Amethyst

Today's polish is the beautiful Picture Polish Amethyst.  A gorgeous soft purple with glass flecks.  As with the rest of my Picture Polishes, it applies perfectly.  I've been very happy with all of their polishes and I think their blogger / seller collaborations have been nothing short of amazing.

 

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The Dawn Has Broken

Sooo, confession time.  I'm a huge Twilight lover.  Like, a few years ago I loved it so much I was very involved in the Twilight fan fiction community.  I contributed to several blogs regarding twilight fan fiction.  My crowning achievement was an essay I did about a character assessment on Bella Swan and how she isn't pathetic female archetype we love to hate (i.e. the one who does whatever her man wants).  Sooo, yeah, there is that. 

I think the reason I love Twilight is two-fold.  First, the books is what got be back into reading.  I was always an avid reader, but post children other than Harry Potter, I never could sustain reading.  Then I found Twilight and a light was switched on.  No more of this heavy "literature".  I wanted young adult fun.  Supernatural young adult fun.  It kick started my reading addiction.  In 2010 and 2011 I read over a hundred books.  This year not as many (I'm looking at you nail polish), but still over 20.  The second is Robert Pattinson.  I know, I know.  Sometimes he needs a shower and a shave.  He is socially awkward.  But I don't know.  I've always liked him.   In interviews when he says that super off the wall stuff I just melt. 

So today, to celebrate Breaking Dawn (and NO, I'm not going to see it today, nor do I have giant cardboard cutouts of Rob in my basement where I sip blood martinis all day *I'm looking at you crazy ladies on Oprah that still haunt me*), I decided to use my Essence nail art twins:  Bella and Edward.

This was on my coveted list for a while and finally I won them on ebay.  I have no idea why these colors were chosen, but I just knew I had to have them!

Bella is a beautiful teal that goes on cleanly and evenly.  Essence is really an awesome polish line.  I haven't had a dud from them yet.  Better yet, the ones sold here in the US are CHEAP!  Edward is a glitter top coat with teal and silver glitter.  When I think of Edward, I don't think of teal, but whatever.  They do have some sparkly holo glitter, that is more "Edward" to me.

The two are perfect together, much like their namesakes.  (And don't come up in here with your team Jacob, mmmkkaaay).

So there it is.  Feel free to point and laugh at me.  I do every day!

Essence Nail Art Twins can only be found here in the US on ebay.

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Something Azure is under Jack

This one was another of my pre-Halloween manicures, but really, these colors don't scream Halloween for me.

I started off with Sally Hansen Azure from their lustre shine collection.  This collection is generally duochromes, but this one is just a deep blue metallic.  I didn't seem much of the duochrome in this one.

It went on very well and while the up close photos look brush-strokey, that is an artifact of the macro, because from normal distance, it is perfect. 

Then, because I can't leave well enough alone, I put Dollish Polish There is Something About Jack  on top.  This one was the only real meh for me in this collection.  It went on well, this is one thin coat, but I wasn't over the top about it.  The glitter laid down well and the application was fine, I just didn't care for the color blends I think.  

 I bought the full set (because it was the best way to get them), otherwise I don't think I would have bought this one.  I think this one needs to find a new home that will love it and care for it. 

 Sally Hansen can be found at drug stores.  Dollish Polish can be found at her Big Cartel store.

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Fascinating!

Today I have Cirque Fascination Street, a beautiful indigo holo.  As with all purples, it is really hard to get it to show up, I think the first photo did it best.  There was no sun out when I took these photos, so indoor will just have to do. 

The formula on this was great, it went on easily in two coats.  It was easy to control on the nail, just the right consistency.  I'm a big fan of Cirque polishes and I hope to add more to my collection soon.

 

Cirque polishes can be purchased through their online store.


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Angelic

Today I have the gorgeous Color Club halos, this one is Cherubic, a soft beige.  I have to say the holos on these SING.  I was lucky enough to find a kind soul who bought extras that I got Cherubic from, then I found the rest of the set at a beauty supply store for TWO DOLLARS EACH!  It was heavenly!

I can't say enough good things about these holos.  Definitely worth being on your radar!

Sorry about the light, but this was a great photo of the holo. 

Regular photo sans holo effect

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Halloween in the Rainforest

Sooo, I am very behind on nail posts.  I was doing my nails and taking pictures, but I just never had a huge chunk of time to sit down, pick the best ones, crop, watermark, etc.  So you are still going to be seeing a lot of Halloween manicures!  They are so pretty I just couldn't not share!

Today is two coats of Revlon Rainforest, a stunning green with green flakies.  I LOVED this polish when I saw it in a swatch and I knew it must be mine.  Thankfully my local Tarjay had them and I snapped that baby up in a heartbeat.  Great polish and application for me.  Perfect for stand alone or layering.

On top I did some dabbing of Dollish Polish This is Halloween on top.  A great mix of orange, green and gold glitters.  I loved this combo, so fun.  (and this isn't tip wear, it was stupid SV shrinkage, gah!).   

Look at the amazing that is Revlon Rainforest in this!  

  Revlon can be purchased at any local drug store and most grocery stores.  Dollish Polish can be found on her big cartel site. 

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Lethal Injection

Today I have Lethal Injection from the Wet N Wild Megalast collection.  I spotted this in a grocery store and I loved the deep vampy color of it.

You see two coats applied on the nail.  I really liked the application of this, it went on well and had great coverage. 

 

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ARGH Ye Scallywag

Today I have the totally drool worthy Scallywag from Butter, London.  This was just phenomenal on the nail.  Beyond, actually!    When I saw that I actually captured some of that in the photos, I was beyond thrilled!

Behold the pretty, then go to beauty.com and use this link http://www.beauty.com/20-off-beauty-com--friends-and-family/qxc308853?aid=338806&aparam=13wk10bbFFCOM&om_u=Nsj8Cf&om_i=_BQlkq0B8u6yRg7 to get 20% off of it when you buy it!  :-)

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Reader Appreciation Giveaways!

I've been wanting to do a reader appreciation giveaway to thank those who comment on my blog or like/comment posts on Facebook.  

So I decided for the month of October, I would log every comment for the blog in one list and every like and comment on facebook in another.  Then I would assign each entry and number and use a random number generator.

I truly appreciate ALL of you who take the time out to like a post or comment on the blog or facebook.  It makes my day more than I'm able to communicate.  It means a lot to me that you follow me and read my posts and like my photos.  You are awesome!

I loved doing this so much that I intend to do more in the future as well along with more traditional styles of giveaways.  :-)   

So for the blog, Liesl of Liesl Loves Pretty Things was the winner!  She wins Rainbow Polish Artoo as featured here.  (I bought an extra for this giveaway)!

Liesl has been one of the most frequent commenters on my blog, so I was thrilled that she won.  I really value her comments and the time she spends making them.    

Here are screencaps of my very detailed (i.e. not at all detailed) method:

My handy dandy notebook full of names with their numbers.  She won this for her comment on a post from 10/10/12.  :-)   I like to go high tech and SYTYCP, Inc. I also can't spell worth a damn.

random number generator (yes, I took a photo of my screen, craptastic at its best!)!

 I did the same for Facebook and Samantha Chng won.  Again, I was thrilled because she is a very frequent contributor to my facebook page.  Samantha won Rainbow Polish Monarch (yet to be swatched by me, yes, I bought another extra).  Thank you Samantha, your likes put a smile on my face every time you leave them!  :-)

Once again, my fancy methodology at work, Samantha got this for liking a post on 10/6.  Again I prove my spelling is abysmal. 

random number:

 Thanks again everyone!