AVON Brushed Metals

I got this polish from my AVON lady in December’13 on sale for $3.99.  It’s from the 2013 Brushed Metals collection and they don’t sell them on their website anymore.   But you never know…AVON may still have a few bottles kicking around so if you see them in the Outlet brochure you should snag this one up!  Because check it out…

The other colors in the collection look like textured pastels.  I may have grabbed the best one!  This one looks gold but AVON calls it Burnished Copper.   I love this color!  This is one coat.  Yup, ONE COAT!  I topcoated it and it’s almost smooth.  A little bumpy but I wouldn’t consider it a textured polish.  Isn’t it glimmery and gorgeous?

Zoya Chita

I don’t do too many swatches on my blog, as I focus more on nail art.  But textured polishes are so complex, they are almost like nail art, don’t ya think?  They’re a quick and easy way to get nails with WOW FACTOR! 🙂

Shown here is two coats of Zoya Pixie Dust called Chita.  One coat of this green could almost do the trick.  But I went with two since I was planning on wearing it all week for my work trip to Las Vegas.  I wore it for 6 days and it held up well, but my dominant right hand got some chips towards the end of the week. I like this stuff since it’s opaque, dries fast, doesn’t need topcoat, and looks pretty darn cool!  I got some compliments on it from random people.  That’s always nice.

It snowed in Vegas by the way!  ‘For real’ snow, like for several hours!  Sorry to everyone else who was in Vegas then.  I’m pretty sure I brought the bad weather with me from New York LOL.  It was freezing there all week.  But that just meant I had to stay inside more during my down-time… which means: SHOPPING!  Check out my new ring.  It was only $6!

Every ring I tried on looked great next to my Zoya Chita nails.  I think it was a good polish choice for my trip.  Festive, hardy and fun!  *And yes, my fingers look freakishly long in this pic, but I’m almost 6 feet tall, so I guess that’s expected! Hahaha!

Speaking of shopping– that’s the theme for this week’s NAIL ART IDEAS LINKUP challenge.  I haven’t started my Christmas shopping yet, so hopefully our Linkup will inspire me!!!  There’s so many options for SHOPPING-themed nails.  Your favorite gift, something on your wishlist, coupon codes, money flushing down the toilet, presents under the tree…. and I think I might even have some Cheeky stamps with shopping images on them.   I hope you join the LINKUP too- click the graphic below for more info!

See you next time! Talk soon.  🙂

Oh My Golly Nail Polish!

This is new-to-me-brand called Oh My Golly!   Don’t you just love trying new brands??  The swatches I’m sharing are from Oh My Golly’s new Crystal Sand collection.  Right off the bat I’ll tell ya- I’m loving these OMGs!  Let’s check them out…..

First we’ll look at Oh My Golly’s Hematite which is the darker of the two.  Hematite is a black textured polish with what I’d call a ‘sandpaper’ finish. This black polish has glitter in it that shifts between silver and gold.  I think I captured the effect in my pics- if you look close you can see how some nails are a bit silver while others have a hint of gold in them.  Hematite has a nice fluid formula and was easy to apply.  One coat looked pretty sheer so I was afraid it would need several coats.  But surprisingly, two coats was all I needed for perfect coverage.  Hematite dried fast!  I applied my coats in between housework and they didn’t get messed up or smudged.

I love Hematite’s glitzy glam look.  It totally reminds me of new years eve and would be perfect for a holiday party!  I bet if you dressed up and wore this on your nails you’d feel like a million bucks!

Emerald is just as the name suggests- a beautiful emerald green.  I will be so happy to wear this color come wintertime!  The glitter in this one is green and silver. It really lights up and reminds me of holiday decorations.   The formula is great on this one too- it dried fast and two coats was sufficient, but I ended up using three coats for these pics.  I could really see myself wanting to wear Emerald on Christmas day.  It feels so festive to me!

Removal on these was as I expected.  It was harder to remove than a cream polish, but easier than a glitter bomb.  It seemed to wear well without chipping, and I’m so happy to add these OMGs to my collection.

Oh My Golly Crystal Sand polishes are proudly made in the Philippines.  Now I’m supposed to tell you where you can find them…and unless you live in the Pacific, I have no idea.  If any of you know where to buy OMGs, please share in the comments section. The only suggestion I have is that you could try to make friends with someone from the Philippines!  🙂  I actually received my OMG polishes from The Nailinator in a swap.  Rachael- I am thrilled with all my goodies, thank you dear!

» Two days ago Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the Philippines and Rachael I’m so thankful that you and your family are safe.  I’ve seen on the news that the destruction is unparalleled my heart goes out to everyone in the Pacific.  I am counting my blessings right now and I hope that I can help in what ever way possible.  I’d like to share an article HERE by Huff Post that lists how you can help too by donating to World Food Program, American Red Cross, The Philippine Red Cross, or any of these charities that will put your money to good use for disaster relief efforts.

#31DC2013 – Half Moons (in halloween colors)

As part of Chalkboard’s 31 day nail challenge I’ve got a funky halloween halfmoon design for you!

Now that fall is here I’ve been DYING to do some autumnal nail art- especially for halloween!!  Weeeee!!  I love halloween… and my blog is a great way for me to showcase my holiday spirit!  Halloween is all about orange and black, but my fave combo for the holiday is actually green and purple.  This mani is kinda crazy looking and perhaps a little fugly, but I don’t care!  I’ll wear pretty much anything on these nails- and I’ll love it too!  lol

What I’m wearing:

♥ one coat of Nailtiques #2

♥ two coats of Essence lime green called L.O.L.

♥ one coat of seche vite to make the green dry quickly

♥ then I used painters tape to create the crescent/halfmoon line

♥ then I applied one coat of Milani TEXTURE in Purple Streak and then peeled the tape off

This mani was quick and easy!!

Would you wear nails like these, or is the color scheme a little too ‘out there’ for you?

You can view some of the other halfmoon designs for the #31DC2013 right here: 

Nail Art Ideas Linkup (NAIL)- Sand Theme

Today I’m sharing my SAND-inspired manicure for our Nail Art Ideas Linkup for August.  Sand makes me think of my beige bottle of Zoya Pixie Dust called Godiva.  The textured finish really reminds me of beaches so this was a great choice for this theme.  To jazz up my Godiva I paired it with some NCLA Nail Wraps called Ally En Vogue..  These wraps were provided to me by Nail Polish Canada and I reviewed another set of them back in May- Jazzy Nail Wraps.  I painted 6 of my nails with Godiva and covered the other 4 in the NCLA wraps.  Here’s a better shot of the wraps…

I’m enjoying wearing Godiva while on my vacay- it’s holding up better than my other polishes were.  Much less chips.  The nail wraps didn’t last that long, they started peeling rather quickly, but I like the look of them….I have no idea why the pic below keeps showing up sideways…. but I have plans to go see our friend Amanda in WA and I don’t have time to fiddle with the photo editor!  lol

If you’d like to join in on Nail Art Ideas Linkup here’s the info!

N.A.I.L. Theme 3 – Sand :

Day 16 of OMD Challenge- GumDrop Halfmoon

Day 16 is dedicated to RUFFIAN or HALFMOON manicures. I went with a halfmoon today.  I added some texture- I’m not tired of that trend yet!  I LOVE every single one of my textured polishes.  Well, on second thought- I wish my Godiva Pixie Dust wasn’t a three-coater, but I digress….

I’m wearing two coats of Orly Faint of Heart which is a grey cream.  Then I used some nail guide stickers to tape off my nails.  Then I applied two thin coats of Julie G Blueberry Fizz from their Frosted GumDrops collection.  What a pretty textured polish- I just love the baby blue shade and glitter!  I then added some rhinestone studs since those stickers made a weird chevron indent that was begging to be filled in with some pretties!  I like how it came out- the final result kinda reminds me of Cinderella’s dress for some reason. 🙂

In related news- I broke a nail in my office today.  Luckily it was on my ‘non-photographic’ hand.  Should I just keep that one shorter than the rest until it grows out?  I dunno- I’m still staring at it in disbelief!   Boohooie!  Unfortunately, no one in my life will care (oh wait, except for you Nancy 🙂 ).  Can I count on you ladies for support and empathy????

Thanks in advance!   xoxo

16. Ruffian/Half-Moon :

Day 9 of the OMD Challenge- Gold Textured Nails

Hey party people!  Ready for my day 9 TEXTURED post for the OMD Challenge?

I’m not going to talk too much today…. I’ll keep it short and sweet.  I had a stressful and busy day at work (what else is new?) and I feel like all I did was clickity clickity click on a keyboard all day!  And then I go home and clickity click some more?  Oh well, at least I have my nail polish to bring me some joy!

Here’s what I’m wearing……

mustard yellow ♥ Sinful Colors Pull Over (2 coats for a yellow?  yay!)

gold glitter ♥ OPI When Monkeys Fly!

textured polish ♥ OPI Liquid Sand What Wizardry is This? (love!)

gold gradient sponged on top of Liquid Sand ♥ Julie G Metallic Heels

I hope you likey! ! See you tomorrow for metallic day! Metallic, oooooh that should be fun! 

9. Textured :