NOTD – Page 3 – Sometimes Yaya

Minty NOTD from Sally

I’ve been walking around drugstores like a ferret for the past couple of weeks. It’s starting to drive me wild too you know. I like to have brands put something good out at a gradual pace. That or an obnoxious price with no sale in sight works well too. This has not been the case. There have been holos, new bottles, new colors. Not just great brands, but brands that haven’t done so well and are seeking redemption. Then the drugstores come around for my money and start offering sales left and right. It’s getting stressful over on this side of the screen y’all.

So check out one of my new faves from my gal Sally Hansen. It is a new color… right? Mint Sprint is perfect with one coat but looks massively smoooooooth (with exactly that many os) with two coats. I am still a die-hard fan of the weird flat brush, it covers my nail in almost one swipe. The color is what turquoise would look like if it had a steamy affair with gray.

I used to be a fan of the shape of this triangular bottle, but when I started storing them, it started to drive me wild. Have you tried to stack them together? It’s a bit annoying. The new colors out though? Redemption granted.

Any colors making you run to the store?

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Let’s Catch Up

I took a whole week off y’all. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m really not. I haven’t reached this level of exhaustion since I had three jobs and went to school full time. Fashion Week really kicked my butt. More so because it hit right in between starting a new (temporary) job, registering (and attending) for school, and plenty of dates (birthdays, Valentine’s Day, the blizzard!). I felt like not only was I running across the whole tri-state area but I was constantly fighting a cold. Germs? Not I. But it took a toll.

Did I just sit on my butt though? Y’all should know better. Though my nails have been sacrificed in the name of fashion (crazy weeks tend to crack and break nails for some annoying reason), I have a stash of images and reviews for y’all to just go crazy with. I haven’t had a single chance to post them prior to today because as some of you may know through my Twitter rants, I have been under a cloud of poor internet connection (have you ever waited 2 hours to upload 4 photos?). My fashion week coverage? Let’s look at it this way. The shows are for fall and winter, whereas the spring and summer are what we currently care about. So my fashion week posts will come in gradually. The immediate photos and videos brought to you from design houses and news cannot be matched, so I ask (what I like to think) unique questions backstage, and I take my own photos. And soon enough, you’ll see ’em all!

As you may have heard eons ago, Maybelline is the new sponsor of New York Fashion Week. So it’s only fitting for me to tell you that on one of my numerous days of entering discount stores, I found one that was selling out old polish shades. Even eBay got nothing on this! I found the old school mattes and ran home giddy. I wanted to purchase more for giveaways, but there were no doubles!

First installment in my vintage Maybelline NOTD? Matte Stone.

left image with flash, right image without flash

with top coat – left image with flash, right image without flash

I really like this color. The way it looks without a topcoat is satin-y, and a bit like a faux leather fabric stretch over your nails. I liked it better with a topcoat because it was a perfect creamy balance between gray and brown. The most amazing thing about this NOTD is that the age of this polish did not affect the color or quality at all. The consistency is great – two coats gave me no trouble with this baby.

Do you have any vintage nail confessions?

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A China Glazed V-Day Mani & More

Hey there stranger. Oh wait. Me? Oh right! I’ve been gone from the blogosphere for three days. Please direct all comments and complaints to whoever creates viruses, Verizon and Best Buy. My home PC caught a mega virus that wiped basically the whole computer out. Thankfully I have a laptop though, right? Wrong. My DSL service refuses to connect to my laptop. What about Wifi? Hmm. Well the new laptop came with a new wireless router… so you’d think if the laptop came with Windows 7, the router would be able to work with that system? Nope. Not so. What is it that happens then? I have to travel around the city in between fashion shows to catch a signal and try to blog and tweet in those intervals. (p.s. toting around a laptop when you’re already lugging paperwork and cameras and chargers is not. cute. Not at all.) I have been tempted to travel to a 24 hours McDonald’s or Starbucks at 3am just to get some work done, but decided to get sleep instead. But enough about me. As you ponder about how you will forgive me, check out my faboo (even if I say so myself) NOTD for Valentine’s Day out of two China Glaze colors.

left no flash, right with flash

I tried to do a variety of polka dots. On my thumb is free hand with the brush. On my middle finger, I used a medium-large dotting tool and on my pinky a smaller one. I did some funky design on the index finger and added some silver as a tip on the ring finger (just ’cause I don’t have the ring yet, doesn’t mean I’m exempt from the bling!), and as an accent on the rest. I got the silver polish amongst the nail art polishes at my local beauty supply store.

What’s on your nails today?

Disclaimer: This product(s)was sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on MOJ remain unbiased and unpaid. For more info, feel free to contact the author.

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Let the Sun Shine In!

As I’ve been organizing my polish collection, I keep getting distracted by urges to do fabulous things with ’em. Diagonals! Designs! 3D!

Truthfully though? If y’all check my Twitter… I fail a lot (click for evidence). My hope is still strong though – my practice will pay off one day.

Until then, I’ll keep China Glaze‘s Happy Go Lucky on my digits and smile each time I see it.

No flash used in the left image and flash on the right. The color without flash is what it looks like on your fingers. It’s such a pleasant bright. No pushy neons.

Like it? Have a favorite right now?

Want to get your own? China Glaze is available at Sally’s Beauty Supply, Transdesign, and 8ty8beauty. Enjoy your savings!

Disclaimer: This product(s)was sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on MOJ remain unbiased and unpaid. For more info, feel free to contact the author.

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Sephora by OPI NOTD

I was inspired by reading a lot of blogs and posts on Twitter and all around the net about how everyone is organizing their nail polish stash.

Mine is a hefty one, but by no means amazing. What it really was – was messy. You know how sometimes it just takes a single prompt to inspire you to do things? Like a fire under your bum? That’s what it was when my honey asked why there was a forest of polishes lining up at my computer. So I set to stay up into the night, reading Twitter replies, Google Reader, and organize polish.

First I tried to do it by color. That was murderous. I would be conflicted on what to call each color and argue (with myself) that one color cannot be separated with another, and so on. So I gave up and started organizing by brand. It was something therapeutic to see polishes lined up in battle formation with uniform tops facing me. I felt highly accomplished.

But enough about that. Details? They will probably come if you want to see. The point today is that during cleanup I unearthed an unopened gem. My Sephora by OPI polish in Run With It was highly coveted. I usually put polish on one finger and then revisit the store later if the color leaves a lasting impression. This is my pseudo attempt at shopping less. Well this color had me returning and searching more than a handful of counters. So why did I find this unopened? I don’t know the reason, but I sure didn’t waste time making amends.

First I spent some time taking photos of the golden swirls inside the grayish/silver polish, and then I loaded up three coats. On the left you will find the photo with no flash and on the right with flash. Forgive my lack of attention to my cuticles, I was too excited about the polish!

What do you think of this color? What’s on your nails?

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In the Nubar Forest

This is a color that I have borrowed from a friend and have to refer to the pictures all the time because I feel like my life is not complete without it in my possession. Melodramatic? Perhaps. Orrr…. you can judge for yourself.

Nubar in Forest. I love this green. It’s not the weird neon/barf color that we were all crazy about when we were five or so (no? just me then). The color comes in the Going Green collection, which is almost as fantabulous as the Prisms collection fresh on the market, but perhaps equally as alluring as the Cleopatra collection with enough purples to rock my world silly.

As impulses with all polishes go nowadays, I had to try it out with a matte top coat, and my favorite is China Glaze’s Matte Magic. Surprised? Probably not.

Are you groovy with green? Matte or shiny? What’s on your nails?

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NOTD – Face Stockholm

I started to test out all the polishes that I have in my possession, with a strong emphasis on new brands and never used bottles. If you think that there are many of those in my household – you are absolutely correct. So without further ado, here are the pictures of my self made mani with FACE ~~Atelier~~ Stockholm!! I do have to apologize for the fact that I did not record the number/name while taking pictures, so all I can tell you is that it looks like a creamy metallic purple.

Also? I can’t find the nail polish for this brand anywhere online. If you know the secret, please do tell.

[edit] After posting this y’all alerted me to the fact that my silly behind didn’t look close in the image to see that it wasn’t FACE Atelier but Stockholm! Doh! Serious Homer moment here.

The color of this polish is so pretty when caught with a flash (as seen in all these pictures). When you take a picture of it without flash it is nearly completely black. Why did I still get the polish then? When it’s on my hands and I move it around in the light like a cat with an amusing ball of yarn, I catch the whole spectrum of purple and that is all I need to be happy.

Does anyone else do that when they are overly pleased with themselves? I do that with nails, makeup, and anything else I feel proud of myself in lol. I can take a picture and look at it and zoom into every corner of the photo for hours while on the subway afterward.

Check out how it looks on my nails:

This picture is with flash, but I did tilt it so that you can catch both how it looks with flash and without. The top part of the nail is basically what it looks like when you’re not twirling it around to catch any light.

Now that I found my error (we all make them sometimes – be happy I didn’t make more! lol). Here’s the link where you can find the polishes. And the color? From the site I think it might be 61.

How do you like it?

Any colors caught your eye recently?

Try this company before?

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NOTD – OPI Blast From the Past

I was trying to log in all the colors and brands that I have in my collection last week and apart from the fact that the mission failed miserably, my silver lining was unearthing polishes I forgot I owned.

I saw colors that I remember paying an arm and a leg for (you know – before I ever heard of 8ty8 Beauty or Head2Toe Beauty as my cheap fix). The first one that (re)took my breath away was OPI My Private Jet. As far as I know this baby was discontinued two or three years ago, but I’m sure there is plenty a handy Google-er reading here that will find it if the need arises.

The color sparked my interest for holo-like polishes before I was even aware they had their own category.

Have you ever tried this color? Had a flashback of your own? Share with the court!

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Zoya NOTDs

Watch out now as I get ultra colorful to keep the rainy day gloom away. Actually, I’m a big fan of the rain. I find it to be quite calming, and just awesome. But the rest of y’all that like to scream about the sky falling each time raindrops fall? Pansies!

Here are some Zoya NOTDs to keep up with my nail-a-day challenge. I cheated a little for a couple of days by wearing the same polish for two days, but I’m back on the straight and narrow, I promise!

Paz

Ali

Ali and Paz were both weirdly a difficult time to photograph. The pictures kept coming out more “radioactive” than the color was in real life. The colors are both very bright, but in a yummy way. I couldn’t get enough of Ali.

Malia

Rea

Want a Zoya to yourself? You can get them at $7 a bottle here.

I adored all these colors. All the photos on the left are with flash, and on the right without. Every single cream applied like a dream and the colors were all equally unique and vibrant. Seriously? I can’t get enough of my Zoya fix.

Which was your fave? Know a color I MUST try?

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Nailing NYFW

If there’s anything that NYFW teaches you, is that fashion doesn’t stop at the end of the runway. The audience and crowds contributed to plenty an ooh and ahh, whether they were celebrity or not. My camera was often pointed equally to someone’s clothes and shoes, as it was to the models and garments.

I even felt the kick under my heiny to step it up and rocked out with bright lipstick for days. But today’s not about that – today’s nail day!

The pasttime that I can always commit to is doing my nails and toes. I usually do this before I do anything, as I can aid drying time that way. I also am tempted to try a new polish nearly every day (though that is half blamed on my penchant to peel my polish and half because of my constant new purchases). For NYFW, I didn’t want to be a one color girl, so I enjoyed some fancy mattes, suedes, creams, and a Konad for days.

I wanted to mix it up for Fashion Week, as I didn’t want to run through all the fabulosity with a mere one color. I tried to do a fresh nail every other day.

First one was a cream color that struck my eye immediately when I came into the Beauty Supply store. It was a sherbet melon/orange type color, and I could attest that I had none to even so much as mimic it. Plus the color was around $2. The brand was one that I never tried before, but as it’s name says itself – I was ~~curious~~ Quirious!

Though I liked this color, the polish took a bit too long to meet my expectations. The picture here is after roughly four coats. The first two coats made it look sheer as all goodness and that actually made me pout. I like the finished effect, but it takes too long to achieve it. Regardless, though… given the price, I’ll forgive em & probably showcase more of their colors soon.

Next two colors that I tried are pretty new to the nail market and I didn’t want to wait too long to try them out. After spotting them on websites and nail blogs alike, my heart was beating fast in the material sector. First one was OPI Suede in Russian Navy.

The little note attached to it says the same thing as the ones on the Mattes as I posted here. They tell you not to use a base or top coat, that they wear differently than other polish, and not to use lotion.

Just to let y’all know. I haved used a base coat with all my matte polishes and that hasn’t changed anything. I have seen that the one time I followed directions and didn’t use a base coat, the matte made my nail yellow. Yaya doesn’t like that one bit.

The Suedes are fabulous guys. They have this silver underlayer that makes the top coat shine. It’s hard to explain. The pictures show you that I have a top coat on my ring finger to show you what it looks like with a top coat. I like the color both ways. I also noticed that upon removal, you can actually come across the middle layer that is invisible to the eye when applying or wearing.

flash on the left and no flash on the right

Coooooool. Right? 🙂 This is when I was removing it, so excuse the chip. Mattes and Suedes wear a lot more sensitive than creams, so they tend to chip at the ends within one or two days.

Next one was OPI by Sephora in Metro Chic Matte. This was an ultra cool matte, that had the best application of any of the mattes I have ever come across. Case in point: most mattes, if you apply more than two swipes on one nail in succession start to clump up. This one did no such thing.

flash on the left and no flash on the right

pinky has a top coat on it. Looks almost identical to Metro Chic cream

The color is a little different with flash and no flash. Neither shows the color perfectly. It is a bit in between the two if you can imagine. I tried to add a little Holo pizazz with China Glaze on the thumb and ring finger.

I also love that this polish is extremely true to bottle color. Most of the mattes – it is just too hard to convey that.

My last mani was my last hoorah inspired by my girl Brit from ClumpsofMascara. She was tweetin’ and YouTubin’ with a fab houndstooth Konadicure, and I took her as inspiration to rock my plates out. I used a Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polish that I just got from Walgreens on sale, and used bows and fishnets to rock out the rest. I used my black and white Konad polishes and then mixed some of them to see if I could get gradient colors.