Nail Mail

Whoa, two posts in one day? I'm normally one post every two days. Hehe. But we all love to share our nail mail. So, here I go:

I won Lace & Lacquers's prize from Sassy Shelly's Thanksgiving Gratitude Multi-Blogger Giveaway!
Here are some close ups:

A pot of cute pink star glitter. Hopefully I can create a mani worthy of its cuteness. (^_^)

Gold striping tape, and my first striping tape. For those of you new to my blog (by the way I just got a new follower! Yea! Thank you!) I've always loved painting my nails, but I've only recently gotten into nail art. Anyway, I've seen so many cute manis that require striping tape, so I'm really excited about this! If I'm successful, I'm sure I'll be buying tons more. hehe

Two Orly minis in Teeny Bikini and Sweet Peacock. I'll admit, these are my first Orly polishes. If there wasn't already a blog called Frugal Polish, it could easily be my blog's name. (^_^;) Oh and Teeny Bikini scares me. LoL. I'll give it a shot, but it may be a pedi polish only. It would be perfect for Summers here in Florida.

Finally, an e.l.f. concealer brush that will be perfect for cuticle cleanup.

So, that's it. Have you won any giveaways recently? Feel free to share your wins. As always, Thanks for stopping by the blog of a nail art noob. Ja ne! Later!

Stamping Mani & an Award?!

Hello you wonderful, supportive people, you. I'm going to start with my nails and then move on to the good stuff. This is kind of a long post, so only 2 pics. Today I have a stamping mani:

The base color is Color Club in Shabby Drab and the stamping is Color Club Rad Nomad. The stamping design is from Mash plate 20. I was originally going to do an accent nail, but I loved this design too much.

I tried to get a little bit of natural light for this pic, but a window is no substitute for being outside in direct light. (^_^;)

Ok, now on to the award! My wonderful friend at Kat Stays Polished has nominated me for the Liebster Award!

 She's too kind, really. I've barely begun to blog and have a lot to learn and try still. So, I'm truly flattered. Thanks, Kat!

Here are the details and rules for this award:

When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.

Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.

You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!

Make sure the blogs you chose have 200 or LESS followers.

My 11 Random Facts:

1: I'm half Japanese but can barely speak any Japanese.

2: That just made me love my heritage even more. I LOVE Japanese movies, tv shows, music, food...etc.

3: I've only been to Japan once, but it was for 4 amazing weeks.

4: That was the only time I've ever met any of my mother's side of the family.

5: I have a cousin on my dad's side of the family who is the same age as my mother. (o_O) 6: I've never felt calling someone that much older than me by their given name. So, I always called her Cousin Sandy. hahah

7: I'm also part Italian on my father's side. Our traditional Christmas dinner is homemade lasagna rather than turkey or ham, though sometimes we'll have one of those too.

8: I'm extremely hairy. I think it's the Italian in me. I try to keep my hairy knuckles out of pics, but may not always pay attention. Sorry. (-_-) hehe.

9: My odd eyebrows don't lay flat against my face. If you look at them from an angle, you can see they stick out. haha.

10: I like to get to know people before I open up. Obviously not the case here. LOL.

11: I'm not afraid to laugh at myself...and I give myself plenty of opportunity. I'll have to share a story or two sometime. (^_^)

Questions to Answer from Kat Stays Polished:

1. Do you remember what your FIRST polish was? No. I've been into polish (on & off) since about 6 yrs old. haha

2. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate? DARK. Hands down, no competition.

3. Coffee or tea? Tea. Surprised, Kat? hehe

4. Coke or Pepsi? No preference really.

5. Do you send out Christmas cards to family? No. We all live relatively close.

6. What was the best vacation you ever went on? 4 Weeks in Okinawa, Japan!

7. Where would you love to have your ultimate dream vacation? Tokyo!

8. If you have kids, how many do you have. If you don't currently have kids, how many do you want? I have 1 beautiful (she looks like her dad, so no I'm not bragging. hahah),  smart, hilarious little girl.

9. Does your husband, boyfriend, partner have an influence on your blog? Absolutely.

10. Is polish your life? No...polish is my escape from reality. ^_^

11. What will be your New Year's resolution? Too cliche, but I NEED to lose weight.

My nominees:

1: Can't Hold My Lacquer

2: Life as Kandistar

3: Dipped in Lacquer

4: Shell Bell's Nails

5: Enchanted Nails & Fluffy Dog Tails

6: Erica's Nails and More

7: Glitter Me This

8: Glittery Fingers & Sparkling Toes

9: hellolacquer

10: Iced Lacquer

11: Lacqueriss

My 11 Questions:

1: What is your favorite polish-related memory?

2: What is your favorite sweet/dessert/candy?

3: What's the weirdest food you've tried and liked?

4: If you could live anywhere, where would you live?

5: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

6: In your opinion, where should everyone go at least once?

7: Cats or Dogs, and why?

8: Funniest/weirdest name you've given a pet.

9: Funniest/most embarrassing pet name/nickname you've given a person.

10: Worst school memory.

11: What scent makes you nostalgic and why?

Thanks for reading!

NotD: A Blast from the Past

So you'll recognize my NotD polishes because I just posted about them. I couldn't wait to try out Julie G Kickin' It with Sation Tall, Dark and Has Some on accent fingers. 

Julie G Kickin' It

 Let me just say, as soon as I put it on I was brought back to my childhood and the first time I remember painting my nails. I had to have been 5 or 6 and was sleeping over at my best friend's house and her mom let us paint our nails. I remember that I chose a dark blue polish. While this is far from dark, it has a certain 80s feel to it...I'm giving away my age aren't I. Haha! 

Actually, it feels more 70s, dancing queen if I really think about it. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure they're a perfect match for this video I found on YouTube. (^_^) I'm not that old, but who doesn't love some ABBA?

Here it is in the sunlight. You have to see it in person to truly appreciate the color shift. It goes from a teal shimmer to the blue you see in the photos and even to a deeper blue. I love it.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day!

Thanksgiving Vacation Haul

Home sweet home! I had a nice holiday but nothing beats home. Am I right, ladies? I've had the same mani on for seven full days but thought I'd share my haul before I get to my nails. So, for Thanksgiving my husband and I go to his family's in Virginia. Since Florida doesn't have Rite-Aid (anymore...yeah, I don't know either. haha.) I had to stop in and check out their polish, right? Right. I don't like spending too much at once plus our luggage was already at max capacity, so I kept my haul small. Here's what I got:

Scherer Chameleon Fandango

Scherer Chameleon in Fandango has a green to blue color shift. I've mentioned how I avoid purple because I love it and don't want a collection full of purple, but I have the same problem with blues. (^_^;) To prove my point:

Julie G Kickin' It

Julie G in Kickin' It. This one has a color shift as well, but it's so hard to catch. Anywho, next:

Julie G Shimmer Island

Julie G in Shimmer Island. Loved this but almost didn't get it. I was only going to get two because, like I said, space and spending; but my husband convinced me to get more. Have I mentioned how awesome he is? Yeah. (^_^)

Jesse's Girl Crush

Last one from Rite-Aid is Jesse's Girl in Crush. I needed a good orange in my collection. I don't know if any of these brands are available in Florida, but if they are, I couldn't tell you where.

I also snagged my first two Sation polishes from Marshall's. Since I never go to Marshall's and know that they won't all have the same selection, I couldn't pass these up.

Sation Tall, Dark & Has Some

Sation Tall, Dark & Has Some is a multi-glitter in a clear base. It has blue, silver and black micro glitter, small black hexes & blue shreds. Yes, another blue. Sad thing is, I think I have a warm skin-tone, but it's just on my nails. It's not like it's makeup and the wrong tones. (o_O) Haha.

Sation Band Beauty

Last, but not least, is Sation Band Beauty. There was a similar multi-glitter with mostly pink/purple hues but this one has mostly gold. I thought it would be great for the holidays. It's a mix of micro and small glitters in gold, blue, red, purple and probably more. I caught a cold my last day off and can't see straight anymore. Plus, I'm running on very little sleep. So, I will leave it at that. 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I'm going to try to get some extra sleep and hopefully feel better for work tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Weekend Mani

Ahhh...the weekend. Finally! Been busy this week at work, so I haven't been as interactive with my fellow polish lovers. I hope you've all had a great week. I decided to start my weekend with a little chocolate...Ulta Chocolate Kiss, that is.

Ulta Chocolate Kiss w/ Matte Topcoat

It's actually more of a coppery reddish brown, but with a butter London matte finish it did look a yummy chocolate color.

Then I added a little glitter to the tips with Ulta My Two Cents. I've never done a matte/glitter tip combo before, so I didn't think it through. The glitter base added some shine...Newbie mistake. Haha.

Ulta My Two Cents & Chocolate Kiss w/ Matte Topcoat

Of course I matted it again. I love the way it turned out. And both hands are pretty equal for once! ^_^

Well, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and in case I don't make another post before then, Happy Thanksgiving!

NotD: Autumn Microbead Mani

So, I tried out microbeads for the first time last night. I used Finger Paints Free Form Fawn for the base and added gold microbeads to the tips.

Once again, my right hand looked better...well kind of, but I'll get to that in a minute. Have a look.

The lines were cleaner and the beads didn't pile up so my right hand looks nice and even compared to my left. I think the problem is, even though I'm right-handed, I know I have to be careful when using my left hand and then rush with my right hand. I seriously need to work on that. (^_^;)

So, why doesn't my right hand look better than my left? Well, I used tape to get a clean line but it pulled up the polish on two of my nails. Not completely, but enough to make it look bad. Only two nails...how does that work? Haha. I'll spare you the face palm by not showing you, but you might be able to catch a glimpse on my ring finger.

Alrighty, then. I hope you enjoyed my semi-fail, autumn microbead mani. Jaa ne! (See ya!)

My First Tape Mani

Hey, guys! I didn't have time to do my nails last night, so I'm going to share a mani from before I started my blog. This was my first tape mani (and only one so far):

KleanColor Black Hole & Confetti Debutante

The base color is KleanColor Black Hole and on the accent nails I added squares of Confetti Debutante. I loved the color combo.

Question: Does anyone else think KleanColor polishes smell sweet as they dry? I love it. Of course, I probably look crazy sniffing my nails...but it's only at home as they dry! (^_^;)

Here's one more shot with a flash:

Well, I gotta run. Oh yeah, I'll be out of town next week for Thanksgiving. I don't know if I'll even be doing my nails (o_O) much less blogging. I'll definitely have something up before I leave though. Alright, have a good one!

Fan Brush Nail Art

So, I tried the fan brush mani last night. Now, I'm not only a newbie to nail art, but this was my first attempt at the fan brush technique as well. Here's the link to the tutorial on YouTube. I used 4 colors from the Color Club Back to Boho Collection. Base is Nomadic Nude and the stripes are Rad Nomad, Red-ical Gypsy and New Bohemian. Here are my results:

I think it looks kind of like a spun sugar/drizzle mani. How about you? I bet it's a lot faster and cleaner, though. Plus, you probably use a fraction of the polish. What you don't get, however, is the texture of the spun sugar technique. The purple of Rad Nomad got lost under the red, so if I used this collection again I'd probably use the lighter purple. Here's another view:

Fan Brush Nail Art

Surprisingly, my right hand looks better than my left. I'm right-handed so you'd think it would be the other way around. Have a look:

So, what do you think? Will you be trying this technique? Thanks for stopping by!

Nail Haul Shenanigans

So, today was a "Girl's Day" in honor of my friend's birthday. We did a late lunch then hit up all the cosmetics stores and then some. Ulta, Sephora, Dollar Tree, Sally's & Jo-Ann's. Sound like odd choices? Let's have a look:

Not a large haul, admittedly. I'm just not the type to spend a lot at once or on pricey polishes. You guys would crucify me if you only knew what isn't in my collection. (^_^;) The crystal nail file was all I got at Sephora. So, here's a closer look at some of the other items:

Ulta Army of 1

Ignore the blue thumb. I don't wanna talk about that missed opportunity. (-_-) Haha. The polish is Ulta Army of 1. It's a sage-y, army green that I think is great for Autumn.

Ulta Vintage Violet

This is Vintage Violet. It actually looks a lot more pink in person.

Ulta Chocolate Kiss

Chocolate Kiss...doesn't make me think of chocolate at all. But it's still pretty.

Ulta My Two Cents

My Two Cents: a beautiful copper glitter.

Micro beads from the Dollar Tree. Yes, the Dollar Tree! I picked up 3 packs. Hehe.

Some large hex, flower, heart and star glitters.

Medium hex glitters.

From Sally's, a Sally Girl mini in So 70's. I actually didn't get anything from Sally's, but my friend needed one more dollar to use her $10 off $20 coupon and let me pick this. How sweet was that?

From Jo-Ann, a fan brush. My friend showed me a technique with a fan brush that we want to try. Cosmetics stores want $20+ while this was $4 at Jo-Ann. 

I also got the brush I use for cuticle cleanup at a craft store. Let me just say, Hobby Lobby has about 20x the selection of brushes that Jo-Ann does. At the time, I almost got a brush for striping, but decided against it because I was so new to this that I didn't think I would use it right away. Now, I have to go back for it because Jo-Ann didn't have anything even remotely close. So, keep craft stores in mind. They also had a dotting tool at Jo-Ann, but it only had 2 sizes. I would like more of a variety, so I will be ordering those.

Pure Ice In the Mood & Pure Ice French Kiss

Lastly, I bought these yesterday at Walmart. In spite of knowing I was going to be polish shopping today, I just couldn't resist checking. Walmart has a great selection for us cheapos. The colors are In the Mood and French Kiss. I also noticed that my local Walmart now has the NYC matte top coat. In reviews the quality looked great and it's less than $2! I have one right now, so I didn't get it. But now that I know, I can use mine more. Haha.

Alright, that's it. As always, thanks for stopping by!

NoTD: Purple & Glitter & Layers. Oh My!

Just a quick post about my mani today. I love purple so much that I intentionally try not to buy it. I'm afraid I'll just end up with a hundred purple polishes. However, I'm too good, because I barely have any. So, I decided to experiment with layering and this is what came out:

Love the shade and holo glitter. This is WnW Tickled Pink topped with Sinful Colors Hottie. Neither of these polishes are more than $1.99. I don't know about you, but I'm all about affordable. Layering is a great way to expand your collection without spending a penny!

That's it. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

My First Review!

Hi, guys! I would use girls, dolls, lovelies or some other feminine term, but that's just not me. To me, "guys" is gender neutral. Haha. Okay! Today I have my first review. It's also the very first polish from a new indie brand. She hasn't even released her brand name yet and is taking a poll for this polish's name. So, after you see some pics, head on over to her fb page and vote. I work with Kat and she's extremely creative. Anyone who's seen her baking creations can attest to that. I can't wait to see more from her.

This post is a little picture heavy. So, I'll try to keep it short. None of the pics show a top coat and please forgive my dry cuticles. Being the mother of a young child, I'm constantly washing my hands and can't always moisturize.

First is a pic of the polish in the bottle.

 It's a yellow shimmer, which is already a bonus for being different. I know yellow is iffy depending on skintone, but if you think about it, most yellow polishes (that I've seen anyway) are creams. With this being sheer, it's great for layering. And how about that confetti glitter? So cute!

First, here it is on it's own, 2 layers, no undies:

 

My pinky and ring finger have thinner coats, while my middle and ring have generous coats.

I know close-ups are important, but sometimes I like to know what other people are seeing. So, here's a different perspective:

Now, over WnW Ebony Hates Chris (black) and Sally Hansen White On:

This is only one generous coat over each. Great over white, right? But over black, you might get some streaking from the yellow shimmer. If you do a second coat, that probably wouldn't be a problem, because this polish is packed with confetti. No fishing necessary.

Now for some fun! Colors from L to R: Julep Blake, Julep Claire, WnW Tickled Pink & Sinful Colors Innocent. First without:

 

And now, with:

How cute is this! I didn't want to take it off, but I also wanted to try some unlikely colors. So, here we have L to R: Confetti (the brand ^_^) Show Stopper and NYC Sidewalkers:

 

 

It didn't do much for me over Show Stopper, but I have to give a shout out to my hubby for suggesting it. He's so supportive and involved. I love you! ^_^ I did like it over the grey, though. So, don't be afraid to try unlikely colors when layering. You never know what you'll end up with.

The polish went on very easily without much need for manipulating the confetti. However, at 2 layers there was some overlapping. She took a poll and people said more confetti, so she doubled it. I honestly think 2/3 of what is in the bottle would be enough. I just got the feeling that I'd finish the polish and still have a ton of confetti in the bottle. Not that I'm complaining!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this. It's fun, easy to work with and versatile. There's not much more I ask for in a polish. So, keep an eye out for her big launch and more polishes. She's already got a couple collections in mind, even though she won't give me all the juicy details.

Thanks for reading!