Ashley is PolishAddicted

Nerdlacquer All Of Time And Space

2012-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I know I say this a lot but I am so in love with the polish I have to show you today! But I guess if I didn't love polish I wouldn't be an addict and wouldn't have a polish blog. LOL

Anyways, NerdLacquer All Of Time And Space (AOTAS) is such a pretty polish and so very unique! I have definitely never seen anything else like it! It is a light green, I would describe it as seafoam or mint, and has purple and silver micro glitter, purple and silver medium hex glitter and large silver hexes. OMG YES. And while it is cool and unique I think the colors are also perfect for Spring.

The formula was amazing, this is 3 coats with no underwear, perfectly opaque. I had no trouble getting the large glitter out of the bottle and on to the nail (although I did turn it upside down for just a couple of minutes before I used it). It went on very smooth, I didn't even need any cleanup. (In fact since I didn't do cleanup you can see a little topcoat on my cuticles. GRRR Just know it's topcoat and not dry skin. Haha) I used Nubar Diamont Topcaot, no Gelous needed. And I have had it on over 24 hours with no chips or tipwear! Yay NerdLacquer!

As far as the name, I love the nerdiness of NerdLacquer names (duh lol) but I must admit I don't know much about this one. It is referring to Dr. Who and I have never seen it, although I have been told I need to. LOL

Isn't this polish amazing?!

NerdLacquer can be found HERE on Etsy but the lovely Amanda (creator of NerdLacquer) is currently closed because she is filling orders! I suggest signing up to be notified when she re-opens. They sell out super fast, last time she opened she sold 1500 bottles of polish in 18 hours! WOW!!

Zoya Midori and Apple!

2012-02-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

Happy hump days lovelies! Sorry for slacking lately, life has been busy! I meant to post this yesterday, it was my nephew Alex's 13th birthday and his favorite color is green so I am dedicating two of my favorite Zoya greens to him! Zoya makes the best greens!!

Midori and Apple are both light green with a gold shimmer but they are still very different. Up first is Midori. Midori is from Zoya's Ohh-La-La Collection which was released in Summer of 2009. It is a gorgeous apple green with a gold shimmer, I absolutely love this color. This is 2 coats, no topcoat.

Next up we have Apple. Apple is a gorgeous shimmer, maybe a glass-fleck? I'm not sure. LOL It is from Zoya's Sunshine Collection from Summer of 2011. It is sheer, this is 3-4 coats (some needed 4, maybe I didn't apply those as thick LOL) but the drying time is really fast.

What do you think of these greens? Very appropriate for St. Patrick's Day!

Zoya retails for $8 and can be purchased at zoya.com.

They announced on their Facebook page and Twitter this morning that they are having free shipping for Leap Day, just use code SHIPME before 11:59 PM EST tonight!

Orly Rock-It

2012-02-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!! What a gorgeous polish I have for you today!So beautiful, in fact, that my camera could not completely capture the beauty. These pics do not do it justice but they are the best I could come up with!

Orly Rock-It is part of the Orly Mineral FX Collection from 2011 and is absolutely stunning. I didn't think I NEEDED any of the Mineral FX collection because many of them are dupes of other colors from different brands but when I saw this one in person I could not pass it up. It is a shimmery wine color (YUM) but also has a slight color shift between bright red and an almost copper color. GORGEOUS.

The formula was amazing, as I have come to expect with Orly. I nearly got away with one coat but my OCD will not let me stop at one coat. Hahaha I did two and topped it off with Orly Won't Chip. And just for fun I added a little rhinestone bow sticker as an accent. Because it wasn't sparkly enough on its own!! HAHA

I hope you enjoyed this!! I love it! It's red and sparkly, doesn't get any better than that in my book!

NerdLacquer Antisocial Media!!

2012-02-25T19:17:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday everyone!! Sorry for my absence yesterday! I received my very first NerdLacquer in the mail from my friend Michelle from Things I Love At The Moment, we are doing a mini-swap and she will be getting her very first China Glaze OMG polish. :-) You should definitely check out her blog and give her a follow, she is super sweet and is nearing 100 followers (and will be hosting her very first giveaway soon!).

I have been seriously lemming NerdLacquer since I first saw it a couple months ago. When Michelle decided to get rid of this one I immediately told her I wanted it (I have since ordered two more from NerdLacquer on Etsy). I am so glad I got it, I love it!

Antisocial Media is a medium blue with a hint of green, it has an almost jelly-like finish but is more opaque. It has micro glitter in blue, gold and bronze as well as medium and large hex glitter in the same colors. It was opaque in 2 coats (I used 3 to see if it changed the look but it was fine with 2) and I had no application issues. I did have to do a little but of manipulating to get the larger pieces of glitter on the nail but this is normal with large glitter. It is not overly rough or thick, I topped it off with 1 coat of Nubar Diamont Topcoat and it was perfectly smooth.

What do you think of Antisocial Media? I am very impressed and very happy that I have two more NerdLacquers on the way!

Julep Blake

2012-02-23T17:06:00.002-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone!! I hope you are all doing well! Today I have a simple but lovely polish to show you. I used to be a hater of all things yellow and orange but lately I have found my tastes changing and am loving both yellow and orange. LOL I have a few yellow polishes now, and while I am not sure they necessarily look good on me (due to my skin tone), I am really enjoying them.

So today I have a very lovely yellow to show you, it reminds me of the exact color of butter. It went on very nicely, especially for a yellow (they are usually very streaky). It did take 3 coats but they dried quickly and I had no issues.

This is 3 coats topped with Julep's Fast Dry Topcoat

Isn't Blake a gorgeous yellow??

If you are interested in becoming a Julep Maven click HERE to take your style quiz and get started! I am having so much fun being a Maven. :-)

You can also purchase without being a Maven at julep.com.

Lacquistry Aqua Shredded- Two Different Ways!

2012-02-22T13:46:00.001-08:00

Happy Mardi Gras to those of you who celebrate it! I don't celebrate it but I think I have a pretty fun mani for you anyways! =D

I was planning on putting on Lacquistry Aqua Shredded again, this time over black (if you missed my first post on Lacquistry Aqua Shredded you can see it HERE). However, I had on my Max Factor Fantasy Fire (from yesterday's post) and decided to see what it would look like over the FF. I actually didn't care for it. LOL I did get some compliments on it though so I have included pics of it.

I then took it off and put on Aqua Shredded over OPI Black Onyx. O.M.G. I am in love. I liked this combo so much that I ended up putting it on my toes as well. I will show you the pics over black first and then over Fantasy Fire.

This is 2 coats of OPI Black Onyx, 2 coats of Aqua Shredded, 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Seche Vite. You will notice on my ring finger that I had a shard sticking up. I didn't notice it until after I took the pics. I clipped it off with nail clippers and added 1 more coat of SV and it was all smooth.

It's that combo amazeballs?! I love it!! Now for the Aqua Shredded over Fantasy Fire. I like it but I don't love it like I thought I would. What do you think?

Lacquistry can be purchased on Etsy. The lovely creator Jenna is having to take a little break right now while she catches up on orders. You can find her direct link HERE, where you can also ask to be notified by email when she re-opens.

You can also follow Lacquistry on Facebook HERE where Jenna posts updates and previews of new collections!

Max Factor Fantasy Fire Part 2!

2012-02-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

I hope you aren't sick of seeing Max Factor Fantasy Fire across the interwebs! LOL This is my second post on FF. If you remember my first post then you will remember I promised pics over black. It is amazing how different this polish looks over black than it did over Barry M Indigo!

FF is exclusively sold in the UK, I owe mine to my friend Denise, thanks so much!!! If you want one you need to become friends with someone in the UK or go there yourself. LOL
It's late and I need to get to bed so let's get to the pics, shall we?

This is 2 coats of FF over 2 coats of OPI Black Onyx.

Isn't it amazing how different this looks over black? I want to put it over EVERYTHING now! LOL I need at least one backup bottle! Did I mention how TINY the bottle is?! It's teeny, trust me.

Zoya Harlow

2012-02-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a good Monday! Well, as good as any Monday can be. LOL I didn't have the day off of work, I hope all of you did!

I have the last of my 4 Zoya Matte Velvet polishes today.I will be getting the last 2 of these to complete my collection soon! Harlow is a gorgeous magenta/berry color and as with all the other Zoya mattes the application was superb.

Matte pics first!

Now the top coat pics!

How do you like Harlow, matte or shiny?

Zoya retails for $8 and can be purchased at zoya.com.

They often have sales and promos so I suggest following their Facebook page and/or Twitter for all the inside scoop!! I am afraid the mattes are in danger of being discontinued so you might want to hurry if you want them!

Neon Zebras!!!!

2012-02-18T20:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday!! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Mine has been busy so far. I wanted to get this posted earlier but didn't have time.

I was inspired by the bright color in my last post on Misa Let's Go Green and wanted to do something bright and fun. I have always like the combo of lime green and hot pink so I ran with that. I started off by sponging my tips with NOX Twilight Crush (my favorite hot pink). I then added zebra stripes with OPI Black Onyx and stamping plate BM16. I am really happy with how this turned out and I received several compliments on it today!

Excuse the dog hair. That's what I get for having a little fluff ball. LOL

Do you like my neon zebra mani or is it too out there??

Misa Let's Go Green

2012-02-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, it has been busy lately!

I have another Misa for you today and it is total awesomesauce. I am really falling in love with Misa polishes. They have an amazing formula and this shimmer that seems to be really unique, I think I need more of them! (Of course LOL)

Let's Go Green is this awesome lime green but the really amazing thing about it is the gold shimmer. OMG. When I was looking at this polish in the bottle I thought for sure it would be really sheer and need several coats for full opacity. I considered layering it from the start but decided I would give it a shot on its own. I am glad I did, it only took 2 coats for full opacity! I am majorly impressed!

Another thing I really love about this color, and this is a personal reason for me, is because it is the color of my dream car! Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted a Chevy Camaro. I have always wanted a red one (because I am a red freak LOL) but a few months ago I saw a lime green one with racing stripes and it was instant love. SO FREAKING HOT.

This is 2 coats of Let's Go Green topped with Nubar Diamont Topcoat.

And for those of you who want to drool over my dream car (that I am determined to own someday) here ya go!!

Misa can be purchased for $7.50 at misacosmetics.com. They can also be found (cheaper!) at Head2Toe Beauty.

You can follow Misa on Facebook and Twitter as well!!

Bloom.com Deal!

2012-02-16T14:41:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to take a minute to tell you ladies about a great deal that one of my friends told me about this morning! Have you heard of Bloom.com? They have all sorts of high-end beauty brands, their nail polish brands include OPI, Zoya and CND.

Their is a site called Gilt City and they offer all sorts of promos and coupons and one they are running right now is $40 worth of Bloom.com products for $20. What makes this deal even better is if you are a new member to Gilt City you get 20% off, bringing the Bloom.com deal to $16.

Click HERE to go to Gilt City. After you sign up for Gilt City and purchase the bloom.com deal, register at Bloom and again, if you are a new customer you will receive a voucher in your email for 30% Rewards back on your next order at Bloom.com. (Click HERE for the details on that) Click HERE or any of the other Bloom links in my post to join!

I think this is a great deal, you can get a lot of amazing items for just $16!! I hope you enjoy!

Misa Embroidered Emerald

2012-02-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to drooooool?? Break out your bibs because this polish is ah-mazing!!! I seriously can't stop staring at my nails. It is also very old, 11 years to be exact. Needless to say it is hard to find, I am sorry about that. I hate seeing a polish I want and not being able to obtain it. It is still around in some supply shops (which is how I got mine through my friend Traci) so if you really love it you might check out supply shops.

OK, onto the yummy goodness that is Misa Embroidered Emerald. This polish is a dark purplish red color that flashes a lovely teal color in the light. Simply stunning. I originally applied 2 coats and it looked good to the naked eye but had bald spots in the pics. I added another coat and everything evened out. So this is 3 coats but if I hadn't been taking pics 2 would have been fine. Let's get to the pics, shall we? (There are several of them, I had a hard time narrowing it down LOL)

I think I just fainted. LOL

Julep Maven Promo

2012-02-15T12:21:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to let you know Julep is running a promo where you can become a Maven and get your first month's box for only $1!!! Click the link below and use code SHAREONFEB to stop missing out on the goodies!!

Click HERE to become a Maven!!!

Valentine's Nails!

2012-02-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies!!! Today I have a little bit of nail art for you. :-) I started off with my base color of Zoya Pandora that I showed you last night. I then did a sponge gradient (by far my FAVORITE nail art technique) with Zoya Marley and Anja. This is an all Zoya mani, which is kinda perfect since they are having a Valentine's promo today! (If you missed that link on my Facebook page I will link it at the bottom of this post.) I then added some stamping on my ring finger with Marley and Anja as an accent nail. I love Anja, she is one of my favorites. So deep and shiny. This was my first time using Marley and she is the perfect lavendar, I can't wait to use her on her own. Shall we get on to the pics?

**EDIT I forgot to put in which plate I used for the stamping. It was Bundle Monster plate BM03.**

Please excuse the smudge on my middle finger. I bumped it and then tried to fix it. :-(

What do you think? I hope you enjoyed it!!

Zoya polishes retail for $8 and can be purchased at Zoya.com. They are having a Valentine's promo today where you purchase any one item from their site and you receive one red polish for free and free shipping! You can find all of the details HERE

You can like Zoya on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

Zoya Pandora

2012-02-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

This post is definitely a first for me!! I have never been quiet in my hatred for nude polish, I have ALWAYS hated nude polish. So why is it that I am starting to love it?! I guess my tastes are changing, maybe it's because I am getting old? LOL Anyways, I have my very first nude polish post!

I wouldn't call these mannequin hands, the polish did not match my skin tone perfectly, but they are the closest I have ever been! LOL Now I am on the hunt for my perfect mannequin hand color. OMG

Pandora had PERFECT application, so creamy and smooth. I had heard that Zoya makes amazing nudes and this confirms it. I have one tiny bubble on my ring finger but had no other issues. These pics are without topcoat.

*please excuse the dent in my index finger* grrr

What do you think of my nude nails?? This is also going to serve as the base of some Valentine's nail art you will see tomorrow. :-)

Pandora can be purchased at zoya.com for $8.

You can like Zoya on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

MEGA NAIL MAIL!!!!!

2012-02-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

I got some pretty amazing nail mail this weekend! It was parcels galore!! All of the packages are from fellow bloggers and women I consider friends. Get ready for linkage galore!

First up, my friend Aleta over at The Nail Junkie sent me a very sweet care package, a mini Valentine's Day gift.

Some nail magazines, CANDY!!, Julep Essential Cuticle Oil, Felt (for removing polish) and a lovely card

Julep Nail File and Hand Cream sample

Next up is my package from Ashley over at Smashley Sparkles. After I posted my haul where I got Savita and Veruschka, Ashley contacted me and said she had access to Posh and possibly other Zoya mattes. She ended up grabbing me Posh and Harlow. I love them! Thank you so much Ashley!

Zoya Posh and Harlow

If you remember my post from when I got my February Julep Maven boxes I told you I was swapping a couple of items with my friend SuiLing over at Lovely Little Things because I had accidentally forgotten to switch my box. SuiLing also included some macadamia nuts because you can't get a package from Hawaii without macadamia nuts!! (She actually included 3 packages, 1 was harmed before the taking of these pictures. LOL) Thank you so much SuiLing!!

ANOTHER Julep Cuticle Oil (love this stuff!) and Julep Glenn

OK, I saved the most EPIC for last!!! My awesome friend Traci from The Trace Face Philes hooked me up BIG TIME. I am so in love with my package from her. I have been wanting to try some Misa's, I should have NO problem with that now!! Not to mention all the awesome skin care goodies!

*OH EM GEE*

Misa Fatal Affair, Endless Keys, Toxic Seduction

Misa Let's Go Green, Like It Like That, Date Night To The Twilight

Misa The Grass Is Greener On My Side, Embroidered Emerald, Chelsea Kaleidoscope, CND Stickey

Back:

NailTek Advanced Hydrating Creme, Cuccio Butter in Tuscan Citrus Herb and Papaya & Guava, Wen Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner (not nail related LOL)

Front:

Cuccio Cuticle Conditioning Butter Stick in Milk & Honey and Pomegranate & Fig

(I have already used all of these and they are pure awesomesauce)

THANK YOU SO MUCH TRACE!!!

So what do you think of my nail mail? I can't wait to wear everything!!!

Zoya Posh

2012-02-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!! I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend! I received a ton of nail mail this weekend (look for a haul post tomorrow) and included was my long-awaited lemming of Zoya Posh!! I am so glad I decided to wise up and get these Zoya matte polishes, they are simply amazing.

Posh is a lovely deep red matte and the application was PERFECTION. Nearly a one-coater, although I used two. I have included matte pics and topcoat pics!!

How SEXY is that red?! OMG

Now for the shiny pics!! I added 1 coat of Nubar Diamont Topcoat

Isn't Posh amazing?!

Zoya polishes can be purchased at zoya.com but the mattes are not always in stock. If you see it you better grab it while you can!!

January Giveaway Winner!!!!

2012-02-11T13:10:00.001-08:00

Time to announce the winner of my January Giveaway!!! Let's get a quick reminder of the prize that was up for grabs.

Now lets see who the lucky winner is!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Jacki G.!!! Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to everyone who entered!

Nubar Black and White Polka Dot Party!!!!

2012-02-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday (almost Saturday) everyone!! I hope you all have a nice weekend planned! I have had an amazing day in my happy little blogging bubble. I am over 1200 GFC followers and I also topped 1000 Facebook likes on my Facebook page today!! Thank you all so much for your support, you are THE BEST!!

My January giveaway ends tonight (less than 3 hours!) and I thought to celebrate I would show you the polishes you can win! I have already used my Nubar Black and White Polka Dot polishes before (if you missed it you can see that post HERE) but I decided I wanted to wear them over alternating black and white and I LOVE it. I like it better this way than the way I originally wore it.

The Black and White Polka Dot polishes consist of micro hex glitter as well as larger hex glitter. The small hex glitters in the White Polka Dot seem to have an iridescent quality but maybe they are just picking up the colors around them? I'm not sure. LOL Either way I love them! The formula on the polka dot polishes is really nice. I had to work with it a bit to get the larger hex glitters in just the right spot but that is normal for large glitters. Add in the fact that I am anal about applying glitter, I have a very organized mind and don't like clutter, thus I don't want my nails to look disorganized. Does that make sense? LOL I hope so.

I applied these over OPI Alpine Snow and OPI Black Onyx. I wish I had thought to get a pic of these before I added the polka dots. They are wonderful creams, fully opaque in two coats. The Nubar's were very smooth and shiny on their own. I did add 1 coat of Nubar Diamont Topcoat and my nails look soooo shiny, I love it!!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I do! I am in love with my polka dots!!

Nubar sell for $8 can be purchased at Harlow & Co. or bynubar.com.

FEVERlacquer I Lie For.....Only You

2012-02-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

If you saw my nail mail post earlier today you saw my very exciting package from FEVERlacquer. If you did not see it I suggest you go read it. I will highlight the high points here but there is a lot of information in my nail mail post about this brand of polish, including why I have the very first bottle made. :-)

FEVERlacquer is a brand new indie (or franken) brand of polish created by my friend Cas. (Once again, I will give all links pertaining to FEVERlacquer at the bottom of this post). FEVERlacquer is 3 FREE and is baby- and pregnancy-safe. Cas makes each bottle from scratch and also lists all ingredients used on each bottle of FEVERlacquer.

I Lie For....Only You (ILF...OY) is a GORGEOUS blue jelly with just a hint of green. It has holo micro-glitter and black hex glitter OMG. I love how with each coat the black glitter became layered, making its very own jelly-sandwich. Eventhough this is a jelly it only took 3 coats to become opaque and it dried SUPER fast. I am very impressed with this polish and can't wait for what comes next with FEVERlacquer.

I must apologize for my pics. My camera was not cooperating (as per usual LOL). I promise one of these days I will buy a new camera and you can stop hearing my complain. The first picture is the only one I could get that is accurate to the color but my fingers look orange. Don't look at my skin, just my nails. HAHA The rest of the pics show the glitter well but the pics are too bright. So please keep that in mind. :-)

Are we ready to drool??? Do you have your bib ready?!

Don't look at the orange fingers!!! LOL

#1!!!

Isn't this polish amazeballs?! I love it!

Cas is also a blogger (although she doesn't blog as much lately since she is busy creating awesome polish) and her blog is The Mani-Logues.

She has created a blog just for FEVERlacquer to keep everyone informed and to show sneak peeks at upcoming polishes. You can find it at HERE. If you go there now she has a preview of 2 polishes coming up later this month!!

One last link, she has also created a Facebook page for FEVERlacquer. You can find it HERE.

FEVERlacquer Nail Mail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-09T12:09:00.001-08:00

If you follow me on my Facebook page you have seen me talking about FEVERlacquer, the EXCITING new indie or franken brand created by my friend Cas. (I will post all links pertaining to FEVERlacquer at the bottom of this post) The nail polish world is being taken over by indie brands and they are AH-MAZING. Cas sets herself apart from the rest, not only are her creations gorgeous but they are also 3 FREE and she lists ALL ingredients used on the bottles. How cool is that?! Cas is very into baby- and pregnancy-safe products (especially since having her precious little girl Violet) so it is very important to her to make her polish safe for everyone.

The very first polish released is called I Lie For....Only You. It is a gorgeous blue jelly with black and silver glitter. I will get into details of the polish more after I use it.

Something else that makes FEVERlacquer special to me is that I actually named it. :-) We were chatting one night with some of our other friends and we were all throwing out suggestions (mostly silly ones LOL) but then Cas said Violet had just woken up with a fever. It hit me like a ton of bricks, FEVER! That would be an awesome name for her polish brand!! (FYI, Violet was fine, just teething. <3) Cas loved it and FEVERlacquer was born!! I love that she used my suggestion, it makes me feel so special.

As a thank you for helping her name her brand I received the very first bottle of FEVERlacquer ever made. Number ONE out of the very first batch of 20! Thank you so much Cas, I was not expecting that!! OK, let's get onto the pics so I can go put this on my nails. ;-)

No, that is not a typo. LOL Cas calls me Hashley or Hash. ;-)

Cas used some of Violet's old diapers too package the polish in. So cute. LOL

NUMBER 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time for the links!!

Cas is also a blogger (although she doesn't blog as much lately since she is busy creating awesome polish) and her blog is The Mani-Logues.

She has created a blog just for FEVERlacquer to keep everyone informed and to show sneak peeks at upcoming polishes. You can find it at HERE.

One last link, she has also created a Facebook page for FEVERlacquer. You can find it HERE.

I am going to go paint my nails now!!! Look for this post later today!!!

OPI Vampsterdam Gets Kissed!!!!

2012-02-08T18:36:00.001-08:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!!! Yay for Hump Day and being half way through the work week! Today I have for you my #1 lemming from the OPI Holland Collection, which was "officially" released in stores today. Vampsterdam is an AMAZING color, I don't know exactly how to describe it. It's a dark purplish, brownish, burgundy color. Does that make sense?? LOL I was a little disappointed in the formula on this polish which surprises me with OPI. It was still streaky with 2 coats (I included a comparison pic with 2 versus 3 coats) and I had some bubble and brush mark issues. GRRR I HATE BUBBLES AND BRUSH MARKS.

I also added some stamping with a Valentine theme for those of you who are into Valentine's Day. (Can you tell I am not?! LOL) Oh well, maybe next year. Hahaha

The following is 3 coats of Vampsterdam (except for the comparison pic). For the stamping I used Color Club Hot Like Lava with BM02.

COMPARISON PIC: 2 coats on the left, 3 coats on the right

See the major streaks and bare spots on the left??

I hope you enjoyed this!! Even with the formula issues I would still buy Vampsterdam. The color is GORGEOUS and the name is total AWESOMESAUCE.

Zoya Savita

2012-02-07T19:08:00.000-08:00

Are you ready for another Zoya matte? I hope so, I am!! I remembered I had pics of Zoya Savita from last week when I used it under Butter London Knackered and I wasn't ready to take off my Sparkly Swamp Nails (they are still chip-free and no tip wear!). So I decided to show you Savita and I'll (hopefully) have some nail art for you tomorrow. :-)

Just like Verushcka, the formula on Savita was amazing. I am so glad I have these (and have two more on their way to me!), I don't know why I waited so long to get them. LOL OK, as with Veruschka I have matte pics as well as topcoat pics. Two coats. :-) Please excuse my index finger, apparently I messed it up and didn't realize it until now. GRRR

Time to SHINE!!!!

What do you think of Savita? Do you like it matte or shiny, or both perhaps? I looove it both ways!!

Zoya retails for $8 and can be purchased at zoya.com. They often have sales and promos so I suggest following their Facebook page and/or Twitter for all the inside scoop!! And, as I stated yesterday, I am afraid the mattes are in danger of being discontinued so you might want to hurry! LOL

Sparkly Swamp Nails!!!

2012-02-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Can you guess by my title which polish I am using? If you guessed Lynnderella She Lived In A Swamp you are right!! I am absolutely in love with this polish and the combo with Zoya Veruschka!! This polish is so gorgeous but so swampy at the same time. I also have 3 different looks with this combo, ALL of them AMAZEBALLS!!!

I tried to create a "swamp" look on my nails. I didn't want to cover Veruschka completely but I didn't want to just do my tips either. I tried to make it look like the glitter was a swampy goo coming from all different angles onto my nails. I love this look, I hope all of you do too.

Let me tell you the one downside to this polish, it is incredibly chunky and hungry. When I put topcoat on I added 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Seche Vite (my normal combo for glitters is 1 coat of Gelous and then 1 coat of any topcoat). I could still feel the glitter MAJORLY so I added ANOTHER coat of Gelous and Seche Vite. This took care of most of the problem but I did still have a few "stray" glitters popping up here and there. That is absolutely the only downside to this polish and in my opinion it is worth it.

Let's get to the pics, shall we? For the first 5 pics I left Veruschka matte and added the glitter. This is without topcoat so you can see it is not smooth but I love the sparkly, shiny glitter over the matte finish of Veruschka.

The next 5 pics are with all 4 coats of topcoat. OMG. 4 coats. LOL I have never used that much topcoat before, I guess there is a first time for everything.

For the last 5 pics I added Hard Candy's Matte-ly In Love on the top making everything matte. I was surprised I actually loved this as much as I did. It's how I left it and how I am wearing it as I type this post. :-) I am LOVING the matte glitter.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Do my nails look like sparkly, gooey swamps to you? LOL Which version do you like the best?

Lynnderella polish is very hard to get. It is now sold exclusively by the lovely Leah Ann at Llarowe. It is currently out of stock but she is expecting more shipments throughout February. These sell out extremely quickly. I suggest signing up for email updates on her site as well as following her on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Zoya Veruschka

2012-02-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ahhh Monday, we meet again. Who's ready for another week? Who am I kidding, nobody is ready for another week. LOL Well to perk up your Monday I have an amazing polish for you today. It is also going to be the base for my next post which I am SUPER DUPER excited about.

I don't know why I held off on trying the Zoya mattes for so long, they are absolutely stunning and the application was SO EASY. I have tried other mattes and they are quite a pain to apply but this was the complete opposite. I have included matte pics and pics with topcoat. I honestly love it both ways.

Veruschka is a lovely dark green, I would describe it as a forest green. It was nearly a one-coater, what you see here are two coats. First up, the matte pics (there are a lot of pics, I am so in love with Veruschka I had a hard time narrowing it down). Please excuse the shiny cuticles, I had just applied cuticle oil.

Now for the shiny pics!! I added 1 coat of Orly Won't Chip for these.

What do you think of Veruschka? Do you like matte polishes? Do you prefer them matte or with a topcoat?

You can purchase Zoya polishes at Zoya.com for $8 but they often run promos and sales. I suggest following them on Facebook for all the latest news. Also, keep in mind that the mattes have been very sporadic on the site lately. This could mean they are getting close to retiring them.

Mom's Nails!! A Valentine's Mani

2012-02-05T19:23:00.001-08:00

It has been a really long time since I posted Mom's nails on here!! I have been doing them, I just haven't had much of a chance to get pictures of them! I decided to do a Valentine-themed mani on her with OPI DS Reflection. I am really pleased with how these turned out and I love DS Reflection! I used Sally Hansen Insra-Dri Whirlwing White withthe following stamping plates:

BM17 on Index and Ring Fingers

BM02 on Middle Finger

BM03 on Pinky and Thumb

I hope you enjoyed Mom's Valentine's Day-themed mani!

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

2012-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!! Any of my US girls watching the Superbowl? I am half-watching while blogging. LOL Anyways, today I have an amazing polish!!! Have you heard of Max Factor Fantasy Fire? It is supposed to be a dupe for the much sought-after (and VERY expensive) Clarins 230. I don't have Clarins 230 but from the pics I have seen this comes pretty darn close!!

I put it over my previous post of Barry M Indigo. I love it over Indigo but I wish I had put it over black instead, I WILL be doing that sometime this week, so stay tuned for that!! I think putting it over black will make it look even more like a Clarins dupe since it will give it the full range of color shift. I will also link a couple of my friend's blog posts at the bottom of this one. They put it over different colors with even different results.

This applied very well, no application issues at all. The bottle is TEENY so the brush is also teeny. LOL So the bristles are short but they weren't hard to work with. This is 2 coats over Indigo, no topcoat.

Some of these pictures weren't the best, I apologize for that. My camera has been having a lot of issues lately.

Fantasy Fire is only available in the UK, I received mine from my friend Denise, she was such a sweetheart to get it for me. Thank you Denise!!

Here are the bonus posts I promised you!!

Sheila from Pointless Cafe

Alex from Nail Lacquer Addict

Julep Maven Promo!!!

2012-02-05T00:20:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to let you know that Julep is offering another promo!! You can get your first Maven box for only $9.99!!! Use code OSCARS2012 and follow the link below to try out the Maven program for less than $10!! It is so nice to get that fancy box of goodies every month!! And don't forget you can choose to try a different style each month, skip a month or even send to a friend as a gift!

Click here to become a Maven!!

Barry M Indigo

2012-02-03T21:51:00.000-08:00

Tonight I have one of my long time lemmings and my very first Barry M!!! I am so impressed with this brand, I now want them all! Indigo is a deep blue/purple color, sometimes it looks blue and sometimes it looks purple. It's blurple. The formula was amazing, nearly a one-coater and so smooth!! My pictures do not do this gorgeous polish justice. This is two coats WITHOUT topcoat, it is this shiny on its own. This is probably the shiniest creme polish I have ever seen.

What do you think of this awesome blurple?

Barry M is available in the UK but can also be purchased at www.barrym.com.

Nail Mail!!!

2012-02-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Yay for the weekend!! I got a package of OPI last night from my friend Jen. :-) Let's look at the goodies shall we?

OPI Vampsterdam, Road House Blues, I Juggle......Men

Vampsterdam was my #1 lemming from the Holland Collection so it's nice that I can cross that off my list! Thanks so much Jen, can't wait for you to get your half of the swap!!

Lynnderella Lucky Numbers

2012-02-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

Who else is excited that tomorrow is Friday??? I know I am!!! Today I have another awesome Lynnderella!! It just so happens to be the one in my February Giveaway (this is my own bottle, not the one in the giveaway). Lucky Numbers is simply amazing. It is black and red glitter in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I see circles, squares, bars and hexes, oh my!! But what really sets this apart from other glitter polishes is the shimmer in the base. It has an almost iridescent quality that shifts from a pink tone to a gold tone. It is amazing!! In some lighting it seemed to shift my base of Essence Romeo to a light purplish color, STUNNING!!!
The following is 2 coats of Lucky Numbers topped of with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat of Orly Won't Chip.

What do you think of Lucky Numbers? Lynderella retail for $15 and can only be purchased at Llarowe as of now. They are currenntly out of stock but there should be another shipment coming soon. You can sign up for email updates at Llarowe as well as following Leah Ann (the owner of Llarowe) on her Facebook page or Twitter.

Don't forget to enter my February giveaway for your chance to win Lucky Numbers!!

Two Julep Boxes and International Nail Mail!!!

2012-02-02T13:54:00.002-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone!! The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind for me! I want to welcome my new followers and I hope you enjoy it here! I love having giveaways because they are fun for both me and my readers but I think my blog has a lot more to offer than just the giveaways. :-) So I hope you genuinely enjoy all of my posts, I try to make them fun!! OK, onto the goodies!!
I received both of my Julep boxes yesterday (I have two subscriptions) as well as an AMAZING package from my friend Denise in England!! Let's get to it, shall we?
The BEST kind of mail there is!!!
First up is my February Bombshell Julep Box!!

I loooove the red and gold shredded packing paper! I may start using them for every pic I take!! LOL

Two polishes (will tell the names in the closeup), my chocolate Oscar and my Julep Hair Topcoat!! I can't wait to try this! I looove hair products!

L-R: Oscar and Viola

I also got an It Girl Box but I really wanted American Beauty. It was my fault, not Julep's, I just completely forgot to change my box before the cutoff date. But my friend SuiLing from Lovely Little Things saved the day!! She is getting American Beauty and we are going to swap. So two of my It Girl polishes will go to SuiLing and she will send me a polish and a cuticle oil. Yay!! (As it turns out I am IN LOVE with the two polishes I am sending her so I will have to purchase them at some point. LOL)

L-R: Oscar, Elizabeth, Rachel

And last, but certainly not least, is my package from my friend Denise!! I am sure you have all seen Max Factor Fantasy Fire polish floating around the blogosphere. It is amazing and supposed to be a dupe for the much sought-after Clarins 230! I am so grateful Denise, thank you so much!! She also included a lovely gold glitter polish from George called Starry Eyed.

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

So there you have my nail mail!! What do you think?

1,000 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-01T19:44:00.002-08:00

WOW!!!! I AM IN SHOCK AND AMAZEMENT THAT I HAVE REACHED 1,000 FOLLOWERS!!! I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I could reach this milestone, thank you all so much!!! To celebrate I have a pretty awesome giveaway planned!! I could not let the 1,000 follower mark pass without a giveaway and this one is super special!!
The lovely Katie from Harlow & Co. has graciously agreed to sponsor this giveaway with some of the AMAZING polishes she sells!! Harlow & Co. sells top notch brands such as Nubar, Model's Own, Ozotics, Picture Polish, Glitter Gal, Nerd Lacquer and more!!!
For this giveaway there will be TWO WINNERS!!! The prizes will be shipped directly from Harlow & Co. after the winner is chosen. There is a Nubar prize and a Model's Own prize!!! The first person chosen will get to choose which prize they would like and the second person chosen will receive the remaining prize. Let's take a look at the goodies, shall we?

Nubar Prize

Nubar 2010, Nubar Diamont Top Coat, Nubar Indigo Illusion

Model's Own Prize

Model's Own Emerald City and Model's Own Juicy Jules
How about that?! Are they AMAZEBALLS or what?! I wish I could enter my own giveaway!! Heehee
This giveaway will end on Friday, March 23rd. Fill out Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win!! And again, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Essence Romeo

2012-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou, Romeo? LOL OK, that was a lame intro but when is there going to be any other time I could use it? LOL But seriously, I am still looking for my real-life Romeo, anyone know of one that's available? ;-)

I am absolutely in love with the Essence Twins. I only have 3 (Romeo and Edward & Bella) but I really want all of them. The cremes in the Twins are soooo buttery smooth they are nearly one-coaters. Romeo is a nice grey creme with a nice shiny finish. There's really nothing else to say except you need it. LOL

Romeo will be serving as the base for my next post which I think you will all love!! The following is 2 coats of Romeo with one coat of Orly Won't Chip.

I hope you love Romeo!! I think you're going to love what I pair with him!!

February Giveaway!!!!!!

2012-02-01T09:21:00.001-08:00

OK, time for my second announcement of the day! It is GIVEAWAY TIME AGAIN!!! When I announced my monthly giveaways I said they would start on the 11th of every month but I just couldn't wait that long. LOL I have had this prize sitting and waiting since the beginning of January and it kept taunting me. Plus I figured I shouldn't waste 11 days of February. So, my monthly giveaways will now start on the first of the month and end the 11th of the following month, (Unless I change my mind again HAHA)
Sooo, are you ready to find out the prize?! I thought so!!! LOL It's only one polish but it is a really good one!!!

Lynnderella Lucky Numbers

Yes, there will be one winner of this giveaway with one prize, Lynnderella Lucky Numbers!!!!

Thank you all so much for following me!! I have these giveaways because I love blogging and I love my readers, I want to thank you all for being with me on our polish addiction journey!! I have the best readers ever!!!

Fill out the Rafflecopter widget below and good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Announcing My Very Own Domain Name!!!

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hello lovely readers!!! This is the first of two very exciting announcements from me today!!! This announcement probably won't mean a lot to my readers but I think it's pretty awesome!! I have purchased my own domain name so now you will fins me at http://www.ashleyispolishaddicted.com/ This is still hosted by Blogger so you should not have any issues while the address is switching over. If you follow and old link or type in the old address it will still get you to my blog. :-)
While this announcement was more for me, the next announcement I have today is all about my lovely readers!!! Stay tuned!!

Butter London Knackered Dupe???

2012-01-31T20:29:00.001-08:00

Hello again!!! I mentioned in my post on Butter London Knackered earlier today that I thought I might be able to layer two of my current polishes and create a dupe. Well, I am happy to announce that it is NOT a dupe!!! I am totally justified in owning both. :-)
The two polishes I had in mind were OPI Not Like The Movies and China Glaze Fairy Dust. In the first pic you can see 3 coats of NLTM on its own (it is more opaque than Knackered) and you can clearly see that they are not dupes. I also swatched 2 fingers over Zoya Savita, you can see that at the end of the post.

4 coats Butter London Knackered on the left, 3 coats of OPI NLTM with 1 coat ChG Fairy Dust on the right

For the pics below I put 2 coats of NLTM and 1 coat of Fairy Dust on my index and ring fingers, BL Knackered on my middle finger and pinky. All are over 2 coats of Savita.

Well there you have it. I didn't bother swatching it over black since they weren't as close as I thought. Does it make you happy or sad that I didn't find a dupe?

Butter London Knackered EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!!

2012-01-31T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!! Today I have for you a polish from Butter London's new collection for Spring. This is a Knackered EXTRAVAGANZA!!! I have swatched Knackered by itself, over black and over dark purple (Zoya Savita). I thought knackered meant tired but I wasn't sure so I asked some of my fellow polish addict friends who live in England and they confirmed that is in fact what it means (along with a few other meanings). I am really "knackered" after so many color changes and pics. LOL
Knackered is really amazing in the bottle, it is a multi-chrome with scattered holo glitter. This shifts from purple to blue to silver and sometimes even green. I expected this to be sheer because most multi-chromes are but I tried it out on its own first anyways. I was right, super sheer, after 4 coats I still had VNL. The next three pics are FOUR coats of Knackered.

I then decided to put it over black, most duo- and multi-chromes look best over a dark color. I took inside pics and sun pics. My index finger and middle finger have 3 coats of Knackered over OPI Black Onyx and my ring finger and pinky have 2 coats of Knackered.

Please excuse the chip on my ring finger and the messy index finger. LOL These were not visible to the naked eye and I had already taken this combo off when I was editing the pics.

Inside under artificial lighting...

In the sun....

Indirect sunlight...

I thought I was done after that but then my friend Jacki from Adventures in Acetone said she wanted to see it swatched over purple so I decided I might as well add that one in too. LOL I put it over Zoya Savita (I haven't posted on this yet, post coming soon, but in the meantime I added a pic below of Savita so you know what she looks like). It definitely makes it more purple but you can see the color shift in the shade really well. I'm glad I listened to Jacki, this is my favorite combo! (Oh, and I am IN LOVE with Savita, that post coming later).

Zoya Savita with only top coat...

Over Savita under artificial light...

Over Savita in the sun....

Over Savita in the shade....

What do you think of Knackered? I love it BUT I think I can create a dupe out of two polishes I already own. I will have a comparison post up later today. Which two polishes do you think I am talking about? Does it remind you of anything?

Butter London polishes retail for $14 and can be purchased at Ulta, Ulta.com and butterlondon.com

Lacquistry Aqua Shredded!!!!

2012-01-29T21:20:00.001-08:00

Hello again!!! I am so excited for this post! This is my very first Lacquistry polish and I am very impressed!! Aqua Shredded is like glitter but not. LOL It's more like "shards". I love this shredded concept, it's new to me and I now need more of them!! The application was PERFECT, very smooth and even. I put this over NOX Twilight Crush and I think this combo is amazing. I have a few other colors in mind I want to try this over as well. I topped this off with one coat of Seche Vite, it was pretty smooth but next time I will use Gelous before my top coat.
Make sure you stay till the end because I added a little bonus. :-)

I decided I wanted to see this matte and added Hard Candy's Matte-ly in Love. It is awesome!! However, as mentioned in my last post I am having camera issues so the matte pics were taken with my phone and are somewhat grainy. I apologize for this.

Lacquistry polishes can be purchased from their creator, Jenna, at her Etsy shop which you can find HERE. They retail for a very reasonable $7.50.
Also, make sure to like Lacquistry on Facebook and make sure to tell her I sent you!!

NOX Twilight Crush

2012-01-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

Hello all my lovelies!!!! I am so excited about the TWO posts I have for you tonight!!! This is an AMAZING color and will serve as my basecoat for my next post and it is quite the AMAZING combo!!!
I have posted on this brand before, NOX Twilight, and as I have said before, it is an awesome brand!Even if you are not a Twilight fan these polishes are definitely worth having. They have amazing formulas and opacity. This was nearly a one-coater.
I apologize for the quality of the pics. I am having issues with my camera so I had to use my phone and the pics are grainy. :-( Also, I used a BRAND NEW BOTTLE of Seche Vite and it left black specks on my pinky. I have no idea why it did this. Argh. Anyways, on to the amazing HOT PINK!!!

Again, I apologize for the pics, they are not very good quality. :-( But the color is so amazing!!!
You can purchase NOX Twilight polishes at twilightbeauty.com for $6.99 each.

900 FOLLOWERS!!!!

2012-01-27T21:20:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to take a minute to thank EACH AND EVERY ONE of my followers!!!! I really do appreciate it!!! I have the BEST followers out there!!! I really hope you enjoy my blog, with all of it's pics and rambling. LOL
I have something pretty AMAZING lined up when I reach 1,000 followers so please share!!! And don't forget about my Nubar Polka Dots Giveaway!!! Again, I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my nail polish-loving heart. <3

Nail Mail!!!

2012-01-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

I got two very awesome packages in the mail this week! Actually three but only two were polish. LOL The third was Collection 13 of Dark Shadows, my mom has me hooked. LOL Anyway, you didn't come here to hear about that. Haha
On Tuesday I received my two free Zoya's from their promo that I shared on my Facebook page. I know I am late to the bandwagon but I recently decided that I need all of the Zoya Velvet Mattes. Of course, after they are starting to discontinue them and they are now becoming hard to find. The only two they had on the site were Savita and Veruschka, they are gorgeous. Posh was my #1 lemming (and not on the site) but Savita and Veruschka were close behind. Check out the gorgeous purple and green mattes.

L-R: Zoya Savita and Veruschka

And today I recieved a lovely package from my dear friend Cynthia. She is one of the sweetest people alive. She knew I was wanting Lacquistry Aqua Shredded and they were getting low on stock so she went ahead and ordered it for me. Wasn't that so sweet of her!? I sent her China Glaze Party Hearty as a thank you. :-) I received mine today and Cynthia added a bonus of an awesome glitter that is from the brand Nabi. I am unfamiliar with this brand but it's so pretty and I can't wait to try it!

L-R: Nabi Multi Jumbo Glitter and Lacquistry Aqua Shredded
Thank you so much Cynthia!!!!!

Nubar Reclaim! With A Little Stamping ;-)

2012-01-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!! Can you tell I'm totally happy it's almost the weekend?!?!?! I'm sure you are too. LOL Unless you have to work, in which case I am sorry. Anyhoo, today I have a polish for you that I have been DYING to get on my nails. Nubar Reclaim. It's green. It's holo. It's perfect. I am in love.
I have only been using Nubar for about a month but I love it, it has become one of my favorite brands in a very short time. Their bottle and cap are my favorite, they are the perfect shape to hold and it is cute to boot! LOL I had perfect application with Reclaim, no dragging or bald spot issues that many linear holos have, and top coat did not dull the holo effect. I used 2 coats of Reclaim topped with Nubar Diamont Top Coat.
I wanted to add some stamping because I love the look of stamping over holos! It just makes it amazing. I was having issues with my stamping for some reason though, so it did not turn out as well as I thought it would. I did still included a couple pics of it. For the stamping I used BM05 with OPI Black Onyx.

*DIES* LOL

Now for the stamping....

I really wish the stamping had turned out better. But the polish is gorgeous enough that it doesn't matter. LOL
You can purchase Nubar from Katie over at Harlow & Co. She sells AH-MAZING brands and ships internationally!! Oh, and she is super sweet too!!
Nubar can also be purchased from bynubar.com

Essence Applause, Applause

2012-01-25T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I am so sorry my posting has been so sporadic lately!! I miss posting for you guys every day!! I will do my absolute best to get back to every day posts, it's just hard with life being so crazy right now! If you follow me on my Facebook page you know that I broke a nail yesterday. I broke it badly, it was diagonal and to a point. LOL So it was time to chop them all down, so you will be seeing some super nubbins today.
I decided it was time to post one of my polishes I got in my swap with Solange and of course I wanted to use the red one first. LOL As per usual, my camera fails at capturing the awesomeness of this polish. The red in the pics is much more orange, in real life this is a cool-toned bright red and the glitter is ah-mazing. I hope to get a new camera this Spring and if I do be prepared to see a LOT OF RED AND GLITTERS!! LOL I love red and glitter but I don't use them much right now because I can't capture their full beauty. Now on to the beautiful polish!!
If you are not familiar with the Essence Circus, Circus Collection I will give you a little info. There are four polishes in the collection (I have 3 and still need Don't Feed The Tiger if anyone has access to it) and each polish is double-sided with a creme on one side and a coordinating glitter on the other. Applause, Applause is a red creme with a red glitter consisting of micro-glitter and larger square glitter. I topped it with Julep Fast Dry Topcoat, this was not a hungry glitter so I didn't use Gelous.
In the first 3 pics are 2 coats of the creme and then the other I put 1 coat of glitter on top. :-)

Thank you for this awesome polish Solange!!!

Essence True Love

2012-01-22T22:32:00.000-08:00

Time for another one of my Essence Vampire's Love polishes!! I am so in love with this collection, so happy I got my hands on it!!! Thanks so much Traci!!! <3
My parents recently celebrated their 35th Anniversary and my brother and I took them out to celebrate this weekend. I needed a dark purple polish and I figured one name True Love was perfect for the occasion. I am in love with this polish. It is the perfect dark, vampy, shimmery purple.
The coverage was amazing with 2 coats and I topped it off with Orly Won't Chip.

What do you think of this polish? I think it is absolutely gorgeous!!

International Nail Mail!!!!

2012-01-22T21:43:00.001-08:00

Hello lovelies!! I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend!! Mine went by super fast, don't they always? Why can't we work 2 days and have 5 off??? That would be awesome. LOL Enough fantasizing, onto things we can be happy about that are actually a reality.
I have finally completed my first international swap!! I actually did a mini swap before I started blogging but this is the first one since I've been blogging. I have become friends with Solange from Nail Lacquer Addict (who lives in Luxembourg) and she was wanting some US polishes so we decided to swap. You can see what I got here over at her blog HERE.

What a CHEERY box!!! Why don't we have bright boxes here?

And the goodies!!!!

L-R: Catrice Forget Me Not! and Manhattan 78S (I assume this is the name, there was nothing else that looked like the name LOL)

Essence Choose Me and Galactic Black

Three out of the four in the Essence Circus, Circus collection. I still need Don't Feed the Tiger if anyone knows where to find it please let me know!

Top to bottom: Essence Cotton Candy, My Sparkling Acrobat and Applause, Applause (red and sparkly!!!)

A lovely card, nail stickers and chocolate!!

The chocolate was COMPLETELY MELTED when I got it, it felt like water inside. LOL Lovely Arizona, even in January. I put it in the fridge and ate it later, it was delish!! Thank you Solange!!

Hope you enjoyed!!

Lynderella Connect the Dots!!!!

2012-01-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday my lovely readers!!! I have surpassed 800 followers today!! I cannot believe it!!! I want to thank each and everyone of you for following my ramblings and polish adventures!! Without all of you I would be talking to myself, which has been known to happen. LOL
OK, onto the epicness that is Lynnderella Connect the Dots!!! I wanted to put this over a bright, fun color and decided Julep Helena would be perfect!! I must take a minute to say that Helena has worn like iron! I have been wearing it for nearly 3 days and have no chips and only very minimal tip wear on a couple of fingers, and I have been doing a lot of stuff with my hands. (AND ONLY TWO OF MY FINGERS HAD TOPCOAT OVER HELENA!) I am very impressed!
Back to Connect the Dots! I waited a long time for this polish and it was definitely worth the wait!! It is simply amazing. It is classy and fun all at the same time, and there is so much going on. There is black and white micro glitter, as well as black and white glitter in hex, square, round and bar shapes! There is also a white shimmer to it that makes it extra special! My camera didn't capture the shimmer very well but you can see it a little in the closeup. :)
I usually put Gelous over my glitters but this one didn't seem all that rough so I tried it with just Orly Won't Chip and it is ok. The bar glitter still sticks up in a few spots. Next time I will wear Gelous over it. OK, on to the pics!!!
**Please keep in mind, once again, this is not an accurate color pic for Helena. The first one is the closest but still not accurate**

If you are not familiar with Lynnderella polishes, they are handmade frankens by a sweet and very creative woman named Lynn. Because these are gorgeous, handmade and unique they are in very high demand.They are hard to come by but worth the wait. They can be purchased two different places when they are in stock.

They can be purchased directly from Lynnderella's blog HERE for $12 each but she has a minimum order of 5 bottles. Her store is currently closed but is supposed to re-open sometime in January.

They can also be purchased from Llarowe for $15 each but she is also currently out of stock. She is expecting a new shipment in mid-February.

Julep Helena is available at Julep.com. If you are interested in becoming a Julep Maven, they are running ANOTHER penny promo!!! You can become a Maven and get your first month for only $.01!!! Use promo code NEWYEAR2012!! Click HERE to take your style quiz and join! Don't forget, you can skip a month, switch styles to cancel at any time. :-)

Julep Helena

2012-01-18T13:57:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!! I'm going to tell you first thing today that I am IN LOVE with this polish BUT my pictures do not do it justice. I literally took HUNDREDS of pics of this color in every lighting situation I could find and not one of them turned out true to color. The ones I finally settled on (and I literally mean finally, I started working on these pics 24 hours ago) I am still not happy with. I actually feel bad using these because the color appears more muted than it is in real life. In real life this color is a very vibrant, bright, purpley fuschia. They are also blurry because these came from my phone, my camera did not get anywhere near the true color of this gorgeous polish. OK, onto the rest of the post...

The finish of this polish is very interesting. It is not a creme, it is more of a "rubbery" finish, it reminds me of the finish in the pics I've seen of the Illamasqua Theater of the Nameless Collection (you can see pics of this collection on All Lacquered Up HERE). It's somewhere between a creme and a matte, very satin-y and smooth. In my swatches I left my middle finger and pinky WITHOUT topcoat so you can see the difference in topcoat/no topcoat.

Index and middle fingers have topcoat, middle finger and pinky are without topcoat

I really wish I could have had better pics for all of you. I think this color is a must have, especially for Spring and Summer.

If you are interested in becoming a Julep Maven, they are running ANOTHER penny promo!!! You can become a Maven and get your first month for only $.01!!! Click HERE to take your style quiz and join! Don't forget, you can skip a month, switch styles ot cancel at any time. :-)

Lynnderella Mercury's Rainbow!!

2012-01-16T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hello lovelies!! I have a polish to brighten up your Monday! I absolutely could not wait to get one of my new Lynnderella's on my fingers!! It was hard to choose which one to use first but I decided on Mercury's Rainbow because I was still wearing my Naughty is Nice franken and I thought Mercury's Rainbow would look awesome on top of it! I was right (of course LOL) but unfortunately my camera could not capture the awesomeness that is this polish. It looks so much better in person than in my pics.
MR is a grey jelly base FILLED with holographic hex and micro glitter. Yes, the micro glitter is holo too!! OMG!!! What you see here is two thick coats over Naughty is Nice, topped with 1 coat of Gelous and 1 coat Orly Sec 'N Dry.
There are a lot of pics, I was trying to show this beauty off the best I could! The first three are sun pics, they really show the jelly quality well.

Blurred to show the holo effect...

I hope you enjoyed this!! I really wish I could have shown it off better!!

They can be purchased directly from Lynnderella's blog HERE for $12 each but she has a minimum order of 5 bottles. Her store is currently closed but is supposed to re-open sometime in January.

They can also be purchased from Llarowe for $15 each but she is also currently out of stock. She is expecting a new shipment in mid-February.

OOPS......I Didn't Mean To Buy This Much....

2012-01-15T20:20:00.001-08:00

I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend!! I woke up this morning feeling icky so I decided I needed some polish therapy. What better way to make yourself feel better than some awesome new polish?
I went to a few different places and this is what I wound up with...
From Ulta:

Zoya Remove+ and a polish duo that was on sale for $5.95!

I am really excited to try the Remove+, I have heard wonderful things about it.

L-R: Vampire Kiss and Howl At the Moon (how could I not get it with those names? LOL)

The color is off in this pic, they are deeper than this.

OPI Avojuice in Coconut Melon (smells so yummy!), Seche Vite, I will name the polish in the closeups below.

L-R: Rock-It, Androgynie, Goth, Here Comes Trouble

L-R: OPI Spark De Triomphe, ChG Techno, Love Marilyn

Color Club Cherry Sparkle and Antiquated (this was the one missing out of my Ross set)

And from a different store...

OPI Simmer & Shimmer, China Glaze Party Hearty

I could not believe I found Party Hearty!!! I have been wanting this forever!! What do you think of my haul? I really didn't intend to buy so much. LOL

A Franken "Naughty is Nice" ....and it is so nice!!!!

2012-01-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

My friend Jen (at Jen's Polish Wonderland) and I decided to do a mini swap because she made a franken that she thought I would love. She was right, it is amazing!! She also included Color Club Wild At Heart and China Glaze Platinum Gold (you can see these in my haul post HERE).
Anyways, I abso-freakin-lutely love my franken!! Jen named it "Naughty is Nice" because it has a base of Revlon Naughty. Jen was nice enough to include her recipe for this awesome polish, I will include it after the pics. Naughty is Nice is a purpley grey that shifts between the two in the light and has awesome holo bits all throughout. It reminds me of a galaxy. Awesomesauce.

Jen's Recipe

1/2 Revlon Naughty (or Perplex, same thing)

1/4 Milani HD

1/4 clear top coat (she used Color Club)

You can also see one of the frankens I made for here HERE

Update and Clarification on Orly Nail Rescue Kit

2012-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I have a nail post and a haul post for you tonight bur first I wanted to update you and clarify something from my Orly Nail Rescue Kit post yesterday.
Many of you commented about me using it on my entire nail, I am sorry I wasn't more clear on this. I did apply it to all of my nails but ONLY to the tips, not the whole nail.
Also, I removed all of the acrylic powder and glue last night after my post. Thanks for all the comments! Now off to work on a nail post! WOOT!

My Honest and Unbiased Review of Orly Nail Rescue Kit

2012-01-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hello lovely readers! I have a review of the Orly Nail Rescue Kit I purchased at Sally's last weekend, if you missed my mini haul you can see it HERE. Here is a pic of the Nail Rescue Kit.

I had heard that in addition to fixing broken nails this kit could also be used to help strengthen weak nails. My nails are pretty weak, although they are stronger now than before I started blogging. I decided I would try adding it to my tips to see if it would strengthen them long enough to get them to grow out some. In the past anytime I would get them to a length I liked one of them would inevitably break and I would have to chop them all down to nubs again.

The contents of this kit are pretty simple...nail glue, acrylic powder and a buffer. These are all things you can get without purchasing this kit, but with it being available at Sally's it makes it where pretty much everyone has access to it.

I added the powder to all 10 of my nails. You just simply brush on the glue and dip your finger in the powder. You are then supposed to use the supplied buffer, this is a joke. It is so smooth that it doesn't accomplish much of anything. I used my own buffer and it took me FOREVER to get it smooth enough for me to be happy with it. I literally spent several hours getting them smooth. Anyways, after I finally did, I painted my nails (of course LOL) and I was happy with the looks of them. This is where my happiness started and stopped with this kit.

Not too long after finishing my mani the acrylic started chipping on a couple of my nails. Of course this messed up the look of my mani, it chipped the polish plus I could not simply re-paint or touch up the nail because the acrylic was chipped and my nail was uneven.

But, even with this, the worst part was that when the acrylic chipped it took part of my nail with it. :( It tore off the end and then peeled it the rest of the way. I have had this happen on several nails now, luckily none of them are my swatching nails but I have yet to take it off of those nails. I am trying to decide if it is better to take my chances and let it grow out or if I should remove it with acetone.

I have worked hard in the last few months trying to get my nails stronger and longer (well actually forever but more intensely since I started blogging) and this really saddens me. I will not be using this kit again. If you want to use it for only broken ones it would probable be ok, just keep in mind what I have said about the chipping and peeling.

Please keep in mind this is my own personal experience with this product, I know others who love it. This is in no way a negative reflection on Orly either. I LOVE Orly, their polish, treatments and top and base coats are some of my favorites.

Julep Maven Penny Deal!!!!

2012-01-13T22:57:00.001-08:00

This will be my last post for tonight. LOL I just wanted to share with all of you that Julep is offering their Penny Deal once again!!! This is such an amazing deal!!!!

Click HERE to join and become a Julep Maven for only a PENNY!!! You can't beat that price!!!

Mini 500 Follower Giveaway Winner!!

2012-01-13T22:44:00.001-08:00

I decided it was time to announce a winner for my mini 500 follower giveaway!! Let's have a reminder of the prize!

Hard Candy mini glitters!

Let's find out the lucky number!

After combining extra posts from the same users (for forgetting their info and whatnot) the lucky winner with post #109 is....

Congrats Shally!!!

The winner will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond. If I do not hear back within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget my current giveaway for Nubar Polka Dots!!

I'm Going in Circles!!!

2012-01-13T21:47:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Thank goodness the weekend is here!! I had a great idea for stamping over Julep Leah that I posted yesterday. I wanted to stamp and post last night but I didn't get a chance until tonight. Why must work get in the way of polishing and blogging? LOL

I really like the stamp design I used (BM19), I love circles so this is right up my alley. The stamping turned out a tad messy which bother me but I though it was still worth showing you. :) I used OPI Black Onyx for the stamping. I hope you enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this mani!! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Holos and Frankens and Lynnderella's OH MY!

2012-01-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

I have gotten some amazing nail mail the last 2 days! First up, my friend Jen from Jen's Polish Wonderland made a franken for me (awww) and we decided to do a swap. Here are my goodies:

L-R: Jen's franken "Naughty is Nice", Color Club Wild at Heart and China Glaze Platinum Gold

Naughty is Nice is a HOLO purpley brown! I can't wait to wear this!

And I got my very first Lynnderella's in the mail today!!! I am soooo excited to FINALLY have these beauties!!!

L-R: Mercury's Rainbow, Connect the Dots, Lucky Numbers, She Lived in A Swamp

Get ready to see these pretties in the next few days!!!

Julep Leah!!!

2012-01-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!! I want to welcome all of my new followers!! I hope you enjoy it here! I know most of you have found me through my giveaway but I hope you enjoy my posts, I love interacting with my followers and making new friends!!

Today I have a polish that I have fallen in love with. This is a color that a few months ago I probably wouldn't have even given a second look at. I have noticed since I started blogging my taste in polish has changed (and expanded) greatly. Has anyone else noticed that? Or has the PHD (polish hoarder disorder LOL) completely taken over? Well, either way I am so in love with Leah. Leah is a beautiful green with a slight shimmer in it. Something I noticed when I was snacking on a few M&M's this afternoon is that Leah is almost the exact same color as a green M&M!! There is just a very SLIGHT difference in the two.

The formula on this polish was amazing, it went on so smooth and creamy. I used 2 coats and topped it off with Julep Fast Dry Topcoat. This mani is so super shiny!! I have a stamping combo I want to try on this, I just haven't had the chance yet!

AND A BONUS PIC TO PROVE I AM NOT CRAZY! LOL

(M&M's were harmed in the making of this post LOL)

I hope you all love Leah as much as I do!! Julep polishes retail for $14 at julep.com but you can get 20% off plus free shipping if you become a Julep Maven!! For more info on becoming a Maven see my post HERE (just negate the info on the penny box, that promo is over).

If you want to become a Maven click HERE to be taken to their site and start your style quiz!

Nail Mail!

2012-01-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

I got some nail mail today, yay!! I had my code for a free Julep polish that they sent me because the polish I chose for my January upgrade was out of stock. To make up for this Julep gave me the code for a free polish as well as a Julep Nail Therapy (which I have had in the past and used a whole bottle, I love this stuff). I think that more than makes up for my other pick being out of stock! Thanks Julep!

In addition to the free polish I also had a $5 off coupon (and since I am a Maven I also get 20% off and free shipping) so I ended up getting all 3 for $19!!! I am so excited to use these colors!!

I love Julep's packaging!!!

L-R: Boris & Nicole, Leah and Blake

They also included samples for their hand scrub and hand cream

I also got an Avon order today, these are preview items. :-) I know, the bag is not polish, I just thought it was cute. LOL It reminds me of when I was a kid. Doesn't it look straight out of the 80's?!

L-R: Aqua Fantasy, Mosaic Effect in White (crackle polish)

Well, that's my nail mail for today! I can't decide which polish to use tonight! LOL

January Giveaway!!!!!!!

2012-01-11T16:17:00.002-08:00

Hello lovelies!!!! It's time to announce my very first monthly giveaway!!! I am so excited for this!! I hope you all like the prize, I think it's pretty awesome!

There will be ONE winner and they will recieve a set of Nubar Polka Dots!! One Nubar Black Polka Dots and one Nubar White Polka Dots!! I love these and I really hope you all do too!

I am trying out Rafflecopter for this giveaway, it seems so much more fun and much easier than my previous giveaways! I have added in a TON of extra entry opportunities so let's get to it!

This giveaway is open internationally, no matter where you live! It will be open starting today, January 11th and will close February 11th. I hope you enjoy!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Essence The Dawn is Broken with Stamping!!!!

2012-01-10T14:02:00.001-08:00

The first day after holo week, you know I was itching to wear some of my other new polishes! LOL I could not wait to get the Essence Vampire's Love collection on my nails that I got in my swap with my friend Traci (from The Trace Face Philes). I couldn't decide which one to wear (they are all so pretty!!) and my friend Jacki from Adventures in Acetone requested The Dawn is Broken, so here it is Jacki!!!

TDIB is a gorgeous grey with dark grey/silver flecks that make it very interesting. The formula was amazing. I have not used very many Essence polishes (yet) but the few that I have used I am very impressed with. The formula is like butter, it was opaque in 2 coats and the brush is very nice.

If you saw my mini haul post earlier today you know that I picked up the Orly Nail Rescue Kit at Sally's. This kit includes nail glue, acrylic powder and a buffer. It is meant to help repair a split or minor break so you can keep the length of your nail and not have to chop it down. It also says it can help reinforce weak nails, which I definitely have. I have not had a break since I got it but I did apply a thin layer to the tips of all of my nails to help reinforce them. The buffer that came with it is too smooth in my opinion, or maybe I put the powder on too thick. Some of my nails look 'lumpy' and it is driving me nuts. I will be smoothing them down tonight so hopefully I will be happier once I get them all smooth. I can definitely tell they are stronger. I have recently started taking supplements to help strengthen my nails so hopefully I won't have to use the powder very long. So I apologize that some of my nails look a little thick and lumpy in these pics.

After applying the acrylic powder and smoothing it (or when I THOUGHT it was smooth) I applied Orly Calcium Shield because it is nice and thick, it did help camouflage some of the ridges. I also bought Orly Won't Chip at Sally's and I used it as my topcoat for this mani. I am very impressed with this, it is nice and thick and made my polish SUPER SHINY. I apologize for the shiny cuticles in the pics, I had just applied cuticle oil. LOL Better than dry cuticles, right?

Whew, that was a lot of jabbering, but I thought everyone would be interested in these products. For the stamping I used Bundle Monster plate BM01 with OPI Black Onyx. I wanted to do a medieval-themed mani, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. The cross on my ring finger didn't turn out perfectly but I guess that adds to the old-world look. LOL I have been getting a lot of requests for more stamping, I love stamping but just hadn't had much time to do it lately. So, this is for all of you who have requested it! And I will do my best to stamp more often!

First up, the polish on its own.

And now for the stamping. :-)

What do you think of this mani? It's not my normal style but I really like it! I hope you do to!!

Mini weekend haul

2012-01-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

I went shopping Saturday, I was on a mission to find the Finger Paints flakies. Not really all of them, I mainly wanted Twisted. I went armed with my coupons and it was a total fail on the flakies. Sally's was already sold out. But I had too many coupons to not use them. LOL My friend Aleta over at The Nail Junkie recently did a blog post on Orly's Nail Rescue Kit. I had seen this before but hadn't paid much attention to it. Aleta tried it and loved it so I thought I would give it a chance (I will talk more about this in my next nail post). So I picked it up along with a couple other things from Sally's. I then went to Ulta because I knew they had a bunch of polish on clearance, people were even finding polish from the OPI Muppet's collection in clearance. Again, total fail. I picked up a couple but they had barely any clearance at all. I was seeing pics from other people of massive amounts of polish on clearance, I don't know why my Ulta didn't have much.

L-R: Orly Nail Rescue Kit, Orly Won't Chip, Savvy Deja Blue, Zoya Marley, China Glaze Haunting, earrings

From Sally's: Orly Nail Rescue Kit, Orly Won't Chip, Savvy Deja Blue (on clearance for $1.99) and the earrings. With all my coupons I got all of this for $9 (regular price would have been around $21)!!

From Ulta: Zoya Marley and China Glaze Haunting (Haunting is for a swap with my friend Jen from Jen's Polish Wonderland. I got Zoya Marley for $3.99, it was my only big clearance find.

*FUNNY STORY*

I am not normally into pale or nude shades but I have really been liking them lately (I don't know what's wrong with me! LOL) so I fell in love with Zoya Marley when I saw it. When I showed my mom she said, "well that doesn't look like you, it's pretty." LOL Thanks Mom! She didn't mean it like it sounded, she just meant it was a pretty color but since I don't usually like pale colors she was surprised I liked it.

Anyway, that's my haul, not too bad for a fail. ;-)

Holo Week Day 7!!! HITS Ares!!!!

2012-01-09T13:35:00.001-08:00

Hello lovelies!!! I apologize for this post being a day late, I had a crazy busy weekend and still did not get everything accomplished that I wanted to. Oh well, such is life. LOLThis is the last day of holo week, it is a bit bittersweet. I will miss my holos but I have many new polishes I am so excited to try!!

As I said on day 6 of holo week I have saved the best for last, in my opinion anyways. LOL If you have been following me for very long you know I have an intense love for anything red. Make it red AND holo, I am in heaven. I have been wanting a red holo FOREVER, and I am so glad I finally have my hands on one!!! I think this MAY have trumped OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress as my favorite polish.

Speciallita Hits Ares is a TRUE cherry red holo, it is simply amazing. Usually when you find a "red" holo it is too pink, magenta, whatever. This one really is red, because of this reason the holo is not as intense as some other colors but I love it anyways.

The formula on my Ares was a little on the thick side, an issue I haven't had with my others from this brand. My brush was also a little wonky but nothing too problematic. It only took 2 coats to get this opaque (my ring finger has 3 coats because I bumped it while it was wet LOL so you can see the difference in 2 and 3 coats). I topped this off with Orly Don't Chip, it does not affect the holo at all.

OK, break out your bibs, time to DROOOOL ;-)

Speciallita HITS Ares sells for $10 and is available at Llarowe. (I do apologize, I just checked and it is temporarily out of stock.)

Don't forget to check out Llarowe on Facebook HERE

You can also check out Speciallita on Facebook HERE

Holo Week Day 6!! Glitter Gal 10 to Midnight!!

2012-01-07T18:28:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday lovely readers!!! I am in a little bit of a hurry tonight so I won't be babbling as much as usual. LOL Holo Week will be coming to a close tomorrow and I have saved the best for last. If you remember my epic nail mail post from Llarowe, and if you know my favorite polish color, you will know what's coming tomorrow!!! Tonight I have the gorgeous Glitter Gal 10 to Midnight. 10 to Midnight is a gorgeous steel grey holo. As with all GG the formula is superb with absolutely no issues. The following is 2 coats with no topcoat (although topcoat does not affect the holo with Glitter Gal).

Now for some sun pics!!!

Isn't this pure perfection?!

Glitter Gal polishes retail for $14 and can be purchased at Llarowe and at Harlow & Co..

LIGHT PURPLE HOLO COMPARISON!!!!

2012-01-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

Hello again!! As promised I have the answer to my teaser pic I posted on my Facebook page last night. In case you missed it here is the pic.

One of these is Ludurana Supremo, can you tell which one? Can you guess what the other polish is?

I was going to torment you with a lot of babble but I'm tired so I'll just get with it. LOL The other polish is OPI DS Original. The ULTIMATE PURPLE HOLO. In the pic above Supremo is on the left and Original is on the right. Let's have more pics, shall we....

Bottle shot, as you can see Original is much warmer while Supremo leans to the cool, bluer side.

Original on my index and ring fingers, Supremo on my middle and pinky.

GRRR I SEE A SMUDGE.

I hope this post was helpful to you!! While these are similar, they are definitely NOT dupes. I feel totally justified owning both. LOL Actually my Original is almost gone and I need a back-up!

Holo Week Day 5 Ludurana Aurora Boreal Supremo

2012-01-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

The weekend is finally upon us!! YAY!! This is my first of two posts tonight. If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen the teaser pic I posted last night about a comparison post I will be doing with this polish and another yet to be named. ;-) I didn't name either one last night but one of them was the lovely Ludurana Aurora Boreal Supremo. I can't get over the beauty of this polish, it is simply amazing. The entire collection of Aurora Boreals are amazing holos, I hope to have them all some day!!

Supremo is a light purple (lilac shade) linear holo. The formula was wonderful, no dragging or bald spots at all. This is 3 coats, no topcoat. ENJOY!!!

Isn't Supremo supreme!? LOL You can purchase Ludurana atLlarowe for $14. I hope you enjoyed drooling over this, stay tuned for a comparison post!!

Holo Week Day 4 Glitter Gal LIZARD BELLY!!!!

2012-01-05T15:08:00.001-08:00

What an amazingly gorgeous polish I have for you today ladies!!! I have been lemming this polish FOREVER!! I finally have it in my hot little hands (or is that on my hot little nails? LOL) and it does not disappoint!! Glitter Gal Lizard Belly is so amazing! It is a dark green holo, yes please!! It can appear black at times, in fact it looks black in the bottle to me, but it is most definitely dark green. And it is holo like WHOA.

As usual the formula is amazing, I only needed 2 coats for full opacity and topcoat does not affect the holo at all, I topped it off with Orly Sec 'N Dry. So, without further ado, BEHOLD Lizard Belly!!!

Sorry this one is a little blurry but the holo was so amazing I couldn't leave it out. :)

Isn't Lizard Belly AMAZEBALLS?!

It retails for $14 and can be purchased at Llarowe. You can find Llarowe on Facebook HERE, there is lot of fun on her page!!

You can also purchase Glitter Gal at Harlow & Co. You can Harlow & Co. on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.

Both shops offer international shipping!! Make sure to tell them I sent you. :-)

Holo Week Day 3!!! HITS Demeter!

2012-01-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to hump day of holo week! I wanted something bright and cheery today so I chose Speciallita HITS Demeter which is an orange holo!! I knew when I first saw this one I had to have it. I must say this isn't quite as orange as I thought it would be, it is more of a pale orange/peachy color. Still very gorgeous, just not in your face orange. I think the next time I wear this I will try putting it over a bright orange creme and see what that does. :-)

The formula on this was wonderful, no problems with application whatsoever and opaque in 3-4 coats (depending on how think your coats are). I am very impressed with the HITS brand and will be getting more!!! Heehee Just a reminder, this brand is not 3-free so if that is important to you, you should steer clear.

The first pic was taken in the shade so you can't see the holo but it is the true swatch of the color, the other pics are too orange. They are more like what I THOUGHT this polish would look like. LOL I love it either way!!

I purchased this gorgeous polish from the lovely Leah Ann at Llarowe. She has so many wonderful polishes and they are all top of the line!! You also need to make sure you check out her Facebook page!!

Nail Mail!!!

2012-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

I am really slacking on this post. LOL I received this YESTERDAY. Before I get to this swap post I also want to say that I received a lovely little package today from my friend Amy at I'm Feeling Nail-Venturous but I was already working on this post and didn't have time to take pics. :-( I mentioned in my 500 Follower Giveaway post that I was looking for the rest of the Hard Candy mini glitters and Amy was nice enough to get me the ones she could. She found me the black and red, which are the two I was wanting the most. I am still missing the pink and silver.

OK, back to the nail mail that I do have pictures for. LOL I had been lemming the Vampire Love Collection from Essence ever since I saw the promos for two reasons. One, they are absolutely GORGEOUS and two, I am a Twilight fan so they were perfect. LOL I had a swap planned with someone but it fell through and since these are limited edition they became very hard to find. I had given up on owning these which made me sad. My good friend Traci from The Trace Face Philes was swapping for an extra set for a giveaway from someone that managed to find them. She knew how much I wanted them so she offered to swap me for them. I was so happy I almost cried!!! I also added in a couple more from Trace, a Catrice and a Barry M. These are my first of these brands and I can't wait to try them!!

YESSSS!!!!!

L-R: Into the Dark, The Dawn is Broken, Hunt Me If You Can, True Love, Gold Old Buffy

Barry M Indigo and Catrice From Dusk To Dawn

Amazing right?!?! I think I may sleep with these for awhile. LOL Thank you SO MUCH Traci!!!!

Holo Week Continues With A Guest Post!! Jen from Jen's Polish Wonderland!!

2012-01-03T22:00:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! My friend Jen (from Jen's Polish Wonderland) is a holo freak so it only seemed natural for her to guest post for me this week. Jen is very sweet and takes great pics, plus she has a LOT more holos that I do!! You should definitely check out her blog and follow her!! :-) I was planning on saving her post for a few more days but I was so busy today I didn't have time to do my nails! Eek! So we shall stare at Jen's gorgeous nails with Speciallita HITS Zeus...

Hello everyone! I was so excited when Ashley asked me to join holo week! She knows I cannot resist a holo! I decided to bring you Zeus from the Brazilian brand, Speciallita Hits. Zeus is a beautiful smokey charcoal holo. I used 3 coats and 1 coat of Poshe for the photos below. I cannot wait to see this in natural sunlight, it is going to be stunning! The holographic effect under artificial lighting is amazing!!!

I purchased this from the lovely Leah Ann! You can check out her site here. Be sure to check out her facebook page too!

Thank you so much for checking out my guest post! Are you enjoying holo week as much as I am!?

XoXo,
Jen

Guest Spot on Jen's Polish Wonderland!!

2012-01-03T21:53:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to tell you my friend Jen from Jen's Polish Wonderland has started a new interview feature called "Behind the Polish" and I am her very first guest!! Click HERE to check it out!! Also, stay tuned for a very special post from Jen on my blog for HOLO WEEK!!!

300 Follower Giveaway Winner!!!

2012-01-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

Who's ready to find out who won my 300 follower giveaway?? First up, a reminder of what's up for grabs.

The complete Eye Candy collection from China Glaze!!

Let's see what the lucky number was this time.

So, who is lucky number 223?????

Congrats alixermixer87!!! An email has been sent to the winner and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Thank you to all who entered!!!!

Day 1 of Holo Week!! Speciallita HITS Dionisio

2012-01-02T20:17:00.001-08:00

Happy second day of 2012 everyone!! I am kicking of 2012 with a WHOLE WEEK WORTH OF HOLOS!!!! Break out your bibs cause they are drool-worthy!! First up is a polish from a brand that is brand new to me, Speciallita Hits. This is a Brazilian brand that has recently become much more easy to get in the US and worldwide from the lovely Leah Ann at Llarowe (I will post a link to her store at the bottom of this post).

Dionisio is from Hits No Olimpo collection and is a GORGEOUS deep purple linear holo. I am very impressed with this brand, it went on evenly with no bald spots or dragging and topcoat did not affect the holographic effect (these are common problems with many holos). And it is INTENSELY HOLO!!! You do need to be aware that this brand is not 3-free, so if that is a concern to you then you should steer clear. The bottles are pretty tiny (6 ml) but they're so cute!! I want to carry them with me all the time! LOL

What you see in the pics is 3 coats of Dionisio (I probably could have gotten away with 2 but I wanted to make sure it looked perfect for the pics) topped with Nubar Diamont Topcoat.

FYI the lettering on the label for the name of the polish rubs off EASILY. I will be putting clear polish over mine to keep it intact.

*OMG*

I hope you love Dionisio as much as I do!!

HITS can be purchased at Llarowe for $10 and very reasonable shipping rates. She is such a sweetie and has amazing customer service. She ships internationally with the exception of Italy.

You can also check out the Llarowe Facebook page HERE. She often posts swatches and sale information on her Facebook so I highly recommend following!!

NYE Mani...48 Hours Late!!!! LOL

2012-01-02T12:33:00.005-08:00

Happy (late) New Year everyone!!!I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! I apologize for not posting my NYE mani sooner but I have been really busy! Better late than never, right?

Before I get to the mani I have an exciting announcement to make! Starting today (after this post) I will start a themed week to kick off the new year and it's a pretty awesome one if I do say so myself. To kick off 2012 I will be having a "Week of Holos!!" Yes, a whole week worth of holo goodness. If you saw my nail mail post last week you know I have a ton o awesome new holo polishes from Llarowe to try out and I can't wait!! So stay tuned for mega-drooling. ;-)

OK, on to this mani. I wanted something fun for NYE and I hadn't had a chance to use my Nubar Black Polka Dots or White Polka Dots yet. I thought about doing them alternately over black and white polish but wanted to try them together. And what color better to put them over than red? I think it turned out super cute!! It reminds me of my Grandma's kitchen, she had a black and white tile floor with red countertops, so retro. :)

Once again, I have to apologize for the red in these pics. My camera seems to be ok with every color except red. The first pic I am posting is from my cell phone so it is crappy quality but the color is the true color of the polish.

I used 2 coats of Avon Real Red topped with Nubar White Polka Dots and Nubar Black Polka Dots. I got pics of the red on its own but they turned out way too orange so I didn't even include them. The formula on the White Polka Dots was better than the black. The white spread pretty evenly but the black I had to "dab". Either way it was not a problem and I just want to say I LOVE THESE POLKA DOTS!!!! OK, here we go!

Crappy quality but the real color....

Though I'd show them alternating before I did the second coat. I can't wait to wear these over black and white polish. :)

Excuse the stray glitter, I was in a hurry. :)

What do you think? Appropriate for NYE or not glitzy enough?

You can purchase Avon polish at my store HERE or directly from avon.com.

Nubar can be purchased from bynubar.com or from the very sweet Katie at Harlow & Co.

EPIC NAIL MAIL!!!!!!

2011-12-30T14:19:00.001-08:00

Today has been an amazing day for a polish addict like me!!!!! I received my holo goodness order from Llarowe and TWO Julep boxes!!!! I ordered a second Julep box in December, which I received today, as well as my January box!!! So enough babbling, on to the pics!!!

PACKAGES!!!

Up first, my Llarowe order!!!

Leah Ann has THE BEST PACKAGING!!!

L-R: Glitter Gal Lizard Belly and 10 to Midnight, HITS Ares, Demeter and Dionisio, Ludurana Aurora Boreal Supremo

DROOOOL

I almost cried when I opened Ares. I have been wanting a red holo forever and this one is perfect.

Now for my December Julep box!! (Yes, I already had one of these LOL I couldn't resist the second one hehehe)

It Girl!!

L-R: Julep Fast Dry Topcoat, Kim, Helena, Chloe, Hand Brightener and Scrub Samples, GLITTER POT!

You can't tell in this pic but Chloe has magenta glitter!!! Can't wait to wear it!

And SURPRISE my glitter pot is STARS!!! I LOVE STARS! Can't wait to use this!!

And now for my January Bombshell box!!!

January boxes included a free upgrade for a polish of your choice or a Nail Therapy. I chose the polish (eventhough I love their Nail Therapy), it was out of stock so they sent a Nail Therapy and a code for me to get a free polish of my choice!! WOOHOO TOTAL WIN!!!!

Such pretty packaging!!

L-R: Julep Nail Therapy, Carrie, Megan, Pomegranate Scrub (smells so yummy), and Julep Nail Polish Remover Pads. I can't wait to try these!

Loving these colors!!

I hope you all enjoyed my nail mail!!! I know I did!!!

Mini 500 Follower Giveaway!!!

2011-12-28T22:07:00.005-08:00

I know I said I wouldn't be doing another giveaway until January BUT I reached 500 followers this week and am so excited that I wanted to do a little something to show you all how much I appreciate you!! Some of my friends, and fellow polish addicts, just clued me in on the mini Hard Candy polishes that were out for the holidays. Somehow I had completely missed these. LOL I went looking tonight and found 4 of them, I still want the other 4 but I don't see much hope of finding them now. If anyone has access to the other 4 (red, pink, black and silver) please email me! :-) Anyways, while I was there I picked up an extra set of the 4 they had for you guys! It's not a huge prize but it is sparkly!!

The rules for this giveaway will be a little different since it is a spur of the moment idea. It will be running until January 11th (which is when my monthly giveaways will start) and I do not have an entry form for this one. Instead, there will be one entry opportunity per person and it will be in the form of a comment on this post. I want you to comment with why you enjoy my blog, it doesn't have to be anything fancy, I would just like to know that you follow for a reason other than to enter the giveaways. LOL And this is open to everyone, no matter where you live!!

YOU MUST ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE COMMENT YOU LEAVE SO I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE THE LUCKY WINNER!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Green, Blue, Gold, Purple

Thanks so much for following and good luck!!!!

Wonky Penguins!!!

2011-12-28T10:38:00.001-08:00

Hello again lovelies!!! As mentioned in my previous post for my base color, NOX Twilight Poseidon, I did some nail art last night and am fairly happy with it. I had a lot going on last night and accidentally used the wrong topcoat and it smeared 2 of my nails. Argh.

Anyways, I had seen two really cute penguin manis lately. One was from my friend Jacki and Adventures in Acetone and the other from my friend Traci at The Trace Face Philes (you can see Jacki's HERE and Traci's HERE). Mine did not turn out as well as theirs but I am pretty happy with them. Some of them look cross-eyed, or drunk LOL, they're kind of wonky but I still love them.

I added a little bit of OPI Crown Me Already over Poseidon to resemble ice and snow and for the penguins I used OPI Black Onyx, OPI Alpine Snow and Revlon Tangerine. I topped it with Nubar Diamont Topcoat, which I love, but is apparently not the greatest for nail art. I meant to use Seche Vite but was distracted. LOL

My thumb...

My pinky....he's the cross-eyed drunk one LOL

And my favorite, he turned out so well! My index finger....

What do you think about my penguins? Be gentle please!!! LOL