Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Lush, The Godmother


Mmmm! This soap is incredible. It is by LUSH Cosmetics, and it is a very popular one that many people buy as a regular, including me. It is called The Godmother, and is connected to the shower gel called Snow Fairy, which I mentioned here.

Similar in scent (it was made to copy the shower gel into a bar form) it smells sweet like candy and all things girly. Not only is the scent great though, but it has an amazing washing feeling.

Personally I don't believe in soaps that don't lather and bubble, I feel like they aren't working if I cannot see it. So this one is great because it does make foamy bubbles. But on top of seeing it clean it leaves such a great feeling. My skins literally feels squeaky clean, which is something I strive for with shower products.

You know how some soaps and more scented bath products leave you feeling slimy or too moisturized, well this one leaves my skin feeling soft and not oily at all. That is a huge plus for me.

As with most LUSH items, the scent lingers long after you shower, which is great.

And of course it is environmentally and animal friendly, which for a vegetarian like me is a my favourite thing about the store.

Overall I really love using this soap, it says it is mainly meant for hands but I use it all over. It is a staple for many LUSH shoppers, myself included, and you should definitely try it yourself!


Do you guys have any favourite LUSH staples you always buy?

Monday, August 30, 2010

Guest Nails

Over the weekend I found myself a super cute assistant! After a family baby shower we ended up back at my place, where of course the nail polish is strewn all across the house. Immediately we found an activity while our mothers chatted...

We spent easily over an hour going through which of my polishes stamped over which. I learned a lot because I am constantly struggling with now knowing what colours show up over each other. This little session helped tremendously!

My new assistant (who is currently replacing Mommy as my hand model for today) was so sweet and had tons of suggestions for colours I should try. And she kept getting what we called "button hair", where her hair got caught in the button on the back of her dress! So cute!

Of course the swatching session would not have been complete without doing my little assistant's nails after..
She chose this right away, knowing exactly what she waned (which is a pretty hard decision when you are faced with about 15 image plates to pick from, sometimes I can't even decide). The white is Sally Hansen White On and the black is Sally Hansen Black Out.

I think it looks adorable! I know it might risk looking tacky on my nails or anything longer, but since hers are still petite it looked super cute! Stamped from m61.


We also did toes, since it is still summer. We went through a lot of options for these and ended up with white dots (White On) over China Glaze Four Leaf Clover. Stamped from m60.


I think both her hands and feet look great, and my audience (her mother and sister, my mother and brother) all agreed.


Thanks for all your help with picking my colours Tini!!! Come back soon :)


What do you guys think?

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Bigger (And Better) Haul!

Hello haul! This haul was a big spender for me, especially with a student budget and no job currently. But I verified each and every purchase, and in my mind, since I now have a blog and lovely audience for my polishing, I NEEDED them, not just wanted them. So that makes it okay right?Here I have three polishes I really have been on the lookout for. Essie Lolipop, OPI Ginger Bells, and Wet N Wild Black Creme.

I have always wanted a real red, the only ones I have are shimmery or too dark or light. Essie Lolipop seems like that perfect bright apple red to me, and the Essie polishes were on sale from 8.95$ to 6.25$. It was meant for me to buy!

The Ginger Bells is a colour I have been eyeing for quite some time, it it warm and very good for the holidays, which I do not have any good holiday polishes that aren't red. And plus it is a more original colour that I have nothing close too. Oh! And it was in the "discontinued" bin which means that it was down from 12$ to 7$! Again, reasonable right?

Next is the Wet N Wild, which I have constantly been hearing is the best black creme, great on its own and for Konad stamping. And for only 2$ at the drugstore, it is definitely and acceptable purchase. Here we have Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Strobe Light. Now, my reasoning for this is that it looks similar to OPI Mad as a Hatter, which is a polish I am dying for. But instead of tracking it down (unlikely as that is) and paying 12$ or more, this was on 3$ and looks like it will be a nice replacement for me. For now... I can't promise I will restrain myself forever.
And here are my babies! I am in love. I have been wanting the Essie Resort Collection since the day I first saw it. That alone is enough reason to buy them right? And I did not buy the whole collection...so I get some points for restraining..right? And like I said Essie was on sale, down to only 6.25$ each. That is still acceptable.

Since I justified all of my purchases, and I cannot stop staring at all of them, I am quite proud of my little haul here. I am super excited to swatch these and play with them!

I have already been using some of these, but still have a couple to swatch for you guys. What do you think?

Friday, August 27, 2010

Tiffany Nails



These nails were my copy of Wow Wow Nails' Tiffany Nails, seen here. For my base colour I used Essie Turquoise & Caicos, from the Resort Collection.
I stamped with Konad image plate m56, using Konad Special Polish in white. This was the "Tiffany" image.
Here are some pictures of the final product. Again, not a hard one at all, but looks really cute (and looks like I shop at Tiffany's, as if I was rich)!


Close up of my thumb, which was the only difference as Wow Wow Nails had a larger bow on the thumb but I kept mine all the same.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Navy Blue Sparkle Tips



Okay so here is my first YouTube video, click here for my channel. I think this mani reminds me of space and mermaids.


I used China Glaze Fairy Dust and NYC West Village.
Fairly simple, I stamped in West Village on Konad image plate m19, then a top coat of Fairy Dust. This was more or less a YouTube sample, my first video, so it is not that fantastic nail art in itself.


But I hope you like it, please check out my YouTube channel!


Thanks to NYC for providing West Village.

Youtube

Hey Guys,

I just got myself a Youtube Channel, so please subscribe!

(My first video is fighting with me, I hope it will come up soon)



Thanks!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Red & Black Lace

These nails were inspired by Nailswatches, who got it from the Orly website. The other two versions are black, white and grey, I decided to try with red.
Here it is, and it looks much more intricate than it really is. I painted my nails red with Essie Lolipop (swatch and review to come soon). Then I used a Q-tip to dab some black splotches around my nails, using Wet N Wild Black Creme. Then I used that same black to Konad stamp with the fishnet pattern on plate m57.

It was a quick and easy design, but looks much harder. Sorry for the short post, I am still getting back into the swing of things after vacation.
What do you think?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Crazy Number 7, Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Zara! You were the winner of my first ever giveaway!

Here is the creepy part, you recently had a giveaway when you hit 77, because 7 is your favourite number. And, your entry that won my giveaway was entry number 7!

It really is your lucky number! Wow!

Unfortunately I could not find your email address on your profile, so please email me your shipping info!

Thanks everyone for entering.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

I'm Home, Over 100 Followers!

Hello everyone, I have been away for so long now, I missed my blog!

I am finally back and will be back into my blogging routine come Monday. I am trying to reply to emails and comments as well as finish up my first giveaway.

I appreciate all of my followers, new and old, and absolutely cannot believe that I am over a hundred now! When I began blogging I never thought that would happen. I am ever so grateful, thank you all.

Over time I will visit and follow each and everyone of you guys, please be patient though. With university and such I can only move so fast here. I will get back to everyone though.

Thanks, and love you all! You make me glad to be back!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Grassy Tips, PHD Challenge Entry

This was my entry to PHD's Challenge this week, just for tips! The tips I did are supposed to resemble grass, with flowers growing. I used Konad image plate m44 (a tip plate) to stamp vertical lines in green, to look like blades of grass. Then I used plate m3, (the tiny images) and stamped little flowers throughout my grassy fields.

I used Konad Special polish in green, for the grass, and Aldo Nail Lacquer in Berry Flirty. I have never used that brand to stamp with, and it was a little bit difficult but I just love the colour so I fought through it. It was a little thin so sometimes my images didn't always take properly, and it was hard to work with because it dried on the plate before I could even scrape or stamp it. I had to work much faster than I do with the Konad polishes.
Overall I think my idea worked out. It looks like blades of grass with little flowers in it. I took photos with a tree just to amp up the nature aspect. I even got compliments on these nails while out shopping today, and one was from a guy, so they must be really noticeable!
What do you guys think, cute idea or not so much?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Redo Grey Day

This is such a nice polish I had to come back to it in a matter of days. Only a few short days (or was it hours...I remember this polish so clearly) ago I swatched Grey Day for you. But I loved it so much I did a full mani with it.
I wanted to keep it simple because I loved the colour on its own so much! So I used a jem sticker from Nailene on my ring fingers. The photo above is in the natural light (at night) indoors. Below is with flash. See how the jem sparkles!? So simple and still pretty. The colour of this polish still amazes me (one coat remember!) as it is a smoky grey, or steel grey in some lights, and a slate grey in others. And sometimes its light sometimes its dark. It is all I ever wanted in a grey polish, and a bonus was the one coat!

Thanks again for the swap Sammy!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Small Haul

This is my first real "haul" since I started blogging. I was so backed up of swatching polishes that I owned when I started this blog, so I never even thought of buying new polishes. But then I couldn't resist - I had to.

These include a Wet N Wild glitter topcoat, called Hallucinate, which I am planning on layering over plain black to see how it compares to Midnight in NY.

Then there are two Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears, Celeb City, which I heard was a great silver for Konad stamping, and Emerald City, which I heard was a go to forest green. So far I love them both (in the bottle) and cannot wait to use them for something and show you guys.

Last there are two nail art stripers, by Kiss. They even come with little stencils, so we'll see what I can do with those.

I am really excited about this stuff, as it is my first blogging haul.

What about you guys, anything catch your eye that I should try? (Haha that rhymed...)

Friday, August 13, 2010

My First Giveaway!!!

Hey everyone! I am off on vacation for this whole week, so I thought now is when I should put up my first giveaway. It was supposed to be when I reach 70, and I am close enough now. That way when I return I can draw a winner. Quick, easy, one week giveaway. Ending Saturday August 21st, at Midnight.

Here are the items included, it is my first giveaway so forgive me if it isn't extravagant.
All items in here are things that I have used and liked and then thought "Hey, since I liked it maybe you will too" and went out and bought for you guys. All items are brand new!

Comet Loves Cupid - OPI Holiday Wishes Mini
All A-Bordeaux The Sled - OPI Holiday Wishes Mini

Marine Scene - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear (My favourite aqua blue!)
Lime Lights - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

White Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen - My first review/real blog post ever!

Nailene Superstar Bedazzle Nail Art Stickers

Cranberry & Pear Bath Fizz
Cranberry & Pear Bath Soak


Rules:

1) You must follow my blog (most of you probably already do)
2) Leave a comment on any post of mine (other than this one!) and tell me which one it was on
3) Follow my Twitter account (here) OR like my Facebook page (here)

I will give an extra entry to those who do both (Facebook and Twitter)

To Enter:

Fill out the form HERE, please DO NOT write your entry in a comment, I will not take it.


I will check all entries so be honest.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Lace or Gate?

This was the craziest manicure I have ever given Mommy! She wore colour! Wow! The purple base was a Revlon 60 Seconds, but it was in terrible condition and was a disaster to apply. Right after this it was promptly put into the next year Zoya Exchange pile. But not the point...


The green was also Revlon 60 Seconds, and had much better luck. its called Camouflage, and it is a typical army green with a tiny shimmer of gold. I used Konad m57 (again) and stamped what I cannot decide if its a lace or an iron gate pattern. Looks like both to me. I used Sally Hansen White On.


Not one of my best, but I did manage to get Mommy to wear something other than a tiny flower or butterfly, and its colour!

What do you guys think? And does anyone have ideas for more colour for Mommy?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I Think I Scared My Postman

Look what arrived! Hello! I went running out my front door and was hopping around like a mad woman while my postman carried this up my driveway. Then repeatedly yelling "OMG OMG OMG". I am pretty sure he was getting worried.. This came from my swap with the wonderful AggiePigeon, from her blog Running With Polish. Absolutely great girl! Thank you so much! She sent me bunch of extras and a cute little card telling me to keep up my blogging. Well AggiePigeon, keep up yours! These are my first ever Piggy Polish, Finger Paint, and Sinful Color.

Left to right: Poet-Tree, Art You Kidding Me, Nail Junkie (Yep its named after me! Well probably not...).

My first time ever touching a bottle of Orly!!! Wow! It is a milestone in my life.

Left to right: Pixy Stix, Prince Charming, Lemonade.

First time ever touching a China Glaze! Another milestone! (Or have I just been living under a rock my whole life....)

Left to right: Fairy Dust, Blue Sparrow, Four Leaf Clover

Also got OPI Gargantuan Green Grape Matte, its in the big picture at the top.

Anyways! I am super super super excited to swatch all these and play with them! I am so happy to have connected and swapped with you AggiePigeon. Great girl, great blog.

I only wish I could have added extras or notes to the packages I sent to her and Sammy. My post office had tiny tiny envelope things and I had to squeeze (and yes I ripped one by accident) to fit anything in them.

But ladies I promise you both I will be contacting you again to swap because I officially love you both. Thanks so much!!!!

Check soon for all my swatches and manis with these fun new toys!

I Got Tagged for 4 Things

This is my first time being tagged, kind of fun! I was tagged by my new friend AggiePigeon.
So lets get started...

4 Thing in my Bag/Purse:
-Wallet (its pink)
-Lipgloss
-Bath & Body Travel Lotion
-Euros (change from my trip last march... just too lazy to move them)

4 Things Found in my Purse (Hmm... same thing?)
-Money
-House Key
-Bobby Pins (for my hair)
-Hand Sanitizer

4 Favourite Things in my Room
-High School Prom Photo With my Best Friend
-Nail Polish Stash (of course)
-My Closet
-My Scrapbooks

4 Thing I Have Always Wanted To Do
-Learn Greek
-Be Able to Sing
-Dance on Broadway
-Reach 1000 Followers

4 Things I am Currently Into
-Nail Polish (of course)
-Cheerleading
-Blogging (again, of course)
-Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

4 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About Me
-I am a Vegetarian
-I Love Country Music
-I'm Fresh out of High School (only 18)
-I am a Dancer

4 Song I can't Get Out of my Head
-Love Story (Taylor Swift)
-Club Can't Handle Me (Flo Rida)
-Drops of Jupiter (Train)
-Bad Romance (Lady GaGa)

Rules
Once tagged you miust link the person hwo tagged you, tag 4 others, notify them that you tagged them, and give 4 answers to each question.

Tags
Sammy from The Nailasaurus
Karen from Frazzle and Aniploish
Aurora from Aurora's Nails
Deez Nails from Deez Nailz where the CANADIAN Bloggers at?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Reader Requests Please!

Hey guys, I am feeling so uncreative today! But I really want to do a nice Konad mani.

Any suggestions or ideas please let me know! Comment with some possibilities and I will for sure do one.

Thanks in advance, I love reader feedback!

Nailene's Artificial Nails


These are my life savers. Anytime I can't use my own nails for a mani (either they broke, or they are too small for designs, or I just want nails that look better than my real ones) I put on a set of these. I currently have 3 packs of the 200 count nails (yes I am aware that is 600 nails..) in my room. They only cost about 9$ Canadian, which for 200 nails (a possible 20 manicures) that price is amazing!

Here they are unpainted, these are just the full cover 200 count.


They look so real its hard to tell sometimes. They look better than my "real" for sure. I cannot even count how many times people have thought they were my own nails. They are always surprised to learn that they're fakes. Even a friend who works at a nail salon and applies fakes every single day of her life, to countless people, did not honestly believe me when I told her they were not really my nails. They're that good.



I love using these nails when I get a really great idea for a design, but am already wearing something on my own nails. Instead of taking my polish off, I can just do a full set on the Nailene fakes, and have it ready for when I need to wear them. They are so good that I know exactly which ones fit my nails, and do not have to file ever. I buy the Active Square size/length and they fit my nails perfectly. Never once have I had to file any of them to fit my nail bed. Occasionally I trim them at the tips if I need really short nails (typing test for a job interview), but generally they go on with no extra work from me.


Another great thing about them is that they leave my natural nails in nearly perfect condition. These are my before and after shots (before first, after second), and other than some leftover glue which can easily be buffed off with the file/buffer that comes in the kit, they are exactly the same. I love these nails because I do not have to worry about my nails being in bad shape when I remove the fakes.


These nails look even more real when I paint over them, and they make it almost impossible to tell they are fake. I cannot believe I have gone so many years (I just was "introduced" to Nailene this year) without these. My manicures have never looked better, if I do say so myself! Wearing these Nailene full cover fakes makes me feel like I have such pretty hands.


They take hardly any effort to wear, just glue and apply. Simple! And great results. They last for over a week, I only remove because I am excited to try something new, but I am sure I could last more than the 7-8 days of normal wear.



I have also found that any of my nail art designs (Konad, stickers, etc) look a lot nicer on the Nailene nails. They have a bigger canvas (bigger than my tiny, short real nails) for me to play with designs and that is something I really like.

Here are the So Natural French Tips.

Nailene also has pre-designed fake nails, if you are not up to painting the full cover ones yourself. I use these too sometimes, when I want a design that is too intricate for me, or I just need a quick mani (like I said, glue, apply, and go). There are plain french tips (above) or couture style ones (below). Each box of these has 24 nails, in 12 sizes, so you are bound to find one that fits your nails.


Overall, there are many reasons I love Nailene artificial nails. Full Cover, French Tips, or Couture, all of these look natural and beautiful. They are affordable and easy to use, very long wear, and very chip resistant.

Personally I have great fit with them, never needing to file, and the shape matches my natural nail beds perfectly.

Right now, Nailene Girls is having a giveaway, so you could win some of these amazing products that I love so much! There are so many more too, check out their website http://www.nailene.com/.

These are the best artificial nails I have ever used, and I am sticking to them for the rest of my manicuring life. With the great price and great results, Nailene nails are my favourite!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Facebook Page

Hey Everyone!

I just had another idea (like my recent Twitter account) to make a Facebook Page.

It would be much appreciated if you would please "like", there is a button at the side of my blog now, to the left...

<---- Check it out guys, thanks a bunch!!

Midnight In NY

Is this not gorgeous? I was not thinking that this polish would be that stunning in the right light. I knew it was a black with some sparkle to it, but oh wow! I am ever the more impressed by my lovely Miss Sally Hansen...

This polish came to land on my short nails because of a series of unfortunate events. It began going away for the long weekend with my family to my cottage.

Cottage = water, rocks, falling down rocks, touching rocks, etc. You get the idea.

So broken nails began, one by one, until there were none left standing. And here I end up with little stubs on my fingers after working so hard to grow my nails.

But alas, this unfortunate weekend ended in me discovering my love of this sparkly little black polish.

Thanks to Sally Hansen for sending me this beauty!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Gorgeous! By P2

Isn't that gorgeous? It actually is. This is called Gorgeous! by P2 Color Victim. And it lives up to the name.
It is a purple sparkly silver shiny polish that looks sort of metallic and holographic depending on lighting. I am not even a purple fan, but this is really pretty.

You can sort of see in this picture that the silver is in streaks throughout the bottle, but on the nail they just blend really well.

It is super shiny and reflective, and look stunning in the sunshine. I am really liking this polish more and more.

What do you think?

Friday, August 6, 2010

Brightened My Grey Day

Well this polish just brightened my dull grey day. This is called Grey Day, by Model's Own. It is my first and only from the brand, received in a swap with Sammy.

I had been really wanting a pale grey creme colour for so long, and even at first glance I knew this was perfect. But it gets better. This smooth and amazing polish applied with no problems whatsoever, in ONE coat! Can you believe that? I have never had that kind of luck with a polish, and come out with results this great.

It looks like a thick, creamy, multi-coat polish. But it isn't! One coat quickie.

Love It!
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