Polishes Coming to Hawaii

Hello, everyone! It's FINALLY that time where I can share with you the polishes that I will be bringing with me when we move to Hawaii. As some of you may have guessed, this was really hard! After sharing my nail polish collection, it's pretty obvious that I have-- by the standards of a "normal" person-- too much nail polish. My goal was to narrow it down to 10 and I actually ended up with 15. That's pretty good in my book! My challenge to myself was to fill this bag and allow myself ONLY this bag for nail polish.

It's a tight fit, but I made all 15 polishes fit.

I allowed myself some neutrals, a pink, a red, a coral, a light, bright, and a dark purple, a green, and a black-ish/grey glitter, as well as two glitter top coats and a white color for french manicures. Overall, I really tried to pick a wide variety of colors because I tend to pick nail polish based on my mood.

I have my white Sally Hansen color for french tips and Essie Sugar Daddy, which I love for a more clear looking french manicure.

For the "neutrals" (and by that I basically just mean the non-bright colors) I chose Essie Fiji, Essie Demure Vixen, and Essie Angel Food.

I chose OPI La Pazitively Hot as my pink, OPI Come to Poppy as my coral, and OPI Cajun Shrimp as my red.

Next I chose OPI You're Such a Budapest, OPI Purple with a Purpose, and Essie Mint Candy Apple.

For those times when I just feel like wearing a dark color, I've chosen OPI My Private Jet and Revlon No Shrinking Violet.

Last but certainly not least, for the glitters I chose OPI Polka.com and Essie Stroke of Brilliance.

You can see additional pictures in my "Nail Polish Collection" post, and many of these have their own "Nail of the Day" posts.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! This is my last week of school and I'm preparing for finals. Graduation is May 4th and it's totally surreal! Hopefully another update soon.

xx Anna

OPI That's Berry Daring

So I know I said the next time I posted it would be about the colors that I'll be packing in my suitcase, but I thought I'd squeeze in one more regular post before I did that! I figured you guys wouldn't mind ;) Anyway, I dug up a color I don't think I wear very often. I figured why not? I won't see my full collection for 5-6 months (my husband will be deployed in December, so I'll be home during that time). This color is a hot pink almost fuchsia color.

I actually forgot how much I like this color. It applies really easily and could even be used with only one coat. The reason it's not coming with me is because it's just a solid color. If it had some shimmer, then we'd be talking. Like I said, I like it but it's also something I don't think I've worn for probably a year. The polishes that are coming with me are ones that I'm constantly going back to.

Maybe I'll love it more when I don't see it for another 6 months. We'll see! It might be a color I just give to my mom. I'll keep you guys posted on my next update. I'm hoping for Friday evening or at least by the end of the weekend. I'm excited to share the colors I've officially decided will be making the trip to Hawaii. :)

xx Anna

OPI Cajun Shrimp

I'm not one to wear red, as I think I've mentioned before. It's not a color I wear in clothing or in nail polish. However, OPI Cajun Shrimp is by far the best red that I've ever worn. It's a brighter red and the color payoff is great. I think you could easily only use one coat of this color, though I always use two.

This color will definitely be making the trip to Hawaii. In fact, it was one of the first colors I knew 100% that I would be taking with me. Now, I also promised something a little different. With today being my birthday, I wanted to do something a little different with my nails. Not really different, but special.

I've had this "trend tips" for over a year. I used them for the first time on my last birthday, and decided I wanted to use them for this birthday as well. WARNING: If you do not completely seal them up after use they will dry out! I thought I sealed them up well, but they were definitely a little dry. They normally just apply like a sticker, but I had to be a little more creative and hold them in place for a few seconds so they would stay in place.

I just love this combination. The vibrancy of OPI Cajun Shrimp combined with the cheetah/leopard (what's the difference, anyway?) is just an awesome pairing. For some reason, it's a "feel-good" pairing. It's kind of like the feeling you have after you get your hair cut. It just makes you feel GOOD. It's feminine-- and dare I say sexy!-- which is why I chose this pairing for my birthday. Everyone wants to feel good on their birthday, no matter what age. :) 

My chosen nail polishes to take with me to Hawaii will definitely be in an upcoming post! I've almost got it narrowed down, which is much harder than I thought it would be. :)

xx Anna

Essie Angel Food

If you've been following this blog, you know that I'm in the process of narrowing my collection for our big move to Hawaii. My goal was to choose around 10 colors, but I think I have at least 15. Oops! It's such a hard thing for someone like me who loves having such a wide variety of colors at my finger tips. One color I had to choose was the perfect "nude" color. It's not really a nude, but it's definitely a light neutral. Two colors that are practically identical in my collection are Essie Angel Food and Essie Ballet Slippers. I chose Angel Food because it's SLIGHTLY (like .00009%) more pinkish than Ballet Slipper. If you've ever seen an actual ballet slipper then you know that it's more nude than pink. These colors look the same in the bottle, which is why I decided that I could only take one with me.

I first discovered this polish almost a year and a half ago when I was watching the Food Network. Weird, right? Well, my guilty pleasure is waking up on Saturday mornings, drinking coffee, painting my nails, and watching the new episodes on the Food Network. I sound exciting, don't I? :) My  favorite chef is Giada DeLaurentiis, which is how I discovered this polish! I always wondered what color she wore on her nails because it is such a flattering neutral that doesn't stand out too much, yet still looks like you're wearing nail polish. I started following her on twitter and saw that someone asked her and she said that she wears Essie Angel Food and Essie Ballet Slipper. I immediately bought Ballet Slipper and then bought Angel Food sometime later.

It looks a LITTLE darker here, almost looking like Essie Fiji, but it's still more sheer. I think this is the perfect color when you're doing something professional or want to look sophisticated. It even kind of replaces a french manicure for me. If you use only one coat of this, you can even use it for a french manicure. I've done it, but it depends on how sheer you like your french manicure.

You can tell a little better in this picture that it's not as dark as the first. I just really like this color. It's great when you want to wear nail polish, but don't want something bright or colorful.

I'll have another post on Thursday or Friday. My birthday is on Thursday (yay!) and I already know what I want to do for "special" 22nd-birthday-worthy nails. Can't wait to show you guys! :)

xx Anna

Essie Barefoot & Topless

Happy Sunday! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready to begin a new week. As you've been able to tell, I typically paint my nails on the weekend. I find it relaxing, not to mention that I'm typically too busy during the week. I've started narrowing down the colors that will be making the trip to Hawaii with me and one color-family I have yet to look into is the nude colors. Being fair-skinned, I think nudes can be challenging to pull off.

I'll admit, when I bought this color it looked different. I don't hate it, but I don't really love it either. I'll probably change colors in a couple days. Since I'm only to have such a large selection of colors, there's no point in wearing a shade if I don't love it. Maybe if I get a bit of a tan (ha! fair skin, remember?) it will look better. I was reading somewhere that nude polishes are the best to wear because they elongate the fingers and don't age the appearance of hands. I'm not overly concerned about it because I'm still young, but it's an interesting idea regardless.

Like I said, it's not bad....but it's a little too close to the color of my skin. I have one other nude that's slightly darker that I definitely feel like I need to try now just to see the difference. I'll most likely have a new post in a couple days :)

xx Anna

Essie Lilacism & OPI Show it and Glow it

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately, but school has been absolutely hectic. I just purchased my gap and gown a couple days ago so it's totally hitting me that this time in exactly one month I'll have just graduated. When I entered my freshman year everyone said "appreciate it because it goes by so fast" and they were absolutely right. It's surreal that I'm, what most people would consider, an "adult" now. Anyway, back to my love of nail polish.

As you know, I've been using nail polishes recently to help me decide which colors will come with me to Hawaii. I love this nail polish, but I'm not sure that it will come with me. I'm talking about Essie Lilacism, which I actually think is similar to OPI You're Such a Budapest. I prefer the OPI version because it's brighter, and there's really no point to bring two similar shades with me. I paired Essie Lilacism with OPI Show it and Glow it, which was actually part of the Burlesque limited edition collection. I can't express how hard it was for me to find this polish over a year ago. It's a little dried up now, so it really needs to head to the trash, but I wanted to use it one last time!

I really do love these colors together, and the glitter just makes me happy. I think my next couple of posts will be me trying to narrow down which colors go to Hawaii with me. My biggest challenge is taking fun AND "professional" looking nudes, simply because I don't know yet what I'll be doing as far as work. I'll post again this weekend because I painted these colors on my nails last weekend, so be on the lookout for that!

xx Anna

Essie Fiji

Yes, it's 100% worth the hype. If I had to choose 1 nail polish for the rest of my life it would probably be Essie Fiji. It's the perfect baby pink and will definitely be in my luggage heading to Hawaii!

Anytime I wear this polish, I always get asked about it. I actually bought it because Emily Maynard, former Bachelorette, wore it on her season of the Bachelor. She was wearing it in every episode and I knew I had to get my hands on it. It's hands down probably the best polish I've ever purchased.

I've been searching for the perfect "nude/pink" color for quite some time now. I've come close with Essie Ballet Slipper and Essie Angel Food Cake, but I think Essie Fiji is definitely perfect "neutral" shade. Yes, it's baby pink, but it's so subtle that I think it can easily pass for a neutral. I would also say that this is my go-to polish. "When in doubt, go with Fiji." I know others feel the same way just because it's the best neutral; it goes with everything! I think you could also say that this could pass for a "pastel" color, which makes it perfect for spring. I've already started thinking about what lucky polishes will get to come to Hawaii, and the only one that I know for sure will absolutely be Essie Fiji. It applies beautifully as well. I used two coats, but I think you could get away with one coat. I love it because it even looks good with my fair skin; which I hope to get a couple shades darker while living in Hawaii. I can't imagine how good this shade will look with a tan!

xx Anna