A Pinch of Pixie Dust: Zoya Miranda

Hey everybody!  I thought I knew myself.  I really did.  But lately, I'm not so sure.  I have never been drawn to pink polishes in the way that I have been in recent weeks.  Just when I announce I don't have a lot of pinks, now every single thing I'm buying is pink!  Although I don't insanely love the texture trend, I did want at least one Zoya Pixie Dust, mostly because of my love affair with Zoya.  So when I approached the display, the one that jumped out at me was...yes...
 

Zoya Miranda

 ...THE PINK ONE.

Ahhhhh...Pixie Dust:  the klutz's best friend!

But I'm going to cut myself some slack.  Miranda isn't really PINK pink.  Zoya describes it as rose, but on me, it's a lighter berry shade.  Hmmm...how about that?  Just happens to be one of my best colors.  Why, berry is practically wine, and you all know how I love my wine.  Polishes, that is...I don't drink. :)

Zoya Miranda.  Wow.  This is beautiful.

I debated on whether or not to insult your collective intelligence by saying how well Pixie Dust applies.  I'll tell you anyway.  Pixie Dust application is criminally simple.  Just imagine you're 5 years old again and coloring in your favorite Barbie coloring book.  Just stay reasonably within the lines and your result is flawless.  There is just no clean up required on this stuff.  Amazing.  So what's the problem, you ask?  Why am I not just mad over texture polishes?  The only reason is that I mess with it all day.  The rougher nail surface worries me to death.  That's all.  But I'm not blind...I can see it's stunning.  The diamond-like sparkle is incomparable.  You'll still see me wearing it...and then you'll see me rubbing my fingers together in a distressing OCD-like manner. :)

Zoya Miranda - a sandy, sparkling oasis of color

What do you think of Miranda?  Isn't she beautiful?  I seriously can't stop looking at my own photos!!  It's not me...it's the polish!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a lovely evening!

Pure Nostalgia: Windestine Crushed Rose in Spring

Hey everybody!  I don't know about you, but I love it when the name of a polish is perfectly suited to the polish itself.  Who could ever forget OPI Roll Down the Window or Deborah Lippmann Cleopatra in New York?  Those polishes are exactly the mental images you get when you hear the names.  Exactly.  And I've found another one...Crushed Rose in Spring by Windestine.

Windestine Crushed Rose in Spring

I absolutely love this polish.  Just looking at it makes me think of a soft April rain and reading a book by a window overlooking a Victorian rose garden.  Sound crazy to you?  That's why I love Crushed Rose in Spring...it evokes such a strong feeling of very particular things.  It oozes antique postcard nostalgia.

Windestine Crushed Rose in Spring

Crushed Rose in Spring is part of Windestine's 2013 Spring Collection and is described as "matte pink, matte yellow, and snow white hex and shredded glitters in a pastel green colored base."  In my opinion, it's the shredded glitters that make this so special.

Ready for a dory ride on the lake?  Bring your parasol!

I used 3 coats of Crushed Rose in Spring with top coat for the photos.  It applied extremely well and my clumsy self had absolutely no clean up.  I love it when that happens! :)

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses...

So if you're longing to go to a tea party and can't manage to get an invitation, check out Windestine Crushed Rose in Spring as a lovely alternative to sulking.  You'll see what I mean about the amazingly clear mental image. :)

 

Windestine polishes are available on Etsy.  Check them out!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope your evening is wonderful! :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Hey everybody!  Are you enjoying your Memorial Day weekend so far?  My family is having a cookout on Monday, which will consist of hamburgers, sausage dogs, potato salad, and eating too much in general. :)

I am an extremely patriotic girl...always have been.  I love my country!  I wanted to do a patriotic mani in honor of this very important holiday, so I employed Pure Ice Hit the Floor, Milani High Speed White on the Spot, and China Glaze Frostbite for the task.  

Pure Ice Hit the Floor, Milani High Speed White on the Spot, China Glaze Frostbite

Pure Ice Hit the Floor is a deep, glittery red that looks great as my anchor color.  After all, America and sparkles are two of my very favorite things! :)  

Pure Ice Hit the Floor, complete with patriotic fingerprint

Milani White on the Spot is a thick one-coater and a bit Liquid Paper-ish, but (1) its almost cartoonish result sort of goes along with the fun aspect, and (2) I don't own OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. :)  China Glaze Frostbite is the absolutely perfect All-American blue.

Every heart rings true for the red, white and blue!!

I used a couple of Broadway Nail appliques for the stars and topped the whole thing off with CND Air Dry.  I really love how this turned out!  Makes me want to sing all the U.S. Armed Forces themes that I learned back in school.  Those are some great theme songs!  My personal favorite is "Anchors Aweigh" (U.S. Navy). :)

God bless America!

So how are you spending this Memorial Day weekend?  It's fun to be off work and with your family cooking hot dogs and eating ice cream, but take time on Monday to remember why we celebrate this day:  to honor our fallen service men and women who have fought for our freedom and made the ultimate sacrifice.

I hope you have a lovely evening and a very safe and happy Memorial Day! :)

The Chartreuse-Haired Stepchild: China Glaze Trendsetter

Trend·set·ter (n):

Someone who starts a new fashion, style, etc., or helps to make it popular.

Today's post is all about that famous, or infamous, polish that tried its hardest to start something earth-shatteringly fashion-forward but instead ended up being scorned as the ugliest polish most people had ever seen.  Yes...China Glaze Trendsetter!

China Glaze Trendsetter

Funny story about this polish.  My sister and I were in Ulta when she spotted this.  I said, "This polish is famous for being so unattractive."  Well, that's all it took for my rebellious sis.  She bought it.  I saw her the next day wearing Trendsetter, and she confessed, "When I swiped it across my thumb, I literally gagged."  

It's different.  The color is probably best described as dijon mustard with a hint of green...but it really does have a lovely, glowing shimmer.  It has a peculiar charm.

Now that's something you don't see every day.

Some people near and dear to our hearts have famously said that they would never own Trendsetter. :)  But come on now...let's not be too quick to judge.  Why don't we do a pros and cons list of Trendsetter?  Yes, let's!!

Pros:

1.  It's unique.  You won't see yourself coming and going whilst wearing Trendsetter.

2.  It has honestly got one of the best formulas I've ever experienced with a polish.  Very, very smooth.

3.  It's easy to coordinate...it's the same exact color as the 4-day old bruise on my leg.

Are you scared?

Cons:

1.  You may risk being shunned by all your non-trendy friends.

2.  It WILL remind you of rotting Granny Smith apples.

3.  It's the same exact color as the 4-day old bruise on my leg.

Now, you HAVE to admit this is more elegant than you thought possible!

So...what will it be?  Yea, or nay?  I'll be the first to admit it isn't for everybody.  Well, for most people.  But I was pleasantly surprised overall...it's by no means the worst polish I've ever worn.  And I don't object to wearing this when it suits my clothing.

I'll leave you with this thought:  Today I was having a conversation with a very well-dressed person, who, in mid-paragraph, looked at my nails and complimented the color.  So...you just never know! :)

Will you give Trendsetter a chance?  I hope you have a lovely evening!! :)

The Cheapskate Files: Sally Hansen and Nail Bliss Bling

Hey everybody! :)  I'm back with another example of a lot for a very little!  As I've said before, I love a good deal.  And a good deal on nail polish...well...that's always the best.

A while back I was in a discount store in North Carolina.  This particular store is famous for its large inventory of tobacco products and perfumes.  Guess which one interested yours truly.  Well, this store also carries discontinued cosmetics...we're talking a ton of stuff.  I love going there to see if they have the latest makeup item that I had finally found that was a perfect color and consistency but has inevitably gone the way of the dodo. :)  On one particular trip to this markdown marvel, I spotted a bin full of Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer...the square-bottled incarnation before the Complete Salon Manicure rounded bottle.  There must have been 500 bottles of polish in that bin.  And they were all $1.50.  "I need a shopping basket!!"

I found several I wanted...including Hearts on Fire.  It's red.  Really red.  And gorgeous.

An oldie, but a goodie!

Sally Hansen Hearts on Fire

Hearts on Fire is a jelly!  It's a little thicker than your typical jelly, but I still wouldn't call it a crelly.  But maybe I'm wrong?  It just seems like a thicker jelly to me.  So, there it is! :)  I should also mention that this is the truest red I have ever seen.  There are blue reds and orange reds, but this is RED.  It's also got a wonderful application.  The brushes in these bottles are small...not like the paddle-type brushes of Complete Salon Manicure.

On a recent excursion to Sally Beauty, I found some Nail Bliss Bling nail appliques for $1.99 in the clearance section.  I bought a few patterns and chose the leopard design to go with Hearts on Fire.  I love red and leopard together!

I highly recommend using nail appliques for an accent if you aren't a nail artiste, just as I'm not.  Nail Bliss appliques are just heavy duty stickers and not actual polish like nail strips, so you can open the package and just use a couple if you want.

Leopard jelly!!  Wait...ewww.

I used 2 coats of Hearts on Fire but probably could have used 3.  Visible nail line doesn't really matter much to me because I have a couple of nails that have it no matter HOW many coats I use.  True.

The little gold studs on this applique are really pretty too! :)

I really love how this combo looks.  And I have to tell you that today I wore a red dress and leopard shoes.  Heh heh heh...call me matchy-matchy!  I love it!! :)

What amazing deals have you found lately?  Inquiring minds want to know! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely evening! :)

OPI Dim Sum Plum and Polka.com

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend is going fantastically. :) My sister Melanie and I had a slumber party Friday night, which consisted of going to Ulta for new polishes, eating Subway and Mel's special chocolate chip cheese ball, and going to bed at 10:30.  We certainly know how to party.  BUT we did have cheese ball again for breakfast Saturday morning.  Now that's edgy.

I thought I'd show you a couple of the new polishes I picked up.  I have wanted OPI Dim Sum Plum from the Hong Kong Collection for the longest time...and lo and behold!  There it was...on the clearance rack!!  And I don't know about you, but I love this year's Euro Centrale Collection by OPI.  I have a few polishes from it, but I decided to pick up Polka.com, the glittery goody from the collection.  I didn't realize until I got home and was looking at the glitter that these two polishes would look great together.  And so a bouncing baby combo was born.

OPI Dim Sum Plum

Dim Sum Plum is a medium plum/fuchsia pink creme with a great application.  I sometimes have trouble with cremes because I'm so clumsy.  I can work very easily with this one!  :D

OPI Polka.com

Polka.com is a combination of blue, teal, and fuchsia hex and micro glitter in a clear base.  The fuchsia is almost exactly the same color as Dim Sum Plum.  To look at the bottle shot, it seems that the blue would be the standout color, but actually the teal is.  I used 2 coats of Polka.com because I was feeling extra sparkly.

Put up your fishing pole...no fishing for glitter here! :)

The large glitter in Polka.com is very reflective...it's flashy, especially the teal.  It makes your fingers absolutely twinkle.  It's distracting, but in a good way.  Just don't look at it while you're driving!! :P

OW!!  My eyes!!!

Do you own Polka.com?  If so, with what colors do you wear it?  I really love this combo because Dim Sum Plum is such a beautiful polish on its own. And two beautiful polishes together = MASS HYSTERIA!!

Oh, in case you were wondering, Mel's cheese ball won first place at her work's chocolate chip recipe contest.  So maybe we DO know how to party? :P

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely evening!! :)

Best Blog Award!

Hey everybody!  Lovelies Emily from Em's Polish Paradise and Veronica from Me Gusta Nail Polish have nominated me for The Best Blog Award.  So I am truly honored...in stereo! :) 

The rules are as follows:
1. Answer the questions asked by the blog who nominated you. 
2. Nominate up to 20 other blogs with less than 200 followers. 
3. Create 11 questions for them to answer.

Now let's see if I bore you with all my answers to Em's questions:

1. Summer or Winter?
 Winter.  I love faux fur.

2. Do you have an iPhone?
 No.  People who are constantly on their phones drive me insane.

3. Are you currently studying?
 Not in school.  But always studying something! :)

4. How long have you had your blog for?
 One month.

5. Have you done any nail art tutorials on your blog?
  No.  Nail art scares me.

6. Favourite nail polish?
 Zoya Frida.

7. Do you enjoy baking?
 I enjoy nothing culinary.  I'd rather clean up a kitchen any day than cook in it.

8. What polish have you worn that has stayed on the longest?
 Zoya Zuza (7 days)

9. Are you afraid of heights?
 No, but I am afraid of actually falling! :P

10. Does it snow where you live?
 It snowed in 1989 and hasn't since.

11. Have you ever been to London?
  No, but I want to visit the Tate Gallery and see Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott in person.  Then I can die happy.


And now to Veronica's questions:

1.What is your favorite nail polish brand?
Zoya! :)

2.What's your favorite glitter polish?
butter London The Black Knight...although that's a love/hate relationship.

3.Favorite candy?
British chocolate.

4.Favorite book?
The Bible.

5.If you could live any where in the world, where would you live?
Where I live now.  My hometown is beautiful! 

6. Do you like to work out?
I love to play Just Dance for Wii.  That's a workout.  Just YOU try Livin' La Vida Loca.

7. How many polishes do you own?
About 220.

8. Favorite pizza topping.
Yes.

9. How do you store your polishes?
In air-tight storage containers.

10. Is there color you would not wear?
The light orange variety is frightening on me.

11. Do you collect other things besides nail polish?
That would be jewelry.


My nominees:

Una, Dos, Tres...n'stuff!
Tiki Barbie

Polished at Heart
Paint Those Piggies!
Polished Prescription

My questions for the nominees:

1. Are you a people person or a loner?
2. If you were a weather event, what would you be?
3. Glitter, creme, metallic, frost, foil, or duochrome?
4. What has been your favorite vacation?
5. Do you match your nails to your clothing?
6. What do you consider to be your best physical feature?
7. Why did you start your blog?
8. What do you consider to be your best attribute?
9. When reading other blogs, do you read the content, look at the photos, or both?
10. What is your happiest memory?
11. Had you rather be intelligent, funny, beautiful, or wealthy?

You KNEW my questions wouldn't be normal, right? :) Thanks again to Em and Veronica for nominating me!  Have a lovely night everybody. :)

Respectably Flashy: Hare Polish Return to Nature

Hey everybody!  Have you ever found yourself, all of a sudden, being drawn to a polish color that never appealed to you in the past?  That's where I am right now.  My favorite polishes are dark, vampy colors and bold stuff with full-bodied flavor.  But out of nowhere, I have been going nuts over pastels and neutrals.  I don't get it.  Must be a hormone thing.  Anyway, as long as I'm wearing things atypical to me, it sure doesn't hurt when the polish is as lovely as this one...Hare Polish Return to Nature, from The Last Queen of France 2013 Spring Collection.

Hare Polish Return to Nature

Return to Nature is a beige-colored crelly (creme/jelly) with square and hex gold and silver glitters.  And I didn't even realize it until I took the bottle shot, but there are white squares in there as well.  Oh, and don't forget the gold shimmer!  Mmmmm...

Return to Nature bottle shot

Return to Nature IS beige, but it is absolutely taupe under fluorescent lighting.  I like to point out these lighting differences because I work under fluorescent lighting, and I have gotten to the office before and noticed that my polish was way different than it looked at home.  And that *really* irks me when I'm trying to match my clothes! :)

Return to Nature is probably not the best color for my nearly colorless skin, but I think it's such an attractive polish that I don't mind the fact that it's not my usual bold blend.  This color would look beautiful against darker skin.  I used 3 coats by itself for the photos and got full coverage.  The application was great.

So, do you think Marie Antoinette liked neutrals too?

This was my first Hare Polish, and I really love it!  Return to Nature has the flash of glitter whilst being a very respectable and office-friendly color.  Just think of the whole look as amped up mannequin hands. :)

What do you think of Return to Nature?  Do you love the Hare Polish bunny bottles?  And most importantly, do you think I need some sort of dietary supplement for loving neutrals all of a sudden? 

Hare Polish can be purchased at their Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely Friday! :) Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Zoya Paloma and Milani Jewel FX in "Jelly Sandwich - a Love Story"

Hey everybody!  Today, I'm in the mood for love.

It's a romance for the ages:  the elegant, flashy guy meets the vibrant, glossy girl of his dreams. 

So different...could it ever work?

Milani Jewel FX Hot Pink is a gorgeous look-at-me fuchsia and silver hex glitter polish.  Zoya Paloma is an unforgettable, juicy jelly.  Separate, they are both stunning.  But together...

Zoya Paloma

Milani Jewel FX Hot Pink

...they combine forces to create a staggeringly gorgeous and much talked-about polish duo:  the Jelly Sandwich.  They are admired everywhere they go.  They are the beautiful ones.

Could it be love?

Two coats of Zoya Paloma, one coat of Milani Jewel FX, and a final coat of Zoya Paloma...yes, there really IS a recipe for true love.

Pretty as a picture and sweeter than strawberry jam

You can probably tell by the bottle shots that I have really loved my Paloma.  She is a beauty.  She will be one of the bottles I actually use up completely.  If you are on the fence about Zoya's Gloss Collection of jellies, get off said fence and place your order...you won't be sorry.  Then swing by your local Target and pick up a Milani Jewel FX...they come in a variety of colors, so there are plenty of beautiful duos you can create!  Love is in the air!!

So move over, Peter...

...this jelly's got a new leading man.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely Tuesday! :)

From the Unusual Vault: Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast

Hey everybody!  Do you have a polish that is just, well, different?  Like maybe you can't put your finger on what exactly is going on with it?  Such is the case with Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast, from their 2010 Holiday Hustle Collection.  But, as with many of these strangely unusual polishes, I love it!

Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast

Jess' Champagne Toast is a lavender-blue-grey metallic frost with rose glitter.  How's that for complicated? 
The frost isn't too frosty though...it's not a brushstroke nightmare.

Barielle Jess' Champagne Toast

The rose glitter is very tiny and delicate and doesn't look quite like it does in the bottle.

Jess' Champagne Toast bottle shot

I have read other reviews that say this dried very bumpy for them, but I didn't have that problem.  I used 3 thin coats, and the dry time is incredibly fast.

The light picks up the delicate sparkle

There is something sort of antique about this color.  I think it's quite lovely.  I have always been fond of lavender, and the rose glitter in this makes it unlike anything else I've seen.  But you have to be in *just* the right light to catch the full beauty of the unusual glitter.

Sometimes you wanna sparkle...sometimes you don't.

What do you think of Jess' Champagne Toast?  Do you have a polish that's gotten a bad rap from others, but you love it?  I have a lot like that...that's just me.  So just send me your unwanted polishes, and I'll love them and see their true beauty and build their self-esteem so that they can hold their brushes high!! :P 

Have a great Monday! :)

Mom's Favorite Nails: Orly Luxe and OPI Black Shatter

Hey everybody!  Who's your style icon? 

A fashion designer?  A Hollywood star?

Mine is my Mom.

My Mom at 18

A lot of people remember their mother as a sweet lady, a great cook, or a lot of fun.  Well, how fortunate am I?  My Mom was all those things, AND she was drop-dead gorgeous. 

Mom was always put together.  We were just an average middle-class family...didn't have lots and lots of money...but Mom always looked like a million dollars.  She could have looked runway-ready with 15 bucks to spend.

She never even swept the front porch without her hair and makeup being right.  My sister and I have both inherited that mindset. :)

Well, Mom is still like that.  She loves fashion and she loves jewelry.  And every Saturday evening, she asks me to pick her out a nail polish to match her dress for Sunday morning church.

So in honor of Mother's Day, I asked Mom to choose her favorite nail look. :)

Mom really has a fondness for shatter/crackle effect polish.  I know a lot of people aren't fond of this trend and are happy to see it being replaced by textured polish.  Shatter nails are mostly just okay with me, but I do really like a black shatter.  You can wear it over any color you want, and it always looks like some sort of abstract animal pattern.  This effect is best achieved when worn over gold.  Mom likes to wear Orly Luxe, a rich metallic gold, with a coat of OPI Black Shatter.

Orly Luxe and OPI Black Shatter

Orly Luxe is just that...a luxurious gold.  I used 2 coats for the photos with 1 coat of Black Shatter.  My top coat was CND Air Dry.

Black and gold give the look of a leopard/zebra...a ZEOPARD! :P

Luxe is a gorgeous gold!

Grrrrooowwwwlllll

This is a look I really do love.  Black and gold together always make a bold statement. :)  Speaking of bold statements, here is my Mom today, rocking a maxi dress and wearing bright blue nails...and she's 73 years old.

Oh, and her polish for tomorrow? Hare Polish Bury the Hatchetfish.  She's THAT cool. :)

Thank you, Lord, for our Moms!  And everybody have a wonderful Mother's Day! :)