tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66984799821322880352024-03-05T18:32:47.380-06:00Real Cute NailsA rainbow connection, right at my fingertips!Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-65355489767251729452012-06-15T05:24:00.001-05:002012-06-15T05:28:21.196-05:00Creepin'.Holy hell, this new "streamlined" look Blogger has going on is <i>freaking me out.</i> O_o<br />
<br />
Uhh, anyway. I'm not dead. I've just been having a pretty crazy couple of months. I had to put my poor kitty, Jericho, down. That sucked. A <i>lot. </i>But I also <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwxB9SU3VB0&feature=plcp">got to take care of a baby raccoon for a couple of days</a></b>, and that was FRIGGIN' AWESOME.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEmrx5qohDUJ6x6OUNtaoPawFCncQirsXYUTdtUwoGnonKaiRWUDCEzIBf2o7wX-911UUWSUnPG30F16x44q_3rVEo11w2zX5iNh0AmIjqO8wvJQEVihpOO-VqEVk5PI_5YvW-pOV/s1600/009.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEmrx5qohDUJ6x6OUNtaoPawFCncQirsXYUTdtUwoGnonKaiRWUDCEzIBf2o7wX-911UUWSUnPG30F16x44q_3rVEo11w2zX5iNh0AmIjqO8wvJQEVihpOO-VqEVk5PI_5YvW-pOV/s320/009.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We named him Thirty One, after Rt. 31, where my friend found him.<br />
The color I'm wearing is <b>Kleancolor Coffee Addict</b>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Is he not THE cutest thing you've ever seen? If anyone wants to see more adorable pictures, just let me know. I have a zillion of them!<br />
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<i><b>DISCLAIMER: </b>It's totally illegal to take in wild animals. This was only a temporary measure until we could find a wildlife rehab center that would take him. My family has been amateurly rehabbing animals since I was a kid, though, so I had a pretty decent idea of what I was doing. Thirty One has been lovingly handed over to a licensed raccoon rehabber. If you find a sick, injured, or orphaned animal, always be sure to contact your local animal control (ehhh...) or wildlife rehab facilities (yay!) for advice!!</i><br />
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Anyway, I don't really have any new nail pictures. I've been pretty busy, and haven't had time to snap any good ones, even though I've added so many new polishes to my collection, it's borderline disgusting. I'll have to pull out all my untrieds some time and snap a picture. There's tons of them.<br />
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I did just buy my fortieth purple yesterday, which to some of you old pros, seems like nothing, I'm sure. But there's always something so satisfying about filling up a nail wheel, you know?<br />
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So yeah. I haven't forgotten about you, lovely followers. And, although I'm not making any promises, I'll try to post back soon with a pretty manicure. (I'm totally digging the one I have on right now, but it's been on for a few days, so it's looking pretty beat up.)<br />
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Alright, I know this post was pretty lame, but... baby steps, right?<br />
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PEACE OUT.<br />
<br />Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-54666609879977281392012-03-06T12:28:00.000-06:002012-03-06T12:28:55.523-06:00Why So Difficult!?<b>***</b><b>Note From The Author:</b> I wrote this post up a few days ago, and intended to post it that night, but blogger was taking a zillion years to upload the pictures, so I ended up having to put it on the back burner for a bit. Sorry it's taken so long to post...<b>***</b><br />
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So. It's not that I don't care. It's just that I've been busy. I even managed to find the time to paint my nails--and take pictures--twice <b>***make that thrice, now***</b> since my last post. But all of the pictures ended up sucking really bad, and I like both polishes sooo much that I feel it would be a discredit to them to post the horribly unflattering pictures that I have.<br />
<br />
Plus I don't mind having an excuse to wear both colors again.<br />
<br />
So, instead, here's a little peek into my life since the big move (or, what I'm tentatively starting to refer to as "The Adventures Of Aren Alone"):<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigX8J2HxHRnKi-hroqegZVD6lI3lILEmVz-1UhwJHsLKOm2md1l26la72-8my2VaE54gwgaraEdPHJuKC9_RdZn71XZZkInr9WTqucGYzx-ynCQhyphenhyphenNAi1uJAC4Ghmf96i9dtny9FDF/s1600/021212_0159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigX8J2HxHRnKi-hroqegZVD6lI3lILEmVz-1UhwJHsLKOm2md1l26la72-8my2VaE54gwgaraEdPHJuKC9_RdZn71XZZkInr9WTqucGYzx-ynCQhyphenhyphenNAi1uJAC4Ghmf96i9dtny9FDF/s320/021212_0159.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prince Monomoonkini and Princess Blossom. Gifts from my uncle.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8gzaZ_Oqe4DRGvgZrenxhGYJ-_Hq92grUAtHbq8qcPb9wvbKV8AYKF2mjmisFDwC4q1sVK6bnEoWt5IWs_a88jKn1_9nA9HNbQhlXjvYWeRkOLqIcDte2oxcbe5wfBjxytQLDJMr/s1600/021912_0302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA8gzaZ_Oqe4DRGvgZrenxhGYJ-_Hq92grUAtHbq8qcPb9wvbKV8AYKF2mjmisFDwC4q1sVK6bnEoWt5IWs_a88jKn1_9nA9HNbQhlXjvYWeRkOLqIcDte2oxcbe5wfBjxytQLDJMr/s320/021912_0302.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best cat in the universe. (That's me and my brother in that photo in the back.)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOERoYfKL6hoaKnQ4v6hCKEis2-hpJbyFK3iNph878002dtCk5Bw6br9bU0Mxh6BbPtAF1XV29st941HHRySgXzkkHyBcadp4koc_VYS5DuHEJrYO0XmtK5q2NRAJgeY9J4ZxaAAS9/s1600/022212_0304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOERoYfKL6hoaKnQ4v6hCKEis2-hpJbyFK3iNph878002dtCk5Bw6br9bU0Mxh6BbPtAF1XV29st941HHRySgXzkkHyBcadp4koc_VYS5DuHEJrYO0XmtK5q2NRAJgeY9J4ZxaAAS9/s320/022212_0304.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More gifts from my uncle. He seriously finds the best stuff.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn4JVSwSWSmfXHFzrhv5nL1ic-dg87bE27LdDeafne5ZKaRJt-Giv8bxG12Y6MIiFemULNtzCQinziDTBx2iEmV0IR1OOVWo7Q4wmjAhbeyWD8fzXMQfBwHMmMIabzNvEoUjEkCyG/s1600/022512_0326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkn4JVSwSWSmfXHFzrhv5nL1ic-dg87bE27LdDeafne5ZKaRJt-Giv8bxG12Y6MIiFemULNtzCQinziDTBx2iEmV0IR1OOVWo7Q4wmjAhbeyWD8fzXMQfBwHMmMIabzNvEoUjEkCyG/s320/022512_0326.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My uncle found me a cute quilt to protect my loveseat, and my mom found me a GREEN STEP LADDER!!!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCOhwwXca_RZ72B5SkZBoun2tq5VTjlBw1kilXSSKJSn4uZM6KE_iLD5ndt-BH_gB__GVfuhrvM0BUNBoU8ZximVzqHm8GUuusPRj1jmAbGkZYcXxvcRw1YKNiiiMl70JhyphenhyphenBVNse-/s1600/022512_0327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCOhwwXca_RZ72B5SkZBoun2tq5VTjlBw1kilXSSKJSn4uZM6KE_iLD5ndt-BH_gB__GVfuhrvM0BUNBoU8ZximVzqHm8GUuusPRj1jmAbGkZYcXxvcRw1YKNiiiMl70JhyphenhyphenBVNse-/s320/022512_0327.JPG" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My old green vacuum died, so I had to get a new one. Sexxay.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxdOwLPR95RQerAvq9pp9t6XVjT2cSiQhi1NQ_qhauokpfkAQ348TSF-DWaN_F0KfKDJjX2P5837PGyHCjLPWyxhqmWMPwhJb6Lo8jKgLa4bkyxBewcIUK_Rk3h2iQ_9V2FuFpnom/s1600/022512_0329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxdOwLPR95RQerAvq9pp9t6XVjT2cSiQhi1NQ_qhauokpfkAQ348TSF-DWaN_F0KfKDJjX2P5837PGyHCjLPWyxhqmWMPwhJb6Lo8jKgLa4bkyxBewcIUK_Rk3h2iQ_9V2FuFpnom/s320/022512_0329.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daddy-o, painting my bedroom for me.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9n1PkcGk45S1UP82HHeUqo3e1O_OlC_ACYIVvdJrqOKbWgOV1ltxI1ZstAkCurmhBM3vSxBj3-OmR0hWqk4cU4LR90WrHcXIZKAMhR4nRwOWNjIZIOQ17o3mcx1U3Fm5FNYYA_Fi/s1600/022512_0344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9n1PkcGk45S1UP82HHeUqo3e1O_OlC_ACYIVvdJrqOKbWgOV1ltxI1ZstAkCurmhBM3vSxBj3-OmR0hWqk4cU4LR90WrHcXIZKAMhR4nRwOWNjIZIOQ17o3mcx1U3Fm5FNYYA_Fi/s320/022512_0344.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the first time in my life I've ever been allowed to pick a paint color.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLf2QFeEXGbgAD7hrWXJue1kINGiwU4C2jdbYAsA7K87KlxF191lesVVM2-zimvOpB3fDOumDYMWRrRKvrGkZFGRy_zxTWr7C0V6VDG6s6sErIuQnpkfDE50wRwpecmlaTAe0oq4_/s1600/022512_0349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLf2QFeEXGbgAD7hrWXJue1kINGiwU4C2jdbYAsA7K87KlxF191lesVVM2-zimvOpB3fDOumDYMWRrRKvrGkZFGRy_zxTWr7C0V6VDG6s6sErIuQnpkfDE50wRwpecmlaTAe0oq4_/s320/022512_0349.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We love our green bedroom. <3</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdunZK8yq2EXxGoT2wOSYzQTFlUgvCUWv1WXvYkjC7yhG3JJE0Lzn9XTbqX1Dt9AHyK7qxuPm3wRti8OSOclNAYSjr4b4u2mTqffx63rbieYR3Z6HT4TmydKetM78-DEFXZNJoXFy/s1600/022312_0314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdunZK8yq2EXxGoT2wOSYzQTFlUgvCUWv1WXvYkjC7yhG3JJE0Lzn9XTbqX1Dt9AHyK7qxuPm3wRti8OSOclNAYSjr4b4u2mTqffx63rbieYR3Z6HT4TmydKetM78-DEFXZNJoXFy/s320/022312_0314.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first thing I ate off real dishes (courtesy of my dear friend, Deena) in my new house. Mmmmm. Mini peach pieeeeee. OMNOMNOMNOMNOM!</td></tr>
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And that's all you get for now. I'll try to do a legit nail post soon. But you may also be getting more life updates. You never know.<br />
<span id="goog_1094028206"></span><span id="goog_1094028207"></span>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-83578402524963253732012-02-21T23:48:00.003-06:002012-02-22T09:30:47.116-06:00I Believe The Medical Term Is 'Burnout'.Okay. So. Things are still pretty crazy around here. I really thought I'd be able to settle in faster, but this is taking forever. I feel like I can't even catch my breath, I'm just so busy with work and taking care of Jericho (he had to stay at the animal ER for 36 hours this week, poor guy) and trying to get this house clean little by little and people are coming and going and I'm just like O_O.<br />
<br />
(Sigh.)<br />
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I did finally get a chance to paint my nails, though. It's already been several days, so they're all chipped and haggard looking at the time of posting. And I haven't found the time to paint my toenails in, like, a week and a half.<br />
<br />
(Siiiigh.)<br />
<br />
I don't know how regular people function. How the hell to people get up, get ready, work for eight (or more!) hours a day, then come home, take care of their house/family/errands, and still find time to, like, shower or put on pants or feed themselves? Because I'm trying <i>so hard</i> and I am SUCKING at it. : (<br />
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One good thing did happen recently, though. I got my very first raise <i>ever</i> yesterday. So that's pretty rad. I can definitely use the extra money.<br />
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Anyway, the color I'm wearing right now is <b>Wet n' Wild Fast Dry Greys Anatomy</b>; a lilac to pale mossy green duochrome. My eight (nine?) year old brother, Efin, picked it out for me on his own for Christmas. He did an <i>awesome</i> job. (Thanks, Ef!)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWlrXO-bcsFsCOgH7gPDWhm3NKe7vBmgVujocGtQ-gxy2bhkmWCN8NWNadFR2z6sAgnnMxWgco6mQlCx9UZWPH3kzRVPFG3dxjhXy9ZNp0Si2LuC-PIQ5GpfMbPfjBpCAxC0UL6-q/s1600/021712_0257.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWlrXO-bcsFsCOgH7gPDWhm3NKe7vBmgVujocGtQ-gxy2bhkmWCN8NWNadFR2z6sAgnnMxWgco6mQlCx9UZWPH3kzRVPFG3dxjhXy9ZNp0Si2LuC-PIQ5GpfMbPfjBpCAxC0UL6-q/s320/021712_0257.png" width="163" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The duochrome action with this polish is pretty subtle in real life, and my camera had a bit of trouble picking it up. Also: Can you tell I've been doing a lot of scrubbing lately? My hands have been <i>screaming</i> for lotion lately.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This polish does go on pretty sheer, and I needed four coats to get to pretty opaque. It probably could've used another coat, but it was taking a while to dry, despite being a quick-dry formula, and I had other things to do.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLR1_Y8K-ArGPfyP_55WM1y1dSXh-x1l_sFl1GitA1FoQ2NAh7-ggQSyI_IT0jqLV0RHTS_USiFIX2j-l93_lnYkX6AAELdqbbPJ31DG53V1BkROGcXV14b5g1yXJlFFwsrd5amYt/s1600/Untitled-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLR1_Y8K-ArGPfyP_55WM1y1dSXh-x1l_sFl1GitA1FoQ2NAh7-ggQSyI_IT0jqLV0RHTS_USiFIX2j-l93_lnYkX6AAELdqbbPJ31DG53V1BkROGcXV14b5g1yXJlFFwsrd5amYt/s320/Untitled-1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmmmcolorshifty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I can't remember what day I put this on--the past two weeks are pretty much a blur in my head--but I know i got pretty good wear out of this because, as I mentioned, I've had it on for several days now, and it only just chipped last night.<br />
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Then, because I can't resist accent nails, I added two coats of <b>Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Ice Queen</b>, a clear base with holo glitter and pale pink and cyan large hex glitters, that my sister's boyfriend, the amazing Phil (the guy's a goddamn puppeteer and writes poems about my sister--how awesome is that!?) bought me for my birthday.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqHUqrk3rAsGVOzVGhnlaLBzayuP9HaOrKIMhyphenhyphenv62JnbHJj3WgSXeQgEAGH2DkJSvnqJonxtQTuLI1uOjI6WAx04BhL_MRLMqf7vxcobKZZFpkt8uKzxNwhoLZRcZPyRoDcVzPcnL/s1600/021712_0279.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqHUqrk3rAsGVOzVGhnlaLBzayuP9HaOrKIMhyphenhyphenv62JnbHJj3WgSXeQgEAGH2DkJSvnqJonxtQTuLI1uOjI6WAx04BhL_MRLMqf7vxcobKZZFpkt8uKzxNwhoLZRcZPyRoDcVzPcnL/s320/021712_0279.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When you look at this from the purple angle, the pink hex glitters look kind of blah, but from the green angle, they really pop.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I feel like I haven't rocked a duochrome in ages, so this was fun.<br />
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And, just because I only have one picture of this manicure, here's my shot of Sally Hansen Insta Dri Snappy Sorbet, a fuity, peachy-orange that shows shimmer in the bottle that's almost invisble on the nails (which I don't necessarily mind).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_R3MuTbzYyZE0bxfygXVVj7sq35W9hWS21wsTEjhDjlJybnoImudSHkr3de3Lng7zZRk3MITyh-T9Owytp147W3u-4RIfUfDnK93kNq9YD4c5myest-RIXDOqhrgXl50n-Vp6m0sT/s1600/020212_0256.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_R3MuTbzYyZE0bxfygXVVj7sq35W9hWS21wsTEjhDjlJybnoImudSHkr3de3Lng7zZRk3MITyh-T9Owytp147W3u-4RIfUfDnK93kNq9YD4c5myest-RIXDOqhrgXl50n-Vp6m0sT/s320/020212_0256.png" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This makes me want dreamcicles soooooo bad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm usually not a huge fan of oranges. I own a few, 'cause I feel like I <i>have</i> to, to round out my collection a bit, but I'd contemplated buying this polish for weeks before I actually did it, 'cause I was pretty sure that, unlike some oranges, this one would flatter my skin tone. And I'm glad I bought it, because it <i>did </i>flatter my skin tone. And it makes me happy to know that I have an orange that I like to wear.<br />
<br />
Oh, and I suppose I should mention that I used <b>Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b> and <b>Quick Dry Top Coat</b> for both of these manis. <br />
<br />
So yeah. That's it. Sorry I've been so slow lately. I don't know when work's going to slow down, and it really does feel like it's taking forever to get this house to where I want it. But I do think about you guys and miss reading your posts--I haven't even had time to sit down and catch up on all the blogs I follow. WHAT ON EARTH HAVE I BEEN MISSING!?<br />
<br />
Plus the very sweet Stacy of <a href="http://padgettfarm.blogspot.com/"><b>Wickless & Polished</b></a> helped me add the new, fancy buttons to my sidebar, and was so friendly and patient with my slow replies (I think I never even responded to her last email--Eek! Sorry, Stacy!). I really appreciate it!<br />
<br />
But, uh, yeah. It's getting close to midnight, so I should go eat something and get ready for bed. I'm trying to get myself on a better sleep schedule, and it hasn't been easy. Ah well, if at first you don't succeed, bitch about it on your blog, then eat something weird while standing at your kitchen counter in your pajamas. That's what I always say.<br />
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Night, kiddos.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-12079609412079497922012-02-15T08:32:00.001-06:002012-02-15T08:39:01.223-06:00It's Been A Long Two Weeks.Hey all. I just wanted to post a quick update to let you all know that I'm not dead and I haven't forgotten about you; I've just been insanely busy with work, moving, and a sick cat for the past two weeks, so I haven't had time to do my nails or post any blogs.<br />
<br />
I'm trying to get settled into my new house, but I recently found out that my bestest buddy has chronic kidney disease, so there's been lots of ferrying him to and from the vet and learning all about CKD and the treatment options he has. He needs subcutaneous fluids to help keep him hydrated now, and it breaks my heart to have to stick him with a giant needle every day, but we're getting through it. I think he knows that I'm doing it to help him, so he's been very brave and doesn't put up too much of a fuss at sub-Q time (I think the fact that he gets a bowl of his new prescription renal-health formula cat food during his sub-Q is a pretty delicious distraction for him).<br />
<br />
So anyway, I just wanted to post real quick to let you all know what's going on and where I've been and that my nails are looking AWFUL right now--too much scrubbing with hot, soapy water in an effort to get the new place sparkling--but I'll try to get myself all cleaned and polished one of these days so that I can make a proper post.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HU1jNdAF9v-80KlxWF8IkzR_9E6DlF-2DpJxNKY4f8gBBbJDvasIit0RkZNtwH7haVXDaqJqyqNaE_xnAcLrw1rLL-E7oFZpaDVyYm9dERQLhCNX3ywK0opeOuQ5DA_WGXSfMdtm/s1600/l_ebdcada280f623ff951a7ad6918afa7e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HU1jNdAF9v-80KlxWF8IkzR_9E6DlF-2DpJxNKY4f8gBBbJDvasIit0RkZNtwH7haVXDaqJqyqNaE_xnAcLrw1rLL-E7oFZpaDVyYm9dERQLhCNX3ywK0opeOuQ5DA_WGXSfMdtm/s320/l_ebdcada280f623ff951a7ad6918afa7e.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey guyz. Is me, Jericho. I's not feeling so good lately. Plees send me happy, healing energyz. And maybe some fud and treets.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-29139683592558440562012-01-30T23:34:00.000-06:002012-01-30T23:34:38.567-06:00I Guess "WTF Is A Pinkie Pie!?" Was The Wrong Answer.The other day, I posted on my Facebook that I didn't know what color to paint my nails next. And within seconds, my friend, Vince, posted, "PINKIE PIE NAILS!".<br />
<br />
I'm not really up on trends, so I had no idea what he was talking about. But I rocked my Google-fu, and figured out that <b><a href="http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Pinkie_Pie">Pinkie Pie</a></b> is apparently one of the characters on the My Little Pony TV show.<br />
<br />
Now, I definitely haven't have the time or patience to do anything requiring much skill this week--work's been absolutely ridonkulous--so I knew this manicure needed to be pretty simple. But I didn't even have the right colors to do a Pinkie Pie manicure, so I had to specifically go out to find a suitable pink. And I don't even <i>like</i> pinks that much. But now I own <i>two</i> more (one of which I didn't even need for this manicure), because I have zero will power.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Vince, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if this isn't Pinkie Pie-ish enough for you, but it's all you're getting...<br />
<br />
For this mani, I used <b>OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries</b>, <b>Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Bubblegum Pink</b>, <b>OPI Just Groovy</b>, and <b>Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow</b>. Plus the<b> Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b> and <b>Top Coat</b>, which I'm hating more and more, but I'm not even going to get into that right now.<br />
<br />
<b>Ate Berries In The Canaries</b> is pretty much my favorite pink polish. Like I've already mentioned, I'm not terribly into pinks, but <b>ABITC</b> isn't a pinky-pink. It's a juicy, magenta creme. Except... more berry-y. Yeah. I don't know. But it flatters my skin, and it's not too girly, and I can't help but love it. So that's the main color I used for this manicure.<br />
<br />
On my accent nail ('cause I loves me a good accent nail), I used the <b>Bubblegum Pink</b>, which is a light pink with shimmer that's more subtle on the nail than in the bottle, and then I added Pinkie Pie's yellow and blue balloons with the <b>Mellow Yellow</b> and <b>Just Groovy</b>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixq-AlEK42wTX6891x_iStFprzDrh7eYa53AQITqyl9Aj7EK5n2Nnehyphenhyphennk3SQOSWe8sEzGEYvBbx8osvhH9u3jnUbFCOxN5lh2s5J-NGW7QttKXtsQJY7MlMQmKo5q3Pmx-ouZOtFL/s1600/012912_0153.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixq-AlEK42wTX6891x_iStFprzDrh7eYa53AQITqyl9Aj7EK5n2Nnehyphenhyphennk3SQOSWe8sEzGEYvBbx8osvhH9u3jnUbFCOxN5lh2s5J-NGW7QttKXtsQJY7MlMQmKo5q3Pmx-ouZOtFL/s320/012912_0153.png" width="139" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know if you guys can see it, but my fingers look so grubby to me in these pics, 'cause it was right after I had <b><a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2012/01/this-post-has-nothing-to-do-with-nails.html">a miserable time removing brown nail polish</a></b>.<br />
Artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs5itt0jqrIxOypNjGg0HRroTQSIAkgRP2QiE9FBPxs3JcjLhkn8Dat_4BiThZqvQxDO49-215_qy9d4sB6ZWCoU9Wwax7DraAm1ZHy1w51F_VmHOHuoWPoLt4MBW15OG4H_ib-ZZ/s1600/012912_0155.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQs5itt0jqrIxOypNjGg0HRroTQSIAkgRP2QiE9FBPxs3JcjLhkn8Dat_4BiThZqvQxDO49-215_qy9d4sB6ZWCoU9Wwax7DraAm1ZHy1w51F_VmHOHuoWPoLt4MBW15OG4H_ib-ZZ/s320/012912_0155.png" width="139" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lol, my balloons are blobby, but I don't mind.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr8xxHUHNuI3efA9NlWQywvToRJydKm-SaxAH4QCaNGjE5YAU_BDTucmtCcDGeMKmBMoOJ2jPra9I0TOGqHzL0J-AtG1R5dlr3VZCLJoL7-uWzAKfyjBd5mRMEa67zFLiOKHR7veC/s1600/013012_0151.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr8xxHUHNuI3efA9NlWQywvToRJydKm-SaxAH4QCaNGjE5YAU_BDTucmtCcDGeMKmBMoOJ2jPra9I0TOGqHzL0J-AtG1R5dlr3VZCLJoL7-uWzAKfyjBd5mRMEa67zFLiOKHR7veC/s320/013012_0151.png" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> I don't know why my polishes refuse to dry properly lately. It's gotta be the <b>Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b>. These nails had hours and hours to dry before I went to bed. There's no reason they should've gotten all sheet-marked like this. <br />
Direct natural light.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
True My Little Pony-related story: When I was little, I used to have <b><a href="http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Baby_Pockets_and_Baby_Hoppy">Hoppy the kangaroo</a></b>, and I <i>loved</i> her. And then, one day, my step-cousin told me that if I didn't give her my Hoppy to <i>keep</i>, she was going to tell her mom that I wasn't sharing. And I was terrified of her mom. So I gave her my Hoppy. And I never saw Hoppy again... *sniffle*<br />
<br />
Anyway, I don't know. I really just wanted to get this post up and be done with it, so I'd have one less thing to stress about (like I said, work's been insane--I was actually in tears today). And I feel bad, because my posts are more and more rambly and less and less about the nail polish. But I guess that's kind of how I am, so...<br />
<br />
Ummmm. Yeah. Pinkie Pie nails. Kind of. <br />
<br />
Also: Feel free to check out my brand spankin' new <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Real-Cute-Nails/234084823340403?sk=friendactivity">Real Cute Nails Facebook page</a></b>.<br />
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Annnd I'm done.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-89292164362986221652012-01-29T23:58:00.000-06:002012-01-31T09:49:09.049-06:00This Post Has Nothing To Do With Nails.Good gravy, this week at work has been hell. <i>One</i> product goes out of stock, and I end up having to personally reply to/send out hundreds and hundreds of emails, on top of my usual work load.<br />
<br />
*dies*<br />
<br />
*crumbles into little pile of dust*<br />
<br />
*is blown away by sudden gust of wind*<br />
<br />
I've been so busy and stressed that I've been slacking on my nails and this blog. But I finally got around to taking off my <b><a href="http://487729/">Fingers-inspired mani</a></b> tonight--after almost a week--and it was goddamn awful.<br />
<br />
I don't know if it was the Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat or the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, or the Kleancolors, or my nail polish remover, or the barometric pressure, or what, but as the polish dissolved, it turned into this sticky, smeary, almost greasy-seeming mess that got all over my cuticles and skin and wouldn't come off. And it looked like skidmarks. It was disgusting.<br />
<br />
It took some doing, but I finally got my fingers cleaned up, and slapped down a new manicure, which I'll try to post tomorrow or Tuesday.<br />
<br />
Also: I guess the title of this post is a lie. Sorry 'bout that.<br />
<br />
Anyway, for today, because I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you, you kooky buncha kids, here are some non-nail-related pictures from The Not So Secret Computer Files Of Aren L. that I hope you find amusing or interesting or informational. Better post soon...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1HKwUS9C1qTlDYwO7vqb6AO5kORLIrgRiAK4Q0_VvBruh1oy9NeFgwUbkZ2F3rHRMx2GjHTARxcM66UqzZAE5gsaQCnhRgyyXpgrM3D0hp7DwfXoz0CBwqXPCVN4zSMFP55H4OgF/s1600/IMAG0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1HKwUS9C1qTlDYwO7vqb6AO5kORLIrgRiAK4Q0_VvBruh1oy9NeFgwUbkZ2F3rHRMx2GjHTARxcM66UqzZAE5gsaQCnhRgyyXpgrM3D0hp7DwfXoz0CBwqXPCVN4zSMFP55H4OgF/s320/IMAG0026.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My soulmate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLOnjw3S3VbTYu8_l44TlJr5I-Zwcrpjs23Ud1PUZc282jThTqxg9EombkotWMfnWSFVJwri4sUN_JLSVTikKdU0peuJDpVaaF8V0uub2HMv7KXQ6KGkSWCdhe0LyyK0VAsUqBQQj/s1600/8_26_09+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLOnjw3S3VbTYu8_l44TlJr5I-Zwcrpjs23Ud1PUZc282jThTqxg9EombkotWMfnWSFVJwri4sUN_JLSVTikKdU0peuJDpVaaF8V0uub2HMv7KXQ6KGkSWCdhe0LyyK0VAsUqBQQj/s320/8_26_09+pic.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This potato chip is smiling. IT'S SMILING.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVUZFNQT1PpRDyCSNeY6I0iu5JmTa2O3jlymV-gNA9LNp037z6W7QcyTijpCQGLpyoUDlqw33-UpFpaUo4Nrm4QZnj-kL7lwkDD-6DmvZLxKrh2sq3SIw8IQ6NiB2VR0L6WJKHM5S/s1600/I_Hate_Customer_Support.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVUZFNQT1PpRDyCSNeY6I0iu5JmTa2O3jlymV-gNA9LNp037z6W7QcyTijpCQGLpyoUDlqw33-UpFpaUo4Nrm4QZnj-kL7lwkDD-6DmvZLxKrh2sq3SIw8IQ6NiB2VR0L6WJKHM5S/s320/I_Hate_Customer_Support.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what I look like when I'm working.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtZF3aUQJfTY1SpOEKSnNXr8yZVLjydK3g65qusswVOunof_M7fh0wda3677kQVXaTUoJ1sKt4z7lIw7a9GoXamhtsVsx6XKZ3TnTPE-yQ2Ef6TwaQIQEPvuQKs1T9ylxnNzkvi0c/s1600/McCall's+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtZF3aUQJfTY1SpOEKSnNXr8yZVLjydK3g65qusswVOunof_M7fh0wda3677kQVXaTUoJ1sKt4z7lIw7a9GoXamhtsVsx6XKZ3TnTPE-yQ2Ef6TwaQIQEPvuQKs1T9ylxnNzkvi0c/s320/McCall's+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Try some of this delicious pineapple-shaped cheese dip. Note the real pineapple top for authenticity. Did somebody say <i>cocktail time?</i> ; )</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-82eCEurIzsf_J4PqRZu__LfEhSRSmcDC1tdxsJhNXRXcxgRFpgdK00Kg6wOqjDEwKWREqg332Y5jFy7OnXlgNKsyOMmhCZOjbBwEI1gbCiBc9yt5_WPM-qkpPPw-r4yrQs36tuM/s1600/PhotoshopComic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp-82eCEurIzsf_J4PqRZu__LfEhSRSmcDC1tdxsJhNXRXcxgRFpgdK00Kg6wOqjDEwKWREqg332Y5jFy7OnXlgNKsyOMmhCZOjbBwEI1gbCiBc9yt5_WPM-qkpPPw-r4yrQs36tuM/s320/PhotoshopComic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speaks for itself.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48YgwpUsZlCFuDKVds6Cyw9tIAUFo7rvSiom41ksF10Jb321BJmMFu3n65hjZESdhbxAwhU8AOaIZrfsUrKp_rWnksyYUAa88MXZ69N07Vo8vttf1P3YuPZSwd3mn59cm6pEx0ksg/s1600/deranged-baby-aren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48YgwpUsZlCFuDKVds6Cyw9tIAUFo7rvSiom41ksF10Jb321BJmMFu3n65hjZESdhbxAwhU8AOaIZrfsUrKp_rWnksyYUAa88MXZ69N07Vo8vttf1P3YuPZSwd3mn59cm6pEx0ksg/s320/deranged-baby-aren.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That face I'm making in my bio pic? I've been making it since the beginning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ztG0lhsz4oewfeHr1k_69JinfXidD-Hhhrx10vB4AoyeNbOci6e7gHExWjZJQ661f8j27xzThJPT8NdpFiTVzsaH1ZowbYRa5V_Femd_4K9sIMIdbjN3WIXtBmAoTqciMDP3rfmc/s1600/naked-mole-rat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ztG0lhsz4oewfeHr1k_69JinfXidD-Hhhrx10vB4AoyeNbOci6e7gHExWjZJQ661f8j27xzThJPT8NdpFiTVzsaH1ZowbYRa5V_Femd_4K9sIMIdbjN3WIXtBmAoTqciMDP3rfmc/s320/naked-mole-rat.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RARRRRRRR!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLX1dqk5-lvVR1o57m-bnjgeF86TzeGS6G5WlhvR0uT6XwL4lNXmY9Y0nR5jdGg8EPAQed6rD5LHk6U04Aslv0cI0dr_4zmXf8eOQS8jeg1t3INKfd0NqnXyJfAOLA47wNu2bsTf9i/s1600/Percher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLX1dqk5-lvVR1o57m-bnjgeF86TzeGS6G5WlhvR0uT6XwL4lNXmY9Y0nR5jdGg8EPAQed6rD5LHk6U04Aslv0cI0dr_4zmXf8eOQS8jeg1t3INKfd0NqnXyJfAOLA47wNu2bsTf9i/s320/Percher.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love nature babies. <3</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jPBSnvvS2ZapHVKDizTwiGJezGfRWLhZopA3Jbhfb2ygMT6X1Ap2EtuNSocOl0rUWI3Jy5uwzy-eZC8dvCZAlY5SfLfjZR-XL2Els0W5emO8xalbm0jID5dHyoLNEvNbNJFPO-rD/s1600/Cupcake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jPBSnvvS2ZapHVKDizTwiGJezGfRWLhZopA3Jbhfb2ygMT6X1Ap2EtuNSocOl0rUWI3Jy5uwzy-eZC8dvCZAlY5SfLfjZR-XL2Els0W5emO8xalbm0jID5dHyoLNEvNbNJFPO-rD/s320/Cupcake.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at this picture is making me sad that I don't have cupcakes RIGHT. NOW. : ( </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-72760603888363225752012-01-24T22:01:00.010-06:002012-01-24T22:27:39.461-06:00I Still Blame Blogger. (Also Known As: I Love Italics.)You guys have no idea how stoked I am whenever you comment. I get ridiculously excited and feel like I'm the champion of the internet, because there are people out there that like my posts enough to take the time to drop me a line.<br />
<br />
So, when I somehow accidentally deleted a comment from one of my favorite nail bloggers, Fingers from <b><a href="http://www.fingerspolishmania.com/">Fingers Polish Mania</a></b>, on my last post, I legit felt super awful.<br />
<br />
Soooo, to make it up to her, I decided to do a Fingers-inspired mani for today. <i>No</i> glitter, <i>with </i>stamping, and, because I know it's her favorite: <i>BROWN.</i><br />
<br />
For today's manicure, I used <b>Kleancolor Dark Brown</b>--a, well, dark brown--and <b>Kleancolor<i> </i>Cappuccino</b>--a medium brown. I also picked up a new bottle of topcoat, but Jewel was all out of my usual Sally Hansen Dries Instantly Top Coat, so I grabbed a bottle of <b>Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat</b>, to go with the <b>Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b> I've had to use as of late.<br />
<br />
I don't usually wear brown polish. I've owned a few over the years, but much like my dislike of yellow polish because it reminds me of nail fungus and pee (real mature, I know), brown polishes have always kinda reminded me of, well, <b style="color: #783f04;">poop</b>.<br />
<br />
And <b>Kleancolor Dark Brown</b> and <b>Kleancolor<i> </i>Cappuccino</b> are both cremes, so I was sitting there, contemplating this manicure, thinking, "Great. There's not even any shimmer or anything to make it look like PRETTY poop.", but the idea for the manicure was already stuck in my brain, so I went for it.<br />
<br />
The first coat of <b>Dark Brown</b> went on looking like a thin coat of chocolate syrup. <b>Cappuccino</b> went on looking like... Frappuccino (I don't drink cappuccino, so I don't know what it looks like, but I have been known to splurge on a Frappuccino every once in a great while, so...).<br />
<br />
"Okay," I thought, "Chocolate and Frappuccino. I can work with chocolate and Frappuccino", and that made me feel a little less poo-y.<br />
<br />
The second coat of <b>Dark Brown</b> darkened the color quite a bit, much closer to how it looks in the bottle. I still had a few thinnish spots, but I snapped a few pictures anyway.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYro_e3HLRi5mRiawfoKHrHYZRbqjLOLfNlWlH8EwanD66FE-Ltj18iezk3TwpSjljCulgH0yz_cF32YFkwjWbReb4iaNdu7xKx7JNJrHhamOfhxEqACnyujUI60xe-_1ctWYGR7Dt/s1600/012312_0147.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYro_e3HLRi5mRiawfoKHrHYZRbqjLOLfNlWlH8EwanD66FE-Ltj18iezk3TwpSjljCulgH0yz_cF32YFkwjWbReb4iaNdu7xKx7JNJrHhamOfhxEqACnyujUI60xe-_1ctWYGR7Dt/s320/012312_0147.png" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm, brown-y!<br />
Artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2euO-6ZTQGQQeAxanMK3UxFrNCeUxRbJVIA37J5JIzbJ5dGGbwog1TB6kZnM5L5EpQx0g3PFX7TY62MstKX8OKbn7Zcl04NvvqxRV1slwWtcG1iD84QVXBgezHxUeF0aHFGJsyF5n/s1600/012412_0129.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2euO-6ZTQGQQeAxanMK3UxFrNCeUxRbJVIA37J5JIzbJ5dGGbwog1TB6kZnM5L5EpQx0g3PFX7TY62MstKX8OKbn7Zcl04NvvqxRV1slwWtcG1iD84QVXBgezHxUeF0aHFGJsyF5n/s320/012412_0129.png" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the flash on, the Dark Brown looks much closer to the color it looked at one coat. Just FYI.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I know how long Kleancolors take to dry, so I stopped at two coats at 10pm, because I knew I'd have to stay up for a few more hours just to let my nails dry enough that they wouldn't be destroyed when I went to bed. I ended up staying up until <i>five o'clock in the morning</i>, and they were still dentable, so I kind of dozed while trying to lay very still for two hours until I had to get up for work at seven.<br />
<br />
Luckily (?), I was able to keep myself from falling into a deep enough sleep that I might accidentally <i>move</i> and ruin everything, so my nails were still in good shape when I got up. I was pretty tired after my morning emails, though, so I laid back down around ten. When I got back up at two, there were sheet marks mashed into my right pinky nail.<br />
<br />
<i>Twelve full hours</i> after I'd applied just <i>two coats</i> (well, plus a layer of quick-dry base coat), and my nails had STILL dented. WTF, Kleancolor? I love your colors and glitters, but damn. Do something about your drying time. And your smell. Thanks.<br />
<br />
I'd been planning on adding a third coat to cover those thin spots I mentioned earlier anyway, though, so I wasn't <i>too</i> concerned about the sheet marks.<br />
<br />
After a third coat on each nail, I stamped my accent nail using <b>Dark Brown</b> and <b>Bundle Monster plate BM21</b>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTGXg20HjVF1fISvKcmhR5iZQJoiTYVxh-DOm3Tb4G4BtQjuYA2hNECi6N5TOMRqYeevRVFfv4nqVk3J5KcCzrL1shyphenhyphenbsNa7Mkv_GP-HK5OORkAG-k33eB8FDPPrIVkUrnVHqZUhc/s1600/012412_0133.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGTGXg20HjVF1fISvKcmhR5iZQJoiTYVxh-DOm3Tb4G4BtQjuYA2hNECi6N5TOMRqYeevRVFfv4nqVk3J5KcCzrL1shyphenhyphenbsNa7Mkv_GP-HK5OORkAG-k33eB8FDPPrIVkUrnVHqZUhc/s320/012412_0133.png" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stamp is a wee bit crooked, which tells me I'm out of practice and need to do more stamping! ; )<br />
Natural light.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06XWNZrTqBwiMtv2u4kBIynB4qtZwEzaD3qARJwqa6mKBjilDcX0yAzL0SSKPvliXnZJOjhuIgEPt0V_qSzrI8pK-M3gJ_QiFRLldiFqfECDFxLSr_SLDJlzREYAxHse3ckLy8nJN/s1600/012412_0141.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06XWNZrTqBwiMtv2u4kBIynB4qtZwEzaD3qARJwqa6mKBjilDcX0yAzL0SSKPvliXnZJOjhuIgEPt0V_qSzrI8pK-M3gJ_QiFRLldiFqfECDFxLSr_SLDJlzREYAxHse3ckLy8nJN/s320/012412_0141.png" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBUp-uwP7DRI9VbrEfG-TeYVZg8L6q-jlSpaqjfdheDAD8RRfhZLzfC8cCO9rV8DLklfeEeTBWDbhWCO6oUCao8Ou7obYr1XVX8cnpdBWdkcRvjj1y3HX2N2o7o3IwCDMoJcHXvSB/s1600/012412_0136.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBUp-uwP7DRI9VbrEfG-TeYVZg8L6q-jlSpaqjfdheDAD8RRfhZLzfC8cCO9rV8DLklfeEeTBWDbhWCO6oUCao8Ou7obYr1XVX8cnpdBWdkcRvjj1y3HX2N2o7o3IwCDMoJcHXvSB/s320/012412_0136.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Even though I'd never used this stamp before, I cleaned it with nail polish remover before stamping. I guess I must've still missed some silver polish that had gotten smeared on it from when I used one of the other stamps on the plate, though, so I ended up with a bit of silver in the circles near the tip of my nail. : P<br />
<br />
Initially, I was super frustrated with my crooked stamping and the bit of silver that my stamper picked up. I wanted this manicure to be perfect, and it's just not. But the longer I wear it, the more I don't care. Because it turns out, I <i>like</i> brown polish. And it's not poopy at all. It actually looks really nice!<br />
<br />
So, Fingers, I hope you like this manicure, imperfect as it is. Alllll part of my charm. ; )Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-84454991189851971122012-01-22T16:47:00.002-06:002012-01-22T17:26:54.907-06:00Sometimes I'm Willing To Settle.Oh, weekends, why do you go by so fast? Oh, yeah, because I have to work seven days a week to keep up with all the customer support emails that have been coming in lately. Greaaat. (Sigh.)<br />
<br />
Anywho, back when I first started getting more serious about nail polish, I came across a bunch of reviews and posts about Essie Starry Starry Night, and instantly fell in love.<br />
<br />
This was also right around the time I learned about matte polishes and matte topcoats, and I desperately wanted to do a mattified manicure with Starry Starry Night, so I scampered off to buy <b>Essie Matte About You</b> (plus a backup bottle), since I figured it was way more cost effective to buy a topcoat that I could use to mattify <i>all </i>my polishes, instead of investing in just a few matte polishes.<br />
<br />
Sadly, I was not able to procure a bottle of Starry Starry Night, since it costs about a zillion dollars on Ebay, and I draw the line at right around $60 (hellooooo, Clarins 230).<br />
<br />
So, when China Glaze came out with its Metro collection, I spotted <b>Skyscraper</b>, and immediately thought, "Close enough!".<br />
<br />
Now, I know there are some people out there who are kind of sticklers about dupes, and I'm definitely not claiming that Essie Starry Starry Night and <b>China Glaze Skyscraper</b> are dupes by any means. But they do both have silver glitter in a darkish blue jelly base, and are similar enough that Skyscraper has sated my lemming for Starry Starry Night.<br />
<br />
I mean, if I can ever get my greedy little mits on a bottle of SSN for a reasonable price, I'd for sure snatch it up, but as long as I've got <b>Skyscraper</b>, I won't be totally heartbroken if that never happens.<br />
<br />
<b>China Glaze Skyscraper</b> is chockablock full of tiny silver glitters in a dark blue jelly base. I'd almost call the color a dark denim blue. Application wasn't great. The first coat went on streaky as all get-out, and even the second coat didn't go on as smoothly or easily as I'd hoped, but three coats was enough to even it out and build it up to opaque.*<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1BbiaTzlCDQqiV51VEdQ5cP-XbtNFLNA4TECZ9xcmrgI4NU9_ZLzpwND9HdwuqskSz43r-YrzBe2ai-r2Rqb5QdZIJf59LD49BsPPTXGNqGBZGjgkX3MS8fEklDZ6QBIrUj1-Hq8/s1600/012012_0108.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1BbiaTzlCDQqiV51VEdQ5cP-XbtNFLNA4TECZ9xcmrgI4NU9_ZLzpwND9HdwuqskSz43r-YrzBe2ai-r2Rqb5QdZIJf59LD49BsPPTXGNqGBZGjgkX3MS8fEklDZ6QBIrUj1-Hq8/s320/012012_0108.png" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can just barely make out my nail lines in this picture, so I guess three coats wasn't 100% opaque in extremely bright light, but for all intents and purposes, three coats works.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOW56ZAVD_xXJ1U8oJN7K2KILXXuqKMl8LCrqjqyDJAhCwqWWgijoQMiVHd5AAfNRRQK-VKGqUhmjA6t4ms85nu4477wkgWWKZ5d7gsKnX5KGljp0tzYKNtGBaWV7D9fX8LZKs9ij/s1600/012012_0113.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzOW56ZAVD_xXJ1U8oJN7K2KILXXuqKMl8LCrqjqyDJAhCwqWWgijoQMiVHd5AAfNRRQK-VKGqUhmjA6t4ms85nu4477wkgWWKZ5d7gsKnX5KGljp0tzYKNtGBaWV7D9fX8LZKs9ij/s320/012012_0113.png" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To my eyes, this is the most color-accurate picture. This polish seems to photograph slighter lighter than it is in brighter lights.<br />
Artificial light, no flash.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRATLIqE4Zs9_HULxswoFk0ceKcXDZV971zfA9ql5S1WSG67ToOkxJRB9AqQ3KbZ14LIz47JZxjbFY9ieyCXB_5yYckmWumvWQrCFBKstq_dV0EnEnPRZIkBRrm2rZHxfMdZ3LjkB/s1600/012012_0117.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRATLIqE4Zs9_HULxswoFk0ceKcXDZV971zfA9ql5S1WSG67ToOkxJRB9AqQ3KbZ14LIz47JZxjbFY9ieyCXB_5yYckmWumvWQrCFBKstq_dV0EnEnPRZIkBRrm2rZHxfMdZ3LjkB/s320/012012_0117.png" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kinda blurry, sorry.<br />
Indirect natural light.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I had the same ol' problem with this polish shrinking after I applied my topcoat. I'm thinking it might be time to just bite the bullet and buy myself a new bottle. I don't think I've ever actually finished a bottle of topcoat. They always get too stringy and globby about 2/3 of the way through. What's up with that, topcoat!??<br />
<br />
Anyway, about twenty four hours after I did this mani, I decided to slap on my <b>Essie Matte About You</b>, and finally rock that matte "starry" manicure I've been craving for ages.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqCdtIeBQg7i4-zNBtpv6h0z5RnEuP2-XT8kUpcxFj-_xctPXcqAE4NHmJQQrhyphenhyphenOjFjrhvp18P3bfLINd7AUq4Dm-ymuekteA6fnVmGpqs8zqISidDt-Tzlst1SrLpGEMj8s0vce1/s1600/012112_0123.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqCdtIeBQg7i4-zNBtpv6h0z5RnEuP2-XT8kUpcxFj-_xctPXcqAE4NHmJQQrhyphenhyphenOjFjrhvp18P3bfLINd7AUq4Dm-ymuekteA6fnVmGpqs8zqISidDt-Tzlst1SrLpGEMj8s0vce1/s320/012112_0123.png" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's some serious shrinkage, right there.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9s1SbwzxDbkBSlVHwNcyqK8APXuOs-Sc6qfv5CAiy4NLeZZREPw3M5G6FWhyphenhyphenssSVenFTFhoax1v5OhNG8ZctETqFO8ItLMohRafofb8p3A0jpNr8ic7Htt7gdn8iHhZzS7Zo1hSf/s1600/012112_0126.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9s1SbwzxDbkBSlVHwNcyqK8APXuOs-Sc6qfv5CAiy4NLeZZREPw3M5G6FWhyphenhyphenssSVenFTFhoax1v5OhNG8ZctETqFO8ItLMohRafofb8p3A0jpNr8ic7Htt7gdn8iHhZzS7Zo1hSf/s320/012112_0126.png" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9qH2JlmJANOXFlo7O4FCy0udrvm01bo8zH9bMHlGtvNkZxvs2u67cBmnAXc_QLZtmAsvKUoornJ8XkQa5Q0fKBJQDQ1__GN6MCj1_w_E1EhvjP9vJlExXfmdLRYEoBzTGH-KMDZt/s1600/012212_0120.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9qH2JlmJANOXFlo7O4FCy0udrvm01bo8zH9bMHlGtvNkZxvs2u67cBmnAXc_QLZtmAsvKUoornJ8XkQa5Q0fKBJQDQ1__GN6MCj1_w_E1EhvjP9vJlExXfmdLRYEoBzTGH-KMDZt/s320/012212_0120.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indirect natural light.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I can never really decide if I like matte manicures. When I'm planning them, I always think, "This is going to look so awesome and tuff!", and then, when I actually have it on my hands, I'm like, "This is falling way flat.". Of all the polishes I've mattified, though (all, like, three of them), this is my favorite so far.<br />
<br />
Now that I've got these pictures up, and I'm looking at them in all their gigantic macro-shot glory, I'm kind of grossed out by how much of my tips are showing, so I think I'm going to go take this polish of right now. <br />
<br />
What are your thoughts on matte polishes and matte topcoats? What's your favorite matte polish, or your favorite mattified manicure?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*I'm still using <b>Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b> for now. Still gotta order a new NailTek II.<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_1453295258"></span><span id="goog_1453295259"></span>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-26192037307975184632012-01-19T19:46:00.002-06:002012-01-20T09:08:19.231-06:00This Is A Test. I Repeat: This Is Only A Test.No pictures in this post, sorry. I'm working on setting up a feed to my Twitter, so this post is just to test whether my posts are being pushed the way I want.<br />
<br />
If any of you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @cest_la_vigne. I don't tweet very often, but I'm still pretty awesome, so...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ETA: Alright, sweet. Looks like my Twitter feed's up and running! I AM TAKING THE INTARWEBS BY STORM!!!! BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ETA some more: New design is GOOOOOOOOOO!Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-16269965747339549742012-01-18T19:56:00.004-06:002012-01-20T15:24:52.202-06:00Don't Worry About It, That'll Buff Right Out.I'm sick today. I had plans to go visit my sister, but woke up feeling like a bag of smashed ass, so I had to cancel. I'm freezing cold, but sweating; my joints hurt; I'm sniffly; and I just generally feel like crap.<br />
<br />
Plus my doctor's office called me today with the results of the CT scan I had last week. They confirmed that I <i>had</i> a big, ol' stone in my bladder (when I told the doctor I had passed it on my own on Monday, he actually said, "Dang!"), and that I have another stone--much smaller at about 1mm--still chillin' out in my right kidney.<br />
<br />
Plus I got a bonus health update: Apparently, I have multiple cysts on both of my ovaries. <i>Multiple</i> cysts. On <i>both</i> ovaries. Because when I do something, I fucking go all out. S'how I roll.<br />
<br />
So, in an effort to take my mind off of my health issues--which obviously isn't working, since I'm sitting here posting about them--I decided to do another blog update.<br />
<br />
So, in a way, my shitty health is actually benefiting you guys. Way to take advantage of my pain. I thought we were <i>friends... </i>*glares*<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
... *still glaring*<br />
<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
<i>Anyway.</i> <br />
<br />
After this post, I'll be all caught up with the pictures I've taken, so unless I start slacking off and give myself time to build up another store of pics, you'll be getting posts as I update my manicures from now on. In fact, I'm actually still wearing the mani in the pics I'm posting today. It's been about four days, though, so I think I'm going to take it off tonight.<br />
<br />
First up, a nudie pic:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kzbjbPpVvb_JPOX3negKiu9yLPWK9vrtqorll_D12si1Lm998u-5DGXlqwzWyXitJ_p4oJ0O-T5PX32Ml6jPNbF7z5STaSE2MTouwcEUthX2VuRwHACYfYi9wg-tENJ9xPYO2kYP/s1600/011512_0075.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kzbjbPpVvb_JPOX3negKiu9yLPWK9vrtqorll_D12si1Lm998u-5DGXlqwzWyXitJ_p4oJ0O-T5PX32Ml6jPNbF7z5STaSE2MTouwcEUthX2VuRwHACYfYi9wg-tENJ9xPYO2kYP/s320/011512_0075.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*wolf-whistles*<br />
Artificial light, no flash</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Normally, I wouldn't post a picture of my bare nails, but they've been in really good shape lately, so I'm feeling proud. Plus I needed a new nail buffer the other day, so my boyfriend went to the store and picked me up a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Revlon-Crazy-Shine-Nail-Buffer/dp/B004HGHD44"><b>Revlon Crazy Shine Nail Buffer</b></a>, which boasts that it will make your nails 400% shinier.<br />
<br />
At first, I was like, "Pffff, yeah, right. A <i>two sided </i>buffer is totally gonna work that well. *rolls eyes*".<br />
<br />
Then I tried it. And holy friggin' shiny, Batman! A couple of swipes with the rough side and a few back and forths with the smooth side, and I'll be gosh darned if my nails weren't <i>exactly</i> 400% shiner. <br />
<br />
Okay, so I have no idea how they actually measure just how much shinier nails get after buffing, so I can't say for sure that my nails were 400% shinier. But they <i>were</i> CRAZY shiny, as you can see. Like, shiner than any nail buffer has gotten them before. And it was super easy and fast. Plus I'd buffed away all the staining (even with base coat, my nails still end up all yellow and funky looking), so my nails looked all clean and nice. So clean and nice, in fact, that I was compelled to take--and share--a nakey nail picture!<br />
<br />
So yeah, if you're in the market for a good nail buffer, I'd totally recommend giving the <b>Revlon Crazy Shine Nail Buffer</b> a shot.<br />
<br />
Once my nails were buffed smooth, I threw on a coat of my new base--<b>Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat</b> (my NailTek II has gotten all gooey and chunky and weird, and I haven't had a chance to order a new bottle yet, so I'm currently working with what was available at my local drug store)--and then slapped on two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Night Flight.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBc4TWijToLUzpwISAy_RnrIDciawGNHUQ41h82IypiOAlJdNM3Sneafg8iejF6asqAzMypNE2BXKX9LLpglOELFI7i9wH2eYUlKYUUf1U1nbtqFIQYJ287KgaBX1B1IAF-hngQOtt/s1600/011512_0080.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBc4TWijToLUzpwISAy_RnrIDciawGNHUQ41h82IypiOAlJdNM3Sneafg8iejF6asqAzMypNE2BXKX9LLpglOELFI7i9wH2eYUlKYUUf1U1nbtqFIQYJ287KgaBX1B1IAF-hngQOtt/s320/011512_0080.png" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This is my favorite black polish EVER. Love that it's teal-based.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Then, because I can't seem to stop layering with glitters lately, I added a coat of <b>Kleancolor Shooting Star</b>, which is silver glitter with larger orangy-red, warm yellow, and aqua blue hex glitters in an orange-tinted clear base, on nine nails.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkxWlz3ARAzTNRKU70SNtF_LYQjqSqbvTV5-D_hU_FQuziTWagizmXA9XDFdPG2jM5z3vmFW0AjexOiDHKUK6CrSwDsJftsyBJy6ATeS1XfjAw6M67aQ0pijk3ElNBSWQC2QTfBwu/s1600/011512_0083.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkxWlz3ARAzTNRKU70SNtF_LYQjqSqbvTV5-D_hU_FQuziTWagizmXA9XDFdPG2jM5z3vmFW0AjexOiDHKUK6CrSwDsJftsyBJy6ATeS1XfjAw6M67aQ0pijk3ElNBSWQC2QTfBwu/s320/011512_0083.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over black, you can't see the orange tint of the base, but you can see it in the bottle.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6VIlxKltph_GyfrkCZrBLWOmWx15pEJ8aEt6Z5OhR2XLo3dd7zFYUkIktpTLzSWAaNPOIfXfCmHoU6-rSDDFEQSVxu4wN7xd4EDcD-zhxGG88FDOrpVXAhGBAnNUtJFHy2YEXf3G/s1600/011512_0090.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6VIlxKltph_GyfrkCZrBLWOmWx15pEJ8aEt6Z5OhR2XLo3dd7zFYUkIktpTLzSWAaNPOIfXfCmHoU6-rSDDFEQSVxu4wN7xd4EDcD-zhxGG88FDOrpVXAhGBAnNUtJFHy2YEXf3G/s320/011512_0090.png" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The colors in Shooting Star make me think of circus clowns. Except that clowns scare me, and this polish does not.<br />
Natural light, full sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On my accent nail, I did a coat of <b>Kleancolor City Never Sleeps</b>, which is the same makeup as Shooting Star, except in different colors--aqua blue glitter with larger pale orange, pale lime green, and magenta hex glitters in a very pale purple-tinted clear base.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSehauX5BSMhBAw1Fdu8fA_NfTHgsDT6hsZ8r1xM9ek78b-YspAaQWiLPQ4Ix2ZFMUo14dLPH-tXDgPK_mRcXPJfzS_ZKPoxK3DA8zZn8Xge8oiLfmXh8dkg33rzNTx11FUS64LzG/s1600/011512_0086.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSehauX5BSMhBAw1Fdu8fA_NfTHgsDT6hsZ8r1xM9ek78b-YspAaQWiLPQ4Ix2ZFMUo14dLPH-tXDgPK_mRcXPJfzS_ZKPoxK3DA8zZn8Xge8oiLfmXh8dkg33rzNTx11FUS64LzG/s320/011512_0086.png" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For some reason, the base of this polish looks and photographs as a weird, mucky brown in the bottle. I promise you it's, like, a lilac-tinted clear base, though.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDtAL0c6ZJvBxfqyelgLNSicdmZ31isZdgKHNKP8XjUcBd_mT394zL_AZIipMVySplJTvJI-uNSLX3GOx5Vf0WHcnpz5wJg9h06QXxC2EAwrUoRkjYZHhn1yuj5WIPsyVi-5kp8np/s1600/011512_0092.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRDtAL0c6ZJvBxfqyelgLNSicdmZ31isZdgKHNKP8XjUcBd_mT394zL_AZIipMVySplJTvJI-uNSLX3GOx5Vf0WHcnpz5wJg9h06QXxC2EAwrUoRkjYZHhn1yuj5WIPsyVi-5kp8np/s320/011512_0092.png" width="162" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was so cold outside when I snapped these pictures. I literally just stuck both arms out the front door and took pictures blindly, since I didn't want to stick my head out to see what I was actually shooting. Luckily, I'm pretty good at aiming!<br />
Natural light, full sun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvYFaGlm26-XHQK61MkaUFItNFzzl5iaULkL-EC2D_4Nw7pEA1EtQTvcqLtObvVMNVncO5rYK_wZ-B-LUl8pw8MP3I-sBVU-_FE5y6JAaVs3JNfFws5n4zpAoVKCZot9qHa47HCKD/s1600/011512_0094.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvYFaGlm26-XHQK61MkaUFItNFzzl5iaULkL-EC2D_4Nw7pEA1EtQTvcqLtObvVMNVncO5rYK_wZ-B-LUl8pw8MP3I-sBVU-_FE5y6JAaVs3JNfFws5n4zpAoVKCZot9qHa47HCKD/s320/011512_0094.png" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, combo full sun/shade.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My boyfriend said that he likes the <b>Shooting Star</b> better than the <b>City Never Sleeps</b>. I'd have to disagree with him. While the colors in <b>Shooting Star</b> are pretty fun, I think the colors in <b>City Never Sleeps</b> are even funner. And funner is always better.<br />
<br />
While fun, this isn't my favorite combination. I mean, it's cute, and if I ever go to the circus, I'd totally wear this mani again, but I crave manicures that leave me gazing at my fingers in awe and wonderment, and unfortunately, this mani fell just a wee bit short of that.<br />
<br />
I've also noticed that some of my polishes tend to shrink after I apply my topcoat, which sucks. I currently use <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat</b>, which I've thinned it with a bit of <b>Seche Restore</b> because it got kind of thick and gloopy. It doesn't shrink <i>all</i> of my polishes, but it does shrink most of them, at least a little. For some reason, it seems to shrink my Sally Hansen Instra-Dris worse than any of my other polishes, which means this mani ended up looking like it had a week's worth of tip wear after less than twenty four hours, and it's been bugging the crap out of me.<br />
<br />
Does anyone else have this problem? I'm thinking it might be the combination of fast dry top coat + Seche Restore. Maybe if I get a regular top coat, shrinking won't be as much of an issue. But (siiiigh) that means waiting for what seems like <i>forever</i> for my nails to dry, and I'm sooooo impatient.<br />
<br />
Grrrrrr. My life is so <i>hard. *</i>fails and flops*<br />
<br />
Anyway, I should wrap this up. My poor betta, Aldo, is staring at me right now, like, "Pleeeeaaaaase clean my tank, woman!", and I have to do that before I can take off my nail polish. I don't wanna get polish remover residue in my little buddy's tank!<br />
<br />
So I'm off for now. I wonder what color my next post will be about. : )<br />
<br />
<br />
1/20/2012 ETA: I was just uploading some new pictures (!!!), and I found a couple of pictures I'd taken a day or two after the pictures I posted here. You can see the shrinky tip wear, but it's such a good, clear shot of the glitters that I just had to tack it onto this post:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9zUHqmljAbwNGHLlu2MaNO7HQ78_favXppZ8VwloqXUX_tcoWxw0o0oKZ-It05uY6VZHS8bGP6pISw6IdLoWnH67_KogNvC7jrnwwcpOjwIXJRwbyUs5EcXZt33qY9759Q96m8b9/s1600/011612_0103.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9zUHqmljAbwNGHLlu2MaNO7HQ78_favXppZ8VwloqXUX_tcoWxw0o0oKZ-It05uY6VZHS8bGP6pISw6IdLoWnH67_KogNvC7jrnwwcpOjwIXJRwbyUs5EcXZt33qY9759Q96m8b9/s320/011612_0103.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indoors, natural light. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Okay, that's all.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-9350370459316451302012-01-17T09:47:00.000-06:002012-01-17T09:47:42.081-06:00Why Didn't Anyone Ever Tell Me That Funfetti Is Just Vanilla Cake Mix With Jimmies In It? I Could've Been Making Ghetto Confetti Cakes This whole Time, You Jerks!Okay, so. This has nothing to do with nails, but it does have to do with one of the main reasons I feel shitty all the time, which is why I never feel like posting. And it's kind of gross, but hey, this is my blog, and I'll share what I want.<br />
<br />
Anyway, yesterday, I <i>finally</i> passed the kidney stone that's been putting me through hell for the past several months. Seven goddamn millimeters long, and four millimeters in diameter. And sharp and jagged as all get-out. So yeah, while it's been super fun having that little bugger tearing through my insides, I'm sososososo glad that it's finally out.<br />
<br />
So glad, in fact, that I insisted on baking a cake to commemorate the occasion. My very first Funfetti cake. Which was not only delicious, but fun to look at! If I could, I'd share my cake with <i>you</i>, my dear, loyal readers. I still have sixteen pieces left, and after demolishing not one, not two, but <i>three</i> pieces by myself last night, I'm kinda caked-out, so there's more than enough to go around. <br />
<br />
So yeah. Like I said, it has nothing to do with nails, but I'm telling you anyway, because I'm still excited about my little kidney baby (I named it Martin Luther King Jr. Jr. in honor of its birthday) and about cake. Because I <i>love</i> cake. You have no idea. Really.<br />
<br />
Okay, okay, okay, I'll stop talking about my kidney stone cake and get on with this post. Sheesh. You guys are picky today...<br />
<br />
So. Much like my last post, I'm not thrilled with the quality of today's pictures, but they're all I've got, so we're all just gonna have to suck it up. And since I only took, like, one and a half pictures of each manicure (okay, maybe I took three or four, but some of them really sucked), I'm going to post two manis today--for a staggering total of <i>four</i> pictures. Lame, I know. I'll try to do better next time.<br />
<br />
(Well, I mean, not <i>next </i>time, since I already have some new mani shots waiting to be edited, and they may suck, too. But the <i>next time I take pictures</i>, I'll try to do better. More shots, better quality, etc.)<br />
<br />
Right. Anyway. So. The first mani I'm posting today utilized five of my <b>Kleancolor Metallics</b>: <b>Metallic Aqua</b>, <b>Metallic Blue</b>, <b>Metallic Purple</b>, <b>Metallic Fushcia</b> (damn you and your wonky spelling, Kleancolor!), and <b>Metallic Pink</b>. Although it's not <i>actually</i> ombre, since the colors aren't all from the same family, I decided to dub this mani "Techno Ombre".<br />
<br />
Now, back when I wore <a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2011/12/kleancolor-more-like-spleencolor.html"><b>Kleancolor Metallic Green</b></a>, which is one of my favorite polishes ever, I think, I noticed that adding a topcoat seriously transformed the finish of the polish. It went from being a kind of flat looking lime green metallic to some kind of deep and beautiful acid green anodized aluminum finish that I just couldn't get enough of. So when I ordered the rest of the Kleancolor Metallics collection, I figured the rest of them would react similarly to topcoat.<br />
<br />
Well, I was mostly right. Sadly, of the eleven metallics, there are three of them (I think) that don't amazingly transform after topcoat is applied. And of of those three, one is <b>Metallic Aqua</b>, which kind of breaks my heart, 'cause if Aqua had a finish like Green does... *drools*<br />
<br />
Annnnnyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is because the picture I have of my Techno Ombre mani is a side by side shot. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmezQ-8KPl2xYtwRZZJg4W9yz07v6mE9-tZEpM-qGjPQnmbm-itsS-JewVatpVDkNCrY6sYFvZMvD4aC1gwG0kZYi1EWm_3pS8WJ12oyE0GhSe6pM1LZmuJshyQ54VafDzxili302l/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmezQ-8KPl2xYtwRZZJg4W9yz07v6mE9-tZEpM-qGjPQnmbm-itsS-JewVatpVDkNCrY6sYFvZMvD4aC1gwG0kZYi1EWm_3pS8WJ12oyE0GhSe6pM1LZmuJshyQ54VafDzxili302l/s320/Untitled-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The left side is the colors with no topcoat (I think each color is two coats--these have great coverage). The right side is with topcoat. <br />
Both taken in artificial light, with flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
It's not as easy to see in the pictures as in real life--it's most apparent on with <b>Metallic Fushcia</b> and <b>Metallic Purple</b> in the picture--but once you add a topcoat to these colors, the finish kind of melts into... I don't even know. Pure awesomeness, I guess.<br />
<br />
Except for <b>Metallic Pink</b>. That one doesn't get to be ranked as "pure awesome" for one huge reason: Although the finish does "melt" and get all deep and pretty looking, it also completely changes color! I don't know if this is just because of the topcoat I use, or if it's a problem with the polish itself, but adding topcoat to <b>Metallic Pink</b> turns it from sort of a cool based pink to a weird yellow-y pink that my camera always wants to pick up as borderline orange.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxCo2-JhQVLgSRzNhWoly571nXJzsGbj5vYzK-UmKr26-kSgTcbmsXJaVzNYkUVDkzY0YYnSl2p8yTvbGcSoo_PrbcXClw0BuYOPuUJVl7Nst5FukFcDy9w6dph8nBLC9f9uVc5vX/s1600/122511_0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxCo2-JhQVLgSRzNhWoly571nXJzsGbj5vYzK-UmKr26-kSgTcbmsXJaVzNYkUVDkzY0YYnSl2p8yTvbGcSoo_PrbcXClw0BuYOPuUJVl7Nst5FukFcDy9w6dph8nBLC9f9uVc5vX/s320/122511_0013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wtf, Pink? Seriously!? Left: without topcoat, right: with topcoat.<br />
Artificial light, flash.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I was actually pretty disappointed about the pink thing, since the way the color changed kind of messed up my color blend in this mani. But I still think it looked pretty cool overall.<br />
<br />
A few of these colors (namely <b>Metallic Teal</b>, <b>Metallic Blue</b>, and <b>Metallic Pink</b>) did stain my nails a bit, even with basecoat. And after removal, my cuticles were all different colors for a day or so. But I like the finish on these puppies, so they'll definitely maintain their place in my polish rotation.<br />
<br />
<br />
The second polish I have for you today is <b>OPI Designer... De Better!</b> from their Muppets collection. My dad and his girlfriend, Tracey, gave me the Muppettes mini collection--containing Designer... De Better!, Warm & Fozzie, Wokka Wokka!, and Excuse Moi!--for Christmas, and of the four colors, I was immediately drawn to Excuse Moi! (mmmmmglitter) and Designer... De Better!<br />
<br />
I've seen a lot of other reviews call <b>Designer</b> a silver foil, but to me, it looks much more champagne-based. In <i>some</i> lights, it does look silver, but, to my eyes, in the vast majority of lights, it has a warmer color to it than I'd feel comfortable calling "silver". Not warm enough to be considered pale gold, but somewhere between pale gold and silver. <br />
<br />
Now, normally, I think a champagne color would have me all "Meh.", but <b>Designer... De Better!</b> also has pinky-copper bits in there, too, and for me, that's what makes this color stand out. It's still a bit on the conservative side for my tastes, but it's far from blah.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX9u_3WLeJND7Yfm_NTmFNMAgJT8llz2EcMhAZngv21eqcC-SCxeRmmyUtC6xs-2IBu8GRkAQQtMp_srt6X3YBwgEYjVTPwn_7mw7VEF4mb4MVzZDPKov7lC4UCvI3IjqG8rP3xGH/s1600/010912_0065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX9u_3WLeJND7Yfm_NTmFNMAgJT8llz2EcMhAZngv21eqcC-SCxeRmmyUtC6xs-2IBu8GRkAQQtMp_srt6X3YBwgEYjVTPwn_7mw7VEF4mb4MVzZDPKov7lC4UCvI3IjqG8rP3xGH/s320/010912_0065.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I only have the mini-bottles (for now...), so I could only fit two nails on the bottle for pictures.<br />
Artificial light, no flash.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdTT0ITpW0vO9m-mxSldxirVrUXjYE2iunRz7YnQ9NKM8iltqTnBRDfmJXbTfNC_MZzldJEsOWhvWz1F8YhbzbnY1EDhdZwoEVWSG3lFYhdrUJCkrcTAAnVnRfZYE38iTIEHTPYhL/s1600/010912_0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdTT0ITpW0vO9m-mxSldxirVrUXjYE2iunRz7YnQ9NKM8iltqTnBRDfmJXbTfNC_MZzldJEsOWhvWz1F8YhbzbnY1EDhdZwoEVWSG3lFYhdrUJCkrcTAAnVnRfZYE38iTIEHTPYhL/s320/010912_0068.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, OPI. Thank you so much for paying tribute to The Muppets. I LOVE YOU, JIM HENSON!<br />
Artificial Light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I used three coats of this color for full coverage, and the finish was so nice and smooth. I think maybe I'm just so used to adding glitter on top of everything these days that I'm getting accustomed to kind of bumpy finishes. Removal was a little annoying, since the little particles really wanted to stick to my nails, but a little bit of elbow grease did the trick.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Oh my God, I hate when I start getting sleepy or distracted while typing up posts and lose my train of thought, but that's exactly what just happened. I yawned, and everything else I was going to say instantly blinked out of my head.<br />
<br />
So, uhhhh, yeah. Two manicures. And kidney stones and cake! And I guess that's about it. I'm totally going to wrap this up <i>right now</i> so I can go back to bed for a few hours.<br />
<br />
Oh, the joys of working from home. <3<br />
<br />
Have a colorful Tuesday, everyone.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-89215900992001295172012-01-13T18:41:00.000-06:002012-01-13T18:41:23.564-06:00I'm Sorry That My Titles Are Often Non Sequitur-esque. Okay, I'm Not, Really, But... (Also Known As: The Longest Blog Title I'll Probably Ever Have)I apologize in advance for the quality the pictures in this post. Usually the macro setting on my camera works pretty well, but I'm still figuring out the best lighting for nail shots (probably full sun), as well as how different lighting affects the clarity and color of the pictures. Unfortunately, none of the pictures that I'll be using in this post came out quite as clear as I'd like. Oh well, you live, you learn.<br />
<br />
Anyway...<br />
<br />
I bought <b>Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink</b>, which is a glitter-beast consisting of magenta-y pink, red, blue, and gold microglitter in a clear base, on the same day that I bought <b><a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2011/08/vanilla-glitter-milkshake.html">Wet n' Wild Party Of Five Glitters.</a></b> So late August. And it's just <i>so</i> sparkly and pink and sparkly and glittery and sparkly that I knew right away that it was the polish I'd be wearing on New Year's. So I swatched it on my nail wheel, and then tucked it away for four months.<br />
<br />
I was so excited on December 31st when I finally got to pull it out and use it. At first, I thought I would probably have to throw on a base color, so I tried swatching it over a few of my Kleancolor metallics, but in the end, I just ended up using my regular basecoat, four coats of <b>Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink</b>, and two coats of topcoat to even things out (since the glitter is super fine, it's not terribly rough, but it does eat topcoat more than a non-glitter polish would).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_1CKSoDpqU88gZ8ga9NzJDFbIjPexT506A6LOzhve8jZwwzHTxEA_uJbT6NVdvDPscBkNFvvAT1BIQXOVsenlR-ZKqR3gVIOp5kqT_kisQY-bsJtH7nsdwO7HnTAjTprfCdVtf21/s1600/123111_0052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_1CKSoDpqU88gZ8ga9NzJDFbIjPexT506A6LOzhve8jZwwzHTxEA_uJbT6NVdvDPscBkNFvvAT1BIQXOVsenlR-ZKqR3gVIOp5kqT_kisQY-bsJtH7nsdwO7HnTAjTprfCdVtf21/s320/123111_0052.jpg" width="137" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmm, blurry.<br />
Indoors, artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7hQuoENChiqVY7eqvif6xV3HolxKujkadIxXnSJvpoE7PUFPENYGbg2GJ8pl9njXJbipmFju3avMlmQYpVMmrLIc0o5-y10bl-UvXssWH33lBCTWkyzEr8kRjVTbmS6JWy54BsGK/s1600/123111_0055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7hQuoENChiqVY7eqvif6xV3HolxKujkadIxXnSJvpoE7PUFPENYGbg2GJ8pl9njXJbipmFju3avMlmQYpVMmrLIc0o5-y10bl-UvXssWH33lBCTWkyzEr8kRjVTbmS6JWy54BsGK/s320/123111_0055.jpg" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm pretty sure this was after the first coat of topcoat, so you can see that it's still looking not-quite-smooth. Much more color-accurate than the first picture.<br />
Indoors, artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGWesEm161wX1jvnpE7b4yTfHZ2xuWKFcg7srdqOiRhHuL73rWNtVN-fuugFggNx0q0ozGOMTALUhZPdHZPXxl4wpJCKQaqdta0MXVNOPW8dNgMoJs2SJFVHTDrijXM8JFRI8M9PC/s1600/123111_0057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGWesEm161wX1jvnpE7b4yTfHZ2xuWKFcg7srdqOiRhHuL73rWNtVN-fuugFggNx0q0ozGOMTALUhZPdHZPXxl4wpJCKQaqdta0MXVNOPW8dNgMoJs2SJFVHTDrijXM8JFRI8M9PC/s320/123111_0057.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm, blurry again! A close up, so you can see the glitters better. Not great, but better.<br />
Indoors, artificial light, no flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<b>Rockstar Pink</b> gives pretty good coverage with four coats, as you can see. But, with that many coats, (plus two coats of topcoat) it also ends up chipping like crazy after about three days, <a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2012/01/todays-post-has-been-brought-to-you-by.html"><b>as I mentioned in my last post</b></a>.<br />
<br />
Removal was tricky. I could've peeled most of it off in chunks by the fourth day, but I don't like what that does to my nails, so I tried the foil method, and I think this is the first time the foil method has ever failed me. So, in the end, I ended up having to scrub the crap out of each nail with two or three cotton balls soaked with remover, and got little, tiny glitters all over the goddamn place. This is NOT my favorite polish to remove.<br />
<br />
It is very sparkly (and glittery and sparkly and pink and sparkly), though, and even though I'm not a super pink-y type of girl, I really liked it. At one point, I think I described it to my boyfriend as "Barbie diarrhea". But you know, in a <i>good</i> way.<br />
<br />
Will I be wearing it again any time soon? To be honest, probably not, 'cause it was a pain to take off. But it looks so pretty in the bottle and on my fingers that I can't swear it off completely.<br />
<br />
Now, usually, I feel so guilty for not posting more often that I end up cramming multiple manis into each post. But I'm cutting myself off at one today. That leaves me with two manis in my "Ready For Blog" folder, so hopefully I'll feel more motivated to post again soon. Hopefully... <br />
<br />
Any of you wear any good glitter-bombs lately?Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-29988203468424492652012-01-06T15:24:00.006-06:002012-01-09T10:22:33.441-06:00Today’s Post Has Been Brought To You By The Letter Teal.<div class="MsoNormal">Some of you may be saying right now, “But Aren, teal’s not a letter!”, and to that, I say, “Well, neither is toast and jam. Let’s move on.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today I’ve got three manis for you. I can’t recall exactly how long it’s been since I did two of them, but I’m currently wearing one of them, and I <i>like</i> it. Anyway, I do know the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">order </i>I wore them in, so I’ll post them in that order.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First up, we have <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nicole By OPI My Lifesaver</b> with three coats of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kleancolor Puppy Love</b> and a layer of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Essie Matte About You</b> on the accent nail.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My Lifesaver</b> is one of my favorite polishes. I think, overall, teal in general is probably my favorite color for nail polish, and while I have a bunch of similar darker teals, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My Lifesaver</b> is the only pastel teal I own. I bought it forever ago, after my boyfriend and I agreed that it was the best color in the Nicole by OPI display at our local Jewel-Osco. At first, I was a little disappointed, because it dries darker than it looks in the bottle. In the bottle, it looks like a kind of soft 50’s teal. Once it dries, it reminds me more of a mix-me-with-pink-plastic-flamingos-wearing-sunglasses teal. (I just realized that that description may only make sense to myself, but just go with it.) But then I realized that I love it even when it's dry, so who cares if it's a little darker than I thought it would be? It's bright and fun and the first time my dad's girlfriend saw me wearing it, she immediately said, "Oh, Aren. That is <i>so</i> you.".</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Annnywho, I was kind of just looking for an excuse to give <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Puppy Love</b>, which is turquoise glitter in a clear (maybe verrrry slightly turquoise-tinted) base, a try, so I did an accent nail. And the combination didn’t thrill me. So I thought that maybe adding a matte topcoat would help, since I usually like the way mattified glitter polishes look, but no. That actually may have made it worse.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnT3zj3_QI1AAic33X0QrYkDCRI1TgsYsHsPPseJCCMG66ZCtsAuftLsBpZcgEZvoMH9npp13ltl2RjV2S8iyF9kl_43OS4VOiiLNKT3FZW9rVwJlx_UMsvji_vivvgXNpbaxQhzE/s1600/IMG_2288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnT3zj3_QI1AAic33X0QrYkDCRI1TgsYsHsPPseJCCMG66ZCtsAuftLsBpZcgEZvoMH9npp13ltl2RjV2S8iyF9kl_43OS4VOiiLNKT3FZW9rVwJlx_UMsvji_vivvgXNpbaxQhzE/s320/IMG_2288.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, no flash. The three nails with just My Lifesaver on them make me so happy. Then the accent nail kills it for me.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIY_BHjsCjWiuQLFgCKZ-lEI-Ch3ZOPahkL3973sjhuJmQ9cCZJqiYAs1111p1StM_EgDk4wroYC8C36q0fsu7FQRoTVS2I1L1tyOWDFhDRIBwMMjj0kY4lcY_Tcda9fVButhyphenhyphenBYwl/s1600/IMG_2289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIY_BHjsCjWiuQLFgCKZ-lEI-Ch3ZOPahkL3973sjhuJmQ9cCZJqiYAs1111p1StM_EgDk4wroYC8C36q0fsu7FQRoTVS2I1L1tyOWDFhDRIBwMMjj0kY4lcY_Tcda9fVButhyphenhyphenBYwl/s320/IMG_2289.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, flash. I love my nails this length.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> On their own, I think both colors are great. This particular mani didn’t do it for me, though. I hate it when that happens...</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next up is two coats of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sinful Colors Nail Junkie</b> over two coats of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Sprint</b>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now, I almost never go to Walgreens. My pharmacy is at CVS and I do my grocery shopping at Jewel-Osco, and those are pretty much the two stores I buy my polishes from (or I just order them online—so much easier). And I don’t even remember what I’d gone to Walgreens for. Iodine, I think? Anyway, as I was walking to the back of the store, I decided to take a detour through the cosmetics section to see what kind of pretties they had. And lo and behold, they had a giant Sinful Colors display! I haven’t seen Sinful Colors in yeaaars (I have three or four of them that I bought about six years ago), and immediately one polish caught my eye.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nail Junkie</b> is a teal jelly with gold/teal duochrome microglitter and multicolored iridescent glitter. And it’s called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nail Junkie</i></b>. I wanted it. Badly. (Junkie has a sister--Hottie-- that looked like it had a deep periwinkle jelly base, and I wanted that one too, but not as fiercly). Unfortunately, funds were a bit tight, so I had to put them back and ended up leaving empty handed, since Walgreens was charging an arm and a leg for a tiny bottle of iodine.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve never been one for willpower, though, so a few days later, I scraped together a few spare dollars, and sent my boyfriend back to Walgreens to get me my <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nail Junkie</b>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For the first two days I owned it, I didn’t use it. I just stared at it in the bottle. It’s seriously gorgeous. I hate seeing my nail lines, though, and I’d seen <b><a href="http://thenailtress.blogspot.com/2011/02/notd-sinful-colors-nail-junkie.html">another reviewer</a> </b>say that she needed something like six coats to build it up to <i>almost</i> opaque. And while her nails looked absofuckinglutely beautiful, I didn’t really want to have to do a basecoat, then six coats of polish, then a topcoat. I mean, come on…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So instead, I decided to just layer it over one of my many teal polishes. I realize this takes all the depth out of jellies, and that’s sad, but it kind of had to be done.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-P-5tr_MLPxpV_5yjMPSEnCuW4F0w0blNGnF38R88oYEEk95kCQD-rEuI0U0rxF3lpvy8pzTFhtZD3nc4m9PnvfD0RDTtLjwmYXPhVNX4HgFnCfqZeI_y6Vbb7J1ERrUi87LLJui/s1600/IMG_2367.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-P-5tr_MLPxpV_5yjMPSEnCuW4F0w0blNGnF38R88oYEEk95kCQD-rEuI0U0rxF3lpvy8pzTFhtZD3nc4m9PnvfD0RDTtLjwmYXPhVNX4HgFnCfqZeI_y6Vbb7J1ERrUi87LLJui/s320/IMG_2367.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, shade (indoors). I totally forgot to do a bottle shot. Lame.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vvAiysM3sqBWc1emuev6rPRPtQc4BGTojmMKchW_ByI1kdz7poB_JMyhAKLZ6joPU1hwwOWkUXtJEt3S4ujYK6shEkeYVVT3TtcXR8_Cg3TR1ewaJftGk7_q1zMyDCSNbzZ7vByQ/s1600/IMG_2368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vvAiysM3sqBWc1emuev6rPRPtQc4BGTojmMKchW_ByI1kdz7poB_JMyhAKLZ6joPU1hwwOWkUXtJEt3S4ujYK6shEkeYVVT3TtcXR8_Cg3TR1ewaJftGk7_q1zMyDCSNbzZ7vByQ/s320/IMG_2368.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A closer view of the glitters. Ohhh, my God, my cuticals were so ragged. I'd just pushed them back and, as usual, forgot to moisturize. </td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The combination of Mint Sprint and Nail Junkie was pretty alright. I think next time, I’ll probably go with a more blue-based teal as a base color. Mint Sprint leans toward green, and I just didn’t feel like it was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ideal</i> combination. Still pretty as heck, though!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And lastly, we have another mani with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mint Sprint</b> as a base. My New Year’s mani (which I'll post in my next entry) was chipping like crazy by Wednesday, and since I had to go out of town that day to see my sister, I didn’t have time to take it off and redo my nails. So instead, I texted her to meet me at the train station with nail polish remover and cotton balls, and I threw my bottle of Mint Sprint in my purse so I could to a quick mani on the fly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once we met up, I took off my chippy polish, and threw on a coat of Mint Sprint. No basecoat, no topcoat. Just something to keep my hands from feeling naked. Then my sister presented me with a belated Christmas/Yule gift from her <s>boyfriend</s> <s>ex-boyfriend</s>... it’s complicated. He’d picked out (with my sister’s help) a bottle of L.A. Colors nail polish for me. D'awwwww! I don’t see a name on the bottom of the bottle—it’s just marked <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BCC 556</b>—but man, oh, man, did he pick a good one (thanks again, Alex!).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">L.A. Colors 556</b> (I’ll just assume that’s its name, though if I could rename it, I’d call it Gaia) is grass green and turquoise microglitter in a clear base. I. Fucking. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love it</i>. I don’t have any other glitter polishes with this combination of colors, and it just makes me ridiculously happy to look at. And, just my luck, the colors look pretty great over <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mint Sprint</b>! There I was, thinking I’d have to go around with some half-assed mani for the day, and I ended up with a really cool teal and glitter mani. Sweet!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9hUNI9d-IksRlTdVHIJOpEgaSi_79xJ6sopuTkgC1r72apKu1wJXWvEyTFBp2NPiizWaorVKp3eEYhCwdNMdwWw-Y8CgAfLpKcggW2Lg3rhpb6-8NfiF9H3WjuQbT9V0B1nIwnLH/s1600/010612_0044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9hUNI9d-IksRlTdVHIJOpEgaSi_79xJ6sopuTkgC1r72apKu1wJXWvEyTFBp2NPiizWaorVKp3eEYhCwdNMdwWw-Y8CgAfLpKcggW2Lg3rhpb6-8NfiF9H3WjuQbT9V0B1nIwnLH/s320/010612_0044.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, shade (indoors). Mmmmmmm glittery goodness.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1i0fFXm2-Wuy9NLSuMBNsIj0x2_MmAYpJS4x4_Eo_SwpYKcJ5nOQYaonwd232Cy7MFtucG723JgSITUTmG_MEzCmM7TTyn0O-Oj1h6NDGHbOXKVGKuzHEVpyojdfDPKLxgx0_Dso6/s1600/010612_0048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1i0fFXm2-Wuy9NLSuMBNsIj0x2_MmAYpJS4x4_Eo_SwpYKcJ5nOQYaonwd232Cy7MFtucG723JgSITUTmG_MEzCmM7TTyn0O-Oj1h6NDGHbOXKVGKuzHEVpyojdfDPKLxgx0_Dso6/s320/010612_0048.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light. Why do I not take more pictures in full sun? Possibly because I'm usually nocturnal. But <i>damn</i> they come out nice.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OYRj2v8tQqbSutS_bcKG_EeLDVln-HGHBo3Lva6Nlp5VD4qz0D1-cAi4NDU-jJNnDWFDoMBkWbQZoenNA0Enu8Uwx-ojjlSazgGywc1qrZLbCsMv07yPpUjhYZwjJ1US7XH6y4Ym/s1600/010612_0046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OYRj2v8tQqbSutS_bcKG_EeLDVln-HGHBo3Lva6Nlp5VD4qz0D1-cAi4NDU-jJNnDWFDoMBkWbQZoenNA0Enu8Uwx-ojjlSazgGywc1qrZLbCsMv07yPpUjhYZwjJ1US7XH6y4Ym/s320/010612_0046.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, shade (indoors). A close up, so you can see my precccccious</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll probably wear this mani for a few more days, just because I love this glitter so much. In the meantime, I’ll try to motivate myself to edit the pictures I have waiting in queue to be posted (I think there’s only two mani’s worth of pictures in my To Edit folder right now—I better get crackin’ on wearing more of my untrieds. Maybe work a few oldies but goodies in there, too.) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, which one of these is your favorite? Did you do anything fun for New Year’s?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-30314192248772664512011-12-30T22:01:00.000-06:002011-12-30T22:01:21.207-06:00Santa & The Unicorn Princess...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">(Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.) Keeping up with a nail blog is harder than I thought. Especially when you have other areas of your life that are demanding more of your attention these days.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm trying though. I may procrastinate and almost-but-not-quite bother to make posts on a fairly regular basis, but every week or two, I let the guilt of letting down my legions of loyal fans get to me, and I finally upload all my pictures and edit them in Photoshop (oh, God, even just describing this process is exhausting...), and then come here and write some amazingly clever post that leaves you all in googly-eyed awe for the rest of the day, because my posts are just <i>so</i> worth the wait...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So anyway, let's get right down to pictures.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">First up, we have a layered mani that I did... uhh... a while ago. But not <i>too</i> long ago. After I got my <b>Clarins 230</b>. Which was right around the same time that I got my first Kleancolor haul. And as soon as I saw <b>Kleancolor Neon Purple</b> next to <b>Clarins 230</b>, I knew it was Unicorn Princess love forever.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Edl1K4hmLos/Tv58MBkcdPI/AAAAAAAAAL4/DNuU09kNXWU/s1600/IMG_2221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Edl1K4hmLos/Tv58MBkcdPI/AAAAAAAAAL4/DNuU09kNXWU/s320/IMG_2221.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With flash. This is the most accurate picture of the bunch, color-wise. Can you see why I wanted to pair these colors?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8djeFdew-Tc/Tv58MbYSQFI/AAAAAAAAAMA/1ke3qjE5vFc/s1600/IMG_2222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8djeFdew-Tc/Tv58MbYSQFI/AAAAAAAAAMA/1ke3qjE5vFc/s320/IMG_2222.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Without flash.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wMcK4Og30FU/Tv58MyNGO5I/AAAAAAAAAMI/1plwyCZNZV0/s1600/IMG_2225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wMcK4Og30FU/Tv58MyNGO5I/AAAAAAAAAMI/1plwyCZNZV0/s320/IMG_2225.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A different angle, to show off some of 230's rainbowy goodness.</td></tr>
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Then I was like, "Well, a Unicorn Princess would probably have, like, <i>glitter</i> too, right?", so I added a coat of <b>Kleancolor Chunky Holo Bluebell</b>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yTmXgm_Xl8Q/Tv58NKISQCI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/uf-SkoOYuYw/s1600/IMG_2228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yTmXgm_Xl8Q/Tv58NKISQCI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/uf-SkoOYuYw/s320/IMG_2228.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holyglitteringunicornprincessofdoom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhKMDlSVGeQ/Tv58Nla-JFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/JueR7t9hy84/s1600/IMG_2234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhKMDlSVGeQ/Tv58Nla-JFI/AAAAAAAAAMU/JueR7t9hy84/s320/IMG_2234.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture kind of makes me lose my mind with unicorn-induced euphoria. So many colors.</td></tr>
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One thing I noticed that I didn't anticipate is that adding the Chunky Holo Bluebell kind of obscured the Clarins when viewed from an angle. From straight on, I could still see the reddish shimmer, but at an angle, all I saw was the Kleancolor. So that was kind of sad.<br />
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Still, it was kind of nice look. I think if I was going to do this manicure again, I'd probably skip the Chunky Holo Bluebell (even though I think it's very pretty--especially in the bottle *drools over that picture again*), and I'd only do one coat of 230 over the Neon Purple instead of two. Two coats was pretty, but it turned the Neon Purple darker and gave it more of a red tone than I had really wanted. Plus I spent sixty dollars on that bottle of polish, and I fully intend to make it last!<br />
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And, because it's already five days <i>after</i> Christmas (and eight days after Yule--and I flaked out on BOTH holidays this year!), I figure I should probably post my holiday mani.<br />
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I was originally planning on doing all ten fingers with <b>Kleancolor Metallic Red</b> and a coat of <b>OPI Fresh Frog Of Bel Air</b>, but like, two days before Christmas, I painted my nails with <b>Kleancolor Silver Spark</b> and decided that I liked it's simplicity so much that I was only going to do a single holiday accent nail. This mani pretty much summed up my feelings about the holidays this year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOox5k0CiHKlhs51lAgmCWziwfn-SzLrypu83A2qajDvVg1CwE5za18ubGqYUjRHmt3bPoMuVXuntxL57ewnI3jVfCMUysoABQIMbVyfSxI54DfgO5GEiNNj_qTEaxRJ2fnYyd5v/s1600/122211_0022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JOox5k0CiHKlhs51lAgmCWziwfn-SzLrypu83A2qajDvVg1CwE5za18ubGqYUjRHmt3bPoMuVXuntxL57ewnI3jVfCMUysoABQIMbVyfSxI54DfgO5GEiNNj_qTEaxRJ2fnYyd5v/s320/122211_0022.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, guys, everybody squeeze in for a group shot! Silver Spark, stop making that face!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ9s4AKOL-W_MQbgPlGkx4BkT0e6Aclw0udg4tkf0r4orJdyprhIsTw2oUorjgdStxbGlQNJkaFKMrzFjSTJgbn4m3L_Owq2vBD_qpretok0gRqCRLWK1DyQGlMEbSr4-LSxmJSXfS/s1600/122211_0027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ9s4AKOL-W_MQbgPlGkx4BkT0e6Aclw0udg4tkf0r4orJdyprhIsTw2oUorjgdStxbGlQNJkaFKMrzFjSTJgbn4m3L_Owq2vBD_qpretok0gRqCRLWK1DyQGlMEbSr4-LSxmJSXfS/s320/122211_0027.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's me during the holidays this year: Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Oh, it's Christmas today? Blah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKzb7BjphnT45eEesiac_aKim7PSgBcuk6iDk29N6rHNZngzpSzS343GwlF3iuAxpHr-F5s4fljxr91QGWbGUqDwK_XhqGVDyq6s-fDAk9CKwEmUnpsMXxsOmLqpWIesCr3bJMv0W/s1600/122311_0019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKzb7BjphnT45eEesiac_aKim7PSgBcuk6iDk29N6rHNZngzpSzS343GwlF3iuAxpHr-F5s4fljxr91QGWbGUqDwK_XhqGVDyq6s-fDAk9CKwEmUnpsMXxsOmLqpWIesCr3bJMv0W/s320/122311_0019.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A close up of my accent nail. My dad and his girlfriend kind of loved this nail, I think. It makes me so happy that they get excited about my manicures.</td></tr>
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Let me just say this: Kleancolor Silver Spark is a BITCH AND A HALF to remove. Foil method next time, for sure. I didn't think I'd need it, but dang was I wrong.<br />
<br />
I dunno. Much like the actual holidays this year, I don't have much to say about this mani. It happened. That's about it. <br />
<br />
I've got more manis to post, but, to be totally honest, I hate editing pictures to get them ready for posting, and two mani's worth of pics is all I'm willing to edit in one sitting. But just know that there are more where these came from...<br />
<br />
Anywho, I'm running out of steam. It's been a long year, and I'm kinda tired tonight. Hope you all had a happy Yule/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Festivus/whatever, and that you all have a safe and happy New Year's!<br />
<br />
For 2011, Aren OUT!Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-18015757647428072852011-12-16T10:35:00.008-06:002011-12-19T08:49:23.099-06:00Haul And Oates.Alrighty, then. First things first (and anyone on my Facebook has probably already seen me mention this): I don't think I like my blog name. I'm just not a "cute" girl. I mean, it seemed like a decent name for a nail blog on the day I decided to create this one, but every time I log in, I can't help but feel like "RealCuteNails" just isn't <i>me.</i><br />
<br />
So, I've been thinking about renaming my blog. I do have <strike>four</strike> make that <i>five</i> followers now (try not to be jealous of my immense popularity), so I'm hoping that if I do find a new name that I like, they'll be willing to make the switch with me.<br />
<i> </i><br />
My friend, Rhosslyn, suggested something along the lines of "Aren Gets Nail'd", which--with it's silly innuendo--seems more up my alley.<br />
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So, any feedback from the peanut gallery on this one? What do you think of getting nail'd? If I make the switch, will you come with me? Please? *puppy dog eyes*<br />
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Anyway, I got my second Kleancolor haul on Monday, which was crazy impressive, since it shipped from California and I placed the order at, like, six o'clock in the evening last Thursday. (On a related note, did anyone else hear about <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/postal-cuts-slow-delivery-first-class-mail-141723847.html">the postal service shutting down a bunch of offices and cutting back the delivery time on First Class Mail</a>?)<br />
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I ordered from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/at-a-glance.html/ref=olp_merch_name_1?ie=UTF8&isAmazonFulfilled=0&asin=B005TPNLV6&marketplaceSeller=0&seller=A1MZ7RY5264PE4">beautécosmétique</a> through Amazon, and they were just awesome. I kept changing my mind about colors and all sorts of stuff, and they were super friendly and very prompt about replying to my emails. In fact, when I asked to change out one color just a bit too late (my fault entirely), they said that if I ever order from them again, they'd be happy to include the color I wanted at no extra cost, which I think is pretty rockin' of them. So yeah, if you're in the market for twenty four Kleancolors (you pick the colors!) for $29.00 plus shipping, I recommend beautécosmétique, all the way.<br />
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I'll do reviews on individual colors as I wear them, but for now, as promised, here are some pictures of my Kleancolor collection: <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosi3F14qKqVdTyjeGVyyj1Use05VWJmn2SdO7bYZvdl6Bv1U7kcy-1EmUbOUxiTxJVztSzYqPluFy2vbTjLoWzooE8GbGjbHSOf4187KRCH3o3lF-ZgO5CQuS5SorCF2rAO2sQUy2/s1600/IMG_2371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosi3F14qKqVdTyjeGVyyj1Use05VWJmn2SdO7bYZvdl6Bv1U7kcy-1EmUbOUxiTxJVztSzYqPluFy2vbTjLoWzooE8GbGjbHSOf4187KRCH3o3lF-ZgO5CQuS5SorCF2rAO2sQUy2/s320/IMG_2371.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bwaaahahahaha, twenty four new colors all for meeeeee!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNll6sneU-SWFyfMMDI_4oXgPJ32R-2upjDF521s5F0LXQsIwOTFCzNAWv46CYKBjUSaaaHqFtj6nOYd35w8T9fJMJ14Gcx_SMP5zThbsKiiOqwrDP8CSD03lq4jk6mkRF3dQfLPRJ/s1600/IMG_2378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNll6sneU-SWFyfMMDI_4oXgPJ32R-2upjDF521s5F0LXQsIwOTFCzNAWv46CYKBjUSaaaHqFtj6nOYd35w8T9fJMJ14Gcx_SMP5zThbsKiiOqwrDP8CSD03lq4jk6mkRF3dQfLPRJ/s320/IMG_2378.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All my Kleancolors. Acquired in a mere four orders. I'm good like that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uY0iA0ka5g5W_XsJ84Lqwv5Ezl8GOg1JwuVDac7v2BWDpEC0KAGi76RoPxallTNO8Ix6xrkN3sxlfLaBK2KcetP6z85_jrUlXMvDK2FG1DvHE2bJJvrxZhZhL8cOegsZY0cq5TI/s1600/IMG_2379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uY0iA0ka5g5W_XsJ84Lqwv5Ezl8GOg1JwuVDac7v2BWDpEC0KAGi76RoPxallTNO8Ix6xrkN3sxlfLaBK2KcetP6z85_jrUlXMvDK2FG1DvHE2bJJvrxZhZhL8cOegsZY0cq5TI/s320/IMG_2379.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because I'm anal, I had to line them all up by color. I was assisted by Merriweather, who decided to photobomb this pic a little.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XEyndFWjoQf1uJsWVBSy8OyKK_8CEjRyvZl9S6u1iIBB0u55gE4sK9O54d212B2b3EpLuEwj-_bBg7FpO_w4cpcqnfkUmOPpCXpZOIG8AXbGiVJAul64_DLsbywLQY3s_YgT2Mqg/s1600/IMG_2410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XEyndFWjoQf1uJsWVBSy8OyKK_8CEjRyvZl9S6u1iIBB0u55gE4sK9O54d212B2b3EpLuEwj-_bBg7FpO_w4cpcqnfkUmOPpCXpZOIG8AXbGiVJAul64_DLsbywLQY3s_YgT2Mqg/s320/IMG_2410.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what I do when I'm bored. Swatch the shit out of nail wheels, trying to come up with interesting ideas. The gradients on the two middle nails here were done using ten of the Kleancolor metallics, plus one of their other colors.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm so stoked about all my new polishes. I'm completely out of room in my boxes to store them, so I guess it's time to invest in some sort of storage unit so that I can keep all my stuff together, instead of having multiple shoeboxes of polish stacked next to my dresser, with even more loose polishes stacked on top of them...<br />
<br />
Anyway, I figured that since I haven't even swatched half of the colors from my <i>first</i> Kleancolor haul back in October, I had better get crackalackin', so I grabbed a bottle and went to work.<br />
<br />
When I was placing my order for this haul, I was a little hesitant about adding pastels, because I haven't really used many pastel polishes, I wasn't sure how they'd look against my skin or if they'd be too cutesy for me.<br />
<br />
In the end, I decided to only buy one pastel polish, and went with blue. I seriously considered Pastel Purple and Pastel Teal, but in the end, blue just seemed the most wearable to me. Now that I've seen it on my hands, I'm thinking I'd like to get the teal and purple as well.<br />
<br />
<b>Kleancolor Pastel Blue</b> is, as the name would suggest, a pastel blue (*shock and awe*). When I asked my boyfriend for his opinion, he said it's "very Easterly". Application was fine. The first coat went on a bit streaky, the second coat evened the color out nicely, and I added a third "security coat" just to make sure it was perfectly opaque with nary a streak in sight.<br />
<br />
I loved it. Beautiful. Since my skin is so pale anyway (thank you, iron-definciency anemia and PMLE!), the color suited me very well. And, of course, the Aquarian in me just loves water-type colors in general--give me more blues and greens and teals and silvers!--so Pastel Blue was just chock full of win all around.<br />
<br />
Almost.<br />
<br />
Now, Kleancolors are great polishes. They're super affordable, and they actually have some really unique colors, which is always awesome. But there are two main drawbacks to this brand:<br />
<br />
1. They're smelly. As I've mentioned before (and countless others have mentioned before me), Kleancolors have a pretty pungent chemical smell to them, unlike any other polish I've used. I didn't notice it with my Holos, but every other Kleancolor I own is definitely a bit stinky.<br />
<br />
2. Some of them take <i>forever</i> to dry. I don't know what it is, man, but I know I'm not the only one who's noticed this. A lot of the chunkier glitters dry reasonably quickly, as most glitters are wont to do, but I've noticed with a few other colors that they just seem to want to stay squishy and dentable for way longer than seems normal.<br />
<br />
As was the case with Pastel Blue. Even though I waited about seven or eight minutes between coats, then an extra ten minutes before adding a layer of quick-dry top coat, my nails just didn't seem to want to harden up.<br />
<br />
After about an hour, I figured I was safe enough to go about my day, and decided to take a shower. This is were I made my mistake. Turns out, my nails were <i>still</i> not completely dry, so all my scrubbing and hair washing in the shower ended up leaving me with tip wear/chippies only an hour after application. Bummer.<br />
<br />
Luckily, it's pretty minor and not really noticeable unless you're me, which I am, so it's annoying the shit out of me. But to the rest of the world, I'm sure my nails look pretty okay.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPjWQFrBUhVrmJYwpzz88n2WrAM_Nr6v6qCB7azi9KmumumlBC5UHFKHMxKw7nkSM5oN-UkkUbo-Vu-GPlBO5hKJrsEUaapmjqaX2CUdL5k2ui580ajiKgACuxsaGNXdcVgp6jCAK/s1600/IMG_2407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPjWQFrBUhVrmJYwpzz88n2WrAM_Nr6v6qCB7azi9KmumumlBC5UHFKHMxKw7nkSM5oN-UkkUbo-Vu-GPlBO5hKJrsEUaapmjqaX2CUdL5k2ui580ajiKgACuxsaGNXdcVgp6jCAK/s320/IMG_2407.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, no flash. I think I also left my camera set for fluorescent lighting, which would explain why my fingers look so orange-y. Damn it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieduV3MegK44FSHwccvkpzMZ8ooXyIkLefHOFoSGnNK-l7fJJV3baxfO3TlyQZeYjt0UQ-xIa0DyHM5C_jvo5ERidN2GQiX79EPiF1h_HLrWoGujoPJJ83CI77r6k3EONJUwtMzQak/s1600/IMG_2406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieduV3MegK44FSHwccvkpzMZ8ooXyIkLefHOFoSGnNK-l7fJJV3baxfO3TlyQZeYjt0UQ-xIa0DyHM5C_jvo5ERidN2GQiX79EPiF1h_HLrWoGujoPJJ83CI77r6k3EONJUwtMzQak/s320/IMG_2406.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light, flash. Totally used my non-dominant hand to snap these two pictures, since the tip wear on my right hand was less apparent than on my left. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>So yeah. I dunno. That's all really. I kinda ran out of things to say...<br />
<br />
Uhhhh... I like this color. I'm glad I bought it. Yay for my haul...<br />
<br />
Ummm. No, seriously. My mind just went completely blank.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Yeah, if I was gonna say anything else interesting, I've completely forgotten what it was. You can stop reading now.<br />
<br />
Hope you all have a fun weekend!Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-27294426591317667652011-12-08T20:18:00.004-06:002012-01-17T10:58:00.953-06:00Kleancolor? More like SPLEENcolor, Amirite?Oh, good grief, does it ever end? I finally gave in and made myself an appointment with a doctor a friend recommended, and now it's all, "You may have thyroid issues! Blood in your pee isn't good! I am a medical professional! Put down my stethoscope!".<br />
<br />
Yeah. I see how it is, doctor. You sit there, all high and mighty, telling me how I might be able to not feel like crap all the time, and then you look at me like I've been purposely doing the opposite of everything you're advising.<br />
<br />
See you in two weeks, motherfucker. And I'm taking one of those germ masks home with me this time... *glares*<br />
<br />
Annnnnyway. I'm not feeling great at the moment, but I wanted to get a quick post up today, and show you all what I've been up to lately. No RCN ratings in this post. I don't know if I'm even gonna bother with them at all any more. They feel gimmiky. I think I'm just gonna ramble more in posts instead.<br />
<br />
So, yeah...<br />
<br />
I didn't plan this, but all three of the mani's I'm posting here involve Kleancolor polishes. I recently went halfsies on a 48 piece Kleancolor haul with a friend, so I've been playing with my twenty four new colors a lot recently.<br />
<br />
First up is <b>Kleancolor Neon Fuschia</b>. Right off the bat, I want to say two things about this color:<br />
<br />
1. In no way would I ever classify this color as fuchsia.<br />
<br />
2. I'm pretty sure Kleancolor is just fucking with me on the spelling here.<br />
<br />
Anyway, this is one of five neons that I bought. Like most neons, it dries somewhat matte, and would've required a lot more than two coats* and not been nearly as eye-popping had I not primed my nails with two layers of <b>Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White</b> first.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHpqbenEjXnBm16q0Bg_bflcNtyhLGQzee7iIa0hA8248El3TTVh7W_85jLa6CIygxILbURMQanwjmD8h-VXPYOdoOzEpJ6BMryUH16r1tlsdgB_-pBJT0ePyHF2ABacA0GDqHgn5/s1600/psIMG_2237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEHpqbenEjXnBm16q0Bg_bflcNtyhLGQzee7iIa0hA8248El3TTVh7W_85jLa6CIygxILbURMQanwjmD8h-VXPYOdoOzEpJ6BMryUH16r1tlsdgB_-pBJT0ePyHF2ABacA0GDqHgn5/s320/psIMG_2237.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See what I'm saying? How on earth is this considered fuchsia? Neon Vermillion, if anything. (Artificial light, no flash.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgew6xepEwhW1TMWQgGJ_2s0jBsmpmp3B_dyvOQFxMq3mOiB2B0LU9LC70s8oRI0QsGkx5IJInkLn9r9CucwwVgM2phe5J-bl_pqOn6AT3nVjVe-p39hBCf5zmn6EDcNi0tK5WTejRQ/s1600/psIMG_2240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgew6xepEwhW1TMWQgGJ_2s0jBsmpmp3B_dyvOQFxMq3mOiB2B0LU9LC70s8oRI0QsGkx5IJInkLn9r9CucwwVgM2phe5J-bl_pqOn6AT3nVjVe-p39hBCf5zmn6EDcNi0tK5WTejRQ/s320/psIMG_2240.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flash made this color look orangier than it is in real life. Color-wise, it's closer to the upper picture. Intensity-wise, it's closer to this one.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Application was okay. Maybe a little on the streaky side, but after the second coat, it evened itself out pretty well. I wore this for three days or so (that's about average for me), and didn't have any problems with wear or chipping until I fell down running to answer the phone and ended up with chip all the way across my left index finger. Boo.<br />
<br />
Aside from my Mood Struck polishes, which are color-changers, this is the <strike></strike>second neon polish I've used (I used Kleancolor Neon Purple for a mani I'll post about... soonish), and I couldn't stop staring at my fingers. They were so bright! Like little highlighters! Way fun. : )<br />
<br />
Next up is one of the colors I picked up on my last trip to Five Below with my sister. <b>Fresh Paint Olive You</b> is--you guessed it--an olive green. It has very subtle and also somewhat less subtle gold shimmer. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZfxjcdH5Y9_Zfo9ezkCGK55qM0Rkk0XEf-aXZ26EQ7fn3YqMsAgVjSWi8XjHX0M1EwVApGgPoNasYTFsVZoe41zHQuJb5mu38LmAMQoMgzwJSA7oub030rJkPfWWtSRADrf1a8pY/s1600/psIMG_2305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZfxjcdH5Y9_Zfo9ezkCGK55qM0Rkk0XEf-aXZ26EQ7fn3YqMsAgVjSWi8XjHX0M1EwVApGgPoNasYTFsVZoe41zHQuJb5mu38LmAMQoMgzwJSA7oub030rJkPfWWtSRADrf1a8pY/s320/psIMG_2305.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was after a few days, so please excuse the tip wear. (Indirect natural light.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I picked this color up mainly because, in the bottle, it looked like it could be an olive version on <a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2011/11/because-im-bitchin-rockstar-from-mars.html"><b>Funky Fingers Power Chord</b></a>, which I absolutely adore. Plus I didn't have any neutral-y greens in my collection, and my sister thought the name was cute, so I figured what the heck.<br />
<br />
On the nail, this color fell flat of my expectations. The gold shimmer just isn't as prominent as I'd hoped, and it has more of a pearly finish to it. Still an interesting color, and nice for fall, but not one of my favorites.<br />
<br />
I figured I'd add a little interest by accenting some nails with a coat of <b>Kleancolor 24 Carat</b>, a color I picked when the seller my friend and I bought our polishes from didn't have some of the colors I'd originally wanted. And, let me say, for a color that I didn't really want in the first place (I'm not particularly fond of golds; I'm a silvery girl through and through), 24 Carat turned out to be one of my favorite polishes from the entire haul.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQhd_ZmIZe8hQK629BbaRMMrfV8oZVZU1EwRna0pTme9kIQqjlTYdUlI4yrmde1zG_opyjN31na8Ekh3MtBsK_8ye6DZrH5pTTgUR463t5w2Ho9nNvK405ViRx361W8RObpw5Q3mQ/s1600/psIMG_2309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQhd_ZmIZe8hQK629BbaRMMrfV8oZVZU1EwRna0pTme9kIQqjlTYdUlI4yrmde1zG_opyjN31na8Ekh3MtBsK_8ye6DZrH5pTTgUR463t5w2Ho9nNvK405ViRx361W8RObpw5Q3mQ/s320/psIMG_2309.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I could seriously stare at this bottle forever. Soooooooo sparkly. (Indirect natural light.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table> 24 Carat is a clear base with warm gold irregular glitter--almost like microflakies--and holo glitter, with a few large diamond holo glitters scattered throughout (you can kinda see one under the 'u' in 'Lacquer'. The big glitters don't thrill me, so I tend to scrape them off the brush if I happen to catch one, since I prefer the look of just the fine glitters.<br />
<br />
As pretty as I think 24 Carat is, this mani didn't blow my skirt up. I was just kind of meh about it. Which is why I ended up taking it off so I could try <b>Kleancolor Metallic Green</b>.<br />
<br />
Oh.<br />
<br />
My.<br />
<br />
GOD.<br />
<br />
Ohmygod.<br />
<br />
I love this color sofreakingmuch, it's kind of ridonculous. The finish reminds me of anodized aluminum, and it has this crazy glow to it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbolF8QsJMH9Memsf8T9CXS9efJBv3iejorWAC9E7ktHrzQpsSDMD5tpktp0fH0fBL9bLg4_J-2BXr71pqXSgJzdMnZ4tnvxVGeHtYv9-u3q-aovrUr_u3aaRZY9aLNhJcZpPnhQZ/s1600/psIMG_2321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbolF8QsJMH9Memsf8T9CXS9efJBv3iejorWAC9E7ktHrzQpsSDMD5tpktp0fH0fBL9bLg4_J-2BXr71pqXSgJzdMnZ4tnvxVGeHtYv9-u3q-aovrUr_u3aaRZY9aLNhJcZpPnhQZ/s320/psIMG_2321.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This may very well be my favorite green polish ever. In real life, the color is just a teeny smidge more yellow. If any of you have an Android phone, it's pretty close to Android green. (Indirect natural light.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I did an accent nail with <b>Kleancolor Golden Nightmare</b>, which is black with gold shimmer and larger glitter in it. To me, the larger glitter looks silver, but based on the name, I assume it's supposed to be gold as well. Eh. Alls I know is that the gold shimmer looked awesome in the bottle, but was kind of lost on the nail. Still. Another gold-y color that I kinda like.<br />
<br />
But back to Metallic Green. Have I mentioned yet how much I love this color? It's so bright and awesome. I don't have any other polishes with a finish like this one. Which is why I decided that, what with all my recent health issues, I needed a bit of a pick-me-up, and ordered myself another twenty four Kleancolors, including nine of the other metallics!<br />
<br />
I already got Metallic Black with my first haul, so once this order comes in, I'll have all of them, except Metallic White, which I decided to skip 'cause it didn't look as awesome and pigmented as the rest of them.<br />
<br />
Oh man, oh man, oh man. I'm so excited. Once I get this shipment (which they said would take 4-14 business days), I'll snap a few pictures of all of my Kleancolors. I think I'll have... fifty five of them? Dang! It's almost like I collect nail polishes or something. o_O<br />
<br />
Anyway, that's really all. Just wanted to toss up a few pics and share my excitement over my order. I know this post is kind of blah, and I apologize for that. I, myself, am kind of blah, so I suppose that's to be expected.<br />
<br />
Anyone else out there have experience with Kleancolors? What do you think of them? Got any favorite colors? What do you think of the smell of them? It didn't bother me with the first seven I owned, but all of the ones I got with my first haul have a really pungent chemical smell, unlike any of my other polishes. Very odd.<br />
<br />
So yeah. That's all. And, as for the title of this post... I don't even know.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-36576291043769071792011-11-26T08:07:00.001-06:002012-01-30T03:59:29.083-06:00Because 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.<br />
<br />
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!) <i>everything is $5 or less. </i>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.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
But I digress <i>again...</i><br />
<br />
So. One of the colors I bought that day was <b>Funky Fingers Power Chord</b>, 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).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNzSEzKcyVvknn8IUZiGxtvZLKXGcMHRfCYzRoRlanYQa9Zu_K9bGaJCTynlwWLeRV8aKq9fg3DnMvACcZj2Nprlnq8msZXW5yWfbqsQoZyqpRDcaCcK89QXclWvavLWybuRkMsdz/s1600/IMG_2195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNzSEzKcyVvknn8IUZiGxtvZLKXGcMHRfCYzRoRlanYQa9Zu_K9bGaJCTynlwWLeRV8aKq9fg3DnMvACcZj2Nprlnq8msZXW5yWfbqsQoZyqpRDcaCcK89QXclWvavLWybuRkMsdz/s320/IMG_2195.jpg" width="169" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indoors, artificial light, no flash. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>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<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSN2xDJmAsNltMVqgPux4CyODB-cQnLjnPr1rilvPGL08lvnqBfsh9UTaliT5Jk7fn-_MW4lzJ7kCdvVVTmaIqufBNMHtYOjFvPmAII4khz77FGVpZauGSxsze_ikqnkBScIyG3q-Q/s1600/IMG_2199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSN2xDJmAsNltMVqgPux4CyODB-cQnLjnPr1rilvPGL08lvnqBfsh9UTaliT5Jk7fn-_MW4lzJ7kCdvVVTmaIqufBNMHtYOjFvPmAII4khz77FGVpZauGSxsze_ikqnkBScIyG3q-Q/s320/IMG_2199.jpg" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indoors, artificial light, flash.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>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.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelS3WRjQWWo0vJTW86Mbmf0KSVC1IPW_4CJjrgx7ImJG0RLxHBcfjy8u-HeT7v3eoXShvne57z8uHhsar2ykPRh6xfwbQOc-KUZHUBTEQtoZSmDz-QPj-THKTyur57egXleaWretR/s1600/IMG_2209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelS3WRjQWWo0vJTW86Mbmf0KSVC1IPW_4CJjrgx7ImJG0RLxHBcfjy8u-HeT7v3eoXShvne57z8uHhsar2ykPRh6xfwbQOc-KUZHUBTEQtoZSmDz-QPj-THKTyur57egXleaWretR/s320/IMG_2209.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I ended up throwing on a coat of <b>Kleancolor Chunky Holo Black</b> just to see what it would look like. This combination didn't blow my mind, but goddamn, check out the rainbow in that bottle!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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.<br />
<br />
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...<br />
<b style="text-align: left;"><br />
</b><br />
<b style="text-align: left;">RCN Ratings:</b><br />
<br />
<ul><li><b>Price:</b> 5/5 (I think I paid $2.50 each)</li>
<li><b>Packaging:</b> 5/5</li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 5/5</li>
</ul><br />
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?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat </b>for quick and easy shine.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-66084226310551322422011-11-15T03:47:00.000-06:002011-11-15T03:47:47.004-06:00Lost In The Blizzard Nebula.Holy smokes, will ya look at that? Another post!<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
First up, we have the loverly <b>Orly Space Cadet</b>. 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 <b>Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Amber Ruby</b>, 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbdBIORpe46CFinTkD12m8A2IR8_VdDJEELzrcfke-ouNDWVEIl47i0Vn3MehxgdlHdnqPnGL7Y8jORPNtkRHH2ikYhMrT3P8c53CK8tEXMnpNAFtST0aI-EybcGi8_cCHgZq44i8/s1600/Untitled-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbdBIORpe46CFinTkD12m8A2IR8_VdDJEELzrcfke-ouNDWVEIl47i0Vn3MehxgdlHdnqPnGL7Y8jORPNtkRHH2ikYhMrT3P8c53CK8tEXMnpNAFtST0aI-EybcGi8_cCHgZq44i8/s320/Untitled-1.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indirect sunlight. I think this was... four coats?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuhAUld1gyBZmPRaHmEv7i4GVBIj0I2toHhnWD5qyRVrRTzf0afIVyYg-ITSbRySiiwpLqklpMPNQ5THwHbgM_Ath_z-voOlPD3ENIMuDm_ChieWDiikI_0Cq5PslUYGo5RmUx1n6/s1600/IMG_2112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuhAUld1gyBZmPRaHmEv7i4GVBIj0I2toHhnWD5qyRVrRTzf0afIVyYg-ITSbRySiiwpLqklpMPNQ5THwHbgM_Ath_z-voOlPD3ENIMuDm_ChieWDiikI_0Cq5PslUYGo5RmUx1n6/s320/IMG_2112.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There really is a lot of color shifting with this polish. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>This polish is definitely pretty, but it's just not my favorite. Oh well.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>RCN Ratings:</b><br />
</div><ul><li><b>Price: </b>5/5 (Amazon usually has pretty good deals on polishes.)<b><br />
</b></li>
<li><b>Packaging: </b>5/5<b><br />
</b></li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 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.)</li>
</ul><br />
And here we have my new favorite glitter topcoat, <b>China Glaze Snow Globe</b> over <b>Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Night Flight</b>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyJOjs-gYW1Q7aKitzY_QwtioxQAc9mQ34cEYekooHGNL1YXwQKb1XkTQ8lDURPukm0LEJtH2uwY34RW-YNTvWEI4cQSW7-JCY-5h9g8rrHRXmnbLDlHppXKE9im6fT0QC8M48sj4/s1600/IMG_2169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyJOjs-gYW1Q7aKitzY_QwtioxQAc9mQ34cEYekooHGNL1YXwQKb1XkTQ8lDURPukm0LEJtH2uwY34RW-YNTvWEI4cQSW7-JCY-5h9g8rrHRXmnbLDlHppXKE9im6fT0QC8M48sj4/s320/IMG_2169.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE COLORS, DUKE! THE COLORS! (If anyone else remembers that commercial, they get a million cool points.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eyauRcRXbH37eQAWWMXrokfzxjKpaQqNiZHc5R0PxxJgTqmPIuUiH92JkzyvYAgaC3y3EfClTd2Y40DpNgrvgqEoCOCdA11UIbz8w8otJIHx9FbpriD0oEQ5a-hv_12S5rbnmDNL/s1600/IMG_2171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7eyauRcRXbH37eQAWWMXrokfzxjKpaQqNiZHc5R0PxxJgTqmPIuUiH92JkzyvYAgaC3y3EfClTd2Y40DpNgrvgqEoCOCdA11UIbz8w8otJIHx9FbpriD0oEQ5a-hv_12S5rbnmDNL/s320/IMG_2171.jpg" width="139" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With flash. This was also right after I applied my final topcoat, so everything looked super shiny.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsKhMw7XHt2Ai3pTld0ZhyphenhyphenRyYZIYeYY7KAFroiNfhOtTLDzJ6vzsv6dvC2gUnh26o75okCCqbxV-cDOLBSMLJdsv61RcOjyK6o2bX1ZxNyJZa-Yw8cE6zIVd9bhg1ctbo4X6xodSl/s1600/IMG_2192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYsKhMw7XHt2Ai3pTld0ZhyphenhyphenRyYZIYeYY7KAFroiNfhOtTLDzJ6vzsv6dvC2gUnh26o75okCCqbxV-cDOLBSMLJdsv61RcOjyK6o2bX1ZxNyJZa-Yw8cE6zIVd9bhg1ctbo4X6xodSl/s320/IMG_2192.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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.<br />
<br />
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. : )<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>RCN Ratings:</b></div><ul><li><b>Price:</b> 5/5 (Again, check Amazon for some reasonable prices)</li>
<li><b>Packaging:</b> 5/5</li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 4/5 (Loses one point for that weird matte thing it kept doing, even after I applied topcoat.)</li>
</ul> So yeah, in a battle between <b>China Glaze Snow Globe</b> and <b>Orly Space Cadet</b>, I'd be rooting for Snow Globe. What about you?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat </b>for quick and easy shine. Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-9553654701427350072011-11-05T23:19:00.003-05:002012-01-30T03:52:03.454-06:00The Fact That There Are Christmas Themed Pringles Containers Already Is Killing My Soul.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH.<br />
<br />
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 <i>ATE IT</i>.<br />
<br />
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!??!??<br />
<br />
(Sigh.)<br />
<br />
Fine. I'll upload all the stupid pictures again. And come up with captions for all of them. Again. But I will <i>not</i> retype the post. I have my limits.<br />
<br />
...I hope you really appreciate what I'm dealing with for you right now. No. Really.<br />
<br />
*groans*<br />
<br />
Okay, soooooo. Here:<br />
<br />
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:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwzBaElnblw7J9Ajz6cnYoHAcYgVSDVSdRYnYwicikygY5Zg15ie16WFeWrWcNeGwvCpwm6CTEL_B5pqt3Ye9Vbi7vqtuEA1QXFcvaWl-sTjRWYyp377lhJC3076jhrIpImimcp77/s1600/Snowman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwzBaElnblw7J9Ajz6cnYoHAcYgVSDVSdRYnYwicikygY5Zg15ie16WFeWrWcNeGwvCpwm6CTEL_B5pqt3Ye9Vbi7vqtuEA1QXFcvaWl-sTjRWYyp377lhJC3076jhrIpImimcp77/s320/Snowman.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUM2d6-MEXc3vT5Wjtb7dRr2QjYQZbtOkm4mpBnCG2Dq30NqKfQ-bwHrKe2t6nJUlJKWrZEU78f4mjsVCSBtqXbpjYJXIACJEhj5Z5GijGbFeQwRfQGpJUluB5I0sGgwGmIIGsJpf/s1600/Funky+Summer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUM2d6-MEXc3vT5Wjtb7dRr2QjYQZbtOkm4mpBnCG2Dq30NqKfQ-bwHrKe2t6nJUlJKWrZEU78f4mjsVCSBtqXbpjYJXIACJEhj5Z5GijGbFeQwRfQGpJUluB5I0sGgwGmIIGsJpf/s320/Funky+Summer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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: <b>OPI Ate Berries In The Canaries </b>and <b>OPI Sun-body Loves Me!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60BAMFUAvm5axeVtUkJyW6FZPhzRkaw91nlPFyT7fEYPHQhiAHAUQzq3Va1pM2s3lpsY2K3TYHlMEjM32XtHH_Y02H-G4ZwsVE2GZFokwTdNKAzk-OPdeNEDUxuFWy2DgOeYPHo84/s1600/First+Stamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60BAMFUAvm5axeVtUkJyW6FZPhzRkaw91nlPFyT7fEYPHQhiAHAUQzq3Va1pM2s3lpsY2K3TYHlMEjM32XtHH_Y02H-G4ZwsVE2GZFokwTdNKAzk-OPdeNEDUxuFWy2DgOeYPHo84/s320/First+Stamp.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My very first go at stamping using my <b>Bundle Monster</b> plates. I let my boyfriend pick the colors and design. He said he wanted it to look like a creamcicle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwdBElCUs3QJigYroVf2ia6itKxFXHF-leA57d20V2DMdNV-s_f2-XSOV_aMxUXCAIdK57pQVUQrTuqyA0gsOlCtakBK_HIG5Wfj7o7GW6UIoZoVjWGQ0E0NOMmzqcNWrEjY6tjza/s1600/Bacon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwdBElCUs3QJigYroVf2ia6itKxFXHF-leA57d20V2DMdNV-s_f2-XSOV_aMxUXCAIdK57pQVUQrTuqyA0gsOlCtakBK_HIG5Wfj7o7GW6UIoZoVjWGQ0E0NOMmzqcNWrEjY6tjza/s320/Bacon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkONuGjVZ8QHd7NGBUjW1LKBk_6Dl3OALV9CwJxJt7eE2TfPjgRiJnXRJZ0qmm-cQu1H5SXYL3jaqa8RyaFLRXQ1Y577NA9B1XKk6BXHm42i0okkC6kL5kXiCAtRTS5VkMxodUKci/s1600/Sponging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkONuGjVZ8QHd7NGBUjW1LKBk_6Dl3OALV9CwJxJt7eE2TfPjgRiJnXRJZ0qmm-cQu1H5SXYL3jaqa8RyaFLRXQ1Y577NA9B1XKk6BXHm42i0okkC6kL5kXiCAtRTS5VkMxodUKci/s320/Sponging.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first--and only--attempt at sponging. Not very pretty. Maybe I'll try it again someday...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pHj6zi0ZfKV2mqzUYJXvt8OUrMiJbA53EMMZ_LwQ-CHWt3ezkoXYkUb1lvD_fW7CYLisZh62-aFCew-OHjB6cr0kuNOt0y-fstxzEpKI8L-QEJfIPnf_19xzRaOzREb75XTFMgP2/s1600/Mandarin+Orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pHj6zi0ZfKV2mqzUYJXvt8OUrMiJbA53EMMZ_LwQ-CHWt3ezkoXYkUb1lvD_fW7CYLisZh62-aFCew-OHjB6cr0kuNOt0y-fstxzEpKI8L-QEJfIPnf_19xzRaOzREb75XTFMgP2/s320/Mandarin+Orange.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe this was my second attempt at stamping. Plus freehand tips.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9p8RoOTa-SS38vZOj9DokyTQFzSj-gP0vKjlxjGvYP8VqVQ_siApiG5j0cjAct3Ncuwd3HE4Aa1ZuI6vRhyw0tWMLPwgmjRLwnJaLP8WRjlLRC9kPTX2B-H_B9wtAsyXRDLXiiNrA/s1600/Green+Zebra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9p8RoOTa-SS38vZOj9DokyTQFzSj-gP0vKjlxjGvYP8VqVQ_siApiG5j0cjAct3Ncuwd3HE4Aa1ZuI6vRhyw0tWMLPwgmjRLwnJaLP8WRjlLRC9kPTX2B-H_B9wtAsyXRDLXiiNrA/s320/Green+Zebra.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>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...<br />
<br />
So, on to more recent things!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgX7dtRlGsCv9YgK_BKAC2i7FSJwFe8OsFydztWSsz4V5gJthcuSN1MibDAjG7sVXwG3OqHvZaxSMsYEV5Nts-rWtaDLg0wbISH-xcyK8r6wpjw4_ea3MOxHzaoZE1kry-V7c8ywx/s1600/Halloween+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgX7dtRlGsCv9YgK_BKAC2i7FSJwFe8OsFydztWSsz4V5gJthcuSN1MibDAjG7sVXwG3OqHvZaxSMsYEV5Nts-rWtaDLg0wbISH-xcyK8r6wpjw4_ea3MOxHzaoZE1kry-V7c8ywx/s320/Halloween+1.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHUeJdFxN8K2DdzGRC86rwXSPM-TYza_nI3iJeUJ2ttgC0Jf8-U9j3ZMNHWLCgpHzw8VA9gMU5zo0wCQDskXET1XpChc92gB0GcyOVY-CkQzdRiRm3xNf9tTtTy6fY5tUqhk3yheK/s1600/Halloween+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHUeJdFxN8K2DdzGRC86rwXSPM-TYza_nI3iJeUJ2ttgC0Jf8-U9j3ZMNHWLCgpHzw8VA9gMU5zo0wCQDskXET1XpChc92gB0GcyOVY-CkQzdRiRm3xNf9tTtTy6fY5tUqhk3yheK/s320/Halloween+2.jpg" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A kind of lazy Halloween mani using this years <b>Wet n' Wild Fantasy Makers</b> polishes in <b>Black Magic</b> and <b>Spooky Pumpkin</b>. Again, I waited until I was ready to take the polish off to snap the pics, so it's looking a bit rough here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-VJCMLsLYqTKcC1mVNSKwsKaR3eYBAhWsOwlvYuTbHQgYsNxM7PJP5muqvkXwDoVWpguxsy839F-i1EE2_IdBo3BfWTgL5t8W2zeY61lllz5-GcObkLlmOIMIDItKonnXeeppCIb/s1600/Halloween+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-VJCMLsLYqTKcC1mVNSKwsKaR3eYBAhWsOwlvYuTbHQgYsNxM7PJP5muqvkXwDoVWpguxsy839F-i1EE2_IdBo3BfWTgL5t8W2zeY61lllz5-GcObkLlmOIMIDItKonnXeeppCIb/s320/Halloween+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">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. <b>Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear</b> in <b>Sun Kissed</b> with a coat of <b>Wet n' Wild Fantansy Makers Spooky Pumpkin</b>, and the bat stamps from my <b>Bundle Monster</b> plates.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUhqv_kAbb28Y2AHMNo8mkUnxSXnfbjG-SLNM8_fFnx9zUHvr8rgkPKG6AfEvYy56DzwZDkgaAhDzCgRYRzeOxOsnzgm7g8PDOlIKosMSrrfMp8WX9pxqtLVA5jxWYYB3BPsbdlFp/s1600/Clarins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUhqv_kAbb28Y2AHMNo8mkUnxSXnfbjG-SLNM8_fFnx9zUHvr8rgkPKG6AfEvYy56DzwZDkgaAhDzCgRYRzeOxOsnzgm7g8PDOlIKosMSrrfMp8WX9pxqtLVA5jxWYYB3BPsbdlFp/s320/Clarins.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, <b>Clarins 230</b>. You whore. <3</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>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.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTiPZyrpVUijKTJUHqC8w6kdMCsfAEaWJAfz7AgKCGln0oVY-snMsENS5UM6oNBS79wxGlko-k2DfEmfwKC77AkcGKLZeKt64ZUkdiqMZHcTeXQJjhtvOVXZCTTiD8cmcGmDM9oD9/s1600/Blogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTiPZyrpVUijKTJUHqC8w6kdMCsfAEaWJAfz7AgKCGln0oVY-snMsENS5UM6oNBS79wxGlko-k2DfEmfwKC77AkcGKLZeKt64ZUkdiqMZHcTeXQJjhtvOVXZCTTiD8cmcGmDM9oD9/s320/Blogger.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is how I roll...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-19319919949354738942011-10-27T23:55:00.002-05:002011-10-28T00:00:50.971-05:00Okay, I Can Die Happy Now. (Except Not Really.)<i>Someone </i>*coughcough* got her bottle of (♪♫ daa-da-da-da-da-da-daaaaaa! ♫♪) <b>CLARINS 230 </b>today!!! <br />
<br />
Mmmmmsorainbowy. ^___________^ <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, no pics in this post. I know, I know, super boring. It's been really shitty and overcast lately, and indoor lighting just doesn't do my precious justice, so on the next sunny day, I'll snap some pics. <br />
<br />
But I'm so excited, you have no idea.<br />
<br />
A special thanks goes out to my friend, <b>Lindsey</b>, who actually placed the order for me, and with whom I'll be going in on a 48 piece Kleancolor haul tomorrow. Yeah, that's right. Twenty four brand new colors each. Ohmygodicantwait.<br />
<br />
And that's in addition to the three polishes I ordered on Amazon the other day. <br />
<br />
So I guess I really am gonna have to stop slacking, 'cause I've got a butt-ton of swatching to do soon. And I should probably stop spending money on nail polish for a while, too, before I go completely broke.<br />
<br />
Anywho, I'm just all stoked about my new shinyshiny and wanted to share my deep and everlasting joy with the rest of you.<br />
<br />
That is all.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-78768243221339350062011-10-25T23:44:00.002-05:002011-10-28T00:09:22.657-05:00Some Ladies Purple Their Fingernails....So much for not slacking. *dies*<br />
<br />
Well, I've painted my nails a few times since my last post, and I only snapped pictures of a few of the polishes (shame on me!). And then I totally lazed out and didn't bother editing the pictures, and then I was all "Ughhhh, whyyy?" about having to put any effort into writing a post, so, uh, I didn't.<br />
<br />
But I am now. So at least there's that, right?<br />
<br />
Anyway, today I bring you pictures of <b>Kleancolor Holo Chrome</b>. I bought the whole six piece Holo set on Amazon (it's labeled as the Starry Spring collection). Five of the six Holos are jelly based (Holo Yellow has a more metallic finish than the others) and all of them fairly packed with holographic microglitter (read: RAINBOW SPARKLIES!!!!!).<br />
<br />
Now, there's a bit of a pattern to this collection. Holo Pink is a pastel pink jelly with holo microglitter. Holo Blue is a pastel blue with holo microglitter. Holo Orange and Holo Green follow suit. And even though Holo Yellow has a slightly different base, the actual <i>color</i> of the polish is... you guessed it: yellow.<br />
<br />
So it stands to reason that <b>Holo Chrome</b> would be a some type of chrome polish with holo microglitter, right? WRONG! It's <i>purple.</i> But it's called Holo <i>Chrome. </i>Because just calling it Holo Purple would've been stupid.<br />
<br />
Anywho, <b>Holo <i>Chrome</i></b> is one of the two polishes in the collection that have a second, more subtle glitter added to the mix (the other polish is Holo Orange). Holo Chrome not only has the standard holo microglitter, but there's also some tiny iridescent blue/violet glitter in there. You can't really tell unless you really look for it, but when combined with the purple jelly base of this polish, that subtle iridescent glitter really helps this polish to pop. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZ8-vUz5nwOAiJQFBg7mjtarZ_LUhQSEU89m2eVCZ1GDywsZe2PuF5WsEXpu1pprsmZ39e-ETa4YZxv9w7GLlAaRjgYk7o25lMFx3jzVmreaJOAvPbWLG27f3D_Pc3wIT198nbWt2/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZ8-vUz5nwOAiJQFBg7mjtarZ_LUhQSEU89m2eVCZ1GDywsZe2PuF5WsEXpu1pprsmZ39e-ETa4YZxv9w7GLlAaRjgYk7o25lMFx3jzVmreaJOAvPbWLG27f3D_Pc3wIT198nbWt2/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light. You can kinda make out the iridescent blue glitters in this picture. Like I said, super subtle, especially paired with all the holo glitter. But it's definitely in there.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXkqaImYPfInm2o4a6cyvLLSJs3Q_IizGqtsTx4Q6xi9hXWkCDHReD_aYJRbK0HmZOSpTrZd4pk1mF9W5ljovxLj4pn4cIy_0DecH3jmHWehapc1ZKJKdQ991kTjV3W_O47gEqSsQ8/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXkqaImYPfInm2o4a6cyvLLSJs3Q_IizGqtsTx4Q6xi9hXWkCDHReD_aYJRbK0HmZOSpTrZd4pk1mF9W5ljovxLj4pn4cIy_0DecH3jmHWehapc1ZKJKdQ991kTjV3W_O47gEqSsQ8/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light. A little blurry to help show the glitter.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0GLivXZAmx1qVk4kBGVaQKw83Oz8MjaecQcCt25r06LT7xodKJThxnfzxEZm4HpFqqp5yDTFymO6t85EgBhysCEEZD0MJM3FHkydr96Zknw6Xr4f4dhyphenhyphenGZPkGgDxwpM66gByNc-N/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0GLivXZAmx1qVk4kBGVaQKw83Oz8MjaecQcCt25r06LT7xodKJThxnfzxEZm4HpFqqp5yDTFymO6t85EgBhysCEEZD0MJM3FHkydr96Zknw6Xr4f4dhyphenhyphenGZPkGgDxwpM66gByNc-N/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light. And angles! Because it's always good to have some perspective.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Application was fine. Because of the jelly base, these polishes take a few coats to build up to opaque. I think I used four coats* for this one. The polish dries pretty quickly, though, so that kind of makes up for the need for so many coats. The finish is a bit gritty, and it took two coats of topcoat to even out the surface (and, as you can see in the pictures, it still wasn't quite glass-smooth).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziASnmMdqmYVPDJKz7_0nIG7FTB-vw4jv136pSUn-Df-JyoQ0APlEngpSaZBfb5g8It3xEOUjibkY1H4NbldoA27BtJrD5yO1NJq1SXCowZScGalln-8bRWh_1oeadBbgoCyR7Kfa/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziASnmMdqmYVPDJKz7_0nIG7FTB-vw4jv136pSUn-Df-JyoQ0APlEngpSaZBfb5g8It3xEOUjibkY1H4NbldoA27BtJrD5yO1NJq1SXCowZScGalln-8bRWh_1oeadBbgoCyR7Kfa/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flash. Holo Chrome is the least pastel of the collection. All the other polishes are quite a bit less bold.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEd5pCRPBQmYTPPiv_xkt3gU5fWD5z8otxxR4Aefgg_T5YH8LBfSB8WCfE87rT1DVd_DH9IR8NnpYHEqDgHKT3vxDxrHj0WazncuG0YiUQvdDrMwuAMKIjQ42FMF3BZcrl0_AefLD/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEd5pCRPBQmYTPPiv_xkt3gU5fWD5z8otxxR4Aefgg_T5YH8LBfSB8WCfE87rT1DVd_DH9IR8NnpYHEqDgHKT3vxDxrHj0WazncuG0YiUQvdDrMwuAMKIjQ42FMF3BZcrl0_AefLD/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flash. Oh, holo glitter, I love you so. I seriously just sit and stare at my hands all the time when I use the polishes from this collection.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Some people have complained that Kleancolor polishes have a horrible smell to them. I haven't noticed this with any of mine. They may smell a bit different than some of my other polishes, but it's been my experience that different brands and different formulations have slightly different chemically smells on a fairly regular basis. The smell of Kleancolors doesn't strike me as particularly strong or offensive.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNXPASpBtAUdtoIbNF-slGR9ymbbEuX0WBlvYbejRAvK7eUgaozJ0wL7Oe2JVQlTQuoUdEhIv5gm8cDH1CBqUqqq6dZIDUXEIHsj85W9zwBKZVDE0VvmCM81mXnCZEKs-keTPsLfF/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNXPASpBtAUdtoIbNF-slGR9ymbbEuX0WBlvYbejRAvK7eUgaozJ0wL7Oe2JVQlTQuoUdEhIv5gm8cDH1CBqUqqq6dZIDUXEIHsj85W9zwBKZVDE0VvmCM81mXnCZEKs-keTPsLfF/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, shade.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6yuLQPJndRVwE2xWTXv4wXmh9JXjIbOkz9DMhs7_kYaekITBmGA8cPdZFqUjan4Enuk0Mwe0OIzpd-N14JoSR9zvMGlRMBZRVUu18YjD1JOBfEwBx5DAhbqmnFVlVhkaMSdlLDGJ/s1600/KC+Holo+Chrome+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6yuLQPJndRVwE2xWTXv4wXmh9JXjIbOkz9DMhs7_kYaekITBmGA8cPdZFqUjan4Enuk0Mwe0OIzpd-N14JoSR9zvMGlRMBZRVUu18YjD1JOBfEwBx5DAhbqmnFVlVhkaMSdlLDGJ/s320/KC+Holo+Chrome+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light, shade. Again. And now I'm getting distracted and just want to finish this post, so I'm not going to think of a good caption for this one.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I really like this color. I'm like a four year old. Anything that sparkles--especially <i>rainbow</i> sparkles--is going to score huge points in my book. And ever since I read the book 'Hailstones And Halibut Bones' by Mary O'Neill when I was, like, seven years old, purple polish has had a special place in my heart. So yeah, this polish is chock full of win.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>RCN Ratings:</b></div><ul><li><b>Price:</b> 5/5 (I paid $12.95 for the six piece set)</li>
<li><b>Packaging:</b> 5/5</li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 5/5 </li>
</ul> And, just 'cause it still makes the little kid in me happy:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><b><i>What Is Purple?</i></b></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>by Mary O'Neill<br />
<br />
Time is purple just before night</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>when most people turn on the light--<br />
but if you don't it's a beautiful sight.<br />
<br />
Asters are purple, there's purple ink.</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>Purple's more popular than you think...</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>it's sort of a great Grandmother to pink.<br />
<br />
There are purple shadows and purple veils,</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>some ladies purple their fingernails.<br />
<br />
There's purple jam and purple jell</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>and a purple bruise next day will tell</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>where you landed when you fell.<br />
<br />
The purple feeling is rather put-out</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>the purple look is a definite pout.<br />
<br />
But the purple sound is the loveliest thing</i></div><div style="color: #674ea7; text-align: center;"><i>It's a violet opening in the spring.</i></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat </b>for quick and easy shine.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-49561820279520778092011-10-12T08:20:00.002-05:002011-10-12T08:38:41.014-05:00Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na, BATMAN-ICURE!<b>Nail Nerd</b> posted <a href="http://www.nailnerd.com/blingy-wonder-woman-nails/"><b>a very cute homage to Wonder Woman</b></a> recently, so I suggested she do a Batman manicure too, since I lovelovelovelovelove Batman (I even have the Batman logo tattooed on my lower back!).<br />
<br />
And, because she is awesome, <b><a href="http://www.nailnerd.com/batman-nails/">the Nerd complied with my request</a></b>. Does that manicure not <i>blow your mind with joy!? </i><br />
<br />
I absolutely love reading Nerd's blog because she's constantly coming up with such creative ideas (I mean, c'mon, <a href="http://www.nailnerd.com/zoya-smoke-weed-nails/"><b>marijuana pistils</b></a>? Who else would DO that!?), and because she executes them so well. Plus she posts new manicures all. the. time., which is great for someone like me, who can't get enough of oogling beautiful polishes.<br />
<br />
And THAT is why she's my nail girlfriend. *nods* ^___^Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-39055932955481559742011-10-11T11:04:00.000-05:002011-10-11T11:04:30.252-05:00Like A Starlight Mint. Only Not.<span id="goog_357251918"></span><span id="goog_357251919"></span>Alrighty, I've got two reviews for you today. (That's right. I'm getting over-ambitious after my bout of slackeriness.)<br />
<br />
First up is a red. And before I get into the review, let me tell you this: While I <i>adore</i> a cherry red toenail, I am <i>not</i> a fan of red nail polish on fingers. I mean, I guess some people can pull it off (Penn Jillette, I'm looking at you!), but to me it always seemed kind of *cough-whorey-cough*. Aaaaaand proceed with the hate comments. <br />
<br />
But no, really. I just never liked the look of red on hands. Least of all <i>my</i> hands. So even though I have a few reds in my collection, I usually just stick to a certain trusty Revlon (which I'm sure I will review eventually) or a couple of my wine/berry-red OPIs when I feel the need to do my <i>tootsies</i> red, but never, never my hands.<br />
<br />
Then I started this blog. And that's when I decided I was going to have to get over my thing about certain colors being "hand colors" and certain colors being "feet colors" (to be clear, there are plenty of colors that are both "hand" and "feet" colors. But there are also some that I feel are better used exclusively for one or the other). So I decided to go ahead and go red.<br />
<br />
<b>OPI Got The Blues For Red</b> is one of the colors my dad's lovely ladyfriend, <b><a href="http://traceydeyoung.lbri.com/">Tracey</a></b>, gave me a while back. I think I'd only ever used it on my toes once, and then for some reason, I kind of relegated it to the back of my nail polish box. But I dug it out and got down to business just so I could post this review for youuuuu. (Feel loved, damnit!)<br />
<br />
<b>Got The Blues For Red</b> is a rich blue-based red creme. The consistency is actually a bit sheer--imagine if a creme and a jelly had a baby--but it totally works. The pictures below are two coats*. I probably should've gone with three, since I can still make out my nail line, especially in the natural light shot. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYjXXlCRzGbEF3XaaYnQeaU9UZL4oLSUBtdWM7p1LWmc3_T5go8BCLBZo8kVncYGIiT1p_yez44VP8T9F_YShIiZne8n06fz6vd0CbslLD02zyEjU-wIiK7wJMJQOGH0xWob68bsQ/s1600/OPI_GotTheBluesForRed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYjXXlCRzGbEF3XaaYnQeaU9UZL4oLSUBtdWM7p1LWmc3_T5go8BCLBZo8kVncYGIiT1p_yez44VP8T9F_YShIiZne8n06fz6vd0CbslLD02zyEjU-wIiK7wJMJQOGH0xWob68bsQ/s320/OPI_GotTheBluesForRed2.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial light.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1W-ViSUwicjobsN83OvX2C7W0qOOa6pGFjjDnnvT1DyN4sTT524Q3CbfFCo8PIVQDoQnYvjhRbTOJMf-sE0vQUXm3Ft04JVieyTocMRIFluByDemiVbkMbIDhy-yt76ygMDodJcO/s1600/OPI_GotTheBluesForRed1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC1W-ViSUwicjobsN83OvX2C7W0qOOa6pGFjjDnnvT1DyN4sTT524Q3CbfFCo8PIVQDoQnYvjhRbTOJMf-sE0vQUXm3Ft04JVieyTocMRIFluByDemiVbkMbIDhy-yt76ygMDodJcO/s320/OPI_GotTheBluesForRed1.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <b>Got The Blues For Red</b> surprised me. I actually <i>loved </i>it. It applied like a dream, and it didn't look *cough-whorey-cough* at all, although I did think it looked pretty sexy. But there's a <i>difference</i>.<br />
<br />
I don't know if I loved it enough to convert me to a red fingernails kind of girl (maybe in the summer, with a cute retro bikini?), but this polish definitely earned a more coveted spot in my box-o-polishes--which is actually <i>three </i>boxes now, since my collection has outgrown the first two boxes.<br />
<br />
<b>RCN Ratings:</b><br />
<ul><li><b>Price: </b>4/5 (Technically, I got this for free, so that's definitely 5/5, but OPI's typically retail for about $8-9, which is on the higher end of what I usually spend. I'm a drug store kinda girl.)<b><br />
</b></li>
<li><b>Packaging: </b>5/5<b><br />
</b></li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 5/5</li>
</ul><br />
Next up is a polish I'd been wanting for a while (and by 'a while', I mean, about a week; patience is not one of my virtues).<br />
<br />
After <b><a href="http://realcutenails.blogspot.com/2011/08/vanilla-glitter-milkshake.html">my Vanilla Glitter Milkshake mani,</a></b> I started wondering if I could find a sheer white polish to use over glitters that wouldn't cast the same yellow/nude-y tint that Sally Hansen Sheer Me Now did, but would still work to create the milky effect. I was pretty sure I had seen a sheer-looking white in the Sally Hansen polish display at my local drug store, so over I went, and triumphantly returned home with a bottle of <b>Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Polar White</b>.<br />
<br />
I tried swatching it over a few of my glitter polishes on my nail wheel, and was a bit disappointed. Even though the consistency in the bottle looked the same as Sheer Me Now's, the Polar Bare just didn't have the same sort of coverage. So I decided to try it on its own* (I don't remember if I used two or three coats for these pics, sorry!):<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91anZENWx3o9FcOPZeShgDxDmai3lHHGLpBar2eVSxu_WZxpACh88c_taI1kFw0tsJoz2uFH5SRAYqS8mnfcp58cSmELfMLBRcBQ6cUGvDIXRI4OPBZJtIvoakhBN1YJEV7Qoe2hL/s1600/PolarBare1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91anZENWx3o9FcOPZeShgDxDmai3lHHGLpBar2eVSxu_WZxpACh88c_taI1kFw0tsJoz2uFH5SRAYqS8mnfcp58cSmELfMLBRcBQ6cUGvDIXRI4OPBZJtIvoakhBN1YJEV7Qoe2hL/s320/PolarBare1.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial (incandescent) light.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzlgrsNltgVR4VbqF_q_xy05k6Yip0QiorsxJ8OVda4ZNQsDi7QKHou1ksVEHQEnWEyH0t8qo4bDybppjZQebxYxz2zQgDjLhOJqyhG_ACmeKm_Iy3Q99frLMFJn06UsgvLhVuKNs/s1600/PolarBare2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzlgrsNltgVR4VbqF_q_xy05k6Yip0QiorsxJ8OVda4ZNQsDi7QKHou1ksVEHQEnWEyH0t8qo4bDybppjZQebxYxz2zQgDjLhOJqyhG_ACmeKm_Iy3Q99frLMFJn06UsgvLhVuKNs/s320/PolarBare2.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artificial (CFL) light.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This polish was a pain in the butt to apply well. The nails on my left hand looked decent, but the nails on my right hand were a streaky mess (like, to the point where I had to take the polish off immediately after snapping these pics, 'cause it looked so awful). And, to be honest, the color didn't really blow me away, either. Not great over glitter, not great application, and a not great color. Paint me disappointed. : (<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><b>RCN Ratings:</b></div><ul><li><b>Price:</b> 4/5 </li>
<li><b>Packaging:</b> 5/5</li>
<li><b>Performance:</b> 3/5 </li>
</ul><br />
So, which do you prefer? Are there any polish color families that you just can't stand? <br />
<br />
<br />
*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat </b>for quick and easy shine.Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-84100351642558941212011-10-06T14:47:00.001-05:002012-01-30T03:58:53.999-06:00Slackers... In... SPAAAAAAACE!Wow, I'm off to a slow start with this whole nail blogging thing. And I know giving excuses is super lame, but I'm not going to deny the fact that I've been feeling like a bag of smashed ass lately, and it's kind of been sapping my motivation to do... well... anything. I'll try to be better about posting, but, uh, I'm not making any promises right now. : P<br />
<br />
ANNNYway, since I already had these pictures edited and sitting in my "Ready For Blog" folder, here's a layered manicure I did about a week ago that was a little bit girly and (to me, anyway) a little bit spacy. I don't have a name for it, although I usually try to come up with cute names for my designs. Maybe this one can be "PK Barbie". (Twenty five nerd points and a bonus twenty five cool points to anyone that gets that reference without looking it up.). Like I said, I'm feeling pretty "weh", so I'm not gonna get all frilly with my description.<br />
<br />
Here:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvkjVKbTv-asHbACrd2Ea5JMvbuYicI-453abvicjr0U3xS5n3aVzMykdB6gDAxD-4l8ovK9nCU7mm0FlK63WoiEVC2BzgDTnF6doXBbCM75J4WzDiJsL3PoMRdbSiOeejeavkPUb/s1600/Cosmic+Layers1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvkjVKbTv-asHbACrd2Ea5JMvbuYicI-453abvicjr0U3xS5n3aVzMykdB6gDAxD-4l8ovK9nCU7mm0FlK63WoiEVC2BzgDTnF6doXBbCM75J4WzDiJsL3PoMRdbSiOeejeavkPUb/s320/Cosmic+Layers1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First*, I laid down two coats of <b>Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Night Flight</b> (my favorite black polish EVAR), and let that dry. Which didn't take long. You know. Insta-Dri. ; )</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGV5D25Oxs0ONRShKIpAQC29DnpIhkL5rnNhEZvLrxTw6l-kY_hK773-S-Co2qSr9z10V118YRW_fOdPnVF-_wnEvldDhzpPXEHjFDqXWe9q9e6kbyTy2d4XK0_eVnVB8DQIisLIgg/s1600/Cosmic+Layers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGV5D25Oxs0ONRShKIpAQC29DnpIhkL5rnNhEZvLrxTw6l-kY_hK773-S-Co2qSr9z10V118YRW_fOdPnVF-_wnEvldDhzpPXEHjFDqXWe9q9e6kbyTy2d4XK0_eVnVB8DQIisLIgg/s320/Cosmic+Layers2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then I slapped on a coat of <b>Sally Hansen HD Byte</b>, which is pretty sheer, but added a pretty magenta/blue duochrome glass fleck effect. I wish my camera could capture the colors better.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31smiJ_vtjB2VDH24eka56HkR81VwnI2ioI4PcM-Qykg9AHTrWMRApRjFW3ZrjMsAb5dHSac2ufsPusQ5CCVEWIazAxItRD1o5CEBHpEiYmyJloTOgrhf7oNI1UD8eRSLZa_T02-R/s1600/Cosmic+Layers3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi31smiJ_vtjB2VDH24eka56HkR81VwnI2ioI4PcM-Qykg9AHTrWMRApRjFW3ZrjMsAb5dHSac2ufsPusQ5CCVEWIazAxItRD1o5CEBHpEiYmyJloTOgrhf7oNI1UD8eRSLZa_T02-R/s320/Cosmic+Layers3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next up was a coat of <b>Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor</b>, which added subtle blue-green iridescent glitter.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zO8O3hiAyn4D-ijf1D_x2s3zgrJyGbd0rP75UiQEFiJn_6l6rZSJNYbTme3tZxulGPdyhq5ToCp5kRzFelFoySCncAc-C5dLIWUvgUoqVu8ar2i57rl0MEqvPyqJ_OtK00QJobVq/s1600/Cosmic+Layers4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zO8O3hiAyn4D-ijf1D_x2s3zgrJyGbd0rP75UiQEFiJn_6l6rZSJNYbTme3tZxulGPdyhq5ToCp5kRzFelFoySCncAc-C5dLIWUvgUoqVu8ar2i57rl0MEqvPyqJ_OtK00QJobVq/s320/Cosmic+Layers4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then I decided to add a coat of <b>Essie Matte About You</b> to bring out the glittery shimmery effect. In this shot, I have <b>Matte About You</b> on my middle and pinkie fingers so you can see the difference it makes in the overall look.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaG8jpZI8NBp9f5Nur2Wlx_mesb0bZOro1tRy5WVBwcOCzrzMeTxWpN8S6QPS92lL7CyRR0094F8dcposDQj0W8Z3gzGTLs4j-HLv14SOBXBtIzYWbX46cdfSDUmK_YBN0Pr0HgfQ/s1600/Cosmic+Layers5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoaG8jpZI8NBp9f5Nur2Wlx_mesb0bZOro1tRy5WVBwcOCzrzMeTxWpN8S6QPS92lL7CyRR0094F8dcposDQj0W8Z3gzGTLs4j-HLv14SOBXBtIzYWbX46cdfSDUmK_YBN0Pr0HgfQ/s320/Cosmic+Layers5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The final effect. Again, I wish my camera was better at capturing duochromes and glitters. Ah, well.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I had actually come up with the idea for this manicure about a month ago, when I was playing around with my nail wheels, and I really thought I was going to love it, but... I kinda didn't. I dunno. It just didn't do it for me once it was on my hands. I ended up taking it off after two or three days.<br />
<br />
Eh, ya win some, ya lose some. </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">What do you think? Any good advice or experiences anyone wants to share regarding layering?</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6698479982132288035.post-66753431128486763072011-09-23T12:06:00.003-05:002011-09-23T12:16:00.342-05:00It Ain't Easy Bein' Green... And Yellow.A few weeks back, my friend, Amanda, asked me my opinion on color-changing "mood" polishes. I told her that I had bought two <b>Mood Struck</b> polishes (a blue-to-neon-blue and teal-to-turquoise) at my local drug store for about four dollars each, and that I thought they were pretty neat.<br />
<br />
We started talking about all the different colors available, and I mentioned that they had a green-to-yellow at the store that I had eyeballed, since I love greens, but since I'm not big on yellow nails (they make me think of pee and fungus), I didn't bother getting it.<br />
<br />
Well, after our discussion, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went back to the store and bought not only the green-to-yellow, but the berry-pink-to-hot-pink, and two other nail polishes, too!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even though I wasn't sure I was going to like it, I decided to try the green-to-yellow right away*. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The polish applies a kind of murky green that my camera can't quite seem to capture (with flash, it looks like a bright green, and in most pictures without flash, it looks <i>grey</i>--like my camera just completely desaturated it), and then turns yellow as your body heat warms it. I don't know if it's just my crappy circulation or what, but the "yellow" never went brighter than, like, a neon lime green on me, which I was totally fine with, and actually preferred. If you'd got long nails, the tips stay green while the rest goes yellow, creating a pretty neat french manicure-y look.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It must be much warmer in my bedroom than it is where I have my laptop set up in the dining room, because while my nails would go all lime green with dark tips in my room, down here, they were always just straight up green.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4TinW27s_KnIch0OEiMDXXKxUmUm_u7i6IPjOfYbkaSpOhtkY15OoXelmf8j52PwvdZ09MJvjY0dREZZ3H0bdOysTmtU7XisfoGBosprPn1mmoh6xfnoXf3_kAB5_Jn9_TgGufhR/s1600/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj4TinW27s_KnIch0OEiMDXXKxUmUm_u7i6IPjOfYbkaSpOhtkY15OoXelmf8j52PwvdZ09MJvjY0dREZZ3H0bdOysTmtU7XisfoGBosprPn1mmoh6xfnoXf3_kAB5_Jn9_TgGufhR/s320/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow1.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All with flash.<br />
I took these shortly after going up to my room, after using the computer for a while. As my hands warmed up, the polish changed colors.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNcEe3nPXhfm0V8qiDZiR7T5JtO2c0KBQEwjuLL0w2iTAhS_xdHcJtx43kemowkyU0NSX_FlRaBVMh968v_hGNMUTBxLaeJZPVSxaSbrUDFaTXLXswtPS6faSnhPgOOKsD9Xb1FcB/s1600/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNcEe3nPXhfm0V8qiDZiR7T5JtO2c0KBQEwjuLL0w2iTAhS_xdHcJtx43kemowkyU0NSX_FlRaBVMh968v_hGNMUTBxLaeJZPVSxaSbrUDFaTXLXswtPS6faSnhPgOOKsD9Xb1FcB/s320/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow5.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natural light on a cloudy day--this is the closest picture I was able to get to the actual color of this polish.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56zZc1aq0UD7Rd74Qv24XK4uFgWnm5iL8E8J0WwVXYCFLdYcYpgwauPqPTgIDQr5Ms_tlJzflIfclECpJhJOVdckhSqkQchOn8p6hAL7_MsNQmin4-hKavR7kiUZsJ-XGqxaktcK2/s1600/kermit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56zZc1aq0UD7Rd74Qv24XK4uFgWnm5iL8E8J0WwVXYCFLdYcYpgwauPqPTgIDQr5Ms_tlJzflIfclECpJhJOVdckhSqkQchOn8p6hAL7_MsNQmin4-hKavR7kiUZsJ-XGqxaktcK2/s320/kermit.jpg" width="277" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every time I looked at my hands, I started thinking about Kermit the Frog. ♥</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I used hot and cold water to to get it the greenest and yellowest I could :</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42xQTaXnvqw6FfjOnE0hsboKVEWCSqE4sC8eot2r7ZYBj1U74W4Hu7rjenzm3YmO5Cb6k1ApFauN7pUAZuv6lWnOg35QKNcjPk-EOxT2_6USMM6-8FHD7eE3IgoxNMR4CLh_7E32-/s1600/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42xQTaXnvqw6FfjOnE0hsboKVEWCSqE4sC8eot2r7ZYBj1U74W4Hu7rjenzm3YmO5Cb6k1ApFauN7pUAZuv6lWnOg35QKNcjPk-EOxT2_6USMM6-8FHD7eE3IgoxNMR4CLh_7E32-/s320/MoodStruck_GreenToYellow6.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: After being dipped in cold water<br />
Middle: My normal temperature<br />
Right: After being dipped in hot water</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">As much as I loved the end result, I will say that application was a bit of a pain. The consistency of this polish was much thinner than my blue-to-neon-blue and teal-to-turquoise polishes, and it took SIX coats to build up to opaque, and even with all those coats, I could still clearly see my nail line when the polish was all yellow. Luckily, since the tips (at the very least) were usually green, that wasn't a problem. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The color lasted about a week on me before I started to notice where it was starting to peel a bit at the sides of my nails. And I gotta say, I couldn't stop looking at my hands that whole week. I thought I was gonna hate it, but I actually really liked this polish. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>RCN Ratings:</b><br />
<ul><li><b>Price: </b>5/5</li>
<li><b>Packaging: </b>4/5<b> </b>(The product label has big air bubbles under it and is peeling at the corners, which makes it feel a bit cheap. The caps on these are super chunky too--as wide as the bottles--which can be awkward sometimes.)</li>
<li><b>Performance: </b>4/5<b> </b>(It loses a point for being so thin and needing so many coats)<b><br />
</b></li>
</ul></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, what do you guys think? Would you wear this? <br />
<br />
Also, does anyone else think that <b>Mood Stuck</b>'s color names are super boring? I mean, come on. "Green-to-Yellow"? The whole time I had this on, I kept thinking that if I had been in charge of naming it, I'd have called it Toxic/Acid. But that's just me...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">*I always use <b>NailTek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base Coat</b> to provide an even surface and prevent staining, and <b>Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30 Second Top Coat </b>for quick and easy shine.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Arenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05386610032376083290noreply@blogger.com6