Thursday, April 4, 2013

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. 
 
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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
 


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Jade Cremosa Agua Marina (Jade Crème Marine Water)

 Today I have this beautiful Jade polish that I bought from I think I t was Llarowe.  I cannot believe how beautiful this polish is.  It looks like clear blue waters.  I don't even want to wear it until I go on vacation.  This polish just belongs on the beach.  No matter what color bathing suit you have.  I personally always have a black one and a barbie one.  When we were young we had this friend named Barbie and she always stuck out because she would never wear black she always wore these really crazy beautifully colored bathing suits.  She was new to Texas and I guess where she came from these are the bathing suits they used to wear.  So, since then we call them Barbie bathing suits even my daughter does.  But this polish went on like a dream.  This is two coats with a top coat. 
 
 
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I love this polish so much I would need to recycle it.  So, I stamped it with flowers.  I used a bundle monster plate.  I think it was BM 3 (you know writing BM still creeps me out.)  I lucked out finding this ring that is the exact same color as the polish.
 
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I have no idea what got into me but I did not clean a little bit of the stamping.  I used a dark purple to stamp but pink would look pretty also.  We made our vacation plans last night and I just know I can't wait to wear this polish then.  I think that is one of the only problems with blogging is that you might swatch a polish and then never wear it again for months.  I still have polishes from last year's Zoya collection Beach and Surf that I have never worn but I am going to this week.
 
Ciao for now bellas,
Patty

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Zoya Dahlia

This is Pixie Dust Dahlia from Zoya's new pixie dust collection.  It's nice, spreads smoothly but alas, I predict only a passing trend.  I haven't heard or read anyone say.  I totally love this polish, I can't live without it.  It will be around maybe one more season then, I predict with some certainty that Zoya's fall line will be glittery and holographic because that is what we really like.  Now, if you haven't seen the summer line it is probably three posts after this one.  They have a pixie dust set.  A colorful creme set and a shimmery summer color set.  All the sets are due out on April 15 th.  America's day favorite day, tax day.  So does Zoya really expect us to spend close to 150.00 for all three sets?  Yes, they do.  Everyone has a pixie dust polish perhaps the whole set.  So, what to do?  I just don't know, I love Zoya and I want all three sets but I probably won't get the pixie dust set unless, I change my birthday wish list and ask for enough gift cards to buy a set.  But I get a new polish everyday.  I usually do.  I get depressed if I don't.  I am like a drug addict who needs her fix.  I had to stop.  Now, I get one every three days.  We laugh about it and so do others but it was really starting to take over and I was an addict.  I still am.  So, I am going to limit myself to half the collection and just one pixie dust plus to fund this I am going to have a blog sale.  Watch for that in a couple of days.  So, I not all that impressed with this pixie dust.  I did a black mani with glitter embossing powder the name of the post is "Yes, You Can Wash Them" and I got more compliments than with the pixie dust, so no I am not impressed, I don't think you should invest money in the whole summer pixie dust line, save it for the "real" nail polish.  If you must buy one do so but don't get suckered into the buying the whole thing.  Go to Michael's and get some glittery embossing powder when you have a coupon or they are on sale. Cost?  About $2.00.  That is my honest review now I know that I just lost all my chances of Zoya ever giving me products to review but some times you just got to speak the truth.

Ciao for now and those celebrating Easter have a great one,
Patty



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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Girly Manicure Crumpet’s Challenge

 
Here is my girly manicure.  It kind of looks like Lynnderella’s Love, Lace and Lilacs.  So this is a good option for a dupe of the LLL.  Plus if  you want LLL you can get it at Ninja polish which I found today when I was trying to buy some Nerd Lacquer. 
To get this look, I used OPI’s Don’t Mess With My Tutu, stamped a floral pattern from DRK-C. Then a very light coat of my favorite glitter polish China Glaze’s Fairy Dust.    Then I put another coat of the OPI Don’t Mess with My Tutu.  Used my favorite top coat Nubar Diamond Top Coat and I was done.
 
 
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Friday, March 29, 2013

Crumpet’s Tri Color Challenge Day 4

This is my splatter mani that I am able to do with stamping plate DRK-C.  Ok, I am going to share a secret with you that usually works on the DRK plates, some bundle monster and some konad.  It really depends on the depth of the image and colors you are using but you can use almost any polish to stamp.  Here is my trick.  One I never use the konad scraper with the blade, I use the plastic one also so it doesn’t scrape my plates.  Also, I never use polish remover when I stamp for cleaning it is oily and does not dry the way acetone does.  After I am finished stamping I do use polish remover to clean everything.  Now, here is  the trick.  If you slightly use a nail file to file the rubber part of your stamper you are creating a rough surface and can pick up a lot of polishes.  Don’t leave the dusty stuff on your stamper just gently run it down a napkin or those cotton squares.  When you clean your stamper you need to file the rubber part again and repeat the slight cleaning.  As far as the scraping goes.  Go really fast and lightly when you have your polish on your plate and just pick up the polish on the plate on an up and down motion.  It might not work the first time you do it but with practice you might get to the point where you can stamp with any polish.  I am talking about this because I did not deviate from using the three polishes we are supposed to use.  I did not use Konad polish.  I would always rather use Konad polish but sometimes you need to use regular polish like I had to in this situation so that is how I did it.  I hope it doesn’t sound confusing, if you have questions e-mail me.  I might start to do some tutorials like on the stamping and on recycling manicures which I do often.  So, look for that.  I might start it next week because there are a lot of shortcuts you can take to make nail art easier.  Like water marbling.  There is a really easy way to do it and I read some people’s blogs on how they did it and I want to cry because they had a nightmare doing it, same with gradients.  So, I am going to start some tutorials.
 
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Ok, Ciao for now,
Patty

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Crumpets Tri Color Challenge Day 3

I always say the only thing I will ever be on time for is my funeral.  I am always late no matter how I  plan  I am late.   Of course, when I still had that time of the month that was never late but that didn’t mean I still wasn’t late for other things in my life.  Occasionally, I am on time but I will definitely be disheveled.  The ironic thing about this is that I did this manicure last Friday so it would be ready for Tuesday but Macy’s had a BIG sale and I just got distracted.  So, that is my truth, no lie not really making excuses except for the Macy’s part. 
So this is my third entry and I decided to do a ruffle manicure.  This is so easy my 5 year old niece can do it.  The only thing you need to be mindful of is color placement.  You want to go from light to dark to make it easier.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t  go from dark to light you will just need more coats.  I started by painting the whole nail coral, then used the green with three strokes one almost at the top the next in the middle and the next one 3/4 of the way down the nail., then repeat with the purple.  As with any manicure you want to make sure your polish is dry.  This would look great for an accent finger.  You could do four rows or just two and it does look really pretty and girly or punk it out with neon pink and black. ,You could even use a glitter row but I do recommend sticking with the same finish.  If you are using metallic use all metallic, crèmes use all crèmes.  It really does look better this way.  This is definitely a whatever manicure.  I encourage everyone to just try it.
 
 
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So, it is Ciao for now I will be posting my last of the four challenges tonight.
Patty

Kimber’s A-Z Challenge Letter L

L stands for  Lynderellas, Love, Lace and Lilacs.  This is one of my all time favorite polishes.  I bought it back when Lynderellas were $15.00. It seems like a long time ago but it hasn't even been a year.   I love to wear this when I am going to be wearing all white or doing something religious.  It just looks so pure and clean where some polishes can look different.  I am not saying that I don't have tons of those but I have this weird thing about it.  I guess it is from my Catholic childhood and the nuns.  I remember once I walked into the bathroom and saw one of the older nuns asleep on the toilet and ran out I didn't know they peed.  I was very young and who knew what was hidden under those habits.  We were a bad group my class.  So, this polish gets used about twice a month and on holidays a little more.  I still have about 3/4 of the bottle because it is pretty loaded with glitters as most Lynderellas are.   I do have to say that about Ms. Lynderella she knows how to pack that glitter and what I don't know why she doesn't get a printer to label her polish.  She still hand writes all of them.  That would be enough to drive me crazy.  Imagine writing Love, Lace and Lilacs even 25 times on those little stickers.  Maybe we should pitch in buy her a printer and she can lower the prices of her polish a little since she won't be spending so much time on the labels she can really mass produce.  Hmmm?

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Well those are my thoughts and entry for the letter L Challenge.  Hope you enjoy.

Ciao,
Patty

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Pretty Serious Poltergeist Puddle/ Giveaway Ideas

I am in so much trouble.  I LOVE Pretty and Serious Nail polishes.  Where have they been?  I think I discovered them on one of my checking everyone's blog for giveaway days.   I could have been doing other things but no I was surfing for giveaways because I haven't won one in a while.  Hmm?  But one month I won like four.  So, as many things luck must come and go.  I saw these and I just loved them.  I have another post about a pink polish from their line called Claris.  I have one that I need to swatch and two ordered.   You know what is so great about this particular polish is that it is a purple red, not a purple blue.  I had never seen a purple red and definitely do not have anything like this in my collection.  I had to have it.  Customer service is excellent both at Llarowe and at Pretty Serious if you are thinking of buying.  I have never had any trouble so far and mailing time from both sites are pretty good I think Pretty Serious was a little faster but that is all they ship not like Llarowe that carries many lines.  So, if you like this go check out their websites and see if there is something you like. I'd really like to hear your comments because I do have a blogaversary coming up and I do have some items and if this is an item many readers like I might throw a bottle into the giveaway.  So, check it out and let me know.  I am not affiliated with any polish company and all the items in my giveaways are paid by me that is why it is important for me to know what you want. So, leave a comment please even if it is not a polish from Pretty Serious if there is one that you know of that you think it is to die for leave it in the comment section.

 



 
 
 
 
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Ciao bellas,
Patty