Rainbow Tiger Striped Nails!

Let me say that Twitter is awesome; if you aren't there, then you should be! The exchange of ideas on there is constant and you can really find some cool people on there. I follow China Glaze on Twitter and they tweeted about a Tumblr that showcases pretty nails. That's where I got this manicure idea from Artsy RN. She's a pretty cool girl who does some really cute nail designs. Though its not specifically a nail blog, she posts about nails a lot, so I would check it out if you want inspiration.

Here are the supplies I used:

L to R:

• Sally Hansen Blue Me Away
• Essie Pansy
• Zoya Creamy
• Wet n Wild French White Creme
• Seche Vite topcoat
• Art Deco Nail Art Polish in Black
• Makeup sponge

Artsy RN made a YouTube video tutorial which I used as my guide:

The Results!

As you can see, sponging your nails can get a little messy. So this is what they looked like before clean up:

This is Day 2. Getting a little tip wear, but I think it held up well considering the fact that I was moving. The white polish is a cheap, chip-tastic polish so when I do this again I want to use another white polish.

I used my go to topcoat Seche Vite and it kind of smeared the black stripes a bit. Next time I will use a different topcoat. Also you can reuse your makeup sponges just by cutting the used tip off.

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine in Spark

This is the polish I got at the CVS Beauty Sale. I love this color, I really do. It looked really purple in the store, but on my nails it looks blue.

What I don't like about this manicure is the shrinkage I got, the very next day. I did two coats + Seche and it looks like I've had this polish on for at least 3-4 days! I'll even be brave and show it to you.

Yeah...that's pretty bad for the day right after you painted your nails. I just wont use Seche with this color? Well, I hope you make it to the sale to pick up some SH Lacquer shines. Let me know what you get!

Its Back! CVS Beauty Sale

I love deals on beauty products as much as the next girl, so when I read on Nouveau Cheap that the CVS Beauty Sale was back I rushed over on Sunday afternoon to check it out. For all you polish addicts out there, select Sally Hansen polishes are on sale, including these gorgeous Lacquer Shines that Scrangie posted about a while ago (I'm talking 2008).

I just picked up two things on this trip:

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine polish in Spark $1.62

Loreal HIP Shocking Shadow Pigments in Beckoning $2.99

I will defintely be posting the SH polish, but I wanted to show you quick pictures of the HIP Shadow Pigment. This is my first HIP product and when they say High Intensity Pigments, they werent joking. This is the most pigmented eyeshadow I own to date! I kind of want to make nail polish with it...

The included brush:

On my hand:

On my eye, I quickly applied with the included brush:

This is the result with the quick swipe of the brush and minimal product. Wow! Now I want to go back and pick up one of those HIP lip glosses that were 75% off...

Go and check out the CVS Beauty Sale, let me know what deals you find!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Uptemo Plum

 Indoors + Flash (above)

 Outdoors + no flash 

I know SH Insta-Dri polishes are not new, but I had read so many negative reviews on the brush that I just kind of shifted them down on my want list. I mean I saw them when I went into the stores, but if another polish or collection caught my eye, then they would get priority. However that changed when I saw Uptempo Plum on clearance for 2.24 and I figured why not?

Why did I wait so long to try these?! I LOVE THIS BRUSH!! I may be the odd one out, but this brush is perfect to me. I guess it has to do with my nail bed/shape, but it covers the nail almost completely with the first stroke. Love! Plus, the polish dries fast! What more could I want? I am so excited about SH Insta-Dri polish now. I want to go to the store and buy them all! Dont change a thing about these Sally Hansen, okay?

Sally Hansen Gunmetal

Sally Hansen Gunmetal is a beautiful polish. But thats not why I got this. I got it because it was called Gunmetal. In my head the conversation would go something like this.

Random person: Thats a nice color you have on your nails. What is it?
Me: *low voice* hisses, Gunmetallllll...
Random person: Surprised face :-O Oh, okay...


No?
Okay, so the conversation wouldnt go like that. Oh well. I just wanted to let you know that this color kicks butt and its called Gunmetal. 

Happy Friday!
 

Sally Hansen Deep Purple + Santee Purple Sparkle

I actually have had SH Deep Purple for a while and cant believe I ever debated on getting it. "No, you have too many purple polishes, you can pass on this one." Thats what I said to myself everytime I saw it in the store. Then finally, I broke down and got it. This past weekend, I picked up the Santee polish for a dollar and it gave me the perfect reason to dig SH Deep Purple out! I think I picked up the Santee polish because in the store it reminded me of OPI Mad as a Hatter. Yeah, thats a long shot because when I got home, I realized it was glitter in clear base and was way less dense that MAAH. Oh well, its a win/win situation anyway.

 
Did you see the blue shimmer in Deep purple? Amazing, I tell ya.

Recent Manicures

I just wanted to show you what I've been doing with my nails lately. As a college student, I dont have the money to buy every new collection that comes out so I have to come up with inventive ways to be happy with the polish I currently own. Lately, I've been doing my manicures weekly. (gasp!) because I've been so busy with school this semester and I just haven't had time to do my usual 2-3 polish changes a week. One thing I've found that helps me keep a chip-free manicure all week is fake nails. I've been using Nailene nails, here's a picture I twittered of them:

My polish never chips on fake nails and I can play around with the length. With the ones pictured above I actually don't clip them because they come to a perfect manageable length, but when I want longer nails, I usually use some Kiss nails.

So,to do something different to my manicures, I've been painting one nail a different color from the rest of the nails. Like an accent wall, ha! See...

Claire's Black and Sally Hansen Celeb City

Also with Sally Hansen Deep Purple and SH Celeb City:
A note about that polish I'm holding in the last picture, Nailene Acrylic Strong Protecting Topcoat. I underestimated that topcoat. To my surprise it dried very quickly and glossy. You can never have too many quick drying topcoats in my opinion.

So what do you think about painting one nail a different color? Would you try it?

Upcoming posts on this blog:

• I'm going to try and post my review of the Zoya Hot Lips glosses I ordered when they were doing their Twitter promo.
• A review of coconut oil I'm going to use on my hair.
• My experience with my first MAC foundation
  

Now I know these are not nail related posts, but I fully embrace all things beauty so I want to try and branch out for a little. Keep reading and we'll see how that goes!

Sally Hansen Violet Sparks

This is a polish given to me by one of my coworkers :-) Its a polish from Sally Hansen's old Xtreme Wear line and it is a light purple, lavender shimmer. It is pretty sheer, this is three coats + Zoya Armour but I can still see my nail line. On another note, I chopped my nails down again. They were all different lengths; however my index finger is filed funny now that I look at it. LOL

Sally Hansen Problem Cuticle Remover

This weekend I picked up some cuticle remover because I'm tired of my crazy looking cuticles. I chose Sally Hansen Problem Cuticle Remover.

This is what it says on the box:
You Have: Thick, overgrown cuticles
You Want: Easy removal, soft skin
You'll Get: Smooth groomed cuticles

Directions were simple enough, apply a thin strip around cuticle and massage into skin. Wait three to five minutes. Gently ease back cuticles with manicure stick. Wash away with warm, soapy water.
Sounds good enough right? Here's some pictures of me applying the cream:

Pushing cuticles back with the manicure stick:
The verdict? Well my cuticles aren't as thick and overgrown as I thought. I didn't have to to push as much at all. The skin surrounding my nails was soft and felt moisturized. Here's a picture after using the cuticle remover. Please ignore the bad polish removal job. Also this is the first time I'm showing my bare nails!

Pros:
Great price, it was only about 3.50 at Wal-Mart
Lightly scented with a clean smell
Aloe Vera is great for moisturizing
Came with two orange sticks

Cons:
I cant think of any...

Overall, I would recommend it but maybe that's because I haven't used the great CND Cuticle Eraser. Its supposed to work wonders. Later for that though, I need to use this one up first!

Sally Hansen Made You Blush

This weekend I bought Sally Hansen products exclusively and I didn't even realize it until I got home. I picked up this light pink SH at Target on clearance and I was expecting it to be sheer so it was a surprise when it turned out to be a nice buildable color. I got SH Hard as Nails because I mentioned before that two of my nails on each hand tend to split and/or chip just when I get them the length I want. It's very frustrating so I hope this helps with that problem. Lastly I got SH topcoat, Clear'd for Takeoff. I will talk about that horrible topcoat later...

Here's the polish, 3 coats with the coordinating topcoat:
This is my first SH Salon nail polish and I will say that the formula is nice, not too thick and applied nicely. I love the bottle! Its already one of my favorite polish bottles and the rubber handle is just great like Orlys, helps me get a better grip. However, the Clear'd for Takeoff is a terrible topcoat. Clear'd for Takeoff? Try never did get off the ground. I could still dent my polish almost 45 minutes later! And its not the glossiest topcoat. You know what it is? That Seche Vite has me spoiled. Dries and hardens in minutes to a glossy shine that I have yet to find in any other topcoat. So, I redid my manicure, added another coat of Made You Blush and finished it off with SV.
I can live with this now! :-)

-Lachelle

Sally Hansen Blue Me Away

Yes, this is the sky blue I've been looking for. That's funny, because I didn't even know I wanted a sky blue until I got my hands on this polish. This is the last of the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes I picked up (for now) and it was a great color to start off my weekend. I think it went perfectly with my white shirt and blue jean combo this weekend. That's another favorite of mines...a crisp, fresh white shirt (this weekend it was a halter I picked up from AE a while ago) and a nice pair of jeans that fit you just right (you know the ones). I think that combo looks so nice against dark skin...okay, I'm rambling. Back to the nail polish. I got to take some pictures out in the sun this weekend so I'm really happy about that too.

This is two coats, probably could have done with one but the second coat smoothed out any mistakes I made the first time around. Dried fairly quickly as usual but I used Seche Vite as my topcoat. I think this color looks great on my new short nails and I couldn't stop staring at them this weekend. So I guess this color really did "blue" me away!

Sorry.

I couldn't help it!

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink

Indoor + Flash
Indoor + No Flash

O. M. G.

This is what I have been missing?! The wonderful world of glitter! Or glittah as Brooke would say. This is my first glitter polish believe it or not. I. Cannot. Stop. Staring. This is one the revamped Xtreme Wear line polishes I picked up at Walgreens and I should have gotten more glitters! It's like I've fell in love with nail polish all over again because I've stepped into uncharted territory. Well at least for me anyway.

Rockstar Pink is a pink, blue and silver suspended in a clear base. (I had to have a pink as my first glitter!) This was gorgeous all on its own, but when I added Seche Vite, it was even better! It still has a rough texture though when I run my fingers over it. This is two coats. I might even keep this on for 2 days! Now I'm not looking forward to the removal. I've heard about glitters and being notoriously hard to remove. I'll get to that when get to it. For now, I cant keep my eyes off of my nails!

Sally Hansen Celeb City

(I wore this ring because I thought it went great with my silver polish and I was inspired by some of Brooke's latest pictures of her nails with a fabulous cocktail ring!)

Sally Hansen has revamped their Xtreme Wear nail polish line and I couldn't be happier. I first spotted these over at Steph's Closet and I knew I had to have them. They've added some new colors (glitters!) and kept some old favorites (Purple Potion anyone?) Yesterday was the first day I could get to Walgreens to get some of the polishes so the next couple of posts will be about these polishes because I'm actually going to wear them instead of just swatching.

First up is Celeb City, a silver that is opaque in one coat but I used two anyway. I so wanted to add some black and white designs to this but it's pretty shiny on its own. I need to get new bottles of black and white polishes, because my current bottles are running low and they've gotten sticky and a pain to apply. So you'll see this polish again, but next time with some art. I used Seche as my topcoat, but I've noticed that Xtreme Wear polishes dry really fast anyway.

I had to clip/file my nails because the same two nails keep peeling on each hand. I have no idea why, but I'm doing some research about nail strengtheners. OPI Nail Evny is at the top of the list right now. Hopefully, I wont have to keep clipping and filing them for the same reason. It always happens right when I get them a length that I want too!

Sally Hansen Purple Potion

Indoor + Flash

Outdoor+ No Flash

I'm a fan of Sally Hansen nail polishes. They have their hits and misses but this is a hit. Purple Potion, a gorgeous purple with blue shimmer is from their Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear line. Purple is one of my favorite colors to paint my nails after pink of course and I love this purple. I know I say I love a lot of colors, but what can I say?! I'm a addict and when I saw this one on the shelves, it was love at first sight.

This is three coats + topcoat. It doesn't chip quickly on me, I've have other Xtreme Wear polishes that don't chip easily either, so I'll be buying more from this line. Bottom line for Purple Potion: It's a pretty interesting color, good consistency, dried quickly and very affordable at about 2 bucks plus change.


Whats not to love?

My (Fake) Zebra Manicure

Outdoor + No Flash

Indoor + Flash

What youre looking at is a zebra manicure...gone wrong. I got inspired watching some YouTube videos and decided to go for a black, hot pink and white manicure. What I got? I dont know...but eh, I actually like it. I mentioned in the previous post that I'm just getting into nail art, so maybe the blog can track my progress. Who knows? I could be a great nail artist in a couple of months, practice makes perfect?

My pointer finger is really bad, I had to get used to using this thin nail art brush. Some lines are thicker than others, but when I look at my hand all together instead of focusing one the mistakes...I can dig it.

This is what I used:

L to R: Wet n Wild French White Creme, Sally Hansen Black Out, Sinful Colors Cream Pink

Sally Hansen Blackout

Indoor + Flash

Okay, this picture is of a manicure done Friday...I got home from work and I felt like a change from my pink manicure. I wanted something dark, so I picked Sally Hansen Blackout. I got this from Ulta a while ago for 2 bucks and some change. Then for something a little extra I added one coat of Sinful Colors Daddy's Girl. Well that manicure chipped on me the very next day.

I think it was the Sinful Colors polish that I added, I mean I've worn SH Blackout alone before and it didnt chip that fast. I also did my normal Orly Sec n Dry topcoat and it was shiny enough for me. The whole combo was a good idea...at least in my head.