Swatch: Sally's Girl Glam #812057

Y'know, if they're gonna name it, they should make that name easy to find....

Anyway, I got this in my birthday package from (my mom's) aunt! It's one of those 99c minis from sallybeauty.com. On the first coat, I was reeeally disappointed how sheer it was, especially given it was a mini, but the second coat really covered everything except for a couple bits which a third coat evened out nicely. My index and ring finger needed three coats but my middle and pinky didn't.

As you can see, there's a really nice coppery-gold shimmer and for the 59 to 99 cents that these minis cost I can't really see you going wrong. Surprisingly, this is also unlike any colour I have :D Very girly.

What's your favourite pink?

Swatch: Sinful Colors Captivate Me

I have a magnetic! Because sometimes I want art and I am lazy =3 What's awesome is that the Sinfuls I got have the star magnets which are suuuuper cool - way better than those wave ones.

Anyway, the first photo I have is one coat, no magnet and then a second coat and magnet.

It's a really nice raspberry colour...

 The separates into a darker plum when magnetised.

Just for shits and giggles, I wanted to see what it looked like matte!

Personally I think it looks super cool, but the star pattern is much more subtle than when it's left shiny. I wanted some glitter so I put on a coat of Rainbow Honey XOXO and matted it. I don't think it did much but I took pictures anyway.

Did you like it better shiny or matted? With glitter or without?

What's your favourite magnetic polish, or did you avoid this trend?

Poutine: Club Ilia

SFU, where I just graduated from, finally got a fancier dining establishment to open up there which is where I found myself when I went up to help my friend invigilate the midterm for the class she's teaching (I have really cool friends <3). I saw poutine on the menu and you know how it is...

We split it between us so the photos shown are half the amount you get. Also this was a beef poutine.

The gravy and the beef were freaking delicious, and the fries were amazing! The cheese was good but it wasn't anything special. For the $12 or whatever the full size came to, this was a good meal.

For its ranking, it fits right in above Belgian Fries. Club Ilia's poutine was of much higher quality in my opinion, and omg those fries.

1. Dunn's Famous
2. Preston's
3. Brado Pizza
4. Mean Poutine
5. Zako's Deli
6. The Kaboom Box
7. Club Ilia
8. Belgian Fries
9. Frenchies
10. La Poutinerie
11. Fritz
12. La Belle Patate
13. The Cambie
14. The Metropole Community Pub
15. Dougie Dog

Don't forget the full list is HERE.

Have you been following my poutine adventures? Which one looks the best so far?

Swatch: KleanColor Firework

Orly Old School Orange looked a little bare, so I scoured my untrieds for a glitter and found KleanColor Firework. Unfortunately there appeared to be a leak in the bottle and it had mostly dried out. I fixed it with a couple mls of thinner but it is unfortunate and if I want to use it more I'll probably have to do it again.

It needed a little extra so I used Fingerpaints Sparkle Topcoat and found some sunshine. Somehow it made the orange look coral which is making me want a coral now but it's super nice and sparkly and I love it.

What is your experience with bar glitter?

PS Be sure there'll be a birthday haul post soon =3

Swatch: Orly Old School Orange

The last of the little trio set that Kelly from Nails for the Sake of Sanity sent me <3 (She got her own domain now too :D)!

Orly Old School Orange, just like Viridian Vinyl and Purple Pleather is a waxy semi-matte finish. It's bright and perfect for summer <3 I did three coats, formula was okay.

Are you an orange fan?

Inspired by Akimbo nail art and happy birthday to mee =3

I love when bloggers do a spotlight on artisans with cool jewelry a la XOXO Alexis Leigh. This time it wasn't her though, it was Steph Lau at Fun Size Beauty (who shares my opinion that full size nail polish is impossible to finish and mini's are all we need). She did an awesome spotlight on Akimbo, an etsy shop run by California sisters Jenny and Kim. They collaborated to even sweeten the deal with a little giveaway for almost any one item from their shop... and I won :D:D:D This was an excellent thing for me because as soon as I looked at their gorgeous pieces, I wishlisted the meteorite ring and fully intended to spend my ever dwindling cashmoneys on it. When I found out I won I was ecstatic!

I eagerly awaited its arrival and it made it just in time for my birthday! Lucky meeee <3

 So, like I said, I got inspired! I used a sponging technique and a million colours (okay, like five: Revlon Strawberry Electric, Pure Ice Blue Midnight, China Glaze Running in Circles, Orly Rockin' Rockette, Nyx Techno) all over China Glaze Cast a Spell.

(Instead of bombarding you with a scroll of photos of my step-by-step I made a picmonkey collage.)

To further match the ring, and distinguish these from galaxy nails (though near-sheer metallics appear to be an AMAZING way to accomplish those), I freehanded two double lines using my dotting tool and KleanColor Gold Bright. I cleared up the terrible mistakes while it was still wet by running a mechanical pencil along the edges. It worked pretty well. One day I will have a real nail art brush. One day...

And another collage with their pretty business card <3

And then just some snaps from the sunshine...

Omg, do you love it as much as I do? I may have to use these specific colours again for actual galaxy nails :3

What do you think? Do you have any tips for getting precise lines? Wish me happy birthday? ^___^

PS: I really wish I could do a giveaway for you guys for my birthday but I'm so low on funds I'd never be able to ship the prizes in a timely manner. The second I get a job, there will be a celebratory giveaway so send me your tips and tricks if you've got any ;P

[Akimbo Handmade Jewelry is on both Etsy and Facebook - go say hi and tell them I sent you!]

Swatch: China Glaze Cast a Spell

Well here's a colour I didn't think I would get to use until fall, but then inspiration happened ;D Anyway, you should all remember China Glaze's Halloween collection which was awesome and I just keep using Make a Spectacle like nobody's business. Kelly (nailsforthesakeofsanity.com) also sent me Cast a Spell and though she really wanted me to try them together, that's probably gonna have to wait for a bit.

As usual, the formula was amazing and the brush was sooo easy to work with. Two coats!

It reminds me a little bit of Butter London Wallis but more black and green than dark gold.

Tomorrow's post is going to be epic and picture heavy, so come back, okay? Also it's my birthday so you know it'll be good :3

Do you have a polish like this that you love?