Sally Hansen Shoot the Moon

   Sally Hansen has reformulated their Complete Salon Manicure line.  The new formula is slowly starting to show up in stores right now.  So far I've seen shelf displays at Walgreens with part of the collection, wall displays at Target with I think most of the collection, and of course a spot in the new Nail HQ at CVS- but again with only part of the collection at least at the stores I've been to.
   With the new formula there were some color changes as well.  Some colors were discontinued, some remained the same, a few were renamed I believe, and of course some new colors were introduced.  Today I have one of the new colors to show you.

   Shoot the Moon is pewter foil polish with tiny gold flecks.  Application was very smooth and I really liked the formula.  Brushstrokes will show up a little bit since this is a foil polish, but they aren't super noticeable.   I used 2 coats of polish for full coverage over Finger Paints base coat and no top coat.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   If you're looking to try out the new formula of the Complete Salon Manicure line, I would recommend Shoot the Moon.  I really like the color and it goes on well.  Some of the new colors are, or are close to being, dupes of colors by other brands.  There's one that looks like a dupe to Designer, de Better! from the OPI Muppets collection and another one that looks like a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe.    

   I've always been a fan of this line from Sally Hansen and I'm glad they didn't ruin it with the formula change.  The new colors look great, I have my eye on a copper glitter right now, and there are usually sales pretty often on the brand.

Disclaimer:  The product(s) in this post were provided to me for consideration.

Random Recent NOTDs

   Hi everyone.  I'm sooo sorry I haven't been posting recently.  I've been busy with work and pretty stressed, which has led to a pretty big mood funk.  I'm going to try to get back on the blogging bandwagon soon.  In the mean time though, here's some random crappy cell phone pictures of my recent NOTDs.  That's short hand for Nail Of The Day btw.  If you'd like full reviews of any of these let me know and I'll try to get to them quickly.

I'll start with my current mani- Sinful Colors Neptune.  This is a dark denim blue with a nice silvery sparkle.  Neptune is from the new Castaway display/collection out now at Walgreens.

China Glaze Riveter Rouge.  This is a deep wine/burgundy color with a fine silver glitter.  RR is from the Vintage Vixen collection.

Zoya Roxy.  Roxy is a bright fuchsia jelly base with glitter.  I believe this is from the UltraGlitters collection.  I'm including two pictures one with flash and one without.

flash

no flash

Zoya Posh.  This is one of Zoya's matte polishes, but I didn't take a photograph of it matte sorry.  This is with top coat which brings the amazing shimmer to life.

Essie Velvet Voyeur with an accent nail of China Glaze Midtown Magic

Then I added Finger Paints Twisted on top of that

Essie Van D'Go.  I was expecting this to be a bit more peach and less cotton candy pink so I don't think I'm going to keep this polish.

Because I wasn't happy with this color, I added a glitter accent nail in one of the new Sally Hansen Gem Crush shades in Be-Jeweled

Funky French with Zoya Nimue tips and OPI In the Spot-Light Pink base.  This was one of my favorite manis in a long time.  It was very time intensive though so not sure I'll be repeating the look any time soon.

OPI Lincoln Park After Midnight.  I wore this to a wedding last month and really liked it.  Unfortunately it got a little wrecked at the reception.  But it was totally worth it because there was BOWLING at the reception!  And an open bar.  This was quite possible the best reception ever.

  

Purple Ombre Manicure

   If you don't know, an Ombre is a gradation of color.  It can be different shades of the same color or different colors blending together.  Originally I thought it was pronounced ahm-bur, but David informed me it's actually pronounced ahm-bray.  And yes I trust him on this, much as it pains me sometimes, because he learned it from the girls in the costume area of his graduate theatre department.  Plus Tim Gunn said it that way in one of the first episodes of this season of Project Runway.

   The first part of this manicure is finding 5 polishes to use.  They need to be the same finish and the same base tone.  In the case of purple for instance, they should all be either blue-based or red-based shades.  For my manicure I went with creme finish and chose: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lavender Cloud, Revlon Top Speed Lily, OPI Planks A Lot, China Glaze Grape Pop, and Zoya Pinta.

   Yes the bottles are sitting on top of my printer.  I was not brave enough to venture outside, even into my parking lot, earlier when I realized I forgot to take a bottle picture.  There was a home football game at UGA today and I live about a mile from the stadium.  

   I started with a coat of Seche Rebuild, I'm trying to get rid of a peeling problem, then a coat of China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat, 2 coats of each color, and topped it all with a coat of Barielle Manicure Extender.  I decided to go light to dark starting with my pinkie on each hand, but you could do it the other direction as well.

Direct Sun

Indoor next to window

   I think this is a fun look and a good way to bring some interest to your nails if you aren't very good at art, like me, or don't have time for any.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Coral Fever

   I don't wear oranges and corals enough.  Every time I put one on I think "I should wear these more often".  Yet do I?  No.  I'm not sure why, but it's what happens.

   The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line is billed as all-in-one polishes.  That means base coat, color, and top coat all in one bottle as well as a strengthener and growth treatment.  You can skip a separate base and top coat if you want, but I personally still tend to use them.  Why?  First to try to avoid staining on my nails with an extra base coat.  Second, I always use a quick dry top coat because I'm too clumsy and impatient not to ruin a fresh mani if I don't.

   Coral Fever is from the spring Tracy Reese collection.  This is a true coral creme.

   I love the way these bottles look.  But I'm not a fan of the brush.  The complete salon manicure brushes are the wide curved brushes like the new Nicole by OPI ones. 

   Please pardon any weird spots in application in the following pictures.  They are not from the polish, but how I was sitting when I applied.  I used this probably 2 months ago while watching the hockey playoffs so I was sitting on the couch cross-legged and polishing on the foot rest.  Aside from the weird angle I was using, application was smooth and I only needed 2 coats for full, even coverage.  One coat possibly would have been enough under normal mani situations.  I don't remember exactly which base coat I used, but it was probably my standard China Glaze Strong Adhesion base and then of course my trusty Seche Vite top coat.  

  

Direct Sun

Shade

Indoor

   As you can see, the color doesn't change very much in different lighting conditions.  I love polishes like that.  But look at how much it glows in the shade.  This is a great summer color and I think would look good on lots of different skin tones.  I might even make this my pedi when I go on vacation in a couple weeks.

  

  

Maybelline Chic Chocolate

   Man, what a crazy week this has been.  Sorry I haven't posted in so long, I just got really busy.  But I should have something exciting to share with you soon so hopefully that will make up for it.
   Recently, New York held Spring/Summer '11 Fashion Week.  For those who don't know, Fashion Week is where the big designers reveal their new lines for the coming seasons.  Cosmetics companies also often reveal new lines and colors.  I know it seems like it's too early to be thinking about Spring or Summer, especially as some of us are still in summer, but it gives us a heads up on what's coming so we can be prepared, and maybe find bargains that will be more expensive later.
   This year, Maybelline New York released a limited edition collection of products in honor of Fashion Week.  I picked up three of the polishes from the collection.  The first of the three I'm going to show you is Chic Chocolate.  This is one of those polishes that looks very different depending on the lighting.  It is a deep brown almost black base with red shimmer that's hidden unless in direct sun.

See it on after the break