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 Downtown Rubies

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have another of the limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polishes, Downtown Rubies.  It's fine red glitter in a clear base, dense enough to be opaque in three coats.  I finished it with two coats of Seche Vite, but once it completely dried, it was less than smooth - it needs at least one more coat of top coat.  However, it looks cool, so that's good enough for now.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Downtown Rubies Nail Polish, Three Coats

So another good one from this collection.  That's all for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

More Limited Edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicures

Good morning, Dear Reader!

There was good sun yesterday, so today I have more swatches of the new limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polishes, another three.

Before getting to today's, I ought to mention that taking off Problem Child was a huge hassle.  Those little flaky bits were seriously stuck on there - I'd rather remove Starry, Starry Flight twice than remove Problem Child once.

On to new pictures... Golden Ticket is a gold glitter that I thought wouldn't be opaque, but three coats later it was.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Golden Ticket Nail Polish, Three Coats

Feeling Saucy is a fuchsia shimmer that was good in two coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Feeling Saucy Nail Polish, Two Coats

Fedora is a really nice brownish beige with a gold shimmer, also a two-coater.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fedora Nail Polish, Two Coats

You can see the variety in this collection, and that there are quite a few really strong colors.  I hope to one day get past the names.

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

Some Limited Edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicures

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I swatched a few of the new limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polishes, and I have pictures of them for you today.  The sun wasn't the best I've ever had for pictures, but good enough to get by.  I swatched three of the shimmers before my patience for swatching wore thin.

I only got the colors from this collection that I really like so I don't have all the names in front of me, but of those I got, I can't make sense of the names or see how they're related to one another.  They're pretty bad.  But truthfully, if the worst thing about a polish is its name, I can live with that.

These all applied really well, now that I'm used to the wacky brush they have, and the colors are strong.  First up is Perfect Match (which immediately makes me ask, "To what?"), a great red shimmer.  It's on the dark side of real red and has a really glowy shimmer - I'm thinking it might be the perfect pedicure red.  This is two coats of Perfect Match (completely dry).

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Perfect Match Nail Polish, Two Coats

The one with the worst name has received a good bit of hype, Sequin Scandal (a scandal related to one sequin).  It reminds me a lot of the old Revlon Blacker Lacquer Talk Dirty.  Here's two coats of Sequin Scandal, which I think I like better in the bottle than on my nails.  It's smooth, it's the small flaky bits that make it look lumpy.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Sequin Scandal Nail Polish, Two Coats

Back to one I like: Problem Child (not an inherently bad name, I just don't see how it's related to the other color names).  This one's a deep plum with flaky shimmer bits.  It looks deep plum indoors, not black, and I like it.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Problem Child Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's a good start to what this display offers.  Although I got most of them, I did leave behind a few cremes that just weren't sufficiently noteworthy to buy.  Now I've worn two and swatched two more, and I like them quite a bit.  A happy surprise about Starry, Starry Flight was that it was easy to remove - I think the glitter's fine enough to make it completely not a hassle to take off, which also bodes well for the red glitter.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  I'll show you the rest of my picks from this display as the week wears on.  Untl then, love and nail polish to you!  

Sally Hansen Starry, Starry Flight

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I tried out one of the new limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polishes, Starry, Starry Flight.  Other than recognizing the similarity to name of the Essie classic, I don't get the name at all.  However, this is one cool polish, so I don't really care.

Starry, Starry Flight is a very fine platinum colored silver glitter.  When applying the first coat, I was thinking this one would never be opaque alone, but after three moderate coats it is.  I finished it with two coats of Seche Vite, and it's glassy smooth despite the glitter.  I have other silver glitters, but I've continued to acquire them because I always want them to look just like Starry, Starry Flight looks - this one's just right, so I'm done buying silver glitters.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Starry, Starry Flight Nail Polish, Three Coats

It's cloudy here, so I don't have bright light to show you how sparkly the glitter is, but at least you can see the color and coverage.

I also found that I've finally gotten used to the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure brush.  I don't believe the brush is different - still moppy but stiff at the same time - but I finally got the hand of using it.  That should make showing you the others I got from this display a little more bearable!

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

Essie Splash of Grenadine & Konad M79

Good evening, Dear Reader!

It turned out that Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight in NY was a complete failure for me.  As I'm sure you could tell from my last post, I wasn't thrilled with it.  I decided to fix it up a little with Chanel Illusion D'Or.  I added one coat and another coat of top coat.

Chanel Illusion D'Or over Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight in NY

That was sufficient for me, and I would have been happy with it, but a full hour after adding to it I took a nice Sunday nap, and woke up with the polish smudged all the way down several nails.  It would seem the formulas are not friends...

Rather than spend the rest of my day with squishy, smudgy nail polish, I changed it, and I'm thrilled to bits over the replacement which is why I'm showing it to you now.  I'll likely have to go into The Vault for something to show you tomorrow, I like this one so much - I want to keep it for at least a day.  As the title tells you, it's Essie Splash of Grenadine from The Resort Collection, which took two coats for a perfectly even, opaque, super glossy finish, to which I added a pattern from Konad plate M79.  I used the dotted net pattern in Konad Blue Pearl Special Polish (or Pearl Blue, whatever...), and added tips from plate M19.

Essie Splash of Grenadine, Two Coats, and Konad M79 and M19 in Konad Blue Pearl 

How fun is my new mani???  Since Splash of Grenadine is between pink and purple, I thought the blue would bring out the purple, and this is my other favorite Konad Special Polish, along with Psyche Pink.  Both were introduced with the Coraline Konad plates, and the two are far and away my favorites because they're glowy and striking.  I love many Konad polishes and likely use Black and White the most, but these two are my top picks, so I'm happy when I get to use one of them.

That's my new manicure and all I have for you today.  Fortunately, I have some stuff in The Vault to show you tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!  

Sally Hansen Midnight in NY

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Aside from Hidden Treasure, the other Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish that's gotten some buzz is Midnight in NY, and I have it to show to you this morning.

I took pictures in both moderate sunlight and artificial light because although it's a black base with multicolored microglitter in the bottle, it's pretty much just plain old black on the nail.  In regular indoor lighting, I can barely even see there's a shimmer.  It took three coats to be completely even and opaque.

Here it is in sunlight.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight in NY, Three Coats in Sunlight

And here's artificial light.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Midnight in NY, Three Coats in Artificial Light

Even with the bright direct lighting, you can see how hard it is to see the shimmer.  Unless you're walking around with a stage light on your hands, I think it's safe to pass on this one.  There are other black shimmers with a better shimmer which don't require three coats.

That's it for this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, 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!  

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure & Her Complete Salon Manicure Friends

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I stopped at a Walgreen's and found the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure display with Hidden Treasure, which I think is a Tracy Reese collection.  There were a bunch of cool ones in the display, I just passed on the reds.  The funny thing was on these, I did no drug store stalking for them - what caught my eye on the way in was the limited edition Revlon Pastels, the scented Revlons, and an LE Maybelline display with two colors I hadn't seen before.  It was the mecca of all drug store LE's.  So here, Sally hid her treasures poorly - I usually have to hunt for these collections forever.

The Sally Hansen display didn't even seem to have a collection name, so I have no info to give you other than pictures of what are in the display and what I know firsthand.  I got six of them, there were two or three reds there as well.  They applied nicely, with the exception of getting used to the big brush again.  Once I did, it worked well, and the polishes have a good dry time.  Most of these were three-coaters for me, but I think that's because they're intended to be more sheer than I like.  I'll let you know how many coats were used in each picture.  All but the last picture are in natural light.

Ring My Shell is a delicate pink with a great sparkling shimmer, and this is three coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Ring My Shell Nail Polish, Three Coats

Silver Lining is like the silver version of Ring My Shell with the sparkly shimmer and delicate coloring, and also required three coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Silver Lining Nail Polish, Three Coats

Dive Deeper is the blue version of the previous two, just a hair lighter than baby blue, also a three coater.  This one is my favorite of these three.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dive Deeper Nail Polish, Three Coats

Sea and Be Seen has the same shimmer finish in a light medium blue and was a three coater.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Sea and Be Seen Nail Polish, Three Coats

Lagoon is different than the others, a shimmering greenish teal similar to Sephora by OPI's Mermaid to Order.  This one only took took coats.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Lagoon Nail Polish, Two Coats

So, that treasure I've been hiding from you... I tried two coats over Lagoon, it wasn't so impressive, although nice.  Hidden Treasure is a flaky glitter in a pearly white base.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish over Lagoon, Two Coats

This morning before writing this, I thought I'd try Hidden Treasure over black to see if it's worth the all the hubbub.  It is.  This is two coats over SpaRitual Body.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Hidden Treasure Nail Polish over Black, Two Coats

That's so much more impressive!

That's Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure and her Complete Salon Manicure friends who came home with me.  I'm really happy with my picks - even though the first few are three coaters because I like them more opaque, they're so delicate and have such a fabulous sparkle that they're totally worth a third coat to me, and I don't have much along those lines.  The pink is appropriate for anything, but can also take a little decoration - I think they're just great.

That's what I have for you this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, happy drug store LE hunting, and love and nail polish to you!