Best of Both Worlds

Greetings dudettes and dudes!  It has been a coon's age (or something like it) since I've posted.  I don't have a good excuse, so I won't bore you with a bad one.  (Name that movie.)  But today...I've been inspired.

You see, I am a woman of many passions, not least among them are cars and nail polish.  Combine the two?  Well.  Blammo.  Drool.  Et cetera.

Presenting Sally Hansen Calypso Blue.  I've had this for awhile, but having put it on tonight, it struck me how the subtle shimmer and sheen was much like a pearl coat in some car's paint jobs.  It's puuuuuurty.  In fact, since I've last spoken to you, I've gotten a car with one such paint job.

Meet Lu.  She's a lovely pearl white.  Sigh.  Who needs a man when I've got Lu.  Okay, a man would still be nice, but whatever.

This is a shot I took of a boat's paint job at Bass Pro Shop ages ago.  Wouldn't this make an amazing manicure?  I figure I've got a couple of polishes in my collection that mimic a car's paint job.  This right here is next on my list!

Guuuuurl, I Herd That!

Sorry, I just had to put a little sass into that title.  What can I say, it's a sassy polish!

 This here, in case you haven't put it together, is China Glaze I Herd That from the Fall 2012 Safari Collection.  All in all, I thought this was a pretty nifty collection, and this here is my favorite.  It was tough to photograph the full awesomeness, as the glitter had a subtle holographic effect in the sun.  LOVED it.  So much so, I funky-frenched it!

I tipped it with OPI Bronzed to Perfection, an ULTA clearance buy.  You can always tell when I'm taking my pictures in the middle of a hot-as-balls Tennessee summer; the photos take on a moody, hazy look.  Sorry bout that.

Y'all, I've got big news...you ready?  I.  GOT.  A HELMER.  Loooooooove it!  I'm going to try to document my collection this weekend.  Tighten up your britches, y'all!  GET READY!

It was his year, it was his year, IT WAS HIS YEAR!!!

OPI It Was My Year always makes me think of the movie "Strictly Ballroom."  I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the "theme" of my blog is based around my love of movies.  I try to do most of my titles after a film quote or reference.  This one is from the fantastic Australian film, "Strictly Ballroom."  It was directed by Baz Luhrmann, and is essentially the inspiration for "Dirty Dancing."  I can't find a clip from the exact part of the film that includes the quote, but that's just as well, because you really ought to just go watch the whole movie (it's available by instant streaming on Netflix).  When I discovered this fantastic film, I made both my brother and my father watch it, and in spite of the fact that I got dubious looks when I introduced it as "a movie about ballroom dancing," they were both shocked to discover that they liked it!

But enough of that other obsession of mine...here's the swatch of OPI's It Was My Year, from the Summer 2011 Ms. Universe collection.  I believe this was given to me as a gift by my very best friend who lives on the other side of the country.  She gave me several polishes as a hostess gift when she came to visit, and she had GREAT taste in choosing the colors.  I feel like "It Was My Year" preceded a few other dupes like Zoya Faye.  It must be a great color to have been copied by the likes of Zoya!  Hope you love it as much as I do.

Bow In My Presence!

I have an alter ego.  Everyone should have an alter ego.  Mine is Sheba, Queen of the Desert.  I barely remember when or how she was born, but there you have it. 


This is a polish Sheba would love.

Wet N Wild Bow in My Presence over Sally Hansen Color Quick Pen in Turquoise Chrome

The Wet N Wild Be Jeweled collection (like the China Glaze Prismatics collection, a near dead dupe) is lovely to look at in the bottle, but frankly, not that impressive on the nail.  I thought the look above was pretty, but knock your socks off, you know?  If you DO like this collection, you should know that most Sally Beauty stores are currently clearing the China Glaze Prismatics collection for rock-bottom prices.  Check it out!

Green, memories and animals

Happy Saturday, all!

If there's one thing about blogging that I love, it's taking pics on a gorgeous Saturday.  Today I've ventured outdoors to bring you all Orly Lucky Duck.

 I've topped it here with China Glaze Luxe and Lush, a topcoat I have truly adore.  A green and a shredded glitter topcoat?  Yep, love this.

Whilst photographing, I realized you guys had never seen my wrist tattoo.

This tattoo is less than a year old.  I'd considered a wrist tattoo for a long time, but was always too chicken on account of my fairly corporate work environment.  At last, my workplace issued a policy on tattoos, and it mentioned that they were okay, so long as the tattoo wasn't vulgar and reasonable effort was made to cover it.  I figured a wrist tattoo was easily covered by a cuff bracelet (which I love anyway), so I went for it.  The design is a twist on a vintage Corelle/Pyrex pattern called Crazy Daisy/Spring Blossom that I grew up eating off of at my grandmother's house.  I inherited her kitchenware when she passed, and I continue to collect it.  In short, it's a design that means a lot to me, and which I'd considered getting tattooed for years.  It's my second piece of ink.

THEN, the day was so pretty that my dog and my outdoors kitty were really enjoying themselves and were happy to see me.  I took this fun little pic to show how well they get along.

Foxy loves her little playmate and Zaz really looks up to her gigantic friend.

I hope that everyone is having a lovely weekend, as I certainly am!

Quick Gunmetal Update

Hi all!  Wouldn't you know, after I wrote my last post, I finally found Revlon Carbonite!  For the first time, I had success finding polish at my Big Lots, which has a history of sucking.

Below, I've got a nail wheel comparison of Carbonite with the polishes I discussed in my last post.

L-R:  Revlon Carbonite, OPI Just Spotted the Lizard, Sinful Colors Secret Admirer, Ruby Kisses Steel Magnolia

The wheel pic is not 100% accurate, as it is much easier to see in real life that Carbonite and Just Spotted are NOT dupes at all!  Carbonite is nearly a one-coater, whereas Just Spotted definitely needs at least two coats.  Just Spotted also has a faint rainbow shimmer that is absent in Carbonite.  The only possible dupe I'm missing here is Chanel Graphite, but I can tell ya right now that it's just going to have to stay missing!  I hope this helps anyone else who, like me, is partial to the gunmetal family of colors.

Gunmetal Dupe Alert!

Check this shiz out, yo.  (I...I have no idea where that came from.)

A friend of mine recently left our company, and I was so proud and sad!  She was an intern when she first came to work for us, and I was her first boss at the company.  That girl was a sharp cookie, and I knew she was destined for greatness!  She was quick to learn of my lacquer obsession, and when she moved from intern to full-time employee, I congratulated her by purchasing a Butter London for her that she'd had her eye on (British Racing Green, should you have been curious).  So when she got a new gig outside the company, she said goodbye with a sweet note and a bottle of Sinful Colors "Secret Admirer."

Is this gorgeous, or what?  How did I not know this existed?  She did a great job picking a color for me; I totally would have picked this out myself.  Gunmetal has always been a favorite color of mine, so it only stands to reason that I already had a couple of colors in my collection that were quite similar:  OPI "Just Spotted the Lizard" (an alleged Revlon Carbonite/Chanel Graphite dupe) and Ruby Kisses "Steel Magnolia."  Below you'll see Steel Magnolias on the index finger, Just Spotted the Lizard on the middle finger and Secret Admirer on the ring finger.

Now, I suspect this may ALSO be a dupe for China Glaze "Stone Cold" from the Hunger Games collection (with a clear topcoat on account of Stone Cold is a matte.)  I kinda wanted Stone Cold, and indeed I saw it at Sally Beauty recently.  I came THISCLOSE to buying it to test my dupe theory, but man...I needs ta keep my monies.  (Anybody wanna verify this for me?)

I really do think that Secret Admirer is what I wanted Carbonite to be.  I never could find Carbonite in stores to be sure, but if it's true that Just Spotted the Lizard is a Carbonite dupe, then Carbonite is greener than I thought it would be.  Secret Admirer and Steel Magnolia are pure shimmery grey/silver, which is what I expect true Carbonite to be.

See?

Thanks, former coworker!