMAO!

US girls, I hope you have a wonderful T-day, and international girls... I hope you have a wonderful Thursday.  :)


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Well this is cool...

Dermelect Cosmecueticals is blogging/facebooking/tweeting about me blogging about using their products to restore my natural nails.  Makes me feel like a celebrity.  LOL.  :P

As for the progress on growing out my nails... well, it's going to be a long one.  I'm able to use the Makeover ridgefiller to cover up some of the damage on my nails.  That, and the pale pink color of the ridgefiller are really helping to make my nails look less damaged.  It's a little too early, to see any true progress. 

My main problem now is with the tips of my fingers.  They hurt pretty bad, and I'm not sure why.  It's like the skin at the tips of my nails is damaged.  It's dry and almost like little calluses.  I'm not sure if it's because of damage caused by my tech's drill or for some other reason.  However, I know I've had this issue since I first took off my acrylics in March and it's one of the main reasons I started using the glue-ons.  When I had a tip on my nail, the tips didn't hurt.  Of course, this could also be exacerbated by the fact it's getting cold here now and I'm having to use the heat much more than I have been. 

Maybe I just need to be using a better hand cream.  I'm using Mango Mend and Cornhuskers Lotion like crazy, but they just aren't soothing my fingers.  Any ideas?  I have some hand cream (Vaseline) in the closet I'm going to try next, but if that doesn't work, I'll need some suggestions for a good (and hopefully cheap) hand cream.  TIA, everyone.  :)

Zoya "Green Friday" Promotion



ZOYA GREEN FRIDAY


"It's just our way of sending some green back to you!"

While other retailers taking all your green, let Zoya give you some FREE green!

Spend $20 or more and recieve 6 of our favorite greens for FREE*.

That's right, Zoya Tangy - Zoya Envy - Zoya Midori - Zoya Irene- Zoya Suvi - Zoya Veruschka all 6 for FREE on Zoya Green Friday Only with any purchase of $20 or more at http://www.zoya.com/
Code will activate on Thanksgiving (11/26/09) at 5 PM (EST). So you will have plenty of time to gobble your turkey and then gobble up our great greens too (who needs football anyway). Code will expire on Friday (11/27/09) at 5 PM (EST).
CODE: GREENFRIDAY
 
 
This sounds like an amazing promotion if you like green (and if you like Zoya polishes).  Zoya and fake nails don't play nice, and I'm even a little skeptical to try them on my natural nails, but if you love Zoya, and I know many of you do, this sounds like a great deal.  I'm dying for Veruschka, but I own Suvi and the other 4 greens would look awful on my skin.

FYI (and a big thank you to Kirsten for mentioning this): Zoya does not ship internationally, so this offer is just for US girls.  I remember when Zoya offered their Twitter code for 3 free polishes, their solution to this was "have a friend in the states get them for you".  That seems pretty crappy.  Is it that hard to offer international shipping?  Hopefully, they'll wise up soon.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Woohoo... 100 followers!

Okay, 102 now that I'm finally getting around to posting this.  This makes me very happy.  :)  I've been blogging since early February, and while I don't have the numbers that some other girls have (and that's okay), I'm very thankful that 102 people have decided I'm cool enough to be followed.  LOL.  :P 

I'd always planned to give away a bottle of Essie Viva La Vespa for this occasion, but unfortunately with our current situation, I can't justify international shipping.  I suppose I could do a giveaway for US readers only, but that doesn't seem very fair.  As soon as our job situation improves, I swear I'm going to have a giveaway.  :)

Thanks again for reading my little blog.  It's something I get a lot of enjoyment out of, and I'm glad you're here. 

Essie's Blog

I received a press release the other day from Essie and it looks like Essie Weingarten is now blogging.  There's only one post at the moment and it's an intro post.  Unlike Deborah Lippmann, it looks like she is allowing comments, which I find it be a huge mark in her favor. 

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Taking a Break

Not from blogging, but I am taking a break from my glue-ons, so I don't know how many polish posts I'll be doing for the next few weeks. 

Recently, I've been thinking about trying to give my natural nails a chance to really grow, but I didn't feel comfortable doing it.  I just didn't want to go out in public without my glue-ons.  Then I received an email from Marlo Marketing regarding new products from Dermelect Cosmeceuticals.  I thought it was just a press release, but then they offered to send me samples.  I received samples of their stregthener, ridgefiller, and nail thickener.  So I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to see if I can actually grow out my real nails. 

Yesterday, I took off my glue-ons and took pics of my natural nails.  They are embarassing, but I don't think I can give you all a fair review without showing you what I started with.  It's been a year almost exactly since I got my acrylics and almost nine months since I took them off.  There was tons of damage from the acrylic application.  However, I realize had I not been applying glue-ons, they probably wouldn't still be in this condition, but it was a double-edged sword.  I didn't want to show my natural nails so I applied glue-ons and I didn't like the condition of my natural nails because of the glue-ons.  It was a never-ending cycle.

So, here are my nails after I took off my glue-ons.  This is just my left hand, because I could not get pics of my right hand to come out.

























Hand















Thumb (I have bad ridging on this nail).

I applied the product yesterday for the first time, then I went back today, removed it and reapplied it.  Here's how my left hand looks now.

















I was able to use the ridge filler to basically build up the area on my nails where all I have is nail bed (basically the tips of my ring and pinky fingers) and I also used it to smooth out the bad ridges on my thumb.

I know they don't look great, but I think it's a huge change from my naked nails.  I used one coat of each product.  The pink/grey shimmer is the color of the ridge filler.  It looks a lot like OPI Give Me the Moon. 

I will be sure to give you all links to the products when I do my final review, which should be in a couple weeks.  I may start polishing my natural nails in a few days, but for now, I'm just going to stick to the ridge filler color.  I will be posting updates along the way.

Here's hoping I'll be able to polish my natural nails in a few weeks.  I like the way my glue-ons look, but I don't like the hassle of applying them every 2-3 days.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Sinful Colors Let's Talk

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a NP snob.  I'll buy just about any brand that comes from an online etailer or Sally's, but when it comes to drugstore polishes, I kind of ignore them.  I own a few drugstore brand polishes, but for the most part, I tend to gravitate towards "salon" brands. 

So imagine my surprise when I found the perfect purple at Walgreen's.  For a buck, no less.  I was in dire need of a NP fix and Sinfuls happened to be B1G1F, so I figured I'd take a look.  I own a few Sinful glitters and I like them, so I looked at more of the Sinful line.  I found a few I really liked, then I found Let's Talk.  Holy Smokes.  Even in the bottle it was glowy and beautiful.  I couldn't wait to get it on my nails. 

It reminds me of OPI Kinky In Helsinki in that it seems to glow.  I took pictures, but this was the hardest polish to photograph.  Seriously.  I could not get a true representation of the color, so I'll save my pics until the end of this post.  IRL, it's a medium, royal purple shimmer.  It has an almost electric quality to it.  I think the closest polish in my collection would have to be Essie Viva La Vespa, and it's no where near a match. 

As for application, the formula was awesome.  Easy application and opaque in 2 coats.  In fact, it was mostly opaque at one coat, so all I had to do on the second coat was touch up the bald spots.  It did take a little longer to dry than I'm used to, so I had a couple smudges that were easily fixed with Orly Smudge Fixer. 

Okay, I'm sure you want pics, so I'll post them, but let me warn you that they are no where near a true representation of the color.  The cell phone pic (the last one) is the closest (in that it's actually purple and not blue), but it's much brighter IRL, and you can't see the polish's glow.







Again, I apologize for the inaccurate pictures.  It was just impossible to capture.  It is a gorgeous polish, though.  You'll just have to trust me.  LOL.  I'm a huge purple lover and I think this one just surpassed VLV as my favorite purple.  Just goes to show (me especially) that some of the best polishes can be found in drugstores. 

Sinfuls are available at their own website, Cherry Culture, at Target stores, and at Walgreen's stores.  However, I've only seen this color (#929) at Walgreen's.  A quick Google search found it at A Beautiful Secret, but the price is a little inflated at $3.99.  Sinfuls are usually $1.99 and through the end of the day, they are B1G1F.

Friday, November 20, 2009

ChG Meteor Shower

I've had this one on my camera for almost 2 weeks now, so I'll do my best to remember my thoughts. 
















Meteor Shower is from the collection of 50 specialty glitters ChG recently put out.  It's one of 3 I own, along with Cosmic and Atlantis.  This is the last one of the three for me to try. 

What's funny is got it in my head that this one was named Atlantis, even though I'd worn and loved the real Atlantis.  And the entire time I was applying it, I kept thinking Atlantis was a perfect name for this color.  It really reminded me of the Lost City of Atlantis.  Deep cobalt blue with jewel-toned (emerald and sapphire) and golden glitter.  It's so pretty in that the glitter does get kind of lost in the polish, though not like it did with Cosmic, but when you turn your hands, you can see the sparkle peek through, almost like you are looking underwater.

So I had this entire post created in my mind centered around how Atlantis was the perfect name, only to realize that this one was named Meteor Shower.  Whoopsie.  :S  It's still a nice name, and that doesn't retract at all of from the beauty of this polish.

The pic is 2 coats and 4 coats of TC.  Like all the ChG glitters I've tried, this one was super bumpy.  It doesn't bother me, but I know it can be bothersome to some people. 

You can get these glitters at etailers and a few of them are still available at Sally's, though Meteor Shower is not one of them.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Quick Personal Update

I know I've been a posting fool tonight, but I've finally had a chance to sit down, clean off my camera, and write.  I have at least 1, possibly 2 more posts to do before I've wrapped it up, but those will wait until tomorrow (Friday).

Also, I wanted to give you all an update on what's going on with our job situation.  I didn't get the job with the law firm.  I found out last week, and let me tell you, I was pretty disappointed.  I can't cry in front of my daughter because it makes her super upset, so I found myself outside crying in the rain.  It was quite a sight, I'm sure.  I was so sure I had it, that when I got the email telling me they'd gone with someone else, it almost felt like I'd just been dumped.  It took me a couple of days to shake it.

After that happened, my husband decided he wanted to stay in his previous field of airport security and find a job with the TSA or a contractor.  That means, of course, that he's going to have to live out of town for awhile.  We aren't sure if the plan is for us to move during the summer or he's going to try and parlay it into something else.  At any rate, I'll be playing single mom at least for 6 months.  He has some friends at the TSA, so he's pretty sure of getting a job there, and I'm glad to have some sort of plan, but I'm really not looking forward to being alone.

I'll post more when I know more, as it'll probably be after the holidays before he knows anything concrete, but I figured I'd update you guys just in case anyone was curious.

Another Layering Experiment... OPI La Paz-tively Hot Matte with CC Strawberry Candle

In my previous post, I mentioned trying La Paz-tively Hot Matte and loving it on it's own.  If I hadn't been trying another layering experiment using my matte collection as bases, I would have probably left it as is. 

I'd previously used RN Matte as a base for Merry Midnight, so I figured I'd try the same with LPH Matte.  I had swatched with Merry Midnight and I liked the results, but I wanted to try it with one of my LE CC Japanese Glitters (which unfortunately, I didn't love on their own).  After comparing the bases, it looked like Strawberry Candle was the closest match.

I did one coat of the OPI and one coat of Strawberry Candle.  Here's the result:















I couldn't get the sparkle to show through true-to-life in the picture, but I think you can get the idea.  I liked the CC LE glitters on their own, but the felt a little sheer to me.  Layering it allowed the sparkle to really shine through without having to apply multiple coats. 

As for the CC itself, Strawberry Candle is a strawberry pink base with tons of fine multi-color (pink, blue, green, purple) and holo glitter.  The glitter looks to be different sizes, but I'm a horrible judge at that, so don't hold me to it.

The konad is Special Polish in White and plate m55.  Sorry for it being upside down, but I totally forgot to flip the pic before I uploaded it. 

The LE glitters are still available at VNS, and perhaps H2T (I think I've seen them there in the past, but I didn't check before I posted).

OPI La Paz-itively Hot Matte

A few weeks ago, in my Merry Midnight post, I mentioned that I had tried the 2 OPI Mattes that I owned and I didn't like them.  While this still remains true for Russian Navy Matte, I now have to change my stance of La Paz-itively Hot Matte. 
















This color is so gorgeous.  It definitely has a satin finish rather than the chalky matte look I don't like.  It actually looks like hot pink satin on my nails.  They are like bad '80's bridesmaid dresses, but in a good way.  LOL.  The pic is one coat of polish.  It dried in minutes.  I had plans of using it as a layering polish, I did continue on and put a glitter over top (I will post that mani next), but I was tempted to keep it like this.

This polish is from OPI's matte collection that was released this past summer.  I got mine on eBay, but they are available at etailers.

Sinful Nail Junkie vs. ChG Atlantis

As you may be aware, Sinful Colors are B1G1F this week at Walgreen's.  And though I'm on a no-buy, I still allowed myself to pick up a few because they were essentially a buck each.  One of the colors I got was Nail Junkie.  As soon as I took it out of the display, I was reminded of ChG Atlantis, one of the new specialty glitters ChG put out a couple months ago.  So I figured it would be a good comparison post.  In fact, I remember someone asking on the NB how Nail Junkie compared to Atlantis.  I don't remember the responses though, so I just decided to do my own.  :)

Based on bottle pics alone, NJ and Atlantis look remarkably similar. 













Both are an aqua/teal base with glitter.  One of the main differences you notice in the bottle is that NJ has golden based glitter and Atlantis has silver based glitter.  Also, the glitter in NJ is different sizes, while it looks to be uniform in Atlantis. (EDIT: it's not uniform in Atlantis, you can see the difference if you enlarge the pics).   Lastly, Atlantis has holo glitter while NJ does not.  Those three differences aside (which I know to a NP addict seem like big differences), they do look like they would look fairly similar on the nail. Unfortunately, the bottle is where the similarities end.

I've already posted about the awesomeness of Atlantis, if you want to see a post about it alone (just click the link).  It really is an amazing polish.  NJ, however, not so much (on it's own, that is).  It looks so promising in the bottle, but alone, it just doesn't work, IMO.  The base is very sheer, unlike Atlantis.  Here's a pic of one coat of each polish:
























Atlantis is on top, NJ is on bottom.  See how pigmented Atlantis is compared to NJ?  You can barely see base color in NJ.

Here's my final pic.  This is three coats of Atlantis and four coats of NJ:













NJ is on the left and Atlantis is on the right (sorry for all the turned pictures, blogger is not cooperating with me since I changed to the new editor). 

In this pic, you can see just how different they are.  They look like they would be so similar, but NJ is definitely a layering polish while Atlantis can be worn on it's own.  I know I used three coats of Atlantis in this pic, but it was pretty much opaque at two.

Also, I know I've pretty much complained about NJ in this post, but if you plan on getting and using one of these two for layering, I think NJ is your best bet.  It's very sheer, which on it's own is pain, but in layering, when you want the bottom color to show through, I think it would be ideal.  I think it would be beautiful over black or even a blue/green color like ChG TuT, Sinful Aqua, or OPI Teal the Cows Come Home.  You could also add a coat of ChG Fairy Dust if you wanted it holo like Atlantis.  For me, Atlantis is just too pigmented for layering. 

You can find Sinful Colors at Walgreen's, some Targets (mine just recently got them), and online both at Cherry Culture and Sinful's own website.  While Walgreen's doesn't have as big a collection as the online sites (Target's selection seemed smaller than Walgreen's), they do have the most sales and the cheapest everyday price point.  They are normally $1.99 at Walgreen's and like I mentioned above, this week, they are B1G1F. 

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dermelect Hand and Nail Products

I received this information last week from the marketing company for Dermelect.  It's about some of their new products for hands and nails.  I haven't tried these first-hand, but I figured I'd pass it on just in case any of you were interested.  Alyssa with Marlo Marketing has graciously offered to send me samples of these products.  Once I receive them, I do plan on doing a detailed review.  I've been meaning to give myself a break from the glue-ons, so this is perfect timing. 

These products will be available this fall/winter at retailers such as Takashimaya New York, C.O Bigelow in the West Village and Miomia in Brooklyn.  Or you can get them online. The website is http://www.dermelect.com/.

Their list of new products is as follows:


Dermelect’s Anti-Aging Nail Lacquers ($16-18)
  • The first lacquers to utilize protein-peptide technology to hydrate, protect and strengthen nails.
  • Uses the breakthrough ingredient, ProSina (derived from New Zealand wool) to deliver a system of protein peptides directly to the nail bed, encouraging stubborn nails to grow.
  • Three nail lacquers: LAUNCHPAD (base coat), MAKEOVER (helps fill ridges on nails), HIGH MAINTENANCE (nail thickening top coat).

Dermelect’s Rejuvenail Fortifying Nail & Cuticle Treatment ($18)
  • Utilizes the breakthrough ingredient, ProSina, to hydrate and strengthen nails and relieve ragged, painful cuticles.
  • Increases the integrity, cohesion, flexibility and moisture in the nails.
  • Treats damaged, aging cuticles, facilitates growth and protects nails against chipping and splitting.

Dermelect’s Timeless Anti-Aging Daily Hand Treatment ($22)
  • Utilizes the breakthrough ingredient ProSina to provide unprecedented conditioning and hydrating capabilities to strengthen the skin while locking in moisture.
  • Addresses three key areas of concern: dry, overworked hands, age spots and thing, chapped skin.
  • Luxurious formulation that immerses you in a grease-free, quick absorbing glove of moisture—helps add elasticity and vitality to damaged, aging skin.
  • Protects against free-radical damage and acts as a mild exfoliant. 
I will be sure to post a review once I've been able to try the products.

EDITED to change my wording.  I must have been Megan Crankypants last night.  :)

China Glaze re-releases the Wizard of Ooh Ahz Collection

I'm sure you all have heard about this before now. I had plans of posting this last week, but then blogger wasn't playing nice with me, so I had to hold off for a bit, and then I forgot. LOL.

Anyway, I received this press release from China Glaze last week:



THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE CHINA GLAZE

China Glaze Re-Releases The Wizard Of Ohh Ahz

Los Angeles, CA – (November 2009): Click your Ruby Pumps and come travel with China Glaze down the yellow brick road to meet “The Wizard of Ohh Ahz”! Just in time for the holidays, China Glaze is re-releasing the ever-so popular Wizard of Ohh Ahz collection! Very similar to the original version that was released in 2001, these colors will remind you of exactly why China Glaze glitters are always in the forefront! Colors in the 6 piece acetate include (from left to right as shown in the photo above):

·        Ruby Pumps: An all time red glitter favorite!
·        Cowardly Lyin’: Gold frost with specks of gold micro glitter.
·        The Ten Man: Silver frost with specks of micro silver glitter.
·        Dorothy Who?: Blue polish with massive amounts of silver and blue glitter!
·        C-C-Courage: Purple Frost with specks of purple micro glitter.
·        Good Witch: Pink Frost with specks of pink micro glitter.

China Glaze will take you to that special polish place…some where over the rainbow with these gorgeous glitter polishes!

China Glaze colors may change from season to season, but our formula remains the same longwearing lacquer with hardeners. Designed with the professional in mind, our 220-strand brush is great for ease of application. Best of all, our non-thickening formula provides even coverage.  China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com. China Glaze is a division of American International Industries. 





I'm not on the sample blogger list, just press releases, so I don't have swatches, unfortunately, but there are a few floating around. Scrangie and Vampy Varnish are two bloggers that I know have (great) swatches and reviews of this collection.

I was really looking forward to this collection.  However, now that I've seen swatches, I'm a bit underwhelmed.  If I can swing it, as I'm still on a no-buy, I'm still planning on getting Dorothy Who?, but I'm on the fence about the other colors.  I really like the look of Good Witch, for some reason.  As Kelly at Vampy Varnish stated, it really does look like Glinda's dress.  That was the first thing that popped in my head when I saw the color.  If I wasn't afraid it would look horrible on my hands, I'd pick that one up as well.  I'm pretty sure Sally's is going to get this collection in, so if I see it in person, I may end up getting it.  As far as I know, these are not available through etailers yet. 

EDIT: this collection is available at TD now. 

Monday, November 9, 2009

NOTD: OPI Russian Navy Matte/ OPI Merry Midnight

Unlike the rest of the NP-loving community, I'd yet to try flakies. I had looked at a couple Nfu-Ohs, and then decided against them. I felt the price was just too much. Plus, 51 is always OOS.

So, when OPI released 2 flakies in this year's holiday collection, I immediately took notice. Unfortunately, one of the 2 they released, Shim-merry Chic (the golden one) had this vomit-ty look to it, so I decided against it. I waffled on Merry Midnight because I'd read a iffy review on it, though for the life of me, I can't remember where. I decided to go for it, however, because it just looked so unique. Whenever Suzi decides to go out of her norm (read reds), the color is usually fab. Usually. Sometimes, it can go very, very wrong.

Thankfully, Merry Midnight was not one of those times. It's a deep purple base, loaded with duochrome magenta flakies and what looks like blue, purple, and green (maybe? I can't tell if the green is really green or just the light hitting the blue) fine glitter.



Gasp. This is absolutely amazing. What I like about this polish is that the flakies are much, much smaller than the flakies I've seen in the Nfu-Ohs, Sinful, and NYX flakies; though it all fairness, I don't have those to compare. They don't look like big chunks on your nails, which is a BIG plus for me.

As for application, I had read that MM can be a bit thin, and I was afraid it would be lighter on the nail than in the bottle, so I decided to layer it over a coat of OPI Russian Navy Matte, to get a deep purple color and to help with the multiple coats issue.

I'd mentioned the other day that I yet to use my RN-M. I'd bought it on a whim about a month after the first wave of OPI Mattes came out. I think I'd seen Scrangie's pic of it, fell in love with her swatches, and pulled the trigger on it, before thinking it through. Honestly, I don't really like the full-on matte look. I love the satin finish my Orly Matte Top gives me, and I really love the OPI Suedes, but I don't like my nails looking like chalkboards, which is what happens with the OPI Mattes.

So, my RN-M, and my LaPH-M have just been sadly gathering dust in their drawer. I had no plans on using either of them. Then I had the bright idea, that they would be perfect for layering. They dry super quick and the color is very saturated. Perfect, IMO, as a base. I could have gone with a regular navy (i.e. CC Naughty-cal Navy or ChG Calypso Blue), but again, I didn't want to have to deal with the drying time on the bottom coat.

For those that are interested, I did take a pic of RN-M on it's own, just so you could see it.


It's a pretty, if boring, navy, but I don't really like the finish. It's also very unforgiving. I use glue-ons, so thankfully, I don't have to deal with ridges in my nails, but you can see every time where I didn't put the polish on perfectly straight or it got a little lumpy. There was no fixing those mistakes, either, as it dries in 1-2 minutes. I just can't see me using this on it's own in the future. Maybe, I'll use it with a konad and then top it with a coat of Matte Top, but it just doesn't ring any bells for me. I'm planning on layering it with the original RN, as I wasn't a fan of the O-RN due to the green base. In swatching, it looks like using the RN-M neutralizes the green.

But to get off my tangent, I then used 2 coats of Merry Midnight and a coat of my current quick-dry TC, Beauty Secrets Top Coat. Like I said earlier, I adore this color. It's different which is something most nail polish companies are lacking. Granted, it's not brand new territory, but it is new for OPI (US), and that's something I can appreciate. Let's hope it's a trend that continues into Spring 2010. Not just for OPI, but for Essie and Orly as well (ChG, CC, and Misa seem like the are on the forefront of interesting and different colors).

RN-M and MM are both available at e-tailers and on eBay. I'm not sure of the availability of RN-M in beauty supply stores as it came out in the summer, though they still should have it, but MM should definitely be there as it's a brand new release.

Hope you guys love this one as much as I do. It's a fab color for the holidays. I can't wait to try it layered over other colors as well. I've heard it looks great over a red creme.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Yes, Another Falling Leaves Mani

I'm not sure if it's because of my aforementioned depression or another reason, but I've been feel wholly uninspired as of late. All of my manis have been disappointing in one way or another, so for my current mani, I turned to a design that I knew worked.

I know I've posted 2 previous falling leaves manis and I'm sure you guys are sick of them, but as fall is coming to an end in a little over a month, I figured I'd better get to cracking if I was going to do another. Plus, I just really love them.

For this one, I used a base of OPI All A-Bordeaux the Sled. For the leaves, I used plate m20 and ChG Joy, Delight, and Magical.




All A-Bordeaux the Sled is from OPI's new holiday 2009 Holiday Wishes collection. It's a deep brown/wine vampy creme. It reminds me of those chocolates that have wine in them. On the nail, it's definitely more brown that wine, but there's a nice wine-y undertone that keeps it from being muddy, a problem I find with vampy cremes. I know some reviews said it was nothing special, but I really like this color. If fills a gap for me, as I don't have many vampy cremes, especially not many that aren't purple based, but if you do, it may be a pass.

As for application, it took 2 coats to be opaque. The formula was pretty easy to handle on this one. Not too thin, not too thick. OPI seems to be getting better and better w/ their B3F formula.

The ChGs, of course, are from the Romantiques collection. I swear, I can't help myself from konadding with these. They are perfect every time. I chose Joy (a warm purple), Magical (a rose gold) and Delight (a copper) because I thought they worked well with AA-BtS, but any color from the warm Romatiques collection (and probably a couple from the cool collection) would have been awesome.

I got AA-BtS at TD for $4.99. They also have the Romantiques for $2.60.

Also, I've been using a new top coat, Beauty Secrets Top Coat. It's available at Sally's for ~$3 with a Sally's card. I really like it. It dries nails super fast. Unfortunately, I got some shimmer in my bottle, so if it looks like there's shimmer on AA-BtS, there's not... it's just my bottle of TC.

Lastly, I used Kiss Curved Tips as my nails for this mani. I have been using Nailenes pretty much exclusively, but I wanted something longer for a change. I really like using the Kiss tips, as it's easier to handle them than the full nails, because they are longer. I just cut them down to my desired length.

I hope you guys like this mani, and I should be back with more in the next few days. :)

Finally Back

Hey all,

Again, I'm sorry for not updating regularly. I hate to keep mentioning it, as it probably doesn't even bother the majority of you, but going weeks between posts is a big pet peeve of mine, and I'm driving myself bananas by not posting. LOL.

I don't know why, but whenever I go on vacation, no matter how long or short, it always takes me weeks to get back in the swing of things. I still haven't fully unpacked and put away the suitcases, and I finally got all my stuff (camera cord, mouse) out of my computer bag. So now I can back back to the bidnez of blogging. Thank goodness. I've missed it.

I have done several manis over the past 2 weeks, but there's been nothing I was incredibly proud of, and since my camera's been hiding, I only have a couple of pics, and they suck, so no posting.

I have a new mani, and I'll post it in a separate post to follow, but I do want to mention this quickly as I'm talking about what I did during my hiatus... OPI Suedes rock the house.

I have 3 true matte polishes, well 5 if you count the 2 I found at the DT back earlier in the year. I have 2 OPIs and 1 Zoya, and then the 2 Maybellines. Oops. I forgot about an Orly I just bought. So, 6 mattes. None of which I've actually tried. However, in my TD order from a few weeks ago (that my husband was so great to get for me), I got 3 OPI Suedes, YDKJ, Russian Navy, and We'll Always Have Paris.

Holy smokes... they are fab. I'm not a huge fan of the original RN, and though I have the matte, like I mentioned earlier, I've never tried it. But... the suede is amazing. I like them with a top coat, but they are really great if you need a quick mani. The polish itself takes minutes to dry and if you slap on a quick dry top coat (I use Out the Door or Beauty Secrets Top Coat), you can have a mani done in 5-10 minutes. They are one-coaters, too. No pics, unfortunately, but there are plenty out there. I'll try to take a few when I take off my current mani.

And before I close out this post, quick update on the job situation... nothing yet. I'm still waiting to hear from the law firm, so I just want to ask you all, if you could please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. This is really doing a number on me. I have an appointment on Wednesday with a non-profit, low cost clinic (as we lost our insurance), and I'm going to talk to the. about anti-deps because I can't seem to get out of my funk. I have a history of clinical depression, and I'd felt it creeping back before all this happed, but I'd been doing pretty good at keeping it at bay until Tim lost his job. That was the catalyst for my brain to go all haywire again. :P

I don't mean to be a downer. I know things could be much, much worse, and I'm thankful for what we have. And hopefully, the law firm job will pan out. *fingers and toes crossed*