Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Heat Flash + Seche Vite Review

Hi there! Sorry it's been so long!

Today I have a swatch of an older polish I have in my collection. I felt like being bright and bold, so I chose Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Heat Flash.

I also used my very first bottle of Seche Vite for this swatch! I had the worst time actually receiving it in the mail, but once it finally got to me, I was so excited to try it out, haha! The first time I used it was on my mom's toes, and I made the mistake of shaking the bottle instead of rolling it through my hands, so it was a little bubbly, but there was no shrinking. I've heard shrinking can be a problem with Seche Vite sometimes. When I used it on my own toes and fingers, I rolled it through my hands to mix it up, and it was like liquid gold. It applied smoothly with no bubbles or shrinking. Winner!

Anyway, here's Heat Flash!

I've had this polish for a couple years, so I used OPI's nail polish thinner, and it worked really well at thinning and de-gooping (is that a word?) this polish out for me! My swatch is two coats, although with more careful application (this can streak a little) could be a one-coater.

The brush was pretty easy to work with, and I actually did no clean-up before these photos, although a little clean-up wouldn't have hurt. The brush is nicely rounded and wider than most other brushes.

The color is a nice, bright, almost neon orange that is perfect for summer! Bring on that sunshine! (New York had been suffering from 4 days of constant rain before Memorial Day, so sunshine is much appreciated now!)

That's all for today! Thanks for stopping by! I hope to be around more often now! :)

Zoya Slapdash - Storm

Hello!

Today I have the last Zoya polish from my very own Slapdash collection! This group of polishes have taken much longer than I had hoped to swatch, but they're all present and accounted for now! :)

My finger nails are still really short and I'm trying to keep only strengthening polishes on them at this point, so you'll see my toes today. Don't mind they're chubbiness, ha.

 Of course, I'm wearing the infamous Zoya Storm.

Storm has lots of multi-colored glitters in a black base. The formula was comparable to the other Zoya polishes I've swatched, and I'm wearing two coats. The above picture was taken without flash, in indirect sunlight.

This picture above was taken with flash outside, in indirect sunlight, as was the photo below.

I've seen swatches of this polish on other blogs, and I've wanted to get my hands on this shade for a while. I'm really glad I did! The sparkles are so pretty and make this polish so versatile, it can be worn with anything.

This concludes my Zoya Slapdash Collection! Thanks for sticking around! :)

Zoya Slapdash - Natty

Hello! Only one more Zoya post after this! :) Are you sick of Zoya yet?! :P

Today I have Zoya Natty to show you.

The formula on this was typical, and my swatch is two coats.

I love love love this color! It's a nice deep blue creme with a beautiful shine. I'm not sure if I love this more than Wednesday, but it's a close second!

That's all for now! Thanks for reading! :)

One Year Blogiversary @ Nailed It NZ!

Hi again!

Nailed It NZ is having a giveaway and nail art contest for the blog's one year blogiversary! Head on over there and enter! :)

Until next time! :)

Zoya Slapdash - Phoebe (Matte)

Hi! I'm back!

My nails have been going through another rough patch, but I'm here anyway. Today I have Zoya Phoebe which is the only matte shade I picked up last month.

This started out thin, like the other Zoyas I bought, but it was also streaky. Luckily, it evened out and built up nicely in three coats.

I'm not really a fan of this shade of blue, but I picked it up because it was matte. For some reason, blues like this remind me of the color your skin/nails turn due to lack of oxygen. My nana was a nurse, and always told me I looked like I couldn't breathe when I wore colors like this, so that's probably where I get that from!

Regardless, I like the matte sheen this polish has and I do like the color, but I don't think it goes with my skin tone very well.

Below you can see how this polish looks with one coat of Out the Door fast dry topcoat.

In person, this polish seemed to darken up a bit with the topcoat, but you can still see that pretty sheen, although it was more noticeable in the matte version.

That's all for today! What do you think of Phoebe? :)


P.S. My nails are false here (and the next few posts) :O
Could you tell? :P

Zoya Slapdash - Wednesday

Hi again! I'm sorry for my absence again, but I broke yet another nail, so after this post, it'll be pretty quiet around here :(

But today I have another Zoya polish to show you... Zoya Wednesday.

The formula for Wednesday was consistent with the rest of the Zoya polishes I've swatched so far... on the thin side but really easy to work with and levels nicely. My swatch is two easy coats.

This is soooo pretty! So far, it's my favorite from my little make-your-own collection.

Below you can see the nail art I did using this polish!

This was my first time attempting roses on my nails, and I think I did pretty well! I used Rimmel 60 Seconds Mintilicious for the polka dots and leaves, OPI My Very First Knockwurst for the lighter rose color, and Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Radient Rose for the darker rose color.

This is a cute design, and I'm super bummed I broke a nail while wearing this! :(

Ah, anyway, I'll have the rest of the swatches at some point! Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Slapdash - Perrie

Hi again!

Today I have my second Zoya polish to show you! This is Zoya Perrie.

The formula of this was a little thicker than Elodie, shown yesterday, and therefore, only required two coats to reach full opacity. Despite it's thickness, it was still a very easy to work with formula, and naturally shiny.

I really liked wearing this pink-leaning purple creme because, like Elodie, it seemed to change hues in different lights. Here it appears more pink, while in other areas it would appear plain purple.

This is a really pretty purple that I'm glad to add to my collection, so I decided to pair it with another purple shade. You can see that nail art design below!

Here I've chosen to create triangles using tape with OPI Liquid Sand Can't Let Go from the Mariah Carey collection.

I think this adds some nice contrast between the shades and textures of the purples, and I loved wearing this design!

My right hand even came out well! :D

That's all for now! Check back on Monday for some more Zoya! :)

Zoya Slapdash - Elodie

Hello there!

As promised, today I have Zoya Elodie to show you!

Elodie is an orangey pink creme, that appears pretty sheer in these photos, but it's much more opaque in person, and has a really nice natural shine.

The formula of this was very easy to work with, and built up nicely in three thin coats. This is a perfect summery or springy shade.

In different lights, this polish can look more orange, or more pink, and it's always pretty. Zoya didn't let me down with this one!

Below you can see the nail art design I chose to wear with this color:

This is what I started with: I stamped with Konad Special White, using a plate that I can't remember the number of! Stamping with white is always a challenge for me, for some reason, so I'm lucky I even got the results you see above. At one point, I gave up with the special polish and went for Wet 'n' Wild French White Creme (that's why the flower on the right on my thumb is less opaque).

I then decided to further this design by adding rhinestones in the centers of the flowers. I think this was a nice additive to this mani, but it's hard for me to get used to the bumps the rhinestones create. For that reason, they don't usually last long on my nails.

And that's my pretty thumb! :) You can see the difference in opacities of the white polishes really well in this photo. Don't stamp with Wet 'n' Wild French White Creme unless you want a "duller" shade of white!

That's all for now. Stop by tomorrow for some Zoya Perrie! :)

Zoya "Slapdash" Create-My-Own-Collection Introductory Post

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I received my very first bunch of Zoya polishes! I had ordered them while they were on sale for Earth Day ($4 a piece!), so needless to say, I was pretty excited over that steal! I thought about buying a collection created by Zoya, but decided to just pick out six shades on my own that I thought looked well together... hence the title. I chose to call it "Slapdash," which is a synonym for "random."

Here's a snapshot of all of the polishes I ordered.

I chose (from left to right): Elodie, Perrie, Wednesday, Phoebe, Natty, and Storm.

Over the next week or so, I plan on swatching them for you and maybe I'll even have some nail art for you!

I look forward to the upcoming posts, and I hope you enjoy them! Thanks for stopping by!

Sally Hansen No Hard Feelings and Supernova

Hi!

Today I just have a little Sally Hansen for you! I was feeling like purple, and this is what I came up with.

I'll start with a swatch of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails No Hard Feelings.

No Hard Feelings is a pretty classic purple creme. I'm sure there are tons of other shades like this out there, but at $2 a bottle, it's not a bad deal.

The formula was really smooth and easy to work with, and I'm wearing two coats.

I decided to try out a Sally Hansen glitter I hadn't gotten to wear yet, and put that over top.

This is two thin coats of Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Supernova over No Hard Feelings. It's got a bunch of tiny purple and teal colored glitters suspended in a clear base.

The formula was easy to work with, but the clear base was more plentiful than the glitters were... at least on the brush, anyway. To cover up any bald areas, I just applied another thin coat.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading! :)

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?! Spongebob Nail Art!

Hi again!

Today I have some Spongebob Square Pants nail art for you!

I used the Spongebob stamping plate I got from Born Pretty Store a few months ago. At first, I had a little trouble when scraping, but I didn't realize there was a plastic coating around the plate. Haha, whoops! After removing that, it was smooth sailing!

The yellow base color is three coats of Rimmel 60 Seconds Sunny Days and all of the black is Konad Special Polish Black. My pinky and pointer fingers have stamped sponge holes, but the rest of my nails (including all of the nails on my right hand) have dotted sponge holes. I completed this manicure with a coat of NYC Matte Me Crazy to add to the sponge-like look of this mani.

I'm not really a fan of the sponge hole stamp because I had to stamp a few times to cover my whole nail. There are too many gaps in the stamp for my shorter nails. Dotting was much more controllable and easier to do.

Below are photos of my right hand. It's slightly different, but I like how it came out.

That's all for today! Thanks for stopping by! :)

I'm Back!

Hi everyone!

I'm finally back, and my nails are feeling much better! Today I have a cheetah manicure I wore last week while my nails were still trying to strengthen up. They're a little short, but I still enjoy this manicure!

My base color was JulieG Shark's Cove, a really pretty turquoise polish with a silver shimmer. The black is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Black Heart, and the silver is Rimmel 60 Seconds Precious Metal.

I was at a loss when choosing a design, so of course I chose to do a cheetah print. When in doubt, animal print! :D

I love these colors and feel like the silver goes really well as the spot color on top of that turquoise with silver shimmer. This is a cute, sparkly cheetah print manicure that's super easy to do (just a dotting tool or striper brush required!) and always looks cute.

Thanks for stopping by! :)