Get It On & Wicked Fast - Part Two (Sale Info!!)

Quick follow up on the Cult Nails Get It On Perfecting Base Coat and Wicked Fast! Quick Dry Top Coat...

They are available for purchase now and on sale through this Sunday!

 For the official release, Maria explained  
the creative process behind her treatments.   

And it turns out that I wasn't going crazy about how magically nourishing the Get It On base coat felt on my nails - it was specially formulated for weak and splitting nails!  I'll get an occasional rip when I'm rough on my nails but I don't think of them as generally weak and splitting.  

Without being told the specific details behind the Get It On formula, I still saw an effect and thought it definitely left my nails in better condition after wearing. My nails feel moisturized (no more random dry patches), stronger, and growing faster than ever.  As always, formulas work differently on different people but I still wanted to share my personal experience with these treatments.  

I recommend checking out her article to learn more about the development of Wicked Fast, the pricing for both these treatments, and the release of the brand new eggplant purple polish Vicious.

You can buy Get It On, Wicked Fast and a Cult Nails Lacquer for just $20!  Put the Get It On/Wicked Fast combo (retail $15) and any polish (retail $10) in your cart and use the code TREATS when you check out to get this special bundle sale price.  This is a great deal but it'll only be around for a few more days so act fast!

OWWWP - wet n wild How I Met Your Magenta

This polish has been shown off since it was released earlier this year, especially for Pink Wednesdays, but I just recently picked it up during the month-long Walgreens sale on all their $1.99 items.  I was reluctant to try more Fast Dry Color polishes after the bubble fest from Party of Five Glitters, but why not give the line a second chance for $.99 a bottle?

Wet n Wild How I Met Your Magenta is a warm bubble gum pink with fine gold shimmer.  This polish dries to a semi-matte finish.  I prefer to wear this shade with a shiny top coat because it makes brush strokes, which are visible in its semi-matte finish, disappear.  My index finger doesn't have any top coat so you can the difference between its matte vs. glossy.

The brush is full and straight so it was easy to work with but definitely had to be manipulated and worked around where the nail bed has curves, like the cuticle edge.  The brush did make getting a medium-thick coat of polish on the nail in only a few strokes easy.

Unlike Party of Five Glitters, How I Met Your Magenta really did dry at lightning fast speed.  Maybe because this polish is kind of a matte? hmm.... 

Unfortunately, I don’t think this polish has the opacity to ever fully cover the nail line.  The VNL isn’t that visible in pictures or some lighting, but it’s there about 90% of the time staring at you from under the bright pink.  However, the quick dry time makes it easy to put on three coats of color and head out the door in 15 minutes with a fully set mani.

The VNL is almost a deal breaker for me, but this is a very pretty color that’s fast and easy to use.  I think I’m going to keep How I Met Your Magenta around for one day manicures when I need something quick and peppy but will come off before that VNL bugs me.

Cult Nails Get It On & Wicked Fast!

I was lucky enough to be one of the few people chosen to test drive the new base and top coat from Cult Nails!  Are you ready to see what Maria's come up with this time?

I've never done this before, but... here are my bare nails (eep)!!  

I had some funky staining awhile back so I lightly buffed my nails.  As you can see, there's now a clear line straight through the middle between buffed and unbuffed nail.  I've been using a ridgefiller base coat while the buffed part grows out to make the surface even again.

Here are my nails with one coat of Cult Nails Get It On Perfecting Base Coat.

Where's the uneven line between buffed/unbuffed?  Where are my minimal ridges? Perfected! One coat and everything was smoothed over.

Get Even has a shiny finish, but not in a slick way. The dried texture is slightly rubbery so it's ready to grab on to the polish.  It also dries quickly - I can't stand base coats that take forever to set. Get Even is one of those base coats where Finger 1 is dry by the time you're done putting it on Finger 10.

It was Friday, so I was ready for fun weekend nails.  I decided to try out Get Even and Wicked Fast with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away.  This shade was released in Spring/Summer 2009, but I didn't buy it until it recently made it back on to drugstore displays as a featured shade of the season.  It's very pigmented, so some people can get away with just one coat.

I wore it here with two coats and one coat of Wicked Fast.

Here are my tips with Blue Me Away after four full days of wear.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of wrapping the tip of the fingernail with polish and top coat to my friends who want to make their manicures last longer. It really works! Don't leave the edge of the nail bare - seal that color on!

Normally, tip wear is minimized but the combo of Get Even and Wicked Fast cemented Blue Me Away on. Even after days of cleaning, typing, dish washing without gloves, there's still polish on the nail edge.

Here are my bare nails right after I took Blue Me Away off.

Four days of wearing a bright blue shade over only one coat of base coat and there was no significant staining on my nails themselves.  I even got crazy smurf fingers when I was taking Blue Me Away off - there's still a touch of blue staining on the right side of my cuticles visible - but my nails were fine!

I think one of the best tests of base/top coats is how they act with cremes because it's a very unforgiving finish.  Jellies would have to be the next hardest finish because of its tendency to bubble and pull away from the tips.  Next up was my manicure to celebrate "the end of summer" over the long Labor Day weekend.

Here are my nails with two coats of New York Summer Hot Orange, one coat of Cult Nails Captivated, and one coat of Get Even and Wicked Fast each.

Here are my nails after five full days of wear.

My nails grew out but the polish didn't go anywhere!  I wore Get Even and Wicked Fast for a day or two with other polish brands and finishes.  The results were consistently the same - once the polish dried, it stayed put nice, shiny and smooth.

I loved Get Even Perfecting Base Coat from the second it dried on my first nail.  I had to get to know the Wicked Fast! Quick Drying Top Coat before I grew to love it.  Why?  Because it's not a thick quick drying top coat, so it shouldn't be treated like one!  That seems like a logical no-brainer, but I've been using thick top coats like Seche Vite and Poshe for a few years and old habits die hard.

Wicked Fast is a thin top coat. You don't need a large bead to be slathered and oozed on the nail for it to work.  The more you put on, the slower it'll dry and the more likely it'll bubble. You don't need a thick layer or multiple coats of Wicked Fast.  One thin coat.  That's it.  Really.  That's all you'll need to make this work!  Put it on thinly and it'll dry quickly to a hard glass-like finish.

After trying Get Even and Wicked Fast for the last few weeks, I know that I'm in love. So far, they get along with all of my polishes, they make them last forever, and they're so easy to work with.  I love the Cult Nails bottle and brush and I love their formulas. Once again, Maria has blown my mind with her creations.

Get Even and Wicked Fast are expected to go on sale at the end of the month, so keep your eye on the Cult Nails shop and definitely plan on getting your own!

Catching Up - My Birthday!

I celebrated my birthday in July and my friend made me one of the coolest birthday cakes ever - it was a nail polish bottle!!

She took all of my favorite flavors and colors and integrated them into this cake.  The cap is chocolate, the bottle is funfetti and strawberry layers, and it's all topped in a layer of fondant.

The design was modeled after an OPI bottle, down to
the dots between the "HPI" (happy!) and the cute label name on the bottom. 

It's a shout out to our poodle - that's how we spell our lil Suzie's name

To show the size perspective, here I am with my birthday cake.  

Even with half of the cake served, it's still ginormous!!

Since I had a home-based birthday celebration (movies, pizza, hanging out with amigos), I spent most of the morning straightening up our place.  When I was done, I needed a really quick mani change - perfect time to use a matte.

I went with Harlow from the Zoya Matte Velvet Winter 2009 collection.  It's a red-based purple matte shimmer.  I was good to go in two coats and a few minutes.  The Zoya brush, as always, means there was no extra clean up needed.

Matte shimmers are one of my favorite finishes, especially Zoya's.  A matte finish is cool on its own, but the shimmer adds an extra pop of interesting complexity.  Harlow goes to show that a shade can still be special, even if it was a last minute mani choice.

Catching Up - Blog Awards!

Part Two - You Like Me! and I Like You!!

Some of you lovely ladies have been kind of enough to tag me with blog awards. I appreciate being picked so I better get going on showing these off!

~ The Top Ten Award ~

from Kris at My Lucid Bubble

RULES

1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

My Top 10 Cosmetics would be...

1. Concealer!! 

My undereye circles are so dark regardless of sleep, diet, cucumber slices, etc. I'm still in search of the perfect one that is creamy, long lasting, and just the right shade.

2. Moisturizer

By day, it normally has tint and/or sunscreen. By night, it's light enough to moisturize without creating morning greasiness.

3. Blush

I love blush. Love it! I can't even begin to pick a favorite.

4. Translucent Correcting Powder 

For a matte finish, I go with ELF. For glowing, I go with Physician's Formula.

4. Lipgloss - all kinds, preferably ones that smell & taste like cupcakes.
5.  Bronzer

Benefit Hoola in the winter, Korres Monoi Bronzing Powder in the spring and fall, ELF Contour duo in the summer.

6. Clay Face Mask 

It transforms my look so it counts as a cosmetic. Current favorite is Freeman Avocado & Oatmeal. It's radiance + oil-be-gone in one large inexpensive tube.

7. Vanilla Chap Sticks 

Bath & Body, Avon, whatever makes me think cupcakes!

8. Benefit Pocket Pal with Benetint and gloss

9. Blotting Sheets 

These also count because they suck away oil slicks and help keep the real makeup on the face.

10. Mascara

I like the way I look with it on but don't wear it very regularly. One day, I'll find the perfect dark, lush, clump-free, smudge-free, flake-free, contact friendly formula and wear it every day!

~ The Butterfly Award ~

from Lesley at painting with polish

RULES

1. Link back to the person who awarded this award to you.
2. Answer the following questions.
3. Award to other blogs and let them know.

The Questions...

1. What's your favorite color?
I don't think I have a favorite color, but my friends disagree. They say it's pink. Ok, that probably is my favorite color!

2. What's your favorite song?
My favorite song rotates - I've been doing a lot of driving, so I'm in a sing-along Broadway mood... I know it's kind of random but Blackout from In The Heights. It's like the next generation version of Christmas Bells from Rent.

3. What's your favorite dessert?
Cupcakes

4. What is pissing you off?
My hair - it's too hot to wear down, it's too long but I'm not ready to cut it off yet, it's too humid so it's frizzing. Why can't it just behave and be really really ridiculously good looking?

5. When you’re upset, what do you do?
Alternating rounds of silence and soliloquies

6. Who's your favorite pet?
Suzette - our first family dog.  Here's a more recent picture of her hanging in the shade by the pool. In a summer cut, of course!

7. Black or white?

White. The thought of black in this triple digit weather is frightening.

8. What's your biggest fear?
Not living life to its fullest.

9. What's your best feature?
In this weather, my eyes. In nicer weather, it might be a tie with my hair.

10. What's your everyday attitude?

Try your best. Give it your all. Optimism!

11. What is perfection?
That first cup of coffee in the morning.

12. What's your guilty pleasure?
A warm chocolate chip cookie.

~ The Kreativ Award ~ 

from Princess Poly and LadyLuck

RULES

1. Write 10 facts about yourself.

2. Pass the award to 10 bloggers and tell them about the award.

Ten Facts About Me...

1. I'm a Ninja Turtle - I LOVE pizza. I could eat it at every meal and never get tired of it, which I actually tried the summer before my high school senior year at business camp.
2. I love cookies, cupcakes, and pies. Love eating them, baking them, receiving them as gifts from friends.

3. Going to the Westminster Dog Show was one of the best days of my life. I want to spend more time with dogs - especially when it comes to fighting against animal cruelty.

4. I've loved Broadway musicals since I was a kid - way before I understood where Broadway even was. Thanks PBS - couldn't have done it without you!

5. I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for six months - it was a study abroad semester that I used to finish up my Latin American Studies minor.

6. My biggest travel wish is to get to Europe one day.

7. I like highway driving - throw on some tunes and just go!

8. One of my favorite shows is Parks & Recreation. I would love love love to work in a local government office like that.

9. I wanted to be 5'5", but I stalled at 5'3-1/2".  Even with all my milk, Flintstones, stretching, I couldn't make it. So close, so far!

10. I'm currently addicted to Tiny Tower. Completely. Totally. Go Bitizens!

Now to pass along these awards to the next 10 bloggers.  Since the polish blogosphere works quickly and we're all wonderfully different, I'd like the 10 people I tag to choose the award out of these three that they feel fits them the best.

The Next Round of Special Bloggers...

1. Ali's Nail News

2. Nikki's Nail Files

3. Lindsay at Yacking about Lacquer

4. OliviaNobody at Olivia's Nails

5. Jenny at Polishology

6. Kris from Let Them Have Polish!

7. Cheryl from Legally Polished

8. The VEROblog

9. WillaDodge from Willa's Shiny Tips

10. GingerKittyD from GingerKittyDesigns

Catching Up - China Glaze Classic Camel

Part One - Starting a New Job...

After being unemployed for way too long, I'm finally going back to work! In Arizona. In August. None of my New York work clothes felt light or bright enough to wear. When I first started working in NYC, I tried to wear my AZ khakis to work. They were quickly replaced with darker trousers that could hide the random subway schmutz. Now that I'm back, so are my khakis!

I also had to pick out my first day at work polish. It had to be something work appropriate but special. Riding the khakis high I was on, I went with related shade for my mani - China Glaze Classic Camel from the Fall 2010 Vintage Vixen collection.

Like its name suggests, this is a light camel shade. It's a yellow-based beige filled with gold fleck shimmer. My bottle was separating a bit and I didn't roll it as much as I should have to get it back to smooth consistency, so I had to put on three coats for full, even coverage.

I know this collection was supposed to be 40s themed, but this polish looks like the 70s on me and I love it! The gold shimmer is subtle indoors and the polish takes on more of a beige look. With full sunlight hitting that shimmer and my undertones, Classic Camel becomes more yellow/golden.

When I have to do work appropriate, this is how I like to do it. This shade looks like a nude on me at first glance, but the gold shimmer and slightly quirky base color still keep it interesting for me. I'm still rocking full glitter on the weekends, though!

Catching Up - Intro

How is everyone? What polish are you wearing??

I really focused my job hunting efforts in July.  Since my education, actual work experience, and overall career goals don't perfectly line up right now, I had to spend a lot of time personalizing and tweaking my resume and cover letter before each submission because I was applying for a wide range of different positions.  When I was done applying for the day, I didn't want to type another word in front of my computer.

My hard work has paid off and I start a new job on Monday!!  The position feels like it'll be a perfect fit -  I get to use my administrative background while developing my professional public sector career skills.  I'm really looking forward to working with these people and now I can go back to fun-writing about polish!

To celebrate, I'm doing a week of special catching up posts.  This is stuff I didn't get a chance to share while I was job hunting - blog award, giveaway gifts, comparisons, new NOTDs... so Be Ready and Viva Polish!