Review: Sally Hansen Petal Pusher

Bought this as part of my little holiday haul while at home in Chicago; at the time I was mainly after the topcoat (which turned out not to be a topcoat at all, just a clear polish), figuring I could just bust this out for work every once in awhile.  I never thought that plain, flesh-colored nails would appeal to me so much, but I already can't wait to wear this color again!

Julep Maven January Box

I took the Julep Maven style quiz a few months back, and submitted my e-mail address when requested.  After looking around the site, I decided not to participate in the program.  But I received a promo code a few weeks ago to receive the January box for one cent.  I understand their logic, as it gets me into their system and, if I forget to skip a month, I get charged.  But I figured I might as well try it out; for only a penny, who could resist?  Here's what was inside:

Review: Zoya Izzy

This is the color that I traded a friend of mine for my Zoya Dove, and I'm happy to report that we're both quite pleased with the switch!  Gray nails are just not my thing, but this?  This is the most brilliant shocking pink I own, hands-down.  It's gorgeous.

Review: Zoya Dove

This isn't even going to be a full review.  I received this color as part of a 2-part set that came free with any polish purchase back in the summer.  At the time, I got blinded by the notion of free polish for free polish's sake; even then I didn't like gray.  And after a brief trial run just to be sure, I'm now positive:  gray polish is not my style.  I wore this for about 2 days before I wanted it gone.

This color does have a slight blue undertone, but it's still too gray for me.  Maybe if it had some more blue, or purple, I'd be into it.  However, it does work well when paired with its Fashion Week mate, Zoya Caitlin:

As you can see, I haven't quite gotten the hang of doing the half-moon mani freehand.  But the colors do go together quite nicely.  However, that's not quite enough to convince me to keep this polish, so I actually traded it with a friend, for Zoya Izzy from her November Birchbox.  Look for that review coming up next!

November Birchbox: Final Review

This month has been so hectic, I scarcely noticed it was over before I was getting an e-mail about my December box being shipped!  Where does the time go??

Review: Sinful Colors Sharons Heart

I've had this polish since college - I bought it along with the color Silly Alix in the same brand, which is similar but lighter.  After trying both briefly, I had come to the conclusion over the years that Sharons Heart (as printed on the label, no apostrophe) was the ugly stepsister to my beloved Silly Alix.  And while Silly Alix is indeed still my favorite of the two, I've gained a new appreciation for Sharons Heart.

Review: Zoya Noel

A very pretty blue - I like this color a lot!  Too bad it didn't last very long on my nails.

October Birchbox: Final Review

November Birchoxes are on their way (AND I THINK THERE'S NAIL POLISH IN IT!!), so it's time to review last month's products.  This was an excellent box.

Review: Essie Fiji

Loving this color!  Have to say though, it now feels odd not to hide my pinky at work!

Review: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure First Kiss

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been drooling over this color for quite some time.  At the end of the day it wasn't exactly what I had hoped for, but I'm still glad I made the purchase for the wear time alone.  For reference, I usually take pictures on the 3rd day or so of my mani, and by then I'm having to twist my fingers into awkward positions to hide the chips.  I'm okay with this, though - I usually buy cheaper brands of polish, and I'm not very careful with my nails.  These pictures were taken on the 5th day, and even after an afternoon of scraping my nails against concrete doing chalk art with kids at work, I still only had 2 small chips and some minor tip wear.  I think if I had added an additional layer of topcoat halfway through wearing the mani I would have fared even better.  So that alone makes me hold the Complete Salon Manicure line in very high regard; next time I'm itching for a new color I know where to look.  In fact, there was a baby blue that caught my eye last time....

Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Emerald Express

Colors like this are what make me desperately wish I had a job that allowed me to wear whatever I want on my fingers, because only 2 days before I have to remove it?  Not enough.

Review: e.l.f. Light Pink

Ew :/  Definitely want a pretty pale pink in my arsenal, but this is most definitely not it.  I got this for a dollar, and its not worth much more than that.  Pic is obviously pre-cleanup, because why bother when I knew I wasn't going to be leaving my nails looking like that.

Review: Sally Hansen Salon You-Gurt Style

If you'll excuse a picture taken after nearly a week of wear, as well as sloppy application to begin with thanks to my own clumsiness and complete lack of experience with jelly polishes (this is the only jelly I have ever used), allow me to review one of my favorite colors, Sally Hansen Salon You-Gurt Style.  I've had this bottle forever; I was honestly about to pitch it, it had gotten so old and gloopy, but sure enough, a bit of Seche Restore and I was good to go!

Review: Incoco Nail Strips

Today I bring you my first ever attempt to use nail strips.  And I have to say, I'm a fan!

Mascara Comparison

Maybelline Full 'N Soft has been my go-to mascara since sophomore year of high school; until receiving the recent samples in my Birchbox, I had tried very few other brands.  And before receiving said samples, it had also been quite some time before I had worn any makeup, period.  I was wowed the first time I used both the Anastasia and the blinc mascaras, but after comparing all 3 side by side, the results surprised me.

September Birchbox: Final Review

One of these days I'll get the final review post out before my new box arrives.

August Birchbox: Final Thoughts

I know there were some complaints, at least amongst some of the YouTube vloggers, in response to this box.  But for my first one?  They really knocked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned.  I enjoyed quite a few of the products.

 01. Twistband

Like/Dislike? Ambivalent.

Thoughts? There's really nothing special about this.  The pros and cons pretty much balance each other out - it slips out of your hair easily, but it also doesn't hold as well as a regular scrunchie.  It looks OK around your wrist (which was supposed to be one of the main selling points - that you could basically wear it as a bracelet), but after several uses it starts to get twisted up, there's still the knot at the end, and the ends are now beginning to fray.  The knot at the end also looks just as silly in your hair as it does around your wrist - especially when trying to use the band at the end of a braid.  It doesn't leave as much of a crease as a scrunchie, but it definitely doesn't leave it completely crease-free.

Plans to Buy? No thanks.  It does seem to withstand time and repeated usage better than a traditional scrunchie, but at $5 for 3 Twistbands, it's just not worth the money.  Especially when I can get a pack of 20 plain scrunchies from the dollar store.

Review: Ulta Lucky Penny

Next up for review is Ulta's Lucky Penny.  I purchased this after using Golden Cinnabar for the first time in years, and I was wanting a straight copper.  I got it BOGO with a gold metallic, 14 Carat, that I'll be reviewing next.  I have to say I really like Ulta's square bottles - they remind me of pictures I've seen of Chanel's polish line, though with a rubberized cap, which I'm a big fan of.

Natural light

Review: Sally Hansen Golden Cinnabar

So for my first real polish review, I'm going with an older Sally Hansen color of mine: Golden Cinnabar, from the Nail Prisms line.  When my Seche Restore came in the mail, this was the one I first thought of trying to salvage.  I've had the thing since high school, it seemed a shame to see it go to waste.  I think it could still use another drop or two, but overall Seche Restore seems to be just as magic as Seche Vite!

Disclaimer of sorts before I continue:  I have been a loyal follower of All Lacquered Up for several months now; as such I feel like it's kind of inevitable that my reviews will end up being similar.  I'm not aiming to copycat, I just find the separation of the review into separate categories like application and color to be very helpful.  Also it will become painfully clear that I am nowhere near as informed or professional as Michelle, so there's nothing to worry about.

Additionally, apologies for this being later than I intended; I was waiting for some sunlight so I could get a decent picture, but sunlight is something we have not been having an abundance of lately; ironic given that I live in Florida.

Now that all of that's out of the way, I shall proceed.

FAIL.

Purely for space reasons, because the box fit so awkwardly in my polish container, I decided to start out the process of reviewing my stash with the Nailene DuraCoulour nail strips.  Let's just say it didn't turn out so well.

Now, I don't know if it's the fact that these only cost a dollar, or my own incompetence, but for the life of me I could not get them to lay flat on my nails.  In no way was this easier than traditional nail polish except for the lack of dry time.  I suppose I could see putting in the extra effort (if you could eventually get them to look right) for ones with an actual design, but for just a solid color I'd rather just paint them.