Confessions of a Nail Polish Addict Tag

I was tagged by my beautiful friend Zenorah in her latest YouTube video to do this tag :) I haven't done one in a loooong time so I figured why not!

Questions:

1. What color are you wearing right now? I'm wearing a new KBShimmer polish from her summer 2015 collection, What Are You Wading For?

#notd is @kbshimmer What Are You Wading For? from her new summer collection #kbshimmer #blue #holographic #prsample

A photo posted by @kelliegonzo on Apr 18, 2015 at 9:37am PDT

2. What nail product can't you live without? Definitely cuticle oil/balms/lotion. I absolutely DETEST the feeling of dry skin. Since I started using Bliss Kiss cuticle oil it's become my absolute staple product of all time, even though I still have a million other products I like to use haha :)

3.What is your favorite nail brand? That's a hard one, but it might be OPI to be honest. I know they are the most mainstream, and it might just be because I have more OPI than anything else, but 8 out of 10 times their formulas are good and I like the vast array of colors. That might be #basic but oh well ;)

4. What shape nail do you wear? I have a consistent square-to-squoval shape. I think it's the most flattering on me. I try to keep the sides a little softer than totally square though.

5. What's your go to Red, Pink & Neutral Nail Polish? Right now for red I'd say OPI Romantically Involved from the Fifty Shades of Grey collection, for pink I'll go with Rescue Beauty Lounge Oh Slap! from the #KDrama collection, and for neutral I have to pick Butter London All Hail the Queen.

6. Short or Long Nails? My nails vary all the time because I usually just let them grow until I get a break then chop them all down. I prefer a medium length on me, but I really don't mind short or long.

7. What nail polish colors are on your nail wishlist? Oh geez, we'd be here all day if I listed all of them! I have a pinterest board of my lemmings here.

8. When do you paint your nails, morning, afternoon or evening? I usually only have time during the week to paint in the evenings, but on the weekends I do swatch & photo sessions all day (weather permitting).

9. What's your top nail tip you swear by? Moisturize! Once you get in the habit, it's not really a big deal to apply cuticle oil or balm or lotion throughout the day. I swear my nail game has improved 1000% since I started consistently moisturizing my nails and hands.

10. What nail polish do you regret buying? Another one where we'd be here all day if I answered haha. I have a really humungous destash bag in my room right now.

11. Neon or Pastel? If I have to pick one, it would be neon but I love them both. Or a hybrid of neon pastel!

12. What's your favorite color right now, you wear all the time? Picture Polish Forget Me Not has been on my nails a LOT lately :)

If you'd like to do this tag, please do so and let me know so I can read your answers!

❤ Kellie

kiss nails halloween giveaway ***CLOSED***

another contest?? have i lost my marbles?? nope, just must be in the giving mood! this time i have some halloween goodies up for grabs! kiss nails has some ADORABLE false nail designs this year for halloween, including a half moon design with almond shape nails that almost look like Dita von Teese nails.  I bought a few of these myself before Kiss even offered to sponsor a giveaway so you know i love them!

here's what you can win: 3 packs of limited edition Halloween Nails, 2 packs of limited edition Halloween nail art stickers, 1 pack of limited edition Halloween eye and face art stickers, and 1 pack of limited edition Halloween body art stickers.

and here's the best part. since there are 7 prizes, there is going to be 7 winners! all you have to do is be a follower and put a comment in the section below with a way to contact you :)  ends October 21st and this is open internationally.

special thanks to Kiss Nails and Dark PR for sponsoring this contest and Happy Halloween!!

xoxo,
kelliegonzo

this giveaway is sponsored by the company/manufacturer. please see disclosure statement for more information.

jerseylicious nails

does anyone out there watch a little show called...

well i do. i know i know. it's a guilty pleasure. i can't stop! i am really sad that it won't be on for another two months. it's about a salon in jersey and all the ladies that work there. and i have to say i'm "team olivia" if you know what that means. i'm so addicted to talking jersey style and teasing my hair now LOL!

and...another side effect has become my huge lemming of tracy dimarco's (the blonde in the leopard print above) nails. they're acrylic "flair" type with dark pink and miles of white french style. they look like they're slightly bubbled up too.

it's a sickness. i neeeeeeeeeeed these nails! for no other reason but to fulfill the craving. i know they're horrendous. i know. but i had to share :D

the show is on the style network. if you don't watch but you like reality shows and hair, makeup, beauty, and a little drama ;) then you'll probably like this!

brand new skates

opi's brand new skates came out with the Holiday in Toyland collection in 2008. it is delightful-looking in the bottle, shimmery metallic charcoal goodness! i found it sort of hard to apply though, very watery and sheer on the first coat which led to lots of clean up. but it does build on itself nicely, and the end result is pretty much worth it. i like how it can look dark and just slightly glimmer with a greenish tint in low light and silvery with the gold and silver sparkles really showing through in brighter light. this is about 3 coats. i think it is a nice shade for this time of year and think it was a good choice for a holiday collection. if you've got this guy on your shelf from last year, now is a perfect season to take him down and show off some glitz!

icing lily

ahhh dear icing, such a love affair we have. it seems every time i go in to an icing store there are new colors. which is awesome. because i have to admit i love to window shop and i get sick of stores that take forever get new products, haha. so i adore icing! and their polishes have great formulas for the most part. this is one of their really great ones. it's a pale lavender creme that looks as delicate and lovely as the flower it is named after, lily.

hope you all are having a great week! happy hump day :)

purple x-ing

i got this nina ultra pro at sally beauty, called purple x-ing. me and my comrades are at a stand-still argument at how to pronounce it, i was saying it as: purple crossing, while my friend mickelle was saying: perplexing. either way, it's a pretty fabulous polish! lovely medium-deep purple (less blue than in the pics, my camera as well as most does not play well w/ purples) with tiny and slightly bigger holographic sparkles. this is two coats. the day i wore it, three of my co-workers went out and bought it AND i saw it on two other nail blogs! weird... it's like the second you learn a new word you start hearing it everywhere. or something :)

you don't know jacques suede

i la la love opi's suede collection! it is seriously genius. although i agree with pretty much everyone on the planet when i say that i think that they got lazy on naming them after polishes they already had, especially since they barely resemble their namesakes. oh well!

this guy is you don't know jacques suede. i left him matte cuz i like it like that! although they are breathtaking when covered with shiny topcoat. this is two coats. i found these much easier to work with than the previous matte collection, they dried less quickly but they were still not as easy to apply as regular polish. you really have to plan where you're going place your brush strokes or else you end up with a mess IMHO. i need to get all of the suedes, i'm just procrastinating. idk why haha.

the bottom picture is slightly more greyed, which i think is more color accurate than the top pic. i couldn't fix it :P

essie risky business

i really enjoy essie polishes. i love cremes so that's probably why haha. they rarely step out of their little creme box. but when they do, i feel like they really knock something loose and cool. like...ever heard of starry starry night? well I HAVE! haha for instance, this jelly electric orangey/red called risky business, is far from your typical essie varnish. it's super shimmery! it's a JELLY! it's awesomely pigmented. and it's totally fun. and it's not pink. are you suuuuure it's an essie? yup pretty sure! haha, i love the little essie bottle, so sophisticated and clean. so i'm a sucker for them. and i am a sucker for risky business. this is 3 coats & no topcoat. i love it!

 

essie wife goes on

happy thanksgiving! and to those who don't celebrate, happy black friday eve!

i got this essie at trade secret in a discount bin. it was one i had been eye-ing for a while, mostly because i thought the name was funny--wife goes on. it is from the "staring over" collection, which essie put out as a "salute" to the independent woman? i guess celebrating divorce. yeah...no comment haha. anywaaaays, it is a pretty watermelon-ish berry color that leans on the red side. essie's website says this is "a bold true red" but i have to disagree with them on that one, because a true red IMO isn't as pink as this baby looks to me but meh whatev. i'll have to do a comparison of this and essie's watermelon soon. it is a little darker on the nail than it looks in the bottle if you notice, which i find interesting. this is two coats (very opaque and non streaky) and no topcoat.

 

what is everyone doing today? i'm in nevada with my family soaking up some love and R&R :) and of course, stuffing my face! is anyone going shopping tomorrow? if you are have fun and stay safe! i'm hoping to have my sister back home get me a new camera on sale. maybe you'll be seeing some better pics on Also Known As soon! take care sweets ♥

zoya meiko

this is probably my favorite zoya that i've tried so far. meiko is a sweet name too. the next fish i get will have meiko for a name i think :) this polish reminds me of strawberry fields from china glaze, now that i think about it! lovely bright pink berry colored lacquer with amazing gold shimmer. mmmm just heavenly. it is definitely a must-own polish. now enjoy the picture spam!

sun

zoya tallulah

aw lovely tallulah, she is such a pretty girl! zoya made such a bright beautiful candy blue. it looks like it belongs in a skittles bag, uhh YUM! the zoya formula is perfect, it goes on so smooooooth. this is another borrowed one. i'm really going to have to invest and get myself some new ones of my own haha! i have my eye on pasha, elke, ki, and yasmeen.

sun

zoya midori

so it's been a while since i've had any midori (drink), but that doesn't mean that i can't enjoy this kind of midori! zoya midori to be more specific. i love green, any kind of green. and this is a unique one, a bright green apple that reminds me of the kind of color you would find in a magic marker case. soo pretty and it has that familiar zoya gold sparkle in it!

sun

zoya evangeline

this is one of the zoya's my sister clarrisa got from the twitter get 3 free promotion that zoya did a million years ago. evangeline is a BEAUTIFUL deep berry shade with gold sparkle. i tend to like any pink/red with gold in it. this is no exception. very sexy i think.

i hope everyone's weekend went well :) i spent mine sleeping and doing homework. oh joy oh rapture! p.s. how do you like my new blog header? courtesy of miss caitlin bananas :D ciao bellas!

zoya drew

zoya's drew is another lovely deep pink shade, similar to previously posted joy, but the shimmer in this one is the same lovely rose hue as the base, making it monochromatic throughout. i think i like drew a tiny bit better than joy, but who says you have to choose?? haha :D

indirect sun

essie st. barths blue

until i get my lemming for ChG's moody blue satisfied, i picked up this shimmered pastel grey-ed blue, essie st. barths blue. it's lovely lovely and so classy! i adore it :)

i hope your weekends are going well! it's getting quite chilly here! i wish our autumn had lasted longer, but what can ya do? seems the only real seasons utah has are winter and summer anyway haha ♥

essie ball-timore

i've wanted essie's ball-timore for a while. it has long since been discontinued, but i was able to get it from transdesign :)  it was part of the Summer Balls collection which included a polish with the funniest name i've ever heard, meet-balls. i don't own it personally, but my friend mickelle does. i'll have to borrow it to swatch one of these days haha.

image credit: beauty realm

ball-timore isn't a shade i normally go for, as it is kind of frosty. i hate hate hate brush strokes so i had to be careful with this guy. and it does take a fair amount of coats to make opaque. this is three (rather sloppy now that i can see the pics blown up sorry!) coats with no topcoat. i think i'll use a thicker ridgefiller next time too... but i still love the pretty candy pink that is ball-timore! it's very girly and fun.

essie amalfi

i love gooooolllld!

that's what Goldmember says. and that's what i say too! haha, i actually don't care for that Austin Powers movie all that much, Mike Myers sunk pretty low with that one haha. but honestly, i have a soft spot in my heart for golds. i would never wear gold jewelry, haha i think it's soooo ghetto, but on ma fingaaas?? grrrrl please! hand ova the bling!

this polish is the amaaazing! essie amalfi is a white gold frost polish (discontinued) that shine shine shines. a bit sheer, this is three coats and i still have VNL but i don't mind. also, little to no brush strokes = a win!

strawberry fields

aw china glaze, why you gotta do me so right? haha, i have to say that i am head over heels in love with this polish. strawberry fields is a rich vibrant pink filed with gallons of golden shimmer. it was released with china glaze's summer days collection '09. the entire set of paints were all pretty fun, personal favorites being watermelon rind, grape juice, this guy, and cherry pie. but they were all amazing. china glaze knows how to do their shimmers and glass flecks that is fo' sho!

strawberry fields is probably my favorite out of the bunch because of the great contrast of the pink and gold. also, the closest town to where i live has a "Strawberry Days" festival every summer. there is a fair and a rodeo and tons and tons of strawberries & cream to eat everywhere you look for about a week!  if you don't have this polish yet, what are you waiting for?? go get it :D

china glaze wagon trail

does anyone remember that awful game we used to play in grade school "the oregon trail"? if you went to grade school in the 90's, then you probably know what i'm talking about. that's the first thing that came to my mind when i heard about this cult phenomenon of a nail polish color. china glaze's wagon trail is a dark olive green shade from the rodeo diva collection.

at first, i was all, wha what whaat? how can everyone love a dark olive green color so much? and i have to be honest, the pictures i saw were not doing it any favors. but then i stumbled across scrangie and e-polish's sites and they of course loved it too. and their pictures finally did the polish the justice it so rightfully deserves. in fact, the entire rodeo diva collection is a huge win in my book. there is not one color in there that i wouldn't wear twice, three times over again.
wagon trail is gorgeous, deep, dark, and hued to perfection. there is just the right amount of green/gold shimmer in it to keep one's eyes flickering down to it in the sun and dark enough to qualify it as dark and punky/goth/vampy which i love. how did i ever doubt you, dear? the above is 2 coats, no topcoat, flash.

top coat trials

the Edge of Sanity blog is doing a "top coats undressed" series right now where they investigate and report on 12 different topcoats by 8 different polish fiends. it's really cool and super interesting so far! they're on topcoat #3 from the bottom as of today, i believe. the posts are very thorough, complete with a scoreboard of categories and explanations as well as comments from each of the testers. go ch-ch-check it out HERE! i was super surprised to find out that Poshe scored the lowest out of the 12 topcoats so far. i am dying to find out if my dear lover SECHE VITE will reign supremeo or not. guess i'll have to wait and see!