Guest NOTD: Rimmel Steel Grey

The name is misleading - this is definitely a taupe.  But I guess "Steel Taupe" wouldn't make much sense LOL.  Here is Mom wearing Rimmel Steel Grey:

 

As a side note - with this manicure mom accidentally put top coat on instead of base coat.  I told her she should take it off but she insisted she wanted to "experiment" by just doing base coat on top of that - well, long story short the next day came with the polish coming off several nails completely - a cleanly popped off nail shaped piece of polish LOL.  I don't know that she'd welcome me sharing this "senior moment" with you all (we'll see soon I guess)  but I think we all have our spacey moments.  So if you're ever having a moment & make this mistake - just start over!

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD: Pretty Pink Petals Water Marble + Tutorial

Sometimes it takes longer than others to find compatible colors for water marbling, but it's always worth it =)  For this design I started with a base of one coat of Wet n Wild Wild French White & one coat of Savvy Fairy Twinkle.  Then I marbled with Savvy Red Caviar, OPI The One That Got Away, Rimmel Addictive, China Glaze Strawberry Fields & Savvy Fairy Twinkle.  I had a few issues with color bleeding but overall I really like the final look - unfortunately no sun the past few days:

Here's a shot of the bottles all lined up (in reverse order from what I have listed above) - the Fairy Twinkle actually does have that golden glimmer on the nail, but it didn't come across in any of the pics:

And my favorite nails, left index, middle, ring & thumb:

Finally the tutorial:

Next tutorial I think will be a blue version of the zig-zag & polka dot funky french I did last Easter.  Thanks for reading.

~Colette

TOTD: Sally Hansen Pacific Blue + Shooting Star

I love this, it's super glittery & was a very cool blue even before I added the glitter.  Unfortunately, it's been on the cool side lately & so I haven't really been able to show it off in sandals LOL.  I started with a base of 2 coats of Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, a bright cornflower blue creme polish:

Then I added 1 coat of SH Shooting Star, a blue glitter that's really complimentary.  Hard to capture on camera of course but it's very bling in person:

Want to see a little more blue?  Check out these adorable robin's eggs that Mom spotted in the pine tree while we were at Grandma's.  She held the branches back & I snapped a few pics.  I believe Mom is wearing Rimmel Denim Dreams:

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!  I've got a few more things to post but I also need to do my nails so we'll see.  Thanks for reading =)

~Colette

Rimmel NOTD

I was sad to part with my glittery Sparked mani, but it was time. I toned it down a little, but this polish still has some glittery bling. Rimmel Play Fast polish in Scene Stealer:

I was going to do some Konad, I actually did one nail & was not pleased with the results & so removed it. I guess it's (barely) sparly enough to hold it's own without any nail art. The base color is kind of hard to describe ... and a little different in the bottle than on the nail. Kind of taupe-copper-golden-sparkle. I like it, and I feel like shimmery reflective colors like this usually make my nails look longer, which is a plus.

I did make a trip to Sally's today, but details of the haul will have to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

~Colette

NOTD & Impulse Buying

Well, actually Impulse Buying is coming first. (And be forewarned: there a LOT of pics coming up here.)

Is there a word, like kleptomaniac, except for nail polish & I pay for it? If so, that's what I am. It's like I had a compulsion on me ... it was undeniable. I had to buy nail polish.

First I discovered a Dollar Tree practically right next door to my job that I had somehow overlooked:

L'Oreals & Maybellines - my favorites are the 3 on the end: Celadon Shimmer, Jaded Blues & Blue Riders.

Then I needed to pick up a couple things at Target. Who can go to Target without at least glancing at the nail polish?

Rimmel Cat Fight & Scene Stealer. Both of these are considerably more sparkly in person.

Then, a friend at work gave me a coupon to Ulta. There is not one that's exactly convenient for me, but I was game to hunt a location down. The coupon was $3.50 off $10.00 or more - I didn't think I'd have a problem getting to $10, and I was right. I mean, I could go broke in that place! I managed to kinda-sorta restrain myself.

My very first Piggy Polish, Mermaid (which reminds me a LOT of Urban Decay Shattered), NYC Green with Envy, & then OPI Russian Navy, My Private Jet, & Significant Other Color.

So, that really should have been enough polish for the day, right? Well, except I'm still on the hunt for those Barielles, and there were 2 CVSs on the way home from Ulta ...

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine Flash & Spark from CVS # 1 & from #2 Milani Lemongello, Ms Milani, Cloud 9 & ... Cloud 9.

Weird huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. Not sure if it's mislabelled or what but these are obviously 2 different colors & I'd like to find out what the purple is really called. I'm assuming the blue is the "real" one because the name makes more sense for a blue.

So, that leads to my NOTD, which is the SH Flash:

And yes, that's a little bit of non-Konad nail art on my pinkie. I didn't have time to Konad & hadn't used any rhinestones in a while so I busted them out & am apparently a tad rusty since it turned out a little crooked. And they're a much brighter pink than shows in the pic. Not bad though. I also wish I'd stuck it on my ring finger instead of the pinkie, but oh well. I also usually use a little Cina to glue them down & I lazied out & just pressed them into semi-wet polish & then put on top coat.

One more thing before I really have to go to bed:

This was the sunset as I left the last CVS & headed towards home. I probably have my mom to thank for my love & appreciation of nature, and I stopped to take a pic because it really was gorgeous. After rushing from place to place it was good to take a moment, slow down, and savor something beautiful. Another simple little pleasure.

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

My Mom & Free Stuff

So, I've been such a good influence on my mom lately that the past few weeks she has started painting her nails. I think it's just great & she commented that even my dad noticed & asked if she was going to do it again when she took off the polish. She painted them again, but got a ding in one of her nails & was telling me how much she liked her manicure except for that, so I asked her if she wanted me to cover it up with a Konad flower. I wasn't surprised when she said no at first (she has her own notions of what she's "too old for" sometimes), but I managed to convince her pretty quickly to give it a try - one nail I said, probably no one but you will even know it's there. Well, she was so thrilled with the flower that she decided she wanted her other thumb stamped also.

Rimmel Lycra Wear Posh Trash, Konaded with black special polish & plate m21.

Now, one of the reasons I think my mom is cool is that she remembers what I like & what I'm currently into, and she keeps an eye out for me. I hadn't heard anything about this before she gave me the newspaper clipping & a printout of the website into - apparently there was some kind of class action lawsuit against cosmetic companies & now they're getting ready to give away free beauty products starting January 20th. Full info can be found at http://www.cosmeticssettlement.com/ where there is an explanation of who is eligible (just about any US resident from the vague wording), which retailers will be participating, and what free stuff is being given out. Unfortunately, I don't see any nail polish on the list, but there's a lot of other really nice stuff from good brands. Definitely worth looking at.

I'm tempted to make this post quite a bit longer ... I've got so many ideas of stuff I want to put on here, but I'm trying to pace myself. Posting 5 things in one day & then not having anything to post for a week wouldn't be too cool. But! Upcoming stuff I want to blog on:

My Nubar order - my first Nubar order came & it's so so pretty
My Stash - It's a mess right now, and I'm in the process of organizing it.
Books - my next-favortie simple pleasure
More manis - I now know the power of Seche Vite. I have no excuse for only doing my nails once a week.
Konad - late Christmas present to myself is going to be a Konad haul

I guess that's enough for now lol, although I could definitely keep going. This turned into a little longer than intended post after all. Thanks for reading.

~Colette