Non nail-related niceties!

Hey-ohhhh!

Today is the best day of the month, because my Glossybox arrived! I look forward to its arrival way more than I should probably admit to.  This was my last one for awhile as I have no income at the moment, but if I could, I would want to get it for the rest of my life.  That's how much I love it.  There are a bunch of these beauty sample boxes out there, but so far Glossybox takes the cake!  I received my Beauty Box 5 yesterday, and wow, disappointment after disappointment.  I can't even get into it, especially as it's vastly more expensive than Glossybox and nowhere near the quality.  Enough! On to happier thoughts (but seriously, never again).

First up, Gillette Venus & Olay. Full size! Okay, I can always use a razor.

Jouviance Rejuvenating Anti-Aging Cream, 5 mL. Yikes, this stuff costs $93.50 for 50 mL.  I hope it does something.

Sebastian Professional Trilliance Shampoo and Conditioner, 50 mL each.  These are definitely coming with me when I go to New York next week! Perfect size for a few days away.

No pictures, but also came Modelco Flipstick Lip Duo in an apparently "perfect" October pink (full size) and a full size Zoya nail polish in the colour "Scarlet".  Misleading name, as this is actually a nude, sheer pink.  Oo, so pretty!

I'm going to be very sad to stop getting these boxes in the mail, I had to post about it. Glossybox!

Ombré, anyone?

A few weeks ago I decided to try out a cute ombre manicure set from Quo by Orly I found at Shopper's Drug Mart.  I love my location (I'm not telling where!) because they put new nail polish on the clearance shelf almost every day.

Definition time: An ombre manicure.  Five shades of the same colour painted in their entirety, one per nail, from darkest to lightest.  Or lightest to darkest.  Live it up.  This is not to be confused with a gradient manicure, wherein each nail fades light to dark.  Still don't get it? Here's the best explanation (complete with pictures) from someone who seems to appreciate accuracy in terminology as much as I do! 
Click here!

I loved the colours in this baby.  The thumb looks white in that picture, but trust me, it's a very pale lavender.  As you can see, I have gone from lightest to darkest starting with my thumb.  I would like to think that the gradation can go in whatever direction your heart desires, but I read on one blog that it must start with the darkest colour on the thumb.  Pfft, you can't tell me what to do!

I would think that for a perfect ombre manicure, one would ideally use a dark polish and a white polish and just mix together.  That way all your colours would be in the same family, tone-, depth-, and finish-wise. You can tell that my middle finger kinda sticks out, super bright! I actually really enjoy it here, though.

Look who took a picture in the sunlight for once!!

The sunlight is less direct, but still there.

The lightest two colours were pretty streaky after two coats, but were practically perfect after three.  I think I did three all over, just to satisfy my OCD on the matter.

Huzzah!

Frankenstorm mani!

How topical!

Here goes my attempt at a Hurricane Sandy inspired manicure.  Get it? There's a Frankenstein and then one of those storm maps? Frankenstein? Storm? Anybody? Nobody.

It didn't turn out quite the same way as it looked in my head, alas, but this was already my second attempt, and in theory, the power could go at any moment.  So says the Weather Channel, but really, there's barely any wind going on where I am.

You can somewhat tell, but the blue I used as a base stains everything like crazy!  I went over and over in my cleanup with acetone, but it didn't really make an impact. It's really too bad, because the blue is the prettiest colour I've ever used before.  NYX Girls 103.  It's THE perfect royal blue, two coats for opacity, and the shiniest nail polish I've ever used.  I wish I got a picture before I started painting on top of it.  I'd be hesitant to ever use it again though, because of the staining.

With flash and bonus awkward hand positioning

I think Frankenstein looks like a LEGO character, don't you agree? That might just be the shape of my nail. Anyway, if it's happening to you, stay inside during the storm and give yourself a manicure by candlelight! That sounds mildly relaxing, maybe.

Nightmare Before Christmas inspiration!

Speaking of, has anyone heard the Marilyn Manson cover of "This is Halloween"?

What's this, what's this? Yup, another Halloween mani!

Not a great picture, that's really the part of this that's out of my element.  I know that I have a pretty decent camera, but I always do my nails at night (with my roommate, whilst watching Dance Moms - "living on the dance flooooooor!"), and our house has some pretty lackluster lighting.  The colours are pretty accurate, there's just a bit of glare.

I was experimenting with one of the Instant Artist polishes of Quo by Orly.  Quo is the makeup brand sold at Shopper's Drug Mart in Canada, and for the most part, I'm loving all their stuff.  I haven't tried any other "nail art" polishes, so I don't know what the brushes are like on them, but this one is very stiff and ... well, plastic? I couldn't get an incredibly fine line out of it, I did better with a detail brush I bought from Amazon.  Speaking of Quo by Orly...

...with flash (on a smoked glass table, for class... did you know Elvis had a smoked glass table? Point made)

...under bright, fluorescent lights (hey toaster!)

An amazing set! Made all the better by the fact that I found it on the clearance shelf!  The inscription on the top says "Too much of a good thing is wonderful" which I find frighteningly apt for my attitude towards buying nail supplies.  Cute colours! There is a new set out right now, but I don't want to pay $42 for it.  I got this for $10.

Sally's stitches, maybe? It seemed vaguely Halloween-y

Back to the mani, I'm pretty much obsessed with it right now! It looks so good in person! That is, without the close-up.  I love the moon (just sponging OPI The "It" Color and Quo by Orly Orange Pop), and I made the purple by combining these three:

Orly La Playa, the purple one from the L.A. Colors Color Craze set, Revlon Lilac Pastelle

Anyway, giving the SV a break tonight, back to my favourite top coat, China Glaze Patent Leather. Shiny AND long-lasting!

Halloween!

It's almost Halloween, so here I am with my very first attempt at holiday nail art!!

As you can tell, it's a little sketchy, but I still thought it was super cute, and looked really impressive from a distance.  Which counts for something, really.

I got carried away by my jack-o-lantern, and forgot to give Frankenstein real eyes and angry eyebrows.  So, I'm going to say that it's some sort of hybrid.  The spider is my favourite!

I used a couple colours I just bought ridiculously cheaply in San Francisco, the green is Bellapierre's aptly named Neon Green, the pumpkin orange is Matte.N.A in Comedy, the ghost orange is Bellapierre Neon Orange and the barely noticeable spider's pupils are China Glaze "Kinetic Candy."

I was in San Francisco last week for three days, and spent a good portion of one day on the Muni, scouring the city for cheap nail polish.  I came back home with... fifty bottles.  But, but, but, now I feel like I really have a solid spectrum of colours to choose from in my collection.  Right? Something like that.

Also! I bought my first bottle of Seche Vite (for four dollars, I must add), and tried it with this mani.  Loved the shine, but this morning, approximately 12 hours after the manicure (at least 8 of which were spent sleeping), there was a ton of tip wear and lifting.  I'll keep experimenting, so if anyone has any tips, send them my way!

Welcome!

Hello, hello!  I've been an avid reader of nail polish-related blogs for some time now, and felt the need to join the hub-bub.

In an ideal world, I'd love to try to update this baby on a daily basis, but I do have to travel extensively for work, so it might not always be possible.

Enjoy, and comment away! I'm incredibly new to this whole intense business of nail art/nail polish/blogging, so there will be a learning curve. Bear with me!