MakeUp Addicted

It appears the at-home gel nail craze is in full effect.  I posted Nutra-Nails Gel Perfect UV Free Gel Color review and swatches a few weeks ago, and since then I have started to see those particular kits pop up in more than just Walgreens, so I would say they will be soon available in a number of outlets.  Anyway, at Walmart the other day, not only did I see the new SkinnyGirl Face & Body collection, I turned around to look at the Essie polishes and found this: Nailene's SensatioNAIL Invincible Gel Polish Kits and refills. 

The kit itself (pictured above on the display, and then a few closeups below), actually contains whatever color you pick for the polish, The Gel Primer, The Gel Base and Top Coat, the Cleanser, and the LED Light to set the polish.  You can also pick up other colors, which come in a smaller box with a swatch on the front.

All in all there are 12 colors to choose from:

I took some pictures of the actual main kit below - it's a simple four step process on the box - primer, color, set and top coat. 

This is what is actually included in the starter kit :  Cleanser, color, primer, base and top coat, and the LED light.

If you are really interested in the "how-to's", I downloaded the PDF for the actual instructions, found inside the box.  Click the image to see a larger view.

The starter kit retails for $49.98 and the refills/new colors are $9.98 a piece.  Seems about right compared to some of the other kits I've seen that sport a light - the light themselves tend to sell for around $50 a piece, and then you have to purchase the colors and cleansers separately. 

What do you think?  Something you might pick up? 

It's hard for me to think we have started a new year already, let alone the upcoming holidays of the late winter and spring, but it is time!  Sally Hansen has released their newest limited edition collection for the Salon Effects Nail Strips for Valentines Day.  This is a set of five different strips to choose from.  They are all adorable, although I would love to see some with conversation hearts on them!  I mean, what is more iconic about valentines day than those!? 

Anyway, here are some closeups - they are all very cute!

Are You Single and Speed Dating

Cross My Heart and How Romantic

Another Studio M today, the house line for Miejer - this time from their holiday/Christmas collection that came out earlier this year.  This is called Orna-Mint and is a beautiful pale minty green foil.  In fact, this is such a shimmery shade that it was very hard to capture on film.  Below are the best pictures I could get. 

This is two coats.  This particular color doesn't wear as well as some of the other Studio M or Massini shades I have.  I think it's probably because it's a foil.  In about 2 days I started to have chips.  Oh well - it's a beauty anyway!

Essie's School of the Hard Rocks.  This is a dusty gray/teal/evergreen.  Really, the product in the bottle doesn't do it justice.  Applied, this is a very unique and beautiful shade.  This falls into the "greige" category, only on the green side - maybe a "greenge"?  I will say, this was a bit of a difficult color to capture in pictures - it looks more blue in the pictures, and is a bit more green in real life - but you get the idea.

I wanted to add a little bit of a festive look to this color, so I used one of my CinaPro Nail Decals in Peppermint Twist, which I found at Sally Beauty.  They are adorable, and this set has candy canes, snowmen, wreaths and gingerbread men.  There is another one exclusive to Sally that has Santa, Rudolph, and other festive decals.  I believe they retailed for $3.99.

Back to the Essie - the formula is one of the nicer formulas for Essie.  This is smooth and shiny and coverage is very nice.  Above is two coats of polish with one coat of top coat.  I would put this polish as one of the "must have's" for you - it's different enough, but also very wearable. 

Have you tried this color?  What other color from the collection have you picked up? 

While I was at CVS the other day (spotting all sorts of new goodies), I saw some Sally Hansen mini 4-pks that would make great stocking stuffers or present toppers.  There are four different sets to choose from: Diamond Strength, Xtreme Wear, HD Hi Definition and Insta Dry.  I believe they are normally $5.99 a piece, but are running 2/$10 right now. 

Really, the Diamond Hard is the most neutral or user friendly of the set.  The other three collections have much brighter and colors.  Really, at $1.25 a nail polish, it's not a bad little deal.

When I saw the display of Wet 'n Wild's new Ice Baby collection, I knew I would need to get Rockin' Rubies for my holiday manicure.  This is a true red microglitter with larger hexagonal holographic silver glitter throughout.  It reminded me of some of the garland I have strung in my house right now (above).

Three coats and you get a nearly opaque coverage.  This would actually look quite nice over red, and wouldn't require as many coats.  This was hard to take a picture of too...I think the sparkles really made it difficult for the camera to focus.

So, I love this color, but I have one complaint with glitters.  After my topcoat completely dries, it looks all grainy again, which frustrates me!  What top coat do you use for that beautiful glossy finish (that lasts).  Right now I applied a thick coat of Seche Vite, but I'm wondering if I should try something different?  I would love your suggestions and favorites!

The above picture is much more true to color, in my opinion.  Less red and more of that unique color I was drawn in by. 

I've swatched it below - two coats with one coat of Seche Vite on top.  The formula was nice and smooth.  I didn't notice any streaking, and the color dried with a very nice shine.

A gorgeous color, definitely out of the dorm, especially if you are looking for a wearable, but vampy red.  Have you tried this one yet? 

A few weeks back I spotted the new entry into the UV/Gel nails: Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color.  I think Walgreens had four colors total available, and I chose Dahlia, the darkest shade in the group. 

These Nutra Nail Gel Perfect collections are a non-UV, gel nail colors, that dry in 5 minutes or less and protect nails from breaking with a patent-leather shine.  Each set comes with three bottles:

1.  Nutra Nail 5 Minute Gel Polish "Activator" (the larger polish with the red label)

2.  Cleaner (small bottle with white lid).  This was actually clear, but I used this before I snapped pictures.  As you'll see below, this is used to clean the brush on the actual nail color, hence the fact that the cleaner is now a deep maroon too!

3.  Gel Color - bottle with the black lid.

Below is a closeup of the color I purchased - Dahlia.  This is a cream chocolate maroon.   A beautiful color for fall and winter, I have worn this on my fingers, but will be using this as my pedicure shortly. 

So, the next question is, how do you do this without UV?  I took a picture of the instructions, or you can go over to Nutra Nail's website and click here to see them.  It's really pretty easy.  I would suggest laying everything out in advance, though - that will make it even easier.

1. First, make sure you have a clean work space, and a towel or paper towel that you can use to dry the brush off after cleaning.

2. Open/unscrew all your bottles, but leave the brushes in them. 

3.  Brush one coat of applicator on 5 nails.  Apply liberally, but don't go overboard.  You just want the nails to look wet or shiny.  Do not let this activator dry, and do not touch it, before you move onto the next step.

4.  Apply one, thin, coat of the gel nail color.  This is a very thin "polish" or color, so don't be surprised if it bleeds out, or spreads out on the nail more than a standard nail polish. 

5.  Clean the brush in the cleaner, and dry on your paper towel.  You will want to keep this cleaning step and repeat every 5 nails.

6.  Repeat Steps 3-5 on your other 5 nails.

7.  Repeat for a second coat - you will need to do this to achieve full coverage of the color. 

You can clean the activator and color brushes in the "cleaner" bottle.  This will help avoid buildup.

Below are my swatches of my first attempt.  I will say, because of the fluidity of the color, having accuracy upon application is a lot more difficult than it is with standard nail polish.  All in all, I was very impressed with my mani seeing as this was my first attempt! 

Overall thoughts?  I actually liked this.  The product does leave my nails stronger and thicker (due to the polish and activator, not because it is making my nails healthier).  The activator reminds me of nail glue - maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's what it reminds me of!  The color dried impeccably smooth and shiny.  Probably shinier than anything I've used before, including Seche Vite.  I didn't wake up with any fabric marks on my manicure, so when it says it dries in 5 minutes, it means it!  The actual product lasted on my nails for a good 10 days before anything began to chip off.  I should have taken a final picture, but I was so anxious to try some of my newer polishes I picked up that I didn't even thinking about it.  So, with that being said, make sure it's a color you really like, because you'll be wearing it for a while!  I think this would be great for a pedicure, simply because of the shine, strength and lasting power.  I tend to leave my pedi's the same for a longer period of time, so it makes sense for me to have something that can last that long. 

So, bottom line, would I buy this again?  I certainly would!  My only request would be to have more color options at the store - I like to see them in real life, not a computer generated swatch, so I probably won't order anything online.  The colors available online definitely surpass those at the store.  This is a pricey venture, too.  At $13.99 for a set, I would like to see the individual colors available.  I don't know that I need to buy the entire package again - I have plenty of activator and cleaner left from my first manicure, so if I could buy the color bottle alone, that would be nice, too.  On a side note, there are coupons available online if you are interested in trying these out, and are turned off by the price.  I'm not sure how much an actual professional gel manicure costs, but I would think that the costs of the at home version is close to 50% off of the cost of a salon version.

One more thing, I almost forgot.  This does suggest using the remover associated with this system, but I'll be honest, I used 100% acetone and didn't have a problem at all. 

So, seeing as this is fairly new, have you seen this or given it a try yet?  I know one reader posted earlier on my "spotted" post, but would like to see what others think too!

Sparkles, glitter, and goodies - Oh my!!!  I can't wait to try these out...the question is, which one first?

'Tis the season to start seeing some new products come out for the winter and Holidays.  CVS had the new Sally Hansen products displayed - Gem Crush and Diamond Strength.  These were not on an end cap, instead they had added a shelf to the top of the cosmetics aisles.  I almost missed them, so if you haven't seen these in your CVS, take a look above you!

There are several of these polishes I want - any of the Gem Crush and there were a couple of pretty shades in the Diamond Strength collection as well.  What have you picked up?  Any suggestions?

Another Studio M/Massini color from Meijer.  This time I have on Ego Trip, which was on an end cap with their Holiday colors for this year.  There were tons to choose from, many of which I will need to go back for!  Lots of metallics and foils.  If I had been thinking, I would have taken a snapshot of the actual display, but I spaced it.

Ego Trip is a very deep emerald green with hints of teal.  It switches based on the surroundings, although I wouldn't call it a duochrome.  To me, it's a very Christmas-y green.  The first thing I thought of was Hermey the Elf from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

This was an amazing formula.  I could have gotten away with just one coat, but I did two just for good measure.  The coverage was fantastic, it dried very smoothly without any streaking from the frost, and the texture was thin enough to make it easy to apply, but not so thin that it was runny.  I wish all the formulas were like this, but of course it depends on the color.

Sorry for the grainy pictures - my camera was dead so I used my phone.  I just had to show this one off!  I'm thinking for Christmas I will layer some red glitter over the top.  The pictures don't do it justice, though.  It is gorgeous in real - life.  I will take some updated pictures once the batteries are charged. 

From Revlon's Spice it Up Collection, I picked up the nail polish called Glitz and Glam.  This is a cranberry jelly base with silver glitter.  It reminds me of one of last year's holiday colors by China Glaze - Mrs. Clause - but I don't own it so I can't do a comparison. 

Although the color is a bit sheer, due to the jelly base, after three coats you do have a nice coverage.  The dry time was pretty quick, so I suppose it lives up to the name "Top Speed", but I prefer to use a quick drying top coat like Seche Vite as well.  

I also picked up Mistletoe, which is a really vampy olive green - pictures coming soon once I wear it!