Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Avon - Jade

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: www.avon.com
COMMENTS: This is one of those infamous mint greens that the online  nail polish community was chattering about this year. It really is gorgeous next to my brown skin. I wore this for three days with no chips (hubby liked it and I wanted him to enjoy it ).



I'm really liking Avon! I ordered quite a few more, so please tell me if you'd like to see a particular color. The colors I have are:

Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel:
Fusion, Mambo Melon, Strawberry, Electric

Nailwear:
Ruby Slipper, Classic Nude, Tweed


NAILWEAR PRO Nail Enamel:
Bare Necessity, Cotton Candy, Fuschia, Midnight Plum, Mulberry, Rave, Ruby Slipper, Venus, Lagoon, Jade, Olive Green, Sunshine, Tangtastic, Vintage Blue, Urban Grey, Luxe Lavender

Let me know if you'd like to see me wear any of these!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Sally Hansen New Lengths - Cobblestone Creme

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Dollar Tree
COMMENTS: This is a dark chocolate brown - much darker than yesterday's Brownstone Creme. You can see these colors next to each other in this post. This color also dried really slowly, but with fan was not much of a bother. I took photos without topcoat to show the built in shine.
I later added topcoat and some accents in Savvy - Purple Potion followed by stickers. Not such a good look, but I'm sharing it anyway.



UP NEXT: Avon - Jade

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sally Hansen New Lengths - Brownstone Creme

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Dollar Tree
COMMENTS: This is a rich chocolate brown that dries a little darker than bottle color. This particular "antique" collection by Sally Hansen is notorious for drying really slowly. It didn't really bother me - I just used my nail fan between coats and then topped with a quick dry topcoat. I later topped my left hand with an unnamed gold/taupe glitter from Girls In America (G.I.A.). My right hand got the Sally - Hansen Hidden Treasure treatment.


UP NEXT: Sally Hansen New Lengths - Cobblestone Creme

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Golden Rose Paris Holographic Color - No. 113

APPLICATION: Smooth - did not drag color like other holographics I've tried.
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: www.goldenroseusa.com
COMMENTS: Not as blingy a holo as I would have liked, but a very pretty color nonetheless.



UP NEXT: Sally Hansen New Lengths - Brownstone Creme

Friday, August 27, 2010

Sally Hansen - Stellar (and Brownstone Creme, Cobblestone Creme)

**I'm doing much better and came home from the hospital on Monday.

APPLICATION: Smooth on all.
COATS: 2 of Brownstone Creme, 2 of Stellar
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Old Stash/Dollar Tree
COMMENTS: I decided to try sponging for the first time on this mani. I sponged Sally Hansen Cobblestone Creme over Brownstone Creme. These colors are both gorgeous and deserve  manis of their own. I put Stellar on my ring finger and thumb and then sponged a glitter franken over it to make it more consistent with the gradients on the other fingers. Finally, I topped the other fingers with two coats of Stellar. Blingtastic, but I felt it was a little too much.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

You are awesome! Orly Satin Hues - Satin Illusion (Pic Heavy)

Thank you so much for all your comments on my last post. I had lost a bit of blood during and after surgery so was very weak. My heart rate/pulse was really high, and just getting up to go to the restroom was a huge challenge.  Late this morning, I was given two units of blood, and what a difference it made!  
Thank you to all the blood donors out there, you don't usually get so see the direct results of what you do, but I have benefited immensely today because of you.  
I now have been able to take a few walks in the hallway unassisted and going to the restroom is a breeze. It's amazing! Since I'm feeling much better, I figured I would post a mani from during the week.
(fyi, my in-hospital mani is just base coat and two coats of gelous, no color. it's held up so far)


Orly Satin Hues - Satin Illusion
APPLICATION: Smooth. It doesn't dry as fast as newer polishes with the satin finish, so easy to apply.
COATS: 3 - and it was worth it.
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Nail supply store in a part of town where I used to live.
COMMENTS: I was really surprised by this since when I swatched it, it looked like a wasted $2, but wearing it , that extra third coat made a difference. It has a blue-ish undertone that's really cool at certain angles. My first pic below is with just one coat. I later put on a topcoat and then stamped with Avon Olive Green to match my outfit (not initially planned). I probably would have worn this a third day, but I wanted to start with something fresh for my  hospital stay.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Surgery

No posts for now as I had a myomectomy on Thursday. Hope to be out of the hospital soon. Keep on painting!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Fun with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

I sometimes like to spend the few minutes before removing an old mani swatching colors that my eye catches. Yesterday, I decided to put on four of the Sally Hansen colors in my stash on and play with them. This was the result (not color accurate).
Above - L to R: The Real Teal, Pacific Blue, Going Green, Blue Me Away


Then I had to go and mess all but one of them up:


The only one that looked decent at the end of it all:

Maybe that will become a full mani some day? Who knows. It was fun though!