The Nail Junkie

4 Part Mani: Part 2: Layering: Sinful Colors "Paris"

2012-02-29T01:42:00.000-05:00

I added 2 coats of Sinful Colors Paris: a fine gold glitter

Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize...

I love this nudie glitter look. It reminds me of this!!!! SEXY NAILS!!!

Stay tuned to see Part 3!!!

and

4 Part Mani: Part 1: Polish: Sally Hansen "Quick Sand"

2012-02-28T00:44:00.000-05:00

Check out this post link to see what my nail care routine is before I slap on polish: Beneath All My Manis

This mani required:

2 coats of Sally Hansen Quick Sand
1 coat of Julep Quick Dry Top Coat
A flat thin paint brush and acetone for clean up

Mannequin Hands!!!!!!

I love nude colors but it's all about finding a shade that compliments your skin tone. Pick a nude like you pick your make up colors.

Broke AND FIXED a nail!! Orly Nail Rescue to the Rescue!!!

2012-02-28T00:26:00.002-05:00

I broke a nail and I figured it was a good time to do another Orly Nail Rescue Plug. No, I don't work for them or get their products free (I WISH!). I just like to spotlight products or processes that I feel have been a great benefit to me in my nail care routine. This is one of them.

Don't get me wrong. I have my complaints. Like my glue bottle got stuck and I had to exchange my kit. When I got a new one, the cashier at Sally's Beauty Supply told me to put some cuticle oil around the inside of the lid. She said nail glue bottles get stuck if you don't. I did what she said and the new bottle hasn't gotten stuck so far. The last one was stuck like every time I used it. So whether it was the oil in the lid trick, or the fact that it was a new bottle, I haven't had this issue since.

I also think the nail file sucks ass. But any other nail file works just fine. I use a crystal file.

It was also brought to my attention that this kit is simply nail glue and acrylic powder. So instead of buying a kit, I went to Sally's looking for just those two things and came up empty handed because I didn't like the prices. It was cheaper to get this little $6 kit. It's more than enough glue and powder to last me a lifetime.

Here was a previous review I did of the product: My Unsolicited Review of Orly Nail Rescue

Since that review I've become a pro at using this stuff and can patch a nail in 30 seconds flat with barely even filing the area. Like most everything else about nail care: practice makes perfect.

I don't really use the instructions in the kit either. They say to paint the whole nail with glue. I only paint the broken area and dip it in the powder. I use it for splits in two of my right fingernails and for the occasional break. Like this one:

Before Orly Nail Rescue. It's a chip. Darn!

For chips, since you don't have a nail in the empty area, you have to sort of build the acrylic into the space. I do this by painting the broken area, dipping in the powder and repeating that over and over till the space is filled. Let it dry.

After Orly Nail Rescue. Buffed and painted with Ridge filler. It's ROCK HARD and has to be soaked in acetone to be removed. AWESOME!!!

Here's what the "patch" looks like polished.

Don't forget to enter my "February Julep Giveaway"

2012-02-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

Enter here! Today is the last day!

The Nail Junkie:Lacquered by Leslie: Julep Giveaway! OPEN INTERNATIONALLY!:

Weekly Additions to the Polish Family

2012-02-27T02:46:00.003-05:00

My red Helmer is here, put together, and all filled with lovelies! Yay! I ordered it online, and the photo made it look like a cherry wood, but no...it's fire engine red metal. I wasn't sure I liked this at first, but hey...I love red!!! I'll be posting new stash shots soon.

I picked up a couple of the polishes from the China Glaze Magnetix Collection. I was so excited to get these. They have been on my wishlist for a while. I have been stalking the sales clerks at Sally's Beauty Supply all month to get my picks. My local Sally's only carries a few bottles of new collections and they sell quickly. So I wanted first dibs. I got the clerk to dig these out of the back for me.

China Glaze Pull Me Close- a blue shimmery metallic

China Glaze You Move Me- a shimmer metallic gold/brown

I swatched these out quickly. The magnets worked good. But I can see I'm going to need a little practice with the technique and not touching the magnets to the polish. LOL!

This reminds me of wood-grain. Gorgeous!

I'm glad they sent tons of instructions!

Sally's was having a sale where you got the magnet free with the purchase of two bottles of the polish. Win!!!

I picked these bottles from the OPI Holland Collection

OPI Pedel Faster Suzi- Shimmery Pink

OPI I Have A Herring Problem- Shimmery dark blue with a hint of grey, reminds me of denim

So shimmery and lovely!

Hey OPI...I paid $8 for you to put a jank ass brush in the bottle? Is that a pube?

3 part mani: Step 3: Nail Art: Revlon "Silver Dollar"

2012-02-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

This mani was inspired....er, I mean followed exactly step by step, based on a Nailside tutorial here:

Lightning Bolt French Tutorial

It's amazing, isn't it??

I was scanning the web for some nail art designs. I was thinking lightning bolts, and this tutorial hit the nail on the head. No pun intended. :P

Nailside is an amazing blogger with very easy to follow tutorials. Thank you for your hard work!!!

Anyway, here's my attempt at this scotch tape mani:

Here's step 1 of this mani->Step 1: Polish: Barry M "Indigo"

Here's step 2 of this mani->Step 2: Layering: Revlon "Stunning"

and here is my pre-mani nail care routine->Beneath All My Manis

I LOVE INCOME TAX TIME!!! Helmer, Camera, Kindle Fire time!!!

2012-02-22T22:39:00.000-05:00

I don't mind claiming "0" on my employee tax forms. Sure, they take more out, but when you have kids, it's like taking out a savings account that accrues all year.

Anyway, I paid my bills and house forward, fixed up my minivan, bought gifts for my children and then momma went shopping. Woohoo!!! I got a new camera and a Helmer and a Kindle Fire. Yay!!!

The camera was for blogging.
The Kindle was for reading blogs.
And the Helmer was for my lovely bunch of polishes. :)

Red Helmer: I'll be sure to post new stash shots when this baby arrives and is put together and is full of polish. Can you believe I paid $25 to ship a $40 item?? I sure hope it's all I ever dreamed of.

A Red Camera: it's just a point and shoot. But it's certainly a step up from my cell phone. Because, in case you didn't already know, all of my blog photos were taken and edited from my cell phone camera. Not bad for a cell phone...but not quite blog quality either. So far I love this camera! I have owned 3 point and shoots in my day, all different brands (Sony, Fuji, Olympus), and I have to say, this Canon is by far the best!

And a Kindle Fire, that would have also been red, if that were an option: This is my first Kindle. I got it so I could read my blogs on it. So far I love it. It's super fast! I can download Android games and apps on it. I have my Netflix on it. You can surf the web super fast and of course good ol; Facebook is on there. I even have a scientific calculator on there. Just in case I ever need to create a loan amortization schedule or something. You never know.

Snapshot on my new camera

Oooohhh Macro shot!!!

Mmmmm...clearance Vday candy!!!!!! Don't you dare judge me!!! :P

Nails and a Kindle

My blog on my blog.......

My $7 glittery fiesta Kindle cover. Yay!!!! Glitter makes me happy!!!!

Oh...and red: That also makes me happy. I have a red problem.....

The Nail Junkie: 3 part mani: Step 2: Layering: Revlon "Stunning"

2012-02-22T22:05:00.000-05:00

See step 1-->The Nail Junkie: 3 part mani: Step 1: Polish! Barry M Indigo:

And here's what Barry M Indigo looks like smothered in glitter!!!

2 coats Barry M Indigo
2 coats Revlon Stunning
1 coat of Gelous topcoat
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

Stay tuned to tomorrow to see part 3 of this mani. :)

3 part mani: Step 1: Polish! Barry M Indigo

2012-02-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

Check out my post HERE to see how I prep for putting on polish and what base coats I use:

Beneath All My Manis

Mmmmm...how luscious is this blue? I couldn't stop looking at my nails. And this color was incredibly sexy! I mean, I really felt like my nails looked sexy and vampy. Hard to explain, but it's like that feeling you get when you wear a new pair of sexy panties. Sure...it's not necessarily noticeable to those around you, but it puts a little spring into your step.

No flash

With flash

Barry M Indigo.

My friend Kim from the UK got this for me and I just love it!

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 to see what top this color with.

Quick and Simple WnW Giveaway sponsored by Pointless Cafe Winner!

2012-02-21T01:45:00.003-05:00

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Sally Beauty Supply Haul

2012-02-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

Here's what I picked up:

Disposable Table Towels: so I can quit messing up all my dishtowels with polish and acetone.
Ion Shine Spray: I was so envious of everyone who got the shine spray in their Julep Maven boxes last month that I had to try to find the stuff somewhere. I would have bought Julep's but it was $14. I don't even pay that much for my shampoo. So forget that!!
ABH Facial Scrub, Toner and Moisterizer: I am experimenting with new facial products because I had a realization that I'm 30 years old and I've probably outgrown my Johnson's Clean and Clear line of products. But they're great for you younger folks! I need to start working on keeping my skin youthful now, right?
Orly Nail Rescue: I actually had to exchange my previous kit because my bottle got stuck. BOO! The lady who was working at Sally's gave me a great tip for nail glue bottles, since she said it's common for them to get stuck. She told me to put a little cuticle oil around the threads inside the lid. So far it's worked.
A hand mirror: great for checking out the back of your head. :P
A rat tooth comb: I like using these when I braid and part my hair
I also picked up some polishes that are not pictured here but are on the receipt. They were sent away to a friend before I photographed for this post.

I had a $10 off coupon. So not great, but not bad either.

Julep March Box Previews

2012-02-20T14:28:00.002-05:00

Here's the previews of the March Julep Maven boxes:

What do you think? I'm an "It Girl". But I'm switching to Bombshell this month.

If you are interested in becoming a Maven Julep is running a February special where you can join for only $1. No obligation to continue. Cancel at anytime. You receive a preview email for your box each month. So if you don't like it, you can switch to a different style, cancel your box, skip the month, or send it to a friend. Lots of options! If you want to take their style quiz and check out more details about the program, here is my referral link:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

My first Glambag: February 2012: Review

2012-02-20T14:08:00.001-05:00

Oooh...pretty pink mailer!!!

I love the make-up bag! Pink with hearts. Yay!

Wow!

Sexy lady!!! She's jocking my hairstyle. LOL!

See!!!!

And here's my list of goodies and my thoughts:

X Out Shine Control-Full size bottle of shine minimizing face lotion. I was excited to see a full size sample. I will definitely use this. Thumbs up!!!
NYX Roll On Shimmer-a full size roll on shimmer powder for eyes, face and body. Another full size sample Woohoo!!! I wear green eye make-up when I go out for St. Patty's day. So this will be put to use on that night for sure!!! Thumbs Up!!!
Premier Dead Sea Cinderella Mask- Two small sample packets of face mask. I have never regularly used a face mask, but I'm game. Thumbs up!!!
$100 Giftcard for Nume Professional Styling Tools and Hair Extensions-gift card. I looked on their website and was disappointed to find that their products are really expensive. The only thing I considered buying was colored extensions but they were like $179. I'm not paying $79 for extensions that I will rarely wear. I know Sally's sells them much cheaper. Thumbs down.
Freeman Pineapple Facial Mask-a one time sample of face mask. I have seen this product in stores. It looks fun. But two face masks in one box? They should have varied the products better. Oh well. I'll try it. Thumbs up!!!

Dollar was not in the bag. It's for aspect size ratio purposes. :P

Overall:

I love this MyGlam Bag!!! I am way more impressed with this bag than I was with any of my Birchboxes. I am still keeping both services because I like them both. But if I ever pare them down, at this point, Birchbox would be the one to go. I wish MyGlam had a referral program so I could get some credit for doing PR. But I like doing reviews anyway, so it's not a big deal. Anything to help people make more informed decisions, right?

I am a paid subscriber to Glambag. It's $10 a month and you can sign up

here ->http://www.myglam.com/subscribe. As always, my opinions are my own and are honest.

If anyone wants my $100 giftcard to Nume, shoot me an email and I'll give it to you. First come first serve.

Stash Additions, Swatches and Color Wheel Spam

2012-02-18T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my recent polish purchases. I purchased the Revlons from Walmart and the FEVERlacquer is from my good friend, Cassie, from The Manilogues.

Revlon Stunning
Revlon Rainforest

2 coats of each on color wheels

Revlon Rainforest- I love this color!!!

Revlon Stunning- which I was disappointed to find was a watered down dupe of China Glaze Techno. I ended up coming across the ChG polish a few days after I bought this one. I wished I had gotten it instead of this one because it's more glitter packed and it was the same price as this Revlon.

FEVERlacquer I Lie Only For You- I was a little bit like "meh" when I saw this in the bottle, but once it came out it was like an explosion of beauty. This is a blue jelly holo with sparse flecks of black hex glitter. It's so yummy!!! It covers well in two coats. Great formula. No streaks. I'm sure if you put it over a blue or black it would look great but it's just as pretty alone, as you can see. I am so pleased I own this limited edition polish, and I am pumped to see what Cassie will make next.

And here's some color wheel spam: OoooOOOoooohhh look at the pretty colors!!! I love that I swatched my whole stash. It's nice to be able to come straight home from polish shopping, or bust open the nail mail and be able to see instant swatches of my polish: no polish change necessary. It's also a great reference tool when I'm deciding what color I want to paint my nails. I also use these when I paint other people's nails so they can choose what color they want without messing with my drawers of precious pretty babies. :P

Have a great day readers!!! I love you all!!!!
-Aleta

Walgreen's/Rite Aid Haul

2012-02-17T13:12:00.000-05:00

Walgreen's has their Sinful Colors on sale for .99 cents. So I had to pick up a few bottles. The sale ends tonight. So if you didn't hear about it already, hop in your car, and get on over there.

I also found a bottle of Revlon Whimsical so I picked that up for the giveaway I posted earlier HERE.

Cinderella

Mint Apple

Vacation Time

2 coats of each on a color wheel

With flash

Without flash

Let's Meet

Blue By You

Sugar Sugar

2 coats of each on a color wheel

Without Flash

With Flash

The extra bottles I picked up for my GIVEAWAY.

Revlon Whimsical

Sinful Colors Cinderella

I picked up some pointy q-tips for when I do nail stamping. I am getting sick of using the regular ones. They are big and fuzzy. :P

I paid full price for the Revlon $5.97and I got the pointy cotton swaps for $2.49. Those were the two pricey items. I only paid $6.93 for the 7 bottles of Sinful Colors. Woohooo! I love drugstore polish!!!

The Nail Junkie: Think Spring Giveaway

2012-02-17T00:58:00.000-05:00

I was out doing some drugstore polish browsing and I came across a few extra bottles of polish that seem to be a hit right now and guess who I thought of...YOU!!! My readers!!!! So I'm having another giveaway!!! Woohoo!!!

One lucky winner will recieve:

A bottle of Revlon Whimsical
A bottle of Sinful Colors Cinderella
A container of Julep nail decals

Revlon Whimsical- a blue jelly polish with pink and blue hex glitters and small silver and blue glitters

Sinful Colors Cinderella- a powder blue creme polish with pink shimmer

This photo courtesy of Oh so Lacquered!

This giveaway is *OPEN INTERNATIONALLY*

Simply fill out the entries below in the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win. Giveaway ends 3/4/12.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Become a Julep Maven for just $1

2012-02-16T16:37:00.003-05:00

Julep is running a February special where you can join for only $1. No obligation to continue. Cancel at anytime. You receive a preview email for your box each month. So if you don't like it, you can switch to a different style, cancel your box, skip the month, or send it to a friend. Lots of options! If you want to take their style quiz and check out more details about the program, here is my referral link:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

My February 2012 Julep Valentine's Box

2012-02-16T16:32:00.000-05:00

I received my Julep Valentine's box a few days ago. And here's what was in it.

I received:

1 full size tub of Pomegranate Body Scrub
A small container of gold stars for my nails.
1 package Rivet Nail Appliques
1 bottle of Julep January
1 bottle of Julep Taylor
A piece of super yummy heart shaped chocolate

Overall, I am quite pleased with this box. Both of the nail polishes are ones I don't have yet. Which is surprising because I'm starting to accrue quite the collection of Julep Polish. I loved the appliques. I have wanted the Rivet ones since they came out. I already have the gold stars. So I'll probably send those off to a friend. I don't have the body scrub. So I was happy to get that. The only thing I can honestly say I wanted and didn't get was the Julep Hair Gloss. I want a can of that bad!!! But I don't want to pay for it. :P

Two coats on a color wheel

With flash

Without flash

Taylor looks much more blue in this picture. It's more of a purple-blue in person.

You can become a Maven for just $1 if you use the code "SHAREONFEB" at checkout. Julep is always running good specials, so there are definitely ways to save if you are a tightwad like me. No obligation to continue and lots of options. You get a preview email before any shipments are made and you can choose another box style, skip the month's box or send it to a friend. Simple as that.

Here is a referral link if you would like to check it out and give me credit for it:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

And just so you know, I am a paid subscriber to Julep. I am not affiliated or sponsored by them in any way. As always, my opinions are my own and are unbiased.

The Nail Junkie: February 2012 Birchbox Review

2012-02-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a rundown of each item I received this month:

Colorscience Pro: Glow and Go Travel Puff: these remind me of oil blotting sheets I used as a teen, but they have mineral make up in them. I get a little shiny from time to time. You only get one which is a bummer. I don't see this being a product I would get much use from but I will try it for sure. Thumbs Up!!!
Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant: this is a talcum powder. You mix it with water to form a paste that you use as a facial exfoliant. I am super excited to try this product! I am all about exfoliation. I regularly exfoliate my face and chest area, my legs and my feet. I use several different products ranging from body scrubs to pumice stones but I get the job done. This product is for me. Thumbs Up!!!
Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint: this is another product from Birchbox's signature cosmetic line. I am pretty set on moisturizers but I like trying new "foundations" for my mineral make-up. I like "lighter" feeling products on my face. So this will be nice to try. Thumbs Up!!!
Eye Rock Designer Liner: this is basically an eyeliner decal. You get a size-able sample of 4 pairs that are in 4 different "shapes". It seems everyone is jumping on the decal wagon: nails, lips, eyeliner. I am excited to see how this looks. It seems very wear-able and will be fun to use on one of my nights out. Thumbs Up!!!
A heart shaped nail file: no explanation necessary. I don't use nail files so, bleh!! Thumbs Down!!!
A certificate for free music downloads from some band I've never heard of: Who? No thanks!!! Thumbs Down.

My overall review:
I love this box. Well worth the $10. I also subscribe to Julep and MyGlam. I was going to cancel Birchbox, but I'm pretty attached to this service. I might just keep all 3 till I get sick of them.

Below is a referral link for those of you who are considering joining Birchbox or would just like to check it out. It's $10 a month and you can cancel at anytime.

http://www.birchbox.com/?raf=h98ey

Just so you all know, I am not in any way affiliated with Birchbox. I am a paid subscriber. I was not asked to do this review. These are my honest and unsolicited opinions of Birchbox and the products I receive each month.

The Nail Junkie: 2 Part Vday Mani: Part 2: Stamping

2012-02-14T15:47:00.002-05:00

Here was yesterday's post if you need a refresher
The Nail Junkie: 2 Part Vday Mani: Part 1: Layering:

and here is what I added:

and here's what I used:

Hot Topic Gold Nail Polish
Konad Black Special Polish
Bundle Monster 225 Stamping Plate
Bundle Monster 212 Stamping Plate

2 Part Vday Mani: Part 1: Layering

2012-02-13T02:08:00.000-05:00

Before Glitter

CND Just Red

After Glitter

CND Red Sparkle

For this mani I used:

Basecoat
2 coats of red
2 coats of red glitter
1 layer of topcoat
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

2 Giveaways in one day, what??!!?? Lacquered by Leslie Julep Giveaway! OPEN INTERNATIONALLY!

2012-02-11T00:51:00.000-05:00

My friend Leslie, from Lacquered by Leslie, was sweet enough to put together a Julep prize pack and asked me to help her host a giveaway. I was honored to do this for her. Here's a picture of the awesome prize!

One winner will recieve:

Julep Pomegranate Body Scrub

A bottle of Julep Alfre

A bottle of Julep Oscar

A bottle Julep Megan

And nail glitter

All items are new, purchased by Leslie and are unused.

To enter, simply fill out the necessary entries in the Rafflecopter widget. This giveaway is

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY.

Good luck!
Ends February 29th 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Quick and Simple WnW Giveaway

2012-02-11T00:34:00.004-05:00

My friend Sheila from Pointless Cafe was sweet enough to send me all her bottles of polish from the Wet N Wild Color Icon Ice Baby Collection. She sent one that I already had and I figured it would be nice to "pay it forward" so to speak and perhaps complete someone else's collection. So, this isn't a large giveaway, but this is an awesome polish that needs a loving home. This giveaway is open internationally. Simply fill out the 2 entries in the Rafflecopter form below.

The polish is brand new, purchased by Sheila, and has never been worn. Here are previous swatches I did, from my own bottle:

And here is the bottle I'm giving away:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beneath all my manis....

2012-02-11T00:04:00.001-05:00

I don't usually do my manicures in one sitting. I like to spread it out over a few days. I usually wear naked nails around for a day...or well, nearly naked. I do my manicures in steps. Because:

I don't have enough spare time to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time and do my nails.
It gives my base-coats a chance to dry before I begin layering polish or art onto them.
It takes me a good long while to decide what polish I'll be using.
It gets me around a week out of each polish change.

Here's my routine for day 1 of my manicures:

I take all my polish off with acetone and felt.
I apply a cuticle removing cream and push back my cuticles with my thumbnails (they work better than any pusher and they won't scratch your nails).
I then wash my hands with an exfoliating hand scrub. I use a brush to help exfoliate my nail beds.
I will then shape and cut my nails with baby nail clippers. They make teeny tiny sharp cuts and are great for "rounding" your nails. They don't work well at all for squared nails.
I use a buffing block to simply buff the free edge of the nail that I just cut, so the edge is smooth. I do this just a few seconds per nail. I don't like doing any unnecessary filing.
If needed, I use cuticle nippers to remove any hangnails torn cuticles.
I then apply a nail treatment, usually one coat.
I put 1-2 layers of a ridge-filler base coat to smooth and strengthen my nails.
Finally, I add oil to my nail beds because it moisturizes the nail beds and dries my polish.

And here's what my nearly nude nails look like. I am in love with Orly Ridge-filler. You can see little fibers in it! How cool! It's a huge bottle and it's cheap!

I am always changing products or steps in the routine. What's your routine? Do you follow any of these steps? What steps of your own do you add in?

SURPRISE!!! A 3rd part to the 2 Part Mani: Step 2: Nail Art: Revlon Whimsical

2012-02-07T16:35:00.000-05:00

See step 1->http://www.thenailjunkie.com/2012/02/2-part-mani-step-1-layering-revlon.html

See step 2->http://www.thenailjunkie.com/2012/02/nail-junkie-2-part-mani-step-2-nail-art.html

Now here's step 3:

Hee hee...my polish shot!!! Do not use a Sharpie on your nails until they are completely dry. I waited till the next day to do this. A Sharpie will not draw on a nail that is even slightly wet. It just makes a mess.

Now I want a Sharpie with a finer tip!!! Hit it quickly with a topcoat without touching over the same part of your nail twice with your brush.

My favorite posts this week: READING MATERIAL

2012-02-07T13:53:00.003-05:00

Click on the red links above the photos to visit original post or to follow the writer's blog.

Beauty's Bad Habit: TUTORIAL - Dying Hair Extensions:

Chalkboard Nails: Orly Nail Rescue to the Rescue:

Colores de Carol: Pink Wednesday!:

The Nail Junkie: 2 Part Mani: Step 2: Nail Art: Revlon Whimsical

2012-02-06T13:44:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here's my addition to the mani featured in my previous post:
The Nail Junkie: 2 Part Mani: Step 1: Layering: Revlon Whimsical:

It's not all I had hoped for, but it's certainly interesting to look at.

Here's what I used:

OPI Snow White
Kleancolor Neon Yellow
1 coat of Gelous (awesome product!!!! It's a nice thick topcoat)
000 tip size paint brush from the craft store

OUT-TAKE!!! So here was my first attempt which I took off and re-did. LOL!!! I will let you guess what this looks like.

2 Part Mani: Step 1: Layering: Revlon Whimsical

2012-02-05T14:57:00.000-05:00

For this mani I used

1 coat Orly Nail Defense
2 coats Orly Nail Armour
2 coats Revlon Blue Lagoon
2 coat Revlon Whimsical
2 coats of Julep Carrie for accent nail
1 coat Seche Vite
Acetone and brush for post clean up
Apply cuticle oil and hand lotion

Revlon Blue Lagoon: a shimmery powder blue polish
Revlon Whimsical: a powder blue jelly polish with large pink and blue glitters and very small pieces of blue and silver glitter
Julep Carrie: a pink creme polish that coordinates with the pink glitters in Revlon Whimsical

I had to allow for extra drying time because I applied more coats than I usually do.

Ooops.......my way too expensive haul!!! PIC HEAVY

2012-02-04T03:13:00.000-05:00

So this was my haul from CVS and Cosmo Prof Beauty supply. Okay..so I went a little overboard: but it's income tax time. I gotta live a little right??? Plus I got some good deals. I mean...the total doesn't look all that pretty, but I had a lot of fun picking stuff out with my friend Lindsay the nail tech. I'm sure she thought I was nuts. :)

I completed my line of Milani 3D Holographic Polishes

HD, 3D, HI TECH, CYBERSPACE, DIGITAL, HI RES (previously owned)

2 coats, no flash

With flash

Outdoors

I've been hunting a neon set for while and I love this. It's the Summer 2010 China Glaze Poolside Collection

POOL PARTY, FLIP FLOP FANTASY, SUN WORSHIPER, YELLOW POLKA DOT BIKINI, KIWI COOL-ADA, TOWEL BOY TOY

2 coats without flash-Yay!! They're matte finish!!!

With Flash

I completed my set of Revlon Metallics

Gold Coin, Copper Penny, Silver Dollar (previously owned)

2 coats without flash

2 coats with flash

I picked up a few polishes from the Spoiled line of Wet n Wild Polishes

Toad-ally Amazing, Jewelry Heist

2 coats without flash- I was so impressed with the green. It's a shimmery-creme polish and I can't wait to wear it.

with flash

I also got these cool CND package duo sets. There were just these 4 available and something told me I should pick them up and see if any of my polish junkie friends wanted them. And sure enough, two of them are being sent to my friend Jacki. I hope she loves them as much as I do. They really are such cute sets and I love the colors.

Red Hot- includes Just Red and Red Sparkle

2 coats no flash

With flash

Silver & Gold Sparkling Effects: Includes Silver Sparkling Effect and Gold Sparkling Effect

2 coats without flash: these are so much better in person. They are so shimmery and have the smallest glitter particles I've ever seen. The silver is like a shimmery white sparkle. The gold is a super fine gold holo top coat. Amazing!!!

With flash- compare the gold glitter particles to the red ones on the right They are so much smaller. This is micro-glitter for sure!

I needed some new nippers. These were pretty cheap too. I also got some oil for my nail beds, an awesome cuticle spoon and a new foot file so I can start getting at my winter-worn feet.

And these were FREE SAMPLES!!! Woooohooooo!!!!! I love FREE!!!

And my very first bottle of AvoJuice! It was on clearance for like $3. I had to try it.

OH NOEZ!!!!!!!

Needless to say I'm grounded from polish shopping for a bit. I will buy my Helmer and I think I'm good for a while. We'll see though. I know I'll be a sucker with all the summer polish comes out. :)

Sally's Beauty Supply Haul- and my insights

2012-02-03T01:06:00.000-05:00

So I made a stop to my local Sally Beauty Supply to pick up a couple necessities. Okay...let me be more truthful. I went in for the nail polish wheels and turned all psycho and bought things I don't need but that I WANT! Yay!!!

I did pretty good though. I made sure I hunted down some coupons and got all this stuff for $16! That's not bad, right? Here's what I bought

Color wheels- I swatch all my polishes on to these as a visual log of the polishes I have. I also use them for nail art.
A very fine grit yellow natural nail buffing block- I heard these are great for natural nails. It's supposed to be very gentle.
Heal to Toe Foot Softener- Because as the cold weather is breaking here in Ohio, I'm beginning to realize I have some gorilla looking feet right now since my feet have been hiding inside snow boots for the last few months. I am really funny about my feet. I like smooth, hydrated, normal looking feet. Notice I didn't say pretty looking...because I'm sorry, feet are not my thing.
Orly Nail Armor- I love ridge filling base coats. I swear by them. I put one layer of nail strengthener and then a layer of foundation under all my polish.
Orly Nail Defense- See previous comment. This product was recommended to me by my friend Cynthia and I'm curious to see how it works
Gelous Nail Gel Coat- This is actually considered an "anchoring base coat" but my friend Ashley recommended it to me as a top coat. She said it's nice and thick and covers glitters well. My usual get topcoat "Oh So Wet" is almost gone. So I will try this out in it's place. I use a quick dry topcoat right after I paint my nails. I then wait till the next day or so and I'll put on a much thicker gel topcoat. This definitely helps me get extra wear out of my manis.
Nail Polish Thinner- This item was also recommended to me by Ashley. She says I'm ruining my polish buy putting acetone in it. I'm not sure if this is true, but I'll tell you one thing....as soon as she planted this idea in my head that I was hurting my polish babies...well, I just had to do something. :)

This product excited me!!! Chap-stick for feet!!!!

I can't wait to try this stuff out!!! I'm going to keep it next to my bed and put it on at night and then wear some thin socks over it. Nothing like an overnight treatment! Works well with hands too! Get yourself some thin gloves/socks. Slather your hands/feet with the thickest moisturizer you have (think Vaseline) and then put the gloves/socks on your greasy hands/feet and go to sleep. Wake up...and tah-dah! You have baby soft hands and feet!!!

My Julep Maven February 2012 American Beauty Box

2012-02-02T01:59:00.003-05:00

DANG IT!!!! I wasn't one of the Golden Box winners!!!! But CONGRATS to those who were. I've been very impressed with the ones I've seen so far. JEALOUS!!!!

Anyway, without further ado here's my box:

Lovely packaging as always. Kudos Julep.

For those who don't know...but I'm sure you all do...Red and Gold are my most favorite colors!!!! Thank you Julep!!!

I'm swapping off my cuticle oil because I already have some. I like it and I love the roller ball design. However, I am not too crazy about the smell. It's kind of manly. My baby daddy likes the smell a lot.

Now on to the part that you have all...or well I, have all been waiting for: The Polish!

Julep Glenn: A bold berry shimmer

and

Julep Oscar: An ultra chic, multi-dimensional gold glitter

Here are 2 coats of each on a color wheel

NO FLASH

Here WITH FLASH

NO FLASH

I love these colors. The red is so multi-dimensional and shiny. It's almost metallic. And the glitter is a good quality dense glitter. These polishes obviously pair together beautifully. And not just because I am psychotically obsessed with red and gold. :) I am so pleased! Bash Julep all you want, but I am happy with this box.

You can become a Maven for just $5 if you use the code "MAVEN5" at checkout. Julep is always running good specials, so there are definitely ways to save if you are a tightwad like me. No obligation to continue and lots of options. You get a preview email before any shipments are made and you can choose another box style, skip the month's box or send it to a friend. Simple as that.

Here is a referral link if you would like to check it out and give me credit for it:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Nouveau Cheap: New 2012 Milani nail lacquer shades (pic heavy)

2012-02-02T01:19:00.000-05:00

I came across this blog post in my reading and I had to share. Milani is coming out with some new colors and they look so beautiful. I think I want every bottle of Milani in the world. I need to get to work on that. :P

Click here to see this awesome post that includes a million more pictures than these: Nouveau Cheap: New 2012 Milani nail lacquer shades (pic heavy):

Julep Maven Mystery Valentine Box: You tell me, did I buy it????

2012-02-01T23:28:00.005-05:00

Yes, there's a sucker born everyday and Julep found me!!! Squeee!!! I can't wait to see what's in it!
I got my February Maven Box today. Check that out in my next post.

United Kingdom- My first International Swap with Kim

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Kim, from the United Kingdom, sent me some polishes and they arrived today. I was so excited to see the "Royal Mail" postage. Thank you so much Kim!! I will be swapping her some polishes in return. I hope she is as happy with hers as I am with mine. :)

The "special" bottle she sent for me, was the Max Factor "Fantasy Fire" which is said to be a dupe for Clarins 230 which is a highly sought after polish at the moment. It goes for around $60 on eBay. Wow!!!

She also sent me my very first Barry M's. I have been excited about that brand since I started reading blogs. They have really rich vibrant colors. I am so proud to own some of them.

Barry M- Vivid Purple
Barry M- Indigo
Max Factor- Fantasy Fire
George- UltraViolet

She wrote in her note that they were all the same colors. NO WAY!!! Two blues and two purples and they are perfect layering duos. The Ultraviolet over the Indigo and the Fantasy Fire over the Vivid Purple. Do you agree??

Who the hell is Bobbie?? I made that name up for sure. LOL!!! I meant GEORGE!!!!

So what US polish should I send to Kim?? What are the must have's from the 2012 Spring Collections?

2 part mani: Part 1: Stamping

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

So this was yesterday's mani.

I wore that around for a day or two till I got bored with it. I kept daydreaming about what I would paint on it. When somewhere in the middle of day two I got some NAILSPIRATION from a t-shirt I was wearing.

I came up with this:

I should not have tried to put silver glitter on the flowers. LOL!!!

I layered a red stamp and a white stamp to get a more "pink" rose.

Konad Special Polish Black

Sally Hansen Insta Dry in Whirpwind White and Rapid Red,

Julep Fast Dry Topcoat

Bundle Monster Plate 201

Bundle Monster Plate 14

What do you think? I liked it. And it seems V-day-ish, right?

2 part mani: Part 1: Layering

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

I loved this combo for layering. Stay tuned for part 2 to see what I use this palate for.

Products used:

Basecoat-Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus
Ridge Filler- Nail Tek Foundation II
Orly Lollipop
Revlon Starry Pink
Revlon Silver Dollar
Topcoat- Seche Vite
Island Girl Lilac Cuticle Oil

Orly Lollipop + Revlon Starry Pink + Revlon Silver Dollar =

The winner of my Julep Giveaway is...

2012-01-30T00:32:00.000-05:00

Heidi M. Congratulations!!!!

Thanks everyone who entered!!! I will have another giveaway coming very shortly.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nailside: Nude with hearts

2012-01-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

Nailside: Nude with hearts:

I love this!!!

My giveaway ends in 3 hours!!!! You still have time to enter!!!

2012-01-29T20:24:00.000-05:00

Enter here-> The Nail Junkie: THE NAIL JUNKIE: New Name-New Domain Julep Giveaway: Ends 1/30/12:

This week's additions to my stash, My Completed WnW Color Icon Ice Baby Collection

2012-01-28T21:47:00.000-05:00

So after using another one of my WnW Ice Baby polishes, I started feeling regret that I had not purchased the whole set. I looked online at Amazon, Ebay, Blog Sales. I found a few on Ebay...but they were charging way too much. So I asked my readers where I could find them and a few lovely ladies came forward to help me out.

My friend, Sheila, from Pointless Cafe hooked me up with 4 brand new bottles from her personal stash. WOW!!! I was pumped!!!!

I purchased 2 more that I needed, along with some other random items, from a Blog Sale at I'm still thinking...

And the last one I needed was the Rockin Rubies. My friend, Sarah, from Nail Loving hooked me up with that one.

You guys are awesome!!!!

So now I am the proud owner of the entire WnW Color Icon Ice Baby collection. Yay!!!! I wonder why I didn't buy them when I had the chance?? Oh well, glad I didn't miss out. These are easily my favorite polishes in my collection. At least for now. ;)

Here is a link to some great swatches!!!

Julep NOTD Contest

2012-01-25T23:57:00.003-05:00

I entered. I figured I had so many Julep polish shots, that why not?? You can vote for me here.

https://apps.facebook.com/offerpop/Contest.psp?c=64953&u=15032&a=255558194495800&p=49239265883&v=Entry&id=187590&rest=1

and here's the photo I used:

My LACQUISTRY review AND a V-day Mani

2012-01-25T22:29:00.000-05:00

Lacquistry shredded has been a lemming of mine since I laid eyes on it. So I had to order some. I chose the "Silver Holo Shredded" and "Devil's Dandruff". My order was delivered in a timely manner: packaged well. For some reason I thought the Devil's Dandruff was a red jelly with the red shards in it. Sadly...it was not. It was a clear polish with red shards. But I still loved it. I was very excited to get this polish. I love red.

HERE is a link to buy them if you like them: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lacquistry I paid $7.50 for each bottle I ordered. Plus $4 shipping. So my order was $19 all together.

The polish went on very well and covers AMAZINGLY!!! Believe it or not, I only put on 1 coat. I had planned to use two coats, but once I got it on, I realized it covered a lot and I still wanted to be able to see the pink polish behind the glitter. But I do sort of have a gift for using glitter polish. After all, it's my favorite.

I even used it for a great V-day Mani. And by V-day I mean Vagina Day, because I sure as hell don't mean Valentine's Day. You know, that dreaded holiday that makes men cringe and disappoints women everywhere?? Yeah, I'm over that holiday. But why in the world would I ever want to miss out on a holiday devoted to PINK AND RED!!! Woohooo!!!! I don't. So it's now V-day.

So this Vday, you ladies plan to spoil YOURSELF!! Don't rely on partner to do it. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.

*AND*

Paint your nails every crazy sparkly, pink, red, heart, flowers, teddy bears, chocolate way you damn well please. Wooohooooo!!!

Lacquistry Polish Review:

Pros:

Promptly shipped
Safely packaged
Went on well
It makes me feel like I have the most luxurious glitter nails ever known to man and I can't stop staring at my fingers.
I wish you could see it in person because my pictures do no good showing how shiny this polish is.

Cons:

Red jelly polish with chunky glitter in it would be amazing
A little more effort into the appearance of the bottle as well as packaging would be an added bonus that I think would lead to more sales for Lacquistry
I wanted to eat my nails because they looked that good!!!! :P

Lacquistry Silver Holo Shredded and Lacquistry Devils's Dandruff

Bubbly Julep Carrie. Wah wah....still love the color and the cover.

A 3 part blog post: 1 Mani-3 Ways: PART 3

2012-01-24T21:14:00.003-05:00

Nail Art. So I wore each variation of my mani for 2 days. It kept it fresh and kept me from getting bored with it. So on the last two days I added in pink hearts for Valentine's Day. What do you think? Which way did you prefer the mani?

Create nail art on any color printer???

2012-01-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

This blog post was on my FB wall. It's really interesting. Says that you can use images printed from a standard printer on standard paper to create a nail decal effect similar to that of the newsprint mani. I will definitely have to try this out.

The Digi Nails – A Hybrid Manicure « The Hybrid Chick:

A 3 part blog post: 1 Mani-3 Ways: PART 2

2012-01-23T22:48:00.004-05:00

Stamping! I love stamping. I love tiger stripes. I love this mani!!!

A 3 part blog post: 1 Mani-3 Ways: PART 1

2012-01-22T17:36:00.001-05:00

Layering!!! I love this color: Wet n Wild "24 Carats". I started to put it on but I didn't like the way it looked alone, so DO OVER!!! I decided to layer it over China Glaze "In Awe of Amber". I'm sure any brown shiny polish would do. I love this mani. My nails sparkled like a double rainbow that overlooks a meadow of diamonds on the sunniest day of the year. Ha!!! This is:

Basecoat
2 layers of China Glaze "In Awe of Amber"
1 layer of Wet N Wild "24 Carats"
Topcoat

With Flash

Without flash

Empty Excel Stash List Download

2012-01-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

I had a couple of people ask me if I could set them up with a working Excel worksheet for their polish stashes. So here is a link for you to download one and use it. I hope this helps someone. I will improve upon the worksheet every now and again when I have the time. But here is one that you can use now:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avffed_gbcS1dE90ZHNhazZhTURsRzlIeWdjTEVLWVE

Just make sure you copy or save the document somewhere on your computer or within your own Google Documents Section before you make edits. Otherwise you're revising the original document.

NEW: My Stash List and Stash Shots

2012-01-21T19:21:00.002-05:00

Click HERE to see my Stash LIST!

My current storage solution

On top: Close up

Clear coats, treatments, acetone, oils, lotions, tools

The contents of Drawer #3

Nail art brushes, dotting tools, art tools and manicure tools

Art Supplies

Bundle Monster Stamping Plates, Konad stamper and scraper

My stamping polishes, stripers, and nail pens

All my polishes swatched onto color wheels for easy viewing

My February Julep Maven Preview

2012-01-21T00:46:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows me....knows this box was made for me. My two favorite colors: RED and GOLD. Yay!!! The other choices are listed below, for those of you who are curious what they were. I am usually an "It Girl" but I changed my box to "American Beauty". I love that I can switch it up. Most services of this kind don't let you pick. If you want to check Julep out, you can do so at this link:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

My friend, Lindsay, The Nail Tech/Artist

2012-01-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

My friend Lindsay is a nail tech. She's always bringing me polish presents and showing me cool nail designs. She started a blog, but she never posts. I'm trying to get her into it. Here's a link to her blog. Perhaps getting some new followers would coax her into her blogging a bit more:

Take It From A Tech

She is an amazing artist and I go to her salon for my pedicures. Because, while I am completely complacent to do my own nails, nothing beats a spa pedicure. I always said, if I can do my nails better than the pros, why go to one? Lindsay can do my nails better than me. Easily. And as you can see by these photos, her artwork is beautiful and very clean. These are all free-hand designs she did at work.

If you like her artwork, go ahead and stop by her blog and show some love. With Lindsay being a great nail artist AND a professional, I think she has a lot to contribute to the blogging community.

Have you entered my giveaway?

2012-01-20T13:12:00.000-05:00

There's still time to enter. Simply head over to this link and fill out the Rafflecoptor form and be entered for your chance to win an introductory Julep Boho Glam Box.

The Nail Junkie: THE NAIL JUNKIE: New Name-New Domain Julep Giveaway: Ends 1/30/12:

I'VE GOT A GOLDEN JULEP BOX, I'VE GOT A GOLDEN CHANCE TO MAKE MY WAY

2012-01-20T00:48:00.003-05:00

Julep is always doing some random amazing thing that just knocks my socks off. And well...this is no exception. Just seen on their Facebook page,

"The wait is ALMOST over . . . Our February Maven box email goes out TOMORROW. And as a special treat, this month we're surprising 100 lucky Mavens with a Golden Box of Mystery filled with over $100 of Julep treats to help get you red-carpet ready. If you are a Maven receiving a box this month, you're automatically entered to win a Golden Box of Mystery!! I can't wait to share the email with you tomorrow. XOXO Jane Park"

Oh man...I want a golden box bad. I feel like a greedy kid from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Do you think they have little orange small people making their polish? Or that there's a wonderful polish world with a Silver-Linear-Holo River?? I don't care if I'm the bratty fat kid....I WANT THE GOLDEN BOX!!!!

Hurry and sign up while you still can. Previews go out tomorrow for the boxes. They are running a special where you get your box for a penny by entering the code "NEWYEAR2012" at checkout. There's no obligation to continue. Cancel at any time. Or if you keep the service you have tons of options. You get a preview of your months box, so if you don't like it, you can cancel, you can pick a different box, you can send your box to a friend or you can even skip months. It's your world baby. Anyway, here's my lovely referrel link if you'd like to check them out:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Sh*t Nail Polish Addicts Say

2012-01-20T00:12:00.002-05:00

This made me laugh so hard. "What are you,the freakin' polish police?"

My Review of Swagbucks

2012-01-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

I hate to spam my readers. So I won't. But this is a true blue way to earn something for FREE online. You basically earn what are called Swagbucks and you can trade these bucks in for things like Amazon gift cards (which you can use TO BUY NAILPOLISH!!! WOOT!!!)

I had a friend turn me onto this program. I know there are a few others, but this is the only one I've invested any energy into so far. I've only been signed up for a month. I have no referrels. I simply use them instead of Google as a search engine. I prefer Google of course, so at times, I simply enter "Google" into the SwagBucks search engine so I earn Swagbucks just for getting me to another site.

I'm up to 858 Swagbucks and I've only been a member for a month. I'm saving my bucks for a while so I can get something big. But if I were to trade them in now, I could get a $10 Amazon Gift Card. Which I earned doing NOTHING!!! Seriously nothing. I wouldn't even be telling you about this program if it was something ridiculous that you had to put all kinds of time into. There are tons of other prizes. Amazon Gift Cards are the most useful prize to me, because I shop on Amazon.com a lot.

If you want to check it out, here's my referrel link. I guess maybe I'll start actually "trying" to get more Swagbucks so I can fuel my polish hoarding. And you can earn quite a few Swagbucks this way.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/PColucci

Are you a blogger?? Leave a link.

2012-01-18T02:30:00.001-05:00

I take a moment to go through all my new followers and I follow back if you have a blog attached to your GFC name. If you don't, or if I somehow missed you on my list, please feel free to leave a comment on this post with your blog link. Or leave it anywhere. I don't mind blog links in my posts. I know some do, but I'm always looking for new blogs to follow: and not just polish blogs. I follow new ones everyday. I am a BLOG READER FIRST and a BLOGGER SECOND. We are a community! I am looking for new friends to share my hobby with and crossing my fingers that I will somehow, in some way, inspire you. Thanks for reading!!!

Zoya Crystal + Nail Stamping=

2012-01-18T01:53:00.000-05:00

THIS!!!

Zoya: Crystal

Bundle Monster Plate BM203

Sally Hansen Nail Color Pen: Gold Chrome 02

Lovely Little Things: It's Time For A Swap: Swapping with Patricia!

2012-01-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

The beautiful Miss Suiling featured me today in her blog post. This is what she got in return for all the wonderful gifts from Hawaii.

Lovely Little Things: It's Time For A Swap: Swapping with Patricia!:

This Week's (almost FREE) Additions to My Stash and a comment about Zoya

2012-01-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

So here are the additions to the family: and guess what? They were almost FREE!

My GREAT friend Lindsay (the Nail Tech) gave me the 4 bottles of OPI and all the back issues of Nails Magazines from her salon. Woot!!!! Thanks Lindsay!!!

The 2 Zoya polishes were free as a promotion that they ran January 1-9th where you got two free bottles of Zoya. I just had to pay the shipping which was $6.95. Let me just say, Zoya has such beautiful packaging, and they sent me real swatches of their upcoming Spring 2012 lines, which look amazing in person. One thing that I would like to suggest to Zoya, IF YOU'RE SOMEWHERE OUT THERE READING THIS!!!!....you need something online that better represents your polishes. The crappy picture and description don't do any justice in showing the beauty of their polishes. I was thoughtful enough to look up swatches online on my own (Google) so that I could pick which two polishes I wanted. Zoya should be showing swatches on their site. I truly believe they would sell more polish if people could see a more life-like representation of their polish.

The lone bottle of Wet N Wild was 40% off at Rite Aid. So I only paid $1.28 (tax inculuded) for it.

So all this you see here cost me a grand total: $8.23. Not bad!!!

Two coats each of Zoya Crystal and Zoya Edyta on a color wheel.

Two coats of each on a color wheel: OPI Rally Pretty Pink, OPI White Shatter, OPI Red Shatter, Wet N Wild Party of Five Glitters.

Two coats of OPI Pepe's Purple Passion on a color wheel

My Naked Picture

2012-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

I thought just for the heck of it, I would post a pic of my naked nails. As you can see, they aren't white. They will never be, nor do I try for them to be. I'm Italian with a dark complexion and this is my natural nail color. Some people worry about the color of their nails so much when there probably isn't a thing you can do about it. A suggestion, to those people, is try a nail foundation polish. Tons of brands make them: Beauty Secrets, Nail Tek, Butter London. I even saw that Sally Hansen came out with a line at the drugstores that come in different "complexion" colors. I like to wear a foundation under my polish because it smooths out ridges and it helps hide nail lines under polish. Also, when worn alone, it makes darker nails appear a more "natural" color. But no worries my dark nailed friends, there's nothing wrong, you aren't stained, and I don't think it looks bad. I like my nudie nails!!!

Become a Julep Maven for Only 1 Cent!!!

2012-01-13T23:32:00.004-05:00

Yes, Julep is running the penny special again for new Mavens. Just take the style quiz and enter the code "NEWYEAR2012" at checkout. Simple as that. No obligation to continue the subscription. You can cancel at any time or there are plenty of other options. You can change your box style, skip a month, or even send your box to a friend. Easy peasy!!! For a penny, what have you got to lose. Try it out! If you want to check it out simply click here:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Courtesy of squared nails » spring 2012 collections: a rundown

2012-01-13T21:20:00.000-05:00

Here's a great rundown of all the Spring 2012 collections courtesy of the awesome blog, please check her out and become a follower if you aren't already:

squared nails:

Butter LONDON
Spring/Summer 2012
Available: Now, $14

CHANEL
Spring Collection
Available: Now, $26

CHINA GLAZE
Electropop
Available: Now, $3-7

CHINA GLAZE
Magnetix
Available: Mid-February, $10

CHINA GLAZE
Prismatic
Available: January, $3-7

CHINA GLAZE
Crackle Glitter
Available: March, $3-7

CHINA GLAZE
Capitol Colours
Available: March 1, $3-7

COLOR CLUB
Blossoming Collection
Available: Now, $8

DIOR
Garden Party Collection
Available: Now, $23

ESSIE
Go Overboard Collection
Available: Now (Retail), $8

ESSIE
Resort Collection
Available: Unknown, $8

ESSIE
Spring Collection
Available: Unknown, $8

ESTEE LAUDER
Topaz Collection
Available: Now, $19

JULEP
Resort Collection
Available: Unknown, $14

NARS
Spring 2012 Collection
Available: January 13, $18

OPI
Nicki Minaj Collection
Available: January, $8.50

OPI
Holland Collection
Available: February, $8.50

OPI
NYC Ballet Collection
Available: Unknown, $8.50

SPARITUAL
Water Collection
Available: February 1, $10

ZOYA
True Collection
Available: Now, $8

ZOYA
Fleck Effect Collection
Available: Now, $8

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion + OPI White Crackle =

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

THIS!!!!

8th Annual "Nails Magazine" Readers' Choice Awards for 2011

2012-01-12T03:41:00.005-05:00

I love Nails Magazine. It's supposed to be strictly for professionals. But in my mind, I am. So my friend Lindsay, the nail tech, brings me copies of the magazine home from her salon. As I was reading the December issue of "Nails Magazine", I came across an article I knew I wanted to share with my readers. I searched their online website at http://www.nailsmag.com/ so that I could directly link the article and properly site it. Since I was unsuccessful, I have decided to type a few of the results here for my readers that I found interesting. So here are a portion of the:

8th Annual Nails Magazine Readers Choice Awards for 2011: Chosen by Nail Professionals.

Favorite Cuticle Treatment

CND: SolarOil
Young Nails: Rose Cuticle Oil
OPI Products: Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go
NSI: Nurture Oil
Hand & Nail Harmony: Nourish by Harmony

Favorite Files

Young Nails: 150/150 Zebra Files
OPI Products: Professional Files
NSI: Endurance Nail Files
CND: Girlfriend Buffer
Entity Beauty: Shiner

Favorite Implement or Tool (nippers and pushers)

OPI Products: Titanium Tooling System
Young Nails: Magic Wand
Tweezerman Professional: Cobalt Stainless Steel Cuticle Nipper
Mehaz Professional: #777 Cuticle Nipper
EZ Flow: Pro Pusher

Favorite Lotion for Hands or Body

CND: Scentsations
OPI Products: Avojuice Skin Quenchers Lotion
Young Nails: Lomasi Lotions
Cuccio Naturale: Lemongrass & Lavendar Body Butter
NSI: Nurture Lotion

Favorite Nail Art/Decals/Accessories

Young Nails: Glitter Collections
OPI Products: Designter Brush
Cina Nail Creations: Cina Nail Art Pens
NSI: Glitter Kit
It's So Easy: Stripe Rite

Favorite Pedicure Product or System

OPI Products: Manicure/Pedicure by OPI
CND: Marine SpaPedicure
Young Nails: Lomasi Line
Entity Beauty: Rainforest Body Couture
Cuccio Naturale: Pomegranate: Fig Signature Service Kit

Favorite Pedicure Tool

OPI Products: Disinfectable Foot File with Disposable Grit Strips
Mehaze Professional: Pedicure Plus
Tweezerman Professional: Pedicure Plus
Cuccio Naturale: Metal Foot File
Flowery Professional: Swedish Clover Fot Fil

Favorite Polish Drying Product

OPI Products: Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops
CND: Solar Speed Spray
China Glaze: Fast Freeze Quick Dry
NSI: Airshield
Jessica Cosmetics: Jessica Quick Dry

Favorite Polish (Traditional, not gel or UV cured)

OPI Products: Nail Lacquer
China Glaze: Polish
CND: Colour & Effects
Essie Cosmetics: Nail Polishes
Zoya and Qtica: Zoya Nail Polish

Favorite Top Coat

Seche: Seche Vite
OPI Products: Rapid Dry Top Coat
CND: Super Shiney Top Coat
Young Nails: Y-UV Top Coat
NSI: Glaze 'N Go

Favorite Strengthener or Treatment

OPI Products: Nail Envy
Nail Tek: Nail Tek/Hydration Therapy Strengtheners
CND: Toughen Up
China Glaze: Nail Strengthener & Growth Formula
Nailtiques: Formula 2

So, my lovely readers, what do you think? I love Nails Magazine. They have up to date info on product/polish lines and lots of good nail art and mani/pedi info. I thought this was a wonderful article. I will now, thoughtfully, be switching brands on some of my go to products. What can I say?? I trust the professionals.

Ashley is PolishAddicted: January Giveaway!!!!!!!

2012-01-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

My good friend Ashley is having a giveaway and it's an awesome one. I love these polishes so much!!!

Ashley is PolishAddicted: January Giveaway!!!!!!!:

THE NAIL JUNKIE: New Name-New Domain Julep Giveaway: Ends 1/30/12

2012-01-10T01:07:00.000-05:00

So I recently changed my blog's name from "For the Sake of Giveaways" to "The Nail Junkie". I got bit by the nail bug, and my original name no longer seemed fitting. I also purchased my very own domain, here, at www.thenailjunkie.com. To celebrate, I'm hosting this giveaway. Up for grabs, is a Julep Boho Glam introductory Maven Box which includes all the items you see here. I want to thank all of my readers and wish you luck. This giveaway is dedicated to *YOU*!!! Thanks for reading!

If you are interested in becoming a Julep Maven and receiving monthly boxes like the prize I'm giving away, here's a link where you can check them out. You can get your first month for just $5 if you use the code "MAVEN5" at checkout. There's no obligation to continue. You can cancel your subscription, skip your box for a month, choose a different style for the month, or even send your box to a friend. Lots of options. Here's the link to check them out:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

This giveaway *IS OPEN INTERNATIONALLY*. Please submit your entries in the Rafflecopter widget at the end of the post. Thanks again and good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My January 2012 BirchBox

2012-01-09T16:09:00.000-05:00

This is my second installment of BirchBox. I signed up last month. In case you don't know, BirchBox is a monthly subscription that mails you 4-6 deluxe size or full size beauty samples for you to try out and review. Here's what I got this month:

My verdict: This is a good box! Certainly worth the $10. The eyeliner alone is a value to me. For one, it's full size, and second, I use this type of eyeliner and it cost's me nearly $10. Score!!! I was pumped to see the polish of course. I love perfume samples. These little ones are perfect purse size and are leak proof. I don't care too much about the granola. I will enjoy trying the soap. I'm not sure what the obsession is with Pomegranate these days, but I'm game.

Do you think this month's box was worth $10? If so you may want to go check out Birchbox. It's just $10 a month and you get to try all these samples. There's no obligation, you quit when you want to. Simple as that. Who doesn't like gifts in the mail? I know my little heart skips a beat when I see a package poking from my mailbox. Here's a link to check them out:

http://www.birchbox.com/?raf=h98ey

On a side note, I received an email today from MyGlamBag saying that they had subscription spots open. They are another monthly sample service that is almost identical to Birchbox. I signed up right away. I figure I'll try them out and then decide which sample service I like better and cancel one. Or what the heck...if I can afford it, I"ll just keep both. This is a really fun service.

My Julep MYSTERY BOX!!!

2012-01-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

I was getting frustrated with Julep because I ordered this box on the 16th of December and had to call to find out why it wasn't shipped 3 times and had to wait almost a month for it to get to me. However, I am so pleased with the contents of the box, that I guess I can say it was worth the wait. Okay, so here's what was inside:

Julep Jodie, Charlotte and Carrie. Two coats of each on a color wheel.

I was really happy with the 3 colors they gave me! The are all new to my Julep collection and all very pretty. They also sent me bottles of their base and top coat. Yay! I was excited about the lipgloss at first but it's too light for me and also, for some odd reason, it made a red rash around my lips. Nothing serious, but still odd. I love their hand scrub and lotion so those were a score. I was also happy to get my first crystal nail file, my first set of nail appliques, and I get to try out their cuticle oil. I have a lot of cuticle oil, but I'm starting to collect ones that have different fragrances so I can use whatever I'm in the mood for. The Julep Cuticle Oil smells wonderful!!! It is very heavily scented and the roller ball applicator design is unlike any of my other oils.

So what do you think?? Did you order a box? I think I made out pretty well. This wasn't the largest box I saw posted, but it certainly wasn't the smallest either. So I'm happy with this. I love getting my monthly Maven boxes and this Mystery Box was a super fun way to spoil myself a little for Christmas. I could hardly wait to get it, which is why I was irritated at Julep for making me wait so long when I was one of the first customers to jump on this deal.

If you want to check Julep out, or would like to become a Julep Maven, here is a link for you to go to. They are running a special where you can get your first month for only $5. Simply take the Maven Quiz and enter the code "MAVEN5" at checkout. There's no obligation to continue and you have the option to change boxes if you don't like the style chosen for you, and you can skip months if you don't want to be charged for a box at all. So if you haven't tried it yet, $5 is certainly worth it in my opinion. Here's the link:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

My New Blog Name and Domain

2012-01-08T18:53:00.002-05:00

It's official, I have a new name and a new domain. I didn't like the name I started my blog with, "For the Sake of Givewaways", because after I got bit by the nail bug, my blog was no longer a giveaway blog. Everything will be forwarded automatically. My new name: "The Nail Junkie" and you can find my blog at www.thenailjunkie.com .To celebrate, I'll be doing a very special blog giveaway. So stay tuned!!!

Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus: My review

2012-01-07T00:30:00.000-05:00

So I've been on the hunt for the say all end all in base coats. I have nails that are thin and peel. I am an avid reader of the online version of Nails Magazine and I read an article where they named Nailtiques as their pick for best base coat. So I tried it out.

I ordered a bottle from their website: http://www.nailtiques.com/. They processed and shipped the order quickly. I paid $9.50 for the polish and $5 for shipping. A little steep if you ask me, but I'm kind of a tightwad. Anyway, several days after my order I found Nailtiques in my local Rite Aid. Bummer!!! I would have just bought it at the store if I had known they sold it there.

However, I got a free gift with my polish! Yay! Free gift! They sent a cute little drawstring bag and a free bottle of their cuticle oil. It's great oil too. It's thick and it smells wonderful. Unlike most of my oils, this one has some staying power.

I purchased this product about 6-7 weeks ago. I figured I would wait and give the product a fair trial before I did a review. I knew it would take some time to show some real results. And there were definitely results. My nails are much stronger and peel a lot less. They aren't perfect yet, which means my search will continue in hopes to find that perfect basecoat.

So in closing:

PROS

The product was shipped in a timely fashion, attractively packaged, and came with an awesome FREE GIFT!
I did notice improvement to strength of my nails as well as a decrease in peeling.
The polish is nice and thick, applies well, and works awesome as a base-coat for polish. When I wore it alone it actually felt like I had rubber on my nails.

CONS

The bottle is rather expensive for as small as it is. It is only half the size of your average polish bottle. I would have been incredibly more satisfied with a full size polish bottle.
I still noticed peeling on several of my nails, meaning this isn't the say all end all of base-coats.

So will I buy again? I am going to say yes. So far, this is the best base-coat/nail treatment I have used to date. I would like to try a few more products before I give up and settle with Nailtiques, but overall I was impressed with this product and I would recommend it.

On a side note, I have heard people complain that they need to repair their nails after wearing acrylics. I saw that Nailtiques sells a specialty kit just for that purpose. Ex-acrylic nail wearers may want to check that out.

A great gift for a budding polish-a-holic

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

So I've started getting a lot of "ooh's" and "ah's" over my polish stash. I've done all my friends' nails, all the neighbor girls' nails, and anyone else who has 20 minutes to sit for a manicure. Well, a lot of people have been genuinely interested in starting a habit of their own. One of them being my friend Erin. She has spent the last decade pouring her time and energies into her family. Now they're getting older and she has a little more "me time" to explore the fun world of cosmetics and polish. So I composed this little gift set for her for Christmas. It has the basic items that you need for a good manicure. All us addicts know you can add one or twelve more steps to the process, but all you really need is a good base coat, a few coats of pretty polish and a fast dry topcoat. Add in clean fingers and moisturized cuticles and you have a salon quality manicure. Am I right?? What do you think of this as a polish-a-holic starter set? Did I leave anything out that you would have added?

I Love Cheap Drugstore Polish!!!

2012-01-05T00:11:00.000-05:00

There, I said it. I don't discriminate. I love all polish. Here is a lovely combo of Sinful Colors. I love these colors. Believe me when I say, the photos do no justice. These are two rich beautiful and unique colors.

This week's additions to my polish stash

2012-01-03T18:51:00.001-05:00

Here are a few lovelies I picked up this week:

I got these cute little Hard Candy polishes at my local Walmart for just $.25!!!! Wow!! They were on clearance with the Christmas stuff and I couldn't say no.

Next up is Revlon Whimsical. I have been wanting this polish so bad. I've searched all the nearby stores and of course I could never find it. So my friend Traci from The TraceFace Philes sent me a bottle. Yay!!! I hate waiting for polish that I really want. So this is a major score.

Maybe a month ago I bought Milani Jewel FX in Gold. I loved it so much that I went on http://www.amazon.com/ and ordered the other two that were in the set, Silver and Gems, since I knew I wouldn't find them in the stores. I was sad to find that Milani Gems is an exact dupe of my Nicole: Rainbow S-Kylie. I keep seeing other dupes of this chunky rainbow glitter. OPI: Rainbow Connection is one. So whatever, I guess I have two of them now.

Revlon Whimsical, Milani Jewel FX Silver, Milani Jewel FX Gems: 2 coats each

FREE ZOYA!!!!

2012-01-03T16:06:00.000-05:00

A glitch in my ordering process caused me to miss out on this deal at Halloween last year. No chance I'm missing it this time. Get two free Zoya polishes by entering the code "ZOYA2012" at checkout. You just pay shipping. WOOT! WOOT!!!!

http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/2012/01/let-zoya-color-your-world-in-2012.html

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! and my New Year Mani!

2012-01-01T00:09:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year to all my lovely followers!!! I thank you for enjoying this great hobby with me and here's to another year of polish addiction!!! Here is my New Year Mani

Julep-Helena

Sally Hansen- Gold Chrome Pen

Bundle Monster Plate 21

My First Polish Swap: From Hawaii

2011-12-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

So I participated in my very first polish swap. It was with the lovely SuiLing from Lovely Little Things. She sent me Lilac scented cuticle oil which smells SO WONDERFUL!!! I wanted it badly because it had flowers in it and Lilac is my favorite scent. SCORE!!! She also sent a lovely sparkly purple polish. This is a new one for my collection: both brand and color. Yay! And she sent some little treats for me too. I sent her package a few days ago. She requested Essie: As Gold As It Gets. So I sent that with another little surprise. I can't wait to find out how she likes her package. This was fun!!! One of my favorite things about blogging is that I'm making new friends all over the world. It's exciting!

My January Julep Maven Box

2011-12-30T16:23:00.000-05:00

So I just received my January Julep Maven Box in the mail today. I was really excited about the preview. So I knew I would like it. I received the "It Girl" Box. It included 3 new Spring colors: Leah, Megan and Hayden. These were all new additions to my collection. So that's a plus. In addition to these 3 lovelies, Julep offered a free complimentary upgrade this month. I was able to decide from 3 choices: one of 2 colors, or their nail therapy. Since I only have their topcoat I figured I'd get the nail therapy and make a set. I will let you know how it works when I try it. They also sent a sample of their nail polish remover pads which was a nice surprise.

I'm a little peeved at Julep right now because of some shipping issues. I hope the resolve this or they may lose a member. I ordered that Mystery Box, way back when it first came out. I've had to call and check on it 4 times!!! And today I called and they said they still didn't ship it. WTF??

Anyway, If you'd like to sign up to be a Maven here's my referrel link. It's definitely a fun service and they have great deals on your first box. They were doing boxes for a penny if you enter the code "SHAREON" at checkout. I don't know if that offer still stands or not. If not, you can enter the code "MAVEN5" when you check out you can get your first box for $5. There is no obligation to continue. You can cancel at any time or even skip boxes if you want to. So there's no commitment. It's worth trying. That's for sure. I get really excited when I receive my boxes. I'm just a little ticked right now that they seem to keep screwing up my orders.

Here's the link to sign up:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Here are swatches of each polish. This is two coats each on a color wheel:

Orly: Fowl Play + Essie: Shine of the Times=

2011-12-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

This!!!!

This week's additions to the polish family and my giveaway win.

2011-12-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

These are the polishes I've acquired this week. I received my winnings from my good friend Ashley over at Ashley is Polish Addicted. I was lucky enough to win her first giveaway. I won the Orly and Ulta polish, EOS lip balm and a mini manicure set. I was pleased with all of it. I thought the Orly would be my favorite polish of the two, but the Ulta: Material Girl was out of this world sparkly and it was love at first site.

My 8 year old niece has a beginners polish collection and I discovered she had 3 bottles of Zoya Matte Polish she had never even worn. So she sold them to me for $5 a bottle. Considering she got them for free from a nail tech who got them on clearance for $.99, I'm pretty sure I should consider that robbery. Regardless, I'm excited to own my first bottles of Zoya.

I picked up the Revlon at my local Target. It's a perfect Spring/Summer yellow color. You can't see it in the picture but it has glitter in it and with a name like "Sunshine Sparkle" I knew I had to add it to my collection.

Revlon: Sunshine Sparkle
Orly: Fowl Play
Ulta: Material Girl

Orly: Fowl Play

Revlon: Sunshine Sparkle

Ulta: Material Girl

Zoya: Savita
Zoya: Dovima
Zoya: Veruschka

Hypothesis: Your favorite polish color says something about your personality.

2011-12-20T21:57:00.000-05:00

So I had this thought the other day, that your favoritecolor probably says something about your personality. So I decided toGoogle and here's what I found. According to the website "http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com"here is a list of personality traits that they have associate with favoritecolor:

· If your favorite coloris red, you are action oriented with a deep need forphysical fulfillment and to experience life through the five senses.

· If orange isyour favorite color, you have a great need to be with people, to socialize withthem, and be accepted and respected as part of a group. You also have a needfor challenges in your life, whether it is physical or social challenges.

· Choosing yellow asyour favorite means you have a deep need for logical order in your everydaylife and to be able to express your individuality by using your logical mind toinspire and create new ideas.

· If green isyour favorite, you have a deep need to belong, to love and be loved, and tofeel safe and secure. You need acceptance and acknowledgment for the everydaythings you do for others - just a 'thank you' is sufficient.

· Lovers of blue havea deep need to find inner peace and truth, to live their life according totheir ideals and beliefs without having to change their inflexible viewpoint oflife to satisfy others.

· Indigo lovershave a need to feel in harmony and at one with the Universe and to be acceptedby others as the aware and intuitive spiritual beings that they are.

· If purpleor violet is your favorite color, you have a deep need foremotional security and to create order and perfection in all areas of yourlife, including your spiritual life. You also have a deep need to initiate andparticipate in humanitarian projects, helping others in need.

· If your personality coloris pink youhave a deep need to be accepted and loved unconditionally.

· If turquoise isyour favorite color your deepest need is to create emotional balance in yourlife, to be able to express your hopes and dreams no matter how idealistic theymay be and to make your own way in the world under your own terms.

· If your favorite color is magenta, youare a non-conformist who sees life from a different point of view.

· Lovers of brown havea deep need for a safe, secure, simple and comfortable existence withsupportive family and friends.

· Lovers of black havea need for power and control in order to protect their own emotionalinsecurities.

· If white isyour personality color, your deepest need is for simplicity in your own lifeand to be independent and self-reliant so you do not need to depend on anyoneelse.

· With gray asyour favorite color, you are the middle of the road type, cool, conserved,composed and reliable. You tend to conform just to keep the peace.

· If silver isyour favorite, you are intuitive and insightful and have a strong connectionwith a higher spiritual guidance.

· With a personalitycolor gold, youradiate charisma, personality and individuality, making others feel relaxed andvalued in your company.

I am a lover of red and gold polish: DIE HARD. My descriptions couldn't matchme more perfectly.

So I ask you, my readers, what is your favorite color ofpolish?? And do you match your description??

Preview of my January Julep Maven Box

2011-12-20T15:42:00.000-05:00

I love that they send these previews to me so I can see if I want a different box. Although...they sent me a box I didn't want for December. Long story: I switched to a 3 month Black Friday deal and subsequently they changed my box and the date it would be shipping...which I was unaware of. I called at the beginning of the month when everyone else was getting their boxes, because I still had not received mine, and the associate said she couldn't change the ship date but that she would make sure I still got my "It Girl" box. Well, she lied. I got the wrong box. When I called she basically said I should have read some fine print in an email that I don't remember seeing and can't even prove. Whatever. I was really looking forward to my regular shipment and I was very disappointed that not only did I get it long after I expected, but it didn't contain the nail appliques I was dying to try out. I guess I'm over it and I hope it doesn't happen again. I am super excited for my January box and I can't wait to see these lovelies in person. If you want to sign up to be a Julep Maven, they are running a special where you can get your first box for just ONE PENNY!!! No obligation to continue. Just use the code "SHAREON" at checkout. If for some reason that doesn't work, that means the code has been used up. They also have another code where you can get your first box for just $5 if you enter the code "MAVEN5" at checkout. Here's a referrel link if you want to check it out:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Do you have natural nails?? Then grab my button!!!

2011-12-20T03:27:00.001-05:00

I love buttons. I feel there aren't nearly enough of them in the nail blogging community. So I'm adding another. This one is specifically for all the natural nail wearers out there. No offense to anyone out there who isn't. You are more than welcome to create your own button. Or if you want, I'll make one for you. Just ask.

I wanted to take the time to recognize my ladies out there who put in work, and yes it is work, to grow and maintain your natural nails. I don't care if they are nubbins or if they are so long you can't wipe your own ass. Grab my button and show pride for your homegrown nails. You deserve it!!! Simply copy the code that's in the box below the picture, and paste it somewhere on your blog, or anywhere else you want people to see it.

My December Maven box AND this week's additions to my polish family

2011-12-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

This was my December Julep Maven box which FINALLY arrived. Sadly they sent me the wrong box. :( I have to call on Monday and see what they'll do about this.

Oooohhhh BAR GLITTER!!!

This is an amazing color!! I swear it glows!

Maven Mystery Box

2011-12-17T17:49:00.004-05:00

So I got this little luring ad in my inbox yesterday. I put it off and put it off, but eventually I just ended up buying. My curiosity got the best of me. Can't wait to see what's in it!!! Let's hope I get the big $200 box.

If you aren't a Maven yet, you can sign up for just 1 cent!! Yes, JOIN FOR A PENNY!!! There's no obligation to continue your subscription. Just enter the code "SHAREON" at checkout to take advantage of this special. For just a penny I say, try it out, and see if you like it. I've been happy so far and since I've taken advantage of specials I've saved a lot of money on my subscription. Here's a link if you want to check them out:

http://julep.com/?r=16649596

Pink Ice Mani

2011-12-17T17:14:00.002-05:00

This mani was loosely inspired by Cutepolish. I made my own twist on it. I have been trying and trying to use my CG Snow Globe polish since I bought it. It's just a really thick funky kind of glitter polish. My verdict: only use it for full nail manis and use it as a base under your nail art.

I took note of the pink glitter in the Snow Globe and decided I wanted pink for a base. So here's what I came up with.

And here's my fail art attempt from the day before. I took it off almost immediately because it was just too much art, too much snow, and not really what I was looking for.

I hope I have inspired you to try your take and execution on this mani. CG Snow Globe and pink work very well together!

More little girl nails!!!

2011-12-17T01:13:00.002-05:00

Little girls flock from far and wide begging me to paint their nails. LOL! I think they just like me for my polish stash!!! Regardless, they are helping me overcome my nervous shaking. I can paint my own nails just fine, but I shake when I paint other people's nails. My nail tech friend said I would stop doing this if I kept practicing on other people's nails. She was right!!! I don't think my hands shook at all tonight.

My Unsolicited Review of Orly Nail Rescue

2011-12-15T12:56:00.002-05:00

If I could scream my praises of this product from a mountain top....I would. It is AMAZING!!!

About 3 days ago I got a split index finger nail. I'm SO SICK of having my right index and middle fingernail break. They are my two problem nails. I'm guessing it's because those are my lead fingers on my dominant hand. So they are always in harms way when I'm cleaning or doing things with my hands. What makes it worse, is I'm obsessed with my nails being uniform. So up until then, if I broke a nail, no matter how far down it broke, I'd chop off the rest of my nails. I can't help it, OCD I guess. Anyway, this time I decided "no, I will not give in to my sucky index finger and middle fingernails!" So off to Sally's Beauty Supply I went to see what types of repair kits they had. I came across a few. Mostly patches. My issue with patches is, from my past experience, they lift off of your finger over time and generally I have not had any luck with them. That's when I came across Orly Nail Rescue. Something different.

Orly Nail Rescue Kit contains the following 3 items:

Brush on nail glue
A little pot of fine acrylic powder
A small square buffer

Then of course you have a 3 step process:

Paint your nail (the instructions say you paint the whole nail, I did not do this. I only painted the broken spot)
Dip your finger in the acrylic
Buff the area

The kit says you can repeat steps 1 and 2 for extra strength. I had to do this. I didn't get a strong enough hold the first time. So I needed to re-polish with the glue and dip a second time. Which is fine. It's easy enough to do.

The results were simply fantastic and all I could ever hope for. Not only is my nail rock hard, harder than any of my other nails, but the surface is smooth and the repair is undetectable. That is so important to me. Especially now that I'm photographing my nails. I didn't want anything lumpy or bumpy on my nail, and they aren't. They are smooth as always. Here are some photos of the repair. Don't mind my crusty dry fingers. This is what they look like after I use acetone and have not yet moisturized. :)

Broken nail:

Nail after it's dipped but not buffed:

The buffed and polished nail:

It's now 3 days later and my nail is still strong as ever. I've even used acetone on the nail and the repair is still 100% intact. I actually had another nail break last night and was I worried?? Not one bit. Just reached for my Nail Rescue and patched her up. Easy Peasy!!! Here are some pics of that completed nail repair.

Can you see that thin dark line across the top of the nail? It was a HUGE break. The nail almost snapped off completely. Now it's good as new.

Completely smooth and undetectable:

Here is a link to this kit on Sally's Beauty Supply Website:

http://www.sallybeauty.com/Nail-Rescue/SBS-654600,default,pd.html?cm_vc=SEARCH

At my time of purchase they were running a special that if you purchased 2 bottles of Orly Nail Polish you got any Orly nail treatment for free. So instead of just buying the repair kit for $7, I got 2 bottles of Orly polish and the nail kit for $11. GOOD DEAL!!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this review and I also hope you get a chance to try this kit out because I personally think it's awesome!!!

My giveaway win and review: Fashion To Figure

2011-12-14T15:00:00.002-05:00

Recently I won a giveaway at Menopausal New Mom's Blog. I recieved any item of my choice up to $30 from the Fashion to Figure Online Shop. I was so excited! This was the item I chose:

I received my giveaway win within a week. Which if you've ever won a giveaway, you know this is a plus. SPEEDY SHIPMENT!!!

I was impressed with the blouse as soon as I opened the package. It is made of chiffon and it is soft and silky. This was no cheap-y shirt either. The stitching was durable, the shirt was well made with lining on the inside. You can't see it in the picture but there are tiny metallic triangle patterns all over the shirt that really make it shimmer.

Once I tried on the top, I was even more pleased with it. It fit me very well despite the fact that it was a bit bigger than my size. I typically shop for a Large or X-large. This top was a plus size 1X. It still fit very well.

My original thought was to wear this top with leggings and a sexy pair of heels. However, today when I was getting dressed for class I saw the top hanging in my closet and decided I'd try a more casual look. I paired it with a nice pair of dark denim jeans, a pair of black leather flats and a black cardigan. I loved the outfit. I felt so pretty in the shirt. It was conservative and classy. I had to give a short presentation in front of the class and I didn't have to worry one bit about any bulges or showing too much cleavage. It was just right. Here, you be the judge. Here's some snapshots of today's "School Outfit". Sorry for the poor quality. My bf took the picture and he obviously could care less about how to take a photo.

This is my own personal review. I am not at all affiliated with the company and they did not ask my to review their product. I chose to because I wanted to share this.

Girls Birthday Party Idea: Nail Salon Party!!!

2011-12-13T15:00:00.001-05:00

So I was invited to do something really special over the weekend. One of my best friends, Erin, threw her daughter an 8th birthday party. Since her daughter loves how I paint her mommy's nails, Erin asked me if I'd like to paint nails at the party. I gladly accepted. What fun!!! I had a blast doing it and both the adults and children really loved the idea. Here's some pictures of little girl hands. Sorry that they are so blurry. It's hard to make little kids stand still for very long. I let the girls pick what they wanted on their nails and I was very surprised at the good taste these little ladies had.

My December Birchbox Review

2011-12-12T20:27:00.003-05:00

I recently subscribed to Birchbox. For those who don't know, Birchbox is a subscription based service that sends a monthly box of 6 deluxe beauty samples to your door each month. The cost: only $10 a month. I did some searching, and this is the least expensive service of this kind available in the US.

And here is my December Birchbox which just arrived last week:

I haven't yet been able to try the products but I can tell you there were some I am excited about and a few I am not.

Pore-fessional Cream Sample-THUMBS UP! I am a mineral make-up user and this product is basically a foundation for your foundation. I am excited to try this sample.
Harvey Prince Ageless Perfume Sample-THUMBS UP! I love perfumes. I have quite a collection. This scent is right up my alley.
Jouer Lip Gloss Sample-THUMBS UP! I did get a chance to try this on and I love it. It's not my favorite color in the world, but as long as you don't cake it on, it is a sheer pink. It smells fantastic and it goes on super thick. Just how I like my lipgloss.
Orofluido Beuty Elixir-THUMBS UP! This is an oil that you rub into your hair for shine and to help combat frizz. I already own a bottle of Argon Oil which is similar. But I'm excited to try a more pricey brand, and this one contains a few other oils that my Argon Oil doesn't. So it will be a new product for me.
Showstoppers Designer Fashion Tape- THUMBS DOWN! I honestly can't remember the last time I wore an outfit that I was popping out of in any way shape or form. So this product is basically useless to me. Maybe I'll give it to my boob-a-licious skinny friend Sarah since she likes to wear strapless mini dresses and halter tops. She might find a use for them.
Recharge Eboost Drink Mix-THUMBS UP! I've been fighting a cold all week. So I could use a little extra vitamin C in my life.

My overall verdict: THUMBS UP!!! For $10 a month I think this is a great buy! I am looking forward to seeing what I get each month and showing all of you. This is a fun way to try new beauty products that you would otherwise not purchase because of cost or just lack of information about the product. The only disappointment on my part was that I had hoped to receive at least one full size product. When scanning the reviews of other bloggers, a lot of ladies got full size products in their boxes. My first box only had samples. Still, I can't complain. The samples are large enough to give me a fair trial of each product.

Below is a referral link for those of you who are considering joining Birchbox or would just like to check it out.

http://www.birchbox.com/?raf=h98ey

Just so you all know, I am not in any way affiliated with Birchbox. I am a paid subscriber. I was not asked to do this review. These are my honest and unsolicited opinions of Birchbox.

Collage of Xmas Manis

2011-12-12T19:16:00.002-05:00

Here is a little Ode to the awesome Xmas manis I came across in my Google Reader. Some of these were too cute not too share. Please refer to the blog links in the photographs if you'd like to find and follow the artists. If there was no watermark, I added a link above the photo.

http://www.kaylashevonne.com/2011/12/christmas-nail-art-series-penguins.html

http://canadiannailfanatic.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-candy.html

http://manicuredmonkey.blogspot.com/2011/12/barielle-blackened-bleu-and-snowflakes.html

http://robinmosesnailart.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-nails-sock-monkey-nail.html

All these artists did a fantastic job, right?!?! Which one is your favorite?

New Nail Reader Material: Nailtique

2011-12-10T23:06:00.001-05:00

Here's a blog I found today. I like!!! It looks like we have a lot of the same tastes in polish.

Nailtique:

She also opened my eyes to an awesome new Youtube channel. Here is a great tutorial for a peppermint tip mani:

http://www.youtube.com/user/soguesswhat11#p/a/u/0/7s9LKwNKmpM

This Week's Additions to the Polish Family

2011-12-10T16:55:00.003-05:00

So I made it a point to brag to my boyfriend that "look honey...I only bought 3!!! That's good, right?" I have to say, sometimes I'm happier with a single bottle of polish that I've hunted for weeks, than I am with bulk purchases. This is one of those times. I got these beauties at Walmart and Kmart. I was especially thrilled to find the chunky gold Milani polish. I've been after it forever and I spotted a lonesome bottle at Kmart. I hadn't been in that store in ages. Glad I made the stop.

Here is two coats of each swatched on a color wheel.

2011-12-10T01:26:00.008-05:00

I was tagged by Amandalandish.

The Questions

1. How many polishes do you own?

I do believe I'm pushing 150. I need to make a stash list to be certain. New ones are added each day so I lost count a while back.

2. What is your favorite nail polish brand?

I don't discriminate. I love all brands!!! Just give me a good color and I'm a happy camper.

3. Do you like or hate crackle nail polish?

I want to say I like it but seeing as I have a bottle and I've only worn it once, I must not like it all that much.

4. What is your first nail polish brand?

It's hard to say for certain, but I remember having Hard Candy and Orly. Back in the day when they were cheap-y polishes. And Wet n Wild!!! Because they've been around forever.

5. If you create a nail polish line, what would you name it?

It wouldn't have a name. It would be recognize-able simply with an icon. Like Prince does...but better.

6. What nail polish color does not compliment you?

Most nude colors DO NOT compliment me unless they are more toward being brown. Anything creamy pink DOES NOT work with my complexion. I'm Italian with olive tan skin, so I'm more of a bold color babe.

8. Name two of your best nail art friends.

Well, I guess it would be my BFF Sarah who shares the nail polish habit with me. Nobody else really seems to understand my ridiculousness. I also have all my blogger buddies.

9. What was the best nail polish gift you have ever received?

I like the bottles of polish my BFF Sarah gifts me now and again. She knows me like the back of her hand.

10. Make a speech about thanking the blogger who tagged you.

I won your first giveaway. I love your blog! I love your blogging style! I hope that we will be great blogging friends for many blogs to come!!!

The Rules

- Answer the 10 questions

- Pass this tag to 5 bloggers

- Alert the bloggers you tagged about this

The Tagged

The Giveaway Lifestyle

Obsessed With Glitter

Both Hands Polished

GaGa for Nails

Ashley is PolishAddicted

Christmas Tree Scotch Tape Mani

2011-12-10T00:33:00.001-05:00

What do you think?

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!

2011-12-10T00:06:00.003-05:00

I won a giveaway!!! Woot!!! It's been a while and this is a good one. So I'm pumped. I won

Ashley is PolishAddicted: 100 Follower Giveaway

Those are some awesome polishes and some great extras. So I can't wait to get my hands on this stash. Because if there's one thing I love more than polish, it's FREE POLISH. Woot!!

I believe she has two other giveaways currently running. Don't enter them though, because then I'll have a better chance of winning those ones too. :P

I love Ashley's blog. She does great swatches and my favorite: NAIL ART!!! She gives me a lot of good ideas to try and a lot of beautiful polishes to drool over. So check her out!

Updates of my stash shots, tools and cheap-y storage solutions.

2011-12-08T21:59:00.002-05:00

So I like taking pictures of my nail polish. OBVIOUSLY. What nail blogger doesn't? So here it is. It's getting bigger by the day. Look out for some cheap storage solutions I've come up with.

It fits all of my 38 Bundle Monster plates. These are $.50 at Walmart.

Thanks for the lovely little bag Nailtiques. It was FREE (with my $10 order) It holds color wheels nicely.

This how I keep track of my stash so I don't buy dupes.

I got this DOUBLE SIDED pencil case for $.25 on clearance at Giant Eagle.

I'm currently working on some Xmas manis. Just to see how they will work before I put something hideous on my fingers.

Acetone is my friend. I love you Acetone!!!

Oh what fun it is to ride in a no-horse open sleigh. Hey!!!

My basic manicure tools. For cleaning. And trimming. And buffing. And all my top and base-coats.

theillustratednail: Take your pick… - fuck yeah nail art!

2011-12-07T21:43:00.002-05:00

I love this blog! It's just pictures. But sometimes that's all you really want and need.

theillustratednail: Take your pick… - fuck yeah nail art!:

My Take on the Snowflake Mani

2011-12-07T02:17:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas Manis! I couldn't stop staring at my hands. They are so much more glittery and flashy in person. Trust me.