Is anyone still out there???

Hello, neglected lovely readers!

My first semester as a nursing student is winding down, so I wanted to check in here and let you all know that I'll be posting swatches again after this week! I can't have my nails painted for clinicals, so I've been bare-nailed for most of the semester. Scary, but I've embraced it!

Anyway, I miss blogging so much! I didn't realize that I'd just completely stop posting once school started. Sorry! See you again soon!

Blog Sale!

Hello! Time to get rid of some of my nicer rarely-used polishes! Please click the jump for details!!!

Shipping info is at the end- I only ship to the US/Canada- Sorry! Paypal only, please.

Blog Sale?

Hello, readers!

I'm going to have a TEENY TINY blog sale later this week. Some HTF/LE polishes, but just like five. I'm debating whether or not to sell my bottle of OPI - My Private Jet, the original formulation. I love it and cherish it, but I never wear it because I don't want to waste it. So that's a possibility.

Other than that, a couple of Chanels, RBL, OPI... I think that's it. I need any money I can get to buy my books for nursing school!

So I guess this is just a heads up, or something.

Have a great week!!!

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails - Ice Queen

Hello everyone! I did not take these pictures in a smokey brushfire. We're having 100+ degree weather here in Maryland, and my camera fogs up the second I walk outside! So, while these pictures are not the clearest, they're humorous and absurd.

My co-worker told me this manicure was "blog worthy," so here it is! I'm wearing Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Pink Blink with two coats of Sally Hansen Ice Queen on top. Pink Blink is a really nice baby pink. Opaque in two coats. Ice Queen was a gift from another of my co-workers. I wore two different earrings one day- one pink and one blue. She saw this polish at the store and it reminded her of me for that reason!

I love this look. It reminds me of cotton candy. I'm really sorry you have to view this manicure through a haze, but such is life. Ice Queen is a clear base with tons of teeny tiny silver glitter mixed in with larger pink and blue hexagon glitter. Very cute!

I love the new Hard as Nails bottles. I hate big round bottles, like OPI and China Glaze. They take up too much space! This bottle is thin and flat. I like it.

Is it very hot where you are? Hopefully you're inside enjoying the AC, just like I am!

Deborah Lippmann - Boom Boom Pow

Hello, readers! Today I have an awesome Deborah Lippmann polish to share: Boom Boom Pow. This polish is made with real 24K gold dust, and it's very different from other chunky gold glitters. I have one by Sally Girl, but it lacks the tiny gold microshimmer particles of Boom Boom Pow. I have seen a lot of swatches of this polish layered over darker colors, but I decided to put it on bare nails (with my usual Orly Bonder as a base and Seche Vite as a top coat).

I really like this look! My nails do feel a little naked, and they're not the whitest they've ever been, but I feel like since the polish is gold and not truly clear, it doesn't matter so much. This polish is too beautiful to not wear alone every once in a while. Please click the picture to enlarge it and see the gold microshimmer!

What do you think? Do you ever wear clear-based glitters on your bare nails? Thanks for reading!

American Apparel Neons

Hello, and I hope you all had a great July 4th weekend! Today I have my collection of American Apparel Neon polishes for you. The only one I didn't buy is the Neon Orange because I don't care for it, but I did swatch it at the store. There are seven polishes in the collection. I think there wasn't originally a Blue, but now there is.

My boyfriend gave me Neon Red, Neon Violet, and Neon Green as a surprise. I loved them! I wore full manicures with each, and each lasted at least three days. The green is definitely my favorite. It's so so SO SO bright! So I went back to American Apparel to get the rest, but I opted to skip the orange. I'm just not a fan. The coral is orange enough for me. Here, swatched from index to pinkie, are Neon Blue, Neon Yellow, Neon Orange, and Neon Coral (also on my thumb). You'll really have to click to enlarge these pictures for the true color. Blogger is muting the colors.

Here's a full manicure with Neon Blue, on my right hand. I'm disappointed! I just did my nails last night, and they already have tip wear! I didn't have this problem with the green, red, or purple, so I don't know if maybe I just did my nails too fast or something. And also, because you need to know, this blue gave me MAJOR smurf hands when I removed it. My fingertips are totally stained blue. That's a huge downer.

You definitely need top coat on all of these if you want a shiny finish. The blue was the only one to dry with some shine.

What do you think? I'll post swatches of the red, green and violet soon.

Minnie Mouse Nails

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been so long. You know, I'm tired of saying sorry, so I better start posting more often. Here is my current manicure, inspired by Miss Minnie Mouse! I really wanted some simple nail art, so I went with dots. I was thinking about trying to draw her bow, but I really stink at nail art. The simpler, the better. I was inspired by Minnie's polka-dotted dress, which is red with white dots. Her shoes are yellow, and her ears/arms/etc are black, so I added one yellow and one black dot on each nail.

So what do you think? It was so easy.  I did two coats of China Glaze - Hey Sailor to start. It's my favorite red! Then, I dipped the non-brush end of an art brush in nail polish and dotted it on my nails. I did all of the dots in white first, using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Lavender Cloud. Then, I put one dot of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and one dot of American Apparel - Hassid for the black dot.

I really love this look, and I think I want to try it with different color combinations! I found many pictures of Minnie in a blue dress with a pink bow, so I might do something with that next time. I don't know why, but I'm all about Disney lately!

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having a great week!

Love and Beauty - Chunky Holographic Glitter

Hi, everyone! I know, it took a long time for me to post another blog! My bad. I had orientation for nursing school this week, and also I got sick. Some sort of cold/allergy combo. Gross. I hate blowing my nose, especially in front of other people, and there was a lot of that this week due to the fact that I couldn't miss orientation!

Okay, all snot aside, here's a manicure for you! This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Chocolatte, which I've shown you before, and two coats of an unnamed Love & Beauty polish. I just named it "Chunky Holographic Glitter" because that's exactly what it is. You can get these polishes at Forever 21, and this one is pretty good! I used Seche Vite as a top coat as usual, but this look lasted me four days. I could have left it on, but four days is a loooooong time for me to sport the same polish.

Look how pretty it looks in the bottle, too! It's like a rainbow of color. Enlarge the picture to see all the rainbow prettiness! This look reminds me of Britney Spears' outfit from one of her MTV VMA performances of years past, and a coworker of mine had the same thought. Remember that outfit? Nude with glitter all over? Here, the image on the right: Britney. Yes? No? She used to be so hot. And then there was THIS. Admittedly, that's a terrible angle, and she still looks better than most women out there.

Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Weird, Sleepy Nail Art

Okay, I have sleeping problems. And I take medicine for this. And the medicine makes me do weird things at night. And I always wake up with little surprises. And this isn't the first time I've tried to do my nails too late at night, after taking my medicine. BUT this is the first time I took pictures!

 Here we have China Glaze - Blue Iguana over Hard Candy - Lava. I had the Lava manicure already done, so that part looks okay! But then, I guess I decided late at night that I needed some blue "nail art" in my life. Stripes, dots, and globs. The top coat on my pinkie is a chunky holographic glitter from Forever 21.

My friends at work and my mom thought this was too funny not to blog.  As usual, click the pictures to enlarge and see the true color. What do you think of my beautiful art???

Sinful Colors - Irish Green

Hello readers! This is SUCH a cheat post. By that, I mean that I'm totally only posting this swatch so I have something to post. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time for fun manicures, or to take pictures. Right now, I just put on a cool pink holo frankenpolish that I made a while ago. I will do my best to take some pictures tomorrow and get this baby posted, and explain how to franken your own glittery polishes!

I know, ONE finger? Total cheat. But level with me here, you know you can't walk into Walgreen's or Rite Aid without being smacked in the face by the Sinful Colors neon display. The only one that really called to me was this green, so I picked it up. And, for the money ($2 I think?), it's awesome. Very squishy and jelly-ish. Three coats was fine, and I do thin coats. So if you're thinking about it, pick this baby up!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Easy Rose Nail Art!!!

Okay, so I saw THIS post on one of my favorite nail blogs, "Also Known As..." and I had to try it myself! Kellie followed THIS nail tutorial on YouTube by CutePolish, showing a very simple but very cute manicure. I'm so into floral at the moment, but who isn't? The best thing about this manicure is that anyone can do it, and you can use any polishes you have!

 I used China Glaze - For Audrey for the background. For the roses, I used Zoya - Lo as the background and China Glaze - Hey Sailor for the accents. For the leaves, I used Essie - Pretty Edgy. What do you think?

I couldn't wait to take these pictures after I finished, so please excuse any polish on my fingers! What do you think? Would you try this manicure? It was so easy- it even looks good on my right hand!

Zoya - Kiki

Howdy! Long time no see! Sorry, this was my first week of working full-time for my internship. It's very physically and mentally exhausting, but here I am, with a beautiful polish to show you!

I think this is now officially my favorite pink polish. I love pink, so that's saying a lot! I ordered Kiki even though I already had Gilda, which is pretty close. Kiki is lighter and more neon-ish, and the shimmer is more fine than in Gilda. I think you'll have to click to enlarge the photo to get accurate color. Blogger keeps washing out all my brights.

I love the bright tone, I love the microshimmer, and I love the formula! Two coats and it was perfect! I definitely recommend Kiki if you're looking for a fun polish for the summer.

Yesterday, I went to see Hangover Part 2. It was hilarious! Go see it! Well, go see it if you don't mind full frontal male nudity. Any big plans for the long weekend?

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat

Hello! I found the Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats at Walgreens yesterday, so I decided to do some quick swatches of the ones I picked up!

I chose Distressed Denim and Cherry Smash. I love the names! Very cute. The blue is a cobalt blue with sort of a jelly finish. Here, I'm showing you two coats of OPI Pirates of the Caribbean - Skull & Glossbones with one coat of Distressed Denim and one coat of Seche Vite. The blue crackled less than the red, but I still really like it!

Here's Cherry Smash, again shown over S&G with a coat of Seche Vite. I love this one! It's more cherry and less orange than it looks in the picture. It crackled really well!

And here's a quick experiment I did with both Crackles painted in different directions with Seche Vite on top. I don't know; I was just playing around!

So what do you think about these two? Are you over the crackle trend? I'm not! I love putting on some crackle to spice up a manicure I've been wearing for a couple days. Thanks for reading!

Deborah Lippmann - Yellow Brick Road

Howdy! I have a beautiful new polish to share with you today. This is Yellow Brick Road from Deborah Lippmann. This color got some buzz when it made its debut on Lady Gaga's tips at the Grammy Awards. I immediately freaked out. You guys, no joke, I once had a dream about the perfect yellow jelly nail polish, and I even wrote it down in a notebook I keep of things I want to remember.

So there it is! I'm in love, even with my crappy cuticles. Okay, so I obsessed over this polish after I saw it, but then I saw some swatches online and started wavering. It looked VERY warm-toned and that turned me off, especially at $16. Then, I bought a Groupon from Beauty Bar and when Yellow Brick Road became available, I decided to go for it. I also ordered Boom Boom Pow and Butter London - Thames, both of which I'll be reviewing soon. Anyway, I'm so glad I ordered this one. It's the perfect glossy sheer yellow jelly. I show my boyfriend all of my manicures because that's what I do, and he said, "Looks expensive." I think it's the glossiness.

If you're on the fence about this one, go for it! You'll be happy!

OPI - Planks a Lot

Hello readers! Today I have another pretty polish from OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean line. This is the purple, Planks a Lot. Purples are always hard to capture in pictures, and this one is no exception, so I'm showing you pictures in both natural and artificial light. Here's natural lighting:

 And here's artificial lighting, with flash:

In my mind, the natural lighting picture is probably more color accurate. The flash makes the polish look more red-toned, when it definitely has a blue base. I think it's a bit dustier than it looks in the natural lighting picture. I definitely like this polish, but it's probably not one of my favorites! If I'm looking to wear a special purple, I'd rather wear either American Apparel - L'Esprit or OPI - Funky Dunkey.

You may notice that the name of my blog is slightly different- because I was accepted into nursing school! So I'm now officially a nursing student, or at least I will be in the Fall! Yay! I hope you all had a great weekend!

OPI - Stranger Tides

Hello again, readers! Thanks for the comments on my last post- I still haven't figured out how to reply directly. Sometimes I'm a little slow on the uptake. Anyway...

Here's Stranger Tides from OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection! I can't say enough how great I think the collection is. What can I say- I'm really feeling the vibe. I like how most of the colors are neutral-ish, but with a twist. Stranger Tides is a light sage green. I feel like it pulls a little bit warm. As soon as I saw the preview pics, I knew I had to have this one.

This is the most color-accurate picture I took, and it's in more sunlight than I usually have in my pictures. I think the color is pretty true to this. Dusty light sage. Yeah. Get this polish! If you're on the fence, go for it. It's beautiful and special and neat.

I hope you're having a great week! I'm already ready for the weekend.

OPI - Pirates of the Caribbean

Hello loves!

I'm just popping in very quickly to show you the three polishes I chose from OPI's new POTC collection. I was lucky enough to find a fully-stocked display at my local Ulta. I skipped out on the Silver Shatter because I'm not too into the shimmery shatters.

I picked up Stranger Tides, Skull and Glossbones, and Planks a Lot. I didn't plan on buying PaL, but they were buy 2, get one free. What do you think of my choices? Do you plan on getting any polishes from this collection? I think OPI will have a big hit here.

I'll be back soon with swatches! Today I'm wearing Stranger Tides, and it is freaking awesome.

Zoya - Elodie

A WEEK WITH NO POSTS?!?! I feel terrible. And I couldn't even get a good picture of my current manicure. I was on a business trip for a couple days, so that must count for something!

Zoya - Elodie is so hard to capture. It's coral. A pinky coral. But for some reason, the pictures look either too pink or too red. AND Blogspot is color-correcting my pictures again. Oh, sigh. Click the pictures to make them full size and see the actual color. Plus, check out my new ring! Very blingy.

I started to get some chips after two days or so, which is sad. I slapped on some Crackle to breathe some new life into the manicure

So there you go! I hope you have a great week! I'll do my best to post more often.

Sally Hansen - Crushed

Hello everyone! Today I want to show you Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Crushed. As you'll notice, I cropped out my ratty cuticles! I can't even look at them at the moment.

Anywho, I was looking for the perfect shimmery dark orange. I don't really like orange in general, but somehow I got the idea that I needed a reddish-orange immediately. I found Crushed, and I really like it! It's very glowy. Sometimes it looks more red than orange, although it looks quite orange in my pictures. It's pretty much exactly what I wanted.

This picture does a good job of showing the pretty shimmer. I think of tangerines when I see my nails. There's a lot of depth here, and at less than $3 a bottle, you can't lose with Crushed!

Thanks for reading! I hope you all got through Monday without much trouble.

Sally Hansen - Chartreuse Chase

Hello!

Today I want to share a recent manicure- Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Chartreuse Chase. I think this one is part of a spring line or something. Lots of pretty pastel colors on the display! A lot of them looked dupey to other polishes I own, so I just picked this one up.

I love this one! It's a light shade of chartreuse- very pastel. I got more compliments on this polish than any other I've worn recently! It was funny, because some people said they really liked my yellow polish, and some said they really liked my green polish! It's a hard one to nail down, but it's probably more of a greenish-yellow than a yellowish-green. Either way, it's cool! There's a really nice blue-green shimmer running through.

Did you get any colors from this line? I hope you had a great weekend!

Easter Nails with MAC and Revlon!

Hello everyone, and happy Easter weekend! I just wanted to pop in and share my Easter manicure with you guys, and also my very first MAC nail polish! Um... and Blogspot is fading my colors again. I have no idea why- neither of these are especially bright. But click the picture to enlarge it and see the accurate colors!

My manicure is MAC - Mischievous Mint from the "Quite Cute" collection (the mint green) and Revlon - Cupid from their "Top Speed" line (the purplish pink). I think both of these colors feel very springy. The application on Cupid was better than on Mischievous Mint, and it also cost about 1/3 as much. The MAC polish is three coats, and it's still not really perfect. I still like it, though!

What do you think about the alternating nail colors? Too childish? I don't know, I like the look. It's not something I'd do all the time, but it's cute for a springy holiday. Do you have big Easter plans? My mom always cooks a really huge delicious meal, so I'm getting pumped for that! Thanks for reading!

Kitty, Kitty - Update: Day 7

Happy Thursday! I am VERY happy, because I have the day off tomorrow. I'm looking forward to relaxing.

 Here's what may be my final update on Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. They're still holding up like champs! I had some tip wear, as you can see in my Day 5 entry, so I decided to clip the ends of my nails with nail clippers, because I was afraid a file would damage the stickers. And it worked like a charm! They look totally fresh now- no tip wear! And honestly, my nails grow pretty slowly, so there's not much cuticle-area growth on my middle and pinkie fingers.

I'm in love with these. I think they are PERFECT for vacation, when you really don't want to have to worry about your nail polish. I'm not sure how well the flat colors would look, but this pattern was great to hide imperfections and to minimize the effects of tip growth. They are awesome. If you've been on the fence, try them out!!! The only reason I may take these off now is because I want something pastel for Easter! I could definitely get a few more days out of these babies.

Happy Easter! I'll try to post my weekend manicure for you guys. Thanks for reading!

Zoya Nail Polish Exchange!!!

Hey guys! In case you haven't heard, Zoya is doing their nail polish exchange this year! Basically, they give you half-price bottles of nail polish when you send in an old bottle. Okay, there's more to it than that. Get the details here: http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/

UPDATE:
I ordered:
Elodie
Whitney
Audrina
Heidi
Apple
Mitzi
Kiki

I think I will now have the complete "Drama" set, named after characters on The Hills. Sorry, but I loved that show! I already have Lo and LC, and I love them both! So I added the missing four polishes and then added on three more for good measure. This is a great opportunity to get rid of your old polish bottles in an eco-friendly way!

Hope you're having a great week! Kitty, Kitty is still holding up well!

Kitty, Kitty - Update, Day 5

Hello readers! I'm just popping in to update you all on my Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. Phew, that's a mouthful. That's what she said. Anyway... here's a picture of Kitty, Kitty indoors, with flash.

 I'm on day 5 and I just took this picture to show you how these puppies (kitties?) are wearing. I have zero chips, zero peeling, but a small amount of tip wear on my middle and ring fingers. You can see where my nails are growing, and that is especially obvious on my ring finger because I messed up and applied it too high. But all-in-all, I'm impressed! I wash my hands a lot at work because I work in a surgical environment, so I'm becoming used to having chipped polish. Not since I put these on, though!

I'm not even tired of the design yet, and I'm still getting compliments on my nails. Even if these start chipping terribly tomorrow, I will definitely buy more. It's nice to find a product that actually lasts, and in cool designs that I like! These will be great for the work week. I'll keep you posted as the days progress.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Kitty, Kitty

Hello lovely readers! I got my first paycheck from my new job, so I decided to treat myself to something I've wanted to try for a while- Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I've been seeing these in my local stores for a few months now, but I didn't want to spend $9 for one manicure. I figured I could buy a couple bottles of nail polish for that price, so it's not worth it.

But then I started thinking about how much manicures cost in a salon, and that if I picked a design I couldn't easily paint on myself, maybe it would be okay. Plus, I really wonder if they really last ten days, so I decided to go for it. I chose Kitty, Kitty because I'm really into leopard print lately (I know, I'm really behind on that trend), and also because I knew I didn't have enough patience to try to paint this nail design on my nails myself.

Application was very simple- the process took me about 15 minutes total. I messed up my ring finger by placing the strip too far from my cuticle, but all my other nails look pretty good! These pictures were taken on Friday morning, right after I applied the strips. So I have worn these all day Friday, all day Saturday, and all day today- three days. So far, I have no cracking, splitting, chipping, and very minimal tip wear.

I'm actually still happy when I look at my nails, which is special because I usually get sick of my polish rather quickly. I'll keep you guys updated on how long these actually last, or how long I make it before I get sick of them!

What do you think? Have you tried these yet? Thanks for reading!

Cracked Concrete in the Sky

Hi everyone! I actually just spelled "hi" as "hy." I think I need to get more sleep.

Here is a sweeeeeet pic of China Glaze - Cracked Concrete over Hard Candy - Sky. I love this combo! The gray and blue are tonally pretty similar, so it meshes well.

What do you think of this color combination? Thanks for reading!

Zoya - Lolly

Hi everyone! Sorry it has been so long. I've been so tired from work that I haven't even thought about taking pictures. So here's one from about a week ago.

First, let me say that something weird is going on with Blogger. I uploaded this picture three times and it looks washed out each time. So it's actually much brighter than this, but you can at least get a good idea about the finish! If you click the picture to open it full-size, it is the correct color. Weird!

Zoya - Lolly is from Zoya's new Mod Mattes collection, and it's my first matte polish ever. It's definitely something different. It's a hot pink- not really neon, but very bright. The finish isn't too chalky, but is sort of a semi-matte, at least in my mind. It's a good change of pace, but I really like a shiny finish more than this look.

In other news, I'm now a platinum blonde, and it's so fun! That's pretty much all the news I have. I'll post a new profile picture so you can see how different I look. Thanks for reading! Check out my blogsale if you have time. I only sold two polishes- pathetic!

Nail Polish For Sale!!!

Hello to all of my lovely readers!

BLOG SALE!

I have 44 polishes for sale, from every brand you can think of! OPI, China Glaze, Chanel, RBL, Sally Hansen, Zoya, BB Couture, etc! There are also two Stila makeup palettes. "BN" means "brand new." Make sure you scroll all the way through- there are some gems mixed in there!

Unfortunately, I can only ship within the US. If you would like to buy a polish, please email me at jessicayaq@gmail.com and list the polishes you'd like. I ONLY accept PayPal and will need a payment within an hour or the item will go back up for sale. Shipping will be $3.00 and $.50 for each additional polish. 

Please take the time to check out my sale, after the jump!

Zoya - Faye

Hi! Happy Sunday! Today I have a polish from Zoya's new Sunshine collection. I picked up a few Zoyas during their March promotion, in which their two new collections were BOGO. To be completely honest, I don't like most of the ones I got! They are great polishes, but I don't know what I was thinking- most of them clash with my skin tone or look exactly like polishes I already have.
But, my stupidity is your gain, because it inspired me to have a blogsale soon!

Anyway, that was a tangent and a half. Let's talk about Faye, one of the polishes I think I'll keep! Faye is definitely the most unique polish in the Sunshine collection. It's really difficult to describe. Purplish goldish mauvish sparkly awesomeness? I don't even know. See for yourself in the pictures!

Probably sometime this week or next weekend, I'll be posting a bunch of polishes for sale. I just need to de-stash a little bit. I'll have polishes from Zoya, American Apparel, Revlon, Milani, Sally Hansen, China Glaze, and more. I have about 20 set aside at the moment, but I hope to find some more I'm willing to part with!

Sorry my hands look dry as heck. My new job is such that I end up washing my hands about twenty times a day, so they are very VERY dry. Does anyone have a good hand cream for super dry skin they can recommend? I'd be very interested! I haven't found the right trick yet. Please let me know!

Have a great week, and thanks for reading!

Chanel - Khaki Rose

Hello!!! Long time no see, right? Sorry about that! I started my new job, and it is very exhausting! I'm on my feet all day using muscles I never even knew I had. I only changed my polish once all week! I usually do my nails about three or four times. Plus, the weather was awful all week. Overcast, rain showers, even snow flurries one night! I like to take pictures of my nails when the sun is out, for a more accurate color.

So this is actually the manicure I wore for my second interview, Chanel - Khaki Rose! It's a really nice neutral. It seems very inconspicuous, but it actually always attracts attention. People always ask what color it is, if it's brown or taupe or pink or what! And it's hard to describe. I always say it's a pinky light brown. I do love the color.

What I don't love, though, is the wear. This manicure only lasted a day before it started chipping at the tips. I even wrapped the tips of my nails, which is a technique where you paint the edges of the tips to, hopefully, extend the wear. It usually works, but it didn't with Khaki Rose. I have two Chanel polishes and, honestly, I don't think I would buy another unless it was some AMAZING color with no close dupes. I just don't feel good about paying so much money for a polish and only getting a day of wear out of it. Oh, well.

Do you own any Chanel polishes? What do you think about them?

Hard Candy - Sky

When I was in high school, I coveted Hard Candy polish. As far as I know, you could only get it by ordering from the company directly. I remember tearing their ads out of my Seventeen Magazines and even calling their ordering line to listen to information about the polishes. It wasn't a 1-800 number, so I remember my parents getting their phone bill in the mail and asking me why I was calling California every day. Whoops!

Anyway, they had a whole line of beautiful pastels in every color of the rainbow. The most iconic polish from Hard Candy was Sky, a very pale blue. In those days (we're talking mid- to late-90's here), no one really wore "different" nail polish colors. The first time someone I knew wore a green shade, I was obsessed. Maybe I should mention here that I attended an all-girls Catholic high school, and we were probably pretty sheltered! Point being, I dreamed about owning Sky, but never thought I would.

Cut to 15 years later and I find myself making special trips to Walmart to look for Hard Candy cosmetics! Yup, they're back, and have been for a while now, but the line is exclusively available at Walmart stores. I hate Walmart, but I make a pilgrimage there every few months to check out if there is anything new from Hard Candy. I love their Welcome Matte pressed powder.

They have finally done a "re-release" of Sky, but it's not the same as the original. This one has a very slight blue shimmer running through it. It's hard as heck to apply. Lots of cuticle pooling, and it took forever to dry- even with Seche Vite over. But it's still hard to resist- it even comes with a cute ring like the original nail polishes did! To me, Sky is more of a collection piece, but not a piece I'll generally go to for a quick manicure. Too much work! I really did try to clean up my cuticles for these pictures, but there's still some mess. I'm sorry! This polish is a toughie.

I hope you're having a great weekend!!! Did you fawn over Hard Candy back in the day? Let me know! Of course, since I can't stay away from Crackle polishes, I put gray crackle over Sky today. I'll share that look tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Broken Hearted over Totally 80's!

Hi everyone!

Just popping in to show you my Milani - Totally 80's manicure after I added some China Glaze - Broken Hearted, which is the pink crackle. I like it! Definitely has an 80's feel!

What do you think???

Milani - Totally 80's

Hello, and happy Tuesday!

Here's a pretty little thing. Milani - Totally 80's from their Neon collection! I have five of the colors in this group, and I think this one is my favorite! The other colors I have aren't really neon- the blue, red, purple, and pink. They're pretty, just not neon. Whatev!

 Totally 80's is really hard to explain. It's a yellow-green neonish color. It makes me think of highlighters and wasabi. Mixed together. It really wasn't hard to apply, believe it or not! Yellows are notoriously difficult to get even and opaque, but this is just two easy coats. I really love Milani! They do so many great things and keep their prices low.

I do really recommend this color. I love it a lot. I am showing you pictures in indirect and direct sunlight, so you can see it for what it is. I think there is some VNL in the sun picture, but you really can't see it if you're looking at my nails in person. I'm a fan!

In personal news, I got the job!!! So I now have two part-time jobs, which will really help me save money for nursing school! I'm really excited. I'll be working in a lab preparing bodies that have been donated to science. I know it sounds terribly morbid, but the human body is the most beautiful, complicated, intricate, confusing, amazing thing in the world. I think I'll have a new appreciation for life.

How's your week going? Let me know in the comments!

Jessica

Zoya BOGO - New Summer Collections

Hello!

Just a quick note- if you have an existing account at Zoya.com, log in and click on "Account," then "Current Promotions." There's a code in there to buy one, get one free for their new summer collections: Sunshine, Summertime, and Mod Matte. You also get $2 shipping!

I think I'll end up getting Lolly, Faye, Kimmy, and Rica.

Check it out!

EDIT: I ended up ordering Lolly, Faye, Kimmy, and Rica for the BOGO, then I couldn't help myself and added Gemma, Gilda, and LC.  Which did you pick???

Sally Hansen - Choco-latte

Hello, readers! I hope you're having a great weekend! I just wanted to pop in and show you my job interview nails. I wanted a neutral, something that was totally not distracting. Usually I let my nails do the talking for me, but in an interview you want to be remembered for what you say, not for what you have on your nails. Since I was really excited about this interview, I went out and bought a new polish. I think I've mentioned it before, but the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line is my favorite nail polish line! I love it. I have a bunch of colors from this brand, and they never let me down.

Choco-latte is just what I wanted! Its a really hard color to describe. I guess it's a really really really light brown, but maybe more tan? Hmm... just look at the picture and decide for yourself!

I guess the interview went well, because I'm going back in on Tuesday to meet the co-founders of the company. I'm excited! I think I'll probably go with Chanel - Khaki Rose for my manicure. Again, a very classic color that is beautiful, but isn't distracting.

How is your weekend going? Big plans for the week? What do you think of this polish? Let me know!

Hello Kitty by Sephora - Purple Sprinkles

Hello, readers! Preeeeeetty sure this is the best bottle shape I own- Hello Kitty's face! Yes, I am a Hello Kitty fanatic. I know, sort of creepy for a 28-year-old woman, but I can't help it. The earliest toy I remember playing with is a Hello Kitty viewfinder, when I was three years old. When Hello Kitty came back HARDCORE in like 1995, I was all over it! I bought a tin Keroppi box on my 8th grade class trip to Busch Gardens theme park. Heck, I have a Hello Kitty tattoo. SHHHHH, don't tell anyone.

Anywho, it's no surprise that I was all about the Hello Kitty by Sephora collection when I heard about the launch. By the time I checked out the Sephora site after getting the email about the special pre-sale, all of the nail polishes were sold out. I was so sad! But, it gave me extra time to figure out which polish(es?) I wanted to buy. I waited until there were swatches online and realized I have dupes for all of the cremes, and this polish seemed much more pigmented than the pink one, so there you have it!

The nail polishes are actually called "Hello Kitty by Sephora Liquid Nail Art." Whatever, call it what it is- polish. Anyway, this polish is really beautiful- even my boyfriend commented on it, which is pretty rare. Like many purples, Purple Sprinkles was very difficult to photograph! I think the pic of the bottle without my nails shows the color most accurately. It's a blue-toned purple with green, gold, and blue big pieces of glitter and smaller purple shimmer, to my eye.

Very pretty, but unfortunately, Purple Sprinkles began to peel right off my nails in big sheets after one day. I want to give it another try, because I don't think I let it dry enough between coats. Either way, I expect a little more for $10. I don't know. I'll give it another chance soon, maybe just a coat over a pastel creme or something.

What do you think? Do you have any of the Hello Kitty by Sephora polishes? How was your St. Patrick's Day? Talk to me!

Green Nail Polish Heaven!!!

Hi everyone! In picking out my St. Patrick's Day nail polish, I decided to take all of my greens on a field trip to the porch, where I snapped their group photo. This was trickier than it sounds, as first I had to decide which polishes ARE green. Some were close, but too blue, so they didn't make the cut. Overall, I'm happy with this representation. I had to color correct a few pics to get them to look more accurate for you guys. At the end, I'll show you the polish I chose for my nails!

Group 1, left to right:
OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape
FingerPaints - Chrysanthe-mum's the Word
Avon - Jade
American Apparel - Office
Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle - Gentle Blossom

Group 2, left to right:
Sinful Colors - Mint Apple
OPI - Jade is the New Black
New York Summer - Amaranth
Delia*s - no name
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Lime Lights

Group 3, left to right:
Hard Candy - Sweet P
Essence - Lime Up!
FingerPaints - Guggen I'm Lime
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Grass Slipper
Revlon - Beach

Group 4, left to right:
Nfu-Oh - 56
Ulta Professional - Into the Limelight
Zoya - Ivanka
Revlon Matte Suede - Emerald City

Group 5, left to right:
Zoya - Envy
essie - Pretty Edgy
American Apparel - Army Jacket
Essence - Check Me Out

Phew! That was a lot of polish! And I realized I left out one of my favorites: Rescue Beauty Lounge - Recycle. Oh, well. I knew I'd end up leaving something out! Another thing I realized is that I own no green polishes from China Glaze, which is weird to me! I need to change that.

So which did I choose for my St. Patrick's Day manicure?

Zoya - Ivanka! She is perfect green sparkly goodness.

Sadly, I won't be wearing this manicure on the actual day! Happily, I have a job interview for a medical facility, so I chopped down my nails (as you can see) and I'll be wearing a nice neutral color for my interview on Thursday. Wish me luck!