Essie Maximillian Strasse her

This is a new one from one of Essie's new line.  It is a sage green and really pretty.  It is from the Spring Collection.  They also have a resort collection so it is hard not to get the two mixed up.  But this is definitely from the Spring collection.  It is a sage with hints of gray two coats and a top coat and you are good to go.  I like polishes like that.  It is kind of hard to be so excited about this polish after my last post but it is really pretty.  I think it is the best color of the collection but I still did get two other colors which are equally as nice.  Essie just has a way of making great pastels.  Like Zoya makes those great neutrals.  So, this polish won't disappoint.  If you buy it on eBay it is only around $6.00.  I know I don't show enough drug store brands but when I can get Essie and China Glaze for 5 or 6 dollars the same as something from the drug store I opt for the Essie and China Glaze.  Covergirl's new line is great and I will be reviewing it tomorrow and fill you in on a secret about this polish.  I am happy with this color.  It wasn't a waste of money because I have three niece's to share it with and I just got the greatest news.  My daughter is spending the whole summer in Houston. One of my favorite blogs is  Lozloza they are a mother daughter team who have a passion for  nail polish.  I guess I am secretly a little jealous because I don't have that with my daughter living in different cities but with her here all summer we are going to have some fun and I really look forward to that and I hope you all can too.  I will have her do her own posts so we have some good stuff coming this summer. 
Ciao bellas,
Patty

 

Lozlosa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think about the color need it or pass?

Battle of the Butter Londons

Today, I have the dilemma of which butter London to keep but after seeing both you will see the choice is clear.   This is Torch, a Nordstrom exclusive, I had kind of been waiting for because of the pictures I had seen.  I was so impressed they showed it with gold flecks in the sun.  I got it and was not too pleased.  First, it is a jelly.  Ok, I can overlook that but it did not have the wow factor swatches butter London was putting out.  So, it has been sitting on my go back to Nordstrom shelf for about a week now.  Meantime, I was very happy with Jaffa, the orange crème.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now go forward one week.  Butter London announces I guess their summer line.   Wow, there is this polish called Sunbaker.  Had to try that one.  Holy crap.  A total winner.  No problems with pictures.  It is like a perfect polish with one flaw I am willing to work with and that is the first coat is a little streaky and I did use three coats but check it out it is like you hear, AHH, when you see it.

 

 

 

 

 

Just look at that sparkle.  This is in the shade and look at how it shimmers with gold.  I love this polish.  I see myself wearing very often this summer.  I am so happy with it and so glad I got it.  There is one other from the collection that might have that WOW factor but I won’t know until tomorrow.  I am actually going to drag my butt to Nordstrom and go exchange Torch for I am really looking at Marbs.  If it has the same WOW factor that this does I am set to go.  Since my husband is not going to have a long vacation we are just going to spend a few days at a local beach.  Wish we could go to our hometown beach but it is too far.  So, we settled on a short visit to a local beach which is fine.  Next year it is either Xtapa or back to Venice, CA.  I don’t know which I would want more but we will see.  I might just buy another bottle of this so I can be sure I have it for next summer that is how much I like this polish.

So, if you had to choose what would be your choice they are both pretty, I am just gaga over Sunbaker but I don’t know does anyone prefer Torch?

Ciao for now bellas,

Patty

Kimber’s Challenge A-Z N is for NARS Night Porter

This is a Nars polish I have had for about two years and really have not worn that much but I keep it because it really is pretty in person in pictures it just gets lost.  I must have taken at least 30 pictures and could not get this shimmer.  This is a shimmer polish but to me it looks much more like a crème.  Now, I do have to admit that the formula is just ok.  It is not outstanding like some other polishes and I got to thinking maybe that is why I don’t reach for it as much.  Once it dries and has top coat it is ok but Nars polishes are quite pricey and for that amount of money.  I want outstanding.  I did not get that with this polish.  I just wanted to make sure I got two N’s for this challenge.  Next week is O maybe I will try that other very popular O polish for that one.  HMM.  Maybe?

 

 

 

 

Ciao for now,  I do have swatches that are ready to go and I am so hoping I can post them tomorrow.

Patty

Adventures in Stamping Orange Base

 

Today’s challenge was to do something with an orange base.  I had completely forgotten about it then remembered that I did do a manicure for this challenge.  I just deleted some of the pictures so instead of four I only have two.  All you really need is one right?

Ok, for this look I used Butter London’s Jaffa and stamped using Leelac plate B with white Konad polish.  A real KISS manicure but still nice.

 

 

 

So, Ciao for now,

Patty

Crumpet’s Challenge Girly Sunday

I love to do girly manicures because I think I am girly.   I had only sisters.  My mother had only one brother who did not live in town and we never saw them.  So, my mom has five sisters and so does my dad.  He was the only boy in his family and as far as cousins went I have only a few cousins that are boys.  So, I was always around girls.  I don’t even  know how to ride a bike.  Then when I had my own family I had two boys and didn’t have my daughter till around eight years later.  Having two little boys really changed my life for a while but it was fun learning things together with my two sons.  I remember when they tried to teach me to ride a bike and they told me “Mom we think maybe you need a wider seat then you can do it.”  They were probably right but I wasn’t going to invest into a girl bike when I can drive.  I was go glad when my daughter came Mother’s Day we always bought matching dresses and same thing for Thanksgiving.   The girls finally started to rule the home as it should be.  So, doing girly things is great. 

Here is my girly manicure.   I used my Essence polishes a mint green called That is what I Mint and the lilac is called Ballerina’s Charm.  I am loving these polishes.  Then I stamped with Konad Purple and used a striping brush with OPI’s Alpine Snow to make the lines.  I have seen so many variations of this manicure and have always wanted to do it but never had a chance so when I was thinking of a girly this came to me.  Hope you like it and if you haven’t done one of these and you are a girly girl.  Do one and have fun

Ciao for now,

Patty

Don’t forget about the giveaway.

March Favorites

It is that time again.  Time for my favorites.  March was kind of also a scrambled month for me.

 

I did this manicure for the H in the A-Z challenge I am participating in.  I used Orly's Haley's Comet and Halo.

 

 

This plate was a plate I showed in a review I did on the GALS.  It got quite a laugh from the girls in Adventures in Stamping.  We are still trying to figure out what the middle image is.  You know what I think it is.

 

 

 Wining the Gold Julep box was great. 

 It had these six polishes.  The new Hand Cream.  A lip gloss.  And a bracelet.

 

 

 

 This was similar to a manicure I saw on Kyle Richards of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, when I saw her wearing it (she wore it with just white polish and the C's were painted black) I knew I could do something different but still nothing tacky.



 

This is the beautiful Divinity from Ninja Polish.  I just loved the way the color shifted and the main color was beautiful.

 

 

 

FLOAM  I love floam.  I am still waiting to get a couple that I don't have in my collection. 



 

This is Just Add Milk from Whimsical Ideas by Pam and it was a redo because the first time I swatched it I did not put undies on it and it looks much better with undies.  Have you signed up for the giveaway yet?  You could choose this one.

  

 

 

Ahh, yes.  Poltergiest Puddle from Pretty Serious Nail Polish.  I wrote in my review that one of the things I liked about this polish was that it had red undertones and most purples I find have blue undertones.  Plus it goes perfect with this ring.

 

 

 

This was the polish I said was one of my dream polishes.  It still is.  Pictures cannot capture the beauty of this polish.  Pretty Serious Nail polish makes this polish another possible choice if you win the giveaway.

Do you agree with these is there something you liked that I did not post.  If so, let me know.
Ciao,
Patty

Swirly Flowers

Personally, I just love the look of black and white stamping.  I remember when that was the main type of stamping done until other colors started to come out.  So, around four months ago maybe Konad came out with plate 89.  It was so cool and I wanted it.  But I did not have $25.00 dollars worth of stuff I had to have.  So, I found it in eBay.  I ordered and went straight for the black and white. I used China Glaze Dandy Lyin Around It was an easy design to stamp also.  Sometimes the whirlybird ones are a little harder to stamp but this one went on faster than Jodie Arias can tell a lie.  Are any of you following that trial by any chance.  I am addicted.  I really have no idea what is going to happen if you don't know anything about this just google Jodie Arias.  It might grab your eye if you are one of those people who see a wreck and have to slow down to see.  Talking about wrecks the funniest thing happened last Wednesday my husband went to the MD and on the way home we decided to grab a pizza.  Now Pizza Hut is right across the street from our apt.  We were in the turning lane and when my husband is hungry he gets really irritable the car on front of us would not turn and hr had several chances to do so.  My husband got really frustrated and honked the horn.  I guess the guy in front thought it was ok to turn and started turning just staring my husband down when all of a sudden BAM,! This car hit the turning driver.  I thought oh crap we can't go home.  Michael says why not and I told him he caused the wreck.  He then really realized that we would at least be called as witnesses.  So we drove off with our pizza.  Needless to say we had a nice picnic at the park that evening.  Now this is controversial.  I say he played a role in that wreck.  What do you think?

I would really like to hear your comments. So if you can just say guilty or not guilty.  

Giveaway Pictures

Finally what you have wanted to see.

 

These are the three Covergirl polishes I selected.  I bought one because I read a review that they are really good.  I bought one and did like it. 

These are the ones I bought.  Left to right Midnight Magic 320,  310 grapevine, 290 constant Caribbean.

 

 

Model’s Own Haley’s Comet.  This polish is really cool I will be posting a review on it next month.

 

From left to right:  Orly’s High on Hope, Butter London Fiver, and Orly Elation Generation.

 

These are the essence polishes

Chic Reloaded, Let’s Get Lost, Miss Universe, Grey to Be Here, Ultimate Pink, Oh My Glitters

 

This is the Euro Central mini collection and even if you have it already you can use them for travel or have extra and if you need to you can sell them.  Personally, I like these because I use them when I travel or I play around with them by adding glitters to them.  Sometimes I mix them to get different colors and add glitter.  They are good for frankening or just to use them.

 

The last part of the giveaway is one polish from Whimsical Ideas by Pam.  This one is Seuss and only there to have something to show.  If you win you’ll tell me which one you want.  You can find Pam’s creations on her Facebook page.  The next one is a polish new to me called Pretty Serious.  Their colors are gorgeous and can be found on their webpage.  Pretty Serious.com.  I would go to the site and start looking because if they are sold out on their website then I can order from Llarowe.

 

Because of the difficulty in mailing.  An international winner will get a Visa Gift card.  If you are from the states and none of these prizes appeal to you, you can opt out and take the gift card and the items for the giveaway will go on my blog sale which is a lot harder to organize than I thought but I am still working on it but that is where they will go.  I want to make sure everything for the giveaway is complete and then I can really focus on the blog sale.

 

So, there will be other little stuff in the giveaway that I am planning to purchase during the month or if I see something really neat I might buy it.  Honestly I don’t know what it is going to be at this time.  I might wait find out who wins and get them something off their wish list.  I don’t know.  I love Lush.  Maybe Lemony Flutter might be something I put in there.  it might be candy.  It really depends.

 

So, I really hope you like this giveaway.  It has been a great year and I hope for the same or better for next year.  I want to thank everyone who reads or just drops by to see a swatch.  You, bellas, keep me going and I want to thank you.

 

Ciao for now,

Patty

Hard Candy Review Jubilee 652

I’ve been hearing all the hype about these Hard Candy polish and saw people taking pictures of theses displays of nail polish and I HAD to find them.  So, I live within five miles of three Wal-Marts and about 10 Subways.  There is a reason for all the Subways for three years in a row Houston, TX. was the fattest city in the country. It was horrible.  I hated that claim to fame.  The only good thing was that I was my regular weight right now not so much trying to slowly get there but it is hard because I don’t eat and that is worse than eating sometimes.  I need to start forcing myself to eat something at lunch but I am just not hungry.  So, the first Wal-Mart I went to I found one and the tags to all the others were taken off and it looked like they were sold out.  I made sure I bought that one.II thought there is no way in Houston, TX a Wal Mart does not have these polishes but then I started worrying because you would think that we get everything but no.  Only one Sephora in all of Houston carries Illamasqua nail polish and only in limited quantities.  Wednesday I hit the Jackpot and found the display at on of the local Wal-Marts.  I could not decide what to get.  It was almost like being in an Etsy store except each polish was only $4.00.  I had one and bought I don’t really know how many more.  But this is the first one I was drawn to.  It reminds me of Wicked by Whimsical Ideas by Pam.  So, today I had to try it and I was really impressed it is loaded with glitter you don’t need to fish around for them.  They dry fast but the down side is that they do come in small bottles the size of a Hits bottle but for $4.00 you can afford to get five bottles for $20.00.  That is a steal.  The first one I bought looks a little like a dupe of an indie I have and this one does too.  This is a dilemma because I think we all have our favorite indies and I feel a little disloyal to certain vendors for buying these polishes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think of this polish does it look like something an indie would produce and are you going to buy any if you find them?

 

Ciao bellas,

Patty

Kimber's A-Z Challenge Letter M

Today's letter is M.  M stands for Mushroom by Model's Own.  I got this polish from Ninja Polish and love the color.  It is pretty neutral.  The formula is so smooth.  It only took two coats and top coat. I love that.  Being old school.  Some I still have some problems with three coats of polish and I am much more comfortable with the two coaters. The color is so pretty it is like a a purple grey and looks so pretty.

Mushroom also stands for a great fungus.  I absolutely love mushrooms and have some funny stories about mushrooms but we will just leave it at the fact that I love mushrooms and I really love this polish.

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao,

Patty