Crackle Crazy

So what have y'all been up to?  My blogging got a bit derailed by the BFF coming in for a visit, followed by a trip out to SoCal to visit another BFF, followed by a wedding and all the attached familial drama.  Whew!  Excited to have my life go back to normal.

So while in California, we attended ComiCon.  Oh, wow.  My first time, and it was such a blast, I'm already counting down the days 'til next year!   And obviously, since the logo is black and yellow, my nails had to match!

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.

The Full Monty

So I decided to try and keep myself honest; here is a list of all the polish I currently own, that needs to be reviewed.  Some I've blogged about acquiring, some I haven't.  Here goes (alphabetical by brand):

Claire's
Black Light Nail Polish Pink
Black Crackle

e.l.f.
Light Red
Fair Pink


Essie
Fiji
Wicked

Funky Fingers
Stage Dive
Volts 

Milani
Disco Lights
Jewel FX Gold
Jewel FX Gems

OPI
Silver Shatter
Alpine Snow
Significant Other Color

Pure Ice Crackle
Hot Coture
Strike a Pose 

Sally Hansen
Nail Prisms Golden Cinnabar
Salon You-Gurt Style
Insta-Dri Emerald Express
Insta-Dri Petal Pusher
HD Digital
Complete Salon Manicure First Kiss 
Complete Salon Manicure Gray by Gray
Crackle Overcoat Vintage Violet
Diamond Strength Fuschia Bling Bling
Diamond Strength Sunrise, Sunset
Hard as Nails Sheer Strawberry
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Blue Me Away!
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Disco Ball
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Mellow Yellow
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Mint Sorbet
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Sun Kissed
Hard as Nails X-Treme Wear Virtual Violet

Sinful Colors
Silly Alix
Sharons Heart
Summer Peach
Unicorn

Skin Food
BW705
BL 505
PK202
RE108

Ulta
Lucky Penny
14 Carat

Zoya
Adina
Caitlin
Dove
Izzy
Noel

Miscellaneous Brands
Color Club Art Club White
L.A. Colors Color Craze BCC 560
Orly Rage
Petites Night


And, for the record, I also own:
Orly Bonder Basecoat
Sinful Colors Basecoat

Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthening Topcoat
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Clearly Quick Topcoat
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Out the Door Topcoat

Seche Restore
Essie Matte About You
Sinful Colors Quick Dry




Haha can you tell what my favorite brand is?

But damn, that's a lot!  At least for me it is.  And my cup officially runneth over, there's barely enough room to squeeze everything into the small decorative basket I've been using.  Which makes this perfect timing then to weed through once more and get rid of what I'll never use again - there's no possible way I need so many sheer pinks or hot pinks, it might very well end up in a smackdown!  I gave away the only polish I had ever reviewed, Essie Tart Deco, because salmon is Sam's favorite polish color and I just wasn't feeling it.  So starting soon look for all-new pics, reviews, and documentation of my ever-growing obsession.

Where's My 12-Step Program?

At what point do you throw in the towel and admit that what was once a casual interest has spiraled into full-blown obsession?  Because I'm pretty sure I've hit that point with polish; as evidenced by the fact that I went into Walgreens with the intention of buying a soda and walked out with 6 bottles of nail polish.  Sigh.  I won't photograph them all, and I've just been playing with them on my nails, haven't actually applied any of them properly, but my haul consisted of:

• Sinful Colors Quick Dry.  Affordable drying drops??  Who knew?!
• Sinful Colors Summer Peach, a neon orange.  I was going to get the neon yellow from the same collection, but the salesgirl warned me that it doesn't turn out as bright on the nails as it looks in the bottle, so I passed.
• Milani Jewel FX Gems, which is about as close to a dupe for the overpriced Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday as you can get without being totally identical.
• Milani Jewel FX Gold, a simple large hexagonal gold glitter.  I plan on painting my nails with Ulta 14 Carat, then layering the Milani over a single accent nail.  Bling!
• Sally Hansen HD Digital.  Whatever, it's pink and it was on sale for $1.99.
• Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Sheer Strawberry.  On sale for $0.50 and I've been thinking about a pale pink jelly since seeing someone wearing a similar color this weekend.

If only I actually made the kind of money that would allow me to support this habit...as it is I'm struggling to pay rent every month, so constantly buying nail polish is not helping me out.  So here's my resolution:  I will stop buying and start blogging!  Because really, what's the point in having a nail blog if I just keep hoarding all this polish but never properly review any of it?  So my goal is to go through my entire current collection and review everything.  When I'm done, I'll give away what I don't want, and then I can start buying more if I feel like it.

...Just realizing that I have Ulta coupons, and my rewards points to spend.  ...Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought!  OK, maybe I can do some buying every once in awhile...if I have a really good reason...

Confessions of a Polishaholic

Hello, my name is Rachel, and I am a nail polish addict.

Spent the day with a friend yesterday, just chilling out and relaxing - shopping, eating, and watching DVD's.  After getting frozen yogurt from Menchie's, (which you should absolutely try if they have one in your area, btw.  Menchie's is amazing.)

Afterward, I insisted that we needed to hit up the Ulta next door.  Correction: I needed to hit up the Ulta.  Correction:  I wanted to hit up the Ulta, but did not need to and in fact probably shouldn't have, given the current state of my bank account.  This sobering reality did little to stop my feet from entering the door, and I walked out with OPI Significant Other Color, a great layering color.

I've seen it worn over OPI Mod About You, in particular, and it was a gorgeous look.

Cheapskate

Just a tip for anyone who, like me up until this afternoon, is still searching for a black shatter/crackle polish.  You might try, of all places, Claire's.  While shopping/eating my friend suggested we go inside.  I was making some other purchases at the register when I noticed several bottles - and the best part is that I got it for only $2.50!  For someone like me, who can only wear fancy manicures a few days at a time, high-quality polish isn't always a priority, so why not get the same stuff for a fraction of the price?

More on the rest of that shopping trip and how I have become the crazy lady who can't leave the house without buying nail polish tomorrow.

Pretty and Witty and...

And so Gay Days come to a close.  Got just a small taste, didn't get to do as much as I would have liked, but lots of different things ended up coinciding on the same weekend.  Still, I managed to see the Disney-themed show on Friday, which was a complete blast - we thought our friend Sandy was going to pop a vein laughing so hard - and hit the parks on Saturday.  Next year I'm hoping to be free for the big bash at Typhoon Lagoon, and not too sick to enjoy the grand finale that was going on tonight!  In honor of the weekend, I wore the following:

The execution could have been much better, and I need a better green and purple - I used Zoya Caitlin, which obviously isn't supposed to be a bright color, and my Skin Food green, which was surprisingly weakly pigmented, compared to all of my other Skin Food colors.  The original plan was to do one rainbow nail and leave all the rest white, but six stripes ended up being too much effort for me, and in the end I did this pattern in about five minutes before rushing out the door.  Still, I liked the effect.  (The other colors are e.l.f. Light Red, then Sally Hansen Sun Kissed, Mellow Yellow, and Blue Me Away!  The white is OPI Alpine Snow.)

So Much Polish, So Little Time!

Oh my.  Over the past few days I've acquired a veritable treasure trove of new polishes to try out.

While shopping at Downtown Disney, Sam and I stumbled across an entire rack full of OPI's Silver Shatter!  I suppose it makes sense, given that it's part of the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.  So not only was I able to snag a bottle, but I got it with my 20% Cast Member discount.  Excellent!