Category: Nails
Midnight Jewels
Maybelline ColorShow “Midnight Blue” is an inky dark blue. At a glance, it appears black, but it’s blue enough that I was able to photograph the blue easily. When I bought it a few weeks ago, I was thinking that it was a jelly and I would get sheer coverage. I was wrong, it’s a creme – full coverage in two coats.
To jazz it up, I added Sally Hansen “Family Jewels” on my thumb and ring finger. “HK Girl” sealed the deal.
I wasn’t sure what to use for the base coat, so I just used the usual – Sinful Colors Base Coat. I’m definitely expecting stained nails after taking it off though. The price of beauty…
The Vegas Challenge
So…my dear skeptical husband didn’t think I’d be able to last 5 days in Las Vegas without painting my nails. That sounded like a challenge to me!
I’ll admit, I cheated a little bit. I was careful to choose very light polishes that would wear well…but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have had a freak slot machine accident that mangled a nail. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and then a single coat of RUFFIAN “Sahara”. I then sparkled up with THREE coats of Nicole by OPI “Pick of the Glitter”. THREE. I was hoping for fuller coverage, but it’s not bad. I’m still gonna need a chainsaw to get it off. I finished up with “HK Girl”.
Just in case, though…I took “Pick of the Glitter” with me, in case I needed a touch-up.
Turns out, I didn’t need any touch-ups. Although there is major edge wear – there were no major chips. Actually, the new growth and my cuticles look worse than the tips.
Toodles, I’m going to go look for my chainsaw…
First Ulta Haul of 2016
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I didn’t think it would be so soon…but here it is – my first Ulta haul of the year.
I had been using John Frieda Illuminating Shine and I REALLY like they way it makes my newly short hair feel. I noticed it was $3 each on Ulta’s site and went nuts, ordering 3 each of shampoo and conditioner. (I guess it is discontinued now – it’s no longer on Ulta’s site. FUCK.) Isn’t that the way it always goes? You find something you like and them BOOM – it’s gone. Ugh. I also got a John Frieda Gift with Purchase – travel sizes of John Frieda Beach Blonde Cool Dip Purifying Shampoo, Smooth Seas Detangling Conditioner and Sea Waves Sea Salt Spray. Of course, I just cut all the blonde off my hair, but these will be good for summer.
I also picked up Urban Decay Loose Ultra Definition Finishing Powder – I’ve been using the Pressed, but wanted to try this. I also got Biore Baking Soda Liquid Cleanser (is baking soda the new charcoal?) – I tried it last night and it was nice. I had been lusting over Nicole by OPI “Pick of the Glitter” for about a month, after spying it in a Walgreen’s display. It was still on my mind, so I broke down and bought it. (It is every bit as good as I thought it would be.)
My purchase qualified me for the Platinum Skin Beauty Break Gift with $60 Purchase – a little plastic makeup bag with NOICE samples. Inside the bag: Dermablend Professional Setting Powder (Pricey); Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser (going to Vegas with me); StriVectin SD Advanced Intensive Concentrate for Wrinkles & Stretch Marks (Which one should I work on first?); Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive (Leave it to Gwyneth Paltrow to make beauty products in the worst scent imaginable); Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate; Lancome Renergie Lift Multi-Action Lifiting and Firming Moisturizer; Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels; Patchology FlashPath Eye Gels; and Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil. This is the best sample bag I’ve gotten from Ulta, I think!
I didn’t get my Variety Sampler though…Bummer.
On Thursdays…
…we also wear pink.
I had intended to post these nails yesterday, under the cute title, “On Wednesdays, We Wear Pink” – but my hosting service decided that Wednesday evening was a really good time for maintenance, so we also wear pink on Thursdays now. Deal with it, loser.
This is Sinful Colors “Zest of Times”. It’s a very sheer, jelly pink. A Barbie pink. I kind of wish it was more opaque, but if wishes were horses…
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat, two coats of “Zest of Times” and then “HK Girl”. Three or four coats probably would have given me the opacity I was looking for, but ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.
HEB Beauty Clearance
I know it might seem like it, but I had slowed WAY down on my nail polish purchase…until this month, anyway. So many beauty clearances, so little time.
I had some time to kill while my daughter was at a birthday party yesterday, so I decided to knock out some grocery shopping at HEB. I meandered into the beauty section with a full cart and found not just an endcap, but a whole table display of beauty clearance. There was a little bit of everything…
I chose three nail polishes – Maybelline Color Show “Midnight Blue” and “Twilight Rays” ($1.48 each), and Revlon Parfumerie “China Flower” ($2.48″). I also grabbed Physicians Formula Extreme Shimmer Eye Liner for Green Eyes ($4.81). I couldn’t resist the green glitter eyeliner…I NEEDED it.
About $10 is a small price to pay for such happiness…
I Got Trouble
It’s a thrill when you you open up the mailbox to find a package you’ve been waiting for…but it’s even MORE of a thrill when you open it up and find a package you weren’t expecting.
I was tickled to receive an envelope from my friend (and most frequent commenter), Luci, sent me nail mail! She had a few polishes that were not getting the proper love at home, so she sent them to come live with me! She sent 2 Deborah Lippmann polishes – “Fashionably Late” and “Ya Got Trouble”, I’m guessing from the 15th Anniversary Set “I’ve Gotta Be Me”.
Which one to try first???
“Ya Got Trouble” was a no brainer. It is a beautiful multichrome that shifts from brown to gold to greenish to purplish. I love how all Lippmann polishes are named after songs. “Ya Got Trouble” is from The Music Man.
I started with Orly Bonder and then painted two coats. The first coat was a bit streaky, but the second one gave full coverage. Finally, “HK Girl” to seal it.
It’s been 24 hours and no major chips…although I have a bit of edge wear on my left hand. It’s not tragic – I can wear this color at least one more day, maybe even two.
Insane Glitterbomb
Oh. My. GAWD. Are you seeing what I’m seeing? This polish is INSANE. An INSANE glitterbomb.
Julep “Tish” is silver bell full-coverage microglitter. It’s a dense silver glitter, but there’s also a bit of black glitter mixed in for depth.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and got amazing full coverage in just two coats. I was expecting a a sandpapery texture, but the polish was semi-smooth. I finished the job with “HK Girl” and it felt sooooo smooth last night – but today, it’s slightly pebbled. Weird.
January Beauty Box 5 – Ev’rythang Done
So Beauty Box 5 has gone full ghetto with the theme for January – “Ev’rythang Done”. Well, okay then…
So, I’m going to get ev’rythang done with Bodipure Keratin Gloves (Intriguing); Nails, Inc. Nail Polish in “Bruton Mews” (a deep, dark green – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a polish this color); Scratch Customer Accent Nail Wraps (These are supposed to work over polish); Novex Bamboo Sprout Deep Conditioning Treatment (I’m skeptical of this one – the foilpack says “bamboo sprouds”); Not Your Mother’s Haircare Plump for Joy Thickening Hair Lifter (Weird); and Salon Grafix Freezing Hair Spray.
After I keratin my hands, I’m going to paint my nails green and put gold stickers on them…then put bean sprouds in my hair…and then time for lifting and freezing. Then ev’rythang will be done.
Obsessed
I am obsessed with Formula X “Obsessed”. I have so, so many dark red/wine colored polishes, but “Obsessed” is the best BY FAR. Urban Decay “Mrs. Mia Wallace” is good, but not as deep. Pacifica “Red Red Wine” is also very similar, but has more of a crusty edge when it dries. “Obsessed” is perfect though – no bubbles, no streaks, just shine. To be fair, they would be very, very hard to tell apart…to the untrained eye.
I applied two coats between Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”.
OH! I cut my nails pretty short. The nails on my left hand were all long and strong, but I recently had to cut several on my right hand, due to peeling. I cut my right hand first and was going to leave my left hand long for pictures, but that just felt too weird to have one hand with short nails and one hand with long nails.
I used 100 Sephora Points to get this polish, so does that mean it technically cost $100?
Zap Zap Zap
So…I finally broke down and ordered a laser to zap my bikini line. (I had gotten it done at Sona MedSpa a few years ago, but I figured buying a home laser would be cheaper than paying for touch-ups.) Sephora had the Tria Hair Removal Laser 4X on sale for $399, so I jumped on that deal – they’re usually $449, even on Amazon. So I managed to get a sale price, while guaranteeing at least VIB status for 2017. I’m looking forward to zapping my privates later…
For freebies, I chose boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser, Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment and Fresh Black Tea Age-Delay Cream. I also used a code for a fresh deluxe sample of Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. I even used some of the points I’d been hoarding to get Formula X Nail Color in “Obsessed” and more belif – The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb – I love that stuff!
Oh, I was slightly kicking myself when I got my zulily email this morning and one of the deals was the Tria 4X for $389…But I quickly got over it when I remembered my Sephora status – definitely worth the extra $10.