NOTD Sally Hansen Smooth & Perfect Color + Care in Air

Sally Hansen Smooth & Perfect Color + Care in Air

I was recently sent some shades from the Smooth & Perfect Color + Care line to try, and after Sorbet I chose Air to try next. I think Air is gorgeous I really like the way it looks with my skintone. Two people actually stopped me yesterday and asked what color nail polish I was wearing.

For this mani, I did a base of CND Stickey, 3 coats of color and topped it with Seche Vite. I am on day 3 and it still looked fabulous.

The shades in this line retail for about $5.50.

THINK: Let your nails breathe

WHAT IT IS: Creamy color and porcelain-smooth perfection in one beautiful polish. The latest trend to hit your fingertips. Nearly naked, barely-there color with plenty of shine. The ultimate in understated elegance, sheer shades and healthy even shine work for every occasion. That’s why Sally Hansen created a chic collection of nude nail polishes that marries the two, Smooth and Perfect Color + Care, the ultimate fusion of perfecting polish and beautifying care.

Designed to hide ridges and imperfections, the uniquely breathable formula promotes stronger, healthier looking nails with a patented technology that allows for up to 20% more oxygen to reach the nail. The result? Ridges and imperfections are virtually erased and nails are left looking smooth, shiny and porcelain perfect.

Disclosure: This polish was provided to me for review purposes.

NOTD: Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Glitz Gal

Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Glitz Gal

over one coat of Orly Iron Butterfly

(click pic to enlarge)

This is just gorgeous! Last month I tried Glitz Gal on it's own, but didn't like the sheer-ness of it. This time I decided to start with a charcoal grey polish as a base coat and Iron Butterfly fit the bill. (By the way, I totally bought Iron Butterfly because I am a big fan of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.)

Glitz Gal is a very hungry polish- it ate up my first coat of Seche Vite. It dried super-fast, but the texture was so bumpy, I knew I would be messing with it all day. So I added two coats of Gelous, and then another coat of Seche Vite and it was much better.

NOTD: Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

I was so excited to see this at Target, and surprised that it was not on an endcap, and was just in the regular Revlon nail polish display on the very bottom shelf. Since it's part of Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection - Expressionists, I figured I'd find it in a special display.

Regardless, I love it! As usual, this is a second day pic and you can see a bit of shrinkage. I did two coats topped with Seche Vite. Next time I'll try a different top coat.

It's being said this is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, and although I don't have it to compare, it does seem to be similar to the pics I've seen online of Bad Romance.

NOTD: Sephora by OPI What's Your Poison?

Sephora by OPI What's Your Poison?

I ordered the Garden of Good and Evil collection from Sephora by OPI, and this was the first shade I wanted to try out.

It's described as "opaque cranberry red with chunky glitter".

Actually, it's a pretty sheer cranberry jelly packed with enough silver and cranberry glitter to make it opaque in two coats.

It's quite pretty and eye-catching, but it's definitely a topcoat eater. Although my coat of Seche Vite dried the polish just fine, it was still very bumpy. Looking back, I should have applied a coat of Gelous before I did my topcoat.

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Hell to the No

Sephora by OPI Hell to the No / Mercedes Jones

from the Glee Collection

(inside pic by window due to snow storm!)

Wanted you to see the GORGEOUS hidden gold shimmer

I've got the whole Glee collection ready to swatch, but we are having terrible weather and there is no sun for swatching.

I chose Hell to the No for my first mani from this collection and I am on day 3 and don't want to take it off- that's how pretty it is.

It applied beautifully and two coats covered well. I used newly thinned SV as my topcoat and it dried well with no shrinkage.

Still deciding which Glee shade to use for my next mani... I am thinking Who Let the Dorks Out? (Sue Sylvester)

NOTD: Essie Dive Bar

Essie Dive Bar (retail line)

This is another one of the Essies that I purchased at Walmart.

This is two coats. The first applied quite streaky, but the second evened it out nicely.

Topped with Seche Vite that had been recently thinner, I got absolutely no shrinkage.

There is a slight purple shimmer in the bottle that is not apparant on the nails. Still quite pretty though.

NOTD: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Red Carpet

Pictures absolutely do not do this justice- the glitter is much more apparent in person and just fabulous- it's a "lit from within" glitter- it just glows!

This is two coats topped with Seche Vite, and I'm in love. Although this looks similar to China Glaze Ruby Pumps, I suspect it will be much easier to remove since the glitter is much much finer. I'll report back if I'm wrong!

NOTD: Avon Deluxe Chocolate

Avon Deluxe Choclate

I don't know why, but sometimes with dark colors, my gap is HUGE. What gives????

At any rate, this is one of Avon's new fall colors, and I love it! There's a bronze quality when you look at the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail all that well, but I still think it's gorgeous.

I have had great luck with Avon's line of polish- this shade applied great and dried quickly when topped with Seche Vite.

Avon had their polish on sale for $2.99 right now, which is a bargain.

I order from my friend Valeri (email her at bucfanri {at} gmail {dot} com and she may have free shipping codes!)

NOTD: Avon Luxe Lavender

Avon Luxe Lavender

After two weekends at the lake in the water, my poor nails needed a trimming. And I'm not very good at painting short nails! Oh well, they'll grow!

Today I am wearing one of Avon's new shades and I absolutely love it! This is actually just two coats, which is great for a light polish. Application was nice and it dried quickly with a topcoat of Seche Vite.

I've got a few more of their new summer shades to show you soon. I also ordered the new fall shades today and I am anxious to get them, even though it's still over 100 degrees here and still definitely summer.

NOTD: China Glaze Cherry Pie

China Glaze Cherry Pie

(click pic to enlarge)

Somehow, this beauty was in my un-trieds! It's so pretty! I did 3 coats, topped with Seche Vite. There's still a tiny bit of VNL and I don't think another coat would have made any difference.

NOTD: L'Oreal Waters Edge

L'Oreal Waters Edge



Waters Edge is from L’Oreal’s summer 2010 Passport to Paradise collection. I purchased it a few month ago at Walgreens for about $4.50.

I had some application issues, but it could be because I was also trying out Gelous basecoat for the first time.

The first coat of color looked terrible, very streaky and uneven- it would be full coverage in some places, and barely there in others. A second coat did even it out, but it applied a bit thick and I was afraid to do a third. I finished up with a coat of Seche Vite and it dried fine and I went to bed.

After showering and getting ready for work in the morning, I already had two major chips on my right hand, which NEVER happens to me. I ended up taking this off after only having it on for 20 hours or so.

NOTD: Borghese Stellare Notte

(click to enlarge- you *really* must!)

Borghese Stellare Notte

Wow! This polish has so many different colors- in some light, it's got a purple flash, in others, it almost looks teal. I am loving it!

This was my first Borghese to try, and when I saw how short the stem and brush was, I was a little worried I'd have trouble with application. However, it was no problem at all and I had no trouble getting a great mani that needed no cleanup.

This is two coats topped with Seche Vite, and I was so glad to have absolutely no shrinkage the next morning when I woke up.

Disclosure: This polish was provided to me by a PR firm for review purposes. The opinions stated are my own.

NOTD: Chanel Paradoxal

Chanel Paradoxal

(click to enlarge to see shimmer)

Holy cow, my first Chanel. Paradoxal. The SA wasn't familiar with it, and when I got to my car she had given me the wrong shade even though I pointed out in the display which one I wanted. So interesting that she was so unaware when this color was quite the hot topic last week.

I've been dying to try it, but we had nothing but rain, rain, rain all weekend.

As I had heard (and seen) it's a little hard to photograph. There's a gorgeous purple shimmer in the bottle that isn't as apparant on the nail. In perfect sunlight, you can see it, but not like in the bottle.

I'm still a fan, though. So pretty inside as well as outside.

Last night before bed I did two coats topped with Seche Vite. After cleaning up a million little pieces of tiny paper that my 4 year old daughter left all over the fireplace, I had some tip wear this morning, so I did another coat before this swatch.

NOTD: Avon Color Trend Delicious Berry

Avon Color Trend Delicious Berry

I made a recent Avon order to get the two new green shades, and I saw three cute little scented polishes so I picked them up. They aren't on their website right now, but here was my post about purchasing them.

This is three coats of Delicious Berry topped with Seche Vite, and is Mr. Sasha approved as a "normal color". He gets a little weirded out sometimes with my blacks, blues, and greens, so he likes it better when I use a more standard color. Too funny!

I've never tried a scented polish before, so I was anxious to see what the trend was all about. This actually smells a bit like Zoya Remove, and you can only really smell it if you put your nose right next to your nails and sniff deep. Kind of a fun thing, but nothing too exciting. We'll see if the Lemon and Pear are the same. I'll let you know.

NOTD: Essie Main Squeeze

Essie Main Squeeze (click pic to enlarge)

This is another shade from the Essie Wedding Collection.

Most other bloggers I've seen swatch this collection did them as French manicures with only one or two coats. But I'm just not a French girl, so I've been doing regular manis with multiple coats to get more coverage and have been pleased with the results.

This is three coats, topped with Seche Vite. What a color polish this is- so pretty in the sun!

Disclosure: This polish was provided to Sasha by Essie for review purposes.

NOTD: OPI My Private Jet

Ah, My Private Jet. I was curious to see which version (of the four possible versions) I would get when I placed my order from TransDesign. Looks like I ended up with the charcoal non-holo version.

Nonetheless, I love it. Very very pretty and just gorgeous in the sun because the silver shimmer really shows up.

This is two coats topped with Seche Vite.

NOTD: Sally Hansen Sea and Be Seen

Sally Hansen Sea and Be Seen

This polish has just moved onto my top 10 list. How gorgeous is that? If you have yellow undertones like me, and accidentally get a little tan like I did this weekend (not enough sunscreen!) you *must* run out and get this polish. It's amazing!

This is three coats topped with Seche Vite.

I am also digging these bottles- see that little black ring around the part with the brush? It's sort of a gripy thing, and it's genius-if your bottle is a bit stuck, no more asking your Mr. to help.

I was unsure about the strange brush shape (it's sort of a V shape) but it worked just fine once I got the hang of it.

I am definitely going to be getting more polishes from this line.

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Caribbean Cocktail

Sephora by OPI Caribbean Cocktail

This shade is from the Havana Nights collection, and when I did a skittles mani of a few of the shades last week, this one stood out to me as a quick fave.

Isn't that pretty? I've been so busy lately that this is a two day old mani, three coats, topped with Seche Vite, of course!

NOTD: Nicole by OPI I Have a Plumb Thumb

Nicole by OPI I Have a Plumb Thumb

This was my first Nicole polish to try and I am so pleased with it! The above picture was taken on day 3 of the mani and it still looks good. If the word "Plumb" in the title is supposed to mean Plum, I am a bit confused as I found the polish to be more pink than purple....

This is two coats topped w/ Seche Vite. Application was good, smooth and even, and dried lightning fast with SV.

On another note, I am testing Instant Artificials as my basecoat and so far I am loving it. I had a crazy week last week and didn't get to paint my nails for a few days, but 2 coats of Instant Artificials made then nice and strong, and the clear polish didn't peel off as I find clear polish often does after a day or so. I went almost 5 days with my chipping/peeling of the polish.

Disclosure: This Nicole polish was provided to me by a PR firm for review purposes.

NOTD: Essie Splash of Grenadine

Essie Splash of Grenadine

Sadly, this shot is a little out of focus. I left my big camera at my parent's house, so I just had a smaller P&S.

But I do love this shade, which is part of Essie's Resort Collection. This is three coats topped with Seche Vite.

I didn't think the formula on this was quite as smooth as Lapis of Luxury, but it was nothing that bothered me- it was just a bit thicker, but not problematic.