Pounce on Cougar Attack while you can!

Spoiled Cougar Attack, 3 coats, sunlight

Right now the CVS clearance sale is going on, and one of the items on clearance is Spoiled Cougar Attack. I wanted to post about this polish before it goes away forever. I really like it, and think a lot of you might enjoy seeing swatches of it. It's a brown jelly polish with copper glitter in it, and it's a dupe of a Deborah Lippmann polish named Superstar. I first learned about its dupishness in this post from Vampy Varnish, which does a thorough comparison of the two polishes.

Spoiled Cougar Attack, 3 coats, sunlight

I wore this polish on its own and also tried it layered over polish. Join me after the jump to see pictures of it over another polish.

Using My Maiden Name for nail art

Essie Using My Maiden Name with black and white.

Here is my only good picture of the nail art I did with Essie Using My Maiden Name. I actually broke a nail between finishing the nail art and photographing the manicure, which is why I had a limited number of decent pictures to choose from. :(  Essie Using My Maiden Name is a lovely bright purple with a pink shimmer. In the look I did, I used a black and white topcoat on 2 nails and did some watercolor nail art with the other 2. For the watercolor nails, I used Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris and Sinful Colors Snow Me White and dotted them into vertical lines on my nails. I then used my paintbrush dipped in acetone to soften the look. My pinky and ring finger feature a polish from Icing called Milky Way. It's basically their take on the popular black and white glitter topcoat. One thing I would mention about Milky Way, the glitter is much smaller in this than other glitters of this type, like Sephora Chaotic or China Glaze Glitz n Pieces. I actually am planning to do a more detailed post on it later, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, join me after the jump for more pictures of Essie Using My Maiden Name.

Essie Using My Maiden Name, sun

A Berry Fast Post

Sally Hansen Berry Fast, sunlight

Hi, guys! I'm trying to get back into the swing of blogging after a long break. Here's a polish I picked up recently at Big Lots for $1.00.  As far as I can tell, Sally Hansen Berry Fast was a color in the Insta-Dri line that was part of a summer 2012 collection. There aren't actually many swatches of it out there. The main information I found about it was in this post at the always informative Nouveau Cheap blog.  Despite the fact that I have a huge number of purple polishes, I don't think I have a color like this one in my collection. It's kind of similar to colors like OPI Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not and China Glaze Anklets of Amethyst but not a dupe with either.  It's a purple with a lot of pink in it,and dries to a shimmery finish. Like all products in the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line, it is pretty opaque at 1 coat, although I used 2 coats in my manicure. I think this one would be a good one for stamping.  I really like it, and am really glad I ran into it at Big Lots!

Sally Hansen Berry Fast, sunlight

A beautiful mystery- OPI DS Magic with caviar accent

OPI DS Magic with caviar nail accent, sunlight

Derp....my mind apparently went missing when I published this post. The polish in my pictures is OPI DS Magic, not OPI DS Mystery as I initially stated. Somehow I got the idea in my head that the name was Mystery and I never actually looked at the label and checked before publishing! Again, excuse my brain fart!
For my segment on autism today, I just want to talk about how fitting a polish OPI DS Mystery is with the disorder. While professionals who work with autism know a lot about autism and are constantly working to learn more, the inner workings of an autistic brain largely remain a mystery.  However, just like the polish I'll be showing you today, autistic children tend to be really beautiful. I work with a lot of children, and think children are cute and are all lovely in their own way. However, something about autistic children makes them just gorgeous to me. I joke with coworkers that we'd be rich if we could figure out how to start a child modeling agency with our autistic students. :)

OPI DS Magic with OPI DS Extravagance accent on pointer, sunlight

My look today involves OPI DS Magic with 2 different kind of accent nails. On the right hand, I used OPI DS Extravagance on the pointer finger. On the left hand, I used Dollar Tree royal blue microbeads for a caviar bead accent.

Join me after the jump for more pictures!

Sensitive to texture featuring Orly Sweet Peacock

Orly Sweet Peacock skittle nails, sun

Even though I've already described how I don't like texture polishes, I decided to take some advice from Mary over at Swatch and Learn. She suggested that I try OPI Get Your Number, which is featured in this post and in my prior one. I can appreciate the beautiful color and gorgeous glitters in Get Your Number, but I still didn't like the matte texture finish.  That's why I added topcoat to my previous look. Once I had the topcoat on, I decided that Orly Sweet Peacock  and OPI Get Your Number worked so well together that I should do a skittle look with the 2.

Orly Sweet Peacock skittle nails featuring OPI Get Your Number on the pinky, sun

It's actually pretty appropriate that my first couple of posts about autism this year feature texture polish. Obviously, it's on trend with nail polish right now, but texture is also something those on the autism spectrum are very sensitive to.

People with autism can be very bothered by the sensation of things others would not notice at all, such as their socks or undershirt. They can also be particularly drawn to certain textures.  In early autism education, there is a good deal of emphasis on sensory activities. Teachers often use materials like shaving cream, rice, beans, or water to help satisfy the sensory needs of autistic children.

Join me after the jump to find out what this look included besides a textured polish!

April is Autism Awareness Month!

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, sun

I'm going to wear only blue nails during April in support of those whose lives are touched by autism. Like last year, it kind of snuck up on me, so for now I have this manicure to share with you:

 

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, shade

I started with 2 coats of Orly Sweet Peacock on all my nails. Then I added 2 coats of Get Your Number, the OPI Liquid Sand, over my ring and index finger. I added 1 coat of Lights of Emerald city on the other 2 fingers. The OPI glitter features white square glitter and smaller holo squares in a clear base. I think both of these worked really well with Sweet Peacock, gorgeous turquoise foil polish. 

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, sun

Nope, still don’t like texture-Zoya Nyx with saran wrap technique

Zoya Nyx with saran wrap method, sun

Every time I saw pictures of different texture polishes, I didn’t like the look. I read about people who loved texture polishes once they saw them in person. I saw some swatched on nail wheels and remained unimpressed. Despite all this, I somehow ended up buying Zoya Nyx.  The lovely periwinkle color and sparkly glitter got me. A lot of bloggers seemed to have had their opinions turned around once they tried a texture polish for themselves, so I hoped to be one of them. I’d been admiring colors like OPI I Have a Herring Problem and Zoya Skylar for a long time, and Zoya Nyx seemed to be the dusty blue glitter version of those kinds of colors.

 Let me tell you people- I came, I polished, and I still hate the texture finish. Blegh. I should’ve saved my money for the real polishes I wanted instead of wasting my time trying to like texture.

See more pictures and find out what other color I used in this manicure, after the jump!