Hard Candy Just Nails - Sky - $5 at Walmart

Long time, no see guys! I've been off the radar for a couple days, but I have a few cool things to show you this week, starting with this new Hard Candy polish I found. Back in the 90s, during Hard Candy's run as a mid-priced prestige brand, they released the iconic sky-blue nail polish called Sky that they became known for. Alicia Silverstone, back when she was still riding the Clueless train, was on David Letterman wearing it and I still remember thinking how awesome it was when I saw a photo of it in some magazine afterward. I had to have that polish and so I bought it, finally, on my very first Sephora order soooo many years ago. Blue has always been my favorite color and Hard Candy Sky was my first blue polish. As I became more immersed in nail polish, sampling tons of other brands, shades and formulas, I finally realized that Sky applied horribly and there were other sky blues out there I liked better. I think I may still have a bottle of the original Sky sitting around somewhere for posterity, but I can't find it. I also can't find a previous swatch of it so I'm sorry about that. It's basically like this without the flash of blue shimmer floating on top. Anyway, so when I was at Walmart earlier in the week looking at the Hard Candy display and I saw a light blue (that looked like a creme) and yelled in my mind, "SKY!" I picked it up and sure enough that was the name but then I saw the shimmer and was half upset, half intrigued. Long story short; it's Sky, still applies like crap but it's pretty, cheap, and you can find it at WalMart. Let's take a look.

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If you're a nail art fan, or love Konad stamping, I really recommend you check this out. At bundlemonster.com you can 21 nail plates with 6-7 designs each for $17.99 plus free shipping. When you consider that Konad plates, while amazing, are $6.99 per plate, this is such a great deal. I don't think I could live without my actual Konad plates; the patterns are so beautiful and the full nail designs are a bit larger than the Bundle Monster ones which is good for my wider nails, but at such a low price, it just makes a great supplemental supply of plates. These have been floating around for a few months, but I hesitated because I figured the quality was probably poor, but I'm glad I decided to throw caution to the wind! If you haven't tried Konad at all yet, this is a great way to familiarize yourself with nail stamping before you jump the train completely and buy Konad plates and accoutrement. There are just a few things you need to know about these plates, especially if you're expecting Konad quality:

1) These are way thinner than Konad plates and don't have a paper backing. This means that they can bend more easily which will ruin the designs.

2)They are also sharp as hell, and when you're removing the plastic shrink wrap on the surface of each plate, you run the risk of cutting yourself.

3) The full-nail pattern designs are a little smaller than the Konad ones, so if your nails are average in width or beyond, you might end up having to double stamp.

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Confetti Nail Polish in Moonstruck - $1.99 at CVS

The new polish brand at CVS that I saw a few weeks ago didn't have a lot of unique or crazy options, but this taupe stood out. Big shocker. I was pretty pleased with this purchase since the price is so low, it applied well, and the color is so pretty. Two coats was sufficient, and while the color is very similar to a lot of other taupe polishes out there, it's the cheapest I've found of any quality. The creme finish is quite glossy, as well, though I would definitely recommend a top coat. I'd love to try more Confetti polishes, but the colors really didn't excite me.

I'm very excited that once again it's time for Philosophy Friends and Family! Until May 20, the deal is 20% off with the code "happiness", and then if you spend more than $50, shipping is free. You all know that I'm a huge Philosophy fan, and there aren't many products I've tried from them that I wouldn't recommend, but if you want my two cents, here are a few products that are at the top of the heap, in this girl's opinion:

• Purity Made Simple Cleanser - I use this daily and though I'm committed to the giant pump-bearing 32 oz. size, if you're new to it, the 8 oz. for $20 really isn't a bad deal. You can read my review of this cleanser here.
• 3-in-1 Shower Gel, Bubble Bath, and Shampoo in Melon Daiquiri and Mimosa - I love these shower gels to death! These two particular scents are among my favorites for the warmer months. Melon Daiquiri smells like a ripe cantaloupe, and Mimosa has a refreshing, tangy orange scent.
• Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash - Some find they can use this every day, but I've found that using it every couple days gave me amazing results. Instead of the grit in some other exfoliators that just rubs around, the incredibly fine grains in this one hug the skin and polish it. Think of it this way, the finer the grit of sandpaper, the more smoothing and perfecting it is for wood. So it seems to go for facial exfoliators as well.
• Going Coconuts Bath & Shower Gel Trio - Haven't tried this one yet, but it's calling to me. If you try it, let me know your thoughts. There's no scent like coconut to transport my state of mind when warm weather comes around, and with the three variations, it's irresistible.

Additionally, Philosophy's Lip Shines and fragrances are all worth taking a look at. They also have a newly expanded range of makeup to check out as well. I have the birthday offer for the Shower Gel and Lip Shine with a $25 purchase and I'm hoping I can use it along with the F&F discount!!! So will you be scoring something from this sale? Let me know what your Philosophy faves are! And by the way, normal posting will resume later today or tomorrow because I've been super duper busy. All contest prizes will be shipped tomorrow morning, and I have some cool polishes and other products to share with you this coming week, so stay tuned.

Maybelline - Twinkle Pink - $1 at Dollar Tree

Another fun Dollar Tree find, Twinkle Pink is one of those Glitter Express Finish that came out 7 years ago or so. I owned two of these when they first came out, a silver/white and one with some orange in it. I wish I could remember the names or find them again because they bring back fond memories. I used them up! I've since found other glitter ranges that I like better, like China Glaze and OPI's Alice collection ones, but this bottle took me back and for $1 it was a no brainer. It's got a clear base and lots of pink and silver glitter. It's not super dense, and it's a bit streaky, but I like it a lot anyway. I seem to remember my old ones applying better, but of course they were new back then.... Anyway, if you're into glitter or pink or crazy deals then "get thee to the Dollar Tree."

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Sephora PURE Natural Believer Palette in Star Gazer - $15 at sephora.com

Please click the photo above to see the palette in more detail! Last week I posted about another one of these awesome palettes, in Island Sunset, and I like this one nearly as much. These palettes were originally about $36 but then were marked down to $15. So during the 15% off sale at Sephora I picked them up. I am so glad I did. First off, as I said before they are purported to be made of recyclable metal pans, sustainable bamboo and no less than 95% natural ingredients. I was afraid that since these are "all natural" and "pure" that staying power, texture and color pigmentation would suffer, but they don't. I am exceedingly happy to be able to tell you that these six shadows and blush are smooth, soft and packed with color that sticks around pretty well. The shades are beautiful and range from cool to neutral, as opposed to the warm shades of the Island Sunset palette.

Like the other palette, the packaging is attractive, includes a large mirror and includes all the shade names on the back of the palette, which is hard to come by in a pre-made palette, especially such an inexpensive one. The textures again range from buttery mattes, to lustres, frosts and satins. All are blendable and pack a punch whether it be in shimmer or pigmentation. Click to read shade descriptions and see swatches...

Recently I found this gorgeousness at Dollar Tree in a duopack with some horrific bronzey peach sheer shimmer. Technically, I paid .50 cents for this polish, but I threw the other polish away, so let's call it a whole whopping dollar. Anyhoo, this incredibly vibrant medium-to-deep blue is amazing, and the shimmer is that sort of shimmer that is so fine but stops short of frost. Think China Glaze Frostbite, but a bit deeper. The formula on this was super watery, but it was pretty pigmented. I applied three coats and there was a bit of cuticle drag, so I let it dry quite a long time in between coats; about 5 minutes. Overall, the polish is unbelievably gorgeous and I'd consider it worth the time stopping into your local Dollar Tree to see what's what because mine had several of this shade.

Have you tried this polish? Is it an old fave? What do you think of it? Click if you'd like to see a couple more photos!

Urban Decay Face Case - $14 at urbandecay.com

I can see the new Urban Decay Face Case taking up permanent residence in handbags everywhere. With three eyeshadows, three glosses, a blush and a mirror, this teeny palette has everything a girl would need to become presentable in a pinch. I actually already own the three shadows, but am still neurotically plotting a purchase for this palette. It would be a small and sleek insurance policy that would work in addition to the static part of my stash. I like it, especially for $14! Plus the Book of Shadows 2-esque design in the blush is adorable!!! The only potential downfall is that two of these eye shades are known for their copious glitter... What do you guys think of this little palette?

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It seemed to be a big hit the last time Zoya did it, so in honor of Earth Day Zoya is once again offering reduced prices on their ecofriendly nail polishes when you send in your old chemical-laden ones. Here's how it works: You send in at least 6 polishes from your stash that are not Zoya, Nocti, or Qtica, and for every polish you send in you're entitled to a Zoya polish for $3.50.

The assertion that it's polish-for-polish isn't perhaps the way I'd put it, but it's still a good deal in my opinion. Once Zoya receives your old polishes, they say that they will dispose of them in the proper environmentally-friendly way, which should make us all feel good. The total costs will depend on how many polishes you ship back as you do have to pay to ship your polishes to Zoya. Then you'll be paying $3.50 for each bottle of Zoya. I think that if you look at this program for what it is, basically a steep discount on new Zoya polishes and having your old and unwanted polishes disposed of in the correct way, it's really a neat thing. Help save the planet and let your wallet breathe a sigh of relief while you enjoy some new pretties from Zoya. I still haven't decided if I'll do it, or which polishes I'd be purging to do it, but if you've got some old nasties hanging around and want some cheap new Zoya, I think it's a cool idea.

Sephora PURE Natural Believer palette in Island Sunset - $15 at sephora.com

During the 15% off sale at Sephora I picked up two of these palettes from the Sephora Collection. These were originally $36 or something and then they were marked down to $15 and had remained there for quite a while. I don't know how long they'll stick around, especially at this price, because they're really nice. Each palette contains 6 shadows and a blush and are packaged in sustainable bamboo and recyclable metal. The Sephora PURE line is all made of ingredients that are at least 95% natural and at least 10% organic. If you're into natural beauty, then you might love these. I found that the quality matched, and in some cases exceeded, the quality of some of my other favorite eye shadow brands. Both palettes that I got contain at least a couple dupes for either Urban Decay or MAC shadows that I love, so that was also a plus.

The Island Sunset palette is filled with warm tones and gorgeous textures. The shadows range in finish from matte to satin, lustre to frost, and are highly pigmented, blendable, and have decent staying power. The packaging is sleek, compact, eco-friendly, and attractive and contains a decently sized mirror. The shade names are listed on the back as well which is nice for a pre-made palette.

Click for more photos and swatches