Category: Nail Polish Reviews

First Copious Purchase: Jordana Glitters!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Thanks to fellow nail blogger Never Naked Nails, I was introduced to a great website called Copious. Similar to eBay or Etsy, users buy and sell different products on Copious. Luckily enough for me, there are lots of people selling nail polish at discounted prices. You can even find some polishes that have been discontinued! For my first purchase I chose a beautiful polish from Jordana Glitters called LA City Nights. I have never used this brand before, and I am pretty thrilled with the result! It did take 4 coats of the glitter to get the result below, but it looks so fun I can’t complain. This color includes both blue and purple glitters. The blue are larger squares, but the purple are smaller grains. 

I think next time I am going to try layering this glitter. Even though it does look good on its own, it would definitely be better with something else. I can even picture this on top of a hot pink! What do you think?! If you’d like to join Copious, simply click HERE. When you sign up today you’ll receive a $10 credit! Just an FYI, you will need to spend $0.01 of your own money, but it’s still a fabulous deal. Have you ever tried Jordana Glitters before? Let me know what you think of it!

P.S. Only 4 more blog followers until my giveaway can begin!

Mani Upgrade and a Mini Tragedy

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland
My sad glitter polish

Ever since I upgraded my glitter french manicure, I knew it would be a fun idea to do a series on the blog of all my mani upgrades. Sometimes it’s fun to take your nails to a new high. Today, I added some flair to my mint green nails with some glitter. I have had Julep’s Susie on my nails for a few days and the tops had started to chip a tiny bit. Since I will probably do a new manicure tomorrow, I just wanted to update my current one a little bit. So, I touched up the mint green base, and got out my ever-faithful Wet ‘n Wild glitter. But I had a little surprise waiting for me. The top of the bottle from the glitter got separated from the brush! Luckily I was able to dig out the brush and still use the glitter, but I think it might be time to upgrade that polish.

And here are my upgraded nails! I added two coats of my clear glitter to get this effect. It’s a bit hard to see the true beauty of my nails with these photos. I’m still learning the best photography methods for nails! And I don’t have a super fancy camera either. What do you think of my upgraded mani? Don’t forget, if you like the mint color, go to Julep’s website HERE to join and enter COLOR2012 to get your first box for a penny! 

Brand Power: Sally Hansen HD

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Today’s brand review is inspired by a recent purchase I made at CVS where I got two Sally Hansen HD polishes for 75% off. Usually priced at almost $8, I paid only $3.74 total!  With some quick searching online, it seems like this polish is being clearanced in multiple stores. If you like what you see in this post, now is the time to get a great deal on Sally Hansen HD while you have the chance!

Left to right, the colors I own are Laser, Byte, and Blu.

Before I purchased Laser and Byte, I already owned the HD polish in Blu. To be honest, I don’t use it very often, but I loved the sparkly, holographic feel of the other HD polishes so I couldn’t resist the purchase. The one thing I really don’t like about Sally Hansen HD is that I always have to use three coats of polish before it becomes opaque. For some reason this really bugs me, perhaps because the bottles suggest otherwise. The good thing is that once three coats are on, my nails look awesome! The HD polish is really sparkly and shiny, and reflects the light. They have a metallic look to them. The polish also lasts for a while before chipping, which is great for girls on the go! Overall, it’s a great polish that can be found at any drugstore or Target.

Moreover, the mani I painted using Sally Hansen HD was inspired by Carly over at Lacquered Lover (check out her site HERE). Carly posts really cool photos so I decided to try out her manicure style and even her photo style! I think it came out really cool, especially since this was the first attempt I made at editing photos like this. Plus, this take on the One for Fun really showcases two different nail colors while still tying them together. I’ll probably use this mani more often! What do you think?!

Post Grad Pink

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

If you’re wondering why I haven’t updated for the past few weeks, it’s because I’ve been busy graduating from college! Last Sunday I walked across the stage to receive my Bachelor of the Arts degree in Political Science. Today, I’m typing this with hot pink and glittery nails to celebrate my accomplishments and begin summer with some sparkle. Do forgive me, because I’ve noticed that I’ve used the same exact pink that I did in my last post– Plastic Flamingo by Spoiled. I’m just loving this neon color lately!

Plastic Flamingo by Spoiled topped with Wet ‘n Wild glitter.

Though it’s hard to see from the picture, I used 2 coats of my old faithful glitter from Wet ‘n Wild to add some flair to the already exciting pink. By adding glitter, the entire look of my nails changed. Sometimes it’s nice to have plain color, but now and then I need to dress it up! I like to use clear glitter over my nails most of the time, but you can also use a tinted glitter to get another cool look. You can never go wrong with some shine!

Stay tuned this summer for more fun posts! I can’t wait to try out some new trends and polishes and share them all with you. Just as a quick FYI, the brand I used here, Spoiled, is on sale at CVS this week for just $0.99! Go stock up!

Painting Properly

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Last night I came across this pin that apparently describes the “correct”way for one to paint her nails. Though it sounded a bit silly, I decided to try it out today to see if the technique really did make a difference. It started out fine, with me letting my top coat dry before I started the color, which I usually don’t do. But then, as I began with the dot of color on my nail, I soon realized that the brush of the nail polish I was using was so big that my entire nail was almost covered with just one stroke. I attempted the trick a few more times, but just felt as if nothing special was being accomplished. I ended up painting my nails the way I normally do and things ended up quite fine. What do you think? Do you have a special, proper way of painting your nails?

Image
Color is Plastic Flamingo by Spoiled, one of my latest brand obsessions.

Neon Nails

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

This spring you may notice that neons are in, and luckily for me I absolutely love bright colors so it is the perfect opportunity for me to showcase my new nail polish. Last weekend my college had its annual spring event, complete with a mixer, carnival, and concert! Our tickets came with t-shirts, and mine was highlighter yellow. In order to celebrate the brightness, I purchased some new nail polish (duh). As I’m a girl on a budget I chose two colors from Spoiled by Wet n Wild — Did I Dye it Too Blonde? and Plastic Flamingo. You can buy this fantastic brand at drugstores for just $1.99!

I knew I wanted to combine the bright yellow and pink, so I used the technique featured on my Geometric Nails post. This time I did a diagonal on each nail with the scotch tape. Unfortunately I got a bit too excited and didn’t wait for the first coat of polish to dry completely before starting the next. Yet thanks to my special fixing skills, I was able to cover up most of my mistakes. And I’m convinced that during the night the nail fairy came to visit, because when I awoke they looked even more awesome! I am so glad I discovered the scotch tape trick on Pinterest because it’s really easy yet completely dresses up my nails. What do you think of my manicure? Have you tried this technique yet?

Neon party!

Brand Power: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I admit it, I am a polish picker. In other words, while wearing nail polish, I tend to pick and peel it off. It’s a horrible habit, but it just means that I get to paint my nails more often! Yesterday I realized I had taken off about half off my One for Fun nails, so I decided to change up my look. As a part of this blog, I will be reviewing different brands of nail polish so that you don’t have to stand in the drugstore worrying if the bargain nail polish is going to be clumpy and dumpy. Let’s face it, as young women in the twenty-first century, we want things to be perfect on the first try!

First up at bat is one of my favorite brands, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear. You can buy Xtreme Wear at drugstores and department stores such as Target for under $3! Bargain hunters like myself can often find this on sale, too. Like many inexpensive nail polishes, Xtreme Wear is a bit of a hit or miss deal. Some of the colors are absolutely my favorites. Not only do they have the perfect texture and thickness, but they stay on for a long time, too. Others, though, are a weird consistency. Because they are so affordable, though, I am of the opinion that it is always worth it to buy Xtreme Wear! 

Xtreme Wear
From left to right, the colors are: Green With Envy, Blue Me Away, Celeb City, Rockstar Pink, Lacey Lilac, Mint Sorbet, and Mellow Yellow.

Above  you’ll find all of the Xtreme Wear colors that I own. I find that Celeb City, Rockstar Pink, and Lacey Lilac are the best of the bunch. The others are nice, too, but I tend to find more smudges and imperfections on my nails when I use them. No matter which color I pick, though, I always get compliments! People are often surprised when I let them in on the secret of Xtreme Wear.

Today I painted my nails with Lacey Lilac. Not only is the pale purple great for spring, but it is subdued enough that I can wear it with many color combinations. Lacey LilacI find that this color also lasts for over a week usually. This pastel is great for those of you who don’t want loud fingers. Or, if you want to liven things up a bit more, you can paint your nails all different shades of purple. Adding some sparkle never hurts either!

There you have it– my first brand review! Have you ever tried Xtreme Wear? Do you like it? What are your favorite colors?