Don't Shoot Your Eye Out!

I don't suppose you'll EVER guess what my favorite Christmas movie is, will you?  ;)  In the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to share my Christmas 2011 manicure.  My wonderful and generous friend, Crystal, learning of my disappointment in missing out on the Secret Santa exchange in a facebook nail polish group we both belong to, surprised me with a sweet package filled with all sorts of goodies, including two adorable snowman nail polishes.  I don't know the brand and they are unnamed (actually, they are both labeled "Snowman") but they are awesome!  One is a green foil, which looks like it's swirled with silver foil in the bottle but comes out a gorgeous medium green.  The second is a festive green and red glitter combo in a clear base.  Here are some pics for you:

These are the super cute polishes in the bottles.

Two coats of the green foil

One coat of red and green glitter on top

I added a coat of Gelous for good measure and I think that this manicure is a really fun and festive one.  I plan to enjoy it at least until December 26th.  

I wish you all, my lovely kittens, a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate and, of course, a happy and healthy new year!  Hold your loved ones close and let the spirit of the season bring you great joy!

xoxo,

K

P.S.  If you didn't get the title of this post, I highly suggest that you watch A Christmas Story as soon as possible.  It's a true classic!  

China Glaze - Colours from the Capitol

I am so so soooooo excited for this upcoming China Glaze collection, inspired by The Hunger Games.  As the press documentation states: "This collection of 12 new nail polish shades is inspired exclusively by one distinct setting in The Hunger Games - the Capitol of the nation of Panem. Awash in lavish fashion, food, and entertainment, Capitol citizens enjoy extreme cosmetics and body modifications, bold wigs, and outlandish costumes."  I absolutely ADORED The Hunger Games and its subsequent sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay and I cannot wait to see the upcoming feature film.  I would want these polishes just for their association with the books/movie but the fact that they also look A-MAZ-ING is an added plus.  Feast your eyes on the official swatch sheet!

Are you as excited about this collection as I am?  Which ones are you most looking forward to?

SinfulColors Holiday 2011 - Wish

I recently received the SinfulColors holiday 2011 collection, Wish, to review for you.  It features five polishes and two nail art polishes.  Here they are, for your viewing pleasure.

The colors, from thumb to pinky, are Sugar Sugar, Last Chance, Midnight Blue, Daddy's Girl and Out of This World.

Here they are again, with their corresponding bottles, indoors, with flash.

I must begin by saying that I already had several of these colors in my polish stash.  I'm guessing that they are being re-marketed for the holidays as they certainly work together as a jewel-toned collection.  I found them quite easy to work with.  Sugar Sugar and Midnight Blue I would characterize as deeply pigmented and completely opaque in two coats with just a hint of shimmer.  Last Chance was equally pigmented and opaque in two coats but is a true cream.  Daddy's Girl has a bit of sparkle and seems more of a jelly finish to me, far more sheer than the three previously mentioned.  Out of This World is also more sheer and kind of a pearly silver, if that makes sense.  I liked this one very much and I think it would be nice as a layering polish as well. 

These are the two nail art colors, Fashionista (silver) and Flower Girl (gold), striped over Sugar Sugar.

The nail art colors, once again, with their corresponding bottles.

I've got to say, I am not skilled at nail art in any way, shape or form.  I don't even attempt it often, due to my lack of skill.  However, even in my challenged state, I found these two nail art polishes SOOOO easy to apply.  The long thin brushes gave me a great deal of control and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with how my striping turned out.  To my eye, Fashionista is a true glitter and Flower Girl more a sparkly shimmer and I really enjoyed using them and look forward to attempting more nail art with them in the future.  Definitely a great choice for beginning nail artists!

Now a bit of the business.  The following is an excerpt from SinfulColors' press materials:

"SinfulColors surpasses the masses with more than 150 amazing shades of nail polish including the above-mentioned shades.  All hues are available for $1.99 at major drug and mass-market stores nationwide, by calling 1-800-448-0763 or online at www.walgreens.com."

What do you think?  Which shades are your favorites?  Your thoughts are always welcomed!

xoxo,

K

Dr.'s REMEDY Jolly and Joy Collection 2011

Hello, my lovely kittens!  Here is my complete review of the *Dr.'s REMEDY Jolly and Joy Collection.  It features five shades, REVIVE Ruby Red, PASSION Purple, ESSENTIAL Emerald, RESOLUTION Red Glitter and SERENE Silver Glitter.  Pictures are below:

The collection, in the bottles.

Above is two coats of each color, indoors, with flash.

Here they are outdoors.

First up, on my thumb, is REVIVE Ruby Red.  It is a deep red with a bit of shimmer.  I think it's a perfect shade for the holidays if you're not necessarily a fan of "Santa" candy apple red, which, generally, I'm not.  This is a winner, for sure.  Next up, on my index finger, is PASSION Purple.  To me, this color reads far more plum than true purple but I really like it.  It dried almost borderline matte which was kind of a nice surprise.  It can easily be "shined up" with a top coat but the finish makes it quite versatile.  On my middle finger you will find ESSENTIAL Emerald.  This one had a bit of a silvery shimmer and again, it wasn't a "traditional" Christmas green.  I really love this color!  Of course, I'm partial to greens and blues as a general rule but I found this one to be quite unique and I know I'll wear it often.  Next, on my ring finger, is RESOLUTION Red Glitter.  This, along with the pinky finger color, SERENE Silver Glitter, was difficult to capture on camera.  They are both chock full of sparkle and as I mentioned in a previous post, SERENE Silver Glitter, in particular, is a stand-out color.  I don't generally wear glitters alone, unless they are highly pigmented jellies, but these two definitely work for that purpose.  Of course, they would also be fabulous as layering colors, I'm sure.  Though they, like most glitters, are challenging to remove, they are worth the effort. 

Overall, I was quite pleased with this collection.  My favorites are probably ESSENTIAL Emerald and the two glitters, but that's just a matter of my personal taste.  Each of the five was great quality and easy to apply.    You may head on over to: http://store.remedynails.com/ to browse through all of the awesome colors offered.  As always, this blog is nothing without all of Y-O-U and I'd love to hear your thoughts.    

*Disclosure: Where indicated by an asterisk, the product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for review. Please click my disclosure tab for further information.

Press Release - Tuff Scent Holiday Scoop

Tuff Scent Kicks Off The Holiday Season With A Limited Edition Scent and KIIS FM’s Jingle Balls

Reno, Nevada (December 5^th, 2011) – This past weekend Tuff Scent helped kick off the holiday season at KISS FM’s Jingle Balls. In additional to gifting their original shades and scents, Tuff Scent was excited to introduce their limited edition holiday polish “Holly”. Featured in a gold dusted bottle with holly and berries, the spearmint polish was an instant hit.

Celebrities such as Shar Jackson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gym Class Heroes, Alexa Vega, Nick Cannon, Neon Hitch and Boy Toy Jessie all stopped by to pick up their favorite stocking stuffers.

Tuff Scent is available now for holiday orders at the company website www.tuffscent.com and can also be found at www.shopfinenfunky.com.