Good morning! I am exhausted! Second day back to school, soccer game last night and recovering from a caffeine overdose yesterday. So yeah, all that. I'm sure I will need a nap today....I hope Naomi has the same idea and wants to nap with me. But you know a place where no sleep happens? Las Vegas. I know this because when I was there for CosmoProf last month I functioned on 12 hours of sleep for 3 days. Yup I was like a zombie during the second day of the convention, you can ask Michelle from Ehmkay Nails. Ugh. Now that was a little something I
could tell you about Vegas. But there are lots of things that stay Vegas secrets. Pam from Girly Bits has put together a new collection of What Really Happened In Vegas polishes to share with you! And guess what, you do get to hear some of the stories...minus names. Those of us who were there know it all baby!
What Really Happened In Vegas collection AND What Happens In Vegas...Ends Up On Snapchat will be available for preorder on Saturday 8/26 3:00pm EDT to Monday 8/31 3:00pm EDT. Stardust will be available for purchase on 8/26 as well. They are all $13 CAD, but you can pick up the whole What Really Happened In Vegas collection at a $5 CAD discount for a limited time. So let's jump in and I'll tell you the stories behind these polishes!
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Up first I have Downtown Funk. This is a beautiful "rosey pink crelly, filled with gorgeous gold shimmer, holographic microglitter and gold microglitter." Against my skin tone Downtown Funk has a definite "mauve" tone. It's a really fantastic polish with am awesome formula. Application was like butter...creamy and smooth. I used 2 coats of Downtown Funk and 1 layer of topcoat to finish. Here's Pam's story behind Downtown Funk...
The second of two off site Indie related events in Vegas brought Indies, Bloggers, and Stockists together to Ooohh and Ahhh over all the gorgeous products displayed beautifully (and creatively!) by various brands. It was held at a slightly off-strip boutique hotel which was beautiful and comfortable, and a handful of brands called it home for the week as well. While I am sure the rooms were *ahem* ‘clean’ some of them did possess a certain questionable aroma, which definitely makes you wonder what kind of debauchery had taken place previously.
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Up All Night To Get Lucky is one of my favorites of the 5 piece collection. Of course it is! I adore coral and this "melon coral crelly, packed with gold shimmer, flakes and holographic microglitter" is #winning! The gold flakes are what really make me weak in the knees, they pair so perfectly with this color and holo finish. Again, perfectly creamy and opaque. No issues at all with the formula or application to mention. I used 2 coats of
Up All Night To Get Lucky and a layer of topcoat. story time...
After lounging by the pool at the hotel of Downtown Funk till the wee hours of the morning we needed to get some food in our bellies. Directly across the street from the hotel was an all-night eatery called Mr. Lucky’s, so a few of us (including my trooper of a husband) headed over there for late night nibbles and pancakes. At 4:30 am we decided we had better head back to our rooms since we still had a long day ahead of us.
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It Was The Fireball, hello swooning over here. I am a total sucker for red holo and It Was The Fireball is faboosh! It's simply described as a "true red linear holo". It doesn't need any more introduction than that! Just like the last 2, the formula and application were both perfect. I used 2 coats of It Was The Fireball for full coverage and no topcoat.
Preparing for, attending and/or displaying at two events that are across the country for most, where we wanted everything to be perfect, can certainly create a lot of stress. It’s difficult to plan an event, or a table scape for showcasing your products in a space you have never seen. You plan for months. You mock-up your display, and change your mind a million times. You double and triple and quadruple check the list of supplies you need and try and anticipate hiccups. You pack the majority of the product and display items and ship them to the hotel ahead of time, and pray they arrive on time and in one piece. You hope you didn’t leave too much to have to take with you on the plane, and you REALLY hope the TSA doesn’t blink at 50 pounds of nail polish in your suitcase. You scramble around once in Vegas to try and pick up any last minute needs, and then mock up your display in your hotel room ONE more time, just in case. Of course there were items and products that were forgotten at home, or left at your hotel, but you pull yourself together and proudly display your products and are in awe at the beauty of all the other displays and products there. The gifting suite is seriously buzzing with ooohs and Ahhhs, and hugs and laughter, and LOTS of selfies. The Indie events are by far my favourite part of the entire weekend, even with all the stress. Once the evening winds down everyone relaxes a bit and we kick off our shoes and just chill with each other enjoying the space, the food, the drinks, the new friends, the reunions with old friends, and the success of the evening. Did I mention that we enjoy the drinks? Someone, who shall remain un-named, happened to have a glittery holo flask of Fireball in her purse. And someone else who shall also remain un-named happened to taste it. Several times. The aforementioned person kept us quite entertained, and we will just blame it on the Fireball.
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The Shaft wowed me so much more than I was expecting! I am a brown polish lover but daaaaaaaang, The Shaft is SO FINE. The Shaft is a "bronzy brown holo with a metallic finish, scented with beautiful bronze flakes." It's so warm and cozy and makes me want to bundle up in a soft sweater and fuzzy slippers! The bronze flakes are stunning! And the holo finish is gorgeous. Formula and application were both aces. I used 2 coats of The Shaft an 1 layer of topcoat.
If you have ever stayed at the Luxor in the pyramid, you have most likely ridden the elevator. That is one of the oddest feeling elevators I have ever been on. It goes up and down on the diagonal, since it’s in an actual pyramid shaped building. Elevators can feel weird in the belly to begin with, but add a sideways motion to it and it really sends you for a trip. Several of my friends happened to be in the elevator with a lovely elderly couple, and they had to use everything they had to contain themselves when they overheard the man say to his wife “Can you feel it Margaret? Can you feel it going sideways? The shaft is going sideways.”
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And last to share is Blue Ribbon Cankles. This is a "vibrant blue jelly, filled with super sparkly holographic micro glitter." The sparkle is pretty intense too! I just love holo microglitter in a darker base, so much twinkle! Formula and application were both great! I only needed 2 coats of Blue Ribbon Cankles for full coverage. Blue Ribbon Cankles is a little topcoat hungry though. I used 2 layers of topcoat and wore this polish overnight. I noticed the topcoat had sunk in and I needed another layer the next day to smooth things over. I'd suggest a very heavy or gel topcoat to keep that smooth to the touch feel. And here's the last Vegas story of you...
Travelling + heat + less than comfy shoes + being over tired + a drink or two can certainly do a job on the feet as far as water retention goes. Let me tell you, we had some prize winning cankles happening. I am pretty sure there was not one of us who had anything less than an honourable mention. Once those shoes came off, they were NOT going back on willingly.
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