Yeah, another haul. So sue me.

There were such good sales!

 I finally got a Clarisonic Mia 2 since Sephora came out with a Josie Maran Kit.I will do a separate post in a bit about the purchasing experience soon.

 CHINA GLAZE FOR $1.65 AT SALLY BEAUTY! I had a coupon for $5 off as well :) From left to right (I think...I am doing this several hours after I took the picture, and the colors are quite similar) Flirty Tankini, Hang-ten Toes, Love's a Beach, Pink Plumeria

 Adventure Red-y, I'm Not Lion, Purr-fect Plum, Rose Among Thorns (Neon) The last one doesn't have any printing on the bottle, but it was the only one I could find...

Haul and NOTDs; No buy.

China Glaze Strawberry Fields on pinky, ring, middle and pointer finger. OPI DS Reflection on thumb. It doesn't look that different in the picture,but the OPI is so much richer in real life.

One coat of Wet N Wild Black Creme and Matrix-inspired random squiggles with Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!

Today's Haul: B&BW Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Gel and Bubble Bath, B&BW Into the Wild Body Scrub, B&BW Charmed Life Lotion, OPI DS Reflection, cosmetic bag that came with the Charmed Life lotion.

Also, I have come to a point in my life where I realize spending money on stuff like this isn't really something I should be doing. I'm now on a no-buy until my birthday, when I will order $50 from Sephora and The Body Shop. I will replace things I run out of, but there should only be a couple things I run out of between now and February, things like toothpaste and contact solution. I will spend gift cards, but I will not buy beauty products somewhere like CVS where I can buy things I actually need, like mouth wash and medicine and food. I have money, but I don't have money, you know? So no buy until February.

EDIT: Except Birchbox. I will still spend my $10 a month on Birchbox. It is so worth it, and it is a controlled expense. I can only buy one Birchbox a month, and I know I'm to cheap to buy the full size, so I don't feel bad about getting my Birchboxes.

NOTDs (pic heavy)

Companion Cube-inspired nails with Zoya Kelly for the pinky, middle and pointer fingers and OPI Skull and Glossbones and Orly Cotton Candy (I think, anyways) for the accent finger.

Portal-themed toes with Sally Girl Hottie for the orange and China Glaze Frostbite for the blue.

China Glaze White on White for the base and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Blue Away for the dots (foot picture again, sorry!)

Orly Halley's Comet

Finger Paints Go Van Gogh!

OPI Fiercely Fiona

Orly Razzle

China Glaze Flying Dragons (Neon) for the tips, topped with Orly Fifty Four

OPI Skull and Glossbones

OPI Sparkle-icious

Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been a lazy bum lately, plus I've been working 8 hour days :)

Haul, NOTD and a googledoc

So, in my uber boredom today I went to a Walgreens, a Rite Aid, Marshall's and 3 CVS's. Yes, I was that bored. At the second CVS, there were quite a few 75% and 50% off items, so I picked a few of them up. (sorry. I took this picture with my iPhone, which quite honestly is better than my digital camera.)

Left to Right: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lavender Cloud, SHCSM Yellow Kitty, Sally Hansen HD Lite, SHHD Pixel Pretty, Essie Coat Azure, Essie French Affair 

I could not believe these babies were 75% off. I LOVE the Complete Salon Manicure line, but they are so gosh darn expensive. They are getting a little cheaper, though, as they're only five-something at WalMart, where I think they used to be around $7. I couldn't help but get Yellow Kitty, just for the name. It looks REALLY similar to Orly Lemonade, so I'll do a comparison post tomorrow when there is sunlight.

The HD polishes were also 75% off, and I'm glad I snatched these two. There were a lot more, but I'm trying not to buy dupes/near dupes. 

ESSIE. I LOVE YOU. The blue, Coat Azure, was pretty when I thought it was a simple creme...then I realized after I got home that there is a beautiful silver shimmer to it. 

1 coat China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat, 1 coat Borghese Mezzanotte, 1 coat China Glaze Fairy Dust, 1 coat Seche Vite.

Also, in my obsession with nail polish, I've typed up a list of all of my nail polish, base/top coats and cuticle oils. I googledoc'd it, so you can find it here. I'll try to keep it updated. If you have any swatch requests, go ahead and email/comment and I'll try to make it happen.

NOTD from a few days ago

China Glaze Blue Iguana (3 coats) under one coat of China Glaze Black Mesh

Honestly, I didn't really care for the crackle trend at first, but of course I went to Sally Beauty and of course I just had to get one of the crackle polishes. They're okay. They're interesting, but I feel like we're going back to the nineties with this trend. I remember crackle polish from when I was in elementary school. I'm sure they were filled with awful chemicals, but meh. I could live without crackle polish. 

Also, here's a pedi I did on Sunday:

Color Club Tangerine Scream, Electro Candy, Volt of Light, What a Shock!, Pure Energy

I asked my boyfriend, who is currently at his mom's house across the country, what I should do for my toes, and he replied "rainbow toes." Hence the rainbow toes. 

Some haulage...

I've had a few mini-hauls over the last month or so and have neglected to blog about them. To remedy the situation, I present you MEGA HAUL POST.

 Color Club All About Color Set. Colors left to right: Cadillac Red, Sugar Sheer, In Bloom, Rev'd Up, Overboard, Trippie Hippie, Catwalk Queen

 This is a set from Ross called All About Color. I had a hell of a time trying to find the names of the polishes, because they weren't labeled on the bottle (which I had expected) and they weren't written on the cardboard insert of the packaging (which I didn't expect). I love love love the price of these babies, so it was worth it.

Color Club Alter Ego Reveal Your Mystery Set, left to right: Get a Clue, Revealed, Incognito, Secret Rendezvous, Sheer Disguise, Give Me a Hint, Milky White Base Coat 

 I was so excited when I found this one. It was the last one!!! The formula seemed a little think on some of these, but for 7.99 for 8 bottles of polish, I won't complain. Nice, office-appropriate colors, too.

China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat, China Glaze Blue Iguana, Finger Paints Go Van Gogh, Wet n Wild FastDry Teal of Fortune

Blue Iguana is SO pretty, but stains like crazy. I took it off with normal acetone remover AND straight acetone four days ago and there are STILL blue spots on my nails. Also, CG Blue Iguana and WNW Teal of  Fortune are near dupes, but TOF has a blue/green flash while BI has a purpley/pink flash. Both are very pretty. 

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Bronze, Milk, Pure Gold

I bought these at Ulta buy 2 get 1 free. I'd heard rave reviews about the Milk pencil, but I'm not particularly fond of these. Milk is ok as a a brow/inner corner highlighter, but the other two suck as shadows. You have to press hard to get the color to transfer and even then, it doesn't last long. Disappointed :(

ELF Brush: Defining Eye Brush, 1804 Total Face Brush, 1821 Concealer Brush

  I bought the defining eye brush to clean up my nails with pure acetone. The bristles were too fluffy for this, but the brush was only a dollar, so no big deal. I haven't tried the other two brushes as of now.

Revlon CRAZYshine nail buffer

I had heard good things about this buffer, and it was only 3.49 at Ulta. It did make my nails extremely shiny in only two steps, as opposed to the four normal four-sided buffers require. The shape was also unique and allowed me to get right up to the cuticle without accidentally buffing the skin around my nail.

Sally Beauty mini-haul and NOTD

So. I printed out my New Year's 15% off coupon and went into Sally Beauty. I  have a gift card, so thankfully I am not spending "real" money.

China Glaze Atlantis
Beauty Secrets Nail Polish Thinner
Mini Orly Nailtrition
Seche Vite w/ free nail decals

I have been lemming Atlantis since I first saw it a few weeks ago. It is everything I love: Blue, green, glitter and holographic. I almost had a heart attack when I saw it on the Treasures (I think, I'm not exactly sure) display. THEN, I saw a mini Nailtrition, which I've been dying to try but could not bear to fork over ten dollars for something I may be able to live without. It was next to a super cute Orly Valentine's Day-themed display with four different (but not new) pinks. As I mosied over to the Seche Vite, which I needed to buy anyway, there was a little pad of tear-off coupons that were good for a FREE CHINA GLAZE POLISH WITH PURCHASE OF SECHE VITE! Best coupon ever, right? I wanted/needed both and there was a coupon for them! So I picked the Seche Vite with the free nail decals because I love free stuff and I really like nail decals, no matter how tacky they look.

Seche Vite package and decals

Close up of nail decals. Sorry about the flash reflection. I was trying to get rid of the shadows, but it didn't work out too well, haha

Needless to say, I was VERY happy on my way home because I got the PERFECT polish FOR FREE. Plus free decals. I seriously love Sally Beauty. *sigh*

Anyhoo, I did my nails a couple of days ago (maybe Sunday night? I'm not quite sure) and procrastinated taking pictures until this afternoon. There are a few chips/bits of tip wear, but I've worked eight hour days yesterday and today, and the job I have while I am at home usually completely destroys my nails within ten minutes of clocking in. I think this manicure has proven to be stronger than most.

This is two (perhaps three) coats of China Glaze Shower Together, a beautiful greenish-blue creme with an even better name. I then put on a coat or two, depending on the glitter distribution, of China Glaze Fairy Dust. I topped it off with a coat of For Rhinestones Only top coat. I think I was trying to channel the goodness of ChG Atlantis when I was doing this manicure, and I like the result a lot, but I have Atlantis now, so I don't think I'll be repeating this one. I am very impressed with the wear on this, though. I'm not sure if it was the top coat or the glue-like quality of glitters, such as ChG Fairy Dust, but this mani was lucky to survive two minutes at work, let alone 16 hours.

Ombre

I was extremely bored last night, so after I got home from a Walgreens run, I decided to test out the ombre nail trend. I had a hard time finding colors that worked, since I have no experience frankening. I realized I had a lot of the right shades of a color, but the different finishes were not cooperating. Wouldn't it be weird if some of the nails were glitter, some were shimmer and some were creme? I thought so, so I was stuck with a blue gradation, which turned out quite well.

I used one coat of Orly Nail Armor base coat on all of the nails. For the thumb, I used three coats of China Glaze White on White. For the index finger, I used three coats of China Glaze Secret Peri-Wink-Le. The middle finger is two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue. The ring finger, which looks more navy blue than black in real life, is two coats of Orly La Playa. The pinkie is two coats of Maybelline Onyx Rush, my favorite black creme. Then I topped everything with a coat of Seche Vite.

So far, I'm loving this mani and have had almost no chips, which is amazing since I have been "thrift storing" literally all day. It is definitely interesting, but I'm probably going to redo my nails tomorrow out of boredom.


A side note about Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue, which I finally found during the aforementioned Walgreens run. I had been searching for the perfect color to go under Confetti Party Palace Blue, which I cannot find a picture of on the internet but is basically is a dupe of Sinful Colors 831 Hottie. (stock photo from Sinful Colors website seen below) I tried for weeks to find the blue that Confetti PPB looks like in the bottle. Then I saw SHX PB on the Ulta website. And could not believe how perfect it was. And how unattainable. I refuse to pay six dollar shipping for a three dollar bottle of nail polish, so I searched every store I could find that stocks Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Polishes and had no luck. Then, last night, in fit of boredom I went to Walgreens with my mom just to pass the time and BOOM! I found it! I was so happy! It is the perfect polish, too. It is nearly perfect in one coat and is the most beautiful color.

Welcome plus the pictures I've taken so far...

Hi future readers/followers! My name is Amanda and I'm pretty much obsessed with nail polish and make up. I've bought way too many products in the last few months, so I figured I should do something with them. Hence, this blog.

When I post pictures of my manicures, I'll try to post links to the specific products I used (all of which were purchased by me with my own money) from the store from which I purchased them. For example, if I buy something from a brick-and-mortar Sally Beauty Supply or SallyBeauty.com, I will post a link to the product on the Sally Beauty site. Sometimes this won't be possible, or I won't remember where I got something, but I'll try my best. In the cases where I can't remember/find the link for the correct store/whatever, I'll try to at least find a link.

Let's start with the manicure I did to go with my Halloween costume, which was a DEVO girl. You know, like Whip It. Google it.

 I used Orly Goth on my index, middle and pinkie fingers. On my ring finger, I have a base of China Glaze Platinum Silver with a blue energy dome painted with China Glaze Frostbite, which stunk to high Heaven, using a nail art brush I bought in a multi-pack.

 I was quite proud of this manicure, as it was the first actual "nail art" I had ever attempted to do freehand. Plus, it was DEVO-themed and therefore awesome.

On an unrelated note, this was the view from the stairs right next to my room the night I did that manicure. Beautiful, huh?  Sorry about the slight blur, I'm really bad at taking pictures.

Next, I'll show you a almost-French that turned out pretty ugly, if you ask me. I was trying to do a sponge gradient, I think, but it did not work out the way I planned.

I used China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise (Neon) as the base with Orly La Playa (which I can't find a link to, but I saw it in Ulta yesterday on clearance for 2.99) sponged on the tips.  I really like these colors together, but I sponged on a little too much for it to be a French manicure. This was before I got nail guide stickers, haha.

For the next mani, I tried to use those metallic star stickers you can find in every school supply aisle in every store in America as a stencil. It turned out goopy and gross looking in real life. In my defense, however, it was two in the morning when I finished this, so I probably was not in my right mind. (Sorry about the blurry cell phone picture)

I used Orly Lunar Eclipse (which I bought at Sally Beauty, but is not listed on their site any longer) as the base, with too many coats of China Glaze White on White on top of the stickers. Yeah. It did not work and I believe I took this off the next morning.

Now, for one of my cleanest manis, I present my first successful French manicure. The normal nude and white combo is a little boring for my taste, as I tend to go for loud colors and wild glitters, but the combo of these two colors was good enough for me.

This was OPI Princesses Rule! (which I got at Ulta) with Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Burgundy Flirt for the tips. I used those nifty Nailene Perfect Tips French Polish Guides that I finally found at WalMart after searching for them for a few weeks. They are SO easy to use, even for me, and I can barely paint my nails without getting polish all over my fingers.

I'm going to end this post with a picture of some nail art I did on my toes. I've noticed that some people have a strong aversion to feet pictures, so I figured I should leave this one to the end. 

I used Orly Rock-On Red as the base, then sponged on China Glaze White on White, followed by Ulta Envy. I then "seeded" the watermelon with Maybelline Express Finish Onyx Rush, which is the best black pretty much ever. It applies like a dream and dries quickly. 

With that, I bid you adieu.