Pam's Girly Bits: Banana Hammock and Arctic Sunrise from Slap Dash Summer 2012 Collection

The moment Pam (of Girly Bits nail polish fame) posted about her newest collection for summer 2012, I was a goner. Any thoughts of low buys and penny pinching was immediately forgotten. As you might know, if you've ever dipped into the black hole that is the world of indie nail polish, these custom mixes don't last very long. That moment of hesitation is going to be weeks and months of regret while you wait for the next re-stock. So after looking at her swatches, I clicked over to her shop and not five minutes later I had that pretty sky blue heading my way (if we're being completely transparent, I also had that holographic top coat called Hocus Pocus joining that pretty blue). Since it's being shipped within Canada, I got them in no time at all. I hopped and skipped my way back home after seeing the package in our mailbox maybe 3-4 days after I've placed the order. (Don't give me that look. I'm sure you've done it, too.) I tore through the packaging and my jaw dropped. Sitting beside my coveted blue and holographic top coat was this awesome yellow that had blue/green shimmer. But then doubt settled and I decided to contact Pam. Maybe I've been sent the wrong order and some poor soul out there was missing her bottle of yellow awesomeness..? A few minutes later, *ding* went my inbox. Imagine my glee when I found out she'd included it as an extra for little ol' me. (Aww, shucks!) Well, enough about that and let's get on to the polishes! (Never fear, the following review will still be an unbiased one, no matter how happy I was/am to be surprised with said awesome yellow.)

The two pretties from the Slap Dash Collection!

These full-sized bottles have a similar size and brush to that of Seche Vite top coat.

Maybelline Color Show Denim Dash

After neglecting the drugstore nail polish options, I realized that had to be rectified immediately. So here's a look at another readily available drugstore nail polish that performs well enough to deserve a place in your collection.

When news came out earlier this year that drugstore giant Maybelline was coming out with a completely modernized nail polish line, it had the budget beauty enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. Another option for the low end of the price scale? Praise the nail polish gods! But I was a bit more reticent. I wanted to see just how good the line was before getting all excited. When it finally rolled out at my local Wal-Mart, I was blown away. They sure weren't kidding about that update! Gone were the old lady colors. This was a rainbow mix of various trendy finishes that not even a finicky nail polish collector can scoff at. But my conservative side prevailed and I ended up with only two colors in my shopping cart. Predictably, this was one of them:

How could I resist a shimmery blue??

China Glaze Lighthouse

Yellow isn't really my color. I can't pull it off the same way I can't do a pastel peach. (Both shades come out looking weird with my skintone.) But in continuing with the red, gold and green series we'll be doing all month long, I find myself reviewing a yellow anyway.  Before I picked this up, I had only one other yellow in my collection that I primarily use for nail art purposes. Well, two if you count a color changing polish I have from In the Mood (will do a review on that when it gets colder! :D) that's yellow when warm and orange when cold.  So when I asked Mr. J to help me pick out a color when I was last at Sally Beauty, he picked this yellow, rationalizing that I didn't have a lot to begin with. But where does it fall in with the red, gold and green part of the deal? Well, this one can pass for gold with the bling of glass flecks and microglitter.

See what I mean?

Nail Art Wednesday: Movember Moustache Nails with a Gaming Geek Twist

With November coming to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to end it donning moustachioed nails in support of Movember, the annual fund raising event for men's health and prostate cancer research. Mr. J participated unofficially (in all honesty I think this was about the only time he felt it was justified to sport any sort of facial hair) so I'm beyond ecstatic to have his face back. Now, I wanted to put my own twist to it and didn't want it to be just like any other moustachioed nails. I thought about doing different types of moustaches on each nail but wanted to take it a step further: why not sport famous moustaches based on video game characters? I love me some video games (in fact, Mr. J and I met while playing a video game but that's a story to tell on another day) so what better way to incorporate that with Movember?

Can you guess who's who? Three are easily recognizable but the villains aren't as easy to place.

Nail Art Wednesday: Calgary Flames Nails

After I did the Toronto Maple Leafs nail art in honor of Mr. J's birthday, I've had a nagging feeling that kept telling me that I needed to be fair and do one for the Calgary Flames, too. It could very well just have been Hammie with his subliminal messages, but wherever the thought came from, I knew it had to be done. See, I'm not originally from Toronto. I lived on the opposite end of the country, closer to the gorgeous Rockies in Calgary before moving here and that was where I first learned to appreciate hockey. I have a theory that wherever you first fall in love with the sport is where your loyalties will lie, no matter where you move in the future. So even if I now count Toronto as home, I still root for the Flames (Sorry, Leafs..). What better way to show your support even without a jersey or face paint on than to wear them proudly on your nails?

Go Flames!

Nail Art Wednesday: Special Birthday Nails Part 1, Pastel Skittle Nails

In our family, October is known as the birthday month with birthday dinners every week. It's always a lot of fun, family getting together and all that. Since each celebrant usually picks a different restaurant, it's also a great way to try some place new to add to the rotation. (Or they do a party at home!)This year, we're having one more birthday to celebrate: my niece, Alena, who's turning one on the 8th!

I did a skittles manicure in honor of the birthday girl in fun bright colors. I then stamped animals from the Konad S10 stamping plate in silver and added a holographic glitter layering polish as the final touch.

What I used:

Thumb: In the Mood Devious (cold color)

Index: Nicole by OPI City-Pretty Rose

Middle: Orly Snowcone

Ring: Revlon Garden (from the Spring 2011 mini set)

Pinky: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lemon Dash

Silver stamping polish: Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Pure Silver

Glitter polish: Sally Hansen New Lengths Ceramics in Silver Slightblade

More photos after the jump!