Sally Hansen Nail Glam Party Pack

I don't really post purchases any more, because I see no need, but had to post this one as a "buyer beware". I'm not saying whether you should buy this or not, but since it's a package that keeps it's contents a mystery, I thought I'd do my bit of community service and show you what was in the one I got - which for me was quite a disappointment. 

This Sally Hansen Nail Glam Party Pack was purchased at Rite Aid for $9.99. False advertising, I say... don't get me wrong, I purchased a pack like this once back in 2000 or so, and it had great colors in it. Ah, let me stop yammering and just show the pics so you can decide for yourself. Click pics to get a close-up if needed.

Claire's - Glam - Chloe Style

Chloe, from Chloe's Nails, has a great funky french style that she uses for her manicores often. She paints her tips black!  I've borrowed this idea from her over my existing manicure and love it! I used one coat of Wet N Wild - Black Creme, and topped (somewhat messily) with Out the Door topcoat.

Claire's - Glam, and a vid

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 3
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Claire's store in the mall.
COMMENTS: Colorfulbottle helped me out with my dilemma from the last post by suggesting that I close my eyes and pick a bottle. Sooo... I used random.org to choose which of my 11 drawers to reach into and got 3. Then I did like she said, closed my eyes and grabbed a bottle, and this is what I got. It's another nice smooth glitter from Claire's.
The color has more green in it than what you see in the photos and video, my camera just couldn't capture it. I used Jordana - Boy Oh Boy underneath Glam on the tips of my thumb and ring  fingers only. If I wear this again I will definitely layer it and use just one coat of the glitter. 3 coats made this a little too thick for my liking.

Glam in action:

Indecision...

I couldn't decide what I wanted to wear next, so spent a whole day with naked nails (not even base coat!).  Later on, I bought a few Nyx polishes and decided to try them out on my bare nails. Then much later, using a $10 off coupon, I grabbed two OPI polishes from JCP salon. They were buy 1 get 1 half off, so I got both for under $4! Anyway, one of them ended up getting swatched on yet another bare nail, so this is what my left hand looked like when I got up this morning.

 

Two coats - no base or topcoat, from thumb to pinky:

OPI - Rising Star, NYX Girls - Chocolate Taupe, The Taupe, Dark Grey, Perfect Grey

I love seeing these neutrals together. I know I have dupes for all these Nyx Girls colors, and they cost me $2 each even though I could get them downtown for even less. I dunno, I just wanted them right then, so they've been added to the large collection.
I STILL don't know what to wear next! Suggestions?

Claire's - Dazzling, Sparitual - Winds of Change, Unnamed Color Club

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 1 of each
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Claire's from the store of the same name, Sparitual from a local beauty supply, Color Club from Ross (pack of seven called 'All About Color')
COMMENTS: My glitter frankens are retiring - have you seen the great glitters that Claire's (and Icing - though fewer) has?! They're awesome! I layered Dazzling over a hot pink Color club polish that applied and dried wonderfully. I wore this mani without the black line today, and felt something was missing, so I just added that with acrylic paint and threw on a layer of topcoat - quick and easy, but makes a big  difference!
I finally found the assorted rhinestones at my Dollar Tree, and used two on each hand.

And to combat pesky tipwear on your funkalicious french...

Aren't you tired of seeing this mani? I am, and I've taken it off because  I had a chip on one finger. But, if all I'd had was tipwear and I wanted a quick change, I would probably have gone with the orange tips I played with in the photos below. Then another layer of topcoat and done. So versatile!

Thumb: Original mani, Index: Nina Ultra Pro - Sailor, Middle and Pinky: Claire's - Julius, Ring:  Another coat of Color Club  - Oh Naturale

I have a new mani on but have to go to bed now, so it will have to wait.

Remix! Color Club - Best Dressed List, Charity Ball, and Oh Naturale

Yes, I just couldn't keep this on another day without changing it in some way. I added a stripe with acrylic paint so that I could wash it off if it turned out a hot mess. Although it now reminds me of socks, I like it!

Color Club - Best Dressed List, Charity Ball, and Oh Naturale

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less - set of 7 polishes - the Rebel Debutante collection, I think.
COMMENTS: I absolutely love these colors together! From cuticle to tip: 1) Best Dressed List, 2) Charity Ball, 3) Oh Naturale

Below - L to R: 1) Best Dressed List, 2) Charity Ball, 3) Oh Naturale

Tres Risk - Suede Pumps, Tres Risk - A Lotta Cash

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of Suede Pumps (the grey), 1 of A Lotta Cash (the green)
COLOR DUPE ALERT: Suede Pumps is (to my eye and on my right hand) almost a dead on dupe for Nina Ultra Pro - Never Glum Plum, that's why I have it hanging out in the bottle pic.
TOPCOAT?: Not in the first photos - only in the last one.
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less - from a set of 4.
COMMENTS: When I swatched these two on tips they were rich and creamy, so I couldn't wait to wear them. However, I didn't want to use them on their own for an all grey or all green mani. Solution? Combine them! This combo was the winner of my audition. I used acrylic paint for the white stripe. The polishes were quite shiny on their own, but I had to add a top coat later (last photo) to seal in the acrylic paint. I need to do more like this!

Auditions for the next mani

I like to use my old manicures to audition colors and combinations that I'm thinking of wearing next. Here are the performers who showed up for today's audition. Can you guess which one (though modified) I picked? You'll know soon because I'm working on that post next.

Avon - Midnight Plum, Love My Nails - Diva

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of Midnight Plum, 1 of Diva
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: www.avon.com and Walmart respectively.
COMMENTS: I've been feeling like wearing all black or something rich and dark lately (maybe due to my return to work and how gloomy it is in LA versus where I live?). Either way, I settled on this rich deep plum color. As is usual with these Avons, I could probably have gotten away with one generous coat had I been more careful. I paired these two colors together when I first bought  and played with them, so naturally, the sparkly micro-bar glitter that is Diva came for the ride again. A line with LA Colors - Magenta striper finished off the mani.

Sally Hansen Salon - Sweet Creams

APPLICATION: Smooth, though I found myself wishing the brush was thicker/wider
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Old stash bought at some drugstore early in the year.
COMMENTS: I wanted to wear a sheer polish so that someone I know could see that my nails were actually real. This polish did the job just fine, but looked so boring to me that I had to add the glitter to the tips for a little more interest. At times like this I really wish my konad stamping skills were up to par, because a print in any color would easily have jazzed up this manicure.

Color Las Vegas - Excalibur, Nabi - Blue Glitter, Nyx - Purple Ave

APPLICATION: Smooth on all
COATS: 3-level gradient in Excalibur, 1 each of Blue Glitter and Purple Ave
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Beauty supply stores in downtown Los Angeles
COMMENTS: When I swatched Excalibur and realized it was a blue jelly, I decided to try a gradient-style (some people call it syrup?) mani with it. I then topped it off with first Blue Glitter and finally added some flaky goodness with Purple Ave. For the record there are two Purple Ave colors in the Nyx brand - this is the one with the larger flakes in a purple base. Finished it off with the same rhinestones I used in the last mani - yes, I just cleaned them  in acetone and reused them!

**My skin appears two different colors in these photos. That's because I switched between camera modes to capture the color most accurately.