Seeing Stars

Good morning!!

You have VERY little time to enter my Apothica giveaway. Contest ends tomorrow! If you haven't already, go HERE to enter!

Now let's move on to some recent nail looks:

 Lefty

Righty

This was done with Milani Techno Red and Orly Beverly Hills French Manicure in Bare Rose. I alternated the colors with each coat. Bare Rose toned down the coral of Techno Red and added some pinkish cast. Techno Red has a squishy, jelly-like quality but it's not terribly shiny since it's a neon. Bare Rose gave it the shine it needed and amped up the squish factor. Then I took one of them foil stars that you can get in the office supply section and slapped it on my ring fingers. I alternated the placement because I'm like that. I sponged over with WNW French White Creme. Neato! I have had way too much fun with those stars. You definitely want to make sure your polish is completely dry before you stick it on and you want to have at least one edge of the star to lay outside of your nail so you have grip when you go to remove it. 

I want to try painting over the star rather than sponging but I've not had time. It's coming, I promise!

Next, I was wearing China Glaze Laser Lime but I wasn't satisfied with just the holo. So I used my fauxnad plate with my favorite design and got this:

Three coats Laser Lime

Ring finger stamp Orly Sapphire Silk

Thumb, index, middle and pinkie stamped with

China Glaze Blue Sparrow.

Fauxnad plate K05

I think it came out snazzy. Too bad it's so danged grey and gloomy. This baby had some serious sparkle and flash. Maybe I need to wear the holos whilst in Cancun and get some pics. ;)

Speaking of Cancun, it is exactly one week until I'm on a plane and running away! I can't wait to be sipping mojitos by the pool, exploring Tulum and going snorkeling again. I really should've been an island girl.

Here's hoping I magically come into many, many dollars and then I can stay in Cancun.  ;)

See you soon and have a wonderful day!

Sweet and low down

Good morning!

Today I'm bringing you the last of the ELF Summer Ready kit.

First up is Fuschia:

Three coats, no base or top

Fuschia is well, fuschia. With lovely berry tones. This is a typical Spring/Summer color that does nothing but bring some much needed sunshine to the nails. I always think of fruity, tropical cocktails when I wear colors like this. I either have a drinking problem or I'm really, really thirsty. So...yeah.

As with all of these polishes, this has a sticky feel when applying. Must be something about the jelly-ish quality. There's great shine going on and a lovely squishy look. 

I'm not crazy in love with Fuschia but I'm glad to have it in the stash. It makes a great base for layering and nail art.

Moving on, we have the stand out from this collection for me:

 Mango Madness

Three coats, no base or top

I'm super picky about corals and peaches. Most look terrible on me. However, this had such a gorgeous balance between the two. It looks so juicy and tropical! Yummy.

Mango Madness is the fastest drying of the five and the easiest to apply in spite of the sticky feel. Even with three coats there is some VNL but nothing too sheer. 

Holy bats, I adore this. I love how squishy it is and how cheerfully bright it is. It really reminds me of the swatches I've seen of Essie Chubby Cheeks. Which is a big lemming for me. If I get my hands on it, I will have to do a comparison.

The ELF Summer Ready nail polish kit is available at Target for $4.99. 

That will do it today, guys. I have a sushi date with my hubs tonight so I have to get some chores done before he comes home! And, I really need to spend some time making myself look pretty.

Have a wonderful day and hope the weekend is super fun!

Teaching the colors to a blind man

Good morning!

I've been kinda quiet about it...(ha!) but I'm having a giveaway. You should totally enter. You can do it right HERE. There's still plenty of time AND the odds of winning are pretty amazing. (Less than 10 entries...)
What are you waiting for?


All right then. Let's move on to some nail art!

I had a very long and hectic week with a 10 hour day thrown in. So, I was refreshing manis with some interesting results. Let's take a look:

Three coats of ELF Mango Madness
Sally Hansen Lickety Split Lime
Konad Special Polish White and Blue Metallic
Fauxnad plate that I forgot to make note of.

I wore Mango Madness and loved it but work was rough on it so I had to refresh and I decided to roll with a funky French. I love the color combo but the nail art, not so much. I should not have used the blue. I don't know what I was thinking. Also? White Special Polish, you disappoint me so much. Y U no stop streaking?

I should have left well enough alone but no, it is not my way. You know.

So...next day I slapped on new and improved WNW Buffy the Violet Slayer and then layered it with Nina Grin and Berry It. Behold!

Three coats Buffy and two coats Grin and Berry It

Sorry for ugly cuticles. I washed my hands lots thanks to finding

A VERY NASTY SURPRISE. Oh and there's tip wear. FAIL.

This is one of those combos that can NEVER be photographed accurately. This effing glowed! It was truly beautiful. In spite of having weird application issues with Buffy. I blame the weird weather. It's rained, been near freezing and sunny almost 62, ALL IN ONE DAY.  Springtime in Oregon is so schizophrenic. 

Yesterday, I wore the following. Mind you, I took this pic today because I was short on time to take one when my mani was not full of tip wear. Cause I'm like that.

Added one coat of China Glaze Tempest over all nails

then one coat of WNW Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire minus ring finger.

Stamp is China Glaze Millennium.

AGAIN, I did not make note of my Fauxnad plate. I suck.

I did not care for the glitter, oddly enough. I adore the bird stamp. I've decided it's a Phoenix though Matt says it's a Bird of Paradise. I will brook no dissent. It's a Phoenix, dag nab it! So...yeah.

Because I really want you to see how amzeballs my original flavor layering was, I give you my most recent hair pic. My hair is super long (for me) and I am enjoying wearing pig tails.

Click to enlarge so you can see the nails!

Also, welcome to my second bathroom/salon. 

I do not like the wallpaper.

I also got my new reading glasses and I had to show off because I think they're super fun.

Later that same day...

After wearing a knit hat and bike helmet, the hair has given up.

Thanks as ever for indulging me. You are all too kind. I'm out to edit and schedule some posts. See ya later!

STINKIN' Petunias

Good morning!

I have yet another polish from the ELF Summer Ready kit.
Before we get to that, allow me to explain my post title. You know the rhyme, "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary?"
My grandpa used to say it to us but with the twist of "stinking petunias" and boy, did it make my grandma so angry. We always dissolved into fits of laughter because he would practically bellow that part. (No easy task considering my folks and grandparents were New Yorkers and pretty damn loud anyway.) Then we would laugh at how aggro my grandma would get over it. Good times.
Hey. It's my childhood memory. You wanna fight about it? J/K, J/K. Maybe I'll tell you stories one day about my grandma. She was...something else...or a piece of work. Depends on who you ask.

Thanks for indulging in my nostalgia. Now we move on to the polish.
ELF Lilac:

Two coats, no base or top

I know what you're saying. "Lamby, Lilac never looks god on you. Why did you buy this?" I would answer with, "It came in the kit and I only paid $4.99 for the whole thing." Then we would laugh and then...

Ahem, yes. Where was I?

Right. Lilac is very pretty and I'm showing two coats because it doesn't look too bad. No jaundice, no lobster hands, yay! But here's where I tell you a dirty, dirty secret. I've been tanning. And that is making lilac look better on me. Until...

Three coats

My camera couldn't capture it but I saw it. The dreaded jaundice was there. This time it brought, "haven't washed my hands after dusting" with it. Dusty and yellow. How lovely.

 Same as above

Lilac is another squishy looking polish that is kind of milky. The formula has that thick, sticky feel. Each layer streaks over the other but I have found that these kind of polishes usually even out with top coat, so no worries. Three coats will give best opacity though if you really study your nails, you will see VNL. 

I can't say much more about this since it's a fail for me. Though not my fault and that's all that matters to me. ;)

That will do for now. I'm headed back to work and into a long, busy week. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Please, please Purple

Good day!

Allow me to pimp my giveaway again! I am giving away a $25 gift card to Apothica. You really should enter HERE.

Now that I've indulged myself, let's move on to the next candidate of the ELF Summer Ready kit.

Three coats over Gelous base, indoor light

Check my middle finger. Thanks to Oregon's notoriously schizophrenic weather,

my nail does not like to hold the polish. I do not like.

This is Purple Pleaser. It took me several moments to accurately read the bottle because the printing on the label was so small. Thanks ELF, for reminding me of my advanced age and also that I forgot to order my glasses. You're 1 for 2 so far.

Anyway. This too has a squishy appearance though not typically a jelly. This has a crazy high shine on its own which I like very much. Formula is okay. So far, I've noticed that these are all rather sticky. I kind of feel like I'm painting with glue. It's tricky because you do not want to apply it too thickly but you do not want to apply too thin either. Oy. The good news is this dries really quickly and is quite nicely pigmented. Three coats is best to even any streaks and achieve opacity.

I love purple and this made me very happy. So I decided not to change it but refresh it. For TWO days. That is not a record for me but it is pretty impressive. Let's take a look!

One thin coat of Orly Fantasea on all nails and 

China Glaze Metallic Muse stamped on ring.

Plate A02

Fantasea is such a great layering polish. It's nice on its own, but I've had my best results layering it over other colors. Mmm...duochrome... With my stamp, I actually tried to use China Glaze Grape Pop to stamp the grapes and Metallic Muse for the leaves. The grapes didn't show so I re-stamped with Metallic Muse. If you click the picture, you will see. Ah well.

Yesterday, I had to attend a work meeting and I had neither the time or the patience to change this. So I grabbed my sponge and Metallic Muse and did this:

Taken in the weakest sunlight EVER.

But there was some!

I adored this. Metallic Muse is just so pretty anyway and it looks really cool over my already layered colors.

This will be going away today because I have three more ELF polishes to swatch and photograph today. Who knows? I may actually go and order my reading glasses today. I'm finding I definitely need them. Oy.

I'm awful proud that I do in fact have green though I did not want to do a St. Patrick's day mani. Can't pinch me! (I am a bad Irish-American for not doing it up but I will have me some Guinness tonight. No worries.)

That does it for today. I'm off to swatch, do chores and see if mom is making corned beef and cabbage. Mmm...so yummy...

Much love from your Irish  Lamb!

Apothica Giveaway

Good morning!

I'm very excited to share a giveaway from Apothica! They are offering a $25 gift card that you can use on many great brands. Apothica carries Bobbi Brown,  the maker of my all time favorite lipstick. It's such a perfect neutral and so moisturizing! (For a compulsive lip balm applier, that's major win with a lipstick.)

Bare Lips

My luscious lippie!

My lips but better!

I discovered Bobbi Brown shortly after high school and I was madly in love. I loved and still love the neutral palette designed to flatter and beautify all skin tones and color.

Let's get to the details on how you can get your beautiful hands on this awesome prize, shall we?

You MUST be a follower of my blog so be sure to give the name you use on Google Friend Connect.

There are several ways to earn extra entries:

Option 1: Facebook

1. Visit Apothica.com
2. Write on Apothica’s Facebook wall about what you think of Apothica (1 entry)
3. Bonus Entry: Opt in to Apothica’s Newsletter (1entry)

Option 2: Twitter

1. Visit Apothica.com
2. Tweet about Apothica on your own Twitter Account (1 entry)
3. Bonus entry: Retweet Apothica's tweet about this giveaway (1 entry)

Option 3: Blog

1. Visit Apothica.com
2. Write something on your blog about what you think of Apothica 
3. Bonus Entry: Write about Bobbi Brown (or another Apothica brand you love) and link it to Apothica  (5 entries!)

 Contest ends MARCH 31. Winner will be chosen at random. I will email the winner to get full name and address and forward that information to Apothica so they can send your prize.


The gift card code can be used at Apothica, SkinCareRX and SkinBotanica. Be certain to save SkinCareRX.com as a contact in your email so your prize doesn't get lost in your junk mail/spam folder! 

I'm looking forward to making someone's day with this awesome gift!

Paul & Joe gave me a pungent orchestra

Good morning!

 Today I am bringing you another item I recently purchased from Apothica. This is a brand I've been wanting to try mainly because of their gorgeous packaging.
I bring you Paul & Joe Orchestral!

But first, check this cute packaging!

Don't you love this?

Orchestral is a really cool color. It's a deep, dark navy that looks black in some light. However, it has some interesting grey tones giving it an almost smoky appearance.There is also golden flake glitter floating in there with lovely, original flavor blue and magenta glitter. Shall we peep how this looks on the nail?

Three coats, no base or top

This is the real deal, yo.

Don't mind me. I thought I had cleaned this up pretty well and then my new camera showed me otherwise. Boy, is my face red!

Anyway. This applies pretty nicely but I wasn't a fan of the handle. It felt a little awkward to me. Maybe it's because I'm not used to holding an old fashioned handle like that. I don't know. The good news is that this dries quite quickly and is very  pigmented. I chose three coats because it's my default and because right now my nails go crazy. There's something about weather changing that makes my middle finger not hold onto polish at the tip. I always have bald spots and get to spend waay too much time trying to cover it. Yay me!

But that's not the point. Before I get to the point, allow me to share a blurred close up so you can see more of this glitter.

Can you see the flake glitter?

Please enjoy the extreme close-up of my yoga pants too. ;)

I've established that this is pretty and goes on great. But I haven't discussed the smell. Imagine my surprise to find that this is SCENTED. I was waiting for my second coat to dry when I noticed a flowery smell. Sure enough, it was coming from my nails. The scent is a heavy one. It's floral, slightly woody and kind of smoky. It was really disorienting. I'm not sure I like it. But I'm a vanilla/citrus girl not normally into floral.

The scent will wear off but not for a few hours. I do not recommend wearing fragrance and this polish at the same time unless it's a scent that will compliment this.

So...can I love this in spite of the scent? Oh hells yes! The color is amazeballs and the glitter is so perfect. I'll just have to remember to keep my hands away from my face. It's a sacrifice I can make.

Tell me, what do you think of the color? How do you feel about scented polishes? 

That will do for now. Keep eyes peeled (mmm...,peeled eyes...) for a special post coming soon!

Sorry for the geek moment. It's a reference from a REALLY old video game that starred Kirk Cameron of all people. I know, right?

Summer Ready

Good morning!

Today I'm bringing you the first swatch from the Summer Ready nail polish set from ELF. This is a gift set I picked up at Target with five pretty, spring-y/summery shades.

My first showcase is Blue Mist.

Three coats of Blue Mist over one coat of Revlon Powder Puff

Pics taken after full day wear, hence tip wear.

Blue Mist can appear to be a soft, minty green in some light and a squishy, pastel blue in others. It is quite sheer but buildable. It reminds me of some of the swatches I have seen of RBL Bikini Bottom though not quite as blue. I chose to apply this over a soft, matte white to reduce the streakiness and help build color better. On it's own, it would take at least four coats to get a good color payoff. It is a jelly-ish type finish because it really has that squishy look to it. I just fail because I was in a hurry to wear it as a full mani and did not take pics of Blue Mist without a white base. I will eventually correct that.

I also was not a fan of the brush. It seemed to get clogged with polish and a stray bristle kept bunching up and then straightening once I hit the nail. Grr...will have to think of a way to fix it. However, this is so pretty. I was not about to give up that easily!

I really loved the color so I was reluctant to change. I grabbed my handy sponge and dotting tool and this is what I got:

Sponged WnW French White Creme at base

Sponged ELF Mango Madness at tips

Dots are ELF Fuschia

This came out really cute and quite reminiscent of an Easter Egg. I wasn't intending to do that but...I blame the fact that I have been maintaining Easter displays at work. I'm bummed that I could not get good enough light to really show how cute this was. Oregon has been getting hit with some crazy storms so sunlight is incredibly rare.

Speaking of storms, we got hit with a particularly fierce one yesterday. Trees and power lines were down all over the place. I was at work and it took out our router which kept us from being able to use the POS. I was writing invoices by hand and unlocking tills for our cashiers. I'm still exhausted from the excitement of it all but I feel good knowing we were prepared. Yay backup!

I have something special coming up for you a little later on. I hope you'll be excited!

See you soon!

Essie, Love is for Suckers.

Good morning!

Today I'm bringing you a recent purchase I made from Apothica. This is also an opportunity to compare and contrast between my beloved Panasonic Lumix and my brand new Nikon Coolpix S6000.

It's yet another out of my zone polish but it's one that's been haunting me for some time. I speak of Essie Lollipop!


First up: A shot of Lollipop with my Panasonic

Three coats, no base or top

Next: Shots from my Nikon

Same as above

 

 

 

All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

I definitely need to work with my Nikon some more but it is definitely an improvement. What I'm especially thrilled with is that I can crop my photos on the camera. What a time saver! What do you guys think?

 

Now, let's discuss the polish. ;) This is the perfect red jelly I've been searching for. VNL doesn't have too much impact and the finish is just luscious!  I had no issues applying this and it dried really quickly. I have only one other Essie and it does not behave as nicely as this. 

I'm really so happy with this, it's just so pretty and yummy looking! You know if you want red, Essie always does a damn fine one and this no exception.

 

That does it for now, friends. I'm off to run some errands. I went to the eye doctor yesterday and I now need reading glasses. Well, we forgot to order them yesterday so I have to do it today. I've decided to console myself and pretend that I'm not getting older by rationalizing it as I am now going to rock the naughty librarian look. Especially since I will need to keep them on me at all times.

 

See you (much more clearly) soon!

Precious, precious Orly

Good morning guys!

Today I am bringing you one of my recent hauls and a bit of nail art. Now, you should know by now that I am crazy fangirl about Orly. So I was not about to pass up buying anything from the new Precious collection. Even more so when I found out that the collection was largely inspired by the Depeche Mode song of the same name.
I'm that easily swayed, yo.

Anyway...I picked up Sapphire Silk and *swoon*, it is so lovely!

Two coats, no base or top

Pretty...

Formula was a teeny bit thick but nothing that made a problem for me. I do love how richly pigmented it is, so two coats gave me full coverage. As always, Orly polishes dry super quick for me and this is no exception.

I was so excited by this that I just could not help but do a very special manicure...

Sapphire Silk, three coats because my nails are being weird right now.

Ring finger is Orly Viridian Vinyl with Sapphire Silk dots

My pictures are leaning way blue BUT these two colors worked quite well together. You really could use them as part of an ombre manicure if you so desired.

I have some good news (mainly for me) but we have purchased a new camera for our vacation that I will be using for nail pics from now on. It has the goods I need y'all. So, there's that.

I'm off for now. Gotta pop some ibuprofen before work because my knees are screaming! 

Thanks for coming by and have a great day!

Powermad

Good day guys!

I got to do some running around town for nail polish yesterday and it was so satisfying! I've been on a small no buy so I could put some $$$ away for new vacation clothes. I swear I felt like I'd been starved!

Let's move on to some polish, shall we?

L.A. Colors Megawatt

FOUR coats, no base or top.

Oh Hai. Lamby bought something completely out of the norm. Megawatt is a super pretty peachy, pink-y taupe-y slightly duochrome with golden shimmer. It is way sheer but it builds pretty well considering. I'm not normally a work safe, lady-like color buying kind of person but this was just so lovely. I really could not pass it up. I'll admit the price was a consideration since I purchased this at Dollar Tree. ;)

This reminds me a bit of OPI Sand in My Suit though not as frosty and much warmer. The application is super sweet and it dries quite quickly.

I have an issue with the name though. Megawatt to me should be representing a retina searingly bright color or a fiery glitter. This makes me think of British colonialists having tea in Belize. Um, yep. That is how my mind works. I pull out random historical references. What I mean to say is that Megawatt is very elegant but with a tropical warmth. Make sense? I thought not. No worries.

I am seriously in love with this though. I'm anxious to try it layered as well as a base for nail art. So what do y'all think? Is the name so wrong or what?

Stay tuned for more swatches to come!

Puffy Little Clouds

Good day!

I'm back from a very long couple of weeks and I have a couple of manicures to show you. Plus, I hauled very nicely and I will be showing new swatches very soon!

Base is Revlon Powder Puff

I sponged Orly Snowcone over.

Too bad I managed to pick up some random detritus on my index.

I was needing something that reminded me of blue skies and this came out beautifully! 

Base is Revlon Powder Puff AGAIN

(Seriously, that polish is amazeballs.)

I sponged China Glaze Four Leaf Clover and Towel Boy Toy

I topped it off with Cover Girl City Lights

I was having a thing for blues (and greens!) lately. I'm so ready for spring. 

I'm really excited to show my new hauls to you. Back soon!