Polish Haul! I've been on a roll...

So while school and work have been incredibly overwhelming, I have had polish to keep me sane :-). I haven't kept the best track of my mani's thus far, but I HAVE picked up quite a few polishes in the past couple of weeks! I'm hoping to be able to show some of this off in the near future, depending on how much I want to procrastinate on graduate work, lol.

So I'll start with my little haul from approximately two weeks ago. This is from three places: Sally Beauty, Beauty PLUS, and Hot Topic.

From left to right: Finger Paints Easel-y Entertained and Where Art Renoir?, China Glaze Desert Sun and Jungle Queen, OPI Super Bass Shatter, China Glaze Hello Gorgeous, Color Club Worth the Risque (holo version!)  and Wink Wink Twinkle, and a Hot Topic Blue glow-in-the-dark skull polish

And here was one mani I did after getting this haul:

One coat of Finger Paints Where Art Renoir? with a coat of China Glaze Hello Gorgeous. Check that holographic sparkle!!!

 Then yesterday, I had the day from HELL at work. So I hit up Sally Beauty again, who is having a 50% off all clearance items sale...so I got the following:

China Glaze Halloween pack with Roughish Red, Glitter Goblin, Bizarre Blurple, and Ghoulish Glow. Orly Flash Glam FX Mermaid Tale and Sashay My Way, Finger Paints Fall of Surprises, and China Glaze Swanky Silk

And then today I had some amazing nail mail! I had ordered a grab bag from Jen over at Jen's Nail Files. She guaranteed ten polishes and at least one full size indie. WELL, she definitely gave what she promises and more!

Julep Boris and Nicole, OPI Didgeridoo Your Nails, Color Club Hot Like Lava, China Glaze Skyscraper, Confetti Pink Confetti, and Tip Top Rocky Road Glitter

Claire's Flamingo Feather, F4 Hawaiian Punch mini, Darling Diva Antares, Creative King's Ransom, Monster Mixers and Elixers Stratosphere mini, Spoiled Use Protection, and Avon Stunning Cobalt

WOW! I ended up with one full size indie, two mini indies, and a total of 11 full size and two mini bottles of polish. *Billy Mays style* BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Halloween Candy!

Bag of goodies including dolphin nail file, witch eraser, two mini vials of glitters, a notepad, and four magic grow beans.

Like, I'm looking at this influx of new polishes dreaming of the different combinations possible! Do I put the Hawaiian punch over the Flamingo Feather? Stratosphere over Stunning Cobalt? Rocky Road Glitter over Hot Topic glow in the dark? Ghoulish Glow under Super Bass Shatter?

What do you guys think I should do with some of this? I did show one combo, because it was GORGEOUS and I had it on for like, four days without chipping! Anything else?

Good night!
-Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Sorry for the delay! Here's a 10 day challenge...

So I've been out of touch with my Blogger, school as started both for me and the students in the class I'm a T.A. in, so time is of the essence nowadays. BUT I've still gotten to paint my nails, and even join in Erica's Nails and More 10 Day Challenge! She's decided to cut down the time on a nail art challenge, which is PERFECT for me at the moment. But I'm gonna give you guys a lowdown on the first half of the challenge (with a little sneak-peak at some of my entries :-O!).

Day 1: Favorite Color. If you check out this blog (just opening the page gives it away!), my favorite color is purple. And my favorite polish color/finish is sparkle/holographic. SO I did a base of China Glaze Stone Cold with Claire's Night Sky holographic glitter, then did stripes of my most prized polish I own, Color Club Fashion Addict (also my favorite color!)

Day 2: Favorite Animal. Since I first read the Harry Potter series, I've had a thing for owls. So here I did Zoya Angelina with China Glaze Oxidized Aqua for the wings and other fingers. I did L.A. Colors Atomic for the belly, Zoya Paz for the beak, and Sally Hansen White On with a Sinful Colors shimmer black nail art polish for the eyes.

 Day 3: Favorite Season. Now, I wanted to go a little out of the box for this one, and my fingers needed a break. So I did my current favorite time of year, football season! I'm a HUGE NY Giants fan, so I had to do red and blue! It's OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! and A Out Bit of Red, with China Glaze Unplugged and Sally Hansen White On for the football.

*sneak peak* Day 4: Saran Wrap Nails. I had never done this form of nail art before, but it turned out to be just as easy as sponging on polish. You paint your base and let it dry COMPLETELY (I don't think I let it dry enough). Then you paint a layer of the other color on and, while wet, dab a balled up piece of saran wrap on it. I didn't love the results, but it was easy. This is OPI Pepe's Purple Passion and Pink Friday, with a touch of Orly 54 (Sparkle and Shine at least needs a little shimmer!)

*sneak peak* Day 5: Gradient Nails. I've done this technique three times before, and this is so far my best attempt (my gummy worm nails for my last challenge were an utter fail, and my candy corn nails were...better). I learned you need less polish on the sponge, which is how my pinky turned out so well. This is my metallic duo-chrome gradient, with Ulta Jaded as the base and China Glaze Deviantly Daring as the second color.

So there you have the first part of this 10-day challenge! I will probably post the other five at the end of the challenge, and you can go to Erica's Facebook page to see all the contestants as they post throughout the day :-)

<3 Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)