So much going on!

First of all, I apologize for being such a horrible blogger and I hope to be better with it as soon as I take off this stupid shellac! First I was home in PA for 2 weeks working a ton of hours at the hospital, and then directly after I came back to Dayton I had to leave again for a bachelorette party weekend, and since then I've been terribly sick, and also I've started working two jobs! I got the shellac done after the bachelorette party. Don't get me wrong, it's really pretty, I'm glad I got it to see what it's like. I had a Groupon for it so it was $9 instead of the original $38, and I wanted to see what it was all about. Mostly I didn't believe any kind of polish would last 2 weeks without a chip - my nails chip like crazy usually. But, I have to say it's been 10 days today and not a SINGLE chip - very cool! Here's a picture the day after I got it.

I am too lazy to take more pictures right now, but I can honestly say that after 10 full days, washing dishes, even picking at it like I always do - it looks completely the same. HOWEVER - I don't think this was for me, at least not as into nail art as I am right now. It's been torture to not be able to try new colors and designs! I've done my toes but it's not the same! Anyway, onto other stuff.

I had vowed to make June my no-buy month because I spent SO much in May. So, it's now June 13th...can we all have a moment of silence for June-no-buy-month? It died today...RIP.

It all started when I had to go to Walgreen's for prescriptions. I finally had a doctor's appt today because I've been sick since I came home from Put-in-Bay a little over a week ago. I had a 101 fever for a couple days, horrible cough, pain when I breathe or swallow any food or drink, and I can't hear out of my left ear and it hurts - turns out it's pneumonia! Plus a bad ear infection. I've never had it before but I can't wait to feel better - it's been really hard to work while I feel this bad. Anyways, so of course I was at Walgreen's picking up my prescriptions and they had certain shades of Essie on sale for $4!! HALF off the usual $8 price.

Okay, the one on the left I bought a while ago and it wasn't on sale. But oh well! The other three were half off. From left to right: Light, Bazooka, She's Picture Perfect, and No More Film.

Well, then I had a couple coupons, so I figured since June no-buy month had died anyway, why not??

I had a coupon for $2 off Revlon, PLUS when I got to Rite Aid, they were BOGO half off! From left to right: Mysterious, Dreamer, Smoldering, and Saucy. I can't wait to try these :D

I had a coupon for $1 off Julie G, and I loved this gorgeous neon pink - it's called Oh Em Gee! Sinful was on sale so picked up a new Snow Me White and a new color - Fiji. I decided to give Chameleon ONE more try and hope this formula is better because this color (Waltz) was really pretty. And the last one, Julep in Alfre was FREE with a voucher I got in my June maven box (see below)!

I got Lauren and Claire for my polish colors, and they came with cute matching Pixie Sticks, which Nick ate, haha. I am also super excited to try the Daylight Defense face and hand cream, it sounds like a great daily face lotion to switch to, but I'm having major face issues lately so I have to wait until that clears up.

ANYWAYS so that's the update on what I've been doing lately. My doctor recommended that I rest and take it easy, but I have been working one job part-time and I start the second one tomorrow which sounds like it's going to be eight hour shifts so I'm going to be doing twelve hour days starting next week. Plus my part-time job is a lot of driving which takes up extra time and gas. :/ OH, not to mention my friend is getting married next weekend so I need to hurry up and get better fast!! Hopefully I will update soon with some swatches or nail art, this shellac is coming off either tonight or tomorrow I can't resist anymore! Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather for me since I really can't, haha.


Kelly

Duochromes

Here are some pictures I took last week when I tried out a couple of duochrome polishes. I read about these polishes on a few different sites, and from what I gather, it just means that they change colors in the sun. Apparently, Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms were a really popular and pretty duochrome brand a while back, but they don't make them anymore - luckily I found one when raiding my mom's old stash from when she worked in a makeup department! I tried it out and it was really pretty! Of course, I did it too close to bedtime and it got smudgy - even Seche Vite couldn't save it, but the differences in color were pretty awesome anytime. Here it is!

This is what it looks like with the flash, at night time. This color is called Amber Ruby, and it went from a dark bronze to more of a yellow-y goldish color in sun.

This is when I woke up, so you can see the sheet creases. But I couldn't believe how much the color changed in the sun! Definitely a polish I will try again another time (long before I go to bed)!

So, I liked this color so much I decided to try another duochrome that I saw at Rite Aid - Scherer's Chameleon. I always see these at my Rite Aid but for whatever reason never end up getting them, maybe because I wasn't in love with the colors they had in stock. But I went to a different Rite Aid and they had more colors, including this one - Blue Sky, and I liked it so I decided to try it.

In natural light, but in the shade. It was a sort of steel-y blue that reminded me of metal. Really pretty, but the formula was a nightmare - not sure why. After I put it on, I looked up some reviews (maybe something I should have done BEFORE buying it) and I guess a lot of people had this problem with the formula. For me, it applied really streaky and there were even lumps in it. And for the record, I applied to completely clean, dry nails so I'm not sure what the problem was. I ended up just having to apply really thick coats, and I did about three coats plus two coats of Seche Vite...it ended up evening out all right, but still was not happy with the formula overall.

In the sun, outside (in my car). It became much more metallic looking and when I would turn it in the sun, it shifted back and forth between colors in a way that was really interesting.

Another picture in the sun. Overall, I'd probably buy it again if I saw any more colors I liked a lot, since it's pretty cheap (only 2.99). Also, I'm not sure if I just got a bad bottle and it might not be as streaky normally. I think for me, the bottom line here is that I really like duochrome polishes and I would definitely be open to trying more in the future - except not til July. I've resolved that June is my no-buy month. :P



Kelly