Holiday Season! - Milani Gems

I know it's late and tomorrow's a Monday, but I had to fit in this post because... I loved our four day Thanksgiving weekend, I love the holiday season (counting down the days to Christmas in AZ), and I love my husband for going out of his way to find Milani Gems for me.

I've been looking for Gems - it's a Milani Jewel FX off their Rockstar Heavy Glitter display - and the one display that I've found had all of the other polishes and two empty spaces where Gems was supposed to go. So close, so far!!  That was the only display I even found after looking in many other Duane Reades, CVS, and Rite Aides.  It's becoming a pattern with drugstore collections that the polish gets found once I stop looking for it.  And that happened again this time.

My husband goes out in the windy cold weather to get us some Dunkin Donuts breakfast - I'm addicted to their coffee - and comes back with the last bottle of Gems from the last CVS in Staten Island that I hadn't checked.  He's too sweet... awww.... so I put Gems on as soon as I could to show my appreciation.

My goal is to wear festive holiday polish looks through New Year's and here's my first post-Thanksgiving Jolly manicure - Orly Enchanted Forest layered with Milani Gems.

The Bottle Buddies Pic - aww, they like each other!

1 coat of Milani Gems over 2 coats of Orly Enchanted Forest

I love this festive glitter! Gems is supposed to be the $5 sibling to a Lippmann Polish that's more than three times that price. It's true that when macro shots of the two polishes are compared there are slight differences. Gems has large and small hex glitter and the color combination is slightly different. Lippmann's Happy Birthday has large hex glitter and small *square* glitter with a little more pink in the mix. I think Gems is definitely a good dupe-ish substitute and I'm so happy to have it!! 

Good luck to everyone else who may be on their own drugstore searches - you can find those polishes!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Plie

This post is dedicated to my best friend who just ordered her wedding dress.  Her wedding's next year and placing that order is one of the first big steps in making it all real.  Maybe next up will be picking out the bridesmaid dresses *cough, cough, wink, cough* 

I picked up Plie in the big, and most likely last, Rescue Beauty Lounge 50% Off VIP Sale at the beginning of November.  Plie is a perfect polish to try out during the work week.  I missed Opaque Nude last sale and Grunge was still out of stock for this sale, but I had to get a cool opaque nude from RBL this time so I picked Plie.  This shade did not disappoint - it's a wonderful nude with a touch of pink.  It really did remind me of ballet slippers.

After trying Dead Calm, Stormy, and No More War, I figured RBL's formula wouldn't let me down, but I had doubts because this was a light nude color.  After all, I picked up Opaque Pink when Opaque Nude wasn't available and Opaque Pink was NOT opaque!  I shouldn't have doubted the polish community because Plie is opaque in one coat, perfectly creamy in two. 

Since it's after the DST flip and I'm at work during sunlight hours, I only have an indoor shot, but this accurate to the pink-nude color that Plie looks on me.  As with all nudes, I think that skin tone really affects how orange or pink or gray-dead the shade can look on an individual's hand.  The finish is much shinier in real life, but I couldn't get the camera to capture it.  I also put the decal on my ring finger as an extra shout out to mi amiga's wedding dress order.

This shade is totally a shout out towards the color scheme my friend is contemplating.  I can't divulge all her details, but she knows what I mean.

Congrats again, Ash!  I can't wait for your big day!!

A GingerKittyDesign!

I'm a sucker for a sale - I picked up some RBLs, some Zoyas, and I got my very first piece from GingerKittyDesigns.  My bracelet just arrived yesterday and I've only taken it off while I slept and cleaned around the house.  It's gorgeous and I love it that much!

GingerKitty sells her designs through Etsy and the big thing is she handcreates each piece using nail polish of your choice.  She has a wide variety of beloved shades from OPI Absolutely Alice to Essie Starry Starry Night.  I ordered one of her new bracelets in purple.  She was beyond wonderful to work with - asking what colors I'd like, what kind of effect I'd prefer - I even got to pick my favorite out of multiple samples before she placed it in the setting.  Of course, I recommend checking her site out for yourself.

It's like looking at a galaxy on my wrist. It's so sparkly, so delicate, it's so pretty!!!  I'm not sure exactly polishes went into this final design, but GingerKitty did mention looking forward to trying Zoya Goldie when I asked for swirls of gold and silver through the purple.

In honor of my purple bracelet with a hint of Zoya, I'm wearing Valerie this weekend, which I, of course, picked up during their latest sale.  

Valerie is from the Zoya Winter 2010 Flame collection.  They describe this shade as a "royal purple with dark violet, red, deep pink and gold iridescence amplified by a glittering sparkle finish."  It's like Yasmeen got a makeover from this summer's Sparkle collection.  I think the shade shot really shows that glittery iridescence running through the bottle.  It was opaque in one coat, perfect and deep in two.  Yay for Zoya!