Essie Lilacism

I am in LOOOVE with this color. Lilacism is a gorgous light purple creme. In fact, one of my friends this weekend picked this it out to wear because it was "So Springy!" (On a side note...it has become the rule now that my friends come over with a basecoat already on so they can raid my stash while they're here...I love it!). I usually stay away from pastels but I love me some purple and this one was just calling out to me. Glad I went for it!

Application was flawless and even, which is not always the case with light colored cremes. I am showing it here with 2 coats and no topcoat. BTW, last week I wore this as a mani and got 4 days chip-free! That's amazing in my book! The light purple leans ever so slightly to the blue side which makes it look positively luminescent in low light.

On a side note...is anyone really a fan of the new drug-store Essie bottles? UGH! Next time I'm totally cropping that nasty barcode!

KONAD! Need I say more...

Just popping in to say I'm still alive...although I'm drowning in a sea of test prep material. This will all be over next Saturday but don't expect new posts until the following Monday. A girl has to celebrate after all :)

If anyone is able to stick with me through this I promise you will be greatly rewarded! In fact, my first Konad order came in the mail today. It's going to take me some time to get the hang of it and as long as you don't laugh I'll show you my very first Konad manicure EVER! Ok..no laughing. Seriously! (I used image plate M63)

Orly Rage stamp over Essie Lilacism

Sally Hansen Spark stamp over Essie Lilacism

I'll post a more in-depth description of my first Konad experience ASAP. Thanks everyone for your support and for sticking with me. Have a fabulous Friday!!! :)

Wet n Wild's Gray's Anatomy and Sinful Color's Mint Apple

I need to be spending all my free time studying for my upcoming comps and my state licensing exam...so what do I do? I paint my nails, take pictures, blog, and repeat. I'm now less than 3 weeks away from the 2 biggest tests of my life and I know I really need to crack down on studying. So hopefully you will take it easy on me if all I show you today is Wet n Wild's Gray's Anatomy over Sinful Color's Mint Apple (from yesterday's post.)

I do have to let y'all know...all 21 readers of mine (WOW! 21! I'm so stoked!!!) that my posts may become a little sporadic until the middle of March (which is when I take my exams.) After that it's smooth sailing until graduation in May. So please bear with me...and if I can promise you anything it's that I'll have a TON of new polish to post because I am an emotional shopper and buying polish is the best remedy for stress :)

Also, check out this cool post over at Scrangie where she compares Wet n Wild's Gray's Anatomy to Deborah Lippmann's Wicked Game...you might be surprised at her verdict!

Sinful Colors Let's Talk

Let's talk indeed! Let's talk about how amazing this color is. I also bought this one at Walgreens as part of the 2-for-$3 deal. The first coat got me worried because it was brush-stroke central and looked a lot like a frosty. However, the second coat eased my fears as all brush strokes disappeared. By the third coat I was at complete opacity and left with nothing but a stunning blue-purple.

Revlon Perplex

I found this one on sale at Big Lots for $1. There were at least 30 of them but I only bought 4 (lol..."only".) I have a dear friend that I know would loooove this color...plus I figured I could share them with some of my sweet readers.

I'm sure you all know about this shade by now but it appears to be a dead-on-dupe for Chanel Paradoxical. Here is the post over at the PolishAholic that got me drooling over both. Needless to say, when I saw this one I knew it was MINE! Behold!

Oh! Isn't it just lovely? This is 2 creamy coats. Application was such a dream!

Do you own this one? They are selling on Ebay and Amazon for at least $10 but I'd be willing to swap. Let me know if you're interested.

Just another random Monday...

MAN! This Monday was rough! Getting back into the swing of things after 4 days off last week was nothing short of painful! Luckily I came hope to a package from Beauty by Brittany with this lovely note and some fab polishes inside. I can't wait to show you all the pretties she sent me! :)

I also made an exciting/random find at Big Lots this afternoon while I was looking for inexpensive dog beds:

That's right...I bought 4 of them. And perplexed is what the lady at the check-out counter probably was when she rang these up. But at only $1 each I really couldn't pass them up. I bought one for me and 3 to share. Let me know if your interested :)

I also had to share this rant over at Let them have Polish about the new OPI Texas Collection. I saw these polishes in person at Ulta this weekend and I really couldn't have said it better myself! It's a travesty that OPI took their inspiration from something as colorful and diverse as Texas and gave us bland and boring!

And just to wrap up what has proven to be my most random post ever I want to give a shout-out and a big thank you to Beauty Shades for tagging me with the Beautiful Blogger award. 

 And here are the questions that come with this award:

 

1. When and how did you start your love of polish? My love of polish started back in high-school when I was on the swim team. When you're in a competitive sport where your only way to express yourself is a tiny swimsuit you have to get creative. My school colors were blue and gold and I loved to wear deep blue jellys with chunky gold glitters. 

2. If you could choose to do anything in the world what would it be? How can I possibly narrow this down? I would love to be on one of those quirky Travel Channel shows and travel the world, making real connections and friendships along the way.

3. What's your favorite love story? I hate to go all philosophical on you guys but the story about how this dude God "so loved the world that he gave his only son" is a pretty amazing love story.

As for tagging others I'm cheating and I'm gonna go ahead and say tag yourself! Thanks for bearing with me through my randomness. Back to polishes tomorrow I promise!

Procrastination

What should I do on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I have the hugest test of my life looming in my near future??? Paint my nails of course!

Ok...so I started with the best intentions (notice my notes spread across my desk) but my office is also my polish room so it's easy to get distracted. For some reason I decided to dig out some oldies out of my stash (Ok...so Mr. Wrong is a new edition but the rest are old as crap):

(From left to right: Milani Honey Coated, Sally Hansen Wildfire Opal, Hard Candy Mr. Wrong, Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis, and Revlon Twilight.)

After a few days of Purple Rain I was ready for something a little more subtle. I tried some layering which turned out disastrously ugly and I won't bother posting them. However, although Honey Coated is kinda bland in normal light in the sunlight it suprised me with a blue flash!

The sun went down before I could take a picture of my final manicure but it was umpteen coats of Honey Coated (it was very sheer and I can't function with VNL) with one coat of Twilight on top.

It turned out to be a very luminous, glowy, pink. I'm not a pink kinda girl but I'm really loving it!

What unexpected laying combinations have you created?

Nars Purple Rain

This polish should be called BAM! Cause that's what I think about my nails every time I see the fabulous hot pink sparkle deep in that dark purple yumminess!

See!? BAM! You were thinking it too right? I love how it looks dark and vampy in some lights and in others you can see that insane pink flash! This is one of the few polishes that I have worn so many times I'm going to have to buy another bottle. And my supervisor is gone tomorrow so I'm taking over the caseload all by myself and rockin' this color while I do it so...BAM!

(And despite what my dry, cold, wrinkly hands would see to imply I am actually 26 and not 46 like my skin seems to appear. Note to self- macro setting on my camera does nothing for my self-esteem! )

And just so we all can get a good laugh...look at the rims I saw driving home yesterday!? Its hard to tell but those blades stick out at least 8 inches!!! I was seriously afraid to pass this car because all I could think of was his rims ripping my tires to shreds! I think he was a fan of Inspector Gadget as a kid.

Ulta Soho Pretty

Well my first few days at my internship were eye-opening to say the least. I was at an adult neuro day rehab facility last semester so it has been a transition working with an entirely different population in this elementary school!

So...my "work appropriate color" turned out a little darker and more mushroomy-purple than I expected...

I still loved it but it wasn't the pinky, grey-toned, neutral I thought it was. Luckily I tested the waters in terms of reaction to my polish choices. No one even seemed to notice my nails except one sweet little boy with autism (who was more interested in touching them rather than the color.)

The good news is my weekend starts Thursday nights since I don't have my internship on Fridays which means a polish change is in order...bring on the bling!!! :)

I also wanted to say to everyone that has been commenting that I really appreciate your feedback and opinions! I get a little giddy every time I see I have a new follower or a new comment!!!

Confetti Purple Reigns

I don't usually go for cremes but this one is stunning. Its a luscious, warm, berry purple that was super glossy before the SV and afterwards...well, I'm pretty sure I could see my reflection in it! I was surprised to find that it applied like butter and was opaque in two coats! Not bad for a drug store brand.

Barielle's Jess' Champagne Toast

Ok...so I don't get the name because this polish does not remind me of champagne at all. Anyway, I scooped this one up today on sale at Ulta!!! Yes!

This is a lavender foil with rose-colored micro glitter. This is so unique and I love it (and I'm a big sucker for anything with glitter). Application was a little gloopy but it may just be my bottle as other bloggers haven't seemed to have a problem. The finish is a little bumpy, even with a thick coat of Seche Vite. I think with 2 coats of SV it would be totally smooth.

In other news...my silly little blog that is less than a week old has 5 followers! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! (one for each of you!) I'm really having fun with this whole nail blog thing! If you haven't already please feel free to leave comments! I would love to hear from you! :)