Lacquer and War Paint.

i'll be moving all my makeup and nailpolish posts over to my new blog and keeping this one strictly for the yarny side of my life.  come join me at Lacquer and WarPaint!

Sally Hansen HD in DVD

i am in love with this polish.  it is very sheer, i layered it over one coat of Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl and i still had to do three coats to get opacity. 

never the less.  this is a really perty blurple! 

on my ring finger the glitter is Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in Strobe Light.  and the hearts on the ring and pinky were fished out of Nicole by OPI's Love Your Life.

i have been thinking a lot about starting a whole new blog for the makeup and nails and just keeping this one for the yarn and maybe some personal stuff now and then.  i'm pretty sure i'm going to do it.  the decision is made, what's holding me back is coming up with a name for the polish/makeup blog.  i have even thought about doing a give-away of some Joe Fresh Twilight to the person who can help me name the new blog.  it is a very real possibility... pending a trip to the store tomorrow to grab a bottle or two of Twilight.  *crossing fingers* they have some :)

Two, for the price of one!

i've fallen a little behind on keeping up the blog with my nails!  here are the last two manis i've done.

Color Club Alias with OPI Black Shatter (pardon the not so neat application of the Shatter, i didn't want to over brush it and wreck it):

today i'm wearing Joe Fresh's Twilight.  finally got around to trying out my only flakie!

aaaaannnndd... my cell phone got a makeover.  she's currently wearing China Glaze Ruby Pumps with Nicole by OPI's Let's Get Star-ted:

i got a little crazy on the inside.  when i have time or the motivation i will be fixing this paint job!

Rockstah!!

well.  kinda!

this is the manicure i sported for a few days this week.  my very first scotch tape experiment.  base colour (purple) is Color Club Alias.  the red colour on the tips is OPI's The One That Got Away.  and the stars are from Nicole for OPI's Let's Get Star-ted.

up close... on this nail the polish seeped under the tape a little.  really noticable in the picture, but it wasn't as apparent in real life:

with flash cuz it brought out some of the glitter.  glitter is gooooood:

i'm thinking about starting a blog specifically dedicated to nailpolish and makeup.  yay or nay?

Color Club

this is my first Color Club purchase.  i found this set at Winner's for $12.99.  worth a try?  sure, why not!

this is the Alter Ego, Keep it Under Cover set.  from left to right: 909 Alter Ego, 910 Secret Agent, 911 Total Mystery, 912 Alias, 913 Ulterior Motive, 914 Masquerading and last but not least Vivid Topcoat.

after getting it home and opening it up i must admit i'm a little disappointed that the bottles themselves aren't labeled with their colour names.  i'm going to have to buy some stickers to write the names on and stick to the bottles before i throw out the packaging.  i know it will drive me nuts if i do a manicure to share here and have to google the colour name!

Senorita Rose-Alita

okay.  it won.  i had to remove the day old Joe Fresh polish and replace it with Senorita Rose-Alita.  the glitter hearts are from Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber Step 2 the Beat of my Heart.

 (i really should have moisturized the cuticles before taking the pics huh :\ )

Rexall (a Canadian drug store) has nailpolish on sale this week… 40% off. so i bought a few.

in order of appearance:
-Nicole by OPI Justin Bieber line (ugh, i know) Step 2 the Beat of my Heart.
-Nicole by OPI in Love Your Life
-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in a mystery purple (i can’t find a name tag on it anywhere)
-Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Snappy Sprinkles (it’s like a birthday party in a bottle!)
-Sinful Colors (which i’ve never seen in my town, and Rexall only had 3 bottles of it) in Daddy’s Girl
-Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Midnight Blue. in the bottle it is such an amazingly deep blue shade.

the heart glitter with flash cuz it really shows off the colours of the Justin Bieber formula:

i showed my fiance the Justin Bieber bottle.  he got a good laugh out of it and then asked me to go back and get more.  huh??  his best friend's daughter is 12.  apparently she is the world's biggest Bieber fan (aren't they all?).  so i went back and picked out two bottle for her.  i do remember her mentioning she liked purple, so i decided two purple glittery polishes should do  i hope she likes them.  even if she already has them (being the world's biggest Bieber fan already).  and i stopped in at the beauty supply store next door and grabbed some OPI.

from left to right: Justin Bieber's Step 2 the Beat of my Heart and One Less Lonely Glitter.  OPI: Meet Me on the Star Ferry, Senorita Rose-alita and from Katy Perry's collection The One That Got Away:

i am most seriously tempted to remove the polish i applied yesterday to put on some Senorita Rose-alita... it has this awesome golden sheen that i just can't capture with the camer in the lighting i have available at this time of day.

here's what i'm wearing right now:

Joe Fresh in Orchid and Persian Blue.  Seche Clear base coat and Seche Vite top coat.

after looking at the photos i see that the Orchid could have used a third coat.  it really doesn't show up in real life, but through the lens of the camera its pretty obvious. but on the bright side, i am getting better at application... it's not as messy as it used to be!  :)

i'm so broken!

about a week ago my left thumbnail broke.  spectacularly.  yay.  i had to cut it right down to the nailbed.  okay.  it's just one nail.  and it's a thumbnail, the rest of my nails aren't terribly long, so i could hide it.

and then today the middle finger on my right hand developed a large split in it.  a split that started a the edge and then grew into my nail bed.  so cutting that nail short wouldn't solve the problem, it would just leave me with another stubby nail.

i have never done serious nail repair before.  usually i cut them all down to nothing and start over.  but i've been having far too much fun with nailpolish to let that happen this time.  so i went off to wal-mart and bought a brush-on gel nail kit.  it comes with a bunch of tips (i went for short, i can't figure out how to function with long nails) so that if another nail breaks i have the kit ready to go and repairs done in a snap.

all laid out, ready for nail surgery:

the stuff took about an hour to stop feeling tacky.  i did cut down the tips after applying them to match the length to my natural nails.  here is the middle nail all done and drying:

not the neatest job.  but i give myself some props, it was my first go at applying a tip at home.

and, now, the look i'm currently sporting:

China Glaze Ruby Pumps (2 coats... and i just couldn't get a good picture of the depth of the sparkles).  Nicole by OPI in Let's Get Star-ted on my ring fingers.  i had to fish the stars out of the bottle... a bit of a disappointment, but i saw a bright side.  it gave me the opportunity to place the stars exactly where i wanted them.  one by one.  lol.

more... and more.... and more!

so… i found a store in a city near mine that sells discounted nailpolish and makeup. they seem to carry a lot of discontinued colours. and they had a 20% off sale yesterday. and we were going right past the mall they’re located in to visit my family for mother’s day… so how could i resist??? also… i seemed to be on a bit of sparkly kick.
here’s the low-down:

• China Glaze in Ruby Pumps and Snow Globe
• Funky Fingers in Fancy Brigade (gold), Sakura Glow (light pink with small glitter), Out of Orbit (darker pink with big glitter). i’ve never used this brand of polish. i hope it’s okay. i couldn’t resist the glitter!
• KleanColor minis in Techno High kit. Metallic Pink, Metallic Yellow, Metallic Purple, Metallic Jungle, Metallic Navy, Metallic Brown (boy they were creative with the names huh). another new brand to me. couldn’t resist the price and colours. i have no self control!
• Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Celeb City.
• Gosh Purple Heart. i’m a little disappointed. it’s an awesome purple green duochrome in the bottle, but not so much on the fingers.
• Claire’s Mood colour changing polishes in pink and purple. these should be fun to try out :)

and with the flash.  it sort of makes the glitter sparkle more :)

Cotton and Chroma blanket part two

i'm really loving the colours of the Chroma :)

so much that they kinda inspired a manicure! 

all polishes are Joe Fresh. grey is Fog, blue is Persian Blue, purple is Orchid. Seche Vite topcoat.

Cotton and Chroma baby blanket

i'm making this one up as i go along.  the white is a cotton from a huge cone my mum gave to me.  the coloured yarn is KnitPicks Chroma in Roller Skate.  i only have one ball of the Roller Skate, i'm thinking i may order a second to make the blanket bigger.

yes... it'll probably end up a baby blanket.  yes... more kids of my own may be in the very near future.  so with some luck it might end up being a baby blanket for my own new offspring!  otherwise it will end up on Etsy for sale :)

and: more nails!

thumb and index: OPI The Show Must Go On. middle finger: OPI Let Me Entertain You. ring and pinky: OPI Ali’s Big Break. black dots: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Black Out. Seche base and top coats.

 i've been wearing it a few days now.  i haven't touched it up at all and it's only started to chip a little at the tips today.  i'm going to let it because i have to remove all polish tomorrow night anyway... i have a medical procedure Wednesday afternoon.  fun. fun.  :\

shattered...

a little more nailpolish stash enhancement.  from right to left:  OPI Expert Touch Lacquer remover, Burlesque minis gift set (colours are The Show Must Go On, Ali's Big Break, Let Me Entertain You and Tease-y Does It), Orly in Fifty Four, OPI Katy Perry Teenage Dream and Black Shatter.  and an OPI Correct and Clean up stick because, as you've all seen, my homemade manicures need help.

another day, another nail polish

told ya i was on a binge...

this is Joe Fresh in Peacock.  the dots are Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Plum Power.   Seche base and top coats.

i really need some pointers on doing neater manicures.  why do i always end up with gloopies at my cuticles?  how do you all avoid that?  what's the trick i'm missing?  anyone?  :)

more polish!

while i was waitng at my local Zehr's for a prescription to be filled i wandered into the makeup aisle.  such as it is.  and took a good look at the Joe Fresh polishes.  i figured, meh, they're 3 for $10, i can afford to grab a few.  i grabbed Persian Blue, Twilight and Peacock (which has a pretty greenish tint to it that i just cannot capture with my camera).

but whoah?... hold up.  check out Twilight again.  it's a flakey!  i had no idea Joe Fresh had released a flakey polish!!  i could not resist... a flakey polish that i can afford??  yoink!

i did my best to try to capture the way the flakes change colour depending what angle you see them from:

now i am totally tempted to take off the easter-ish polish i put on last night to try these out!

a day late...

for Easter-y coloured nails.

i used all China Glaze polishes: Bahamian Escape (blue), Light As Air (purple), Something Sweet (pink). and a Seche top coat. i’m still pretty new to doing my own nails, pardon the untidiness :)  and pay no mind to the hangnail.  :\

...and now i'm going back to bed.  i've had a migraine all day.  and i'm a dumbass and then filled up the room with the smell of nailpolish.  now my nails are pertier, but gah, my head is pounding!

Nail Me!

i've been on a bit of a nailpolish kick lately.  i don't usually paint my fingernails because, well, frankly, it never lasts longer than a day.  but i've been poking around some nail blogs and picked up some tips for longer manicures and thought i'd try them out.  and then i found the most awesome nailpolish at a local discount store and the rest is history.  i've become addicted!

the polish that started my obsession (OPI Designer Series DS 007):

and then i came across some fun China Glaze polishes (full size bottles, from left to right: Dynasty, Luna, C-C-Courage, Drastic, Good Witch?.  and the mini bottles - i really don't know what collection they're from -, top row left to right: Something Sweet, Light As Air, Re-Fresh Mint.  bottom row: Peachy Keen, Lemon Fizz, Bahamian Escape):

base coat, top coats.  i only just bought the Seche products this afternoon, i haven't had a chance to try them out yet.  the Essie No Chips Ahead top coat was applied yesterday.  i haven't been too hard on my nails since then so i don't have a quality comment on how it's holding up.  yet.  anyway... on to the picture:

and my current home-made amature manicure.  i'm wearing China Glaze in Drastic and Essie No Chips Ahead top coat:

Stash Enhancement!

my love took me to Riverside Yarns in Owen Sound on Friday.  i don't think words are needed for the rest of this post... just yarn pr0n.

In order of appearance;
- Trekking XXL in colour 415.
- Wendy Happy in colour 2520/Virgo.
- Malabrigo Sock in Archangel (i loved the colour so much the first time i bought another hank.  i wound it into a ball the moment i got home).
- Fleece Artist Trail Socks in Rose Garden.
- Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita (another repeat... i knit the first hank into a In the Land of Oz shawlette).
- Koigu KPM and Koigu KPPPM.  intended for striped socks for meeeeee :)
- Malabrigo Sock in Abril, being knit into another Holden Shawlette.  (i wasn't kidding when i said that Malabrigo Sock was my new favourite yarn of all time.  i could knit with it forever and be happy :)

 

 

it's... beige.

so not me, i know!  i don't do beige.  beige is so... beige.  usually i pick out furniture based on it's colour and looks.  this time i just went with price and comfort.  so beige it is.

i've lived in this apartment for exactly a year and haven't bothered to paint any of the rooms.  i keep wanting to, but keep getting this weird feeling that it would be a waste.  i think it's the universe telling me that something more permanent (and without the three flights of stairs up) is coming along soon :)

so... here's my new sofa.  all arranged.  i won't go into details about how that went.  all you need to know is all it took for it to get done without frustration was for John and i to leave and for his teenage children to take over and finish the job doing what parents preach for their kids to do but somehow forget the lessons when it comes to themselves: co-operation and compromise.  they are awesome kids :)

please pardon the clutter.  i will get around to arranging the books on the bookshelf again.  eventually.  i'm just happy they're back on the shelf at all after the re-arrangement of the living room to make room for the new sofa that seems so much bigger in my apartment than it did on the showroom floor.  ;)

i am so excited

i have to announce that i have bought myself a wonderful set of rings.  i have been eyeing the rose rings available from Wexford Jewelers for longer than i care to admit.  i have finally purchased.  it is a wedding set.  i suppose if John and i ever get married (we have talked about it) i can use it as it is intended to be used... as a wedding set.  i can give him the engagement ring and he can propose to me if that's in the cards.  but i bought it, i paid for it, if we don't last it is mine.  if he uses it to propose to me i will not let him "pay me back" for it.  if we marry it will represent my love for him.  if we don't marry or we break up it will represent my independence because *i* bought it.  and i will wear it proudly on my right hand.

okay... so maybe i have some issues left over from my last experience with marriage ;) 

anyway... looooook!  isn't it stunning??

i have nothing but good things to say about the people at Wexford.  buying from them was pure and utter joy.  they are real, kind, easy to work with people.  i cannot possibly recommend them highly enough.

my ring is being sized and will ship to me when my paypal payment clears (stupid paypal, the only option i had was to pay by echeck and we all know how long that takes).  i will post more when it arrives :D