Hell yeah, I want cheezy poofs!

Good morning!

I adore a good neon. I live in Oregon and well, it's Oregon. If it ain't raining, it's probably just grey. And that's a good winter day. Anyway...neon cheers me up during these dark times and it's fun to wear in the dead of winter.

Let me show you my recent acquisition:

Cosmetic Arts Unnamed Neon

Index and middle are three coats over Essie Marshmallow

Ring and pinkie are three coats alone

Seriously. What is with this not naming your polish? I like a name. So I decided to call this Atomic Cheese.

The color reminds me of terrifying simulated cheese comestibles. It's a yellow based orange that was way more yellow in my pics. My Nikon really does not like neons...

Taken in actual SUN.

Like most neons, this dries matte.The formula is quite smooth but a bit runny. It dries fast and though it's not too bad on its own, I strongly suggest some underwear to ensure it really pops.

I picked this up at Ross for the super cheap $1.99. This is a welcome addition to my family of neons and it's already cheered me up immensely.

That does it for today, y'all. Thanks for coming by and have a spectacular day!

Apothica Valentine's Day Giveaway

Good day!

I wanted to share with you the Apothica Valentine's Day giveaway. Apothica has gathered  some of their best selling products into two amazing gift baskets.

Valentine's Glamour Giveaway

Whether you are going to stay in and pamper yourself to perfection or stun the town on a night out, enter for your chance to win a bundle worth $150 for your special night.

All you need to do to enter is visit the Apothica Facebook page, "Like" and enter your email address!
Winners will be announced on February 14!

So magnetic...

Good morning!

Magnetic nail polish is pretty hot right now and I've jumped aboard. I only have three magnetic polishes but I find the differences to be quite amusing.

First up we have the high end of my spectrum, Layla Magneffect.

 Metallic Sky, three coats over Gelous

I purchased this at the Skins 6|2 Cosmetics store at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas for $14 before sales tax. The above pictures are from Thanksgiving. I was in a bit of a rush to finish getting ready and head to mom's so my cleanup was not so good. This is a fabulous color, dries quickly and the magnet was very simple to use. I was impressed with how well the design came up and I loved how easy it was to change the design by holding the magnet at a different angle.

Since then I have purchased two more magnetic polishes and I decided that I would re-swatch Metallic Sky as well as use all of my magnets on each one.

Index has two coats and used the Layla magnet. Three coats is best.

Middle used the Nabi magnet

Ring and pinkie used the Magnetix magnets

The Magnetix line is found at Rite-Aid, comes with TWO magnets and retails for $7.99.

I was a bit disappointed in this one. The color is kind of meh and its magnets don't seem to work as well with it as it does others. I don't believe these have names, rather, mine did not seem to have one on the packaging.

 Three coats

Index is Layla Magnet

Middle is Magnetix

Ring is Nabi

Pinkie is Magnetix

Last, I have the Nabi. It is also my favorite as well as the most affordable. I found this at Walgreens in the Thurston area of Springfield for $4.99. (Side rant: Why was this not at either of the two Walgreens I live smack dab in between??? Why did it have to be six miles away?? Look, I ride a bike. Six miles is a BIG deal for me. Get it together Walgreens!)

Moving along...

 Nabi Teal, three coats

Index is Layla 

Middle is Nabi

Ring is Magnetix

Pinkie is Magnetix

This is a true beauty. Clearly, it is not teal. It's a shimmery emerald with gold glitter. The gold really pops after you've used the magnet. Depending on how you hold the Nabi magnet, you can achieve a snazzy croco-like pattern. Awesome sauce. Can't wait to use this for Duck Day manis!

Lastly, I wanted to show you all of the magnets.

 Nabi magnet, on cap.

(Yep, I smudged.)

Works really well, easy to customize design.

 Magnetix magnets.

Love the design, love how it has wells cut out to rest on your finger and avoid hitting the nail.

Not as impressed with their pull.

Layla Magneffect magnet, on cap.

Works well, easy to customize design.

So there ya have it. How do you feel about the magnetic trend?

I'm off to bake some bread, y'all. I'm almost ashamed that I've been spending more time in the kitchen lately but I love to cook. Plus, I have made some kick ass South Beach Phase One meals. Dieting never tasted so good, yo. (By that I mean that Matt is on the diet. I have my secret stash of candy...)

Thanks for coming by!

Now, we break for MOONSPELL

Good day!

There will be some polish coming but I wanted to post about my favorite band because the new album will be coming this spring. If you're not a fan of metal, feel free to scroll on by.

Moonspell reveals their album cover. An intricate, marvellous and symbolic creation by Seth Siro Anton, the Greek artist who collaborated with the band on Night Eternal. This may be his finest and darkest piece to the date, invoking all the atmosphere that Moonspell dual album, Alpha Noir/Omega White, will unleashed on April 27th via Napalm Records. 

https://www.facebook.com/moonspellband

 “Alpha Noir” – album details revealed by Fernando Ribeiro:
A true band has to have to a glorious past, a solid present and a bright future. More than that, a true band has to know how to live throughout all these seasons, dealing with their ghosts, their shadows, their aim at the light, moulding darkness with personality, with the impulse to be better, to do better while getting close to theirselves. Their true heart, soul and flesh.
Never a Moonspell album came so close to be absolute like the new opus magna (masterpiece) “Alpha Noir”, scheduled to be proudly released by Napalm Records on the 27th of April, when Spring racks through the wastes of Winter, bursting new colours over familiar sights, once silent and white, now fiery under the blackest of Suns.
The concept of this new record, painstakingly composed by the Portuguese Gothic Metal knights over the past three years, after the public and critically acclaimed “Night Eternal”, is bulletproof. The band managed to split their heart and soul in half and the result is that they came even closer to themselves, the ambitious band they always were, with a undying wish not to claim any throne but to build their own ships that would take them and their fans to “give new worlds to the world”, like in the Age of Discovery where the Portuguese were a leading force in the world.
With their country drowned in a corrosive crisis, Moonspell filled their lungs with pride and created an incendiary album, with nine outbursts of their rockiest and thrashier riffs made superiorly dimensioned by the reindivictative lyrical content and songs structure that take you by storm from the first listen on. Moonspell has tapped a notch into their energy filled gothic metal by adding a guitar wall forjed by timeless artists like Bathory, King Diamond or in a twist ofthe knive to old Thrash Metal legends like Onslaught, Metallica early Works or even Testament and Artillery, making Alpha Noir a truly surpring and fresh record where all the songs have a climax effect about them, an high tension charm that will for sure electricize audiences when played on a stage.
Songs like the title track (Alpha Noir), the infectious “Versus”, the wolf hymn “Lickanthrope” or the Portuguese sung “Em nome do Medo” (In the name of fear) and the closing epic “Grandstand”, might get you a welcoming chilling of the past but make no mistake: “Alpha Noir” is a leap of faith and belief in their writing skills and progressive musicianship.
Together with Alpha Noir packed in a deluxe and special edition on digipack, Moonspell and Napalm offers no live DVD, making of or any kind of filler. Instead they put in the table another offerend: “Ómega White”, the musical twin of “Alpha Noir”, a collection of eight songs of pure atmosphere and shadow, close to their breakthrough album Irreligious, in a just homage to their Type O Negative and Sisters of Mercy roots. Tracks like the erotic “Herodisiac”, the catchy “White Skies” or the heartbreaking “Whiteomega” will for sure keep you in dark company through a night of fear and loss, both soothing and provoking.
Both masterpieces were produced and mixed by Tue Madsen, pre-produced by Benny Richter! 
“Each song a jewel, each song a stronghold!”
Keep your watch and do not miss this new Moonspell record, for it is a true mortal sin to stay away from these eighty minutes of music, beautifully and violently craved by one of the most legendary and imaginative bands ever to surface the European scene. Do not forget to get your hands on this masterpiece and to watch the band live in the Summer Festivals around Europe. “Alpha Noir”/”Omega White” will also be played in their entirety in Lisbon's Campo Pequeno, that holds 5000 fans, in their homeland Portugal in the most daring stage set and visuals the band has ever tried.

Guess what I want for my birthday???

Shades of Deep Purple

Good morning!

I did my first ombre manicure yesterday and I was quite pleased with how it came out. I never tried it before because I didn't think I owned enough of one color spectrum to do it. It's not perfect but it's pretty damn close considering.

 Thumb is Sephora - Hey DJ

Index is ChG Grape Pop

Middle is ChG Spontaneous

Ring is OPI Done Out In Deco

Pinkie is ELF Lilac

I really love this and it's awesome sauce to use so many shades of my favorite color in one manicure. 

Of course I wasn't going to rock this as is for one more day, it's just not in my nature.

So I pulled something special out of my stash to layer with. I adore what came to be.

 Ombre Manicure layered with Orly Satin Hues Satin Royalty

Above is without top coat

Same with top coat applied

Orly Satin Royalty is a HTF matte polish that is super sheer but with lovely duochrome action going on.

It makes for a much better layering polish than on its own but I'm so glad to have it. It is amazing!

Finally, two last pics taken in some sun. Yay sun!

I can't decide which layering combo I like best. It's pretty awesome on all of them!

That does it for me today. I have to gather some coupons, make a shopping list and get my house in order.

Thank you for coming by and have a wonderful day!

Metal on Metal

Good morning!

Since I have a bit more free time, I can finally catch up on my backlog of swatches.
Today I'm bringing you two more L.A. Girl Metal polishes that I picked up at the Fuego store in Portland at Pioneer Place.

Let's get to pictures and then I can share some thoughts.

 Metallic Olive, three coats

Don't mind the thin spots on my nails.

Stress peels and splits, you know.

Glowy...

 Bronze Medal, three coats

Okay then. Both of these are fairly sheer. Metallic Olive is buildable but Bronze Medal gave me the sads.

Scrangie swatched it at FIVE coats to make it opaque and I suppose I could have but I simply could not bear it any longer. Both colors dry much longer than I care for.

However, they are both so beautiful. 

Another thing about Bronze Medal is that it has an exact dupe with Love & Beauty Rust from Forever 21. (Okay, we all know both brands are exactly the same thing but whatever.) So, I unwittingly had two of the exact same polish just different brand names. I ended up giving my niece the bottle of Rust.

I've found Bronze Medal to be a better layering polish rather than a wear alone. Since Metallic Olive can still be a bit sheer even with three coats, I decided to layer both and see what happened.

 Index and Middle:

Color Club Rebel Spirit, two coats

topped with a thin coat of Bronze Medal

Ring and Pinkie:

Color Club Artsy Crafty

topped with a thin coat of Metallic Olive

Very lovely...

Bronze Medal is really fabulous for layering. It has an amazing glow and really adds some depth and interest.

Metallic Olive over green was wonderful and will most likely be used in next season's Duck Day Manicures.

That does it for today, guys. Hope I haven't scared you from both of these beauties. Just wanted you to know exactly what you would be getting into!

The Mean Reds

Hey there.

This isn't the happiest post I've had to write but since I've had some time to reflect and many long talks with my husband, family and my besties, I can now look on the bright side.
I was let go from my job this week. It wasn't what I wanted to have happen but since I was no longer happy, it has become a good thing.  No worries though, Matt and I will be okay. Money may be a snotch tight but we can make it.

It only seems fitting that I feature nail polish in this post since I got it from Goodwill. Ah, irony...
I purchased this from a grab bag just like the massive haul I got back in July. Again I paid a ridiculously small amount.
This one is a bit of a mystery because it did not have it's label on the bottom. From what little detective work I've done, I think it may be Quarter of a Cent-cherry.

 Mystery OPI, three coats over ridge filler

Taken in weak sunlight

In my middle picture it looks like it has orange-brown tones but I can say for certain that it is a deeper almost blood red. In sun, it looks like a classic cherry red. I'm disappointed that I was unable to truly capture what I could see. I blame a combination of bad lighting and not knowing how to futz with the ISO on my camera. Gonna have to look into that...

I ended up having to loosen the cap my soaking it in very hot water before I could even open it. After cleaning the neck, I swiped on a VERY thick coat. Clearly, I was going to need to thin it out.
I added a little thinner and I had the classic OPI formula back to life.

Red isn't normally my thing but I had a hard time not buying the grab bag this came in. I essentially paid .33 cents for this. I do love me a bragain! I also received a bottle of Solar Oil in said grab bag. Mmm...love Solar Oil...
I found myself falling in love with this color. The person who donated it really loved it too since it's about three quarters full. I suspect they donated it because the formula thickened. (Which is why one must routinely clean bottle necks and cap TIGHTLY!!)

So, what color do you guys think this?

The good thing is that I will have more time to devote to my blog while I reassess things. It's good to have some freedom to do just one small thing I truly enjoyed. I'm actually looking forward to the future!

Pure Ice Paint The Sky Blue Press Release

Here is the latest press release I received from Pure Ice. Nope, I'm still not over the crackle!

"Baby I painted the sky blue, my greatest creation was you!"

Hiphop Royalty Jay-Z and Beyonce's new baby girl Blue Ivy has the most amazingFairy God Mother... Oprah! 

Want to know what it feels like to have to world at your finger tips? Maybe a little bit like this!

Get into Oprah's Circle with Pure Ice Crackle & Ice Duo Strike A Pose

BUY NOW

Share your manicure with us @BariBeauty on Twitter

I'm a handful, baby, on the dance floor...

Good morning!

It's been awhile since I had done a sponged gradient mani. Sponging is one of my very favorite techniques and it is so dead simple simple to do. The weather here is particularly grey and chilly so I needed lots of color to lift my spirits. (It hasn't helped that Matt has been talking about Cancun...)

Behold:

Base is Orly Au Champagne

Sponged with Unnamed Neon Purple from Cosmetic Arts

ChG Towel Boy Toy

and

Color Club Poptastic

I love how this turned out. It was just the right color combo. Also? I adore Au Champagne. It is the perfect shimmery white that does not leave brush strokes. I'm finding that it makes great underwear for neon polishes too. 

I don't know why I've forsaken sponging...I love it so. Le sigh...

Lastly, I wanted to share my newest jam. I am a metal girl but I do love to dance and I can appreciate a great dance song. It's true, I am trouble on the dance floor!

Thanks for stopping by!

I have a Vendetta

Good morning!

Today I am bringing you my most expensive nail polish in my stash. I speak of my very first and I've no doubt not my last, Chanel.

 Chanel Vendetta, three coats over Gelous

Oh my word. I picked this up from the Chanel boutique at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Matt did exceptionally well at the craps tables and treated me to an extra special shopping trip.
Now I know why people lose their sense over Chanel polishes. This color is so gorgeous! It's an amazing deep eggplant purple with the notorious subtle shimmer. But the big deal is formula. I have never used a polish as lovely as this. It flowed perfectly on the nail. I was so surprised! Even more so to realize that two coats would've worked just as well as three. I was also surprised that this dried so fast. Dear me...


I got spoiled big time in Vegas. Earlier that day I stumbled upon an Inglot store in the Forum Shoppes at Caesar's. I had to have their flakies!! I picked up three and dang, am I in love!

Thus, I had to use one of them over this sublime purple!

 Inglot #204 over three coats Chanel Vendetta

Do you love this??

I'm in trouble now, y'all. I am crazy in love with Chanel polish. Good thing I'm willing to save my NP budget for special things.

That does it for now. The week has begun anew and it's time for work!
Thanks so much for coming by and I hope you have a great day.