My new favorite polish brand! Plus a little haul ...

So I took a survey several weeks ago over at the Creative Nail Designs site with the promise that I would receive a sample of their new polish line Colour Effects (survey is now closed, this was prob over a month ago). So I took the survey, and then forgot ALL about it. Last night when I got home from work, a little package was waiting for me on the kitchen table. You know I ripped it open as fast as I could ...

Inside were 2 bottles of polish! WOOT! CND Indian Rhubarb and Copper Shimmer. You know I started removing the polish I had on right away ... LOL!

First pics, then my thoughts.

Indian Rhubarb

Full Sun

Indoors, Daylight

OK, so, Indian Rhubarb is a RICH medium red creme (all the CND Colours are cremes, if you want shimmer or glitter or pearl finish, that's when you turn to the Effects). Other bloggers are calling these polishes true one coaters, but I needed two for full opacity and no streaks. If there was a such thing as a 1.5 coater, that'd be this. The formula was a little on the thick side, but handled quite well. It did start to thicken on the brush toward the middle of the second coat, but it didn't cause me anything other than minor irritation. Indian Rhubarb was quick drying and had a great glossy finish, but as usual, I was up late and had to get to bed so I put a thick layer of Seche Vite on top, and went to bed 10 min later. Woke up to the perfect mani. No dents, no sheet marks ... just perfection. The proof is in the pictures. It looks great. I can't even believe my pics came out so nice! HOT!

Oh, the brush seemed huge, but was ok, and the bottle is GREAT to hold. There's a flat side and a curved side, and the curved side fit perfectly in the crook of my thumb and index finger, which is where I always hold the bottle while I'm working. Love.

Onto the Effects!

CND Indian Rhubarb Colour with Copper Shimmer Effect

Full Sun

Indoors, Daylight

Pretty cool, huh? Copper Shimmer does just what the name implies. It transformed a beautiful, rich red into a beautiful, rich, coppery, shimmery red. LOL. Enough adjectives for ya?? Copper Shimmer performed exactly as Indian Rhubarb did. Went on smooth, started to dry pretty fast

(but I was in a hurry again, so I added another layer of SV), etc, etc. The cool thing was that it evened itself out on the nail. I *thought* it would be a little streaky (in fact, I have seen some pictures in which the effects DO look streaky, but I think the difference is that I like to lay it on thick, while others prefer super thin coats) as I was applying this layer, but once I finished the following nail, the previous one had lost all signs of streakage. Coolness.


Man oh man, I want to go CRAZY buying up different colors and effects! My lemmings are definitely Green Scene, Anchor Blue, Asphalt, Guava and Girly Pink for cremes and all the shimmers and glitters from the effects line (I don't care for pearl finish). Alas, I am on a self imposed no buy as of TODAY (well, tomorrow because I got some stuff today, but it was cheap!) for at least 2 months. I have twice as many unswatched colors as I do swatched (22 OPIs, 9 Zoyas, 8 Goldies, half a dozen or so SHs, 7 Sunful, etc, etc ...), so ... yeah ... I can't wait to try Copper Shimmer over polishes I already own though! That should be fun.

If you want to get some of the CND polish line for yourself, the only (reputable) place I was able to find it online was at Trans Design, Inc. They are 4.50/ea for the colors and 5.50/ea for the effects. Careful though ... that site will SUCK YOU IN and make you want to spend hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS of dollars!!! Well, it makes ME want to anyway ...


Oh, and here's a little teaser pic of some recent haulage ...


That's a Color Club pack of neon minis I picked up at Five Below last week and in the background, a set of 7 mini polishes by Blush. I got them at Ross for 2.99 today, and fully expect them to suck, but the colors are KEY-OOOOT! The one that looks gold (2nd from left) is actually a really unique green! I can't wait.

Fantastic nail polish giveaway!

Visit Babbling Brooke to enter! You must be a follower, and once you become one, there are 3 ways to gain additional entries. Make sure you read the rules!

Sing it with me! I've got a golden tiiiicket ...

I've got a golden chance to make my wayyyy


And with a golden ticket it's a gol-den DAYYYYY!!!!



Best day ever yesterday (admittedly, every day something awesome happens is a best day ever, but still) ... My cousin called and asked me to go see West Side Story with him in NYC Friday night!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!!! I am so excited, I can barely contain myself! It gets better though! Not only are we going to the show, but we're catching the train in the MORNING and spending the WHOLE DAY in the city!!! I love it! SOOO excited!!! See all the exclamation points?!? That means I am EXCITED! WHEEEE!!!!!


Now, what color should I wear on my nails??? OMG, this is a big decision. I MUST have purrrr-fect nails for my Broadway debut! (look, I'm going to be there, it's my debut dammit!)

Yeah, so it's been what? Not even 2 weeks ...

And I'm already starting to slack. In my defense a) I'm REALLY busy 3 days a week, b) already ran out of things to say (how embarrassing) and c) engaging in a new challenge with some girlfriends that is requiring LOTS of brain power that, frankly, I don't have to give, LOL.

Ooh. Maybe I could talk about that!


No, the challenge ... not the lack of brain power!


OK, I'll do it tomorrow when I don't have a ton of shit to do. Check.

Sasha Says Giveaway!!

Sasha is the owner of Manicure Mommas, the nail block to which I contribute. She also has her personal blog, Sasha Says AND a blog dedicated to giveaways! Sasha Says Giveaway's current prize is a Stila tinted moisturizer. Fancy!

What are you waiting for?!? Go enter!!

The killer soup I made last night ...

This soup was inspired by the dinner I didn't make and the meat choice of my other half. The dinner I *didn't* make was ham and bean soup. I bought a ham a couple weeks ago (before the holidays, duh, THAT was my mistake!), and never got around to boiling the bone and soaking the beans. So the night before last I said to Mr. Raz "What would you prefer for dinner tomorrow? Beef, pork, chicken or italian sausage?" He chose beef. It was due to be super cold, so I wanted to make a stew type of meal (and all I had in the freezer was 3 packs of stew meat and 1/2 of a london broil which isn't enough for all of us unless I slice it and mix in something else to stretch), but all I could think of is my old standby curry beef stew, which Mr. Raz really doesn't care for (but eats like a champ, love ya babe!). In order to not disappoint the chooser of the meat, I scoured the cabinets for ideas until I found the pack of dry beans I had bought with the intention of making ham and bean soup. I thought "What if I put bean soup and vegetable beef soup TOGETHER??" And that's where Beef and Bean Vegetable Soup was born.


I'm going to estimate for this because when I cook, I don't measure ... Feel free to adjust for your needs!

Ingredients:

1 bag 16 bean mix (dry beans, mine were Goya brand I believe)
6 cups water
1lb small cubes of beef (or big, if you like big. I'm a fan of stretching the meat ... having 10 small pieces feels like more than 2 big pieces)
3 tsp Better Than Bouillon beef stock paste
2 large ribs celery, chopped
several handfuls baby cut carrots, rough chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp herbs de provence
1-2 tsp salt (add a little at first then add to taste toward the end of cooking process)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper (or, you know, until you get tired of twisting the grinder!)

Directions:

1) pick through beans to remove any uckies, then soak either over night in cold water OR cover with water, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and let soak for 1 hour. Drain and rinse.

2) While beans are soaking, chop veggies, sear meat, saute veggies until just softened.

3) To large pot, add beans, 6c water, ... oh hell, just add everything and stir. Simmer over med heat until it's done! Stir frequently and check bean tenderness often. Add more water if you need it (mine got a little thick), 1/2c at a time. Taste to see if the seasoning needs adjusting about an hour before serving.


This is a forgiving and flexible recipe. I was puttering around the house all day, so I cooked it on the stove. I started it around 2:30 probably and it was done by 5. An hour of the cooking process I had it on the lowest heat setting because I had to get the kids from school. If I wanted to make this on a day I was out of the house, I would soak the beans overnight and then toss everything in the crock pot on low all day. Serve with a nice crusty loaf.

The kids all had 2nds and so did we! There were no leftovers! That's crazy for something like beans.

I wish I had taken a picture too. It was so pretty with all the different colors. Next time I will. I'll make this time and time again during cold weather.

Let me know what you think if you make it!

I got lots of cheap polish today, WOOT! And LAUNDRY ...

I did so much damn laundry today ... ugh. Prob 8 loads or more. I have 8 more to do from the looks of the pile in there. Booo.


So, I did exactly what I said I'd do after dropping everyone off at work and school this morning. I spent 2.5 glorious hours bee-bopping around town stopping at different drugstores looking for clearance polish. I ended up with 8 bottles. 2 Borghese, 1 Cover Girl, 1 Rimmel, 1 Sinful and 3 Milani.

Here is Borghese Cannoli Cream:


Yeah, it's pretty boring, a nude/bisque cream, but I LIKE it! It's so posh looking. The formula and application were awesome too. This is the first Borghese polish I have tried, and I'm already hooked. The brush is enormous and fat compared to other polish brushes. I like this because I have big hands, thus larger nails. It did make for a little extra sloppiness around the edges, but I'm sure I'll adapt quickly. Pictured is 3 coats over Orly Bonder and Essie Fill the Gap with 1 coat Seche Vite on top. If you like sheers, this was pretty even on the first coat. It was totally even after the 2nd coat, but I did a 3rd because I don't care for visible nail line. With 3 coats, there is barely any. The best part about this polish was the price tag! I got it for 2.19 at Walgreens on clearance.

(Wednes)Day of Sloth

Hoooo-WEEE! I did jack shit today!! I get SO tired working 30 hours in 3 days that by the time Wednesdays come around, I sleep on the couch almost all damn day while the kids are at school. It's nice, but then comes the regret once I realize that a whole day is wasted. Oh well.


Tomorrow ... Christmas goes away for 11 months! WOOT! (and shhh ... don't tell my other half ... I'm gonna go clearance nail polish shopping after I drop everyone off in the morning!)

12:10 am and nothing to write about :(

But I did just post new nail pics at Manicure Mommas!

Teaser:




Oh, and I have a background! Woots! Now I need a banner ...

Here's a couple fun pics of my cat:





Now I'm going to bed ...

My Nail Obsession and Toxic Relationships

I blog semi regularly elsewhere ...

Manicure Mommas



I will be posting some pics up tomorrow night sometime of my most recent mani, Essie Berry Hard. It's amazing. I'm in love.


The reason I am so obsessed with my nails is that I was a hard core nail biter from very early childhood (I have memories of getting in trouble for it as early as 4-5 years old) until I was 24 years old. One day I just stopped. There was a cause, I believe, for this habit, and the day I stopped was the day I said NO to a toxic relationship and it's effects on me. Very liberating. Now that I no longer allow this person's toxicity control me, I no longer have the subconscious need to take control in other ways.

Over the past couple of months, I had been allowing this person's toxicity to affect me again. My hands have paid. I have been picking and chewing more than I have in 6 years. Today, this person tried to suck me into her cycle again, and I took a stand once more. I felt bad being so blunt, but it also felt good ... in a way.

Take heed. Do not let the negativity of others bore into you. Only you can allow another to control you.