august haul

Hello and welcome to my August haul! I can't believe this is the last day in August. The summer went too fast!

The haul is not so bad... And I even took pictures of almost everything!
Let's check it out.

I found a few of the new colors from Essence! (And they're only $1.99 each which is great. I can't wait to find the rest!)

Essence - Grey-t To Be Here
Essence - Walk on the Wild Side
Essence - Date In The Moonlight
Essence - Party Princess
Essence - Chic Reloaded

I got a few more things with my sponsorship funds from Apothica:

Essie - Knockout Pout
Essie - Topless and Barefool
Essie - Haute as Hello
Essie - Absolutely Shore

Deborah Lippmann - Mermaids Dream

I can never resist Color Club, so I got this duo-pack at Winners for $8:

Color Club - French Tip
Color Club - The Big Bang

My wonderful friend Dan who you may remember from Dan Likes Nails bought me some nail polish in Montreal! Yes, he went to Sephora and picked out nail polish. I can't handle it. Thank you Dan!

Sephora by OPI - I Think I Cayenne
Sephora by OPI - Have You Met Rose, Mary?
Sephora by OPI - Justa' Pinch of Glitter
Sephora by OPI - S-age is Just a Number 

The lovely Theresa from Amused Polish found me some great H&M Hello Kitty polishes from my wishlist! And she made me two frankens, including one in a HK bottle (and I forgot to photograph the other.)
Thank you Theresa! I love these so much!

H&M Hello Kitty - Cool Summer
H&M Hello Kitty - Turquoise Kitty
Purple Hello Kitty Franken
Black Holo Franken (not pictured)

As you saw yesterday, I got polish from Different Dimension:

Different Dimension - That Is So Fetch!
Different Dimension - Puzzle Pieces
Different Dimension - 50 Shades

My ultra-adorable friend Whitney sold me her KBShimmer polishes that she no longer wanted, and OMG I'm glad they live with me now:

KBShimmer - Proud Peacock
KBShimmer - Lilac Dreams

I ordered some polish from ManGlaze while they were having a sale.

ManGlaze - Lesbihonest
ManGlaze - ILF
ManGlaze - Matte is Murder

Here's some random things I got on different clearance sales:
OPI - Panda-monium Pink
OPI - I Vant To Be A-Lone Star 
OPI - Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?
OPI - Russian Navy
OPI - Don't Mess With OPI
Gosh - Drizzle
Essence - Black is Back (old bottle, x2, stocking up on $1 sales!)

Bought 2 Konad special polishes at a supply store:
Konad - Pysche Pink
Konad - Black 

And finally, 2 new OPI's from the Germany collection:
OPI - My Very First Knockwurst
OPI - Nein! Nein! Nein! Ok Fine! 
 

40 polishes. 12 of 'em minis. Lots of 'em free or cheap. It ain't no thang.
My birthday is next month. Will that mean a massive birthday haul...? We'll see!

Before I go... I have an announcement!
Tomorrow I will be starting up the 31 Day Challenge!
Yes, I must be crazy to be doing it again but I think it will be fun to see how I've grown since doing it last September. Look out tomorrow for Day 1, and in the meantime, you can check out the recap post from last year!
I'm nervous about finding the time to do another 31 challenge manicures, but I am excited! 

Here are the themes for the challenge if anyone is interested in participating with me.

Have a lovely day!

glitter NOTD

Good evening everyone!
I almost didn't bother to make a post today because I've been pretty busy, but then I realized I have about 100 things just sitting around waiting to be posted (okay, maybe more like 20) so I decided to just do a quick NOTD post!
(NOTD meaning Nail of the Day for those of you unfamiliar with the term!)

This is just a quick accent nail mani I wore a few weeks ago using two of the Milani One Coat Glitters.
I adore these glitters, but I have a hard time getting them to stay on my nails for longer than a day!
I layered them over coordinating polishes to try and get them to last longer but that didn't really work. Still chippy. Oh well! They look fantastic while they last. (The purple especially!!)

The purple is Milani - Purple Gleam over China Glaze - Flying Dragon.
The blue is Milani - Blue Flash over China Glaze - Blue Sparrow.

I love how the glitters have several shades of glitter, it makes them really interesting. And the formula is awesome! They don't quite cover in one coat as the collection name suggests but you only need two.
Oh, and be sure to apply lots of topcoat, because they sure like to eat it up.

Okay, that's all! Have a lovely evening!

Different Dimension - That Is So Fetch!, Puzzle Pieces, & 50 Shades

Good morning lovelies! 

To continue with my indie posts (might this be indie-week?) I am showing you three polishes from the indie brand Different Dimension!

Missi from Different Dimension creates polishes inspired by things that she loves!
You'll find collections inspired by Mean Girls, The Big Bang Theory, 50 Shades of Grey, World of Warcraft, etc!
It seems Missi and I share some similar interests so of course I was stoked on the themes of her polishes.

QR code labels! Pretty cool.
The bottles are nice and big and sturdy and the brush is flawless! Gotta love a good brush.

Ready for swatches?!
I'm going to start with the full-on stunner of these three polishes.

Different Dimension - That Is So Fetch!
Please click on that photo and view it full size. This polish is so gorgeous!
It is inspired by the movie Mean Girls and if you didn't know that already then you and me probably can't be friends. I can recite the whole movie, basically. So good.

This is one glitter-packed coat of That Is So Fetch! over two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Raspberry Race.
Fetch is full of different purple glitters and iridescent teal square glitters! Purple and teal? Yes please.

The glitter spreads easily and without fuss. I appreciate that. It also isn't too bumpy before topcoat! You'll just need a normal topcoat to smooth it out perfectly.

This polish is so fetch. It really is.

I also layered it over Zoya - Lotus and it was really gorgeous but my lighting was not cooperating so here's one mediocre photo of that:

Purple fans, glitter fans, Mean Girls fans, you need this polish.

Next up!

Different Dimension - Puzzle Pieces
Rainbow glitter topcoat! And for a good cause! This polish is inspired by the Autism Awareness ribbon and 50% of the profits will be donated to Autism Speaks, a charity that is near and dear to Missi.

There's glitter in every color of the rainbow, and shredded glitter too! There's also some iridescent stuff goin' on. It's super cute!

I've layered it here over Orly - Decades of Dysfunction, a nice neutral beige, to let all the colors pop!
This is two coats of glitter.

I find that the base of these polishes dries nice and quick so you don't have to worry too much about waiting between coats to avoid dragging all the glitter around. The formula is very nice.

At the end of this post I've got a wheel photo with more combos of this polish which are also adorable so keep an eye out for that after the last swatch!

Different Dimension - 50 Shades
Not too hard to decipher what this polish is inspired by! (Not gotta lie, I read the books, they're pretty enjoyable.)
This polish has a shimmery gray base and a ton of different glitters.

I've layered just one coat of this over Essence - Grey-t To Be Here, and the base of 50 Shades darkens it quite a bit, while adding a ton of shimmer and a ton of glitter. It's a glitter bomb.

The description says the polish consists of "black & white shreds, gunmetal & matte grey hex glitter, superfine grey flakies, black hex, holographic silver squares, as well as black, sparkling white, holographic silver ultrafine glitter and holographic grey glitter!"
That is a lot of glitter. And it totally works!

I love the holo mixed with the black and gray. It's awesome.

These three polishes all totally impressed me! You know I am skeptical of all hand-made polishes but I have no complains whatsoever about Different Dimension and I definitely recommend checking out her shop.

Here's one last wheel shot for your viewing pleasure.

Here I've shown Puzzle Pieces over a light pink (super adorable), 50 Shades over a darker gray, That Is So Fetch! over a more vibrant purple (yum), and finally, a jelly sandwich with Puzzle Pieces!
The jelly sandwich is a coat of white, then glitter, then sheer white, then glitter again. I adore it.

Different Dimension polishes are 15mL for $8.50 and you can get them right here.
Shipping for the US and Canada is provided in the listings but she also ships internationally, just send her a message!
As well you can check out DD on Facebook.

And now for the best part of this post - a coupon code!
Missi has generously offered 20% off for my readers for 2 weeks in her Etsy store!
Enter the code REBECCA20 at checkout for the discount.

Product provided for honest review.

Lush Lacquer - Pink Panther

I feel bad for the indie hatin' I've been doing this week so today I have a happy indie post for your viewing pleasure!

Lush Lacquer - Pink Panther
This is two easy coats of glitter over OPI - Dim Sum Plum.

I don't think I chose the best undies for this polish, I should have gone with a brighter shade, but I love the glitter!
And I am so pleased to report that none of these glitters are the staining kind.
I don't think matte glitters like these would be stain-prone.

I had no application issues with the polish and the mini bottles/brushes from Lush Lacquer are not problematic at all! Like I said in my last post about LL, their shop is always open and you can purchase their polishes when you like! Which is totally awesome because I hate trying to snatch polishes in indie sales. Too difficult. I'm too slow. Good job, LL! Click here to go to their shop.

I changed this mani today and as I was doing so, I spotted my new bottle of Essie - Haute As Hello sitting on my table and wanted to see what it would look like with Pink Panther! So I tried it out on one nail...

Adorb! I might end up putting this on all my nails before the night is out...
I like the pops of pink mixed with the black and white! I bet this would look great over a mint green, too. Must try that next...

I feel better now! I like indies when they like me back! Don't hate me, indie-world!

Rainbow Honey - Pinkie Promise

Good afternoon! This post comes to you from a very annoyed Rebecca - there is construction going on on my street and there are about 15 big noisy stupid trucks and steamrollers going up and down and beeping and groaning and OMG I'm going nuts. They woke me up at 7am! And they are so loud I can't even take an afternoon nap to make back my sleep! Ah!
Construction, I hate you.

Today I'll be showing you another indie polish, this time from Rainbow Honey.

Rainbow Honey is an indie brand that doesn't really seem like an indie brand, their polishes and packaging are very professional! I love the effort that goes into these polishes, the bottles are so cute and the boxes are cuter!
I purchased three mini polishes from RH after seeing many beautiful swatches.

My disenchantment with indie polish continues though, and I'm not really stoked on these.

Rainbow Honey - Pinkie Promise
This is a pink shimmery base with lots of glitter. I love the way it looks!

Buuut, I don't really love the way it applies. The brush for these mini bottles is far, far too small. I'm not usually one to complain about mini brushes because they don't bother me but this one is just too small. The brush doesn't get far enough into the polish bottles to use it easily or comfortably.
I had to apply three coats of glitter to get enough on the nail to be satisfied.

I layered this polish over China Glaze Dance Baby, one of my favorite pink cremes.
Dance Baby is not a polish that stains. But with this on top... I got stained.
Return of the staining indies.

The large pink glitters from this polish stain your nails, they seep down through the base coat and leave horrible pink patchy stains that are very deep.

In my last post, I discussed how this happened to me with a Lush Lacquer, and no one had the same problem with LL but people did bring up Rainbow Honey doing this to them. And I've seen other people post about this one doing it before, too.
So I know in this case, I am not the only one having glitter staining problems.

That's the thing with handmade polish, you just can't be sure of what you're getting, and I feel like a bitch for complaining about it but hey, I think it's better for me to be honest than to sugarcoat it.

I'm just so annoyed that these polishes cost so much money and end up being a waste.
Oh well. I'll have to be more careful in the future with my indie purchases!

BUT. Never fear, not all indies are problematic. I have swatches of some nice ones coming up this week!

Lush Lacquer - Neon Blast ... Or... When Gorgeous Manicures Go HORRIBLY AWFUL

Okay. If you've read the title you'll know that this post is gonna be a complainy one.
I'm having a hard time writing it because I wanna complain but I also don't want to be a bitch right off the bat. Haha. 

So, first I'll show you this totally gorgeous manicure. And then the aftermath.

Lush Lacquer - Neon Blast
This is an indie polish from Lush Lacquer - a mother/daughter duo who sell their polishes on Etsy.
What I adore about their shop is that the polishes are always available for purchase and they make the orders as they get them - no stalking needed. I wish all sellers could do things that way!

I purchased four mini polishes from LL and this was the first one I tried out. The colors of glitter in this are just so awesome!
For this manicure I layered 2 coats of Neon Blast over OPI - Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede which I posted about yesterday.
I added a coat of OPI - Yule Love This Silver (a super-fine holo glitter topcoat) on top for a little added sparkle.

JUST LOOK. So pretty!!!! Multiple exclamation points!!!!

I got so many compliments on this mani because it was just so sparkly and all the colors just looked awesome. A lot of people were asking me how I did it and couldn't believe it was just a few polishes!
I always seem to get that reaction when I layer a bunch of glitters. Haha!

I'm drooling. Really.
Also... IT MATCHES MY BLOG.

Ahhhhhhh. I've got to make some nail polish jewelery with this baby. It's stunning, right?

Now... I told you I had to be a complainer in this post. Here it comes.

This polish stained my nails unlike anything I have ever seen before.
Yes, glitter stained my nails. It seeped down through 2 coats of polish and a coat of base coat and stained my nails in little glitter-sized yellow polka dots.

Please excuse the awful photo but hey, it had to be done.
Imagine my horror as I was picking off my polish (it was a thick manicure - it peeled easy!) and was revealing all these little yellow stains.
There is nothing worse than enjoying a beautiful manicure for several days, only to remove it and be completely depressed by the staining left behind!

My nails were completely stain-free before this manicure.
The stains are so deep I can not buff them out and none of my other stain-removal attempts worked either.
It really makes me mad, too, because I adore the look of this polish and I hate that I will not be wearing it again. The stains are just too awful to deal with. 

This is not a one-polish-problem either - I had this happen to me twice in a row.
The manicure I wore after this one did the exact same thing, but with pink glitters. It was done by another indie polish, and I'm gonna show that tomorrow.
(The above photo was taken after both incidents so you can see the yellow and pink stains.)

I don't want this post to come off as anti-Lush Lacquer, because that's not how I feel.
I just feel a little weary of purchasing indie polishes when you don't know what to expect with glitter like this.

I definitely am more picky now when buying hand-made polishes because I don't want to buy pricey polishes, only to end up seriously disappointed. I regret most of the ones I've bought.

But like I said, this post isn't telling you not to ever buy Lush Lacquer (or other indie polishes) because they have created some beautiful polishes and they run a great store. I have other polishes from them that I am happy with.

I feel really bad for complaining but it has to be done. Stainy glitter sucks.

I haven't seen other people make this complaint but I can't be the only one this is happening to, right? Have you ever been stained by glitter?

OPI - Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede

Hey guys!

I was going to do a long post today with some layering but I decided to cut it down to show off this polish on its own. It's one of my favorites and it deserves its own post!

OPI - Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede
Finally, I have completed my collection of the OPI Suede polishes! This was the last one I needed and it proved semi-difficult to find, but here it is!

The formula of the OPI Suede polishes is just wonderful. They cover in two very smooth coats and dry lightning fast. Whenever I need to do a manicure and be out the door in 2 minutes, I go for a suede.

Not everyone is into the matte look, but I love it when the polishes have the suede texture. Flat matte, I don't love. But shimmery matte? Yes!

Love love. So happy to have this. If you don't have any OPI Suedes, what are you waiting for?! Go find some!

Tomorrow, I'm going to continue this post and show you what I layered on top.
It created a beautiful manicure... And a horrible aftermath. Stay tuned.