Sinful Colors - Savage

I was wandering through Walgreens and found this bucket of Sinful Color polishes that weren't on any 3 of the displays in the store.  I'm not sure if they are discontinued or what, but I picked two of them up plus a third I found on the main display.  The one I am showing you today is one of the bucket polishes!

Sinful Colors "Savage" and my Neener helping me with my mani.

She was VERY helpful, actually!

3 Coats and TC

This polish was strange.  It tried completely matte and stained LIKE A MOTHER EFFER. I forgot my base coat so I had to buff buff buff.  I did a pretty decent job fixing it though.

The flash in the last picture kind of brightened the color up a bit.  It's a bit darker and a little more "dusty".  It's pretty though, I definitely like it!  Sinful Colors are available at Walgreens for 1.99$ (=

confetti "first kiss" & i won a prize :D

This week was ass. Just sayin'.  It was long and enough crap went down that I don't even feel like complaining about it. OH YEA, YOU READ THAT RIGHT. Moving along.

I was moving some of the polishes off my desk when I found one I hadn't seen in quite a while, Confetti "First Kiss".  I have quite a few colors along these lines but I can't help it, they're my favorite.  Pink cremes are all I ever need.

"First Kiss" - 3 coats.

I had this on for a whole day before photographing it, so that is why we have some chips-n-wear.  I bought this at CVS for 1.99$ and thought the brand would be comparable to Sinful Colors.  Maybe not.  Formula left lots to be desired but the topcoat evened it all out.  Streaky and thick were the major issues; even thinner didn't help all too much.

My hands took a BEATING TODAY.  I worked this morning for 5 hours and was inevitably on diaper duty.  Between the constant switching of powered latex gloves that sucked any sense of moisture out of my skin and the cheap foaming hand soap provided by the daycare, my skin was WHITE, like ashy white.  I don't know how many times I applied lotion but it was not even helping.  I think if I worked full time there this blog would be no more.

So I won a giveaway that I had completely forgot about.  I woke up from a nap earlier and found a package on my bed and it totally cheered me up!  Alicia from Painting 'Em Up held a 15 follower giveaway with the prize being Icing "Electric Sapphire" and since the turn out was rather small she decided EVERYBODY WINS and sent us all a polish.  I -love- that attitude.  She wrote me a letter explaining she could only find so many of said polish but sent a really pretty blue glitter with hints of green instead; I am not disappointed, its so pretty! Can't wait to wear it :D THANK YOU!!

"Starlight"

BTW - the height of this polish is almost the exact height of my British Literature II textbook (which it is leaning up against in the picture).  That damn book is over 3000 pages and the most awkwardly shaped annoying-to-carry book I've been faced with yet.  It bulges out my school bag, lol.

FRIDAY YES & NEXT WEEK IS SPRING BREAK SO NO CLASSES. HAPPY CAMPER.

flowery french & some recommendations

Every once in a while I do a mani that I really really like, this ladies, is one of those times, haha.  I loooooove the look of a french manicure and then add a cutesy little flower and a rhinestone.. oh it can't get better for me, really!

For this manicure I used two coats of Orly Nail Armor as a basecoat (I really love it by the way!  It has these little fibers in it that for a sort of mask over your nails)  I used L.A. Colors "Energy Source" for the tips, its just a relatively opaque white creme.  Then I put another coat of Nail Armor ON TOP of the tip.  For the flower I used my favorite color ever, Orly "Basket Case".  Sealed with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoat.

I just wanted to make a few suggestions and recommendations and share some things I've tried over the past year or so that often times are overlooked because they're so commonly used!

Top Coat: I've tried a bunch of topcoats, from dollar store finds to Seche Vite.  The only one I am really 100% satisfied with (OK, maybe 99%) is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Topcoat.  The one in the red bottle.  The biggest thing for me is that while it does get goopy, it restores really easily with a few drops of thinner.  I have 1/2 of a bottle of SV that I can't bring back to life, and after spending nearly 8$ on a bottle of topcoat, it kills me to think of spending another 8$ on a bottle of thinner to fix it!  What are we paying for if it has such major flaws?  I know A LOT of people love SV, and it works great for them, but I haven't always had the same experience!  It has caused tip-pull shrinkage that caused me to have to re-do a mani within a few hours.  I see girls asking all the time on the Nail Board over at MUA what other alternatives are, and this is definitely my #1 suggestion.  It's half the price of SV (and other expensive topcoats) and worth a shot. That all being said, SV is not the worst thing in the world and I certainly don't want to offend its fans.  But it falls short for me and my biggest issue is really the price.

Strengthener: NailTekII without a doubt!  It's simply a miracle worker.  My nails aren't TOO bad when naked, but this turns them into fortresses, I swear.  I really only have positive things to say about this one.  Even though the bottle is nearly empty, it is still liquid-y and no sign of gooping up- which is something that really concerned me at first.  I bought this for almost 10$ and had very high expectations for the price and it has met and surpassed them all.  It also makes an excellent base coat, and dries super quickly so there's no treacherous waiting.

I am not sure what Orly Nail Armor is, maybe it is a strengthener, too.  It has ridge fillers which is something I need from time to time in between buffering sessions, etc.  I've only used it a few times but I am happy with its performance so far.  I think this normally runs about 7$-8$ but I got it on sale for 4$.  As far as ridge fillers go, I tried China Glaze Ridge Filling Base Coat.  There are no reviews for it on MUA, and I've searched.. if anyone finds anything please let me know.  It a total PITA.  It never dried - even over night.  It stayed tacky.  I tried to do a mani over it to see what would happen, and that also stayed tacky for a day.  I can't figure out if it was a bad batch or the product is legitimately garbage, maybe it just doesn't work with my body chemistry.  I have no idea!

Ok, that's it for now, I've rambled enough!  Happy polishing (=

Giveaway Winner Announcement!

It's over!  Results have been tabulated, which took a while in all honesty haha. Anyways, on to the winner..

Kendal!

Kendal has a nail polish blog, too - http://heartkendal.blogspot.com/

I know she is an active blogger so I have little doubt she won't get back to me (= Congrats Kendal on your win!

i caved.. OPI Black Shatter

I caved!!! I totally did.  I've seen TONS of shatter/crackle manicures lately, and to be honest only a few have actually looked like something I would wear.  There's a difference between liking something and liking something enough to wear it.  Most of them are really pretty and unique, but ultimately not for me.

I didn't want to write off shatter/crackle without at least trying it, and I figured somewhere down the line I would pick one up and give it an honest effort.  Well I went to Harmon's on my lunch break and saw one bottle of it left and something inside me went off.  I held it for a while, and walked around with it - debating SO hard.  And obviously, I caved. Here is what I came up with!

Two coats of Orly "Nail Armor" - Two coats of OPI DS "Divine"
One coat of OPI "Black Shatter" - One coat of Sally Hansen
"Hidden Treasure" with a topcoat of SH Insta-Dri

Hidden Treasure doesn't look as nice here as it does in real life.  It realistically adds an extra sparkle and shine that just wouldn't photograph for me.  Since I don't know when the next time I'll be able to have free time during daylight, I had to use indoor flash.

OPI DS "Divine" GORGEOUS.  Almost didn't want to cover it!

A delightful bright magenta holo!

Before HT and the TC - a surprising leathery finish!

The verdict? Well normally I know myself pretty well and know when I won't or will like something, but actually.. I DON'T HATE IT!  It's actually alright!  Black Shatter is a unique finish and I obviously don't have anything like it - so it's a nice addition to my collection.

I've seen the China Glaze crackles and the only one I would consider is the pink one.  The rest are OK, except the white.  I haven't seen anyone pull it off in anything that is even slightly aesthetically pleasing, IMO of course. People with hi-res photos, you can see how its not 100% opaque so the base color tends to poke through.  I don't like wearing white polish except for accents anyways, so no real surprise that I don't care for it.

What is your final opinion on the crackle/shatter craze?

funky fingers POP ARTIST

Hello ladies!!  It's Sunday, as you know, but its rainy and actually kind of warm out.  Not the worst combination of weather I've faced this year so I'll take it.  I have a nice, bright summertime polish for you today but it is most certainly a neon, and cannot be photographed true-to-color.  I tried to color correct to the best of my ability with photoshop.  It's also a jelly, for that added fun haha-you-can't-photograph-me touch!

Funky Fingers "Pop Artist"

The name alone inspired me to add some fun decoration.  I CANNOT get enough of the polka dots lately.  I'm sorry they've been on every many I've posted lately, but addiction is addiction so please don't judge.

I tried outside, but its cloudy. Fail.

Color corrected.  Yea, its *this* bright. My dad couldn't look
directly at it, lol!

Dots:

Art Deco "Baby Pink"
L.A. Colors "Energy Source"
OPI DS "Elegance"

The fact that I can't capture neons, yet alone neon jellies, discourages me from wanting to swatch 'n show!

This is probably my last reminder before my giveaway ends tomorrow night at 11:59PM EST. Click HERE for details and submission form (=