Holy Duochrome! Swatches & Review: Limited Edition Sally Hansen lustre shine Lava *Pic Heavy*

Swatches! Ahh! This is a pic heavy post, and it's well deserved. Promo pics of Sally Hansen's lustre shine collection have been all over the place, but I was rather stunned when I saw what was left of a picked-over display at Meijer today. There were only four colors left, and only one bottle of Lava. I didn't really pay attention to the others (the ever-present Chanel Peridot dupe, the Deborah Lippmann Sugar Daddy dupe, and a teal/blue that wasn't very duochrome-y) and the next thing I knew, Lava was in my hand!

All shots are three thin coats over a coat of Elmer's Glue (I'm experimenting) and under one coat of Poshe Super-fast Drying Topcoat. The first coat had me a little worried as it looked very thin and patchy, but the second coat had near-complete coverage. The final coat added a nice depth to the color. My brush was a little wonky, but workable. The long, thin cap was very comfortable to hold.

Here you can see the pink near the tips, and yellow/gold over the bed of the nail. The photo is a little blurry, so please excuse that.

This photo has a very nice representation of both colors across the nail.

Okay, these are just because it's so freaking pretty!

Go. Buy. Now.

(I've also built a light box in an effort to bring you better pictures. I think it makes an improvement!)

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Strips Twinkle Bell

This is my conference mani. Not crazy, but not boring either. Twinkle Bell is a LE strip and is part of the SH Spring 2012 collection. I love the metallic pearly finish with a good amount of small and medium silver hex glitter.

These strips wear like iron for me with no base or top coat. I usually get bored and take them off before they wear too badly. This set me back about $9, and I’ve heard folks complain about the cost. My thoughts? They wear longer than a salon manicure, and $9 is much less to pay for some awesome nail art (admittedly not with this particular choice) than having someone at a salon. And some of us really suck at nail art. :)

I ended up getting a full 7 days of wear without a chip. Since Tropical Storm Debby conflicted with any sun or after conference fun, there really wasn't anything I did to warrant wear. :( I got totally bored with this mani, so I stopped in Walgreens one morning on my way to conference sessions and bought Essie Bikini So Teeny, so expect a post on that one soon!

Nail mail! (and I've got awesome friends)

I had a generally not fun day today and came home to a package from England in my mailbox. Tristam and Dragon arrived! I did a happy dance into the house when my son told me I had another package in the house. I literally squealed, "it's Gail's black label OPIs!" DH has decided that I must now have every color imaginable and surely I don't need more nail polish. Heh, heh.

Holy cow dear readers... I got 27 black label OPIs, 4 Sinful Colors, 2 Sally Hansens,1 China Glaze Crackle, and my A Englands. I am a happy blogger. I think I'm gonna go roll around in some polish bottles...

I haven't even begun to really sift through these

China Glaze Prismatics Collection Swatches

I passed up on the Prismatic polishes in Chicago - I was distracted by all the pretty, but couldn't leave them behind at Sally's when they have polishes Buy 2 Get 1 Free. (That deal is good on all polishes all month long, BTW.) I didn't get the whole collection, but picked up one of each of the three they had in stock.

The Prismatic Collection is China Glaze's Spring 2012 release. It a collection of duochrome glitters. Extremely dense, tiny glitter that shifts from one color to another and larger, multi-colored round glitter in a clear base. The shift is subtle in most of the colors, but it's definitely there. Swatch photos do not do justice for these colors. They must been seen in person to be appreciated. 

First up is Liquid Crystal, which shifts from blue to purple. There is a smattering of silver, gold, green, pink, and orange glitter. Liquid Crystal is the most obvious duochrome of the three polishes I purchased, and is definitely something special. 

Next up is Polarized, which is a pretty silver that doesn't really shift much. The larger glitter in this one is yellow, pink, orange, and green.

Prism is the last polish of the group I picked up, and it is a purple holo that shifts to a light blue with chunky pink, blue, green, orange, silver, and gold glitter.

All of the swatches are 2 coats of polish with no top coat. They are very dense and very dramatic. Application wasn't difficult at all. They all flowed off the brush and onto the nail quite nicely. I imagine a thick topcoat would make these look even better. I will probably pick up more of these if I find them out and about.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Plaid for You

I was texting Abbie an realized that I haven't written a post about this pattern! I was thinking it was a red and green plaid, but it's really red and black. Wear time has been better with this set than Snow Bunny, but I'm not going to make it 10 days. My nails must be growing really fast. I've got to take them off, because it's driving me nuts!

ETA (12/29/2011):

Removal on this one was so weird. The black came off in rubbery pieces that lodged into the sides of my nails and had to be picked out with a toothpick and orange stick. I had to use pure acetone. Blech. I'm wearing Prep's Cool now and am kinda dreading taking it off.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Snow Bunny

I'm going to try to make it through all of December with only my Salon Effects. This is the first set, Snow Bunny. I had a different picture ready to go, but couldn't not use the one with Kitty in the background!
As per usual, the strips are easy to apply. I used some cuticle remove first, because that is usually where I get the first bits of the sticker lifting from the nail. This set seemed more thin than usual, and the end of the supplied cuticle pusher was pretty rounded, so I got some irregular tears near my cuticles.
I wasn't as excited about this pattern as I thought I would be at first, but it's really grown on me and I've gotten some fantastic compliments! Next up will be the green and red tartan plaid.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Spun for You

I love these things! My friend gifted them to me and they turned out fabulously. Sadly, I broke a nail after wearing them for 3 days. :( I was able to carefully trim all my nails down to the same length and save the mani.

I have gotten so many compliments on these! The kids at work absolutely love them. After 3 days I had only minimal tip wear, but after filing down, tip wear is gone!

I got a Nails Inc haul from Sephora, but am patiently waiting until the strips get worn (10-14 days usually) to swatch them.

Layering! Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumpkin Spice

I picked this polish up over the weekend at Meijer. I had recently seen it floating around the blogosphere, and knew it was a rather hard to find LE, so in the cart it went. Honestly, I'm a sucker for fall and pumpkin anything, so I'd have gotten it even if I thought it was ugly. Which I don't. :)

It's very sheer. Round orange glitter suspended in a smoky jelly base. I put two coats over China Glaze Brownstone and lookit!! I swear it makes me want to jump into a leaf pile. I love it! The finish is very smooth. I used a coat of Seche Vite for the quick-dry-ness, but didn't need it to smooth things out.
I remember seeing someone layer this over Essie Super Bossa Nova and it was fab. If I can find it again, I will link.

UPDATE: Laura from LaquerWear is the brilliant lady who layered this over a bright fuchsia polish. See it here.

Sally Hansen Color Quick Chrome Red

Hmm... Here we have another 75% off Sally Hansen that is cool, but I'm glad I didn't pay full price for.
It is in a click top pen, so you push one end until the brush has color, then paint away.

I'll start with the pros... It is very quick & easy. 1 coat had excellent coverage. Though I wouldn't call it red, it's a great color. The brush is very full and spreads easily over the nail. It dries super fast, so no top coat is necessary (and makes it look bad, in fact).

Cons: holy brushstrokes, batman! These fade significantly when the polish dries. The brush gets rather gunky. It left thin streaks of no polish (see my pinky).

All in all, worth the $2 I paid, but definitely not the $10 regular price. I looked on several blogs and most people seem to love these for stamping. I might hang on to it for that, if I decide to try my hand at more extensive nail art.

Sally Hansen HD in Cyber

This is an older polish that I found marked 75% off at CVS. I have a hard time turning down a purple, so it came home with me and sat for at least a month.

I love the color, which is much warmer in real life. It has a nice depth and sheen. The formula was pretty watery and took 3 thin coats to cover. The one thing that really makes me sad is the shrinkage. This picture was taken the morning after I polished my nails, and look at that! :( It only set me back $2, so it's not too horrible, but I would've returned it if I'd paid full price.

And a big welcome to my partner in crime, Abbie. I was so excited to see her posts last night. She's a pretty awesome person. I'd even tell her that to her face. :)

My final HP House Colors Mani!

I decided to try scotch tape, and I LOVE it! This is what was on my nails for the movie. The colors are as follows:
Index: Zoya Ibiza over Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement
Middle (hee hee!): SH Wet Cement over Butter London British Racing Green
Ring: Sinful Colors Let's Meet over Rimmel Burgundy Flirt
Pinky: Zoya Raven over Sinful Colors Let's Meet
Thumb: Zoya Raven
All of these were already in my stash, so that was a bonus. And now I think I'll go mourn a little more.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Yellow Kitty

I tried this yellow nail trend, but am thinking it's not for me. Michelle from ALU reviewed Hello Kitty Banana Creme, and that post sparked my curiosity. So, when I was in CVS and saw this color marked 75% off, I couldn't walk away. I'm kind of wishing I did...

I don't think it looks horrible on me per se, but this is after four - yes four!!! - coats, and I still have VNL. I didn't use a base coat as it isn't supposed to be necessary with these polishes. I was going to skip a topcoat as well, but it would've taken until my next birthday to dry! It did last a long time. I had it on for almost a week before I had time to take it off and replace it with something else.

I also found it so distracting. It didn't look chalky or anything. Was very shiny. My computers at work are black, and every time I typed something (which occurs all day long) I noticed my shiny yellow nails flying around. :) I got lots of compliments on it, but don't think I'll be using it again.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet

Time flies! I can't believe it's been more than a week since I've posted. Part of the reason it that All Hail the Queen was jumping around in my polish-filled shoebox waving it's hands around begging to be worn again. So, it was. I love that polish so much. And it wears like freaking concrete on me. Speaking of which...

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear (totally!) Red Carpet. A beautiful, squishy, cherry-red polish packed with silver glitter. It covers completely and evenly in 2 coats, and the glitter doesn't necessariy look silver, it just looks like it glows. Love it! The above pic is after 4 days of wear. 4 days! It is 2 coats over Hard as Wraps and under Poshe. Definitely a win. And, it only cost $2. Double win.

K folks, my polish has been full of win, but my car is totally lacking it. I'm going out to see if I can get my clutch to actually work. If not, I'm seriously contemplating pushing it off a bridge. :) Maybe not. But I kind of really want to.

butterLONDON Yummy Mummy

This is the last of my recent butterLONDON order. I must admit that when I pulled the three bottles out of the box, I wasn't excited about Yummy Mummy at all. Marrow and British Racing Green stand out quite a bit, and Yummy Mummy is much more subtle. Subtle, but man oh man is it pretty! A great neutral with silvery shimmer. It might be my favorite of the three. Application was lovely. This is 2 thin coats with a topcoat of Posche. I think next time I'll use 3 coats. As many others have said, this one would be excellent to use after some bright, obnoxious color. You know, giving your eyes a rest and all.

I also tried a new base coat. Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps. It comes in clear, or tinted. I chose clear. I'm not sure it's meant as a base coat, but is supposed to make nails as strong as if they had acrylic wraps. I'm anxious to see if helps my peeling nails and has any staying power under polish. This is a shot of my 2 favorite nails. (I know, I'm a goober) I wish all ten of them looked that way, but hey. This is after 1 coat of Hard as Wraps.

Oh! And, my Zoya order arrrived. I got Faye, Areej, and Sooki. As a True Blood fan, I couldn't resist that one! I split the order with a friend and she got Sooki, Mira, and Breezi. I might be able to convince her to let me post hers here as well.

Sally Hansen Cut It Out and OPI Jade is the New Black

So, I painted my nails in RBL Anne for St. Patrick's Day. I have totally fallen out of love with that polish. It's gotten a little goopy. I don't know if it's that, or if I'm just not feeling the color. My other picture of Anne is poor quality, but an accurate depiction of the color. Maybe a little laquer thinner will thin it out and make me love it again. In the meantime...

Cut It Out.

This picture was taken after 1 week of wear. My index fingers started chipping badly, so I took them off and painted them with my brand-new, 40% off Jade is the New Black. Love it as well. It has been blogged to hell and back, so I won't get deep, but this was 3 coats with the awesome Pro Wide brush. I also got a full bottle of Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, because I will totally use up my mini bottle. If you embiggen the pic, you'll also see a chip on my middle finger. I'll probably take this off tonight and paint them something else. I've got a few untrieds.

I've taken advantage of some promos as well. I've got Marrow, Yummy Mummy, and a free British Racing Green coming from butter LONDON, and just ordered Zoya Faye, Sooki, and Areej from their BOGO sale.

K, off to polish and watch The Living Dead.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Misbehaved

When your cat works it, how can you resist? He lays like that and I want to rub my face in his soft, fat belly. But, if I did, he'd eat my face off. Vinny is not nearly as snuggly as he looks. :(

Okay, the nails. The fabulous, fabulous nails. I applied them Wednesday night (very simple, btw), and on Saturday, the only difference at all is the growth. They haven't started to peel or chip at all. I didn't get the decal all the way to the edge of a few of my nails, and I can feel a definite ridge. No need for a basecoat or topcoat. Just the decal. I've gotten comments ranging from "Is that Minx?" to "Oh my! Those look great! How did you do it?" That last comment was from a dude. A very hetero dude. :)

Plenty of folks have scoffed at the cost. I've seen them available at CVS and Walgreens for $9.99, and at Walmart for $8.50. I also found a $2 off coupon at redplum.com (good through 3/31). There are 16 strips in each kit and my nails are short enough that I cut each strip in half. So, I am able to get them for $3.25 a manicure. Much better than $10. I went back and get "Cut It Out" today. I'm excited to see how it comes out.