Tag it before it's gone!

Stephanie tagged me for this award and I'm glad to be a part of the fun!
I am to list seven facts about myself. I'm a little stumped, I'm pretty free with the info as is.
But let's give it a go!


1. I like to make aliases for myself when I go out with my friends. Mainly just to mess with the minds of drunks at bars. ;) I have been Myrtle the former pro-bowler. Pamela, the UC Davis student. Mavis, the Avon representative and Reverend Paloma, founder of the Church of the Almighty Lamb(chop). Trust me, I can be real fun at parties!

2.  I share an in joke with my sister(s) and best friends about buying a private island when we retire. We create storylines and scenarios about what we would do . Mainly, wear muumuus, smoke cigarettes and be perpetually drunk. This joke has come around to my co-workers and now they are finagling "jobs" for themselves on our fantasy island. Now we have a chef, bartender and two cabana boys. All I have to do is win the Powerball and we can set this in motion.

3. Eurovision. I've mentioned it before but I am more than happy to repeat. I love it. With a shameful passion. I start voraciously reading all the top Eurovision news sites in February and making top 10 prediction lists.
I've even taken days off from work to watch the webcast of the Semis and the Final. I am that crazy.
However, it introduced me to Kabat and that is awesome.  More shamefully for the metal girl, it introduced me to Helena Paparizou, Sibel Tuzun and Anna Vissi and I adore them.

4. I once danced in a go go cage at a drag club in Portland, AFTER seeing Moonspell and was singing Abba's "Dancing Queen" in Hindi.

5. I love to dance. I'm not good at it and I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself. I make up my own dances. If you ever take me out on the town, you will see the "Where Ya At," "The Heisman," and "Working on My Jump Shot." They're magical.

6. Totally serious: I'm working on a transfer degree to the University of Oregon. It only took me three colleges and thirteen years to figure out what I want to do with my life.

7. Jobs I have had: housekeeper in a senior apartment home, dry cleaner counter clerk, Kmart cashier, supervisor at Old Navy, clerk at a beauty supply and nanny.


Well, there ya go.

I'm tagging:
The always wonderful Nicole
The lovely and entertaining Ginger
My metal sister Deb
Sweet Trinca-Espinhas
She who never fails to amaze me with her mad skills, Lisa
Lovely Nathalie
and finally, my fellow Oregonian and cool girl, Antonea!

I'm off to finish my Rose Bowl mani. Pics to come soon!

Sweetness!

Good morning, loves! I'm feeling better today, just a little sore. Since it's rainy and I'm bummed about eating only soft, mushy foods it's definitely time to show a sunny and bright color.
This is an unnamed Sally Girl polish that is a really sweet neon magenta.

Three coats w/out base and top in weak sun

This was devil to photograph because it looks so danged pink in pictures. It definitely is not!

I was swooning over this when I applied. I could not get over how fluid it was and how speedy it dried!

Like any neon, it dries matte but topcoat makes it shine. Three coats was best application because it is a wee bit sheer. This still shows a little VNL but I could live with it.. I wore this as a full mani to work and it wore nicely. I ended up wearing this for two days because I love the color. I only had to add one more coat to cover some tip wear and one chip.

Three coats with top coat indoors with flash

Shortly after I purchased this, I saw Sinful Dream On at Walgreens. I was certain it was a dupe so I picked it up because I'm already half way through this Sally Girl. The result?

Sinful Dream On index

Sally Girl on middle

Two coats each

Looks like a dead on dupe to me! It was a very good thing I saw this because Sally often up and discontinues the Sally Girls before the bottle makes it back home with you! I really only spent about 40 cents more for the Sinful and I have a lot more polish now. I consider it a win!

What cheaper or better dupes have you found for a polish you love?

Thank you for looking! More to come today!

Duochrome at the Drugstore

Good morning loves! I have a few pics from a few hauls ago of Scherer Chameleons in Calypso I picked up at Rite-Aid.

Three coats some sun no top coat

Same as above with top coat and flash

This polish was a pleasant surprise for me. I was worried it was more duochrome in bottle but no! It has a fun, foil finish but it definitely flashes blue and green. The formula is smooth but you definitely want to use a ridge filler because it will show all of your sins. This dried exceptionally quick too! What a great find for under five bucks!

Bottle love in cloudy light

That is all I have for now. I'm getting my iPod loaded for my trip to the dentist. I'm definitely putting Rotting Christ's "Theogonia" album on there. I was listening to that when I had my root canal and I fell asleep in the middle of the procedure. Who knew Greek Black Metal could be so soothing?

(I'm also putting Opeth and Katatonia on too but they make great headphone listening albums anyway!)

Have a lovely day. I may be back later today but I will for sure be back tomorrow. I will be bringing the Rose Bowl edition of my Duck Day manicure for you then. Thanks for looking!

Nail Art of the Day

To try and cheer myself up a bit and get some ideas for my upcoming Rose Bowl Duck day mani, I played around with some of my newest goodies.

I added another coat of Essie Chinchilly and wow, what an improvement. So, yes my previous complaint was due to operator error and not the polish. I used some Nailene french pedicure guides that my sister gave me to lay out the diagonal. Then I used Diamond Chainmail Charm.
I found I had demarcation from the guide on my nail so I grabbed my Art Deco striper and did a quick diagonal swipe. Freehand. Seriously, I was so proud of myself for doing it and succeeding. I have no coordination for things like that!
I'm thrilled with how it came out and it has improved my mood already!

 What nail art have you done that you are most proud of? Any special manicures planned for New Year's?

Thank you for looking. Have a wonderful day, all. I'm off to work!

Grey days...

Good morning!

I'm feeling a little gloomy now. Partly because of my impending oral surgery tomorrow and because some of my nail pictures have just up and disappeared. I blame Picasa. I didn't do any editing, organizing or anything. I just opened up Firefox to see my blog and they were gone! They are not in my web album or on the hard drive. It's a big fucking mystery to me and I am VERY unhappy. Grrr...
Thus, I am reflecting my stormy mood on my nails.

Essie Chinchilly

Three coats over base

Topped with Nailene Acrylic Strong top coat

This is my first Essie ever. I picked it up at Fred Meyer right before Xmas and got a deal because my bestie is a shopping ninja. (We had coupons for everything!!! She is amazing.) They had the entire fall collection there and I debated (and secretly swatched!) for the longest time which one to get. Mink Muffs was out because it didn't excite me. Midnight Cami was gorgeous and it was a major contender. I decided against Bright Tights and Pink Parka because I'm trying to get my neon obsession under control. So I left with Chinchilly.

I was pretty pleased with the formula of this and the dry time. I was a little worried I would have sheet marks because I started it a couple of hours before bed. Gratefully, my fears were allayed. This did not wear too well but ONLY because I had to work in drive-through for a couple of hours yesterday. I've yet to find a polish that could. There's no way, yo.

My biggest disappointment in this that despite applying three coats, I still had major streakiness near my cuticles and tips. I will try it again to see if this is simply operator error. Could be because I was in such a bad mood anyway. I really hope not because I like this color a lot. It won't replace my beloved ChG Recycle which is a wee bit darker but it is nice to have another grey creme in the stash.

Thank you for looking! Here's hoping your days are much better than mine!

Viva Cancun!

Now that the holiday is over, we are gearing up for our trip to Cancun in March. Matt is so excited that he picked a truly bright color for me to wear. He chose L.A. Girl Disco Brites in Retro.
(Sidenote: I often present Matt with three choices of polish if I can't seem to make up my mind. He's a good sport about it and tries to make a game of it. He ends up picking nice colors!)
I got this particular polish from Cherry Culture. For a little bit cheaper than Fred Meyer no less! Which was fine. Of the three Freddy's in my area, only one had the Disco Brites and it's very difficult for me to get to on bike or bus. Those streets were really made for cars!

Four coats over ridge filler and base with flash

I applied four because I had a lot of bald spots. This goes on pretty streaky but my application was crap. Three would be just fine were it not for me lackadaisically slapping it on after a major binge of ham eating and wine drinking. I thought the formula was weird because it seemed so thick and tacky. Having played with it this morning, I realize it was just me. Lesson learned here: Don't paint your nails after consuming alcohol. I still have yet to heed this because I'm just an idiot. So, yeah.

Anyway, the color is fantastic and I'm itching to do some Konad....

Hope everyone had a nice time. I hung out with the family and even modeled my nephew's Star Wars Clone Trooper helmet. I got a $50 Sally gift card from Matt and this:

A new necklace!

That man spoils me so, it is ridiculous. Yes, the pic was take yesterday whilst I was in my pajamas. That's how it's done, right?

Now I have $60 to spend at Sally so I'm saving that to cheer myself up next week when the wisdom teeth go.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! It's back to work for me. Yay.

Merry Xmas and remember that James Brown loves you!

Happy Cthulhu-mas! May the day bring love, joy and nail polish!



From that Sci-Fi, video game, heavy metal geek,


Heather the MIGHTYLAMBCHOP


P.S. The title is in reference to a James Brown Xmas song that played one year when I worked at Old Navy.
It's one of the two Xmas songs I actually like.


This is the other. It reminds me of my grandpa who was born on Xmas Eve. He and grandma loved the holiday and it was the hardest thing to give up when they became  Jehovah's Witnesses. 




     

The most reluctant holiday manicure EVER

I said before that I don't celebrate Xmas. Matt, however, does. He wheedled and cajoled me into doing a holiday manicure. (Okay, he suggested it and I cannot resist his charms. What can I say? I'm crazy in love with my husband.)

I used one of the newest additions to my stash that I got from Cherry Culture. It is a brand called L.A. Splash and the color is called Crimson Tide. It's a seriously sweet dark red glitter. It's no Ruby Pumps but it is snazzy. It's also in such a neat bottle. I admit, that drew me to it first then the color. ;)

Two coats of Crimson Tide

Nail decals by Nailene (My Xmas gift from them.)

Konad Special Polish in white

Orly Glitz

Nail Magic Birthstones Peridot

Konad image m15

I really like this polish and I adore the color but I have to be honest and tell you that it is simply the weirdest polish I have ever used. It's not necessarily thick but it does tend to get tacky on the brush pretty quick.

I found myself constantly dipping back into the bottle to reload my brush just to finish my three strokes for one nail. Odd. However, it dried ridiculously fast.

The finish is muted and a wee bit bumpy but Out The Door smoothed and shined it all out.

Matt chose the decals and decided which fingers they would go on. He also chose the Konad image and the gold to stamp it with. I decided to continue the white and gold theme from the decals so I used my special polish on the ring. I was not satisfied with only that so I added a sweet metallic light green on the index.

I admit this came out really cute and my bestie would be sooo proud of me for doing this. Especially since I talked her out of buying a holiday sweater at Fred Meyer today! Which brings me to mention that I had the most amazing day. I hung out with Sugar Mama and we shopped like mad. It was awesome! She also gave me a present: a Sally gift card, an Art Deco Nail Art striper in green glitter and some lovely lotion from Victoria's Secret. Sweet!

Not only that, I got to talk to the lovely, sweet and oh so cute Nicole from Magic Maid.

Oh my word, she has the cutest accent! What a great gift to actually speak to one of my fellow nail fanatics. I was just over the moon, guys!

I'm off for some cuddle time with Matt and Gus on the couch. Thank you for looking and I hope everybody has a super fun day tomorrow!

Trying it again

*DISCLAIMER*

This post discusses products that were sent to me by Nailene.

The opinions therein are my own and not paid for.

Good morning!

So I got a whole bunch of goodies from Nailene to try out and review and I'm happy to bring you a brief look at what I've done so far.

I received a sweet French Manicure kit that came with tip guides, top coat and traditional French polish colors.

I also got a French Manicure pen in white that came with a mini top coat. I was so excited to try them out that I decided to attempt a french again.

I didn't go about this all the right way, I warn you now. I have learned that I really do need to use the tip guides because I'm not skilled enough to freehand. Plus I used the pen and then the sheer polish over. I was a tiny bit apprehensive to use the white tip color that came in the kit and since I was already comfortable with the pen, I felt that was best for this go round.

Let's go to the pics, shall we?

The sheer polish is a lovely nude and I actually want to use this by itself sometime. It applied like any sheer, which means you need to apply very carefully or it will be streaky. I used only one coat here and it did streak but what surprised me was what happened when it dried. It actually leveled itself out and the streaks were far less noticeable. The polish dried to a satiny, almost matte finish with a hint of shimmer. What is shown above is shortly after I applied the polish so it is not completely dry.

I have a French tip pen in Pearl White from Nailene and I love it. So I was no stranger to the one they sent, just excited to have a nice, crisp white. The pen is super easy to use. The only issue I had was getting the polish to flow for the first time. I had that tip depressed on cardboard for longer than 30 seconds. However, once it  flows, you are good to go. It is not gloppy or runny and applies smooth. The pen is easy to control and the tip angled nicely. The tip color dries matte and dries super quickly.

As I said, I needed to use the tip guides included because I would have had much better results. Considering I didn't use it, it came out pretty sweet and I owe that to the pen and its ease of use.

I used the top coat that came in my kit and I was very pleased with the application and dry time. It was quite similar to my beloved Out The Door in texture but it dries a snotch slower. (Like a few seconds, no biggie!)

As you know, I can't always comment on wear because my results are NEVER typical. Sadly, I was building Xmas trees that day so those fake branches scraped my mani right off! 

In Summation:

Nailene has put together really thoughtful French manicure kits. They are fantastic for those who love traditional manicures but good for those of us who will use each piece of the kit in different ways.

The pen is by far my favorite because it also makes for a great tool for nail art. It can be used as a dotting tool or a striper. Which I did with my take on confetti nails back in October.

I have to love any product that can be used in so many more ways than its original designation.

Next time, I will be showing you a French manicure using the entire kit Nailene sent. I have lots more Nailene products to show you in the next few days and I hope you'll enjoy them!

Nailene can be found at Walmart, Rite-Aid, Kmart and CVS stores. Yo can also see more of their products at their website, www.nailene.com. Don't forget that you can follow them on twitter too!

Thanks for looking! Hope the day finds you well and ready for good fun that is funny!

L.A. Girl Matte

Good morning!

Today I bring you one of my latest L.A. Girl acquisitions. This is from the matte collection and boy, did I step out of my comfort with this one!

Matte Coral

Two coats, no base, limited sun

I wanted to get something really bright and though I love orange, I opted for Matte Coral. The bottle showed more of an orange-y cast but it's definitely a pink-y coral. I am not disappointed in this because it is so sunny and cheery.

This was easy to work with and applied smoothly. It does dry quickly as mattes are wont to. However, it dries slower than Zoya and Orly mattes. I had to be very careful until it dried but I did manage to ding the index.

I found this at my local Fred Meyer store for $2.99 but I do know that these are available at Cherry Culture for $4.00. They have a nice selection of colors in this line and I definitely plan on buying some more!
I did, of course, play around with layering as well as making this pretty color shine with top coat!

China Glaze Five Gold Rings on index

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Opal on middle

Orly Love Each Other on ring

Out The Door top coat on pinkie

I loved all of the effects the layering gave. Molten Opal was amazing but I was most impressed with the Orly over it. The purple/blue sparkles just jumped right off the nail!

Thank you for looking! I'm almost at the end of my week. I'm planning on making a beautiful batch of pho for me and Matt to enjoy on Xmas Eve. Then it's all about the cuddle time on the couch!

What plans do you have?

Have a lovely day, all!

Festive Nails

*Disclaimer*

This post discusses a product that was sent to me by Nailene.

The opinions therein are my own and not paid for.

The only compensation received was complimentary product.

Today at work we were able to dress "festively." Now, I don't celebrate Xmas but I do love a good Ugly Sweater Party. The sad news is that we were all sold out of our most gaudiest ones and I just can't commit to wearing a holiday sweater if it's not retina searingly ugly. It's just my way.
Of course, I opted to dress my nails instead.

I debated on what to do exactly but I settled on the confetti nails. It's fun, festive and a breeze to do.
This was achieved with the following:

Base:
Zoya Purity

Dots:
Sinful Ruby, Ruby
Wet n' Wild Craze Inferno
Hard Candy Frenzy
Orly Enchanted Forest
Sally Girl Unnamed neon magenta
OPI Silver Belles

Glitter:
China Glaze Medallion

I did lefty with much bigger dots and splotches. I did smaller ones on righty. I really like how they turned out and I appreciate the differences. It almost looks like one of those snazzy, glitter frosted ball ornaments.
I topped this all with a top coat that was sent to me by Nailene. This came in a package with a French Nail pen. (Which will be spotlighted soon.)
I was pleased with its consistency which was thick but smoothly spread. It dried quickly and easily smoothed out the glitter and bumps from the nail polish dots. It has a great shine and it wore beautifully! I was a little apprehensive because I love me some Out The Door, Zoya Armor and Seche. (Yes, in that order.)

This wore just beautifully for me. I knew I had some extra strength by applying a glitter polish but this top coat was a pleasant surprise. I did not have tip shrinkage and I did not have a single chip. Considering I moved a sectional and recliner, rearranged my furniture section, dug through tubs of donated Xmas merchandise and straightened the tool section today!
However, I did use a glitter and I'm worried my results are really not typical. So I plan on using this top coat with a regular manicure and see how well it stands up to my job. As of right now, I am quite pleased!

Thank you for looking! Hoping your weekend is fun filled and relaxing!

5 Guys I used to (and might still) like

Oh. My. Word. I was tagged by the super awesome Ange of Scandalously Polished for this. Please don't laugh too much!

1. Tom Berenger

I was seriously crazy about him when I was younger. I blame the movie "Betrayed" for that only because I used to have a girl crush on Debra Winger. Oy. I watch some bad movies.

2. Fernando Ribeiro



Oh dear. Still not over him.  Fernando is the singer of my most favorite band, Moonspell. I was able to touch him when I saw them in concert in October. He smelled delicious. 

3.  Gus G.


How could I not have a cute, Greek guitar god on this list? His band, Firewind is amazing and he is now playing for Ozzy. Win!

4. Keith Olbermann



All I can say is that I have been crazy about him since he was the sportscaster for one of the local news shows in L.A. back in the 80's. Grr...

5. Kyle MacLachlan



Are you surprised that I was obsessed with "Twin Peaks" in high school?

So there you have it. Please be gentle!

Sally Hansen Marble Creme

Good day!

I bring you another installment of my Dollar Tree haul. This is Sally Hansen New Lengths in Marble Creme.
The name is incredibly generic, no? This one is something else. At the store it looked really grey but it's not exactly.

FOUR coats, no base with flash

Yep, you read that correctly. This took four coats to be opaque and not as streaky. The formula is pretty thin but it's weird. Applying a thin coat was sticky and dragged. A little thicker and it spread fluidly and smoothly.

I had to let each coat dry for ten minutes between applications or it dragged and made ginormous bald spots.

What I'm showing you is shortly after I applied the fourth coat and I got a bald spot on the index and dinged the ring finger.

I really like the color. With flash, this looks pretty bright but it is a greyed out teal and slightly drab. However, this is something I would only attempt to wear if I have LOTS of time for application. It's a PITA and then some. I was not at all surprised, however. I anticipated that I was going to get polishes like that from Dollar Tree. I'm not unhappy about it, just kinda meh. I'm not sure if this will be a permanent in my stash or set aside for frankening. Again, meh.

That's it for now, friends. Hope your day is going well!

Sympathy Polish

Good morning!

I went to the dentist yesterday and found that my wisdom teeth are causing all of my problems. So I will be having them removed right before New Year's Eve. Bleargh.
So while we were at Walgreens to get my prescription filled, Matt let me loose in the nail polish to cheer myself up. Thus, I bring you my latest Sinful, Serena and Chloe.
(What is up with some of Sinful's names? I found one called, "Daisy the Pig" once. I do not understand.)

Three coats over base coat with flash

This is an orange jelly with gold and orange glitter. The formula is very thin but spreads smooth and even. Three coats was necessary to even things out but is nowhere near opaque. There is still VNL. Dry time was reasonable and the shine without top coat was dazzling. It flashes and sparkles in all kinds of light.

What's funny is that in low light it looks like a burnt red rather than orange. So much in fact that, Matt would not believe that it was orange. Maybe these pics will convince him!

I needed a cheery color like this and I think it will look really cool layered.

 

Bottle color looks so much darker!

This was a nice color and I needed some more orange in my stash. I'm a tad disappointed that it doesn't quite match bottle color. But not too much! Sinful has made me happy yet again. 

Thank you for looking. I have so much to share with you in the next few weeks! I have some special goodies and yesterday I made a huge Cherry Culture order and finally made my Diamond Cosmetics order.

Good times, good times!

Until the next time, my friends!

Orly, you rock my socks!

I think by now, my love for Orly should be legendary. I have never found a polish brand that consistently wows me with color selection and formula. I love how quickly they dry, the few coats needed for opacity and how well it transfers in Konad.
So when I found out that Orly was launching their own matte line, I jumped on it. Don't get me wrong, I love the shimmery shades available but I love a good creme. I knew Orly would avoid OPI's mistakes when it came to producing a matte creme.  Thus, I bring you Blue Suede.

Two coats, no base in failing sun

I was pleased with how well this applied. The overlaps on my fingers are caused from Trixie bumping into my arm while I was applying this. (When she wants love and attention, she is unstoppable!) Blue Suede dried super quick and was all good to go in less than 10 minutes. The finish was a perfect matte, not at all chalky.

That is one vibrant blue!

I dislike the recommendation that one forgo base coat to wear the mattes. I did it for swatching but I have successfully worn base coat under matte polish with no adverse results. It's been stated before but I'm happy to repeat that the key is to let your base coat dry completely before applying matte polish. I usually clean and prep my nails and paint base coat the night before I want to polish with a matte. It makes for an easy peasy mani in the morning!

I wish I could tell you how well this one wore but I can't. I have only been able to swatch it! I'm so behind!

I have said before how rough my job is on manis but I do like to share with you when a polish REALLY stands up to the abuse. So far, Orly has not let me down. In spite of moving furniture, untangling snarled jewelry, digging through giant boxes and putting together Xmas trees; Orly stands up well.

Thank you for looking! Hope the week treats you well.

Lemming fulfilled!

I'm sure all of us have ridiculously long list of nail polishes we covet and have to own. I'm certain several of you are better organized with than I. I don't have mine written down and I don't have a spread sheet. I keep thinking I should put a list on either my phone or my iPod touch but I never get around to it. (Which is sad considering both are on my person at all times!) So, sometimes my lemmings remain just that.

I kept meaning to buy China Glaze Lubu Heels. I really did. But I was waylaid by the Khrome collection, the specialty glitters and Fortune Teller. Then I became obsessed with the Nina Ultra Pro Moltens. And so on.
When I got my 20% off coupon for Sally, I was bound and determined to get it. It almost didn't happen because I was sorely tempted to pick up a third Orly. But I reined myself in and stuck to my plan.

I'm glad I did because I love it! It's no replacement for OPI Midnight In Moscow and doesn't come close. (Plus MIM is the most amazing color ever and my number one of all time. So there.) However, I do love the red glitter in a black base. It's fun, funky and elegant.

Three coats, indoor lighting over base and topped with Out The Door

The pictures I'm showing are the day after I applied it. It wore so beautifully! I had put together three Xmas trees, processed jewelry, cashiered and worked in the drive through donation area on day one. I came away with slight tip wear and one tiny chip. Unbelievable! Despite that and washing my hands at least ten times that day!

I was so happy with how it looked that I decided to keep it on for at least another day. So I got a fine brush out of my kit and touched up the chip and the tips then topped it all off with another go of Out The Door.

That was when I remembered to take pics!

Lubu Heels definitely calls for three coats for full opacity. It dries in a reasonable amount of time and the red glitter shines like crazy with top coat. I am so happy with this and I'm looking forward to playing with Konad and matte top coat over it. Gonna be amazing!

Finally, I wanted to show pics of both of my hands wearing this and for two reasons:

1. My poor hands are beat up right now. Who knew fake Xmas trees were so scratchy?

2. My rings. I have two wedding sets that I wear at all times.

Matt bought me a black diamond set for our tenth anniversary. He always wanted to buy me something like it but we couldn't afford it when we married and he's even pickier about jewelry than I am. It took three years but he found a set that truly represents me.

I wear my original set on my right hand because it means so much to me! The silver band is the very first ring Matt bought me. He gave that to me on our first anniversary. The diamond ring is my original engagement ring. He proposed to me on Xmas day 2001. It just took five years to get married, that's all. ;)

My husband spoils me so...

Thank you for indulging me. Since I'm feeling so crappy, I'm prone to being sentimental and maudlin.

It's just my thing. ;)

Hope the week finds you all in better health!

Ouchie, ouch, ouch!

I may be away for a little bit, guys. Last night I woke up with my mouth hurting like crazy! I'm currently arranging to see my dentist but right now I am in agony! I'm sure I need a root canal. (My dentist is superb, I fell asleep in the middle of my last root canal. So I'm not worried about that.)
Before I forget, I also caught my co-workers' cold. It's an amazing week, y'all.
Grrr.

_____________________________________________________________________________


Update:

I have an appointment tomorrow. I couldn't take the one for this afternoon because I have to work tonight. Thank bob, I have some codeine to see me through. I've gone and scheduled a few posts with some pictures I've been sitting on for awhile. 
Thank you so much for your warm wishes and kind words. You all make me smile and touch my heart!

Sally Hansen Sassy Frost

Good morning!

Today I am bringing you the first of my Dollar Tree haul. This is Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in Sassy Frost.

Two coats, no base, indoor light

This is a frosty olive green with golden tones. I was really thrilled with this. It applied smoothly and dried super quick. Three coats would have been best but I only had time for two! ;) I was grateful that there were no brush stroke issues as there often is with frosts.

I'm glad I took the time to dig through each and every package in the store to find this. I have nothing like it in my stash and after wearing it, I'm very happy to have it.

Top picture: two coats, indoor light

Bottom picture: two coats with flash

That's what I have today for you, friends! I would like to thank all who asked about my mom and sent your kind wishes. She is doing much better. Her eye ordeal is all over. She had to have the damaged lens removed and then a new one was implanted. Took two surgeries but she's all good now! She's way too feisty to let anything like that hold her down. ;)

Thank you for being so nice, you guys are amazing!

Have a lovely day and keep warm and toasty!

PicSpam: Konad, Konad, Konad

A handful of recent Konads:

Picture one is showing China Glaze Emerald Sparkle stamped with China Glaze Millennium

Picture two shows Zoya Richelle stamped with OPI You Don't Know Jacques (Image stamped twice for better results.)

Pictures three and four show Nina Ultra Pro in Molten Opal. Stamped with Zoya. Rihana. Thumb has Orly Star of Bombay and China Glaze Spontaneous stamps. Spontaneous is also on middle finger.

Image plates used:

m15 (paisley)
m 21 (Big flower and flower bunch)
m4 (little flower)


I was terribly impressed with Rihana stamping so nicely. My paisley was a big fail and needs some light filing.
The big flower and the colors in the second Konad, Matt actually chose and I was happy with how it turned out. YDJ needed to be double stamped to really show. Stamp alignment wasn't dead on but I liked the effect anyway.

Thank you for looking!

Product Review: Revlon Fantasy Lengths lashes

*DISCLAIMER*

This post is spotlighting a product sent to me by Revlon. The opinions therein are my own and not paid for.

Recently, I was contacted to try out Revlon Fantasy Lengths lashes and I jumped on it. I have never used false eyelashes before and I was intrigued. I've been stepping out of my beauty comfort zone lately and I thought this would be something fun to try.

I enlisted my sister to help me out with this and be a model. We played with the lashes during halftime of the Civil War game and had Matt photograph our results.

First up: Me wearing the Defining lashes.

The lashes were super easy to apply with the self adhesive strip. It is recommended to trim them to length but I didn't. They didn't look supremely fake as is but would've been best if I had trimmed them. My only issue was that the one on my left eye kept lifting in the corner. I blame myself because I was already wearing makeup, this probably would've set better if my eye were free of makeup.

Next: My sister wearing the lashes in Intensifying

Again, we did not trim the lashes and she was wearing eye makeup. When she first put them on, she realized she needed more makeup to make it look better. What better excuse to use my Urban Decay Show Pony Shadow Box, right? These lashes looked amazing on her and truly spotlights her gorgeous blue eyes. She had no issues with lifting, it was all about placement. The self adhesive strips are simple to use and make applying the lashes super easy.

Finally, me wearing the lashes in Flirty.

These lashes came with a tube of glue for application. They were much longer than the others and would have benefited greatly from trimming. I was apprehensive about these because of the glue. I enlisted my sister to help me apply them because I wasn't sure I could do this on my own. It felt strange applying it and I was a little worried that my eyelid was going to be glued together. Gratefully, it was not and all settled nicely.

Again, my left eye had lifting in the corner. Could be the makeup, could be from not having the right amount of glue on that part. Nonetheless, this was a great look. I would definitely wear these again but not without some help!

My summary:

We both agree that the lashes with adhesive strips were the easiest to use and remove. Placement was key and it would take practice. This is a great product for a novice like myself who wants to try something new. I would definitely use this again for a special event.

The lashes with the glue had the best look but the glue is a little scary. It's not hard but it intimidated me. The glue on lash stayed on the best and it is something I would use again once I feel more comfortable with the application.

Revlon Fantasy Lengths can be found at your local drugstore, Amazon and drugstore.com.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!

Feliz Cumpleanos

Today is Matt's birthday!

I posted this on his Facebook but damn, this is too good to keep to myself. I think I will be making this the birthday card image I send out from now on. You have been warned!