Konad Olive Green Princess Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I like my Sally Hansen Creamy Olive manicure so much that I just added to it today, and I used plate XL A with Konad Olive Green Princess Polish to do it.  My stamping job wasn't perfect, nor was my cleanup (I erred on the side of removing too much), but I figured I'd give you a look at Konad Olive Green just the same because it's a great Fall shade and seems to lend itself to stamping over a lot of the Fall cremes.

Here, I stamped using the regular Konad stamper (I keep meaning to break out the XL one for another try, but never remember until I'm tidying up a spot that the regular stamper missed) and Konad Olive Green Special Polish, then sealed the stamping with Konad Top Coat and then a coat of Poshe to dry it.  Here's the finished manicure in the sun, and my pinky nail is the best one to really show stamping.

Konad Olive Green Princess Polish over Sally Hansen Creamy Olive Nail Polish

The places where stamps overlapped and the over-cleaned spots show up clearly here in a blown-up picture, but just walking around it looks fine.  Frankly, these are the ones that drive me nuts because the picture shows a pretty jacked up manicure while it looks cool when I look at my hands, which is why I suggest using the pinky, the only one with a completely clean stamp, to evaluate how the polish and stamp really look when properly executed.

I like the two colors together quite a bit, but I think the pattern is a little too small and busy for this particular combination.  I recently broke out quite a few Konad polishes that have been out of rotation for a while, so that might just bring about more Konad manicures in the coming weeks.

That's my olive green manicure and just about all I have to tell you about this morning, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Creamy Olive

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm still not ready to face another Fall color head-on, so today I chose one that kind of lets me ease into the idea.  Creamy Olive from the Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle line is, as the name indicates, a very washed out olive green creme.  The olive nods toward Fall, but the very pale shade lets me believe that the heat index really is 105° again.  Remember in February when I was complaining of being snowed in during dangerously cold conditions?  I just did and began to question why the heck I live in this area...

Back to Creamy Olive, which is an overall good polish except for the gargantuan oddly shaped brush (I think it's the same as that in the Insta Dri line).  After starting with base coat, the first coat of color was super sheer and blotchy then the second magically evened it all out for me.  I finished this one with Poshe because I somehow got some microglitter bits into the Diamont bottle I've been refilling, and Creamy Olive dried in good time and to a very glossy finish.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Creamy Olive Nail Polish, Two Coats

One thing I particularly like about Creamy Olive is that despite how pale it is, there is no chalkiness to its overall look when dry, which is sometimes kind of a problem.  This is my second polish (I think, maybe third) from this relatively new line, and I absolutely love the polish and absolutely hate the brush, so replacing the brush looks like a good option here.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Stamping Plate D15

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still playing with the D-Series stamping plates, and today I used D15, which has a bunch of star-themed patterns on it.  I figured I'd go for a night sky kind of thing, so I started out with Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby, a reliable two coat navy shimmer, and stamped various patterns from D15 over it using China Glaze Millennium, a silver chrome.  Here's what it looked like when I was finished on a cloudy day.

Stamping Plate D15 in Silver over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby Nail Polish

The man in the moon was a little smudgy, and I got a smudge with the star surrounded by tiny stars as well, but I find that kind of thing is easier for me to mess up with a chrome polish for stamping rather than the usual Konad polishes I'm accustomed to.  Since there's not a silver Konad polish that shows up this well, I'll just have to live with it.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear VIP Pink

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today there's more layered glitter polish in store with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear VIP Pink over China Glaze Sugar High.  I don't know much about VIP Pink other than that I had it in a box of polishes and it's a pretty pink with glitter, but it looked a little sheer for me to wear alone.

I don't know if I ever showed you a picture of what I think is the easiest way to get an idea of the opacity of a polish without having to open it, so I took one to show you today.  I just hold the bottle a little bit tilted and above eye level, then roll the mixing ball around a little.  How well I can see the mixing ball is an indication of how sheer it is.

Mixing Ball in Sally Hansen VIP Pink Bottle

That's pretty sheer since I can see it so well, so I grabbed a creme that was a good match for the shade, China Glaze Sugar High, to put under it.  Here's two coats of Sugar High, a two coater, alone.

China Glaze Sugar High Nail Polish, Two Coats

I topped it off with two coats of VIP Pink and top coat.

Sally Hansen VIP Pink Nail Polish over China Glaze Sugar High

That's much better.  Now that I'm all pink and sparkly, it pretty much has to be a good day today.  That's just about all I have for you, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Honeydew & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd do a "real" blog post today in addition to the Zoya Touch Collection pre-sale announcement, so I figured I'd show you the manicure I'm wearing today.  It's Sally Hansen Salon (the now discontinued square bottle) Honeydew with just a little bit of white Konad.

Honeydew is an all-time favorite of mine and it's perfect for Spring.  I've been delving into my train case of most precious polishes lately, and that's where this one belongs.  The polish is a two-coater, and it applies beautifully.  Here it is by itself in the sun.

Sally Hansen Honeydew Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added a little flower pattern from Konad plate m60 in Konad White Pearl Special Polish to my ring finger for an accent nail.

Sally Hansen Honeydew Nail Polish with Konad m60 in White Pearl

It's very Spring-y and happy, so I like it.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats

Good morning, Dear Reader!

On the off chance you're not weary of crackle nail polish yet, I have two from the Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat release to show you today, Antiqued Gold and Distressed Denim.  These are the only two I have from Sally Hansen - the others seemed close enough to OPI or China Glaze ones to me.  The biggest thing the two of these have in common is a long, skinny, floppy brush that make them very difficult to apply thinly, which puts a huge damper on how much I like them.

I'll start with the one that was a letdown, Antiqued Gold.  The shade is pretty, a nice shimmery pale gold, but the polish is a little thick like the China Glaze Fault Line, the tricky purple shimmer, and the floppy brush in Antiqued Gold made it impossible for me to use the same technique to successfully apply it as I did the China Glaze.  The manicure here is Illamasqua Scarab with one thicker-than-I-wanted-it coat of Antiqued Gold, the thinnest I was able to apply, then top coat.

Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle Overcoat over Illamasqua Scarab

I like look of the polish, it's that there are so few cracks that I don't care for.  Applying it more thinly would fix that, but the long, skinny, floppy brush makes that a challenging feat.

Distressed Denim is much thinner, so I had a little more success with this one since I was able to apply a thinner coat.  It's a bright blue jelly, so I paired it with OPI Last Friday Night to let the glitter sparkle through.  It worked out well.

Sally Hansen Distressed Denim Crackle Overcoat over OPI Last Friday Night

I hadn't used Last Friday Night before, so I took a picture of it to show you before adding the crackle.  The color of it builds slowly, and on my hands I think it makes me look like I'm really, really cold.  This is three coats.

OPI Last Friday Night Nail Polish, Three Coats

That's what I know about Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats.  Most likely, I'll return them because I really hate the brush a whole lot.  I considered decanting them into another bottle with a workable brush, which I've never done before, but partway through the process of picturing what it would take to do that I lost interest, which pretty much gave me my answer on whether that's something I want to do.
That's it for today, Dear Reader, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Silver Shatter & Navy Baby

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm wearing OPI Silver Shatter over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby today, and so I have pictures of it for you.  I did something a little different this time, I forgot to leave one nail the usual way so we could see whether it made a difference.  I'll tell you about it when that step fits in.

I started out with base coat, then two coats of Navy Baby followed by quick dry top coat to dry it.  What I liked about the Silver Shatter over Dragon manicure was the bigger cracks in it, but I thought the pieces of silver drifted a little far apart.  The idea I had to try to let the thicker coat of Silver Shatter break up nicely but not have the pieces run away from each other was to use a coat of sticky base coat (I had Nubar Foundation handy and used that) over the quick dry top coat just before applying Silver Shatter.  So once the whole Navy Baby manicure was dry, I added a thin coat of Foundation, gave it about two minutes to dry, then added a thick coat of Silver Shatter and two coats of quick dry top coat to smooth it out.  The plan was to add Foundation to nine nails so we could see a clear With and Without to tell if it made a difference, but I was watching a movie when I did the manicure, and it was a creepy part when I was applying Foundation and I got distracted, so we'll know if it made a difference another time... Here's the manicure.

OPI Silver Shatter over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby in Sunlight

I really like this one a lot too, and I think Foundation may have changed the continental drift I didn't care for over the red, so I'll have to do a decent test to find out.  With all the China Glaze Crackles and Black Shatter, the polish is so thick to start that applying a thick coat of it never came up, but Silver Shatter isn't anywhere near as thick, which leaves more room for how you want to apply it.  I'm not trying to make up extra rules for it or to complicate it any further, I really just want to see the ways the final outcome using it can be manipulated and how since it's kind of nice to have a manicure turn out exactly as the idea was pictured.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal over Black

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing my all-time favorite polish to layer over black, Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal, which is one of the Nail Prisms line.  I applied three coats of it over my black creme soak-off gel base to see if it was even more impressive at three coats, and dangit, it is.  I tested the third coat on one nail to see if it mattered before begrudgingly proceeding to add it to the other nine nails.  That's how I know for sure it's my favorite - when layering over black polish, two coats is normally my limit, and yesterday I was happy to be able to use three of Clarins 230 for a better effect.  Today, I'm whiny about using more of my precious discontinued Turquoise Opal whether it looks cooler or not - I need to get over that!

I've shown you Turquoise Opal at two coats at least once, maybe twice, before.  To make it a little more interesting, this time I made an animated gif in addition to a regular picture.  For both the picture and the gif, I did blur out cuticle injuries from yesterday's rough removal.  I figured you'd done no harm to me, so why should I assault your eyes with images of cuticle wounds when you're expecting a picture of nail polish...

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Turquoise Opal, Three Coats over Black

Here's the fun one.

Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal in Motion

I think what I like most about Turquoise Opal is that it actually delivers on the promise seen in pictures.  A lot of the time, I see what I later discover is just the coolest looking picture that can be taken of a polish, which is nice, but leads to disappointment when I try the polish.  Clarins 230 is an example of that for me - it looks super cool in the sun or bright light (which is actually a better outcome than I've had from many), but it takes adjusting angles for me to see all the colors.  Turquoise Opal just plain old looks super cool and duochrome all the time.  These pictures are representative of how it is on a sunny day, but it's just as distinctly two colors in any light, they're just distributed over the nail differently.  This polish is so much fun to play with in any light - I end up doing what I'm doing in the gif randomly and often when I wear it.

I'm going to get about the rest of my day, taking many Nail Polish Admiration Breaks throughout.  Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I was out and about this morning picking up a few things for this project I've got going, and I ran into the display for the new Nailgrowth Miracle line from Sally Hansen.  Most of the colors were pretty yawny, but I did pick up two.  The two I chose, I selected because the finish of each is interesting.

I got home and unpacked, then promptly decided that I've been working hard this week and I'm going to be a slacker today.  That meant there was no reason I couldn't try out one of the new polishes, so I did.  I used Gentle Blossom.

Gentle Blossom is a light mint green, a really pretty shade.  As I looked at it in the store, I initially passed because I couldn't see the shimmer well in the weird store fluorescent lighting, but a closer look convinced me it was a good choice.  The shimmer is odd - it's subtle, but really dense at the same time.  Gentle Blossom applied well with a brush like the one in the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line.  In two coats, it was opaque but still a bit streaky, so I added a third to even it out.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom Nail Polish, Three Coats

The sunlight today is not very strong, but the shimmer still shows well.  Here's a closer look at the shimmer.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom Nail Polish, Closer Look

I think this is a really nice one, and I like it a lot.  Occasionally admiring it throughout the day will be a nice use of a slacker day.

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm back sooner than I thought because I found something to show to you: the Sally Hansen Ultra HD nail polishes.  I was out and about running errands and ran into them, so I grabbed them.  When I got home, I swatched them for you.

I layered all of them over black.  I used one coat of Nubar Black and two coats of the Ultra HD for each.  I did the swatches this way because from what I've seen, the Ultra HD's take 4-5 coats to be opaque, and aren't terribly opaque even at that.  Given that there are eight colors, I didn't want to be stuck swatching until noon doing five coats of each, and I would not wear them that way anyhow - I'd simply layer them over black, so that's how I'm showing them to you.

The swatches are under artificial light, and the order is numerical - they're numbered 09-16.  They start out strong, get a little weak, and then get strong again in this order.

Byte is magenta in the bottle, magenta and purple on the nail over black.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Byte, Two Coats over Black

LCD is a light pink in the bottle, far more impressive on the nail.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in LCD, Two Coats over Black

Wavelength is an orange that's kind of rust over black, and where we start to get a little weak.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Wavelength, Two Coats over Black

Hue is a yellow with a bit of green duochrome over black.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Hue, Two Coats over Black

Resolution is a green shimmer.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Resolution, Two Coats over Black

Spectrum is where they start to get strong again, a shimmering sparkly blue.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Spectrum, Two Coats over Black

DVD is a blue and purple duochrome.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in DVD, Two Coats over Black

The last one, Laser, is a sparkly royal blue with pinkish purple duochrome.

Sally Hansen Ultra HD Nail Color in Laser, Two Coats over Black

Layered over black, I think they're wearable and cool, although I'd pass on Wavelength and Hue if I knew how they'd look on the nail.  I might try those two over a matching base to see if they turn out a little better, but I don't care for either over black.  Otherwise, I like all of them, especially the really sparkly ones.

That's the update for now, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Nubar 2010

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I looked at the forecast and saw that there's no sun in sight for a while, so I used the light box to show you some Nubar 2010 swatches and a comparison to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

I'll start with the comparison.  With the bottles side by side, the base of Nubar 2010 is a lot clearer and the flakies more colorful.

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and Nubar 2010 Bottle Comparison

On the nail over Nubar Black Chrome, the flakes in Nubar 2010 are smaller and a good bit denser (there are patches missing flakes on the HT nails).  This is one coat of each.  On my thumb, you can see that the Nubar flakies reflect a lot of green.

Nubar 2010 & Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure Compared over Nubar Black Chrome

Now for the swatches... I tried it over pastels, neons, and some mid-tone shimmers.  Here are the pastels, China Glaze Something Sweet, Re-Fresh Mint, Peachy Keen, and Lemon Fizz.

Nubar 2010 Swatches over Pastels, One Coat

The neons are Color Club Jackie Oh!, Mrs. Robinson, Wham! Pow!, and Warhol.

Nubar 2010 Swatches over Neons, One Coat

The shimmers are Nubar Conserve, Raspberry Truffle, Pasadena Purple, and Sultry Red.

Nubar 2010 Swatches over Shimmers, One Coat

One thing I noticed is that the flakes appear to be a different color based on the base they're on.  They look more yellow on the pastels, opal-y orange on hte neons, and are all over the place on the shimmers.

For my Nails of the Day, I put Nubar 2010 over Sensual Red, and I'm happy with the outcome.

Nubar 2010, One Coat, over Nubar Sensual Red, Two Coats

I would have preferred sunlight for these pictures, but I also didn't want to wait a week to do them.  Those are my Nubar 2010 swatches for you, and the update for this morning.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Konad Plate M71 & Hidden Treasure

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have a couple of Konadicures using Konad plate M71 for you, as well as some bonus pictures of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.  The Konadicures are photographed in natural light, the Hidden Treasure pictures are me trying to find the right spot to use in the light box.

The first Konadicure is a base of China Glaze Something Sweet from the Up & Away Collection, two coats, stamped with Psyche Pink Konad Special Polish using a lace pattern from plate M71 and tip patterns from plate M19.

Konad Plate M71 over China Glaze Something Sweet, Two Coats, using Psyche Pink

The second is today's Nails of the Day, three coats of OPI Fiercely Fiona stamped with a lace pattern from plate M71 at the tips using Green Konad Special Polish.

Konad Plate M71 over Fiercely Fiona, Three Coats, using Green Special Polish

Now for the bonus pictures of Hidden Treasure... I have three because each different angle showed Hidden Treasure differently.  The manicure is two coats of Hidden Treasure over two coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge Mismas.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish, Number One

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish, Number Two

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish, Number Three

Pretty cool, huh?

That's it for now, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Silver Holographic Nail Polish

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I was going through a box this morning and ran into some silver holographic nail polishes, Chanel Holographic, GOSH Holographic, and Sally Hansen Crystal Ball, and I thought it might be worth taking a look at them along with a newly acquired China Glaze OMG and Nfu Oh 61.  That means I have lots of pictures of silver holos for you!

I used a base and top coat with all of these.  I used SpaRitual Lacquer Lock base because it's a bit sticky but not as much so as many, and I use SpaRitual Tout de Suite, my former HG top coat, because it's really, really thin.  I did two coats of each of the polishes, and took a picture of each in the sun and under artificial light.  The picture in natural light will be first for each.

The least holographic seemed to be China Glaze OMG.

China Glaze OMG Nail Polish in Natural Light

China Glaze OMG Nail Polish in Artificial Light

The oldest and one of the easier to apply was Sally Hansen Magical Crystal Ball, but it took on a very pink tint in sunlight.

Sally Hansen Crystal Ball Nail Polish in Natural Light

In artificial light, it looks more silver.

Sally Hansen Crystal Ball Nail Polish in Artificial Light

The most problematic to apply was Nfu Oh 61, but it's worth it for the strong holographic effect under both lighting conditions.

Nfu Oh 61 Nail Polish in Natural Light

Nfu Oh 61 Nail Polish in Artificial Light

GOSH Holographic was easy to apply and has a strong holographic effect (with that name, it better...).

GOSH Holographic Nail Polish in Natural Light

GOSH Holographic Nail Polish in Artificial Light

Of course, the very most holographic of all, and not bad to apply, was Chanel Holographic.  For this one, I used the base coat that came with it rather than the SpaRitual.  It's so good it gets an extra sunlight picture.

Chanel Holographic Nail Polish in Natural Light, Blurry Picture to Show Holo

Chanel Holographic Nail Polish in Natural Light

Chanel Holographic Nail Polish in Artificial Light

Much to my dismay, I've shown myself that the Chanel is by far the best.  Dang it, and dang the good taste I inherited from my mother!

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!