2014 Favorites

We hope you all had a great holiday and here's to the New Year!  Without further adieu, these were our favorite polishes from 2014.  Did any of these make your list this year?  Are you making any polish/ blog resolutions in the new year?

Hayley's Favorites:

My resolution this year is to explore (and post) more Indie polishes.  Almost everything I posted this year was from mainstream brands, but there are too many fabulous indie makers out there to pass up!

Sinful Shine Prosecco

A polish so nice, Sinful released it twice! (and right in a row).  I'm sure I don't need to say much more about the stir Prosecco caused, but you can view my full post here.

China Glaze - Choo-Choo Choose You

I imagine China Glaze Choo-Choo Choose You will show up on a few 2014 lists. I love how multi-faceted this polish is, so it deserved a spot!  Post is linked to check out more pictures.

Sinful Shine Go Glossy

I just could not get enough of this color on my nails this fall and winter.  There were many that I liked, but this one actually came out in 2014...way to Go Glossy! ;)

Jackie's favorites:

My resolution is to try more polishes from my stash. Anyone up for "Untried Tuesday" posts? I did get a few new polishes for Christmas so you'll be seeing those soon!

My first pick should come as no surprise and it isn't one specific brand, but a color - PURPLE! I've been so into purple in 2014 and I don't forsee that changing much next year. Here are a few of my favorites I've shared:
BEGL Fare the Wind
Different Dimension Dueling Unicorns
China Glaze Choo-choo-choose You
Above the Curve UH Purple

My next 2014 favorite was a surprise to me. I never would have guessed an orange polish would steal my heart as much as LynBDesigns Am I Ginger? has! This color just worked for me. I admit I bought it simply for the name, but I am so glad I put it on. This is proof that sometimes when step out of your comfort zone you find something new to love.

My final 2014 favorite isn't a polish, but rather my new found love for cuticle care products. Be they oils or balms, I've been much more diligent about using these daily and I try to use something after I wash my hands, even if its just a standard lotion. I've found that moisturizing helps my nails grow faster and I can say that I have seen some improvement in my peeling. Not as much as I'd like, but it all takes time. So if you don't already use some sort of cuticle oil or balm or lotion or something, try it out in 2015 and let us know how it works for you!

Here's to a new year filled with fun new favorites! Cheers to 2015!

~ Hayley and Jackie

Sinful Shine: Go Glossy

I cannot get enough of this deep cranberry color for winter!  I have been wearing mostly black, cream, and grey but adding pops of color in my scarves, nails and statement necklaces. This color goes so well with all of it!
In the bottle Sinful Shine Go Glossy is a red-toned purple, but because of being a jelly-ish formula, it translates to this awesome color most of the time.  Pictures are 3 coats, and there is no visible nail line.  I bet 2 careful coats would be fine too.  I was considering a jelly sandwich with OPI Pirouette My Whistle after the second coat...I'll be trying that next time!  In case you didn't know, Sinful Shine is Sinful Colors (shiny) gel-ish sister.  The two shades I have (this and Prosecco) I love, but they could easily just be in a Sinful Colors bottle.

The dry time felt long to me, maybe because it's a jelly?  I really didn't want to top coat it, because it looked so pretty and squishy on its own.  But after a good 40 minutes, I was afraid of getting it all marked up so I did, since it still felt vulnerable. As you can see top coat messed up my pinky, but I think only because I went back a second time on that one.  I mean that's real life nail probs though, right? :)

You may still see a bottle lingering around your favorite Walgreens or Rite Aid. I almost passed on trying this, but I'm glad I did.  Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments what your favorite winter polish purchase or gift has been!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc!

~Hayley

*all polished mentioned were purchased with dollars and love :)

Let's get Christmas-y with Above the Curve - Husbands Just Don't Understand

I don't know about you, but I love seeing everyone's holiday nails! This week I decided to join in and share one of my very favorite Christmas presents from last year - Husbands Just Don't Understand from Above the Curve. I just checked the store and I didn't see this beauty in there, but I know I've seen it recently. You could always ask!

With Flash

 HJDU is a dark teal scattered holo and it is just perfect (in my opinion) for the holidays. For me it conjures images of a lovely blue spruce adorned with twinkling white lights. Yep, I'm in the Christmas mood now! And how about that name? I know my poor husband will listen to me talk polish for short bursts, but he doesn't get it and probably never will.

Without Flash

This polish applied like a dream and shown is 2 coats with the ATC quick dry topcoat. I love darker colors in the fall and winter seasons and this really fits the bill.

With Flash

Are you ready for the holidays? I'm ready to have some time off, but I've got a lot of things to finish before then!!

Movember Mustache Mani

I'm sure you have seen the hype about Movember and what it stands for, but just in case you can check out the Movemeber Campaign here. The short version is that men grow mustaches to raise money for mens health. And the fun for me is that I've got a little obsession with mustaches (I think they are hilarious) so much that I chose a 'stache centered theme for my little man last year. We had a blast. Anyway, on to the mani!

I started with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer's Two! (ring finger and thumb) and Above the Curve's Lemming Have It. I topped them with Monster Polish Wyatt's Whiskers, a custom that Diana made me for above mentioned party. She also sent me a little bag of mustache glitter to place as I wished. Those are on my ring finger and thumb.

Outside in shade

Outside with direct sun

Direct sun

Direct sun

I love the way this turned out! The only thing I'd do a little differently ifs the pre-bend the mustache glitters on my thumb so that they would lay on the nail a little better. This was a really fun mani to create and to wear. As you may have noticed I love purple! And blue isn't far behind on my list, so this combo made me very happy. 

Thanks for checking out my 'stache! Are you participating in Movemeber?

Covergirl Outlast Nail Gloss: Crushed Berries

Hi lovelies! I cannot get enough of this deep, dark berry cream for fall...I can't believe this is the only polish I have like it!  This beauty was found in the Walgreens clearance section a few months ago and is the first Covergirl polish I have probably worn since high school!  This is Crushed Berries from the Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant line.

I used two coats and a quick dry topcoat.  The formula was nice, thin and pigmented.  Because a darker berry polish was a newer venture for me (and the thinner formula), I struggled around the cuticle area a bit...but I adore this color!  I love that it is not as purple or pink as some berries and has just the slightest hint of brown that gives it this color.  Wear time was really good...after the 5th day still no chips, just nail growth and slight tip wear.

Outdoors sunlight

Crushed Berries isn't in stores anymore but you can find it on Amazon for a good price!  While I would definitely buy this line again, I think the the normal price of $5.49 - $5.99 is a bit much.  I will pretty much stick to checking in the Walgreens or Target clearance areas or a good sale.  Thanks for stopping by and let us know your favorite berry polishes!

~ Hayley

Happy November! Fall Worthy China Glaze skittlette

I hope everyone had a great Halloween with lots of chocolate involved! I cannot believe it's NOVEMBER.  The weather is still  in the 80s on my side of the country....but it's supposed to get cooler this week (finally)!

In honor of it fall, I wanted to do a simple skittlette and finally try my OPI Glitter Off that I had been pining away for.  It has been completely M.I.A. in stores, but I finally found it on Amazon. Also, China Glaze Boundary of Memory had been sitting in my melmer untried for too long, so I had to change that!

This is China Glaze Release (thumb, index and middle), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Ion (a Target exclusive from 2012), and China Glaze Boundary of Memory glitter (pinky).  Nothing super intricate, but I loved the color combination.  The China Glaze formulas were great...2 coats and easy to work with.  Ion was challenging, so you're not missing much if you don't have it!  The color is pretty (light warm grey) but was streaky, tough to apply evenly, and dry time was long even before I could topcoat for fear of pulling.  I don't know how it compares to China Glaze Five Rules or OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (let me know if you do!) but they might be close!

Indoors - Release has more grey undertones

I didn't know what to expect with Glitter Off...I figured after 2 days I would see wear.  I did use topcoat since Boundary of Memory doesn't dry super shiny on its own.  Maybe the topcoat helped, because around day 5 I worried that there was some super glue mixed into my bottle since it was still going strong.  I removed it on day 6, and it was very much like peeling an eggshell; little pieces came off.  I was still happy that no remover was needed, so I call it a win!  It is very dry right now in Arizona so maybe that aided in it adhering better to my nail?  Any ideas?

Indoors low light - love Boundary of Memory!

Lastly, (but not least) THANK YOU to all our new friends who entered our first little giveaway!  We hope you stick around. :)  Congratulations to the winner, Heather, and stay tuned for more in the future!

HPB Oct. Halloween Mani Link-Up

Ready for a little Halloween mani?

This month we are linking up with Hobby Polish Bloggers, a great group of casual nail bloggers that give encouragement and guidance to other nail bloggers. It's kind of like a support group for those of us who blog just for the fun of it. As a group, we are starting a monthly link-up and this is our very first one! And appropriately, the theme is Halloween!

I decided to do an accent nail featuring what I have been referring to as "Lil' Frankie". I knew I wanted to do a mani with black but I also needed some sparkle so I used Blue-Eyed Gril Lacquer's Siren Noir on the rest of my nails. The idea for Lil' Frankie came to me since I got this neon green glow-in-the-dark polish from Rite-Aid. I knew I wanted to use it in a Halloween mani and Frankie fit the bill. I did a Google image search for Frankenstein nail art and there were tons of cute ideas! I'm sure there are even tutorials! Anyway I got the idea from those images to make his face fit my nail and just went from there. I think he turned out pretty cute too!

What will your nails be for Halloween this year? Let us know in the comments.

An InLinkz Link-up

Throwback Thursday: Sally Hansen Greige Gardens and Pure Ice Busted

This will be short and sweet because I hesitated to post this, but decided to share with you.  I was looking through pictures on my old computer trying to get organized (Ha!).  I never posted this pairing because I was really new to learning lighting and poses...but there is no denying that this is a great combination and I will be pairing these two again very soon! 
I wish I could tell you these two were still available, but sadly they are discontinued...hence my throwback!  You may very well have these in your collection already.  Otherwise, I don't think these polishes are terribly unique so you could come up with a similar perfect pair!  This is Sally Hansen Greige Gardens and Pure Ice Busted.

Sally Hansen CSM Greige Gardens leans dusty purple most of the time, but otherwise looks grey on the nail.  Pure Ice Busted is pretty much exactly what you see here, a very fine, very shiny, pinky purple shimmer in a sheer murky purple tinted base. This was 2 coats of Greige Gardens and 1 coat of Busted.

I really like Busted because it just glows on the nail...at least against Greige Gardens.  My only issue with these polishes is the dry time is so slow...as in sheet marks the next morning slow.  I have other Complete Salon Manicure polishes that don't have such a dry time issue, but a quick dry topcoat is recommended for this one.

Thanks for stopping by and your support on our Facebook and Twitter too.  Don't forget to enter our very first giveaway so you can win Prosecco and other goodies!

~ Hayley ~

Our very first GIVEAWAY!!

We admit we are a bit belated on this giveaway celebrating 100 Facebook followers, but better late than never, right? To celebrate we are giving away a little goodie bag filled with the following:

Yep, you can enter to win your very own Sinful Shine Prosecco as swatched by Hayley in this post! Also included are Sinful Colors 24karat, the e.l.f. concealer brush and cuticle pen, a pretty Bath & Body Works nail file, and some yummy salted caramels.

Enter in the Rafflecopter below. Sorry but this one is US only. We just aren't comfortable shipping internationally at this time. But if you can give us a US address to ship to, go ahead and enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sinful Colors Prosecco - Part 1

I have been happily wearing the same polish color for 2 weeks straight.  What?!?  

Yes, and it's this one!

It took awhile to post, because the very first day I wasn't sure the color looked good with my skin tone.  Then it grew on me, and then changed how I wore it, which will make more sense later.  I'm sure you have seen a swatch or two of Sinful Shine Prosecco.  Prosecco is a limited edition stunner by Sinful Colors and has been disappearing quickly.  It is part of the Fall 2014 Shining Bright Off The Runway collection, and I purchased mine at Walgreens.  I heard a rumor Sinful is bringing this back in an upcoming collection, so keep your eyes out.  I hope that is true because I need a back up of this one...and hopefully one to share in a future giveaway!!

The first time I tried Prosecco I used 3 coats, but I noticed 2 coats had this lovely sheerness that looked more gold taupe than the grey taupe with the 3rd coat.  Both are beautiful, but I am drawn to this way, thus the second wearing so I could show you!  Two coats makes the nail line just barely visible in some lighting, but most of the time it's not.  I  decided to make this a part 1 so I can do a comparison later with 3 coats and with a matte topcoat.  I officially am in love with it, and think it will work with lots of skin tones.

These photos are all 2 coats only and no top coat.  The formula is absolutely perfect and dry time was not bad at all. The glass flecks that Sinful Colors put in this shade are magical and I hope we see more polishes from them that are like this!  The glass flecks have slight color shift in the sun from gold to green and orange.

Indoors

I'm so smitten with this polish, especially for it being a nude color.  This is absolutely office appropriate and perfect for fall.  For only $1.99 you definitely need this one in your collection (and wear time was fantastic!)  I love wearing this with white and navy blue.  I would love to know what you think about Prosecco.  Have you worn it yet?  Let me know! :)

*This song is playing as I write this: New York by Blind Pilot.... I need to make a note because it is a pretty chill song!  :)  Good job, Pandora!

Endless Summer Extend-a-Mani

Hopefully you have seen my first "Endless Summer" post where I used Cult Nails Intriguing. I decided after looking at it for a day that I wanted to brighten it up a bit. So I tried my hand at stamping! This was my very first attempt and I don't think it went too bad. Now I have this desire to collect all of the buy a few more plates so that I can do some more nail art!

Outside, Full Sun

Indoors, natural light

For this, I stamped a lovely leopard print on my middle finger and jazzed up my ring finger by changing the polish to match the stamp. For this I used Essie's Tart Deco. I have to say that while this is a bright polish, I love the color for summer and especially the beach. My poor bottle needs a little thinner though since the formula was thick and a bit streaky. It didn't self-level very well either. Admittedly it has been sitting in a drawer unused for a year, so it makes sense that it needs a little TLC. You can really see the unevenness in the picture above.

Outside, Full Sun

Macro shot of the stamped finger

Almost forgot to say that I used a Konad stamper and stamping plate that I received last Christmas (yes, it has taken me this long to muster the courage to stamp!) I'm not sure it has a number but it was in a mini set that had a picture of Santa on it.

Have you ever tried stamping? What are your favorite plates and designs? Please let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

~Jackie~

Endless Summer - Cult Nails Intriguing

This week I've been attempting to relax and extend my summer a bit at the beach. I've had a few polishes in my untried pile that I decided to bring along. I'm all for Fall, but in truth I'm sad to see Summer go. I love the feeling of freedom that it brings and also the beautiful bright colors. Up first for the week is Cult Nails Intriguing. Though this shade isn't too bright I think it is perfect for the beach and also as a transition color.

Direct Sunlight

Intriguing is a soft scattered holo that is a bit on the sheer side. I used three coats for these pictures and topped it with Above the Curve's 5-free Quick-Dry Topcoat. I'd say this shade is a dusty blue leaning periwinkle.
 

Close-up, Direct Sun

Direct Sun

Macro on the nail, Direct Sun

This was from their Casual Elegance collection that was released in April this year and was limited edition. I really hate to post something that is hard to find, but this turned out to be a lovely shade. I'm sure with a bit of searching you could find this for sale or swap.

I know I mentioned this is a nice transition color. Do you wear colors that are seasonal or do you go with whatever you are feeling? Let us know in a comment!

Thanks for reading!

~Jackie~

Budget Beauty: Ulta Lav-ish

I have a polish that may not be your first thought when you stop by Ulta, and it's probably not on your short list either.  I'll just say purple taupe with copper shimmer...and maybe that will peak your interest.  Or how about I just show you what Ulta Lav-ish looks like?

Direct sunlight

This is in Ulta's core collection and has been for years.  It's a pretty unique combination for a mainstream polish, and perfect for fall!  The best part is that you can often find it for only $2.00!  I love Lav-ish because outside it heavily leans lavender, and inside it's definitely taupe but not too brown...

 

Indoors- it's more taupe

 

This was 3 thin coats, but you might be able to get away with 2 if you're careful.  The formula levels well, but takes a longer time to dry than I would like.  I waited (about an hour) and took these pictures without a topcoat, because the last time I wore it I used Out The Door and felt like the shimmer got lost somehow.  Does anyone else have that happen with a clear topcoat or have a different experience with OTD?  I just love shimmers, so I'll be looking for a topcoat that makes them stand out!

Thanks so much for reading! ♥
~ Hayley

Oh Shift!! China Glaze Choo Choo Choose You

This is one I am sure you've seen on every blog, (including this one!)  Of course, this is Choo-Choo Choose You by China Glaze.  I saw this while I was out looking for The Giver polishes and my Sally's had the All Aboard collection out early. I saw this in all it's deep purple and shimmery glory and that was it. You can see the strongest purple in the bottle, but it gets even better from there...

Bottle shot, mostly :)

Like this rose, bronze and greenish gold shimmer

Indoors

Or this shift from purple to amber to green. Hello.

Outside

This is two coats and no topcoat.  I noticed in some photos a sheer patch on my ring finger, it doesn't show up in all of them and it's not visible in person.  So, maybe I'll try 3 coats next time. Also, this whole week has been completely overcast, rainy and not sunny!  It's been so wonderful, but I had a tough time capturing good sunlight pics.

Choo-Choo Choose You is absolutely the stand out color in all the fall collections, in my opinion!  If you have not picked it up, you need to try and track it down.  If you have it and haven't worn it yet, then go try it! :)

~ Hayley ~

 *This pretty polish was purchased by me