Dollish Toxic Avenger

Behold its beauty! Toxic Avenger is a super rare, super hard to get, high demand discontinued polish. Dolly won't be making any more as the supplies she used no longer exist.


stamped and with HK Girl topcoat. (I freaking love this topcoat!)


The wonderful TK from the blue forums was such a sweetheart to swap this to me! It was a long time lemming of mine and I finally have it!
Now that its in my hands, I'm thinking I can dupe it, what say you?
Orly Space Cadet x Holo Top Coat



I layered my dupe idea on the wheel, but mixed, I do believe it'd be difficult to distinguish from the original. Yes?


update on my grandma: she was released 7/22 and is now back at the hospital as of Sunday. She was only out for six days. :(

Hong Kong Girl - Original

I ordered the original Hong Kong Girl topcoat on Amazon just recently and it came in the mail today!



I had heard that some brands that were rebottling this were adding things to it. I really just wanted the, pure, original formula with nothing added or tweaked. Thank goodness for Amazon!

Indie list update!

I just did a huge update to my Indie shop list.

I added 35 new shops to the existing list and updated a couple of shop links. My friend CedricD from tpf/the blue did a link check for me and so I moved some of them off the list.

There are now well over 200 shops on the list!

Personal

I don't often like to share personal things, but I feel I need to share a little bit today.

On July 12th, my grandmother would not wake up from sleep. She was hospitalized, and on life support. She is now breathing on her own (no more life support yay!) and awake and has moved out of ICU into a regular room to recover.

This is the reason for my silence here (July 16th blog entry was scheduled before this all happened) and in other communities lately.

Hatched

Press Sample

Pam's Whimsical Ideas Hatched



3 coats topped with HKG glossy and Hard Candy matte top coat

Kitty Glitter and My Friend Carol

PR Sample

Whimsical Ideas by Pam - Kitty Glitter
I wore this over two coats of In a Tiff by Nina Ultra Pro which is a dupe for the Tiffany company jewelry box color.
Pam's creation has two different sizes of silver hex glitter (medium and micro) in a blue-green jelly base.





The second swatch photo is with Hard Candy matte top coat. Mattify all the things!





I really enjoyed wearing this color and the application was easy peasy.

My Friend Carol is another of Pam's pretty creations. 1 coat My Friend Carol over 2 coats of CQ Angel - one topped with HKG and one topped with Hard Candy matte top coat.









Have you tried any of Pam's polishes?

OPI James Bond Holiday collection

OPI has created twelve new shades for this holiday to celebrate James Bond's 50th anniversary.

Color names are: The Spy Who Loved Me, Casino Royale, You Only Live Twice, Die Another Day, Skyfall, Golden Eye, The World Is Not Enough, Moonraker, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Living Daylights, Live And Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies.

I do not own these but I am very excited to see them in person! From the photo I think my favorite is going to be Tomorrow Never Dies.

Are you excited for these? What is your favorite of the bunch?


(I removed the photo because Beauty Judy's photos are so much nicer!)

Pinterest and Brownies

I am a Pinterest junkie, but I am sure I'm not alone in this.

I spotted a brownie photo there and after reading the blogger's article I decided that I needed to try them someday so I bookmarked the blog article.

The moment finally struck me as I was watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy where Izzy was trying to make brownies just like her mom. She later discovered that the secret ingredient was coconut extract.

When I saw that episode I kind of had a eureka moment - what a brilliant idea! And I knew it was time to put that bookmarked recipe to the test! We pretty much followed the recipe except that we exchanged the vanilla extract for coconut and chose pecans for the nuts instead of a mixture.

I must say, these are the best brownies I have ever eaten.
Yes I did say the best, better than mom's and better than grandma's.
They're perfect in every way and I want to make more already and my batch is not even gone yet. They're amazing and definitely my go to brownie recipe from now on.

Here's the recipe!
(from David Lebovitz, Ready for Dessert)

6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 g) unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces (225 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup ( 35 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (about 135 g) walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

*Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Line a 9-inch square baking tin with two pieces of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side. Lightly grease the parchment paper with butter or cooking spray, set aside.

*Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the chocolate and with a spatula, stir over low heat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

*Whisk in the sugar until well combined.

*Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.

*Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift in the flour. Whisk batter vigorously for 1 full minute, until batter loses its graininess and becomes smooth and glossy, and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan.

*Add the chopped nuts and with the wooden spoon, stir to combine.

*Pour batter into prepared baking tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until the centre feels almost set, do not over-bake.



I wonder how they would be with mint extract? Or maybe topped with marshmallow cream while they're still warm?
What other combinations do you think would be yummy?

Nail Mail!

Mail call!


Sexy bottle porn for you!

Polish and Soap!

365 Days of Color is changing her bottle style, so to sell the existing stock she announced a sale.
Use code summersale to take 15% off your purchase at her shop.
The code is good until 11:59pm Pacific time July 6th.


Haus of Gloi is restocking general catalog handmade soaps today at noon pacific as well as a few special Reverie soaps.

Sol - Gingergrass, neroli, litsea cubeba, saffron threads, frankincense, rosemary, and a touch of cinnamon.

Formula 14 - A pure essential oil blend of patchouli, ylang ylang, orange and bright litsea cubeba. Made with carrot juice and coconut cream!

White Amber (GC)- "an all new scent" (I could not find a description for this one, mysterious!)

White Raspberry - Tart raspberries and a clean cream accord.


Insalata Nocturna (GC) - In the night garden, green Bolivian lemon, rubbed tomato leaf, olive leaf absolute, black fig syrup and basil.


Reverie Perfume oils in Sol and White Raspberry will also be available.

A few of the GC soaps weren't able to be stocked due to supply limitations: Peach Mama, Depravity and Absinthe.
Vice soap has a new look as well!

Its a me Mario!

Dollish Polish just posted a photo of the complete Mario themed nail polish collection.




According to her post at facebook, the collection will be available in roughly 2 weeks. She will make an announcement when she has an exact date for us.

I'm so excited! What is your favorite? Do you want them all?

Darling Diva Home of the Brave

I searched high and low for the perfect polish for the Fourth of July and could not find exactly what I was looking for, anywhere. I could buy the materials to make it myself, but its risky and costly when ordering from different suppliers.

It crossed my mind to ask a polish maker for a custom and so I contacted Darling Diva Polish mid-June to see if she would be able to make a custom polish for me and have it in my hands for the Fourth of July holiday.
I had something very specific in mind, red and white bars mixed with white stars in a clear base. I planned on putting it over a navy blue creme polish so it would symbolize the American Flag.

As we spoke, we shared stories of our family members in the military and how they have touched our lives. We laughed and we cried and in the end, she said she would be happy to make my polish, however; she was already working on a very special patriotic polish and wanted to show me her creation. She also told me that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this polish are being given to the Disabled American Veterans.

At that point, I knew I had contacted the right gal and that I absolutely had to have the polish she had created. The photo she sent to me was even more confirmation that it was "the one."

Not only does Home of the Brave have stars and bars, but it contains hearts to signify the love for our military, past and present; and the love they have for our country to have given up their lives to fight for our independence.

Home of the Brave arrived on Saturday and I immediately put it on and plan to wear it all week this week in celebration of all the brave men and women who have made our freedom a reality.

Many thanks to Carrie for creating with her heart, it really shows!







One coat of Home of the Brave over two coats of In the Mood by Pure Ice. Topped with Gelous and Seche Vite - smooth as glass!