Facets of Fuschia was pretty while it lasted

Yesterday I gave my girl a mani. Her Ruby Kisses "All Purpled Up" was all tuckered out! I admit, I was a bit jealous. I wish I could paint my own nails as nicely as I was able to do hers.

My daughter and her OPI "All That Razz-Berry"

While we were waiting for her nails to dry, I did my own with Revlon "Facets of Fuschia". I forgot my base coat, did three quick + thick coats, and topped it with Poshe.

Revlon "Facets of Fuchsia"

Sadly, I wasn't 100% happy with the formula on this. It seemed thin and streaky and wasn't as opaque as I thought it would be. A couple hours after applying I dinged one of my fingers while putting on the lid of the crock pot and began to pick. The polish had never completely dried. It was still soft and squishy and sludged off when I picked at it rather than coming off in chips.

In total this color was on my tips for maybe five hours. I do like the color over all so I will likely give it another shot sometime.

"Facets of Fuchsia" in natural sun

Today is cold and grey and my nails will likely be painted in attempt to match the skies.

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

pink and black and some wisdom

Hello! Recently I started my day listening to Joy Division. I took my girl to school and upon returning home I started listening to the Pandora 80's Alternative station while doing my mani. This is the colorful creation which flowed as a result...

It is OPI Ridge Filling base coat, an old Revlon called "Strawberry Electric" followed by the black China Glaze crackle polish with one more coat of Strawberry Electric on top and Poshe to seal and dry it all. I wasn't expecting this to end up on my nails based on the mood I was in when I woke up but it ended up making me happy.

I really wish I could get together with the creative director of the L'oreal and Project Runway "Colors Take Flight" collection. I don't have a problem with basing a color collection around birds, but I am completely baffled as to how they can view a Cockatoo as charming, sophisticated, and enchanting. I haven't met a single Cockatoo yet who I would describe with those words! I would be more inclined to describe my cockatoo as audacious, which they have used for an Amazon. Regardless of that I still bought both nail colors of the Cockatoo palette just because I have a Cockatoo. Some may color me silly for that but I don't care!

L'Oreal Cockatoo's Wisdom, direct sunlight

With Cockatoo's Wisdom, I used two coats of the color and I absolutely loved the application on it! Very smooth, even coverage and nearly opaque in one coat. I also have Cockatoo's Mystery to try out.

Cockatoo's Wisdom and a cockatoo feather!

I loved the formula on this color so much that I'm wanting to go back and get the "Owl's Night" nail color. The online bottle pictures I've seen didn't impress me but I seem to have become infatuated with it since spying it in person. It is a near black base with metallic golden bronze shimmer which has a slight hint of green.

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Hello, October! - Suzi Says Da!

The weather here had a cool spell, enough to make the trees start changing their leaves. It has warmed up again, but I'm sufficiently in the Fall Spirit! I decided to wear OPI Suzi Says Da!. I have mentioned it before and felt it was time to bring it out again. It is a deep chocolate brown creme. Released with the Russia Collection of 2007, it has the updates on 3-Free formula and the brush is the "Pro Wide" style.

OPI "Suzi Says Da!" bright sunlight

I had no problems with the formula. I did my usual routine of OPI Ridge Filler Base coat and two average coats of the color on top of that with Poshe top coat. It stayed on for two days before it got a miniscule chip then I started picking at it so it was removed.

Indirect light

This was a very nice color to wear. Although black is my first love, brown has a special place in my heart too. Something about it seems comforting. This shade reminds me of coffee, chocolate, and the deep brown eyes of a Labrador Retriever. It was fun to pose with the dead leaves too!

OPI "Suzi Says Da!" in the shade

As I'm writing, my nails are naked. Tonight I hope to try out one of my new L'Oreal colors. The "Colors Take Flight" collection caught my eye, and I've got a bit to say about it!

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Last of September- China Glaze Blk-Bila-Bong

This is the last polish I wore last month. I can't believe it's October already! We are getting excited for Halloween here. My daughter and I are going to be cats (surprise, not, lol!) and we're getting started on Halloween coloring sheets and little crafts.

I love wearing dark colors year-round, but having cooler weather set in makes me feel a little less weird about putting them on. Blk-Bila-Bong was released by China Glaze as part of their Surf's Up collection in 2007. I got my bottle as part of a Secret Santa swap. As far as I know, this polish is getting hard to find. Here is my first picture of it.

Early evening sun with on-camera flash

I used OPI Ridge Filler Base coat and two average thickness coats of the color on top of that with Poshe top coat to dry it all and enhance the shininess. I think with glitters and glass flecked polishes such as this one, that having extra gloss on top really helps to bring out the color which can sometimes seem hidden. In the following picture is what it looked like most of the time on me, and I feel this is the most color accurate shot that I got.

Early evening sun, no flash

The things that I like most about this polish are that it applies nicely, dries pretty quickly, and is very well named! Blk-Bila-Bong is a black base with aqua glass flecks and dark blue shimmer. I wish I could sit and stare it this color with a bright light and a magnifying glass all day. I want to drown in the depth of this beauty! This is one of my last shots, sorry for the tip wear! I like how the cool tones are accentuated under this type of light.

CFL with a white lamp shade

Do any of you like Green Day? The song "When September Ends" has been on repeat play in my head as I've been writing this post! 

Things are kind of crazy here, but not, as they always are! I've been casually job hunting and picked up applications but along the way there have been a couple small road blocks to getting those babies filled out and submitted. First of all, when looking over my old resume, I noticed that a couple of the places I've previously worked have gone out of business! And my refrences list seems to be missing in action. I'd better hustle and get that figured out if I want to take part of the retail madness fun of the holiday season! Well, time for me to go feed my critters then color my claws! I have been eyeing the pretty leaves starting to fall and have a fun idea on how to incorperate them into my next set of pictures.

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

More September NOTD's

After the glitz overload I just experienced it was time for a nice creme for fall. This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Plum Luck.

Perhaps deep down I'm a glitter addict. I had thought that I didn't want any more sparkles for a while and then that new China Glaze "It's Alive" was calling my name.  I like it so much that I'm sharing two of the pictures I took of it, with slightly different lighting.

Cool light

I was thinking about repeating this one for Halloween night because I thought I was going to be a Witch to go with my daughter's Cat ensemble, but then she told me that I should be her Mama Cat instead.

Warm light

That's all I have to show you for now. My claws are currently naked. This week I'm going to be doing the job application submitting process so if they do get painted it will be with something 'work safe'. Thankfully I have a decent amount of pale neutrals and sheers. I won't like it but I will use them anyway, most likely! I always feel more complete when my claws are covered too.

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Early September NOTDs

On the 2nd day of the month I chose Rimmel "Passion" with the black China Glaze Crackle polish, then essie "Matte About You" on top. It was quite a disappointment because this started chipping badly after less than a full day of wear, and I wasn't even being mean to my hands!

Took this in my car with the cell phone!

On the 9th I did Wet n WIld "Black Creme" with Ulta "Pinata Yada Yada" on top. It somewhat reflected my mood because I was glad that final exams were over, but I was also upset because I didn't get the grades I was aiming for.

Direct morning sun light

The Orly "Birds of a Feather" collection hype got to me and on the 11th I put on the twin for "Fowl Play", which is reported to be OPI "Merry Midnight".

Evening sun light

After my "Coffee and Colors" meet up I couldn't wait to try out my new pretties! The first one, on the 15th, was Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Purple Pizzaz". What a lovely jelly finish this is! Sadly, I'm never quite happy with the application of Sally Hansen polishes.

Afternoon sun light

After a couple days there were getting to be chips and tip wear but I wasn't ready to let go of the pizzazz yet! So, on the 18th, I removed the polish from the yucky looking nails and conveniently it turned out to be every other one! The newly naked nails got two coats of Finger Paints "Easel Come Easel Go" and the remaining purples got a refresher top coat with inm "Northern Lights Silver Hologram" top coat.

Morning sun light

It was time to switch things up, but the silver was still looking good so I decided to leave it on. The alternating fingers got painted with another of my new pretties, Icing "Epic Winning". It is a very sparkly shade with tons of royal blue and silver hologram glitter of a medium size. That Monday the 19th just couldn't take all the brightness though and this pretty mani came off before the sun was even high in the sky.

Morning sun light

Coming up soon I have the last two of my newest colors which are a deep plum and one from a Halloween Collection...

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Meet Up and Mini Haul

Hello from drizzle ville! So glad I don't have any urgent swatches to shoot because the weather out there is saying "NO WAY"! Yesterday I met up with my lovely friend M for "Coffee and Colors". We got to Caribu and neither one of us ended up with coffee in our cups! She got a heavenly fragrant Cinnamon tea and I got the "Apple Blast", a delicious concoction of apple cider, caramel, and whipped cream. The day was chilly and it felt so wonderfully autumnal! She gifted me with a bottle of Sally Hansen "Purple Pizzazz" and Icing "Epic Winning". You can click on all my pictures to make them bigger.

I know what I'm wearing on my tips for going to our next Rockies game! ;)

After we finished our drinks we went over to Ulta for our colors fix. I got myself this year's edition of Wet n Wild "Black Magic", China Glaze "It's Alive!" and Sally Hansen "Plum Luck", which I got as a back up for a discontinued Estee Lauder polish called "Naughty". I plan to use "Naughty" with another color to franken a new version of a color I wasn't so pleased with long ago. 

Flash and indirect sun

I can't wait to try "It's Alive" but am less than impressed by this year's "Black Magic" and plan to exchange it for something else. In the bottle there's some orange shimmer or micro glitter but unless you look closely in bright light, you can't see it on the nail. Here are pictures of it with and without flash so you can have a look.

Wet n Wild "Black Magic" with flash

Wet n Wild "Black Magic" no flash, indirect light

Currently on my tips is OPI "Merry Midnight" with an accent layer of Sally Hansen "Hidden Treasure" on the thumbs and ring fingers. I think it is so pretty but it will have to come off soon. It got applied on the 11th and is definitely showing signs of growth and general wear. The left pinky actually does have "Black Magic" on it because I removed the polish on that one due to a monstrous chip and the desire to test swatch.

In the shade. Merry Midnight and Hidden Treasure accent layer.

Perhaps tonight it will all come off and there will be a late night mini haul swatch spree shot under the funky basement lights? Stay tuned...

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Catching Up!

Oh my, so many manis to share with you! School is over for me for a few months though and I am happy to be on a long break. I plan to get a part time job over the holidays possibly through until Valentine's Day.

After I had Green Up Your Act! on for a couple days, I did a purple layering combo. I love purple and we went to another Rockies game. =) The base color was China Glaze Flying Dragon which I did one coat of, and the top was two coats of Ruby Kisses All Purpled Up. I wish I would have done two coats of Flying Dragon for better color saturation but over all I really liked this mani! Here is the picture I took of it in direct sunlight.

 

Next was another purple, this time it was Deep Purple by Sally Hansen, in the Xtreme Wear line. I wish I could have sat with my hands under a magnifying glass while wearing this one! I loved the shimmery orchid base with the blue and pink micro shimmer sprinkled through it. This picture was taken in direct sunlight.

I was inspecting my slammed nail, which you can see here, and decided that pretty soon I'd be ready to paint it again. It still needed a bit more length to make evening out the surface easier. Adding Biotin back into my vitamin regime seems to be helping, and I'm being better about remembering to moisturize my cuticles. That slammed one gets a couple extra treatments per day usually, and I hope that helps.

Time for a palette cleanser! I still haven't tried some of the colors my dear Mama bought me when she visited with my Dad in July. It was time for a Coffee Break from Orly. My coffee isn't usually this light though. I still liked the color very much. It's name will be filed away for a day when I need an interview friendly, conservative type color to wear. Here is a shot of it with direct sun.

Whew! Almost done for the August manis! Last one I did that month was an old but beautiful OPI called Glacier Bay Blues. They made this one way back before blues and greens were all the rage and I am pretty happy I got my hands on a bottle of it, I recieved it in a swap with a member of the Make Up Alley Nail Board. I wasn't so happy with the application of this. Maybe it's thinned out with age, or maybe that is just how OPI made their polish back then but the thin consistancy really came out when looking at the color in bright light. This is two coats of color with my on camera flash.

There are so many pretty cool toned colored that show up with Glacier Bay Blues! At some angles it is navy, some angles it's almost purple, and others it is a foresty teal green. Here are a couple more pictures. This is in plain sun:

Here it is, also in sun, showing it's green side:

This really needs to be worn again so better shots can be taken. I could have sworn that I already had better pictures of this in my archives but I looked through all my old shots, by hand, and couldn't find anything!

OK, that is all for now. When I next post, you will get to see the September manis that I've done so far. There will be three or four to share. Thanks for reading this monster post!

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<

Fallen Behind

hello!
I haven't forgotten about painting the claws, but school life is taking priority over blogging for now. After I've got these four upcoming final exams out of the way, I have (at current count) four pretty colors to share with you. A couple purples, a brown, and a cool-toned multi-chrome. Hopefully later this week or over the weekend I'll be able to get caught up. Thank you for understanding!

Happy Scratches,
carakitty >^. .^<

Green!

Today I'm wearing Nicole by OPI in "Green Up Your Act!" I got it at Target. It caught my eye because I didn't think I had any greens like this in my stash and I like it because it has a Fall-like feel but it doesn't scream the season so it will probably appeal to the more traditional people who match their color to the season. Here it is in direct sunlight. Man, was this ever a funky bottle to get a good pose with!

It is dustier looking while indoors and I was noticing it coordinates nicely with one of my most used coffee cups!

 

 I used a different base coat this time, my old friend by CND (Creative Nail Designs) called "Stickey". There is two coats of "Green Up Your Act!" and my current favorite Poshe top coat. I like this color so I hope these products will play nice together.

Happy Scratches!
carakitty   >^. .^<