And the winner is....

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and other holidays. Did you get all the presents you were hoping for? I didn't really have a list of stuff I wanted, but I loved all the gifts I got. My sister has an amazing ability to pick the perfect presents for me, even when it's something I didn't know I wanted. I'd been looking for a shopping cart for ages but didn't want plaid so she bought me a gorgeous giraffe print cart, a poodle brooch (I absolutely adore poodles!), and a couple things from Bath & Body Works. The cup cake hand sanitizers smell delicious. 

I've also wanted to post on here for months what I bought her for Christmas, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise because I know she would read it. So, for the past three months, I have had a bottle of Orly Galaxy Girl hidden away. I don't think I have to tell any of you how hard it was to not open that up! I was tempted to use it for myself, but I was good. Anyway, I'll have swatch photos of that as soon as my sister changes her mani.

Now, on to the giveaway winner. The winning entry was number 50, Missbobloblaw of Talking Momcents.  I've already sent her an email, so she has until the 29th to respond or I will have to choose a new winner.

Christmas NOTD 8: Snowflakes & Snowmen

I had a few requests to do either snowmen or snowflakes. So I have two versions to share--stamping and freehand.

First up, SH Pacific Blue as a base with SH Celeb City stamped on using m37 for the snowmen and BM14 for snowflakes. Then I sponged on SH Disco Ball. 

I also did freehand on my sister's nails. This is over China Glaze For Audrey. After painting on the designs with white polish, I used loose iridescent glitter. Clearly, I need to practice freehand nail art.

Christmas NOTD 7: Christmas Trees

 I decided to do Christmas tree nails, but rather than stamp or freehand the trees, today's nails are just inspired by Christmas trees. I used China Glaze Jolly Holly as the base and stamped on Color Club Worth the Risque using image plate BM11 for tinsel.

 

 And since Wendy suggested I do a glow-in-the-dark Christmas mani, I used Sally Hansen Glow in the Dark for the lights. I couldn't get a picture that showed the dots glowing but how cool is this bottle shot?

Last, I used clear polish to add rhinestone ornaments. It turned the silver holo a bit yellow, but I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

I completely forgot to take a photo of Jolly Holly alone until I was done my left hand but luckily I got a picture of my right hand (at a bad angle, sorry). I don't wear green nail polish very often but this colour is gorgeous. Dark green full of green shimmer with just a bit of golden shimmer as well. It's a perfect Christmas green.

Christmas NOTD 6: Bells

I'm sorry I've been a bit absent lately. I've been busy with work. I normally get one day off a week and I don't mind working six days in a row. But just the way the schedule worked out the past couple weeks, I had the Monday off of one week and the Sunday of the next so I was supposed to work twelve straight days. Then, this past Sunday, which should have been my day off, I ended up taking someone's shift. So, I'm now on my fourteenth straight day and I have five more to go. But that's enough complaining.

This is Color Club Revvvolution, a holographic charcoal/black. I didn't see the holo effect very strongly though. Maybe I got a bad bottle? Even still, I like the colour and it went on like a dream. One smooth coat was enough for opacity, but, like always, I did an extra to be sure.

Christmas NOTD 5: Candy Canes

Today I have candy cane nails. This is super easy. Just Wet n Wild French White Creme and loose red glitter. It looks kinda orange-red in this photo, but it's actually a true red. I ended up with glitter EVERY WHERE. But a co-worker complimented my nails and said they were very festive, so I guess it was worth it. I think if I were to do candy canes again, I would probably just use a red glitter polish for the stripes. And maybe add in some thin green stripes as well.

Christmas NOTD 4: China Glaze GR8

I've been trying to use Christmas colours for my nails this month, but I just bought a bunch of holographic polishes that I want to try out. So, today's nails are a compromise of the two. Here's China Glaze GR8 from the OMG collection. Gold is a Christmas colour, right? The holo effect in these pictures is pretty subtle, but in bright light, this polish really comes to life.

Christmas NOTD 3: Gingerbread Men

This design turned into a fail. It was supposed to be gingerbread men, but they look more like amorphic alien blobs. That sometimes happens when I try to freehand nail art. I might try these again; I haven't decided. Anyway, I wanted to share this anyway because I like the idea of gingerbread men nails, even if it didn't turn out so well.

I used Ardene Barely There as a base, Rimmel Hot Cocoa for the gingerbread men, Wet n Wild Black Creme for the buttons, and SH Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away for the eyes. I forgot mouths, which is another reason they look so wrong. :/

Christmas NOTD 2: China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses

I know most of you have seen this colour a million times in the past few weeks, but it really is gorgeous so I had to show it here. As soon as I saw the China Glaze holiday collection, there were two colours that I knew I must have. The first was Mistletoe Kisses. It's silvery-green glitter in green base. I'm not usually a big green fan, but this is a perfect polish for Christmas. This is three coats (though I probably could have got away with two).

Photos after the jump.

Christmas NOTD 1: Orly Moonlit Madness

I thought I'd start my month of Christmas themed manis with a simple one. This is Orly Moonlit Madness, a classic dark red full of red shimmer. These pics don't quite show how deep and rich this colour really is, but the flash photo is closest.

Swatches after the jump.

Christmas Giveaway--CLOSED

I've been planning to have a giveaway when I hit 50 followers, but I just can't wait. So to thank my followers for their support, I've decided to have a Christmas giveaway instead. I guess you're all curious what you can win, right?

The prizes:

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

elf Liquid Liner in Silver

NYX loose glitter in Disco Ball

Claire's gold Eye Glitter

elf Matte Finisher

nail rhinestone kit

I might add more prizes if I see anything else that catches my eye.

Now for the rules:

1. You must be a follower through GFC. Comment with your follower name and email address. (1 entry)

As an extra thank-you to my existing followers, they will each receive one extra entry.

2. Post this giveaway on your blog, either in a post, your sidebar, or a separate giveaway page. (2 entries)

Include a picture for an extra entry.

3. Be a follower on twitter @TheSassyBeauty. Leave your twitter id. (1 entry)

4. Retweet this message (1 entry):

Enter to win Christmas giveaway including Hidden Treasure @TheSassybeauty http://bit.ly/eNwcpt

5. Suggest a Christmas themed mani for me to do. It can be as vague or detailed as you want. And I'll choose some of them to feature this month as NOTDs. (1 entry)

And the fine print:

You can leave your entries either all in one comment, or each in a separate comment.

All prizes are brand new and purchased by me for this giveaway.

The deadline for entries is December 22nd.

This contest is open internationally. I will ship with the cheapest option if the winner is not in Canada.

The winner will be chosen using random.org and contacted by me. I will also post their name on the blog and twitter. They will have 3 days to respond or I will choose another winner.

White Ruby Nail Prisms (Pic Spam)

Here's White Ruby. This is one of the sheerer Nails Prisms so i layered it over black to really show off the rainbow effect. At some angles it's silvery white; sometimes it has a pink foil effect. I could just sit and watch my nails as I move my hands to see the different colours. I took dozens of photos to try and capture every colour shift, so here's a bunch of them.

 More photos after the jump.

East Village Comparison

I've got another colour today that isn't very "fall" but I just bought it so I wanted to show you. Pharma Plus has NYC polishes BOGO this week so I chose a couple. The first is East Village. This is a shimmery blue-green. It went on smoothly, but after 3-4 coats was still a bit sheer.

I think I have a dupe for this. Comparison after the jump.

Yellow It's Me...Matte

I'm having a bit of a blah day. It's my only day off work this week so I was planning on getting a lot done and I had some shopping to do. My bike is broken so I would have walked but I woke up to rain. I don't feel like missioning on the bus, so today has turned into a lounge around in pyjamas and catch up on some tv watching day.

I needed a nice bright colour to cancel all that out. So here is Nicole by OPI in Yellow It's Me - Matte. I'm not really a yellow person. I always think I'll like them but I never wear them. I like this one because it's not just yellow. It has a bit of a murky gold and almost green tone on my nails. The colour (but obviously not the finish) seems like it might be similar to Fiercely Fiona. I've only seen photos of that one so I can't be sure. Does anyone have both to compare them?

Swatches are after the jump.

Claire's and Ardene Haul (and swatches)

I normally only work night shifts (usually starting at 5 or 6pm) but once in a while, they'll need me to come in during the day. And on Friday they asked me to work a couple hours at lunch, as well as my usual later shift. Since I had a couple hours to kill in the afternoon, I went shopping with a friend from work.

Claire's usually has a ten for $10 section of clearance merchandise and once in a while you can get really lucky with the selection. This was one of those times. They had a whole bunch of nail polishes so I got one of each other colour (except those silly layered polishes, which are just pointless in my opinion).

Check out the swatches after the jump.

Space Nails

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging this week. It's been a tough week at work and I've had an awful cold so when I get home, I've just been wrapping myself in blankets and watching tv. I'm starting to feel a bit better now though so I'll get back on track with the blog. And even when I'm sick, I paint my nails each day so I do have some photos to share from the past few days.

My sister suggested I do space nails and I wasn't really sure what she meant. But once she explained it, I couldn't do it fast enough. Basically, you start with a black base and sponge on duochrome and holographic polishes to recreate the look of outer space. The effect was pretty hard to photograph so here's some pic spam that doesn't quite capture how amazing it looks. I wish you could see what this looks like in real life. I got a lot of compliments for this look. So, I guess I should thank my sister for the idea.

I used Wet n Wild Black Creme as a base. Then I used a foam paint brush to sponge on SH HD Laser, Orly Space Cadet, and SH Urban Chic. I topped that with a thin coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and some loose holographic hex glitter to simulate stars. 

 I should really start cleaning up my nails BEFORE I take photos. Some of these are pretty blurry, to show the holo glitter in all its glory. The last one shows Space Cadet the best. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that colour? I know every other blogger has. And it is worth all the hype. If you don't have it yet, try to find a bottle. I'm tempted to buy a back-up because it is so amazing.

Tag + Ivy League

I know I said it was time for a no-buy, but here's something you should know about me: I'll always say it's time for a no-buy but I won't actually do it until my far more reasonable sister convinces me I have to slow down. So, I'm planning just a couple more hauls online (it doesn't count if it's online, right?) THEN I'll stop for a bit. So, I was looking through swatches on Imperfectly Painted trying to decide which polishes to get and I came across this tag from a few months back that I haven't done. I love when I get a chance to know more about bloggers, aside from their makeup and nail polish likes and habits. So, hopefully you guys find some of this interesting. But I won't be offended if you skip to the end for a nail swatch.

50 Things You Never Knew About Me

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Noon. I usually work nights so I don't get along well with mornings.

2. How do you like your steak?
Not a steak person at all. I've been vegan for almost two years.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
The Town. Ben Affleck AND Jon Hamm? Awesomeness. Even aside from them, it was really good.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
All time, I'd have to say Jeopardy. I know that's such a nerd answer, I apologize. Right now? I love Mad Men and White Collar.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
It would definitely have to be close to a big city. I'd like New Jersey just so I can go to Devils and Giants home games.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
French fries with hot sauce and vegan Becel. I tend to eat meals at the wrong times. For example, after the dinner rush at work I usually have a bowl of oatmeal.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
I really like Middle Eastern. And Italian is a classic.

8. What foods do you dislike? or rather don't prefer?
It always seems to surprise people that there are a lot of veggies I don't like. Broccoli, cauliflower, celery, etc. And obviously, I'm not a fan of meat, cheese, eggs, any of that stuff. (Though I do love Daiya vegan cheese.)

9. Favorite place to eat?
I like Fresh in Toronto because they have such an amazing vegan selection. For fast food, you can't beat Pita Pit.

10. Favorite dressing?
Either balsamic vinaigrette or something with sesame, soy sauce, ginger, that kind of flavour.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
I have a sweet bike. It's pink and has a basket. And splash guards for the tires. It is my pride and joy.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
As much as I hate to admit it, I like sweat pants and hoodies. They're just so easy to wear. But I also love dressing up and looking nice even when I have nowhere special to go.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

I definitely want to travel across Canada. So far, I've just been to Quebec, and obviously Ontario. There's also a few cities in the States.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
I'm really not a fan of this question; like it's supposed to tell you everything you need to know about me.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Somewhere in Canada. Free healthcare is a retiree's dream, isn't it?

16. Favorite time of day?
Between midnight and 4am. I'm a night person, for sure.

17. Where were you born?
Toronto, ON.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Hockey. Even though this season has been a bit depressing so far.

22. People watcher?
Yes. So much fun.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night

24. Do you have any pets?
Bonnie-a black lab, Sarge-a boxer who thinks he's a person, and Harry-a cat who thinks he's a dog.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
My sister is coming home for the weekend to go to the women's show with me. That's kinda exciting. And I'll tell you all about it on Monday.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
For a while, I thought lawyer. That's so sad. Kids shouldn't want to be lawyers.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
One that really stands out is going to pick up one of our puppies when I was about twelve. There was a room full of tiny yellow labs. I love puppies. I think a lot of what I remember from my childhood focuses on the pets we had or our friend's pets. My dad's friend had a pit bull that was the nicest, sweetest dog I have ever known. Every time they came over, I would play with the dog for hours. 

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I have both and I love both. I don't understand being just one or the other. Liking dogs doesn't preclude someone from liking cats.

29. Are you married?
Yes. To Jon Bon Jovi. He just doesn't know it yet. Other than that, no.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes

31. Been in a car accident?
Yes. Last year. I was on my bike, but there was a car involved.

32. Any pet peeves?
So many. Poor grammar and spelling is one, or two. "Would of" instead of "would've or would have". Oh, and pink jerseys. My favourite colour is pink and most of my clothes are pink but NJ Devils colours are not pink, so why would I wear a pink Devils jersey. I don't know what marketing genius thought up that one. Being a girl doesn't stop me from wearing team colours. It shouldn't be so hard to find girl's sizes in the real team colours. Ok, I'm done with that rant. I'm just saying Don Draper wouldn't put up with that.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic, pineapple, and mango.

34. Favorite Flower?
I don't really have a favourite but I like hibiscus. And also snap dragons, but not nearly as much as my sister does. ("Aw man, these aren't even snap dragons." Sorry, that's an inside joke.)

35. Favorite ice cream?
I love peanut butter soy ice cream.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Pita pit or Subway.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Just once. And that was enough. I don't drive anymore. Hence, the wicked-awesome bicycle.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Sister

39. What store would you max out your credit card?
Forever 21, H&M, Sally Beauty, Tiffany's (in my dreams)

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?

I cut my own hair. Big mistake. I used to do it all the time when I had super-long hair but it's a whole other story with short hair. It started as a trim in the back. And now I look like my brother at age 12.

41. Like your job?
It's not too bad. I work at a sports bar. I expedite orders and also work in pantry and take-out. When it's not busy, I can watch the hockey games, so that's pretty cool.

42. Broccoli?
No thank you.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
I went to Montreal with my sister in the summer. That was pretty cool.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
It's been a while. I don't remember. Unless a quick snack at McDonald's with my dad counts.

45. What are you listening to right now?
The computer is kinda buzzing. Other than that, silence.

46. What is your favorite color?
Pink. But I also like purples and teals/aquamarines.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None. Tattoos freak me out almost as much as piercings do. And I'm way too indecisive to have something permanently put on my body. I change nail polish every day for goodness sake!

48. What do you like to do when nobody else is around?
Snuggle with my cat and watch tv.

49. Favorite Movie?
I have so many. I love musicals. And brat pack movies. I really liked Jersey Girl but I think I'm one of three on that. Stand By Me will also be one of my tops.

50. Coffee drinker?
Not so much. I love the smell but I don't drink it.

As promised, here's SH Xtreme Wear in Ivy League, and the compulsory accent nail with gold glitter.

This is an apple green with gold shimmer. I don't wear greens too often but I like this one. It's a nice, bright spring colour, which explains why I'm showing it to you in November.

SH Rockstar Pink

Here is SH Xtreme Wear in Rockstar Pink. This has pink/purple, blue, and red regular glitter and silver microglitter.This is three coats with nothing underneath. I normally use black as a base, so this is a little different for me. Click on the images to enlarge so you can see this glitter in all its glory.

Even this wasn't quite enough for me so I added two thin coats of SH New Lengths Ceramics in Urban Chic, a holographic microglitter. The difference isn't too noticeable here, but it did add a little extra oomph.

And because I just couldn't leave it alone, I added a coat of Claire's matte top coat. I usually love matte glitters and shimmers, but I actually prefer this one glossy, so I used Seche Vite to add back the shine.

What's your favourite glitter bomb polish? Do you prefer to use a base colour or just the glitter alone? I'd love to hear from you.

SH HD DVD

This is Sally Hansen HD in DVD. It's a light purple (lavender, lilac?) packed with light blue shimmer. And even if that was it, this colour would be stunning. But, there's more. If you catch the light just right, the blue shimmer seems to turn pink-purple and the overall colour is a dark fuchsia. So I tried over and over to capture that effect on camera. I don't know if it's just my lame camera, or if the duochrome is that elusive, but at the very least, I did get some color-accurate shots of the blue shimmer. This took three coats because it's so sheer and I'd probably need at least two more for opacity.

Here's a blurry shot to show all the gorgeous blue shimmer. 

And this is as close as I could get to capturing the fuchsia duochrome. Definitely less blue than the other shots, but nowhere near as pink as it gets.

I love duochromes. And contrasting shimmer. And purple. And I like the formula on these. Not too thick, not runny. If it wasn't so sheer, this could easily make it's way into my top ten. Maybe next time I'll try layering over a light purple. Revlon Gum Drop would be perfect if that didn't need about six coats itself. Maybe Elf Lilac. Or I might try over a pink to pick up more of the fuchsia in this polish.

What do you think of these new(er) HDs? What are your favourites of the collection? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Happy Mo-vember

Can you believe October is already done? If you're too old for trick or treating, the week after Halloween is a bit of a letdown without all that candy. So, I wanted to share an adorable mani today as a bit of a pick-me-up. This is inspired by a design on Dees Polish Endeavours a few weeks ago that I loved. Now seems like a good time to do a version of it.

For anyone who isn't familiar with Movember, it's a charity campaign to raise funds  for men's health issues and the idea is to grow a moustache throughout the month of November to spread awareness.

Here's some of my favourite men with "mos". I can't decide if this is a fail or not. Admittedly, quite a few of these don't look much like the real thing, but I think I captured the spirit of each moustache pretty well.

Ned Flanders

SH Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow, elf Smoky Brown, Wet n Wild French White Creme and Black Creme

Tom Selleck

Orly Prince Charming, Innocent, Rimmel Steel Grey, Elf Hot Pink, Black Creme

John Waters

Black Creme, Innocent, Steel Grey, Smoky Brown, Wet n Wild Tickled Pink

Hulk Hogan

Innocent, White Creme, Mellow Yellow, SH Complete Salon Manicure Gray by Gray, Prince Charming, Tickled Pink, SH Xtreme Wear Cherry Red

Salvador Dali

Innocent, Black Creme, French White Creme, Cherry Red

Super Mario

Smoky Brown, SH Insta-Dri Petal Pusher, Black Creme, Cherry Red

Jason Lee

Prince Charming, Innocent, Wet n Wild Dreamy Poppy, Black Creme

Jamie Hyneman (Mythbusters)

Innocent, French White Creme, SH Xtreme Wear Sunkissed, Wet n Wild Metallica, OPI What's With the Cattitude?, Cherry Red

Mr. Moneybags (Monopoly)

Petal Pusher, French White Creme, Black Creme

Alex Trebek

Innocent, Grey Matter, Tickled Pink, Gray by Gray, grey franken

Elf Hot Pink

Yet another ELF nail polish that doesn't match the swatch on their website. But for some reason, even when the shade doesn't match the swatch or even the name, I've really never been dissappointed by a colour I've chosen. Sometimes I even prefer what I actually get to what I was expecting.

Anyway, this is Hot Pink. I was expecting a dark, muted pink from the swatch. In the bottle, it does look like a dark pink, but much brighter. I don't know what happened on my nails though because this is definitely a bright red creme with pink undertones. I still love it and it will be used but I'm still looking for something more like their swatch.

This is three coats with flash. There is slight VNL but that doesn't bother me too much. Adding more coats doesn't seem to fix it though, so you might want to avoid this colour if you can't stand VNL. It didn't photograph as red as it looks to me but this is pretty close. The colour is slightly darker than this though.

Last Chance to Enter

I've been posting any giveaways I find on a seperate page, but there's a few ending in the next couple days that I wanted to post here. This way if anyone hasn't entered yet, they have a last chance to do so now.

Lucy's Stash is giving away nail polishes and more to celebrate 500 followers. Enter by November 1st.

Gilded Nails is holding a giveaway for 200 followers. Closes October 31st. There will be two winners.

The Lacquer Files has two sets of Eyeko polishes to give away. Enter by October 31st.

 

EOTD: Candy Corn

I showed my version of the candy corn manicure earlier but completely forgot to include the coordinating eyes. This is using the Sleek Circus palette orange, yellow, and white and Elf Eyeliner Pen in Ash. These pics are after a full day of wear so there is a bit of smudging but I forgot to photograph it before I left for work and really wanted to show this look. I think if I were to do this again I would do a yellow lid, orange crease, and matte white highlight to keep the order right.

Candy Corn NOTD

Just two more days until Halloween! As much as I love dressing up, I think my favourite part has to be the candy. So, to celebrate that, a candy corn mani. This is SH Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow and Sunkissed and Wild Shine French White Creme. I painted my nails white, then did the top half yellow. To do the orange, I covered the top and bottom thirds with tape, painted the middle and pulled off the tape.

Yet again, this is pre-cleanup. And if I were wearing this mani anywhere but work, I'd obviously take a lot more time to make the stripes even. Overall, though, I think it definitely conveys candy corn.

Pumpkin mani

I've got another Halloween mani today. I wanted to Jack O'Lanterns since they are quintessentially Halloween. However, I didn't realize how daunting it would be to actually draw it out ten times, half those with my wrong hand. And, I wanted each pumpkin face to be unique. So I compromised and did four pumpkins. The other nails are black crackle over an orange base.

I used SH Xtreme Wear in Crushed and Black Out. The black crackle polish is a random brand from eBay. I love crackling polish. And I know everyone is excited for OPI Black Shatter so I figured this is a good time to feature it. I probably won't buy the OPI since I already have a black but how amazing would it be if other brands picked up on this trend? I can see it in my mind already: a whole line of China Glaze coloured "shatters". *fingers crossed* (Yes, I know BYS do several colours and I'm sure other brands do as well, but they aren't easily available to me.)