Recent Purchases and Packages

Hey guys! I'm in an alliterating mood, so be careful! Just giving you guys a glimpse into my awesome acquistions as of late.

With the Ulta Butter London BOGO I snatched up these two lovelies: Bluey and Rosie Lee.

And to get free shipping, I needed $25 so I grabbed these too: Nicole by OPI One Less Lonely Glitter (my work inappropriate week was sadly lacking in purple glitter), NOPI Do Good... Feel Good, and Ulta Baby Doll. (I'm still on my quest for a non-shimmery light, light almost nude pink after OPI Play the Peonies.)

I also ordered last year's Halloween set from OPI, Tattoo Ta-boo! mostly because I wanted the glow in the dark purple :)

And finally, the lovely Dana sent me some goodies just because. Funky Fingers Sand and Stillettos, Wet n Wild Stream of Wonder (from Mermaid's Cove) and Funky Fingers Baby Baby Baby (which I hope is a Justin Bieber reference, just because). She also sent a Nail Fetish polish from the dollar store, but I had already opened it when it was time for pictures and forgot it at my best friend's house. :-\

So, I got some good stuff! I also have multiplied my Migi supplies, but I don't know if it interests you guys to see all of those colors? Let me know!

xoxo,
Amanda

Work Inappropriate #7: A-England Merlin

Hey there, how's everyone doing? This is my last Work Inappropriate polish :( After this one, it was back to work for me. I thought I'd go out with a bang, so I ended with A-England Merlin.

Let me first, again, gush about how much I love A-England. Adina is the most spectacular person and she interacts with her customers, she makes a great product, and now she offers worldwide free shipping. She makes a great polish and she does it with class and a genuine love for what she does, which really shows. Oh, and she has this adorable kitten Tristam who is the cutest thing ever. (Shh, don't tell my grown-up cats I said that.)

Below you will see Merlin, which is a silver glitter polish (duh) that can be built up to be worn alone. I can't really see this as a topcoat, it's much too dense and I like it that way. This is three coats and some fast dry topcoat because it dried to a slightly gritty texture.



Here's a close up for texture purposes. You can see, it's a little Grit-ney Spears, but no biggie ;)

 I enjoyed wearing this one. I felt very regal the whole time I wore it, thinking of knights and queens and chivalry. :) Thoughts?

Work Inappropriate #6: Color Club Holiday Splendor

Hey ladies! This morning (okay, right now...) I uploaded pictures from my camera and discovered a treasure trove of forgotten manis I did last week: a-England, a holiday Color Club (that's the current post), and some glitters! I wasn't as lost as I had thought! So here we go, actual NOTDs again!

Anywho, I'm not sure what happened here. I had thought everyone knew about the Color Club holiday release, and I ordered them on Transdesign about a month ago. Then randomly, I saw some press releases a couple days ago. And I thought, "Press releases? But I already have some of those!" so here's one of them, Holiday Splendor.

For this mani (yes, I already wore it on my vacation), I used two coats and some topcoats and you have what you see below: a glorious, Christmas green jelly base with lots and lots of holo glitter thrown in.

With flash

Natural light

Blurred for sparktacularity

This was actually one of my favorite colors to wear, but it felt like Christmas on my nails. I kept asking people if it reminded them of Christmas and they said no, so maybe I was just being a nutter because I knew it was from a holiday collection. What do you think? Oh, and excuse Stumpy, my pointer finger. I had a talk with him and told him if he doesn't want to be part of the group, I can't make him, but he'll look back on these pictures someday and be realllllyyyy embarrassed, and I think maybe I got through to him.

xoxo,
Amanda

Quick Little Update

Hey there, just wanted to check in with you guys so you know I'm alive. It's been a weird week for me. Lots of my clients are in over-drive (is it a full moon?) and I'm finally starting to get full-time numbers of clients, so it's been busier than I was all summer.

But the real reason I didn't post much this week is twofold. First, my nails broke again, so I'm working with a smaller canvas: Colors That Look Good on Short Nails is coming back with a vengeance soon (I hope). And secondly, I'm a bit down and feeling uninspired. The down part is probably mostly related to my boyfriend being MIA this week because his close friend from New Jersey is visiting. I'm not clingy by any means, but I'm used to seeing him at least 4-5 days a week, and this week I saw him in passing or for about an hour two or three times. So there's that, being busy, lots of time to myself (which is, ironically, all I wanted on my vacation but couldn't seem to get!), and thus, some mild depression (don't worry, I'm a trained therapist - I'm going to work on some self-psychology and fix me right up... soon.).

So anyway, I need some inspiration. I took some pictures today for the first time all week and I'm going to write posts this weekend, but please feel free to leave me some comments of anything you'd like to see here. I also added a poll for those of you who would rather click a button than write some words, but feel free to do both, neither, or one of those options. Looking forward to something inspirational, mindblowing, less depressing at the least. Thank you all for being so kind to me and supporting me always, and I promise I'll be back full throttle (Charlie's Angels 2... hope someone caught the reference - hey, maybe I AM going back to my old self...) ASAP :)

xoxo,
Amanda

Guest Post: Lisa from Happy Nails

Hi everyone! This post is going to be coming to you straight from across the pond (unless you're reading this in Europe or not in North America, I guess) with my friend Lisa from Happy Nails! Enjoy!


Hello everyone!

My name’s Lisa and my blog is Happy Nails ( http://happynailsuk.blogspot.com/ ).  I’m a UK polisher, brand new to blogging but firmly addicted to colour and sparkle.  I am so happy to be guest posting!

In my post I’ll show you polish from one of my favourite UK brands, 17 by Boots.  I love it because a) it’s cheap, and b) it has a really vibrant range of colours.  I will be painting my nails blue with a cheeky bit of nail art thrown in at the end ;-)

These are the polishes I’ll be using:

On the left we have the lovely Ruby Gem, a rich and creamy crimson; in the middle, Mini Skirt, a bright solid white; and, on the right, the polish I’ll be mainly painting with here: True Blue, a solid, fairly dark primary blue.

After a base coat of Sally Hansen’s Double Duty (I only bought this a couple of days ago so can’t give a full opinion, but it’s worked really well for me so far), I painted 2 coats of True Blue.  I think it’s a fab ‘wardrobe staple’ colour but it is noticeably darker on the nail than it is in the bottle, as you can see in my pic:

 (Excuse my messy painting!  It’ll be evened out just fine in the top coat.)

After being patient for once and letting my nails dry fully, I got painting on my ring finger with Mini Skirt and then Ruby Gem, borrowing the skinny brush from a nail art polish for the details.  And this is what I ended up with...

A patriotic salute from the UK blogger!  *‘God Save the Queen’ plays in the background*

The above Union Jack flag is about as steady as my hand can get, and so I’m fairly proud!  The sparkle on the rest of my nails is from a prized polish in my collection, INM’s Northern Lights silver holo glitter top coat.  Here it is:

I ordered this online as holos are seemingly nonexistent in UK shops (especially if you live in the dreary North-East of England like I do!).  As a sparkle addict this polish drives me wild; holos are like catnip to me!  On this Union Jack mani it represents the most British of institutions... rain XD

Here I will wave goodbye with my nails sparkling.  Thanks so much Amanda for letting me post!

Hugs,
Lisa from Happy Nails xx

Ahh, it feels so British in here ;) Thank you for the lovely post, Lisa! I really have to start practicing my freehand nail art!

xoxo,
Amanda

Models Own Cremes/Non-Glitters

Hey ladies, quick little post today to show you the Models Own cremes I received recently. I ordered these during their 50% off sale and they FINALLY arrived (I was less than patient). Okay, away we go!

Here are all the polishes I ordered... one is tucked away for my next giveaway! (Hint: I'm not swatching it so you won't see it on my blog!)

Purple Poppy, Fuzzy Peach, True Blue, Blue Lagoon, Lili's Pink, Top Turquoise

Purple Poppy, Fuzzy Peach, True Blue, Blue Lagoon, Lili's Pink, Top Turquoise; all swatches are one coat except Blue Lagoon

What do you guys think? I was super impressed with these, so far! They were really easy to work with and one coat (for the most part) and very shiny on their own! Which one is your favorite?

xoxo,
Amanda

Migi Nail Art Pens

Hey guys and gals! I'm going back to work today and not so happy :( i wish i could be on vacation always! Oh well. Today I have for you a recent purchase from the Big E last week, Migi Nail Art pens. I stopped because they were doing free nail art and my friend, Nikki, wanted some and I ended up buying the kit. It came with 4 double sided nail art pens:

I got the silver package which includes red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, black and white. There are four or five other sets that include various other colors (neons, pastels, etc.) but I decided to get the basic one for now.

Here's a look at the pens:

All put together

Separated in half for the two separate colors

The tip of the pen side

You can also open it and it comes with a brush so you can paint as well!

One of my designs: be gentle! I'm still learning and just wanted to show what the pens can do!

Pretty basic nail art pens, but it was such a good deal (to me)! For $25, I got the pen set I just showed you, this cool zipper bag thing, and the best part: free polish replacements for life. That's right. If I use up my black, I can order a black. If I use up any or all of them, I can replace them all. If I decide I want a color from another kit, I can order it free of charge! All I pay is $2.99 for shipping and I can order up to two colors per day. I've already ordered four new colors, and I'm just waiting for them to come in now!

Overall, I think this is a pretty great set! Even if it had been $25 for the pens and the bag, not bad; but the free refills?! Sold! What do you ladies think? If you want to buy these, you can buy online at miginailart.com and shipping is free right now!

xoxo,
Amanda

Work Inappropriate #5

Hey girls! For the first time in a while, I'm writing a post and posting it immediately - no saved drafts to post! Anyway, this lovely polish was possibly my favorite of the week (but I also could be found saying that about Amour and OPI...). This is Milani Blue Flash from their one-coat glitters:

With flash



In natural light

Milani is true to its word and this covered in one coat! However, above it two coats because I wanted to make sure it was really opaque and covered up any leftover glitter pieces from Work Inappropriate 1 through 4. ;) I was actually sad to wear this one for only a day, and now I wish I had bought all the Milani one-coat glitters when I had a chance!

What do you think? Which Work Inappropriate has been your favorite so far?

xoxo,
Amanda

Guest Post: Dana of Polished Claws Up!

Hey girls, today's post will be brought to you by my lovely, sweet friend Dana from the blog Polished Claws Up. Yesterday was the first day of fall, so I found this post very a propos and the glitterfest will return tomorrow!

Hello ladies! This is my very first guest post, and I couldn't be MORE thrilled that it's on my lovely friend Amanda's blog! :) When we were throwing ideas back and forth, we agreed on a fall theme. Immediately a few different ideas went streaming through my brain, and I decided to try something new! I give you my fall mani! Enjoy!

When I think fall, I think the great outdoors! What could be better then a deep green (Orly's Wandering Vine) and a deep shimmery brown (Orly's Golden Maharajah)? FLAKY SPARKLE of course!!!! I finally had an excuse to try my ever-so-stunning Crowd Surfing by L.A. Girl Rock Star Nail Color. :P

I started with two coats of Wandering Vine on all but my ring finger, and decided to let the gorgeous Golden Maharajah stand on it's own with it's bronzey brown goodness on my ring finger. Wandering Vine has been in my stash for years now, it's a dark true green and needed two coats. Golden Maharajah is also an oldie but a goodie, a warm-toned brown with bronze shimmer within. Also two coats. Crowd Surfing is far too sheer on it's own, so to finally have a reason to layer it was wonderful! CS is a very sheer polish with a lime green base, green fine micro glitter, & awsome golden flaky glitter.

Thanks again for having me on your blog, Amanda! It was fun coming up with this mani! :)

So there you have it! Thanks for the lovely post, Dana! I don't feature many browns so I'm sure it was a treat for my readers to see it for once! :)

xoxo,

Amanda

These are a few of my favorite things... Giveaway!

Hello everyone! As promised, at 128 followers, I have my second giveaway beginning! You might have been wondering what the significance of 128 was and it just happens to be a combination of my favorite numbers (12 and 28). The theme of the giveaway is a few of my favorite things, which I wanted to share with all of you. I asked for your suggestions about what you wanted in a giveaway and most people wanted a group of polishes, so this is a way to include those things and let you guys get to know me a little too :) It's a win/win/win (that's from The Office, my favorite TV show ;) )

The Rules:

1. Open internationally (however, if there is something that customs would not allow, it may not be included. The customs form will be labeled "used cosmetics" so that nobody would have to pay fines or taxes).
2. You must be 18 to participate or have express permission of your parent or guardian.
3. Do not enter using multiple GFC or email accounts; I will be checking and any duplicates will be disqualified completely.
4. Entries must be received by October 7th, 2011 at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
5. The winner will be picked using random.org and the winner must reply in 24 hours or another winner will be picked. 

So here's the prizes: a few of my favorite things.

• Glitter: Sation Holiday Spirit
• Multi-colored glitter: Claire's Bedazzled
• Holo glitter: OPI Servin' Up Sparkle
• Holographics: OPI DS Reflection
• Matte polishes that look great with top coat: Zoya Lolly
• Hand sanitizer: Bath and Body Works Watermelon Sanitizer
• The color gray: Color Club De-luxe-cious
• Candles: Yankee Candle Macintosh (note: if you do not like strong scents and you win, please let me know and I will not include this or can include another scent)
• Miniature things: Disney Jungle Book mini
• Vanilla: Warm Vanilla Sugar body spray/perfume
• Surprises: extra prizes not listed here will be added to the package :)
• Simplicity: which is why there are only two possible entries.
• Twitter: which is why it is one of those two entries.

To enter, you can earn two entries:

• Mandatory: be a GFC follower, include your GFC name and email. You must also include 3 of YOUR favorite things.
• Optional: follow me on Twitter @amanda_npe, tweet about this giveaway (including the link to this post) and include the link to your tweet in a separate comment below.

Extra entries will not be awarded for posting on your blog, facebook, adding me to your blogroll, etc. but you are always welcome to do so anyway :)

xoxo,
Amanda