Sunday, October 31, 2010

Odds and Ends...

SWAPS!

I'm in the middle of two swaps right now, and I'm absolutely loving it!  It's so fun to be able to give someone polish that they want and get something that you really want in return! :)

So let's open this up, eh?

I went through my collection of polish last weekend and sorted aside the polishes that I can live without.  After organizing them into a Word document, I came up with nine full pages (with slight overflow onto the tenth page).  I have a pretty fat lemming list on the right side of my blog.  If you have some of the polishes on there that you would like to swap, please feel free to email me at erinface8d@gmail.com, and I can send you my big long list of polishes I have available for swaps.


China Glaze update!

While I was in Sally Beauty Supply the other day, I noticed that most (if not all) of the Up and Away and Poolside collections have been added to the core line.  I also spotted Dorothy Who? in the new rack.  Is this a new development, or am I behind the times on this?


Mushroom woes!

I recently bought the four newest Hard Candy polishes from Wal-Mart.  While looking through my receipts, though, I noticed that the mouse-y taupe, Mushroom, had rung up at $8.00 instead of $5.00.  What...?  I returned the polish, expressing my confusion about EVERY OTHER HARD CANDY POLISH being $5.00, and that the $8.00 price tag could not possibly be correct.  During a visit to another store, though, I found the same thing.  Weird, right?

After driving up north to go to one of my favorite little restaurants for lunch, I stopped at the Wal-Mart there.  Mushroom for $5.00!  Hooray!  Finally!  Once I had unwrapped it, though, the horror!  The cap had suffered a pretty severe horizontal crack that stretched across almost the entire circumference.  I hadn't seen it because it was low, behind the chintzy ring they package with the polish.  (Is the little plastic ring the reason that they're so much?  Lame.)

Instead of hassling with another return, I took it home.  My younger brother, bless his heart, is pretty handy with super glue and duct tape. :)


Hopefully I'll be able to post a real update again soon.  Blogger hasn't seemed to be interested in loading my pictures lately, so here's hoping that will change.  Until then, though, enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sally Hansen - Mystery Polish SOLVED!!

So I was at Meijer today, doing that cosmetic aisle stalking thing that I do, and I came across something... rather odd.

Observe.

Excuse the sloppiness, as usual.  But seriously.  What is this?!  It was in a gift pack, rather than the normal display, but it's not a new polish...

No label...  And if I remember correctly from my teen experiences with Sally Hansen polishes, the white cap signifies that it's an older polish.

No label on the bottom, either.  I've never known Sally Hansen polishes to have a bottom label, but it was worth a check.  The bar code is covered because it was part of a holiday gift pack with some lip inflation products.

Look at all the sparkle~!!! :D

This polish is tiny holographic glitter suspended in a sheer gray base.  To get the opacity on my nails, I needed four coats.  I didn't have application issues with it, though, and with a sheer base like this, four thin coats dries quickly and doesn't feel excessive.  I absolutely LOVE the pencil graphite gray, though.  And as if that wasn't good enough, they stuffed it full of itsy glitters.  If this were a flawless two coater, I would be in POLISH HEAVEN!!! :D

Krisinphilly (more readily known as the author of My Lucid Bubble!) informed me that it's called Night Lights.  Thanks, K!


Also, while I was out today, I ran across the new Wet n Wild Megalast holiday collection.  After seeing some pictures, I hadn't expected much, but I was more disappointed than I thought when I saw that...

...they've gotten smaller still!!!  For being a cheap polish, I really enjoy the Megalast collection.  Originality-wise, it's not much to write home about, but the colors are color accurate, reliable, and overall just a pretty decent investment, as far as drugstore polishes go.  But really?  SMALLER?  (0.30 fl. oz. to 0.22 fl. oz.)  For the same price?  Lame.  The store that I was at had a color for every reindeer but Vixen.  The majority of this holiday collection are very unoriginal, in my opinion.  The one pictured is the only one I'm hesitantly considering to buy.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Studio M - Sophisticated Lad

I've been really blog lazy.  Which should not be confused with lazy in real life.  Work has been beating me halfway to Sunday this last week, and I'm still in the process of overhauling my living space in a big cleaning venture.  Oy vey.  There's always good and bad that come with cleaning, so I'm trying to stick with the positive aspects.  At least until I can see my floor again.  Haha!

I've still been taking pictures, but my camera is buried somewhere in this mess.  So unfortunate...  So you get a slight oldie.  Don't worry, though.  It's still fresh.  I sniffed it.

Urgh, why do you do this to me, pointer and middle fingers?  I need a good ridge filler.  This peeling business is ridiculous.

This was two easy coats of Studio M's Sophisticated Lad.  This is the first Studio M cream I've worn in a long, long while.  I was pretty impressed with it!  Sophisticated Lad turned out to be more of a greige than a beige, in my opinion.  There are slight cool undertones that lean purple, but don't make the polish itself look purple.

Very simple, but much more simply pretty than I expected.  As far as I know, though, Studio M polishes are only available at Meijer stores, which are only located in parts of the Midwest.  Indiana, Michigan, and parts of Illinois, if I'm not mistaken.


I found a fun book when I was cleaning.  It's called "The Conversation Piece Collection" by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie.  My parents got it for me when I was pretty young so that we would have things to talk about when we were out on trips.  It's a hefty little book filled with open ended questions. :)

If you could fly in a hot-air balloon over any city in the world, what city would you choose?
I'm not into heights.  I probably wouldn't even get into the balloon in the first place.  If I had to choose, though, I'd probably pick a tiny little town in Nepal, so that I could see the Himalayas.  Or some little touristy niche in Arizona so that I could fly over the Grand Canyon.


How about you?  Where would your hot balloon fly?

Friday, October 22, 2010

Awww! :D

I had a pretty horrible day at work today.  Usually I can leave my problems at the store, dumping them in the coat closet after I punch out.  The compounding stress of being so busy and having so many things go wrong made that impossible, though.  I took all of my frustration with me, and couldn't seem to turn it off.

Really, though, is there anything that an afternoon with your amazing boyfriend can't fix?  Well, if there do happen to be stubborn little problems, a little Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream will do the trick. :)  After some tight hugs, a hot shower, and some delicious seasonal ice cream, I was right as rain.  I'm only hoping that tomorrow will go more smoothly than today.

When I got online, I found that Sombrero Stephie had doodled me up a quick picture all Reverse Sensibility style before she headed in to work herself.  It definitely made me smile, so I had to share it!!


What a doll! :D


I should have a nail post for you tomorrow, as well as a picture of my last box of goodies from Nicole at Magic Maid!  I used two of the polishes I got from her to create the look I'm wearing for tomorrow.  I can't stop staring at my hands! :D

Thursday, October 21, 2010

We have a winner! :D

The big winner of my Mysteriously Multiplying Bad Fairy Giveaway iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissss.....

April!!
Check out her great blog, Concrete and Nail Polish, if you haven't done so yet!


I'll be sending you a message straight away. :)

Huge thanks to everyone else that entered.  I really appreciate that you took the time to follow my little blog!


Congratulations again to April!

 
 

The Bad Fairy has left the building!

The giveaway is over, folks!

I must say, I'm extremely impressed with the turnout at my little corner of the web. <3  It makes me even happier to see new people comment.  Welcome, and thank you for following my blog!

I'll have the results of the giveaway up tomorrow! :D

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nubar - Wildlife

Wildlife is absolutely beautiful, but don't listen to me.  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Click it if you don't believe me!  This polish may as well have just applied itself.  I was expecting several sheer coats, but this was two coats and done.  I don't usually gravitate toward duochromes, but how could I resist this one?  I love green, and the pink in the polish is exquisite.  Light, coppery pink with the mossy green flash underneath.

This picture isn't the greatest, but it gives a good idea of the green in the polish.

Look at that gorgeous flash in the bottle!  I'm smitten with this color.


When I excitedly pulled out my haul to show Brad yesterday, and I asked him to help me pick one, he dismissed this one quickly.  I was a little curious, but I didn't question it.  While I was painting up this afternoon, though, I had to ask.

His answer?

"It looks like roast beef."

Hahahaha!!  Y'know, like when deli-sliced roast beef gets that weird coppery-green sheen?  Never fear, though!  That color is really alright.  You can read about it here!!


What I thought about when I saw Wildlife, though, is my best friend.  Pink and green always make me think about Stephie, because we both like those colors.  Sometimes we even shoot each other random texts when we see colors that remind us of the other.


Totally cool gal, right?  Darn right she is!  The sombrero proves it!

She's been going through some rough things lately, and I don't always feel like I can make her feel better.  But even when I can't always seem to say the right things, she still hangs in there with me.  Without a doubt, Steph's the strongest person I know.  Even when bad things happen, she still thinks of others first.  She's always smiling, always encouraging.  Creative, excitable, hilarious...  This gal's fantastic!

I've been incredibly blessed these last six years to have her as my best friend! :)

She recently started up a blog where she writes about everyday experiences, punctuated with really fun pictures that she draws!  You should check out her blog, Reverse Sensibility!


The Mysteriously Multiplying Bad Fairy Giveaway ends in less than twenty-four hours!  Get your last minute entries in, and keep your wish lists handy!

So what'd you think about Wildlife?  Are you digging the sombrero?  Did you check out Reverse Sensibility yet?!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Heartburn, nausea, indigestion...

...upset stomach, diarrhea.  Yay, Pepto Bismol!

Okay, so wearing these colors really wasn't SO bad.  But the next time I do a half-asleep manicure at one in the morning, I'd really appreciate if the Barbie Dream House would just drop me a memo to let me know the girlish horrors I'm in for.

This is two coats of Finger Paints' I'm a Survivor, topped with one coat of OPI's Princesses Rule!  I'm a Survivor would have needed three coats for better opacity, in my opinion.  The polish is naturally bright, and studded with tiny silver flecks.

See the pretty flecks?  1:00 AM Me seemed to think it needed more glam, so on went a coat of Princesses Rule!  I'm going to try the polish over a different color, but...  These are probably the two girliest polishes that I own, and paired together, I was most certain that diabetes was next up on my life list.  That or throwing a five year old girl's birthday party.



 I have better news, though!  My parcel from MagicMaid's blog sale arrived today!
Without the bottles in front of me, I may butcher the names... :/  Forgive me in advance.  From left to right we have...
Barielle - Tight Knit
Nubar - Wildlife
BB Couture - Caterpillar
Essie - Turquoise & Caicos
Essense - What do U Think?
Diamond Cosmetics - Orange Blush
Misa - Sandals, Flip Flops, and Hip Hop

I'm pretty torn between whether I want to wear Wildlife as my next mani, or Caterpillar!  Such a hard decision!

Love & Beauty - Currant and a giveaway update!

I did some tallying on the number of people entered in my giveaway and the number of actual entries that random.org will choose between.  Twenty-seven people are entered, with 65 entries total.  There's a lot of good chances for winning, people! :D

Remember to keep your wish lists handy for your extra prize!


Now on to something I'm not really fond of.  Red polishes.  I don't understand it.  I love to wear bright, ultra shimmery reds.  I love to wear bold, jelly reds.  But when it comes to red creams?  I kind of just want to run and hide from them. :(

 Two coats of Love & Beauty's Currant.  Maybe I just feel too sexy wearing reds like these?  Smokin' hot, sexpot in red nail polish is NOT how I would describe myself AT ALL!  I really think this is a great color for Fall, and application was fine, it just felt too weird.

Also, lack of clean up?  Sorry.  I took pictures before I started work at 6:00 AM, and told myself I'd take pictures after as well.  But the polish didn't hold up through the rough day, so these were what I got.  Love & Beauty has a new bottle style, though!  I like this simplistic shape, and much prefer it to their old style

Love & Beauty polishes can be found at Forever 21.  Not at all creatively named things, but for $2.80, they aren't bad polishes.  Definitely fun to pick up a couple with very little guilt involved while you're out shopping. :)


Any favorite Love & Beauty polishes out there?  I have a bunch of them, but I'm realizing that this is the first one I've really worn.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Playing catch up!

I don't know if I've made a single polish post this week.  So sad...  Sometimes I just fall out of the writing mood, though.  The 30 Days of Truth posts will continue, too, when the motivation crawls back in.

I have, however, been sucked into blog sales.  Nicole over at MagicMaid has a massive sale going on, and she wants to get rid of everything.  You should check it out!  She has so many different polish brands up for sale, LOTS of discontinued polishes and polishes from outside the US, and ALL at great prices.

I'm actually up to my third order from her blog sale right now... >_>  I got three polishes in my first package, two of which I used for my weekend manicure and pedicure! :)

 This is Essie Pretty Edgy.  I think that I like this color.  I like China Glaze Four Leaf Clover better, though.  Pretty Edgy is a thin cream polish that required two coats.  Even after two, I feel like I had some weird balding going on.  That's likely a problem with the way I applied it, though.

I topped Pretty Edgy with NYX's Graffiti, which is one of the polishes that I bought from the blog sale.  This is my first NYX polish. :)  Why the Ulta in my town sells NYX makeup but none of their polish is completely beyond me.  What you see on my nails is one quick coat, though.  It applied well and dried quickly.

This was a fun combination.  This weekend was good and sunny, so I stared at it quite a bit



WARNING: Toes ahead! 
For my pedicure, I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism and Nfu Oh #54.

 I bought Black Expressionism from Sally Beauty Supply.  I don't think that the markdown to $1.99 was correct, but the girl there didn't have issues ringing it up as such, so whatevs.  And I bought the Nfu Oh from Nicole's blog sale as well.  I had some slight reservation about buying it, but I reasoned that it may be the only Nfu Oh I ever own, so it was purchased.  I was ridiculously pleased with it, so it may not be the ONLY one I ever own...  I love Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure like everyone else, but that one generally flashes warm colors.  I love that this Nfu Oh flashes cool colors.

It's not the best picture, but I didn't figure anyone wanted some serious close up action on my feet.  Black Expressionism went on perfectly opaque in one easy coat.  (Why do they make black polishes that you have to use more than one coat for opacity?  Isn't the beauty of black the fact that it's... y'know... BLACK?).  Two coats of Nfu Oh #54 and one coat of Seche Vite later, and it's a super gorgeous pedicure.  I have to wear shoes to keep from staring at my tootsies. <3


You only have until Wednesday to enter my Mysteriously Multiplying Bad Fairy Giveaway!  If you haven't yet, get crackin'! :)

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Note to self...

My nail painting "ritual," if you will, is painting up right before I go to bed.  It's an easy way to keep myself from ruining them.  Usually this is also the time that I pull up all the wonderful blogs I read.  This is a terrible idea.  Multitasking in action, yes.  Smart thing to do, no.  Even if I'm painting my nails my favorite color, I'm always wishing I'd gone for something different by the time I'm done reading!  Haha!  I'm not horribly in love with the color that I did tonight, but maybe seeing them out in the sun will change my mind.

Also, don't tell my nails, but... *whisper* they're starting to get a little longish! :D  I still have some small dents from where they've peeled, but they seem to be a little stronger lately.  Less peeling!  So let's not tell them, or they may cause a flaking, peeling uprising.

Six days left to enter my giveaway!  Though it seems like most of you already have. :)  Kudos!  I'm looking forward to giving stuff away!

I hope that all of you have had a great week!  Happy Friday!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Piggy Polish - Grey-t

Here's a few pictures of a manicure I did earlier this month.

I really loved this gray.  Gray polishes... swoon.  I love them!  I enjoy lighter grays, too, but my favorites are deep grays.  This polish was no exception at all.  It's probably not evident in the pictures, but I tried to do a glitter gradient.  It's the first time I've ever messed with something like that, though, so I don't think it worked quite right... :)  Can you see it a little, though?

 This manicure was one coat (one coat!) of Piggy Polish's Grey-t from their new fall collection, and three coats (one full nail coat, one coat started at mid nail, and one coat just at the tips) of Cover Girl's City Lights.

I know that City Lights is old news, but it's absolutely gorgeous.  Perfect all-over glitter in one coat.

Not quite done with my glittered-up-grays kick, I used Grey-t on my toes as well, with two coats of China Glaze's Shooting Stars.  Fun story?  My favorite dusty doesn't have great lighting.  When I bought it, I thought that it was just dense silver microglitter with those iridescent hexes.  But when I got it outside, BLAM!  What I thought was silver was really gorgeous holo microglitter.  I was in sparkly heaven.


I'm really liking Piggy Polish's fall collection (I already have two of the colors and I might go back for more), but I'm not digging that they went up in price.  Boo, hiss.  Have you tried Piggy Polish?  Gray or grey?  Which is it, anyway?

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

30 Days of Truth - Day Two

[ Quick update!  I gave a lot of thought to my hoarding habits, and I decided to do some mean cleaning around here.  I sorted out that giant pile of clothing and came out with a relatively modest stash of clothing to keep, and eight big bags of clothing that I don't wear often enough to keep.  It feels pretty good to be in the process of removing so much excess.  I'm trying to not be sad that some of my pretty things are going away, but when they aren't being worn, I shouldn't be keeping them. ]

Day Two: Something you love about yourself.
 
I love that I've become a very honest person.  I don't speak of honesty in referring to truths or lies told to others, but I feel that I've become much more bold and realistic in the way that I face the world.

Up until about a year ago, I wore masks.  I did what I could to become the person that other people wanted me to be.  My friendships were healthy enough, but my relationships were not.  I was always trying to fill a role that wasn't mine to play.  I don't claim to be an expert at advice, but can I say?  Relationships aren't always easy.  But when you're trying to play the part and it feels like you're trying to shove a square peg into a round hole... no matter how hard you try... it's not the right fit.  I pushed the person that I am aside to try to be the person someone else wanted me to be for many years.

I'm a square peg, though.  That's what I am.  And instead of trying to change that, I'm learning to embrace it.  I've found it to be a very wonderful, freeing experience.  For the first time in my life, I don't feel pressed to be anything but myself, and I'm happier than I've ever been.

I'm a realist.  I believe firmly in logic and reason, consider situations with my brain before my heart, and have my feet firmly planted on the ground.  I may sometimes even be brutally honest.  No costumes or masks, no longer blindly or pathetically following the agenda of anyone else.  I'm finally where I belong, and the person I'm meant to be.  Finally, I'm me. 

Monday, October 11, 2010

30 Days of Truth - Day One

Day One:  Something you hate about yourself.

I generally dislike when things start on a negative note, but I did decide to do this fully knowing the less than positive way that this first prompt starts.

The thing about myself that I find I consistently hate is the fact that I hold onto so many useless things.  I'm nowhere close to the people on Hoarders, but I just have a lot of stuff in my life.  I try to rid my life of several things, but the ones that I always seem to hold onto are clothes, books, and makeup-y stuff.  Why do you suppose that I enjoy collecting polish so much? :)  It's a hoarding habit of mine that takes up much less space than the other two.

My collection of books has grown out of hand.  I have boxes and boxes of books.  I've put them away because they take up so much space, but being out of sight or in difficult places to get into, I don't think about them, or I choose to not seek them out.  So they sit in boxes, taking up space that I should be using in better or more creative ways.  I have so many books that I'll likely never read.  I have gobs of cookbooks (I love to cook) that I'll likely never use.  I hold onto old text books that haven't done me any good.  I have duplicates and triplicates of books that I thought I'd lost or didn't own, just to find out that I had a copy all along.  Books everywhere.

My clothing isn't any better.  I see things for the right price that I can't live without, so I buy them.  I don't even wear half of the stuff that I just "have to have."  It just takes up space.  The shoe situation is less severe than it used to be, but it still needs help as well.  I work five days a week baking bread and running the lunch shift in a restaurant.  I wear jeans and a t-shirt at my job.  When I get off, I tend to dress comfortably.  I'm similarly fashion-lazy on Saturdays, and I dress nicely on Sundays.  So why do I have all of these clothes that never get worn?

The makeup situation is also bad.  It doesn't take up much space, but there's far too much of it for what I actually wear.  I'm just as makeup-lazy as I am fashion-lazy.  Outside of nail polish, I wear any other sort of makeup two days a week, tops.  But there's so much.  And I always want to buy it. :(  At least I can try to justify having so much nail polish, though that is also getting completely out of hand.

I've decided to make some moves to change this bad hoarding habit, though.


Do you see this?  This is almost all of the clothing from my closet.  I still have a few dresses, some shirts, and a coat hanging in my closet.  The pile of clothing on my floor right now is at least three feet tall.  I dumped out my closet earlier today so that I could go through my entire wardrobe very critically and only keep the clothing that I wear.  I already have one friend lined up to come over and shop my room once I have the pile very critically sorted out.

I plan to do the same chop job with my book collection, makeup...  Maybe by the time I get to my polish, I'll have slimmed my life down enough that I won't feel the need to get rid of a lot of them.  I have doubts about that, though.

I want to be able to live a more simple life.  I can't do that if I'm weighed down with all of this extra baggage.

Intro to 30 Days of Truth

I ran across this over at Original Wacky's blog, and I thought that it was an interesting writing prompt.  Very little (if any of it) will be nail polish related, so if you'd rather not get to know me a little better, I won't be offended at all if you don't read these blogs or comment on them.  This just seems to me like it will be a fun way to spend time blogging without it always being about the same thing.

I'm not sure if I'll get through all of these in thirty days, due to possible unforeseen time constraints or laziness, but I'll do each entry as it comes.  I will also always make a separate post for these entries, so that things can remain somewhat organized and so the prompts don't bog down polish posts.

Feel free to participate as well, if you'd like!  Whether in your own blog or as comments left on my entries, I'd love to get to know more about those of you that read my little blog. :)


Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

Zoya - Edyta

If I've called this polish "Etyda" is previous posts, forgive me.  My brain keeps wanting to switch them up.

This polish is f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!!!

 It's not very often that I can say that I love applying nail polish.  But just watching the brush distribute a thin, ultra shimmering, deep green coat to my nails took my breath away a little.  The color looks great when it's dry, but let me tell you.  When you're slicking the coat of wet polish on, it's the most gorgeous thing.

 I daresay that my nails painted themselves.  Smooth as butter.  Gorgeous, shimmery, liquid metal-y butter.  Not too thick, not too thin.  Two coats to perfection.  This polish is definitely a green, but check out all of the beautiful gold shimmer in this baby!  Not to mention the blue shimmer and tones in the polish.

Love.  Love, love, love.  If Ulta still has a bottle the next time I get back out that way, it will probably find its way into my basket.  I definitely want a back-up bottle of this!


So that's Edyta!  I'm not sure what the dealio was with it before, but I blame the base coat I was using.  After all, how could I possibly blame something as beautiful as this polish?  You're right, I couldn't. :)


What do you think of this polish?  Do you dig the deep greens?  Do you already have Edyta, or will you be adding her to your collection in the future?

If you haven't yet, don't forget to enter my giveaway!  It ends in nine days!
http://persistentlypolished.blogspot.com/2010/09/mysteriously-multiplying-bad-fairy.html

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sally Hansen - Concrete

When I was wandering through Ulta a while back and saw this brand new, completely untouched display of fresh Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes, I flipped out a bit.  ...well, it looked a bit more like a shark ravaging a helpless surfer.  I had a bottle of each polish in my basket before I took a moment to look.  What...?  What was going on with half of the polishes?  Pearly, with such sparse glitter that it seemed pointless to put it there in the first place?  Weird, random bar glitter?  So like a shark discarding chunks of surf board, I quickly replaced all of the polishes that I'd deemed unfit for purchase, which ended up being about half of the collection.

Granted, looking at swatches online now, there was one in that group of polishes that didn't make it that I might have considered purchasing, but it's not a polish that I can't live without.

The half of the collection that I did buy, though, was grand slam.  There's some pretty awesome polishes from that lot, and if you haven't already gotten your grubby little mitts on them, you should do it very soon before they disappear.

Today I have the polish Concrete for you.

I adored this color!  This was two coats of polish, with a base and top coat, of course.

I think that this super smooth, very grayed out lavender would look gorgeous on anyone.  I really think that if you liked Wet Concrete, you're going to love Wet Concrete's pretty little sister.

So gorgeous!  This lasted two days without chips for me as well, which is almost unheard of considering the work I do.  Beautiful creams like this don't usually last the day, but this one held fast and looked amazing the entire time.


A word of caution to those that may not have experienced it, though, don't paint your nails with cold polish.  Concrete wasn't in the refrigerator by any means, but it certainly wasn't at room temperature when I grabbed it.  Of course, I wasn't thinking.  When I realized how cold this one was as I was painting it on, I had some definite uncertainties as to how it would actually look.  Thankfully, it turned out great. :)  If you find your polish cold, though, I'd suggest putting it on your pocket for a while before you paint to let it warm up a bit.  Has anyone else noticed problems in painting with polish that isn't at room temperature?


Now I'd like to share something a little personal with you.  Every week without fail, I read PostSecret.  People around the globe send anonymous postcards sharing their secrets... fears, desires, hopes, and disappointments... to a man named Frank Warren.  He posts select postcards on the website, but also takes a lot of them around the country to different universities and art museums.  These postcards are a living testimony to the fact that everyone holds things inside that can make them feel disconnected from others.  Sharing these secrets, even in such an anonymous way, can begin to repair the bridges with the outside world that our secrets can sometimes burn.

I found a postcard in this week's installation that touched me in particular.


My family is the most important thing to me in the entire world.  When friendships and relationships crumble away, my family is still there, always supporting me, loving me, and guiding me.  I've never had many problems with my friends treat my family, as I tend to feel that I've been blessed with many good friends over the years.  But I haven't had the same luck with boyfriends.  Until Bradley, every boyfriend I've had has avoided my family like the plague.  I excused many of these guys, being a rather young and defiant thing. ;)  When these relationships broke away, though, I could always return to my family.  Looking back, I can't help but feel ashamed at how I've treated them in the past.  I can't change the past, but I can certainly make better decisions for the future.

The last relationship I was in before I met Brad, I put my family first.  It amazed me how clearly I was able to see my relationship with R when I looked through a different lens.  I brought R home for dinner one night, and he stopped to watch my brother (fourteen at the time) playing Halo on his XBox.  My brother got frustrated when someone killed him and did the typical "What!  That's so unfair!" thing that everyone does when they die in a video game.  Instead of letting it go, R took it upon himself to tell my little brother that he just sucked at the game, and that if he was better, he wouldn't get killed like that.

I was mortified.  What a jerk.  He even brought it up in a conversation he and I were having later, which really grilled my goose.

R did not respect my family, therefore R did not respect me.  My feelings for him quickly grew cold, and R did not last long after that.

I guess what I really want to say is, take your families seriously.  In the end of it all, they will be the ones that are there for you, and even when you don't feel them, they're always behind you.  Even if they don't particularly agree with the life you lead or like the choices you make, they will always love you.  Nothing you can do will change that.


I'm sorry for rambling so much, so if you've made it this far, thank you for hanging in there!  I hope that you ladies had a wonderful weekend!

MAC - Bad Fairy (reloaded), and a little more giveaway info!

I'm up to 44 followers!

Can I say it?  Ladies, you are awesome!  I really appreciate that you're following me and that you leave comments on the posts that interest you.  It's very encouraging to know that other people are reading.  Thank you all so much!  At the end of this entry, there will be a small change of plans concerning the giveaway some of you have entered. :)  So stay tuned!


I really wanted my weekend manicure to be my new Edyta polish.  The first coat applied somewhat awkwardly, though, and I had apprehension.  It dried fine, so I added a second coat.  I nudged my thumb by accident (shoot!), which left a big smudge that I tried to fill.  Then I put on a coat of Seche Vite, hoping that it would make everything better.  But it wouldn't dry.  It was weird... just kind of got gummy. :(  I decided to sleep on it and see if it looked better in the morning, but alas, it didn't.  At least my Edyta pedicure lived to tell the tale.  The nails got wiped, though.

My application of Bad Fairy was horrendous, so I'm not going to give you the normal pictures.  Wah ha ha!  Everyone has seen a bajillion pictures of it by now anyway.  I'll just share a couple pictures that I took and liked.

Do you see?  It's everywhere! D:  .......but it's s-so shinyyyy.... <3

And this one, to show the more golden orange that comes out in the finish.

I really like this polish, but it had its share of issues.  I used three coats of polish in my pictures here.  For you longer-nailed ladies, you may need to do four to get full coverage in the case of VNL.  I can't see any with mine, but shorties don't usually have that problem.  With this many coats, I'm definitely considering just layering a coat over another polish in the future.  I think it would be just as beautiful that way.

Can we talk about the brush for a moment?  It's a pretty stiff brush.  Pairing a stiff brush with a polish like this can just be bad news, I think.  Also, the brush in my bottle had a weird bristle that stuck out to the side when it wasn't covered in polish.  Curious, I also checked the giveaway bottle.  Same thing. :(  Apologies.  I know that nail polish isn't MAC's big best seller, but you'd think they could have a better brush (or better quality control) for their higher priced product.

Ultimately, though, the color is pretty wicked.  I can handle an errant bristle for something that sparkles so radiantly in the sun that it nearly makes me drool. <3


In other news, I've decided to make a slight addendum to my Mysteriously Multiplying Bad Fairy Giveaway. :)  I realize that it might have been a heady goal to only add extra prizes if I reach 75 or 100 followers.  There's certainly still time to reach that, but I don't want the goodies for the winner to hang on other people.

So here's the deal.  I know that a lot of you have lemming lists.  Every time I see one that has something I own on it, I always have the itch to contact the blogger and ask if they'd like it.  So if you win my giveaway, I want to see your list!  What good are extra prizes if they aren't something you want, right?  If I don't have or can't find something from your list that you want, though, I'll just send extra goodies and hope that you enjoy them.

How does that sound? :)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

HOLY HUFFLEPUFF!!!

THE ULTA IN MY CITY JUST PICKED UP A ZOYA COLLECTION!!!!

I seriously squealed and did a dance in the aisle.  I quickly collected Edyta, Shawn, and Kelly from the display (the Wicked and Wonderful collections), because those were most certainly on my wish list.  I'll probably go back for more, but I'm satisfied with these for now.

Holy cow!  My first MAC polish and my first Zoya polishes, all in the same month?  Swoooooon. <3

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  Now that I have a few Zoyas to play with, one may become an extra prize when I get more followers. :) :) :)  Invite your friends!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Indecisive Skittles

I don't know how all of you do it, but I tend to have an incredibly hard time choosing what color I want to wear every day.  I always go for the full manicure, instead of just swatching colors.  I don't like the idea of spending a lot of money on polishes that I'm not going to spend a lot of actual time wearing.  Spending a lot of time swatching doesn't really have a place in my lifestyle, either.  I tend to paint my nails right before bed and let them dry while I sleep.  Sometimes I'm surprised by what color I'm wearing in the morning. :)

Most of my polishes are hidden away in boxes, or in a large reusable canvas grocery bag.  I've started keeping an open box on top of those, though, filled with polishes that I either love to pieces, or want to swatch soon.  That's trouble in itself, putting a bunch of colors I really like right up for me to choose from.


Worse, though, when I get new polishes, I don't feel right stuffing them in covered boxes or putting them into the canvas bag.  They just get dumped into my open box o' awesomeness.


Which leads to even more trouble when it comes to making a decision!  Does anyone else out there do this, just so that you can make up your mind??


Too many wonderful colors to choose from!  I don't even remember which color I ended up with!  Maybe not even one that I had on, which is pretty sad...


If you want to know what any of the colors are, leave a comment!


How do YOU decide what polish to wear?

(Psst!  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!)