Happy Birthday to Me!

Good morning readers!  If you were on my Facebook page yesterday, you saw that it was my BIRTHDAY!  :D  I turned 25 yesterday and had a nice relaxing day of doing nothing.  I slept in until about 11am, Tyler made me breakfast (pancakes with strawberries), I did my nails (obviously) and did some laundry.  That's about it :)  Oh, and I got to bring Owen to my house with me when I left Tyler's house yesterday afternoon :D

My weekend was a little hectic and I apologize for not being around much and not posting.  I will tell you what I was up to, but first, let's take a look at what was on my nails for my birthday!

Go Pink Wednesday October 24

I'm running a little behind with my blog post today.  In my own defence, I built my very first Nail Polish Rack rather than polishing last night because I was so darned excited to make it!  Otherwise I would have done this mani last night :)

Anywho, today is the 4th Go Pink Wednesday, hosted by Finger Painting Fingers, which has been so much fun.  I have a new-found love for the colour pink.  It's not that I didn't like pink before, I just like it more than I did before :)  I have all the colours of the rainbow (literally) in my polish collection and really not that many pink polishes, considering it's a pretty "normal" polish colour.

This week I had to use a Breast Cancer Awareness polish.  This is 2 coats of 365 Days of Color Love My Tatas over 2 coats of Julep Carrie from their Pinky Promise set.

Sunny from 365 Days of Color says: "As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, which means all month long, many companies are donating money all month long to research foundations.  I have always been a supporter of breast cancer awareness and research. As someone who had a breast cancer scare back in 2010, I know how important it is to regularly check to make sure nothing is wrong with your body.  This month only, I will be selling this polish and donating two dollars from each sale to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation."

Julep says: "In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, we have created the Pinky Promise Set with two beautiful pink crèmes and one of our best-selling products. 20% of the proceeds from this set will go to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF)."  The set includes Drew (a darker pink), Carrie (a lighter pink) and their Cuticle Oil.

How great are both of these for doing this for the month of October?  I know there are LOTS of polish companies doing the same, or something similar, for the month of October, but these are the only 2 that I have purchased something from.

Onto the mani :)

Isn't it beautiful?!  I am absolutely in LOVE with this mani.  Carrie is a perfect base colour for Love My Tatas :D  Love My Tatas is an extremely shimmery polish that has a slightly tinted base.  The shimmer is goldy-pink and it has almost rose-gold hexes and squares in it :)  These were a little tricky to get onto the nail but all in all I absolutely love this glitter and can see myself using it often!

If you love Love My Tatas as much as me, hurry on over to the 365 Days of Color shop and pick yourself up a bottle, they are limited edition!  She is only selling them for the month of October, and when stock runs out, that's it!

P.S. -- I have only filed my nails once since my break to try to get them more even in length.  I am really loving them at this length -- what do you guys think?

Sunny's Miracle Balm -- Lilac and Lilies

Happy Friday everybody!  Any exciting plans for this weekend?  I am probably not doing much of anything -- the latest expansion for World of Warcraft came out this past week, so that's all Tyler will be doing all weekend, lol!  That's ok though, he games, I polish and blog ;)  I will be able to spend some quality time with Owen as well, there is never enough of that ;)

I have for you today another one of Sunny's Miracle Balms.  This time I got the Lilac and Lilies.  Lilies are my favourite flower, and lilacs have the greatest scent in the world, so I knew I would love this balm.  I have another one, but couldn't resist getting this one when Sunny had free shipping in her shop :)  The first balm I got was Raspberry Magnolia Peach, which is heavenly!!!

Firstly, I love the fragile sticker on there!  "Love Me Tender (Fragile)", hehe!  :D

When I opened up the package, I noticed that I got the balm in a different container than last time.  It is now a larger white plastic container with a twist off lid.  This is better than the small metal tin with the pry-off lid which is a little tricky to get into when you've got lotion on your hands.

She has the container all sealed with plastic wrap too so you know it hasn't been "tampered with".  This balm smells amazing!  Tyler thinks that it smells "like an old lady" and doesn't like it, so I try to use it when he's not around, lol!

Here is the new container (on the left) compared to the old container (on the right).

I find that the balm in this container is not as "mushy" as the balm in the metal tin, it seems harder.  I asked Sunny if she changed her formula and she said that she hadn't.  This isn't a complaint, more of an observation.  The only reason I make note of it is because with the balm in the metal tin I find that when I use it, it is extremely oily and I can only use it at bed time, though it is extremely hydrating.  This one goes on more like a lotion and isn't very oily.  Also, with the smaller metal tin I find that my nails gouge the balm and I get a bunch under my nails which I have to pick out.  With this container, there is a larger surface so I am able to get the balm without carving into it with my nails.

I would highly recommend getting this Miracle Balm if you have dry cuticles, plus she has SO many different flavours (I call them flavours because they smell edible!) and you can't go wrong no matter what you pick!  Check out her shop here.  She also sells polish -- she is the mastermind behind 365 Days of Color polishes :D

NOTD: 365 Days of Color Darya

Hey everybody!  Did everyone enjoy their day off work??  I know I did!  I did my nails early this morning in the lovely morning sunshine.  Then Tyler dragged me to the gym earlier this afternoon .. which kinda sicked because the gym we go to is kinda ghetto and doesn't have A/C, so you sweat from body parts you don't realize can sweat...  (Sorry for the visual!)

Anywho, today I have for you Darya from 365 Days of Color.  This was a complete surprise polish for me, Sunny included this in my order that I received last week, check out the haul here.

I decided because this is a glitter in a completely clear base I would try it over both white and black to see what it looked like over both!

Darya is a stunning teal/aquamarine glitter with large and small square glitters in a completely clear base so it doesn't effect the colour you put it over.  I like this because you don't have to "coordinate" the polish colour with the glitter polish base colour, it will look great over anything!

I don't know if I prefer it over white or black, I think both combinations look great!  You can see the smaller glitter better with the white background, but on the black it looks like a really starry night sky :D

If you can get your hands on this glitter, I highly recommend you do it.  I checked when I discovered that Sunny included this with my order and it isn't in her shop, so I'm not sure if it's "up and coming" or if it's from an older, discontinued collection.  Sunny, if you sent this to me for review, thank you so much for the opportunity and I would love to do reviews for your polish any time! ;D

*EDIT*  Sunny confirmed that Darya is from a discontinued collection, so it might be hard to find.

NOTD: 365 Days of Color Too Pink to Function

Afternoon dear readers!  Sorry I'm a little late in posting today!  Earlier I went shopping for some new shoes, I needed some new closed-toed shoes for work for the upcoming winter and I had a coupon that expired tomorrow -- $15 off when you spend $35 or more at Payless Shoe Source.  Then I went over to WalMart and ended up buying 4 polishes, a HUGE bottle of ridge filler base coat (75mL) for $5!!!  They also had a spot for quick dry top coat but none in stock -- I will be going into stalk mode for this :D  Pictures of this haul will be posted later!  When I got home and Tyler saw that I bought more polishes I got a "tsk tsk", lol!

On to the polish!  This is Too Pink to Function from 365 Days of Color, another polish from her End of the Rainbow collection :)  This is the best glitter I have ever tried!  I like that it's in a light pink jelly polish.  With the conclusion I came to with My Little Cuppycake, I was more prepared and tried this layered over Avon Cotton Candy.  Just for comparison I also painted this on its own, without pink underneath, just for comparison :)  Let's take a look :D

My index and middle fingers have 1 coat of Avon Cotton Candy underneath 2 coats of Too Pink to Function.  My ring anf pinky fingers, and thumb have 3 coats of Too Pink to Function on its own.  I definitely prefer this polis with the pink polish underneath.  That also means that I won't use as much Too Pink to Function to get full opacity :D  I will always put it on that way from now on!

Now, let's take a closer look, see if we can see the teal and blue shimmer in the polish...

It's there, ever-so-slightly, but you really have to look for it.  That's alright with me though, then it doesn't take away from the larger glitters and the colour of the polish :D

Overall, I love this polish.  I only got the mini, but I would definitely recommend getting the larger bottle if you can get your hands on it! :D

To get your own bottle of Too Pink to Function, visit Sunny's online shop though I think it's going to be a big seller!  So if you see it in stock, make sure to snatch it up quickly :D

NOTD: 365 Days of Color My Little Cuppycake

Happy September 1st everyone!  I cannot believe it's September already, where has this year gone?!

I have for you today 365 Days of Color My Little Cuppycake.  This was the polish I couldn't wait to try from my order.  Sunny describes this polish as "a white jelly polish so you can see more of the glitter in it.  Then it has a bunch of matte glitter in it.  From rainbow hexes to coral fine glitter, and the best part -- RAINBOW MATTE SHARDS!!!"  Sounds like fin, right?!

This polish seriously looks like cupcake icing on my fingers!  It's a wonder I didn't try to lick it off all day while I was wearing it ;)  These pictures are all with 3 coats of polish.  Next time I will be putting white polish under it so I don't have to use as much for it to become opaque.  Ooooh if I had Essie Marshmallow, this would go over it perfectly! :D

This is definitely a fun polish and I'm so glad I got it :D  If you want to purchase your own bottle, head on over to Sunny's shop and pick yourself up a bottle :)

Nail Mail: 365 Days of Color Haul

Happy Thursday peeps!  Waaaaahhh I'm SO excited for this challenge that I am hosting starting Saturday, September 15!!!  What??  You don't know what I'm talking about?!  Click here for the details!  Come and join us, everyone is more than welcome to participate -- bloggers and non-bloggers alike! :D

Anywho, today I have for you one of my nail hauls that I came home to the other day.  I was so excited to see this in the mailbox when I got home from work!  It was my 365 Days of Color order!  Weeeeee!

*practices calming breathing exercises*  Ok, chillax!  LOL!  I think I'm sniffing too many polish fumes!!

Let's take a look at what I got :)

*record scratching*  HOLD THE PHONE!  What does that say at the bottom?!

A FREE GIFT?!  :O ... :D  Seeing this little "love note" made my day SO much better!  AHHHH I just can't contain my excitement!!!! :D  So let's go look at what I got :D

Everything was wrapped so well in bubble wrap -- and yep there are 3 there when I only ordered 2!!! :D

First up, My Little Cuppycake.  This is from Sunny's new collection, End of the Rainbow.  This is a lovely white based glitter with matte glitters in it in different shapes and sizes, even in shards!

 

It looks like icing in a nail polish bottle!  YUM!  Haha! :D  I love the look of this and can't wait to put it on! :D

Next up, Too Pink to Function.  This is a really beautiful pink based glitter with  matte glitters in different shapes and sizes (mostly medium hexes and squares and tiny squares).  She says that there is a blue and teal shimmer through the polish but it's not overly evident in the bottle -- we will look more closely when I do my NOTD with it :)

I love the look of this polish, and again, I can't wait to try it on!  I need more fingers guys! :D  I want to have some of everything on all at once!

Alright, and finally!  The "big reveal"!!  This is the polish I got for my free gift!  It's called Darya, and I can't find it in her shop so I'm wondering if it's part of a new collection she's working on!  It looks similar to I Put a Spell on You from her Hocus Pocus/Hallowe'en collection, but I don't think it is the same one.

Look at that beautiful glitter!  The colour is stunning, I love teal!  It looks like there are big squares, small squares and hexes all in a clear base.  Can't wait to try this one out, make sure to watch for my post using it :D

After seeing her post with a swatch of I Put a Spell on You this is definitely not the same polish :)  What could Sunny be up to?!  LOL!

Well, there you have it!  That is my polish haul from 365 Days of Color.  Want to get your own?  Visit her shop and see what kind of other goodies she has available :)  P.S. - her Miracle Balm is da-bomb-diggity!  And she has a "free shipping" special (not sure when the end date is for it) on right now, just use the Discount Code FREE upon check out to get your entire order shipped for FREE! :D  WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

(I think I need to cut back on my polish fume exposure, I'm turning into the Mad Hatter!)

NOTD: 365 Days of Color Bora Bora Layered

Hey everybody!  It's Wednesday, we made it half way through this week :D

For today, I took last night's Avon Cotton Candy and layered 365 Days of Color Bora Bora over top.  It thought that maybe with it layered over the pink polish it would help bring out the pink micro glitter.  I'm not sure that it does, but it did turn my nails a lovely purple-ish colour :D  And I LOVE purple in any way, shape or form! :)

Because Bora Bora is fairly sheer, you can see the Cotton Candy coming through it, so sometimes when I look down at my nails, you can see patches of Cotton Candy peeking through :)

I think layering Bora Bora over Cotton Candy helped bring out the pink a little bit but I definitely prefer Bora Bora on its own.

By the way, I apologize that I haven't been posting photos in natural light/outside recently.  With the days being shorter than they were a few weeks ago, I run out of daylight before I can get my nails done and ready for pictures every night.  Dang this going to work and going to the gym business!  It's getting in the way of beautiful outdoor nail pictures *shakes fist* lol!

Bora Bora can be found in 365 Days of Color's shop.  If you are interested in homemade Indie polishes, she has some really unique creations :D

This may be the last blog post I have until Monday.  Tyler and I are headed north with some friends to go camping for the Civic Long Weekend and we have to get lots of packing done tonight and tomorrow night before we leave at lunch time on Friday.  I will try to do up another blog post to schedule for tomorrow, just to give you guys something to look at over the weekend :D

Sunny's Miracle Balm

Happy Saturday everyone!  Again, another scheduled post today as I am helping my friend and her husband move into their new house today :)

I have for you today some NAIL MAIL!  It's not polish, but something just as essential :D  It's cuticle balm that I purchased from 365 Days of Color's store in Peach Magnolia Raspberry.  This is what I opened:

The tin on this contains 5mL of Sunny's cuticle balm.  I haven't had this long enough to see full results, but when I do use it feels like I've given my cuticles a tall glass of water :D  I also use Julep's Cuticle Oil as much as possible/as much as I remember to use it.  the balm goes on a little oily but that's what my cuticles need :)

However, one thing I DO know is it smells AMAZING!  I was overwhelmed about what "flavour" to pick when I was ordering it because she had so many great ones, but I decided on this because I love peach and raspberry combinations :)