Glowy autumnal goodness- Kleancolor Metallic Mango

Kleancolor Metallic Mango, sunlight

Here's the polish I wore for Thanksgiving- Kleancolor Metallic Mango,  I usually don't love metallics, but this color is so interesting that I couldn't resist it. It's also the perfect polish for fall! It's a really interesting combination of orange, gold and bronze. And it really does glow on the nails, in a way that I find quite unique.  Almost every picture I see of it makes it look a bit different, so I figured I'd add my pictures into the mix.  I definitely recommend this polish!

Kleancolor Metallic Mango, shade

Not a timeless love for me-OPI Romeo & Joliet

OPI Romeo & Joliet, sunlight

Here's a polish I picked up mainly because it's an OPI.  I found OPI Romeo & Joliet for $2 at a local Goodwill and it's the kind of color that I wouldn't bother with normally, what with it being a fairly typical red shimmer. It leans a bit towards the brown side and is very fall appropriate.  I suspect that it's very similar to the recently released OPI shade Germanicure, but I don't own that one to do a comparison. Anyway, a nice enough glowy autumn color, but not the kind of color I gravitate to.

OPI Romeo & Joliet, shade 

Edited in November of 2014 with an image from wearing the same shade. 

Don't like textures? Some Blue Persuasion might change your mind!

Hi, guys! I'm actually somewhere with a working internet for a change, so I thought I’d do this quick post featuring the gorgeous Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion. Blue Persuasion is one of the colors in the recent Crystal Crush textured collection from the Sinful Colors.

Glitter gradient with Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion over China Glaze That's Shore Bright

As you may recall, I hate the texture trend and was sure I’d never buy another texture. However, multidimensional textures like Blue Persuasion and recent releases from Zoya and OPI have me rethinking my position. I still don’t like textures, but love the contrast between a gorgeous base color and contrasting glitters, which lots of these recent textures have done beautifully. As a result, I now own 5 more textured polishes. But fear not, fellow haters, I haven’t lost my mind; I have every intention of topcoating all of them, LOL!

I wore Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion as a gradient tip on one hand, but also included it as part of a skittle look on another hand. Check out both looks, after the jump!

Sally Hansen Triple Shine display!

Sally Hansen Triple Shine polish display

Hi, guys! Just wanted to do a quick post showing all of the polishes in the new Sally Hansen polish line. I was impressed with the range of colors and finishes in this line, and wanted to share my pictures with anyone who was interested in this relatively new line of polish. They retail for $5.49 at Walgreens, as you might be able to see in the picutres. I also added a picture with Sally Hansen's description of the finishes: pop, iridescent and glitter.  Jump if you want to see how well the polishes match the description, in row by row pictures!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday- San Jose nail supply edition!

Hi, guys! Today I have a very wordy post that will only be useful to fellow San Jose residents. I am lucky (or cursed) to live in a city with a wealth of nail supply stores, and I wanted to share what I knew about these places for anyone who is interested. Hopefully, if you live in San Jose or will ever visit this part of California, you will be able to use this post to get the best deals and score some great polish!


US Nails is the first nail supplier I found in the San Jose area, and it's still my favorite by far.  It has a great selection of polishes, awesome prices and fairly helpful staff. Here's a yelp page with reviews of US Nails along with the hours and address.  I have to warn you about limited availability of Zoyas there. I once talked to one of the workers there and it appears that with Zoya, they only get one shipment of the new collection and then they're done. This seems to have been how things have worked for a long time. However, they do usually post on their facebook page whenever they get in the newest collection.  They also can be a bit hit and miss with their selection of OPI. Polishes from the newest collections are usually there consistently, but their core line of OPI products often seems depleted. If I could only visit one store out of the 3 in this post, it would definitely be this one.

Find out what the other 2 stores carry, and how they differ from US Nails, after the jump!

Makeup Monday: Milani Easyliner Glitter and ELF Exact Lash Mascara

 

 The world of nail polish has slowly but surely pulled me into the world of makeup over time. I am well on my way to adding "makeup junkie" to my "nail junkie" status.  Whereas I used to only buy and read about polish, I now enjoy reading makeup reviews and watching videos about makeup on You Tube. One of the deficits I've noticed since I've started buying more makeup is that there are so many varieties of makeup, some items just slip between the cracks. They don't have any information, good or bad, out about them on the web. I tend to pick up my makeup at bargain retailers like the Dollar Tree, so oftentimes if I can't find info on a product, I take a plunge and buy it. I've decided to start posting more about these kind of products so that more people like me can find out if makeup is worth buying or not!
     The 2 items I want to share with you today are Milani Easyliner Glitter and ELF Exact Lash mascara, both of which I found at Dollar Tree. In a nutshell, I'd say spend the dollar on the eyeliner but skip the mascara. If you would like to know more about each product, plus see some pictures, jump!

Today marks the end Hispanic Heritage Month!

    

Mexican themed mani for September 16th, sun

     What's that, you had no idea? No worries, I barely did, either, and I'm Hispanic! The only reason I know is because I happened to be watching some Spanish language tv and there was a commercial about it.  Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15-October 15, if you are curious. I'm actually more embarrassed after learning that it's been around in the US since the Johnson administration! Anyway, I only mention it is as an excuse to post these nails I rocked for  Mexican Independence Day last month. 

Mexican themed mani for September 16th, shade

     Many Americans are under the impression that 5 de Mayo is Independence Day in Mexico, but the real holiday is September 16th.  I think most people in Mexico would have no idea if you asked them about 5 de Mayo, unless they work in a tourist destination.  The holiday there is September 16th.  Just like last year, I rocked some Mexican inspired nails to celebrate Independence Day. 
     Find out what polishes I used in this manicure by jumping. 

Sinful Colors Glitz and Glittered collection-The Case of the Missing Mermaid!

Sinful Colors Gilded compared to a couple of the Deborah Lippmann Mermaid polishes

   Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I have so much great material to post about, but am always too tired or too busy to sit down and work on it. It just goes to show just how exhausting a group of 5 year old boys can be. I'm working with an autism Kindergarten class this year, and let me tell you, those boys wear me out!! They are all as lovable and adorable as can be, but every day I get home pooped!  On top of all that, my darn computer has been having issues with the internet, so I'm often dealing with a frozen computer when I do sit down at my desk. :( Anyway, enough about me, let me go ahead and share a post that I started working on a while ago and which I think many gals will find exciting! 
  I’m experiencing a weird case of déjà vu. Last year, I happened upon the Sinful Colors holiday collection at the Rite Aid near one of beauty supply places and did a post about it that day at my parent’s house. Recently, I visited the same nail supply store and Rite Aid again, and was surprised to find the Sinful Colors Holiday 2013 collection, Glitz and Glittered. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, I went into the Rite Aid hoping to find new stuff, and that particular store is one of the newest ones in my area and seems to get collections sooner.  However, I hadn’t even seen the Sinful Colors Halloween collection in my area at that point, so I didn’t think I’d find the holiday collection first.     
   As usual, I knew all about the current nail polish collections in drugstores thanks to the awesome Nouveau Cheap blog. Gianna has already done a post about this particular holiday collection. Once I saw the holiday collection in store, I found some really interesting stuff. I don’t have any swatches for you today, but I do have some really interesting information, including the odd case of the missing (Lippmann) mermaid. Join me after the jump for lots of bottle shots and details!

31 Day Challenge, Day 3: Yellow nails featuring Orly Melodious Utopia

Orly Melodious Utopia skittle nails, sun

Hi, guys! I hope you're okay with my skittle pastel nails.  I tried to brainstorm for something different for my yellow day, but I had a manicure that  I just kept coming back to. I hadn't photographed it very well when I did it a few weeks ago, and it was such a pretty look that I didn't think any of my other ideas with yellow could compare. 

Orly Melodious Utopia skittle nails, shade

See more pictures after the jump!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday-Storing Your Stamping Plates on the cheap!

My stamping plate storage, made for about $3

I mentioned in my red lip post that I recently splurged on my some Winstonia stamping plates for myself. I had already gotten a few stamping plates prior,  but it gave me the perfect opportunity to organize my plates and get crafty!

I will freely admit, most of the information I needed for creating my own storage was directly from this tutorial from Kayla Shevonne. So here's a breakdown of my costs:

1. Used photo album from the thrift store $1
2. scotch tape $1 (Dollar Tree)
3. cardboard index cards $1 (Dollar Tree)

I won't count the scissors I used since most of us already have some of those.  I guess some people might have to get those separately, but they are also readily available at stores like Dollar Tree.  Find out why I added the index cards to Kayla's original design, and learn another tip for this easy storage method, after the jump!

31 Day Challenge, Day 2: Orange Nails, featuring neon flames

Neon flame nails, featuring Orly Mayhem Mentality

Yikes! Even on a once a week schedule, I'm having a hard time getting my posts in on time. I had already delayed this post because I spent all day Saturday at a family event. Then, I ended up spending half of today looking for my missing camera! It wasn't until late in the day that-duh- I realized I should just take pictures with my cell camera. So without further ado, here are my neon flame nails!

I was a bit stuck when it came to the theme for this week's orange manicure. I knew I wanted to do a neon orange look, but I couldn't figure out how to do something unique. It wasn't until I browsed Youtube that I realized that orange flames would make for a great manicure. I took a bit of a different approach to this look. You can find out what polishes I used, what my technique was, and see more pictures after the jump!

31 Day Challenge, Day 1: Red Nails, featuring lip stamping!

Red lip mani featuring lips from Winstonia stamping plate 104, sun

Hi, guys! Welcome to my attempt at the 31 Day Challenge! As I discussed earlier, I will be doing this on a weekly basis rather than a daily one because that works better for my schedule.

Red lip mani featuring lips from Winstonia stamping plate 104, shade

I totally based this look on this mani from Cris over at Let Them Have Polish! She shared this stamped look as one of her options last year for her 31 Day Challenge red prompt. I totally encourage you to check out LTHP's 31 Day Challenge archives. Cris is totally amazing, she's done a ton of gorgeous looks. She said she wasn't happy with her lip stamped look in the mani I'm basing mine on, but I loved it! However, I'm using Winstonia plate #106, which only has 1 individual lip image. I knew that doing a whole mani full of lips would be a fool's undertaking, so I opted for skittles. Find out what polishes I used and see what my right hand variation looked like, after the jump!

Coming Soon- The 31 Day Week Challenge!

Hi, guys, just wanted to let you know that I'm going to challenge myself to complete the prompts from the 31 Day Challenge. Rather than stress myself out trying to post every day, which I know is unrealistic on my schedule, I'm changing things up a bit. I'll be posting every Friday for 31 weeks, using the corresponding week's prompt! I think this is something that's actually doable for me, and I'm happy to have an excuse to challenge my creativity.  We'll see what happens. If anyone out there wants to join me on this journey, I'd love some company! Comment down below or email me if you're up for the revised challenge!

Don't Make Me Wine about waterfall nails!

 

China Glaze Don’t Make Me Wine with OPI and LA Colors accents, shade

Don’t Make Me Wine is one of the polishes in the new China Glaze fall collection. It didn’t strike me as being super unique, but it was pretty and seemed like something I didn’t have in my collection. Don’t Make Me Wine is a dark berry wine shimmer. It’s not quite as dark as colors like Zoya Jem or OPI Every Month is Octoberfest, but it’s definitely a fall color. I wore it with the waterfall look that TheNailasaurus originated. I really like the overall look, I think the colors work really well together. Join me after the jump to find out what colors I used and see more pictures!

China Glaze Don’t Make Me Wine with OPI and LA Colors accents, sun

Feeling Eva So Bright in Skylark!

Sinful Colors Eva So Bright over Skylark

Here's a mani I did recently with a couple of the new colors from Sinful Colors. I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Skylark, a bright pastel peach. Then, I used the plastic wrap method to dab on Sinful Colors Eva So Bright, a vivid coral pink.   I really liked the combination of these 2 colors. It felt really summery and fresh!

Sinful Colors Eva So Bright over Skylark, shade

Join me after the jump for a few more pics and Skylark on its own!

Tips and tricks Tuesday-Watch your acetone!

Acetone is a VERY strong chemical

This post is to alert you about the perils of acetone. Yes, of course, we need it for many nail related things, but I want to share something I wish someone had told me earlier in my journey into lacquer.  

*BE REALLY, REALLY CAREFUL WITH ACETONE.* REALLY

Over time,  I learned through the blog world that acetone dissolves plastic. It´s what nail technicians use to remove acrylic nails. It´s really strong stuff that acts more quickly than you´d expect and can end up causing a good amount of damage. Join me after the jump for a few of my sad stories!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday-Holding your striping tape

Welcome to Tips and Tricks Tuesday! If you're not familiar with this feature, join the club. It's something I did early on in my blog and kind of fell off doing. However, I have a few ideas for content to share that qualifies as a tip or trick, so I decided to start doing it on Tuesdays again. :)

Using a scotch tape holder for striping tape

Here's an awesome idea I found out about through the Makeup Alley Nail forum. Somebody posted about this video and I think it's genius. Personally, I only have 3 rolls of striping tape that I got from the Fing'rs display, but the video shows that this works really well for multiple rolls of nail art tape.

It turns out, striping tape is the exact right size to fit onto an empty scotch tape dispenser. I think this is great for a couple of reasons. First, it eliminates the annoyance of finding and pulling the hidden end of the striping tape. Also, it stores the striping tape in a way that's consistent with the way that us nail art people use it. I actually only have 2 rolls of striping tape on my dispenser because I lost my first roll-they're so flat and small that I think they're easy to misplace. Thanks to this storage solution, I won't have to worry about that anymore!

Do you see Magenta Motion or did I drink too much Summer Spritzer?

Sally Hansen Magenta Motion and Julie G Ornamental with Fergie Summer Spritzer on top

I.e, how do I combine these polish names for a post title? ;)

Here are a couple of polishes I picked up recently. I purchased Sally Hansen Magenta Motion during my huge Big Lots haul. It’s a shimmery raspberry pink that is just so pretty to me. Even though I usually don’t gravitate towards pinks, this one called out and demanded to come home with me.The formula was really good for Magenta Motion. Like most of the colors in the Sally Hansen Insta Dri line, it's practically a 1 coater and would probably work well for stamping.

Fergie Summer Spritzer is one of the new polishes released for the summer by the Fergie by Wet n Wild line. These are all seem to be new additions the Wet n Wild family, unlike the original batch of colors that got released. The majority of the polishes in this collection are glitters, so I had a hard time passing them by. I ended up picking up a few when they were on sale a couple of weeks ago, including Summer Spritzer. Summer Spritzer is a cheerful mix of gold, green and magenta hex glitters in a clear base. This polish really makes me think of Mardi Gras because of the color scheme.  

Sally Hansen Magenta Motion with Fergie Summer Spritzer, shade

Why do my hands each sport a different look? Find out and see more pictures, after the jump!

I'm Shocked that I successfully watermarbled

Er…somewhat successfully. It's still is far from perfect, but I was pretty pleased with my results when I tried watermarbling on my accent nails in this manicure. I loved the colors of the matte neon glitters in Salon Perfect Shocked, and so I decided to do a watermarble with the two colors in the glitter. I used Orly Faboulous Flamingo and Sinful Colors Amethyst in the watermarble, since I had used those on my other nails as well. I used Amethyst on my index finger and Fabulous Flamingo on my pinky, then topped both of them with 1 coat of Salon Perfect Shocked.  Find out what changes this mani went through and see more pictures, after the jump.

Pistache lines up with Mrs and Mr Glitter

Sinful Colors Pistache with Essence Mrs and Mr Glitter

Sometimes I get totally inspired by Youtube or Pinterest to try out new nail art. Oftentimes, my efforts aren't all that successful.  I saw this video when I was surfing nail stuff on youtube, and wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I didn't have the dental floss things she uses in the video, so I thought I'd replicate the look with a striping brush. It's not quite the same-my lines are much thicker than those in the video.However, I still like the manicure. I think the colors in this look are really cool.

Find out what polishes I used in this look and see more pictures, after the jump.

NYC Mother of Pearl St.

NYC Mother of Pearl St., sunlight

I just wanted to do a quick post about this polish. I got it at Dollar Tree as part of a 2 pack of polishes. I got the 2 pack for the NYC Turbo Speed topcoat, which I am liking so far. However, I wanted to wear this color and post about it so others will know what this polish looks like. There doesn't seem to be much about it on the blogosphere.

NYC Mother of Pearl St., shade

This is exactly the kind of polish that I would typically avoid.  It reminds me of the frosty colors that were popular in the past, though if you were feeling generous you can say it's similar to OPI Play the Peonies,. It's a streaky, frosty mess, and I did 3 coats! I'm not a fan of this color at all, but what can you expect for 50 cents!?

Mint Manis for Talia Joy featuring glitter tips

Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom with Urban Outfitters Seadust on tips, sunlight

Hi, guys! Here's a quick mani I did for today after hearing the sad news about Talia Joy's death. The beauty blogging community is uniting in commemorating this sweet, special girl by wearing mint colored nail polish in Talia's honor. Talia was a beautiful girl with an even more beautiful spirit, and I'm sure she will be missed by everyone who was lucky enough to have his/her life touched by her.

Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom mani in honor of Talia Joy, shade

My Big Lots polish haul

My Big Lots haul (most of it, anyway)

Guys, I can barely contain my excitement after my huge haul at Big Lots on Sunday. I scored big in terms of nail polish, and it was all for $1.00!  Big Lots is hit or miss for me. Oftentimes, I go to Big Lots and strike out completely, leaving with nothing. But sometimes, Big Lots has stock that sends a bargain shopper like me into a delighted tailspin. Sunday was that times100 for me!

I chose a Big Lots that I've had better luck with in the past. I actually first saw the makeup section and was like, "nothing good today." Boy, was I ever wrong! Once I came back and dug through the 3 boxes of makeup on the bottom shelf, I there were all kinds of great things. Join me after the jump for the complete list.

My Vampire Kitten is Buff

Or at least, that's what the vet tells me. I was kind of at a loss when I filled out the form as to his color, so I wrote down "tan." I was surprised to find that Maxwell is described as "buff" in the paperwork they handed me after his visit. No matter what color he is, he's awfully cute. He's only 2 1/2 months old and a big bundle of energy, so it's fun to have him around. Maxwell is actually my roommate's kitten, but we have a shared custody agreement. ;)

Maxwell looking a bit creepy because of the flash on my camera. Note that he's about the size of my shoe.

Audrey and Maxwell at an uneasy peace on my bed. Audrey is still getting used to having the little guy around.

A Heavenly way to Ride the Waves

Revlon Heavenly over China Glaze Ride the Waves, sunlight

Here's a manicure that I intended to do a jelly sandwich with. However, I loved the look of the glitter so much that I couldn't bear to put another layer of polish on top of it. It's Revlon Heavenly over 2 coats of China Glaze Ride the Waves, a blue jelly polish. Most polish fanatics know that Revlon Heavenly is a glitter polish that's a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven. It features opalescent square glitter and orange flashing hex glitters. I don't know that it would work well with all colors, but Heavenly definitely looks good over dark colors, especially blues and teals.  Here it is in the shade:

Revlon Heavenly over China Glaze Ride the Waves, shade

Join me after the jump for a couple more pictures.

Baby, you're a firework?

4th of July "firework" manicure, sunlight

Just doing a quick post to share my 4th of July manicure. I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. It's an old bottle, so my index finger came out especially lumpy. I repainted that nail with the red I used in this manicure, a Sally Girl snowman red from last year's holiday.  I've tested it on a nail wheel and it's super close to China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  Anyway, I intended the "splatters" on my nails to look like fireworks, but I don't think I was all that successful. I think part of the problem is that my nails are so short that I couldn't fit too many "fireworks" on there.  I'm still glad I did it, it was a new technique I learned from this youtube video from cutepolish. I think I may try it again later with a different color scheme.

4th of July "firework" manicure, shade

Check out more pictures and see the cute Sally Girl snowman polish, after the jump!

Heat Index of Emerald City

Jelly sandwich with China Glaze Heat Index and OPI Lights of Emerald City

It's pretty sweltering here in California and in much of the west, so this is a good time to show you pictures of China Glaze Heat Index. Heat Index is one of the jelly neons from the 2013 China Glaze Sunsational collection.  It's a neon pink jelly finish polish.  Since I wanted to take advantage of the jelly nature of this polish, I decided to try a jelly sandwich with it. I did 2 coats of Heat Index, then added 1 coat of OPI Lights of Emerald City and then topped it all off with a last coat of Heat Index. I'm really happy with how my jelly sandwich turned out, and am looking forward to playing around with the neon jellies in this collection.

 I actually love the fact that the sandwich hides the iridescent glitter in OPI Lights of Emerald City. There's something about the combination of matte white with the iridescent glitter that I'm not huge on, so hiding that glitter and having the large square glitter peek through is a look I love. I thought the formula for Heat Index was pretty typical for a jelly. I used 3 thin coats in the overall look after testing things out on a nail wheel.

How will you be wearing your neon jellies?

Jelly sandwich with China Glaze Heat Index, OPI  LoEC, and bad cuticles

If you're feeling brave, join me after the jump. I'll have more pictures of this manicure, cuticles and all, as well as a foot picture where I compare Heat Index to China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. Join me after the jump, if you dare!

Mystery Forever 21 mani

Glitter Forever 21 polishes layered over black Forever 21 polish

I have a quick post to share with you from a while back. So far back that I don't remember all the details, actually. It's a good manicure for this to have happened with, because Forever 21 polishes are all unnamed mysteries. All I can tell you is, I started with a black nail polish with holographic particles. I think it's the one shown in this post  at Moondancerjen's Nails. Then, I added a glitter topcoat from the same brand. Sorry to have such a small amount of information. :(  But hey, it's not like Forever 21 gives us a lot to go on.....

Glitter Forever 21 polishes layered over black Forever 21 polish, shade

Accidental accent ombre

Ombre nails with dotted accent nail, sunlight

Here's a manicure I did with a black, white and grey polishes.  I call it an accidental accent because the way I ended up with a pinky accent nail was a total fluke. I had done all my nails in the same pattern as my pinky, but I did something too soon after topcoating everything and my pinky is the only nail that remained unscathed. Rather than completely starting over again, I stuck with the same color scheme and did an ombre on the other 3 nails.  Find out what polishes I used, and see another picture, after the jump!

Ombre nails with dotted accent nail, shade

From the Nail Vault: L'oreal Lickety Split with Sation Men-ipulation

L'oreal Lickety Split with Sation Men-ipulation glitter on top

I'm going to start using the "nail vault" label for the 15 or so polishes I owned before I became a laquerhead.  L'oreal Lickety Split is one of the oldest polishes in my collection, and I can only find this other post about it. Because of the way Google Translate works, I'm not sure about the exact content of the post, but I can tell you that the pictures are awesome!

L'oreal Lickety Split, a polish I've owned for years

 I'm pretty sure I got L'oreal Lickety Split at Big Lots back in the day, and it was in a 2 pack with a dark purple polish.  Even back then, I was drawn to teals and purples, LOL!  I really like this kind of color, it reminds me of polishes like China Glaze Deviantly Daring and Color Club Metamorphasis, both of which I also own.

Join me after the jump to see a few more pics and learn more about Sation Men-ipulation.