Vacay Shopping
Did you miss me?
Or did you just miss my nails?
No one will be surprised that I managed to find new nail polish while vacationing in the sleepy little fishing town of Ketchikan, Alaska. The economy of Ketchikan is built on fishing and cruise ships – the town is comprised of 90% gift shops, 9% bars and 1% everything else. In addition to the many T-shirts, stuffed animals, totem poles and various sundry tourist knick knacks, I found Caribongo Sun Activated fingernail polish. I got blue glitter – “City Girl” – and silver glitter – “Puttin’ on the Glitz”. As far as I can tell, both turn red in the sun.
…and then my sister took me to her favorite store…Simply Bella. Simply Bella is a boutique that has everything – beauty items, cookware and entertaining, gifts, home fragrance, chocolate, jewelry – just anything you could ever want.
I picked up “Royal Peony Rose & Mandarin Musk” Perfume Oil by Lucy B Cosmetics. I had never heard of Lucy B. – but this perfume oil is the real deal. Here’s a blurb from their website: Lucy B. is the only fragrance and colour range in the world to have infused the natural Australian Flower Essences within their products, offering you a taste of the Australian energy & lifestyle.
…so we went back to Simply Bella a few days later and I stumbled across a 75% Clearance Rack.
I showed some restraint and picked up Coco Rose Tinted Lip Balm in “Blush Pink” by Figs & Rouge. Figs & Rouge is a 100% natural lipcare brand from the UK. Can you see the FLAMINGOS on the balm????
I also grabbed a Butter London Lippy in “Pip Pip”.
I was also introduced to John Kelly Chocolates. Jesus, that shit is GOOD.
One last pic…somehow, I managed to NOT paint my nails during my whole vacation. 10 whole days. For real.
I’m still not sick of Zoya “Sooki”.
This is the nasty tear I suffered at the claws of a Dungeness Crab. I fought the crab and the crab won.
I did have the last laugh…he ended up in my tummy!
Tramp Red
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When I described my obsession with Zoya “Sooki” to my friend Rachel, she immediately asked, “Is it TRAMP RED?” She knows me…and Sookie Stackhouse…so well!
I had a hard time picking out polish for my vacation. Since I already had “Sooki” on my toes, I figured I could paint my nails to match. Since I may not have time to paint my nails while on vacation, I did everything I could to make it last as long as possible. Although I usually only use one coat of “Sooki” on my toes, I used 2 on my fingernails to try to avoid edge wear. Those two coats were sandwiched in between Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat.
I’ll miss you…see you in a week or so!
July Ipsy Bag – Sensationally Sunkissed
Ipsy came last this month…So slow!
“Sensationally Sunkissed” is July’s theme. I am NOT a sun worshiper, so this month’s bag isn’t quite as exciting for me as previous months. This month’s bag is bright ass hot pink vinyl with scalloped edges – very cute.
Inside this month’s bag: Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in “Cherry” (another lip and cheek stain); bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 (SPF in eye shadow…odd); POP Beauty Sunkissed Bronzer in “Secret Sunshine” (maybe I can use it as blush); Faith Aromatherapy “Citrus-Ginger” Anti-Oxidant Body Lotion (smells so good); and Pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer spf 30 (I totally used up the last Pur~lisse I got).
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Cowabunga!
So I picked the cloudiest day in a month to try out another Funky Fingers solar polish…just my luck.
This is Funky Fingers “Cowabunga”. Indoors, it is bright ass hot pink. For a cheap polish, it went on like a dream. After the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, the first coat went down smoothly and almost gave full coverage. I went with a second coat and it was still smooth and even – no pooling in the edges! I used Ulta “Pinata Yada” on my party nails. I finished up with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat for super shine.
The sun came out for a few minutes and I ran into the back yard and raised my clenched fist up to the sun. I ran back to the porch and took a picture as quickly as I could.
I was hoping for a deeper red, but it looks more like a pinkish tomato. “Cowabunga” is much less impressive than “Gnarly, Dude”, but it still changed. I MUST return to Five Below for more!
Pink Flaming-toes
Ba DUM dum…
I know, I know, it’s a really bad pun.
I just wanted to show off Julep “Vicki” next to some REAL pink plastic flamingos. I used Sally Hansen “Fruit-Ta-Ta” as an accent on my middle toes. Pretty good match, huh?
I actually just took “Vicki” off my toenails. It was too thick around the edges and the Sally Hansen Diamond Flash left ragged edges. I couldn’t go on vacation with my toenails looking all raggedy. I went back to Zoya “Sooki”, my new favorite toenail polish.
Nudist Colony
I LOVE lip stain…it stays put all day. So why not a lip balm stain?
I had a $1 off wet n wild coupon, so when I was at Target I picked up a wet n wild megaslicks Balm Stain in “Nudist Colony”. The name alone pulled me in…
Why do my pink flamingo nails look orange? We replaced all the lights in our house with compact florescent lights. I love how much money I save on electricity, but the lights make every picture I take of my fingernails look orange. That’s why I take most of my pictures outside on my patio. I have a wrought iron fence and all my neighbors can see EVERYTHING. I bet they think I’m a loony, arranging tableus of fingernail polish on my patio table every other day. Eh…
Pink Flamingos
If Babs Johnson was going to pick a nail polish – it would be Julep “Vicki”!
Julep wasn’t kidding when they “Vicki” as pink flamingo crème – my fingers look like plastic yard flamingos! “Vicki” is a hard polish to work with. It is streaky in one coat, but two coats is too much and it pools in the cracks between my nail and finger. I was a good girl and started with Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, but it is almost empty, so it was goopy. I’m going to try to get one last use out of it, but not sure I have enough for all 10 nails. After two coats, I topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash, which I needed, because my washing machine was in the process of breaking down while I was painting my nails and I unexpectedly had to get sopping jeans out of the machine shortly after I painted them.
I like the concept of plastic pink flamingo nails, but the color is too bright for me – my nails are almost neon. Next time, I’ll try “Vicki” with a glitter or other special effect top coat to tone it down a bit.
Red Sticker Fever
Yup…I went again. I picked a different location to see what goodies they had left from the massive Ulta clearance…I was not disappointed.
I decided to try Ulta “Citrus Rose” Rejuvenating Bath & Shower Gel ($2.97 down from $9.50). I’m gonna be pissed if I love it, because I’ll never find it again. I also got a compact folding brush for my purse. I’m tired of rushing out of the house and realizing that my children look like Little Orphan Annie.
The best deals were in nail polish. I found Sparitual “Improvisation” ($2.97 down from $12), China Glaze “Bling it on” ($.97 down from $8.50), 2 China Glaze “Scattered & Tattered” ($.97 down from $8.50) – 1 for me and 1 for my BFF because it appears to be a dupe of her favorite Sinful Colors polish, Sally Hansen “Fruit-Ta-Ta” ($1.49 down from $2.99) and Ulta “Pinata Yada” ($.47). Including my $3.50 off coupon, I spent $9.53 at Ulta.
I also stopped by Big Lots to take advantage of their 20% off for members day. Besides Pop-Tarts and Veggie Sticks, I found My Beauty Spot “Lux Velvet Effect Nail Art Kit”. It is supposed to make my nails look and feel like crushed velvet. I am skeptical, yet intrigued. For $2.80, I can take a chance…
July Birchbox – Power Up
I got my Birchbox so quick this month – I just got the shipping notice yesterday!
July’s box is a collaboration with Women’s Health Magazine called “Power Up”. Look how cute the box is – no plain brown box this month! There’s even a card in my box for a free subscription to Women’s Health Magazine. I’ll probably go ahead and send it in, even though I’ll probably never read it. My kids constantly need pictures for collages at school and the only magazines I get are Consumer Reports and IKEA catalogs. Their collages have been pretty lame.
Also inside my box: Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain in “Sugar” (I got to pick the color – I love it when Birchbox does this!), Harvey Prince Singular Scentsations “Imperial Gardenia” (It smells SUPER old lady), NAOBAY Body Radiance Lotion (very mild smell, thank GAWD), Number 4 “Super Comb Prep & Protect” (yes! more tiny spray bottles of stuff for my hair), and Real Chemistry “Luminous 3 Minute Peel” (looking forward to trying it).
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Lady Deathstrike
I’ve decided that these fingernails make me Lady Deathstrike. Oh, you didn’t know that in addition to being an amateur manicurist, soap hoarder and makeup junkie…that I’m also a nerd? And a giant dork.
Julep “Braiden” is one of the new polishes that I received in July’s box – The Poolside Collection. Julep describes it as graphite stardust (textured matte glitter), but I guess adamantium is probably trademarked or something.
No base coat or top coat – just 2 coats of “Braiden”. It dried within seconds and only has minimal edge wear after 24 hours. Great formula!
Between Julep’s Stardust and Zoya’s Pixie Dust, I’m starting to really like these textured polishes.