Tag: Fingernails
Salmon Clamdiggers
So Old Navy was having a ridiculous Memorial Day sale – the whole store was on sale and I ended up going twice, knocking out a little of next year’s School Shopping…although mostly shopping for myself. I’d been coveting The Pixie Ankle Pants for while, although on my 6’1 frame, they’re more like what my mother would have called “Clamdiggers” on me.
I’d tried them on several times, but never saw the right color and fit…until now. I came across a pair with a salmon pattern and fell in love. I don’t know why – I’ve never particularly cared for the color, but they were just so…funky. I tried them on and they were like magic pants. I grabbed a salmon colored cardigan (grandma sweater) and white tank top to match…and I saw a Real Housewife staring back at me. I finally have something to wear while skipping out of PTA meetings to go smoke behind the elementary school! Wouldn’t you know, my husband said they’re HIDEOUS.
Of course, I had the perfect polishes to match – Julep “Nan” for my toes and Jenna Hipp “Crème de Cantaloupe”.
I went back to Orly Bonder for the base coat. “Crème the Cantaloupe” was streaky as hell on the first coat and started to worry, but the second coat smoothed out perfectly. My “HK Girl” is getting low and hard to get out of the bottle, but I got it on there – only a few uses left.
That color though…it is NOT for my skin tone. It’s like an electric cantaloupe!
Pink or Purple?
This polish has me all verklempt – is it pink or purple?
At first, I was convinced it was light purple, but when I showed my husband – he said it was very pink. I argued that it was purple, but my daughter agreed – definitely pink. Well shit.
In any case, Jenna Hipp “Très Parfait” was just as awesome as “Rose Tart” – super smooth in two coats. I used Sinful Colors Base Coat this time, but stuck with “HK Girl” – I love that shit, even if it smells like super glue.
Pond Mani
…and now for something completely different.
I decided to try a “Pond Mani” – layers of sheer polish over layers of dots that appear suspended in different layers of a pond. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with a layer of white dots in Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”, then a layer of Sinful Colors “Prized Plume”. I repeated twice more – 3 sets of dots and 3 layers of “Prized Plume”. I topped it with “HK Girl”.
Obviously, my impatience shows – a few of the white dots smeared a little bit. Other than that, it worked perfectly. Next time, I’ll try a sheerer polish, but I’m ecstatic about how this one turned out.
Climbing the Social Ladder
After removing the foul “Italian Leather”, doing 7 loads of laundry, heating up dinner, paying bills and other assorted household chores, I needed a quick fix for my nails. No nail art, multiple colors or textures to coordinate. No fussy cremes that take forever to dry…
I picked Sinful Colors “Social Ladder”, a pale pink shimmer. It looks almost white in the picture, but it is pinker in real life. It’s a perfect Bridal polish. As my husband said, “It’s a little bit understated for you.” Every once in a while, I need to pretend to be normal. It was exactly what I was looking for – Sinful Colors Base Coat, 2 quick coats of “Social Ladder” and “HK Girl”. Wham, bam, dry and I went to bed…and proceeded to lay there for two hours, tossing and turning. Well fuck.
New Car Smell
I’ve tried scented fingernail polish a few times and had never been particularly impressed with the results. The ones I’ve tried either flat out did not smell at all or had a faint scent that quickly faded. Not so with Revlon Parfumerie “Italian Leather”. That shit has an odor you can smell several feet away. Do you understand the horror of being able smell my own hands while they’re down at my sides???
It wouldn’t be so horrifying if the polish emitted a pleasant smell. “Italian Leather” is not a pleasant smell – it is a chemical-laden leather and plastic smell – not unlike that “new car smell”. Even with a thick layer of lotion on my hands, I couldn’t stop smelling it as I fell asleep last night. Luckily, it fades in time. It’s been about 24 hours and I can now only smell it if I intentionally sniff my fingertips, although I pick up the odd whiff every now and then.
I used it with Orly Bonder. The formula was a good consistency – good coverage in two coats. I did get a lot of tip wear within 24 hours, but that is to be expected without a top coat. The color is doo doo brown with a subtle shimmer – it looks like I have been playing with my fudge machine. The staying power of the scent makes me want to try more Revlon Parfumerie polishes, but I’ll use more care in choosing the scents…
Rose Tart
Jenna Hipp “Rose Tart” is exactly the same color as the Knockout Roses along my back fence. It’s a creamy pink with a touch of red. As a matter of fact, when my husband first saw it, he said, “Bloody.” He thought it was blood red. I’d be concerned, but we constantly argue about colors.
I am quite impressed by the Jenna Hipp formula. It went on smoothly, with almost one coat coverage. I started with Orly Bonder and then painted 2 coats of “Rose Tart”, just to be sure. I topped with “HK Girl” and although I got 1-2 bubbles, it was mostly trouble free.
I am looking forward to trying the rest of the colors…
We are Living in a Material World
…and I am a Material Girl. I was totally bananas for Madonna in the 80s. Of all the accessories that I had as a kid, I wish I still had my ‘Boy Toy’ belt. Yeah, I was probably 7 or 8 at the time, singing “Like a Virgin”, wearing that ‘Boy Toy’ belt…pretty normal, I’d say.
This is Ulta “Material Girl”, a deep plum microglitter that shifts to fuchsia. (This isn’t the color I would expect for Material Girl – I would have expected a pink satin, like Madonna’s dress in the video?) I know I have enough fuchsia nail polish to paint the Astrodome, but I can’t NOT buy them. BUY ALL THE FUCHSIA!!!
I used Orly Bonder as the base coat, but I didn’t use a top coat – I can’t resist the fine, gritty texture. I find myself unconsciously stroking my fingernails throughout the day. I wonder if I look like a psycho?
Law of Attraction
As much as I was sad to see The Black Lodge Redux go, it had to go – it looked like shit.
I was still pooped, so I went for something simple – a quick coat of Orly Bonder, 2 coats of Formula X “Law of Attraction” and then “HK Girl”. This is my first Formula X polish – it is a good, full coverage shimmer + glitter – not too thick, not too thin. The base is a holographic gold shimmer with different sizes of royal blue glitter.
It was worth the $2.99 clearance price, but I really can’t see paying the full price – $12.50.
Frightmare & The Black Lodge Redux
Didn’t I tell you that I was going to redo my Black Lodge nails for Texas Frightmare Weekend?
They turned out even better than the first time! Again, I used Sinful Colors Base Coat with Sinful Colors “No Text Red” on my thumb and pinky. I added Julep “Kirby” for a broken glass effect on my pinky. I used Jamberry “Black and White Chevrons” on my index finger and I cut letters out of “Newsprint on Neutral” for my ring finger. I then used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure “Sweet Talker” for a nude look. I used Hare Polish “The Red Room” on my middle fingers, but it chipped IMMEDIATELY, even with the “HK Girl”. It almost ruined my weekend.
Not to brag, but Jennifer Lynch LOVED my nails!
This year’s Frightmare was the best ever – I got to meet Audrey Horne herself, Sherilyn Fenn. She is adorable!
I also got to meet Jennifer Lynch, not only the daughter of David Lynch, but she also wrote The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. I had bought my third copy of the book for her to sign on Amazon – having lent out my previous copies, which of course, disappeared. (You know who you are.) I won’t be lending out this copy, no sirree!
I was blown a kiss by the Warlock himself, Julian Sands and told Rachel True how much I love Nowhere. All in all, a great weekend.
Of course, we had to make a stop at Ulta. They must be planning a major reset, because all of their polish was $2 and all of their lip stuff was $4. I picked up 3 lip glosses – “Toast”, “Mischief” and “Siren”. The polish was really picked over, so I just got “Material Girl” – because of the name, DUH.
I looked for a rollerball of Tory Burch, but they don’t carry it – I guess I need to hit Sephora.
Except for mistakenly asking the waiter at Outback for an Awesome Blossom instead of a Bloomin’ Onion, it was a fun and mostly stress-free trip!
Cherry Juice
I’ve been scared of jellies for so long, but sometimes you just have to pull up your big girl britches and do it.
I was scared of how sheer and see-through they are…and how hard they are to apply. I never should have worried about that with Zoya “Paloma” – a sheer deep fuchsia-berry with a buildable jelly gloss finish. FUCHSIA! It went on smoothly, without streaks. This is two coats and you can still see the nail line. It might take 3-4 coats to get absolute coverage. My one nitpick is that the polish immediately pulled away from the tips as I put on the top coat. I used Zoya Anchor and Zoya Armor, so next time I am going to try “HK Girl” to stop the dragging.