Del Sol- Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween everyone! I don't have much time to write this post as I waited until right when I needed to go to sleep to start it, but I wanted to share this awesome polish with you. It's the perfect Halloween polish!

You've probably heard of those gimmicky polishes that change color in the sun right? Well, this is one of those. But it's WAY better than what you're probably thinking of. Out of UV light, the color is tiny orange and holographic glitter in a clear base. But out in the sun the clear base turns into a deep, dark black. It's so cool!

This polish is sold on Del Sol's website. It usually sells for $10, but right now it's $7.50. I rarely buy backup bottles because I never use up a bottle of polish, but I'm greatly tempted this time.

This is three coats with base and top coat.

Del Sol Trick or Treat

This is in the shade before the sun had a change to change the color.

Del Sol Trick or Treat

I took this one the instant I stepped into the sun and you can see the polish has already started to darken.

Del Sol Trick or Treat

This is about half way through the transition.

Del Sol Trick or Treat

And this is the darkest the polish gets. I almost wish it looked like this all the time! A bad thing about this polish is that you can't see the polish on your cuticles until you get out in the sun and it turns black!

Del Sol Trick or Treat

Here is the polish in the shade before the base starts fading back to clear.

Oh, and GIF TIME!

So any plans for Halloween? Not for me, I'm just going to stay home and be boring. Like usual! ;)

Revlon Just Tinted Nail Polish Swatches

I had a poopy day today (well, technically yesterday by the time this posts in the morning), and I'm exhaaaaaaausted. It's only 9pm and I'm already ready for bed. 9 pm is obscenely early to me. No matter what time I have to wake up, I can't sleep unless it is already the next day, aka after midnight.

Here are swatches of Revlon's Just Tinted nail polish collection. This one is a limited edition summer collection. I'm not sure if it's still available in stores or not as I bought these like 2 months ago and am barely posting them. I'm such a procrastinator!  I was really looking forward to these as I thought they would be similar to OPI's "sorbets" from the Texas collection, which I surprisingly liked. These are more sheer. I don't love them and can't decide if I even like them. Oh, they also dry to a semi-matte/satiny finish, which is weird since they look kinda jelly-ish. I didn't like the satin look so all of these are swatched with a top coat.

These are all 2 coats of the polishes over one coat of an opaque nude polish on my index finger and 4 coats on my other 3 fingers.

Revlon Dawn in the sun

Revlon Dawn in the shade

Revlon Victorian in the sun

Revlon Victorian in the shade

Revlon Desire in the sun

Revlon Desire in the shade

Revlon Mystical in the sun

Revlon Mystical in the shade

Okay, now I'm really going to bed. Sleep sounds freaking amazing right about now.

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Week 14: Shopping my Stash for Untried Polish- Essie Haute As Hello

Hey guys! Happy Monday!  Well, it's happy for me anyway since I don't have school today and can just be lazy! And I know you probably think I've forgotten about my giveaway, but I haven't, I'm still compiling all the entries into a spreadsheet. I need to find a different way to do count entries because this spreadsheet thing gets old reaaaaaally fast.

Anyway, even though my nails have been gross lately, I've still been taking pictures of some untried polishes I've been wearing.  I'm not just exaggerating; my nails have been weak, cracking, dry, peeling messes.  I bought some Biotin pills so hopefully those actually help strengthen my nails and don't give me cystic acne like they do to a lot of people.

This weeks polish is Essie's Haute As Hello.  I bought this when it first came out and this is the first time I've worn it.  I haven't worn a lot of cremes lately so it was refreshing to finally wear one.  I've forgotten how easy cremes are to remove!  Which seems to be my main criteria when picking polishes to wear lately.  But I do like this color.  Despite being a creme, it is a bit of a chameleon.  In some lights it is decidedly orange while in others I could swear it's pink.

This was 3 coats with base and top coat.

Essie Haute As Hello in the sun

Essie Haute As Hello in the shade

Well, that's it for today!  Except I'll try and finish tallying my giveaway entries and I'll probably email the winner later.  Hope you guys have a great week!

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Bright Summery Nails with L'Oreal's Summer Siren Nail Polishes! Wth Swatches!

Okay, this post starts off kind of boring so you can just skip to the pictures if you want!

Anyone else avoid going to the doctor at all costs?  I’m not afraid of going, I’m just afraid to know what’s wrong with me, haha.  I would rather just ignore my problems and hope they go away.  Plus, medical bills are expensive, even with insurance.  This is still my mindset about medical issues, even though being this way has gotten me in a lot of trouble in the past. In my emergency surgery back in February I ended up having to get way more invasive surgery when it could have just been laproscopically in a tiny incision because I waited to go to the doctor too long.  Silly me, you think I would have learned my lesson.

It’s been 4 months since my surgery and I should be recovered, but I’m having some issues.  And of course I haven’t been back to the doctor.  For anyone who has had surgery I have a question.  My incision was in my lower torso area and of course anytime you’re cut like that you’ll have nerve damage but mine feels bad.  My whole abdomen feels numb and overly sensitive at the same time.  I can barely touch it.  Also out of nowhere it will feel like it’s on fire.  I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this after surgery?  I guess it has only been 4 months since, but it is getting really annoying.  I know I should go to the doctor, but I dooooooooon’t waaaanna.

Sorry for the rambling! 

I picked these polishes up from my local grocery store when they were having a sale on L’Oreal.  These are limited edition and part of L’Oreal’s summer collection- Summer Siren.  They are the most exciting drugstore polishes I have seen in awhile so I couldn’t stop myself from buying them.

These are all swatches with no base or top coats.  I used 4 coats on all of these.  They are a bit sheer, but they dry quickly and 4 coats wasn't really a hassle at all.  They would also looked nice over a similarly colored base.

L'Oreal Yellow Seahorse in the sun

L'Oreal Yellow Seahorse in the shade

L'Oreal Coral Starfish in the sun

L'Oreal Coral Starfish in the shade

L'Oreal Pink Shells in the sun

L'Oreal Pink Shells in the shade

L'Oreal Blue Marine in the sun

L'Oreal Blue Marine in the shade

These are from a limited edition collection so they have their own displays.  Just look where your drugstores normally carry the limited edition collections, though not all drugstores choose to put them up.  I can't remember how much these polishes were and I can't find it online, but probably around $4. 

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Under-appreciated Brand Alert! New York Summer Nail Polish Swatches

New York Summer is probably an under-appreciated brand because it isn't that easy to find.  The only place I've seen it sold is on the website of one of my favorite nail polish e-tailers, Transdesign. The polishes are only $1.59 and come in a HUGE range of over 50 colors ranging from neons to glitters to jellies.  Most of the colors I have are jellies.  In a way, the remind me of polishes that could easily fit in with OPI's "sorbet" finish.  If you loved OPI's jellies and were looking for some more, these are some great ones.  Plus, they're super cheap!  Oh, another color I recommend is a green jelly called Amaranth, but I forgot to swatch it. :(
All of these are swatched with no base or top coat.

New York Summer Hot Baby Blue in the sun

This was 3 coats.  It's a little more opaque than some of the others.  It is also a near perfect dupe for Essie Turquoise & Caicos.

New York Summer Hot Baby Blue in the shade

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue in the sun

This is 4 coats and you can still see my nail line easily.  Also, it must have some neon pigment in it because it dries to a satin finish.

New York Summer Hot Sky Blue in the shade

New York Summer Summer Fun in the sun

This was 4 coats.  I really like this color- it seems pretty unique.

New York Summer Summer Fun in the shade

New York Summer Hush in the sun

This was 4 coats.  Like most yellows, this was a bit of a pain to try and get streak-free.

New York Summer Hush in the shade

New York Summer Poppies in the sun

This was 2 coats.  It's the only non-jelly out of these swatches.  This is such a rich, gorgeous purple.

New York Summer Poppies in the shade

I was thinking Poppies might be similar to NARS' Purple Rain so I did a comparison.

Left- NARS Purple Rain  Right- New York Summer Poppies

You can see that they aren't dupes at all.  They do hae a similar feel, but Purple Rain has a more blackened base and isn't quite as reddish purple.

Available:

• New York Summer sells for $1.59  at Transdesign.com (Scroll down and click Polish on the left side. New York Summer is just called "New York" in the top tabs)

Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!

Week 5: Shopping my Stash for Untried Polish- MAC Imperial Flower

Here I am chuggin' along at week 5 of my challenge to wear all my untried polishes (Click here to see what I wore the last 4 weeks) and I've already discovered some gems.  Like this week's.

MAC's polishes weren't really on my radar until pretty recently.  For the price, the formula seemed rather nasty and the colors didn't seem too unique.  They seem to be stepping up their game a bit recently.  I was especially impressed with their Jin Soon-collaborated limited edition collection of polishes  for Fall 2010.  I bought both Ming Blue and Imperial Flower but now I'm wishing I had bought more (aka all of them).  I don't know why I haven't worn this one yet, but I always do that.  I buy a polish I'm super excited about, put it with the rest of my stash, and promptly forget about it.  If I don't put it on right away it will be months before I discover it again.

This was 3 coats with base and top coat.

MAC Imperial Flower in the sun

Imperial Flower is a bright, saturated red-orange with golden orange and red tiny shimmer flakes.

MAC Imperial Flower in the shade

MAC Imperial Flower macro shot

Available:

• This polish was limited edition so it is no longer available from MAC, but I was able to find it at All Cosmetics Wholesale for $12.99.  And you're saving a penny off the original price! Haha.

Thank you for reading and hae a great day/night/whatever!

Where Is Texas in OPI's Texas Collection? Swatches and a Complaint

I'm a die-hard Texan.  I was born here, I live here, and I will most definitely die here.  Just hopefully not any time soon.  Or actually preferably not at all.  So needless to say, I had high expectations for the OPI's Texas-inspired nail polish collection. Being the overly-dramatic Texan I am who takes offense to any perceived slight to my beloved home, I was outraged at the seeming lack of thought or research that went into picking the color palette.  I immediately saddled up my horse (we all own one ya know; it's a requirement to live here) and began the trek to OPI headquarters to express my outrage.  Okay not really, I just experienced mild distaste and decided I didn't need any of the colors.  Plus, I don't know anyone who even owns a horse.

Anyway, the color palette does not evoke Texas to me at all. And while the fruity-colored "sorbets" are pretty, I would like to know exactly what about Texas inspired them?  And while we're on the topic... c'mon, sorbets?  Really?  We all know they're jellies.  Stop pretending that you invented some groundbreaking new finish. Honestly to me it feels like they picked the theme AFTER they had picked the colors.

So I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago and came across a display with these on clearance (I guess all my fellow Texans were offended also.  Either that or no one expected to find OPI at the grocery store).  I bought Austin-tatious Turquoise because Austin is my hometown, where my family lives, and where I long to be. *dramatic sigh* I know the color is sheer and not-so-great from what I have seen on other blogs, but I had to have it for the name.  And how could you not love a city who's motto is, "Keep Austin weird."  I picked up a few of the sorbets (JELLIES!) because they looked pretty in the bottle and one other because it had a really pretty pink shimmer that does not show up at all in pictures.

These are swatched with no base or top coat.

OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise in the sun

 This was 5 coats and you can still see some VNL.  To be honest U was expecting this one to be a lot worse.  What disappointed me the most is that the cool purpley-pink shimmer you can see in the corner of the bottle does not show up on the nail. :(

OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise in the shade

OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It in the sun

This was 5 coats.  Okay, this one looks sort of boring and gross- a frosty, brushstrokey mess.  But in real life it has this really pretty pink shimmer/flash thing that sort of redeems it.  I don't know why it's so camera shy.  So is this one "Totally Fort Worth It"?  Probably not.

OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It in the shade

OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Here in the sun

For all the sorbets I used 1 coat of a nude polish on my index finger to hide VNL.  This was 3 coats on my index finger and 4 on the other fingers.  I'm not sure you would ever be able to get rid of VNL without an opaque base.

OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Here in the shade

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston in the sun

This was 2 coats on my index finger over the nude base and 3 coats on my other fingers.

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston in the shade

OPI Houston We Have A Purple in the sun

This was 2 coats on my index finger over the nude base and 3 coats on my other fingers.

OPI Houston We Have A Purple in the shade

 Available:

• This is a limited edition collection but may still be available at some places.  Check OPI's website for a location near you that sells it.
• This collection is still available on Transdesign and they sell for $5.75 each.

Oh, and just because I'm homesick, here are a few pictures of some of my favorite places/things in and around Austin.

Krause Springs

Image credit sonfotografias on flickr

 Austin skyline at night reflecting off the lake

image credit Michael Connell on flickr

Texas Longhorns

This is my momma before a Longhorn football game.  Shh, don't tell her I put a picture of her here.

Hamilton Pool

image credit Knowsphotos on flickr

This is one the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Apparently it's a collapsed underground river or something.  They even let you swim here sometimes.

There are so many other places I love but this is getting a bit long. :)


Thank you for reading and have a great day/night/whatever!