The Nail Files – Week 3

I’m a little late to the party on this one, but glad to be playing along! Nail polish is one of my favorite things and it’s always fun to share what shades I’m loving and to also see what everyone else is wearing.

Tara and Vicki are hosting this. Please visit their blogs and join in on the fun!



We’re expecting snow and it’s been freezing, so I decided to brighten my mood with a light polish. This shade is called Crinoline and comes from the Tracy Reese Fall 2011 Collection for the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line.


Crinoline

It’s a creamy, opaque whitish pink that covers well with two coats. The first one is a bit streaky, but everything smoothes out with the 2nd. I have to say that I really love this color. It reminds me of a bit of Mod About You from OPI, but it’s lighter. Colors like this always look classy and fit just about any occasion.

As a base, I used Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails and for a top coat, I used INM – Out The Door Super Fast Drying Top Coat. This is my first time using the INM and I have to say that I’m impressed. My nails didn’t dry quite as fast as they do with Seche Vite, but INM doesn’t have the horrible smell and dangerous chemicals that Seche Vite has. They’re just as shiny as when I use Seche Vite and the extra minute or two of drying time was not a problem.


Base, Polish and Top Coat

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Here and gone

All traces of the holidays have left the building (literally and figuratively). We took down the decorations Monday night and it was back to the grind yesterday. I really can’t complain though, since our time off was well spent with friends, family and a healthy dose of date nights!

Here are some highlights:

Had my first red cup of the season.


Saw Young Adult and loved it. Charlize Theron was perfect for the role.


Discovered a new Pinot Noir that I like.

Went on a beautiful birthday celebration/double date night with Kristen and Sean at Longwood Gardens and Dilworthtown Inn.

Kristen and I at Longwood Gardens. Here is a full recap of the night.

Got 1 mani and painted my nails 2 more times.

Zoya Shay w/Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Big Money as an accent nail
Venique in B-Ceen-B-Gorgeous w/Venique in Twinkling Glitter as an accent nail


Revlon Scene Stealer

Had a fun shopping day in Delaware with my mom and got Red Robin…yum!

Went to WWE Raw with Geof (since he's taken me to see Britney and Lady Gaga). I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a little interested in the storylines. We went to Denny’s afterwards and some of the wrestlers showed up.

Geof and I at the Wells Fargo Center, me with The Miz and Zack Ryder, Geof with Nikki Bella and me with Dolph Ziggler

Watched Elf for the first time ever.


Drove around and looked at pretty Christmas lights.

Saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Besides a few differences from the book, I thought the movie was done really well.


Finally saw Love and Other Drugs (first half – good, second half – depressing).


Went down to the city to have lunch at Reading Terminal Market and then went to Macy’s to see the light show. It’s also where the movie Mannequin was filmed!




Baked lots of Christmas goodies.

Spent Christmas Eve at home with my mom and Geof.


Spent Christmas Day at my cousin Bill & Lara’s house with the entire family. I had such a blast with all of my cousins.

Me with two out of the three triplets on Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are gearing up for the new year!

Julep Nail Polish Review & Giveaway!

Being the nail polish lover that I am, I was thrilled to be contacted by Julep. The company started out as a boutique nail parlor in the Seattle area and later expanded into offering their own line of nail color, very similar to Rescue Beauty Lounge. The difference with Julep is that they offer a monthly subscription service called Julep Maven where you take a style quiz (I’m Classic with a Twist btw) and for $19.99 a month, you’re sent new nail colors and nail care products fitted to your style type. If you don’t want to subscribe, you can purchase as you wish from their website.

One of the most impressive things about Julep is that they believe in women celebrating other women, which is so important in today’s competitive world. Their mission statement reminds you to take a step back and support one another. They also donate $1 from each bottle of nail polish sold to various women’s charities.


The Girlfriend's Essential Nail Vernis Gift Set


It came packaged neat and sleek!

Julep sent me The Girlfriend's Essential Nail Vernis Gift Set, which includes two nail polishes in the colors Catherine and Jennifer as well as their Essential Cuticle Oil.

Here are my thoughts on each product:

First and foremost, I wanted to mention that all of their polish formulas are 3 Free, which means they do not contain any DBP, toluene, formaldehyde. Hooray for that!

Catherine


I’m not someone that wears red nail polish very often, but after seeing how gorgeous this looked on my nails, I might need to rethink that. Catherine is a warm-toned, classic red that applied like a dream. I’m not exaggerating. I’m always skeptical with any new polish and this made me a believer. It went on smooth, with no pooling at the cuticles or streakiness. The coverage was great and pretty opaque with one coat. I used two for good measure and topped it off with Seche Vite (I also used Sally Hansen as a base). The color is vibrant, shiny and classy looking.


I put this polish to the test and it lasted 5 days with only minor wear at the tips from typing. There were no large chips and the color stayed true.

Jennifer


When I saw this pretty pink in the bottle, it made me smile. Soft, neutral pinks like this are something you can never go wrong with and fitting for any occasion. This is a sheer pink that could easily be worn alone or used to do a French Manicure.

The wear on Jennifer was just as good as Catherine and overall I’m very impressed with the quality of these polishes.

Essential Cuticle Oil
The convenience of this cannot be beat. It rolls on and it’s completely travel friendly. The oil also smells so nice which can be attributed to the lavender, rosewood and ylang-ylang essential oils. It also contains jojoba oil, sweet almond oil and castor oil for moisturizing and vitamin E as an antioxidant. This is also paraben-free.

This does work and made my dry, cracked cuticles smooth and soft, which is so important especially in the dry months of fall and winter.

Onto the fun part…the GIVEAWAY!

One of you lucky ladies has the chance to win The Girlfriend's Essential Nail Vernis Gift Set! This set is the same one that was sent to me for review and is very much Chic & Pink approved. The red shade will be perfect for the upcoming holidays and the pink will work anytime of the year. I also know you’ll love the cuticle oil.

To enter:
Simply leave a comment on this post. Easy as that!

Extra entries:
Follow my blog or let me know you’re already a follower +1
Follow me on Twitter or let me know you’re already one of my Tweeps +1
Tweet about this giveaway – you can use this: Enter to win a Julep Nail Polish Set from @ChicnPink here: http://tinyurl.com/7ne8uge +1
Blog about this giveaway +1

You can leave all your entries in one comment or separate comments. I'll ensure they're all counted.

The giveaway will close on 12/07/11 and the winner will be announced 12/08/11
Due to shipping restrictions, this giveaway is open to US Residents only.
Winner will be chosen via Radom.org.

Good luck!

FTC: This nail polish sent was sent to me by Julep in return for an honest review.

Thanksgiving recap & blog swap reveal!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Mine was great. I got to spend time with Geof, my family and even did some Christmas shopping.

Wednesday, Geof and I went out on a date night to see Breaking Dawn and then went to dinner at a newish Mexican place called Dos Gringos. It was perfection!


Ready for date night!


Movie + Mexican = Perfection

Thanksgiving was spent at my aunt & uncle’s with the family and Friday we did some Black Friday shopping in Delaware. We scored some great deals! The rest of the weekend consisted of skating, relaxing, more shopping and a little work.


Thanksgiving at my aunt & uncle's

To keep with the theme of the Plenty To Be THANKful For Challenge, here is Day 9: I’m THANKful For Thanksgiving! (Post a picture of your table… if you have time!)


3 large tables for Thanksgiving this year

Day 10 I’m THANKful for Black Friday and Leftovers!


Doing Black Friday shopping in Delaware was definitely something to be THANKful for since we not only got some things on sale, we didn’t have to pay sales tax!

Last but not least is the Plenty To Be THANKful For Blog Swap Reveal!


Look how pretty she wrapped everything!


Love all my new swap goodies!

I was partnered with Stephanie from Life’s Lyrics and to say she spoiled me would be an understatement. She sensed my love for nail polish right away and even got me a shade that was on my Christmas wish list (Rainbow Connection from OPI). She also sent me some other beauty goodies and a gorgeous Christmas ornament along with a gift card for Starbucks!

We connected right away and it turns out, we have a ton in common from our favorite color to our taste in music. That’s why I love swaps, because it’s always nice to meet other great bloggers. Please pay her blog a visit. She’s wonderful!



Thank you to all the ladies that took the time to organize this challenge and swap. Putting the posts together has been a blast and also given me the opportunity to reflect on the things that I’m most thankful for this season. I’ve also “met” some really nice ladies. I’m thankful for you all!

2 on Tuesday: Christmas Wish List

Today, I’m linking up with Andrea over at My Chihuahua Bites for 2 on Tuesday. Please pay her blog a visit (if you haven’t already). She’s been one of my blog friends for over 3 years and pretty much rocks.



The question today is…

What’s your Christmas wish list? What do you hope to receive from Santa?

Questions like this are easy to answer. I have a wish list ready and waiting when Geof asks me what I want. Easy for him and easy for me. I usually keep track of things I like either on Pinterest or on Amazon.

If money were no object I’d love to have this


Apple iPad 2

Or this...


Canon EOS Rebel T3i

Since these are extravagant items, I’ll bring it back down to reality with some things I’d love to have that are a little more realistic.


Tarte Limited Edition LipSurgence Collection


Marley Lilly Monogrammed Pashmina in Leopard


Michael Kors Watch MK5263


Witches of East End


Case Mate iPhone 4 Bling Case


OPI Rainbow Connection from The Muppets Collection

What's on your list?

ITS OK Thursday!

I’m linking up for the first time with Neely from A Complete Waste of Makeup and Amber from Brunch with Amber for “ITS OK Thursday”. These posts are always so fun to read and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s OK with you this week!

For me, ITS OK

That I thoroughly enjoyed Pizza Hut for dinner last night (I’ve seen one too many “any pizza for $10” commercials). I also watched the rerun of Modern Family. That’s one Halloween episode that I think would be hard to surpass.

That lately I have a weird obsession with changing my nail polish every 3-4 days.

That I’ve been under the weather this week and drinking hot tea like it’s my job. I swear tea cures all. My mom was right.

That I pinned a ton of cute ideas for Halloween decorating and did…none. Whoops! There’s always next year.

That we’re taking photos for our Christmas cards this weekend and I still have no clue what to wear.

To have randomly remembered the song “Dead Man’s Party” from Oingo Boingo and will be rocking out to it in celebration of Halloween (It’s a great 80’s song and I realize I’m showing my age on this one). It’s also in the movie Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield. Love it!



Well, that’s about it for this week.

*Fun Oingo Boingo fact: Frontman Danny Elfman is Jenna Elfman’s brother and went from his 80’s pop band to composer for films like Batman. He also did the theme for Desperate Housewives

Weekend recap

Friday, we took my mom out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. We gave her a choice and she wanted Don Pablo’s. I’m definitely her daughter because I love that place. We always offer up something fancy, but she goes for nice and easy.


OOTN for dinner with the fam!


My sockbun obsession

Saturday, we had skating and then Geof and I went out to see Paranormal Activity 3. It was really scary and got me the worst of all of them. I’d be lying if I said my mind wasn’t reeling with scary thoughts before I went to sleep that night.



Sunday, we ran some errands and then our friends Kristen and Sean came over. We headed over to Brit and Mike’s house for a delicious spaghetti dinner and some sweet treats (Kristen whipped up the best pumpkin cupcakes). After dinner, we headed out to Bates Motel. We survived the hayride, corn maze and haunted house. I didn’t even freak out when the chainsaw guy came after us (a first for me!). The whole night was a blast with good friends and good times.



Monday I took the day off and did some shopping with my mom. I’ll have to share some of my finds later in the week. I also painted my nails with the shade Cool Couture from Maybelline. It’s a great blue for fall and winter.


Cool Couture from Maybelline

Nail files

I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but this year nail polish has become a big obsession of mine. I’ve actually started to enjoy doing my own nails. Before I used to always go to the salon and nowadays it’s more of a treat (that I appreciate much more than I did before).

I wanted to share some of my new favorite polishes from drugstore to department store brands that I’ve been loving as of late:


Essie's Lady Like is the perfect fall pink because it's more mauve. It has a also has a beautiful creme finish.

Jesse's Girl Stiletto is neutral taupe shade that leans a little grey. From swatches I've seen online, it also looks similar to Particuliere from Chanel at a much cheaper price.



Wet 'N Wild Purple Potion is a deep, dark purple with purple micro glitter. It's extremely cheap and how fun is this little tombstone bottle for Halloween?

Deborah Lippmann Naked is a beautiful, neutral nude shade that works for any occasion. This is such a classic that can be worn year round.

What polishes are you loving lately?

Weekend recap

This was easily the best weekend of the summer…so far. Friday, my mom took Geof and I out to The Melting Pot to celebrate our birthdays. We had a great server who really hooked us up on the cheese and chocolate courses. Everything was delicious and we had a really nice time.


Painted my nails with OPI's Flit A Bit


Dinner at The Melting Pot

Saturday, Geof and I got up bright and early and headed to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. It was in the mid 80’s and perfect water park weather. We went slipping and sliding, jumped waves and floated along the lazy river all day long. Exhaustion set in around 6. We got a quick bite at McDonald’s (which from the heat and running around all day tasted like the best Mickey D’s I ever had in my life) and then made our way back to PA.


Lazy River at Hurricane Harbor


Another pretty summer sunset

Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the pool. The weather was hot and the pool was cool, just how I like it. Later in the night, Geof went out with one of his buddies and my mom and I went to Target.