It's Giveaway Time!

   

    These past few months have been pretty eventful for The Phalanges Files. We turned one year old on March 14th, and now have over 250 followers! So to celebrate and thank you all for being so supportive, I'm planning a couple of giveaways in the coming months. The first will be going live today, and will have two winners.

Here's what's up for grabs:

Prize 1: Sally Hansen Fractured Foil and Antiqued Gold

Prize 2: Sally Hansen Fuchsia Shock and Distressed Denim

Rules:

1. To enter, all you have to do is be a follower through Google Friend Connect and have a valid email address. New followers can play too!

2. People who were following when this giveaway went live get two extra entries.

3. People who blog about the giveaway and can link me to it (sidebar counts) get one extra entry.

4. You can only enter once, via the embedded form below.

5. International polish lovers are welcome!

6. The giveaway will end June 4 2011, at 11:59 EST. I will draw and email winners on the 6th, and they will have 24 hours to respond.

Finally, nooo cheating. I know we all love nail polish, but it's not that serious.

And I think that's it! Thank you for reading, commenting and following (because without you guys, this would not be nearly as fun) and good luck! ^__^

*Giveaway is closed!! Thanks for entering!! ^_^*

OPI Mystic Moonshine

     We are having some crummy weather today (and for the rest of the week) in New York, so the next few posts will be coming from the backlog. Damn Mother Nature, always trying to ruin my life. But anyway, here's Mystic Moonshine, from OPI's New England Collection.

Mystic Moonshine is a silver base, studded with small, square silver glitter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I don't like Mystic Moonshine. The silver base is quite pretty and clean, but the glitter just looks lumpy and messy to me. That was weird too, because the glitter didn't feel lumpy. It just looked lumpy. I also felt like it didn't sparkle properly, and in this type of color, the sparkle is necessary. I kind of want to keep it, just because it's elderly, but moving my polish back home this past weekend has taught me that mercy and sentiment is for the weak and the masochistic. So regrettably, Mystic Moonshine will have to be re-homed.

    But moving on to the formula, Mystic Moonshine was okay...not terrible, but not great. It was opaque in three coats, and dry time was quite good, but it was prone to bubbling and dragging. 

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day!

American Apparel Malibu Green

    I haven't shown a bright color in a while (I suck at summer), so for today, I have American Apparel Malibu Green.

Malibu Green is not really green...it's more of a green-leaning teal than anything. A saturated, bright, green-leaning teal. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I was planning on giving Malibu Green to my sister, but now, I think I'm gonna keep it. It's so pretty and cheerful, and is perfect for warmer weather. I also think it is very flattering on my skin, and will definitely be wearing it as a pedi this summer. I must admit that my soul burns a bit because this polish is from Satan American Apparel and I HATE them and promised myself that I'd never own their shit. But I have pretty much no self-control, so....yeah. 

  In terms of application, Malibu Green was quite good. I used two coats of color for the pictures, and there was no dragging or streaking. There are some weird-looking spots on the corners of my nails in the pictures, but that's from the ridiculously thick Poshe that I refuse to give up on. 

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading and enjoy your Sunday! 

I know I will, because I'm going home home homeee!  ^______^

Barry M Grey

   My next grey for the month (Moonstruck didn't count) is Barry M Grey, which I won in a giveaway at The Student's Guide to Nail Polish.

Grey is a slightly dark grey creme with a hint of a blue undertone.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I really like Grey. It's a very simple and clean shade of grey, without a bunch of color undertones to muddle it up. I tend to favor more complex shades, but sometimes, elegance exists in the form of simplicity. This is one of those times. 

   The formula was also quite nice to work with, only requiring two smooth and easy coats for full opacity. 

   My only real complaint about Grey is the name. It's quite direct and to the point, but damn it's boring! Unfortunately, from what I can tell of Barry M, that's just how they roll. :(

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading! ^_^

Sally Hansen Problem Child

     For today, I've got Sally Hansen Problem Child, from their Complete Salon Manicure Tracy Reese Fall 2010 Collection. 

Problem Child is a dark, red-based purple base with purple, blue and red shimmer and multi-sized copper flakies in it.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Problem Child is a really pretty color. The base color is flattering, and it does a little bit of the bright in the center, dark in the corners thing that I like. The shimmer and flakies also add quite a bit of interest, although you'll probably have to click through the pictures to see them. Although I have something similar in OPI Merry Midnight, I'm going to keep Problem Child. It's like Merry Midnight's twin brother, who decided that instead of doing crack all day like MM, he would get a job and buy a house like a motherflipping adult. Which is ironic, given its name. 

  Further compounding the contrariness of Problem Child's name was its formula. It was quite smooth and only needed two coats for opacity, which is not very problem child-like behavior. I'm okay with that though.

And that's all from me for today! Thanks for reading! ^_^

Confetti Moonstruck

    This is gonna be a quick post, since I'm supposed to be packing my stuff to leave this place and am wayy behind schedule. I wish I could press a button and fold my room into a little box, like they used to do in the cartoons. But anyway, here's Confetti Moonstruck.

Moonstruck is a pale grey-ish taupe creme.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I'm going to keep Moonstruck. This type of color has been everywhere since last fall, so it's not unique. But still, I am fond of it. It's very simple, understated, and clean...perfect for when you don't want your nails to take center stage or just need to cleanse the palate. Plus, I like how it looks on my nails.

   I also liked how Moonstruck applied. It was a bit too liquidy, but went on like butter and leveled itself beautifully. Three coats of color and a layer of topcoat gave me a perfect, creme-y look, with very little effort on my part. Ooh, also, the brush in this bottle was indeed doing the gangsta lean, but really, I don't understand...like what people are moaning about. I turned the brush to accommodate for the direction of the slant in relation to my nail, and all was well. It was a little inconvenient, but I really don't think it's a big deal. 

And that's all I've got for you today! Thanks for reading, and have a lovely hump day! 

OPI Wing It!

      For today, I've got Wing It! (ahh I hate unnecessary punctuation) from OPI's Summer Flutter Collection. 

Wing It! is a sheer reddish-pinky-coralish base packed with flat, color-shifting pink and blue shimmer pieces.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I found Wing It! to be really funny. The base color just kind of hangs out in this really ambiguous area, and the shimmer is the same. It's kind of iridescent, kind of blue, kind of pink, kind of violet, kind of duochrome, kind of metallic...but it doesn't fit firmly into any of those groups. Wing It! is like...the epitome of a noncommittal polish and even though I don't like noncommittal things (and people), I think I'm going to keep it. 

   I still have to think about it though, because I didn't like Wing It!'s formula at all. It went on smoothly enough, but was rather thin and hard to control. It also took five coats to eliminate all VNL in person, which is of course no bueno. So I guess we'll have to see on this one.

    

 But that's all for today! Thanks for reading!