As many of you know (or may not know) I dip my hands into many different ventures. Mostly to support my one main venture that is Bitten by Books! Hey can I help it I love to read? My newest adventure is online auctions selling all kinds of goodies, from my handmade jewelry also sold on A Charming Time, fashion bags, scarves and yes nail polish!

Woohooo for nail polish. I am a total color whore, so you are probably going to see a few of these posts from me in the coming months, well maybe. lol First though a shameless self promotion on where you can get some of these lovelies Tuesday night and hear me live on the microphone talking about them.

So be sure to turn your volume up so you can hear me! Go here: http://www.outbid.com/auctions/4774-all-about-nails-auction and RSVP, it will ask you to register and when you do, you get a $5.00 credit that you can use towards your first purchase on Outbid.com. You have to take a mini survey (I think) but it is painless. When you RSVP you can set it up to message you on your cell phone AND it will send you an email an hour before the auction. They also have an iPhone app. that you can download here.

So, please tweet and share this on Facebook and bring your friends and chat with me, buy some awesome nail polish and have some fun! Okay on to the review.

KleanColor is a relatively inexpensive nail polish that touts itself for being long lasting, chip proof, fast drying with great coverage. They have over 250 colors and counting, so there is no limit to how many colors you can try. My choice for today’s review is Metallic Mango!

It is a rich orange/copper color with a great metallic gloss to it. It is nice and shimmery. I have had a lot of trouble with nail polishes in the past that just come right off within a day or two, sometimes the SAME damn day. Frankly I had given up on wearing them for several years, but kept buying all these great colors. I decided to pick up several bottles of KleanColor because I had read some many great reviews on them.

I sure am glad I did. Metallic Mango is the first one I tried.  As you will see from my pictures below the color is very striking. It goes on really easy, it isn’t goopy or drippy. This polish lasted almost 5 days before starting to wear off in places. Now, I have always had problems with polish just peeling right off or chipping. Metallic Mango did none of these things. I put on two coats. It says fast drying, but it did take about the same time as a normal polish to dry. I am a bit heavy handed with my coating though. It was about 4.5 days before I took it off, and I probably could have done another day and gotten away with it.

Here’s what the color looked like on my hands. It is an awesome Falliday color and winter color all around. I LURVVV it! I really didn’t want to take it off, but I have so many more colors I want to try and review for you all. LOL I used OPI Nail polish remover to take off the polish. The metallics seem to take a bit more oomph to remove, so I make sure to saturate my cotton pad and let it sit for about 20 seconds on the nail before rubbing it off. That really helped. In a nutshell I give this color and brand 5 stars. It goes on smoothly, is long lasting and doesn’t chip. Color wise it is stunning, I received a ton of compliments on it. Even my husband liked this one and he’s not used to seeing me wear nail polish.

Website: http://binhog.com/
Country: USA

Blog: No

Newsletter: Yes, bottom of the main page, or click this link here.

US Shipping: Yes

International Shipping: Yes

Discounts: WSIMD readers get a 20% discount. You must click on this link to get the discount.
http://www.binhog.com/?code=wsimd

Picture if you will, another time, another space…another dimension. The airport zone. Not just any zone, but the hell on earth also fondly called baggage claim. This zone is filled with black holes and sticky fingers, it is a place that nobody is safe. That was until I discovered BIN HOG! Now I have seen a lot of cool stuff online and on the TnV shows, but these bad boys really take the cake.

Check this out:

These versatile “tags” mark your luggage with a unique design making them easy to spot on that conveyor belt or in somebody else’s possession! They are also comfy and add a really nice little extra layer to those hard and often uncomfortable handles on baggage. They are BRIGHT too. You can opt for a more subtle look on your bags with say, black. But, hey when you are trying to stand out in the crowd, go for neon pink or green like I did. Add a skull and crossbones and you are all set!

Each one is manufactured, and embroidered by Rita, so, the quality is top gun errr top notch even! You can get them customized with your name too. Just let her know what you want and she will zip it right out. Now, I don’t get to travel as much as I would like, but that didn’t stop me from getting several of these wraps. I have one on my laptop bag, gave one (the red OM symbol) to my hubby for his laptop bag AND his work briefcase which has cloth handles. Of course there is the neon pink Yin/Yang symbol on my flight bag. We have been taking our laptops out and about quite a bit. Especially after that little re-formation hurricane Ike gave us a few weeks back that left us in our new house with no power or internet. We headed to the big city in search of a coffee shop that had working wi-fi. Let me tell you, this was NO small feat in Western KY (the state not the jelly).

We both got all kinds of compliments on our bag handles from the 12 billion other desperate internet addicts there with their bags. Using a Bin Hog wrap is akin to the whole patch my coat/backpack craze of the 70′s, but way more hip, all the groove without all the grunge.

I LOVE this one:

I actually almost spewed my coffee all over the screen when I read that! I just wish it had some little skull and crossbones or a poison sign on either end of it. LOL The really neat thing about these is that they are made out of this hyper cool fabric called CORDURA® 1000D aka it is super strong and uberly durable. The best part is that there are SO many designs to choose from you are bound to find several you love, just like I did. I have been eyeballing the I Love Wine Wrap to go on our cloth picnic basket tote. Too cute! Personally, I think these would fun for school groups, like sports teams etc. to use for school pride on their bags too.

Anyways, the long and the short of it is that Bin Hog wraps rock, so get some today. With Christmas just around the corner, there are bound to be people you know traveling. So keep them safe in the baggage claim by transporting them to the Bin Hog zone!

Website: http://www.barefootbling.com

Country: USA

Blog: http://barefeetbling.net/

Newsletter: Yes, easy sign up on the bottom of each page

US Shipping: Yes

International Shipping: Yes, outside of US please inquire about shipping costs

Discounts: Right now, they are offering a FREE Tank/Tee with a purchase of $75.00 or more through 5/31/08. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter as they do a lot of give aways w/purchase and other cool stuff.

Now that you have your feet pampered and ready to come out and play after doing your Five Steps to Softer Feet ritual, it is time to dress them up and shine! What better way to capture attention than some hip bling for your feet!

Barefoot Bling is a fabulous foot boutique out of Texas that provides anything your heart could desire for your ankles, toes and feet! They offer a variety of precious metals and world famed Swarovski crystal designs to thrill and delight you. My goodies arrived promptly in the promised time frame and were well packaged with the most adorable hand written miniature card. Very professional with a great personal touch.

Both the skull toe ring (pictured at the top of the page) and ankle bracelet were made of good quality and have beautiful Swarovski crystals embedded in them. They are pretty darn neat! Normally I don’t do foot or ankle jewelry because I am so short and figure nobody would be down there checking it out. LOL But then I figured hey! I can just wear them for the fun of it just for me! In the past toe rings became very uncomfortable for me after just a half hour of putting them on. Not so with this little gem. This particular style of toe ring has a thin clear elastic band that fits comfortably around your toe, and you can barely feel it. WAY better for me than a solid band.

The ankle bracelet fit comfortably as well. The latch was a bit tricky for me at first but I think I have the hang of it. It is a good design that will help keep it on my leg.

My other favorite item from Barefoot Bling are their Luxury Slippers.

These decadent feet treats are trimmed in satin and rhinestones. Of course, I chose the pink and brown, it was a toss up though, the black ones are pretty chic looking. Now, before you laugh, you have to try these babies out. They are incredibly soft and warm and tres chic! (did I really just say tres chic?) My sister (bless her heart) keeps her house so FREAKING cold, that I took my lovely slippers there to have on hand when I get cold. They have their own special place of honor. I am really thinking about getting another pair for home, but I have a little bit of a slipper fetish going on, so have been holding back. These are top notch slippers too. They come in their own embroidered silken bag. I was able to use the bag for something else, so props for environmentally sound packaging.

Bottom line, get Bling, you will be very glad you did. Their products are excellent quality, service is top notch, and your feet will be looking fine in no time!

This was a sample sponsored thread, meaning that the company outlined sent products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.

Website: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5000132

Country: Australia

Blog: http://www.meringuediary.blogspot.com/

Newsletter: Yes, sign up on the blog

US Shipping: Yes, it is really inexpensive around $4.00

International Shipping: Yes

Discounts: Meringue is offering a 20% off discount for WSIMD readers until June 30th 2008, simply enter this code: WSD20 in the Message to Seller when you order from their Etsy shop, and then wait for them to send you a revised invoice from Paypal.

SQUEEE! (did I really just type that?) Some of you who really know me well, know that I am not overly fashionable at ALL. I just wear my own thing, mostly black or brown en toto. So, when I found these CUTE AS HELL wristlets by Meringue, I knew I had to have some. Yes, some. I bought two, the one listed above which is called Licorice Whip and the other was Persian Fairy Floss.

So what is a Wristlet? This little blurb from their shop really sums it way better than I could. “The only hands free technology a girl needs! Wristlets are the perfect size to hold all the important stuff like your wallet, keys, lippy and other girly essentials. You can hold champagne in one hand and daintily scoff horses doovers with the other. Or you can hold champagne in one hand and sign autographs with the other. Or, you can juggle…whilst drinking champagne.”

It is the perfect little handbag for me. My sister ribs me for carrying around a tiny zipper coin purse STUFFED with everything my non complicated life could need. When I saw these extraordinary wristlets, I knew I had found the perfect fashion solution. I cannot WAIT until my sister sees these and sighs with envy. I of course wanted way more of these bags than I could afford on my budget or reasonably sneak past my spousal unit. I really wanted to get this bag as well:

But held off. When I emailed Jodie the artist and genius behind Meringue for the shipping info and with my selections, I happened to mention that I had a hard time choosing which ones and listed this one as an additional favorite. You could have bowled me over with a feather when I ripped into my international haute couture parcel to find not only the two gorgeous bags I had paid for, but this stunning Aubergine little number as well. Yes, she was extremely generous and added this as a thank you for being her first purchase on the other site I found her on. Let me clarify that she had NO idea I would be reviewing these products, the inclusion of this bag was a completely generous and selfless act. One that I will never forget, because it really made my day and brought tears to my eyes. Jodie, thank you again for this bag, I will always treasure it.

I mentioned the parcel that contained my bags. Let me elaborate on their presentation. I am a big packaging minimalist fan. And there was no disapointment when I opened this lovely package. The bags were tied together with a simple satin ribbon with a small tasteful hand crafted tag thanking me for my purchase and signed by the owner. A classy presentation that is for sure.

Now for the bags! They are a bit bigger than the picture shows which is perfect. They are just a shade smaller than a salad plate (7.5″ wide by 6.5″ high) and extremely well designed. They hold my cell phone, keys lipstick, powder, credit cards and maybe a few other small goodies perfectly! The handles are double stitched where the most wear and tear could occur which is a bonus and just goes to show that this artist really has an eye for detail as well as style.

Each bag is lined with a nice cotton and made with high quality fabric.They can be washed gently and ironed on low. I have one that will be perfect for spring and summer and all of my casual about the town events, and two that are versatile enough for dressing up and going out and would even bend to a slightly more casual look.

When it comes to fashion accessories, you are more likely to find me running and screaming the other way than actively seeking out more to purchase. And you can bet with the lovely discount provided I am seeking more of these cute bags. I have my eye on the Black Forest Cake, Eggplant Parma and the Peppermint Candy Wristlet. Ok, OKAY! I you got me, I also wouldn’t mind having the Smoked Salmon Bagel and this version of the Persian Fairy Floss.

The thing that is tres dangeroux (very dangerous for our English speaking visitors) about these bags as they are VERY limited edition. Yep, Jodie only offers a few of each fabric design. So my friends, if you see something you like, I suggest you snap it up. One of the initial bags I purchased doesn’t appear to be up for sale any longer. The great thing about this is that you are definitely going to have a unique bag. No worries about strutting your stuff down main street and running into your bag on another persons arm.

I have literally been stalking her Etsy shop for new designs each week and am signed up for her newsletter where she gives away free loot once a month. I cannot wait to see the latest designs. She also has some Itty Bitty Totes that I have my eyes on.

Over all my experience with this international retailer was stellar and then some. One of the other great things about these bags is that shipping was INEXPENSIVE. I think it was like $4.00 and my parcel arrived in about a week maybe a few more days. It was FAST. So, don’t let shipping hold you back, that is nothing! For a handcrafted item, these bags are a STEAL.

I hope you will post back here and let everybody know which bags you chose for yourself. Remember there is a hefty discount for WSIMD readers at the beginning of this post. Oh and please let me know what you think of my new bags while you are here. This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to buy these products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.

This was a non sponsored thread, meaning that I used my own money to buy these products for review, and I have received no monetary gain from this post.