Faith, trust and love, I carry within me

Good morning!
A happy Thanksgiving to my fellow American bloggers and readers today.
I have today's nail look that Matt helped me come up with as well as yesterday's autumnal nail look.

Two coat OPI You Don't Know Jacques as base

WNW Rustic sponged from mid to tip

China Glaze Twenty-Four K sponged from base to cuticle

Base is two coats Orly Pink Chocolate

Sponges colors are Orly Glitz and WNW Rustic

Don't mind the ring. I tried a fauxnad that didn't turn out quite how I wanted.

I'm grateful to all of you have stopped by, shared a kind word and made blogging so fun.You are all so amazing and lovely. Thank you for allowing me to get to know you!

On another note, today is my amazing sister-in-law's birthday. She's not just my friend but my sister.

I love you, Karen!

Left to right:

My awesome mother-in-law, me and Karen, my amazing sister-in-law.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a great weekend wherever you may be. I carry you in my heart always.

I am ice, I am clear, let the world be cold

Good morning!
We had snow yesterday in Eugene and boy, was it crazy! It doesn't snow often or very much here so it's always a big deal. Like the town almost shuts down. We have a lot of steep, hilly areas so icy roads are super bad mojo. I ended up at work an hour early because of mass bus delays. It's not going to snow much anymore but right now I'm watching some light flakes falling mixed with leaves. I'm quite grateful to be inside, wearing pajamas and drinking good coffee!
I just wanted to show you a shot of Autzen Stadium from yesterday's snow.

Brr! Do Not Want.

I'm glad that this is a pretty rare occurrence, I do not like snow! I had my fill when I was a kid in Nebraska.

A funny aside: As I was walking to the bus station, I got stopped by two cute little boys who asked me if I wanted to have a snowball fight with them. How adorable is that?

Hoping you all are warm, comfy and happy today! I know this weather is making me long for the warm breezes and mojitos in Cancun. Only 96 days until I'm there again!

The essence of it all

Good day!

Today I'm bringing a brand new love to show you that I picked up at Ulta.

Essence Colour & Go Just Rock It!

Three coats, no base or top

I was most excited to pick up to go to Ulta just to get my hands on Essence. Holy bats, is this brand affordable too. I got this for 99 cents and a liquid eyeliner for $2.49. Them's my kind of price points!

I only got the one because the end cap display was seriously wiped out. What was left I have dupes or things very similar so I resisted. But this, this was calling my name. It is a glorious dark blue creme. It's much lighter than Orly La Playa which is the closest I have to this. 

This applied beautifully and dried super quick. Most importantly, it's just so pretty. I didn't want to take it off even though I was only wearing swatch application on my left hand. 

This and this alone has made me fall madly in love with Essence. I must have more! (On an aside, the eyeliner is fab. Long wearing, easy to apply. Love it.)

Here is where I have yet another complaint with the Tualatin store. I was just about to leave when I finally spied the display for the Denim Wanted collection. Tucked away on a shelf several rows away from the end cap display I picked up my Colour & Go. Seriously, the whole store was like that. It was maddening! 

I really wanted to grab at least one polish from that but Matt came in to let me know he'd just a bought a new club at Golfsmith. So...that meant no more pretties for me. Oh well. Another time, perhaps.

Gratefully, Essence can also be purchased online at Ulta so I may have to save my NP budget and make a nice big order. 

So who's a new convert to Essence? Any other pretties I need?

That does it today. Hope everyone is having a terrific weekend!

Truth comes out and kills our jaded love

Good day!

Today I have another item from my recent trip to Ulta. Can I just mention that I was a bit underwhelmed by the location in Tualatin? It was meh. However, I have good news for myself anyway. Ulta is opening a location in Keizer which is only about an hour away from Eugene. YAY for me! Now to hope for Ulta to finally open a location here...

Anyway, I have for you this little cutie:

Ulta Salon Formula Jaded

All pics are three coats, no base in Oregon sun

Part of why I was underwhelmed was how the store merchandised the house brand products. I kept seeing random displays all over the store. Anyway, that frustrated me enough to not want to look at more Ulta brand polishes. This one intrigued me because of its duochrome. I'm always a sucker for duochrome.

I didn't expect it to be a frosty green and honestly, I don't know why not. Eh. I think I was over stimulated when I was in the store. That said, it's a sweet color and applied nicely. Dry time was acceptable. The duochrome effect is pretty cool but it certainly looks familiar to me. Like, Sinful Coco Diamond. (The cool bluish version not the boring brown.)

Do I regret this purchase? No. I'm always happy to add to my stash and I'm looking forward to playing around with layering.

So, what do you think? Hit or miss? 

That will do it for today. I'm back at work and it's gonna be a long week. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

We have got it made like ice cream topped with honey

Good morning!

Today I have two polishes I picked up from Urban Outfitters. I love that place but I only go there maybe every other year since the nearest location is in Tualatin. (I do go to the Portland area frequently but I'm usually headed to the Roseland Theatre or the Crystal Ballroom for a concert.) Anyway, let me show you my two new pretties.

First up is Matte Purple 3:

 Above:

 Index and middle are three coats

Ring and pinkie are two coats

taken in what passes for sunlight in Oregon in November

Above:

Taken in natural indoor light

The bottle is super sexy, no?

Let's talk formula: It's a little thin and has to be applied carefully or it will be streaky. Dry time is good but not nearly as good as Orly mattes.

The color: This is not purple. This is pink. I guess I can see how it fits into the lightest part of the purple spectrum but that's a bit of a stretch. This is a pink I can bear but let's be honest, I'm going to be layering this.

The bottle: I love, love the square design. The matte colors have a frosted glass bottle. The cap has a slightly rubberized feel and I'm certain it can be taken off like the Butter London polishes to reach a smaller handle for better control. I had no issues with the square cap so no biggie for me.

The brush: Small. Was not splayed, uneven or bent. Just small. 

Which now brings me to my favorite of the two.

Green 11

All are three coats, no base or top

Green 11 is a creme with a jelly finish. Three coats is still a wee bit sheer. This is more teal/turquoise than green and is somewhat similar to Orly Green with Envy. This applied nicely and dried fairly quick but it's nowhere near as nice as Orly. 

Both of these polishes sell for $5 at Urban Outfitters so they're quite affordable. I got mine on sale 2 for $8. They have a nice color selection online but in store, not as much. I kept running over reds, pinks and an unbearably baby poop mustardy brown. I could've have picked more purples that I did see and liked but I was banking some of my money for my trip to Ulta.

That does it for now. I'm off to tackle some chores. Bleargh. Have a lovely day!

Rose City Rollin'

Good morning!

Today is a major swatch and post schedule day but I wanted to bring you a much beloved polish that I really do not like. I also have some pics of my haul from Portland, which was a very productive trip!

 OPI DS Passion three coats, no base

in sun

Same as above, natural indoor light

I adore holos, I truly do. But I cannot abide this. Pink is not a color I care for. I like neon pinks and some berries but that's about it. The holo effect just isn't enough to win me over. So, why do I have this? It's my sister's. It suits her perfectly. Really, there's not much more to say since I just don't feel this.

And now for what will be coming up:

Goodies from Ulta, Golden Rose and Urban Outfitters

Stay tuned!

DUCKing out

Good morning!

Today I'm running away from home for the weekend. I'm going to do some shopping in Portland and spend some quality time with my favorite person in the world. However, today is game day and I'm still going to show my spirit. Thus, I bring this week's Duck Day manicure.

 Ring finger is two coats Sally Hansen Lightening with 

one coat of Claire's yellow flake glitter.

Thumb through pinkie is two coats New York Summer Amaranth

topped with one coat LA Splash Ocean's Fairy

This is a little subdued for me in spit of the glitter but there's no time for nail art today! It's still cute and I'm quite pleased. 

Today is also my beautiful, amazing sister's birthday! She's my best friend and the one person I can't simply do without. It's also the first time we're spending her birthday apart. It's all good though. She's spending time with our other sister in Nebraska.

 

 Happy Birthday, Pooky!!

Hope you're having a wonderful time and I love you like mad!

Have a great weekend everyone, see you soon!

Naked in the rain

Good morning!

Today I'm bringing a number from my sister's stash. A little back story is called for though. I used to work for a beauty supply and so I had access to lots of good stuffs that I don't anymore. Of course, I got to see the new OPI collections early. OPI always seems to have a cute little mini set  with each collection and my sister would just go wild for them. So I bought her almost every one that came with each new collection. Thus, I am bringing the very last mini set I bought for her.

South Beach

I never bought any from this collection because I was totally underwhelmed by it and most of the shades were ridiculously unflattering on me. However, since I've been on a serious low to no buy, I decided to raid Pooky's stash and show you something different from me.

Overexposed in South Beach three coats, no base

This one was my favorite of the whole collection and really the only one that suits me. I can rock a berry creme, yo. This has a subtle and lovely blue shimmer that I could not capture with my camera. This applied beautifully, natch. OPI's formula has never failed for me. 

Done Out in Deco three coats, no base

I love this color but it does not love me. It brings out rosy tones in my skin that is not okay and held near my face, it makes me look jaundiced. I cannot wear lilac. I look my best in jewel tones, not pastels. However, this looks fab on my sister. 

Suzi and the Lifeguard three coats, no base

I hate this. But I hate pale, girly pink. Correction, I do not like pink. I have some love for neon pink and berries but this, blech.  There is no more to say about this. Ugh.

So there ya have it. More OPI minis to come!

Have a terrific day and Happy Veteran's Day to all of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. Thank you for your service.

Just DUCKy...

Good morning!

I'm back from a prolonged absence thanks to catching some hardcore cooties. I got a really nasty cold that knocked me flat for two days and even forced me to leave work early. I NEVER call in or leave early so you know I was sick. I'm doing much better now, just hanging on to a grody cough. Blech.
Aside from all of that, I did recover in time for Saturday and Duck Day manicure.

I wanted a simple look that was cute, had lots of yellow and was easy to do and dry. I needed yellow because it was to be another yellow-out at the game and all over town. So, this what I came up with:

Base is Orly Lemonade, three coats over one coat of L.A Girl Matte White

Dots are Orly Wandering Vine

done with my handy dandy dotting tool.

I went a little crazy on my pinkie! 

I thought this was pretty adorable. I got a few comments that it looked a little like dice which I found amusing because I've been thinking of doing a dice themed manicure.

I have lots more coming up for you as well as plans for a massive haul this weekend. I'm going to Portland and hitting up Ulta! I'm so looking forward to it and getting away with my handsome husband.

Thanks for your kindness and good thoughts. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Bluer than velvet was the night

Good day!

Today I'm bringing a look I wore a little while ago that was the result of playing around.

Base is Orly Halley's Comet

Various layers are from a blue jelly franken I've been playing with

One thin coat of Pure Ice Heartbreaker

I started this in order to refresh my previous mani. I'd worn Halley's Comet the day before and didn't feel up to changing it because I had a nasty little cold. So I grabbed a blue jelly franken I've been working on. The franken is a mix of clear, Wet n' Wild Nocturnal, Orly Star of Bombay and Cover Girl City Lights. It still needs a lot of work before I can truly show it to you. (It also needs ballz but I've been too lazy to go and pick some up.) 

Anyway. I aplied my franken to my tips and let dry. Then I applied it to the whole nail and let dry. I repeated tip application and whole nail application twice more. I got a nice, subtle gradation with a little glitter. Which was very hard to capture with my camera, natch. I finished it all with a thin coat of Heartbreaker and called it good. 

It sounded like a lot of work to refresh a mani but it took little to no effort. I'm quite pleased with how it came out but it's also making me antsy to finish my franken. Not bad for being sick and unmotivated, eh?

What do you do or don't do to your nails when you're sick? 

Thanks for coming by and hope you had a great weekend!