Barielle Blossom

Barielle Blossom is my new favorite peach. It feels delicate and fresh. I didn't want to take it off. (And then things happened and I ended up wearing it for weeks. It held up pretty well too; the only major chip was on my dominant hand pointer finger.)

Barielle Blossom, shade


Two careful coats of Blossom over a ridge filling base coat and topped with a coat of Poshe.

Barielle Blossom, sun


Application was good. The polish consistency was a little thick, which worried me, but the second coat settled very well. While I don't mind doing multiple coats, polish that is opaque in two coats is always a plus!

Barielle Elle's Spell

For Christmas this year my husband gave me Barielle. (Well, he gave me the money and told me to go pick out colors I wanted, lol). I'd never tried Barielle before and the timing was just right because I was all aflutter over Elle's Spell from the Holiday Hustle collection.

Barielle Elle's Spell over SH Celeb City


I chose to layer Elle's Spell over Celeb City because I wanted to see how the shimmer would shine through the red jelly base. Click for the bigger picture, it's beautiful.



This was two moderate coats of Elle's Spell over one coat of Sally Hansen Celeb City.



Sadly my Poshe top coat caused slight shrinkage. But I'm blaming the weather. ;)



I'm glad I ordered a backup bottle. This polish is so beautiful alone or layered. Absolutely no application issues...I have a feeling I'll be posting about this one again.

Born Pretty Cracking Polish

I finally feel ready to get back into the swing of things so I have several posts lined up for you! With all the talk of OPI's new Black Shatter I thought I'd show you another option that's been around for a little while now.

I was contacted by Jessica from Born Pretty about reviewing some nail art products. I chose the cracking polish because I've never tried one.

Born Pretty Cracking Polish in Blue
over Sally Hansen Celeb City


Another picture so you can see both sides of the bottle.



Directions for use on the website are a little unclear. Of course I didn't think to check for directions the first time and applied the cracking polish to my already dry & top-coated manicure. Watching the cracks form was so cool. And then they dried up and flaked off. Oh noes! I figured maybe I should read the directions. =)

According to the Born Pretty website you should wait about 5 minutes after applying your base color and then apply the cracking polish. The length of time is really going to depend on how fast your base color dried, the temperature, etc. So you want to apply while your polish is slightly dry but not completely. This will help it to adhere better. Don't forget to apply top coat when it's done cracking! (I used Poshe.) The thinness or thickness of your coats will determine the size and quantity of your cracks. I used one thin coat for this picture. Overall I was happy with the effect. I like that the blue is not opaque; this allowed the shine of Celeb City to to show through.

Right now Born Pretty is offering the coupon code OPENTENOFF that will give you a 10% discount when ordering. This code is good through Jan 31st.

*The product featured in this post was provided for review.

Stash Un-organization

While downloading my backlog of nail photos from my camera, I came across these stash pictures I took the last time I tried (and failed!) to reorganize.


Blogger does not want to accept a rotated version of this. =/


Hmmm...I seemed to have missed two more shoebox containers from under the computer and my train case (which holds my Zoyas and SH Turquoise Opal).



I think someone had asked to see my stash once...so here it is in all it's disorganized glory. I'm having trouble deciding on how I want it organized. Half of me (the OCD half) wants it by brand so all the same bottle shapes are together (and it mostly is...sorta). The other half want to go by color so I can remember what the heck I have. And a tiny voice was suggesting a purge, but she's locked in a closet now. How do you organize? Brand, color or something else?

Introducing Color Club Alter Ego

I know you've probably seen this already, but I still want to share. This spring Color Club presents us with the 12-shade Alter Ego collection:


Alter Ego!

Color Club lets you create high-fashion looks for every identity with Alter Ego, their latest collection of diverse, long-lasting lacquers!

Alter Ego’s consists of 12 shades! Go incognito with our opaque shades or rendezvous in full view with our sheers of Alter Ego ‘LIGHTS’ and ‘DARKS’!

Alter Ego’s ‘Reveal Your Mystery Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Get a Clue, Revealed, Incognito, Secret Rendezvous, Sheer Disguise, and Give Me a Hint shades plus Milky White Base Coat. Their ‘Keep It Undercover Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Alter Ego, Secret Agent, Total Mystery, Alias, Ulterior Motive and Masquerading plus Vivid Top Coat.




I'm very excited to see this collection in person! I love that it combines pastels with rich, bold colors. Springtime for me isn't just about Easter and blooming flowers; it's also the last snow on the mountain, wild out-of-nowhere thunderstorms and the rich scent of the earth being turned over. It's warm and wet and thrilling. It's watching the ocean shift in color from bright turquoise to pale shimmery gray as spring rains roll over. The shades in Alter Ego will satisfy my whimsical moods. And the duochrome? *fans self* Instant lust. If they're anything like Wild and Willing from the Wild at Heart collection, I'm buying back-ups.

So...my favorites from Reveal Your Mystery are Secret Rendezvous and Sheer Disguise. I'm also curious about the Milky White Base Coat. I'm still in search of a good "underwear" polish for sheers that works for me. My favorites of Keep It Undercover are Alter Ego, Alias, Ulterior Motive and Masquerading. I can hardly wait! What colors interest you?

Update #2

Quickly, before I head off to work:

My grandma is doing better and is out of the hospital. She's in a nursing home right now for therapy and will hopefully be able to return home soon. My Tommy-cat responded better to the new antibiotic and I'm cautiously optimistic that he will recover as well. Thank you all for your support and patience!

Update...

My first post of the new year and its a depressing one. Sorry...

This is my Tommy-cat. He never looks at the camera.


He's been very ill since the year started. Today the veterinarian prescribed a new medicine that will hopefully make him feel better and start eating again. He hasn't eaten anything for about a week now. My grandmother is also ill and because she lives so far away there is nothing I can do but wait for someone to call and keep us updated about her condition. Sometimes living on an island is not fun, not when it makes traveling so costly.

I want to apologize because I'm afraid I haven't thought about this blog or polish while I've been preoccupied with my Tommy-cat. Even as I type this I looked down and realized I've had the same polish on since Christmas (Barielle Blossom, and hey it's held up pretty well. Aside from some major chipping on one finger it's still intact). Thank you all for sticking with me and I hope to have better news next time.