It's Coming: get 20% off your next Beauty.com order

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And don't forget to use your Ebates to get 6% cash back on your total purchase!  

Nail Mail–Australian/German Edition!

I recently received two wonderful swap packages, one from Australia and one from Germany!  My Australian package came from Michelle, aka the Cosmetic Cupcake.  We did a blind swap and she picked out awesome polishes for me!!!  (and there was candy.  but i ate it!)

BYS Out of the Blue, UltraViolet, Blue Bang, Matte Deep Purple, Thunderstorm

BYS Cracked Finish Purple, Cracked Finish Black

Glitter Gal Blue, Ulta3 Lagoon, Ulta3 Little Boy Blue, Mode Style Magnet

Since she also received my polishes from me (which you can see here), I was able to pay with these pretties!  I will be showing you BYS swatches soon!

The polishes below were sent to me by the lovely Kesha of Nail Polish Obsession, who is a lovely American living in Germany.  She hasn't received my polishes yet, so for now I can only show you pictures!



p2 Bombastic Turquoise, p2 Gigantic, p2 Stormy, Barry M Silver Sea



Essence Nail Art Twins Thelma & Louise, Summer of Love - Woodstock, Cute as Hell - Naughty but Nice

Have you gotten any good nail mail lately?

xoxo,
polish insomniac!

Essie Winter 2010 Skittles

 Happy friday!  Yesterday I received my Essie 4-pack I got off evilbay.  I got such a good deal, I paid $6.99!  I wanted to share my first thoughts with you, I heard these are popping up at Ulta finally.

Left to Right

Masquerade Ball - two coats - flawless formula - even though i have a ton of colors like this I will probably buy this one full size cause I like it that much

Going Incognito - the token green - three coats - good formula - I like that it is not deep green - will buy a full size cause its green =)

Silken Cord - three coats - again flawless formula - in your face bright red, probably similar to the holiday ChGs - will pass only because I don't wear red much

Hot Coco - two coats - OK formula, a teeny bit thick but manageable - there are alot of these shades around now, and I own too many to buy another full size - need to do a comp!

SAVE $$$ with the Lippmann Layer Cake Set

For those of you out there lemming Lippmanns, but were hestitant about the price point, Nordstrom's is carrying an AWESOME gift set.

I personally own every single one of these colors already or I would buy it myself!

An uber-chic polish trio featuring Wicked Game (swirling lavender grey), Happy Birthday (party in a bottle) and Dark Side of the Moon (absolutely aubergine).

• 0.3 oz. each.
• $25.00

So for $25 you get to own three polishes.  (Who could use up an entire bottle of Happy Birthday anyways?)  Individually, the full size versions of these polishes would run you $50.00 for a total of 1.5 oz.  This set is $25.00 for 0.9 oz.  YOU DO THE MATH!

Po-lish Pol-ish!

I won these polishes from the lovely Sabbatha of Spooky Nails.  If you have never had a chance to check out her blog, I suggest you do it now!  Its addicting.  I won a giveaway of all Polish polishes (aka nail polish from Poland)!  And the colors she picked out for her giveaway?   I honestly cannot believe how much I like each and every single one of them!  I only swatched the two greens, and I cannot WAIT to wear them as full manis!From left to right:  Vollare Prestige, Bell Fashion Colour 303, Wibo Extreme Nails 78.

Vollare Prestige 404

Perfect grass green!

Two coats, awesome formula, no cleanup!

Bell Fashion Colour 303

I wore this polish for 3 days, which is unlike me!

Only minimal tipwear!  ♥ this one!

Wibo Extreme Nails 78

Excuse me, me and this polish are going to go get married.

Can you believe how frickin' beautiful this polish is?  Dusty and glittery at the same time!

Not only was it beautiful, the formula was great too.  And from what I understand, this is an inexpensive brand!

Sabbatha, any time you want to pick out colors for me, I will be there with bells on!

500 Followers Giveaway! CLOSED!

WOOT!  Today I crossed a milestone that I was not sure would ever happen!  And to celebrate that milestone, my 500th follower, I have three items to give, for three followers!
You choose which item you want to win!
CLOSED

You can choose between:

#1 – Urban Decay Apocalyptic Kit
#2 – Zoya Crystal (dupe for OPI Reflecting Pool)
#3 – MAC Jade Dragon

RULES:
1.  Must be a Google Friend Connect follower and provide a valid email address where I can contact you if you win.
2.  You must choose which prize you would like to win.

EXTRA POINTS
3.  Blog about this giveaway - or add it to your sidebar. (one point)
4.  Include a picture in your post. (one point)
5.  Tweet about this giveaway, and include @jbrobs in your tweet.  (one point)

Total Points Available:  4

Giveaway Ends:  November 15th, 2010

GOOD LUCK!

I haz a sad

 

Last week I was using the leaf blower and broke a nail.  How exactly, I have no idea!  But I was already in a bad mood, so when I went in the house I filed my nails all down.  NEVER file when angry!  I have super nubbins.  You will notice in the next few blog posts my nails go back and forth from short to long, I apologize in advance!

A spin on Syrup Nails...

I posted this on twitter last night to my friend G of Nouveau Cheap.  She loved my first syrup mani and even recreated her own!  She did a ton of research too, which I thought was really cool.  (Click here to see!)

I was going to just do a regular mani with Orly's It's Not Rocket Science, but when I did the first layer and saw how sheer it was, I wondered how it would work as syrup nails!  As G pointed out in her post, what works for one polish does not work on another, so I did not follow the same steps as last time.  And remember, the number of layers may sound like a lot, but the second layer is only a few centimeters long!  

• Step One - Thin layer, entire nail (I actually skipped base coat, in my experience the Orly Cosmix do not stain my nails)
• Step Two - Thin layer, bottom tip of nails.  My nails are rather short ATM, so your on layers may differ in size!
• Step Three - Thin layer, just above Step Two
• Step Four and Step Five - repeat Step Three, higher up on the nail each time.
• Step 6, of course, would be top coat.  Again I used Seche Vite, for its ability to dry so many layers quickly.

The best thing about this mani?  I did it in about 15 mins.  Unlike the polish I used before, I knew the Orly Cosmix dry rather quickly and I didn't have to wait in between layers.

I hope you liked my Swamp Nails!

xoxo,

polish insomniac

Chanel Sneak Peak!

photo credit:  French Vogue

*insert drool here*

This beautiful polish will be part of Chanel's resort collection, and will be available at Chanel boutiques in mid-November.  EDIT:  December 1st.  It was designed “to accompany the 70′s spirit, Peter Philips, International Director of Creation Chanel Makeup, imagined a baby blue nail polish that is reminiscent of the soft colors of Vichy.”


Please visit Michele's post here for more exclusive info, strait from Chanel!

2 More Butter London’s

Butter London Big Smoke

After my mom was kind enough to purchase All Hail McQueen and Yummy Mummy for me, I really really wanted more Butter London's!  I was able to place an order on Beauty.com, and between my Drugstore Dollars and a gift card from work (thank you!) I purchased Big Smoke, Victoriana, Marrow, and Twee!

Big Smoke was a polish I could not find any swatches of, so I kinda ordered it on blind hope.  Luckily, I really liked it!  Its not your standard navy, which I like.  (The colors above a very color accurate, BTW!)

The formula was great, and could be a one coater if you tried.  I only swatched this one, I did not wear it as a full mani, so I cannot speak to the wear time.

Butter London Victoriana

Victoriana is part of the fall collection, it was released with All Hail McQueen, Marrow, and Bumster.  I apologize that neither of these pics are that great, I had a hard time accurately capturing the color.

Out of all the polishes I have tried so far, I found this one to be super chippy.  Or should I say lifty.  It peeled right off!  However, it might have been the topcoat I was using (CC Vivid! TC).  Sometimes different formulas just don't play nice together.  I am going to try this again with SV - and hopefully better pics!

If your workplace gave out awards in the form of gift cards, would you try Butter London?
Which brand would you try for the first time if you had $50.00 to spend?

butter LONDON Yummy Mummy!

 

Yummy Mummy - Even if I didn’t like this polish, I think I would keep it just for the name!

All Hail McQueen vs. Yummy Mummy

I would describe Yummy Mummy as a shimmery nude.  I believe this was three coats.  This polish wore very very well on me.  Three BL’s down and no duds yet!  I hope the trend continues!

Mannequin Hands was not a trend I liked when it was popular last year (early 2010) but I think I could like it now!  My hands felt very ladylike.

Did you embrace the Mannequin Hands trend?  Or are you like me, and avoid trends like the plague?  Well, I shouldn’t say that.  I guess I just like to make up my own mind!

xoxo,

polish insomniac

The Brand Film of Illamasqua

I came across this video on the history of Illamasqua, very interesting! Its one of my ♥favorite♥ brands, in makeup as well as nail polish.

Have a Great Weekend!

butter LONDON All Hail McQueen!

I LOVE this polish.  LOVE!  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it!  All Hail McQueen (now only available as All Hail the Queen) was released as part of Butter London's fall collection, as a tribute to the late, great Alexander McQueen.  It was the first Butter London I ever tried.  I had heard bad things about their formula, but I decided to take a chance and try it out.  I am so glad I did!  Actually, to give credit where credit is due, my lovely mommy purchased it for me, along with another shade, Yummy Mummy.



This is three coats of polish, no base or top coat.  And to be honest, it really doesn't need a topcoat.  It dried to a hard, shiny, plastic-y finish.  Amazing formula, very sheer but buildable.  As with most "good" holos, it did need all three coats, but all three were well worth it.


In the shade, its still as beautiful, but ofcourse the holo is muted.

Notice how you can't see a single solitary ridge or imperfection?  The formula makes my nails look GOOD!

The only problem I had with the mani was the pinky, somehow I missed a whole corner of my tip!  User error, to be sure.

Butter London can be found through Nordstrom.com, Ulta.com, and Beauty.com

Syrup Nails with Butter London Stroppy

This was a really fun mani, I couldn't stop staring at my nails for days!

First off, Stroppy is one hella sheer jelly!  Here is what I did:
1st layer full coat each nail, let dry
2nd layer, tips only, or bottom forth of nail, I started where my vnl was
3rd layer full coat each nail, let dry
4th layer, bottom half of nail only
5th layer, full coat
6th layer bottom 3/4 of nail
7th layer SV

It wore like iron for 3 days, then I took it off.  I can't wait to try it again!

Illamasqua Swatches for Sephora Friends and Family, Part II

To see part one, click here!

Rampage, aka "The Jeebus" (jelly)

Baptiste (shimmer)

Muse (creme)

Force (creme)

Prism (layering polish) over Force

Illamasqua Swatches for Sephora Friends and Family, Part One

Happy Monday All!  Sephora’s F&F sale starts Friday and I wanted to post my Illamasqua swatches for you incase you are trying to plan what to buy!  If you have never shopped during F&F there are some FAQ’s at the bottom.



Illamasqua Collide (neon)



Illamasqua DWS (creme)



Illamasqua Fern (glass fleck)



Illamasqua Jo' Mina



Illamasqua Lament (creme)

 These FAQ’s were taken from a very helpful MUA’er, iwannabeakennedy.  They were posted yesterday on the Makeup Board.  I think she did a wonderful job and I wanted to share with all of you.

When is the Sephora F&F FF Friends and Family sale?
October 22 - November 3, 2010

What is Sephora FF F&F Friends and Family?
A code (FF2010) that will be valid online from OCTOBER 22 - NOVEMBER 3 that gives you 20% off your total purchase.
note: "friends and family" sales were traditionally discounts given to FRIENDS and FAMILY and loyal customers of a store as a reward and an incentive to get them to keep buying there. Has since then expanded to the hysteria we see on the boards.

Is the Sephora FF F&F Friends and Family valid in Canada?No. As far as I know it is United States U.S. only. (can someone confirm?)

What time zone and time of day does the Sephora FF F&F Friends and Family sale start?Midnight Pacific time - 3 a.m. Eastern, 2 a.m. Central, 1 a.m. Mountain, 11 p.m. Alaska, 9 p.m. Hawaii.

Is the Sephora FF F&F Friends and Family valid in store?
If you happen to find a generous/nice SA, have a friend/are friendly with an SA, or get a postcard in the mail, yes. Some people say they are VIB postcards only but I got one last year and am not and have never been VIB.

Is Sephora free shipping over $50 calculated before or after tax?Before.

Is Sephora free shipping over $50 calculated before or after discount?
Before.

How often will Sephora restock during the FF F&F Friends and Family sale?
We don't know. If you want something that is likely to sell out, order quickly!

MAC Bad Fairy

A HUGE thanks goes out to my great friend Jen for hooking me up with this polish!  You can see her post on Bad Fairy here.

Unless you have been living under a rock, I would assume you know about Bad Fairy.  Some of you may know too much about it and are sick of hearing and/or seeing it.  You can go ahead and skip this post then!

I don't have a ton of MAC polishes (this brings me up to four) or MAC makeup.  In fact, I didn't own a single piece of MAC until about 12 months ago!  I was attracked to this polish due to its originality (there are NO dupes) but did not plan on owning it.  I was too tired after the Chanel Khakis/Nars Vintage polish craze to try to get my hands on any of the VV collection.  Not to mention my poor wallet, which hadn't had the chance to recover yet!

Now that its mine, I am glad to have it.  I don't normally reach for red/orange/pink shades so this is a nice difference.

Enjoy your weekend!

xoxo,

polish insomniac

OPF by my great friend, DragonRhia!

Today I bring you another OPF (Other People’s Frankens).  This was sent to me by DragonRhia, the master franken!  Look how many goodies I received!

Isn’t she awesome for sharing so many of her frankens with moi?

The formula was great!  Please ignore the shrinkage, I forgot to thin my SV!  I wore this for two days with no chipping!

Have you made (or received) any great frankens lately?

xoxo,

polish insomniac

Layering for easier glitter removal!

I stopped into my local Cosmoprof last Friday to see if they had any of the OPI Burlesque glitters.  I was able to pick up Show It and Glow It and Shimmer and Simmer.  Immediately went home and did a glitter pedi, one color per foot!

As someone who changes their mani nearly every day, I didn’t want to be stuck removing three layers of glitter the next day.  After staring at the bottle of Show It and Glow it for some time, I chose OPI DS Extravagance as the base color.

I was able to get away with one coat of each, and topped it off with a layer of SV.  The next day when I removed the polish, it might have taken me just a few minutes extra, instead of ten or twenty!

Did you pick any of any of the Burlesque glitters?  Do you plan to wear them alone, or layered?  I would love to hear!

xoxo,

polish insomniac