Sunday, March 28, 2010

The 5 day NOTD, and the 5 hour NOTD...

Lets get the bad news out of the way first. Ulta Devious is one of the chippiest polishes I own.

I love love love the color, and I was super excited when I saw it in Ulta. I ended up buying 5 of the Ulta polishes, so I hope the rest aren't this awful. Material Girl, which I have already posted, chipped in two days, with one corner chip the first day. I took this picture about 2 hours after applying the polish and konad (using plate m66). As you can see.... it is already chipping.


After that disaster, I decided to go with a brand that usually wears very well for me, the LA Girl Disco Brites. I chose one of my untrieds, Deejay. I LOVE IT! First of all, the color is fabulous. Great formula. I did a cloud konad over it on day two, and applied Barielle Mani Extender over the konad as a topcoat.

Here is is.... at about 5pm on day 5.


As you can see, there is some tip wear, but no chips! This was fantastic, I have never EVER had a polish last this long! I finally took it off last night, and I am already planning the next Disco Brites I am going to buy.

For the record, I used 1 coat CND Stickey, 2 coats Deejay, 1 coat Poshe. The following day, I used WnW White to konad and plate m81, and 1 coat of Barielle Manicure Extender.

Friday, March 26, 2010

GO TO ROSS! STAT!


As I am sure you may have heard, the new Color Club sets are popping up at a Ross near you! If you think your Ross sucks, you are probably correct. However, if you think that because your Ross sucks they will not have the CC sets, THINK AGAIN!

My Ross is awful. Like, used lotions spilled out on the floor and stained clothing hanging up on the racks. I did not have faith in it. At the end of last year, there were reports of a few CC sets showing up at Ross.... most importantly to me the Glitter Vixen set. I went to my Ross, expecting nothing. But.... sitting there, in a bin full of strange crap no one will ever buy.... THREE Glitter Vixen sets! Woooooo! I of course bought one.

So this time around, I had high hopes for finding the new CC sets at my Ross. I was also hoping to run across the Electro Candy set, which has eluded me all this time. My Ross always has the flower power set in an Electro Candy box. It is not nice to tease me like that, Ross!

So as soon as the reports started popping up on the NB, I set out on the journey to my Ross. It failed. There was nothing. I was sad. It was during finals week and I was hoping for a pick me up (and an excuse to take a break from studying) but I was sadly mistaken. I swooned over the constant "I found the CC sets at my Ross!" posts on NB. But I was still determined!

Four days later.... I decided to venture out to Ross once again. SUCCESS! There were TWO CC Rebel Debutant sets, the set I most desired of the three new ones. I of course immediately grabbed it and carried it around the store much like a child. I was a little sad that I was not able to find the Poptastic set.... but now that I had validated my hopes of finding the sets, I was on a mission!

I went to another Ross about 20 minutes away the next day. I went with my mom, who thought I was psycho for wanting to go to Ross. Like I said, our Ross' are awful. This new Ross also had two RD sets, and three Pardon my French sets. The PmF set didn't excite me enough to buy it... so we left empty handed. Luckily, there was a Sally's nearby to soothe my pain.

Then yesterday, after work, I decided to check the downtown Ross (within walking distance of work.... so... it was justified, right?) and sitting there, all alone, was the REAL Electro Candy set! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! There were also a few PmF, but the neons of course blew them out of the water! So ladies, if you Ross mainly sells broken home decor and smells like a public restroom, do not fear! There is still hope!


And PS: Sorry about the lack of NOTD posts, my current NOTD (LA Girl Disco Brites Deejay) has lasted FIVE DAYS!!!!!! THIS IS UNHEARD OF! So, I haven't changed it yet, I am far too amazed by the lasting power. I will be posting pics of this one soon, I decided to wait and take a pic today to show how perfect it still looks after all this time :)

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Drugstore Sales this week!

Hi all! It's Sunday so you know what that means..... new weekly ads! It looks like the place to be this week is Rite Aid :)

On to the sales!!

Rite Aid:
Maybelline 40% off
Got2be Hair care BOGOF
Eucerin Products BOGOF
Ecotools Brushes BOGOF
Venus Razor Cartridges BOGOF (hey, these things are expensive!)
Covergirl Mascara BOGOF
St. Ives BOGOF
Free petites or chameleon NP with purchase of Tweezerman tweezers
Loreal lip/face products 30% off

Walgreens:
Loreal BOGO50%
Covergirl eye cosmetics BOGO50%
Maybelline face and nail products BOGO50%
Revlon nail polish $2.99 (limit 3)

Target..... Nothing.

Enjoy.... and I am off to Rite Aid to get some new mascara :)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

A Franken and a New Ulta Polish :)


Finals are over! I can have a life again! Yay! I am about to run out the door, but thought I would make a quick post. First off, I know there has been a lot of interest in the new Ulta polishes that on sale for $2, so I wanted to post my current NOTD for those who are plotting hauls :) I also got 4 others.... which I will post pics of soon! I should actually have time to do swatches now, yay!


Ulta Material Girl



Andddd here is a bonus pic of a franken I made last week... a dark army green with blue flash.... I can't decide whether it is ugly, or awesome, or both lol :)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Drugstore Sales this week!

Hi all! Here are the sales for this week (3/14-3/20):

Rite Aid:
Loreal BOGO50%
Jane BOGO50%
Almay BOGOF
Revlon Colorstay BOGO50%
Bonne Bell BOGO50%
Revlon Colorsilk Hair Color 2 for $5

Walgreens:
Revlon 40% off
Revlon Colorsilk Hair Color $1.99 with coupon
Rimmel 50% off

Target:
Maybelline Lash Stiletto Mascara $6
New Pokemon Game!! Heart Gold/Soul Silver $39.99

Annnnnnd that's about it! Enjoy!


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

NOTD: American Apparel Peacock

Hi all! What a surprise, school is continuing to kick my ass. I guess this is why they call it dead week. In more uplifting news, I love my NOTD. I am lucky enough to have six of the American Apparel nail polishes thanks to the whole recall and exchanging one polish for two deal. I love them. All of the ones that I have are one-coaters and really saturated awesome cremes. The one I have for you today is AA Peacock, which is a rich medium teal that leans more blue than green.



Here is another picture that shows the vibrancy of the color a little better:
(ignore the shadow)


I also got my new Konad plates in the mail yesterday! Perhaps I will do some quick konad swatches over this mani when I remove it tomorrow....

Sunday, March 7, 2010

NOTD: China Glaze Nova over China Glaze Milennium

Although I tend to buy tons of silvers, I never like the way that they look on me. Almost too "boring" or sometimes just.... "blah." Well, not this one! ChG Millennium on its own was pretty dang cool. Opaque in one coat, chromey finish, and actually looked good on me :) But I was set on doing a glitter, so I topped it off with two coats of ChG Nova. Super awesome. Holo glitter to the extreme, and I loved it. Luckily we had some sunshine yesterday, so I got to experience this mani at its full potential! However... I didn't take pics until tonight, which means they are indoors. But it still looks super blingy :)



love it.

Drugstore Sales this week!

Hi all! You may have noticed that almost all of my NOTDs are with drugstore polish. This is because of one main reason: I am cheap! I also generally like drugstore polish, and do not see the point of spending $10 on one nail polish when I could spend $10 on 10 nail polishes! Since I stalk the drugstore sales every Sunday morning, I figured I should share them with you all too :)

These are for this week (March 7-13). I am on the west coast, and while I assume the sales are probably the same everywhere, this is a little disclaimer that the east coast may have different sales going on. Also, BOGOF = Buy one get one free, and BOGO50% = Buy one get one 50% off!

Anyway... on to the deals!!

Rite Aid:
Cover Girl Cosmetics: BOGOF
WnW Cosmetics: BOGO50%
Sally Hansen Nail Treatments: BOGO50%
NYC Cosmetics: BOGO50%

Walgreens:
Maybelline Cosmetics: BOGO50%
Cover Girl Cosmetics: BOGO50%

Target:
Nothing too exciting... but Sunchips are on sale for $3!

Usually, there are more exciting sales to report.... but now you know what's out there!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

The Nail Essentials- My Favorites

Hi all! I am currently attempting to procrastinate finishing statistics homework... so I thought I would make a post about my favorite nail products. For the purpose of this post, I will be talking about things like basecoats, topcoats, hand cream. The nail related stuff that isn't actually nail polish.

First things first, my #1 must have:
Poshe Quick-Dry Topcoat!

This stuff dries within a minute on me, and I love it. It is thick enough that I usually only need one coat over a dense glitter to make it smooth, and it really helps extend the wear of my polish. I finally broke down and bought the 2oz + 0.5oz refil kit from victoriasnailsupply.com because paying $7 at Sally's was starting to feel a little ridiculous. And yes, you will have to use nail polish thinner to keep Poshe in its prime. But that's ok with me!


#2: Barielle Manicure Extender

AMAAZZZZINNGGG! First things first, I buy this at TJ Maxx or Marshalls for $3.99. Also it is a miracle worker, I still could never pay the outrageous prices on the Barielle website. Now, this stuff helps make polish last for days! I use it as a refresher on day two of a mani if I don't have time to change, and want to make sure my polish stays on. I have also started using it after I konad, if I used poshe to dry my polish before I started stamping. I get 3 days of wear out of any polish, even WnW!, when I use this stuff. Considering I can normally only gets 2 days without chips, that is excellent :)

#3: CND Stickey

Great basecoat for polishes that tend to chip. I find that it works really well with WnW, LA Girl and NYC.

#4: Sally Hansen Nail Quencher

Yeah.... we all know how awesome this stuff is. Since it has been discontinued, I won't go into how great it is. I may or may not have hoarded 3 backups of this...

#5: Barielle Nail Camouflage:

This is what I am using in place of SH NQ. It works really well for Sinful nail polish, which I know a lot of people have chipping issues with. Personally, Sinful wears the best on me out of all the nail polish brands I have. Again, I get this at TJ Maxx for $3.99.

#6: Barielle Professional Protective Hand Cream:

Another TJ Maxx find, this is the best hand cream I have tried. I apply this before I go to bed, and then put on a pair of gloves. After just one night, all the gross flaky skin around my cuticles was gone!

#7: Beauty Secrets Nail Polish Remover:

Love this stuff. I use the one in the pink bottle, but I have some of the pure acetone on hand too for glitter removal. It is not too drying for my hands/nails, and oddly enough it leaves behind a berry-ish scent that I strangely enjoy. Also cheap, and you can get it at Sallys.

#8: The Target Scrubby Tub

Cheap and awesome. My main method of removing glitters. It makes it so easy that sometimes I am tempted to use it to remove normal polish when I am feeling lazy...


Friday, March 5, 2010

Blog Love :)

Although I have been slacking on updating my own blog, I want all you other nail polish ladies to know that I am still stalking all of your blogs daily :)

I wanted to give a big thank you and shout out to Getcha Nails Did ( http://getchanailsdid.blogspot.com/ ) for including me in her post of new blogs! I am sure most of my new followers have come over here thanks to her, but if not, go check her out!

Also, in some very exciting news.... and most likely thanks to the props from Getcha Nails Did, my blog officially shows up on google now! *does happy dance* Talk about motivation to pick up the pace and start blogging again!

Long time, no post!

Hi all! I am so awful at keeping up with posting on here! I am insanely busy with school... I am doing a 20 hour a week internship on top of being a senior in college full time, talk about intense! Don't worry though, I still find time to do my nails :) Here is a little spam and I should actually be able to post regularly in about a week and a half when the quarter is FINALLY OVER!!!


My Valentines Day Mani
NYC Times Square, Konad Plate M60, M3
Color Club Love em, Leave em
Color Club Magic Attraction
Pink Franken, WnW Goldmine, Plate M57
LA Girl Disco Brights Dance Studio
Color Club What a Drag, Konad Plate m64

Color Club Wild and Willing over Sinful Daddy's Girl
LA Girl Crowd Surfing over Sinful Irish Green
This was NEON and awesome IRL
WnW Lust, Plate Konad M63
China Glaze Dollhouse over WnW Black, with ChG MM
A bunch of colors, over NYC White
(I used the end of a bobby pin for the dots)
And lastly, a little haul from a few days ago! My American Apparel finally got in their new stock of polish, so I was able to exchange my old 3 bottles and get 6 new ones! I got: Minty, Peacock, Passport Blue, Dynasty, Poppy, and Palm Springs. Dynasty and Passport Blue are re-buys of my original polish. The other guys pictured here are LA Girl Disco Brights in Dance Studio, Deejay, Chic, and LA Girl Rock Star in Crowd Surfing. I LOOOVVEE the disco brights and I will be going back to buy more! I also found two bottles of SH NQ on clearance for $1.25 and grabbed those up as well :)