This week has been kind of crazy for me...  I'm still getting over a cold, I've been working *all the tiiime*, half the town has lost electricity a couple times this week, and my laptop is not liking the new battery I bought for it as much as I hoped it would.  =/

   My selection of a giveaway winner ended up being very delayed and I feel bad about that.  Without further ado, I'm happy to say that the winner of my Great Engagement Giveaway is...

Nail Loopy!

   I was very happy to hear back from her and she will be pitching in on shipping the prize since she lives in the UK.  She has shown that she fulfilled the forth rule of the giveaway which was "Be happy and excited!!"  ;D  I'm trying to get some other polishes from her wishlist so there will be more in the package making that long journey overseas, haha.

   Thank you to everyone who entered and for all the kind comments and tweets I've been getting!  I wish I had enough nail polish to go around to all you wonderful fans.  =)  ...Well, then again, my collection does keep growing...

   One of my blogger friends, Maria from Nails Made Simple was having a blog sale to clear out a bunch of polishes.  She had a couple colors from my wishlist, and some things that were just too pretty to pass up!  On Friday this box arrived in the mail:

   I did a super-quick mani to compare a couple of magnetic polish colors.  The Black Sparkle from Icing has been on the blog before, but I wanted to see how it compared to the Claire's Silver that I found not too long ago.

   More pictures and observations after the jump!

   My nails today are done in one of the colors I'm giving away!  Don't worry, I used my personal bottle, not the one up for grabs!  ;D  This is the Blue Shimmer Icing MagnetiX polish with my star-design LCN magnet.  My goal was to make nails that looked like little gleaming star sapphires.

   Yes, I totally screwed up my pinky nail, I know.  The camera flash made it look worse than it does in person.  That is what happens when you put top coat over magnetic polish too soon.  This stuff dries fast but you should still have a little patience!  Yesterday I did not.  >.<'

   This is a really nice polish, though, and I have more pictures and thoughts under the jump!  =)

   Yes, that is correct, I am engaged!  I am such a happy girl.  =)  This happened on February 3rd and I've been keeping it a big secret in order to announce it with a celebratory giveaway.  It has been a busy week!  I suppose this also counts as my 200-follower giveaway, since I have a few lovely girls from HelloCotton joining my reader ranks.  Read on below to learn how you can enter to win!

   Hello all!  I don't generally put up two posts in one day but this is related to my previous post about the Icing magnetics - it's the polishes on my nails!  If I had added my manicure the post would have been too huge, I think.  So, here are some additional pictures and thoughts about my nails... and some exciting news - I have a new camera!

   The colors are Rose Sparkle, Antique Brass Sparkle, Black Sparkle, and then Rose Sparkle again.  I skipped out on using Blue Shimmer because it doesn't have a glittery finish like these do.  I'll do that one another time.  There is top coat in these pictures,  but not a very shiny one.

   I think the magnetic designs came out better on my right hand.  I used the wavy-design magnet on all my nails save for the black ones.  I used my LCN star-pattern magnet for those.  I love the wavy magnets.  It looks like ribbons running down my nails!  And each ring finger got a holographic silver star paillette applied to one side.  The magnetic pattern looks like shine rays coming from the stars.  =)

   I just have to say it's so much easier using magnetics on my own nails, rather than swatching a nail wheel.  Having to hold both the wheel and the magnet - carefully! is just about as much as my shaky hands can muster.

   I just got my camera a couple days ago, it's a Canon which I never thought I would buy.  My boyfriend has a Canon and while it takes great pictures I never liked using it myself.  This one has the kind of controls I like, though.  In fact, it mostly done by touchscreen.  Anyway, I'm still getting used to it and what settings I should use.  I'll probably make a separate post about my camera when I have less awesome nail polish to blog about.  ;P  But I have to ask: can you notice a difference for the better?

   My kitty was in my lap during my Nail-of-the-Day pictures.  So, here are my nails, on her pretty fur!  This actually came out really well-focused (click to see larger).  I don't know about you but I think she looks great with these polish colors, too.  Good thing cats don't have fingernails.  =P

   One more picture of my nails for the road!  Thank you so much for reading and if you have any thoughts please share them.  =)

   Over the weekend I saw on Icing's website that they were carrying a new line of nail polish - 4 magnetic shades.  I love magnetics!  I went to Icing, went around the whole store and was afraid that they didn't have them yet.  When a girl working there asked if I needed help I told her what I was looking for - she knew what I was asking for because they had just gotten these nail polishes in and were up on the check-out counter!  I did some serious nail polish haulage!  Thus I bring you swatches and a review of the new Icing magnetiX line!

   I am seriously impressed with these nail polishes, and I have to give a nod to Icing for putting out magnetic nail polishes before most major brands have even announced a release date for their own.  Find out more of my thoughts and see more pictures after the jump!