Sorry

I'm sorry that the contest has been so complicated.

I'm sorry that some of you find it slightly unfair.

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention voting ends on May 5th, winners announced May 6th.

I'm sorry, but I won't change it again.

I'm sorry I can't please everyone with the rules.

I'm sorry everyone isn't having fun with it.

And, I'm sorry but I'm done apologizing.

Where did the fun go? That was the point: fun. I had fun looking at your entries, waiting for your entries was exciting too. I had hoped to do more contests in the future but I may not if it's going to be so complicated.

I think not seeing the sun for three days has made me gloomy. I really want to show you Hidden Treasure but I can't take any decent pictures without the sun! Hopefully by the end of the weekend the sun will come out! *crosses fingers*

Have a FUN and nail polished filled weekend!

Kayla

Giveaways--Don't miss out!

Heads up! Here's some more giveaways!

Technopathetic is giving away 6 polishes plus other goodies including chap stick and a candy filled flipflop?! haha
Take a look:

Clicking on the picture will take you to the giveaway!

Mon Coin à Moua is having a Flakie and Glitter giveaway...wait I typed that wrong.. a FLAKIE and GLITTER giveaway!!!!! Um, why haven't you headed over there yet? Oh, you want me to win it all? Okay! So sweet of you! ;) Okay, okay, look at this first:

Yep, two prizes! So generous!!! Click a pic to go there!

Ladies, if you don't enter you will regret it. But I will be more than happy to post about my winnings! haha I'm getting too cocky.......

Kayla

I found it!

I just had to post that I found Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure at my local Walgreens! I have checked that store a billion times this week. I snagged the two bottles that were on display! Not sure if I'm gonna keep both or put one into a giveaway. . . hmmm to be selfish or not to be selfish...

I broke out the nail wheel and grabbed 18 random polishes to test it out. It is A-MA-ZING! On any and every color, even on sheers and frosts! I really like how it looks on pastels, kind of angelic! Very pretty! It's not bad by itself either!

Once I can get some good lighting aka sunlight, I will post a few pics of the color wheel. What a good reward for finishing a final tonight! woo!

Hmmm..that can't be right...

Happy Wednesday! Is it extremely windy where you live? I can barely walk outside! The wind is so strong today! So much for doing my hair...

Anyways, this post is once again about the voting for the contest... I know, it's frustrating!
Why haven't you guys been voting in the comments? I went from almost 30 votes in one day to around 5 over the course of a few days. Obviously something wasn't right. I don't know if someone had voted multiple times or if no one wants their vote to be seen in the comments.

Do you like voting anonymously? I'm thinking the majority of you do. So I'm putting up a new poll, this time I searched around and found one that controls how many times a person can vote. Just in case. I trust you guys to be honest in your voting, though.

So refresh your memory over at this post: Entries!

The poll should be to the right. It will only let you vote once. No funny business! Let's have this new system run smoothly, okay?

oh! Almost forgot! Since some of you expressed that it would be easier for me to pick the winners, I've changed up the system a bit. I will be choosing the 1st prize winner based on Inspiration to look execution. The 2nd place winner will be selected by your votes. Most votes wins. I would like you to still keep inspiration in mind but I know it will most likely be skill based.

Remember: Be trustworthy, vote honestly  

-OR-

This kitty will find you. He's a crazed, karate-kicking kitty! 

(haha joking of course, I had to lighten the mood!)

Sorry to those of you who now will be voting for a third time! The first two were clearly practice votes! haha

Thank you for your amazing patience! You all make me smile! :)

Kayla

"Is that one nail polish?" and Fun with my boys outside

Hello lovelies! Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Today was gorgeous outside! I'm wearing four different glitter polishes and they just lit up with the sunshine!! I'm lucky I didn't walk into anything while staring at my nails. My lab partner asked in amazement if it was one color on my nails, and I laughed. It would have been easy with just one polish! Take a look, you may recognize it since it was 1/5 of my Inspiration nails I posted yesterday!

This is two coats Rimmel Black Satin with Sinful Colors Call You Later, OPI Absolutely Alice, OPI Mad As A Hatter, and Milani Diamond Dazzle sponged on top. 

 I think I may wear this for a few days, mostly because I hate removing glitter polish. I'm definitely gonna procrastinate a bit on that one. :)

While I was catching some great nail pics, my dogs Charlie and Sawyer had to play outside too! I took the opportunity to get some pics of them. And since they are just too darn cute, I'm sharing with you! yay!!! haha

 First pic I snap and I catch Sawyer mid-yawn! haha Adorable! Looks like he's laughing, though he always looks like he's smiling! I call him Smiley sometimes, but then it reminds me of Miley Cyrus so I cringe at it. 

 They got in trouble for chasing the neighbors car and not listening when told to stop. They listened very well when I told them to sit and stay though. Good behavior was rewarded with play time. :) I can't resist their cute faces!! Could you??? I doubt it! haha

 My favorite of the day! I love it! Though he then started to eat the stick, and I didn't love it so much! But this picture is to die for! I love my Charlie!

 First tulips of the season!  Charlie stopped to smell them as I was taking pictures of them! Aww!

 Sawyer's turn! He always has to do what his big brother does! Typical younger sibling! :)

Sawyer! You're too cute for words! He's such a model! He poses for pictures! I don't have to say anything, he just does it! He's a natural. Hey Tyra, America's Next Top Dog Model is right here!!!

Sweet Dreams!

Kayla

An award for me???!!

I am so honored right now. I don't know what to say or even think! This is so sweet of Li Lian! She has given me the I <3 your blog award! She's got a great blog too, please check her out and definitely follow! :)

Here are the Rules:

- Post the award on your blog.
- Link the person who has given you the award.
- Pass the award to other 15 blogs you've discovered. (15? That seems excessive...)

I'm going to give this to 5 blogs that I've recently discovered and love! They're all worth following, so check them out and click that follow button! ;)

Crystaliciousss

FAB UR NAILS

My Lucid Bubble

scientific culture

XOXO Parisky

Again, please go check them out! Love them! Also, I'm trying my best to follow everyone who is following me, so if you have a blog and I'm not following you either leave a comment or send me an email with a link and I will definitely check it out! And follow! 

Glam it up, geeks! haha

Kayla

Big City Inspiration

Hey Everyone!
   Before I show you my take on the inspiration contest, I want to address something. I got a couple questions on my Formspring about the contest becoming a "popularity contest" and voting being done based on skill and not inspiration.  I made the voting up to the followers because I thought it would be a great way for everyone to be involved in the process and to see the amazing entries I received. I had hoped that everyone would read the inspirations with the entries and use it to help their voting. I realize that not everyone will do that, and I understand that I won't have any way to prevent skill-based voting.
    When I posted all the entries and opened voting, I honestly wondered how everyone would vote because of the great skill everyone showcased in their entries. I also was extremely pleased when posting the inspirations, it gave such insight into everyone's entries that I figured those voting would read them and be influenced by them in their voting. Maybe I was mistaken. Clearly there are people who feel that this whole voting part of the contest is unfair. I pose this question to you all, do you feel the winner should be determined in a different way? Shall I just pick the winners? Or is there a better way to allow voting? I can't seem to come up with one, but please tell me if there is! I will be more than happy to alter it.
  

Anyways, let's start having fun! I got a request via email to share my take on the inspiration photo, which I had been thinking about doing, so here goes:

When I first saw the photo, immediately the lights caught my attention. Even though it's blurry, to me it looks to be a bigger city. I thought about me, traveling from North Dakota to a big city like Los Angeles or New York, and what my reaction would be. The scene was at night, like the photo, and it would be my first day there. I would be in awe of everything, having wanted to visit for so long and now being able to see it all up close. My mind took me directly to New York, specifically Times Square,  looking up at all the signs and neon lights in amazement and wonder. And then it clicked. Neon signs, lights, and the photo all seemed to go together beautifully...

I was going to recreate this on my nails but I loved the look of the 'ring finger' so much that I just did that instead! As you can see, I thought of different types of neon signs that one would see throughout a city.  The glittery nail represents the blurred lights in the original photo.  The black base represents night, when you would generally see these signs at their best. 

This photo shows the neon of the colors better and also it shows the different colored glitter polishes I used (I think four or five different ones :P).

I realized I was wearing a neon yellow shirt while taking the photos...perfect background for a neon signs manicure? In theory, yes! In reality, eh not so much! haha

I hope you enjoyed my take on the contest! I had fun creating a look! 

Kayla

Problems with Poll? EDIT: New Poll on Side Bar

Hey everyone!
There has been a problem with the poll brought to my attention. It seems that the poll may not be counting every vote. I'm still figuring it out, but while that's going on if you could submit your vote on the poll still and then check if it adds it on, I need to know if it doesn't count someone else's vote.

Stupid technology! ;)

If it turns out the the poll isn't working properly, I have a few other voting systems we can use!

Kayla

EDIT: New voting system in place: Everyone vote here! Leave a comment saying which entry was your favorite. If you've already voted via the poll, please leave your vote below in the comments as well! Same rules still apply! View rules and entries here! Thanks for cooperating and for your patience!

EDIT ON THE EDIT: New Poll on side since no one was voting in the comments!!!!!

Vote!!!

Hello Everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was okay.

I've got an update for you! I've recently gone through all the entries for the contest and decided that I'm gonna post them all for you to vote on! Yay! It would have been ridiculous not to. :) Before I let you start voting, I think I need to lay some ground rules.
     1. Please only vote once.
     2. To make it fair, only followers are allowed to vote.
     3. You have a week to get in your vote!

That's my rules. And so I should only see 54 votes in the poll. I know it seems strict but I've watched some blog contests go wrong because of voting difficulties. Thank you in advance for abiding by the rules! You're so sweet! :)

Okay, here are the entries for you to vote on! Keep in mind it was about inspiration from the original photo, so I've posted the inspiration along with the entry! Good luck to everyone!!!

Wilma's Entry:
"The picture inspired me to try out photo editing again and awaken my sleeping creative side. I started learning photo enhancements & digiscraps last year but lost my interest after a few trials. I chose an inspirational quote - "Beauty without Expression Tires" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It would inspire everyone to never give up Art and Beauty."

Karin's Entry
"Your picture reminds me of a falling star.
So that was my inspriration for my mani."

Gemma's Entry

"My inspiration were the darks at the base of the picture for my nails, and the brights for my eyes...I wanted to create the bright theme dispite the darkness overall!"

Mae's Entry

"I named my mani "oneirology" meaning scientific study of dreams, when I saw the picture which is to be interpreted, lots of ideas came into mind... The model picture show lots of colorful lights... Those images sometimes only appears in our dreams... When you look at them, they seem like an abstract picture which shows only the silhouette image similar to dreams. Sometimes, dreams are not fully clear... in my design, i drew a sleeping lady with lots of colors, lines, and rhinestones which symbolizes thoughts, images, sounds, and emotions which we experience when we are sleeping. And the ring finger's swirl design means the content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, which up to now hasn't been fully explained by dream experts."

Thriszha's Entry

"I was inspired by the blur effects of the light and the colorful colors of the light."

Lena's Entry:

"I saw the photo that you gave us as inspiration and it immediately said to me, "Big City" so I've expanded on that theme by using newspaper cuttings of words that I believe sum up what a city (London, I suppose, since that's the city I know best) is about, or at least the glamorous side of it :P So I've used words such as "fashion", "champagne", "clubs" "luxury" etc."

Li Lian's Entry

"The picture you provided represents to me a long road that one must walk by themselves, alone.  But not to worry, because all around is glitters of hope and twinkling lights telling us that we are not alone.  Sometimes when we think we are alone and we can’t carry on, we need to remember that there are always people around us helping us along the way...I wanted the glitter to be thicker than the black lines to show that “keep calm, carry on” we’ll make it."

Okay, there are your choices! Choose wisely, you have only one vote! Please use the poll in the side bar for voting! Thanks! I've also linked all the blogs of the ladies, so please go check them out! 

Good luck ladies!!!

Kayla

Contest Over....

Hey everyone!

The contest has ended. No more entries will be accepted. Now it's time for my panel to get together and pick the top five for everyone to vote on! Hopefully they'll be posted soon! Thanks to everyone that entered!

Kayla

Hug a Tree!

Hey guys! Happy Earth Day! I just wanted to quickly post that I am sporting China Glaze Tree Hugger in honor of Earth Day. I will add pics later, as I am on campus right now. EDIT: Err, sorry no pics! I tried to water marble over the tree hugger and it was a disaster! Sorry!!

So tell me, what polish are you sporting in celebration of Earth Day? A nice green like myself? Or maybe something with a 'green' name, like ChG Recycle or ChG Shower Together?

I'm not gonna do the whole speech about what you can do to do your part in saving the Earth, as I am pretty sure you'll have a few filling your dashboard from other bloggers!

I'm gonna go enjoy the weather while I can...I have 45 minutes until my next lab.


Oh! Remember, the contest ends today!! When the last time zone changes to April 23, it's over! I'll be keeping an eye out for last minute entries! Don't feel like it's too late! You still have plenty of time to get an entry in!

Kayla

Holy Giveaways, Batman!

Hey everyone! Did you all watch Glee? I'm still singing all the songs! :) I need to go to Itunes and get me some Glee songs! Anyways....

There are a lot of great giveaways out there! Let me share a few with you now!

Babbling Brooke is giving away a Hana 1" Professional Ceramic Flat Iron & some accessories for it. It's pink, it works extremely well, and it's free! Click here to check it out and enter!

It may be impossible for someone to want this as much as I do! It's so cute! And it does an amazing job! Check out Brooke's  giveaway post to see her before and after pictures!

Legra is having a giveaway celebrating 50 followers! Yay! (Say Hi to follower #97, me! haha) She's giving away some nail polish:

- Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Pizazz

- Sinful Colors Cream Pink

- Nicole by OPI Honey-Dew You Love Me (cute blue hearts!)

- OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui

- Poshe Super Fast Drying Topcoat

- China Glaze LOL

- China Glaze DV8

- China Glaze Luna

- China Glaze Blue Hawaiian 

- China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Whoa! That's amazing! Who isn't jumping up and down to get in on this? You? What is wrong with you!?!? Go follow her now, and enter her giveaway here!

Anyone longing for MAC Blue India? Me! Me! :) Head over to I Love Nail Polish and enter for a chance to win it!! Check out her super awesome blog while your over there! 

I think I'm just going to show a picture of the next giveaway. It'll speak for itself...

Plus she's giving away an adorable pair of earrings that, personally, I would love to rock! :) Check out Helena's great blog and giveaway here!

And last, but certainly not least:

Painted Lady Fingers is giving away the whole Hard Candy Just Nails line. That's 16 polishes! Ladies, I'll fight you for it...okay, probably not but I may throw a menacing look your way! ;) Take a look:

Did I mention you get all 16 polishes? Oh, and the rings too!

It's an amazing blog with an amazing giveaway, please go check it out! Now!

EDIT:
Another giveaway has just appeared! Laura is giving away Stuff for the Kitchen, including some adorable gloves!!! You even have the option between two color for the gloves. She has a wonderful blog, so please check out the whole thing while you're over there! Right here!

There's the lineup! Go out there and win! 

Thanks for stopping by! And for more Anchorman referencing: Stay Classy! 

Kayla

Reminder!

Hey guys! I'm at school right now but I wanted to quickly remind you of the contest deadline.

The Inspiration contest ends April 22, 2010. You have two more days. I've also decided that I'll allow entries as long as it is April 22 somewhere in the world. So that gives a few more hours to get entries in!

I've also added additional prizes to each set...but I'm not telling what they are. Could be nail polish, could be something else, or maybe both? Hmmm.

I've enjoyed seeing everyone's entries as they come in and would love to see some more in the next couple days! Also, if you sent me an entry and didn't get a confirmation email from me, please try again just to be sure I received it. I've been replying as soon as I see each entry, so if you didn't get a reply chances are I didn't get your entry!


Thanks guys! I'm gonna post again later about some giveaways going on in the blogging world! Keep checking back!

Kayla

Quick Contest Update

Hey everyone! Just a quick contest update:

I had a question brought up about doing both a makeup look and a nail polish look for entries. I debated over this for a little while but since I haven't had the desired response for the contest I'm gonna modify it slightly.

You can submit more than one entry but each entry must be a different kind, so you could submit a makeup look and a nail art but not two makeup looks, etc. Okay? Super!

Let the creativity flow!

50th post!

Welcome to my 50th post! Woohoo! Yay! etc.

Nail art. I love it. I wish I had konad so that I could do some decent looking nail art on my nails. I've recently just been testing out looks on nail polish display wheels. I'm happy with the results so far. I just need to transfer that to my nails.

I think I'll grow them out a bit and then they'll be bigger canvases to work on. :) That's what I'll do! Hopefully in the near future I'll start featuring some nail art.

I have a simple design on my nails today. Kind of a geometric style.

Here are the colors I used:

L-R: Color Club Bizerk Turq, Claire's Grey Matte, and Rimmel Minerals Black Satin

Here's the finished look:

I decided to just do the thumb on my left hand and the ring finger on my right. I didn't want it to overwhelm my tiny fingers! I love the color combo! Gorgeous! :)

My contest has gotten a few more entries in the last couple days! Spread the word so we can get a ton of entries and make it a little tougher! Everyone has done a fabulous job! It's so exciting! 

There's a new giveaway going on right now over at Yardsticks 4 Lunatics! She's curing our summertime blues by giving away some beautiful blue polishes! Check it out:

And she says there's more to come! Exciting!! Get over there and check it out!

Have a great weekend! I hope you have fantastic weather to enjoy! I'm off to work in an hour so I need to go enjoy the great weather while I can! 

Kayla

Where did you all come from?!? and more swatches!

Hello new followers! I am amazed. I've gained almost 15 followers in the last 5 hrs. Every time I finish a post I have a couple more! Thanks for following! I love you already! :) P.s. Check out my contest! I need more entries! And I have a feeling you all have some talent! So....DO IT! haha


Yesterday I posted that I got six OPIs at Regis for only $10. Do you want some swatches? Do ya? OK!

Look at the new pretties:

L-R: Parlez-vous OPI?, Clubbing til Sunrise, Yoga-ta Get This Blue!, Bronzed to Perfection, and Eiffel For This Color. (Not pictured is You Don't Know Jacques, it now belongs to my mom!)

Parlez-Vous OPI?:

Direct Sunlight (aka sticking my arm out my window!)

Parlez-Vous OPI? is a dusty purple. As you may or may not know, I love me some dusty purple polish! Flawless application, opaque in two coats! It's a new favorite! :) :) :)

Clubbing til Sunrise:

Indirect Sunlight

Clubbing is a sunny, shimmery orange. Perfect for summer! Two coats to be opaque, easy application! My favorite orange I've ever tried! Can't wait to sport this one in the summer! Stunning!

Yoga-ta Get This Blue!:

Indirect Sunlight

Yoga-ta is a gorgeous navy blue shimmer. In the bottle it looks like it has a teal flash but on the nails it does not. I think I did two coats. It was almost completely opaque in one coat. Very stunning. I love it. It would be great in the winter. 

Bronzed to Perfection:

Direct Sunlight

Bronzed to Perfection is a burnt orange with tiny orange flakies in it. The flakies are stunning in the bottle. On the nail? Not so much. I'm not a fan of the color. No application problems besides not getting the flakie loving that I needed. Extremely disappointed. Far from perfect.

Eiffel For This Color:

Direct Sunlight (Yeah I was half way out the window/on the roof) haha 

Eiffel is a deep burgundy/dark purple with shimmer. Indoors the shimmer is not existence but BAM! in the sun it's so gorgeous! Two coats. No application problems. Love it. It is another winter color, but hey I'll sport it whenever!

What do you think? Did I strike gold with any of these colors?

Savvy Femme Couture Swatches

Earlier this month, while scooping out the goods at my local Sally Beauty Supply, I spotted a new display of Savvy colors. It said it was the new "Femme Couture" collection. All of colors were gorgeous, definitely go check them out soon (Sally's having a Buy 2 get 1 free sale on all nail polish!).  I picked up three of, I think, 8. Here they are:

L-R: Mango, Golden Honey, and Melon Fusion

I'm not sure if they all had food names, but if they did...it just doesn't make sense. Femme Couture does not make me think food. Weird.

Mango:

Indirect sunlight

Mango is a light coral, almost nude, color.  Applies kind of thin, I think this was three coats. I think you could get away with two though. It's a strange color, I think it would look better on darker skin tones. I still like it though. Not sure how often I'll wear it.

Golden Honey:

Indirect Sunlight. (Pic from NOTD post)

Golden Honey is, well, gold. Opaque in two, I did three. Applied great, no problems. I don't have any other golds to compare it to, but it seems like your standard gold. When photographing the bottle, I thought I detected a very fine holographic glitter/shimmer in it. But it wasn't noticeable on the nails. Nice color, but easily duped I'm sure.

Melon Fusion:

Indirect Sunlight

Melon Fusion is a gorgeous hot pink that is almost coral. I immediately put it on my toes! I love it! Applied fabulously, opaque in two coats! Worth the buy! Go get it! :) haha I love it. Perfect for your toes for summer!

These were my first Savvy polishes! I'm very impressed. They are great! No problems with them at all! Definitely check out the new Femme Couture collection, there's a gorgeous teal and a holo glitter! I'm probably gonna go back and get more!

How does Savvy rank for you? Great? Terrible? Average?

Kayla

Pure Ice Swatches

Happy Friday! Yay weekend! Boo, I work all weekend! :(

I've got the first round of swatches all ready to go! Shall we just dive in?

Here's the complimentary bottle pic that comes with every swatch view:

L-R: Magic, First Time, and Risk Taker

Magic:

 Indirect Sunlight

Magic is a gorgeous chocolate brown shimmer. It's opaque in two coats, which is how many you see in the pic.  Applied smoothly, no problems at all! I almost like the color better in the bottle but I still like it very much on my nails!

First Time:

Indirect sunlight, pic looked better on my camera! :(

First Time is a lovely frosty green.  I wasn't sure if I would like the color but it was so pretty in the bottle, I had to buy it! Applied just as great as Magic, again two coats til opaque! Not loving the color on me!

Risk Taker:

Indirect Sunlight

Risk Taker is my favorite of the three! It's a gorgeous gun metal frost! Two coats = opaque. Applied beautifully! It's just a fantastic color. I've always been partial to gun metal/pewter colors, so this one was a no brainer! Love it!

Do you own any Pure Ice polishes? What do you think of the brand?

Kayla

A few NOTDs

Hey! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! I'm ready for the weekend!

Today my mom got her hair cut at Regis Salon in the mall in town and they were selling "surprise bags" for $10. The bags were filled with hair products and OPI nail polish! My mom's hairdresser, Tiff, let my mom look through the bags and customize what she wanted. Well, I heard about this and dragged my mom back to the salon and talked to Tiff. She let me customize a bag too! I walked away with six OPI polishes for $10.70! I was thrilled! I gave one to my mom because she let me have a hair product from her bag!

I ended up with: Parlez-vous OPI
                          Eiffel for This Color
                         Clubbing Til Sunrise
                         Yoga-ta Get This Blue!
                         Bronzed to Perfection
I gave my mom You Don't Know Jacques because I own the matte version! Do any of you own these colors? Do you love them? Hate them? Are the just okay? I'll have to get to swatching them!

Speaking of swatches, I have a few more to do for my Savvy/Pure Ice polishes I promised to put up today, so I'm finishing them tomorrow and posting them tomorrow as well!

To get you by, I'm posting some recent NOTDs!

This one is from Tuesday, it's Savvy Golden Honey with a stripe of Pure Ice Risk Taker on my ring finger.

Indoor with Flash

Indoor without Flash

Indirect sunlight, gorgeous! :)
It was funny, because I got some many compliments on what I thought was a simple mani! One of my lab partners kept asking me where I got my nails done! Haha!

Next, Wednesday's NOTD was Claire's Confident/Peaceful:

I tried to get a pic as it changed colors but it was too quick! I do like how the water spots stayed darker! Kinda cool!

Easiest french manicure ever! haha I love the gradient look on nails, hate it on clothes! 

Today's NOTD was also a Claire's mood polish, Calm/Wild!

Lovely! I had fun watching this one change all day! 

I hope you enjoyed these NOTDs! Tomorrow will have many swatches! Get excited! ;P

Kayla