NOTD - Zoya & Essie

Hey everyone! It has been forever since I've had a moment to just sit down and blog. I had to give up blogging for a while because I've been insanely busy with the holidays and then I moved to a new apartment at the end of January so that took a lot of energy and time. Anyway, I'm back! And hopefully I'll do a blog post every week or so.
In my Birchbox this month I received a FULL SIZE (!!!) Essie polish in "As Gold as it Gets." It's meant to be worn over other polishes. I've seen people where it over dark/blackish colors and it looks super cool. I already had a Zoya polish on that I actually got in January's Birchbox in the color "Kristen." So, I just put Essie's "As Gold as it Gets" right over top and I think it looks very pretty. I can't wait to try it over all different polishes! Hopefully it won't be too difficult to remove. I also wanted to note that the Zoya polish from Birchbox is my first experience with using Zoya and I thought it was a very nice nail polish. It lasts just as long as an OPI polish and it goes on smooth and dries super quick.

Zoya's Kristen - Cream polish in a gray color with a mild bluish hue. Covers fully opaque in 2 coats.

Essie "As Gold as it Gets" over Zoya's "Kristen"

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Glitz Blitz Nail Polish Strips

Hey everyone! I wanted to do a quick NOTD. I picked up some Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Glitz Blitz from Ulta the other day and I almost forgot how neat these are. They seriously look like actual nail enamel, but last forever. Right now I'm feeling busier than usual so having nail strips on really cuts down on all the time I spend on my nails...I'm kind of a weirdo and if I get a chip I have to completely redo my polish. My only issue with these is...well they are a little pricey at $10 and by the cuticles it can kind of peel up if you didn't press down enough on the edges when you first applied the strips.
I also saw a display of new Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips at CVS and I picked up plum colored nail strips which I'll be applying next :)

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips in Glitz Blitz

Also, I wrote a blog entry showing exactly how to apply these nail strips if you want to check it out: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Strips Tutorial

Essie Very Structured

I am so excited that it's almost officially fall and even more excited about Essie's Fall 2011 Collection! If you guys haven't had a chance to check out the newest Essie polishes you can view all of them on their website here: Essie's Fall 2011 Collection.
Out of all of the polishes in the newest collection my favorite is "Very Structured." I think it's one of the most unique polish colors I've seen. Essie's website describes it as a "classic burnt sienna." I don't have any reddish brown colors in my polish collection so I really had to get this one. I think it's a perfect color for fall, but I'm not sure if it's the most fitting color with my skin tone. I think it's a little dark and would look better on someone with a warmer skin tone...oh well I'll still wear it, but it's definitely not a favorite! Also, Essie's "Case Study" is an interesting color described as a "rich camel beige." Last weekend I went to several different stores specifically searching for "Very Structured" and I found every color from the Fall Collection EXCEPT for that one! Well, today I went to Walgreens and I was lucky enough to find it there (they only had 2!). I usually get most of my Essie polishes from Ulta, but lately they really are lacking on their selection. It seemed like Walgreens had ALL of the polishes in stock.
Anyway, here's some pics of Essie's Very Structured, it's a creme polish, my favorite!

With the flash on...no top coat. I think it looks a little more red than it actually is

Essie Resort Collection Summer 2011

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting as often. I feel like I say that a lot...but eh I'm trying to get a new apartment and I've developed a video game addiction that takes up all of my time hahah. Anyway, I still love nail polish so I had to blog about the Essie Resort Collection for Summer 2011. I found a four pack of minis at Ulta so it was perfect because I could try all of the colors out. All of the names in this four pack were "safari" themed.

From left to right: Da Bush, Lion Around, Fair Game, Your Hut or Mine
In the picture I'm actually wearing Your Hut or Mine, but it was reeeeeally difficult to capture exactly what the color is. It's a corally bright pink color with hot pink and violet shimmer that you can see when the light hits it. I think in the picture above you can sort of see the shimmer. It's really pretty! I've been wearing it all week and my toenails are painted with it too. Perfect summer color! I will do blog posts/NOTDs about the other polish colors in the coming weeks. I'm super excited to try Da Bush!
I guess this blog entry is more like a haul because I also wanted to share with you guys the purchase I made at TJ Maxx. I found a trio from the brand Nail Tek called the "Beautiful Hands Complete Care Trio." It normally costs $25 but I got it for $12.99. What a steal! I already use the Nail Tek Intensive Therapy for soft, peeling nails and was running out. So, this trio comes with that AND a ridge filling and strengthening base coat as well as a advanced hydrating hand cream. It's normally about $10 for just the Nail Tek II Intensive Therapy polish so this was a really great deal! I never thought to look for beauty products at TJ Maxx, but they had a lot of stuff! I was surprised. I even saw Philosophy products there and bought some men's shave products there for my boyfriend. Do any of you buy beauty products at TJ Maxx?

Essie Smooth Sailing

Hi everyone! I just got a new Essie polish tonight from Target. I have been dying to get some colors from Essie's Braziliant collection, but every time I see a display for it all the best colors are sold out. I was lucky enough to find "Smooth Sailing" at Target which was one of the colors I wanted. I'm still searching for Essie's "Absolutely Shore." I neeeeed it so bad! Anyway though, Smooth Sailing is really pretty. I don't have any polish color like it in my collection. It's kind of a lavender blue with a pearly shimmer in it.
What color are you wanting to try from the Braziliant collection? :)

2 coats, no top coat

Essie Splash of Grenadine

I've got yet another Essie NOTD post. I definitely consider myself an Essie girl. I think OPI is great, but I always find myself gravitating towards Essie instead. I actually think Essie doesn't chip as easily and I prefer the thinner brush. Anyway, I'm wearing Essie's Splash of Grenadine. The Essie website describes it as a..."playful magenta pink." It's a pretty unique cream pink/purple color and reminds me a lot of an Ulta nail polish I wore a couple of summers ago called "Pink Flamingo." It's a pretty color for summer and I think it would look great with most skin tones...especially those with cooler undertones  : )
And just in case you're interested, one of my favorite YouTube Beauty Gurus, BrittanyMakeup, has an Essie collection video up on her channel:  Essie Nail Polish Haul

Essie's Splash of Grenadine - 2 coats

OPI Done Out in Deco

I just painted my nails with OPI's Done Out in Deco. I've actually had it for a while, but I was finishing up my bottle of Essie's Lilacism, which I actually prefer over Done Out in Deco. I think it's a nice color for any season, but lavender shades are especially great for spring in my opinion. I'd probably like it more if it had less grayness to it. Overall though, it's a pretty nice shade and it covers well. I usually just do two coats and I'm good to go! I also love that it is a creme polish.

Essie's Turquoise & Caicos

Essie's Turquoise & Caicos is such a beautiful and unique color. I think it works great with any skin tone and it's a perfect spring nail color. Tribal shades are really in right now like tan, turquoise, purple, silver, etc.
Also, it looks like Essie redesigned their nail polish bottles. The color names are on the top of the bottles now and they added their logo in white on the side.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think of this color! : )

Essie Chubby Cheeks

Yay I'm so excited! I scored a new Essie polish for free yesterday! Around 4 times a year Ulta rewards you for shopping with them. The more money you spend at Ulta, the bigger your reward will be. Well, I actually made Level 2 for the first time ever. I'm usually just a Level 1 shopper...and the reward for Level 1 is like some free cotton balls. Not this time though! I actually got to choose a nail polish up to $8.50. I was going to get an OPI polish from the new Texas collection, but Essie's Chubby Cheeks really caught my eye. I needed to have it! I'm so glad I went with it too because I think it looks great with my skin tone and it will be a nice spring/summer color. The Essie website describes Chubby Cheeks as a creamy bright red-orange color.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects

I'm sure most of you have heard about the Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips by now. I decided to do a review/tutorial for you. This is my second time using them and it turned out alright. My friend Heather bought a box in the "Laced Up" design. She works at a hair salon so she has her hands in water a lot and is sort of rough on her nails. I recommended these to her because they claim to last up to 10 days. Last time I checked with her she had surpassed the 10 day mark. They were slightly chipping at the tips though and the strips were moving away from her cuticles. The first time I wore these they only lasted about 6 days for me. I didn't do a top coat though and I think that could be a difference maker. This time around I used my Nail Tek top coat and I plan on applying it every other day. The Sally Hansen Salon Effects includes 16 nail polish strips, a cuticle stick, and a mini file/buffer. All of the strips are in various sizes so you should have no problem finding the right size strip for each of your nails. The downside to this product that will probably prevent me from buying it in the future is definitely the price. At Walgreens we are selling them for $9.99. I think that it's an awesome product for special occasions. In fact, the reason I applied these is because my birthday is on Saturday. Yay! Also, I came across a coupon at Redplum.com for $2 off Sally Hansen Salon Effects.
Now I want to share with you some of the different designs you can purchase:

I also thought I would take you through the process of applying these polish strips. My polish strips are in the design "Kitty, Kitty." I'm also dying to try "Girl Flower."
On to the tutorial:

Each box comes with 16 strips, a cuticle stick, and a file/buffer

Step 1: Start with clean, dry nails.

Step 2: Push back cuticles

Step 3: Shape your nails with pink side of file and use other side of file to buff the surface of the nails

Step 4: Give nails one last swipe with polish remover

Step 5: Select best-fitting strip for each nail

Step 6: Peel away the backing and apply to nail. Make sure it is centered and do not stretch it too much. Use flat side of cuticle stick to press the edges down

Step 7: Smooth the excess over the edge of the nail using the light pink side of the file

Now repeat steps 5 through 7 for the rest of your nails. It's pretty easy and quick to do. Here's some pics of the finished product:

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in "Kitty, Kitty"

Essie, Now a Drugstore Find!

Hi everyone! As you know, I work at Walgreens in the cosmetics department so I am responsible for building displays, adding new additions to our cosmetic's wall and keeping up with beauty news. Lately, the Walgreens Catalina coupon machine has been printing out ads letting shoppers know that Essie is coming soon to Walgreens. This made me very excited! I'm a huge Essie fan and I know Essie was acquired by L'Oreal last year so it seems fitting that L'Oreal would bring Essie to drugstores. I also heard Walmart is carrying Essie now as well. This past week at Walgreens I was working with my manager and coworker to reset our cosmetic wall....and we now officially carry Essie, but the display is pretty much empty (at least for now). Sooo, I got impatient and couldn't wait any longer to buy a new Essie polish so I went to Ulta and gave into temptation. I'm probably still going to buy a lot of Essie polishes at Walgreens though because I get a 15% discount. Well, at Ulta I picked up a really beautiful peach polish by Essie called "Van D'Go." I love it! I think it looks nice with my skin tone and it dries so fast. I really prefer the Essie brushes over the OPI brushes. I'm not into fat polish brushes because I have pretty small nails. I also picked up this nail strengthener called Nail Tek II: Intensive Therapy for soft and peeling nails. My nails refuse to grow! Every time I have any length to my nails it is only a matter of time before they start breaking and peeling. They are pretty thin and soft so I'm hoping this will help strengthen them. The directions say to use it as a base coat and apply as a top coat over polish. I was so close to buying OPI's Nail Envy strengthener, but Ulta was out of the Nail Envy for soft and thin nails and I didn't want to get the original formula. Oh well! I'm sure the Nail Tek is just as good. I had read reviews beforehand and they were pretty positive so we'll see! I'll update you all in a couple of weeks. Also, at Ulta I saw a new collection out from OPI called Texas. How exciting! I'm from Houston so this was a really a neat find! My favorite polish in the collection is definitely Austin-tatious Turquoise. It is soooo beautiful and unique. It's kind of glittery which can be a turn off because glitter polishes are impossible to take off, but it's so worth it. The color is too pretty to pass up. I wish I had my digital camera with me because I would have taken pics, but you can click the link in the text to see the collection.
However, I do have pics of Essie's Van D'Go. Enjoy!

Statement-Making Mani

Hi! I got bored tonight and was flipping through February's Cosmo and found a picture showing Vanessa Hudgens with minty colored nails and her ring finger nail painted gold. I thought it looked pretty neat and decided to try it out on myself!

 I dug through all of my polishes and I found a mint color, but it looked weird with my only gold polish. So instead I went with a turquoise color, which I personally think looks great with the gold polish I used. This is just my take on the picture above and I wanted to use the colors I already own. 

Let me know if you try it out and what polishes you ended up using! :)

OPI "Rising Star"

L.A. Girl Flare "Tropical"

Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish

Hi again! I can't stay away from blogspot! It's just too addictive. This time I want to talk about a Revlon nail polish I bought at Walgreens the other day. As you know, I work at Walgreens so I actually put together the Revlon Top Speed nail color display. I get first dibs on all of the colors! hah...Well, a little side note, I'm in the process of applying for jobs and interviewing with companies so I'm trying to stay away from crazy nail colors. I normally wear a lot of purple, hot pink and coral. This time I had to pick a nice neutral color that I could wear to interviews. It's time for me to be practical! I picked the color Sheer Cotton, but I was soooo close to buying Lily or Jaded. I have to admit, Revlon makes some of the best drugstore products. I have a lot of their nail polishes and I was curious to try out the Top Speed nail polish line. I think this is a line that's been around for a while, but they may have revamped it with new colors. The Top Speed nail polishes are about a dollar more than the regular Revlon polishes. I think the price difference is due to the fact that the Top Speed polishes dry extremely fast and supposedly have a built in top coat. I painted two coats of Sheer Cotton the other day without a top coat and they were already beginning to chip by the end of the day. This time I painted three coats and did an additional top coat using an OPI top coat. We'll see how that holds up!

***Update: I worked all day long and was really rough on my nails...yet not a single chip! Good polish, but use a top coat.

Revlon's Top Speed Sheer Cotton. A very pretty neutral color

Revlon Top Speed display

My Revlon nail polish collection

From left to right: Revlon Liquid Quick Dry, Revlon Top Speed Sheer Cotton, Revlon Grey Suede, Revlon Power Walk Pink, Revlon Bubble Gum, Revlon Passionate Fruit, Revlon Rock (purple, not blue) Revlon Plum Night
As I mentioned I love Revlon products and their nail polishes may be the main reason why. My Revlon polish collection mainly consists of limited edition colors so I don't know if you can find all of those colors, but I figured I'd share anyway. I love how Revlon always keeps up with nail color trends and I love the size of their brushes. The colors all go on so smoothly and dry without bubbling.
So, because I am going on job interviews and trying to look more professional I went through my nail polish collection to try and find some wearable work polish. This is what I came up with:

Work Appropriate Nail Polish

From left to right: Sephora by OPI Dear Diary..., Revlon Sheer Cotton, Revlon Grey Suede (I actually wore this on an interview last week), Rimmel Steel Grey, Rimmel Sweet Heart, Rimmel Promiscuous, Maybelline Timeless Pink, and Maybelline Timely Rose.
I personally think nudes, mauves, greys, and light pinks are great for work...but let me know if you all agree that those are work appropriate colors.