"After this one, you're gonna need a root canal..."

Hey!!! How's everyone doing? School and work have taken over my life...again. But don't worry, I still seek refuge in nail polish!

Back in February, I talked about Hard Candy Sky...guess what, Hard Candy is now available at select Wal-Marts! For those of you fairly new to nail polish, Hard Candy was a huge trend back in the '90s with their out-of-the-ordinary pastel polishes. Urban Decay also came to prominence around the same time (coincidentely, UD has also released new polishes, albeit minis).

I heard the news back in August, so I started stalking a few local Wal-Marts. Sorry for the low quality pics, I only had my Blackberry on hand.

9/17/2009 :(

9/24/2009 :D

Lava: red/gold glitter; slightly orange-y redFishnet: red creme

Pretty in Punk: hot pink creme

Date Night: mauve-pink glitterHypnotic: dusty pink with gold shimmerSplendid: sunny yellow creme

Sweet P: lime green glitterEnvy: blackened green shimmer

Frenzy: teal cremeMr. Wrong: purple/gold foil-ish microglitterMr. Right: blurple shimmer

Hot Pants: hexagonal and small glitter in a purple jelly baseRumor Mill: vampy purple creme (similar to OPI LPAD)Break Up: hexagonal and small glitter in a translucent white base

Sugar Daddy: white with gold shimmerThe End: black creme

I only bought Mr. Wrong and Envy, the two standouts of the collection. Envy reminds me of satin sheets...it's a rich, blackened green similar to Wet 'N Wild Craze Morbid but more of an emerald green sheen. Mr. Wrong is unlike anything in my collection...it has light purple and gold flaky microglitter which gives it a foil-like texture. I have a feeling I may end up impulsively buying Lava in the future since I have a weakness for red glitter polish. I didn't really feel any of the cremes; Splendid and Frenzy look nice but they remind me too much of Zoya Pippa and Color Club Bizerk Turq. That, and I'm not much of a creme person.

The rings suck. I think it was just thrown in for familiarity with the old brand. They're made of hard plastic and do not stay on the cap securely. I'm guessing they added shrink wrap to secure the rings and to keep those pesky tweens from "sampling" the polish on the display or on themselves.

The makeup line looks REALLY tempting but I'm on a strict no-buy. I told myself if I won Chanel Holographic on eBay, I would be on a 2-week no-buy and on restriction for another two weeks. This is my only indulgence for now! I hope you find Hard Candy at your local Wal-Mart; I hear it was only released in 3000 stores. Keep your eyes peeled!

The crown jewel of my collection...

I don't say that statement lightly. During my hiatus, I've accumulated quite a few amazing HTFs, but this one takes the cake. I mentioned back in February that I had a line when it came to spending on a nail polish, but I crossed it and then some for this. I had Essie Starry Starry Night as my main lemming because I never thought I'd actually get the chance at Chanel Ciel de Nuit.


Ciel de Nuit was born from a Seventeen magazine/Chanel contest back in 1997. They revived the contest last fall with Haute Chocolat winning out. I clearly remember seeing this color in Seventeen but it was too expensive for 12-year-old me. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it), the 24-year-old me decided to throw caution in the wind when she saw it up on eBay. I spent an insane amount for this...if you're curious, look at recent eBay auctions for this color. It will make you gasp in horror.

I own 3 polishes similar to Ciel de Nuit and I'm sad to report that none of them live up to it. Both Jessica Twilight and Naturistics Crystal Blue Pearl are jellies but lean closer to indigo/violet. Maybelline Twinkle Twinkle is more blue but isn't a jelly.

For some reason, a few John Mayer lyrics came to mind after looking at this color in person for the first time...

"I know you're mine, all mine, all mine
but you look so good it hurts sometimes..."

No pics...yet!

I'm so excited that I couldn't wait to post...my Rescue Beauty Lounge blogger polishes arrived today!!! :D

I haven't had time to try them on myself, but just enough time to swatch on nail tips...wow! I was a little worried about Orbis Non Sufficit and Mismas being dupeable, but they greatly exceeded my expectations...they are both one-coater cremes! The formula on these two are a great testament to why RBL is considered the gold standard for nail polish application.

And Scrangie...words cannot describe this shade. If you have to splurge on ONE high-end polish this year, Scrangie is IT! There is nothing out there similar; it is one of a kind! I've seen quite a few pictures of the three blogger polishes on the nail board, but it's still a joy to see them in person. Pictures don't do any of these polishes (ESPECIALLY Scrangie) justice.

After months of waiting, I finally found the Tracy Reese Sally Hansen Salon polishes! There's a CVS on my way to Pensacola Beach at Gulf Breeze proper that I make a point to attempt to visit every time I'm in the area. This little ritual of mine began when I found the fall 2008 Barielle Shades collection there back in March, so it's kind of my drugstore polish good luck charm. I picked up Night Hydrangea and Honeydew.

I'll try to get some pics up as soon as I can! I've been pretty busy between work and class, so please bear with me!

"It's what's inside that matters."

I received some samples from Diamond Cosmetics and I must say, I'm extraordinarily impressed. At first glance, the bottles of Diamond Cosmetics are relatively nondescript. However, once you apply...wow!


Don't Teal My Heart Away is a pretty creme teal. Teal is also the color of Ovarian Cancer awareness...Diamond Cosmetics will donate $0.25 with each bottle sold of this color.


Hue Are You is a burgundy with a gold shimmer...it has a gorgeous foil-like finish.


My personal favorite is Hot Summer Pink, part of their Summer 2009 collection. It's a neon pink with a bit of a blue flash. As with most neons, it can't be captured accurately; it GLOWS!


After seeing Oh, Tiff I had to compare with other popular Tiffany blues. On my index finger is three coats of China Glaze For Audrey, which is darker and more blue than Oh, Tiff. Three coats of Oh, Tiff is on my middle finger. The ring finger is two coats of Nina Ultra Pro's In A Tiff which is slightly lighter. Just for kicks, I applied 4 coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge's Bikini Bottom, a sheer jelly, on my pinky finger.

You can pick up any (or all, I highly recommend them!) of these polishes at www.diamondcosmetics.com for $2 each. There are a few colors at $2.50, but none of the above. Not only do I recommend them, I came back and bought a few more, especially this gem:


While I love OPI My Private Jet, it's just too sheer. A long lemming of mine, Color Club Revvvolution, was a disappointment. Chainmail Charm, in my opinion, is the best charcoal/black holo I've had the pleasure of using. It applies well and only needs 3 coats for opacity...all for $2. So what are you waiting for?!

Revlon's Runway Collection and reasons why I may need a dunce cap

Back in the day as a wee nail-biter, I used to fantasize about having long, elegant nails. I was especially envious of acrylic nails...I wanted a perfect french manicure. My parents were (and still are) very frugal, so there was no way my middle school nails were getting done at a salon. My cousin obtained a Fing'rs press-on nails kit, thus my quest for the perfect (plastic) manicure began.


I had the same issues at 24 with these nails like I did with the Fing'rs nails I used at 12: they're too curved. My nails are flatter, so I get dreaded bubbles. As you can see, only my pinky nail escaped that fate, but with only 24 nails a pack, you only get one shot to get them glued on correctly. Considering that this is a repeated problem for me; is it just me or do I need a dunce cap? Please heed that this is someone who has trouble with her Bumpits.

Check out the detail though...I'm impressed! These aren't the staid French manicures of my youth. I wish they did work out better for me; if anything for the gorgeous designs!

One last thing: I wish these came with the adhesive stickers as well as the glue. I've never been a fan of nail glue since it requires acetone to soak it off. The less damage to natural nails, the better, I say. Other than that, it's a lot quicker, cheaper and will damage your nails a lot less than acrylics, so it's a nice change of pace.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

Wow.

I haven't posted since May, but nail polish hasn't been far from my thoughts...in fact, the very opposite. In fact, I've had to move on from my cassette tape cabinet into some new digs...



I found this in Target for $30...I think the capacity is similar to a Helmer. Unfortunately, the closest Ikea is 6 hours away in Atlanta, so I have to make-do somehow. :)

I've been trolling around a bit, sometimes on Makeupalley and posting a random comment here or there on my fellow bloggers' sites. It's been a crazy summer to say the least thanks to work and the occasional crazy stuff that pops up in my personal life. However, there's something else that will be taking up my time: it's official today...I'm returning to school on August 24. I finally took the plunge and I'll be starting classes toward a GIS (geographic information systems) certificate.

Some recent observations about nail polish:

1...Matte is EVERYWHERE! I swore I'd never get an OPI matte, but I'm really interested in La Paz-itively Hot. I'm considering buying Essie's Matte About You topcoat but I'm perfectly happy with my Nubar V For Men.

2...Zoya, Zoya, Zoya! If you follow nail polish and/or the MUA nail board, you've heard about Zoya's 5000 Twitter offer. My only regret about this offer was that I wish I knew that I could use the $18 credit toward Zoya Remove+ (the BEST nail polish remover EVER) instead of three free polishes. Honestly, I own more than enough Zoya polishes; I took clear advantage of the polish exchange...unlike some unsavory folks taking advantage of circumstances...but I digress.

3...Victoria Nail Supply. I'm very impressed by their quick availability, exceptional customer service and prompt delivery.

4...Wet 'N Wild Craze. While it's probably one of the cheapest drugstore brands, Wet 'N Wild does not scrimp on quality. Black Creme is one of the easiet-to-apply and opaque black polishes out there (perfect for frankening/layering purposes). I was lucky to find Craze at my local Walgreens (yet I felt a bit insane for calling them and asking if they had them in stock). It's still summer yet I'm already wearing Morbid, a fantastic blackened forest teal. The Craze polishes are worth it; they're cheap ($1.99!!!) and a dream to apply.

5...Chanel Jade. Okay, shoot me now...I've caved into green madness. I've obtained a couple of green HTFs (OPI Jasper Jade and Hey! Get In Lime!) and now I'm officially a green convert. I don't know about y'all, but I want Jade NOW! I didn't buy into any of Chanel's summer or fall lines (but I did get two of the disappointing Tokyo Happening polishes). I wasn't too thrilled about Orange Fizz (but picked up a much cheaper alternative; Wet 'N Wild Blazed), Golden Sand was too similar to last summer's Antilope, Intermezzo is supposedly a pain to apply, and I found Gondola too close to Cosmic Violine. October can't come fast enough...

I'll be posting again from time to time. I have tons of pics and reviews that haven't hit the internet yet, so stay tuned!

Més que un club

My favorite soccer team, FC Barcelona, won the Champions League title today (well, night in the EU now). In celebration of their victory over Manchester United, I created an appropriate manicure:


The blue is China Glaze Blue Sparrow while the garnet is China Glaze Crystal Ball. But let's dress this down a bit...


I wasn't feeling the matte trend at first, but I'm hooked! I absolutely adore Nubar V For Men, a matte finish nail protector. For those of you not willing to drop over 20 bucks for KO's matte polishes, this is the way to instant matte goodness! I doubt I will buy from OPI's upcoming matte line because the colors I would've most likely acquired are already part of my collection. Why drop $8.50 when I can spruce up my own polish? Have you opened up to matte yet? Why or why not?

TODAY ONLY!!! 30% off at LindsayLou.com!

For those of you like myself who missed out on Rescue Beauty Lounge's awesomely awesome 50% off sale (Curse you, job!), LindsayLou.com is having a Memorial Day sale today. 30% your entire purchase! While they do have Rescue Beauty Lounge, Recycle and Grunge are out of stock. :( They are also offering FREE FedEx ground shipping! So what are you waiting for?!

I finally took the plunge and acquired a couple RBL bottles for myself...I've been lemming Bikini Bottom and Square Pants since I saw them on The Polish Addict last summer. Now they're all mine!!! *evil laugh*

I've read that many nail bloggers considered RBL (and Lippman, another plunge to take in the future) as the gold standard for a nail polish formula: I'm a believer. This is the least fussiest yellow I've dealt with and NO STREAKS!

Here is RBL Square Pants topped with Nubar Angelic Glitter:


Finally, I'd like to take the time to remember the men and women who are serving the US abroad and those who have died in the line of duty. For more information on Memorial Day, check out this article at Time.com. Hope you're enjoying your Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

The month of May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the US. The first week of May was chosen due to the first Japanese immigrants in the US arriving on May 7, 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (thanks to many Chinese laborers) on May 10, 1869. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) In commemoration of this month, I tinkered around with some nail art:


colors used: Essie Marshmallow, Essie Mesmerize, China Glaze Cherry Pie and L'Oreal Bijou Gems B. Outrageous

My parents immigrated to the US from the Philippines in 1981 and 1982 respectively. I've never traveled there, but I look forward to in the future and hope I will be accompanied by my parents. Even though I was raised in the US, my parents never let us forget our heritage. I figured, since I'm "The Asian Girl", I better put it to good use and spotlight my heritage and all the varied yet equally fascinating cultures that make the US a melting pot.

It's been a while since my last post, and wow, have I been amassing some serious nail goodies (RBL, Nubar, even more Zoyas, etc.). I'm also on MUA now as theasiangirl, so I'll be around! Hope y'all have a great (and safe) Memorial Day weekend!

Nail vs. Nail: White-Kwik-Silvr vs. Sugar Daddy and other minty concoctions...

After seeing China Glaze White-Kwik-Silvr on Perfectly Polished Tips, I HAD to have it. I found it at (used) at a local nail salon along with OPI DS Dazzle. Unfortunately, after I put it on at home, I was a bit disappointed.


index, middle and left side of thumbnail: China Glaze White-Kwik-Silvr; ring, pink and right side of thumbnail: Misa Sugar Daddy (please excuse the smudges; they both require four coats)

It's a dupe for Misa Sugar Daddy.

Misa Sugar Daddy is part of the Misa Sugar Sugar collection. I picked up 5 out of 6 thanks to the awesome promotion back in December. I was inspired by The Polish Addict's amazing swatches, including some of the sheers layered over black. Sugar Daddy is a touch more opaque than White-Kwik-Silvr but both remind me of glittery snow.

Speaking of snow...I got some great news from the people at Baskin-Robbins!

I mentioned in a recent post about how my heart was broken when I saw that York Peppermint Patty was pulled from the lineup. Two days later, someone from Baskin-Robbins found my post on Google Alert and let me know that it wasn't discontinued, but merely seasonal and is available NOW! I shall be calling my local Baskin-Robbins and see if I can get my ice cream fix ASAP...

As a side note, I also received an amazing green in the mail today: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. I really wanted it last year but all of the local Sally Beauty Supply stores ran out of them almost immediately. I've only been ordering nail polish from online suppliers recently, so most of them stopped selling Emerald Sparkle by then. I can see what the hoopla was all about; it's insanely gorgeous. I'll post up pics in due time :)

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom only wears nude pinks and sheers, so I've posted up a couple of colors I own that I think would suit her:

Chanel Allegoria

Allegoria isn't a bad color (albeit boring), but is a major pain to apply. This is one of the streakiest polishes I have ever encountered. I have on Barielle Camouflage underneath to help balance this out along with four coats of polish. It is currently part of Chanel's Celestial Lights collection. The price isn't justified, so move on to the queen of these colors: Essie.

Essie Mademoiselle

I bought Mademoiselle after seeing The Polish Addict's great French manicure tips. It's a sheer jelly pink. Mademoiselle might be streaky, but it's not quite as bad as Allegoria. A base coat of Camouflage will help out greatly. However, Allegoria is more opaque and is probably better for "regular" use, but Mademoiselle is perfect for French manicures.

Even if you don't wear basic colors like these, I wish a happy Mother's Day to my mom, your mom (no pun intended, lol), and all moms everywhere!

Just another lazy day here at Gettin' Nailed...

Rules:

1. Respond and rework: Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other people.

What is your current obsession? Searching for discount polish...anytime, anywhere!

What is your weirdest obsession? Rearranging my polish collection and tabulating its exponential growth on an Access database and Excel spreadsheet.

What are you wearing today? Right now? A red halter bikini.

What's your favorite comfort food? Filipino food (i.e., chicken adobo with rice, arroz caldo or pancit palabok) or fast food

What would make today special? A cheeseburger from the Oval Office (a local burger joint in my hometown)

What would you like to learn to do? Get my golf game going, figure out my career path, finally get some crisp Konad transfers

What's the last thing you bought? A Liquid Sunshine from The Dock at Pensacola Beach...but I bought some awesome NYX Girls polishes at an independent beauty supply earlier today!

What are you listening to right now? My friend is in her bedroom watching Californication on DVD. I will probably listen to some DMB on my way home.

What is your favorite weather? 75-80 degrees; typical NWFL April weather...we are now approaching summer so now it's in the high 80s.

What is your most challenging goal right now? Figuring out my future. It's a pretty rough economy and I really don't know what I want to do career-wise, even though I am now a college graduate.

What do you think about the person who tagged you? I wasn't actually tagged, but I think Pink Sith is pretty cool. I do love her logo, though.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would it be? NEW ORLEANS AND BARCELONA. For those of you new to the blog, I freakin' love New Orleans and try to head out there when I can. If I could get permanent residency/dual citizenship in the EU, I would love to live in Barcelona. Spain is gorgeous and cheap(er) for the EU.

If you could swap lives with anyone for one day who would it be and why? I honestly wouldn't want to swap lives with anyone else. We all have our own monkeys on our backs...same shit, different person.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? An awesome tapas bar in Spain...I want some yummy (and not too heavy) grub right now! Throw in a couple glasses of wine and I'm set!

What would you like to have in your hands at right now? A confirmation that my school loans have been paid in full; w00t!

Which language do you wanna learn? Spanish, German, Tagalog

What do you look for in a friend? A compatible personality. I need someone who just "clicks". Other traits are negligible; I collect some pretty random friends.

Who do you want to meet in person? An online friend of mine who urged me to study abroad for a full year before I finally mustered up the balls to do so myself. I'd like to thank him personally for one of the best experiences in my life (so far).

What's your favorite type of music? Honestly, my roots are mid-1990s R&B. However, as of lately, I've been branching out...my current playlist includes Sublime, DMB, Adele, Lil' Wayne, T.I., Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa and Kylie Minogue. My friends are trying to work on me when it comes to country, though! I DO live in the South, lol.

What's your dream job? I wouldn't mind being the Asian Carrie Bradshaw. I'd get to dish, wear cute clothes, and party? Awesome!

If you had $100 now what would you spend on it? Oh fuck, I sure hope 8ty8, H2T and Transdesign's pages are down if that happened.

Things you wish you could change in the past? I wish I would've picked a career already. But then again, I feel like I would've boxed myself in and wouldn't have studied abroad in England and left my options open. I'm a believer in "whatever happens is meant to be".

Fashion Pet Peeve? Oh damn...those high-waisted pants that were trendy for a little bit. Grey brown nail polishes a la You Don't Know Jacques! Kathy Van Zeeland purses. Chipped nail polish. (if my nails are chipped, I'm just being lazy! NOT trendy!) Looking like a human Barbie doll (a la Carrie Prejean AKA Miss California).

Do you admire anyone's style? I loved Christina Aguilera's retro look during her Back To Basics album. I'm a huge fan of Dita Von Teese's style. If I had money (and a lot more motivation/initiative), I'd definitely try to emulate it.

Describe your personal style. A lot of my style lately is The-Asian-Girl-is-too-worn-out-to-do-something-about-her-style-because-she-wakes-up-at-4am-every-morning. I really like to look nice when I have the energy to. I wear a lot of black because it coordinates with everything (AKA I'm kinda cheap). As of lately, I've been experimenting with more colors (clothing, make-up and nail polish-wise) because with my skintone, there aren't many colors I can't get away with.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? I swear, Baskin-Robbins broke my heart when they discontinued their York Peppermint Patty flavor. One time I walked in, looked at their selection and when I couldn't find it, I walked out without buying a thing. My sister exclaimed that Baskin-Robbins isn't the kind of place you window-shop at.

What's your favorite makeup brand? I have a secret: I don't really wear much makeup. I will if I'm going out on the town (once or twice a week), but I work at a snack bar 4-5 days a week. There is no way am I wearing make-up to melt while I work in a small kitchen next to a grill and a fryer. I wouldn't mind experimenting with higher-end brands in the future (most of my stuff is MK and HIP), but I think my nail polish addiction is sucking up enough of my limited funds as it is.

What makeup do you use a lot? My Clinique pressed powder. I had an MK pressed powder that sucked in comparison. I love the color and I love the application; I can't ask for more.

Do you get enough beauty sleep? Yes or no? Why? No. HELL NO. I wake up at 4:30am almost everyday. Even today, on my day off, I still woke up at 4:30. Oh, well.

Why did you start your (beauty) blog? I wanted to share that I, The Asian Girl, am addicted to nail polish. *other imagined NP addicts: "HI, THE ASIAN GIRL!"*

What do you think is the best feature about yourself? I'm honest to a fault. And I think that's super.

What is your favorite vacation spot? I'd really like to be back in Barcelona. I don't want to say New Orleans because it's only like, 3-3.5 hours away.

What do you like least about yourself? My tendency to procrastinate. I WILL OVERCOME IT...tomorrow.

How much nail polish do you own? Over 300. (THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Okay, lame movie quote break is over.) This is so disturbing to me considering that I barely broke 100 at the end of 2008. If I keep going at my current rate, that would mean I would own about 750 bottles by the end of 2009. I personally don't mind, but I think my wallet does.

I tag... Eh, I think I'll follow suit with Pink Sith and not tag anyone. I really do like Brooke at Getcha Nails Did's new "Getting To Know..." series featuring prominent nail bloggers, though. It's definitely an effective (and very entertaining) way to find out the background story of your favorite blogs and the people who write them!

Nail vs. Nail: Chanel Nuit de Russie

While drugstore hopping, I found not one, but TWO colors comparable to Chanel Nuit de Russie, from winter 2008's Moscou collection. I present to you, Sinful Colors What's Your Name and Nicole by OPI Midnight Madness.

I do like Nicole's range of colors but I hate the price. It irks me to pay $6.99 for it, especially when I can get China Glaze or OPI online for 3-4 dollars. Also, my local stores suck and rarely carry any unique colors, with the exception of Valentine's Day when my local Wal-Mart stepped it up and had a LE Nicole stand. I missed out on Dream Maker, a sheer glittery pink but picked up Sinful Colors' Glass Pink instead. Sinful Colors is an underrated gem of the drugstore nail polish world and cheap: $1.99 each! Even if a color sucks, I won't feel too guilty (unlike certain Chanels I have bought in the past).


Chanel Nuit de Russie is on the ring fingernail. All three polishes are black-based with fine blue glitter. Nuit de Russie is in the mid-range when it comes to glitter density. The glitter is duochrome and changes from blue to green.


Nicole by OPI Midnight Madness is on the middle fingernail. I find it to be the least alike of the three due to the glitter color, which lacks the blue-to-green duochrome color that the other two possess. Midnight Madness is what I hoped Zoya Kotori would be like. It also has the densest glitter.


Sinful Colors What's Your Name is on the index fingernail. It is the darkest of the three but has the largest and the least dense glitter particles. This is my personal favorite; I'm very surprised by the quality of this polish.

All three colors are three-coaters with great formulas and application. I don't remember the exact date, but I think the Moscou collection was pulled around February. I don't recommend looking for it on Satan's Little Online Shop because I've seen prices as high as $55. Midnight Madness is probably on its way to DC land like Nuit de Russie because I picked it up half-price at Target. (I blame Brooke at Getcha Nails Did for this! I saw her off-the-wagon haul and noticed Nicoles on clearance!) As for What's Your Name, you should be able to pick this up at your local Walgreens. $50, $3.30 or $1.99? The choice is yours!

This nail polish is so bright, you gotta wear shades!

Honestly, I bought Essie Funky Limelight for its kitsch factor. It was never a true lemming of mine because when you hear from one of your favorite blogs that it takes SEVEN coats for opacity, it kind of deflates any kind of lemming. My pictures aren't accurate for if they were, you'd shield your eyes. All were taken indoors with sunlight coming in.


While I also saw it all over the blogosphere, I wasn't particularly tempted to buy it during my double haul at Transdesign and 8ty8 (AKA my temporary lapse of judgement). It was a good day for nail polish (but not my wallet): I picked up 13 total online and 7 in person. My first stop was Trade Secret and there was Funky Limelight in all of it's highlighter yellow glory. Did I say highlighter? Yes, it's HIGHLIGHTER yellow. You can't miss this color in bright light; it's the cause of that throb in your temples.


Siobhan is right: it does take seven thin coats. (Scrangie used four thick coats, for those of you like myself who are spooked by the number seven.) Is it worth it? YES. I freakin' love this color. I can't help it: it's loud, it's crazy, it belongs in WACKYLAND! (As do I, but I digress...) This is a little like Mesmerize: it doesn't belong with the boring sheer pinks that Essie usually sends out with monotonous regularity. It looks a lot like China Glaze Celtic Sun, does anyone own it and can tell me if this is a dupe?

Holy effin' cakes...

DARK GREEN OPI...THIS FALL!!!

I've said in the past, I'm not a huge fan of green...but lately, I've noticed the green side of my nail cabinet expanding faster than expected. I have an idea...especially for those advanced nail mixologists! How about a GREEN version of the Chanel Moscou polishes? Fine green glitter in black? Talk about a nailgasm!

Hop on over to pssion.se to check out the HAWTNESS!

I'm psyched for the Spain collection, but it still has a lot of "filler" colors (AKA mid-range pink and reds for those "normal" types). And you know what REALLY irks me? A lot of the awesome colors get discontinued, yet these crappy colors stay on! WHAT GIVES?!

I got nostalgic looking at this collection, especially seeing the color Barefoot in Barcelona. While on holiday during my study abroad stint, I traveled with some friends to Barcelona. If New Orleans is my #1 favorite city in the US, Barcelona is my #1 in Europe. It was relatively cheap (especially compared to London!), beautiful and fun! However, the beaches are kinda...lacking. 3 out of the 6 in our group are Florida residents so we were excited to see a beach again, especially after months of dreary English weather. I found out later that the beaches were only developed in the early 1990s for the Olympics and that their sand comes from quarries! Silly us, we were expecting Gulf Coast sugar sand.

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...