OPI Jasper Jade! A long a-wanted HTF :D

Before I forget: thank you everybody for your kind words about my family. I really appreciate them.

And now, my NOTD:

OPI Jasper Jade

When I joined NB in early 2007, this was the HTF that everyone was raving about. Not quite on par with the sort of raving that goes on with Clarins 230... but it was up there. (To this day, it's still expensive on eBay.) I've been dusty-hunting since the end of 2007 and have never been able to locate it. So when a lovely NBer said she found a stash and could get me a couple of things... OMG, so excited! (And so grateful!) And so she sent it. And I gotta say: I like it, it's not bad at all, but compared to what we get these days, the major thing that it has going for it is its rarity. Three coats, a little brushstrokey, normal dry time. It is a rather pretty blackened forest green shimmer. :)

Jasper Jade bottle sticker

Closeup of Jasper Jade

Don't forget to vote in the Inque Nails Contest, using the sidebar poll!! Voting closes tomorrow night!

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Effect Nails 011

My stash shopping continues.

This one has been languishing in my miscellaneous drawer for quite some time. It was a lovely RAOK from the best MUAer ever.

Holos don't typically light my fire, scatter holos even less so.

So it just sat there. Meh.




(2 coats)

And yet... it's awesome isn't it? The color is superflattering (more oranges in 2011!!) and the polish is lively without screaming. The formula was good. No complaints. Glad I finally got to this one!

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A little circus story - OPI I Juggle...Men

*****Don't forget to enter my Spring Things GIVEAWAY with Essie and Pradman Jewelry! Check out the post here or just enter in the sidebar!*****

When my dad was in grad school he quit - and joined the circus. Seriously! He was in the circus for a long time, mainly as an acrobat and he sometimes even did the magic sideshow. I loved this when I was a kid - I would always demand that he perform tricks for my friends while I looked on proudly. (My favourite was him doing a handstand on a skateboard and skating back and forth between two driveways!) He's taught me some things along the way, and as a result I have a huge affection for the circus! (Except clowns. Ugh.)

So when I heard about the OPI Femme de Cirque collection, I couldn't help but swoon with nostalgia. The only one I've picked up so far is I Juggle...Men. (Ironic, because even after all this time, I still can't juggle for crap. I breathe fire, ride a unicycle, but I can't juggle. Go figure.) I can see myself picking up the whole collection at some point though, just because I adore the theme and the names!

And I just *LOVE* this topcoat! It is perfection!

I present - OPI I Juggle...Men! (Over Essie Looking for Love.)

I got a little carried away filing my nails down...oops!

Close-up to see the shimmer...

The shimmer in this is much more colourful and beautiful than in my pictures - its insanely hard to capture. Oi. Just trust me, it's beautiful and should be seen in person! I took some bottle pics to try to give you a better idea...

I put this over Essie Looking for Love because I wanted something soft that would coordinate with the shimmer in I Juggle...Men. It would also look great over a dark or contrasting colour , but this is just the mood I was in. The little sparkles in this twinkle pink, purple and blue (NOT silver, like it looks in the picture!) and are just the right size to go seamlessly over any polish without looking contrived - it looks like it just *belongs*. I got so many compliments on this mani it was insane!

So here's to you Dad - maybe one day I will finally learn how to juggle! (And then quit grad school?)

kittytokaren

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Orly Pure Porcelain and Ancient Jade (Precious, Spring 2011)

Orly Ancient Jade

Ahh Orly. You of the lovely formulas since everyone became B3F (unusual because the first B3F polishes seemed like they were kinda wonky... or maybe just China Glaze?). I love mint greens but I have a thousand mint greens by now. It's a great color if you don't own one like it -- and it went only very smoothly in two coats. Like, but not love. I think I'm jaded. (haha, get it?)

Orly Pure Porcelain

I don't know why my fingers look so lobstery in this photo. It IS a fairly stark pastel pink (and if you're careful, you can do two coats instead of three -- which is awesome for stark pastels) but it didn't look so bad in regular indoors lighting. (Both these photos were taken in my lightbox during one of the more dreary winter days a couple of weeks ago.)

I need something to do. I mean, I guess I could do work? My research is starting to look like one big fat bust at the moment. (And SPSS is being a bitch so I'm kind of teaching myself R. I used SAS in the past so R's utter lack of drop down menus and little boxes to check isn't as daunting... but it still took me half an hour to figure out how to run a multivariate correlation analysis, which is easy-peasy in SPSS. Frickin' SPSS.) I could put together a lecture on probability for the intro stats course I'm TA'ing. I could do the dishes. I could continue making jewelry out of leftover beads and wire that I found in my closet (from previous jewelry-making ventures). I don't feel like doing my nails. I HAVE to do something or else I'm going to go crazy. My grandfather, after many months of weaving in and out of a coma, passed away this morning. Even though he and I were never close, I'm still kind of devastated. So I need to keep busy. Very, very busy.

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China Glaze Senorita Bonita (Island Escape, Summer 2011)

First thing's first: vote for your favorite set of nails in the Inque Nails Design Contest!

YOU MUST VOTE USING THE POLL THAT IS ON THE RIGHT SIDEBAR.

(excuse the caps but I didn't want votes to be discounted just because I didn't make the instructions clear...!)

China Glaze Senorita Bonita

I thought I wouldn't like this one at all. Purple shimmer with some very active shimmer! (It almost seems like it should be microglitter, it's so good with light: it reflects mostly pink but in some lights, it looks blue.) Three coats, very good application. But what I really like is that I've been wearing this mani since Saturday (six days ago) and it's still very minimal chippage. Thumbs are not fab but the rest of the nails (save for that little pinky chip in the photo) are still perfect... if a little grown out.

(This was sent to me for review by China Glaze.)

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