China Glaze Wicked Collection Halloween 2012

Today I decided to beat the heat and head over to Little Saigon before the heat really started. My dusties are really…dusty. No, you don’t understand: you actually walk out of some of those places covered in dust and soot. My allergies actually get out of control when I go there, but it’s worth it. It’s sooooooo worth it. Jessica from Once Upon A Polish had mentioned that her Sally’s already had the China Glaze Wicked Collection out so I figured I might as well check my usual places since it’s the only place I can get my polishes for cheap. See, when you buy as much polish as I do, you have to become a polish sleuth and find the best (read cheapest) places so you can really go nuts on the quantity.

The China Glaze Wicked Collection is a  6 piece collection and I decided to get 4 of the polishes. I passed on the two glitters just because I didn’t think they were that interesting.  Let me show you some swatches of the 4 polishes I picked up.

China Glaze Roguish Red Swatch     China Glaze Roguish Red Swatch

Roguish Red is kind of radioactive when my camera is involved. It is a very bright tomato orange color but it looked way brighter in the sun so I had a hard time taking an accurate picture.  In the bottle, this looks exactly like China Glaze Pure Torture that was released in 2005 as part of the Voodoo, That U Do collection. It’s probably the same color! Poo!  The application on this was perfect and only needed two coats. My only complaint is that the brush  is junk on my bottle. I rarely have brush issues with China Glaze but this brush was frayed and wonky. 🙁

China Glaze Immortal Swatch     China Glaze Immortal Swatch

Immortal is really my favorite polish from this collection. I am always on the lookout for a good grey, and this one definitely fits the bill. The shimmer in it is just so pretty!! This polish was a little thin so I had to use three thin coats. Although I don’t think this is the most exciting polish of the bunch, it is probably the polish I would get the most use out of on a regular basis.

Bizarre Blurple Swatch     Bizarre Blurple Swatch

Bizarre Blurple is really throwing me for a loop. Normally I would say that it’s my favorite (purple and blue–hello!) but it’s very “been there, done that” on the heels of Orly Mysterious Curse (aka Orly Royal Velvet) and Deborah Lippmann Dancing In The Sheets. There might be slight differences, but not enough for me to tell you it’s worth getting if you have the others already. I know that won’t stop serious polish hoarders…like yours truly. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

China Glaze Cast A Spell Swatch     China Glaze Cast A Spell Swatch

Cast A Spell is the only polish in this collection that actually seems Halloween inspired! Wow! One out of six. I don’t think I have anything similar to this in my collection so I’m definitely glad I picked it up. It’s such a gorgeous blackened olive with goldish/green flecks. Did I mention it’s amazing? This could be a one-coater if you use enough polish, but I ended up applying two thin coats.

What are your impressions of this collection? Are you planning on getting some of these polishes or will you be passing? Personally, I think that the Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers RIP polishes seem much more interesting. I will be swatching those for you tomorrow so you’ll have to let me know what you think.

Here is what the damage has been in the last couple of days…mostly all today.

Why does polish make me so happy? I’m just fortunate that I have stealth ninja skills when it comes to getting polish on the cheap…otherwise I would be in BIG trouble.  Thanks again for stopping by and until next time!

P.S. Have you entered my Jessica Cosmetics Giveaway? No?! Why not?

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Cosmetic Arts Nail Polish

Ok, so I went to Ross and TJ Maxx in search of all the nail polish finds that people have been posting in the last week and I found bupkis. I did see a lot of Essie polishes at TJ Maxx but they were pretty icky so I passed. When I went to Ross, I found a few Cosmetic Arts polishes and decided to finally give them a try after a super enabler (Stephanie from PWRC!!) told me that the formula was pretty good. These polishes are made by the same people who make Color Club so at least I knew they wouldn’t be super crappy. My beef with these polishes, like the budget Color Club sets that can be found at Ross, is that they are not labeled. Am I supposed to go through some major polish hunt to figure out what each polish is called? I read somewhere that Color Club had some info about these polishes listed on their website but I didn’t find anything. So, if you know the name of this phantom polish, please tell me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some swatches for your viewing pleasure:

Cosmetics Arts Nail Polish Swatch     Cosmetics Arts Nail Polish Swatch

Cosmetics Arts Nail Polish Swatch     Cosmetics Arts Nail Polish Swatch

Don’t tell me that this polish isn’t pretty. It’s a difficult polish to photograph because the blue-ish microglitter is much more visible under sunlight. I am very impressed by the formula but I feel like it dries kind of dull. I used Seche Vite as my top coat, and it pretty much disappeared so maybe next time I will try Gelous.

In other nail polish news, I got my Silly Lily nail polish order in the mail and also found the RIP Fantasy Makers (WNW) Halloween Polishes. Wooo hooo! I will probably swatch them tomorrow.  Now I am just missing my Coterie Butter London polishes to get here….tick tock. And before I forget: Dollish Polish is releasing their Halloween collection on 9/20. Guess who’s going to be stalking their site all morning/day. MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and catching up with me. 🙂

 

Barielle Falling Star

You know the feeling when you finally find a polish you’ve been wanting but initially passed on because you were being dumb? Well, I finally found this beauty. I picked up Barielle Falling Star this weekend at TJ Maxx, and I was beyond happy. I actually don’t remember the exact price, but I think it was $2.99 which is a steal in my book..  I had seen this polish in a blue themed set of Barielle polishes that I had neglected to pick up and then they disappeared. I should know better than that because when cool polishes show up, they will disappear just as quickly so don’t ever hesitate because you will lose out.

When I got home, I immediately searched online for swatches and I was super sad about the reviews for this polish. I read a lot of reviews stating that this polish was an application nightmare: that is was goopy and gross and almost impossible to apply. I armed myself with my bottle of thinner and was determined to make this polish work. Normally I am heavily against the idea of thinning a brand new polish, but if the reviews were accurate, this baby would need a whole bunch of thinner.

Behold, Falling Star:

Barielle Falling Star Bottle Shot     Barielle Falling Star Macro Shot

Barielle Falling Star Swatch     Barielle Falling Star Swatch

Barielle Falling Star Swatch     Barielle Falling Star Swatch

I normally don’t post this many pictures for just one polish, but I actually really love this shade of blue. It was an antique and dusty feeling to it and I adore the copper/pink glitter. Even more amazing, the glitter doesn’t get lost in the base color despite the color being so pigmented.  As far as the formula is concerned, yes it is thick and can get unruly and goopy in an instant. I added quite a few drops of thinner and found that the formula improved tremendously.

So what do you think of Falling Star? Is it a color you would wear? I honestly can’t think of any other similar color in my collection so I’d love to hear if you have any dupe suggestions.

If you haven’t entered yet, make sure that you check out my post here with the information for my latest giveaway which features two mini sets of Jessica Cosmetics polishes.

Thanks for stopping by and catch you later!

September Birthday Giveaway #2

Are you ready for another giveaway? As promised, the birthday extravaganza continues with another nail polish giveaway. I will be choosing two winners for this next giveaway as I have two sets of Jessica Cosmetics minis:

The colors in this kit are: Happy Days, Loving The Lilacs and Velvet Rope.

The colors in this kit are: Starlight Starbright, Cabernet Creme and Chilled Chambord.

This second picture made me laugh because you can see me taking the pic, and I hadn’t even combed my hair. What a bird’s nest!

I am so happy I got my hands on these sets because I think they are adorable and Jessica is really one of my favorite nail polish brands. I think they are sorely underrated because a lot of people can’t seem to get this brand locally and don’t always want to purchase them online. If you want to know how awesome the quality of these polishes is, check out some of my previous reviews here.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My previous giveaways have been open to US, Canada, France and UK residents but I am going to open this up worldwide. My only concern is that I’ve heard that some countries are really strict when it comes to nail polish being mailed so please know the customs regulations of your particular country before you enter. I will not be responsible if you win and your prize is confiscated by customs…and that would make me super sad!

After this giveaway, I have one last one planned, and I hope that you will really enjoy it because I’m loving the idea of planning it. Weeeeeeeeee! 🙂 Don’t forget to share this with your nail polish loving friends.

 

31 Inspired Days of Nail Art – Day 3 : Yellow

I apologize in advance for what I am about to show you. I actually think my nails look hideous which sucks because I was really looking forward to using this yellow polish. I’d like to say that I do like the yellow polish on its own, but the stamp just looks…barf-worthy. My third submission for the 31 Inspired Days of Nail Art is a big fat fail. Here we go….

This is Nails Inc. Carnaby Street:

Nails Inc. Carnaby Stree Swatch     Nails Inc. Carnaby Stree Swatch

It’s no secret that I love Nails Inc. because they have the best creme formula on the planet as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, Carnaby Street fell prey to the usual trapping of yellow polish: it was patchy and kind of annoying to work with. It took 3 coats for me to be able to cover up all the bald spots which is unheard of in my Nails Inc. experience. I should have left well enough alone, but noooooooooooooooo. I had to stamp over this…

Cheeky Plate CH 48     Cheeky Plate CH 48

I used a design from Cheeky plate CH 48. While the design isn’t ugly, per se, the color combo just looks UGLY. Please join me in hating this final look.

I’m late to posting this because I went nuts and removed this immediately: that’s how much I hated it. I guess I can’t always have a nail win.

Don’t forget to check out the looks created by the other ladies participating in the challenge. I’m sure their submissions will be much more interesting–can’t be as ugly as mine…that’s for sure!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time!


China Glaze Deviantly Daring

I realize I’m late to the New Bohemian party but I still ended up getting a couple of polishes from the China Glaze New Bohemian Collection. China Glaze Deviantly Daring is probably the only color that really interested me from this collection after I saw what a duochrome fail the whole collection turned out to be. I think that the colors are pretty, but I was so incredibly let down once swatches started popping up online that I just decided to pass on the whole collection when it first came out.I came across some of the polishes at one of my dusties for dirt cheap so I picked up this color and No Plain Jane.

China Glaze Deviantly Daring is a described as an “adventurously bold peacock teal” and I think that description suits it just fine.  I am always a huge fun of teal polishes so I am happy that I decided to pick this one up.  I thought the formula was pretty darn perfect. It was easy to control and it was opaque in two coats.

China Glaze Deviantly Daring Swatch     China Glaze Deviantly Daring Swatch

Something weird happened when I applied my top coat of Seche Vite: I found that the duochrome showed up a lot better.  I could really see the darker blue flash on the tips and edges of my nails!  It’s still not as majestic as I had hoped when I saw bottle shots, but it’s pretty. Brush strokes are one of my most hated polish issues and unfortunately, there were some visible brush strokes: not enough to make me hate the polish but enough to  let me they are there–teasing me.

Since I’ve been on a star kick lately, I decided to use another star stamp over Deviantly Daring.

Cheeky Plate CH 52 China Glaze Deviantly Darling     Cheeky Plate CH 52 China Glaze Deviantly Darling

This star pattern is from Cheeky plate CH52.

What do you think? I think that if I find more of these New Bohemian polishes for cheap, I will purchase them. Did you get any of these polishes? What did you think of them?

Thanks for stopping by and catching up. Stay cool and until next time!

Cheeky Stamping Plates – Summer Collection 2012

I am a true stamping fiend so I was really excited when I heard that Cheeky was releasing a new stamp collection. The Cheeky Stamping Plates Summer Collection 2012 consists of 26 image plates with over 150 individual designs so you definitely get a lot to play around with. When I first started using image plates, I was a snob and only purchased Konad plates but I soon discovered that other brands were putting out

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH30 CH31     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH32 CH33

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH34 CH35     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH36 CH37

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH38 CH39     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH40 CH41

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH42 CH43     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH44 CH45

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH46 CH47     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH48 CH49

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH50 CH51     Cheeky Stamping Plates CH52 CH53

Cheeky Stamping Plates CH54 CH55

Now, here is a size comparison between Cheeky stamping plates and my MASH plates.

At first I was pretty annoyed at the size difference because  all my MASH, Konad and Bundle Monster plates are the same size and I thought maybe the Cheeky plates wouldn’t fit in my card/plate holders. This would have been a huge annoyance because I want to keep all my plates in the same place. The Cheeky plates did end up fitting but just barely.

I already used one of the plates for a nail look I did yesterday and you can see it here. The plate worked perfectly, and I have no complaints about the quality of the plate because it did just what it’s supposed to do: it transferred a clear and precise image. I did notice that when I removed the clear plastic covering on the face of the plates, a lot of them already had some minor scratches. I’m not cool with that especially since they are brand new.  Now, this is where my rant will start…

I ordered the Cheeky Stamping Plates the second they were available which was on August 14th. My plates arrived on 9/13. I understand that they were being shipped from China, but that’s just a little ridiculous to me. I buy A LOT of nail supplies that come from China and nothing has ever taken this long to arrive. Even though they offered free shipping, I would have gladly paid for shipping if it meant that I would be getting my items in a timely manner. I do not think that it is unreasonable to expect to receive your items in a timely fashion: if you take my money right away, give me my products right away. Simple as that. I think the annoyance of shipping has definitely soured me on the prospect of purchasing anything else directly from Cheeky. I will look into how quickly Amazon dispatches the items if I buy from them instead of from Cheeky directly so maybe I will just always wait to buy from Amazon if they have something that catches my attention.

I guess that if you don’t mind waiting for eons for your plates, these are a pretty good investment. I paid $24.99 for my set with free shipping. It looks like prices are different on Amazon, but I haven’t looked into it yet. While not all the images are that original, I do like the variety and quality. I also have to give them major props for their packaging. The little box they come in is adorable and so is the little card that comes with it (that can also be used as a scraper!)

Will you be getting this new Cheeky stamping plates set for Summer 2012? Let me know which plate you like the most. I will be using an image from one of these plates for day 3 of the 31 Inspired Days of Nailr Art Challenge which will revolve around the color yellow. Thanks for stopping by and until next time!

31 Inspired Days Of Nail Art – Day 2: Orange

Are you ready for Day 2 of the 31 Inspired Days of Nail Art Challenge?!?!?! I am and today I have something that came out kind of awesomely strange. I’ve been seriously loving Bourjois Grenadine Tonic that the lovely Julie sent to me a while ago and I never miss a chance to use it. I absolutely adore how it’s unlike anything I have ever used. It’s like an orange high gloss polish that easily builds up to a vibrant orange with some red to boot. I guess you could call it tomato orange. I’ve used this polish for a NOTD before and you can see my results here.

Let me wow you with my orange jello nails!

Bourjois Grenadine Tonic Swatch     Bourjois Grenadine Tonic Swatch

This is three coats of the lovely Grenadine Tonic.

Cheeky Stamp CH 51     Cheeky Stamp CH 51

This is my first use of the Cheeky plates that I received today. I used plate CH51 for this design and I think the design is pretty cute. I know Vienna would love this since she loves stars so much. 😉 I applied one coat of Grenadine Tonic after I stamped the design using Konad special white polish.

So overall, I kind of really like this whole look. It reminds me of Jello (and you know there’s always room for J-E-L-L-O!) in a weird way. Now, if you’re a Jello hater, move along. Let me know what you think of my Day 2 creation. I’m usually pretty hard on myself when it comes to creativity and execution, but like I said earlier, I’m really diggin’ this. Can you dig it?

Don’t forget to check out the blogs of the other ladies participating in the 31 Inspired Days of Nail Art Challenge! Our next challenge will involve yellow which is my color obsession du jour. It will give me an excuse to finally use the crazy Nails Inc. yellow that I purchased a while ago. Woo hoo!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time!


Coterie Butter London Deal

I’ve seen this information floating around for an awesome Coterie Butter London deal so I finally decided to check it out. I just purchased 3 Butter London nail polishes + a matte top coat for $11!! How? Well, let me tell you how.

Go to:  https://coterie.com/preview and use the access code OBSESSED-VIP. You will have to create an account and just click on the Butter London deal and add it to your cart. There are 6 available colors but only 5 are left. The colors you can choose from are:

Pillar Box Red, Wallis, Bluey, West End Wonderland, All Hail The Queen and Knackered. At this time, All Hail The Queen is sold out.

When you go to check out, use the coupon code VIPMEMBER and you will get an instant $25 discount. Standard shipping is free so you end up paying $11 for 3 Butter London polishes and a matte top coat!!! Wow!

Just thought I’d pass on this deal in case you’re interested.  Don’t hate me for making you spend money…I’m just trying to pass on the good deals. 😉 Let me know if you take advantage of this awesome Coterie Butter London Deal. I picked up Pillar Box Red, Wallis and Knackered.