NOTD: Cover Girl Blue Hawaiian #535 Stay Brilliant Glosstinis

I went to see the newish Hunger Games with a work friend on Friday and after we got out, we went to Target to look at some of their clearance. I found this adorable Cover Girl Stay Brilliant Glosstini in Blue Hawaiian for all of $1.48 (and a couple others in that line). This is such a weird one as it takes on more of a sea green appearance in some lighting and a sky blue in others. I had the hardest time finding the green in it when I took photographs, but I swear, it morphs!

Please ignore my cuticles as winter has been harsh on my hands. Thankfully, I'm managed to get my nails the same length which has been a trial.

What's been on your tips lately?

NOTD: Zoya Nyx

It was a rare opportunity when I discovered all of my nails were the same length. I snagged one on the cruise and hadn't worn polish for weeks. Tonight I decided to try out one of the Zoya Pixie Dust polishes, Nyx. Nyx is a gorgeous lavender-grey with silver sparkle and it looks like gumdrops on your nails. These Pixie Dusts dry quickly and have amazing lasting power. This is a bit much for the office, but with nails on the shorter side, I think I can pull it off.

NOTD: Zoya Godiva

I literally just painted my nails so I really should call this Nail of the Night and not Nail of the Day. It's 10pm on a Monday and I am exhausted but my Zoya order came in recently and I have been dying to try these Pixie Dusts, primarily because they are quick drying. Well, they are, indeed! Godiva is gorgeous. It's a pale yellow gold beige grey color. It's super sparkly and reminds me of gum drops. It feels like you coated your nails in sand paper but it is worth it so far. We'll see how it lasts!

NOTD: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Sparkly Rose + Revlon Powder Puff

This Nail of The Day includes Walgreens clearance as you can see from the slightly obnoxious "reduced price" sticker on Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Sparkly Rose. I had a hell of a time trying to photograph this polish. It's so complex with the shifting rose/coral sparkles, though quite beautiful. Since I intended to use it sheer, I layered Revlon Power Puff underneath, perfect since it's a suede and dries quickly. Before you think I'm lying about the Rose, look at the bottle picture below. 

Anyway, as I mentioned actually photographing this was a pain. I took several pictures and none really gave the awesome duochrome flash the polish gives, which is one of the reasons I chose it as just a flash at work is better than full on glitter bomb!

You can kind of see from the pinky that with just a little movement, the pink flash goes away.

Anyway, I think I've bored you enough with my manicure today. I hope everyone in the US has a wonderful Mother's Day!

NOTD: Revlon Colorstay #020 Pale Cashmere plus extras

I mentioned on my initial NOTD post, that once I got some tip wear, I would be doing a glitter coat to revive my manicure. Surprisingly enough, Pale Cashmere has lasted pretty well but I did want to update it and when I had trouble falling asleep Sunday evening, it was the perfect opportunity. I took Sinful Colors Show Stopping and Revlon Glimmer Gloss in Pina Colada Pop. I think it is subtle enough for the office but definitely refreshed the manicure. I 'm pretty happy with the longevity of the initial Revlon application and this will prolong the manicure to lasting well over a week!

NOTD: Revlon Colorstay #020 Pale Cashmere

Even though the last thing I should be buying is more nail polish, I snagged this Revlon Colorstay polish in Pale Cashmere for all of $1.24 on clearance at Walgreens. For those of you who have Walgreens nearby, I would highly recommend going once a week and see what the store manager puts on clearance (it's at their discretion). I've gotten some awesome things on clearance. Anyway, for $1.24 I was all over this nail polish!

Pale Cashmere is a very very light milky pink shade that is fairly sheer. I did 2 coats and got this semi translucent somewhat jelly color. Very office appropriate. I found the formula a little thin/runny and it really pooled up around my cuticles. Nothing a little remover won't fix but somewhat annoying. It's a great clean neutral shade and I think it would nice on most skin tones. I'll probably wear a few days and glitter the tips when I get some chipping. I think a gold glitter would look nice!

NOTD: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Purple Haste + Gel

I recently tried the Sally Hansen Salon Insta-Gel Strips and I didn't get on with them as well as I had hoped. My nails are more rounded so they tended to lift around the edges. Anyway, I thought I would do a little experiment. The kits come with a bottle of the gel top coat and I had read that you could use the gel top coat on top of regular polishes as long as you made sure they had plenty time to dry. So last evening, I painted my nails with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Purple Haste and allowed them to dry overnight (unfortunately, this also led to sheet imprints). However, I then did a top coat of the gel top coat this morning and cured for the allotted time. This particular polish has tons of microglitter glass fleck particles in it which doesn't really translate to the nails all that much. The gel really helps that!

Sally Hansen Purple Haste sans top coat.

non-gelled nail (left) versus gelled nail (right)

 

It is so hard to get this polish to focus properly, but you can kind of see the hidden flecks in the middle finger here. I'm a bit bummed that the dents show through the top coat but I suppose it serves me right for doing the painting so late last night.

I'll keep you guys posted about how the gel impacts the lasting power of the regular polish. Here's hoping it reduces the number of chips I get. I'm pretty hard on my nails which is why I tend to stray from dark or bright colors which make the chips all the more obvious. If I could manage a week of one manicure looking decent that would definitely make me happy!

NOTD: NcLA Rock Solid

I received this NcLA polish in Rock Solid in one of my Little Black Bags. They seem to carry items from the NcLA line quite often. The polishes generally retail for $16. Rock Solid is described as "a luxurious, slate grey cream shade, illuminated with fine silver metallic sparkles" which is fairly accurate. It's pretty unique and the extra bit of glitter makes it less flat than a standard grey cream. My only complaint is the formula is quite thick and goopy and I probably should have used some thinner prior to application had I known. Nonetheless, it easily covered in 2 coats.

Disclosure: Referral link.

NOTD: OPI Designer... De Better!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas, whether you celebrate traditionally or like my family with Chinese food and the movies. Unfortunately, I'm feeling rather ill and was not able to partake in the normal festivities but my dear husband did go out to get me some wonton soup in the spirit.

I'm not the biggest fan of OPI polishes as they tend to chip on me more than other brands; however, this glittery, almost chrome polish has been on my nails since Sunday and so far no chips (no top coat either)! I love this shade from the OPI Muppets collection. Designer... De Better is really neat, it's very fine micro-glitter/shimmer in golds silvers and a bit of red which makes it look different depending on the lighting. Underneath the lights at work, it almost looks like a silver chrome, just without the brush strokes that chromes usually have. These neutral glitters are easier to get away with at the office than some other glitters. I really like this shade and it was opaque in 2 coats.

NOTD: Essie Bordeaux

Technically, I suppose I should call this weekend nails as the polish went on my nails on Friday. This is Essie Bordeaux, a deep red-wine color, perfect for the fall and winter time. It's one of those slightly jelly-ish reds that looks different in different lighting. Very fitting name and part of the regular line. I cut my nails down quite a bit and I think it works for this color. Now off to write my final paper of my Master's degree!

Halloween NOTD and Sally Hansen Salon Effects Review

I picked up the Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Spun For You (spiderwebs) for Halloween. I found them at Five Below for $3 and I had been meaning to try them but hadn't quite gotten around to it. First of all, I thought they would be a lot harder to apply than they actually were. I can be a bit shaky handed and combine that with very thin strips that can easily rip didn't seem like a great combination. I was pleasantly surprised, although I did make a few mistakes. However, I managed to do both hands with only one of the packs which means I can keep the other pack for Halloween 2013 (I even had 2 leftover)!

I can't speak much for wear time and this post is pre-scheduled ahead of Sandy since who knows whether or not I will have power on Halloween. Fingers crossed though.

The finished look.
Happy Halloween!

NOTD: Julep Demi

Fall has definitely made its way to the DC Metro area. It's chilly and there's a briskness in the air. I felt the pull towards a dark raspberry shade, Julep Demi. This came in my first ever Julep Maven box and made me fall in love with the formula and brand. Due to the jelly-ish nature of the shade, it pulls much more vampy and darker in person even though it looks like a pretty standard red in the photograph.

This is 2 coats, though I really could have gotten away with 1. Again, this is more of a deep raspberry color. But as you can see in my original post, it changes with the lighting. I love the Julep formula (aside from the metallics) and have continued the subscription though I rarely post about it.

Has it felt like fall where you are?

Disclosure: Referral link utilized

NOTD: Dermelect Above It

I was recently sent an offering of Dermelect nail colors to try as part of the Bloom Ambassadors program. Above It - a sky blue was the one I tried first. It was the most "me" color out of the ones I received. Once I try the other colors, I'm going to be doing a more comprehensive review of the formula, drying time and the longevity of the polish, but I'll mention the formula briefly here.

I found the polish a bit thick and hard to work with and it could benefit from some thinner. The first coat went on a bit streaky but it evened itself out on the 2nd (and 2 was definitely enough). I experienced some bubbling issues as it was hard to do thin coats due to the thickness of the formula. Otherwise, it dried fairly quickly without a fast drying top coat and I didn't get any nicks in it (I'm very impatient so it isn't unusual that I get dents in a new manicure).

First coat.

 Second coat.

Here's slightly different lighting and you can see the bubbles a bit better in this shot.

If the other colors have a similar issue with the formula, I'll apply some polish thinner prior to application. There was a bit of cuticle drag due to the thickness but overall, it was pretty easy to apply.

Dermelect polishes retail for $14 and come in .4oz bottles. The polishes are free of DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde and contain a type of peptide protein to strengthen nails.

Disclosure: The Dermelect polish was received for review as part of the Bloom Ambassador program. Also note referral link.

NOTD: Julep Charlotte

Apologies for my semi-absence. Sinus infections are no fun. Today I decided to paint my nails with Julep Charlotte, a slightly murky purple color. This is one coat (plus base coat). I really love the Julep formula as they apply smoothly, dry quickly and last fairly well on my nails.

If you are curious about Julep, the maven program gives you the best bang for your buck (2 polishes plus extras for $19.99 a month). I've been a member for quite a few months now and I love it. You can get your first box for a penny with codes COLORS4ONE or PENNY.

Disclosure: Referral link utilized.

Green Weekend & Julep

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day and that those that partook in festivities are feeling alright. My recommendations from my slightly less routine college days include a burger and a bottle of Gatorade (seriously, the grease will help). I suppose this post should have gone up yesterday but as I'm sure you can tell by my lack of posts, school and work have been kicking my behind. Without getting into details, I've been working almost 50 hour weeks and on average, I have 2 assignments or papers due a week on top of it! I took a breather today and painted my nails Julep Leah. Without repeating myself ad nauseam, Julep's polishes dry the fastest out of all the formulas I've tried and they look good and don't get gloppy while you're doing your nails (hint Revlon fix that).

Julep is basically having a BOGO free promotion for St. Patty's Day. Buy $14 of products (1 polish), get a bottle of Leah free. This promotion is good through tonight for those interested and you don't have to be a Maven to use it!

While I'm on the topic, Julep has been offering another penny promotion for new Maven members. Simply use the code SHAREONMARCH and you can get your first month of Julep Maven for 1 cent. You don't need to use my link of course, but it's here. Given my love for the formula, I've kept up my subscription and I like that I can skip months that don't interest me or choose other profile boxes for different colors.

I hope everyone is doing well and I apologize for my absence. The semester ends in April, thank goodness. After that, I'm taking the summer off and then have one final class in the fall and then I'm done!

Disclosure: Referral link used.

Julep Hayden

Julep describes Hayden as simply "neon peach" which is right on the money. It looks like a pastel peach in the bottle but when it dries, it is definitely takes on a slightly more bright-in-your-face look; it is not matte like many neon polishes on the market though not as shiny as some other Juleps and it should be noted that it looks slightly brighter in person than in the above swatch. This was 2 very poorly done coats as it was my right hand and I'm right handed. It is important to note that if you've been using Julep polishes for awhile, this used to be named Amanda. I'm not sure what caused the name change but if you have an Amanda lying around in your collection, it's the same polish.

As with all of the Julep polishes I've tried so far, this was opaque in 2 coats and dried very quickly compared to other lacquers on the market. That is the reason I've since kept my Julep subscription service as I tend to do my polish at night and these don't need a quick-dry top coat. Even with the price, if I can cut out a step, I'm a happy girl.

The Julep Maven program can be gotten for $5 with code MAVEN5 if there's interest. This post includes my referral link.

Julep Leah

Julep describes Leah as "Vivid and refreshing grass green with a hint of shimmer" and that is a fairly accurate description. This is a bright green and not a color I generally go far but it's very pretty. I'm always worried about greens giving me "lobster hands" as I'm quite pale and prone to redness. While the touch of silver shimmer is evident in the bottle and quite pretty, I didn't find it translated to the nail so the effect is more of a green cream. I find that in certain lighting Leah looks more minty as shown below which is nice but a little strange.

As with all of the Julep polishes I've tried so far, this was opaque in 2 coats and dried very quickly compared to other lacquers on the market. That is the reason I've since kept my Julep subscription service as I tend to do my polish at night and these don't need a quick-dry top coat. Even with the price, if I can cut out a step, I'm a happy girl. I got some bubbling with this as you can probably see and you can blame yours truly as I didn't keep the bottles upright before swatching.

The Julep Maven program can be gotten for $5 with code MAVEN5 if there's interest. This post includes my referral link.

Julep Megan

Julep describes Megan as a "A playful and sultry Mediterranean aquamarine shimmer" and I agree with the color description, but I feel this more of a frost formula and for that reason, it does have the tendency of being prone to brush strokes. I don't find it as bad with the color Leighton that was in my intro box but it is something that I feel needs mentioning.

As with all of the Julep polishes I've tried so far, this was opaque in 2 coats and dried very quickly compared to other lacquers on the market. That is the reason I've since kept my Julep subscription service as I tend to do my polish at night and these don't need a quick-dry top coat. Even with the price, if I can cut out a step, I'm a happy girl. I got some bubbling with this as you can probably see and you can blame yours truly as I didn't keep the bottles upright before swatching.

The Julep Maven program can be gotten for $5 with code MAVEN5 if there's interest. This post includes my referral link.

NOTD: Revlon Mistletoe #350

Even though I don't particularly like the Revlon Top Speed formula, I couldn't resist this new (limited edition?) shade that they just brought out.

It is stunning.

It looks pretty in the bottle, but it really shines on the nail.

The base color is blue (see it!?) and then it has very fine green and gold glitter in it.

A swatch on a piece of paper towel really makes the gorgeousness evident.

Definitely one of those glow from within polishes. Apologies for the cuticles and sloppy painting job. I'm impatient!

See the glow?

If you can still get your hands on it, I'd recommend it! I paid about $1.99 after sale and coupons. This is in the same display as the crazy neon purple colorburst lipgloss in the Revlon Spice It Up collection. A gorgeous subtle green for the holidays.

NOTD: Zoya Petra

During the last Zoya promo, I picked up Petra from the Fall 2011 Smoke & Mirrors collection. I clearly have a thing for slightly murky purple toned polishes and Petra sums that description up perfectly.

Depending on the lighting, it can look anywhere from a deep gray-almost black color to brown to a deep shade of purple.


The opacity of this polish is excellent. It went opaque in just 1 coat (though extra passes were needed as it's been sometime since I've done regular manicures).


The minute I got this on my nails, I thought the base color bore a striking resemblance to Revlon Perplex.

The base colors are nearly identical and if you own Perplex, you would know that the shimmer rarely makes an appearance on the nails unless you're under the right kind of lighting.

Both appear slightly darker swatched than in the bottle. They are basically the exact base color. I'd say if you missed out on Perplex, Petra would give you the same color, although you obviously would be missing out on the shimmer.