a-england: "princess tears"

this polish was one of two in my llarowe order that i got yesterday. i love how shimmery so many of their polishes are. the a-england website describes it as "lilac with flashes of grey-green flashes". it's a stunning color without being super over the top or obnoxious.

a-england polishes retail for 12 dollars on the llarowe or for 9 euro [a little over twelve dollars] on the a-england website

illamasqua - "lament"

i've seen lots of people post about illamasqua, so when i placed an order from sephora recently i decided to add a polish from them. i do not regret it at ALL! this polish is beautiful, application was great and so was the formula. the only complaint i have is that it the square cap was hard for me to get used to. but it's a minor inconvenience!

you can buy illamasqua polishes on their website here, or from sephora.

new polish storage

i've been searching for a better way to store my polishes for a while. i reeeally want an ikea helmer but the closest ikea is over an hour away and i haven't tried to convince my mom to make that long of a trip :P. so today while at target i got this cute little bin to put my nicer [read: more expensive] polishes in!

zoya's kristen + maisie.

i came home after date night yesterday to my mini zoya color lock kit and my FREE kristen and maisie polishes! this combo makes me think of robin's eggs - what do you think?

this is two coats of kristen topped with two coats of maisie. i used the color lock system, too, and these photos were taken after an eight hour shift at my job. i have a very hands - on job and do a looot of dishes, so for my nails to look like this after four hours is a miracle, let alone eight.

also - today's the last day of an awesome zoya promo!

zoya has a deal going on [ends today!] where you can get two of the following polishes: maisie, megan, chloe, or kristen for FREE + FREE SHIPPING when you buy a mini color-lock system [20 bucks]. the polishes alone are worth 16, plus shipping! so go here to find out more about the deal and get your order in. i got mine in a few days ago and since i'm lucky enough to be in the same state as zoya, my package is set to arrive today. i got maisie and kristen, since i already have chloe and megan just seemed kind of "meh" to me.

ulta haul!!!

my trip to ulta was a rousing success. my mom even bought two of my polishes :3.

from left to right: pedal faster suzi, on stranger tides [on sale for 4.99], ultimate holiday [on sale for 1.99] and ds opulence. i got a rewards card and will DEFINITELY be going back, especially when the hunger games collection is released.

opi holland collection - "i have a herring problem"

i really love all of the polishes in this opi collection, but this one is one of my favorites [along with "dutch ya just love opi?" and "thanks a windmillion"]. i decided to buy this instead of "i don't give a rotterdam!" because i already own "skylar" by zoya, and they're pretty much dupes. anyway, the polish!

the formula was really good and i used three coats, but probably could have gotten away with two. this polish is more of a gray-blue than anything else, but it's got a TON of nice sparkle. it's really beautiful! i bought my bottle from mbeautylounge for  6.75. i think i'll have to place another order from "pedal faster suzi" and "wooden shoe like to know?"

giveaway share!

the lovely debbie over at the crumpet is hosting a fabulous giveaway for opi's "mad as a hatter" this polish is very hard to find, and goes for 30+ dollars on sites like ebay and amazon. if you're interested in winning, go check out her blog and enter!

ever have one of those days?

or one of those weeks, even? so far this week i have broken eight, yes EIGHT nails :[. and it's just been stressful and very busy. but i got my two holland polishes in the mail yesterday, so hopefully this evening i'll have some photos for ya!

new zoya + finger paints flakie.

my trip to sally's was a minor success - they have one of the finger paint flakies [the main reason i went there], and i found "some like it haute" by china glaze for only 1.99! and then that same day i got my zoya package in the mail [from their valentine's promo], so i decided to combine the two for my mani today.

first i used two coats of zoya's "lotus", followed by one coat of "flashy" by finger paints. i own one of zoya's fleck effects, chloe, and i the only differences between that [and seemingly the rest of the fleck effects collection] is that the zoyas have a tinted base and i feel like the finger paints flakies are larger [see the second photo]. also, the price! unfortunately the finger paints flakies [there are five: flashy, motley, fleck, twisted, and asylum] aren't available online via the retailer, but you can buy them at sally's beauty supply for 4.99. the zoya fleck effects collection [chloe, opal, and maisie] are available at zoya.com for 8 dollars plus shipping.

nerd lacquer!

i've known of nerd lacquer for a few months, and have spent countless hours going through her shop, pining after all of her polishes. well, tonight she restocked her shop and i finally bit the bullet! i bought "entirely unlike tea", "nebula", and another called "holoday sugar plum" which must have sold out shortly after i completed my order because i can't find a link to it!

i can't wait to get to get these and swatch them. eeeeeeeeeee!

"nail junkie" - a polish named after me?!

excuse the silly title - but i had a good laugh when i saw this polish by sinful colors was named "nail junkie". i don't know what about this color has to do with people obsessed with nail polish, but it's super pretty!

nail junkie is a glittery jelly polish with a tealish, turquoise-y base. the glitters are all round and flash gold, dark blue, and teal. application was okay - i used three coats in these photos, but as you can see my middle finger looks a little lighter than the rest. to the naked eye they look the same but the camera picks up on alllll the flaws :P. the polish did dry quickly and relatively smooth, but i would recommend using a top coat to even things out.

sinful colors polishes regularly retail for 1.99 but are currently on sale for 99 cents at walgreens!

i've been duped!

it took me a little while to realize, but the sinful colors "frenzy" i just got in the mail made me think of another polish i have...

on the left is pure ice "cheatin'" and sinful colors is on the right. look how similar they are! cheatin' is a little darker, but that's the only difference.

i have cheatin' on my middle and pinky fingers, and frenzy on my pointer and ring finger. frenzy is a bit thicker and has tiny light blue, magenta, and dark blue glitters, while cheatin' mostly has dark blue, purple, and magenta.

light box.

a week or so ago i was looking at DIY light boxes online and made a passing comment to my boyfriend along the lines of "you should make this for meeee!" i was [mostly :P] joking, but a few hours later he's sawing away at a cardboard box with his x-acto! how cute.

we finished the box last night and i took a few test pictures. but, there's another issue. i have a nice camera - a panasonic lumix - that's less than a year old. however, the LCD screen has recently busted. the camera still takes photos, but i can't see them until i look at my SD card on my computer! so, the following pictures aren't very good [because i couldn't see them] but they were only test shots to see how the light box works.

 

so, as you can see - i need to keep practicing! haha. but this color is beautiful, it's "forget now" by sinful colors. despite what the first photo shows, it's a lovely bright pink - perfect for spring.

today i am going to sally's beauty supply for the first time ever!! i am very excited, can you tell? :P. the only thing i would reeeally like to buy is the finger paint flakies, but i know they sometimes have zoya polishes so hopefully i'll be able to pick up some of those, too! i'll be sure to post some haul photos when i get home :D!

giveaway share!

the lovely ashley over at ashley is polish addicted is hosting a really generous giveaway this month! she is giving away a bottle of "lucky numbers" by lynnderella.

lynnderella polishes are available on llarowe, but are notoriously hard to get your hands on and often sell out [or over-sell!] very quickly. i really love all of her designs and can't wait to get my paws on a bottle - which is why i'm entering this giveaway! everybody should go check out her blog and enter to win this beautiful polish. the giveaway is open until february 11th.

get excited!

i hope you guys are ready for some good swatches tonight - i received one new polish in the mail yesterday, and am expecting two packages + my first julep box in the mail today! unfortunately they'll all have to wait until after class and work today, but it'll be worth it!

spotted at cvs.

i went into cvs after class today to see if they had any of the valentine's day sally hansen nail strips on sale. sadly, they did not...but i did spy these cuties!

what do you think? will you be buying any of their spring/easter strips? i've got my eyes on the ones with the little birds, and those polka dots...

first [and only...] birchbox!

my fabulous boyfriend tried to get me a subscription to birchbox about a month ago, when i mentioned wanting to sign up for it. unfortunately, they are on a waitlist now and when he realized that i wouldn't get a box before valentine's day, he bought one of their pre-made boxes for me. it didn't get here before valentine's either, but it's still great!

here's everything that was inside!

roll-up ballet flats by automatic apparel [in the gold bag].
finding mr. bright set by benefit.
a cute little makeup pouch by birchbox.
radiant you by dr. hauschka.
natural orange tablets by eboost.
moisturizing lip gloss in birchbox pink by jouer.
dry texturizing spray by oribe.

please excuse all the crap on my coffee table, haha.

i am so excited to try all of these things! ultimately we decided to get me a subscription to julep, but i may return to birchbox in the future.

deborah lippman's "mermaid's dream"

as soon as i saw previews for lippmann's spring 2012 collection i knew i had to have this polish. blues, greens, sparkly, shiny...it was everything i loved mixed together into one beautiful polish.

just LOOK at that! it is sooo gorgeous. and that picture is only two coats! i hadn't seen any swatches of this polish so i was afraid it would be super sheer/need to be layered over another polish, but i was totally wrong. i added another coat after this photo just because, and while it looks good it wasn't really necessary. but i'm sure you could layer it, maybe over "on the beach" or "i know what boys like", both of which are also from lippmann's spring collection. the only negative thing about this polish [and it isn't that big of a deal!] is that you definitely need a top coat. it dries a bit rough without it.

i'm expecting some exciting nail mail this week - two nail polishes from the OPI holland collection, one from the muppets collection, and six sinful colors polishes from walgreens - they were on sale for 99 cents!

intro post!

hi there! my name is brooke and i am a college student in the state of ohio. i love my family, my boyfriend, my cat...and nail polish! i have been a polish enthusiast since late 2010. i used to post my swatch photos to another blog, but recently decided to create one 100% dedicated to my love of nail polish.

my non nail-polish interests include baking and cooking, reading, watching crappy television [king of the hill is my favorite!], and listening to music.

you can contact me at this address and you can view my other blog here, though be warned - it can be NSFW sometimes!