Stopnail - Hot Pink Glitter

Stopnail - Hot Pink Glitter

OoOoh aahh! I'd been yearning for a hot pink glitter nail polish and am having a hard time finding one so I decided to make my own! It was super easy to do and the effect was stunning! First I applied my base polish, City Color's Bright Pink and then while still wet, poured the glitter over the polish. I used Stopnail's hot pink glitter (unnamed) that I purchased in Chicago. At this point you can shake off excess glitter and apply your top coat and you're good to go! Gorgeous!

 

Sally Hansen - Whisper

Sally Hansen - Whisper

   What a beautiful shade for the Spring! I saw the Smooth & Perfect collection around and debated on whether or not I wanted to give them a try. All the colors are pastel/neutral and I usually go for the brights/glitters. Anyway, Whisper (the gorgeous lilac color shown above) called out to me and I had to give it a try. I also chose Whisper because it reminded me of Cover Girl's Grape Ice, which was one of my favorite polishes. 

   Upon applying the first coat, I wasn't too impressed, it went on thin and sheer and my nails were rather tore up at the time due to a battle with trying to take off glitter polish, and you could really tell, even with the polish on. However, two more coats later and I ended up with literally smooth and perfect nails and with the pretty color shown in the bottle. Needless to say I was really impressed with the end result. The color payoff and formula are both great! The polish was pretty chip resistant, too, even after an all day marathon of cooking and using my hands. It makes me wonder what the other colors in the Smooth and Perfect collection are like..

City Color - Bright Pink

City Color - Bright Pink

I bought this kind of on a whim, mostly because I'd never seen this brand before and because my husband hates spending time in the cosmetics aisle, so it was kind of a hasty purchase. However, the color is a really pretty bright pink (as the name says) erring more on the fuchsia side of the pink spectrum. I was really looking for more of a jelly type polish, and while with one coat this is thin, it wasn't quite what I was looking for. This is three coats, otherwise it's quite sheer. 

Love & Beauty - Midnight

Love & Beauty - Midnight

Super sparkly polish by Forever 21's makeup line, Love & Beauty. This color is called Midnight and certainly does resemble the midnight sky! It is a deep dark blue with micro holographic glitter. This is with three coats on, since the initial coat was kind of sparse. I was afraid with this color that the base might drown out the glitter, but I'm happy to say such is not the case! It looks super dark almost black on and reminded me a bit of OPI's My Private Jet.. Consider it MPJ's sparkly dark blue cousin!

Pure Ice - Wild Thing

Pure Ice - Wild Thing

 

I couldn't pass up this color while in the cosmetics aisle. Wild Thing is a lime green cream polish with a glossy smooth finish. I am really impressed with the staying power and shine of this polish, especially for the price! 

Maybelline - Peachy Petal

Maybelline - Peachy Petal

From Maybelline's limited edition spring 2012 nail polish collection.. Swatched above is Peachy Petal, one of the collection's 6 springy shades. I've been in a pastel mood (which is quite the stray from my usual obsession with glitter polishes) and Peachy Petal really struck a chord with me. I feel like it appeared a lot lighter/softer colored in the bottle as opposed to on my nails where it seemed more like a coral than an orange sherbet color, which I suppose is what I was going after. The staying power on this polish is great! I've always liked Maybelline's polishes and this one is no exception! 

Strawberry Banana Pie Recipe

Strawberry Banana Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 (9''/standard) Shortbread pie crust
• 1 (3.4 oz.) package of instant vanilla pudding
• 2 cups cold milk
• 2 bananas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 (21 oz) can strawberry pie filling
• Whipped cream

Directions:

Prepare the pudding filling by pouring 2 cups cold milk into bowl. Add pudding mix and whisk (by hand or with electric mixer on low speed) until blended and pudding is thick. 

Now, slice up your bananas (approx 1/8 in thick) and place in small bowl. Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to bananas to avoid browning. Line the bottom of your pie crust with banana slices. Overlapping is ok.

Pour pudding mixture over banana layer spreading evenly.

Top pudding layer with strawberry filling. Let the pie sit in the refrigerator for 3 hours, or overnight. Serve chilled and top with whipped cream! 

While I usually prefer cream pie to fruit pie, I decided to try out a fruity and creamy pie - hence the Strawberry Banana Cream Pie (similar to Polly's Banberry Pie but better because it's made with lots of love.) The recipe was super simple to make and was pretty much devoured within minutes!