The Week in Nails, October 26

essie sssssexy

Essie magnetic polish in sssssexy. Two coats of polish, last one with the magnet held over for about 15 seconds. My nails are pretty curved and so only part of each nail got patterne. It's still cool though! One day of wear, no base or top. 

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips

These were Sally Hansen nail polish strips. I like these because they are so easy to use! I wore them for three days. 

Not a total removal...

This is what happened when I tried to remove them. On each nail, the white part came off easily and all of the black dots remained. They took a bit of muscle to get off!

Julep Valerie

Two coats of Julep Valerie from the October Maven box. No base, no top.  This picture is from day two, so there was a little tip wear. I had this on for three days. 

The Week(s) in Nails, September 29

I was away last weekend (Vegas, baby!) and didn't have internet access to post anything. So, with my apologies, here are the past two weeks in nails.

Sally Hansen Sugar Coat in Red Velvet

Two coats.  No top coat, no base.  I wore this for 2 days, I like it a lot.  It's not as uniform of a texture as OPI's Liquid Sand, and it's not glittery either, but it's still a nice polish.  Not bad for getting it on clearance at Target ;)

China Glaze Dress Me Up and Julep Jane

China Glaze Dress Me Up was part of the Hunger Games "Colors from the Capitol" Collection.  I believe this was the color that was originally to be named after Prim.  It's a dusty mauve color that gives almost enough coverage in 1 coat, so I did two.  Juelp Jane is a full coverage gold and rose gold glitter named after Julep's founder.  Two coats, wore it for 2 days.

China Glaze Dress Me Up, Zoya Jules, and Julep Jane

A few of my nails had chipped after 2 days, so I replaced one of the glitter nails on each hand with two coats of Zoya Jules.  It's a shimmery champagne color, and I probably should have done another coat.  I wore this variation for 2 more days.

While I was in Las Vegas, I wore Julep Lynn.  It lasted 5 (!) days without much noticeable chipping.  No pictures, sorry.

I had naked nails for a day when I got back, and then wore this for the next 3 days:

OPI Russian Navy and Julep Erica

2 coats of OPI Russian Navy, with one coat of Julep Erica (the New Years Mystery Box surprise glitter) over my ring finger.

The Week in Nails, September 8

First day of school

I did this last Sunday and it stayed on until Tuesday. 3 days. 

Julep Florence with Padma stamped and on accent nail from this month's Classic with a Twist Julep box.

Princess sparkles

I wore this for 2 days. 

3 coats Essie Lion Around and 2 coats China Glaze Prism on accent. No base, Seche on top. 

My first finger on this hand split down the middle! I have no idea why, but I cut it as close as I could and there is still a little that is split beyond that.  I'm going to try to be careful, and not have it split more, but I have a feeling this nail will be a short little nub for a while.  

Sweater weather

I barely got 2 days out of this before I was sick of it. I really want to like the fuzzy coat polish I bought.  I just don't.  

2 coats Revlon Scented in Cotton Candy. 2 coats Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat in Wool Lite. Seche in between the two glitter coats.

No special consideration or compensation was received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own. All items mentioned within were paid for by me.

The week in nails, August 25

I was super busy this week. We are house-hunting and have been to showings almost every night and we get home exhausted.  For this reason, I picked low-maintenance polishes that would wear for as long as possible before chipping.

Julep Dakota and messy cuticles, sorry.

Two coats of Julep Dakota. No base coat, one coat of Seche Vite on top. 

I wore this for three days. It's a nice gold-toned warm pink. It's hard to photograph. It has the characteristics of a frost polish without looking overt about it. 

Julep Brooke

Julep Brooke, showing the gold

Next I slapped on two coats of Julep Brooke and one of Seche and called it a day. 

Brooke is a sheer with purple micro glitter that flashes to gold in the right light. It's really pretty, this is the first time I've worn it on its own and not as a top layer of sparkle. 

I wore this for 2 days. 

Racing stripes mani

We finally had Friday night to ourselves to unwind. I asked my boyfriend to pick a color to paint my nails and he said, "The color of your car. OH! With silver. OH! AND RACING STRIPES!"

...is this a car, or my nails?

I did what he suggested and it turned out ok. It's not my favorite. I used a base of a no-name silver, used two pieces of striping tape on my middle and ring fingers of each hand, and painted one coat of Sally Hansen in Blue It. I peeled the tape off before the blue dried and topped those with a coat of Seche. 

This has survived two days but I'm going to change it tonight in preparation for the upcoming week. 

The week in nails, August 4

I started with Color Club in "he loves me" with Julep Jane as an accent. No base coat, 3 coats CC, 1 coat Jane over 2 coats CC, topped with Seche Vite. 

The problem with CC polishes is that they chip so fast! I got two days out of this before some of my nails got bad enough for me to change the worst of them. 

I did 3 coats of Spoiled "my button fell off" on three nails of each hand (thumb included) and topped them with Seche. 

This lasted another two days. 

I then switched it up completely and did 2 coats of China Glaze "Stone cold" from the Capitol Colors Hunger Games collection. Matte polishes always chip very fast, so I tried to mitigate that by doing a coat of Julep base coat, a coat of Sally Hansen Black Diamond, and then the CG. 

This lasted about an hour before chipping so I sealed the tips and did a French mani with Black Diamond. This lasted 3 days. 

S

My Quest for the Perfect Coral Nail Polish

Spring, summer, fall... even winter... there is not inappropriate time to wear coral nail polish. I've become obsessed with finding the perfect shade. It needs to be bright, not dull, and shiny, but without shimmer. It has to apply easily without streaks and not take forever to dry. Not too pink and not too orange, and not too expensive. This polish has become my white whale. I couldn't rest until I found it. Every time CVS or Rite Aid got a new seasonal polish display I pounced... and usually ended up disappointed. However, I have amassed a collection of every variation on the coral theme, and will now review them in all of their sunset-y glory. I did the hard work, so you don't have to. Sorry for the random polish splotches. 

 My 10 candidates: 

My first 5 Candidates- the darker ones

American Apparel Nail Lacquer in Sunset Blvd. $6 

This is orange.  2 Coats.

Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition Nail Color in Three D (discontinued color) $8.95 on Amazon

Orange with a flash of pink.  3 coats.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer in Pink Ladies $6

Non-neon bright pink

Wet n Wild Megalast Nail Color in Tropicalia $1.99 (I have an older bottle, not the new re-styled one)

This is pink and streaky and has a terrible brush. 3 coats isn't quite enough here.

Sinful Colors Professional in Boogie Nights $1.99

Orangey jelly.  3 coats.

The second half- the lighter shades

Color Club Professional Nail Lacquer in Reign in Spain $2 (as part of the $8 Wanderlust collection) The winner! Right in the middle of pink and orange, nice and bright; perfect for summer! 2 coats and my love forever.

Yes! This is the best! 2 coats.

eChina Glaze Nail Lacquer in Flip Flop Fantasy $5.99 (new version) I wish my camera could catch how bright this is.

Neon, semi-matte, very bright and a little too pink.  3 coats.

Revlon Scented Nail Enamel in Strawberry Cream $4.99.  The print doesn't stay on this bottle! Smells great for the first day. Super pretty, a hair darker than Alicia, but STREAKY and with a very thin brush.

This is my bargain pick, but it comes with poorer quality than the others. 3 coats.

Julep Nail Vernis in Alicia $14 or $11.20 for mavens They call this a salmon creme. If it wasn't so expensive I would have backups!

Not quite bright enough for summer; Winter pick.  3 coats.

NYC in a Minute Quick Dry Polish in Peach Sparkle (discontinued color) $1.99

Definitely a peach, and sparkly, but a little too light. 3 coats.

All 10 polishes

The lighter 5

The darker 5 compared to Reign in Spain

Almost ombre nails?