Merry Christmas!

 I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Christmas Packages!

 Ok, so I lied. I am going to post before Christmas. I was up late last night because I couldn't sleep, my middle finger broke a bit further down and I had to take Mrs. Clause off and I got to watching youtube videos. I love to watch Robin Moses she does some amazing things. If you would like to watch the video that I got this nail art from you can go here http://www.youtube.com/user/robinmosesnailart#p/u/5/IcKp65NfivU. Seriously she is awesome especially at painting faces. I didn't do the Snoopy or tree or anything just because I was tired and wanted to sleep after I did the boxes so I left it at that.
 I used OPI Paris Coture for Sure, You make me Vroom, What's with the Cattitude, Osaka to me Orange, Elephantasic Pink, and Alpine Snow.

Update

 So for the few people that might read this junk of mine I have had a pretty devastating week. First I broke my right hand ring finger last week. This week I broke my left hand ring finger and then to add insult to injury my left hand middle finger cracked almost to the quick. Then we have been somewhat on edge about North and South Korea. So yeah, not a great week for me. I think it is due mostly to moving things around and the holidays. It seems to happen to me every year, all of my nails breaking. They aren't so pretty right now, they are all filed down somewhat short. I put on Mrs. Clause from China Glazes Holiday collection though. Since we will be cooking for about 10 friends Christmas Eve there most likely will not be and new swatches until after Christmas.
 Anyways, I am thinking of doing a possible giveaway, maybe sometime after New Year's, and would like to know what some of you would like to receive. I am open to any suggestions be it nail polishes, nail art supplies, or something completely not related to nails. Maybe some Japanese snacks, candies or trinkets? Or a mix of all these things? If you have any suggestions you can send me an email.

Sparkle-licious over Lucerne-tainly look Marvelous

 For those of you that were not able to get a hold of OPI's Mad as a Hatter, today I wanted to show you all Sparkle-licious layered over a dark silver. Lucerne-tainly look Marvelous is perfect for this because is it such a dark silver. Doing this can take out more of the gold it has to it and make it appear a bit more like Mad as a Hatter. Definitely not the same but I think it makes it a bit closer.
 This is two coats of Sparkle-licious over one coat of Lucerne-tainly look Marvelous on my ring and index and three coats of Mad as a Hatter on pinky and middle.

More Evil Shades!

 Today is another eye of the day. I am in love with Evil Shades eyeshadow. I am not sure if it is because it blends so well, most of the colors have glitter or it may be that she just makes a lot of colors I like.
 I also forgot to mention that last time I ordered she sent me a free sample of her primer in Opal White so I used that for the two EOTD's that I have posted. I really want to try Naked now. Anyways, Necropolis is on the lid and Cerberus in the outer corner blended onto the lid and on lower lash line. Pretty simple very fast to do and I really like how it turned out.

China Glaze Phat Santa compared to Essie Limited Addiction

 I have both and they looked exactly the same in the bottle so I thought I would compare them. Here is a picture of Phat Santa on index and ring finger with Limited Addiction on middle and pinky. In the picture Phat Santa shows the most real life color on my ring finger. I don't know why it showed so dark on my index. This is two coats of each. There is a bit of visible nail line and could have used a third but it wasn't that noticeable until I looked at these pictures.

 Limited Addiction is a bit darker but not by much. It also seemed to go on a bit smoother although I think I personally prefer Phat Santa as it dried a bit quicker and I like the lighter shade better.

Evil Shades eyes of the day

 Just a quick post for the eyes I had today. I used Evil Shades Devils Bonfire in the crease, Acolyte on the lid as well as the lower lash line and Moonlit on the inner corner.

 If you haven't heard of Evil Shades you can check it out at EvilShades.com. It is run by a lovely lady that makes all the products herself. She offers some really cool colors, they blend well are priced great and she has some fantastic gift sets. (I am in not way being compensated for this post. I purchased these myself sometime back. I simply love these eye shadows.) 

Pachinko!

 This is a non nail related so if you don't care to read about Japanese games you can skip the long out of control post.
 Some of you probably know that I am current in Japan from my first post or by guessing from the title of my blog. Either way I just have to share one of my loves from spending some time here and that is the game of pachinko. If you have never heard of it there are plenty of videos floating around, mostly on youtube I think.  
 Gambling in Japan is typically forbidden except for some motor sports and horse racing events that I know of. Pachinko is not considered gambling for the fact that if you win you do not get money at the parlor for the amount of balls you have. You usually receive a plastic case with tokens inside or you can get a card , much like a debit card if you want to come back to play later. If you wish you may cash you tokens to a separate store not affiliated with the parlor.
 The easiest way to explain the game it is you get small heavy metal balls that you can shoot into the top of the machine that fall down through pegs. If you so happen to get a ball into a gate or small opening on the game it has a video slot that spins. The coolest part is when you get three matching numbers or items, depending on what machine you play, it hits a jackpot and you get even more balls and there are a ton of different games to play on it.
 I have been so addicted to the pachinko parlors lately. Those places are so loud no joke I seriously have to wear earplugs, you can not hear anything in there.
 On a related note I had a small pachinko-nail related incident this weekend and I broke the corner off my right hand ring finger, the polish has chipped and now I have to remove my candy cane print. Depressing, but I did win the jackpot!

Christmas Candy Canes!

 I had a Christmas party to go to and I wanted something simple and festive so candy cane stripes it was.
 Pretty simple to do, all you need is a small liner brush and make varying sizes of lines. I used OPIs Alpine Snow with China Glaze Phat Santa and Jolly Holly for the stripes. It was fun to do and I received a lot of compliments on it, especially from the kids! I hope everyone has a happy holiday!

Orly Space Cadet

 Space Cadet has to be one of the hardest to capture on camera. It probably didn't help that I took these pictures at night. This is an awesome polish, one I didn't care for in the bottle but once I got it on it was love!

  Most of the time it appears to be the color in the pictures but in sunlight or direct artificial light it changes anywhere from gold, green, purple to a copper rust color. It was pretty sheer for me and these pictures are of four coats but it was so worth it. It also dried fairly quick to for having four coats. 

Mad as a Hatter compared to Sparkle-icious

 Many people have been asking is Sparkle-icious from the OPI Burlesque collectione dupe for Mad as a Hatter. I am sorry to say it is not.
 Sparkle-icious has three colors, gold, blue and pink where as Mad as a hatter has several different color glitters of different sizes in it. The glitter in Sparkle-icious seems to all be the same size glitter.
 Although, if you can not get Mad as a Hatter I suggest layering Sparkle-icious over a dark silver like Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, it appears much more the same that way.
 This picture is one coat. Mad as a Hatter is on pinky and middle and Sparkle-icious in on ring and index

 These pictures are three thin coats. 

Let Me Entertain You from OPIs Burlesque Collection

 Let Me Entertain you is a fuchsia with gold and maybe pink shimmer to it, very hard for me to describe. Sometimes it leans reddish to purple hued to me. I honestly thought I was going to hate it.
 Seeing as I loved all the other colors in the collection I went ahead and got this one just to try it and see what I thought. It isn't my favorite of the collection just because I am a glitter freak and absolutely love all of the other colors as well. I have to say though when I put it on I was pleasantly surprised! I am not a big red fan, the reds in this collection seem to be made for me though, I don't know why that is. This entire collection calls to me!
 Let Me Entertain You is way better on the nail than in the bottle I thought. Formula was smooth, the pictures are three coats. Don't mind the smudge on my ring finger, I hit the camera taking pictures and didn't notice until after I had taken it off. It also dried fast as well.
  No complaints on this or any of the Burlesque collection either. Great job on this one OPI! I just hope future collections are as wonderful as well.

China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses "Tis the Season" Holiday 2010

 Mistletoe Kisses from China Glazes holiday collection is one of the glitters I did not think I would like. After putting it on it became my favorite next to Party Hearty.
 Pretty much the same as Mrs. Claus just green instead of the pinkish red color. It is somewhat sheer, this is three coats and there is a bit of VNL still there if you look hard. It reminds me of a snow covered tree. Over all I love this, it went on smooth, dried quick and is a gorgeous green with silver sparkle.

China Glaze Mrs. Clause "Tis the Season" Holiday 2010

 I loved this polish the moment I saw it. It is a pink jelly with silver glitter which is fabulous. It applied great, two coats did seem to leave some spots uncovered as you can see in the picture below.

 But after adding a thin third coat everything evened out. With three coats there is still visible nail line so it could have used a fourth. This would look good over Phat Santa I think, I will have to try that one out one day. 

Pink sponged Tiger/Zebra stripes

 I love the way my last pedicure turned out. It was my first time using the sponge technique. It was pretty easy and I was disappointed that I was afraid to try it before. 

 I used OPIs Alpine Snow, ElePhantastic Pink, Black Onyx and a bit of Show it and Glow It on a few of the stripes to add some sparkle. 

 

OPI Facebook Giveaway

 If you haven't heard about it already OPI on Facebook is having a great giveaway. They are offering six retired shades, that I would love to have as I own none of these, to one hundred lucky winners if they reach 100,000 fan likes before December 31st. Unfortunately it is only open to US residents. It is super easy to enter and if you would to check it out you can go here http://www.facebook.com/OPIProducts.
 I know a lot of people have been upset about Coty acquiring OPI but they have stated that Coty will not be taking over production and they quality will not change. So for now I am still hanging on to my OPI, I just don't feel as great about buying it as much.