My first Epic FAIL

Ulta was having a buy 3 get 1 free deal, so I decided to purchase most of the polishes from Orly's 2010 Sweet Collection.  I decided against getting Cotton Candy and opted for getting Velvet Rope instead.  Purple plus glitter??!! No brainer.  Two weeks ago, I finally decided to wear it, and low and behold, I now have buyer's remorse.   Take a look:

Granted this photo was taken without a top coat, but not even a coat of Seche Vite could save this one in my opinion.  While I LOVE the color, the glitter KILLS it.  There's no sparkle, just chunks.  The polish isn't jelly so instead of the glitter coming through, the more the polish is layered, the glitter ends up getting covered.  It's like the glitter was thrown in as an afterthought, when it would have been better just to leave it out all together.  I love Orly, and this is my first real disappointment.  Ugh :(

deborah lippmann's Across the Universe

I know every other blogger has posted this, or it's "so last year's news", but I LOVE IT! So :-p  LOL j/k.  As previously mentioned, I purchased Across The Universe along with Bad Romance as part of my retail therapy.  I'm so glad I bought it because it is GORGEOUS! Check it!

Indoor Shot

Direct Sunlight

I applied 3 coats, plus base/top coat.  Like Bad Romance, the hex glitter made it a bit difficult to wrap the tips (which explains the huge dry patch on my index finger; not a chip but a piece of glitter that fell off).  This polish reminds me of the DVD/Soundtrack cover of Julie Taymor's film Across the Universe with Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess.  If you're a Beatles fan, then I think you'll enjoy the movie.  I leave you with my fave lyric from the song Across the Universe:

Limitless undying love

which shines around me like a million suns

It calls me on and on across the universe

Essie - Sew Pysched

Here's one of my lastest Essie additions.  I saw swatches of Sew Pysched on various blogs, and it seemed interesting enough to add to my continually growing collection.  Application was great.  Only took 2 coats for complete opaque coverage.  The only drawback that I have with Sew Psyched is that in the bottle it seems to have some shimmer (can sort of see it in the bottle in pics 1 & 3), yet when applied to the nail, whatever shimmer was in the bottle disappears.  If there was a little shimmer or duochrome or something, would give this unique color a little more sumin' sumin'. :)

Rescue Beauty Lounge Haul

I'm sure the majority (if not all of you) knew about RBL's 1-Day 50% off polish sale a few weeks ago.  I had been wanting Coral ever since I saw it, just because of it's "universal, works for all skin tones" boasting.  Some may feel it's a bit traditional, classic....boring...but I liked it because sometimes I'm in a non-crazy, in your face color, kind of mood.  Anywho, I purchased Coral and Plie (just because I don't have anything like Plie either).  I wanted one other, Killa Red, but it wasn't advertised in the sale and I have a feeling it might have been discontinued :(

This was 3 coats w/o top coat.  I can't comment on the durability yet, since it hasn't been "tested".

Again 3 coats w/o top coat.  It's a bit pinker in reality (but I couldn't capture the color in with my lighting.  Sorry)  I can't explain why I love Plie, but I just do.  LOL

Did any of you get anything from the sale?

Caught in a "Bad Romance"

Rah-rah-ah-ah-aaaah. Roma-roma-maaaah! LOL Bad Romance has to be my fave Lady Gaga song thus far.  It never gets old for me.  Anywho...I had been eyeing the deborah lippmann collection from the swatches out in the blogosphere, but could never really bring myself to drop the $$ to obtain any of the polishes. Until a few weeks ago that is...long story short..I was having a bad day at work (what's new) and decided to cheer myself up with some retail therapy.  I purchased Bad Romance and Across the Universe.  I love black polish, but what I loved about this polish is the glitter.  It's dark but still girly.  This is three coats with Seche top coat (the cause of the HORRIBLE shrinkage!)  I reapplied this polish later because of the shrinkage.  The only negatives I have about this polish is that it can be a tad streaky (at least when you're trying to evenly disperse the glitter), and because of the chunky hex-glitter, it's difficult to wrap the tips of your nails.  It's opaque enough to have been good with 2 coats, but because I made some streaks, I wanted to even them out with another coat.  All in all, it's very Gaga-esque.  :)

2010 World Series Champs - San Francisco Giants!!!

I'll try to keep this post short and sweet...not just because I have work in the morning (don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight), but because I can't really put into words all the thoughts and emotions running through me now.  I'm still trying to come down from all the excitement of tonight as the San Francisco Giants (my home team) won Game 5, have been crowned the champions, and thus have ended this emotional roller coaster of a season.  I don't know if I should bust out singing Queen's "We Are The Champions", or slap myself to ensure this isn't a dream.  I had been meaning to do this mani since the beginning of the Series, but tonight I DEFINITELY had to do it!! (Apologies for the sloppy application, I cleaned up as best I could but given I have a whole bunch of adrenaline coursing through me, you can't blame a girl for not having a steady hand).

I used 2 coats of Urban Decay's Magic Bus as my base color, Sally Hansen's black polish pen, and topped it all off with Seche Vite.

GO GIANTS!!!!!

Hey There!

Hello my lovely peeps!  I realize it's been a month since my last post.  I've been laggin' on putting up any swatches, though I haven't stopped my collection or doing my nails.  Life seems to have shifted into warp speed.  I finally took some time to finish my little DIY lightbox and am hoping I can start posting some swatches soon.  Sorry for being lame.  Hope everyone is doing well. :)