september haul

Do I really need to write a disclaimer for what you're about to see?

Here is everything I received in September.

I made one little splurge this month, on 4 of my lemmings:
China Glaze - No Way Jose
China Glaze - 100 Proof Pink
China Glaze - Shaken Not Stirred
China Glaze - Drinkin' My Blues Away

Here's the other stuff I bought for myself: (only one thing cost more than $3!)
Wet N Wild - Tangled In My Web
Wet N Wild - Correction Tape
Wet N Wild - Behind Closed Doors
Fantasy Makers - Purple Potion (bought from piCture pOlish!)
Ozotic - Elytra 528
Revlon - Colada Fizz
Nail Art Diva - Daffodil
Nail Art Diva - New Blue
Kleancolor - Metallic Aqua

I got two giveaway prizes this month:
Color Club - Pardon My French collection (giveaway from Cinnamon Kitten!)
piCture pOlish - Honeydew (giveaway from The Trace Face Philes!)
piCture pOlish - Antique
piCture pOlish - Denim

I got a few birthday gifts (with a few more still on the way):
Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday (thank you so much Kayla! post coming soon!)
Sinful Colors - Daddy's Girl
Sinful Colors - Forget Now
China Glaze - Techno (those three from Caroline! thank you so much!)
Nfu-Oh - 50
Nfu-Oh - 64 (both bought with bday money!)

Massive, massive e.l.f. review haul:
Innocent
Golden Goddess
Plum
Sunset
Punk Purple
Nude
Smokey Brown
Light Pink
Bubblegum Pink
Flourescent Pink
Mango Madness
Dark Navy
Royal Purple
Desert Haze
Matter Finisher
Purple Dream
Copper
Teal Blue
Dark Glitter Purple
Mod Mauve

Massive, massive "my mommy loves me" Las Vegas birthday haul:
Deborah Lippmann - Glitter In The Air
Deborha Lippmann - Waking Up In Vegas (appropriate! haha!)
Color Club - Foiled Collection
Color Club - Back to Boho Collection (creme set)
Illamasqua - Poke
Jordana - Purple Glam
Love & Beauty - Indigo
Love & Beauty - Silver
Sinful Colors - Nail Junkie (already had this one)
Nails Inc. - Fitzroy Square
Island Girl - Aloha Surf
Island Girl - Big Wave
Island Girl - Waikiki Dream
Island Girl - Waikiki Surf
Island Girl - Waikiki Magic
Island Girl - Waikiki Sunset
Island Girl - Island Lei
Island Girl - Island Color

Swap with Rhonni from Nailtique:
Sephora by OPI - Hell To The No (yes!!!!)
Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia
Revlon - Starry Pink
NYX - Prismatic Gold


So this looks awful but I only bought 13 things for myself and 8/13 cost $3 or less. So I didn't spend much.
My mom bought me a lot but it was my birthday present! (And most of it was cheap! Besides the Lippmanns and Illamasqua, of course.)
And I got a ton of stuff from e.l.f. that I will be reviewing soon! Hopefully I will get that done this weekend.

Total bottles?
...83

I think I should really, really stop doing this haul thing... You all must think I am bonkers.
(I already think so myself.)

Next month? No birthday, no e.l.f. review, no parents going on vacation. No massive polish haul so I won't be so embarrassed to post my haul!

More about → september haul

Nubar & Tic Tac Giveaway Winner!

The winner of  my last giveaway is Crystal, #143. She has a new nail blog called Crystallized Nail Art for you to check out. We all want to see that Green Litter polish Crystal!

Thanks to everyone who entered! I'll have a new giveaway up within the next week.

April

 

 

 

More about → Nubar & Tic Tac Giveaway Winner!

Windy Blue

So sorry I've been neglectful...work's been busy, we have a million house projects going on and I'm expanding my publishing company with new authors/anthologies. All that to say...I barely had time to *do* my nails this week, and last week my manicure...well, it sucked. A word to the wise - those Sally Hansen strips? You can't leave them open and use them later. Seal them up in something airtight.

Anyways, this week's manicure is inspired by the cover art for a book my publishing company just released today. Here's the cover (details here):

That hair blowing everywhere just struck me as so lovely and ephemeral...I didn't do it justice at all, but it inspired just a few black wisps on my favorite blue polish, and I'm quite happy with the simple results. 

This week I'm also trying out Sally Hansen's Triple Strong nail strengthening formula. I went to buy some wraps a few weeks ago, because my nails tend to crack below the quick and I end up having to be really careful that I don't rip them off. Like this: 

So I was looking for some sort of patch or wrap to put over it under my polish, and couldn't find a thing. But I did find this Triple Strong formula with titanium and gel, so I decided to see if it would keep my nail intact until it grows out long enough to cut. I used two coats as a base coat, and I have to say, several days later the cracked portion is still holding up and not ripping farther. So...I'm happy with it so far. 

On top of that, I put two coats of China Glaze "Blue Island Iced Tea" - my all time favorite blue polish. I adore this color, and could look at it for hours. :-)  

Then I just used Avon's "Denim", a dark navy blue and one of my skinny dotting tools to make a few wavy lines on each nail. I added a coat of Nubar's "2010" to the top, but it's not terribly visible, and I'm okay with that since it looks kind of "red" against the navy. I may try those two together again at some point....

Then I just sealed it all with a couple coats of Seche Vite top coat, and cleaned it up the next day. Very simple and easy. 

So...Halloween is right around the corner...got any fabulous holiday manicures to share? I'll have one to post next week for sure...

Until then, happy polishing! :-)

More about → Windy Blue

31 Day Challenge: Day 30

Day 30! One day left! Holy cow!

Today's theme is Inspired by a Tutorial. There are so many nail art tutorials around... It is nearly impossible to decide on one to do for this challenge.
I knew I wanted something simple and fast, and who better to showcase than Kayla Shevonne!

Kayla has done several tutorials of her nail art and I suggest you check them out! I chose the adorable Cherry Blossom Tutorial for today!

Please, please excuse the crappiness of this mani! And go look at Kayla's instead!

You see, my striper brush is all splayed and I am in serious need of a new one. And then I tested out a new topcoat and it smudged my pretty flowers.

Sad, because this really is cute. Cute and messy and smudged...

But when you don't look so closely, it looks adorable!

For this mani I used:
China Glaze - For Audrey
Wet N Wild - Black Creme
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Whirlwind White
Sally Hansen Insta-Dru - Presto Pink

Check out the tutorial I linked at the beginning of the post for a closer look on how to do it!

I'll leave you today with a sneak peak of some upcoming swatches...

Can anyone guess what those pretties are? :)

See you tomorrow with my final challenge mani!

More about → 31 Day Challenge: Day 30

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Presto Pink

I keep thinking to myself "Pepto Pink." But actually that would be a great description of this polish color. Lol

 It went on very easily as most Insta Dri's do. Very pigmented! I could have easily gotten away with one coat if I'd been more careful. This polish is supposedly very good for stamping, but I have yet to try that out. When I do, I'll let you know.

It dried very quickly and had a nice shiny finish. Thank you Sally Hansen.

More about → Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Presto Pink

Florence

Hi Everyone
I got a new member of my family! Her name is Florence! She is totally adorable.

She's 8 weeks old. We've had a hard week settling her in with not much sleep but she is a really good girl. Would have been easier if I hadn't had conjunctivitis in both eyes. Unfortunately in my right eye it got quite bad and the white of my eye filled up with blood. I had to go to hospital on Sunday morning to get it all checked out. I got 2 lots of drops and it does seem to be getting better but it still looks like I have been punched in the face.

I hope to get some nails up soon but I'm sure you'll understand if I just post cute puppy pics instead XD
Stacie xoxox

More about → Florence

V-gap and OPI Gold Shatter

Hi guys! Yesterday I showed you my post with Orly Sweet Peacock, today I have the V-gap I made with it. First I mattified it with Essence Matt topcoat, which made it look stunning. Sweet Peacock is so sparkly that even with a soft, matte finish it still sparks like a gem. For the V-gap I placed triangles to cover up the blue and I applied OPI Gold Shatter on top. Gold Shatter is another new polish that arrived in my mailbox this week and I couldn't wait to try it out. Though blue and gold is always a win in my book, I'm not exactly crazy about this look. I like the colors but maybe there's just too much going on. Oh well, next time better :) What's your opinion?

More about → V-gap and OPI Gold Shatter

NFUOh 086

I've got quite a few of these NFUOh posts lined up for you. I think these glass fleck polishes get forgotten about because the flakie polishes get all the attention. NFUOh really do have a great line of polishes.

In this NFUOh series I've found 3 polishes that I think it'd look nice over and I'll be wearing it by itself on the pinky. 

1 coat L-R: 086, Australis Limited Edition 2, China Glaze Electric Pineapple, OPI Roadhouse Blues

My Mum actually bought this polish. I thought she was mad because I didn't think it looked that pretty. What's that old saying? Don't judge a book by it's cover? In this case it's don't judge a polish by it's sparkles.

Clearly mum saw the potential! I absolutely love 086 over the navy creme! You get to see all of the different colours that 086 is made up of; green, gold, I think there's even a bit of blue in there. Absolute stunner.

Here we step it up to two coats. 086 is great for livening up those lime and chartreuse cremes. Still loving it over the navy too. 

2 coats L-R: 086, Australis Limited Edition 2, China Glaze Electric Pineapple, OPI Roadhouse Blues

Here's a close-up. 086 by itself really doesn't look like much but when you throw it on top of another colour, the magic begins.

Feel free to enlarge any of these photos to see the detail more clearly. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the NFUOhs!

More about → NFUOh 086

NYC In the Spotlight LE Polishes

Hi there! I have swatches from NYC's limited edition fall collection called In the Spotlight. These polishes are perfect for fall. They are simple, but sometimes simple is good! :)

The first is Scenestealer Grey. A blue toned charcoal with shimmer. I think this is my favorite!

Next, is Backstage Brown. This is a caramel shade with shimmer.

And finally, Underground Purple is a magenta with blue shimmer.

All of these polishes covered in 3 coats. These retail for $1.99 and I have seen this LE collection at Kmart so far.

I also have baby toes for you too! It's been a while! Sorry for the blurry pic, keeping an 11 month old still is never easy. She is sporting China Glaze It's Alive! A little preview before I show it to you for real. :)

*Products sent to me for review.

More about → NYC In the Spotlight LE Polishes

M.C. Escher Cubes

Here are some M.C. Escher inspired cubes. I decided to splash some color onto the cubes from his Metamorphosis I, which is both less colorful and more complex than these nails. My friend Mike pointed out to me that these are also the cubes from the game Q*bert, so when I redo these again at some point, I'll probably make a little Q*bert and Coily (the snake).

Regardless of what they look like, they just look good (at least in my opinion)!

More about → M.C. Escher Cubes

Green is the new dupe.

The reason OPI - Jade is the New Black was no longer on my wishlist, is because I received Essence In the Jungle which is a supposed dupe. Well I can now tell you that with a side by side comparison.... I can't tell the difference. When applying the polish, the OPI formula is superior and easier to work with, but once the polish is dried... I can't tell the difference.

This first picture is just OPI Jade is the New Black

This picture is alternating the two polishes as I have labeled.

OPI Jade is the New Black = JISTB   (haha just realized I left out the "N")

Essence In The Jungle = ITJ

Essence In The Jungle is from the Show Your Feet line of polishes.

More about → Green is the new dupe.

Spectrafranken - Purple Haven

Another spectrafranken today, cause I have so much fun creating them I just can't stop myself.

As soon as I created this polish I instantly knew who it reminded me of.  Kristy from the Polish Haven. You see Kristy has an addition problem with purple polishes, so I have named this franken after her blog. Purple Haven.  

When I went to create this franken, I was looking through all my Ulta3 swatches looking for something dark, but with a jelly finish.  I spotted Gooseberry, which is a very dark purply plum, the clear polish and the spectraflair really lightened it up and created this soft dusty purple.  I really love it.

This was make using:

• 2/3 bottle of Ulta3 Gooseberry
• 1/3 clear polish
• 3 incy wincy straw spoonfuls (each the size of a grain of rice) of Spectraflair coarse grade

Don't forget to get creative and email me your spectrafrankens and/or colour morphing frankens, and go in the drawn to win three Picture Polishes.

More about → Spectrafranken - Purple Haven

Nail Art Inspired by Robin Moses

Hey yall! I discovered the most amazing nail artist....Robin Moses and I wanted to share some designs that she inspired me to do. You can find her work at the following sites:

• https://www.facebook.com/RobinMosesFanpage
• http://robinmoses.com/
• http://robinmosesnailart.blogspot.com/
• http://twitter.com/robinmosesart

Be sure to check out her work and tutorials. They make it very easy to learn to perfect you hand painting techniques!

More about → Nail Art Inspired by Robin Moses

31 Day Challenge: Day 29

Another buzzer-beater challenge post from me!
Truly I almost gave up today, on day 29.
See, I had 2 tests today in school, so I got up, studied, went to school. No nails. Came home, went to supper with my parents who recently got home from Las Vegas (with a HUGE polish haul for me!)
And then I got home, showered, and really didn't want to change my nails.
...But I did. I can't be a quitter!

Today's theme is Inspired by the Supernatural.
Now this can mean lots of things - ghosts, vampires, werewolves, etc. But for me, the word supernatural means one thing and one thing only...

Ah, the Winchester boys.

Supernatural Season 6 came out on my birthday and I spent 3 days last week rewatching the whole thing! And season 7 just started! But I haven't gotten a chance to watch the new episode yet - it's waiting on my PVR!

For this mani I took inspiration from the show's title frame in season 6.

Glass breaks really loudly which can sometimes scare you if you are really interested in the show... Like me...
(And by "really interested" I mean "overwhelmingly obsessed.")

I used Wet N Wild Black Creme as the base and I stamped from BM-208/painted the name with Color Club Lumin-icecent from the Foiled Collection! (That's something mommy brought me from Vegas! I'll show a picture of my haul at the end of the post.)

The Foiled polishes are super shimmery metallic and just did NOT want to cooperate with my camera. It just would not focus properly... Too blingy! So sorry for the crappy photos. (And the crappy mani... This was so rushed!)

Considering how bad my mani sucks today I'm going to point you in the direction of my friend Sarah from Chalkboard Nails who did the cutest ghost mani EVER today. Ever. Click here to see it.
Do you have a glow in the dark polish from this season? Check it out... You will run to your stash and do this immediately! 

Just 2 more days left in the challenge... Let's hope I find the time to do something nice for those!

Now... A little sneak peek at the hauling my mom did for me in Vegas...

Click to enlarge that baby!
Color Club, Island Girl, Lippmann, Illamasqua... Oh my!
What can I say? I'm spoiled rotten.
I'm hoping to get a lot of swatching done this weekend and I will show you guys all my new goodies!

Bonus picture...

Look at these AWESOME slippers my dad found for me! They are from Ross! Run to Ross ladies and find yourself some!

More about → 31 Day Challenge: Day 29