Illamasqua - Raindrops

I think it's about time I got into my blog again. I'm sorry that I disappeared for a while. After all of those Hunger Games posts I was so drained. Those took a lot more work than I thought they would, but I don't regret any of it. And I hope everyone enjoyed them. After that I got into a weird depressed funk. I wasn't sleeping, almost everything made me want to cry, I stopped talking to people as much as possible. It was weird, and nothing made me feel better. I don't know what it was but something turned around and things got better. Every once in a while I get back into those funks. I'm falling into one now, I can feel it, but I'm fighting it as much as I can. Except this time the reason is unemployment and my lack of money. I've been applying to several teaching jobs as well as several retail jobs with no luck. I am currently offering private woodwind lessons, but that's a hard thing to have take off and get a lot of students. But I'm still trying (and probably annoying plenty of you with my flyer posts on facebook, haha)! Anyways, on to the polish.

I figured my return to my blog should be grand, and what better way than to show you my number one nail polish lemming that was on my wishlist for a very long time? I finally got this after talking with a lovely lady on MUA for several weeks about lining up a swap. And we finally did! So here she is, Illamasqua Raindrops:

Raindrops is a very greyed out blue. In fact it was much more grey than I expected, but I still love it. It has tiny silver flakies in it (and you all know flakies are my absolute favorite). This was 2 coats. The formula was great, but it dried really fast, so if I needed to go over any spots it started to drag. Next time I'll just paint more carefully. I absolutely adore this polish, and it feels so good to cross it off of my wishlist. 

I plan to start posting twice a week to start off, sometimes more. So stay tuned!

Hunger Games Part I

It's Hunger Games Week! Leading up to the premiere on Thursday night at midnight (which, of course, I'm going to and hopefully you are too!) I will have a post on everything Hunger Games related for the next 4 days! Here's a breakdown on what to expect:
Today: China Glaze Hunger Games Nail Polish (Districts 1-6)
Tuesday: Fortune Cookie Soap Hunger Games Tribute Collection (soap and lotion)
Wednesday: China Glaze Hunger Games Nail Polish (Districts 7-12)
Thursday: Hunger Games manicure ideas (and my manicure for the premiere!)

As a bonus, I'm including the original names and inspirations for the polishes from China Glaze (which for most of these I liked the original names much better). These were leaked before the deal was made official with Lionsgate (I believe), and therefore they had to be scrapped. They were able to keep the colors though. So, let's get started!

District 1 (Luxury) - Luxe and Lush 

Luxe and Lush is a chunkier flakie than what we've been seeing lately from Essie and Finger Paints. The flakies are orange, blue, and green suspended in a clear jelly base. This thing was a goopy mess. I had to pat the flakies on rather than paint them on like normal nail polish, but I think if it was a thinner formula it wouldn't have worked. These pictures are: L&L on pointer (1 coat), 1 coat of L&L over Foie Gras on middle, 1 coat of L&L over Smoke and Ashes on ring and 1 coat of L&L over Riveting on pinky.

Luxe and Lush was originally called Flaming Gems and it was inspired by Katniss' interview dress.

 District 2 (Masonry) - Stone Cold

Stone Cold was quite a surprise! There was no mention of a matte polish in the information released from China Glaze. I'm not usually a matte fan, but I definitely love this one! And, of course, you have to see what a matte polish looks like with a shiny top coat (so I added some glossy photos). Stone cold is essentially a black base with silver micro-glitter. The formula was amazing, and I love that matte polishes dry so quickly! This was one coat for the photos above (1 coat!!!). 

Stone Cold was originally called Joined at the Seam, which was inspired by the Seam (obviously).

Hit the Read More button to see the rest! 

Some Flakie Magic

Just a fun fact to start the post: Flakie polish is my absolute, hands down, favorite kind of polish. I hoard flakies, even if they're dupes. And I have been traveling all over trying to find all of flakies from Finger Paints and have only found 3 of the 5. (So if anyone has Motley or Twisted I would be willing to buy them from you!!!). People are selling them for ridiculous prices on eBay...they're only $5 at Sally's Beauty. Stupid. Anyways, on to the polish.

Today I have NARS Zulu, which is a gorgeous dark green jelly. It's seriously so shiny without a top coat. I love it. I decided to do some layering with Finger Paints Flecked, which is green and blue flakies in a clear base. It brought Zulu to life. So pretty! Take a look:

First, Zulu all alone. Pretty! This was 3 coats.

This is 1 coat of Flecked over Zulu.

Here's a good shot of the duochrome flakies, they flash green and blue.

Look at that! The polish glows from within. So pretty.

This is in natural sunlight. 

So what do you think? Do you like the whole flakie trend? Personally, I don't think you can ever have enough. (:

CM