Pretty Serious Monster Mash

I've been admiring Pretty Serious nail polish from afar as this company is based in Australia.  As much as I'd love some of their pretties, I have to wait until I can afford the shipping.  But you can still ogle over their newest collection - the Monster Mash!  This collection launched last month but is still available.

Pretty Serious Cosmetics is proud to present our Halloween 2012 collection - MONSTER MASH!

That's right, we've gone batty here at the Pretty Serious labs and this year, we're trying our hand at MAD SCIENCE! We've taken some ghastly little Halloween monsters and thrown them in a blender, finishing them off with some hair of the spider* and a little eye of newt!**

We've got six amazing new shades to help you get your scare on this Halloween!

CREATURE CRUSH

a haunting mix of black and silver glitter in an inky blue-green jelly base with large black and silver holographic hex glitter

GARGOYLE GANACHE

a multichrome shimmer with flashes of green, gold and purple through a stony gunmetal base. 

LIQUID LEPRECHAUN

Multi sized golden and green glitter particles floating in a radioactive green jelly base

MUMMY MUSH

a gorgeous golden glass fleck mulltichrome, shifting through baby blue to pink

POLTERGEIST PUDDLE

an intense blurple shimmer with a pink flash and a slight golden duochrome

VISCOUS VAMPIRE

a red jelly base that's so bright you can almost call it fluorescent, with multi-sized red and fuschia glitter

If that wasn't amazing enough, our new Halloween shades will be packaged in sensational new holographic green boxes with new Halloween art by Leigh Young!

These fabulous freaks go on sale at 9am AEST, October 10th from http://www.pretty-serious.com. RRP is $9.95, with a 10% discount for buying all six shades! Pretty Serious Cosmetics also ships worldwide. Check out our site for more details.

Bottle volume is 11ml/0.37 fl.oz. Pretty Serious Cosmetics is 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free.

JENsations Stars In Space

I have seen these pretty star bottles from JENsations on blogs and finally decided that it was high time for me to get some.  This is Stars In Space, a silver & holographic star & hexagon glitter in a clear base.  I decided to layer it over my LVX Avireo manicure to spice up the fall look a bit.

I will let you know that I did have to fish out the the stars from this beautiful polish which makes me a little sad, but I was able to get some on my nails.  I topped my manicure with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

As you can see, I barely got anything on my pinkie finger but I was able to fish out some stars for my middle finger.  This is 2 coats of Stars In Space on all fingers in direct sunlight.

I normally choose a very dark color to layer this kind of polish over but I just wanted to mix it up.  I think I would try this over a red next.  This was taken in indirect sunlight.

Probably one of my favorite pictures of the bunch!  I love how the light plays off the glitter - and this picture was taken in the shade!  In fact, I ended up buying more JENsations last night!

This is the only picture (flash in doors) where it looked like the clear base wrinkled my Avireo manicure.  I don't know if I smudged it or what but regardless, it still looks pretty awesome.

I purchased my bottle in August for $7.50 but it appears her prices have gone up slightly.

JENsations [Etsy | Facebook | Personal Blog] is available through her Etsy store for either $8 or $8.25 a bottle.  She also creates custom orders for $9.00 a bottle + $0.20 listing fee.  She ships both domestically and internationally and is currently offering a Holiday Sale for orders over $50.

Candie's Launches Polish!

I'm a bit behind in my beauty news but love to hear that more and more companies are jumping on the nail polish trend.  

It appears that their core line contains cremes and glitters and each bottle is 10 ml for $8.00.  That's a bit pricey considering I can get unique cremes and glitters from Cult Nails for $10 for a 15 ml bottle but I cannot speak about Candie's formula or wear.

Have you tried any of them yet?

NOTD: 4 November 2012

While I'm pushing through fall and winter collections, I also wanted to show you a little NOTD that I wore to my alma mater's football game in September.  I took the plunge this year and bought season tickets and got them on the 50 yard line!  It hasn't been the best season for them, but still - I have loved going to each game.  I actually had soon-to-be Mr. PG pick out the blue for this manicure!  He doesn't have much interest in nail polish but will occasionally look at what colors I want to wear and give me suggestions.

I started with a base of Poshe, 2 coats of China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic and then topped with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.  Next I added a thin coat of Nicole by OPI Gold Texture Coat and topped that with another coat of Wicked Fast.  Cleanup was a little messy with a dark blue and then the gold shimmer but it worked for the game.

As you can see, my pinkie didn't fare too well.  I paint my nails from pinkie to thumb, so it was first and the crackle flat out didn't crackle.  If you have a crackle polish that is too thick, add a few drops of your favorite Nail Polish Thinner (Seche Restore, or a generic brand) and roll the polish in your hands (or shake if you're REALLY impatient like me) until it becomes liquid again.

Random Krystal trivia.  I didn't realize that the China Glaze logo was a "C" and a "G" until about 2 years into owning several hundred bottles.  I just thought it was a fire flame or something.  Nerd.

Crackle is iffy - sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it.  For this game, it worked but this manicure didn't even last 24 hours before I took it off.

I purchased Rodeo Fanatic from the etailer,  Head2Toe Beauty and the Texture coat from Nicole by OPI was a press sample.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

PBA: How to Help after Hurricane Sandy

PBA Disaster Relief Fund Now Accepting Donations and Applications for Aid from Beauty Professionals Affected by Hurricane Sandy

Phoenix, AZ (October 29, 2012) - Since 1955, the PBA Disaster Relief Fund has been there to assist salons/spas and beauty professionals recover and rebuild after devastation caused by natural disasters. As Hurricane Sandy and related storms continue to move across the greater Northeast, PBA is reaching out to beauty professionals and companies to contribute to the PBA Disaster Relief Fund so we can continue to help professionals in our communities rebuild their careers, businesses and lives. "The PBA Disaster Relief Fund is a perfect way for our industry to come together and help support fellow beauty professionals in their time of need," states Steve Sleeper, Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association. All donations made to the PBA Disaster Relief Fund are tax deductible and 100% of all funds raised go directly to beauty industry professionals in need. Make your donation online, by mail or by phone.   Contributions can be made online by credit card by simply completing the online donation form at: www.probeauty.org/disaster-relief-fund. Check or money order donations should be made payable to PBA Disaster Relief Fund and mailed to 15825 N. 71st Street, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85254. Contributions can also be made by phone by calling the PBA toll free number at 800.468.2274. Please help us spread the word. Salon professionals that have been affected by this natural disaster can apply for assistance from the PBA Disaster Relief Fund by downloading the Application for Aid at www.probeauty.org/disaster-relief-fund.   Please send completed application and any additional documents to: PBA Disaster Relief Fund C/O PBA 15825 N. 71st Street STE 100 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 The PBA Disaster Relief Fund is a program of the PBA Foundation, a 501c3 tax-exempt organization. 100% of donations made to the PBA Disaster Relief Fund will be used to help rebuild careers, businesses and lives. Donations are tax deductible as charitable contributions.