This Isn't Your Grandmothers Easter Manicure

I wasn't going to do an Easter themed manicure because I really wasn't all that inspired.  All I really had was Easter eggs (Like last year).  But then I came up with this. The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog ruins Easter nails! What a way to celebrate! I'm don't remember what I used. It was pretty much a free for all of what colours were laying around me. Not the best manicure but it still makes me smile :D (Is that wrong that a cute killer bunny makes me smile?)

In case you don't know anything Monty Python:

Any other Monty Python fans out there? I pretty much own everything they've ever done. Sketch comedy Gods.

Ps.  My tiny edit pencil is back at the bottom of my posts!!!  Huzzah!!!

Deborah Lippmann Lady Sings The Blues

Lady Sings the Blues is a deep navy blue jelly filled with small silver glitter and large hexagonal glitter. Application was 2 easy coats. Needs topcoat, drys semi matte.

Kas: Now this is one of the  2 DL polishes I own.  Which I bought at the same time.  And I can say as pretty as the colours are I don't think I'll be getting anymore.  First off I don't know how to describe it but it smells different in a weird way from all the other polishes I own.  And the smell lingers even after it's dry.  Also the pictures are a tad deceiving the glitter is no where near as visible as in the photos.  Flash bring out all the glitter.  Finally I find DL polishes have HORRIBLE wear time (24 hours).  And for the money they cost, they are not worth it.  I shouldn't have to make a polish a special occasion polish because of wear time.   Maybe in the future I'll give DL another go because she does have other VERY pretty, and unique polishes. But for now I'd rather not waste my money on a one night wonder. I mean you wouldn't pay full price for a BMW with a Pinto engine? Blerg... I always feel bad after writing stuff like this. :/

George: Another of your expensive pretties. I like this one, but to be honest it's not a favourite. I love the jelly texture and the way it can appear almost purple in some lights, but the sequins are the part that disappoint me. I wish there were more variety, even more colours. This could've been great if there were maybe an extra size/shape of glitter, and maybe if there were blue glitters instead of just silver. Just more to catch the eye. As it is, this one is pretty, but it doesn't make me want to jump up and buy it, and to be frank, at this price point, that's what I need to feel. No comment on wear time.

 Kas

 Geoege

Ebony and Ivory Swatch China Glazes Hunger Games Collection - Part 2

So just a little recap.  We will now sometimes post together! And the titles will not always start with "Ebony and Ivory...".  So let's move on to the final 3 polishes in out possession.

Electrify (District 5 - Power)

Electrify is a clear base full of gold and slightly larger red glitter.  We used 3 coats for complete opacity.

 

Kas: I like this but I would never buy it for myself.  This is a accent ring kind of polish for me. Even if it's not for me it's quite the dazzling colour. Oui?

George: This one is obviously my favourite of the collection. How could it not be? Two of my favourite colours, gold and red, together in a stunning glitter with two sizes. I love the contrast between the colours and how they look like sparks. I bought two bottles of this one, and I am almost afraid to wear it because I don't want to ever run out, haha. I am in love. I think this is about as close to the perfect glitter as you could ever get for me. JUST LOOK AT IT :D

 

Luxe and Lush (District 1 - Luxury)

Luxe and Lush is another clear base full of different sizes of lilac/pink/blue flakies that flash an assortment of colours depending on what your base colour is. This is definitely meant to be worn as a top coat. We used 2 coats on most of our fingers. And looking at the photos now I think George used 1 on her naked nails.  And each of us swatched it over a plain black cream.

 

George: This one that I love just because it's unique and weird and very me. I love the shapes, I love the pretty flashes of different colours(Blue! Green! Gold! Peach!) and how it just dances in the light. I can't wait to try this layered over things. I want to see it over a blood red.

Kas: Again this is a polish I really like but it's not for me (I'm VERY picky when it comes to polish if you haven't already figured that out). I LOVE how the flakies can have such a dramatic change of colour depending on what you layer it over.  Looking back we should have swatched it over a lighter colour too. Maybe one day George will do that and show us :P

 

Stone Cold (District 2 - Masonry)

China Glaze Stone Cold on Index and middle fingers.  Orly Iron Butterfly is on the ring and pinky fingers.

Stone Cold is a black matte/suede with silver shimmer.  We used 2 thin coats but if you really wanted to you could get away with one slightly thicker coat.

Kas:  This is my favorite out of the collection.  I LOVE mattes with shimmer (None of that glorified wall paint stuff).  I have one in almost every colour.  They are my go to when I'm in a rush.  And they look great with top coat.  Anyhoo the minute I saw I swatch of this I knew I loved it and I knew I did NOT need it because I was pretty sure I had Orly's Iron butterfly.  Iron butterfly is SLIGHTLY darker in person.  So if you have iron butterfly (or any black matte shimmer for that matter) you really don't need this.

George: Ahh, the lone matte! This one satisfied my need to own Orly's Iron Butterfly(see our dupe photo) as it's almost identical. I go back and forth on dark mattes, but this one is really interesting and I'm so glad I own it. I love that the shimmer only really comes to life in the right light. It just kind of pops out at you. Really nice colour, though I do wish it were a bit more unique.

Well that's all for today folks!  I'm sleepy.

Ebony and Ivory Swatch China Glazes Hunger Games Collection - Part 1

So first off you should know that we're going to try and do combined posts too.  This is something we've been wanting to do for a while.  We thought it would be nice to be able to come to one place and see how something might look on darker and lighter skin or on different nail shapes. And not only that but taste wise we're pretty opposite. George leans towards brighter colours and glitter where I (Kas) lean towards warmer, and vampy colours, and prefer shimmer. But that doesn't mean we don't deviate.  Also we don't read each others reviews before posting them so it's fun to see when we have two wildly different opinions on things (See Smoke & Ashes :P). Anyways let's get this wheel of cheese rolling!

Quick intro! George is a big Hunger Games fan and I read the first book and I thought it was ok. She was excited for this collection.  I was neutral.  George is tall. I am average height. George bought 6 bottles from the collection.  I bought none.

Riveting (District 3 - Technology)

George

Kas

Kas: In the sun

Riveting is and Orange jelly with golden flecks.  We used 3 coats.

George: I love this colour. It's just so bright and shimmery and I love that it doesn't clash with my skin. It has a lot of depth and just seems to glow. This is definitely one of my must-have picks for this collection!

Kas: I really liked this colour in the bottle but I already knew I wouldn't like it on me.  I find most oranges look horrific on my skin tone. But the colour is by no means ugly.  It's beautiful and if you can work it.... work it :P Also it reminds me of a magical tangerine (because I see them all the time).

Dress Me Up (District 8 - Textiles)

Kas

George

Kas

George

Dress Me Up is a dusty pink cream.  We  both used 2 coats. But you may need 3 depending on how thick you do each coat.

Kas: I was unsure of this colour (as I always am at first of most pinks) but I was hopeful because it was a dusty pink and those are generally the types of pinks I like. I'm happy to say that I really liked it.  And the formula was flawless in my opinion.  This is also a great work safe polish.

George: Well, you already saw this on me in my Pirouette My Whistle post, but here it is again. Let me just say: I LOVE THIS. You all know my feelings about neutrals, but for some reason this one just won me over. I think it's because it's dusty and sophisticated while also being just plain pretty. I mean, look at it! Talk about the perfect neutral.

Smoke & Ashes (District 12 - Mining)

George

George: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Smoke & Ashes is a black based polish with blue-green micro flecks.  We used 2 coats in the pictures.

George:  A lot of bloggers were disappointed with this colour, which is shocking to me, because I think it's amazing. The blue and green shimmer just come alive in almost any light, and the blackened base gives it versatility. I wore this with a flakie topcoat and the result was absolutely incredible. I just don't understand how anyone couldn't love this.

Kas: Now to be honest I wasn't too crazy over this collection.  But from the initial photos I thought this would be the one I bought. But after swatching it this was quite the disappointment. The flecks don't pop enough. The black om noms too much of it.  Now I love polishes with hidden secrets but the key is the secret can't be hidden forever. In theory this polish was a good idea. But it was executed poorly.

Well that's all for now.  Tomorrow we shall have the final 3 that we own up. 

Ciao!

OPI I Have A Herring Problem or "Why my skintone is ridiculous."

So I debated the OPI Holland collection for a pretty long time.  As in, it took me over a month to decide if I was going to buy one.  I hemmed and hawed and finally I picked up I Have a Herring Problem.

I have to be honest, in the bottle, I loved this colour.  It's gorgeous and SO interesting.  On the nail, or rather on MY nail?  Blahhhhh.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my skin pulls both yellow and red in different lights with different colours, and thus there can be some serious ugliness if a colour isn't right(See: Essie's Pretty Edgy, possibly the ugliest colour on me in the history of time).

This colour isn't HORRIBLE on me, it's just not good.  It made my hands look sallow, but somehow also made my fingertips look lobster-y.  I think it's too grey, and I should've realised the gold shimmer wouldn't work, but I was blinded by the bottle.

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful colour, just not for me in the slightest.  I think I might go back for the other two(A Roll in the Hague and Red Lights Ahead... Where?) as a consolation.  We'll see.  Either way, Herring Problem is going to a better home with a co-worker on tuesday.

^ Blurred to show shimmer.  It's beautiful.. Too bad it's all wrong for me.^

On another note:  I hate seeing photos of the shape of my nails.  I promise they're actually quite square!  But they're VERY curved, so in photos they can look a little interesting.  Too bad.

What do you guys think of this colour?  Did any of you pick it up?

Feminist Porn Award Nails

So this manicure is kind of old (almost a year to be exact).  Anywhoo, last year we went to the The Good For Her Feminist Porn Awards. Which in short is an awards ceremony that highlights videos that woman had a hand in the production, writing, direction, etc. Also the videos depicts genuine female pleasure and It expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn*. First off let me say I had a killer outfit.  I wish I had taken photos.  Second I did take photos of my nails (I think this is when the addiction really started to rear it's ugly head).

Side story.  When we were there I saw the most beautiful human being on the planet sitting in front of me.  Seriously, he was like some ethereal, androgynous, divine being, carved by Aphrodite herself.  I kinda wanted to reach out, touch him, and say "Do you know how beautiful you are?".  You guys would completely understand where my crazy was coming from had you seen a photo. But I'm not that crazy.

Back to nails.  I based this manicure of the dress (that doubled as a top that night).  I bought it years ago at a clothing show and it's probably one of my favourite items of clothing. I added a picture of a larger part of it.

 

Pinky: Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink.

Ring: OPI Step Right up and some random unknown pink.

Middle: OPI Sparkle-icious.

Index: Sephora by OPI Just a Little Dangerous and Essie's Matte About You.

 

There is a bird in the middle of the dress!!! Why have I never noticed you!!!

* Pretty much taken from their website because they word it better than me.

In other news I only have 9 toe nails now.  I tore one off completely :D... seriously though... ow.

ETA: We realized that we have said on different occasions that we are actors. And looking back on this post it might appear like we may do adult films.  So we decided to add this. We do NOT do adult films, and we will NEVER do them. We are open minded and don't scorn or have any ill feeling towards people who do.  But it's not something we would ever do. - Kas & George

Award! + OPI Germany + Some more giveaway info + Question (Whaaa?)

Why do 4 posts when you can have one glorious stir fry of a post.

First off danke to the lovely and talented Brandi of The Collegiate Nail for tagging Varnished Valkyrie for The Liebster award! If you are not following her already I suggest you have a sit down, think about why you aren't and then after a few hours of deep meditation and reflection on not only this but your own life follow her :D

The Rules:

1. Put the link to who gave you the award.

2. Put the award on your post.

3. Choose 5 blogs with under 200 followers to receive the award.

4.  Let them know you awarded them.

Tagging:

My Nail Journey,  Adventures of The Nailfriends, 9ml Universe, Nearly Natural Nails,  (This is where I got hungry and left the computer).

Speaking of German stuff who here is excited for OPI's Germany collection? Fist off I'm excited just because it's  a German collection.  But I'm not sure how I feel about the colours yet.  I need to see actual swatches. So far I see a couple I MIGHT like, but we'll see.

 

L to R: My Very First Knackwurst, Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Berlin There Done That, Dont Talk Bach to Me, Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, Schnapps Out of It, Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs, Every Month is Oktoberfest, Unfor-greta-bly Blue, Deutsch You Want Me Baby, Danke-Shiny Red & German-icure by OPI.

Next up just a bit of an update.  Our giveaway will be up very soon (before Easter... fingers crossed). And we know one of the prizes will be (Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄!  We just need to find time when we can both get together and confirm what else id going with that.

Finally I have a blogger question.  Where is my tiny pencil?!?!?! My edit pencil that was always at the bottom of my posts! I loved that! Is this one of bloggers new changes? Is it going facebook on me? 

Kas