Revlon Perplex..hmm, so am I.

I tell ya, I am a sucker for advertisements...

Saw this at CVS and all of a sudden, had this sudden realization that I had to have it!  I need "this season's IT SHADE for less"!  If your local store does not sell this, Amazon has available here: Revlon Perplex

I will admit though that I had no idea what color this was supposed to be compared too.  As I was getting ready to post this I realized that many bloggers/websites are comparing this color to Chanel Paradoxal.  I do not own the Chanel polish but they seem to be pretty close while in the bottle anyway.

I painted my nails with the Revlon formula and really did like it.  The application was pretty good and nice and even.  It took two coats to get a good solid coloring with this one, but I expect that with most polishes anyway.  I simply used my Seche Vite quick dry top coat and was ready to go.  The manicure pics are four days old because my camera went MIA and I didn't feel like reapplying to get my pics :)  You can see thought that it did hold up well with only minor tip wear.

I think for the $4.75 it cost to get this color, it was well worth it.  Channel dupe or not, I love it!

Anyone have any great plans for the weekend?  Not much going on this weekend for us, kinda the calm before the storm as I like to think about it.

Seven (somewhat random) Secrets

By Hillary tagged all of her readers in her post to divulge seven secrets.

Here are mine...

1. I'm one of the few people who actually like their chosen career path.  I made my choice at about 20 and have never looked back.  Certain jobs may leave a little to be desired but I do love my field of choice.

2. I hide my extreme Starbucks addiction from most people.  I know it's hard to rationalize spending so much on coffee, but it is soooooo good!

3. I like to spend way too much money on fashions, nail polishes, shoes and the like.  No really, way too much.

4. I'm extremely afraid of heights.  Always seem to have this fear of dying from falling.  This is more of a recent secret since I used to love heights/roller coasters/etc

5. I'm worried I'm in the early stages of hoarding (well, minus the fact that I am pretty clean and tidy).  Not full blown status, but I have a hard time getting rid of things.

6. I'm addicted to fashion magazines.

7. I love me some secret shopping on Ebay (or any online shopping for that matter)

I know these may not seem like big secrets or anything, but they are things that I seem to have difficulty admitting sometimes.

So to quote ByHillary  "I tag you, you, you, oh you, you, you in the corner and YOU!"

Giveaway! Not mine, but very cool and a must enter

Love a great giveaway!

Check out this great giveaway!

I Love a Good Deal!

This is really random, I know, but I was so excited about this purchase!

I just had to open a new bank account (due to unfortunate circumstances) and fill out all the paperwork, etc...  The wonderful banking professional took care of everything...easy breezy...until it comes time to decide on what checks to order.  Now, I hardly use checks anymore, for anything, but I do like to have them...you never know when ATM's may be down or debit systems and its nice to have that back up in place.  I say, "Give me the cheapest ones you have" to which she responds, "They will debit your account $36 for them".  I about fell over!  I am used to getting some sort of free checks (with our old credit union) but this bank apparently thinks its alright to steal my money from me!  Since the account was already opened and such I just decided to forego the check order and try to get by without. 

Well, sure enough I go out shopping and two stores have their debit/credit systems down and can only take cash or check of which neither I have.  So, when I get home I decide to peruse the Internet in search of some cheap checks.

I find Checks In The Mail immediately and fall in love with a super cute design.  I love them-they are called the Pompon Checks.

See how cute!  I was then super excited to find a promotion code (VALW) online which gave me a free second box!  I was able to purchase two boxes of checks for $26!  I am super happy with these checks and everyone thinks they are super cute!  I find myself wanting to write checks just to show how cute they are.

This is not a review of Checks In the Mail or their product.  I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I just am a satisfied customer passing along some information to others :)

Testing, testing....one, two, three!

I have been completely MIA from the blogosphere!  I have been so busy with life that I have barely had time to polish my nails...don't worry ladies...not quite that busy.  Just been too busy to be around a computer long enough to add a post.  I spent the weekend visiting a friend in Indianapolis and then have had one of the most crazy weeks at work ever! 

I came back from my mini-vaca and was thrilled to have received my BundleMonster fauxnad plates.  I can't wait to use these!  So many designs and lots of variety!

I promise a post with pics tomorrow and I hope to catch back up with my postings. 

1001 Hidden Treasures

I've been perusing a lot of blogs lately and many, many bloggers have been posting up their pics and review of Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure...so I decided to add mine to the list...making it 1001 different reviews ;)
I purchased the Midnight in New York and started out applying that.  It is a nice black with subtle multi-color glitter.  I think the glitter looks a bit more interesting in the bottle than it does on my nail though.  Most people did not notice the glitter when I wore the polish alone, they simply remarked that I was wearing a very dark black...not my usual interesting designs.  I took a pic of it even though its not remarkable.  I also am including a not-so-great pic as my attempt at picking up the tones of the glitter.

See-not so great!

So I wore the black for a couple of days and decided it was just too drab for me...time for some Hidden Treasure overlay!

All I can say is...wow!  I love the Hidden Treasure over the black!  Two of my co-workers noticed it first thing this morning.  One described it as an oil slick that has the sun shining on it because it has so many different colors and it changes as you move your hands.

I think you can really see the red, yellow and green tones it reflects in the light.  It's hard to describe the look too because it does not exactly look like a glitter, the flecks are all different sizes and when applied some form larger areas than others, others just look more like glitter.  It is really interesting!

One of my followers said that she layers it over other cream polishes...so that's something I will definitely have to try in the future.  I am glad I was able to get my hands on two bottles of Hidden Treasure because I think it definitely has some possibilities and I will have to mix it up with other polishes.

On a side note....I was checking these out on Ebay and people are scooping them up for $20 a bottle!  I am so glad I found mine at Walgreen's!

Embarrassing!

Let me preface this post by saying that I am completely embarrassed by the state of my cuticles! These pics are horrendous!  I have been trying to treat them during the day with a new conditioner stick I purchased as well as at night...hopefully they will look better in my next post.

I wanted to do a blue manicure...not sure why exactly...think it may have just been my mood last week.

I had gone to Ulta and had purchased the new Essie collection (love them) and thought it would be a good time to try out the Lapis of Luxury. 

I love this color in the bottle but hate the way it applies.  As you can see in the first pic, it applies kinda streaky and part of your nails don't look even...very splotchy.  After three coats I gave up and just decided to apply a simple Konad since the base was already not looking too great and I really didn't have the time to start completely over.  I just applied the simply floral Konad pattern with OPI's Yoga-ta get this Blue (love it). 

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Pursebling Giveaway-check it out!

One of my favorite blogs is FabFindsunder50.  Kimberly is awesome.  This week she is hosting a giveaway of a purse organizer courtesy of Pursebling.

Check it out here.

You can also check out Pursebling here.

Even if I don't win the contest, I think I'm going to need to invest in one of these purse organizers myself!

Captured!

So excited!  I finally found the elusive Hidden Treasure by Sally Hansen.  I was lucky enough to find it along with Midnight in New York at my local Walgreens (and at a buy-one-get-one half-off price). Yay me!  I've seen this combo in many blogs recently and can't wait to try it for myself.

Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies out there!  Especially my mom...love you!

Sorry for the lapse in posting...will be more regular this week.  I had a heck of a week at work and was spending many hours at work and working from home-thus no posts.  This week promises to be a bit less stressful so I will have to catch up on my postings.  Until then...hope everyone has a great start to their week!

She and Him

I just recently purchased this and it has been playing continuously on my IPod. 

This album features music by Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward.  Zooey wrote most of the songs herself.  For those that do not know, I love Zooey Deschanel.  I love her voice.  I first heard her sing in the movie Elf and could not believe how great she sounded.  (I can't tell you how often I listened to Baby it's Cold Outside which she sings with Leon Redbone.)  For some reason or another her voice reminds me of Billie Holiday, an old school kind of sound that I could listen to for hours.  Of course, realizing this was Volume Two, I immediately went in search of Volume One and have added that to my repertoire. 

I highly recommend giving the songs a listen to.  You can listen to excerpts here courtesy of Amazon and right now it's only $9.99 if you purchase the CD.

Does laffy taffy really make you laugh?

As soon as I finished this manicure, all I kept thinking was that it reminded me so much of grape laffy taffy.

I used to love this stuff when I was younger.  I remember my friend and I going to the local 7-11 and buying tons of flavors.  I think they used to be like 2 cents a piece (boy am I dating myself here).  We used to try all sorts of wacky flavors, but grape was always one of my top choices.

When I set out to do this manicure, taffy was the furthest thing from my mind, now it's all I think about!

For this particular manicure I used a base of Essie's Lilacism.  I used Konad plate M57 for my design with NARS Purple Rain (byhillary reviewed it here and I knew I had to have it!)

Please excuse the messiness-was running a bit late and needed to get pics.

I think this mani is really fun but I am probably going to be changing it tonight or tomorrow.  Just a bit too unconventional for me this week since I have to conduct professional interviews.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I Love Me Some Houndstooth

I really do!  I have shirts, skirts, and sweaters that all reflect the houndstooth pattern.  I love it in the traditional black and white, but I also appreciate the pattern in different colors.  When I saw that Konad had a houndstooth pattern on an image plate I was excited for all the combos I could possibly try.  For my first combo I decided to do a more traditional houndstooth, with a twist of course! 

I used Orly's Liquid Vinyl and Shine for my pattern.  I love the use of silver instead of white.  I do wish I would have used the Konad black though for a more solid look, the Liquid Vinyl looks almost like a grey on the silver.

I do plan on using the silver again with this pattern, I think it looks awesome.  It's kinda like foil.  I think it would be really cute paired up with a bright pink or maybe even a vivid blue.

Laundry 911

This weekend I had a near meltdown over the loss of my absolute favorite sweatshirt!  It fell victim to a laundry disaster we all can relate to...the oops, guess I forgot to sort, kind of disaster.  Here are the pics of my favorite comfy with the damage.

As you can see, most of the damage is apparent on the sleeves.  It was a horrible dark brown that was very noticeable on the light grey sweatshirt. (I took the pics to show my mom the damage)

I immediately took to the Internet in search of a cure for my mistake.  I had no problem finding all sorts of homemade remedies and such but none really seemed like it made sense. I then decided to enlist the help of a wise woman, my mom, who gave me some advice. 

She had said that her mother had used a product years ago that seemed to work on everything and that she had seen it at the store recently.  She suggested that I try to find it.

This was my magic product!  Fels-Naptha!

I simply wet the stained/dyed areas with cool water and then rubbed the bar directly on the stains.  It kinda made a whitish color but I figured I had nothing to lose.  I immediately put it in a cool wash of Tide to see if I was successful.  And let me say, I was very pleased with the results.

There is some shadowing in the picture but let me assure you, I have asked multiple people and they can see no dye on the sweatshirt and neither can I.  I was absolutely thrilled and as I was sitting here in my comfy I thought I would share my results in case some of you may have done the same thing.

I can not guarantee you will have the same results or that you should even try this...I'm just saying that it worked for me with my old comfy sweatshirt.

Another Konad Attempt

Have I told you yet?  I LOVE my Konad manicure plates!  They are so fun and everyone just loves the cool designs and color schemes I show up with.

Here is my latest creation...

For this particular one I used Konad plate M60.  I did a base of two coats of OPI's You Don't Know Jacques! and the design was done with Essie Mint Candy Apple.  Mint Candy Apple is more of a mint green color but it showed up more like a light blue over the Jacques.  I still loved the results and have actually done this pattern and color combo on others who have requested one of my "manicures". 

This weekend has been pretty mundane.  Lots of stuff to get done around the house and the perfect rainy weather to make sure it gets done.  House is clean and all chores are done for now so I plan on watching some of my fave shows- I need to catch up on the DVR- and then head off to bed.  

Our New Addition!

This past week we adopted our second tortoise.  He is a red-footed tortoise and is joining Ramsey in our turtle home.  I never really thought Ramsey was that huge until we put the tiny new guy in the tank with him.  They are so cute-Ramsey is not sure what to think of the new guy but he is awfully curious!  We have yet to name him but have a few options we are considering.  Here's a couple of pics to introduce the new guy...

Another Giveaway!

Be sure to check out the link below to have a chance to win a custom stamp! 

http://www.fabfindsunder50.com/2010/04/three-designing-women-review-and.html

Thanks to Kimberly for the opportunity!

My Spring-time Konad Manicure

Ever since byhillary did her first Konad manicure, I have been obsessed!  I have bought numerous plates (WowSoCool) and have been experimenting with them ever since.  I think I have increased my nail polish purchasing by at least 200% because now I want to have lots and lots of colors to experiment with!  Consider this fair warning...if you decide to try the Konad nail plates don't be surprised if you quickly become obsessed with the huge range of designs available and what you can do with them.

This was my Easter/First Spring manicure.  I know the colors are not very Easter-y but I just loved them and they matched my outfit on Easter. 

I used Essie Chinchilly for the base, Essie Tomboy No More for the lines and OPI Alpine Snow for the small flowers.  This whole look was put together utilizing Konad plate M60 (which is a great one by the way).

I have gottten so many compliments on my manicures.  And everyone is amazed that it takes me just mere minutes to get the intricate designs I show off daily.

Misikko Giveaway!

Be sure to check out this link to have a chance to win a Misikko hair straightening iron! Courtesy of Misikko through Bright Side Dweller!


http://brightsidedweller.blogspot.com/2010/04/misikko-review-giveaway.html

Good luck to you all!

I've Finally Taken the First Step

I have been wanting to do this for so long...I honestly can not remember a time when I did not want to do this. I have contemplated starting a personal blog for quite some time. I have tried to figure out if I was going to try to "niche" blog or just put out random things...way too much worry for something that is supposed to just be fun! I enjoy reading lots of others blogs and have finally decided that I need to get in on it! I am always hesitant to post comments and such but I hope that I will be more active since I have a blog of my own now.

I intend to make this blog about anything and everything that I want to! I have to give you fair warning though...it probably will contain a lot of shopping, fashion, beauty and that sort of item, because that is what I live for! I am a self admitted shopaholic and love to collect unique pieces.

I feel like this blog is going to be quite random (like some would say is a perfect way to describe me), so here we go....

(Well, not literally, I have to go to work now so actual posting will have to wait until later)