Old NOTD Essie Pretty Edgy

The picture pretty much says it all. It's a really fun color, but I didn't love it on me. It probably had more to do with the weather than the polish. It just seemed ... wrong. I dunno. Anyway, can I just say how much I love Essie? I have NEVER been disappointed with this brand. It goes on super smooth regardless of the skinny brush, and dries super smooth and thin. Essie always wears like iron on me too. I wish I had more Essies!!

Three from Color Club Rebel Debutante

These pics are particularly poor. *shrug* What can I say?


So, I haven't been disappointed with any of the polishes from this collection so far. I bought the 7pc set, which of course didn't have the green or blue colors. Oh well. I wanted the neutrals more than more bright crazy colors (I have SO many of those already) anyway. These wear exceptionally well, apply nicely, yada yada.

Best Dressed List

Grainy full sun pic. It shows the color nicely though. I really think this might be super close to Chanel Khaki Rose. I do not have it to compare though. This color is like Ovaltine. Or chocolate milk with 3 drops of strawberry syrup added. It worked really well with my skin tone.

Charity Ball

This is at night under CFLs in my poorly lit kitchen. Doesn't do it justice at all. What I like about Charity Ball is that it is a ruddy brown. Other pics I've seen show it as a murky dark red, but on me it pulls more brown, and it looks REAL good.

Who Are You Wearing?

Wow. This looks kind of gross, doesn't it? I took this pic after several days of wear, and I had been picking at that middle finger. Ooops. I couldn't get an even remotely accurate color representation on this one, so I started experimenting with different colored backgrounds. The orange did the trick (that's my pimped out Kitchen Aid. Awww yeah). Who Are You Wearing? pulled really lavender on me. I didn't love it on me, but I have no complaints about application or wear.

Lamest blogger award goes to ...

ME! I'm so lame.


Not really. I just haven't had interwebz access at home practically all summer. And I just lost my job of 10 years due to the economy. My employer had to close the doors of the retail establishment he's owned for over 25 years. :( It's all good though, I'm sure I'll be gainfully employed relatively soon. I hope ...


So, I've painted my nails umpty times since I last posted. Here's Maybelline Sweet Clementine:

Outside, slightly overcast.


Inside under crappy lighting.

With a coat of China Glaze 5 Golden Rings (or whatever it's called, from last year's holiday line) in a little bit of sun.


Inside under crappy lighting.

The color of Sweet Clementine isn't exactly as pictured. It's closer to the indoor pics though. Very creamy and bright at the same time, but not as dark as the outdoor pics show. I liked it a lot. It was so long ago that I can't comment on the wear. *shrug* I know I added the gold glitter to give it some oomph, not to hide tipwear or anything.


The Divine Miss M had her off off off off off off Broadway debut as the most incredible Who Whoville and the entire Jungle of Nool (Seussical Jr.) has ever seen ... That's right. I said it. Here's a blurry picture.


The boys were also present for the festivities. They don't have a theatrical bone in their combined bodies, but they are very interested in the technical aspect. They participated in stage crew. I *thought* I had a pic of them ... but apparently I don't. I have no idea. ... and then I had the great idea to poke around in my mother-in-law's photobucket acct. Ha! Pics! I haz them! They're from her phone though, so they're only slightly worse than the ones I take with a real camera, lol.

I don't think I have cool internet nicknames for the boys. When Mr. Raz and I are trying to talk about them when they're in the room, we refer to them as Senior Uno and El Doche (Doe- Chay), lol, so I guess that'll do. Senior Uno is on the right. He's 10. El Doche is 9. Please don't EVER ask Uno is Doche is his big brother. He gets SOOOO mad.


All 3 of my rockstars!

The Divine Miss M favors her mother with a picture. Can I have your autograph??


Mr. Raz is NOT fond of the camera. :D


I'm still working on Miss M's blanket. It's about 2/3 finished. I'm so over it, lol. Since I like to flit from thing to thing, and I ran across some really beautiful items while blog hopping, I have decided to learn to quilt. Here's the top of my first project, a table runner.


I'm pretty proud of myself. It's pretty much my first time sewing, and while my seams are crooked, and it will probably be wonky once it's all done, it's still freaking awesome.

A close up of my prints. I don't know why it's so dark. The colors are actually really bright and refreshing. They look kind of drab here. Prob caz we've had NO sun in weeks (except last Saturday, but that was then, this is now). I'd link the project I'm doing, but I'm not sure if it's allowed by the blog owner, so, umm, it's a project called City Windows Table Runner and it's at the Moda Bakeshop blog.


I guess that's it. I need to go cook dinner for the kids now. I don't feel like it, but they need to eat, right??


FIN

NOTD: Avon Nocturnal

I bought this before I saw a comparison between Nocturnal and OPI You Don't Know Jaques. Turns out they are dupes! Cool. Saved me a little cash because I had intended to get YDKJ one of these days.




Le sigh. I wanted to love this one, and I do ... kind of. I love it on other hands. On me though, yeah, lobster claw. Look how RED!!

Nocturnal went on nice and smooth. It was nearly opaque in 1 coat! Dried nice and fast with a coat of SV. I love cremes, and this one is just so nice to look at. I wish it looked good on me. I do have a complaint about the wear though. If you enlarge the 2nd pic, you can see tiny chips on my index and middle. The most strenuous thing I had done since my mani at that point was sleep, apply clothes and maybe some make up. So why the premature chippage?!? By the end of my work day, they looked like hell. I followed my normal routine of 1 coat Essie Fill The Gap, 2 coats Nocturnal and 1 coat Seche Vite, so I don't know.

Swatch-O-Mania Part 1

Man, I took a picture of all my unswatched polishes yesterday, and was FREAKED OUT. I looked like this:





Soooo ... I took THREE HOURS today, and swatched TWENTY FOUR polishes!


Here's the list:

Claire's Green Matte
Maybelline Berry Persistent
Claire's Ocean Breeze
Cover Girl Luxe Lilac
Sally Hansen Salon Shrimply Divine
Spa Ritual Free Spirit
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Crushed
Sally Hansen Salon Mangoes Loco
Color Club Lazer Pink
Color Club Amp'd Up
Color Club Power Play
Color Club Limelight
Avon Mirror Shine Peach Ice
Avon Mirror Shine Blaze
Avon Mirror Shine Polish
Avon Mirror Shine Glisten
Blush no name lime
Blush no name dark purple
Blush no name orange
Blush no name blue
Blush no name magenta/purple
Blush no name snot yellow
Blush no name red
Cover Girl Candy Corn

Claire's Green Matte







This is NICE. ONE COAT is all you see here. Green Matte will probably be a go to for me if I'm in a hurry. Easy application, smooth, not too thick, wasn't drying on me too fast. No complaints whatsoever.


Maybelline Berry Persistent






OK, this was photographing a couple shades lighter and a little on the orange side ... It's definitely a darker burgundy leaning red. This belonged to my mother-in-law I believe, as it's not a shade that I would *ever* buy. It's been chilling in the bathroom forever though (MIL lives with us), so I scooped it up, lol. Anyway, I was surprised to find out that I actually really like this color!! I didn't have any trouble with application ... it started to dry right away, and it could be a one coater as well! 2 fingers in these pics have 2 coats and 2 only have 1 coat. Can you tell which ones???


Claire's Ocean Breeze






What a mess. I don't like it. First off, none of the other colors come through! It's just that top layer of blue. Second, well, as far as application is concerned, I think the pictures speak for themselves. Uck. And WHAT the hell do you do when it starts separating?!? Look how nasty it looks in the bottle there. I'm over it. Layered polishes = FAIL.


Cover Girl Luxe Lilac









Preeeeeetty ... I really like this one despite being apprehensive about it. It was super easy to apply, nice thin formula, opaque in 2 coats. I have no complaints whatsoever. I really like that it has an almost jelly appearance. The color of Luxe Lilac is similar to Zoya Zara (no where NEAR dupes though), so might be a nice alternative if you can't get Zoya.


Sally Hansen Shrimply Divine











OK, here's another one that wouldn't photograph well. It's not this light. Much much brighter and a little darker, actually. Another polish that went on like a dream, perfect in 2 coats. These are on clearance all over the place right now. I plan on scooping up every color I can find. Very very nice.


Spa Ritual Free Spirit







It looks so pretty, right? Too bad it was a huge pain to apply. This polish is supposed to be a sheer, but the first coat goes on SO streaky, it'd be impossible to actually wear as a sheer. Pictured is 3 coats, and it could have used one more to be completely even/opaque. I wore this once before, and it held up REALLY well. I don't think it's worth the premium price tag though. I picked this up at Marshall's for $3 on clearance though, so I'm happy. I'd pick this brand up again on sale like that, but won't be paying full price.


Sally Hansen Crushed








Look how dry my fingers are getting in these pics, LOL! Since I was swatching like a maniac, I didn't moisturize in between polish removal, so from here on out, you'll see scaly skin, lol.

Here's another color I was pleasantly surprised with. A medium reddish orange shimmer, the pic is a little lighter and redder than the true shade. Nice formula, easy to apply, opaque in 2 coats. I have had trouble with dry time with this brand in the past though, and I didn't actually wear it long enough for it to dry ...


Sally Hansen Salon Mangoes Loco







I'm pretty sure this is another one that photographed much lighter than it looks in reality. This is 2 coats, and there's still a little VNL. When I wear this as a NOTD, I will add a third coat. I have no formula complaints at all. Nice and thin, easy to control, etc, etc.



OK, I'm going to finish up with the Color Club Neons I picked up at Five Below last week. I don't know WHY I'm even bothering to post these because they came out TERRIBLE in the pics. Colors aren't even CLOSE to what they really look like. Oh well. I painted the nails, and took the pics, so you're gonna look at them!


Color Club Lazer Pink








This is SO much brighter IRL. It's a cool, shocking pink. I can't remember if this is 2 or 3 coats. I had minor application issues, but nothing upsetting. Poshnail has a slightly better representation of this color (and Power Play).


Color Club Power Play







I. LOVE. THIS. COLOR. Like I said, the pics are WAY off. It's darker, brighter, awesomer ... Great application. Love it. Check out the Poshnail link above, her pics are way better.


Color Club Amp'd Up




Yet again, came out way too light in the pics. Amp'd up is an awesome, BRIGHT reddish orange. Here's a better pic: NAILGAL


Color Club Limelight








Do I need to say it? Yeah, color not accurate. It's SO bright IRL. Hawt. Here's a good pic at Nailgal. (and OMG, fingers so dry and scaly!!)


Hope you enjoyed! It'll prob take me another day or 2 to get the rest up ... stay tuned!