Nails From The Bottom Up

mashup

This week’s Monday Mash-Up is all about NAILS – my favorite base & top coat combo.

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October Favorites

So what it’s a week into November already…I’m doing my October favorites and you’re gonna LIKE IT. :) As usual I don’t know what to use as a picture for my ‘favorites’ post so in keeping with tradition, here’s a random fun picture. This time it’s Barack Obama holding a book. :D My favorites for October are pretty simple, because I was SICK during October. That means my favorites all kind of go along with that…read on to find out more!

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Win OPI Silver Shatter

After I showed you guys the OPI Silver Shatter I picked up yesterday at Ulta, a bunch of you freaked out because you can’t find it where you are. So! I went back to Ulta and picked up 2 more bottles of OPI Silver Shatter to give away to 2 lucky readers. 
Unfortunately, sending nail polish overseas is iffy/risky, so I am limiting this to USA readers only. Sorry guys & gals! 
To enter…
Comment below with an idea you have about what polish to wear with your OPI Silver Shatter, and let me know how you keep up on The Gloss Menagerie (whether it be facebook, twitter, RSS, etc.). When you’re commenting, you don’t need to put your email address in the body of your comment, but you do need to put it in the comment “form” – since I’m an admin I can see it even though it’s private. :) That way I can reach you to tell you you’ve won!
Rules –
You must be in the USA.
You must follow the blog somehow (see above). I will check!
After the contest closes I will draw 2 readers randomly.
Once I notify the winners, they’ll have 24 hours to reply and claim their prize. 
Once the winners have claimed their prizes I’ll update the post w/ the winners.
You have until 5:00 pm PST July 15th to enter. 

OPI Femme de Cirque Collection For Fans of Pretty Sheer Shades!

Come one, come all — come view OPI’s Softshades for summer, straight from the big top! Despite all the bold look-at-me lacquers that are in for summer, from punchy corals to pretty plums, subtle sheer shades are making waves in the manicure world to serve as an elegant alternative to edgy dark shades and playful brights! OPI’s Femme de Cirque Softshades collection, which just debuted this month, features three sheer pink-toned lacquers and one micro-shimmer topcoat (called “I Juggle…Men”) to add the slightest dash of dazzle to these barely-there color washes. “Step Right Up,” “In The Spot-Light Pink,” and “So Many Clowns, So Little Time” are very similar in shade with just the slightest variation in paleness. They’re perfect for no-nonsense girls who like to polish, but are sick of all the chunky glittery shades and opaque lacquers that require much more frequent touch-ups and precision. Since they’re sheer, they’re also great for showing off nails that are in tip-top shape (or just a killer new manicure!). Are you a fan of these girly summer shades, or were you expecting more from a circus-inspired collection?

– Alex Gambardella for The Find



This has been a guest post from our partner, The Find.

October Favorites

It’s seriously November already? Insane. I feel like the month of October flew by so fast!

Favorite Things for October


Make Up For Ever HD Foundation
This isn’t new to me, in fact I’m just about finished with the bottle and my second bottle arrives tomorrow. I hadn’t been wearing foundation much lately but then started reaching for this more and more often. I love how it wears, and shade 110 is the perfect match on me.

Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner
Oh. Em. Gee. Probably the priciest shampoo & conditioner I’ve ever used but this stuff is amazing. My hair is left so soft and smooth and hydrated. Over the last few months I’ve really noticed my hair being more dry. Not sure why that is as nothing changed for me, but this shampoo & conditioner are really helping me get my hair to look great. It’s definitely not cheap though and I’m going to reluctantly have to shell out the money for full sizes when my little minis run out.

Rock & Republic blush in Spank
Spank is the perfect shade of pale pink! However, this blush is very pigmented. Some pale blushes can be chalky and sheer. Not this one! The quality of these blushes is soooo nice. They’re so soft and finely milled. They look great on the skin, too.

OPI Sparkle-licious nail polish
If you love glitter, you need this polish. It’s gold glitter with some pink and blue glitter mixed in. It looks ADORABLE as a blinged-out pedicure, which is how I’ve been wearing it for a couple weeks, and will look really cute as a holiday manicure too. This is one color that I would consider matching my toes and tips in the same polish, which I hardly ever do.

Down memory lane with Hard Candy

I was really into painting my nails in junior high. I always had some wild combination of colors on my fingers. Anything from striping to a different color on each finger. You name it. One of my favorite birthday gifts of that era was a trio of Hard Candy polishes. I have since lost or discarded them (weep!) but they were beautiful colors! So when Hard Candy went 75% off, I was completely tempted. I am so thrilled with my order, too.

I ordered a Mini Nail Kit in “Delinquint”. It comes with 7 mini size nail polishes. They are mini (.17 oz) but plenty for a bunch of manicures. They come in a super cute metallic hot pink case, too! The colors are:

Angel – Champagne w/ gold & silver shimmer
Trailer Trash – Silver with silver shimmer
Earth – Beigey taupe with multicolored shimmer
Scam – Hot pink with silver shimmer
Stop – Bright red w/ red shimmer
Vinyl – Very dark purple-black
Vibe – Black w/ shimmer

I’m wearing Angel right now. It’s such a classic, go-with-everything mani but looks really elegant. It took 2 coats to get fully opaque coverage.

I also grabbed a full sized polish in Jailbait, which is pale lavender with pink and purple shimmer.

These polishes wear extremely well. Normally a manicure is chipped to hell on me by a week. It’s been a week since I did this mani with HC Angel and it looks pretty good still! There’s a couple teensy chips and the color is wearing off the tip of one nail but you have to really inspect my nails to notice.

As far as makeup goes, I didn’t have that much interest in Hard Candy’s offerings. However, Sweet Spot lipgloss caught my eye. They list the scent as “orange blossom”. Sounds yummy! So I picked up Sweet Spot gloss in Love Child, which received great reviews. It’s a my-lips-but-better nude shade, and the scent is everything I thought it would be and more. Orange blossom = sugary orangey goodness. I almost want to eat this lipgloss. I find myself opening it up just to smell it! It feels light but moisturizing on the lips. It’s thin/not too sticky for those of you who aren’t into sticky lips (I don’t mind them myself).

So all and all not bad, especially since I spent only $17!! Hard Candy is not 75% off anymore, but it is still 50% off, so check them out. :) www.hardcandy.com