NOTD: Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm

Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm

This polish is absolutely gorgeous. And for a $2 nail polish, I'm in disbelief about how wonderfully it applies. I think Diamond Cosmetics may be one of my new favorite brands!

I first heard about this company from Brooke at Getcha Nails Did and I am so glad I took her advice and ordered.

My indoor pics don't quite capture the holo quality of the polish, but trust me, it's amazing in the sun. Brooke has some pictures that show it a little better.

This is two coats topped with SV. I'm on day 3 and I have hardly any tip wear BTW.

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Sample Sale

Sephora by OPI Sample Sale

Things have been so crazy recently, with the holidays and all, I haven't even photographed the last 3 manis I've done! I painted this holiday-ish color on the 23rd and am just now getting around to shooting it, and that's why you only get to see the pinkie nail! They will be getting repainted tonight.

Seriously, I haven't tried a Sephora by OPI shade I didn't like, and this was no exception. It was gorgeous and perfect for the holidays. I'm on day 4 and no chips in sight. I did lightly file the tips last night to remove some of the tip wear so that I could get one more day.

Winner of Sephora by OPI Polish

Commenter 10 was The Nail Novice! Congrats!

It's a Girls Night Out

Brooke from Getcha Nails Did and I met for wings and beer on Tuesday night and we had a fabulous time! I was in need of some "girl time" and chatting with a fellow nail polish addict really did the trick.

Brooke was so sweet and had a fabulous bag of goodies for me. I am dying to try the Finger Paints polish because I've never used that brand before and they are gorgeous!

Icy Iris, Candy Cane Shimmer, and Decked With Dazzle

Thanks again Brooke- can't wait to do it again when your RBL order comes in! :-)

NOTD: OPI Dreaming of Red

OPI Dreaming of Red (Ulta exclusive)

What a pretty red! Not all that unique, but still pretty. We all know Suzy loves her reds!

Slight tip wear, but I painted about 24 hours ago and remember I shuffle paper for a living. It's bound to happen!

Sephora by OPI Giveaway!

It looks like I've overbought, and you can benefit from my over-shopping!

I'm going to give away these two Sephora by OPI shades. So pretty- but I don't need two!

One winner will win both shades, both new and unopened.

Sephora by OPI Meet for Drinks (indoor pic)

Sephora by OPI Queen of Everything (outdoor pic)

To enter:

Tell me your absolute favorite nail polish ever. This rule is a must! This is your first entry.

For additional chances to win:

•Follow this blog (if you already do, that counts)...leave a separate comment telling me

•Tweet this contest...leave a separate comment including your tweet link

•Post about this contest on your own blog...leave a separate comment about your post

Winners are chosen by Random.Org, if you want all your chances counted, make sure you leave individual comments!

Contest ends Friday, 12/18 at 10pm CST and is open to US residents only.

Rules for each entry must be followed to be valid.

Good luck!

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Worth My Weight

Sephora by OPI Worth My Weight

Holy cow, this is blingy! Three coats (which is rare for me, I always stop at two).

Regretfully, I think I'll be taking this off. I wanted to like it, I really did, but I just can't get over feeling like I'm too old and plain for this color.

Maybe for a party? But I've just got regular-old stuff to do over the next few days, and I'm afraid my nails might be overdressed!

NOTD: Zoya Harlow

Zoya Harlow

I am over-the-moon in love with this color. Gorgeous! I think the application on this matte was better than thre first three Zoya mattes I tried. The formula seems to be improved on a bit.

I did a coat of Orly Bonder and let it dry for 10 minutes and then applied two coats of color. Of course, they were dry almost immediately, which is one of the things I love about mattes.

NOTD: OPI Amethyst Twist

OPI Amethyst Twist

This shade is from the Ulta Tiny Tinsels set from Holiday 2009. Isn't that gorgeous?

I'm laughing about the tiny bottle in my hand, thinking about the Cafe Disco episode of The Office where Michael is serving espresso in those tiny cups and saying "Oh, look at my giant hand and this regular-sized coffee cup...." Too funny!

NOTD: OPI Holiday Glow

OPI Holiday Glow

These were painted almost two days ago, so I'm getting some tip wear, but I love this color! I did have some trouble with cleanup and the glitter didn't seem to want to come up with my normal cleanup brush, but I worked for a bit and made it happen.

Such a great shimmery polish!

NOTD: OPI You Don't Know Jacques! Suede

OPI You Don't Know Jacques! Suede

Another home run! I am over the moon for the suedes. Much more matte in person, yet it still has a sheen and a gorgeous shimmer.

Hopefully I'll get 4+ days of wear like I did with the OPI LPAD Suede.

NOTD: Avon Golden Twilight

Avon Golden Twilight

First, let me apologize for the slight tip wear and lack of bottle in the pic. I painted these on Wednesday night, and now it's Friday morning and I just found the time to take a pic, and I don't have the bottle with me.

The picture really doesn't do the polish justice- this is a gorgeous black base with a fabulous golden shimmer that looks beautiful in sunlight. Application was great and I swear by the time I got done applying my SV, the first finger I painted was completely dry, undentable.

Avon has their nail polishes on sale right now for $2.99.

My Avon rep, Valeri, is always so nice to let Sasha Says readers use a free shipping code! Please follow these steps so you can use the code and give Valeri credit.

1. Visit Valeri's site to make her your default rep
2. Log into ebates to get 5% back and go through them to get to the Avon site
3. Once the Avon site pulls up again, you should see Valeri's name near the top of the site
4. Choose your products and then use code FSANY or REPFS to get free shipping

Happy Shopping!

Linky Love

The Edge of Sanity is running a really cool series right now- they have 8 testers who have blind-tested 12 topcoats and rated them on various attributes.

The are posting the results one day at a time. So cool! So far Poshe rated the worst, which was a surprise to me. Although I prefer Seche Vite, I don't "hate" Poshe.

NOTD: OPI Suede Lincoln Park After Dark

OPI Suede Lincoln Park After Dark

This polish is just dreamy. It applied much better than my experience with mattes, and it look lit from within. Plus I've done quite a bit of housework and I even painted these last night before bed, and they still look great. No chipping yet, which is a problem with mattes.

I think these suedes might be the best of both worlds. But this looks nothing like the original LPAD! I think they just should have come up with a new name.

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Absinthe Makes the Heart

Sephora by OPI Absinthe Makes the Heart

Woo woo- this is gorgeous! This is an inside pic because I totally missed the sun today, but this is a pretty good representation. It's a smoky dark gray with green and iridescent glitter that is totally unique for me.

I purchased it from Sephora, where it retails for $9.

NOTD: OPI Merry Midnight

NOTD: OPI Merry Midnight

There were a few of the new OPI holiday shades I was excited about, and this was one. How pretty is this? There was no sun the day I took this pic, so this is an inside shot, which makes the flakies hard to see, but trust me, they are there!

This is just gorgeous and if you love purples, you NEED this!

NOTD: Avon Golden Wine

Avon Golden Wine

This was my first Avon nail polish to try and I wasn't disappointed! It just required two coats and dried wonderfully fast under my Seche Vite top coat. I will definitely be ordering Avon nail polishes more.

Avon has this shade and three other sparkle shades on sale right now for a special price- 2 for $5.99. I also ordered Golden Twilight (second from the bottom) and can't wait to try it.

My Avon rep, Valeri, is always so nice to let Sasha Says readers use a free shipping code! Please follow these steps so you can use the code and give Valeri credit.

1. Visit Valeri's site to make her your default rep
2. Log into ebates to get 5% back and go through them to get to the Avon site
3. Once the Avon site pulls up again, you should see Valeri's name near the top of the site
4. Choose your products and then use code FSANY or REPFS to get free shipping

Happy Shopping!

Sephora Friends and Family Time!

Sephora Friends and Family runs through 11/2, and with code FF2009, you'll save 20% on pretty much all your online purchases. And don't forget to go through ebates for an additional 4% back.

I couldn't resist this awesome set of polishes, available to Beauty Insiders only (sign up if you aren't already a BI!). The set is $38 and includes Sample Sale, Worth My Weight, Meet for Drinks, Queen of Everything, Shopping Frenzy, and Domestic Goddess. 20% off made this a great deal.

I also ordered a new color, Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder ($9 before sales), smoky dark gray with green and iridescent glitter, which looks gorgeous.

Remember, shipping is always free at Sephora when you spend $50, and you always get 3 free samples and they offer free returns as well.

Happy Shopping!

NOTD: OPI DS Original

OPI DS Original

I am still loving the DS shades. This one applied a little differently and totally needed two coats. Some of the DS shades looked just as good after one, but this was pretty sheer until I applied that second coat.

♥

OPI Lincoln Park After Midnight

I am loving this deep purple and it is getting a lot of attention as well! I have had several compliments, and it is perfect for this fall/Halloween time of year!! I heart it so much that I bought a bottle of it from my nail salon!!

NOTD: OPI Bubble Bath

OPI Bubble Bath

I'm still not back in the swing of things and back to my normal every-three-days-or-so painting routine. I painted my nails Friday night and I used Bubble Bath since it's been quite some time since I have used this color.

I remember why now... it just doesn't do anything for me or my skintone.

Do you like sheers or light colors on yourself?

NOTD- Milani Whimsical

Milani Whimsical

I am new to Milani, but I had a $10 ECB to spend by today, and nothing but Milani caught my eye this week in their circular. Milani polishes are BOGO half off this week. Regular price is $5.

Whimsical is part of Milani's Black Magic Collection.

This shade is a black jelly with gorgeous purple glitter. Gorgeous I say!!!!!!

On my toes ...

China Glaze in LOL, plus a glitter topcoat. Getting the last bit of summer time colors in while I can!

NOTD: L'oreal Hopeful Plum

L'oreal Hopeful Plum

O. M. G. I am finally feeling better! My nails were- shock- bare for over a month! I had to cut them down because all that time without polish protection did a number on them.

Now that I am feeling better, I am back on the painting bandwagon.

This shade is from L'oreal's Color of Hope collection in honor of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

I really like this color- it's a deep plum, almost burgundy, with a gold shimmer. Application was nice- I really like L'oreal's formula.

Here's a sunlight picture on flickr- it's dreary here so I can only get indoor shots right now.

Link to Nail Polish Giveaway

Head on over to my giveaway blog, Sasha Says Giveaway, to enter a giveaway for a new, unopened, pack of Holiday OPI minis from 2008. I'm ready for fall and vampy colors and this fits the bill great! Good luck!

Back On

I tried to be strong. I really did. 5 whole weeks. I couldn't handle the splitting and the peeling anymore. The weak nails that couldn't withstand the simple task of buckling my kiddo in his carseat. So I went running back to the nail salon! Again, the acrylics don't have a specific color name, but when I match up my pedi, we can just borrow OPI's names. To get the color on my toes to match, we did the bottom coat in OPI Malaga Wine and a coat of Pompeii Purple on top. Dark pink top coat, added some sparkle, and voila!! One happy girl.

NOTD: OPI Berry Brilliant

OPI Berry Brilliant

This is one the shades in last year's holiday mini set, and I really like it! It's actually a bit deeper color in person, more wine-like, but really really pretty.

GDA: Nubar

I've been holding off ordering the Nubar mattes for some reason, and now I know why!

Nubar blogged today about a great deal- for a limited time, you can try V for Men Quick Dry Matte Top Coat, which makes any nubar nail lacquer quickly dry to a matte finish, for only $1 with any retail order of just $30. (I imagine you can use it on my nail polish.)

Since the 4 pack of mattes was $24.95, I added a bottle of their Diamont top coat, which is $7.49 and I am hearing works much better with Zoya polishes than Seche Vite does. And I got the V for just $1!

Shipping was $7.95.

More Zoya Mattes!!!!

So excited for more of these!

MATTEVELVET WINTER

Savita (ZP504) - plum gray matte shimmer

Harlow (ZP505) - rose matte shimmer

Veruschuka (ZP506) - evergreen matte shimmer

Sneak Peek ...

Hey Girls! I am hosting a big giveaway event on my blog all this week, and will be giving away a fun manicure kit along with some other fabulous gifts!! Be sure to come by and check it out!! ♥

NOTD: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rockstar Pink

Although I am loving the way this looks, it was a little hard to apply. I ended up doing an extra coat on just the tips, as if I was doing a french, do make sure to get the glitter all the way to the ends.

So this is three coats (and four on the tips). Mr. Sasha said it didn't look at all like I color I would wear, but I think it looks pretty cool!

Costco has polish?

Soon after I took my solar nails off, I put them back on. Moment of weakness, I know. I had them on for a few months, then took them off again a few weeks ago. Ha, ha! So, I am still in the process of growing them out and recovering from the lovely ridges left behind from the acrylics. I am enjoying the new found freedom of my natural nails, but absolutely hating the splitting and weakness of them. It stinks, but will hopefully only be temporary.

The first color I tried out on them is actually a Kirkland brand I found in my mom-in-laws closet! I didn't even know that Costco made their own line of polishes, but this one, called Shell, was actually pretty. I painted on 2 coats and this lasted about a week! Not too shabby! Here's how the color looks outdoors and indoors.

NOTD: Zoya Yasmeen

NOTD: Zoya Yasmeen

This was the first non-matte Zoya that I have used and I love it! This is a gorgeous purple and this picture doesn't do it justice. I think Scrangie's picture is more representative of the actual color.

NOTD: Zoya Matte Dovima

Zoya Matte Dovima

Don't look at my fingers or cuticles. Or the too-large gap.

I was exhausted last night, but needed to paint my nails before bed, because they WILL break or tear if I don't have polish on them.

So this is not the best job... but I am testing out something.

I did a base coat of Orly Bonder and let it dry completely (about 10 minutes). Then I did two coats of Dovima, followed by a coat of Essie Matte About You. The Essie didn't change the finish at all, and I'm anxious to see if the wear is better and if they polish stays matte longer, rather than turning satin like Posh did.

China Glaze Fortune Teller

I want, I want!

See here. http://twitpic.com/d22ci

NOTD: OPI DS Chiffon

OPI DS Chiffon

Making my way through my DS shades.... this is so pretty! I was in a hurry last night and was watching The Bachlorette so I needed something I could slop on while I watched. This fit the bill- smooth, easy to apply, and fast drying. Love it!

NOTD: OPI DS Design

OPI DS Design

As close I could get to Smoochie's suggestion.....

Forgive the redness on my pointer cuticle... getting nervous for my trip, and I tend to revert back to my old nail-biting ways when I am nervous!

Hopefully this polish choice will last until Sunday. I'm hoping for very little noticable tip wear since it's such a forgiving shade. I really like it and it's goregous in the sun. As with all DS shades, it applies beautifully.

NOTD: OPI DS Divine

OPI DS Divine

This has been a crazy week filled with Vacation Bible School, and I am worn out! But of course I found time to paint my nails Sunday night. This picture wasn't taken until Tuesday afternoon, so there is the beginning of some slight tip wear- after all, I shuffle paper all day, so it's bound to happen!

I do like this color- it was a nice change after the mattes I was sporting last week. Very bright and summery. Still haven't met a DS shade I don't like!

Manicure for Mommas Without a Lot of Extra Time

Although I love doing my nails (and I totally wish I was a nail tech) this working mom of two just doesn't have a lot of time on her hands.

But I've found that by following this routine, if I'm done painting my nails by 9 pm, I can go to sleep at 10 and not have any sheet marks at all. Plus, my mani will last 4-5 days with no chips- I usually just have to repaint because of new growth and tip wear.

So without further ado, my nail routine:

1. Sally Hanson Instant Cuticle Remover. I apply this all around my nails, wait a bit (you can wait longer that it says), then use the thumbnail of my opposite hand to push back/scrape the cuticles. I typically do this twice.

2. Wash your hands and dry them well.

3. Orly Bonder. This is fab- takes any oily residue off your nails and gives your polish something to stick to. Key to a long-lasting mani.

4. Sally Hanson Nailgrowth Miracle in the gold bottle. Love this as a basecoat. Watch for CVS to have their BOGO or BOGO half off on Sally products and stock up.


5. OPI polish (2 coats). In my non-professional opinion, the best polish there is. One of my faves is I'm Not Really a Waitress.

6. Seche Vite top coat. I won't use any other top coat. This is a super-fast dry topcoat with a fab shine. Expensive, but worth it!

7. Creative Nail Design Cuticle Eraser. Keeping your cuticles neat and clean is one of the keys to making your manicure last longer. This product is fabulous and I massage this into my cuticles a few times a day to prevent hangnails and prevent cuticle buildup.

With these products, you can achieve a salon-quality manicure at home!