Hello Again!

Testing...testing if this thing is still on?

I know it been a hot minute, ok year, since I've even drafted a post. I would love to get back to writing again and tinkering in the blogiverse again. 

Not sure if you noticed but it appears that gold flakes are back again and I am SO here for it. There are so many beautiful options by Pahlish right now. In the meantime, I'm sharing a pretty spring look using Sally Hansen Water Lily and an oldie but goodie Sephora gold flake topper. 

Shade

What are your thoughts about gold flakies coming back? Thanks for taking the time to read this, if you're out there I'd love to know it! 

If you drop a comment so I know you're there, that would be wonderful. Have a great week, sweet friends!

~ Hayley 

Spring has Sprung!

If you live in the desert southwest like me, than Spring sprung awhile ago!  I'm embracing it, so this is a bright and fun take on the speckle manicures so popular at Easter and Spring time.   These are two polishes that you may have something very similar lying around. In fact, this look was inspired by a fellow Instagrammer, Grapefizznails, because I adored the color combination she chose and knew I had something that could replicate it!

I used a (now retired) bottle of Sally Hansen Triple Shine polish in Water Lily.  This was my first time using that line by Sally Hansen, and the formula on this was impeccable. I used two coats of Water Lily.  The 'speckle' topper is actually 18k gold flake polish from Sephora (the old round bottles).
Yep! I brought back the gold flakes and I will be using them more!

I would love to know if you think this is a hit or miss look.  Let me know and I hope Spring has finally arrived wherever you are!  Till next time...

~ 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!

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 ~

Pretty In Beach Peach: Sally Hansen Floaties

This is a little gem from the limited edition summer Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection, Electric Summer.  In Canada the collection is called Sea Bloom and based on the pastel-like shades and adorable beachy names, I think Sea Bloom is a better name.  There are 8 colors total in the collection; I scooped up 3 and am seriously considering tracking down a few more before they're gone!

Today I have Floaties to show you; a light peach cream polish: 

The formula on Floaties was nice, thicker than some of the polishes I've used lately.  This was 2 coats of Floaties and a topcoat.  For the accent I used Essie's Beyond Cozy, which I love, love, love!  Beyond Cozy is a pale, antiqued looking gold micro-glitter.  It is awesome because it's not quite silver and it's not quite gold...and it goes with everything!  Additionally, Beyond Cozy is almost a one coater, but I used two to be sure I had full coverage.  Definitely one of my favorite polishes to date. It has an 'oxidized' quality that will be perfect for fall.

I know I talked up Beyond Cozy a little more than Floaties.  So, if I haven't convinced you enough that you should find this Sally Hansen Electric Summer collection...I'll be posting the other shades I picked up in the near future! 
Also, Kelp Yourself (I bought it for the name!) from the same collection is a near, if not perfect, match for Sally Hansen's Green Tea.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you liked!

~ Hayley

Spring Fling Challenge Day 2: In Bloom

Wow day 2 of the Spring Fling Challenge came fast!  This is like a nail polish and blog boot camp session for me! :)  Today's theme is In Bloom.
I would've loved to have possibly ventured into hand painting a watercolor flower as an accent nail instead of the accent I did, but I have never done nail art before.  I'm not into stamping or nail art but attempting a simple flower on one accent nail is something I can see myself trying in the future once I get better.

Because I was timid, I chose the flower-named polish, Delphinium.  She is a limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure color that was part of the 2011 Tracey Reese collection.  As you probably guessed, it is discontinued but I have found bottles on eBay (and where mine was purchased at Christmas) so I'm sure there are still some floating around.  They may re-promote this color in the future, since I heard they recently did it with Green Tea...which I am obsessively trying to find! 
The formula on Delphinium was easy to work with and I used two coats.  It's no secret that my love for a good dusty lavender/ lilac is alive and well...

For the accent nail I used CND Effects in Gold Sparkle.  This polish is similar to Essie As Gold As It Gets but the flakies are much smaller and a lighter shade of gold.  This was also 2 coats and was still very subtle on the nail.

Again, be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ECKlipsed by color and Tuxarina

 Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow for day 3!

~Hayley

Sinful Colors: Mauve

I don't know about you, but I am really into wintery pastels lately.  I decided this would be an appropriate first post for me, since this is a color that is still widely available and fits my current polish obsession!  This color can easily be transitioned into spring as well.

Sinful Colors recently came out with the Haute Rebel collection.  It is mostly all re-promoted colors with the exception of a couple.  The color I have here today, Mauve, is a very light, greyed out, cool toned lavender.  Beautiful, but hard to photograph without it looking more grey than what it really is.

The formula on this color was fantastic and this was two easy coats.  I also added accent nails of a Sally Hansen glass fleck topcoat called Diamonds.  It glistens opalescent pinks and greens and gave my nails a very icy look.  I added one more photo below, that shows off  Diamonds better and shows how lavender Mauve can sometimes look.  Both Mauve and Diamonds are still readily available at Walgreens and I highly suggest you go check them out!

Disclaimer: Since we are just getting started we are learning about lighting and such. Please bear with us as we get better at the photography. Thanks! 
These pretty polishes were purchased by me and I am in no way affiliated with either company.