Golden Rose Holo Order

It's great having a sister who lives in the US so I can get my hands on some amazing polishes, but it also makes for a real pain in the ass sometimes when I have to deal with customer service. 

I placed an order through Golden Rose USA and had it sent to my sister in Delaware since they don't ship to Canada.  I only asked her to open up the package and count the polishes.  Typically in the past I've asked her to open each one (especially Zoyas) and I have no idea why I didn't ask her to open this package.  Regardless, 2 months later she came up to visit and brought my package and one of the bottles looked like this:

In real life it looks much more disgusting.  This is supposed to be a 'moss green' holo polish but it's a bottle of cloudy jelly.  I have no idea how that could even happen.  Anyways, I've emailed customer service so it remains to be seen the response I get but I will definitely post it.

This wasn't however, the only problem with my order.

Here we have 3 of the polishes I ordered.  #108 is described as grey on the website - ok good.  #103 is described as silver - check.  #107 is described as purple - uh what?  I already mentioned in a previous post that the burgundy color was not really a burgundy either, but at least it had a tint to it!  Out of 9 bottles ordered it ended up that 5 of them were varying shades of grey/silver!

So here is #107 in all it's glory:

Pretty polish but there is not a hint of purple to be seen here.  I'm really more concerned with my bottle of swamp water so I will wait patiently for a response from Golden Rose.

I did want to share an excellent response I had from Zoya with a problem order though.  If you visit Zoya's facebook page you'll see that occasionally orders arrive with broken bottles or missing brushes.  I always have my sister open the bottles to check for this when they arrive.  The last order I placed for 6 bottles in the bogo offer, she noticed the neck on one bottle had broken, and she sent me a photo of it.  I contacted Zoya through their live chat on their website and they were quick and helpful.  They sent out a new bottle immediately.  Great service.

I have seen people complaining that the Zoya CSR asks for a photo.  Seriously?  Would you walk into Walmart with a receipt for a broken dvd player that you left at home and expect them to refund your money?  Years ago I worked in customer service and I would get complaints non-stop from people asking for their money or their item replaced.  You would not believe how many of those people were scammers. 

I remember quite clearly one guy who complained that he and all his buddies got sick from our food and he said he wanted all his food replaced the next day.  Wait a sec, so you claim you just got sick from our food but you want to eat it again the following day?  Who does that?  So I asked him to bring his receipt in - he claimed he lost it.  I asked him to bring in the packaging - he claimed he threw it all away.  So I asked him what exactly he had ordered.  Then I went out back and pulled the cash register tapes from the previous night.  There was nothing on those tapes that was even remotely similar to what he claimed he ordered.  When I came back out and told him that he took right off.  Sadly, that guy and many others get away with that shit all the time.

Those are the people that drive up the prices on the products we love.  I have zero problem sending a photo to a company when I have an issue.  I'm amazed that people would even have a problem with that.

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Pea Soup

That is seriously what Zoya Mitzi should have been called.  This is 2 coats and could have definitely used another but like everyone says, it's a bitch to work with.  It's virtually impossible to apply this polish without ending up with ridges.  I didn't care much about the reviews and thought I would love this anyways since it's matte and it's green, but no, I hate it.  Pain in the ass to apply and it totally looks like pea soup...ick.  I sandwiched a layer of topcoat in between but it didn't seem to matter as I had some chipping the next day.

I was eager to play some more with my dotting tools so I pulled out Zoya's Phoebe to dot.  This reminds me of freckles on an alien lol.  I added a layer of Essie's Matte About You hoping that it would smooth it out a bit and I found it added a bit of a smoother matte effect.

I hated it and didn't have time to change it so after 24 hours I added a coat of Nfu Oh 40.  I am soooo gonna bomb this blog with flakies now!  Sadly this peeled the very next morning because I used Seche Vite for the topcoat.

Sooo have you guys ever noticed (or maybe it's just me) that your nails always look best when you're driving?

Even on a crappy cloudy day they sparkle more than any indoor photo I've taken.  My nails are seriously going to cause a car accident one day!

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Golden Rose 114 Holo

This is 2 coats of Golden Rose 114 which says 'burgundy' on the website.  Clearly it's not.  I would describe this as a dark dusty rose and I really liked it.  The holographic effect was much more noticeable in real life but very hard to capture in a photo.

My sister brought these for me from the US when she came to visit last weekend.  I think I ordered every holo polish except for the pink ones.  There are about 3 or 4 colours that look almost identical so that was a bit of a letdown.  They also stink and they are mini bottles.  Can't really complain much though when we have a limited selection of holo polishes to begin with.  From swatches I've seen online I imagine that these polishes are similar to the Kaleidoscopes. 

I also tried out my new Bundle Monster plates and used BM211 with Wet and Wild's Black Creme.  I enjoyed wearing this even though it's not my typical colour.  Too bad the bottles are so small I'll only get maybe 5 mani's out of it though.

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Showing my age...

Back in my very early 20s this colour of polish was pretty much unheard of.  This was my all time favourite polish back then.  I was a bartender and used to get all sorts of comments on my blue nails.  This is 2 coats of Revlon Street Wear in Midnight.  I laughed when I cracked this open because I had forgotten what nail polish used to smell like.  This is the only polish that I've worn so often that there's only half a bottle left.  It also took forever to dry!  Even with fast dry top coat on it, it was still gummy enough to scrape off 2 days later!

And since my sis showed up on Thursday with all my new polishes, the first one I cracked open was Nfu Oh 51 and added a layer over to my existing mani.  Holy crap these things are money well spent!  I couldn't bring myself to stamp over it though.  I've got so many new polishes to play with now plus my new bundle monster plates which I try out in tomorrows post.

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Let's get personal

Ok so since I've started blogging I've had a couple of awards passed on but I've never reposted them on my own blog.  I appreciate it, really I do, but I'm not entirely comfortable with posting them and linking various other bloggers.  Like I said, I don't want this blog to ever become huge and so I'm sorry but I won't ever be posting giveaways either.  That's not to say I'm not open to trading, or meet ups, or random acts of kindness, but I prefer to 'fly under the radar' if that makes any sense to you.

So having said that I thought maybe instead of posting the awards I would just share some personal things with you.  I do love to read about other bloggers interests and hobbies so maybe you might be interested in knowing a bit about me...

This man right here is my hero and the sexiest man alive - Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.  I took this photo at the last show I went to.  I've seen them well over 10 times now.  My absolute favourite place in the world is right here in front of the stage at a Megadeth show.

I decorate cakes as a hobby.  This is my all time favourite cake I made for my Dad about 4 years ago.  I don't do it often as it's very time consuming.  People tell me all the time I should go into business, but I won't do it because I need to be inspired when I do them.  Simply making cakes to order would bore me to tears.

I bought my own home 5 years ago.  I bought a fixer upper and have been slowly and steadily working on it but I've always planned on selling it within 5-7 years and moving closer to work.  The pic above is what the kitchen looked like before I moved in.

And this is what the kitchen looked like about 3 months after I moved in.  I had sunk all my money into renovating the bathroom so this was the best I could do at the time.  And now 5 years later I finally was able to finish it off by ripping out the sink and countertop:

Sorry for the stupid blurry blackberry photo, I took it this morning.  My kick ass brother in law just finished installing my new tile countertop, backsplash and new sink.  I still need to fix up the walls with some paint but I am so thrilled with what he did!  It looks like a brand new kitchen and was all done on a tiny budget.  I think I'm really going to like having my brother in law around lol.

So that's all ya get for now.  I hope you guys enjoyed learning a bit more about me outside my nail polish obsession.  Maybe I will share more in the future.  To all my Canadian friends out there - have a great May two-four!

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Stampin' Joe

2 coats of Joe in Storm.  I love these polishes but they gotta do something about those lids!  This colour again looks familiar eh?

I didn't swatch them but this is in comparison to China Glaze Below Deck and Color Club Soft As Cashmere.  Doesn't match either of them, but it's not too far off from Below Deck.

Rexall/Pharma Plus last week had a big sale on all in stock nail polish and I picked up a couple of Sally Hansen Insta-dri's for stamping:

This is Jade Jump and plate BM03.  Wow does this ever stamp beautifully! I should have left it alone right here.

But no, I was in a stamping mood.  This is konad plate m53 and Revlon's No Shrinking Violet.  I'm really bad at matching colours.  I think it's just something you have to have a good eye for.

I also made my resin ring post into a sticky above for quick access for anyone who needs it.

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Playing with new goodies

So after I noticed everyone buying cheap nail art supplies from a certain seller in China, I did a bit of research to see what else I could find online.  I've ordered stuff from China before and although the stuff I'd seen on other nail blogs was pretty cheap, I knew I could find cheaper.  So here's what I got for $15USD:

3 corrector pens: $2.86
12 pc glitter: $3.23
15 pc nail art brushes: $3.27
5 pc dotting tools: $2.07
3 1800pc gem wheels: $3.51
Total = $14.94 no tax and free shipping!

Same order from other online nail store = $25.84

Now the store that I ordered from is not a 'nail specific' store and they don't have polish or image plates but they do carry other supplies as well.  Shipping takes about a month from China regardless.  Only one of those items was cheaper from the 'other' store - the corrector pens were cheaper by 6 cents, but you have to buy them in a package of 5 so you're only saving a penny each.  The gems were $3 compared to the $1.17 I paid!  They are the exact same products!  As are the dotting tools (which were double the price) and the brushes (at $1 more).  The main reason I was put off by the other store initially is because I looked at their stock every couple of days and their prices were constantly changing.  It seemed like the more publicity they got, the higher their prices went.  If anyone wants the name of the store I made my purchase from I can add it in the comments later.

So I had to play with my new toys right away.

2 coats of NOPI's My Lifesaver.  I know I said before that I liked these new brushes in this polish and I do love the shape of them, however the bristles on this one were hard and it was a total pain to apply.

So this is my first time trying out a nail art brush and I obviously need a lot of practice.  I used China Glaze's Bogie here.

These are some great quality brushes and a nice variety too.  The bristles are nice and soft and they are solidly built.  I'm impressed for $3.

I pulled out my new dotting tools and dotted in China Glaze's Below Deck.  Definitely need some practice with the dotting tools too.  I find I'm pretty shaky with these nail art tools.  I added gems in the bottom corner to finish it off.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.  I'm finding that My Lifesaver is coming off kind of neon...it's very bright. 

So even though I suck at it, I am loving the dotting tools.  I will definitely try and use them as often as possible.

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A girly mani

This is 2 coats of China Glaze's Light as Air which came in the spring mini set I picked up at Winners 2 weeks ago.  As much as I love the colours and selection that China Glaze has, I'm not overly impressed with their formulas.  I find there are better formulated polishes for much cheaper.  This colour however, looked familiar to me, so I did a comparison.

Turns out I was wrong.  The nail on the right is 3 coats of Secret Rendezvous from Color Club's Alter Ego Collection.  Sorry the pic was pre-cleanup because I removed it right after.  Secret Rendezvous is a very sheer polish and not what I'm used to seeing from Color Club.  But having said that, the Color Club definitely looks and feels like a higher quality polish in comparison to the China Glaze.

I applied a little China Glaze Fairy Dust down one side of the nail and then stamped with konad plate m15 in Revlon's No Shrinking Violet.  A little too girly for my tastes but some of you might like it.

Heh I'm counting down the days until my sister gets here with my new polishes...4 days to go!  I placed a last minute order for some Nfu Oh's so I'm crossing my fingers that it gets to her in time!

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I'm a Troublemaker...

Not really a fan of Weezer, but this polish name reminds me of that song.  This is 2 coats of Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Troublemaker.  It's much more plum than the photo.  The accent nail is Xtreme Wear in Celeb City.  This is the first time I've tried out the accent nail thing.

I wish so much that this polish had stamped darker on the accent nail, but oh well.  I used plate BM16 for the accent nail and Konad plate m35 for the rest.  I'm not a fan of this at all.  I think the accent nail looks best when it's done in a glitter of the same colour.

Oh and this was the first time I tried the Konad Top Coat from my Pro Salon Kit.  It's unfortunately pretty old so it had some gritty pieces in it, ugh.  I was impressed that it didn't streak at all though with almost no wait after stamping.  However, Konad polish has a really distinct smell to it and it doesn't go away easily.  Probably won't use this again.

So you know it's real bad when your friends and family feed your nail polish addiction...

My sister texted me yesterday from Zehrs (a grocery store) telling me that she was standing in front of a display of the NOPI Bieber polishes with 50% off stickers on them!  It's even more pathetic when she's asking if I want the blue one and I can actually tell her the names of the polishes I want!  Oh and it goes even further...I told her to grab One Less Lonely Glitter when I already own the Studio M dupe!  Is there a support group for this?

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Sew Psyched

This was the very first Essie I bought and the only one I own.  Well if you don't count the matte top coat.  This is two coats and I love the colour, it's right up my alley.  Ha, I just noticed it matches my blog colour LOL!  As soon as I put it on I knew exactly what to do with it:

I stamped with plate BM21 in Pure Ice's First Time, a pale green chrome polish.  I liked it a lot...if only it hadn't chipped the next day :(

I liked the Essie formula well enough, but I don't think it's necessarily worth the $10 here in Canada.  Essie's colours don't thrill me either.  The ones with the hidden shimmer are awesome, but you really need to look closely to see it.  So I think Essie will be bargain bin buys only for me.

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I have no willpower

So last week on my lunch hour one day I ran over to the mall to grab a couple of cd's and I managed to stay away from the section of the mall that has Trade Secrets.  So far so good right?  Wrong.  I walked by one of the salons on my way out and noticed a basket on the counter full of OPI's that said 30% off.  And I kept on walking right past yay!  But then I stopped for a second and thought 'hey wait I think I saw some silver caps in that basket' and I turned right back around and found myself rummaging through the basket...ugh.

They actually had about 4 or 5 of the DS polishes but I ended up with these: DS Mystery and DS Opulence.  I used DS Mystery in a ring and it looks amazing but it's not quite finished so I haven't taken any photos yet.

So here's a polish I haven't used yet: Confetti Happy Birthday.

This is 2 coats and it's one of the polishes I picked up in the US in Feb.  I really like it, dark but not too dark.  I will definitely try out some more of this brand in the future.

I don't know exactly what I was going for here but I sponged the tips with Hard Candy's Date Night and stamped with Konad Pink and plate m11.  I didn't like it so I threw on a coat of Wet and Wild's Hannah Pinktana.

I think my nails will be short for awhile now.  The next couple of weeks will be spring cleaning/gardening so I doubt they will withstand all that.  But the good news is that my sis will be here for May two-four (cdn holiday) so she's bringing me all the goodies I've ordered online: the bogo Zoyas, the new Bundle Monster plates and a bunch of Golden Rose holos :)

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A haul, a mani and some thoughts

I try to check out Winners at least twice a month because even though they never have much stock on beauty items you can usually find a couple of gems.  Like this one I found last week:

This was $15 and although I'm not really into the light pastel colours I thought this was too cute too pass up and figured some would be good for stamping.  Here are the colours that came in it:

I do actually like all the colours except for the orange and pink so I'll get some use out of them.  The blue and orange ones stamped really nicely too.

Anyways, my nails are peeling and chipping pretty badly so I had to trim them again.  This mani only confirmed that I really should stick to the dark colours.

2 coats of OPI's Russian Navy Matte.  Love love love it!  I'm all for mixing things up sometimes, but every time I slap a deep dark colour on my nails I feel good.

So I stamped it with Konad plate m31 using my 3 China Glaze Tronicas: Hologram, High-Def and Laser Lime.  The stamping looked murky over the matte polish so I threw a topcoat on and still wasn't happy with it.  But I'm definitely sticking with the dark colours for awhile.

I wanted to add something else here that I've been thinking about for a bit lately...

This blog was originally intended for my sister and I to share nail art and ideas not only with each other but also for anyone who was interested.  I appreciate the few followers I have and love to read your comments.  Honestly, I don't ever want this blog to become a monster with hundreds of followers for several reasons I won't get into.  I also love many of your blogs and find that a lot of you are genuinely nice girls with great ideas to share.

However lately I've noticed that I really dislike some of the things I've seen on other blogs and message boards...mostly relating to snotty comments or people ganging up on others when it's not really called for.  I'm not calling anyone out here, I promise.  Truth be told, I stopped reading the actual posts of those offenders long ago but I still subscribe and look at their photos because hey, I love nail polish!  But I guess I'm just struggling with whether or not to unsubscribe because of their vile attitudes.  Have you guys come across this at all?  And what did you do?

And what is it with this shit anyways?  I thought all this media attention on cyber-bullying was helping to make things better...ugh, rant over.

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My First Sinful

On my first polish hunting trip in the US late last fall I went straight for the Sinful Colors display at Meijer.  This polish stood out immediately...Let's Talk.  There is not a single photo I've found on the web that captures this colour accurately but every single one who's taken a photo has agreed that this colour absolutely glows.  It glows like a freakin neon sign...that's how amazing it is!  I can't believe it took me this long to slap it on my nails.  It's two coats.

I took dozens of photos but none were really accurate...this polish tends to photograph blue, but it's the most amazing purple that I own.  Anyways, I stamped it in Pure Ice Silver Mercedes and for some reason I can't figure out what friggen plate I used.  I thought it was the Konad demo plate but I can't see the image on there anywhere!  Hmm, I will have to figure it out and edit later, sorry.  The stamping sucks anyways, I just wanted to show you what an amazing polish this is!

I found it - m35.

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Poo Manicure

Translation: I let my sister do my nails :)

Sorry the lighting is crappy at my mom's house and I didn't bring remover for clean up.  So the Princess of Poo painted 3 coats of Color Club's Give Me A Hint which is almost a dupe for China Glaze's Below Deck.

She used Konad polishes in white and dark purple with Konad plate m9.  Well....I give her credit for trying anyways.

And here is how I did her nails:

3 coats of Color Club's Get A Clue and stamped with Konad Wine(?) Red and plate m29.  She didn't wait long enough to put topcoat on it...ugh, sisters.  While it's fun to paint nails with her, I would just once love to see a fantastic mani come out of it!

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