The Nail Files

Gosh it’s been a while!

nailfiles — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:07:03 +0000

Hi everyone! I haven’t been feeling well, and needed to take a break from my blog for a while. I should be back to posting very soon. I have some birthday presents to show you, and a very special gift from a lovely lady in Holland! See you soon.

xoxo

Valerie

Makeup Monday – Maybelline Color Sensational

nailfiles — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:00:39 +0000

Ever since I posted in my “Favorite Things” tag that I loved Maybelline Color Sensational lipstick, I’ve been getting alot of traffic from people looking for swatches. So today I bring you pictures and opinions of the colors I own from this line. Hope this helps those of you looking more information on these!

Here I have lipsticks on the left, and glosses on the right as follows:

1. Plaza Pink 2. Hooked on Pink 3. Nearly There 4. Sugared Honey 5. Yummy Plummy

1. Plumtastic 2. Sugared Honey

Lipsticks:

Plaza Pink is a soft, almost nude creme pink. It works well as an everyday or office color, and it won’t detract from heavier eyeshadow looks.

Hooked on Pink is a bright medium creme pink; although it looks soft in the picture, it really does pop. Perfect for going out at night, and definitely not for tamer personalities.

Nearly There is the sheerest of the shades I own. It adds a slight hint of nude with a little shimmer and glossy finish. It’s understated yet gorgeous.

Sugared Honey is a mid-tone nude, and I suppose “sugared” means “heavy on the frost.” I find I need to tone down the shimmer with a creme pink lipgloss.

Yummy Plummy is a gorgeous pinky-plum creme lipstick, and my personal favorite. I actually bought two, because I’m afraid they might stop producing these lipsticks!

Lipglosses:

They have a very nice consistency, not too sticky, and stay put for a decent amount of time. While not heavily pigmented, they do look very nice alone or layered over lipstick. Plumtastic is a sheer plum shade, with no shimmer. Sugared Honey is a pinky-beige nude shade with slight shimmer. I didn’t take pictures wearing the glosses, let me know if you really want to see a picture and I will post them up.

xoxo

Valerie

Plum Power by Sally Hansen

nailfiles — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:00:45 +0000

When I came across Goddess on Stage over on The Edge of Sanity, I fell instantly in love! You really should click the link, it’s one of the most beautiful purple polishes I’ve ever seen. Then I realized it is an H&M nail polish; no fair, they don’t sell them in the US! I went through my nail polish stash to see if I had anything that might compare. Sally Hansen Plum Power is as close as I’ve got, and it is nowhere near as gorgeous a purple.

Oh well. Goddess on Stage is my most-wanted shade now… Maybe one day I’ll have it in my hot little hands.

xoxo

Valerie

Essie – Mini-Haul

nailfiles — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:00:50 +0000

I had never purchased nor tried an Essie polish before now. There are reasons behind that: Essie polishes are more expensive than most brands, while the bottles hold less product, and the colors seem rather ordinary to me. Oh, and they’re hard to find. At the same time, I *hear* they wear very well and the formula is among the best. I figured they were worth a try, so while at Ulta recently, here’s what I picked up.

Exotic Liras appeared to be a muted hot pink; and although pretty, it is a light red in most lighting. The formula is very nice and smooth; however, the brush is flared out at the tip and had hairs sticking out in all directions, making application very difficult. Thigh High is a darkened red with a gorgeous shimmer. Thankfully, the brush on this one had no problems whatsoever. Unfortunately, the formula was horrible; very thick, almost lumpy, which made it difficult to apply thin, even coats.

I also found a four pack of Essie’s Fall 2008 Guilty Pleasures collection. Here’s the best part though: being last years collection, the four pack cost only $4.95! The catch: all the brushes on these mini-bottles were flared or curved, not good. Rock Star Skinny is a darkened brown-red color with very subtle shimmer; I don’t care for this color, it looks flat and plain. It’s Genius is a medium mauve-purple shade, with silvery shimmer; this is the one stand out shade, just love it. Bold + Beautiful is a burgundy creme polish; pretty standard, we’ve all seen it before. Sexy Divide is a blackened purple, with slight purple shimmer; it is very unique and great for Fall.

Hmmm… The formula was hit or miss depending on the shade. The quality of the brushes was poor. The wear time was about average. I’d have to say I wasn’t impressed with Essie polishes. What do you guys think? Did I just get a bunch of duds?

xoxo

Valerie

Kellie Gonzo’s First Giveaway!

nailfiles — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:35:36 +0000

Hey everyone. Kellie Gonzo of Also Known As… is having her first ever Giveaway. If you’re not following her blog already, you should be. There is some beautiful nail polish swatches, and also great music to be heard over on Kellie’s blog! The contest ends September 27th, and she’ll announce the winner on September 28th, so hurry on over!

xoxo

Valerie

Cleopatra and Euro Trash

nailfiles — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:51:20 +0000

Now, I know gold doesn’t look so good on me. I just don’t care because I think it’s pretty anyway… Cleopatra is one of the new glitter polishes released by China Glaze this Fall. It is a very yellow-toned gold glitter polish. I know it looks kinda boring in the picture, but I assure you, it has holographic glitter as well! The holographic glitter shines blue, green and violet and adds a beautiful yet unexpected dimension to this gorgeous glitter polish. This formula still has a slight grainy texture even with 2 coats of Seche Vite. In this picture I am wearing 2 coats of Cleopatra; I could have used 2 more coats judging by the sheerness.

Hey look! I got a picture with a little holographic glitter showing!

The other nail polish in this picture is Euro Trash by Sinful Colors. I’ll leave you with some comparison swatches for the heck of it. Goodnight!

xoxo

Valerie

Moxie by Zoya

nailfiles — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:00:06 +0000

Gotta love Zoya, they have over 300 nail polish shades to choose from, all are gorgeous. The thing is, I have trouble browsing their Color Selector. At first you take note of certain colors that catch your eye. You may begin looking at the shades based on color, then undertone, checking opacity on a 1 to 5 scale, if it is glitter or shimmer or frost or aaaah… It’s maddening, too many nail polish variables to navigate! Eventually, I tire of that game, and stop using logic entirely. I start picking names that I feel connected with. I know, its a horrible way to pick nail polishes… anyhow, on to the color at hand!

I have a cat named Moxie Crimefighter; so of course Moxie jumped in my check-out basket as quick as she could. Not my cat Moxie (she doesn’t really do “jump”), Moxie by Zoya of course! I had seen this shade swatched several times before, and it always just looked alright. Once I tried it on though, I loved the color straight away. It is a gorgeous magenta creme, that appears a bit muted and darkened.

I think Moxie is going to be my go-to shade for Fall. I love it! Funny thing is, I had been looking for a “dark hot pink”, so to speak, when I was at Ulta the other day without any luck. My search is over… for now! hehe

xoxo

Valerie

10 Random Facts Post (with pictures!)

nailfiles — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:45:26 +0000

Thank you to Kae from the Hungry Asian for tagging me! It was much harder than I thought it would be! Because a lot of you I follow have already done this tag, I tag anyone reading this! So here’s my ten random facts about Valerie… you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them!

1. My husband and I eloped in Las Vegas after one year of dating. Our witness was a waitress from the restaurant across the street from the Justice of the Peace, she was on break (Thank You Chelsea Blood, wherever you are!) We’re still ridiculously happy 4 years later.

2. I love my cat, Shadow, as though he were my child. I sing to him, I hand feed him (cat and human food, he’s finicky), and generally let him do whatever he pleases. My husband gets mad sometimes.

3. I love Guitar Hero. I re-play songs until I get a score of 100%. Here’s me being hardcore with my headphones, and Cinnamoroll-ed out guitar; yah, I’m intense.

4. I have a large tattoo across my upper back, and really want to add more to cover my whole back. It seems so small to me, and I sometimes forget it’s there.

5. I shaved my head a few years ago. I plan on doing so again, once my hair is long enough to donate.

6. My dimples in my cheeks are not entirely natural. I had *slight* dimples and then had my cheeks pierced. The scars, because the piercings eventually had to come out, caused deep dimples.

7. I am quite crafty: sewing, knitting, crochetting, giftwrapping (see below), and cooking. I like to sew my own clothes, but my machine broke over the Summer. I can’t wait to get a new one!

8. I spend way too much time wrapping presents. Fabric ribbons, butcher paper, and different colored themes each year; It’s ridiculous.

9. My favorite color is Hot Pink; bright neon hot pink. My mom hates pink (especially hot pink); so I started wearing a lot of hot pink in high school to get on her nerves. I’m not sure exactly why my teen-aged self wanted to get on Mom’s nerves so bad, but it somehow became my favorite color. Sorry, no picture of this one.

10. I love “My Neighbor Totoro.” I have stuffed Totoros on my dresser that I dress up; the scene changes regularly.

xoxo

Valerie

O.P.I. Designer Series – Mini Haul

nailfiles — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:00:44 +0000

I went shopping at Ulta few weeks ago, and spotted some O.P.I. Designer Series nail polishes. They were all so beautiful, I just about had a heart attack! So excited… I even think I exclaimed out loud when I saw them. I’m not a huge fan of O.P.I.’s formula (too gloopy, is that a word?) or brushes (way too wide and clumsy); since I had not tried O.P.I. DS nail polishes before, I didn’t want to get too many.

I settled on two gorgeous shades: Extravagance, a deep purple, with a slight red tone; and Glamour, a beautiful medium blue. Of course, they have that stunning holo shimmer that O.P.I. Designer Series are famous for. The formula on these O.P.I. Designer Series nail polishes is PERFECT!! The brushes are still quite wide, but somehow applied the polish without a slip-up. I am so happy to add these to my little collection!

xoxo

Valerie

Tag taken from Kellie Gonzo

nailfiles — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:53:04 +0000

Hi everyone! Kellie Gonzo just did this tag and it looked like fun; she tagged everyone so here’s mine! I use a lot of drugstore products. I tend to use the same things for years, and hardly ever change unless something becomes discontinued; my skin is very sensitive to many chemicals and fragrances, so it’s difficult to find something that doesn’t cause an allergic reaction. It’s a “What you’re using right now” tag, although I’m scrubbed clean for bedtime, so I’m going to fill it in with my everyday products!

Shampoo: John Frieda Root Awakening

Conditioner: John Frieda Root Awakening

Styling products: Rusk Being Rubber

Shower Gel: St. Ives Oatmeal and Shea Butter Body Wash

Body moisturizer: Curel Continuous Comfort Fragrance Free Moisturizer

Deodorant: Degree for Women

Perfume: DKNY Be Delicious

Fake Tan: None.

Cleanser: pHisoderm Deep Cleaning Cream Cleanser

Exfoliator: St. Ives Apricot Scrub

Peeling: None

Facial Moisturizer: Oil of Olay Sensitive Skin

Sunscreen: Burt’s Bees Chemical-Free SPF 30.

Primer: Smashbox Photo Finish Correcting Primer

Foundation & brush: Almay Nearly Naked Liquid Foundation and Essence of Beauty Foundation Brush.

Concealer: Almay Nearly Naked Cover-Up Stick.

Powder: Physician’s Formula Mineral Face Powder in Translucent.

Blusher: None, I’m naturally very pink in the cheeks.

Bronzer: None.

Highlighter: None.

Eyeshadow base: Urban Decay Primer Potion.

Eyeshadow: Milani Runway Eyes in Designer Browns.

Eyeliner: Cover Girl Outlast Smoothwear Eyeliner.

Curler: Maybelline eyelash curler.

Mascara: Cover Girl Lash Blast in Black.

Lipstick: Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Yummy Plummy

Lip gloss: Carmex.

Nail color: Moxie by Zoya.

xoxo

Valerie