Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Gunmetal January 26, 2012
Posted by Alli in Sally Hansen.Tags: Nail Polish, Sally Hansen
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I passed over this polish SO many times. It always seemed interesting, but inevitably I’d find something else I’d want to purchase instead. Finally I bit the bullet and picked up Gunmetal. And I”m quite glad I did.
Gunmetal is a dark blue-gray with tons of shimmer. It is what I would call steel gray which makes the name rather appropriate. There is alot of shimmer but not so much that I would call this frosty. But it is definitely inching in that direction.
The formula is good. I did use 3 coats but realistically I could have gotten away with two. And as with all of the polishes from the Xtreme Wear line, it wore extremely well.
This does remind me a bit of OPI Light My Sapphire just quite a bit lighter.
Make sure to check out the macro shot below the jump 
Like to Win! Konad Starter Kit Giveaway! January 25, 2012
Posted by Katie in Contest.Tags: canada, contest, giveaway, konad, Nail Polish
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Hi everyone! I have something very exciting to share with you tonight! Nail Polish Canada has given us the opportunity to have one of our readers win a Konad Starter Kit! But it gets even better! If go here and pick out your favorite design plate then like & comment [HERE] on Facebook – you will win that also!
Alli and I have talked several times about trying Konad but neither of us have, so we’d like the winner to review it for us – whether you’d like to guest post or just email us after you try it and share your thoughts – entirely up to you!
The winner will also be entered to win $200 worth of Konad products!
Contest Details:
- This is open to US and Canada residents only – don’t worry, our next giveaway will be international!
- Like The Daily Varnish on Facebook.
- Like this Facebook post & comment with your favorite plate (look here for options).
- Contest will end at Midnight on February 3rd.
Have a great night!
Perfect Pair: Essie Go Overboard & OPI Yodel Me On My Cell January 24, 2012
Posted by Alli in Layering.Tags: Essie, Nail Polish, OPI
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I’m totally in love with Essie Go Overboard. It’s just a perfect yes it’s still winter but I’m dying for spring polish. Anyways, I’ve been wearing it alot lately so I was looking for a way to spice it up. Thanks to my handy dandy new nail polish rack all my OPI polishes were on display. I spotted OPI Yodel Me On My Cell and thought it would be the perfect polish to add some sparkle to Go Overboard!
I used 2 coats of Go Overboard and 1 coat of Yodel. I quite like the way it turned out. Yodel didn’t change the color much but it added just the right amount of sparkle.
Check out the macro shot below the jump!
OPI Metallic 4 Life January 23, 2012
Posted by Alli in OPI.Tags: Nail Polish, Nicki Minaj, OPI
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I won’t lie….I was pretty excited when I heard Nicki Minaj was collabing with OPI on a collection. While I’m not a huge fan of her music, I love finding out what she’s going to wear next (and I do have a serious obsession with Super Bass). So when I spotted the Nicki Minaj display at Beauty Brands I wanted to try at least one polish.
Metallic 4 Life has multi sized silver glitter suspended in a charcoal gray jelly base. I don’t really get the name on this one. It’s obviously a reference to Nicki Minaj’s song “Moment 4 Life” but this polish isn’t metallic! Anyway, I kind of hate this polish. In order to wear it alone, at least 4 coats are required. And it chips like CRAZY.
I have used this as a top coat once over Essie Smokin’ Hot. That is definitely the way with this polish, but I still didn’t love the way this polish looked. I will continue to try this as a top coat to see if I find a combination I like. But, for now, if I want a black polish with silver glitter I will stick with Orly Goth.
More swatches below the jump.
Essie Lilacism January 22, 2012
Posted by Alli in Essie.Tags: Essie, Nail Polish
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Despite the fact that Charlotte has yet to have any weather that would classify as winter weather I’m ready for Spring. Once the holidays are over I’m ready to move on! Between my desire for warmer weather and my nails needing a serious break from dark polishes and glitter I was rummaging through my Melmer for a lighter colored polish.
Lilacism is always a polish that catches my eye but not one I wear often. It is from Essie’s Spring 2010 The Art of Spring collection but is now part of the permanent line. I purchased it when the collection was originally released but I’ve only worn it once or twice. I decided it was time to give it another go. It looks gorgeous in the bottle, after all.
Essie describes this polish as a satiny smooth lilac. That’s more or less accurate. This is a blue based lilac with quite a bit of white in it. It lacks the dusty quality of OPI Done Out in Deco and Essie Nice is Nice. I have nothing but good things to say about the color itself, but the formula is an entirely different story.
Application of Lilacism was a headache. The formula is so thin and runny and quite sheer. I used 4 coats (on some nails 5 coats…) before I had an opaque color. You have to be very careful when applying coats to avoid streaks.
Due to the application issues I can’t say I recommend this polish. Yes, the color is gorgeous but it’s alot of work to get the color to look like it does in the bottle.
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Purple Pulse January 21, 2012
Posted by Alli in Sally Hansen.Tags: Sally Hansen
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Oh look, it’s yet ANOTHER purple nail polish! I clearly have a problem. A purple nail polish problem. Despite the fact that I know this, I continue to buy more. I just can’t help it!
Purple Pulse is a blue based purple with blue and red microgitter. The color is really quite gorgeous. And the formula is also fantastic. Two coats were all I needed for an opaque, even application.
One of the reasons I was drawn to this polish is that it looked very similar to Avon Matte Violetta. Matte Violetta is a GORGEOUS color but is an awful polish. So while Purple Pulse isn’t exactly unique, I’m glad I picked it up.
There is a macro shot below the jump
Confetti Rhapsody in Blue January 20, 2012
Posted by Alli in Confetti.Tags: Confetti, Nail Polish
2 comments
I bought this polish for one reason; to wear under deborah lippmann Today Was a Fairytale. So I didn’t much care how it looked on its own. In the bottle Rhapsody in Blue looks like a frosted steel blue gray with some shimmer. Simply because it is frosted, I would not have picked this up thinking I would wear it alone. But as it turns out, I didn’t dislike this as much as I thought I would!
Rhapsody in Blue is a steel gray packed with shimmer but it is only slightly frosty. Just frosty enough to look glowy on the nail. The formula is not fantastic; it’s a bit on the thin side and can be patchy. That of course won’t matter if I’m topping it with glitter, but it is quite noticeable. You can really see it on the macro shot below the jump.
This is certainly not my favorite Confetti polish (that goes to Happy Birthday!), but I think it’s a nice addition to my collection.
DIY: Nail Polish Rack January 19, 2012
Posted by Alli in Alli.Tags: DIY, Nail Polish
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Recently I’d been having a bit of a nail polish storage dilemma. I really wanted a nail polish rack I could hang on the wall so I could display some of my favorite polishes but nail polish racks are hard to find and they are expensive! I began to do a bit of research and found several different ways to construct a cheap, DIY nail polish rack. I settled on this design which is made from foam board and hot glue.
Yesterday I decided it was finally a time to give this nail polish rack a try. I tweeted last night that I was going to attempt to make it . As skeptical as I was the rack turned out great! And cost me less than $15 (which includes buying a hot glue gun). While I am rather crafty, prior to this experience I had never used a glue gun or foam board. Or a box cutter. So if I can do it, anyone can!
Info on how I made this rack and lots of pictures below the jump!
Essie Go Overboard January 17, 2012
Posted by Alli in Essie.Tags: Essie, Nail Polish
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At the beginning of this year Essie announced they were adding 8 shades to their permanent lines; 5 from collections released in 2011 and 3 new colors. I wasn’t overly excited about the 5 polishes from previous collections they added. As much as I love Smokin’ Hot, Nina Ultra Pro Never Glum Plum is a cheaper, easily available dupe with a better formula and the rest I am rather neutral on (though Katie really loved Meet Me at Sunset). That being said, I was rather excited about the release of Go Overboard. As soon as I spotted the display I picked it up and I”m glad I did!
Essie describes Go Overboard as a “limitless sea blue.” Well, ok. I guess that works. I’d say something more along the lines of a teal blue creme but that doesn’t sound near as fancy! However it is described, Go Overboard is a GORGEOUS color. As if that wasn’t enough, the formula is also fantastic. It is opaque but not thick. I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats, but I did use 3.
Surprisingly, I don’t have anything that is comparable to Go Overboard in my collection. This falls somewhere between Essie Going Incognito and OPI Ski Teal We Drop.
This is not limited edition so don’t fret if you haven’t found the Go Overboard display in your area yet. It should be popping up very soon.
essie – meet me at sunset January 16, 2012
Posted by Katie in Essie, Finger Paints, Katie, Nail Polish.Tags: 2011, braziliant, bright, Essie, fingerpaints, flake, Orange, special effects, Summer
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I must have had this polish on brain after reading Elle’s post about bright polishes! I was definitely needing some cheerful colors on my nails and so I picked this up at Walgreen’s (along with Eternal Optimist).
Meet me at Sunset was originally released as a part of the Brazilliant collection (Summer 2011). When I put it on I instantly fell in love with it! It fit my need perfectly- bright and cheerful! Though essie’s description calls this “a deep vibrant orange.” However, I think we could initiate a red-orange vs. orange-red debate a la Crayola… Either way, it’s lovely.
Obviously from the bottle, this is the retail not the salon version – and while many of you hate the white logo – I think it’s kind of cute, as long as the glass logos are still there, I’m okay with it.
In my shopping spree, I also picked up 2 polishes from Fingerpaint’s Special Effects collection: Asylum and Twisted. I’ll do a full post on both of them, but wanted to give you a sneak peek of Meet Me at Sunset + Twisted. So gorgeous! It makes me think of dancing flames (and brings to mind The Hunger Games…).
Happy Monday!
