I'd Like to Thank...

As often happens, I've fallen behind in acknowledging up awards that people have very kindly tagged me with. It's not because I don't appreciate them; I'm just very good at making myself a list of entries to do and then getting distracted. Like yesterday's entry about the Revlon minis—that was just going to be a comparison of the little blue and big blue bottles. Ah well, following tangents keeps it fun (for me, anyway).

Now I am determined to catch up, so without further blather, I'd like to thank Haute Lacquer for the Stylish Blogger Award, Laura's Lacquers for the Kreativ Blogger Award, and Sara Loves Pretty Little Things for the Top 10 Award. Since I've passed on the Stylish and Kreativ ones before, I'm just going to do the Top 10 one now.



The Top 10 award rules:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.

My top ten cosmetics:

1. Orly Nail Defense. I've been using this on and off for years and am finally down to my last bottle of the old formula from my stockpile. I hope the new one works as well for me.

2. Salon Sciences Instant Artificials. I haven't had any bad breaks in my nails since I started using this, and it works as a ridge filler, too, without adding the milky look my old one did.

3. Sally Hansen Insta Dri Anti Chip Top Coat. I rarely ever use any other top coat, I like this one so well.

4. Physicians Formula Concealer Twins in Yellow/Light. Very convenient to have both shades in one package.

5. Maybelline Pure Stay Powder Foundation. This is great for travel, as it doesn't have to go in the dangerous liquids bag for the TSA (my bag is always stuffed full with other things).

6. Physicians Formula Powder Palette in Green. I use this to tone down my ruddiness. I do wish the compact had a stronger hinge, as it doesn't last as long as the powder does for me (both the one I keep at home and the one in my gym bag are broken right now).

7. Coty Airspun powder. I've tried other loose powders but keep coming back to this one.

8. L'Oreal Pencil Perfect Eyeliner. I've read reviews where people say this smears on them, but I've never had that problem. I like it because it doesn't drag and doesn't require me to haul a pencil sharpener around with me in my gym and travel bags.

9. Benefit cake eyeliner. When I'm home, I use this eyeliner. I have it in three colors (black, charcoal, and brown) and am not sure what I'm going to do when I run out, as they don't make it anymore.

10. Lorac Take a Brow in Brunette. Best brow product I've ever used; it's got two shades of color plus wax, which is everything I need and nothing I don't.

I'm sad I don't have a mascara on this list but I've yet to find the perfect one for me. I want dark brown, good curl, no clumping or smudging, and a brush and wand that feel comfortable to use. Maybe that's asking too much.

To decide which blogs to tag with the Top 10 award, I looked at my list of ones I'm following and picked some I think should get more attention. (I know some of them have gotten this award before, and some already have hundreds of followers, but I can't resist tagging them because I want to do my part to make sure more people know about these blogs I enjoy.)

I hereby tag these blogs:

Cel's deconails is always showing me polishes and nail art I don't see other places on the web. One feature of hers I really enjoy is the monthly nail art calendar.

Girl Germs keeps things to the point with a very clean-looking layout and just enough photos to illustrate her entries so I know what she's writing about.

Life and Polish recently shared some "fails", which is always a good way to draw me in, as seeing what didn't work is often more interesting and informative than hearing what went well.

loodie loodie loodie is a scientist, which comes out in her blog in very well researched and documented entries about things like nail hardeners interspersed with beautiful swatch photos. Pretty pictures and a chance to learn something? Yes, please.

Nail crazy is from Croatia (though she writes in English, too) and swatches so many great brands available there. She's having a contest right now, so be sure to check that out.

I just recently discovered Naktsmeita, and she completey won me over with a comparison post that not only had bottle pictures and side-by-side swatches but hand drawn artwork.

Opinionated Little Finger does lots of swatches, and I especially like her layering experiments. (I also adore her cute bunny, Ghitzou, who shows up every now and then.)

Squared Nails is a swatching machine—well, I'm 99.99% sure she's a person and not a robot, but she sure manages to share a lot of different polishes.

The Phalanges Files does a great job with her photos, showing detail shots and different lighting. I regularly add to my wish list after seeing her swatches.

Une Ruxi à Paris has lovely squared tip nails that I can only admire and not copy (my own tips take being squared off as an invitation to break immediately). Every now and then a cute kitty makes a guest appearance, which is a very nice bonus.