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!

Blue Me Away + Pink Crackle

Hello, and happy Sunday! I'm still an hour behind. Oh, well! At least we'll get that extra hour of sun in the afternoons now!

Here's how I jazzed up my previous manicure, Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away. It was very simple- I added a coat of China Glaze Crackle Glaze - Broken Hearted, and a coat of Seche Vite on top to gloss things up.

I feel like I belong in the opening credits of Saved By the Bell or something!!! Very '80s feel to this combo, and I love it! It just makes me happy to have such bright colors on my nails.

Please feel free to post your blogs in the comments to this entry, dear followers! I'd love to follow you back, if I'm not already.

Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away

Hello lovelies! Today I have one of my top 5 polishes of all time, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in "Blue Me Away!" Phew, that's a mouthful. All the Sally Hansen lines have the most complicated names! I think a lot of brands have polishes called "Blue Me Away," but this is the only one I own.

Anywho, this polish is beautiful, striking, eye-catching, fun... I could keep going. And the best part is that it costs about $2.50! Pretty sweet. I was at Nordstroms yesterday looking at some Deborah Lippmann polishes (Didn't get one- I'm holding out for the new yellow jelly in April), and the woman working at the display couldn't get over my polish, and couldn't believe it was less than $3! It just goes to show you that you don't NEED to shell out the big bucks to have nice nails, although those expensive polishes sure are fun!

Blue Me Away! (yes, the exclamation point is part of the name, haha) is an awesome turquoise creme. Shown here are three coats. I feel like I used to be able to get away with two, but maybe I need a new bottle or something. Or maybe my memory is just failing me! It's really hard to capture in a photograph, but I picked the two pictures that I think are most color accurate. Unfortunately, I did this manicure right before bedtime, so if any of my nails look lumpy, that's why. Not the polish's fault! It's very bright, very smooth, and just a great all-around polish. I think I should buy a back-up bottle in case it goes away sometime!

In other news, I finally bought my first Hello Kitty by Sephora nail polish yesterday! After much deliberation, I went with Purple Sprinkles. I have dupes of all of the cremes, and the one I chose seemed nice worn alone or layered. So that will almost definitely be my next manicure to show you guys!

Thanks for reading, and please follow! I love my followers so much!!! Thank you! I get super excited anytime someone new follows. It makes my day!

Nfu-Oh - 50

Hi! I am so tired, but I like to blog every other day!

Just a quick post tonight. It's been raining so hard here that I haven't been able to take any pictures of my current manicure (Milani - Techno Red from the Neon collection). So this is a manicure I had a while ago but never posted because I hate the pictures.

I tried to blur my cuticles to save you the disgust. Haha! Sorry about that. They were pretty bad when I took these pictures.

Anyway, this is a really special polish, Nfu-Oh - 50. This brand just numbers their polishes, no names. 50 is an amazing blue/green flakey! Big flakes float around in a lavender base that comes out clear on the nail. Here, I have two coats of American Apparel - Hassid under 50. I love the look! It really comes alive in the light. And the bottle is really cute too- It's like a corset top or something.

You can buy Nfu-Oh polish at http://www.fabuloustreet.com/ for $12.50 a bottle. I have this one and 56, which is green flakies!

So it's almost the weekend! I am tired and this weather is just wearing me down. Hopefully you're doing better than I am, haha!

Black Mesh over Chrysanthe-mum's the Word

Hello lovely readers! Thanks to all of my new followers! If you have a blog you'd like me to follow back, please leave the link in the comments. I'd love to!

Today I don't have anything super interesting for you, just an update to my most recent manicure. This is maybe one of the best aspects of China Glaze - Black Mesh. It's perfect for spicing up a manicure after you've had it on for a few days! Chrysanthe-mum's the Word really sticks out against the black! I love this look, and I hope you do too! There's quite a bit of growth on the pinkie though, so I think I'll have to do a new look tomorrow.

It's been a busy week so far, and it just started! Hope you're having a good one.

FingerPaints - Chrysanthe-mum's the Word

Okay. I am being totally honest right now. This is MAYBE my most favorite polish of all time, and I just bought it a week ago.

I know! I know!!!!! How is this possible? Well, look at the pictures. This polish is from the FingerPaints spring collections, Palette of Petals. This polish brand is exclusively available at Sally Beauty. Just in case you have wondered, you do not need any sort of license to shop there. I actually never knew it was open to the public until about a year ago- silly me!

Anyway, Chrysanthe-mum's the Word (besides having a punny name) is this beautiful green color that I find hard to describe. It's more yellow and darker than any mints I have, but it does make me think of creme de menthe. I don't know, I have seen reviews of it on other polish blogs, and they're just sort of like, "Okay, another mint." To me, Chrysanthe-mum's the Word is sooooo much more than just another mint! I love it very much, and don't have anything very similar in my collection. I'm showing it in indirect sunlight and direct sunlight. I think indirect is always more accurate.

PLUS the polishes from this collection come with big flower rings!!! I forgot to take a picture, but I'm sure you can find a picture of them online. It's very cute!

I'll admit, application was a little tricky. This polish is very thick. I used two carefully-applied coats, but I had to be very patient because it's a bit gloppy. I added some thinner to the bottle after this manicure, and that seemed to help a bit. But I don't even care!!! So what, I have to take my time a little. It's worth it for this gorgeous color! It just screams "spring!" I love it, and I need to get a backup bottle ASAP.

In personal news, the Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser last night was a huge success! We raised almost $900 for the MS Society. So many people came out, and my mom was really touched by the turnout. It was fun, and for a great cause! AND ALSO, my best friend gave birth early this morning to a beautiful little boy! I can't wait to meet him on Wednesday. It's really exciting!

How was your weekend? Looking forward to anything fun this week?

China Glaze - Cracked Concrete and Zoya - Pippa

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great weekend!


Today I'm sharing Zoya - Pippa and China Glaze - Cracked Concrete. I do love this combo, but next time I think I'll try a lighter yellow, like Sally Hansen - Yellow Kitty. I got more attention with this manicure than I have with any recent look. I think the contrasting colors make it really stand out, and of course the crackle effect is attention-grabbing.

Cracked Concrete is a really dark gray, and Pippa is a bright sunny yellow. It's definitely a warm-toned yellow. It goes on really smoothly in three coats, which is good for a yellow! Cracked Concrete crackled just as well as the other two CG Crackles I've shown you. I tried different techniques again this time, so I have some vertical cracking, some horizontal cracking and some diagonal cracking. I like variety!

The pictures show this look on day 3, so you can see a little bit of tip wear and some little chippies around the cuticle. But not bad for three days! I don't really want to take this manicure off, so I'll probably stretch it through tomorrow!

What are your weekend plans? I'm "guest bartending" at a local bar tomorrow night as a fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis. All tips will be donated. I'm really excited, as my mom, aunt, and other peeps will be bartending with me! My mom has MS, so the cause hits close to home. It should be a good time!

Thanks for reading! Please "Follow!"

China Glaze - Black Mesh Crackle Glaze

Hey! How's everyone doing?


So my Black Mesh came in the mail! I think it's the same as OPI - Black Shatter, but I don't have that one. I mean, they look identical so whatever. They're both black crackle polishes.

These pictures are Black Mesh over Revlon - Not So Blueberry, the polish in my last entry. I love this freaking look! NSB was the perfect color to put under a black crackle polish. It's so shimmery and bright, it just shines. Click the pictures to make them bigger!

Black Mesh is ridiculously easy to use. Just make sure you apply it over totally dry polish! I tried different techniques this time. I brushed it on diagonally on my middle finger, which I really like. I put a REALLY thin coat on my ring finger, so I got really long skinny cracks. My index finger is a thicker coat, so the black sections are more chunky. You have to put top coat on about 3 minutes after you put the crackle to seal it and give your polish some shine. Easy peasy. As you can see, I do have a little bit of tip wear. This is after three days though, so I'm okay with it.

Anyway, I stopped into Sally Beauty yesterday and they had just put out their China Glaze Crackle Polish display. I snapped up a bottle of Fault Line, the metallic purple, and I'll probably do a giveaway here on my blog when I get some more followers! So if you would be interested in that, let me know! I didn't even swatch it- it's brand spanking new.

So, not only am I a teaching assistant and a nail blogger, but I am also the proud owner of an Etsy shop! I just want to share it here because I posted a crap-ton of stuff yesterday, and I figured my readers might like to take a look. Not trying to push the shop, just sharing! Here are some earrings I just made and posted. I love them! I want to keep them! But I already have a similar pair so they're up for grabs. There are also matching rings for a lot of the earrings. So check that out here:


http://www.etsy.com/shop/robotjellyfish

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having a great week! I get to see my friend Justine today for HH, even though neither of us drink- she's 9 months pregnant!!!