Claire's and Icing haul

Spent some time at the mall today before going to the Frisco RoughRiders game.  Picked up some Claire's and Icing polishes.  I've never tried either brand before.  This is the entire haul:

These two sets are almost the same colors, just one seems to be a pastel version.  These are all minis.

This set is all glitters, and all minis.

 Brights.

This set was really difficult to photograph while leaving it in the package.  These are all glitters.  From left to right, they are yellow gold, plum, gunmetal, beige-y rose-y (blah), and bronze-y gold.

Also picked up two of the Claire's mood polishes (the green one was out), plus a really gorgeous duochrome from Icing.  It's called Peacock and is a dusty blue with a strong purple flash.  Unfortunately I have a feeling it's going to be brushstroke city, but I'm going to try it anyway!

Last but not least, a Hot Topic polish.  I couldn't pass this up (I love green), even though I know it's going to be really sheer and the application will drive me insane.  It's a translucent lime green base with gold and lime green glitter.

These all go in the untried pile, sigh.  Tomorrow I hope to have pics of my Nubar haul up, and then I really need to consider a no-buy.  Oh, aside from the two OPI summer colors I want.  And Hidden Treasure, if I ever find it.

China Glaze - Red Curl Girl and a word about Sun Worshipper

Obviously I need to learn to use my camera better.  These are the best three shots I had.  I also need to make a lightbox or buy one, because I don't get home from work early enough to take sunlight pictures.  All of these are under a halogen lamp.

No flash.  This one shows some of the shimmer in this polish.

Basecoat:  China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
Color:  China Glaze Red Curl Girl (3 coats)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Red Curl Girl is one of the oldest China Glazes in my untried pile.  I know I have had this bottle since the Summer Days collection came out, if not before.  I don't know why I've waited so long to wear it.  This color applied beautifully, and even though it has a little bit of VNL if you look closely, it was almost a two-coater.  There is crazy sparkle in this polish, too.

Red Curl Girl was actually not the color I had planned to wear today.  I had Sun Worshipper from the Poolside collection out.  I made it to five streaky, sheer coats before I gave up on it.  I may try it again later with a white basecoat.  I wore Flip Flop Fantasy as my pedi until yesterday and had no problems with that color whatsoever.

On my toes, I have Color Club Mrs. Robinson.  I know some people are weird about feet, so I won't be posting a photo unless I can figure out how to hide the photo until you click on it, or something.

Have a great Memorial Day, everyone!

About my nailcare routine

As I am working on my manicure I figured I would give some background on my usual routine.

I polish my toes every three weeks, or as needed.  I don't always do a pedi in the wintertime.

I polish my fingernails about twice a week.  I usually do it on Sunday, and again on Tuesday or Wednesday night - depends on whether I've picked it off and what I have going on.

Speaking of picking it off, this is my biggest struggle - I pick my nail polish off.  I often end up having to buff my nails just to even out the pits I've caused by picking off my polish.

My usual routine is this:  Polish remover (I like Beauty Secrets for natural nails).  Once I've removed all my polish, I follow with a swipe of acetone.  Basecoat is a *must*.  I try to stick with the same brand, if I have it.  If needed I follow this with a coat of ridge filler.  I usually do three coats of polish, but I'm willing to go as much as five coats.  If it's not opaque I take it off and wear something else.  I don't really like jelly polishes - it has to be a pretty special color for me to accept VNL.  Once my color has dried a little, I go for topcoat.  Seche Vite is my holy grail topcoat - it covers a MULTITUDE of sins.

I've just recently started doing a decent cleanup.  I used to not even try to keep my polish neat, and just pick off the excess once the polish dried.  I really envy MeganChair's gorgeous "gap" - I could never get this right.  Then I came across her amazing tutorial, and this is the method I am using now.  I'm not very good at it yet, but each time I can tell it is getting better.

I use a cuticle oil daily at least.  I have a bottle of Solar Oil at my desk at work - I use it every day.  At home I use either Solar Oil, Barielle Intensive Nail Renewal Oil, or CND Cuticle Remover.  I also have Lush's Lemony Flutter, but I usually forget that I have it.

For keeping the length in check, I always file - I never, ever clip my fingernails.  I do clip my toenails, though - I'm just not flexible enough to file them.

Hope you found this information useful!

First post!

Hello and welcome!

I've been a follower of many polish blogs for the past year or so and finally decided to start my own. A little about me:  I am 34 years old.  I am married and I live in Dallas, Texas with my husband and our cat Pixel.  We are season ticket holders for the Texas Rangers.  I am a cancer patient, though at this point I am just being watched for a recurrence.  In three years I get the "all clear".

About my polish:  I have a LOT of polish, though nowhere near as many as some!  My collection currently takes up one entire Helmer and one drawer of another one.  Two entire drawers plus about ten polishes are my "untried" pile.  I organize my drawers by color, so if I could just get through my untried pile I would have much more space.  I say that, but I have a Nubar haul that is supposed to arrive on Tuesday.

I wish I had been taking pictures of my manicures, but I haven't.  I will be now, though.  I am pretty much exclusively wearing my untrieds, just so I can get through them.  I have swatched my entire collection on nail wheels by color (31 and counting).  My favorite brand is China Glaze, though I think I may still have more OPI in my collection.  I would say the oldest polish in my stash is 13 years old.

First real post is coming up later tonight!  Thanks for visiting!