Book "Reviews"

Hello everyone!  We had some crazy weather here last night with some strong thunderstorms and a few minor tornadoes landing in nearby towns.  Anyway, I'm planning on taking my acrylics off today, so you will hopefully be seeing a post soon about it.  Also, I am so hoping that my room will be set by next week so my posts should become more regular on the polish end! :)

Here are the two books I finished this week and a few of my thoughts on them.  Plus one I can't seem to get into!

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins 

This book was absolutely amazing!  I was told to read this book several times and kept putting it off.  I decided to give it a try last week and finished 75% of it on Wednesday!  It's been awhile since I couldn't put down a book!  It is a Young Adult book, but I truly believe anyone will enjoy this.  The book completely captivates you and makes you feel like you are in the story and can completely empathize with the characters.  I just downloaded the second book of the trilogy and can't wait to start it tonight!

Check it out at B&N.

Has anyone read this?  What do you think?

"A Wolf at the Table" by Augusten Burroughs

Burroughs has been one of my favorite authors since "Running with Scissors" was released.  His memoirs can be graphic at times, but if you like an odd story or don't get offended easily I would recommend checking him out.  This wasn't my favorite book of his, but I did enjoy it and was able to read it fairly quickly, even with reading a few other books at the same time!

Check it out at B&N.

Has anyone read this book or any others of his?  What did you think?

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

Okay, so I have tried to read this book about 3 or 4 times and can't get passed the first few chapters.  Has anyone read this series?  I was told that the first 300 pages of this book are boring and slow, but that it picks up.  Is this true?  I'm about ready to give up on it even though it is supposed to be really good.  I'm almost tempted to watch the original version of the film for the first book then pick up the other two, lol!

Any thoughts on this one?

Thanks for reading!

Non-Polish Related - Book Love

As you guys may or may not know I am an avid book lover.  Though I sometimes don't read as much as I would like to at times, I still love to read a great book that captivates me.  I love when I get my hands on a book that I can't put down.  I have tons of paper books that I have bought the past couples years from library book sales and the regular book store.  Last year the Mr. bought me a B&N Nook for my graduation gift and I LOVE it.  Though I do still read my paper books that I have bought, I love the convenience of my Nook.

Anyhow, I just finished two books today that I have been reading.  I wanted to share my opinions on them simply because I love it when others share good books with me.

Is this something you guys would be interested in as a feature once in awhile?  I will only share the books that I believe others should take a look at.  Please be honest.  I will add another poll on the right and would greatly appreciate it if you would answer it, along with the other one if you haven't yet.  If you don't care to hear about books, I truly will not be offended, especially since I know you are all coming here because I share your love for polish.

Thanks for reading!  Please feel free to answer the poll(s)!

Fur Baby! :)

I was playing with my camera yesterday and trying to take a few pics of our fur baby, Bella.  She isn't really into the whole picture thing, every time I tried to get her attention she would look or walk away!  However, I did get two pics to come out!  So introducing to you our pup Bella:

Also, I wanted to let you guys know there are a few new giveaways added to my giveaway page.

I'm currently at 19 followers, which is hard to believe for me!  Especially since I am sadly getting a slow start to the blog, due to reorganization and a wedding a month away!  Once I hit 25 followers I have decided that I will be having a small giveaway!

A Little Update

Hi everyone, Hope you had a good Easter and didn't eat too much chocolate!
I'm still in the process of organizing my room and am hoping, hoping, hoping that I can get it finished by next week, but I'm not sure.  I have a very busy weekend, so we will see if it happens!  Once my room is organized the posts should come a bit more regularly.  I also got my new camera this weekend, so I have been playing with the settings on it! :)  So excited!
Take care and thanks for reading!

Color Club Fractured Collection Peek

Color Club is releasing their own line of crackle polishes.  Not sure of a release date yet.

 

From Left to Right:

Clean Break; Broken Tokens; Tattered in Gold; Have a Bash; Crush on You; Smash Hit

Color Club polishes can be purchased at Head 2 Toe Beuty  and  8ty8beauty.

This Week's Haul

I hope you are all doing well.  I recently decided that I am going to take my acrylics off.  I'm considering getting them back on just for the wedding, but I'm not sure.  My nails keep separating from them due to their shape and I can't afford to keep getting new sets every two months.  I found this calcium gel overlay that I ordered and am going to try that.  I hope it will work especially since it is healthier for my nails.  I am hoping to do some swatching within the next few days before I take my acrylics off, so I have some stuff to show you while my nails are ugly!  Anyhow, on with my haul! :)

This week I went hunting for polishes for a swap with another nail blogger and decided to take a side trip to Big Lots and Dollar Tree to see if I could get lucky and find some great polishes that some others are finding.  Though I didn't get lucky enough to find any Sally Hansen Prisms or Maybelline Coloramas, I did find some stuff!

Here is what I found at the Dollar Tree:

Here is what I found at Big Lots:  (I thought the Playboy ones were funny and the colors were cute, so I decided to grab it.  There is a paint and peel in there too, which I figured I might as well try for only $2.50.)

Some of these items rang up less than what they were marked!! :)  In all I only spent $15.  Swatches to come soon, I hope!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend!  Thanks for reading!

Squee China Glaze Metalic Crackles

I just saw on purse forum that China Glaze will be releasing a Metalic Crackle collection this summer!  Releases on June 15, 2011 in Europe.  The US release will be in July!

Left to Right:
Cracked Medallion - Bronze Metal Crackle; Haute Metal - Pale Pink Metal Crackle; Latticed Lilac - Lavender Metal Crackle; Oxidized Aqua - Aquamarine Metal Crackle; Platinum Pieces - Silver Metal Crackle; Tarnished Gold - Gold Metal Crackle

Who else is excited?!?

Bundle Monster Plates

Bundle Monster just announced they released their new and improved plates!  :-D

You can order them on their site.

Amazon should have them within a few hours too!

Are any of you buying them?

Zoya's Earth Day Promotion

Zoya is having a great Earth Day promotion where you exchange your old polish for their new ones.  They recycle the old polish.  For more info go here on Zoya's Site.

Yesterday's Mani Revamped

Things have been a bit crazy around here lately.  Between me trying to figure out grad school and job searching, plus we are in the final stretch for the wedding.  We are 46 days away!  Wholly cow, when did that happen!?

Anyhow, I had planned on showing some recent hauls, but I didn't have a chance to shoot them today due to our puppy being sick all day.  So, I had a few minutes while she was napping and decided to play with my new dotting tools and revamped my Zoya Caitlin Mani.  I wanted to do something a little springy since its been rainy and cloudy here lately.  

Here is what I used:  

Tip for using the dotting tools - make sure they are evenly coated, grab more polish for each dot, clean tool off after every few dots.

Here is how it turned out:

(Outside without flash)

(Inside with flash)

I'm not sure why the ones taken with flash look a little Matte.  Please excuse my dry cuticles! :-/

Thanks for reading!

Giveaways Page

I know that not everyone is interested in blog giveaways, but there are a lot that are.  Instead of adding all the current giveaways I come across on the main posts page, I have added a separate page with their info.  You can find the link to that page in my right sidebar under the Pages heading.

Zoya Caitlin

A few weeks ago I placed an order for some Zoya polishes and they came in a few days ago.  I have never used Zoya and I have to say I love them! 

Today I have Zoya Caitlin from their Spring 2011 Intimate collection to show you.  It is a purple cream with what appears to be blue and gray undertones that is just lovely!

This is three coats with a top coat of SV.  I have to say that this is a great polish and super springy! :)  I absolutely adore the color.

What do you guys think?  What are some of your favorite Zoya colors?

PS - I am still working on how I should shoot my nails, any tips?

Tip for taking glitter nail polish off

Today I had a chance to finally take off the last mani I posted and that glitter polish was a pain to take off.  I had read on other nail blogs and boards about the tin foil method and decided to try it after I spent almost 5 minutes taking it off one hand!

The tin foil method is something some of you may have heard of or even tried.  Since I rarely wear glitter I had never tried it.

What it is:

First you need 10 pieces of tin foil big enough to wrap around finger tip and about 2 inches long.  You take pieces of cotton (preferably a square or something less fuzzy than a cotton ball) and put polish remover on it.  Take the squares of cotton and put on nail then wrap the foil around finger(tip).  Leave on nail for about one minute.  When removing, twist foil off while adding pressure to the nail.  Most if not all of the polish should come off.

Has anyone else tried this method or any other method?  I have heard of using a piece of felt to remove glitter polish as well (just using polish remover with it, not foil).  I might try that one next time!

Thanks for reading!  Will be back tomorrow with a new mani and a few haul posts will be coming soon! :)

PS - Please take a second and answer my poll!  I want to do more posts you guys will be interested in once I get in the hang of things with this blog.  

Poll

I have added a poll in my sidebar asking what types of posts you guys would like to see.  While I plan on doing all of these at times, I would like to know what are the most popular with you guys! :)

POTW (Pedi of the week) *Warning Ugly Toe Pic*

I usually do my own pedicures, but I decided to treat myself to a professional pedicure this past week and boy was it heaven!  The foot soak and back massage was amazing and I topped it off with an iced coffee.  :-)

Here is how it turned out:

Sorry for the ugly toe pic!

Used:  OPI "Can You Dig It?" and a silver and green nail striper

Once Bitten's Giveaway!

Once Bitten is having an amazing giveaway! :)

I'm loving these! ::crosses fingers::

Entry ends May 5th.

You can enter {here}.

NOTD - glitter french tip

A few days ago I had to go to a job orientation, so I wanted a simple mani for the day.  I decided to go with OPI's new "In The Spot-Light Pink" with a coat of "I Juggle... Men."  Since I have acrylics and I knew the polish would be shear I used OPI's acrylic base coat, which is a white toned base coat.

This is one coat base coat, one coat "In The Spot-Light Pink" with one coat of "I Juggle... Men."  

I liked the pink color, but wish it was a touch more opaque.  I love the shimmer in "I Juggle... Men."  Next time I want to use a few more layers so it is more noticeable.  It was cloudy out, so I wasn't able to capture the shimmer like I hoped. :(

I wasn't completely impressed with this, simply because it was a touch boring.  So, I decided to add a glitter French tip.  I'm not a huge glitter polish fan, but am trying to branch out.  I used Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Extreme Wear in "Rockstar Pink."

I liked this polish and am glad I only decided to do it as a tip.  It's a bit flashy for me, but I could possibly wear it as a thin glitter coat on top of a darker polish.  

I like the way it came out! :)

What I used (plus French manicure tip guides):

What do you guys think?

(all the above photos were taken with flash, due to it being cloudy out all day)