Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Indi-Glow

Hey everybody!  You may have guessed that life has gotten a wee bit busy for me lately.  If you did guess that, you'd be correct! :D  I have some hefty things on the horizon, namely taking care of my Mom after knee replacement surgery next week.  I wanted to try to squeeze in a post before things got too crackers...so how about a super-pretty jelly?

Sally Hansen XTreme Wear Indi-Glow kinda sneaked up on me.  I have only seen this in one Walgreens, ever.  I wasn't sure if it would be as pigmented as it looks in the bottle, when I opened it up and pulled out the brush, I knew I had to have it. :)

Isn't this pretty?  Indi-Glow is a true indigo, a deep violet blue full of delightfully squishy attributes.  It's also full of color-changing glitter that was impossible to capture on film.  Just look at the bottle shot, and that's what it looks like on the nail.  I'm wearing three coats, and application was pretty much perfect.

Of course, you know I'm always singing the blues (uh, no pun intended) when it comes to my jelly tip wear.  It's just always there, much like my famous non-friend, Mr. VaNeLi.  Indi-Glow isn't this transparent in real life either.  And it's crazy how the photos just don't show the plethora of glitter in this polish.  I guess you could say this photographic journey a la jelly was a total flop.

But I DID manage to get a pseudo-decent macro shot that (somehow) shows all the glitter.  Okay...just imagine this glitter not only being abundant, but glowing and color-changing as well! :D

Well.  Best thing I can say about this post is that my cuticles look fairly good.  You all might be glad you won't see me next week. :P

Indi-Glow is a part of the XTreme Wear Limited Edition Spring 2014 line.  I highly recommend it for anybody who is addicted to jellies! 

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you all very soon. <3

Maybelline Color Show Brocades: Amethyst Couture, Emerald Elegance, and Embellished Blues

Hey everybody!  I hope you all have been well.  I'm back from a wonderful vacation with my hubby and ready to show you some more embarrassing evidence of my polish obsession! :D

Well...it's like this...I've made no secret that I have fallen in love with the Maybelline Color Show Brocades.  And I also made no secret that I wanted more of them.  So, being a girl of my word, I picked up three more!  You can certainly count on me to make you feel like you have less of a purchasing problem than *some* people do.

First up, I have the Brocades number that fascinated me to no end when first I saw it:  Amethyst Couture.

Amethyst Couture is a deep purple with purple glitter.  In the bottle, this color looks like it would be about 50/50 black and purple.  But on the nail, it's thoroughly purple...kind of a raisin purple.  It's odd.  I'm a bit torn on Amethyst Couture.  It applied rather dreadfully and was thicker than cold sawmill gravy.  But I like it so much in the bottle. :)  It's just not fair!!

Next up is one seriously holly-jolly-just-in-time-for-Christmas polish that is absolutely beautiful:  Emerald Elegance.

Ahhhhh, now we're talking. :D  Emerald Elegance has that gorgeously reflective metallic quality that we saw in Gilded Rose and Ruby Refined.  This green has a golden glow due to the abundance of tiny gold glitter in the base.  It is the polish form of Scarlett O'Hara's green velvet curtain dress. :)  The application of Emerald Elegance was good. 

Last we have my favorite from the Brocades, Embellished Blues.

Embellished Blues is not only super interesting in the bottle, but unlike Amethyst Couture, is delivers on the nail as well.  It is a grey-leaning blurple with a lot of tiny gold glitter and medium periwinkle glitter.  It has that same luxe feel of Emerald Elegance.  Application on this one was good also.

Uhhhh, no, you're not seeing things.  This lovely color DOES in fact look like a slightly darker version of that other polish that recently stole my heart, L'Oreal Too Dimensional?  Same color scheme...much different finish! :)  Variety is indeed the spice of life...even if the color is the same.  That sorta made sense.  Right?  It's late.

So...have I convinced anybody to finally run out to their local Rite Aid and pick these up??  My final thoughts about the Maybelline Brocades:

1)  People say they chip horribly, but they do not on me at all...not one of them.
2)  They dry very rough due to the glitter.  You will need a couple of coats of top coat.
3)  The colors are rich and interesting.
4)  The $3.99 price is very good for something that looks like these.
5)  They are a good way to get a glitter fix but still look dressy.

So...there you have it!  The Brocades collection, in my humble opinion, is a big winner. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day!

My Something Blue: Revlon Not So Blueberry (and a little bit about me)

Hey everybody!  Tuesday is my wedding anniversary.  Two years ago, I got married to my sweetheart and bestest bud Brian.  I also became a stepmother to two fantastic children, Hannah and Hunter.  I was older when I got married (this is my only marriage), so I wasn't really loving the idea of a wedding.  But Brian insisted that we have a wedding ...and I'm glad that he did, because our wedding was AWESOME in every way imaginable. :D

I know I probably won't surprise any of you with this admission, but I'm not your typical girl. :)  I did not want a standard wedding.  I wanted something with my unique stamp on it...and this meant something involving costuming and a bit of show...HAHAHA!!  We had a 1750's-themed Scottish wedding to reflect my heritage.  And my brother's day job just happens to be a bagpiper at a beachfront resort here. :)

How many teenagers do you know who would do this for their REAL mother, let alone their stepmother?? <3

I wanted everything to look very rustic, almost poor, like somebody in a Scottish village announced that somebody was getting married, and they all just got up and picked some heather on the moors and went to the wedding.  Our location was a gorgeous farmhouse in an unbelievably beautiful setting.  We said our vows in front of an old barn and used mismatched dishes for the reception.  My cake topper came from Edinburgh, and my guests were served scones from a wooden feeding trough.  The only thing missing was Gene Kelly dancing through the hills, a la Brigadoon.  It was beyond fabulous!!

Brian and Hunter's kilts were purple, but the plaid in my dress was more of a blurple, so I wanted to try to bring out the blue and wear my "something blue" on my nails.  I didn't really want to go that dark on my wedding day, so I decided on something tonal but lighter...Revlon Not So Blueberry.

Not So Blueberry is one of the scented Revlon polishes that came out way before the Parfumerie line.  It is a medium toned blurple that is really lovely and happened to be the same color as the Scottish heather garland I used. :)  It has a blue/pink/silver shimmer, and when dry, it smells fruity/fresh.

Looking at the bottle, you might think that Not So Blueberry would be frosty on the nail, but actually it's the silvery shimmer that gives it the almost metallic sheen.  It's quite beautiful and a very unusual color.  And it looks great with Scottish heather. <3

I know they wouldn't have worn blurple nail polish in 1750 Aberdeen, but hey, I did. :D


And because I'm feeling all mushy, here's my wedding processional! :)  Please enjoy the music, the outfits, my Mom struggling to keep it together, and me practically running to the altar!!  And be sure to notice the look I give Brian when I see his legs in a kilt. :P

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be on vacation with aforementioned sweetheart/best bud/hubby next week, so take care, and I'll see you in December! <3

Say What? Pipe Dream Polish What You Are or What

Hey everybody!  In the words of the great philosopher Edie Brickell, "I'm not aware of too many things. I know what I know, if you know what I mean."  Mmm-kay.  Those were the opening lines of the song "What I Am", the song from which Pipe Dream Polish takes its name for today's polish, What You Are or What.  Unlike the utterly confusing lyrics of "What I Am", there is nothing confusing about the awesomeness of this lovely polish! :)

Oh yeah.  Blurple jelly.  And the glitters...my my my...teal, fuchsia...oh, I'll just let the macro do the talking...

For those of you who weren't even close to being born in 1988, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' song "What I Am" was HUGE.  That was back when MTV still played music videos!  Edie was unlike anything else in the 80's, kind of a hippie chick.  I liked the song.  But coolest part about it was that my best friend's cousin was in her band.

What You Are or What is my kind of polish!  It's blurple.  It's a jelly.  It has all my favorite colors of glitter.  Flawless application.  Easy cleanup.   I used 2 coats and 1 coat of CND Air Dry for this glittery, juicy look. 

April at Pipe Dream Polish makes so many great polishes, and the formulas are fabulous.  Hey!  What do you know?  One of the prizes in my giveaway is a Pipe Dream Polish! :)  Be sure to enter, and you could win What You Are or What or another beautiful Pipe Dream Polish!

What do you think of this charming blurple polish?  Wow, I love it.

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