Is anybody out there?

Hey everyone! I have to admit I wouldn't be surprised if you had all given up on me : ) I've had a lot of life changes going on and life has been crazy in general.  My number one life change is that I started full time school again (5 days a week....yuck!) and even better I can't wear nail polish or regular clothes (I wear scrubs everyday....it sounds nice at first but gets OLD quickly.) So a big thank you to anyone who stuck around! I'll try to get back to posting periodically but I can't make any huge promises : )

For a quick post today I wanted to share an older Essie with you all: 'Mesmerize'

 It's a true bright blue and it's a nice pop of color! Apparently it's pretty similar to OPI's Dating a Royal.

The formula on this one is great and applied well in two coats! I also purchased the Butter LONDON base and top coat duo from Ulta when they were having the set on promo last month (I paid $19 and the set retails for $25) I've been pretty happy with it so far- I'll review it next!

Happy weekend everyone! Glad to be back : )

Project Runway: L'Oreal Owl's Night and Sultry Raven's Blush

Hey everyone! 

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend! Today is a polish and a blush from the Project Runway L'oreal collection.  I wasn't that interested in a lot of the collection but I saw some great swatches of Owl's Night online and the blush seemed like something I don't have in my current collection!   

 Owl's Night has been talked about quite a bit in the blogging world and I know it can be hard to find and slightly sought after...which by principle alone makes me want something more ; )

 the color has a very dark base but it's the multi faceted shimmer that brings this one to life.  It's a little gold, a little green and definitely unique!

 first coat was a little sheer but the second coat evened everything out and was completely opaque. I find drying time with shimmery shades like this to be very quick and wear time is usually really good too.

 I actually took this off before I even had any chips or noticeable wear! Very nice!

overall thoughts: very unique, good formula and wear time! It's a winner for me.  The blush, however, is another story.....

To be completely fair I haven't given a lot of attention to the blush but upon initial swatches, Sultry Raven's Blush leaves a bit to be desired.  It seems sheer, even for my light (NW15ish) skin tone.

 the blush is a light/cool toned pink that I thought would look nice for a more subdued winter look.

 see below for a swatch (it's just not super noticeable)

Have any of you picked up anything from the Project Runway collection?  Happy Sunday!

Sephora by OPI: Traffic-Stopper Copper

Hey everyone!

I wanted to show you how I used Sephora by OPI's Traffic-Stopper Copper this week!  I decided to bite the bullet and use my weird cloudy bottle (the glitter is redistributing and looking less weird so I figured I'd give it a go!)  I never really had intentions of using this as a full manicure so today I just have it on both ring fingers using Essie's Ballet Slippers as a base. 

Essie's Ballet Slippers on it's own:

the copper glitter doesn't apply that evenly so a few thin coats would be needed for complete coverage.... or fewer thick coats glopped on works too ; ) but you do end up with some bubbling

 I did three coats of Ballet Slippers, two thick coats of the copper and top coat so I did get bubbling throughout but it's not really noticeable.

 I know a lot of people have been doing a glitter accent nail and I love me some rose gold/copper so I think it's winner : ) it's also pretty subtle which I also like!

Happy Friday! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Tropical Shine: your stained nails best friend

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share a little discovery with you. The other day I saw a post from another blogger about how she uses a really high grit file to buff and remove the staining from her nails. She recommended using a buffer/file of at least 400 grit strength.  I went to Sally Beauty and they didn't have any of the traditional buffing 'blocks' with a high enough grit so I ended up getting a Tropical Shine file (found here) and it was under $2.00.  One side is the 400 grit and the other is 600.

Below are pictures of before and after:

my pinky and ring finger have been filed while my middle and index fingers remain slightly discolored.

I think the file made a pretty good difference! I've still been experiencing some staining (namely Essie's Bordeaux I used last week) regardless of the base coat I use. I've been using OPI's natural nail base coat and the staining has been a lot better- but I know reds can be problematic with staining, oh well such is life :  )

Happy Wednesday! Can you all believe it's already November?!

Maybelline Cool Couture

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share a Maybelline polish with you today!  I've never bought a Maybelline nail polish before, but once I see a swatch of something I like I have to have it right?!  The color is Cool Couture and it's from the Fall 2011 collection.  You know how I was complaining the other day about collections taking forever to get to the west coast? Well sometimes it works to my advantage!  I just found pictures of Cool Couture a few days ago online and people had been finding this as early as August!  I guess this color has been hard to find but I found a full fall display at the Bartell Drugs down the street from my house!

 I find the color to be really unique- if Revlon's Perplex had a blue-gray sister, Cool Couture would be it!

 It's a dark blue-gray base with teal shimmer!

Formula was pretty good, sheer with the first coat but things evened out pretty well with the second!

I'd recommend picking this one up if you could still track it down!

Happy Monday everyone! Happy Halloween!

Essie Cocktail Bling

Hey everyone!

Today I have another color from Essie's Winter Collection: Cocktail Bling- which is also the namesake of the collection. I mentioned in my last post that it's a muted, greyed out periwinkle and it is just that!  I wore this one today and I'm thinking it's just kind of 'meh.' Spaz and Squee also compared Cocktail Bling to Zoya's Caitlin and although they are different shades, they are definitely in the same color family.  I have Zoya's Caitlin, and I can't say that I really love it either.  Both are colors I'm really excited about in theory, and really love on other people, but I don't think do much for me!

 the formula on this one wasn't as good either- it's wasn't very 'self-leveling' and so the application was a little gloopy.  Maybe I got a bad bottle?  Sometimes lighter colors like this have that problem with me.

 They look a little rough here- I guess that's what unpacking boxes at work will do for you : )

any thoughts? love it or leave it? Happy Sunday everyone!

Sephora Friends and Family

Hey everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying your Saturday!  I wanted to show you all what I picked up during Sephora's Friends and Family sale. (As far as I know it's still valid until November 2nd but....you can only use the discount one time. Go here to enter your email address and get your single use code!) My in-laws gave me a $50 Sephora gift card for my birthday so I was trying to stay as close to $50 as I could (I may or may not have been spending too much money at Ulta these days.....)

Anyway, I only ended up with three things: Sephora's Traffic-Stopper Copper top coat, Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed, and a NARS lipstick in the color Cruising.

Up first is the top coat.  When I opened the box I found that all of the glitter had settled to one side so I've been trying to get it to re-mix but the clear base also seems kind of cloudy?! I'm not sure if something is wrong with it or not....

 I tried to capture how hazy the clear base is in the photo above and in the last photo.

 I asked a sales girl at Sephora about it yesterday and she said it's probably just because it was shipped.  Who knows, I might need to replace it because I've been waiting to use it until it looked better.

Next is the Tarte blush in Exposed.

 Sephora's website describes this as 'nude' but it is also supposed to be very similar to NARS 'douceur.'  Laura over at My Newest Addiction did a great comparison of the two here.

 I've been wanting to try one of the Amazonian clay blushes for awhile now because of all the rave reviews they've gotten. I haven't tried this one out yet!

Finally, is the NARS lipstick in Cruising

I know it doesn't look like much but I think it might just be the perfect my lips but better shade! It's a 'sheer nude pink' and I've seen it on a few bloggers and it looked very natural and pretty!

Anyway, that's all I have for $50...it's so sad that $50 only gets you three things but I hope I enjoy them all!

Happy Saturday!