Kiki!

Gah, I've been a bad, bad blogger! Work's been nuts, my husband's been out of town, and I have lots of pictures on my phone but I haven't done jack with them.

Anyway, because it's been less than a week since my last polish purchase (I can't remember the names but that awesome royal blue from Orly and a silver from Sinful Colors because I need to learn how to paint racing stripes on my nails to match my car) I had to pick up something from Blooming Beauty yesterday. I got the Zoya remover, a great way to prep the nails for polish, OPI Princesses Rule! and Zoya Kiki, a gorgeous blue-toned glimmery pink polish. Kiki's kind of obnoxious, like me!

Kiki under the Ott light at my mani-station

One thing I wish was in this polish was more glitter like Rica (I have a post on Rica coming up). Zoya does wonderful glitterbomb polishes and I thought Kiki would be more glittery. She's definitely pretty though!

Extreme Close-Up!



Morning sunlight, my car's rear in the background

Kiki took three coats, using Essie's ridge filler and Poshe' top coat. As much as I like CND Ridge-Out I'm really feeling the Essie as a base coat. By the time I'm done polishing my left thumb my right pinky's base coat is drying to a matte finish, letting me know it's ready for polish (note to self, do a post on ridge fillers). Application was a breeze. Heck, I might even keep Kiki on for Friday...maybe I slap a crackle on top like that OPI turquoise shatter. That would completely and utterly obnoxious!

Given Zoya's ease of application and clean-up, I really need to seek out Pippa. I'm dying for a pretty yellow polish and China Glaze's Lemon Fizz is pissing me off. 

Caturday!

Hurray, it's Caturday! I got to sleep in a bit until Fredward decided to wake me...at 5:37 AM! He was walking on my make-up table, knocking over polish bottles...ugh! I finally hauled myself out of bed, fed the beasts, and drank some coffee while watching "Jawbreaker" on FX. Then I remembered I had some polish pictures to post, whoohoo! However, my bestie in Las Vegas called (Hi, Stacey!) and we chatted for over two hours. We're PICs* planning a high school reunion in Vegas next month and we're hammering out last minute details, eep! Plus I had Samantha making biscuits next to me.

Sometimes the blanket gets cat spit on it. Cat spit doesn't dry.

So yeah, I got distracted!

Thursday's polish is from the new OPI Nice Stems collection. I know you all have seen swatches and have possibly picked up a bottle or two. I chose Come to Poppy and Oh. My. GOSH! It was awesome!

After a full day of wear. I didn't realize I had that freckle on my finger.

Come to Poppy is a rich, delicious pink with a kiss of silvery shimmer. Poppy isn't over-the-top but for me she's pure pink perfection. As much as I love glitter and microfleck, Poppy is a nice alternative to glitterbombs.

Afternoon sun, full day of wear. The morning sun was terrible!

I have a feeling Come to Poppy is a new go-to for a quicky mani. Application was a breeze! This is two coats. The minor tip wear I experienced I believe is from my nails being a tad too long for my liking. I do a lot of typing at work and at home along with paperwork, dishes, and other daily things. When my nails are a bit shorter the wear time seems to be longer. Not like I'm aiming for 5 days! I get too antsy and I need slap on another color.

No Fail Files today. I got rid of the awful Pure Ice yellow crackle so I can't replicate the Monster Booger manicure...thank goodness!

Easy, Breezi, Beautiful!

I've been all over the map with my nail colors recently. Pinks started off my week but Wednesday I felt the need to shake it up. Enter Breezi from Zoya's Summertime collection!

Natural morning light against my car Hermione

What blue is Breezi? Heck if I know! She's not teal, sky, or navy blue. I layered it over Tuesday's How About a Tumble because I'm lazy like that. Now if I could get better at cuticle clean-up this manicure would've rocked out loud!

Another right hand picture? WOW!

So this was what, a base coat, two layers of HAAT, Seche Vite top coat, two more layers of Breezi, and a final coat of Poshe'. I had major tip wear by lunchtime. The Bossman and I were reviewing a boatload of employee evaluations so I was handling a lot of paper and folders. Breezi was trashed by the end of the day. I don't know if that's indicative of a creme polish but hey, she didn't chip!

This weekend I'm going to give myself a proper manicure. It's a pedi-day for me also, whoohoo! I'm taking off a half-day for a dentist appointment. Before that there's sushi and my pedi. Luckily all three places are within two miles of my house. I cannot wait to get Zoya's Charla on my toes!!!

By the way, if you haven't seen the latest Zoya promotion, haul your buns over there pronto! A complete Summertime or Sunshine collection when you buy their ColorLock system? If I hadn't already picked up 2/3's of both collections I'd be all over it like a hobo on a ham sandwich!

Inka-Dink Pinks!

As I was saying...ha! Work's been nuts and there were more than a few people who needs severe bitchslappings and repeated draggings over those tire puncture thingies. So here I am to play catch-up!

Sunday was the first official time I used my new manicure station. Ohmigosh it's AWESOME! I'm no longer hunched over the Helmer, straddling it while trying to clean up my polish. I started out with that Forever 21 Love & Beauty Pink, which in the bottle is an Ashley to my Mary-Kate OPI Shoot-Out at the OK Coral. On the nail? Not so much.


Too sheer for my taste.

 

Love & Beauty Pink with Nubar 2010. A bit better


Pink is very sheer compared to the OPI. Shoot-Out is very pigmented. Someone with a steady hand could get a decent polish with one coat. Pink would be a good layering polish for that extra micro-sparkle.

I'm still wearing this with no chips almost 3 weeks later! This was the day I got my pedi.

Tuesday's manicure was China Glaze's How About a Tumble? Holy guacamole, I loves me some linear holo!!! I paid far too much on Amazon but it's worth every single penny!


GAH! *falls over dead*

Natural sunshine on my gems!

Please, China Glaze, dazzle us with more holos!!! The Tronica line was yawnworthy at best. I got the blue one and it struggles to show me rainbows in direct sunlight. Tumble is a first-class show-off! Honestly, all the Kaleidoscope polishes are bottled awesomesauce and I'd love to get my filthy mitts on the rest of the collection!

I'm sorry I don't have bottle pictures, specially of the Nubar 2010. The sun's been a real stingy booger this week. It's been overcast in the mornings and we're getting a lot of smoke from the wildfires in NE North Carolina. The light's thin at best.

But I can see where my Mad Polish Skillz imporved by having a proper surface to polish on! Seriously, if you can get a couple of Helmers and a shelf you've got yourself a mani-station.

Temporary Hiatus

Work's been butt-kicking busy and that's where I usually post from in the morning. I have a plethora of pictures (some not too good; it's been very smoky in the mornings) from the last three mornings and I'll have more tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a post up in the morning. I appreciate your patience!

My New Manicure Station! (Picture Heavy)

Slowly but surely I've moved my polish stuff from the couch to the breakfast bar to my make-up to my Helmer. Other than the breakfast bar, I haven't found a place to really settle in and do a proper manicure. I was told I couldn't set up shop at the bar again due to my big-ass Ott light. I was tired of straddling the Helmer, hunching over it to try and do a decent mani. But now I have a proper mani-station!

Here's a good overview. My make-up table (a computer station) is in the corner. My two Helmers make up the ends of the mani-station. We found a length of shelf at Lowe's, 48 inches long by 16 inches deep, that fits perfectly on top of the Helmers. The shelf is set on top with two rows of hard-core velcro.

The Fail Files: Rainstorm

Welcome back to another installment of The Fail Files! I'm going to try and make The Fail Files my Saturday feature. Hope you enjoy my pain and sorrow!

Back in April we loaded our carcasses into the Family Truckster and drove up to Woodbridge, VA. They have that big outlet mall, Potomac Mills, and there's an IKEA on the premises. We went to buy some items for the kitchen that weren't available online and of course I needed a Helmer or two!

While at the mall I stumbled upon a Blooming Beauty Supply. If you don't have one at your mall, think of a way-cooler Trade Secret. BBS doesn't have a web site and I believe they're franchised. What you find at one you might not find at another. This BBS had some China Glazes I'd been looking for like Good Witch? and C-c-courage. I was also on the hunt for an OPI full size of Not Like the Movies and I scored. I also picked up a gorgeous medium blue polish with blue glitter, Rainstorm.

Against my steering wheel. Can you believe that's FIVE coats?

Oh, I want to love Rainstorm but this polish is terrible! I took my time on a lazy Friday evening...this polish is a runny, watery mess. I couldn't get an even application. I had bald spots on all nails. It took five coats and it was still a bald, streaky mess with VNL.

Now, you know I love my China Glaze so this is my first major disappointment with this brand. I will say that after gardening...wearing work gloves, digging in the dirt, raking, and shoveling, this polish did not chip at all.

Sunday came and I went to get my pedicure. I really didn't want them offering me a manicure. Manicures at a salon bore me to tears. I can't read and they try to nip my cuticles. Back off, ack! So I salvaged Rainstorm with OPI's Silver Shatter.

Sun was scarse that day. I had to snag it when I could.

Outside Wags, inside my car.

Oh, Rainstorm. What will I do with you? Did I get a bum bottle? I've seen swatches online and it's gorgeous when others use it. With me it was an utter failure. I don't even know if it makes a decent layering polish. Perhaps with the shatters I can still have some fun with Rainstorm.

Reader Request: Tools of the Trade (Lots of Pix!)

My friend (in real life, too!) Carol of Love and Lunch Money asked me via a comment:

Reading your posts are so fun. I am actually thinking I want to start polishing my nails......

Okay Obi Wan of polish, what is a girl with NO polish to start with??

Sounds like a blog post to me. A "starter kit" for those of us noobs who want a basic starter set that is affordable and (sorry) conservative to semi conservative with the color choices.....

So I went through my essentials and here's what I think every person needs to have the foundations of a good manicure.

What? I won an AWARD?

Ohmigosh! Nailderella gave me a Top 10 Award! Thank you so much! I'm so new to the beauty/nail blog community but I must say I've learned so much from all of you and every day I either learn something new or I get a new lemming for the latest and greatest product.

The Top 10 award rules:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know (Oh jeeze, do I know enough bloggers personally to tag them? Is it poor etiquette to tag those I read but don't really know? Eep!)

Here are my top 10 cosmetics in no particular order!
1. OPI: Shoot-Out at the OK Coral
2. OPI: Wing It!
3. Sebastian MicroWeb Fiber
4. Hard Candy Glamoflauge
5. Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (Oh, the glitter!)
6. Maybelline The Falsies mascara
7. Palladio clear mascara (for the brows)
8. MAC Viva Glam IV Lipglass
9. Seche Vite
10. China Glaze white crackle

And here are my top 10 bloggers in no particular order! (and I totally apologize if you've been tagged already since I'm such a noob)
1. Deez Nails
2. Chaos Butterfly of The Phalanges Files
3. Aquaheart's Obsessions 
4. Olivia of Livy Lu Lu
5. Carol of Love and Lunchmoney 
6. Polish Insomniac
7. Notes and Nails
8. Mimi of 1972: The Retro Weight Watchers Experiment
9. Spaz and Squee
10. Whitney of Elemental Styles

Some of the above blogs aren't beauty-oriented but they are fun reads!

You go, Britta!

Purple Week? HAHAHAH!

Dudes, I couldn't follow through on my self-imposed Purple Week. You see, today was my command picnic and I'd bought a new blouse at Kohl's from the Chaps line. I like their nautical feel so of course I had to pull China Glaze's Ahoy from Elmer! However, the sun played Peek-a-boo this morning and I couldn't get a good shot of its rich magenta glass-flecked yumminess. So I'm giving you an Epic Fail picture instead:

Taken while walking to the mall in the midday sun.

Oh, it's so pretty! I think China Glaze is the master of the glass-fleck polish. But why was I walking to the mall?

Ivanka, Charla, Serving up Sparkle, Grape Set & Match, Come to Poppy, Be a Dahlia Won't You, I Lily Love You, and Play the Peonies

I got Ivanka and Charla during this week's Zoya promotion (that was quick, Fairies!). I'd left my name and number at Blooming Beauty and they held my pretties for me, whoohoo! I cannot wait to do a new manicure!

I think the one that took my breath away was Grape, Set, and Match. It's such a gorgeous purple but that shimmer? Holy crap! Flashes of pink and blue in that polish!!! I do believe Serena Williams is our Patron Saint of Polish, Goddess of the Lacquer. And even though I'm not a huge pale polish fan I am looking forward to Play the Peonies with a thin layer of I Lily Love You. Be a Dahlia will be an awesome pedi-polish as will Charla and Ivanka.

Of course I have to share Zoya's promo video for Charla and Ivanka...

Aw, Ginger Kitteh! We have two gingers and two silver babies. Meow!

Where's the Sun?

Because it's hiding and I'm grrr'd. My main post is delayed due to lack of decent lighting. Let's just say I couldn't follow through on Purple Week because I'm a complete doofus...

Purple Week, Day 3: Dannii, Have I Always Had These?

I've always love the Kids in the Hall and for some crazy reason I thought of the following sketch while applying today's purple polish, Zoya's Dannii...(Video and pix behind the jump today. Video is slightly NSFW in a prosthetic way)

Peace, Love, and Beauty (Pic Heavy!)

I had to go to the local mall for a Father's Day card. Otherwise my mom would send me on a major guilt trip come Sunday. Gah, I loathe these faux Hallmark guilt holidays! Anyway, there's a two-floor Forever 21 and since my work friend wasn't with me to provide parental supervision, I had to stop in and fondle the polishes!

Looks like two different polishes, right?

Purple Week, Day 2: So Cowardly!

While rooting through my stash I couldn't decide what to wear on the nails...do I go with 2NITE, Space Cadet, something from Sally Hansen? I thought about the Sally but that polish was entirely too shear (I'll share it another time as a layering polish. I can't remember the name but it's one of the new Hard as Nails in a sparkly lilac). So I made the executive decision and declared it Purple Week! All my work mani's will be in some shade of purple, regardless of outfit because that's how I role.

I have three polishes from the China Glaze Wizard of Ooh-Awes collection, Good Witch?, Ruby Pumps, and C-c-courage. I got C-c-courage up in Woodbridge during our IKEA trip. I'd seen swatches online and I knew I needed that purple in my life!

Natural morning light against my car.

C-c-courage is a nasty color to capture. I had gorgeous light in the parking garage but I just couldn't get a good shot. But I know you all have seen the yummy steely purple online or have it in your collection.

Natural light filtered through my office windows. Probably the best capture of color.

If I saw this color on a car I'd probably wet myself. I mean, have you seen the Plum Crazy Dodge Challenger? I'm no MOPAR fan but that car is sex on a stick! I think most any car could benefit from being purple (except the Nissan Versa. kill it with fire!).

Against my cube wall, natural filtered light.

C-c-courage is a top coat eater, at least for me. It's not overly glittery, more of a sparkle, but it was gritty. My first top coat was OPI's Rapid Dry and second was the Poshe'. I tried to get the Seche Restore but Blooming Beauty didn't have any in stock. I'm still not 100% pleased with the finish. I think another top coat layer would make this nice and smooth.

Oh, I'm sure you saw the Zoya promo. Buy any one product (excluding color spoons) and get Ivanka and Charla free! I bought a bottle of Happi for my coworker Miss M since she loved it so much and I can't find it locally. I paid $6.95 for shipping so less than $3.50 for each bottle. Whoohoo! So if you haven't scored check out Zoya's post for the coupon code. I also recommend liking them on Facebook and following their Twitter. They post teaser info to get us all riled up about the new pretties and promos!

O RLY? YA RLY! NO WAI!

Back in 2004-2005 when Jonathan the Owl was a meme sensation, I had his picture on my cell phone. Whenever the Kiddo, who was just shy of schoolage, would say something that warranted an "Oh really?" I'd say instead, "Don't make me bust out The Owl!"

So when I got hardcore into polish this year I started perusing the Orly line and when I see their displays all I can think about is that awesome snowy owl!

I could do this all day!

Anyway, I went to Sally on Friday, just itching for something. I ended up with one of those nifty pump bottles for acetone, the one where you push down and it's dispensed in the cap. Very cool! And I got a sable gel brush for cuticle clean-up. But really, what's a Sally visit without adopting a new China Glaze?

Fine, I'll stop now.

I picked up Spontaneous, a pretty medium purple creme.

Then I thought, "Hey! I have some Orly's in Elmer I can layer on top!"

This one's called Love Each Other. I think it's part of Orly's bridal line. Yeah, whatever. It's a PURPLE SHIMMER!!! therefore I needed it.

Why this pink shimmer is called Fifty Four, I have no idea.

The shimmers add just a bit of OOMPH overall. For me this is a rather sedate manicure. And that new sable clean-up brush is awesome! I used it more than I used my normal brush. That one's an painter's brush I picked up at Michael's. It looks like a slanted eye liner brush. I needed something that had heartier bristles with a thin tip.

Sorry for the picture quality today. I got into the parking garage early and there was a thin cloud cover. I didn't have decent sun until I got into the office.

OH YEAH!!! Last night I experienced my first Seche Vite Gone Bad. My right thumb nail is a total wreck, at least in my eyes. The SV's gone goopy. I'm going to look for the Restore but I have OPI's Rapid Dry, CND Speedy, and I picked up Poshe' top coat that Also Known As mentioned in her Spring Favorites post. I think my SV's gotten me through over 30 manicures but the bottle is over half-full. I love Seche but I think I get a little high off the fumes...

The Fail Files: Psychedelic Sunshine

Here's the first in a sporadic series I'm calling The Fail Files. There's a number of reasons for Nail Fail in my world:

• I did a crap job of polishing
• The polish is crap
• The brush is crap
• There's a conspiracy against my manicure
• Pet fur

For some reason I got a bee up my butt and I needed to add a yellow to my polish diet. I'm lucky to have a Sally Beauty about 1.5 miles from my house, just up the sidewalk from Panera Bread and our favorite sushi place. I went there looking for polish and I came across Fingerpaints Psychedelic Sunshine. I'd seen the PR swatches online and thought, "Ohmigosh, that looks AWESOME!" So I bought it, thinking I'd layer it over China Glaze's Lemon Fizz, a pretty pale yellow creme.

PS is a thick, gooey, gelatinous, translucent mess. I'd never worked with such a goopy polish in my life! Since I'd applied it the night before for Friday, I didn't have a chance to remove it. Suck it up, Buttercup, right?

Granted, I was still learning how to clean up the cuticles. But Psychedelic Sunshine puddled on my nails, making glittery boogers on my nails. I was so disappointed I tried to return the polish but since the brush touches the body (so to speak) Sally wouldn't accept it.

Removal was a complete and utter bitch. I had to break out the soaking tray, soak my nails in acetone, and use an orange stick to scrap it off.

I don't know if polish thinner will do the trick and honestly, I don't care. This polish blows chunks. If someone wants to swap I'll be happy to ship this problem child elsewhere. I got another yellow glitter from China Glaze so yeah, I'm set. Blerg!

Too Bright? I'll Show You Too Bright!!!

So yesterday I was banged on for my Swimming Pools Nails. I was told by El Jefe (The Boss) that my nails didn't match my outfit (so?) and the color belonged on a late 50's Ford (cool!). Miss C, my friend and admin assistant, said my nails were "too bright." But I've worn For Audrey before and you liked it! "I don't remember that," she replied.

Too bright? Too bright? You really want to go to there?

I dug into Elmer the Helmer, not certain what I was looking for. OPI Shimmer and Glimmer (or something like that), a blue glitter? Orly Space Cadet? A teal Sally Hansen? No...I knew what was needed.

Flip Flop Fantasy, Suckah! No Beetle today. Picture taken against Mustang convertible top. HA!

I initially bought this for a pedi color. I believe it's the most obnoxious neon pink in my collection. However, it's a creme so I need extra OOMPH!

Fairy Dust!

This picture doesn't do Fairy Dust justice. I love the Dust! It's like the perfect micro-holo-glitter top coat. Plus it's easy to remove so you're not soaking your nails in acetone for ever and ever.

I shook it intentionally so you can see that yummy holographic goodness.

I did my standard base coat of CND Ridge-Out, two-three coats of Flip Flop Fantasy (had some bald spots), two coats of Fairy Dust, and Seche Vite. I did this all before bed; I prayed to the Greek Goddess of Polish Worshippers that I wouldn't sheet myself.

Natural sun, against Mustang top. The Fairy Dust looks sad.

Natural sun, indoors, against my cubicle wall. I didn't sheet myself. Thanks, Seche Vite!

I don't know how much work I'll be able to do. I'm getting distracted just typing!

The overall look kind of ties in with my casual Friday outfit. Cropped jeans, a light-weight pale pink cardigan, and a darker pink camisole. Plus I drove the Mustang, Bellatrix, to work today. Ron's working out of town and I must say I feel rather badass when I drive the GT. Vroom vroom! Hermione's cute and she sounds like Darth Vader breathing when I go through the gears. But today I'll strip off the sweater, put down the top, and blast craptacular pop music on my way home from work.

"I'm so sick of being so serious, it's making my brain delirious!"

I'm thinking of a new feature so stay tuned for more polish shenanigans!

Swimming Pools on My Nails

After a few days of pinks I needed to shake things up a bit. I mean, I big puffy pink heart pink but there are other colors in the Helmer (it needs a better name. let me sleep on that). I told my coworker Miss M I'd shift into blue for Thursday. I pulled out China Glaze's Blue Iguana, Zoya's Jo and Tarte, but I thought back to mid-April before I started Pet Fur. I'd worn For Audrey with a layer of White Cap (that wonderful sheer with yellow glass fleck) and oh, what a neat combination!

I didn't want to quite replicate that so I dug even further...

Oooo! A Nubar!

The lighting does not do this justice! Nubar's Angels Whisper, under the Ott light, has the same blue shimmer as For Audrey. But in direct natural sunlight it shimmers pink. I only have two Nubars. I ordered 2010, that awesome flaky, from Amazon a couple of months ago. This baby is a Dust Bin find at Blooming Beauty. Nubar seems to be the Red-Headed Step Child of the polish world. It's not easily available locally and the rack they do have? The polishes are all separated and look discolored. I have to resist going in and shaking them so they can be adopted.

Angels Whisper looked all gross but when I shook it up it blended back together and I saw the potential to layer. I haven't used it before last night and when it coated For Audrey, the magic happened:

Cat Attack! The Cattens (they're a year old and still rambunctious) tore across the bed last night. I was half-asleep, watching "Income Property" with that hottie Scott McGilvray, when I felt the claws. Of course I let out an expletive. I'm now wearing a Yummy Sushi BandAid.

Oh, look at that shimmer! On the nail Angels Whisper stays blue. But in the sun in the bottle it's shimmering pink. Angels Whisper is androgynous and I think it'll work well with pinks also. It's like I have swimming pools on each digit!

Look, I need to be straight with you. As pretty as cremes are I can't leave them alone. It's as though I need shimmer, glitter, glass flecks, and duochromes. Seldom will I wear a creme by itself. For Audrey is pretty in her own right but the fact I can change her up with a sheer is wicked awesome!

Okay, I guess I should get some work done. I'm listening to "Summerboy" radio on Pandora. This sounds nuts but I love Old School Lady Gaga versus her newer stuff. She wasn't pretentious. Gaga never made a video for "Summerboy" but for a fun and funky summer song, you can't beat it with a stick!

Not a Peanut Butter Cup...

I knew that yesterday I wouldn't have time for a full manicure. I signed up for a Women and Weights class at the local YMCA plus it was a hair wash night. I get a deep red dye job and I only wash every two-three days to prolong the color. Yeah, and my thighs are aching today! Anyway, after being so happy with Happi I decided to give Zoya's Reece a whirl...

More yummy pale golden shimmer! Early morning sun, the back-end of my car.

Reece is rather hard for me to describe. If Happi is Cindy Brady then Reece is Marsha Brady. Happi's cute, Reece is beautiful. The two polishes are definitely sisters.

Reece and Happi. You can kind of tell Reece is a snob. At my desk.

Reece isn't quite pink, is definitely not red nor burgundy. She's an enigma, wrapped in a tortilla, and smothered in secret sauce (apologies to "NewsRadio"). She probably listens to classical music yet parties to Ke$ha behind closed doors. All her underwear is from Agent Provocateur and it matches. However, she drives a 3-Series BMW convertible but longs for an SLK. Reece is all about the finer things in life but isn't afraid to be crazy.

Oh, that Zoya shimmer! Morning sun, off my car.

Oh yeah! My coworker, Miss M, fell in love with Happi! She's African-American and the golden shimmer of Happi looked divine with her beautiful skin and long nail beds (I'm jealous. I screwed up my nail beds as a kid, biting my nails for six years. You can't tell me otherwise). I'll have to snap a picture with our nails together. I told her that next time Zoya has a sale I'll pick up Happi for her...but I bet she falls in love with Reece too!

I Don't Think You're Happi Enough!

So at last count I have 179 polishes in my ever-growing collection. Eep! I know it's nowhere near other bloggers collections, of which I'm dead jealous. However, it does present challenges when making nightly decisions.

Last night was no different. Waiting in the mailbox yesterday was a China Glaze from the cult OMG line, 2NITE. OMG is right! The linear holo in the bottle is nom-worthy! Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I asked Ron point-blank, "Pink or blue?" to which he replied, "Neither." Smirky man! Then he said, "For you, pink."

In the meantime I'd discovered another nail blogger, Nailderella. She left some nice feedback so I checked out her blog. Her second most recent post was for Zoya's Happi. Oooooo! Pretty pretty pictures of shimmery pink goodness and guess what? It's in my inventory!

Early morning sun, taken against my car in the parking garage at work. Look at that badass shimmer!

I can't pinpoint when I first saw Happi. I know it was online and I needed it right away. Luckily there's a Blooming Beauty Supply at the mall. (The mall's within walking distance of my office...it's dangerous to my pocketbook) BBS carries Zoya but Happi wasn't there. They offered to order it for me but I declined, knowing Zoya online offers specials. So when they had their Earth Day exchange I ordered nine polishes and Happi became mine!

Early morning sun. Bliss!

Happi is just so happy! She shimmers with pale golden goodness in a light bubble gum base. She's a perfect late spring color. For me she's definitely a finger color; she's too pale for my toes. I like my toes to make an obnoxious statement like, "WHOOOOOOOO!!!"  But Happi is totally work-appropriate (although that doesn't stop me from wearing crazy colors, ha!). She's demure with a bit of a wild side.

Oh yeah, and a couple of things. That Zoya Color Lock system? Blah, blah, blah!!! I used Seche Vite and Happi dried perfectly. No bubbling or fisheyes this time around. I know users swear by Color Lock but I will never use it again. And their polish remover is fine for removing polish but nothing beats pure acetone for cuticle clean-up. I found a small china ramikin, poured a bit of acetone in it, and used my handy-dandy clean-up brush to touch up the cuticles. Between the easy application of Happi (two coats versus five coats for that stinkin' ChG Rainstorm I've yet to blog about) and the easy clean-up, I'm quite...HAPPY!!! with Happi.

Sandwich? Yes, Please!

Yesterday, after getting my pedi, I came home and perused my beauty blogs. I can't remember which rabbit hole I fell down but I came across a link to a Tumblr. The blogger made a glitter sandwich with OPI's Too Hot Pink to Hold'Em and Teenage Dream. Oh, it looked awesome! I searched my memory and yes, I have those polishes along with Do You Think I'm Tex-y? So of course I went upstairs to start a fresh mani for Monday.

(Oh, and there's a story about the weekend mani but I'll save it for later. I got pix. And I think I have far more polishes than the "Nail Spa." Their display looked pitiful in comparison to my stash.)

The glitter isn't done justice in this picture. Teenage Dream and Do You Think I'm Tex-y?

This was my first real experience with a jelly polish. I need to practice more. It's one thing to polish a nail wheel but on the nail itself, it's an entirely different story. I sucked at it. The polish is thin and runny so I thought I needed more on the brush. It was a mess! I did two coats of Tex-y, one coat of Teenage Dream, and one coat of Tex-y:

How fun is this? It's like the glitter is suspended in the jelly! To me it makes the glitter look more like a glass fleck, not as "In your face, BOOYEAH!" which I also adore. And since it's only one layer of Teenage Dream it shouldn't be too terribly hard to remove.

And I kind of wowed myself last night when I realized I'm not wearing China Glaze. What, really? All polishes on my person are OPI.

I guess I should pretend to work and stuff. The caffeine hasn't fully kicked in *yawn!*

From the Vault: Hands Up, Pardner!

First off, if you're a crackle-head haul your booty down to Walgreens for Pure Ice Crackle! The delightful G. from Nouveau Cheap blogged about them yesterday and I thought, "There's no way in the world my Wags will get Pure Ice." Color me wrong! I picked up the yellow crackle because I was just thinking, "I could use a yellow crackle but I haven't seen one yet." Whoohoo!

Anyway, today is a Me Day. My Boys are at the movies so I got a spa pedi at a local nail salon called...get this...Nail Spa. HA! I took one of my treasures with me, OPI's Shoot-Out at the OK Coral:

I had to snag the sun while I could. It's cloudy and humid today.

According to the OPI Nail Lacquer Database my bottle is from the American Spring/Summer 1995 collection. I'd get pedicures at local salons but I had a hard time finding it. I finally found a bottle at a Supercuts/Hair Cuttery place while my kiddo was getting his hair cut, about five-six years ago. I snagged this .5 fluid ounces of corally goodness.

Black Label OPI: Full of Big Three Bad Stuff. I don't care.

The man technician gave me a great lower-leg massage, oh yeah! while I was violated by the pedi-throne. It's one of those that squeezes your buttcheeks and sometimes you want to slap it as it goes in for Surprise Buttsechs. Eep! Don't stop.

Sadly the sun is still playing hide-n-seek. All I can get for a decent snap is this:

I haz a sad. The sun is poopy.

I love, Love, LOVE this color!!! I've never worn in on my fingers and I dole it out like it's never coming back. I know Shoot-Out made a reappearance in a Summer 2009 Colorcopia collection. Check out Scrangie's awesome swatches for more information. You might be able to find a dust-bin of this wonderful poolside color somewhere, lurking the corners of your local beauty supply.