Delivery!

I had an amazing surprise when I got home today! My Lush order had arrived (Unmelted! Hallelujah!), as well as a HUGE box from One Bath and Body. Trust me, I'll be reviewing their products for quite some time. I'm not complaining! Everything smells absolutely heavenly.

I'll try to get some pictures up later today, so that you call can get a little taste of what's to come!

Easy post: some recent hauls.

I feel like I haven't done a proper NOTD/Review for a while. I think I've currently got three or four sets of pictures that need to be watermarked, and then I'll be able to do those posts.

I'm feeling completely blah today, though, so I figured I'd just show you all what I've purchased lately. Easy post for all of us, haha.

First, some various mini-hauls. Not even hauls, really.

Avon Rave and Avon Viva Pink, Rimmel Violet Metal, No Miss Boynton Beach Blue, and a random Hello Kitty glitter polish I bought from Target.

Next, Sally's. I got an email about a week ago telling me to go spend 6 more dollars at Sally's this month so I could get a 15% off coupon for next month. And Sally's was still having their China Glaze 2 for $10 deal, and their clearance was buy one, get one free. So.

China Glaze Reggae to Riches, China Glaze Thataway, China Glaze Millenium, Nina Ultra Pro Velvet Seas.

Next up, Walgreen's. I've been wanting to try eos lip balm lately, and Walgreen's stocks it, and it was 2 for $6. And the other day I saw Sally Hansen VIP Pink on a blog, and I wanted it. It looked so girly and pretty!

eos lip balm in Summer Fruit (smells and tastes like peaches), Sally Hansen VIP Pink, eos lip balm in Honeysuckle Honeydew (I don't really get the honeysuckle aspect. Definitely do get the honeydew, though. It's lovely).

Oh! My Nfu-Oh from Lacquer Slacker arrived last week! Behold: Nfu-Oh #56.

So prettyyyy... It's my first Nfu-Oh!

ALSO. I had heard around the blogosphere that Ross was selling all the recent Color Club collections. I decided to check out my two local Ross's, and yes! They were! At the first Ross I found several Pardon My French sets and several Rebel Debutante sets. I only got the PMF, though, since I wasn't drawn to too many of the RD colors.

I then went to the other Ross in town, in search of the Poptastic collection. I didn't find it, but look what I did find! Electro Candy! I was ecstatic.

That's all my haulage lately. I do have a ton of Lush coming soon, though, as well as some items that One offered to send me for review. Oh, and I just placed an order at Evil Shades for two of the new lipsticks, Primrose Path and Diabolical. (If you don't know what Evil Shades is, check it out. It's owned by our very own Andrea/Evil Angel of Black Nail Polish and Lip Gloss!)

Regular posting should commence tomorrow. Oh, also. I added a little box to the sidebar, with all the current contests (that I know of/have entered) for your convenience.

Okay, now I'm going to get off the computer and go finish watching Tarzan. Yes, I am watching Tarzan. My theory is, you can never be too old for Disney movies. (The old-school, animated ones. I don't know what some of this stuff they're putting out now is. It's just ridiculous. And don't even get me started on the downfall of Disney Channel programming.)

Haulage, and some stash pictures.

Warning: This post is extremely picture-heavy.

Now, these did not all happen at once. These are hauls from the past..month or so? Yes, I think that's right. And they're all very small, so. I was going to do a few reviews, but my head is killing, and the sunburn I got yesterday at the Renaissance Faire is making me insanely tired. I'm not used to the sun! It's been gone for so long. I didn't remember what it felt like, haha.

Okay, first up the Valentine's present my mom got me. The Give Me Some Lip set from Sephora!

All of the colors are so, so pretty. They're going to be great for spring and summer, when it becomes time to break out the bright lip colors again. I especially love the first one (Benefit Posietint in Poppy Pink), the third from the left (Urban Decay Pocket Rocket in Doug), and the fourth from the left (Korres Mango Butter Lipstick SPF 10 in Pink 14).

Also in this order from Sephora, I got Sephora by OPI in High Maintenance. It's a gorgeous orangey-red. I was a little worried that I would have a color similar to it, since I have so many reds, but I don't have a single one like it! It's much more orange than my other reds.

Okay! Next up, Milani Hi-Tech. My mom texted me about a week ago about seeing these in CVS (finally!), and she offered to take me to CVS before class on Monday (last monday) to get it.

Not color accurate! It's much more of a bright yellow-green, like a grass green or something. It's so bright and pretty.

Also last month, my order from Billion Dollar Babes finally came! This is the Orly Prepster set, which I got for about 20 dollars, instead of the retail price of..40-something? 50-something? I can't quite remember.

I also took advantage of the Zoya "buy 10 dollars worth of stuff, get 2 polishes free" NYFW sale. That order came a while back, as well.

This is Akyra, Gwin, and Get Even base coat. The other polish I got was Anastasia, which I ordered for my mom. She already had it at this point, and I didn't feel like going and finding it, haha.

A couple weeks ago I went to the mall, in search of Gap Grass EDT and Mac Cremesheen Lipstick in Hang-Up. I found them! They're both absolutely wonderful.

This EDT is so fresh and crisp and green. It's amazingly refreshing, and perfect for summer.

This lipstick is super dark and purpley in the tube, but when it goes on, it's a beautiful dark berry.

Last, but certainly not least, a little Sally's haul. I went in there on Friday because I had a 15% off coupon. When I got there, I found out that China Glaze polishes were 2 for $10, and that my Sally's had finally gotten in the Up and Away collection. Now, if you recall, I had previously said that when I saw these in Ulta, I wasn't really drawn to any of them. I changed my mind, though, at Sally's. I ended up getting Grape Pop and Something Sweet, the two that drew me to the collection way back when it first came out, before I ever saw it in person. These both are super pretty and seem to be excellently pigmented. I haven't tried them yet, though.

This picture really washes them out. They're much prettier in person.

Okay! Time for some stash pictures. I always love looking at pictures of people's amazing polish stashes, and I figured I should share mine. It's miniscule compared to some, but I love it very much.

Side view. I just use a 10 dollar snap container thing that I bought at Target. I need to get another one soon, though, because this one is pretty much full. (Oy. Sorry about the messy counter. I didn't realize it was that horrible until after I posted this.)

Top layer. These are all of my tried polishes. They originally were in color order, but then I was running out of space and just started putting polishes in where I could fit them. Hence the periwinkle in with the oranges and reds.

Bottom layer. Untrieds, base coats, and top coats (as well as other various nail care products, like Seche Restore and whatnot). These were organized by color, as well, but then they got all messed up when I moved the box. Now they're sort of organized by brand, but not really.

Well, that's it for now! I'm slowly catching up on my posting again. Now I'm going to go try to sleep off this crazy headache. Tomorrow I'm going to this little game store and trading in my old Game Cube and a few games and probably going to get Final Fantasy X and perhaps a few others. Then I'm coming back to my house with a few friends and were having a paper bead-making party! I'll try to get a few pictures, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Review: Essie Aruba Blue, and more haul pictures.

I have been searching for this color EVERYWHERE. And I finally found it at the Ulta in Panama City Beach. It's an amazing darker-end-of-bright-blue blue, and is packed full of shimmery goodness. It's just so warm and summery. I love it. At first I was a bit worried it would be too close to China Glaze Frostbite, and though they are both blue shimmers, the comparison stops there. Frostbite is much colder and wintry. Application on Aruba Blue was amazing. I think it was two coats to opaque..I can't quite remember! When it did start chipping, though, it chipped like crazy. Alas. This didn't happen until day four, though, so that's awesome.

As far as the haul goes..it was a Valentine's gift from my mom! She got me the Sephora Give Me Some Lip set, and Sephora for OPI High Maintenance (Well, actually, I kind of threw this in the virtual basket at the last minute, heheh). I love this set so much. To be quite honest, I'm not typically a lipgloss type of girl, but these are gorgeous. And with the polish..I realized after I purchased it that it might be really similar to one of my many other reds, but it's not! I've been desperately searching for a great red-orange lately, and I think this is it. It has major orange undertones, and will be a great summer pedicure color.

(EDIT: Uhh..I don't know where these pictures went. They're not on my computer, they're not in this post. Um. Oops?)

Hello, my name is Jean, and I have a polish-buying problem.

Yep, you guessed it. I bought even more polish. But wait! Before you say anything, you must understand: LEMMINGS. Serious, serious lemmings.

First up, a few polishes I picked up at Sally's last Thursday. I really only went in there to get a new bottle of Poshe (the tale of what happened to my old bottle is forthcoming), but then I decided to glance at their sale rack. SKFJBSKB. So glad I did. There was China Glaze Glacier! One of the most-lemmed polishes on my lemming list. And right next to it was ChG Dreamsicle! What the heck, Sally's? Have you been holding out on me? Because those definitely were never on display with the rest of the glitters. Anyway, their sale items were buy 1, get 1 50% off, and my mom was only getting one polish (Finger Paints Wine Wristlet), so I also got Finger Paints Cobalt Cardigan. It's a super-pretty dark navy that seems to have a little bit of teal in it.

This picture does not show just how pretty these polishes are. Glacier has all this pastel opalescent glitter, and Cobalt Cardigan is not that black-looking, and the flakies in Merry Midnight aren't even showing up. Sigh.

(L to R: ChG Glacier, ChG Dreamsicle, Finger Paints Cobalt Cardigan, and OPI Merry Midnight [Which I left out of my previous haul post, so I decided to include a picture here.])

Moving on.

I'm visiting relatives in south Florida this weekend, and there's this huge shopping center nearby. With an Ulta. Now, I have never been to Ulta before. When I walked in..oh my goodness. It's just heavenly, isn't it? There were so many polishes I wanted, but I had to restrain myself, since they were all a bit expensive. They even had the China Glaze Up & Away collection! I didn't get any, though, because—and yes, I know this might be blasphemous—none of them were really drawing me in. They looked so pretty online..but in person? I don't know. I just felt they lacked..something.

They had so many other amazing polishes, though! Including OPI La Paz-itively Hot Matte! I passed on it, though, because I already was spending too much, haha. I did get OPI Mad As A Hatter, though, because my Trade Secret still hasn't called me to tell me they got more in, like they said they were going to. I also picked up OPI Jade Is The New Black. As for non-OPIs? I checked out all the Ulta brand ones, but nothing was really pulling me in.

Then I got to the Essie section. You know you're addicted when you see a polish from 20 feet away and know EXACTLY what it is. The polish in question here was Essie Aruba Blue. YES! They had it! And oh my word, it's so gorgeous in person.

I only bought one other polish, and that's Sula Paint and Peel in Watermelon (It looks more like a cherry blossom to me, but whatever). I've been curious about these polishes for quite some time, but I've never had a chance to see them in person. My mom was also intrigued, so she agreed to split the cost with me. Originally, I was going to get Moss, but I've been craving a good pink lately.

(L to R OPI Mad As A Hatter, Sula Paint & Peel in Watermelon, Essie Aruba Blue, OPI Jade Is The New Black)

Yeah..Only MAAH is really color-accurate. The Sula is a bit darker pink (like these cherry blossoms), Aruba Blue is darker and prettier, and JITNB is a bit darker, as well. The lighting in this room is just really weird. Sorry!

MAC Toast Of The Town and a few mini-hauls

I. Love. This. Polish. Oh my word. It's spectacular. I won it in one of Mary of Body and Soul's Friday Follower Freebies. Thank you so, so, so much, Mary! This polish..I don't even know where to start. Application was, if I recall, decent. Not too thin, not too thick. I want to say this is three coats, but I honestly can't remember. Toast Of The Town is a gorgeous taupe with green/purple duochrome. I honestly could not stop staring at my hands while I had this polish on. To be honest, at first I wasn't sure if I would love it. I knew I'd like it, because I like all things shiny, but I just wasn't sure how it would look on. Boy, was I wrong. This is..it's just wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Now onto my mini-hauls. I want to say I got these last Thursday..yes, I think that's right. Well, I stopped into Walgreen's, since they were having a buy one, get one 50% off sale on Sally Hansen, and I've been wanting Grass Slipper. But guess what else they had? Opulent Cloud! Yes! This is the first time I've seen it in person. It's so, so pretty. Anyway, after Walgreen's, we went to CVS, because I wanted to see if they had the Milani holographic collection. They didn't. But they did have Maybelline Mocha Blast, which I've been curious about. I've been craving a nice brown polish lately, and I'm hoping this one will work. I also picked up Sally Hansen Crushed and Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, because I've been seriously drawn to the bright polishes lately. I want warm weather so badly.

(L to R: Maybelline Mocha Blast, Sally Hansen Crushed, Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Sally Hansen Grass Slipper, Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud)

Oh, and so yesterday, I was in Publix (For those of you that don't know, Publix is a grocery store). Well, Publix has a little tiny rack of OPIs, which I always glance through whenever I'm in there. Usually they just have boring colors, though. Not this time! They had this past year's holiday collection! I ended up getting Merry Midnight, because I have been seriously lemming it. It's so gorgeous, what with its flakies and glitter and purpley goodness. I don't have a picture, though, because I forgot to take one.

Sorry for not posting in so long! School has been killing me. I'm getting out of town this weekend, though, so I should have a bit of relaxation time in which I can catch up on my posting.

Review: OPI La Paz-itively Hot and Diamond Cosmetics mini-haul.

I put this on on Thursday night. I wasn't really feeling this color when I first put it on. I even thought about taking it off and replacing it with something darker. It was about one in the morning, though, so I decided I'd just leave it. I'm happy I did. I actually really, really like it. At first, I wasn't sure if it worked with my skintone. I think it does, though.

La Paz-itively Hot is bright fuchsia with a subtle blue-violet flash. Really ostentatious and pretty. Application was so-so. Fairly streaky, but I managed to even it out. I did two coats, because I knew I wouldn't be going in public this weekend, so I wasn't really concerned about VNL, of which there is quite a bit. Three coats probably would have fixed this, but whatever. As pretty as this is, I still want to try the matte version. It looks awesome.

Oh, and I apologize for the horrible cleanup job. Like I said, I wasn't going out in public this weekend, so I didn't really take the time to make this look amazing, haha.

All pictures taken with flash, indoors. I apologize for the huge chip in my index finger in the last picture and the chip on my thumb, but I had to take the picture. This polish perfectly matches my Cheshire Cat pillowcase! I love it.

On another note, my Diamond Cosmetics order came today! I was shocked to find it in my mailbox, because according to FedEx, it wasn't going to be here until Tuesday. Actually, FedEx has been weird throughout this whole shipping process. For some reason, my package shipped from its origin point in south Florida, to Orlando, Florida, to Atlanta, then to here. I live in Florida. I don't see why it had to bypass me by hundreds of miles, only to come right back this way. Oh, well. It's here now! These colors are so, so pretty. I want to wear them all right now, but I'm not going to, because I already decided on wearing SOPI Brainiac for next week, and I don't want to have one of these beauties on for only one day.

Lush haul!

(Not how they were shipped. This is how I transferred them to my bathroom, though, haha. They were actually packaged very well, and nothing was damaged, which is great, and a bit shocking, actually, since they were shipped from Canada all the way to Florida.)

My mom got me a TON of Lush stuff for my birthday. I've never tried Lush before, but I've been wanting to for so long. There are a bunch of things I want to try from there, so hopefully my Lush collection will grow larger, haha.

Rub Rub Rub shower scrub. This stuff is AMAZING. I've already used it once. The scent lingers even after I'm out of the shower, and it's just so refreshing and calming.

Cinders bath bombs! These were what initiated my request for Lush. Lush was having a sale on all their holiday items. Buy one, get two free, or something like that. These Cinders bath bombs sounded like they would be amazing. I haven't tried one yet, but they smell absolutely heavenly. Spicy orange and something else I can't quite put my finger on.

All That Jas bath bomb. I have an obsession with jasmine. I love it. Absolutely love it.

Sakura bath bomb. Also have an obsession with cherry blossom and cherry blossom-inspired things.

Karma bubble bar. I really wanted the shower gel, but it's out of stock, so I figured I'd ask for this. So, so happy I did. This smells so good. I actually secretly kind of like patchouli, though it can be overwhelming at times. This has just the right amount so that I can smell it, but it's not overpowering and sickly. So nice.

Two samples. Fresh Farmacy soap and Snowcake soap. I really wanted to try Snowcake, but it was out of stock when I put together my list. It smells lovely. The Fresh Farmacy soap smells a little funky—not in a bad way—but it also smells really familiar. It has great reviews, too, so I'm looking forward to trying this.

My Diamond Cosmetics order came today! I'll put those pictures in my next review post, which should be coming at some point today.

Review: Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl and mall haul.

This is my first Sinful Colors polish. I actually bought it over a month ago, but I never got around to swatching it.

Daddy's Girl is a really pretty dark blurple (purple-blue) jelly with purplish magenta glitter. Application was just okay. It was insanely sheer, and took about four coats to get it to a decent level of opaqueness. Wear was not good, though. I started getting tipwear on the second day, and it's been chipping a bit around my cuticles since day one. It's pretty, though! It's a fun color, and I really enjoyed wearing it.

Gah. My cuticles are horrible. I really, really apologize for this. They've been destroyed by this crazy weather we've been having. And these pictures are horrible, too. My hands look orange! The lighting in my bathroom has been all wonky lately, so I am blaming the horrible pictures/orange hands/awful pictures on that. These pictures were as close to color-accurate as I could get. This polish is seriously impossible to photograph.

I went to the mall today to shop for birthday presents for my brothers (One has a birthday tomorrow; the other's birthday is on Tuesday.), and sort of got a bit sidetracked, haha. I went into Trade Secret to see if they had gotten the Alice in Wonderland collection yet, and they had! They were all out of Mad as a Hatter, though. I put my name on a list to be called when they get more in, though. I did pick up Absolutely Alice, though. Based on pictures I had seen, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I do! It's so pretty.

(Oy. I apologize for my horrible counter. Daddy's Girl is pretty thin, so it was dripping off the brush like crazy. I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. The gold you see is Zoya Richelle, from New Years. Heh, I haven't cleaned in a while.)

Trade Secret had also gotten Essie's spring collection, and I was going to get a few full-sized polishes from the collection, but I decided to get the little box instead. I think I am going to buy a full-sized bottle of Lilacism, though. And Van D'go. I wish this one had been in the box instead of Nouveau Red, but whatever.

I also stopped into Bath & Body Works, because I wanted to use the rest of my gift card from my birthday. I saw the Scent Bug on Linds' blog, Polish, Platforms, Perfume, and I decided to finally get it. I've been eyeing it for a while, but I was wary. I'm so glad I bought it! I got it up in black, and I got a bottle of Nectarine Mint home fragrance oil. It works really well, and the scent is nice and gentle. Not strong enough to overpower you, but strong enough that you can smell it. I love it, I really do. I think eventually I'm going to get the Eucalyptus Spearmint fragrance oil, and probably several more. (I forgot to take a picture. Sorry!)

Oh, and my (technically my mom's, but it's a birthday present, so it's mine, haha.) order from Lush came in today! It took forever, but I guess that's because it came all the way from Canada. I'll do a post on that tomorrow.

Oy, this post was long. I guess that's what happens when you don't do a real post in over a week, haha.

Quick update!

Sorry about the lack of actual posts this week! I've been so busy with school. I didn't get home until after 9:00 tonight, and now all I want to do is go to bed.

I do have one of those tags in my drafts, and I'm going to post that tomorrow. I love tags, but they're so hard! I can't for the life of me think of seven interesting things, haha.

I got my Sephora order today! (No, not the lip gift set. I haven't caved yet. I am still seriously lemming it, though.) I absolutely love the nail polish colors. SOPI Brainiac is this really weird salmony-pumpkin color. I know it sounds disgusting, but it's not, I promise! Sephora Brand Blue Sapphire is absolutely gorgeous. It's so blue and sparkly and pretty!

I tried out the Tarte FRXion tonight, too, and it's amazing. I'll review it soon. I got so many lovely little samples, too! Oh, and the birthday gift is so little and cute! I tried the silver-green eyeliner right away and it's soo pretty. Ha, I think it might actually get me to start wearing eyeliner again.

I haven't taken pictures of Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl yet, but I will tomorrow, and then I'll get that review up, too. Oh, and I'll also take a picture of this Sephora haul, so we can all have visual evidence of my madness, haha.

Well, now I do believe it's time for me to go to bed. Goodnight! Or good morning, depending on where you are, I suppose. Either way, have a great day!

Jean

EDIT: I've added pictures of my Sephora haul.

I think I impulsively buy nail polish late at night.

I did it again. I think the stress/my cold/the late hour is really getting to me. This time I put in an order at Diamond Cosmetics, so it's not like I spent a ton of money. And besides, I've been wanting to try their polishes for quite some time. I ended up getting Lemon Yellow Zest, Don't Teal My Heart Away, Amethyst & Diamonds, and Chainmail Charm. I actually bought Amethyst & Diamonds purely because of Diana over at Painted Lady Fingers' description of the polish. She described it as something a fairy queen would wear. Well, obviously I'm going to get it then. I have a slight obsessions with all things fae. And of course I got Chainmail Charm, since it's rumored to be a dupe of the ever-elusive original My Private Jet. Though from pictures, I have to say I'm loving CC much more than I'm loving MPJ.

Oh, and it seems like Diamond Cosmetics has raised their prices. I know about a month ago everyone was saying they were 2 dollars a bottle. Now they're $2.25 (and $2.50 for Amethyst & Diamonds). Still a great price, but I'm just wondering if this is true?

Anyway, expect those colors to appear here sooner or later! Oy, my collection just keeps growing and growing. At least I don't have a habit that's too terribly expensive, haha.

Oh, and I have also developed sudden lemmings for Nfu-Oh polishes. 44, 45, 51, and 60, to be exact. They're so expensive, though! Maybe some other late night, haha.

Have you made any impulse buys lately?

Review: China Glaze Flying Dragon

Whoa, crazy. Two posts in one day! I really hate being behind on posting my manicures, though. Actually, I might have had three posts today if my pictures of Essie Very Cranberry had turned out. And if my nails were cleaned up a bit more, haha. By the way, this post is going to be a bit long. Sorry about that!

ChG Flying Dragon is, in a word, spectacular. Beautiful true purple with blue and reddish purple microglitter. It's a neon, so it dries fairly matte. I didn't really like the finish, so I did two coats of Poshe (Which I'm actually loving a lot more than Seche Vite. We just get along much better.), and it became shiny and pretty. I did two coats of polish, though I really should have done three. I have major, major VNL. I let it slide, though, because the polish is just so gorgeous. I picked up this polish the other day (I talked about it in one of my haul posts) from one of the local Sally's, along with ChG Japanese Koi.

(Click the pics to enlarge and see the fabulous glitter.)

I've never been a huge fan of purple nail polish (Shocking, I know.). It's always too sheer or t0o thick or something. The formula is usually just weird in some way. This polish was practically perfect, though. Definitely one of my favorites.

So, I broke my no-buy. Again. I know, I know. This addiction is getting bad. But, hey. This isn't as bad a vice as I could have, right? Right! I posted the other day about my Sally's haul, so I don't think I need to repeat myself. Anyway, yesterday I went out shopping a bit with my mom, and we hit up some drugstores. We've got so many Walgreen's and CVSes in town, it's crazy. We only went to one Walgreen's and one CVS, though. At Walgreen's I picked up Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Grape Going! and Revlon Mad About Mango. MAM is one of Revlon's new scented polishes! It totally takes me back to my childhood. I had all these scented markers, and it smells exactly like one of them. I think I had some scented polish, too. I think that's why I've been seriously lemming the Revlon scented polishes. They remind me so much of the 90s, and it's awesome. I almost got Coconut Crush and Mon Cherry, as well, but backed out at the last minute. Afterward I was upset that I didn't get Mon Cherry, and my mom told me today she's pick it up for me! Hooray!

I also finally convinced my mom to buy colored polishes. She's been addicted to these barely there frosty pink colors for practically forever, and I got her to get Sally Hansen Plum's The Word and Milani Cherry Pie (which is actually from the CVS haul). These polishes look great on her. CVS is having a sale right now, by the way, where you can get Milani polishes and cosmetics for buy one, get one 50% off (I'm not getting anything for posting this. I just thought it was a great sale.) Because of this sale, I picked up Milani Garnet Gems, Milani Blackberry Baby, and Milani Key Lime Shine. Such pretty colors.

We also went to the mall, where I went in search of Claire's Dream Catcher. Sadly, my Claire's did not have it. I've been trying to find a dupe for Chanel Jade, and the closest I've come is L.A. Colors Green Satin, which is pretty close, but Dream Catcher seems almost identical. I did pick up Icing Marine Blue and Icing Blackout, though. I was so excited to find Blackout. It's so pretty! And it was the only one left!

I went to World Market, too, and picked up a bunch of random foreign/weird snack foods. I've been having serious cravings for crazy things lately. I picked up a box of milk coffee (??) flavored Pocky, a box of Chocolate Crunch (basically a stick of Pocky covered in chocolate cookies and then dipped in chocolate) flavored Pocky, Chili Lime dark chocolate (So, so good.), some crazy maple candy in the shape of a maple leaf (It tastes exactly like brown sugar. Heavenly.), and a box of lemon mint Turkish delight, which is amazing (I had to throw out my last box of Turkish delight, which was actually lemon and rose flavored, because my brother's dog got into the box. Both flavors are to die for, though.). I also got a really pretty wool cream and tan houndstooth scarf that I plan on wearing quite often in the next week, since our temperatures have dropped immensely. It was 19 degrees last night! In the South! This is madness.

Oh, and for Christmas I got a gift card for Bath & Body Works, which is probably one of my favorite stores. I love indulging in wonderful-smelling bath products. Well, B&BW has a huge sale going on right now, too. It's amazing. I was able to get one of their huge candles (in Fireside. This smells exactly like a fireplace. It's absolutely amazing.), two foaming body washes (in Black Amethyst and Japanese Cherry Blossom), and two bottles of their Aromatherapy Stress-Relief Eucalyptus and Spearmint Volumizing shampoo (which is great. I used it last night, and I felt so relaxed after using it. And this morning when I woke up, my hair had body and volume, which it desperately needs.) all for only 22 dollars. That candle alone would have been 20 dollars if it wasn't on sale. Oh, how I love after-Christmas/New Year sales.

My mom is also currently indulging my obsession and is polish shopping for me. I can't wait to see what she brings back! I know she's getting Revlon Vixen and Revlon Frankly Scarlet. I think she's getting OPI My Private Jet (!!!), too. (EDIT: My mom brought home Revlon Vixen, Revlon Frankly Scarlet, OPI My Private Jet (It seems to be the latest version that's sort of brown and duochromy. Not exactly a holo, but it has holo glitter. Hey, I'll take it! I'm still on the lookout for the elusive original, though), and OPI La Paz-itively Hot (They apparently didn't have the matte version. Oh, well. This version's super pretty! My search continues for the matte version, though. I want an 80s prom dress for my nails!). A lovely early birthday present indeed!)

Gah, why do I keep breaking my no-buy? It feels so good at first, but then afterward, I start regretting it. I know it's going to get better, though, now that I'm starting school again, because I'm not going to have any time to shop, haha. I justify it, though, by saying that nail polish is like an accessory. You can't just have one or two. You have to have a lot, to fit your mood and the season and whatnot.

Have you picked up any great polishes or products lately?

My, my, my.

So I decided to go out shopping today. I know I told myself that I was going to go on a no-buy, but, well, that didn't happen. First stop today was to get my textbooks for next semester. Got those. Oy. That's all I have to say.

Well, then we headed over to Sally's to pick up OrigiNails Bubble White, which I've been wanting to try. My nails are insanely stained, and all the reviws for this were great, so we shall see. I will let you all know my thoughts on it once I use it, of course. Sally's still had their China Glaze 2 for $10 sale going on, so I picked up Flying Dragon and Japanese Koi. My Sally's was also having this sale where if you bought one of their sale items, you could get one sale item free. Well, they had these little Orly boxes. One had Enchanted Forest (!!) and Prisma Gloss Gold, and the other had Star Spangled and Tiara. I bought these sets, though I was a bit hesitant about the second set, since I already have two red jelly glitters (ChG Ruby Pumps and BB Couture Fairy Blood). But I figured I had nothing to lose, because, seriously, less than 5 dollars for four Orly polishes. Awesome. I also picked up Poshe topcoat, since I've been wanting to try it.

Anyway, then I went to the only good vintage store in my area, and found some amazing things. A gray fitted blazer, a purple and gold striped fitted blazer, a sheer black patterned dress with a white peter pan collar (I'm turning this into a top, since it's so sheer), crimson sweater (which I got for free because it had a few holes), crazy knitted floral sweater from the 50s, fuchsia top from the 70s, tapestry bag, a pair of cowboy boots (Actually, they're more like a mix between riding boots and cowboy boots. Insanely cute, though.), and a maroon skirt with white polka dots. I was amazed I found so much. Usually I only find one or two things.

From there we went to the best used bookstore in the area, and I found Pride and Prejudice (the movie), Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I was so happy to find this. I found his other collection of short stories, Flappers and Philosophers, but could not find Tales of the Jazz Age anywhere), Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Frasier (I have a slight obsession with Marie Antoinette.), and The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Then on the way home, I remembered we had a coupon for Walgreen's for Sinful Colors. 99 cents! I picked out Daddy's Girl and Call You Later. Pretty! These will be my first Sinful polishes.

Overall, an amazing day. I know I keep talking about all this shopping that I do, and I've only done a few reviews. I took some pictures of Essie Mint Candy Apple today, so I'll try to get that review up at some point. I plan on painting my nails with Zoya Richelle tonight for New Year's, so expect that review soon. And I'll review the Bubble White at some point soon, too. I'm also trying to get a few cosmetics reviews together, too. I really did start this blog to chronicle my shopping and descent into madness, though. But I love reviewing products, so I did decide to do those, too. I'm trying, guys! I really am. Things have been a bit crazy lately, though.

Oh, also. I've been working on a spreadsheet of all my polishes. I'm going to try to find some time to transfer it over to Google docs, and then I'll post a link to it on the side. That way if any of you would like a specific review or swatch or whatever from the polishes I own, you can let me know.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful evening/morning/day in general.

Jean

EDIT: I posted the spreadsheet in the sidebar, under "My Collection." It's a work in progress, though. I do have all of my polishes entered, but I'm still working on getting the colors listed. I've done about 1/4 of the colors.

Merry Christmas (officially)!

Merry Christmas all! I know I'm really, really late in posting this, but I've been busy since I woke up this morning with family things and whatnot. I did manage to get a few shots of my manicure, though they're a bit blurry. Oh well! I used Zoya Posh for the thumb, middle, and pinky fingers and Zoya Suvi for the index and ring fingers. These are the first Zoyas I've ever used, and I must say, I liked them okay. Suvi does not play well with others, that's for sure. But once it dried, it was gorgeous. I think I did three coats of each polish. The wear on Posh was actually pretty good. I did use a base coat, though. I know you're not supposed to, but I just let it dry all the way before applying, and it was fine. Suvi has one coat of Seche Vite. I had originally planned to do a funky french with the base being Posh and the tips being Suvi, but I completely messed it up when I was taking off the sticker guide things. I still really liked this manicure, even though it was insanely simple. My main goal was to really showcase the contrast between the matte and the glossy, and I think this did it well.

Overall, I thought it turned out really well. Like I said in my other Christmas post, I got several compliments on it. I think next up I'm going to try Essie Mint Candy Apple. Maybe. I did get new polishes for Christmas, after all!

Actually, I got a lot of great stuff for Christmas:

- OPI You Don't Know Jacques!, which I've been wanting for quite some time. Another polish I got was Essie Very Cranberry, which is a gorgeous berry red. I think I'm going to wear it for when I start classes again, because it's cute and a little sexy, but it's not insanely crazy and out there. Very pretty color.

- Lip Service Lip Deluxe Sampler, which is absolutely amazing. I've been wanting this set for so, so long. I've only had a chance to try one of them so far, the Korres Guava Lipstick in Wine Red, and I absolutely adored it. I think I'm going to do the DuWop Private Red for New Years, because it seems like it'll be the perfect red for that.

- I've been needing good makeup brushes for a long, long time, and today I received the Sephora Brand Perfect Ten brush set. It's pink! And shiny! I love it so much. I used some of the brushes tonight, and they're soo soft.

- 1960s Vintage Inspired Gold Tone Pen Necklace from 1928 Jewelry. I've been dying to have a pen necklace for so long. They're so librarian chic. Love!

- Shoes, glorious shoes! I got a pair of Candie's black suede-like platforms that have silver pointy studs all over the heel and strap. They're so similar to the Christian Louboutin Mad Marys. I love them so, so much. I also got a pair of brown patent platform penny loafers by Apt. 9. When I first saw these shoes in the store, I kind of thought they were hideous and kind of old-looking. But then I tried them on, and got a total 70s vibe! They're amazing. Cute in, once again, that librarian chic sort of way. They'll look amazing with a pair of flared jeans, too, to give them that sort of vintage look.

- Season 2 of Flight of the Conchords and Season 2 of Supernatural. I've been wanting these for a while, but they're so expensive. So when I was in Target during Black Friday, I pointed them out to my mom, because they were only about 12 dollars because of the sale. I guess she must have picked them up then.

- The Village on DVD and a Bath and Body Works gift card. I got these from my parents' friends. I've been wanting this movie for such a long time. And I absolutely love Bath and Body Works!

- And here's the big one. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle EDT! I am ecstatic about this! I thought I would never own it, but I do! I do! It smells heavenly, just like every other time I've smelled it (Recently, anyway. I actually used to hate it. I guess my preferences are evolving.)!

I had a wonderful Christmas. I got to spend time with my family, and we all just relaxed and had an overall highly enjoyable day. I really hope your day was just as good as mine.

Jean

Yay!

So remember how I said two of my Zoya Green Friday polishes were backordered? Well, they came today! Just as I suspected, Tangy really isn't my color, but Envy is, and it's gorgeous. I don't have any pictures because, well, I really shouldn't be posting right now. I should be cleaning and making peppermint bark, haha.

I also picked up Sally Hansen Glossy, a beautiful shimmery blackened burgundy, and Sally Hansen Enduring Plum, a dusty berry shade. Glossy is the first one I spotted, and it just sort of jumped out at me. It looks marbled in the bottle, with golden burgundy swirls all through it. So amazing.

I plan on starting my Christmas manicure today. I'll apply the base coat soon, and then later tonight I'll put on Zoya Posh. I'll do the tips (Zoya Suvi) tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll be able to get the base coat to evenly apply on just the tips. I'd do it on the whole nail, but I really wanted the contrast of the matte and the glossy. I need to put another coat of Suvi on my toes tonight, too. They got a bit chipped when I had my little fall the other day.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday, and welcome to all of my new followers! Thank you so much for reading.

Jean

Excursions.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, and I realized today that I had absolutely nothing to wear. Now, I know, I know. I'm going to be in pain/drugged up/blah blah blah, but I can't help it. I want to look cute, but I want to be comfortable. And I own no sweatpants. Or, at least, none I'd allow out in public. So I decided to go to the mall with my mom. Well, first we looked in Old Navy. Yeah, their yoga pants? So unflattering. I did pick up some cute sweaters, though. (EDIT: Yeah, those sweaters? They looked like sacks when I tried them on . Apparently Old Navy has altered their sizing or something. Or maybe I've lost weight. Oh my! Anyway, they will be returned posthaste.)

Then I decided to finally stop into Trade Secret, because I read today that they carry OPI and Essie. Well, they do. I know, you are all probably shocked by my lack of knowledge. But that store is way intimidating from the outside. Anyway, I got in there, and I saw so, so many polishes I wanted. Luckily for me, they were having this sale/promo thing where, if you bought this basket for $3, you got 20% off everything you could fit in the basket. Well! That settled it. I was getting some polish. I ended up picking out the OPI Mini Merries set (which has minis of Comet Loves Cupid, All A-bordeaux the Sled!, Holiday Glow, and Shim-merry Chic), and then I looked in this little sale bin, and I found OPI Banana Bandanna and OPI Sea? I Told You!, which were both 30% off, which is awesome.

Banana Bandanna is this pale, almost buttery, yellow creme that looks like it's going to be fairly sheer. It's so, so pretty, though. Or I think so, anyway. Sea? I Told You! is absolutely gorgeous. It's a beautiful teal/aquamarine blue with green shimmer. It reminds me of this old Cover Girl polish I have, Electric Blue, but so much prettier. At first I thought it looked like Essie Aruba Blue, which I am seriously lemming, but after looking at more pictures of Aruba Blue, turns out they're nothing alike. Alas. My search continues.

I also picked up a bottle of Seche Restore, because I know I'll need it eventually. Oh, and I hinted at a few Christmas and birthday present ideas to my mom, and she got me some polishes, hehe. I won't get them until Christmas (or my birthday in January), but it's still exciting. Anyway, here are some pictures of my little haul.

(Comet Loves Cupid, All A-bordeaux the Sled!, Holiday Glow, Shi-merry Chic. They come in a little box, but I couldn't get a good picture of the polishes in the box, so I just took them out.)

(Sea? I Told You!, Banana Bandanna. Sorry about the angle. It was the only good picture I could get of them, haha.)

(Seche Restore. Self-explanatory.)

Anyway, after we left Trade Secret, we stopped into Belk. First we were going to look for some comfy pants, but then, well, I got distracted. I remembered seeing this little set of Chanel minis in the other Belk in town, and I wanted to see all what was in it. When we got to the Chanel counter, I found out it was $105. Yeah, not happening. I don't even really like half the scents in it, anyway. But I did get a chance to test Coco Mademoiselle and Chance again, and I have come to the conclusion that the last time I tried Chance I must have actually tried Coco Mademoiselle (I did have three perfumes on one arm, after all), because tonight, well. Chance smelled horrible, and Coco Mademoiselle was heavenly. Creamy, yet spicy, yet soft and beautiful. It's the one for me. I just hope I'll actually be able to get it some day.

Anyway, after minor distractions, we got back on track and went to Target to find lounge pants. Well, I managed to find these super cute olive green lounge pants (Note: They didn't have a picture of the olive green ones online. But it's the same style as those purple ones.) that have this insane sailor leg. It's, like, bell bottom times five. So, so cute. And really flattering, too, actually. I also picked up some Nick & Nora flannel owl print pajamas, which are going to be great.

Well, that was my little shopping trip today. After the amount I spent in Trade Secret, I don't think I can do the RBL sale on Tuesday. It makes me sad, but oh well. Hopefully they'll have another sale someday.

Oh, and when I was at Trade Secret, I decided to ask about the coveted Mint Candy Apple. I was so worried that it had came and went and I had completely missed out on it. But no! The lovely saleswoman told me that she had no idea why they hadn't gotten Mint Candy Apple in yet, other than the fact that they're way backordered on the Essies for the store. She agreed that it was really strange, but she said they should have it hopefully before Christmas. Hooray!

Again, I won't be posting very much these next few days, due to being, you know, drugged up and passed out because of this whole wisdom teeth thing. I'll get back to posting as soon as possible, though!