It's Like One of Those Chain E-mail Thingies...

Now forward this to 10 people with your answers or your dog will get hemorrhoids!
No, not really, I wouldn't wish that on your dog.
(BTW, I lifted this from Amandalandish)

MAKEUP

Blush or Bronzer?

Blush. I just can't get into bronzer. Maybe when I am REALLY tan in the summer, but normally it just makes me look bruised.

Lipgloss or Lipstick?

I prefer to wear gloss usually, when I wear anything on my lips. However, there is something about lipstick that I love. Maybe it's being able to change the color of my lips entirely, who knows, but I don't wear it much, too much hassle.

Eyeliner or Mascara?

If I had to pick only one, it would be mascara. On lazy days when I don't want to look like a total bum, I'll put on a coat or two of Laura Mercier or Lancome and it changes the way my whole face looks. I have really big eyes with deep sockets and I get dark circles. If I don't add some black something, I end up looking really tired and kinda bug-eyed.

Foundation or Concealer?

I guess foundation. I prefer powder though, and not full coverage. I don't really use concealer unless I am getting really dolled up for something.

Neutral or Color Eye Shadow?

Color!! I love neutrals too, though. My absolute favorite makeup item is eye shadow, and I own every color under the sun. I especially love green - Hello!! Urban Decay Absinthe!!!

Pressed or Loose Eye Shadow?

This is tough. I am going with pressed because they are more portable and generally easier to use. However, most of my favorite colors are in loose form. It's like they can't get those awesome duochromes to press or something.

Brushes or Sponges?

Brushes.

NAILS

OPI or China Glaze?

China Glaze, hands down. The last few collections (i.e. Metro and the Sailor one) have been absolute perfection formula wise and less than half the price of OPI. 

Long or Short?

In between. I like my nails when they are a little shorter, but they also look great with some (but not too much) length.

Acrylic or Natural?

Really? Natural. Acrylics aren't nails, they are plastic on your fingers.

Brights or Darks?

I can't choose. I love them all. 

Flower or No Flower?

Flower? Um... This seems like a very personal question, and not at all related to my nails.

BODY

Perfume or Body Splash?

Perfume, but not all is created equal. All body splashes smell like cheap, synthetic, "make me sneeze and my eyes water in a bottle". Some perfumes do too, and most people put WAAAY too much on. I like natural perfumes and oils. My signature scent is LaVanila Pure Vanilla.

Lotion or Body Butter?

Coconut Oil. BAM!

Body Wash or Soap?

Either one if it's from Lush. I like my LaVanila body wash, but I also like bars. Again, this is another thing I am very picky about the ingredients of. Lately, I have been using Lush, but after I exhaust my supply, it will more than likely be body wash of some sort.

Lush or Other Bath Company?

Funny you should ask... Lush.

FASHION

Jeans or Sweat Pants?

Sweatpants. Whenever humanly possible.

Long Sleeve or Short?

Long.

Dresses or Skirts?

Skirts... or sweatpants. I own a few Old Navy skirts that are like sweat-skirts. No lie.

Stripes or Plaid?

PLAID. It's my favorite color.

Flip Flops or Sandals?

Flip flops. The cheaper, the better.

Studs or Dangly Earrings?

Hoops.

Necklaces or Bracelets?

I have a pretty significant tattoo on my chest, so I tend to not wear necklaces. I have a few bracelets that I like, but I tend not to wear jewelery except a couple rings and earrings.

Scarves or Hats?

I like both, but I wear scarves more. I am fortunate to have a good friend and a mom who both knit/crochet so most of my stuff is handmade.

Heels or Flats?

Depends on whether or not I need to be able to walk.

Cowboy Boots or Riding Boots?

Riding boots. Better yet, motorcycle boots. Yes, I own a pair of black leather Harley Davidson boots. I HATE motorcycles, but I freaking love these boots, even if my man does accuse me of dressing like a dude.

Jacket or Hoodies?

Hoodies! Zip or pull over, doesn't matter, they go great with sweatpants!

Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe?

Huh?

Abercrombie or Hollister?

I'm sorry, I am a 28 year old mother of two, why are you even asking me this question?!?!

Saks 5th or Nordstroms?

Target?

HAIR

Curly or Straight?

It's curly. I straighten it sometimes. I like the way it looks and feels straight, but it's hard to maintain.

Bun or Ponytail?

I'm gonna go with bun, because when I have to put my hair up, it's usually a total mess and just needs to be entirely contained in something. Can we please bring back the babushka?

Bobby Pins or Butterfly Clips?

I am going to say butterfly because I think they mean claw clips and I have about a million of them. They're perfect for putting all of my messy hair up and out of the way.

Hair Spray or Gel?

I usually use curl creams and such, so neither I guess.

Long or Short?

Long.

Light or Dark?

Dark.

Side Swept Bangs or Full Bangs?

Bangs? Ugh.

Up or Down?

I prefer to have it in a state where I can wear it down, but that usually requires an amount of work that is greater than the threshold of my laziness.

Summer or Winter?

Fall. I hate extreme temps. Boyfriend says my internal thermostat is schizophrenic.

Fall or Spring?

Fall.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Vanilla.

East Coast or West Coast?

Well, I live in Pittsburgh, and I know things are WAAAAY less expensive on the East Coast. I've been to California and Seattle. Bother are absolutely wonderful places to visit but wouldn't want to live there.

I want more makeup questions!

Turkey Day

Last night, I wanted to paint my nails a nice orangey color for Turkey Day, well that failed. See below:

This is China Glaze Cross Iron 360 with and without flash (without is more color accurate). This was an older color re-released for Halloween. I really love the color, in the bottle. On the nail... well... Streaky, frosty, watery mess. It was opaque in 2 coats though. Two watery, messy coats. I took pictures and took it off. It looked like hell and I didn't even want to bother with the cleanup task that I had ahead of me.

After I took it off, I put on China Glaze Brownstone from the Metro collection. This is the first time I have worn this polish and, like the other cremes from this collection, it was perfection in a bottle. It applied like a dream with minimal cleanup. My cuticles are a bit of a mess, I am trying to just push them back without cutting them, but they creep back down, causing the polish to pool on them. Anyway, here's two coats of Browstone with Seche Vite (it's just as shiny without topcoat):

Not So Heavy Metal

Aka Julep Sienna


Today, I have for you a brand that is relatively new to me. I recently enrolled in the Julep Maven program (because who doesn't like getting deeply "discounted" automatic deliveries of Polish??? No one, that's who. Ok, maybe my hubby). Anyway, I get a box every month for $20. My first box had 2 Polishes and only cost me $5. Plus it had a hand scrub and two samples of lotions. I then got a coupon for a pre-selected duo at $14, so I snatched it up because one of the colors was very very appealing to me. Surprisingly, this is not that color (I will review it soon though).

The second half of the duo I purchased was Sienna:

Flash:

No flash:

Color: Sienna is a neutral white gold foil. I'm sure there are lots of colors very similar to this (an Orly comes to mind, Luxe maybe??). It's extremely shiny, sparkly and metallic. I like these types of colors. More muted than an in-your-face, space-aged metallic silver, but not tacky like a yellow gold foil.

What I used: 2 coats of Nailtek Foundation II (I've been having some splitting lately and Nailtek is wonderful for making my nails stronger), 2 coats of Sienna and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

Application/formula: Very nice formula. It was a little on the runny side, but not watery. Opaque in 2 coats, even though I was expecting to need 3 for some reason. It didn't apply like a typical foil. I'm not sure how that is, but I love foils and use them often and this one seemed to apply more like a creme or jelly or standard shimmer. I guess it was missing that "grittiness", which isn't necessarily bad, that foils can have. It also didn't dry quite as fast as a typical foil (not a bad thing). I give the formula a B+. The brush is also pretty good, not too wide nor too thin. My only complaint is that the very long stem causes some dripping if you're not very careful.

Brand/Cost: I am putting these two together, because I want to say some things about this brand from my experience and the cost for all of their Polishes. First, they can be purchased from Julep.com for $14/each. Obviously, if you sign up to be a Maven, you get a bit of a discount. $14 is steep for Polish, in my opinion. You all know what a tightwad I can be about makeup and such. What makes it even worse is that the bottles are only .27 fl oz. To give you an idea:

Illamasqua - 0.5 fl oz @ $14 ($28/oz)
China Glaze - 0.5 fl oz. @ $3-$7 ($6-$14/oz)
Rescue Beauty Lounge - 0.4 fl oz. @ $18 ($45/oz)
Essie - 0.5 fl oz @ $8 ($16/oz)
Chanel - 0.4 fl oz @ $25 ($62.50/oz)


Julep - 0.27 fl oz @ $14 is a whopping $51.85 per oz!!! It's not as expensive as Chanel (and, to be perfectly honest, I don't think Chanel has any business charging so much for their mediocre, dupe-able Polishes), but it's pretty much one of the most expensive Polish brands per ounce. You use the polish once and see a significant dent in the bottle level, even at just two relatively thin coats.

I am going to stick with it for $20/month as long as my boxes continue to have at least 2 Polishes and the formula stays pretty good like the 2 I have tried so far. I'll also probably buy some when there are deals like the set of two that I got for $14 (free shipping). However, I don't think these are worth full price under any circumstance. They're nice, the formula is slightly above average, but there is nothing unique about the colors (so far) and the bottles are a little strange (tall and thin). If they come out with some awesome linear holos, duochromes or flaky glitters, I might change my mind. Until then, PLEASE DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE FOR THESE!

I'm Going Red Carpet Baby!

If it were up to me, that carpet would be purple. Purple is a much more awesome carpet color than red. I digress (Actually, I digress quite often, huh?).

I have 2 followers and yet, somehow, got nominated for an award!! *bows* Thank you, thank you! Actually, I really have to thank the lady with the awesome name (Amanda, duh) over at Amandalandish. She's super cool and I love her blog. So, uh, here goes:

And here is where I have to do work (boo!). Well, I guess talking about myself isn't really work, I like to do that...

~ List 7 things that have to do with how awesome I am... I mean 7 things about myself.
~ Nominate 15 other blogs that I think deserve the award (and I am also going to add why)

My Awesomeness:
1. I actually fancy myself a writer and I have a "humor" blog here: The Trbobitch.
2. I am a Libertarian political activist. I was one of 4 people who put together an event this past September in NYC called LibertyFest II, which had over 800 attendees (sold out and then some).
3. I will be voting for Ron Paul for president.
4. I have 2 boys (5 and 11), a husky, a rottmutt and 2 kitties. I also have a non-state-sanctioned husband whom I love dearly.
5. I am a full time Software Quality Assurance Analyst.
6. I used to work at a Ren Faire during summers (and I dressed up as a pirate)
7. I really, really, REALLY, REALLY want to go to Scotland. I will probably not come back to the US when I do.

Ok, stuff you probably care about more... Here are my picks for this award (I'm not sure if this is limited to beauty blogs, but I say it's not):

1. Manicure Addict - Katherine. Not only because she was my very first follower, but because she pulls off those super long talons beautifully and has some great posts.

2. All You Desire. She has the most beautiful, flawless swatches. She obviously puts a great deal of time and effort into her work (enough to have done all the swatches for Illamasqua.com!!) and I really, really appreciate that.

3. Nail Fanatic - Gladys. She always has great swatches and she does a great job.

4. Polish or Perish. Love, love, love this blog! I believe they have 3 or 4 contributors and the logo is just FANTASTIC.

5. Polish to the People! One of my BEST friends, fellow nail polish afficionado and the person who got me hooked on nail polish and makeup. She hasn't posted for a long time, so maybe you can go over there, comment and renew her interest in blogging ;-).

6. Calling People Names. Non-beauty blog. I love her writing and her stories. It's always fun to get an inside peek into someone else's life from their perspective.

7. Getcha Nails Did. Love that name. She has lovely posts.

8. Makeup your Jangsara. I think this is a very unique. She doesn't just do makeup looks, she does these crazy, Hollywoodesque jobs. Maybe not the most practical always, but seriously cool. She also does a lot of very helpful tutorials and makeup swatches. I am always excited when I see that she has posted.

9. My Simple Little Pleasures - Colette. Three words: WATER. MARBLE. QUEEN. That is all.

10. Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh. This is only the funniest blog of all time. (non-beauty)

11. Stupid Nail Polish Names. And this is only the funniest nail polish blog of all time.

12. Adventures in Acetone. Lovely nail art. Not really my thing, but very fun to look at!

13. Bring on the Bling - Velvet. I love her for THIS post.

14. R3 Daily - Maria. Creator of Cult Nails and Unicorn Puke. Need I say more?

15. Polish Vixen. She always has the most beautiful Konads!

Whew, ok, I'm done.

Hydrated Chromium(III) Oxide

... a blue-green pigment of medium saturation and relatively dark in value.

Aka Illamasqua Viridian


That's how wikipedia (heart!) described viridian. Illamasqua describes this Polish as Metallic peacock green. I think that works too.

This is a shapeshifter. It's not really a duochrome, but it appears different colors depending on the lighting. Indoors, it's a standard forest green shimmer. Outdoors, in the sun, you see way more blue making it more of a teal color.

Price: 13.50 GBP (approx. $21.31) on Illamasqua.com or $14 on Sephora.com (unless you're lucky enough to live near a Sephora brick-and-mortar that carries these).

What I used: One coat of Nailtek Foundation II, 2 coats of Viridian, one coat of Seche Vite.

Application/formula: Very nice. This was slightly more watery than the other Illamasquas I have tried, but still a very, very good formula. Went where I wanted it to go, no pooling, dripping or balding. It even dried pretty fast. I only had to wait about a minute and a half before doing the second coat. Also, completely opaque in 2 coats (definitely needs 2). Not much else to say except typical Illamasqua loveliness.

Sorry if the reflections on the pics make my nails look lumpy. I assure you those are just reflections (because it's so shiny!) and this is a smooth as a baby's butt.

Painted by Color and Foiled Again!

Not sure where I came up with that one, but it sort of sounded clever. Maybe... A little? Anyway... I wanted to show you swatches of the Kat von D Painted Love & Foiled Lipstick Set.

Here's the pic in the package from: Sephora

 Here's the pic I showed you before:

Adora, Backstage Bambi, Whiskey Woman, Hellbent, Vestalula, Celebutard

Now onto the swatches!!

No flash:

Flash:

Left to right: Backstage Bambi, Vestalula, Whiskey Woman, Celebutard, Adora, Hellbent


Backstage Bambi: Yeah, pretty much. This is the lipstick that is left on um, the "shirt collars" of rockstars from the groupie chicks (bambis, if you will) that go back stage. Perfect. Anyway, it's a bright, hot pink. Maybe a little fuschia leaning. Looks way more muted in the tube than on the lip.

Vestula: Sephora calls it a "Medium brown". I say it's more of a pinky brown-red. I need to try this one on, not a color I would normally pick but it looks like it could be flattering.

Whiskey Woman: They call this one "Pinkish brown". I call it a muted magenta leaning red. Another one that I will have to take on a test drive.

Celebutard: Good name, because it makes me think of Kim Kardashian. I think the woman is gorgeous, but she's none too bright if you ask me. Or maybe she is, that wedding gave her a lot of publicity. Whatever, I digress. This is a peachy nude. It's wearable for me with a lip liner (my lips are pretty pigmented and light colors don;t work well as the red from my lips tends to show on the edges).

Adora: Beautiful foiled red. Candy apple red, metallic. Awesome. However, I have an even better metallic red to show you later ;-)

Hellbent: Deep burgundy red.

I haven't really test driven any of these yet to comment on wear. They do smell like lipstick, but not in a cheap, nasty way. I actually kind of like that smell sometimes. They are nicely pigmented and were a pain to get off my arm, so they should wear well. I'm not really one to wear lipstick, but I will update if I ever wear one.

I'm happy I got this. For $28, I get to sample lipsticks that I have been eyeing but would ever spend full price on because I never use an entire lipstick.

Little By Little...

I am losing my freaking sanity over this freaking POLISH!

Aka Rescue Beauty Lounge Poco a Poco (pretentious Italian music term meaning "little by little", duh)

As I have mentioned before, my first RBL purchase was the "Firebird" collection. There's a story behind it, but I won't get into it because I am so absolutely disgusted that I spent $18 a pop for these horrendous Polishes.

My only experience with RBL before this was second hand. My friend at work got me hooked on Polish a couple of years ago and, when her addiction far exceeded mine (it only slightly exceeds mine now), she started buying these "$18 Polishes" and I thought she was out of her mind. Then I started reading Polish blogs and seeing all these rave reviews over the formula, I became intrigued. When one of my favorite bloggers posted the Firebird collection, I had to have it.

I coughed up $60 for 3 Polishes from the collection. They all have fancy Italian names, so let's call them "the blue one", "the pink one" (the one I am showing you today) and "the really light lavender one". The best of the three is the blue one. Good pigmentation but still not an $18 formula. The lavender one took forever to dry and went on very goopy and sheer. The pink one... well... Let's look at some pics first:

Ok, very pretty color, I will give it that. And unique, as far as I know. After all, that's why I bought these. This pic is outside with flash. There's not going to be any sun in Pittsburgh until about May, so I have to work with what I have here. Doesn't look too bad, right? I will say, the pink is a bit darker and more mauvey than shown here.

Hmmm, what do we have here? See that bump on my middle finger? Yeah, I didn't nick the Polish... That, my friends, is a brush hair. Yes, I kid you not. On the THIRD coat, one of the hairs from the crappy, floppy, bendy brush fell out, onto my nail and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

Ok, I could have removed and repainted, but this formula was so damn frustrating, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn't even bother cleaning up or moisturizing, so excuse the Seche fingers and ragged cuticles.

What I used: 2 coats of Nailtek foundation II, THREE coats of ($18) RBL poco a crappo, and one coat of Seche. Thank god for Seche Vite.

Application/formula: BIG FAT F. F for FAIL. EF for EPIC FAIL. No, seriously, I am so angry with this Polish right now, I am considering crushing it with a hammer and sending the pics to RBL. First coat, applied very thin, was watery but dry. It seemed like I never had enough polish on the brush to cover my nail. I just cut my nails, so it's not like they are unusually long or anything. Other than that, though, first coat wasn't too bad. Mind you, this is the second time I have tried this Polish with the same results. Second coat was when the trouble really started. I made sure I waited until the first coat was almost totally dry (still just slightly tacky, which is more time than I usually wait for coat 2). I started applying the second coat and I had the same issue with what seemed like never enough polish on the brush, so I used thicker coats, as I had no choice. This is when the first coat decided "no, I'm not really dry" and it seemed like I was applying Polish over wet polish and making a huge mess. I waited even longer for the third coat, because it needed a third coat. Pretty much the same thing, so what I ended up with was a goopy, uneven mess, with a brush hair in it, to boot! Applying the Seche really helped even things out, but I am not happy at all.

The brush sucks. Once again, it's a floppy, bendy disaster. When I say bendy, I mean that when I go to apply to the nail and start farther up than I mean to, so I can push back toward the cuticle and get a clean line, instead of moving the Polish, the damn brush bristles would BEND. I have no words for this... Ok, maybe I do: UNACCEPTABLE! Seriously, I paid $18 for a crappy formula in a smaller than average bottle and you can't even give me a decent brush with which to apply said crappy formula???

$18, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, I am harping. I paid $60 for 3 friggin Polishes and have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, and yeah, I seriously DOUBT I will ever use them again (MAYBE only the blue one). I pay $3 for China Glaze, and while sometimes it is hit or miss, I have never used one with a formula (or brush) as bad as this. In fact, the Polishes from the Metro collection are some of the BEST Polishes (color- and formula-wise) I have EVER used. While I will gladly pay $14 a pop for Illamasqua, I will NEVER EVER AGAIN pay $18 for RBL.

After all this, and a coat of Seche, it's STILL not even close to dry (and I am typing away, hoping to screw it up so I have an excuse to take it off). 45 minutes was how long this mani took me. I am usually done and dry in 20 minutes TOPS. What, exactly, did I pay $18 for again? Maybe I can use it to sign xmas cards or something.

***Update: I posted this at about 2:00, which was about 15 minutes AFTER I had finished the mani. It's now 3:30, so almost 2 hours after I FINISHED the mani. Guess what? It's STILL not dry. I can lightly tap a nail with the edge of another nail and get a nice, big dent. So wonderful.

The Thing I Had to Have SO Badly...

...that as soon as Sephora gave me 20% I snatched it up along with a few other things - because who could possibly not get as much as possible when it's Sephora and it's 20% off, duh - that I spent (again) entirely too much money on shit I probably won't use.

Anyway, I promised swatches of the Too Faced Sweet Dreams palette and here they are. I've never done this before and I used my cell phone, so sorry for the slightly crappy quality. I'm lazy and I find my Droid easier than breaking out the camera...

It looks like a lacy book the flips open to reveal eye shadows and there is a palette that slides out of the bottom with the blushes, bronzer and highlighter, plus some goofy, unhelpful cards on how to create looks. Yes, that is a mirror on the top flap, it's getting the ugly marlite in my mom's bathroom HAHA.

Ok...

The Shadows:

No Flash

Flash

From left to right, vertical swatches: In the Buff (matte vanilla), Peach Fuzz (sheer, shimmery peach with golden/coppery micro sparkles), Copper Peony (metallic copper) Teddy Bear (matte medium neutral brown), Lovey Dovey (dark bronze with micro sparkles), Satin Sheets (sheer light pink with a golden sheen), Cut the Cake (light lilac with a subtle golden sheen), Party Girl (rich violet with sparse glitter), Nice Ash (gunmetal shimmer), Smolder (almost black matte navy)

Across the top from left (sorry, ran out of arm): Honeymoon (antique white gold metallic - possible dupe for UD's Maui Wowie without the annoying glitter?), Label Whore (dark reddish brown with teal sheen - duochrome!!), Nice Stems! (yellow toned bright green shimmer with slight gold sheen), Cop a Teal (dark, dark teal shimmer), First Dance (Deep matte purple/eggplant)

Thoughts


In the Buff is the perfect end of shadow to brow filler (or highlight if you will) for those times I am using super bold or dark colors or going for a monochromatic look and I don't want a shimmery or frosty highlight color to take away from it.

Peach Fuzz is sheer but the sparkles are nice and don't give horrid fallout (think UD midnight cowboy, ugh!) and it's perfect for a sparkly overlay that won't change the base color too much (on lighter colors) or a nice sparkly highlight.

Copper Peony is one from their new Midnight Garden (? I think) collection. I have the full size and it gives much better color payoff if I remember correctly. Lovely color regardless.

Teddy Bear is my go-to brow color.

Satin Sheets and Cut the Cake both are a little sheer but have a lovely sheen to them.

Label Whore is one of my favorite shadow colors. I have a Loreal HIP loose shadow in the same color and I LOVE it. This one has the best payoff of all of them.

Nice Stems! great color, disappointing payoff.


The Cheek Drawer:

Top to bottom: Chocolate Soleil, Cocoa Rose, Sweet Pink, Candlelight Glow


Thoughts:


Chocolate Soleil smells like freaking chocolate, holy crap! Totally wasn't expecting that. Other than that, it's a matte brown color that makes my skin (at least on my arm) look bruised. And not like, "ouch my kid left legos on the floor yesterday and I hurt myself" bruised. More like, "I used my arm as a hammer 3 weeks ago and it's just now fading away" bruised. Maybe it will look better when I have a tan, but then, who needs bronzer?

Cocoa Rose is a dusty brown rose color. Perfect blush color for me. And it's matte, which I love. I'm not big on the NARS Orgasm shimmer (thought I do wear it and it looks good).

Sweet Pink speaking of NARS Orgasm.... Same concept, more pink and less shimmer.

Candlelight Glow I believe Too Faced meant this to be used as an all over face color. It's a tad too shimmery for me to do that. It makes a decent highlighter, but, as you can see, it doesn't show up really well. This is good (and you can partially blame my bad pic) for the most part, but I'd like a tad more payoff with this.

Overall, I really like this palette. Though, unlike last year's palette, this one seems to have slightly less pigmented versions of the shadows (which you often see in palettes like this). For $52, though, there are enough shades in here that I will use regularly and this had replaced last year's (with the shitty pull-out thingie for the shadows) as my travel staple. (This also came with a full-sized Shadow Insurance tube).

Still available at Sephora.com!

Big Burrito Nails

Aka Even an Envelope Can Be Inspiring

So my wonderful non-state-sanctioned husband is a subscriber to the "Big Burrito mailing list"... It's basically a restaurant franchise that includes Mad Mex and Casbah here in Pittsburgh. And now you're asking "WTF does this have to do with nails, Trbo?" And I answer, "Stop being so damn impatient! I'm getting there!"

Sorry, didn't mean to yell at you. Anyway, he got some holiday coupons from Big Burrito (nothing to write home about really - $10 off an entree at a place that's approx $60/plate? I'd feel totally ghetto pulling out that coupon, I have to say). They came in this gorgeous metallic/shimmery/matte green envelope. I told him that I needed a nail polish that color. To which he replied something like "you mean you don't already have that color? I don't believe it."

So, I set out to recreate that beautiful envelope... (Picture of said envelope is, sadly, unavailable)

Ok, wipe your chin, there's a little drool...

Here's what I used: One coat of Nailtek Foundation II, 2 coats of Sephora nail color in Prom Night (not to be confused with $OPI, these are the little mini Sephora brand Polishes), one coat of CND Effects in Gold Pearl and 2 coats of Essie Matte About You topcoat.

Application: Sephora Polish - Very nice. Love the brushes in these. They're like the Sally Hansen Instadri brushes if those brushes were done right and not put in a horrible Polish formula. Flat, thick and rounded at the edges. Plus, it's  mini bottle so the stem on the brush isn't too long causing dripping. They're also not so wide that they splay off the nail. It was opaque in 2 coats.
CND Effects - Ok, this one is a "pearl" which pretty much translates to "Hello, brushstrokes!" but other than that it applied nicely.

I am really digging the matte over shimmer/frost. It's still very shiny, but satiny shiny instead of glossy shiny. It looks like metallic velvet to me.

So did I get close to the envelope color? Well, I don't have the envelope handy to compare, but I will say there was much less yellow in it. If they had "silver pearl", it would have worked better. Alas, this is what I had to work with and I am quite pleased with the outcome.

Heart Purple

I LOOOOOVE purple. So much in fact, that I caught myself using purple twice in a row (I usually change it up every time). 

I got a couple of hauls from transdesign and Sally's, plus a nice little gem of a Polish at Ross. Have a look:

This was after a couple of days of wear. It's Essie Sexy Divide ($8 at Transdesign.com or at Giant Eagle and Rite Aid) with CND Sapphire Sparkle ($5.50 at transdesign.com). This was taken with my Droid without flash (damn mercury bulbs!!)

With flash. Isn't that sparkle DIVINE?? It's a predominantly blue (very bright and almost teal) sparkle that flashes a purple/pink color. Duochrome sparkle? I'm in! Sexy Divide applied well, 2 coats over Nailtek Foundation II, one coat of Sparkle and one coat of Seche Vite.

*@&*#&*^!*$)($$!!!!!!!!!! Do you see this??? Yes, slightly less blue than shown... this color is effing AMAZING! It's Cosmetic Arts, made by Forsythe - makers of Color Club and Fingerpaints, and found at Ross Dress for Less for $1.99. I have a few of their Polishes and really like them. This one was a bit watery, but in a weird way. It was watery but didn't want to spread very well. You'd normally think that watery would mean a dripping, pooling mess. It wasn't awful, but not top-notch formula either. It did reach opacity in 2 coats, however, and dried super fast (and semi-matte, which makes me think there is some neon pigment in there).

The accent nail is a brand I have never heard of before that I picked up at Rite Aid for $3.99. It's Hedy's ma.nish.ma. holographic nail color. That's what the brand is called. The color is Blaster. I don't see much holo but it is sparkly and duochrome-y. There are tiny pink and blue sparkles suspended in what look like a milky, lavender base. One coat, went on nicely, not much else to report expect the $4 bottle is pretty small - .22 oz. Not really worth it for what amounts to a layering Polish that I probably won't use much.