Happy Halloween! :)

I hope you all are spending the day stuffing your faces with candy! I'm sure that's what I'll be doing... :D

I have something really special for you today! In my package from Sarah at Samarium's Swatches, I found a pretty little franken (my first!) that Sarah had made. She calls it Pumpkin Patch and it's a pretty little orange polish packed with glitter. Here's a photo of the bottle:

Isn't it lovely? Since it's a tiny bottle and I want to treasure it forever and ever, I used it sparingly and just layered it over OPI Chop-Sticking To My Story on my ring finger nail. I stamped a pumpkin over it with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme and added a green rhinestone to the stem. For the rest of my fingers, I used two coats of China Glaze Midtown Magic under one coat of Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice (<3<3<3). 

Now to start working on the Christmas/winter holiday manis! Eeee :)

Giveaway Winner!

Hello everyone! I hope you're all warm and comfy today; we're getting snowed in here as I type this. Who would have expected this much snow in October?

Anyway, the more exciting news I have for you today is the announcement of the winner of my 200 Follower Giveaway. So here we go:

And the winner is Amy from Gotham Polish! I have e-mailed her and she has 24 hours to respond; in the case that she doesn't respond, I will choose another winner. Thank you all so much for entering and I hope you have a lovely evening!

EDIT: I've heard from Amy and will be getting her package out to her tomorrow. Thanks again everyone!

Liebster Blog Award

Catharina from Nails by Catharina nominated me for the Liebster Blog award this morning! Thank you Catharina :) I truly appreciate every single bit of support I get and every reader I have and this is an awesome way to help share my favorite blogs with my readers. Here are the rules if you don't know what getting the Liebster Blog award means:

- Copy and paste the award on your blog.
- Thank the giver and link back to the one who gave this to you.
- Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
- Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

So, here are my nominees:


1. Glitta Gloves - Kirsten has incredible nails and incredible swatches! Not to mention she's a total sweetheart and her posts are hilarious; I'm always cracking up when I read her blog!


2. The Small Things Blog - I just recently stumbled across this blog and I am in love with this lady's hair! She does amazing tutorials too, get over there and check them out! 


3. Let Them Have Polish - Cristina is one of the two people who inspired to start sharing my love for nail polish on the internet. I remember looking through her blog for hours and marveling at her awesome design and how clean her polishing was. 


4. The Nail Addict - This girl's nails are amazing... seriously... I have no words, just go look!


5. The Nailasaurus - Talk about creativity. Sammy does some of the most amazing freehand nail art I've ever seen. I'd be satisfied if I could be HALF as good as her. 


So there you have it, my top 5 blogs as of this moment. Please, please go check them out if you haven't already and send them some love; each and every one of them deserves it! :)

Confetti Red Carpet

This is a very indirect Halloween mani; it really has nothing to do with Halloween, but I wore it to my family's Halloween party last weekend so it counts ;). My boyfriend and I went as Allie and Noah from the movie The Notebook. I'm pretty sure she wore red nails at some point in the movie, so that's why I went with red. Red Carpet is an awesome red creme that covered perfectly in two coats, but beware of the staining! If you remove it carefully, you should be able to avoid it for the most part, but it could easily get messy.

Since one of the most memorable lines in the movie deals with birds (for those who don't know, it's "if you're a bird, I'm a bird"), I stamped some feathers with OPI Romeo & Joliet on all my nails and then added a bird with white Konad Special Polish. I hate that bird, but it was the only bird stamp I could find on all my plates. I would definitely do this mani again with just the feathers, I love how subtle they are.

EDIT: I guess some of you want to see our costumes, huh? There were actually a few people that knew who we were without us having to tell them, but everyone that we had to tell (and who had seen the movie) went "OOOH yeah!" and got it right away. I did a curly up-do like she wore in the boat scene (that's the first photo, I was so proud!) and I found my dress at Plato's Closet for $18! It was originally from Express!

Dr.'s Remedy Fall 2011 Press Release

Dr.'s REMEDY FALL FEVER 2011 Autumn Allure Like Never Before Fall 2011 will be fierce: leaves will change, for sure, and temps will follow suit. But the real news relates to the hues of this season. Indeed, we're revolutionarily-ready to welcome a crisper, cleaner, clearer collection of colors, kudos to Dr.'s REMEDY insight and excitement over autumn. These hues celebrate the season that screams renewal: a rich bordeaux; a modern burgundy; a navy-meets-royal blue. We welcome you to invite your nails to dance in Dr.'s REMEDY FALL FEVER 2011. The vibrant shade collection of Enriched Nail Polish includes: DEFENSE Deep Red: A rich bordeaux with a mystifying matte finish NOBEL Navy: A sea-at-dusk shade that reflects light and brings dimension to tips and toes alike BALANCE Brick: A modern maroon with body and balance                    Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is $17 and available for purchase online at www.remedynails.com.             Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails; their Enriched Nail Polish is the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.  Please excuse me, I need to wipe the drool off my face. A matte, a gorgeous navy, and a perfectly-fall dark red in one collection? Yes, please!

Confetti Moonstruck

EDIT: I just woke up to find that I've reached 300 followers! THANK YOU! Unfortunately, I don't have a giveaway planned for this because I wasn't planning on reaching it so quickly, but I want you all to know how happy I am that so many of you enjoy what I do! And you can still enter the 200 follower giveaway here! Thank you all for your continued interest and support! :)

Confetti is a cheapy drugstore brand that CVS carries for $1.99. They have quite a few colors that look decent, but I was always hesitant to buy them because I wasn't sure how the formula would be. I got a coupon for CVS in my e-mail and naturally needed to use it so, for some strange reason, I grabbed Moonstruck.

Now, time for a little story. The China Glaze Anchors Away collection is responsible for my current obsession with nail polish. If you know me, you know I've been obsessed with anchors and nautical-themed things for years now, so it should be no shock to you that I loved this collection. However, I remember seeing Below Deck and thinking, "Ew, who would wear a color like that?"

Five months later, the answer is "me." Moonstruck reminds me very strongly of the photos I've seen of Below Deck and I love it. It's one of those weird, purple/gray/brown colors and it is the perfect medium-toned neutral. As for Confetti's formula, it's much better than I anticipated. I still had to use three coats for this mani, but they applied very well and dried relatively quick.

I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme to stamp the leopard print on my accent nails and dotted China Glaze Pool Party into some of the spots to make it more interesting. I am so happy with this one!

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

I know you guys are probably getting sick of seeing this one by now, but I just found it at Rite Aid a few days ago and I have to share it. This is Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, an awesome black polish with purple hex and tiny round glitter. Want to know something even better? This is apparently a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance. I layered two coats of Facets of Fuchsia over one coat of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme so that the glitter wouldn't drag when I applied it. 

Fantasy Makers Black Magic

Hey guys! I have another Halloween mani for you today! I got Fantasy Makers Black Magic from one of the sweetest nail bloggers I know, Sarah from Samarium's Swatches. Fantasy Makers nail polishes come in little bottles that have tombstones on top of them (which I didn't think to take a picture of *facepalm*). They aren't nearly as hard to polish with as the Claw Polish caps, though. 

Black Magic has a bunch of multi-colored glitter in it that keeps it from being a typical, boring black polish. I used three coats for these photos, then topped it off with Seche Vite. When it was completely dry, I taped off a "mummy" design and used Essie Matte About You for the matte effect. This was influenced by Jane's awesome manis at Nailside and is PERFECT for Halloween.

Sinful Colors Secret Admirer

When I was younger, my mom used to buy these awesome metallic water-slide decals around Halloween and let me wear them over black nail polish. It was literally my favorite part of Halloween. We haven't been able to find them for years now, which is sad because they were so cool; I'm sure they were made by Fantasy Makers and discontinued or something. Stamping is going to have to be the next best thing, I suppose!

I went through all my plates and picked out any that had Halloween-themed images on them and stamped away! The base is two coats of Sinful Colors Secret Admirer, which is an awesome black polish with tons of silvery shimmer that softens the harshness of the black. I used China Glaze Sci Fi for the stamping and I gave my spider a little black rhinestone accent. :)

Claw Polish Phantom

Claw Polish is one of those brands that surfaces around Halloween and sells cute little themed polishes to rope in suckers like me. I found them at my local CVS (which is shocking since my closest CVS sucks!) and decided to pick up Phantom, the only one in the display that really stood out as being different from anything else I owned. At first, it just looks like a normal light-ish gray creme, but when you look closer, you can see all the awesome purple, blue and silver shimmer particles that make Phantom really stand out. 

This was two very patient coats. The biggest downfall of Claw Polish is that awful brush handle AKA the most awkward thing to hold and polish with EVER. But if you can get past that, the end result is totally worth it. Behold, super close macro shot!

And then, since this is a Halloween-themed polish, I did some Halloween-themed stamping inspired by Kristin at The Manicured Monkey! I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme to stamp the little skull and bones and added some green rhinestone eyes. Unfortunately, his one eye-hole is bigger than the other, so he looks a little lazy-eyed from certain angles. Oh well, makes him creepier, right?

OPI Bright Lights, Big Color

I have wanted this color for aaaaaaages... and now that summer is over, I finally have it! This is OPI Bright Lights, Big Color, the most beautiful coral with gold shimmer evaaaaar. Seriously, do you guys have eyes? Can you see that gold shimmer in the bottle there? I wish I hadn't waited so long to buy this; I would have worn it all summer! 

I used two coats here (I think.. it may have been three). As usual, the formula was great and the only complaint I have is with OPI's Pro Wide brush. My nail beds are very narrow and I end up with polish all over my skin since the brush is so wide. This is obviously not the end of the world, it just means more time spent cleaning up. But it's sooooo worth it for this one! 

On a personal note, today is my six-year dating anniversary with my boyfriend :) <3

Dr.'s Remedy Participates in Breast Cancer Awareness

DR.'S REMEDY PARTICIPATES IN BREAST CANCER AWARENESS   Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish in Positive Pink will add a healthy dose of color to your look. 20% of the proceeds from each Positive Pink Enriched Nail Polish purchased at an Everything But Water store or their website will go to Living Beyond Breast Cancer. The polish is a lovely, healthysplash of toxin-free, vitamin-enhanced color for your nails. $17. The nail polish is available ateverythingbutwater.com/in-the-pink.   Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails; their Enriched Nail Polish is the first-ever nail polish on the market created by doctors and approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.

Color Club Foiled: Part Two

And here you go! The second (cool-toned) half of the incredible Color Club Foiled collection! So without further ado... 


Perfect Mol-Ten surprised me just like Antiquated did; I really was not expecting to like it this much! Any shades of green other than dark ones just don't really fly with me, but this is an exception. It's like an ice-y, mint leaf green that just glows!

Lumen-ICEcent has a silly name, but it really does remind me of ice. Light blue with a TON of silver, almost to the point of obscuring the blue. I'm not really crazy about this one, actually. I'm too pale for this one :(

Cold Metal is AMAAZINGGG! It's a deep blue metallic that is so pigmented I only needed one coat! I bet this one will be especially awesome for stamping (though I'd bet that every polish in this collection will be very adequate for stamping).

And since I recently acquired Essie Matte About You, I thought I'd try it out over Cold Metal. Prepare to be blown away by beauty:

Incredible, right? I'm going to be mattifying everything in sight mwahaha! You can find this collection for $7.99 at certain Ross stores and online on sites like TransDesign. Can you really deny it at that price??

Color Club Foiled: Part One

Heyyyyya! Guess what? I've never bought an entire nail polish collection before now! Foiled is my first :) And man, it is one hell of a first. I'm going to split them up into two different posts, so here are the warm colors...

Antiquated is a champagne-colored metallic. I really didn't think I'd like this one but once I put it on, I was blown away. I feel like it just works so well with my skin tone.

Foil Me Once is a light pink/silver foil. This one is pretty too... just not really my thing. Reminds me of princesses and tea parties and little girls.

Mmm... Hot Like Lava... so hot and pink! This one is so pigmented and awesome! Oddly enough, even though this is pink, it doesn't make me feel like a little girl for wearing it. This was actually the first of the set that I wore as a full mani.

For consistency's sake, I used two coats for all colors. Stay tuned for the cool half of the Foiled collection on Wednesday!

China Glaze CG In The City

CG In The City is part of the fall Metro collection that China Glaze released a month or so ago. It's one of only two polishes that I bought from that collection and it certainly was a good choice. Purple has been one of my favorite colors since I was a kid, so naturally I'm thrilled that CG made such an awesome purple glitter.

I ended up doing three or four coats of CG In The City in order to get it opaque. It dried quickly and a coat of Seche Vite smoothed it out nicely. If you enlarge the image, you can see that there is not only purple glitter, but black, silver, and copper/orange too.

As always with these kind of glitters, prepare for hell when you try to remove it. The best method I have found so far it to apply a coat of top coat just before you are ready to remove and then take your cotton round/ball and press down on the nail and swipe towards the free edge. This removes the majority of the polish and you just have to clean up around the edges of the nail.

OPI Pumpkin Butter Avojuice

You guys... seriously... if you don't own some type of Avojuice, you need to go buy some right now! I ordered the Pumpkin Butter scent when I used my gift certificate from AveYou; I literally just bought it because it was pumpkin-scented, I really didn't care about how well it worked as a lotion. I was SO pleasantly surprised. 

When you first put it on, it feels a little greasy and you get kind of skeptical if it will soak into your skin or not. However, after a minute or so, it completely soaks in and your hands feel super soft and they smell delicious! There is absolutely no oily feeling left on your skin. This is a really light lotion but it does a really great job at moisturizing. 

Now, the scent... At first, it was a little overpowering. It didn't jump out to me as being distinctly pumpkin, probably because the only pumpkin thing that I constantly smell is my B&BW Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candles and I expected it to smell like that. However, after wearing this a couple times, the scent has really grown on me and I love it! The extra additions of cinnamon and nutmeg really give it a nice variety and keep it from being too overbearingly pumpkin-scented.

The Pumpkin Butter Avojuice comes in the 6.6oz pump bottle pictured above and also in a 1oz trial/travel size. I bought both with the intention of filling up the travel bottle from the pump bottle. I also think I may need to order some back up bottles incase they discontinue this... I know I normally don't do product reviews outside of polish, but I was really impressed with this and wanted to share it will all of you! 

Julep Maggie

Haiiiiii guys! One of my readers wanted to see Julep Maggie, so I ordered it with one of my referral credits and here it is! Maggie has an amethyst-toned base with the most awesome glitter pieces ever. They flash pink, blue, silver and different shades of purple depending on the lighting.

Here's a shot of the glitter! I used two coats for what you see here and it covered perfectly. I hope my swatches do this polish justice and that they are satisfactory for you ladies who wanted to see it!

Remember I mentioned that I got Essie Matte About You? Yeah, I am seriously in love with it. I used tape to make the x-shape on my accent nails, but I think I should have removed the tape earlier since it doesn't look quite right. This mani was so awesome though... I love the different finishes together!

China Glaze 3D Fantasy

As most of you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. In honor of all the women (and men) who have fought against breast cancer, I decided to use my newly acquired 3D Fantasy and make an awareness mani. I used two coats of 3D Fantasy on all my nails except my ring finger and used one coat of CG White on White and two coats of CG Frosty on that one. After they dried throughly, I used a nail art brush to draw a pink ribbon (using 3D Fantasy) over the white nail.

3D Fantasy was part of China Glaze's Tronica collection of scattered holographic polishes. It is GORGEOUS! The application was so smooth and perfect and the color is just beautiful.

Frosty is equally amazing. This one was part of a recent Holiday collection and looks just as glittery as newly fallen snow. I want to wear this mani for the entire month of October. I love it!

200 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY!

Hello awesome readers, thanks to all of you, I've reached another blogging milestone! To my old followers, thank you for sticking with me and for sharing my blog with others! To my new followers, welcome! I hope you enjoy what you find here! :)

To show my thanks, I'm hosting another giveaway for all of you! One lucky winner will win these four polishes: Julep Stefani and Sienna, OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees and Revlon Stormy, as well as a crystal nail file from Julep and toe separators from OPI.

Here are the rules:
1. You must be a follower (new followers are always welcome!)
2. You must fill out the entry form below (entries in comments will not be counted).
3. You must enter before Saturday, October 29th at midnight!
4. You must be 18+ or have parental permission.
5. This giveaway is open internationally.

The winner will have 24 hours to respond to my e-mail informing them that they have won. In the case the I don't hear from them, another winner will be chosen.


EDIT: The giveaway is closed; thank you all for entering! I should have the winner posted by tomorrow evening! :)

Copy That Copy Cat's 100 Follower Giveaway!

Copy That Copy Cat recently reached 100 followers and to celebrate, she is giving away one bottle each of China Glaze OMG and OPI DS Magic. Head over HERE to enter!

So... much... nail mail...

Haiiiii guys! Guess what? I hit 200 followers today! Woooo! That means I'll be having a giveaway soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Now, on to my nail mail for the week. First, on Wednesday, came the Color Club Foiled collection from a lovely, lovely lady who picked it up for me at Ross. These babies are gorgeous and I can't wait to share them with all of you next week!

Next up, on Thursday, came my Julep referral credit polishes and a consolation prize from Ana at All About Reviews! Totally free nail mail FTW! I got Michelle (dark blue) and Maggie (sparkly dark purple) from Julep. These were both suggested for review by my readers.

And lastly, my Avenue You order arrived today! As you can see, I got the Muppets mini set, Rainbow Connection, Sea? I Told You, Bright Lights Big Color, Essie Matte About You, and two bottles of Pumpkin Butter Avojuice.

I'm so excited for all of these polishes and I can't wait to post about them separately for you guys! I've already tried Matte About You and I can tell that I'm going to become obsessed with it very quickly. Do you have any of these polishes? What do you think?