It is time to announce the winner of my 100K Giveaway!

After sorting through the entries, there were not many valid entries, I'm sorry to say. Several duplicate entries and a LOT missed the trick question. I am a bit embarrassed to tell you how many valid entries there were once I sorted out all those invalid ones..... but, FOUR of you followed the rules and had valid entries. Each of these four valid entrants also got one bonus entry for living where they do - so I plugged each of those four names into a new spreadsheet to number the entries, applied a bonus entry for each person (meaning that the totally tally of entries was 8) and then went to Random.org to find out who won. With so few entries I contemplated writing the names on paper and drawing a name that way but, I stated in the giveaway I'd be using Random.org to choose a winner so that's what was done.

And the winner is......

TAYLOR!

Congratulations, Taylor! Your prize will be on the way shortly! =)

Thank you to the other valid entrants - Arielle, Claire and Alexandra. I appreciate your participation; I wish that with so few valid entries I could afford to send all of you a big box of goodies just for participating! I can offer, how ever, to make each of you a hand crocheted hat as a bit of a consolation gift. Please e-mail me at thenailpolishaddict(@)gmail(dot)com if you'd like a hat, and I will get back to you asap with some yarn color & pattern choices.

The Too Faced sale for Black Friday is on! Save 50% on Vintage items. Check out the sale items by clicking HERE. No codes necessary for the discount. But when you enter the code BLACK11 you will get free shipping on any order, no minimum purchase required. (Free shipping offer ends 11/28) If you spend over $75 you will get a free full-sized Shadow Insurance as a gift with your order (while supplies last). Happy shopping! 

Now through Sunday you can save 25% at Viva La Nails as their Black Friday sale. Enter code "BLACK" during checkout to get your discount; which applies to all items in their shop. Start shopping now at http://www.vivalanails.co.uk/

Over the past week or so I managed to break nearly every one of my nails. Short. I hate when my nails are short. Normally I'd just shrug it off and just pamper them a bit while I let them grow out again. But Thanksgiving is the day after tomorrow (already!) and then this Sunday I am going downtown for a concert. Then not long after that is my birthday, then Christmas etc. So I want my nails to look decent for all this.

That means.... acrylics to the rescue! (Glue on nails have such pretty designs these days but they just do NOT last for me. Ever.) Not a salon-going kind of woman, this meant buying an acrylic kit to do it myself. Not the first time I've done this, but not something I often do either. I had previously used the Kiss acrylic kit and did not care for it; the acrylic was cheap and yellowed quickly. So I got the only other kit they had at the store, from Nailene. I didn't think to take a picture of the kit. (I never do. lol) I chose the Deluxe Salon Acrylic Kit. (The smaller kit did not include the brush or dappen dish. Which I needed.)

I spent an evening applying some of the clear tips. The application went well enough though I had some issues (purely my own mind you) but I was happy enough with the end results. Then the other day when I wanted to take some swatches of the Dr.s Remedy Jolly & Joy collection and change the color I'd selected to use, I really had some problems. I used non-acetone nail polish remover. And he acrylic gummed up and softened as if I'd been using acetone. Two tips snapped and broke off. It was not pretty. I emailed Nailene about it and within an hour I got a reply from customer service saying that the kit may have been defective and that they will be sending me a new one. So thanks to Nailene for awesome customer service! =)

Now, for the 4-6 weeks I have to wait till the new kit arrives.... I still need my nails to look pretty for all these upcoming events and holidays. So I did another application last night. This time I did even better with my application; I hardly had to do any buffing to smooth out the acrylic when I was done. Yay for finally getting the hang of this! =D  I opted for some white tips instead of clear, knowing that I can't change my polish till I'm ready to take these tips off, the manicure I am most willing to live with for a longer period of time is a classic french. (And I can always "cheat" and add some embellishments here and there as I get bored with it.) I'm not too crazy about how far down the white is on these tips but I blame that in part to how stubby my natural nails are at the moment. But overall I'm pretty pleased with them. =)

The picture on top is the bare acrylic after buffing it smooth, and the bottom is after applying two coats of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails polish in Set In Stone. (This didn't really make the tips THAT dulled, they're still quite white in person.)

It is going to be quite tricky for me to leave this manicure alone for so long; I'll have to be very selective in any embellishments I may decide to add to make sure they're things I am willing to live with for a couple weeks. Sometimes being fickle is a good thing, but other times it's not!

I've managed to get a couple more items for the giveaway (you can enter HERE) but I am not sharing what they are. It will be a surprise for whoever wins. ;-) There is still time to enter: 2287 unique page views away from hitting the 100,000 mark. Remember once the blog hits that number of views entries will be closed and a winner will be selected! 

I wanted to share this great deal with you guys for Dr.'s Remedy polishes.

I am still at my sister's house for a couple more days. My dad was kind enough to get my mail for me so that I could swatch these colors, but then of course I remembered I can't transfer pictures from my camera to my sister's computer. So, I took pictures with my cell camera for now. Once I am home (Monday evening/Tuesday) I will edit this post to add better pictures. For now though I had to get something up. =)

(UPDATED 11-21-11 to add better pictures! All new pictures shown are 2 coats & taken indoors; first photo is no flash (they are kind of dark, it was very cloudy and I had little light) and the other two pictures are with flash.)

This is a really beautiful collection, and the first thing I want to tell you is that you can get Essential Emerald, Resolution Red Glitter and Serene Silver Glitter for $14 a bottle (regular price is $17) by using the code HOLIDAY during checkout. If you spend $50 or more you will also get free shipping on your order with the same code. Check out the image below for full details on this offer.

Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is available for $17 online atwww.remedynails.com.

Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypoallergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold exclusively at www.remedynails.com or by calling 877-323-NAIL.  

Also check out Dr.'s Remedy on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Remedynails

First a little note: I am away from home right now. My sister had to have surgery a couple days ago so I am staying with her helping her out with things around the house and to take care of my 16 month old niece while she is recovering. I was originally supposed to stay a week but turns out I will be here two weeks. I brought my laptop but it won't connect to their wifi for some reason, so I've just been checking my email on my phone lately. I don't get much alone time with nothing to do to hop on my sister's computer to blog or anything. At the moment the munchkin SHOULD be napping but she's refusing to sleep so she's in her crib being kind of good for right now so I am typing as fast as I can to get back to her. So, I apologize for any ridiculous typos and I will HOPEFULLY be back home and blogging as usual by the 23rd or so.

Anyway. When checking my email on my phone the other night I saw an email from Dr.'s Remedy with their 2011 holiday collection, Jolly & joy. Check out these pretty colors! 

Dr.'s REMEDY is offering the following special price on selected holiday shades. Purchase ESSENTIAL Emerald, RESOLUTION Red Glitter AND SERENE Silver Glitter for only $14 each while supplies last.  Also, free shipping on orders of $50 or more with code: HOLIDAY thru 11/18/11.

Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is available for $17 online atwww.remedynails.com.

Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypoallergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold exclusively at www.remedynails.com or by calling 877-323-NAIL.

A long time ago I had decided I would not be holding any more contests or giveaways. However, recently when I was looking over the stats for the blog I noticed I'm very close to hitting a milestone. This blog is nearing having had 100,000 unique page views over the course of it's life. Now, I know in the world of blogging and the internet, that's not really a large number. But to ME, that's a HUGE number and quite an accomplishment! So to celebrate I am hosting a giveaway!

So what prizes will the winner be receiving? Check out the pictures below to see!

1 Wet & Wild eye liner (Black)
2 blushes & 14 eye shadows (do not know the brand/no color names; these are loose pans of color; there is no palette or any sort of storage for them)
2 Color Mates palettes (each contains 2 blushes, 2 lip colors, 6 eye shadows and a dual ended applicator)
3 Freeman facial care pouches (1 application each: Passion Peel Off Mask, Pink Grapefruit Exfoliating Scrub and Goji Berry Hydration Mask)
3 bottles of nail polish (Revlon Glimmer Gloss "Pina Coloda Pop", Bon Bons & Sally Girl no-name colors (a fuchsia/blue bar glitter & a peachy pink-gold color)
1 bottle Bath & Body Works PocketBac "Vanilla Bean Noel" with 1 purple/silver swirl silicone holder
1 bottle Bath & Body Works Mango Mandarin lotion (2 oz)
4 sheets assorted nail stickers
1 pouch silver/holo star sprinkles from Viva La Nails
1 Bon Bons nail clipper (blue)
3 pairs of earrings (for pierced ears only)

Everything is new and unused except the Mango Mandarin lotion which my aunt sent me and I opened it to test it out and didn't care for the fragrance, and I used a few of the stars from the Viva La Nails pack but I already have so many star shaped sprinkles I will never use these ones. I might add a couple more things between now and when the winner is selected, but please do not expect more than what is pictured; I can't promise to be able to add anything else for certain.



Additional item not pictured:  I will hand crochet a hat for the winner; winner will be shown a selection of patterns and yarn colors to choose from. If you are the winner and do not want a hat, when responding to the notification email that you've won please just say that you don't want a hat. =)

RULES and all that other good stuff

1. You must answer every question on the entry form below. They are not all marked as "required" on the form however every question must be answered for your entry to be valid. If you don't follow the rules your entry doesn't count.

2. The email address you enter MUST be your valid email address. Winner will be notified via this email address, so if you give a fake email address you won't be able to claim the prize and someone else will be selected instead.

3. Winner will have 48 hours to respond with their shipping information (and hat design/color selections if you want it) or another winner will be chosen.

4. Winner will be selected randomly from valid entries via random.org only after my stats page shows I have reached/passed 100,000 unique page views. (At the time of writing this post the count is 93,091)

5. There is a simple math problem as one of the required questions. You don't have to get it right for your entry to be valid but I'll know if you tried to get it or not and I promise it's NOT difficult.

6. You do NOT need to be a subscriber/follower to enter this contest! I don't do the whole "you have to follow to enter" thing - the way I see it if you wanted to subscribe you'd have done it already, right? Plus this is a "unique visitors" celebration giveaway and not all visitors are subscribers.

7. There is a trick question you must answer for your entry to be valid. This is to make sure you have read the rules. If you don't follow the rules your entry will not count. select wolves. Again, if you don't get the final question on the entry form right, you will not be entered because you didn't read the rules.

8. Based on my stats information most of my readers are from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. What does this mean? I will accept entries worldwide. You'll get one extra entry if you are located in one of the previously mentioned locales, since that is where I get most of my traffic from. =)

And finally.... ONE entry per person, please. If I find you've entered more than once, all your entries will be disqualified.



Good luck!

ENTRIES HAVE BEEN CLOSED! A winner will be selected and notified shortly! (date of this edit - November 27, 2011)

This is a lovely navy blue creme. The formula was ever so slightly thin, but despite that it's still a one coater. I can't tell you how much I love colors that are wonderful with just one coat. Blues can be a bit iffy with my skin tone but I really like this one a lot. I like that it's deep and dark, but it doesn't look black like other navy/dark blue polishes I have had in the past.

This is my favorite of the three. Deep, dark read, not quite dark enough to mistake it for black. Very vampy.  This one was a little streaky though; this is two coats and there were still some mild streaks visible but not so much to be worried about them but uber-perfectionists would probably want to add a third coat. It's described as having a matte finish but it was still pretty glossy. Nothing a little matte top coat can't fix though.





You can also follow Dr.'s Remedy on Twitter @remedynails  and don't forget to "like" their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Remedynails


These nail polishes were sent to me for review.