Indie Polishes - Lacquer Lust Carebear Stare

Wow!  Do I have a gem for you today.  I recently began purchasing indie polishes online.  Let's face it, I am an instant gratification kind of chick and part of my fun is getting great deals.  That is, until I stumbled upon some indie polishes and timidly made my first purchase.  Now my thrill is in seeking out these unique beauties and purchasing them before they are gone forever.  This amazing polish I have for you today is just such a score.

Last Sunday at 4 AM I had a serious case of insomnia.  I picked up my trusty iPhone 4 and began to Google for polishes.  I had a desire for something milky with pastel glitters.  This, my friends, is my weakness.  I love all kinds of polishes but there is something enchanting about these finishes for me.  By some miraculous stroke of luck, I happened upon a blog post for a polish called Carebear Stare by Lacquer Lust.  Being an 80's child, I again was drawn to it.  The swatches were pretty and the review was good so I impulsively added it to my cart and ordered it before I changed my mind.  The polish was 8.00 with 2.50 shipping.  For indies I like to stay under 10 that's my max so I got this one with the shipping for that.

The email response was prompt.  I then received a second email on Tuesday 12:25 AM  advising me my order was ready for shipping and a tracking number assigned.  I got my polish on Wednesday people!  WOW!  When I got the package, my special treatment continued.  I have purchased polish online before but never received anything like this.

How adorable is this?

It was so cute I didn't want to open it.  Of course I did.

Please excuse the messy desk but I was so excited to show it off.  I will be putting it on tonight and will update this when I do.  I just wanted to say how awesome I think Lacquer Lust is.  I have treasured every moment of this polish purchase like none other.  I will be buying from her in the future.

However, when I posted this to a forum of indie polish lovers, we soon discovered her site is only showing a pre-order for a birthstone collection and this one is nowhere to be found.  While I am sad, I am extremely lucky to be able to own it.  So if you want this gem, please keep trying her.

http://www.lacquerlust.bigcartel.com/


Cheers.


Almost two months after I first made this post, I realized I never posted any photos of my swatches.  At the time my nails were very short and I wasn't happy with the pictures.  Here is three thin coats of Carebear Stare.

My Vintage Favorites - Mall Polishes

I grew up in a very small town in Wisconsin population 1100.  Living that kind of lifestyle suited most of the residents.  Those people actually chose that setting on purpose.  For a teenager, that was not the case.  You don't really get to experience fashion or shopping when your main source of commerce is the local feed store.  I predate the internet.  The only escape was to travel the hour long commute to Appleton which at the time had a population of a mere 65,000 people.  This was no New York City or booming metropolis but it did have an awesome mall and much more to do than where I came from.  To me, it was like the most amazing place on earth.

The mall was the very first place I had ever seen nail polish of any color that wasn't red, pink or nude.  They had kiosks set up near the food court entrance filled with tiny bottles of bold colored polish.  The 6 of them I purchased all were shimmer polishes.  I don't remember if they had any cremes or glitters either back then but one of them is labeled as a duo-chrome polish shifting from baby blue to gold.  From the labels these were manufactured by Townley Cosmetics.  A quick Google search shows me they now make Hello Kitty cosmetic sets and apparently does not test on animals.  I have found nothing about the shades I have or anything else about the nail polish from that long ago.  While the Streetwear collection is in high demand on Ebay and has many blogs dedicated to it, I have never seen any of these anywhere online. 

From left to right: Hot Rod, Greena, Jelly Bean, Volcano, Blue Gold and Alice Copper

Most of these as you can see have been almost used up.  Volcano is by far not only my favorite of this group but one of my favorites of all time.  I have seen colors similar before but none an exact dupe for this shade.  When I do, I will be snatching it up with a few spares as well.

Now for the swatches.

Application on these was a mess.  I am certain that's because of the age and the fact I have had to add thinner to them a number of times.  At one point I had to use a pliers to get some of the bottles open because they had nearly dried up and were in storage for 5 years.  Hot Rod actually went on rather well and is also a favorite of mine because it's a very good Green Bay Packers green.  Greena is in fact a shade of blue.

From left to right: Greena, Alice Copper, and Hot Rod

From left to right: Blue Gold, Jelly Bean and Volcano

Also at the mall was a little store called Hot Topic.  I don't remember the exact year that I bought these but I have 2 polishes from the Urban Decay line.  Gangrene was my absolute favorite.  I was a huge fan of emerald green and completely used it up.  I also broke the cap at some point so what was left dried up and all I have is an empty bottle and memories!  I still have a tiny bit of Gash left but will only use it for super special occasions.  I loved the colors and names of these polishes.  I wish I had purchased more shades when I had the chance.  Some day if I feel inspired I may try my hand at Ebay and pick some up if and when I see them.  I would definitely like to have another bottle of each of these.

From left to right: Gangrene and Gash

What are you favorite Urban Decay or mall exclusive polishes? 

My Vintage Favorites - Revlon Streetwear

To start my blog, I wanted to go back in time.  The year was 1996.  Tickle me Elmo was the hottest toy ever, Cuba Gooding, Jr. asked us to "show him the money" and Cal Ripkin, Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak.  It was also in 1996 that Revlon launched their Streetwear line of cosmetics and a young 19 yr old deli clerk stumbled into a tiny Walgreens on lunch break and a polish obsession was born.

I didn't realize back then what exactly I was getting into but I was never a girlie girl.  I liked rap music, baggy clothes and had a bit of a chip on my shoulder.  I knew the moment I laid eyes on "Midnight" I had to start wearing nail polish.

From left to right: Splash, Charming, Diamond Girl, Moody, and Midnight

 From left to right: Toad, Grass Stain, Confetti, Hologram, Gun Metal and Tar.

I did lose one of them that I used to have that was Nightmare.  It was a black and silver bar glitter.   I purchased back ups for Splash and Charming back then without even realizing what I was doing.  I just knew I loved the colors.

Now for the swatches. 

From left to right:  Moody, Diamond Girl, Charming and Splash

From left to right: Midnight, Toad, Grass Stain and Gun Metal

From left to right: Tar, Hologram, and Confetti

I can't pick a favorite.  Moody and Grass Stain both have a bit of shimmer in them which I didn't remember.  Confetti has a tinted base, I am not sure if that's from age or if that was how they intended it. When I swatched over white it was really noticeable.  All swatches are 2 coats with no topcoat except Hologram and Confetti which were one very thick coat just so I could show them.

What is your favorite Revlon Streetwear color?

Welcome to Miss Kitty Nails!

Welcome to the very first post for Miss Kitty Nails.  I wanted to start this blog so that I can share my love of nail polish and nail art with the world.   I have been collecting nail polish since the mid 1990's.  I kept it under control due to space limitations until purchasing a home in 2011.  After finally setting up my dream room I began to go all out in early 2013.  

 For me, there are two parts to my polish obsession.  First is the chase.  I love stalking my local beauty supply and discount stores in search of the ultimate deal.   In my recent hauls I have found some ridiculous deals getting Nicole by OPI polishes for example for $1.00!  I try not to purchase polish at full retail prices. If I do, I usually shop around to get the best deals.  I enjoy the collecting and swatching aspects so much that I would rather spend $18.00 on 15 polishes than one bottle of a higher end brand.  That's just how I like to do things.  I plan on sharing those deals as part of this blog so other people can see what you can get if you don't mind waiting a bit.  This is not to say I don't splurge once in awhile like the case of Alcatraz...Rocks in the OPI San Francisco line.  I gladly paid the $9.00 to get this now.  I fully intend on purchasing a back up bottle and will wait until I find a sale for that one if possible.

The second part is the collection.  I currently have 560 polishes swatched out on color wheels and a full storage drawer full of oldies I haven't gotten around to adding to my list.  That does include mini's and small bottles as well.  I am a hoarder by nature and tend to not get rid of anything.  My favorite part of the day is coming home after shopping for polish and lining up my new purchases and adding them to the current collection.  I will be reviewing and posting pictures of some of my existing collection as well as anything I purchase new from now on. 

I encourage comments and conversations as well.  I am a blog rookie and want to know how I am doing and any feedback is appreciated.  I am in awe of some of the blogs I see and I aspire to be in that company.  In my polish research when I am at stores I definitely look at what others have reviewed and used it to help make my decisions. 

I thank you for reading!