April Favorites

IMG_4827So, before it’s ancient history, here are my April Favorites.  Let’s start on the left….

First up we have Bonita – Made to Envy.  It had been ages since I had purchased a Bonita Polish.  I used to buy them on IMG_4676occasion at Francesca’s when they used to carry them.  That was maybe 4 or 5 years ago.  Within the past year or so, I’ve noticed little Bonita displays in Kmart and Rite Aid.  IMG_3940I’ve seen at least 3 different bottle shapes, which is sort of unique for a nail polish line.  Anyway, I had been eying Made to Envy for a few months.  I’m a real sucker for teal polishes.  I have a good half a dozen shimmery teal polishes, so I had been telling myself that I didn’t need this one, too.  I can’t remember exactly how or why or when I finally caved and bought this, but am I glad I did!  the thing that makes it unique to my collections is that it is a one-coater!  And the color is just so rich and beautiful!  And it’s only $2.49, so I’d definitely recommend picking this baby up, if you can.

Just for comparison, here on the left is NYC – Precious Peacock.  Although it looks much more green in this picture than Made to Envy, they really are super close in color in real life.  This is four coats of Precious Peacock.  Four coats.  Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Back to Made to Envy… It’s just so pretty. Sometimes I just hold this polish and stare at it lovingly.   P.S.  My hubby really likes this one.

Next we have NYC Prospect Park Bloom.  After wearing a lot of bright polishes, I was craving something neutral.  This one was in my untried stash. IMG_4728  This polish is pretty sheer, so I think this took 3 coats.  I just love how shiny it is and how soft the color is!  Neutral colors like this are really forgiving if your application isn’t perfect.  Heck, there could be all sorts of polish gunked on my cuticles, but you wouldn’t even be able to tell.  The best thing about colors like this is you really can’t tell when they start to wear or chip a little.   I’m not sure how this polish would look on someone with darker or more olive-toned skin, but if you are a bit on the pasty white side like me, this will work well for you.

Next is Fresh Paint – Honeydew.  Really, I’m kind of embarrassed to even put this polish in my favorites.   This was in both my February and March favorites.  When I’m looking to pick out my Monthly Favorites, I don’t really look at (or remember) what polishes I picked the month before.  I just look back through my instagram account for the past month and pick out the polishes that I really liked and/or used a lot.   Apparently, I’ve been fixated on this polish for at least 3 months.  I specifically picked it as an April favorite because I used it for both of my Easter manis.  This polish is one of those neon pastel type colors that is all the rage these days.  I realize that this polish is exclusive to Five Below, which is not really convenient for lots of you.  Sorry about that.

Next up is NYC – Sidewalkers.  This is just a plain old grey polish.  (I like “grey” better than “gray”.  I feel like the spelling with an “e” just looks nicer.)IMG_4688   Anyway, I went through a phase 3 or 4 years ago where I wore this polish all the time, but in recent months, it’s just been sitting on my shelf, unloved.  I pulled it out to use as a base for my pastel ikat nails for a nail art challenge (#wnac2015) on instagram.   It made me remember how much I like this polish!  It’s such a pretty cool-toned polish that works well for pale people.  I’m sorry if I’m not much  help to you darker skinned people.  Maybe I should just do a post on the colors that look awful on my, assuming that would mean they would look good on darker people.  Not sure if that’s solid logic or not.  P.S.  My hubby does not like this color.

My final polish China Glaze – Sun of a Peach.  That name just cracks me up!  I used this polishIMG_4667 in one of my Easter manicures, and it was just so bright and pretty!  In general, I can’t really pull of orange, but this shade is one shade in the orange family that I can actually wear pretty well on my nails.  I had been wanting this polish for a while, and I found a little mini bottle at Sally Beauty Supply for like, $1.29 or something, so I couldn’t really turn that down.  Mini bottles are just the best, aren’t they?  I mean, they don’t cost as much as a full size bottle, they don’t take up much room on my nail rack, and really, it’s a rarity that I finish a full size bottle of nail polish anyway.

So, that’s that.  Thanks for reading!  Seriously, I appreciate all of your comments and “likes”.

March Favorites

March.  For those of us in the eastern half of the US, it was one more month of winter weather when it should have been feeling like spring.  It was a heck of a lot better than February, though.  Am I right?

Anyway, onto what you are actually here for: my favorites from March.

IMG_4691Again March I participated in the Weekly Nail Challenge (#wnac2015) on instagram, and the theme for the month was holographic.  For that reason, a lot of my monthly favorites were holographic polishes.  Let’s start with the top left…

This is IMG_4587Nicole by OPI – Rock the Look from the Roughles collection.  This came out awhile ago on clearance… I’m thinking it was last spring or summer.  This was one that sat in my untried pile for months.  I haven’t been big into the textured polish thing, but I figured I should finally try it.  The longer I wore it, the more it grew on me!  It was just so soft looking and different from anything else I wear on a regular basis.  The feel of the textured polish took a little getting used to, but I really liked it!  I think I’ll be wearing this one again!

IMG_4633Next is Nicole by OPI – Party Bus.  I got this one on clearance for $149!  I mostly got it for the large flower shaped holographic glitters in it.  These are great to fish out and use for glitter placement manis.  Like most holographic things, it’s hard to catch the true beauty and sparkly-ness of these glitters. IMG_4642

The next two polishes become a monthly favorite when they are paired together.  Pictured is Revlon – Matte Pearl Glaze over NYC – Lexington Yellow.  I love yellow, but like most light-haired white girls, yellow doesn’t love me back.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked happy yellow clothing of the rack while shopping only to discover in the dressing room that it makes my complexion look sickly.  It’s so sad.

When I first put on Lexington Yellow, it really didn’t look that great with my skin tone, but then I added Matte Pearl Glaze, and it transformed it into this soft yellow with a pinkish glow that was actually wearable for me!  Plus, my nails reminded me of Belle from Beauty and the beast.

IMG_4592Next we have Orly – Mirrorball.  Here’s the story with this polish.  Back before Christmas, when this polish came out, I stared at it in the store.  I held it.  I caressed the bottle.  Then I practiced some self control and put it back on the shelf.  I had been regretting that decision ever since.  Then one day last month, I was down in York, PA and I stopped in the Sally’s there.  Lo and behold, they had two bottles of Mirrorball in their clearance bin!  I couldn’t believe my good fortune!  My only regret is that I only bought one bottle.

IMG_4603Mirrorball has a fairly sheer formula, so it actually works really well as a topper to other polishes.  Here it is layered over Wet n Wild -I Need a Refresh-Mint.  (By the way, the current version of I Need a Refresh-Mint is a much brighter blue than the version I own.  The older version is pretty much a dead on dupe for China Glaze – For Audrey.)  I can’t wait to layer Mirrorball over all sorts of neon colors this summer.

IMG_4646The next polish is just like camping… It’s in tents.  (In tents… Intense.  Get it?)  Polish Me Silly – Tealing No Lies is the most holo of the holo polishes that I own.  The linear rainbow is just so strong.  Someday I’ve got to order me some more Polish Me Silly polishes.   IMG_4647Here’s some really simple flower nail art I did using Tealing No Lies as a base.  (I just used my biggest dotting tool to make 5 petaled flowers with a really light blue polish, and then I made slightly smaller petals with a deep blue polish over the light petals.  Then I used a little dotting tool to add some dots to the centers. Super easy and no artsy skills required!)

IMG_4341The last polish that was  monthly favorite was Fresh Paint – Honeydew.  I used this in several Easter manis, and I’ll show you those pictures in a separate post.  I’m pretty sure this polish qualifies as pastel neon.  It’s light and bright at the same time.  It water marbles well, and you can get away with almost one coat.  I think it will look great in the summer when I’ve got a bit of a tan.  (I’m foundation shade “fair” in the winter, but with a tan I’m can wear “light” colored foundation.)

So, that’s all I have for you today.  Thanks for reading!  I do post realy regularly on instagram, so follow me there if you want to see my nails as I do them and not a month after the fact.  Happy Spring to you all!

February Favorites

I figure that if I get my monthly favorites posted within the first two weeks of the following month, they are not completely irrelevant yet.  That’s my logic and I’m sticking to it.

The last few months have been extra super busy for me because of my work schedule, and I am itching for life to settle down so that I can get back to posting regularly.  I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel, as I’ve been told my work schedule will go back to normal in a few week. Yay!IMG_4566

I did manage to come up with some favorites for the month of February.  And I thought the would look nice in a star formation.  Lets start at 12:00 and go clockwise….

At noon we have Wet n Wild Fergie – Going Platinum.  This polish, is amazing!  It’s a foil finish, so it has a little more sparkle that just a straight metallic polish.  Also, metallic polishes tend to show brush strokes, but this doesn’t at all.  It’s opaque in two easy coats.

IMG_4517Really, this is just a great polish.  All of the stuff I just said also goes for Wet n Wild Fergie – Gold Album.  Gold album has the exact same formula and finish.  It’s just gold instead of platinum.  (That last sentence was probably unnecessary.)   Plus, they are only $3 per bottle!  I don’t love all of the Wet n Wild Fergie polishes, but Going Platinum and Gold album are definite winners.

At 2:30 we have China Glaze – Thistle Do Nicely.  This is from the 2014 spring collection, so it’ll be tough to find in stores.  This is not a shockingly unique polish or anything.  It’s just a really pretty neon coral.  IMG_4516And while it’s not an eye-searing neon, it does do that cool thing where it looks like it’s glowing when the light is a little dim, like at dusk.  With the brutal February we had in PA (and pretty much every other state east of the Rockies) I was itching for something that felt like springtime.  This is a polish that just makes you feel happy inside when you wear it.

In this picture, I topped it with an shredded iridescent glitter which looks flaky-like.  I added a matte top coat for extra fun.

At 5:00, is Fresh Paint – Honeydew.  IMG_4341 This polish is a lovely light minty, springtime-y cream polish.   The formula is a tad on the thick side, but it’s almost a one-coater.  One of the reasons that I’m really loving this polish right now is because it works well for water marbling.  Someone on instagram (I can’t remember who, so I’m a little sad that I can’t give that instagramer proper credit) said that she had good success water marbling with Fresh Paint cream polishes, including Honeydew.  Well, that gave me the inspiration I needed to take another stab at water marbling… She was right!  I tested several fresh paint polishes and they all spread beautifully in the water and were easy to manipulate.  I’m so happy about that!  I hate using expensive polishes for water marbling, because I feel like so much is wasted.  Fresh Paint polishes are always 3 for $5 at Five Below, so… that’s awesome. IMG_4355

At 7:30 we have LA Colors – Candy Sprinkles.  This is such a fun polish!  It’s a rarity for a cheapo line of polish to have a crelly polish with awesome glitter like this.  I had been eyeballing this one for a little while before I finally picked it up.  This polish is sort of versatile, too.  You can do 2 or 3 coats of the polish on its own if you want a really dense glitter look, or you can just do one coat over pink or purple polish if you like your polish a little more sparse.  Very fun, and totally worth the $1.5Pictured is two coats of Candy Sprinkles over one coat of a pinky-lavender polish.

IMG_4468At 10:00, we have this beauty.  Such a classic.  Sally Hansen – Pacific Blue original formula.  And this picture is one coat.  I know, it’s amazing.  The nail polish world mourned when Sally Hansen reformulated this polish last summer, but I still see the occasional bottle of the original formulaon the shelf in drugstores.  Really, I just saw one at the Rite Aid in Middletown, PA like, four hours ago.  The new formula is a darker blue with a shimmer running through it.  The original is just this perfect cream color.  They both say “420 Pacific Blue” on the cap.  Stupid, sneaky Sally Hansen, thinking we wouldn’t notice.

So, those are my February favorites.  Do you have any of these polishes?  What have you been loving lately?  Thanks for reading, following, and liking both here and on instagram.  You people are the greatest!

January Favorites

Yes, I’m finally getting around to posting my January Favorites.  What had been a part-time desk job is now an almost full-time manual labor job.  (I had been working customer service for an online store, but we are in the middle of moving our warehouse, so I’m spending a ton of hours schlepping heaving boxes around.)  This has left me with less free time for blogging, and the free time I do have is now spent soaking in the bathtub attempting to recover.  Anyway, onto my January favorites…

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In the dead of winter, I find that I tend to get stuck in a blue/aqua/turquoise/teal rut with my nails…. Confession time:  I don’t really know the difference between aqua, teal, and turquoise.  Does anyone really?  I tend to think of turquoise as leaning more green, but the actual turquoise stone really isn’t green at all.  I would actually describe a turquoise stone as being aqua in color.  There’s proof that I don’t know the difference.

Anyway, one of the polishes in this color family that I’ve been loving is China Glaze – Capacity to See Beyond from the Giver collection.

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I found the entire Giver collections on clearance at Sally Beauty supply!  I didn’t actually buy the whole collection – just 3 – but I found the whole collection.  Anyway, this polish is just the prettiest cool blue color!  If Elsa painted her nails, it would be with this color.

Another beautiful polish from the Giver collection is Community.

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This is a lovely milk chocolate brown. Just for comparison, here it is next to NYC – Royal Chic.  Royal Chic (left) reminds me of Hershey’s syrup.  Community (right) is milk chocolate.  I think about chocolate too much.

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I paired Community here with another January favorite: Sinful Colors – Love Sprinkles, a pale pink glitter with white hearts.

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I was going for a chocolate candy look here.  Love Sprinkles is a limited edition polish for Valentine’s day.  I’ve seen it around at quite a few stores, so you should be able to track this one down pretty easily, if you want.

I also loved using Broadway Nails – Space Flight in January.

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I know, I can’t list this polish as my favorite every month, but it’s just such a pretty blue jelly! This look took a little bit of “frankenjelly-ing”.

Another favorite from January is Funky Fingers – Olaf.

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This is white glitter polish is perfect for jelly sandwiches!  There are some snowflake shaped glitters in there, but they are easy to avoid, so I think I will get year-round use out of this.

Also from Funky Fingers is Bezerk Turq.

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Based on the name, someone somewhere considers this turquoise.  I’d call it aqua.  Anyway, this polish is so bright that I almost want to say it’s neon.  I love that it’s super bright, but still appropriate for winter.  Just to show you how bright it is, here is my turquoise/aqua/teal nail wheel.  Bezerk Turq is at 12:00.  It’s definitely the brightest on the wheel.

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My final favorite of the month is….(drum roll, please)….  The much sought after and highly coveted L’Oreal – Masked Affair.  In the bottle it just doesn’t look like much, but when it’s on your nails… Be still my heart.

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This is a barely purple holographic polish.  Next to purple polish, it looks silver.  Next to silver polish, it looks lavender.  I found this polish at a Rite Aid, but I really felt like I couldn’t justify purchasing it.  Lucky for me, my birthday is in January.  I made the following deal with my hubby:  I buy the polish and then give it to him. Then on my birthday, he gives it back to me as a birthday gift.  So that’s what we did.

So, those are my January Favorites!  I’ve got some Valentine’s Day manis that I will definitely be posting this week, I promise!  Thanks for reading, and find me on instagram for even more nail polish fun!

My 14 Favorite Polishes of 2014

It seems like pretty much every blogger and YouTuber has listed their 14 favorites from 2014.  I’m totally jumping on that bandwagon.  This was tough, but I did it.  There were a few polishes that it pained me to leave out, but I finally narrowed it down to the 14 polishes that I just couldn’t stop reaching for last year.  Here they are:

IMG_4262Aren’t they so pretty?

Starting in the upper left corner we have Funky Finger – Sand & Stilettos.

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This is just the best sparkly polish ever.  It’s available exclusively at 5 Below.  I’ve seen it at my local 5 Below within the past few weeks, so you can still grab this stunner for yourself for a mere $2.

Next, also available exclusively from 5 Below is Fresh Paint – Guava.  Fabulous color, fabulous formula.  A must-have for summer.  Here it is paired with Sand & Stillettos:

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It’s just the perfect neon peachy color, and a perfect dupe for China Glaze – Flip Flop Fantasy.  I just couldn’t get enough of this color over the summer.

Next, we have one more 5 Below polish: Fresh Paint – Sugar Crush.  This is the first true flaky polish that I’ve ever owned.

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This polish is a show-stopper over any dark color.  It’s mind blowing over black, teal, or dark purple, and I don’t know if I love it better shiny or matte.  You just can’t go wrong with this one.  I’m not sure if you can still find this at 5 Below or not, but if you see it there.  GRAB IT!

Next, I loved China Glaze – Turned Up Turquoise.

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The intense color and the shimmer make me swoon!  I don’t have a picture of it with a shiny top coat, but when you do put a shiny top coat on, the shimmer really pops.  Such a perfect color!

Yes, I’m a sucker for turquoise.  Next is Jordana – Boy Oh Boy.

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It almost looks green in the middle picture, but it’s not.  It’s a deep, beautiful turquoise.  And the formula on this baby is wonderful!  Almost a one coater!

Next we have Ulta – Joined at the Hippo.

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This is one of my more recent favorites.  Actually, I just talked about this polish in my December Favorites.  It’s got a great formula, and while it is a really deep blue, it never looks black.  Just a beautiful polish!

Then there’s Broadway Nails – Space Flight, a really deep blue jelly.

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I’ve actually got this on my nails right now, as you’ll see in a post later this week. This is an amazingly beautiful polish and it only costs $1!  You can find this at Dollar General.

Now we come to the first indie polish that I ever owned: Valley Girl Lacquer – Fantasm.

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Even in a really ugly jelly sandwich , I still love this polish:

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This was my first exposure to the super huge round glitters that are pretty common in indie polishes and they really blew my mind when I first used them. Heck, they still blow my mind!

Next is Wet n Wild – Deception. This was my first really great jelly polish.

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This was in a limited edition collection from the spring, so I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to find this anywhere and I’m very sorry about that.  I’ve used about 1/4 of this bottle already, and I’m going to be heartbroken when it’s gone.This polish takes 5 or 6 coats to get that perfect jelly look, but it’s so worth it!

Next is China Glaze – Peonies & Park Ave from the 2014 spring collection.

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This almost neon pink really doesn’t seem like anything special, but it’s the pink that I reached for repeatedly back in the summer.  I feel like it works well with my fair skin.

Next is a polish that I’ve talked about so many times: Wet n Wild Fergie – Gold Album.

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This is the best gold polish that I’ve ever used!   I love the stuff!  It’s perfect and beautiful every time.

Next is Broadway Nails – Hot & Sexy.  This is a dupe for China Glaze – Ruby Pumps.

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So beautiful and red and sparkly!  I stare at my nails a lot when I’m wearing this! Also available at Dollar General for $1.

Now we have the polish that I loved the most in the fall.  NYC – Royal Chic.  This was from a limited edition collection, but really, there are lots of great browns out there.

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Sadly, these pictures really don’t capture the chocolaty brown goodness that is this polish.  It’s just so pretty and rich looking on the nail.

Last, but certainly not least is Polish me Silly – Tealing no lies.  This is my first indie holographic polish, and wow, it’s amazing.

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I just got this guy for Christmas, so I’ve only worn it once so far, but I pretty much couldn’t stop staring at my nails while it was on.  And I forced my husband to admire my nails so many times while I was wearing this.  It’s really, really amazing, especially in the sun.

So that’s it!  My 14 favorite polishes of the past year!  Thanks for reading!  What were some of your favorite polishes in 2014?  I’d love to know!

December Favorites

I’m finally getting around to my December favorites.  Ugh, I have so much catching up to do!  Not surprisingly, in December I loved all sorts of red and gold and glittery polishes.

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Let’s start with the top left.  This is Broadway Nails – Hot & Sexy.

IMG_4235I used this as my base color for my Sparkly Red Snowman Nails.  I just love this polish!  This is a great dupe for China Glaze – Ruby Slippers, and it only costs $1!  The only place I’ve seen these sold is at Dollar General. (You can read more about that here.)  This polish has a red jelly base with tons of red micro glitter.  And if I remember correctly, it’s easy to remove, unlike a lot of glitter polishes.  My little swatch isn’t doing this polish justice.  It’s super beautiful!

Next we’ve got Wet n Wild Fergie – Gold Album.

IMG_4236I’ve talked about this polish lots of times.  Every time I use it, I’m amazed and how beautiful and sparkly and shiny and GOLD it is.  I used this in December in my Advent manicure.  It’s pretty much a one coater, but but I tend to do two coats just to make sure it’s perfect.

Another favorite is Ulta – Joined at the Hippo.

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This was the base color for my Nativity Nails.  This is a beautiful deep blue cream polish.  The thing I love about it is that it is really dark blue, but it never looks black.  The formula is wonderfully easy to work with, also.

I also loved Pure Ice – Studette in December.

IMG_4237The bottle is a little fuzzy in the picture because I focused my camera on the nail swatch instead of the bottle.  This is a really dense micro glitter polish in a clear base that is about 98% gold and 2% red.  So cool!  I used this for my New Year’s Nails.  Really, if there’s ever a time that you can sport obnoxiously glittery nails, it’s New Year’s.  This one is a bugger to remove, but it’s worth it!

Next are my three new Polish Me Silly polishes!  I ordered these through Polish Me Silly’s Etsy shop, along with some polishes for my sister for Christmas.  Then I gave the polishes that I ordered for myself to my Hubby so that he could give them back to me on Christmas.  I know.  We’re weird.

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(Again, the bottles are a little fuzzy, but the swatches are clear.)

The first one is Are You Elfin Kiddin Me?  This is a thermal polish.  The color in the picture is the cold color, but then when it gets warm, the green base turns to white, which makes the dark green glitter really pop out.  It dries to kind of a semi-matte finish, but that’s fixable with a top coat.  (You can read more about what kind of top coat NOT to use with this polish here.)

The middle one is There’s Snow Place Like Home.  This is a dark blue jelly base with a ton, and I mean TON of gold, white and silver glitter in it.  All of that glitter makes it kind of a pain to apply, but the end results are like this:

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The sparkliness is over-the-top!  This is the polish that I’m currently wearing, and I’ve been asked about it so many times.

Tealing No Lies is my final polish.  This is amazingly holographic!

IMG_4114I can’t even tell you how many times I forced my husband to admire my nails while I was wearing this.  In bright sunlight it is so beautiful that it pretty much just makes you go numb with joy just looking at them.  This is definitely one of my favorite polishes of the year.  So amazing!

So, that’s all of my nail polish news, but I do have a little review for you in my new section that I’m calling….

Non-Nail News and Reviews

So, compliments of Influenster, I was sent this new antipersperant to try: Dove Dry Spray.  IMG_4218This is the stuff with the commercials with people touching their armpits and then snapping.  I know, it’s a little weird.  This products claims to be dry instantly.  I think it’s a little more accurate to say that it’s dry in 5-10 seconds.  It has really light sent, sort of like baby powder, but not quite. Pleasant.  It also claims to give 48 hour protection.  I’m not the type to go 2 days without a shower unless I’m in some sort of camping situation, but I will say that after 24 hours, my pits were still stank free.  That’s saying something, because usually I have a little bit of funk going on after 24 hours.  The coolest thing about this deodorant, though, is how it made my armpits feel to the touch.  Even after a full day, I couldn’t feel any weird residue or anything!  My armpit skin just felt clean and smooth and dry!  It was in that moment of touching my own armpit that I suddenly got those commercials with people touching their armpits and snapping.  After 3 days of testing this deodorant, I switched back to my old deodorant with the plan to use up the old stuff here in the colder months so that I can save my Dove Dry Spray for the warm months.  This stuff would be perfect for sleeveless outfits.  (Currently the windchill is below zero {Fahrenheit} and I’ve got three layers on, one of which is wool.  I think I’m a solid four months away from wearing anything sleeveless.  Come on, spring!)  This product is $5.47 at Walmart, and I saw in in Rite Aid for over $7, so it’s definitely a little pricy.  Definitely worth a try, though if you are in search of the perfect antiperspirant.

Thanks for reading!

November Favorites

Wow, it’s December 1st already!  That means it’s time to talk about November favorites.  Here are the polishes that I was loving last month:

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The first one is Wet n Wild Fergie – Gold Album.  This is just the prettiest, sparkliest gold polish.  I love it more every time I use it!  Here I used it for the leaves in this my Golden Leafy Nails.

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The base for these nails is NYC – Royal Chic.  I am seriously in love with this polish right now.  I know I’ve said this before, but it is just the perfect chocolate brown.  It’s such a rich color.  So dark, but it never looks black.  I also used Royal Chic as the base for these next nails:

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The polish I’m holding is one of my favorites for November also.  It’s Spoiled – Vitamin C.  These polishes are available exclusively at CVS for $1.99.

Vitamin C is pretty sheer on its own.  It takes about 4 coats to be opaque.  It’s almost an orange jelly base with tons of orangey-gold shimmer.  I’ve  layered it over orange polish in the past, but this is the first time I’ve ever tried to layer it over a darker polish.  I was actually really surprised with the results!  I fully expected it to add a bright orange shimmer to my nails, but it it really more of a golden – almost greenish – shimmer.  I always love to discover that  polish I have owned for a while can be worn some new and different way.

Here’s another one of my favorites:

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This is NYC – Precious Peacock.  This was really sheer and took 4 coats to be opaque, but the results were totally worth it!  Such a beautiful shimmery teal polish!  Most of the time this polish looked teal on my nails, but there were times when I felt like it was an emerald green.  Such a perfect color for this time of year!

I was also a huge fan of this polish:

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This is Fresh Paint – Let the Games Begin.  In this picture it looks almost navy, but in real life it’s not quite that dark.  It’s just a really beautiful creamy blue, and it’s opaque in one coat!  I don’t know how much I’ll be wearing this color this month, since I plan to hit the red and green Christmas colors pretty hard, but I’m sure I’ll wear this a bunch in January and February.   By the way, the white crelly polish with the colored matte glitter is Funky Fingers – Jawbreaker.  The formula is just a little too thick and gloppy for me to call it a favorite.

Lastly, I loved this pale blueish-grey polish last month:

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The base for this mani is Fresh Paint – Firefly.  The second picture shows it on the right next to a white polish, just to prove that firefly isn’t actually white.  Firefly’s formula is a little on the thick side, but it is a one coat polish, which is pretty amazing for a light polish!  It’s a great color to us as a base for nail art if you don’t want to use a really stark white.  I’m not sure how this color compares to OPI – My Boyfriend Scales Walls, but I think it might be close.

So, those are my favorites for last month!  I plan to dive head first into Christmas nail art next.  ‘Tis the season!

October Favorites

So I’ve been a bad blogger recently.  I’ve been working extra hours at my job, plus this is the busiest time of year for my Pampered Chef business.  Okay, those are my excuses.  So…. October favorites.  Here they are:

IMG_3875Now, four out of the five of these polishes I bought in Canada, so I think they are going to be next to impossible to find for my fellow U.S. Americans. Side note: Do you know the sales taxes in Canada (or at least in Ontario) are like, 13%?  Ugh, it’s painful!  It was like a dagger through the heart whenever I went to pay for anything.  If I was Canadian, I would totally come to the U.S. to shop for stuff…. Except for these nail polishes.

Let’s start from the left.

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This is Essence Effect – Glitz & Glam.  Here I have it swatched over black.  It’s a clear base with small and medium size pink hex glitter with a mint green shimmer running through it.  When it’s worn over a dense pink glitter polish, the green shimmer sort of gives a duo-chrome effect.  This also looks cool over a mint green polish.  I got this in Canada, but I think you might be able to find these at Ulta.  Not sure.

Next we have…

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Joe Fresh – Twilight.  This is a flaky polish, but the base is a sheer black instead of your typical clear.  I think it took 3 or 4 coats to get the desired effect, but it was so worth it!  When I had this on, I could not stop looking at my nails!

And…

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Joe Fresh – Bumbleberry.  I don’t think that’s an actual type of berry…. Unless is some sort of exclusively Canadian berry.  Anyway, this picture does not do this polish justice.  I messed around with my lighting, and I just couldn’t capture the true color.  This polish is much more purple in real life.  It’s just a really beautiful berry color.  It seems like it should be a really common color, but I didn’t have anything really close already in my collection.  It’s on my toes now.  It’s just a perfect girly fall color.

Next we have…

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Joe Fresh  – Sour Citron.  This is an almost neon color that straddles the yellow/green fence.  It’s the perfect color to top with a glow-in-the-dark topper for all of your Halloween activities.  The formula is really great on this, too.  Usually colors like this are super sheer, but I think this only took 2-3 coats to get the color you see in the bottle.

Finally we have…

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Fresh Paint – Sugar Crush.  Ever since I got this polish back in the summer I have been eagerly anticipating October, just so I could wear it over black.  It’s just amazing.  I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you.  By the way, as far as I can tell, this is a perfect dupe for Essie – Shine of the Times.

I promise that I won’t keep you waiting forever for my next post!  I know all of you have nothing better to do than to keep refreshing your screen on my website to see if I put up a new post.  (That’s some tongue-in-cheek, there.)  Thanks for reading and commenting!

September Favorites

Doing the 31 day challenge in September led me to use a lot of polishes in my collection that I either had never used much before or had sort of forgotten about.  And because I did my nails every single stinking day of September, my list of favorites for the month was really long!  As I put all of my favorites in a pile, I had 4 or 5 polishes that were in limited edition collections that are pretty tough to find now.  I pulled them out of the pile, because I thought it would be pretty mean to be like, “Oh, this is the most awesome polish ever!  You can’t get it anywhere, though.  Sorry about your luck.”

So here’s the pile of my favorites:

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They are left to right, starting with the top row: Wet n Wild – I Need a Refresh-Mint, NYC – High Line Green, Sinful Colors – Cinderella, Orly – Tropical Pop, Broadway Nails – Space Flight, Wet n Wild – Bubblegum Pop, Jordana – Boy Oh Boy.

I’m going to start with Orly – Tropical Pop.  This one kind of breaks my own rule because it was part of the Baked summer 2014 collection.  I still think you will be able to find this with a little bit of searching, though.  I used this orange as my base color for my Day 2: Orange Nails.  This color is such a fun, light neon orange.  It seemed a little shockingly bright at first, but it really grew on my as I wore it.

NYC – High Line Green is one of the very few polishes that I bought for a specific day of the challenge.  I used this color as the base for my Day 4: Green Nails.  It is just the prettiest “ugly” green!  I loved this color so much on its own that I was a little sad to cover it up with the camo pattern.  It’s a fun green for springtime, but I’m definitely going to wear in here in the fall, too.

The name of this next polish was actually the inspiration for my Fairy Godmother nails for  Day 5: Blue Nails.  Sinful Colors – Cinderella has this beautiful pinkish-gold micro shimmer that just makes my heart skip a beat.  It is SO BEAUTIFUL in the sun!  Love it!

Nails – Space Flight is a dark blue jelly polish that bought back in the summer.  It seemed to dark to use then, but once September rolled around, it finally seemed appropriate.  I used it for both Day 17: Glitter and Day 18:Half Moons even though they were back to back days.  My creativity was waning a little at that point, and I was more interested in just using a particular polish that coming up with some ground-breaking design.  I can’t wait to use this for some more jelly sandwiches in the future!  I’ve only ever seen this line of polish at old exclusively at Dollar General and Family Dollar stores.  They are generally in these stand-alone displays that are like big, tiered clear plastic bowls.

Wet n Wild – Bubblegum Pop is a cool pink color.  Cool as in “it leans blue”, not cool as in “awesome”.  Actually, it is a little bit awesome.  I used this polish for my Day 20: Water Marble. This polish actually marbled beautifully with Sally Hansen – Pacific Blue (original formula).  It made the whole process much less painful than I had anticipated.  Although the Wet n Wild Megalast line is available at most grocery stores and drug stores, this color (along with another 15 colors or so) are also sold exclusively at Dollar General and Family Dollar stores.  I know, that’s such a weird place to go for exclusive polishes.

Jordana – Boy Oh Boy is SO AMAZING!  Sigh.  It just makes my knees weak.  It’s this perfect turquoise color, it’s pretty much a one-coat polish, and it’s SO shiny.  Trust me, you need this polish in your life.  I used this polish for Day: 12 Stripes and Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern.  I know Jordana cosmetics are available at K-Mart.  I’m not sure where else you can get them.  I can tell you for sure that they are not available at Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, and Rite Aid stores, at least in south-central PA.   Jordana also makes some really pretty glitter polishes, too.

Okay, the last polish in my favorites is Wet n Wild – I Need a Refresh-Mint.  I used this polish as the base color for Day 15: Delicate Print and Day 23: Inspired by a Movie.  I also used it as the light blue on my ring finger for Day 27: Inspired by Artwork, but you can barely see it on those nails.  I’ve gotta say, I’m a sucker for this color.  Exhibit A:

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From left to right: Wet n Wild – I need a Refresh-Mint, Sinful Colors – Nice Stems, China Glaze – For Audrey.

I can usually justify owning similarly colored polishes, but even I can admit that nobody really needs all three of these.  For Audrey is a tiny hair darker than the other two, and Nice Stems has a barely discernible shimmer, but really… They’re pretty much the same.  All three polishes have a good formula that is opaque in 2 coats.  The Wet n Wild Megalast polishes come with a wider brush, which I like, but I know some people don’t.  You can pretty much get four Sinful Colors or Wet n Wild polishes for the cost of one China Glaze, so that sort of makes For Audrey totally not worth the price tag for me.

I have one last polish that I used pretty much every single day of the challenge: NYC – Grand Central Station.

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This polish is under $2 and it dries so quickly and leave such a great shine!   It’s just such a great quick-dry top coat for the price.  It doesn’t do that shrinkage thing that Seche Vite does, although I do think Seche Vite is just a hair more shiny.  I really can’t tell a difference in quality between NYC and Out the Door.  I still have not tried the HK Girl top coat, but until I get around to trying that, I think I’m going to stick with this stuff.  It’s just just a great value.  I think I’m on my 3rd or 4th bottle.  Can’t really remember.

That’s it for my September favorites!  Have you used any of these polishes?  What are your current favorites!  I love getting your feed back here, on facebook, and on instagram.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

August Favorites and the 31 Day Challenge

So, I only have 3 new polishes that I’ve particularly loved in August.  I guess  there’s nothing wrong with that.  

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The first is China Glaze Peonies & Park Ave from the City Flourish Collection.  I’m not really sure when this collection came out, but I think I got this polish on clearance last summer.  I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to find this in stores, but you can still buy it online.  It’s just a really pretty almost-neon pink.  I used it as the base for my scrapbook nails, and it was while I was wearing those nails that I realized how much I love this color.

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The next one is Sinful Colors – Snow Me White.  I keep not putting this polish away, so it’s been sitting on my coffee table for pretty much the whole month.  Because of that, I keep using it.  I think it’s the only white I’ve used all month.  I’ve used it at least 4 times, and it’s just great and easy each time.

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My last favorite polish this month is Orly – Hot Tropics from the Summer 2014 Baked collection.  I was able to get mine on clearance, and I’ve seen this color still in stores recently.  It’s the most beautiful bright purple.  The thing that makes it special though, is the gold shimmer in it.  SO pretty in the sun. I haven’t put it on my toes yet, but I think this would be a great toe color.

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That’s it for my August favorites, but I want to fill you in on what I’m doing from September 1 to October 1.  I’m doing the 31 Day Challenge!  If you’re not familiar with this, it’s something that a lot of nail artists and bloggers undertake just to stretch themselves and improve their nail art skills.  Here’s the list of each day’s challenge.  Really, you can do it anytime, but most people do it starting September 1.

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I thought about doing this for a half of a second last year, but it just seemed too overwhelming.  I’ve been contemplating this for a few weeks now, so I think I’m ready to go for it!  My plan is to post a picture of my nails with a little description each day, but no real tutorials.  If one of the looks seems worthy of a tutorial, I’ll tackle that after the whole challenge is over. 

By the way, this is not any sort of exclusive thing.  Anyone who feels like it, can go for this challenge.  A huge part of the fun of this is checking out everybody’s nails each day on Instagram/facebook/nails blogs.  Feel free to join the fun!  Chalkboard Nails has been a great promoter of this challenge.  Check out her blog for inspiration, if you need it. 

Anyway, I look forward to sharing this big undertaking with you!  I’ll be back on Sept 1 with some red nails!