Happy Halloween!

Here is a halloween inspired mani..  another orange??  Orange is like my least favorite color on me, but it's halloween and the name of this polish is "Pumpkin," so it seems appropriate...

This orange is Pumpkin by NYC.  Application was a breeze with this one and really only coat would have worked.  Pictured here is 2 coats.

It's shiny and sheer and THE PERFECT  halloween orange!!  You won't see this on me again til next year, so get a good look ;)

So, I thought I'd jazz it up a bit and add this half moon glitter.  This is one of those cute pumpkin shaped polishes they were selling at Rite Aid.  If you look closely at the label, it says "Blue Cross Beauty Products."  Never heard of them, but I'm assuming they make the cute little snowmen polishes Rite Aid has out now.

I really had to work to get those moons out and... Look at the shrinkage!! As soon as I applied this glitter coat, it ruined my orange base :(  Glad I didn't love the manicure enough to keep it on.

Have a great Halloween Night Everyone... I'm off to stalk Llarowe's site so I can win their Scavenger Hunt and all the great prizes!!!

A "Very Structured" Pedicure....

Time to change my pedi.. I've had Essie's "School of Hard Rocks" on for a very long time.  It held up great, so I decided to use another Essie.  This color is called "Very Structured" and it's perfect for fall.  I usually don't gravitate towards oranges, but thought I'd give this one a chance....I guess I'd describe this color as a burnt orange.

I'm really glad I just put it on my toes because not too many people will see it this time of year.  I like this color, just not on me.  I want warm colors to look nice on me, they just don't.. so I'll just have to live with it. ;)

I did clean-up this pedi... really, I did.  It was hard to clean up.  This formula wasn't as smooth as my other Essies and I used 3 coats because 2 was almost enough, but not quite.  Feet are just nasty in my opinion, but at least we can try to make them as pretty as possible :)

I do like Essie polishes in general.  It seems like I've read a lot of negative comments about Essie lately, but I like this brand.  Granted, they could use a little more shimmers and glitters, but I think Essie is best know for classic creamy colors.

What are your opinions on Essie?  How do you feel about "Very Structured"?

Ma Cherie and a Muppet...

Hi All... I have another red mani for you guys.  It's in honor of my step-son's football game tonight.  Our hometown colors are red, black and white and tonight is his last game!!  I can't believe he's a Senior already!  Go Red Go!  This one is for Matt... you may never clean your room and you sometimes miss the toilet and pee on the floor, but I still love you and I'm very proud of you.........

First up is Orly Ma Cherie.  This color is from their Holiday Soiree Collection.  Ma Cherie is a classic red.  Application is sheer and the formula is a jelly.  Three coats is needed for full opacity.  Ma Cherie is a beautiful delicate red... very classy.

No topcoat is needed as Ma Cherie has a gorgeous shine.  I would recommend using a quick fast-dry topcoat, though, as this polish took a while to dry.

I wanted to add a little sparkle, so I added OPI's Gettin' Miss Piggy With It from The Muppet Collection.  I'm surprised I haven't used one of my Muppets in a post yet.  I keep meaning to, then another idea pops in my head. :)

This polish has silver and red hex glitters, small red glitter... all in a clear base.  You can't see the red hex glitters very well because I added Gettin' Miss Piggy With It to a red base.  In my opinion, this polish would look better alone, so you can see all the glitter.  You'd need a few coats for that, but it does look OK on this red. (Pictured here is just one coat)

When the light hits my nails just right, you can see the jelly finish of Ma Cherie.. It almost reminds me of a Candy Mani :)

Dugan wanted to say "Hi".. He always watches me paint my nails :)

Almost forgot... Have you entered my giveaway yet???  It's in honor of having 50 followers... thanks for stopping by and showing my blog some love <3

Happy Saturday!!

Zombie Zest and Ick-A-Bod-y

Hey Kids! Yesterday I did a quick post with Mummy May I from China Glaze. Today I swatched 2 more polishes that came with the same gift set as Mummy May I. They are called Zombie Zest and Ick-A-Bod-Y. Cute Names, huh??

First up is Ick-A-Bod-Y... This polish has black and bright orange glitter in a black jelly base. The above picture is indoors with a flash. This is 4 coats!!!

I usually don't care much for orange, but after applying all 4 coats and a top coat, I kinda liked this one. It's very Halloween-ie! It was a pain to remove, though and it had such a grainy texture.

Up next is Zombie Zest:

Hello, Split Pea Soup Green!!! Yuck! I don't like it! The formula was watery and it felt like I applied 100 coats to reach full opacity.. (Actually, I think it was more like 4)

This color does absolutely nothing for my skintone. I couldn't take it off fast enough.. blah. On a happier note, I am getting better at taking pictures if I do say so myself :)

I also want to share a picture of yesterday's Mummy May I. I barely had it on for 24 hours and look:

I've never had a polish chip that fast!! Granted, I didn't use a basecoat, but still.. that's some major chipping!

Sarah, a friend of mine just introduced me to Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri Top Coat. OMG-- Where have I been? This stuff is amazing. It really was dry after 30 seconds and it's so shiny. (I applied on Ick-A-Bod-Y, not on Zombie Zest).

Insta-Dri is good stuff!!

Well, that's almost it for today.. Just want to remind you to enter my giveaway. It's the last post I did. Blogger is acting crazy today and I can't figure out how to add the link, sorry. Have a great weekend!!

50 Follower Giveaway!!

Yay!! I've reached 50 followers!!  Thank you all so much for taking time to follow my blog about my love for nail polish!!

Here are the prizes!!!!

Two (2) lucky winners will receive: One (1) bottle of OPIs Rainbow Connection.. One (1) China Glaze Seasonal Sparkles Trio including: Poinsettia, Twinkle Lights, and Holly-Day.. One (1) OPI Sweet Sensations--Avojoice mini lotion bottles including: Mango, Jasmine, Coconut Melon, Cran & Berry, Vanilla Snowflake and Winter Huckleberry...One (1) Mini Nail Tek Crystal File with Companion Case

This giveaway will end at 12:01 am on Saturday, November 19th, 2011... Please read all Terms and Conditions below before entering.

China Glaze... Mummy May I

Hi Again!!  I almost forgot I had this 4-pack of Halloween Polishes from China Glaze.  It contains: Mummy May I, Ick-A-Bod-y, Zombie Zest and Fast Forward Top Coat.  Today, I only had time to swatch one.  Mummy May I was my choice.  Let's take a look:

Mummy May I is pink and purple glitter in a deep purple jelly base.  Purple and pinks always catch my eye, so this is my favorite out of these Halloween Colors from last year.

You have to catch this color in the right light to see all the sparkle.  I applied 3 coats as it's very thin.  I really could have used another coat because you can still see some streaks in bright light or with flash.

with flash

In this last picture with a flash you can see I could have used another coat.  I've really been in to China Glaze lately.  I just swatched the Let it Snow Collection and was really surprised how much I like just about every color.  I will try to swatch the remaining 3 Halloween colors tomorrow.

AHHHH... I almost have 50 followers!  AND.... the prizes I ordered for my giveaway came today!  Can't wait to get that up and running.  I wasn't sure how I'd do as a blogger, but I'm really enjoying it!  Thanks for following!! :)

Unicorn Puke by Cult Nails...

What's in a name?? In this case, no other name than "Unicorn Puke" can describe this deliciously gorgeous polish!  This polish is full of holographic flakies in a purple jelly base.  It's honestly what I would imagine seeing if a unicorn vomited!  ;)  Unicorn Puke is by Cult Nails.  A limited number (275) of these went on sale a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to pre-order mine before they ran out!

such a beautiful bottle :)

Here is 2 coats alone

I'm #242 of 275!  Isn't that cool how they numbered them?  Like a limited edition painting. :)

I topped these colors with U.P.- Lex Cosmetics Atlantic,  OPI Sparrow Me the Drama,  OPI Do you Lilac It? & Zoya  Dana

The previous 2 pictures were taken indoors with no flash.  It wasn't sunny today (imagine that in Ohio), so I didn't take any pictures outside.  I think I like it best over Atlantic.  The darker blue polish really allows the flakies to pop out!

This last picture was taken with a flash.  Still, I'm really loving it over Atlantic.  Over Do You Lilac It? would be my 2nd fave.  Were you lucky enough to snag one of these bottles?  What color do you like to layer it over?  It's so much fun to play with, I love it!

L'Oreal Owl's Night

Hi Again!  Originally I had planned to post Owl's Night tomorrow.  I had my heart set to water marble today for the first time.  Let's just say it wasn't a success.  I did manage to get one finger done..  Here it is:

Water Marbling is hard... don't let those easy tutorials on youtube tell you differently.. LOL.  This was my first attempt.  I really need to practice and I think I'll get it.. eventually.  I'm going to buy some  less expensive polishes as I wasted tons of Zoyas today.  (Next time I'll remember to use room temp. FILTERED water).  Ok... on to today's mani:

________________________________________________________________________________

Owl's Night by L'Oreal is mysterious.. kinda like Orly's Space Cadet.  I'm really not sure what color it is.. brown, green, grey?  It doesn't matter because I love it!!  I was lucky enough to get my hands on this in a swap because I couldn't find it anywhere around me.  Owl's Night is part of a Project Runway Collection and I think it's supposed to be available at local drug stores, but like I said, I haven't seen it.....

inside, natural light

inside- with flash

Now that you've seen these swatches, what color would you call it?  See, with the flash, it looks brown and without the flash it looks greenish grey to me.  I also love the way it sparkles, not too much.. just enough to catch your eye.

These last 2 pictures were taken outside in sunlight.  The formula for Owl's Night is really smooth as you'll only need 2 coats.  You can see a goldish shimmer in the pictures in the sun.  This is such a fun polish!

How do you feel about Owl's Night?  Do you own any of the other polishes from The Project Runway Collection??

China Glaze... Let It Snow (part 2)

Today I swatched the remaining 6 polishes from China Glaze's "Let It Snow" Collection.  Wouldn't you know.. the sun came out literally 10 minutes after I was done, so no pics are in the sun :(  That sucks because some of these need to be captured in sunlight to see the true color.  Let's start...

Indoors with flasth

Indoors- no flash

First up is Icicle.  Icicle is a pretty silver shimmer.  Application was easy and full opacity was reached with 2 coats.  For those of you who like silver, you'll like Icicle.

Indoors- with flash

Indoors- no flash

Next up is Glittering Garland.  This polish is a shimmery forest green with small white and silver glitter.  Full opacity is reached with 2 coats, also.

Champagne Bubbles is a unique gold shimmer.  If you look closely, you can see tiny random black glitter.  This is the very first gold for me.  I have a cool skintone and usually steer clear from warm colors like this.  I didn't like this color in person, but in these pictures, it's not so bad.  You swill definitely need 3 coats with this one.. it's extremely sheer.

I really like this one!  It's Tinsel Town!!  Holy Glitter!  This polish is thick with amazing white, black and silver glitter in a dark silver base!  It's festive.  Great for a Holiday Party.  2 coats and you're good to go!!

Surprise!!!  This is my favorite color out of the entire collection!  It's called Blue Year's Eve (so cute) and I absolutely love it!!  This is my first royal blue and I didn't think much of it in the bottle, but I fell in love with it on my nails!!!  I should have applied 3 coats as it is very sheer, but it's gorgeous!!  This is the color I would have loved to have caught in sunlight.  I really enjoy this blue shimmer!!!

Last up is Ring in the Red.  With a flash (and I'm assuming in the sun) it looks almost pink.  This color should be layered on a red for that classic "Christmas Mani".  Ring in the Red kinda reminds me of OPI's Getting Miss Piggy With It, except the glitter is smaller.

Overall, I really like this collection. Sure, there are a few colors I will swap out, but I really had fun swatching this collection.  This is my first blog post of an entire collection... Yay!

China Glaze... Let It Snow (part 1)

I pre-ordered China Glaze's "Let it Snow" collection about a month ago.  It finally arrived a few days ago.  Although, I hate winter and the cold temps, and I'm nowhere close to being ready for the holidays, I couldn't wait to get ahold of this collection!  This post will consist of 6 polishes and I will do the other 6 tomorrow.

The first 2 colors I applied are Holly-Day and Winter Berry.  This is 2 coats.  The formula for both of these was nice.  Winter Berry was a tad watery, but not too bad.

Here they are again.  I'm excited about Holly-Day because I don't own too many greens.  Winter Berry, on the other hand will most likely go up for a swap.. I have a ton of berry colors.

Here is Twinkle Lights!! Isn't is pretty?  I had a hard time capturing this glitter in just the right angle. Removal of Twinkle Lights was so easy for a glitter.  This color will be fun to apply on a wide variety of different colors!

Here is Twinkle Lights (one coat) over Holly-Day and Winter Berry--- so pretty and festive!!

The next 2 colors I picked to swatch are Velvet Bow and Poinsettia.  Velvet Bow could have used another coat.  Pictured here is 2 coats of each, but Velvet Bow is really sheer.

Here they are again from a different angle.  Poinsettia is a gorgeous classic red!  I will definitely be using this one a lot around the holidays!

Here is Snow Globe!!!  I LOVE this glitter.  It does look just like a snow globe in the bottle, but on the finger you can see it's a bunch of fun pastel glitters!!

Here is Snow Glob over Velvet Bow and Poinsettia.  I'm loving it over Poinsettia.  This glitter, in my opinion, will look best on lighter colors, so you can see the different pastel glitters!!

These were fun to swatch!  The next 6 colors from this collection are either glitters or shimmers and I will try to post them tomorrow!

Do you have a favorite Holiday Collection yet?  This one is gorgeous! :)