Love at first Poppy

So the lesson today is don't judge by first impressions. If red were a hot pink, this would be it. It's bold, it's flashy, it's lit from within, and best of all, it's not too dark or too "plastic" for my skin tone.

If you read the previous post, you know I picked up Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in Poppy Love from a grab bag with three SH polishes for $5. I immediately was unhappy, but after slathering this on tonight, I love it.

Please excuse the messy nails, they aren't clean yet and won't be until tomorrow (But i didn't want to risk sheet marks as I am about to crash for the night). And the background is our Halloween homemade beer pong table, not a murder scene. But I had to share. This is a beautiful color and "poppy" is right on it doesn't look like the poppies hanging in my living room, but the shade is right on with the poppies in Wizard of Oz Technicolor. The best way I could honestly think to describe it is "If red were a hot pink..." Even though the color is not pink at all. It just has the same fun, brightness and glow that a hot pink would have.

If you have the chance to pick this up somewhere, it comes highly recommended. And, I did use the new base and top coat on this SH Double Duty.

Hurt Jaw Haul

One good thing to come out of a hurt jaw, was this new nail haul-- bringing the total to 9 polishes, though I don't know how happy I am with these. If you have any please let me know.

I went to Meijer Pharmacy to get my scrip filled, and they have a deal wherein if you use the pharmacy and have the right coupon, you get $20 of any purchase (it can even be $20) of health care, beauty of groceries. Because this is the second time this week I've been to the pharmacy, and I am already overloaded on food from the last trip +weekly groceries, I decided to treat myself to some cheering up.

First, I picked out four new Sinful Colors, but I backtracked when I saw Sally Hansen's holiday "Nail Glam Salon" with "5 Amazing Nail Essentials" for $4.99. Fearing not having a white, I bought one Sinful Colors (Snow Me White) and decided it would be fun to do a grab bag.



The kit promised three random nail colors, a nail treatment and a manicure tool. Oddly enough, I was just hoping for a file, so I was happy there. And I am lacking a top or a base coat at the moment, so I was thrilled with getting Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening base and top coat, though I don't yet know how it works.

The three random polishes that came were:

1.) Sally Hansen Star Opal Nail Glaze in Violet Opal-- I had a fire opal one in years past that I liked, but this one seems a bit sheer and tame for me;

2.) Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in Sheer Pressure, which seems to be a pearl sheer; and

3.) Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in Poppy Love for the third. Now, first off, I am not a huge fan of reds, but if I find the right one(s) I will rock it. I love poppies so we will see on this one.

I am still not feeling well, and it drives a reporter (at least this one) crazy when she cannot talk. (I've been ordered off the verbal word for 2 days). But, I wanted to share the haul.

I will begin swatches tomorrow if I feel up to it tonight, but for now, do y'all think this was worth $5? Will you be hunting it?

Don't Smile Too Hard

So, even though I felt like I got punched in the jaw yesterday, I was very much over the black and had to do something, during my half hour of consciousness to make it better...

The solution, Nail Junkie by Sinful Colors-- I know, I know, I used this one before, but over black it was like a brand new color.Over black, the blue sparkle in a blue-tinted clear coat, came out green and gold. It's harder to see in the second pick, but it looks very festive. Almost Christmasy. It hurts to smile, and even moreso yesterday, but the combination brought a grin to my mind if not my face.

I've reviewed both formulas before, so I guess the lesson here is to try your sparkles over new colors, because here a fun blue bubble-gum color came out dark green and gold and worked for a change of pace on hump day.

What do you think?

What's your favorite glitter to play with?

PS: I will need to work with what I've got for the next 23 days. I went to order my Zoya green friday haul and was told by my mother not to, which means I know one thing I am getting for Christmas, but it also means unless I decide to buy myself some presents, it is unlikely you will just be seeing new combinations and some swatches of new makeup until then.

Black Tuesday

It's not been the best of days. I ended up leaving work early because of jaw pain-- don't ask me how that happened. It popped a couple days ago and now it hurts. Anyway, I wanted to update you because I never did put up a swatch of the clearance black alone-- and since that's what I have on currently, I thought I would share.

As I said earlier I am not that impressed with the formula on the LycraWear Black Satin. It shows bald spots, is hard to control and pretty streaky. The pic shows two coats, and they've worn down substantially since I applied Monday. Still, I got some compliments on it throughout the day.

Would I buy it again? Probably not, but it worked in a pinch and will work as a base coat under some cooler colors, such as I Love You by Sinful Colors. But in the meantime I will continue a hunt for a good one-coat black that works better.

Any suggestions?