Orly Miss Conduct

Hey everybody!  

Today's polish is one I've been wanting for a while, Orly Miss Conduct, from the Holiday 2012 Naughty or Nice collection.  I found this bottle recently at TJ Maxx for the very not-naughty price of $3.99.  Niiiiiice.

Miss Conduct is a beyond beautiful magenta-colored jelly bursting with scattered holo goodness.  It reminds me of OPI DS Extravagance, but Miss Conduct is more pink and brighter.  The formula is perfect (mistake-proof for us kiddie-level painters).  I'm showing two coats here.  You could probably get away with one if your nails are short.

So YAY for finding buried treasure in a markdown bin!  My sister purchased Miss Conduct ages ago, and I've wanted it ever since.  So many buried treasures out there...

As always, thanks for reading, and have a lovely day! <3

Coming Around...

Hey everybody!!  Wow, I've missed you all! 

I am slowly getting back into the swing of things after my 3 month long hiatus.  So much has changed for me personally since my last blog post...I'm still trying to get over it. :/  I thought I would show you some of the things I've been wearing since June.

butter LONDON Shag - metallic and shimmery and gorgeous and chipped all over the place...

Orly Star Trooper - coffee-colored jelly and white glitter!  Yikes, it's pretty!! Oh, and this...

Zoya Payton - imagine blackberry jam where the seeds are holo.  Yep.

China Glaze Optical Illusion - my absolute favorite microglitter!

Zoya Aurora (complete with tip wear!)

I hope you all have enjoyed your summer and are ready to listen to me whine about the slow-poke arrival of our Southern autumn. :)

And a special thank you to my co-bloggers and friends Liesl, Yadi, Christine, and Emily for checking on me over the past weeks.  It means more than you know. <3

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day. 

A Disturbing Green Post: Nicole by OPI and Orly

Hey everybody!  Today I'm continuing my green polish posts...I've already posted about some grassy greens.  Today I have the category of green that's a fun one:  disturbing greens.  These are the greens that are a little off for some reason.  Or maybe they just plain bother you. :)

First up, I have a polish that a lot of people love, but in the bottle it looks so...I don't know, murky?...to me, Orly Coachella Dweller.

Let me begin by saying that Blogger magically turned the color of Coachella Dweller into a pea soup green.  It looks totally different from the picture I just took and uploaded.  Oh well.  The second pic looks like the The Real Coachella Dweller. :)  I decided after I got it on my nails that it's not as disturbing as I once thought...more like that comforting fern green you'd see in a therapist's office at your weekly session.  I used 3 coats, as the formula was a tad thin.

Next up is a polish graciously given to me by sweet Yun of The Polish Hideout.  You may remember all of my whining last year about not being able to find the Nicole by OPI Tink Collection...well, Yun kindly sent me 2 of the polishes that I loved from the collection, including Sweet on Pete.

Wow.  Now that's one frightening green.  I remember having been somewhat bothered that I liked it so much on Yun.  That's just plain old zombie blood there...or rotting meat...or appendicitis.  I used 3 coats after experiencing some streakiness.  Oh, and please excuse all the dents in the polish...I was doing yard work for a couple of hours and poked myself with quite a few sticks before I took pics. :P  Sweet on Pete is touch greener than Sally Hansen Triple Shine Statemint I posted about earlier.

And last I have another disturbing Orly, It's Not Rocket Science.  This one could be called "Glamorous 70's Funeral."  This one is from the Cosmic FX 2010 collection, and I'm not sure if it's still a part of their core line or not, as is another one from this collection, Space Cadet.

Ahhhh, well, if it's got to look like nausea, at LEAST it can sparkle, right??  It's Not Rocket Science is a goldish-green with a crazy amount of glittery goodies that just light up the polish.  It's a bit sheer, so I used 3 coats for opacity.  And I checked:  butter LONDON Wallis is darker and more gold; It's Not Rocket Science is definitely more green. 

So...what are your feelings about my disturbing greens?  Are they the stuff of your nightmares, or perhaps your dreams?? 

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

Nail of the Day: Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go

Hey everybody!  How is it going in your world today? :)  Today I wanted to show you a lovely polish that is quickly becoming one of my favorite purples.  It was a suggestion to me by one of my readers...she emailed me to let me know that TJ Maxx had this polish in an Orly duo on clearance.  And I can say it was certainly worth a lot more than the $4.50 for two price tag.  Meet the charmingly-named Rococo-A-Go-Go.

I have seen comparisons of Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go to Zoya Jem, and the two do look very similar.  I don't own Jem, but from the pictures of it, Rococo-A-Go-Go has more shimmer.  YAY for shimmer!  There is a lot of sparkly, glass fleck action going on in this one.  Rococo-A-Go-Go is a red, plummy purple .

Orly Rococo-A-Go-Go is from the 2011 Mineral FX collection, which was insanely beautiful all the way around.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind having more from that collection. :P  The application was pretty easy on Rococo-A-Go-Go, and the polish dried quickly on me (imagine that!).  I used two coats.  The only negative thing I can say about it is I had crazy tip wear...but lately, *every**single**polish* I wear has awful tip wear!  I blame it on the pollen.

You just can't go wrong with pearls and shimmer.

So, what do you think of this lovely purple?  I'm so glad Jessica pointed this one out to me.  Nothing like have readers who enable your addiction! :P

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

It's Groovy: Orly High on Hope

Hey everybody!  Orly introduced the Hope and Freedom Fest Collection back in spring 2013, and after Christmas I noticed that Ulta had the whole collection on clearance.  I picked up two of the hippie-themed polishes, and today I have High on Hope to show you.

Let me first start out by saying that I LOVE THIS!  High on Hope is a deep navy blue packed with fuchsia shimmer.  It all blends together to look sort of violet purple.

The shimmer is High on Hope is one of the shimmeriest shimmers I ever saw.  This polish is just beautiful.  I just wouldn't have named it "High on Hope"...hmmmmm...in keeping with the Summer of Love theme, I think maybe..."Never Trust Anyone Over 30"?  NOOO...I didn't mean that!  How about "Outta Sight"? :D

I used two coats of High on Hope and had no application issues.  It's a well-behaved polish...unlike many people from the 1960's. :/

Next time you are visiting your neighborhood Ulta, be sure to check out the Hope and Freedom Fest Collection and try to snag this one before it gets away.  High on Hope is something you absolutely want...it's pretty far out! :P

I was actually born at the tail end of the 1960's.  Do you know what the best part of being born in the 60's was?  Being a teenager in the 80's!  AWESOME!! 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! <3

A Soft Shower: Orly Angel Rain

Hey everybody!  Have you all seen the Orly Surreal collection this fall?  Orly has been releasing some really pretty stuff lately (Sparkling Garbage, anyone?).  I happened up on the Surreal collection on sale and snagged a multichrome beauty called Angel Rain.

Angel Rain shifts from blue to pale green to lavender to pink.  This is one of the most interesting polishes I've seen lately.  I think it's a perfect fairy tale in a bottle...the kind of fairy tale where you don't want glitter and sparkle...just that glowing nimbus quality.

Angel Rain is a bit frosty, but fortunately, it doesn't leave all those pesky brushstrokes with the flashing red signs reading "Totally Tubular!!" 

Angel Rain is very sheer.  I used 3 thin coats for the photos, and I still had visible nail line, although you probably won't...unless you're like me and your nails are 84% calcium or something. :P  You can layer it over a color, but I prefer it on its own.  Be sure to let each coat dry thoroughly to avoid those dreadful little frost bubbles. :/

I had a rather difficult time getting Angel Rain to play nice and show the camera all its beautiful colors.  So much for an angelic personality...

Lavender shift in outside light

It's...turning...green?

 

 

Ahhhh...shift to green:  SUCCESS!

Angel Rain is one of those polishes that you have to see for yourself to truly appreciate.  My paltry photography skills simply can't do the amazing multichromosity justice. :)

What do you think of Angel Rain?  Does the lovely color/colors outweigh the frostiness for you?  I will say that I was sitting next to my sister this morning in church under halogen lighting, and she saw this polish on my nails and thought it was pretty special. <3

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

Double-Stuf Orly: Jealous, Much? and Sparkling Garbage

Hey everybody!  I hope your weekend is going well.  We recently heard some very sad news about Double-Stuf Oreos not actually being double the powdered sugar and shortening...while that is a major travesty, I do have some consolation in the form of a double ORLY combo today, my recent acquisitions Jealous, Much? and the amazing Sparkling Garbage!

I picked up Jealous, Much? at TJ Maxx in a double-pack of polishes, and I really like it.  It's a very nice minty pistachio creme from the 2012 Cool Romance collection.  The first coat goes on horribly patchy, but I used three coats total, and everything evened out very well.

For my thumb and ring finger I used Orly Sparkling Garbage, a polish that simply needs no explanation.  You've heard about this one all summer long...and with good reason.

Sparkling Garbage is a scattered holo in a green jelly base.  I layered two coats over the Jealous, Much? for 100% pure awesomeness!

Is it just me, or is this AMAZING?

So...don't be jealous of my garbage!!  Run get yourself some Orly...especially Sparkling Garbage, since the Mash-Up Collection is limited edition.  I got the last one at my Ulta, and I'm really glad I did.

If garbage looks THIS good, then call me trashy!! :)

And guess what?  My giveaway ends tonight at midnight, so enter before the clock strikes 12 and you turn back into a tattered servant girl who sings with the mice!

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

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! :)