Essie "Sand Tropez"

 

Hi guys!  I can't believe April is here and here in North Carolina Spring has finally decided to show up!  So after a wearing several bright nail polishes I decided to tone it down this week and go with a neutral polish.  I dug through my collection and found Essie's "Sand Tropez."

Essie's "Sand Tropez" is a light sandy beige, which reminds me of a day at the beach.  (I do love the name of this polish it just fits so well!)  Formula wise "Sand Tropez" is nice, it applied easily and was opaque after two coats of polish.  However the polish leans a bit more towards the watery side of easy to apply.  Also the small width of Essie's brushes meant I had to make many extra brush strokes, but thankfully it didn't cause any streak marks on my nails!  As for chipping "Sand Tropez" lasted four days before I saw any chipping at all and even then the chips were very minor.  I was able to wear Essie's "Sand Tropez" for five full days before the chipping became more noticeable and I removed the polish.

Overall I am very very pleased with Essie's "Sand Tropez"!  I love the sandy beige colors, that it was opaque in two coats, had no streak marks, and lasted five days before really chipping!  I do wish that Essie had slightly bigger brushes so I didn't have to make as many passes across my nails, but seeing as that is my only complaint here I definitely like and would recommend Essie's "Sand Tropez"!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Grab "Sand Tropez" for yourself on Amazon (affiliate link)

China Glaze "Life Preserver"

Hi all!  So last week I wore a cool Spring blue polish, so this week I decided to go with a warm bright color.  I dug through my collection and came upon one of my favorite Summertime nail polishes by China Glaze called "Life Preserver." 

"Life Preserver" is a reddish-orange nail polish.  I usually wear this color on my toes a lot during the Summer because the color really is great!  Formula wise "Life Preserver" is amazing; not too watery or too thick and was very easy to apply to my nails!  After two coats the polish was completely opaque and had no streak marks!  As for chipping I was able to wear China Glaze's "Life Preserver" for about three days.  Now I feel that this may not be an accurate reading of how long this polish would last because I initially tested out "Life Preserver" last Fall and wore it to work an eight hour shift on Black Friday at the mall.  And as I said before I usually wear "Life Preserver" on my toes and can get it to last for nearly two weeks, or 14 days, therefore I do believe if I had worn this polish at a different time (A.K.A. not the craziest day to work retail ever) it would have lasted longer before chipping.

Overall I am very pleased with China Glaze's "Life Preserver" because the color is lovely and the formula is great!  And I am happy that even though I worked Black Friday in this polish it still held up for three full days!  I will most definitely be wearing China Glaze's "Life Preserver" again soon!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

butterLONDON "Slapper"

Hi guys and happy April!  (Yes it is April Fools Day but I promise I am not pranking you with this fun blog!)  I am so excited that it is April and that Springtime nearly completely here!  I am so ready for the warmer weather!  I decided to pick out a super bright and Spring-y polish by butterLONDON called "Slapper" which was originally released in 2012.

"Slapper" is a bright teal colored creme polish.  The teal color is gorgeous and reminds me of the ocean water, which is perfect since Summer will be here soon!  The formula of "Slapper" is fantastic, not too thick or too watery and very easy to get onto my nails!  The coverage is wonderful and after two coats the polish was completely opaque and had no streaks!  As for chipping  "Slapper" lasted four days before I noticed any chips, and even then the chips were very minor.  Since "Slapper" is a darker blue color I worried that it might leave stains on my nails, but I am happy to say that my nails had no blue stains on them after "Slapper" was off my nails!

Overall I am very pleased with butterLONDON's "Slapper."  The color is gorgeous, the formula is fantastic and went on easily, and I also love that I was able to wear this polish for four days before the chipping started!  I will definitely be wearing this nail polish again and again!

Thanks for reading my blog and happy April!  :)

Sally Hansen "Vanity Flare"

Hi everyone!  So now that the end of March is here I feel like it is really Springtime!  (Even though it is still very cold here!)  And Springtime means bright colored nails!  So this week to celebrate brighter colored nails I picked out Sally Hansen's Triple Shine polish in "Vanity Flare."  The Triple Shine formula is a newer line by Sally Hansen that is meant to be extra shiny and to stand up better to wear and tear, according to the Sally Hansen website.

Sally Hansen's "Vanity Flare" is a bright purple creme nail polish and it is very shiny once it dries.  Formula wise it was interesting.  It wasn't that it was too watery or too thick but the polish seems to dry quickly so sometimes it was difficult to get it on my nail fast enough.  I found the brush to be very wide and by wide I mean I only had to use one pass on my pinky fingers to cover them.  But the coverage is amazing!  After one coat my nails were almost entirely opaque and I only added the second coat of polish to make the color pop more!  As for chipping "Vanity Flare" only lasted two days and then it start to flake off the ends of my nails, which was especially disappointing because Triple Shine is advertised as a long lasting polish.  However when I removed "Vanity Flare" it didn't stain my nails, which is always nice!

Overall Sally Hansen's "Vanity Flare" is an okay nail polish.  The formula and color are great but the extra wide brush and the fact that it chipped after only two days was definitely disappointing.  I am having a hard time deciding if I like or dislike this polish, but I am willing to wear "Vanity Flare" again because the color is nice.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

You can get this polish for yourself on Amazon (affiliate link)

OPI "Nomad's Dream"

 

Hi everyone!  So after a glitter last week I decided to try out a neutral polish this week!  I picked out OPI's "Nomad's Dream" which is an older OPI color.  I purchased it on Amazon and I have never seen this polish in any store.  (Also sorry for the slightly blurry picture but I wanted you to see how much shimmer "Nomad's Dream" has!)

"Nomad's Dream" is light brown beige polish with a lot of gold shimmer.  It is an interesting color and I actually really like it!  Formula wise "Nomad's Dream" is pretty good, though it is a tiny bit on the watery side, but it was still easy enough to apply.  After two coats of polish "Nomad's Dream" was completely opaque.  However there was some streaking caused by the amount of shimmer in the polish.  In terms of chipping it started almost instantly because the polish didn't seem to want to dry at all!  Over half my nails got smudged and "Nomad's Dream" just practically smudged off my nails, which was majorly disappointing!

Overall I am disappointed by OPI's "Nomad's Dream" because it chipped so quickly!  The color is nice, the formula is good, and it was completely opaque after two coats but since I couldn't wear this polish out of the house I don't particularly care for this polish.  I will probably give "Nomad's Dream" a second chance to see if its refusal to dry was just a fluke but I am not sure I will wear this polish much.

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Snag this nail polish for yourself - it's on Amazon (affiliate link)

Wet n Wild Fergie "XoXo"

Hi guys!  I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend!  (We might finally be seeing the end of winter and I am so excited!)  So this week I decided to try out a major glitter nail polish!  I picked out Wet n Wild's "XoXo" which is part of the Fergie collection.  I picked up "XoXo" at Wal-Mart, but it appears it is available at a few drugstores and online at Amazon.

“XoXo” is a glitter nail polish made up of small round micro-glitter in a clear base.  The glitter is a mix of dark purple and sky blue.  Now “XoXo” probably isn’t meant to be worn on its own, but I decided to try it out anyway.  (The picture above shows how it turned out.)  I used two coats of polish and while it clearly isn’t opaque it does look kind of fun!  The formula of “XoXo” is pretty good for a glitter, I was able to make nice smooth passes over the nail and the glitter spread evenly.

Since I think “XoXo” would make an awesome accent I decided to try it out on top of a crème polish.  I looked through my collection and settled on a solid black nail polish which really shows off the glitter.  The black polish is Sally Hansen Hard As Nails in “Black Heart.”  I applied a clear base coat (I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in “Invisible”), then one coat of “Black Heart,” followed by one coat of “XoXo” and finally topped off with a quick drying top coat (I used Orly’s “Sec’N’Dry”).  I think it turned out really nicely!  I was able to wear this combo for a couple of days before it began to chip.  Also the pictures above don't do justice to how gorgeous the glitter on "XoXo" shimmers so here is a better picture of the prettiness:  (Look at all that glitter shining in the light!)

Overall I really like Wet n Wild’s “XoXo.”  It is a fun but not too wild glitter nail polish that looks great as an accent over a crème polish.  I definitely plan on trying out “XoXo” with other crème nail polishes in the future!

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)

Sally Hansen "Cherry Red"

Hi guys!  Since today is the official start of Spring I thought I would wear a fun bright nail polish!  I am so excited for warmer weather and leaves on trees again!  I decided to pull out a very bright color to celebrate the return of Spring (and color back into the world!)  The color I picked out is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's "Cherry Red" which is a bright red, in case the name didn't give that away!

"Cherry Red" is a bright red nail polish that is very cheerful.  The formula is good and was easy to control.  After two coats of polish "Cherry Red" was completely opaque and had no streaks.  I have noticed with many red nail polishes that it often shows many flaws, but that was not the case with "Cherry Red" which didn't show many flaws at all!  As for chipping I was able to wear this nail polish for six days before any chipping started!  I was very impressed with how long "Cherry Red" lasted!  In terms of removing this bright red polish it was very easy and left no stains on my nails!

Overall I am very very pleased with Sally Hansen's "Cherry Red" because of its great formula and how long it lasted before chipping!  I definitely plan on wearing this polish over and over again!

Side note:  I used this polish last fall in my Disney Nail Art post so be sure to check it out: http://perfectlypolished12.blogspot.com/2013/10/disney-nail-art-post_10.html

Thanks for reading my blog!  :)