Saturday, November 26, 2011

Because I'm A Bitchin' Rockstar From Mars.

Okay, just a little post today. And, really, I feel kinda guilty about that, 'cause I love this friggin' color so much.

I picked up a couple of Funky Fingers polishes at this great store my kid sister brought me to called Five Below, where (wait for it!) everything is $5 or less. And it's not all cheap crap like you find at real dollar stores--although, to be fair, Dollar Tree has some pretty good stuff sometimes. But I digress.

I guess the whole reason my sister wanted to take me to Five Below in the first place is because they have this giant table full of reasonably priced nail polishes, and she knows what a freak I am for polishes, so it was a great surprise. I ended up spending twenty five dollars in that store. But I walked out with super comfy, fuzzy, rainbow leopard print jimjam shorts, a mousepad with a wrist bump, clippy headphones, two nail polishes, and I bought us each one of those silly Japanese drinks where you have to pop the marble out of the top to open the bottle. Of course, my sister accidentally threw away her marble popper, and I'd already used mine, so we had to sit there for about fifteen minutes, trying to pop hers with a lighter. It was ridiculous, and I'm sure we looked like idiots. Which is why I love hanging out with my sister. <3

But I digress again...

So. One of the colors I bought that day was Funky Fingers Power Chord, which is a... well... I don't really know exactly how to describe it. Try this: Picture the most beautiful bruise ever, then add a pale gold shimmer. It's awesome. And pretty. And tough. And it looks soooooooo friggin' hot on short nails (which I figured this out the second time I wore it, right after I filed my nails all the way down--in the pics, my nails are about medium length).

Indoors, artificial light, no flash. 
Application is a breeze. The polish is a bit thinner than some of my others, so I went for three coats* for full opacity. Another thing I figured out the second time I wore this color is that I prefer it without a topcoat. I can't exactly put my finger on why. I think because it almost has a metallic finish on its own, and this polish just screams "tough little tomboy" to me, and a glossy topcoat kinda... I dunno... ruins that or something... O_o

Indoors, artificial light, flash.
I don't recall having any problems with chipping or wear with this color. And I'm pretty sure I wore it for a day or two longer than I usually do, because I love it so much.

I ended up throwing on a coat of Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black just to see what it would look like. This combination didn't blow my mind, but goddamn, check out the rainbow in that bottle!

Removal is slightly trickier than most polishes, since the gold shimmer gets a bit gritty/rough, but it's not nearly as bad as removing glitter polishes. Just requires a little extra soaking time or elbow grease, whichever you prefer.

I seriously love this color. Like, for real. You know how I feel about "purpling my fingernails", and with my tough little tomboy attitude, this polish is just sososo me. Plus I really like the shape of Funky Fingers bottles. They kinda remind me of genie bottles. Or 50's cats (you know what I mean, right?). If I get a chance, and if it's still in stock, I'd like to swing back over to Five Below to pick up a backup bottle. And maybe a few other colors...


RCN Ratings:

  • Price: 5/5 (I think I paid $2.50 each)
  • Packaging: 5/5
  • Performance: 5/5

Hey other bloggers: How would you describe this color? I see some great color descriptions out there sometimes, and I'm like, "Uhhh, it's... purple.". Thoughts?



*I always use NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat for quick and easy shine.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Lost In The Blizzard Nebula.

Holy smokes, will ya look at that? Another post!

I think I'm just going to kind of rely on pictures to do the work for me for a bit, instead of writing my full-on reviews.

First up, we have the loverly Orly Space Cadet. I had wanted this color for soooooo long, so I finally ordered it through Amazon. When it arrived, I'll admit to being a little disappointed. It kind of reminds me of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Amber Ruby, which I've owned, well, since the Nail Prisms line was still in stores, but never really loved. I'm not huge on rose tones with my skin. And even though this polish has a very pretty teal jelly-ish base, once it's built up to opaque, it's predominantly rosey. Bleh.

I do love a good duo/multichrome, though, and Space Cadet is plenty of that. And although it's smooth and shiny on the nail*, it's really gritty when you're taking it off, so I recommend the foil method.

Indirect sunlight. I think this was... four coats?
There really is a lot of color shifting with this polish.
This polish is definitely pretty, but it's just not my favorite. Oh well.

RCN Ratings:
  • Price: 5/5 (Amazon usually has pretty good deals on polishes.)
  • Packaging: 5/5
  • Performance: 4/5 (I hate when polishes are a pain to get off, so it loses a point for being so clingy and gritty during removal.)

And here we have my new favorite glitter topcoat, China Glaze Snow Globe over Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Night Flight.

THE COLORS, DUKE! THE COLORS! (If anyone else remembers that commercial, they get a million cool points.)
With flash. This was also right after I applied my final topcoat, so everything looked super shiny.
Unfortunately, by the next day, this mani wasn't very shiny at all. Which was okay, since the matte-ness kind of helped to enhance the GLITTERSSSSS!

 So yeah, I don't even know what to say about this polish. I love it. A lot. It's like a sparkling cupcake wrapped in a bow with sprinkles and candy. On your nails. In glitter form.

It has small and medium iridescent hex glitters that, depending on the angle you're looking are cyan/orange, purple/yellow, or pink/green. It's friggin' amazing, basically, and I couldn't stop smiling at my fingers. I can't wait to wear it over white, which is a mani I'm planning for this winter. : )

As with all glitters, it's a bit tricky to get off, although it not as densly packed as some glitters, so it does break down a little more easily. Still. Foil method all the way.

RCN Ratings:
  • Price: 5/5 (Again, check Amazon for some reasonable prices)
  • Packaging: 5/5
  • Performance: 4/5 (Loses one point for that weird matte thing it kept doing, even after I applied topcoat.)
 So yeah, in a battle between China Glaze Snow Globe and Orly Space Cadet, I'd be rooting for Snow Globe. What about you?



*I always use NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat for quick and easy shine. 

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Fact That There Are Christmas Themed Pringles Containers Already Is Killing My Soul.

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH.

I just wrote a kind of medium length entry about how I've been dealing with depression for the past few months, and how there's a lot of stressful stuff going on in my personal life right now, and how I feel like that plays a big part in me not having the motivation to update my blog more often, and I added a whole bunch of pictures, and then Blogger ATE IT.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!??!??

(Sigh.)

Fine. I'll upload all the stupid pictures again. And come up with captions for all of them. Again. But I will not retype the post. I have my limits.

...I hope you really appreciate what I'm dealing with for you right now. No. Really.

*groans*

Okay, soooooo. Here:

To make up for not posting very often, here are a whole bunch of pictures in one post. We'll start with some old ones that my Facebook friends will probably recognize from my "I Love Nail Polish" album:

First up, a little snowman I did last winter, using just the nail polish brushes and a toothpick for the eyes, nose, and buttons. Unfortunately, I decided to wait several days before snapping this picture, and you can see how beat up it is. Still cute, though.
This picture was actually taken to show off my then-brand-new Bamboo Pen & Touch, but it features one of my very favorite polish combos: OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries and OPI Sun-body Loves Me!
My very first go at stamping using my Bundle Monster plates. I let my boyfriend pick the colors and design. He said he wanted it to look like a creamcicle.
He was a good sport and let me stamp his nail, too. I decided to play to his masculine side with a tiny tribute to bacon.
My first--and only--attempt at sponging. Not very pretty. Maybe I'll try it again someday...
I believe this was my second attempt at stamping. Plus freehand tips.
Oh my God, my cuticle line in this picture kind of makes me want to vomit. Still, this was one of my favorite stamped manis. The green really popped in real life.

I have a LOT more old pics, but I'm gonna save some, because I'm probably gonna need to to another of these picturebomb catch-up posts in the future...

So, on to more recent things!

A kind of lazy Halloween mani using this years Wet n' Wild Fantasy Makers polishes in Black Magic and Spooky Pumpkin. Again, I waited until I was ready to take the polish off to snap the pics, so it's looking a bit rough here.
This is the mani I actually wore on Halloween. I was thinking out loud about what I should do, and my boyfriend suggested bats on an orange background, so that's what I did. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed with a coat of Wet n' Wild Fantansy Makers Spooky Pumpkin, and the bat stamps from my Bundle Monster plates.
Oh, Clarins 230. You whore. <3
And lastly, and certainly leastly, I figured I'd throw in a shot of yours truly, doing what yours truly does best: Not knowing what the crap she's doing.

This is how I roll...

Okay, then. I hope throwing all these pictures at you was enough to make you forget that I'm a crappy blogger. Come back next week. Maybe there will be more words and pictures to look at or something.