Hiatus.

I hate to do this because my loyal commenters/followers have always been amazing to me... but this blog is going on an indefinite hiatus. My life is such a whirlwind right now & have much going on, that I don't have enough inspiration or even really the time, to devote to polishing my nails everyday, making sure to take pictures, and making sure to blog.

If you'd like to still keep up with me, or develop an understanding of whats going on, you can find me at my other blog listed below. I will still follow and comment all of you.. but for now, this blog isn't my main focus. And I don't think its fair to my readers to post here and there and just disappear for weeks.

Nicole by OPI * Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite nail polishes ever.. and I honestly thought I would hate it. I'm not really much of a teal or green person.. and I didn't think this would be very flattering... but I lucked out and loved it.

China Glaze * Flying Dragon

I'd be lying if I said I didn't buy this polish solely for the name. Luckily, I wound up LOVING it.. Its such a beautiful purple... and it has some shimmer to it, but I can never capture that on camera, lol. So don't use this as an accurate swatch. You can probably tell I'm reaching back into my archives for these ;)

natural light.

natural light

indoors with flash

Revlon * Blue Lagoon

{{I'm diggin' into my archives for the next few days to keep this lil blog a little happenin' and active.. I hope you enjoy.}}

Today I have for you... Revlon Blue Lagoon... I keep hearing that this is a dupe of Sinful Colors Cinderella, but I haven't compared them side by side, yet. This is absolutely a beautiful color though... Too bad I have so many untrieds to try... otherwise this would make its appearance on my nails quite regularly. 

Do you have Blue Lagoon? Do you own any dupes for it?

Julep * Alicia

{{I'm diggin' into my archives for the next few days to keep this lil blog a little happenin' and active.. I hope you enjoy.}}

Today I have for you one of my favorite Julep polishes, Alicia! Too bad that was my ex-boyfriends ex-girlfriends name that made our relationship hell... ANYWAY! I absolutely LOVE this peachy/corally color! I really wasn't too enthused about it when I got it in my Maven box, because I felt like my complexion wouldn't be flattering for it.. I was el wrongo! I LOVE this polish.. its been on my toes for like 3 weeks! Alicia is described by Julep as: "Sunny salmon, perfect for beach pedicures and fresh modern manicures." Absolutely! Alicia was actually my gateway polish to really deciding that I loved salmony/corally/peachy colors. 

Blurry and close... I love it.

What do you guys think? Are you a Julep Maven? Do you have Alicia?

Stamping fail.

"Turns out fairy-tales end when they do for a reason." 

-Gossip Girl

As you read this, I'm currently on vacation in Asheville with my mom visiting the Biltmore... But I wanted to make sure you guys had something to read... :)

Today I present to you... my very first stamping effort (this was several months ago)... and sort of a fail for me. I saw the Salon Express stamper in Walgreens and decided to get it and try it to see if I like stamping... turns out I fell in love with it, but I shouldve started small instead of trying a full nail stamp. Anyone that knows me knows that one of my favorite prints ever is zebra print... so as soon as I saw the zebra stamp.. I was like.. why the heck not?!

This was my base, Fly by OPI from the Nicki Minaj collection. Notice that my nails are always changing length and shape.... what can I say? i'm ADD.

After stamping, haha.... the only nail that came out halfway decent was the pointer finger. 

Better picture of the pointer finger..

Fly in natural light without the stamping... I LOOOVEE this color.

What do you think of my stamping fail?? The bug definitely bit me when I tried this, but I know I need to get a better stamper/plates if I want to be successful at all, lol. 

Disney Villains v. 1

"We lose more women to marriage than war, famine, and disease." 

-Cruella DeVille (101 Dalmations, 1996)

So this weekend, I actually went through and counted and inventoried all of my untrieds. I have over 180. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY untrieds... polishes that have never touched my nails. My goal is to make as big of a dent in these as possible before buying any new polishes... but to my defense, there will be some polishes that I just can't live without, lol. But I've gotten SOOOO good about resisting! Today I am going to start my Disney Villains series! Back in March I received 8 Disney Villains polishes from Nicole Tan. I absolutely love them all.. and considering how big of a Disney buff I am.. I had to have them as soon as she offered up to get them. They've been sitting in my untrieds bin since the day I got them!

PS I got my iPhone lens fixed today.. for 31 bucks! I AM SO HAPPY.. I can finally feel good about taking pics for my blog again, ha ha ha.. look at these pictures then look back at some of my posts.. you'll see how obvious the haze was.. it was getting supremely annoying.

I'm starting with magentaish/pink Cruella DeVille! Its also labelled number 38 if that will help anyone!

The evolution of this mani will follow below.... :)

This polish is actually a VERY sheer jelly. This is 2 thicker coats. I knew it wouldn't be worth it really to do a 3rd.. so what does one do when a polish is sheer like this?

You add GLITTER! This is one coat of Coverband's Sticks & Stones.. what an amazing glitter! 

So lovely.. but as much as I loved this... I wanted to take it up a notch...

So I made a glitter sammich... this is not like the traditional glitter sammich's I see.. but I love how this turned out. All I did was one final coat of Cruella over the Sticks and Stones.. It gives the white glitter an awesome pink tint.. even though its kind of hard to tell.. Click on the picture to enlarge and see it :)

I'm actually rather in love with this mani. 

Just a creative shot! 

What do you guys think?! Do you have any of the Villains polishes?

Checking in.

Hey guys... Just checking in.. letting you know I haven't abandoned this blog. I definitely have intentions on still posting here, but I feel like nail polish was starting to over-take my life a little bit so I decided to step back for awhile. Its kind of like I was substituting a material thing for anything else that was lacking in my life. I kind of get sick now thinking about how much money I've blown on nail polish in just the last 6 months since I've been hoarding it.

My plan of action at this point is to stop buying frivolously and begin focusing on the collection I already have, eventually focusing on stamping, and maybe foraying a little into nail art if I can steady my hands. I have plans on some new things entering the blog here, such as my favorite products, maybe even outfit's of the day... you know, just little things to spice it up a bit so I'm not SO focused on nail polish as a whole. 

Love you all.

Nail mail v.4

I have for you tonight, another new nail mail post... Thankful Thursday will return next week on my personal blog, The Discovery of Desirée Michelle. I have maybe 2 more major packages coming to me, then my nail mail will be over for awhile. I'm wanting to save for a new car, and I know every little bit will help, plus, I would like to focus on getting new polishes for my birthday ladies, and gentleman, rather than myself. I have one package coming from Dollish Polish.. and my first ever order from Harlow & Co containing my very first Model's Own polishes! So excited to get both.. PS. the lens on my iphone is driving me nuts. I think I may be able to get it fixed @the apple store.

The first set of nail mail I actually received last week... But I had forgotten to put it on my last post. I've been waiting for these preciouses since the 27th of January. Nicole was gracious enough to find them for me and send them all the way from Singapore! My very first international polish nail mail! As you can see, these are just some of the Disney Villains polishes. GAH the haze is driving me CRAZY! I'm sorry ya'll :( Some of these are jelly polishes -- which I'm excited to try, because I did my first jelly sandwich not too long ago, and I want to try again!

My second piece of nail mail was my replacement bottle of Hip Hop Hippity Hop from Dollish Polish! I like this version much better, and can't wait to try it! Besides, I love how she packaged it.. :)

I loooveee the blue organza bag! It does NOT take much to please me, lol.

My last bit of nail mail is from Pretty&Polished and her ETSY shop! Can you tell i'm REALLY into indie polishes lately? I dont even really look at mainstream brands anymore! 

I got a mini of Jawbreaker (which, I really wanted a full size one, but it got stolen outta my cart, lol) and a full size of Valentino.. I am IN LOVE with how Valentino looks in the bottle... can't wait to try it on my nails! 

Last but not least, I have a mini haul for you... I went to pickup a polish for one of my birthday buddies, and Walgreens had the new sinful colors display.. omg. I died. I had to get them. (notice the pretty picture of my sissy in the background!? :]) The one that I didn't pick up was Cinderella, only because I already have it! So excited to try these soon... a long with my other 100+ untried polishes, lol.

The polishes are: Flutter, Firefly, Sweet Dreams, Luminary, Glass Pink, Morning Star

Do you have any of these? Iris, I know you do!! :)

God.

Something amazing happened to me today. I need to share it. I feel at peace. A different kind of peace than I've ever felt in my life. I've never really had a relationship with God. I've never sat down and talked to Him about myself, my life, or my troubles. Sure, I pray when OTHER people need Him. But never when *I* need him. Since 2007, my life has definitely been a tumultuous roller coaster ride. I was with a guy for 4 years that destroyed every piece of me he possibly could. He destroyed my self-esteem. My relationships. Everything. The past 2 years, I've been in a really emotionally charged, complicated, relationship. And you can't even really call it that. I've made mistakes. I'm not proud of them. My mind has been swimming recently with all that I've experienced. All the failed relationships. The failed friendships. The tears. The heartache. The need and want just to be loved. 100%. No strings attached.

So today, more-so than any other day, I turned it all over to God. And the peace.. that sweet peace, that washed over me once I'd given it all over to Him, is something that I'll never forget. My mind is no longer swimming with how to make people love me. My mind is no longer swimming with how to fix things that are wrong with my life. My mind is no longer swimming with the concern that I'll never be good enough to find my prince charming. I've given it all to Him. He will lead me now. And, I think that is the one piece of my life that I have always been missing.

I find myself in friendships or relationships that do nothing but tear me down. I find myself struggling with so much depression on how to fix the friendships that have gone so terribly wrong. Or how to fix a relationship that is at this point, absolutely lost and not what I need in my life. He has been pulling me to Him more so than I could've ever imagined. I can't help but find myself thankful for the situations and hardships that have lead me to begin this new journey of discovery.

The majority of my life, my friends shoved religion down my throat. Getting mad at me for not following their rules. For not going to bible study or church with them... essentially shunning me. They failed to realize that each person finds God in their own ways. I am not someone that gives into things just because others want me to, ESPECIALLY such a close, personal relationship with God. I am not a perfect woman. I will never be a perfect woman, nor will I ever live a perfect, sin-free life. But finally, at the age of 25, I have realized that the only way to continue to live my life, is to have a relationship with the one who ultimately created me.

The changes going on inside of me are humbling. I feel like I'm rediscovering, or newly discovering, parts of me that have been long gone, or that I never knew existed. I've spent many, many years fighting with myself. Picking apart the pieces of me that I felt were wrong, or ugly. I've spent many many years carrying baggage and heartaches... wondering why I've never been good enough, strong enough, pretty enough. But here, now, in this moment.. I realize that I've ALWAYS been good enough, strong enough, pretty enough... in His eyes. I will never be a perfect woman and I certainly haven't lead a perfect life, nor will I.. But in His eyes, I will always be perfect. And amazing. And I need to grow in my relationship with Him, before I can grow in my personal relationships. He has been hitting me with hurricane force lately, with the situations I've found myself in. He has been talking to me... even when I wasn't listening.

I am humble on my knees tonight.
I have found the piece of me that was missing. Not a man. Or a best friend. Or food. Or a car.
God. and only Him.
It only took 25 years.

I have decided to branch off to a personal blog as well... Please join me on my journey of discovery/rediscovery of myself. My other blog will be located at... http://discoveryfodesiree.blogspot.com.

Dollish Polish v.1

"In a box full of Cheerios -- be a fruit loop."

Happy Sunday everybody! A couple quick housekeeping things... the winner for the Mermaids Dream giveaway was chosen by rafflecopter and it was KB! Thanks SO MUCH to everyone who entered and offered their feedback. I'm working on addressing everyone's feedback as it was all definitely positive. The first is that I created a FB page... not sure how well this will work for me, but you can find it here. Second, I'm working on the lighting for my pics thanks to the advice from Iris, who is quickly becoming one of my blogger besties. The only source of picture taking I have at the moment is my lovely iPhone, who's lens I just found out is scratched. My pics have had a foggy haze for the last couple of weeks, and well, that's the reason. I have a digital camera, but I left the battery charger on a cruise ship (oops!) so I'm in the process of seeing how to order a new one.

For today's post.. I have the most amazing polish for you. I've recently gotten into indie polish. I'd rather pay someone who works hard to hand make a beautiful polish than big polish brands.. I know. I'm a weirdo. My first ever indie polish buy was a huge order from Dollish Polish. Ever since I saw swatches of some of Dolly's polishes I knew I had to have some. Her stuff is simply amazing. So I will have a series focusing on each one of the polishes I've ordered from her, and I recently ordered more when her shop opened back up briefly. I tell ya, you gotta be with a quickness to order anything there! LOL.

First up in the Dollish Polish series is none other than Expecto Patronum. (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). This is an absolutely GORGEOUS polish. Its got a jelly/cremeish white base with blue glitter in it. It is absolutely stunning. It was perfect in 2 coats, but I'm notorious for 3. Pardon the lack of cleanup on this.. I didn't do my nails until late the night before, lol.

Natural light.

Indoor light.

Indoor light, again.

Sunlight.

Natural light.

What do you think of this polish? Do you love it? Hate it? Are you lemming it?