What's this? I was nice this year? ;)

Hello Lovelies & TGIF! I hope you all had a great week to bring on a wonderful weekend. I've been spending lots of quality time with the boys since I will be returning to work in one short week.
Today I've something extra special, I told myself I wasn't going to give in to any of the black friday sales, but once they started popping up how could I not? One of the purchases I made was a Holiday grab bag from 365 days of color. Sunny always uses fun and inventive ways to get her customers coming back for more. The holiday grab bags consisted of two Limited Edition polishes, depending if you were naughty or nice you received a different polish, how fun! If you were "naughty" you received "I Stole Christmas" and if you were "nice" you received "Mrs. Clause" I just so happened to be nice this year. Here is what I received in my grab bag:

Part of the black friday sale Sunny was running was that if you spent $25 dollars you received a free full size balm or oil of your choice. I've heard so many great things about her balms & oils that's why I took advantage. I received a sample sized miracle balm in Blue Spruce, A cuticle oil in Merry Mistletoe, the scent I chose for my full size was Cheese Cake Frosting, and my polishes, Black Flame Candle from the Hocus Pocus collection & Mrs. Clause. I already own a mini of BFC but I'm happy that I have a full size now, I really love that polish and will use it often! The balms&oil smell delicious & I can't wait to order more sample sizes in different scents. Especially the oil, these are great for your purse! Now lets take a look at Mrs. Clause shall we?

Mrs.Clause is a bright red jelly, filled with gold shimmer. I was so excited to put this on, I knew it would be a stunner. The gold shimmer is so light & delicate, it really makes the polish stand out.

This is two coats of Mrs.Clause followed by a coat of Seche Vite. I hope Sunny keeps making grab bags for different seasons of the year. Btw, there was a ton of candy that she added to the bag, but Isaac got to nearly every single piece before I even got finished unwrapping the polishes.

What do you think of Mrs.Clause? Did you get any of the black friday deals? I'de love to hear what you splurged on!

Sunny has these bags available through the entire month of December for $25 shipped and you are guaranteed two full size polishes, one being a limited edition and 2-3 extras! You can find them here. Also, make sure to like her facebook, she always posts fun things and great deals!

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

And the winner is..

Hello Everyone! I'de like to inform you that I have picked a winner for the giveaway! Congrats to Sandra G. of Pretty and Polished Pointers!! She has 48 hours to respond to my email.
Thank you so much to all of you that participated & continued support. I'll be having another giveaway soon. 150 likes on facebook & I'll host another;)

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Orly- Fowl Play

Hello & Thank goodness it's almost Friday!! Oh how I've missed blogging and hope I can get back into a rhythm here soon. We are finally getting a good routine going so hopefully I'll be back full swing soon;) For now I've got a quick swatch of Orly Fowl Play.
I just about died when I first saw swatches of this color & I had to have it, I just so happened to come across it on clearance at Sally's & so it became mine! It's a lovely deep purple jelly with tons of multicolored flakes and light shimmer to it.

For my swatch I used three thin coats, and a coat of Seche Vite. I loved this color so much I wore it for 4 days. That's a good chunk of time for me;)

Fowl Play is part of Orly's Birds of a Feather collection which was released last fall. I've seen this at Sally's along with Lucky Duck and Sweet Peacock, I'm not sure if the others are part of the core line that Sally's carries.

I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to enter my giveaway which ends in just a few hours! Will you be a lucky winner? ;)

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Naild'It Silent Night & Snow Man's Night Mare Swatches & Review

Hello my sweets! Happy Tuesday! I have some extremely delicious polishes to show you today! I have two polishes from the huge Naild'It Holiday Collection. If you've been with me long enough, you'll know how much I adore all of Andrea's polishes, all of them are extremely unique and her color combinations are to die for. I had been drooling over bottle shots of these babies on facebook, and can't wait to get more of them!

First, We have Silent Night. Oh how this color is so stunning in person, words can not describe it! This is a blue shimmer base with tons of purple undertone, loaded with blue hex's, holographic stars and scattered holo bits! DRRROOOOLLLLL. I couldn't stop staring at my nails.

I used 3 thin coats of Silent Night with a coat of Seche Vite to top it off. This really is a beauty.

Next up, We have Snow Man's Night Mare.

SMNM is a clear base with LOADS of different glitters, matte white shreds, hexes, diamonds & squares, black hexes in tons of sizes, red/orange hexes and bar glitters, satin blue & lavendar small hexes & my favorite, bright blue squares.

I layered two coats of SMNM over an unnamed Bonita Silver Foil. I loved wearing this, the silver made the glitters really come to life. It reminds me of a melted snowman.

The formula on both of these polishes was fantastic, no fishing for glitters, what you see on my nails is what I got out with a dip of the brush. Silent Night would work better with thin coats, to reach full opacity. No glooping of the glitters on either of these!
Didn't Andrea hit it out of the ball park with these? Which one is your favorite?
You can find Nail'd it Polishes on her etsy page here, which is currently closed but she is working on a restock! Make sure to follow her on facebook as well to keep up with updates on restocks.
Other sources include Overall Beauty, Llarowe, & Mei Mei's Signatures.

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

*Polishes in this post were provided to me for my honest review*

Stamping Contest Entry

Hello My Beautiful Readers! Long time no post! Thank you all so much for the wonderful emails I received in my absence wishing my family & I well wishes, you don't know how much it means to me!! We are all doing much better, & Carter finally had good results from his jaundice tests, & we found the source of the problem!
When browsing through blogs I came across a nail stamping contest & thought it would be fun, since I wasn't able to finish out the 10-day nail challenge. This mani only took me a few minutes (& trust me, with a toddler & a newborn a few minutes is all I have;)) but I LOVED the outcome of it. I went with a Christmas themed stamp mani.

For this mani, I used various holiday themed stamps from the 2012 Bundle Monster set (sorry I don't have the plates in front of me, but if anyone would like to know I can pull them out) & various polishes to create it. I loved the way this came out, and got loads of compliments especially wearing it right after thanksgiving;)

From pinky to index:
Pinky: Kleancolor- Holo Chrome stamped with Sinful Colors- Snow me White, my interpretation of "Silent Night"
Ring: Nicole by OPI: The Next CEO stamped with China Glaze- Holly Day and China Glaze- Ruby Pumps, my interpretation of mistletoe.
Middle: China Glaze- Blue Years Eve stamped with Sinful Colors- Snow me White, my interpretation of Snowflakes
Index: 2 Coats of Essie- Forever Yummy with one coat of China Glaze- Ruby Pumps stamped with Pure Ice- Silver Mercedes, my interpretation of "Silver Bells"

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed today's mani, and don't forget to enter my giveaway here! Only a few days remain!

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello my beautiful readers<3 I hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving today. I'll be spending the day with my family and most of all my boys. I wanted to stop in and say I'll be taking a small break for the weekend, Carter has been having some issues and we have been in and out of the hospital & doctors offices all week long, so I'll be spending the next few days with him & Isaac. I want to thank all of you especially who have been with me on this journey and can't wait to come back & show you all some great things to come. I've got a few reviews to post that will really knock your socks off! I also wanted to let you know that sadly, I had to drop the November Nail Art Challenge. I really wish I had been able to finish as there are just a few days left, but babies & family come first. <3

Until Next Time & Happy Holidays!
-Sammi

November Nail Art Challenge: Day 6- Inspired by Another

Hello & Happy Sunday! I hope everyone's weekend is going great, and here's to the start of yet another Monday! Today I have for you day 6 of the 10-day nail art challenge.

Today's prompt was inspired by another's nails. I knew exactly who I wanted to use as inspiration, it was the challenge of, which mani should I inspire after? Have you seen Marta's mani's from ChitChatNails? She blows me away with every single one of her posts. Her nails are spectacular each and every time! I chose this mani here to re-create.

I used a ton of polishes to create this so here we go! Pointer: Julep- Alicia. Middle: Julep- Alicia with one coat of OPI- Crown Me Already. Ring: Sinful Colors- Snow Me White with one coat of NbOPI: It's All About the Glam. Pinky: 4 coats of Julep- Misa. WHEW, quite the list.

I could not for the life of me to get my stamp to work right when I was doing this, I tried 3 times and gave up so it's half done. At least I attempted;) Marta's nails are much better than mine but I loved this anyways! Isaac told me this was "pretty mommaaa" haha.

What do you think of my recreation? Make sure to check out the other bloggers mani's also! And don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

HitPolish- Aquarelle

Hello Beauties! Life is so great, I have both of my son's at home with me and Carter is doing so well, he was in the NICU for 4 days after he was born because I went into labor 3 weeks early. He was having trouble breathing and he had also swallowed fluid, while he was in the NICU I also found out he was jaundice, and they thought he was going to have to stay a few more days after I was discharged. I was lucky enough that is levels were low enough that I got to take him home, but that we would have to do in-home photo therapy. It's been going so well and the doctor gives us good praises. So thankful, funny he was born in November;)Isaac is also taking to his little brother so well, he gives him kisses and tells him he loves him, went better than I thought:)
These swatches are a little backlogged so you'll see longer nails then my little nubbins that I'm sporting right now.

Today I am showing you one of the Hitpolishes I ordered, Aquarelle. It is described as "a beautiful pastel mix of mini matte aqua hex, matte white bars, small matte lilac hex and medium matte bubblegum pink squares. So soft, delicate and feminine looking." This polish really is so beautiful.

I layered one and a dabbed coat over two coats of China Glaze- Sweet hook. I loved the way this looked, it was simple yet so stunning.

Sweet hook I wore for a day by itself. I really loved this color, its a light lavender with pink undertones, the formula was perfect! All of this had one coat of seche vite.

You can find HitPolish on etsy, Full Size bottles retail for $8.00 and mini's retail for $4.00. Do you own any Hitpolish?

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

November Nail Art Challenge: Day 5- Half Moons

Goodmorning My Sweets! It is so good to finally be home. After 4 long days in the hospital and Carter being in the NICU we are home and doing well. Today I have another part of the nail art challenge for you! I got home just in time to do day 5.

If you couldn't tell, I had a MAJOR break on my ring finger, so I had to cut my nails down super short. I was very sad as they finally got to a good length, but after all they do grow back, right? ;)

For my half moons I used China Glaze- White Cap, a beautiful sheer white with LOADS of gold shimmer, China Glaze- Riveting, a shimmery orange with gold shimmer, and I used gold "glequins" across the arch.

I used hole punch reinforcements for the half moon, and it worked great, almost perfect lines. The glequins made this really special to me, it added that last touch of gold I needed.

What do you think of my challenge mani's so far? I think they are coming out pretty well:) I've got a few great posts coming your way thanks to all of the feedback from my giveaway which you can enter here!

Make sure to check out my other challengers manis!
Until Next Time!
-Sammi

You asked, You Shall Receive! Haul post!

Hi everybody! Well, I've received so much great feedback from my giveaway, and a lot of you requested haul posts! So here is one of MANY to come!
These were all purchased throughout the month of October, I went a little overboard, as I was home on bedrest for a majority of the month. What better thing to do than to buy polish right? ;)

First up we have a giveaway package that I won from DIY polish halloween giveaway! I won Victoria from the manicurator prize pack. If you haven't already stalked Victoria's page as much as I have, you really most. Her photo's alone are so stunning. She sent me, OPI- Honk if you love OPI, Pretty&Polished- Bubble Tea, and Elixir Lacquer- Sinister, which to my knowledge is discontinued. I was so giddy when I opened this package! Thanks Victoria!

Next, I have a giveaway that I won from ThePolishHoochie 500 facebook follower giveaway! She sent me 4 of the FingerPaints fall collection, Fall-ing for you, Take it or leaf it, Be leaf it or not, and Plum startled. I can't wait to try these out, Thanks Diana!

Then, We have a Hitpolish haul I got from etsy. I had seen swatches of some of these beauties and had to get my hands on a few! So I picked up, Candied Jewels, Funhouse, Punked Up Kicks, Aquarelle, and Jack Loves Sally. I've already posted Jack Loves Sally here.

Then we have another load I got off etsy. As you can see I really love indies, I think that they are all extremely unique and they all have their own personality. So I got LacquerheadPolish Zombie Kisses, and My Boo, Lacquistry Ashberry Frease and Elizabeth's Bad Curtains, and Naild'It Unique Polishe Ghosthunt (I had been DYING for this polish)

Then I have a few JENsations polishes. Let me tell you about Jen really quickly, she was absolutely wonderful, when I received my first package, my bottle of Like Magic had broken in transit, I was so upset so I immediately emailed Jen and asked if I could purchase a new one, she instead offered to send me a replacement. Well, when I received it, right when I opened the mailbox I knew it was tragedy because I could smell the polish through the package. So I emailed her again, saying it was okay, and that I'de take the hit on it. Instead, she insisted she try again, so third time really is a charm because it arrived safe and sound (in about 8 layers of bubble wrap;)) We have Like Magic, Team Edward, and Snowflakes.

AND! I saved the greatest for last. My monthly swap package from Gin. She lives in Slovenia and we decided to do monthly swaps because there were so many things on our wishlists that we could get for eachother. Well, she sent me this package for my babyshower gift. I was so excited and stunned when I got it, I thought she was only sending me 4 polishes, and when I opened it, I almost CRIED! I had been dying for the new breaking dawn essence polishes (I am obsessed with vampires, especially twilight and she knew I had really wanted these) So she sent me a "vamp" package! <333 We have: Alice had a vision..again, Edwards Love, Jacob's Protection, and A piece of forever. Then, the unexpected, she sent me the Essence Eclipse collection too!!! Now you see why I almost cried? We have: Hide bella hide, Thirsty?, Undead?, and Don't bite me..Kiss me. She also sent tons of shampoo and conditioner samples from Slovenia and CANDY!! Isaac beat me to the candy already;)

And that concludes my haul post, what do you think?! What would you like to see swatched first?

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Zoya Shay

Hello My Dears! I have a quick post & swatch today. This polish is the entire reason I fell in love with Zoya nail polish. I received this mini of Shay in one of my birchboxes, over a year ago I want to say. The formula, the color, everything about it was PERFECT. Now I own over 40 Zoya's.

Shay is described as "A dense, fleshy light peach with slight orange-red undertones and a hint of pearly silver shimmer. An opaque, full-coverage nude that compliments warm skin tones." This was two coats with a coat of Orly Sec N Dry. I find that seche vite pulls the color of the polish and doesn't work well with any zoya, so I go to my next favorite top coat;)

If you don't already have an account with Zoya, you can make one here. They always run promotions and have beautiful colors to choose from. When you sign up for an account you will automatically get a coupon for a free polish! Then, if you add two polishes to your cart you also get free shipping! A free polish (3 altogether) and free shipping, that's my kind of deal!

Do you have a favorite Zoya?

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Watermelon, YUMMY

Hello My Lovelies! Today I have a delicious polish for you, and it hits my heart a little bit. As you all know from a previous post I just had my newborn son. Well, while I was pregnant, all I craved was WATERMELON! I could eat it a million times a day if I could and never get tired of it. You already know, I'm a HUGE fan of The Nail Junkie polishes. She just so happens to have a Watermelon polish;)

Watermelon is a JUICY red jelly with holographic glitters throughout. Can I please tell you how perfect the formula on this was? This was two coats, no streaking, no balding, virtually no clean up was needed. The fact that it is a jelly is even better, I want to squish my nails.

This is most definitely a polish I would pick if I could only wear one polish for the rest of my life.

What do you think of Watermelon? Do you own any Nail Junkie Polishes? If not, you can purchase them on her website or her etsy. Her polishes are $10.00USD, which includes free shipping and 2 goodies! I LOVE her cutie balm, and so glad she now sells it seperate, although I don't mind buying the polish to get me a small one;)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Orly- Buried Alive

Hello My Sweets! & Hello to all the new faces around my side of the blog;) Today I have which has made it to one of my top fall polishes. Orly- Buried Alive. I saw this swatch over at ThePolishHoochie and I knew I had to have it. *WARNING* Pic Heavy.

Buried Alive is a beautiful deep brown with loads of gold shimmer, this was three coats with a coat of seche vite. I couldn't stop taking pictures and it was so hard to narrow down the ones I did use. So I hope you enjoy the picture spam!

The formula on this didn't give me trouble at all. It was streaky on the first coat but easily built up. I wore this bad boy for a few days, then dressed it up, and you'll see that post later this week;)

I hope you've enjoyed my spam, and don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

November Nail-Art Challenge: Day 4- Delicate Print

Hello Lovelies! I hope you all are doing well, I've gotten so much love and support especially from the most recent giveaway. I'm glad your all enjoying it as much as I am!
Today is Day 4 of the November Nail Art Challenge which prompted delicate print. I pondered what I wanted to do, and of course went straight for my bundle monster plates. I think I had seen something similar done somewhere, so if you know of a similar post please send me the link so I can give credit where it is due! EDIT: The original postee is A Girl and Her Polish If you haven't please check out her blog, she has beautiful manicures!!

For this I used HITS Polish Hello Kitty Collection. I bought this from Llarowe for $15.00. It was a real steal because I got three polishes for the price of two!

For today's I used Candy- Which is a bright pink, and Sweet- Which is a muted coral/orange. The brush on Sweet was fluffy and out of place, so I decided to use it as the bottom color for the gradient. Which is funny, because the brush for Candy was near perfect. I used a make-up sponge and sponged up and down to blend the two colors together.

For the stamping I used Sinful Colors- Snow me white, which is my go to color for stamping. And BM-306. This definitely exceeded my expectations & I absolutely adore it!

I hope you enjoyed and make sure you check out all the other wonderful bloggers! And make sure to check out my giveaway for 2 custom polishes here.

Until Next Time!
-Sammi

Baby time:)

Hello my dear readers! I wanted to let you all know that I am taking a small break, but have a very good reason:)
Carter James came into the world tonight at 10:58:) he was 7lbs 6oz and 3 weeks early, my big boy!
Although he is here I also have a 3 year old to tend too, I hope you all will understand, you will be seeing scheduled posts for the next few days!

Until next time!
-sammi

November Nail-Art Challenge: Day 3- Inspired by a Tutorial

Hello my wonderful readers! Thank you for all of you support you've shown me recently, I couldn't do it without you!
Today I have day 3 of the 10-day nail art challenge, which I'm LOVING by the way. This one has really opened up my nail art skills, before when I would scrounge for ideas, now I have to many and have to pick what I'm going to do!

Inspired by a tutorial: I knew I wanted to find something from one of my favorite bloggers, so I went searching, and I found one that was simply yet extremely elegant. I used this tutorial here, by Anutka over at Wacky Laki. If you haven't checked her page out, it is a must. She really has a lot of great manis.

To get this look, I deceided I didn't want to do the french tip, but still use the flowers. I used Zoya- Kendal, a lavendar purple creme, which is stunning on it's own. For the flowers I used Essie- Play date, and the middle of the flowers, China Glaze- Snow White. Then I used dark purple rhinestones from bornprettystore on my ring finger as an accent.

I hope you enjoyed today's mani as much as I did and don't forget to enter my giveaway here.

Until Next Time!
-Sammi