Hungry for Hunger Games?

Greetings from Disneyworld!  By the time you read this, I'll be hanging out at the Mouse's House.

I'll be at the World with my family, and while I'm gone, I hope to see "Hunger Games" with my sister-in-law.  We've both read the books and loved them.  (Who didn't?)  The China Glaze Hunger Games collection was pretty awesome; so awesome, in fact, that my Sally ran out pretty!  I only managed to get three of them.  In truth, the only one I still really want is Stone Cold.

Here we have Harvest Moon, which represents District 9:

 It's a delicious blend of bronze, brown and gold.  Quite lovely, really.  I don't follow "rules" about certain colors in certain seasons, but I still feel that this smacks SO hard of Fall, that I probably won't wear it much again until then.

Next up is Riveting, representing District 3:

 What can I say; it is...riveting!  It really is.  I feel like this sort of color should not look right on my pale, cool-toned skin, but I was VERY pleased.  I can only imagine that this would be flattering on most anyone, and that has GOT to be a rarity for an orange.

Last but not least, the "flaky" (more on that later), Luxe & Lush (District 1):

I feel that calling this a flakie is a bit of a misnomer.  I expect a flakie to sort of...blend into its basecoat, changing it and forming something totally new.  I compare this more to the randomly shaped mylar-type glitter topcoats that are becoming popular, especially among frankeners and independent lacquer mixers.  Flakie or no, it's captivating.  I've shown it over several different color families to show you what a versatile "effects" polish it can be, and unfortunately I can't remember what these base polishes are!  If you're very curious about one, let me know and I'm sure I can narrow it down.

All in all, I think this China Glaze did a fantastic job of coming up with colors that really represented the Districts of Panem.  This could have just been a random assortment of colors with names that were sort of reminiscent of the Hunger Games, but it isn't.  By the time you read this, many of you will have already seen the movie, and I hope it didn't let you down! 

May the odds be ever in your favour!

You've Got Green on You

Better late than never, right?  I painted my nails in the spirit of St. Patty's, but I really don't much care for getting out and, ahem, "celebrating" the holiday.  That's just as well, because I haven't been feeling well, and ended up sleeping the day away!  That, in turn, explains why I'm just now getting around to posting this.

I should further explain that I LOVE all things Irish.  Really, every day is St. Patrick's Day for me.  That would be why when it came time to do this green skittles mani, I found I had sixteen different greens.  Long story short, that's a lot of any one color for the size of my collection.  Presenting...my favorites!

Pinky: OPI On Stranger Tides, Ring:  Zoya Shawn, Middle:  Milani HiTech, Index:  Sinful Colors Envy, Thumb:  China Glaze Cling On

Pinky:  Zoya Yara, Ring:  Zoya Ivanka, Middle:  Zoya Gemma, Index:  Zoya Midori, Thumb:  Finger Paints Tough Art to Follow

By the by, please excuse the slapdashiness of this mani.  I did it in about 10 minutes, which was all I had at the time! 

For these photos, I chose to "pose" with my collection of tippers/beaters for my bodhran.  If that last sentence made very little sense to you, check this out:

That's Sean McCann from Great Big Sea (my very favorite band) demonstrating.   That thing he's beating the bodhran (drum) with is called a tipper or a beater (depending on who you ask).  I'm an extremely novice player, so when I was in Ireland a couple of years ago, I picked up several tippers so I could learn more about which styles felt most comfortable to me.

The three on the right came from Ireland.  So of course I found I still prefer to play with the one on the right that came with my bodhran!

This tipper is relevant to my interests.

Hope you've enjoyed this late ode to St. Patrick's Day and unsolicited lesson on Irish instruments!  Happy Sunday!

Quick Alert: Nerd Lacquer now in stock!

And I just ordered WAY more than I should have.  So excited!  Cannot wait!

Get thee to Etsy!  Get 'em while you can!!!

Magnetic Polish - My turn!

Anybody else notice how gimmicky the world of polish has been over the last year or two?  We've got crackles, flakies, magnetics...what's next?  Me, I love a good gimmick, so I'm always game.


I picked up my first magnetic polish in Sephora back when I visited NYC last fall.  It was Nails Inc "House of Parliament."  I think Nails Inc was probably one of the first companies to really kick this trend into the mainstream, but they're certainly not cheap.  (They're currently retailing at Sephora for $16.)  Thank goodness, then, that China Glaze released a more affordable line of magnetic polishes a little while later.  Theirs retail for $6.99, plus you have to buy the magnet for an additional $6.99.  With Nails Inc, the magnet is in the bottle cap, and it's meant to impart a wavy lines design.  The China Glaze magnet has three designs: diagonal lines, chevron and star/asterisk.


As with so many things, though, magnetic polishes are a great example of getting what you pay for, but it's also a bit of a mixed bag.  Let me show you what I mean.

Pinky:  Nails Inc Houses of Parliament (using Nails Inc magnet); Ring:  China Glaze Cling On (using CG chevron magnet); Middle:  China Glaze Instant Chemistry (using CG star magnet); Pointer:  China Glaze Cling On (using NI magnet); Thumb:  China Glaze Instant Chemistry (using NI magnet)

Whew!  That's a lot to sort out, I know, but let me explain why I did what I did.  I've fiddled with these enough to have learned one very important lesson:  the China Glaze magnet...SUCKS.  It just does.  Look at that middle finger; does that look like a star to you?  However, I LOVE the China Glaze colors.  They're way more saturated and intense than the Nails Inc magnetic polishes.  Because of these observations, I've decided that the best thing to do is use CG polishes with the Nails Inc magnet.  It's a bit of an investment to have to do it this way, but it's worth it to me.  I mean...LOOK at that pointer finger.  Cling On is gorgeous, and when I placed the Nails Inc magnet over it, I could instantly (no exaggeration) see the pattern come up.  Check it out again here:

Beautiful!

I understand that $16 can be quite a splurge for polish for a lot of us; frankly, I'm not sure I'd have shelled out for it if I hadn't been using vacation money (which, like vacation calories, isn't real money).  If you really want to dabble in this trend but have a China Glaze budget, please check out Scrangie's amazingly detailed guide to troubleshooting magnetic polish here.  I simply don't have the patience or the will or the mad skillz to get mine to come out looking like hers, but perhaps you'll have better luck!

NOLF (Nail of Last Friday)

Hey, all!  Lately I've REAAAALLY been wanting to revert to my college-era nocturnal ways, so while I'm sitting here trying to make myself go to bed (tomorrow's a Monday, after all!), I thought I'd quickly share last Friday's mani with you.

This is Ulta "Lav-ish," which was part of the mini-polish set called "Paint the Town."  Y'all, I LOVED this polish.  First off, it's a lovely lavender-taupe color with a delicate pinkish-gold shimmer built in.  It's a great office neutral.  I wasn't terribly scared of staining, so I decided to do without a basecoat (which is rare for me).  As a result of that and the ease of application, this was definitely one of the quickest-yet-still-flawless polish jobs I'd done that I can ever remember.  I don't think the "Paint the Town" set is available anymore, but it looks like the full-size Lav-ish is, and I just can't recommend it enough as an addition to your office-friendly polish collection.

Hope everyone avoids a case of the Mondays tomorrow!