NYC 233 & A Question About Future Giveaway Roundup Posts

This is 2 coats of NYC 233 that I picked up in a 2 pack from the Dollar Tree. I love tdeals like that because I would never even notice this color own it's own but I really love it. Gorgeous hot pink creme with a nice formula and wide brush (I love wide brushes) all for .50! Yay!
I know many of you look forward to my Weekly Giveaway Roundup. I intend it to be a one stop resource for those wanting to enter nail polish giveaways without spending a lot of time finding them or having to enter them the first time you see them.
I've been meaning to update the way I structure the post for a few weeks but can't quite decide what would be the most useful. I want to start including who can enter, but I want it to be in a quickly digestible form. I'm also thinking of listing them by day instead of by type.
I know it's easier to recognize a giveaway if I include a picture for each one, but I tried it once and it would have taken me a whole day to collect them all and get in the post, not to mention it would be huge! So I'm going to keep it in a simple bullet point format but maybe with different organization and a little more info.
Any suggestions are welcome! How do you use this post? How can I make it better without adding pictures.

I'll be adding more polishes to my new store, Medusa's Threads, on Tuesday. Thanks to everybody who has ordered! I'm almost out of the Tic Tac's already! I'll be announcing a giveaway for a $75 Gift card to Medusa's Threads very soon too.

Thanks for reading!
April

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NYC 249B

This is 2 coats of NYC 249B. Almost a one coat wonder.Very nice formula with almost no clean up & a nice wide brush.It's a dark burgundy with golden micro shimmer. Too dark for my tastes but gorgeous.

Thanks for reading & don't forget to enter my giveaway!
April

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NYC Molten Metal & Christmas Nail Art

NYC Molten Metal was one of my first lemmings and it doesn't disappoint! It has an amazing formula, shown here at 3 coats. It seemed a bit sheer at first but the foil particles are super dense. It's a silver & taupe foil. Lovely! And I found it for .50 cents at the Dollar Tree. Woohoo!

Below we have a Christmas manicure inspired by the amazing nail blog Blue Tape and Nail Tips. She did a gorgeous Shooting Star manicure earlier this year that immediately made me think of adapting it into a Christmas tree. My first try didn't quite live up to my imagination but it's still a great idea. You ladies should give it a try! Their are so many variations possible. Thanks again to Blue Tape and Nail Tips for the inspiration!

I used my much loved Zoya Edyta for the tree. It's the perfect color! That's my Wally in the picture below.

Thanks for reading!

Don't forget to enter my LaVaque & Color Club giveaway!

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N.Y.C. Cashmere Cream

This is 4 coats. Lots of brushstrokes and cuticle drag. It's a lovely color but I don't like the frost finish or the formula on this one.

Thanks for reading!
April

Current Giveaways

• $25 Apothica Gift Card Giveaway! Ends 11/10

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Skin Tight Denim; Polyester Pink

I'm pretty sure there is a good reason the creator of this little number was kicked off of Project Runway last week:


(screenshot courtesy of Project Rungay)

For those not up on their fashion, I think the most glaring flaw was its over-resemblance to another designer's oeuvre, the designer in question being a truckstop hooker from Oklahoma who hit her head falling off a mechanical bull during July of 1996 and can now never move past that moment in her life or in her clothing choices.

So, the obvious question here is: why did anyone think it would be a good idea to name a nail polish after the two traits of this dress that combine to make it totally and irredeemably hideous?



Let's do a little stream-of-conscious word association for "skin tight denim." I'll start. Skanky, uncomfortable, rent-a-strippers dressed as participants of the California Gold Rush, desperate, doesn't make your butt look as good as you think it does, yeast infection, how fun would it be if you could order 49ers for your bachelorette party and tip them with gold nuggets, good luck fitting your keys and chapstick into your pocket, not going to be able to sew yourself into that in six months so enjoy it while you can, ooh if we expanded to include Yukon Gold Rush strippers we could call the company Robert W. At-Your-Service.

Aside from my genius new business plan, that did not seem to generate many positive connotations. It's like N.Y.C. came up with a really pretty shade of blue and then decided it would be really hip to create "ironic" contrast by naming it after the tackiest fabric possible.

Wait, what's that? You're telling me they decided to name this delicate color...



...Polyester Pink?

Fine. Just fine. I'm going to sleep this off. Somebody wake me up in 2010 or whenever we've decided it is OK to wear clothes that don't desecrate the human body again, whichever comes first.

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N.Y.C. Downtown & A Giveaway Roundup

I have already gone through my first bottle of this polish and purchased a back-up. I know you're all thinking, "But April, it's so boring!". I actually agree with you. I've only worn this on my hands once to get pictures.
N.Y.C. Downtown lives on my toes! I haven't changed the color in ages. This polish costs .94 cents at Target, is opaque in one coat & just seems to be a classic color that I don't have to think about. I know my toes will look good and it will go with everything. Nice berry creme in one coat for a buck is a no-brainer in my world!
Do you ladies change your pedicure polish as frequently as you do your nails? Do you stick with a few neutral colors most of the time or do you go wild and crazy?

I used Nail Tek Foundation II on my ring & pinkie for a matte effect.

Giveaway Roundup

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Leanna Lin Jewelry from Dandy Giveaway. Hurry! Ends tonight!
• Win a Fountain Jet Soda Starter Kit from Soda Stream & Dandy Giveaway. Hurry! Ends tonight!
• Win a Bird in Flight Necklace from Down & Out Chic. Ends 1/12.
• Win a Dremel Multi-Max from 3 boys and a dog. Ends 1/12.
• Win a $40 gift certifcate to Joy of Soap From Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends 1/16.

Thanks for reading!
April

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N.Y.C. Taxi Yellow

This is a really pretty yellow, but was a pain to apply.
This is 4 coats and it was still very streaky. It also took a long time to dry.
I think I had to re-do this manicure because I messed it up.
It was also the base I used for my first Konad.
-Ashley

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First Konad!!

April ordered us our first Konad items last week! Konad is an ingenious stamping system for nail art. I never ever thought i'd be doing nail art, but this is a lot of fun. This is their website - Konad USA.

We got our Konad items just in time to enter a contest from the KonADDICT blog. Which you can check out here. We found her blog on one of Getcha Nails Did's, New Blogs on the Block posts. The owner of the KonADDICT blog does really awesome and unique manicures with her Konads. I love her super detailed photo instructions!

These are the plates April picked out. The one with the zebra print is mine. Which is what I used this time.

Here is my first Konadicure (as most people call them).
I used N.Y.C.'s Taxi Yellow for the base and Icing's Ice Queen for the zebra print.



You can see on a few of the nails that I didn't cover the whole thing. It's really fun though. We both have lots of ideas for new ones and can't wait to show you guys!
-Ashley

More about → First Konad!!