Freecycle Haul and another Giveaway win!

Yesterday I went and picked up some polishes from Freecycle.  If you don't know what Freecycle is, it is a group on Yahoo that you can join and request items or give away items for free.  Check Yahoo and see if there is one for your area!

This is my haul.  Some of them are dried up, and the bottles are covered on old polish, but I can used Seche Restore and clean the bottles, no big deal!!

Street Wear Chick, Colorama Blazes of Blue, Sinful Phoenix, Rimmel Lilac, Nicka (unknown color)

Unknown Sally Hansen color, CG Iced Rosewood, Maybelline Lunar Shell, Maybelline unamed color, NYC 107

Garden Botanika Amethyst, WnW 412, purple Bratz, unknown white, Revlon Mulberry

unknon white, Sation White Pearl, unknown yellow glitter, L'oreal french white, Color Impact unknown color

unknown purple mini, unknown pink mini, another unknown white

I think I may use some of these and try frankening...  maybe!

I won some polishes from You've Got Nail a few weeks ago, also:

TBN Brown Earth, Frosty Red, Black Beauty, French Pink, Aubergine and Ulta3 Spring Shower.

I can not wait to try these out.  Swatches and NOTDs of these soon!!

Until later,
Amberski

My almost mannequin hands

This is another polish I got from Nailstah's giveaway.  I love the color in the bottle- it made me want chocolate milk, or coffee with lots of cream!  On my hands, I don't love it so much...

I think if I wasn't so pale, it might work for me...  maybe I will use it for layering....

On another note, I wanted to thank y'all for the nice comments here and on Twitter yesterday.  I know my dad is watching, and that he would be proud...  All in all though, I got through the day with a minimum amount of tears, and now I need to go listen to "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John- he sang that to me when I was a baby, and I always seem to hear it when I really need my daddy.  Thanks again, guys, I think you all helped me get through the day a little easier!  <3 you all!

Until Later,
Amberski

NOTD, my prize from Nailstah, and something personal

Before I get to the good stuff, I want to talk about something personal, bear with me please.

April 28th is a tough day for me.  My father passed away in 1996, and I still have a hard time on this day and his birthday.  I realize that it has been a long time, but my father was one of my best friends, and I get upset when I think about all that he missed in my life- my marriage, the birth of my children, both of my sisters graduated from HS and college after he died.  Oddly enough, on April 28th, 1997 (one year later) I found out I was pregnant with my son.  Needless to say, this is a bittersweet day.

Thank you for letting me get that out.

I won Nailstah's giveaway a few weeks ago, and my package came yesterday!

 
There were 2 of the Choco pies, but I ate those pretty quickly.  Also not shown is a Hello Kitty head with stickers (the Princess took that over) a Hello Kitty cell phone charm which went on my keychain, and some lipstick.

Here are the polishes:

ChG Channelesque, Fuschia, and Emerald Sparkle

CND Infatuation, Rimmel Milk Chocolate, and Cheri Tiky Punch

For today's NOTD, I chose Channelesque.  This applied very easily, and I used 3 coats.  I haven't decided what I think of it on yet....

It is actually a bit less grey in real life, but it is very pretty!

I also scored about 10 or so polishes off Freecycle, I should be getting those tomorrow.  I have no idea what they are, so it should be interesting!!

Until Later,
Amberski

Stash pictures

Since my NOTD is one that I have already showed you, (ChG Recycle, you can see it here.) I decided to show you my stash.  I keep everything in the bathroom linen closet, since I don't have a spare room to use.

The clear box and the blue crate are my polishes.  Here is a close up of the clear box:

This is mainly China Glaze, with a few OPI, a Zoya, and an Orly thrown in.  I also keep my SV and Restore in here.  (In case you were wondering what the writing on the box says, it says Scrapbook Stuff- I stole the box from my scrapbook stash, LOL!)

Here is a close up of the blue crate:

This has everything else- Rimmel, Cover Girl, Milani, Loreal, etc....   when I first got into polish, my entire stash took up maybe a third of this!!  I counted after I took these pictures- not counting base and top coats, I have 75 polishes!!  I know that isn't much compared to some of y'all, but I started with less than 10 in November...   I need to find more storage, I have more coming from 2 contests I won.  I am not ready for a helmer (nor do I really have room for one) so I am not sure what i am going to use yet.

Anyway, Happy Earth Day, everyone!!

Until Later,
Amberski

Oldie but goodie...

I was getting blinded by the pink from earlier, so I did a quick change.  Here is one that I have had since the late 90's- Rimmel Zeitgeist.  It is a gorgeous purple/olive duochrome.  I love this polish, and unfortunately it is HTF....

I am so glad I hung on to this!!

Until Later,
Amberski

NOTD- Wet n Wild True Love (215)

This is an older polish that I had (okay, not that old- I bought it in August because the Princess wanted pink fingernails for her birthday...)  I had put on China Glaze Midnight Ride last night, but it was so dark purple that it just looked black on me.  I didn't even take a picture of it, that's how much I disliked it!

I used 3 to 4 coats of this (some nails were streaky) but that really doesn't bother me too much.  I know some people get frustrated after 2 coats, but I am OCD about it looking opaque!

This next one is under my lamp so you can see how pepto pink it really is!

And then, I noticed it matched one of the stars on my crazy Flirtitude pajama bottoms.  (I got lazy today and I am still in my jammies- so what?!)

I am nearing the end of my untrieds, and I only have 2 more greens to do for St. Patty's Day (I will do those closer to Wednesday) so I may be pulling out an oldie but goodie in the next day or so.  What I want from you guys is to know which one you would rather see- Rimmel Mania or Zeitgeist?

Until Later,
Amberski

NOTD and an interesting comparison

As I was getting ready to remove my Acoustic Azure and Heartbreaker mani from a few days ago, I realized I had other polishes that were the same blue/green as this combo.  I pulled out China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic and Rimmel Mania...

On my index and ring fingers are the 3 coats Acoustic Azure+ Heartbreaker, middle finger is 3 coats Mania, pinkie 3 coats Rodeo Fanatic.

Hmm...  hard to tell the difference, isn't it??  Mania has a bit more green flash to it, and Rodeo Fanatic seems a bit more blue, but very close!!


Now on to the NOTD.  I received this in my first MUA swap.  It is Cover Girl Nail Slicks Mint Sorbet.  The application was a bit of a pain, and it is really sheer- I lost track of how many coats this took, and I can still see VNL.  This was in the dwindling sunlight....

And below is natural light in my living room.

Not quite sure how I feel about this one, I think it may be too yellow for my skin tone....  I will probably change it tomorrow- Mr. Ski and I may have a date!

Until Later,
Amberski

Real quick!

Just a real quick drive by post....  I decided to put Pure Ice Heartbreaker over my GuG mani from yesterday...

It made this really cool duochrome effect!  I wonder if I put it over a dark blue, will it look like my precious Rimmel Mania?  Hmm...  I may have to try that soon!!

Until Later,
Amberski

Quick post....

Just finished eating dinner (Shepherd's Pie, nothing fancy- I am not the world's greatest cook... That honor goes to Mr. Ski!) now i am suffering through Yo Gabba Gabba. Oh joy! I think later tonight, Mr. Ski and I are going to whup Ski Jr.'s butt on Super Mario for the Wii.... sounds fun, huh?

Went to Wal-mart last night to spend some gift cards on myself. I caved and bought a pair of skinny jeans. I also bought some nail polish- Rimmel Camouflage and Hard Candy Mr. Wrong. Currently, I am wearing Mr. Wrong- haven't decided how i feel about it yet. We will see!

I guess that is all for now. I may be back later!

Amberski

Goodnight, all

I managed to survive my day, and I never did get a nap... That's ok, the kiddies just went to bed and I may not be too far behind. I am sitting here with Mr. Ski, enjoying a glass of wine and watching the football game. It is a tough year to be a Redskins fan! I am going to go remove my chipping mani (Rimmel Royal Mint- sorry, no pic) and figure out what color I am in the mood for....

Hope everyone has a good night!

Until tomorrow...
Amberski