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 ~

China Glaze Cabin Fever

 *I won this!*

Hello my sweet friends!  I'm going to preface this post with, YOU NEED THIS POLISH (I feel like I say that a lot).  I really don't even need to write anything else about it, but if you are a fan of duochrome polishes, Cabin Fever is AHHH-MAZING! 

China Glaze Cabin Fever is part of the 2015 The Great Outdoors collection.  This has been my favorite collection from China Glaze this year.  It's also probably my favorite Fall collection released this year.  It includes creams, foil shimmers, duochromes, vampy shades, etc...

Shown is 3 thin coats of Cabin Fever and a coat of Out The Door.  Two would have been adequate but I wanted to make sure there were no sheer spots.  In the sun, shade, or indoors the color shift from a deep rose to orange to coppery gold is perfect.  I'll just let the pictures do the talking... 

This was a pretty popular collection from China Glaze, so I think it's vanished from most stores by now. You will still be able to find Cabin Fever online on Amazon, or other beauty retailers like HeadtoToe Beauty, and HB Beauty Bar.

I was lucky enough to win this beauty on a bi-monthly twitter chat called Nail Glossip (#NailGlossip).  It's a great community of bloggers and polish fanatics who chat about a specific topic designated for the week.  There are often giveaways, and you even get to chat with big brands like China Glaze and OPI!  

Nail Glossip is run by Jen from The Polishaholic (you might have heard of her ;-) JK, of course you have!) and All Lacquered Up.

 Nail Glossip is on Sunday nights, so check it out if you're on Twitter!  Let me know if you do and what you think about Cabin Fever.  Have a great day!

~ Hayley ~

Simple Halloween NOTD: OPI It's a Piazza Cake

I really tried, you guys!  I tried to do an adorable placement glitter spider mani, I saw here on Instagram.  "I can totally do glitter placement," she says.  "I finally have a use for bar glitter and it will be adorable," she says.  

Um no, it won't.  Your spiders will turn into circles with hair, and you'll have bar glitter everywhere but on your nails.  Sigh....

I will keep trying, because in theory it can't be that difficult, right? Practice makes perfect...or at least acceptable!  I'll meet you back here next year!

In the meantime, I decided to use the only polish I picked up from the OPI Venice collection, It's a Piazza Cake.  I am not the biggest fan of orange, but this burnt orange color just spoke to me.  I love it and I'm still wearing it! It's very subdued and flattering with the brown undertone it has.

Shown is 2 perfect, creamy coats of It's a Piazza Cake that dried quickly but I added topcoat for extra shine.  I also really wanted to try the gold leaf topper from NYC I picked up at Target, Top of the Gold.  The flakies seemed a bit more 'gold' and vibrant than some of my other flakie topcoats.  This was just 1 coat and it's really lovely, especially for under $2.00!!

Both polishes are still available and will be easy to find.  I'd love to know what's on your nails this Halloween!  Let me know and link your Instagram posts for me to see!  

Happy Halloween! :)

~ Hayley ~

HPB presents/ Autumn Mani: OPI Kermit Me To Speak

Happy Friday!  I just love going hunting for polishes at TJ Maxx and Marshalls!  I don't always find something that will come home with me, but my most recent trip was a success.  I found Kermit Me To Speak from OPI's 2014 Muppets Most Wanted (soft shades) collection for $3.99 and since I have been duochrome crazed lately I had to wear it right away.  It's totally appropriate for fall, and reminds me of changing leaves. Take a look...

SpaRitual Nomad

Happy Friday!! This brand is completely new to me.  I walked into Ulta's clearance sale on New Years Eve with the intent of getting some Zoyas, and walked out with this one also. I am sure you can relate. :)
I remembered admiring some of SpaRitual's Wander Fall 2014 collection, particularly Nomad, Arroyo and Starry Night.  I didn't see the other two, but grabbed the last Nomad because I have nothing like this in my collection.  I'm pretty infatuated...

Macro! (with topcoat)

The bottom of the bottle says sandy matte shimmer.  I read that and I acknowledged it but it didn't register.  Then when I tried it and saw it drying matte, tears of happiness welled up and I immediately messaged Jackie.  All the swatches of Nomad were mostly shown with topcoat (it is awesome this way).  I planned to leave it matte, but top coated it to make sure I could get pictures the next morning.

These swatches are 2 coats of Nomad and 1 coat of Out The Door.  It has a great formula and no clean up was necessary with this polish.  Nomad looks olive green with rose shimmer outdoor light and warmer greenish gold with rose shimmer indoors. Leaving it matte makes the polish softer looking and a unique, but very wearable olive.

Inside: polish accurate, not skin accurate!

 

If I had bought this before New Years Eve it would have definitely been on the Favorites post!  I would consider this beauty if you see it, or send me over a back up bottle! :)  My SpaRitual obsession starts now.

~ Hayley

Taupe Skittle: China Glaze Release and Essie Chinchilly

I was looking through my collection to come up with some inspiration.  I lined up my taupe polishes and couldn't decide on one to use, so why not try them all?!  This was the result:

This skittle was such a chameleon (and that's putting it lightly!) These pictures are the most color accurate of the individual shades but in most lighting situations they were very close...only a shade or two off and fluctuated between looking grey or purplish.  I'm sure I don't have to explain the personality of taupe polishes for that to make sense!  But I will tell you the polishes I used (from thumb to pinky):  L'Oreal Liya's Nude, Essie Chinchilly, China Glaze Release, L'Oreal Sparklicious, and L'Oreal Eiffel For You. 

These polishes are all available currently, with the exception of Sparklicious (which is amazing...think Beyond Cozy but with different size glitters).
- All polishes were 2 coats and a topcoat and the formula was fantastic on every one! These are pretty much the only Loreals I own and the first time I used any of their creams. I was totally impressed!  Release (the most purple of the bunch) is from the new China Glaze limited edition collection, The Giver. After I purchased Release, I suspected it would be a dupe for something in my collection but I haven't found that to be the case by bottle comparison.

Outdoors - shade

Indoors

Natural light - shade

I'm going to have a really tough time picking just one of these to wear...but Eiffel For You (on my pinky) is one of my favorites.  I am in love with these neutrals and the promise that fall might show up in Arizona!  If you have a taupe or fall color that you can't live without...please let me know in the comments!:)

~ Hayley

*These pretty polishes were purchased by me 

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