NOTD: Zoya Minka

This is 3 coats.
Base: Nail Tek Hydration Therapy II (1 coat)
Top: Poshe'

I ended up filing my length down 3 times in the past 2 days. I wanted to keep the length, but since I am growing out old peelies, I didn't want those weak spots on the tips of my nails. I'd rather have healthy shorter nails than weaker longer ones.

I do like this nude color. Kinda messy on the tips since I shortened the length. But I think it's nice for no-brainer manis or palate cleansing.  Reminds me of OPI Sand in my Suit, but it's actually much lighter.

xoxo

NOTD: Zoya Jo

I needed to wear a medium blue (my current mood...). This is two coats. I'm getting some length now but I've got quite a bit of damage to grow out. So I'm stuck filing down a little length every week for a few weeks. But geez! Look at that color. Who cares about length, right? Preeeetty.

xoxo,
A.

NOTD: OPI Golden Rules!

My first NOTD of the New Year! Trying out a color I have had for years and have never worn.  Mainly because I was under the impression that gold would look tacky on me. I never wear gold jewelry for this reason. But with this polish I can eat my words a little haha

Base coat: Nubar Foundation (trying this out for the 1st time, too)
OPI Golden Rules! (2 coats)
Poshe topcoat (1)

This is a soft-gold color, with a little bit of a green undertone so it's not too yellow-gold.  That is what makes it work on my skin, being that I have those exact undertones. Love this one, definite undercover stunner. Now let's just see how long it lasts on my nails (currently growing out some peelies)...

xoxo

NOTD: Passion in the Pacific, crackled

I am so glad I gave in to the rebooted crackle trend...this polish is bad-ass

China Glaze Passion in the Pacific with Black Mesh Crackle Glaze on top

Yeah, I am fighting the urge to put Black Mesh atop every other polish I own. I also bought the pink one, and I think I'm going back to Sally's to get the grey one, too. It's a mad-house. A maaad-house!!! LOL.

NOTD: Essie Demure Vixen

Ok, I believe I am getting on my own nerves with the 3rd Essie NOTD in a row (Essie tends to chip on me crazy), but this color is too cute to not post.

Hmm, how do I describe this one? Sheer lilac-grey-mauve with iridescent shimmer. Yeah, that'll work. This is 3 coats with a coat of Barielle Camo underneath so "sheer" means "SHEER" lol.

<3

NOTD: Essie Midnight Cami

When I got this polish last year, it was intended to be an alternative to Chanel's Blue Satin...I think it works quite well in that role :) Oh and also good for those days when you want a dark mysterious yet chic color, but don't want to wear black.

Essie Midnight Cami

Two coats. This basically applied itself, too :)

<3,

A.

NOTDs: OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It & Essie Coat Azure

Hi gentle readers :)

Just posting a couple of NOTDs instead of doing some class work, lol. Team Procrastination--I am Captain haha.

Here is OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It, from the Spring 2011 Texas Collection

Silver shot through with pink shimmer. Love! If I were to design a nail polish to reflect my personality it would be very similar to this color, except it would be darker--like a charcoal grey shimmer with tiny pink shimmers shot through it. Looking like candy paint on a car. Yeah :) But this is just fine. And the wear on this was great, about 5 days or so. This was 3 coats, so it's pretty sheer. I wish you could see the shimmers better...

And next is my current mani: Essie Coat Azure, also for Spring 2011.

I had to cut my nails down AGAIN! *haz a sad* I don't know what the problem is but my left thumb nail is acting like it's on drugs or something. And I don't want all the other nails to be dramatically longer so I have to keep them kind of short till it (and my right index finger) gets on the ball and grows out normally...I want no peelies or tears this spring and summer season, that is an order! Lol, like they have ears. Anyhoo, this is 2 coats and the wear could be way better; it began peeling the day after I applied it (currently on Day 3), so I will be changing either tonight or tomorrow (depends on how much classwork I complete, right?)...But it's such a gorgeous light-medium blue (think a cousin of Essie's Lapiz of Luxury) that I'll deal.

Okay, I gotta get back to my work, peeps :) I hope to get some more makeup related posts up soon.

Ta-ta for now <3

NOTD: Essie Smokin' Hot

Here's my current NOTD. Essie Smokin' Hot, from the Winter 2010 collection.

Really feeling this color. It's grey, but has an eggplant plum-ish undertone. I think I remembered seeing RBL coming out with a color in the same family, so can't wait to see that one...Not that I need any new colors at the moment, lol!

Also want to note that this has the best formula. It was a dream to apply, in two coats, and was quick to dry. I didn't use Poshe this time, so it's not quite as shiny or flawless as I would like but that's not this color's fault, hehe. Blame it on the Orly In a Snap, grr!

Anywhoo, check this one out if you haven't yet. :-) I can see it being a timeless classic for a long while.

<3

A Couple of NOTDs and a surprise!

Hey Guys!!
Sorry I've been MIA, I have had to take some personal time out and deal with some stuff *sigh* but I wanted to post about a lovely surprise I received in the mail last month. Totally unexpected, but can I just say that NARS does some awesome--say it again, AWESOME--customer service. I mean really, you'll see what I mean.

Look what they sent me as a free Holiday gift!!

Yes, this is the Nars Everlasting Love Palette. I think it retails for like $75 or something. Anyway, who just mails this out to people?! Hehe, who cares, I love Nars Santa :-) I haven't swatched any of the colors yet (still in shock, really) but I am so looking forward to doing an evening smokey eye (maybe for Valentine's Day??) with it.

Anywhoo, I finally pulled out Rescue Beauty Lounge polish in Diddy Mow, and I have to say it's so pretty. I had been dreading doing green for a while, but this one rocks.

And also happened to snatch up an OPI Katy Perry polish. I really didn't want any of the other colors, but this one called to me.  It's called Not Like The Movies

Aren't the shimmers and duochrome amazing?! Freaking love it! I do need to complain, though. This is two coats--it really could do for a third after taking these pics. And my workhorse Poshe topcoat shrank the top line and the tips, so I'll have to remember that the next time I wear it. But overall, I wanted a unique color and I definitely got it. No other polish like this in my stash.

Did you get any KP polishes?

I think I mentioned in my last post that I hadn't really been wearing any makeup for a while, just basic looks, if anything at all. Well, I want to get back into it soon, so hopefully I'll remember to take pics when I start. It's hard when you haven't been doing it for a while to "get back on the horse". LOL. But I'm up for the challenge :-) I have been skipping a lot of the collections that have been coming out and focusing on filling in holes of my stash. So I'll need to do a haul post of what I got soon, too.

Ok, that about wraps it up kiddos!!

Take care!

<3

Happy New Year!!! And Updates

Hi guys!
I know I have been gone for a little while, and am a bit late, but I hope everyone's having a great New Year thus far!!

Real life has been super crazy with the holidays, and I have just started my final class before I have to drudge through the internship process, so while I am very excited to be 91% complete with my Master's degree, I have been super stressed.

So here are some quick updates going on with me:

Nails:
As I've said before, just because I'm not posting doesn't mean that I'm not taking NOTD pics. So here are a few to check out:

 For Christmas, I decided to re-awaken my American manicure side (since I had the length for it, albeit short-lived, lol).
Here's Essie Marshmallow and Mademoiselle

Pretty good for freehand, right? LOL.

Essie Angora Cardi. I loved this one so much, I went back and got Island Hopping too but haven't worn it yet.
Something about plummy colors this time of year. Can't resist.

This is OPI Suzi Sells Sushi by the Seashore. Love. Perfect for everyday.

And here's my New Year's Eve Mani. I was apprehensive to do a "Glitta" nail because I hate the removal process in general (despite the beloved foil method), so this was a nice compromise. I started out with Rescue Beauty Lounge Dead Calm and was putting China Glaze Dorothy Who? on the ring finger as an accent. It was so pretty, I decided to put it on all the nails. It was a fun, festive mani for me.

Blurred this pic to show the glittery-ness, lol.

And here's my current NOTD, OPI Over The Taupe. Very surprised by this one. Undercover hit.

Ok, now for Hair:
As of this past weekend, I am officially 12 months post relaxer (whoo-hoo!). I don't have pics at the moment because I am in need of a trim, and have been going back and forth for the past few days on whether I should trim or just cut the relaxed ends off. They are ranging anywhere from 1-3" in length, so if waiting I have roughly another 6-8 months to go.  Part of me thinks it is silly to keep them at this point, since in 6-8 months my hair is going to grow regardless (and possibly more easily if I cut now?), but then the other part of me thinks there is still no rush.  My BF of course is ready with the scissors and a joke at every turn, haha. Plus with this extremely cold weather, I kind of want to wait...but then I'm not really out and about too much lately because of classes so it shouldn't matter. So, I'll keep you posted.

Skin:
I had to modify my regimen last month because I was still breaking out right before my period which was interfering with my clear skin mission (to fully rid myself of all dark spots).  So I picked up my old copy of Dr. Baumann's book to re-hash the regimen. Then I picked up Murad's Clarifying Cleanser to use at nite and continue using my Prescriptives wash in the morning. I am not using the Murad T-zone gel at all and have not broken out yet!! Coming into month two. I literally just cleanse and moisturize, and use a scrub when I remember (maybe every 2 wks!) and my skin looks great. Moisturizing with Clinique's Age Defense AM and PM moisturizers. Oh and using Bliss All Around eye cream day and night. Love that stuff, but it's looking like it's been discontinued?! Sigh...Again no pics, since I haven't been doing makeup or anything, but hopefully will take some soon.

Whew! I think that's it for right now.  Like I said, things have been crazy, but thanks so much for reading my blog, gentle readers!

Take care :-)

NOTD: OPI Gone Platinum in 60 Seconds

This is a platinum grey shimmer from the collection that supported the re-release of the Ford Mustang. I forget the year, but it was a few years ago. I don't have the label on it anymore, and I am trying to remember if it's a green label or not, since it is kind of old...It probably is, but I am not sure.

Anyhoo, this is 2 coats, and it's on Day 4. I refreshed it today with Barielle Manicure Extender. Great stuff! Should keep this looking great till Sunday (hopefully), then I will change.


Hope you like, and Happy Thursday :-)

Edit: I looked it up and it was the Ford Mustang Collection, 2005 :-)

NOTD: OPI Hopelessly in Love

I guess I subconsciously was trying to do an all pink thing, cuz my nails are pink too, lol! Seriously, I did them last night on a whim after psyching myself up to "nubbinize" once again. These peelies are kicking my azz. Just when I got some new length going on too...*sigh* they'll grow back, right?

Here's what they look like now:

Peachy-pink, cream. 3 coats. 

After quite a few dark manis lately, I've found that I need to balance it out with a spell of "palate cleansers", if you will. This is actually one of my fave colors, so it was great to pull out an old throwback. This one and OPI's Infatuation...mmm, peachy black label goodness, I tell ya!

Have a great weekend!! :-)

NOTD: OPI Pearl of Wisdom

Here's another NOTD. Trying to get through some untrieds while I wait for some new colors to arrive, lol.

OPI Pearl of Wisdom
This was released with the Hong Kong collection (Spring 2010), but I already had it, (woo-hoo for saving money) so I guess this was a re-promote. Pearly white, pink and green flash, though on me, it's a multichrome look. I don't like this one at all. While VNL (visible nail line) is not prohibited in my world (as I own tons of sheers), I would prefer it not to be so defined as it is pictured above. This was 3 coats. I didn't use a ridgefiller, so that is part of it...I don't know, I just don't like unintentional French manicures...call me crazy haha.

I will try this again with a ridgefiller and see how it goes, but as of now, this is a like, not a love.

ttyl! <3

NOTD: Misa - It's You

Hi guys~

Misa - It's You
From the "What I Like About You" Fall 2010 Collection.


This color is like a charcoal base with green duochrome, so it looks purply. I often see other colors as well depending on the lighting. Very chic, though too dark for my tastes at the moment. When the weather is murky, I try to go for lighter or brighter shades to cheer myself up. So I might like this more when the weather goes back to normal, or if I am in a "black and gray" mood again...

Holla!