An apology and somewhat recent NOTD

Hello Dear Readers!

First off, I want to apologize again for the lack of posting and follow-through with the reviews. Things took a turn for the worse with my old cat, and on 4 August, we had Roofus put to sleep. He was suffering too much and there really wasn't anything we could do to really help. This was the most difficult thing I've ever been through. Roofus has been in my family since birth, he was born in my parents laundry room. He never complained or got rough with anyone, even at the very end when we are sure he was hurting so badly. He was such a stoic cat, and fought so bravely. So rest in peace, old friend and we will see you again someday...

Roofus: 23 April 1992 - 4 August 2010

Here's one of my recent manicures, from the 2nd of this month. I don't know the company who made this polish, or the name of the polish. I got it in a swap. I would be very sad if I'd forked out cash for this bottle. There was too little pigmentation, it was a streaky formula and on the thin side. I was expecting it to be a deep plum with visible icy blue shimmer but instead got this almost pink shade with barely any shimmer.  

This is the bottle and my nails in direct sunlight.

 

Here they are indoors. I don't know why my camera didn't focus very well here, but this was the most accurate display of the bottle color so I'm showing you anyway.

Oh well, live and learn. I have the urge to layer with a couple polishes already in my stash to see if that gives the effect that the bottle showed but failed to produce on the nail.

I have at least a couple more NOTDs (Nails of the Day) to show you before I'm caught up and I'm still hoping to do the reviews.

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty >^. .^<

Still At It...

Hello Dear Readers!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm still out here in the land of the living. Please accept my apologies for the lack of postings lately. It has been crazier than usual around here. Having my oldest cat get very sick, studying for midterms,and general keeping up with day to day life has taken more effort lately. It hasn't been all bad and stressful though!

The first bit of good news is that with the aid of more medication it looks like my cat Roofus will be around for a bit longer, which is wonderful because although I've made peace with the fact that he is really old for a cat (18 years old!) I really wish our happy times here would never end. So in addition to his previous medications there are more pills to keep Roofus's tummy happy, and he is also on a trial run of Subcutaneous Fluids to help keep him hydrated and flushing things out more effectively. He was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism several years ago and is now in Chronic Renal Failure as well.

The other good news is that my current GPA is an A! I have never had an A average before in my life! I will admit that one of these classes is a re-take, but still, I have never had such motivation in the past with school as I do now.

I am in the process of writing my reviews of the LUSH cosmetics hand creams and hope to have those up for you to read starting within the next seven days. Still have not decided if they will all be lumped together in one post or if each cream will get its own entry. I also hope to add more pages at the top soon, about my usual mani & photography routine and Disclaimers & Disclosures

That is all for now...
Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

Wet N Wild: Black Creme

Wet N Wild Black Creme polish and I have had a long time love affair. It has been a constant in my collection for as long as I can remember. I confess to owning multiple bottles of it now because I will often use it to 'franken' new colors and also will layer my glittery, sheer, and shimmery shades over it. This polish has amazing potential for transforming some polishes and is a winner all on its own too!

On most manis I can get it opaque in one coat, but two does it every time. It is a bargain, averaging at 99 cents a bottle here in the USA and it dries pretty quickly too.

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

*Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me*

OPI Here Today ... Aragon Tomorrow

This rich, midnight forest green creme was introduced to us with OPI's La Coleccion De España in Fall of 2007. I thought this was a Limited Edition color and was amazed to see it at my local Target just a couple days ago so I gave it a new home. It was the last one of its kind and looked so lonely and sad ;).

NARS was supposed to do a re-release of their cult color "Zulu" and I had planned this mani and review to coincide with that event but NARS has pushed the launch to October now. I haven't heard why they chose to do this yet. I was looking forward to hearing about the formula in the re-release and also hoped to compare OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow to Zulu. I don't personally own Zulu yet, but perhaps I'll somehow get my hands on a bottle.

I am liking this more than I thought I would. When I saw swatches in the past I usually thought "so dark might as well just wear plain black" but now on my nails it looks greenish even indoors. There is a very slight shimmer to this color but to see it, claws need to be in bright sunlight. The application on this was not thrilling. The first coat was a little streaky and grainy in texture. The grains smoothed out in the second coat but it can be seen if the tips are viewed when lit from behind. This lacquer is wearing very well for me! I don't know if the Claw Fairy sprinkled some sort of dust or what, but the only thing I'm noticing after the fourth, yes FOURTH day of wearing this mani is some tip wear. This is amazing considering that usually by the second day I've managed to get a chip or two which then results in the mani getting picked and peeled off. I know, bad habit!

For this mani there was the usual coat of CND Stickey, two coats of color, and topped with Seche Vite.

*Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me*

Lincoln Park at Midnight

Tonight we have a lovely shade of blackened eggplant with a slight shimmer. OPI Lincoln Park at Midnight is part of their classics collection and was featured in a promotion called "Go Deliciously Dark" in Fall of 2008 I believe. The formula on this was reasonable. I did get some streaks when applying but I also made a mess of my cuticles when painting so the Pro-Wide brush was more of the problem causer perhaps rather than the lacquer. It's been a while since I used that fat brush and it takes a couple manis with it to re-learn for me it seems. I used a base of CND Stickey, 2 coats of color, and topped it with Seche Vite.


Here is my sunshine shot. Please pardon the wear! I was crazy busy while my parents were in town and am thankful there were a couple minutes to grab at least this shot before the mani died.

Update on the LUSH hand creme review: I've been slathering on the Helping Hands this week and taking notes in a text document. In a couple days I will start using Handy Guragu and give that a run for its money for a week. Then I will devote some time to Lemony Flutter. In the meantime I will be taking more notes on product performance and polishing!

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

*Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me*

4th of July- Layering Drugstore polishes

Wet and Wild Black Creme and Revlon Firecracker were what I chose for my 4th of July mani. I thought about doing a 'funky french' but then decided my nails still aren't long enough to pull off that look yet. I also thought about tracking down some decals, but didn't have the time to shop, how tragic. So I went with the Black Creme and Firecracker. Black Creme is still widely available. If WnW discontinued this shade there would be a total riot, hands down. It was pretty awesome because I was able to get it opaque in one coat, regardless of the fact I forgot my usual CND Stickey base. The shot which follows was taken in the late afternoon direct sun.

Firecracker has since been discontinued, but there have been many others like it made. Firecracker is a cherry-red jelly base with small red glitter in it. Some similar shades that come to mind are essie Ruby Slippers and China Glaze Ruby Pumps. This next shot was taken in the shade.

Funny how the camera and computer can pick up details our eyes miss in real life. I didn't notice my cuticles were so dried out that day! I did moisturize and drink water earlier but the anti-bacterial soap did me in without my realizing it!


That's all for now. Stay tuned, I have a beautiful purple from OPI coming up soon and a LUSH hand creme showdown is in the process!

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

*Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me*

China Glaze Up All Night

Hello again, readers! I'm so glad I was able to do a rough draft of this review and take my pictures early because this week has been absolutely crazy. I picked up a free bedframe from a friend of mine and moved it into temporary storage all on my own, made an out of the area trip for picking up a hat a friend knitted for me, and another quarter of school started this week too! So, I've been wearing a mani with China Glaze Up All Night and yesterday evening it finally died. It got pretty banged up during the bed moving and I started picking at the dents. "BAD KITTY!" I know, I deserve a slap on the paws =( But, I did take pictures of it before the chaos ensued so, with no further delay, here is my review and a couple pictures for you!

One of my goals with this blog is to feature currently available shades when ever possible. So, in researching Up All Night I was a bit shocked to find it on the China Glaze site listed in the Archives of 2005! Originally released in the Patent Leather collection with quite a wide range of other colors along side it, Up All Night was one of the darkest of the bunch. Thankfully though, China Glaze now also has Up All Night as part of their core collection so if you are lusting after this deep, midnight blue with a slight shimmer, it shouldn't be too hard to find. I've seen it both at Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta.

This is my sunshine shot

Please pardon the ding on the index finger. I didn't realise the paint wasn't completely dry, picked up a book to read to my daughter and BAM! there it was. And the ridges in my middle finger are no fault of the products. That is just the funky growing out parts from the door damage.

Here is a shot with indirect light

Both of these were taken in the morning, in my bathroom. I hope you enjoyed seeing Up All Night, because this mani is now dead! I'm now trying to think of something dark yet patriotic to do for this weekend. Then I will do a celebratory theme, because it's my daughter's birthday on the 6th. =)

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

*Disclaimer: The bottle of China Glaze Up All Night was obtained through a swap. The remainder of products were purchased by me*

Revlon Vixen

Revlon's Vixen has been a must-have in my polish collection since the mid 90s. So basically, the start of time in my nail painting world ;) This deep burgundy wine creme is certainly vampy but also sexy and sophisticated. This is one of my only colors which has been used up more than once! It feels right when worn with conservative clothes or the more alternative fashions.

For this application I used one generous coat of CND Stickey as a base, two coats of color, and the amazing Seche Vite fast dry fast top coat to finish things off. At the last moment, I mattified the ring finger with essie Matte About You top coat.

Thank you for reading, my lovelies, and for bearing  with me as I work out the kinks of taking good pictures and growing out my wounded middle finger. If enough interest is expressed in the story of how it happened, a post may be made- gory pictures and all!

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<

*Disclaimer: These products were purchased by me*

The Claws Are Now Unsheathed

Hello readers, and welcome to my blog! My name is Cara, AKA carakitty, and one of my loves is collecting nail polish. I first got really attracted to it in 2007. Up until then I had maybe 15 colors at the most. Now... I won't confess ;) My nails have been mostly on the short side, and are almost always painted with something. They are especially short right now, partly due to an unfortunate incident the left middle finger had with the garage door this Spring. My favorite color families are reds and purples, mid tones to darks or 'vampies' especially. I plan to focus on reviewing darker shades and post at least once a week, with a current picture if possible. I have many from my personal archives which will more than likely pop up as well.

I will leave you tonight with one of my favorite tips: There is no such thing as too many lotions or creams! Find your 'Holy Grail' moisturizer, the one you could not live with out and start hoarding tiny pots from other product purchases. Fill those little babies up with your beloved and stash them everywhere! I've personally grown fond of those little black jars which LUSH gives their samples in. I have little lotion jars in my purse, at my bedside table, my computer desk, the center console of my car, at the 'message center' in my kitchen.... If you have the lotion everywhere, when you notice your cuticles are getting a bit dried out and crusty you can nip it in the bud. If I don't have my things easily accessible, I forget to use them!

Happy Scratching!
(mew) carakitty   >^. .^<