O.P.I. $3.83 at C.B. Sullivan

Know a professional? C.B. Sullivan is doing their customer appreciation day Sunday Sept 19 and Monday Sept 20. O.P.I. nail polishes (all of them) will be $3.83 each. I don't know about you gals, but if you're paying up to $9 a bottle then this is a great deal.



C.B. Sullivan is a company located in New England and only shoppable with a professional license. You can however go in with someone who has a license and shop with them. I frequently bring family or friends with me so I know it can be done. Although your mileage might vary.

They will also have a ton of other deals going on these two days, up to %70 off. I checked over the flier and saw Farouk Biosilk irons for $19.87, CND cuticle away for $4.50 Seche Vite top coat for $3.95, and my favorite Chi Shine infusion spray for $6.49

It's possible to shop online, if you're willing to go the extra mile and fax a copy of your license to them.

MAC Fall 2010 Earthly Harmony review and Swatch

Our Giveaway still has under 50 entries. You have a good chance at winning a custom Konad set!



It's 9am here and its hot, HOT, HOT! Certainly not time for fall? Well, maybe on my nails.
I purchased M.A.C. Earthly Harmony Saturday when taking my niece shopping. This is a part of their new Fall 2010 release of polishes, and I was surprised Macy's had it because usually each counter just has the basics when it comes to nail polishes.

Im glad I swatched it when I did. Yesterday, my hubby being the logical and intelligent person he is, decided to take a shower while my daughter played alone in the bedroom. She's 3 now, so she must be OK alone around electronics, fish tanks and who knows what else! (end sarcasm). He's usually VERY protective but I guess in our own home he has a false sense of safety? Maybe it's a man thing.

Well somehow she found the very well hidden Earthly Harmony polish, and decided to paint her body. I checked on the two of them only to find him in the bathroom and her painted a beautiful earthly harmony from the torso down! She managed to not get a drop on the floor!

After the long clean-up, I checked the bottle to find maybe 1-2 applications remaining in it. I like the color a lot and may replace it.



The polish in the bottle has beautiful orangey-pink sparkles. However, on the nail they just make the taupe-grey polish look bumpy. I didn't really see ANY sparkle except in VERY direct sunlight. When it does sparkle, or the color of the sparkles show through it is GORGEOUS. I really am overall in love with the color regardless of the lack of shimmer.



What fall colors are you buying this year?

Art Deco nails with Konad stamping

I did a lot of polish swatches and stamp designs Friday & Saturday. So originally I had planned on posting my art deco nails and speaking about the free pants I got from Eileen Fischer, as I imagine it would be a topic you gals would much prefer. I'll have to place that topic on the back-burner.
Something happened over the weekend. My grandmother's(in-law) cousin passed away. To most Americans this might seem like a distanced relative, but my in-laws are Laotian Buddhists. Cousins can be as close as brothers, and the community (through temple, friends, word of mouth) pulls together strongly for joyous and sorrowful events.
This is really different from my catholic upbringing. Last night we all got together to party to release the spirit. It wasn't extremely joyful, but it also was not at all what I'd consider mourning. It was quite nice and I definitely would prefer "checking out" like this. Services will continue for anywhere from 1-3 weeks and it is unknown(yet) exactly which days I won't be around. I'll try to post when I can, but family comes first.

I had done my nails a few times over the weekend before the bad news arrived. My first design was like an art-deco type. I'm not sure really what else to call it.



I used E.L.F. punk purple for the base, although I meant to use Mod Mauve and grabbed the wrong bottle! *00PS* For the stamped pink nails I used an old unlabelled bottle of Pure ICE that is a hot pink color and filled the squares with a nail art felt tip pen. The black stamps were done with Konad special polish in black. Image plate used was Konad brand m61.
I tried really hard to remove the black polish from my cuticles but it would not budge.



I wasn't crazy about the design and so it didn't last long. It seemed very "80's" to me though. If I kept it on I might have put on a side ponytail and tied my T-shirt into a knot!



In the meantime between posts, don't forget our giveaway for a Konad kit.

Would you sport a purple and hot pink "art deco" manicure? Do you think it looks very 80's?

Konadlicious Giveaway

If you gals are crazy about crackle paint you should head over to Konad-Licious' giveaway to enter to win some Crackle polishes. Ends Sept 15th.

Coach Poppy nails and an E.L.F. polish Konad

Want to win 4 Konad image plates? Then please enter our giveaway! (links above). So far there isn't a whole lot of entries and it's a really nifty Konad prize where you can pick what YOU want.

I'm really liking the Coach Poppy project. It has connected me to many blogs I might not have otherwise stumbled upon! So I did a little Konad tribute. I can't tell you the name of the polish, its completely unlabelled. I think it came from a Nail Color Institute kit I got for Christmas. I'm not wanting to win the $2500 Coach gift certificate, I just like being involved.



After I cleaned that off I wanted to do a white Konad with review. E.L.F. white nail polish is OK. I mean, it's streaky and sheer. It took me 3 coats to get this look and it was still streaky, luckily the Konad nail stamp hid it well.



For the stamping I used Konad image plate m71 which is a really vintage looking girly plate. It's one of my faves so far and I nabbed it on an Amazon sale for about $4 or so. Woo!



The stamp color is Konad Sky Pearl special polish. I love this color - it's a medium sparkly blue but the shimmer isn't overbearing. Really lovely.



My stamping didn't come out perfect. I was OK with that. Unfortunately after adding a top coat it wouldn't dry! *SAD* So I had to remove it. I need to find a really good opaque white polish, any suggestions?

WIN a Konad stamping nail art kit Plus coupon code!

It’s giveaway time again! If you love Konad stamping nail art kits you’ll love this. It’s a fully customizable prize. This giveaway is being sponsored by DesignUrNails.com So let’s give them a big round of internet applause. I’m very excited to be hosting this. I’m also a bit jealous, because these fully customizable kits are amazing!

They're offering a COUPON code just for this giveaway! $5 off + free shipping for any orders $75 or more. Expires on 09/13/2010

Konad Coupon Code: 823913

Design Ur Nails offers all our favorite products at competitive prices including, but not limited to, Konad Gold Set ($94.99), Konad Set B ($44.99), Konad French Manicure Set ($35.99) along-side some awesome build-it-yourself kits where you can chose between image plates m1-m66.

They also carry other small accessories like rhinestones. Be sure to check out their internet specials too, as they occasionally have image plates on sale. Shipping on U.S. orders over $20 is free.




The Prize:

Konad Build It Yourself Set A
* 4 Image Plates of your choice
* 2 Special Polishes of your choice (10 mL / 0.35 Fl.Oz)
* 1 Two Sided Stamper & Scraper
* 1 Pump Bottle

Retail Value - $44.99

If you haven’t tried Konad yet, they do have Konad tutorial videos on their site also. With a little practice you’ll be stamping beautiful designs on your nails.

The Rules:
The prize is available only to U.S.A addresses only (sorry! I’m hoping we’ll have international giveaways soon). You must be a public follower of mine either through Google Friend connect or Networked Blogs at the time of drawing. I will be checking! Entry will be accepted from 8/23-9/13 11:59pm - Winner will be announced on 9/15. I’ll need your email address to notify the winner, but your email will never be shared with anyone EVER. Anyone with a pulse, and a USA address can enter, but you can gain extra entries by passing the word along. DesignUrNails will be shipping the prize directly to the winner.


Ways to Enter: *Mandatory

*Be a public google friend connect or networked blog follower (+1 Entry)
*Provide your email address - to notify you of winning

Find the SECOND internet special kit on DesignUrNails.com How many total plates are in this kit? (+2 Entries)
Make a Blog Post about this giveaway (+2 Entries)
Tweet About the Giveaway (+1 Entry)
Blog roll us, if you haven’t already (+1 Entries)
Sidebar the giveaway (+1 Entry)


Enter HERE if you cant see the form below

So there is a possibility of 8 total entries! I will e-mail the winner directly, but you have to reply within 48 hours. I will then draw a new winner. Please don’t enter by comment, they will not be counted. Use the special form! However, do feel free to use the comments for... well... comments!

E.L.F.'s (not) Waterproof eyeliner pens... But still good

We should be having another giveaway soon! This one will be sponsored by DesignUrNails - an online retailer of Konad stamping nail art. I'm very excited about this one, and I really hope you all are too.

Last night I meant to take swatch pictures before I left for Cheesecake factory. Time got the best of me and before I knew, it was time to leave. I completely forgot my camera, which was a bummer because it was also my best buddies birthday. We had a lovely time regardless, but I had to prep for my eyeliner pictures today while my daughter took her afternoon nap. Onto the review!



E.L.F. Waterproof eyeliner pens are nice. They're definitely my first choice for my daily activities. They go on dark and heavy, with a clean line. It can be smudged right after application but not as easily as a cream or pencil liner.

As far as "water-proof" I'd say a little bit. I've been splashed in the face twice without any runs. Twice (in one day!) at Six Flags New England, and once at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Luckily, neither time did I have a makeup mishap. Don't dry/pat your eyes after they get wet though!!! Here is an image of my hand where I ran cold water over the liner.



It sticks pretty well with water, but you can see some drips and bleeding. Also, if you touch the liner after it gets wet then you're definitely OUT OF LUCK. It's a mess.

As far as the color goes, the black is nice but I prefer Plum. Plum is actually more dark then black and coats really well. I cannot give a good review of Midnight because my pen arrived dried out. I tried reviving it with water but you can see it didn't work.





Any other eyeliner's you gals use that claim to be water-proof when they're really not? I'd like to know so I can avoid them.

French manicure with a nail art twist

You ever have one of those weeks where you feel frazzled? It's been one of those weeks. I hurt my back walking around Six Flags and since cannot find a comfortable way to sleep. I'm hoping it clears up soon since I blog from my laptop while sitting on the floor. I feel more creative that way I suppose! It's not like I don't have a desk, I just don't use it.

I really love french manicures. The look is so clean and sophisticated, but they get really boring though. I notice if I keep wearing a french people stop commenting. At least if I switch it up with stamps it gives an opening for me to talk about nail art. Love it or hate it, it's a topic starter with the girlies.

This was not an easy task though! I decided to start on a humid day and must have tried this four or five times as my polish was drying. I finally used a hair dryer to get my nails to dry. It was a pretty funny sight!



I used image plate m10 for the flower and Konad special polish in white. After many attempts I decided that the image plates from Hong Kong just aren't worth it. I'm going to stick to Konad from now on unless I'm looking for a design not offered by them.

For the Polish I used Sally Hansen hard as nails French Sheer. It took a good 3 coats to try to mask my tips slightly, but thats to be expected since it's meant for traditional french manicures. It's more of a beige then a pink.

For the flowers stem and the diagonal tip I used Art club nail art lacquer. Not the best, but not the worst. If I had more room on my nails I probably would've made the tip go halfway across. Hopefully my nails will stop breaking on me.





What do you gals think of the image plates from Hong Kong?

Need opinions from other nail bloggers

I'm in need of help. So I'm reaching out to other nail bloggers.
I want to stop cutting my cuticles. You see, in my state this is allowed so in school we were taught that it was "important" to cut cuticles. However, we were also informed it is a breeding ground for yuckies(bacteria, fungi, etc.). So I'm looking for a REALLY good cuticle remover, like a cream or a gel so I can stop cutting mine.

Another item I'm looking for is a item or items to strengthen or harden my nails. I really do not like gel or acrylics so I'd rather not do that. My nails do grow pretty long but then bend and break usually within the nail bed (ouch). Not sure if I should stick to something with fibers or without. What are some good products out there? I've heard of Dermelect (thank twitter girls!) but was wondering if there is something better out there? And if I should go with a strengthener or hardener?

Like Fekkai hair products? Like it more for free!

This thursday Fekkai is giving away free full size products($23 value) at Saks.

You have to register however for your Free Fekkai Style Trial

E.L.F. Studio Cream Eyeliner midnight madness

EyesLipsFace co recently came out with new shimmer eyeliner. I'm a bit bummed because it came out after my last haul. More excuses to shop from them again.

Next up for review is E.L.F. cream eyeliner in midnight. This liner is part of their studio line of cosmetics. I really love this stuff.



The great thing about it is it really is waterproof. I did a swatch my hand and ran water over it and it didn't budge at all. I've fallen in love! It smudges well with a smudge brush but otherwise stays put. You'll still want to keep your hands away from your eyes though. The only downside, if you see it as such, is you'll need an eyeliner or angled brush to apply it. If you're beauty and makeup crazy like me you'll already have a good assortment of brushes to work with. If not, Eyeslipsface brushes are best and inexpensive. Skip on the basic line of brushes though.

The midnight blue is a great color. It can be applied light, or packed on for a darker look. Even better it brushes on lashes extremely well so the blonde base gets good coverage. I even brush it on my lower lashes to get a lot of pop!



To get this look I used E.L.F. Shimmer facial whip for an eyeshadow base. It works great for everything. I especially like it as an eye shadow base or like a lip gloss. I then used Bare Minerals Glee for the contour of my eye. Then I brushed on Premium Minerals Candy and Bare Minerals Soft Focus Romance on the lid. For the brow line and corners of my eyes I used E.L.F. mineral eyeshadow Angelic. I like shimmery eyes. The facial whip doesn't crease like some eyeshadow primers and it sticks all day. Plus, I use colors that closely match with whatever eyeshadow I'm using.



If you haven't already, you should try studio cream eyeliner.

Vanessa Hudgens mani pedi improved.

Vanessa Hudgens has been sporting this great look pairing separate polishes on her hands and toes yet still bringing it together by matching one nail to her pedicure. Glamour magazine spotted this cute look.
I decided to try it out, but with Konad nail art!



I used Wet N' Wild precious Metals in Steel polish with E.L.F. Polish in Royal Plum. I also used Konad special polish in blue.



To pair it all better I used Wet N Wild Steel on my Royal purple nails which stamped surprisingly well.



I used the following image plates for the Konad designs: Konad image plate m2, Konad knock-off, also called "fauxnad" image plates m72 and m36. I believe these are GCOCL brand but I haven't really looked into it yet.

If you use the fauxnads be sure to double scrape, they seem to pool Konad polishes so can come out really sloppy.

So what do you think, beauty YAY or beauty FLOP?

Want an everyday eyeliner? E.L.F. pencils fit the bill

As a continuation of our Eyeslipsface eye liner mega mashup I now bring you the E.L.F. pencil eyeliner review.

I had some camera troubles, because I was taking pictures alone. Some turned out yellowy but I'm sure you can get a decent idea of the eyeliners. Black is shown on the left, plum on the right.



I didn't want to do up my eyes a lot. I wanted you to be able to see the actual liner. I brushed on Bobbi Brown's shimmer brick in gold as a base, with a dab of E.L.F. mineral eyeshadow in Socialite for slight shadowing. I did not use any mascara, again, I didn't want to take away from the eyeliners.

Here is an view of the E.L.F. eyeliner pencil in Black.

It's quite dark for a pencil and easy to smudge. If you want a dark bold line I'd definitely suggest smudging this first, then going back over with a liquid liner as close to the lash line as possible. Layering too much causes clumps - EW.


Shown below is the eyeliner in plum.

Plum, In my opinion, is harder to work with. No amount of layering will make it any darker. It also smudges well and can get clumpy with too much application. It sure does make my eyes pop. If I was going out for the night I'd apply a rather thick smudged line, and finish with a liquid liner in purple for a bolder look.

Neither fare well on the lower lash line because the pencils are too soft. You will get a lot of clumps, but I prefer my eyeliner to be rather dark so I overdo it. I definitely will say never use these on the lower lash line if you're wearing contacts!

I do really like these, although pencil is never my first choice. E.L.F. pencil eyeliners are inexpensive (as is all their makeup), comfortable to wear. They won't run when wet, but will wash off easily. If you're going for a bold look I'd stick to the black one however.

Posh Pigments Giveaway Winner!

Winner Winner Chicken dinner!

We had an insane turnout for this, I really wasn't expecting so many entries. Next time I think I'll use google spreadsheets as it was really hard chicken scratching everyone down with each individual entry. Rest assured, I double counted the entries, double checked followers, and triple checked the results.

Just to give you a good idea we had OVER 50 entered, with over 130 entries.



That number points to our follower/commenter sohamolina! Congrats! I'll be contacting you today.

Konad and nail polish blogs I LOVE!

I wanted to spread some blog love out to a few nail polish and Konad design blogs I really love.

I Love Konad Such a fitting name, with really cute nail art designs.

Juicy Nails she has really nice nails and does a lot of regular polish swatches too.

Nail Junkie I never wouldve guessed she was wearing stick on nails. She makes it look so easy.

Candy Coated Tips There are very few blogs where I go through the first page and like every swatched color of polish. This is one of those few blogs I really look at and go "I want THAT!" to every item she writes about.

My Giveaway Ends soon

My giveaway ends soon. Get in your last minute entry if you haven't already.
I'm already checking the list for verification, but I will be going through it again before the drawing tomorrow. Remember, above all, you must be a GFC follower.

E.L.F. Liquid Eyeliner review

Earlier I posted the E.L.F. eyeliner mega mashup. Today I'm going to touch base on eyeslipsface co liquid eyeliner line.



I'm going to be completely honest here: SKIP buying this product. It's color is great, it's staying power amazing. It's more waterproof then any of their other eyeliners.

It has a major flaw though. It smells like industrial plastic burning. Then, when you put it on, it feels like industrial eye burning! OUCH! I refused to even take a swatch picture on my eyes(sorry!).

You can see that the plum color is more of a golden hue of purple, rather that being actually purple. The black however, is a deep perfect black. Sadly, these would be great if they didn't smell so bad or burn your eyes. I even wonder if they're safe to wear.



Later I'll cover the MUCH better eyeliners Eyes Lips Face offers in pencil, cream, and waterproof liquid pen.

E.L.F. Eyeliner Mega Mashup

I love eye liner. Really, I can't get enough. So of course, I had to purchase a bunch from E.L.F.
Here's a wrap-up that will touch base closer with each kind of the next week.



From left to right: E.L.F. liquid eye liner in Black and Plum, E.L.F. eyeliner in Black and plum, E.L.F. cream eyeliner(studio line) in midnight, E.L.F. liquid waterproof eyeliner pen in Black, Plum, and Midnight.

As you can see I really like Black, Purple and blue colors. Each of these have their pro's and con's from set to set. The color, intensity and the lasting power is definitely different for each group. Some smudge easier then others. I will cover this in more detail later on in the week.

Right now I will say, I definitely prefer the liquid waterproof eyeliner pens and the E.L.F. Studio Cream eyeliner. Depending on what look I'm going for.

These eyeliner swatches show the difference in color between the different types. These are left to right the same as the image above.




Have you tried E.L.F. (eyeslipsface co.) yet? What do you like/dislike?

My Give Away for Amazon $5, don't forget!

We only have 4 people who have entered my give away so far!
So please, toddle on over to My give away for your chance at winning $5 Amazon E-Gift certificate.

Entries are allowed until 11:59pm EST(Midnight) August 11th. Drawing for my give away will be held the following morning.



Thanks again for following!

Purse Designer Love

Besides makeup, and nail polish I cant stop my habit for handbags. What's worse is I live a short drive from both Newbury St., a high end mall, and an outlet. AGH! It's filled with purse designers.
My poor fiancé feels compelled to purchase me a designer purse for any given occasion. I have several I've never even used, and I've owned them over a year. I certainly cannot step away from Coach purse brand.

I'll go to the mall and browse the latest and greatest of Louis, Gucci, and Burberry. Now that I have a little girl I cannot splurge like I used to. It's fun to dream? I love the simplicity of Fendi, the way Burberry bag can make me feel so sophisticated, and how sporting a simple Prada bag can work with almost any outfit. In fact, I even carried a Prada tote as a diaper bag after my daughter was born!

If I could now, I'd probably buy a gorgeous signature Gucci bag. Something that has a classic style, with maybe a small modern twist and could be used for many years on and off for many situations.



Sunglasses, that is a whole other ballgame. I could write a whole blog post about them too.

Which purse designer do you love? Which purse brand do you hate?

$5 Amazon Virtual GC give away

Would you like to win $5 Amazon virtual cash?
It's a small token of my appreciation to all my followers. Give away entries will be allowed until Midnight Wednesday August 11th. Winner will be posted on August 12th.
Anyone can grab 2 Entries. Bloggers can get more :)

How to enter:
1.You MUST be a google follower!!! +1 Entry
2. Tell me what you will use your $5 Amazon on, will it be for beauty or something else? +1 Entry

3. Post a blog post about my giveaway +2 Entries
4. Add my Giveaway to sidebar +1 Entry
5. Blog roll my blog +2 Entries

Post a comment with your google follower name, and email so I can notify you! All entries must be included in one post. There are seven possible entries for everyone. Winning number will be pulled by Random.org

Good Luck!

O.P.I. review and Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick compact

Im so excited; Getcha Nails Did posted a link on her blog to me in her "New Blogs on the Block" and I've gotten quite a few more followers. Thank you SO much!

I decided to do TWO golden make up swatches with reviews today. Especially after bashing my Aunt-in-law Bobbi Brown on her polish. (Again, sorry! I was just being honest). Read further to see how I felt about the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in gold.

Firstly, I started with the O.P.I. nail polish in Glamour & Glitz. Its a nice golden color with brown hues. I like it, but I'm not crazy about it. I usually love O.P.I. polish with one drawback : They never dry fast enough. It's one reason I avoid O.P.I.

Second I tried Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Gold. Its a nice big brick of several hues of gold. All mixed together it comes out the color of pure gold. I'm a big fan of bricks because if I want I can pick the overall color or any swatch in between. The shimmer goes on slightly sheer, and even for my pale-ness isn't good for like a bronzed look. However, it adds a lot of sparkle and gold tones to my skin which is nice. It's also great for eye shadow. LOVE IT! Bobbi's Shimmer Bricks come in a variety of colors and retail for about $38.
Gold shimmer is unfortunately Limited Edition and discontinued. I have two of these, one never used and may end up using it for a future giveaway. Much more Bobbi makeup reviews to come I hope.



Are you feeling Golden today? What other colors of mail polish would you like to see me review? What about other Bobbi Brown Products?

Makeup my Mind Dior Giveaway

Makeup my mind is giving away a Dior show eyelash maximizer. Check it out here!