Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Belated Blogiversary Giveaway

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Winners posted here. Thanks so much for spreading the word and for coming back to read even when I'm not giving away anything but words and pictures.

Near the end of April 2010, I turned this dormant space into my nail blog. I intended to celebrate my 4th Blogiversary with a giveaway, but those plans got pushed aside when my job sent me to Minsk, then I was so busy catching up after I got back that the contest slipped off my list. The farther it got past April 26th, the more silly it seemed to mark the occasion, yet I did have the prizes and I did want to thank you all for reading over these past three years, so I'm having my 4th Blogiversary Giveaway now, nearly two months late. Nail polish doesn't expire, so why not?

There are 12 prizes, one to represent each month in this blogging year. All polishes are new from the store/online shop, though some have been waiting for their moment for a while—I think I have prizes from each year I've been writing Frazzle and Aniploish.

Prize #1: Studio M Summery Colors

One of the things I like about living in Michigan is Meijer stores. Not only do they often have Sally Hansen and other displays earlier than other places, they have their own Studio M line of polishes (formerly known as Massini). Sure, the colors are almost all dupes for Color Club shades (the brands come from the same parent company), but that doesn't lessen my liking for the bottle shape and the seasonal displays of pretty colors. I assembled this group of seven from various displays that have popped up over the past couple years: Green with Envy, Singin' the Blues, Age of Aquarius, Feeling Fruity, Perfectly Pink, Orange Sunset, Jackie Oh.



Prize #2: LA Girl Ombre Kit

I am a sucker for both minis and kits, and love ombre manicures though I don't do them so there was no way I was not going to end buying at least one of the LA Girl ombre sets. This one has five mini polishes from yellow to coral-y pink plus a mini topcoat.



Prize #3: Blue Cross Mood Struck

These heat sensitive color changing polishes first showed up at Meijer for Summer 2010, and I swatched all twelve colors available. There are thirteen colors in this prize, though, because when Mood Struck reappeared for Summer 2011 at Rite Aid, there was a color I hadn't seen before, a deep blue shimmer, so that joined the original crew for this giveaway. I've heard that thermal polishes stop working over time, but a few weeks back I tested a Mood Struck from this vintage and it still changed colors.



Prize #4: OPI Serena Glam Slam Set

I liked this duo of Grape Set Match and Servin' Up Sparkle so much that I bought several—how could I not, since it combines purple and glitter, two of my favorite things. One set is in my stash, one was a prize in my 2nd Blogiversary giveaway in 2012, and this one is a prize this year.



Prize #5: Patriotic Quartet

Here's a group of four polishes I think would make a great patriotic manicure for anyone in a country with a red, white, and blue flag (though you'd need to add your favorite white): Revlon Top Speed Royal, Sation Holiday Spirit, Butter London Come to Bed Red, and Barry M Jewel Britannia.



Prize #6: Color Club Take Wing Collection

These six glass fleck shimmers were released for Summer 2012 but will be perfect for this summer, too. Left to right: Sky High, Metamorphosis, Fly With Me, Daisy Does It, Sparkle and Soar, Wing Fling.



Prize #7: Wet 'n' Wild Mermaid's Cove Collection

This collection is from Summer 2011. I still remember being excited to see this display in a Meijer on my way to work and scooping up one of every color, then stopping a few days later to scoop up another set. I don't drive by that Meijer anymore, though maybe I should make a detour every now and then for old time's sake. Colors are: Magic Trident, Waves of Enchantment, Atlantis, Sea of Dreams, Sea Witch, Stream of Wonder, Diving for Pearls, Ocean Grotto.



Prize #8: Cult Nails Trio

I really should make an effort to do more Cult Nails swatches, as I like the brand very much. This prize consist of three colors I thought coordinated nicely: Hypnotize Me and Awakening from the Fall 2011 collection and Doppelganger from Fall 2012.



Prize #9: Oopsie Daisies and Friends

Oopsie Daisies is another brand I need to share more swatches from; it's one of my favorite indies. This group has Oopsie Daisies Electric Lemonade and two colors I thought coordinated nicely with it: Revlon Top Speed Emerald and Orly Preamp.



Prize #10: Julie G Frosted Gum Drops

With as much texture as I post, you knew there had to be some in the giveaway. This is the first Julie G Frosted Gumdrops collection, which came out in 2013: Crushed Candy, Blueberry Fizz, Rock Candy, Hot Cinnamon, Sugar Rush, Tangerine Dream.



Prize #11: Sinful Colors Crystal Crushes

Yep, more texture. Sinful has recently re-released three of the colors that were in the original Crystal Crushes collection (they're part of a big display at Walgreens that I'll have in my next display post), but I have the five that aren't back: Got a Blush on You, Purple Gleam, Emerald Envy, Treasure Chest, Blue Persuasion.



Prize #12: Butter London Minis

A dozen Butter London mini sized polishes in a gift box. These are not the twelve colors that were sold in this box, but when I realized I had enough minis in my prize box to fill it, I had to do it. Shades are: Teddy Girl, Trout Pout, Cake-hole, Jaffa, Yummy Mummy, All Hail the Queen, Dodgy Barnett, West End Wonderland, Pillar Box Red, Blagger, Slapper, Henley Regatta.



How to enter: Fill out the form below. You'll indicate your first, second, and third prize choices. If there are only one or two prizes you want, you can enter the same prize for multiple choices. When I put the entries into the virtual hat, first choice will be 5 chances, second will be 3 chances, and third will be 2 chances, for a total of 10 chances per entrant. If you follow me publically with Google Friend Connect or Facebook or Google+ or Instagram and fill in those box(es) on the form, that's worth one more chance for each of your choices. If you publically link to this contest from your blog, Twitter account, Google+ page, Facebook page, or other social media site and fill in that box, that's also worth one more chance for each of your choices. New this time is an Instagram tag; post the group photo below on Instagram with the tag #aniploish0614 for one more chance at each of your choices; if you follow me on Instagram, I'll be posting the photo in my feed shortly after this post goes live. (Feel free to copy and use the group photo below if you do a blog post, too.) I've set up the form so you should be able to come back and edit it later, so if you want to enter now and get your choices in and then come back and add links, that should work. International entries are welcome. Contest closes at midnight in the Eastern U.S. time zone on June 20, 2014.