Friday Finds

Hey, it's another double post day!

From left to right:
Brash "Green Machine" ($2.99, Payless)
Orly "Mysterious Curse" ($3.99, Sally's Beauty Supply)
China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" and "Dorothy Who?" ($4.99 each, Sally's Beauty Supply)
S•X•Y "Dreamy Cocoa" ($3.99, Payless)

I've already used a couple of these, so they'll be showing up as swatches next week in between my challenge posts.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Finds

Yay! Double post today!

Initially, I wasn't going to do a Friday Finds segment this week because pennies are pretty tight right now, but I picked up a couple of things at Target yesterday and thought I would share.

Essie Set in Stones ($7.79, Target)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Lightening and Just in Lime ($3.69, Target)
Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream ($5.99, Target)

I'm really excited by the Essie. First, I only own one other glitter polish (I know, some of you just gasped in shock), but I really couldn't resist the call of silver glitter. Up until yesterday, the only place I'd ever seen Essie was Giant Eagle, and I didn't even know they carried it until last week. Then it popped up at Target ($. 21 cheaper, I might add). I've been seeing so many Essie swatches around, and I really wanted to try it out. Sometimes I feel like an ad for Sally Hansen, since that's normally all I see around here.

I've used the cuticle balm a couple of times, so I can't give a review of it yet but it smells good enough to eat.

July 1 starts the Summer Fun challenge of at Red Hair and Black Nail Polish, and you'll get to see a bit of the Insta-Dri colors then, as well as my thoughts on them.

Friday Finds and Milani Neon

Talk about getting in under the wire!

I toned it down a little this week, but there were still a couple of things that I just couldn't resist:
"Oh So Bright" collection by The Balm ($9.99, Marshalls)
Ladies Emergency kit (purchased mostly because of the adorable tin. I just couldn't say no!) $2.99 Marshalls
Top Care strengthening nail polish remover ($1.29, Giant Eagle)
Wet n Wild Megalast in On a Trip (light purple; $.99, Giant Eagle)
Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Metallica ($1.99, Giant Eagle)
Milani Neon in Rad Purple ($3.99, Giant Eagle)

Today I had to run in to Giant Eagle, and since I needed more polish remover I decided to take a look in their health and beauty section. I'd actually never gone in there, since I'm not overly particular about most of it and things like shampoo, lotion, and polish remover are usually cheaper at Target or Walmart, but oh my god. I feel kind of dumb now.

Here I was thinking that I would have to got to Sally's and spend an arm and a leg on acetone, Seche Vite, Essie, OPI and Orly (none of which I've had a chance to try yet) and they were all right there. Our local Walmart carries Sally Hansen, Pure Ice, and a few other lower end brands that are generally picked over (the last time I saw a full display at a Walmart was the grand opening of the one out by my parents' house). Target carries fewer brands, but they're usually better stocked. Giant Eagle was sold out of some stuff, but for the most part it was all there. They had limited edition lines from a couple of manufacturers (like Wet n Wild and Essie), and a range of colors in brands that I thought were more high end and would only be available online or through specialty stores (please note: I consider anything "high end" when it is over $5.99 a bottle. Remember, I'm on half a shoestring budget here).

Even though I was drooling, I had to resist the urge to load up my basket with polishes, even though I could almost justify some of them simply because I'm still building my palette, so to speak.

The one color I could justify was a dark, creme purple. I didn't have a brand in mind, I just needed a dark purple for my next Heroes V. Villians mani, and since my black is a creme I wanted the purple to be as well. I have two creme purples, but they're pastel. My dark purple is pearlescent.

The only darker purple I could find that didn't contain glitz in one form or another was Milani Neon #506 Rad Purple. It was a little lighter in the bottle than I was looking for, but crunched for time and cash, I decided it would have to do.

The formula is extremely thin, almost watery. I wasn't expecting it, and it gave me some problems on the first coat. By the second I started to get the hang of it.

Because it's so thin, though, this polish tends to spread which eliminates most of the brushstrokes and it dries super fast--almost instantly for thin coats, and in less than ten minutes for thick coats (I didn't time it exactly; might even be less).

Once dry, it's pretty matte, so I added a layer of my Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener (on Monday, I'll talk a little bit more about my topcoats and treatments, by the way).

Also note the drastic color difference between bottle and nail. I used three coats for these shots, and just so you can see the comparison, there is one coat of top coat only on my index finger.

I really like the final color, which is much more red than the bottle color (while still being a vibrant, rich purple). The final color is more like what I was looking for in the first place, but I can see this being annoying with other colors if you're expecting one thing and get something VERY different. For my purposes, however, no complaints!

Friday Finds

It's Friday! That means I get to show off some of the cool stuff I've found lately.

Okay, so I've got one new find and one older one, but they go so well together that I had to share both.

The boots are by Blowfish. I found them around Christmas for $10 on clearance. They would have originally sold for about $60-70. They were the last pair left, and they fit perfectly. The shape of the heel took a little getting used to, but I love wearing them. They're just the right height for me. I love the sensible heel, and it is an endangered species.
I have no idea where the belt came from since the tag was missing and it doesn't have any marks on it, but it was also on clearance and I found it for $4. Yes, $4. I love the look and the triple buckles, but I will have to add a little bit of ribbon to the inside of it. Because of the way the buckles are set up, the tail that would normally be on the outside and slide into the belt loop on a pair of jeans is on the inside, front and center and has a tendency to slide downwards, which is both uncomfortable and unsightly.

Both of these came from Marshalls, which is one of my favorite places to shop for just about everything. And I think you can see why!

I love these pieces because they are both absolutely perfect for a steampunk costume and they were super cheap and super cute. I'll be sure to share pictures of the costume once I put it together!