NOTD: Green & Green Water Marble + Tutorial

I screw my schedule up so bad on the weekend - last night I fell asleep at 8 in the evening & then woke up at 2am & was up for about 3 hours & then slept until 1 LOL. And now it's definitely bedtime & I am, as you see, not ready for bed.

This green on green design uses Avon Jade as the base color, marbling done with Jade & Avon Olive Green:

Here are close ups of some of my favorite nails - left index, left thumb & right ring:

Here's the tutorial:



I wish I could convince myself this was going to be a good week but on top of everything else I seem to be coming down with a cold =(  Oh well, maybe I'll feel better when I wake up.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Avon Mink Vision + bm202

I didn't get many pics of this because the day was rainy ... I'm not too mad because it was just kind of a filler between better manicures.  I didn't dislike it at all, I just also wasn't in love with it.  Perfect for fall though, the image can be taken as leaves if you have a little bit of imagination.  Base color is Avon Mink Vision, stamping done with China Glaze GR8 & Bundle Monster image plate bm202:

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette

NOTD: Avon Luxe Lavender + m63 & + Matte Magic

The formula on this polish was really nice, I was almost able to get away with a single coat, but I went with 2 just to even everything out.  I should have taken a pic before I did the Konad, but my battery was charging LOL - it is leaning a little towards pink with the pink stamping, but it was more purple in real life.  Base color is Avon Avon Luxe Lavender, stamping done with Konad image plate m63 & China Glaze QT:

 

Then for the 2nd day I added Matte Magic:

 

 

Thanks for reading =)

 

~Colette

NOTD: Avon Lagoon

OK, right off the bat I have to tell you - I'm not satisfied with these pics.  Period.  This polish has a periwinkle shimmer that would.  Not.  Photograph.  I've actually worn several polishes lately that were lessons in frustration trying to capture in pics but this one may take the cake.  The shimmer literally disappears on film.  The blue base is this shade of blue, but it's just so much prettier in real life.  This is my NOTD from last Friday, Avon Lagoon:

On a side note, I quite like the Avon brushes, although they could be a little more rounded at the tip - but I like how wide they are.  Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Avon Haul

So, the wife of a guy at work recently started selling Avon ... and so there were catalogues all over, with nail polish on sale in them =)  Here's what I got:

 

 

Top left to right:  Fusion, Luxe Lavender, Lagoon, Olive Green.  Bottom left to right:  Mink, Urban Grey, Vintage Blue, Jade.

 

I'd say Lagoon was the surprise of the lot, the color drop gave no hint that there's like this periwinkle shimmer overlaying everything.  It's very pretty & very hard to photograph in these kind of boring square bottles - seems like round bottles show more color in pics.

 

Anyway, I'm sure many of you have heard that one of these is a dupe to a very expensive polish ... here is Olive Green next to Rescue Beauty Lounge Orbis Non Sufficit:

 

 

They don't look it in the bottle, probably in part because ONS needs a little more shaking than I gave it, but swatched they are damn close.  OG is a teensy tad itty bit darker with a measly trickle more blue.  No one but another nail blogger would ever notice LOL, and only at extremely close range.

 

Still have the Nubar haul to come =)  Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

NOTD: Avon Golden Twilight

This is one of the colors that my hair stylist picked up for me. I wore it on Wednesday since I had an appointment so that he could see it. I was a little disappointed that the golden sparkle didn't show up as much on the nail as it does in the bottle, but I still like this color, vampy colors appeal to me on my nails =) This is Avon Golden Twilight:


Thanks for reading.

~Colette

More Hauls

I know, I bad - I'm very, very bad. But I promise I'll be good ... after this month. New Year's resolution. I'm still thinking I want to pick up a couple from the China Glaze Wizard of Ooh Ahz colors, and maybe a couple from the Finger Paints holiday collection.

First haul I have to let you know, I didn't buy myself! My hair stylist - who's name is James but who everyone calls Squeeky - saw these colors in an Avon catalogue & thought of me & bought them as a gift!


The lipstick is called 24k Gold, and the polishes left to right are Nude Gold, Golden Twilight & Golden Rose. I was so touched he thought of me, and happy to add to my collection of course, since I don't have very many Avon polishes.

Then of course there was Zoya's Black Friday Green Friday code. And while Zoya stated on their blog that there was such a response that some colors are now on back order, I got all the ones that I ordered in one of two packages I came home to on Friday:


The first color, upper right, I really had no choice about buying - it's named Colette! The rest of the colors, starting top & left to right are: Yasmeen, Isla, Tangy, Midori, Irene, Envy, Suvi, & Veruschka. These are my first Zoyas, I'm looking forward to trying them out!

The second box I came home to on Friday was my Transdesign order:


My first nail foils! & DS polishes =) The OPIs are Signature, Diamond & Original. The 2 foils next to them are Vibrant Yellow & Mystic Haze. The rest is Foil Kit #1 that TransD sells.

Finally, I stopped at Sallys for some staples & to use the 20% off coupon I got in the mail, and ran into the Orly Metal Chic collection:


Solid Gold, Glam Rock & Iron Butterfly. I saw swatches over at All Lacquered Up, and I feel like Sallys is kind of ahead of the game for once since she said official release date wasn't until February.

So yeah - for sure (almost) time to go on a no-buy 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