Polish on the Go

So I'm visiting family this week for Thanksgiving. Is your stash so big that you can't possibly port it around to family? Do you have a smaller container that you take with you? My family loves it when I do their nails so I use this cute zippy pouch my mum gave me and bring what I think they'd like best.

Here are the polishes I chose this time: Orly Fowl Play, Essie In Stitches, Unnamed shimmery brown, Catrice Sold Out Forever, Zoya Tiffany, Zoya Cassi, Color Club Vitabase, OPI Nail Envy, Orly SecNDry, OPI topcoat, Zoya Reva, Nubar 2010

And on either side are my tools, files, brushes, cotton pads, etc. Don't peek at my nails that's for later lol. Feel free to admire the ring. 

This is what it looks like on the outside, the front and the back. So cute!

Does your family like it when you do their nails? Do you have a polish to-go kit?

She Had a Cocktail in Hand and Confetti in her Hair

I got my first ever  full size bottle of perfume today! I loved the Kate Spade perfume sample I got in Birchbox so much I finally got myself the real deal.     

This is Twirl by Kate Spade. It has a fruity floral scent with "notes of mandarin, bergamot, baies rose, pink watermelon, white peach, red currant, blackberry, star jasmine, magnolia, orange blossom, tiare flower, sun-kissed skin accord, french macaron, luminous musk, and amber." It's the first perfume that even my man likes! That means it's a winner. 

When I opened the box, this message was inside.

You could tell this inspired her bottle design. How pretty!

This is what the box looks like in case you want to peruse stores for it :).

The cheapest place I found the large bottle was the NEX for $64. Sephora was $80 I believe, so big difference. They also sell it at department stores. You could always use Birchbox points on it or try to use a Sephora coupon code. Christmas is coming, so put it on your list!

Nail Envy - Progress and Review

A couple months ago I was trying to keep nice nails and they just kept breaking and peeling. They were really short too! I swear I'd have three breaks a week. They couldn't take any pressure at all. I really wanted nice thick nails so they would all be even and I wouldn't have to worry about breaking them so much. All my friends suggested OPI Nail Envy Original.

This is on the insert, about Nail Envy. 

Here are the ingredients. Yes is has formaldehyde resin, but that may or may not be bad. I have read that the resin doesn't have any formaldehyde in it anymore, or that it's only bad if you inhale it (and it doesn't smell when I put it on), and that if it's allowed to be used in the health regulated beauty industry it must not be too bad. I decided if it worked I didn't care lol. 

Here are pictures of my nails while using Nail Envy. Keep in mind this isn't all about length, because I filed them plenty. It's more about getting them to a nice length, preventing breaks, being able to shape them all the same, being strong and healthy, etc.

Day 1, they don't look awful but they broke constantly:

Day 16, already thicker:

Day 25, oops naked lol:

Day 38:

Day 58:

The pictures aren't the most spectacular part. You can see in the pics though, they got longer, thicker, and I was able to shape them all better. The best part was that in these two months I've only had two or three breaks vs. three breaks a week. Only one of those breaks was serious, but that was a thumb nail and I have never been able to grow them ever. At least I had nice thumb nails for two months lol. 

• Pros: 
• Strengthens
• Dries quickly
• Prevents breaking
• Looks nice alone
• Can put over polish and it still works
• Can use as base coat
• Makes my nails feel almost as hard as acrylics
• Cons: 
• Expensive (I think $8 at CosmoProf, $11 at NEX, and $16 at Ulta)
• Formaldehyde might be bad
• If you keep manis on for more than a couple days like I do, and forget to top with NE, your nails will weaken a little but still not even close to where they were. 

Used it? Liked it? What's your favorite nail strengthener?

Happy Birthday Marian

Today is my best friend Marian's birthday. I told you about her a few months ago in a blog post. We grew up together and were best friends. She died in a car accident May 7, 2011 at age 21. I think about her nearly every day, and more often lately when I remember that she won't be at my wedding. She would have been a beautiful bridesmaid.

Memories of her help me through so much. Even trying on wedding dresses, I looked down at my stomach and kept pushing it in, wishing it were smaller. Then I thought of her and how angry she'd be with me for worrying about something so petty and superficial. She dealt with serious self-image issues herself, but overcame them. To look down on myself would be a disgrace to her and the lessons she taught us. That's the biggest thing I have learned from losing her - Don't wait until it's too late to appreciate the people around you and learn from them, to tell them you love them, to wish you would have tried sooner to fix things. 

On the brighter side, I thought I would dedicate a manicure to her on her birthday. I chose a color I thought she'd like. It's Butter London Victoriana from my recent BL haul.

Victoriana is a lovely dusty steel blue with silver shimmer that also has a blue tint when it peeks through the base. She's slightly teal, but less than I expected.

The application was perfect and full coverage with two coats.

Close up of the shimmer

Moose seems to always be in my shots lol. Do your cats do this too?
Marian used to have the meanest cat named Jingles lol! The only person she'd ever tolerate was Marian.

Sharing this with you helps me through it, and makes me feel better that more people will think of her. Just remember what she taught me. Don't wait until it's too late.
"Never take your freedoms for granted and every chance you get let the ones you love know that they are indeed loved." ~Marian Curtner

Working Up to Drama

I'm usually nervous when it comes to more dramatic makeup. I never really line my lower lash line or put mascara on my lower lashes. This is an example of a grey smokey eye I did before that is much more toned down. We were going out the other night and I decided to dramatize it a bit.

I used dark grey liquid liner, and dark grey eyeshadow over that to smudge it out. I put mascara on all my lashes. I was worried it would be too much, but I like it!

You can see the liner more in this photo. It is more defined on the outer corner of the eye.

Heres the outfit with the look. I love those tights lol.





 Edit: I got my first really mean comments on my blog today. I was just letting you ladies know so that all the other comments made sense. I deleted the worst ones in attempt to remove the negativity.

Beyond the Mistletoe Layering

Layering these Color Club collections is fun! This post will show you how some of the Beyond the Mistletoe glitters look layered. I already used Holiday Splendor on my toes. A lot of people layer them on top of the corresponding color, but I like to spice it up a bit.

Layered over Color Club Perfect Mol-ten from the Foiled collection LtoR:

Beyond the Mistletoe - Light blue and silver holo glitter that flashes green, gold, teal, silver, and blue, in a clear base

Holiday Splendor - silver holo glitter in a bright tealy green jelly base, which makes the glitter flash a lot of green

Candy Cane - Hot pink and light pink holo glitter that flashes pink, silver, and red, in a slightly pink jelly base

Gingerbread - Gold holo glitter that flashes blue, green, red, purple, orange, and gold, in a clear base

This is Color Club Cold Metal with a coat of Jingle Jangle on the ring finger.


Jingle Jangle - light teal and silver glitter in a slightly purple jelly base, which makes the silver look purple sometimes

These glitters are pretty awesome, but some could be more exciting. I thought Gingerbread had red glitter in it, which would have been awesome. I think I'll do a mani with it and throw in red glitter :D. You like them?

Color Club Foiled Collection Swatches

I picked up the Color Club Foiled collection from Ross the other day. I never thought I liked foils until now! All the colors in this collection have a glitter/foil sort of finish. They're very metallic, which is part of being a foil, but if you look up close there is tiny metallic microglitter. Each color has particles of silver and particles of the base color. All swatches are two coats


Cold Metal - Rich royal blue foil. I actually like this and I'm so not a blue person.


Lumin-iceient - Light cloudy blue foil.


Antiquated - Champagne gold foil


Hot Like Lava - Hot pink foil


Foil Me Once - Light dusty pink with a touch of lavender foil


Perfect Mol-ten - Bright light green foil, really pigmented but a little more silver at the same time.

I really never thought I liked foils until now...honest lol. The wear seems to be average (a couple days), and the application was great. I thought it would be streaky when I was applying it, but looking at my nails now you can't see a single imperfection.
And by the way this was my first collection swatch. I have never before put polish on JUST to photograph it. What an interesting feeling lol...

Have these? Love them? Want them?