Catrice Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy (plus my day with MissTings and IceRozie)

So IceRozie (of MUA) has been in town and we got together with MissTings (of MUA) on Saturday to do some NP shopping.

I met up with IR the night before to pick up several gorgeous cheese she brought me back from the Netherlands (when she told me she was visiting and asked what polishes I wanted, I was like "Nothing, JUST CHEESE."). Boy did she deliver.


From the upper left we have a young Manchego which I ate for breakfast on Sunday morning. It was sharp and creamy. Going clockwise is an aged Manchego (haven't tried it yet), two local goats cheeses from her neighborhood (a DREAM), and my favorite cheese in the world La Tur. YAY.

We visited a Duane Reade and several beauty supplies.

We hit up American Apparel, Anna Sui, and Uniqlo, which is a place I usually don't brave on a Saturday.

Rescue Beauty Lounge on Gansevort where I unsuccessfully tried to get them to sell me one of their four used Janes. To be quite honest, I wasn't expecting a win but the guy at the counter was ruder than he had to be (and I wasn't pushy at all - I asked once and that was it). IR was ticked off and decided to not buy a couple of the new colors because the guy was kind of a jag.

We ate terrible blackberries from China Town and Italian foods for lunch: IR and I shared a very large sandwich with bresaole (sp?), provolone and sun-dried tomatoes. MT snacked on some very tasty fresh ricotta. IR and MT had Jamba Juices and I suckled on a passion fruit bubble tea.

This was the state of our nails after our day of NP shopping and swatching:


I, being the preening diva I am, refused to ruin my mani (Zoya Caitlyn - which is LOVE btw, 2 easy coats shown). I made IR try out the testers at AA for me (I settled on Neon Coral, IR picked up 3). And both IR and MT were swatching the testers at Anna Sui, where I was largely uninterested (being a creme/jelly girl and all). They each picked an, admittedly, really cool chunky fuchsia pink glitter with tiny green specks.

When we got back to my apartment, we did a polish exchange. IR brought us countless bottles of ~overseas~ polish. And MT hauled from 8tyeight for IR (and she brought me Sea Spray! YAY!!).

Our collective haul:

Mine is on the left, IR's is in the middle, and MT's is on the right.

One of the polishes IR brought me was this one:


(2 coats)

I was so excited when I saw this. It was a perfect lettuce green with a hidden shimmer (very hidden, thus really it's a creme). But somewhere between application and drying I fell out of love. It was glue-y and didn't level (bubbles everywhere natch) and it dried kind of brighter. So what was more of a softer color in the bottle turned a little too scream-y (lettuce green in the bottle, and melon green on the nail if you will).

She also brought me a gorgeous purple holo from Teeez and this was the state of the brush:


It could not be saved. I tried. It was in knots. I decanted into an empty franken bottle.

MT had to leave to get back to Long Island so IR and I stayed at my house, swatching and ate dinner (vietnamese).

We discovered that Essie's Vermillionaire is very close to Lippmann's Lara's Theme.


Vermillionaire has a touch more white. A touch.

IR showed me her book of swaps and lemmings:


It was a really great day. And I can't believe IR's energy. She was still getting over her jet lag and did a, literally, 12 hour power day.

Hope to do it again soon!

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I said I would never cave...

...but I lied.

SQUEEEE!!

(They're not both for me. I went in on it with another NBer. :D)

P.S. Sorry for not having real pics but I have to clean the apartment for the SO's dad's visit...

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Mail call! Long day at school, always nice to come home to goodies.

I seem to be accumulating polish at an alarming rate this January. These came in the mail today from several sources...

Shopping. It's how I cope with stress. Unfortunately, I don't actually have a ton of time to play with my new toys. I'm swimming (drowning) in data. Which is better than having no data. But I've been (non) jokingly referring to my current grind as "one null result a day". I left a lot of data analysis for this week... and none of the experiments are turning out significant results. I'm literally disappointed by a different experiment every day.

I know science isn't about finding significant results. But academic research is.

But enough depressive yapping. On to the stuff.


Essie Going Incognito and Smokin' Hot from eBay; Zoya Kelly, Tiffany and Crystal from Zoya.com during their last promotion. (I've got the entire Intimacy collex coming. Man, those free spoon trays that come with some orders are seductive...)

These came pretty quickly, considering they print them on-demand. (They had a 50% off sale when I ordered. I'm such a sucker.) They look like they're of fabulous quality too.


Bunch of nail stickers from Inque: Blue Plaid, Peacock, Argyles Can Party!, Party Balls, All American Girl. (Apparently, all-American girls wear paisley?)

But the best pretty present (that I, uh, bought for myself) came from the UPS guy:

China Glaze's Anchors Away!

My task for the weekend -- besides finding more null results and watching my nascent academic career fail before even starting: swatching Anchors Away! I've been looking forward to this collex for a long time. :)

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iHaul: kinda went on a bender at Walgreens

I checked this particular Walgreens in December: nothing.

I checked it again in January: WOW!

Totally went overboard (and kept the receipt).

Let's start with what I didn't buy: the new Sally Hansen funky french duos. They just seemed like the brushes would be a pain to use... and that the bristles would get really messed up very quickly. Which is exactly what you want when you want to do a clean-looking (albeit funky) french mani. Also, I don't really like the Insta-Dri line.

But then I saw this display:

It was Buy 1, Get 1 50% off. I decided against the ones that could be easily recreated using Konad but got a few that were more Minx-like:

Cut It Out, Skinny Jeans, Booty Camp (gonna pretend like it's not called that).

Girl Flower, Kitty Kitty, Laced Up.

Had to indulge in a few other Sally Hansen polishes that I hadn't seen before (and are presumably new) or had seen on blogs but never saw in stores:

Problem Child, Sequin Scandal

Grey Area, Lacey Lilac, Mint Sorbet (though I think there's also an Insta-Dri of this name)

Then picked up some Revlons: Gold Coin, Copper Penny.

But then I got REALLY excited: the new Wet n Wild (supposedly quick-dry) polishes! They've got some severely terrible names.

9021-Orange, Party of Five Glitters (I don't think it's a good Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe at all, better to spend your money and time on Milani Gems), Gray's Anatomy (supposedly a fabulous dupe for Lippmann Wicked Game), Teal of Fortune (turned out a lot more blue in the photo but it's actually a super sparkly teal shimmer).

The Gold & the Beautiful, SaGreena the Teenage Witch (oh groan), Blue Wants to be a Millionaire (has holo glitter), Hannah Pinktana (also has holo glitter). $1.99... Wet n Wild is an amazing value for the money. It's an amazing value even for more money. I SO want to try the Color Icon eyeshadows... except I have four tons of eyeshadow. (I mean, I've got forty tons of nail polish and I'm still buying...)

And finally... not at Walgreens but I saw this at a Rite Aid and wondered if anyone had any familiarity with this brand. Looks cute!

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Haul from Taipei!

I didn't get to do much shopping while in Taipei -- the one department store I went into, my mother glared disapprovingly of me every time I picked up a bottle of nail polish -- but I did raid a drugstore on my last day there. And that was more than enough for me.

Well, not really. But I got some good stuff! And picked up some Japanese and Taiwanese nail magazines at a bookstore!

(While in the department store, my mother would say, "You must have a HUNDRED nail polishes by now!" And I'd say, "Uh. No." Because I don't have a hundred nail polishes. I have... many hundreds of nail polishes.)

Canmake 17, 18, 25, & 35

The first three of these are sheer but the last one may be more opaque. I never know if this is supposed to be pronounced using three syllables or two syllables.

Shiseido Majolica Majorca BL555, BE115 & BL501

The one on the left might be a nail art brush, not quite sure. The one on the right is the really gorgeous one: dark blue jelly with teal and light blue glitter!

OPI Sugarplum Yum, Merryberry Mauve and I Love the Holidays!

Way overpriced but I preferred to pick them up and regret the purchase later rather than not pick them up and regret not buying them while I could. These are names of polishes released in the US awhile back (if I recall correctly, they were shimmer+glitter duos) but I don't actually think the glitters corresponded to these glitters. At least, not Sugarplum Yum, which is gorgeously holo and sparkly...

Integrate RD701, RS361, BL321

Never heard of this brand but they had a few pretty polishes. Mmm glitters. This company is also Japanese, I believe. A LOT of the nail polish brands in the drugstore I was in were (that or American). Very few were Taiwanese or Chinese it seemed.

Missha VL04, Bourjois unnamed, Bourjois Bleu Violet, Neuve (can't read the name) & Kanebo Kate PK22

The Missha looks likes a Claire's Magic dupe (and is available in the US for relatively cheap from their US website). No idea what the Neuve is numbered because Japanese companies actually seem to stamp the production date (and, haha, expiration date) onto nail polishes. Bourjois is, of course, a French company that used to be more widely available in the US but seems to be harder to come by these days since Sephora stopped carrying them. I don't think I've ever seen the nail polishes in the US though.

Nail Venus 2011 Winter issue

I LOVE these nail art magazines. First of all, they're huge and feel nice and heavy, printed on thick paper with bright colors. Second, they've got TONS of nail art ideas inside: literally hundreds and hundreds of designs. Too bad I can't read Japanese.

Lovely Nails Vol 4

This is the lone Chinese language nail art magazine I found. It looks like it's put out by the Japanese magazine, Nail Up.

Nail Up Winter 2011

This one came with a pull out calendar for the year: a nail a day! :D

Now... really, if only I could read Japanese. Or Chinese. Or any other language besides English...

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iHaul: making up for lost time

I've bought literally no nail polish for the past two months (except for a huge bunch of Street Wear for super cheap when I was in NYC at the end of October, including the teal creme Moody!). I didn't have time, didn't have that much interest and I was trying to pre-emptively make up for the fact that I needed a new laptop. My three-year-old MacBook Pro was literally breaking down. The real scare was when I got this error screen (and even my friend's fiance, who works at Apple, was like, "WTF?"):

Aren't they pretty colors? Especially the first screen. I mean, that's every greyed out shade that I just adore. But it's not so pretty when that's all you get when you boot up. ...so I needed a laptop that wasn't going to spontaneously stop working. Hence, a little less nail polish for a little while.

Anyway, my abstinence from nail polish came to an end with the end of my quarter last Friday. Today, I dragged my SO to the local premium outlets and did me some shopping. He did him some shopping too: he's a great cook and he got a gorgeous Le Creuset stock pot for half off (it matches the set of mini cocottes I got him a few months ago)! And it was his idea to stop off at Target (with a Ross and CVS next door). And I totally made up for lost time. Grainy iPhone pics ahead...

Haul from CVS: Milani Silver Dazzle, Blue Flash, Gold Glitz (those were the only ones that CVS had, boo).

NYC Empire State Blue, Love Letters; Revlon Perplex (Paradoxal dupe!), Jaded. Wanted to grab more of the Revlon but I really haven't had great luck with Revlon polishes in the past.

Then we stopped at Ross: Color Club sets from Holiday and Halloween 2009 ($2.99 each).

Also, found a brand I've never used before called Tres Risk but the dark green and purpled-out grey were super pretty ($4.99).

And finally, Mezzanotte Blue for $1.50 (can't see it in the pic but it's a very dark purply-blue).

Target didn't yield much: only Nicole by OPI Such a Go-Glitter and Pitch-Black Glimmer (which I thought was called "Bitch-Black Glitter" at first because the label was smudgy). These are SUPER DUPER SPARKLY with holo glitter but it totally doesn't translate to indoor iPhone pics.

And FINALLY then we got to the premium outlets and I stopped at the Cosmetics Company Store (of course): scored Estee Lauder Ultra Violet ($12.75, was $18) and MAC Seriously Hip ($9.75, was $12... though it seems that MAC polishes now retail for $13).

Sigh. Old habits reestablish themselves quickly. I think I'm going to do a mani with Mezzanotte Blue with one of the sparkly Nicole polishes over it now. :)

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Sick but at least I have some new Barry Ms... almost didn't get them though!

Went to class. Went to university health services. Was given codeine and an albuterol inhaler for my New and Improved Cough from Hell. From previous experience with old versions of the Cough from Hell, I know that neither puts a dent into my lungs' over-excitability.

Was not particularly cheered up when I came home to a package wrapped in a plastic bag with this stamped on it several times. (Don't worry, this story has a happy ending.)

Now, I've ordered from Barry M before. When I ordered before, I had such a nightmarish experience -- weeks upon weeks of waiting, charging me for stock that they did not ship and worst of all, horrible CS and money wasted calling the UK because they did not answer my emails -- I swore I would NEVER order again. Then they came out with the crackle polish and the Chanel Paradoxal dupe and I gave in. But I wasn't particularly surprised when this package came in this condition. With the following note:

I actually REALLY like the United States Postal Office. I've sent and received about a thousand packages and I can count on ONE hand how many times they've lost or broken anything. (And the broken things usually are due to poor packaging.) In this case... well, first of all, it wasn't great packaging to begin with but WOW. How DID this package even get to me?

I almost didn't have to blur out my name and address; I could barely read it! Did someone put this face down in dirt and stomp on it? And then take a knife to it and tear it apart? A lot?

Here's the side view: completely split open.

And let's talk packaging, okay? When sending something to the next town -- let ALONE to the next continent -- you make sure the objects are secure and glass is well packaged: this means not letting the glass bang up against one another. What does Barry M do? Five polishes, one small ripped up piece of bubble wrap. (Well, it probably wasn't ripped before some sadist at the American or British post office concentrated all their pent up fury on it...)

How on earth did anything get to me intact? How did EVERYTHING get to me intact? It's seriously a miracle. Must be the thick glass of the bottles... which apparently, Barry M depends on. Because otherwise, I don't know how their stuff doesn't get broken more often in transit.

Happily, though... everything DID get to me. From left to right: Acid Yellow, Dusky Mauve (Paradoxal dupe), Lemon Ice Cream, Silver Cascade (which looks wonderful in the bottle) and Nail Effects (read: CRACKLE!)

Now to douse myself with codeine. And maybe put the Nail Effects over my Zulu mani. Although it would probably look much better over a brighter color.

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