Ninja Polish Ambrosia

K, No time for banter

BLAMSKIES!!!

I really put some effort into this mani... 

Where to start my tales??? 

So I have a real problem with splitting... It was getting better when I wore gloves to sleep with moisturizer and cuticle oil every night, not cured but better... but I stopped doing that when I had to go back east and havent started up again. Then it got a little better when I wore Orly's Nailtrition but it says not to use it consecutively for more than two weeks... and THEN theres my other little problem. 

I see that little bit of lacquer covered nail lifting off the rest of the nail and I CANT HELP MYSELF, I have to peel it back slowly and a little at a time... It is so satisfying. Like squeezing a big blackhead you didnt know you had but catch site of in the mirror during your makeup routine, so big it looks like a mole. Yeah this is just like that for me. I cant help myself!

SO I peel the damn thing back and then paint my nails again and it leaves this unsightly ridge and it looks horrible and then just causes the next peel when it grows out.  YUCK circle of never ending manicure ruination.

So this time I used one of those nail buffer things... you know? The ones from the dudes at the mall who catch you and molest your hand with that huge nail file looking thing with four sides? All to leave you with that one shiney nail? NO? I guess nail polish addicts dont get subjected to this because we're always wearing polish... but back when i didnt wear polish my naked nails were molested in this fashion all the time... those damn sales cart people.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT

I buffed the crap out of all my split nails.... all of my nails really, even the non split ones, I smoothed down the edges where new splits were occuring and I buffed out all the ridges on my nails. HOPEFULLY this will prevent some splitting in the future FINGERS ARE CROSSED! But more importantly this occured to me to be the best way to treat my nails before I use chrome polish or others that show the shit out of ridges. And you all had to read through that crap to get that little gem of advice damn it! HAHAHA! 

Anyways, I went through all that work so I figured I might as well clean up my cuticles and then after I was done painting, clean up some of the mess in the beds of my nails and TADA! I think these might be the best my nails have ever looked for you!

Onto the polish:

So I really like this color, I decided I needed to put on something special after all that hard work and this was the winner! Thank You, Cynthia! 

It went on super smooth but a bit sheer. This is three coats of slightly thick shimmery perfection. It reminds me of Takko Lacquer, both in color and consistency  It has a slightly orange color in the shimmer but also some yellow and even green (in certain lights). It is so rich and glowey, it looks like wildfire on my nails! I am LOVING it!

What do you think? Anyone ever use one of these nail buffers? Am I just late in the game? WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME!!!!? Anyone have any suggestions how to stop the damn splitting??? 

})i({ -Amy

Essence Hypnotic Poison

So I feel like you can always count on good ol' Amy to be swatching old shit that came out whenever and a day ago... but its still new to me because its been sitting in my untrieds for forevs. Today felt like a vampy red kind of day... it never has been before (except maybe during Christmas time) but I couldnt explain why... maybe because there is so much snow outside? SO MUCH SNOW!
The Ulta near my work seems to be constantly purging themselves of all things Essence, so I picked this up a while back for .99 cents (all I can hear is Ryan Lewis "But shit, it was .99 cents!")

This was a dream to apply, I havent had bad luck with Essence polish... The newer stuff in the curvy squat bottles with the thick brush is a bit thicker than the stuff in the small standard looking bottles, in my opinion. But either way, I have had some good luck with their stuff.
It went on super smooth and if I used a thick enough coat I could do it in one. That being said this is two coats of slick saturated color. It looks darker in person... hmmm, probably the flash.

It shines up nice, but it makes me feel like Cruella Deville!!!

Anyways, does anyone know when this polish came out? Any favorite Essence colors? Mine's probably Out of My Mind...

})i({ -Amy

Untrieds photo heavy... (more like another Photo Dump)

Since I have only recently started my polish addiction... I have a lot of additions to my collection that I havent tried yet... mostly cause I like to buy polish more than I like to apply it... too much nail care to worry about. I have a couple days off and not much to do except probably go hang out with my little brother tomorrow. So today I exercised for the first time in a bit over a year... it was pretty tough even though it was only a half hour of running up and down the stairs (because last night when I ran up and down once I was so out of breath I disgusted myself), le sigh. I thought it would be a good idea to sit at my desk and paint my nails for hours, and I cant really move if I wanted to. Please excuse my nails in some of these pictures, the acetone really dries out my skin and cuticles. click "read more" to see the photos

Twelve Nails of Christmas: Day 8

So I knew I had to paint my nails last night.... but it was also an incredibly stressful day at work. When I got home my boyfriend had bought me some Woodchuck Hard Cider. I dont drink very often (and the boyfriend NEVER drinks and NEVER has - he's mormon) but I love hard ciders. I used to live in Australia and developed a huge taste for Strongbow cider (among a taste for ALL other alcohols... which is kinda why I dont drink much anymore - long story) and then I moved to Vermont where they make Woodchuck. In a time where Strongbow was hard to get Woodchuck became my go to drink. Anywho, their Fall flavor put me back in the mood to do Christmas nails (I will be perfectly honest I wanted nothing more to do with these damn Twelve Nails of Christmas posts). As described by Woodchuck: "There are few things as spectacular as fall in the Green Mountains that surround our cidery. When you add cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of American white oak, you either have yourself some mighty fine cider or your standard Vermont tourism cliche." It tastes like Christmas to be perfectly honest. (RAMBLE RAMBLE RAMBLE- My apologies)

So keep in mind that I had two too many of these when I was painting; I dont know why I thought that would be a good idea... my cuticles hate me

Anywho this is two coats of OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress with a thick coat of Sation I Love Miss Self. INRAW is a mini bottle from a big sample set I bought CHEAP from Ulta, and I got ILMS at Marshalls recently for $2.99!

I LOVE this glitter; its a mix of mini holo silver hex glitters, small red gold green and holo silver hexs, and medium silver holo hexs. SUPER GLITTER! It goes on very well, and I really only thickened it up where I thought it needed more greens... they are kinda sparse. Very nice formula though, and you might be able to build it up on its own, but it would probably be chunky, it dries very smooth in one coat though so I dont know why I think that.

I wish I could capture it better on the camera... it is SUPER sparkley and the small green hex glitters really pop against all the red.
I've never really been much of a red gal, so I had no idea that I even had INRAW...
Here it is on its own:

What a pretty red! I didnt know I would like this so much... but I totally do. I may have to start wearing red.


What do your Christmas nails look like? If I get any emails with pictures I want to post them on a "day after Christmas" post.

})i({ -Amy