Urban Outfitters Polish Haul and a Mermaid's Dream Dupe!

I went into Urban Outfitters for the first time yesterday and man, what took me so long? I've heard of UO and even browsed around their store online but never ventured into one before yesterday. I was super stoked to see they were having a sale and hooray! it included nail polish! I picked six different lacquers up, along with a nail art kit and a separate package of nail gems.

Left to right: Afterhours, Scorcher, Bright Lights, Sea Dust, Mystic and Lollipop

Afterhours 

Scorcher

This one looks a little like DL's Happy Birthday, but with a lot more silver micro-dust glitter.

Bright Lights

Somewhat similar to DB's Glitter in the Air, though this is more of a grey-tinted creme versus DB's blue. Bright Lights also has more primary colored glitter while Glitter in the Air sticks to light pastel metallic glitter. So...really similar in style but not at all in color =P

Sea Dust

This is my favorite of the six colors I picked up. Sea Dust is a definite dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Dream. I love the seafoamy green, shimmery color with small blue glitter particles. 

The boy actually got Mermaid's Dream as a gift for me last year, so I had it on hand for comparison! The top swatch is Mermaid's Dream, bottom swatch is Sea Dust. Pretty close!

Mystic

This was the hardest to photograph. A dark purple-blue jelly base with fiery orange flakies.

Lollipop

This one bears a resemblance to DB's Candy Shop. 

The nail art kit and the pack of gems are by npw. These are the first kits I've seen by the brand but they look promising. I can't wait to get a Mermaid themed-mani on my nails...the little star gems will be perfect paired with Sea Dust! I feel some inspiration coming on!

Until next time! What's on your nails? Have you found any fun new polishes lately?

Purple Passion

Hello, lacquer lovelies =)
Today's mani is an ombre done in shades of purple with a purple-gradient accent finger.

The purples used for this mani are all OPI. Middle finger - The Color to Watch

Ring Finger - Purple With a Purpose   Pinky finger - OPI Ink

Here's a close-up of my accent (pointer!) finger. I used the same colors as listed above, and I used It's Totally Fort Worth It as a base. I used a piece of makeup wedge sponge to get the gradient effect.

Hello Kitty always seems to find herself in my pics ;)

I used three coats each for my ring and pinky fingers, though two would've been fine for Purple With a Purpose. My middle finger is another story! The Color to Watch is suuuuuuper sheer...this is six coats. Six! and still pretty sheer.

The lineup, left to right: OPI Original Nail Envy, as a basecoat/strengthener

OPI The Color to Watch, OPI Purple With a Purpose, OPI Ink, and Essie Super Duper Top Coat for shine and a chip-free finish.

I'm off to watch some basketball with the boy and the pups...our team is kicking tail!

 Happy Friday!

Paint dipped tips

I've seen the paint drip manicure around blogland and Pinterest for months and I finally decided to give it a try!

For the base color I used Love Train from the Urban Decay Rollergirl collection. 

The drippy paint is The Impossible liquid sand from the OPI Mariah Carey collection.

It took about 3 coats of Love Train to get rid of any visible nail lines - it's a pretty translucent off-white shimmer. The Impossible only took one coat, though it needs a little touch up because of tip wear.

Overall, I think it turned out okay! I think the next time I try this design I'll go with something a little spookier....slimy green maybe =P

Monday's almost over...only four more days til the weekend! Now I'm off to cuddle my sweet bully babies and lust after all the indie polishes on my want list on Etsy...

 Sweet dreams of unique glitter polishes dancing in your heads! 

(at least that's what 's on mine!)

finally.....Liquid Sand!

I finally got my hands on a couple of the new OPI liquid sand lacquers! 

 OPI introduced the liquid sand lacquers as a part of the Mariah Carey collection. They have a fine, sand-like texture after they dry, with a matte finish. OPI suggests you apply a base coat, 2 coats of liquid sand and whatever you do, DON'T use top coat! Now, if you feel the need to use a top coat, I'm sure your mani will survive...you just lose the nifty matte finish.

The Impossible

I can't believe I almost passed this one up! The Impossible is a dark pink lacquer with small glitter particles and star glitter in the same color as the base. Pinks are not usually the first colors that catch my attention in any collection...I always gravitate towards the blues, greens and darker shades. Thankfully, a friend grabbed me and shrieked, "But there are stars in this!!!" Once I heard that, it didn't matter what color the polish was-I had to have it! I haven't worn this one yet, but after swatching it I will say that the stars are not easy to get out. It may be the consistency of the liquid sand polish that makes the bigger glitter particles sink to the bottom because it is fairly thin when applied. I had to dig around the bottle to get any stars out and I even tried shaking it pretty vigorously in an effort to try and loosen them up.

Stay the Night

Stay the Night has a black base with bright pink/red glitter. The glitter looks mostly red to me, but it all depends on the light.

Pink Yet Lavender

This is a clear-based polish with a large pink glitter, lavender and holo micro glitter. The micro glitter creates an almost frosty effect. Great for layering! This one is not a liquid sand, but is from the Mariah Carey collection.

The collection had a total of eight lacquers, four liquid sand and four regular. After playing with these liquid sand lacquers I'm convinced I need the other two! They have such a unique texture and look....and who can forget the stars?! Not me! Good job, OPI!

the honey challenge

as much as i love makeup and all things makeup, one thing i don't love is having to wear makeup. let me clarify-having to wear foundation, concealer and powder to cover up whatever imperfection(s) my skin is throwing my way that particular day. we have a love/hate relationship, me and this skin of mine. it is very sensitive and has frequent mood swings.

i was sharing my skin woes with my ma yesterday on our way to the gym after having woken up with a veritable garden of breakouts over my face that had just gotten out of control over the week. she has also fought her share of skin battles over the years.

she told me that my cousin (who is the same age as me, and is really like my sister) had been using a honey and lemon mix along with coconut oil and it was working great for her. i remembered pinning something like that from Pinterest, so when i got home i went digging through my boards to find it. i did find the honey lemon method, along with a few others. one site really caught my attention with a challenge - The Crunchy Betty Honey Challenge.

you basically wash your face with nothing but honey for 2 weeks. the kind of honey you use is very important, so if you're thinking of taking on the challenge or just giving it a shot, do a lil' research first! i was skeptical so i read through all the comments and looked at other bloggers that were doing the challenge or something similar. the results were across the board. the results did lean more towards good than bad, enough so that i've decided to give it a shot! i headed to Whole Foods to stock up on all the necessary ingredients i might need.

the most important thing i got: raw, unfiltered honey.

this is the honey that is supposed to be the best to use on your skin. it moisturizes while also helping to dry out any acne and helps heal and repair old acne scars and discoloration. 

so i'm off to try the honey wash...wish me luck!

has anyone else tried a honey wash or ever heard of it?

happy snaps for a dreary day

okay, i had one of those days today. you know the kind-the one where you start the day off by hitting snooze and drearily staring at the clock thinking, "do i really have to go back to work? my vacation didn't last long enough...waaaah!" remembering i still haven't picked up my migraine prescription refill and this headache creeping in at the edges on my consciousness has the potential to be a dragon instead of a lizard. then my baby Haze whined and thumped her tail on the floor, pulling me out of dreamland denial and out of bed to take her out in the frozen front yard to potty. it has finally gotten  c o l d  here in the south, y'all. i used to love the cold weather! now, i dread the ache in my bones and the stiffness in my right hand, the layering and layering of hoodies and jackets because i always forget to buy an actual coat. work was craaaaay-zy. i kept catching myself, exasperated and ready to snap. thankfully i had a few pics saved for moments like these when i just need to take a deep breath and relax-remind myself that everything will be okay. 

this is my sweet, 3 year old puppy daughter, Hazel Jade, a.k.a. Haze, Hazel-basil, Hazey, Princess and Sugarbear. yes, believe it or not, she answers to all of those names, haha. this sweet girl is the first one to greet me every morning. as soon as my alarm clock screeches the first time she is up and at my bedside, patiently waiting for me to get up and only whining, ever so quietly, when i'm moving too slow. she is the sweetest pup ever, and i'm not biased at all...wink wink.

this is Yota, our other sweet 7 year old puppy daughter. her original name was Toyota, but the to- got dropped for Yota pretty quick. she also goes by Yobear, PrincessYo and Snugglebear. she is fiercely protective of her mommy and daddy but is a secret softy that loves to snuggle. a pic like this is rare-she is the MASTER of avoiding face-on photos, so it always makes me smile =)
today was also my Ma's birthday. we celebrated yesterday since we both worked today and have opposing shifts. we went to our favorite Indian restaurant where we got the boy to actually try something new! this is always an incredible feat-he is very picky when it comes to foreign food he hasn't tried. it was delicious! 
sometimes we all just need to stop and take a step back from the fires you're trying to put out, or the stressful situation that has you pulling your hair, and take a deep breath! i have so much to be grateful for and even though i don't make practice making resolutions, i am vowing to try to be more positive. don't let the dreary days get you down! 
<3 kandy