NOTD: PHD Book Cover Challenge

So, the PHD's challenge this past week was the Book Cover Challenge.  You can check out the Challenge Gallery HERE.  I actually thought I might have trouble picking a book, but I got my mom started recently on the Kushiel series, and the cover for the first book fit right into my red & blue for the 4th theme that I've been using this week:

I started out with just one coat of Orly Snowcone, then I started sponging it with Sally Hansen Silver Lining.  Silver Lining really didn't change the color much, just added some cool sparkle, and I'm looking forward to trying it like this over more colors, since I know it's pretty sheer all by itself:

Then I did more sponging with Sally Hansen DVD, kind of just around the bottom edge & the tip.  I used Nubar Unfaithful Red to stamp with Konad plate m36:

What do you think?  It's my favorite mani of the week, and I've still got it on.  I'm about to head off & see Eclipse, I might change it when I get back & do one more 4th of July mani.  If you're already celebrating, have fun & keep it safe!  Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: Zoya Savita

After Veruschka, I expected to be more impressed with Zoya Savita, since it's from the same collection, but while it was a really nice purple, it didn't quite have the depth of Veruschka.  Here it is matte:

And here with some Konad done with China Glaze QT & image plate m36 - the holo of QT didn't end up showing very much, plus I messed up the left ring finger, so I was on the disappointed side with my Konad also:

 

I'm still really far behind.  This was my NOTD from last Friday & over the weekend.  I've got lots still to edit ... China Glaze Visit Me In Prism 2 ways, Zoya Ibiza, and a St. Patrick's Day water marble with tutorial. & also 2 small hauls...  So please bear with me while I get my crap in order!

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

NOTD: RBL Mismas

So, I changed my mani mainly because much though I loved the matte Extravagance, there's only so much matte I can take. But then I didn't know what to put on ... I decided to go basic, and what's more basic (for me, I mean) than purple? I pulled out Rescue Beauty Lounge Mismas, and it went on lovely & I'm very sorry I didn't take any pics to show you from before I ruined it.

Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. But after I finished, I thought, "Oh, maybe just a little Konad" & my hand went to the Psyche Pink Princess polish, and my hand reached for plate m36 ... and soon the pure purple beauty of Mismas was marred:


So, I'm kind of irritated with myself, because I've done this before & I know better. This ended up reminding me of wallpaper or something, which is not always bad, but is definitely not good in this case. Bleh.

A better NOTD coming for you tomorrow: an oldie but a goodie, and the only hint is that it's a Misa color. Stay tuned =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Green For Depression Awareness Month

You guys know I try to keep things around here pretty happy & upbeat, but those of you who’ve wandered over to Throughout Me know that’s not always how I feel. Scrangie recently put up a very informative post, letting all of her readers know that October is Depression Awareness month, and for those of you who haven’t read the post already I encourage you to click the link above & take a moment to do so.

Depression isn't just about being “sad” … it can be about feeling hopeless, out of control of your life & your emotions. And it’s got a stigma as not being a “real problem” to the point where a lot of times people don’t even want to talk about it. You probably know a lot of people in your day-to-day life that are dealing with this problem, even if you don’t know who they are.

Now, it wouldn't be an awareness month without a signature color! Time for a green mani =) Barielle Date Night, Konad done with Millennium & plate m36:


Millennium is a little brighter of a silver than Devotion for stamping. Here's a quick comparison shot, Millennium left & Devotion right:


Thanks for reading

~Colette

NOTD: Butterfly Kisses

Kind of a sappy post title, I know, but that's what comes to mind when I look at my mani & you guys know I bring myself to you unfiltered whenever possible =) You'll see in the pics that I broke off a corner on my index finger ... but I'm reluctant to file it down to where it would be even because I don't want to lose the dexterity I've gained with long nails. On the other hand, it kind of bugs me ... I guess we'll see. If you tune in one day & I'm down to nubbins, that's why.

On to the actual mani; if you don't have this polish, I promise that you need to go out & buy it. In my world, this polish could just simply be called BLUE ... in the real world, this China Glaze polish goes by the name of Frostbite. Konad done with China Glaze OMG & plate m36. In the shade pic, you'll see that my nails look like my tube of Nivea lip balm =):

I am trying to do my nails more often in an effort to work through my unworn polish pile ... I'm sure soon I'll be to the point of doing them on a daily basis. Yet, regardless of the size of my stash, I find myself planning another online haul. Hmmm, this is probably one of those eternal cycles, I will always have more unworn polish than a "normal" person has in their entire collection. Hehehe ... oh well =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD & Outgrowing My Storage

I wanted something flashy enough that it didn't really need Konad ... although in the end I couldn't resist just a few butterflies. This is a great duo-chrome, so lots of pics! Nubar Purple Beach Konied with White Special Polish & plate m36 (excuse the hair in the sunlight pics ... obviously didn't notice until it was too late...):

Now, on to outgrowing my storage. When I moved most of my polish from the top of my dresser into plastic shoeboxes, I though they were the greatest possible invention for storing polish. Of course, at that time, I only had around 350 bottles of polish. A good amount, don't get me wrong, but blogging & discovering new brands that I love & must have has expanded my collection a pretty ridiculous amount in the past 6 months.

Let me first share my mini-haul from Monday - I was at the mall so I stopped by Hot Topic:


Lord only knows why they don't name their polish =( Pink, Pink/Blue Glitter, Silver, and Black with Holo Glitter.

Anyway, back to my storage... I've mentioned before I keep a spreadsheet of my polish. I try to get stuff on there fairly quickly after buying it, and this Hot Topic haul brought my grand total of polish - not counting duplicates, topcoats or treatment products - past an astonishing (to me) milestone over 600 bottles, a grand total of 602 bottles. Hehehe ... over a third of which is since the beginning of the year ... and needless to say the "extra" shoeboxes I had are just about full at this point, not to mention taking over the room.

So, I've decided it's time to upgrade to a Helmer, just as soon as I can force myself to make the drive down to Ikea. Never heard of a Helmer? Take a look at a couple packed full of polish over at All Lacquered Up.

Pics will be forthcoming of course =) Since they hold up to 500 bottles I'll need 2 & that should be enough extra room to last me a while ... I hope LOL. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

5 Excellent Things

Thursday, I finally got some pics of L8r G8r in the sun. It was hard to part with, but at least I got these before I took it off (this starts us off with Excellent Thing #1 - a holo in the sun):

Then, today (well, it's after midnight so I guess yesterday if you want to get technical) has, seriously, been an awesome day. I really don't think a single thing went wrong, and so many things went right! Starting with the mani I wore today & did last night (Excellent Thing #2 - a fresh mani).

I really wanted to do some fabulous Konad. I've seen plate m73 used recently on a couple of blogs, over at The Nailphile & La passion des ongles, so I decided to try out the cascading squares pattern with some (very messy) test skittles. Unfortunately, none of these combos were quite what I was looking for:

Another day I might have gone with one of those, but I ended up going through my unworns, looking for ... something. I really wasn't sure - until I found it. Savvy Golden Mauve, which I decided to Konad with China Glaze Passion & plate m36. This dusty mauve has a great golden shimmer, click to enlarge & check it out =) This is 2 coats of polish w/ Seche:

This really turned out well & although I certainly do love some bling on my nails, this subdued mani kept me smiling all day. Among other things - I had to work late Tues & Wed to get caught up after the holiday, but that meant I got to leave early today - at 12:30! & on a sunny gorgeous day also (Excellent Thing #3 - leaving work early for any reason).

As if I wasn't already having a great enough day, I totally lucked out at Big Lots! Which just goes to show they're always getting new stuff, since it had only been about a week since I went to this one. They didn't have a lot of these, but more of a selection than usual. Revlon Sweet Nothings & Dark Pleasures:

Right to left: Satin Sheets(720), Barely Blush(730), Rendez-Blue(745), Scarlet Letter(790), Talk Dirty(780), Midnight Affair(785), Steel-etto(800). Going from the way these are numbered, there must be some in the middle there, so I'm going to try & hit the other Big Lots again tomorrow & look for them. I also picked up some star-shaped glitter at the Dollar Tree next door to the Big Lots, but it's being too reflecting to cooperate taking a pic, so you'll just have to take my word. One bag of multicolored, one bag of silver & gold. (Excellent Thing #4 - a cheap polish haul)

Which brings us finally to Excellent Thing #5 - FREE STUFF

I got home from my grandparent's & checked the mail & almost tripped over a medium sized box on the front steps. I didn't remember placing any orders lately ... what could this be? I had totally forgotten that I requested one of the "limited number of samples available upon request" until I saw the return label - & I've got to give a huge thanks to Lisa Cocuzza of It's a Glam Thing for the opportunity to try & review this Hana Salon Mini Ceramic Flat Iron & Shine Shield hair serum:

Is that cool or what! I hope I'll have time to review it this weekend, but I've got a lot of other catching up to do, so I'm not going to make any promises (like I broke last time...). I know I've also talked about some things recently that I intended to post up that I haven't & honestly I haven't forgotten, I just haven't gotten around to everything yet. But I have no plans this weekend aside from a trip to the library, so hopefully I'll be able to get caught up with:

• Review of the Hana ceramic flat iron
• Review & comparison of the Mary Kay Satin Hands Sets
• I'm very behind on my Books List - even when I don't have much free time, I still go through a lot of books just from reading at work
• New NOTD & TOTD this weekend. I really like this mauve but I've got a couple chips already. I don't know if I was a particular klutz or what I did, but it's bugging me. And I'm sick of my toes being so freaking bright; I think I'm going to paint them dark again.

Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Naked Tips & NOTD

Fingertips! Before anyone gets any crazy ideas, I'm talking about naked FINGERTIPS people! LOL

I took just a tiny bit of length off of my nails, both to square them up a little & because they're almost as long as I want. Why then, you ask, take length off? Well, in the past when I've thought "one more week & I'll give them a file" I invariably break a nail the next day. Despite the biotin & everything else positive I've been doing for my nails lately, I didn't want to take a chance at breaking one low, especially as my short index finger has finally almost caught up to the rest of my hand. So here's a quick before & after:

I don't know why my hand is such a different color between these, both were taken under my natural lamp ... I took pics of my right hand too, but it's shamefully lopsided so I think I'll keep those shots to myself.

It's soooo nice having these nice shiny new Konad plates ... and yet at the same time makes it soooo hard to pick! I thought I had a hard time before with only 8 plates. But I did manage to come to a decision. This is 2 coats of Misa Dying Love Konied with China Glaze Passion (flowers) & (butterflies pinky to thumb) Cherish, Adore, Harmony, Emotion & Devotion & plate m36 (both images). I tried to find a ball or something round to use as a prop, trying to get all 5 butterflies in the pic, but I couldn't find anything so I just thought The Claw (anyone else remember that old wrestling move?) & did it freestyle for a few:

I don't usually get this into using multiple colors, but it was another gorgeous day & all of a sudden it seemed totally obvious to do a rainbow of butterflies & a flower that quite reminds me of a daffodil. And I think the dark grey base is my rebellion after wearing pink for 2 days.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette