Shark's Cove chevrons

Hello lovelies!  Awhile back - too far back, I'm ashamed to admit - a dear, sweet blogger buddy sent me a total surprise package with not only one of the Julie G Gumdrops polishes I'd been desperately wanting, but also Julie G Shark's Cove! :O  I could NOT believe it!!!  Melissa (a la Lacquer Reverie) is seriously amazing - and so incredibly thoughtful! :D

Ever since I received that sneaky surprise package, I'd been wanting to use both polishes as they're seriously beautiful, but you know how it goes...we addicts are constantly getting nail mail and sometimes without an inspiration to use a certain polish, it gets lost in the stash!  Well, I finally had some sort of epiphany last night, because I decided how to use both Julie G's AND Julep Nan which I just got off eBay.

Ta daaaa!! :D  It'd been awhile since I did some legit nail art, so it felt really good to do this.  And I really love this combo, if I may say so myself.  I did two coats of OPI Nail Envy (the original stuff?) that was a gift from another friend who no longer uses it, two coats of Shark's Cove, a thin coat of Seche Vite, and then I used scotch tape to make the "main chevron," and finally, freehanded the tiny bottom and side triangles.  Thanks to Liesl, I seem to have a thing for double accent nails, so I showed the chevrons some lovin' with hearts using Julep Nan & a bobby pin. L♥ve 'em!! ;)

The bottle didn't really catch the light in this pic (shoulda paid more attention, Emily, tsk tsk), but Shark's Cove minty green base is positively packed with silver microflakie shimmer!  Yummm.  The first coat was quite sheer and had a tendancy to get bald patches (at least it did over the Nail Envy base), but a second coat covered everything quite nicely.  I really can't speak about the dry time, because the humidity here is still  making every mani take a million years.  For real.  It's a good thing today was Sunday & I had no plans, because I did this at a snail's pace.  -_-

No offense, teensy tiny nail snail!

Julie G Gumdrops Blueberry Fizz is positively amazing in my book!  I like it much better than any of the other blue texture polishes I've seen, and I really love that it has so much silver sparkle and even small silver hexes in it.  The name is quite perfect, I think. :)  Like most texture polishes, it dried within about 5 mins, which was a nice change from waiting and waiting and waiting for SC. (Shark's Cove, that is...not Santa Clause)
And I actually managed to get a good bottle shot in the sun to showcase all of that happy sparkle! ;D

I did put another thin coat of Seche Vite over the pinkie and ring fingers, but opted (for now) to leave Blueberry Fizz in all its textured glory.  I might decide to SV it in a couple days because I've never done that before, but have seen many swatches that show them both ways, and they're sometimes more amazing with a top coat.

I really need to start doing tutorials for my nail art...then again, there are SO many already out there!  I actually used this one, not because I had no clue how, but because I usually do better with a visual aid as a reference.

Ohhh Julie G (by Jesse's Girl Cosmetics), how I wish you were available in drugstores near me!  :(  I live in NW Minnesota, and apparently this brand is moreso in SE and NW United States regions/drugstore chains like Rite Aids and such.  Ahh well...that's what our amazing fellow bloggers are for, right?!  I think we'd all go to great lengths to help eachother get polishes we're not able to get ourselves. :)  I know I would be willing to help a girl out!

As you can probably tell, this is in the shade. ;)

And finally, we have Julep Nan.  I don't know exactly why, but this Nantucket brickey terracotta orange-toned red just spoke to me from the moment I laid eyes on it here.  Reds are usually something I shy away from because of their horrible tendency to stain and simply because they don't do much for me.  It's like, oh, a red...meh. ;)  But I REALLY like this one!  I'm SO glad I found it on eBay with the make an offer option, because I got it still sealed for half the price, shipping & all.  My momma taught me to be a bargain shopper whenever possible! ;)

At the moment, I can't say much about the application nor the dry time of Nan because I just dabbed & spread it on with a bobby pin.  I assure you, I will be wearing it as more of a full fall mani very  soon!   

Well, since I can't seem to get snails off my mind, I give you the requisite parting humor photo:

BAHAHAHA! :P  Hopefully you'll be thinking of this guy while getting up for work tomorrow & he'll make your Monday much more tolerable. ;)

~ ♥ Em

Skittles for Essie - A tribute

As many of you probably know, Essie of iHeartPrettyPolish has announced that she is stepping away from blogging, possibly forever. :(  HUGE sad face!  But I'm also very proud of her for making a hard yet necessary choice, for her well-being.
In honor of her fabulous style and famous skittlette combinations, some of her blogger buddies and I (Melissa of Lacquer Reverie, Christine of Polished Marvels, Liesl of Liesl Loves Pretty Things, and Dani of From Polish, with Love), inspired by her manis, hatched a secret plan to create our own skittlettes to celebrate & appreciate her & let her know she's loved - whether or not she is blogging - and will always be an inspiration. :)  So here's to you, Essie dear!!!! :D

Each polish used in this mani has a story.
Thumb: Zoya Reagan
I first saw it in one of Essie's posts, and was convinced it was the perfect raspberry creme. It is.
Pointer: Essie Sand Tropez
This is especially special - the polish that started my & Essie's friendship. :)  I had commented on her post about this polish, saying I was looking for the perfect nude, and she graciously offered to just send it to me because it wasn't right for her skintone.
Middle: Butter London Victoriana
A brand-new acquisition as of yesterday, highly recommended by Essie as one of her all-time favorites.  I can totally understand why!
Ring: Julep Trina + Hit Polish Retro Chic (now d/c & 40% off, fyi!)
Essie included this one as a little surprise when she sent me Sand Tropez, which was unbelievably kind...my first introduction to what a great group nail bloggers are!  I topped it with Retro Chic because in her skittlettes, she usually did a blingy accent with a Shimmer polish.  Having none, I improvised & I think the colors of glitter in RC go well with the cremes. :)
Pinkie: Essie Mojito Madness
Another one I saw in an old post of hers.  I fell in love with the shade, and despite my trepidation towards greens, I had to have it.  Boy, am I glad I saw that post!  This polish transports me to a tropical isle every time.

All of these polishes have top-notch formulas, easy two-coaters (some only one: Reagan, Trina, & Mojito Madness), and they dry super  shiny!  I only put Seche Vite over the glitter accent nail.  For real!!
*Note: I did use two coats of all except Trina & Retro Chic simply to ensure the highest quality for this post.

My blog would probably not exist were it not for her.  Here's an email excerpt of her prompting me to start one: "Well maybe you should have a blog. :) Let me know if you need help starting one! I'll be your first follower. And awesome that you are in Minnesota. That's another reason you need a blog, I have no other bloggers in MN that I know about. :( I'm lonely."
Once I decided to take the plunge, she gave me SO much support & countless helpful tips, like turning off the word verification thing for comments, nail & cuticle care (including her own routine), and a helpful guide to painting your nails neatly when she saw how frustrated I was getting with it. :)

I want to thank you SO MUCH for being a part of not only my hobby blogging life, but also a real-life friend - even though we've never met.  You're a wonderful person whom I feel so privileged to know.  I wish you all the best in life & in blogging, should you ever decide to come back. :)  ♥

Julep Trina & some jazz ;-)

Again I find myself in a not very talkative mood tonight.  Must've been the Criminal Minds season finale - it sucked the words and emotions right outta me. ;-)  So tonight I'll stick to lots of photos of the purty purple polish!

Two coats Julep Trina topped by one coat of Barielle Elle's Spell and one coat NYC Matte About You on my accent nails.  I decided to do my accents a la Liesel (Liesl Loves Pretty Things), which is fitting, because she wanted to see Trina on my "nailsies." :-)

Lookit that firey flaky amazingness!  I loveeeee the idea of
matte flakies over dark colors. SEXY.

Trina's formula was lovely, definitely a one coater, I just used two coats in hopes that it would eliminate the cursed BUBBLES that cropped up yet again. Grrrr.  Well the second coat didn't do the trick, but a healthy dose of Seche did!  The dry time did seem a tad long to me, but then again, I'm just plain impatient. ;-)

Micro-sparkly, vampy purple Trina in all her glory!

Elle's Spell is a very rich, intense red jelly base with LOTS of  red/orangish-gold
flakes.  They sometimes show a bit of green in certain lights/angles.

Outside, full sun . . . FINALLY! :-D

Ahhh, so beautiful!  Trina really does look almost black in certain lighting.
But look at those flakes, just chilling in their bottle! *swoon

Elle's Spell dried fairly quickly & applied super, super easily!  Lots of different sized flakes in one easy swipe.  And the base is really very highly pigmented.  I may have to try building it up on its own sometime.
I'm very pleased with how this mani turned out, and my nails are getting LONG!!  YAY!  Oh, some other random comments: I loooove the satin feel of the matte coat (can't stop touching my accent nails) . . . NYC's is the first matte coat I've tried and I love it.  Can't beat the price either; $1.72 at Wal-Mart.
Hehe, just realized that the Seche is so shiny in this photo, it's practically acting like a mirror - you can darn near make out my reflection! :-P

So, in closing, I have to pay tribute to one of my favorite TV show characters, BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss from CBS' Criminal Minds.  ***Spoiler alert***

She dies a horribly sad death in part 1 of the finale that was on tonight. :-(  So sad!  Rest in peace, Erin; you will be missed!!  

Why??? WHY do awesome characters hafta be killed off?!?! :-/

Sorry, but I had to share this one too; I love candid behind-the-scenes shots! :-D
Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia and Jayne Atkinson as Erin Strauss 

Did anyone else watch this finale and get as emotional as I did?  Pretty sure my roommate was wondering why the heck I kept yelling "NOOOOooo!!!  Are you KIDDING me?!  Oh my...oh my GOSH! NO!" :-P

I am SO blessed - - by nail mail :-)

Ok, I realize this is a rather odd thing to feel blessed about, but perhaps I just feel that way because when I think of being blessed by nail polish, somewhere in the back of my mind, there is this tiny thought that God does not bless people with nail polish as it's such an insignificant thing in the broad scheme of things.  But He does bless us with amazing people in our lives - some of which just happen to send us polish! hahaha :-)

Lookit these beauties!!! Mmm...some of my favorite brands!
PLUS a super sweet card :-)

Today I'll be showing you my second package of nail mail, which I got from Melissa, the beautiful brains behind Lacquer Reverie. :-)  Like my previous package from my dear Essie (iHeartPrettyPolish), she sent me this purely out of the kindness of her heart.  Awwwww! LOTSA warm fuzzies here! :-D

There's no name on this one, but I've ascertained it's Port-Folio from the 2012 Fall Fashion collection

Just look at that green duochrome amazingness!
Melissa must've noted my love for dc's! :-D

Since I am seemingly unable to make myself swatch every new polish I get right away so I have swatch photos for my blog, I figured I might try this occasionally. If you'd like to see this Color Club on the nail, check it out here:

http://www.onceuponapolish.com/2012/10/color-club-port-folio-notd.html

What do you guys think about this approach? ^^

OPI DS Jewel - a gorgeous liquid copper with purple-y pink and gold shimmer/sparkle

Zoya Arizona
I can't wait to wear this intense cantaloupe creme!
The IRL color is somewhere between this & first picture.

Zoya Yara
Stunning, mysterious dusty moss green with a boatload (bottleload?) of gold flecks

I just had to include a pic of what Essie sent me, complete with her sweet 'lil note :-D
I showed them individually in other posts, but I wanted to do a cute arrangement.
Note: I cannot seem to capture the IRL color of  Sand Tropez.
This is after some editing; still not quite right. :-/

This isn't nail-mail related, but it does relate to being blessed. :-)  My sister came to visit me today, and she brought me a lovely and tasty surprise: Two Fools - 48th Parallel, which is from a local vineyard (literally, like 10 miles away).  As I held it up to the sunlight, it reminded me of my OPI Malaga Wine.  Well, this is Minnesota wine, but they sure do look the same!  Malaga Wine was a polish I purchased mostly because of its nostalgia factor.  I miss Spain with all my heart!!!  And of course, every woman needs a gorgeous deep red polish. :-)  Feast your eyes on the beauty and intensity:

I also wanted to comment on my thumb in the photo of Zoya Yara.  I'm STILL wearing my Pixie Dust Vespa mani - boy, does that stuff wear terrifically!  Barely any tip wear at all (as you can see if you click on the photo to enlarge it), and NO chips.  I did put mine over one coat of Zoya Neely, and a coat of Revlon Quick Dry base coat on my right hand as an experiment.  No chips anywhere!  :-D  I guess this is a huge "pro" for textured polish.  I'm sure I'll be taking it off with the easy glitter removal method as the staying power is about the same - gotta haul out the big guns!  If you're not familiar with this method, check it out here:

I can attest that it works VERY well!

I have so many beauties from my nail mail; which one would you guys like to see?  You can refer to my massive haul photos here too for other options. ;-)

Sleep well, y'all . . . and the HAPPIEST of Mother's Days to all you moms!!!!  (I'm just thanking God I'm not one of 'em! lol!)