Petites from D.C.

Hello! Today I am bringing swatches of the other part of my D.C. haul. It's the four Petites I got: Passion Orange, Universe, Hot Sauce, Purely Pearl.
Passion Orange is hot hot hot! It's a creme orange and it is so much brighter than this picture could depict. It's borderline neon. And it's also borderline coral, not so much orange. I love it.
Universe. Whoa whoa whoa! Besides green my favorite color is gold. And not just polish, but everything! And this is such a good add to the gold collection. It's a sheer gold with gold glitter AND gold flakes!! Can you believe this was $1.79? This should have been called "Look Rich Be Cheap"!! I couldn't take the picture in direct sun because so much light reflected back at the camera the light completely took over and you couldn't see the nails at all!

closeup:

Awesomeness.
Hot Sauce. This one is a chameleon. Not that it is a duochrome or color change polish, but everytime I look at it, it looks different to me. Sometimes deep, sometimes bright. Sometimes like a yellow-based tomato red, and others like it's blue-based and like a hot pink/berry-ish. I would call this creme, but in the sun you can see a smidge of shimmer. I really like it!
Purely Pearl. Metallic white. It is awesome and goes on smooth and opaque in 2 coats. I like it a lot. You just have to love it with brush strokes included. I don't think there is a way around it with this one.

AND today I thought I would share my new love! My puppy, Cash. We got him from a shelter and that was his name! I know it's kind of weird. We thought about changing it, but nothing else really hit us. I fell in love with him one day when I went to look at dogs with a friend (bad idea!) and I told my boyfriend about him when I got home and he went back the next day and got him while I was a work!! He is a Schnoodle: half minature schnauzer and half poodle. When we got him his hair was really long! He was so cute and scraggly:
But we had to get him a haircut because it didn't really look like he could see!
He loves this lion.
He's such a good little boy!

Scherer Chameleon

Hello! Sorry for the slow posts! I got a new puppy last week!! And I just went to D.C. for work. BUT... my trip to DC led me to a great polish haul! I found some Chameleon polish and Petites. So today I bring you the Chameleons. In the pic is Blue Frost, Blue Sky and Dreams. They're some awesome duochromes

Dreams - Pinkish white with a green flash.
I was hoping this pic would show the green. It doesn't really. It was hard to capture.
This close up is as best I could get to show it. Overall though this was very pretty. Application was great. 2 coats. Very cool.
Blue Frost - Pale blue with a bright purple flash.
This outdoor pic was the best I could get out of my camera.

And this is my fave: Blue Sky. Ridiculous blue with purple, and sometimes looks green, and teal too. So gorgeous. It's an attention taker. Not bad for a $2.70 polish. I think that is what it was. I can't find the recipt to be sure!
This pic was under low light, but I had to show it because on the left the natural light from outside shows blue, the middle is purple and the lamps inside show green on the right. Amazing!

Nail Polish Wish

I have a wish today. It hit me a week or so ago and I haven't found it yet.

This is my wish: I wish for a dark, forest green foil polish. I one-coat, super pigmented, amazing formula foil. Just like China Glazes Romantiques. But dark forest green. I think that is a good wish. What do you think?

Does anyone know of anything like this? Has my wish come true?

Liberty the polish and the statue!

Good Morning! I went out on the town yesterday on my bicycle, and since it was sunny, I took a couple more pictures of Knockout-Liberty since my other swatches were only indoors. I watch the Today Show every morning, and today they were at the Statue of Liberty, and announced that they would be reopening the crown to the public for the first time since 9/11! Weird. So I figured more pics of Liberty the polish wouldn't be so weird!

Sunny Cloudy

KO Cosmetics - Matte Polish - Liberty

I'm posting this really late! It's after midnight! Well when I came home today I had two packages waiting for me! One was my polishes from Knockout and one was polishes from Rescue Beauty Lounge! YES!

KO- Liberty, KO- Karen, RBL-Bikini Bottom, RBL-Square Pants, RBL-Locavore, RBL-Frugalista, RBL-No More War! Oh man, check out my messy desk! geez!

I swatched Liberty for your viewing pleasure. I know there are swatches of the others out there.

I've been itching for a minty green and some mattes so this one fixed both my needs! I was a bit nervous at first looking at the bottle. I was worried it was pushing close to blue, but it's okay. It's definately minty green. It's a cool tone and looks a little blue in some lights. But it's green. Gorgeous green! The application was not the easiest. Some nails were streaky with two coats and needed a third to even out. But the overall effect is wonderful! I love the matte finish!

Pretty Revlon "Press-Ons"

Today I am bringing you some blingy nails! I tried out a set artificial nails by Revlon.

They are a french manicure set from the Runway Collection with this great silver sparkle design on the tips. I am a big fan of this design!

Now I pretty much never wear fake nails so this is not really my territory. I am not a hater. I just like my real nails. I haven't put on a set in years. What I can remenber from those early days of press-ons is that they didn't really hold up very well. I expected this to snap off in an hour. I put them on Friday night before I went out and they made it the whole weekend! Every single one of them. I didn't attmept to start taking them off until Monday night, and that is only because my violin lessons are on Tuesdays. I don't think my instructor would be pleased! He always has to keep my nail length in check! I try to go as long as I can. Anyway, if I didn't have to take them off, I wouldn't have. I loved them. They made it through showers, dish washing, scrubbing the tub, and all. Very impressive. You know how when you glue a nail on you are very aware of the fact that they are there? You feel that tug on your real nail from the glue? Well I didn't notice it after a day. I forgot entirely that I had on fake nails. Which is impressive because they are long! And they don't have that thick acrylic problem. They are thin and can be used for scratching! And I love this design! Did I mention that yet?! It took my focus frequently. My only gripe is that the middle sizes needed a few extra. There are 2 nails in each size from 0 to 9, with a 5.5 and a 6.5. I used a 3 on the thumb, 9 on the pinky's and the middle fingers had to fight for the rest! I could have used more 6 and 6.5s. The 5.5 got by since it had to, but I used a 5 on the middle and I felt it was too big. I'm going to try again and try to alter the arrangement. Even if I think it was too big it still looks okay, huh? And they held up fine. Check out how real that looks!:
If you try these out don't use as much glue as they say. The directions say to put glue on the fake nail and the real nail, and cover them completely. That is overkill. Choose one or the other, and cover it, but with a thin, thin, layer. THIN! It spreads out when you push it down. Don't use too much. It squeezes out and gets everywhere. I made a mess on the first few, and glued myself together and glued myself to a nail or two. I'm really clumsy, by the way.

With that said, also don't use too little. after my messes I then overcompensated on reducing my glue and didn't use enough and you can tell:See how the glue is in the middle and not around the outside? If these were opaque I would have been able to hide my flub, but they are transparent so it showed.

Now for the removal. I don't know if it's me or what, but this did not go well. The directions say to soak in acetone nail polish remover and they will dissolve. Scrangie also said the same on her post about these nails, and she has put up swatches since that post and her nails look great. Mine however, don't look too good. I soaked and soaked, but they did not dissolve. So I used the manicure stick that came with the nails to nudge around the outsides and soaked some more, and repeated until I was finally just pulling them off. I don't know if I am not patient enough, but I started this morning around 615 and didn't finish until 715. That seems like plently soaking to me. But like I said, this is not my territory so I could be wrong. I know what you're thinking: "are you sure it was acetone remover?" Yup. It was. I don't get it. The remover was a generic store brand that I bought because it was 2 for 1, so maybe that was the problem. I would like to try again with different glue and maybe also different remover. I will let you know how that turns out. I hope I don't discourage you guys with my removal tale, just be aware. If you are a regular with fake nails then I'm sure you'll be fine. They are gorgeous and I want them back! Maybe it would have been better if I kept them on longer too. I was forced to take them off after only a few days for my violin. If you can keep them on for a week or so they may let go easier.

Give them a try and let me know how they work out for you!

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.

Milani Swatches Part 2

Happy Monday! Today I'm posting the other half of my Milani swatches! Yeah!

Foxy Lady - Reddish brown with a fine shimmer. Definately foxy!
Cloud - Cloud changed my mind on light colored polish. I always thought I like bold, brights colors and nothing soft. Until I met Cloud. It is a super-light lavender with a gold shimmer. This is one of my fave polishes!

Purple Passion - Bright, stunning purple. I think it looks prettier in real life than this pic shows.

Winter Wine - I love this color. I wasn't pleased with this pic. It's deeper in real life. This pic makes it look very close to Hottest Pink, but it's not. They are similar, but not as close as this swatch would have you believe!
Glitzy Stars - Shown alone, and over black. I'm madly in love with this microglitter/shimmer. It's iridescent and awesome!

Disco Lights - Shown over China Glaze - Admire and alone. Pink glitter topcoat. I just got this one because I've been wanting an all over glitter polish, and I thought this one could give me that effect over a foil-finish pink like Admire. With another coat or two I think I can nail it.

Milani Swatches - Part 1

Hello! Today I am finally posting my Milani swatches, Part 1 of 2. I decided to do them because while thinking about my polishes I realized these were way up there on the faves list. This brand is great because it is virtually everywhere, and has beautiful colors and an incredible formula. They usually retail around $4+, but I always almost see them on sale. I also saw someone online write they didn't like the color selection, but I think they have a wide wide range of colors, including cremes, glitters, neons, shimmers, metallics... In blues, purples, orange, yellow, pink, whites, browns, red, berry... plenty to choose from. So here's my swatches:

Blackberry Baby - Ugh. Not for the color but for my sloppy fingers! Sorry. I just got this one and am in love! It's a dark cherry color that is not too dark. It's shimmery too. It goes on super smooth and is a gorgeous color. LOVE IT
Totally Cool - sun pic and shade pic. Other bloggers have been raving about this one and with good reason. Are you looking!? It's a blue/purple jelly with purple microglitter. HOT! I did 3 coats because it's a bit sheer being a jelly, but it's worth it. If you go to a drugstore it check this out, also look and see if they have Sinful Colors-Daddy's Girl. It is also a blue/purple jelly with purple microglitter, but the base is brighter and bluer and you may like it more. I wish I had it to compare. I tried to control my buying. (Which is usually a failure anyway!)
Mr. Sandman - Indoor with flash, and outdoor in sun. A tan metallic. Not too much to say about this one. It's neutral and pretty.
The Hottest Pink- Sun and shade - I just rebought this one because I killed the old one because I wore it so much! Yup. That awesome. Doesn't the name sell you too? 'The Hottest'. Okay. You win. It's a hot pink/fuschia with blue flash. Goes on smooth and gorgeous in 2 coats. One of my faves definately.
Red To Tango - The first pic is in one coat. It's amazing. This one is a goof proof red. It is so thin and smooth and easy to apply. It's amazing. I am a habitual 2 coater so I did two, and that is in the 2nd and 3rd pics, sun and shade. The shade is the best representation of the color. It is not as bright as the first 2 suggest. It is much deeper.
Tropical Fiesta - Bright pink creme that is kind of on the coral side but I wouldn't call it coral. It's super bright without being neon. Very fun, punchy color. The pic is indoor with flash. I thought is was the best pic to show the true color. It didn't show as true to life in the sun for some reason.

I have more to come so stay tuned for part 2!!