Ain't Gnome Other Man But You

Howdy!! Today is my last day of being 28- woo!! :-D Tomorrow I bake my cake (which is going to rock), and relax all day- thinking of going to a matinee or something. :-) Anyway- today, on the suggestion of my friend Chris, I did garden gnomes. I had them on my list but kept ignoring them. lol They didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but I ran out of time to redo them, I had my bowling league tonight (nerd, I know, but I bowled my best game ever - 167 without handicap- not amazing, but I was happy- I only failed to knock down 2 pins in the entire game!!). Anyway, I hope you like them regardless, I think they're cute, but as Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) says in Clueless, they're kinda like a Monet, From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess. :-P



I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base with American Apparel Hunter for background grass, then Sally Hansen All the White Stuff as a base for the gnome. For the gnomes' clothing, I used CND Anchor Blue for the blue, American Apparel Manila for the yellow, CND Electric Orange for the orange, and China Glaze Salsa for the red. For the belts and outlines, I used American Apparel Hassid, for the belt buckles, I used China Glaze 2030 from Khrome Collection, and for the faces, I used MAC Abalone Shell. For the rest of the grass, I used CND Green Scene for the middle ground grass, and OPI Who the Shrek Are You? for the highlighted grass. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat so those little buggers couldn't go roamin' the globe.

Chanel - Nouvelle Vague

There are occasions where you think you've deserved something nice to indulge in. Normally I don't buy real expensive polish, but a few weeks ago we were on a bad ass nail polish crusade in Germany and we ran into a store that had Chanel's Nouvelle Vague and I just had to have it. Paying around €21,50 must mean it's good right? Well, let's see about that.

Nouvelle Vague belongs to the Les Pop Up de Chanel collecion, a limited collection for this summer that came out little over a month ago. After the success of last year’s hit polish, Jade, all eyes were on this pretty pale turquoise color. Even Pantone unveiled turquoise as the Color of the Year for 2010. So is this polish a hit?

I'm not sure. When I think of Chanel, I think of luxury, quality, durability.

The color is gorgeous! This is a pale, muted shade of turquoise, it's a bit bold but not in your face. I love that. It's not totally unique though, but that's almost impossible in this crazy nail polish industry. How much I love the color, I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to the quality of this nail polish. The application was truly disappointing, simply a drag. Unfortunately, this polish is thick and streaky. I had to apply 3 layers to make it look okay, so no utopian *omg like butter 1 coat wonder" hallelujah praises here. It also bubbled a bit, but my cheap ass top coat (David) made it look pretty again. I probably wouldn't be so disappointed if this concerned a low budget brand but from Chanel I'd expect more.

The wear is mighty impressive though, I'll give 'em that! I wore this for over five days, without any chipping or tipwear!

So is this worth the cash? I'm not sure. There are alternatives out there for a better price, think Orly Gumdrop and China Glaze For Audrey. These don't have the shimmer you see in Nouvelle Vague, but the color is pretty close. Besides, this shimmer is hardly noticable, you'll still need the sun or a construction light for it to show.

So dear readers, what are your thoughts on this? Worth the bucks or would you rather pick up something dupish for less?

Thank You For Being a Friend…

I suck. I suck at keeping up with comments, emails, questions, etc. here on the blog. I try, but get frustrated with my slow-ass computer and glacial internet speed (I'm looking at you, COX!!) Anyway. This post is to let you all know that I read EVERY comment, EVERY email, EVERY suggestion, and look at ALL of the pictures that you send me. It delights me to see the work that you've all done, and it brightens my day to read the amazing comments that you leave daily. I couldn't ask for a better following of readers!!

The other purpose of this post is for you to comment with questions, which I WILL answer!! (and I promise to try to get to all the backlogged emails, too!)

So, with all that said, Thank you. Thank you for being a reader, a commenter, and a friend. :)

XOXO

Melissa