Wanna win some nail polish? Giveaway Closed!

Giveaway is now closed! Thanks for entering!

Hey, I'm back for real this time! And I'm starting off with a giveaway! I thought it would be the best way to apologize for being away for so long and I'm feeling generous.

There is only one prize this time around and it includes polishes from the China Glaze Vintage Vixen collection and the OPI Swiss collection! Here's some pictures to drool over:

OPI L-R: William Tell Me About OPI, Ski Teal We Drop, Diva of Geneva, and Yodel Me on My Cell

China Glaze L-R: Swing Baby, Jitterbug, Emerald Fitzgerald, Goin' My Way?, First Class Ticket, and Riveter Rouge

Here's how you enter the giveaway:

1. Be a follower and leave a comment on this post. Your email should be included for contact if you win!

2. Extra entries can be earned. 

• One extra entry can be earned by blogging, tweeting, or by some other way of spreading the word. You may earn an extra entry for each of those if you chose to do more than one. You must give me a link or retweet me (@glamgeekchic).  
• You can earn 5 extra entries by emailing me a picture of a manicure inspired by the Vintage Vixen or Swiss collection. You can even combine them and do a Vintage Swiss Vixen or something! :) Must be a new mani and only one entry can be submitted. I will post all the entries for fun! Email: glamgeekchic@gmail.com.

3. Giveaway ends September 5th, 2010. That's about three weeks to get in your entries! On that date I will draw a name using some random generator site and announce the winner on the 6th!

Good luck! I'm so excited to give these gorgeous polishes away! So pretty! *drool*

Breathing Room and Blankets

Good evening/morning/afternoon/whenever you're reading this :)

I'm in a spectacular mood today! I finished my last final of the semester and I feel like I can just relax and unwind! It feels like I can breathe, like I held my breath the whole semester! Now it's three months of relaxing...well when I'm not at work that is!

In case you're wondering, I did really well on the final! Yay! I needed to do well, my grade depended on it! I kind of slacked off in that class...whoops! But I definitely made up for it! Just checked my grade and it is fabulous! :) So happy!!!

I have a NOTD for you! It's a french manicure but with untraditional colors. I started with just ChG For Audrey on my nails but I felt like it needed something more.

*Gorgeous*

I could not figure out what to add to it. Then I got a little chilly, so I grabbed my blanket, which has a blue in it that matches For Audrey! It's a blue and brown fleece blanket with a damask pattern on it. Beautiful pattern, gorgeous color combo! That settled it, I had to add some brown! I decided to keep it simple and test out my new Seche French Guides.

My Seche French Guides hanging out with ChG For Audrey and Pro10 #53-Incognito(won in giveaway from Brooke!).

The color combo looked just as great on my nails! Love it! 

The blanket has definitely faded over the years but it once was a bright and beautiful as my NOTD.

Hope you liked it! 

I'm hoping to receive a package this weekend that will include some new nail polishes to swatch and review! Keep an eye out for that within the next week or so!

Kayla

'Witty Title'

Yeah, that's right. Best. Title. Ever.

Ok, I know. I'm lazy. The title sucks, but do you know what doesn't?

NOTD!!!!!! And packages in the mail!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurray!

Uh oh guys, this is gonna be a tough one. My camera's on the other side of my room....too lazy....must stay here.....ah *&$% it...

Phew. That was tough. But it was all in the name of love (for you, dear follower or reader, I guess you may be just as lazy and  haven't hit that follow button[hint: it's that way---->]). And that's it for the cheesy stuff; on to NOTD!

I finally tried some sponging! Yeah, I randomly discovered that my Mary Kay foundation samples come with decent sponges, and they work pretty well for sponging nail polish. I started with 3 coats of Maybelline's Minty (which isn't as minty as I would like) and then sponged on some OPI Done Out in Deco (PURPLE!!!).  It was okay, but it needed more. I decided to try adding China Glaze Spontaneous over that. Better, still not there though. Finally, I sponged a mix of Done Out in Deco and Spontaneous over that and was finally happy with the outcome. Take a look:

I tried my darnedest to bring you great pics but, its cold and rainy here. No sun. And we're probably gonna flood soon, like this:

That's me walking down the street to my grandma's house. I am on the road. I got water in my cute pink boots with whales on them.  :(  Now I have chest waders. I am so prepared:

Haha, wow. That's me pretending the overflowing culvert was a waterslide. That's what my cousin and I did, for four weeks. We walked around taking random pictures. Oh, we also took a boat over the road behind me (straight back, over the highway it's the one with water flowing over it). Didn't work so well. We did confuse my mom though. She didn't expect us to come through the backyard, considering we were supposed to be boating on the other side of the road. Did I mention we were rowing the boat? That resulted in many circles. And we got stuck on some trees.  That's how my mom discovered us. We were screaming and laughing so loud she heard us in the house, about 20-30 yards away. She couldn't see us in the trees though. The look on her face. Priceless.

Tomorrow starts Spring Break. I had a four week break last year because of the flood. Is it bad that I'm wishing for it again? The river is only 2.7ft away from flood stage. It could happen before the week is over. They say they won't call off school for so long again. We'll see!

When it floods, you can count on some great photos being posted. Oh, and if you want to see more from last year, tell me in the comments!

Wow, that veered off course quickly. I received my prize from the contest I won, today! I was very excited, if you read my post about winning, you'll know why.  I won two polishes, two sets of press on nails, a couple of nail files, and some q-tips for clean up! I'm gonna test out the polishes tomorrow, so expect pictures tomorrow night!

Lazy = long post? How does that work?

Old NOTDs

I was organizing my photos into an "archive" on my computer when I found two NOTD that I hadn't posted. Scratch that, one I have posted--but on a blog I had before this and then deleted and started this one; and the other I thought I had but then didn't. Unless I'm blind, but I looked back in my posts and didn't see it.

First up: I believe this was my first attempt at water marbling. I think I used China Glaze Spontaneous and Caribbean Blue. Turned out better than I thought it would! I was impressed, didn't smudge it at all!

 

My pinky is definitely the best. 

Next, we have China Glaze Lubu Heels.  It's like Ruby Pumps' goth sister. It's gorgeous.

 

For some reason, I took a picture of it under inside my hanging lamp. Gave it a cool effect.

 

Brings out the red glitter. 

Well, that's it. Now I can officially archive these! Yeah, I'm a dork.
Kayla

Dupes? Uh, no. & tomorrow's NOTD

Lazy day today. I've sat around watching Alice (SyFy Original Miniseries) on DVD. It's a great modern day twist on the classic Alice in Wonderland. I love the ending...I'm a sucker for a good romantic happy ending. Check it out! They also did The Wizard of Oz a few years back, Tin Man. Another great one to check out! Anywho.......


This gave me time to do my purple comparison. I didn't find any dupes. But they sure are pretty, so here's the results.

Once I lined up the five polishes--two pairs to test for dupes and one thrown in for fun--I knew they weren't dupes. Could have sworn they were twins when they weren't side by side. ;)

1st pair: Sephora by OPI Call Your Mother and Sally Hansen Plum's the Word

Middle: China Glaze Spontaneous randomly thrown in (cause it's pretty)

2nd pair: OPI Done Out in Deco and China Glaze Light as Air
Edit: Ugh terrible lighting. Sorry!

Do I even need to show you the results? Yup.

 

Same order as previous pic from thumb to pinky.

Two coats on every one but the pinky (which is three) because I needed to get rid of the Matte Magic. All lovely. All unique.

And here they are matte:

 

Simply divine. A matte purple makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. 

This look I just finished about an hour ago and it was a complete accident. I was trying to make a diagonal line across my nail and my tape moved (grr) so I took my art brush and swished it across my nail with anger. Anger quickly turned to, "Oh hey, that looks pretty cool". Et voila: 

 

This is Wet n' Wild Nocturnal over Orly Rage. Topped off with Matte Magic.

I was extremely frustrated with my camera. I wanted a super close up shot of this. This was as close as I could get it without it being blurry.  That brings me to the question of the day: What camera do you use to capture your nail art in full detail? 

Another thing that hinders great picture taking?

 

Yes, I have a hot pink wall in my room. And depending on the time of day, the whole room is tinted pink. 

Doesn't help that my curtains are also pink. That may need to change. 

I need a light box. 

Maybe I'll DIY it. Oh, who am I kidding?

New simple layout. Yay or nay? I'm experimenting with Photoshop again. Layout may change again. Or just the header.

Completely unrelated note:

Remember my Chuck post?  And how I said I would run away with John Casey? Well, next week's preview has him looking like a bad guy. If this turns out true, my heart is broken. Why, Casey? Why????

Kayla

It's a secret!

Hey!
Just a quick post to tell everyone that Trade Secret has OPI on sale: Buy one, get one half off! And if the Trade Secret near you has as big of a selection as mine did...you'll be there for ages deciding what to get.

I dove head first into the new Hong Kong collection and got Jade is the New Black and Suzi Says Feng Shui.

I also discovered that they sell Essie! The only place in town that I've found so far! Since Essie wasn't on sale I didn't grab any. Next time? Perhaps.

So here are my recent purchases:

 Orly: Rage and Gumdrop.

 OPI: Suzi Says Feng Shui and Jade is the New Black

 China Glaze: Light as Air

And here's Rage on my nails:

 

Matte Magic on the thumb to see how it looked. Meh.

Kayla

I'm a believer!

In my last post, I mentioned that I was unsure of Ruby Pumps because I'm not a "red nails kind of girl."

I was wrong.

In deciding what to paint my nails tonight, I chose Ruby Pumps because it was the least likely to be loved. As the first stroke of the brush hit my thumb nail I changed my tune. I thought it would be a clear polish full of red glitter. Nothing to drool over. I didn't understand the hype.

I understand now. Its more than a clear gloss overflowing with red glitter. In just two coats my nails were as beautiful as Dorothy's famous slippers.

I immediately had to blog.  My nails have yet to see my Seche Vite top coat.  In hindsight, I see I should have waited til my nails were completely dry but they've faired well.

I will never ever underestimate red polish again.


Kayla

Parents Just Don't Understand

I told you yesterday that I received two packages in the mail. Knowing that one of my parents had to have brought them inside I quickly brought them to my room to be opened. No need for them to get a peek at what was inside, right?


After squealing with delight over my newly acquired goodies, I ventured back downstairs. My mom didn't miss a beat. "What did you get in the mail today?!?!?" she asked me, with a seemingly excited expression. Oh but I knew better. I hesitated to answer. "Makeup?" she prodded.

Here we go...

I quickly replied that I got various things like eyeliner, mascara, and eyeshadow...

"Eyeshadow?!!?!!!" she practically yelled at me, "Don't you have enough eyeshadow?"

How do I reply? Is there anyway out of this trap? Let's try the sale approach:

"Mom, everything was only a dollar. They practically gave it to me."

"But how is it that there are any more eyeshadows for you to own. Don't you think you're wasting money?"

Crap. That didn't work. Quick, think of something else. Uh. ummm. Eh. Oh!

"Mom, it makes me happy." (Note: this is said in a completely pathetic, "please get off my back" sort of way.)

Laughter. Yes! I think its working! Please, let it be working....

"Oh alright! You're crazy, but if it makes you happy!"

Crazy? Where did that come from? Meh, who cares! Argument over!

We won't call that a victory, more like a narrow escape. But I am going to put this in writing: I will not buy anything online for the next two months.

What will I do without my online shopping? Save money! Yay!? Its bittersweet. But must be done. Wish me luck.

And now, I proudly present my last online haul until May. (That seems like so long...)
Let's Start with the Victoria Nail Supply haul:

 

L-R: ChG Ruby Pumps, OPI Absolutely Alice, ChG Lubu Heels, OPI Mad As A Hatter, and ChG Atlantis.

With that order I went glitter crazy. For years I have been anti-glitter. Its a pain. Clean up is time consuming and you can't ever seem to get it off your nails without putting in a ton of effort. Unfortunately, looking at everyone else and their blog pictures I couldn't help but fall in love. I especially love when Matte Magic is layered over the glitters! To die for! Just seeing them in the bottle: Love at first sight. I immediately put Absolutely Alice on my nails. Gorgeous! The only one I'm iffy about is Ruby Pumps, I know its pretty but I'm not really a red nails kind of girl. I am, however, a HUGE Wizard of Oz fan and will undoubtedly end up with the whole collection eventually. 

I didn't swatch them because:

1) What polish blogger hasn't?

2) They will eventually be featured in a NOTD.

Ok, now on to my picture heavy haul from NYX:

P.s. These came out fabulously true to color!

The whole shebang! Tons of eyeshadow(Sorry Mom!), eyeliner and mascara.

 

First up is White Pearl eyeshadow. This is going to be fabulous for highlighting in the corner of my eye and on my brow bone. 

This is Wild Flower, and it is the perfect peachy-pink I've been looking for. When I swatched this baby I just about died from happiness! 

 

Sweet Lagoon. This isn't as green as I thought it would be when I ordered it. I'm torn on whether I can make it work or not. I'll try it tonight and let you know. 

 

Extreme Apricot. Extreme is right. Extremely not apricot. 

Very much more red then I thought from the NYX swatch. I may not use this very often.  It scares me slightly.

 

 Las Vegas. I'm not sure what possessed me to get loose glitter. Its lovely though.

Beanie. Chrome eyeshadow. I didn't realize it was a loose powder shadow. 

Although, going back to the site, its painfully obvious. Not like they hide the fact.  

Way to read the site, Kayla! Go me! 

The site makes it look much more charcoal, so its a disappointment that its very much a brown.

More glitter. In the form of Jade glitter eyeliner. Super gorgeous!

Definitely a night on the town liner!

Sky Teal mascara. I don't know why I purchased a colored mascara. 

I think it was to try it out. But I can't see myself falling in love with it. 

Pretty color, though.

And now an arm full of swatches:

That's my haul! Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you want to see anything in a LOTD or something!

Kayla

*EDIT*
I realize that I forgot to mention Hot Red. Its a liner. I couldn't get a good picture of the pencil on its own so I just swatched it and called it good. That's why there's one more swatch than products. And sorry the picture is so small...still testing out PhotoShop. :)