Last of the January Untrieds!

My goodness am I happy this portion of the challenge is over! Even though I suggested this theme, I really didn't have many single untrieds from a brand so it's been a tricky situation all month kind of lying or showing you guys about 5 untrieds from a single brand haha Next month we will be doing NO glitters - all cremes or shimmers! Should be interesting coming from the two glitter queens!

Today it's actually two polishes from the same brand but they were close enough that I ended up sending one to Kylie. In alternating fingers I have Sally Hansen Blush Rose Diamond and Pink Rose Diamond. They are pretty close but Blush is the lighter one on my ring and pointer and Pink is the one I sent to Kylie which is on my pinky and middle finger. This was two coats of each shown next to each other to compare.

I liked both but since they were so similar and I owed Kylie a giveaway prize, I sent one her way. Now go see what Amanda has for untrieds!

xoxo,
Amanda

February 2 Tribute

Hi everyone! This is a quick (false, it was meant to be quick and then got ramble-y) post because I wanted to share this with everyone and give you a couple days head start for my upcoming plan... February 2 is the 10 year anniversary of my mom passing away. Many of you will offer condolences and I wholeheartedly accept them and appreciate all the support I receive around this time of year, but I wanted to go one step further this year and really pay tribute to my mom.

Over the past year, I submitted a color story to Lex Cosmetics and my polish won (by an overwhelming majority, thank you very much! #notveryhumblebrag. Also it's Lex's #1 seller to date but okay I'm done bragging now, seriously.) and was created. Tuilleries is was created because I wanted a color that represented both myself and my mother. My mom loved tulips and the color red, so the name Tuilleries came from tulips and I'm not sure how it transformed into that name but Lex suggested it and it seemed really unique and just perfect. If you don't own this polish, please consider doing so because 1. it's beautiful 2. it was designed by yours truly and 3. $1 goes to lung cancer research (my mother died of emphysema, so I wanted the charity to be something that related to lung and breathing issues).

Anyway, what's my point? I decided this year, since so many of you owned Tuilleries, I could ask for people to swatch and post it on February 2 (this Saturday) in honor of my mom and I'd link to you. But then people who didn't own Tuilleries wanted to participate so I wanted to include everyone. So this Saturday, February 2nd, I invite you all to post Tuilleries or a manicure dedicated to my mom. It could be pink to match Tuilleries, red for her favorite color, tulip themed, or antique themed, as that's what she loved the most - collecting antiques. If you decide to participate, please link your blog up here so we can all honor my mother together and I can keep track of who is participating. Let me know if you have any problems or questions by emailing me at az270890@yahoo.com. I'm really looking forward to paying such a lovely, beautiful tribute to my mom with all your nails <3



xoxo,
Amanda

Colors That Look Good on Short Nails: Fashion Footing Edition

Hey all! Today Amanda from Fashion Footing has a post for you guys, showing a color that looks good on short nails. Colors for short nails is one of my number 1 search terms so I'm going to try to bring you guys more of that via some of my own swatches and guest posts, if anyone else is interested in posting! Take it away, Amanda!

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Hey guys!

I'm so happy to be doing a guest post for Amanda. I heart her and she's awesome and so much TWITTER LOVE!!! :-)

I feel like most colors look good on shorty nails and while I don't have the shortest nails ever, I certainly don't like my nails to be much longer than this.

This is probably one of my favorite Catrice polishes. King Of Greens is a positively gorgeous green with flashes of bright green shimmer. This was a dream to apply and covered like a champ.I used 2 easy coats. I don't even think I had to do any cleanup. Huzzah!

So gorgeous! If you can get some Catrice polishes, I highly recommend them!

Thanks for letting me guest post, Amanda!

Amanda

January Untrieds

Hello again! Since I posted Darling Diva Polish yesterday, technically the other one I swatched at the same time is a lonely untried ;) So here we go with Princess Celestia:

This is one coat of Princess Celestia over white undies. Princess Celestia has blue, pink, and purple glitters and yellow flowers. Obviously the flowers drew me in! I really love the look of this, I'd probably do another coat next time so I could get the glitters spread out more like they are on my ring finger, but it's beautiful regardless. I highly recommend Darling Diva Polish - she's such a sweetheart and her products have never let me down!

So there's my untried for the day, head on over to the other Amanda's blog to see what she's got for us!

xoxo,
Amanda

Monday Blues

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good weekend! Mine was pretty low key but pretty fun nonetheless. However, today it's Monday and I'm working 5 days this week (I have every other Friday off) so I'm a little bummed. Plus, we're supposed to get snow and sleet this afternoon just in time for my evening commute - how fun! So I thought this polish would be perfect: Darling Diva Polish Snowball.

Snowball has white and iridescent glitter of varying sizes and snowflake shaped glitter! Try as I might, I couldn't fish a snowflake out of there but after I emailed Carrie and she sent me a baggie of like 900 snowflakes so I can place them myself, which is pretty much what anyone who added snowflake glitter had to do because it's impossible to fish out. I can't wait to wear this again when it's snowy and with some snowflakes on my nails! This was really pretty (the base is one of the Ruby Wing color changers but I am blanking on the name and spilled acetone on the page where I listed it).

What do you guys think? I love iridescent glitter so this is right up my alley and really delicate!

xoxo,
Amanda

Elixir Lacquers

 Hi everyone... I'm a big let down for Kitchen Sink Saturday because I forgot and I did my nails with Trout Pout by Butter London and I love it too much to take it off and start over. I'll make it up soon :) Instead, here's some swatches from my vault of the Elixir Lacquers I own! The majority of these came from the holiday collection but the last two are from her pitbull rescue collection!

Wynter Wonders over Nyx Girls Pink Note. 1 coat, fairly easy. Glitter on this sank a bit so I had to tip the bottle upside down and then fish around a bit but very feminine and delicate :)

Peppermint Barque over Sephora by OPI Thyme for a Mani. Again, 1 coat and the application was perfection. A really perfect Christmas polish!

Snowman Suite (1 coat) over OPI No Room for the Blues. This looks exactly like a melted snowman and it's perfect. One coat with some fishing to get the bigger pieces, particularly the black dots. My only polish with dots so I was pretty excited! This was my sole reason for buying the collection (although I loved them all so maybe I can't really say that but this one pushed me over the edge!)

The final two are from the pitbull rescue collection I mentioned. This is Forever Home which is blue, white, and black matte glitter with red matte hearts. I'm sure you can all guess what drew me to this one ;)

Here's a swatch of Smokey Coat, which is what I used for the base above. This was included as my free gift for buying the holiday trio and I wasn't impressed at first but I love love love this on! It has a lot of dimension this photo doesn't demonstrate but it was a quick shot just to show you the base for Forever Home.

My overall thoughts on Elixir Lacquers is that they have a great formula, great glitter combinations that are unique, and I love Nicole (the owner). It seems like a long time between collections but I think that's just my imagination!

xoxo,
Amanda

More January Untrieds

Sheesh, this January untrieds challenge has actually been really challenging! I don't have really any one-off brands in my untrieds pile so I'm resorting to some collections from brands that are all I have left to swatch or just brands I have less than 4 of to swatch haha! Today I have two swatches from Jindie Nails and both are high in demand! I waited about three weeks (maybe four?) for these so they were highly anticipated! I'm lemming Barney Blew Up now!

I have Swoon up first which is a light blue base with neon green, pink, and blue glitter in it. I layered this over Ruby Wing Moonstone which I somehow forgot was color changing when I did these swatches but it was at night when I did these anyway so *shrugs* I actually wasn't super impressed with this, I couldn't get the green glitter out and I realized almost immediately it was an impulse buy but it's still pretty. If anyone wants to swap for Barney Blew Up I'm game! ;)

Next is the elusive Candy Land, which has been high in demand since she premiered it. For good reason too - it's really unique! This is a milky base with neon hexes in it. Candy Land Remix has some microglitters too but this is lovely and I think I like it better, IMO. This is two coats over white undies :)

So there you have my first and only Jindies! What do you think?

xoxo,
Amanda

Lumina Lacquer Swatches

Hi guys and gals! I'm really excited for these swatches because they represent two of my favorite things: Valentine's Day and Third Eye Blind! Lumina Lacquer made a collection featuring names of Third Eye Blind songs and the polishes are gorgeous so I immediately broke my no-buy to buy all four and I don't even regret it. Since I'm featuring four polishes and music videos, this will be below a cut so loading time for my main blog page isn't really slow. Check out below the cut for pictures and music!

January Untrieds!

Hey everyone! Writing this last night (as you're reading it, anyway) and my blogging BFF Amanda just revealed her big secret I've been holding in FOR WEEKS: she's having a little baby! I'm so excited for her so today's untried is my homage to her in that JENsations is one of my favorite indies and Amanda is one of her favorite people... and glitter is mine and Amanda's baby... okay, I'm stretching here. Basically, these are my only untrieds from JENsations so I am dedicating them to Amanda's baby, okay?!

I layered Snow Angel over Hits Melon. To give you an idea of what the base of this polish is, here's Melon on its own for comparison (PS this is more green in person and it's a little streaky as this is only one coat):

This is one coat of Snow Angel. Snow Angel has a shimmery white base and has some translucent white glitter in it. The glitter was a little sparse but I think that's intentional so you can see the shimmery base. It was really easy to get glitters because they lay against the flat side of the bottle.

Next up is Locket which is the complement to Key to My Heart. You may remember when I swatched KTMH over purple it was perfection so I wanted a purple version so I could wear it over pink and wear them together in a skittle mani (probably for Valentine's Day). I named it Locket because... you know, key to my heart and the locket... so.. yeah. It's black, white, and purple matte glitter in all shapes but including hearts and I LOVE THIS. Like I love Amanda and her future baby (see what I did there? it all comes full circle, people). I layered one coat over two coats of Elf Mango Madness (which is my only Elf untried!!! LOOK AT THAT! so many full circles today, people!). It's really gorgeous and I love love love this. Jen does awesome customs!

Okay, chatty Cathy mode off! Last is Christmas Cookie which is obviously for Christmas. It's red and green glitter in a white base and it's great! It reminds me of one I have by Lacquerhead which I will be posting soon. This is two coats over white creme undies.

Finally, a bottle shot because they're just so pretty to look at. Happy Tuesday!

xoxo,
Amanda

Belated #KitchenSinkSaturday

I am so late on this, I'm sorry. I posted this on Instagram and... uh... this is my photo I posted there on Saturday night. I did take photos with my camera but my cord isn't readily available so you get this ;)

I wore Zoya Shelby on my pinky and pointer and added rhinestone hearts Amanda sent me down the center. My ring finger is Clatty 373 with Candy Lacquer Sweet Hearts over it (love that glitter btw!) and then my middle finger is Gosh Holographic Hero that Lindsay sent me!

Super girly and I love it! The hearts are my favorite... maybe this is an early Valentine's Day mani? Let me know what you think and check out Wes, Inky, and Nicole!

xoxo,
Amanda

Guest Post at Fashion Footing!

I'm posting over on my BFF Amanda's blog today - head over to Fashion Footing to check it out!

xoxo,
Amanda

Giveaway on Facebook!

Hi everyone - I have a giveaway coming on my blog soon but for now, check out the one on my Facebook page! The prize is below, click here to go enter!

xoxo,
Amanda

I Made It In Time for Thursday!

Hey everyone - quickie post since I should have had this up this morning but I've been so busy at work this week that I haven't wanted to come home and type up anything. I must keep to my challenge with Amanda to try our untrieds! Confession time: even though I was the one who suggested we try our untrieds from brands we only had one untried from, I have literally none left! I really should have thought this through...

Anyway, for today's swatch, I have China Glaze Hanging in the Balance from the recent Cirque du Soleil collection. I absolutely ADORE the cremes from this collection and actually, the entire collection was really gorgeous. The cremes had a tricky formula for some people but I really liked them. This was one coat because I knew I was adding glitter on top...

And I added Lynnderella The Stars in Her Eyes which has... BABY STAR GLITTER. I don't even... I can't explain how much I love that tiny star glitter. It's so adorable I can't explain. Behold. Click to enlarge this picture so you can see the tiny stars and how cute they are!

So there you have it, happy Thursday!

xoxo,
Amanda

Northern Star Polishes!

Hi everyone! Today I'm back in the reviewing saddle again as Kristin from Northern Star Polish was kind enough to send me several of her products to review.

First up is Valentine Schmalentine, which was my favorite of the bunch! This is a light gray base with pink and black shreds and microglitters. I applied this over a complementary gray creme to conserve it, and this is one coat. The glitter payoff was pretty good, considering this was just one coat without pushing or fishing around. I really liked this!

Next is  Mistletoe at Midnight over Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill. This was really fine chartreuse (I think that's the best color description?!) glitter with some larger hexes. The glitter payoff on this was excellent, as you can see below it basically covered 100% for a glitter in one coat. I bet it could be layered to wear alone but it'd take several coats and you are probably better off doing it over a complementary shade. This isn't my usual choice in color but it was absolutely unique and really easy to work with!

I also was sent a sample of Lenore, which is primarily purple, so it's right up my alley! This has purple shreds and hexes in purple, black, silver, and I think some yellow. I used two coats over OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts. This is two coats with some pushing around, but really pretty effortless as far as chunky glitters go! I really liked this and can see myself using it around Halloween, possibly over orange!

Kristin also sent me a sample of her Dark Chocolate cuticle oil, which I didn't photograph because I didn't know if you guys wanted to see my cuticles all oiled up haha! It smelled spot on to dark chocolate, so if you're a sweets fan it's perfect for you. It absolutely reminded me of Valentine's Day and the scent wasn't too strong. I'm not sure 100% on how I feel about my fingers smelling like chocolate, but mostly because I'm on a diet and it's pretty tempting... ;)

What did you think? Northern Star Polish is available on Etsy for $6 for a 9mL mini and $9 for a full size 15mL bottle.  All her polishes are B3F and I see she's now offering flat rate shipping for $3 per order which is a fantastic deal!

xoxo,
Amanda

Untrieds Post - On Time!

Hey there, Amanda will be so proud because I'm posting on time! Let's not get too excited, though, because I don't have a post for Thursday yet... It's holo though, so hopefully this holds you over! This lovely gem is from Dolores in Slovenia and it's Depend 2028, which is a light pink linear holo. It's pretty subtle but beautiful. I love non-grainy holos! This was two or three coats... depending on the finger. Some were patchy so I added an extra one.

Ta daaaa! Untried Tuesday complete :)

xoxo,
Amanda

I Owe You a Bunch of Untrieds...

Hey everyone... I present this post with my tail between my legs because I've been a terrible blogger lately. The holidays, this time of year, lots of personal changes/stresses.... I've lost my blogging steam a little bit but I want to get back on track! I owe you three untried challenges plus tomorrow so you get three today then one tomorrow and I won't let Amanda down! Our challenge this month is brands we only have one untried of, which is actually really hard for me...

First: Julep Reese with Hits Fizzy. I did kind of a glitter gradient to show it off. Reese is a perfect pink IMO and applied really easily. I'm not super crazy about Fizzy but it's Hello Kitty so let's face it, I'll keep it forever because I can't break up the set.

And so I kind of cheated because number two is another Hits untried but it's a creme and the other was a glitter so I don't think it counts? This is one coat of Hits Blueberry. I could definitely have done a second coat but when it wasn't under my lightbox lights it seemed fine at one!

Finally, I have Hit Polish (Hits... Hits... Hit... this was unintentional) Witches Brew which is (obviously) a Halloween polish so I am really late on this one. I actually really adore this although I apologize because I'm not sure what nude polish that is underneath. If I ever figure it out I'll update this but, let's be honest, will any of you care to check back? If you care, leave me a comment and I'll figure it out (it's in my notes but I'm lazy right now...)

Ok done! You better enjoy that because who knows when I'll blog again.. jk, jk. I'll post tomorrow!

xoxo,
Amanda

Kitchen Sink Saturday... On The Go Edition!

Hi everyone, I am so so so so so behind on blogging I don't even have words but I just did this mani about 30 minutes ago so it's hot off the presses anddddd here you go for Kitchen Sink Saturday! Also go see Nicole, Wes, and Inky's blogs!

Pointer: Cosmetic Arts unnamed light pink with China Glaze Broken Hearted (crackle)
Middle: Nfu Oh 64
Ring: Cosmetic Arts again with F4 Polish Shellie
Pinky: China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy with Cosmetic Arts dots :)

xoxo,
Amanda

Belated Untrieds Challenge

Hey everyone... I think Madeline is done with untrieds so Amanda and I are returning with January untrieds, which we decided is brands we only have one untried bottle of!Since I never posted on Tuesday... or Thursday... you get two today!

This is a polish I got from Dolores long, long ago but haven't tried until now. It's a fairly weak linear holo but holo nonetheless! This is two coats of Magnetic Shimmering Titanium. Application was really easy

There you have it, hope you enjoyed this sparkly Sunday post!

xoxo,
Amanda

Kitchen Sink Saturday!

Hey all, it's #kitchensinksaturday! I'm kind of behind on posts but give me a break because I'm sick. With what? Some mystery illness wherein I have a fever, soreness, sensitivity to touch, exhaustion, restlessness, a bunch of stomach issues... but not all at once. Just cycling through. My going theory is I am fighting a series of illnesses from my clients and whatever my body struggles to fight for that moment comes through but it's really not enjoyable.

ANYWAY I'm doing a Kitchen Sink Mani today which is a term Nicole came up with for a mani where each nail is different but they go together in theme. We decided to do a weekly KS mani for the month of January each Saturday and if you want to join, feel free! Here's my first one:

My mani had a sub-theme and that was "Polishes I Received for Christmas", and so ALL these polishes were gifts (I admit, one was a gift from me to me, but don't judge!). From left to right:

• Index: Nails Inc Westminster from Hannah with white dots
• Middle: W7 Salt n Pepper (2 coats), also from Hannah
• Ring: 2true #54 from Hannah as a base, then I did Illamasqua Jo'Mina on top of a tape mani which was from Wes
• Pinky and thumb: Pretty and Polished Tart from myself to myself ;)

There you have it... I guess my theme is loosely "purple" but I put blue and black and white in there... not to mention multicolored glitter... so I don't know. IT'S A KITCHEN SINK.

xoxo,
Amanda

New Year's Nails!

Hi everyone. Super lazy lately. I must have 432857 pictures on my camera but uploading them and writing a post and yada yada is too much work right now haha. So I'm cheating and showing you my NYE nails that I posted on Instagram. I went to this neat (hipster) party at a nearby venue and it was pretty fun! They had hula hoopers, a couple DJs, go-go dancers, and my favorite part was they also had a tarot reader! So for my $5 admission I got a tarot reading at like 12:30 on New Year's Day! She predicted I will be making changes this year and it's a good year for it, I'll have success, blah blah blah. It was really cool to have that prediction right at the turn of the year! Actually, I also loved that it was called Glitter Ball or something cool like that and they literally sprinkled glitter all over the ground from the parking lot to the front door and said to follow the glitter trail! I was really excited... nobody else was as amused lol!

I started with basic black creme from the Wet n Wild Fast Dry collection (mine is actually Ink Well from the On The Prowl collection but it's the same as any of the other WnW black cremes). I let one coat dry. Then I pulled out my loose glitters I bought on eBay a while back in red, hot pink, orange, gold, lime green, teal, navy, and purple and applied them one by one in a second coat of polish while it was still wet. It was an arduous process but the look was awesome, even my boyfriend really loved these and he asked if I wanted him to take a picture for me for my blog. (Very sweet of him, but obviously he underestimates the number of photos I take of my own hands haha!)

Sorry for the crappy-ish photo quality. I have the iPhone 4 which actually takes surprisingly good photos IMO. Also sorry for the claw which is creepy to some people. Sorry also for the cleanup because I did this and it took an hour and then I had to go because I was late! So there's my first series of blog apologies for the new year! Happy 2013 lol!

xoxo,
Amanda