A Flying Dragon?

Hi Ladies,

Today I have for you China Glaze - Flying Dragon, I love the name :) In the bottle this polish looks amazing, a medium to deep purple base with a ton of blue and pink shimmer. There are people who either hate it or love it, when I first bought it I thought I was so cool, after application I was very disappointed.

My hand are not that red in real life, i adjusted the color to get the polish right and forgot to fix my fingers in this pic!

On the nail the purple was a lot deeper than I expected and the matte finish hid the beauty of the glitter. This was my second time trying this colour, I saw it in my stash last night and wanted to give it another chance. Did it redeem it's self? Not really, but is it a horrible colour? No, it's not. I think that if this was a jelly polish it would really shine. I am actually thinking of mixing this to try and create a jelly.

What I used:

1 Coat China Glaze Base Coat

3 coats Flying Dragon

1 Coat Orly Top Coat

Application was okay, if not applied quick enough you may get bald spots. From the last time I wore this it did not wear for very long. I may change up this color tonight because of that, and also because I'm not feeling it as much anymore.

China Glaze Flying Dragon, yay or nay?

Weekend Haul!!

Hi Ladies,

Today I have for you my weekend haul! I'll start off with what I got at Rexall in Canada.

I found and purchased these 2 new fall Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears on Saturday. They had some great deals on polish, but these were the stand out ones for me from their new fall line. They had a promo on all Xtreme Wear polishes, originally $4(ish) on sale for $1.99, plus I had 2 $1 off coupons, so I got both polishes for $1 each :)

Sally Hansen - Mystic Lilac and Purple Gala

Mystic Lilac is a grayed lavender with a secret green/turquoise shimmer, this was hard to capture on camera but sooo cool! I can't wait to see how it look on the nail.

Purple Gala reminded me of of the new Orly cosmic collection, in the bottle it is a very cool purple, copper glitter, kind of a duochrome on the nail (think of the new Sally Hansen HD's) but I will have to see how well it translates on the nail.

Some of the other fall colours I found meh, I guess I'll have to see swatches before making a decision on if I want them or not. This is a great time to pick some up if you have a Rexall near by since they are on sale until Friday for $1.99.

On to the U.S!

Talking about the new Orly's, I stumbled upon a Sally's in the states accidentally and found the cosmics hiding in the back! Sally has a promo until the end of the month, $5.99 for Orlys (in the U.S). I was so excited to find these! ... unfortunately they would not honor the price for the new polishes and wanted to charge me $8.99 USD :(

Anyways, back to the U.S Haul. I will start with Ulta... WOW! always heard of this place but have never been. For all my Canadian readers this is definatly a place you want to check out when you are in the States next, it is literally like Sephora but with drugstore brands, and the polish section... like a kid in a candy store, every brand you can think of! Unfortutatly, I know a beauty supply closer to home that has better prices, so i didn't pick much up from here.

What I did purchase were some sale Borghese, I had never tried this brand before (they sell at Shoppers for $13) I picked up 2 from the Tutti Gelati collection for $3.99 each plus an additional 20% off.

Borghese - Tutti Gelati and Limoncello

Next I checked out Glamour Secrets and picked up some OPI's, they had a promo, buy 3 get 20% off, the polishes individually came out to just over $6 each.

OPI- Bubble Bath, Glitzerland, Here today Aragon Tomorrow (Suede)

Lastly I have a long lemming of mine from Claire's, Chunky purple :) I wish they were having their 10 for $10 promo, but since they were not I only picked up the 1 polish. I also popped in to a Dollar tree and found a Art Deco, well I found a couple but this was the only one I liked. they also had some LA colours, but I had simular colours, I mostly went in there to check for older Sally Hansen's and Maybeline.

Claire's Chunky Purple and Art Deco - Bright Orange (this one has a nice shimmer in it)

Overall this shopping trip was not meant specifically for polish, but I think I got a good amount and for some great prices. I wanted to check out Walmart for some specific polishes but didn't have the time. For sure the next time I go.

Which polish is your favorite from my latest haul?

Essie - Matte About You

Hi ladies,

Today I have for you OPI La Paz-itively Hot Mattified with Essie Matte About You. Please keep in mind that this is not the matte version of OPI La Paz-itively Hot, that is slightly different.

This was my first time, besides swatching, using Essie's Matte about you. I don't own any other Essie's except for a nude, sheer colour my mom gave me recently (she gave all her old polish to me). Anyways ...

The matte top coat applied smoothly and dried fast. I really like the look and feel of it. Its not toooo over the top but its not too less (if that makes sense!) Expect to see another matte look ... but with a twist soon :)

What you you think now that you have seen both matte and shiny, which do you prefer better?

Have a great weekend :)

La Paz-itively Hot

Hi Ladies :)

I have a quick post for you today. I had requested OPI's La Paz-itively Hot - Matte for my birthday. My wonderful brother and sister took my long list of polishes to a beauty supply and purchased all the ones they could find :)

Unfortunately, the lady helping them supplied them with the regular polish, NOT the matte! I was kind of disappointed, I really wanted the matte and I have sooooo many regular pinks! I finally decided last night that I wanted to wear it with a matte top coat, but once I had it on I actually really liked it :)

Its a nice hot pink without being neon that changes to magenta or a pink/purple in different lighting, in direct sunlight there is a subtle blue shimmer. This is very pretty, I'm thinking either tonight or tomorrow I will add Essie's Matte About You, I just want to enjoy the shimery goodness a little while longer :)

Which shade do you prefer, matte or original?

I will post the matted version of this shade tomorrow

Shes Nubs

Hi Ladies,

Today I have a polish re-fresh for you. I'm still wearing OPI -Jade is the New Black, even through cutting and filing my nails with the polish on it has yet to crack or chip! (with the exception of my right thumb, this was my fault, not the polish)

When deciding on what to do with my nails for my parents anniversary, I had thought about something silver and shiny. When I had decided to go with JTNB, I thought how great would this look with some shiny gold? I think it would have been too over the top with my outfit (to post soon!) at the time, but decided after the party I wanted to try out my new $OPI top coat - Only Gold for Me.

I attempted a gradient effect with the top coat, which is large and tiny hexagonal glitter suspended in a clear base. I like the randomness gradient/glitter.

What do you ladies think, yay or nay?

* Fun Fact - every time I look at my short nails I get "She's Nubs" stuck in my head! lol

If you know the band that sings this song, you kick ass :)

Haul Time!

Hi Ladies,

Today I have all of the polishes I have purchased in the last month. It's not as grand as some of the other blogs out there (Deex-Nailz hauled 96 polishes in the states! wowza!), but I am trying to cut back and only buy what I really "need" lol.

On to the polish!

unnamed no name polishes - 50 cents each!

I got these polishes at the discounted makeup place I am always talking about. I almost had a heart attack when I saw their ad, it looked like they had some OPI's for 50 cents! ... but obviously WAY to good to be true, the bottles were identical though! I might pick a couple up, they were mostly sparkly colours.

American Apparel - Office, Malibu Green and Peacock

After seeing these on other blogs I knew I had to have them. Some of the colours I wanted were out of stock (factory grey and seasonal peach). I might have to go back ... am I the only one who feels awkward in that store?

Claire's -Mermaid and Fire

I had wanted mermaid for a while now and fire was on sale. I think I wanna try out Asami's (Nails by Asami) mermaid manicure with Claire's mermaid as the base coat :)

* note - Claire's has also gotten in some new cute pastel shades, I love the mint and lilac.

I saved my 2 favorite colours for last :)

Orly - Royal Navy

I wanted this one sooooo bad... picked it up at Sally's, saw the price, put it down. I saw it for $6 at a Beauty supply place I frequent so I finally picked it up. I'm not sure if the bottle was stored weird in shipping but I included a front and back pic... they almost look like 2 different polishes! lol the shimmer all stuck to one side, I gave it a good shake after I took the pictures :)

Nox (Twlilight - Poseidon)

Last but not least Poseidon, such a sexy colour! I'm so glad that they are selling these in Canada. Unfortunately, I was unable to find them (at my Rexall) I was so embarrassed asking the sales ladies if they had the "Twilight" polishes in ... not a fan... sorry. My kick ass boyfriend, however, found and surprised me with this one last week, isn't he the best :)

That is all for now, but I may be heading to the states on the weekend, any good spots to hit up in buffalo for polish? let me know :)

OPI - Jade is the New Black

Hi Ladies,

Finally, an actual polish post :)

Today I have my mani that I wore for my parents 25th anniversary celebration. My final decision was OPI Jade is the new black which I picked up for $6 Canadian, how great is that!

On a side note for a second - I was on my way home from work and thought I was going polish nuts because I thought I saw a sign for OPI ... turns out, it was real! "OPI - $6.00" how did not notice this before? I have been taking this way home for 2 years now!

Anyways, I finally checked it out last week and along with my mani colour I picked up Moon over Mumbi. I wish they had a larger selection, but it was mostly their core line with the Hong Kong collection.

Back to the polish now!

I really love this, when it first came out I was meh about it. I bought it specifically to wear with my outfit, but it is great. I don't have too many OPI's but out of all the ones I own this had the best application, very smooth and clean. very little clean up was needed and dried really fast!

these photos I took were right before I chopped my nails off :( my left nails had started to chip and I wanted to even them out... oh well, they will grow back.

Wear on this polish so far is awesome, I painted my nails on Thursday night and the only chip I got was on by thumb (you can see in the first picture), but that was my fault lol.

It's kind of weird that this colour was included in the spring/summer collection, it reminds me of a fall colour. I will defiantly be wearing this polish in the upcoming fall months.

What is your favorite colour from the Hong Kong Collection?

P.S let me know if you wanna see the whole outfit I wore, I don't have the pics on me now but if you ladies wanna see it, I will show it :)

Blog Update

Hi Ladies,

A quick update on my blog regarding layout. Most of you who frequent my site may have noticed I have been changing the look of my blog every now and then. I think I have FINALLY chosen a layout that I like and works best.

Hope you enjoy the new look :)

Danielle

What Polish Matches my Outfit?

Hi Ladies,

This weekend my family and I are celebrating my parents 25 year wedding anniversary. I have already picked out an outfit, but I would like to get your opinion on which polish works best with it.

Here is my outfit:

Neutral Cream Strapless Dress (sorry for the wrinkles! i need to iron it)

Corset Belt

Teal Shoes

Turquise necklace

So here is my problem (kind of), 25th wedding anniversaries are also known as "silver" anniversaries. So I was thinking maybe I should to a silver, foily manicure. But on the other hand, I have 2 other great colours to work with, teal (more green) and turquoise (more blue).

BUT... I also have the option to choose from a blue or green with an accent/deign of silver ... wow so many options. I would like something simple, and not too over the top.

My original polish choices were down to:

China Glaze - For Audry

L'oreal -

OPI - Jade is the new black (even though I didn't own it lol)

I bought Jade is the New Black specifically to wear with this outfit, so i'm pretty sure this is the one. I still want to know what you think. If you have any better ideas I might change my mind ;)

I think the polish colour falls pretty well in the middle of the 2 shades for my shoes and necklace, what do you think?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know which colours you think would go well with my outfit in the comments section. The celebration is happening on Sunday, so please let me know which colour/design you choose by Saturday night.

Thanks for your help :)

Marley and Me

Hi Ladies,

I just wanted to thank those you gave shared their kind words, and prayers with me. It had seemed that Marley was looking better during the weekend, unfortunately another visit to the vet showed us that he was fighting for his life.

My poor little kitty is now in kitty heaven. I really wish that he could have had a longer life, but the life he did have was pretty great.

Thanks again to all of you for reading my Marley related posts and putting up with me the last couple of weeks, I hope I have not been putting you down. I would like to share some pictures of my furry friend, I have always had a camera in his face from when he was a kitten.

Marley in the Christmas tree, he would climb in there the first chance he had when we set it up and would stay there until we took it down.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures, I will always have great memories of him.

Mood Polish continuation: Top Coats and Quick Driers REVIEW

Hi Ladies,

Today is the continuation of my post from yesterday. I will be discussing the NYC Shiny Top Coat and Quick Dry serum.

complete mani with NYC top coat

NYC Extra Shiny Top Coat - This was my first time using this top coat and I am really impressed! 1 coat gave me a nice high gloss shine and applied nice and smooth. I really love this, I need to find some more and stock up ( I purchased this for 50 cents!).

I am always looking for new topcoats to try and this one was worth the risk. I have tried Sally Hansen (Diamond Strength) and although it works okay for the most part, once you get half way down the bottle you get bubbles. I find this happens more with non-sally brands, so if I do choose to use it, I use Sally Hansen polishes only.

Another one I am currently using is Orly's top coat. Although it works well, I find it dries to fast as I am applying it, sometime I even get brush marks! I need to apply a big goop of it so it doesn't dry as fast. Has any one else had this issue with their top coat?

NYC Quick Dry - I picked this up for 50 cents also and love it, already stocked up. Just a couple of swipes on the nail and you are good to go in a couple of minutes :). I have not tried any other quick dry serums other than this one. The only other quick dry top coat I have tried is Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri, which does the job if I'm in a hurry, but it not my regular topcoat.

What's your favorite topcoat or quick dry solution?

Mood Polish

Hi Ladies,

Today I have Claire's mood polish in calm/wild. I'm sure that most of you already know that this is a shimmery purple when cool and changes to a shimmery pink when warm.

Below is what I used for my mani

1 coat - China Glase Base Coat (Not pictured)
2 coats - Claire's Mood Polish
1 coat - NYC Extra Shiny Top Coat*
1 swipe - NYC Quick Dry*

* I will discuss my new favorite top coat and quick dry serum tomorrow, stay tuned :)

Claire's Mood Polish - I applied 2 coats originally (I applied another coat of the polish and another top coat, it had chipped while I was in the pool a day later, oops!). When applying this polish make sure that you move fast to get the smoothest finish. This polish dries nice and fast to a matte/suede finish. I actually really liked the finish but decided to complete this look with a shiny top coat. I am looking forward to wearing this matte/suede in autumn.

close up of purple, when cold

close up of pink, when warm

close up of colour change, warm to cold

So Far I have had the polish on for 3 and a half days. Unfortunately I think due to the "neon" formula this polish is a quick chipper. Out of the 3 mood polishes I have tried out only one lasted me about a week give or take without chipping. I had used a base of white under the mood polish, I think that helped it to stick better. I will have to try this polish again (obviously! look at that sparkle!), but next time over another colour, possibly blue or purple. I wonder if the warmer colour wold change to a different colour...

What is your favorite mood polish from Claire's?

Sally Hansen Nail Prism - Coral Amber

Hi Ladies,

Today I have one of my many Sally Hansen Nail Prisims for you. Believe it or not this is the first holographic one I have tried, I know, crazy right?!

The colour is coral amber and I would describe it as a pinkish, redish, sparkly polish with the smallest bit or orange (in certain lights). I kind of wish this was more coral, orange and halo. The halo is very faint, not like some of the others and it isn't as duochromy either. I was kind of disappointed in this one ... but that was before I saw it in direct sunlight! wow, it really shines.

close up

Over all application was excellent, very smooth and even. Hardly any cleanup was needed. Dry time was just okay, I did my nails about an hour before bed, even with a quick dry serum on top, they still smudged a bit (which I fixed before I went to work yesterday and took the pics! By the way, super hard to get this colour to translate in a picture, l though the halo is faint IRL, it is way more visible in person that in the photos

So what do you think of this prism, yay or nay?

* On a side note, I am trying out some new photography styles and different ways of uploading my pictures. Any comments? Do you prefer the new style of photos or old?

The Ocean At My Toes - Last blue of the week

Hey Ladies,

Last day of my short - but sweet :) - blue week. Today I have my current pedi, this is the colour I painted my toes the day I got back from vacation, Orly - La Playa. I love that name, for those of you who don't know, la playa is the beach in Spanish, so it's like I still have the ocean at my toes ;) cheesy, I know lol.

Indoor, flash

Anyways I love this colour, It could have easily been done in 1 coat, but I did 2 to even it out a bit. Very pigmented and shiny, but I still topped it off with an Orly top coat.

Indoor, flash

I wanted to do some sort of Konad or nail art but found that using some more those Nailene art stickers I was supplied with a while back would be faster.

So what do you think, would you prefer La Playa on your toes or tips?

Continuation of blue week - Shower Together

Hi Ladies,

I decided that since I started late this week and am continuing to feel blue that I will finish the week off with a blue theme. Hopefully I am not bring you ladies down with the story of my cat, but talking about him helps me accept that is going on right now.

On to todays blue:

This one my boyfriend picked out for me when Sally was having their buy 2 get one free promo a while back, China Glaze - Shower Together (He loves everything blue!).

Indoors, less flash

Indoors, flash

I love this dusty blur/teal colour, but did not wear it for too long at the time, the colour wasn't summery enough for me I guess! I can't wait to wear this one again in fall.

I am pretty sure that I applied 2 coats, application was good, but I do remember that it had started to chip much earlier than my other China Glaze polishes, another reason I decided to take it off early.

Feelin' Blue

Hello Ladies,

I have an update on my cat, if you prefer to continue to the polish post I don't mind, i just need to get some stuff off my chest.

I'm still trying to catch up on my posts, post vacation and trying to deal with the fact that my cat has something that cannot be fixed... I am praying for him and hoping that he makes it just a little while longer. He has a condition called FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus), unfortunately he was born with it, but I was unaware of him having it until he started showing signs of the last phase. He is very weak and needs help to eat, he is barely drinking. It is hard to deal with, but I love caring for him as I always have. If it does get any worse we may have to put him down so he is not in pain anymore. As much as that hurts, I don't want him to be in pain. I just wish he could have had a slightly longer life (he is only 3 years old). Cats that are born with FIV usually don't live past 4, unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it.

Getting that out makes me feel a bit better. If anyone has a new cat, please get their blood tested at least once, especially if you have a kitten to test for possible virus' that may be dormant in your furry friend. FIV can be transfered from other cats though saliva and biting, but if infected they will live longer than those infected from birth. I hope I have helped some of the pet lovers out there.

When Marley was younger he loved to climb trees, but would sometimes get stuck at the top!

Anyways, on to the polish:

 The day I got back (My nails had been naked due to flip flop fantasy chipping) I was really craving a good blue, something to bring out my tan and pop, China Glaze's Bahamian Escape was perfect. Although when I first swatched it for myself it wasn't what I thought, I was hoping it to be closer to OPI - What's with the cattitude.

Indoors, by the window (Sunset)

I also decided to randomly place some white fauxnad flowers on top. I like the delicate look they gave, simple and not too over the top.

I'm glad that I picked this colour, it changed slightly from lighting source to lighting source and reminded me more of Orly - Snowcone or Essie - Lapis of Luxury (I don't own these, but compared to the photos I have seen online, they are pretty close).

Does anyone own  Orly - Snowcone, Essie - Lapis of Luxury or China Glaze - Bahamian Escape? if so, how to you think they compare to one another?

My Flip Flop Fantasy

Hi Ladies,

I got back from my vacation on Saturday, what a great trip, the beach was awesome. Anyways, below is my vacation mani and pedi.

By the pool, in the shade

Me in the shadows blowing a kiss with my hibiscus flower in my hair :) ... lol i know, i'm a total loser

On the Beach, in the shade

I used China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy for both, on my hands I Konaded a hibiscus flower on my ring fingers and finished them off with a jewel (I purchased these at Dollarama) in the center of each flower using Nailene nail glue. I did the same on my pedi but only on the big toes. I really loved this! The Nailene glue was awesome, it worked really well, the jewels stayed on my toes for over a week until I was ready to take them off! I have never had them stay on longer than a few days with other products. Plus I can use them again, the glue did not ruin them for second use!

Unfortunately, this polish did not want to stay on very well :( I tried a while bunch of tips I have read on other blogs to keep the polish from chipping ( I wanted it to last the whole week), I think it lasted days before I couldn't take the chipping anymore and removed it. One tip I found that worked the best is applying a think layer of clear polish to the tips of your nails every couple of days. I wish that someone can make a neon formula that is not prone to chipping :(

Back to Nailene for a sec, for those who don't know Nailene's Blog : http://nailene-girls.blogspot.com is having another giveaway! Click here for more details.

I have also have an update on my sisters false Nailene nails I applied over 2 weeks ago, she removed them on Saturday. Over all they stuck very well, only one nail fell off (this was on Friday) They wore well while in the humidity, sun, beach and chlorine water while we were on vacation and had minimal tip wear. Removal was fast, easy and painless, a quick soak in some acetone and an orange wood stick to peel the nail off is all that was needed. Any additional glue residue was easily buffed away with the file provided in the kit.

Overall my sister would use them again if needed, I might use them on my next vacation to help the nail polish stick for a longer period of time.

Back From Vacation - Quick Update

Hi Ladies,

Sorry, I meant to start posting again as soon as I got back from my vacation on Saturday but I have been experiencing some major problems with my cat Marley, he is very sick at the moment and I am really worried about him. I will try to catch up on my posts as much as I can tonight and tomorrow. 

My little Marly

Sorry again for the delay, if blogger is cooperating with me tonight my next polish post should be up by 6:30 and will include an update on my sisters Nailine false nails and my vacation mani/pedi.

Thanks for baring with me during this time,

Danielle