Review: Kelara Jupiter

Hi Everyone!! I hope y'all are enjoying your Friday.  And Happy Passover, Good Friday or it's almost the weekend to everybody!!  Today I have another polish I received from the fabulous Sassy Paints!!
It's from the indie polish maker, Kelara called Jupiter!  This polish is AH-MAZING!!!!!

Kelara Jupiter is from their Planetary Collection and is a purple with strong brown undertones, with an incredibly gorgeous scatter holograph.  The formula was fabulous, it went on without any issues; it was smooth without any dragging or balding.  The pictures show two coats with one coat of top coat.  The polish did dry with a more textured finish, but one coat of top coat smoothed everything out.  I can not even begin to tell you how much I love this polish!!!  The color is such a beautiful purple, and such a rare shade.  Then you add holographic glitter and I'm over the moon!! (Bad pun not intended, haha)  But pictures are worth a thousand words, so...

And one photo slightly out of focus to show you what it really looks like in person!

I love, love, love this polish and cannot thank Gini a.k.a. Sassy Paints enough!!  Kelara polish can be purchased from their website, here and range in price from $4.75 to $12. 

 

On second thought, I think I'm mad at Gini...this gift is going to cost me a lot of money!!  I have to have more!!  Have a fabulous Friday and Happy Polishing!!!







Review: Hard Candy Piece of Papaya

Hi y'all!!  I hope everyone is doing fabulous!  I'm doing good, feeling better everyday.  I hope by next week, the now teenager and I are back to normal *fingers crossed*

I do have one quick note before the review, if you follow me on GFC, Google is discontinuing it in June.  But you can follow my blog, and all the blogs you love, with Bloglovin!  I just joined and love it!  When you sign up, you'll get a home page and all of your blogs, with their latest posts, will be listed for you.  I really love it!  All you have to do is click on the button to the left!

Ok, now that that is out of the way, time to talk about Hard Candy's Piece of Papaya.  This was another polish I received from Gini at Sassy Paints during our St. Patty's Day swap.  (Love her!!!)

Isn't it yummy???  Piece of Papaya is an orange shimmer with a gold and dark orange /red shimmer that shifts to every shade in between..  The formula was perfect, not too thin, not too thick.  There wasn't any pooling, dragging or balding.  This is definitely one of my favorites from the new Hard Candy collection.  This polish is just so gorgeous that I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves!  Hard Candy polishes are available at Walmart for $3.98 each.  Talk to y'all later, Happy Polishing!!

Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers Bi-Weekly Question

Every other Wednesday, the Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers will answer a beauty-related question just for fun! This week's question is... Knowing what you know now, what beauty advice would you give your teenage self?

Love this question! The first thing I would tell my teen self is stop using tanning OIL and put on sun screen!!!!  Sun causes wrinkles!! Among other dire things.

 The next thing I would tell myself is to relax and have fun with fashion and make up.  I remember everything being so critical and dramatic...every decision about style and beauty had the weight of the world on it.  Funny thing is, I remember feeling that panic and worry and thinking how important this is...I just have no memory of what I was so worried about!!  There is a lot of life after the teen years!

And lastly, and I'm really embarrassed to say this, the "Madonna look" is NOT a good look!!!  Avoid at all cost!!!!

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Be sure to check out the other Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers' answers!     
Ashley Elizabeth from Ashley Elizabeth's Beauty Blog
Dionne from Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes
Emma from Manicurity
Harri from TrailerHood Chic
Mandy from MandysSecrets
Pam from Pammy Blogs Beauty
Quinn from Mama Fashionista If you would like to see previous questions and answers, you can do so by viewing the Question Archive here. If you're a beauty blogger in the Metro Atlanta area and would like to join us, please visit our website! We would love to connect with you!

ABC Challenge: L

Hi Everybody!!!!  I'm so excited to be able to post again!!  If you missed it, my daughter and I had pneumonia AND the flu!!  It's been so hard.  And then to get the bad health news that they found by accident.... but I'm not going to think about that now.  Right now, I'm just thrilled to be back!!

And for this week's ABC Challenge it's the letter L and to make up for missing two weeks, I have three L's for you:  OPI Lincoln Park After Dark and China Glaze Luxe and Lush!!

I really love this combination! A dear friend, whose actually more like a sister, gave me the OPI Lincoln Park After Dark.  Love her!!  She's one of those people who no matter what's going on always looks perfect...hair done, nails done, make up perfect.  She can be sick as anything and still look beautiful *jealous*  Anyway, she only wears this color nail polish, so I love how it always reminds me of Alison!  Lincoln Park After Dark is a gorgeous, dark, vampy purple crème.  It goes on so smooth and glossy, it looks like glass.

Then over that is one coat of Luxe & Lush from China Glaze's Hunger Game collection.  Luxe and Lush represents the rich District 1 and it fits.  L&L is a gold/green/copper flakie and over the dark purple, it looks like gold and copper flakes.  Just fabulousness all around!

 

Pictures just do not do justice to this combo, it looks incredible and luxurious in real life,  One of my favorites!  Be sure to check out all the other wonderful ladies and their fabulous L designs!  Happy Polishing!!



Review: Pure Ice Deja Vu & Never Satisfied

Hi all!!  How are you today?  The little one and I are trying to stay warm as we keep recuperating.  Can you believe there have been snow flurries??  And remember...I'm in Georgia!!  Snow!  On March 26th!  I want my Spring!!!

Ok, sorry for the whining, but seriously, there is a reason I live in the south.  Anyway, as you may know, Pure Ice just released 29 new polishes.  And out of those 29, Deja Vu was the one that I was most excited about.  From the pictures, I couldn't tell if it was a glitter, shimmer, duochrome...what it was.  Then came the St. Patrick's Day swap I participated in and I got Deja Vu!!  Thanks to the incredible and fabulous Gini at Sassy Paints 2012!  (Check my facebook page to see all the fabulousness that Gini gave me!!  LOVE HER!!!)

You can see the incredible duochrome in the bottle.  Isn't that incredible?  For some extremely frustrating reason, my camera refused to pick up all the color shifting wonderfulness on my nails, but it was there in person.  Deja Vu is a bright blue metallic with a purple/fuchsia shimmer.  The formula was a bit on the thin side, and it had a tendency to pool at my cuticles (sorry for the bad clean up job, but my hands were shaking too much).  But that isn't anything that I can't live with, especially with how gorgeous this looks.

My accent nail is Pure Ice Never Satisfied.  This is a micro blue glitter with small silver and purple/fuchsia hexagon glitters in a clear base.  The photos show one coat with top coat.  This was beautiful too.  What's not to like?  Glitter, blue, purple...love it!  The formula was great on this.  I didn't have to dig for glitter and got fabulous cover in one coat.

I hope y'all are having a wonderful and warm day!!  Happy Polishing!!

Review: Hard Candy crush on lava

Hi y'all!  Well, it's Monday, which means it's time to start running around to our doctors again.  I just want all the wheezing the now-teenager and I are doing to stop.  And because of the wheezing and the medicine, my hands are shaking really bad, so it's going to be reviews for a bit.  Just until I get control of everything.

And on that note, I have crush on lava for you today.  crush on lava is from Hard Candy's new collection:

crush on lava is a gold/copper duochrome that shifts to mauve/red in an extreme shimmer.  This polish is gorgeous!!!  But first the polish formula, it was fabulous, not too thin, not too thick.  It flowed on smoothly without any pulling or balding.  Loving this polish!!  The glitter is magnificent!!  And the shifting color is incredible!!  So I'm going to let my pictures do the talking:

Isn't it fabulous????  Don't you just love it???  It is gorgeous!!  Hard Candy polishes can be found at Walmart for $3.99.

**Polish was bought and paid for by me.

I'm Back!!!! (I think and hope)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hi Everyone!!  Oh my goodness!!!  I can not even begin to tell you what a drama filled two weeks I've had.  My little one was super sick, pneumonia with a touch of the flu, and I had the flu with a touch of pneumonia!  Yikes!!  And as I was undergoing all this testing, they found something that has just struck me from left field...can't talk about it.  And I refuse to think about it today. :)

So I hope to be back full swing come Monday, but here is a mini post to show you what I've had on my nails for the last two weeks!!  Yep, you read that right...TWO weeks!  Here it is:

I Used:
Orly- Monster Mash (green base with holographic green glitter)
Sinful Colors- Exotic Green (green crème)
Pure Ice- Jaguar (gold shimmer)
Spoiled-  Show Me Some Skin (nude crème)

I really like this design...thank goodness, since I've had to wear it so long, ha ha.

I have a lot of great things coming up for y'all, including a St. Patty's Day swap I was in, so see y'all next week!!!!

It's a Blue Winter

Hi Lovelies!!  I hope this Monday finds y'all doing well.  My little one is still sick and since she is the sweetest most generous girl in the world, she shared her germs with me and now I'm miserably sick.  I'm going to have to do something special for her sharing...like extra school work!  Ha ha, ok, just kidding.

Since I'm miserable, I'm going to get right to today's mani:

I Used:
Sally Hansen- Co-Bolt Blue
China Glaze- Water You Waiting For

Sally Hansen Co-Bolt Blue is an awesome blue shimmer.  This color is gorgeous!!  I don't normally buy Sally Hansen, it's nothing personal, I just find most of their products over priced.  I do like the lower priced polishes and do use them often.  But the other day I was in Rite Aid and decided to check out their clearance items and this little jewel was there, marked down to $1.25!!! The polish just seemed to glow and I knew I had to have it.  The pictures show two coats with a top coat.  Though you probably could get away with just one coat. The one and only complaint I had was that it was a bit thick, but a few drops of thinner took care of that.

China Glaze Water You Waiting For, on my accent finger, is a clear based glitter bomb with royal blue and turquoise small round glitters.  This was part of the Cirque Du Soleil collection and it's fabulous!!  Although over Co-Bolt Blue, the royal blue glitter kind of gets lost.  I loved this polish, but I think next time I will wear it over a different color, maybe black or purple.

I hope y'all have a wonderful Monday!  I'm off to give my little one and myself a big dose of Nyquil and go to bed.  Until tomorrow, Happy Polishing!!



In the sun

Reciprocal Gradient

Hi my friends!!!!  I'm so happy to see you today!  And...it's Friday!!  Anyone have big plans?  I am so excited about this post today that I'm going to get straight to it!  This design is called a Reciprocal Gradient and was named and made up by Emma at Globe and Nail.  I LOVE THIS DESIGN!!  As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try it.  The link above shows her original design and here is mine:

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Black on Black
Nina Ultra Pro- French White
Orly- Shockwave (gray crème)
Stripping Tape

Isn't is fun?  I would give you the steps to do this, but Colette at My Simple Little Pleasures, made a fabulous video with great directions for this design. So today I just have pictures for you. 

Thank you all so much for checking this out!  I appreciate each and every one or you!!  Whether you've been with me from the beginning (love you) or just joined (welcome), THANK YOU!!  Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you soon!  Happy Polishing!!

Winter Water Marble

Happy Thursday y'all!!!  The weekend is almost here!  Although we have a pretty busy weekend planned.  The teenager has a long rehearsal on Saturday and ballet pictures on Sunday so I may need the week to rest. 

Today I have a water marble for you!!  I LOVE doing water marbles! Even when I get bubbles :(
Anyway, here is today's mani:

I Used:
Nina Ultra Pro- French White (white crème)
China Glaze- Blue Iguana (blue with blue and purple shimmer)
China Glaze- Coconut Kiss (purple shimmer)
Sinful Colors- Black on Black (black crème)

I have a step-by-step tutorial on how to do water marbles here. Be sure to check it out!

I do love these colors together!  The only thing I would change is to take out the white.  It was too prominent on some of the nails.  I will do this color combination again though...minus the white!

I hope y'all have a fabulous Thursday and I will see you tomorrow with a fabulous design!  Happy Polishing!!

 



ABC Challenge: I is for It's A Trap-eze!

Hi Everyone!!  I hope everybody is staying nice and warm today.  It's freezing here!  And it's doing such a number on my allergies and sinuses.  That's why I missed yesterday's post, so sorry.  I normally sneeze everyday, but yesterday was ridiculous!  But I hope I've made it up to you with two post today.  One is my Metro Atlanta Beauty Blogger Bi-weekly question here.  And our weekly ABC Challenge.

This week's challenge is I.  I decided to go with a polish instead of a nail art design because I thought that would be easier with all the sneezing.  After looking through my polishes, I ended up going with an untried, China Glaze It's A Trap-eze:

It's A Trap-eze is a glitter bomb!  It's a white jelly base with small hexagon and micro round glitters in red, orange, blue, green, white, gold and silver (at least).  The above photos show two coats with one coat of top coat.  The formula was fabulous, not thick or goopy at all, and the glitter came out on the nail perfectly.  The only thing I'm sad about is that it's such an overcast day I couldn't see this in the sun.  Oh well, I'll just have to wear it again :)

Be sure to check out all the other lovely ladies and their designs below the pictures.  Happy Polishing!!



 



MABB Bi-Weekly Question

Each Wednesday, the Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers will answer a beauty-related question just for fun! This week's question is... You're running late and you only have time to either do your makeup or hair.. which one do you choose?

Wow!  Really?  Only one?  That stinks!  Ok, I do my make-up.  As an *ahem* older woman, I am not about to leave the house without my make-up on.  And a complete face too; not just a little blush and lip gloss.  Nope!  I'm going to do the whole 9 yards; eyeshadow, eyeliner, foundation, plaster, everything!   Luckily being in the south, ponytails are still popular and always a quick and neat look.  So hair up and face on! What about you my lovelies?  What would you choose?  Be sure to follow the links below to see what my lovely fellow bloggers have picked.  I've got a feeling them young uns picked hair! Ha ha!

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Be sure to check out the other Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers' answers!     
Ashley Elizabeth from Ashley Elizabeth's Beauty Blog
Dionne from Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes
Emma from Manicurity
Harri from TrailerHood Chic
Mandy from MandysSecrets
Pam from Pammy Blogs Beauty
Quinn from Mama Fashionista If you would like to see previous questions and answers, you can do so by viewing the Question Archive here. If you're a beauty blogger in the Metro Atlanta area and would like to join us, please visit our website! We would love to connect with you!

Review: China Glaze Ombre Sets

Happy Monday y'all!!  I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend and are all rested up to take on the week.  Be sure to check my facebook page later today, I hope to have a bunch of giveaways for you!  (There's already one on there!)

Today I have the new China Glaze Ombre sets for you:

These are kits put together for you by China Glaze to do Ombre or gradient nails.  The kits include 4 full size polishes and 10 sponges and come in 3 different sets:  Grape Expectations (purple) pictured above, Wait Teal You See (more turquoise than teal) and Sweet Sensations (pink).  The kits are on sale right now at Sally's Beauty Supply for $12.99.  Even though I have almost 400 bottles of polish and purple is my favorite color, I didn't own any of these polishes.  And one was a huge lemming for me, so I had to get it.  Besides, at $12.99, it was a great deal for four full China Glaze polishes (China Glaze retails for $6.59 at Sally's).

The polishes included in Grape Expectations were: (lightest to darkest)
Sweet Hook
Spontaneous
Grape Pop (yay it's finally mine)
Crimson (yay, and despite the name is actually a really dark purple)

And, according to the package, it contains 10 sponges, though mine only had 9:

But that was ok, I didn't even try them, I just used make-up sponges, I like them better.

So here are my ombre nails:

(Please ignore the bubbles, they are from my top coat)

 

So, what's my bottom line?  Two thumbs up, lol.  It really is a great value and the polishes are gorgeous.  If you don't have a lot of polish but want to try the ombre/gradient look this is a fabulous way to do it.  As for the 10 (or in my case 9) sponges, remember the cheap make-up wedges work perfectly so you don't need to worry when you run out of them.  The instructions were clearly printed on the box.  The only thing I would change is instead of painting the polish on a plate or paper, just paint it directly onto the sponge.  They will blend just as well on your nail and it saves you a step.

 

I hope y'all find this helpful and I will see you soon!  Until then, Happy Polishing!!

 





Dripping French Nails (& Tutorial)

Hi y'all!!  TGIF!!!  I have a quick and easy nail art design for you that is sure to get noticed, dripping French tips!  This came about because as I was swatching the Sinful Colors Spring collection, I lost track of time and had to take the teenager to dance.  And since I live way out in the country, I have to stay in town while she's in class.  So I had to run and my hands were two different colors (because I use both hands to swatch...now I think I know why other bloggers use only one, ha ha).  So this was my attempt to make my nails mesh.

I'm sure you've seen this design a hundred times, it's very popular, so I make no claim to have made this up.  And I have no idea who was the first.  This is my interpretation:

Left hand

Right hand

I Used:
Sinful Colors- Sugar n Spice (pink crème)
Sinful Colors- Sweet Tooth (lilac crème)
Dotting Tool (a pen would work great too)

To make this design, start with your base coat and allow that to dry completely.  Then using a large dotting tool (or a pen) place random dots on your nails.  I do this be placing a drop of polish on a glass plate I bought just for this purpose and then dipping the dotting tool or pen in the polish.  This will be the bottom of your drip.  Then dip your tool back in the polish and from your dot draw up towards the tip of your nail.  Once you have made all your drips, connect them at the tip.  But don't draw a straight line, vary the connections to make it look more realistic.

So how did I do?  Do they match? Ha ha ha!  I hope you enjoy this design, the combinations are limitless.  Going out?  Make your drips sparkle.  Anyway, I hope y'all have a fabulous day and as always, Happy Polishing!!

 



Review Sinful Colors: Spring, '13 Collection Part II

Hi Everyone!!  I'm so excited!  I have the rest of the review for you today plus some neat and super easy nail art (next post).  Also, be sure you like my facebook page...I have a bunch of friends that are having some fabulous giveaways and I'm posting the links on my page :)

Now, onto the Sinful Colors collection.  All of the following polishes were fantastic.  The formulas were great, though a bit on the thin side.  So I strongly recommend three coats for each.  Other than that, they worked great and were long wearing.

First up, Sweet Nothing:

This is a darker blue than yesterday's Sugar Rush.  Not much darker, but there is a difference.  The photos show two coats with top coat...and why I suggest three coats for all of these.  You can see it's a little streaky, but in real life it looked fine and even.  Dang camera picks up everything!

This is Cotton Candy:

A very pretty, soft pink that is perfect for Spring.  This just screams cherry blossoms to me.

This was a tad thick.  The above photos show two coats with top coat.  Even though it was on the thick side, it settled nicely and didn't streak or pull.

Next is Sweet Tooth:

This is such a pretty lilac.  It is on the thin side and took three coats to hide my nail line.  The pictures show three coats with top coat.

And last, but least is Sugar n Spice:

Can I just say I LOVE this color!!!!  It's a gorgeous, bright hot pink.  The pictures show three coats with top coat.

So there you have the 8 Sinful Colors Spring Collection!!  They are really pretty and will be so perfect for the Spring.  Besides, at $1.99 a bottle, you can't go wrong!  These were all bought at Walgreens during one of their frequent sales, so they were $0.99 a bottle.  Sinful Colors are carried at Walgreens and Rite Aid and are frequently on sale.  They can also be found at Walmart where they are never on sale...at least not at mine, ha ha.

Be sure to check back later for the super easy, but big impact nail art!  Until then, Happy Polishing!!