Sinful Colors Pine Away + UCC Flakes

I mentioned I painted my nails twice and posted the first a couple days ago, here's the second. Knowing my ability to screw up a paint job within minutes, I took some pictures before bothering to (try to) clean up my mess.

This one has as a base color Sinful Colors Pine Away, part of a Mirror Metallics collection from 2013, not all that striking of a metallic in my opinion but a nice green which is why I bought it. The top coat is a couple layers of another UCC flake from Glitter Unique, the mega UCC flake Violet/Blue/Green. This flake does have other beautiful colors within its transition but the most dominant is a very sharp green and it complimented the Pine Away underneath. I didn't manage to capture it in photos but it really glows in the sunlight.

If you don't own the UCC Flakes or some polish with them it, go buy them. Lucky for me, I am easy to please, my eyesight isn't the greatest up close (and who but me is staring at my nails from 6 inches away?) so I'm satisfied with the end result. -MK

Orly Ingenue

My sister and I are going out tonight to see a fabulous concert- Sarah McLachlan which will be the second time we've seen her together so I'm looking forward to both a good show and a good night. I've been trying to get in the habit of painting my nails, taking my time with thinner, even coats and this seemed like another good occasion to do so with Orly Ingenue, previously unused. I touched up my hair color again too but I probably won't include a lot of pics of that.

For my nails, the photos were taken under a variety of lighting and from differing angles.

I bought this polish on impulse because of its golden glow and it certainly did not disappoint. I was also happy with the trouble-free application and shorter drying time.

For hair color, you get one picture because I hate my photographs. I am pleased to say that switching to a sulfate free shampoo and adding some weightless Argan Oil spray has allowed my hair to be less fuzzy and I'm sure cutting a couple inches helped as well. This was a refresher of Jerome Russell Punky Colour Poppy Red with a touch of Vermilion.

Have a good afternoon and evening, everyone! I'm out of here. -MK

Pure Ice Lucky Charming

Saturday was another sister day so once again I decided to paint my nails, far from the professional job my sister has done of course but it makes me happy just the same. Saturday's pick was Pure Ice Lucky Charming, a newer sparkly green that has been gathering dust in my collection for a few months even though it really grabbed me in store. Although I provided my own bottle shot, Lucky Charming next to my own franken #469 Chrysocolla, the pic doesn't do the color justice. I would call it a yellow-leaning green with a very beautiful gold shimmer. The finish is super sparkly and nearly metallic, that's my opinion but judge for yourself.

I used Chrysocolla as a topper, 2 coats and it turned out to be the perfect compliment, allowing Lucky Charming to shine through but also adding extra sparkle and a bit of a duochrome effect.

This one scores high on my list (my very short list) of polishes I have the patience for because it dried pretty fast and I was able to get away with only two coats. I could have used a third of course but two provided sufficient coverage. I was also rather proud of my paint job- the gap between the polish and the cuticle is uneven but I didn't flood my cuticle and the sides of my nails because I was practicing applying thinner coats... That sentence got wordy fast. Whatever, the point is I did a better job than I usually do and I was happy enough I took a boatload of photos.

Indoors photos first. 

macro

 

  

And some outside shots, this time in the shade.

 

And in the sun.

 

 

I did something else fun this weekend too- I dyed my hair with a red semi permanent dye, Poppy Red (Jerome Russell, Punky Color) over my permanent current red, Vidal Sassoon Runway Red, London Luxe line. The Runway Red was hubby's pick, unnaturally vivid red but evidently that was a good thing because Poppy Red ended up this bright without my having to bleach my hair. It smelled a heck of a lot better than any permanent hair dye I've used too. The best part is it will eventually wash out so no harm in playing around with some color.

 It's going to rain here soon so enjoy the sun when you have it. -MK

Items of Interest

Links checked 12/12/13

A few random items of interest for this entry (as opposed to my last editorial rambling) about China Glaze New Bohemian collection polish, jewelry and craft supplies and finally, a stereo recommendation.

News for those of you that saw the China Glaze press release that has been all over the blog world: it had a lot of us lusting after the collection but so far, no swatches that I know of. The collection was due out August 2012, but Ulta already has them listed on their website individually for $9.00. 

Alternately, you can also find the whole collection sans display on eBay from two different sellers for $29.00 + $6.00 shipping which would make these a "whopping" $5.83 a bottle. Both US sellers have 100% feedback rating, one is based upon 11 ratings and the other 33- my normal inclination is to avoid newer sellers but 100% is 100% (Amazon marketplace ratings have been far less reliable in my experience). However, since atoznailsupply does not accept returns, I would go with buying from The China Glaze Store. Thank goodness for birthday presents or this would go on my wish list, not my purchase list.  

The second portion of this: jewelry and craft supplies. I've seen that many of you shop at A.C.Moore but there doesn't happen to be one of those around me so I am stuck with Michaels or Hobby Lobby- until yesterday! Because yesterday, in my one-mile-radius for shopping, they put in a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store. This store probably isn't new to you, nor really to me since I've seen the name since I was a "kid" but I'd never been in one before. Anyone remember the episode of Married with Children where the Bundys moved into the grocery store? Well I want to live in Jo-Ann's, right smack in the middle of the sparkly beads isle... one of them because there were several. And the prices, up to 50% off jewelry supplies (online right now, too) offset the buyers remorse... and that I wasn't paying for it myself, again, thank you to birthdays, husbands and fathers.

Now lastly, music and stereo systems but let me specify- "bookshelf systems", not component stereos with huge free-standing speakers, sub woofers, separate receivers, CD players and amplifiers which is what my Dad has. Having a quality stereo to play my massive library is important, (more so than having a TV if you ask me) but since I spent most of my life being told to, "Turn that s**t down!" and am now an apartment dweller, my chosen stereo has to be small but powerful not to mention that I prefer having two, one for my bedroom and another for the living room.

What I have is this, Sony MHC-EC709iP from Best Buy. This particular system has at total of 360 watts, the iPod docking station for the ultimate in portable music and it's rather diminutive size makes it perfect for any room. But don't let the size fool you, the sound is just as good in my larger living room as it does my smaller bedroom. Priced at $150.00.

-MK

Franken #348 Heavy Metal

This franken polish looks suspiciously like OPI’s Crown Me Already but I imagine OPI’s is a heck of a lot smoother. At any rate, the resemblance is entirely coincidental. Also made this summer, its crammed full of all the silver glitters I had and two silver-glitter store bought polish, L.A.Colors Sparkling Diamonds from the Color Craze line and Wet ‘n’ Wild (Precious Metals) Steel, not shown. Nothing in this polish was measured out. It has enough Sparkling Diamonds and Steel in it that suspension isn’t really an issue.

From left to right: Coastal Scents Tinsel glitter, silver glitter vial from my Hobby Lobby set, Coastal Scents Sterling Silver .008” glitter #348 Heavy Metal, L.A.Colors Sparkling Diamonds and my large size hex glitter sample from TKB Trading.

Macro shot of bottle.

Paper swatch

Outdoors, full sunlight.

Indoors under lamplight.

Indoors in sunlight.

-MK

Playing with Glitter Polishes

This summer, after taking photos of #360 Volcanic, a black based polish with orange glitter, I decided to play around with a few of the polishes I’d bought around the same time. I just layered a couple coats over Volcanic to see what they would look like and I was very surprised by the results.

All photos show polishes in the same order, going clockwise from thumb: Wet ‘n’ Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange, Wet ‘n’ Wild Teal of Fortune, Wet ‘n’ Wild Ocean Grotto, Pure Ice Oh Baby and Pure Ice Rio.

All have incredible sparkle and all three Wet ‘n’ Wilds come across with an almost metallic appearance when layered this way but it is the two Pure Ice that capture my attention. They are duochromes. This is most obvious in the difference between the sunlight shots and the lamp lighted shots.

Outdoors in shade.

Outdoors in sunlight.

Indoors under lamp light.

-MK

The Confetti Collection

On a recent grocery store trip I stopped in CVS Pharmacy to check out their cosmetics in hopes of finding more of Wet 'n' Wild's limited editions. I found a few of those but I also discovered a brand I'd never heard of called Confetti, priced for $1.99, the same as my favorite Sinful Colors.

The first time around I bought those shown in the first pic. The second time I took my flashlight and bought more. It turned out the flashlight came in handy because I would've missed some hidden behind others, shown in the second pic.

Below these are single nail swatches but please don't hold my paint job against me. I could make comparisons to other colors but we'll save that for another day.



Conga Line, Blue Bombshell, Pop the Cork Purple, Happy Birthday, Smitten and Ice Ice Baby.

In the top row: Dreamdate, Debutante, Pink Confetti, Purple Parade, Dressed to the 9s and Papa-Razzi.

The second row: Masquerade Ball, Purple Pizzazz, Tiara, My Favorite Martian and Tahitian Turquoise.

Blue Bombshell, Purple Parade, Masquerade Ball and Pop the Cork Purple. Each of these were 3 coats, could have used 4. Pop the Cork Purple, despite it's name, looks more blue rather than purple.

Dressed to the 9s, Smitten, Papa-Razzi, Debutante. These were 3 coats each.

Happy Birthday, Tiara (over Smitten), My Favorite Martian and Dreamdate. Happy Birthday is 4 coats, the rest 3. Tiara is a very sheer glitter-like polish. The flecks are neither white or silver but somewhere in between. Dreamdate is also very sheer but sparkly.

Tahitian Turquoise, Pink Confertti, Conga Line, Purple Pizzazz. Tahitian Turquoise is 4 coats, the rest 3. Pink Confetti is also very sheer; think along the lines of Sally Hansen's Shooting Star.

This is 3 coats of Ice Ice Baby over Tahitian Turquoise. I should have picked a more contrasting color.

$1.99 isn't a bad price but I would've liked to see a bit more glitter and brighter colors. I may go back and acquire a few for frankening. -MK