Sally Hansen Hard as Nails - Ice Queen

Hello everyone! I did not take these pictures in a smokey brushfire. We're having 100+ degree weather here in Maryland, and my camera fogs up the second I walk outside! So, while these pictures are not the clearest, they're humorous and absurd.

My co-worker told me this manicure was "blog worthy," so here it is! I'm wearing Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Pink Blink with two coats of Sally Hansen Ice Queen on top. Pink Blink is a really nice baby pink. Opaque in two coats. Ice Queen was a gift from another of my co-workers. I wore two different earrings one day- one pink and one blue. She saw this polish at the store and it reminded her of me for that reason!

I love this look. It reminds me of cotton candy. I'm really sorry you have to view this manicure through a haze, but such is life. Ice Queen is a clear base with tons of teeny tiny silver glitter mixed in with larger pink and blue hexagon glitter. Very cute!

I love the new Hard as Nails bottles. I hate big round bottles, like OPI and China Glaze. They take up too much space! This bottle is thin and flat. I like it.

Is it very hot where you are? Hopefully you're inside enjoying the AC, just like I am!

Minnie Mouse Nails

Hi, everyone! Sorry it's been so long. You know, I'm tired of saying sorry, so I better start posting more often. Here is my current manicure, inspired by Miss Minnie Mouse! I really wanted some simple nail art, so I went with dots. I was thinking about trying to draw her bow, but I really stink at nail art. The simpler, the better. I was inspired by Minnie's polka-dotted dress, which is red with white dots. Her shoes are yellow, and her ears/arms/etc are black, so I added one yellow and one black dot on each nail.

So what do you think? It was so easy.  I did two coats of China Glaze - Hey Sailor to start. It's my favorite red! Then, I dipped the non-brush end of an art brush in nail polish and dotted it on my nails. I did all of the dots in white first, using Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Lavender Cloud. Then, I put one dot of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and one dot of American Apparel - Hassid for the black dot.

I really love this look, and I think I want to try it with different color combinations! I found many pictures of Minnie in a blue dress with a pink bow, so I might do something with that next time. I don't know why, but I'm all about Disney lately!

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having a great week!

Love and Beauty - Chunky Holographic Glitter

Hi, everyone! I know, it took a long time for me to post another blog! My bad. I had orientation for nursing school this week, and also I got sick. Some sort of cold/allergy combo. Gross. I hate blowing my nose, especially in front of other people, and there was a lot of that this week due to the fact that I couldn't miss orientation!

Okay, all snot aside, here's a manicure for you! This is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Chocolatte, which I've shown you before, and two coats of an unnamed Love & Beauty polish. I just named it "Chunky Holographic Glitter" because that's exactly what it is. You can get these polishes at Forever 21, and this one is pretty good! I used Seche Vite as a top coat as usual, but this look lasted me four days. I could have left it on, but four days is a loooooong time for me to sport the same polish.

Look how pretty it looks in the bottle, too! It's like a rainbow of color. Enlarge the picture to see all the rainbow prettiness! This look reminds me of Britney Spears' outfit from one of her MTV VMA performances of years past, and a coworker of mine had the same thought. Remember that outfit? Nude with glitter all over? Here, the image on the right: Britney. Yes? No? She used to be so hot. And then there was THIS. Admittedly, that's a terrible angle, and she still looks better than most women out there.

Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

Sally Hansen - Crushed

Hello everyone! Today I want to show you Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Crushed. As you'll notice, I cropped out my ratty cuticles! I can't even look at them at the moment.

Anywho, I was looking for the perfect shimmery dark orange. I don't really like orange in general, but somehow I got the idea that I needed a reddish-orange immediately. I found Crushed, and I really like it! It's very glowy. Sometimes it looks more red than orange, although it looks quite orange in my pictures. It's pretty much exactly what I wanted.

This picture does a good job of showing the pretty shimmer. I think of tangerines when I see my nails. There's a lot of depth here, and at less than $3 a bottle, you can't lose with Crushed!

Thanks for reading! I hope you all got through Monday without much trouble.

Sally Hansen - Chartreuse Chase

Hello!

Today I want to share a recent manicure- Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Chartreuse Chase. I think this one is part of a spring line or something. Lots of pretty pastel colors on the display! A lot of them looked dupey to other polishes I own, so I just picked this one up.

I love this one! It's a light shade of chartreuse- very pastel. I got more compliments on this polish than any other I've worn recently! It was funny, because some people said they really liked my yellow polish, and some said they really liked my green polish! It's a hard one to nail down, but it's probably more of a greenish-yellow than a yellowish-green. Either way, it's cool! There's a really nice blue-green shimmer running through.

Did you get any colors from this line? I hope you had a great weekend!

Kitty, Kitty - Update: Day 7

Happy Thursday! I am VERY happy, because I have the day off tomorrow. I'm looking forward to relaxing.

 Here's what may be my final update on Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. They're still holding up like champs! I had some tip wear, as you can see in my Day 5 entry, so I decided to clip the ends of my nails with nail clippers, because I was afraid a file would damage the stickers. And it worked like a charm! They look totally fresh now- no tip wear! And honestly, my nails grow pretty slowly, so there's not much cuticle-area growth on my middle and pinkie fingers.

I'm in love with these. I think they are PERFECT for vacation, when you really don't want to have to worry about your nail polish. I'm not sure how well the flat colors would look, but this pattern was great to hide imperfections and to minimize the effects of tip growth. They are awesome. If you've been on the fence, try them out!!! The only reason I may take these off now is because I want something pastel for Easter! I could definitely get a few more days out of these babies.

Happy Easter! I'll try to post my weekend manicure for you guys. Thanks for reading!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Kitty, Kitty

Hello lovely readers! I got my first paycheck from my new job, so I decided to treat myself to something I've wanted to try for a while- Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I've been seeing these in my local stores for a few months now, but I didn't want to spend $9 for one manicure. I figured I could buy a couple bottles of nail polish for that price, so it's not worth it.

But then I started thinking about how much manicures cost in a salon, and that if I picked a design I couldn't easily paint on myself, maybe it would be okay. Plus, I really wonder if they really last ten days, so I decided to go for it. I chose Kitty, Kitty because I'm really into leopard print lately (I know, I'm really behind on that trend), and also because I knew I didn't have enough patience to try to paint this nail design on my nails myself.

Application was very simple- the process took me about 15 minutes total. I messed up my ring finger by placing the strip too far from my cuticle, but all my other nails look pretty good! These pictures were taken on Friday morning, right after I applied the strips. So I have worn these all day Friday, all day Saturday, and all day today- three days. So far, I have no cracking, splitting, chipping, and very minimal tip wear.

I'm actually still happy when I look at my nails, which is special because I usually get sick of my polish rather quickly. I'll keep you guys updated on how long these actually last, or how long I make it before I get sick of them!

What do you think? Have you tried these yet? Thanks for reading!

Sally Hansen - Choco-latte

Hello, readers! I hope you're having a great weekend! I just wanted to pop in and show you my job interview nails. I wanted a neutral, something that was totally not distracting. Usually I let my nails do the talking for me, but in an interview you want to be remembered for what you say, not for what you have on your nails. Since I was really excited about this interview, I went out and bought a new polish. I think I've mentioned it before, but the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line is my favorite nail polish line! I love it. I have a bunch of colors from this brand, and they never let me down.

Choco-latte is just what I wanted! Its a really hard color to describe. I guess it's a really really really light brown, but maybe more tan? Hmm... just look at the picture and decide for yourself!

I guess the interview went well, because I'm going back in on Tuesday to meet the co-founders of the company. I'm excited! I think I'll probably go with Chanel - Khaki Rose for my manicure. Again, a very classic color that is beautiful, but isn't distracting.

How is your weekend going? Big plans for the week? What do you think of this polish? Let me know!

Green Nail Polish Heaven!!!

Hi everyone! In picking out my St. Patrick's Day nail polish, I decided to take all of my greens on a field trip to the porch, where I snapped their group photo. This was trickier than it sounds, as first I had to decide which polishes ARE green. Some were close, but too blue, so they didn't make the cut. Overall, I'm happy with this representation. I had to color correct a few pics to get them to look more accurate for you guys. At the end, I'll show you the polish I chose for my nails!

Group 1, left to right:
OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape
FingerPaints - Chrysanthe-mum's the Word
Avon - Jade
American Apparel - Office
Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle - Gentle Blossom

Group 2, left to right:
Sinful Colors - Mint Apple
OPI - Jade is the New Black
New York Summer - Amaranth
Delia*s - no name
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Lime Lights

Group 3, left to right:
Hard Candy - Sweet P
Essence - Lime Up!
FingerPaints - Guggen I'm Lime
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Grass Slipper
Revlon - Beach

Group 4, left to right:
Nfu-Oh - 56
Ulta Professional - Into the Limelight
Zoya - Ivanka
Revlon Matte Suede - Emerald City

Group 5, left to right:
Zoya - Envy
essie - Pretty Edgy
American Apparel - Army Jacket
Essence - Check Me Out

Phew! That was a lot of polish! And I realized I left out one of my favorites: Rescue Beauty Lounge - Recycle. Oh, well. I knew I'd end up leaving something out! Another thing I realized is that I own no green polishes from China Glaze, which is weird to me! I need to change that.

So which did I choose for my St. Patrick's Day manicure?

Zoya - Ivanka! She is perfect green sparkly goodness.

Sadly, I won't be wearing this manicure on the actual day! Happily, I have a job interview for a medical facility, so I chopped down my nails (as you can see) and I'll be wearing a nice neutral color for my interview on Thursday. Wish me luck!

Ulta - Pinata Yada Yada

Happy Monday! If you have off for Presidents Day, good for you! I had to work this morning. I'm not sure why the school doesn't close for this holiday, but whatever! I'm done, and I had a really long workout at the gym, so I'm feeling good.

Here's something to brighten your day! The weather is really gross here in Baltimore. Overcast and raw, but luckily not too cold. Anyway, I picked up this polish recently as I heard it's basically a dead-on dupe for Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday, which is an $18.00 polish. This one was around $5.00- I forget the exact amount.

Ulta - Pinata Yada Yada is awesome! Two coats are shown here, and I love the look. I see yellow, silver, red, green, blue, and purpley-pink glitter. The base is clear. Here, I used it to jazz up my Yellow Kitty manicure that I showed you last time. You can't wear this polish and be in a bad mood- it's impossible. It's like a party on my nails! Haha, corny but true. Seriously, click on the picture to make it bigger and check out the bling.

This is the closest dupe I've seen for Happy Birthday. I have Milani - Gems, but the old version from before they added purpley-pink, so I can't speak to that. Even just looking at the bottle for Pinata Yada Yada makes me happy! Plus the name reminds me of Seinfeld.

Thanks for reading, and please click the "Follow" button if you love me, or if you like me, or even if you don't like me at all! Haha, have a good week!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Yellow Kitty

Hello everyone! Hope you're having a great weekend!

Okay. So let's talk Sally Hansen - Yellow Kitty. Did I buy this polish based on the name? Maybe. Do I absolutely love it anyway? Yes! I love the whole Complete Salon Manicure collection of polishes. They're supposed to be base coat, color, and top coat all in one, but I always use my regular base and top coat out of habit. I don't need to, though. These polishes all dry to a great shine and wear very well. I have about six colors from the line, and they're all perfect.

So Yellow Kitty. It's a great baby yellow creme. It's pretty much good to go after three coats, which is good for a pale yellow! I don't know what it is with light polishes, but I sometimes have to do up to five layers to get it to look right. I did have a little bit of cuticle drag with this one, so you can see some spots near my cuticles are more sheer than the rest of the nail. But the color is so precious that I can excuse that. It reminds me of pudding or something. A lot of times I stick with dark colors in the winter, but I'm just sick of them at the moment! I needed something to brighten up my life.

Also, here is a picture of my rose ring, which I posted in a terrible camera phone picture earlier this month/late last month. I really like how the turquoise color looked with my polish. I love this ring! It's cool because it's not just a plastic rose mounted on a metal ring, it's acrylic all around. I got it at a surf shop near my house. It's so chunky and awesome! I have no idea what brand it is, though, which kills me! I'd love to have another in a different color. The shop had this one and a black one, but it was too big for any of my fingers. There is a silver logo on one side of a crown. Do you know any surf-ish brands with a crown logo? If so, please let me know! I included a picture that shows the logo. Look familiar to anyone?

Anyway, I wear this ring every single day and I love it to death. It's so big! I can't even get my fingers together when I'm wearing it! See how far apart my middle finger is from my ring and index fingers? I'm probably doing permanent damage to my hand, but whatever.

Thanks for reading! Have a good one!

Ummmmmmmmmm... no.

Okay, sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you envisioned it would. Sometimes, the same thing happens with manicures. This is one of those times.

First, let's look at the arsenal of nail polish used for my Valentine's Day manicure. Please see the picture for bottle shots of all EIGHT. Here's a list of how it went down:




1 coat Orly Bonder base coat
2 coats Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud
2 coats China Glaze - Rainbow
1 coat Seche Vite to dry things faster

THEN I used a toothpick to pick out the following:
Red hearts - Nicole by OPI - Have a Heart
Purple hearts - Random Target nail polish
Pink hearts - LA Splash - Be Mine

THEN...
1 coat of Gelous to smooth things out
1 coat Seche Vite

Oh, and did I mention that I started this manicure at 10:30 last night? Bad idea. Let's go to the pictures.

Be Mine has white microglitter PACKED throughout, and that covered all of the red and purple hearts, which I hated. Also, everything I slopped on top totally covered the effect of Rainbow, so I really wish I had just left off those two coats! So even going to bed last night, I knew it was a disaster. I left it on just to take pictures. It was just TOO MUCH.

This morning, I woke up to BUBBLE CITY. All of the dark speckles in the pictures? Bubbles. No wonder, there were like 1000 coats of crap on my nails! Bubbles popped up EVERYWHERE, making the entire manicure totally laughable. Oh well, it just goes to show you that things don't always go as planned!

To add insult to injury, I woke up today with a pounding headache, almost certainly caused by shutting myself in a room with eight polishes for the evening. It's gone now, though, so yay! Both the manicure and the headache, that is. Sorry, but I didn't take time to clean up my cuticles or any sloppy workmanship for the pictures. I took this look off first thing, and came up with a much cleaner, more understated look that is equally Valentine-y.

I'll have the TRUE Valentine's Day manicure tomorrow! For now, enjoy this failure! I like the concept, just not the execution. Boo0000!