Milani Textured Creams

Hey guys! Today for you, I have two of the new Milani Textured Creams I recently picked up from my local Walgreens. I picked out Aqua Splash and Yellow Mark. These polishes retailed for $3.99 and for such a small price tag compared to some other brands that are currently following the same trend of the gritty finish, they are a much cheaper option-not to mention the only ones that are neon colored!

First up, is the lovely Aqua Splash. A lovely aqua/teal color that has a seafoam green tint to it. It is a super pretty color. I only have one issue with this polish, and it may just be me being sucky at the application, but the 'grit' or 'sand' or whatever it is they use to give it texture, seems to show through a bit. I had to use three coats to get the majority of the 'grit' which looks white, to mostly be hidden. Perhaps it was because it is more sheer than the yellow one, but I still like none the less.  :)

Yellow Mark is an awesome lemon peel yellow. VERY pigmented and applied wonderfully. Honestly, one coat would have been enough, but out of habit, I did two. I really enjoyed this color. It is so fun, bright and screams HELLO WARMER WEATHER! Now if only the weather would actually warm up...

 

I think you can sort of see what i mean about the Aqua Splash looking some what whiteish in the coloring on the left...

After having seen swatches for the whole collection, I am really kicking myself for not grabbing the purple and red...I am going to have to fix that soon! I really do love these polishes though. They are very durable. No chipping or anything so far and I've done some scrubbing since doing this mani.

How do you feel about textured polishes? Yay? Nay? Meh? Let me know what you think in the comments! I'd love to hear from you!

Spring themed Watermarble

So with spring rapidly approaching, I decided I wanted to squeeze in a spring colored mani before diving into the greens and golds for St Patty's day! For this look, I use China Glaze's Dance Baby and Aquadelic, which are both from last spring's Europop collection. I also used Sinful Colors' Candy Coated from their current spring collection as well as Orly's Prelude to a Kiss.

 

I decided to do Dance Baby, Aquadelic and Candy Coated on my other nails and saved my ring and middle fingers for water marbling, which used the prelude to a kiss as well. I used Milani's White on the Spot for the base for the marbled nails. 

 

 

I was really pleased at how well the polishes worked for marbling and that it actually came out pretty! Or at least I think so! These just might stay on for more than 24 hours! Haha! I think these just might be my favorite colors for spring...What are your favorite colors of spring?

Milani Hot Pink Frenzy, Nail Stamping and a photobomb

So I picked up Milani's Hot Pink Frenzy right before christmas and haven't had a chance to try it out til now. Boy have I been missing out! 

In addition to being a fast dry polish, it is extremely pigmented and held true to being 'one coat formula'... one easy coat provided full coverage and was completely dry in five minutes. Yes it says 60 seconds but 60 seconds in, it's still definitely smudge-able... 

As the name says, it truly is a HOT pink...looking nearly red in some lights...The photos with the bottle is pretty true to color. 

 

So this afternoon, i was trying to get some more natural looking photos and my son was sitting in my lap...and his hand and oh so important car decided to photobomb my picture lol!

    

I decided to try out a new stamping plate i ordered recently off of Amazon that has skulls, boats and anchors on it. I thought a bow would be a cute touch..so here it is!

Overall, i was thoroughly impressed with the quality of this polish. Fast drying, one coat coverage and a gorgeous color. Hope you enjoyed!

The Taste: Tuesday at 8|7c on ABC

So recently, I was selected from Influenster to partake in the 'The Taste' badge. The Taste is a reality cooking show on ABC. The best way to describe it, is it's a lot like The Voice..but with food. The judges are given one spoonful of food made by contestants (the judges don't know who made what) if they like it, they get to choose yes, if not, they choose no. Now this is where it reminds me of The Voice. If only ONE judge likes that particular food, that judge automatically gets the contestant. IF more than one judge selects them, then the contestant gets to then choose which team they would like to be on! The judges are Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre, and Brian Malarkey and they are a hoot!

I recorded the episode from last week and just got to sit down and watch it today, and I must say, I REALLY LIKED IT! My husband is a fan of some cooking shows on the food network, such as Chopped, and he also really enjoyed the show. We only had one complaint. The background music was like the same level as the voices. So spite turning the TV up to 45, you had a hard time hearing what was being said. But that isn't going to stop us from watching it...that's what captioning is for!

There is an all new episode on tonight at 8/7 Central time. So if you haven't tuned in to this awesome show, you are just in time for tonight's new episode! If you want to see last week's episode, check it out here>>> http://abc.tv/Z3jimp 

Enjoy! I know I will!

FantaChic etc GIVEAWAY!

Good Morning all! My friend Kyla of FantaChic etc is having a giveaway on her page! It is a surprise giveaway valued at $65.00!!! Be sure to enter HERE!! Good luck to all!!

What does everyone have planned for Valentine's Day?

Another Valentine's day mani and other in between manis

Okay, I have one last post for the day...I entered a nail art contest the other day with the valentine's day theme...below is what i came up with: A valentine letter on the thumb, a white heart on my index finger, an attempt at a rose on my middle finger, the word LOVE on my ring finger and lastly, an interlocking red and white dotticure...

 

Below is just some nail art i was screwing around with, like the cloud design and practicing the interlocking dotticure as well as a close up of my heart and rose. Please ignore the unsightly dry cuticles as my fingers were taking a beating from all the nail art   >.<

These photos here  ⬇⬇⬇  are just some in between manis i had done through out the week but hadn't had a chance to get around to blogging about, so here they are! 

First up  ⬆⬆⬆ is my Zoya, Ninja Polish, Nicole by OPI and Heaven nail lacquer mani. For this i used Zoya Kelly, a nice dark charcoal gray and topped it with Ninja Polish "Girly Floam". My accent nail is Heaven Nail Lacquer in Island Surf and is topped with Nicole by Opi "Glitter Fun"

Here ⬆⬆⬆ I used Wet n Wild's Fashionista Lisa and did an accent nail with blue striping tape and the bottom half is topped with Sally Hansen's Rockstar Pink glitter.

This ⬆⬆⬆ is the mani i currently am rocking. A dark purple and white interlocking dotticure. For this look, I used Milani White on the Spot and topped it diagonally with Sinful Colors Let's Talk. Then used the largest dotter and got to dotting! 

I hope you've enjoyed all this spam!

Julep Swatches

The day I won the Saved By The Bell giveaway, I also happened to win another giveaway from the lovely lady behind And Then There Was Polish!! This time it was a surprise box filled with wonderful goodies!!  <<<BIG FAT THANK YOU TO HER!!

 

Included in this box, were not only FOUR Julep polishes, Kiss Nail Dress strips, a pack of mini scented cuticle oils, striping tape, chevron nail striping tapes, julep lotions, pedicure toe foam separators, a cute little valentine with sweetheart candies, a super sweet thank you note as well as a pot of glitter that exploded and made everything glittertastic. <<<<That wasn't supposed to happen!

I was SUPER excited about getting some Julep polish because I haven't tried them yet and I have heard wonderful things about them!

The first polish i tried out was the super dark vampy plum-y purple "Viola"  It was very easy to apply and was completely opaque in two coats. It looks nearly black in most lights, but in some lighting, you can tell it's actually purple.

Up next is Stella, and boy was Stella a pain to photograph! Applied like a dream but good grief not easy to capture the true color! It reminds me of a 'softer' mustardy yellow if you will. Almost like potato salad, where mayo and mustard mix... 

The middle shot taken is about as true to color as i could capture...

Up next is Popova, from the Trina Turk 2012 Fall collection. It is a super pretty creamy kelly green. Again, applied like a dream, but thankfully wasn't anywhere near as difficult as Stella to capture in color.

Again, the middle shot is pretty true to color.

Lastly, We have Colbie, a really pretty glitter...that refused to show it's green hues...i had a very difficult time trying to capture the green shimmer..all i was getting was the gold. But i promise, it's got green to it! 

Here you can see where i've layered it over Stella and Popova.. One coat.

Overall, I thought these were great polishes, not so cooperative when it came time to photograph, but good quality for sure! The lotions are wonderful as well as the cuticle oils. I haven't used the Kiss nail dress or the striping tapes, but when i do, i'll be sure to blog about it!

Thanks for stopping by!

WNW: Saved By The Bell Collection and a NEW swatching pose

Okay I meant to get this up sooner, but darnit, it's difficult to keep up on mutliple things when you've got kiddies running around!

Anyways! Last month, I won a giveaway from Destany of Confessions Of A Sarcastic Mom and my prize was the AMAZING, HARD TO FIND Wet n Wild Saved By The Bell collection!! So you can imagine my excitement! :) I have swatches of all six fabulous colors for you today!

So I have a funny story... As I was swatching the fabulous Pink- Pom Pom Kelly...I had a photoshoot mishap as you shall see...

So, yeah...everything is going fine and great..With and without flash and then my fat ring finger had to go and smudge the crap out of my pinky...So i decided that i would photograph the next with just three fingers...which made me decide that i wanted to maybe make it my 'signature' pose of three fingers- kind of like the Three Finger Salute that is featured in the Hunger Games..and if you read my Versatile Blogger Award post, you would know that I am a huge nerd :) 

Thus, I bring you the three fingered swatch!

So, trying that again, here is Pom Pom Kelly. A super hot pink. Application was good. Completely opaque in one thicker coat. So you can see, it looks almost hot red in certain lighting but boy this baby is BRIGHT! This is topped with one coat of Seche.

Next up is the amazingly highlighter yellow in Pin Em Slater..As you can see, there is  a majorly noticeable VNL going on...so i had tried it out again another day with white undies for the Yellow and it gave it so much more pop!

Next up to bat is the wonderful purple, Fashionista Lisa..a wonderful polish that applied in three easy coats.

Straight A Jessie....A SUPER HOT FIERY ORANGE! This was two coats as well and boy is it HOT! In some lighting, this and Pom Pom Kelly look similar but don't be fooled, one is definitely pink while the other is definitely orange!

Who didn't love Screech and his major nerdiness? Up next is Nerd Alert Screech- a super bright green with a hint of shimmer to it! I really thought i wouldn't care for this with my skintone but i was pleasantly surprised at how much i actually really did like it! I used three easy to apply coats.

Last but certainly, not least...Everyone's crush, Chick Magnet Zack... A gorgeous darker teal... It reminds me of a darker version of China Glaze's Turned Up Turquoise...by no means a dupe, but a nice deeper colored cousin if you will. I used two coats with easy application as well.

Overall, I LOVED this collection and have a feeling I will be reaching for it quite often. I would highly recommend you get yours hands on it, should you get an opportunity!  And i must throw out a HUGE THANK YOU to Destany for being so great to host that giveaway and another huge thanks to her for me winning it!!  

Thanks for reading! Til next time...

Lacquered Lover NYFW Flashback Giveaway

HAVE YOU HEARD?! Lacquered Lover IS HAVING A GIVEAWAY! AND NOT JUST ANY GIVEAWAY! She has custom colored ZOYA sets from the fall 2012 collection  made just for NYFW!

Be sure to enter HERE!  Good luck to all!!

Versatile Blogger Award and Nominees!

Recently, I was nominated by the lovely Melanie of Melanie's Fancies as a Versatile Blogger! WOO HOO!!! Thank you for this. I feel so special as my blog is barely wobbling on its two feet-haha. =]

 After reading up on it, I guess the whole point to is nominate others who are fairly new to blogging. Which is cool because you get to help spread the word that there's new blogs to be read and followed! :)


Here are the rules to this award: 

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging

2. Let them know that you have nominated them.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the bloggers who have nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post

7 Random Facts About Me
     
1. I HAVE FIRE RED HAIR(I PLAN TO DO A VIDEO/BLOG POST ABOUT THE PRODUCT I USE AND SUCH AT SOME POINT, SHOULD THERE BE ENOUGH INTEREST)

                                                                           

2. I always said as a kid that when i grew up, i wanted twins...WELL I GOT THEM! AND ANOTHER ONE 17 MONTHS LATER! These are my boys on halloween last year(2012), from left to right- Brock, Liam and Michael(Mikey)

3. I love singing. Seriously, LOVE music and singing and musicals. I sang in middle and high school. Sang at our graduation ceremony and was later asked that summer if i would be interested in singing for sporting events for the local junior college...i had to turn them down as I was leaving for the military, which leads us to random fact #4

4. I was in the Air Force for a little over two years of active duty service. I left for bootcamp a week after my 19th birthday. I cut my career short when shark boy^^ up there decided he was going to become a part of the family about two years too early lol. We wanted the twins to be older before having another child but apparently THAT wasn't the plan after all! So i decided to get out of the military to be a stay at home mom. I always dreamed of having a long term military career but my kids definitely come first.

5. Also going along with the military theme...i met my husband, Brian in tech school..we found out that we were actually a week apart in training and had been in the same squadron for bootcamp the entire time..marching around one another and never even knew it. He said he saw me at karaoke one night but didn't talk to me because he thought i wouldn't be interested. But a week later he saw me again and boy did he get my attention! He was obnoxious as heck<<but he was cute, so i stuck around.. People bet that we wouldn't last six months married and in two months, we will be celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary! look at us now! :)

6. I'm a nerd...no, seriously. Doctor Who, Eureka,  Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight(ONLY FOR THE LOVE STORY-i could care less about the vampires and whatnot), True Blood, Game of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, The Tenth Kingdom... I find myself constantly rereading the books and shows/movies. I've always been a bookworm and don't ever plan to change that! 

7. Christmas...i love the holidays so much that i have been banned from certain things until black friday...like peppermint flavored drinks and treats as well as wintery scented candles and/or scentsy and of course...the movies and music.  

I nominate the following for the Versatile Blogging award:

1. The Nail Files

2. The Polish Fox

3. Nails and a Westie

4. Miss Mani Monster

5.Polish & Puppies

6.Aglayanails

7.Southern Sparkle Nail Art

8.Just Skin, Bones and Nails

9.Splashes of Polish

10.Shannail's

11.Neffy's Nail Corner

12.Sugar Coated Nails

13.A dash of this & a pinch of that

14.MommiesManis

15.Me And My Nail Polish

And i have a bonus one!!!

16. Chansi's Mani Madness

Glitter Bomb!

Hey guys, sorry i've been quiet the last week or so. Life can be awfully crazy with little ones running around! My nails have been splitting a lot lately and i had a nasty looking crack starting on my thumbnail so i decided to do a very thin layer of acrylic on my nails...so if they look slightly different, THAT would be why. I tried to keep it as natural looking as possible. What do you think?

 Anyways enough rambling, i have a new mani to share with y'all! This one is glittertastic! Glitter, glitter and more glitter! :)

For this look, i used Nicole by OPI's Glitter Fun from the Selena Gomez Collection, China Glaze's Polarized and Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Rockstar Pink!

   

So for my accent nails, i did polarized topped with confetti fun to help pull out a bit more of the colored glitter pieces from the polarized. as you can see it's a super silvery glitter but it does have some small colored glitter pieces in it..so i topped it off with the confetti fun. i think the bigger pieces from the confetti fun help to make the smaller pieces a bit more noticeable. << pretty sure i just repeated myself twice there haha... my other fingers are the rockstar pink.

I love all three of these glitters,  but rockstar pink has to be my favorite of the three. A friend of mine from my school days, Naomi, had shown me a mani of hers using that color and i instantly fell in love! I spent a month or so searching for it and was over the moon when i found it!

WARNING:PICTURE SPAMMAGE!

     

yay for glitter!! Whenever i'm in a slump, glitter or neon is my go to choice of polish, this time i opted for mega sparkle!  I hope you enjoyed this!