Easter Mani Fails [Picture Heavy]

Ok, this isn't going to be a pretty posting. Not fishing for complements, I guess I'm looking for some advice. I attempted my first water marble mani tonight and it was all going great until I put on my topcoat. What I thought were just water droplets on the tops of my nails were actually little tiny bubbles under my marble. When I applied my Seche Vite the bubbles popped exposing the undercoat and basically ruining what I thought was a great first try, and an okay Easter mani. (I don't have many pastels)


You can kind of see the little holes in the colouring exposing a pale undercoat.
I used "Sheer" Your Toys by OPI as my undercoat since I don't have a good white base. I used OPI's Plugged-In Plum, Suzi Says Feng Shui, and Jade is the New Black as my marbling colours.

Close-ups of the bubbling on my thumbs.

(NOTE: The bubbles were not in the water before I dipped my fingers in. I was watching out for that. These bubbles happened after the marble pattern was already on my nail.)

So I stripped it all off and thought. "Hey, I'll use those Milani Holos I won from Euridice's giveaway and just skittle them." Well, it turned out better in my head.

It doesn't look terrible, but I just wasn't that into it. Maybe the colour order was off... I don't know. Maybe I was just too disappointed in my water marble. So I stripped it all off and I'm going naked tomorrow. *big sigh*

Any tips on the water marbling would be awesome. Has anyone had trouble marbling? Any colours you enjoy marbling or doing skittles with?

And yes... I'm still doing polish reviews this weekend. u.u

Sneek Peek

Hmmm... I wonder what I'll be reviewing this weekend...

What has Happened to my Luck?

I seem to have won 3 giveaways in the past couple months including today. To prevent empty polish bottles from being thrown at me by my fellow bloggers I'm going to stop entering them for a while. I will still throw the good word out to you guys here and there regarding the ones I see so you guys can enter them. Maybe I'll make a contest bar on the side of my page. Any suggestions?

I feel a little weird about my blog having more giveaway advertisment than actual posts!

These are the giveaways I have won:
- Holla for Holos from Travels With Euridice. A blog updated by Liz from the US.
- Friday Follower Freebie from Body ad Soul Beauty. A blog by Mary in Michigan US. (I hope this one didn't get lost in the mail! That would be sad.)
- Foil Giveaway from PolishedSis, a blog contributed by two sisters, Inge and Sharon who live in HOLLAND! Awesome.

If you don't follow these blogs already go take a look. I enjoy reading them all. :)
And I want you know know I didn't cheat, or do anything special to win any of these. It looks like I just had luck on my side.

Earth Hour 2010

I hope you all participate.

What will do be doing for Earth Hour?

Cookies N Nails

The other week Brooke from Polishing Off posted about making cake mix cookies. I gave it a try. They look and taste awesome. Thanks Brooke, you have a baking fan. :P


These are made with lemon cake mix, but you can use any cake mix!



Two weeks ago I won a giveaway from Travels With Euridice and the package arrived yesterday! *eee!* One of the prizes was China Glaze - Spin Me Round (pictured above).
I also received the Milani 3D Holographic collection! I will swatch the prizes this weekend! :D
Thanks again, Liz!

Oh NOES!! HELP A FELLOW BLOGGER

UPDATE: Romika was able to locate an email address off the blog and contacted the blogger and the comment issue has been resolved. Thank you to everyone who helped out. :)

_____________________
Polish Serenity is going to have her first giveaway soon and no one can comment! I wish she knew her comments are broken! This is bad. :(

We need more people to blog about it and hopefully she will see it to be able to fix it! Thess from The Nail Farm has already blogged about it and the word needs to be spread. We need to help a fellow blogger out! She doesn't read my blog so she won't see my entry. :(

Salley Hansen FAIL

Sally Hansen, I got beef with you!

Picture taken by Corey Williams.

This is the SECOND Xtreme Wear polish that has been gloppy and messy and streaky and just plain nasty. I used "White On" for a base colour for my awesome Rescue Beauty Lounge - "Square Pants" that Brooke from Getcha Nails Did was sweet enough to send me as a swap. (Which I still need to choose some colours for her! I have not forgotten!)

NOTE: I am not angry about the yellow colour on top, I'm PI$$ED about the yucky white underneath. It applied like year old white-out. It looks like I applied while drunk. It was so hard to handle and the brush was flimsy, thin, uneven.

The yellow on top is RBL - Square Pants. It applied very nicely. The brush was nice. It wasn't streaky. No complaints. I put the white underneath because Square Pants is a sheer, and I wanted it opaque. The White by Sally Hansen = fail. I didn't even bother cleaning it up before snapping photos. Nope, I wanted to show it in all it's gooey glory.

And yes, the pictures are dark I took them in my bathroom because it's 11:30pm and there is no sunlight to be had. And yes, my fingers look like they have a major case of lobster hands. I was steam cleaning the carpets today and doing some WoW raiding so the blood was flowin' and my skin is pale and transparent so when the blood is pumping you can actually SEE the veins. Makes for a lovely photo, no?

So it brings me to this: I want suggestions for sheer undercoats. What do you use to make a sheer opaque? I don't want "white" or "nude". Tell me what you like to use. What brand and colour? Last time someone told me "white" I stupidly chose Sally Lameson Xtreme Fail and came out with the above.

Dita Von Tease Teams up with Kiss Nails

Fashionable Gal just spilled some awesome beans. Dita Von Tease is working with Kiss nails to create her famous red and white half-moon manicure. *dies* I'll be getting these sexy nails...

St. Patty's Mani - OPI - Jade is the New Black

Ok, don't click on the images because they look horribly blurry blown up. I sincerely apologise for that. I've been sick all week and apparently using your own body as a tripod as you are sniffling and sneezing isn't a good idea. ;) I swear my photography will improve along side my polishing skills as I blog more and more. I am improving on my application, slowly but surely.





Above: with flash, below: no flash.
So everyone under the sun (and in the shade) has blogged about Jade is the New Black. I can see why. the colour is a lovely creme dusty green colour. I love green so I am no exception to the JitNB love fest. The application was a little on the thin side as I have noticed with most of OPI's formulas. This took three coats to get it nice and opaque, but I think it's totally worth it. I will take more pictures when I figure this 'I'm taking photos of my own hand' thing out.



Thanks for reading everyone!

Polished Serenity

Ok, this is driving me CRAZY! Polished Serenity's blog posts are bugged. I've never been able to comment on her posts... and she has 17 followers and ZERO comments!! I can't find anyway to contact her regarding the problem because she doesn't have any contact info posted! :(
If she is following any of your blogs, maybe someone can post about it and she will see it? that would be really sweet. I'd hate to think that she thought her posts weren't comment worthy.

Testing

Testing comments.
I removed Intensedebate from my comments since it was buggy. It wasn't showing up on everyone's computers (like MINE). It's not even showing a "comment" link anymore even though I reverted it all back to normal. Going to pull my hair out.

/flops

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Blue It

So this is the mani I did for my little brother's 25th birthday on Sunday. But he ended up getting too drunk the night before and he cancelled the dinner. *sigh*



I think the only thing I liked about this polish was the colour. It was thick, the brush was uneven and skinny, it actually flooded my cuticles on my right hand which shocked me because the formula was so gloppy. Maybe my hands were shaking. I don't have a clue why the camera was making my skin look red, maybe the contrast with blue and skin tone, I'm normally quite pale. You might even see some tipwear on the ends of my nails. Two hours after my mani I had tipwear. I wasn't even at work! Oh well. It was a -$3 polish so I guess I can't complain too much.

On a side note, I'm getting irritated with my new comment hosting thing. I got it so I could respond directly to comments, and people could see my response, but the coding seems to turn itself off all the time. If anyone has any suggestions that would rock. If my comments aren't working ($%$^@$^!!) send me an email.

Threes of Me - Tagged by

Tagged by Elizabeth aka Lacquered Lizard.

Three names I go by:
1. Skulda
2. Ebon
3. Amanda

Three jobs I have had:
1. McDonald's Cashier (first job at 15)
2. Sword Store clerk (muahaha!)
3. 'Adult Video' store clerk. (o.o)

Three places I have lived:
1. North Vancouver, B.C.
2. Arvada, C.O.
3. Burnaby, B.C.

Three favorite drinks Non Alcoholic:
1. Orange Pekoe tea with honey and milk
2. Dr. Pepper
3. Tetley Green Tea and Pomegranate liquid tea mix for cold drinks.


Three favorite drinks Alcoholic:
1. Mead (homemade)
2. Beer (Granville Island - Winterale)
3. Paralyzer

Three TV shows I watch:
1. Fringe
2. South Park
3. Destination Truth

Three places I have been (kind of an ambiguous question...):
1. Maui, HI
2. Calgary, AB
3. L.A., CA

Three places I would like to visit:
1. Norway
2. The Netherlands
3. Scotland

Three people who text (or bbm) me regularly:
1. Best Friend (Mel)
2. Buddy from WoW
3. Best gal from WoW

Three favorite old TV shows:
1. Monty Python and the Flying Circus
2. The Munsters
3. The Simpsons (yeah it is still on, but I liked it better when I was younger)

Three favorite dishes
1. My hubby's special chicken
2. Wild Sockeye Salmon Sashimi
3. Veal Parmesan

Three makeup/beauty products I cannot live without:
1. Nail Polish
2. Clay Mask
3. Moisturiser

Three things I’m looking forward to:
1. The Canadian Gov. approving my husband's work permit
2. The Canadian Gov. approving my husband's work permit
3. China Glaze - Vintage Vixens collection

Three people I tag:
1. Deez Nails
2. Gilded Angel
3. Manicure Time

If you ladies aren't into these things, thats ok. I won't be offended!
P.S. I'm getting seriously irritated about my new comment ...thinger. If I go back to my post to edit it, it removes the comment code. So I have to literally put it on my post. ARGH. TESTING!! 1-2-3?

BB - Dragon's Breath (daylight)

Ok I finally got good images of the BB Couture - Dragon's Breath.

With Flash

Natural light

Surf's Up Pre Order and NEW INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RATES!

New colours from Rescue Beauty Lounge:

"Doesn't everyone want to be an uber-cool Surf chick? With that perfect salt-styled hair, glowing skin and laid-back attitude. Those sporty-fresh models at the Proenza Schouler Spring 2010 show inspired me to bring vintage surfer-chic to the beaches of Manhattan and beyond. I even learned some surf-speak to name our latest collection:

Diddy Mow, a surf term for a harsh wipeout, is a putty green—the color of sand through sea water, the moment before you eat it!

360° is a move where the surfer and board spin around on the face of a wave. It also is a gorgeous deepwater aqua blue polish.

And nothing sets off a tan (bottle or spray, of course) like Bangin'—a hot red coral like the sun sizzling on the horizon.

And if Spring weather seems far away, fear not. These colors are wonderful accents against late winter’s grays, browns and blacks.

Pre-order now—the web is already buzzing about these new colors. Then get ready to “hang 20” glamorous nails at your next mani/pedi.

As ever,
Ji
P.S. Check out out free shipping over $100 US and $200 international PLUS lower shipping rates and NEW home page. Remember this is a private sale shhhhhhh....
Items will be shipped when it comes in stock, we can not edit your order, you will be charged in advance before it gets shipped."

So after I got that email I busted ass to the site to check the new international shipping rates. Shipping has been reduced to $18.50 from $34.50. It's still not cheap, but it's a heck of a lot better than $34.50! I may actually consider getting some polishes from them now. ;)

Boys in the Bottle?

Nails By Me posted about an American company called "Boys in the Bottle" who are claiming to send out 6 bottles of free nail polish.... and all you have to pay is shipping. I must admit that I am a bit skeptical but the nail polish addict in me is itching to see if it's true. But... I'm Canadian so there is that catch as well. If I do decide to see if it works I need to have them shipped to an American address.

Have any of my American readers tried this?

First BB Couture Polish

Finally! Some pics to post.

Yesterday I received my first BB Couture polish in the mail. I ordered from Overall Beauty.com. Now I realise I completely suck at taking pictures of my own hand, and it doesn't help that it's always night time when I decide to paint my nails and take photos. And to all you long-nailed ladies, don't make fun of my stumpy nails, I had to cut them again last week because they are kind of brittle. /ramble

BB Couture - "Dragon's Breath":

Above and Below: Since BB Couture advertises a 4-in-1 (base, strengthener, colour, top coat) I didn't apply a base coat, and in these photos I am not wearing a top coat. Again, I'm sorry the lighting isn't capturing the colour of this polish properly.

Dragon's Breath is a gorgeous red/purple jelly based polish with red glitter, and a very subtle silver glitter mixed throughout.

Since all glitter nail polish tends to dry a little gritty for me, I decided to finally use my Seche Vite (pictured above) to make it nice and glossy. I've never used Seche Vite before and I was thoroughly impressed at how fast it dried and at how smooth it cured.

In my box I received some free samples from Kim at Overall Beauty. A sample sized mineral eye shadow in 'Prince' and some really nice quality nail clippers with a file. Not pictured are the nail clippers since I put them straight in my purse since I never have nail clippers or a file when I need them!

Pictured above and below: Overall Beauty Mineral eyeshadow in 'Prince' is a dark purple eyeshadow with excellent pigment.

I dipped my finger in the pot and that is the colour!

I was very pleased with the customer service from Kim at Overall Beauty and I love my BB couture polish so I know I will be returning to order more.

~Skulda

P.S. I will do my best to remember to get some daylight photos of this colour as I am a bit disappointed in how these photos turned out.

P.P.S I finally figured out how to set up the Blogroll feature, and don't be insulted if you don't see your blog on there! I just figured it out today so just drop me a line and I'll add you! :D

Manatee Giveaway!

The Manicured Manatee is having a fabulous giveaway on her blog, the Color Club Pardon my French collection. I love her blog so much, she always has an amusing story to tell along with her swatches, and her nails are to die for!
Go check her out! NAO!!

Polished Serenity

So do any of you gals know how to contact PolishedSerenity? I've been wanting to tell her for a while that her comment link doesn't work so people can't tell her how cool her mani's are. :( No conact info!

Work Friendly Polish

Okay.

I am at a loss for figuring out 'work friendly polish'. I LOVE colourful and flamboyant colours on my nails, but it probably isn't a great idea when you are a receptionist for an architectural office. *sigh* I think the only work friendly colour I have is.. well... OPI "Sheer" Your Toys. It's a very pale frosted grey-purple colour. Oh wait, nm, I have a frosted pale blue that I've been told is "ok" for work, Pure ICE - "Splash".

I need help picking colours that would be suitable for the workplace. I have plenty of greens, blues, glitters, purples, reds.... well.. lots of vibrant colours that I think make my boss cringe. And when I go shopping for nail polish the pinks and reds that polish brands favour seem really... ehhh... boring.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Link me photos of your favour work manis!

Alice in Wonderland Accessories!

I was checking out The Fashionable Gal blog and they had a post that made me squeal!
Alice in Wonderland Accessories. My favourite is the "Drink Me" necklace.
I avoided following the links to prevent from torturing myself. I wanted to go buy a couple of that new Mood Nail Polish from Claire's but the bank account is a little tight right now. Boo!
*crosses her fingers for the Claire's Giveaway*

The following is a list of funny (yet true) definitions for Slang or acronyms that nail polish bloggers use. Stolen from Nail Addicts Anonymous

NOTD – Nail of the Day (basically, whatever nail polish one is currently wearing.)

HTF/VHTF – Hard to Find or Very Hard to Find. Definition varies based on place of usage. Example: MTF is NARS Zulu. On Ebay VHTF is Essie Mademoiselle or OPI Bubble Bath.

RAOK – (verb form ROAKing, ROAK’d) Random Act of Kindness (giving someone else free nail polish for altruistic reasons.)

No-Buy – (1) The status of realizing that one is ridiculous, and spends entirely way too much money on nail polish. One consequently over-compensates by vowing to not buy any nail polish indefinitely, followed shortly by a major failure, see related words: Binge. (2) A mythical impossible task like Sisyphus rolling the rock up the mountain.

Stash – One’s nail polish collection, usually hidden from loved ones.

Binge – Uncontrollable desire to buy a seriously ridiculous amount of nail polish, followed by actually making the ridiculous purchase, followed by feelings of guilt and worthlessness, followed by the No-Buy vow.

Lemming - Having an uncontrollable desire for a particular polish after seeing a picture of someone else wearing that color.

Shrinkage - A coat of nail polish that shrinks on one’s nail to create a visible white space with no polish on the tip of the nail. It’s generally a very undesirable side effect of using fast drying top coat over very thickly applied polish. No relation to cold water.

Tip Pull - Looks the same as shrinkage except Tip Pull occurs after a few days of wear. It’s the most common kind of nail polish wear and tear (generally associated with typing) other than regular chipping; An excuse to change one’s nail polish.

Cuticle Drag/Cuticle Pull – The polish-less splotch centered close to the cuticle that comes from using a crappy nail polish that basically removes itself when one applies additional coats; One of life’s most frustrating occurrences.

“The Place that Cannot be Mentioned”/”The Place that Shall Not be Named” – Ebay.

Franken - Mixing a new color from various different polishes.

Dupe – Short for ‘duplicate’. A nail polish that looks exactly like another polish. This is a rare occurrence, especially to someone plagued with the nail board eye.

The Nail Board Eye - A disease that causes the sufferer to be able to distinguish even the slightest difference of color between polishes that are seemingly the same, forcing the sufferer to decide they must own both polishes even though no one else will know that the colors are actually different.

VPL/VNL - ‘Visible Polish Line’ – referring to the nail white that is visible under some sheer or jelly polishes.

Nubar Going Green

I am also looking for this collection:


image from bynubar.com

Any help with getting this Canuck some Nubar would be awesome. Sites with PayPal are a plus!

Nubar Chocolate Truffles

I have no idea how long this collection has been out, but it makes my mouth water!


Image from www.bynubar.com

I want this collection so bad! Does anyone know where to buy this in Canada? Or has anyone purchased Nubar from an internet company that isnt bynubar.com?

I only ask because they wont ship to Canada, and the 'Canadian distributors' won't reply to my email. Nice customer service, huh?

KONAD REMOVING DISCOUNT CODES

I've only seen a couple of these posts so far.
Yesterday via twitter (yuck) and other sites on the interwebs it was announced that Konad is discontinuing the blogger 30% off codes for all Konad retailers.

THIS ENDS TODAY!

So get your buns over to OC Nail Art and order your Konad supplies with your favourite blogger's 30% off code. It's usually their blog name (ie: Scrangie, Dailynail, etc etc...)

Kathleen at OC Nail Art is awesome, her customer service is just wonderful.

I ordered the Konad Start Kit F last night when I heard the news and I was having trouble with the PayPal. Apparently there is a new thing where if you don't have a credit card on your account, PayPal prompts you to add a card and doesn't let you proceed with the purchase. *grunt* Anyways, Kathleen helped me out with all that and now I'm finally going to have a Konad kit! I'll be collecting plates and special polishes in no time!


P.S. I'll post some pics of my current mani later if there isn't too much tip wear. ;)

Drama-Rama

Eh, lets try and keep the nail blog drama to a minimum.

These are nail blogs. They are here for fellow nail enthusiasts, not to lynch other bloggers and stir up even more problems.

If something offends you, don't get all upset and start writing nasty stuff about them. Email them and let them know that something they said may be taken in the wrong context and/or offend people.

I think that is all I'm going to say on that matter.

I enjoy reading blogs because it entertains me and makes me happy. It helps me take my mind off the stresses of everyday life and puts me in a good place. I just hate seeing things blow up on my Blogspot Dashboard. I have enough headaches.

Keep chillin' ladies.