Tag: manicure

Favorite Friday: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

It’s Favorite Friday! That’s when I wear one of my all time favorite polishes that I haven’t used in a while. Today I have Mint Sorbet from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I absolutely love mint polishes! I bought this one after I had seen many girls rocking mint nails on the NYC Subway in the spring of 2011. Not only is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear affordable at just $3 a bottle (or less at some stores), but the quality is rather good. You can read more about this brand HERE.

Mint Sorbet is not my all time favorite from this brand of polish, but the color is so pretty. This is definitely a two-coat polish, as the first coat comes out streaky and uneven. Luckily a second coat usually fixes everything and smoothes the color out. Today, I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful my mani turned out. I don’t know if I’ve just gotten better at painting my nails, but Mint Sorbet is at its best ever! I even did something I never do — I did not apply a topcoat! The polish looks so glossy on its own that I didn’t bother. What do you think of Mint Sorbet?

 

 

I’m sure you can see why this is one of my favorites! Have you tried this color or brand before?

Indie Spotlight: AbsolutLacquer in Maybe I’m Crazy & Confetti Cake

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Welcome to my first Indie Spotlight post! A few months ago I had no idea that indie polish existed, but I quickly learned of this underground world of polishmakers. Indie polish is created and sold by small businesses. They are typically 3-free, and can be very sought after. Some indie polishes sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay! On average, indie polish is about $8-10 for a full size bottle. While this is a bit more than I typically like to spend, it is nice to support small businesses when you have room in your budget. My Indie Spotlight posts will highlight some of the sellers that create this stunning polish!

AbsolutLacquer was kind enough to send me two minis from her store to test out for review. I was thrilled to use my first indie! I began with Maybe I’m Crazy layered over Zoya America. Maybe I’m Crazy is a glitter top coat in a clear base that literally has every type of glitter you can think of — bars, hexagons (large & small), squares, and fine — in a variety of different colors. You can layer this over basically any color, because it is sure to have a matching glitter in the bottle. I think it looks great over this bright red!

 

I’ll be honest, when I first started using this polish I thought, “Maybe I’m Crazy, but what am I doing wrong?” As I’m not used to this type of glitter polish, I found it a bit difficult at first to master the polishing technique. In order to get the glitter on your nail successfully, make sure to have a lot on the brush! Then, you want to dab the polish instead of swiping it across the nail. That way the glitter will stay on your nail and not on the brush. I used about 1-2 coats to achieve this look. Isn’t it fabulous?! I got lots of compliments on this polish.

 

My one woe with Maybe I’m Crazy is that removal took some effort. As with any glitter polish, I used the tin foil method (read about that HERE). Make sure you let your tin foil claws sit for at least ten minutes. That way the glitter will come right off! Even though this takes a bit of extra removal time, I don’t mind at all because Maybe I’m Crazy is stunning. I can’t wait to use it again. Here are a couple more photos.

Look at that bottle!

 

 

The next polish I have to show you is Confetti Cake. This is a white based polish with multi-colored hexagonal glitters. Unlike Maybe I’m Crazy, I didn’t need to dab on this polish. Instead, it applied like a dream! The polish stays true to it’s name. In fact, I had to remind myself as I was applying it that it was in fact nail polish, and not frosting! I used three coats of Confetti Cake on it’s own to get this look.

 

I am absolutely loving Confetti Cake! The white base has a frosted look, and the glitter spreads out perfectly. One thing that’s so fun about this polish is the look you get when adding coats. The glitter is brightly colored just like sprinkles, but when the white is over the glitter you get a beautiful pastel look. Thus, each nail has some bright and some pastel glitters. It gives a fantastic look! It was definitely worth the three coats, but if you wanted to conserve the polish, simply start out with one coat of white polish. That way you will have more Confetti Cake for future manis!

It looks so yummy!

 

 

I’ve been craving some cake since painting this mani! But that’s another story. I am absolutely thrilled with my first experience with indie polish. These are so well made, and you can tell a lot of work has gone into making the formula perfect. I highly suggest you check out AbsolutLacquer and buy some of her polishes! Shop her Etsy site HERE. Full size polishes are $8, and she JUST released a brand new neon collection! Also, be sure to like her Facebook page HERE. She often has contests for free polish!

What do you think of AbsolutLacquer? Have you tried this brand before?

 

The products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

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?

Favorite Friday: Hunger Games Nails on a Budget

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Welcome to my first Favorite Friday post! Even though I love that my nail polish stash is growing, I miss using some of my favorite colors. In order to ensure that I am not only using my brand new polishes, I am beginning a blog series called Favorite Friday. Each week I will use one of my favorite polishes from my stash. The only rule is that it must be a polish that I have not used in a long time. This way, I can try out my new polishes on any day except Friday!

Today’s manicure is one that I created back in March for the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games movie. I really wanted to splurge on some of the China Glaze Hunger Games Collection, but I thought that $8.99 a bottle was too much, especially since I had already paid for a t-shirt and a Mockingjay pin. Instead of spending more money, I knew that I could create my own Hunger Games mani using polishes I already owned.

To get this look, I began with two coats of an unnamed OPI mini that I have in grey. Then, I used a clear, glitter topcoat from Wet ‘n Wild and painted two coats of that. The finished product is a sparkly grey that reminds me of polishes that can be found in the China Glaze collection. I can definitely picture Katniss wearing this mani! I loved it so much on premiere night, and I am glad I got to wear it again for Favorite Friday.

What do you think of my Hunger Games nails on a budget? Do you try to create looks based off expensive polishes?

Feel free to participate in future Favorite Fridays with me! Post photos of your mani on my Facebook page, or send along the link to your blog!

Try it on Tuesday: Zoya America (Was it Worth the Hoopla?)

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

On the Fourth of July, Zoya had a promotion where if you spent $10 you could get a free bottle of their America polish. Well, shortly after midnight, a photo began circulating on the Internet explaining how you could get a bottle of America completely free without having to spend anything. I was extremely excited about this, as I had not tried Zoya before. I jumped on the chance to get my free bottle, and even shared the news with my Facebook followers. When I woke up the next day, I discovered that Zoya had cancelled my order, along with 14,000 others that had been placed. It turns out Zoya had a glitch in their system, and I would not be getting the polish for free.

This situation caused a lot of drama on the Zoya Facebook page, and throughout the nail blog community. Some believed that since the glitch was Zoya’s responsibility, they should have compensated everyone who ordered the free bottle. Others, however, felt that customers should not have abused the promo code, since it was made public originally that there was a $10 minimum to be spent. As for me, I was quite disappointed. I was unaware of the original promotion. I decided to go ahead and search for a $10 item on the Zoya website. Believe it or not, all of their polishes are $8, so in reality Zoya wanted you to buy two items at $16 to get the free polish. I was about to give up on the promotion, until a few of my Facebook followers informed me of another glitch in the system– only buy one polish and you can get Zoya America for free. Even though this was a glitch too, I received two polishes for only $8!

So after all that trouble, I finally got the chance to try Zoya America for today’s Try it on Tuesday. Not only have I been wanting to test out this brand, but we are the midst of the Olympics– go Team USA!    This bright red cream is not usually my typical color, but I am always up for trying out new things. Zoya has a great reputation, and is a vegan nail polish brand, so I had high expectations. In the end I am not “wowed” by it, but it is definitely a nice polish.

Above is two coats of America. I could have gotten away with one coat, but I added a second one to be safe. This polish was a little hard to work with texture wise. I think it was a bit thicker than I was expecting. It did apply evenly, but next time I will know to do thin coats. America dried quickly, but was impressionable for a few hours after application. This red is not my favorite color, but if you do like red you will love this polish. It was quite hard to photograph accurately, so please visit the Zoya website HERE to view and purchase America.

Instagram photo!

In the end, I do think Zoya America was worth all the hoopla. Though it is not my favorite color, I got to try a new brand at a great price. I look forward to using the other Zoya polish that I purchased in the future!

What do you think of Zoya polishes? Were you included in the Fourth of July upset?

Brand Power: Tip Top Nails South Africa

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Tip Top Nails is a brand from South Africa that creates vegan and 4-free polishes made from natural ingredients. Today I have four polishes from their NailChic line to show you. I really loved all of these polishes, especially the brush! The flat brush applies polish perfectly, distributing it evenly with every stroke. The formula in each polish was also outstanding. More detailed comments to come in the color descriptions!

First up is Sitting Pretty, a bright pink jelly polish. The color was a bit brighter on my nails than I thought it was going to be, but I really like it. With two coats the color was opaque. The one thing I really did not like about this polish, was that even after wearing it for two days, I woke up to impressions on my nails from my blankets. I can understand that this happens when polish is not completely dry, but it was strange that it still occurred forty-eight hours after application. It must just be the formula. Besides this one issue, I love Sitting Pretty and can’t wait to wear it again!

 

Traffic Lights is a metallic red polish with a beautiful shimmer. I am not usually a big fan of red polishes, but this one is stunning. I did apply two coats, but you could honestly just use one! My only complaint with Traffic Lights is that removal took a bit more effort than usual, but other than that I am happy with it. I definitely plan on using this color again during the holidays. It is perfect for Christmas!

Next up is Jitterbug Lime, a metallic lime green. This is also a shimmer polish, with green and gold undertones. I was very surprised by how pretty this color is. Upon first look, it has a frosted finish, but in the light the color truly shines. I used two coats of Jitterbug Lime, and both were necessary to achieve opacity. Brush strokes are visible with this polish, as with almost all other metallics that I’ve used, yet this does not take away from the polish at all. Similar to Traffic Lights, removal of this polish was more difficult that I would like. Otherwise it is stunning!

Without flash
With flash

The last polish I have to show you is Gold Drop Glitter. I assumed that this polish could easily be worn on its own as the bottle read “Apply 2 coats of colour” on the bottle, just as it did with the other three polishes. But as soon as I applied one coat I realized that Gold Drop Glitter is best used as a glitter top coat. I was determined to use this on its own, so I started painting with hopes that I would achieve full coverage. Four coats later I was satisfied with the look. Gold Drop Glitter is a clear base with fine gold grains. If you’re willing to apply four coats you can wear it on its own. Otherwise, it would go great on top of another color. One day I’ll use this in another mani to show you what it looks like as a topcoat.

All in all, I really loved these polishes from Tip Top Nails. I wore each for 2-3 days and only experienced minimal wear along the tips of my nails. I definitely recommend these polishes. Those in South Africa can purchase Tip Top at their local Clicks store. The rest of us can follow the Tip Top Facebook community HERE and on Twitter HERE. You can also view all Tip Top products on their website: http://www.tiptopnails.co.za.

Have you tried this brand before? What do you think of these polishes?

The products in this post were provided to me for review. All opinions are my own.

In a Rush? Try This Quick Mani Upgrade!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

One of my personal nail polish rules is to never paint your nails when you’re in a hurry. I just don’t want to deal with the stress that comes with smudging wet nails! But let’s face it. There are often times when we at least want to add a little something to our manicures before we head out the door for the day. I found myself in that position just the other day. Even though I loved Your Web or Mine? from the OPI Spiderman Collection (see post HERE), it needed to be revamped a little.

Because I didn’t have much time, I grabbed a glitter polish from my stash and added an accent nail. With two coats of Julep Yumi, my manicure was instantly upgraded! Just a flash of sparkle changed the entire look of my mani, and made my three-day-old polish shine. Since I was using Yumi as an addition, I didn’t even need to use topcoat. Plus, Julep polish dries really quickly, so I was ready to go in no time. Looks great, right?!

It gives it a little something extra, don’t you think?

 

You can really see the sparkle in the bottle here!

OPI Spiderman Collection: Your Web or Mine?

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I was extremely lucky to receive the OPI Spiderman Mini Collection through a special blog sale a few weeks ago. I will tell you more about that sale in a future post, but today I have one of the colors to show you. Your Web or Mine? is a beautiful, frosty pink polish with a hint of shimmer. It applied very well. I used two coats to get full opacity. With this formula, you can see the brushstrokes when you apply the polish, but I really like to look it has. This pink is not too bright, but not drab either. It is a classy color that you could wear in a professional work setting, and enjoy all year round.

Your Web or Mine? also dried very quickly, which I loved! I’ve been wearing it for three days already and have only experienced slight wear on the tips of the nails. To be honest, I’m quite surprised with this color! I usually go for brights or pastels, but this pink is gorgeous. I definitely recommend it!

Stay tuned for more Spiderman colors! I have three more to show you in the future. Have you tried out any of this collection?

Try it on Tuesday: Half Moon Edition

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Try it on Tuesday is all about finally putting on a color or two that you have in your possession, but that you haven’t used yet. This week I decided to not only use new colors, but to try out a new nail trend as well. I have seen people trying out the half moon design using binder reinforcement stickers, and I wanted to do the same. Most of us have some of these stickers laying around the house, so why not put them to good use? The trick is simple, but does require some practice. I’ll tell you how I achieved the look, and show you two Anise polishes along the way!

Bronzed Babe by Anise

Anise polish can be found as DSW stores. That’s right– at your favorite shoe store! When I found that out I was very surprised. How had I missed them before? Well, you can find these polishes right at the register. They are $6 each, but they are typically on sale for buy one get one half off, so you get two for $9. Not too bad, especially since I had a bit of a gift card to put towards my purchase. I bought two complimentary colors– Miss Inspector and Bronzed Babe. I knew that I wanted to use them both together.

For this half moon mani, I began with Bronzed Babe. This is a gorgeous shimmery gold. Its formula and look is very similar to Celeb City from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear (one of my favorites!), except that it is gold and not silver. I used two coats, but it looked good with just one! It was very easy to apply, and dried rather quickly. I actually wore it alone for a few hours because I didn’t have the time to finish this mani all in one sitting, and I loved it! This is one of my new favorites!

Next, I applied a sticker to each nail. This method is very similar to the scotch tape trick, so be sure to press the stickers firmly down on dry polish. Once the stickers are in place, paint your next color. I used Miss Inspector, a creamy brown. Though this color looks very nice, I am not overly thrilled with the formula. Of course, this is the first time I’m using it, so I’m not sure how it would look without Bronzed Babe underneath it. The first coat was streaky and thin, but the second coat was much better. The worst part was the smell. Phew! So stinky! I’m not sure why that was, but it turned me off a bit. I’m not sure I’ll be using this color too much.

Stick ’em on!

Just as you do with scotch tape manis, be sure to peel off the stickers of your half moon mani while the polish is still wet. Finish up with your topcoat to even out any imperfections. While my mani didn’t come out perfectly, I am pretty happy with my first half moon attempt. I can see that I positioned the stickers a little too high on the nail, especially on my right hand. I’ll be more careful about that next time.

Miss Inspector by Anise in half moon style!

What do you think of this mani? Have you tried the half moon style before? What about Anise polish? Let me know!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway HERE!

Second Chance Purple with e.l.f. Polish

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I was so disappointed with yesterday’s manicure that I took it off the first chance I got. Sorry, Revlon, but I’m mad at you! Because I was still feeling purple nails, I tried out the polish I recently got by e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face). After yesterday it was a dream to use this color! I am much happier with the formula, the shade of purple, and the overall manicure.

Royal Purple by e.l.f.

This is the first product from e.l.f. that I’ve ever used. I purchased it off Copious using credits, so I only paid $0.54 of my own money! (Don’t forget, you can get a $10 credit when you join Copious HERE). Normally, these polishes retail for only $2 anyway, so they’re super affordable. The color I purchased is called Royal Purple, and it is a beautiful, shimmery hue. It’s a bit lighter than I thought it would be, but I really like it. I would say it is a more on the magenta side than a deep purple.

In terms of application, the first coat was a little streaky, but still applied evenly. The second coat took care of any problems I had and looked great! I also really liked the brush for this polish. It was very full, and easy to use. I think the one drawback I have with this polish is that it’s very similar to an OPI I already own called Lourve Me Lourve Me Not. It’s always hard to shop for polish online!

You can really see the shimmer in the bottle here!

All in all, I am MUCH happier with this purple than I was with Revlon’s Impulsive. Sometimes you just need to give your mani a second chance! Have you ever needed to give yourself a second chance mani? What was wrong with the original polish you used?