Totally not as expected

I'm disappointed. The polish I used today was such a let down! Its First Blush by Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear.  It was SOOO not the color I expected it to be =(

Ok so I'm sure I should have expected this but the color was way too sheer.  This was three coats and you can still see the tips of my nails.  Aside from the color, the application was totally easy, but a little watery. The polish did not stay where I put it, making cleanup take super super long.  On a positive note the polish dried really quick (I even changed my pants right after I painted them and there was no smudging!).  Well, anyway the color is a middle ground between a white and a cream pink.  In my last post I had mentioned that I was on the prowl for a white/pink cream and although that is how I described this color...this is not what I had in mind.  I want something more like this...

*Picture courtesy of All Lacquered Up Blog

See how much different?? Good thing I had this Sally from a few years ago and didn't buy it expecting a specific color. Expect another post in the next few days, I can't stand this color already.

While the roommate is out to play

So my roommate is out having a great time (if you know what I mean) which leaves me all alone in my room.  Bored and all Sex and the City'ed out I bring you a quick little post to just touch on some key points that I keep forgetting to add in prior posts.

1. Although this may be silly to everybody, this is the longest my nails have ever been...EVER. I never used to let them grow past my fingertips and I had a horrible biting habit but I've ditched that addiction because who wants to ruin a b-e-a-utiful manicure? Not I haha, I finally realize why its such a big deal when one breaks a nail...it takes a great deal of effort to get them looking like that again, it's like a full time job!

2. I have asked for a konad kit for easter (yes, I do get easter gifts haha).  After reading Polish Hoarder Disorder (PHD)'s blog post "Konad. What? and How?", I realized konad Isn't:
                         1. As expensive as I thought
                         2. As hard as I thought
                         3. As messy as I thought
I'm REALLY looking forward to trying some things out...all day tomorrow is going to be spent picking out the plates/ colors that I want. Any recommendations?

3. I still have yet to get an organizational tool for my polishes...after looking on transdesign.com at the organizer I showed you in a previous post I realized that I cannot fathom spending the $30 on a little plastic thing (which I would now need 2 of because I have over 60 polishes), so I am still using an Ulta bag..but I'm heading to target over the weekend so I am determined to find something that works just as great as that one but less than half the price!

4. The polish that I showed you guys today (although initially put on yesterday afternoon) already majorly chipped. What a bitch.

5. I'm looking for a light cream/white color (kind of the same color as Ballet Slippers by Essie) but I cant seem to find a good one.  I have a pet peeve about ordering nail polish online...I need to physically see it before I go and spend money on it, meaning I can't buy Ballet Slippers because Walgreens does not carry Essie yet.


6. Yes, I said it. I'm not sure if you guys have heard but pretty soon..or so they say.. Walgreens (my old job) will start carrying Essie polish. HOW GREAT..I'm literally ecstatic. Essie is awesome.


7. I have gotten my whole suite into painting their nails every few days...just this afternoon four of them (out of 5) were painting their nails!

Okay, I bet there are still tons of things that I will remember I left out right when I hit publish but I can't think of them right now so my rambling is over.  Sorry no swatch pictures in this post, but I'll leave you with some of my favorite... Warhol!!

OH MY GOSH. How could I forget!?! The biggest thing of all.  I will be having a small giveaway (2-3 polishes) when I reach 100 followers so pleasee recommend me to your friends/ fellow bloggers =)

New and Improved!

As you can tell (and hopefully like), I re-designed my blog today =)  I'm loving all the new fonts that are offered now... I finally feel like a real blogger, how 'bout that! hehe

So I've been getting in touch with tons of developed bloggers and trying to figure out how they gathered their followers and pretty much how they became AWESOME. Surprisingly tons of them were willing to help me out but for the people I didn't get to ask...how about adding me to your blog roll? I'm really trying to have more than 8 followers (although I appreciate those people who believed in me when I was just first starting) so I am really trying anything.  Now I have something to ask you guys, what is this Swap thing I've been hearing about (from ThePolishAholic)? Does anybody know the rules or how it works? I'm willing to try it if anybody else is..it sounds pretty cool and a great way to get my name out there.  Let me know if you are interested!

Yesterday I used Vintage Gray Petites Color Fever that I got from Rite Aid for $3.99 (a little steep for such a little bottle -.25 FL OZ).

Who else loves this color as much as I do? I've used it before but obviously I have forgotten that its so awesome.  So here's the thing, although the color is spot on the application is a little thick.  I used three coats for opacity and topped it off with Seche Vite. The color tends a little towards purple at some points,  but then like a light army green at others (in artificial light)... but it always has a hint of brown, making for the perfect soft cream gray.  I also have Petites Color Fever in a periwinkle color and I have to say that the application of that polish was much better than this application. (weird right?)  I would DEFINITELY recommend this color and brand although application is a little tricky.

Please don't forget about the swap thing..I'm really excited to try it!!

Mermaid to Order

Holaa chicas =) Im writing this post while watching the most boring thing that has ever hit the television waves, The State of the Union haha. Politics are not my thing and to be quite honest I'm glad I don't have to deal with it yet- woot woot that I was not 18 before the last presidential election lol, at least I can put off growing up in the political world for a few years which I'm excited about.

Okay down to business. Although I LOVED the polish in my last post, there was a lot of tip wear so here I am again.  As promised I used a polish today that is totally unlike me, because one-its sort of iridescent, and two- its sephora (I always used to hate Sephora polish) but even after all of that, this polish has to be one of my favorites.

I used Sephora's Mermaid to Order by OPI, i'ts great and I think EVERYONE should go out today and buy itt!

*Polish Courtesy of my suitemate Ami

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

As you can tell, it really does look like the color you think a mermaid is lol.  Although it looks like there should be a hint of blue looking at the bottle, there really is none (maybe just an undertone).  It is very much a teal cream and although I could not capture it perfectly in this picture, it has sort of a metallic finish.  This polishes application was pristine, it only took me two coats for opacity ( you could get away with one depending on what you want it to look like).  It covered easily and was the perfect consistency, I didn't even have to do touch ups with nail polish remover, it was easy to tame and it didn't run into my cuticles. 

It is definitely worth the whopping $9 in my eyes. 

You're going to hate me.

Okay guys, I'm really sorry. I found a polish that I had at home which came from one of those makeup/nail polish big palates and I really really liked it so I decided to paint my nails with it today. The bad news is I don't know what brand it is or what the name of it is.

So I have a dupe if that helps, its Mink Muffs by Essie (Nordstrom Exclusive Collection)- I got this dupe after an hour of searching the internet because I don't own any polishes that look like this so sorry if it's not perfect, it's the closest thing I found.

This is What Mink Muffs looks like...

* Picture is courtesy of the Nailstah blog

Here is a picture of the polish I used today which I will call Milk Chocolate because that's what it really looks like!!

As you can tell, my polish is a lot richer than the Essie but like I said its the closest I could find.  Milk Chocolate went on very well, the formula was nice and creamy but my nails soaked up the polish so I had to get the brush full of lacquer to cover a whole nail without re-application or touch-ups.  This polish took three coats to look like the color in the bottle which for such an old polish (probably at least 10 yrs old by now) is pretty darn good...I'm so surprised that it has not dried out or become clumpy by now so cheers to whatever brand made this polish.  I instantly liked the color when I saw it, there is just something so chic about a neutral brown that really draws my attention.  I have a color all set for my next post but I need to dress up tomorrow ( I have weekly dress up days for my sorority) so I figured I'd go with the more muted polish now and repaint after tomorrow-you will see what I am talking about soon-I'm soo looking forward to it!! 

Goodnight all.

Be honest..how am I doing?

Do I post frequently enough? I know most other nail bloggers just swatch the colors on their nails but I actually like to live with it for a while and do a full manicure..but let me know if you think I should post more often because I totally will try and make that effort.

The other day I used the new Revlon Scented Nail Polish in Mad About Mango that I bought from Walgreens for $4.99. 

 It's a mix between an orange, a pink and a red.  It is advertised to be scented when dry, which it really is, even after scented soap and lotion! The application was a little clumpy, I would have liked it if it was watered down a little.  I needed three coats to get the polish to look like the color in the bottle and it was an absolutely needed three coats, not even because the color, but anything less would be blotchy and very orange.  


All in all this was just a mediocre polish in the formula area but the color is a nice fresh tone that would be great for summer-I'll put this one on the shelf for a while and bring it back out around April/May. ...Well anyway don't forget to let me know what you think about my posting frequency, I'm really interested in what you guys think!

Firsts

Today is just full of firsts for me..it was my first day of classes as a second semester Junior.  How crazy is that? I am almost three quarters of the way through my undergraduate college experience..I'm scaring myself out just talking about it! Although college is NOTHING like I thought it would be, I can honestly say that its only different, not worse than expected.  I really wish I would have gone to a bigger school (which was the last thing on my mind while applying) but I guess that just shows how much I've changed throughout these three years.  My friends from home (that go to college at home) keep telling me that I've changed since I've gone away but I don't understand why they see it as a bad thing. We all need to grow up sometime... don't we?  Well anyways, today it was also my first time using a certain polish that should have been on my wish list because its amazing and a half, Tease-y Does It by O.P.I.  

Now here's the thing... It seems purple in the pictures right?... well not according to my nails it doesn't.  It looks more like the second picture (VERY BAD quality, I realize, but it was the only picture that captured the real color).  It is a very dark brown base color with flecks of red sparkles in it in some lights and as you can tell in artificial lights it looks very purple..I honestly like both so it really doesn't matter to me ( I bought it with the intentions of it being more red though).  I wouldn't suggest this to people who are looking for purple polishes though because it only looks like that very rarely.

As with all O.P.I's (considering the price is a steep $8.50) you expect the application to be nothing but perfect and I have to say it was (and extra score, I found this one on clearance for $2.99 at Ulta).  I love using new polishes because you don't have to stick the brush far into the bottle to get WADS of lacquer, which makes application that much easier and clean- less lumpy.

okayy well I'm off to a night of movie watching and junk food eating with my suite-mates!! Have a good week =)

I am in love...with Sally Hansen.

Have you ever felt that somebody really close to you was, how should I put it, withdrawing? I've been having this issue since my last post (yeah I know, it's only been one day) and I've been trying to figure out how to approach it..should I confront them? or just hope it will go away? Hmmm, I'm confused.  

Well anyway, I had to get that god awful color off my fingers PRONTO so I hope you will enjoy this post as much as I am =) I used an always safe Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Extreme Wear Nail Color in Green With Envy. The application, as with any Sally Hansen polishes was to die for... I really love her polishes because it is such a creamy formula and covers in (as per your discretion) as little as one coat although I used two here-and finished it off with the miracle worker top coat as always Seche Vite.  

This picture is a perfect representation of what the color is in real life.  Its more like a yellow-ey green than a pure green but is just tuned down enough so people don't look at you like you are insane.  It kind of reminds me of the slime/gack from Figure It Out. Doesn't it? But nail polish wise, it looks like it could be a dupe for a color I've had my eye on for a while but I obviously don't need now which is...Green Apple by Orly. 

Right!? My Sally Hansen may have a bit more yellow tint to it, but come on...they are pretty similar.

I've bought so many polishes since I have been on christmas break..I think I may need to invest in some sort of storage container for them... I really like Sephora Junkie's storage

She said it was a pretty reasonable price at $22.95 from www.transdesign.com...I'll have to check it out because I can't keep storing my polishes in Ulta bags haha.

Alright well that's it for now...have a lazy sunday.

Pink?

Yeahh, 2 posts in one night!

Okay get excited..because this doesn't happen too often, I used a pink =0 It was screaming at me from the shelf..BUY ME, BUY ME, so I had to. Its NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel in Charming Rose Cream #126. Its a perfect pink that looks like exactly how the name describes it, Rose-y.

The application was only so-so but for the $1.99 price tag, ill take a tricky application. It took 2 coats to look decent but still didn't turn out how i wanted it to, which turns me even more off from pinks. Here's the deal, I'm into mates, I don't like any of these shiny/ iridescent colors...so maybe I need a mate pink..any suggestions? Well this is what it looks like, I hope you guys at least like it...

Do you see what I mean? Its such a rich great color and I couldn't capture it in a picture but it has a sort of metallic finish to it. All in all, nothing to rave about-therefore, there will probably be another post tomorrow to get this color off my nails.

Bling Bling

HELLO FOLLOWERS!!! [finally haha] I'm really happy lately because I'm going back to school in less than a week! I miss all my friends and my sorority sisters soo much and I can't wait to go back to my easy ass job doing nothing as opposed to my horrid job back home. Therefore I am out of my dark polish phase =)

I used Lotsa Luxe by Ulta which is a pretty gold. Obviously as you know by now, Ulta polishes are some of my favorites and this polish just supported that opinion.

The application was not streaky at all, which is what is expected from metallic polishes and went on well enough only to do one coat. Like I told you in my last post, I used the Ulta Ridge Filler when using the Sula lacquer and it went on a little watery/streaky and I was wondering if it was because of the Ridge Filler. Well, I used it again before the gold polish and I've come to the conclusion that it was just the Sula polish that was the problem because the gold went on just fine.

In my experience when I buy gold polishes, it comes out either sheer or brownish..not the expected gold that I want. All I can say is Ulta got it right! Its the perfect (in my opinion) shade and ratio of yellow to brown hues. It has a greet sheen to it and is exactly what I wanted. OH, and did I mention it was on clearence!? Instead of the pretty steep price of $5 per bottle, it was almost only $3.75, woo!

Snowed In.

Hey everyone! Is it just me or does everybody despise the snow? I mean, it looks all cute and fluffy when it first falls..but then give it like 3 or 4 days and it turns black! Ick. Not to mention the fact that everyone is driving at 5 mph making me late to things. Snow just isn't as fun as it was when I was a kid anymore...BUT, it gives me time to relax and paint my nails =)

Today, the color I used is Azure by Sula. Its a really interesting polish because I'm not sure if any of you have seen a bottle before but its advertised as "Paint and Peel", meaning you just peel the lacquer off when desired, no polish remover needed. How cool is that!? I haven't taken it off yet but in my next post I'll let you know if it worked..I'm really interested to see it

myself.

How do ya'll like it? Its a nice teal color, and I can honestly say that I don't have any other polish thats close to the same color..so that's a plus. To be quite honest, it looks better in the pictures..but maybe it's because they were taken before I slept on them and fucked 'em up. Im not sure how the application was because I tried out this new ridge filler from Ulta (that I bought yesterday along with a few other polishes- Lotsa Luxe by Ulta, Tease-y Does It by OPI, and a baby trio of Brisbane Bronze, Botoga Blackberry, and Black Cherry Chutney- which, SCORE, were all on clearance!) as a base coat before I lacquered up (making the application of Azure really blotchy and streaky). It turned out looking great, but I had to use three coats-which I really have no problem with because the polish was only 99 cents. Here's a quick picture off all the polishes I just listed (in order, except for Azure), I will be swatching them all in posts to come.

After long consideration, I finally bought Seche Vite..which as many of you I'm sure know is the best of the best top coat..and wow, it really is!! It gives your polish such a boost and makes it look perfect, shiny and feel smooth...but there is a downside, it retails for about $9 which for my penny pinching college wallet was hard to shake..but I just had to get it and I'm glad I did.

I'm not above begging

Hey guys, happy saturday. I've gotten to the point where I will start begging, PLEASE FOLLOW

ME!!! Its getting pretty sad when I update my page once every hour to just get the same message "You have no followers, be the first!" Don't get me wrong, I will keep posting..but I would love if people were reading it!! Okay, now that I've had my breakdown "I feel bad for myself" rant, lets get on to the nail polish =)

Today I used a polish that I just bought from Walgreens on my polish shopping spree yesterday..it's See You Soon (#931) by Sinful Colors Professional and I have gotta say it's a pretty awesome color.

The color is dark and almost black with a blue/green shiny tint to it. In most lights(artificial) it looks more like a dark green which I like. It went on perfectly and dried really quickly which is a HUGE plus in my book. I have been complaining a lot to my family and friends that the last polish I showed here (the Ulta one) created tons of bubbles but now after using this color it is happening again, so I'm thinking its maybe my base/topcoat so just letting you guys know I'm shopping around for new ones..any suggestions? When I switch over i'll let you guys know!

Night!

Lazy day...

Sorry this post is coming so late, I was having problems for HOURS creating a post..and after searching high and low for an answer I realized I just needed to switch to the old editor, so now we are back in business =)

Today I chose to use a nice dark winter-y color because I've been in a 'blah' mood lately (realizing I have about no friends at home anymore) so I'm feeling the depressing darks. I decided on one of my favorite colors Ulta Salon Formula Nail Lacquer in Dark Angel (#207).

As you can see, in the bottle it looks more like a brown/red color but on my nails it looks like a deep red/wine color with not much brown. Can I just say, I LOVE ULTA NAIL POLISH. The application was just amazing, the formula was just liquidy enough to glide on perfectly without having to do much of any touch-ups. I'm not sure I captured the parts that were a little patchy in the pictures but let me just let you know this was only one coat which I think is very impressive! I have a feeling this polish will be living on my nails for a while because its just so great! The first thing i thought was it kind of reminds me of CND's Fedora which looks like this:
I don't actually own this polish, I just saw it once and LOVED it so unfortunately I cant show you them next to each other. Still, I think they are pretty good dupes..they both seem to have the same red/black/purple ratio, although the lacquer in the CND bottle doesn't seem to have that brownish tint to it that Ulta's polish does.

Its getting pretty late and I need to be up early tomorrow to get an oil change for my car (blehh)..night!

Lets start this thing!

I am so excited to add my first post in which I finally show you guys some nail polish! So today after a very short work day (woo woo!) I got right to painting my nails which was such a relief because I have had Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Grey Area on my nails for about a week and they were getting chipped beyond recognition.  Anyways, I chose a polish that I just got for christmas (ironically from the Christmas Tree Shop).  It is called Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Virtual Violet.  


I started with my favorite base/topcoat (Orly Nail Defense, from CVS) which I will use every time I lacquer up along with Sinful Colors Professional Quick Dry Enamel (before the topcoat) because I have no patience haha.

Its the winter season so I apologize for the dry cuticles, Im going to see what I can do about that.

                                                            Base Coat+1st Coat-FLASH

                                                        Base Coat+1st Coat-NO FLASH

As you can see, it turned out a lot more iridescent and lighter than expected on the first coat (the polish in real life IS NOT as blue as it seems in the picture, it is more purple).

                                                Second Coat+Quick Dry+Top Coat-FLASH

This polish gets a lot darker with the second coat as you can tell, which I loved because the one thing I hate most is colors not being what I expected.  As for this polishes application, I wasn't too thrilled.  I hear many people RAVE about Sally Hansen's brush but I seemed to have nothing but problems with it. Personally, I think it picks up too much polish and maybe because my nails are small but its too big for my nails making application crazy messy.  Also, there are a couple bubbles in each of my nails which is especially distracting with such an iridescent polish.  Other than all that though I love the color so I'm happy!

Welp, I hope you all enjoyed my first real post because theres plenty more where that came from! If anybody has comments, tips, criticisms etc. please feel free to comment and let me know what you think =)

My Lacquer Blog!

Hello my... zero followers! (hmm.. I should get working on that).  This is my first blog and I decided to make it about something I love most, Nail Polish! So here's the deal, you follow me, and I will update you all on my favorite polishes, how well they work, where I get them, show you pictures etc.  Although I'm going to try and keep this blog as 'lacquer aimed' as possible, it's inevitable that little doses of my life will show up so I hope thats okay! (not that you really have a choice lol) So now I figure I should tell you a little bit about myself...

My name is Lauren, born and raised in the suburbs of NY.  I am a 20 yr old junior at a college in CT that shall remain nameless for obvious security purposes.  I am getting my degree in Psychology and I am also a Sociology minor, hoping to land a job as a market/consumer analyst. I am a sister of Theta Phi Alpha sorority and I LOVE pop art, especially Andy Warhol (hence the blog name "From A to B and Back Again")

If you are visiting my page i hope that you will follow me and enjoy my life with the lacquer, thanks everyone!


DISCLOSURE: As a college student I have limited funds so although I will be set for a while (I own a bunch of nail polish), please bear with me if I have some slow weeks!!