Category: Nails
Moldy Charms
So…I was not overly excited when I received 100% Pure “Seafoam” in my CEW Prestige Box. Not because of the brand – I’d never heard of it before – but because of the color. It looked not like seafoam, but like mold. Not that tangy greenish/gray mold you find on your bread, but the scary greenish/white Penicillin that you find on leftovers in the refrigerator. (Why yes, that DOES happen to me a lot. I’ve found fossilized mold in my fridge before.)
Starting with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, the first coat of “Seafoam” was super streaky. The second coat was perfect though. It actually didn’t look bad on it’s own, but I decided to pretty it up with a top coat – Revlon Top Speed “Celestial FX”. I love the base, but the tiny moons, stars and diamonds were far too sparse in the polish. (Lucky Charms, but without the hearts and horseshoes!!!) I had to do major digging to get any on my brush. I only got 2-3 pieces per nail, which kind of defeats the point. I tried to place the shapes, but it started sinking into the “Seafoam”, so I stopped. I finished up with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.
It doesn’t look bad – the surface was really smooth and shiny, but it just wasn’t me. I took it off so I could try something else…
Finger Herpes
So…Sally Hansen Miracle Gel doesn’t mix with other polishes – I found out the hard way.
I was tired of looking at my Hubba Bubba nails and I was feeling lazy last night and didn’t feel like taking it off and starting over. I unwisely decided to try slapping Sally Hansen “Fruit-Ta-Ta” on top of it. Oh NO. BAD IDEA.
“Fruti-Ta-Ta” is annoying as hell. The dots are very sparse and it’s impossible to get good coverage without gooping it on. As soon as I started gooping it on, it started to bubble. The chemical reaction started immediately – the regular polish MELTS the Miracle Gel. In addition to the rippling bubbles covered with pink, red and black dots…it was sticky. I sat on the coach and watched Fashion Police for AN HOUR and it still wasn’t all the way dry. I gave up and went to bed, hoping for the best.
When I awoke this morning and looked at my hands, the only thing I could think was FINGER HERPES. *sigh*
I can happily report that at least Miracle Gel is easy to remove. It melted right off, although it took a bit of scrubbing to get the dots off.
Hubba Bubba
I was having a crisis last night – I was overwhelmed and couldn’t decide on a nail polish last night. I kept looking through all the bottles and I had no idea what I was going to do…until I sat down on the toilet and spied the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Set in “Shock Wave” that I got in my Allure Beauty Box.
Since my nails are real, I’ve never had a gel manicure or used gel polish. My BFF got one at the salon and it started peeling off her nails within hours, so I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about if they’re that fragile. There’s no way I have the patience for anything that requires a UV light, but this new Sally Hansen set is supposed to set without lights!
I very carefully painted 2 coats of “Shock Wave” on my nails – it is a thick, thick polish and I didn’t want it pooling in my cuticles – but it did anyway. I still had streaks in my nails after 2 coats, but I was afraid to try 3. I let my nails dry for 5 minutes or so and then put on the top coat. It dried faster than I thought it would. It was slower than my Quick Dries, but faster than regular creme polish. The one issue I had with the top coat is that it grabbed the colored polish and made a few “bald spots” in my nails. I HATE that!
Even though the box claimed that the polish would last up to 14 days, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it the rest of the night without changing it. It feels impossible smooth and I feel like it would last at least a week with minimal edge wear…but that color. I CANNOT STAND the color. It looks like wads of Hubba Bubba bubblegum on the ends of my fingernails. Even Barbie would be like, “Hell no – that’s too pink for ME.” I wonder what a coat of glitter would look like over “Shock Wave”?
I would be interested in giving Miracle Gel another try in a different color. I even looked at HEB today, but all they had was the Insta Gel. I’ll be on the lookout…
Just 4 More…
I was thirsty…so I went to Walgreen’s to grab a coke. And 4 more 99 cent Sinful Colors polishes!
I had to complete the 2014 Halloween Collection, so I got “Cauldron Couture” – different shapes of emerald green and black glitter in a clear base – and “Mystery Moonshine” – purple, green and orange jagged glitter.
I needed a green to go underneath “Cauldron Couture”, so I got “Pine Away” – a foresty green shimmer. I also needed a basic purple. How is it possible that I don’t have a basic purple? I decided on “Amethyst” – a good medium purple.
Brace yourselves…Halloween nails are coming.
Tart with a Heart
After several weeks of dark polish, I was ready for some light…
This is Butter London “Tart with a Heart”. Orly Bonder for the base coat + 2 coats of polish with no top coat. I was totally shocked at how the polish looked on my nails – it’s not at all what I expected. Judging from the bottle, I expected a gold glitter with a grayish blue tinge. Nope. It’s a totally fleshy color. It’s SO odd. As my husband said – it’s SUBTLE.
Like “The Black Knight”, “Tart with a Heart” dried exceptionally quickly and has a slightly pebbled finish. This is one of those polishes that you can put on and run out the door 60 seconds later. I like it!
September Birchbox – Fresh Paint
I feel like I had to wait FOREVER for my Birchbox this month. I am not mad at Birchbox – I am mad at the mail people. I’ve noticed a trend that I get my Julep, ipsy and Birchbox 1 or 2 or 3 days after my BFF – and she lives LITERALLY 10 minutes away. My mail people are loose butthole.
I picked the regular box option this month instead of the curated Fashionista box, since I already had most of the products in the curated box. September’s theme is “Fresh Paint”. In my box: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Starter Kit (This is just weird – I am excited to try it!); Macadamia Professional Healing Oil Spray (I am becoming a hair oil connoisseur); RUFFIAN Nail Lacquer in “Naked” (YES!); Temptu S/B Highlighter in “Champagne Shimmer” (hmmmmmm…); and Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream.
This is a really high value box – so lucky this month! I also love the special box it came in – definitely keeping it.
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Xmas…
…everywhere you go…
Stores are starting to put out their Xmas decorations, so why can’t I?
This is a single coat of Sinful Colors “Holiday Rebel” over Pacifica “Red Red Wine”. It’s different shapes of red and green glitter in a clear base. The glitter was sparse as I brushed it on and I had to do major brushing to get good glitter placement. “Red Red Wine” is a bit dark for this glitter – I’d like to see it over a lighter glitter.
Neil Diamond, NOT UB40
Red, Red Wine you make me feel so fine…
This is Pacifica “Red Red Wine” – a 7 Free (no parabens, phthalates (dibutyl phthalate), toluene, xylene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, or animals), 100% vegan polish. Some folks got this in their ipsy bag this month, but not me. My BFF gave it to me to try!
I started with Orly Bonder and then 2 coats of “Red Red Wine”. The first coat was a bit streaky, but 2 coats cleared that up. It was very shiny on it’s own, but I used Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for extra shine. As I put on the Diamond Flash, I thought I saw bubbles start to form – I was freaking out! But then I looked closer and realized it was glitter. At first, I thought it was very sparse glitter in the polish…but then I realized that it must have come from the Diamond Flash. DOH! I must have gotten glitter in the bottle from a previous Lily manicure.
“Red Red Wine” is very nearly a dupe to Urban Decay “Mrs. Mia Wallace”, just a little bit thicker.
The Black Knight
I’ve been on a dark polish kick lately, I don’t know what it is.
Maybe I’m just lazy. If I know I’m going to be putting on another dark polish, I don’t have to scrub my cuticles so much. I got my absolute LAST use out of my Zoya Remove+ & Target dip-it combo. It was a soupy, maroon sludge that was starting to stain my fingers! Don’t get me wrong, it was still taking the polish off – but I had to spend too much time getting polish residue off my fingers. It lasted me exactly 3 months and was worth every penny!
I tried out Orly Bonder as the base coat. It definitely did grip the polish quite well. I then painted 2 coats of Butter London “The Black Knight”. This polish is EVERYTHING that I wanted Julep “Estelle” to be! The black is shinier and darker…and there is so much more glitteriness. Fuchsia is the predominant glitter, so you know that’s why I love it. It dried amazingly quick and I didn’t use a top coat, so I could run my fingers over the pebbly goodness.
I’m getting a few little chips along the edges, but Orly Bonder seems to be holding it on there well. We shall see how it looks tomorrow…
Sinful Halloween Polishes
I should have been suspicious yesterday when my son asked to go shopping with me…until I realized that he just wanted to eat all the tasty samples at HEB. The joke was on him though – he had to go to Walgreen’s with me first. He showed absolutely NO enthusiasm for picking out 99 cent nail polish…
My animosity towards the color orange is well documented, but you can’t have Halloween without orange and black. So in addition to Sinful Colors “Glow in the Dark” (which kind of works – I experimented on my daughter – but I think it needs more than one coat), I got “Splatter Spell” – different shapes of orange and black glitter – and “Pumpkin Spice” – orange, red and gold glitter.
I got a Walgreen’s brand fake eos lip balm – 100% natural beeswax, with vitamin E and peppermint. I bought it solely because it was shaped like a cute little beehive. I tried it and it tingled like Burt’s Bees! I’m in love!