A Couple New Sally Hansen Insta Dris

So you know how I said that the Borghese shades I posted were buy one get one at Rite Aid? Well so were Sally Hansen's apparently. At least the Insta-dris for sure. Because I bought two and one was free! They were from a brand new display of metallics. Here are the colors I got:

Golden Flash - This is a rose with.... you guessed it! A golden flash! Lots of it. The golden shimmer in this is very pronounced and makes a boring rose not boring at all.

Metallic Momentum - Wow wow. This is a chrome gold with a aged olive tint. I think this may be a close dupe to BB Couture - Blind Love and Chanel - Kaleidoscope, but I don't have either to compare myself. Hopefully a comp pic will pop up from another blogger.

This is also great for Konading/stamping:

Chromes usually are good for this and this is no exception.

These retail for $4.95 and like I mentioned they are BOGO at Walgreen's this week. I meant Rite Aid! Ooops.

What do you think?
Elaine
:c)

New Borghese Glitters - Fall 2010

Hi! I went on hunt and came home with something to mount! I went looking for a new collection from Borghese because I specifically wanted the glitters. There were two I got and 4 others I didn't. One was a raspberry shimmer/micro glitter and the other three looked to be re-releases from the holiday minis from last year, just in full sized bottles. I swatched them as a guest blogger on Vampy Varnish here. They are the gold, black and red ones.

Anywho, for the ones I did get, they are amazing! They are super-pigmented bases packed with multi-colored glitter.
Purple Confetti - This is a plummy base with silver, blue, green, gold, red and purple glitter. There appears to be mostly silver which through the purple looks purple. But then the glints of greens and reds really sets it off.

Mediterraneo Sea - This is a aqua base packed with the same glitter. It is the same, but looks different. The glitter seems to lean more green in this one thanks to the silver shining blue green from the base. Really cool.

These are very well pigmented, as I said before. I got them both on with two coats, no problem. The only thing about these, and it's not huge, is that they dry matte! It is so weird. I don't care because I would put a topcoat on them no matter what, but they are very unflattering without it. Take a look:

It could be that if it dries matte it allows for having a pigmented base without swallowing up the glitter. I don't know... I am just thinking here...

The best part about these is that at Rite Aid this week they are BOGO and they have a $1 off coupon on the display. So for $8 polishes, I bought them both for $7 total. Not bad!

What do you think?
-Elaine
:c)

New Brand Alert: Confetti

I am always on the lookout for new polishes or interesting nail products when I am out and about. I always looking out for you guys! I was very pleased to stumble upon and display in CVS of a new brand: Confetti. Overall the whole line looked a bit boring (I mean "safe") but they did throw in some interesting shades for us junkies, including a green! And they retail for just $1.99 a bottle! So I grabbed a couple.

Moonstruck - I showed you this one last week for my Chanel - Paradoxal dupe. It's that cool, edgy, gray-taupe-purple color we love so much! Great shade and great formula.

Centerstage - This is a bright, glowing purple. It's on the red/magenta side and shimmers flecks of blue. Great formula. Two coats.

Bombshell Blue - Awesome, shimmery, glowy, cornflower blue. Very eye-catching. This is my favorite type of blue polish color. My only complaint is that the formula is thin and needed 3 coats.

My Favorite Martian - The star of the show! This is a very shimmery, olive green. This also needs 3 coats like Blue Bombshell and the brush was a little wonky. It reminded me of Sinful Colors - Show Me The Way so I did a comparison:

They are actually pretty different. The similarities are shimmery olive, needs three coats, and $1.99 price tag. But on the nail they are obviously different. My Favorite Martian builds to a more saturated color and is more green while Show Me The Way is more yellow. Show me the way has a great glass-fleck that is lost in this picture in the bright sun.

What do you think?
:c)
Have a great Friday!!

This Lane is Paved Green!

Hello everyone! :c)

It is officially March and I am super excited about it because it gives me an excuse to wear tons of green! It also means I get to countdown to St. Patrick's Day, which is my absolute favorite holiday. I am not Irish at all, I just love to celebrate like them! Up at dawn, drunk by 9, and decked out in green! Okay, the Irish don't necessarily dress in green and get wasted at the crack of dawn, but that is sure how I have celebrated St. Patrick's Day for the last several years!

So to kick off the month of green right, I of course have a green polish to show you today. Well, it's two green polishes:

Sinful Colors has a St. Patrick's Day display out consisting of Irish Green, and Green Ocean. I had to rebuy my Irish Green because I gave it away and I have never had any of the "ocean" shades, which all have flakies, so I was very excited to buy it. The woman who rang me out was so intrigued by Green Ocean she asked if she could open my bottle to look closer at it! How cute.

This is Green Ocean over Irish Green over a white creme base. I know Irish Green has inevitable visible nail line syndrome no matter how many coats you do so I didn't waste any time and just layered it over white. The white base also helps make it really pop and show its neon properties. This was much brighter in person.

I wouldn't wait on these shades because they are only around for March from what I can tell. I have never seen them in a permanent display. And they are only $1.99!

Some bonus pics:

This is my Cash playing outside with the BF's parents' dog, Molly. Look at his little sweater! My parents sent it for him! It is a big help when he plays in the snow because his hair is so long and curly it picks up so much snow and then it gets all balled up and he has little snow balls hanging from him when he comes in the house.

This one I took over the weekend. When I am sitting at my polish desk doing my nails and he wants to play, he comes over and looks up at me with these sweet little, pitiful eyes. Do I stop what I am doing and go play? Of course! Who could resist that face! You can see his eyelashes really well in this pic. Aren't they amazing?! They grow out just like the rest of him. They baffle me! I've never seen a dog with such pretty lashes!

Have a great day!
-Elaine

New Sinful Colors - Spring 2010

I think I have a Sinful Colors addiction . As soon as I knew Sinful Colors had released new shades I was on a hunt. I planned my routes every chance I got to get to a Walgreen's and snag the newbies. Well my hunting paid off and over the weekend I struck gold. I have a bunch of swatches of new colors and oh boy I am excited about them. First off, most of them...are... GREEN! YES! :cD Second, they are super pigmented and go on in two coats, definitely. No sheer babies here. Check out these hotties>>

Happy Ending - This name is just adorable. I can't help but feel all fuzzy from it! But the color is fierce! It is so not what I would expect from the name. This is a mega-bright, nearly-neon, lime green shimmer. It stopped my heart when I got it on. This swatch is two coats.

Easy Going - Awesome, bold, stark, baby pink, creme. This looks nearly white, but with a hint of pink. Not the same as Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud's hint of purple though I think this looks obviously pink. The formula is thick, but manageable. Not thin and streaky, needing several coats. I got it on in two coats and it was smooth without a topcoat.

Innocent - Another awesome, ironic name. This does not look innocent. This is a bright, bizarre, very yellow, light green. The formula is again thick, but manageable and very pigmented. It was very close to being a one coater. This swatch is two coats.

Mint Apple - What is it with mint apples? I know I did actually find them on the internet, but it is still strange to me. Anyway, Mint Apple is a pale minty, jade shade that is very blue-sided and shimmery. This swatch is two coats. Before I saw this in person I thought this would be close to being a Chanel - Jade dupe, but it is far from it. I do not actually own Jade, but apparently Dream Catcher from Claire's is pretty close so I did a comparison of Mint Apple against Dream Catcher:

Mint Apple is on the left and Dream Catcher is on the right. Mint Apple is clearly darker and bluer. With all the mints we have available I am really close to being minted-out, but this is not comparable to any of the mints I have. Awesome.

Rise and Shine - What a cheery name! There should be an exclamation point at the end. "Rise and Shine!" Much better. This is a bold, bright, shamrock green shimmer. This swatch is two coats. It reminded me of China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover as I put it on, but FLC is a creme (no shimmer) and it is more green, where Rise and Shine(!) is more blue.

Soul Mate - This is a rose pink creme with peachy undertones. This shade is very pretty and conservative, but not boring. I really like this shade. And guess what? This smooth, pigmented formula allowed me to do only one coat for this swatch.

Tapping Nails - Holy Moly! This is H-O-T-T! I know it just looks like an orange shimmer but it's not. At first when I got this home I thought it was Sinful Colors - Courtney Orange repackaged. I was thankfully wrong. This is a super bright, bold, red-orange with coral undertones and it has an "oil-slick", duochrome, yellow-green, shimmer. I have a feeling this is a Zoya - Gwin dupe form the new Reverie collection. This is a stunner. This shimmer is more pronounced in real life than in the photo. The camera doesn't pick up the shimmer very well in the darker areas of the swatch , but it is still there in real life. This is way too good to be a $2 polish. This is a must have.

There are all winners in my book. I actually love all these new shades and I am yet again blown away by the way Sinful Colors is stepping up their formula. These are super, super pigmented. Sinfuls get a bad rap for being sheer, but not these. Not a sheer in site. All are very pigmented and smooth too. No disappointments. I promise. :c)

There should be rolling out to a drugstore near you and retail for $1.99.

What do you think? :c)
-Elaine

I Am Not Crazy. There are Two Sunsets

What? You don't believe me?

Last week I posted a gorgeous nail polish that I had found: Maybelline - Sunset Prisms. I told you guys that I believed there was something screwy going on as I was sure that "Sunset Prisms" was an entirely different color. I was right. Behold; my two sunsets:

Straight on they don't look too different, but from the angled shot you can see the different shimmer colors and the bases are two different colors as well.

I have dubbed these Version 1 and Version 2. Version 1 is the one I showed you last week. It is a bright pink base with a strong gold shimmer. Version 2 is an orange base with a green shimmer.

But they are labeled the same. The front labels of these bottles are different which is why I have given them the numbering I have. I believe the front label of Version 2 is newer, therefore that is the most recent version; Version 1 being the original. This is just a guess. I don't actually know for sure.

What I do know is that they are both hott! Glad I have them both!

PS - Happy Groundhog day!

Maybelline - Sunset Prisms

Happy Thursday Everyone! I am back in the city! I had to go a couple hours away to farm county, Illinois for work. But I am back today and it is !@#$% freezing! It was -10 this morning with the windchill! That is wildly unnecessary. Freezing temperatures I can take. Sub-zero arctic blast... that is a bit excessive.

Today's NOTD is a shade I picked up at a drugstore downstate yesterday. Yes I am that much of an addict I had to hunt for polish on a work trip! It is Maybelline - Sunset Prisms. At least that is what the bottle says. I don't believe it.

See, I have seen Sunset Prisms dozens of times. It is part of the core Maybelline display in drugstores and Ulta. Have you seen it? I look at it a lot and contemplate buying it but always decide against it because it looks just like one of my favorite colors: Color Club - Tangerine Scream. It's a bright orange with a green flashy, shimmer. Why intentionally buy a dupe? Well, this time I bought it. Because it is not an orange with a green flash. It is a bright pink with a very strong gold flash. Not the same. But the label still says "Sunset Prisms". I was baffled. I had to buy this oddity. There were even other bottles behind this odd bottle that were the "real" Sunset Prisms, and had the same label. So I thought this guy I bought must be from an off batch, or is really old before a color change, or it's a new color change, or it has the wrong label. I didn't know, but I liked it! But when I searched for swatches, all the swatches are of the pink with gold shimmer. So maybe all the bottles of orange with green shimmer are the weirdos! Now I have to go buy it too, don't I? Crap. Fine Maybelline, you win. I will buy the other Sunset Prisms and do a comparison for everyone. Happy?

In any rate, this version of Sunset Prisms is very pretty. I did three coats, it is very flashy and shimmery; even in low lights. I am very happy with it! It looks like a cousin to the Zoya - Reverie Collection.

When I get my hands on the other version I'll show them to you side by side.

Have a great day!
-Elaine

New Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Swatches

Remember how I said Sally Hansen came out with new polishes and I had some to share? Well today is the day I am sharing! It's the new line that has been popping up: Complete Salon Manicure. First off, I love the bottles. They are 0.5 oz but they feel much bigger. They are huge and have a lot of glass making them pretty heavy. They are awesome! The base of the bottles are square, but going up in gets round. And there is a band of rubber on the top for ease of opening and holding while painting. Genius!

Yellow Kitty - Awww! Isn't this adorable!? That is exactly what I think when I look at this. This is a pale yellow cream. Not as bold and creamy as say BB Couture - Little Deuce Coupe, and not as jelly as Rescue Beauty Lounge - Squarepants. It's right in between. This went on pretty well for a yellow, but I did 3 coats still to make sure it was even. Do you think the name is a play on "Hello Kitty"? I wonder...

Thinking Of Blue - I love this color... SO MUCH! I had it on Friday and while at the dermatologist in the waiting room, I heard one of the ladies at the front desk say to the other "her nails are gorgeous". Aw! Awesome! This is a dark blue creme, but it isn't navy. It has a drop of purple, but I wouldn't call it blurple. I think it's indigo. Yup. That is what I am going with. I hear this is similar or maybe identical to Sephora by OPI - Blue Grotto, but I don't have it to compare. Sorry! This swatch is 2 coats.

Commander in Chic - Hottness. This is in that mushroom, brown-taupe catergory, and I can't believe it, but I think this is my first like this. Except maybe OPI - You Don't Know Jaques Matte. But that is matte. I don't have a regular creme like this. This swatch is three coats, but I did very, very thin coats. You could probably do two.

Gray by Gray - This name kills me! Does this look gray to you? NO! It is blue. A gray-ISH slate, blue. But it's very pretty regardless. It is reminding me of the new Spring release from RBL, 360. We'll have to see how they match up someday. This swatch is 2 coats.

Plum Luck - This is a plum creme. I don't have much more to say than that! Plum. Pretty. 3 coats.

Lavender Cloud - This looks white, I know. It is. Ha Ha! It has the ittiest, bittiest bit of lavender. It's like if you took one big fluffy cloud and added one drop of purple to it for the whole cloud. You can hardly tell. I made a comparison swatch next to a real white so that you can see it isn't pure white:

Lavender Cloud on the left and OPI - Alpine Snow on the right.

And I scanned the brochure I picked up at the drugstore so you can see what new colors there are:

PS - These have the same tapered brush as Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri polishes with the big, flat wand:
Have a lovely and relaxing Sunday!

Incoco Dry Nail Polish French Manicure Review

Hello all and HAPPY FRIDAY! :c) I have a different kind of post for you all today. I recently tried out some of those "stick-on" nail polishes so I can share with you what they are like. I got 3 colors and one french manicure. I was most intrigued with the french since it is not the easiest thing to do a french yourself, and I love a good french. French manicures were my first nail obsession. I have loved them since age 10! For realz.

The nail appliqués came from Incoco and as soon as they came I put on the french. The color is called "First Love" and the kit comes with 16 white, french tips (8 different sizes) and 16 double ended sheer pink strips (8 sizes). The double sided advantage is that there is 16 different sizes/shapes so you should have an easy time finding a fit.

The whole idea with these is they are sort of like a sticker of nail polish. You select the size for the nail and you place it on your nail and break away any excess. With the french manicure kits there are two parts: the white tip, and the sheer pink. It says to start at the pinky and do the thumb last. So I did left pinky, right pinky, left ring, right ring, etc.

Process: I started with fresh, clean nails. No basecoat or anything. These claim to be an all inclusive process of base, color and top coat. So I picked the size for my pinky, peeled away the protective plastic and the paper backing, and stuck it on bare. They have a sticky side to place on the nail so they don't move. These appliqués are thankfully forgiving and if you are a bit off you can move it.

Next, you need to remove the excess. If you have very, very long nails these may not have enough length for you. I had plenty left over, so I folded it over and using a nail file (one comes in the package) I file off the excess going perpendicular to the nail and down. Like this:


If there is hangover on the sides like on mine, you can file that off too. Once all the tips are on you need to start placing the sheer pink over that. This is similar to applying the colored appliqués (that will be in another post). This is how it looks as soon as you put it on, before it is smoothed down:


The nice thing about these, and very important for me since my nails are very curved, is they have some stretch to them. This gives you the ability to stretch them out and up to smooth out those wrinkles that are created on the sides. Once you got on the 10th sheer pink, you are all done! Complete french manicure!!!


Time involved: The whole process took me 45 minutes. I don't think that is too bad considering this is the first time I have ever tried to do this. Also, that is a pretty good time for doing a french that is dry. By the time I would freehand a french with basecoat, tips, pink, top coat and dry time it would take me 45 minutes. And with this I don't have to worry about getting a wonky smile line. They are perfect!

Finished look: Now the overall look is not perfect. But I think it's pretty good. If you look at the above photo taken after I was done, up-close, taken with the macro setting, you can see the little flaws. But for practical purposes, you don't look at your nails (and neither does anyone else) in macro, enlarged, up-close. Here is a shot I took with the normal setting the next day:


See how perfect that looks? And I had this on for days and never thought "damn this looks like crap I. Want to take it off". I actually really, really liked it!

They stay flexible while you are putting them on, but will dry out. That is how they set. They come packaged in a little air-tight envelope and you shouldn't open them until you are ready to use them. They are flexible and soft to put them on, but then dry out and set so they stay on and don't move.

Lasting power: Now Incoco claims that these last for 14 days. I don't know, because there is no way I would make it 14 days. I started to hyperventilate thinking about it. But I did have it on for 4 full days (96 hours) and it lasted! Through showers, washing dishes, washing the dog, everything. This is the mani after 4 days:


See?! They actually may look a little better with time since they have time to relax and adjust to the nail and the wrinkles and such smooth out more. I really think it might make it 14 days.

Removal: Now if these things can hold on for 14 days, I am sure you are wondering how the heck you get them off: With regular ol' remover. Incoco also has remover cloths soaked in an acetone remover you can use (they come in the kit):


I was surprised when I opened it and there was felt! How weird! But it worked. Just to see about regular remover, I tried an acetone and non-acetone remover with cotton balls and that worked too.

Overall verdict: Good. Definitely good. I think this might be the best way to get a DIY french manicure. Konad french tip plates are very hard to align properly. Free-handing takes a lot of patience and practice and is not for the shaky, and guides work, but sometimes pull up on the polish at the smile line and you get a little nick and that is irritating. >:c(

Bonus tip: The one thing that keeps standing out in my mind is that these (french or colored manicure) would be good for travel. There are no bottles to break, no liquids so you can take them in your carry on, and since the removal cloth is in there you don't need to pack remover. Lots of pros for traveling, I think.

They do last and look nice. They are forgiving and are stretchy so you can smooth out the wrinkles.

There is definitely a learning curve to these. You get better as you go along. But I think my work speaks for itself. I had never used anything like this before and my mani really doesn't look half bad.

I scanned the brochure that came with them so you can see Incoco's full color chart. They have colored tipped french manicures too if regular french is too plain-Jane for you!

(Make sure to click the pic for the enlarged view)

The polish does not stretch as much as the ad picture, by the way, but they do have a little give. Don't over do it. I ripped some by pulling too hard.

If you are interested to know what else I have in store for you, I have Sunset from the cremes, Oscar Night from the shimmers and get this: Black Diamond from the glitters! That's right. BLACK GLITTER!! WOO!

And here is a bonus pic of what I did with my Konad french tip plate before I took it all off:


You can purchase these at incoco.com. The french manicure kits come in three shades (the one in this post is First Love) and retail for $8.99. You can also purchase only the white tips for $5.99. If you are interested in the colored tip kits, those also retail for $8.99. They also sells Incoco at Walgreen's and on Incoco.com there is a printable $1 off coupon for Walgreen's.

What do you think?!
:c)

Disclosure: The products featured in this post were furnished to me by the manufacturer or PR company for review. For more information please visit my disclosure policy.