Another Update

Hello, everyone!
Yes… I am still alive, and I am very sorry for neglecting my blog lately. I haven’t given up and do intend on returning shortly. The truth is, I’ve had some things going on in my personal life and unfortunately had to put my blog on hold for a little while. Hopefully I will have the issue with the pictures fixed soon, as well as some new stuff to show you. I sincerely thank all of you that have emailed me…sometimes a few kind words can really make a huge difference!

Update

Hi guys!
I’m still alive! I have been really busy lately, so I took a little break from blogging. I promise I will be back very soon, though! 🙂

Juggle-not The Clown

Good morning, all!

Today’s franken was inspired by my silly and lovable sister during a slightly tipsy game of Scattergories. The name made me laugh a lot and I knew I needed to incorporate it into a polish.

I used LA Colors Red Glitter, Sally Hansen Glossy, and Jade Meteorite Showers.

I filled an empty bottle with 2/3 Meteorite Showers, slightly less than 1/3 of Red Glitter, and 5 drops of Glossy.

Definitely fun looking!

The multi color glitter really stands out nice against the reddish pink base, and I couldn’t help but smile every time I looked down at my nails.

Up close to show the glittah:

Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Franken-free Friday- China Glaze Halloween “Awakening”

Happy Friday!

Today I have the China Glaze “Awakening” Halloween colors to show you. I was so excited when these arrived, and it was hard to wait until my “non-franken day” to showcase them. China Glaze always does cool colors for holidays, and these are no exception!

Ick-a-Body has a deep, murky green jelly base with tons of orange glitter. The name makes me giggle, though. I can picture some unsuspecting couple strolling through the park at night, then screaming “Ick! A Body!” when they stumble upon a corpse half-hidden in the bushes. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Law & Order! But regardless of the name, this color is really unique and absolutely perfect for Halloween. I used two coats, and it covered great!

Zombie Zest is a yellowish-green jelly with green toned glitter in it. Very appropriately named, and what would Halloween be without zombies? I used two coats, and was surprised that this was smooth even before I got around to doing a topcoat!

Mummy May I is the pretty side of Halloween. Very girly, but still dark and vampy. The purple glitter really stands out against the black jelly base, and reminds me a lot of the new Lippmann color, Bad Romance, minus the chunky glitter. I almost caved and bought BR, but I think the lemming has been satisfied with Mummy May I! I used three coats of this, since it was a tiny bit more sheer than the others, but someone with shorter nails may get away with just two.

I loved all three of these, and it was impossible to pick a favorite. I always look forward to what China Glaze is going to come out with next, and they never disappoint! 🙂

The Sorcerers’ New Robes

Good morning!

I’ve got a quick and easy recipe for you today! This one is a breeze to make, and really a beauty!

I used China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway and Wet ‘N Wild Kaleidoscope.

I poured 3/4 of Kaleidoscope into and empty bottle, then added in 1/3 of Bermuda Breakaway. You tweak these amounts to add more of less opaqueness.

Up close to show the holo glitter:

The holo glitter pieces in Kaleidoscope are tiny square shaped, and look amazing suspended in the blue jelly base. I used two coats, and was quite pleased with the result!

Thanks for stopping by, and check back soon for more! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: Some golden oldies

Happy Friday!

Today, I have a few really old colors that I wore this past week to show you. With all the awesome new polishes coming out, I’ve been neglecting my “oldies”, so I decided to give them some love.

This first one…I’m only showing it because I *do* like the color, but I must say there aren’t enough swear words to properly describe the application. Theons #116 is a pretty pale mint/pistachio color. Looks very promising in the bottle, but five ( yes FIVE) coats later…I still had a bit of streaking on my ring finger. I have a couple other Theons colors, and haven’t had this problem, so I’m not sure what’s up with this one.

Next up…MAC Tilt. I got this from a friend of mine who has had the bottle since high school, so this one is literally old school! Tilt is a shimmery light blue/green color with a gold flash. It’s very similar to NYX Paradise, only a bit more opaque. I did two coats for this.

I saved the best for last! One of my most prized polishes in my collection is Liquid Euphoria Bliss. Sadly, this one is super hard to find, but if you are lucky enough to come across it…it’s a winner! Bliss is probably the closest dupe to the equally hard to find Clarins 230, and it is just gorgeous! I got my bottle from my sister, who was cleaning out some cosmetics when she was moving. She showed up with a bunch of polishes in hand, telling me they were old and might not be anything I wanted. As soon as I saw Bliss, I had a giant thrill fit which involved me shrieking, squealing and some sort of dancing. I think I scared her LOL. So here is Bliss in all it’s well deserved glory at various lighting…I did three coats.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! 🙂

Pink PantHer

Hello, all!

I’ve got a colorful franken to show you today!

For this one, I used a no-name brand I purchased from Supply Source called Crystaline Opal for a whopping 99 cents, Taylor Made pigment in BeBe, and a hot pink glitter pigment from Leishi, which is a foreign brand (but any hot pink glitter will work!).

I filled an empty bottle just over 3/4 full of Crystaline Opal, then added in a half teaspoon of BeBe pigment and approx. 1 tablespoon of the hot pink glitter.

Hello pink! I love how this one turned out! Very sparkly and just fun looking! I used 2 coats, and it was surprisingly smooth for a glitter.

Up close to show the glitter:

Thanks for stopping by…I have some old school colors coming up on Friday, so please check back! 🙂

Franken-free Friday: Zoya Wicked & Wonderfuls

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few of my favorites from Zoya’s recent collections, Wicked and Wonderful. Both collections are full of beautiful shades, so it was difficult to choose which ones were my absolute favorites. What I really like about these two releases is the variety! So many colors to choose from, in both cremes and shimmers, that it really has something for everyone. These were all two coaters, and applied wonderfully.

First up, Cheryl, from the “Wicked” foily-shimmer collection. This is a gorgeous chocolate-bronze shade, and stood out immediately to me. It is the perfect fall color, and although I am not quite ready for fall yet, I still loved wearing this.

Kelly is another definite standout shade. It is a dark grey creme, with a hint of blue/purple to it. Very unique and versatile…I think this is one of my new “go to” colors when I’m not sure what I feel like wearing.

Edyta was the one I was anticipating the most, and it didn’t disappoint! It is green-ish, with grey and tiny multi-color shimmer. A weird color, but weird in a good way!

Kristi just may be my new favorite red. I know I don’t give the reds nearly enough love. Red is probably the one shade I have trouble pulling off. But Kristi was extremely flattering on, and is a true classic, pretty red. I ended up wearing this for three days (that’s long for me) because I loved it so much.

Julieanne, oh sweet purple Julieanne! All you purple lovers out there need to get this one. You won’t be let down! It’s dark and shimmery, and doesn’t look black in low light.

This entire Wicked and Wonderful collections are truly amazing colors, great job Zoya!:-)

For Elmor

Hello, all!

Today I have a color that was a request by a friend of mine. She wanted something along the lines of China Glaze For Audrey, but with a squishy, jelly finish like RBL Bikini Bottom. This one was actually super easy to make, and I nailed it on my first try. My friend Elma was quite pleased with it as well, so I named it after her (Elmor is a silly nickname I have for her).

I used Wet ‘N Wild French White Creme, New York Summer Hot Sky Blue, Tropical Manicure #13, and NYC Clear.

I filled an empty bottle half full of clear, added in just a tad less of 1/4 each of Hot Sky Blue & TM #13, then added in about 5 drops of white.

I loved the color so much, and am glad I made an extra bottle for myself to show off on here! I used 3 thickish coats, because we all know how I feel about VNL’s. This one is very versatile, so you can wear it as sheer or as opaque as you want!

Thanks for stopping by! More coming up soon 🙂

Franken-free Friday: NailGirls

Happy Friday!

Today I have a few colors that I received earlier this week for review. They are a brand called NailGirls, and this is the first I have heard of them. They are a small, London based spa/salon that carries their own brand of polish colors…much like RBL does. I poked around their website and discovered they have a lot of colors, even some mattes! Not boring shades, either. I spotted a couple greens and some nice greys.

I received three colors to try out. I was REALLY excited to see that these have a lovely square bottle shape, similar to the American Apparel bottles. They fit so much better in a Helmer, and are just more aesthetically pleasing (to me, anyway!). Now, NailGirls are up there in price, retailing for 10 pounds, or approximately $15 and change U.S. dollars. They applied effortlessly and smooth, and I found the application and formula to be on par with a RBL or Lippmann. So you are definitely getting your moneys’ worth!

First up, Teal #2. This one is actually a pale blue rather than teal. I own a ton of blues, but this wasn’t a dupe for any of them. The first coat was a bit on the sheer side, so I did three coats on this one to make it nice and opaque, but I probably would have gotten away with only two:

Pink #2, is actually a pinky-purple shimmer. I really didn’t think this looked impressive in the bottle, but it is much prettier on! 2 coats:

The last one, Coral #1, was my favorite out of the three. It is a gorgeous coral creme, and completely opaque in two coats. I left the bottle out on my desk when I was done, because I plan to use this as a pedi this weekend. Such a great summer color!

The only complaint I have about these? The names! I wish they had “real” names, rather than just a color and a number. The quality of the polishes and the packaging was excellent, so I just think they deserve some catchy and cute names!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
🙂