Hiatus

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since my last "real" post. I've been M.I.A. (missing in action) because of some stuff I had to take care of back home and improving my grades. There is some time now for me to swatch here and there, but I just can't get myself to do so. I want to swatch, but I just don't want to actually do it. Hopefully an absence will make the heart grow fonder, as they say. I've been keeping myself busy with nail polish-related tasks when I'm not studying to help regain my passion and love. Here's a little of what I'm occupying myself with... (Warning: wordy post!)

Last night, my friend helped me build my melmer! (Well, more like I just assisted her...) It's the best investment I've ever made because there's now more room underneath my bed, my polishes are more organized, and I can finally get rid of all the boxes my polishes were in!

The first drawer is where all the big brand name polishes are, with some higher end ones on the side. Brands: OPI, Essie, China Glaze, Orly, Zoya (in the way back), Color Club, Deborah Lippmann, and Butter London.

The second drawer has a continuation of my higher end polishes, but mostly contains indies, out-of-the-country brands, retail brands, and what I consider "higher end" drugstore polishes. I left some space for the polishes that haven't been delivered yet. In my excitement, I forgot to leave a bigger space to accommodate the new Cult Nails collection that I already pre-ordered. So sad! :( Brands: Butter London, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Illamasqua, Julep, Candeo Colors, Candy Lacquer, Chick Nail Polish, CrowsToes, Cult Nails, Glitter Daze, Gloss 'n Sparkle, Jindie Nails, Ninja Polish, Ozotic, Pretty Serious, Wing Dust Collections, Essence, Ulta, Love & Beauty, L'Oreal, Milani, JulieG, Jordana, and Revlon.

The third drawer has a continuation of "higher end" drugstore polishes along with "lower end" ones, miscellaneous brands that I only have one or two of, and my frankens. I didn't think I'd be able to fit all my polishes (the ones that aren't packaged in some sort of display, at least), but there's actually some space still left! Yay!!! :D Brands: Maybelline, Sally Hanse, Sinful Colors, Wet 'n Wild, Spoiled, Confetti, Barielle, Layla, Nails Inc., Sephora by OPI, SpaRitual, Finger Paints, Sonia Kashuk, Avon, Winmax Delicia (Japanese brand), Catrice, Model's Own, Urban Outfitters, Claire's, Icing, NYC New York Color, Funky Fingers, CQ, Rimmel, Fantasy Makers (from Wet 'n Wild), Nabi, Sally Girl, and frankens.

Review: As of now, the melmer contains approximately 360 polishes. I still have polishes at home and on the way! (I'm going to estimate that it will hold close to 400 polishes. However, keep in mind brands use bottles of different shapes. I also had to leave space at the back of the drawers because the polishes wouldn't fit in them. Only my mini polishes could, and I don't have many of them. I tried my best to efficiently use the space provided.) The quality is ok; it will do what it was made to do. My friend and I had a particularly hard time with making the second drawer (though it could also be contributed to assistant error...) and the screw was drilled in a way that made part of the drawer crack. (To clarify, damaging the melmer is not that difficult to do, though it is still somewhat sturdy.) Since it is a melmer, it is obviously compact. Included are pieces that allow you to stack melmers so you'll be able to save lots of space! (Very convenient if you live in a small apartment or dorm.) Since the place from where I bought it always has a 40% off coupon, I only paid $20. Not a bad investment, right?

(Aaaaand now I just forgot to leave some more space for The New Black and Orly polishes I have on the way! Curses!)

I've also been doing stick swatches of my polishes. I do them as soon as I receive my packages so my workload won't pile up. After the swatches are dry, I organize them by color. I find that displaying the swatch sticks on binder rings is the most convenient method. Friends and I can find the color we want to wear easily. So far, it's been keeping me on my toes!

I hope to be back soon with a reborn passion! Until then, see you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Goodbye to Google Reader (and Possibly GFC - Google Friend Connect)

I'm sure many of you have heard that Google Reader will be stopping operations soon. I've heard it may be June of this year. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!) Some have speculated that GFC (Google Friend Connect) may also follow suit because the two are so closely linked together. I, myself, find no more use in GFC because it "feeds" blogs into Google Reader. To continue following my blog, I have created Facebook and Bloglovin' pages.

Bloglovin'

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Facebook

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Rimmel Night Before

Rimmel Night Before

Night Before has red-violet shimmer in a blurple base and took 2 coats to become opaque. The red-violet shimmer really glows and almost looks as though it's suspended in the base. At times, it looks pink-purple. In the bottle, there is a subtle, but visible yellow and green shift. On the nail, the shift can only be seen at very extreme angles. Luckily, I was able to capture it on my middle finger in the below pictures! The formula was thin, but in a good way as it was easy to apply and build up the opacity. The 60 Second line is advertised as having a pro-precision brush and drying in 60 seconds (obviously). I found that it did not dry in that amount of time, though I don't recall it taking very long to dry either. My brush also wasn't very precisely cut so I think I may have received a dud in that department. It dried shiny.

Night Before is such a beautiful polish! I have a weak spot for anything with reddish shimmer that shifts to many other colors. I think I already have a small collection of such polishes... :x (I also have Ninja Polish Divinity and Milani Totally Cool.) Do you guys know of any other polishes with this kind of shimmer? (By the way, I know Max Factor Fantasy Fire is one, but I've no way of getting it.)

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

NYC New York Color Sidewalkers + CrowsToes I Make the Path

NYC New York Color Sidewalkers

Sidewalkers is a light grey creme, and definitely reminds me of concrete. The formula was thin, but the polish still manages to become opaque. It was easy to control and I didn't encounter any problems. The first coat was somewhat sheer, with opacity fully built on the second coat. However, I used 3 coats because I found that it didn't level well. The dry time wasn't as quick as the "In a New York Color Minute" line claims, but Sidewalkers still did dry quickly. It dried with a nice shine.

CrowsToes I Make the Path

I Make the Path has matte greyish-blue square and hex, blue hex, and holographic small and fine gold hex glitters in a clear base. I layered 1 coat over NYC New York Color Sidewalkers. Surprisingly, it was easy to work with. I've read that some bloggers had trouble with this polish. Since it was so packed with glitter (which I LOVE), I didn't have to fish for any of it. I only had to move the glitter around a little so I could create a more balanced look. It dried slowly and gritty. I used a topcoat to add some shine and smooth out the glitters. This was on my wish list for a while so I'm very happy I have it now! I also really like the name of this polish. (Perhaps it's because I put a symbolic meaning behind it... But I digress.)

You can purchase I Make the Path from Llarowe.

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Gloss 'n Sparkle Unicorn Spawn

Gloss 'n Sparkle Unicorn Spawn

Unicorn Spawn is a white crelly with matte pastel green, blue, and pink hexes and holographic microglitter. It's a very pretty polish and the holographic microglitter looks like fairy dust! The holo triumphs in the sun, but I didn't have any when I was swatching. :( While the hexes came out easily, I still had to paint carefully so they wouldn't slide off. I'm very happy that there was an equal ratio of pastel matte glitters! I don't like it when things aren't in equal proportions. The dry time was slow. Unicorn Spawn dried "flat"; the base had a nice gloss, but the holo doesn't sparkle. (See what I did there?) I used a topcoat to try to liven it up.

I purchased Unicorn Spawn from Llarowe.

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Jindie Nails Candy Land Remix

Jindie Nails Candy Land Remix

Candy Land Remix has a white crelly base with neon matte small, medium, and large hex glitters in orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink. I used 3 coats. The formula was good, but the application was tricky. I had to be careful about the medium and large hexes sliding off as I was painting. The first coat was sheer, but the opacity increases with successive coats. The hexes don't lay flatly, but aren't a nuisance. I turned the bottle upside-down before each coat so I didn't have to fish for the medium and large hexes. As shown, I didn't get many orange and blue hexes. I wish the ratio was more even. As it is, I feel Candy Land Remix contains predominately yellow, green, and pink hexes. I also own the original Candy Land, and if you ask me, I can't decide which version I like more!

I purchased Candy Land Remix from Llarowe.

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Sally Hansen Limestone + Candeo Colors Melonball

Sally Hansen Limestone

Limestone is a lime green creme and was opaque in 3 coats. The formula was thin and somewhat watery. The first coat applied sort of sheer. It doesn't level that well either. However, it did have a nice dry time and dried with a nice shine.

Candeo Colors Melonball

Melonball has "medium sized matte pink squares and hexes, small matte coral hex, large red matte hex, and small matte green hex scattered with a few large glowing rose copper hexes". It is a Llarowe exclusive, but I got it from a blog sale. I layered 1 coat over Sally Hansen Limestone. Unfortunately, I don't think I got any of the rose copper hexes. :( Such a shame! Melonball was easiest to apply when a good amount of glitter was on the brush because it prevents much dabbing. Though the square glitters weren't as easy to pick up as the smaller glitters, fishing wasn't necessary. Since the base was neither thick nor thin, Melonball wasn't hard to apply. It oddly dries to a matte finish so I used a topcoat. It was slightly gritty when it dried, but the glitter was well-behaved and laid flatly on the nail. Dry time was slow. 

Description from Llarowe. You can purchase Melonball from Llarowe.

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle