Scrangie

Kinda-sorta posting...

2008-11-28T13:23:00.002-06:00

Still feeling pretty sick, but I got this email from Carolyn New York I thought I'd share. Basically, it's:

Free shipping on all orders over $20
Free basecoat and topcoat with every order with code FREECOAT
"Discounts on everything" but I can't figure out what's on sale....

I have a few Carolyn New York swatches up on NailGal if you're curious.

My one gripe about this company is that processing/shipping (turnaround time) took a very long time.

Carolyn New York

See you all soon! *passes out*

Essie Winter 2008 Collection

2008-11-25T12:45:00.005-06:00

I've finally seen the Essie Winter 2008 collection (does this collection even have a name?) in person, and I'm surprised! A lot of these are much different than they looked in the promo pics from Essie- not a bad thing!

Bold and Beautiful. A deep red jelly-like cream. This is the one polish from the collection I'd probably never wear. It's boring. Unlike some of Essie's other reds, this one has no character, no edge, no 'BAM!'.... It's just... red. Doesn't stand out at all.

Damsel in a Dress. Deep, dark eggplant with very fine silver shimmer. Very pretty. Reminds me of OPI Lincoln Park At Midnight or Laura Mercier Avant Garde. It's very dark but still purple- I think the silver shimmer makes the purple stand out more. Nothing at all like the promo pics suggest- they describe it as "Oh-so-deep currant"- I like the real life version better.

It's Genius. Bright grape-purple with fine gold and silver shimmer. Oooh! This was a pleasant surprise. It looks nothing like this in the promo pictures! In this picture it looks like a full-on metallic like Zoya Rea, but it's really not. It's just so packed full of gorgeous shimmer that it looks metallic.

Rock Star Skinny. Kind of a plum or mulberry shade with fine silver shimmer. Stupid name, really nice color. Again, nothing like the promo pics. It's described as "glamorous crimson red"- huh? Maybe I'm colorblind- I don't get glamorous crimson red from this. Either way, it's really pretty.

Sexy Divide. Bold, saturated purple with multicolored shimmer. My favorite from this collection. My picture makes it look blue, but it's much more purple in real life. The bottle color is closer to the actual color. I was hoping it would be like Viva La Vespa, but it's a different type of purple. It has really interesting shimmer, too- sometimes it looks gold, sometimes red, you can see some blue in there... Really cool. Love it. I only wish it was brighter.

Shifting Power. Sheer metallic gold. This one is kinda 'meh' to me. It's really sheer, definitely a three coater. This picture is three coats and you can still see my nail through it. It's kind of streaky as well. I was hoping for something richer based on the promo images, but this is sort of anemic. It's not a bad color, but it's not anything special. The promo picture made it look like a dense, shimmery cooler gold, but this is very warm, almost orangey, and not very shimmery at all.

Again, I think Essie played it safe, but despite that there are some really great colors in this collection. Two were total disappointments to me, the rest were nice surprises (and no sheer pinks! Hallelujah!). Sexy Divide is, in my opinion, the standout color. It's so un-Essie like! I love it! Keep it up, Essie!

The formula on these was great. It was thick but not runny, like three-free polishes tend to be. The thickness made the colors nice and opaque and the polish was very easy to control. No mess. These also dried extremely quickly. The Essie formula is really nice. There was also no staining after removing the polish, which is also pretty rare for reds and purples.

Overall, pretty solid collection. None of the colors strike me as particularly 'wintery', but I'm not complaining. Nothing too exciting here, but if you're into vampy colors or fine shimmer, you'll probably like these shades.

CHI Holiday Earth Tone Collection

2008-11-24T16:14:00.002-06:00

I just got my latest issue of Nails magazine, and there's a full page ad for this GORGEOUS trio of CHI polishes. Razzle Dazzle, a shimmery golden metallic, Out Of Town Brown which appears to be an OPI Music Hall Curtain Call dupe and Last Minute Shopper Copper, which is a shimmery metallic copper that looks a little duochromey.

Again, I'm lamenting my lack of a scanner cause I'd love to post this picture.

My point in posting this: I WANT THESE!!

I have no idea where to get CHI polishes anymore, Ulta seems to have phased them out and I've never seen them anywhere else. Any ideas? Somewhere online??

Comparison: OPI Paris Couture For Sure and Color Club Magic Attraction

2008-11-21T13:49:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty crazy about holographic polishes, and just as crazy about glitter, so when a holographic glitter polish comes out, I snap that sucker up without even blinking. Holo. Glitter. Good stuff.

Anyway, I got a request to compare these two holo glitter polishes:

Index and middle finger: Color Club Magic Attraction
Ring finger and pinkie: OPI Paris Couture For Sure

Slightly different angle and lighting:

OPI Paris Couture For Sure is one of my favorite polishes of all time. It's a smooth holographic silver glitter. It's different from other holo silvers like China Glaze Sexagon because it's definitely glitter particles as opposed to the smooth foil-like particles that make up the China Glaze Kaleidoscopes and OMGs and OPI Designer Series.

Color Club Magic Attraction, the star of the Color Club Glitter Vixen collection, is a dense, thick, chunky holographic silver glitter with a hint of lavender or lilac tint to it.

The biggest difference between these to is the density. OPI Paris Couture For Sure is thin and smooth and requires three coats for opacity. Color Club Magic Attraction is extremely thick and dense and only really needs two coats, but is really pretty opaque with just one.

The size of the glitter particles is also different- Paris Couture For Sure has very fine, irregular shaped particles, and Magic Attraction has larger round glitter pieces.

Magic Attraction appears to have more 'fire' in these pictures, but Paris Couture For Sure is just as sparkly. Paris Couture For Sure will sparkle more in low light than Magic Attraction, which is one reason why I love Paris Couture For Sure so much. In low light, Magic Attraction can seem like a flat silver/lavender glitter.

Both are extremely nice polishes, but you'll have much better luck finding Magic Attraction. OPI Paris Couture For Sure has been discontinued for quite a long time, but it still shows up in stores and online every now and then. Magic Attraction was just released in Color Club's fall/winter 2008 Glitter Vixen collection, so it's readily available and as far as I know, not limited edition.

Free Zoya polish, woohoo!

2008-11-20T20:02:00.002-06:00

I just got this email from Art of Beauty:

From now through Tuesday, November 25th, 2008, get a Free Fall or Winter
Zoya Nail Polish Seasonal Sampler, with the purchase of a Zoya Color Lock
System.

Simply enter one of the three codes below in your shopping cart
that corresponds to the Zoya Seasonal Sampler you want and
the Zoya Sampler will automatically be added to your cart.

Codes:

PULSE = Pulse Fall Winter Collection
VIBE = Vibe Fall Winter Collection
FLOURISH = Flourish Holiday/Winter Collection

The above codes are available on www.qtica.com and
www.zoya.com and may not be combined with any other offer
or promotion or free gifts-One deal per order.

Why don't men wear nail polish?

2008-11-18T23:06:00.007-06:00

This article from The Polish Addict got me thinking about something I've wondered about for a long time.

Women all over the world love nail polish. Most women own at least one bottle, and very few would turn down a nice salon manicure or pedicure.

Nail polish looks good. It can help you portray a specific image- professional, clean, wild, fun, sexy, spooky.

It is not only socially acceptable for women to be seen wearing nail polish, it's often a requirement.

Manicures and pedicures are relaxing and are, in my opinion, essential grooming. Gnarly feet, broken nails and cracked cuticles don't just look bad, they're downright uncomfortable.

If it's so normal for women to care for their nails, why isn't it the same for men?

My question: Why don't more men wear nail polish?

I suppose the main answer from all the guys would be, "that's for girls!" I can't get my husband to wear nail polish, but I've sure tried.

I don't understand why it's perceived as girly when it can be equally manly.

Observe:

Steven Tyler does it...

Ozzy Osbourne does it....

Dave Navarro does it....

Kirk Hammett does it...

Alexi Laiho does it...

Richard Kruspe does it...

Hell, even Nathan Explosion does it.

All of these guys could contend for Ultimate Badass, so why don't more badass men rock nail polish? These are shining examples of how nail polish can be the exact opposite of girly.

There's even a company that makes nail polish especially for men- ManGlaze. They feature edgy artwork by Joe Simko, who's also done artwork for GWAR, and if you think that's still wimpy... Their black polish is the exact color of a Glock.

Hard Candy even had a nail polish line for men called Candy Man, but I can see why that one failed...

My message to men: It's okay to wear nail polish! And not just black. Any color your heart desires. And it doesn't have to be badass, it can be whatever you want it to be- hell, it can even be girly if that's what you want.

And another question: Why are women so opposed to men wearing polish? A lot of women will scoff in disgust when presented with the thought of a man in polish. I've seen many women respond negatively to pictures of manicured or pedicured men. Why is this? I just don't understand.

Do women feel like it's competition? Do they feel that it's not right because painting nails traditionally a women's activity? This isn't women's underwear, people, it's nail polish. Chemical soup in rainbow colors. To me, that is completely gender-neutral.

Hopefully, in the future, a manicured or pedicured man will be accepted as normal- not 'goth' or 'girly'- just normal.

What do you think? Are you uncomfortable or are you delighted with the idea of men wearing polish? I'd love to hear your opinion on the subject!

While you're at it, check out this man's experience with the fish pedicure.

MAC Polishes and Purple By Night Dupe..?

2008-11-18T12:32:00.008-06:00

About that Givenchy Purple By Night frankenpolish idea I had... I had an epiphany! Givenchy Purple By Night = OPI Ink?

Last night I wanted to do a purple color for my mani, and I grabbed my all-time favorite polish: OPI Ink. It's so close to Purple By Night but better! I don't have a good picture of it because for some reason it turns blue in every picture I take. I don't know why it does that- it's very clearly and obviously purple on my nails. I will get a good picture of this color if it kills me!

So why do I like OPI Ink better? It's more purple. It has DEPTH. It's super shimmery and it makes me happy.

But, it's not an *exact* match to Purple By Night. It's pretty flippin' close though. I think adding a touch of pastel shimmer and maybe a little black would make it exact. I'll find out when I get another bottle- I can't sacrifice my precious bottle to duplicate a polish I don't like as much.

After a while I got curious and added a coat of Misa Confection Section on top. Not a match, but it sure looks cool. Great combination for you layering lovers out there- OPI Ink and Misa Confection Section.

Now that that's out of the way, how about some pictures?

Here's my entire MAC polish collection. As you can see, I really don't have very many. This is because of the experiences I've had with MAC polish. It's very hit-or-miss, formula wise.

The old formula was pretty bad, watery or sometimes too thick, takes too long to dry, hard to apply. As a result of the formula issues, for quite a long time I completely avoided MAC polish. I regret that now, because I passed up some very cool colors.

I'm happy to say that the new formula MAC polishes are 100% better. I have not had any problems with the polishes released in the past two or three years.

Blue Sprinkles. Silvery blue shimmer with slight rosy duochrome and copper squares. Sweetie Cake collection.

$$$$$ Yes. Smooth, foil metallic silver. Heatherette collection.

Dark Angel. Deep cream purple. I'm not sure which collection this is from, but it's a few years old. I bought it because it's the name of a VNV Nation song.

Gold Veneer. Perfect metallic light gold. Antiquitease collection.

Illegal Purple. Deep, dark vampy brownish eggplant. Cult of Cherry collection.

Kid Orange. Impossible to photograph properly- it glows. Bright orange red. No idea what collection this was from.

Lola Devine. Gorgeous squishy-looking peachy pink cream. Heatherette collection.

Metalist. Smooth and highly reflective coppery gold metallic. Neo Sci-Fi collection.

Neon 8. Bright orange shimmer with slight pinkish duochrome. Neo Sci-Fi collection.

Naughty Nautical. What a horrible, horrible picture of this! I'm ashamed. It's a deep blackened-blue shimmer. Naughty Nauticals collection.

Phosphor. Amazingly gorgeous glowy golden yellow shimmer. Neo Sci-Fi collection.

Plasma Blu. Hot turquoise blue shimmer that practically lights up on your nails. Neo Sci-Fi collection.

Rainy Day. Blue-grey gunmetal metallic shimmer. Blue Storm collection.

Seasonal Peach. Drop-dead gorgeous vintage pinky-peach cream. Cremesheen collection.

Silverstruck. Antique metallic with a hint of reddish tint. Cult of Cherry collection.

Wildfire. Seriously watery blackened purple shimmer. Smoke Signals collection (I think...).

I might be wrong on a couple of the collections, so please feel free to correct me if you see a mistake!

That's my MAC polish collection (minus Nocturnelle because it seems to have escaped!) as of now. I plan to expand this at every chance I get! Most of these colors are discontinued but I've seen almost all of them at Cosmetics Company Store outlets fairly recently. They run about $10 retail and from $7 and up at the CCO.

Givenchy Vernis Please! Purple By Night

2008-11-17T13:34:00.004-06:00

I'm back! Did anyone miss me? Hee hee.

Let's talk about Givenchy Purple By Night.

When I first saw this beauty on Sephora.com, I knew I had to have it. It seemed like the purple polish to end all purple polishes. That little product shot on Sephora.com showed the most mesmerizing purple that ever existed- deep but not blackened, loaded with mother of pearl, iridescent and holographic particles. It looked like the Milky Way.

My hopes and expectations were sky-high for this polish. This is what I got:

Givenchy Purple By Night.

A sparkly blackened purple.

The polish was out of stock for what seemed like an eternity. I kept the page open on Sephora.com and clicked reload over and over again until one day the "Add to cart" button appeared! Hurray!! Finally, it was mine!

I was sooooo disappointed when I finally wore this. Yes, I like it, it's a pretty nice color, but it's not amazing! There are no fireworks! No depth! Just flat, almost black sparkly purple. You really only get the full effect of the sparkle under bright lights.

I was hoping this would be the purple version of Givenchy Dandy Moire, which was incredible, unique and stunning. It's not.

It's not a bad polish. It's quite pretty. The formula is a little weird- it's super thick, which makes it a bit harder to apply, and takes a long time to dry even with Seche Vite on top.

If this didn't cost $15, I wouldn't have a problem. But for a .18 oz bottle of polish that's not amazing, the price is absurd. For reference, OPI minis are .13 oz. This is slightly more polish than an OPI mini. That's more than $80 AN OUNCE. That's like buying a regular bottle of OPI that costs more than $40. INSANE!!! Would you pay $40 for a bottle of OPI that you didn't love?

I'm going to try to mix my own version of Givenchy Purple By Night and see how it turns out. Right now it looks to me like OPI Who Are You Wearing with a coat of sparkly topcoat, maybe like Misa Lolli Jolly or Confection Section.

Interesting nail-related articles!

2008-11-13T12:19:00.003-06:00

While I'm on vacation, how about I link you to some nail posts written by someone else? I just read these articles by Darren Garnick and I found them to be very interesting!

While I don't do politics here, this article that features the fantastic Stephanie of Polish Addict is quite interesting! Did Pro-Obama Manicures Sway the 2008 Election?

Another nail-related article is: Are Fish Pedicures Cruel To The Fish?
I've always been on the "it's not cruel, fish like eating that stuff " side, but lately it seems I'm in the minority. And for the record, I would totally get a fish pedicure. It sounds too wacky not to try. Snake massage as well.

And here's a cute blurb on OPI's Russian Collection.

I love seeing nail-related content on decidedly not beauty-related blogs!

Vacation!

2008-11-11T15:15:00.002-06:00

Okay guys, I'm officially on vacation! I'll still have internet, so I'll be dropping in every now and then.

Also, today is Veterans Day. If you get a chance, please take the time to thank a vet.

...And one more thing- a quick observation- Bare Escentuals Extreme Glimmers = MAC Solar Bits.

Review: Demeter Fragrance Library Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

2008-11-10T20:40:00.002-06:00

I'm a huge fan of foody fragrances- vanilla, marshmallow, almond, honey, all that good stuff. Every time I see a new fragrance with some sort of foody or gourmand note listed, I have to try it. So, when I saw Demeter's new Reese's Peanut Butter Cups fragrance, I immediately bought it without a second thought. It's supposed to smell like Reese's, how could that go wrong??

Well, unfortunately, what I thought was going to be an awesome scent turned out to be one of the worst fragrances I have ever smelled.

I did have my qualms about smelling like peanut butter- chocolate I have no problems with, but smelling like peanut butter is a little weird, unless you're Iggy Pop or something. But, I like the smell of Reese's, so it was worth a try.

The minute I sprayed this fragrance, my nostrils were filled with this horrible stench of burning plastic and breakfast sausage coated in Ovaltine. Yum.

Once the alcohol had evaporated, I was left with this frightening fake plastic pseudo-foody bitter rancid smell.

I didn't immediately wash it off- I understand that fragrances need time to develop, but this one didn't change. Unlike other Demeter fragrances which last no longer than five minutes, this one lasted for hours. Yippee.

Not only does it not smell like Reese's, it doesn't smell like chocolate, and hell, it doesn't even smell good! It's sharp and bitter, and while the 'idea' of chocolate is hiding in the background of the fragrance, there's no comparison to the real thing. No peanut butter, no chocolate, just weird melted plastic stink. The closest scent I can compare it to would be those Creme Brulee type fragrance oils, where it has this bad burned plastic smell, like when you accidentally melt Tupperware.

Demeter is usually excellent at duplicating lifelike scents in perfume- I have tons of Demeters that are lovely- Tomato, Riding Crop, Mesquite, Ginger Ale, Flower Shop. All of those are really realistic and quite pleasant. Why they released this tragedy of a fragrance, I'll never know.

This is a truly horrible fragrance and you can bet I'll be returning this to Sephora. I rarely return things, but this is just bad news.

Chanel Haute Chocolat: Meh.

2008-11-08T13:00:00.003-06:00

This is a polish that I was pretty excited about, despite my vow to not spend any more money on Chanel nail polish.

It's brown! It's sparkly! Ooh, aah! How perfect!

At least, that is, until I put it on.

Chanel Haute Chocolat.

It looks so sparkly and delicious in the bottle, but on my nails it falls flat. It doesn't look like it does in the bottle. It just looks like weird brown with dust on it.

The formula is consistent with the other Chanel polishes I have (besides the Robertson ones which were a nightmare)- a little on the thick side, but otherwise decent. It applied well, dried quickly, all that good stuff. Chanel polishes usually chip the same day for me, but I didn't leave this on long enough to find out.

I may even be the only one who isn't impressed by this color, as I've heard nothing but rave reviews of it. Call me crazy- I don't think this is anything special.

As much as I wanted to love it, and as much as I hoped it would look like it did in the bottle, I just can't convince myself that I'm happy with it. I'm disappointed, that's all. Which brings me to this thought- this is another $20 (or was this one $25? I can't remember) nail polish that I don't love. I can't afford to keep buying $20 nail polishes that I'll probably never wear. There are a few Chanel polishes that I *love*- Kaleidoscope, Azure, Gold Fiction, the ever-elusive Cobra which I don't own but have lusted after ever since I first saw it- but how many more Chanel polishes have I purchased that have been a total disappointment?

So, my opinion on this? Chanel Haute Chocolat- sure, it's a nice color, whatever, ho-hum. You would be better off buying China Glaze Prize Winning Mare. While the two colors aren't matches, Prize Winning Mare definitely satisfies my craving for a sparkly, dimensional earth-toned polish, while Haute Chocolat leaves me wanting more.

Kat Von D Metal Orchestra Palette and Lightning Lipgloss

2008-11-05T13:37:00.003-06:00

If you can recall, when the Kat Von D for Sephora makeup line first came out, I was extremely skeptical about it. Sephora house brand items have never been known for their quality, but the Kat Von D line is different. The shadows are silky smooth and pigmented, the glosses have the perfect light texture and the eyeliners are unique and easy to use.

What I also like about the line is that it fits my personal taste. I'm not really a frou-frou flowery pink-feather-boa kind of girl, if you haven't figured that out by now... ;-)

Anyway, two new additions to the line are the Metal Orchestra palette and the Lightning Lipgloss.

First Class, Techno, Thrasher, Dagger, Lucifer, Glock, Razor Gray, Slayer.

First Class, Techno, Thrasher, Dagger, Lucifer, Glock, Razor Gray, Slayer.

I'll admit, I don't wear blue or grey often, but I HAD to get this palette just for the names. Thrasher? Slayer? There's an eyeshadow called GLOCK for Pete's sake, of course I had to have it!

The shadows are really nice and dense, not at all flaky or chalky. The ones in this palette are a combination of shimmers and metallics and all are super soft and smooth. Very velvety. The pigmentation is great. The only one I'm not crazy about is Lucifer- it's smooth but not very rich. It looks like a deep black but it's hard to build the color. This color has also been included in every Kat palette so far. I think they should tweak this shade a little bit, but that's just me. And, once again, this palette includes two completely useless double-ended brushes (though they would make excellent lip brushes!).

One thing that surprised me is that there's a cream shadow in this palette- Slayer. It's a super smooth and light textured cream with a heavy metallic silver finish. I think this would make a great base for the shadows in this palette, but I haven't tried it yet. Cream shadows are usually a disaster, so I'll have to see how this one turns out.

As for the lipglosses, I had already purchased Bam, but then decided to get the set instead of buying the full sizes.

HOW METAL IS THAT?!?!?! I'm in love.

Saint, Bam, Fierce Red, Gunshine, Stormy.

Saint, Bam, Fierce Red, Gunshine, Stormy.

Saint is a sheer silvery white loaded with multicolored pastel shimmer. Bam is a sheer grape with red, blue and purple shimmer. Fierce Red is not really very fierce- sheer red with shimmer. Gunshine is a sheer charcoal that leans brown and is packed with multicolored shimmer- it's like the lipgloss version of OPI My Private Jet. Stormy is a slightly less sheer purple-burgundy shade with tons of multicolored shimmer.

These all have tons of microshimmer (not glitter) in them. It is extremely reminiscent of MAC Dazzleglass, my favorite gloss ever, but not sticky and with very little pigment.

The texture of the glosses is super light and smooth. It's not oily and it's not thick, I'm not sure what to compare it to, as I don't have any other glosses this texture. It's thin and smooth and extremely sheer.

The glosses have a nice yet unidentifiable scent. Sort of a vague fruity vanilla? They smell... purple. That's all I can think of. Purple.

I really like these products. I'm really glad that someone has a line that's a little more edgy, a little less trendy and definitely more fun than the rest. It's like the Kat Von D line is making up for Urban Decay's miserable failure at being edgy. Thank you, Kat, even though I know that you wear MAC.

These are available exclusively at Sephora.

Update on eBay Scumbag! I need your help!

2008-11-03T21:43:00.007-06:00

EDIT: As of right now, my images have been removed! Thanks guys!! I'm still keeping my eye on this seller, though... I have a feeling our images will be stolen by them again :( Again, I apologize for being such a spaz about this! It just really, really upsets me to have my property stolen like that :(

Okay guys, I really hate to do this, but I need your help.

They have not only NOT removed the images that they stole from me, but have listed MORE items using my images!

So, if you read my blog and enjoy my pictures, please help me out by taking a few moments to report this filthy thief and their auctions to eBay.

The auctions are here.

You can use your regular eBay account to report the items. Select either "copied listing" or "stolen property", either one will do I think.

Please, don't just do it for me, but for the other lovely bloggers they have stolen images from as well.

I have done pretty much everything I can do to get them to remove my images, but obviously nothing has been done.

Thank you all so much for your love and support, you guys are the greatest!

Konad and Everything Zen Day

2008-11-03T17:59:00.004-06:00

Enough bitching for now, how about something happy?

Here's a Konad design I did a couple days ago!

Nicole Black To The Future and Blues In The Night (I forget which hand is which) with two amazing Viva La Diva polishes which were a gift from the ever-lovely Sanna of MakeupMyLack and a Konad plate that I can't remember the number for. My memory seems to be failing me a lot lately!

If it looks beat up, smudged, chipped and ruined, that's because it is! I didn't think to take a picture of my mani until after I had gutted and carved pumpkins, which could be one of the ultimate manicure destroyers I've ever encountered.

Also, on a totally unrelated note, it was Gavin Rossdale's birrthday last week! You may be thinking, "Scrangie, why would care about it being Gavin Rossdale's birthday? " and the answer is, you don't! But I wanted an excuse to tell a story about some of the happier times in my life.

You see, I used to be the #1 crazed psychotic obsessed Bush fan, and every year I would celebrate each of the band members' birthdays.

One year, when I was in Junior High, my best friend and I skipped school on Gavin's birthday. We were walking around in a grocery store when we ran into one of our teachers- Mrs. Ammons- who was known for being a bit strict. Why she was shopping and not at school teaching, I have no idea. She saw us and we had to come up with a quick excuse for why we weren't in school. We told her that it was a religious holiday, so we took the day off school. What religious holiday falls on October 30th? Why, Everything Zen day, of course. Ah, those were the days.

While I'm not a crazed fan like I used to be, Gavin will still always have a special place in my heart. And I can still recite unlimited amounts of useless Bush trivia that no one but me thinks is interesting.

Ten Little Gavins feeling fine
One got too high and then there were nine

Nine little Gavins messing with fate
One fell off the stage and then there were eight

Eight little Gavins on their way to heaven
One got lost and then there were seven

Seven little Gavins in those Rolling Stone pix
I accidentally cut ones head off and then there were six

Six little Gavins trying to stage dive
One got attacked by mad chicks and then there were five

Five little Gavins repeating the line "I am a whore"
One got taken literally and then there were four

Four little Gavins playing with me
I must have been dreaming cause there were actually three

Three little Gavins playing a kazoo
One got sucked in and then there were two

Two little Gavins, what could be more fun?
One fell off the bed and then there was one

One little Gavin laying on my bed
When I entered the room, I dropped dead

eBay Scum part two

2008-11-02T21:31:00.002-06:00

Just so you can all see why I'm so upset, look at what this dirty thief did to my pictures!

Here's my original picture:

And here's what they did to it!! :

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!?!

The not only stole and altered eight of my images, but several images from The Polish Addict and All Lacquered Up as well. How can they live with themselves?

I have emailed them asking them to remove my images, but they have not responded and have not removed my images.

I don't want to have to keep posting about this, but I am livid and sad at the same time. I just can't get over this. It's un-effing-believable. What kind of lowlife scum just steals pictures and then tries to pass them off as their own? I mean, if they're selling the polish, why not just take their own damn pictures?

I've been stewing over this all day. Unbelievable. Sorry for bitching about it, but I really need to vent. You guys are all awesome, and I really appreciate your kind words and support.

eBay Scumbags

2008-11-02T13:48:00.002-06:00

Wow, some scumbag has stolen my images, cropped them down to remove my watermark, put their OWN watermark on MY picture and is using them for auctions on eBay!

That makes me FURIOUS!!!

I do not make money from my website, and someone stealing MY hard work in order to make money for themselves?? Disgusting. It makes my blood boil.

I know it goes without saying, but DO NOT USE MY IMAGES ON EBAY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!!!

You all know I'm a nice person and if you ask my permission to use my images, I'll most likely say yes! You don't even have to ask me first as long as you credit me for it. To see my pictures altered and used like this just... ugh. It makes me feel awful.

If anyone wants to see this scumbag's auction, I'll post it, but I didn't want to give them any advertising. They don't deserve one red cent for stealing my pictures.

FROSTBITTEN AND GRIM!!!

2008-10-31T17:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe, have fun, and eat a crapload of candy!

Pumpkins grin in their despair on All Hallow's Eve...

Another Eye Of The Day

2008-10-30T14:14:00.003-05:00

I've been wearing a lot of glitter lately. There's just something about glitter that makes me feel.... sparkly? And I've found my favorite of all time, hands-down holy grail status glitter liner: Too Faced Starry Eyed Glitter Liner. I have tried them all, and the Too Faced liner beats them all. The glitter is dense, it doesn't crack like MAC glitter liner, you don't have to spend an hour layering it like you do with Urban Decay's glitter liner and the glitter colors in the Too Faced line are just really freakin' cool. Some even have a little HOLO glitter thrown in. HOLO, people, HOLO!!!

Anyway, here's a couple looks I did using the Too Faced Starry Eyed liner.

I can't remember everything I used, but I know that I used MAC Magenta Madness, Urban Decay Peace and Too Faced liner in Ooh & Aah.

This one was pretty similar, I used MAC Acid Orange and Electric Coral, Urban Decay Peace and Too Faced liner in Super Freak over MAC Blacktrack.

Hot pink holographic glitter eyeliner. It doesn't get much better than that.

Zoya Winter 2008 Flourish Collection

2008-10-29T15:21:00.004-05:00

The sun decided to come out today just long enough for me to get my swatches done. Yay!

Cyma. This is one of those in-between colors that I have a hard time describing. Is it pinkish red? Magenta? Light red or dark pink? Whichever it is, it's a reddish color with shimmer. Applies like butter. Very pretty, just not my type.

Kalista. Oh, Kalista. So beautiful. It's one of those lit-from-within vampy colors that I love so much, but this time it's brown! Rich, shimmery, lovely brown. Perfect for fall and winter!

Mieko. A rich pink loaded with golden shimmer. Not glitter, but very visible shimmer. When the light hits this, it just comes alive. It sparkles like crazy. It almost seems like a pink/gold duochrome because of the shimmer.

Richelle. Gorgeous metallic gold. In my opinion, this is the best gold that's been released by any company in a long time. It is reminiscent of Dior Golden Nugget. It's smooth but super-sparkly. This is not a subtle gold, this is FIERCE!

Shivon. Another amazing fall/winter shade. It's sort of a duochrome where the second color is visible all the time. It's burgundy and gold and it's fantastic. It even has this fascinating micro-sparkle texture when you look at it under bright sunlight. Very unique. It reminds me of an old discontinued Urban Decay polish that I can't recall the name of at the moment...

Zara. Wow!! An amazing lavender purple chock-full of intense golden shimmer. This is so cool!! I can't stop looking at it. Normally you would need to layer polishes to achieve this sort of look, but this one is born with it. I really like how purple and gold look together. This color makes me think "sugar plum fairy" when I look at it... Random, eh?

Overall, this is one gorgeous collection. I love the Zoya shimmer- it's not really chunky, but it's this sort of visible particle that looks like crushed shells or maybe that edible glitter made of gelatin... Hard to describe, but the polishes that have it are all mesmerizing. In this case, it's golden shimmer and it looks really fantastic in sunlight.

These all applied very well, very smooth and no application problems at all. I only used two coats of polish for these pictures, but Mieko and Zara would probably look better with three. None of these stained my fingers after removal, and none left shimmer behind. I have no complaints!

I have a feeling that Kalista is going to become a cult favorite. It's my second favorite of the collection (Richelle is my number one pick!) and it's a color I can see myself wearing all the time.

Crappy Swatches: Zoya Flourish Collection

2008-10-28T20:09:00.005-05:00

Thank you all for your kind words, I'm feeling better already! You guys are the best. :)

So, Zoya Flourish! Wow! I don't even know what to say. These are super cool.

The sun had already set long before these beauties showed up on my doorstep, but I just couldn't wait, I HAD to play with them!

I know these swatches are terrible. Really, I think they're some of the worst I've ever done (my Nfu Oh ones are pretty embarrassingly bad too....), however, I plan to get good swatches as soon as there's adequate light. I just couldn't wait to try these all on, and thought snapping a quick photo of them wouldn't hurt.

I'll save my review for when I get better pictures of these. They're so nice, they deserve better pictures and a proper review. On to the blurry, dark, wobbly, wacky swatches!

EDIT: These are all two coats of polish. I always forget to add that!

Cyma

Kalista

Mieko

Richelle (omghawt!!!!!!)

Shivon

Zara.

Konad Of The Day

2008-10-27T15:28:00.003-05:00

I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, and you've probably noticed that I've been neglecting my poor blog! I'm sort of taking a mini-break, I'm not spending much time online but I am checking my email periodically throughout the day. I'm still alive!

Anyway, I went to the doctor today, so I decided to do a really interesting manicure to cheer myself up. I wasn't able to get a good shot of it, but I did manage to get three crappy pictures of it to make up for that.

Flash, to show the holo.

More flash, not as washed out, but also not very clear. You can still see the holo!

Very dim natural light, but a clear picture. Can you believe it's snowing already?!

This is one coat of Wet N Wild Fantasy Makers Black Pearl with China Glaze OMG and Konad plate M63. It looks kinda marbled, doesn't it? I really love this! I think I'll use my Konad more, I feel bad for neglecting it.

So, that was my manicure of the day. See you soon!

Swatches: New OPI Designer Series shades!

2008-10-22T17:29:00.005-05:00

They're finally here!! The nine new OPI Designer Series polishes are here at last and it's instant love. I'm a sucker for holographic polishes, and while these are different from your average holo, they're still beautiful and mesmerizing.

On to the swatches! As always, I leave these huge to show you the detail, so please click the images to enlarge them.

Classic. A warm gold holographic polish. As you can see, it's more of a 'scattered' type holo, as opposed to other holographic finishes like the China Glaze Kaleidoscope and OMG collections or previous OPI Designer Series polishes.

Coronation. A bright silver prismatic holo. It's similar to polishes like China Glaze Sexagon and OPI Paris Couture For Sure, but as you can see it's that scattered type of shimmer.

Extravagance. This one was so pretty it needed two pictures. One outside, one inside under fluorescent light A rich purple with incredible shimmer. Stunning, and a must-have for purple lovers like me!

Illuminate. A fascinating holographic brown with green duochrome! Holo and duochrome? I'm not sure if I can handle the awesomeness!

Limited. A warm coppery-pink sort of shade with holographic shimmer. These aren't glitter, for all of you who are wondering. They're perfectly smooth, silky, sparkly shimmer polishes and they're not the least bit gritty or chunky.

Opulence. Very flattering mauve-pink with holographic shimmer to keep it from being plain. It's a pink I would wear!

Reflection. Wow!! I'm not sure how to describe this color.... Hot pink coral with gold duochrome and holo? It's extremely eye-catching and just one hell of an excellent shade. This one was even opaque in one coat, but I did two anyway.

Reserve. Another pretty holographic pink- very feminine and flattering but not the least bit boring!

Tapestry. For some reason I want to call this shade 'russet' and I have no idea why. It's sort of a pink-red, more on the red side than the pink side. Loaded with holographic shimmer. Reminds me a little bit of OPI Crim-sun but not as holo.

These are so gorgeous. Maybe I'm biased, because anything holographic is a winner in my book, but still... They're HOT! And on top of the amazing colors, the formula is top notch. Perfect application, no three-free goo texture, dried *super* fast and smooth and shiny to boot. I have no complaints here other than they're not holographic enough. Okay, maybe one or two complaints. The names are stupid and impossible to remember and they cost twice as much as a regular OPI polish, but it's a price I'm willing to pay. I love a polish that will make me want to stare at my hands all day.

In case you missed it, I swatched the rest of my Designer Series collection (not 100% complete, but close!) back in May. You can check out the posts here:

Designer Series Part 1

Designer Series Part 2

And if that's not enough OPI holographic goodness for you, I also swatched the It's Summer For Shore collection here:

OPI It's Summer For Shore Collection

Enjoy, and embrace the holo.

Zoya Code - Free Cuticle Balm!

2008-10-22T11:05:00.001-05:00

I just got this email! Two of my favorite things :) Here's the email:

Grow nails and fix your cuticles this winter. Receive a 0.25oz Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm as our gift with the purchase of a 0.5oz bottle of Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator.
This special is available only through www.zoya.com , www.qtica.com and www.artofbeauty.com.

Just enter "FIX" in the code box during checkout. Not valid with any other coupons or offers. One per order.

Offer expires on 10/24/2008/