Brash by Payless Shoe Source in Sergeant Khaki

 I don't usually go into Payless stores anymore because their shoes are overpriced and the quality of their shoes is very poor. I almost always have to return my purchases, since a day or two later something or other is falling apart. Or maybe I always get the duds, but how much bad luck can one person have? During the last few visits I have made, I noticed that they put out a new display with polish. I have looked at them and passed them before because at 2.99 for .33 oz bottle of a brand I wasn't familiar with, seemed a tad high. Even though I have had many bad experiences with them, I like to go in and look around. Mostly just for my daughter, since their girl's boots and dress shoes are usually ok if I can find them on sale.

 This weekend I just so happened to pass by their store at the mall and noticed they were having a sale so I decided to go in. As I was paying, I noticed the display and thought it wouldn't hurt to look since they were on sale for 1.99. The selection was a bit limited, they only had about ten different polishes on the brand Brash. I picked up three of the better looking ones and I am happy to report that I had no issues. The bottle itself has an old english letter B on it that stands for Brash and the shape of the bottle is actually cute. I used two coats, but this could be a careful one coater. I can never bring myself to just stop at one coat, since I am a habitual two to three coater. The brush was really nice as well, it wasn't too big, small, stiff or wonky in any way.

 I really didn't expect much when I purchased these polishes, but I was impressed. I'm not saying it's THE BEST formula or polish out there, but for 1.99 it was a good deal. I can safely say I will probably buy more if I see anymore interesting colors, even if it's at the 2.99 regular price. ^_^

Mommy and Me nails featuring Hello Kitty

 I know, I know. The pictures you are about to see are not perfect twins, but they weren't intended to be identical. These two pictures were taken about a month or so apart. I did my daughter's nails a few weeks ago and only had black nail polish with me, so she ended up with black nails. I thought they looked cute, but a bit too goth for a three year old. So, later that night I decided to add some nail decals and what's cuter than Hello Kitty??

  My nails were just done a few days ago, I was tired from a long day of swatching and just wanted plain nails. It was nice, oh, for about five minutes! I have a short attention span when it comes to nail polish, but I didn't have enough time to layer anything on top. I settled on some quick nail decals and they just so happened to be HK! After I placed them I remembered my daughter's nails, and thought it would be cute to take a picture with the same prop as I used for hers.

My nails:

My daughter's nails:

 This is the only picture I have where she actually let me do proper cleanup AND she posed for pictures too! I doubt this will happen again anytime soon, but it'd be awesome if she did. That way I could do Mommy and Me nails a permanent thing on my blog. ^_^

Lex Cosmetics Seashell

 I cannot believe I almost forgot to post this today! I took a break from blogging, swatching and well anything really to do with nails last week. I kept my polish on for a whole week and didn't even take pictures!! It was nice not having to worry about posts, but I did miss it and I am ready for the holidays! I have a 25 days 'til Christmas planned and there will be tons of polishes on my blog. I'm on a mission to go through as many untrieds as possible before the end of year, so expect whole collections to be posted.

 The polish I have for you today is Lex Cosmetics Seashell. This is a brown scattered holo, which is so much more gorgeous in person. Pictured is two coats with no topcoat.

 I love the caps to these bottles, but I heard from Kari @ OnceBittenBlog that the image on the caps smeared on all three of her bottles. I didn't want to risk smearing them, so I topcoated them before I used them. Although the caps are adorable, I really don't see myself buying more polishes from them because none of the colors jumped out at me. I pretty much just wanted to buy these for the caps. ^_^

Essie Sew Psyched

 I have another Essie for you guys today. This is yet another old picture, you can tell by my paper cut! It took foreeeever for it to heal, so that is why it is on a lot of my posts. I have come to love Essie's in the short time I have known them. The brush is tiny compared to OPI's pro wide brush, but I like it because it gives me the ability to get close to my cuticles without making a mess. The formula on this Essie was really nice, I only used two coats to get it opaque. There are many army green nail polishes out there, but I love this one because of it's subtle shimmer.

You can see it better here in this bottle shot.

 I am officially in love with Essie's and cannot get enough of them. I always thought Essie only made nudes and light pinks, but that's actually only true for most of their core polishes. I was on an Essie buying binge a few months ago, so look forward to many more Essie posts! ^_^

Cranky and in a Traffic Jam??

 I have no idea why I keep buying pink polishes, because I hardly ever wear them and when I do I can never leave it on for very long. This mani is a prime example. I decided I was going to wear China GlazeTraffic Jam for at least a day, but my mom had gifted me a polish that I thought would be great for layering over it. So, I decided to go ahead and try it. I used two coats of China Glaze Traffic Jam and three coats of the no named polish my mom gave me. The only thing I can tell you was that it came in a set with three other polishes and the brand is Cranky Girls. Hilarious name, but awesome polish. 

This is Traffic Jam.

Here is Traffic Jam with three coats of the Cranky Girls polish.

 I'm not sure yet because I haven't swatched them, but I think I may have a dupe for this polish. I cannot recall the name at the moment of the other polish but it is from Color Club. Ah, and you should know this polish stinks BIG time. It definitely is NOT a B3F, big three free, polish. Just a little warning in case you come across this brand. ^_^

Julep Vanessa over Wet n' Wild Black Creme

 I loved the Julep program for the first few months I was enrolled, but it quickly lost it's allure when I realized that the colors I was receiving were mainly dupes for other polishes I already had. So, I went ahead and canceled to avoid spending money on more dupes. The program is great though if you don't have many polishes, because who doesn't love getting nail mail?? 

 Vanessa is a clear polish filled with small iridescent glitters and is best used for layering. I started off with a base of Wet n' Wild Black Creme to enhance the different colors the glitters reflected and used one coat of Vanessa. The end result was pretty awesome and looked somewhat like a galaxy. 

 Even though I loved the layering, I will be putting this polish up for swap because I have at least two other dupes. As I'm writing this post I can't help but wonder how it would look in a glitter flake sandwich. I recently bought the Nails Inc. The Old Vic duo and I think the blue flakes would look great sandwiched in between two layers of Vanessa or one of it's dupes. I need to put this idea on my list before I forget! ^_^

Essie Sand Tropez

 I wanted to post today the polish I did wear for my son's parent teacher conference, but I couldn't find the pictures. I did, however, have another nude polish to show you. Essie Sand Tropez is part of the 2011 Spring Collection. It is more of a dusty nude and I really doubt that this would give anyone mannequin hands, unless you have some gray tones in your skin. This polish isn't on most people's favorites list, and I suppose it's because it's not your typical nude polish. I take it for what it is and really think it's a unique polish in my collection. It's a great palate cleanser for those times that you need a break from color. 

 Oh, and I used three coats for this polish, but that seems to be the norm for most nudes. This is the last week that I will be using older pictures as my nails have finally seemed to get their act together. The only thing is that I have had to keep filing and filing to get them even, so they are still nubs. I do love how chic they have been looking though, and I'm thinking that I might keep them nubs for a bit longer. ^_^ 

OPI Muppets: Designer... De Better!

 Designer... De Better! is a champagne colored foil with orange flecks. I used three coats, but it really only needed two. I had intended for this polish to be my mani for the parent teacher conference at my son's school, but ended up taking it off. After seeing on both hands I realized it was a bit too much. My husband told me it didn't matter and that I should wear it if I wanted to, but I feel uncomfortable wearing bold colors when I have to go to his school. In the end I just switched my mani to a nude polish.

 You can see on the last picture that it looked a little gritty, but a top coat sure take care of that. I was bummed that I only wore this polish for a few hours, however I can't wait to get to wear it again. ^_^

Late Halloween Fun

 These are some pictures that I wanted to share with you guys, but I I'll admit I was too lazy to get together since they were in different files. Well, I finally have them all together and thought I would share anyway. It's Friday, so yay, we need some fun to start out our day!

This was a quick mani I did in October. The accent nail is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed and the rest are Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out.

This is a haunted gingerbread house that we made as a family, and by family I mean me and my husband. The kids were too busy watching Hocus Pocus for their first time and I'm glad to say they loved it as much as I did when I first saw it! At least they enjoyed eating the leftover candy.

The side of the house, I think my husband did a pretty good job with the spiderweb!

These are my kids. My son went as Bumble Bee and my daughter went as a princess, but this was actually her second costume of the day. She was dressed as Batgirl before this. She actually let me do her makeup and nails! I was pretty excited about that because she has some GREAT eyelashes. Yup, I'm jealous.

Here are her nails. She became pretty frustrated at the end and didn't let me do proper cleanup, but they were ok for one night of fun.

 Sorry, I was late with this post but hope you enjoyed anyways! ^_^

Borghese Tangelo Sherbet

 I'm getting better now at being REALLY picky on what I buy, but a few months ago I would buy it just because it was on sale.  Borghese Tangelo Sherbet was one of those irrational purchases, but I'm glad I bought it. I wouldn't have even looked twice at this color if it wasn't for the red tag. Tangelo Sherbet is a peach with silver shimmer polish. It's a bit sheer, so I needed four thin coats to get it opaque and even then some visible nail line is there. I actually didn't mind it with this polish though, because it's such a delicate color that it actually looks good to me.

 It's kind of a grandma-ish color but I still love it. That being said I suppose I should start looking at all colors and not just blues and greens. I have waaaay too many of those in my stash. ^_^

Lynnderella The Telltale Heart over OPI The One That Got Away

 I have been wanting to post this one for awhile now, but other manicures kept getting in the way! I initially wanted to use Very Pretty Vampire, but I didn't realize that The One That Got Away was more pink than red. I also never realized how beautiful this polish was! When Katy Perry's collection came out I was more excited about Black Shatter and Teenage Dream that I completely disregarded this polish. It literally was the one that got away for me until I finally decided to pick it up to complete my Katy Perry collection. I used two coats for these pictures although three coats would have been ideal. I didn't add the third since I was planning on layering and didn't want to end up with an even thicker mani. 

It's got a duochrome look to it! I love how the gold shows up at different angles.

Here I added two coats of The Telltale Heart. It's so glowy!

 I have to make it quick today. I'm helping my son with his homework and we are both on the brink of break down. It's tough because I want to help him figure it out himself and not just give him the answers. He was assigned some really difficult homework, in my opinion, he's only in Kinder! Gah! Anyways, I'm sure they just want to make them super smart. ^_^

OPI Russian Navy Suede

 OPI's suede polishes always caught my eye whenever I saw them in the store, but they didn't appeal to me enough that I needed to buy one. Well, I finally bought one a month or two ago with an Ave You deal. I was unsure of which one to pick, but figured I couldn't go wrong with blue so I picked up Russian Navy Suede. I have to say that I was impressed with the application, it wasn't at all troublesome like matte polishes tend to be. This is two coats of Russian Navy Suede.

Here I added some clear top coat.

 Overall, this is a really cool polish because you get two looks out of one single bottle! I know mattes are somewhat the same, but I feel that the finish and formula was a lot better on this suede polish. Also, it reminds me so much of denim jeans!  ^_^

Nfu Oh #61

 I lemmed #61 for the longest of times and was finally able to acquire it during the latest re-stock. The only thing is that it's kind of a dud. The batch that I ordered from has a foil look to it in the shade. A lot of people were upset over this and while I understand their frustration, I am quite happy with mine. Yea, it is a foil in the shade but in the sun... well it's just like any other holo.

Shade.

Indoor light.

Closeup.

 I actually prefer this silver holo over my China Glaze OMG because it's not as dull looking when you're in the shade. I love that it looks like a silver foil indoors, but still get that holo effect outside. ^_^

Hello Kitty by Sephora Blueberry and Lynnderella Connect the Dots

 Anyone order more Connect the Dots? No? Ok, fine. I suppose now is as good a time as any to let you in on a little secret. Connect the Dots is THE best polish ever and I cannot get enough of it. I long to wear with every creme polish, but I force myself to resist the temptation. If I hadn't started a blog, I would probably, scratch that, I WOULD wear this polish 365 days a year. As much as I love it, I have actually only wore it four times and these pictures are a few months old. I came across them when I was cleaning out my crappy pictures and thought I would share them with you!

 This is a really cool combo and not only because it involves Connect the Dots. Blueberry is also one of my favorites. I have worn it as many times as I have Connect the Dots and while four times doesn't seem like much. Trust me when you have hundreds of polishes, four times is A LOT. ^_^

Spa Ritual Illumination w/ OPI Pink Shatter

 I don't recall if I mentioned in any of my previous posts, but for the majority of this month I will be posting pictures of all the mani's I did in October that weren't Halloween related. Just wanted to put that out there, since my previous posts have been nubbins and now they're long. Didn't want anyone to think that my nails magically grew overnight! I am currently not taking pictures of my nails because of the two huge breaks I had that make my nails uneven, but once they get nicely evened out I'll start posting recent pictures. It might be another two weeks for that to happen though. =(

 Today's post is a polish from Spa Ritual's Twinkle Collection. This is the only one I picked up, but I think I need a couple more now that I saw swatches. When I bought this polish, there weren't many people with swatches, so it was a bit difficult for me to decide if I wanted any. I ended up just picking this one up because I was interested in getting a dense silver glitter. Well, it is silver but it's not JUST a plain silver glitter polish. There are actually holographic glitters mixed in there as well! I loved how much this polish sparkled in the sun. I used three coats to make sure I covered any bald spots.



THEN, I decided I needed to try out my Pink Shatter. This was the perfect pairing, but I felt a little too girly for my taste. Maybe if I was going to a ball it would be ok, but it was a bit much for everyday. Yea, this coming from the girl who can't stop wearing blue nail polish. =>

 I suppose I could wear it everyday, but pink polish is not my thing. Don't get me wrong. I love pink as much as Barbie does, but I don't love it much on my nails. However, in pictures it looks pretty cool. ^_^

Purple Glitter and Flake Sandwich

 This is another glitter and flake sandwich I did. I used one coat of Finger Paints Amethyst Atelier, topped with a coat of Ruby Kisses All Purpled Out, a coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and one last coat of Ruby Kisses All Purpled Out. I had a little too much fun taking pictures of this layering, but enjoy the pictures!

 

 I don't normally use props, but me and my husband were having an impromptu picnic and when I was holding the flower I saw so many different colors that I just had to take pics. Also, I want to tell you that I loved this mani so much that I kept it on for seven days and the best thing about it was that I had ZERO chips. My husband even told me he was tired of seeing it, so I knew it was time to take it off. ^_^