Orly Space Cadet

            For today, I have Orly Space Cadet, from the Cosmic FX Collection. I'm like the last person in the universe to post this polish, but whatevah!

Space Cadet is made of small, flat, metallic duochrome shimmer in a thin, sheer dirty-blue base. You can't see the base once the polish is fully opaque, because the shimmer comes together to form a sparkly-foilish finish, but you can see it in the first few coats. And the shimmer is mostly a dark silvery-purple, but will change to gold, green, and pink, depending on the light and angle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

And that green on the side is not a reflection...'tis the power of the duochrome, yea verily.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash,

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

    Space Cadet is a funny one. On one hand, it's kind of an unattractive color. I got some compliments on it when I wore it, and not one single person called it "pretty" or "nice". I got plenty of "cool" and "unusual" though, which is precisely what Space Cadet is. It's not pretty in the traditional sense of a pretty polish, but it is quite intriguing. In bright lights, it sparkles with a pink flash and in lower light, you see lots of the strong purple-green duochrome. And at all times, there's this weird alien-esque green glow that lurks right around the edges of the nail. Like even though my pictures are not so good and don't really capture this one, all of them feature at least a hint of green. But as cool as Space Cadet is, in my eyes, it is not the crown jewel of the Cosmic FX Collection. That title is reserved for Galaxy Girl, because not only is it damn cool, it's also beautiful. But  Space Cadet runs a very close second. 

   Formula-wise, I have no complaints about Space Cadet. It was a little thin, so this is four coats of color with one layer of topcoat. But it was well worth the extra coat, and the polish went on smoothly and easily, so I don't particularly mind.

    And I know I said that I was gonna not show my RBL's but I'm just too excited not to. Here they are! The pictures were taken in the dying evening light with flash,  so they're lame. But when I wear these gorgeous guys and girls, I'll take better bottle pictures.

R-L: Starfish Patrick, Look Rich Be Cheap (ohh the irony), Frugalista, and Recycle

L-R: Scrangie, Catherine, Anne, and Under the Stars

Tiny comparison between Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie and Sally Hansen Grape Going

I'm going to do a real one later though.

  I'm so excited to wear them!! Maybe this week, if weather permits.

But that's all I've got on this gorgeous Friday afternoon! Have a great day! 

OPI Pink Me, I'm Good + Goodies!

           Happy hump day! This has been such a rough week already...I'm le tired. But let us speak of happy things. Like my current color, OPI Pink Me, I'm Good. And goodies!! But color first. I don't think Pink Me, I'm Good was part of any official collection, but it was released for Valentine's Day 2010, and was only available at Ulta. I was planning on wearing it for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and then just never got around to it. But while we're on the subject, I wanted to mention that the Breast Cancer Site has extended the challenge to fund 500 mammograms through November,  so please take a moment to click the link at the top of the page. They're almost there! ^_^

Pink Me, I'm Good is a medium strawberry pink jelly base with a ton of medium-sized hex and square opalescent gold glitter. Some of the glitter looks a little coppery, but I'm pretty sure that's because those ones are partially submerged in the jelly. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Please excuse the carnage on my thumb...I had a crack in my nail there and it finally gave out. But it could have been worse, so no complaints here. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

You might have to make this one a little bigger to see what I'm talking about, but at the top of the nail, the glitter is a little bit green and blue, which is why I called it opalescent. Or iridescent. Whatever. 

Natural light, no flash.

Why yes, that is a chip there on my fingah. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      You wanna know what sucks worse than a living lemming? A dead lemming whose ghost taunts you from the great beyond. And that's exactly what Pink Me, I'm Good is for me. I wanted it really bad, and I got it, but now it's laughing at me, because you know what? It's not really all that. Yes, there's jelly goodness, and I love it. Yes, there's glitter and I love that as well. But the glitter doesn't sparkle properly. And it's a little...much for the base. Maybe if it were sparser or smaller, I would like it better.

    But what really makes me mad about Pink Me, I'm Good is the formula. This formula is stunningly bad. I'm not even lying...like I made that first stroke and stopped dead in horror and disbelief. What kind of jelly be this?! It was goopy, thick, and streaky...more like applying old oatmeal than liquid gelatin. So I added thinner, but it didn't help at all. I ended up just globbing on three coats and throwing on topcoat to cover the extreme grittiness from the glitter. And then it had the nerve to to show VNL. Ooh, I was too upset.  I threw two of my children (with perfect formulas) out into the cold (well, not really...they went to a loving home). For this! Oh, my poor lost babies...will you ever forgive me? ;__; 

But on a more positive note, I have goodies!! A few days ago, a sign of the apocalypse appeared: I won a giveaway at Lunatikitty! 

I got some macadamia nut stuff! And yes, that package on top is opened, because I was munching it and then I realized that it should probably be in the picture. I've never eaten a macadamia nut on its own before, but they're delicious! They taste like the lovechild of a peanut and cashew.

But even better than sustenance, I got nail polish! All the glitters from the Revlon Throw Some Glitter on It Collection are mine! Oh, how my glitter heaux heart sings.

So a giant thank you goes to Elen (she owns Lunatikitty)! I love all my new children. And as I type, the snacks are sitting on my desk trembling in fear, for I mean to devour them one by one.  And they know it in their little nutty hearts.  n_n

Also, my order from the RBL sale came! I'll skip those pictures though, because this is getting too long already.   

And that is all I have today! Have a great evening, ladies!

Color Club Pretty in Platinum

           Yay, it's November! Can you believe the year's already winding down? I feel like it just started a month ago. But anyway, for today, I've got Color Club Pretty in Platinum from the fairly recently released Untamed Luxury Collection. Pretty in Platinum was featured here before as part of Konad designs or under nail art, but I thought it should be posted on its own. 

Pretty In Platinum is a crisp, platinum grey, shimmery polish. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

       Pretty in Platinum is interesting. As a color, I  like it very much. I tend to avoid white polish for anything besides stamping, because I just hate how it looks. But Pretty in Platinum gets a pass due to its silvery-grey tone and the shimmer, which make it much softer and more wearable than some of the more basic whites. I also think it makes my nails look longer too. It looks a little crazy on me because the color is too cool and pale for my skin, but for a person who looks good in white polish, Pretty in Platinum would be perfect. 

    Formula-wise, Pretty in Platinum gave me a little bit of a rough time. It was a bit streaky and I had trouble getting it to level out, as you can see from the corners and tops of my nails. However, it is really well-pigmented...it was pretty opaque in one coat. I used two to try to even out the streaks, but if someone was really good at applying polish, they could get away with one thick coat. It also dries really fast...I used topcoat in these pictures, but it was drying at a good pace even before I put that on. 

   And because of the opaqueness and quick drying time, Pretty in Platinum makes for a wonderful color to use in nail art, both for stamping, and as a base for designs. I'm not sure how it would look if it were used as underwear for sheer polish, but I imagine it would be good for that as well. The shimmer is subtle enough that it probably wouldn't interfere with any polish that got put over it. And for the price, I'd say it'd be worth buying just for art purposes...that why I initially bought it anyway, and I've been pretty satisfied so far.

And this is completely unrelated to this color, but you know who is hot? 

Gerard Butler.

I was watching Gamer last night while munching on mah candies, and yo...he is freaking hot. @_@

And that's all for today! Have a great day, and don't forget about the Rescue Beauty Lounge sale!  

And So The Lion Gobbled Up The Lamb, Like It's Supposed To

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I don't care about Halloween, but everyone makes such pretty manis for the occasion that it's hard to not want to join in. One of my favorite blogs for Halloween-themed designs is Deez Nailz. Her nail art is always so neat and freaking adorable, and I especially like her Dracula post. So I went ahead and copied it. Or tried to, with disastrous results.

Please don't laugh!!

I started with two coats of Color Club Pretty in Platinum. To make the faces sparkle, I applied a thin coat of Nubar Angelic Glitter over each nail. Then I used the Kiss Brush-On Nail Art in black to put on the hair and mouth. The fangs were done with Kiss Brush-On Nail Art in white, and then tipped with Milani Ruby Jewels. I then used a red oval gem for the eyes, and put a dot of black in the center of each gem for pupils. I put angry eyebrows above the gem-eyes, and that was it. No topcoat or anything.

I wish I had used Icing Peacock for the base though, because I think you can't really see the fangs.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I meant for them to look menacing and evil (as vampires ought to be, vicious bloodthirsty creatures that they are), but they just look....special. Especially the pinky one. Its eyes are so crazy, among other things. I feel like if I were accosted by a vampire that looked like this, I instead of dying of fright or exsanguination, I'd die of laughter. Smh!

On a more cheerful note, there's a blog award!! I was tagged for it by the lovely and talented Varnish Vixen, so a giant thank you goes to her. The rules are that I gotta answer some questions, so here we go:

I love Spongebob so much.

1. Why did you create the blog?
 Well, firstly, my polish stash was getting out of control, and I needed a place where I could keep organized pictures and detailed thoughts about each polish. I considered fotki and flickr, but ultimately decided on Blogger. Plus, I wanted to make friends with other nail bloggers because this seemed like such an awesome community (it really is), and I wanted another hobby, because crocheting was getting boring and obsolete since spring was coming. 

2. What kind of blogs do you follow?

Mostly nail blogs. I also follow some weight-loss blogs, some hair blogs, and one very special and hilarious blog, Hyperbole and a Half. 

3. Do you have a favorite make-up brand? 
I like covergirl (hate their animal testing though) and milani. 

4. And a favorite clothing brand?
Nope! If it fits and looks okay, it's good enough for me.

5. What make-up products are essential for you?
I don't really wear makeup, but I need to have my Wet n Wild liquid eyeliner, Maybelline Dream Matte Mouse foundation, and Covergirl Lash Blast Luxe or Volume. They make me look human. ^_^

6. What’s your favorite color?
 In general, blue. For nail polish, it's a tie between purple and green, although blue is a close third.

7. What’s your favorite perfume?

Britney Spears Fantasy....don't look at me like that. 

I'm extremely partial to Hidden Fantasy, with Midnight Fantasy running a very close second.

8. What’s the film you liked the most?

Bleh....too hard. But a rule of thumb is if Tim Burton made it, I love it. With the exception of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Favorites specifically are Big Fish, Pan's Labyrinth, Constantine, Zombieland (great Halloween movie), Memoirs of a Geisha, 300, Wedding Crashers and a Beautiful Mind. 

  
9. What countries would you like to go to?

Heehee...you don't even have time to hear this list. I'd love to visit Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, India, Slovenia (Slovenians seem so sweet and friendly), Ecuador via The Galapagos Islands, Peru, Spain, Italy, Russia, The Phillipines, South Korea, Tunisia, Greenland, Brazil, Norway, The Maldives, Tibet.....I just want to go everywhere. ^_^


And now I get to tag people, but I'm gonna be a little unorthodox with it and tag all the blogs I follow. Is evil, no? I blame the Halloween spirit. (n_n)
So if I'm your follower, and you haven't been tagged with this award yet, then consider yourself tagged. Muahahaha! (That's an evil laugh, not a mirthful one.)

Wishing you ladies and any munchkins in your lives a safe and happy Halloween!

Pumpkins Scream In the Dead of the Night....Sort Of

     Ahhh confession time: I don't celebrate Halloween. Don't look at me like that. We used to celebrate it, until my mom became convinced that Halloween was a devilish holiday, rife with evildoing and witchcraft. My sister and I tried to convince her otherwise, but that was the end of Halloween for my family, because my mom's word is law. I was sad at first, but now I don't care.  My friends will be planning elaborate costumes with bubbles and fireworks and levitating cats and shit, and I'll just stay at home, watching movies and eating candy. Or if I have homework, I'll do that while muching my candies. (No matter what, there must be candies.) That's my Halloween, and it suits me fine.
   But everyone in the nail world seems to love Halloween, which inspired me to try out a spooky mani for myself.  

I was trying to replicate the killer from the Scream movies. I wanted to put a spin on it by making the face orange and the eyes more triangular. Like a screaming pumpkin. But I don't have a good orange polish, so I went with a more faithful adaptation.  

For the base, I used two coats of Pretty in Platinum and for the features, I used Kiss Brush on Nail Paint in Black.

And I have a new-found level of respect for ladies who freehand nail art...just doing these basic ovals was hard as hell.  

Sunlight, no flash.

The index finger's mouth is upside down...and the pinky scream looks...special.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no light.

This is what I was going for, minus the blood.

 I just realized that I forgot the nose.

   But you wanna know something funny? I went out with this mani on, and a very sweet lady in CVS complimented me on my "cow spot nails". I'm well aware that this mani looks all types of crazy, but cow spots? For real though?! 

Happy Halloween Eve!!