Go Pink Wednesday... annnnd Thursday!

You can imagine how thrilled we were when our friend Andrea, of Finger Painting Fingers, invited us to be part of Go Pink Wednesdays for the month of October!  We gladly accepted her invitation and can't wait to share a month of manis in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  If you are interested in reading more about Go Pink Wednesdays, you can do so here.

Some interesting breast cancer facts for 2012 that we find particularly scary:

• 226,870 new cases of invasive breast cancer (includes new cases of primary breast cancer among survivors, but not recurrence of original breast cancer among survivors).

• 63,300 new cases of in situ breast cancer (includes ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), of those, about 85 percent will be DCIS). DCIS is a non-invasive breast cancer and LCIS is a condition that increases the risk of invasive breast cancer. Learn more about DCIS and LCIS.

• 39,510 breast cancer deaths. (Information sited from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure website)  

These are frightening and very real numbers to look at, but facts are facts and we really need to stand up and pay attention to this disease! Please take some time and do some research. Gathering information that could save your life is a must in my book. Among the many risk factors associated with Breast Cancer, being a woman and aging are at the top of the list and unfortunately these are two risk factors that cannot be changed. This disease is not picky and being informed as well as maintaining a regular schedule of performing self breast checks can mean the difference between life and death! I know that this is a very serious topic to be tackling on a nail polish blog. But, this is a woman's issue and we thought this month we would devote some time to education as well as support for Breast Cancer Awareness!  

OPI - La Paz-Itively Hot w/flash 

For Dom's mani she used two coats of OPI's La Paz-Itively Hot. To add a little bling, she used her rhinestones to create the Breast Cancer Awareness pink ribbon. To complete the look she did a layer of OPI Top Coat!  

Man Glaze - Fuggen Ugly in natural light

For E's mani she used 2 coats of Man Glaze's Fuggen Ugly. To do the ribbon she used a small paint brush and Revlon's Passionate Pink. To add a little bit of shine she placed some Dollish Polish I'll have what she's having glitter on the ribbon. No top coat was used.


We had a lot of fun coming up with our own manis for this great cause, we hope you enjoy them both! Please remember to check back each wednesday to see a new Breast Cancer Awareness mani!  

xo,

                                                                                                                                                

&

Purple Ombre tips with a side of matted NARS, please.

For my birthday I ordered a little bit of stuff from Sephora. Initially I was thinking of getting a couple Sephora by OPI colors but then I did some such random color search and came across the NARS Thakoon Collection. My eyeballs fell out onto my laptop. Seriously the amazingly beautiful and vibrant colors were show stoppers. Of course once I popped my eyeballs back in and rolled my tongue back up at the slightly steep $18/bottle cost my inner negative Nelly popped off with "they only look that pretty because they want you to fork over that $18! They won't be as nice in person..." She's such a bitch, I hate that damn negative Nelly... but she DID have a point...

NARS - Koliary (matte) with Ombre Purple Tips

However, let me just cut to the chase and say that I added and removed NARS - Koliary from my cart probably half a dozen times. I knew I only had so much money to spend and truly spending a decent amount on 1 bottle of polish was just kind of silly. But every time I saw the color it was like it sucked me in with it's mind control and bam! The bottle would be back in the cart!

NARS - Koliary 2 coats with base coat

Well, once my Sephora order came, my joy at finally receiving Nails Inc - Baker Street was quickly eclipsed when I saw the beautiful black NARS box. I thought "holy hell! I guess $18 buys my polish it's own little holder!" Then I opened the box... all the sounds around me faded away and I had tunnel vision. All I could see was this amazing vibrant shade of blue. I really and truly did make the bug-eyed-jaw-dropped face. The website described it as "cyan blue". My description? Happiness. Seriously if you love the blue family and all it's amazing hues this little gem will make you feel pure, unadulterated happiness.

NARS - Koliary made Matte with NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy

I wore this color for 3 different manicures in one week. No lie. I haven't done that in over 5 months. Below is one of those 3 manis. I love purple just as much as blue and thought I'd try to combine them. I still have mixed feelings about this particular mani though. I liked it but I didn't. I dunno. It's sorta like that feeling you get when falling in love with an outfit on the hanger... then you try it on and feel like some vital bit of you is hanging out in an unflattering way... but you cant FIND that bit. Yeah. THAT feeling :/

NARS - Koliary, NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy, Essie - Play Date, piCture pOlish - Wisteria,
Julep - Anne, Ulta - Celebutante, piCture pOlish - Grape

First I painted 2 coats of NARS - Koliary. Then I used NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy to turn the finish matte. Using my reinforcement circles I created a crisp edge, and from there I just used each purple polish in descending darkening shade on each nail to create the ombre tips.

My Instagram shot! Follow me @enjeliq

Hopefully you fall in love with this color like I did... and if you don't... well I guess that'll be just that many more back-ups I'll have access to! ;)

xo,

What about you? Have you ever had this love/hate feeling for a mani?