Polish Change: 10 in Always and Forever (Yay, pink!)

Yesterday, I ran into CVS to pick up a spray bottle for my hair. Of course, I had to check out the polish to see if they had any on sale. To my surprise and delight, they had 10 polish on sale! I picked up a few of these polish at CVS before but never actually bought any (thought they were overpriced). Well, guess what? They had two really pretty colors on sale for 75% off!- a pink and a purple! Of course, I snatched them up!

I decided to try the pink first because I couldn't even remember the last time I rocked pink on my nails. Plus it's called "Always and Forever"- I love that song.

I must admit- I was impressed. The application was so easy I was literally caught off guard. Beyond just a little bit of streaking (which for 75% off I could deal with), it only took two coats to satisfy me! This is really a pretty pink and oh so girly. The real surprise was that it is not as demure as Revlon in Cotton Candy but a bit more edgy. This is pink that wants to be seen which you can't really tell by the bottle. Check out my pics:

Indoor- no flash

Indoor- no flash

Outside- natural light

Honestly, all day I've been looking at my nails...and they make me happy. Ahh, its the little things, isn't?... Like Luther singing...

...Besos, P&P.

My Work Day Turned Out To Be Margaritas for Lunch

I was scheduled to go back to work today. As I'm driving in this morning, there was literally NO ONE on the road but me. When I got to work to see the parking lot look like this:

I was convinced that we were the only people in Atlanta going into the office today. 

But when I got there, someone was already there so I guess I didn't have the wrong day. But I did ask her, why we were at work when everyone else was clearly still in bed. LOL.

When my boss arrived, she realized that today was, in fact, the holiday and told us to go home. My boss, a co-worker and I decided to go have lunch at Uncle Julio's on Peachtree. And we each had a celebratory margarita for 2012. Peep the polish (you know I try to keep them fly too):

That's my thumb! ;-)

Cute, right? My co worker (middle) is actually rocking Rimmel London in Steel Gray which I bought her for Christmas teeheehee. I love it when a plan comes together...Besos, P&P. 

P&P's Top Polish Picks for 2011

So much polish, so little time. I wanted to choose 11 top polish picks for 2011 but I couldn't narrow it past 14.  Please keep in mind that all of these were purchased by me in 2011- this does not mean that 2011 was their debut year.

Here are my top polish picks for 2011 (not in any particular order):

Essie in Coat Azure

A perfect blue. Heavenly.

L'Oreal in Manderine

Perfect coral color. Girly and sassy. (Can you believe I got this for $1 at Dollar Tree?)

Revlon in Grape Icy

The perfect purple. And its scented.

I have to give an honorable mention to L'Oreal in Viva Violet for also having a fab purple. 

Ginger + Liz in Swagger

I mean, come on. The name speaks for itself.

Essie In Power Clutch

What can I say? This is just a freakin dope-ass gray!

Perfect Christmas Green

So I'm a little over a month early but at least I know what color I  will be rocking for Christmas. Confetti in My Favorite Martian is a fab sparkly green that is perfect for the upcoming holiday season. (But as my daughter was quick to tell me, its not for Thanksgiving. She thinks I need to wear something in the brown-red family for Turkey Day. Ok, Summer. LOL.)

This really is a gorgeous green with flecks of gold. And not too much sparkle, just enough for you to look at your hands and say "ooh la la."

I must admit that I was afraid after I put on the first coat because it was very (I mean  EXTREMELY) sheer. I wasn't satisfied until I got to the third coat- then of course I did another (you know how I do).  What do you think?

Caught With My Khakis Down in Mobile, AL

OK so this post is really not that interesting but it was a cute headline, wasn't it? Caught With My Khakis Down is actually one of my new faves by Sephora by OPI. I actually bought this polish months ago in Mobile, AL of all places. I know what you're thinking- they have Sephora in Mobile, ALABAMA???  Yeah I didn't think they would have a Sephora in Mobile either. To be clear, it was inside of the JCPenney not a stand alone.

First Major Polish Casualty and Turquoise Gradient Manicure

I apologize because even though you don't know it, this post has taken me probably almost two months to write. Why? Well, because I was traumatized by the memories that are associated with these pictures. So imagine this, you just purchase a beautiful white quilt for your bed. Your bed now looks and feels as lush as a cloud.  You are so happy not only to lay on it but also to gaze at it lovingly. Now imagine that, you come upstairs to find that your darling three year old son has taken at least SIX bottles of your favorite (and new, might I add) BLUE nail polishes and poured them all over your BED!!!!!!!! (pause for the blank stare) -_-  yeah....so now can you understand why I haven't posted these pics yet???

Let me take a deep breath... And no, I did not kill him (although in my head I did use a multitude of F-words and other unsavory terms)....But I got over it rather quickly because he is just sooooo adorable. See!

That's him in his phenomenal zebra costume that his teacher made for him for a performance on International Day. Too cute!

Spotlight on Blues- Gradient Manicure

I don't know if you have seen this new manicure where each finger is a variation of the color next to it. It looks really cool and I've wanted to try it for awhile. The "Spotlight on Blue" actually turned out to be the perfect opportunity for me to try this myself. Since I have multiple shades of blue, I picked five colors that are somewhat similar. Here are the colors that I chose:

My ULTA Package Came! YESSSSS!!!!

I decided to order some polish from ULTA.com on Sunday. I mainly wanted to order a Butter LONDON polish but went ahead and ordered a few more (you do remember that I'm an addict, right?). Anyway, my box came from ULTA today! YAY! So excited! Check it out!

Polish Change: NYC #241

After a long 4th of July weekend of hosting my husband's family reunion, I am exhausted. It went well (thank God). His family seemed to have a good time in Atlanta...so much of a good time that they voted my husband the new President of the Family Reunion Club (which really means more work for me, right? lol).

An-tee-way, back to the POLISH, I have so many polish changes to post but thought I would start with this one: NYC in #241. I promise I looked all over this bottle (under, on top, on the side, everywhere) but I could not find an actual name for this polish. So I did an Internet search and turns out its called "Turquoise Seas" which is a really accurate name for this color. This polish looks turquoise blue in the bottle but on your nails turns into more of a sea green- really pretty. 

Polish Change: Wet n Wild in Goldmine

Well, well, well...Yeah, I know. I have talked some trash about the brand "Wet n Wild." After all, growing up it was definitely the cheapest brand of polish in Duane Reade or Woolworth (yeah, I took it back). And quite frankly, it still remains one of the most inexpensive polish brands in grocery and drug stores.

During one of my frequent trips to CVS, I actually purchased two "Wet n Wild" colors- Goldmine and a pretty peach color called Sunburst that looks good enough to eat. I have a thing for gold so I went with Goldmine first.

Polish Change: Essie in Sand Tropez

I had to travel to Boston on business this week. I didn't have the chance to do my nails before I left. Being the polish addict that I am, I stuffed around seven bottles of polish in my 1 quart plastic bag so that I could get them on the plane. I brought the entire French Affair collection by Essie as well as OPI in Mermaid's Tears because I planned on trying to do a marble style.

I have not had the chance to try the marble style yet but I did apply two coats of Essie in Sand Tropez  (get it?). I continue to be so impressed with not only the ease of the application of Essie polish but also the length of time that it takes to dry. Essie polishes dry quickly and are resilient to nicks. Sand Tropez is a pretty putty color. 

Something A Little Different For Me- Nail Art

I really want to get into nail art. I know crazy, right? Anyone who knows me knows that I am really one of the least gifted artists in the world. No, seriously. I can barely draw a stick figure. But I am really intrigued by all of the cool designs that people do on their nails.

Now, let's keep it real- I'm not going to be the one drawing Mickey Mouse, the Empire State Building, my son's face or any crap like that on my nails. But I am trying to teach myself how to do some of the basic designs and trends that are popular right now. I've watched a few videos and wanted to start off with something that would be pretty easy.  So I decided to just add glitter tips to my nails. 

Polish Change: Ginger + Liz in Swagger

YESSSSS!!! My brother sent two Ginger + Liz polishes to me for my birthday!...Wait! You don't know who Ginger + Liz are?!?!? Sara Liz Pickett and Ginger Johnson are two African-American women who have created a phenomenal, vegan-friendly and toxin-free nail lacquer. Their polish, called the "Ginger + Liz Colour Collection," is full of colorful shades with attitude. With polish named Chase Me, I'm So Over Him, Boy Toy, and Take It Or Leave It, to name a few, this collection can give you a vibrant new perspective.

I asked my brother to get two bottles of G+L for my birthday. I had only one request and that was for Swagger (fly name, right?). I let him pick out the other. Guess which he chose?

Polish Change- Revlon in Cotton Candy

After about a week of searching, I finally found  Revlon's scented nail polish. Yep, you read that correctly- scented nail polish. Seems like something that would be marketed to my 9 year old daughter but for some reason I really got excited about it (but let's keep it real, when do I not get excited about polish?). Maybe its the kid in me- remember those scratch'n'sniff stickers from back in the day??? Loved those!

Anyway, I went to a variety of stores and finally found a couple of shades at the Walmart in Union City (of all places!). The display looked pretty crappy (polish all over it) and was pretty much empty but I was able to find it nonetheless. Look at this mess!

They only had a few options but it seemed like a no-brainer to me to pick the prettiest pink.

Reader Pics- I Love My Perlas!

I am always so excited to receive pics from my readers. I continue to be humbled by the fact that anyone even reads this blog LOL. Anyway, here are some pics that were sent to me by my readers:

Here is a pic sent from Dominique in Atlanta- Essie in Fiji.

This is Antonette in Atlanta- Revlon in Sweet Tart...Peep the pearls! I see you! Love it!

These pics were sent from Kelli in New Orleans- Sally Hansen's Salon Effects in 260 Glitz Blitz. I love these! I'm definitely going to have to try these next!

This last pic is after six days of wear. Not too much chipping... 

Did you just get your nails done? Or are you planning on doing your nails? Take a pic and send it to me. You can can email it to gotpearlsandpolish@gmail.com. I hope to see your nails soon! I know I'm not the only one having fun with polish!...Besos, P&P.

Summer's Summer Nails- Week 1

So now that school is officially out, I have decided to let my daughter, Summer,  experiment with her nails. She is only nine so there won't be anything elaborate or crazy...and there definitely won't be any red (for more on that click here). But she really enjoys nail color, so I figured that this would be the best time for her to experiment.

This past week, I had to get two new "knock sensors" replaced in my truck in order to pass the Emissions test (insert all types of expletives here for my true sentiments). So my daughter and I brought nail polish (along with multiple electronics, magazines, etc.) to the shop since we were going to be there for several hours. I told her that she could pick any color that she wanted. This is what she chose:

Pink and green, of course. The pink is Essie in Status Symbol and the green is Revlon in Emerald City (I actually did a review of Emerald City here).

Can't wait to see what she selects next week!...Besos, P&P. 

Look what I found at CVS after my Zumba Class!

I know two videos in one day!! Crazy, right?? But I just have to tell you about this- its not the same if I write about it! LOL.

And oh, if you haven't tried Zumba- DO IT. It's AWESOME. I'm addicted to it almost as much as I am to pearls and polish...Well, not really but I really like it!! LOL...Besos, P&P.

Polish Change: OPI's Silver Shatter on Mermaid's Tears

I had a rough weekend with my son's third birthday party and my daughter had an all-day softball tournament (Yes, Sandtown Lady Knights 10U are North Georgia Fast Pitch CHAMPIONS!!!!). So, of course, my fab Mermaid's Tears nails started chipping. How did I remedy that? By putting my new OPI Silver Shatter on top of it! And what was the end result? More fabulousity! lol.

This was my first time using OPI's Shatter (of any color). This is seriously like a magic polish. It was funny when I first put it on, it just goes on straight silver. And I'm saying to myself- what a RIP OFF!...but then magically a few seconds later, all of a sudden I see what look like cracks and fissures break out on my nails and then I see the Mermaid's Tears peeking out. DOPE. Check out my pics:

Inside:

Outside:

What do you all think? I know its kind of hard to see with my wack pics from my Blackberry- sorry about that. But you get the gist, right?..The best thing about this Shatter is that it is really easy to apply. Just one coat. Let it dry. Then add your favorite top coat (in my case, Essie Good To Go- it's sooooo fast)...This Shatter is great for the spring/summer and will look fab with silver rings and bracelets...and diamonds ;-)....Besos, P&P.

Polish Change: OPI in Mermaid's Tears

So I picked up Mermaid's Tears (Remember? From OPI's Pirates of the Caribbean collection?) last weekend at Beauty Express at Tanger Outlets. And it was all that I hoped it would be!! I LOVE this color. Its like a seafoam greenish blue. The color makes me smile every time I look at my nails. My husband said it reminds him of an "Easter egg... but in a good way."....ok (I think?)...LOL. Check out my pics!

Inside shot

Outside shot

Definite P&P Please Do...Besos,P&P.

P&P PSA: OPI Pirates of the Caribbean Collection at ULTA

I don't know about you but I've been looking for OPI's newest Pirates of the Caribbean Collection. Well, great news! The entire collection will now be available at ULTA starting on May 8th! Yep, on Mother's Day! Feel free to pick me up a bottle! J/K!!! Well, not really...Hook a sista UP!!!

Anyway, here is a pic of the collection if you haven't seen it already:

 From left to right, these are the colors:

• Silver Shatter
• Skull & Glossbones
• Sparrow Me the Drama
• Steady as She Rose
• Planks A Lot
• Strangers Tides
• Mermaid’s Tears

My first selection will definitely be Mermaid's Tears. I lust after that polish!! What's your first pick?? Let me know...Besos, P&P.