NOTM: Prom nails and/or Colored Glitter Gradient Tips

 Yep, these nails are from around 2 months ago during my High School Prom. Oh the memory. It was one of the nicest and worst nights of my life. Big last minute rush for everything. I was stuck being the designated makeup artist for a couple friends and I ended up having less than 5 minutes to do my own before getting rushed. *sigh* On the upside the venue was very nice and fancy. They also had chocolate fondue with the most ripe strawberries I've ever seen. Long story short, I was glued to it for a good 15 minutes. ^^;

 This was probably my first time ever accomplishing free handed French nails so NEATLY. Then again my actual nail tips grew long enough to acted like an outline. I quite like this look. It's very clean and sophisticated, but still fun because of the glitter.

Nail polish Used:

Sephora by OPI - Already Famous

KleanColor - Holo Chrome

Sephora by OPI - Only Gold for Me

AND because I was so fond of this nail style, I recreated it using red tips and fine holographic glitters.

Nail Polish Used:

Sephora by OPI - Already Famous

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps

Sephora by OPI - Meet Me at the Disco

NP Swatch: China Glaze - It's a Trap-ese!

"Jelly Sandwiches" are just one of the many crazes happening in the world of nail polish fanatics. It's hard to find a premade Jelly Sandwich from a non-indie polish brand, so I was pleasantly surprised and immediately on the hunt for China Glaze's Cirque du Soleil collection for It's a Trap-ese!. 

It's A Trap-ese!
- Densely packed opaque (pink, yellow, green silver, blue) circular and hexagonal glitter that are suspended in a milky white base.
- Apart of the China Glaze's Cirque Du Soleil collection
- $6.59 from Sally's
- 1 to 2 coats to be opaque
- 2 coats pictured above
- It's a Trap-ese! is a bit thick because of the density of the glitters.
- Luckily, it doesn't dry abnormally slow despite the thickness.


-I absolutely adore this polish. This might be odd, but It's A trap-ese! reminds me of my childhood. My thoughts every time I see it go back to early mornings before school eating Trix or Fruit Loops with milk. Yummy sickly sweet goodness.

Collective Haul: Up to 11.27.12 + Black Friday stuffies

I want to first say that I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful and that everyone was able to shop safely as they hunted for some deals.

Sooooo I finally got a Job this pass month so I've been pretty bad with my money. I'm still in the process of figuring out how to deal with money without gunning it all. More about that in a later post.

Here is my Haul from the pass couple months along with Black Friday deals and a couple after BF stuff.

Sephora/Disney - Cinderella palette: I was torn between getting this or the Tarte Carried Away palette.  I just chose the pretty gimmick in the end because I've been super into fairy tales as of late and it does say that it's Vol. 1 so hopefully more to come to collect~ So far I like it, but it definitely comes with problems of it's own.

Target Beauty Bag: I'm so Sad this is the last one that they're giving out. D; I'm loving all of these little makeup bags that come with the samples.

Maybelline Color Tattoos LE - Test my Teal and Rich Mahogany: The textures of this are way better then the regular line in my opinion. I was quite sad that I couldn't find the Beige or Dark Gold Limited Edition colors. 

Revlon Lip Butter - Berry Smoothie and Fig Jam: These shades are great and I'm liking the texture of these. I've been reaching for these all the time. 

China Glaze - Deviantly Darling and Rare & Radiant: I was quite disappointed in these. The duochrome wasn't too apparent. But They are still pretty none the less.

Jordana blushes - Coral Sandy Beach and Redwood: These gems are amazing, super cheap, and pigmented. I finally got the chance to venture into a Kmart to get these. I've been wanting these for awhile now.

Sinful Colors - Cinderella, Winterberry, and Glass Pink: Cinderella looks gorgeous in the bottle, but I'm not a huge fan of the formula. Winterberry is a nice dusty purple with tiny white shimmer flecks. Glass pink is a great "clean" color.

Ultimate Poshe - Crease brush set: I wouldn't recommend these to be honest. They're a bit scratchy 

Black Friday haul

Ulta Mix and Match 5 for $5
~Ulta Nail polish - Celebutante: Cool Purple Creme.
~Vanilla Noel Hand Cream - Smells Nice and since I started working my hands have gone to pieces with dryness so a hand cream was definitely on the shopping list.
~Nail clipper: Nothing much to say here...
~Ulta Shiny Gloss Mini - Mischief: I'm liking the colors and happy it isn't sheer.
~Chi - Silk Infusion- I wanted to see what all the hype about this stuff was about. It smells nice.

Tarte Black Friday set: I thought this was a great deal for half the price you'd get for each plus they are full size products.

 Black Friday Deal

Threshold Fuzzy Blanket: This is so amazingly soft. I've used it twice so far and I felt like I was drifting on a cloud of baby bunnies. 

Snake Double ring - I've always loved snake rings and it was on sale for 99 cents for Black Friday.

Nyx Blush - Copper- I love the shimmery pigmented quality to this and it's not your traditional pinky blush color.

Nyx Eyeliner - White: I think I want to try giving the white waterline trick a go one more timee with a more pigmented white.

The Grand Purge #1

Side note: Sooo true story, I really do have/had a ton of posts planned for a LONG time now, but I just never get around to actually executing them... *sigh*

Welcome to my first Nail Polish Purge~
I've been gathering and gathering probably 150+ Polishes... And I have come to the conclusion: I really need to purge the ones that I don't even touch.
My parents think that actually I'm drinking the stuff at this point. <-- only half joking, of course...
Therefor I shall be purging all of these onto my friends. In hope these actually get some use.

Without further adieu here is the purge and my last words for each.

Rimmel -Steel Grey: First brought as a dupe for the famous Metro Chic, but alas the formula combined with the wide brush has driven me crazy for the last time.
Finger Paints - Lavender Highlight: Despite the strikingly similar appearance, I have indeed fallen for another's formula.
Finger Paints - Blank Canvas Cream: I had so many drab/formal events I was going to wear this to, but the color looked just a bit weird on me. It is suppose to be a dusty pink, but the separation is making it look orange.
Nina Ultra Pro - Leaf Me Alone: I adore the name. It is such a sheer color though. I may rethink purging this one because I've been recently seeing loads of people frankening polishes so I might add some glitters.
Sally Hansen - Chartreuse Chase: Interesting color, pastel green with a blue iridescent shimmers.
KleanColor - Dark Brown: I was planing to do nail art with this, but it's almost so dark it's black.
KleanColor - Sugar Coat: The formula is too thick and the glitters are too sparse for my taste.
New York Color(N.Y.C.) - Pink Pormenade Creme: I bought this along with my FIRST polishes for my mom but she never used it and I'm not a fan of pinks. Its just never been opened...
Sinful Colors - Fuji: One of my first polishes. It's super sheer, it almost looks like a shimmery lip gloss look to it.
Sinful Colors - Hottie: I'm just sorta sick of this glitter, despite its beauty.
Sinful Colors - Rise and Shine: It was my first victim on the hunt for the perfect teal. It lends more green so it just looks horrible and sickly on me.
Sinful Colors - All About Me: Not excited about this glitter at all...
(No Name): This is actually an amazing red creme. It's a one coater too, I've just found another just as good one with a cuter name/bottle...
Sally Girl - I.Q. - I didn't like the formula one bit.
Revlon - No Shrinking Violet: I don't have the patience for this to dry and the color is sorta blah for me.
Revlon - Iced Spice: This looks unbearable bad and weird on me.
Mood Struck - Purple to Light Pink: It does change, but it's not the most noticeable...
Hot Topic - (No Name): It's a black with hot pink glitter. Boring.
Wet n' Wild- Disturbia - Too plain for me.
Sally Hansen - Fractured Foil: I'm over the crackle look to be honest. the crackle on this aren't that amazing. And silver looks odd on me...

NP Swatch: Spoiled - Cougar Attack

This is my first Spoiled nail polish and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. I honestly just grabbed this to reach the $12 mark for the CVS coupon, but I'm glad I did. I was on the fence choosing between this, Ants In My Pants, or Are Mermaids Real?. I ultimately chose this because for some reason lately I've been loving bronze/brown anything.

Indirect sunlight

Direct sunlight

Cougar Attack-

-It's a dark brown jelly with coppery bronze one-size glitter heavily put in. 

-It's apparently a re-release from Wet n' Wild's On the Prowl collection.

-$1.99 at CVS.

-2-3 coats for full opacity.

-2 coats in the picture above

-Goes on thick, but smoothly. Once it's dried you will feel the glitter grittyness, but it's not overboard.

-Doesn't take long for a coat to dry. Whatever you do, don't attempt to one coat this, it'll take forever to dry. Use thin layers if you can.

- The brush: Some may hate it or like it. I like the cut, it gave me the perfect gap from my cuticle, which I've never achieved before, and what would usually take 3 strokes, took 1. The downside is that mine was a bit splayed out. It could be from the glitter or just another factory defect that I've heard so much about.

NP Swatch: Love & Beauty - Safari Gold

 

Indirect Sunlight

 

 Direct Sunlight

Safari Gold -
It's a dark olive/brown with heavy gold shimmer.
$2.80 at Forever 21.
2-3 coats for full opacity.
3 coats of polish in pictures above.
Goes on smoothly and not at all too thick or thin.
Dries in an average amount of time. By the time I painted all my nails the 1st nail was surface dry.
I am about positive that its exact counterpart in the LA girls polishes is Antique Gold.

NP Swatch~ Finger Paints - Lavender Hightlight

Lavender Highlight -
A medium blue-toned purple creme. Personally, think it's too dark to be lavender, despite the name. Took about 2-3 coats to this opacity.

Nail Polish Swatches: China Glaze Colours from the Capitol

*Flails arms* It's FINALLY here, sorta. Let me start off with saying(ranting) about my love for the Hunger Games. I read all 3 books in a week and book one and two within a day each. Loved the 1st book to pieces, 2nd was alright, and the third was good with a in my opinion, a crappy rushed ending. No, it's not because I'm anti-Peeta or something, I'm actually for him. Although I won't spoil anything so just read it yourself. CAN'T wait for the movie though, I'm thinking about taking my boyfriend out on a date to watch it for his birthday. Shh... :X

China Glaze Effie looks Fabulous by the way with her Paperself eyelashes~

I've been waiting so patiently for this collection, but I'm a bit blah with about half of it to be honest. ^^;

 Harvest Moon  *Natural light*

 Harvest Moon  *Flash*

Harvest Moon is a golden bronze foil. Opaque with basically one coat, but I applied two just in case. Goes on nice and smooth.

 Fast Track *Natural Light*

Fast Track *Flash*

Fast Track is a greyish tan/nude type taupe creme with micro golden flakes/shimmer. Opaque in 2-3 coats. I applied three. Goes on pretty sheer but smooth with loads of gold shimmer flakes.

I'm personally a bit on the fence with Fast Track because the color looks a bit odd in person on me, wish it was a bit less grey though.

Giveaway Mention!
Makeup Withdraw is giving away 5 colors from this collection. It ends on March 19th so hurry and Check it out~
The shades are:
Luxe and Lush
Mahogany Magic
Hook and Line
Riveting
Fast Track
 Link: http://www.makeupwithdrawal.com/2012/02/win-polishes-from-china-glaze-hunger.html

Haul: Sally's Beauty, Target and Ross

Life Update:
Geez, I need to stop getting so busy. School has been pretty brutal this year; managed to get the worst grades I've ever had in my entire life. *Bangs head against table* Good News though, I got into a early admission program. So I'll technically be a college freshmen nest year. Hopefully the college schedule will allow me to get some rest since my sleep schedule has been out of whack since I started high school. I'm talking, sleeping 3-4 hours at night, waking up at 4/5 and then passing out on my bed after I get home. Not good. ^^;

Note: I've decided to list all the sales and clearance prices I got things for at the bottom of posts from now on, so check that out if your interested.

To the Haul~

Sally's Beauty Supply:

Ion Silk Drops - $7.99($6.99 w/card)~ I believe this has the same concept as Biosilk drops or Chi silk infusion. Recently my hair has been acted horrible and frizzy so I've been wanting to get a de-frizz moisture product and apparently you can use this on your skin which is interesting. It's smells amazing too.

China Glaze in Harvest Moon and Fast Track - $5.99($4.99 w/ card)~ Completely pysched about this collection and  movie coming out soon. Harvest Moon in a golden bronze foil.So beautiful. Fast Track is a grey nude taupe color with packed small gold flecks. I'm still a bit on the fence with this color.

Palladio Shadow liner in Eclipse, Raspberry and Icicle - $5.99($5.39 w/ card)~ I've been also on a base colors/Jumbo pencil kick lately too and heard these were quite nice and good on their own.

Target:

 Boots Original Beauty Formula Cleansing Milk Geranium- $7.99~ My eyes have been getting so red/puffy/irritated from cleansers/makeup removers lately, and when I found this, the word "milk" had me hoping that is was a very gentle makeup remover for some reason. I used it right when I got home and so far so good, removed and didn't burn. :D

Sonia Kashuk luxury lip color in Truffle - $8.99~ Seems like a nice brown nude, just what I've been needing. Love the white sleek squared tube it's in.

Ross: 

Sorry for the washed out picture.

Roxy Lieutenant purse - Original: $44. Store: $16.99~ I needed a compact less "Loud" purse to carry around casually. It's a over the shoulder satchel-type purse and the sides are about 2 inched wide.

Sale/Clearance Breakdown:
Sally's Beauty Supply
Ion Silk Drops - Free from renewing my card in February
Palladio Shadow Liner - Buy 2 get one free on Palladio products
Target
Boots Cleansing Milk - $3.98 on sale because the box packaging was ripped at the top.
Sonia Kashuk lipstick - $0.69 on sale because of repackaging or discontinuation. Rang up 69 cents even though it said $2.24 on the sticker.

Swatches: Orly Holiday Soiree Minis

So yesterday I was wandering my local Sally's Beauty Supply again and rummaged around the nail aisle/ clearance shelf. Of course the full size display was already wiped out, so I settled with these little guys.

Oui

It's a midtoned metallic purple with a load of large yellow/gold shimmers.  So pretty, unique and what is staying on my nails.

Androgynie

It's a black sheer jelly with gold shimmers, holographic silver glitter and large hexagonal teal/blue & green/orange glitter. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous in the bottle, very galaxy-like. Sadly, as others have said most of the hexagonal glitter stick to the sides of bottle. Even with a bunch of shaking I could hardly get enough onto my nails. Overall a bit disappointing. 

Ma Cherie

It's a candy apple red jelly. The picture above is a bit lighter then what it looks like in real life. Ironically I stumbled upon these the day after I started "lemming" for a red jelly nail polish.

Note: All swatches above were done with two coats of nail polish.

In Addition. . .

They came packaged like this:

Original: ?
Clearance: $3.99
But remember there is a Sale going on that is up to 70% off Clearance Items. So I got these 50% off for two dollars.  The sale is going to go on for two more days ending on 12/31/11, so I'd get there soon to find these or other clearanced holiday polishes.

Haul~ Finally Joining the Bandwagon

So from my recent break from blogging anything because of my lack of camera, I've been yearning to show my top favorite hauled items during that time.

Let's kick this off with more nail polish.
*sigh* Seems like I've been going on a polish buying spree recently. Nail polish is just too pretty to pass up nowadays.

Kleancolor Nail lacquers in Holo Chrome, Sugar Coat, Bridal Shower - $1.99~
Bought them at a local accessory store in Tampa. I've tried them all and I have to say Bridal Shower is my Favorite, but it's so hard to remove. ): Sugar Coat was a bit goopy and slow drying too.

OPI DS Collection in DS Amethyst- $15.99
Bought it at a local Beauty supply store in Tampa. OPI Holos look so Gorgeous, so expensive but so worth it. The most I've ever spent on a nail polish.

Orly, Birds of a Feather Nail Lacquer Gift Set with Fowl Play, Lucky Duck, Sweet Peacock, and a Extra bag- $9.99~
I was so trilled when I found Fowl Play at my local Sally's Beauty Supply. I was dieing to get it since summer, after I heard it was a dupe for OPI's Merry Midnight. My Sally's stopped displaying the individual collection so I bought the set, which was a great deal since your getting Three Orlys for $10. So far I've tried Fowl Play and Lucky Duck, but I plan to try out Sweet Peacock soon enough.

Physician's Formula Set with Baked Souffle, Classic Basics, Touch of Smoke- $6.99~
Complete Steal. For $6.99, it was like a buy one and getting two free. Plus I've been wanting some more neutral colors. I've been Loving Baked Souffle quite a bit, but quite underwhelmed with  Classic Basics. Touch of Smoke makes a good subtle shimmery layering color.

Urban Decay's Naked Palette with a mini Primer Potion and a Good Karma Eyeshadow brush- $48
I paid $21 plus tax. How? I had a $15 off $50 coupon from my Email and $12 left on a Jcpenney gift card. Yay, for getting more then Half off on a high end Product. :P
But Yes, I've finally joined the Naked cult, extremely late considering the Naked 2 just came out, but after searching up reviews comparing the two, although I love taupes to death, I can't seem to pull off greys or silvers. So I didn't take any chances and went with the original Naked. The Original also came with a mini Primer Potion, that I've never tried.
 I'm also super stoked that this is my first Urban Decay product, but also my first full sized high end product.

Update: Back in Action! O~O

So Yeah... I've been away because of my broken camera dilemma for quite awhile. But Don't Despair because *drumroll* I FINALLY got a new camera so I should be updating every so often now again.

This school year's been so crazy so far. Scholarships, volunteering, club activities, job searching, and keeping up my grades, it's all making my head spin. I've really appreciated this much needed break.

My highlight was definitely Thanksgiving/Black Friday. Besides the dinner, waiting outside in the chilly weather for 3 hours till the opening of Target was dreadful. Luckily I was roughly around the 52-ish(beginning) person in the line, of which stretched all the way around the plaza.

It seemed like everyone there was gunning for the 42 or 46 inch. TVs or the Camera I'm about to show you below.  About 15 minutes after opening, Target was a sea of ginormous TVs.

Now onto my Camera~

Nikon Coolpix L105
- On Sale for $99.99, originally $199.99
- 15x Optical Zoom (HUGE differences from my old 3x Kodak)
- 720p HD video 
- Looks Professional for a point and shoot camera, but definitely not very discrete because of it's large size.
- Comes with a Lens cap, Neck Strap, Manual, Software, and four AA batteries.
- The worst part about it is the fact that is does need four AA Batteries, but I've realized that that can be a good thing too, considering it will have a long battery life because from my experience with rechargeable electronics, they die out quite quickly.

On a separate topic, look what I scored at Ross~

 Left to Right: No Shrinking Violet, Iced Spice, Raisin Rage, Black with Envy

Price: $5.99
Seriously that is basically a buy one get 3 free deal right there. They cam packaged in a plastic cylinder, was inconvenient to take a picture of, but if you missed getting the Black with Envy nail Polish Check you local Ross. (Side note: They also had the Color Club collections, Holiday 2011 glitters and the Foiled one. So maybe they will end up in yours too)
And Yes, that's the coveted Chanel Black Pearl dupe called Black with Envy. It was the Reason I bought the set really. Not really excited about Raisin Rage, which is a dark red creme, of which I already have very similar colors off.


P.S. I'm writing this right before my first ever job interview so wish me luck~

NOTM: All About a Blue Moon

This week, I've been EXTREMELY frustrated with nail polish. I had to have gone through at least 3 manis in the course of 2 days and have discover that I'm definitely not a fan of Sally Hansen polishes. :T *sigh* Then I just finally settled on something I knew would work, even though I haven't tried these particular shades yet.

What I Used:

Essie - Fill the Gap base coat: I've been using this like crazy since I got it. 

Wet n' Wild - Blue Moon: Gorgeous navy blue with very subtle teal shimmer. I used 2 coats on each nail, even though it was pretty much opaque with a single coat.

Sinful Colors - All About You: Gold micro glitter with slightly larger orange glitter throughout, all suspended in a clear polish. I used 2 coat of this on my ring finger.

Seche Vite - Top Coat: Now where would I be without this?

NOTM: Rainbows of a Lavendar Sky

I was inspired by cutepolish's (from youtube) rainbow tutorial. So simple and cute, I just had to give it a try myself, but with some twists, of course and since I was itching to test out my new nail art items as well.

Everything used to create these Nails of the Week:

~Sally Hansen - Double Duty Base and Top Coat

~Revlon - Scented nail polish in "Gum Drop"

~L.A. Colors - Art deco in Yellow, Red and Sky Blue

~Sally Hansen - Extreme Wear in "White on"

~Seche Vite - Top coat

~Gem Wheel, which I found at a dollar store.

On a Side Note: 

Exams are Over, and so is school! For now anyway... 

Now I to just lay around and "Vegetate" as my now previous English teacher would have put it. O~O

WOOT~

Oh and Sorry I've been away for a little bit. My friend was borrowing my camera to do her project, which she never ended up using and kept forgetting to hand me it back... *Facepalm*

Review: China Glaze's Crackle Nail Polish in "Black Mesh"

 Here's my 2 cents about one of the recently most Raved and wanted nail polishes on the market. Everyone and their grandmother have been raving about these. And Yes, I'm talking about the Shatter Nail Polishes.

I was so freaking ecstatic when I found this at my Sally's Beauty Supply on the 26th, since I never found OPI's Black Shatter. Then I died a little on the inside when I noticed the whole display was basically sold out, so I was all panicked and asked the sales clerk if They had more. Thankfully, there were still black meshes in the Back. (SO don't be afraid to ask if there more). Apparently I came right on time, since the sales person was saying how they just put them out the day before and sold 8 of them and mind you, I was there at 11 Am. XD

My Nails of the Week:

 OPI's Conquistadorable and ChinaGlaze's Black Mesh

Without Flash:

With Flash:

 
I really love the idea of these, very cool and entertaining. Probably the most fun I had painting my nails ever.
And to clear things up, China Glaze wasn't first to think of this, neither was OPI or Barry M. It was actually in fact Covergirl, who in the 90's came out with a variety of them, but discontinued them long ago too.


These Crackle Polishes $6.49, but a Sally's Card it's $4.99.
China Glaze has come out with 6 shades: Black Mesh, Heartbroken, Lightning, Concrete, Crushed Candy, and Fault Line.

The first time I tried it I sorta failed because I was too slow with it and used too thin of a coats. So I suggest getting a good amount on your brush and working fast. It also gives you a texture on your nails, meaning that it isn't smooth. It Dries Pretty Fast. It also dries matte or semi-matte. So use a top coat if you want it shiny(Obviously).

I honestly can't tell you how long they hold up considering I'm wearing a top coat and another nail polish under, but if you still wanna know, its been 7 days and there still going strong with minimal chipping. which is amazing considering I'm in a ceramics class so my nails go through a lot of abuse during the week days.


The ONLY Problem I found...
~ Is that it does sorta Goop up on the brush shaft a bit.

Overall:
5 Out of 5 Stars.
I completely recommend you to go for these. They're amazingly cool.