China Glaze Solar Power

     China Glaze Solar Power was originally released in the China Glaze Ecollection in 2008. I got lucky and found Solar Power at Sally Beauty Supply for $1.99 on clearance, so I decided to give it try. First, let me say that the application for this polish was horrible! The formula was very runny, and I ended up with uneven lines near my cuticles. Also, in the pictures below you will see some bumpiness and there is a bubble on my ring finger nail! What is up with that? This polish just may be old, since the collection was released four years ago.
     Besides the formula, Solar Power is a bright, mustard yellow with subtle shimmer. I know this, because when I asked my husband what he thought about my nails, he said, "They look mustard-y." ☺
     Solar Power is very bright and fun, and it definitely puts me in the mood for summer. However, I wish the formula was more user-friendly. Until I find a better yellow, this one will live in my stash. ☺

     What do you think? Do you like yellow nail polish?

Claire's Candy Shop

     When I heard that Claire's Candy Shop nail polish was a dupe for the highly expensive Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop, I quickly ran out to Claire's to see what all the fuss was about. You can see swatches of the Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop here. I think both of them look pretty similar. Plus, I don't think it's a "coincidence" that the polishes are both named Candy Shop. Subtle. ☺

       Claire's Candy Shop is multi-colored and multi-sized glitter suspended in a milky pink base. This polish is absolutely gorgeous and unique. Shown below are two coats of Candy Shop on my friend's little girl Abigail. Doesn't she have such cute, tiny nails? ☺

     What do you think of Candy Shop? You can find these at Claire's for $5.50, and they are normally 'Buy One, Get One Half Off.' 

Black and Nude Half Moon Nails

     How has everyone's weekend been? Mine was good; I had a girls' night on Friday and then went to a Chili Dinner/Talent Show Fundraiser on Saturday and hung out with my friends that night, too.
     I have been wanting to do another half moon manicure for a while now, and I was interested in seeing what black polish and nude nails would look like together. First, let me show you what I used to do my half moon manicure:

     I bought the hole punch reinforcements at Hobby Lobby, and I took a single sticker and put it at the bottom of my nail like in the picture below:

     I would recommend cutting the sticker in half, so that you can use it twice. After I had the sticker pressed down well, I painted the Wet N Wild 424 Black Creme on the rest of the nail. This black polish is one of the best blacks I have every used because I only needed one coat for this manicure, and it was perfectly opaque. If you are looking for the perfect black nail polish, I say you run to your local pharmacy and pick this one up! 

     After I painted the black polish on the rest of the nail, I would slowly peel the sticker off, and this is what I was left with:

     If you look closely, you can see that the half moon line is not perfectly even. I would recommend making sure you press the sticker down really well so that no polish can seep underneath the sticker. Finally, I topped my nails off with a coat of Seche Vite. 

     I was extremely happy with how this manicure turned out. I really like how the black looks against my bare nail, and half moon manicures make your fingers look longer, too. I had a lot of people asking me about my nails this weekend, and it really wasn't that hard to do. You just have to have some patience, so I did this manicure while I was watching The Office this past Thursday night. By the way, can you believe what that Kathy girl was trying to get Jim to do? I can't wait until Pam finds out. ☺

 The picture below shows my mood ring while it was changing colors. So cool!

What do you think about half moon manicures? Have you ever tried one? 

Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby

     Happy Saturday to everyone! Before we get to the polish, I just want to say a big Thank You to my cousin Taylar for designing this awesome new logo at the top of my blog. I love it! Taylar, thank you for reading this crazy blog and for caring! ♥
     And onto the polish...    
     Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby is one of my favorite red polishes, as you can tell from how much is already used from the bottle in the pictures. My friend Amanda let me paint her nails, and she always likes reds, so I am glad she picked one of my favorites. ☺
     Ruby Ruby has a slight jelly finish, but two coats make it wonderfully opaque. This polish is so easy to apply, and the consistency is great for a flawless application. Ruby Ruby dries really shiny, although I used Seche Vite, also, on Amanda's nails for a top coat. Ruby Ruby is red, but it does have pinkish undertones to it. The great thing about Sinful Colors is that they are so cheap at $1.99 (often on sale for 99 cents), and you can readily find them at Walgreens.
     What do you think? This is another classic red manicure; it's great for February. Do you have a favorite red polish?

Zoya Crystal

     Zoya Crystal was originally part of the Zoya Fire & Ice Collection from 2010. Crystal is a light blue turquoise shimmer that has gold shimmer speckled throughout. The contrast between the turquoise and gold shimmer really makes this color unique!
     I want to say thanks to my hand model Mary S for letting me paint her nails with Crystal. :) I definitely needed two coats to make this color opaque, and I did use a third coat on some of the nails to get rid of some bald spots. This color is very shimmery, and very Mermaid-esque!
     Check out the pictures below!

 The picture below is blurred so you can see the gold shimmer.

 The picture below is with flash.

What do you think? Do you like Zoya polish??

Revlon Chili

     Revlon Chili has been sitting in my nail polish stash for me to try out for months now, and I'm so glad I finally did. Chili is a part of Revlon's Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel line, and it is a bright red that leans more towards orange than blue. Chili applied brilliantly; it was two effortless coats of color. It has somewhat of a jelly finish because I can see some visible nail line and it has that "rock candy" look to it. Chili also dries really quickly, too. This color just screams summer to me. No matter how many unique colors of nail polish are in the industry today, red will always be a classic manicure. I always feel like I'm channeling the 1950s when I wear red nail polish. (For a really interesting history on nail polish, click here.) 
     So, there you have it. If you are looking for an inexpensive, warm, summer red to buy, check this baby out. I got it at CVS for around $5. But you can almost always find them on sale. I can't wait to try out some "jelly-sandwiches" with this color. :)

 Outside (Sorry, it was a cloudy day!)

 The picture below was taken indoors.

Sinful Colors Cinderella

     Did everyone have a good Presidents' Day? It was so weird, for me, because I actually had the day off from work! I get most holidays off, now, with my new job. So it was a nice change because I had worked in a big retail store for seven years, where holidays off were unheard off unless it was Christmas and (most of the time) Thanksgiving. Luckily, my husband was off, too, so we were able to do "fun" married things, like go get groceries. lol
      Anyway, most of you know that last week all the Sinful Colors nail polish was on sale at Walgreens for 99 cents. Friday, I went in to Walgreens to see if there were any good colors I don't have. After ringing out with the cashier for the few that I bought, I passed by the Sinful Colors display again, and lo and behold, there was a color that I had never seen before. As I picked it up to inspect it, I noticed that it was the perfect baby blue with (what?) pink and gold shimmer!! I quickly grabbed the bottle and cashed out again, happy that I was able to find one of the most unique colors I had ever seen. :)
     Sinful Colors Cinderella is really what I would imagine Cinderella's dress to look like. When I look (gaze lol) at this color, it's like fairy tales and cotton candy all packaged into a little glass bottle for me to stare at and love. A little dramatic, yes, but I'm just trying to get across to you how beautiful this color is! lol
     Cinderella took about 3 coats to get opaque without any streaking. It was a little difficult to get the polish even enough on the nail to eliminate patchiness, but the result was definitely worth it! I would say this is my favorite nail polish this year, so far! And it was only 99 cents!!
     Take a look at the pictures below.

     The shimmer is subtle, but really pretty. What do you think of this color? Do you have a favorite polish so far, this year?