Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Wild Child

I am so excited to get my hands on the latest from Sally Hansen! Unlike my last coveted polish, Revlon Perplex, I was not running around like a chicken with my head cut off to find these. I just stopped by the first Walgreens I saw after work today and there they were. A whole untouched display!

I grabbed the two animal prints, Wild Child and Kitty Kitty. They are $9.99 and Walgreens is currently having a BOGO 1/2 off sale on Sally Hansen products.

L to R: Wild Child, Kitty Kitty

Since zebra patterns are my favorite, I decided to try Wild Child first. I made a quick video video about the application process.

Please excuse my dry cuticles! :-(

These are fairly easy to apply once you get over the learning curve. The most important thing to do is be quick about placing the strip on the nail. Try to line it up with your cuticle and lay it down flat on your nail without getting it wrinkled. These strips are very adhesive, so once its stuck, its kind of a hassle to peel it up. You will probably have to use a new strip. There are 16 in the box and I didn't have much of a problem finding ones to match my nail sizes.

So far, I really like these. Mostly because of the cute patterns and ease of application. I still have some Incoco strips I have yet to apply because they are just plain pink and that's not too exciting. Of course, I think these are a great alternative to the more pricier Minx. The advantages being you can apply them at home and they are far less expensive. As far as wear time, I will have to update the blog with pictures. According to the box, these last up to 10 days.

Are you planning on getting Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips? Are there any questions you have about these I didn't answer? Let me know in the comments!

♥ Lachelle

Christmas Nails 2010

Just a quickie post about my Christmas 2010 nails. I went with candy cane nails because they were simple and quick. I made the decision last minute and it just seemed the natural choice. I've been really into peppermint stuff this holiday season. I love my CG Peppermint cuticle oil, peppermint candle and my peppermint hand sanitizer. So sorry for the Blackberry pictures,but like I mentioned before, this is just a quick update.

Products used:

Zoya Carrie Ann

Art Deco nail art polish in white

Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope- very, very light coat over the design. (probably barely noticeable in these pictures)

♥ Lachelle

Two Maybelline Pinks: Bubble Pink and Candy Coated

Remember the Maybelline LE Spring 2010 Sweet Thing collection? I grabbed up Minty but had the hardest time finding the other colors! I pretty much considered it a lost cause after Maybelline moved on to their summer collection. Fast forward to December, and I happened the find the two colors I wanted the most in Ross last weekend! I am the proud owner of Goody Plum Drop and Pie in the Sky! But first, I went ahead and did manicures with the two pinks I found, Bubble Pink and Candy Coated.

Bubble Pink, you are so hard to work with! This chalky light pink fought it out every step of the way during application and won. Sigh. Three coats of this to get opaque bottle color. It doesn't look all that great on me either. I only wore it for one day before removing it. 

Candy Coated is pretty! It has a light fuchsia shimmer running through it, barely noticeable indoors. This is two coats, no application problems either. Easy like Sunday moring. Now Bubble Pink....grrrr. Lets not think of that.

I'm also happy that these didn't have that wonky brush that my Minty has. Hoping that my real favorites, Goody Plum Drop and Pie in the Sky don't have crazy brushes. Fingers crossed.

♥ Lachelle

Orly Shine

I saw reviews of the the Orly FX polishes and was a bit skeptical. They cant be that shiny right? Wrong! This is some seriously shiny silver nail polish. It smells a bit funky like most silver nail polishes do in my opinion, but hey that's a little to exchange for this reflective finish. Love, love, love it! This replaces my favorite silver nail polish, Sally Hansen Celeb City. Its also brushstroke free! 

 Wait, wait. I have to say it...shine on Orly! 

♥ Lachelle

Milani Holographic Polishes: 3D & HD

I was sent over some polishes from Milani and I was pleasantly surprised to find among them 3D and HD from their Spring 2010 Holographic Polish collection. True to their word, these are truly holographic, *ahem OPI MPJ*, and they come alive in the sun or under the flash. I even think that 3D agrees with my skintone, so this will be the first gold polish that does so. Seriously, for that reason alone I love it.

First up, HD.

Gorgeous silver holo that I used 3 coats of. This is a bit sheer, but definitely buildable. Looks a little white indoors in my opinion.

3D, the gold holo, is a stunner I only used two coats of this because I found it to be more opaque. Easily my favorite.

These were not gritty or rough to the touch, so no extra layers of topcoat needed. They were also easy to remove, no hassle like with glitters. In my book that's always a win! I believe these are still available at drugstores like CVS because I see it online at cvs.com.

♥ Lachelle

This post contains a Milani polish sent for review by the company or PR firm. For more information about my disclosure policy, please read this post.

Snowflake Manicure for Holiday 2010-Fail!

 Turning to YouTube for more Christmas manicure inspiration, I found this adorable snowflake tutorial. Well, I found that drawing snowflakes on your nails is a bit hard, especially if you don't have a good brush. I only did the design on two nails before I gave up.

I used Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, Ruby Kisses White and a very light coat of Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope just on the tips. I really want to try this again with those Sally Hansen nail art pens. I think it would be much easier for me to do this with a pen, rather than a brush. 

Still looking for more Christmas mani ideas,

♥ Lachelle

First Christmas Nails of the Season

 So its December 9th and I'd thought I would have done Christmas nails the first day of December! 9 days in? I'm slipping! Anyway, I spotted these Christmas light nails over on Bright Lights, Big Color and decided to replicate this super cute mani. Mines isn't as great as hers though, because I don't have a decent nail art brush, just a dotting tool. I also looked at this YouTube video for inspiration:

I used Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost for the base color, a Milani nail art pen for the black lines and the "lights" are Hard Candy Sky, Essie Pansy, Zoya Creamy and China Glaze Sun Worshiper. I'd say the easiest part of this was drawing the black lines with the Milani nail art brush. Deciding where to put the lights? Now that was hard because I see my mistakes more so than anyone else. I still have more time though. I have more Christmas manis up my sleeve!

♥ Lachelle

Mark the Date: Free Zoya Spoons this Friday 12/10

Have you spooned with Zoya yet? Well here's your chance! Mark your calenders for this Friday, December 10th for a spooning date with Zoya. Best of all, its free and you'll have no regrets afterward :-).

Here's official information from Zoya:

Here's how it works...


First pick any 6 colors you would like to try on... Add the matching Zoya Color Spoon to your shopping cart on zoya.com. Add SP6 as your code. Process order. Zoya will ship them to you for FREE! Plus you will automatically earn a $3 Zoya Color Spoon credit code for use on a future zoya.com purchase. Feel free to order more at the regular price if you would like (shipping is always free on Zoya Color Spoons).

 (Click on the picture to enlarge)

Announcing
FREE* ZOYA COLOR
SPOON FRIDAY!!!
ONE DAY ONLY - DEC, 10, 2010


Zoya Color Spoons allow you try on nail color before you make a color commitment. Now you can see exactly how a color will look on you before you buy it.
SEE IT . TRY IT . BUY IT
See the Zoya Color Spoon Video here!
Find your perfect color today at http://www.zoya.com/

* Valid Friday, December 10, 2010 only. Offer expires on 12/10/10 (11:59 EST). Valid only on Zoya.com. Continental US only. Consumer orders only. Limit six free Zoya Color Spoons. Limit one per customer. Standard S/H applies for all additional non-spoon items. This offer and Zoya Color Spoon Credit Code not valid in conjunction with other discounts, promotions or offers.

I definitely applaud Zoya on interacting with nail polish consumers and fans like this. They definitely know how to build loyalty to the brand with nail polish lovers through amazing products, gorgeous color selections to fit anyone's taste, interaction through social media and great promos like this one.

What colors have you been curious about and plan to order Zoya Spoons for? Let me know!

♥ Lachelle

Polka Dot Mani using Milani Pink Hottie

So I took my Milani Pink Hottie manicure off, but I used the same color to make a new manicure. Polka dots are an easy favorite of mines. Can you see where I got the inspiration from?

I'd like to thank my lovely polka dot wallet from Target for inspiring this manicure. :-)

♥ Lachelle

  

This post contains a Milani polish sent for review by the company or PR firm. For more information about my disclosure policy, please read this post.

Milani Pink Hottie + Slice of Watermelon

Remember Milani's Spring 2010 neon polishes? Pink Hottie, a medium Barbie pink, was released in that collection. No lie, my mom seriously looked and my nails and goes, "Wow, I just had a flashback! That looks like the color of my Barbie's pink high heels." Um, sure. I think Barbie would go with a polish named Pink Hottie. I used 3 coats of this and of course it dried matte, being it is a neon, so I topped with Seche Vite. This being my first Milani polish, I must say I'm impressed they were able to make a neon that is not difficult to work with, formula wise.

Anyway, I decided to make a little "watermelon slice" on my ring finger to spice this pink manicure up. Totally summer smack in the middle of December. I'm not mad at it!

Can I tell you I am sooooo loving China Glaze's Peppermint Cuticle Oil? The smell is just right, and is a nice treat for my nails. I can see myself using this year around!

♥ Lachelle

This post contains a Milani polish sent for review by the company or PR firm. I purchased the China Glaze product myself. For more information about my disclosure policy, please read this post.

Revlon Perplex

Finally Revlon Perplex is right where it belongs; right on my nails. After three weeks of searching its finally mine! Now I know that's nothing compared to some people on quests for HTF polishes, but this is the first time I've ever been on a wild goose chase like this. I remember wanting Chanel's Paradoxal, but at the time I was working an unpaid internship, trying to finish my last semester of college so I kind of put that on the shelf. However, when the craze around Revlon's Perlex started, I had to have it. 

 CND Stickey + 2 coats of Revlon Perplex + Seche Vite

3rd day of wear

I found this at Ulta, the last place I would usually go to look for displays of some new releases. I love that this purple is dusty and smoky at the same time, in my opinion. A clever mix of gray and purple, this is a color I would have never imagined myself wearing two years ago. The shimmer is barely noticeable in indoors or normal lighting by outdoors, but outside its beautiful. The formula was superb on this. I don't own many Revlon polishes, just 3 including this one, but are they all so awesome formula wise? The application process was so smooth! I am very, very happy with my Paradoxal dupe!

♥ Lachelle

Borghese Stellare Notte

 I found this at Ross last week along with some Color Club polishes and quickly snatched it up. For $1.99, wouldn't you? Its a really hard color to describe. Its a dark blue/green polish with flashes of purple shimmer. Really hard to capture the colors, so I took multiple pictures in an attempt to show those colors. Most of them turned out to green in my opinion so I'm left with these:

I love the brush on this polish! Reminds me of my beloved OPI Pro-Wide brush which makes painting my nails so easy! Also, after working with Hard Candy Sky the other day, this polish almost applied itself. It was so smooth and went on like butter. I wish Borghese made more interesting colors though because I definitely would have more of them.

♥ Lachelle

Hard Candy Sky, Riva Dupe?

Please excuse this messy manicure, but I was in a hurry to put this on after I read this post about Hard Candy Sky being a dupe for Chanel Riva. Lets just be clear, Sky is not a polish you should hastily apply. Its streaky and hard to work with, but what can I say? I was excited.

Sky has a slight shimmer you really have to be close to in order to see. In normal lighting, you don't even notice it. This is 3 coats with Seche Vite topcoat. Of course, I don't have Riva to compare this to, so I can only be sure from the other pictures Ive seen on the internet. 

Are you getting Chanel Riva or will you be searching for a dupe? What do you think about Hard Candy as a dupe?

Let me know!

♥ Lachelle

Essence High Waist Pink

About a week ago, I spotted  Essence's Denim Wanted collection in Ulta and decided to get High Waist Pink. I think I like the name more than anything because this pink is not unique. Its just a bright pink, leaning a little towards the coral side. This is two coats plus Seche Vite topcoat. For my first Essence polish, I'm neither impressed nor underwhelmed. Its just another pink to add to my arsenal.

♥ Lachelle

Color Club Covered in Diamonds

I recently got half of the the Color Club Fall 2010 Untamed Luxury collection and I was eager to give Color Club another try. After giving Chelsea Girl from the Poptastic collection a whirl and being disappointed, it took a lot to purchase these, but I did. The first polish I tried out was the one named after the collection, Covered in Diamonds. I knew I wanted to layer it over black the moment I saw it, so that exactly what I did!

Covered in Diamonds has different sizes of chunky, holographic glitter in a clear base. This polish was very thick, but I found that I could move the glitter around before it dried. This came in handy when I found glitter hanging haphazardly off of my tips. Topped with two coats of Seche Vite, my nails look thick! I can literally see the polish layered on my nails. All that considered, I still like this combo and so did the cashier at Ulta because she complimented me on my nails. They look sort of comic to me more than being covered in diamonds.

♥ Lachelle

OPI Tease-y Does It

I wouldn't normally go for a chocolately purple polish but like I mentioned before it came in a set with my beloved OPI Sparkle-icious so here it is with me. This is two coats and I am not terribly impressed with it. Its a shimmery vampy and I do love those, but nothing stands out here for me. I suppose that's why I only wore it for two days. 

Sorry for the dry skin/cuticles. I had just removed Sparkle-icious with acetone before applying this.

♥ Lachelle

OPI Sparkle-icious

There are very few words that can describe the glitterbomb on my nails. Amazing is one of them. I knew from the moment I saw the glitters in the OPI Burlesque collection that I needed Sparkle-icious. Not only does it have something in common with my blog's new namesake, but it successfully achieves making my nails look dangerously gorgeous. An explosion of gold, turquoise and pink, this is not for the faint. I've gotten a couple of stares at my nails, but hey! What can I say? I'm a girl that loves nail polish and I'm crazy enough to look like I dipped my fingers in bucket of glitter. 

 I purchased Sparkle-icious in a set with Tease-y Does It and OPI body shimmer was included. I think its very pretty, but not sure I'll be wearing it anytime soon....I'm really not a body shimmer type of girl.

♥ Lachelle

Butter London Minger + Sally Hansen Golden Ticket

Nail polish lovers, do you feel bad when you don't use all the nail polish you own? I do! I have so many polishes that when I look at my untrieds I feel guilty about not using them! Admittedly, I don't have as much polish as other bloggers so I don't know how they do it! Anyway, I've had this orange Butter London for months because I don't care much or orange cremes but I recently got SH Golden Ticket and needed something to layer it over.

Not sure what to to think of this combo, in some lights I think its pretty and in others not so much.  I also didn't think there was anything special about this Butter London to justify it being $14.00. I used one opaque coat of Minger and topped it with one coat of Golden Ticket, trying to keep my hand light, so the glitter wouldn't be so heavy. Also, please ignore the weirdness going on with my middle finger. These pictures are within hours of my applying this polish, but I have some ridge thing going on with my natural nails after removing my false nails.

♥ Lachelle