Tag: affordable

Favorite Friday: Neon Pink + Glitter

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Friday! Today I bring you a look created with two of my favorite nail polishes. Every Friday I like to use a polish that I love, but that I haven’t used in a while. I thought today would be the perfect time to use a neon pink with glitter over it. Remember when I got L.A. City Nights from Jordana? I knew that it needed to be used over pink! You can read that post HERE. Not only is today’s manicure fabulous, but I used polishes that both retail for $1.99 each! They can be found at your local drugstores.

 

 

I began with two coats of Plastic Flamingo by Spoiled. This polish has been featured many times on my blog already, but it is such a great neon pink! The formula is a little streaky, but it evens out with two coats. For just $1.99, there is no excuse to not have Plastic Flamingo in your nail polish stash. The best part is that neon pinks are still in for fall! I’ve spotted many girls sporting this color on the subway.

 

 

I’ve worn Plastic Flamingo alone a few times, but today I wanted some extra sparkle. Jordana Glitters in L.A. City Nights is a glitter polish with fine purple grains and small blue hexagonal glitters. I applied one thick coat over the neon pink, and then applied a glossy topcoat. I absolutely love the look! It is so fun! I wish I could capture the glitter better, but as you can see it is quite bright and sparkly! It is definitely the perfect manicure for the weekend, or any day! I love that Jordana nail polishes are sold for $1.99 also. How can you go wrong?

What do you think of my Favorite Friday manicure? Do you rock similar polishes?

Wet ‘n Wild Chrome Stay Outta My Bismuth — A Clearance Bin Find!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Drugstores are the perfect place to find fabulous and affordable nail polish, but the best place to look is in the clearance section! Not all drugstores have a regular clearance department, but if you’re lucky, you’ll find a bin with with some polishes on markdown. Sometimes the bin will be in the beauty aisle, other times it will be somewhere else in the store. I was thrilled to find this bottle of Wet ‘n Wild Chrome in a basket near the front of my local Rite Aid for only $1! I couldn’t pass up this gorgeous blue polish, especially when other stores are still selling the Chrome collection for $3.99. Take a look at Stay Outta My Bismuth!

 

 

Stay Outta My Bismuth is a gorgeous metallic blue polish mixed with gold shimmer. It is super shiny, and has a unique finish. The formula was different in that it wasn’t creamy, and wasn’t sheer. It applied evenly, though, and I only needed two coats to achieve opacity.  My one dislike about this polish was the brush. For some reason it was a bit fanned out, and that made it hard to get used to. Other than that, I loved this polish! It is like nothing else in my collection!

 

You can find Wet ‘n Wild Chrome polishes at your local drugstore or department store for $3.99. This is a limited edition collection, but I recently saw a full display near me, so they are still available for purchase. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find them in a clearance bin, too! If not, keep your eye out for a $1 off Wet ‘n Wild coupon that is floating around right now. Who doesn’t love the extra savings?!

Have you tried any polishes from the Wet ‘n Wild Chrome line? What are your best clearance finds?

Coterie Grand Opening & Butter London Review

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I am extremely excited to tell you all about a brand new website called Coterie. Similar to HauteLook, Coterie is a website that features flash sales on beauty brands. Its grand opening is today, but I was lucky enough to hear about a preview sale they were having last week featuring the nail polish brand Butter London. This brand usually retails for $14 a bottle, quite a bit out of my price range. With Coterie’s preview sale, I got 3 Butter Londons plus a matte topcoat for a total of $11 shipped! That is a $60 value for just $11! Let me show you the polishes I got. I’ll show you the polishes on their own, and then with the matte topcoat.

First up is Knackered. This is a duochrome polish with holographic glitters in it. Knackered is a purple/blue polish, and looks amazing in the bottle. I was a bit disappointed when I tried it out, though, because it is really sheer. It is definitely best used as a layering polish. In the photos above I am wearing three coats of Knackered. I love the glittery look, but definitely need to try this over another polish since I am not a fan of the sheer look. Besides that issue, I had no problems with the formula whatsoever.

 

 

Above is Knackered with the matte topcoat over it. It does look neat, but the matte took away the look of the holographic glitters, my favorite part of this polish. The best part about the matte topcoat is that if you don’t like it, you can apply a glossy topcoat right over it and restore the look of the original polish. No harm done!

 

 

Up next is West End Wonderland, a gold glitter nail polish with hints of orange. Luckily this polish lived up to how it looked in the bottle, and I got full coverage with just two coats. I have used gold glitter polishes before, but West End Wonderland is truly unique with the incorporation of the orange shade. It gives the polish more dimension. I also have to note that this glitter polish was the easiest to remove! I used the tin foil method, but only had to wait 3-5 minutes for the polish to come right off. Definitely a time saver!

 

 

Here is West End Wonderland with the matte finish. I have been dying to try out a matte topcoat over glitter, and I’m so happy I got the chance! The glitter is more subdued and not as shiny, but instead has a cool, grainy look. I can’t wait to try this finish over square/hexagonal glitters!

 

 

Last up is All Hail the Queen, my favorite polish of the bunch. This polish is a neutral shade with lots of shimmer, including holographic shimmer! That means this beige polish reflects all colors of the rainbow when it reflects light. My photos just don’t do this polish justice! All Hail the Queen is a great polish to spice up any neutral look. I used two coats of this polish to achieve opacity.

 

 

Finally, here is All Hail the Queen with matte topcoat. Just as with Knackered, this polish loses its holographic shine with this finish. To be honest, I applied my glossy topcoat to this manicure as soon as I could. The matte looked too much like sand for my liking! I also finished up my manicure with Julep’s Yumi. I couldn’t resist adding more glitter!

 All in all, I am still super excited about Coterie! I got an amazing deal on these polishes, and I can’t wait to see what sales they feature in the future. Make sure you join Coterie HERE. The Butter London sale is still available for a limited time. Enter code ZOEREPORT at checkout to get $25 off!

Try it on Tuesday: Jesse’s Girl Confetti

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

This week I am trying on one of the Jesse’s Girl polishes that I purchased in a blog sale about a month ago. Confetti is a really interesting polish. In the bottle it looks like a shimmery purple, but upon application I realized it is also a holo polish that shifts between purple and blue depending on the light. Confetti is very sheer. I applied three coats and it is not completely opaque. I think it would look great layered over another solid color, though. I had no problems whatsoever with application.

 

I’ve been wanting to try out Jesse’s Girl polishes as they retail for just $3.99. Besides being affordable, they look really pretty. Confetti reminds me of Sally Hansen HD polishes, but at about half the price. Though I’m not thrilled with how sheer the polish is, it is definitely stunning. I love that it has the appearance of glitter without being a glitter polish. I can’t wait to try this out as a top layer!

 

Have you tried Jesse’s Girl nail polish? What do you think of Confetti?

Monthly Nail Polish Haul: July Edition

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Adventures in Polishland is dedicated to fabulous and affordable nails.  At the end of each month, I show you the polishes I purchased, and the good deals I got on them. I rarely pay full price for anything, and that includes nail polish. Although I did go a bit overboard in July (33 new bottles!), I only paid a fraction of the retail value for all my new polishes. Get ready to see this awesome haul!

Polishes I bought at retail stores in person, left to right:

  • Anise in Miss Inspector and Bronzed Babe. You can purchase Anise polishes at DSW stores for $6 each. Typically they are on sale for buy one get one half off, so these polishes came to $9. I had some money left on a gift card, so I only paid $6.96 for these two polishes! You can read my review of these two colors HERE.
  • China Glaze in Hook and Line and Mahogany Magic from the Hunger Games Collection. I bought these two polishes at my local Sally Beauty Supply store on clearance. I paid a total of $6.58 for both, but they retailed at $8.99 a piece when they came out! Sometimes patience is the key to getting the colors you want.
  • Elle in Surfer Babe. I scored this beautiful blue at Kohls for FREE when my mom let me use her Kohls Cash. Usually Elle retails for $10. If you go to Kohls, keep an eye out for coupons near the display. When I went there were $1 off coupons available! See my post highlighting this polish HERE.
  • NYC in High Lime Green. I bought this polish at CVS and used a coupon for $0.50 cents off any NYC purchase of $1.79. Lucky for me this polish was exactly $1.79, so I only paid $1.29 for it! I found this coupon on a store display also, so be sure to keep an eye out for those at CVS, too.

Polishes I bought through Blog Sales or Swap Groups, left to right:

  • I purchased Deborah Lippmann in Pearly Queen and Oh! You Pretty Things from Diana over at Polish Monster. As a special surprise, she threw in Miami Spirit from the new Wet ‘n Wild Fergie Collection! I paid a total of $15 including shipping for all three of these polishes. What a bargain!
  • I purchased all three Jesse’s Girl polishes (in Center Stage, Cupcake Frosting, and Confetti) from a special Blog Sale. A few months ago, a member of the nail blogging community passed away. As a benefit to support her family, her daughter was selling her polishes. I sent her a total of $22 including shipping, and asked her to throw in a few mini polishes that hadn’t been sold yet with the three Jesse’s Girls. I was completely surprised when I got the OPI Spiderman mini collection! From left to right is Into the Night, Number One Nemesis, Just Spotted the Lizard, and Your Web or Mine? Not only did I save a few dollars off the retail price, but I helped a family in need. See my post featuring Your Web or Mine? HERE.
  • The mini on the far right is Sephora by OPI in I Don’t Bite. I purchased it from a Swap Group on Facebook. A mini from this brand typically retails at about $5, but I paid only $3 including shipping.

Polishes I bought on Copious using credits first, left to right:

  • e.l.f. in Royal Purple. I paid only $0.54 for this gorgeous polish that retails at $2. See my blog post featuring it HERE.
  • Matte.n.a in Film Noir. My first matte polish! I got it for just $0.01 with my credits, though they typically sell for $2.25.
  • piCture pOlish in Citrus. I got this beautiful orange for a mere $0.13 even though they retail at $9.50. I’ve heard great things about this brand and I can’t wait to use it.
  • Pretty & Polished in Forest Phire. My first indie purchase, and I only spent $0.30!  Minis from this brand usually sell for $5.25, so I got a great deal.

Polishes I bought online, left to right:

  • Julep in Yumi, Lynn, America, and Alfre. I got all of these polishes for FREE! The first three were in my July Julep Maven Box, which I had a free credit for. In that box I received a voucher for another free polish, and I picked Alfre! I love the Julep Maven program. Did you know that you can get your first box for one penny with the promo code COLOR2012? Join HERE and read about my July box HERE.
  • Orly in Rock Solid. I purchased my first Orly during a sale on HauteLook. I had credits to use, so I only ended up spending $0.45! HauteLook has all sorts of sales, but there is often nail polish from all different brands. Join the site for free HERE.
  • Zoya in Rea and America. I originally purchased Zoya’s Trixie to get America free during the Fourth of July sale, but when it arrived I realized it was a dupe of a polish I already had. Lucky for me I was able to swap Trixie for Rea in a Swap Group! I did have to spend a little extra for the shipping, but I ended up with both of these Zoyas for just $9.95 instead of the full $16. You can purchase Zoya polish HERE and read my entry about America HERE.

Whew! Did you make it through all that with me? If so, here is the most exciting part! While I did spend $66.21 this month, if I did not use credits, buy sale items, and coupon, the retail value of all these items would be $205.24! That’s right– I saved $139.03! How is that for fabulous and affordable?! For all of these 28 bottles listed above, on average I paid $2.36 per polish. Woo-hoo!

Before I close out this post, I wanted to add in some “bonus” polishes that I purchased through Little Black Bag. I can’t really estimate how much I saved on these polishes, since they came along with other items in a monthly subscription, but I definitely got a good deal on them. Retail value of these five polishes is $77. Left to right, the colors are: ncLA in Hollywood Hills Hot Number & Miss Sunset Strip, and Michael Marcus in Brilliant Sand, Fuchsia Have a Good Time, and Paradise Pink. You can join Little Black Bag HERE.

Please note that this post does not include polishes I received as a gift, as a giveaway win, or as a product to review for my blog. My purpose is to show you how to get great savings on nail polish.

Ride the Waves with Elle Surfer Babe

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Here at Adventures in Polishland, I focus on bringing you nails that are fabulous and affordable. Typically, I don’t like to spend over $5 for polish. I never expected to pick up any of the Elle line new at Kohls stores, which retails for $10. However, I have the best mom, and she let me use her Kohls Cash to get a free bottle! I picked up Surfer Babe, a beautiful light blue. Even though I got this bottle for free, I was still a bit skeptical about it. Why is this polish $10 when it is sold at Kohls? Isn’t Kohls supposed to be inexpensive? I’m very happy to announce that this bottle of polish surprised me and turned out to be fabulous!

Surfer Babe by Elle

Surfer Babe is a light blue a bit on the teal side, with a shimmer running through it. I was a bit nervous with the first coat of polish. It applied evenly, but was very sheer. Luckily the second coat worked like magic. My nails look exactly as I hoped they would! The color is now opaque and extremely gorgeous. I am honestly impressed with Elle’s formula. At the same time, I am not sure that I would spend $10 regular price for this polish. If it was even $6 I might purchase them every once in a while, but I would rather go for a drugstore brand that is comparable in quality. Do you think $10 is a lot for Elle polish? Have you tried this brand yet?

Instagram shot!

P.S. My Kohls store was offering $1 off coupons for Elle polish! The coupons were located right next to the display. Make sure to keep an eye out for those if you’re going to buy this brand!

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?