random notd's

welp, it's snowing here in utah today. actually, it has stopped and the sun is shining as bright as ever but there is lots of snow and slush and flooding around the streets. that's bipolar utah weather for ya. no bueno. i really would like to step back into my sandals already! and i have wet pant legs. forever wet pant legs. that's a curse of being short, having long pant cuffs and when there's any bit of precip, you get wet ankles. that NEVER DRY.

sorry. that was a dumb rant. but i hate having cold ankles.

this is a shot of sally hansen insta-dri teal take-off. i've said it before and i'll say it again, i literally HATE these polishes because of the stupid triangle bottles, long narrow necks, and clunky brushes. but, this color just called to me. so i got it. and ya know what? i didn't even have that much trouble with application. two coats.

this monstrosity is from hot topic, as you can see from the trademark skull "poison" style bottle (which is adorable). i saw this on steph's closet and HAD to have it. these don't have names on them (grrr) but steph called it Hot Pink Iridescent Blue Violet Glitter and someone told me the hot topic website sometimes has them listed, but i'm too lazy to see if they match up. the polish has truckloads of glitter and heart pieces in it. o.m.g. flash overload. pretty much one of the worst formulas i've ever worked with, smelled of fresh asphalt, thick, chunky, awful awful awful. and i couldn't stand wearing it more than half a day. this is four coats with two coats of seche vite because of the horrid texture.

sunlight

i even tried mattifying it with essie's matte about you to try and make it more presentable. didn't help. ewww, i didn't even make the edges presentable, GROSS. i kinda can't believe i'm showing you this. forgive me. look away. hurry.

this pretty deep blue is ulta's professional blue for you. nothing really special or unique about this guy. *yawn* i don't get why this is toted as "professional" and their other line isn't. probably something to do with the ingredients. but honestly, when you sell them in the same place, imo it doesn't matter. plus all the professional ultas that i've tried have been kinda lacking in pizazz. this is three coats.

i'm off to sleep during my lunch hour. YESSSS. with wet ankles. boooo.

lincoln park after dark suede

i was chomping at the bit to get the suede polishes that opi came out with back in winter of '09. i was over the moon for them! literally head over heels. uhh...what's another cliche i can throw in there...haha. seriously though, i needed them baaaad. i have them all now except suzi skis in the pyrenees. and i la la love them! you're probably getting sick of me saying that, but i don't like posting pictures of polishes that i don't like haha. makes sense huh? although it can be helpful so i do it on occasion.

anywhooo, this lovely gem is lincoln park after dark suede by opi. again i don't understand why they just renamed their suede collection polishes after their core line polishes. but whatev, what's in a name? LPADS is a gorgeous deep purple matte with that "trademarked" suede look. the new mac studded polish has the same look, and a few of the china glaze glass fleck polishes take on the effect if you mattify them IMHO. i love the suede collection as far as mattes go because they are super easy to apply, easier than most mattes because they don't dry immediately. but you do have to be more careful than with regular polish as brush strokes can and will happen if you aren't. this is two coats :)

lamp light

with a coat of shiny seche vite

shiny, under lamp light

 have a great monday! i have a sore throat *rasp, choke* i need a lozenge, yuck!

hard candy lava

this polish is one of the awesome reds that i adore. i don't usually get into reds all that much, they make me feel kinda silly and flashy--which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering i'll wear a bright orange or glitzy bright blue without batting an eye. but oh well, ho hum, that's just me. hard candy polishes, the new ones anyway, are actually not my favorite. i find they stink something awful and the formula is usually hard to work with. but this baby, lava be her name, is a shining star amongst the pack.

three coats and you get warm red shining with glitzy gold glitter. it has the ember-like glow that i adore and the glitter looks almost melted into the color, hence the name lava. the formula on this polish was really good too, looking a bit sheer on the first coat but fully opaque in three. la la love it!

 

made it matte using china glaze's matte magic (the cutest little bottle!) and gave it an even more intense "glow". gawd i love making polishes matte! how did i live w/o matte topcoats??

and a big ol' macro shot

hope everyone's weekend was fun! i went to an awesome pro soccer game and saw "how to train your dragon". that movie was so good, definitely recommend it. now i should probably go to bed, back to the weekday grind in the morning :P