Forgetful Friday: Revlon "Haunted", Hit Polish "Portals", China Glaze "For Audrey", & OPI "Alpine Snow"

First EVER "Forgetful Friday!"

For the first time, I am introducing "Forgetful Friday." 

This is a new segment of the blog, that will post past manicures of which I have forgotten 

that I had created and photographed. I am very forgetful at times, and this just seems like a fun thing to do, especially since I have so many manicures, shoe, & purse pictures that I have regrettably forgotten about. OOPSIE!

I figured for this first segment, I will also choose a manicure that I haven't ever done before (and most likely since! LOL). Tonight, I have for you my very first gradient manicure! My nails had broken and filed down to little nubs at this point, as it usually happens every other month since I continue to tear boxes open with my nails and do heavy cleaning without gloves. Oh well...that's just how I roll! lol

Introducing...

OPI "Alpine Snow" & China Glaze "For Audrey"as my interchanging Base Coats.

Revlon "Haunted" as my Contrast Gradient Color.

Hit Polish "Portals" as my Glitter Topper.

     Hit Polish "Portals"              OPI "Alpine Snow"

 

Revlon "Haunted"

                                           

Beginning with my base coats, I put on 2 coats each of 

OPI "Alpine Snow" & China Glaze "For Audrey."

Sorry for the ashy-ass skin. The acetone is a killer, as ya'll already know!

I was so excited to finally do a gradient polish that I went WAAAY overboard. Can you tell?! LOL

Now, I've realized that I could've done a better gradient, 

had I used BOTH Haunted & Alpine Snow TOGETHER on the sponge at the same time, instead of as an after-thought. 

DERRR...! Oh well...better luck next time for me!

Originally, I wanted to use Hit Polish "Portals" as a glitter topper for only two of my digits, 

and then do a gradient with Revlon "Haunted" on the other 3 fingers. However, this manicure didn't seem sufficiently complete, so I added "Portals" to the rest of the nails. 

 SO GORGEOUS,

NO FLASH NECESSARY!!!

OMG...LOVE THE CLOSE-UPS!!!

FLASH!

   

 Well...that should wrap it up! 

You girls know I LOVE pictures and hate to self-edit on this blog! 

I just want to see MOOORE! 

Gimme Gimme More, Gimme More, Gimme Gimme More!

Til Next Time...

Love Always,

Jess

Summer Nail Polish Hauls: Urban Outfitters Nail Polish, Julie G "Frosted Gumdrops" Collection & More Colors

While I Worked HARD this Summer,

I was both gifted & bought for Myself

A Few Colorful Treats for the Summer...

The BF treated me to some lovely polishes...

from Rite Aid, two Julie G nail polishes: 

Mermaid's Tale, which is defiantly HAUTE!!!

Dance in the Dark, a beautifully deep blurple duochrome, mostly deep purple on the nail.

from Urban Outfitters:

Clockwise form l-r: Blue Velvet, Mystic, Girrl Like You, and Flip Flop.

The formula on these were smooth, a little thick (but nothing a little polish thinner can't help!). Drying time, is average, not any longer than most brands.  These are my first Urban Outfitter polishes, 

but I must say: the Quality Is There! And I love that they are full size, 0.5 fl oz bottles! And at $5 a bottle, money well spent! 

Thanks papabear!!! 

That said, these Urban outfitters polishes I have are all definitely dupes for other brands. Off hand:

1. UO "Blue Velvet" is a whole lot like SinfulShine "Most Sinful". 
2. UO "Mystic" is a gorgeous red/pink/orange/yellow/green flakie in blue jelly. It's definitely a dupe for Deborah Lippman "Ray of Light." 
3. UO "Girrl Like You" is a dupe for OPI "Mermaid Tears" and Zoya "Bevin." 
4. UO "Flip Flop" is a dupe for China Glaze "Aquadelic," which is EXCELLENT for me, seeing that I broke my CG Aquadelic bottle a few months ago. It fell right out of my hands, and broke at the neck, spraying a stunning aqua blue all over my yellow comforter and light-colored pajama pants. Oh, well! I'm just glad I have a replacement for it, until I actually remember to pick up another CG bottle.

..................................................

At Rite Aid, I bought most of Julie G's Frosted Gumdrops collection...

I'm thinking I have to get the last piece, Crushed Candy, a deep lilac purple. 

I didn't think t would look good on me, but now I totally want my set to be complete. 

Hell, I can ROCK purple!

From left to right: Blueberry Fizz, Rock Candy, Hot Cinnamon, Sugar Rush & Tangerine Dream.

Formula is SO on point with these colors!!! Practically one-coaters. I do two just to amplify the "textured" nature of the polish & deepen the color. I only wish these bottles were at a full-size of 0.5 fl oz. This only comes in 0.325fl oz bottle. But they are Cute as Hell!!!

To me, Sugar Rush is an *ALMOST* dupe for OPI's Liquid Sand in Jinx. But Jinx is SO damn stunning, with it's beautiful color shifting that even this dupe, can't quite make it to the OPI Jinx level.

Livin' & Lovin' Hard, ya'll.

Keep Ya Heads Up, Lovies!!!

Always,

JESS

Making Smiles Whenever I Can. With Rebecca Minkoff Purple Haze MAM & Cheeky Pouches

With Phi Phi

My Bag of the Day

Rebecca Minkoff

Purple Haze Morning After Mini (MAM)

Purple Haze Zip MAM on my way to Brooklyn on Saturday. 

It just so happens that when I was gifted this beautiful bag for my birthday by my boyfriend, I immediately named my bag, "Phi Phi", after my cousin Pheiona because when I saw it, my cousing popped into my head. This color reminded me of her so much:

Resilient, Understated, Beautiful & Wild...

So, I wore this bag to celebrate Phi Phi's life this past weekend.

My Boyfriend treated me to a manicure while hanging out in Williamsburg.

Cocoro, a super cute hair salon with an adorable nail salon/mini-spa up stairs. 

Cocoro is located at 126 North 6th Street off Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

This nail salon is clean & fresh, and the employees are adorable sweet. I was greeted by everyone with such genuine cheerfulness, and they were so open to me as I asked various questions about the type of polishes they used, their cleaning methods, etc. I was very pleased with this nail salon. 

When I decided to stay, I was offered a beverage, 

and was served green tea and a hershey chocolate. Yum! Two of my most favorite things!

My manicure's base is a shade from the OPI Euro Central Collection, Spring 2013.

The base is: My Paprika is Hotter Than Yours. This is the color I looked forward to THE MOST from this collection, because orange-reds go so lovely with my skin-tone. However, this polish fell short of my expectations. I thought it was going to be bright, vibrant...but it was slightly dull, and unimpressive. I still enjoyed it though. 

Over the base, Stella, the fabulous technician and the salon's nail-art pro, drew a flower on my ring fingers as an accent. Then brushed the accent nails with a polish that looked a lot like China Glaze Fairy Dust, but not as fine in size. It was an Essie brand polish, with larger glitter particles than CG Fairy Dust. (When I got home, I layered the accent fingers with one coat of Fairy Dust, since the glitter the manicurist put on was sparse, just to give it some more "Oomph!".) To my amazement, Stella used the actual brush that comes in the polish to make them! She didn't use a nail-art brush, or use a plate and air-brush. All of her nail art, she does by hand!!! Extremely impressive. This woman has major skills. I looked at a lot of the nail art she has on display, as well as those she was currently working on as I walked into the salon. 

I will be back...again and again!

FLASH!

FLASH!

Eating off 28th Street and 6th, 

at a cute little brick-oven, artisan flat bread pizza joint...

Later...Getting some juice at a Bagel Shop

Waiting for the L Train...

Late Night Impromptu Photo-Shoot!!!

What's in My Bag?

"Fashion Slave" Cory Pouch (mini-perfume bottle, eye-drops, purse-hanger, cuticle creme)

"Dress Up Fund" Cory Pouch (lipstick, lipgloss, mini-eyeliner, mini-mascara)

Junior Drake Zip Wallet (money/card/junk receipts)

Umbrella

Cheers, Lovies!!!

MUAH!!!

Rebecca Minkoff Pyramid Stud Pouch Reveal & Comparisons

REBECCA MINKOFF

Pyramid Studded Pouch

in 

RED

This Large Pouch/Clutch is made of very smooth, matte and rigid leather. Not ideal for me with my love of smooshy leather goodness, but it'll do because it's super chic and cute. Plus, sadly, I don't own a large red pouch. It features a matching Red Wristlet for easy carrying. Silver Hardware throughout, with Silver Pyramid Studs lining three sides of the perimeter of the clutch/pouch.

Above, you can see the Silver Studs are VERY Large and Dimensional...No flimsy studs here!

And of course, a lovely REBBCCAMINKOFF plaque on the outside of the pouch. I adore these metal plaques on her products, especially pouches. They are sophisticated branding, and look so chic.

This Leather Pouch is NOT lined in the interior. The interior is plain with the raw cowhide side of the leather facing inward. The backing of the pyramid studs are all visible on the interior walls as well. The red irregular octagonal shape patch is actually the backing of the REBBCCAMINKOFF plaque on the outside of the pouch.

The tags state that this large pouch is a "Cory" pouch. However, standing at 7"x9.25", this pouch is more similar to the "Kerry" pouch than the "Cory" pouch, which is only a mere 4" x 6".

I purchased this Pyramid Studded "Cory" Pouch for a little over $30 with taxes at Nordstrom Rack.

Talk about A STEAL!

UP TOP!!!

Pyramid Studded Pouch 

VS. 

Kerry, Erin & Cory Pouches

Meet the Players:

Quilted Pyramid Studded Kerry Pouch

Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale Fall 2012

Distressed Glazed Orange Leather

Black & Blue Polka Dot Lining

Gold Hardware

Gold RM Plaque on Back

Pyramid Studs Throughout

Measurements: 7" x 9"

"The Tassel Was Worth the Hassle, 2012" Erin Pouch

Rebecca Minkoff 2012

Soft, Pebbled Black Leather

Black & Blue Polka Dot Lining

Gold Hardware

Gold RM Plaque on Back

Black Zipper-Tassel w/ 2012 Date

Measurements: 6" x 8.5"

"Show Me the Money" Cory Pouch

Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale Fall 2012

Distressed Red-Orange Leather

Brown & Black Kiss Lining

Brushed Gold Hardware

Brushed Gold RM Plaque on Back

Measurements: 4" x 6"

Onto the Comparisons

First off:

The REAL "Cory" Pouch 

VS 

The Pyramid Studded "Cory" Pouch.

I think this must have been a Merchandizing Typ-o on the Retail Tags.

CLEARLY, the Actual Cory Pouch is NOT the same size as this featured Red Pyramid Stud pouch that is labeled as a "Cory Pouch".

Front View:

Back View:

Pyramid Stud Pouch Compared to the 

Kerry Pouch (the one in orange) and the Erin Pouch (the one in black).

As you can see, the Red Pyramid Stud pouch is larger than the Erin Pouch, 

and almost the same size as the Kerry Pouch. 

Although the Red Pyramid Stud pouch is slightly wider than the Kerry Pouch, by less than half an inch, it's zipper track is actually SHORTER than the Kerry pouch's zipper track, by half an inch. But the Red pouch's zipper track is slightly longer than the Erin pouch's zipper track, by one-quarter of an inch.

Also, the Red Pyramid Studded pouch is made out of a very rigid smooth leather, so it is actually slimmer (thinner) than the plush leather of this particular Kerry, which is a quilted leather.  And because of how the rigidity of the red leather pouch, it will not hold as much as this Kerry not this Erin pouch since these two pouches are made of soft (smooshy) leathers that will give and stretch around the objects it is stuffed with. Now that I mention this, I will definitely post pictures of these pouches stuffed with the same objects to further show how restricted you are with the amount of items you can put into this Red Studded pouch, as compared to a normal size Kerry and Erin pouch who have softer/smooshier leather.

So...that sums up my reveal/review/comparison. I hope you've enjoyed it. I will continue to do comparison as I acquire new Rebecca Minkoff pouches that are made each season. I can't get enough of her small leather goods. They are too adorable and I use various pouches ALL the time.

Good night loves...

Or shall I say, 

"GOOD MORNING!"

as it is 4am in NYC right now. LOL

*MUAH*