hrmph

guys, I suck :(
I know that I've been SUPER lax on this blog but I PROMISE that you'll see more of me! Everything's been crazy trying to get my sister settled back and they've really started cracking down on internet usage at work so I can't check in as much, but I've acquired some really great tools for this nail painting shenanigans that I love so dearly and I can't WAIT to share them with you.
Love you guys. Don't count me out yet!!

xo,
ali.

A love affair

so, listen. I know I said I would post last night but stuff happened. Good stuff. I went to Zumba with my bestie and then Skyped with  my sister. SHE'S MOVING BACK TO BUFFALO. This little lady is coming back home, this summer. I'm so excited. Her boyfriend got a transfer to our airport. AH. Yay ^_^

Okay. I told you I had a rad mani for you girls. And, I do. I was a little wary of doing this mani, but it turned out fabulous. I got the idea from Jane @ Nailside. Her nail art and manis are AMAZING. I'm so envious of her skills.

For this mani, I used OPI Russian Navy. It's a new favorite. It's GORGEOUS. I'll show you the pictures then we'll chat. I have another gem to share with you in this post too.

holy God.

This color has such depth to it. I say it's because of the red and purple flecks in the navy base.

I found this bottle when I went into a salon on Saturday. I had a gift certificate for $10 and the salon is kind of expensive so, I thought I'd use it for a good cause--adding to my stash ;)

I was poking through the nail polish (limited selection) and had just about settled on Planks-A-Lot, but I stumbled on this and I was done. I took one look at the bottle and how the light was hitting it and I was in love.

Check out the rest of the pictures :)

These are all with flash under artificial light.

I did two coats. Application was fabulous. The perfect consistency. A little sheer on the first coat but the color buildup after two coats is lovely!

Natural light.

How did i do it? I know you're asking. It's suuuuuper easy. All you need are a base coat, your color of choice, hole reinforcements, and top coat. I tear the reinforcement stickers in half and stick it to my nail. Then you just paint 2 (or 3 or 4, etc) coats on of your color and peel them off. Easy-peasy.

Now...the other bit of the post.

I got my first Julep Maven box today! I just got the shipping notification on Monday so I couldn't believe it was here already!

my package included a full-size Glycolic Hand Scrub, which I'm hoping will help the skin around the free edge of my nail

safe as kittens!

I received Anne (purple) and Kelly (nude)

I'm hoping that the nude will be a full coverage nude and be my go-to for "mannequin hands."

That's all for tonight. I can't wait to do manis for these and share them with you!

Until next time!

xo, ali.

no more mushy brain!

Hello ladies! I'm just posting really quick to let you know that I'm still here. I had a quiet weekend but that's because of a stressful day at work on Friday and then MORE yesterday. My brain was just about shot. All I wanted to do last night was kick back, relax, and watch Bones. Mission accomplished.

But it's back to business, now. My brain has recovered from the ridiculous deadlines I've had to meet at work and I'm ready to go. I have a rad mani on right now and if you follow me on Instagram (ali_golightly--follow me!!), you've seen it.

I'll be sharing it with all you lovely ladies here, later on tonight.

Stick around!!

Until next time.

xo, ali

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Shadow Pallette

I said I would be back ;) Did you miss me?

Tonight, I want to talk eye shadow with you ladies. I LOVE it. Love love love. It's right behind nail polish as far as how much I have. I'm constantly buying it and now that I've found these Wet N Wild ColorIcon palettes, I won't be able to stop. I have a few of the 3-pan palettes, but this is my first 8-pan. 

This is Petal Pusher. 

On the back, they give you some ideas on how to work the look :)

I love how each shadow is kind of embossed with the best place to use them. It makes your eye makeup fool-proof! Especially if you've just swiped some on there in the past.

Usually, I use 4 shadows from one side or the other. The darker side is great for a smoky eye when you go out. and the more purple side is perfect for a low-key or going to work.

I LOVE THESE. The color payoff is great. The color builds very well and they go on velvety smooth. In fact, I can't believe that I only have one of these so far. I definitely have to get the other two I've seen-a teal/blue palette and a neutral/brown palette. They run about $3.99 at your local Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, etc.

I also swatched the colors, shown below:

the swatches are in the order of the palette. Purple side.

blurred to see all the shimmer, especially in the third swatch.

smoky side.

a little blurry for shimmer

I also did a look, using the smoky side, but only using the first three shadows.

In addition to the Wet n Wild shadows, I used Essence gel eyeliner in Black and Maybelline Falsies mascara in Blackest Black.

Have you tried these shadows yet? What did you think?

until next time!!

xo, ali

quick nots (nail of the saturday)

hello, ladies!!

I'm sorry that it's been a week since my last post...I had a wicked busy weekend as I mentioned I would in my last post and then the weather reverted two months to February and it was terrible out on Monday and Tuesday. I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING.

But, I do have a post in mind for you dolls that I plan to put up later tonight.

It's not about nail polish, though. It's about my other cosmetic love--makeup! Wet N Wild to be exact. I can't wait to share it with you :)

To make this nail relevant, I'll leave you with an Instagrammed picture of my zoo mani from Saturday.

see you guys later!!

xo,ali.

a first time for everything

wednesday! such a great day...it means the hardest part of the week is over and we're cruisin to the weekend. My weekend stands to be quite exciting...I'm going to Erie to visit my sister and we are taking a little trip down route 79 with her boyfriend to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Saturday. I can't wait :)

I have a quick post for you ladies before I paint my nails, again. Work was wicked stressful today and apparently hard on my nails b/c my fresh mani that I did last night chipped to smithereens. Ugh.

This was my first time stamping, and I think it turned out decent, but I definitely need to practice more. No problem there ;)

For those of you that were wondering, the Salon Express stamping kit is GREAT. The stamper is wonderful to work with, double-sided. The only complaint I have is that the scraper scratches the plates so I'm going to try the gift card method next, but it's definitely worth the $10 that it costs at your local drug stores.

For this mani, I used:

1 coat Sally Hansen CSM Base Coat

2 coats Avon Powerful Pink

Stamping done in Wet N Wild Black Creme

Enjoy!! Let me know what you thought about this mani :)

the sunlight was really good on the way to work this morning. It's seriously the only time that I have to use natural light for these shots. Blah.

my favorite nail haha... my left thumb. I love the way it turned out :)

until next time!

xo, ali.

26 facts about yours truly :)

Hello lovely ladies!! I hope that you are doing well and are into the swing of things this week.

I know I was absent this weekend...I kind of wanted to keep it lowkey and didn't really do much of anything but watch movies and tv and sleep.

I want to welcome all of my new followers. Thanks for joining in the fun :)

Because I have lots of new friends, I wanted to share this little questionnaire that I got from http://www.glitterobsession.com/ so you can find out more about me!

A is for Age: 27, but I'll be 28 on May 20th :)

B is for Breakfast today: coffee on the way into work, then we had a customer service mini-seminar with muffins, cinnamon rolls, danishes, and bagels.

 

C is for current Craving: a Cadbury Creme Egg, but I didnt bring any with me today :(

 

D is for Dinner tonight: Not sure yet. My mom is an awesome cook and whips things up, so I'm sure it will be good.

 

E is for favorite type of Exercise: Zumba!! I go with my best friend, twice a week and walk 3 or 4 times a week.

F is for irrational Fear: Dying alone.

G is for Goals you have for yourself: Be a successful blogger, get a place of my own.

H is for Hometown: Born in Tulsa, OK, but live in Akron, NY

that's Main Street. We are Smalltown, USA

I is for something Important: My family and friends

J is for current favorite Jam: D'Yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin. I've got my ipod on random while I "work." David Cook was just on.

K is for Kids: None of my own, but I have an amazing 5, almost 6, year old niece that loves Spiderman and blue nail polish.

M is for the most recent way you spent Money: Tim Hortons French Vanilla Iced Coffee, triple triple.

 

N is for something you Need: to work on my actual work associated with my job; swatch and post more

 

O is for Occupation: i work in mortgage's, specifically with taxes and escrow.

 

P is for Pet Peeve: so many. Unchivalrous men. Rude people. Whistling. Disrespect. Arrogance.

Q is for a Quote: "What is meant to be will always find a way."

R is for a Random fact about you: I have 5 tattoos, getting a few more in the near future.

S is for the most random place(s) you have ever Slept: on the Metro in Paris. I was in high school and we had been sightseeing all day and I was exhausted. 

T is for favorite Treat: a piece of chocolate or birthday cake.

U is for something that makes you Unique: There's lots that make me unique. I'd have to say that my sense of style and how I put together outfits and accessories.

V is for favorite Vegetable: Corn. And I love a good salad.

W is for today’s Workout: ZUMBA!

X is for X-rays you’ve had: chest, when i knocked my two front teeth out and they thought i swallowed one; tailbone, knee

Y is for Yesterday’s highlight: Bones :)

Z is for your time Zone: Eastern

There *will* be a polish post coming soon. I wanted to stamp over what I'm currently wearing, so that will be either tonight or tomorrow :)
 until next time.

xo, ali

Nail Mail!

I told you ladies I'd be back tonight. And here I am :) The day is finally over. I went for my walk in the stupid cold and wind (stupid because IT IS APRIL.). I ate dinner and now I'm watching Glee. I'm so glad its back. Although I'm a little weirded out by how they are handling the Quinn storyline...

But you're not here to talk Glee, are you? No. You're here for the polish.

I got some nail mail yesterday when I was having a terrible day and it just made my day better :) I purchased some polishes from Jacki @ Adventures in Acetone's blog and managed to get my hands on OPI Love Is A Racket. And two Elf polishes that I will definitely be showing you in the near future because they are perfect spring/summer colors. 

Love Is A Racket is pinky red jelly with blue undertones and FILLED with glass flecks in red. It's gorgeous. I could not stop looking at my hands today.

Ready? I don't think you're ready for this jelly hahahaha.

*ahem*

outside, cloudy, no flash

outside, cloudy, flash

tip wear :(

that's what I get for tippity-typing away at work all day.

you can see some of the flecks in the polish.

extreme closeup, trying to capture the flecks.

this was taken on an iPhone. I'm quite impressed but I do need to charge my actual point and shoot and start using that to take pictures.

Oh, I'm in LOVE with this polish. Love. It's so...juicy!

that's all from here.

until next time.

xo, ali

Hoppy Easter!

hey ladies! Just a quick post from the office because I know I didn't get a chance to post yesterday.

I hope you all had a great Easter/Passover and were able to spend time with your loved ones.

I had a great Easter. My mom, dad, sister, and I all got dressed up and went to church, followed by brunch at one of our local golf courses. And the brunch included a mimosa, which I love, and my family loves. Because we are fancy :) Brunch was delicious...all sorts of breakfast foods and pastries and lunch/dinner foods. Then it was Easter basket time!! Lots of chocolate and jelly beans. AND. Cadbury Creme Eggs. My number one favorite Easter candy.

Also, in my Easter basket was this little beauty!!

yay!! Time for stamping! It's just the as seen on TV kit, but I can't wait to buy some more plates to use with it. I havent had a chance to use it yet, but I can't wait.

I haven't used it yet because I have OPI Love is a Racket on and it's gorgeous! I'll be showing you that later tonight.

See you then!!

xo, ali

Let's Go To The Tropics!

Hey ladies!! It's Thursday night. Isn't that a beautiful thing? I'm glued to American Idol, right now and relaxing because I have a busy weekend ahead of me. It will all be worth it because my sister, Ashley @ Fatto Con L'Amore, is coming home for the weekend!! You guys should definitely check her out...she makes amazing adorable awesome cards and has some great packages available. Tell her that her fabulous older sister sent you ;)

We have lots planned--Titanic in 3D on Friday night; pedis, lunch, and shopping with our mom on saturday; and Easter goodness with our parents (church, brunch, lil gifties, chocolate, and CADBURY CREME EGGS)!!

My midweek mani definitely has me longing for the beach and 80 degree weather. It's only been in the low 50s this week and I could use some heat. Right now,  I'm rocking Wet n Wild MegaLast Tropicalia and it is GORGEOUS. I'll definitely be sporting this A LOT this summer.

Tropicalia is a pinky coral that looks amazing in natural light as above.

indirect sunlight, with a little prop from my mom's Easter arrangement on our front porch.

one more shot...ugh, just gorgeous!!

I have no idea what I'm going to do for Easter nails. Plus, my mom said she got me something for my nail art for Easter. I'm super excited!! I'll definitely be posting about that AND my Easter nails :)

Idol is killing me tonight--Elise is in the bottom two :( Thankfully Philip was safe. They are my picks this season.

The Sabres, on the other hand, are doing great. We're down to the last two games of the regular season--the Flyers and Bruins, and we're tied with the Capitals for the final playoff spot. It's the 2nd intermission and we're beating the Flyers 1-0. Fingers crossed!!

Go Sabres!!

Until next time.

xo, ali

me and my nail polish addiction

Hey ladies!! Happy Tuesday :)
Tonight is only a quick lil post cuz I'm beat. I went for a 3.5 mile walk tonight after and I guess I hadn't exactly worked my way back up to that from last summer.
I also want to say thank you to my 15 followers! i'm so thankful for your support :)
Ready to find out how my obsession started? Here we go!!


What got you into nail polish?

As a bigger girl, I couldn't always wear the trendy stuff shown in the magazines but I could accessorize and paint my nails. Plus, it was something to do between incoming calls at a customer service job I had. 
Your age/age range?
27, going to be 28 in May

How many polishes?

I haven't counted but I must have between 50 and 100

Favourite brand?

for drugstore brands, i LOVE Sinful Colors. They have such an amazing color range and wear really well. For salon brands, I really like Essie and Zoya. I love how Zoya names their colors after women so I can buy my best friends their name polish ;)

Favourite polish?

I'd say Essie Demure Vixen because it's not a loud color but it's still unexpected. I also love OPI I'm Not Really A Waitress and China Glaze For Audrey

Mani no-no?

acrylics!! and i have fallen victim to this in the past but no more.

Favourite effect?

from time to time i like crackle but i do also love duochrome polishes

Crackles - yay or nay?

it depends on my mood.

Do you franken?

no! but i wanna try...i think it would be easy to dupe deborah lippmann's ray of light.

Favourite polish blog (other than your own!)?

I love Chloe's Nails and that's where I first learned to do tape manis (hers are BOMB) and All Lacquered Up was one of the first nail blogs i started reading so it has a special place in my heart.

Guilty secret?

my nails peel so I sometimes *help* that along

Real, acrylics or falsies?

real although I've had acrylics...it's just a lot of upkeep and I like painting my own nails.

Lemming?

It WAS OPI Love is a Racket but I just ordered that from Adventures in Acetone's blog sale. I'd say it would be Essence Irreplaceable. It's so pretty and beige and sparkly.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your nails?

probably making jewelry more often.

Top polish tip?

for perfect french manis---TAPE.

Favourite mani?
Probably the one I just posted yesterday. I love how it's fun but it's also sophisticated  :)


I linked up to Glitter Glam Sparkle Shine, so make sure you check out her blog!! She has great swatches :)

 hope you enjoyed!!
until next time.
xo, ali

she's always buzzing just like neon, neon

hello, lovely ladies!! hope you are all doing well and had a relaxing weekend. Mine was very quiet--volunteering, movies, and sleeping. oh, and nail painting :)

The mani that I chose for the first part of the week (depending on how long it takes to look tore up) is something that is showing up on racks everywhere. Neons and neutrals. I'm trying it out on my nails first, until I work up the courage to try it on my wardrobe. Which will probably happen soon. I'll try anything.

anyways. I started with 2 thin and one thick coat of L'Oreal Honeysuckle, which was a one-off from Christmas Tree Shop. I was digging through a bin of hundreds of bottles of an ugly peach color when i stumbled upon it. and I thought it would be pale enough to give me some semblance of "mannequin hands." Honeysuckle is a VERY sheer beige jelly. You could paint it on all day and still not reach opacity, IMO. Definitely a great polish for funky french or regular french manis.

Then, I taped off my tips and used Zoya Ali, which was my first Zoya polish, expressly because it was in my name-correct spelling and all! 

I also used Nina Ultra Pro in Solar Flare for an accent nail on each hand. Both of these colors are true neons. Ali is a neon pink and Solar Flare is a bright, in your face, neon yellow.

morning sunlight, at a stop light, on my way to work.

with flash and quite true to color.

That's all from me. What do you think?

Gonna tuck up with some Toddlers & Tiaras on instant Netflix and cuddle with my cat, Doug. 

until next time.

xo, ali

We Want to Know Wednesdays!

Hello, my loves!! Taking a little break from the polish b/c last night's manicure is sticking pretty well, so I thought I'd introduce something new from *Dandelion Wishes* called

*Dandelion Wishes* is a great blog run by Colleen and sometimes her hubby, "Big Daddy," too :)

We Want to Know Wednesdays are a pretty cool way to get to know your fellow bloggers by posing 5 questions about a certain topic. This week's topic is money

Here we go!!

{1} What is something that you currently spend money on that you consider a splurge or frivolous?

Something that is definitely frivolous is documented here...nail polish/makeup. I LOVE IT. I can't stop buying it but it's definitely a frivolity. Once Lent is over, i have a lot of catching up to do ;)

{2} Tell us about your first paying job. How old were you?

First paying job was a cashier at a grocery store chain in WNY--Tops. I was probably about 15 or 16 and saving for a trip to France. I started as a cashier and at the end of two years, I was working at the customer service desk
{3} Do you plan date nights and extras into a monthly/weekly budget?

If there is something that I really want, I save for it over a couple of paychecks. Right now, I've got my eye on a rose gold watch from Fossil once Lent is over :)

{4} Share one of your money saving tips with us.

I don't have any, haha. I try to maintain a savings account but that never ends well. I'm trying really hard because I want my own apartment within a year. Giving the money to my mom to put away works well, too. Also, COUPONS.

And finally, Christine @ http://cmgendreau.blogspot.com wants to know:

{5} If you won the lottery - would you spend it frivolously or use what you need and save the rest? Why?

I definitely would do some shopping...What not to Wear style, take $5000 and buy clothes, shoes, and bags...maybe a house and a new car, then save the rest in some type of account that earns a good amount of interest.

that's all for me, tonight :) about to finish watching idol and hit the hay...tomorrow's another day and I gotta be prepared for anything.

until next time

xo, ali

megan's got a lovely secret

hello, beautiful girls!! i hope you are all doing well :) I had a great weekend...saw THE HUNGER GAMES. Holy, my goodness, was it amazing!! exactly like the book. I had goodies from start to finish. Before I saw the Hunger Games, my friend Blair and I went for ear candling. It sounds dangerous, but it's really not. Basically, they use fabric that's been rolled into a hollow cylinder. They put it through a hole in a tin plate and stick it in your ear. Then they light it and as it burns and generates smoke, the smoke creates a vacuum and sucks all the garbage in your ear into the center of the cloth.

there's me, getting it done!! I sleep like that too haha (except then I have my eyes closed and don't have a candle in my ear).

There's a reason you're here and I know it's not to see my pretty face haha. You're here for the polish! Who am I to make you lovely ladies wait??

Tonight's mani is brought to you by a little Birchbox find and my first essence :)

I started with Sally Hansen Salon Manicure base coat and two coats of Zoya Megan, which was a mini in the January Birchbox

this is under artificial light

with flash.

thennn, I got out my trusty tape, cut it into a triangle 

and painted over it with Essence Colour n Go A Lovely Secret

super easy, super fast, super cute!

(with flash)

A Lovely Secret is a mute purple with purple glass flecks in it. This is my first essence and I love it. I definitely need to get more :)

overhead lighting.

You guys like? I hope so!!

Be back soon with something else fabulous!!

until next time.

xo, ali

ps. sorry about the corny subject line haha

You need some whimsy!!

oh heyyyy! I'm back again. You guys are probably getting sick of me :P 

I hope not!!

Designer Satin was starting to chip pretty badly on my index fingers but that's just because I'm really hard on my nails, all day with typing at work and whatnot. Not to mention, they always peel really bad. I'm trying to get them to not but it's a struggle. The base coat that I used has Biotin and Spirulina in it and it helps a little bit. I guess, I should try to not be so anemic...hah!

As I'm posting, this, I'm watching...you guessed it! Idol. I don't get the Lana Del Rey hype. Her voice is so whiny! But I loved Haley Rhinehart's song. I really liked her last season. She definitely grew on me. Fox keeps showing commercials for Glee and Bones and I'm shifting from super-sad to ecstatic between the two. I can't wait for Baby Bones. I'm gonna need tissues. Even this is getting me excited:

how adorable!!

My sister and I have been trying to figure out what they are gonna name her. It's KILLING us. April 2nd can not come fast enough!!

Anyways. As my subject, says, y'all need some whimsy in your life! And what better way to put some there than by showing Revlon Whimsical? It's a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter In the Air and I love it. Love love love. So pretty. But, it's really sheer so it's definitely a layering polish. And that's great because that means it will last longer!

To start, I used two coats of China Glaze For Audrey, which is a pale aqua, just like those famous boxes ;)

It doesn't look that patchy in real life, I swear!! I don't know where that came from.

Then, I added two coats of Whimsical. Whimsical is a pale, pale sheer light blue with large pink and blue hex glitter, small silver hex glitter, and almost invisible aqua iridescent glitter.

sighhhhh...so pretty!

until next time!

xo, ali

third time's a charm!!

hey lovelies!! I'm back again! I don't know if I should tell you to get used to the regularity or not. I like being dependable to my ladies, though.

I am posting so late (for me) because I had to watch Idol. My girl, Elise, killed it with her rendition of "Vienna" and my boo Philip Phillips did amazing with "Movin' Out." Both are Billy Joel songs; the theme tonight was the Billy Joel songbook. It was a very entertaining Idol. I grew up listening to Billy Joel and absolutely love him. If you watch Idol, who are you rooting for? Tell me about it!

On to the nail polish!!

My third manicure that I want to show you is pretty plain but the color is a knockout. I definitely didn't have anything like this in my collection before I bought it. I used three coats of China Glaze Designer Satin, a creamy magenta color. I think it's great for any time of year. I used one coat of Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Base Coat and one coat of Essie No Chips ahead for my top coat. Let's take a look!

in sunlight (while I was catching up on Pretty Little Liars)

with flash. The flash makes it look pinker than it really is. Under the lighting in my office, it definitely was more of a plum magenta (if that exists).

Ta-da! Designer Satin. 

She is a BEAUTY. Went on very smooth. My only complaint is that after two coats, there were still some streaks and patchiness. I usually just want to do two coats and be done, but I can definitely put up with three coats for this lovely color!

I gotta vote for my Idols and head to bed. Have a great night!!

Until next time.

xo, ali