Manicure Monday

I finished winter term last Thursday (after writing some 4500 words in a 22-hour span, #likeaboss) and spent Friday catching up on rest, Saturday cleaning, and Sunday relaxing. As I write this on Sunday, I'm awaiting the boy's return home after more than a month in San Francisco, and I'm pretty psyched to see him (#understatement). We're going to the coast for a couple of days, and then I'm going to Portland for a couple of nights with my mother, so it may be a little bit until I'm back to a (somewhat) regular posting (and commenting) schedule. But here! Have some nail polish. It's very...green.

St. Patrick's Mani: Color Club Cactus and Cult Nails Two-Timer

My ex was (and, as far as I know, still is!) Irish-American and very into St. Patty's Day, so I have a bit of lingering resentment towards the holiday (through no fault of its own). Nevertheless, I decided to get into the holiday spirit with a very green manicure, featuring Color Club Cactus and Cult Nails Two-Timer, which I bought when it was on clearance for $3 (scoooooore). While it's kind of lumpy, and I'm not really sure why––I probably didn't give enough time between coats––it wore like iron; this photo was taken after 4 days. Which may not be all that impressive by some people's standards, but I was super thrilled! My right (dominant) hand looked almost as good, too. Cray.

Quick Comparisons

Here's a very brief post of comparison swatches for two of the polishes featured in Manicure Monday.

The Purples

Left to right, 2 coats each of: Milani Hi-Res, Zoya Aurora, Zoya Carly

Hi-Res is, as I suspected, lighter and sheerer than Aurora, and has finer holo particles. Carly is a similar shade to Aurora, but completely different in opacity (almost a 1-coater) and finish (not holo).

30 Days Makeup Challenge: Day 8: Blush

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Giveaways!

Well, dearest readers, I am currently en route to New York for an awesome visit (with some of you reading this, in fact!). I've got some posts scheduled, and I'll have lots of posts (both beauty-related and personal) once I get back, but while I'm gone I'll probably be pretty absent. In recompense, though, I offer you: 2 giveaways!

Many bloggers hold their first giveaway when they hit 100 followers. I, however, have no such patience (not least because GFC has been giving so many bloggers so much angst since being pulled from non-Blogger blogs, and I suspect that it will soon disappear from Blogger, too)! And, because I want to spread the love around as much as possible, I'm going to do two smaller giveaways. I really want this to be a present to my actual readers, not a way to get more followers, so I'm not asking you to tweet or blog about it, and as long as this isn't the first BJB post you've read, you're welcome to enter!

Some Random Polish Swatches

I'm not wearing polish on my nails for the time being while I use Nailtiques on them to try and make them not suck, but I have some swatches from before my self-imposed polish absence that I don't care enough about to write individual posts for, but that I would nonetheless like to be able to get off my computer, so I figured I would just throw them at you! And use a really long sentence to do so!

Essence Where Is The Party?

How it looks in the bottle most
of the time

The name of this polish makes me laugh, because you would never hear it said like that (except by ESL speakers, which I would guess the namers of this polish are, since Essence is a German company). It sounds so formal! So funny how little things like not contracting sounds so weird (even though I wrote that sentence, I was still momentarily confused by the status of "sounds". I've clearly spent too much time linguisting...).

And how it looks in the bottle at an angle!

How it looks in head-on light

Crazy color shift!

Anyways. Linguistic entertainment aside, this is a pretty cool polish. It was the first duochrome I got, though I've actually yet to wear it as a full mani. It's a purple-green duochrome, and shifts from being a rich purple head-on to being a softer grey-purple that shifts to green in different light. It's got a slightly frosty finish, so you do have to be a bit careful about applying, but it's not really high-maintenance. It's a little thick, too, so you have to let it dry between coats if you ever want it to fully dry, but for a buck, I can't complain! I think this was 3 coats, but it's been awhile, so I'm not sure. You can get Essence at Ulta and Fred Meyer, as far as I know, though there may be other retailers, and from drugstores in Germany (and possibly elsewhere in Europe?).

Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish in 3D and Hi-Tech Review and Swatches

Yet another item from my Milani Black Friday haul (wow, that was a long time ago!): the gold "holo" 3D and green (legit) holo Hi-Tech. I got these so I could do holographic Duck nails, though I knew (based on other reviews) that the gold one wouldn't be the greatest polish that e'er polished. The green, however, is frickin' awesome, and together, they're pretty ducky. Yeah, I went there.

Milani Hi-Tech (left, ignore the weird orange tint) and 3D (right)

Milani HD Advanced Lip Color in Modern Mauve Review and Swatches

Another item from my Milani 50% off haul, oh goody! I've been wanting to try this lipstick for awhile, but between it not being available anywhere near me and being $9 for 0.06 oz, I couldn't quite take the plunge. But half off with free shipping is an offer I can't refuse, so I did some research and figured Modern Mauve would be the closest thing to MLBB in the line for me. Herewith, my musings.

Milani Modern Mauve

Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish in Hi-Res Review and Swatches

Another Milani nail polish, woohoo! This one is from their 3D Holographic line, which has 6 colors, of which I have 3. I wanted something that would be easier to apply and remove than a glitter, but not as boring as a cream, and this polish fulfilled both those desires!

Milani Hi-Res

Milani Baked Blush in Red Vino Review and Swatches

I'm kind of a blush fiend. It's not the item I have the most of (that would be lipsticks/balms/stains), or even the second-most (that would be eyeshadow), but it is the item I feel I have the most versatility in. Unlike eyeshadow, where I pretty much just stick to nudes, or lipstick, where I'm really arbitrarily picky (berry-plum-rose-red, but it has to be the right kind of berry-plum-rose-red), I feel comfortable wearing a lot of different colors of blush. And, since I'm so pale, especially in the winter, I find blush to be the most important part of making me look not sickly. I have many of the staples covered, but I was lacking one true classic: red. Then, along came Milani's 50% off sale, and I decided to pick up the Baked Blush in Red Vino, an intensely saturated red with gold shimmer.

Milani Baked Blush in Red Vino

Milani One Coat Glitter in Gold Glitz Review and Swatches

Milani had 50% off plus free shipping on Cyber Monday, which I was of course all over. I picked up several things, including 5 nail polishes (glitters and holos, whee!). The first one I'll be reviewing is Gold Glitz, a super dense gold and bronze glitter. Believe it or not, one coat actually did the trick. *GASP* I know, right?!

Milani Gold Glitz