Not Just An Everyday Blue Shade of Polish

It's Friday and no one should be blue. That is, unless you are nails...

Lots of blue! Pretty blue. love & beauty comes from Forever 21 retail stores and I love looking for new polishes in those stores. I haven't found anything recently. However, I did nab this one before Christmas.

In real life, this blue is just a bit darker. But the shimmer cannot be diminished. It is there but not in an over-kill way.

For $2.80, you are not breaking the bank for a really decent nail polish. This one applied like a dream. I did not have one bit of an issue with it. I have 3 coats here and I did put a top coat of Lumos on. (I really want to get more than just this little sample of Lumos. It's something I do want to share with you. love.)

Looks like a galaxy of stars. Even though love & beauty don't like to give their nail polishes 'real' names, as this one is just labeled 'Blue', it could do well with 'Blue Galaxy.' Anyway, I think it is out of this world.

It is pretty, don't you think?

I Spy....Wet 'n Wild Skinny Girls Being Chased By Zombies At Walmart

Before I settle in for the evening to play 'Stupid Zombies' read an interesting book on my Kindle Fire, I want to share with you some products I saw last Monday at a Super Walmart.

(Side note: I was playing 'Stupid Zombies' on my phone waiting for a one-on-one conference call with one of the companies I do business with. When my phone rang, I saw that the screen for 'Answer' came up and I pressed it. The woman who was dispatching me to the caller asked me to hold. As I waited, the Stupid Zombies was still running and there were these zombie groaning away. I was laughing so hard thinking that the person I would be talking with would hear them as well and wonder what the hell? OK. I thought it was hilarious.)

The project I did on Monday at Walmart was a fun one. But the management wasn't. Totally another story. But, I managed to soothe myself by doing some shopping. I am intrigued by the products I'm going to show you, but I didn't make any purchases...I'm just sharing.

I have only read about this one in a quick blurp in a fashion magazine...

Skinny Girl makeup and skin line seems to have just about a bit of everything. The minimalist graphics on the packaging make me think of ELF. I didn't see anything here that I haven't seen before with other brands, though. Same with the shades they offered.

Did I know that Wet 'n Wild came out with a crackle nail polish?

Looks like there were quite a few shoppers wanting to try it, since this display was rather picked over.

And, lastly, this is a product that is new to me, as well...

Sensationail is a soak-off gel nail polish system. This is made by the Nailene Company. I've been testing out some of their soak-off nail products and I have to say, it is very easy to use and holds its own. I haven't used this particular product, however. And I don't have any of these gel shades, which are, by the way very pretty and fashionable. (I hope I'm not letting a zombie out of the bag about any upcoming giveaways....grrrrrroooooaaaaaannnnn)

Cluing you in...if you call me and hear any groaning in the background, don't think it's any funny business. I was just patiently waiting for you to call. :)

2 Winners of the Glitter Giveaways

I've been remiss in announcing, on the blog, the names of the Glitter Giveaway winners.

Both of these ladies are from Europe and it is a pleasure to award them these collections as I know they are not found in their home countries.

1st Prize of Wet 'n Wild's Ice Baby collection goes to:

Nuusheftw of Slovenia

2nd Prize of L A Color's Glitter Bright collection goes to:

Gabrijela of Bosnia

Both ladies responded right back to me and to say they were a little bit surprised is not even close. But wait til they open their packages and find just a wee bit more...

Congratulations, Ladies! Thank you for being followers.
Thanks to all who entered. And boy, do I have another giveaway coming up! This is a goodie too. :D

A Mystery: By Cosmetic Arts

There's something mysterious, to me, about Cosmetic Arts nail polish. I think it might be that I don't find the polishes anywhere but Ross Dress For Less and, that they don't have a name of the shade printed on them.

Then, naturally, they come out with a shade like this and really adds to the intrigue...

You know I'm going to name it...'Shifter'. This one went from drab green to smoky slate. And then there is a shimmer of gold running through it.

Here is a better look at the gold sparkles.

And here is the work for your review...

The sunlight was bold and strong. Lots of over-exposed lighting but it can't hide the buffed look of this one.

Too much light made it hard to capture the gold sparkle but you can see just a faint amount on the index finger.

And the shaded light even shows the buffed look. I didn't put on any top coat because I liked the suede appeal of 'Shifter'.

Sometimes nail bloggers will run across a shade that is just hard to pinpoint describing the essence of the shade. So, tell me...what would you say this shade is? Slate? Green?

How to Find Good Makeup Sales and Clearances

I was contacted to feature a guest post. The following article came from my request for one on finding good makeup buys. Enjoy. LPV

Guest Post: This article was written by James Lander of couponing site, Couponing. The website is dedicated to sharing couponing tips, techniques and deals.

Humans have been painting their faces for as long as they’ve walked the earth. We’ve always been fascinated with temporarily altering our appearance – whether for spiritual, cultural or sexual reasons. As our society developed and modernized, women became the primary wearers of cosmetics and as a result, an extraordinarily lucrative industry has developed.

The Price of Powder and Potions

Taking into account that most girls start to wear makeup in their early pre-teens, the average woman will spend over 13,000 dollars on makeup in her lifetime. Cars can be bought for less. If you are attempting to live on a budget, you may be doubly shocked by the amount. You may have already let luxuries like department store or designer cosmetic brands fall to the wayside, but there’s no need to go barefaced in the meantime. You can still afford to wear your YSL lip-gloss; you just have to be a bit wily when it comes to acquiring it.

Be a Beauty Opportunist

Cosmetic companies and department stores make errors like the rest of us. After all, those in charge of buying and selling are human too. Their errors however, can be a budget-conscious beauty’s gain. Often times a company will either over-produce or over-order a product and be unable to move it in the stores. What results is a large amount of overstock that discount retailers descend upon and buy at very steep discounts. These outlets, such as TJ Maxx and The Cosmetic Company in America and Winners in Canada, sell these products at lower prices but nothing near the pittance they acquired them for. Of course, they are still making a considerable profit. Most women, however can disregard this discrepancy and enjoy the ability to use their favorite status moisturizer rather than stooping to drug store products.

Surf the Web Style-wise

The Internet is an excellent hunting ground for the hopelessly addicted. The small retailers and third party sellers working out of EBay and Amazon generally offer products with a discount of 30% or more. Whether this is because the designer lip-gloss was nicked off the back of a truck or snuck under someone’s raincoat, it really isn’t any of the consumer’s concern. Paying twenty dollars for a product that would have cost you fifty can go a long way in relieving any kind of third-degree guilt.

If buying from shady sellers doesn’t interest you, you might consider more reputable beauty discount sites such as Hautelook.com. This site is an absolute boon to the skint fashionista. Every day at 8am PST, the site posts luxury items for sale at 50% or more off the original price. In fact, the average discount a shopper can expect to enjoy is a whopping 75%. If you take the time to bookmark and check this site daily, you can easily acquire the kind of high-end cosmetics you lust after but might not be able to afford.

Time to Rely on the Kindness of Strangers

When it comes to shopping, there really is no better price than free. Being able to line your vanity table with top-notch brands without paying a dime might seem like a pipedream, but it’s not. Makeupalley.com is an extremely popular site where the beauty obsessed meet to share reviews of products, post in the forums and perhaps best of all, trade products. If you have a few incredibly pricey but ugly blushes in your makeup kit that you haven’t touched for years, you can post them in the swap forum and see who bites. Other women may be willing to trade a product that you are dying for but they themselves hate. All you need to pay for is postage. For less than a dollar you can trade all your cosmetic dust collectors for products that you honestly need.

You could analyze women’s obsessions with cosmetics to death and in the end you’ll probably come to the conclusion that it’s just something that girls like. Socio-cultural influences aside, the love of gorgeous things and feeling pretty may be just inherent for some women. There is no reason to abandon that joy simply because you are being more conscious with your spending. By sourcing out the cosmetic discounts in your area and online, you can enjoy being frugal, fabulous and perhaps best of all, clever.