Zoya Lolly with Pure Ice Tease

  Hello peoples! Happy summer!  I got off from school on Wednesday and couldn't wait to do another mani.  My problem was choosing which one!

  I'm gonna be honest, daaaammnn that last mani lasted a while.  I'm not 100% sure if it was the top coat that helped or if it was the shatter but it held well!  I kinda forced it off my fingers because nail polish remover would not have worked and I didn't have any tip wear anyway! Oh well!

Very blurry but very accurate (color) picture.
Three coats I probably would not have been able to get away with two because of bald spots.

Matte!  Literally dried within seconds which can sometimes be a bad thing.   Too dark a picture.

After playing with the modes on my phone and figuring out the white balance, I got it true to color.  Well, at least on my screen.

The two bottles, Pure Ice Tease and Zoya Lolly.  Excuse the appearance of the left bottle.  I had used "The Bottle Trick" on it.  If you don't know what the bottle trick is, it is when you use the edge of the cap to get the nail polish off the edge of your skin/nail.  Because of that, I almost never have to use nail polish remover.  As you can see, I did not use it on the Lolly bottle because I love the frosted cap :).

Shiny :P.  I really didn't want to lay anything over Lolly but I looked over my stash and said next time I won't layer it :).

A little too dark. 1 coat NailGrowth + 3 coats Lolly + 1 coat Tease + 2 coats Top Coat.
It looks shinier in the pictures than in real life.  It looks a little matte actually in real life.  Weird...

Much better!  Tease had this purple, blue, and silver tiny micro glitter in it. LOVE!

  Love this!  I don't EVER wear pink but I really like this!  If my mom ever runs out of hot pink nail polish, then this combo would work for her.

Happy painting,

Em

Color Club's Back to Boho press release

COLOR CLUB BACK TO BOHO COLLECTION

New York, NY - June 2011 
  Color Club, a New York based cosmetic brand specializing in nail and lip products, announced today its new "Back to Boho" Fall 2011 Collection. The new collection features twelve 70's inspired longwearing nail polish shades perfect for creating an effortless "Boho Glam" look. The collection will be available in September of 2011. With fun bohemian vintage inspired names, the Color Club "Back to Boho" Collection shades include:

Nomadic in Nude - a must have neutral for the season; off white and creamy

Earthy Angel - Gorgeous creamy camel

New Bohemian - a new 70's take on Tiffany Blue

Shabby Drab - Purple greige. The ultimate boho color

Rad Nomad - Purple brown creme

Red-ical Gypsy - Boho chic red, a new take on a vintage classic red

Boho Mojo - Silvery, beige pearl

Nouveau Vintage - The perfect understated vintage frosty gold

Voodoo You Do  - The perfect charcoal grey for the season with blue undertones

Arts Crafty - The ultimate muted military green

Blue-topia - Just as it sounds, the perfect shade of deep blue

Rebel Spirit - Deep chocolate brown creme

Color Club is all about color and renowned for its fun, high performance, rich shades and exceptionally safe products. All nail colors are vegan, Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP and paraben-free - and made in New York, NY, with the best raw materials. Color Club products are made in the USA and are not tested on animals. Products are available at shopcolorclub.com.

ABOUT COLOR CLUB


Color Club is a nail polish brand developed by Forsythe Cosmetic Group. Founded in 1979, the Forsythe Cosmetic Group is a New York-based cosmetic company widely regarded worldwide as a pioneer within the professional beauty industry. A global brand with products represented in more than 95 countries, Forsythe was one of the first companies to recognize and address the needs of the professional nail salon, a new phenomenon at the time. Rather quickly, the Forsythe name became synonymous with excellent, performance-proven products available in a diverse range of eye-catching shades. Today, more than three decades later, the Forsythe Cosmetic Group remains a vanguard in the beauty business by constantly introducing new concepts and elevating industry standards. Forsythe manufactures every product it offers, a practice that ensures superior color-matching quality control and the ability to respond quickly to consumer demands for the latest and most exciting trends in nail color, nail treatments and lip color.


(I was not asked to put the press release on my blog)

Mega Haul (oh gosh...)

My mega haul.  It costed about $34.

Forever 21- Love & Beauty "Multi"
Forever 21- Love & Beauty "Green/Clear"
Hot Topic "Green"
Claires- Black Light Polish "Pink"

Five Below: Funky Fingers in "Riot", "220 Volts", and "Sand and Stilettos" (MY FIRST HOLO!)

Ulta- Zoya "Phoebe" and "Mitzi"
Ulta- China Glaze "Emerald Fitzgerald"

My stash (too many black bottles and shadows grr, lol) consists of 78 polishes.

Well that's it.  My new lovely ten polishes are now added.

Happy painting,

Em

DEB and OPI Black Shatter

  During my spanish final today, I took off all my nail polish.  Great right?  So when I got home, I chose to do a neon mani instead of the matte one I had wanted to do.

Blurry DEB picture. 2 coats. I really do love this color.  I just had a problem applying it today.

The two polishes. (DEB unnamed)

I love how the neon looked under the shatter :)

Favorite finger: middle one.  GIANT LIGHTNING BOLT!

  For some odd reason, applying the DEB polish was horrendous.  Like it was too watery at some times, too thick at some times, etc.  Really random.  And this polish isn't even that old!  Like maybe this past January or February or something like that.  Usually I get away with doing three or four thin coats but this time I did a thick one and a thin one.  2 coats DEB + 1 coat OPI + 1 coat (currently) top coat = 4 coats.
  Like I said, entries will come two to four times a week now.  I got a lot of untrieds ;).

Happy shattering,
Em

Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters

  My camera (my good one) decided to not focus.  It doesn't like glitter. :)  I'm gonna let the pictures do most of the talking.

After one coat.  Not very covering but I didn't expect it to anyway.

Three coats plus top coat.

Three coats

My favorite unfocused picture! Personally, I think it looks really good :)

The rare picture of my right hand.  Like the rings?

  Well there isn't much to say about this one.  I liked it.  To me, glitter means good luck and I need a LOT of that in these finals.  Oh well!  English and science done but I still have band, spanish, drawing, and history to go.

  This mani was done Thursday in the interest of having good luck for english and science on Friday.

  THIS WAS NOT A QUICK DRY!  WET N WILD WAS WRONG!  lol.  But there were actually 5 glitters.  Silver big hex, blue mini hex, green mini hex, purple tiny hex, and red tiny circles.

Happy painting,

Em

P.S.- Now that it is summer, nail polish reviews will be coming more often instead of just every week :)

Mini Haul

  So I was out shopping last night.  I really haven't gone out to the mall or anything since like, May (I wince at the thought).  But while I was out, I picked up five new polishes.  Well that and the two that I got a couple weeks ago but have not reviewed yet.

  First I was out at Wal-Mart where I picked up a Wet n Wild and a Revlon (the two weeks ago trip).  Then yesterday I went to Target and picked up three Sinful Colors ones.  Lastly, I went to Ulta and picked up an OPI and a Zoya.  While I was there I had to resist the clearance section and two other Zoya's that I really want and totally regret not picking up.
  At least I put some of my birthday money to good use :P.

   From left to right: Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters, Revlon Minted, Sinful Colors Black on Black, Sinful Colors Snow White, Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby, OPI Black Shatter, and Zoya Lolly.

  And here they are by trip:

Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters
Revlon Minted

Sinful Colors Black on Black
Sinful Colors Snow White
Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

OPI Black Shatter
Zoya Lolly

  Like I said, I now regret not getting OPI's Ogre-the-Top Blue and Zoya's Phoebe and Mitzi.

  Review on Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters coming later today.

Happy shopping,

Em

Wet n Wild Rock Solid Review: 223 Pretty in Pink Diamonds

  Okay... Let's see if I can type on an iPod touch... Hmm not working out for me so far.
  So today I have for you a Wet n Wild color that has been in my stash since forever ago. I got it as a Hanukkah present at least two years ago. It must've been one of my first actually decent nail polishes that weren't no name brands.
  This one has been sittig in my stash COMPLETELY UNUSED. I was never big into the I'm-so-sheer-that-you-can't-wear-me-alone type thing. If you couldn't tell already, I am more into big, opaque colors that you would never see my mother pick up off the shelf at a store. It's "too bold" for some people. But this color is absolutely the opposite. I'm nor used to wearing light and sheer pinks, rather I am not used to wearing pinks at all. So this was a shocker when I decided to wear it.
  Well, it was unused on my nails.  I had used it for random things like splatter painting (highly fun) but it never made it's little way onto my little nails.
  I decided to do my first coat late Friday night when I got home from my best friend's dance showcase. After the first coat, my mom got angry and asked how many more coats. Now this ain't a color that you can last with less than three coats (at least) with. I was too tired to do coats two and three and maybe four on Friday night so I just went to bed (where I am laying on my mom's iPod and typing this (I so do bot understand how people type on this type of thing 24/7. I have so many spelling errors typing on this little touch screen keyboard).
  So the next day (not sure if it's morning like I said I am typing this the night before) I put on coats two and three, and then top coat.  Coats two and three didn't look very different from each other other than a tiny bit darker.
  Application was great.  I had a nice brush and the polish wasn't too thick at all.  That's pretty good for a polish that's at least two years old.  Very good.  And the bottle is so cute and very easy to hold.  It's not your usual OPI shape or even your regular Wet n Wild shape.  For some reason the bottle reminds me of the bottle of my liquid eyeliner...
  The picture doesn't do it justice because it doesn't show the micro glitter.
  I would describe this color as an extremely light coral or a peach base.  The micro glitter in it is light pink and gold.  In the light the color turned baby pink with red, orange, pink, and gold micro glitter in it. I am so pissed that I haven't used this color earlier.  I definitely thought that I would have a lot of VNL with this but almost none at all.  Only a little bit on a few nails.  That's amazing for a very sheer color.

Argg these pictures weren't supposed to be this blurry. Three coats.

 Another blurry one.  Two coats.  This one is the most accurate to the color.

 You can see a tiny bit of glitter on the middle finger.

 Excuse the distressed look of my fingers. One solid coat. Pretty good for one coat, eh?

Still one coat.  Pretty accurate to actual color.












  Hmm, I had a picture to show the (un-seeable) diference between coats two and three, but I can find it.  Oh well.
  I am surprised that I like this!


Happy painting,
Em

Formaldehyde

  Today when I was watching the news, they had a report about formaldehyde.  I was like, "Hmm I think that formaldehyde is in nail polish but I'm not sure..."  So I just went and looked it up.  For once, I was right.
  Formaldehyde is CH2O.  It is commonly found in building materials and as a bacteria killer and (ahem) it is found in nail polish.  Well, not all nail polish.  Some brands (namely Zoya, Wet n Wild Fastdry, Finger Paints, Orly, etc.) do not contain formaldehyde and they are commonly nicknamed 4-Free.  Don't quote me on this but I think that it might be one of the components that makes nail polish smell so strongly.

  The reason that I am telling you all this is because it was on the news today.  It was (finally) recognized by the United States government as a carcinogen.  If you are like me and didn't know what the heck a carcinogen is, then it is something that has been proven to cause cancer.  Before the U.S. had recognized it, Canada had declared it as a toxic material in 1999 and so did some countries in Europe.
  Now this kinda gets me scared.  For all you nail bloggies out there who swatch every day, use the 4-Free.  I know I sound totally hypocritical saying that (because I don't use it myself) but as of now, I can't afford to continually buy polishes as expensive as Zoya.
  Honestly, it has long been suspected to cause cancer.  But until today (or yesterday) it was not officially declared.  Girls (and boys), we have to be careful and use as little of not 4-Free nail polishes as we can.  We have to try to keep ourselves from getting cancer.

The industrial chemical formaldehyde and a botanical known as aristolochic acids are listed as known human carcinogens. Six other substances — captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form), certain inhalable glass wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine, and styrene — are added as substances that are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. With these additions, the 12th Report on Carcinogens now includes 240 listings. It is available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/11/why-the-federal-government-finally-acted-on-chemical-safety/#ixzz1P1ybJSvS

The report found that concerning amounts of formaldehyde could be encountered in plywood and particle boards, as well as in hair salons and in mortuaries. While the most intense source of exposure will be for workers in some manufacturing plants — who might encounter large concentrations of formaldehyde on a frequent basis — ordinary consumers should seek to avoid exposure to the chemical as well. (We reported on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's warning in April about the Brazilian blowout hair treatment, which can expose salon workers and customers to dangerous levels of formaldehyde.) Studies of mortuary workers exposed to high levels of formaldehyde have shown increased incidences of certain kinds of rare nasal cancers.

From the New York Times:

Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, said that formaldehyde is both worrisome and inescapable. “It's the smell in new houses, and it's in cosmetics like nail polish,” he said. “All a reasonable person can do is manage their exposure and decrease it to as little as possible. It's everywhere.”

Consumers can reduce their exposure to formaldehyde by avoiding pressed-wood products or buying only those that are labeled as U.L.E.F. (ultra-low-emitting formaldehyde), N.A.F. (no added formaldehyde) or C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) Phase 1 or Phase 2 compliant.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/11/why-the-federal-government-finally-acted-on-chemical-safety/#ixzz1P1z04tRn


So you don't have to totally eliminate it, but use it as sparingly as possible please!


Be 4-Free,
Em

My Research...

  I decided to conduct my own little experiment instead of doing my history project.  I used the blogs that I follow (a total of about twenty-five) and wanted to figure out what the most popular nail polish brand and color category is...
  Surprisingly, this really didn't take too long.  Though I really only payed attention to the top two for brands and the top three or four for colors.

Brands...
1. OPI
2. China Glaze (barely in second)

Colors...
1. Blue/Green (wayy in first)
2. Purple
3. Pink (I am surprised by this because "On Wednesdays We Wear Pink")


  And just to make life more fun, I decided to figure out the most popular colors (top five) for many top brands like OPI and China Glaze and Zoya etc.

OPI
1. Black Shatter
2. Silver Shatter
3. Teenage Dream
4. Entire Katy Perry Collection
5. Entire Pirates of the Caribbean Collection

China Glaze
1. Crackle
2. For Audrey
3. Entire OMG Collection
4. Ruby Pumps
5. Entire Tronica Collection

Color Club
1. Worth the Risque
2. Fashion Addict
3. Revvvolution
4. Alter Ego
5. Poptastic

Sally Hansen
1. Hidden Treasure
2. Nail Strips
3. Barracuda
4. Yellow Kitty
5. Sequin Scandal

Orly
1. Confetti
2. Rage
3. Space Cadet
4. Fancy Fuchsia
5. Bubbly Bombshell

Deborah Lippmann
1. Happy Birthday
2. Across the Universe
3. Gitter in the Air
4. Bad Romance
5. Boom Boom Pow

Rescue Beauty Lounge
1. Scrangie
2. Coral
3. Grunge
4. 360
5. Anne

MAC
1. Mischievous Mint
2. Ice Cream Cake
3. Made to Order
4. Bad Fairy
5. Coral Wave

Finger Paints
1. Lavendar Hilight
2. Gossamer White
3. Psychadelic Sunshine
4. Amethyst Atelier
5. Pink Imagination

Essie
1. Allure
2. Ballet Slippers
3. Nice is Nice
4. French Affair
5. Fiji

Sinful Colors
1. Soulmate
2. Hazard
3. Easy Going
4. Nirvana
5. Frenzy

Nubar
1. 2010 Collection
2. Reclaim
3. Gem
4. Absolute
5. Treasure

My favorite colors to discover were the Deborah Lippmann ones.  Grr I want them so much!

Happy discovering,
Em


DISCLAIMER- These are not official.  These are my guesses from the research that I have done.

A SUPER LONG POST FOR YOU! OPI and Love & Beauty Reviews: All the Berry Best Mini and Silver

The All the Berry Best is apparently from Ulta's 2010 OPI minis collection (FINALLY FOUND THE NAMES OF THEM!).

  I felt like I needed a red manicure because I never do red mani's.  Mainly because I think that it is too daring for me.  But since I currently contain every emotion except daring, then I just decided to go for it.  I really want to sit here and complain about how desultory (vocab word! and who said that I can't use them in everyday language (it means jumping from one thing to another randomly (basically discombobulated))) my life is but I'm just going to spare you the details and just tell you the reasons.
  My best guy friend likes me but he kinda screwed up so now I'm not sure if I'm going to say yes to him asking me out again (already done twice), my other best guy friend is going to Europe soon and can't receive texts there,  finals (oh god...), school newspaper screw-up which kinda really irks me, and I'm thinking about trying a new instrument (trumpet instead of my flute (I can play three notes!)) but my parents totally don't support me on it and my best friend's best friend gave me a major reason not to switch which happens to be a big deal for me so now I really don't know :(.
  So now back onto what the blog is about, nail polish.  I wanted red (daring) but you already know that. So after I took my newspaper off on Tuesday, I proved to myself that I can't even last a day without any nail polish whatsoever on my nails so I had to use my Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle which kept me from biting :P.  So that was the base coat for this mani.  While I was at the mall yesterday (oh thank god! the mall!!), I was at Forever 21 and saw this silver glitter nail polish and it just screamed to me.  It reminds me of a disco ball :).
BIG BONUS! ONE COAT OF EACH! ONLY ONE COAT!
  Okay I took a LOT of pictures of this Christmas-y mani...

The OPI bottle.  Please excuse the red on the cap.  Is this Manicurist in Seville?  Color is much darker than bottle.  See the gold in the bottle?? :) 

Outdoors (yay sun!) in shade.  With Manicurist of Seville.

Outdoors in shade.

 Indoors from the Macintop.

Outdoors in very dark shade.  Glitter looks too concentrated here :P

 Outdoors in blinding sun.  Not a very good picture but it shows the red perfectly. Silver is more concentrated though.

Outdoors in shade but not too much shade.  This is pretty accurate.

Nails with bottle of Silver.

Too sunny so I got an icky glare.

Silver Love & Beauty bottle.

The Macintop really does not want to cooperate so I apologize for the veryy messy post.


Happy glittering,
Em

P.S.- WTF with this formatting?? and thank you Blogger for saving my post WITH PICTURES so when I backspaced I didn't lost everything. :)