For Audrey

I have no idea who Audrey is, but whoever she is, she ought to feel pretty lucky, as she's got the majority of the nail world raving about her beauty, including myself.


This was the first of my China Glazes from my birthday polishes I used.  I think it took three coats.  The first was horribly streaky, but the end result was pure gorgeousness, and worth it.

(the bottle picture is more color accurate)

I'm not sure why the polish looks so un-smooth in the picture, because I never noticed anything out of the ordinary while wearing it.  Perhaps it was the top coat?  And I did add a bit of nail art later, but was camera-less, and unable to get a picture.

That's all for now!

xoxo Emma

Babbling Brooke's Giveaway!

ten winners. $648 worth of nail products. you'd be crazy not to enter (click the picture).

xoxo Emma

3's of Me

Here's a fun and quick tag.  Pass it on!


Three names I go by:
1. Emma
2. Em
3. Emmie (was I was really young)

Three jobs I have had:
1. powerwashing hog barns
2. assistant dance teacher
3. landscaping

Three places I have lived:
1. sorry, but listing these
2. places would invade
3. on my personal privacy (as they're all small towns)

Three favorite drinks:
1. water
2. milk
3. G2

Three TV shows I watch:
1. Glee
2. Gossip Girl
3. Dukes of Hazzard

Three places I have been:
1. Indianapolis
2. Yellowstone National Park
3. Dallas

Three places I would like to visit:
1. England
2. China
3. Japan

Three people who text me regularly:
1. my friend
2. my brother
3. and another friend

Three favorite old TV shows:
1. Dukes of Hazzard
2. Lizzy McGuire
3. Arthur

Three favorite dishes:
1. deep fat fried shrimp
2. sour kraught
3. fresh fruit of any kind

Three makeup products I cannot live without:
1. mascara
2. eye liner
3. nail polish!

Three things I'm looking forward too:
1. finding a summer job
2. senior year
3. graduation/college


xoxo Emma

Flip Flop Splat

I know I say this about nearly every konadicure I do, but I really do think this is one of my favorites.  And when you spend nearly a week in a basically testosterone free environment, you get so many comments on them that you believe they really must be some of your best work ;)

I used three coats of China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, m21 with konad special black polish, and topped it all off with Seche Vite.

I was disappointed in how fast this chipped, in only 4(?) days.  Perhaps it was the combination of OPI Nail Envy and Seche Vite?

xoxo Emma

Boogie Nights

No, I would never call a dance party something that tacky.  But I'm just a mere nail addict.  I don't choose the names.

I picked up Boogie Nights by Sinful Colors on a whim.  I have nothing like this in my collection close in color, and its actually one of my first jellies.

It took four(!) coats.  And I instantly hated the color.  I decided to stick it out and added a bit of nail art, and of course, when all else fails, glitter.  The final take:

Much better!  I thought the white stripes kind of looked like ribbon on presents, which was fitting for my birthday.


xoxo Emma

Blue Me Away!

Here's an old mani from just before my break, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away! I really did have intentions of adding nail art to this, but never got around to it.  But it's still a gorgeous two-coater.

Next time I wear this one, I need to use more than OPI Nail Envy beneath it.  I had horrible stains, and don't want to go there again!

xoxo Emma

Belated Birthday Haul and Winnings

Hey everyone!  I know I've been kinda MIA lately, but all with a good cause.  I spent a week without computer or wifi access, but made some great friends and reunited with some old ones.  (These same friends I spent about four hours konad-ing their nails.)  It's great to be home, but now I've got a lot of reading (and posting) to catch up on.


My birthday was just over a week ago.  Here are my nail related gifts from family:

China Glaze: Towel Boy Toy, Flip Flop Fantasy, Kiwi Cool-ada, Flying Dragon (Neon), Ruby Pumps, Watermelon Rind, For Audrey

Finger Paints:  Blissfully Blue

Orly:  Green with Envy, Lola

OPI Nail Envy, Seche Vite, and glass nail file

But there's more!  I was notified a few days before my birthday that I had won Midge's giveaway!  This was the first time I've ever won anything, and I was in shock.  The package arrived while I was away.  Here are my goodies:

Mini Mango:  Cuticle Remover, Mango Magic Oil, and Mango Mend

Borghese Stellare Notte, Milani 3D Holographic

China Glaze Flying Dragon and Flip Flop Fantasy

Claire's Cotton Candy and Revlon Ocean Breeze

To sum it up, I now have a pile of untried polishes begging for my attention!

xoxo Emma

Pure Ice Strapless

Is pretty much.  Gorgeous.  I'm glad I finally broke down and got it...enjoy!

Four coats. (don't worry, they dry quickly...with any other polish it would have been a nightmare for me!)

With this nail polish I feel as if I've learned a few things.  The first time I tried to purchase it, I was a few cents short, and was forced to leave it in the store.  Major embarrassing.  Secondly, I've learned that if you merely cut the files off your camera, it saves time, but you loose pixels.  I feel smarter already!

Do you like my new watermark?  I think it's a bit easier to read.  Thanks for listening to my ramblings...

xoxo Emma

Truly a Treasure

I posted my mini haul yesterday, but without the names.  Rimmel Night Before, Pure Ice Strapless, Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

I tried Hidden Treasure first, of course!  I used one coat of Rimmel Black Satin and two of Hidden Treasure. 

At first I was fascinated with the flakies, but hated how often they looked orange.  I have a passionate dislike for orange.  It's fine on other people, but I can't stand it on myself.  But then I started wiggling my fingers around, and saw that among orange flashes are gold, copper, and green flashes as well.  Phew!  I would have hated to find out that this phenomenon was mainly orange!  Onto the pictures...

   

I hope I've managed to show you all of the possibilities over black.  This is one of my top commented on ever.  I think it would look pretty cool with some gold konading between the black and flakies.  I can't wait to try this over other colors!

xoxo Emma

Guess what?!?

Lookee at what I found yesterday!  More to come tomorrow!

xoxo Emma

Quick Question...

I just veiwed my blog from a different computer than I normally use, and was shocked with it's appearance.  I have no banner, and more importantly, no background!  It's supposed to be black with neon splatter paint around the edges!  Is that what you're seeing, or just white?

Thanks!
xoxo Emma

My Pink Zebra

I've got to say this is one of my favorites!  Since my nails are too long for full image plates, and some are quite difficult to double stamp, I decided to just paint my tips.

Here's what I used:  2 coats of Sinful Colors Cream Pink (I'd probably have used three if I was wearing it on it's own), m57 with konad special polish in black, and the tips with Rimmel Black Satin.  I also used LA Colors Art Deco in black to touch up on my thumb, as the plate isn't quite wide enough.

I've had lots of comments on this one...it's a true eye catcher!  I don't normally care to wear pink at all, but when it's neon and on my nails, I think I can handle it! :)

xoxo Emma

Claire's Peaceful/Confident + Polka Dots

Here's the last mani I showed you plus konad stamping.  I used 2 coats of Claire's Mood Polish, stamped using m45 and white special polish, and added a line of silver with LA Colors Art Deco in silver.

I took this using my own ancient digital camera...and from now on I'll stick to borrowing my mom's, because it has a micro setting.  Sorry for this quick post...graduation preparations await!

Do you like it?

xoxo Emma

Giveaway...

Sorry for lack of recent posts.  I've been uber busy (My little sister is getting confirmed and my older brother graduating within a week of each other, and so the cleaning and preparations have been crazy! Plus school is winding down, so every organization has some sort of banquet or another, which are really just time killers, and I've got finals coming up...).  Enough of the nonsense!  These are super cute, and I wanted to share them with you!

click here to go to This Was Forever and enter!

Hopefully I'll get around to posting all the pictures that are building up on my camera soon!

xoxo Emma

Claire's Peaceful/Confident

I've actually worn it, at last!  If you haven't seen or heard about Claire's Mood polishes, I kindly invite you to crawl out from under your rock.  Onto the pictures! 

I'm soo proud of how long I've gotten my nails.  This is the longest they've been in my life :)

I have many fond childhood memories wit this spirea bush, and I thought it deserved some photogenic recognition.

The color change is quite subtle.  Here it is right after running my fingers under hot water.  Normally, I have cold hands, except when I'm working out, so often I'm too focused on what I'm doing to notice the change...but my favorite "change" is when my tips are dark while the rest of my nails are light.

Thanks for looking!

xoxo Emma

Look at What I Found!

I recently had a college visit in a time zone behind the one I live in, and so naturally, against my wishes, my body chose to wake up according to my normal schedule.  Grrr!  Anyways, with an hour to kill, my mom and I took a quick trip to the Dollar General.  And look at what I found, these little beauties!

I really can't wait to try these out!

xoxo Emma

Sinful Colors "Daddy's Girl"

Yesterday my chemistry text book attacked me (resulting in a jagged edge on my middle finger and a case of paranoia because I had to wait eight hours before I could attack it with a nail file...I really should start keeping one on me at all times!) before I could capture any pictures...but here they are!

I used Rimmel "Black Satin", 2 coats of Sinful Colors "Daddy's Girl), the tips in Sally Hansen "Celeb City" (it's actually silver, but the purple must've given it a purple cast?), and 2 coats of Wet n' Wild "Kaleidoscope".

Can you tell I love using "Kaleidoscope"?  I've only had it since Christmas, and it's nearly half gone!  It didn't actually all go to my nails, though it is great for covering up sheet marks.  I used it on one of my last art projects.  Speaking of which...sometime I'll have to upload pictures of my art, which I really enjoy, and hope you'll like too.

And another picture for good measure...next time I think I'll paint my tips closer to their actual length, I feel as if I'm not quite doing them justice!

On a side note, "Daddy's Girl" is a gorgeous color on it's own, I just didn't have patience for three coats of it to dry before tips and glitter...

xoxo Emma

I Love Your Blog Award!

Here are the Rules:

- post the award on your blog

- link the person who has given you the award

- pass the award to other 15 blogs you've discovered

I have been honored with this award by Jan of Hue and Me :) and Katrina of Katrina's Nail Blog.

I'm tagging

Emerald Sparkled

FAB UR NAILS

The Perfect Accessory

NY.NAIL.DIVA

A Day in the Life of Dollface

And now I'm tagging you, my lovely (and increasing, yay!) followers, and anyone else who might be reading and hasn't been tagged yet!


xoxo Emma

Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie"

Here is the first of my recently acquired Sinful Colors.  This one is my favorite of the bunch, both for the color and the name.  I used two coats of white underneath (Sally Hansen French Tip, which I also used in my franken and believe its to blame for the horrible streaking), and three coats of "Nail Junkie".  On to the pictures!

For some reason, this color reminds me of a certain mermaid Barbie my sister used to have, who had a tail similar in color with lots of sparkles!  I'm really excited to try layering this over other colors, including black and navy blue.  What do you think?

xoxo Emma

Claire's Calm/Wild

I was unable to get any decent pictures, but here it is with two coats prior to the top coat and clean up.  It looks kinda matte.

Most of the time my nails were cold (purple), but when I was using my hands a lot, like in art, or was flustered, like in FST, they looked like the picture, pink with purple tips.  They were really fun to watch during track practice, where they turned super pink!  They're the first reason I've ever found to enjoy speed workouts :)

I've heard complaints that this polish chips horribly, but I wore it for four days with a base coat and top coat with no problems.  Nihrida has a good post that has even better pictures.

xoxo Emma

Haul Time!

I attended a leadership convention last weekend, which was held in a downtown area.  I brought my stamping stuff, but neglected to bring any real polishes to do my friends' nails with.  So we hit up a baby Walgreens and I stocked up on Sinful Colors.  (Since it was a small Walgreens, they didn't carry any Milanis, which made me very sad...I shall continue my hunt for holos.)  We had lots of fun stamping...our advisor commented that the hallway outside our hotel room stank like remover, which was funny :)


Anyways, here is my Walgreens haul, and I ended up stopping at Claire's for two of their color changing nail polishes.  Glad I did!  Posts on those to come.

See You Soon, Daddy's Girl, Nail Junkie (how fitting!), Mint Apple, Boogie Nights, Cream Pink

Peaceful/Confident, Calm/Wild, Grape Going

I would have never picked out Cream Pink for myself.  I don't care for pinks at all.  But after doing my friend's mani...I couldn't resist.  I had to go back the next time we walked by, and now its on my toes.  Very neon, very awesome.  As for Grape Going, I was lured in by the duochrome flash.  Stupid girl!  I have a mini version of something similar to this from a gift set (which is gorgeous over black)...so I didn't really need this one after all!

here we are with our manis! (i'm the one on the left, still sporting my franken one)

and a few silly ones just for good measure!

sorry for the erased parts, but those are for their anonymity...

Now I'm going to experiment with layering Nail Junky, as I know I will never be able to wait for 5-6 coats to dry!

xoxo, Emma

My First Franken

My first franken...was well, a failure.  And I forgot to take bottle pictures.  How typical!


When I saw everyone's gorgeous Easter nails, and I was struck that in my little collection (its growing, slowly but surely), that I own no pastels!  So I made two.  Here is the first.


I grabbed my white and my favorite, unnamed Charlotte Russe green (its a matte green, if that helps anyone), dumped it into an old OPI Nail Envy bottle, and shook it up...and voila!

in the shade

in full sunlight, among my little brother's art :)

I really like OPI's brushes, but apparently my franken formula didn't.  It was so streaky I had to do three coats!  (For those of you interested, I love one and two coaters, and avoid anything that requires more.)  I then added konad using plate m51 and konad white special polish.  My friends kept commenting telling me my nails looked like Easter eggs (which was not the planned intent, seeing how it was the week after Easter), so I might have to do a variation of this next year before Easter.


I recently posted about how much I love the original formula of OPI Nail Envy.  But watch out!  OPI has several different versions of it, resulting in my empty bottle for frankening.  During some frantic Christmas shopping last year, I stumbled across a bottle of Nail Envy for "Soft and Thin" nails in Wal-Mart.  What luck, considering they only carry Nicole by OPI.  I have no idea how it ended up there.  The cashier had no clue what it was worth, so I got it for only a dollar!  What luck!  Until I actually tried using it, and I understood how it ended up abandoned in Wal-Mart.  My nail polish chipped within hours.  And my nail polish NEVER chips until the fifth or sixth day.  My major bargain was worthless, but a learning experience about research.


Any frankening tips anyone?


xoxo Emma

Biore Skin Care Review

Here's a review of some Biore skin care products.  For those unfamiliar with Biore, its a higher end drugstore brand.  Many people scrub the oil and dirt off their faces and neglect moisturizing afterwards, which causes your skin to overcompensate by producing its normal amount of oil and then some because your skin feels too dry.  Moral of the story:  moisturize and moisturize often!


I picked these up about two months ago, and am finally getting around to reviewing them.  I PAID FOR THESE WITH MY OWN MONEY.  Biore has no clue I'm reviewing these products, and I'm not affiliated with them in any way.  This is my own honest opinion.

First up:  Dual Fusion Moisturizer + SPF 30
Here's what their website has to say:

Double benefit, exclusive formula.

Dual Fusion™ Moisturizer gives you exactly what you want: a nourishing moisturizer in one chamber and sun protection in the other. Together, they strengthen & defend your skin without ever making it feel greasy.

• Oil-free

Why 2 chambers?

By keeping the moisturizer separate from sunscreen, the unique Dual Fusion™ Moisturizer dispenser preserves the power of each formula. That means maximum effectiveness and protection for you.

The sunscreen has a powerful zinc oxide base and yet isn't heavy and white like traditional zinc oxide. The product feels light on your skin as it offers superb UVA and UVB protection.

• Botanamide^® Technology
• Non-comedogenic (won't clog pores)
• Dermatologist tested
• Hypo-allergenic
• 100% PABA free

Apply evenly over entire face before sun exposure. Reapply as needed throughout the day. Upon first use, press pump 7-9 times until both products dispense evenly. If both sides do not dispense evenly, gently tap the bottle on a hard surface.

And what I think:

I applied this every morning after washing my face.  The packaging is a good idea, but sucks.  The product on the other hand, rocks.  It's light, not much of a greasy feeling, and SPF is always an added bonus for those of us who can sunburn in any weather.  The SPF obviously won't last the entire day, but gets you through the first two or so hours of your day.  I didn't care for all the times that only one side of the pump chose to work.  And I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it's not quite empty but I can't get any product out.  I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Hard Day's Night Overnight

Here's what their website has to say:

You sleep, Hard Day's Night^® Overnight Moisturizer works.

Especially for nighttime, this overnight moisturizer helps rebuild skin while you rest, alleviating dryness, dullness, and uneven texture — so you wake up to a smooth, glowing complexion without the greasiness of night creams.

• Oil-free

This super-hydrating moisturizer — more hydrating than Clinique Moisture Surge^® Extra Thirsty Skin Relief* — gets part of its power from tiny collapsible beads filled with Vitamin E. The formula helps to strengthen the skin's surface and smooth fine lines.

• Botanamide^® Technology
• Non-comedogenic (won't clog pores)
• Dermatologist tested
• Hypo-allergenic

Gently smooth onto face and neck after cleansing.

And what I think:

Sorry for the chopped-in-half bottle.  Since it has a thick formula, when you get to the end, the pump can't get any product when its all stuck to the sides.  So I performed open heart surgery.  JK.  Again I applied this after washing my face, but at night before I went to bed.  It feels heavier, like a night moisturizer, which makes sense.  It also has these little orange beads in it which dissolve when you apply it.  No clue what their purpose is, but they're cool.  Thumbs up for this one :)

See the Future Fortifying Eye Cream

Here's what their website has to say:

The future looks bright.

Potent yet lightweight, See the Future^® Fortifying Eye Cream is designed to reinforce and revitalize the delicate skin around your eyes, without the heaviness of traditional eye creams.

• Oil-free

The right applicator for the job.

The unique pin point dispenser precisely delivers the benefits of Botanamide^® Technology to the delicate eye area. It's the ideal formula for women who aren't yet ready for heavy-duty eye products.

• Botanamide^® Technology
• Non-comedogenic (won't clog pores)
• Dermatologist and ophthalmologist tested
• Safe for contact lens wearers

Apply and smooth gently around the eye area A.M. and P.M. Use alone or under make-up.

And what I think:

This is the first eye product I've tried.  I applied it every night and on mornings when I felt extra zombie-ish.  It does make a little difference, but nothing earth shattering.  I don't wear any makeup over it, so I can't tell you how this would affect your under eye concealer, foundation, ect.  The packaging is fine, and the tiny tube has actually lasted me quite awhile.  I'd like to try a few more eye products for now.

So I hope this is helpful for those interested in drugstore skin care!

xoxo Emma