Valentine Kisses Giveaway Prizes!!

I was the super lucky winner of Valentine Kisses Birthday Giveaway! How exciting is that??  I mean the picture of all those prizes is amazing, but seeing the number "62"?  That's so much!
I have no idea how Crystal of Valentine Kisses fit all those items into one USPS box! But she did, and my daughter and I had a blast opening it all up!

Just a warning: this is going to be really pic heavy!!

Let's start with the nail products, shall we? :)

Lip products:

Eye products:

Close-up of Global Goddess eyeshadow..how pretty is this?

Hair products:

Jewelry:

Face/body lotions/products:

Perfume:

And finally, a really cute makeup case!

Funky French - WAAAYY Out of My Comfort Zone!

I haven't used any stamping plates in quite a while, so I decided to pull them out and give them a spin.  I have a Shany collection, and while they are nice, some of the prints just aren't big enough to cover my whole nail. I have some other random ones: Konad and 1 or 2 Born Pretty plates. I need to invest in Bundle Monster, or Nailz Craze!  

So here is what I came up with: I used a base of Zoya - Erika, a very pale pink with a golden shimmer.  I found this to be really streaky, but I knew I'd be covering it up with stamping, so I wasn't too miffed.  For stamping, I used Sally Hansen Insta Dri - Magenta Motion.

Ugh, please mind the dried-out cuticles!  I really liked this look, but as you can see on my middle finger, and even my pinky, there are some bare spots from where the plate image just was not big enough. I tried to re-stamp on my index and ring finger, but it started looking a little too jumbled.  Again, not too bothered, this was a vine pattern so it's meant to be wandering and not too uniform. 

I had an episode of insomnia last night, and decided to use some striping tape and add some french tips.  I used a new-to-me polish brand, Fresh Paint, that I purchased at Five Below. The polishes were 3 for $5, so how could I not buy 3??  The polish I used for the tips was Dragon Lady. I thought it was a foily turquoise, but I guess I was wrong! It's definitely a green shimmer/foil. Application was great for being a cheaper polish.  And this was way different from looks that I usually wear! Would this be a prom look? I have no idea, I never went to prom!  I'm not sure that is it work-appropriate, so I'll probably be changing it before the work week begins.

I free-handed the black lines using a Color Club black striper polish. 

And in this pic, you can see how someone not that great at using a striper can fail!

I have a pretty steady hand, but with stripers, you can very easily go from a thin line to a thick line, and you can see how that happened. Part of that thick line on my ring finger was not getting right on that line between green and pink with the striper, so I was compensating.  It's really not that noticeable in person as I don't think anyone is going to inspect my nails, but I notice it.  Practice Practice Practice!!

**All polishes used in this post were purchased by me.**

Essie and Kiss!

Well we are back from the ocean, and it was a lovely trip! Of course it's always a tad depressing to be back home, especially when you think to yourself, wow, last week at this time I was walking on the sand and picking up seashells!
It was nice to come home to some nail mail though!  I received my first Ipsy bag, which was pretty nice. The Zoya polish I received was Piaf.  I was a little unhappy at first, there are some really pretty, light pastels in the Lovely collection, and I received the only one that probably would not look great with my skin tone  But after owning it for a few days, I thought, why would I want another polish that looks like other polishes that I own? I don't own anything that looks like Piaf! So, I'm ok with it now, lol.  I'm sure I'll use it at some point, even if it's just for nail art.

This is Essie - Your Hut or Mine, my first Essie!  It's a really pretty dark coral color with a nice pink shimmer.  I didn't get a pic of it before adding some nail art though.  For that, I used some other nail mail that was waiting for me, Nail Art Society - May 2013. And for some awesome and amazing reason, I received 2 packs!!  I wasn't billed for the second one, so I'm not sure what happened. I've been a member for 3 months now, and this is the first time I've received a second pack. Not complaining, it was actually pretty cool!
So in the pack was a collection of 3 stripers: orange, yellow, and a pretty glitter. I used the glitter striper to freehand some tips over Your Hut or Mine, and then completely fill in my pinky:

Then, I used the "marbleizing" pen to dot on some..dots! It didn't look too bad, but the color combo was off. I think the tips/dots would look much better over a paler purple or ivory/white shade. I was just playing around with the striper and marbleizing pen, so I wasn't really thinking about how the colors worked.

**All polishes used in this post were purchased by me.**

Vacation/Beach Nails!

My husband is taking my daughter and me to Ocean City (MD)!!!!  I'm so excited; we're only staying for 2 nights, but it's a well-needed break!
I've known about this little trip for a while, and 2 weeks ago decided to give the Orly Nailtrition regimen a go just to get my nails in really nice shape for the vacation.  It didn't really work out so well! I wasn't able to continue to put coats on night after night, and my nails actually seemed to suffer from not having the usual 4-5 coats as with a regular mani.  So I don't think I'll be trying that again!
Here is the mani I decided on:

 

For this, I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear-Golden-I.  I then used striping tape for the somewhat crisp lines, and then went over Golden-I with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri-Peachy Breeze. Peachy Breeze was really thick, and the brush is so weirdly shaped. I know a lot of people like the shaped brushes, but I just have a hard time with them!  And quick drying polishes aren't very forgiving.  Thankfully, a good thick topcoat can cover a multitude of errors!!  I then used Seche Vite top coat, and then another topcoat of Out the Door's Northern Lights in Silver.  This was my first try with striping tape, so I don't think I did too badly, but practice will hopefully make better, if not perfect!

Here is what I did for my toes, which, I won't show you my whole foot, just my big toes! I used ELF nail polish in Mint Cream.  I then stuck on decals as you can see. Everything got a nice coat of Out the Door's Northern Lights in Silver.  I just love that sparkle!

That one toenail is just such a weird darn shape!! Lol, but I guess most toes aren't exactly pretty, so what do I care?

Thanks for reading!

**All polishes used in this post were purchased by me.**