Sparkled Beauty

Tuesday was the 12 year mark of Hurricane Juan, the worst storm (Category 2) that hit this town since 1893. And today we are gearing up for lots of rain through Friday. Exciting stuff!

Have to try to cheer myself up from all that with a bright texture polish. This is China Glaze Toe-tally Textured from the Texture collection 2 years ago.

I have only showed you one other shade from this collection before - In the Rough and it is not as bright. This orange is definitely one of the rare things to save me from misery right now :)

I did one and a half coats with Toe-tally Textured to smooth out some bald spots on my part. No "Pixie Dust"-like sparkly glow here but it is beautiful enough on its own anyway. No complain here.

I will have to get to the rest of the Texture shades in the stash soon, feeling guilty that I have been leaving them in the untried pile for so long.

It has been quite quiet on the new nail polish front for me, which explains why I was wearing lots of old shades. Nothing wrong with that, but I do hope for something new and exciting coming soon.

Sparkled Beauty has gone all "pink central" lately lol. This is China Glaze Wish on a Starfish from the Sea Goddess collection.

I don't normally lean toward a pink when it comes to doing my nails but so far I have worn this shade twice. How did that happen? :)

This mani you see here was done the week of V Day, and I am wearing it again today (minus the hearts, which are from Claire's Love Struck, if you are wondering).

I was mesmerized by the glittery gold sheen in Wish on a Starfish, like it was glowing from the inside. It was the first shade I grabbed the day Sally had $3.99 promo on China Glaze.

When it's on my nails, I feel all bubbly inside, seriously. It is one of those "feel good" nail polishes that I can't have enough in the stash.

This is two coats, with a top coat which does not affect the glow at all. The grittiness is not overwhelming, very comfortable to wear. And removal is a breeze!

This is Love Struck in the bottle. It has red and pale pink heart glitters but the pale pink hearts were hardly visible on. Fishing for them was quite a task when they aren't very densely distributed in the bottle.

The hearts stayed on for about two days. If I ever do this mani again, I would have to add another layer of top coat on the second day to keep the particles in place.

Without the glitters though, Wish on a Starfish is still super fun to wear. I am so glad brands started to add more flare to texture polish, like the fun never ends :)

Safe travel today for those who have bad weather. We have rain here but Toronto got some white stuff yesterday, so I feel for you.

We are exploring China Glaze Texture line today.

First off, this line offers a more hard core texture, i.e. the shades are more rough/ gritty on the nails. If you are still on the fence about texture finish, don't start with these :)

This is In the Rough, 2 coats. The pic was taken outside on a cloudy day, no flash, which gives you a better colour accuracy. It is somewhere between a mint and a pale yellow, quite unique from the texture shades I have tried. However, my hand for some reason appeared more "lobster-y" in this lighting. You can't win :)

The next 2 pics were taken with flash. They show off the texture much better but yellow out the colour quite a bit. Excuse my camera for having a mind of its own.

Besides being more textured, China Glaze In the Rough is also less opaque than say Jesse's Girl Frosted Gumdrops. I couldn't get away with just one coat, which also resulted in more gritty finish after the second coat.

Again, as a texture lover, I did not mind the sand like feel on my nails but thought I should mention these differences, in case you plan to try China Glaze Textures.

Brace yourself for the closeup of the sands. What do you think? Have I warned you enough?

On a another note, I am slowing getting back to 5 days a week posting, thank you for sticking around during the downtime on the blog. I have so much to blog about, just can't sit myself down long enough. By the look of it, it might be September by the time I can settle down a bit. But on the bright side, August is my birthday month :)

Also don't want to sound cheesy, but thank you for your nice comments on my latest FOTD with all my flaws. You guys are the best!

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Omg guys, I have been so busy in the last few days, I didn't even know where the weekend went. The only time I had to sit down with my laptop was when I was about to crash. Posts will be scattered (pun intended, considering the nail polish I'm talking about next), once again this week, unfortunately.

The good side of things is I have a holo nail polish today - China Glaze Infra Red. It is a good colour to be made into a holo, I gotta say. Darker base, scattered holo :) Definitely a popular choice in the fall, but I wear my nail polish shades all year round, not seasonally.

I recalled when words about China Glaze Hologram collection were announced, everyone was so excited. Unfortunately, China Glaze only went half way with the holographic goodness with these non-linear colours.

See Infra Red here without the glamour of a flash, it looks just like a regular nail polish, no hint of holo whatsoever. I do like the base colour enough to not disregard this bottle all together, and I like how the fuchsia red glows under direct lighting but wish we could have it all the way, in any source of light.

See my point about how it just glows, in closeup for dramatic effect lol. Sure there are brands out there that make crazy liner holographic polish, I just choose not to "haul" as much as I used to - because of the overflowing status of my stash, and a mortgage to pay :)

Did you see my rare weekend post? Were you tempted to grab the deal? I have been quite enjoying the products myself, will try to get a review up soon.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a good weekend and is ready to dive into August. Crossing my fingers that my life would slow down a bit so I can actually celebrate the new house (and my birthday) a little more energetically.

Have a good one!

Since we have been having so much rain in the last week, I have a very sparkly but dark NOTD for you today. The star is China Glaze Mosaic Madness.

I was definitely mesmerized by the way this colour looked in the bottle at Sally and had to bring it home. On top of a light base, however, it did not look anything impressive so I gave it one more chance with a dark base, and voila :)

This is 2 coats of Mosaic Madness, just because I was greedy for glitters.

The base is Orly Blue Suede. I just wanted a pigmented dark navy, didn't mind if it was matte at the time.

This was just one coat of Blue Suede, it worked perfectly as a dark canvas for the blue glitters in Mosaic Madness to shine. However, Orly mattes don't last long on me, which I should have considered. This mani only lasted a day on me :( Next time, I'll change up the base.

The first pic was with flash, showing more depth to the look than in the second pic with natural lighting. I love it either way anyway.

Another pic, just to make the point lol. Removing this mani was not pleasant, as with any glitter layering, but I was used to it. At least the base helped that a little as the flakes did not stick directly on your nails.

Anyhow, if I were a nail polish, I would probably be something like this, with long wearing power of course :)

Hope this brightens your day with its darkness/ madness (pun intended). Thanks for the moving tips some of you left on my previous post and on twitter. I am so overwhelmed lol.

This is China Glaze Strap on your Moonboots, one of the dark shades from the Hologram collection that I couldn't manage to skip on my last trip to Sally.

If you haven't heard, this collection does not offer linear holo effects, so you only see the holographic shine in direct sun light or under flash. But I still want it, talk about being silly!

Forgive me for not taking pictures of the mani in natural lighting. It was rainy during the time I wore it, and there was just the slightest hint of holo on my nails in that type of weather anyway.

Under direct lighting, the shade comes to life. I love the holographic surprise the flash brought out in the pics. We all wish the Holograms look this way naturally, reality just falls short a little but is still pretty. I wonder why China Glaze did not go all the way for full holo effects for this collection. No doubt they could do it.

I used two coats of Strap on your Moonboots here. I love that it's opaque enough, and it's dark. I can wear shades like this all my life, if they are the only choice I get.

No application issue, I used my regular base and top coat, no special treatment :)

A treat for the eyes, close up on the holo. Don't you just want to stare at it? I found the wear is just average though - about two days on me.

Anyway, hope your week has started on the right note. I left my tax return till the last minute to do, and I still hate it all the same.

Next month is a big deal in this household. Squirt has a big String Night performance with about 150 other kids in town (she learns to play the violin at school). On top of that, she and this blog will turn a year older on the same day - 10th and 4th birthday celebration accordingly. Oh how time flies!

Squirt already started painting her own nails and used nail art polishes to make dots and stripes. I specifically asked her not to grow up so fast, but I don't think it works :) Have a good day, everyone!

Whoa, a dip in temperature to -19 (-2F) windchill today, wth is Spring? Anyway, to boost up Monday's energy, here is a collective haul of what I got in the last 2 weeks for you guys :)

Shoppers had a one-day sale for 25% off regular priced items with $50 purchase two weeks ago.

I took the opportunity to get 2 of Marcelle's best sellers in bonus sizes at great prices, with the $10 off $25 coupon Marcelle offered for International Women's Day. Can't you tell this was the deal I have been waiting for? :)

I paid only $20 for both:
- Marcelle BB cream 70ml, $22.95 before discounts (same price as the regular 45ml) - only in the regular formula (not the SPF or Golden Glow)
- Marcelle Essentials Smoothing cleansing water 400ml, $17.50 (vs. the 200ml $14.50).

Even without any discount, the bonus size is already a great deal, and they are only available for limited time, so stock up! If you can't find these in their special display, check the wall shelf, they might be put back in there when the store clears the floor.

I went to a Shoppers that was a bit out of my way, and found Essence's Spring 2013 products in their regular display. I bought all the 3D eyeshadows, CAD3.49 each :)

First row, from L-R: Irresistible First Love, Irresistible Purr-ple, Irresistible Mermaid Kiss.

Second row: Irresistible Caramel Cream, Irresistible Chocolates and Irresistible Smokey Eye.

Discontinued products (selected shades of single eyeshadows, lipsticks, eyeliners, etc.) are reduced to $1 each, have fun shopping :)

Found lots of China Glaze from the extra 50% off clearance items at Sally. They were previously red tagged for $4.29.

I got China Glaze Sea Spray (dupe of Essie Sag Harbor), Starboard and White Cap - all from the Anchor's Away collection (Spring 2011).

Considering this collection is like 2 years old, I thought it was gone forever. Glad to haul some shades I missed.

And on the very right, randomly, Tree Hugger, a shade from the core line being discontinued.

More :)

China Glaze Escaping Reality, Igniting Love, Bend over Backwards, Hanging In The Balance and Water You Waiting For from the Cirque du Soleil collection (Winter 2012).

No It’s A Trap-Eze!, obviously, but I am happy to own these nonetheless.

A reminder, China Glaze are 2/ $10 all month of March, except the Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces collection. And the core line has been added with a few colours from selected previous LE collections.

Some examples, off the top of my head:

- Luxe And Lush (on the left) and Electrify (Capitol Colours - Hunger Games collection)

- Rare & Radiant, No Plain Jane and Deviantly Daring (on the right) (Bohemian Luster Chrome collection)

- Full Spectrum, Liquid Crystal and Prism (Prismatic collection).

If you missed out when they were first released, now it's your chance :)

From Lawtons, Avene gift sets are 50% off this week. I got the Hydrance Optimale Light, reg. $36.50, with three free bonus gifts.

The box was photographed from the top down to show you the 2 compartments. Nice as a gift.

The main product is Hydrance Optimale Light Hydrating cream (for normal to combination sensitive skin, 40ml). There is another version of this set for dry to very dry sensitive skin.

The bonuses are Soothing Moisture mask (20ml), Moisturizing body lotion (50ml) and Thermal Spring water (50ml). Free gifts and 50%? I`m in!

In the left corner is the EoS lip balm duo, Spring LE edition, with Strawberry Sorbet (pink) and Passion Fruit (purple), $5.99. Not on sale, but the price was right and I didn't want to miss the chance to grab them.

From the clearance section at Lawtons, China Glaze Tranzitions collection was $4.99, I only got Modify Me, one with more noticeable colour change.

OPI Mariah Carey collection was slightly discounted to $7.99 each, I got the 2 Liquid Sands - Can't Let Go and Get Your Number.

Also a heads up, Fruits & Passion's selected scents are being cleared out for 75% off. I saw Passion Fruit - Guava (my favorite), Field Berries, Orange - Cantaloupe and Pear - Peony.

At Winners, I found Color Club Fiesta collection in a set. There are a few exciting things about this find.

(1) The price is only $9.99 (past finds in the past of Color Club sets were $13 - $15).

(2) All individual bottles now have name stickers at the bottom. No more guessing, oh yeah!

The colours are, from L-R: Mamba, Flamingo, Wild Cactus, Sunrise Canyon, Endless Summer, On The Rocks, and a clear top coat. They also come in duos, $4.99 each, if you don't want the whole set.

And another exciting find at Winners: Color Club Halo Hues 2013 collection!!! $7.99 a piece. No sign of Halo Hues 2012, but the 2013 bunch is better anyway. This is $2 cheaper than Color Club's retail price, and no shipping cost :) The display was almost full when I found it.

From L-R: Eternal Beauty, Cosmic Fate, Beyond, Miss Bliss, Over the Moon and Kismet.

I didn't get any shades, since I'm counting on a friend in Toronto who can find them cheaper, but I am glad Winners have these. I know we all kinda secretly hope Color Club will have these in a set, like for the Fiesta collection above, but this will do, for now :)

A very long post, isn't it? Hope you all start out the week on a positive note. And if any of you spots Essence Vintage District display at Shoppers, give me a shout, please! :)

I don't know if it's Sandy that brought us rain and grey sky today or it was just my grumpy mood, but I had a really hard time to set my mind to active mode this morning. Mondays have never been easy, that's a fact.

Anyway, the NOTD today is gotta be bright and cheerful. It's China Glaze I'm with the Lifeguard, again from the kijiji haul I did a while back. I did miss it at Sally when the Summer Neons collection was out and then went on clearance, I am glad to have it now.

It is really neon, right in your face, isn't it?

I'm with the Lifeguard applies well and doesn't need a coat of white underneath to show up neon. Brownie points for that! However, I wore it by itself on the nails for like 5 minutes, then had to add something to it. I know this neon green would be a perfect canvas for some nail art, but again, I gotta find energy and creativity for that. Another time, lol.

The glittery top coat added here is OPI Save Me (again, I know). I needed some glitters but not too chunky to cover up the base colour. Quite a few people don't seem to like bar glitters but I'm indifferent.

You can see the bars better here. They show up different colours depending on the light and angle. But look at them in the bottle, holo effect eh?

I am slowly switching over to darker colours for the season, but when I need a pick-me-up, bright colours would do the job. What do I do without nail polish?

And if any of you wonder about my haul posts that are normally take the Monday spotlight, I have managed to avoid buying a lot makeup and nail polish lately. An item here and there, yes, but nothing to the magnitude of previous months, not worth a separate post. I still tweet about good deals and promotions besides the Weekly Flyer deal posts, so follow me on twitter, if you haven't already (the button is on the left side bar).

Have a great day, and stay safe!

It had rained all weekend. I was splashed by a car while walking on the sidewalk, wet from head to toe (and no, the driver did not stop to apologize)! But good news, more pretty nail polish came to my life :)

I came across some kijiji postings last week. The nail polish were separated by brands and listed by full names. First thought came to mind: who in this neck of the wood has serious addiction like me? lol

Turned out, it was fellow blogger Beauty Obsessed whom I met at Sephora launch party last year. I was excited to meet up with her and grab some nail polish off her hands.

Using her categories, here are the drugstore nail polish I got:

First row: Joe Fresh Navy, Moss and Gunmetal
Second row:
- Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (yep, backup)
- Del Sol Girls Night Out
- LA Colors Wired and
- Essence Get the Fever.

Salon brands and higher end nail polish:

First row:
- OPI Yodel Me On My Cell
- Orly Goth
- China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard and Hi-Tek
- MAC Dark Angel
Second row:
- Zoya Arizona and Yara
- Essie Pretty Edgy and Queen of Hearts
- Lise Watier Violet Dore (another backup), and
- American Apparel Peacock.

These are the most exciting shades cause they are from brands I haven't owned before:
- Deborah Lippmann Nefertiti and Satin Doll
- Rescue Beauty Lounge Insouciant
- Soulstice Spa Milan and
- A-England King Arthur.

Do we agree that I totally found a treasure here? New shades or backups, I'm smitten with all of them. I'm thankful to have these in my possession, they will be very well loved. You'll see them in future NOTD posts.

While browsing Forever 21 extra 50% off clearance sale, I found some nail polish. They are CAD3.80 normally, I paid 50 cents each.

From L-R: Blue/Green, Teal, Turquoise and Purple/Multi.

The names aren't particularly inspiring, but the colours are pretty cool with either slight duochrome effects or fine glitters - both are what I can't get enough of.

Since we won't have a F21 store until next Spring, I figure it was ok to grab some stuff off their site for now :)

And lastly, I tweeted about Sally extra 50% off clearance two weekends ago. Here is what I left the store with that day.

First row are the Orly Flash Glam Fx Mermaid Tale, Be Brave and Sashay My Way, red tagged for $6.99 (before the 50% off).

Second row: Orly Synchro, Shockwave and Decoded (Electronica collection), $4.99 before discount. Sad that I missed Preamp, the last shade of the collection.

The lonely China Glaze in the pic was Elephant Walk, $3.29 on the red tag. This is the only shade I own from the On Safari collection.

Did you do anything fun in the weekend?

It's a shame I waited so long to wear China Glaze Some Like It Haute from the Eye Candy holiday collection last year. It is glam, it is beautiful and it is glittery but it is dark, that might be why.

I started out with a blue/ teal colour on my nails (see below) but didn't feel like it was what I wanted. Not feeling crackles anymore, so a glitter top coat it was. Saw Some Like It Haute and thought it might be cool to see it over a coloured base.

And here we are, Some Like It Haute over blue :)

I was so glad that the idea worked out well. Some Like It Haute was sheer enough to allow the base colour to show through - Finger Paints Add & Abstract.

The dark base in Some Like It Haute changed the brighter blue in Add & Abstract into a dusty dark blue, which I really liked underneath different colours of glitters.

If they make a nail polish like this combo (if no one has done that already), I would buy it for the convenience. I'm bad at relating colours for dupes and stuff, all I know is this combination rocks.

Check out the glittery glow in this shot. The shade looks like it has multi coloured glitters in the bottle. On the nails, it looks mostly silver in the charcoal base. The random shine on the chunkier glitters, depending on the lighting source, makes it a really interesting colour.

Maybe next time, I'll try a purple or plum base with Some Like It Haute. I like a good glitter top coat, and dark base is just season appropriate. I'm trying to transition into Fall, still break out and try a bright one here and there, but I'm trying :)

On a personal note, I'm going through one of those roller coasters of emotions. Had a really bad night on Sunday, cried it out on twitter, felt like giving up. It was better yesterday, I lightened up a little, then was treated a crazy lobster dinner with all the jazz. Maybe I just need a good red lipstick then all is good in the world :)

This is a huge collective haul from different places at different points of time. I was waiting on things to come in the mail to post them all together :)

I jumped on the W7 bandwagon in a heart beat as soon as I saw all 3 shades I wanted were in stock on Nail Polish Direct.

I didn't know much about this UK brand other than the fact that they made cheaper Nails Inc Sprinkles alternatives, only £1.95 a piece vs $11.

From L-R: Mosaic (dupe of Nails Inc. Pudding Lane), Salt n Pepper (close to Nails Inc. Sugar House Lane) and Lava Flow.

The brand only has these 3 shades with this type of glitter mix so far that I know of.

W7 is also known for some cool duochrome shades, I took full advantage of the cheap shipping - £2.95 for 9 bottles.

First row: Metallic Mercury, Metallic Jupiter and Metallic Neptune

Second row: Metallic Mars, Metallic Venus, Metallic Saturn and Diamond top coat (free with purchase of 5 W7 nail polish).

Shipping took a bit more than 2 weeks. My Metallic Saturn came without a name sticker, I tried to email and FB them with no answer. This turned me away from ordering more from them (was lemming some Barry M), so be warned.

With Shoppers' very first BOGO event on nail polish about 2 weeks ago, I got:

- Quo Center of Attention (from a LE display)

- Nicole by OPI Back to Reality... TV (Kardashian Kolor 2012 collection), Coral Denominator (One Less Lonely Girl collection, supposed to be a Canada exclusive originally), and A Million Sparkles (a 2012 shade).

I was glad to see Shoppers starting to offer some great sales like this. The key point to success is to pick the location with good stock level.

From the Cult Nails birthday sale near beginning of the month for $7 a bottle (reg. $10), I got:

- Annalicious, Feelin' Froggy, Manipulative (all are to be discontinued soon), and

- I Got Distracted. I've been eyeing this one for a while now, glad to finally own it.

Shipping for 4 bottles was $8 to Canada. I am already looking into another order, cause Cult Nails is coming out with the colour changing top coats, hard to resist.

Killed 2 long time lemmings via Ninja Polish: Floam and Sticks 'n Stones, $9 each.

These weren't on sale or anything, but they were really really hard to catch whenever they were back in stock on the site. They sold like hot cakes, I was just lucky that day.

Floam was originally from Nail Venturous but now is bottled under Ninja Polish brand, I'm not sure what the story is, doesn't really matter though.

Canada shipping starts at $3.50 for the first bottle, then $1 for each additional bottle.

I heard about Candy Lacquer over at a few nail blogs and loved the shades they offered. The day their etsy store opened, great shades were sold out within 5 minutes. Craziness!

I missed out on the great LE shades, only got Honey Bee, City Girl and Argyle, $8 each. These are glitters with interesting shapes and combination, definitely stand out to me.

Canada shipping was $5 + $1 for each additional bottle. A little higher than I wanted, but it was worth it to splurge on these.

A CP from the US, thanks to a blogger friend, for some shades that I couldn't get here at the time.

- Revlon Moon Candy in Supernova and Cosmic. These have showed up at our Walmart now :)

- Sinful Colors in Why Not, Dressed to Kill, Let's Meet, Leap Flog and Cinderella.
This wish list was before the drama that Sinful had with nail bloggers. I'm glad to have these colours now, but probably won't buy anymore until I hear some good settlement.

I did really well at Sally this month. These are from 2 different trips - one when I first heard the China Glaze Summer Neons collection was on clearance for $3.29, and one when clearance items were extra 50% off (last weekend).

First row: Beach Cruise-R, Under the Boardwalk, Ride the Waves

Second row: Hang Ten-Toes, Love's a Beach, Surfin' for Boys, and Orange You Hot.

Still missing the green and yellow :(

Other random shades on clearance, also at Sally.

First row: Finger Paints Go Van Gogh; and Late Night Rendezvous (Summer in the City collection)

Second row: Orly Forever Crimson; Sterling Silver Rose; After Party and Dayglow (Feel the Vibe collection).

No sign of the great bright shades from Feel the Vibe nor the Orly Glam Fx :( If you can find them, you'd be one of the luckiest people in the world.

This last bunch was a surprise, as I thought they were long gone. Crackle fever might be over, but I couldn't resist the shimmers, especially when they were $1.50 each.

So here are China Glaze Glam-more, Luminous Lavender, Gleam Me Up and Jade-D.

It's always a good idea to call your store before heading over, as I found Sally's sale isn't necessarily the same across provinces. I had one fail trip where a sale hosted at my friend's store was not at mine.

Layla is on 30% off at Lawtons this week, the best sale I have seen on it so far. The price came out to be around $11 after discount.

Lawtons only has the shades from the first release, so I only got Flash Black and Ultra Violet (which, by taking picture, I realized that I grabbed a tester of, lol).

The OPI Spiderman collection was on clearance, $3.49 a piece. I got Number One Nemesis and My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

Phewww, that is all, for now :) Hope this is a fun read for you on a Monday.

Don't know if you remember but there was a NOTD of Claire's Cotton Candy before on the blog. Fortunately, other than the fact that they are both scented nail polish, they are totally different - the colour, finish, opacity.

So this is a newer version of Claire's Cotton Candy. The pic is under natural light. The colour is a little lighter than IRL here but is still a lovely aqua/teal. Shades like this make me so happy just by looking at it.

Like all Claire's scented nail polish, the scent in this one is not overwhelming and fades gradually. I don't mind it at all, I like it when I get a light sniff of scent when my hand is near my face. And the icing on the cake: it dries matte, which was not mentioned anywhere on the bottle. Surprise!

This pic is with flash. On the accent nail is an extra coat of China Glaze Atlantis. The two colours compliment each other really well. Summer appropriate eh?

There are some reflective shimmers (almost holographic under strong light) in the bottle, but on the nails, they look silver. I guess the matte finish makes the colour look more dreamy, to my eyes, but doesn't do much for the shimmers. A trade-off, I guess. Am I asking too much? :)

Close up, in natural light again. See what I mean with the silvery and non-holographic shimmers here? Atlantis made it all better, but I mean Claire's could have gone an extra mile to make the shimmers more holo, couldn't they?

Holo affect aside, I am loving this shade. Another travel friendly colour to add to the short list I have for that purpose.

The bad news is Claire's had a few of these scented polishes in the 10 for $10 section a while back, which means they might not be on the shelf anymore. Sorry if you can't hunt it down, but if you can, rock it!

Have a great mid week, everyone. It's going to rain here until the weekend, but I'm hoping for a drier Mother's Day Sunday.