Pure Ice: Getting My Green On

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is a fun day where anyone can claim to be Irish and no one is offended. I'm Irish, so I say the more, the merrier!

This is a fun holiday for manicures. I've been seeing such cute ones all over blogosphere. Here, let me contribute...

What could be more Irish than a.....French manicure?  LOL And the French manicure was invented by an American to give models and TV stars a manicure that was timeless. Oye! So here is my Irish twist to it...

I started off with Pure Ice in a smashing, metallic green. I love that high shine! And I did my nail beds with Sinful Colors 'Social Ladder'. It has just a bit of shimmer to it as to not make my manicure look flat. I used French tip sticker guides to do my tips and would have loved to have rounded it off with a stripe of gold. But,  I had done good so far, I didn't want to take a chance of ruining it!

I did test a few tips on my right hand with Pure Ice Crackle in metallic silver. I tried it both vertically and horizontally. I ended up liking my manicure without the crackle but it did add a neat twist to something already twisted.

And this mani was an attention-getter too. I got many compliments on it. I think my nails were just the right length for this look too. So I can say, I had a touch o'Irish in me this week. ;)

Special thanks for Bari Cosmetics for providing me, as part of the Central Florida Beauty Bloggers, the Pure Ice Crackle and Ice Duo Lightning Strikes.  You can visit Bari Cosmetics on their Facebook page: http://facebook.com/baribeauty.

I Spy...Sally Hansen's Spring Salon Effects and Revlon's Crackle Effects

I just happened to stop by a Walgreens this afternoon after I finished a gig at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I think I was trying to soothe myself because there was nothing new at BB&B. I got my giddy back finding these new things at Wags...

This is the first I have seen of these, so they must be brand new. So new that they didn't even take the time to price them. But I'm sure they are around the $10 price point the others have been.

Cute names! And I'd be all over the 'Not a Peep' if they had been the actual, trademarked Peeps.

 Do these remind you of aprons? Do you even know what an apron is!!

Polka dots; WIN! Every single one of these are dainty and cute. Very feminine and flirty.

Next, I found Revlon's dual end Crackle Effect polish...

I have read about this collection on other nail blogs. However, this is the first time I have seen it in stores.

 Pairing the crackle with a regular polish is not only a cool idea but the price is decent at $8.

Surprisingly, there are several frosts. I wasn't expecting that many. Looks like 4 shades. But I think all the base colors are fun and trendy shades.

The display had samples of the finished look. Then, those silly displays are tipped at just the right angle to look good visually, but to photograph terribly.

While doing a project at Walmart, I found something that took me back to long ago...

Do you remember Lisa Frank products? These go back to the '70's. I remember getting some of these stickers in high school and putting them up in my locker. LOL Things haven't changed. There were just two of these books left. I got them both. Would you like to win one? Leave a comment with your email addy and tell me what you like about today's post. Anyone can win. I'll keep this open til March 4, 8 PM CST.

Will you get any of the Spring LE Salon Effects? How about Revlon's Crackle Effects, or, are you like me and just done with crackles?

Better Late Than Never; Or, Shopping Early

I had some work, Monday, scheduled at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Once I finish my work, I take photos of it, to send to the company I work for, to show what I have done. This time, I took photos of new beauty products first.

I did it mostly because I was stunned....

Granted, Miss SinfulColors is not, like, old but, there is a new display of Adventure Island!!! It only had one bottle missing, it was that new. I thought I'd get one or two from these collections however, they were lackluster to me. No longer in vogue, or trendy to me. NEXT!!

I got around yesterday (watch how you take that!) and stopped in a CVS. I didn't have hopes for this one either. But I did find something new to me...

I didn't see any new shades in this 8 pack but, it has a nice color selection. The price is fairly decent too. Keep in mind, they are mini sizes.


 After visiting that CVS, I stopped at one Walgreens closer to home. If you are a nail blogger, you probably know what I was looking for. No luck. Yet this was new to me, as well. I don't think I've read about it either.

More crackle. I mean a LOT more crackle...

 Peek-a-Boo! I see you, Kimberly!

Hee hee...the tops are dusty. 36 different colors of crackle? No way!

  I looked to see if there were duplicates. But I didn't find any.

 I didn't get any of these...yet. So, I'm unable to tell you how the quality 'cracks' up. It's named Cherimoya's '2012' collection of cracked nail polish. And for $2.99 a bottle, 2 for $5; the price isn't killer. If there is a particular look you want to do with a crackle, you'll surely find the shade you are looking for in this collection.

EDIT: My dear reader, Shally from Polished and Not Quite Put Together, just posted a nail look using 2012's Black Crackle. Step over here and take a gander. 

 Today, I went by a Walgreens on the way home (a different one) and even though I wasn't hopeful about the Wet 'n Wild's On The Prowl collection, I stopped in.


I didn't find them, and I was prepared for that. However, I do want to mention to my faithful readers that sometimes Walgreens puts product out on the floor but, just on the higher shelves waiting to be 'dropped'...

All these products are shelved on the top level of the shelf. This is the aisle that has mens' products on the other side, and on this side is the hair care/products. These items are for the 'first wave' of Christmas retail. You can still shop for these items; they have to sell any product they put out on the floor. However, they are meant to be dropped, or placed, on regular shelves as the older displays dwindle down.

Most of these items are from Profusion Beauty. I got a set of 3 from one of these collections. I will have photos and swatches for you tomorrow.

One last thing before I wrap up...the display of Wet 'n Wild that had the duo packs; it is almost empty, so I'm betting another WnW display will take its place. Please, don't let me get my hopes up!!! *sigh*...too late.

Did you know about looking up on the above eye-level shelf at Walgreens?

The Lime Starts Here for the Crackle Effect

This manicure was so cool looking, I moved it up for today's review. The one thing that I really, really love about crackles is that they can cover up flubs and a rescue a lukewarm polish. Now, this is not a lukewarm polish, by no means. So, take a look...

This is the smelly-scented 'The Lime Starts Here' from Color Club's Wicked Sweet collection. And this is the first time I have used a scented nail polish. It seems weird to me, though. I can only smell my nails in private. Which, by the way, is something I would always suggest.

Even in the shade, 'The Lime Starts Here' looks like it glows. Super vibrant.

But, picking a neon green to use wasn't so easy. I didn't realize I even had a choice amongst my stash.

The far right polish is a green from Popstastic called 'Twiggie'. The polish on the left comes from the Wicked Sweet collection and is 'Get Your Lem-On'. This one looked green before it was let up with the other two shades. I wanted the most neon green shade as I seem to have made a mini series of them so far on the blog. So, 'The Lime Starts Here' was the neon winner.

Looks like a 'GEE!' color to me.

This is really odd, I know, but my eye will find something right away that matches the color of polish I'm wearing. This is one of my dish towels...

Libby wants to match the neon green too...

Next, I wanted to add something sparkly to it and boost it up to a 'DAMN!' manicure. I got this polish from the local flea market...

J2's 'Light Snow.' Very interesting name to go with an interesting bottle and color. What you see is what you get; I don't know any more about this one except that I got it for $1. It made my heart race when I laid eyes on it. A distinct yellow base with the bluish/green iridescent glitter and some pink/lavender iridescent shifts too. As striking as it is to look at, it is just as smelly. Any lime fragrance that was on my nails previously was run off by J2's stink-ola.

'Light Snow' is very subtle. It was harder to photograph too.

 

But wait! I'm not finished...

I've been looking for an opportunity to show off this yellow crackle from LCN named 'Blazing Yellow'. And I must tell you, it came out looking way better than applying this crap crackle. It was gloopy and very thick. It still moved the manicure on to a 'YOWZA!'...

Snap! I'm sorry for the crackled cuticles too. I just put 'Blazing Yellow' on without clean up or cuticle oil. I was wanting to beat the sunset for lighting.

Just a bit of disrespect for 'Blazing Yellow' but only on the consistency of the polish. I think it resolves itself with the crackle effect. Yowza, that's awesome looking! Sorry, no humbleness for me today.

I haven't seen a lot of swatches of LCN's crackles. What do you think about its looks/effect?