Orly Star of Bombay Re-visited

Good afternoon!

I spent some time going through my archives and saw a ton of terrible pictures. I've decided to re-shoot some now that my technique is better and I know more how to shoot, pose and crop.

Today I'm bringing back an old favorite and surprise, surprise, and Orly.

Star of Bombay

Two coats, no base or top, full sun

Sadly, I gave myself chips on the tips of my index and pinkie. That's because I was trying to drag my garbage can back from the curb without touching a spider. Just picture me trying to pull it with my finger tips, it falling down and me trying to pick it up gingerly. I ended up getting a phone book and swatting at my garbage can to get rid of it. It disappeared to who knows where and I have the can back in its resting place. Am I still freaked out? You bet. I do not *heart* spiders AT ALL.

Let's talk about the polish though. It's a nearly black navy creme with very subtle blue shimmer. Indoors, you cannot see the shimmer at all but outside in sunlight, the sparkle is glorious! This could be opaque in one stroke if you glop it on but realistically, this a two coater. This is the Orly that sealed the deal for me and made me the fan girl I am today. It is stunning!

Naturally, I had to do some layering. That's just what I do, yo!

Index: Orly Royal Navy

Middle: L.A. Girl Metal Deep Sea Mica

Ring: Finger Paints Sapphire Shimmer

Pinkie: Nina Ultra Pro Molten Opal

Hotness!

Damn, Royal Navy is pretty sweet over this! All of these look pretty amazing over Star of Bombay but I'm not certain I'd wear it layered like this. It's such a wonderful color on its own!

That does it for me today! Thanks as ever for coming by and hope that you have a wonderful weekend.

Franken WIN

Good day guys!

I showed you two old frankens I made that were just awful. Everybody was very sweet and complimented the colors and I appreciate that very much. Posting them inspired me to try again and this time I have success! Plus I found something I thought I got rid of...

Three coats, no base or top, indoor natural light

I found my 3/4 bottle of OPI Text Me, Text You after I posted my other frankens. I thought I sent it to the Zoya Exchange but nope, it was hanging out with my collection of base and top coats. So I decided to use it for a bave foray into frankening again.

I can't give you an exact recipe because I was just playing around and was pretty sure it would come out to nothing. Well, I was wrong. 

This is a mix of New York Summer Amaranth, which is a really snazzy bright green jelly. I added a snotch of China Glaze Towel Boy Toy, a lighter neon blue with gorgeous blue shimmer. All combine to make a lovely teal-ish sheer. Like watery sheer. I'm coming around to jellies but that wasn't going to do. I remembered that I have L'Oreal's Waters Edge (A minty green creme) and that I did not *heart* its formula. But I knew it would give me the opacity this needed. I added maybe five to six drops and it worked! I have a beautiful color with shimmer and a little glitter! The only down side I can think of is that adding the creme stole the holo effect from the glitter. It sparkles but its not fiery. Overall, I'm so excited this came out so well. It also dries fast! 

The application is a bit tricky. I had to apply thicker coats rather than thin because it dragged. But this was the same issue I have with Amaranth on its own so no worries!

Now, please to enjoy more pictures...

Three coats, no base or top, full sun outdoors

(As ever, you can click my pictures to enlarge.)

I just got my brand new phone, an HTC EVO, and damn it is teh hotness! It has an 8 megapixel camera and I've had fun trying it out for nail pics. It doesn't do too bad, it's just a snotch awkward to hold, pose and snap. But still good for all the pics I would want to take on the run. (Especially those I wish I had taken before. Ah, regrets!) Naturally, I took a pic of my franken.

Four coats, no base or top, natural indoor light

It's a little blurry but nothing I can't handle.

What do you think? Win or Fail?  Most importantly, what do I call it? I'm really bad at coming up with names so I need some help. What would you name this?

That does it for now. I'm going to recover from a day of working at another store (Awkward and scary!) and six hours of training meetings. Hope everyone has a pleasant evening and I'll be back tomorrow.

Good night!

A hard lovin' woman like you...

Good morning!

Lately I've been having a lot of nail fail. It's quite frustrating. I will give up, slap on glitter polish and be on my way whenever it occurs. Last month it occurred a lot thanks to the ridiculous humidity so I was plowing through all of my glitter stash. After wearing my go to subtle gold glitter, I had to do something...anything!
I remembered that I could sponge something over my base and it would dry and I could go about my day much happier.

So this is what I did:

Base is China Glaze Five Gold Rings

L.A. Colors Metallic Copper

and Orly Dazzle sponged from middle of nail to tip.

I wasn't trying to do a gradation, I was thinking more layered stripes. It didn't turn out too bad and was much more subtle than my pictures show.You really had to look close to see the stripe-y effect. However it did have a nice complexity of color and looked rather elegant. Surprise to me!

Indirect natural light before top coat

The only issue/complaint I had was with my sponge. I really need to get something better because what I have is an art sponge and it tends to leave a little of itself behind. I can go for texture on a mani but that was a little more than I was into. 

Overall, I was pretty pleased with this and grateful I figured out a way to work with the crappy weather. 

What do you do to save a failed mani and how do you cope when Mother Nature decides not to play nice with your polish?

Franken FAIL

Good day!

A VERY long time ago, I made two frankens. I was desperate to make a gorgeous polish that would not dry work for me and the other was just a matter of messing around. Please enjoy my shame:

Thing One and Thing Two

Let me start with Thing Two because of both, it's actually my best.

Three coats, no base or top, full sun

I don't quite remember everything that went into this. I know it started with Revlon Red which is a beautiful classic red but had terrible wear for me. (This being back when I worked at Ed Wyse Beauty Supply and the most strenuous thing I did was open boxes.)

I know OPI Text Me, Text You is in it as well as Jesse's Girl Confetti which is blue and purple bar glitter. I just don't recall what I added to make it purple. Oy. It looks pretty but it has no shine, applies terribly and takes forever to dry. I am not in love.

Next up: Thing One

Three coats, no base or top, full sun

I had such high hopes for this one. The base is Creative NFS. I loved that shade. It was gorgeous. It would never dry though! Allow me to illustrate: I hurt my back two years ago. Bad enough that I had to lay in bed after work and not move. I painted my toes with NFS. I sat for four hours, applied Seche, waited an hour and went to sleep. When I woke up, I didn't just have sheet marks. I had nail polish tar balls in my bed! 

I truly tried everything to get NFS to dry and it simply would not. So, this was my last attempt to at least get some of that gorgeousness on my nails.

I know I mixed this with OPI Peace Baby, a most disappointing white. I'm pretty sure I also used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Lime Light and I know that I used a teensy bit of OPI Text Me, Text You.

The color isn't bad at all. It has nice shimmer and is a bit dusty. Guess what?

IT STILL DOES NOT DRY!!!

For fuck's sake! I learned my lesson with that. What's really funny is I made that franken with polishes that disappointed me in some way or another and they all came together to present me with a clusterfuck of ultimate sadness.

So there you have it. My shame in in all its pathetic glory. *sigh*

BTW, ALL of the above polishes mentioned got sent to Zoya for the 2009 polish exchange. 

Have you ever frankened a fail? Tell me all about it!

You shall all be taken by the Night Stalker...

Good day!

Today I bring you another Wet n' Wild as well as another round of "Guess That Song," but this time, I want the artist. Googling is okay and the prize is one virtual cookie! (Oh yes. I do think I'm funny.)

Night Prowl

Three coats, no base or top

Full sun

Night Prowl is a sheer black base loaded with tons of fuchsia glitter. It dries slightly gritty but nothing too terrible. Application was simple enough but the formula was a touch runny for me. Three coats provides maximum coverage and the dry time is pretty danged good.

I couldn't resist layering this to see if  I could make the glitter pop some more.

Two coats Night Prowl over one coat China Glaze Grape Pop

This is definitely more purple but I did a terrible job applying this. I may or may not have had the fan on too...whoops! Either way, it looks pretty snazzy layered over a luscious purple creme like Grape Pop.

That will do it for me today. I'm off to make my contribution for a barbecue I'm attending after work

 Have a wonderful day!

The light shot diamonds from his eyes....

Good morning!

Today I'm actually going to show you a brand of polish that I decided to give another shot.

Last September I reviewed the epic sadness that was Ripe Peach. Oh my word, the trouble it gave me!It was so disappointing that I was leery to try this brand again. I relented a couple of months ago after much hemming and hawing as well as some encouragement from some of my most special ladies.
So I got myself Sapphire Shimmer and sadly missed out on Wicked Glitter. As you prolly know, both were LE glitters that were being touted as decent dupes for the OPI Alice in Wonderland glitters. They're not terribly close but they're nice. (I still want Absolutely Alice and Mad as a Hatter though...)

Sapphire Shimmer

Two coats, no base or top

Overcast light

This is a sweet blue jelly with lots of holo glitter. Love it! Three coats would be more opaque but not really enough for me. I may be coming around to the jellies but this shows way too much VNL for my comfort.

Closer, come closer...

This actually changed my mind about Finger Paints. Why? Because this actually went on my nails. It didn't drag or throw a tantrum when it knew it had to leave its bottle unlike its naughty sibling. This also dried.

It was a much better experience than my last one. I will most likely use this for layering. I'm may just have to play with this over some blues...

That said, I'm not sure how many more I will purchase. I've been a little underwhelmed with some of their colors. I'd have to see something really exceptional or realize I have something missing in my stash.

Unless anyone can suggest some that I simply should not be without! I'm all ears!

So, tell me: What are your favorite Finger Paints shades?

...And we all want to touch a rainbow

Good day!

Today I'm bringing some orange polishes for you. Be warned that my trusty, six-year old camera just does not like super bright colors. It's time to start thinking and saving for a new camera which makes me very sad. I *heart* my camera! It's been THE best camera I've ever used.

Moving on then...

First up is Color Club Wham! Pow!

Three coats with ridge filler base and top coat

both in indirect sun

Well, holy bats! This orange surely does knock you upside your head. It's ridiculously bright. Did I need another neon orange? I say yes. I love orange and I buy bright colors especially for the winter months. 

The formulation of this was better than I anticipated. I was opaque in two coats but I always like to apply three. Dry time was quick as with most neon and did dry matte. 

I decided to do some Fauxnad with this and it came out pretty sweet but my camera was shell shocked by the intensity of it all. For those of you on Facebook, you've probably seen this so pardon my repetition. ;)

Wet n' Wild French White Creme

Orly Snowcone and Orly Royal Navy stamps

Of course I do not recall the fauxnad plate I used

and I'm too lazy to dig it out. My apologies!

I really enjoyed this one. I stamped the same design over and over in different angles and on my pinkie, I only stamped half the design. I have tiny pinkie nails so I can only fit so much on there!

Snowcone looked really freaking cool on this and  in some light it appeared even more like a royal blue.

Royal Navy ended up taking on a brown cast over the orange and I did not like it. 

This was a definite eye catcher and I got a lot of remarks on it. I had a customer tell me that I must be stuck in the 80s if I was wearing a mani like that. WTF?? I want to believe she meant it as a compliment that was inappropriately worded, I really do. Oy.

Continuing on...

I have Wet n' Wild Sunny Side Up. I debated for months on whether or not to get this. I mean, I have Orly Sol Cabana and L.A. Girl Disco Brites Retro and those are pretty awesome orange cremes. But I couldn't stop drooling over this. I finally gave in and yet again, I say that I did need another orange creme.

Three coats, no base or top

Full sun

The application does not look so good, no? It's uneven and spotty. It's not the fault of the polish though.

The culprit is this:

Check out that wonky brush!

It's all uneven and bent! Seriously, this is the first time I got a wonky brush in a bottle of Wet n' Wild. Also my second wonky brush ever, thank bob! It really affected the application of this. I'm going to have to figure something out so I can wear this because this brush won't do. I could live with having to trim it up but it's seriously bent to shit. There's no fixing that!

That said, this is a sweet, juicy orange that I adore. It would apply a million times better with another brush and it dried really quickly. Thanks to this brush issue, I can't report well enough on the application for you.It doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for the color or anything so I have no buyer's remorse or anything like that.

That does it for now. I'm off to tackle some laundry...man,  I hate chores!!!

Green carnations and violet candies

Good morning!
Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was hectic, busy and exhausting! Those are the days you wish you've won the Powerball so you can retire to a private island!
Anyway, I wanted to show you some layering I've done before I head off to work and try to finish my long week up.


First we have this:

Golden Rose Holographic #115 three coats

Topped with OPI Paris Couture For Sure two coats

One can never have too much holo. This held up quite well for me considering I spent my day working in furniture and then drive-through. I have tip wear and a small chip on my left middle finger. Nice. Here is the shot I took this morning of this particular look and the day's aftermath.

Not too shabby! 

However, it appears I sustained an injury on my pinkie.

The next look is from when I showed you my newest Wet n' Wild Craze, called Buffy The Violet Slayer.

I had picked up a new Sally Hansen HD because when I saw Mary's gorgeous swatches,   I knew it would be a winner for layering as well as worn alone.

Three coats WNW Buffy the Violet Slayer

Topped with two coats Sally Hansen HD in DVD

First picture is in diffused sunlight

Second picture is natural indoor light

DVD is rather sheer and it takes roughly three coats for opacity but that glitter is killer. I knew it was going to look phenomenal over the violet. I love DVD and I think I may pick up the other "glitters", LCD and Byte.

So what do you think of my recent layering? Anything you would have done differently or preferred to see?

As ever, I thank you for coming by. I hope your week begins better than mine is ending.

When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls...

Good day!
 I went to Walgreens the other night just to see what was what and I spied new Wet n' Wild Craze colors. This collection has names that are inspired by television shows. I only walked out with one but it was the right choice. It's both my favorite color and  named for one of my favorite t.v. shows.

Buffy the Violet Slayer

The other color names I remembered were: How I Magenta Your Mother and The Wonder Yellows.

Three coats, no base or top

Full sun

It's a gorgeous, shiny purple with a slightly blue flash. (That was incredibly hard to capture so I kinda gave up.) I was surprised how sheer it was. I was certain this would be a two coater but it's definitely a three.

I'm slightly underwhelmed by the dry time. It's a snotch longer than I anticipated. However, I am not disappointed in buying this!

Same as above

This time the brush gave me a little trouble. I noticed a couple of bald patches where the brush just couldn't seem to reach so I had to go back and touch it up. Nonetheless, the formula isn't too thick or too thin and watery.

I tried to get a good macro shot to show the blue and slightly pink sparkles in this but my camera is not friends with purples. (Or neon. Or blues, all of a sudden.)
Overall, I really like this color. It's not like any other purple I own. Considering most of my purples are cremes, this was not hard to do. There is still the same price/volume issue but $1.99 was a small price to pay to give me a much needed smile.

So what do you think? Are the names cheesy or cute? Have you see these and are you interested in trying them?

That does it for me, I'm off to start a new work week! Hope the weekend finds you well...

P.S. If anyone can guess the song lyrics I reference in post title, I will give you a virtual cookie.  ;)

I see the bright lights...It's the month of July

Good Morning!

I have another polish from my lazy day to show you. This was one I included in my giveaway back in March and I hope you'll understand why I *heart* it so much.

L.A. Colors Metallic Copper

Two coats, no base or top

Full sun

I am a big fan of L.A. Colors. They have great polish line and I recently bought an eyeshadow palette that is pretty kickass. Best of all, they are VERY affordable. I used to only be able to buy this brand at Cherry Culture but I'm happy to say that Fred Meyer has begun carrying it as well as my local Dollar Tree and my favorite local drug/gift/novelty store.

Metallic Copper is a real beauty. It has a pebbled look finish with bronze and silver glitter. This is incredibly fiery and shiny. Two coats was fully opaque and the dry time was exceptional. 

Same as above but in shade

Like any good metallic, you will want a good ridge filler under it because it will show any dents or ridges in your nails. Unlike most metallics, there are no brush stroke issues. I chalk that up to the amount of fine glitter that contributes to its pebbled finish. This is also quite easy to remove unlike most glitters. 

That does it for me today. Thank you for looking!

Dance with me now... Like never before

Good morning!

I spent an amazing day yesterday just being lazy. I hung out in my backyard catching some sun, listening to podcasts on NPR and swatching. We're having 90+ degree weather here in Oregon and I couldn't be happier.
I adore Summer and live for hot weather. I should be an island girl but no, I had to live in the Northwest! ;)

Anyway, I wanted to show you the rest of my Milani stash. I am really loving Milani and I'm so glad I can buy it at Fred Meyer. I used to only be able to get it online from Cherry Culture. Nice but sometimes you just can't afford to pay shipping.
I went a little crazy when the 3D collection was released and snatched up what was left of them at Freddy's.
Check em below!

Milani Cyberspace

Three coats, no base or top, full sun

Mmm...blue holo. I like that it's a lighter, softer shade rather than the usual dark, intense blues. This glides on effortlessly, dries quick and is good to go in two but I like three coats for best opacity. Every time I wear this, I get a lot of compliments from guys. Especially my future head cabana boy. I guess guys really like holos!

Milani Hi-Res

Three coats, no base or top, full sun

No complaints on formula here. Again, you are good to go in two but I much prefer three. I hate seeing brush strokes or patches when the sun shines on my nails and that can happen if you don't go with three. Most importantly, this is a purple that doesn't make me look jaundiced. Yay! 

Milani HD

Four coats, no base or top, full sun

Did I really need another silver holo? Yes, yes I did. Though it is a snotch disappointing. The formula is great, dry time is wonderful. I'm just bummed about the sheerness. I found four coats gave me the opacity I wanted. Which isn't as bad as it sounds because the dry time is so good. I really need to try layering it over something to see if I can get away with fewer coats.

This is just the beginning of my major swatch fest, there is much more to come! In the meantime, I took another shot of Flamingo. 

Flamingo didn't feel like posing with polish and wanted a dramatic black and white shot. I do what I'm told, yo. ;)

Hope everyone has a great day and manages to keep cool. I will be enjoying the heat and taking a brief trip to the library. Yay for summer!!!

So hungry...

Good day!

Today I have a comparison and surprising lemming fulfilled.


While in California, I went to Sally to see what they offered that maybe my local stores didn't yet have. I finally broke down and got an Orly I'd seen on Little Music Boxes that I just couldn't get out of my head. Why is it so surprising? Because it is PINK. For reals. I'm not sure what it is about it but I was just mesmerized. But I finally have Pink Chocolate and I'm happy.
Once I got it home though, I was concerned it was going to be a dupe for one of the few pinks I do own so I had to compare.

Orly Pink Chocolate on index and ring

China Glaze Fifth Avenue on middle and pinkie

Two coats for Orly, three for China Glaze

no base or top in some sun

Pink Chocolate is the perfect neutral pink with brown tones. It reminds me of my favoritest, discontinued lipstick of all time. I think that's why it captured my attention. Compared to Fifth Avenue, it's definitely pink while Fifth Avenue looks more of a greyed out rosy plum.

The formula of Pink Chocolate is superior since it's practically opaque in one but best in two. Fifth Avenue required three coats for optimum color and coverage. Pink Chocolate also dried the fastest. 

So what say you? Which of these do you prefer? I'm glad to have both because sometimes I do have to sport a work appropriate shade but Pink Chocolate has just captured my fancy.

That does it for today. Hope everybody had a great weekend!

Young American

Good morning!

Today I'm showing you a couple of holiday themed looks that are also celebrating my nephew, T.J.'s birthday.
T.J.'s birthday is actually on the fifth but he was to be born on the Fourth. We always celebrate on the Fourth for him with a BBQ and fireworks. This year I won't be able to be there since the party is set to start at noon today.  And I have to work. Boo.

Both of the looks here incorporate some of T.J.'s favorite colors and the ones he would've chosen for me. So, yep, this definitely falls under the tribute mani tag!

Base: Wet n' Wild French Creme White

Sponged Orly Royal Navy and Star Spangled

Orly Dazzle and Glitz stamps

Used both Konad plate m8 and I forgot which number Fauxnad plate

This is the first time I've sponged and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. However, my stamps were disappointing. They just didn't show as much as I would have liked. Oh well...

I know T.J. would dig it.

I couldn't just do one look and I would have had to do another anyway. T.J. loves to look through my stash and pick out colors for me. He's pretty good at it, he's managed to pick out enough for a week's worth of manicures before! T.J. also helps me choose new polishes when we go shopping together. He has very good taste, mind you.

Orly Royal Base

China Glaze Millennium and Zoya Goldie stamps middle through pinkie

Wet n' Wild French Creme White and Zoya Posh stamps on index

Konad plates m8 and m15

Again I forgot which Fauxnad plate number

Millennium never fails me, it is the best silver I've used for stamping. Orly Royal Navy is by far the most stunning blue I own. It is teh amaze. 

T.J. is my star!

I almost can't believe that my little guy is going to be ten. He's such a great kid and he's truly my best little buddy. I'm lucky to be auntie to such a sweet guy! I've decided that in honor of such a momentous birthday, I will be signing off by the name he used to call me when he was smaller and was unable to pronounce my name.

Happy Birthday, T.J.! You rock my socks!

Have a wonderful weekend, everybody and be safe! Loves and hugs to you all!

Sincerely,

Bob  (Usually known as Heather the Mighty Lambchop)

Starry Eyes

Good morning!

Today I have another Dollar Tree find for you. This is another Maybelline matte that has made me very happy!

Two coats, no base

Index and middle have top coat

Ring and pinkie have none

The formula on this was great and very similar to other matte polishes I own. Dry time is exceptionally good but as with any matte, speed is of the essence.

Flamingo is a fan!

I just cannot get over the color! It is a glorious navy with silver glitter. I was genuinely surprised how much glitter was in it. I love the look of this both shiny and matte. By far, it is my favorite matte to use top coat on. 

Hooray for Dollar Tree happiness!

Thank you for looking. I hope to have my holiday mani up tomorrow. I'm doing it early because of work and my nephew, T.J.'s birthday! His big day is actually the fifth but we always celebrate on the fourth for him. What kid wouldn't like fireworks for their birthday?

In the meantime, my U.S. peeps, have a great holiday weekend and be safe! And for my friends abroad, hoping you have a wonderful weekend full of fun!

She wears DevilRed

Good morning!

Yesterday I decided to head over to Dollar Tree to stock up on cotton rounds and just maybe...peruse the nail polish selection. Unsurprisingly, I walked out the door with a couple! (A slight digression, I noticed that they have some L.A. Color polishes and makeup when I visited in California and I was glad to see them at home. YAY!)
Let me show you one of the polishes I scored:
 

Maybelline Express Finish Matte Ruby

Two coats, no base on ring and pinkie

Top coat on index and middle

I was a bit apprehensive about this because I wasn't sure what kind of application issues I would face. I was pleasantly surprised. This was similar in consistency to many of the newer matte polishes in my stash. Three coats would have been best or perhaps not swatching this with all of the windows open and breezes blowing in. Not that I would ever have that happen to me. ;)

This is a lovely, deep red with bronze-y glitter particles. Which I did not expect. I thought there would be shimmer and it would be subtle. Not so much!  

Same as above but Flamingo demanded to be included.

Today was a lovely, sunny day so it was nice to get my pics in the sun. Naturally, the flamingo had to be photographed along side my nails. Featured a few times and now Flamingo has become a right diva.

I took lots of pictures but the best is the tribute photo that Flamingo suggested.

Nihrida, this is for you:

Thank you for looking and I will be back again with more from Dollar Tree as well as more Color Club.

Have a wonderful day!