Hubby spoils me, this I know....

This post was originally scheduled for 4/29/14 but did not post, apparently.  I must apologize for not checking earlier to make sure that it did post.  So here it is, in it's entirety, please forgive the incorrect mentions of days and/or dates given.  Thank you!  (May 31, 2014 8:43 pm est)

*purchased myself, nothing to declare*

Good morning, darling readers.  I hope your Tuesday is going well so far.  The other day, hubby and I went shopping and as we passed a polish display, he surprised me by stopping and said to pick one.  I then said, why don't you pick a color for me and then said anything but green or yellow.  So this is what he picked.  I guess this is what I get when he forgets his glasses.  lol

This is Sinful Colors Mint Apple and yes, it's a green.  :0)  I'm still not sure how I feel about it quite yet, with my pale skin color.  It's a pretty color, but I think it makes me look even more pale.  What do you think?

What I used:  Essie Ridge Filling Base Coat, two coats Sinful Colors Mint Apple, and one coat Seche Vite.

I think I'm getting better with my clean-up.  I bought a Smudge Eye Sponge by ELF that I've been using and think it works pretty well.  I've also slowed down when I apply my polish so I'm more precise and don't have as much clean-up as I did before.

Here you can see that I nicked my thumb before my polish was completely dry.  It really wasn't that noticeable until I took the photo's  Photo's really do catch all the blemishes, don't they?

The formula on this polish was a little streaky on the first coat but evened out on the second.  For a bargain brand, it isn't bad and I wouldn't hesitate to buy more.  I only have 5 total of this brand and this is the first one I've used so I'm not sure how they compare to each other, formula wise.  When I use the others, I'll try to remember to compare them to each other.

Do you own any of the Sinful Colors brand and if so, what is your favorite color(s)?

As always, thank you for spending a little of your day with me.  Until later...Huggles!

I feel like cheering....O-H...

Good afternoon, darling readers.  Can you believe it's the end of April already?  It seems like this month has just flown by.  Actually, it seems like this year is starting to fly by.  When I was younger, my grandmother used to tell me that the older you got, the faster time went, but I always thought it was an old wives tale, until I got a little older myself and realized that she was right.  So I decided to try to enjoy each day for what it is and try not to worry about the next one too much.

Today, I have another Polish Yer Hooves polish to share with you.  This one is a bit special to me because it represents something I love and that  is OSU Football!  Leigh Anne was offering hand painted bottles so when I saw the one with the Ohio State design, I knew it was the one I wanted.  When she reopens her shop in mid-May, I'm not sure if she'll be offering these hand painted bottles again or not.

The base I used was Essie's Ridge Filling Top Coat, which I forgot to include in this photo.  On my thumb, middle, and pinkie fingers, I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement and on my index and ring fingers, I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Cherry Red.

Isn't this hand painted bottle cute?  The polish itself is a mixture of red and pink hearts, and silver and red hexes in a clear base.

I think this will be a great mani to wear on football Saturday's for the 2014 season.

Right now, Leigh Anne is only taking custom orders through her Etsy store but she plans to restock/reopen sometime mid-May.  You can find her Etsy shop here.

You can also check for updates on her blog Polished into a Corner or her Facebook page.

Do you watch college football and if so, who is your favorite team?

As always, thank you for spending a little of your time with me.  Until later...Huggles!

Cowabunga, dude!

Good early Sunday morning!  It's just after 3 am and I hope most of y'all are sleeping.  Because my hubby works swing shift and because of the problems I have with my back, I'm somewhat of a night owl most of the time.  I do try, when he works day shift, to get to bed at a decent hour, but I usually find myself staying up most of the night and going to bed just as he leaves for work and getting up for the day as he gets home from work.  That is, if I'm lucky enough to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time.  If any of y'all suffer chronic pain, like I do, you know how hard sleeping for more than a few hours at a time can be and how common insomnia is.

Today I have for you a polish made by Leigh Anne at Polish Yer Hooves called Cowabunga.  As soon as I saw this polish, I knew I had to have it!  It's a beautiful mix of navy and lavender holographic glitters with a sprinkle of diamond dust glitter in a clear base, to make it a true glitter bomb.  Leigh Ann and I have a few things in common:  we are both from the state of Ohio (although she currently does not live here), love Ohio State University Football, and we both have a love of cows that began in our childhoods.  We both served in the military and most important of all, we love nail polish!

As of today, I'm going to be starting something a little new with my photo's.  I'll be doing one that shows all the polishes I used when I did my mani.  I did, in this one, and for the post I plan to do for tomorrow, forget to include the base coat I used, which is Essie's Ridge Filling Base Coat.

The polishes I used for today's mani.  From l to r:  Sally Hansen Hard As Nails, Rock Bottom:, Polish Yer Hooves, Cowabunga; Polish Yer Hooves, Anti-Cow Licker, and Seche Vite Top Coat.

This is 3 coats of Cowabunga, with no undies, and 1 coat Seche Vite.

This is 2 coats Rock Bottom, 1 coat Cowabunga, 1 coat Anti-Cow Licker, and 1 coat Seche Vite.

And this is the same as above, just the full hand.

Anti-Cow Licker helps smooth glitter polishes and gives your polish a good shine.  I used Seche Vite to help speed up the drying process although, after using the anti-cow licker, my polish felt very smooth.  I just wanted to make sure it dried a little quicker since the kittens were playing on my bed.  

Leigh Anne currently is only taking custom orders on her Etsy shop, which can be found here, but she plans on expanding her line again sometime in mid-May.  You can check her blog and her Facebook pages for updates on when the exact date will be.

Do you have any Polish Yer Hooves polishes and if so, which ones do you own?

As always, thank you for spending a little of your day with me.  Until later...Huggles!

 

Liebster Award, revisited.

Good morning, darling readers!  Surprised to see me again so soon?  lol  I'm really trying to get on some sort of schedule and I've found if I start writing a post, save it, and then come back to it, later in the day, I actually am getting more done.  So I think I've finally found a method of blogging that works, for me, anyway.  This is going to be a rather long post, so please bear with me.

Back on March 6th, Leigh Anne of Polished into a Corner, nominated me for a Liebster Award.  I had to do a bit of research about what the Liebster Award is and then find blogs with less than the required number of followers to nominate.  That was no easy task for me to do as most of the blogs I read every day have hundreds of members.  I found this site that has a lot of info for the Liebster Award here and found out that it has gone through multiple versions since it was first started.  The rules I am following for this Liebster nomination can also be found there.  

To read the questions and answers that Leigh Anne asked me, please continue after the jump.

April 2014 Ipsy Review

*contains referral link*

Hello again!  I'm baaaccckkk.  lol  I know I am really hit or miss with my posting and I apologize for that.  Unfortunately the up and down weather over winter really affects my bones and when my pain levels get to a certain point, I don't feel like doing much, not even my nails.  I have, however, still been getting and enjoying the items in my monthly Ipsy bags even though I haven't posted them all here for you to see.  If you would like me to a 'catch-up' post on the bags between the last one I posted (November I believe) and now, just let me know in the comments and I will do that.

For those not familiar with Ipsy, it is a monthly beauty subscription plan where you receive 4 to 5 deluxe to full-sized beauty products per month for just $10.  They do have a points program where you can earn points for referrals, reviewing the items you receive, and site participation.  They do have a wait-list from time to time so if you are considering joining, you may be put on the list for a short time.  You don't have to, but if you'd like to join, I'd consider it an honor if you'd use my referral code by clicking here.  When you join, you fill out a short quiz and then they start personalizing your bags from there and from the reviews you do on each product every month.  During these reviews, you can tell them that you love something, hate it, would like it in your bag again, or not like it.  You can also retake your quiz at any time to sort of re-set things.

The theme for April is Beauty Rocks.  Your items will come in a make-up bag that is different each month.  This month's bag looks like this:

In this photo it looks purple, but it is actually a very dark navy-ish blue, with a 45 record & needle printed on it.  This one is more square shaped than ones I've received in the past and I actually do like it.  I may not use it to carry around in my purse, but I will definitely find a use for it.

I received 5 items in April:  Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant (sample size); Demeter Roll-On Perfume Oil in the scent Jasmine (full size); Mary Kay @ Play Jelly Lip Gloss in Berry Me (full size); Elizabeth Mott Pop Goes The Shadow in Champagne (full size), and Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil Travel Size in Black Velvet (deluxe size).

Swatches of Elizabeth Mott Eyeshadow on the left, Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in the middle, and Mary Kay @ Play lip gloss on right.

Price breakdown:

     Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant 0.25 fl oz approx $9.75

      (full size is 2 oz and sells for $78)

     Demeter Roll-On Perfurm Oil 0.29 fl oz $10

     Mary Kay@Play Lip Gloss 0.32 fl oz $10

     Elizabeth Mott Pop Goes The Shadow 0.07 oz $12.99

     UD 24/7 Eye Pencil 0.03 oz approx $15

     (full size is 0.04 oz and is $20)

Total value approx $57.74.  For $10, that is not a bad deal at all.  I may end up putting the Dr. Brandt up for trade as I have very sensitive skin and am very particular about what I use in my skin care routine and I'm not quite sure the Jasmine scent is up my alley quite yet.  I'm not usually a floral scent kind of person, but this one does smell quite nice so I may keep it.  Even if you don't like all the items you receive every month, it's usually a really good value for getting to try something you might normally not.  Since joining a year ago, I've discovered several new to me brands, tried colors I never would have, and thanks to the trading board that Ipsy has on Facebook, I've been able to trade the items that wasn't quite right for me for items I preferred.  This is also great for those who are just starting out with beauty items as a way to start building their collections.

And there we have my April 2014 Ipsy bag.  Do you receive Ipsy and if so, what did you receive in your bag?  Please let me know in the comments!

As always, thank you for spending a bit of your time with me.  Until later...Huggles!

A lemming....SQUASHED!

*nothing to disclose*

Good afternoon, darling readers, and welcome back SPRING!  I think it has finally arrived here in southeastern Ohio.  It is still a bit chilly at night, but the day time has simply been gorgeous this past week, and I don't know about you, but I was way past ready for spring to get here!  It felt like we just had the never-ending winter, didn't it?  The only thing I do not like about spring is allergies.  This year they are calling allergy season, the pollen vortex.  First we have a polar vortex and now a pollen vortex.  What's next?

Today I have a beautiful polish that has been on my wish list since I first saw it right around July or so last summer.  It is Girly Bits, Blue Eyed Beer Drinking Music Lovin' Lawyer.  This polish was made to celebrate the one year blogaversary of Wishes of A Blue-Eyed Girl.  It is described as a deep cobalt blue with micro blue and silver glitter, and micro iridescent blue/green shifting glitters on the Girly Bits website, which you can find here.  I think it is just simply stunning and I am glad that Pam (of Girly Bits) and Julie (of Wishes of A Blue-Eyed Girl) collaborated to come up with this polish.

Here she is, in the bottle.  Yes, it does look like I've used a lot, but I made a trade with a sweet lady that I'm in a group with for some polish of hers, so it looks like I've used more than I actually have.  

This is 2 very thin coats, topped with Seche Vite.  I still had a bit of VNL, but I can live with it.  Next time I know to use just a bit thicker coat or add a 3rd.

Because it does contain micro glitters, I decided to use a peel-off base coat of glue.  I've been trying that method out with my glitters lately and it does make removing them a lot easier for me.  

This polish is still available for $10 (plus s&h) on the Girly Bits website, but supplies are limited as it is a special edition polish.  I'm seriously thinking about buying another to have as a back-up because I love it so much.

If you are not familiar with Girly Bits, they are located in Canada and is run by Pam, who I think, is extremely creative and talented.  

Other places to find Girly Bits:

     Facebook

     Instagram

     Twitter

     Pinterest

What do you think of Blue Eyed Beer Drinking Music Lovin' Lawyer?  Do you love it as much as I do?  Do you currently own any Girly Bits polishes or have any on your wish list?

As always, thank you for spending a few minutes of your day with me.  Until later....Huggles!