Sally Hansen - Girl Flower

Girl Flower is the flowered Salon Strips from the original set that launched.

I did use a base (Gelous) and top coat (SH Insta-Dri) with these.  I've worn this design before, but the first set of strips I got had a really indistinct and washed out outline - almost like the flower outlines were dotted instead of solid.  Anyway, these were much better and they applied just as easily as the previous strips I've tried.

Sally Hansen - Concrete

Today I have a polish that isn't untried.  I guess you could call it a "palate cleanser", though I'm wearing it because I have to wear something conservative today, and my last polish (China Glaze Ruby Pumps) is soooo not conservative.

Basecoat:  Gelous (1 coat)

Color:  Sally Hansen Concrete (3 coats)

Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Please excuse my freshly applied Solar Oil, especially in the third picture.  Oops.

I might have been able to get away with two coats.  However, I applied this way late last night, under much different lighting than I usually use, so I went with three coats to be safe.  Application was pretty good (the XW brush is light years better than the CSM brush) and cleanup was super easy, too.  I like this better on me than I did the last time I wore this.  I tried a few different nude-type polishes but I guess I only buy these in the winter, because they all looked super-yellow against my summer tan.

Sally Hansen - Blue Me Away and Icing - Rock Star From Mars

Here's another layering combo.  I picked up almost all the new Xtreme Wear polishes from the display at my Target - Blue Me Away is one of them.  This is a gorgeous medium blue creme.

Basecoat:  Gelous (1 coat)
Color:  Sally Hansen Blue Me Away (3 coats)

This is with no topcoat, at all.  Shiny!  Please ignore my indifferent cleanup - normally I'd go give my nails a good scrub, but I knew I was layering on top of this so I wasn't very careful at this point.

This applied like a dream.  It is somewhat pigmented, so even though I made an attempt at cleanup I still have noticeable staining.  Even though I ended up peeling this mani off (like I always do, sigh), I *still* had a little bit of staining on my nails.  I recommend a good basecoat with this polish.

Rock Star From Mars is an opalescent glitter in a teal jelly base.  I don't actually think the base color does anything at all.

This is three coats of Rock Star From Mars, followed by one coat of Seche Vite, all on top of the previous coats.

Pretty!  Rock Star From Mars is actually pretty similar to Kleancolor Chunky Holo Teal.

The main difference between them seems to be the glitter that is used.  Both polishes have a noticeable color shift to them, but the Kleancolor has a more "linear" color change.  The Icing polish has a much more diffuse effect, so I had a hard time capturing all the colors in it.

Sally Hansen Nail Effects - Bling it On

Normally I try to not wear the same kind of color two days in a row, but I was in a HUGE hurry to put something on.  Also, I totally forgot to take a photo of the box before I threw it away.  Oops.

Bling it On is a multitoned pink glitter.  The base is clear, but you can't really tell unless you look very closely.  In the second photo there is a spot that looks like a wrinkle on my middle finger - nope, that's where I tore a strip too soon and put on another one right over it.

Some people say they can use one package twice, but I can't.  My only complaint about these strips is that they are almost all way too large for my fingers - I use the third largest one for my thumb, and then I usually use the three smallest for my other fingers (I can usually use one twice - I just flip it to the other end).  They are all pretty straight vertically, so if you fingernails aren't totally straight you might have an awkward gap on the sides of your nails (like I do).

I find that these are really easy to apply. I had a harder time than usual today because it's very warm here, so the polish strips were a little floppier than usual.  Still, I managed to not get any wrinkles this time.  I usually apply the strip, then let it "set" for a few seconds before carefully pulling the free edge taut and filing until it breaks.  I find that I rarely have rough edges this way.

Another funny thing - if this was a polish I probably would not have even bought it.  I actually like the multi-colored one much better (Frock Star, IIRC), and will probably buy that one again, just like I've already bought two more boxes of the flowered design.

Sally Hansen - Jade Jump and Kleancolor - Holo Green

Why do I keep buying these minty greens even they look terrible on my skin regardless of the time of the year?

Jade Jump is a minty slightly dusty green.  Holo Green is a diffused holo pale green.  It's a little more "green" than Jade Jump, but when I swatched this on its own you can't really tell, so I opted to layer it.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color:  Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Jade Jump (2 coats)
Color:  Kleancolor Holo Green (2 coats)

The first photo is the most color-accurate.  O Hai, Lobster Hands!  Ugh.

I have a love-hate relationship with the InstaDri polishes.  The brush is hard to control on my pinky fingers so I usually end up with too big a gap at my cuticle, or I slop it everywhere.  Other than that, I think I've gotten the hang of this brush, though I still usually need two coats for complete coverage.

Unlike the Chunky Holo polishes, I didn't need to thin Holo Green at all.  It actually didn't even smell as much as the Chunky Holos I've worn do.  I will definitely want to try this over something else, because it's lovely and the holo is amazing, even though I couldn't really capture it on camera.

Notice I didn't list my topcoat - it's because I got disgusted and took it off before I got to topcoat.  I really should stop buying minty greens.

Sally Hansen - Fairy Teal and Nfu Oh 39

Another layered mani today. Fairy Teal is a teal creme. Nfu Oh 39 is the blue-green version of 38, which flashes red/orange/yellow.

This is the first Salon Complete I've tried in this bottle. I think it will take some getting used to but I think I love the brush - almost complete coverage in one stroke.
This was two coats. If I work with the brush more, I'm pretty sure I can get this down to one coat. Texture was a little weird - the consistency was fine, but it... tended to stay where it was. It doesn't self-level at ALL, so if you miss a spot with one coat it's visible. You will want to use topcoat unless you are super awesome at application, which I'm not.


Basecoat: Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color: Sally Hansen Fairy Teal (2 coats)
Color: Nfu Oh 39 (2 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

I really like this combination, but when I went over to take photos, I saw my CND teal combo sitting there and it occurred to me that that's basically what I made here. Oh well, I still like this combination, and eventually I'm going to wear that combo, too, but it's going to be later :)

Sally Hansen - Spark and Milani - Totally Cool

I was trying to decide what to wear today and was swatching about twelve different polishes. Spark looked interesting but kind of dull, so I put a coat of Totally Cool (and Totally Sheer) on top. I decided to wear this as a full mani.
Spark is super opaque and super runny. The only way I could think of that this polish could have any worse of a cleanup is if it was a glitterbomb, too. Total smurf fingers.
Spark is a deep blue base with subtle purple shimmer. It actually reminds me of Confetti Smitten, though I haven't worn that as a full manicure yet. I found Spark in a clearance basket quite a while ago. I have to admit, it looks better and more interesting in the bottle than on the nail. This is two coats. I probably could have gotten away with one if I had been prepared for its consistency.

Basecoat: Gelous (2 coats, and I bet I'm still going to have staining)
Color: Sally Hansen Spark (2 coats)
Color: Milani Totally Cool (2 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

In the bottle, Totally Cool has a neat multichrome/almost holo effect. In one of the photos I took there's actually a green flash in the bottle. Totally Cool had a MUCH better application than Spark. I might have to try Totally Cool under a brighter purple or even a berry next time.

Sally Hansen - Snappy Sorbet and Orly - Heat Wave

Snappy Sorbet is an Insta-Dri polish. I've been trying to use Heat Wave for a while, but it's so sheer I knew it would have to be on top of something else.

Snappy Sorbet was kind of an application fail. It is on the thick side for an Insta-Dri, and while it covered really well (I used two coats), it didn't self level at all.
Heat Wave is a sheer orange sparkle. Snappy Sorbet is a pink-leaning orange/coral, but Heat Wave was enough to push it to the orange side, as well as adding a ton of sparkle.

Basecoat: NailTek Foundation II (2 coats)
Color: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Snappy Sorbet (2 coats)
Color: Orly Heat Wave (2 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

A short housekeeping note: I think I'm going to delete the tags for color names. My tag cloud is getting ridiculous, and so far I haven't worn something twice since I've started this blog.

Have a great Monday!

Sally Hansen - Green with Envy, Hot Topic green/gold glitter

Yesterday I wore Sally Hansen Green with Envy, with a Hot Topic green and gold glitter top.

I had to decant the Hot Topic polish - its plastic cap was cracked.  This caused it to thicken way up - this was the first time I've used it, but clearly the bottle is nowhere near full.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats)
Color:  Sally Hansen Green with Envy (2 coats)
Color:  Hot Topic green/gold glitter (1 coat)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Clearly, my Seche has thickened way up.  You can see the shrink in the photo (I took this the next day). I'm sure it didn't help that the glitter polish was super-thick either.

Application for Green With Envy was excellent.

Sally Hansen - Lightening

I applied this on Wednesday night and wore it Thursday.  Lightening is a buttery yellow creme.

This applied well, as have my other Insta-Dri polishes.

Basecoat:  Gelous (2 coats)
Color:  Sally Hansen Lightening (3 coats)
Topcoat:  David (1 coat)

This was a little harder to apply than the previous Mint Sprint Insta-Dri.  It was a little thicker but it really wasn't too bad.   It looks like there is VNL in the photo but in real life, there isn't.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Mint Sprint

This afternoon I put on Zoya Katy, and then decided I didn't like it. I also had a hard time with the consistency - it was really thick and goopy, and I couldn't find (or was too lazy to look for) my thinner. I pulled this out instead.
Mint Sprint is a medium teal creme. It's actually pretty similar to the color I picked out for tomorrow night, so I may switch that out for something else.
Basecoat: Gelous (2 coats)
Color: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Sprint (2 coats)
Topcoat: David (1 coat)

Y'all, this was amazing. I don't know if it was the two coats of Gelous, or if all these polishes are like this, but this was a dream to apply. If I can get the hang of this brush I think I could have gotten away with one coat. This was smooth, dried fast, cleaned up really, really well - just a dream to use. I'm not a huge fan of the ginormous brush - the shape of the bottle neck makes it hard to control the amount of polish on the brush - but overall, very, very nice.

Have a great Tuesday!