Julie G Candy Shoppe Colors

Hey everybody!  Today I'm showing the Candy Shoppe Colors from the fabulous drugstore brand Julie G.  I purchased these during a Polish Shopping Weekend back in the spring.  And yeah, yeah, I'm just now posting about them.  But I promise you'll love them. :D

The Candy Shoppe Colors collection consists of 9 colors, and I've got 6 of them here.  These polishes have a "jelly bean finish", and this description is dead-on.  They look/feel like a jellybean, a matte jelly.  I can't vouch for the taste, however.  And being jellies, they are sheer but build up pretty nicely in 3 coats.  Mr. VaNeLi kept me lots of company for these pics, but I didn't mind in this case.

Pixi Stick is a really pretty medium pink.  I adore this one!

Sour Apple is a medium green that's a touch grassy and quite flattering.

Lemon Drop is a bright yellow that's as yellow as a lemon meringue pie.  Mmmm.  My Mom makes really good lemon meringue pie, but I digress...  I didn't find Lemon Drop to be overly streaky, given its Quite Yellow Status, but I did use 4 coats for this one.

Sour Grape is a medium-toned purple with a blue undertone.  Of course I liked this one quite a bit.  I mean, it's purple.  And there's Angelo's hair.

Sweet Tooth, or as I could call it, "my personal affliction", is a bright medium blue.  The combination of this fun color with the jelly bean finish is so darn cute.  But *caution* - this one stains.  But oh, isn't it worth it? :)

 

Wild Cherry is a ripe, juicy red that looks simply yum.  I used 4 coats on this one, because for some insane reason, Mr. VaNeLi rears his ugly head most often whilst I sport a red polish.  Go figure.

The remaining colors I didn't pick up from the collection are Licorice (black), Lollipop (red-toned purple), and Candy Shop (orange).  I'm kinda wishing now I'd picked them up...I thought that Licorice may cause me application woes, but these formulas are so good that I don't think it would.  My personal favorites from my purchases are Sweet Tooth and Pixi Stick.

Julie G polishes are sold at Rite Aid and online at Jesse's Girl.  They retail for $3.99 each.  As I've said for a long time, Julie G is a good drugstore polish.  They're an addict's best friend!  Or worst nightmare? 

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

Formula X Infinite Ombré Looks

*Press sample

Hey everybody!  

Tonight I am posting some photos of manis I did over the summer with the Infinite Ombré kit by Formula X.  These polishes are jellies that can be blended together, layered, smudged around, plopped onto the nail haphazardly...and I can tell you from experience that you just about can't make an ugly mess out of them.  

The first step in the process is to use one coat of the Platinum Prime base.  As soon as that's dry, apply your jelly polish in whatever direction you so desire.  The result looks like pretty decent nail art for the untalented nail artist and has the overall appearance of very shiny hard candy.  And we all know that candy is good.

Infinite Indigo and Boundless Berry.  Ring finger is stamped with Pueen Love Elements #45 using the Platinum Prime base.

Limitless Lemon and Timeless Teal with a teardrop-shaped nail jewel.

Infinite Indigo and Timeless Teal, stamped with Pueen Love Elements #44 using the Platinum Prime base.

I was pleasantly surprised with this kit.  I had fun using it and absolutely loved the shine.  The Formula X Infinite Ombré kit is sold at Sephora for $29.50.  Have you experimented with the blendable jellies yet?

Thank you for stopping by, and have a lovely evening. <3

*Received as a gift from Formula X and Preen Me in exchange for photographs

China Glaze I Love Your Guts and Getting to Gnaw You

Hey everybody!  I'm in the mood for a Halloween polish.  What about you?  You ARE?!  Well, you've come to the right place. :D  Tonight I have two polishes from the China Glaze Apocalypse of Color collection.

The first one boasts an utterly charming moniker:  I Love Your Guts.  Well now...it doesn't get much better than that.

I Love Your Guts is a very cool polish with a very strange finish.  It's a frosty metallic with tiny black glitter that dries matte.  I have to be in a specifically matte-tolerating mood for this to work, and I wasn't at the time of these pics, so I used one layer of top coat, which sort of rendered it semi-matte. 

I Love Your Guts is a very lovely red-pink color.  The presence of the black glitter gives it an overall trashy appearance.  Like actual trash.  Like you dipped your fingers in some spooky mess, reminiscent of a typical horror movie character who makes terribly unwise choices.

Another one I picked up from the collection is Getting to Gnaw You, a black jelly with copper glitter.

"Getting to gnaw you...getting to gnaw all about you..."  Oh, sorry.  Visions of a zombie-fied Yul Brynner as the undead King of Siam were dancing through my head. :)  I loved this one in the bottle, and I have to say, I was surprised at how well pigmented the black jelly base was.  The copper glitter is very pretty and gives this polish a very chic look.  I used two coats of this with 2 coats of top coats...it's a rather hungry little number!

 
China Glaze, in my opinion, puts out some excellent Halloween polishes.  Did you pick up any from Apocalypse of Color?  

Thanks for stopping by, and always remember..I love your guts!! <3

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

The Cheapskate Files: Milani 3D Holographics

Hey everybody!  It's been a while since I got all cheap on you, hasn't it?  We all spent too much money at Christmas, so we're in the mood for something cheap, right?  RIGHT!  You might remember that I told you about a store in NC that I love to visit when I'm there that sells perfume, tobacco, and discontinued cosmetics (go ahead and chuckle...it IS rather funny).  Well last summer, I had the pleasure of visiting said store...and there is was, bathed in sunbeams...a huge bin of Milani 3D Holographics for $1.50 each.  I wiped the drool off my chin and snagged the entire collection!  YAY! :)

I won't tire you with loads of pesky details after every picture.  Let me just say that the 3D Holographics collection are jellies with a wonderful, mistake-free formula.  I used 3 coats of each polish due to my persistent friend stalker, Mr. VaNeLi.  These holos twinkle in every kind of lighting!

First up is Digital, a rosy pink.

Next is HD.  This polish is silver in the bottle...but see how not-so-silver it is on me?  I thought, "Ugh, are my nails THAT discolored?"  Of course, they ARE, but it made me wonder why this one looked so gold-ish...well, the blurred bottle shot shows quite a lot of gold holo particles!  So it sort of looks in-between gold and silver.

Next is Hi-Res, a medium purple.  Looks good enough to eat!!

Now this one is as gold as it gets:  3D.  This one looks like liquid gold on the nail.

And I saved my favorite for last...a light blue beauty called Cyberspace. <3  Look at all the colors peeking through in this one...

There was one more polish in this collection, a yellow-green called Hi-Tech, but I gave that one to my stepdaughter, who was helping me scoop all these up from the magic bin. :D

You may have read about these before...the holo effect is different from other polishes because there is something about the particles that looks slightly irregular, almost like tiny shards.  They are like a linear/scattered hybrid, with the linear effect being strongest on Cyberspace and HD.  Another bonus is that you don't need sunlight to watch them glow. 

I was so pleased with this Cheapskates Files score...not only are these awesome, but they're antiques too...these came out over 4 years ago! :)

I hope you've enjoyed today's attempt at making you feel better about your out of control hobby.  Have a lovely day! <3

Happy Birthday to Me: Different Dimension Orion Nebula

Hey everybody!  Yes, it's my birthday.  January 14 is the worst possible day of the year to have a birthday when you work in the field of accounting.  But I'll cut Mom some slack because she couldn't possibly have known this fact back when I was born. :)

There's just nothing like buying yourself a birthday present off your own wish list.  I believe I am the only person in my family who is aware that I have a wish list.  It's kind of along the lines of when I turned 30 and decided to throw myself a party to lament my lost youth...it had never occurred to anybody in my family to have a birthday party, and so after that first one, a grand tradition of my family actually throwing birthday parties began.  So the moral of the story is when nobody else does it for you, do it for yourself! :D

I have wanted Orion Nebula by Different Dimension since first I laid eyes on it, so I bought this little gem for myself!  

Can't you see why??  Can't you??

Look at that.  Just LOOK at that.  Hot pink in a black jelly, and ALL the glitter is circle...and some are even holographic! <3  Sure, I had to fish a bit for the big pieces...but when I had the finished product, all I could do was stare.  I guess you could say the POLISH did the fishing...because it got me hook, line and sinker. :D

I layered Orion Nebula over black because the black jelly base is quite sheer.  The photos show two coats.  There was plenty of smaller glitter with each dip of the brush...it was only the very large pieces that took a little more effort. :)

Want to guess why I adore this polish?  Is it because it's a jelly?  Because it's loaded in fabulous circle glitter? Because black and hot pink are, like, totally 80's??  None of the above.  I love this polish because it looks like a lava lamp.  I can just hear it...blub...blub...blub...

I got my Orion Nebula (and some other lovely Different Dimension goodies!) on Etsy.  

Thanks for spending time with me on my birthday...I did my partying on Saturday, so I'm probably just going spend time with my puppies tonight.  And paint my nails. :)

Have a lovely day! <3

My Christmas Favorites from Layla: Killing Red and Green Galaxy

Hey everybody!   Wow, it's certainly getting close to Christmas.  My head still thinks it's June. :/  Oh well, that won't stop me from wearing my festive Christmas polishes!  Today I am featuring a couple of Layla Ceramic Effects, 53 and 54...also known as Killing Red (mmm-kay) and Green Galaxy, respectively.

Layla Ceramic Effect 53 is a delicious apple red jelly with flakies.  I would say it had me at jelly, but then it REALLY had me at flakies. :)

Killing Red's jelly formula was a bit thin and you can certainly see Mr. Vaneli (visible nail line) peeking through, but it looks worse in photos than in real life.  I used two coats for the photos.  The flakies apply well and evenly and give a lovely, fiery, orange-gold glow.  Ahhhh...reminds me of a yule log. ;)

My other Layla Ceramic Effect that positively screams "O CHRISTMAS TREE!" is #54, Green Galaxy.

Galaxy Green is a beautiful deep emerald green.  It's one of those greens that looks slightly blackened.  Green Galaxy is positively packed with green glitters of all sizes.  Especially pretty in this one are the micro glitters...they make this polish twinkle like a little star. :)

I applied two coats of Green Galaxy for the photos.  This is also a jelly, but it covers more thoroughly than Killing Red.  Either than, or Mr. Vaneli was tired of showing up for so many of my photos. :D

How do you like these true Christmas colors?  Layla Ceramic Effect polishes are lovely and long wearing.  Unfortunately, Ulta has stopped carrying them, but Ninja Polish carries an excellent selection of Layla.

Funny story about these two polishes...they were a Christmas gift from my sister last year.  My family, unusual beings that we are, never writes the correct "from whom" names on present tags.  We have done that for as long as I can remember.  We usually like to drop some sort of connection hint in the name.  Well, last year my sister wrapped this big box of cosmetics, including these polishes, and everything she bought had glitter or shimmer in it.  The tag read "To: Melissa, From: Tramps 'R' Us".  LOLOLOL!!  I still love that one. :P

Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day!

The Blogger Made Me Do It: Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce

Hey everybody!  I just know you're in the mood for me to blame somebody else for making me buy polish.  Well, here I am to deliver!  Aren't you impressed with my lack of personal responsibility? :D  Today's guilty party for causing me to go polish bananas is...drumroll please...Michelle from Lacquer or Leave Her.  Her post on Shirley Ann Nail Lacquers had me hopping on Etsy over Black Friday weekend before the Thanksgiving leftovers were cold. :)  I took advantage of the fabulous Black Friday sale that designer Cherish was having and snagged this unbelievable beauty...and it's Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce! ;)

Are your eyes still recovering from the incredible holo glitter in this beauty??  Well, that's good, because mine haven't! :D  I kid you not, Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce is now in my Top 5 most beloved polishes.  It's THAT beautiful.  And Cherish is right...this is not my Mom's cranberry sauce.  Our cranberry sauce always had ridges and numbers stamped on the bottom. :P

As you can see, Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce is...YEP...a cranberry-colored jelly that is packed with heaps of delicious medium, small, and micro gold holo glitter.  I used three coats of it, and application was hands down the best jelly polish I have ever used.  The glitter spread evenly as well.

Of course, photos can't accurately show the flash of the glitter...but I will tell you that under the lights, it looks like flickering candlelight.  It's so perfect for Christmas time!  I was talking to somebody in the office while wearing this polish, and the person was looking at my hands and honestly got distracted.  I have been wearing Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce for three days and counting.  I just don't want to take it off. :)

You can find Not Your Mama's Cranberry Sauce and other Shirley Ann Nail Lacquers on Etsy.  Full sized bottles sell for only $6, which is just absurd, because every single one I bought is pure magic.  I bought my sister a bottle of Cranberry Sauce for Christmas because it's so crazy gorgeous.  I will show you the other Shirley Ann Nail Lacquers I picked up over Black Friday weekend at a later date...I just HAD to get this tasty number in before Christmas!

What do you think of this juicy delight?  Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day! ;)