Polish or Perish

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

iHaul: kinda went on a bender at Walgreens

I checked this particular Walgreens in December: nothing.

I checked it again in January: WOW!

Totally went overboard (and kept the receipt).

Let's start with what I didn't buy: the new Sally Hansen funky french duos. They just seemed like the brushes would be a pain to use... and that the bristles would get really messed up very quickly. Which is exactly what you want when you want to do a clean-looking (albeit funky) french mani. Also, I don't really like the Insta-Dri line.

But then I saw this display:

It was Buy 1, Get 1 50% off. I decided against the ones that could be easily recreated using Konad but got a few that were more Minx-like:

Cut It Out, Skinny Jeans, Booty Camp (gonna pretend like it's not called that).

Girl Flower, Kitty Kitty, Laced Up.

Had to indulge in a few other Sally Hansen polishes that I hadn't seen before (and are presumably new) or had seen on blogs but never saw in stores:

Problem Child, Sequin Scandal

Grey Area, Lacey Lilac, Mint Sorbet (though I think there's also an Insta-Dri of this name)

Then picked up some Revlons: Gold Coin, Copper Penny.

But then I got REALLY excited: the new Wet n Wild (supposedly quick-dry) polishes! They've got some severely terrible names.

9021-Orange, Party of Five Glitters (I don't think it's a good Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe at all, better to spend your money and time on Milani Gems), Gray's Anatomy (supposedly a fabulous dupe for Lippmann Wicked Game), Teal of Fortune (turned out a lot more blue in the photo but it's actually a super sparkly teal shimmer).

The Gold & the Beautiful, SaGreena the Teenage Witch (oh groan), Blue Wants to be a Millionaire (has holo glitter), Hannah Pinktana (also has holo glitter). $1.99... Wet n Wild is an amazing value for the money. It's an amazing value even for more money. I SO want to try the Color Icon eyeshadows... except I have four tons of eyeshadow. (I mean, I've got forty tons of nail polish and I'm still buying...)

And finally... not at Walgreens but I saw this at a Rite Aid and wondered if anyone had any familiarity with this brand. Looks cute!

Canmake 18 + So Laque Bleu Violet

I've been in a rut that feels suspiciously like depression. I can't really pinpoint it but it feels like I'm slogging through my life recently, uninterested in everything that previously interested me. Even nail polish doesn't really lift my spirits the way it used to.

Canmake 18 layered over Bourjois So Laque Bleu Violet

This nail polish combination made me smile though. First of all, the Bourjois Bleu Violet is a blurple creme (two coats of it was pretty much opaque and it was SO glossy, though the photo I took of it made it look dull) and I love me a good blurple creme. And then the Canmake 18! Sure, it's sheer glitter but it was so incredibly sparkly and the little opalescent bits against the blurple made it look like the glitter from Street Wear FX Green! My only regret is that I only used two coats of the Canmake; I should've used three to try to get more of the opalescent hex glitter on. This mani was taken on the fourth day of wear: it wouldn't really chip and without it chipping I was very unwilling to take it off!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Random CVS find: OPI Pink Me I'm Good

I'm having some great luck at drugstores lately...

Wasn't OPI Pink Me I'm Good an Ulta exclusive from early 2010? What was it doing in my local CVS? (It's not really a black label, the photo just sort of sucks. Is it weird that I want a new iPhone just to have a better iPhone camera?)

Yeah, there's no way this was authorized to be sold at CVS: there's no serial number.

Oh well. I wanted it, couldn't get it back then and now I have it. I hope more Ulta exclusives show up... ;)

Canmake 25

Since I've gotten back from Taiwan, I've been sporting what I can only describe as "super sparkly, cutesy Asian-like" nails. I've been wanting to get into over-the-top nail art but I'm pretty incompetent at that sort of thing. Doesn't keep me from embellishing my manis occasionally though.

Canmake #25

I would've been more pissed at how sheer this turned out (the above is... four or five coats?) but it was just too sparkly and cheerful to really dislike. It would've been much better layered over another polish though because the opalescent multi-sized glitter is actually very pretty and bright. (The photos don't capture it at all...) The mani originally had three flowers but the third one fell off before I could take this photo.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

GOSH Holo

Wow. I'm not a holo girl, but I had to get this color when I had the chance. All I can say is wow.

(2 coats)

Wow.