Spring has sprung here in the Midwest, and even though it literally snowed this past weekend, I am embracing the season of rebirth with open arms. Spring always inspires me to break out my brighter nail and makeup shades, as well as incorporate more G L I T T E R!
Spring calls for playful, fun colors & I have made my pick of the top six shades I am going to be wearing over and over this spring. All swatches are my own unless otherwise noted!
1. Sinful Colors | Vacation Time | $2
2. Revlon | Transforming Topcoat | Matte Pearl | $5
Topcoat over Sinful Colors ’24/7′From @breesloves on Instagram, topcoat over pale pink
3. Sugarpill | Angel Cake | $12
4. Essie | Off Tropic | $8
Two coats in indoor lighting, comes off much darker than in personSwatch from @arlenails on Instagram, shows the color in a brighter white light to display the true shade better
Quick post for this Monday morning, because I was out of town and under the weather all weekend (’tis the season…). What a better way to start the week than with a Barbie pink sparkle manicure? And even though Grumpy Cat isn’t enthused, I can’t stop staring at my bright nails!
Sinful Colors’ “24/7”, Cream Finish
I used Sinful Color’s 24/7 as the base coat. This is my favorite neon pink and is only $2 at Walgreen’s, CVS, ect! I topped it with my newest nail obsession, the Revlon Transforming Top Coat in Matte Pearl. This top coat mattifies the polish, obviously, but it also has micro-fine violet glitter that is stunning. I am not sure if this is permanent or limited edition, but is a very unique and necessarily addition to your polish collection and is only $4! So go get it right now.
Revlon Transforming Effects Top Coat in Matte Pearl
This girly manicure is perfect for starting off the work week! What are you rocking on your nails right now?
My nails chip super easily; that’s just a reality that I have come to accept. Even Seche Vite didn’t really work for me, which is a modern tragedy in and of itself, so I have been wanting to try one of the various no-light gel kits that many brands are offering now. Revlon was on sale at Walgreen’s this week, so I picked up one of the Revlon Gel Envy colors, as well as the Gel Envy Diamond top coat. The polishes and top coats are usually $5 each, but they were on sale for “buy one get one 50% off”, so I got the color Checkmate, which is a beautiful neutral beige and the top coat for about $8 with tax.
The color polish is supposed to be a base coat and color in one, so I did not apply a base coat before starting. It applies smoothly, and dries down quickly to a semi-matte finish. I used two coats to reach the opacity I desired, and it did not get goopy or hard to work with as I added the second coat, which sometimes I find I have problems with. I let the color dry down for a few minutes and then applied one thick layer of the top coat, which added a lot of shine to the nail. It did take a while to fully dry, and clumsy me nicked my pinky nail and left a couple small scrapes on it, but honestly I didn’t care enough to re-do it.
Day Two Shot of the Nails. Ignore the bumpiness; my nails are super damaged from overuse of press-ons and I’m growing them out.
As for wear, I saw a few teeny tiny chips on day two, which weren’t even noticeable honestly. I also experienced some shrinkage and peeling at the very tip of the nail, but I fixed this by going over it with another layer of the top coat. I think that this may be due to operator error, as this may be the type of polish that needs to be carefully applied to the very tip of the nail and slightly on the underside to prevent shrinkage and cracking. I started to see more significant wear and chipping on day 3, but it still wasn’t large chips, and some nails did not have any chipping or wear at all, even until I took the polish off on day 5. Weirdly, it cracked horizontally near the tip of my nail, but the polish did not flake off, which I thought was impressive. I decided to remove it on day 5 to put on a different color, but if I hadn’t wanted a change of color, I would have just let it be, as it still looked pretty decent.
Again, the ridges of my nail show up really badly, but you can see the slight chipping on the edges, as well as the cracking.
For $5 per bottle (and even cheaper if you can catch them on sale at Ulta, Walgreen’s, or CVS like I did!), I was impressed with the longevity and quality of the polish. One downside is that the polishes do need a top coat, since it’s a 2 step system, so it isn’t great for a super quick mani pedi, but that isn’t something that really bothers me, as I try to use a top coat every time I paint my nails anyway (because, like I said, they chip like a mofo). All in all, this is a great product, affordable, and the range of almost 40 colors is an amazing selection for a new, drugstore collection! I’ll definitely be picking up a few more colors from the line… or maybe all of them.
What’s your all time favorite long wearing nail polish or top coat? I’d love to try them out.
Wednesday marks the official first day of fall, and what better way to celebrate the equinox than by making your nail game stronger than the earth’s gravitational fields? Fall is all about deep, vampy shades for both lips and nails, and this year’s trends are no different. Oxbloods and deep berries are back in style once again, but TAUPE has made an appearance as the newest, trendiest color for nails, and I am obsessed.
Taupe is a stellar color, but doesn’t get the attention it deserves. For those with dirty blond to medium brown hair, a taupe colored pencil or cream works amazing as a brow color. (I recommend Maybelline’s Tough as Taupe Color Tattoo cream eye shadow and a firm, thin brow brush!) Taupe shades work wonderful for eye looks, especially for lighter skin tones, and those who want a cooler and yet neutral look. Seriously, I love taupe… So taupe on the nails is a trend I can get behind fully.
My favorite taupe nail color has got to be OPI’s Taupe-less Beach (above). Aside from the punny name, it is a lovely color that is pretty much the perfect taupe in my opinion. So pretty and cool toned… I’m in love! For a drug store alternative, I found Sinful Colors Rebel (below) from their Sinful Shine line. Sinful Colors is dirt cheap, around $2 when it’s not on sale, and with a good base and top coat easily performs just as good as the higher priced brands! And it can be found at Walgreen’s, Walmart, and I’m sure other drug store or big box retailers.
As you can see from the pictures, Rebel is a bit lighter, but they are pretty similar. Thanks to Gargoyle Polish for the stellar swatch of Rebel!
Aside from taupe, which I think I’ve waxed poetic about enough for today, deep reds and oxbloods are stunning and totally on trend. My newest favorite deep red is Ignite by Formula X (below, on left), available online and at Sephora. I got a sample in my Ipsy this month, and I have had it on my nails ever since. It is such a lovely, deep deep red, and would suit so many people!
A drug store option for a deep oxblood in Revlon’s Nail Enamel in Vixen (below). Revlon polish is around $5, but right now it is on sale at Ulta for buy one, get one half off, so definitely hit that up if you’ve been wanting to buy a couple polishes and save some moolah!
If you’ve found some beautiful nail colors for fall, let me know in the comments below.
Byte of Beauty 