Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel: Mambo Melon

I must say, I think this is the best nail polish application job I have ever done! LOL, somehow I managed to stay pretty much on the nail and didn't get nail polish all over my cuticles!

Anyway, this is a nice color. It's slightly frosted, so it has a nice glittery texture without being overly sparkly. It also dries very quickly (I didn't time it though, so I can't say if the polish really dried within 30 seconds). The polish is thin, so you definitely need at least two coats to get decent coverage. I used two coats, and I think the next time I will go with three.

Avon Gel Finish 7-in-1 Nail Enamel: Very Berry

Finally, gel nail polish without the UV lamp! Call me paranoid, but I have been avoiding getting a gel manicure because of the UV lamp. I know it's probably not the same as sitting in the midday sun for hours, and I know that people with darker skin tend to have a higher tolerance to UV rays, but one has to think about how these things will affect you down the road (I'm still nervous about sitting under the UV lights all day at work).

I knew UV-less gel manicures would come out sooner or later, I just had to be patient. And now Avon has such manicures in a variety of colors. I chose Very Berry since I needed a good fall/winter color and I don't have any dark colors other than Plum and Black.

The color itself is nice, but the lasting quality isn't all that great. The nail polish began to chip within a few days, and by the end of the week, most of the nail polish had peeled off. Now, maybe I did something wrong, like putting on a base coat when I shouldn't have or something, but regardless this was the experience I had.

I would recommend it for the color, but don't expect it to last as long as actual gel manis.

Avon Speed Dry+ Nail Enamel: Turquoise Pop

According to Avon this nail polish is supposed to dry in less than 30 seconds. Not only that, but the polish is also supposed to make your nails feel hard as rock because of the unique blend of quick-drying ingredients and Volcanic Rock (oh my!)!

I didn't time the nail polish after I put it on, but by the time I had finished putting the first coat on one hand, the first hand I had done was completely dry, so this stuff does dry super fast! It goes on smooth and evenly, and has pretty good coverage and no streaking. As for hardness, it seems about as hard as most other nail polishes I use.

I love the color! I usually go for darker colors, or neutral colors, but I decided to shake things up a little with this one.

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Nail Enamel: Coral Beat

I got suckered into buying a bunch of nail polish from Avon a few months ago just to get free shipping for orders over $35 (these kinds of promotions get my hard earned money every time), so I will be reviewing the polishes I bought. I thought I should brighten up my nail polish collection a little and went for the Nailwear Pro+ Nail Enamel in Coral Beat.

The color is great, and I like the way it doesn't clash with my skin tone the way some light orange colors do. I applied the usual two coats and a top coat, but the polish only lasted the typical 5 days before chipping and cracking. The great thing about this color is that it matches my Steve Madden satchel pretty closely!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure: Camelflage

I bought this Sally Hansen Complete Solon Manicure in Camelflage at the same time that I bought the Earl Grey color. I bought both polishes earlier this summer, so I was going for some softer, pastel colors. I liked this color because it is a good neutral that is still pretty noticeable without being bold. I put on the nail color on Monday evening, but it began to chip off by Thursday, even with two coats and a top coat.

Sally Nansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish: Earl Grey

I haven't done a nail art post in a while (or any kind of post in a while for that matter!), so I thought it would be good to post this. I used Sally Nansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish in Earl Grey and then the white Sally Hansen I Love Nail Art pen to make the dots.

I love the Earl Grey color because it's more of a taupe color than grey. The pen was handy for making these dots, but it was a little runny, ans you have to make sure the color has dried completely before putting on a top coat.

Overall, the Earl Grey color was nice, and the polish was thick enough to give good coverage with one coat, but I always go for two just to be safe. The downside for me was that the polish only lasted a few days before starting to chip, and some of the white spots began to wear off after a day or two. 

Sally Hansen Salon Effects French Mani

Well, these past  four months have completely turned the whole Global Warming thing on its head as far as I'm concerned. Here it is, a week from the beginning of April and the highs for the week are supposed to be in the low 30s, and there is snow reported for tomorrow!Unheard of!!!

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, I've been experimenting with colorful nail tips. Well, a few months ago I found out about Sally Hansen Salon Effects French Mani. Basically, these are for your tips what Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips are for your nails.

Currently, there are 8 designs, but hopefully there will be more added soon! The process for applying these is the same as the Nail polish strips.

I bought "Noir Boudoir" and "Polka Party" to start things out. I haven't used "Noir Boudoir" yet, but I decided to test out "Polka Party" with "Cotton Candy" from Avon (this is also the first picture I've posted taken with my new phone.See how clear the picture is!!)

Overall, the application is easy, but it may a little tricky to get the tips fitted right at first on your nails to look more natural. Because the strips are only so long, if you have extremely long nails, you'll probably want to trim them down to an average nail length so you can cover your nails. Also, these nail tips last about as long as the nail strips.

Definitely recommend these, especially for those who want cool nail art, but don't have the time, skill, or steady hands to actually do everything from scratch!

Leopard Print Nails

This is my second time using Funky Nails, which some of you may remember from this earlier post. This time, I fared a little better as far as the application went (as I had mentioned in my initial review, practice makes perfect!). This time, instead of folding the excess over my nails and leaving it like that, I folded the extra over my nail tips, and then filed it off, so the applique ended at the tips of my nails.

Crime Tape Nails

Ok, so these aren't really crime tape nail designs, but the yellow and black reminded me of crime tape. This is good for an edgy look that uses colors that are great for Fall. I used Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Yellow, Avon's Mosiac Effects in Black, and then finished off with a Sally Hansen Hard as Nails top coat.

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat vs Avon Mosaic Effects

When I did my post of Avon Mosaic Effects topcoat, someone commented about how it would look with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat. Honestly, I had never heard of this before until then, but now I've decided to try it out to see how they compare to each other. Of course, another reason I wanted to try the Crackle was that it was from one of my favorite cosmetic/beauty brands, which I can always rely on for great quality products! Since I didn't have any blue nail polish, I decided to go with the Crackle Overcoat "Wave Break."

Sally Hansen "Golden" Xtreme Wear Nail Polish

Way back in September, I decided to spice up my nail life a little by trying out some metallic nail polish. I decide to go with Sally Hansen "Golden" Xtreme Wear because I had already planned to wear a golden-metallicish cap sleeve dress that I had bought at Macy's for working at a career fair at work. Sally Hansen "Golden" is a great color that is subtly sparkly, which is great since I was looking for something that would "pop" without being too juvenile (most of the sparkly nail polishes out there remind me of the kind I used to wear in middle school). This polish also had the added benefit of containing Sally Hansen's super duper nail hardening formula. As usual, I put on a top coat, and the nail polish lasted for almost an entire week.

  

Leopard Print Nails

The great thing about working full-time, other than having something to do during the day, and making money, is that I can go back to doing crazy things with my nails. Since crazy nails are generally a "no, no" in interviews, I had to stick with either clear, or neutral/light colored polish.


For my first day of work a couple of weeks ago, I decided to wear a leopard print tank under a tan blazer, to add a little "umph" to my business casual outfit. To match the tank, I used the Leopard Print Funky Nails. As you can see, my nail applique skills have greatly improved since I first reviewed Funky Nails. It seems that applying nail applique is a lot like applying false lashes and nails; you get better with practice! As you can see, the applique is better fitted to my nails, and doesn't hang over the tips of my nails. I figured out that you have to trim the part over the nail tips with a file, but going in an up-and-down motion parallel to your nails, not side-to-side like you would normally file your nails. This way you can trim the excess of easily without messing up the rest of the nail applique once it has been applied, which was a big issue that I had when I first used Funky Nails.  

Coloful Nail Tips

Since I had an interview, I took the previous nail color off, but I still wanted some color, so I decided to do a little more experimenting with colorful tips. I decided to use clear Sally Hansen extreme nail polish as the base coat, and then used Avon's Nail Wear Pro "Cotton Candy" as the tip color, since it was subtle enough to go on an interview with, but still had the necessary amount of color to make me happy. The only problem that I'm running into is that the "Cotton Candy" tends to stay a little smushy, and doesn't harden well (ha, a little like real cotton candy, so this could just be a marketing ploy, but somehow I doubt it). I ended up having to redo the tips because they smeared even though the base and top coat were completely dry.

Black Mosaic Effects Tips

When I'm bored, there are usually 3 things that I do to fill my time: 1) Do weird things with my hair, 2) Do weird things with my nails, and 3) Lust after celebs/anime guys/male video game character. It's too hot for me to move around and do my hair, and after a point lusting gets a little boring, so I decided to do my nails! I actually haven't done my nails is almost a month since I started interviewing, and it's killing me!

Since my posts on Mosaic Effects are so popular, I thought I'd do another, but this time using the black top coat. I decided to try something different by using the black only on the tips of my nails, thus creating Mosaic tips! Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit for this marvel of nail ingenuity, because the actual tutorial was featured in one of the Avon magazines, but here is how it actually looks when you try it.

For this look, I used Nail Wear Pro "Cotton Candy" and the base coat, then painted the black top coat only on the tips. It actually came out pretty good, and the Mosaic effects hide the unevenness of the tips (for some reason I'm horrible when it comes to painting tips on evenly. 

All in all, it's a pretty cool look!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

Since I've dived head-first into the exciting world of nail strips, and, as you all know, I completely swear by Sally Hansen products, I decided to try out Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. This post is basically going to be a review of how the Sally Hansen product compares with the Funky Nails, which I reviewed here. There is also a post on CurlyGirl Beauty reviewing the "Frock Star" style, so check it out if you want to learn more!

Funky Nails!!!

Funky Nails Applique 12 designs kit

A few weeks ago, I decided to buy the Funky Nails kit on nomorerack.com. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Funky Nails, they are the fashion nail applique polish which feature various designs and patterns. I usually don't buy into the "As Seen on TV, Easy to Use" stuff, mainly because it rarely works as well as it's advertised, if it works at all. But in this case, I liked the designs, and the kit, which comes with twelve nail designs/patterns, was only $6.99, so I thought the least I could do was try it out.

Since I was planning on wearing my red dress with white polka dots to work on Wednesday, I decided to use the red and white nail applique set. I would have used my red nail polish and white mosaic effect, but the red nail polish sometimes stains my nails. First thing that got to me was that the picture instructions, and the written instructions on the back of the box are different, and can be a little confusing if you're paying close attention.

The first step is to clean your nails.Then you have to trim the nail applique set to fit you nail size. After this you soak the nail strips in water. The best thing to do is to soak the strips until the nail applique starts to come off by itself, otherwise you may tear it as you are remove it from the strip. After this step, all you have to do is put the applique on your nail, let it dry, and then put on a top coat for extra protection and shine.

The good thing about the Funky Nails, besides the cool patterns, is that there is no mess as with liquid nail polish. Of course, the nail polish itself doesn't have to dry, but you will have to let the applique dry on your nail after soaking in the water. The application on the applique takes a little practice to get it to fit on your nail perfectly, and without bubbles or wrinkles. After wearing the applique for a whole day, even with a top coat on, the applique had started to peel around the edges of the nail.

Obviously, the applique is not as durable and long lasting as liquid nail polish, and can be a little difficult at first to apply. However, because of the fairly quick application process, and the great designs, Funky Nails are really good if you have a particular outfit you want to match your nails to, or a special occasion that you are going to. This way you change your nail color easily without going through the trouble of using regular nail polish, or false nails.

Mosaic Effects Nail Polish

Since nail art posts seem to be all the rage these days, I thought I'd jump on the band wagon too. I've never been too big an nail art myself due to the fact that a) I have very small fingers and nails, b) I don't have the patience, or steadiness, to do it myself, and c) I'm too cheap to get it done professionally (still waiting on that rich husband). Besides, the last time I got my nails done, the people there said that they could only do nail art on my big toe, because the other nails were too small, although I think that was more of an excuse to not do the extra work.

Anywho..., I've been using Avon's Mosaic Effects top coat nail polish. I love it because it's easy to use (all you have to do is put it on over your completely dry nail polish and let it dry), and you get super cool effects! At first I though the top coat only worked with Avon's Nail Wear Pro, which is what I bought it with, but then I tried it with some other nail polish and it worked perfectly with those as well! Unfortunately, the Mosaic Effects top coat only comes in black and white, but, depending on the color of the nail polish you use, you can still create some great looks. The trick to getting the crackle mosaic effect is that you have to apply the top coat on kind of heavy, and not overlap with the brush strokes, or adding a second coat. If you put it on too thin, then the effect will look more like streaks (unless that's what you want), and if you overlap, the newer coat will over lap the first, causing the effects to not show through. It takes a little practice at first, but in the end it's completely worth it!

Because my nails are so soft that they peel and split, I use Sally Henson's Hard as Nails to strengthen my nails, and keep them from breaking a splitting so easily. I know a lot of experts say that by using nail hardening nail polish on top of your nails doesn't actually make them stronger, I have noticed that my nails don't peel and break as much since using the Sally Henson product. But you can decide for yourself.

For this look, I used these products in the order listed below:

1. Sally Henson Hard as Wraps "Plum" nail polish
2. White Mosaic Effects Top Coat
3. Sally Hanson Hard as Wraps UV Top Coat "Clear," to add shine and protection