GIVEAWAY ALERT! Holiday Of Surprises Giveaway Event Week #3

SUPER-HUGE GIVEAWAY! Ends NOVEMBER 28! Tons of awesome prizes sponsored by equally awesome sponsors!

Click the link below to enter!


Holiday Of Surprises Giveaway Event Week #3

Holiday Contests and Sweeps: Personailized Thanksgiving Platter and Cutting Boa...

While I'm waiting on my husband to finally get my laptop so I can start posting regularly again, I'll be posting giveaways from other blogs every once in a while. I thought that maybe it would be helpful to some of you, since it is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. And if you're on a tight budget like me, these giveaways afford great opportunities for possibly winning prizes to give as gifts.

Please note, that I am not directly affiliated with these giveaways, and I am not responsible for the fulfillment of any prizes.

Holiday Contests and Sweeps: Personailized Thanksgiving Platter and Cutting Boa...: Hosted By: Holiday Contest and Sweeps Co-Hosted By: Michigan Savings and More On The Scene With Mrs. Kathy King Everyday ...

Smiley360 Mission: Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails Review

** I was provided these samples by Smiley360 for my honest review **

Have you heard of Smiley360? According to their website, Smiley is a community of social consumers who love to share their thoughts about products and brands they've tried. This is my second "mission" with them, and I'm really enjoying this program. When the opportunity for a new "mission" comes out, they e-mail you to inform you of the mission, and allow you to complete a short survey to see if that particular mission is right for you. Upon qualifying, they will send you a a sample or two, along with coupons to pass along. All you have to do, is use the product, then provide them with a review of your honest opinions. The more you participate, the more likely you are to qualify for possible missions in the future! It really is a pretty awesome program! If any of you would like to join, I can send you an invitation! Just comment below with your e-mail address!

This mission is perfect for me, lemme tell ya! Considering the poor health my nails are currently in, I feel that the chance to review this Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails supplement could not have come at a more opportune time. I am hoping that it helps to repair most of the damage that was caused by using the metal cuticle pusher for all that time.

Another pretty cool thing about the Smiley360 program, is that they send you coupons to pass out to people you know. I was impressed when I opened the package to see that they had also included small packets of samples (2 gummies) with the coupons. A little bonus for me was the mirror compact, foldable nail file and hair ties that they included!

I've signed up to take the Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails Challenge, so I'm excited to see what the results will be after 30 days. I'll be sure to have a post showing you guys when the challenge is over. ;) 

 They sent me a bottle of 80 strawberry-flavored gummies. The indications say to take 1-2 gummies one to two times daily. I was a little unsure about what the flavor would be like. I was fearing that it might taste too medicinal, but to my amazement, they didn't taste medicinal at all! They were actually delicious! That just makes remembering to take my supplements easier, when they taste so good, lol.

They sent me six of these samples/coupons to pass along, as well!

As you can see, they're not very big and look like little gumdrops :)

I look forward to being able to share my progress with you guys in the future. Be sure to follow the blog so you can see for yourself after the 30 days!

 

...More Than All the Stars in the Sky (Custom) - Cameo Colours Lacquers

Hi guys! Last month, my mom gave me my "tax refund allowance" on a prepaid debit card so I could order us both a few things online. One thing that I have had my heart set on for a pretty long time, was a custom polish from Cameo Colours Lacquers. So, that was the first thing I did. I contacted Cameo, told her that I wanted her to design it & name it just for me. We've been friends long enough, that she knows me & she knows what I like. I knew she would create something that was perfect for me :)

 "...More Than All the Stars in the Sky" is a mixture of teal & sapphire blue microglitter, mingled with gold & silver holographic microglitter in a buildable teal jelly base with hints of holographic micro particles. 
 

Bottle shot in direct sunlight

Of course, I had to include a blurred shot to show off all that holographic, sparkly yummiess :)

 Cameo knows my love for anything blue/teal AND holographic, as well as my fondness for glitter and textured polish. I really don't think it could get much more perfect *for me* than this...

Two coats, no top coat

Oops! Don't mind the ugly little fuzzy stuck to it!

Two coats and HK Girl topcoat

I had swatched "...More Than All the Stars in the Sky" before I first noticed the damage to my nails that I told you guys about last week, but when I went to look for my photos, all I could find were some random in-the-car shots. I can't find any of my swatch photos. Anywhere. So, for now, in-the-car shots and swatch sticks will just have to do, lol. *I will get more proper swatch photos once my nails get to looking a bit better*

I really can't get enough of the holo sparkles with that texture! (Yes, I am a HUGE fan of *most* textured polishes, lol)

In-the-messy-car shot

Blurry shot :) The photos still don't do that sparkle justice!

I am SO glad that I finally had the opportunity to get Cameo to customize something just for me, and even more thrilled with the results than I knew I would be! Thank you so much, Cameo...for all that you do, and for sharing your creative genius with the rest of us! Especially me, lol! You already know that I'm one of your biggest fans!!

Have you had the opportunity to try a Cameo Colours Lacquers yet? Which ones do you have? Which ones are your favorites? Which ones are on your wishlist? I'm curious to know!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Less than a week until it ends, and I'll able to announce the four, lucky winners!!

Why I haven't posted lately + MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

Well, hello there, my Purdies! How have you all been? I've been a busy mama lately, hence my lack of posting over the past couple of weeks. Not to mention, I broke every single nail but one, and then realized that my metal cuticle pusher, when combined with my cuticle remover, has ruined my nails. They're awful. And I don't know if I'm being brave or just crazy, but I'm going to show you guys just how bad they are...

I had heard so many people rave about how they just LOVED their metal cuticle pusher, so of course, I had to have one. I've been using mine for about a year now, and I have enjoyed using it. It worked really well. Too well, evidently. Now that my nails have grown out enough, I can see just how horribly I have damaged them.

It's downright embarrassing. After the last two broke all the way to the quick, I was so heartbroken. The first two that had broken were finally growing, and now the other two had broken so badly. 

But, this? I feel so defeated. My nails look like I've got acrylics on, and need a fill-in. It's REALLY bad. I evidently didn't use the metal pusher properly, and I've ruined them. So, if you use one of those metal cuticle pushers....BE CAREFUL! And don't use cuticle remover when you use it. Your nails will be so soft, you could be taking perfectly healthy layers off of your nails, and not even realize it.

I know I could probably use a ridge filler, but of course, as is typical in my life, I can't afford to just go out & buy one. Well, I probably could go out and buy a ridge filler, but I'm choosing not to (You'll see why shortly). So, I guess all that I can do, is let my nails grow out until they're back to normal. But the way my nails have been growing the past few months, that could take a year or more!

I want to be able to work on this blog, this nail polish blog, that I've started. I needed this. Something just for me. So, I hope you guys won't stop reading or following if I don't post about nails for a while. I DO plan on still posting, sooooo I have decided that I will just post about whatever I feel like. Household product reviews, children's product reviews, makeup, hair, grocery shopping, kids, family.....whatever my little heart desires. Trying to keep to one single thing like nails to blog about just isn't easy for someone like me! 

Soooooo....to celebrate a new beginning for myself in my little teeny-tiny piece of the world, I decided to have my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY! I had decided to see if anyone would want to participate, by letting me include their blogs/pages in the Rafflecopter entries, just to "share the love". But the response was even more amazing that I even thought it would be. Several people decided to contribute prizes, making it possible to have FOUR WINNERS! How freakin' cool is that?!

I'd like to thank everyone who chose to be a part of this. From contributing prizes, to just participating and sharing the love...you all are the best! This was originally just gonna be a little bitty giveaway, but it's turned into something even greater! But enough about that, here's the Rafflecopter!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at polishedaway@gmail.com! This is my first experience with Rafflecopter, so it might not be perfect, lol. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Foxy Paws - Shady Love

Hi guys! Hope you all had a great week! We just had our second winter storm here in North Carolina (Our first time seing more than an inch of snow in over a decade), so I'm playing with polish and practicing some nail art this week, while being cooped up in the house, lol. 

I figured since Valentine's Day is coming up, I would share a "love-themed" polish with you guys.

This is Foxy Paws "Shady Love." This is a black jelly polish with different sized hot pink, matte hex glitters. *I won this polish in a giveaway on Foxy Paws' Instagram a few months ago.*

This polish is opaque in two coats, but I always add an extra coat, just for good measure.

As always, I topped it off with one coat of HK Girl topcoat. *Seriously, it's the best topcoat around!*

I'm wearing two coats of OPI "Kiss Me On My Tulips" on my accent nail.

I added a little black heart using acrylic paint. Although, it looks more like a Mickey Mouse, but I swear it's not, lol. That little heart might look simple, but it took me eight tries to get it to look this good! Thank God I used acrylic paint, because I was able to just wipe it off and try again until I had it looking like I wanted it to.

*I love how I can see my reflection in my manicure, lol. Thanks, HK Girl!*

I am a huge fan of pink and black together, and Foxy Paws really made it work well in this polish. I'm so glad that I won it, otherwise I might not have known the awesomeness that is Foxy Paws Polish!

Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day, and get all the chocolate & flowers you deserve! My Valentine's are my little girls, so I will be enjoying my day with them. I'd like to think that my husband would surprise me, but the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, so all of you better eat an extra piece of chocolate just for me!

Salon Perfect Holographic - Pixel Pink

Hi guys! I have another Salon Perfect Holographic polish to show you. This one is called "Pixel Pink."

Again, I won the entire collection from an Instagram giveaway held by Salon Perfect last year. And again, I was a little disappointed that the holo effect just isn't that strong in these. But the formula is great. I only had to use two coats, and I do love me a "two-coater"!

*HK Girl topcoat is sold HERE*

I was also a little surprised by how strongly it smelled! Polish smells usually don't bother me much, but this one was a little harder to tolerate.

I had a slight accident and smudged my middle nail a little, so please try to overlook that, lol

Remember the bad break I had on my index finger a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, I finally broke down and filed the others down to match. In doing that, I decided to go back to square nails. 

I decided to use some Color Club "Harp On It" to show you guys the stark contrast in the holographic effect between Salon Perfect and Color Club. *Even though it was late and all I had was my crappy indoor lighting* It also gave me an opportunity to finally use my chevron nail vinyls that I bought from NailVinyls.com (@teismom on Instagram) a few months ago, when I had a little money in my PayPal account. *Which are simply AH-MAZING!*

"Harp On It" is the only Color Club holo that I own, since I haven't been able to find any places near me that sell the brand *yet*. (I got this one in another Instagram giveaway last year) I personally consider Color Club to be the only "mainstream" brand that could ever really compete with a lot of the Indie brand holos out there. I mean, daaaamn, lookit dat holoooooo!

Of course, I couldn't just leave this manicure alone! Since I'm still on a "glitter placement trip," I added a little more sparkle...

So, what do you all think? Does the Salon Perfect Holographic polish have enough holo for you? Or are you like me, and wish it was at least a little bit stronger?

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! Happy polishing! :)

Salon Perfect Holographic - Silver Screen

Hi guys! I hope you're all having a great week so far!

Today, I'd like to show you all a Salon Perfect Holographic polish. I won the entire collection in an Instagram giveaway held by Salon Perfect last year, and decided to pull them out since I hadn't really used them much yet.

This one is called "Silver Screen." I love the color choices in this collection, but I have to say, the holographic *or lack thereof* effect was a little disappointing! Of course, I haven't really found a mainstream brand whose holographic could stand against a lot of the Indie polishes out there.

Either way, though, this polish is very pretty...

I decided to pull out some of my glitters, since I've been on a glitter placement trip, lately. Maybe it was because it was around 3am when I was adding the glitters, or maybe I'm just a little crooked *hehe*, because you can clearly see that my lines aren't straight, lol

But, I still really like how the accent nail turned out! 

There wasn't much sun around, since we had just gotten an inch of snow the night before, and it was still very overcast, but I tried to get some shots to show the holographic effect.

This is two coats, with one coat of HK Girl Glisten & Glow topcoat.

As I said before, the holo effect in this polish really isn't the strongest I've ever seen.

All-in-all, I like this polish. I just wish the holo was a bit stronger because, well, who doesn't love a good holographic polish? At least the formula was pretty awesome. That kinda made up for the lack of holo. *For me, anyway lol*

Hope you all are having an awesome week, so far! 

Happy polishing, and I'll see y'all again soon! <3

Bipolar Ramblings, CCL, and Nail Art

For those of you who don't know, I am bipolar, and pretty much live in a bubble. I have no friends, and I don't work. If I get to leave the house, it's usually for an appointment of some kind. I currently do not have a phone. I have an ADHD 7-year-old, who I am a single parent of (even though I am married), who has been through a lot over the past year. I'm trying to help her simply deal. And my 2-year-old is in the midst of some kind of "stage" where she wants nothing to do with me. She only wants her dad. I am lonely, I am depressed, and I've been back & forth between manic & depressive for days, now. Don't be surprised to see posts from me every once in a while where I babble, just as I'm doing now. As I said: I am lonely. And hey, it's my blog for a reason, right?

Now, I know my blog isn't the greatest thing around. I don't have a computer, and do everything from an iPad. And there's only so much you can do from an iPad. BUT, I am slowly but surely learning new things, and just kinda feelin' my way around. My photos still suck, though. My brand new camera turned out to be a hunk of junk (that happens when you buy off of craigslist.com sometimes), and every single light in my house sucks. I can't afford to build a light box, so if I want to get decent photos, I have to be out in the sun. Which doesn't come out around here much, these days. Which tends to work fine for me, I think. Considering the limited equipment I have, I like to think that my photos are pretty decent. This works fine for swatch photos.

The only opportunities that I get to do my nails are late at night when my kids are in bed, and when the husband is settled. I literally sacrifice sleep to do my nails. So, in order to show you guys some nail art, I have to suffer through the terrible lighting. Unfortunately, so do you, lol. I hope to improve in the future. (It's a goal!) But I wanted to show y'all some nail art, dangit! So, please forgive these awful photos.

I've been stuck in a rut for several months, now. This manic-depressive shit sucks. I stopped taking care of myself (not eating right, not taking my vitamins, not drinking my water), and my poor nails have suffered. I haven't attempted any serious nail art since Halloween, and I've just been so down lately, that I decided that I finally wanted to play with my nails. It's the one thing I seem to be able to get right most of the time. 

So, I started with a nice, blank canvas. A couple coats o'white, coat of topcoat, take a break & let 'em dry! :)

2 healthy coats of SinfulColors "Snow Me White" *pre-cleanup, sorry!*

Now is as good a time as any to publicly admit that I only do nail art on my left hand, 9 out of 10 times. Hell, sometimes I don't even bother polishing both hands. (Don't judge me.) So, while my polish dried on my ONE hand, I got out everything I needed, lol.

I had decided to do a Valentine gradient, then go from there. I had seen a post on Facebook where someone had used a peel-off base coat to protect their skin when doing a gradient, to save from having to do some hellish cleanup. So, of course, I decided to try it!

Now, I know a lot of people just use plain Elmer's glue as a peel-off base. But that never worked for me. So, I was so tickled when my good friend, Cameo sent me a bottle of Cameo Colours Lacquers' "Take It Off!" Peel-Off Base Coat. It works great for me. I've even got a little stash of some previous nail art, because when it peels off perfectly, it's just a tiny little work of art, lol! *Is it weird that I've saved some? Lol* I usually only use mine as a base coat in warmer weather, though. It just works better for me when the air is warmer. But it worked PERFECT for easily cleaning up my gradient mess!

It didn't take too long to dry enough for me to start my gradient; maybe 10 minutes.

I really detest every single light in my house.....

And I still don't think I'm using PicsArt right when trying to add my watermark. But, hey...I'm gettin' there!

How cool is that?! The messiest part peeled right off! I only had a little bit of cleaning to do around my cuticles!

I added some China Glaze "Fairy Dust" to try to mask some of the little imperfections from the sponge, and from cleaning up my cuticles.

Added a coat of HK Girl topcoat...

I messed my thumb up, but was able to hide it with a stud & some rhinestones, strategically placed. :)

I practiced some glitter placement on my accent nail, and this was the final outcome...

Blurred to show off the sparkle :)

I still need LOTS of practice doing glitter placement, but I enjoy it. It relaxes me, believe it or not. And that's coming from someone who tends to have very little patience sometimes.

Haha. My poor Stubby still looks cute together with her sisters! *hee hee*

I know this post has been all over the place, but I hope the three of you who read my posts will still come back & read again, lol. If you're bipolar, then you'll understand, lol. If you're not, maybe you'll get a giggle out of it. You never know unless ya read it, anyway!