Shorty Post--Twiggie Calls Western Union

Just a quick nail of the day post here. Summer makes me want to wear all of my brightest polishes. The bright green here is two coats of Color Club Twiggie. The black and white glitter topper is Feenix Polish (sadly, out of business indie maker) Western Union. Top coat is Seche Vite.
*Products purchased by me.*

I've been wearing this craziness for a few days now, which is a really long time for a nail polish addict. 

Do you go for bright colors in the summer?

Don't Pay Retail Prices Part 3--Another TJ Maxx Haul

TJ Maxx is one of my go-to places for a sweet deal on nail polish. It is hit or miss, but their selection changes all the time. Recently, I found some Color Club and Orly goodies that caught my eye.
*Products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. There may be affiliate links.*

As you can see, the Poptastic set of Color Club polishes is so bright that my camera freaked out and couldn't come close to accurately capturing the colors. Always so difficult to photograph neons and super bright colors. In my opinion, the first four polishes are actual neons and the last three are just very bright. Individual Color Club polishes retail for about $8.00. This set costs $48.00 on Color Club's retail site. I paid $9.99. The included shades are, from left to right, Wham! Pow!, Almost Famous, Poptastic, Warhol, Pucci-licious, Twiggie, and Factory Girl. (I already have Pucci-licious, so I gave the one from this set to a friend. Mine is a lot more purple, whereas hers leans more blue.)

Once I found out that Orly was changing their bottle design, I kept an eye out at TJ Maxx for Orly polishes in the old bottle design, since I figured they would get cleared out at regular stores and salons. I much prefer the old bottle design. Orly's regular polishes retail for $8.50 on their site, and their special glitters retail for $10.00. I mostly bought special glitters. TJ Maxx had (and still has, last time I checked) sets of two called Perfect Pairs, for $6.99. The set pictured above is Go Deeper and Monster Mash.

The second set is Miss Conduct and Mermaid Tale. I was super excited to find Miss Conduct. I've seen gorgeous swatches of it online. She looks fairly pretty in the bottle, but on the nail all sorts of holographic goodness comes out.

The third set is Spazmatic and Holy Holo. I'll be interested to see how Holy Holo compares to Paris by Julep, another silvery holo glitter topper.

Total retail value: $106.50. Total paid (before tax): $30.96.

*Products in this post were purchased by me with my own money.*

Swatches--OPI Jinx

I adore this polish! A beauty supply store near my work had some OPI minis on sale for $2.50, so I picked up this little beauty, OPI Jinx. I love everything about Jinx, so I am going to glut this post with photos and say very little. Feast your eyes!
*I purchased this product with my own money.*

I only showed Jinx in these photos without top coat, as that's how the Liquid Sand polishes are designed to be worn. However, she does look lovely with top coat as well. The full size is available at drugstore.com for $9.00 at this time.

*I purchased this product with my own money.*

Swatches and Review--Essie Come Here

Essie Come Here is what I would describe as an electric coral red creme. Essie describes it as a 'nearly neon coral'. When I purchased it, CVS was having a weekly special in which they had four or five select Essie shades for 50% off. Irresistible!

*I purchased this product with my own money. I am not compensated by nor affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

There was no lighting or camera trick in which I could capture how bright this shade is; it's not neon, but it is definitely electric.

I am quite enamored (BBC is on the television as I'm writing; is it influencing the words I choose?) with Come Here. The color is rich, intense, and happy. I applied two thin coats and one thick coat over a base coat that I can't remember now, and one coat of Seche Vite quick-dry top coat. I believe it would have applied best in two thick coats for some reason. 

If you like bright colors, you might want to check out Essie Come Here. The other shades in Essie's Resort 2013 Collection are quite bright as well. I bought all four of them, and I rarely buy an entire collection. 

*I purchased this product with my own money. I am not compensated by nor affiliated with any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Don't Pay Retail Prices Part 2--$1.95 CVS Haul

In February, I shared several examples of why and how I almost never pay retail prices for my beauty items, in the post Don't Pay Retail Prices. Today's installment is another small example, focused on combining resources for saving such as sales, coupons, and customer loyalty rewards. 
*I paid for these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

I bought Essie Stroke of Brilliance, Neutrogena Pure & Free Sunscreen, and Sally Hansen Tint + Moisture Balm for a total of $1.95 after tax.

My original subtotal before tax at full retail CVS pricing would have been $27.77. The price for the Sally Hansen is the same in other stores, the price for the Essie is about 29 cents cheaper in most places, and the price for the Neutrogena is about $1.50~2.00 cheaper elsewhere. So even if I had been shopping at a less expensive store, my subtotal would still have been about $26.00.

The sunscreen was on sale for $7.99, down from $14.49. I had a CVS coupon for $4.00 off of a $20.00 purchase. I had received two ExtraBucks rewards, which are basically store credit, from the CVS ExtraCare customer loyalty program which gives you 2% back on purchases and $5.00 ExtraBucks when you accumulate 10 filled prescriptions (if you link everything, easy to do online). One was for $1.50 for my regular purchases and one was for $5.00 for my beauty purchases, (which you get once you have cumulatively spent $50.00 on beauty items if you're signed up for their ExtraCare Beauty Club). As you can see below, that brought my subtotal to only $0.77! So although my final total was $1.95, I was paying less for the actual products than for the sales tax.

That's how you make a beauty product purchase that doesn't worry your husband. He gave me a high-five on this one, as a matter of fact.

*I paid for these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

KBShimmer Minis Haul with Many Photos

As I posted previously here, KBShimmer currently has mini versions of several of their nail polishes, available while supplies last for $4.50 each. Below are the ones that I chose and received. I've shown them each front and back so you can see the shade names and then a better idea of the polish composition.
*I purchased these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by KBShimmer.*

Even though I haven't worn them yet, I'm still in love with them! Isn't it awesome how some of the glitters seem to glow in the light? 

*I purchased these products with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by KBShimmer.*

Have you tried any KBShimmer polishes? Do you have any favorites?

Mint Manis for Talia Joy

Nicole of Nail Polish Wars had a very nice idea for the nail community to join together to honor the life of Talia Joy Castellano, a 13-year old YouTuber and aspiring makeup artist who lost her battle with cancer earlier this week. The idea for the mint mani theme is inspired by Talia's last Instagram posting, which was a mint manicure post featuring the hands of Talia, her mother, and her dear friend Tammy.
*I purchased the nail polish, and I received the nail stickers in a trade. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Artificial white light

My mint mani started with four thin coats of Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle Nail Color in Gentle Blossom. For the embellishment, I added the nail stickers L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Lingerie in the design Razzle Be Dazzle. 

Artificial yellow light

This was my first time using this type of sticker. I loved the way that it looked, but they were not at all durable. I experimented on the pinkie to see if top coat would mess up the sticker--it did.

Artificial yellow light

I'd like to express my sympathy to Talia's family and friends for how they will miss her.

*I purchased the nail polish, and I received the nail stickers in a trade. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Shorty Post--Zoya Myrta

Myrta is a shade by Zoya that I have been wanting for quite a while now. I hesitated since it is orange, and oranges usually make me look ill. But this is one of the few that I can wear, since there is a pinky reddish aspect to the polish. 
*I purchased this product and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

This is three coats of Zoya Myrta, topped with one coat of Out the Door quick-drying top coat. I have only good things to say about this polish, no issues with formula or application. 

 *I purchased this product and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this post.*

Glitter Daze Daze of the Month Unboxing--July 2013

Nail polish subscriptions are very popular now. Indie polish makers are getting in on the game, thankfully. The first one that I am trying out is Glitter Daze Daze of the Month, details at the end of this post. There are three levels; I bought the lowest level, Super Daze. 
*I purchased this subscription with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Glitter Daze.*

Packaging:
I am definitely influenced by cute packaging in my purchasing decisions. Good job, Glitter Daze.

If you want to be completely surprised, don't read the card! It tells you all the details of what's in the box and why.

Extra:

How nice! An extra hand care item as a gift for continuing the subscription. (June was my first month; I didn't blog about it because I traded the polish. It was pretty, but not me.)

The hand fizzy is very cute, same principle as a bath bomb, I'm guessing. I haven't used it yet, but it should be scented like either grapefruit or gardenia, according to the informational card. It's molded like a flower. But be careful: It looks like a cookie, so don't let your kids or spouse or self mistakenly eat it. 

Hand Care Item:

I was happy to receive this Super Smooth Basecoat. I love a good base coat, and this one delivers. It dries quickly to a smooth, matte finish. June's hand care item was a quick-dry top coat, which I also liked. I believe that neither the base nor the top coat have been released yet, so subscribers got a nice preview.

Full-Size Polish:

July's full-size polish is called Summer Garden. It apparently has some flower and butterfly glitter in addition to what you see in my swatches, but I haven't seen any yet. (EDIT: The owner Sana has since contacted me and clarified that they made a version with and a version without the flower and butterfly glitters, and sent one or the other according to what you said on your preferences questionnaire.) I still love this polish. Yes, I'm one of those people who are addicted to all the milky base glitter polishes.

One coat over Super Smooth Basecoat: 

Two coats:

Three coats:

Four coats:

Four coats were not necessary, but I was trying to find some of the flower and butterfly glitters.

Four coats plus one coat of Glitter Daze quick-dry top coat: 

(I used too much top coat and got a blob of it on the right, sorry.)

Here are the details (Source: http://glitterdazenp.com/subscription-box) of this subscription service:

How it works:

1. Pick your Daze level: Super, Mega, Ultra
2. Subscribe
3. Fill out a preferences questionnaire
4. Be Dazed every month!

What you get:

Based on the Daze Level you choose, you will receive the following items monthly, for three months:
- One full-sized polish: This polish will be either a custom for the month OR a soon-to-be-released polish.
- One mini polish: This polish will be either a custom for the month OR a polish currently available in the shop. (If you’ve purchased from GlitterDaze through our Website or Etsy, we’ll make sure you don’t receive a polish you already have).
- Hand care items: These items can consist of any of the following: Luxury Hand Fizzies, Cuticle Sticks, Cuticle Butters, Base Coats, Top Coats, Nail Oils, etc.
- Glitter Accessory: These items can consist of any of the following: Pendants, Rings, Earrings, Key Chains, Magnets, Hair Pins, Paper Weights, Coasters, etc.
- Charitable Donation: Each box will have a specific amount from the purchase price that will go toward a charitable donation. Every three months, we will pick a different charity for these donations. Donations will be made at the end of the three month period, and the receipt will be posted to our facebook/blog/instagram. THE CHARITY CHOSEN FOR JUNE-AUGUST IS THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. 
- Shipping: The cost of shipping is included in the price of the box each month.

SUPER DAZE

One full-sized Polish, One hand care item, $1 Charitable donation, Shipping: $15/month

MEGA DAZE

One full-sized Polish, One mini polish, One hand care item, $3 Charitable Donation, Shipping: $22/month

ULTRA DAZE

One full-sized Polish, One mini polish, Two hand care items, One glittery accessory, $5 Charitable donation, shipping: $32/month

*Please Note*
We can only ship to US addresses
Monthly cut-off date is the 3rd of the month. For example, if you subscribe on 6/3 you are eligable for June's box which will be mailed out on 6/5. If you subscribe on or after 6/4, your payment will go toward July's box.

*I purchased this subscription with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Glitter Daze.*