Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Wild Child (Birthday Nails!!)

It took me forever to find the zebra pattern in the Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips. I searched everywhere and finally found them in Target - just in time! I really wanted to wear them for my little sister’s cheer finals and my birthday weekend.

Lately I’ve really been into painting my ring finger a different color, so I decided to put the zebra sticker on my ring finger, and paint the rest of my nails with Essie’s Pink Parka – My favorite hot pink!

I sort of forgot to take a picture of them after I first did them, so this is like 2 days later... =/

Verdict: I loveee the way they look on! They are sooo cool and I received tons of compliments. Application wasn’t too hard. I had absolutely no problem on my right hand, and I was pumped about how easy it was, but I did have a bit of a problem with my left hand. I couldn’t get the sticker on to save my life! Finally I got it on, but it didn’t look as good as my right hand. Anyway, the slight bit of difficulty I had putting them on was totally worth it, these things look so cool and last forever – I’m on day 7 now with only some minor tip wear.

OPI Last Friday Night and Sally Hansen HD Blu

I’ve been in love with OPI’s Last Friday Night since the first time I saw it, but was super disappointed when I first tried it and noticed how sheer it was.  Since that sad day I’ve been searching for the perfect color to wear underneath to compliment the awesome blue color in the bottle and well, my search is over!  I was checking out the polishes in Target tonight, and first, there was a freakin’ Last Friday Night dupe, Sinful Colors Hottie.  I mean I’m not 100% sure if it was a dupe, and I didn’t buy it to test it out, but just by sight it looks exactly the same in the bottle.  Due to that, I remembered that I wanted a color to compliment Last Friday Night, so I held up the Sinful Colors bottle to a few blues I saw, and I found it!  Sally Hansen’s HD Polishes in Blu.  It’s perfect!!

I am so so so super excited now to wear this combo!!

Isn't it just beautiful?

Best Husband Ever . . .

Just a quick post about how awesome my husband is. He made a special trip to Nordstrom for me to purchase Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday!!! I’ve wanted this polish soo soo badly, and even looked into dupes just to try to satisfy my need for it, but I didn’t want a dupe. None of them were good enough, I needed the real deal! Gosh, he’s just too awesome!


He also picked up Deborah Lippmann’s Rehydrating Base Coat for me, and although I’m still keeping my fingers crossed, I’ve been using it for about 4 days now, and my nails seem to have improved a ton! The week before I started using this, I had to change my polish every day because my two peeling nails (my pointers) were peeling away and causing the polish to chip like crazy. Yay for my nails!

Orly Etoile, Essie Merino Cool & Essie Mochacino

Arg. I haven’t posted in forever but on the bright side, three polishes are to be shown in this post!! :)


First, in the “nail polish store” as I like to call it, I saw a display of Orly’s French Manicure colors. My eyes were immediately drawn to a very pretty sheer shimmery lilac color called Etoile. Since Lilacism is one of my favorite colors, I figured this would look gorgeous over it!

Base – Orly Bonder
Color – 2 Coats of Essie Lilacism

1 Coat of Orly Etoile

Top Coat – Essie Good to Go

During the same nail polish run, I decided to start picking up some of Essie’s Fall 2010 collection. First on my list was Merino Cool. I didn’t have a color that was even similar to this, so I was excited to finally own it.

another reason to show off my rings :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Merino Cool

Top Coat – Essie Good to Go

Application was pretty good - Only two coats needed and it was fairly opaque and not streaky. My only complaint was the way the color shows up in certain lights. In some light it’s a sexy smoky brownish purple, but in others, it’s just a faded looking brown.

Last is a polish that I purchased a few weeks ago in CVS. It’s Essie, but it’s from their retail display. I’ve been super snobbish about buying retail Essie’s so I’ve shied away until I heard about the retail exclusives. After checking out this color in person, it was gorgeous and shimmery and yummy, so I just needed to have it. Although I miss the “E” on the top of the cap, I did peel off the sticker on the bottle, so it looks a little more like a good ‘ol Essie. Without further ado, I present to you Essie Mochacino

Look at all the shimmers!

Base – Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Base Coat

Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Mochacino

Top Coat – Essie Good to Go

Mochacino is a light brown/dark tan packed with silver shimmer.  Application was great, not streaky, dried pretty quickly and it’s just gorgeous!



OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees & OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede

Ulta is having a Buy 2 get 1 Free sale on all professional nail brands so you know I just had to get on over there. I bought 7 new polishes but I was slightly bummed because I wish they had a better selection of Essie - There are a few I wanted that they didn’t have… oh well.

Anyway, lately everyone I’ve seen has been wearing darker colors, and with all these dreary clouds and the constant rain I figured I could get away with some darkness on my nails as well. I painted all of my nails except my ring fingers with OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees, and my ring fingers with OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede. I thought the contrast thing was pretty cool, and I love how perfectly they complement each other because well, they’re essentially the same color.

beautiful dry skin eh?

Base – Orly Bonder
Color – 2 Coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees

2 Coats of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede on my ring fingers

Top Coat – Essie Good to Go

They both went on smoothly and not streaky at all. Also as a bonus, I dinged my nail real bad while getting into bed and I was too lazy to fix it, so I just threw some polish on, and it evened out oh so nicely! Yay!



Essie Going Incognito & Nicole by OPI Nicole . . . Spotted!

On a random nail polish run, I picked up two wonderful colors that may be my new obsession. I was originally looking to purchase Essie Pretty Edgy, but I talked myself out of it last minute and instead, bought Going Incognito - I loved how dark and teal it was. After deciding on Going Incognito, I noticed that immediately to my right there was a large display with like 2 bottles of polish on it, but one was the prettiest color ever – Nicole by OPI Nicole … Spotted! These two colors are a match made in heaven!  Nicole … Spotted is the exact color of Going Incognito, just a lighter clear jelly version of it, with holo glitter and micro gold glitter!

* Please excuse my pointer finger . . . it's just yuck, and kind of gloopy looking because I had a little chipping and quickly fixed it for the picture.  :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Going Incognito

2 Coats of Nicole by OPI Nicole … Spotted
Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

They just look so pretty together, I felt like I had mermaid fingers!

My only issue was that the sparkles in Nicole … Spotted sort of sank to the bottom of the bottle, so it helped to give it a quick shake between each nail to make sure your brush is armed with an ample amount of sparkle.

OPI Last Friday Night and OPI Guy Meets Gal-Veston

So after my most recent trip to Ulta, I came home with OPI's Last Friday Night and OPI's Guy Meets Gal-Veston. I have this strange obsession with Texas, and I just couldn’t believe that I didn't own any of the members of the gorgeous Texas collection yet... what was wrong with me?!

Last Friday Night is this gorgeous jelly with TONS of glitter. It’s jam packed! I’ve read that it is quite sheer though, and not the gorgeous bright blue that it is in the bottle, so I knew I had to layer. I wish I had a BRIGHT blue to wear underneath, but the only “brighter” shades I have are OPI’s Dating a Royal (which is too much of a navy bright) and then Essie’s Lapis of Luxury (which isn’t even bright…). Anyway, after showing my husband a variety of blues (mostly pale ones) he chose Lapis of Luxury, so that’s what I went with!

Although my camera hated me and refused to take a nice picture, Last Friday Night is packed with glitter and it looked great on, but it is a little thick, and I did have some pile up at my tips . . . I probably should have waited for the coats to dry a bit, but I always paint my nails so late at night that I try to do it as fast as possible. :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color – 2 Coats of Essie Lapis of Luxury

2 Coats of OPI Last Friday Night

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

Next up is OPI’s Guy Meets Gal-Veston. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about the new sorbet finish, and I was just too excited to try them. The color in the bottle was a gorgeous coral color, and it looked a juicy as could be. With the first coat, I was surprised by the sheerness. On the bright side it wasn’t streaky, but it was completely see through. As I finished my second coat I noticed that it was still very sheer. After the third coat it was definitely starting to hide the nail line, but it was still way visible. I really should have done 4 coats. I stopped at three, and I regretted it. The nail line drove me crazy all day, and I kept obsessively comparing it to the bottle, wondering why it couldn’t have been the same color. Although there are other colors in the Texas Collection that I would love to have, I just don’t think this collection is for me.

 With Flash

With Artificial Light

Base – Orly Bonder
Color – 3 Coats of OPI Guy Meets Gal-Veston

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

As you can see from the pictures, it looks like a dipped my nails in juice :) The sorbet finishes are gorgeous and juicy looking, but it’s not something I’m willing to deal with such sheerness for.

Essie Pink Parka & Zoya Caitlin

Hello Hello!


Up first is Pink Parka from Essie’s Fall 2009 Collection.
Now while I own a few “hot pinks” this one is definitely my favorite.
Application wasn’t too bad, not really too streaky. I really don’t have much to say, so let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Inside

Outside

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
Color - 2 Coats Essie Pink Parka

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Next up is Zoya’s Caitlin. This is my first from this brand and I must say I am impressed. It’s a really gorgeous grayish grape. Application was a breeze, although the brush does take a little getting used to. It’s thinner than OPI’s, somewhat similar to Essie’s but at the same time, totally different . . . Actually, I figured it out - The bristles aren’t as long as Essie’s so this causes the brush to be slightly harder to move, they don’t brush back and forth as easily.

Anyway, for a color so pretty, I can definitely get over a slight brush issue :)

Base – Orly Bonder

Color - 2 Coats Zoya Caitlin

Top Coat – Orly Won’t Chip

Did I mention I purchased a new base and top coat.  I was chipping like crazy so I decided to give Bonder a go, and give up all hopes of ever repairing my peeling nails with Miracle Cure, and for the heck of it, I picked up the top coat because it said no chip!

I’m not 100% sure of how I feel about them, probably because it might be too soon to tell. :)  My color has only been on for a day, and I do think I see some minor chipping, but maybe it’s just some tip wear. . . We’ll see.

Essie Rainbow of Colors!

Ballet Slippers, Topless and Barefoot, Knockout Pout, Guilty Pleasures, Punchy Pink, Pink Parka,

Flirty Fuchsia, Short Shorts, Escapades, Haute as Hello, Bright Tights

Mint Candy Apple, Turquoise and Cacaos, Borrowed and Blue, Lapis of Luxury, Coat Azure,

Lilacism, Splash of Grenadine, Bermuda Shorts, Over the Top

Soo pretty <3 but I really wish I took this with my camera camera, instead of my phone camera.

New Polishes!

My long awaited bi-weekly trip to Ulta happened tonight and I had a 20% Friends and Family coupon, so that was great!
I went to purchase some of OPI’s new Femme de Cirque Collection, but they didn’t have any… :(  So, I bought Essie’s Mint Candy Apple and Essie’s Ballet Slippers. I also picked up OPI’s Nail Envy for Sensitive and Peeling nails . . . for that pesky pointer finger issue. Hopefully this does something for them.

After leaving Ulta happy, but slightly defeated, my husband and I headed to our favorite restaurant, but not before a quick stop at the mall. The Middletown Galleria has this awesome little Hair Salon/Beauty Supply store that has a ton of polish, for great prices.

I picked up. . . (drum roll please)

OPI’s Femme de Cirque in I Juggle… Men and Step Right Up! I was really too excited when I saw them, I practically skipped over to the display!

I also picked up Essie’s Pink Parka and the new and beautiful Borrowed & Blue.

All in all, it was a great polish run, and I can’t wait to try out my new colors!

China Glaze's Lemon Fizz and Sally Hansen's Gentle Blossom

I tried posting China Glaze’s Lemon Fizz before but I just can’t get it to look neat on my nails…

 

As I heard about yellow polishes before, this one was extremely opaque, but terrible streaky. It is an awesome color, a really pretty pastel yellow that reminds me of baby chicks, and it has a nice creamy finish.
 

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Color - 2 Coats China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

                                                                  ____________________


Next is Sally Hansen’s Apple Blossom is a shimmery mint green. Until tonight (will post more about this later) I did not own Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, but I did have my eye out for it. I saw this while on vacation this week at the drugstore, and I couldn’t resist it.

While it is a pretty color, it was IMPOSSIBLE to work with. This particular polish has this really awkward short, thick brush, and the polish dries pretty quickly, which is great and all, but it’s definitely hard to level out the coats.

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Color - 2 Coats Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Oh by the way, please excuse my gimpy pointer finger… I’ve been having a peeling problem (just with my two pointers) and the polish just chips away almost instantly on this finger.



Essie - Guilty Pleasures

My manicure chipped like crazy so I threw this on last minute.

It’s Essie Guilty Pleasures. A strawberry colored mild hot pink. It’s been a go to for me for the past year. Goes on nicely with just two coats, and reminds me of summer!

I forgot to take my indoor pictures before I changed colors . . . but I was happy I got a chance to show off my rings!!!  :)

Base – Sally Hansen Miracle Cure
Color – 2 coats of Essie Guilty Pleasures
Top – Essie Good to Go

On a random nail polish related note, I bought China Glaze White on White, Color Club Pucci-Licious and a black nail art polish. The white and the black is for the neon colored cheetah spots I’d like to attempt sometime, and the purple was just pretty :)

Essie - Lapis of Luxury & China Glaze - Fairy Dust

Like I said after I bought Fairy Dust, it just adds the perfect amount of sparkle <3

Indoors with Flash

Indoors with No Flash

Outdoors on this snowy March day

Please excuse the polish on my skin . . . I thought it was all off, haha.

And my super dry skin . . . this was pre-manicure.

Base - Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

Color - Essie Lapis of Luxury

Top - China Glaze Fairy Dust

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Lapis of Luxury is such a gorgeous color, and it applied flawlessly.

And I really can't say enough about Fairy Dust, the pictures do no justice for this combo :)

OPI's Fall 2011 Colors!

I know, I know... it's March! And the Summer colors (which I CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER FOR) aren't even out yet . . . but I just couldn't resist sharing.

From Left to Right

 Uh Oh Roll Down The Window, Honk If You Love OPI, A Taupe The Space Needle, French Quarter For Your Thoughts, Get In The Expresso Lane, & Road House Blues.

Suzi Takes The Wheel, I Brake For Manicures, Are We There Yet?, Color To Dine For, I Eat Mainly Lobster & My Address is Hollywood

Photo credit - OPI's Facebook page

I'm excited about Honk If You Love OPI, Road House Blues, Are We There Yet? and I Eat Mainly Lobster.  Can't wait to see them all in person though!!

Ulta :)

I finally made my long awaited trip to Ulta today . . . it's been almost a week :)

I finally caved and bought OPI's Black Shatter - Tried it on one nail, and so far I'm just surprised at how goopy and sort of hard it was to paint on. It also looked streakier on my nail than on any of the samples I've seen. Again, it was just one nail and I sort of just slapped it on... Hopefully it looks a lot better when I actually plan to put it on.

While we're on the topic of Shatter, I am so so super excited about the Silver Shatter coming out with the Pirates of the Caribbean Collection :)

Although there were like 10 polishes I needed to have I only picked up two more, China Glaze’s Fairy Dust (which literally with one coat applied the most perfect, subtle amount of sparkle ever!!) and Essie’s Lapis of Luxury. I’m really loving Essie’s Coat Azure, so I’m hoping Lapis of Luxury will impress as well.

The last thing I picked up today was Sally Hansen’s Miracle Cure. Both of my pointer fingers have a severe peeling issue lately...

Anyway, I’ve been working on a purple gradient to no avail tonight . . . I just don’t have the right colors. At least I have an excuse to pick up some more polishes tomorrow!

Essie - Lilacism

Lilacism was totally a random buy, but I'm basically obsessed with it.

Almost as must as Splash of Grenadine...

First coat was a little streaky but the second coat blended in great.

It looks a little dark in the pictures, so it's a tad lighter than shown.

Base Coat - OPI Base Coat

Color - 2 coats of Essie Lilacism

Top Coat - Essie Good to Go

Bought some new polish . . .

Last night I purchased Essie Bright Tights. I was very pleased to randomly come across this, and excited to try it out. I was also going to purchase Essie Pink Parka, but I convinced myself I already had it. I didn't.

With that said, it was like 70 degrees and gorgeous here in New York, so I decided I wanted another bright springy color. After scouring the internet for Chanel's L.A. Sunrise, and being unsuccessful at finding it for any price cheaper than $50, I decided to settle on Finger Paints Yellow Bikini. I went all the way to Sally Beauty, and they didn’t have it but I did buy China Glaze Lemon Fizz. I found a comparison of Lemon Fizz and L.A. Sunrise online, and I actually liked the Lemon Fizz wayyy better, so I’ve been kind of pumped about this today! I saved tons of money, and got a prettier color! Looking forward to trying it out.

Essie - Turquoise and Caicos

Hi, my name is Carolann and I am in love!!!

This color is so insanely gorgeous, it was worth the semi nightmare getting it on.
It was a little streaky, but with enough coats (3 ½) it came out pretty good . . .

Of course this made the drying a semi nightmare also, even with a coat of Essie – Good to Go on top.

On a side note, I bought this color last year when the Resort Collection first came out. It was an impulse buy after purchasing Splash of Grenadine (which is my all time favorite color), and I sort of hated this. I tried it on my nails, and ughhh. I tried my toes and it still didn’t do anything. Boy am I glad I kept it around though, because it is a beaut!

Base - Essie - Ridge Filling Base Coat

Color - Essie - Turquoise and Caicos

(3 coats, with some additional on the really streaky areas)
Top - Essie - Good to Go

Essie - Topless & Barefoot and OPI - Happy Anniversary

Topless & Barefoot with Happy Anniversary on top <3

Essie - Knockout Pout

I bet this will look great on my toes!

Bought wayy too much nail polish today!

Good Morning!


I should be sleeping, especially since I have work super soon, but oh well.
Anyway,  this will be just a quick note.


I made a special trip to the mall today with one intention and one intention only . . . to buy new nail polish!


Ah, the moment we've all been waiting for . . .


Essie - Knockout Pout - A pastel fluorescent pink, if that makes any sense at all.
Essie - Bermuda Shorts - A gorgeous neon purple from their 2008 Neon Collection . . . I was super excited about this one since it's a little harder to find in stores, and I've been looking for it for about a year!
Essie - Topless & Barefoot - A pinky beige color from their new 2011 Spring Collection.
OPI - What's with the Cattitude? - A pretty pastel blue from their Shrek Collection.
OPI - Happy Anniversary! - A sheer sparkly white - Super excited to layer this!
OPI - Garantuan Green Grape - A pastel green.
OPI - Dating a Royal - A very pretty not too harsh royal blue . . .


Currently I'm wearing Knockout Pout - it took me about 4 tries to get on.  There is nothing wrong with the formula, i just managed to ding almost every nail about 2 times each, so I just decided to keep starting over, but don't worry, I'll be posting pics tomorrow!