Sally Hansen Salon Effects Cross My Heart

For a weeklong, no worries mani, I turned to my favorite type of dry polish, Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I picked up this box on clearance after Valentine's Day last year.

Cross My Heart has a dark pink X's and O's design, with hearts in the place of the O's, on a light pink background. Depending on your cuticle shape or personal preference, the hearts' point could face towards or away from you. I totally didn't realize this until after I had all ten nails done that I had flipped both ring fingers in the opposite direction of the other nails. It looked deliberate, so I told people that I'd done it on purpose (shhh! our secret!).

I wondered if there'd be any issues with these strips being a year old, but they were still crazy flexible without any additional heat (i.e. blow drying, heat lamp) needed. If you see any of the core collection of Salon Effects Polish Strips on clearance, pick them up! Now I know, they have a great shelf life. These strips went on quick and easy with an extra layer of top coat to seal the free edge and add some extra durability and shine.

That's when the awesomeness really kicked in! These pictures were taken AFTER our vacation!! 

Where's the tip wear? Where's the chipping? There's a little bit on the ring finger and pinkie, but it was only visible really close up, like in a macro shot or holding my hand up to eye level.

Not bad at all for Day SEVEN! Seriously. Siete. A week. A busy, activity-filled week. I think these strips could've easily lasted their full 10 day claim, but I was ready for something different. 

After struggling and fighting with the L'Oreal Nail Stickers, I was so happy to wear these Cross My Heart strips. I got them for only a few dollars, they practically applied themselves, the design was adorable and much-complimented, and they outlasted our vacation. Good job, year-old Sally Hansen strips - you did good!!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Speed Dating

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

I was actually able to find a full display of the Valentine themed Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips.  After never being able to find the winter ones, I was treated to two of these patterns by the DH.  I decided to wear Speed Dating for the week leading up to Valentine's.

This pattern are red hearts of various sizes on a light gold background. The hearts have a textured appearance like they were made out of pieces of red foil. The light gold has a metallic finish that looks a bit smoother in comparison.

 

After the temperamental application with Ghoulie Girl, I skipped the base coat this time.  I think that was the trick because these went on nice and easy. These strips are shiny enough that a top coat didn't really add to the shininess on my first day of wear.  Top coat helped to refresh the shine on my third day of wear, but it didn't improve overall wear time because these strips resisted tip wear even on the nails that weren't top coated.  After almost five days of wear, these were still a good looking mani.

...and in case you thought I forgot this year... It's here at last!  Happy Centennial Day in Arizona!!  I hope everyone's getting their fill of celebration on our state's 100th birthday.  I know I'm optimistically looking forward to a second century based on progress, hope, and cultural understanding.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Ghoulie Girl

By request from a friend, here's a quick look at my Halloween nails.

My mom treated me to the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl.  This pattern has rows of alternating orange and white ghosts on a black background. The little ghosts look like the guys from Pacman, which was my absolute favorite Atari game when I was a kid.

 

Last time I wore these strips, I had much better wear using a separate top coat.  Since the patterns look a little matte after they're applied, the top coat also adds much appreciated shine.

Unfortunately, I wore a separate base coat this time, too.  Can you see the chip on the tip of my index finger?  That happened within the hour of putting these on.  I don't have peeling or splitting or anything else going on with that nail to explain immediate chipping, so I think the addition of the base coat affected the strips' wear.

The Lesson Learned - Sally Hansen polish strips work well with top coat, not base coat!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Cult Nails Get It On & Wicked Fast!

I was lucky enough to be one of the few people chosen to test drive the new base and top coat from Cult Nails!  Are you ready to see what Maria's come up with this time?

I've never done this before, but... here are my bare nails (eep)!!  

I had some funky staining awhile back so I lightly buffed my nails.  As you can see, there's now a clear line straight through the middle between buffed and unbuffed nail.  I've been using a ridgefiller base coat while the buffed part grows out to make the surface even again.

Here are my nails with one coat of Cult Nails Get It On Perfecting Base Coat.

Where's the uneven line between buffed/unbuffed?  Where are my minimal ridges? Perfected! One coat and everything was smoothed over.

Get Even has a shiny finish, but not in a slick way. The dried texture is slightly rubbery so it's ready to grab on to the polish.  It also dries quickly - I can't stand base coats that take forever to set. Get Even is one of those base coats where Finger 1 is dry by the time you're done putting it on Finger 10.

It was Friday, so I was ready for fun weekend nails.  I decided to try out Get Even and Wicked Fast with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away.  This shade was released in Spring/Summer 2009, but I didn't buy it until it recently made it back on to drugstore displays as a featured shade of the season.  It's very pigmented, so some people can get away with just one coat.

I wore it here with two coats and one coat of Wicked Fast.

Here are my tips with Blue Me Away after four full days of wear.

I can't emphasize enough the importance of wrapping the tip of the fingernail with polish and top coat to my friends who want to make their manicures last longer. It really works! Don't leave the edge of the nail bare - seal that color on!

Normally, tip wear is minimized but the combo of Get Even and Wicked Fast cemented Blue Me Away on. Even after days of cleaning, typing, dish washing without gloves, there's still polish on the nail edge.

Here are my bare nails right after I took Blue Me Away off.

Four days of wearing a bright blue shade over only one coat of base coat and there was no significant staining on my nails themselves.  I even got crazy smurf fingers when I was taking Blue Me Away off - there's still a touch of blue staining on the right side of my cuticles visible - but my nails were fine!

I think one of the best tests of base/top coats is how they act with cremes because it's a very unforgiving finish.  Jellies would have to be the next hardest finish because of its tendency to bubble and pull away from the tips.  Next up was my manicure to celebrate "the end of summer" over the long Labor Day weekend.

Here are my nails with two coats of New York Summer Hot Orange, one coat of Cult Nails Captivated, and one coat of Get Even and Wicked Fast each.

Here are my nails after five full days of wear.

My nails grew out but the polish didn't go anywhere!  I wore Get Even and Wicked Fast for a day or two with other polish brands and finishes.  The results were consistently the same - once the polish dried, it stayed put nice, shiny and smooth.

I loved Get Even Perfecting Base Coat from the second it dried on my first nail.  I had to get to know the Wicked Fast! Quick Drying Top Coat before I grew to love it.  Why?  Because it's not a thick quick drying top coat, so it shouldn't be treated like one!  That seems like a logical no-brainer, but I've been using thick top coats like Seche Vite and Poshe for a few years and old habits die hard.

Wicked Fast is a thin top coat. You don't need a large bead to be slathered and oozed on the nail for it to work.  The more you put on, the slower it'll dry and the more likely it'll bubble. You don't need a thick layer or multiple coats of Wicked Fast.  One thin coat.  That's it.  Really.  That's all you'll need to make this work!  Put it on thinly and it'll dry quickly to a hard glass-like finish.

After trying Get Even and Wicked Fast for the last few weeks, I know that I'm in love. So far, they get along with all of my polishes, they make them last forever, and they're so easy to work with.  I love the Cult Nails bottle and brush and I love their formulas. Once again, Maria has blown my mind with her creations.

Get Even and Wicked Fast are expected to go on sale at the end of the month, so keep your eye on the Cult Nails shop and definitely plan on getting your own!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Gala

What to wear for Mardi Gras?  Something purple, something gold, something festive & sparkly... time for Purple Gala!!

This is a limited edition polish from the Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear line. The display didn't specify a season and it started popping up in July and August, so I'll say it's from their Fall 2010 collection.

Purple Gala is a sparkly foil with purple, silver, and gold glitter in a smoky purple base overlaid with lots of larger gold glitter pieces. You'll see more purple versus more gold depending on the lighting. This polish was opaque in 2 coats, but I put on a third coat for a little more depth.

This was a challenging polish to find even after it was recently released. Since that was almost a year ago and this is a limited edition shade, it might be near impossible to get Purple Gala now.  But never fear! If you like the look of Purple Gala, I recommend picking up Hard Candy's Mr. Wrong, which is close enough in color and finish to be a dupe to the casual observer.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Laced Up

I've been trying out the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips this week. I found my first display of these new strips in a CVS about two weeks ago. Then I found them in more CVS and Walgreens stores but I wasn't able to find Laced Up until I finally found a hidden display on the top shelf at a Rite Aid last Friday.

TA DA!!! 

First, the packaging - the manicure comes in a tiny plastic box that lets you see the contents inside and the manicure pattern on the side trim. Ingredients and brief directions are on the outside for the shopper's convenience. These strips are Big 3 Free - no DPB, Toulene, or Formaldehyde. It also appears to be free of Formaldehyde Resin or Camphor.

~ THE BOX ~

 

Box Contents - Cuticle Stick, Mini File/"Buffer", and 16 Polish Stickers

~ THE STRIPS ~

 

The strips themselves come in two packets of eight different sizes. You peel off the clear top layer, take the bottom tab off, decide which side fits your cuticle shape the best, peel off the bottom layer, and stick it on your nail.

I've used Inoco strips for a few years and I've never had an application issue with them. These strips were just as easy to use and I was able to put my entire mani on in less than 20 minutes.  

 

THE MANICURE!

Day 4

I love flowers, I love lace, and so I loved this design. I also realized after I put the strips on that the base color itself was very pretty. It's a light tan nude shade - think Orly Country Club Khaki with a touch more brown. The base shade with the design definitely evokes the feeling of a lace slip.

I definitely recommend using a separate top coat to seal these strips on. I didn't have a top coat with me when I applied my strips and I did get a bit of curling at the cuticles. Top coat also gave the strip a smooth glossiness that it didn't have on its own. Maybe it was the design, maybe it's their dry polish formula, but it definitely needed a shine booster. I got the top coat on as soon as I could get to one - it stopped the curling but couldn't reverse what had already been done. I was able to seal my nail tips and the nails that still had the remnant of the strip wrapped under when I put the top coat on are still sealed by the strip at the end of Day 4!

These strips are a little bit pricey at $10 a manicure, but completely worth it. I feel the drugstore availability, wide range of designs, long-lasting wear, and custom cuticle fit option make SH Salon Effects Polish Strips the new front-runner of the dry polish pack.