NOTD: Nubar Night Sparkle and A Rambling Lament

So one of my ebay Nubar orders came in :)  Yay!

L-R: Indigo Illusion, Love Rainbow (not nearly as holo as I thought), Wildlife, Moon Shadow, Night Sparkle, Reclaim.
I've been ordering stuff like a mad woman lately.  I guess that's what happens when you haven't bought anything for yourself since November and you make a crapload more money than you usually make all in one go...  I think I'm done for now, though.  Seriously, this is what I've got lately: I made a TD order with a fellow Vancouver pal from the nailboard, I finalized a swap for some lemmings I can't get in Canada (WnW Party Of Five Glitter, Essie Dive Bar and Jesse's Girl Confetti), and I grabbed the Zoya Intimate set tonight from evilbay for $38 inlcuding shipping (I know right? Good job me! :D) - and that was just tonight! :O  I've also nabbed China Glaze Kaleidoscope Him Out off the bay of evil for a half decent price too ($9 - the cheapest I've seen it on ebay for over a year.. and I think it only fetched such a low price cuz the seller couldn't spell "kaleidoscope" and couldn't take a non-blurry pic :p)  I'm rather happy about that one though - this was one of my first and biggest China Glaze lemmings when I started to get back into np again, around December of 2009... man, I should have just ordered both Kaleidoscope sets (both warm and cool!) off Ebay then - I remember they were going for around $37-$38 each at that time... I mainly just wanted KHO at the time too, and was just going to get the others as an afterthought :)  Man, I can't wait to finally get KHO now :)  Also, I've been eyeing Clairins 230... I haven't bid yet, but I'm thinking about caving and getting Teh Unicorn Pee if I can gets it for under $75 or so...  I'm still undecided though - that is an awful lot for one polish, even if it is like getting five polishes in one... I've wanted it for so long, but I think I'd feel foolish.  But who cares, I want it!  Gaaaah - yeah, undecided.

Holy crap, ramble on forever, lady!  What am I, my boyfriend's mother?

Nubar Night Sparkle:

I don't know why I chose to wear this out of all the new Nubars I got.  It called to me.  Night sky polishes- what can I say?  Easily my favorite one out of this Nubars Sparkles collection - I have a bit of an obsession with night sky polishes. 

Did I mention to you guys there's a Chanel Ciel De Nuit on Ebay right now for $129?  Buy It Now :)

Why am I bringing this up now, you ask? It's simple.  Nubar Night Sparkle makes me drool - this is obvious, but I thought it important for you to know why it makes me drool.

Now, you guys know Ciel De Nuit is my biggest, hugest, Forever Number One Lemming.


It's the Polish that started my Entire Love Of Polishes... back in 1995 (or was it '96?)  It was the winner of a contest put on by Chanel and Seventeen magazine, a reader-designed polish... I fell in love, and bought Maybelline Twinkle Twinkle because of it (which I still own), and then some Wet N Wild black, purple and green... and then some Claire's and Afterthoughts polishes... and then Street Wears.... fifteen years later, here I am....

To this day, despite all the dupes and look-alikes and Essie Starry Starry Nights in the world, this polish still makes me glowy-eyed like no other.  I still want it exactly just as much as I did the day I saw it in the pages of Seventeen magazine.  And that's why, to this day, I've bought every single polish that looks even remotely like it or even vaguely resembles any aspect of it ever since :p

Should I buy the polish on ebay, you guys? :p  :p  Anyone wanna buy it for me?

Okay, I know this post is stupid and whiny, since I'm heartbroken over the price of the Ciel De Nuit on Ebay that I'll never own, but can I talk serious for one second here? I really love Nubar Night Sparkle.  It is the prettiest one I own out of the Nubar Sparkles so far - the other two being Meadow Sparkle and Sky Sparkle, and much less impressive.  The purple ones look okay, but I love blues and they can't be anything compared to this.  This kind of reminds me of Finger Paints Easel-y Entertained, but less purple, and Nicole Such A Go-Glitter... but I don't have that on hand to compare.  Either way, none of these were easy for me to get, but they were all worth it - dark blue glitter in a black base is one of my favorite polish colours ever :)

PS: I realize how obnoxious this post is for how bad these pics are.  And I apologize.  Better ones to come :S

NOTD: Nubar Gem

Hi all! Did you have a good weekend? Mine was.... okay. My no-buy is going rather well so far - :D yay me! :D - but I'm getting paid on Wednesday, which means I'm going to have to pick up the Vintage Vixen colours I want (the entire second set, plus Ingrid). I'm really chomping at the bit for the Orly Cosmix collection as well as the ChG Awakening one for Halloween. I need all of those Orlys :p Oh, and that MAC Venomous Villains collection, as well! Not only am I a sucker for Disney-themed nail polishes (yes, I know, Disney is evil, but dammit I love those movies :p), but they sound so, so awesome from the promo descriptions....

Anyway, this is what I had on my nails all weekend - Nubar Gem. I just recently acquired some Nubars in a swap :) so this brand is fairly new to me. I had it on aaaaallllll weeekend, so please excuse the chips. The wear was actually pretty good considering I was doing stuff with my hands - cooking, digging through things, ripping things open, splashing around in water... major tipwear, but that's because my nails are so short that I have a really hard time wrapping my tips, so I just skip it... This pictures really are quite hideous, but I wanted to tell you about this polish, cuz it really is so pretty...

The base for this holo glitter is sort of a beige-pink duochrome. The glitter is very dense and has a very pronounced prismatic effect. Making this polish a holo. I luuuuuuurve me some holo.

Yeah, I love this polish. It's definitely a winner. Usually I'm not the hugest fan of neutral coloured polishes, and at first I thought this would just be another beige holo like ChG FYI, but the duochrome base and the density of the holo glitter make it very unique. I also received Spark in the swap, and that's more like FYI - the glitter is not the same. They got the glitter just perfect in these Prism polishes -had they decided to put this glitter in a charcoal-coloured base, we would have easily had an original MPJ dupe. I want the rest of these Nubar Prisms - I have only Gem and Jewel. And I need the Sparkle collection. And the duochromes. Man, how did I not own any Nubars before?!

I'll be back later with my "My New Favorite Things" post.  Things of course all being polishes  :p

Massive Buildup of Hauls Post

I have so much to show you guys - I've been letting this stuff build up, and I haven't told you about any of it!  I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible and spare you from my rambling.

I've been swapping a lot lately, so I have swap hauls to show you.  Usually I have to mail my end out first, and as a result I have about 5 billion things I'm waiting for in the mail... but I have gotten a few so far.  Also, I ordered some Zoya stuff from spaboutique.ca - a 32 oz. Remove+, the Reverie collection 6-pack, and Indigo - but when my package arrived today, no Reverie!  And that's what I was most looking forward to - it's why I made the order in the first place!  Well, initially I wanted the Sparkle collection, but of course they never have the lastest stuff in Canada, so I got Reverie to tide myself over....  They stated on my invoice that they will ship it as soon as it becomes available, and that I should have received an email informing me that it was backordered.  Which I didn't.  Ugh.  I'm obviously going to have to call them.  I want my Reverie collection, and I wanna know when I'm getting it.  Not impressed, spaboutique.

Okay, enough bitching.  Here's my stuff!  I'll try to do it in the order I got it.... try.

This is Milani Cyberspace, which I mentioned in my last post, along with the extra I received - Love My Nails.... I forget the shade name.  It's a gold-shimmery corally peach colour - it's very pretty.  Thanks again, akk23!  :)  I'm doing another swap with her for another Milani holo - this time I'm getting the purple and green ones.

Zoya polishes I got from sparklingnails on ebay.  L-R: Nina, Bijou, Lexi, Zara, Ki and Midori.  I got Nina for my sister, and Lexi cuz, duh.  Smart markerting Zoya, those names.  My Zoya collection is steadily growing - I looove their polishes.  So far I've only worn Bijou and Zara - I'll show you pics.  I'm swapping for as many of them as I can, not to mention I was supposed to get Reverie.... grrr...  I'm getting mad thinking about Zoya.  Moving on...

Nfu-Oh flakies!  L-R: 44, 51, 52, 56 and 60.  I got these from ManateeMama, before all the drama with her on MUA happened.  It's kind of weird, because I got these from her with no problems whatsoever, and she was actually very nice and helpful and shared her MUA discount with me and basically sold me her konad kit for $20....  But what happened with her is horrible.  Whatever - it's been discussed to death and I'm not gonna get into it here.  If you wanna know more email me or leave a comment or something.  Ahem.  Anyway... yeah, Nfu-Oh's!  They rule, as you already know.  These are kind of old news, but I think I need the rest of them now.  Next!

Some drugstore goodies:

This is Nicole Midnight Madness, Revlon Minted, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Sprint, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, and NYX Silver Blue.  This what I have to say about these:  1.) MM looks like a less-sparkly, not-as-nice version of another Nicole I own, Blues In The Night.  2.) I have purchased Minted several times now, but keep opting to swap it to MUA memebers in the States who don't have access to it yet.  That's right, a collection was released in Canada before the US for once.  Also, hell froze over  :p  So this is seriously about the seventh bottle I've bought of this.  3.) I hate the Insta-Dri brush, with a fiery flaming passion, but I'll deal with it for this colour.  And I do like how fast they dry and how opaque they are.  I now own two - Grape Going and this.  And I intend to get Brisk Blue, Uptempo Plum (looks similar to ChG Stroll), the dark blue shimmer (Blazes of Blue?) and the dark forest green shimmer (can't remember the name).  4.) This is pretty, but sheer.  My nail wheel swatch needed like 8 coats.  5.) This is silver glitter with blue bar glitter.  tweet! :)

L-R: Milani Key Lime Shine, Milani Totally Cool, and Sally Hansen Project Runway - another Canadian exclusive that I've swapped away in the past.  The Milanis I found at Superstore!  w00t!  I've worn Totally Cool, and it's totally cool - purple with gold and red shimmer, similar to Claire's Magic.  I forgot to take a pic of it though before I took it off, which is like the first time I've ever done that.  Boo stupid me.

I actually forced myself to go into Walmart, and I found some goodness I've been lemming for awhile!  L-R: Wet N Wild Night Prowl (yay!), Blue Moon, Carribean Frost, Kaleidoscope and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue (yay!). 

These are the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicures I own.  All acquired within the past month.  I'm so bad.  L-R: Commander In Chic, Lavender Cloud, Kook-A-Mango, Calypso Blue, Shrimply Devine, Thinking Of Blue, Fairy Teal, Midnight in NY and Gray By Gray.  The brush is annoying but not as bad as the Insta-Dri one.  So far I've only worn TOB, and I LOVED it.  I'll show you a pic, I promise - too much haul to get through now.

Now for the Claire's and Icing stuff:

Icing Roger That and Laura's Fave.  I've worn Laura's Fave - it's a very nice aqua with blue shimmer.

L-R: Claire's supposedly scented polishes in Key Lime, Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum, and nonscented Kelly Green.  I don't know if they smell, but the SA at Claire's told me they do.  I own a lot of Claire's now:

The Claire's I own, not counting minis. L-R: Magic, Dreamcatcher, Mean Green, Fire, Green Confetti, Chunky Blue and Chunky Purple.  I want Chunky Green, and a couple others.

The unnamed mini shimmer set I got.  Sorry for the flash reflection.  Claire's mini sets are great, and this one is no exception.  I've worn the pink one (fourth from the left) so far, and it's gorgeous - dense glittery silvery shimmer, very glowy.

Another scented set!  This is Jolly Ranchers-scented.  L-R: Cherry, Grape, Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, Green Apple and another Cherry (I smell a swap extra for someone!)  I swatched Blue Raspberry on my nail wheel and yes!  It actually smells like a Jolly Rancher!  SWEET!  It was a pretty colour too, opaque in two coats.  I don't know what a top coat would do to these, but I hope they all smell as good as the one I swatched - Watermelon Jolly Ranchers is one of my favorite tastes/smells EVER!  I'm gonna be tempted to chew all my nails off when I wear these.  They also had a Hubba Bubba set that I think I'm gonna have to go back for...

Now the stuff I got at the mall that one day...

L-R: OPI Shim-merry Chic, DS Glow, DS Mystery, Lemonade Stand By Your Man, Parlez-Vous OPI?, Vodka and Caviar.  I got Vodka and Caviar because it reminds me of my boyfriend :)

L-R: OPI Do You Lilac It?, VaC again, DS Mystery again and Mad As A Hatter.  Finally got my hands on the full-size :)

I have no idea why blogger is deciding to rotate my pics.  But I don't know how to change it, so just deal with it.  This is GOSH Gypsy Blue and Nicole Mango Maven.  I guess this is more drugstore stuff, but whatever.  Mango Maven is begging to be on my toes.

Stroll and Street Racing.  With mini Seche Vites!  I found these at a small little random nail kiosk in the mall.  They had the whole Retro Diva collection!  I can't believe I paid retail ($9! ouch!) but I was so excited.  I may even go back and get more.

An army of Essies.  L-R: It's Genius, Tart Deco, The Cove Copper, Jackie Oh My! and After Sex. 

An old mini OPI set I found at the drugstore too.  L-R: Witch Arm, Glow-ink In The Dark, Tattoo You Want Candy?, and I Love Mummy.  Yes, I bought this set for the glow-in-the-dark one alone.  Glow-in-the-dark nail polish?  Hell yes please!  I'll probably never find the full-size one (although I've seen it on ebay for... way more than I'll ever pay), so I had to get the mini.  It works, too! (I tested).

Okay, and then one day last week when I was bored I wandered over to a little crappy nail salon down the street from my house to see if maybe they sold polish.  Not only did they sell it, they had a large selection of black-label OPIs!  I was overjoyed!  Even though they were selling the OPIs for ten bucks each (!) and the China Glaze for nine, I was so excited at stumbling across a whole cabinet of potential HTFs that I bought a few, including a strange No Room For The Blues that I thought was maybe something else that'd been mislabeled.

L-R: OPI Skinny Dip'n In Lake Michg'n, "No Room For The Blues", and My Fave Wave.

China Glaze Blk-Bila-Bong and "Oxygen" (ha!)

I was so excited about my find, I went home and took pics and posted them on the NB.  Only to have a couple NB'ers politely point out that NRFTB and Oxygen had clearly been frankened - apparently its common for salons to do that.  :( :( I was so disappointed!  Stupid salon!  I don't want their failed experiments!  I know Blk-Bila-Bong, Skinny Dip'n and My Fave Wave are the unmolested real things, but I seriously just want to get rid of the two frankens.  Except I don't know what to do with them.  Maybe give them to the women's shelter?  Maybe my sister?  I don't want to give them to anyone who actually knows anything about polish, like as a swap extra or anything, because they'll be like, "Wth?  This is NOT Oxygen," or whatever.  Ugh.  So that was a half-fail.

Then these are some more things I've received in swaps: 

L-R: Zoya Verushka, Zoya Kotori, OPI She's Golden, China Glaze White-Kwik-Silvr (almost have all of the Surf collection!  Just need Pink-Rox-E), Nubar Angelic Glitter (my first Nubar! Now I need the rest of their glitters, the Prisms, and Peacock Feathers), and a mystery OPI mini extra.  Thanks sirducksus! :)  I loooove Kotori - shimmery complex aqua blue.  I haven't worn it yet but I'm gonna soon.

Zoya Irene, Zoya Envy and a L'Oreal Bijou Gems extra in B. Strong.  I have a couple of these old Bijou Gems already - a fuchsia pink, a neon coral and an orange.  Thanks SnapHappy!  :)

And I got these just this morning :)  L-R: Orly Glam, China Glaze 5 Golden Rings, Tinsel and Medallion.  Also included was some LifeSavers.  Thanks HelloKinky! :)  I plan to use 5GR and Tinsel to make my very first franken.  I saw it here.  I love that blog, btw.

Also received in a swap is OPI DS Glamour!  Which I can't find a pic of at the moment, sorry  :(  But I love it so much and I can't wait to wear it!  Thanks special12!

Also recieved this morning:

The half-complete Zoya order from spaboutique. Grrr.  32 oz. Remove+, Indigo, and the free OPI Mango stuff that I got.  Indigo is gorgeous, a deep sapphire blue with multicoloured glitter (reminds me of a certain HTF HG Essie...), but I want my Reverie set dammit!  I gotta finish up this post so I can email them.

And then, last but not least, look what I bought off a lady on Craigslist for $40!  I scored!

A bunch of old OPIs!  Almost all black-label too!  What is my obsession with black-label OPIs, you ask?  The formula, man!  The formula!  I wish they still made them like that - toxic, nasty-chemical goodness!  The lady used to be an esthetician, and was getting rid of her supplies.  I bought all of her good np's  :)

Blue Moon Lagoon (yay!), Merryberry Mauve Glitter Top Coat (yay!), and Jewel Of India.  Are there two Merryberry Mauves - a glitter top coat and a shimmer, like the Sugarplum Yum set?  Cuz they have one available on TD, and I may get it if it's different from this....  The SY set sells on evilbay for $35!

Can't-A-Berry Have Some Fun?, You Ottaware Purple, Amazing Lazing Lilac.

Sweet Heart, an unknown sheer pinky-beige whose label fell off - could even be another Sweet Heart, but looks a bit different (this is driving me crazy, btw), Alpine Snow, and an Acrylic Nail Base Coat that I said I didn't want because I have no use for it, but she included in the bag anyway. 

And guess what else was included in the deal?

Misa Decadent Drifter and Chanel Perle Rose!  DD is a blue-pink duochrome that I've been wanting ever since I saw it on Scrangie's blog.  And a Chanel?  Sure!  I'll take it!  I don't care what colour it is, I'll take it!  Yay, my first Chanel polish!  :)  And it's a shimmery tan colour with pink iridescence - very pretty.  I think this was a sweet score for forty bucks.  Compared to what I paid for those horrible nail salon frankens, I got a helluva deal here.  It pays to seach Craiglist for nail polish occasionally, as you can see  :)

Well, that's all the haul I have to show you for now.  I'm still waiting for my Reverie set, plus I plan on ordering the China Glaze Poolside collection as soon as stupid Transdesign decides to finally put it up >:(  and I have a lot of swaps I'm still expecting.  Orly Enchanted Forest, OPI At Your Quebec& Call, a bunch more Zoyas, some more Misas, some Pure Ice.... lotsa good stuff!  I gotta make a checklist, actually....  Also I want to go to Sally's tomorrow, and I'm planning on going to the States Thursday - here I come Sinful and Hot Topic!  :)  I wish I could go to an Ulta.

Anyway, I have another backup of NOTD's that I promise I'll show you, as well as the stuff I'm gonna get and the swap hauls as they come in.  So, that's all for now!