Monday, April 30, 2012

Enchanted Polish Austin Powers

I have another indie polish for you today. I'm discovering more and more indie polish brands I'm interested in. I was very excited to see Enchanted Polish made holos! I picked this one up a few weeks ago. I got to admit I was partially intrigued by its name. Come on now...Austin Powers?!? Groovy baby!

Austin Powers


Austin Powers is a golden-bronze scattered holo with small coppery/bronze flecks.

This is truly holo-rific! I do not have any gold-bronze holographic polishes, so this nicely took up that empty space in my holo polish collection. This polish is also very unique, if you enlarge the photo you see the bronze-coppery flecks that give dimension. Austin Powers is a great name for it. It definitely brings to mind Austin Powers, and gets that little tune in my head from those films.

 I paid $12 for this one.  Enchanted Polish can be found on etsy. She currently does not have stock in her shop, but she's good at restocking. You can find updates on her shop on her Facebook page.

Happy Monday!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Share With You Sunday: 4/22/12-4/29/12

Posts I'm Loving:
Pretty Little Bottles shares with us her kitty inspired manicure.
Something Creative shows us her Union Jack caviar nails.
Phyrra teaches us how to care for colored hair. 
feedkmayeorchids shares with us her Alice in Neonland manicure.

Posts You're Loving:
Polish Obsession swatches Nfu Oh 53.
Make-up/Music/Money/Me shares with us her love of spring through poetry and nail polish.
Gotham Polish shows us her manicure inspired by her SwellMayde Neon Envelope Clutch. 
Makeup Withdrawal teaches us how to create gradient nails using a sponge. 
The Lacquered Lady shows us her Game of Thrones inspired manicure.
MoreThanJazzz shares with us her recent NOTDs.

You can submit your links for posts on Sundays here

Reader Manis of the Week:

Name: Jessica
Location: Pikesville, MD
Manicure Description: I picked up a six pack of mirco beads from Michaels so I could try my hand at the "kaviar manicure". This was my result! I used Essie Splash of Grenadine and pink mirco beads on my middle and pinky nails.
Favorite Polishes: Chanel- Peridot, Nerd Lacquer- Pinin' for the Fjords, OPI- Teenage Dreams, Zoya- Gemma, Butter London- Lady Muck
Blog/Tumblr: http://jessicasnailtales.blogspot.com/


Name: Beth C.
Location: Fairfield, Ohio
Manicure Description: Pretty & Polished Jawbreaker, topped with Cult Nails Wicked Fast. And I used Hard Candy Matte-ly In Love on my pinky just to see what it would looks like (not sure if you can tell in the pic)
Favorite Polishes: I love Cult Nails Clairvoyant (that i won in a contest that Maria held), Lynnderella Connect the Dots (I don't have it but I want REALLY bad lol), OPI Teenage Dream, OPI Bubblebath, Julep Alicia, Sofia & Leah, Essie Marshmallow, OPI, Skull & Crossbones, and anything purple!
Blog/Tumblr: N/A

You can find information on how to submit your manicures for Sunday posts here. I'm currently in need for manis for May and June posts! 


Happy Sunday!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Dear Cosmetics Companies.....


Why do you package products like this?.....




I would assume you know people who are buying your products obviously use makeup. I would think it would occur to you that people who use makeup, would also do their nails. Did it not cross your mind that your horrible packaging ruins perfectly good manicures? Yes, it does. It never fails either, when I try to open any packaging like this I am sure to find some massive chip somewhere on my nails. This makes me sad. I do not like unnecessary chips in my nails. I've resorted to using tweezers to open these products. I know there is a valid sanitary reason for packaging like this, but please think about all the pretty manicures you're ruining with this packaging. :P

Thank you,

Friday, April 27, 2012

Revlon Colorstay Coastal Surf

I don't know what was wrong with me, but for awhile I thought the Revlon Colorstay polishes were like gel polishes that you could only use if you had one of those UV lights and stuff. I avoided getting them thinking I needed to buy a bunch of other things to use them. I finally realized they they are just "gel-like", but not really gels. You can use it like you would normal polish. I'm sure I was only nail polish addict to think it was something else! Shame on me! Anyways, once I realized I did not need any high-tech riff raff, I picked up one I had be eyeing, and I love it!

Coastal Surf

Coastal Surf is bright and light sky blue creme.

You NEED this. I'm calling it a must have. This color is gorgeous. I love a great blue. I first thought this maybe dupey to Sally Hansen Blew Me Away, but Coastal Surf is lighter. The formula on this is divine. I'm so used to average-good formula, that when I get polish with amazing formula I notice it instantly. It is very pigmented and applies like butter. It is a 2 coater easily. Plus, Coastal Surf is an awesome polish name. Then again, I love anything ocean related.  I'd have to say my first experience with Revlon Colorstay polish is a great one. I'm glad my dodo brain finally realized these were not some high tech polish for polish wizards. 
 
Happy Friday! 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

China Glaze Electrify + Giveaway Winners

*Be sure to check out my new blog sale!

Is everyone over Hunger Games fever? I think I am. I love Hunger Games, but the hoopla people bring about it makes me wish it were pre-Hunger Games movie time. I don't know, the book is so powerful and meaningful, but these teens salivating over actors and silly stuff kind of diminishes the integrity of it all for me. I'm tired of the Hunger Games references and inside jokes. It's a great book, the film was good too, but keep it at that. I know I'm a Debbie Downer. I just hate it when something I like gets overrun by overly hormonal and dramatic teenagers (says the person who obsessed over NSYNC from ages 11-15 :P). Anyways...back on nail polish. This is one of the China Glaze Hunger Games themed polishes they released.

Electrify


Electrify is a mixture of gold and red glitter in a clear base.

I was able to get full opacity in 3-4 coats. This was a nice surprise! The formula was good too. I really like this polish! I love the mixture of gold and red. I probably wouldn't wear this as a full mani, but I do love it as an accent. I wore this as an accent nail when I saw Hunger Games movie (says the person who doesn't like the over-hyping of Hunger Games). Overall, awesome glitter polish!

I have winners for my 2nd Blog-o-versary giveaway.

Prize 1 winnner......




Prize 2 winner.....


Congrats to Amanda A. and MariJo!!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

New Milani CVS Exclusives Part 2

Be sure to check out yesterday's post for part 1! Here are the rest of the CVS new 2012 additions to the core line.

Chocolate Sprinkles


Chocolate Sprinkles is a dark brown shimmer with gold, orange, and purple micro glitter. You will definitely want to click to enlarge this photo. This polish rocks! I love how multifaceted this polish is. I would never expect a brown shimmer to be paired with different colored micro glitter. You will be needing this one!


Hipster Plum


Hipster Plum is a saturated medium-dark plum creme. I love this shade of purple! It has this very classy feel to it. The pigmentation is excellent with this too.

Natural Touch


Natural Touch is a nude pink toned nude creme. Raise your hand if you have issues with nudes! I do! A lot of nudes I try have more yellow tones to it, that clash with my skin tone. This was the opposite. I was thrilled. I've given away a handful of nudes that did not work for me, so I'm glad I found one that does.


Pink & Proper




Pink & Proper is a warm toned medium pink with a vivid fuchsia shimmer. This is the same shimmer in yesterday's Pink Slippers. I love this shade of pink. There are so many light pinks out there, that it's rare to see a darker one. I also like how it's paired with a vivid shimmer. It spices it up!

Just Grayt



Just Grayt is a medium gray creme.  This is a nice gray. It's pretty standard, but it's nice to see a gray added to the core line. No complaints!

I'm very impressed with these shades. It's a good variation of neutrals and on trend classic colors. The formula on these were great, and it was great to find nude shades that complement those with pinker undertones. Overall, great additions from Milani!

**These products were provided to me by Milani for review. **

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, April 23, 2012

New Milani CVS Exclusives Part 1

I have some new Milani polish colors for you today and tomorrow. These are new additions to their core line, and will be sold at CVS. I'm really excited about Milani this year. They seem to be hitting it out of the park with new shades and awesome collections.

Morning Coffee


Morning Coffee is a medium warm-toned brown creme. The formula on this was nice. This is never a color I would typically go for, but I really ended up liking it on me. It's a great shade a brown, that is different from the darker brown polishes I'm used to seeing.

Pink Slippers


Pink Slippers is a neutral dusty pink with a vivid fuchsia  shimmer. I love the contrast with the neutral pink and the fuchsia shimmer. It's a nice way to spice up a more neutral shade.


Fuchsia Fierce


Fuchsia Fierce is a saturated bright red-pink creme. I do not know if I'd personally call this fuchsia, but it's a great color nonetheless. It's very vibrant, and the formula is great.

U Pinky Swear


U Pinky Swear is a light bubble gum pink. This is definitely not a pastel, but it isn't super bright either. It's right in between the two. I did find the formula a little tricky to work with. The application was uneven at times. I do tend to have similar issues with lighter shades like this.

A Rose Mylady




A Rose Mylady is a neutral muted pink shimmer frost. This reminds me of more pink toned Zoya Pandora. I know Pandora didn't work out for me, but I found A Rose Mylady a lot more flattering. If you have pinker undertones, I think this will look nice on you.


That's all for today. I have some more tomorrow. I'm really liking what Milani has to offer so far. It's nice to see a drugstore brand putting out more up to date nudes and neutrals!

**These products were provided to me by Milani for review**

Happy Monday!


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Share With You Sunday: 4/15/22-4/22/15

Posts I'm Loving:
Chalkboard Nails shows us her Monday Marble nails.
Girly Bits compiles us a list of indie polish makers.
Sparkly Vernis shares with us Icing Written in the Stars.
Nails Beautiqued shows us her Teal Tuesday nails.
My Life in Polish shares with us her spring themed nails.
ANOTHER Bottle of Polish shows us her Kleancolor stamped nails.
Makeup Withdrawal shares with us her tropical gradient.
Marias Nail Art and Polish Blog shows us her spring abstract manicure.
Nails By Kayla Shevonne shares with us her neon geometric nails.
Amoki's Corner shows us her tie dyed accent manicure.
Glam Polish shares with us her Snoopy nails.

Posts You're Loving:
Polish Obsession swatches Nerd Lacquer Holoday Mint.
Lily hotnails shows us her fashion inspired nails.
The Barefoot Hobbyist teaches us how to create coffee nail art.
Life in Color! swatches Hits Speciallita Ares.

You can submit your links for posts on Sundays here


Reader Manis of the Week:


Name: Allison C.
Location: Mission, Tx
Manicure Description: For this manicure I used the water marbling technique to create this funky and cute spring time look. I used Revlon nail enamel in Waterfall as my base color then for the water marble design I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail color in Violet Voltage (445), Mellow Yellow (360), The Real Teal (480), Fuchsia Power (320), and Green with Envy (110). As my top coat I used Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat “Silver”.
Favorite Polishes: I love all things Essie right now, I’m currently obsessed with Essie shine of the times, but I don’t discriminate when it comes to nail polish :) . I don’t care, if it’s a great color I like it.


Name: Jackie
Location: New Milford, NJ
Manicure Description: I did my first water marble on my ring fingers using OPI "Jade is the New Black" and "Can You dig It?" and SH Xtreme wear "Blue me away!" and "Mellow Yellow". I painted the rest with Zoya Creamy. I wanted a refreshing spring mani, and this is what I ended up with! I must say I am quite pleased with the marbling, although I don't think I'd be able to do a full mani using that technique.
Favorite Polishes: I have an obsession with nail polish! The list is quite long...but I can say that Zoya is currently my go-to brand. My favorite colors to wear are purple and blue.
Blog/Tumblr: I think I should start one... The photo gallery in my phone is consumed by my swatches that I've taken to send to my boyfriend for approval. Haha.

You can find information on how to submit your manicures for Sunday posts here. I'm currently in need for manis for May and June posts! 


Happy Sunday!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Bottle Spam Saturday: 04/21/12

I decided to do Zoya bottle spam today, because of Zoya's Earth Day promotion. These are all my Zoyas, but I'll be adding 9 more to this because of this promotion!


Stephanie, Kennedy, Danielle, Gigi, and Erika.


Happi, Reva, Milla, LC, and Elke


Reece, Rica, Cheri, Gilda, and Gloria


Kimmy, Sooki, Maura, Nidhi, and Tamseen


Maya, Tiffany, Ivanka, Yara, and Phoebe


Crystal, Kotori, Cynthia, Dannii, and Mimi


Neeka, Savita, Sofia, Kieko, and Roxy


Valerie, Kristen, Carey, Caitlin, Trixie, and Dovima

Are you participating in the Zoya Earth Day promo? What are you getting? I'm getting Blair, Yasmeen, Kelly, Avril, Bela, Jaime, Arizona, Wednesday, and Zuza.

Happy Saturday!

Friday, April 20, 2012

e.l.f. Flirty Fuchsia

The Target closest to me is usually good about getting the seasonal e.l.f. makeup sets, but this time I didn't see them. Thankfully, my friend Mandy over at MandysSecrets picked up the nail polish set for me. Thank you! I love the bright colors in the set especially this one. What makes this one even better is that it's a jelly!

Flirty Fuchsia 


Flirty Fuchsia is a bright warm bubblegum pink jelly.

There is nothing fuchsia about this to me. I don't know why they called this fuchsia?  Oh well, they can call it what they want because this polish is great. I love a great jelly, and this fits that bill. It has that squishy appearance that is not sheer, and the formula was nice. Great polish. I suggest you jelly lovers scope this one out! 

Happy Friday!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Artisan Beauty Pucker Suite Event

This past Sunday I was invited to an awesome event called The Pucker Suite along with many other Central Florida Beauty Bloggers. This was hosted by Mimi and Allison who have started up their own company, Artisan Beauty.



Artisan Beauty specializes in creating custom lipsticks and lip glosses. This is an amazing concept. I seriously have spent so much time trying to find certain shade of lipstick. It can be an frustrating process. There are also people who want their hands on famous discontinued shades you can no longer find. This is where Artisan Beauty steps in. They can create your perfect shade or recreate that long coveted shade you cannot get your hands on!

All the bloggers there got to have a custom lip product created. This process was so much fun. It was really interesting to watch. They had different bases like creme, matte, and etc. They had various gorgeous shimmery pigments, scents, and additives like SPF and lip plumpers. The options were unlimited!




I came in there with a mission. I had been wanting the perfect bright pink-coral lipstick for...well forever. I could never find the right shade, and I knew this was my chance. In the picture above, you can see Allison mixing my lipstick up for me. She knew exactly what colors to use! I used a creamy matte base and added in a Mimosa scent and SPF.



I call it Melon Pop. It's exactly what I wanted. I was so excited to finally have this shade of lipstick I've been wanting for months. All the other ladies made some amazing custom lip products too. I was "ooohing and ahhing" over everyone's!

Artisan Beauty is just starting out so their website is under construction, but they have a Facebook page up and running. The prices will be $30 for lipsticks and $20 for lip glosses. They also have party packages where you can invite a group of friends have your own "Pucker Party" and make your own lip creations.

This was a really fun event. I enjoyed it a lot. It was fun to kick back with a bunch of beauty girls I've gotten to know, and enjoy an afternoon doing what we love most.....playing with makeup! Thank you so much to Artisan Beauty for hosting this event!

Here are some other blog posts from the event with more photos. I'm terrible at multi-tasking, so I didn't take as many pics as I would of liked, but this girls did a great job!

Phyrra
geniabeme
Pretty Little Bottles
niftyBA
Libby's Pink Vanity

Happy Thursday!