ABC Challenge 'S & R' - The Red Angels are Sew Psyched

Hi all!

NOT DEAD! How about that? Sorry for my super extended absence, between work and getting everything done for graduation in two weeks plus my own personal down-time, it's been harder to get a post up. The biggest reason for my absence though? The sad sad state of my nails :'(. They've been peeling so badly recently and just brittle and dry that they're pretty nubtastic at the moment.

However, since I don't want to just disappear from the challenge altogether, I have a half-assed attempt to cram two challenges in one post! My base color is Essie Sew Psyched (for the S day) and I did a little accent stamp from RA-107 (for R day). I also stamped with Essie Good as Gold.

If the tips look weird its because I wore this for almost 5 days (!!) before taking the pictures and I had to retouch the tips a bit. Still, 5 days with barely any tip wear is pretty fantastic if you ask me! I never knew how to appreciate a long lasting mani until now.

Have a great day and (SPOILER ALERT) I'm actually wearing my 'T' mani as I type so be on the lookout for that post soon! (Could it be? Two posts in a week? EGADS).

Thank you for reading!

ABC Challenge 'P' & 'Q' - Pueen Q=17

Hi all!

So, since I missed two challenge posts in my absence, I decided to mash 'em up into one! I've known what I wanted to do for the 'P' challenge for a while but 'Q' was impossible, so I slightly cheated. I knew I wanted to use one of my new Pueen plates so I counted which letter Q was in the alphabet and decided I'd use that number plate. Luckily, the plate had a quilt-like image so it all worked out!

Started with two coats of OPI Russian Navy Suede (got really lucky at a beauty supply store recently and found 3 of the OPI Suedes!) then stamped my pointer and ring finger with PUEEN-17 and Essie No Place Like Chrome.

Tried going for a half-moon look with the stamp since the bottom edges on this plate are all half-moons. Not sure why, full review on the plates to come. I swear I did not like Russian Navy Suede until that macro. Just look at that depth and it's only one coat!! Only thing I'll say is that I didn't love the formula. Got thick fast and if you brushed one certain spot one time too many, it would pull the previous polish clean off, as seen on my ring finger macro.


See you soon for day R of the ABC Challenge! :)

ABC Challenge 'N' - Nails Inc. Sweets Way

Hi all!

Still being a pretty terrible blogger/nail enthusiast but I did manage to find a super old post that coincided with this week's challenge so here it is!

This mani was done in a rush for my neighbor's baby shower and while I truly enjoy the braided nails look, for the love of polish, don't ever use a sheer base glitter polish for the braid. This mani would have been so much better if I would have just used a solid white as an accent nail. Oh well.

Two coats of Nails Inc. Sweets Way, Essie Bikini So Teeny and Bettina Cotton Candy.

Thank you all for still being here despite my slightly irregular/sparse posting and I will answer all your comments soon, it annoys me to no end to have unanswered comments! I'm actually  pre-scheduling this and I'm nodding off as I type so I'm off to bed and feeling productive :D

Have a great day!

ABC Challenge 'J' - Revlon Jaded Night

Hey all!

I had a really hard time picking what to do for this challenge day. Originally, I wanted to do a really cool jelly sandwich but I figured I've already shown all my jelly polishes and I just wasn't feeling inspired when I sat down to do it. Then, I remembered I still haven't worn a very special (to me) polish starting with J but I knew I wouldn't get good pictures of it so I settled on this combo you're about to see. It's nothing too special but at the same time absolutely gorgeous.

I started with two coats of Revlon Jaded Night, this was part of a LE fall collection in 2011 (!). I remember this polish being one of the first that I semi-hunted for and as such will always be a bit special. Then I added another polish that was such a huge lemming for me, Essie Shine of the Times. Even though SOTT wasn't the lemming per se, it was Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure but OMG I remember to this day looking at the pics of those magical flakies and being so excited when a dupe surfaced.

Looking like nothing super special...

You start to see a bit of the magic...

Suddenly, BABLAM macro and it's magical and fiery and beautiful

Mmm pictures like that make me think I'm not so over flakies as I thought :D.

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

ABC Challenge 'E' - Essie No More Film

Hi all!

So, when I sat down to do my nails I knew I didn't want to use an Essie for this challenge day because that was too easy. Then I found an untried Essie and that resolve went out the window.

I chose Essie No More Film and layered Sally Hansen Snow Globe for the bigger hex glitters, then Spoiled My Saturn Broke Down and finished it off with Essie Matte About You.

I did this in such a hurry that it looks sloppy. No gusta :(. I  like the actual mani though, its just that my cuticles were acting up and being all dry and weird so polish seemed to stick to them. No More Film has such a wonderful formula, I can't believe I haven't tried it before, this was just one coat! I'm pretty sure it's going to work great for stamping too.

Now I'm off to do my nails because I refuse to be naked on my birthday! :D

Have a great day lovelies!

There's Some Gold on Turquoise and Caicos

Hi all!

It's Monday unfortunately and a pretty crappy one so far. At least I have something on my nails that makes me incredibly happy! No, it's not this. You'll see the amazingness I'm wearing soon. Today's post however, gets little love from me.

First of all, I just didn't like the combo that much. I could swear my bottle of Essie Turquoise and Caicos got greener or something but it looked off. Then, the gold topcoat provides a very subtle look, I would like bigger gold flakes, like Cirque AU. On the other hand, I got this bottle for $8 at Sephora (with a gift card) so I can't complain too much. Third (and probably the biggest reason I don't like these pictures), is that my hand was being weird the night I took the pictures. It didn't want to fall into place like it usually does and it looks all contorted or weird but I didn't have anything else to post so bear with me :D

Three coats of Turquoise and Caicos with one coat of SOPI It's Real 18k Gold topcoat.

Meh.

I'd also like to thank you all for the love on my ABC Challenge 'C' post! I'm going to respond something to each of you but it means a lot that so many of you took the time to comment! ♥

What was the last combo or polish you wore that should have worked, but just left you meh? 

Have a great day! 

Mmm, minty.

Hi all!

Time to get some nail art up in this bit....place. It's been pretty long since I did anything other than polish + glitter so I sat down completely decided on doing some nail art again. Admittedly, my first idea was a fail so I went with a favorite, a gradient and stamping.

Started with a base of Essie Mint Candy Apple and gradiented (totally a word) with Essie Where's my Chauffeur? and Bettina Gabrielle. It's one of the smoothest gradients I've done so far but it was a pain in the ass to get it looking decent, I had to sponge it like 3 different times.

Then I stamped with China Glaze Deviantly Daring and MASH-43.

As you can see, I shortened my nails because I have a break on my middle nail. In these pics I actually have a repair with Orly Rescue (that I'm still wearing until I can file off the damage). IRL, they're a great length for me and I'm not stabbing myself but it takes some getting used to in pictures.

Any comments or suggestions on future nail art or tutorials you'd like to see? Let me know!

Have a great weekend lovelies!

Black Spots Over Green

Hi all!

Sorry I've been a little absent, between school and christmas-type social obligations my 'me' time in which I blogged and such has been scarce. For those of you who commented on my post about my friend's passing, your words really meant a lot and I wanted to let you all know that his death saved 5 other lives because of organ donation. We said our goodbyes to him on Thursday and, while it was very hard to see him like that, I always find funerals help to start the healing process. He is and will always be incredibly missed.

Let's get ourselves happy and look at some nails, yes? This is a mani I did last week when I was super rushed and contemplating some type of self harm because of a presentation I had due the next day. In order to keep my sanity, I decided to take a break and do my nails but it had to be quick so I grabbed from my untrieds pile on the table and these two looked perfect for each other.

I have two coats of Essie Mojito Madness with Sation I Paint in Peace on my accent nails and I topped everything with one coat of the black Fergie glitter from Wet 'N Wild.

I originally passed on Mojito Madness when it first came out but I saw it the other day and just had to have it. It's such a nice bright color and it has a great formula so I'm definitely psyched to have found it. Sation I Paint in Peace is a gorgeous deep green with silver shimmer and I LOVE IT. The formula is a little thick but not unmanageable and it covered completely in one coat! I really suggest picking up the Sation polishes if you can find them, I've yet to be disappointed.

Thank you for looking and have a great day lovelies!

Sunday Stamping: Over Blue Base

Hey all!

Hope everyone got some great deals while shopping! Mom and I went to the mall on Friday afternoon but didn't really buy anything. We got some great online deals though! :)

Today's mani is for the Adventures in Stamping group on Facebook and the theme was 'over blue'. I didn't have a new blue polish so I went with a semi-oldie but a goodie. This is really one of my favorite blue shades because it just looks so clean!

Two coats of Essie Bikini So Teeny stamped with Mash-42 and Essie No More Film. I also accentuated the stamp with loose glequins from KKCenterHK store.

No More Film is a great stamping color except for how much it smears! I topcoated my pinky and smeared the hell out of it, so I redid it and went to sleep without topcoat thinking it would dry thoroughly and it wouldn't be a problem in the morning. Wrong! It still smeared with three different topcoats. Oh well, it still looks really cute from a distance! Maybe a little too summery for everyone else but, in PR, it's never really winter :P.

Thank you for looking and have a great day!

I'm Armed and Ready with a Stamper!

Hey all! Wow that's a corny title. It's the best I could do at the moment.

Soo before finishing the challenge I was feeling a little uninspired and I'm sad to report that mental block is still going strong. However, I obviously cannot have my nails naked for long so I'm just grabbing random untrieds until inspiration kicks back in.

Today's untried is Essie Armed and Ready from the Spring 2012 Go Overboard collection. I passed on this polish so many times in store but, as supplies dwindled, I started seeing it on a lot of wishlists and lemmings lists so I decided to give it a try. It's a great color, definitely unique but it doesn't ruffle my feathers THAT much. Still happy to have it since I don't have anything close to it in my stash.

Obviously I couldn't leave it as it was so I stamped with Mash-49 and Essie As Good as Gold.

Guys, I love these Mash stamps. The quality is great and I love a lot of the images so they're sure to inspire me. Eventually. I just really wish this stamping wasn't crooked but, from afar, it looked pretty cool.

Also, because I'm uninspired and a genius, I decided to participate in a nail art contest! You'll probably be seeing that post later today or tomorrow. I hope.

Have a great day! I'll be in preparations for the thanksgiving feast O_o.

My Flag - Una Sola Estrella Libre

Hello all!

If you saw my last post, you might know I had no idea what to do on my nails for today's challenge. I never really wanted to do the flag of Puerto Rico because...in all honesty, I find plastering your flag everywhere a little tacky. However, there is a very important point I thought I should comment on so I decided to go ahead and do my little island's flag.

I used Essie Blanc, L'Oreal Jet Set to Paris and Bettina 197. 

You may or may not have heard that Puerto Rico held elections Nov. 6, same as the US. In these elections we also held a plebiscite to determine the country's status. We could either remain a Commonwealth ("independent" but associated to the US) or we could vote to become a state. This has caused some extreme confusion for the media.

To be clear, WE DID NOT VOTE TO BECOME A STATE. In truth, the ballot was designed by the pro-statehood party and the numbers were skewed by people who filled their ballots incorrectly and thus they were not counted. However, these news have hit and a torrential outpour of complaints have surfaced on the internet. People stating why we are not ready to become a state and how we, us little simple good for nothing island people, would be a drain on the US economy.

To these people I have to say, I understand the misconceptions you may have about the puertorrican people. To any other people still not convinced, your loss. We have awesome food.

In my honest opinion, I don't want Puerto Rico to become the 51st state. I'm not 100% content with the current status either but, this way, at least I get to fill my heart with pride when I see our little flag waving in events like the Olympics or major sports.

I'm sorry this was so long and I am truly sorry if I offended anyone as I was offended in the last few days. I really just had to get this out somewhere and you all suffered the brunt of my hurt. Hopefully, things can take a turn for the better now that we got rid of the douche governor we had. I can only hope we didn't replace him with another douche (although that's usually the way these things go).

If you're still here and you got through all that mess up there, thank you for reading my ramblings. Now go see some more pretty flag nails!

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles

Comparison Mini-Spam!

Hello there!

Today I have some simple comparisons for you. This is mostly newer polishes I've acquired that bear a big resemblance to others in my stash. Maybe this could help you save some moolah. Yeah, I just said moolah.

First up, some comparisons to the new Essie Winter Collection. On my pointer I have Where's My Chauffeur, middle Turquoise and Caicos. Ring finger is Butler, Please and pinky is Nails Inc. Baker St.

Where's My Chauffeur definitely stands alone in my stash since it's bluer than its other mintier turquoise counterparts. Although, if you have China Glaze Aquadelic you might not need this one. Butler, Please is very close to Baker St. but, maybe this was just my experience, BP had a hoorrible formula! Streaky, pulling up polish and it dries to this weird lumpy semi matte finish. Baker St. is still just a touch brighter and the formula is absolutely wonderful so, while I don't regret having Butler, Please, Baker St. is the clear winner for me.

Next up, a reader request! It's some blue jellies. You know I love me some blue jellies. Pointer finger is Sation It's All Navy Baby, middle is China Glaze Ride the Waves, ring is Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt and pinky is Revlon Royal.

As you can see, no real dupes here. Sation is definitely the darkest and every polish was 2 coats except Ride the Waves, which needed 3. I'm wearing the Nina polish as I type and it's absolutely beautiful, a welcome addition to this blue jelly hoarder's stash.

And finally, some Illamasqua comps! Pointer finger is Revlon Jaded Night from a LE collection a while back, middle is Illamasqua Kink, ring finger is Sation Little Miss Emo and pinky is Illamasqua Prosperity, from the newer Rubber Brights.

Kink and Jaded Night are extremely close, I could barely tell these apart IRL. In macro mode, the rubber finish sets them apart and it looks a little lighter. Little Miss Emo is not quite as blue as it photographs, so its really just a touch darker than Prosperity. These would make for a very subtle gradient.

All in all, I'm happy with the polishes I have. The little differences are enough justification to keep them all. I may have a problem.

Hope this helps and please be smart tomorrow when voting. I know people here get involved in the fanaticism and euphoria and vote 'for the color' (the political parties here are very associated and identified by their colors), not the leader so I can sincerely hope it's not the same in the US.

Have a good day!

31 Day Challenge Day 26 - Inspired by a Pattern

Hey all!

For today's prompt, we were supposed to be inspired by a pattern. I had a really awesome idea in my tiny noggin but time constraints and my own inability to execute anything properly left me blank. In the end, I looked through my stamping plates and felt inspired by the zebra pattern on my Bundle Monster plates. Can't go wrong with animal print right?

I started with three coats of Essie Absolutely Shore, then gradiented with OPI Thanks a Wind-Million and China Glaze Exotic Encounters. For the stamping, I used China Glaze Con-Fused? from the new magnetic collection. I read at Oooh Shinies that magnetics were good for stamping and she wasn't wrong! Now I want ALL the magnetic polishes :D

I wanted badly to like this but the gradient was such a pain in the ass, not blending and pulling up polish. Bah, in the end though, it isn't too bad so I decided to post it.

Now go visit the other awesome ladies in this challenge!

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner
-Kat at Hooked On Polish
-Diana at Nails By Diana
-Aly at Wonderland Beauty
-Meredith at Perfectly Polished
-Nicole at The Color Republic
-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails
-Cee at Absolutely Cee
-Sam at Polished Art
-Nail Narcotics
-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed
-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches
-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful
-Mixed Mama
-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine
-Patty Greenberg
-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 
-Mari at Nailista
-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 
-Gini at Sassy Paints
-Chameleon Stampede 
-Pam at Nail-E-Glance
-Me, Myself, and Polish 
- Robin Sparkles  

My Chauffeur Keeps on Loving Me

Hey all! FRIIIDAAAYYYY is finally here! I'm doubly excited because, thanks to the elections, we have Monday & Tuesday off from work/school :D. Also, my university has a ton of days off, from absent teachers to Thanksgiving break so the month of November is looking good for me.

Now for what you came for, nails! This mani is my post for the Inspired by Fashion day of the 31 Day Challenge, it is a polish review and my anniversary nails! Yeah, I'm a multitasker. The 'fashion' that inspired these nails is some seriously hideous shoes that have become a fad here in PR. They're ruffly, colorful and hairy with big flowers. I couldn't find a pic of those specific type of shoes which leads me to think they're only popular here. Lucky us O_o.

I started with a base of Essie Where's My Chauffeur. I passed on it initially since I thought it was too close to Turquoise & Caicos but it's actually closer to China Glaze Aquadelic which has been a huge lemming for me so yay! Creamy formula, just two coats.

Then I used Keep On Loving You by Makeup Your Face. It's an awesome mix of rainbow micro glitter and larger hex glitters in every color and some large holo hexes. I had been craving a glitter topper like this and I'm so sad I only have a mini. Might need to get a bigger bottle!

Application was painless, I 'dabbed' the glitter on my left (swatching) hand so you could see as many glitters as possible while on my right hand I just polished as normal and still got an even distribution. Topped it off with a coat of Gelous and Revlon Quick Dry for a smooth finish.

I'm sorry I can't show you a pic of my inspiration! I also wouldn't want to offend anyone with that particular taste in shoes, so maybe it's for the best. As for the polishes, I am so in love with both! If you like rainbow glitters, you should consider this one. It's got a great mix, applies like a dream and seems unique to me.

Makeup Your Face can be found in her Etsy shop and her Facebook page. Essie's are just everywhere.

Make sure to visit the other ladies who are participating in the challenge!

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

-Kat at Hooked On Polish

-Diana at Nails By Diana

-Aly at Wonderland Beauty

-Meredith at Perfectly Polished

-Nicole at The Color Republic

-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

-Cee at Absolutely Cee

-Sam at Polished Art

-Nail Narcotics

-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 

-Mixed Mama

-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine

-Patty Greenberg

-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 

-Mari at Nailista 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles

The Makeup Your Face polish was provided for an honest review. For more information, please visit my Disclosure Page. 

31 Day Challenge Day 21 - Inspired by a Color

Good morning! It seems like I am getting back on track with these challenge posts huh? Lol, watch me eff it up this week again (hope not, but you never know).

Today's prompt was 'Inspired by a Color'. Um, ok. Usually, I've seen people do something inspired by the name of the polish and I did too. Sorta. The truth is, this mani started as something just for me, because I wanted to wear something pretty because I was feeling down.

I started with two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (awesome shade and formula) and layered Essie Main Squeeze on top. Main Squeeze is from the 2010 Wedding Collection and I just recently found it at TJ Maxx. It's a sheer lavender-y iridescent pearly color with a pretty blue flash. The best thing about it though, is it has some black specks! I've always loved those speckled looking polishes but never had access to one (Borghese Almondine, Misa Grey Matters) and now I can make ANY polish speckled! Woo! Enough babbling, gonna let the pics do the talking.

You can kind of see the blue flash close to the nail tip in the macro. Also, BLACK SPECKLES! 

Now, like I said, this started as just something for myself but, seeing as I was in a time crunch, I was feeling very DARING so I decided to stamp and call it a day. I used the DRK-A image plate and China Glaze Deviantly Daring (ahh see what I did there?).

Last time I used this image, it was supposed to represent ripples in the water. Now I see more like attached molecules or a pretty china pattern. Maybe a really really weird giraffe. What do you see?

Also, today is the last day of voting in the Bundle Monster Fright Night contest. I would really love to qualify as a finalist so now I'm just straight up begging for some votes. Here's the direct link to my entry. You can also check out the other entries and vote for them as well! 

As always, pay a visit to my partners in challenge awesomeness:

-Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

-Kat at Hooked On Polish

-Diana at Nails By Diana

-Aly at Wonderland Beauty

-Meredith at Perfectly Polished

-Nicole at The Color Republic

-Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

-Cee at Absolutely Cee

-Sam at Polished Art

-Nail Narcotics

-Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

-Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

-Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful 

-Mixed Mama

-Joanna @ Sweet Polish of Mine

-Patty Greenberg

-Liz and Lisa @ Lozlosa 

-Mari at Nailista 

-Miss L at Beauty by Miss L 

-Gini at Sassy Paints 

-Chameleon Stampede 

-Pam at Nail-E-Glance

-Me, Myself, and Polish 

- Robin Sparkles