Collection post!

I've been meaning to show my collection of my babies, errr I mean my polishes, but I didn't want to be a bragger and show off. I'm always jumping on a near by soap box talking about bragging and how much I loath it! I think it's a middle child thing, who knows. I just hate bragging, but I figured this is a nail blog, and showing your nail polish would be exciting, and hopefully not go over into bragging territory.

Do you think I like Zoya?

It makes me so sad that OPI for Sephora is done-zo. They had a great formula, and you can tell that I used them a lot! My fave being the Perdiot dupe Sage is just a number. And Mermaid to order. I love those colors! 

My small collection of Nubar, OPI and China Glaze. I do like those brands but Zoya is my love! I also have a few other brands in there, like a N Fu oh  (awesome holographic nail polish)

Tink hanging out, like you do. She loves her "Pixie Dust" Haha get it? :P

ESSIES! I am starting to get more into Essie, since they have become more adventurous with different colors and textures. They used to be so blah and blend, but the last few collections have been amazing! There is a single Martini nails polish that is very pretty but I wasn't crazy about the application. And my only Color Club, poor CC.. I need to get more of them in the future. And my Butter London polishes, which I love but wish they weren't so pricey. 

A barielle called Elle's Spell, gorgeous flakie gifted from Julie! My revlon scented polishes (the green one gifted from Tarah, and my Marc Jacobs Nail polish from Reneeeee. And MY CHANELS!

All gifts from my boss on her travels, I can't bring myself to buy one for myself... Vendetta is a purple that is really hard to photograph. Grrrr.

Confession time, this isn't my whole collection. I've got an Ikea helmer filled with three draws. But I thought I would do that for another post. Pace myself. Okay that's it for now!

Neutral for today

I know it's OWWWP, but I was feeling a bit more neutral, so I grabbed Nubar Jewel from my wall of nail polishes. It is one of my favorite holo's, but I try not to use it that much. ( I still think Julie is crazy for giving it to me because she said it wasn't good on her skin tone,  I think it looks amazing on my white girl skin)

I also decided to try the black nail art pen that came in my Kiss nail art pen set. I'm so so on them so far. But I have to say it does make detailing a lot easier! So they will do for now.

I mean for six bucks I can't complain too much!

I really wish I could have gotten a better picture, why do holos have to be so darn hard to photograph!
Ok, back to work-
Erika~

Keeping it simple...for now;)

I've been in a color rut as of late, I did the bright green glittery extravganza for Patty's day, but since then.. yeah the whole 7 days.. I've been keeping it pretty tame, for example:

I also forgot to add that I used micro glitter in clear as well as the Nubar 2010. Seriously, guys, if you find yourself in a Micheal's craft store..Seek it out! It is so much better then the glitter then sell on ebay. Plus you get 16 colors! I paid about 5$ for it. And you get a decent amount of glitter in each packet so this is going to last you ages. Here is another manicure:

I lovvve this color, it has hints of purple, and brown.. and of course gray. I was going to leave it all by its lonesome but after about 10 minutes of drying I covered it in 2010.

I am still conflicted with Rimmel and their stance of animal testing because they say they do not.. but are owned by Coty. Ahh.. Nothing in life is ever simple. ever.

But just wanted to make it a short one, as I am very deprived of sleep! But then again when you work 10 days in a row that tends to happen, ah the glamourous life of a nanny.. diamonds, bling and the like (yeah...right)

P.S. Don't forget to enter our giveaway!

Manicure for Grandma (erika)

Its my grandma's 73rd birthday in a few days and she is one of those woman who hardly do anything for themselves, she is just one of those kind of people who does everything for other people and nothing for herself.


Last night I went home for the weekend and I saw her nails, let me tell you folks it was not a pretty sight! I told her I was giving her a manicure and wasnt taking no for an answer. Luckily I had some manicure things with me, and she picked Nubar "Jewel" (that was given to me by the lovely Julie) which was kind of surprising to me. She usually picks colors like pink..pink or pink.
                                                               Here are the results!

My manicure of the week is coming up!

NUBAR Newbies For Me (Julie)

Sorry I haven't been maniacally posting lately! My nails all started to break one-by-one, probably from using too much acetone, since I change my polish once, and sometimes twice a day. I decided to give my nails a break for a few days and focus on getting them stronger.

Does anybody have tips for splitting nails? And not just at the tips, but my nails crack on the sides, down very low where it would be painful to cut them that short. Would love some help on how to prevent that!

So on to my NUBAR. I order most of my Nubar from enchantedbeautyspot on eBay. They ship so fast, and combine shipping. I had my eyes on 3 swatches by them, and finally decided to cave and make a purchase.

My picks:

left to right as seen in photo below:
1- Nubar Indigo Illusions (not yet swatched)
2- Nubar Antiquity Silver (not yet swatched)
3- Nubar Violet Sparkles

I didn't get around to swatching them all - so please forgive me. I will soon, but as I said my nails do need a break for a bit. Swatched below is Violet Sparkles. I tried with all my might to capture the pure sparkle that this polish provides, but I failed. I don't think my camera is good enough to do that. But it's SO rich in sparkles, and in certain lighting it gives way to pink sparkles that glow through the purple like they're on fire. I would probably guess that this entire collection is worthy of a purchase.

in natural light

in warm lighting (more close to the natural shade)

in natural light

in natural light

in natural light

in warm lighting

in warm lighting

Last, here it is blinged up with NFU Oh Glitter Series 125 (GS-125) a gift I received in an exchange on the Purseforum's Beauty Bar. Uhh...saywhat?? Glitter OVER Glitter? Oh yes, I dare so.

Color Club Covered In Diamonds Vs. Nubar G188 2010

I was super excited to get Color Club's Covered in Diamonds today. I was really itching to swatch it with a mint green cream. I thought they'd go together really well.

I used a mint green by China Glaze- 2 coats, and I think perhaps because I didn't let it fully dry before applying the Color Club, it just sunk into the polish and ended up looking so gross! Reminded me of ambrosia. Not a pretty sight. And it's such an awful gritty texture. Very unappealing. I'm so disappointed!

Well since I had wasted 1 hand, I decided to take out my Nubar #G188 and use that on the other hand. Oh what a difference! I didn't have to wait for the China Glaze to dry either. It's just incredible, what a huge difference there is between the two. Would I recommend the Color Club swatch? Sure, if you have time to wait for your base color to dry first...and only use 1 coat! That's all you need!

Here are some comparison photos.

This is Color Club's Ambrosia --- I mean Covered in Diamonds ;)

Nubar G188-

Color Club - Covered in Diamonds

Color Club

Nubar

Nubar

Color Club

Collection Pics (Julie)

So I had to follow suit since Erika has such an amazing collection! Mine isn't nearly as large or beautiful, but I'm working on it. Actually, this past summer, I sold just about all of my NP at my yard sale because I had no room for anything! Everything you see here is pretty much brand new, as of late summer '10. So rest in peace former collection! I am impressed with how far I've come since then though! My heart belongs to sparkles, the chunkier the better. I have many different brands, and plenty more coming in the mail this next week. So I will update this post as they show up. Here's what i have so far:

I have a horrible make-up bag that is soon going to be replaced with some kind of kaboodle. Take a peek inside...kind of a beautiful mess!

We'll start with Finger Paints. A nice inexpensive brand with really pretty swatches. I am not really too into their NP because I notice that even with a decent base and top coat, they like to peel off in one big strip. So I've limited my FP collection to strictly colors I MUST have. And these are really beautiful!

My Nubars *Swoon* Nothing much needs to be said about this brand. It's a growing obsession and I expect many more soon.

My Ulta swatches - the aqua color is fabulous!!! The pink is gritty and I'm not a fan, but the sparkles in this color attracted me to it. It's very beautiful.

My love, my life...China Glaze! I have more CG than any other color. I'll start with my very favorite 2 colors. This is Pixie Dust and Golden Enchantment. I don't remember the name of the gold one. But they're top coats and complete just about any color you can imagine, and reflect about every color of the rainbow. These should serve as staples to any nail polish collection, because they really do complement just about every swatch.

I have the blues....My China Glaze Blues...

Metallics:

Some random beauties (my favorite of the 4 being the black with red sparkles.

Prior to my yard sale NP clean out, I had just about every color made by Sinful Colors. Now I only have two. Mainly because I'm not a huge fan of their formula. But these colors are irresistible.

My Color Clubs - do you see that orange/pink/luminescent swatch to the right? Wow, i know!! I need to get a few bottles of this because I run through this color really fast. I probably wear it more than any other color.

Here is my first nail art swatch. It's a really pretty black with colorful sparkles.

My very lonely and bland Essie collection. I do like them, but I haven't explored essie all that much yet.

My 3 Orlys. Another brand I don't care for the formula all that much. But they do come out with some really great colors once in a while that I can't leave behind.

Hello, sparkles! My one and only O.P.I (more are coming!), NYC in the most amazing swatch I've seen from them, and a Forever 21 color that I adore.

Just LOOK at this color! I know! Gorgeous!

You're not so bad yourself OPI. (this is from the burlesque collection)

2 extra brands - Sally girl I won't be buying again, the application is awful. Nail Savvy I found new at the thrift shop and have no idea where to find this brand.

It's a nice concept, I love the pink and blue sparkles though! Anybody else make a better formula with a similar color?

My beloved Deborah Lippmann in Bad Romance.

And you see? I wrote this too soon, because just as I posted this blog, my brand new Hard Candy showed up! Do you SEE this swatch? No I mean do you really see this swatch? Holy moly, it's freaking fabulous! It's called Hot Pants. It's infused with large and small sparkles and a translucent pink jelly base. Woohoo! This just made my day brighter!