Broadway Nails Fashion Diva glue-on nails in Angel (BHFD02)

You would think that as someone that habitually used glue-ons for almost 9 months and sucessfully recovered from the damage that I would shudder at the thought of glue-on nails.  Well, I do... and then again... I don't.  Quite frankly, I love the look of a lot of the funky french glue-on nail designs and in all honestly, I have about 6 boxes in the wings waiting on me to use them.  Unfortunately, I always chicken out, remembering what a PITA they were when I had to use them. 

Then I saw these at Wal-mart.  I passed by them about 2 times before I saw "harajuku style" on the package.  Well... after that point... they had to be mine.  That also shot them up to the top of the queue in the "glue-on nails waiting to be used once I finally quit being a pansy" line.  I guess because they are so adorable, I finally decided to do it.  Well, that and the fact that I, once again, broke my pinky nail so I was able to use them without filing. 

So, today, I decided to put them on.  Unfortunately, as soon as I put on my pinky nail, I knew I wanted to get them off.  Don't get me wrong... they are freaking adorable, but I just couldn't handle the thickness on my nails (due to the nail damage, my nail beds are hyper sensitive).  Nonetheless, I decided to go on and finish my hand so at least I could show them to you all. 

The Pros -
- Adorable.  I wish I could do this with my natural nails.
- Nice length if you have shorties (like me)... anything beyond a smidge out from your fingertip will need to be cut down.  So I guess that's a con if you have long nails.
- Gel glue that's easy to place and doesn't goosh out the sides of the nail.
- Easy-to-read sizing with tabs rather than the size on the underside of the nail.

Cons -
- Aforementioned length issues for long nails/nail beds.
- Easy to break the top of the nail when you remove the tab.  I did this on my middle finger and had to file it down and cover up the damaged french tip with black polish.
- Thickness... and this is subjective.  I really didn't like the way it felt on my nails, but someone else could have NO issues.
- Removal.  On the package, it says to simply soak in acetone, and I know other people do this and have the nails desolve within minutes.  With me... it seems that I always have soak my nails for at least 20 minutes (in acetone... ugh) and then I still have to work at removing the glue.

All in all... I think these were kind of a fail on me, but that's just because of personal preferences, rather than the product itself.  I think they would be totally adorable on someone else.  I can just imagine these with a brightly-colored dress for prom. 

Broadway nails are available in a myriad of designs from full-nail designs, to funky frenches, to white and pink frenches, and you can find them at most big boxes, drug stores, and grocery stores with cosmetics departments.  They are normally in the $6-7 range.  I think these were $5.94.

Revlon Runway Collection Nails Part Deux

I posted about 2 of the Revlon Runway Collection Artificial Nails last month. I had plans of using another box sooner, but alas, I got caught up in other things. A few days ago, after my latest unfortunate incident with Zoya (the one that sparked my Dear John letter), I decided to try another set.

I tried Minx this time, and lemme tell you... it's my favorite thus far. This is the only one that has received compliments from strangers (thank you, girl in Target). She was shocked when I told her they were Revlon rather than spendy salon nails. Here's a pic of them:



I just took this, and since I've had them on a few days, they don't look as good now as they did before. Also, as the base of the nail is sheer, and I have damage to my natural nails, you can see the damage. Thankfully, this is something that you only see if you are looking at unforgiving macro photos, or if you were to stare at my hands for awhile.

The design on these is different than any other funky french (is it just me or does the phrase "funky french" make you giggle a little, too? LOL) glue-on I've tried. Thus far, it happens to be the most flattering on my hands. The nails is a peachy-pink base, with a white french tip. On the white tip, there is a black fishnet design, and between the french and the base is a thin silver glitter line. One thing I really like is that the design isn't the same uniform size. It varies based on the size of the nail. I thing that really helps in making these look like expensive nails.

The length is very short, though I think the package labels them as "medium", but these are far from medium. I kind of like this length, though. One of the fortunate things about wearing glue-on nails is that I can go from long to short to back again without any effort. I'd been wearing my nails pretty long, and I'm finding with these Revlons that typing is much, much easier. LOL.

It did take me 3 boxes before I was able to apply them without getting glue all over me, so there is a learning curve (as there is with just about any new nail/nail polish related product), but they are a great product. Plus, I'm a spaz, so you may have no problems. Speaking of the glue, Revlon glue is the best glue I've tried. Seriously. It's the only glue I use now. I wish I could buy the glue on it's own. I love it that much.

I'm really pleased with these Revlon nails. I especially love Minx. I may even buy a box of these to have on hand. Also, after trying these, I'm eager to try a few more of Revlon's Artificial Nails (the Color Allure nails in Revlon Red look awesome). I may pick up a pack of these next time I scout for np at CVS (the only place I've seen the Color Allures).

NOTD: Pretty Woman Glue On French Style 399152

Sorry for the boring title, but my mind is shot and these nails don't have a name, nor could I match the style number at Sally's online to find a style name. So, boring name post it is.

Anyway, back to the nails. Pic first:





I got these nails to try other glue-on nails that bill themselves as "salon alternatives", like the Revlons I received earlier in the month. Last night, my ChG Stroll mani started coming off and I was exhausted and didn't feel like dealing with it. Thus, I had to put something quick on this morning (usually, I do my nails at night, so I can take my time). That's usually when I reach for the pre-painted frenches.

I like this design in the package. It was a pretty irridescent purple base with an irridescent white tip that look liked it had a but of a purple-ish sheen. This was the french mani I always had in mind to get, but was never able to translate my wishes to my nail tech, back when I got acrylics for and after my wedding (8 yrs ago).

Unfortunately, I don't like them at all on my nails. For one, it's they are too damn short. If I had any sort of natural nails, I'd have to file them down like mad to be able to wear these. Also, it is a much more blatant french mani on me, than in the package. I thought the french design itself, was going to be more muted. However, they are numbered clearly and the design does look clean, so there are a couple of high points to these, but I don't see them lasting more than tonight, perhaps tomorrow. You can get these at Sally Beauty Supply for $5.99 with your Sally's card.

NOTD: ChG Sky-High Top w/ Cina 3D Daisies decals

EDITED to replace to "no flash" picture with one that didn't make look jaundiced. Still "no flash", though.

Saturday night, I put on a new set of nails and I couldn't for the life of me decide on a color, so I pulled several from my stash and asked my husband to decide. I let him choose from CC Sexsea, OPI Red Like Roses, ChG Sky-High Top, and Misa Forbidden Lust and Lounging by the Pool. An odd lot, I know, but all but Misa FL were new acquisitions, and I was curious to try them. So, I told him my previous mani was a deep blue (OPI DS Fantasy... pics to come soon), but he still picked ChG Sky-High Top. Here are pics:

no flash, artificial light

flash, artificial light

I first saw this color when the collection came out, but it wasn't until I saw it on on Nailz-In-Aus's blog that became instantly smitten with it, and I added it to my VNS order on a whim. Boy howdy, am I happy I did. Sky-High Top is from ChG's Summer 2009 Custom Kicks collection. I own one other polish from this collection, Sneakerhead, and while I've swatched it, it still remains untried. It's still available at e-tailers and eBay sellers, but I'm certain that all Sally's that had this collection had clearanced it out as it's not in the regular line up (pssst, ChG... it should be :P ).

The application process itself was fine. The formula was a little thick, even thicker than normal for ChG. However, as long as you made sure you had a decent amount on your brush, there were no real problems. The wand did slip out of my hand at one point and in my flurry to catch it, I ended up with polish on my table, clothes, and um... forehead. :P Although, that was completely user error and had nothing to do with the polish application. LOL.

As for the end result, all I can say is Ho.Lee.Crap-adoodle. My love for blue polish has recently reached new heights, but this is by far the most balls-out blue I've tried thus far. It's "smack yo mama" blue. ChG describes this color as periwinkle. Um, not so much. IMO, the actual color is more of a cerulean blue, or perhaps an azure blue, or maybe a happy medium between the two, but it's not periwinkle. At any rate, it's really, really pretty and I can't stop looking at it.

The decals are Cina 3D decals in Daisies. I got mine at Sally's for around $3.50-ish a card. However, if you are really into nail art, you may want to try ordering from Cina directly. They are around $1.70 a card at http://www.cinapro.com/. I placed an order with them earlier in the year and while shipping is high (around $10), if you order several decals, it's a much better deal. They have tons of nail art on clearance, too, stuff Sally's still has at regular price. If you love nail art, but hate the hassle of konad (like I used to), you may love these nail decals. I use a pair of long bent tweezers to apply them, and since they are sticky on the back, you just have to apply them and seal with TC. It's super easy.

Now, everyone around me has been kind of giving me funny looks at my blue nails. Everyone except my husband who picked the color and loves blue, and my 14 year old friend, who just happens to be our babysitter. They said it was awesome, so that's good enough for me. :) Also, and I think this is the best opinion out of them all, my 3 year old daughter loves them so much, she cried because she didn't have blue nails with yellow and white stickers

One last thing... you may notice that my nails are longer in this pic than in other past NOTDs. Rather than using my tried and true Nailene Short Active Square nails, I used Kiss Square Tips. Even though they are labelled as Tips, I have no problem applying them as full nails. You may need to file the bottoms just a bit to fit your nail shape, but that's it. Plus, they are really long which allows you to cut them to many different lengths.

Hope you all like this one, it's probably one of my favorite colors in my collection (hmmm... I need to put together a top 10 list), and in fact, this mani is now my profile pic on FB. Now that's love. :)

Embracing my inner Stepford Wife

So, remember how I mentioned that I was going to try some other brands of fake nails that were supposedly to "achieve a professional look without the professional price" to compare them to the Revlons? Well, I did that over this week. I used IBD 5 Second nails in "French Chic" from Sally's.

Now, normally, I'm not a thick french mani kinda girl. They look a little "Real Housewives of Whatever" to me. To each their own, but not normally for me. However, I must be smoking some good crack, but the look of a glitter french is strangely attractive to me, and I have no idea why. Not one done with glitter as the french (which I want to try too and am planning as my next mani, actually), but rather a small line of glitter between the french and the nail. You can see this in the pic below:

I really like the look of these and I can't tell you why. They are a pink-beige shimmer base with a thin silver, glitter divider line and an off-white iridescent tip. They go against everything my nail polish loving heart believes in, except for the belief that you should have the ability to wear whatever makes you happy. But like I said, I liked them. Unfortunately, they didn't hold up. Within 24 hours, I had a crack down the middle of my left thumb. While they were a PITA to remove, as it seems like the Revlon glue and these nails combined to make some sort of "super duper can't dissolve it" bond, I actually was a bit happy to be done with them. They were starting to make me question my belief system. LOL.

Compared to the Revlons, I think I prefer the overall look of the IBDs over the Revlons, simply because I couldn't see my damaged nails through the glue-ons, as the beige-pink base was darker than other glue-on french mani bases. Also, the IBDs were lots longer and thus easier for me to apply. However, Revlon wins hands-down for durability. A crack in 24 hrs just isn't acceptable, no matter how inexpensive these are. After all, they say "for professional use", which incorrectly or not, indicates some sort of promise of longer wear. These were $2.99 with my Sally's card and are available here (and in stores, of course. That's where I got mine). They come in numerous color options, and the price is right enough. However, they don't come with glue or any sort of nail file or orange stick like the Revlons. But that wasn't a problem for me as I have all the related supplies on hand. I just wish they held up longer, because while I was slightly over them, I don't like my glue-ons to decide for me when I have to do a new mani. :P

I have another package of these IBD nails in "French Oui Oui" to try, and I'll probably do so within the next few weeks. Also, I have a pack of Pretty Woman nails (I can't find the style name and the style number isn't showing up on Sally's website) to try out. I'll update when I try these as well.

Revlon Runway Collection Nails

I was recently contacted by the company that makes Revlon nails to see if I'd be interested in trying their new Runway Collection and posting a review on my blog (Thank you!!!). I normally don't use french glue-ons, but I figured I would since I have experience with glue-on nails and I've always wanted to try the Revlon brand. Plus, the designs were nice and looked different from other nails I'd seen out in drug stores/ big box stores.

I received them early last week while I was wearing my disastrous mint green mani (shudder). I was just expecting to receive a box or two, but I was sent the entire line. So, I had a hard time choosing my first one. I picked Sateen (91086). It's a french manicure with the base leaning slightly pink. The french on this nail is a mauvey pink satin base with a burgundy, floral print. The floral design looks very Asian-inspired to me. Separating the base from the french is a thin burgundy line and a charcoal grey glitter line. Here's a pic:

It's a pretty nail and I loved it in the box, in fact, it was my beginning favorite. However, I found the pink base to be too warm for my skintone, unfortunately. Also, because it was a bit see-through (just the nature of the beast with a light colored nail base), you could see the air bubbles that I wasn't talented enough to avoid and the damage to my natural nails underneath. Although, these 2 things were only apparent if you were staring at my nails.

The design was nice, but the charcoal grey glitter line just didn't match with the rest of the nail, IMO. A silver glitter would have been a better match. I found the dark grey to be a wee bit distracting. Application was a bit difficult. I've been using glue-ons now consistently since March, so I kinda consider myself a "Glue On Mastah" and I was gluing myself together all over the place. Maybe it was the new glue (I've never used Revlon's glue) or maybe it was because these nails are shorter that the Nailenes I regularly apply. Either way, my hands looked a bit messy after all was said and done. I did get better with the second box, more on that later, but it still wasn't flawless. I guess there's a learning curve with this, just like there is with any new product. Also, the sizes on these aren't consistent with other glue-on nails I've tried, even those made by the same manufacturer. This isn't really a complaint, rather a heads-up to try all the sizes close to your nail size before you go with a particular size.

Now, the good stuff... since I've been bitching and moaning up until now. :) The design looks nice on the nail, despite the distracting grey line. I did get several compliments on this design as well as the one to follow. Additionally, Revlon's glue is very good, holds for 4 days on me, easy, which is so much better than other brands. Also, you get a full bottle of glue rather than those little stick vials. It's easier to hold and control, for one, but for me, a continual glue-on user, it's nice to have a bigger container of glue for future applications. I've begun using this glue instead of my Kiss Pink Gel glue. It's much better. Lastly, and this is probably a continuation of the previous praise, but these nails lasted 4 days without lifting, and they probably would have gone farther had I not damaged one. The package says that you need to take them off after 10 days, but I NEVER get that kind of wear out of fake nails. Normally, I'm looking at 3 days max.

Before I close out this entry, let me show you a pic of the second set I wore.

This is Studio (91104). The base on this is a pearlish white with a satin-finish silver french with bisecting black lines. My husband picked this one out and I think he did a great job. I'd had a bit of a nail disaster before applying this nail and I needed something to put on my nails that required little effort to look great. I think I prefer this design over Sateen and is my favorite of the 2 I've tried. The wear was the same as Sateen, though with Studio, I did have a bit of tip wear (which you can see in the pic).

All in all, I think these are a great product. Perhaps not for someone with me who has damage to their natural nails, but I will still wear them. They are great for someone who wants a fancy french mani to wear to an event, but doesn't want to shell out the big bucks for a salon mani. In fact, Revlon's marketing approach on these nails is that they are a substitute for a set of salon-applied acrylics with nail art. Rather than spending $50 for this look, you can spend $7. Also, for me, these are great to have around for when I need to put on a full set of nails and I don't have time to deal with polishing my nails. 10 minutes and I was done. The come in 7 designs and can be found at drugstores and big box stores all over.

And, just for comparison's sake, I went to Sally's over the weekend and got 2 boxes of nails that were meant to look like salon manis. They even say "for professional use only" on the boxes. I plan on trying these over the next couple weeks to see how they compare to the Revlons. Also, as I have 5 more designs of these Revlons to try, I will probably scatter them out over the next 6-8 weeks.

So, what do you think? Do you like these Revlon nails?

So the acrylic experiment didn't go so well...

I'm sorry for not posting for several days, but I've been in acrylic hell and I haven't really felt like showing off my nails.

Maybe I was doing them wrong or maybe the tip and dip kit just sucked, but they didn't last for more than 24 hours, in some cases, before they started lifting. I did 2 sets on me and a set on my mom and none of them lasted longer than 2 days. :( I've given up and gone back to glue-ons with a promise to myself to entirely soak off the suckers.

So anyway, while I was dealing w/ the acrylics mess, I did manage to take a couple of NOTD pics. Please pardon the acrylics, I know they don't look the best, and my cuticles are sad in a couple of them, but at least you can see the colors, right? :)

Okay, here's ChG Thunderbird

This is from the new Retro Diva collection. When I first saw the publicity pics and the swatch pics on ALU, I wasn't intrigued. Then Scrangie swatched them and I was a fan. I liked Thunderbird because it looked so similar to Zoya Isla (from the new Truth or Dare collection), but I didn't have to order (and use) a Zoya, because in recent months, my Zoya love has wained. I can't stand to use their little brushes and the formula just doesn't work for me. :(


Anyway, Thunderbird is so beautiful and while similar to several colors in my stash, specifically OPI INRAW and Bogota Blackberry (I'll make a separate post showing them side-by-side). It's a dark red shimmer than has this blackened thing going on that makes it just glow and sets it apart from other similar colors.


Once I took Thunderbird off, I did another mani on the acrylics using CC Revvvolution and ChG Adore konad. Here's a pic:





I thought this was so pretty on the nail itself, but once you factored in my skintone, I didn't really like it. I got Revvvolution because of it's similarities to OPI My Private Jet. I'd been wanting to try MPJ, but considering all the different versions, I didn't feel comfortabe ordering it from an e-tailer. Didn't want to play MPJ-roulette. :P

Revvvoltion is a pretty charcoal base with holo shimmer. I think this will be very nice for using as a konad color and on shorter nails. I like longer nails on other people and I envy those who can wear any color on their long nails, but certain colors look like poo on me if I leave my nails longer.

So after I took this pic, I started soaking off the acrylics. I've given up and I'm going back to my Nailenes. I put on CC Coastal Creme and let me just say that I love this color. Both CCs I've tried, CC and Revvv, have been excellent in application. CC did need 3 coats on my thumbs because of a little streaking, but that's it. It's a beautiful creme cream. That sounded weird.

Then today, I applied a konad design using ChG Joy. Here's a pic:



My cuticles are a bit dark from the Revvvolution. As hard as I tried, I could not make it all go away. I have to say that this is probably my favorite konad thus far. I love the ChG Romantiques for konadding, but more on that in a later post.

That's all for now. I will have more either tonight or tomorrow when I get another chance to sit down.

Glue-ons update

I've been experimenting with various glue-on nails and nail glue combinations and I think I've found a good one. Currently, I'm using Kiss tips and Bondini glue. The Kiss tips are just like the nails you get at your drugstore, but they are tips. There are 100 in a box, just like the nails and are around $6-7 a box. I got this box I'm using from my mom, so I can't attest to the actual price. I use the tips just I would use a full nail and then I cut them way down. They are so easy to hold because they are so long and since I'm using Bondini, anything that keeps me from glueing myself to the table is a plus. :)

I mentioned last week that I used Bondini and I didn't like the performance. Well, I'm guessing it's weakness was from the chlorine in my IL's pool. It's been holding strong since Monday afternoon. I even changed my polish (since these tips are thicker than full nails, I gave it a try) and it's still on there.

Current NOTD is OPI Miami Beet w/ a Konad french in OPI DS Exclusive. My camera's in the car, and I'm too chicken to go out and get it, as it's almost 2a, so I'll get a picture when the sun's up. :P

NOTD: Silver and Gold Skittles and Updates

Right Hand

Left Hand

So I was super bored so I figured I'd give this a shot. Gold is Essie Shift Power and Silver is Misa Got to be Real. I like it, I just don't think I love it. I'll probably leave it on for 2 days and take it off. However, I do like both GtbR and SP on their own and I think they play nice together. Shift Power was a little brushstrokey and it was harder to work with than GtbR (which looks more like a brushed silver than a shiny silver). I just don't know if this suits me. I look at it one minute and I like and I look at it another minute and I'm meh about it. I'm sure tomorrow when my sister comes over to pick up my nephew, who is spending the night, she'll be all "WTF did you do to your nails". LOL.

Like I (kinda) mentioned above, I'm trying a new strategy of leaving the glue-ons on for 2 days and then I give my natural nails the next night off. I apply ProStrong, Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition, and Sally Hansen Diamond Nail Hardener as well as lots of cuticle cream while I have the glue-ons off. It seems to be working. I am getting quite a bit of new growth and I'm hoping I can put polish on my natural nails in the not-so-distant future. I've also switched my nail glue to Kiss Pink Gel. It's much easier to use and it doesn't hold as long as other glues. Which you would think would be a reason not to use it, but considering I've shortened the time between application and removal, I'm cool with it not being as resilient. Also, I'm having a lot of breakage and bending on my thumb nails. I've tried 0s and 1s and it doesn't matter, they both have a tendency to bend or break on the sides. I'm using Nailene and while I think I prefer them in general, I think I may try using Kiss on my thumbs. They seem to be a bit sturdier, if they do look less natural.

Lastly, I have a picture (finally) of Lippman Purple Rain. As you can see, there are a 1000 things wrong w/ it, but, for me, the color wins me over. It's so pretty.

This was taken at night, in my kitchen (my office, LOL), because I was taking them off that night and I wanted to make sure I took a picture.

All moods change with platinum!

So, here I was feeling uber depressed today because of my shitacular nails, and nothing was getting me out of my funk. Just looking at them made it worse, so this evening, I put on a set of glue-ons. Instant happy. Out of sight, out of mind. :)

Well, I still know that they are under there and I just need to take better care of my nails. I need to give them some time between glue-ons and I need to stick to soaking them off. No more popping them off. It's easier and I don't have to mess w/ stinky acetone, but it's not doing my nails any favors.

Once I had the nails on, I had the hardest time deciding on a color. I was on the phone with my mom and I'd narrowed it down to BB Couture Blind Love or ChG Sneakerhead. Both are untrieds. Of course, my mom did not approve of the Blind Love after I described the color, she said it wasn't natural. Naturally, that's the one I picked. LOL.

Lemme tell you, it is gor-g-us. Seriously, I know it's a very close dupe for Chanel Kaleidoscope, and if I'd found Kaleidoscope first, I'd see no problem w/ forking out the cash just for the color alone. I'm glad to have just spent $8 on it, but the color is worth $20 easily. However, since I've heard iffy things about Chanel's formula, I'm happy to have the BB Couture. It was so easy to apply, and while I did a second coat, it honestly would have been okay w/ one. It is a bit brush-strokey, but I think that is inherent to this color. It doesn't detract from it in anyway. The texture just adds to the metallyness of the color.


Here's a pic:



It is so amazingly pretty, I can't stop staring at my fingers. I don't know if it even works w/ my skintone, but I love it so much I don't care. This will be another one that I'm going to be sad to see it go.

Also, I may actually do a pedi w/ this color and that's saying something. I haven't dealt w/ my toes in awhile, other than general maintenence. I tend to only wear close toed shoes, so pedis are kind of worthless to me. However, I am going on a short trip in a few wks and I do plan on wearing sandals that weekend, so a pedi with this color (and that's saying something considering I usually prefer red on toes) may just be in order.

In short, I love, love, love and I'm kinda mad I didn't try it sooner. LOL. :)

BTW, I love the length my nails are now. Kind of in-between my BB Couture Dragon's Breath (longer) mani and my OPI Oui Bit of Red (super short) mani.

Additionally, while I was dealing with my horribly nubby nails, I really worked on them to help them grow. Here's a list of all I used:

- ProStrong BioFusion Nail Grafting Serum
- ProStrong ProAccelerator
- ProStrong ProCal
- Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition
- California Mango Mend
- Revlon Cuticle Moisture Oil

And as you can tell from the pic above, my cuticles look better and the skin around my nails is less red. I've also been applying lotion religiously today, which is something I normally neglect to do.

I need to really make a point of being nicer to my fingers. Hopefully, it'll work.

One last thing... I caved and placed a TD order. Hell, I figure if my husband can eat lunch out everyday, this SAHM who has frozen meals for lunch everyday can replace nail polish for meals out. LOL. Didn't order any OPI (gasp), though. I figured I'd give Misa a go. Here's what I got:

- Misa Got to Be Reel
- Misa Forbidden Lust
- Misa Toxic Seduction
- Misa Russian Sage
- Misa Chocolate Icing
- Misa Dying Love
- Misa Carmine Treasure
- Essie Sexy Divide
- Essie It's Genius
- ChG Strawberry Fields
- ChG Blue Island Ice Tea

Should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. Can't wait!

RIP ElePhantastic Pink Mani... I hardly knew ye

R.I.P.

Last night, my pretty pink mani with the yellow and white flowers went the way of the dodo. I'd stopped my a Walgreens on the other side of Knoxville to pick up some Vaseline for my daughter when I figured I'd check out their Sinful rack, to see if they had Pinky Glitter. All the Walgreens on this side of town were out, but lo and behold... this one had it! Yay!

So when I got home, I figured PG would be a perfect topper on my 6 un-arted nails. The color was perfect, but for some reason, I had the same problem with it as I did the Zoya I tried the other day. It wouldn't set and it made my polish slide right off. Plus, the nails were a little weak from the little bit of n-a remover I had to apply the other day. There was no saving them, so I began the task of taking them off. The nails were weak, but the glue was still going strong, so I had to use acetone to soak them off (rather I wiped them off with a cotton ball soaked in acetone). I hate doing this because it always ends with me making a mess on my fingers. Waiting until the glue is really weak and popping them off is much easier.

Once I got them off, I decided I'd take a pic of my natural nails just to show how badly they were damaged from the acrylic and the fill-in process.

Awful, huh? I'm hoping they'll be back to normal by the end of the year, but I'm not holding my breath.

I also took this opportunity to remove and moisturize my cuticles. Something I was way behind in doing. Both products I use are from Sally's. I use SuperNail Cuticle Softener and Remover and California Mango Mend Treatment Balm. I know some people don't like the Mango Mend, but I love it.

So after that was complete, I proceeded to re-apply the Nailene nails. I don't know about these Nailene. I'm thinking about getting a box of Kiss and alternate using them so I can tell which is better. I may even do both at the same time, just to see. Here's what they look like after application.

Here's a list of the nails I use:

0 - Thumb

6 - Pointer

3 - Middle

5 - Ring

8 - Pinky

I have SUPER wide nail beds, so that's why I have to use the big honkin' toe nail nails. LOL.

I didn't want to have a fiasco like I had with the Zoya, so I decided to use a color I knew worked and I knew I loved. I went with OPI Oui Bit of Red. I adore this color. It's so pretty and glossy and it's one of my favorite reds, probably my favorite red shimmer. I get a little clipper happy, so my nails are shorter than I like, but all in all, I like this mani. Here's a pic:

My Cinapro order should be here today, (stupid, lyin' FedEx) so I'll probably add some add some nail art to my mani today. Hopefully, I'll also post pics of my nail art haul.

NOTD: OPI ElePhantastic Pink and updates

So I finally broke my streak of only using untrieds. I put on Zoya Erika and let me tell you, it sucked. Took 3 coats to reach opacity and after an hour, it was still really soft and I pretty much just wiped it off. I was wanting something pink and I realized after 10 minutes of poking through my stash that I don't have a lot of medium toned pinks. I plan on ordering a few and remedying that problem, though. :P

Anyway, like I said, I tried Erika and hated it, yet I still wanted pink, so I went back to EPP. I can't tell you how much I love her. EPP is a perfect creamy pink. Some people say it's a Barbie pink, but I disagree. It's a touch on the coral side, but the best way I can describe it is warm, creamy pink (which sounds disgusting, but that's what it is). I'm very happy with this NOTD. I wouldn't have been happy with Erika, so I'm glad it was simple to take off (the use of glue-ons limits my "just take it off" option). I also used decals from the Cina 3D Daisy sheet. Love them. Nothing like yellow and white flowers on pink. <3. So cheerful.

I found my digicam, and the battery is charging, so I will hopefully have REAL pics soon. Yay!

I'm also using a different brand of nails. For the first time, I am trying Nailene plain glue-ons. I think I like them more than the Kiss. More flexible and yet stronger all at the same time. Plus, very easy to trim and shape. Plus, the Nailene were $5.69 for 200 nails while Kiss is $4.99 for 100. Better deal all around. I'm sure they'll get d/c'd now. :S

Also my Cina order will be here tomorrow, so it did ship w/o any problem regarding the professional thing. I'll try to get picks of my nail art haul. I also ordered a bunch of 3D nail art sheets from eBay. Here's hoping they don't suck.

Speaking of new things, I got 3 Sinful glitters today at Walgreens. UFO, Hottie, and Opal Glitter. Weirdo checkout lady looked at me funny when I said I didn't plan that they were red, white, and blue, after she'd made a smart ass comment to the effect.

One last thing... I got a new storage chest today. Wal-mart had a 5 drawer Sterlite rolling cart for $16. It has 3 big drawers (2 for polish, one is only maybe 1/4 full and one for removers, lotions, etc...) and 2 smaller drawers (one of the fake nails and other mani supplies and one for nail art and my UV dryer). My husband just looks at it and shakes his head, but it's so much nicer than keeping (cramming) my polish in a Sterlite handled tote and everything else in Sally's bags.

New Strategy and a HTF

I am horrible at updating blogs. Awful. I just forget and then 1 day turns into months and then I sound like a total asshole with my "so sorry I've been remiss" post. So, to remedy this, I figure I'd start a new strategy. I'm starting with reviewing my NOTDs and giving detailed comments. Usually, I do this on the MUA review pages, and I'll continue to do so, but sometimes, especially with a non-OPI polish, the polish in question just isn't in the product listing. Thus, I'm doing my reviews here.

However, they probably won't be NOTDay. More like NOTEveryOtherDay. As I mentioned earlier, I took my acrylics off in early March. They still are only half-nails and generally look like shite, so I'm now using glue-ons. At least until my natural nails are polish-worthy and probably after that. I have some major ridging on my natural nails and I have yet to find a quick-drying, non-glumpy ridge filler. As much as I'd like to change my polish everyday, it's just not feasible considering the glue-ons get weak after a polish change, even w/ non acetone polish remover and I totally have the change my tips.

Also, there may or may not be pictures. My camera charger is MIA and now that I'm thinking about it, my camera is MIA. Hm. All I have is my camera phone, and while I'll use it, depending on the quality of the pics, I may not post them.

Now that all that crap is out of the way, on to the good stuff... the HTF polish. I'd been lemming OPI Double Decker Red for a year. I'd tried to buy it on numerous occasions only to have either the site or the eBay seller tell me "sorry sucker, out of stock". I'd given up on ever owning it. Which was a shame because the more I would read about how it was the perfect, HG red, the more I wanted to own it and hold it and call it my precious. Can you imagine? Over a red creme? Please. But that's what happened.

So color me surprised when I found it on TransDesign. By that time, however, I already had so many red creme OPIs, that it took me 3 TD orders before I finally stuck it in my cart and pressed send. Then I waited 2 days with bated breath (thank God, I'm in TN. LOL). As I took the haul out of the box, I'd almost forgotten that I even ordered it. But there it was... along with some money-wasting Sations, Essie Marshmallow, ChG Sneakerhead, OPI Pompeii Purple and Black Cherry Chutney. Being that it was old formula OPI, I waited a few days to apply it until I had more than an hour for my nails to dry. And.......

Well kids, I'm kind of underwhelmed. Sob. It's a red creme and it's pretty, but it's no Vodka & Caviar (my HG red creme). Most of the reviews I'd read stated that it was a true red, but this that I got was decidedly a blue-based red. It's almost like a lighter Got the Blues for Red.
However, while GtBfR has the sexy,vampy thing going for it, DDR is just kind of "there", though a pretty "there". Last night, I put on 2 coats and it's still kind of sheer in places, so I'm probably going to do a third one tonight.

To be honest, I hated it last night. The application was difficult and the formula was that odd runny/thick/thin thing OPIs can have, of course, it was old formula/old brush. Today, however, it's grown on me. It kind of reminds me of '40s glam. Think spectator pumps, pencil skirts, and hose with lines. It's a nice, wearable red, which because it's blue-based works well with my fair/pink skin. Unlike another red creme in my collection, Thrill of Brazil, it doesn't slap you in the face with it's redness. Once I got over the shock of no choir of angels accompanying my application, I liked it. I'll definitely wear it in the future, especially this summer as I think it's more of a summer red than a fall/winter red (which is weird because it was released for Fall/Winter 2003). If you can find it, you may want to consider picking it up, but it's nothing super special. More than anything, I was just finally happy to be able to squash my lemming (poor little lemming).

Here's a poor picture with my camera phone. Hopefully, I'll be able to take real pics soon.

OPI Double Decker Red

As an aside, if you are trying to find HTF polishes, you may want to check out TD (http://www.transdesign.com/). I've gotten several OPIs, as well as an Essie or two, from them have been discontinued shades. Along w/ Double Decker Red, I've gotten Man of La Mancha, Hey! Get in Lime, Van-Couvered in the Snow, and Essie St. Barth's Blue. Now, granted, they aren't in the same league as OPI La Boheme or Essie Starry, Starry Night (which I would kill for), but it is nice to find something that you know won't be around forever.