I Felt Like a Donut Hole

I was gonna most a more recent NOTD since all I have in my computer are older swatches and stuff. Though actually, I haven't bought a single new nail polish this month. Surprised? Haha so am I. It's not that I'm trying to cut back that much, it's just because with a new apartment and a new school quarter starting, I'm spending my money on more practical stuff like textbooks, food, a new haircut (that I desperately needed), a bed, and a vacuum (sidebar: my favorite chore is vacuuming, and my dream is to own a Dyson).

Alas, my OPI Kangarooby chipped after one day due to laziness on my behalf, I didn't file correctly. That's been fixed but I had a limited amount of time to paint a new color so I chose an old one, Essie Funships

But, check out these hilarious nails on SNL last night. I LOVE Neil Patrick Harris (aka NPH) and Taylor Swift so I had to watch last night's episode! In this skit, called Fran and Freba, NPH and Kristen Wiig (who has grown on me) play chatty air traffic controllers. It's funny....not hilarious....but whoa! Those nails! I love long nails but this was just taking it to the extreme and it was hilarious watching them maneuver around in those. Check it out:

Confessions of a Polishaholic

I have a thing for redheads. It's the combination of the hair color and the fair skin that's so classically beautiful. It's why I love Nicola Roberts, Amy Adams (even though she's a natural blonde, homegirl rocks the red!), and Isla Fisher.

Isla has a new movie coming out, Confessions of a Shopaholic, so she's starting the press stuff. Here she is on the cover of UK's InStyle magazine:

It's a little hard to tell but she's rocking a fab muted pink that actually kind of matches the shade of the pink flowers on the dress (except the polish is a little lighter). It's a simple color, but magazine covers usually don't feature dramatic nails or dramatic colors.

Suggestions: China Glaze IV, Essie Sweetie Pie, OPI Fair Dinkum Pinkum

Also, if you guys are excited about this movie, Facebook has an application for it:
http://apps.facebook.com/shopaholicmagazine/

Hey, if it has more of the stunning Isla, I'm down.

Epitome of Tack

Now, I really despise this so-called "celebrity." Maybe she's really a nice girl in person, but she's kind of famous for doing nothing and seems to be everywhere. Now, sometimes she does make good nail polish choices, I'll give her that- she's only one of the handful of "celebrities" that wears straight white nail polish.

But this....is kind of tacky.

Now, I'm a sucker for logos as much as the next person....there's no denying that they're a strong part of our society. And I have nothing against Chanel. But seriously, what is this??????

It's a little...TOO logo-y (it would be acceptable if it were only on a couple of fingers but it's on EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.). And also looks kinda cheap. And it's a little too desperate to flaunt it. Here's a hideous close-up:

Picture Source: JustJared

I don't know whether to laugh because it's so tacky or cry that someone at the Chanel store actually did this for her. Because Chanel is supposed to be like the epitome of class! And this is....so not.

What do you guys think?

Phantom of the OPERA

This makeup brand is a bit obscure, really. I've tried finding a website for it but I've gotten nowhere. I saw this brand a couple of times around Shanghai (literally only twice), and even though they raised their prices, it's something about their polishes that make me want more. Opera is a cosmetics brand maybe based in Japan that has these really cool colors in chic, but very small, bottles.

Here was my first Opera polish, which was 29 RMB at the time (they have since raised their prices to 39 RMB, or about a bit more than $5 USD):


Despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of sheers, I am a huge fan of this polish. The brush is really great, kind of short but a little poofy so there's not a lot of streakage. If you also notice, though it's a sheer peachy/orangey color, it also packs a lot of gold shimmer to make this color really pop out.

PS: I just absolutely adore Phantom of the Opera, and it's a dream to see this musical in person!

Special Thanks

These past two days have been super hectic, and in my haste in last night's post I forgot to mention something so I'll just slip it in quick because I'm driving back down (7 hours....) to Southern California tomorrow. OK, so.

MEGA thanks to the active ladies on MUA for a situation that happened earlier last month. Apparently this girl on UK Ebay stole one of my pictures to use for her auction. While it's flattering that someone would go through all the trouble to steal my crappy photos, it's also kind of upsetting. I used to not think it was such a big deal, and I can understand why others don't either. But, when you start to put effort into taking the pictures and editing and posting them up, you can understand why it sucks to have other people take credit for your work.

So, here's my policy on photo theft: It's totally fine to post my pictures elsewhere as long as they are unedited (try not to hotlink though, even though I accidentally still do sometimes and people do get on my case about it). If it's an auction site, please add a link to this blog. But if you crop my pictures and take credit for them, I'll bring on the claws and I have an army of the coolest chicks around backing me. It's just petty and sad...I can't believe the amount of people who go around stealing other people's pictures and passing them off as their own. One of my biggest fears is identity theft and it's kind of a type of identity theft. And I like my identity. Also, it kind of just proves how some people have no lives.

Anyway, I'm always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, maybe they just don't realize what they're doing. So normally, I try not to get too upset in these situations and just ask them to add a link back to here. Still, I'm glad to have my np board girls on my side- they really are fantastic.

Definite additional thanks to ocelot1 and denise2648 for messaging me and letting me know of the situation!

I probably won't post again until Sunday night, depending on when I can get internet. Have a great weekend guys!

Happy 2009!

Hey guys, I know there has been a SEVERE lack of posts lately so if you're still going to stick with me, thank you! I promise to give you guys a good reason for that since one of my resolutions is to post something at least once a day. Studying abroad was one of the greatest experiences of my life, but it was hard finding a balance between school, family, work, and fun (I had a better balance of it here in the States, but I also had faster internet and a bigger collection to work with). I've also had a great deal of heartbreak to deal with while I was in China because of family stuff. But, it is a new year!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve! It's hard to believe that yet another year has passed. I spent the night with my best friend watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve countdown (no alcohol for me since I'm 20) before driving home and watching Chuck on Hulu. I've really missed Hulu, which isn't available outside the U.S.

I'm actually wearing Misa Love Bites, but here's an older mani I did while I was in China that is very appropriate for New Years:



I usually don't buy cheap street polishes, and for good reason....they take forever to dry! And who knows what gross chemicals are in there. I couldn't resist the blue though, and I couldn't resist the sparkly clear topcoat. The tips are a holographic Maybelline polish. As you guys can probably guess, this was my first doing a funky french and I decided to freestyle it. It was hard and as you guys can tell from the pictures, not very symmetrical or even, but I might be getting the hang of it.

Lastly, my other polish-related resolution is to buy less nail polish. I showed a great deal of restraint yesterday while shopping as I walked into Ulta and walked out with NOTHING. OPI's Toyland polishes are on sale though for $4.99. I also cruised by a MAC counter and the latest colors didn't really seem up my alley.

But well, let's face it. That resolution can't last very long =) I love nail polish way. too. much.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well it's not quite Thanksgiving in the States yet but it's the fourth Thursday in China, so it's Thanksgiving for us! Honestly, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because there's no gift-giving. As much as I love Christmas, sometimes the gift-giving takes away from the true meaning of Christmas. There's something to be said about a holiday that makes people reflect about what they're thankful for in life. It's a very philosophical holiday, which I love.

Well, I've been saving this picture for forever, because this polish just screams Thanksgiving to me, Piggy Polish's Harvest Moon. To be honest, I know it's the name of a video game but I've never played it. But there's just something about this orangey brownish weird color that makes me want to dig into a pumpkin pie.

So what am I thankful of? The usual: family, friends, my health (though sometimes my lungs like to turn against me). I'm also thankful though for YOU, my readers, who have even decided to stick with me through my four month polish dry spell, lol. I will be even more thankful when I return back home to California and reunite with my massive nail polish collection.

Also, reader Brooke asked me about how to apply chunky glitters, like the NYC one I used for my 4h of July mani. The way I usually do it is by tilting the bottle slightly and then swirling the brush around before lifting the brush out of the bottle. Usually I'm able to get more of the chunky glitters. Hope this helps!

I will be having Chinese food this year probably instead of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy, so eat lots for me!

Since I also know I have a few international readers too, I have to note that this whole Mumbai situation is distressing and sad. My sincerest condolences to anyone who has been affected by this.

Obamaramamania!

Wow, look at all the press coverage for Obama!

Being overseas during election year has been tough...I'm not going to say who I supported or anything because that's not really the point of this blog! I will say though that it's been really cool seeing history being made as the American presidency crosses an important milestone. In China they were playing the election results and stuff even on the public buses, so that was cool.

To celebrate my home country, I did allow myself to buy another polish. Pics will be coming on that, but it's very patriotic. Speaking of which, I do miss my large polish collection but I know that if I had that with me, this is exactly the mani I would do:

Readers might remember this pic from my Fourth of July post, but this is one layering combo that I never tire of. It kind of just screams America =)

Vamping It Up

Do you ever find yourself in "color moods"? It happens to me all the time, where I get into the habit of wearing pink five times in a row, and then switch to navy blue, and then I get a craving for some other color. Sometimes I get into seasonal moods too, where I wear brighter colors in summer and I wear more darks in the winter.

Dark colors can always look classy though. Take a cue from newlywed Scarlett Johansson, who was at last night's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Photo Source: JustJared

Scarlett did a great job contrasting her nail color with what she was wearing Pairing short, polished black nails not only makes her nails stand out, but also draws attention to what she's wearing too because of the color contrast.

Usually I'm not a fan of being too matchy when it comes to polish but she did it really well here. I think the peep-toe helped, as you don't see too much of it.

For more information on the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is the largest private funder in the U.S. for Parkinson's disease, you can visit visit www.michaeljfox.org

Re: Minx Nails

Memory jog: this is in reference to this post

Hey guys, I e-mailed Minx about pricing, and it turns out that it's not a set price. Here's what their great PR person said:

We do not have recommended prices for the salons to charge for Minx, and it varies tremendously across the country. Some salons may offer simply Minx application with no accompanying manicure, while other salons may put together an hour "Minx-a-cure" involving reflexology massage, cuticle trimming, lotions, etc. together with the application. Also, you can imagine that salons in smaller cities charge less than those in expensive areas like Los Angeles or Manhattan. Because it varies so much, you may want to call two or three salons in your area and just find the average.

If you go online to www.minxnails.com, they have a Salons & Spas button where you can look up the nearest place to you that offers a Minx manicure. If anyone gets one, please share the experience!