NOTD: Essie Your Hut or Mine

 

Essie Your Hut or Mine

Yesterday was Mr. Sasha's birthday, and we made plans to go to dinner at The Melting Pot. Oh how we love The Melting Pot! It's expensive, so we save it for special occasions. And since it was his birthday, I'd thought I would do a Mr. Sasha-approved color for my NOTD. He's not a fan of trendy colors and finishes, and prefers what he calls "normal" colors. Read: boring. But I went with it and pulled out a nice rosy pink that was in my un-trieds. Of course he liked it!

Side note to OPI: See how Essie manages to get a label on their mini bottles? PLEASE figure out how to do this on your minis!

Details

Brand/Name:  Essie Your Hut or Mine

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?:  3 coats color topped with 1 of NYC Grand Central Station

Purchased from:  I purchased the 2011 Resort Mini Collection at TJ Maxx for $9.99. The Mini Collection also includes Lion Around, Fair Game, and Da Bush.

 

Collection: Your Hut or Mine is from the 2011 Resort Collection called Fair Game which includes:

• Da Bush
• Fair Game
• Lion Around
• Your Hut or Mine

My Favorite Nail Products

One of my favorite non-nail blogs to read is Kelly's Korner. Kelly does a series called "Show Us Your Life" and today's topic is "Show Us Your Favorite Beauty Products".

I thought I'd join in today and blog about my about my favorite nail products.

1. Sally Hanson Instant Cuticle Remover. To have a long-lasting mani, you've really got to prep your nails. Removing cuticle overgrowth is a key step. I apply this all around my cuticles, 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. Orly Bonder. This rubberized basecoat overrides any oily residue on your nails and gives your polish something to stick to, another secret of a long-lasting mani.

3. NYC Grand Central Station. This is my new HG topcoat... it works just as well as the pricy Seche Vite, but it's only $2! You know I love a bargain.

4. Poshe Cuticle Care.  Keeping your cuticles neat and free of hang-nails is another secret to making your manicure last longer. This product is fabulous and I massage this into my cuticles twice a day to prevent hangnails and prevent cuticle buildup.

5. Nail Polish Remover Dip-It. I change my polish pretty often, and this little treasure makes it quick and easy. Inside this tub are plastic bristles that really help scrub the polish off.

Now, if you are trying to remove a glitterbomb polish, that's another issue, and you'll need to visit this post to see the trick for that.

Thanks for visiting my nail blog!

NOTD: Finger Paints Take It or Leaf It

Finger Paints Take It or Leaf It

Bring on Fall! The color just screams fall to me and I am loving it.

I've seen other bloggers mention having trouble applying this, but I had no trouble at all using it over a coat of CND Stickey. In fact, it was almost a one-coater.

Details

Brand/Name:  Finger Paints Take It or Leaf It

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?:  2 coats color topped with 1 of NYC Grand Central Station

Price: $4.49 using the Sally's discount card

Purchased from:  Sally's

Collection: Take it or Leaf It is from the Fall of Surprises collection released in August 2012, which includes:

• Be-leaf It Or Not! (sage)
• Fall Of Surprises! (copper glitter)
• Fall-ing For You (teal/blue)
• Gourd Or Bad? (bar multi glitter)
• Plum Startled (purple)
• Take It Or Leaf It (taupe) 

Sephora by OPI Havana Nights collection wrap-up

Well, it took me over 2 years, but I finally got the entire Sephora by OPI Havana Nights collection swatched! :-)

So I thought I'd do a wrap-up post and post all the pics together.

Sephora by OPI Caliente Coral

Sephora by OPI Caribbean Cocktail

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Midnight Mambo

Sephora by OPI Read My Palm

Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance

Sephora by OPI Teal We Meet Again

I need to work on my turn-around time, huh?

NOTD: Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

I am finally done swatching the Sephora by OPI Havana Nights collection (from 2010, of course!)!

My swatch above is 3 coats, and it probably could have used a 4th for perfect coverage. My ADD kicked in after 3 though and I just couldn't do a 4th! This one is still available at www.sephora.com.

A few weeks ago I tried this using Gelous as my basecoat, and I could not get even coverage, even at 4 coats. So this time I used CND Stickey and got much better coverage. This one definitely needs a rubberized basecoat.

Details

Brand/Name:  Sephora by OPI Havana Dreams

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 3 coats color topped with 1 of NYC Grand Central Station

Price: currently $9.50, was $9 when released in 2010

Purchased from:  www.sephora.com

Collection: from the Sephora by OPI Havana Nights Collection from 2010, which includes:

• Caliente Coral (no longer available)
• Caribbean Cocktail (no longer available)
• Havana Dreams (still available)
• Read My Palm (still available)
• Rumba Romance (no longer available)
• Teal We Meet Again (still available)

Note: Midnight Mambo was not part of the original release but was later added to the collection and is no longer available.

NOTD: Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Sheer Pink Gloss

Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Sheer Pink Gloss

Boy, the name of this is long.... and I left out "Hard as Nails"!

A few years ago, maybe even 5 years ago, I stumbled on to a sale at Walgreens and every shade in this line was only $1. I grabbed one bottle in each shade. I actually love this line- although I'm not sure it makes your nails "Hard As Wraps" it is definitely a great polish. I actually wore a red shade from this line as a pedi shade for about 2 years.

At any rate, there are a few of these sheer gloss shades, and I had not tried them, so I pulled out Sheer Pink Gloss to try first. This shade is very TSFW- Totally Suitable For Work. Too suitable for me! I just need a little more "pop" in my mani!

Details

Brand/Name: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard As Wraps "Sheer Pink Gloss"

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 3 coats of color topped with 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station

Purchased From: Walgreens sale at least 5 years ago for $1- this line has been discontinued

NOTD: Essie Braziliant

Essie Braziliant

Somehow this was in my un-trieds! I got this one last summer along with Too Too Hot and Smooth Sailing and I guess I forgot about it. Side note: I am having a terrible time spelling Braziliant with one L! I guess I am trying to spell it like "brilliant".

I am on the fence about this shade. It required three coats, and you can see on my middle finger I've got a bit of a crease that happened during the night. I think it got pretty thick and didn't dry well. Still a pretty eye-catching shade.

Details

Brand/Name: Essie Braziliant

Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 3 coats of color topped with 1 coat of NYC Grand Central Station

Purchased From: www.transdesign.com for approximately $6

Collection: Braziliant is part of Essie's Braziliant collection released for Summer 2011 along with:

• Absolutely Shore (soft sea foam green) 
• Brazilliant (hot orange with a touch of shimmer)
• Meet Me at Sunset (vibrant deep orange)
• Smooth Sailing (breezy lavender blue with a reflection of pearl)
• Super Bossa Nova (upbeat bright fuchsia)
• Too Too Hot (sizzling rich red coral)