Nail Polish Galore!!!

So. There are a few items in my makeup collection that I obsessively collect. I LOVE mascara. I'm obsessed with trying to find a mascara that will take my short, thin lashes and make them look like false lashes. I am also in love with lip products, which is weird because I hardly ever wear them anymore. Now that I think about it... .I also really like eye shadow.... Such is the life of a makeup addict.. Anyways, moving on.

I love nail polish. I love the way different colors reflect my mood, change with my outfits and show off fun designs. My favorite thing used to be sitting in my house in Flagstaff, or my apartment in Seattle and painting my nails with my best friend Kirsta. We would put on episodes of Real Housewives or watch a Haunting (woo! love reenactment shows!) and paint our nails. She taught me the value of having a nice nail bed and not letting your cuticles get too crazy. We were both dirt poor and couldn't really afford to go to a nail salon and have them do it for us. Now a days, I don't have that luxury. SOMEONE moved across the word to Australia. Also... we kind of had babies.

Kirsta and the beautiful Clementine

 Parenting tip, if you ever need to wake your child from a nap, try painting your nails. Or eating a sandwich. Or, the best one yet, try taking a nap. It's like babies have a 6th sense. Oh, you're trying to sleep after a long day/night of taking care of me? It's time to scream like a rabid banshee.


Painting your nails with a baby is very tricky. Once again my nail polish guru gave me some amazing advice, Sally Hansen  Insta-Dri Top Coat. It's in the red bottle. I am also a huge fan of the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. They are really great at getting polish dry quickly. I find that Sally Hansen dries quicker, but Seche Vite stays glossy for longer. So really, it all depends on how long you have. Now for the fun part!

There are some new polishes at the drug store promising fun colors and quick dry times. I also tried a brand that my friend Summer told me about. Cameo Colours. 


This is the Sally Hansen Color Foil. I bought two colors, Rose Copper and Liquid Gold. I was a little unsure of these because you aren't supposed to use a base coat or a top coat with them. I'm a huge fan of metallic nail polish. I love the shine and sparkle. This nail polish was not my favorite. It is super opaque, which is wonderful. It pulls when you put it on and it can be very streaky. The end product was pretty, but within an hour it started to chip. There was one amazing part. It dries almost instantly. I was able to paint my nails and move get on with my day in about 15 minutes. These are great if you are going somewhere and you only need it to look good for about an hour or two.

Revlon has recently come out with Colorstay Gel Envy. This nail polish has a pretty bold claim. Supposedly you can go 11 days without a chip. It also claims to stay just as shiny as gel nails without the hassle of taking the time to remove them. You don't need to put on a base since they include that in the color. They have a specific top coat to use with these. It's the Diamond Top Coat. I have three colors plus the top coat ($2 a piece with coupons!) Queen of Hearts, Full House and High Stakes. So. First impression of these polishes wasn't good. I like how shiny it was, and I'm sure they would be great for someone with time. If you don't give each layer enough time to dry the polish pulls. The top coat takes forever to dry. An hour after applying the top coat it was still not dry enough to change a diaper. That is how I determine if it dries hard enough. Can I change a diaper without damaging the polish? I love the color selection and I want to try these again on a day that someone is watching the baby for a few hours.

High Stakes

I have a ton of Sally Hansen nail polish. I love them. I use the Complete Salon Manicure line usually. They have a wonderful thick brush that makes it easy to apply the polish, especially with my long nail beds. A while back they came out with the Triple Shine line of polishes. I bought 4 shades, Kelp Out, Reef-Raf, Make Waves and Wavy Blue.  I have tried the Kelp Out and Make Waves so far. I love them! They are super rich in color and incredibly shiny. They also have the same wonderful shape for the brush.

Make Waves

Kelp Out

So now on to the brand I am so excited about! My friend Summer told me to check out Cameo Colours Lacquers. I am totally obsessed. I purchased 3 colors; Gini's Passion Potion, Allamanda and Burn!  I have tried all three. My favorite was Gini's Passion Potion. It is a super fun color and I love the different sizes of glitter with it. Damn you glitter for being so enticing! It is a pain in the ass to take off, but that comes with the territory. Allamanda was a really pretty yellow color. Unfortunately it was pretty goopy to put on. Now. For my disclaimer. I order these polishes online since they aren't sold in stores. I live in Arizona. When I got the polishes they were too warm for me to put on immediately. These polishes are 3 free, meaning they don't have a lot of the chemicals that stabilize the formula, so I think the heat changed the way it applied. I will definitely be purchasing more, however not over the summer time. Here is the link to the website: http://www.cameocolourslacquers.com

Gini's Passion Potion

Allamanda

Burn!

I love nail polish. I really enjoy trying different formulas and colors. One of the things I am most looking forward to is teaching Mads to paint her nails. I love the thought of sitting down after a long week of work/school and painting her nails and talk about all of the things moms talk to their daughters about.