Liebster Blog Award!

I am honored to say the least!  Philippa Claire MacDuff from Glitter & Jelly was incredibly sweet and nominated my blog!  My blog is pretty new and aside from a few close friends, I wonder if anyone else out there really reads my blog.  I am thrilled to know that other people are enjoying my blog!

This is an award for newbie bloggers who (I think) have less than 200 followers.

The rules of the Liebster award are:

• Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.
• They must answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.
• They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.
• They must then choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and tag them in their post.
• These lucky bloggers must then be told.
• There are no tag backs.  

11 things about myself:  

1. I have been a nail polish junkie since I was about 7.  I can remember getting my allowance and going to the BX (military store) and buying Wet N Wild nail polishes. 
2. I have had carbon monoxide poisoning.  My mom and I were staying at family's and we woke up to our cousin telling us to hurry outside and that the fire department was on the way.  The heater was broken.
3. I LOVE music.  Most any kind.  I have the most random collection of music.
4. After years of not having a favorite season:  Fall.  I moved to Southern California and there is NO Fall season.  I miss the weather and the color changes of the MidWest, but at least I can still have pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING!
5. I used to be on a jump rope team for the American Heart Association.  We went around to schools all over the area and promoted Jump Rope for Heart events.
6. My favorite movie is How To Train Your Dragon.  I'm still a kid at heart.
7. Speaking of being a kid at heart.  Disneyland addict.  Enough said.
8. I cannot wait to have a full time teaching job.  Not for the money, but just to be in a classroom and impact the students' lives!
9. I have to be cold when I go to sleep.  If I am at all warm, I can't fall asleep.
10. I'm proud to be a military brat and I enjoyed the military lifestyle.
11. I'm not competitive with other people, but I'm competitive with myself.  

Questions from Philippa:

1. Who is the one person in your life that you couldn’t live without?  I'm going to cheat in this one and pick more than one person.  My family.  My dad has been an incredible provider, my mom an incredible helper, and my brother an incredible example.
2.  What is your earliest childhood memory?  Playing Hot Wheels with my brother while watching Nickelodeon early Saturday mornings.
3. Do you have any distinguishing marks, scars, or tattoos?  I have a scar on each knee.
4. How did you meet your best friend?  Junior High in Language Arts class.  Passing notes like good little students.
5. What has changed in your life since you first started blogging?  I started interviewing for full time teaching positions.
6. From whom do you draw inspiration?  Anyone who lives their life to glorify and honor God.
7. Which year of your life would you like to re-live and why?  None.  Each year, even through the difficult ones, it has molded me to become strong and happy with my life.  Though I did love college.  I loved my school, my roommates, my friends, my job, and the experiences I had.
8. If you were hosting a dinner party, what would be on the menu?  Probably some kind of pasta, a fun salad, and some amazing baked desserts made by yours truely.
9. What is your favourite book? Tell us a little about the plot and why it means so much to you.  I really have enjoyed the Hunger Games series.  It is a series based upon 12 districts (essentially like states) that have to send two tributes (a boy child and a girl child) to fight for their death in the Hunger Games.  It is just so fascinating to me.  I don't think it is a 'good' situation to be in, but I was drawn in to the story line.  Team Gale!
10. Which websites do you visit daily?  Facebook.  YouTube.  Blogspot.  My email. 
11. If you had to throw away the rest of your makeup collection and keep only 5 items, what you keep?  Lorac AquaPrime, Revlon Colorstay Foundation, Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, Urban Decay Naked Pallete, and CoverGirl Lash Blast Waterproof Mascara.

 

 My Questions for those I have nominated:

1.  What is the best appropriate joke you know?
2.  What are your top 5 makeup brands?
3.  What is your favorite season and why? 
4.  Where would your dream vacation be?
5.  Do you have any pets?  If so, what are they?
6.  What is your favorite board/card game?
7.  What is the best prank/practical joke you've done?
8.  If you could only shop at one store for clothes for the rest of your life regardless of price, what store would it be? 
9.  What is your favorite restaurant and your favorite dish to get there?
10.  Are you subscribed to any monthly beauty subscriptions?  If so, which ones?
11.  If your closest friends were to describe you in three words, what would they be?

My Nominations (go check them out!)   :

Ali's Nail News

Amoki's Corner

BeautyByT

Cat's Adventures in Lacquer Land

Fhauling4You 

Greeneyespinknails

Mascara Is My Vice

Nail-Anon

Nail'd In The South 

Stuff I (S)watched

Tropical Mind

Congrats girls and I hope you have as much fun doing this as I have!

-polish. impress. repeat.

 

Zoya - Shay

This is Shay.  She's a delicate shimmery nude pink.  It reminds me of the color my ballet shoes used to be when I was in dance classes.  I have had a few interviews this week and wanted to wear something a little more subtle.  I got this in one of my Birchboxes a while back, but I really like it and have worn it quite a few times.  It isn't fully nude, it is more on the pink side, but it is more of a 'peachy pink'.  It has some shimmer in it too, so it isn't so boring.

The formula is great and it had incredible wear time (as do all Zoya polishes).

 

The next two pictures are taken in the shade with natural lighting.

What is your 'go to' natural color?

-polish. impress. repeat.

China Glaze - Pink Plumeria

GOOOORRRRGEOUS!  This color is stunning.  Pink Plumeria is another gem from the Summer Neons collection from China Glaze.  So many of them are wonderful!  I would describe this color as the perfect pink highlighter color.  Literally, if you pick up a pink highlighter, this is most likely the color you will see.  This is two coats of Pink Plumeria over two coats of OPI's Alpine Snow.  The trick of putting neon polishes over white polish to get the color to pop holds true!  I also put a top coat over it since this is a neon polish and it has that semi-matte finish.

Seriously, look how it sparkles in the sunlight!  *drools*

What is your favorite neon color?

-polish. impress. repeat.

Comparison of Ulta 'Island Hopper' and Julep 'Miranda'

First off, apologies for my dry cuticles.  I didn't even think about it before snapping these pictures.  Since I've started this blog, I've tried to get in a variety of colors from week to week.  I was about to paint my nails and was picking through my collection when I came across Ulta Professional's 'Island Hopper'.  I thought it would be a great color and then Julep's 'Miranda' which I had already done a post on.  They look nearly identical in the bottle, so I decided to compare them to see if they are dupes or not.  ****Note:  in the pictures of my nails, from left to right it is 'Miranda', 'Island Hopper', 'Miranda', 'Island Hopper'.

 Miranda, Island Hopper, Miranda, Island Hopper

 Miranda, Island Hopper, Miranda, Island Hopper

left:  Miranda          right:  Island Hopper

Conclusion, it the direct sunlight, they look almost identical.  In natural lighting, the slight differences are a little more apparent.  'Miranda' is more jelly-like while 'Island Hopper' is more creamy and opaque.  They are both a light teal/turquoise color, but Island hopper is a little more blue-ish.

Dupes?  Not quite.

-polish. impress. repeat.

Essie - Penny Talk

Here's my two cents on Essie's Penny Talk.  Get it?  See what I did there?  'Two cents".  "Penny Talk".  :)  This is one of the new metallics from Essie's Mirror Metallics collection.  I love metallics, and this one caught my eye because I am in LOVE with rose gold and have been for quite some time.  Since Penny talk is obviously a rose gold, I couldn't resist.  How gorgeous is this?!

Since it is a metallic, it is a little streaky, but I will say it is one of the least streaky metallic polishes I've ever worked with.  It has amazing coverage, but it is a little on the thick side.  I had heard that clean-up was a pain with this collection, but this cleaned up better than most other metallic polishes.

Overall, I'm happy with this purchase.  You can get Essie polishes at Target and Ulta.

What do you think about metallic polishes?  What is your favorite one?

-polish. impress. repeat.

China Glaze - Chiaroscuro

After going crazy with bright bold colors for the last few months, I decided to take a break and put on a more subtle color.  This is Chiaroscuro (weird name!) from China Glaze.  I picked it up of the clearance rack at Ulta a few months back.  It is a very sheer light pink with gold and MINT green shimmer!  The mint green shimmer is what intrigued me about this color. You usually don't see that.  The colors work well together and I think this is a pretty color.  I mentioned that this is very sheer.  This is 3 coats and you can still see my nail line.  I wonder how this would look over a more opaque baby pink color.

 The very first picture in this blog was in direct sunlight.  These two are in the shade with natural lighting.

 This is the polish in the direct sunlight.

This is the polish in the shade with natural lighting.

I have a big announcement coming up soon once I get more followers!  Stay tuned for details.

-polish. impress. repeat.

Batman's "The Dark Knight Rises" Inspired Nails

 With Batman's The Dark Knight Rises going into theaters on Friday, I decided to try my hand at a little 'Batman' nail art.  I used Zoya's Dovima which is a black matte color.  For my accent nail, I painted Finger Paint's Silver Crackle on top and then used Sally Girl's Poser to paint on the bat.  The bat was a pain in the neck.  I practiced on paper a bunch of times and it still didn't turn out as well as I thought, but I still like it.  I hope you guys enjoy!  Let me know if you like more nail are things and I'll try my best.  My right hand always ends up looking terrible! 

-polish. impress. repeat.