20 Polishes
The other day, I told my husband that I wish I had 10 more fingers. He laughed and said, “You do – they’re called toes.” Painting my toenails is just not the same as painting my fingernails. They’re hard to reach and all different shapes. Plus, I hardly ever have a chance to show off my toes. I have so many ideas for polish combinations, plus – I’ve bought or been gifted about 25 polishes JUST in the month of May (which isn’t over yet.) Sure, I can practice on my junk mail, but it’s just not the same…what do I do? I stay up late and do a different combination on each finger!
Let’s start with my left hand…
Left Thumb – China Glaze “Four Leaf Clover” and Maybelline Color Show “Emerald City”
Left Pointer – Orly “Purple Poodle” and Sparitual Luminary Matte Top Effect in “Opaline”
Left Middle – Nina “Blue La La” and Sally Hansen Gem Crush “Lady Luck”
Left Ring – Julep “Tatum” and Julep “Rosa”
Left Pinky – Sinful Colors “Sugar Sugar” and Nina “Gold Flake Topcoat”
My right hand was a little bit more difficult, both to paint AND to photograph…
Right Thumb – Orly “Bubbly Bombshell” and Sinful Colors “Nail Junkie”
Right Pointer – Zoya “Dillon” and Sinful Colors “Bombshell”
Right Middle – Sinful Colors “Inkwell” and essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones”
Right Ring – Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Magenta Motion” and Sinful Colors “Call You Later”
Right Pinky – Sinful Colors “Nova” and Nicole by OPI “Rainbow in the S-Kylie”
Which one do you like best? Vote in the poll below and let me know what you think!
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Fire Duo
I did laundry and washed dishes ALL DAY yesterday. I’m pretty sure my husband assumed it was my way of saying THANK YOU for that late night Ulta trip…but I really just wanted to chip my nails enough to give me a good reason to redo them with my brand new polish.
A quick Google told me that this Butter London set was released for Holidays 2013 and is called “Fire Duo”. “Rebel Fox” is very thin. The first coat looked berry, but it became a deeper, blood red with the second coat. I really should have gone with a third coat – it’s very, very thin. “Brass Monkey” was nothing like I expected. I figured it would just lighten and cloud the base color like Sparitual Luminary Matte Top Effect in “Opaline”, but it was totally different. It’s a clear coat, with coppery flakies that take on the red and turn it into flames. I want to try it on a dark blue…
Good thing I had the presence of mind to take a pic BEFORE going to the pool with the kids. This polish is NOT sturdy enough for the summer – I’ve already got major edge-wear and a few chips. It’s not like I wasn’t planning on painting my nails again tonight, anyway…
Womanly Wiles
3rd post today…I’m out of control…
No one felt like cooking tonight, not even enough to shove a few frozen pizzas in the oven, so we went to IHOP. After IHOP, my husband wanted to run by Auto Zone to get something for his car project. I waited in the truck with the kids. I had an idea…I whispered something in Lily’s ear.
As soon as my husband got back in the truck, Lily leaned over and said, “Daddy, can we go to Ulta?” He just looked at her…and then looked at me and said, “Really?!?!?”
Yes, I totally attempted to use a six year old child to persuade my husband to take me to a makeup store at 8 o’clock at night….AND IT WORKED. He made me promise to make it a quick trip and I agreed, seeing as they close at 9. His eyes got BIG and his mouth set in a firm line…I asked if he would come in with me, but like me at Auto Zone, he stayed in the truck with my son.
All I picked up was Physician’s Formula Super BB Cream in “Light” (I mistakenly ordered “Light-Medium” a few months ago) and Nude Wear Glowing Nude Powder in “Light”. Physician’s Formula was “Buy 1, get 1 50% off”, plus I had a 20% off coupon, so I ended up saving $10.
With that purchase, I’m about $20 away from Platinum Status at Ulta. Yeah, I’m kind of a big deal…
Lunchtime Shopping FTW
Some days, you just have to get out of the office and buy something.
Since I realized that there is a Nordstrom Rack close to my office, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to check out their jeans section, because I had paid full price for the last 2 pairs of jeans that I bought and I figured there have to be deals out there somewhere. I lucked out and found a pair of Lucky Brand Capris for 65% off. After the dressing room, I headed towards the beauty section…
I shouldn’t have done that. They had piles of Smashbox, stila, LORAC and NARS. It was mostly out of season palettes and discontinued colors, but the prices were good. I dug around a little, but nothing really caught my eye. I was rooting around in a display and came across a single 2-pack of Butter London nail polish – Double Take with “Rebel Fox” and “Brass Monkey”. I’ve heard great things about the brand, but was scared away by the price – $15 each. The 2-pack was $12, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I was even happier when I checked out and it rang up for $9. FOR THE WIN!
Pink Dots
I just can’t leave well enough alone.
Dookie Glitter looked great, but I had an idea to make it even better. I kept thinking of my favorite dress of Lily’s, from when she was a year or so old. It was an Easter dress that I picked up at Kohl’s – a chocolate brown sundress with pink dots and roses. About half of the dots were sparkly and holographic. I put it on her every chance I got. Of course, I’m a hoarder and never got rid of the dress…so I was able to give it to my niece, Olive (pictured yelling at her mother on the left).
After 2 coats of Julep “Candace”, I topped with a coat of essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” . I had tried this glitter before, but it just wasn’t striking over another pink or fleshy tone like “Set in Stones” is. But over a dark color…”A Cut Above” is AMAZEBALLS. Now you know…
Dookie Glitter
After having bright, bright nails for several days, I had to go dark.
The first polish I picked to try out of my Golden Ticket Mystery Box is “Candace”, described by Julep as golden chocolate microglitter. Well alright, it’s chocolatey enough and it has a lovely golden sheen….it reminds me of the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…but it also kinds looks like my fantasy of a poo-poo after drinking an entire bottle of Goldschläger. I always claimed that I would look for gold in my poo after drinking Goldschläger…but I never really did it. IF I DID, this is what I would have hoped to find.
I broke out the Plié Wand again. I’m getting better with it…I just have to remember to go slowly…
Golden Ticket Mystery Box
When I opened up my Golden Ticket Mystery Box, I felt just like Charlie Bucket on his birthday, when he opened that Scrumdidlyumptious Bar and didn’t find a Golden Ticket. I was convinced that I would be the one to get a Julep Golden Ticket and get to name my own polish. That was really the main reason that I bought this month’s Mystery Box, sight unseen. I didn’t find spoilers until after I had already purchased #2. Looking at the spoilers, I really wanted #1 and #3 more. At least my BFF ordered #1, so I can borrow from her…
The #2 box came with 5 polishes, “Vanish” Cuticle Softener & Remover, “Tada!” Quick Dry Drops and more damn Forget-Me-Not Seeds. At least my son is happy about my Mystery Box. Even though I already have “Vanish” and “Tada!”, at least I know that I’ll use the hell out of them.
The 5 polishes I got were “Michelle” – midnight, inky blue crème, “Carol” – sheer coral pink jelly Rock Candy nail glaze, “Estelle” – midnight black with holographic shimmer, “Celia” – icy green metallic and “Candace” – golden chocolate microglitter. No duplicates!
Aquamarine
Some nail polishes just don’t mix.
I started with 2 coats of Color Club, Gala’s Gems Collection – “Aquamarine Azulino“ from my April Birchbox. It was thick and creamy – but still needed 2 coats. I then put a coat of “Aretha” – Aquamarine for March”. “Aretha” was thick and goopy, but it seemed to go on pretty even. As it dried, it started to crinkle around the edges – NOOOOOOOO! The dreaded crusty cuticles!
It doesn’t look horrible, but it doesn’t look flawless. The polish isn’t chipping off the tips, but it’s chipping around the cuticle…I’ve been in a funk all day, obsessing about it. Tomorrow, it goes…
A Wild and an Untamed Thing
I’m a wild and an untamed thing. I’m a bee with a deadly sting.
The second I finished my nails, I thought of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. At first I thought COLUMBIA, but there wasn’t any gold. Then I realized – FLOOR SHOW. My nails remind me of the corsets from the Floor Show. I really should do a manicure for every character in Rocky Horror, although I’m too lazy to do plaid for Dr. Scott.
Instead of starting fresh, I put the glitters on top of Seche “All Lit Up”. The darker is Revlon “Brilliant Bordeaux” and the redder is Revlon “Ruby Ribbon”. Again, I topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. I am learning about topcoats…slowly, slowly.
Yes, I know that the cuticle on my middle finger is fucked up. Don’t remind me…
All Lit Up
So this is Seche “All Lit Up”.
In the bottle, it looks like deep crimson with gold shimmer, but when it I actually got it on my nails, it became more berry colored and the gold shimmer disappeared. Because it’s dark outside, I had to take the picture in my bathroom and the color looks quite a bit darker than in sunlight.
This is my first experience with Seche and I was impressed by how smoothly it applied and how quickly it dried.
Coincidentally, this is the EXACT color of my underwear. TMI? You’re welcome.