Sally Hansen Lustre Shine - Scarab

After looking high and low, I finally managed to get my hands on some of the Sally Hansen Lustre Shines (it always seems to take forever for these displays to show up in Canada). Today I've got Scarab to show you; this is a lovely blue-green metallic shimmer with a modest duochrome shift. My photos don't quite convey how intensely bright and eye-catching this was in person. It might not be the most unique polish, but there's no need to mess with a good thing, right? 

Did you pick up any of the Sally Hansen Lustre Shines?

Sally Hansen Blue Frosting

Tonight's post will be a quick one- this is Sally Hansen Blue Frosting, a new-ish shade from the Diamond Strength line. Here I've layered one coat over a dark blurple shade (I thiiiink it's Essie No More Film, which is usually my go-to shade for layering). The finish on this reminds me a bit of the Sally Hansen HD polishes, and features a similar type of flakey shimmer (and in this case, some impressive duochromatic range). This shifts from blue, to purple, to teal. I'm very happy with this- it's pretty eye-catching in person. 

I'm intrigued to see Sally Hansen bust out some fun duochrome polishes, especially in the Diamond Strength line which I typically write off as a snooze-fest when browsing the cosmetics section. It's something a bit unexpected, but definitely welcome. What do you think of Sally Hansen Blue Frosting?

Merry Christmas! Sally Hansen Nail Strips in Prep's Cool

It's rare that I post a manicure on the actual day I happen to be wearing it, but tonight you're getting my *actual* Christmas manicure. Sally Hansen Nail Strips in Prep's Cool are currently adorning my nails, and I couldn't be happier. I actually picked this up last year, but have been saving it for a special occasion; this Christmas certainly qualifies! Not only were these relatively easy to apply, but they look amazing. I'm thrilled with the pattern, and as always, the wear time is second to none. Because we're travelling a bit this holiday, this was the perfect choice- no need to worry about repairing a chipped manicure, and I get about a solid week of wear from the metallic Sally Hansen nail strips before any major flaws show up. I do slap a coat of Seche Vite overtop, and that seems to help ensure extra long wear time (not to mention making my manicure brilliantly shiny). 

And some obligatory manicure pics + seasonal props:

Merry Christmas, dear readers! I hope you're all having a good one.

Sally Hansen Concrete and A-England Merlin

Tonight I've got one of my very favourite polishes to share with you: Sally Hansen Concrete. What makes this polish so special? Well, it's the best neutral I own, and it's the colour I pull out whenever I want to feel professional and polished. Concrete is a perfect taupey-pinkish-beige (in some lights it pulls more grey, while in others it's more of a soft purple/pink). It's always incredibly flattering- more so than any other shade in my collection. It also holds the status of being the only truly back-up worthy lacquer in my collection- quite a distinction! Without further ado, here's my beloved Concrete: 

I also decided to add a gradient of A-England's Merlin to this mani; the fine, delicate silver glitter makes a nice addition to Concrete, although I didn't get the glitter dispersion as even as I would have liked!

What do you think of Sally Hansen Concrete? Can you see why it's perhaps my favourite shade of all time?

Do you have a favourite polish of all time? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Halloween!

I want to begin by apologizing for being a bad blogger- I haven't been updating as frequently as I'd like! The same goes for those of my lovely readers who also have wonderful blogs that I haven't been able to visit as regularly lately- I hope you'll forgive me for my infrequent appearances! 

Maybe I can make it up to you with some Halloween photos? We'll start with the nails, of course. Sally Hansen Nail Strips in "Corny Candy", a light metallic silver imprinted with adorable candy corns. I have to say, I'm majorly impressed with these. Not only are they incredibly cute, but this manicure is on it's third day and it's still going strong with nary a chip in sight. That's a rare experience for me! 

Application was quite easy, and I topped this off with a coat of Seche Vite (which I find helps protect the strips and ensures they'll last extra long). And of course this Halloween manicure needs a Halloween-ready Domo to go along with it:

Here's a photo of a recent pumpkin carving event; bonus points to anyone who guesses the origin of the design on the left pumpkin!

Lastly, I'll share with you a look outside my window (taken about a week ago).

As you can see, winter has arrived in earnest, and any kids out trick or treating probably wore their costumes overtop of a snowsuit! I do have to admit, though, I love when the trees are thick with the first frost of the winter. Beautiful.

How was your Halloween?

Sally Hansen Taupe Pearl Chrome

Today I've got an oldie for you: Sally Hansen Taupe Pearl Chrome. 

It's taupe. It's chrome. 

Strange combination. But kinda pretty. See?

A little brushstrokey in the sun.

A look at the label:

So, what do you thing of this oddball polish? I had never considered the possibility of a taupe chrome before. It's weird, but neat. It looks a bit more taupe in real life than it does in the pictures. Want to see more blast-from-the-past Sally Hansen Chromes? Check them out here!

Sally Hansen Insta Dri - In A Flurry and Freeze

Tonight I have two new colours from the Sally Hansen Insta Dri Fall line: In A Flurry and Freeze. 

In A Flurry is black with a subtle green shimmer (along with a few rarely witnessed flashes of purple); this was opaque in two coats. This is one of the cases where the shimmer is more visible in the bottle than on that nail. Especially once the lacquer dried, it lost a lot of depth; too bad, because when I first applied it I thought it looked amazing. 

I have to admit, when I saw Scrangie's swatches of this, I ran straight out and got it. I don't know if I got an off bottle, but mine doesn't look as jaw-droppingly awesome as her version. A little disappointment here, but still an interesting polish.

Next up I have Freeze, which is an awesome glowy-looking blue, with tonnes of blue shimmer (more of a glass fleck than a glitter). Tonnes of depth, and very eye-catching. Also opaque in two coats. I love this one!

This reminds me a lot of a cross between two of my favourite polishes: Sally Hansen HD Laser and OPI Swimsuit... Nailed It. Where Laser is darker, and Swimsuit is perhaps a bit lighter, this is somewhere in between. I really love polishes like this- very intense, and they almost seem to glow. Gorgeous.

Of these two, Freeze is definitely my favourite, and I highly recommend it if you don't have a blue like this in your collection. In A Flurry will probably be your thing if you're fond of black polishes, but I would have been okay without it. 

Which shade do you prefer? Have you picked up any of the Sally Hansen Insta Dri for Fall polishes?

Sally Hansen Chrome - Royal Purple

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted a Sally Hansen Chrome polish, and I still have a lot of them to share with you, so here's Royal Purple! This is another Sally Hansen Chrome that I definitely recall owning (and loving) back in the day. 

This was two coats, and while the chrome finish tends to show up every little imperfection in the nail, overall it wasn't too challenging of an application. 

And here's a quick picture of something that had been occupying my time a couple weeks ago when I was wearing this polish (it's been languishing in the unposted file for awhile now...)

Anyone else playing Diablo 3? Since I took this picture I've started playing Nightmare mode, but I'm kind of running out of steam with Act II. Not sure how I feel about playing through all the same material, just on a harder difficulty. It's a bit tedious.

What do you think of Sally Hansen Royal Purple and/or Diablo 3?

And in case you missed my announcement the other day, I'm now officially taking orders for Pirate Polish. See this post for details, if you're interested!

Greyscale Ombre Manicure (Domo-inspired!)

Recently the lovely ladies at Varnished Valkyrie asked me to do a guest post on their totally awesome blog while they're away. Naturally, I was extremely flattered to be asked, and came up with this idea for my first ever ombre manicure!

A Gresyscale-Domo inspired ombre mani! I'll post a couple pictures here, but please click here to check out the whole story. Let me know what you think of my first guest post/first ombre mani!

Dollish Polish Heart of Glass (over Sally Hansen Violet Voltage)

Today I have a fun combination to share with you! This post with showcase Dollish Polish Heart of Glass, layered over Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Violet Voltage. I decided that my brand new Walkman Domo might be a good companion for Heart of Glass, seeing as how he's clearly a music fan. I'm a Blondie fan, myself, and in fact I distinctly remember my mom buying me my first ever CD, which was a Blondie compilation disc. I was mesmerized by the song "Heart of Glass". 

We'll get to Dollish Polish Heart of Glass in a moment; in the meantime, this is what I chose to layer it over. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Violet Voltage is a lovely light purple, with pretty shimmer running through it. I think this is new for spring 2012. The formula on this is lovely, and this was two coats of Violet Voltage:

Dollish Polish Heart of Glass is a holographic topcoat, which contains a whole bunch of Spectra Flair for a linear holo effect, in addition to larger jagged holographic shards and holographic bar glitter. The jagged, irregular holographic shards made me think of bits of a compact disc if it was shattered. A fitting connection to make, perhaps?

This is one coat of Heart of Glass over Violet Voltage:

The following pictures in direct sunlight best show Heart of Glass in all its holographic glory:

What did you think of Dollish Polish Heart of Glass? Does it bring back fond musical memories for you?

I purchased my bottle of Heart of Glass through Dollish Polish's Etsy shop, but she has since relocated to a new website; you can now find her here.

And because this post wouldn't be complete without Blondie singing "Heart of Glass", here you go! 

Just a reminder about my upcoming Lynnderella Connect the Dots giveaway: If you're interested in entering to win a bottle of Connect the Dots, click here for details on how to enter! 

Sally Hansen Aquamarine Chrome

Like my previous post about Sally Hansen Tourmaline Chrome, this is another blast from the past: Aquamarine Chrome.

This is a lacquer I distinctly remember owning, and loving, nearly 15 years ago. As I lamented before, I wish I had held onto all my Chrome polishes! Nonetheless, after a trip to ebay, I now have several lovely Sally Hansen Chrome polishes to share with you. This is Sally Hansen Aquamarine Chrome, a deep metallic chrome blue (2 coats):

See how reflective it looks in this next picture?

While this has a somewhat similar finish to Models Own Dream Stream, it isn't quite as intense and vividly blue. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing- to me, this looks more chrome-like. It also doesn't stain like Models Own Dream Stream (word of warning- my nails are STILL hugely stained from Dream Stream, even after several changes of polish. Better double, or triple up on base coat!).

If you're looking for Sally Hansen Chrome polishes, this is the ebay listing through which I purchased mine (not affiliated), and I have no complaints about the service I received- everything arrived safely and in a reasonable time frame.

What do you think of Sally Hansen Aquamarine Chrome? Was this one in your stash years ago?

Interested in winning Lynnderella Connect the Dots? Check out my Connect the Dots giveaway!