Cult Nails Toxic Seaweed

As I get ready to go from my current low-buy into a full no-buy for the next 40 days, I want to share one of the last polishes I've purchased.  If you don't have this polish yet and you've decided to not buy polish in the near future too, buy this polish now! and then start your no-buy.  Really!  It's limited edition, may never come back, and it's too pretty and unique not to add to your collection.

This is Toxic Seaweed from Cult Nails Spring 2012 Let's Get Nekkid! Collection.  This collection is Maria's take on nudes and this is her nude shade for ETs.

If A Sparkle Yule Love was an updated Carnival Lights, Toxic Seaweed is an updated Atlantis.  The jelly base is on the greener side of teal, the gold microglitter is more uniform, and the bronze flakies are It for 2012.  Toxic Seaweed is the perfect name for this shade.  The glitter rests at different levels in the base and flashes gold, green, blue, and silver, depending on how the sun hits it.

Toxic Seaweed refines the chunky glitters we were enjoying the last two years into something that's equally complex in depth and color while giving it a smoother and, in my opinion, more sophisticated finish. The application was nice - nothing gloopy or gritty about this jelly-based glitter.  I used two coats in the mani above, which left the shade squishy while still covering the majority of my nail line.  If you use three coats, the green deepens and darkens.  I wore this with their Get Even base and Wicked Fast top coat.  After 4 days of full time work typing, there wasn't even a hint of tip wear.

If Cult Nails gets about 500 more likes on Facebook, there will be a $5 sale on Cult polishes, but why wait?  Especially on a polish like this?  Don't miss out on getting your own bottle!

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.

OWWWP - OPI A Sparkle Yule Love

Can you believe it's February already?  I'm in the mood for lots of pinks and reds, so let's get started with a pink. This is A Sparkle Yule Love from the OPI Ulta Exclusive Holiday 2011 Deck Your Nails mini-collection.  I don't have Excuse Moi from the Muppets collection, but this may be a dupe of that shade. 

A Sparkle Yule Love is a pink jelly with tons of glitter - silver and pink microglitter and larger multicolor glitter in tons of colors like blue, yellow, and green.  Here it is with two coats and two layers of top coat.  It's not a gritty glitter, but it does need a little bit of extra smoothing.

I think I like this shade so much because it's like a remix of China Glaze Carnival Lights, one of my favorite glitters from their Specialty collection.  It's the same kind of idea - colors, multicolor glitter, jelly base - but with a few tweaks to make it feel updated.

This is a very sparkly polish, so be sure to wear it when you need something extra twinkly on your nails.