CoverGirl Golden Opportunity Swatch

Hello Everyone!!!

I've had a bit of an absence you could say, especially with life in general and the end of the semester coming full throttle ::大学院生の生活/life of a graduate student:: BUT I'm happy to be back and enjoying my short, but welcome, winter break! So far my R&R has included watching old Disney movies with the family. Oh the childhood nostalgia *tear*! Today I have a swatch of yet another Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss from CoverGirl! I present to you, Golden Opportunity!

with flash

with flash

Golden Opportunity is a very nice gold foil with high shine! The formula leaned a little on the thick side but was very easy to work with. I got great coverage with the first coat but perfect opacity was reached with 2 coats. Though it's not the most unique color, I still loved it.

without flash

without flash

I think CoverGirl did as great a job with Golden Opportunity as they did with Black Diamond. If you don't have anything like it in your collection and want something of good quality that is inexpensive, I would recommend it. It's also a perfect color for the holidays!

Hope you all enjoyed the post! What's your opinion of Golden Opportunity?

Comment and let me know!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!!!

Until Next Post!!! ^_^v

Liebster Award! ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

Hi, Everyone!!!

I'm beyond excited today! I've been nominated by MissLanage for a Liebster Award!!! This emoticon basically sums up my happiness ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆!!!!

The Liebster Award is given to help bring awareness to the profiles of up-and-coming new bloggers with less than 200 followers. It's a great way to show support and to give a nod to newbies like myself ^_^.

Instructions

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself

2. Answer the the 11 questions you were asked by the blogger who nominated you

3. Come up with 11 of your own questions for your 11 nominees

4. Post links to the blogs of the 11 bloggers you've nominated (not including the blogger who nominated you)

11 Random Facts About Me

1. I absolutely love video games
2. I draw and sketch
3. I have been married with my husband for 3 years but we've been together for 7 years (since we were 16)
4. I've been doing Yoga since 2006
5. I love to read
6. I love scary movies but, if they're really scary, I generally can't sleep for a week
7. I really want to go to Japan!
8. I love chocolate covered strawberries
9. I love caramel apples!!!
10. I have started collecting Peruvian lanas (hubby is Peruvian).
11. I bake! My finest creation? My Tres Leches cake!!!

Questions from MissLanage

1. Where in the world are you?
- I'm currently in Gainesville, FL, USA!!!
2. What is your favourite holiday destination?
- Definitely New York or Chicago. That will probably change aft I leave the country for the first time (hopefully this summer!)
3. Do you have a nail tech qualification?
- Nope
4. How many polishes do you own?
- Not a lot shockingly! I only have 84, though the collection is constantly growing. Check out which ones here!
5. Do you have any other hobbies?
- Too many to keep track of! I name a few above but yoga and drawing have to be the biggest two next to my nail polish obsession and blogging.
6. Do you speak any other languages?
-I speak English, Creole (I'm Haitian ^_^), Japanese, French (though I'm starting to forget it since I never practice), and am currently learning Spanish
7. Why did you start blogging?
- I always wanted to start a blog but didn't know what it should be about! Seeing other great nail polish blogs inspired me to focus on nail polish. I wanted to meet other people who are obsessed with nail polish and love it like I do! I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions on nail polish and be a new resource for nail art, swatches, etc. 
8. Do you have any pets?
- I have an absolutely adorable black lab/chow! His name is Riley
9. What kind of music do you like most?
- This is such a hard question! Especially since I listen to so many artist from so many different genres! At the moment I'm loving my J-Rock (Japanese Rock) music.
10. What is your favourite book?
-Another hard question! One of my favorites was the book, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It seriously forces you to think. 
11. How was your day today?
- So far so good! I've been working on my thesis and class presentation which can be very blah for lack of a better word. But this award has definitely brightened my day up ^_^!

My 11 Questions to my nominees

1. When did your nail polish obsession first start?
2. Who is your blogging idol?
3. What is your favorite movie?
4. What is your favorite brand of nail polish and why?
5. What is your favorite TV show?
6. What is the name of your favorite nail polish?
7. Is there anything you're looking forward to in 2013?
8. What is your favorite color?
9. How often do you do your nails?
10. Do you ever get your nails done at the nail salon?
11. What is your biggest pet peeve?

My nominees (in no particular order)

Beauty and Fashion on a Budget

No Nekkid Nails

Chop Suey Nails

The Nail Polish Challenge

Polished Paramedic

Get Polished Up

Totally Nailed

Lissa's Polish Addiction

Erinzi's Nails

Polished Art

Skeleton Nails

Hope you all enjoyed the post! Thank you again, MissLanage for the nomination!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!!!

Until Next Post! ^_^v

CoverGirl Black Diamond Swatch

Hello, Everyone!!!

It's finally the end of the semester...FREEDOM *William Wallace/Braveheart voice*!!! Well...not yet. There is still the matter of turning in that thesis. However, I'm still pretty excited. Hope everyone else is having a great week so far! As some of you may know, CoverGirl has come out with their new Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss. The point of difference? It's so shiny you don't need top coat! *Gasp*. I passed by them at the Walmart and had to pick up a few. Today I present to you, Black Diamond!

Black Diamond

I was actually concerned about having to paint my nails with a clunky cap. After painting a few fingers, I somehow realized that the cap actually comes off ^_^.

with flash

with flash

Black Diamond is a VERY shiny black jelly. I absolutely loved it! I actually have no plain black in my collection so I was really happy this looked so nice. It was also a 1 coater! Though I reached perfect opacity with 1 coat, I used 2 coats for this swatch and no top coat! The formula was a bit thicker than usual but still very easy to work with.

without flash

without flash

I think CoverGirl did a great job with their new, Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss! I'm happy I randomly ran into this at Wal-mart. It was an inexpensive, great find!

Hope you enjoyed the post! Have you all tried the new Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss? What did you think of it? Comment and let me know! Thank you for reading!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!!!

Until Next Post!!! ^_^v

How-To: Tape Manicure Tutorial

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all are having a great week! For me, these next two weeks are gonna be ridiculously busy. I can't wait until the end of the semester! Speaking of school, as some of you may know, I bleed orange and blue. I'm both a UF alumna AND current student. So today, I have a Gator themed Tape Manicure Tutorial using OPI for you! And, of course, feel free to use whatever colors you want!
*WARNING this post is both picture and copy heavy!*

Here's what I used!

(L to R) OPI Germany Collection Unfor-Greta-bly Blue and Deutsch You Want Me Baby?

1. Get your tape ready! That means removing the stickiness. You can refer back to my first tutorial to see how!

2. Base Color: Do your manicure as you normally would! I have 1 coat of base coat and 2 coats of Deutsch You Want Me Baby? Allow your manicure to really dry. You don't want the tape to leave smudges. Skip the top coat for now! That will go on at the end.

3. Tape: After your manicure is completely dry, carefully place your tape at whatever angle you please. I make sure the tape is gently pressed done especially around the cuticles. You want it placed down enough to make sure your next color does not go under the tape. It may look like it, but I do not completely wrap tape around my finger. If you do so it may be harder to take off.

4. 2nd Color: Add your second color over the tape. Don't use too much nail polish! You don't want it to flood under the tape! I used 1 coat here and still got perfect opacity.

5. Remove tape: I give my nail polish a few seconds to settle before removing the tape. However, wait to long and you won't get a crisp edge. I really carefully, and slowly, peel off the tape going towards the line that separates the two colors. I find that peeling across causes jagged edges.

6. Do your clean up then give the entire manicure time to dry!

7. Put on your favorite top coat and seal those edges! 終わり, in other words, you're done!     

Final Product

with flash

without flash

without flash

Hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and give it a try! Thank you for reading!

Any questions? Email me or comment below!

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!!!

Until Next Post! ^_^v