Friday Finds?

Okay.

Um. So...yeah.

What happened to Friday? Because you know, I could swear it was just Tuesday and I was talking myself out of prepping this post because it was "too early." Seems I should have listened to myself.

But, nonethless, here's the rundown. I included the Essie I bought last week, since I realized I hadn't shared it with you yet.

Left to right:
Bath and Body Works Cherry Blossom kit, including lotion, and shampoo and conditioner for dry/color treated hair. (Free!)
Burt's Bees Tips and Toes Kit ($12.97, Walmart)
Finger Paints "Tiffany Imposter" ($5.99 regularly, $4.49 w/Sally card, Free with gift card! Sally's Beauty Supply)
Sally Girl [unnamed pink polish] ($.99 regularly, $.94 w/Sally card, $.43 with gift card. Sally's Beauty Supply)
Essie "Exotic Liras," "Sequin Sash," and "Luxedo" ($3.99 each, Marshalls)

The bath kit was given to my mom by a friend, and since it's one of my favorite scents and one of the few that I'm not allergic to, she passed it on to me. I really can't wait to try it and see how the shampoo/conditioner stacks up against some of the others I've used, since I've only ever used the lotion/bodywash from B&B. In fact, I haven't even used those in ages, because of my fragrance allergy, with the exception of the White Tea and Ginger lotion I got eons ago and keep having to cut with unscented lotion. I can't be the only one out there with this problem, can I? Please tell me that I'm not the only person who is in danger of not breathing every time they walk past the perfume counter at Macy's.

I've already broken into the Tips and Toes kit, and so far I love it. I think I'm officially a fan of Burt's Bees, and this after years of just not being impressed by their stuff. Obviously, my friends were holding out on the good stuff when they were kept handing me things to try. Later this week I'll give you the full details on this kit--or you can skip ahead now and get one of your own!

I'm toying with the idea of doing nail art involving "Tiffany Imposter" and that little bottle of pink....We'll see what I come up with.

Toodles!

Friday Finds, and Color Zone Florescent Pink Review

There is a small, slight chance -- tiny, really -- that I've gone a little overboard this week.

I just couldn't help myself. I was so excited by all the blogs I've been reading, and the tutorials, and having this new blog myself.

So, here's the breakdown, from left to right:
Pop Beauty Nail Glam kit with #4 Black and #58 Split Silver (crackle coat). ($4.99, Marshalls)
Modella Purse kit with flamingo pattern (because I had to. See below) ($2.89, Walmart)
Winning Nails #704306 nail art brush ($4.79, Sally's Beauty Supply)
Maybeline Color Show in #380 Porcelain Party and #280 Plum Paradise ($2.89 each, Walmart)
Color Zone Set including a clear glitter, a florescent glitter pink, and a florescent glitter purple (color names/numbers were nowhere on the packaging or bottles, oddly enough) ($4.99, Marshalls)
Up & Up set of 32 Cosmetic Wedges ($1, Target)
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri anti-chip top coat ($4.49, Target)
China Glaze Celtic Sun ($6.49 Sally's Beauty Supply)

Not pictured:
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue By! ($3.59, Target)
Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Cuticle Pen ($5.99, Target)

Whew! That should keep me busy. I've been dying to get my hands on some florescent colors ever since I saw this manicure, so that's what I was most excited about. My camera really doesn't like bright things, so it doesn't quite do these colors justice, especially the pink. The second photo is a bit closer to the truth:


I tried swatching the pink this morning, and this is what came out:


That's three coats of the Color Zone pink over 1 coat of the Porcelain Party, topped with the glitter.

Both of these colors are rather streaky and sheer (I'll talk more about the white when I swatch it by itself). The pink is both thin and kind of gloopy, which is an odd combination. It makes it very difficult to apply evenly, and in order to really get the color to pop you MUST have a white basecoat. If I ever use this color straight again, I'll do two coats of white and two of the pink (though I might still need three), just to give it a really good base. As you can see in this swatch, even after three coats, you can still see where the white base didn't completely cover the nail, so I've got some streaks that still show through.

It dried almost instantly, which I like (though I did have the desk fan going at the time, and that probably helped a bit), and was nice and bright without being blinding. The tiny amount of glitter in this polish seems to add more of a texture than a sparkle; most of it winds up being covered by the polish rather than on top of it, so just for kicks I took the clear glitter and put that on top. Even though there's a good amount of glitter in the pot, it was more content to stay on the brush than on my nails. It did add a little much-needed shine, but not as much as I had hoped, and it helped a little with the bumpiness of the glitter.

Overall, I found it disappointing, but I'm reserving final judgement until after I do the water marble.

I did do a little research on Color Zone for this post -- or at least I tried. They don't seem to have a website, nor does their parent company, Blue Cross Beauty Products. So the color names/numbers shall remain a mystery for the time being.

*I love flamingos, I collect all things tropical, and as I found out this week, my first short story, "Birds of a Feather", which is about a Wereflamingo (yes, a Wereflamingo) will be published on July 11! So this was a bit of a celebratory splurge. :)