Random Swatching 3/30/2013

Who's ready for Easter tomorrow??  I know what I want in my Easter basket =P  I'm not sure that the Easter Bunny shops at Sephora though so I probably shouldn't get my hopes up for any Butter London, Illamasqua, or Dior-filled eggs :)

Here I have again for you some swatches of polishes that have been chillin' at my place for a little while.  You can take a look and see if there's anything you want to request for your Easter basket.

 Ello there.  This is Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi from Nicole by OPI.  Really if you're looking for a very bright- hot hot red- this would be a good bet for you.  I found this one in a clearance bin, so stores might be trying to clear out this collection to make room for those Modern Family and Selena Gomez collections, but you could still try your hand at making this one yours.  OK- confession- I had a dream last night that I was hangin' out with the Kardashian ladies like watchin' t.v. in their living room or something.  It was crazy random and it just came back to me cuz of this post...Anyways...I give this one an A.

 OPI A Woman's Prague-ative is this orange copper foil/shimmer brilliance.  I only picked up two polishes from their recently released Euro Central collection and this was one cuz I knew I had nothing like it among my little pretties.  Gliding on like butter- this is two coats, and an A.

 This is Daisy Does It from Color Club's Take Wing Summer offering last year.  It is a collection of glass fleck polishes and I just happened to find the whole collection at a Ross the other weekend.  I love checking both Ross and Marshalls for great polish finds.  But back to this polish- what you see here is three coats and still a vnl so I would suggest layering if you just have to have this gorgeous sunny, bejeweled yellow.  I can't judge the vnl too harshly cuz I simply adore yellow and I think this one had a pretty good go at it.  A-

 Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power is like that perfect hot pink cream without going neon.  Sally Hansen really does hit it out of the park- with so many budget-friendly options, you really can find some great polishes and still take it easy on your wallet ;)  This one gets an A from me.

 China Glaze Budding Romance from their recent Avant Garden collection for Spring.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like this mossy crelly but I really give it props for being an original color that has no twin in my collection but it's not too wacky that it's unwearable.  I love that China Glaze loves to push the boundaries in nail polish.  That's why they continue to be one of my favorite brands. A.

 Aquemini from Amour was a big surprise for me!  I picked this up randomly to give the brand a try and I was so pleased with the formula and the super fun color(you know how sometimes the pics online aren't exactly indicative of the polish's true hue?).  Therefore, I went out and got 5 more and I'll be excited to get those swatched for you as well!  As you can see- this is a matte cream as well which makes it even more divine for my taste.  A.

 Zoya Perrie from their Spring 2010 Flash collection.  This is a soft, somewhat muted pinky purple and not really a go-to color for me.  However, that being said- I've never really met a Zoya I didn't like because their formula is such perfection, so it's still lovely in that regard.  I won't let my personal color preferences affect my grade for this one so I'll give it an A .

 Ok I'm such a sucker for these nudie-browns and here's another one for you.  From Spoiled this is Thanks a Latte.  Such a delightful palette cleanser- this is an older picture- and it's finally being posted for you to love as I do.  As I've said before- Spoiled is a very budget friendly brand that has colors for every lady from 10 to 100.  You'll be glad you gave it a try.  A.

 This is China Glaze Get Carried Away over Brash Green Machine.  For the same reason that they sometimes score big time for originality, China Glaze can sometimes make me go huh?  Their trying to push and have great new concoctions, but this one was a little strange for me.  I think if it didn't have the murky jelly base- if it was just clear...it would be easier for layering possibilities.  This was my favorite of the ones I tried and I still didn't care for it all that much.  Oh well, you tried, right? :)  Oh, and I had to fish for the glitter elements I wanted.  All these factors knock you down to a C.

Ok, for my non-random choice of the week, my offering is this little beauty from Avon called Blue Water Lilies.  It really is that glowing in person with all that gold shimmer in the periwinkle cream.  I got this bottle from my lovely Avon lady and I'm glad I did- for it is gorge!  This is two coats and while their super-fast-drying formula sometimes gives me trouble because it gets sticky too fast...this one was no problemo.  Loved it loved it loved it. :)  A+

Hope you found something you liked this week and that you are all going to have a lovely Easter with your nearest and dearest and you can take joy in life and in making others happy- for isn't that what it's all about? :)

Love to you all

Over and Out

Tuesday Tutorial: Wave Nail Art

Hello welcome to another Tutorial Tuesday where we are going to learn together how to make a wave or ruffle nail art.  The finished product is going to look like this:

1) First thing to do is cover your nails

in your strengtheningbase coat 

of choice and yourbase color.  

Shown here is two coats of 

Barielle Falling Star.

2) Next, using your second of three colors,

you will use your dotting tool to make a

horizontal line of dots across your nail

leaving space at your cuticle for your base

color to show through.  Make them of 

generous size. The color shown here is

China Glaze Sunday Funday.

3)Using your third color- make another 

horizontal line of dots, this time placing

them in the spaces left by the dots of

the previous line.  The color shown here

is Color Club Wild Cactus.

4) The next steps are all going to be the

same but just alternating among your

three colors:

Lastly you will apply a generous layer of top coat and then your design will be complete.

This design reminds me of stage scenery of waves- you know- something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgrR8gCg7c

(side note- I loved The Swan Princess animated film as a young girl- but only for this music video at the end of the film...

I love this gal's voice!)

Hope you enjoyed and that you try this out for yourself!  Love and Hugs

Over and Out

Spring is Busting Out All Over!

Hey ya'll.  It was time to rock a little Easter so I busted out some Springtime shades and we had a little Easter Egg Hunt.  

The colors here are Color Club Sunrise Canyon as the base, then I used China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around for the eggs, China Glaze Budding Romance for the grass with a little Color Club Fly With Me to accent the grass and then China Glaze Sunday Funday, China Glaze Mimosas Before Manis, and Essie Butler Please for the egg painting. :)  This was fun and ended up being much more relaxing of a time than dying eggs with the kids...

Hope you're feeling the joy of Spring by now!

Over and Out

Random Swatching 3/23/2013

Hey Ya'll- time to check out ten more polishes, random style.  Let's get started.  I think I have some goodies for you today.

 From this year's Holiday Collection, this is Fingerpaints Hollydazzle.  You know I'm not the biggest red polish fan- it's just not my cup of tea...I probably have no red in my closet either, but at least this polish has changed it up a bit with some glitz in there with a little bit of pink/gold shimmer.  I give it a B.  Formula was fine as is usual with this brand and this is two coats.

 This is a fun color!  Club Rat from Spoiled.  Three coats for this shimmer jelly- I know this isn't a wear all the time color, but when a shade makes me smile then I know it's a keeper.  This one gets an A (and p.s. you can't beat the price).

 Another Spoiled polish- this is Vitamin C.    As you can see- it's on the sheer side, but I thought it was another stunner from this brand and it surprised me.  Look at all that dimension- love it!  I give it an A and here's an example of it's layering options that I thought made it even more of a treasure:

 I sponged a little Wet n Wild Megalast Tropicalia on the tips and voila!  No more vnl and a great color combo to spice up the look a bit.

 Next up is Winter Affair from Color Club's Holiday collection this year.  You all know I love me a foil polish and this one did not disappoint except for the crazy scents they are putting in some of their polishes...I know in comparison to how awful some polishes can smell- some might say making a bottle smell like coffee or toffee or something might be a good idea- but when you one sense blocks out all your others...there's gotta be something wrong with that lol.  I sadly have to give this one an A- for the smell- even though look at that beautiful silky smooth love!

 This is the new brand to me- Brash and the color is called Green Machine.  This formula wasn't too shabby for something you find at a shoe store... and I love the color so that made me glad I picked it up.  The first coat was a little streaky, but after two I wasn't disappointed.  A-

 Hello gorgeous frost perfection!  This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It and I am in love with this shade and the formula on this little bottle.  If you love blue polishes(like me) you need this one in your collection and it's a great price too :)  A.  This was pretty much a one-coater but I did two just cuz.

 This is a shade pretty unique in my collection.  China Glaze named it Let's Groove.  Can you see all the different dimensions in there?  Besides the plum frost there's pink and gold.  Yes yes yes.  Two coats and usual great CG formula.  A.

 I don't know how this one escaped being posted this long- I was so in love with it when I swatched it....well I mean except for the fact that I pull these out random...but let's just say this color is so unique and rich in depth.  It's like brown concrete and I just love how it looks like it should feel gritty but it's smooth as butter.  OPI named this color My Private Jet.  This is not the original version of this polish- which was a holo- but as much as I love holos, I'm not gonna hate cuz I fell in love when I put on this version.  So it's all good.  A.

 I loved loved loved this combo for wearing Sinful Colors After Party.  It is layered over Rimmel Rags to Riches which is in itself- so beautiful- but with this sparkling blue(looking like water droplets) glitter it is just magical.  Loove it.  A.

Lastly we have China Glaze Immortal- and as you know- this tenth selection is the only one I don't pull out at random.  This polish is the one I select from the whole folder that calls to me to be featured.  Along with blue polish I am obsessed with grays and like My Private Jet, this shade is so gritty and wonderful.  The bottle shot shows you more complexity than you can see on my nail, but just believe me it is Gorgeous!!  A+ for you missy Immortal.  I will love you forever....get it?? Hmm ok, ya- I'll see ya in a few days ;)  Have a great weekend!

Over and out.

Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/20/2013

Another week gone by and lots of fun was had as usual.  Let the pictures roll :)


Mr. Bear had a couple of big events.  He had his 3rd grade space play!  We had great seats and took a million pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

What a doll :)  He also had his pinewood derby tonight and we had our first adventures with that.

 They have it all computerized now, so it tracks exactly how fast their cars made it to the finish line.  No more guess work.

Bear's wasn't the fastest- but we still had a great time and learned some good tricks for next year.

The fantastic cheering section!

He found something to race for himself.

I was able to catch some sweet smiles from Mr. Bug this week even though he's had a rough time of it with all the things he's allergic to starting to blossom.  Here he is helping Mom clean up.

Nicely waiting for brother's racing to get done.  He was really a very good boy and I was proud of him for having so much patience.

XOXO

This is the concentration face.  Wish I knew what he was concentrating on lol.  I'm starting to think his favorite color might be pink too!  He was in LOVE with this plane.  Gotta keep that in mind when it's birthday present time in a few months.

And then comes Miss Bee.

She is growing by leaps and bounds right now and is catching all the zzzzzs she can to recharge those batteries.

Sporting brother's noise-cancelling headphones.

Daddy taught her how to blow kisses bye-bye.  This is saying goodnight tonight and it was a total surprise to me.  LOVE.

My little princess about to make a kissy face at me <3 .="" p="">

That's it from us this week!  Glad we could share our special moments with you friends and family.  Hope you are happy and healthy and we'll see you soon!

Over and out.