Hauls: the good and the bad and the ugly

So I did a bit of hauling this week.  From L-R:
Maybelline Express Finish in Plum Intense, Snow Bunny and Demin Dash ($2 clearance at Zehrs)
Rimmel in Rags to Riches
I was so excited when I saw those Hard Candy polishes at Walmart for $1.  DO NOT BUY THEM!!!  They are Hard Candy polish bottles, but what's inside them is terrifying.  They smell like a Kleancolor polish that crawled up my dog's asshole and died, seriously.  The brushes are like straw and the polishes just plain suck.  These can't possibly be real Hard Candy polishes, they are nothing like my full size bottles!

And here's the good haul, from Winners of course.  From L-R:
Color Club Beyond the Mistletoe mini's
Cosmetic Arts All The Trimmings
Seche Vite for $3!

The Cosmetics Arts polish was $5 and I normally wouldn't buy an unknown polish for that much BUT....

Whoa.  How awesome is that?  It's slightly sheer so I decided to wear the Rimmel first.  Something seemed fishy about this polish brand so I went googling and found that it's made by the manufacturer of Color Club, which explains the Studio M bottle as well.  They are also only available at Fred Meyer which I gather is a 'western' version of Meijers (where Studio M is available).

So this is 2 coats of Rimmel's Rags to Riches.  This polish has a brush like the Sally Hansen Salon Manicures - love it!

I stamped it with Wet and Wild Black Creme and Konad plate M71, then freehanded the black tips and added a top coat.  Unfortunately I ended up picking at this...along with my holo glitter gel manicure underneath, wahhhh!

Later
P

Awesome US haul

Last weekend Mom, the Princess and I took a shopping trip to Michigan again.  We left a bit earlier than normal and the only thing open at that time other than grocery stores was JC Penny.  Funny how I always luck out at the JC Penny salon....

I got all this for $25!!!!  They had B2G1F at the salon plus they were handing out coupons for $10 off a $25 purchase.  2 OPI polishes at regular price in Canada is $25 with tax so this was a steal! From L-R:

Suzi Loves Cowboys
Uh Oh Roll Down the Window
I Brake For Manicures
A Taupe the Space Needle
Designer...De Better
Rainbow Connection

Yes I bought the multi-glitter even though I don't like them.  If you think that's bad...it gets even worse below...

But first here's my awesome Sally's haul:

I was thrilled to find Gelish colours in the clearance section.  I had planned on picking some up anyways since they are cheaper in the US so an extra $4 off was a fantastic surprise.  From L-R:

Gelish Top It Off - $10 (this is $22 in Canada)
Gelish Ooba Ooba Blue - $9 (these are $18 in Canada)
Gelish Ali Baba's Sim Sala Bim - $9
China Glaze Brownstone - $2
China Glaze Concrete Catwalk - $2

And lastly my Meijers haul:

Pumpkin polish light blue glitter with large silver glitter - $.62
Snowman polish green and gold glitter - $2.29 (this polish reeks!)
Studio M Purple Medallion - $2.25 on sale
Studio M Magic Attraction - $2.25
Color Club The Great Divide - $3.99  Say what?  A crackle polish?  Oh yes she did!

Honestly the colour of the polish is what caught my eye - a very dark, almost black blue with green/gold sparkle.  I thought maybe this shade would help me learn to love crackle lol.

The first coat of the crackle I put on the nail wheel and it did not crack.  You can see it just to the left of #1.  I wasn't really happy that the crackle came out so blue instead of the deep dark colour in the bottle.  When I layered it over Designer...De Better it cracked properly (#1).
2. Rainbow Connection
3. Designer...De Better
4. I Brake For Manicures
5. Uh Oh Roll Down the Window
6. Suzi Loves Cowboys
7. A Taupe The Space Needle

And here's what happened when I layered the crackle over my 12 day old gel mani:

Nada.  I tried another swatch over a semi-dry polish and it cracked differently than the one above.  I 'think' this polish only cracks over 'fresh' polish, if that makes any sense.  I could be wrong but I don't understand why it doesn't crack sometimes.

And here's the rest of my swatches:

1. Pumpkin polish
2. Snowman polish
3. Studio M Purple Medallion
4. Studio M Magic Attraction
5. China Glaze Concrete Catwalk
6. China Glaze Brownstone

Every time I do nail wheel swatches I'm always amazed at the China Glaze formula.  Everything was 2 coats except for the China Glaze's which were only one.

Anyways, it would have been nice if I'd found more clearance pumpkin polishes but I'm not going to complain after that haul :)

Oh and one last note to anyone in the US who is looking for Revlon Carbonite - I saw them at Big Lots for $1!

Later
P

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 :)

Later
P

Buh-bye m64

Okay so here's 2 coats of the awesome Hard Candy Beetle of course.  And another shot because the Princess of Poo thought this polish was so cool...even though you guys have seen it a million times I'm sure.

Then I used the final image from konad plate m64 and once again, Wet and Wild in Black Creme.

You know what really kicked ass about this image?  I didn't have to get it straight to look good!  Anyways, one last shot with topcoat...

I thought removal would be a pain in the ass but it really wasn't.  So now we've got 2 plates down and about 30 more to go LOL.

On another quick note, I noticed the other day at Walmart that the Sally Hansen Salon Manicure polishes were $4.97 here in Canada!  Since Walmart doesn't typically have sales I'm wondering if this is a permanent price drop...probably not, but it wouldn't hurt to check out your Walmart if you're looking for them.

Later
P

Hauliday Pt.2

Ah screw it, I'm just gonna post all the rest now.  Get ready for a long post.

From my Florida haul:

Del Sol 3/$10 at CVS I think.  L-R: Superhero, Rock Star and Heartbreaker.  I haven't had a single day with enough sun to see these babies in action yet...grrr.

Pure Ice $2 at Walmart.  L-R: Calypso, Spit Fire, Silver Mercedes and Mint Dream.  I thought Calypso would be a good chrome type polish to stamp with.  I was wrong, it's sheer.  Silver Mercedes on the other hand is fan-friggen-tastic!

Essence found at Ulta, I think the larger ones were $2? and $1 for the little ones.  L-R: Fairy Berry, Humpty Dumpty, Underwater, Sundancer and Just In Case.  The first two are great for konad.  Underwater was disappointing.  It has a pretty blue shimmer in the bottle that doesn't show on the nail.

Sinful Colors $2 at Walgreens.  L-R: Mint Apple (holy awesome!), Purple Diamond and Nail Junkie.  I'm sure you guys have seen those plenty already.  The Avons were from the Avon Store for $3 on sale - Golden Wine and Deluxe Chocolate, both have an awesome gold shimmer.

Hard Candy $5 at Walmart - Date Night was in the bargain bin for $3 and the other of course is Beetle.  Beetle surprised me when I swatched it because the base is green.  The new Wet and Wilds were $1.79 at Target - Gray's Anatomy and Hannah Pinktana.  These are almost $3 at Walmart here in Canada, and man those brushes suck ass!

Kleancolors $3 at some random jewelry store. I wanted to buy a ton of the hex glitters but at day 7 and $3 a pop, I decided I'd spent too much already.  These are Red-Hot and Peaceful Heart.  Red-Hot was the first colour I slapped on when I got home.

Revlons $1 each at Big Lots.  L-R: Beach, Cotton Candy, PERPLEX (ya baby!), Chocolate Truffle, Grape Icy, Midnight Affair, Perplex again lol, Not So Blueberry and Ocean Breeze.  Most of them are scented.  Midnight Affair is a really nice dark blue but I got a mangled bottle dammit.

And finally...

Orly Matte Vinyl - I think it was $6.99 but I really wanted it and I found it on day one.
Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe - $4 at Sallys in the bargain bin.
Orly Galaxy Girl - $10 at Ulta (!) but I used a coupon and paid $6.50.
OPI Russian Navy Matte - $4.50 at a random salon in the bargain bin.
OPI Don't Mess With OPI - $7 at a random salon.
OPI What's With the Cattitude - $3!!! (steal of the trip) at a random salon in the bargain bin.

So there ya have it.  Yes I went crazy and honestly I could have done way more damage.  I had to stop myself several times from buying more.  My luggage ended up being 15 pounds overweight and I'm sure it was due to all the polish I bought.  And I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat! :)

Later
P