Multi/Black Funky French

Or, I should probably subtitle this post "macro is a bitch".  :\

I took inspiration from my Broadway Nails "harajuku style" glue-on nails from a couple of days ago (link), and tried to replicate the look using my natural nails.   I did it, pretty successfully, I thought.  It was pretty messy, but I thought I'd done a damn good job of cleaning up.  I used a brush and everything.  Well... this is what my camera saw...

Really?  :'(  Holy effin smokes.  I looked at my nails  pre-pics and I thought it was so cute.  It probably could have benefited from some nail guides, but other than that... I thought it was a success.  Then I looked at the pictures all zoomed in and nearly had a heart attack.  OMG.  :|  I promise you girls, I did clean up.  Like I mentioned above, I even used an old eyeliner brush, for crying out loud (normally, I'm just a q-tip girl).

Honestly, I was gonna chalk it up to a huge failure when I figured I'd go on and post it.  Afterall, it was a wee bit time consuming to create this look.  I figured at the least, you'd get a good laugh, and at the most, maybe some of you would find inspiration in my mess and recreate the look with much greater success.

To create this look, I sponged on Nicole by OPI Pink. Seriously (part of the new Target collection), Fingerpaints Chrysanthe-mum's the Word, and Zoya Robyn.  I think added a coat of Nubar Dewdrop over the sponged color, and a french in Illamasqua Boosh.  I then added 2 coats of topcoat.  I loved it before my disastrous macro pics, and even now, I really like the look, I just wish it was neater, and wish that macro was kinder.  LOL.  I think if someone were to try this on longer, squarer nails, it would look amazing.  Just think of all the color combos.  :)

Here's hoping my pic made no one sick.  :P

Another e-Tailer Price Increase

I just wanted to give you all the heads up that Orlys are now full retail at TransDesign and are "log-in for price" at Victoria's Nail Supply.  I just checked and Orlys are still $3.75 - $5.00 (Cosmic FX) at Head2Toe Beauty, but I have no clue how long that will last. 

Oh well, just another brand that I won't be hauling anytime soon.   Once Essie forced e-tailers to raise their prices, I haven't bought a single one.

EDIT 9/17/10: I just checked and it looks like Head2Toe has now raised their prices to $6 for regular polishes and $10 for Cosmic FX.  Thanks, Orly.  :\

One should be able to blog without the fear of cease and desist letters...

A few months back, there was a bit of controversy in the nail blogger/MUA NB world about several companies being relabled Diamond Cosmetics.  Not that there's a problem in that, Diamond Cosmetics, afterall, does have a private label division.  The issue, of course, being... why pay boutique prices when you can essentially get the same product through Diamond Cosmetics directly for $2?

One of those brands that was linked to Diamond Cosmetics, along with several others, was Ginger + Liz.  Ginger + Liz is not a brand that I know too much about.  All I know is that they are in the $10-12 range per bottle and are promoted heavily on All Lacquered Up.  However, several people feel that Ginger + Liz is relabeled Diamond Cosmetics and have said so on various blogs and on Twitter.  One of those people is Sara at Daily Polish.  Unfortunately, Sara is the one person to get a cease and desist letter from Ginger + Liz's attorney.  Please keep in mind that Sara purchased all the products she reviewed and compared.  They were not samples.

Whether or not you agree with Sara is beside the point.  Ginger + Liz has mentioned, through All Lacquered Up, mind you, that they source their nail polish through a supplier in California.  Personally, I believe some of the swatches look similar to Diamond Cosmetics and some are not dupey at all.  However, the real point is that no matter what Sara, or any blogger for that matter, believes and posts about, s/he should be able to do so with out the fear of being reprimanded or sued.  A blog is just a collection of personal opinions, and most of us, save for the aforementioned All Lacquered Up, do so without any real monetary compensation.  We just do it because we enjoy it.  Well, in my opinion, it's hard to enjoy something if you feel like your opinions could be potentially used against you in a lawsuit. 

I am a little worried that this, along with OPI's recent legal scare tactics, regarding their upcoming Burlesque collection and leaked press releases, are leading us down a scary road.  I don't want to be afraid to express my opinion on a certain product, whether that be good or bad.  As long as I'm not posting scandalous pictures or defaming someone's personal character, I should be allowed to freely express my opinions without the fear of being sued.

I do not plan on purchasing any Ginger + Liz products in the future nor do I plan on promoting them on this blog.  I realize they are a small boutique brand and probably still trying to find their way in the nail polish world, but, IMO, threatening a nail blogger, is not a way to positively and effectively promote their brand.  All that does is make you, as a company, look bad.

Lost

Okay, this is going to be waaaay off-topic, but I've been searching for a place to type out my Lost-thoughts that wouldn't restrict me to 140 characters, and then I remembered I had a blog.  So I figured I'd type it all out here.  If you watch the show but haven't seen the finale, or plan on watching it in one fell swoop when the final season is released on DVD, please don't read on (I'll put in some dead space, so you don't immediately see spoilers).  Also, please feel free to ignore this post.  I just need to type something out, or I'll bust.  LOL.





Okay... one of my favorite movies ever was Signs.  I love the fact that it's a movie about aliens, it was billed as a sci-fi movie and yet in the end, it was ultimately a character story about one man's redemption.  However, I feel Lost is the same kind of story and in this format, I don't really like it.  I mean, I can appreciate it for being pure genius, but it almost feels like Darlton made it too big to ultimately be about Jack's redemption, death, and afterlife.  Signs was a 2 hour movie.  Lost was a 6 year series.  With a lot more twists and turns and unanswered questions.  I think in the end, I felt like the first 5 seasons were one show and this one was something that belonged on PAX.  Also, the sideways world seemed to rip off another M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Sixth Sense, in the "they don't know they are dead" regard, and then each of the characters had their big "a-ha" moment and they got goofy smiles and became resigned with their fates.  I guess in the end, I get it.  I think it was genius.  But, I don't really like it.  I wanted more resolution with the other characters (like what happens with Hurley being the new Jacob and Ben being the new Richard and what happens with those that got on the Ajira plane and headed home), than it simply being about Jack closing his eye in the end (though that was a good ending).  Though I guess Darlton's point was in the end, none of that matters, it was just about being with your "constant" in the hereafter.  They did always say it was a love story.

However, as much I'm bitching... I also did enjoy the finale.  I sobbed like a baby at several points.  The main one being where Jack "freed" John Locke.  Locke was always one of my favorite characters.  I loved that his crappy real life was redeemed by the island.  I loved that on the island, Locke had a purpose, and then you find out that all that purpose was just manipulated by the MIB.  So, when Locke had his epiphany and he was essentially redeemed, I cried.  I cried hard.  I just wish in the church, he had Helen by his side.

I loved that Hurley became the new Jacob and Ben was the new Richard.  I loved that Hurley gave Ben a purpose, something he'd always wanted, and killed (literally) to have.  I think in that moment Ben Linus was redeemed, though I wish he'd been allowed to be in the church (and I'm talking to Darlton here, the characters themselves asked Ben to come in).  I mean, no one in that church was innocent.  Most of them had, in one way or another, killed or caused another person's death on the island (and off island in the case of Sayid, Sawyer, and Kate).

Okay, I think I'm done now.  There's more floating around my brain, but I will leave it at that for now.  If you watched the show and want to share your thoughts, please feel free to do so. 

Okay, what am I doing wrong (re: RBL)

I used to lem RBL polishes pretty hardcore.  I'd see one I'd like, go to the site, stuff several in my cart, get pissed they were $18, get even more pissed they charged shipping charges on top of an $18 polish, and then I'd close out the window.  I always said that if Ji offered another sale, I'd pick some up.

So, true to my word, when she offered the VIP sale, I picked up, um, 10.  :|  It was technically a Christmas gift, as I used some of my Christmas money.  They get here and I'm beyond excited.  I nearly pee my pants looking in the bottles.  Unfortunately, now that I've used several, I'm more than a bit underwhelmed.  :(

The glitters are great.  Totally what I wanted.  However, the cremes I got are beyond disappointing.  I've tried Killa Red, Au Chocolat, and (as of last night) Bruised.  All three of them left me frustrated at the application, formula, brush (in the case of Killa Red), and drying time.  Last night, I woke up with smudges and sheetmarks after 2 hours of drying time and I had to remove Bruise.  Even if I don't go to bed relatively soon after application, I still have to deal with nicks and smudges.  They just take forever to dry and even a day later, they are still somewhat soft.

What am I doing wrong?  All I heard about was RBL's amazing formula.  I use Orly Calcium Shield base coat (I've learned the Dermelect BS doesn't work with RBL) and Out the Door TC.  I still have Dead Calm, Bikini Bottom, and Purple Haze to try, but I swear of these suck, too, I'm going to chalk it up to a $98.50 mistake.

Guys, I think I OD'd

:S

I'm starting to look at polish the way someone looks at food after they've eaten their weight in sesame chicken at a Chinese buffet. I recently placed an order at VNS for about 10 polishes and a handful of empty bottles. I was interested in trying my hand at frankening. I also place an add-on order for a bottle of Essie Viva La Vespa (yes, they still have them if anyone is interested). So in my email correspendence with Yen regarding my add-on order, so mentions that ChG OMG is OOS, and that "if I like I can order another polish to replace it... oh and they will have the CC Japanese glitters and CC Wild At Heart in stock w/in the next 2 days". Bestill my beating polish junkie heart. So of course, I have her add a set of the glitters and 2 from the WAH collection on to my order. Yay!!!

Then the order comes. I tear into it like a woman possessed. Start frankening w/in 10 minutes. Created an awesome teal by using ChG Shower Together and Sation Black and a gorgeous black/gold like the one Dr. Frankenpolish created earlier in the year. Then something happens. NP overload. I like everything I got, but I'm not excited anymore. I can't even get myself to add all the bottles to my stash. I look at my polish stash and it's like I just discovered Santa is really my parents. The wind has officially been taken out of my sails. BeautySak was offering a new code and I could finally try my RBL lemmings, but I wasn't even interested. Wha? Aaaaand, rather than getting polish w/ my personal money for these 2 wks, I bought 5 Philosophy 3-in-1s (dang Philosophy code).

Oh, I still plan on doing my nails and blogging about it and I have a pretty decent stash with which to do so, but I think for now, my wallet can breath a sigh of relief (I say that having splurged on Philosophy, LOL). Maybe when OPI's new Holiday collection reaches the e-tailers (certainly this won't last until Wizard of Oohz Aahs makes it's redux), I'll be ready to fall back off the wagon or jump back on it... depending on how you view the situation. LOL.

Has this happened to any of you? Am I broken forever?