Illamasqua Fern + Nubar 2010

I love both of these polishes. Unfortunately, I couldn't really capture the yellow/green flakies in the 2010, but in real life, they are there! I took these pics immediately after a rushed cleanup because the daylight was about to end, so please excuse my ugly dried up prune cuticles and the staining. Fern is slightly more blue in real life but the swatch is pretty accurate!

This was 1 coat of OPI Nail Envy, 1 coat of Seche Vite Ridge Filling base, 3 coats of Fern, 2 coats of Nubar 2010 and 1 coat of Poshe top coat. Whew. A lot of coats. I went a little overboard lol.

Natural light










Awful lighting to show the full effect of Nubar 2010 ... so pretty!

OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue Swatches

This is such an awesome color. It's really hard to capture in photos how nice it really is but I took a shot at it! lol. The accent nail was done using the snowflake from my Shany (Bundle Monster) plates (BM 14) and Pure Ice A List polish. The accent nail is also topped with Confetti Ice Ice Baby. I'm not sure if you can really see it in the pic but it looks really nice on top of it. I'm also a lot more pale in real life than the photos show, and this color really stood out against my skin so I'd really recommend it for pale people.

I'm so glad I picked this up before my OPI boycott! lol (Click here to read about how Coty bought OPI and why I am boycotting future purchases.) I still have a few more untried OPIs to swatch though so you'll see a few more soon.

Natural Light

Amazing Stamping Plate Deal

I just wanted to share this stamping plate deal. They are by a company called Shany but they are actually exactly the same as the Bundle Monster Plates. I ordered these for myself and I absolutely LOVE them. You get 25 plates for $13.95!! If you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free too! Check them out before they are gone!




Also, check out my new blog A Beautiful Deal. It will feature beauty related sales, deals, coupon codes and whatever else I can dig up!

Revlon Perplex Swatches

Finding this nail polish was a pain in the rear. I was looking for the special display and never found it. One day I went to CVS to see if they got it in yet and still did not see the display. I decided to check out the regular Revlon nail polish section just to pick out a few colors. While I was browsing, I noticed a color that looked suspiciously similar to Perplex. It was in the slot labeled Pearl something so I almost passed it over. Something told me to look at it though so I picked it up and lo and behold, it was Perplex! lol. Tricky! Anyway, on to the pics!

With Flash (washed out but you can see the purple shimmer it has in it)



Natural Light





I like the color a lot and it was nice to apply. I did find this chipped really quickly though. I had a small chip on the first night. This normally doesn't happen to me with Revlon so I'm hoping it has more to do with my application (I rushed) than with the polish formula. Overall, I like it and will probably wear it a lot this winter.

Tutorial: How to Remove Glitter Nail Polish Using the Foil Method
Here is a tutorial on how to quickly and safely remove glitter nail polish with much less effort using the "foil method."
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The Best Nail Polish Colors for Winter 2010
This winter is all about festive reds, greens, golds, blues and multicolored glitter. Here are some the top rated must have nail polish colors for the Winter 2010 season.
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Color Club Wild Orchid Swatches

This was a nice formula. Smooth and easy to apply. This was 3 coats. It was actually nice with 2 coats but the OCD in me always has to do 3. lol.











*Update* I broke a nail *cries* and had to cut my nails. I actually liked this color on my short nails MUCH more than on the long ones.

OPI "Burlesque" Sparkle-icious Swatches

Being a huge Christina Aguilera fan, of course I had to get my hands on some of the polishes from OPI's Burlesque Collection. I wanted them ALL but had to limit myself to 3. I ended up with Ali's Big Break, Tease-y Does It, and of course, Sparkle-icious. Here are some pictures of Sparkle-icious. The wheel swatches are 3 coats with no base or top coat. I'm impressed!

Color Club Wild and Willing Swatches

Color Club Wild and Willing is SUCH a perfect color for the fall. It's like Bad Fairy's Golden sister. It reminds me of the fall leaves. In some lights it a lovely shimmering gold, in other lighting it's a light metallic shimmery copper color, sometimes it's even golden rose. It's so pretty! Pictures are with 3 coats. I ruined the finish a bit because I was in a rush and got hasty with my top coat. I can't stop staring at my nails though, even though the color isn't the best for my skin tone. I've had this color for awhile but never used it. I can't believe I waited so long!



Indoor lighting, no flash






Indoor lighting next to a daylight bulb, no flash

Confetti Blue Bombshell Swatches

This a gorgeous color. It absolutely GLOWS in real life. It was pretty sheer, but I still love it. The pictures are with 4 coats. Any green you see in the pics is from the flash. =( It's a deeper blue in real life, no green in it. I wish I could show you how pretty it really is but once again my camera just won't capture it.

This is the most color accurate picture as far as the type of blue it is. It's much deeper and vivid in real life.



These next pictures are washed out a bit but look how glowy it is! Imagine the glow you see in these mixed with the deep blue above.





I am going to try this color again soon using the syrup/ombre technique. I think this color would look awesome like that!

How to Tidy Up Your Nails After a Home Manicure
Here is a step by step tutorial for those that want to know the best method for cleaning up after a home manicure.
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My Review of MAC Bad Fairy Nail Polish
I was lucky enough to snag a bottle of MAC Bad Fairy nail polish. Here is my review of the product.
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MAC Bad Fairy Swatches

I was lucky enough to snag a bottle of Bad Fairy! Normally I don't buy MAC polishes because they are absurdly overpriced for what they are but this one had me wanting it so bad I actually had multiple dreams about it before it was released. LOL!

I tried my best to capture all of the colors in this polish but once again my pictures aren't the best. I managed to capture most of them but the awesome rusty red color eluded me.

If it weren't for the sheer awesomeness of this color I would HATE this nail polish. The formula sucks so much. The first coat made me cringe. It wasn't the sheerness that bothered me but the awful streaks and bald spots. The polish also seems very dry you have to really glob it on or else it dries midway through painting the nail and creates drag. The 2nd coat helped the streaks but the bald spots were still very visible. Luckily after the 3rd coat it was pretty much opaque but I did have to go back and touch up some bald spots a 4th time. Also, after just one mani, my bottle has a noticeable amount gone. Since I paid $13 for this puny bottle I'm going to have to save it for special occasions. =p

Anyway enough babbling, on to the pictures! This was with Gelous base coat 3-4 coats of Bad Fairy and Color Club Vivid top coat. Please excuse my wonky pointer finger, it broke and is growing back all weird!


MAC Bad Fairy

Tutorial: How to Make a Flaky Nail Polish
Here's a tutorial that will help you make your own flaky nail polish.
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Orly "Halley's Comet" Swatches

Ahhh I love this color so much. For some reason, the flash pics came out AWFUL. It did NOT look that sheer in real life. It's also quite a bit greener than it looks here. I'm not sure what happened there lol. The darker non flash pic shows the real life effect the best. Go figure. It's so ... shiny and sparkly, it literally emitted a halo of green light around it when it was in direct sunlight. I could not stop staring at it.


The one thing I did not like about this polish is that it stained like nobody's business. During clean up I could not get the golden shimmer off of my fingers. When I removed it completely, my nails were stained green. =/ Oh well, nothing a little black nail polish can't cover! lol.


Anyway, here are the pictures.

The Art of Konad
You can create endless designs and looks with nail stamping. Experiment and you're sure to find a unique and creative nail art look you will love.
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Last "haul" until the end of the month!

I stopped at Sally today to pick up some Pure Acetone and ended up with a few more things. =x Oops! This is my last splurge until the end of the month though! It HAS to be. I have a mile long wish list for MAC Venomous Villains and I have to save up for that! I will seriously cry myself to sleep if I don't get at least one Evil Queen item and one Maleficent item. lol. I don't care about the other two villains. I hate Cruella because she's an animal killer and I've never even seen Princess and the Frog haha.

Orly - Love Each Other, Orly Dazzle
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liner - Catfight (from a swap)
Pure Acetone for Konad plates/ clean up
Glass File =D



Is my picture taking skill improving any? I'm practicing camera settings and using natural light. When I am "rich" I want to buy a light box! lol.

Nail Wheel Swatches/ Updated Stash

My nail polish stash has changed quite a bit since my first nail polish stash post. In order to organize everything and take inventory I decided to make nail wheels of all of my colors. Read on to see the pictures!!


This is my entire stash of colored polishes. 3 of my polishes were accidentally left out =( I'm not really sure how it happened, but it did. Those 3 are Essie Jewel, UD FBomb and UD Gunmetal. I plan to re-do my wheels in the future so I will make sure to include those.

Sorry the wheels are sloppy. This was my first try at this. Also, my Sharpie lied when it said it was permanent, it kept smearing on me. I also realize some of these are a little out of order. That's what I get for ordering them based on how they look in the bottle and not swatching them first. lol. Anyway, on to the pictures!

WHEEL 1

1. Orly - Walk Down the Aisle  2. Milani - Keylime Shine   3. Sinful Colors - Mint Apple   4. WnW - Jade   5. Sinful Colors - San Francisco  
6. Color Club - Wild and Willing   7. Milani - 3D   8. China Glaze - Lemon Fizz  
9. Orly - Golden Halo   10. Hot Topic - Lime Sparkle?   11. Orly - Halley's Comet


WHEEL 2

1. Urban Decay - Grunge 2. Savina - Black Pearl 3. Color Club - Rule Breaker  
4. Milani - Molten Rock 5. China Glaze - Passion in the Pacific 6. Nicole by OPI - Turbo Teal 7. Revlon -Midnight Affair 8. Milani - Breezy 9. Confetti - Tahitian Turquoise
10. Color Club - Pure Energy 11. Color Club - Factory Girl 12. Orly - Aquamarine Bliss 13. Orly - Sky Blue-Pink 14. Confetti - Ice Ice Baby 15. Franken - Orion
16. OPI - Absolutely Alice 17. Franken - Galaxy 18. Orly - Lunar Eclipse


WHEEL 3

1. Rimmel London - Black Satin 2. Sinful Colors - Secret Admirer
3. Color Club - After Hours 4. Franken - Black Hole 5. Hot Topic - ??Un-named
6. OPI - Mad as a Hatter 7. Opi - Silver Belles 8. Confetti - Silver Slippers
9. Color Club - What a Drag 10. Franken - Stardust 11. Confetti - Tiara
12. Orly - Shine On Crazy Diamond


WHEEL 4

1. Urban Decay - Meltdown 2. Jesse's Girl - Blue Moon 3. Milani - Purple Passion
4. Confetti - Happy Birthday! 5. Color Club - Wild At Heart 6. Opi - Amethyst Twist
7. Color Club - Too Violet 17. Urban Decay - Apocalypse 18. Milani - Black Cherry


WHEEL 5

1. Orly - Space Cadet 2. Milani - Hot Metal 3. Face Stockholm - #73
4. Sinful Colors - Shausha 5. Sinful Colors - Bali Mist 6. Savina - Fantasy Files
7. Milani - Digital 8. China Glaze - Jetstream 9. Confetti - Purple Pizzazz
10. Ory - Spellbound 11. Orly - Moonshadow 12. Rimmel Underground - Cat Fight
13. Color Club - Fashion Addict 14. Nicole by OPI - Play Fair 15. Hot Topic - ??
16. OPI - Significant Other Color 17. Color Club - Sugar Rush 18. China Glaze - Princess Grace


WHEEL 6

1. OPI - Midnight In Moscow 2. Milani - Garnet Gems
3. Orly - Quintessential Crimson 4. Franken - Red Dwarf 5. Avon - Ruby Slipper
6. Color Club - Art of Seduction 7. Milani - Melt With U 8. Orly - Haute Red
9. Opi - Dressed To Empress 10. Milani - Toe-mato Red 11. Estee Lauder - Papaya Sorbet 12. Wet N Wild - Inferno


WHEEL 7

1. Milani - Disco Lights 2. Face Stockholm - #35 3. Estee Lauder - Chameleon Prism
4. Milani - Playful 5. Milani - Tricky Treat 6. Sinful Colors - Bermuda Sunshine
7. Chanel - 485 Duango 8. Nailene - French Manicure 9. Essie - Pearly White
10. Urban Decay - White Widow 11. Goldie - White


WHEEL 8

1. Urban Decay - Metropolitan 2. Orly - Fabfuschia 3. Urban Decay - Big Bang
4. Franken - Supernova 5. Sinful Colors - Wind of Lagoon
6. Milani - Raspberry Fusion 7. Orly - Basket Case 8. Color Zone - Neon Pink??
9. Milani Tropical Fiesta 10. Essie - Pink Parka 11. Color Club - MODern Pink
12. Milani - Sweetest Pink 13. OPI - Dancing in the Isles 14. Sinful Colors - Beautiful Girl 15. Sinful Colors - You Just Wait 16. Hard Candy - Pussy Kat
17. Milani - She's So Glitzy 18. Confetti - Pink Confetti