NOTD - Red Carpet Gel Manicure - Simply Adorable

Ok, I know it's been a while since I've posted, however, going forward I plan on posting on a regular basis.  I promise :)  I pretty much took the summer off to focus on family and now I am recharged and ready to go.  As you can tell, I have revamped my blog.  Please be patient as I am still work on tweaking the formatting but it's finally somewhat presentable.

Lately, I've been really into using my gel manicure kit.  My life has been so hectic that it's been nice to not have to paint my nails every 2-3 days.  Using gel allows me to keep my polish on for 1-2 weeks.  Here's my review and tutorial on the Red Carpet Gel Manicure kit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yViBw9_2ZZM&list=UU6eCw4x9LuQ4d9g0LIL99_Q&index=4&feature=plcp

Here is my NOTD - Simply adorable....a pale/classic pink

Spring Nail Colors!

Sorry I've been so MIA lately.  Between trying to manage my YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter, it seems like I can never keep up and unfortunately my blog has been terribly neglected.  It seems easier for me to update my Facebook page more frequently.  I have been taking quite a bit of pictures of things, so I am going to attempt to play catch up on here.

With spring upon us I have gotten really into spring nail polishes.  To be perfectly honest I have been OBSESSED with nail polish lately.  I wanted to share some of my favorite colors I've been wearing lately.

Essence (mint green) in the color "You Belong To Me" with Confetti "Ice Ice Baby" 

Greens seem to be really in right now.  I have been obsessed with Essence nail polish and even better they are only $.99 at Ulta!

Essence "A Lovely Secret" with CND "Sapphire Sparkle" on top

This lovely blue based purple is such a fun color with a hint of sparkle on top!

 Revlon "Flirt"

Such a pretty girly pink that really just "pops" out at you! Love this color!

Sally Hansen "Lively Lilac"

I am absolutely in love with this color, this plummy lavender color is just screaming spring to me!

Essie "Pink A Boo"
This is a lovely soft pale pink with a touch of iridescent sparkle
Also used a Konad stamp on my nail-I've been recently obsessed with nail stamping!

I also have a few orange/peach/coral nail polishes that are in my queue to try out.  Coral also seems to be a big hit this season too.  What colors are you guys enjoying this spring?

Hope you had a great weekend.  And again, apologies for being so absent on my blog I plan on playing catch up soon.  I also have a fun blog giveaway coming up this week to so stay tuned!

As well, I post more on my YouTube cannel and Facebook page so stop on by there and say hi sometime!

http://www.facebook.com/Pixiemama5000

http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiemama5000

NOTD-Zoya Marley Lovely Lilac!

So yet again I have another Zoya NOTD.  Wow, I just ordered 6 more Zoya polishes a few days ago and I am so tempted to order 2 of their Mylar fleck effect polishes.  I have my eye on Maisie and Chloe.  I have seen swatches on other blogs so google the collection to find a blog swatch because I thnk it'll help a lot making your decision.  Check out the colletion on Zoya's site:

Zoya Fleck Effect Mylar Hollographic Spring 2012 Collection

Here is a picture of the color Marley I had on today.  I really didn't have good lighting today and my first picture doesn't do the color any justice as it's a little brighter lilac than the picture below shows.

So I threw a filter on Instagram and it brightened the color up, however, in true life the actual color is probably something in the middle of the two pictures.

Hope you are having a great Wednesday! Has anyone else found any great Zoya colors that they've fallen in love with?

NOTD-Zoya Erika Baby Pink Polish With Gold Shimmer

Ok, so you are going to see quite a few nail of the day pictures and posts because I was fortunate to stock up on quite a bit of Zoya polish through a few of the flash promos that Zoya was holding on twitter during the month of December.  Zoya currently has another promo for get two nail polishes free and just pay shipping that will run until January 9, 2012 using the promo code ZOYA2012.

Neutrals and pinks have always been my "go to" colors while I was working in corporate america due to the conservative nature of the work I did.  More recently I had gotten back into more trendy and dark nail polishes but somehow found my way back to the pink colors again, hence my interest in the color Erika.  Now admittedly I typically gravitate towards pale pinks such as OPI Sweetheart or OPI Bubble Bath.  The color Erika is a true baby pink brighter than the pink colors mentioned above.  It also boasts a beautiful subtle gold shimmer that you can see in the picture more towards the top of the bottle.  I used two gracious coats of polish to really get a vibrant color, however, I may try to tone the pink down next time by using a softer pink or white coat followed by a coat of the Erika color. 

NOTD-Zoya Jules and Zoya Color Lock First Impressions

I have been obsessed with Zoya nail polish lately.  I love the fact that Zoya is a 4 Free nail polish-free of  toluene, formaldehyde, DBP and Camphor.  I was fortunate enough to participate in a few of the Flash Promos that Zoya was having through Twitter.  One of the deals that I was able to snag was a free mini Color Lock System.  The Color Lock System is a 5 step system that is supposed to "Put perfect nail color on lock down." The five steps include the Zoya Remover, Anchor Basecoat, Zoya Nail Polish, Armor Topcoat & UV Block and the Hurry Up Speed Dry Drops.  This is my first time using the system and I wish I could say that I love it, however, just as a first impression I have to say that I am not too impressed.  It is so rare that I get bubbles in in my nail polish, however, I noticed that the consistency of the Jules nail polish was thin and with my nail beds being so long I made sure I grabbed a healthy amount on nail polish on my brush to avoid having to dip twice into the bottle to polish each nail.  I am assuming this is what may have caused some of the bubbling.  Well, I ended up getting bubbles on my nails :(  The speed drops are supposed to eliminate bubbles-didn't live up to this claim.

You can't see the bubbles from the photo, however, they are there.  As well, I love the high gloss that Seche Vite top coat left, however, I had to give that top coat up because it was a not a 3Free polish.  I have since then replaced it with Deborah Lippman's Addicted to Speed Top Coat and have found that it leaves that similar high gloss coat that Seche Vite does.  I wish I could say that Zoya's top coat performed the same, however, it didn't.  I was a little disappointed and may try the base and top coat separately to see if my opinion changes by using them individually.

Now the color Jules was highly impressive.  I absolutely love this color more than I thought I would.  It boasts a soft gold/taupe color with a subtle shimmer.  It really looks luxurious on my nails I just wish I could speak more highly of the Color Lock System.  Here are some pictures below.  What is your favorite Zoya color?

Zoya-Jules 

 Zoya Mini Color Lock System

Nail of the day - Or shall I say Nail of the week - Zoya and Essence

So as I have begun purchasing nail polishes that are 3Free I felt the need to check out the Zoya line. Recently Zoya had a buy one get one free sale on their website and I dragged my feet in ordering that I missed the sale.  The day after the sale ended I went to Ulta and it just so happened that the Zoya polishes were buy two get one free.  Not as great as the buy one get one but at least I didn't have to pay shipping so it may have balanced out some.  In any event, one of the Zoya colors I picked up was a beautiful mauve pink called Pandora.  The color stands beautifully on it's own, however, that same trip to Ulta I swung by the Essence set up and saw this adorable color called Space Queen that I picked up.  I decided to pair the two colors up, Pandora as a base and Space Queen on top and voila! A gorgeous and fun combination.  It's a shame, the picture does the nail look no justice.  It doesn't capture the rainbow flecks of glitter that sparkle everywhere.  I did notice that the essence polish went on a little thick.  I didn't mind too much, since it was a glitter top I figured the overall final texture would probably be hidden by the glitter.  And at $.99 for an essence polish you can't complain-and they are 3Free!

I love this look! It's a neutral but fun look!

FYI-I applied the color on Wednesday night and it's Sunday and is not showing much sign of wear :) yay!  What are your favorite polishes of the moment?

Deborah Lippman Nail Polish - Wicked Game - LOVE IT!

Ok, so recently I became increasingly curious about high end nail polishes.  I wanted to see what all of the hype was about. Is it really worth the $18 to $25 a bottle?  I don't know about all that, the verdict is still out on that one.  About a month ago I bought a Chanel polish in the color Black Pearl and although I absoutely love the color I didn't find that the polish had any longer wear than an OPI or even Rimmel polish.  As well, I recently bought the Deborah Lippman nail polish in the color Wicked Game and although I absolutely ADORE the color, I don't think I would necessarily say that these high end polishes last any longer than OPI or some other drugstore brands.  I rarely ever get my nails done anymore as I'd rather spend money on makeup or clothes so I justified these expensive polish purchases to this fact.

Will I continue to buy high end polishes? Probably but I have made it a point to buy colors that are unique.  So my recent love is Deborah Lippmans Wicked Game polish.  This polish is amazing, it's this multidimensional color that looks like a purple, grey or even green depending on how the light shines on it.  Amazing.  I've also decided to buy polishes going forward that are 3Free - Free of Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Fomaldehyde and Toulene.  As well, beware, I have found Talc and Parabens in some polishes too.  I've really started to read labels carefully.  This is a personal choice of mine to try to lessen my chemical/toxins exposure.

In any event, check out this beautiful polish.  I am in LOVE!

I have been stepping out of the box this year as I have been programmed to wear neutrals because I've worked in a corporate environment for a long time, but not anymore: )  So I am enjoying experimenting with fun colors!  What are your favorite colors this season?