Sally Hansen Swatches from Yesterday's Haul

I tried my best to capture the true color of these wonderful colors.

I did alright, but they aren't fantastic. 

Take my word for it, these polishes are worth hunting for.

"Sea And Be Seen"

2 coats over base coat of China Glaze "Secret Peri-Wink-le"

Nice frosty periwinkle

"Silver Lining"

2 coats, no base

SUPER pretty!

"Lagoon"

2 coats, no base 

This polish literally glows, its SO gorgeous!

"Hidden Treasure"

1 coat over 1 coat of China Glaze - Heli-yum

Grrrrr I fought with the camera to get the colors and flakes to show up, but alas I couldn't truly capture it's beauty. But I assure you, this flakey polish is heavenly!!

Early Spring...or just wishful thinking

Today I decided to combination my two latest obsessions...or perhaps it's three. 

Green Polish

Holo Polish

Moonicure's

Because I am SO damned tired of winter, the snow and dull,gray days....I grabbed for China Glaze's "L8R G8R". This awsome spring green Holo.

But, that wasn't enough for me, I then took Claire's "Evergreen" and gave myself a moonicure.

*WARNING*
L8R G8R DOES stain nails. It is essential to use base coat when wearing this polish.

Ahhhh, that's more like it. I'm really into these two-toned moonicure's lately. They are so simple, but so pretty. So, for now at least, I can pretend, if only for a few minutes that it's actually Spring outside.

Here's a couple other Holo's I grabbed.

From Milani's new line, this is a "Hi-Res", a light purple Holo.

And China Glaze's "Rated Holographic", which I believe is from the OMG Collection, as well as "L8R G8R"

 

I'm very pleased with all 3 of these, and I'm sure Ill be picking up more.

In the meantime, I hope this Spring moonicure holds me over till the sun finally comes out. 

O.P.I Hong Kong Collection

 

I must say, I wasn't overly impressed with this selection. Perhaps it's just me, but I felt most of the colors were too muted and dull to be considered a "Spring" collection. None the less, I decided to head to the store and check them out. The first color that hit me is "Jade Is The New Black"

I have been on a green binge as of late and this shade isn't like anything I have. The color is a hunter green cream. Really lovely.  As always, O.PI.'S formula stands true, giving a very nice finish with only one coat....two for good measure.

In the end, I decided to grab 2 of the colors from this collection.

Jade Is The New Black & Hot & Spicy

Hot & Spicy is a a red based coral/orange. I'm big on corals during the warmer months, they just tend to suit my skin. So I decided to pick this one up as well. Again, the formula is great, smooth application. Only 1 coat is needed, but I always stick with 2. Drys fast, keeps a nice sheen.

Over all the collection....meh. But I am happy with these two colors and will definitely be using them in future tutorials, so stay tuned!

I'm So Crafty LOL

So...the infamous nail polish enabler, Scrangie has struck again. Yes, Scrangie brings all our nail polish addictions to new heights. Ahh, but we love her and her blog has a swatch for just about any nail polish out there. If you aren't familiar with her, I highly recommend you check out her blog.(Listed in " my blog list") OK, back to the topic at hand. About a month or so ago, Scrangie posted a blog, complete with swatches of Barielle's new Spring 2010 WildFlower collection. Typical spring colors and I wasn't overly impressed, except with one.

This little gem is called "JuneBug".It is a light teal with purplish/magenta glitter. Seems pretty simple but it was love at first sight. I had to have it.
There was just 1 problem. Barielle isn't sold by me, in fact I'm not if it's sold in the states at all(don't quote me on that)The only place I CAN purchase Barielle from is their website. Bummer. Not a complete loss though. But, they didn't have it listed on the site! NOOOO! Being the impatient person I am, I decided to make a Franken, to re-create this amazing color. I searched and searched for just the right color and finally I found it at ICING. ICING, is a part of Claire's Accessories, in case you aren't familiar with the store. The color is called "Laura's Fave"

 

I brought it home, and added about 1/2 teaspoon of magenta glitter and VIOLA! My very own JuneBug.

Of course JuneBug is now available on Barielle's site, but I'm quite content with mine. Barielle polishes retail for $8.00 plus shipping, for us unfortunate enough not to have them locally. The glitter I already had, & the ICING polish cost me $4.00. Pretty good deal if I do say so myself. Don't be afraid to try making your own polishes, it's alot of fun seeing what kind of results you'll get.

Orly SWEET Spring Collection 2010

The Orly SWEET Spring Collection is showing a familiar trend this spring. Pastel cremes are all the rage. This collection definitely mimics many of the other Spring collections out there.  This collection consists of 6 different shades.

Pixy Stix - Pink Cream

Lollipop - Pastel Purple Cream

Lemonade - Pastel Yellow Cream

Gumdrop - Pastel Turquoise Cream

Cotton Candy - Baby Pink Cream

Snow Cone - Baby Blue Cream

What makes these gems unique is that each bottle comes with a mini lip gloss in the same shade as the polish. VERY CUTE. Since I've just picked up almost the entire Up & Away collection, by China Glaze, I decided to get just a couple of these polishes and try them out. Cotton Candy & Gumdrop.

I purchased these online, so I haven't had the chance to see all the colors first hand, nor do I know what each of the lip glosses smell like.  Cotton Candy lip gloss is a classic fruity scent, it reminds me of Fruit Stripes gum. Ok, perhaps I'd dating myself since I said that, I haven't seen Fruit Stripes in stores for many years. GumDrop's lip gloss scent is a pure candy smell, very sweet, very yummy. Both glosses are pretty sheer with an opalescence to them.

Now, let's talk about the polishes themselves.The truth is, I can never say anything bad about Orly. Their formula is fantastic, not to thin, not too thick. Paints on clean and smooth and most times you can get away with a single coat. These 2 polishes are no exception to that. Cotton Candy is really a classic girly pink. Yes, there are alot of pastel pinks on the market these days, and so I can't out right day GO BUY THIS, however, if you've got a thing for pink, you need this one in your collection. Cotton Candy has a dupe, same color, goes on the same, for a third of the price. and that color is Beautiful Girl by Sinful Colors. Both in the bottle and on the nail, Beautiful Girl is the slightest bit darker. Cotton Candy being more peach toned, Beautiful Girl being more pink toned. Sinful Colors retails on average $1.99, while Orly's Cotton Candy on average retails for $8.99

Gumdrop I purchased in the hopes of it being a dupe for China Glaze's infamous For Audrey. I was right. These two colors are identical. I am thrilled because For Audrey is one of my all time favorite colors, and apparently it's everyone elses favorite as well, because this color is usually sold out. :( But have no fear. Orly's gumdrop is a perfect match. I may just have to stock up on this color if I'm not able to get my hands on new bottles of For Audrey. It's a wonderful pastel turquoise cream. A classic Tiffany blue. Gorgeous. Polish is the same, not too thin, not too thick, very smooth application and drys fast.China Glaze retails on average of $6.99 & Orly on average of $8.99. Personally, I'll pay a couple of extra dollars to get my hands on a good "For Audrey" dupe.

 

 

Judging by these two colors, I'd say that Orly has got a hit with this spring collection. I think I may pick up SnowCone next, I've yet to see a pastel blue exactly like it. These pastels, while the seem the same, they are unique onto themselves.Definitely worth a second look.

Some Franken Dupes...

How many times have you seen a new polish collection come out, or perhaps it's just one polish in particular and you think to yourself, I gotta have that! Then you see the price, and all your dreams are shattered. Still, we hang onto the dream that one day, we can own such amazing colors. ( Ok, so maybe that's just me, lol )

Oh sure, it's nice to be able to splurge on the more expensive brands, but the truth is, alot of us don't have the kind of money to drop on nail polish. I know, that's crazy talk, but sometimes you have to put the polish down and buy groceries instead. LOL! Yeah, budgets suck.....but hey, when my wallet is tight, that's when I have come up with some of the most creative and ingenius ideas.

I have been eyeing a few polishes lately, you know the ones. when you see them, you get all warm & fuzzy inside. Don't deny it, we've all been there.

Unless you've been living under a rock, anyone who loves nail polishes, knows MAC's Peppermint Patty. This color has been such a hit, that many MAC counters have sold out of this minty gem.  So, I started thinking....I'm creative, I have the no-how to mix colors.AH-HA! I'll make a Franken! Hmmm, but which colors to match to make just the right color. Trial and error, I could not get this color right. Then, one day, I literally stumbled onto a YouTube video telling the exact colors to match to get this color.  So I immediately ran-sacked my polish draw, pulled out the colors she mentioned and got to mixing.  The end result brought tears to my eyes and I swear I heard angels sing when I painted my first nail. EUREKA!!!

But wait.....there's more! Hilary aka HilsHeavenScents(see video above) truly inspired me to try and duplicate some more colors. So I tried a couple more.

This is what I came up with.

     This is a dupe for Essie's  - Sag Harbor

 I took just a plain white polish, the bottle was 3/4 ful.

the one I used is from Avalon. Then I took a basic black (I used NYX polish in black) and poured about 20 drops into the white. Then to give it just the slightest blue tint, I poured about 7 drops of a sky blue polish (I used May6ix polish in Sky Blue) Simply placed the lid back onto the bottle and gave it a thorough shake. VOILA! there you go.

This is a dupe for MAC's - Coconut Ice

This is a new polish from MAC's Lilyland collection. I simply fell in love with it. It's so perfect for spring, I just knew I had to own it. Again, taking a basic white(I used Brucci polish in Snow White) with the bottle about halfway full.

Next, I took an orange polish ( I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed) and poured about 25 drops into the white. Followed by a nice cream pink (I used Essie polish in Forget Me Nots) and poured about 8 drops into the white. Closed the lid, shaked the bottle well and now I've got Coconut Ice. I gotta say, I'm really looking forward to doing a tutorial with this color.

 

 This is a dupe for MAC's - Peppermint Patty

(the Seche Clear was just an empty bottle I had)

Following the directions in HilsHeavenScents video, I mixed China Glaze's For Audrey & In The Lime Light with a plain white and this is the result. Pure minty heaven! I can't thank her enough for not only showing me how to make this color, but for also inspiring me to try some stuff out on my own.

This is with indoor lighting

This is with natural lighting

My camera isn't the best with colors & lighting, all the colors in person are slightly lighter.

So now it's your turn to try something new! Have fun, mix it up, you never know what you'll come out with!!

REVIEW: Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure Collection

Sally Hansen has come out with a new collection.  Complete Salon Manicure. It claims to have all 5 steps, in one simple bottle.

Base Coat

Strenghtener

Growth Treatment

Color

Top Coat

Sounds too good to be true?? Well let's take a better look.

So here's a brochure I picked up from my local Walgreen's, there are 28 colors total in the new line. Retailing for on average for $7.99, these seem like a pretty good deal. I think the color selection is great. Polish formula is very similar to the Insta-Dry collection. something else that is the same; the flat tapered brush.

Many people are intimidated by this brush, and all I can say is, don't be. The large flat brush covers more nail space, equaling a quicker paint job and the tapered tip ensures you getting around the nail bed with ease.They go on easily and most with only a single coat.  Now, most of the time, i wear artificial nails, so it's difficult to test the durability of polishes, since they wear differently on real nails. So I had my gf try them out on her natural nails and for her to tell me her thoughts at the end of the week.. On her left hand, she wore 2 coats of polish and nothing else, on her right hand she wore 2 coats in addition to a top coat (Seche Vite). After 5 days of wear, her right hand was still in pretty good shape with only some very minor chipping. On the left hand, however, she had severe chipping and some peeling.

Would I re-buy these? Personally, yes. I'm loving the colors and the polish is great on artificial nails. But natural nail girls beware.....touch-ups will be in your future when using these polishes!

Here are 3 of the colors I picked up from Target.

"Gilty Pleasures"

This is a really unique burnished gold

"Thinking Of Blue"

A classic navy and a great dupe for China Glaze's "Bermuda Breakaway"

 

"Commander In Chic"

This is the fall "it" color. A great dusty gray-brown with a hint of lavender. It comes close to the infamous "Metro Chic" by O.P.I. by Sephora

So, while Sally Hansen makes a great claim on these polishes and they have a great color selection, the wear & tear on these polishes aren't great. My recommendation to you is if you pick up any of these polishes, wear a good base & top coat.  I give then 3 stars out of 5.