A blog about a girl, her nail polish, and some delicious noms.
NOTD
Still Alive… And Some Polish/Kitty/Food Instagram Updates!
14Hey Everyone!
I apologize for my latest blogging absence! This is my last month of my apprenticeship at the salon so it’s crunch time with time trials and mock state boards. NO PRESSURE. 
Add on to this my regular 40 hours at the night shift job and I am just BEAT. I’ve still been polishing my nails and posting quick NOTD’s on Instagram, but sitting down and editing/writing a full post just hasn’t been happening. Every time I think about wanting to post, I just end up going to bed instead. 
I’ll get through this slump folks, please hang in there! ♥
So for now I’ll just post some of my latest Instagram updates to share with you all while I get through my blogging drought. 
Om Nom Noms At The Portside Inn
I did have a break from the madness to enjoy a nice lunch at one of my favorite places to eat in town. This amazingness is from a restaurant called the Portside Inn. They have the best french onion soup. EVER. But since it was 85 degrees out I decided not the get the soup this time. Instead I got The Edmund, which is their delicious reuben sandwich (something I always order no matter what). The manfriend and I split some bruschetta and I had a white sangria, sooooo nummy!
Back To Squovals
I gave the roundies a good ‘ole try, but the squovals are back and here to stay folks! I missed them so much, and I just could not get the rounded nails up to my level of perfection. I decided to do something simple with my nails here, so I did a jelly sandwich with OPI Pirouette My Whistle and My Pointe Exactly.
China Glaze Gradient!
I found the China Glaze On Safari Collection polishes you guys!! I was so pumped that they arrived at my local pro shop. I bought 6 of them from the collection and I hope to have time to swatch them soon! For now I just did a gradient with Exotic Encounters and Man Hunt. I don’t know why my fingers look so zombified in the close-up shot, I blame my iPhone.
I added square gold studs from Cult Nails as an accent. The studs are nice but kinda HUGE on my tiny narrow nails. I had to add 2 coats of Gelous and a thick coat of top coat to get them to be smooth with my nail since the edges were floating in the air.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the 6 polishes that I picked up from the On Safari collection.
From left to right: Jungle Queen, Elephant Walk, Exotic Encounters, Kalahari Kiss, Desert Sun and Man Hunt.
I’m curious to see how similar Jungle Queen is to Revlon Perplex (or Naughty after the recent rename).
Anyone spot my cross-sitched Nyan-Cat in the background? 
It was made by my awesome pal Anne-Marie. Check out her Etsy shop, SheWithNeedles. She did a few other kick-ass custom projects for me too. ^_^
OPI Spotted and Zoya Gradient – No Filter
I know I just posted my OPI Spotted and Zoya Tracie/Wednesday gradient a week ago, but it seemed like people complained about the Instagram filter throwing off the color. Here’s a non-filtered photo for you all. I honestly don’t think the color in the previous one was off by that much, but ah well!
Glix Polish Haul!
I got my first order from Glix/Glitrix on Etsy and I can’t wait to try them out! I’ve seen a few of her franken polishes posted here and there and I decided to take the plunge. I know the star-shaped bottles are gonna be a pain, but the minis are so stinkin’ cute! 
Kitty Faces
And just for shiggles (thank you Cris for that term, lmao!) I decided to throw in a few kitty pics since it’s been a while. Here’s Clarence and Saucer Eyes McGee Chauncey being preoccupied by something behind me. Probably a ghost. Or scary fireworks. These things happen.
And one more picture of Chauncey hanging out with one of our favorite people, the manfriend. He’s wearing one of my favorite shirts. I love the random white pirate cat, you can see a bit of its eye patch. And yes, one of the other t-shirt cats has a cigarette. Don’t smoke kids. Stay in school.
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That’s it for this installment of Rie’s Randomness™. Thank you all again for your patience and I hope to be back soon with some real swatches for y’all soon!
OPI Spotted Is Mine!!! And There’s No Such Thing As To Many Layers…
13Hey Everyone!
Just a quick post today sharing an instagram from last night with you all. I received a wonderful package in the mail from my lovely Sam of Fashion Polish. Not only was I thrilled to have OPI Spotted staring back at me for this glorious bubble lined mailer, but to my surprise she tucked in a bottle of yet another coveted polish I thought I’d never own: Kiko 270!! I think at that moment I made a noise only dogs can hear, haha!
I also finally received my Zoya trio promo polishes and I wanted to try a gradient with those like the ones that Mimi shared on her blog, Makeup Withdrawal. She is the reason I absolutely NEEDED Zoya Arizona, Wednesday and Tracie.
Sooooo, I may have gotten over-excited and layered everything except for Zoya Arizona on my nails.
OPI Spotted With Zoya and Kiko Friends
I first started with 2 coats of Zoya Tracie, then I sponged on Zoya Wednesday. After that I added on a coat of OPI Spotted. And then finished it all off with a coat of Kiko 270. You can’t see the Kiko polish in this photo but I assure you that it’s there.
I’m still learning how best to use OPI Spotted, and I think adding Kiko 270 over the top of everything may have been overkill…. But ah well. Ya live and ya learn.
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That’s it for today, just a tiny over-zealous NOTD for you all to take a gander at.
You’ll be seeing a lot more of OPI Spotted and some more swatches of the Zoya Beach & Surf Collection in the near future. ^_^
NOTD: BeYu 330 – Behold The Multichrome Gorgeousness!!
23
Morning Everyone!
Today I’ve got another beautiful international polish from my lovely Sabine to share with you all! This time we’re taking a look at the stunning BeYu 330! BeYu is a polish brand that comes from Germany, but according to their website their brand is also sold in 39 other countries. So for those of you that have access to these little gems, count yourselves as lucky!
I was lucky enough to have been sent BeYu 330 by my pal, so let’s get to the swatches so I can show you this looker.
BeYu 330
BeYu 330 is a beautiful and complex multichrome that flows from dusky turquoise with grey undertones, to a greenish hue. It’s then filled with multichromatic glass-fleck shimmer that alternates from a teal to a purple shade. I could stare at this polish forever! This is 3 coats of BeYu 330 on its own, but I absolutely MUST try layering it over black soon to see if that changes the color at all.
BTW, you should be clicking on each of these pictures to enlarge them. You won’t regret it. ♥
Here’s a macro shot of BeYu 330 in all of its magnificence. This polish has my heart.
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Including BeYu 330 I only have two BeYu polishes in my possession and they are both heart stoppers. I’m not sure that I want to even know about any more of these little beauties for fear of my bank account being quickly depleted.
Do any of you own any BeYu polishes! If so, what are your favorites? ^_^
NOTD: Catrice Blues Brother Vol. II
13Hey Everyone!
Just a quick one here since I need to get back to a big polish project in the works. I wanted to share with you one of my special polishes, Catrice Blue Brother Vol. II. I call it special not only because it’s a gorgeous polish, but because I consider all of my international polishes to be a rare gift to own. This polish came to me via the wonderfully amazing Jeanette, thank’s love!
I’ve sat on these pictures for a while because I honestly forgot they were in my nail folder, haha. So here they are for you now! ^_^
Catrice Blues Brother Vol. II
Blues Brother Vol. II is a beautiful dark blue shimmer that has the ‘glowing from within’ look that I love so much. This was 2 easy coats.
Here’s a macro shot for you all. I simply cannot get enough of this polish, and I’m happy it found a home in my Helmer before it was discontinued by Catrice. ♥
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NOTD: Vampy Polish Love – ANNY The Answer Is Love!
22
Morning Lovelies!
Today I’ve got a special NOTD that was made possible by the wonderful Sabine! I’d never heard of the ANNY brand until I saw her photos, but now they’ve got my attention. She posted bottle shots of this beauty on Instagram and I was instantly gushing over how gorgeous it looked. The ANNY website has US cities listed on their header but I don’t believe they actually have any retail locations/sellers in North America (someone correct me if I’m wrong!). Sabine’s a pal and was able to track this one and a gorgeous BeYu polish down for me, thanks love!
Less talkie, more lookie. This polish is just… It is my everything right now.
ANNY The Answer Is Love
The Answer Is Love is a bit of a chameleon. A sexy, vampy chameleon that is. In the bottle and at first glance it appears to be a metallic duochrome that shifts from burnt orange to a burgundy red. But once I opened the bottle I was surprised to see a dark blue/purple (blurple??) base with a ton of orange, red, and fuchsia shimmer!
This polish was almost a 1-coat-wonder! With the 1st coat you saw a lot of the blue base. And after the 2nd coat you get this beautifully rich, dark burgundy/eggplant shimmering goodness. The shimmer is visible in almost all lighting which was a pleasant surprise as well. The formula on this polish is perfection and the brush is long, flexible, easy to control and holds the perfect amount of polish.
** ♥ le swoon x1000 ♥ **
What’s this now? The Answer Is Love changes its skin once again when under direct flash/sunlight. The purple in the base shines through and you get a gorgeous blackened eggplant shimmer. If you look closely or magnify this picture you can see a bit of the blue base I was talking about near my cuticles.
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So this was my first experience with ANNY polishes and I am SO happy I own this little beauty. I think I’m going to have to look into this brand some more and make an ANNY wishlist to see if the rest of their polishes will live up the legacy that The Answer Is Love has created in my heart.
Have any of you tried out ANNY nail polishes? If so, what other ones do you recommend that I check out? And Oh. Em. Gee. you all will DIE when you see my next layering experiment with this polish. I know I did.
NOTD: My X-Out Nail Project Mani!
14Morning Everyone!!
I hope you all are doing well this morning. We’re halfway through the week, and I only have a few more midnight shifts until I get a much needed 4 day break!
A few weeks back I was contacted by a representative of X-Out, an acne treatment/skin care brand specifically for teens from the makers of Proactiv. They are doing a really great nail art project for an amazing cause. For every blogger that created an X-Out themed manicure they are going to donate $200 to Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center!
Pacer’s is a great national organization that helps to prevent bullying, and they help educate communities on how to address this serious issue. I never personally experienced bullying in school but I know how devastating it can feel to be on the receiving end of unkind words.
Even though I definitely came up with this theme after working 10 hours overnight and on the fly, I’m pretty pleased with the results! I included the images they sent me for inspiration at the bottom of this post, let’s see what I came up with.
My X-Out Nail Project Mani!
Polishes Used:
China Glaze – Grape Juice
Wet n Wild – On A Trip
Lynderella – Bride Of Franken
OPI – Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh?
Essie – Go Overboard
L.A. Colors Art Deco – White
SinfulColors Nail Art Polish – Black
I’m writing this post on 2 hours of sleep from way earlier today, so let’s see if I remember how I did this. I did gradients with Grape Juice, On A Trip, Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh?, and Going Overboard on my pointer, middle and pinky fingers. I used striping tape on my pinky to get the staggered striped pattern, and each gradient is different from the other but in the same color theme.
I then added a coat of Bride Of Franken on my pointer finger. And I used my black and white nail art pens to create the X on my middle finger. Finally I added microbeads in silver, purple, black and blue to my ring finger, topped my other three fingers with top coat and I was done! Below are some close-ups of each design.
My pointer/index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And my pinky, which is my favorite of all the ones I did for this manicure. If you’re wondering what base color I used then you’ll have to wait for that post later this week.
♥
I was provided with images of the X-Out bottle, packaging, and their X-Out ‘manifesto’ to work with. I used the colors and patterns from both to come up with my nail art designs. ^_^
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I hope you all enjoyed my NOTD, it’s not often that I can say a manicure of mine was for a greater cause other than creating lemmings. With the opportunity to help Pacer’s, I just couldn’t pass this up!
I’d like to again thank Proactiv, X-Out and Guthy-Renker for thinking of my blog for this amazing nail art project!
NOTD: Barry M Croc Nail Effects (Crackle Redemption!)
33Morning Y’all!
Never did I think I would utter these words: in 2012 I am enjoying a crackle effect nail polish! The shatter/crackle fad surged and died in 2011 and a few companies are still trying to tread water with it (oh haaaaay OPI and Pure Ice, I see you… ), and the 892832.6 million crackles I have in my Ikea Helmers haven’t been touched since last summer. That was until Joanne sent me the crackle holy grail. The one crackle to rule them all…
Barry M Croc Nail Effects. The pattern with this crackle is everything that I wanted last years crackles to be, and everything that crackles were when they were first made popular by CoverGirl back in the 90s!
Let’s take a look at my new precious, shall we?
Barry M Croc Nail Effects
I ended up using 1 thinner coat of Barry M Croc Nail Effects polish over Barry M Gold Foil. How awesome does this look? The pattern really does remind me of reptilian skin.
Me gusta. Me gusta mucho. ♥
This type of crackle behaves differently than the ones that were popular last year. You apply Barry M Croc Nail Effects while your base polish layer is still tacky, about 2-3 minutes after the base polish color is applied. Then after a few more minutes the crackle effect appears before your eyes as the polish dries. It’s really neat to watch! The thinner the coats, the smaller the pattern on your nails.
This was a picture I shared on Instagram of another time I was wearing Barry M Croc Nail Effects. I layered it with Ghost Ranch by Rescue Beauty Lounge, which might be my new favorite combo with this crackle polish! My roommate said my nails looked like a ‘fancy handbag’, haha!
And here are bottle shots of my precious Barry M Effects polishes: Croc Nail Effects, Gold Foil and Silver Foil (both of which can be seen in use [HERE]). I don’t own a lot of Barry M polishes, but now I think I need to expand my collection.
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That’s it for today. If you’re looking for Barry M polishes you can find them on Barry M’s Official Site or over at Harlow & Co!
Have any of you had the chance to try the Croc Nail Effects polish or something similar?
What do you think, crackle comeback or are you not swayed by the new type of crackle and think it’s time to move on to something new?
NOTD: Borghese Almondine (AKA: This Is Kirsten’s Fault)
211 year ago
Happy Saturday Everyone!
I hope you all are having a great weekend. I’m pretty pumped because I get to see our local theater’s production of Evil Dead: The Musical at midnight tonight!!
Because I occasionally have willpower and impulse issues when it comes to polish I became the proud owner of Borghese Almondine via EvilBay. I blame this entirely on Kirsten of Glitta Gloves because she posted swatches of it and I immediately knew that I PHUCKIN’ NEEDED IT.
Borghese – Almondine
Y’all know I’m not usually a nude polish kind of gal, but this ish right here spoke to my heart. Borghese Almondine is something special. It’s that “Band-Aid But Better” nude base that’s filled with black flecks and pink shimmer!! The shimmer is hard to see if these two pictures but I was able to capture it in the macro shots below.
This is 3 thin coats, it applied like buttah! ♥
You need to enlarge these two photos. I have absolutely nothing like Almondine in my collection and it was so worth the 7th hell of EvilBay to acquire it. I blame Kirsten and thank her at the same time. And now I need a back-up bottle.
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An Old NOTD: Pretty And Polished Jawbreaker!
13Morning Lovelies!
Today I’ve got an old NOTD to share with you fine people. I bought Pretty And Polished Jawbreaker and Toy With Me mini bottles at the same time and immediately fell in love with both. I’ve swatched both of them, but I wasn’t happy with my pictures of Toy With Me so I plan to re-do my pictures for that one at a later date. But today it’s all about Jawbreaker. This polish… So much love. ♥
Pretty And Polished – Jawbreaker
Jawbreaker is perfectly named because it looks just like the candy it shares its name with! This milky white based polish is filled with blue, green, yellow, and purple glitters in all shapes and sizes.
I used 2 coats of Essie Marshmallow as my base and then layered 2 coats of Pretty And Polished Jawbreaker over it, perrrrrrfection! Jawbreaker is opaque on its own after 2-3 coats, but since I only have a mini bottle I want to try to use as little of my precioussssssss as possible.
For the best results, I inverted the bottle for about 15-20 minutes and shook it a bit to loosen the grip of the larger hex glitter pieces from the sides of the bottle.
And a macro shot to share with you all. It’s a thing of beauty, so you’re gonna need to maximize this picture. For science.
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Pretty And Polished is definitely one of my favorite indie/custom polish makers out there. Her polishes really stand out and catch my attention, which in a market that’s currently flooded with indies right now it difficult to achieve. I only have three of her creations right now but I love them all! Hopefully I can show you guys Party In My Yacht and Toy With Me soon. ^_^
You can check out the Pretty And Polished Etsy page to see when she is opening up shop again. If you look at her feedback section you can get an idea of what her polishes look like and see some of her past creations. I’ve got my eyes on Sand Art, Pool Party, Green Garden, Forever Rose and Bayou Blitz!
NOTD: Striped Two-Tone Caviar Manicure!
26Morning Everyone!
By now I’m sure that many of you have heard of the “Caviar Manicure” trend that is quickly gaining speed throughout the nail community. Ciaté is even releasing a Caviar Manicure Kit soon through Sephora, though it will be pricey at $25 per kit.
Add to it the fact that they’re sending rude letters to bloggers and claiming that they created the ‘brand new’ look and have trademarked the word ‘caviar’….. Right. Too bad Dashing Diva had a caviar manicure out a year earlier (link [HERE]).
If you’ve got access to an art supply store and nail polish you can achieve the “Shiaté Fish Egg Look” (patent pending… ) for much much less. Check out Jen’s post [HERE] to see how she recreated the black caviar manicure, it looks great!
I had the same Recollections micro-beads sets at home that Jen used so I decided to jump on the caviar bandwagon and see what I could come up with. I’m pretty thrilled with the results!
A Striped Two-Tone Caviar Shiaté Fish Egg Manicure!
AhhhhhH! Isn’t this awesome?!
I started out with my base coat (Cult Nails Get It On) then used 1 coat of OPI’s Thanks A Windmillion, which I then dry completely. Next, one nail at a time, I did a diagonal stripe with a 2nd coat of my polish and immediately dipped that nail into my desired micro-bead color. I repositioned any stray beads with a rubber cuticle pusher and then gently pressed the beads down into the still semi-wet polish to secure them. I repeated this step for each nail.
Then when the first half of my caviar nails was set I repeated the above process (another diagonal coat of polish and a dunk in the micro-beads) with the remaining portion of each nail. Fairly straight forward, right? ^_^
I really like the dual tone look of this manicure! On my pointer and middle fingers I used the Recollections micro-beads in Antique Copper and Capri, and on my middle and pinky fingers I used Capri again as well as the Clear micro-beads (they’re named ‘Clear‘ but they’re most definitely a gorgeous iridescent rainbow hue).
And finally some macro shots for you all to stare at. Click on these bad boys to see them at their original sizes. I kinda covered half of the Clear beads in nail polish but DON’T CARE, I still love the final results.
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That’s it for today everyone, I hope you enjoyed this look as much as I enjoyed creating it. Is it practical? Absolutely not, but see my above comment about the not caring. This is great for a one day ‘Haute Couture’ look, and if you have a set of micro-beads in a variety of colors your possibilities with this look are virtually endless. ^_^
Have any of you tried out the “Caviar Manicure” “Shiaté Fish Egg Look“ yet? If so, what do you think of the trend? ♥
Update 4/13/12:
I couldn’t participate in #FishEggFriday that a bunch of my fellow bloggers did this week, but check out some great posts here:
Ivana at Ivana Thinks Pink
Stephanie at Sincerely Stephanie
Jeanette at The Swatchaholic
Christina at Starlett ApprovedSalla at OMG! Polish ‘Em
Esther at Fab Fingertips
Emily at The Lacquerologist
Tiffany at 2 The Last Drop
Cristina at Let Them Have Polish
A Laquered Affair
Anna at Pretty Digits
Susan at Subtle Shimmer
Melissa at Melissa White Nails
Jen at The Polishaholic
