This post was going to be one of those typical nail polish reviews with a couple of pics and a short description, until somebody messed it all up…
But let’s begin at the beginning :) Take a look at my NOTD – You Rock-apulco Red by OPI (2 coats, daylight):
I like Sally Hansen’s Xtreme Wear line because it is really cheap. Moreover, it’s often on sale, and I can find them for less than $2. So even if after buying and applying a Xtreme Wear polish I suddenly realize I don’t like the shade on my nails, I don’t feel like I wasted money on it.
Today’s nail polish from the line is called Ice Coffee:
Big Apple Red dates back to the Fall of 2000, when OPI released their New York City collection of 12 nail polishes, including this very shade. The polish was a great success, so OPI made it a part of the Classic collection of colors.
Today is the first day of the Challenge and I’m to paint my nails red. I chose a lovely red polish Cherry Popsicle L03 from Sephora. It’s described as rich cool red and yes, that’s what Cherry Popsicle is in rl.
2 coats of Sephora’s Cherry Popsicle in the daylight:
It’s a classic, cheery cherry red nail polish. Cherry Popsicle isn’t streaky and it’s opaque in just 1 coat. The brush is thick and wide to paint nails quickly. I’m very happy about application, but unfortunately I cannot say the same about its staying power. First time I used it, I applied 1 coat in the morning and closer to the evening I noticed that the tips had faded. Next time I decided to do 2 coats, but I had the same result :(
Cherry Popsicle has a great red color, nice smooth formula without formaldehyde, but a really bad staying power… Well, at least today I don’t have to worry about it, as tomorrow I’m to do a new mani anyway :)
See more about 31 Day Nail Polish Challenge…
 OPI Big Apple Red Comparison |
It’s been raining for 3 days in a row here in Saint Petersburg, and I’m beginning to feel kinda trapped inside due to the cold wind and rainy weather. This all makes me sleepy, today I woke up close to 2pm and my first thought was… don’t laugh! – “It’s so late already! How I’m going to do a new swatch?” :))
These short winter days make it tough as there’s very little daylight shooting time available for me. Waking up early has never been my thing and I can’t seem to feel ok if I get up before noon. And what is more, the rain-clouds steal the sun away. So please, bare with me and my swatches :)
Now onto today’s polish – it’s called Chocolate Nut from Sally Hansen’s Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear line. This is how it looks like in daylight when it’s raining outside:
I got this polish from my very close rl friend, and I have to say she always picks amazing things. Like myself she is a big nail polish fan :) It is really great to have someone who understands my passion!
Amber Ruby goes from a rich ruby red to a bright golden orange and then perhaps a little further into the green/yellow glow range. However, the base color seems to be a combination of two colors, amber and ruby, living up to the name of the polish.
The formula is gorgeously rich, so two coats is more than enough to get an even, streak free finish. Here I have 2 coats of Sally Hansen #08 Amber Ruby (daylight, shade):
Sally Hansen’s Amber Ruby is a perfect choice for a sunny fall day. It’s a great color mix of orange/red falling leaves, green grass and golden sunlights! This duochrome polish is def worth a try :)
On a side note, yesterday I finally ordered a nail polish from Oriflame 100% color line. It’s a new brand for me, so I’m looking forward to see the polish on my nails :)
Today I have a nice dark red nail polish to show you – Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Brick Wall. I don’t know why it’s called Brick Wall tho, for me the color is associated with blood, or – if you are not into vampires – with pomegranate juice.
The polish has a great medium thick formula. I wouldn’t call Brick Wall a cream, as the finish is jelly like, but it isn’t a sheer jelly either… something in between cream and jelly. The polish is translucent but highly pigmented, and it gives nice even coverage in two coats. It is super shiny and very bloody looking without a hint of shimmer or glitter.
2 coats of Sally Hansen Brick Wall (daylight) with a ceramic turtle from my small turtle collection (this one is from Prague):
I had to be extremely careful when applying this polish, as the color is very rich and dark. Just a little mistake would make the mani look messy :( I cannot imagine applying Sally Hansen Brick Wall in a hurry – hitting my cuticles would result in staining and ruining the whole look if I don’t clean it up carefully but fast.
The staying power is fine, I wore Brick Wall for 2 days and it didn’t chip once. On the 3rd day I only had minimal fading at the tips, but I removed it anyway as I was getting bored with this deep red color. For me it’s a great shade for a cold snowy winter, and here it’s still fall weather and probably will be for another couple of weeks… at least I hope so :/
Yesterday when I was going through and organizing my nail polishes, I found a veeery old bottle of nail polish – Sally Hansen Truffle creme. I haven’t been using it for a year or so… tbh I completely forgot about this polish, and discovered now that it’s still thin and fine to apply. I think I bought it at least 3 years ago at the local drugstore — there used to be a big display with Hard As Nails collection and the polishes were fairly cheap.
I’m glad it didn’t get sticky through these years. I don’t use thinners and revivers to restore polishes to new if they become goopy and too thick. I just don’t like the idea… I prefer to toss the old polish and buy another one of similar color… But back to the color — Sally Hansen’s Truffle is a medium brownish shade of red. It can also be described as a very dark neutral shade depending on skin tone.
3 coats of Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Truffle Cream with no top (daylight, no sun, indoors):
