The Time Has Come...

I have been contemplating writing this post for a while now, and I can't put it off any longer. I have been blogging for a long time, since 2009. It's seriously been seven and a half years. That sounds kinda insane haha. And I've loved it. I do love it. I wouldn't have done it so long if I didn't. However, the time has come to move on.

I will be retiring, for lack of a better word, very soon. I plan to be finished by the end of this month. 2016 has been kind of a wonky year, but blog-wise I've enjoyed great success and I'm happy to be ending things on a high note. By success I mean having loyal readers and friends that regularly read my blog and look at my photos, and brands wanting to work with me and have me review their amazing products. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people care about what I think about a topic I love so much.

I have several reasons to be bowing out at this time. I will list a few, because I believe I owe you that, but some of the reasons I need to keep to myself. My time is factor one, as I spend an absurd amount of hours on this "hobby" of mine. All my daytime hours on the weekends are spent swatching and photographing. Then I work on my blog seven nights a week, even though I don't publish every day. I've never been fast at it, it takes a lot of precise work, and therefore energy. So much of my free time is spent on my blog, and as I have a full time day job, a lot of other things get pushed to the side in favor of nail polish. I'm not complaining really, it's been my choices that have gotten me to this point. I just can't continue to do it.

I wish I could just scale back, to limit my posts, to lighten the load. But another factor influencing my decision to stop completely is that I have carpal tunnel in both of my wrists. It's been a problem most of my adult life. I was a dental assistant for a while (before I ever even thought about blogging), on track to become a dental hygienist actually, and I ended up making the decision to switch career paths because my weak wrists couldn't handle the hours of intense, dexterous work. It hasn't been as bad in years past, but the past two it has become increasingly difficult to manage. The numbness and pain is not quite constant, but it starts within minutes after I start swatching and sticks around. The positions I have to hold my hands in to polish my nails and to take photos of them have become more and more taxing. I know there are surgical procedures for this malady, but at this time in my life that is not a feasible option for me.

I have seen some of my good friends, some of my nail idols, some extremely talented individuals leave the blogging world. And I'm sure there will be others to come down the road. They survived and I will too. Though I can't express my sadness enough. Maybe that sounds a little extreme, but it's true. I LOVE nail polish. I LOVE blogging. And I will never stop loving it, but I simply can't sustain the work this takes any longer.

Thank you, dear reader, for everything, your support and your kindness throughout the years! I've been so fortunate to meet so many amazing people, some of the best friends of my life, through blogging! To receive and review so many fabulous nail polishes has been a dream come true, so to all the brands I've been privileged to work with - I'm in awe of your incredible work! And if you have gotten this far thank you again, for reading this long dramatic post, haha, you're the most, to say the least.

Love always,

❤ Kellie

P.S. I still have a few more collections and posts to share with you, so you're not rid of me quite yet!

All About Nail Polish Tag

Hello there! Today I wanted to do a tag that was started by a few of my favorite YouTube ladies, Lindsay, Holly, Zenorah, Jess, and Amy. I haven't done one of these in forever and my friend Paola did it on her blog & youtube and tagged me, so I decided it would be fun to do finally! Plus, I've had almost zero sun lately so it's been hard for me to swatch new polish :P

Press Sample | Purchased by Me

1. What is your favorite nail polish finish (eg. Crème, crelly, glitter, etc.)?
This is a hard question for me because while I like them all, my affection for them usually comes in phases haha. Like for a while I'll be into holographics exclusively, then I only want to wear jellies, then it's all about the glitters. It seems like I'm wearing crème shades more often than the other finishes lately though, so I'll go with that haha. But it seriously varies all the time.

2. What is your favorite “ugly pretty” shade?
I have a great fondness for polish colors that people say are "ugly pretty". I love things that are not typically beautiful. Hands down, my favorite of these has to be China Glaze Zombie Zest. It came out in the China Glaze Awakening collection for Halloween in 2010 (best Halloween trio ever?) and I've loved and worn it every year since. I even managed to score a back-up bottle from my friend who went to IMATS this year, yay! It's a swampy olivey green jelly with gallons of golden shimmer/glass flecks that shift to a turquoise blue in certain lights. Insane. (I'm pretty sure this made it on a few of the original tag creators' lists too!)

sunlight

shade

3. Which polish in your collection is the most sentimental to you?
It has to be Rescue Beauty Lounge Kellie Gonzo. This is the polish I created with the, now retired, Rescue Beauty brand. It was such an exciting event and milestone in my blogging career to create a polish, especially with such a prestige brand. This is a bright sunny coral with orange and silver glitter bits. It's also the polish I've gone through the most of, luckily I have a back-up bottle or three!

4. If you could go back in time to buy any collection, what would it be?
If we're going for a full collection, hands down has to be China Glaze OMG. These were kind of the first ultra linear holographic collection seen from a mainstream brand and boy do they impress! I have managed to track down a lot of them, but I don't have the full collection (or full bottles of the ones I do have!). But my all time biggest polish lemming has to be Urban Decay ID. It's a sheer jelly polish that shifts from orange to pink fire. I don't know if I'll ever get a hold of it, but if I do I would cherish it forever! Also, Chanel Jade because I can't pick just one thing.

image via china glaze

Image via Scrangie.com

Image via Lextard @ Flickr.com

5. What is your go-to “all occasion” polish?
Sally Hansen Pacific Blue original. This polish is a bright but slightly dusty cobalt blue crème with a perfect one-coat formula. I love this color and think it's very wearable, but the biggest reason it's my all occasion polish is because it's so damn easy and fast to put on! I will never understand why Sally Hansen chose to reformulate this polish and completely change it. I know some might think a blue isn't appropriate for "all occasions", but since I'm a simple kind of girl, there aren't many times I would feel inappropriate wearing a blue nail polish.

6. What items are essential to your nail care routine?
The most important part of my nail care routine is cuticle oil. I am NEVER without it. I've spoken at length about my cuticle woes before, if you're interested you can read some of the posts here, here, and here. Next is a great base coat, I basically always have a base coat on. Keeping my nails "sealed" with some kind of polish, especially when my hands are in water, has just about 95% fixed my peeling edges. Top coat is also a necessity, I don't remember the last time I wore a full manicure without it.

7. What is your favorite “newly discovered” brand (indie or mainstream)?
This was also a tough question because I have found so many great ones recently, but I have to choose Nine Zero Lacquer. This is the brand created by Jess of JessFACE90 (one of the collaborators of this tag too). I have been lucky enough to be able to swatch for her and I haven't disliked one of her shades yet! Being a nail vlogger/swatcher herself, she knows what's good so she uses that experience to create beautiful shades with great formulas.

8. What is your go-to “bad ass” color (the color that makes you feel sexiest or most badass)?
I love a mega bright, in your face, unapologetic neon shade. It makes me feel like I'm a tough betch who can wear whatever I want, damn all who might be offended haha. Maybe that seems silly, but it's seriously how I feel when I wear neons. An example is Formula X Danger Zone. How hot is that??

9. Indie or mainstream?
Usually I have a good mix of both that I pick to wear from, but these days I've been wearing (and blogging about) waaay more indies. I just find their selection to be so much more varied and unique than mainstream, which is kind of understandable, but still. And with the sheer number of indie brands out there that are producing such good products, it's hard not to want to buy everything in sight!

10. Which brand’s collections do you look forward to the most?
It has always been China Glaze for me. Out of the mainstream world, they have always been the ones to take chances instead of playing it safe when it comes to color and finish. They don't always get it 100% perfect, but who does? I've loved them since I started blogging and I don't see that changing any time soon.

Please please do this tag if you want, it's so fun! And if you don't have a blog or YouTube channel, let me know your answers in the comments! See ya again soon!

❤ Kellie

Some of the products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

6 Year Blogiversary Giveaway

Sponsored Prizes

It's been six years since I started my blog! That kinda blows my mind. Many ups and downs have happened along the way, and I have to tell you that things are a LOT different than when I started this crazy ride, but I still love it! I am grateful for all of you, for anyone who has ever visited my blog or looked at a photo. I blog for you, but I blog for myself too. It's been a great constant in my life the last six years, and I look forward to continuing the journey. To celebrate, I'd like to have a little giveaway for my readers!

Four prizes available, one of these will be awarded to four different individual winners:

• One $50 gift card for KBShimmer.com, sponsored by KBShimmer (a US shipping address is needed for this prize)
• One $50 gift card for HarlowAndCo.org, sponsored by Harlow & Co.
• One $50 gift card for Llarowe.com, sponsored by Llarowe
• One $25 gift card for Llarowe.com, sponsored by Llarowe

Rules:

• Open to those age 18 and older, please read all the rules & regulations in the Rafflecopter widget.
• Entries by "giveaway accounts" will be disqualified at my discretion.
• Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below, there are a TON of ways to enter.
• Giveaway ends on Sunday, June 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please click HERE in case the widget does not load.

Thanks for joining me, whether you've been around for one day, all six years, or any time in between! Love you all and good luck!

❤ Kellie

The prizes for this giveaway are sponsored by the respective companies.

KellieGonzo's 5th Blogiversary Giveaway! - CLOSED

Hi readers! I cannot believe it but this month marks my 5th year of my blogging! My 5th Blogiversary! It's been a crazy road but I still love it just as much as I did when I started. I might not be able to post as often as I would like, I might not be an expert on nails, and I might not even wear polish some days but I am a nail polish lover to the core and I love blogging about it. So to celebrate this milestone, I wanted to do a small giveaway for my lovely readers! Thank you so much for sticking with me :)

Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. I ask that you please look at the terms and conditions listed in the widget for full rules. This giveaway is open for everyone 18 years and up worldwide. I am giving away one $50 prepaid Visa card (winner can also opt to receive this as a one-time transfer via PayPal), and one grab bag of mystery nail polishes (approximate retail value $25). Only winners located in the continental USA will be eligible to win grab bag prize; if an international winner's name is pulled for the grab bag prize they will be awarded a prepaid Visa card or a one-time PayPal transfer of the approximate retail value of the polishes instead.

Open from now until 11:59pm PST 5/30/14. Please contact me with any questions at kg [at] kelliegonzo [dot] com.

**CLOSED**

The winners have been chosen and emailed! Congrats to Vanessa F. and Jazmin R. :) Thank you everyone for entering!

facebook ▴ twitter ▴ instagram

KellieGonzo's 1000th Blog Post Giveaway Extravaganza! - CLOSED

As I am writing this blog post, I can hardly believe that I have done so 999 times before. This is officially my 1000th entry on this blog! I have had many ups and downs over the years but I have loved creating every one of those entries. I wanted to celebrate this milestone with you, my lovely readers, by holding a giveaway for 6 different sets of prizes, which means 6 winners!

Prizes

• One (1) Misa Cosmetics I Do Spring Wedding collection 2013
• One (1) OPI So So Skullicious Halloween Mini collection 2012
• Two (2) sets of three different Incoco Nail Polish Appliques
• One (1) set of three items from Illamasqua's Imperfection collection 2013
• One (1) mystery "grab bag" set of fabulous nail polishes of my choosing

Rules

• Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. 
• Open to any legal resident of the 48 continental United States and District of Columbia (void in Alaska and Hawaii). Sorry no international entries this time.
• You must be 18 or older to enter (or otherwise an adult based on your local laws). 
• You can enter to win in seven different ways; telling me how you follow the blog as well as telling me your email address are both mandatory.
• The giveaway ends on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time). Full terms and conditions are available in the widget.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks so much for taking this journey with me. I am so very happy to be here with you.


**CLOSED**

Some product samples provided.

How To Keep up with Kellie Gonzo

So I'm sure you have all heard about the latest Google product getting the axe, Google Reader. If you know and love this RSS reader like I do, you are most likely devastated and distraught at the thought of it's impending death. But there is no need to fret, there are many ways to follow KellieGonzo.com and stay abreast of all my newest blog posts!

Facebook - I don't use facebook really for my personal life, just for my blog stuff. I have an automatic post to my fan page every time my blog has a new entry, so if you use it a lot you should become a fan of my page so you can see my updates.

Twitter - I tweet when I feel like it, sometimes a lot and sometimes not so much. But I also have an auto post set up whenever I blog so my Twitter gets a link. I tend to live tweet dumb tv shows that I'm watching if you're into that.

Instagram - I didn't hop on the IG bandwagon when it first came out, but I'm really into it now. I post my "nail of the day"s and also links to my new blog posts. I keep pretty up to date on my feed a lot and if you follow me I'm very likely to follow you. And like all your photos. Because I really like you.

Tumblr - I used to be huge into Tumblr and it was my number one "time wasting" website. I put that in quotation marks because time is never wasted when you're getting wasted, right? Anyhoo, I do auto post my blog links to Tumblr and also my Instagram feed goes there most of the time too. Tumblr is for cool kids.

Hello Cotton - This is a site I'm not too familiar with but you can follow my blog there if you use it.

BlogLovin' - This site is getting a lot of love, haha, since the announcement of Google Reader's demise. It's pretty user friendly and you can import all of your GR subscriptions with relative ease, so you don't have to re-follow everything manually.

Some other RSS Reader - If you use another reader like Feedly or something cool I don't know about, here is a link to my plain RSS feed.

Subscribe Via Email - This one is something I tend to favor for a lot of blogs that I really want to keep up to date on. Even when I don't go to my Reader every day, I always check my email. Like a billion times a day. If you're like me and you like something reminding you to read something, rather than relying on your own forgetful brain, this is a good option.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you might have. I'll do my best to lend a helping, freshly manicured, hand. Thanks for reading and giving my craziness an audience.

Ch-ch-changes

Hi friends :) A few people have asked me why the change in my blog name. Honestly, I've been thinking of taking out the "Also Known As..." bit for a while now, but the decision became easier when a copyright issue came to my attention this last month. To be safe and agreeable, I decided to make my blog name the same as my website address, KellieGonzo. It's not a terribly big deal but I wanted to mention it in case you were curious. If you didn't know, now ya do ;)

Also, I've had a tough few weeks, as you may have noticed from my sporadic posts. Unfortunately, my dumb head and my sad heart are to blame. I'm doing better now and thanks for your well wishes. Part of the reason (I won't bore you with the rest) is my kitty Sawyer has gone missing and it's been long enough that I'm thinking he won't be back. It's easy to forget sometimes to really enjoy the time you have with people you love, or pets you love in this case. It hit me a lot harder than I expected and I guess I was reminded that I have a heart after all. I'll be back and better than ever soon. Hug your kitty (or dog, or significant other, etc.) extra tight tonight for me.

Domain Name

So I've finally transferred over to my OWN domain name! It's still in "transition" so it might be a day or two, so I apologize for any "error" y'all are getting. From now on, the website where my blog is located is going to be

www.kelliegonzo.com

YAY! *happy dance* Thanks for making this year 3x as successful as the previous one! Can't wait to continue and see what else is up ahead!

also, my contact email for this blog is now:

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

tagged! happy 101 meme

Cumcumpear has tagged me for the Happy 101 :) thanks doll!

How it works: list 10 things that make you happy and tag 10 blogs.


1.  nail polish - haha don't roll your eyes, i know i know, it's a totally obvious one. but honestly, i can't even explain how happy i get when i have a good 30-45 minutes to myself and i can go through the process of removing my previous polish and putting a pretty new polish on. and when i'm done, all i want to do is put another polish on! i'm so dorky haha. and picking out new colors is so exciting for me. it's a good think i'm not a coke addict, haha.

2.  music - another obvious answer, but honestly, it's my passion. i wish i could read music or play an instrument. my ipod or stereo or radio or pandora or hypem.com is always always on. when music isn't playing, i'm humming or whistling or singing. i even (secretly) write songs but don't know if they'll ever get put into real existence.

3. having my arm tickled - i think it is so relaxing and soothing to have someone (usually a significant other or a family member) tickle or massage my arm and hands. idk, my sister started having me do it for her when we watched tv and i loooooved it so much so now i'm addicted to it.

4. baths - a long relaxing bath is the best ahhhhh

5. tv marathons - i'm so down for watching tv series, but the best way to do it is waiting for them to go on dvd and watching them back to back. i've done this with so many shows that i love! weeds, medium, house, the mentalist, awesome.

6. going out to dinner with friends and family - i don't care where and it doesn't have to be for an occasion, i just love having a meal and great conversation with some peeps.

7. family - as i get older, my family's love and importance only becomes more and more apparent to me. i cannot say enough about how much they inspire, support, and motivate me.

8. school - even though i hate it at times, i'm really thankful for the opportunity to attend a university and live in a nice place.

9. my job - i have worked in a data entry position in a credit repair law firm for almost three years. i love the people i work with and i have had a lot of success with the job. even though the firm will likely be closing sometime this year, due to our investors succumbing a bit to the economy, i am thankful to have had the job for this long and to have it right now.

10. my blog - i love having this blog as an outlet for my feelings, my hobby of nail polish and photography, and to meet all of you fun, beautiful, caring, and interesting readers!

I tag (please ignore if you've already done it or don't want to):

Swatchaholic
Painted Lady Fingers
Lacquerized
Catch the Beauty with Arie
Daph's Nails
Dee's Polish
Dizzy Nails
Iceomatic
Jesserkah
Lacquer Laine

Disclosure Policy

Ok here's my arbitrary FTC disclosure policy. As of today, I have never received any samples or cash or promotions or whatever from any companies. I have won product contests, sometimes readers send me polishes (cuz they are awesome and love me ♥), and occasionally a free product comes with an order that I have placed from an etailer or something. However, this statement is to let you guys know that i will always let you guys in on where something comes from and what i get outta the deal. i will always be 100% honest with you about what i like and dislike, what works and doesn't work, and what is crap and what is good stuff. so here is it!

This policy is valid from 10 December 2009: This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact me at kelliegonzoblog at gmail dot com. We write for our own purposes. However, we may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion or lack thereof, political affiliation or experience. This blog may accept forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, or other forms of compensation. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog but will not influence the opinions given. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

get up on this!

yo yo yiggity yo! (i'm still on my rap kick, if you didn't notice haha)

i wanted to share some more new(ish) BLOOOGS that i have come to know and love lately with you kiddos! if you haven't subscribed to these great reads/looks, then you should!

All You Desire - one of the sweetest gals ever and she has amazing nails! plus she posts a TON & a half of swatches :)
The Kronicles of a Konad-er - this chick is so tough she's a POWER lifter and super beautiful (inside and out!) and i adore her KOTDs!
Nail'd & Polish'd - great pictures, awesome variety of polish swatches and really good descriptions of the polishes!

fishies and poll

i love animals but right now the only one i can really commit to being able to care for (with my crazy busy life and living situation) is fish. and they're not even really mine haha. these little guys are my co-workers' and mine that sit on our desks at work. meet the earl of manchester julian salinger (the orange fat one) and duchess santigold jolene gaga (the white & orange petite one). we call them jules and jolene :)
i have a bunch of polish swatches to show you, like a billion!! just wondering, which do you guys prefer, long picture heavy posts with a lot of different polishes or single posts with one or two polishes being featured? please take a minute to answer the poll if you would ♥

ch-ch-check it out

i just wanted to direct some attention to a few new blogs that i've recently discovered. these are some FUN and AWESOME nail polish blogs and these ladies deserve readers! i simply adore them.

iceomatic's nails - she's already having 2 contest giveaways!
nailed. - beautiful beautiful pics
polish project - very new but awesome

anyway, i promise i will post some varnish pics this week, i really really promise. i have a ton and a half to show you. i just have to get them uploaded, which right now sounds way more challenging that it is or has to be haha. ugh i need a massage :(

xoxo!