Nicole By OPI-Iceberg Lotus

Happy Sunday! I know I've been gone for quite a while. I'm sorry to leave y'all hanging but a lot has been going on. I turned 30 on May 20th and celebrated a lot for that. I was spoiled by all my friends and family, near and far. It was amazing. In addition, I had another biopsy related to my thyroid issues and I'm finding out the results tomorrow. I'm nervous, so send me pretty polished good vibes.

Tonight, I'd like to share a polish with you that has sentimental value. This is probably the only polish in my collection, aside from my recent Deborah Lippmann acquisition, that has that kind of value to me. And the reason why is because it was given to me for my birthday last year by one of my very, very good friends. He is a person that knows me very well, even though we've only known each other for a short time and he's been a great source of support and clear-headedness through a lot of my thyroid issues. And, half of my current favorite songs started as Spotify links or playlists from him. The best part, and the part I love the most, is that he picked the polish out without any peeks at my wishlist or collection. To date, my homie is the only guy that has given me nail polish for any occasion and that is a major reason why this polish is so special to me.

Let's look!

Will you just look at that gorgeous blue/purple around the edges?!

This is three coats of Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus...an emerald glass fleck in a green jelly base. The glass flecks flash blue, purple, and even pink in certain lights and it's just a stunner to look at in the sunshine. I wore this for one of my birthday manicures and got so many compliments on it. It's definitely in the top 5 of my stash and will probably stay there for a very very long time. And it's funny--I never would have picked this out on my own in the store but here it is, one of my favorites. 

I hope you enjoyed tonight's post! I've got a lot of good things coming up, including some mini-swatch fests of a local to Buffalo indie nail lacquer and I recently joined a challenge group that I've been following for a while and you'll see my maiden manis for this month's theme here, soon. Stay tuned!!

xo, ali

GOT(F?): BLUE!

Good evening, polished pretties!

I'm sharing another challenge mani with you from The Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursday challenge. It's on Friday for me this week because I was on a really bad date last night. Oh, the woes of being single. I should really start a separate blog for my online dating horror stories.

Let's get on with it!

I was digging through my stash, looking for an old blue that I could use and I landed on something that I haven't used since I first got it, about two years ago.

Sadly, I only have one shot of it for you guys tonight because Picasa isn't syncing right :(

This is from Forever 21's Love and Beauty cosmetics line. Usually they're terrible at naming their polishes but this one was called Imperial Blue. And I think imperial is the right way to describe this. A gorgeous, deep royal blue jelly filled with a duochrome glass fleck that flashes purple and blue. Can you believe this polish cost a little under $3?!

However, it chipped the very next day :\

What do you think? What's your favorite cheap polish?

Be sure to check out what my fellow lacquer lovers did for their blue nails!!

xo, ali

Dancing Phalanges! Dancing Phalanges!

I know it's been damn near two weeks since I updated and I'm so sorry. I don't have excuses. I just have a polish and a mani that I'm REALLY excited about.
If you're a Bones fan, you know where my blog title comes from. If not, here:

Bones is definitely my favorite show so I was THRILLED when I saw that  Girly Bits' Fall Sesaon Premiere Collection included three polishes inspired by Bones.  I was even more excited when one of those polishes was called Dancing Phalanges!! Pam describes Dancing Phalanges as a "raspberry pink glass fleck shimmer." And it's gorgeous. I'm sorry, but my pictures do not do it justice. Let's take a look!

As soon as I got this in the mail, I put it on. And so did my sister. I could not stop staring at it. I don't even know how to put into words how pretty this is. Juicy, bright, pink. It's perfect. This is my first indie polish and I couldn't be happier with it. This is three coats as it does start out quite sheer. It builds up opacity very nicely and this wore well, also. I had this on for at least three days before I broke down and removed it.

I also had gotten in the new Bundle Monster Create Your Own stamping plates so I added a little something extra.

I stamped using BM-416 and Wet N Wild Black Creme.

This is gorgeous. Girly Bits' polishes are absolutely gorgeous! But don't take my word for it. You can purchase them from her website. Pam offers not only pretty polishes but frankening supplies and nail care. Full size (15 mL) retails for 11.50 and she's offering free shipping in the US and Canada, right now. You can't go wrong!!

What do you think? Do you have a favorite Girly Bits polish? I'd love to hear from you!

See you soon!

--ali