Tag: Sally Hansen
Speckled
Julep “Kimberly” is from the April 2014 “Speckled for Spring” Mystery Box. I didn’t get this mystery box, but I did pick up “Kimberly” for $2 – couldn’t resist.
“Kimberly” is lavender with black specks. It’s not quite a creme and not quite a jelly, so it’s what the Internet Nail Polish Mafia calls a “crelly”. (Yes, I’ve been googling and educating myself.) The impression one is immediately left with is speckled Easter candy. As soon as I showed my husband, he said, “It looks like Easter candy.” The problem is that it’s June. This one probably won’t come out again until next Spring. I’m sad that I didn’t also order “Emerson” – the same thing in baby blue.
My Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat is almost empty, but I probably have a few more uses left. I used Sally Hansen “Diamond Flash”, so “Kimberly” looks super-shiny. I got a little too much “Kimberly” around the sides of my fingernails and it crinkled under the top coat. The top coat dried before the polish and I had to press it down. Total amateur move.
National Pink Day
So yesterday was another one of those made up holidays – National Pink Day. So why not pink nails?
Don’t my nails look like tufts of cotton candy? Say “hello” to Sinful Colors “Pinky Glitter”. It’s sheer, but with 2 coats, I got nearly full coverage. By itself, the polish was slightly more matte. I used Sally Hansen “Diamond Flash” to shine it up.
I’m slightly embarrassed about the orange tint on the bottom half of my nails. Before I realized that I was tearing up my nails by not using base coat, I managed to stain my nails pretty good. (The worst offender was Zoya “Bobbi”!) I’m starting to freak out because my Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat is almost empty. I don’t know if I want to buy another bottle – it’s good stuff, but pricey. Help! What base coats do you people use???
Cinderella, Cinderella
If you can’t decide, why decide? That’s why I like going to Chinese buffets – you can have a little bit of everything.
After Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, I started with one coat of Sinful Colors “Cinderella”, a baby blue shimmer with pink/orange undertones – it’s one of their more popular colors. It’s fine by itself, but I wanted to try out a bunch of green and blue glitters that I had recently bought.
On my thumb, I used one coat of Sinful Colors “Green Ocean”, a limited edition St. Patrick’s Day polish. It’s a sheer jelly, with iridescent flakies. It gave only a slightly green cast to “Cinderella”. I need to try it over a black or a dark blue. It was the only one that felt a bit bumpy after my top coat (NYC In a New York Color Minute Quick Dry in “Grand Central Station”). This was also the first time my topcoat cracked! Only on one thumb though, thank GAWD.
My Index Finger got Sinful Colors “Green with Ivy”, which isn’t green at all, maybe teal-ish? It’s another sheer jelly, but with holographic glitter bars. It’s from the Summer 2014 “Destination Color” collection and a Walgreen’s exclusive color. I was not wowed by “Green Ocean” or “Green with Ivy” over “Cinderella”.
My middle finger is like WHOA with Sinful Colors “Nail Junkie”. The base is turquoise, so it is the only one that really changed the base color of “Cinderella”. I wanna do my whole hand in it!
My husband liked my ring finger the best – Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in “Sea-ly String”, from the Fall 2013 Collection. The base is sheer blue, with a variety of silver, blue and black glitter and bar glitter.
Finally, my pinky got Sinful Colors “Ice Dream” from the Holiday 2012 “Winter Shimmers” and Holiday 2013 “Glitz & Glittered” Collections. This look could be Frozen, part 2.
Which one is your favorite?
I Finally “Let It Go”
Is your house a frozen wasteland?
Are you tired of being told to “let it go”?
Do you suffer from constant demands to “build a snowman”?
Does your child run around the house with a white fuzzy blanket/cape, swirling around the room, leaving a wake of chaos?
You made be suffering from “Frozenitis”…
Yesterday, I stopped fighting it and surrendered to the “Frozenitis” – I came up with matching Elsa manicures for my daughter and I.
I used Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl” for the base and Sinful Colors “Ice Dream” for the glitter gradient. (It’s really hard to do a glitter gradient on a six year old’s nails, so it just looks like I did a spotty job on hers.) I used Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat on myself, but didn’t bother on Lily. I also used different top coats. I used Sally Hansen “Diamond Flash” on Lily, but before I painted my own nails, I went to HEB and happened to pick up NYC In a New York Color Minute Quick Dry in “Grand Central Station”. Angie suggested the $2 NYC topcoat when I was fretting about bubbles. “Grand Central Station” is not technically a topcoat, but I couldn’t find a Quick Dry top coat from NYC at HEB, and I had read several good reviews of “Grand Central Station” – here, here and here. I was fairly pleased with the results – very similar to the Sally Hansen Diamond Flash…maybe not quite as quick to dry, but definitely shiny and fast. For $2, I can afford to experiment…
Lily is thrilled with our matching nails – this is actually the first time we have ever had matching nails. Maybe this will become a regular thing?
My Glitter Game is Strong
After several rounds of Tilex and scrubbing my shower stall door with a toothbrush yesterday, I found that my nails didn’t look quite as spiffy as they did just a few hours before. The solution…you guessed it – GLITTER.
My glitters of choice were Sally Hansen Gem Crush “Lady Luck” and Gem Crush “Glitz Gal”. “Lady Luck” is exactly the same shade as the base coats of JulieG “Gift Wrapping” – they look really spiffy together. You can see “Gift Wrapping” just barely peeking through underneath the steel gray glitter in “Glitz Gal”.
As usual, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Flash to seal the glitter. I washed dishes all morning and my nails still look great. Like I said, my glitter game is strong.
Girls Day
Saturdays are quickly turning into “Girls Day” for Lily and I. Since I take her to Gymnastics on Saturday morning, we usually end up eating and shopping afterwards. It reminds me of the infrequent “Special Days” that my mother would alternate with my sister and I…except I get to do them every weekend. (Don’t worry, I spend one-on-one time with my son, too. We just don’t anything Beauty related…)
After Taco Bell, Lily finally screwed up enough courage to get her ears pierced. The girl at Claire’s tried to tell her it wouldn’t hurt, but I stepped in and told her that it WOULD hurt, but only for a second. Lily actually haggled with the girl for 2 suckers if she didn’t cry. That daughter of mine is TOUGH. No tears, she just said, “Ow.”
Of course, after Claire’s…Ulta. Physician’s Formula is still “Buy 1, Get 1 50% off”, so I picked up Mineral Wear Face Powder to replace the one I am almost out of and Mineral Wear Correcting Powder, hoping it is similar to the stila Correcting Powder. I also picked up a clearance Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear “Sea-ly String” for 79 cents. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my 20% off coupon…
The day was going so well that I even gave into Lily’s begging to visit PetSmart to look at the adoptions. (Why bother with the zoo when PetSmart is a ZOO every Saturday?) Although it was inevitable that she would end up begging to get another dog, we managed to leave without a tantrum. Saturday with Lily was an awesome day!
20 Polishes
The other day, I told my husband that I wish I had 10 more fingers. He laughed and said, “You do – they’re called toes.” Painting my toenails is just not the same as painting my fingernails. They’re hard to reach and all different shapes. Plus, I hardly ever have a chance to show off my toes. I have so many ideas for polish combinations, plus – I’ve bought or been gifted about 25 polishes JUST in the month of May (which isn’t over yet.) Sure, I can practice on my junk mail, but it’s just not the same…what do I do? I stay up late and do a different combination on each finger!
Let’s start with my left hand…
Left Thumb – China Glaze “Four Leaf Clover” and Maybelline Color Show “Emerald City”
Left Pointer – Orly “Purple Poodle” and Sparitual Luminary Matte Top Effect in “Opaline”
Left Middle – Nina “Blue La La” and Sally Hansen Gem Crush “Lady Luck”
Left Ring – Julep “Tatum” and Julep “Rosa”
Left Pinky – Sinful Colors “Sugar Sugar” and Nina “Gold Flake Topcoat”
My right hand was a little bit more difficult, both to paint AND to photograph…
Right Thumb – Orly “Bubbly Bombshell” and Sinful Colors “Nail Junkie”
Right Pointer – Zoya “Dillon” and Sinful Colors “Bombshell”
Right Middle – Sinful Colors “Inkwell” and essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones”
Right Ring – Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Magenta Motion” and Sinful Colors “Call You Later”
Right Pinky – Sinful Colors “Nova” and Nicole by OPI “Rainbow in the S-Kylie”
Which one do you like best? Vote in the poll below and let me know what you think!
[yop_poll id=”2″ float=”center”]
A Wild and an Untamed Thing
I’m a wild and an untamed thing. I’m a bee with a deadly sting.
The second I finished my nails, I thought of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. At first I thought COLUMBIA, but there wasn’t any gold. Then I realized – FLOOR SHOW. My nails remind me of the corsets from the Floor Show. I really should do a manicure for every character in Rocky Horror, although I’m too lazy to do plaid for Dr. Scott.
Instead of starting fresh, I put the glitters on top of Seche “All Lit Up”. The darker is Revlon “Brilliant Bordeaux” and the redder is Revlon “Ruby Ribbon”. Again, I topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. I am learning about topcoats…slowly, slowly.
Yes, I know that the cuticle on my middle finger is fucked up. Don’t remind me…
Mother’s Day
Oh, Mother’s Day.
I have a love/hate relationship with Mother’s Day. The hate has faded a bit in recent years. Mostly love now, but the twinges of hate since I lost my mother are still there. I can’t imagine how people without children or mothers can tolerate Mother’s Day. My first Mother’s Day as a mother was also my last Mother’s Day with my mother – I never had a gap where I was alone on the holiday. Even then, the first few years were difficult, even with my kids and husband rallying around me. I’m able to love it now because my husband goes the extra mile in facilitating how my kids show their appreciation. I’m not talking flowers and chocolate necessarily, but the true expression of what my children think that I will enjoy.
The true expression of what my son thought I would enjoy was my very own Zebco fishing pole. He had been planning this gift since Spring Break, when I caught my first fish – and fishing fever – using Lily’s ‘Dora the Explorer’ fishing pole. It’s hot pink and awesome, but he was very disappointed that he couldn’t find one that exactly matched my car. He told me that he knows how important it is that everything match my car.
He also cooked me breakfast – red velvet waffles and scrambled eggs. It was DAMN good.
The true expression of what my daughter thought I would enjoy was…of course…fingernail polish. I had my suspicions when she and my husband snuck away while I was at Target yesterday. She picked out 7 polishes for me: 3 China Glaze Crinkled Chrome – “Crush, Crush Baby”, “Don’t Be Foiled” & “Wrinkling the Sheets” (I already have the first 2, but so what), Nina “Blue La La” & “Gold Flake Topcoat”, Orly “Bubbly Bombshell” and Sally Girl “Red Glitter”.
In order to show my daughter how much I love her, I let her paint my fingernails. I have NEVER let her paint my fingernails before. For my left hand, she chose Nina “Blue La La” and “Gold Flake Topcoat”. It looking amazing together! For my right hand, she chose “Crush, Crush Baby” and “Bubbly Bombshell”. Again, an impressive combination. I topped both hands with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.
I’m thinking this could be a new Mother’s Day tradition, because once a year is probably as often as I could handle someone else painting my nails…
Good Intentions
My intention when I walked into Big Lots today was just to pick up some Veggie Straws. Maybe some Zone Bars and Pop Tarts…the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I saw The Healing Garden “Passionate Rose” Rainwater Body Mist first. I’m always on the lookout for Rose scented stuff – it’s rare and The Healing Garden is a good brand and you can’t beat $1.50.
I was disappointed that they were out of Olay Fresh Effects BB Cream. That stuff is $12.99 at regular stores and I wanted some for $5. I did find some cheap cotton rounds – I hope they don’t suck.
I turned the corner and there were several new bins of $1.00 fingernail polish. I controlled myself and picked out 5. Sinful Colors “Nova” is black with green and silver shimmer. Sally Hansen Diamond Strength “Sparkling Rose” is, well, sparkling rose. Revlon “Brilliant Bordeaux” is black with fuchsia and silver holographic bar glitter. Revlon “Ruby Ribbon” is fuchsia with fuchsia and silver holographic bar glitter. Julie G “Gift Wrapped” is fuchsia microglitter. I’m not familiar with Julie G – I hope it’s not shit.
It just goes to show that I cannot be trusted to go shopping ANYWHERE.