Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Nail Polish Guru 50 Follower Giveaway!

Hello lovelies! I apologize for my absence! It has been a crazy week to say the least! But I did promise to get my giveaway posted so here I am! :)



I am so excited about how quickly my little community is growing. 62 followers and counting! I am still in awe that so many people are interested in MY blog! Especially with there being so many other more experienced nail polish bloggers out there! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!



To show my gratitude I have picked out prizes for 2 lucky winners this time!




All the goodies. 




 The first prize! Tokidoki buffers, EOS lip balm in Honeysuckle Honeydew, LA Colors Mini Glitters and Sinful Colors Seaweed. (OPI Pirates of The Caribbean Stranger Tides dupe)




Prize number 2! Tokidoki buffers, EOS lip balm in Strawberry Sorbet, LA Colors Mini Brights and Revlon Whimsical. (Deborah Lippmann Glitter in The Air dupe)


I freaking love EOS lip balms! The Tokidoki nail buffers are not super practical. . .but they are so dang cute! I love the selection of minis from LA Colors and who doesn't love inexpensive dupes of other brands!



Each person can earn up to 5 entries. One for following me via GFC and two each for liking my Facebook page and sharing my giveaway. Oh and don't forget to enter my 25 follower giveaway if you have not already! Only 2 days left!



Thanks again for all the support! I can't wait to share more!




Brittany Raquel

Sunday, January 22, 2012

NOTD: Zoya Bevin & China Glaze Fairy Dust

Happy Sunday my fellow polishaholics! You have no idea how ecstatic I am that I now have over 50 followers! (54 and counting!) Thanks so much for all the support! I just posted my 25 follower giveaway (which you can still enter here) and I will have a 50 follower giveaway posted by next weekend! In the meantime I have a NOTD post for you!


I am sure you noticed my Zoya Spring Collection nail mail, I could not wait to get my hands on Bevin! (Or get Bevin on my nails, rather.) Seriously love at first sight. Here is how she is described on Zoya's sitea dusty, medium sage green with teal tones and a creamy opaque finish. A stylish and unique shade for when you want something different from the usual mint green. Application was a dream! Full opacity in 1 coat but I did 2 because that's just how I roll.




As dreamy as Bevin is all on her own I was ready to spice it up a bit the next morning, so China Glaze Fairy Dust was a perfect addition! I love the subtle yet fabulous holo sparkle it adds!



 
Another shot of all that holo goodness!


 
I hope you all are enjoying your weekend! I have some fun posts planned so stay tuned!


Brittany Raquel



Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Nail Polish Guru 25 Follower Giveaway!

I had promised a NOTD post today but that can wait, it's giveaway time!
 
 
First of all I want to say thank you again to the lovely Trace Face Philes for helping me get here! I was hoping for a mere 25 followers so I could have my first giveaway, and here I am on my way to 50! I am so excited to have all of you ladies following me and allowing me to share my love of nail polish with you! Thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragement!
 
 
Without further ado, here is what you can win!

LA Colors Color Craze Mini Brights set, Kleancolor in Diamond Green & Purple, Tweezerman Itty Bitty Files and EOS Lip Balm.

Everyone has up to 5 chances to enter. You can earn 1 entry each for following me via GFC, liking my Facebook page and sharing this blog post. I also wanted to come up with a special bonus entry, a way to thank a dear friend of mine who I have to thank for my nail polish addiction.
 
 
Laura was a coworker of mine (until she moved) who came to work with a different mani nearly every day. I adored looking at her nails and seeing what color she had on next. This spurred my own interest in nail polish, which fully blossomed when Laura introduced me to Zoya nail polish. The rest is history! I certainly have to her to thank for this fabulous hobby, and since it is her birthday today I would love to help her get more followers on her own blog, The Nail Polish Nerd! So if you follow her blog you will earn 2 bonus entries!
 
 
The winner will be announced by February 3rd. I will have another giveaway soon since I am close to 50 followers already! <3
 
 
I will be back soon with my NOTD post!
 
 
Brittany Raquel

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

New Year, New Nail Polish!

It's no secret that I buy way too much nail polish. But I tend to get stuck on one brand instead of branching out. Most of the polishes in my latest haul are new brands for me! This haul is compiled from multiple orders, shopping trips and gifts. Here is what I have gotten so far since 2012 began! (Yes I know it has only been 2 weeks!)

 The whole shebang.


 Yes more Zoyas! Kieko and Reece were my choices from the People promo and I bought Twila and Noel from Birchbox my reward points.


My picks from Zoya's True Collection, such great colors for Spring! Tru, Bevin, Skylar and Lotus. 


Also released for Spring, Fleck Effect Top Coats! So excited to see Zoya create flakies that are not another dupe for Nubar 2010! Welcome Maisie, Opal and Chloe.


My local Fred Meyer finally had the OPI Holiday collection on display. I picked up Animal-istic and Warm & Fozzie, now my lone OPI has some company!


 Also at Fred Meyer I saw a display of LASplash colors. The only one that caught my eye was Embellished (3rd in from the right) but I did some browsing and found more colors at cherryculture.com. Sparkling Torpedo, Sparkling Tailscales, Sparkling Lime, Ocean Fairy, Golden Seahorse, Ocean Sprinkles, Embellished, Oyster Pink and Kiwi Hemp Cuticle Oil.


Since it was my first order from cherryculture I found a few others to add to my cart. Here we have LA Girl's Rock Star Collection in Electric Guitar, Double Platinum and Live On Stage.


I have also had my eye on Milani's 3D Holo Collection so I added Hi-Tech to my order.


Llarowe had a free shipping promo so I decided to place my first order! I can't get enough flakies! Both of these are Brazilian brands and totally new to me! HITS Samba & Fox Trot and Ludurana Trovao & Arco Iris.


 Another first. . .Cult Nails! I am dying to get my hands on Clairvoyant (AKA Unicorn Puke) but in the meantime I really wanted to try Maria's base and top coat. . .and of course some colors made their way to my basket. Get It On, Wicked Fast, Hypnotize Me and Living Water.


 I have had my eyes on Butter London's Dressing Table Duo all winter! I finally snatched it thanks to Zappos.(See previous post) The Black Knight and Tart With a Heart.


 One of my sisters spoiled me with a Sephora gift card for Christmas which meant more nail polish! Kat Von D just released these colors as part of her High Voltage Collection. Wonderchild, Mad Max and No Regrets.


 This baby also made it's way into my Sephora basket! My first Illamasqua in Radium!


The last part of my haul is this epic nail mail from a fellow nail polish-aholic! (Hey Savannah!) Before Christmas I saw China Glaze had a couple of holiday exclusives at Ulta. Unfortunately their website sold out before I had a chance to buy them and there is not an Ulta close to me. Savannah to the rescue! Not only did she find me Ultamate Holiday and Fireside Glow, she managed to fib and tell me they were sold out! Imagine my surprise when I opened my package from her! She was so sweet to also include CG Turned Up Turquoise and my first Color Club glitter!


Thanks for letting me share my haul with you! I plan on posting a new NOTD post tomorrow!


Brittany Raquel

Saturday, January 14, 2012

NOTD: Zoya Kieko & Butter London Tart with a Heart

So happy that my work week is over and I can share some more polish with you all! (5 followers so far, yippee!)

I started with Kieko from Zoya's summertime collection. This is how she is described on Zoya's website:  Warm, red toned dusty light purple with berry tones with an opaque cream finish. A nice alternative to pure pink or berry, especially flattering on warm skin tones.       

I instantly fell in love with this purple! I own many purples but this one blew me away! Such a flattering color and application was amazing! Seriously, no clean up! I could have gotten away with 1 coat but I always do 2 for good measure. :)


I can only leave a creme alone for so long before I have to add something to jazz it up! I finally bought Butter London's Dressing Table Duo and knew that Tart With a Heart would work perfectly. I thought I may have waited to long to buy but was able to find it on Zappos. I got the one with The Black Knight, which appears to now be sold out. Anyways here is the description: Tart with a Heart is a pale pink parade of glitter that carries a dash of grey to tone down the sugar and ramp up the spice.

I love this combination! I have to say I am very pleased with my first Butter London experience. Application was great and it layered  beautifully. I can't wait to try layering it over The Black Knight as well, I have heard great things about those two together! (You can see some photos here by Scrangie!)


I have an epic nail mail haul coming next so stay tuned! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Brittany Raquel

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Welcome!!!

Not only is this my first blog post, but this is my first blog ever! Please be patient with me as I learn what does and doesn't work. If you have any suggestions or things you would like to see me add please let me know! :)

For my first post I wanted to share a quick glimpse at my collection so you have an idea of what is to come. I will be swatching through my collection as well as posting my nails of the day,  nail mail, giveaways (from other bloggers as well as my own once I have more followers!) and anything else nail polish related.

Without further ado, here is my collection so far! (Not the best pictures, these will get better as I figure out my camera!)


I love my colorful wallpaper! Wall racks are my preferred storage method because I can't imagine hiding away all my pretties!


Sinful Colors, Kleancolors, Pure Ice, LA Girl, Essie, Orly, City Color and my lone OPI.


 Sephora by OPI (which started my nail polish addiction), Julep, LASplash, Butter London, Nubar, Hard Candy and most of my flakies-Finger Paints, Nfu Oh, HITS and Ludurana.


All Zoya! This one will be full once I get my Spring Collection picks!


All China Glaze!


As you can see I have quite a collection and it is always growing. As we speak I have a 5th rack on the way as well as at least 30 other colors, many of which are new brands for me! I am thankful to have a job where I get monthly bonuses, otherwise there is no way I could support my habit! :)

Thanks for stopping by! More posts soon to come!

Brittany Raquel