Category: Nails

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?

One for Fun

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

One of the latest trends this spring that I’ve noticed sweeping quickly through Pinterest is the “One for Fun” style. One for Fun is the name I’ve given to when you paint all of your nails one color except for your ring finger, which you paint with something else. Last night, my suitemates and I had a sleepover party as a part of our senior year bucket list. We ordered frozen yogurt, read Cosmo, gossiped about boys, and (of course!) painted our nails! Since this blog has suddenly made me a nail expert (not really), many of my friends requested to borrow my nail polish and asked me for advice. I talked a few into doing the One for Fun trend so they could be featured here!

Here’s a photo of my nails, complete with a few imperfections that you can overlook 🙂

For my own nails, I used Mellow Yellow and Celeb City, both by Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear. I had bought Mellow Yellow earlier in the day, as I’ve been wanting a yellow, and it’s fun and bright for springtime. Celeb City is a metallic silver, and I think it contrasted nicely with the yellow. Of course, One for Fun wouldn’t be complete (on me, at least) without some sparkle. On top of the silver I added 2 light coats of my vintage Wet ‘n’ Wild clear glitter, which I’ve probably had since my sleepovers in elementary school and can’t bring myself to get rid of.

My other friends did something a bit different. Melanie also used a color from Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear, hers a bright blue called Blue Me Away! Her ring finger wore the Don’t Be Cheesy! orange from Spoiled that was featured in the last post. Steph arrived at the sleepover with her fingers sporting her own bright pink. To complete the One for Fun style all she had to to was take the polish off of her ring finer and apply another color. She chose one of my all-time favorites, Rockstar Pink also from Xtreme Wear. This glittery goodness went perfectly with her already rockin’ nails.

Melanie, Steph, and I show off our One for Fun nails

One for Fun is a great way to spice up any manicure. Not only can you use a contrasting color and glitter, but you don’t have to stick to your ring finger either. I’ve seen people with their pointer fingers sporting One for Fun, too! Get creative! This is a great solution to those days where you JUST don’t know which color nail polish to use. By the way, if you were wondering what people thought of my Geometric Nails, they were a big hit! I got compliments everywhere I went, and people were amazed when I let them in on the scotch tape secret. Have you tried any of these trends yet?

Geometric Nail Designs

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I remember back in high school when my mom bought me my first french manicure kit. Complete with stickers that were supposed to help me create the perfect french nails, this kit turned out to be a flop. Maybe it was my impatience, but after a few tries, I chucked that kit in the trash and never looked back. Thanks to Pinterest and this post from Birchbox, I’m no longer afraid to mix colors. All you need to create a funky, geometric look is scotch tape! 

Last night I painted my nails with Don’t Be Cheesy, a bright orange from the new line Spoiled by Wet n Wild. I let this color dry overnight as Birchbox suggested, since putting scotch tape on wet nails is a no-no. Today I chose one of my favorite nail colors, Check Me Out by L’oreal Paris, and got to work with the tape. I loosely followed Birchbox’s ideas and cut the tape in all different shapes, some small strips and others larger, and placed them on my nails in varying patterns. Once the tape is secure, just paint your nails with the color you have chosen, and carefully peel off the tape while the polish is still wet. Here’s where my main advice comes in: it is important to smooth out the tape so that there are no air bubbles, but make sure you don’t crease it too much. My main problem occurred in peeling off the tape. Since I had pressed it down so much, it broke while I was trying to take it off! Luckily I was able to salvage most of my hard work, but I do have some mistakes (hey, I’m only human). I’m still proud of my new geometric nails, though. Check out the photos below. Image Image

Pretty cool, huh? Just make sure that once the polish is completely dry you use a top coat. Don’t put it on too soon or the colors will smudge. You can also get more adventurous than I did, and paint your nails all different colors. Or, if you want to add a special touch, put clear glitter over the finished product! You’ll soon come to learn that I am a bit obsessed with glitter, but more on that later.