Shellac french mani - Day 8

This is 8 days of wear for my Shellac french manicure. Still utterly perfect. I can't bear to take them off when they still look so good! Super shiny, no tip wear, a tiny bit of growth at the nail line, but you can hardly see it. It's great because my nails are getting a chance to grow worry-free and without the wear and tear of swatching and multiple manicures a week. Could these last another week?? We'll see!

Another Rite Aid haul

This one wasn't too bad though, just two polishes.

It seems I can't resist the Brucci polishes. They have some great colors and a really great price: only $2.79 each. I have a couple different taupe-y shades, but no plain old flat greys, so I grabbed Alexandra's "Hot" Gray. And when I saw the shimmery green/burgundy goodness of Black Emerald, I couldn't resist.

As you can see, my Shellac is still going strong at 6 days of wear. I'll post another picture of them in a few days time. I love how gorgeous and low maintenance they are, but I'm also eager to get some bright colors on my nails. We'll see how long they last!

I know I made promises...

I know I promised a Marble Monday, but look everyone!!! I've been Shellac'd!!



Isn't it just gorgeous! I went to the nail salon on Saturday to get a mani/pedi for my cousin's wedding the next day. I had heard of Shellac before, but I was concerned that, like regular gels or acrylics, there would be a lot of nail damage because of filing and buffing of the top of the nail. My nails are fragile as it is, and the last thing I wanted to do was weaken them anymore. The nail tech assured me that with Shellac, there is no filing or buffing of the top of the nail, you just have the regular filing of a manicure.

If you've never heard of Shellac, here's the description from CND's site:

"Say Hello to the future! Shellac is the breakthrough, patent-pending UV3 technology that combines the ease of polish with the permanence of gels. A true innovation in chip-free, extended-wear color.

Shellac applies like polish—no pots—just a bottle and brush. And removal is just 10 minutes! No filing. No drills.

The results? 14-day, glorious, high-gloss shine that’s truly addictive!"

They're not kidding guys. No drilling, no filing. Shellac is a normal manicure, with the exception of the fact that you're puttting your hand under a UV lamp after each coat. And the shine to these babies is truly high gloss! It would be hard to get nails this shiny even with multiple coats of Seche Vite. Best part about it? After I took my hands out of the last round of UV light, I went digging through my purse for my wallet and keys with no worries! I really love the base coat for this french as well, it's really natural looking, with the most subtle blue and pink shimmer if you look really really close.



This is after two days of wear. No scratches, no tip wear, still super, super shiny. Regular french manicures ALWAYS chip for me after just a day or two. The normal french on my toes is not in nearly as good shape!
The Shellac manicure is supposed to last at least a week and a half, so I'll be updating with pics every few days.

Has anyone else had Shellac done? What color did you choose? Did it live up to your expectations?

Thanks for reading!

The Icing purchases

These are two polishes I snagged at the "The Icing" over at the Garden State Plaza. Apparently, The Icing is the "big girl" version of Claire's, which caters to younger girls. I was informed of this differential by the teenaged cashier, who seemed quite offended when I held up a bedazzled flask, laughing, and joked that it was kind of inappropriate for a young girls store...chill out chica!

Anyway. On the right we have a matte top coat! At first I really wasn't feeling the matte trend. The neons I have, like Essie Bermuda Shorts, dry matte and I hated the way they look. But as I've seen other bloggers use matte top coat over different polishes, especially sparkles and shimmers, it's kinda grown on me. I love the idea of the top coat rather than a matte polish itself, as you can make any color you want matte! I'll have to try it out soon!

On the left is a pretty light green shimmer that flashes pink and purple, called Peacock. It looks pretty sheer so we'll have to see how it looks on the nail.

I don't own any China Glaze's yet, but isn't this bottle shape similar? I thought the racks of polish I saw from outside were China Glaze, which is why I went running in! Good thing I still found these two that peaked my interest :)

On an unrelated note...I need to feel the love guys! If you're reading this, consider giving me a follow! I've just my one follower and I'm not feeling the love :( Let me know if you're out there! Thanks for reading :)

Just checking in...

No reviews today, but just popping in for a quick update! I've got some good stuff coming up including a pretty new polish called Peacock (sounds promising), a matte top coat, and a yet-to-be-determined demure mani for my cousin's wedding this Sunday. I'll be passing on Vamper Sunday this week because of the wedding, but I'll definitely be doing a Marble Monday, though it will most likely be posted Monday night. Stay tuned!

Night Life

So my marble attempt last night was once again a bust. But I won't give up! I'm going to try again when I get home tonight, and hopefully I'll finally get up a marble for this week, even if it is 3 days late. 

Anyway, today's polish is part of my Harmon's haul from last week. This is Rimmel Night Life.

I don't own Chanel Paradoxal, but is it just me or is this in the same dusty purple/taupe/shimmer family? Paradoxal seems to have more blue and less gold to it though. I feel like I could definitely franken a Paradoxal dupe with this as a base! Hmm...

I really like this color. It's a chameleon - sometimes it's more on the brown side, especially in the fluorescent lighting of my office, but out in the sun the purple shines through. You can see the pretty gold shimmer in every light and it's just gorgeous. This is three coats, but I think that mayyy have been one too many. The first coat I thought felt pretty thin but it seem to thicken up as I went along. Next time I'll either wait longer between coats or only use two because this was a little gummy and took a while to dry, even with Seche Vite. Hmm, I'm thinking I need to invest in some polish thinner...

Office

It's been a few days! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend full of fun in the sun, but hopefully you didn't get as sunburned as I did. I'm a little crispy!

I did this manicure Sunday night, so unfortunately I had to snap a few pictures inside and they didn't come out too great. But until I get a chance to redo this, here is American Apparel Office.

Office is a pretty pastel minty green creme. I had some trouble with application; the formula is a little runny and had some cuticle drag and bald spots. This is two coats with Seche top and base, but I definitely should have gone for 3 coats as looking down at my hands now, it's a bit streaky. Otherwise, the color is beatiful, and at $5, an inexpensive alternative for Chanel's Jade.

Didn't get a chance to do a Marble Monday this weekend :( I'll try my hardest to take some time tonight to do one and make it a Marble Wednesday!

Thanks for reading!

Warhol

Don't let the bright-but-nothing-special-ness of this photo fool you. This was the closest that any camera I own, whether it be blackberry or digital, could get to capturing the out of control, retina-searing neon that Color Club Warhol is. It is complete, even, smooth, opaque neon awesomeness.

This is three thin, beautiful coats of Warhol with Seche base and top coat. I am really loving Color Club, they have a great formula and beautiful colors. If you're looking for a WHAM, BAM, LOOK-AT-ME-WOW-THAT'S-REALLY-PINK color like I was, this is it, people.

Harmon's haul

Guys, it's a sickness. Seriously.

Left to right: Color Club Wild and Willing, Rimmel Night Life, Color Club Electronica, Rimmel Scene Stealer, Color Club Warhol.

Happy Birthday!

Happy one-year anniversary to the ladies over at Polish or Perish! Check them out here for some great swatches and a chance to win an awesome 30+ piece haul!