Misa-Fire Coral

Over the weekend I wore Misa- Fire Coral. This is a gorgeous coral jelly. It's more opaque than most jellies, but it's not exactly a creme. It just needed two coats and the formula was really nice. I just love the way reds look on short nails! This picture is without the flash.

With the flash, you don't see as much orange. This is the first time I've worn a Misa polish, but I'm enjoying this brand so far!

My First Fish Egg Friday!

I finally got some craft beads so I can participate in Fish Egg Friday!! I'm wearing two coats of  Julep- Meryl. It is a medium grey creme. It falls in between Zoya- Kelly and OPI- French Quarter for Your Thoughts. The formula was amazing and applied in two flawless coats. I got a mixed package of beads from Michael's. It was $7 and contained six colors. Application of the beads was fairly easy- I thought it would be more difficult. I had my nails painted beforehand, so I just added OPI Topcoat to my accent nail and poured the beads on. I pressed them into the nail so that they would adhere. This picture shows no topcoat on top of the beads, and also there's no flash in this picture.

This is with the flash. I love this technique!

I put a coat of Seche Vite on top of the beads just to seal them in. I like the look without topcoat much better. I only added topcoat to the very tip of my nail on my other hand. It seems pretty secure so far. Only a couple beads have fallen off. Now I know not to put topcoat over the entire nail with beads. EDIT: Although the "fish egg" look looks nicer without topcoat covering the entire nail, it makes it much more durable. The beads fell off of my nail without topcoat over the entire nail after I did the dishes. The nail with the topcoat is much more intact.

What are your thoughts on the "fish egg" mani?

China Glaze- Luxe and Lush over Dress Me Up

I'm going through more of my Hunger Games collection polishes. Here I have two coats of China Glaze- Dress Me Up topped off with two coats of Luxe and Lush. I love this! Luxe and Lush is my favorite from the collection, and if I didn't have so many untrieds, I'd layer it over everything! Luxe and Lush is has flakies in a clear base, but the flakies aren't your typical ones- they're more like shards to give a shredded look. My only complaint about this would be that some of the mylar flakes stick up and can get caught on things, causing the polish to chip (see ring finger). This can be avoided by using a toothpick or other small object to embed these into the polish while it's still tacky.

Here is Dress Me Up before I added Luxe and Lush. It's a dusty rose creme. It's very neutral and work-safe. This is another one of those shades that can pretty much go with anything. I didn't think it would be one of my go-to colors, but I actually really like the way it looks on my skin tone.

I got a small nail mail package from Traci from The Trace Face Philes after ordering from her blog sale. She still has plenty of polishes available, so check it out!

I ordered Sally Hansen- Multi-Faceted, OPI- Call My Cell-ery, ORLY- Sky Blue-Pink, and Joe Fresh- Mallard

China Glaze- Cyberspace and Nail Mail!

Here I'm wearing China Glaze- Cyberspace. This is a holographic released in the Tronica collection in Spring 2011. It is a really light brown and holographic- definitely unique. Although I love holos, the formula on these is very thin and can be streaky if the polish isn't completely dry between coats. Some fingers I was able to get away with two coats, and others needed three because there were some bare spots. This picture is without the flash.

Here it is with the flash. This color can pretty much go with anything. It's even a work-safe holo for more conservative work environments. I own most of the Tronica collection, and there are only a couple I don't have. I just cut my nails again after these photos were taken because I broke one and couldn't stand the thought of my nails being different lengths. (It's an OCD thing..)

Now the following just may be the most EPIC nail mail I've ever received!

My Lynnderellas arrived! Here I have Change, Snow Angel, and Connect the Dots. I've been on the Llarowe waiting list for what seemed to be forever! The wait was definitely worth it! I still had Matter of the Heart and Sweets to the Sweet on my waiting list and they were on backorder, so hopefully I'll get those someday soon. These are more than enough for now!

I also came across a blog sale on Pretty & Polished. Chelsea had some dusty hunt finds from the China Glaze Kaleidoscope collection and was selling them for $10 each. These were an amazing deal so I got them without hesitation. She had four for sale, and I was able to get these three. This is It's My Turn, He's Going in Circles, and Let's do it in 3-D. These are my first holo China Glazes (pre Tronica collection). I eventually want to own the entire OMG and Kaleidoscope collection- so for now I'll keep dreaming, or at least become less-awkward and suck it up and go dusty-hunting.

My no-buy is still going strong! (4 days without buying nail polish- which is good for me!) The hauls that I am posting are packages that are arriving that I ordered previously. I'll probably cave in eventually  like for the OPI Spiderman collection, but I'm not going to buy polish every day like I used to. 

My First Experience with Magnetic Polish

Hello new blogger layout! I'm not really a fan of change, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Here I have Pretty Woman- Magnetix (unnamed green). I found this at Rite Aid and I believe it was $6. I have yet to order the China Glaze Magnetix collection ( I'm trying to maintain my no-buy from now on- but I will get them eventually!). I purchased this green because it was unlike any of the shades that are in the China Glaze collection. I'm still getting used to the method of applying these. I had to do a couple nails over because I got the magnet too close to the polish and it smudged. After a few times, I realized that I could just do a quick touch-up, and put the magnet over it while it was still wet. I was getting impatient, so I just settled for the imperfections. You can see them on my index and ring finger. I don't really know a lot about this brand. The polish came with a diagonal line (shown) and wavy line magnet. The wear was okay. It chipped a little bit on the sides after two days. I'm definitely a fan of magnetic polish and I can't wait to purchase more!

China Glaze- Riveting and Mini Haul

I wore China Glaze- Riveting for the past couple days. It is from the recent Hunger Games collection. I'm actually not really a fan of oranges, but I love this one! It is one of the stars of the collection. It is more of a red-toned orange. The formula was amazing- it was practically a one-coater but I added two out of habit. It has glass flecks in it. The only downside (and it's not even polish related) is that people kept asking me if I was a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers because yesterday was game 4 between the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. I hate the Flyers! (No offense to Philly fans). I'm a devout Penguins fan, but the timing I wore this mani was a little off. The Penguins won though :)

Here it is with the flash. You can see the orange of the glass flecks. I love this! It definitely reminds me of the girl on fire.

I got some nail mail yesterday. I placed an order with A-England when they had their 20% off sale. I wanted to try this brand for a while, but the polishes are so expensive when they're regular price. I purchased Princess Sabra, Ascalon, and Bridal Veil. All of these are holos and they look beautiful! I'm eager to try out Ascalon, because it looks like a duochrome and holo combined. It flashes from purple to green, but it's hard to capture. 

I'm really going to try to limit the polish I'm purchasing. I'm waiting on a few packages to arrive in the mail still. I have so many untrieds! 

Cinderella Nails, Giveaway Winnings, and Nail Mail

It wasn't until after I finished this mani that it reminded me of Cinderella's dress for the ball in the Disney movie. I used two coats of Zoya Kristen followed by one coat of Sally Hansen- Strobe Light. It was gorgeous and it only chipped on one finger (on my other hand not photographed) after two days of wear.  I love Strobe Light! It reminds me of OPI- Teenage Dream, but it's nowhere near a dupe. Teenage dream  has a pink jelly base, while Strobe Light has a clear base.

Here is Kristen by itself (before clean-up). It's a greyed-pastel blue creme. I love it! It's very unique in my collection! This was the only polish from the Zoya Feel collection that I purchased. The formula was amazing and it applied smoothly in two coats.

I won The Nail Polish Guru's 200 follower giveaway and I received my winnings in the mail today. Brittany sent me some amazing goodies- and I love them all! I got two Sally Girl polishes (both unnamed) one is a pastel green and the other is a coral red creme. I also got eos lip balm in strawberry sorbet (I've wanted to try this stuff for a while!), and a super cute bird nail file (I love birds!!!)

I also got Pure Ice: Oh Baby!, Busted, and Heart Breaker.

I also purchased two Wet n Wild color icon polishes from Lakeisha from Refined and Polished. This is 24 Carats and Rockin' Rubies. These were the last two I needed to complete my Wet n Wild color icon collection. I contemplated buying them on ebay, but the prices were ridiculous- so I'm glad I found them on her blog sale. Lakeisha also threw in some Starburst and a nail file. I ate the Starburst already lol.

Green and Purple Glitter Mani for the Weekend

Lately, I've noticed that my my recent manis are work-safe during the week, and then on the weekends I do something out of the ordinary. This weekend I combined OPI- Did it on 'Em and Funky Fingers- Purple Glitter Scales. I was really happy with purple glitter scales. The blue glitter scales I did a couple weeks ago were somewhat disappointing. I was expecting purple glitter scales to be much more subtle from the swatches I've seen of Nicole by OPI- Amethyst Texture (which looked similar to this one, and I wasn't impressed with it.) I feel that if you're going to wear a crackle polish, it might as well be bold. Funky Fingers is also less expensive than the Nicole by OPI (at $2.50 each). This is a great alternative to that, and it has more glitter! It crackled really well too even though I added thick coats.

Here is OPI- Did it on 'Em before I added Purple Scales. It's a yellow-green creme that was part of the Nicki Minaj collection released this January. At first I thought it would be like OPI- Who the Shrek are You?, but it was more yellow. This took three coats to completely get rid of all the bare spots. I don't own that many yellow-toned polishes, so this was unique for me.

Surprise Nail Mail!!!

I got two packages today! I wasn't expecting them to arrive this early; but they did and it was pleasant :) Tonight will just be a haul post.

Here is my Cult Nails order from when they had their $5 polish sale. They are still in the burritos! 

Here's Iconic, My Kind of Cool Aid, and Captivated. I was SOOOO ecstatic when I saw that Captivated was available again. I was so upset when I missed out on it the first time. That was my first choice. Now if only I didn't miss out on Unicorn Puke or Clairvoyant. Toxic Seaweed just got sold out today, and I'm happy I purchased that one.

Now this next group of polishes was purchased from Jenna from I'm Still Thinking. She was selling mystery grab boxes of nail polish for 5 for $10, and 10 for $20. I got the 10 for $20 and she shipped super fast!!! I showed her my spreadsheet to avoid duplicating ones I already own- and she threw in mostly new brands that I didn't own any of. I believe she may still have some bottles available. I got 12 bottles total and a couple were minis. I photographed every one except Wet n Wild- On a Trip because I already own that one. Opening this package was one of the best feelings ever; almost like Christmas morning as a child. If anyone hears of mystery boxes, LET ME KNOW! I love surprises.

Here are the minis. Boots 17- unnamed pink and black polishes, Stila- City Lights, Sparitual- Chill (firsts of all these brands!)

Sally Hansen- Fire Opal (I LOVE THE NAIL PRISMS!), Clatty- Unnamed emerald shimmer (I've never heard of this brand), and Wet n Wild- I Need a Refresh-Mint.

La Rosa Crackles: 24K Gold and Silver Wear, Joe Fresh- Oyster, and Angelica-Genius. Joe Fresh was the only one of these four that I have heard of. I think this was a pretty sweet deal for $20! Does anybody have memorable mystery box polishes? I'm eager to try these!

China Glaze- Mistletoe Me!

So I really wanted to do a "Fish Egg Friday" mani, but I have yet to go to Michael's and buy micro craft beads. It's also 3:30am Saturday now. I have fallen into a bad habit of staying up during the wee hours doing paperwork for work instead of during normal daytime hours. Hopefully by next Friday, I'll have some beads! 

This is China Glaze- Mistletoe Me! This picture is with the flash.This shade is from the 2011 holiday ULTA exclusives. There were three polishes in the exclusives. I already have worn Ultamate Holiday. Mistletoe Me! is a foil! In some lightings it looks pink and in the sunlight it looks magenta. The formula applied well, and dried quickly but foils tend to show every perfection on my nails. It reminds me of Sally Hansen- Red Ruby (which was part of their old Chrome Nail Makeup line). Mistletoe Me! is much more of a foil and almost has a mirror-like shine.

Here it is without the flash. I had some slight bubbling with my Seche Vite topcoat. That always seems to happen when I wear foils. At least it was minimal. I just love the reflective shine!! 

Brucci- Daniella's Curve

Here is a polish I purchased in a blog sale recently. This is Brucci- Daniella's Curve. It is a dusty, grayed mauve creme with some purple undertones. The color is somewhat difficult to describe. This applied in two coats and it was almost flawless. This is another unique shade in my collection. I wore it for two days and it only had slight tipwear. This picture is without the flash.

With the flash, you can see the purple in it. It's a bit scuffed up. I don't really know much about the Brucci brand. I haven't seen it in stores around my area. I love trying out new brands though. This color kind of reminded me of fall, but I still enjoyed it.

Funky Fingers-Tribal Topped With Sinful Colors- Green Ocean

I really wanted to try out Sinful Colors- Green Ocean. I decided to layer it over Funky Fingers- Tribal. Tribal is a neon turquoise. I put on three coats of Tribal first and then layered one coat of Green Ocean on top. Green Ocean's formula is really thick! It's filled with different sizes if iridescent glitter and flakie shards.Some of the edges of the flakes were sticking up even when I added a coat of Seche Vite. This mani ended up really pretty, but it took a long time to dry! I said that I would take a break from greens after St. Patrick's Day week, but I guess I couldn't stay away that long. I have wayyy too many greens.

Here's three coats of Funky Fingers- Tribal before adding Green Ocean. This is an awkward pose. My nails were still wet, the Funky Fingers bottles are very difficult to hold, and my messy desk is in the background. I managed not to smudge any nails! Funky Fingers polishes are found at 5Below. I haven't seen this one there in a while. I purchased it a long time ago. It reminds me of China Glaze- Turned up Turquoise without the shimmer and a little bit more subdued.

I also completed making a visual board of my collection on Pinterest. Most of the images of polishes are from other blogs, but when I get around to swatching them, I will replace them with my own images. Check it out :)

Sinful Colors- Dream On (old version) and Mini ULTA Haul

I decided to try out Sinful Colors- Dream On. This is the first time I've worn a Sinful Colors polish! The formula is really nice for the price of these. The picture is taken after two days of wear-so there is tipwear. It didn't hold up extremely well, but neons/jellies seem to wear more quickly. This is the old version of Dream On. The current version is a neon purple, while this one is more of a fuchsia. It was opaque in one coat, but I did two just out of habit. I really loved this! I normally don't gravitate towards pinks. The closest thing in my collection to this shade would be OPI- Do You Think I'm Tex-y only that's more jelly-like rather than neon.

I went to ULTA today to utilize my 20% off coupon. I picked up the two shades I wanted from the OPI NYC Ballet collection: Pirouette My Whistle and My Pointe Exactly (these are unique in my collection). I FINALLY FOUND REVLON-WHIMSICAL!!! (I've been searching for a long time and I got the last one at ULTA), and an Essence- Glamorous Life

Barielle- Falling Star and Autism Awareness

In honor of Autism Awareness, I sported a blue mani for Monday and Tuesday. This is Barielle- Falling Star. This was part of the All Lacquered Up Collection of Fall 2009. I just love how pretty it is! It's a blue creme filled with copper glitter. At first I thought the glitter was pink but it's definitely copper. This is two coats. The formula is really thick for this one and somewhat difficult to work with- but the final result is worth it! I've seen many polishes attempt to have glitter suspended in them like this, and then the polish color "eats" or covers up all of the glitter! I love how the glitter remained visible in this one.

Here's a picture with the flash to show how vibrant that blue is! This is the second Barielle I've worn, and I'm loving this brand so far. They're relatively inexpensive on Trans Design.

Now some things about Autism!

First of all, Autism is very near and dear to my heart. I have a master's degree in special education and I have a passion for working with these kids. I recently got a job providing services to kids with autism in home and school settings. The kids are so sweet, and I absolutely love my job. Autism is increasingly becoming more prevalent and many believe that it is because we're more aware of the symptoms. Kids with autism need strong people to advocate for them! Here are the latest facts from Autism Speaks:

• Autism now affects 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys
• Autism prevalence figures are growing
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs the nation $126 billion per year
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

For more information about Autism, visit: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autismhttp://www.autism

I was so happy to see that so many people painted their nails blue for this cause!

Upcoming OPI Releases

I thought I would make a post of the upcoming OPI collections to be released in the near future. I just love the OPI brand, and the majority of polishes in my collection are OPI. I just love the formula, the wear, and the brush. The following photos were posted on the official OPI facebook page.

This is the upcoming Spiderman collection. It will be released in May to coincide with the movie. My fiance is a huge Spiderman fan, and I think that it's hilarious that they're coming out with a polish line based on something he loves so much, because he hates nail polish. From left to right, there is:

Shatter the Scales (green shatter), Your Web or Mine?, Call Me Gwen-Ever, Into the Night, My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Number One Nemesis, and Just Spotted the Lizard.

I'm most excited for Shatter the Scales, Number One Nemesis and Just Spotted the Lizard. Just Spotted the Lizard looks like it's going to be a dupe to Chanel- Periodot. I just love greens and duochromes! Also, a green shatter has been neglected by OPI for the past year and a half, and I'm so glad they're finally releasing a green! I own a light yellow-green creme crackle from Pure Ice, but not a true green crackle polish. There are so many possibilities for combinations!

In June, OPI is releasing their Vintage Minnie Mouse collection. The shades from left to right are: I'm All Ears, Nothin' Mousie 'bout it, If You Moust You Moust, and The Color of Minnie. 

I really want to get Nothin' Mousie 'bout it. It's very unique and it looks like the star of the collection. I can't wait to see swatches of it. I'm wondering what shape that glitter inside it is!

In the fall, OPI will be releasing a Germany collection. The six shades on the top are cremes, and the six shades on the bottom row are shimmers. The top six from left to right are: My Very First Knackwurst, Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Berlin There Done That, Don't Talk Bach to Me, Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, and Schnapps Out of it. The bottom six are: Suzi & the 7 Dusseldorfs, Every Month is Oktoberfest, Unfor-greta-bly Blue, Deutsch You Want Me Baby, Danke-Shiny Red, and German-icure.

These look interesting. By the picture, it looks like I already own some shades similar to these. As of now, it's too early to see swatches. I'm excited to see what these will look like. I'll then be able to pick out which ones I want to purchase. I love the names in this collection! I think they did a great job of reflecting Germany.

Out of the upcoming OPI collections, which ones are you most excited to get your hands on- or put on your hands rather?

Funky Fingers- Blue Glitter Scales

Here is an early blue mani that I did in honor of Autism Awareness. I wore this for Saturday and Sunday. I used Funky Fingers- Blue Glitter Scales layered over China Glaze- White Out. I thought the blue glitter crackle would resemble puzzle pieces somewhat. I'm not really a fan of the glitter crackles. They look much more opaque in the bottle and the crackle effect is much more subtle. I purchased them because they were unique. I chose white to layer it over because I felt that the crackle would be the most prominent. I applied Blue Glitter Scales pretty thickly to make it as opaque as possible. White Out was completely dry, but when Blue Glitter Scales cracked, it actually pulled apart the white base color making it look like there are bare spots. I just wasn't a fan of this mani. Funky Fingers is a really good brand for the price though. They are sold at 5Below. They usually retail for $5 for 3 regular polishes or 2 crackle polishes. I will be updating shortly with another Autism Awareness mani.

Here is China Glaze- White Out on it's own. This is pre clean-up. This took two thick coats to achieve opacity.