NOTD: Milani Totally Cool

...Wow.

I'm truly stunned.


The only other purple I have that rivals Totally Cool's glittery awesomely awesomeness is Hot Topic's Iridescent Purple. They're not alike; Totally Cool has more of a jelly consistency and gold/pink duochrome glitter while Iridescent Purple has duochrome blue/purple glitter. The first coat is rather streaky but evens out to a semi-sheer (in bright light) finish at three coats.

I went to SEVERAL myriad drugstores before finding it recently at a Kmart. Was it worth the search and wait? YES. This is the best drugstore nail polish color I have ever encountered, hands down. This is not a must-buy, this is a get-in-the-damn-car-NOW-and-pick-this-up-buy!

The Asian Girl would like to take a moment...

to take a break from nail polish and talk about something serious:

"Swine" flu.

I know the press is inundated with doom and gloom about H1N1 swine influenza. Some people debate that it's overhyped, but I, however, am genuinely concerned about this outbreak. For those of you new to this blog, my degree was in community health education and thought about continuing my masters' in epidemiology. There's always been some "new" disease in the press, be it bird flu, Ebola, West Nile, mad cow, etc. However, I don't think we've seen the likes of swine flu in years (with the exception of HIV/AIDS, the hidden pandemic). The scary part to me is the human-to-human transmission which leads to community-wide outbreaks.

What can you do, as Jane or John Doe?

- While interning, I taught handwashing classes for local kindergarten classes. The same rules apply: wash your hands with soap frequently, especially after sneezing, coughing, working or playing outdoors, before and after eating and preparing food, after using the bathroom, touching public surfaces, and touching animals. Using soap is much more effective than washing with plain water since it prolongs the time taken to wash your hands, which promotes friction that helps alleviate germs.

- Avoid touching your face, eyes and nose. This is a frequent entry for infection.

- When coughing or sneezing, use a tissue and wash your hands afterwards. If a tissue isn't available, don't use your hands but use the crook of your elbow, which reduces your chances of transmitting germs to others.

- Pork is safe to eat, so dig into that pork chop.

I'm holding out hope that this will pass through soon and smoothly. I'm hoping our advanced technology and years of research will help out in these tough times.

Wish you all the best!

The Asian Girl

the NOLA curse lives on...

On Sunday, I ventured back out west to New Orleans for their Jazz and Heritage Festival (colloquially known as Jazzfest). I saw three bands at the Acura Stage (Kinky, Better Than Ezra and Dave Matthews Band). I was pleasantly surprised by Kinky, a Mexican rock/electronica band I'd never heard of before. Better Than Ezra rocked the house, but damn, DMB brought it down! My friends and I were one row away from the guardrail, not bad for $50 tickets!


I previously mentioned that I have a running streak of bad luck when it comes to nails in NOLA...this was no exception! While sitting and waiting for Better Than Ezra, I looked at my nail and found that it was broken! *facepalm* I just trimmed my nails after a minor break earlier this week. This time, this nail will just have to be shorter than everyone else; something its owner is quite familiar with. Luckily, it was on my right hand AKA my non-swatching hand.

shade

sunlight

My nail color for the weekend is from Chanel's new Celestial Lights collection: Cosmic Violine. It has a milk chocolate base; the overall color reminds me of rum raisin. The red glitter is similar to the Moscou collection's Feu de Russie. Both have the same lit-from-within quality; explosive without being gaudy.

glitter close-up

Feu de Russie

For most people, two coats should suffice; the application and formula rocks! I like my colors very opaque so I opted for three. When I first put it on; I'm not gonna lie, I was disappointed. I have an issue with browns; I feel that milk chocolate shades are too light for my skintone. This is the same reason why I rarely own anything brown: nail polish, clothing, shoes, purses, makeup, etc.; I have to have more of a contrast. I was hoping it was deeper, a la Zoya Kalista. However, the color grew on me during the weekend. It's not an overwhelming favorite, but it's definitely gorgeous. I've perused my collection; I don't have anything like it with the exception of Feu de Russie, a favorite of mine but with a black base.

Does anyone else have any recurring bad luck with nails? I love New Orleans, I just hate the effect on my nails!

Nail vs. Nail: Tiffany Blues

index, middle and left side of thumb: China Glaze For Audrey
ring, pinky and right side of thumb: Nina Ultra Pro In A Tiff

This picture isn't accurate; I feel that both colors are greener in real life. Even outdoors it has the same problem. For starters, In A Tiff has a subtle silver shimmer while For Audrey is a creme. The shimmer is so subtle that it's difficult to capture in a photograph. Both are absolutely stunning and worth owning.

According to Wikipedia, robin egg blue is trademarked by Tiffany & Co. If you can't have the blue box with a skating rink, own the polish!

Robin's egg blue reminds me of a favorite made-for-TV movie of mine...

MTV's 2Gether.

This movie is an underrated gem. It's a hilarious spot-on satire of the late '90s-early '00s boyband trend. It parodies the "personality types", dance moves, songs, and even the fabricated teen magazine interviews. The video/DVD is very rare along with the TV show that followed. Last time I checked, the full movie is on YouTube and will definitely elicit more than a few chuckles. Why does it remind me of the movie?

There's a bit of a misunderstanding during interviews on which color is each member's favorite ("There can't be any overlap!). This clip has it in full:



If you can't sit through the whole movie, here's their song which includes a few movie clips:



Damn, it kinda makes me miss the boyband days, lol.

It's not easy being purple--I mean, green...

Happy Earth Day! I totally missed out on all the awesome Earth Day promos thanks to work, but hopefully some of you bagged some freebies! There is one greener promo that's still in progress, and that's Zoya's exchange program! I asked one of Zoya's online customer service representatives when the deal ends, and I was told June 1!!! Take out those hated colors (*cough*Kotori*cough*) from your stash and add some new favorites!

For those of you lacking bottles to trade, scour a discount store, especially shopping outlets. At Bealls Outlet, I found a couple of 4-polish packages 50% off from 1.99! (They were really crappy and old Sally Hansen nail treatments.) Try some thrift shops and even garage sales! I wish I actually had enough gumption to wake up on Saturday mornings to peruse yard sales...I don't get enough sleep during the week as it is, so sleep wins out in this battle.

Here's a couple of suggested colors to trade for: Zoya Malia and Zara.


I still have mixed feelings about Malia...it's a pretty color, but I'm not sure if it's right on my skintone. Zara is already a favorite of mine; I find it unique being light purple with an awesome gold shimmer. I'm not a huge fan of cremes; I guess I really like shiny objects. I wonder if my nail polish addiction is a step above (or below) being distracted by shiny objects.

For those of you who often order online, here's a green tip for you: reuse those packing products! I keep the nail polish boxes for convenient packing and storage. I've even used a Zoya box with the packing peanuts for shipping a gift to a friend!

For more green tips, check out this new blog, Polish Our Planet! I got some great packing tips for my next Zoya exchange from Polish EarthGirl so go take a look!

FINALLY!!!

I definitely got an awesome haul on Monday...right when I gave up hope on Dollar Tree, it finally came through for me and I was met with a plethora of LA Colors Art Deco nail art polishes! I picked up 7 colors I didn't have--I already own white, gold glitter and black. I wandered into an ethnic independent beauty supply near the Oriental store I picked up some mangoes, then found some different nail polish brands...I found this iridescent glitter coral/pink from a brand called "Wild and Crazy" which had the Sinful Colors website on the label and a pastel yellow from a brand named "Tea Nail Hardener".

I also stopped by a thrift store after the beauty supply...I came out like a bandit! I picked up 10 Calvin & Hobbes treasury books for 69 cents each! I couldn't believe my ears when the cashier told me so!

I made an order at OC Nail Art Saturday night and it arrived Monday afternoon! Talk about quick service! Check it out; if you use the promo codes casuallavish or polishpixie, you'll receive 20% off and free shipping is included with orders over $20! That's an awesome deal! I now have Konad plates m60, m64, m65 and m73.

Some things headed toward your way this week: the return of Nail vs. Nail (sparkling whites and a certain blue jewelry box), more Konad and awesome purples! Maybe this time my camera won't take all weekend to load up my pictures...

OPI DS Dazzle + Konad + Nail Art

Wow, The Asian Girl, delving deeper into Konad AND nail art?! Say it isn't so!

I'm so psyched about my recent breakthroughs with Konad that I ordered four more plates from OC Nail Art! Casual Lavish has paired up with them for a phenomenal deal; 20% off your purchase plus free shipping for orders over $20! Four plates cost me 22 bucks and some change with the discount; not bad at all!


I used plate m57 and OPI DS Fantasy. OPI DS Fantasy is one of my Konad favorites; it looks spectacular when used over dark colors. DS Dazzle's all-out flamboyance takes away from Fantasy's subtle charms; it glitters over Zoya Kalista:


I didn't think this was enough, so I busted out my silver Stripe Rite from Sally:


I'm so excited to finally get my nail art groove back! I'm even more pumped for my upcoming packages!

Hi, I'm the Asian Girl, and I'm a SMRT* Award winner!

*The SMRT Award is a personal joke between my baby sister, her best friend Evil and myself. When someone does something that is obviously, well, stupid, we usually retort with "SMRT!" We pronounce it "smurt"; it rhymes with "Smurf".

Why am I worthy of a SMRT Award?

I've been having difficulties with ordering through Head2Toe using my debit card. My card kept being declined despite it having more than enough to cover the cost. 2 weeks ago, I called their customer service up, trying to see what the trouble was, but it was too late in the day to get anyone on the phone. Fast-forward to today and I had the same trouble. Finally, I used my credit card in vain, which was also declined. I then noticed what my problem was: My debit card's CVC number was worn down, so I was using the three digits BEFORE it. Thanks to this problem, I missed out on Essie Greenport, Color Club Revvvolution and Orly Mint Mojito. DRAT!

Oh, well. Of the three, I'm only really disappointed with not getting Revvvolution. I wasn't absolutely crazy about Greenport and I already have MAC Peppermint Patti. Prior to figuring out the card problem, I already began my next Zoya exchange haul as well, so I think I might be okay after all.


My NOTD is an oddball of the OPI Designer Series family. The now-discontinued Dazzle is stunning pink glitter jelly. I call it an oddball because unlike the other DS polishes I own, there are no holographic features. It's pretty and sparkly, but I don't think it's worth the DS price or the ridiculously-gouged prices it probably commands on eBay. It's similar to Zoya Lindsay, which is more of a true jelly than Dazzle. If you've got a lemming for this, Zoya Lindsay isn't an exact dupe but is much more affordable and is attractive in its own right. I bought my bottle used at a nail salon for a crazy bargain price.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of you who showed concern for my health! You guys rock! I'm finally feeling better thanks to a cocktail of sinus and allergy meds. Watch out for those sinus meds though, I had to go home early from work because the sinus meds practically knocked me out.

...On sick leave :(

Hey readers!

I'm battling a bug known as Florida pollen. Not only do I work at a golf course, I've been exercising outdoors as well, which led to a deluge of that dastardly pollen. My allergies are kicking into overdrive along with minor pains and aches that follow the first workout after months of sitting on my butt with my nail polish. I've got plenty of pics (even Konad!) to follow up with, so stay tuned! I'm gonna kick pollen's butt with a cocktail of allergy meds, just you watch!

Love,

The Asian Girl

An Easter miracle...

Note: This was supposed to come out on Easter Sunday, but I had major camera problems that weren't resolved until this morning. I think it may be time for an upgrade...

While people may grumble about the commercialization of holidays in general, especially Christmas, I like the message of Easter. No matter what religion (or lack of) you subscribe to, I feel like everyone can relate to new beginnings and second chances. Today, I got out early from work, I got to attend Easter Mass AND I had my first fast food meal (McD's double cheeseburger meal with some chicken nuggets, what!) in 40 days...things couldn't get any better!


I finally made peace with my Konad. I tried Brooke's tip which suggested using an old credit card instead of the tradition Konad scraper. FINALLY, I had crisp Konad transfers!

It gives me great pleasure to say this: Konad and I are going to be okay.

The base color is Nina Ultra Pro In A Tiff. I am VERY impressed by this color. Unlike China Glaze's For Audrey (visual comparison to follow in a future post!), In A Tiff exhibits a very subtle white shimmer. While For Audrey requires three coats due to streaks, In A Tiff is opaque in TWO COATS! After my fiasco with the Claire's pastels, I'm still a little wary of pastels, so I was excited to see In A Tiff's application.


I used Konad plate m57 and China Glaze Awaken for the animal print. A couple of my nails were a bit imperfect, so I used China Glaze Wireless Holographic top coat to help deflect from the ragged edges from my Konad stamping. I found that this reminded me of a Victoria's Secret bra of mine...

Easter Sunny Side Up

I will readily admit, I am nail art challenged. On the other hand, I wanted to take the Easter route of nail art but not delve into the traditional "Easter eggs" or pastels. Don't get me wrong, I love me some pastels, but I wanted to offer you readers out there my take on a holiday otherwise filled with chocolate and bunnies.

Thus I present to you, Easter Eggs Sunny Side Up:


5 mornings out of the week, I am surrounded by eggs. While I cook eggs most mornings, my dad can still kick my butt with a perfect sunny-side up egg. The base color is 3 coats of Essie Marshmallow and the yolk is a dab of Essie Shorty Pants. I added one more coat of Marshmallow over the nail to mimic the light basting of oil over the sunny side of the egg.

Thanks to this post, I've given myself a craving for (real) sunny side up eggs. Have a happy Easter!

Recent drugstore finds...

Back in February, I pondered if anyone else remembered the mid-1990s trend of scented nail polish. Well, guess what, it's back! Back then, the trend was mimicking popular scents such as Tommy Girl and CK One. Revlon's new line, Fruitful Temptations, has brought the scented polish back to life! I picked up Not So Blue-Berry, a light blurple duochrome jam-packed with silver shimmer. If I were to pick by smell, I would've picked another but I prefer a unique color to smell.

The smell? Well, it smells...like berry, I guess. Kind of how a berry-flavored cereal kind of tastes like berries...but not really. Obviously its a lab-created scent, so a realistic smell isn't the real goal here. It's rather pleasant, yet kind of strong.

...Until you eat. That's the kicker for me. After taking these pictures, I decided to stop by a gas station for some Cajun boiled peanuts. Never had boiled peanuts? Well, let me tell you about these awesome briny gems from the Deep South...it doesn't taste like those peanuts you get in a can. They're mushier and salty, if done right. I buy a 32 oz. cup from a local gas station that is HEAVILY spiced with red chile pepper flakes. It's not for the faint of heart. However, after I popped open the shell then went to eat those delicious goobers...something wasn't right. I didn't get my usual earthy/spicy aroma, I smelled...fake blueberries. :X ...Weeeird.

The day I bought the polish, I swatched it on a plastic nail tip and left it on my desk. My baby sister later asked me to accompany her to the grocery store to satisfy her sudden craving for Trix cereal. I told her about the new polish and she exclaimed, "THAT'S WHAT I SMELLED! I smelled something that reminded me of Trix and I HAD TO HAVE IT NOW!"


I also picked up two other polishes, Sinful Colors' Purple Diamond and Glass Pink. These were my first Sinful Colors purchases and I was pretty impressed with them. Since both of the ones I picked up are relatively sheer, I need to pick up other colors to accurately judge the brand, but I've heard great things from you readers and fellow bloggers out there :) Both have a similar silver shimmer/microglitter finish like Not So Blue-Berry. I picked Glass Pink because it bears similarity to Nicole by OPI's Dream Maker. I don't know about y'all, but I'm not down with paying $6.99 for a drugstore brand. I've dropped some serious cash for Chanel (with a few disastrous results), but I just can't stomach that for Nicole by OPI. I get annoyed by the fact that Sally Hansen is getting real uppity with their prices!

Speaking of Sally Hansen, I bought one of their nail art pens as well. I finally tracked down the white pen the same time I picked up all the other colors. It is shown as a French tip under Sinful Colors Glass Pink. I used it for a quickie French manicure today, but the wear sucked. Granted, I applied the nail art pen without a base coat and only used one coat of OPI Nail Envy over it. (I've been suffering from a horrible case of nail procrastination.)

I had the worst luck with nail products today! Not only did I spill nail polish (China Glaze DV8 and White-Kwik-Silvr), I also spilled a copious amount of nail polish remover! Luckily it was just a cheap side table, but UGH! Not to mention, thanks to these spills, I completely ruined my manicure. After redoing this certain mani TWICE, I decided to switch to Lancome Midnight Glam and China Glaze Rated Holographic.


I found Lancome Midnight Glam at TJ Maxx for $7.99 this weekend. It reminds me of Chanel Blue Satin, but a little more blurple. I don't own Blue Satin, but I kind of wish I did now; it would be better than the US Vamp I DID pick up instead the day I planned on buying it. It reminds me of a darker OPI Russian Navy, which it looks like in the bottle. However, on the nail, Midnight Glam has less purple than Russian Navy. China Glaze Rated Holographic was picked up at a nail salon. Rated Holographic is part of the sadly discontinued Kaleidoscope collection. If you love holo and don't have any Kaleidoscopes, get one NOW! While I'm not a big fan of Rated Holographic's shade of pink, the crazy glittery holographic goodness makes up for it. I found this gem at a nail salon. While most of the other colors I bought were used, this baby was not!

Next up, if my Konad skills willing: Easter nail art! I have a feeling I may have jinxed myself already...

Kreative Blogger Award

I'm REALLY late to the party with this, and I apologize to Colette who nominated me for this award!

7 Things That I Love:

Well, just let me preface that the big three (God, fam and friends) are not included in this list. I STILL LOVE 'EM!

1 - Well, obviously, nail polish! Addicted since February 2007 :)
2 - Peanuts--I've covered this on my post about MAC Peppermint Patti.
3 - The beach--during beautiful days at the beach, my friend, a Michigan transplant, will say in response, "We LIVE here!"
4 - Food--I love it, the end.
5 - I know this goes with food, but I can't get enough of cajun boiled peanuts. Not just any boiled peanuts, but from a nearby gas station that gives them plenty of spice. I write this because I plan on buying some in a few minutes.
6 - Reading--I have so many books that I've run out of bookcase space. Next to a colossal mess and nail polish, books are the most prominent things in my room.
7 - Sunshine--Rainy/cloudy days just put me in a shitty mood. You know that Carpenters' song? Yeah, rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

7 Random Blogs That I Love (but there's more on the left!):

1 - My Simple Little Pleasures
2 - Nail Juice
3 - Getcha Nails Did
4 - The Great Lacquer Hunt
5 - Decorative Diva
6 - Bring On The Bling
7 - Dr. Frankenpolish

MY FIRST FRANKEN!

I was inspired by Amanda at Dr. Frankenpolish's NARS Zulu franken. For those of you new to nail polish, Zulu is an outrageously hard-to-find polish that can go for over $80 on eBay (if it can even be FOUND on eBay to begin with). It is an exquisite dark green jelly; not $80 exquisite, but definitely a looker. While there are other colors that I vow to own one day, I know it is highly unlikely that I will ever own a bottle of Zulu unless the impossible happens and NARS re-releases it. I've long come to terms with it. Amanda's franken is amazing; the base of her version looks a lot brighter than mine. Mine turned out to be more forest green and opaque, as seen here:


I'd like to apologize for the RIDICULOUS bubbling. Yesterday while at a local thrift store, I found some serious deals. I think one of their regular donors must be a either a salon owner or a supply dealer, because I found a big cardboard box that also contained smaller cardboard boxes with 6 half-empty (or half-full?) bottles of Poshe. I don't think they were previously used (yuck!) but really old (the bottle doesn't look like the current one). I bought a box of 6 for 89 cents! Not 89 cents EACH, but 89 cents for all 6! INSANE! I bought a bottle of nail polish thinner at Sally and thinned them all out to perfection :) However, prior to the thinner, I attempted to use the bottle as-is which led to bubbles. I also picked up two 200-count boxes of nail tips for swatching purposes, which helped out tremendously with frankening.


While it is not the exact Zulu, I really like it. I kinda made a huge batch so I might tinker with some of it a little bit more since I have acquired yet another bottle of Hard Candy Trailer Trash. I bought another bottle because it had the matching jelly ring; something my original bottle lacked. Now that I've dipped my toes into the frankening process, I wonder what else I can make...

Will be back tomorrow!

Despite the lack of posts, nail polish has not been far from my mind. I've got some great goodies coming up: my first frankenpolish, the return of scented nail polish, extraordinarily cheap finds and a few great dusties! Have no fear, The Asian Girl is here! :)

2007-2008 Top 20: #1 Chanel Kaleidoscope

First off, I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts lately; I'd like to blame the crazy amount of rain that has drenched the Southeast US but also extreme procrastination. On to the nail polish!

Drumroll, please...


If I ever had to pick only one color of my nail polish collection to keep, this is it.

I can't really describe in words how much I *love* Chanel Kaleidoscope. It changes from silver to a greenish-pewter and the finish morphs from a burnished metal to sparkles in different lighting. This IS worth the Chanel price. The Polish Addict has great alternatives to Kaleidoscope for those like me who can't bite the eBay bullet. This color means so much to me that I might be willing to get a backup bottle before the price gouging goes out of control. The closest alternative I've seen is Black Radiance Bold & Sexy Sensual (pictures coming soon!). Sensual's color is more silver than pewter/platinum, but has the glittering, gorgeous finish of Kaleidoscope. And if you can track down Black Radiance at your local retailer, it's only $3.99!


When I get into a nail polish slump (which I have been in recently :X), I reach for Kaleidoscope and it reminds me why I started loving nail polish to begin with. It's my instant pick-me-up :)