bargain haul - 12 polishes under 19$!!

Hi ladies! Finals are over, got my 3.33 gpa :D super excited and now I am working fulltime. Daycare work is bad on the nails and hands. Rubber powered gloves dry my skin out, and I've been banging my nails and snapping them left and right. But I am doing well! Finally (=

I wanted to share with you my recent accumulations of polish. I've got 12 new bottles for 19$!

Five Below
3 for 5$
Oatmeal - High Voltage - Bashful

Five Below - CVS - Local Dollar Store
2$ - 2$ - 1$
Saved by the Blue - Fashionista -White Shadow

Five Below
2$ - 1$ (clearance)
Sand and Stilettos - Kelly

Local Dollar Store
1$ each!
The Rocks - royal puple (lol!) - delusional

Five Below
3$
Blue to Lavender

Uh, this is blue to light blue.but close enough? lol.

There you have it! 12 bottles for 19$. So exciting to me. Reviews to follow, hopefully. and what is this annoying box underneath this text.. I CAN'T GET RID OF IT

worst formula EVER and a haul

EUGH. I have encountered the worst, most awful formulated nail polish in my entire life.  I have 5 year old dollar store polishes with more grace and dignity than this one.  And I'm mostly pissed because this is supposed to be a somewhat reputable brand.

 BEHOLD Finger Paints "Chrsyanthe-mum's the word"

This is 3 coats.  I orignally did my nails once, and it bubbled and had drippy marks all over it.  So I tried again and added a little thinner.  Then that still wouldn't work.  So I added more thinner. STILL SUCKED.  This nail polish was so freakin' thick I can hardly even describe it to you.  It left severe streaks, would go on my nail and then drip all around my cuticles.  I don't know if this was a bad bottle, or what, but I've never, EVER worked with such a pain in the ass polish before.

One coat.

Streaks streaks streaks. It was SO goopy.  If I screw something up I will take fault for it, but at this point in the game I know how to apply nail polish and many other aspects of it.  This was not lack of skill - this was lack of quality. And that upsets me.

I rarely buy polish that costs more than a few dollars unless its a holiday or I did something good.  I bought this at Sally's for 4.49$ with my club card.  It pisses me off that it was so shoddy.  And it also pisses me off that I found a green I like but probably won't ever wear again!  Something tells me something went wrong here; either a bad batch or someone had left the lid off of the bottle at the store or something.  I can't comprehend a 5$ polish being that much of a POS.

Pretty ring though (=

 Accented with Funky Fingers "Under Mistletoe"

What I picked up yesterday:

Ulta "Red Carpet Red"
Ulta "Encore Pink"
L.A. Colors "Jewel Tone"
BIGGEST PIECE OF CRAP EVER
Essence "Choose Me!"
Essence "Ultimate Pink"

What gets to me the most is I bought Jewel Tone, Choose Me! and Ultimate Pink for a DOLLAR each - and I love them.  I go outside of my norm and spring for a 5$ bottle (full price) and it blows.  The Ultas were on sale - 2 for 4$!  You win some and you lose some, I get that.  But this is my blog and I like to bitch when bitchin' is necessary LOL.

OPI DS Ruby and a mini haul

Yesterday was a fabulous day as far as nail polish is concerned.  I went into my local Harmon Discount (like a Sally's but more random crap) and found OPI DS polishes for 3.97$!!  I bought two, but I will be going back for sure because I am in love with the two I got.  Normally polishes on sale are the ugly ones nobody wants; not the case this time around!

Anyways! I couldn't wait to try them out so this post is all about OPI DS Ruby.

OPI DS Ruby with Funky Fingers Moonwalk

"Rich, jeweled red" according to the brochure.
It's a magnificent deep pink holo!

GORGE.

Standard blurry shot for details. Click to enlarge.

& one more for good measure (=

OPI DS Ruby & Vintage

You'll only benefit from clicking to enlarge these pictures.  Ruby is absolutely stunning!  It's like a circus on my nails.  Pictures with the french tip have a topcoat on them (couldn't help it LOL) but the ones with just Ruby only have Nailtek II as a basecoat.

I also picked these up in a 4-pack for 5$ at Five Below.
I love purples.  What a fantastic shopping day!

Pretty sure OPI DS Vintage is going to be my next post; maybe.. maybe not - we'll see :D

motherload of a haul!

I feel like I hit the jackpot!  I decided to go to Dollar Tree on a whim before class and I am so glad that I did.  They had tons of polish that I haven't seen there before and I took full advantage of it.  I had to pick up a couple things like sponges, air freshener, etc.  I got a total of 19 polishes and the other items for 25$!  Most of the polishes came in Two-Packs so I made out even better!  Here is what I got;

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms which I think are beautiful polishes in general and got so excited when I saw these!  I got "Golden Cinnabar" and "Diamond".  I tried to swatch and photograph the purplish one and I am going to have to wait for sunlight because I have now realized it is impossible to capture the beautiful duochrome that it truly is!

L.A. Colors in "Energy source", "Red blooded" and "Radiation".  Didn't intentionally buy red, white and blue but the oranges they had just didn't do it for me :p

E.L.F in "Champagne" and "Coral".  There is something wrong with "Coral" though.  It has lumps and there are these white streaks painted on inside of the bottle?  I am going to add some thinner and maybe a ball or too to see if I can get it going though.

From left to right; "Bronze jubilee", "Very berry", "Arctic violet" & "In a flurry"!  I somehow missed that I accidentally had two of the right hand package in my basket, so while I did get 19 polishes, there were 2 doubles )=  That's ok though, I kind of want to mix them together!

From left to right; "Sun kissed", "Arctic violet", "Sand castle" & "Sun kissed".  I had to buy another "Sun kissed" in order to get "Sand castle".  Also,  I somehow messed up when taking pictures and missed a polish that is called "Sheer orchid" which is a very purple jelly looking number (=

"Triple platinum" & "Gold front"

Cannot wait to swatch & show :D :D :D !!

guest nails & another haul

Went shopping today! Got a bit of a haul along with a beautiful scarf from New York & Company and some new shoes for the future professional me (=

I went to Essentials at the mall and found a couple Essie polishes on sale for 4$.  I picked two I liked most, “Mistique Pink” and “Knockout Pout”.  I also went to Five Below again, of course, and picked up three new polishes, they are: “Elephunk, Tribal & Daiquri on Deck” so cute!  I also found a Color Club Art Club nail art polish in BROWN. Mochalatta to be exact.  I don’t know if I will ever need it, never thought to myself, “damn, I need brown nail art!” but if that day ever happens, I am soooooo beyond prepared.

 

Also have some guest nails for you :D  My BFF came over to get her Christmas presents finally and I promised her a mani.  She originally wanted China Glaze’s “Ruby Pumps” but after showing all my new polishes she went nutso over “For Audrey” (as most first time witnesses do) and quickly changed her mind!  I gladly obliged because that’s what BFF’s do. (So I hear)  Anyways this picture is pre-cleanup so they’re a little messy.

 

She has such cute little hands and perfect natural nails.  I get jealous because I have naturally larger build than most (Hell, I am six feet tall!) so everything else tends to run big on me, too.  I was super excited about finding cute shoes today, you can only imagine how much I frickin’ despise shoe shopping!

I am going to wear Elephunk tomorrow because I am going to visit my grandparents in Pennsylvania and don't suppose something obnoxious would be my best bet haha.  I will take pics of my nails for a NOTD later this week (=

As always, click to enlarge & please comment!

polish additions!

First off, before I start, I just wanted to say I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy new year (=

Now, on to my new polishes!  This month was bountiful in polishes from gifts to polishes I bought myself, I am so happy to have these new additions to my collection and can hardly wait to use them all!  I am going to start with the polishes that were given to me.

My best friend, Coryn, bought me 3 polishes from Five Below.  They are holiday themed glitters, which you can just never have enough of!  I am super excited for these in particular because I already own quite a few Funky Finger glitters and they go on so nicely!  They’re packed with glitter and cover completely in just a few coats.  Their formula is surprisingly easy to work with.  I also love Funky Finger’s crèmes.  Their shimmers are nice too, but I am not crazy about shimmers so I tend avoid buying them. Aside from Five Below, I don’t know where you can buy these but I’m sure a little digging online will be fruitful for anyone interested.  They’re very inexpensive too, I get 3 bottles for only 5$!

I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of Nicole by OPI in my stocking.  Since my dad does all the Christmas shopping I was even more surprised.  He cracked a joke saying something about the price of it, 7$ at Wal-Mart.  I could only laugh because he didn’t realize how much it was until he looked at the receipt.  I explained to him that’s exactly why I don’t own any of them, lol!  He unintentionally bought me one from the Justin Beiber line which is fine, he said he picked out “Step to the beat of my <3” because it looked very different from the others and hadn’t seen me use anything like it before.  Thanks daddy (=  I have this one on how over a base of Lemon Fizz by China Glaze and its so cute.  The hearts are a little tricky to pick out of the bottle but it really isn't an issue.  I love the little pieces of glitter in it too.  Just adds a nice, unique touch!

I found four colors I had never seen before at the beloved Dollar Tree and I am super excited to use these!  I go crazy when I see new polishes available since I already own most of the ones that are on the shelves.  There are like, maybe 5 dollar trees that are all about 15-20 minutes away and the one in South Plainfield is the only one with a decent selection and new additions.

e.l.f in fair pink (on left) and fluorescent pink (on right). I don't think I've seen these before but the bottles are thin and rectangular and I could not resist! (and at a dollar a piece, there's no reason to!!)

 L.A. Colors, Color Craze in Static Electricity (blue) and Live (Silver). The silver looks particularly unique as the particles are notably fine and minuscule.  Can't wait to see what I can do with this!

Next is what I am super ultra excited for!  As a present to myself for finishing community college and graduating with my Associates degree, I bought a handful of polishes online at head2toe.  A total of 8 polishes (including the ridge filling base coat, not pictured) came out to 34$ and change, shipping included.  They arrived about 5 days later.  Super exciting for me since a bunch of these were colors I’ve wanted to ages!!  My mom picked out Cheek to Cheek since sheer, shimmery pinks are her favorite and the only type of polish she will wear.  My roommate picked out Emerald Fitzgerald because she loves darker polishes and wears them very well.  

The rest were my doing.  Blue Hawaiian was a last second addition to my purchase since I realized I don't have many if any blues.  Bad Kitty was absolutely beautiful in the swatches I have seen and I couldn’t resist! I have already worn it and love it!! It chipped after a shower though, sadly.  But I really do love it.  I am wearing yellow fizz right now and adore it, so excited I bought it.  I have wanted For Audrey for ages and have been meaning to buy it.  Ruby Pumps was bought because I realized I had NO reds.  I have one that has been used up completely and it was a glitter too. 

I also wandered into a Sally’s that’s right near the Dollar Tree and ended up getting one of the gift sets for a discounted 7$.  The set came with Naughty and Nice, which is a really pretty and unique maroon, burgundy jelly and Mrs. Claus, another red glitter addition!  It came with a free gift, the Peppermint Cuticle Oil.  Smells great and works nicely, but I feel like the bottle is always leaking because it gets everywhere!

I also wanted to try out some new base coats and top coats so I am starting with Beauty Secrets.  They were 3$ a bottle but have large sizes available for 6$.  I actually used them three times already and I love them!  Both dry so fast.  I can't tell you about durability though because I change my polish far too often.

Basically I am super excited for my new additions and will have lots of updates available when I start swatching or making NOTD’s out of them!  What did YOU get for the holidays?  I can’t wait to see!  - Images are clickable to enlarge!

-Cathryn

fauxnad!!

so as im sitting here eating my dinner (at 1 AM mind you..), a true food of the gods: cup-o-noodles (in chicken flavor!) i notice a small mail package sitting above my keyboard. !! thats why my dad was trying to wake me up earlier while i was napping. (i still have a lot of pain from my wisdom teeth being removed.. i havent been sleeping more than 3 hours at a shot) my package has come.. my FAUXNADS ARE HERE!

chicken flavor cup-o-noodles has to wait, my fauxnads have top priority. i opened them like ralphie opened his red ryder bb gun in a christmas story. no, really. anyways since i was swatching earlier today, after i finished i did a cute french mani on my right hand and im not ready to part with it yet. most of the time i have two different colored hands lol. my right hand (im right handed) is my test hand and my left hand is the hand you see photographed lol, well my right had polish on it from my china glaze haul i wanted to try out my fauxnads asap so i broke out the konad supplies and got to work..

i flipped. they werent WORKING. at all. wtf. then i realized i has having a true blonde moment when i discovered an almost invisible piece of plastic on top of every single plate. oops? lol. anyways i tried a few on my right hand and they work, beautifully. im so exciteeeed. there arent any full nail images which i knew buying them, but the confirmation still made me a little sad. i suppose i can splurge the $6 for the real plates for full images. in these times, a girl has to be frugal. i got 21 plates for $18 off of ebay. if i had bought 21 plates from konad it wouldve come to $126 before shipping. i call that a steal (=




most of the plates were individually packaged, but put of the wrappers had the majority of the plates in them. theyre mostly tiny flower themed looking images with intricate dots and added cutesy. im excited!

BONUS FOR YOU!



my little prince (=

china glaze haul

out of all of the brands of nail polish ive used thus far, china glaze is my favorite (=

is it still considered a haul if its from the internet? im not even sure if 6 polishes is considered a haul. i dont think it is, since i didnt have shoppers guilt after buying them LOL

the wonderful nihrida recommended a site for affordable polish, http://head2toebeauty.com/ . let me just say i love this site now, i placed my order on sunday evening and received it by early wednesday! i really had to control myself because there are so many amazing colors out there, i eventually picked out six.



from left to right;
he's going in circles - kaleidoscope collection
good witch? - wizard of ahz collection
dorothy who? - wizard of ahz collection
cowgirl up - rodeo collection
DV8 - holo collection
LOL - holo collection

im absolutely crazy about dorothy who? i dont had a distinct fondness for blues OR glitters but i cannot wait to wear this one as a full mani. i was most excited about good witch? but its sooooo light against my skin )= i still love it though, and will wear it often. the rest of them were ones i saw swatches for and thought were pretty. im most disappointed with cowgirl up. i saw an amazing swatch (dont remember where) and it had all kinda of hues and dimensions to it, but when i put it on and looked at it under regular lighting and fluorescent lighting and daylight.. it was a freaking dark magenta-purple. im a pastel girl. i love bright and light cremes and colors. this isnt my bag, at all. i went out on the limb with it because i was sold by the swatch, but even with multiple coats it still fell short of my expectations - oh well.

they were $3 each, which is a deal in my book. shipping for 1 bottle is $9. shipping for 6$ bottles is 11. my total came to about $27 and some change - which $9 cheaper than if i had purchased them from a beauty supply store. i was excited with the saved money and the new colors and the additions to my collection, so really.. i cant complain!!



i took over 40 pictures of the sample above and i could not, by any means get a good shot. this is the pick of the crop which just emphasizes how sad my selection was lol. this photo doesnt do the colors justice. except cowgirl up, thats pretty much how it looks..

new haul, new technique, new notd!

i went shopping! i went to the dollar tree and walgreens. i got 5 polishes and 5 nail art polishes from the dollar tree and 3 sparkly topcoats from walgreens on sale for $1.09 each! how exciting! my haul;



the three polishes i got from walgreens were absolutely stunning. theyre from the covergirl "boundless color" collection which i had never heard of, and were the last 3 left on the rack. im sure i wouldve bought one of each color given the opportunity. i really like the bottles and brushes too.



from right to left;
-pink twinkle. there is irregular flecks of foil inside this one.
-city lights. a holo topcoat (the little bits of holographic glitter are sparse compared to a typical holo polish)
-amethyst mist. a purple jelly base with hexagon multicolor glitter & teeny tiny bits of glitter as well.

theyre so beautiful and the application is wonderful. i dont have _that_ many drugstore polishes that i actually use but i will definitely be employing these 3 lovelies (=

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in other news, i tried my first marbling last night! i cant say i was too happy with the outcome. in fact, i removed it right after taking the pictures. here is a few things i learned;
-petroleum jelly moves when you insert your finger in the water and often times ended up under polish resulting in a re-do
-aside from a base coat, a base color is needed to bring out the vibrancy of the marbled colors
-scotch tape works relatively well. i used one long piece for the sides and top of my nail, and then secured that piece with another piece of tape around the whole finger and that piece edged off the bottom of the nail.
-for some reason, i could not get 2 different holos to work together, but that just could be me.
-i cannot figure out how to avoid a large gap on my thumb; i retried over 5 times and had a large gap, in the same place, of uncolored nail each time - any advice?



like i said before, i think a white underneath wouldve really made these colors pop. i used orly "liquid vinyl" and funky fingers "punch". the black came out mostly gray.. i wonder if it just isnt marbling compatible or it wouldve been brighter with white underneath. not TOO bad for my first attempt!

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my NOTD has got to be one of my new favorites. i used my new colors for this;
-sally hansen insta-grip base coat
-maybelline wet shine "pink splash"
-covergirl boundless color "pink twinkle"
-seche vite topcoat

the golden/pink flecks look so much cuter irl. i had a hard time capturing the color of the flecks and i tried all 20 different camera settings with different flashes.. the best ive found so far is the flower/soft flash option. i had some luck with the food/soft flash too. i think its because these are both meant to capture fine detail. without a doubt the worst setting was one for text, DARK, blurry and spotty. anyways, here it is;