NOTD and Katy Perry

I've been seriously craving a beautiful coral nail polish lately, probably because the weather's about to break soon and coral reminds me of summer.
I picked up this "Craving Coral" polish from Revlon recently and don't like it. It's a little bit too orange for my taste. Not coral at all. Maybe that's why it's named "Craving Coral" instead of "Coral?" Dunno.

I tried to save the look with N.Y.C.'s "Starry Silver Glitter" but that didn't help:


I ended up returning the polish. Didn't faze me.
Currently, I have on my fave polish of all time, Sephora by OPI's "Teal We Meet Again." Love this color!!!

And I've never been a huge Katy Perry fan but I LOVE this song, "Firework." Don't. Judge. Me.

Esperanza Spalding performance

Just had to post this since my girl Esperanza Spalding recently won the Grammy for "Best New Artist" (take that all you Bieber fans!).
I have both of her albums and have been a fan of her voice and slick bass skills since day one.
Spalding is an amazing arranger, composer, songwriter, and speaks multiple languages, is beautiful and has awesome hair.
Please enjoy her awesomeness.

Nail polish giveaway:)

I haven't had a polish giveaway in a long time so since spring and warm weather are imminent, I've decided to hold one:)
I'm giving away bottles of Wet n Wild's "Blitzen," "Shield," Ulta's "Socialite," and Cover Girl's "Rhythmic Blue."(And as always, there will be some extra goodies thrown into the mix.)
Entering is simple. All you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment telling me anything.
It can be about your fave nail polish color, a cupcake flavor that you love or even bubblegum. Doesn't matter.
Be sure to leave an e-mail address so I can contact you, should you win.
Contest ends Monday, March 7. Winner will be announce shortly. Contest is open to U.S. readers only. Good luck!!

Update and recent nail looks

Seems like it's been forever since I last blogged about anything.
I had been working on a project at work that FINALLY got published on the front page of today's local newspaper and can now be somewhat of a human:)
Here are some recent nail looks I rocked during the past week or so:

I currently have OPI's "Don't Mess With OPI" on my digits. I won this from the lovely ladies over at Death By Polish. This color is from OPI's new Texas collection, which features sorbet polishes. I love this green on me! And I'm holding OPI's RapidDry spray, which has been quickly drying my polish.

Here's Rimmel's "Marine Blue," which is a gorgeous aquamarine blue. Love this bad boy too:

And here it is with the awesomeness that is OPI's "Black Shatter":

Here's another Rimmel polish in "Midnight Blue," which is so chic to me:

But I put a coat of N.Y.C.'s "Love Letters" over "Midnight Blue" and it turned into this:

I got LOTS of compliments about this color. One of my fave nail looks in a long time.

And here's "Black Shatter" over "Queen of Hearts." Not too excited about this look:

OPI's "Black Shatter" is the bomb dot com

Yep. You read that headline right.
OPI's new "Black Shatter" polish is rocking my world right now.
"Black Shatter" is a polish in pop singer Katy Perry's new line with OPI and it's fierce.
All you need to do is place a thin layer of "Black Shatter" over your polish and it crackles on your nails.
I feel like a teenybopper typing this up but OMG, it's so cool!!!
Peep the pics:

"Black Shatter" over Revlon's "Silver Dollar":


And here's "Black Shatter" over a skittles mani featuring polishes fromSally Hansen, Sephora, wet n wild essie and Maybelline:


Another "Black Shatter" over a skittles mani featuring polishes from Sally Hansen, Zoya and wet n wild:


Although it was $8 from Ulta, I'm loving this polish and the effect it creates.
Are you feeling "Black Shatter"?

NOTD: ALDO's "Teal the Spotlight"

I'm a super sucker for teal nail polishes, so I had to scoop up this bottle of "Teal the Spotlight" from the shoe store ALDO.
The polish cost $5 which isn't bad for a lacquer formulated without formaldehyde, toluene, phthalate and camphor.
I'm loving the creamy formula and hue of this teal. It's not as bright as a traditional teal like "Rise and Shine" from Sinful Colors, but that's OK.
I'd say this hue is more of a winter kind of teal, very dark and cool.
It's beautiful on my skin tone and I can see anyone wearing this color, which removes very, very easily.
Looks like I found another winner in the polish world:)

Books I'm Reading

Here's a list (in no particular order) of books I'm reading:

1. Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James:

I'm trying my best to live a simple life but it hasn't been an easy thing to do, especially with a serious nail polish obsession like mine. This book gives 100 tips on simplifying your finances, health, and household.

2. Salt, Lemons, Vinegar, and Baking Soda by Shea Zukowski:

My big brother got me this book as a gift a few weeks ago (Thanks Mark!) It shows you how to use these four kitchen staples for cleaning and even beauty remedies.

3. The Best 100 African American Poems (edited by Nikki Giovanni)

I won this book from Brown Girl Gumbo a while back. It features classic poems from Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka and Nikki Giovanni herself. The book also comes with a companion CD which is so soothing to listen to on a lazy Sunday.

4.The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

I'm reading this book for my book club. It's been a slow read so far but Goodman's writing is very good. She draws out each and every character and I like her descriptive writing.

FTC disclosure: I either bought, won or were gifted these books. They were not given to me for review by any publishing companies.

Buxom Big & Healthy Lipstick Review and Swatches

On my search to find a red lip liner, I came across this $18 Buxom lipstick in Barcelona (dam you Sephora!!)

This is the lipstick in the tube.

Here it is swatched on my hand.

And here it is on my lips layered with Sally Hansen's Juicy Cherry Natural Shine Lip Gloss.
It's a bit pricey for lip crayons, but I felt like it was a good bargain, considering what the lipstick is formulated with and all that it does.
Barcelona is infused with vitamins A, C and E, and in addition to coloring my kisser, it lines, plumps and lasted.
I think this is a product where $20 was well spent.

*FTC Disclosure: I bought this product with my own funds and was not compensated by any beauty company for review.

DIY: An earring necklace

I've always been a pretty crafty person and going to summer camp every year during my youth further allowed me to tap into my creative side.
That said, I have a habit of saving miscellaneous things like buttons or broken zippers for potential creative projects.
I don't know what I'll use the items for, but I always end up using them for something.
Enter my old earrings.
Inspired by this ring necklace post on P.S. I Made This, I recently made an earring necklace, pictured in the above photo.
All I did was slide several hoop earrings onto a string and Voila!
You can also use keys, zippers and key chain rings.
What an easy, creative DIY project using random miscellaneous things like earrings.