Lip Treatments -eos - Lip Balm Sphere - Sweet Mint 
KGarr2121 10/27/2011 9:18:00 PM
I absolutely adore this lip balm!! The smell reminds me of those big puffy peppermint candies that melt in your mouth. It's sweet, but not too over the top and it's minty, but not too over the top. This balm lasts for ages, and the packaging is just tooooo cute! It's bulky in my purse, but I love everything else about this lip balm so much, I just simply don't care!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -China Glaze - Meteor Shower
KGarr2121 7/8/2011 11:37:00 PM
Meteor Shower is a perfect example of why I don't ever purge or swap my stash!! I've had this polish for a really long time. I tried it once and hated it. It was rough, the glitter didn't shine through like it did in the bottle, and it was extremely hard to work with. I shoved it away not wanting to think about it anymore because it is SOOO pretty in the bottle. Tonight I looked at it and remembered all those things, decided to give it a try anyway and I am now in love with this gorgeous blue jelly! The problems mentioned above didn't go away. I needed to thin the polish quite a bit so it would glide on my nails instead of just glooping it on. This was also a thirsty, thirsty glitter! I needed 2 coats of SV to smooth it out. (I didn't know of the wonders of SV for my first attempt!) After the SV application, this polish is gorgeous and exactly as it looks in the bottle. The glitters really pop. And because of the jelly finish, the first coat glitters also shine through the second coat a beautiful electric blue when the light hits them just right. In case you were wondering, there's chartreuse green, turquoise, and a gorgeous copper glitter..both square and hex!! Love this polish! I cannot speak enough of the beauty of this polish!!! Obviously... :)
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Hair Styling Tools -Goody - Spin Pin
KGarr2121 7/8/2011 9:56:00 PM
I have a two word review. LOVE THESE!!!!
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Polishes -OPI - Red Shatter
KGarr2121 7/3/2011 11:53:00 PM
This is an ok shatter polish if you use a light base color. I've tried this over black, orange, and several blues and it's just soo sheer that the shattering turns out brown - I really am not a fan of the way it looks. It would probably look good over a silver or white..but that's not why I bought this polish in the first place, therefore I'm pretty disappointed in wasting my $8.00! The formula is pretty goopy like other reviewers have stated, though it does shatter pretty nicely. Meh, could definitely take it or leave it. I would really love to have other options besides the lighter base color, but don't see any way around it.
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Polishes -Zoya - Charisma
KGarr2121 6/30/2011 12:40:00 AM
I, like many others, find the negative reviews surprising. This color is freaking amazing and is my go-to neon shade!! Yes, it's matte. It's a neon. If you use a top coat, it's not an issue... After two coats and a top coat, this polish evens out just fine. To throw in my one, single critique of this polish, the formula is not quite as good as the other Zoya's in my collection. I am, however, chalking that up to the fact that it is a neon. It is a bit streaky, but it is an easy fix with top coat. Honestly, this color is not pretty without a top coat. USE A TOP COAT! Rant over. To me, this purple..(pink..???) is phenomenal when you want to make a statement. Everytime I wear this color, I get compliments or people grabbing at my hands asking to see my polish. PS Sorry for the use of the words "Top Coat" so many times in this review. It's just a necessity in this case! :)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Orly - Love Each Other
KGarr2121 6/23/2011 1:47:00 AM
I enjoy using this polish over most creme polishes for a little extra oomph. I don't particularly care for cremes because they're so..plain. But this polish adds just enough interest so that cremes aren't so boring. It's pretty with purple cremes, as well as opposite colors (IE. Greens, oranges, etc..) My favorite trick for this polish, though, is using a black creme and topping it twice with Love Each Other and similar polishes. For example, Orly's Fifty Four, Zoya's Southbeach Ice, and/or OPI's I Juggle...Men. Yes, it's a TON of coats, but it's so pretty.... Pretty good topper polish if I say so myself.
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Eye Shadow -Fyrinnae - Newcastle
KGarr2121 6/23/2011 12:52:00 AM
I bought this as a sample and I am in LOVE with it! A little bit goes a long way, but I must get some more soon as this has become my daily eyeshadow. You remember when you were in elementary school and you would visit touristy-trap places with the bins of rocks you put in a bag? Every now and again you would come across a pyrite (fool's gold) rock..? That's what this stuff looks like. There's this blackened quality to this bronzey sparkle that is absolutely gorgeous!!! I do use the Pixie Epoxy with it to bring out extra glimmer, but I can see how using it plain or wet would be just as beautiful. If you're on the fence, I recommend you at least try it for the $2 sample.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -China Glaze - Watermelon Rind
KGarr2121 6/10/2011 12:39:00 AM
Watermelon Rind is an amazing, metallic blue-green. In my opinion, it works for any season and would probably look great on any skin tone. There are a couple of issues with this particular color, however they are not major enough to not wear this polish. I definitely recommend putting a layer of white underneath so that you don't need to layer on 5 or 6 coats for full opacity. And even then, it can be streaky if you're not careful. Though the pay off is completely worth it. This color is gorgeous!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -China Glaze - Shooting Stars
KGarr2121 6/8/2011 2:12:00 PM
First a disclaimer: I have only worn this over a grey (read: OPI Skull & Glossbones) so the monochromatic look has affected this review! So This polish is awesome. When it's on the grey polish, in dim lighting, you can't see the micro-holo-glitter. You can, however, see the bigger iridescent bits. In bright lighting or the sun, SUPER sparkly, holographic goodness!!! And by the way, in this sort of lighting, the bigger glitter disappears, too. I'm sure this would be different if it were over something else, like, say, a black. But I've never seen a glitter completely disappear just because of the base color, if that makes sense. There's usually some sort of indicator that it's there. It's weird because it seems like your eyes are playing tricks on you. They're almost telling you "This polish is way too cool for you. You're only allowed to focus on ONE of the glitters. Sorry!!" I do love this polish, though, and I can't wait to try it over something darker to see what it does. I'm pretty confident that it's not going to have the same one-or-the-other effect. One coat is a perfect amount to cover the nail, but if you want more of the larger glitter, 2 is good as well. Love this and recommend you give it a try if you love glitters.
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Polishes -OPI - Blue Shatter
KGarr2121 5/29/2011 1:53:00 AM
Ok, so this polish single-handedly pushed me to the dark-side of the shatter polishes. Before, crackles and shatters did nothing for me. I layered it over a red creme (ChG Ruby Deer) for a patriotic manicure and it looks AMAZING!! It shattered beautifully and looked exactly as I had hoped. Dried quickly, but did need a topcoat. It's also awesome because it's a shimmer as opposed to that weird ceramic-ish feeling stuff that some of them have... Love this and can't wait to experiment some more!
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Polishes -Zoya - Mimi
KGarr2121 5/22/2011 8:28:00 PM
I love this royal purple polish. Up close you can see light purple shimmer, and from far away it has this metallic-y foil kind of finish. Wear time is excellent if you wrap your tips with top coat. I usually do only 2 coats for full opacity. The only real issue I have with Mimi is that some of the shimmer in the bottle looks almost gold when it's reflecting in the light, but that gold doesn't show up on the nail. It comes out the light purple. Don't get me wrong. I love that light purple shimmer. I just sometimes forget when I go to put it on that the gold doesn't show up. It's a bit disappointing. But regardless of that, it's still an awesome purple!
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Polishes -Orly - Ancient Jade
KGarr2121 5/20/2011 12:01:00 AM
Ancient Jade is a one coat wonder. It's a gorgeous minty green jade that has a slight dusky quality which makes it seem vintage..like it's a color that I would find a lot in an antique store or a victorian home. I don't have another shade of green like it in my collection so to me, it's also a very unique shade. Truly love this polish and highly recommend it if you're a green collector.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -China Glaze - Lightning Bolt 
KGarr2121 5/17/2011 11:11:00 PM
If you like these different kinds of finishes for manicures, I would say that you could probably justify getting this polish. I can see the appeal, and I can see the gazillions of possibilities in using this, but it's not for me. (Darn you, fads! Why do you taunt me??) It worked as it was supposed to and did give me these fun, large cracks. Unfortunately, the novelty wore off within a few hours. It's a bit..I don't know..Easter Eggs gone wrong or something because it does look like a shattered egg shell with the dye behind it. I can't be mad at it for its formula or its dry time or not doing what it's supposed to. The formula was great, dry time was better than I expected and the cracks were definitely obvious and showed enough of the base color underneath so that you knew it was there. It was just hard for me to appreciate the end result. I really do wish I liked it more, though.
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Polishes -China Glaze - Blue Iguana
KGarr2121 5/17/2011 12:41:00 AM
Gorgeous cobalt blue shimmer that almost has a metallic quality to it. The bit of pinkish-purple shimmer along with the turquoise shimmer makes it interesting to look at -- I've been finding myself looking at it in different lighting conditions. The turquoise shimmer just glows in dimmer lighting and it's hard to find the purpley shimmer, but that purple does jump off the nail in brighter lights. Love that! It's a shade of blue that would work well in winter when it's dreary, gloomy, and snowy outside. It's a bit reminiscent of a blue Christmas ball in finish and color saturation. But it would still work equally well in summer at the beach or poolside. Yep, definitely a great color for the toes! A 3 coater, but well worth the extra coat in the color pay off. If you're a lover of blue, I would recommend this. ****EDIT: This polish went from an overall 5 to a 3. After removal, this was a huge stainy mess that still has not come off the sides of my fingers after using pure acetone!!! I dried out my cuticles for nothing!! GRR!!
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Top/Base Coats -Seche Vite - Dry Fast Top Coat
KGarr2121 5/16/2011 5:41:00 PM
Seche Vite is, in a word, awesome! I'm a person that paints my nails daily because I get bored very easily with the same color day after day. SV has allowed me the luxury of not waiting around for hours so my polishes can dry. It is a tad expensive, but when I'm in the category of owning nearly 400 polishes, SV is an investment for me and the pricetag pales in comparison to the overall price of my collection. There are a few minor issues with Seche Vite. Once you get to about half a bottle, it dries around the threads and every now and again there will be chunks of dried SV stuck to your brush when you go to take the brush out of the bottle. Nothing I've tried has remedied this. Occasionally, it will also shrink your polish if you forget to wrap your tips. To remedy this, wrap your tips! Other reviews have stated that it gets thick after awhile. I've yet to have that problem, but I go through it like it's going out of style so it's definitely a possibility. The plusses, though, far outweigh the negatives. It will leave your freshly applied polish super shiny and smooth until you remove it. It will leave your nails pliable but tough so there aren't any nails breaking. And it dries any polish within minutes! How can that be bad?
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