I think I read a blog post or tweet once that said bloggers shouldn't apologize for being absent but just come back when they're ready to with an explanation. I don't know if you guys agree with that, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging, thinking I just wasn't coming back - I am! This weekend I'm hoping to swatch some polishes on my little baby nubs (sounds awkward, whatever) and then have some posts next week. Hopefully. If not, I have time off from the 17th-27th between jobs and can absolutely catch up then! Thanks for sticking with me, guys.

xoxo,
Amanda

Technical Difficulties!

Hey everyone, sorry for the radio silence. My computer crashed last week in the midst of an already very stressful week and I lost all of the swatches and manis I had to show you guys. Until I have time and energy to swatch again, it'll be quiet here. Don't forget though, you can comment on my posts once each per person and each will count as an entry in my giveaway (you will just have to enter them one per day in the Rafflecopter widget) - this post counts for commenting as well!

xoxo,
Amanda

Leftover Rainbows

Well, in all the hullabaloo of trying to keep up with challenges, I swatched far more rainbow-themed polishes than I'd realized. I'm only now finding the hidden folders of rainbows! Here's a few for today :)

Nfu Oh 66, which is the green holo. This is two coats and I took these in my lightbox, no base coat or top coat. The formula on these is tricky: WAIT between coats and you should be fine, but I was a bit impatient and you may notice some bald/thin spots. Or maybe you won't, because you'll be mesmerized by the holo.

I swear I also swatched the light blue one (65) but the swatch eludes me. I'm losing it. Anyway, it's like the green one but baby blue. :)

Deborah Lippmann Let's Go Crazy is a deep purple based rainbow glitter jelly. I got this for a ridiculously good deal on HSN for $8 back in the day (Amanda did too, because I told her about the deal. she's welcome.) I have to own pretty much all of DL's versions of rainbow glitter because she really started all of these shenanigans, and I love it.

These pictures are three coats and it's still pretty sheer but the glitter takes away from that, I think. I stopped at 3 coats because IRL this wasn't as patchy but, of course, lightboxes and bright lights are bound to show all the flaws.

Okay, done with rainbows for now... probably for a little while but believe it or not, I have even MORE swatches saved up. Rainy day vault photos, someday.

xoxo,
Amanda

Glimmer by Erica Sweethearts

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! Today is my one day of outreach so this morning I'll be driving all over and then at work later for a bit, still out at 4 so I can't complain! The weather is getting nicer here which is making it so much easier to be a New Englander :)

Today I have a quick swatch for you of a Valentine's Day polish I bought, but it's actually pretty appropriate for any time of year. Glimmer by Erica Sweethearts is below, layered over white undies. There's a whole rainbow of hexes in here and pink matte hearts (my main reason for loving this, obviously).

I used two coats of Sweethearts just because with milky-based glitters, I prefer to use two layers to still get some of the layering effect of glitter and the base color. I love the combination of glitters in this and think it's sheer enough that it could easily be used over a base color and just mute it while incorporating the glitter. I also LOVE the label - I'm a sucker when there's a custom label that's different for each polish (versus a brand's logo and then a separate label with the polish name).

xoxo,
Amanda

Nails Inc Sprinkles!

Happy Easter! (if you celebrate, if not, Happy Sunday!) Today I have two of the Nails Inc Sprinkles for you guys. A Lacquered Affair and I were talking on twitter and realized we both had two of them, and neither of us had tried them. Of course, this became a challenge for us to try them and post together. I'm not sure which two she has, so it'll be interesting to see if our tastes matched up ;)

Pudding Lane is a blue base with purple and gold glitter scattered in. I used about 2.5 coats: two full coats then I went back over to fill in any bald spots. This glitter GOT ALL OVER ME. Glitter herpes to the max. Also, you can see my bottle is deformed somehow... nobody else has had their bottle look like mine but c'est la vie!

My other pick from this collection was Sweets Way, a white crelly base with pink and blue glitter. This is three coats and in the future I'd probably start with a white creme base since you can still see some VNL, though the glitter distracts you from seeing it IRL. This was super delicate and I loved it!

What do you think? Don't forget to stop over at A Lacquered Affair to see her choices!

xoxo,
Amanda

Quick Post and Plug

Hey everyone! First up: I'm having a blog sale, I've made a list rather than taking photos since this will be easier to keep up with so please check it out. I have some black label OPI, lots of indies, some limited edition China Glazes, etc. I didn't list shipping because I'll figure it out on a case-by-case basis depending on country, how many you want, etc. but I'll be reasonable (starting around $2). Email me at az270890@yahoo.com if you're interested in anything! The document is here.

Onto the swatch of the day, an old one from when I was growing my nails out and apparently my cuticles rebelled. This is 2 coats of Julep Charlotte, a pretty purple creme.

I added Pretty and Polished Hello Dolly. There's two photos because the first one is the most awkward hand pose ever but shows the polish better than the second where my hand is normal *shrugs*

xoxo,
Amanda

Rainbows: Candy Lacquer Spam!

Happy Thursday! Today is my Friday since I don't work Fridays so I'm pretty pumped for that. Today I have about a million Candy Lacquer swatches because I apparently have been hoarding them in my vault not to mention some recent ones so go grab some popcorn or another snack, get some water, and go potty before we begin. Go ahead, I'll wait. The polishes will be under the cut whenever you're ready (I have EIGHT to show you).

Color Club Linear Holos!

Hey guys. No secret that I've been TERRIBLE about challenges this month so I'll be taking a break from them next month. It was getting discouraging to have so many obligations when I was behind on blogging so I am going to take a break and get some blogging mojo back before I pick up again in May (hopefully). Here's a few rainbow manis to catch me up and satisfy the March requirements ;) These are all from Color Club's 2012 Halo Hues.

First up is Harp on It and Blue Heaven. You probably didn't even realize this is two different polishes in this swatch at first glance but the left side is Harp on It and right is Blue Heaven. The second photo shows the difference a little better but it's still pretty close. I included a bottle shot too so you can see the colors in the bottle, which look different.

And secondly (and finally) is Cloud Nine which is one of the pinks. The linear holo is so strong in these you can't even tell what the base color is sometimes! This was pretty, I should really wear holos more often.

There we go! Did you guys get any of the Halo Hues? I got Eternal Beauty from the new ones and that's it.

xoxo,
Amanda

Inspired by... Pinterest!

Hi everyone, sorry I've been so lazy with these lately. I tried a gradient recently and I think it was enough for me to swear off nail art forever lol. Anyway, my Pinterest nails today are inspired by Dressed Up Nails' Dotty Hearts post. She did hers in a number of colors so each nail was different but I just chose two colors to alternate. Basically, the technique here is to use dots to create dot shapes and then outline it in another color. I used the same dotting tool but applied different amounts of pressure to get varying sizes and then went back with a tiny one to fill in gaps. The teal ones came out pretty cool but the purple on pink is a bit more subtle than I'd hoped.

Oh! The base color is Julep Carrie and the dots are Sinful Colors Sweet Nothing and Sweet Tooth. Go see what Amanda's got for you! (PS this entry counts for additional comments for my giveaway I posted earlier if you comment and let me know in the Rafflecopter widget!)

xoxo,
Amanda

Spring Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I promised a March giveaway but never posted the prize, so the March giveaway will run over into April. The prize is very springy so it fits for both months and some surprises will also be included :)

China Glaze Pink-ie Promise, Sally Hansen Glass Slipper, Claire's Candy Shop, China Glaze Ray-diant, and Different Dimensions Rainbows & Butterflies 

Please note: these prizes have been swatched once, if you do not want to win used polishes please do not enter.

This is available to US only - sorry international followers :( If you are under 18, must have parent's permission to enter except in special exceptions according to your state. Multiple entries for the same person will be disqualified. Begins 3/25/13 at midnight and ends 4/30/13 at midnight EST. Winner will have 48 hours to respond by email or another winner will be chosen.

NOTE: YOU MUST COMMENT ON THIS POST TO ENTER. Lots of entries, only 6 comments!



 a Rafflecopter giveaway

xoxo,
Amanda

High Vault-age & Vintage Lulu

The good news is that when I'm lazy about what to post (i.e. pulling pictures from my vault), I up my pun game and you get fun titles like today. Get ready for the puns, BOOM. (Actually, I'm not very punny, so don't set your expectations very high.)

Lumina Lacquer Chinese Lanterns over some nude polish. I honestly just searched my notes for about 15 minutes and either this swatch occurred while I was dreaming (it is a dreamy polish) or I forgot to write notes down. Anyway, you get the idea. Of course, this is the quintessential "Amanda polish" with hearts and lots of glitter. I am really fond of Lumina Lacquer, she's made her way up into my very favorites!

Here's Sinful Colors Flutter. This was 3 coats and it had an annoying, gloopy formula. I think this might already have a new home for someone with patience and thinner :)

I added Memo's Mind Faerie Dust which was super easy to apply and this is one coat. There's butterfly glitter in there, can you find it?!

Last for today is Nicole by OPI All Kendalled Up. This is two coats and the formula was just perfect. Plus, I actually really liked this color on me. It's a little more red IRL.

I added Different Dimension Rainbows & Butterflies on top which is not for me. Nothing with her formula or anything but I wasn't a fan of the shimmer which overloaded it, IMO. Definitely a very fairy feel (which I guess relates more to the previous glitter than this but we're on a fairy theme now, people! Keep up!). She also has found a new purpose, which you'll be seeing in the next couple days in the form of a giveaway :)

Finally, please enjoy this vintage picture of baby Lulu. This is from my October 3rd album so it's when she's not quite a year, I think. She quite enjoys my lightbox and I frequently chase her out of it but this particular time she had already started napping, sitting up, when I got to her so naturally she stayed inside and you guys get a picture instead. Enjoy!

xoxo,
Amanda

You Know When You Forget About Swatches For Months?

Hey guys. You know Christmas in July? It's about to be Christmas in March. I just found a treasure trove of random Christmas polishes I had saved up apparently for a rainy (snowy?) day for all of you and since the weather here still thinks it's winter, here's some polishes that agree. Also, I just am so lazy about blogging I can't be arsed to get to my camera to connect it so you'll probably be seeing some vault photos for a bit. Excuse my cuticles and nail shape and yada yada but these are fairly old and before I went nuts and changed my whole photography method so anyways shutting up now okay.

 First is Candy Lacquer Deck the Halls over Essence Cafe Ole. All I wrote in my notes for this is "❤❤❤❤❤" so that must explain exactly how I felt about this at the time. Red, green, white, and gold glitters (some of them holo or iridescent) in a clear base. Not usually a gold fan but 5 hearts just about explains all there is to say.

Next is Lacquerhead, which was new to me about this time. I believe they had a Black Friday sale where I got My Boo (the orange and black on my left two fingers) and Just Be Claus (the red and green on the right). Both of these are layered over white. Great glitter payoff!

Finally, JENsations Spirit of Christmas, which is red and green glitter in a clear base. You should be able to see right off the bat what drew me to this and if you don't, either you don't read my blog enough or you don't know me at all! *sobs* *storms off dramatically*

There we go, your least seasonally appropriate, most confusing, strangest post of the day. You're welcome and happy Friday!

xoxo,
Amanda

Case of the Blahs & the Cure!

Hey all! I'm sorry for my blogging absences lately. It's been one thing after another. I have this whole huge explanation typed out and if you care, it's after the cut but I didn't want to bog you all down with a lengthy post if you didn't ask for it ;) Anyway, today's post is a quick swatch of Lynnderella The Present is a Gift over white which I did a couple months ago (hence my nubs) but it seems appropriate. We all have to remember to be thankful sometimes. Also, the cure to any blah feelings is glitter and Lynnderella does it so well.

Anyway, there you have it. Hope you guys have a good week and hopefully you'll hear from me again soon :)

xoxo,
Amanda

Listen Cold, Imma Let You Finish...

...but stomach flu had the best down weekend of the year. Anyway, enough of you, Kanye. Sorrrryyyyyyy I've been MIA all week! I had a cold and I've been super super busy trying to catch up on a whole bunch of shenanigans. This post is a quickie just to say I've gone over to BlogLovin since GFC is being taken away from my cold, dead hands. Here's how to follow:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thank you! I hope I can get most of you to switch over in the transition since I was almost to 500 followers on GFC!

xoxo,
Amanda

Pretty Me Polish Review

TGIF! This weekend feels like such a blessing. Today I am also blessed to have some Pretty Me Polishes that Jeannette was sweet enough to send me! Let's dig right in!

First is Galaxy which I layered over black. This is just one coat but it covered really well! The patchy spots are user error, not the polish's fault. Galaxy will be part of a line of polishes using the same glitter but different base colors. This would be perfect for a galaxy mani!

Next up is Shortcake. I layered it over China Glaze Pink-ie Promise and the ring finger is Expressionist Red. This was made up of a really dense glitter combination in the pink realm, which is, of course, right up my alley! This would have been perfect for Valentine's Day but since I'm a girly girl this will work anytime ;)

Finally is Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, which is teal and magenta dot glitters in a yellow base with fine iridescent glitters. I layered this over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, so you can see the base is pretty opaque yellow, but it's sheer (this is about 3 coats) so it definitely needs a base color. This was really fun and bright, perfect name!

Ta da! Which was your favorite? I'm sure you can all guess mine ;) I also want to add that Jeannette actually sent me TWO packages because USPS lost the first one, and I think that says a lot for her customer service that she'd send out a second one for a reviewer! These are (or will be soon) available on her Etsy shop and retail for $8 for a full sized bottle.

xoxo,
Amanda

MOAR RAINBOWS

Some more rainbows today. Rainbows WITHIN A RAINBOW, as a matter of fact. I did some skittles using a few crelly-based rainbow glitters I had in my untrieds bin and this is what happened:

The blue is Pretty and Polished Party At Joe's (which I got primarily because my boyfriend is named Joe, so, yeah...) and the rest are all minis I got from a set from Claire's with no names. The lavender on my pinky is very reminiscent of It's A Trap-eze except a lavender base. They're actually all pretty unique, who knew?

Don't forget to go check out Amanda and Sarah!

xoxo,
Amanda

Polish Findings Jewelry!

Hey everyone! It's officially hump day... I am so looking forward to the weekend! Nothing big planned but hoping to spend some quality time with my boyfriend. Seems like there's never enough time in the week to spend together!

Today I have a review of my friend Amanda's nail polish jewelry! She made me a custom ring and sent me a bangle from her shop to show you and give you an idea of what she has to offer!

First I have to show you my glitter bomb ring. I have no idea what Amanda used for this but it's definitely a glitter bomb! I wore this to work one day and it was fun to stare at between clients.

The band is adjustable which is nice, I think, since I can wear it on different fingers. The band didn't pinch my fingers at all like some adjustable rings tend to do. It had a smooth finish and really appeared to have a three-dimensional effect because of the domed cabochon!

The other item I got is her silver holo bangle, which has a scattered gray holo. I absolutely love bangles so this was perfect for me. It fit snugly and was adjustable, although I am always nervous to adjust things too much so I just slid it on as is haha.

Here's how I wore it one day, this is in my room light so this is how it looked indoors. It looked great with this combination. One of my clients told me I looked majestic! haha

Go check out Amanda's shop! She can make custom pieces and I know she will take care in any order you place with her :) (I'm not biased at all, right?) But seriously, even if she wasn't my biffle, I'd love these pieces and I really am wearing them!

xoxo,
Amanda

March Untrieds: Rainbow!

Hey everyone! Sarah, Amanda, and I decided March would be Rainbow month! What does that mean? Anything rainbow goes! Linear holos, rainbow glitters, skittle manis, nail art - whatever! As long as something untried is involved it goes! Today I used one of my untried linear holos, Nfu Oh 61. Nfu Ohs are a little temperamental in the application area so you must must must let each coat dry and you better work fast or it'll drag! I didn't use base or top coat for these photos and all went alright!

Sorry, no sunlight photos. I swatch at night 90% of the time so there was no sun to speak of when I put this on... which in hindsight was silly but too late now!

xoxo,
Amanda

Inspired by Instagram/Another Blog

Hi everyone. I feel so meh about blogging lately. It's so much work to go from taking the photos to publishing a post and I'm just tired lately. Sorry about that, hopefully my mojo will be back asap :) Also, please note: the commenting giveaway will be active for March. I just haven't picked prizes yet! Would you guys prefer several smaller prizes or one grand prize? Any requests? Let me knowwww!

Today's mani was inspired by Nicole, the photo I used for inspiration was from Instagram but she has a similar mani here as well. This was a really simple mani to do, actually, but I love love loved the look! Nicole's on to something here, folks!

The base color here is OPI Rumple's Wiggin' (hi Jamie! thanks again!) and the dots are Finger Paints 15 Minutes of Frame, Julep Hayden, and Sation Holiday Pink. I just used three sizes of dotting tools and did a few dots of each size on the nail. Ta daaaa!

xoxo,
Amanda

Untried Creme + Glitter + Jelly

Last day of the month and last untried creme! I never thought I had a glitter addiction until trying not to use it... just kidding. I've always known about my glitter addiction.

First up is the creme: China Glaze Dance Baby, which my buddy Jamie sent me. This applied perfectly and was so shiny on its own! I love pinks and this won me over immediately.

Then I added Studio M Poparazzi, which was kinda chunky and a little hard to manage but whatever:

And finally, OPI Don't Touch My Tutu! on top to make it a yummy jelly sandwich <3

Here's to March - the theme for our untrieds is "rainbow". You'll have to wait and see what that means! Go see what Amanda and Sarah are wrapping up the month with.

xoxo,
Amanda

Stop! It's a Trap(eze)!

Happy hump day! It feels so weird for me because the last few weeks I've had Mondays off for snow, sickness, or holidays... so Wednesday feels like Tuesday! Anyway, we're nearing the end of February, hope you get all your comments in before March 2nd because I'm drawing a winner sometime that day! I'm going to do this again next month but I have to round up some prizes first :)

Today's post is China Glaze It's a Trap-eze. At first, I was really overwhelmed with the amount of glitter in the bottle and I didn't like it much. I thought it'd be hard to work with and lumpy and too much going on to really be pretty, but, happily, I was wrong! My glitter-lovin' heart loved this! This is about three coats, I believe... but my notes are basically that I was just really excited about this so they're no help. No top coat in this photo but I'm sure it would help with any texture issues, although all the glitters sat flat on the nail.

What a glitter beauty! Do you own this one? I'm glad I didn't sell my bottle before trying it because I'm sort of in love!

xoxo,
Amanda

China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis

Hey everyone, almost done with February untrieds and today I didn't even cheat! I have one of the new Avant Garden China Glazes today, Mimosas Before Manis (which on my label is Mimosa's Before Mani's and ughhhhh). This is pinker than my photo but I honestly couldn't capture this accurately and was really enraged by it and decided to move on. However, I do love this color and will wear it again. This is three coats and it was easy peasy.

Go check out Amanda and Sarah!

xoxo,
Amanda

Inspired by... Instagram!

Oh hey look who's on time for a challenge! ;) Today's nails I saw on Girly Bits' Instagram months ago and saved the picture to my phone (I do this a lot with the high hopes someday I'll actually try them out). Mine pales in comparison to hers, partially because her nail length really allowed this design to work and mine were a bit to short but anyway, the photo is here. Also, my color choices... gosh, there's so much wrong with this I am effectively labeling this a FAIL.

The base os Color Club Bintage Couture and the dots are Orly Butterflies, China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On, and Sation Lollipop! Goes the Princess. The photo shows them more yellow/orange than IRL, imagine this with a more pink hue.

Aaaaand now you guys know why I never try nail art anything.

xoxo,
Amanda

Last Week's Untrieds!

Gotta make up for lost time today, folks! Here's a few untried cremes to make up for my absence last week (sorry about that!). Don't forget - my comment giveaway ends this week so get your comments in on these last few posts to up your chances. I think I'll continue this tradition next month! What would you guys like to see for prizes?

Anywho... gonna give you three manis today because I way overshot my goal of creme untrieds one swatching day and I'm making up for lost time.

Sation Drama Doll is the pink below. It was brighter in person but not quite neon since you can see below it dries shiny. This is three coats and it was streaky and took forrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to dry. I'll still use it again because I love pink.

Then you know me... step one: paint on a creme, step two: add glitter. This is OPI Lights of Emerald City from the new Oz collection. This was two coats as the glitter is fairly sparse on its own.

Next I tried Sally Hansen Wet Cement which my BFF Amanda sent me. This covered easily in two coats though it could have used a third and was a little thin for a normal creme. I fixed that...

 ...with glitter! Below is Black Cat Lacquer The Dream of the 90s Is Alive, which is a gray based crelly with a whole bunch of colors and black shapes. I like the sizes of glitter in this one because they're pretty consistent. Sometimes when a glitter has varying/huge shapes it makes it hard to manage all of the glitters on the brush. This was a dream to apply, one coat applied like normal polish and then I dabbed some glitter on some places/added a second coat if needed.

Finally, Julep Michelle. This is two coats of absolute blue perfection. Sorry the flash is incredibly bright on my skin and I look vampiric. I guess my camera can't handle the dark colors on me... but it's pretty color accurate, a little more navy IRL.

Then I added Cirque XX which Amanda sent me in a secret Cupid exchange and OMG AMANDA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. This is absolute glitter perfection. Love at first sight applies here. This was one coat, it was absolutely packed with glitter which is good because I never ever want to run out of this. Ever. *snuggles bottle*

So there you go, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xoxo,
Amanda