One girl. 24 hours. Three random acts of beauty.

10:17 a.m. — While packing, I stumble upon an ancient artifact buried deep in the bedroom closet: my pink and green Caboodle makeup organizer, ooh!

Back in the early ’90s, Caboodles were a staple of teenage makeup life. This one housed all of my first makeup treasures (like Clinique Raspberry Glace lipstick… so old school!) and kept them safe and secure.

Over time, its role changed from Protector of Makeup to Defender of Costume Jewelry and Random Keepsakes.

I haven’t opened it in ages… My heart quickens! I dust off the top and brace myself before opening the lid.

Inside: a time capsule of my teenage years.

First, evidence that my evolution into a CCL (crazy cat lady) began at an early age.

Then, my vision wavers when I see this dress clip thing-a-ma-bobber, and it’s suddenly 1993 again. I’m at school, and girls are wearing them clipped to the backs of loose, floral-print dresses all around me.

I return to the present and find a small manila envelope… I’m intrigued. What’s inside?

EWW! It’s my old braces!

Sifting through my Caboodle’s long-forgotten bits and bobs, I smile, lost among memories. It’s the first time in many days I’ve felt present and “in the moment.” No stressing over work, packing, bills that have to be paid — nothing.

2:30 p.m. — I’m petting Tabs with my foot. I glance at my toes and note how massively ‘TOW UP my pedicure looks.

It’s down to polish remnants, and it’s not a pretty sight.

I don’t have much time to spare (must. continue. packing.), so I reach for a bottle of Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish ($3), aka drugstore nail polish savior of time-strapped women everywhere.

It delivers rich, even color and dries in — yup, you guessed it — about 60 seconds flat. With 26 color to choose from, there’s a shade for many moods and occasions.

Finally, my feet are cute once more; order has been restored.

11:49 p.m. I’m tucked beneath the covers in bed and starting to drift to sleep. El Hub is quietly explaining how The Final Four college basketball playoffs work…

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What’s up, Jade-a-kisses?

Ever since I saw pictures of the Chanel runway models rocking jade green nails earlier this year, I’ve been dying, DYING to get my hands on the Chanel Jade Collection polishes.

This month the two limited edition shades, Jade and Jade Rose ($25 each), finally hit Chanel Makeup Studio and boutiques shelves. I ordered mine online last week from Chanel.com, and both pastel cuties finally arrived on my doorstep last Friday.

Chanel Jade background

Beauty junkies first got a glimpse of the colors in Paris last March during the Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2009-2010 show, when Monsieur Karl sent a collection of black clothes punctuated with pale pink and jade green accents down the runway.

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Would you believe my glittery Illamasqua Harsh mani lasted all but one day?

It wasn’t the polish’s fault. Coco and Co. were to blame! Late yesterday afternoon, the new Chanel Jade nail polishes I’ve been dying to try arrived in the mail (swatches coming soon!).

Glittery nail polishes can be notoriously difficult to remove — so difficult, in fact, that some women refuse to wear them at all. Those little bits of glitter will just grip nails with a fierceness and refuse to let go!

When I sat down to remove my polish a few minutes ago, I remembered that a few of you, including reader Sarah, asked about it too.

Hi, Sarah. Here’s a way to remove glittery nail polishes that works pretty well for me:

What you’ll need

• A nail polish remover that contains mild acetone (it should say so right on the bottle), like Zoya 3-in-1 Remove+ Polish Remover ($10)
• Cotton balls or pads
• A nail moisturizing lotion like Nailtiques Nail Moisturizer ($15)

Glitter polish removal, step-by-step

• Start by thoroughly soaking a cotton ball or pad with the nail polish remover.
• Place the soaked pad on the nail, making sure you cover it from cuticle to tip, and gently press down.

Acetone removers and glitter polish: There are many different varieties of nail polish remover, but ones containing acetone (a colorless, flammable solvent also found in many household cleaners and chemicals like paint thinner) seem to work faster than the non-acetone polishes I’ve tried, at least when it comes to removing glittery polish. Acetone is not a green chemical, however, and can be rather harsh on nails (making them dry/brittle), so I try to limit my use of it to polishes with glitter.

One brand I like is Zoya’s Remove +. It works well without over-drying my nails.

• Hold the moistened pad in place for 30 seconds to give the remover time to work its mojo.

TIP: When I don’t have a clock nearby, I hum the Happy Birthday song to myself three times. That takes me about 30 seconds.

• Gently slide the moistened cotton ball/pad from the cuticle to the tip of each nail. Most of the glitter should rub away, but remove whatever’s left with the same pad.
• Repeat the same process for each of your other nails.
• When you’re finished, wash your hands and nails well to remove the acetone and any stray bits of glitter that were left behind.

A remover just for glitter polishes? While surfing the web I spied a remover specifically designed for glitter called Cutex Glitter Girls Acetone Nail Polish Remover ($3). Have you given it a try? If you think it’s any good, please let me know.

• You can help to keep your nails healthy after using acetone on them by using a nail polish moisturizer like Nailtiques Nail Moisturizer. It has a thick, rich formula and a light vanilla scent.

Sin Nombre: Beautiful cinematography, intense story

How was your night?

I rented Sin Nombre, a subtitled film about a teenage Central American gang member who tries to escape the gang by heading north to the US. He joins up with a Honduran family also heading north but for different reasons.

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(If you’re reading this in the feed, there’s a video embedded in this post.)

Happy Friday, Sparkle Motions!

Ya know, sometimes it’s the little things that matter most…

This week was a rough one for me (lots of stress eating, yikes!), and I needed a way to unwind. I decided to reward myself with an at-home mani using one of fall’s hottest nail polish colors, gray.

I thought about busting out one my faves from Barielle, Essie or Zoya but felt like a little more bling.

I knew I wanted something in the gray/silver family, and I found my match in Illamasqua’s Nail Varnish in Harsh ($14).

One of the 22 nail colors in Illamasqua’s permanent polish line, it shines on its own or layered on top of other polishes. Although, technically, it isn’t a fall release, I think it fits really well both with the season and my current mood.

Friday night?

I don’t have a lot going on tonight other than maybe a movie and the start of my packing.

What are you up to? Tell me about your makeup today.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What’s up, chicas?

How’s your Thursday been? My morning was kinda busy, but everything got better in the afternoon — basically after I spendt some quality time with the 12 polishes from Barielle’s All Lacquered Up fall nail polish collection ($8 a bottle).

Swatching and losing my mind to ’90s dance music (Tabs is gonna scratch me something serious if I play Set U Free by Planet Soul *one more time*), I got to thinking about all the interesting nail colors popping up this fall.

There have been lots of camouflage greens, concrete grays and darker-than-dark blues, yah?

For lacquer lovers who crave harder-edged, bad gal colors, this fall’s batch of punk rock girl- worthy shades just might be one for the history books.

My inner tough girl’s fallen hard for these babies, but what do you think?

How do you feel about fall's edgy nail polish colors?

• Love them, gimme more!
• Pass. I prefer classic shades, like pink, red, peach or nude.
• I'll tell you in the comments.

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The All Lacquered Up collection is heavy in the edgy shade department, and my favorite is Falling Star, a medium blue with copper glitter. It’s sassy and unusual, like the polish equivalent of Cyndi Lauper.

Are you feeling any of these colors?

Lava Rock

Blackened Bleu

Slate of Affairs

U-Concrete-Me

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