Zoya NYFW Fall 2012

Hope everyone had a good week! So glad it's Friday! Yay. We have lil man and my boogie this weekend, so I swatched lots of polishes last weekend so I'm not trying to manage two kids, a dog, my husband, and my nails.

While making a quick trip to my local Ulta (an hour away lol) I managed to find the hidden Zoya Fall 2012 for NYFW. They didn't have the famous 3 polish Gloss Collection, which I suppose I'm just going to have to buy online, but all the other polishes were on sale. Since I'm on a tight budget I only got 2. It was so hard to choose, but I finally went with Evvie and FeiFei. I love how they come out with shimmers and cremes in the same collection. They are ALL awesome!

 



First is Evvie. I loved this color because it wasn't a gray and it wasn't a green, but an inbetween color that I think will be great for fall. I used Orly Bonder as my basecoat then 2 coats of Evvie and Seche Vite to finish off. 

 

Next, is FeiFei. I LOVE this color! This was my first choice! It's a pretty sheer color so I used Essie School of Hard Rocks as my undie color. I then used 2 coats of FeiFei and finished off with Seche Vite, of course. I thought this combo turned out beautifully and am currently wearing FeiFei again, but with another combination of undie colors. I am happy with my 2 choices but wish I could get the whole collection, but will have to settle with a couple at a time.

                              

I recently signed ourselves up on mint.com, which is a free budgeting website that is owned and created by Quicken, a well known budgeting software often used by businesses. Anyways, I have to budget my spending on polish and plan to only spend $40 a month on polish, which will be hard, but is necessary. I have decided that I will splurge on the Zoya Gloss Collection, so...that's half of my monthly nail budget...oh well.

Well, I hope all you lovely polish ladies have a wonderful weekend!! Happy Polishing!
Once again, I wanted to share this awesome, one of my most favortest videos EVER! Rob Hoffman's Dancerface. I've shown him before, but this one is one of the most hilarious things I've ever watched!

"THAT is Dancerface...the phe..nom...e..no..."

Essie Action In Action

Well, hope everyone is having an awesome weekend! I'm just chilling at home watching "The Hunger Games" and having a nice drink with the hubby:) doesn't happen very often! Yet, I still can't resist the tempatation to blog! Here's why:
So, I had my little quiz last night and one of my winners asked for Essie Action.  I told her that I had the polish, but had tried to wear it once and it was so difficult and streaky that I gave up and almost threw it away. It has been sitting on my shelf until she now. So, I did a little googling reviews of Action...turns out it is a difficult polish but very pretty. So, I had to give it another try and some attention. This is what I got:

3 coats, no topcoat, direct sunlight

I have to say this has been the most difficult Essie polish I've ever "worked with". The brush didn't want to work with me, but I messed with it and it started to cooperate. Then the polish itself...well, I had to add a steel ball to the mixture and it seemed to help the streakiness. First, I have to say that in the bottle this color looks like a pastel, but there's nothing light about Action. This collection Poppi Razzi Summer 2012 for Essie brings 4 "neons" that have a semi-matte finish, which you can clearly see above. I didn't buy any of the other colors in this collections, but from what I read about the other colors, only one besides Action, is the only other polish that presents itself like a true neon.

Well, I started off with Orly Bonder, hoping this would help the polish stick to my nails. This is a very thin polish and is streaky and dries quickly. So, this is a tricky polish and needs precision and patience. It took 3 coats to get the polish a more opaque look. This is with no top coat, simply b/c I just loved the satin look this polish naturally gives! (again, I can't make my pictures bigger...what up Google??)

Next, I added a thin coat of Seche Vite (unlike my usual thick coat of goopy Seche).  The gloss added to the neon just make it sparkle...well, see for yourself:

Here it is with topcoat in the shade:

So, as with all neons, I wanted to try a white "undie" color, Circus Reverso, to see if it was any brighter. I didn't find that that it is, but I only applied 2 coats of Action instead of 3. But, here we are with no topcoat:

And in the shade, white undie, 2 coats, no topcoat:

Lastly with Seche Vite:

And in the shade:

So, my conclusion is that is a difficult polish, but if you have the patience and right tools, this can be a beautiful manicure! I love neons and this definitely is one of my favorites for the summer. I'm glad that Iris asked for this polish, because I don't know that I would have given it a second thought! Hope you found this helpful! Let me know what you think. And if you own this polish, how did it work out for you?

Essie Gradient Glitter Sunday

Well, this weekend is over...back to the daily grind tomorrow. That's ok...I have a vacation coming up in 2 weeks! Yay. My first paid vacation in almost 3 years! Well, I will  make this short and sweet. I always do my nails for work on Monday. I'm waiting to get my stud nail art from Cult Nails tomorrow, so I wasn't planning on doing anything but just one color, but I couldn't help myself. I have been looking on tumblr and the web this weekend and have seen so many cool ideas I had to try something simple but with a lil sompin-sompin...

This is what I used:

Essie Splash of Grenadine, NOPI Fabulous is My Middle Name, and Nina Pro Glamrock. This Essie color is one of my favortist colors and I've used probably half the bottle. I used the NOPI glitter because it's thinner and has rectangle strips mixed in with smaller different colors of glitter. I've had the Glamrock for a while and used it on Addie. It's a thick black and silver glitter. You only need one good coat of this sucker to get a full application.

 It started to rain just as I went outside to take my pictures, so I ended up getting stuck under our shed with not much light. Well, I used Seche Clear basecoat, 2 coats of Essie, then I used a thin coat of the NOPI almost up to the tip. I then used a thin coat of Glamrock and right after used another thin coat of NOPI to sprad the glitter around and kind of mix it together. I really like the strips of glitter and was my fav part of this mani. I then decided to top it off with a rhinestone and 2 thick coats of Seche Vite...voile!

Well, I wish everyone a wonderful fantabulous week! As promised, I will leave you all with a lil somthing:

Cult Nails Layering

Well, this has just been a weird but kinda cool week with a holiday being on a Wednesday. So, we worked 2 days then a day off, then working another 2 days then having a weekend. I could get used to that. Anyways, we have been out in the sun with Kade and I need a nap...ha.

Well, I have been wanting some Cult Nails polish for a while, so I finally found some I really wanted. I don't think I'll ever get my hands on some Unicorn Puke, but I am a new super fan of Cult Nails now...I bought the Divas and Drama Collection that is on sale on their website. That included Scandalous, Enticing, Manipulative, and Seduction. I also bought Charming from the Fairy Tale Collection just cause it looked so pretty. So, I had just checked out and then found the nail art- studs and rhinestones that I haven't been able to find anywhere else. I immediately emailed them and asked if I could change my order. They let me add to it and didn't charge me the extra shipping! John from Cult Nails even emailed on the 4th to help me out! How awesome are they?!

So, today I'm only reviewing 2 of the polishes and not the whole collection. I wasn't sure what mani I wanted to do, but all these polishes are quite sheer, so I thought I would try some layering. This was my result:

This is what I used:

I used 1 coat of Color Club Hot Like Lava from the Foiled Collection, then I used 1 coat of Charming and 2 coats of Seduction then I used Essie Matte About You for a matte finish. I was torn when it came to using this because I didn't want it to runi the shimmer, but I like the outcome. It's not really noticable in these pictures, but Charming is a beautiful almost duochrome light purple and pink shimmer, like it looks on their website here.

So, I've been thinking of a way to spice up my reviews and add a little something extra that says something about ME. So, I will leave you with a lil bit of diva....if no one has ever heard of Rob Hoffman then you def need to check him out! This is the "Yes Dance". No matter how many times I watch it, it never gets old! Plus, he's just so freaking hot! (he played Chase in "Step Up 2").

Anyways, hope everyone has a super weekend, divas!! I'm out!

Red Re-Vamp with Essie

Good day ladies!! What a wonderful, normal, drab Wednesday. At least the weather is nice:) I wanted to try to spice today up with a little color! Last night I was sitting there looking at my polishes trying to decide what to do.  I am always doing different colors and realized I kind of miss the classic manicure- red. But, I'm trying to experiment with different looks, so I thought I would try to re-vamp this common but always stylish mani.

clambake, really red, fishnet stockings

With this in mind I picked my favorite reds and went to work.  I didin't do it on purpose, but the 3 reds I used are all Essie. I started off with CC Stuck on You basecoat then I applied a small half moon with one coat of Essie clambake, which is more of a dark orange. This color is a little sheer, which I liked, so I left it that way and didn't want to go any darker since I was doing a gradient. The trick complete one nail at a time before each polish has time to dry. So, next I used from half-way up (a little before where I stopped with clambake) and applied one coat of Essie really red, which is just what it's called, just a classic red. I kind of used my brush to mix the 2 layers of colors together to give it that gradient look. I used Essie fishnet stockings on as the top layer. I used the same tecnique by kind of using my brush to mix the 2 colors together then applied a small second layer to the very top to give me a more gradient look and blend the colors. As soon as I finished one hand I used a clear top coat to blend the colors even more. I let all that dry for about 15-20 minutes then used one coat of old Seche Vite (which is thick now and I love it!)

China Glaze/Essie Gradient

Good afternoon polish lovers! So, this week has been crazzzzy! I started my new job- well I started training for my new job:) I will be a "relationship banker" or formerly known as a CSR. I was a teller long years ago (like 7 yrs ago lol), and want to move up...so I am. I am super excited and really enjoyed this week! The weather hasn't been very nice to us though, plus I haven't had any time to swatch.  So, when I woke up today and it was soooo sunny and beautiful outside, well, I knew what I had to do!

I have been watching tutorials on YouTube, and saw this really cool one on gradient nails, so I thought I would give it a try! I wanted something kinda spring-y that would stand out. I thought I'd go with some blues. I really like the results I got!

First I started out by painting the tips of my nails with China Glaze For Audrey, which I LOVE! I love Tiffany's color blue and this is almost a perfect match to it! I kinda waited for that to dry and added a little extra to the very tips. Then, I used Essie Absolutely Shore, which is a light minty color.  I went down half way with one coat then went down a little further and lighter with a second coat. Then, one nail at a time right after Essie I used China Glaze White Cap, which I used last week.  It's an sheer, iridescent white and gold glittery...and one of my fav colors. I went almost all the way down to my cuticle with one coat and kinda swished with two colors together creating a more even gradient look. I topped it off with Seche Vite Top Coat and THAT'S IT! It was a lot easier than I thought, but know I can still do better.

Here's what I used in order from L to R: China Glaze For Audrey,
Essie Absolutely Shore, and CG White Cap

I took like a million pictures of this! I had so much fun playing with my camera in the sun lol. I was trying to get as far away but still use my macro, so I could get a good view of my whole look. This was so much fun and I can't wait to do another gradient! Please let me know what you think!!

Polish Haul and Organization

Hey all ya'll polish lovers! So my weekend was pretty lax. I did some shopping Saturday in Shreveport. I went on a polish adventure and wow...I found some goodies! I got a nice lil haul I thought I'd share:

From L to R, top to bottom:

Sinful Colors Snow Me White
Sephora by OPI Queen of Everything
Zoya Jules
Essie Go Overboard
Revlon Midnight
Sephora by OPI Countdown to the Kiss
Nicole by OPI Green Up Your Act!
Sinful Colors Aquamarine
China Glaze For Audrey
Essie Armed and Ready
China Glaze Trendsetter
Sinful Colors Rise and Shine
Pure Ice Kissy Kiss
Pure Ice Bite Me!
Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls
Zoya Edyta
OPI My Private Jet
Pure Ice Risk Taker
Ulta For Bitten
Nicole by OPI Rainbow in the S-Kylie
Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure
Revlon Popular (aka Starry Pink)
Orly Fowl Play
Zoya Julieanne
Sephora by OPI Who's Spinning Tonight?)

I got a lil trigger happy, I guess you could say- and even made myself put a few back (that I'm sure I will buy later).  I also noticed that I appear to have a thing for shimmers and iridescents- they all seems to have some kind of light tiny flakies. It's like they just call me name!
With that being said, I had much more polish to add to my growing collection , naturally I wanted somewhere I could store it that wasn't in a box or basket(where it currently is) going. I found these awesome small cabinet thingy that was on sale at Target, so I got 2 for $15 each. I now know after about 20 more polishes I will have to move on to something bigger lol. But, they're cute for now.

Top picture is straight forward and the bottom is from an angle
so you can see the polishes on the other side (otherwise they wouldn't all fit)



Well, our we lost our power as I was in the middle of this post, so I am coming to you this morning. I am starting my new job today!! I am soooo excited and can't wait to get back into society lol- the way things are supposed to be! So, have a great day everyone and "polish to the people!" ha!