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!

You Can't Prepare

I'd like to explain my long absence. The last post I made was the day that I found out my mother past away and after that it was everything I could do to pull myself together to get myself across the country to be with my family. With all of the commotion and stress that I had to deal with following the next few weeks of my life, I had no time to even think of this blog. Since then it has been just a list to tick through to get all matters settled legally and personally. And to top it all off, I've been trying to mourn through all of this. 

My mother has been sick for several years and in-and-out of hospitals for the later part of those years. When she was admitted this last time everything seemed to be going well. She seemed to be recovering just fine. However, the symptoms seemed to have just pushed her body over the edge and she passed away in the afternoon. 

Even though I had known that my mother's days were numbered and I felt that I would be relatively prepared, I found that I wasn't prepared at all. There's nothing you can say to yourself, there's nothing anyone can say to you either, that will make everything okay and will prepare you beforehand or after the fact. I really wish no one would have to go through this or have to deal with the legal crap that comes with it, but I cannot prevent what is going to happen. I just offer the advice that however you grieve or feel necessary to do to get through something like this -DO IT. Do not ever let others stand in your way or make you feel like you have to be a certain way, act a certain way, or do anything you don't want to do. This is as much your time as it is anyone else's.

With all of that said! I'm back. I hope to get posts up sooner or later and I feel this is the next step of my healing- being able to get back to being creative artistically with cosmetics, as well as narrative-ly through my blog. I appreciate all understanding and hope I have not lost complete communication to everyone I was in contact with. 

***As special thanks to Tammy at Chic and Alluring for checking up on me periodically. It's those who never give up on you when you are in your darkest moments that really shine.

Make It Pink

Well, I've been on a hiatus and it was very unexpected. I am going through very difficult times and it all deals with my family, so it's hitting me hard. It looks to be a bumpy road from here on out and I'm not sure when it will get better, but I'm doing my best to keep going and stay positive. Until everything is resolved, my posts will be sparse, I'm sure. - On the bright side, I have a string of posts I've been meaning to get up and I'm working on them now! Get ready to be pink-ified! I'm really not a huge "pink person", but for some reason, lately, I have been purchasing a lot of cosmetic products that are all in the Pink Family. It's okay though, because it does give me a break from my normal aqua and teal colors I usually purchase. 

I've also been reading a ton of new blogs and I'm starting to link to them. If you're a blogger lover and looking for something new to read then check out my right side of my blog where there are links to quite a few others!

Review: Wet N' Wild Limited Edition Polishes from "The Style Award Goes To..."

After reviewing the eyeshadow palettes from the limited edition collection from Wet N' Wild's "The Style Award Goes To..." for Spring 2014, I have a quick review on the 6 nail polishes that are also part of the collection from their Megalast polish line.

From Left to Right:

• #34357 Elegance -white frost.
• #34362 Champagne Toast -light champagne frost.
• #34359 Sophisticated Lady -light pink frost.
• #34360 Candid Affair -grey purple with pink iridescence.
• #34361 Valet Tag -taupe with silver shimmer.
• #34358 Silver Lining -dark grey purple jelly with silver shimmer and pink iridescence.

Here are swatches of the 3 lightest shades. All are only 2 coats. As you can see, none of the polishes are of opaque coverage. It takes about 3-4 layers to get opaque coverage. These particular 3 in the collection are nothing really unique, in my opinion. Similar shades have been made by Wet N' Wild in the past and some are very similar to their permanent line of Megalast polishes.

Here are swatches of the 3 darkest shades. Again, only 2 coats of each polish are on the nail. Silver Lining is a jelly, but I still feel it'd be better with 3 coats. Valet Tag & Candid Affair can get away with only 2 coats, but I feel 3 was better for my liking.

Final Verdict

Rather than rate each of these polishes individually, I am just going to rate the collection as a whole, because I feel for the most part that they all perform similarly. I'd give the collection a 5/10. These polishes are not that unique and similar shades can be found everyday or off-and-on by Wet N' Wild. They all take 3-4 coats to get good opacity and evenness. For $1.99 they are not bad, but they're also not something I'd rush out to buy. All of these polishes look better over darker shades or solid colors and that's how I would suggest using them.

Review: Wet N' Wild Limited Edition "The Style Award Goes To..."

I'm reviewing the limited edition Wet N' Wild palettes from their "The Style Award Goes To..." collection for Spring 2014. These are just popping up in Rite Aids around my area, so if you feel like you missed out then try checking out your stores again. This collection came out about a month ago and it seems like Walgreens received these first and now they're popping up in CVS & Rite Aid. Last year, the Spring collection was released twice, again in the summer, because it was in such high demand. So, keep your eyes peeled in July or August if you missed out now.

(Feel free to skip all the way to the bottom to read the Final Verdict and skip the details.)

I purchased these palettes for $4.99 each at Walgreens and they only allowed me to buy 1 of each item from the collection, as they only had 1 display and it was in high demand. When I stopped at Rite Aid this week and saw the collection there, they had no problem with you buying multiples. I guess it just depends on location. - Personally, I love the packaging on these. The white "sparkles" (which really are just white printed images to look like glamour and sparkles) are a nice touch and I've never had a Wet N' Wild palette look this cute before.

There were only 2 eyeshadow palettes released in this collection. On the right you have #34356 "Flirting at the After Party", which features multiple shades of purple. On the left you have #34355 "Walking the Red Carpet", which features neutrals and earth toned metallic colors. Each comes with double-ended brush that has a soft applicator and a bristle brush.

Here are swatches of "Walking the Red Carpet". The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. There are no names for these shadows, which is disappointing, but that's typical for Wet N' Wild. I was most excited about this palette when it came out, because of the metallic glitter-like shades, but this was actually a pretty disappointing pallet. Swatched, the shades do not look so bad. The brow bone colors and the eyelid color from the left column matches my skin tone almost exactly, and they're also not greatly pigmented. Most of this pallet is really powdery and makes a mess. The fallout of this powdery pallet makes for a challenge in applying the shadows as well. The gold color is very stiff and doesn't work for much more than a bright top layer over other shadows. The copper color isn't very bright either. Overall, I was highly disappointed in this pallet.

Here is a look I created using MOST of the colors from the "Walking The Red Carpet" pallet. Overall, I don't feel these shadows performed that well. You get about 4 hours with primer before fading and in my opinion- you can get similar colors every day.

Here are swatches from the "Flirting at the After Party" pallet. This pallet was pretty to look at when I first saw it and it definitely goes with the "Orchid" theme of 2014, but it didn't excite me too much before I opened it. I was more intrigued by the glitter and sparkle of Walking the Red Carpet, but after swatching and using the pallets I changed my mind. This pallet here is the winner and definitely worth the $4.99. The top row is the left column. The bottom row is the right column. Again, no names for the shades. The only real disappointments from this pallet are the "definer" shades -they're not as dark as most would like and they're a little powdery. These shades are soft, pigmented, blend well, and have decent staying power with primer. There is a bit of fallout, but nothing too bad. I was very impressed with this pallet.

Here is a look I created using "Flirting at the After Party". I think it turned out quite well.

Final Verdict

Walking The Red Carpet - I give this pallet a 4/10. The packaging is about the nicest thing I can say about this pallet. The outside is cute, the shades are pretty to look at, but the performance is way below a normal Wet N' Wild pallet. The shades lack pigmentation and are messy. The powdery mess really makes it hard to apply the shades and they do not last throughout the day, even with primer. Unless you're a beginner or a just a collector, I cannot recommend this pallet. The only other reason one would want this pallet is 

perhaps for experimenting or if one does not use these types of shades often.

Flirting at the After Party - I give this pallet a 8/10. For the price, this is a good deal. Aside from the outside being cute, the pallet itself is pretty to look at and the performance of the eyeshadows is very good. With the exception of the definer shades being a little light and hard to work with and a couple of powdery shades, this pallet overall performs well. With primer, you will get a days wear out of it and experience just a little fading. I would recommend this pallet beyond collectors and beginners, because it works well.