A dilemma...

I have a problem.

No sooner do I embark on a challenge aimed at curbing my spending on beauty stuff (nail polish included) than I hear about how China Glaze is putting out a holographic collection next month. >.<

You might have noticed I love me some holo. And these... 

(picture from Laquered Lover)

...look absolutely must-have. And of course, they're LE so I can't just wait til I'm done with the challenge. :/

I might, MIGHT be able to convince myself that I don't need every single shade. I could probably skip one or two of the blues, at least, since I don't tend to wear blues all that often and there *are* four of them... 

In good news, I decided to trash that eyeshadow palette (and the other similar one in brights that I had) after using it for a few days. Too much settling in creases, I expect better of any shadow I'm going to let take up my precious bathroom space. Consider us broken up, HT cream shadows!

One eyeliner also quickly followed, as it was too hard to use without warming it with a lighter first, plus it wasn't pigmented enough to be worth the trouble. Bye, unknown (I think it was a bonus with some eyeshadow or something) brown pencil liner!

Still a long way from done, though, even with ridding myself of two of the most likely to take longest. I highly doubt I'll finish by the end of the month!

Help me out here, ladies. Are fabulous, LE holo polishes worth an exception, or should I stay strong and resist the very tempting temptation? I suppose I *could* cheat a little and throw the whole bunch away, since that's allowed under the rules I set... but then I'd feel like I was just wasting some perfectly good products. 

10-pan Challenge

In my wanderings around the internets I found this neat idea called the 10-pan challenge. Basically, it forces one to pare down their collection of beauty products, which can be such a daunting task! I know I have far more makeup and such than I really need or even regularly use, and I*am* on an organization kick lately. So here I go. 

The rules: 

No buying new beauty products until the products pictured below are used up or I've decided I just don't want them at all and thrown them away (the nail polish could be given to a friend instead of thrown away... but you get the idea).

Because I want this to be doable I'm giving myself a few exceptions: 

1) I can replace essentials if I use up everything of that type I have (for instance if I use up not only the mascara I picked for the challenge, but all my other mascara as well, I can buy one new mascara even if I haven't used up the other products I picked)

2) I can buy new foundation/powder to match my summer tan, if I need it before I'm done with the challenge (which is quite possible).

I don't have to use all these every day, or even any of them every day. I just can't buy anything new outside of my exceptions until they're gone. 

This might be tough... but if it helps me break my hoarderish habits, it's worthwhile!

Butterfly Reloaded

Something a little rocker-y today, again with the pinky accent...

For this mani I started with a base of Essence Chic Reloaded, sponged on a gradient from the cuticle with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Aisle Be There, and added a Kiss decal for an accent. 

Girly but badass, my favorite sort of style! :D

As always, I'm a sucker for duochromes. The second I saw Chic Reloaded I had to have it, even though I'm pretty sure it's a close mimic if not a dead-on dupe for Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Black Tie, which I've had for quite a while and just never really got around to using... nothing wrong with having a backup bottle of an awesome shade, after all!

I've really gotta pare down my polish purchasing, though. It's feeling a bit out of control lately. :/ 

First Featured Polish: St. Patrick's Edition

So I've had this idea kicking around for a while, to do "featured polishes", where I take one polish and do a bunch of nail art using it and generally show off how awesome or un-awesome it is. 

Since St. Patrick's is coming right up, I had to pick a green. So today I present to you, in all its glory (for everything except.... well, you'll see) *drumroll* 

Sinful Colors San Francisco!

First up, I thought I'd show how the polish builds. It starts out pretty sheer, but two coats would be acceptable on short nails, full coverage and perfect bottle color in three:

(ready? One, two three!)

I just realized you can see some nail line on my index and middle nails in the photo still... rest assured, that wasn't visible IRL!

Note this is a stainer! I highly recommend doubling up on base coat.

Next, since it's a bit on the sheer side, I thought it might be cool to see how it layers, with one coat over white (Wet & Wild French White Creme) and black (Wet & Wild Black Creme):

Oooh lookie how pretty over black!

I tried stamping, it really is far too sheer for that... *might* show over white, but after this test I really didn't want to even bother trying.

Barely even shows stamping in a macro. Works fine with a dotting tool, however! The gold is Wet & Wild Chrome A Show At The Palladium.

Whew, that was a failure! Now let's get on to the successful nail art looks I tried! 

Ruffian style with Wet & Wild Chrome I Got A New Com-Pewter

 

Gradient over Sinful Colors Last Chance

Mattified under NOPI White Texture (how cool that the white turned green! It sure is a stainer haha!)

With Wet & Wild Coloricon Frosted Over, freehand on my index and pinky, brush over stamp on my ring finger, and layered as undies on my middle.

What a lot of fun that was! I think I'll do it again one of these days. Unless everyone hates it. Please tell me you don't hate it! I'll do requests! 

Seriously, I would love feedback. Since this is a new thing, obviously it might have kinks to smooth out. Let me know what you think?

Lucky Angel

Just a quick layered look for your enjoyment:

The hot pink is Wet & Wild Lady Luck, and it's topped with China Glaze Angel Wings. Mmm gold holo microglitter! :D 

I needed some vivid color to brighten up my winter blahs. Spring is on the way, but it's sure taking its sweet time about things! I'm so ready for it!

Simply Odd

I got a bit of a bug up my butt to do something really odd but simple with my nails. Here's what happened:

Now, I know a lot of ladies consider sheer polishes and full visible nail line like this a no-go, but I actually really like it on occasion. Gotta be a super-sheer polish, one that makes no pretense of ever being able to hide VNL, and it works for me. It's kinda like lace lingerie for nails. Not quite naked, but the point's not to be properly covered either. Feels so vixenish! ;)

For this mani I started with Sinful Colors Purple Diamond, and freehanded the accent pinky with an orange L.A. Colors striper. 

This definitely got noticed! Most people weren't sure how to react to it, and that's exactly what I was going for, so I'm super happy with how it turned out. 

Would you ever wear a sheer polish on its own, letting your nail line hang out for the world to see? Or is that on your personal DON'T list?