Finally, right?  Sorry for my lateness in getting this up, but at least it is here at last!   I want to say thank-you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog.  Some of my earliest followers may remember I planned to do a giveaway at the 101-follower mark.  I've passed that, which is awesome!

   Let's take a look at the prize items, which are all new and provided by myself.  Everything is packed into a black velvet Zoya gift box...  I had a lot of fun putting this together:

• Zoya nail polish in Anaka
• 3D nail art stickers - 3 sheets
• an assortment of nail art paillettes
• cute footie socks with pom-poms

   This giveaway is running from Dec 30th, 2011 to January 20th, 2012.  It is open to United States residents.  International followers don't despair, I'm planning more worldwide giveaways in the future.  As usual this is being done using Rafflecopter, so simply use the widget to record your entries and you're good to go.  =)

   Here is my Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid mani dressed up with a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust.  Fairy Dust is my absolute favorite microglitter top coat and it pairs fabulously with MKoCA!  The holographic dazzle on this one is perfect.

   As a reminder to everyone please join in on Picturesday!  The theme is "It Sparkles!" and I'd appreciate having everyone's photos before Wednesday the 4th.  =)  Here is my first post about the theme, and another post with all the details on how to join in.  Thanks!

   Just a quick reminder to all my followers that my giveaway with Glitrix is ending in 3 days.  If you haven't entered, definitely do so!  Or, if you have entered, can you make another tweet for an extra entry?  Just check out the giveaway post.  =)

   Also, stay tuned for another to-be-announced-shortly giveaway done by me.

   In other news, my area has had a complete lack of sun lately and my camera has decided that it doesn't want to take nice pictures without the sun.  I've tried different lighting methods but I'm not happy with the results and it's making swatching very frustrating.  Any suggestions on cameras that take amazing macro shots without breaking the bank?  I'll be very grateful.  =)

   I placed an order with CherryCulture today...  I just love that site...  They have some of my favorite brands at really good prices!  Anyway, it made me realize that I never posted my last haul from them!  These beauties arrived at the beginning of the month~

Milani In a Flash, L.A. Girl Glitter Addict - Uninhibited, Nyx Blue Avenue & Purple Avenue.

   The Beige & Creme Glitter polishes weren't what I was looking for, but yes, they are metallic flakies!  I swatched them and put them up for sale on my blog sale page.  I'm working on a post of Nyx swatches so keep an eye out for that if you're curious about how they look.  Now onto the Nyx Girls nail polish.  I was so impressed with the glitters I picked up that I had to try some cremes, too.

Nyx Girls Algae, Hot Blue, Between Mauve and Purple, Forever 1989, Dark Beige, Girly

Nyx Girls Perfect Gray, Heather, Dusty Pink, Pistachio, Naked Pink, Gemma

   I'm at the point where I have so many new polishes that I can hardly decide what to put on my nails next!  I made my first Cult Nails order last month and finally decided to ignore all the other new things and try a full mani in the color My Kind of Cool Aid.

   It is definitely My Kind of Color!  In most lights it looks a little darker than this.  A muted, greyed-out lavender with silver shimmer.  The shimmer shows more in the bottle than on the nails, but it gives the creamy polish some character.  Also this doesn't dry very shiny on it's own, but a top coat glossed it right up.

   I added a few star paillettes to some of my nails!  And there is my thumbnail, steadily growing back out...

   Even though it has a big round cap it was still pretty easy to paint with.  Not the most comfortable, but not bad like I expected.  I really loved the formula on this.  It was easy to work with and didn't destroy itself or create bald spots.  Also, the coverage on this polish is awesome.  Here it is at just one coat:

   Isn't this gorgeous?  My of my Cult Nails polishes were.  I picked up Time Traveler for my Mom so I don't have that one to show you (though I've seen it on her nails and can tell you that it is the prettiest deep navy-sapphire-blue).  I have Feel Me Up, Clairvoyant and My Kind of Cool Aid.

   Sadly I shouldn't have risked buying Feel Me Up.  It is not a yellow I will wear, so I'm leaving it brand-new and hopefully I can swap it.  (Anyone interested in this color?  It is currently not available from Cult Nails.)  Clairvoyant is awesome, of course.  Mom got a bottle of that, too.  I might have to do a full flakie manicure next!

   Anyone else use Cult Nails?  I guess I'm late to the party, but I am really impressed!

How to Submit a Photo for Picturesday:

   First off, use Kontactr!  Besides this little button the Kontactr form is under the Contact Me section of every page in the lower right-hand corner.   You will have to enter your name, e-mail, and your subject line should begin with "PICTURESDAY".  In the message box, fill out and enter this form:

Google Friend Connect Name:
Name or Alias for blog post:
Picture URL:
My Website:
Website URL:
Optional Extra URL:
About my picture:

   Your GFC Name is needed so I can verify your followership of my blog, the Name or Alias is what you will be called by in my blog post.  The Picture URL is needed to see your photo, obviously.  Your Website will be the text for the Website URL which can be your homepage, profile page, etc.  The Optional Extra URL is in case you'd like your photo to be a clickable link to a specific blog page, product page, etc.  About my picture is where you write 1-3 sentences about your photo which will be posted below your picture.

Basic Rules: 

   Be a follower of my blog using Google Friend Connect!
   Make sure to submit your photo in time for the post.  In most cases this will be by the Tuesday prior to that week's Picturesday.  Each post will say the date you need to submit by.
   Your photo has to be one you have taken yourself, and shouldn't contain anything that I wouldn't want on my blog.  Things I don't feature on my blog would be profanity, nudity, anything racial, political, or featuring holidays.  Basically keep it G-rated and appealing to everyone.  =)

   Oh!  And image size...  You don't have to worry about that, really.  Blogger resizes images so yay!  I will say keep your photos in the realms of "normal" dimensions, though.  I really don't want to see long, skinny photos that are akin to banner ads...

But wait, what's the catch? 

   Really, there isn't one.  All I ask is that your submissions fit the theme and guidelines I set out for that week's Picturesday, and you host your own picture Online.  Yes, you're responsible for that photo being on the web.  That's why I want you to send me a link!  I'll link to your photo for the blog post.  (So make sure it is a "shared/visible" photo that has permission to be linked to!)  If you want to link back to my blog or the Picturesday post to show off your entry, by all means feel free to; I'll appreciate the favor.

My photo has a watermark, is that okay?
   By all means.  Picturesday is about having other's photos on my blog, so it will be made obvious that all the pictures are not mine.  If you normally watermark your things that is fine.

I have a picture that fits, but it is old! or from a past blog post!  Is this okay?
   Yes, it is!  I think a lot of bloggers have great older content that is worth being revisited.

I am a business/have a storefront/am selling the item I'd like to submit.
   That is okay with me, too.  In particular I like to support individuals who make things by hand and indie brands.  I will take a look at what you are selling and if it is something I can support, I will!
   My one request is that you make it a more personal picture if at all possible - the item being used or worn is better than a stock photo from a sale listing.

But I'm not sure if my photo fits the criteria...
   Submit it anyway!

   As a warning this is a mobile post so my editing powers are limited and any pictures I upload are instantly crappified by the mobile Blogger upload.

   I found these Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strip value packs at Walmart.  They are only $12.97 (US dollars) - considering the regular price for one set is $8.50 you'll save 4 dollars getting a set of two!

   I was happy to get the butterfly and lace designs to try.  If anyone doesn't have access to these just let know and I'll pick them up to swap or just do it as a favor.  International shipping is a possibility, too.

   Hello everyone!  In an effort to make my blog more interactive and have come up with Picturesday - a day for your own pictures to be featured on my blog!  I've been inspired by how many followers I have that create really nice content.  This is obviously in the trial stages and subject to changes, but here is what I have come up with so far:

"It Sparkles!"

to be featured on January 5th, 2012

   Submit a photo of something beauty-related that is glittery, blinged-out or otherwise constructed of highly-refractive materials.  It can be an accessory you use, your favorite glittery make-up look, or a sparkling manicure... pretty much anything goes for this one!

   More swatches that I needed to upload!  Having a post of still pictures will be handy for the times you need a quick reference to each color in the collection.  I've already shared the HD video that I made, which also gives my color descriptions and shows the magnets.  Without further ado, here is the entire collection of LCN Magnetic Nail Polish!

   Each swatch is done with one coat of polish, and two nails each to show the star and line designs.  The bottles are smaller than average, containing 8ml of polish.  8 more pictures after the jump!  Click images to view them larger~

   I'm sorting through older pictures to make sure I'm not just sitting on swatch pictures.  I did nail wheel swatches of these 5 Nyx Girls nail polishes and must share their sparkly beauty before they are lost for good!  In the pictured order:  Dynamic Glitter, Frizz Spots, Enchanted Forest, Dreamy Glitter, Under the Moon.

   These swatches are 3 coats of each polish.  All of these are easy-to-work-with (for glitters), and have no settling issues.  Here are my descriptions:

   Today I have some quick magnetic polish swatches.  I'm comparing green-blue colors.  These swatches were done super-quick and I apologize for the slight mess.  Layla brushes hold more polish than Nails Inc and I wasn't expecting it!

   On my nails here you see Layla Turquoise Wave, Nails Inc Whitehall, Turquoise Wave, Whitehall.  In my opinion Turquoise Wave looks like the teal color, and Whitehall, often mentioned as Whitehall Teal, is an evergreen.  It is a deep green that definitely leans blue, but not quite enough to be called teal.  And Turquiose Wave?  Well, to me turquoise is a much brighter, lighter aqua color.  Either way they are pretty polishes, especially if you're a fan of darker jewel tones.

   On the nail wheel I swatched LCN Green Temptation and Ferromagnetic Blue.  Green Temptation is a true green color, Ferromagnetic Blue has a hint of purple but mainly appears blue.  The fingernail swatches are Whitehall and Turquoise Wave.

   Here is one last shot of Layla Turquoise Wave using the Nails Inc. wave-pattern magnet.  Perfectly pretty!

   I hope this comparison post was helpful to you, these colors are pretty similar and you most likely don't need each one in your collection.  Now that I have them all I don't know which one to let go of, though!  And in other news WOW I have hit triple-digit followers!  Be sure to check out the giveaway poll~

~BLOG SALE FLASH SALE~  Until (Dec) Monday 19th, 11:59pm EST

All non-hair accessory (clips, headbands) and non-nail polish items are 50% off until Monday!!

   I was super-psyched to win a giveaway done by Shally of Polished & Not Quite Put Together - one of my favorite blogs!  (It's by her recommendation that I picked up the Orly Bonder basecoat to try!)  By the way she is running another giveaway on her blog right now - click to see the BB Couture prize!  She sent me 8 mini polishes - frankens by etsy sellers.  And a really pretty nail polish necklace that she made herself.  =)

   This is my first piece of polish jewelry and I really like it!  Now I can totally understand why people make, wear, sell and buy this stuff, haha.  I make jewelry myself and it's very well made...  Every time I tried to capture the colors in a photo it turned into a sparkle blur, so I'll describe it's awesomeness.  The background is dark, and has a layer of flakies that look orange straight on but shift to yellow and then green from the side, which is amazing.  Over the flakies you see multi-chrome glitter which generally looks teal green but shines vibrant blue from the side and even flashes purple.  Once in awhile I swear I see pink in it.  I'll never get tired of looking at this.  =D  Thank-you Shalon for the beautiful gift.

   The nail polishes were from J'Adore Noir Cosmetics: Black Forest, Black Cherry, Ocean Soul, S&M;  and My Pretty Zombie: My Pretty Zombie, Scurvy, Varicose, and Epistaxis. At a later date I will post photos of the polishes swatched, and reviewed if I get a chance.  I'm already late in posting this and if I wait to get those pics it will be even longer!

   Even my kitty benefited from the giveaway - she liked the shiny ribbon that was around one of the gift boxes and held onto it until she fell asleep.  (And then I took it away as I don't think gift wrappings are a safe cat toy!)



   Now a little bit about my giveaway!  Glitrix has been hard at work and added a few NEW glitter polishes to the etsy store.  Click to check them out now!  Keep in mind she is running a special sale (only on for 10 more days) for my readers and has collaborated with me on a giveaway here - go to my giveaway post for all the details!  I'm going to buy the new color Babylicious, but then again Monster Green is cool, too...  What are you going to get?

   When my latest Nfu-Oh order (through FabulouStreet.com) showed up this month I just had to try Holographic Polish 66 out right away.  I can see why it is the favorite of the group - it's so holo you can't help grinning at it.  My nails were spewing  (double!) rainbows with this stuff on and it was a dream to work with.  I only needed 1 coat - yes, one coat! - for opacity and full prismatic awesomeness.  Dried in no time and even wore well with no chips and very minor tip wear.  I didn't use a top coat.

   Yep, these photos are before my tragic nail breakage.  How scary would it be if they grew that fast?

   This Nfu-Oh shows the most holo in the bottle!  I have seen this described as a greyed-out green or dirty silver color several times.  While I can agree with that for what it looks like in the bottle, I think it is obviously pale green on the nails.  Well, when it's not ALL THE COLORS, of course.  In pictures my nails are showing great rainbows but I wanted to show the base color...  It is this green:

   I'm so, so happy to own this polish.  I'm also happy to own the other Nfu-Oh beauties I picked up.  Here are numbers 62 (another Holographic), 66, 60, and 39.  Yay, flakies!

   The dark #60 looks deep and mysterious in the bottle.  Nfu-Oh #39 is more glowly than I can convey through your screen.  It is a bottle of Firefly Bums!  I capitalized that because that is the first thing I told my boyfriend it reminded me of.  He helped unpack these and agreed wholeheartedly.  So from now on #39 is Firefly Bums to me.

   Thanks for reading!  =D

   First the polish, then the explanation of why my blog has been neglected for almost a week.

   You may remember my recent post of trying my new Nails Inc. Magnetic Effect Polishes that ended in great disappointment.  I was hoping it was just a fluke and so I've tried them again.  Looks like I found what these polishes need!  I didn't do anything differently in my application or technique, but I did use a different base coat.  The first time I snagged my old Poshe bottle, which is a fast-drying base coat.  Last night I used Orly Bonder.  This time my polish applied evenly, did not destroy itself with bald spots, and actually stayed wet long enough to make perfect little magnetic waves.  So huzzah!  ...Now I'm really bummed that I missed the Nails Inc. 3-polish set (twice)!

   When it is working properly Houses of Parliament is a nice dark purple with lavender-looking magnetic particles.  This was just one coat, the way it should be.  Shown here with top coat because magnetic polishes don't dry very shiny.  Also, can you take a guess at what is layered on my ring finger?  It is a very thin coat of Cult Nails Clairvoyant.  =)

~~~

   So, my nails are done differently.  This is the shortest and squarest I've ever shaped them.  I like the squared look, but I'm really missing my length.  All of these nails were in good condition but I shortened them to match my very tragic thumb.  Over the weekend I had a major nail break while trying to pick something up and the nail broke down into the nail bed.  Ouch!  It is still hurting me now.  So needless to say I was pretty discouraged and didn't feel like blogging anything.

   When I started this blog my nails were very short, and I was having trouble with them peeling.  For years I had healthy, long nails.  Since the start of this year they wanted to do nothing but break off.  I had fallen very ill and I don't know what happened but that seems to be the start of my nail problems.  Break and peel, break and peel.  When I started blogging some polishes I found I really enjoyed it, and it inspired me to get my nails back into shape.  They are gradually growing out to be healthy and I'm not making the rookie mistakes that I was.  I'm even taking supplements for nails!  The break to my thumb is probably the last remaining growth "before vitamins".  Still it is a downer and I'm worried about it growing back properly.

   To go along with the nail problems I have been extremely busy and hardly home at all.  I have all sorts of pics that I meant to share last week, and even some half-written posts.  My blog is really just a hobby so when life gets crazy it has to take a back seat.  I apologize to everyone for not being here and want to say Hello to all new followers.  Wow, I did not expect to be over 90 today.  I'll try to treat you all to some pretty polishes and haul posts for the rest of the week.  =)

  This manicure was inspired by my favorite gemstone: the opal.  I picked up the two Nyx Ave polishes that came back in stock on CherryCulture (more from that haul later) even though I wasn't expecting much.  I had heard them described as sparse with difficult to work with flake glitter.  I was pleasantly surprised.

   Sure, this was three coats of the glitters and my nails aren't loaded with flakes, but they are spread evenly and never stuck up off my nail.  The polishes had the same great consistency of all my other Nyx nail polishes and I really liked the brush.  Blue Ave has multi-colored flakies, Purple Ave has just cool-toned flakies.  Their jelly bases are very sheer and didn't effect my white nail polish at all other than to add more shine.  I used 2 coats of Essie Blanc and 1 coat of Marshmallow to give my nails a milky white base.  I also added two peach heart paillettes to my ring fingers.


   I also did one picture before clean-up which shows the colors quite well.  I really like this look, it's subtle but pretty.  So, do you mainly use your flakie nail polishes over dark colors, or have you tried them on white like this?

   My last Sephora order included the new Nails Inc. color Whitehall, which is probably the least logical color name to give to a polish that is not white in any way.  I also picked up Houses of Parliament.  (Two days later the set of all 3 colors was available and I wanted to scream.  >_<)  Anyway I was really looking forward to what I've heard are great polishes and the easiest-to-use wave-creating magnets.  I fought with them and this is all I got:

   Somehow this photo actually makes them look better (yes, better) than they did in real life.  They barely responded to the magnet.  It's not like I don't know how to use them - I have LCN and Layla magnetics and do just fine with them.  The formula on these was really weird.  Not opaque in one coat because they went on so patchily, self-destroying and prone to unpaintable bald patches if you tried to even things out.  After a couple fingers I changed tactics and went for one thin coat to be followed by a thicker coat, and then create my design...

   That didn't work either!  As soon as a second coat hit these it was like it became instantly tacky and non-magnetic.  My thumb was a very sorry case, I should have took a photo - only one small stripe down the middle had any magnetic design at all.  I did throw a top coat on these which had no effect on the polish design, but realized after two minutes that I was not going to wear this out in public looking like such a sorry mess.  I took it off.

   As for the magnet caps themselves, they just seem okay to me.  They are easy to place over your nails but nothing ground-breaking in my opinion.  With my LCN magnets I often rest the end of the magnet on my cuticle in the same way; likewise the Layla cap magnets are very friendly to being used the same way.  If anything I'm wondering if I got dud magnets and plan to test them with my other polishes.  Or it could be dud polish, as it barely reacts to a magnet being held directly against the bottle, regardless of what brand it's from.

   So I'm thinking this polish isn't the greatest.  Sad, considering how great magnetics should be.  Hopefully it was just a bad first run of it.  The other swatches I've seen Online of this Nails Inc. line are really beautiful and that's why I jumped on these colors.  I plan to try using these again and if they work any better for me I will post an update.

   Last week was the week of glitter nail polish on my blog.  I tried out the lovely piCture pOlish Pink Shimmer and really wanted to include it but I simply ran out of days!  I won this nail polish from piCture pOlish and chose the color because it sounded really pretty but there weren't swatches of it anywhere to be found.  I am here to fix that!  =D

   Isn't that just lovely?  The bottle description of "soft & delicate with a silver sparkle!" is spot on, but here's what they don't tell you:  That not just silver sparkle, it's holographic silver sparkle!  Of course the glitter is too sparse to be anything linear, but it reflects a rainbow of colors under all lighting.  My camera couldn't really capture the super-fine microshimmer, but it does show the microflakies pretty well.

   The pink color itself is a perfect pale pink.  It doesn't lean peach, it's not overly blue or purple, it's just pink like pink should be.  I loved it on my pale skin but couldn't help thinking how awesome it would be on dark-skinned ladies!  It's a very wearable color, appropriate for any age and pretty much any occasion.  It's feminine and beautiful.  I really can't believe this isn't a more popular color from piCture pOlish!

   Now here's the bad part: this was 4 coats - four!  And it wasn't even completely opaque; you can see the visible nail line in my pictures.  While it was wearable it didn't feel "finished" to me.  Of course, this isn't a terrible problem.  I'm planning to revisit this color layered over a similar pale pink.  If I can get the look I want with only 1 or 2 coats of Pink Shimmer layered then I'm fine with that, as it will save my little bottle of piCture pOlish, which is precious to me and rather costly to replace.

   More good news:  This was very easy to work with.  The formula wasn't as thick as their color Twinkle, and dried shiny.  Also, I wore this without top coat for a few days.  It stayed shiny, only had one chip and very minor tip wear on the other nails.  I can only imagine it would have been fabulous with a top coat.  Also, clean-up was great.  I'm a messy painter, always getting polish on my fingers alongside my nails.  After this had dried for awhile it came right off my skin, no hassles.  And my nails were perfect!

   Alright, I know I've said a lot about this polish but I couldn't contain all my love and adoration!  I definitely recommend this polish.  Please let me know what you think of it!  =)

   I have big news!  Glitrix on etsy has teamed up with me for a giveaway!  Because she is a total sweetheart and lives in Singapore she's even helping me make it an International giveaway!  And on top of of this giveaway goodness she is running a special sale for all of you, my lovely readers:

Glix Glitrix etsy Store Coupon:

Use code " 2011GLIX12 " for 10% off!

Offer valid until Dec 25th

   So be sure check out her store!  Now onto the details of the giveaway:

   The polishes up for grabs are the two I reviewed here on my blog, Oceanic and Royal Chic.  I have two brand-new bottles to send out to our US-resident winner, and Glitrix will be sending out the two polishes for our International winner.  That's why we need to know your location to enter the giveaway; it's to be able to tell what group you fall into.  =D

   You may use the above image to advertise the giveaway and thus earn yourself extra giveaway entries.  If you make a blog post you may also you an extra photo from my swatches of these colors; your choice of photo!  If you're adding an image to your sidebar here is a smaller version to use.

   I'm using Rafflecopter to run this giveaway and choose winners.  All entries will be validated and illegitimate entries will be disqualified.  I'm hoping to announce both winners in the first week of January.  If you need any help entering or have questions about the giveaway just post them here!

   I'm enjoying another Glitrix polish today.  The color is called Oceanic, and it is a blue jelly franken with small blue glitter and silver bar glitter.  This is my second time wearing it and I have to say I just love it!  Have a bit of cute bottle picspam!

      I have some nail wheel swatches of this one, as well, as it is really good for layering.  Oceanic dries to a gorgeous glassy shine and the glitter isn't gritty at all.  My photos show it without top coat, but I do like to add one to enhance the smooth shine even more.

   Left to right: 1 coat of Oceanic over China Glaze Caribbean Blue, 2 coats over L.A. Girl Alkaline Blue, 1 coat over L.A. Girl Alkaline Blue, 1 coat alone, 2 coats alone, 3 coats alone.

   Personally I would be wearing this layered - the jelly base stays sheer even though it is streak free at two coats.  When you're putting it over another polish you only need one coat for good glitter coverage, two if you want more glitters or more depth.  Bar glitters are unpredictable in polish and you occasionally have to fish them out of the bottle.  The brushes in the star bottles have clear hairs so it is really easy to see how many you've caught!

   Glitrix Oceanic is a great color because the glitter pops over any base color.  Over something dark the blue glitter is light enough to pop in a very striking way.  The glitter settles in the bottle and I find the easiest way to mix it is to put it on it's side and keep flipping it over, give it a shake, stand it up and you're good to go.  After painting a few nails shake it again to make sure you're still getting the bar glitters you want.  This polish applies wonderfully and dries pretty quick.  The jelly base color will tint whatever you put it over, in my case of using it over Layla Metallic Sky it brightened the polish to the exact shade of blue I was hoping for!

   I love it over my magnetic polish with line designs like waves.  Doesn't the glitter remind you of little fish swimming through bubbles?  I have to say that if you're planning to place an order for Glitrix polish, which you can buy here on etsy, don't pass this color up!  It is a real gem.  =)  Who can resist something so sparkly?!