Giveaways!

Blog Giveaways!!

Check out some of the awesome giveaways going on right now!

http://nailsnailsetc.blogspot.com/2010/02/giveaway-ive-finally-hit-big-5-0.html 

http://dailypolish.blogspot.com/2010/02/100-followers-go-big-or-go-home.html 

http://paintedladyfingers.blogspot.com/2010/01/contest-be-rebel-debutante.html 

http://blacknailpolishandlipgloss.blogspot.com/2010/02/300-follower-giveaway.html 

http://naive-nails.blogspot.com/2010/02/300-followers-giveaway.html 

http://cucumpear.blogspot.com/2010/02/end-of-semester-giveaway.html 

And I can't forget about the two giveaways I am currently having:

Ends Feb. 14

http://caracita.blogspot.com/2010/01/babbling-brooke-polish-giveaway.html 

Ends Feb. 13 (sponsored by RieWrites)

http://caracita.blogspot.com/2010/02/guest-blogger-giveaway-game-and-dupe.html 

ps: Check back here on Thursday, February 11 for something exciting!

China Glaze B-Girlz - Day 9 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Happy day 9 in our 14 Days of February Pinks!

China Glaze B-Girlz

China Glaze B-Girlz is an awesome hot pink with a light (as in subtle) blue iridescence and a medium-low amount of fine microshimmer.  I love this one - but I totally bought it just for the name.  A good friend of mine in high school was a breakdancer - a B-Girl!  She was an incredible breakdancer and I thought of her as soon as I saw this polish.  But the color turned out to be just as great as the name.  It took three coats to cover, but like all China Glaze polishes, it dried very quickly.  B-Girlz is a slightly brighter pink than it appears in these pictures.

Have a fun Tuesday!

PS: we were plowed out last night - yippee!!  The entire neighborhood started shoveling the ends of their driveways right away and then what looked like every single person in the neighborhood took off - cabin fever much?  J and I took the dogs out and got pizza.  The roads were still pretty bad but it was a really nice feeling to be out of the house - first time since Friday morning (which isn't even that long of a time, I don't know why us humans get so antsy when we can't travel).  But, kinda-clean roads now - we'll see how they look tonight after the next snowstorm!

ORLY Blushing Bud, Lippmann Constant Craving - Day 8 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Today is the 8th day of our 14 Days of February Pinks - yippee!

But 'snow news' first.  I am TOTALLY snowed in.  According to the snowplow map, every single street around us has been plowed and most have been salted also, and hey, look, ours says it was too... But it wasn't!  We're trapped back here with a ton of snow blocking our only way out!  Apparently there was a mix-up and our street was marked as plowed when it wasn't - so no one plowed it.  Some diligent neighbor (certainly not apathetic old me) called and the county said they would get to it by tonight or Tuesday morning.  Hmm.  My neighbors are all losing it - people are slowly tunneling through the streets with shovels and snowblowers.  People in SUITS!  They're nuts.  But it really is quite an odd feeling being snowed in when the rest of the state has been freed.  I liked this snowstorm a lot better when I knew we were ALL homebound - not just my little street.  But enough 'poor me'-ing, we'll be freed from these snowy depths soon enough and we'll all have to go back to work - and then we'll be ba-humbugging about not being stuck in the snow!

So, a happy cheerful color for this kind-of snow day:

ORLY Blushing Bud with Lippmann Constant Craving

I really love this mani :)  I painted my nails with three coats of ORLY Blushing Bud and then used Nailene's french mani guides to shape the french tips.  I painted my tips with one coat of Lippman Constant Craving (which dried super fast).  Pink and pink are the perfect Valentine's Day combo :)

A little later today I have some very different nails to show you... although they are pink too ;)

Check back this afternoon to see!

*     *     *

PS: have you guessed the MYSTERY OPI POLISH?

If you get it correct, you could win a bottle of it!

Head on over and test your luck ;)

My dog, the Caracita of it all

I just came across this picture of Cara when she was younger - this was August 2007.  

She LOVED that toy 

(my mom's Chihuahua, Precious, has since claimed it as her own - but Precious is an old girl, she can have all the stuffed foxes she wants).

This picture is so completely CARA.  I just love it :D

ORLY Sweet Spring 2010 Collection

ORLY Sweet Collection

I am so excited that ORLY sent me some polishes from the new Sweet Collection because I have been admiring this lineup from afar for weeks!  The Sweet Collection doesn't come out until April 2010, but we can all drool over them together until then.

ORLY describes the Sweet Collection as reminiscent "of our childhood favorites and past times" but "on trend with a throwback to Jackie O's pastel pillbox hats."  Personally, I think the entire collection just looks good enough to eat - and with tasty little lip glosses included with each bottle of polish, you can lick the sweetest right up.

Snowcone

I am in LOVE with Snowcone.  L.O.V.E.  This is a beautiful, stunning dusty cornflower blue.  I couldn't pick a favorite picture - this is just a gorgeous color.  Plus, it's so versatile!  It isn't too bright or too dark - it's a great blue that goes well with blue jeans.  Snowcone applied smoothly and covered well with two coats.  This was a thinner polish, which made it really easy to apply.  It dried quickly and I did some fun Konad over top :)  I really like this design on top of Snowcone!  I think that this color is very unique - it is one of my all-time favorite blues.  I love this blue!!

Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy is a sweet, light peachy-pink creme.  It is a little pinker than it looks in these pictures.  I really like this one.  A friend came over to visit while I was painting Cotton Candy on my nails and she LOVED it.  This is going to be my go-to color for my next job interview! I used three coats, but two would be adequate.  It applied smoothly and dried quickly, like other ORLY polishes.  I wanted to do a Konad design but I couldn't decide on a color - what do you think would look best with this?

Gumdrop

ORLY has created their version of the well-known Tiffany blue and it is lovely!  Gumdrop is as sweet as the name implies - a light, creamy seafoam green with a hint of blue.  Gumdrop covered with just one coat (wow!) but the formula was a little thick and difficult to work with.  A drop or two of thinner may fix that.  Otherwise, its a beautiful color.  Although similar to other Tiffany blues, it is different.  The closest match I have is China Glaze For Audrey, but Gumdrop is a shade lighter.  I think Gumdrop is more accurate to the real Tiffany blue (I dragged out my Tiffany's box to compare!).  I'll post comparison pictures soon.  Gumdrop is a stunning shade and it is bound it be very, very popular.

(left to right) ORLY Snowcome, Gumdrop, Cotton Candy

ORLY's Sweet Collection also includes three other gorgeous shades:

Lollipop, a lovely lilac creme (beautiful and like nothing I own... I need this!)

Pixy Stix, a medium pink creme

Lemonade, a PERFECT, awesome pale yellow creme (I can't wait to get this one!!)

The lipglosses are as awesome as the polishes.  I especially like the Cotton Candy lipgloss.  It is a sheer sparkly light pink with a DELICIOUS, sweet, sugary flavor.  Both the Snowcone and Gumdrop lipglosses are very sheer and glittery (nope, no blue or green lips here!).  They also have a delicately sweet flavor and are not too sticky (I can't stand super-sticky lipglosses!).

ORLY's Sweet Collection will be available in April 2010.  Each bottle will be priced at $7.50 and like all ORLY nail lacquers, the Sweet Collection is completely free of DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde, and Formaldehyde Resin.

Visit ORLYbeauty.com to order, or find ORLY polishes at ULTA, Sally Beauty, or your local salon.

Pink Footballs!! - Day 7 of 14 days of February Pinks

Happy Super Bowl!!

For our 7th day of February Pinks I said, 'why not?' and went ahead and painted some Sweet and Sexy pink footballs!  Ok, maybe they're Zoya Sweet and China Glaze Sexy Lady, but I still think they look pretty adorable :)  I used Nailene's White Skinny Tip Pen for all the white detailed designs (what would I do without that thing?).  I painted the base with three coats of Zoya Sweet, a big favorite of mine.  Sweet is the perfect, sweet, delicate pink.  I discovered it on tPF and just fell in love.  I have a few bottles and I've given some as gifts - this is a shade I REALLY love!  For the footballs I used China Glaze Sexy Lady... a shade I'm kind of ambivalent on.  It's a little redder than I expected - I was hoping for a hot pink, but this is more of a very dark pink just hinting at red.

before the stripes

some random bobblehead I found in J's office

He explained it was a gag gift, something about the Jets and the Dolphins and his uncle.

And a signed football my sister's boyfriend gave him (that's why there's a tag on it).

Zoya Sweet = Sweetness

Similar to Lippmann Constant Craving but a brighter pink.

Which team are you rooting for?  I'm not a huge football fan (ok, I don't even think I'd call myself a fan), but I tend to prefer to root for whichever team happens to be winning.  I'm totally ok jumping on the football bandwagon!  Unless, of course, the Ravens are playing - then that's the team that I (and my Dad!) root for :)

China Glaze Rich and Famous, & SNOW! - Day 6 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Happy Day 6 in our 14 Days of February Pinks!!

China Glaze Rich and Famous

I thought it would be funny to write SUXS on my other hand, but that wouldn't be going with the whole Valentine's Day theme now would it?

I've wanted Rich & Famous for a while now.  It's one my sister had and every time I saw it I told her how much I loved it.  Rich & Famous applied smoothly and covered with three coats - although they all dried SUPER fast (like most China Glaze polishes).

For the word "LOVE" I used Nailene's Skinny Tip Pen, which worked really well.  J saw this one and said, 'Wow, that's actually really cute!'  But then he asked me to come shovel snow with him, so I think he was just sucking up.  Not like it worked though - I shoveled for a good five minutes and then started making trails through the 30 inch deep snow with the dogs.  

Cara says, 'Me gusta snow!'

Emily just eats the snow...

Look at that like 7 foot wall of snow beside her!

Oh Emily.  She really tried, but it was so deep in some areas!

Such troopers!!

Cara and J and lots of winter wonderlandness

All unfashionably bundled up and forging a trail

and some cool new sculptures in my yard!

Hope everyone is keeping toasty warm!!

Guest Blogger, Giveaway Game, and Dupe Alert!!

Brooke has offered us a smorgasbord of yummy pink polishes to complement The Love Month, but in honor of today's blizzard conditions, she has asked me to treat you to a more subdued winter hue.

In January, I posted this photo on my blog, and my friend Liz promptly 

responded with a question about the polish shade.

"Are you wearing OPI ***?" she asked. "It looks like the color I'm wearing!"

Now, Liz and I typically infatuate ourselves with similar nail hues, so we wouldn't have been surprised to discover we boasted the same color simultaneously.  But that time I had to confess that the shade I wore was a bit of a knock-off.

In the photo, I had donned Sephora by OPI "Beauty Junkie," a deep burgundy which is both classy and winter appropriate.  The Sephora by OPI brand is indeed durably comparable to the original OPI line, and its commitment to green ingredients excludes formaldehyde, DBP, and toluene.  At $9 per bottle, the nail wear isn't a terrible deal if you're searching for a shade not offered by standard OPI.  And if you happen to be strolling through Sephora's makeup aisles.

Here's the thing, though: Liz and I have discovered that the hues offered by Sephora by OPI aren't distinct enough from standard OPI to merit the extra $1+ in cost.  To prove it, check out these photos of me wearing Sephora by OPI "Beauty Junkie" and the corresponding OPI shade which Liz wore.

Exhibit A

Sephora by OPI "Beauty Junkie"

Exhibit B

OPI mystery shade

Aside from the lighting (sorry), the shades look nearly identical.
And I only paid $8 for the OPI mystery shade at local boutique.
(PS: click on images to enlarge!)

My conclusion?  You'll shop smarter by sticking to the standard OPI brand and foregoing Sephora's knock-off, albeit pricier line.

(Even better if you can snag a polish on Amazon, of course.)

So, wanna play a Giveaway Game?  Guess the OPI lookalike shade which virtually matches Sephora's "Beauty Junkie" (both pictured above), and Brooke and I will mail one lucky winner a free bottle of the mystery polish!  We'll draw names if multiple readers guess correctly.  The polish name - and winner - will be announced on February 13 at RieWrites.

Let the games begin!


Anne-Marie is the editor of the hilarious and beautifully written blog RieWrites, as well as co-editor, along with pal Kate, of Another Shoreline in Baltimore, a great blog about - you guessed it! Baltimore.  She is also my good friend, fellow grad student, and the person who motivated me to spruce up my blog and get writing (and polishing)!  Her spunky dog, Dixie, and her gorgeous nails make frequent guest appearances on both blogs.

Lippmann Constant Craving - Day 5 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Today is day 5 in our 14 Days of February Pinks.  Yahoo!

Getting closer and closer to Valentine's Day :) 

Lippmann Constant Craving

I LOVE this!!  I wore Lippmann Collection Constant Craving yesterday to my first day teaching, but today I put some fun polka dots on top using Nailene's new White Skinny Tip Pen.  Loving Lippmann's Constant Craving, loving Nailene's Skinny pen!!

Constant Craving looks a little lilacy in this picture - it is actually a pure pink :)

Lippmann Constant Craving

This picture was taken without flash and represents the true color best.  Constant Craving is a medium-light pink creme.  It covered perfectly with just two coats and dried quickly.  Constant Craving has no glitter or shimmer.  It is a pretty, fun slightly dark 'Barbie Pink.' GildedAngel was trying to define 'Barbie Pink' a few days ago - what makes us think of Barbie when we see light pinks? (PS: Check out her Barbie Pinks series starting today).  The image above is pretty close to real life.  I wish I could have gotten one that wasn't blurry, but its so grey out with that snow storm coming. 

I'll give you some more information on Nailene's Skinny Tip Pen soon - I've only tried it for these dots, but I'm always looking for a great dotting tool and this worked so nicely.

Have a nice Friday everyone!!

Babbling Brooke's crazy week

Egads, I have a boatload of news for you!  We now interrupt this pink week to bring you... my life, in a nutshell!

Lets start with the GOOD:
So you know how I was complaining, complaining, complaining about not having another job?  I love my one job - it's great - but it's only ten hours a week.  (NEWS 1): Well on Monday I got hired as a tutor - yippee!!  I am super excited about it :)  I think it will be a lot of fun - and great for my resume.  (NEWS 2): Then on Wednesday night (7:00 pm to be exact) I was offered a position teaching a college class!  OMG!!  After dancing around my house for a few minutes, I said yes, yes yes! (well, emailed something slightly more professional) and on Thursday morning around 9:15 I discovered that I got the position.  Only problem?  The class started that day at 12:15!  So I rushed to one campus and picked up the textbooks, rushed to another and got my class roster and room number (always important to have), and then slapped together some semblance of a lesson plan before the students started filing in.  And with extremely minimal planning and, eh hem, absolutely no college teaching experience, I managed to keep the class going for two hours.  So today I am trying to figure out how to set up a staff email account, how to write a full semester syllabus, and how on earth to go about holding office hours.  I need a mentor!  But aside from the confusion, I am incredibly excited - it's all I can even think about!  It is so awesome knowing that I am a professor!  I think the students think I'm a complete nut.  They don't seem to know what to make of me.  I should have gone in there and been all, 'I'm a professor and I'm serious' but instead I was all smiles and laughs and nice.  I had them write essays about themselves (this is how I managed to keep the class going for two hours) and one of the students told me that I was "awesome/pretty" and the class was "totally chill."  Hmm, not the first impression I was hoping to give.  Hopefully being nice the first day won't bite me in the rump later on.

Now for the BAD: (well, nothing terrible-terrible)
At about the same time my class was finishing up their adorable essays for me, my grandmother (mom's mother) and her caretaker were driving to lunch.  (NEWS 3): Another car hit theirs and totaled Grandma's caretaker's car!  Everyone was ok, but it really shook me up - and I wasn't even there.  I'm sure they were terrified.  My Grandma turns 94 in just a few weeks, so I'm glad she didn't end up with any broken bones before her birthday.  (NEWS 4): Yesterday morning, my grandfather (dad's father) was taken to the ER.  He keeps falling, and they have him there for observation.  Unfortunately, as many of you may know, we're about to be struck by this record-breaking snowstorm, so it looks like he'll be in the hospital all weekend :(  Hopefully they can figure out why he keeps falling though.  Final bad news (well, not so bad - more annoying): (NEWS 5): I fell asleep in my contacts last night (by last night I mean a little after midnight - ugh long day!) and woke around 3:00 AM to remove my contacts (more like jumped out of bed the minute I opened my eyes and realized I could read the clock - I can never read the clock without contacts).  I got the right one out fine, but could not for the life of me get the left one out.  I spent from a little after three until after 5:00 trying to get them out, stopping only to sit down and bury my face in Cara's fur and let my poor eye calm down.  I was so frustrated and my eye was SO SORE.  Like, it has never hurt so much before.  So then J wakes up (ok, I woke him up) and starts looking up every terrible thing that could happen from sleeping in your contacts - seriously kids, don't sleep in your contacts.  It's like signing a death wish.  So then I'm panicking more.  So he goes out and buys me some eye drops - three kinds because he's silly.  So I start dumping eye drops in my eyes and he reads online that I should try to slide the contact over.  So I try to slide it, and nothing happens.  Try again and my eye feels like it is ready to pop out.  So I call out of work (um, job #1 - not teaching or tutoring) and pack myself and one of the course textbooks in the car and go camp out in front of the opthamologist's office.  And he saw me right when they opened (probably because I looked like a hobo with pinkeye at that point).  He numbed my eye, plucked that contact out, and told me I had scratched something in my eye (some big three-word something)- I don't know what, but it felt good to have that contact out.  So (long story about contacts, I know) now I'm using eye drops every 15 minutes and I have to wear my glasses for the next few days.  Thankfully we'll be snowed in, because my glasses are permanently crooked, giving me this funny Harry Potter-ish look.  Oh, and while tearing my bathroom apart trying to find eye drops (and found none - who has no eye drops??) I discovered an ADORABLE teeny, teeny tiny bottle of OPI polish!  I've never seen one so small!  I'll try it out in a few weeks and post pictures of it's adorable mini-me size.

(NEWS 6): I won the lottery!
ha, I wish.  Sorry, no, just trying to brighten things up after those three BAD newsbies.  Oh, but I guess I do have a news 6:  I have ALL KINDS of giveaways coming up for the next few weeks.  I am super stoked!! (and you should be too, because you could WIN!)

But lets not worry about the bad news, because oh my goodness I got two jobs in one week!  My semester went from being a snoozefest to being super busy.  So now I need to go get cracking on that syllabus.  But I'll have some pink polish for you later today - I'm wearing a new one that is making me swoon :)

Hmm, that wasn't a nutshell at all, now was it?

Hope everyone is having a HAPPY FRIDAY 

and if you're in the way of this snow storm, stay safe and warm!!

OPI La Paz-itively Hot - Day 4 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Hello my wonderful readers!  Today is the 4th day of our 14 Days of February Pinks!  Only ten more days to go and I have a whole shelf full of pinks that I still want to swatch.  What to choose next...

OPI La Paz-itively Hot

Pure hot pink awesomeness.  This color just blows me away.  Shorts Story was summer 2009 for me - La Pat-itively Hot was summer 2007.  I LOVE this color!  Seriously, this is one of the most incredible pinks ever.  Slight shimmer, slight blue iridescence, totally gorgeous pink.  What more can I say?

Well, I guess I can say more.  Dries fast, covers in two coats, shines without a topcoat (yep, I had no topcoat on in the above picture because I was getting ready to Konad!).

And then I put a Konad design on it and ruined it:

Not loving this design on La Paz.  It makes the pink look a bit different, which I'm not too hot on.  But its still fun!

Happy February 4th everyone!

OPI Don't Think, Just Pink - Day 3 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Today is day three of my 14 Days of February Pink Nails and I am wearing one of my favorite pinks: OPI Don't Think, Just Pink!

OPI Don't Think, Just Pink

Don't Think, Just Pink is a very sweet medium-light pink with a hint of lavender.  It is slightly streaky on the first coat, but covers fairly well by three coats.  As you can see from this picture, you can still slightly see the whites of my nails a bit through three coats.

Hearts!  Kind of graffiti-style... I don't know how some of you do such detailed painting on your fingernails!

without flash

Happy Wednesday my lovely Readers!!

OPI Strawberry Margarita - Day 2 of 14 Days of February Pinks

Emily says, Happy Groundhog day!!

I've watched Groundhog Day nearly every year for the past oh, fifteen years.  I am really big on traditions - well some traditions, like those involving movies.  I love this movie, mainly because it reminds me of how excited I used to get over holidays, even those as uncelebratory as Groundhog Day.  So I'm going to go dig around and see if I can locate a VHS player to pop Groundhog Day into tonight.  Anyone else love this movie?

I am REALLY hoping that The Daily Nail will paint tiny groundhogs on her nails.  That would totally make my day :)  As for me, I'm wearing pink!  

For day two of 14 Days of February Pinks, I have OPI Strawberry Margarita.  This is my second bottle of this color and I am 99% positive that my first bottle was a slightly different shade, which I find kind of weird.  But seeing as how bottle one is nearly empty (and pretty goopy), we're going with bottle two today :)

I used to wear this shade all the time - I was obsessed with it!  But I haven't worn it for nearly a year.  Polishing with it today made me remember how much I really like this one.  Plus, the name is adorable - I LOVE strawberry margaritas (yummm).

OPI Strawberry Margarita

I used four coats for full coverage (I really thought my first bottle covered in two-three coats though).  It applies nicely and dries, eh, medium/slow speed?  Certainly not fast.  Strawberry Margarita is from OPI's 2006 Mexico collection, which also includes My Chihuahua Bites! (which I love entirely for the name), as well as two other favorites: OPI Por Favor and A Dozen Rosas.  Oddly, my mom owns all four of these Mexico polishes - I never realized she had so much of the Mexico collection!  I believe I have OPI Por Favor, but I'm not positive.  This is a fun, bright, warm summery pink with subtle tones of orange.  I'd call it watermelon - but by watermelon I don't mean the actual fruit, I mean the color people typically describe as watermelon.  With two-three coats, it has a slightly sheer aspect that is actually nice, light, and summery.

Also, I'm having a little Call for Bloggers.  If anyone is interested in guest blogging on Babbling Brooke, send me a message at BlogBabblingBrooke@gmail.com.  It's fun here!

Have a great Groundhog Day everyone!!

ORLY Bloom Collection Spring 2010

How sweet is ORLY's Bloom Collection?  With names like Wild Wisteria, Thorned Roses, and Pure Petunia, I was instantly drawn in.  Seeing as how our faithful little Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, it looks like we're in for a bit more winter before spring finally arrives, but with ORLY's Bloom Collection, we can enjoy a little taste of spring's beautiful blooms on our fingertips until then.  Check out the three polishes ORLY sent me from the Bloom collection.  I love them!  What do you think?

Blushing Bud

LOVE THIS!  Blushing Bud is my favorite of the three.  In my opinion, a good pink is not hard to find, but a great pink is a very good find indeed :)  Blushing Bud is a GREAT pink.  You all know I adore pink polishes - I have gone months where I wore only shades of pink on my nails - so I am really excited about this shade.  Blushing Bud is an awesome vibrant magenta-pink creme.  It is not a hot neon pink (I am not a fan of neon pinks) - it is a cool pink that leans more towards magenta.  Blushing Bud covered really well with two coats and dried quickly - a lot faster than I was expecting.  The polish is a medium consistency  and applies very well.  The brush is slightly wide, although not as big as OPI's brushes are - it is a really nice compromise between wide and narrow.  In my opinion, Blushing Bud is the star of the show in the Bloom collection and a must for any pink polish lover.  I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of this one here!

Blushing Bud, I heart you :)

Pure Petunia

Loving the alliteration ORLY!  And loving Pure Petunia also - this color rocks.  ORLY calls this one a 'Mauve Purple Creme.'  I just call it awesome.  Pure Petunia is a dusty plum creme with slight red undertones.  It covered perfectly with just two coats - one coat was almost enough!    I love petunias - my mom planted them every year when I was growing up.  We always had a bright pink variety (similar to Blushing Bud actually) - this Pure Petunia is a medium plum purple.  I have seen a lot of pictures of this one that look pink - this is 100% a purple polish.  I think this is a pretty unique shade.  I went through my entire collection of nearly 200 polishes and I don't have a single polish like this one.  I think it will be nice for spring, but an awesome shade for fall.  This one has been growing on me more and more all day - I really love it.  The image on the left is without flash, which I find quite accurate although a bit dark.  The image on the right is with flash and slightly warmer.

Wandering Vines

Wandering Vine is a rich, deep green.  This is true green at its best.  Wandering Vine had a much thinner consistency than the other polishes in this collection, but it still covered with just two coats.  The thinner consistency made it a little easier to work with - these dark dark colors can be a little dicey around cuticles sometimes, but I had no problem with this one.  The formula was excellent and the dry time was very fast (probably because it was thinner).  Dark green is a really chic take on the black nail trend, and this is a really fun, fresh dark green.

The Bloom Collection includes three other great shades - click on each to check out some pictures my friends have:
     Wild Wisteria, a Blue Purple Creme
     Ginger Lily, a Burnt Orange Shimmer (love that name!)
     Thorned Roses, a Red Wine Creme

Another awesome thing about ORLY?  While most polish brands are only .5 ounces, ORLY polishes are .6 ounces.  I always though those bottles looked bigger, and it seems they actually are!

ORLY's Bloom Collection is available now!  Each bottle is priced at $7.50 and like all ORLY nail lacquers, the Bloom Collection is completely free of DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde, and Formaldehyde Resin.

Check out ORLYbeauty.com to order, or find ORLY at stores like Ulta, Sally Beauty, or your local beauty supply.

My favorite pink polish! OPI Shorts Story - Day 1 of 14 Pinks

Happy February, Readers!

To kick off the first 14 days of this fabulous month, I will be posting all pink polishes :)  These fourteen days leading up to Valentine's Day will be all pink because Valentine's Day is known for the perky hue, but also because my birthday is on day eleven and as you all know, I ADORE pink!

So welcome to the 14 Days of February Pinks!  Today I have my ALL TIME FAVORITE pink polish.  I just love this color pink.  I bought it at the end of last May and by early July, I had nearly finished the bottle and was ordering a new one!  I am in desperate need of a new bottle (or two) of this one because it is a color I just can't be without.  Introducing...

OPI Shorts Story!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this polish!  It applies beautifully, covers well with just two coats, dries pretty fast, and looks GORGEOUS!  Yeah, I am totally smitten with this color - it can do no wrong.  It is my absolute favorite pink ever (and trust me, over the next 13 days you'll see many close contenders).

This was a hard one to photograph.  For the sake of Shorts Story, I built a lightbox.  By 'built a lightbox' I mean that I bought a $5 clip-on light and a couple of clear bulbs and stuck the light on the side of the only box I could find - a big pink Rubbermaid container.  But once I started snapping photos in my lightbox, they came out much more color accurate.  The image above is nearly spot-on, which I'm very happy about.

And then I dismantled my wonderful light box when my mother stopped by later that afternoon and coerced me into organizing my closet.  My lightbox is now full of old shoes that I imagine I may wear again someday (and my mother is probably rightly convinced I will not).  So, long story short (I amaze myself with how unintentionally clever I can be!), these two photos are NOT color accurate because said lightbox has once again been returned to its former glorious state of storage bin.

The photo on the right, with flash, is more accurate than that on the left.  But these two photos are not for accuracy purposes - they are for the sake of showing off a lovely little Konad design.  Hello plate m64!

OPI Shorts Story - color accurate

Blue-toned (cool) hot pink creme.

No shimmer, no glitter, no frost.  Just pure, awesome pink.

left: Shorts Story, no flash    right, Shorts Story, flash

without the flash, it appears redder, with flash, it takes on a purpler tone.

Thanks for checking out my favorite pink polish :)

Have a wonderful day and I look forward to seeing everyone for more pink polish tomorrow!