Icing Queen Bee

Before the Salon Perfect neon matte glitters were out, I found out that Icing had a few of their own thanks to oncebittenblog. In hindsight, there are only 2 Icing neon matte glitters and they're not as complex as the Salon Perfect ones, but I like them just the same. I actually think I'm most excited about the neon matte glitter trend than any other trend (don't think it's a full on trend yet, but I hope it will be) in 2013. I'm a glitter gal through and through and matte glitters are darn awesome to me! Here is one of the Icing polishes I picked up.

Icing Queen Bee over Cult Nails Nevermore

Queen Bee is a mix of neon yellow and green matte glitters in a clear base.

Color: At first glance in the bottle I thought this was just all neon yellow glitter, but there is some green mixed in there too. This is a cool combination of colors and I like the way it looks. I don't have a polish like this either.

Formula: Meh. Not so great. This is thick, goopy,and brush is thick and overly saturated with polish. It's not terrible, but it's not easy to work with.

Price: I paid $4.50 for this at Icing, but as we know Icing has this ongoing Buy 1 Get 1 50% off cosmetics deal, so you can stock up without the guilt.

Overall: I really like this glitter. It looks cool, and would make an awesome topper. The formula leaves a lot to be desired, but it isn't bad enough where I wouldn't recommend it either.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Paint Splatters

Happy Friday!

Icing I Like the Nightlife

I've noticed lately going into Icing is a problem for me. They have so many awesome polishes there. It's kind of one those places I try to ignore because I know they'll have great nail polish, but I get sucked in anyways. I picked this one up last month on polish shopping trip with Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles.

I Like the Nightlife

I Like the Night life is a sheer periwinkle with blue micro glitter and a subtle magenta shimmer.

This polish is so neat! I love the color of it, the glitter, but that magenta shimmer in it is awesome! This polish is 100% unique. I don't know of any other colors like this at all. This first coat of this is sheer, but it build up nicely in 3 coats. This is one of those polishes I think speaks for itself, because I really do not have much else to say about it.

The only problem is I get "I Love the Nightlife" song in my head whenever I think about it.



This video is incredibly awkward. The audience looks like they're viewing some scientific procedure vs. a performer. They're so stiff and quiet during the song. Very weird!

Happy Tuesday!

Icing Rock Star From Mars

I have no idea when I got this polish that it was part of some random Charlie Sheen collection. Why Icing? Why? Of all people that is the person you choose to be inspired by for nail polish..you choose Charlie Sheen? Oh well. That aside I like this polish.

Rock Star From Mars over Sally Hansen Blew Me Away

Rock Star From Mars is a bright blue sheer jelly with gold iridescent glitter.

This is definitely a layering polish. There is not a reasonable amount of coats you can do on this where it would look good. I still really like this. I love the gold and blue combination. I just wish the gold iridescent glitter in this was a bit more pigmented so it showed up more. It's a pretty glitter. The last time I was at Icing, I was really impressed with the amount of glittery polishes they had. They all were pretty awesome!

Happy Wednesday!

Icing At Dusk

I started classes again today. I always feel ridiculously behind the first day of school. I swear you're handed all these syllabi and deadlines, and I automatically start stressing. It's crazy because it's the first day of school and we haven't even started doing anything yet! I've been cursed with the "overachiever" trait, and I don't consider it a good thing. I spend time worrying about getting things done, and once I actually do them it's not a big deal. Any one else like this? The reason I mention school, is because you may notice I won't be posting as reguarly as usual. I will try, but sometimes I get too overloaded!

Back to polish. I got this glitter at Icing. I like Icing polishes, but I'm not a fan of shopping at their stores. It's one of those stores where they hound you all the time, and immediately hand you a basket to shop. I always feel guilty if I don't buy something there. Lol, I'm terrible, just no thanks on the basket please. I'm a sucker, stop guilt tripping me!

At Dusk over Finger Paints Heavenly Hydrangeas

At Dusk is muted pink and silver small glitters in a clear base.

What I love about this glitter is it's not your typical layering glitter. It's not very blingy. It's very subdued and the color of the glitter is unique. I haven't really been into layering much lately, but I really see myself using this. It adds a nice sparkly touch, but a soft one, not loud boisterous one!

Happy Monday!

Icing Bird of Paradise

 I went to the grand opening of the Ulta 5 minutes from me today! I'm so psyched to have an Ulta down the street from me. It could be dangerous though. They were handing out gift certificates and free goody bags. I sadly only got the $5 gift card, some people got $50 and $100 ones. Oh well! I picked up 2 polishes from the OPI fall collection, and one from Butter London. I met up with Kari from Once Bitten while I was there. It was fun, but it started to get really hot in there with all the people.

Today, I have for you an Icing polish I got recently. I like the few Icing polishes I have. I don't really like going in the store. It's one of those places they kind of hound you about buying stuff. They immediately hand you a basket, and I instantly feel obligated to buy something. I'm too nice. I did find this pretty there, I just wish it wasn't so sheer!

Bird of Paradise

This took 5 coats! :-/

This is 2 coats over Zoya Keiko

Bird of Paradise is a sheer red-violet with golden iridescent glitter.

I so wish this wasn't so sheer, because I absolutely love this color. I was hoping this was going to be a purple version of Cult Nails Captivated. It sadly isn't, Captivated is a 2-3 coater to get full pigmentation, and this one isn't even worth layering up the 5 coats to get even get slight pigmentation. It does look very pretty layered. This is definitely one of the prettiest layering glitters I own. I love the golden iridescent glitter!

Happy Friday!

Icing Hot Pants

I really do not recommend wearing the real hot pants out in public. It's definitely not the most appropriate attire and probably doesn't attract positive attention! However, Icing Hot Pants I definitely recommend wearing out in public. Before I started this blog I was convinced blues and greens do not work on me no matter the shade or the finish. I was so very wrong and I'm glad. Blues have become one of my favorite colors to wear!

Hot Pants is I'd say an almost periwinkle blue shimmer. It definitely leads more to the blue side than purple. This one is gorgeous! I actually don't think I'm aware of any colors like this out there currently. There are plenty of cremes and glitters, but this shade with shimmer I haven't seen. This one is definitely more amazing on the nails in the bottle. I actually bought this on a whim. Icing was having their BOGO 50% cosmetics sale. I bought something I wanted and was looking for something else for the 50% off. I've become so much more picky since collecting nail polish that when I'm just looking for something in general it takes me forever versus when I know what I'm looking for. I really didn't care for this color much but it was the only one I felt I didn't already have something similar of. I was pleasantly surprised when I put this on at how beautiful and shimmery this color was.

Hmm this has me thinking...

When you go shopping just to find some polishes for fun (nothing specific in mind) does it take you awhile to find something you like? Are you picky about what you buy? or Is it easy for you find something?

Happy Tuesday!

Claire's Diva & Icing Roger That

Today I found this smaller beauty supply store in the mall closest to me. They sold OPI & Essie polishes so I grabbed OPI Funky Dunkey. I've been into the blue and purples cremes lately so that fulfilled a lemming! They also had a small salon in there, that offered eyebrow threading which I haven't been able to find near me! I can't wax my brows because I have such sensitive skin I get really bad reactions including one time my eye swelled up the size of golf ball! Anyways, I got my brows done and Funky Dunkey in one trip! I've lived here 3 years and never stopped in there until now. I'll definitely being going back for polishes and brow touch ups!

Today I'm going to show you Claire's Diva and Icing Roger That. I like Claire's and Icing polishes they don't have the widest selection but they do have some unique colors and usually have BOGO sales on cosmetics so it works out well.

Claire's Diva

I know this looks weird. What I did is on my index and ring finger I did the polish over black and one my middle and pinky finger I did it on its on. It's a med-purple micro glitter in a clear base. I think it looks great either way, but over the black it really add a lot of depth!

Icing Roger That

At first I thought this was a dupe to ChG Watermelon Rind, but it's definitely not. I'd say Roger That is Watermelon Rind's lighter and brighter cousin. It is a turquoise jelly base with silver glass fleck. It's a beautiful polish, that has actually been in my untrieds for over a year. Shame on me! I will definitely be sporting this beauty more.

That's it for today. I am hitting the pool today. It is so hot out here I just want to swim. I'm so excited. I used to swim all the time as a kid, but as I hit my teens I never wanted to swim anymore because I was so self conscious about how I looked in a swimsuit. I'm sure we've all been there. It sucks, because I loved swimming so much. Now at 23, I don't give a rat's behind so I'm going to enjoy it!

Have a great day!

I Won't Spend More Than 10! Part Two

Reminder! You only have 2 more days to enter my giveaway!

In continuation from yesterday's post I will be featuring moderately priced drugstore brands today $3-%6.

Moderate end $3-$6
Cover Girl

Featured Colors: Ruby Dust, City Lights, Crystal Mist, Rhythmic Blue, & Gold Rush
Price: $3-$4
Where to buy: various drugstores, Target, Walmart, some grocery stores
Pros:
-Amazing selection of glittery/shimmery top coats for layering that I personally use often
-Usually have sales, coupons, and BOGOs in drugstores
Cons:
-Don't have wide selection of colors
-Color range is limited and not very imaginative

Maybelline

Featured Colors: Beach Plum, Banana Bamba, & Coral Cabana
Price: $3.50-$4
Where to buy: various drugstores, Target, Walmart, some grocery stores
Pros:
-Usually come out with seasonal collections with trendy colors
-Fast drying
-Usually have sales, coupons, and BOGOs in drugstores
Cons:
-In general they don't have a wide color selection

Milani

Featured Colors: Dot Com, Gold Lame, Disco Lights, Pink Pop, Garnet Gems
Price: $3.50-$5
Where to buy: various drugstores, Target, Cherry Culture, and some grocery stores
Pros:
-Wide selection of colors and finishes
-Come out with various collections throughout the year
-Colors are trendy and funky
-I find Milani similar to China Glaze as far as the types of polish colors they make
Cons:
-Not widely available in certain parts of the country
-Only get 0.45fl oz of polish which is a smaller amount compared to other brands

Revlon

Featured Colors: Midnight Affair, Plum Seduction, Raven Red, & Steel-her Heart
Price: $4-$5
Where to buy: various drugstores, Target, Walmart, some grocery stores
Pros:
-Has a good selection of wearable mainstream colors
-Usually comes out with seasonal collections
-Has a nice selection of basecoats and topcoats
Cons:
-Some may find their colors not very imaginative or unique

China Glaze

Featured Colors: Ruby Pumps, DV8, Nova, Strawberry Fields
Price: $3-$6 (cheaper from e-tailers pricier at Sallys)
Where to buy: Etailers- (8ty8 Beauty, Head2Toe Beauty, Trans Design) or Sally's Beauty Supply
Pros:
-Vast and I mean vast selection of colors and finishes
-Colors are trendy,funky, and unique
-Come out with amazing seasonal collections that tend to be very popular
Cons:
-Personally I'm not found of their brushes I find them too small and difficult to use

Orly

Featured Colors: Oh Cabana Boy, Pixy Stix, Passion Fruit, & Glam
Price: $3.20-$6 (cheaper from e-tailers pricier at Sallys)
Where to buy: CVS, Etailers (8ty8 Beauty, Head2Toe Beauty, Trans Design) or Sally's Beauty Supply
Pros:
-Have a nice selection of wearable mainstream colors
-Come out with seasonal collections that are trendy
-Great application
-You get 0.6fl oz of polish which is more than most brands
Cons:
-They don't have the most unique variety of colors

Claire's/Icing

Featured Colors: Blackout, Roger That, Goldmine, Yel
Price: $3.50-$5.50
Where to buy: Claire's & Icing stores
Pros:
-Unique colors including mood, neon, and glitter types of polishes
-Typically can be found on sale (ex. BOGO 1/2 off)
Cons:
-Limited selection of colors
-Can only be found in Claire's or Icing stores

Finger Paints

Featured Colors: Signed by the Artist, Maroon Macaroon, Decked with Dazzle, & Coral Collage
Price: $4-$5
Where to buy: Sally's Beauty Supply
Pros:
-Great application
-Wide range of mainstream colors
-Usually come out with seasonal collections with trendy colors
-Usually can be found on sale at Sally's
Cons:
-As far as I know it's only found at Sally's
-Some my find their colors not to be as unique as other brands

Sally Hansen

Featured Colors: Hidden Treasure, Zip, Antique Bronze, Purple Pizazz, In the Spotlight
Price: $3-$8
Where to buy: various drugstores, Target, Walmart, some grocery stores
Pros:
-Have various lines that cater to different peoples preferences,style, price range,and taste
-Usually come out with seasonal collections for some of their lines
-Have a wide range of nail products not just polish
-Usually have sales, coupons, and BOGOs in drugstores
Cons:
-Products can be inconsistent
-Some of their lines can be pricey
-Some seasonal collections are hard to find

Phew! That's a lot! Stay tuned for the high end under 10 brands tomorrow!
International readers remember to post your under 10 products and their info so I can add it to my international affordable nail polish post for Saturday!

Have a great Thursday!

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to Imperfectly Painted. Before I get started I'd like to introduce myself and why I created this blog. My name is Stephanie and I'm 23 yr old Hospitality Management student in Florida. I live with my boyfriend and our diva cat who goes by various names Chara/Kitty/Francis, but mainly "Kitty". Poor cat is probably going through an identity crisis.

The reason behind the name of my blog "Imperfectly Painted" is that to be quite honest I don't do the best job at painting my own nails. I see lots of blogs with women whose nails look PERFECT, well I'm not one of them. I clean them up and make them look nice, but overall I'd like to think that most of us are not that great a painting our nails!

Things to expect form this blog:

-Sense of Humor (I know it's just nail polish, but I find some of my experiences with it to be rather humorous.)
-Affordable products ( Thanks to the blogger Nouveau Cheap I have discovered the beauty and wonders of drugstore products so I will not review/mention nail products over $10.)
-Tips,tricks, and ideas (Share different ideas for layering nail polishes, holiday nail ideas, and etc.)
-Reviews (I will do reviews of newer products I find. Now, I can't get my hands on full collections or every new collection, but I try to sample a few new products I can find in stores.)
-Reader involvement (I want my readers to have a place in my blog. I will read comments and reply to them. If I find some comment interesting or relevant to something I want to blog about I will incorporate your comments,ideas, suggestions into the blog.
-Favorites/Not so favorites
-Future giveaways
-Miscellaneous (I may bring up some non-nail related products or information I may think everyone may find useful.)

And on that note I'd like to show you my nail of the weekend. I did this look using Icing's Blackout & Cover Girl City Lights





I used 3 coats Icing Blackout and 1 coat Cover Girl City Lights. Blackout already has holographic glitter in it, but I wanted more! If you don't have Blackout you can use any Black Creme and put 2 coats of City Lights on top or China Glaze Fairy Dust they are very similar.

Tip: Try not to do your nails late at night because you may get tired and fall asleep. I say this especially to those of you with furry friends who like to sleep on you. You will end up with smudged nail polish with bits of cat or dog hair in it and last time I checked that isn't a current fashion trend. :-/

That's all for now. I expect my next few posts will be about my favorite polishes for each color family. I think I'll start with pink? Does that sound good?

Have a great Saturday and thanks for viewing,
Steph