Black Friday/Saturday Haul

Just like every hardcore shopper, I ADORE Black Friday! =)  Strangely enough, I've never really gotten into Cyber Monday though....lol.  So I wanted to show you all my cosmetic goodies.  Perhaps swatches to come later...there's just too many right now! LOL

Stop 1 - MAC:
5 Cool Capers Mini-Pigment Set: Kitschmas Reflects Fuchsia Deep Blue Green Grape
5 Frisky Business Bright Mini Lipglass: Beaute Wonderstruck Silly Girl Pinkarat Totally It
Other: Dazzleglass: She-Zam MAC 217 Brush
Stop 2 - Sephora:
Tarte Treasure Box Palette 32 Eyeshadows 4 Blushes 2 Highlighters 16 Lip Colors
Stop 3 - Nordstroms:
Nordstrom's Palette 144 Eyeshadows 12 Blushes
Stop 4 - Guess:
Kk, this isn't makeup, but I LOVE these earrings, and they were only $5.  LOL!
Stop 5 - Victoria's Secret
Wet/Dry Eyeshadows Gold Rush Flower Girl
Free Tote w/ $60 Purchase Cherry Bomb Lip Gloss .25 FL oz of Dream Angels Heavenly Love Spell Body Mist $10 off Coupon
Stop 6 - Beauty Headquarters
Nail Polish Rack (I totally needed one!  My drawer was getting too full, and this just looks way better!)
Essie Nail Polish (only $2.75 ea!) Calypso Bungle Jungle Flirt Princess Pink Chastity China Doll Strawberry Shortcake Blanc Essie Winter Mini-Set (only $7.25!) Mint Candy Apple Lollipop Rock Candy 3-Way Glaze
O*P*I Nail Polish (only $3.75!) Alpine Snow (Matte)
Other: Lint-Free Nail Wipes 2mm Rhinestones Triangle Rhinestones Random Polymer Slices

Impressive, huh?  I also ordered a nail polish and a starter kit from Zoya so that I could get the 6 free green polishes they were giving away.  Will be reviewing that soon....the kit says that if you use it properly, the polish can last up to 10 days.  That sounds pretty awesome to me!

So that covers just the cosmetics.  On top of that, I also got (in case you were interested! lol):

• 2 Jeans + 1 Dress from Express
• 3 Pairs of Sweats + 1 Hoodie + 5 Panties from Victoria's Secret
• 2 T-Shirts + 1 Hoodie from Aeropostale
• 2 T-Shirts + 1 Hoodie + 2 Jeans from America Eagle
• 1 Dressy Top from Guess
• 2 Dresses + 1 Top from Macy*s

Crazy weekend!!!  But I can't wait to wear/try out all my goodies.  As you can see, the polish rack is already up, and I've already worn 1 shirt and 1 hoodie.  Woot!  Hope you all got some good deals as well!

Entry to BognaW's Nail Art Contest

Here's the video for my entry.  The theme was "French Glam" and I did this Korean-inspired look.

The link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leZaDtAgi0Y

The Video:



I won't go into too much details, but...

What I Used:

NailTek (Basecoat)

Essie: Guadalupe Opal

Essie: Watermelon

O*P*I: Happy Anniversary!

Nail Star: Silver Glitter (Thin Brush)

Seche Vite (Topcoat)

White Pearl Nail Art

Pink Pearl Bows

What I Did:

1.  Basecoat

2.  One coat of Guadalupe Opal

3.  Watermelon Tips

4.  Happy Anniversary! Dots

5.  Another coat of Happy Anniversary! Dots, and add white pearls to the dots.

6.  Silver glitter along the border of the tip

7.  Top coat + Bow

Viola!

Afterwards I kinda decided that it could look better w/ the pearls/dots placed elsewhere.  I might try it again sometime soon, but for now...here's the look!

Pure Ice: Wild Thing Review

I decided to check out this line from Walmart.  Pure Ice polishes are about $2 each.

The color is really nice and vivid, BUT...after I removed the polish from my fingers, they were stained bright green.  Even with a basecoat.

Soooo...let's just say I'll be only using this once every blue moon.

However, my nails did turn out pretty cute, and I got a few comments on them.  =)

I didn't do anything crazy....just made a little flower in the corner.

Here are the steps if you want them:
1. Basecoat

2. Two coats of Wild Thing

3. Five dots in a circle in dark blue (I used Nail Star)

4. One dot in white in the middle (it kind of mixed with the green, lol...that's what I get for being impatient)

5. Top coat

Done!

It could've been easily dressed up with rhinestones or whatnot, but I was going for a plain simple look. =)

Inko86's Penguin Nail Art

Hey everyone!

So I saw this really cute video on YouTube by Inko86.  She entered this design into a contest for 3TanjaJ3's Christmas Nail Art Contest.  As you guys may know, I entered this contest as well.  I had a little Xmas ornament design.

Here's the link to Inko86's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7edwq5l8-s

And here's a picture of how my nails turned out!

I didn't judge my space properly, so I didn't have enough space to do the cute santa's hat.  And that blob looking thing on my ring finger is supposed to be an igloo.  But whatever!  I still thought it turned out pretty cute!

Bday Present for my Bro

The present I ordered for my brother's birthday FINALLY came in from Japan. These figures are practically impossible to find here in the US, so I was very excited to give him something I knew he would love.

This is a Figma figurine called Drossel.  It's from Disney Japan.  =)  I actually prefer the other hair pieces, where it looks like pigtails, but whatever...my bro likes this one cuz they look like "headphones" or something.

Since it's a Figma, I think I'm going to get the stage sets for him as well, so we can start posing them and taking pictures.  It will be fun...I hope!

I pretty much caught up with all the blogs last week.  I think I have one more kinda holiday design, and that's it for now....

I need more free time to figure out what's next!  I have a couple makeup contests I want to enter...and I think they're closing soon, so I gotta hurry up.  But it's hard to come up with a unique, avant guarde kind of look, you know?  I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Two New Videos up on YouTube

Hey all...I have two videos I just posted last night on YouTube.

The first one is about my first Franken-Polish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hojUrFcjTBw

*Edit: Embedding the videos! 11/28/09



The second one is about hime decorating of a photo stand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZTKLw0pQjM



They were both pretty fun to make.  The photo stand took forever to do, but I love the end product.  The polish was relatively easy to make, and I love the color I ended up with.

Enjoy!

Polymer Clay Slices

Another recent purchase I just received in the mail yesterday were a couple polymer clay slices.  They are totally the rage in nail art right now, and of course I had to get into the action!

I bought two from Japan, and about 50 from Hong Kong (it was like $7 including shipping...couldn't resist!).  The ones from Japan arrived...the ones from HK will probably arrive...around Thanksgiving.  Damn that ship time for HK/China!

So here are the two canes I got:  a pink rose and a grey cat.  I used the rose ones on my mom.  They are really thick and uneven because I had a hard time slicing them.  But I've been practicing on some canes I made myself (silly cheesy stuff), and I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I put the cat slices on myself.  My brother had cut them for me, so they are a lot thinner.  They look almost like stickers.  When apply thin slices, they bend easily and are simple to mold to the shape of your nail.

I'm not sure what the point of having clay slices over stickers would be, but I have to say I'll be using these for awhile.  They are pretty sturdy, and probably don't fall apart as easily as a sticker would.

I've also ordered some pre-cut ones, and I know those will be thicker than I've been slicing right now.  I'll try them out and if I think they're too thick, I'll probably use them to decorate stuff instead.  I guess I'll have to wait and see!

What I Used:

NailTek (Basecoat)

essie: Watermelon

Seche Vite (Topcoat)

1.5mm Rhinestones

Cat Clay Cane

Rose Clay Cane

What I Did:

1.  Cut the cane into thin slices.  For my personal preference, the thinner the better!

2.  Basecoat

3.  Watermelon - I put two coats on my mom, but I only used one coat on myself.

4.  While Watermelon was still wet, I put the slices of the polymer on.

5.  I put a drop of Seche Vite wherever I wanted the rhinestone, and added a rhinestone.

6.  Top coat over everything.

7.  I tested out the essie Quick-e drops, and was very impressed.  Since I was going out, I didn't want to stress test them, but I think I will in the future.  I want to know how fast it really dries (it says seconds on the box, but I gave it closer to the minute mark), and if it really dries all layers like it says it does.  I've seen some drops that only dry the top layer, and stuff still smudges really easily.

But yeah, as you can see, one coat of essie gave really great coverage.  The 2nd coat was just to make it more solid.  I definitely want to go back and buy more essie polishes.  Unfortunately, Beauty HQ doesn't have that big of a selection, but I think I know a few colors I want to buy.  In general. most of the stuff there are older colors, which is why they could sell them at such a discount (probably!).  I'll probably look online/YouTube for some ideas for colors. =)

China Glaze: Scarlet

I got this China Glaze: Scarlet polish.  I've used it before, in the LadyBug nails, but I had never used it as a regular polish.  So...before I ran to a birthday party, I tossed on a basecoat and two coats of Scarlet.

Without a topcoat, the polish got dull pretty quickly.  And the red is just soooo plain.  the way I had worn it, it barely lasted the night.

I suppose this is really disappointing because normally China Glaze polishes perform pretty well.  =(

I bought a couple more colors, but I had also gotten a bottle of essie, and I am waaaayyy more impressed with essie.  But more on that later!

Originally, I was planning to start up a China Glaze collection, but I think I might hold off on it for now.  I'm going to explore essie and O*P*I a bit more.  I have lots of Orly already, but I think I might get more....there's a couple colors I have my eye on....

China Glaze: Golden Meringue

I kept saying I was going to do this haul blog thing, but I changed my mind.  I'll just try to keep up w/ new items as I get them (or in this case, show them).

One of my new polish purchases was this China Glaze color called Golden Meringue.  My mom had chosen it, but I don't think either of us like it as much as we thought we would.

The color is extremely sheer....I'm used to getting a more opaque color with 2 coats, but in the pictures, I have 3 coats and it's still looking really sheer.

To spruce it up, I added this random design...but you can see the design a lot better than you can see the color underneath. =(

What I Used:

NailTek (Basecoat)

China Glaze: Golden Meringue

Orly: Vixen

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Silver Glitter

Seche Vite (Top Coat)

Dotting Tool (Medium)

What I Did:

1. Base Coat

2. 3 Coats of Golden Meringue

3. Using the Silver Glitter, make two stripes in a diagonal, parting in the middle.

4. Using the Dotting Tool and Vixen, make 6 dots, 3 up top and 3 on the bottom, going from big to smaller as you get closer to the middle of the nail.

5. Top Coat, and you're done!

It was a really easy and simple design. We weren't exactly thrilled with it, but I just needed to do something really fast before my mom dashed out and about.

I did this look last week, and I'll be posting this week's in a few min (I think!).

Orly Nail Whitener

Hey, I have a few minutes to do a quick post before I head off to bed.  I need to wake up early again tomorrow...so basically I haven't been able to sleep in for over a week.  This kills me a little inside, I swear!

So yeah, I wanted to show you the nail whitening treatment I did:
Before:

After:

I don't really see a difference in the photos.  But, in real life, I think there is a slight difference.  If I have free time later, I might edit this post to include a close up side-by-side comparison.  But I'm getting sleepie, lol.  I got this for under $3 (for 2 packets) at Beauty Headquarters, so it's pretty affordable.  I guess all the treatments with the essie nail whitening pen have worked, because my nails haven't been that yellow.  So it's a little hard to judge how effective the Orly one is.  I have one more packet that I'll probably use in a month or so.  I'm not sure how safe these are for your nails...so I'm trying to keep the whitening to a minimum.

Still more posts to come within the next few days (really dying to get caught up!)..including a quick post about the nails I currently have on.  I had received some clay canes, and couldn't wait to use them!  So I put some on my mom and myself.  I still need to get used to slicing them all thin, but I'm getting there, lol.  I just hate it when I miss and I only get 1/2 a slice or something.  But I'll explain that more in depth soon.

Probably a good time to get a tagline I can put at the end of every blog and video, eh?

Small Haul...

So I'm going to show a really quick Haul....

I ran to Beauty Headquarters again today because I really wanted to pick up some drying drops.  Of course while I was there, I couldn't resist a few other buys.

I got the essie quick-e drying drops.  I haven't tested them yet, but I will definitely do a review of it once I get the chance.  I'm pretty sure I'll be using them later today on either me or my mom...lol.

The next thing I got was the essie man-e-cure top coat.  Basically, it's a top coat that's got a natural matte finish.  I thought this would be pretty cool to try because I've really enjoyed wearing matte polish, and I hate going without a top coat (stuff just chips waaaay to easily!).

And the last thing I bought today (sorry this went from right to left, lol), are more rhinestones.  The last time I went, I found out where they keep all their rhinestones, and after I found out how much they were, I totally regretted buying them from anywhere else!  This set...I believe about 1200 pieces, was only $2!!!!  TWO FRICKIN DOLLARS!!!  In the past I've paid $5 for a small kit, $3 for like 20 stones, and I think $3-$4 on ebay for sets like this one.  GRRRRR!  Lol.  But yeah, I wanted to get this shape..it's like an oval with pointy corners, because I saw a tutorial with a penguin using these.  I will post that video + my attempt later.  LOL

Now on to what arrived from eBay:

Check this out!  I got this from eBay....and it was about $32 including shipping.  It's 48 bottles of nail polish, and there are two ways to use it.  The first way is to twist open and use like a regular nail art brush (the thin brush).  The second way is to pop off the top and use it like a pen.  I actually like these better than the Migi ones because they go on better, and they're like tons cheaper.  The Migi ones are about $4 each...and these were what...70 cents each?  On eBay you can find smaller sets too...like 12 pens for $8 or whatever.  I just got this set because it was decently priced and it came with tons of colors.

I have to admit they kinda scrimped on the purples, but there are tons of red, blue, and green lol.

As you can see in the pictures, some of the pens had leaked.  I took a picture of the 5 or 6 that leaked and sent it to the seller.  I'm not sure what they want me to do, but I'll keep you posted.  I guess it's inevitable that some might leak when they're coming from Hong Kong.

Here's a picture of me testing the pens.  I'll have to get used to them...they're pretty sensitive.  As you can see, I'm already practicing my penguin, hehehe.

I'll figure out what design I want to do for real after my nap!

As an update, I still have one more simple design post and one color swatch post left.  After that I want to do at least one or two posts on FrankenPolish-ing.  I just squeezed this one in here because I was super excited at all the stuff I got, lol.

So yeah...till next time!

Short Look @ Orly:Dazzle!

One of my new purchases is this gorgeous silver polish by Orly.  I used it in my last blog for the ornament.  I tested it on my mom and I think it's a really cool polish.

First of all, it goes one super smooth.  With one coat on a basecoat, you get a pretty decent amount of polish.  On my mom's nails, I used two, and I think it just makes the color stand out more.

I haven't noticed any cons at the moment, but I didn't check to see how easily it chips.  And I can't check now, because I already have a different design on my mom, lol.

It has a very foil-like appearance.  And it's also very shiny!  I think my mom really liked how shiny it was.  It's definitely a BIG change from the matte polish, hahahhahah.

I did this very simple design because a) my mom insisted that she have design (man, have I spoiled her!), and b) I didn't want the design to over power the Dazzle.  My mom was also very insistent that I put a rhinestone...so there you have it.  My design, LOL.

So recently, I've also tried to avoid putting top coat over the rhinestones, because it makes it dull(er).  Unfortunately, with this method, the rhinestones fall off so easily.  I highly recommend putting top coat over the whole nail, rhinestones included, so that they have longer wear.  I was told that if you want rhinestones that actually stay shiny with a top coat over it, you need to use actual crystals.  I know Michaels is having a sale on their Jolie's Swarvoski Crystals (like 30% off + a coupon), but I don't think I want to spend that extra money on temporary one use stuff like this ($5 for 20 stones), when I can just buy like 1200 for $3.  Maybe I can splurge for my wedding LOL!

Entry to 3TanjaJ3's Christmas Migi Nail Art Contest

Here's the look I created for 3TanjaJ3's contest.  I have two fingers because I thought I would try to do one short and one long, but they ended up looking the same anyway, LOL.

I wanted to post this last night, but I got too busy making a  FrankenPolish, heheh.  I'll definitely be blogging about that in the near future.  I have a few more posts before I can even get to that!

So here's the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJyQ1m5jtIg

And the video itself:



It's another slideshow type video (I think I mentioned that in the last blog).  These are a lot easier to make and edit.  I just take a picture at every step, crop the photos, then put them in my move maker and add some music and titles.  The whole process only takes about an hour.  Supposing I have a free hour to spare!

What I Used:

Orly Nail Armor (Base Coat)

Orly: Silver Polish (will Edit Name Later)

China Glaze: Purple Panic (Neon)

Seche Vite Top Coat

Migi Nail Art Pen: Gold Glitter

Migi Nail Art Pen: Black

What I Did:

Step 1: Base Coat

Step 2: Two Coats of Purple Panic

Step 3:  Two Coats of Silver in the Shape of a Ball

Step 4: Gold Migi Nail Art Pen to draw top of Ornament

Step 5: Black Migi Nial Art Pen to draw design on Ornament

Step 5: Top Coat

I don't think I included a top coat in my video.  But I count that as more of a given.  Plus, everyone knows that a top coat is important.  If I don't use one, I usually explain.

So yup, enjoy!  More posts to follow soon.  I have a few looks plus my FrankenPolish!

Double X French Manicure

Hey all!  So I've uploaded a couple more videos.  I'm going to blog about the separately though, so check the next blog for the look from the other video I uploaded tonight.

I was only able to upload two videos because one is a picture video versus an actual video of me doing my nails.  Those are much quicker to make and even faster to edit and upload.

So here's the video to this look:
The Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5NQbBOIrlw



So here's a quick run through of what I used and what I did!

What I Used:

NailTek (Basecoat)

China Glaze: Innocence

O*P*I: I'm Not Really a Waitress

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Black

Art Club Nail Art Lacquer: Silver Glitter

Seche Vite (Top Coat)

What I Did:

Step 1: Basecoat.

Step 2: One coat of Innocence.  I just wanted a sheer coverage.

Step 3: Asymmetrical Arrow French in I'm Not Really a Waitress.  I did just one coat, but with some nail polishes you might need two. This (and other O*P*I polishes) has excellent coverage with just one coat.  Which I think, makes this very cost-efficient, esp since O*P*I is pretty pricey.

Step 4: Black Thin Brush to make first X as pictured.

Step 5: Silver Thin Brush to make second X as pictured.

Step 6: Top coat.  I just bought the Seche Vite after hearing lots of good reviews about it on YouTube.  One of my fave gurus MissChevious bought a big kit, and I thought it'd be a good investment, so I bought one too!  So propz to her for giving me that idea!  It's an awesome THICK top coat that really fills in the ridges well, and it dries super fast (well, at least to touch, you know how it is!).  So definitely an excellent buy!

And there you have it, a Double X French Manicure!

I really need to do a Haul/Favorites video/blog/vlog(?).  I have bought so many things this past month, and I'm waiting for tons of stuff from eBay to arrive starting this week.  My mom has been very supportive of me getting into nails (come on...she gets a "free" manicure like every few days, lol).  And I use quotes around "free" because she technically is paying for all my nail polish and makeup at the moment.  She sees it as paying for the manicures, I guess...like this past weekend, I spent $80 at Beauty Headquarters.  She envisions that to equal 4 mani/pedi's LOL!  So yeah...I have many items to show!  Maybe on an off weekend...which wont' be til....after the wedding? Hahaha...well, hopefully sooner.  Or maybe I'll attempt more stuff during my lunch.  

Well...anyhoo...on to the next blog!

Quick Post on O*P*I Suede Polish

Omg, I can't believe it's 1am already!!!  I meant to do a few more posts and also 2 videos, but I didn't have time!  See what happens when you're a working girl? LOL.

So here's a quickie post on the O*P*I Suede:

I <3 the way it looks and feels.  It's very soft and smooth.  I'm only wearing one coat in this picture (along with a basecoat).

It's basically a matte polish with this sheen to it.  I think I definitely like this more than the basic matte.

Here's a picture without the flash.  As you can see, it's still got this sheer-ness to it.  It's definitely a good choice for those of you on the fence about the matte polish.  It has a matte feel about it, but a little something extra so that it's not this basic flat polish.

And isn't one coat pretty amazing?  I used two coats on my fake finger (yes I bought 2 fake fingers so I can practice more designs!), and I don't see much of a difference except that maybe it's a little bit darker.  Well, now that I'm taking another look, I guess the difference is even harder to see.

That's one of my favorite things about O*P*I polishes:  most only need one coat.  I guess that makes me feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck!

Omg, it's sooo late!!!  My dad came in to talk to me about some wedding stuff (and this is rare, so I had to be very attentive, lol)...and now it's like 1:43am.  Bah...I'm going to be tired again tomorrow!

Definitely more posts and videos coming soon! =)