Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen I Lilac You

Hello!

Today, I have a quick swatch of a polish I just picked up a few days ago. This is Sally Hansen I Lilac You - a pale, lilac creme.

Sally Hansen I Lilac You. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, two coats of I Lilac You, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. For the most part, this polish applies well. It is just a little finicky when it comes to over-manipulation - it will drag and bald just a bit if overworked. My only other complaint is Sally Hansen's terrible, paddle-brush. I have never been a fan, but this is a gorgeous color despite that.

Sally Hansen I Lilac You. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased this polish just last weekend on clearance at Ulta for less than $2! I did see it on clearance at Walgreens prior to that as well, so this might be a discontinued shade. I love it's muted tone. It's just the most perfect shade of lilac.

Sally Hansen I Lilac You. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Lava

Hello!

Today's swatch is Sally Hansen Lava.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Lava is a pretty glass-fleck, duochrome polish that shifts from orange to pink. It wants to shift to red, but doesn't quite get there. The final look is bright and metallic.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, three coats of Lava, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish is much sheerer than I expected, so I used three coats. It will bald and streak if you are not patient and start on another coat if the first isn't dry, but once applied, it's stunning.

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, natural light, no flash.

I purchased my bottle recently on clearance at either Wal-greens or Wal-mart... my memory fails me! Happy hunting!

Sally Hansen Lava. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Snow Globe

Hello!

Sally Hansen Snow Globe. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today's polish is Sally Hansen Snow Globe. 

Sally Hansen Snow Globe, layered. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Snow Globe is an iridescent glitter topper consisting of medium and tiny hex glitters in a clear base.

Sally Hansen Snow Globe, layered and matte. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today started with one coat of Sinful Colors Base Coat, two coats each of OPI Skull & Glossbones (index and pinkie) and Zoya Ibiza (middle, ring, and thumb), one coat of Snow Globe, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. This polish has a very thick base, which makes it difficult to use the dab method to get an even glitter disbursement. Multiple coats end up getting too thick quickly, so I solved this by bending the brush against the inside of the bottle neck, which trapped the glitters on 'top' of the bent brush but allowed the excess base to drain back into the bottle.

Sally Hansen Snow Globe, layered. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

My super awesome husband purchased this polish for me from Kmart. Being a polish addict, I can get a good idea of what a polish will look like on the nail from examining the bottle, so I tend to pass by a lot of things. I love it when he buys me polish because I love to see what other people gravitate towards without that experience or knowledge. He's the best!

Sally Hansen Snow Globe, layered. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea

Hello!

Today I have a fun glitter to show you -- this is Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea!

Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Fuzz-Sea is a simple mix of short bar glitter in pastel lime green and teal.

Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea over Sinful Colors Cream Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Fuzz-Sea over yesterday's Sinful Colors Cream Pink swatch plus one coat of Seche Vite. This has a good formula -- it swipes on easily, and one coat is the perfect amount of coverage. I did use a tip I picked up from The Polish Hoochie: wiggle the brush side to side while applying so that all the glitter is not lined up in one direction.

Super cute! I wore this out and about mattified and loved how fun it was.

Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea over Sinful Colors Cream Pink, matte. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased this bottle from CVS, where I've seen it still for sale recently.

Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea over Sinful Colors Cream Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale

Hello!

Today, I have the gorgeous Mermaid's Tale from Sally Hansen to show you!

Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Mermaid's Tale has a murky blue, jelly base with tons of small, blue hexes along with medium blue and green hexes. Love it!

Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, three coats of Mermaid's Tale, one coat of Gelous and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. The formula is okay, while it does brush on easily, I found it hard to get even, especially around the edges. And at 3 coats, it was getting to be too thick for my liking so, I think I will layer this next time I use it to alleviate the problems I had.

Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale, matte. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

After some Googling around, I think this one is close enough to the much sought after Deborah Lippmann polish, that I'm satisfied crossing it off the wishlist. I found this bottle at my local CVS.

Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Wet Cement

Hello!

Quick post today on Sally Hansen's Wet Cement.

Wet Cement is the perfect, light grey creme. It's a nice, clean grey that I really enjoyed wearing.

Sally Hansen Wet Cement. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Wet Cement, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. The polish has a good formula. It glides on smoothly with only minor streaking on the first coat that was completed evened out with the second.

Sally Hansen Wet Cement. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I purchased this bottle in the early stages of my addiction, most likely from CVS. It's a great, basic color.

Sally Hansen Wet Cement. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink

Hello! Happy Friday!

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink.

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is one of my older polishes--one of the first I remember picking up back when my stash was small. Ah, memories.... Anyway! This is a fantastic blend of microglitter. The blend of pink, purple, blue, gold, and red is super sparkly. I think the addition of the red here makes this a rather unique glitter.

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

For swatches today, I've used Rockstar Pink over my Orly Rage swatch plus a coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this is just fine. The glitter is dense and stays put. This one will easily reach opacity on it's own in two to three coats. I've used two coats at the tip and worked towards the top of my nail using a lighter touch to create a little gradient.

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

"This is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge: Graveyard

Hello again!! Ugh, Monday!

Today's "This Is Halloween" Nail Art Challenge prompt is"Graveyard".

I had such high hopes for this mani. I had envisioned a neat outline manicure, but alas, my nail art skills are lacking. It's pretty terrible, definitely not my best work.

Tombstone Nails. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with my go-to base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. Then I used one thick coat of Sally Hansen Wet Cement. At one coat, it was still a bit uneven, but I was going to layer it up anyway. Once this was dry, I used a corner of a make-up sponge with Sally Hansen Grey Area to sponge a marbled look onto my nails. I then used Butter London's Matte topcoat to give this a stone look. Once that was good and dry, I used Sally Hansen Black Out with a nail art brush to outline my nails and create a french tip. I was hoping the leftover grey would look like tombstones.

I then used Bundle Monster plates BM-01 and BM-13 for the crosses and "words" (Let's just pretend they say things like "RIP" I was really not up to writing on my nails with a brush lol).

Here's the final look. Messy, but maybe you can tell where I was going with this?

Tombstone Nails, Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 See what the others did below!



More soon!! ^_^

Copy Cat NOTW: Two Ways

Hello again!

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

After finishing up swatches for this week, I wanted to do something fun with my nails. I had found this mani on Pinterest and pegged it to my "Nails! Nails! Nails" board to recreate. My take on it is definitely different, but that was my inspiration.

Indoors, artificial light and natural light, no flash.

All fingers got a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardening base. On my thumb, pointer, and pinky fingers I applied two coats of Pure Ice white (which is a terrible white, not to mention so old and goopy, I need a replacement). I topped the white with two coats of China Glaze Pool Party--a super bright, in your face neon pink/red-orange. This polish may be my new obsession. It's on my toes indefinitely! It's less red than the first picture, but far more vibrant than the indoor ones. This one was hard to capture!

Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out on my middle and ring fingers.  The middle finger got a coat of Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. To pull everything together, I stamped a lacy image from BM11 onto Pool Party with Konad Special Black, and added the same to my ring finger with a mix of Konad Special White and Pool Party. I finished with a coat of NYC's In a New York Minute topcoat. I like how this turned out. It's very punky, if a bit busy. I love, love, love this idea of two accent nails.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I ended up needing a fresh mani by Wednesday this week, but I wasn't over this design idea yet. So here's my take two:

Indoors, artificial and natural light, no flash.

Once again, all fingers got some Sinful Colors Nail Hardening love. Thumb, pointer, and pinky started with two coats of Zoya Charisma and one coat of Orly Sec 'n Dry. Once morning hit and I saw them in the daylight, I thought a few nails needed a third coat, so they each got another coat of Charisma and Sec 'n Dry for good measure. Two coats of Orly Luxe went over my middle and ring fingers. Sally Hansen Big Money went over Luxe on my ring finger once it was dry and got multiple coats of Sec 'n Dry over the course of the evening to get a smooth finish. Finally, my middle finger was stamped in Zoya Carly with BM21 and topped with NYC In a New York Minute.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I love this even more than my first attempt. The gold accent nails rock!

Hope you all have a great weekend! I've got major swatching planned--let's hope the sunny days we've been having persist!

More Monday!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Glitz Gal

Hello again!

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

The last Sally Hansen Gem Crush polish in this mini-series is my favorite one, by far, and I think you'll see why. This bit of awesome is Sally Hansen Glitz Gal:

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This is a fantastic glitter bomb of charcoal micro glitter and small silver holographic hex glitter.

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This is one coat of Sally Hansen Nail Protix, three coats of Glitz Gal, and one thick coat of Seche Vite. This sparkles like crazy! Even in the shade!

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Outdoors, natural light, no flash.

The formula on this one was thick but did not give me any issues. I had more issues with the brush than anything. Look at it--a big flat paddle! This made application rather messy.

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash. I am not a fan of these brushes!

This ended up not being as dark on the nail as I expected. I think I'd use one or two coats of this over a black base next time. I absolutely love the sparkle off this!



Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I have four of the eight or nine in this line. You can see the others in my collection swatched here, here, and here. CVS, Target, and Walgreens all had these a few months ago. Good hunting if you're after them still!

Sally Hansen Glitz Gal. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic

Hello again!!

Installment number three of this mini-series is Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic.

Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This one is a base of silver micro glitter with fine blue hex glitters. I couldn't tell if these were a navy blue or a more turquoise blue. They looked like they could go either way depending on the light. Anyway, this polish is gorgeous!

Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sally Hansen Nail Protix, two coats of Showgirl Chic, and one thick coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this was thinner than the previous ones, but seemed to cover better. This one looks foil-like as well, and, just like Big Money, I am loving this as a full mani.

Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I can see myself wanting to wear this a lot in the winter. It reminds me of cold and ice and snow. I'm already inspired to use this as a base for a wintry mani... maybe some blue snowflakes stamped over the top? Or some red bells for Christmas? Summer isn't gone yet, but I'm looking forward to the change of season already!

Like the others, I found this at CVS. I spied them at Target and Walgreens too!

Sally Hansen Showgirl Chic. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Sally Hansen Big Money

Hello again!!

Sally Hansen Big Money. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Today I've got number two of four Sally Hansen Gem Crush polishes to show you. This is Big Money, and it's a load of gold micro glitter with small lilac hex glitter.

Sally Hansen Big Money. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are one coat of Sally Hansen Nail Protix base, three coats of Big Money, and one thick, goopy coat from an old bottle of Seche Vite to get all that glitter smoothed over. The formula on this is the same as Lady Luck from yesterday. I got good glitter coverage, but at three coats, it was thick. This looks more foil-like than Lady Luck, and I like this more as a full mani than I did Lady Luck because of that. The brush on this was just as bad, though--paddle-like and hard to control. It did get a lot glitter on my nails, however. It also got a lot of glitter everywhere else :[



Sally Hansen Big Money. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

 Once again, I got mine from CVS, but I did spy them at Target and Walgreens. I haven't looked for them lately, but you might still be able to find them. Good luck!

Sally Hansen Big Money. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^