All The Way From Israel

Check out what the lovely Tuli (author of Tuli's Nail Polish & stuff) sent me from Israel!! These are beautiful! Above: Perfect CHIC - 314, Revlon, Autumn Berry, unnamed purple/gold glitter, unnamed gold/green glitter


Perfect CHIC - 314 ... This color rocks! That's about it!! It is a super smooth, easy to apply bright pinkish red creme. This swatch DOES NOT have a top coat on! GORGEOUS! I have big plans for this in the Illamasqua Alter Ego nail art contest.


Revlon - Autumn Berry ... This shade is a warm blackberry color with gold shimmer!! So my style! I love it!



These unnamed polishes crack me up! I am used to nameless colors, but no brand? How awesomely bizarre! The above shots are in sun, then shade, of a smooth, fine particle silver/gold/lavender glitter! It's so unique! I love this and I decided to name it Tuli, since it is sweet like her!


This one. Oh man. This one. This color was made for me. I don't know why it would be made and then put on rack in a store in Israel, so far from me, but it was made for me. GOLD AND GREEN? GLITTER??!!! It is unreal how much I love this. Tuli posted about this color here, and I commented that I loved it so she sent me one! It came from a shop that apparently makes their own glitter colors. Well they do a damn fine job! Tuli says it reminds her of diamonds, martinis, and cocktail parties! I think it reminds me of sunken gold treasure found in the Carribean! SO I am calling this Sunken Treasure. This has different shaped gold glitter and I think silver glitter too, and has this incredible seafoam green color. It is so beautiful. I will treasure this baby forever, Tuli!!

Elaine's Frankens 2009

I recently got the bug to mix up some frankens (polishes you make by mixing 2 or more colors together). It all began when I received Misa-Pour Me Something Tall & Strong. While wearing it I thought the dark blue color and jelly consistency would make a good base for a Essie-Starry Starry Night dupe. So I made it (it's not really a dupe though. Just based on it). And then I had another idea for Pour Me Something, and then I had more ideas that didn't contain that polish at all. And I kept mixing and mixing! And over about 2 days, I had a whole new franken collection! So here they are:

Mercy, Berry Hot Berry, Swimmin' With Flipper, Yowza, Sweet Pea and Space Quest

Mercy - Shown in sun and shade. The original concept of this was just to make a gray creme with white and black. But then I had a great idea to make it bizzare and different, so I added Color Club - Object of Envy, a dense green glitter polish, and then a little clear to jelly it up and let the glitter show. It's definitly different.

Berry Hot Berry - Shown without and with topcoat. This polish is exactly half Sinful Colors - Dream On and Tropez - Salsa. I like it because of the neon properties and the fact that it dries semi-matte, but it's just not as hot as I thought it'd be on the nail. Only a slight dissapointment; I still like it. I also like the hint of shimmer that comes from Salsa. Plus this is a cheap franken. Salsa cost $1 and Dream On was $2.

Swimmin' With Flipper - This came out just like it should have: a blue, gray creme. This is white creme, an unnamed gunmetal shimmer, and a few drops of Essie - Mesmerize.

Yowza - Shown without and with topcoat. This is hott! I love the matte finish thanks to the neons in it. But it's not really neon. It's just a nice bright purple creme. LOVE. It's mostly Misa - Pour Me Something Tall & Strong and Sinful Colors - Dream On with a litte bit of Misa - Blue Over a Boy.

Sweet Pea - I wrote about wanting a dirty green like this back when I did this post. And it looks like I figured it out! It's mostly Sally Hansen - Forsythia, L'Oreal - Shocking Green, and a few drops of black creme to dirty it up. This is the 2nd favorite of the bunch.

Space Quest - And here is the favorite! It's dark blue base, with blue and holo glitter. When I looked at it when it was complete I felt like I was flying through deep space, hence the name. It's mostly Misa - Pour Me Something Tall & Strong, Color Club - Sexy Siren, Color Club - Magic Attraction, some clear and some black to darken it up. It's incredible. Try and find a color like this!

And a bonus pic! Since you guys asked about my tattoo on my foot:

It's a devilish fairy with a fire-ball thing. I drew up something similar when I decided I wanted a fairy on my foot, and since I'm not much of an artist the tattoo artist put together something close and better! And here she is! She is lude and nude! And green! My favorite color! And I'm sure you guys noticed the flower on my toe on the other foot:

These are the only tattoos I have on my whole body. Don't know yet if I'll get anymore.

So what do you think of my frankens?

You can make them all too!!

Glitter Frankens

Racy Tracee


Equinox

Hello! I have had a major lemming for Lippmann Collection-Superstar. I discovered it way after the holidays when it was too late to get it. So I was planning a franken. I found some brown glitter at Michael's, and it was in a sample pack of 16 different color glitters! So I thought I'd mix and match and have fun.

The first one, which I dubbed Racy Tracee, Was actually black and a pinkish red mixed into a black jelly base. But the colors sort of melted and mixed into a dark cherry color. Now that makes me a bit hesitant to mix together all sorts of colors cuz it might just melt and look like poo. And my Superstar dupe is alright. It doesn't seem to have the melt problem. I rather like it! I added a brown creme to clear polish to get a brown jelly base and added all the brown glitter!! It works, but this glitter all settles at the bottom. You just have to shake well before you use it. The particle size is nice though. It looks just the same size as the glitter in RBL's Frugalista and Locavore.

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!!

Earth Day

I got up early enough this morning to do my nails, which I don't normally do! I'm no morning person but the modivation sure kicks in when it comes to polish! I started painting and then realized it was Earth Day! I was not using a green at the time of this discovery. I was using Zoya-Dita. But I kept going because I really wanted to see her on. Looks nice!

I'm loving it! It's punchy and bright... a great berry-ish color. The application was wonderful. I've been getting more into creams lately. Most of my polishes so far have been shimmers and metallics. I've been worried about my application skills when it comes to creams. I had Color Club-Oooooo La La the last couple days and LOVE it. However, after 3 coats I still had some bald spots, and it seems to me other ladies can make it even in 3. I have to practice I guess! Or maybe use a base coat...

As a nod to my recent violin performance (last saturday) I added some musical Konad to the mani:

I stamped OPI-Lincoln Park After Dark with Konad plates M22 and M73. My instructor was into it! He also said his girlfriend liked my nails and toes at the recital! I was sooo excited they were noticed, and complimented!

And to redeem myself for Earth Day blunder, I stopped by a Walgreen's on the way to work and picked up Sinful Colors - Show Me The Way:

I can't wait to use it! I've been trying scoop more greens (it's my favorite color) but they always elude me. We must be green starved, because whenever they come along, they sell out fast. I went to 2 drugstores yesterday just looking for this one with no luck. I can't find Orly-Mint Mojito, it's out of stock on head2toebeauty. It's scary!

There are so many great colors to get in current spring and summer collections my head hurts from thinking about them. I want so much, yet I know I buy faster than I wear, and am trying to tone it down a bit. I have to wear and be happy with what I have first! But I am a major list writer so I wrote (or typed in a spreadsheet!) all the colors I'm lusting to get. It's gross. I hit 105! And I am quite sure I need them all! I don't know if I can whittle this wish list down! Does anyone else have so many nail wishes?