Finally, a makeup case I can love instead of just make do with!

For me, the dollar store is a kind of paradise lite - not as awesome as Hawaii, or a good Thai restaurant, or even the beauty supply store, but still frequently a source of treasures. I think this kind of love affair with cheap and tacky is what Gretchen Wilson was talking about when she sang "You might think I'm trashy, a little too hardcore, but in my neck of the woods, I'm just the girl next door." If this doesn't convince you of my pedigree, ask me about my family's lawn ornaments made out of shotgun shells, or my great-grandfather marrying his cousin. ANYWAY...

It fits my eye and face makeup well, and I could probably cram all my lipcolor and a few nail essentials in there as well. I could also dump the makeup out and use it as a travel toiletry case, although I'd worry about runs in the "satin." Not bad for US$8 at Dollar General. We recently got a huge new one that has a full range of Wet n Wild nail polish, and a very good range of L.A. Colors cosmetics and polish both - I'm becoming a big fan of L.A. Colors' standard line of lip glosses. Remind me to review Orchid and Altered Beige one of these days.

(Note the eye shadow quad, brush, and mascara in the drawer. The first two are Cover Girl - I'm always intrigued by the shadow sets that are supposed to enhance a given eye color, even though I know perfectly well which colors enhance my green eyes. I just couldn't resist this snazzy little set, especially since the brush looks and feels good for a d/s brand. The mascara is a sample I got from Chanel when I bought myself Sky Line nail polish for my birthday - both still untried because I'm nuts.)

Different Dimension Orion Nebula

First off, I want to apologize for the application job you're about to see. It's messy, not because of Orion Nebula itself, but because of the Pure Ice Black Rage I used as lingerie under it. I find it practically impossible to apply black polish without making a mess (I suspect this is purely psychological), and Black Rage is a somewhat difficult polish, needing to be thinned after almost every manicure.

This is two coats of Different Dimension Orion Nebula over one coat of Black Rage. I was intrigued by Orion Nebula several weeks ago, then abruptly vetoed after reading that it requires a lot of "fishing" to get the larger pink/purple iridescent circles out. Then, in an act of polish-ADD hilarity that I suspect is actually pretty common, I forgot that I'd decided against it and bought it on impulse, remembering the "fishing issue" about five seconds after placing my order with a merchant who doesn't accept cancellations.

The copy was partially right: You do have to fish if you want many of those big iridescent circles in your manicure. However, I'm perfectly content with one or two. The smaller hot pink circle glitters are easy to get, but it does require dabbing onto the nail to get a semblance of even coverage. Fortunately, the black jelly base seeps away from the glitters as the polish is applied, so there's no need to shove glitters around with the brush, trying to get them clear of the base.

In the end, I was surprised by how much I like the result - some of my nails look like constellations or diffuse clusters of hot pink stars in an utterly black night sky, while a couple of unplanned "accent" nails have big, shiny, iridescent (and holo/dichroic at some angles!) planets or supergiant stars. Perhaps best of all, Orion Nebula has what I consider to be the most desirable quality in any jelly glitter polish - it looks positively fathomless on the nail, like I could stare at my manicure for a few minutes and end up lost in space. It's definitely worth the minor application hassles, although it's perhaps too fidgety for the strictly casual polish lover.