Drug Store Nail Polish Haul

I know I wrote in my last post, which was 2 and half months ago, that I was back and ready to post. Well, just as I wrote that, not much time went by and aunt passed away as well. To make matter worse, my family and I are still dealing with legal matters on my grandfather's death which was over a year ago. I'm coping and handling things the best way I can, but I have just been spending a lot of time with family and to myself. - I have taken a lot of time off from blogging and social media lately and I do feel like I am ready to jump back on this "horse" though. I'm saying this now without a thought and with hope that my family and I do not endure anymore loss.

I thought I would start with an easy post to get back into the swing of things. This is just a nail polish haul that I did over the last 2 weeks. It's pretty simple. Everything was bought from drug stores.

The first 4 polishes in this haul were from the SinfulColors polish line. These are the "SinfulShine" polishes that are suppose to be super shiny like gel polish, only you don't need the UV lamp or any special top coat. The bottles state that they have "Gel Tech". These have been out for a few years and were first spotted in Walgreens. I never picked any up as they were $1 more than the regular SinfulColors line and just didn't seem worth it to me. Recently, displays at Walmart started popping up with these SinfulShine polishes that are priced at $1.50, which is less than the average SinfulColors polish and so I couldn't pass them up! I placed the names of the polishes on the bottles for you all for fast referencing. I have not yet tried these out though, but when I do I will make sure to review!

The next week, I found the Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear limited edition "Electric Summer" collection at Walmart, also. These were $2.97 a piece and this collection was released this year for Summer 2014. Unfortunately, it's the end of summer, but better late than never. Again, the names are on the bottles for fast reference. There are 2 more polishes in this collection that I did not get- "Pearl Up" that looked to be a very pale peachy pink, almost white & "You're Crabby" that looked a lot like "Peach Babe" only darker. I just felt like those 2 were not necessary for me in my collection and that I wouldn't use them. A lot of people were not excited about these when they were came out, because the colors are very similar and comparable to colors in the permanent line, but I felt like there was enough difference for me to go ahead and purchase them. I also do not own many polishes from this line, so that helped. Again, I haven't tested these exact polishes and when I do I will review. I've never had a problem with this line of polishes though.

Here are 3 random polishes I picked up last week and all 3 are from different Sally Hansen lines. Names are placed on the bottles for fast reference here, as well. They are all permanent shades. The first polish, "On Pines an Needles", is recently new this year for 2014, but it is permanent. The other 2 have been out for a while. I actually have never owned a Triple Shine polish before. When they first came out it seemed like everyone rushed out to buy them and within a few months it seemed like everyone had tossed them aside, which lead me to think they weren't all that, but I decided to pick this one up "Seanic" and test it out. If you have tried them let me know your thoughts!

Next up, these are the new "Miracle Gel" polishes that came out by Sally Hansen. (I promise this is the last of the Sally Hansen polishes!) I bought all 3 that have the "no light" written on the brush handle from CVS at $9.99 a piece and the "Style Maker" came in a 2 pack from Walgreens which included the special Top Coat that is suppose to help keep the shine and give durability to the polish and it was $14.99. These polishes claim to have the shine and look of a gel polish without the UV lamps, but last up to 2 weeks. These are what I am most excited to try! Around here these polishes have been selling out quite fast. It took me trying 3 different stores to find "Truffle Shuffle" after I passed it up the first time!

To finish this haul off, I'm showing off some Essie polishes. Essie is one of my favorite brands, they're a little pricey for drug store polishes, but I think the quality of them are great! Rarely do I need more than 2 coats and they last quite a while on my nails (more than a day or less, which is the result I get with a lot of drug store polishes). - "Fashion Playground" is a limited edition color from this years Spring 2014 collection and I still see it floating around at Rite Aids and Walgreens. I purchased mine from Rite Aid for $8.50. "Mojito Madness" is a permanent color and I bought mine at Walmart for $8.47.

Save the best for last! Here is the last polish of my haul and it is an Essie polish. This is "On a Silver Platter" and this came out for the holidays last year (Winter 2013). I wanted it when it came out and for some reason it was sold out every where and then I sort of felt like I didn't need it after the holidays. Well, now that the holidays are approaching again, I picked it up! I bought this one at CVS for $8.50. 

Hope you like the haul! I'm real sorry for my absence and making it look like I had abandon this blog, but it was more like I just needed some personal space. I will say that I did still receive activity while I was away, which made me feel encouraged that the content of my blog was still good enough to reach people, even though I was gone for a while. Thank you for your kind words and support. 

On a side note, I am seriously backed up from early summer until now with blog entries. Some may be irrelevant by now, but I am thinking I may still post them anyway. Let me know your thoughts!

Pink Tinsel Mani

If you read my last post, you will see my review and my nails done in the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat "#700 Cotton Candies". - I just wanted to show you my finished look with that mani. While, I didn't put a top coat on it, I did put a tinsel finish on it!

Using SinfulColors' "#1394 Pink Icicles", I made a cascade effect on my nails from the top. This polish was part of the limited edition holiday polishes released last year (2013). This polish looks just like a reddish-pink tinsel combined with black and white tinsel. 

I quite like how it turned out. Not necessarily a holiday-only look in my opinion. If anything, someone might associate more with Valentine's Day than Christmas. The tinsel polish is pretty easy to apply and dries fairly fast.

Beauty Battle: SinfulColors Crystal Crush vs Sally Hansen Sugar Coat

Today I bring you Beautiful Details' first ever Beauty Battle, where I put 2 similar products up against one another and compare to see who the winner is.

First, I bring you- SinfulColors Crystal Crushes in "#1365 Ruby Mine". This is a ruby red and dries to a textured finish that is pretty fine; feels like a very mild sandpaper finish. The "crystal" part of the title holds quite true. From a distance you cannot even tell it is textured. Many people asked to feel my nail, because it does not appear that textured. It applies very easily and this picture is sporting only 1 coat on each nail! The one thing that the picture does not capture well is that there is sparkle to it. I did a blog post about these limited edition crushes when they first came out and after trying out this gem here, I would highly recommend them if you can still get your hands on them or have not yet used them. This also dried quite fast. I did not use a topcoat here, because I didn't want to ruin the texture finish. I did have decent wear time with this polish. It was about 3 days before serious chipping and I wore it for 4 days before removing.

Next, I bring you the competitor: Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat in "#700 Cotton Candies". This is also a limited edition polish, but I still find these available at quite a few drug stores around here.

As for the performance- This polish was much more difficult to apply then the the SinfulColors one. It's not as smooth going on and I had to kind of blob it on at some parts to get the full nail to have complete coverage. This polish took 2-3 coats on each nail. Once dry, the polish is very textured and you can tell from the picture. It finishes to a strong sandpaper finish or kind of like spackle you would see on a ceiling. I quite like the texture and don't get scared by my descriptions, it is not rough and does not hurt anyone, however, it is much more of a texture than the Crystal Crushes. The dry time on this polish is quite fast so it does make for fast application and the coats aren't too bothersome. I did not wear a top coat with this, so I would not ruin the finish. I also had decent wear time with this polish. About 4 days before serious chipping and I went 5 days before removing.

The winner is......SinfulColors Crystal Crush in "Ruby Mine". While, I don't mind the work it takes to get the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat to be opaque, I have to hand it to SinfulColors. The major factor to me that makes the Crystal Crushes an overall winner is that fact that it took me only 1 coat! When you combine that with the fast dry time, it's a clear winner. I do like that the texture on the Sugar Coat shows up much better than the Crystal Crushes, I feel the overall performance, while similar, is edged out by the Crystal Crush. 

Ready For Winter - Mini CVS/Revlon Haul

I know most people get annoyed when winter/holiday/Christmas things start to roll out earlier than November. Personally, I love seeing this stuff come out in October. I've always been an earlier shopper/planner when it comes to holidays, birthdays, and celebrations. I had a coupon for $5 off of $25 at CVS a week ago and picked up a few things.

Items from left to right:

• Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter - "Provocative" [limited edition]
• Sally Sugar Coat - "#210 Royal Icing" [limited edition]
• Revlon Photoready Primer, Shadow + Sparkle - "#540 Muse" 

Of the entire Opulence collection from Revlon (which is a limited edition collection released for this holiday season), the lip butters were the thing I was looking forward to the most. I thought I had completely missed this whole collection, since it came out around the time I moved and I hadn't seen it anywhere around here. I was so happy to spot it at CVS the other week! Unfortunately, I could only get my hands on 1 of the 2. There was so much talk about the blue shade, but when I finally found this collection, only 1 of each shade was left on the display and the blue shade had been opened and a chunk was taken out it. I asked a sales associate if there was anymore, but with most limited edition displays what was out was all they had.

The purple shade, "Provocative", was the only one I could buy and even if it wasn't blue I was still intrigued by it. 

I did my best to photograph it, but whether I used flash or not it was really hard to capture what it really looks like. It's basically a clear gloss or "butter" with purple sheen and sparkle. I feel for a party or a night out it will really set the look.

Let me just say- I'm not afraid to show my naked nails. I have not been putting polish on all the time, because I have been dealing with a peeling nail and have been more focused on treatments and nourishment. Anyway, as you can see (for the most part) this is an ice blue color with purple sparkle in it. For any of you who don't know- the Sugar Coat polishes are textured and limited edition.

Here are swatches of the eye shadow palette. This palette is not believed to be limited edition. I have read from a few other sites/blogs that this is the only part of the collection that is not limited edition, however I have yet to see it on a regular display. All of the shades have a ton of sparkle in them, even though it's not so easy to see it. I feel the shadows are decently pigmented and I have another one of these palettes from the same line and really enjoy it, so I have a good feeling about this one. The lightest color is the primer and it is my favorite. I look forward to the high intense sparkle it'll add to the look. FYI- I have never really found the primer shade in these palettes to really be a primer or replace a primer you would use before applying your shadow.

So, that's it for this little winter haul. I'm hoping to pick up more goodies from other holiday collections. Let me know what you all have or want!