Sweet Peacock Friday!

Howdy Folks! I can't believe it's Friday already, and the last Friday in August, to boot!! Where has Summer gone?! The upside is... well there are two upsides. One upside is that now that Fall is here we can start reaching for the new Fall colors. Not to say there has to be a certain time of year to wear a certain color, but there is just something about the smell of pumpkin and spices in the air, leaves changing colors on the trees, and darker, smokier colors on one's nails. The second upside, is that even though Fall is coming, I will not be stuck dealing with another winter of cold, snow, and ice!!! :) And for that, I am grateful!

 Today I have a color from Orly's Birds of a Feather collection. I only picked up two polishes from this collection, Fowl Play, and Sweet Peacock. I am excited to use Fowl Play, (and compare it to Merry Midnight), but last night I decided to wear Sweet Peacock. And I am so glad I did. It. Is. Gorgeous. It's one of the most amazing blue foils with micro glitter I have ever seen. I have most of my nail polish packed already, but I'm anxious to compare this to Swimsuit... Nailed It! from the OPI Miss Universe collection. Anyway, it was a little streaky upon first coat. Like if you put polish down, and then went back over that section, it would totally drag the first layer of nail polish off. If you can work fast and not repeat sections too much on the first coat, you'll be fine, and the second coat applies wonderfully and hides any mishaps from the first go-round. Topped with Seche Vite and it was dry in a few minutes! Off to bed I went, and no sheet marks in the morning! Now that is a good start to Friday!

Have a great weekend!!

Zoya Yummy!

Hi everybody!! I know it's been forever, but I have been SO busy. This move is seriously sucking the life out of me!! Last Friday I flew out to CA to find a place to live. Trying to move from across the country is hard enough, but trying to do it in a weekend is even harder. I had such a frustrating time because I couldn't afford the places I wanted to live in, but really hated all the ones I could. I live in a really nice one bedroom apartment now, and was so disappointed that I had to give up space/amenities/location to be able to afford to live out there. I knew CA was going to be expensive, but I just didn't think it was going to be THAT BAD. So, I had a somewhat emotionally draining weekend, but finally found a place that I'm really happy with and will make it work! I am back in IL for now, and on Monday I start the trek out west!

When I got back, I had some Zoya polishes waiting for me that I had purchased during the promotion. The majority of the colors were from the Smoke & Mirrors collection, but one of them happened to be a bright medium blue by the name of 'Yummy'. Since it's still August and summer, I figured I may as well try that one first!! I am so glad I did because it seriously is SUCH a pretty blue creme color. The first coat was a tad streaky, but the second coat evened it all out and was fully opaque. I've read that Seche Vite top coat does not mix well with Zoya polishes, but I chanced it last night, and thankfully had no problems! No bubbling, not so bad shrinkage, and it all dried relatively quickly. I wonder if the shimmer or glitter polishes are the ones that don't play nice? 

How to: Franken! (My way, anyway!)

Hi there!! I am very/super/overly excited for this post. I really like making nail polishes. Whether it's just mixing a few together, or using a pigment, or adding spectra flair, I just find it a lot of fun, and really rewarding! I wanted to share with you step by step how I go about doing this. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas or inspiration to create your own masterpiece. If you do, please be sure to share it!! I love seeing what people come up with!

Ok, so let's get on with it! This is going to be pretty long and picture heavy, so I will put a break in for those not interested in seeing my mad scientist skills skillz. First, here is a picture of my workspace:

A little crazy and messy, but hey, that's how I roll. On the left hand side I have some various pigments and polishes. I have a bag of ball bearings (fondly known as ballz), and some spectra flair powder. The ballz are used to aid the mixing process. They can fly and woosh through the polish and mix up all of the beautiful powders and lacquers. I have some blank nails on a nail wheel for testing (you can see my purple holo from a few posts back). I also have some straws and napkins and a magazine to work over so I don't get stuff all over my desk. And last, but most certainly not least, an empty bottle!

Empty bottle of Sally Hansen clear polish.

Added two ballz to my empty bottle

Now is the point you need to decide what you want to make. What color are you going for? Do you want to make a holographic polish? A glitter one? Both? I decided to try mixing an eye shadow pigment with some Glorious Top Coat. (Glorious Top Coat = Spectra Flair powder already mixed with a clear polish). Here is the pigment I chose:

Pink Wesnesday

Howdy do folks! It's time for another round of Pink Wednesday!! Two weeks ago I went to get a pedicure. They had the usual selection of OPI and China Glaze polishes, and I picked some pink color. As the girl started my pedicure, she was telling me about these polishes that are made by the salon (which was called Nail Perfection). Made by the salon...really?? She told me they had a really cute baby pink color that was very popular, and made skin look really tan. I was intrigued enough to tell her I'd try that color instead of whatever I picked out.

Turns out this brand is called Tic Tac. The polish applied pretty badly. It was very streaky and had terrible cuticle drag. Luckily, the nail technician knew what she was doing, and by the end, I LOVED the color! I asked her if they sold the polish there and they, did, and charged $7 for it. They didn't have any for sale of the color I got though. She mentioned her boss going back to get more from the supply shop, and I figured the boss HAD to be going to the Chicago supply stores that I visit myself! She tried to sell me a different color, and I *almost* gave in, but thought better of it. Lo and behold, I walked into the supply store in Chicago and there was an ENTIRE wall display of Tic Tac polishes for $1.20!!!!!!!!!! Yes, one dollar and twenty cents. So needless to say I purchased a few! Some colors were not so good and I'll do a blog post at a later date, but some of them were great, like the one I am going to share with you today!

 The application was a little streaky at first, but after 3 coats, I thought looked pretty good! It dries REALLY fast, and I like this color! The bottle is labeled as "222". Some of the polishes have names, and some are just numbers. So overall, it's not the best formula or quality, but I think it's just right for the price and color selection. I will for sure be picking some more of these up!

With flash

This is the truest to color... it's actually a little more pink than this. The camera made it pull really purple for some reason.

Thanks for reading and Happy Pink Wednesday!! :)

Mad Scientist

Hi guys! Last night I was sitting amidst boxes, having taken a break from packing, and decided my creative juices were flowing. I had one mini empty bottle left and some spectra flair and some polishes sitting out on my coffee table so I decided to get to work. I had a mini bottle of Orly Velvet Rope staring me in the face. I have a full size of this color too, so I decided to pour about half of the mini bottle into an empty mini. I had some spectra flair mixed with a clear polish (that can be used as a top coat) and poured some of that into the mix. I then added some spectra flair powder and the color got somewhat muddy (as spectra flair tends to make polishes when added) so I then added in some OPI DS signature. I wanted it a little darker, so I added some China Glaze Black Diamond. I then topped it off with a little more Velvet Rope and this is basically what I came up with!

I like it! I just wish I had some sunlight to take pics in! That's what you get for working at night, I guess! :) Thanks for reading!!

500 Follower Giveaway

Hi everyone!!! I know it has been forever, but I'm back!! I have some MAJOR swatching to do, as I have acquired quite a few new nail polishes!! I am so excited to share them with you! But first, I just want to take a moment to say thank you to each and every one of you! It means the world to me that you chose to follow my blog, and to say thanks, I wanted to have another giveaway! One collection that I really liked was the Orly Happy Go Lucky one. Each polish has a great formula, and the colors are great too. They are fun and vibrant, and I think you should all have them as well! :) Also, I'm throwing in an OPI DS Signature. This is one of the most gorgeous holographic polishes I own, and it's pretty hard to come by these days. I picked up a brand new one in my recent shopping adventures and wanted to share the wealth! So good luck to you all, and thank you again!!!

Rules:

1) You must be 18 years of age or older, or have your parents permission to enter and give out your address

2) You must be a public follower of my blog via GFC - new followers always welcome!

3) This is open to everyone around the world! 

4) This giveaway will close on Friday, September 16, 2011 11:59 pm CST.

Gain extra entries by blogging about my giveaway and adding me to your blog roll!

 

Twilight

Hey everyone! Right now it's 11:49 pm and I am blogging from my bed in my hotel room!! Thank the baby Jesus for free internet!!! I want to show you guys my last Joe Fresh polish. I received this in a swap with Kayla from Beauty by Kayla Shevonne ! You should check out her blog, she has some great comparison swatches! And thanks for the swap! :)

Twilight is a black jelly polish with iridescent green/orange/yellow flakies in it. It is a really cool polish! You could achieve a similar look by painting Nubar 2010 or Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over a black polish, but this is all mixed into one! This is three coats. I will for sure be wearing this color this winter!

Hopefully I will have free internet at the next hotel and will be able to post again!! Have a great day everyone!! <3 you guys!

More Joe Fresh Swatches

Hi guys! I have some more Joe Fresh polishes to share today! Again, this is brand only available in Canada. I received these in a swap with Alyssa, a girl from the facebook nail polish group! I really love doing swaps!! :)

This is Persian Blue. Opaque in two coats, it is a dark, dusty teal color. I really like it and will be wearing it come Fall!

 This is Orchid. A really pretty dark mauvey-purple. Another Fall color in my opinion, and also great for the Fall season! (And, purples are my FAV!)

 This last one is Peacock. It's a gorgeous dusty teal-blue-black color. It shines beautifully, and again, is a great Fall color!! I am a total summer person, but I'm actually looking forward to Fall!!

I am traveling for work starting this afternoon, so if I don't post this week please don't hate me! :)

300 Follower Giveaway Winner!!

Hi everybody!!! Just wanted to announce the winner of my giveaway!!

*drum roll*

Shaina from Haute Lacquer !!!! Congratulations!! :)

Stay tuned for my 500 Follower Giveaway! I have some really great polishes for you guys! I am traveling for business this week, so I'll get the new giveaway posted next week!! Thanks to all of you for supporting my blog!!

Franken Friday

Hi everyone! Here is another one of my franken creations! It's like a smoky purple color with hologram-my goodness! Honestly, I can't remember what I used to make this... it started using some Glamor Doll Eyes pigment, and got so thick and paste-like. So I split that mixture into 3 empty bottles and started adding various polish to get it to something I actually liked!