NOTD: Swirly Goodness (AKA Best Konad EVER)

I'm going to get right to the pics so you can see what I'm so excited about; Claire's Magic, Konied with China Glaze BFF & plate m63:



I included pics of my thumb because I was actually happiest with how the seam turned out on that one (that's what the arrows are pointing out), since my thumb is both too long & too wide for a single stamp. BFF ended up as my prop instead of Magic because I used Magic in a couple shots pre-Konad.

I saw this combination of polish used by Kae over at The Hungry Asian & immediately envisioned it using the swirly pattern instead of flowers. This is one that turned out EXACTLY on my nail as it did in my head. There a moments I even forget they're "short" =).

Now I'm off the the great Minnesota State Fair, with a fully-charged camera & intentions of taking pics of everything we eat! Other stuff too, the fair isn't only about the food, but I think it's number one on most people's lists LOL. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: From Blah to Ta-Da!

OK, I think I have another semi-to-rather cheesy title on my hands. Oh well =) That is what I think of this mani, it started off boring enough that I didn't take any pictures ... for a wonder, even my mom thought it was too boring & requested some Konad which I was happy to supply. She had expected it to be a little more yellow, like in the bottle, on her nail. This is Avon Dove Colombe, Konad done with Black Special Polish & plate m8:


On a side note, if anyone knows what this symbol actually means, I'd be grateful if you'd drop it in a comment or email. Mom didn't care, but if I wore it myself, I would be thinking the whole time that it meant something either:

A: Plainly absurd ... like "shoelace" or something
B: Just kind of on the dumb side ... "Hi"
C: Dirty or obscene ... I'll let you use your own imaginations here =)

Anyway, it does look nice, and adds interest to what would otherwise be a snore-worthy mani. My super-favoritest mani treat is coming up next! So check it out & thanks for reading.

~Colette

Books 49-52

#49
Naamah's Kiss
Kushiel's Legacy Book 7
Jacqueline Carey

This is a book in the same series as what I am re-reading with my friend T, but this one is brand-new, and set a few generations up the timeline. I think being in the process re-reading the first books, it was extra-nice to be able to have a new "episode" to enjoy.

#50
Kushiel's Avatar
Kushiel's Legacy Book 3
Jacqueline Carey

Man, I could go on at length about this book, but it probably wouldn't make much sense if you haven't read it. Even T hasn't finished it yet & one of the reasons I started it was because she swore up & down she was going to read it in like 3 days & beat me to the finish for once. So much stuff from the 1st & 2nd books come around full circle, and Phedre's musings on the ways of the gods & her place in the grand scheme of things, and what part her free will plays in that grand scheme ... I don't know what to say beyond it kind of suited my mood at the time & came back in other areas of my life too.

#51
Strange Brew
Anthology
Edited by P.N. Elrod

Almost all of the authors in this anthology are favorites of mine, and the 3 that I hadn't read before lived up to the company they were keeping & (if I ever get the time ...) I'd like to check out some of their full-length novels. Sometimes anthologies are a challenge for me to get through but this one went pretty smoothly.

#52
Kitty & the Midnight Hour
Kitty Norville Book 1
Carrie Vaughn

You know it seems like a lot of times werewolves come along when I'm reading about vampires, but off the top of my head I can't think of another book where there's actually a were as protagonist. Kitty is a werewolf, trying to hold on to the human side of her life & her mundane job as a late night DJ in Denver.

On a side note, last year at this time I was up to 91 books... just in case I had any doubts as to how much time blogging has claimed from my other hobbies LOL. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Naked Nails 8/29

So, after much debate, I decided to file down my nails last night, and I thought I might as well do another before & after post. Because much as I love getting compliments for having flawless nails =) the reality under the polish is anything but LOL.

Here is the before picture, with my nails in all their patched glory. I have a love/hate relationship with patches, because I love being able to save my nails from tears & breaks, but I hate how many I end up wearing, mainly due to my own clumsiness:



I left my patches on while I filed down my nails, then took them off & gave my cuticles some attention; here is the after picture - still long I know & they feel "normal" to me but when I look down at them they seem stubby.



The main progress I've made in the last month that you can see in these pics (compared to at the beginning of the month) is that my middle & index fingers on my right hand finally have some decent length. The right thumb is still a PITA but I have the evidence patience will pay off if I just keep doing what I know works.

I made myself feel better with an awesome mani. I will be posting it as soon as I get sun pics tomorrow morning & before we leave - I will be off from work to go to the state fair with my family so for you early-birds it will probably be posted before lunchtime.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Saturday Haul

I have to say up front, the no buy doesn't officially begin until September 1st, OK? Plus I had a $5.00 off coupon that expired on the 31st! I HAD to buy these polishes ... honest!


Right to left: Sinful Colors I Love You, Frenzy, I Miss You, Nail Junkie & Pearl Harbor.

Made a few other stops, and then snapped this picture of the sunset which is pretty awesome, and I haven't had any nature pics posted up in a while:


Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Poll & RBL

So, I am a couple days behind here, as the poll finished Thursday & I got my order on Friday ... but weekends are for catching up, right?

Lots of people actually not buying any, but personally I ended up in the "some of both" category. I posted my Barielle haul a few days ago (here), and now here is the most expensive polish I've ever purchased, the Resue Beauty Lounge blogger collection:


I can't wait to wear these, although my current NOTD is actually not one of these colors yet. I've got a Konad masterpiece on my fingers right now, but the sun is down so I probably won't post it until tomorrow when I can finish taking proper pics. But I've still got plenty to post up tonight. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Blackened Bleu

So, my first ever Barielle manicure, and what a wonderful start - from the All Lacquered Up collection, Blackened Bleu:


The curve in my nail does not look as bad with this color as it did with the green. Of course this is pretty enough to cover a multitude of sins LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: ChG Paper Chasing

Hmm, I do love this bright green, but I was a little disappointed - this is 3 coats, and there's still a visible nail line. I thought, no prob, just cover it with Konad, easy solution ... but apparently I was too tired to execute that obvious fix correctly LOL because the Konad turned out way too subtle to cover the nail line.

Good news was the VNL wasn't as bad under the fluorescent lights at work. Bad news is that I feel like this color makes the bend in my middle finger look particularly mutated =/ ... I am strongly considering getting rid of some length so that the curve is not so obvious, but I'll make the final decision on that this weekend ... is there a way to fix this kind of nail issue does anyone know? It's a problem on several nails to on degree or another.

Enough rambling & whining, here are the pics =). From the China Glaze Custom Kicks collection, Paper Chasing; Konad done with China Glaze GR8 & plate m37 ... you probably need to click to enlarge to actually see this Konad in any detail:


So this was another mani that only lasted one day ... it's kind of becoming a habit, but the last mani I really left on for more than a day was the blue funky french tips from the past weekend ... although I am loving my new current mani also ... pics to come tomorrow, your clue is that it's from my Barielle haul (below) and it's one of the polishes from the ALU collection. Not nice to tease I know but you only have to wait one day =) Until then, thanks for reading.

~Colette

Guest NOTD: ChG Golden Spurs

My mom is in love with this manicure! I didn't paint them, she does her own, but she does a good job =) I pass along all the tips I learn to her LOL. This is part of last year's China Glaze Rodeo Diva collection - which I've managed to collect about half of somehow - Golden Spurs:


It's neutral, which I think would be her favorite color, but at the same time there's so much golden shimmer that it's not boring at all.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

"Knock Knock!"

"Who's there?"
"Another box."
"Another box who?"
"Another box full of polish!"


Hehe, forgive my cheesiness, but I'd forgotten that this was scheduled to come today & I literally squealed with inarticulate delight when I got home & saw it. Followed by much ooohhh'ing, aaahhh'ing, and sighing with delight. I don't know if I've mentioned these are my first Barielle polishes - I went hunting earlier this year, searching for Date Night (lemming fulfilled now btw) after seeing it swatched on several other blogs, but I was unable to find any store that carried their polish up here. But with the release of the All Lacquered Up collection (of which I bought 8 of the 12 colors) I couldn't resist an online order any longer:


Top row: Get Mauve-ing (which was missing it's label =( ... I emailed complaining), Lava Rock, Out-Grey-Geous, Slate of Affairs, Falling Star, Blackened Bleu, Polished Princess. Bottom row: Date Night, Misbehaving Mistress, Hidden Hideaway, Glammed Out Garnet, Two Timing.

I can't wait to try these out! Only one more package to go (I gave in & ordered the RBL blogger collection ... it is due Friday), then one Konad splurge & I honestly swear then I'm going on a no-buy. The amount of unworn polish I have it beyond absurd.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

I Apologize Beforehand

So, this is the mani that I did after I removed the one I didn't like ... I chose a holo not for my deep & abiding love of the finish, but because I knew it would dry quick & wouldn't need further decoration & I could then go to bed sooner.

Well, I went to bed so quickly I neglected to take natural lamp & camera flash pics. I did take a few sun & shade after work, but then I took this off before I looked at what I had & had not photographed ... so I apologize for not having the usual pile of pics to look at. Still, if I only had to pick one kind of lighting, sun would be it =) From the Kaleidoscope collection, China Glaze Rated Holographic:

While I'm apologizing, I'm VERY behind with my comments - although I have time to sneak & read them at work, I haven't had time to reply - I'm going to attempt to do that now but I'm not counting on going without interruption for long so we'll see. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Thift Store Love

Have I mention lately that I love my mom & she loves me back?:


Left to right: New York Color ?? (It says 112A on the front but I can't find a name anywhere, if anyone has this number & can clue me in leave a comment), Sally Hansen Peek-A-Blue, Orly Seashell & OPI Cool in the Pool.

I can always count on mom to keep an eye out when she's shopping =) And I provided her with a list of my collection - shrunk totally tiny & printed double-sided so it fits on just one sheet of paper - to prevent dupes.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOT My NOTD

So, it's been a while since a mani irked me to the point that I was forced to immediately remove it. Unfortunately this mani fell extremely short of my expectations & what I had pictured in my head. I think the dots ended up too big, or the lines too narrow, or both ... even though I don't think this qualifies as a total fail, I personally hated it...

But I'll still share, if for nothing other than the beautiful base color. Misa Shop till u Drop, nail art using China Glaze LOL:

You can see I was distracted enough I didn't even have the bottle in the pics ... probably sleepiness had quite a bit to do with it too LOL. The "real" NOTD post is coming, although I kind of spaced on those pics also ... you'll see.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Diva Inspired

This NOTD was inspired by Danielle over at The Diva's Polish, who got her inspiration from this youtube tutorial by The Queen Eileen. I decided to go with a little bit of a stronger blue than either of them used, China Glaze Sky High Top from the Custom Kicks collection. Nail art required a liner brush & a dotting tool & I used Misa Dying Love. I am loving this mani:


And actually super-easy to do. I forgot to take some pics of my right hand but it looks just as nice even though I had to do the nail art with my "off" hand. Really, if you have a hand steady enough to do a normal manicure, your hand is steady enough to do simple nail art like this - a couple of really simple moves for an awesome final product.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

TOTD: Orly Cashmere Cardigan

So, last time I had some application issues with Orly - this one went on much smoother, made me much happier =) And I love the color - how not, when it's purple? I think this was part of the Prepster Collection - Orly Cashmere Cardigan:

I have one more thing to post up, my current NOTD, so stay tuned =) Thanks for reading.

~Colette

Haul #1.5

Yes, I know I just posted a haul, and mentioned that I had another online haul coming ... this is not that haul (which is going to be Barielle Shades polishes) BUT I would like to say right up front that if I feel any guilt it's just a little teeny tiny itsy bitsy eensy meensy piece of guilt. And that guilt is rooted in the size of my unworn pile, not the cost, because I got all of this polish for around $30.00:

That's right, $30.00. I could easily blow that going out for drinks & not have anything to show for it. And here's how I managed such a feat:

Top row, Ulta: OPI Ink, Purple With A Purpose, and the minis are Princesses Rule!, I'm India-a Mood For Love, and You're a Pisa Work. I had a $10 gift card from my birthday, plus a $3.50 coupon from the Ulta ad, which also had the 3 pink minis as a gift with purchase. So I got all that OPI for just over 4 bucks. The 2 Sally Hansen on the end are Mellow Yellow & Crushed from Target & were on clearance for 50 cents a piece.

The rest is from Walgreens. Middle row is the Wet 'n' Wild Craze Collection: Inferno, Shield, Goldmine, Rustic, Jade, Morbid, Lust, Glitz, Nocturnal. Bottom row is WnW Deep Wine (because they were buy 1 get 1 free, I needed to end on an even number =) ), and the rest Sinful Colors: Fusion Neon, Summer Peach, Neon Melon, Irish Green, Dream On, Call You Later & All About You. And that was all on $25! PLUS I got a $5.00 so I think I'll be going back to spend that on more glitters ... once I decide which others I want LOL.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette