Salon Effects by Sally Hansen... so far, pretty cool.

Okay, so remember waaaaaay back when, I mentioned something in this post about trying the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips? Well, I finally did it!

These are the #340 Girl Flower Strips and I thought they would be perfect for a summer pedicure.  Yeah, I decided to try them on my toes instead of my hands because, well, a wildflower manicure just seemed like a bit much for me right now.

I did do one accent nail on my hands with the flowers:

Not sure how I feel about that look.  I think I might have liked it better if I'd chosen a better color for the rest of the nails.  Maybe a sky blue, or a fun summery pink?  This shimmery iridescent silver is just not doin' it for me really.  (In case anyone is wondering that color is called Silver Lining and the polish is also Sally Hansen- Complete Salon Manicure.)

Also, not sure how I feel about the whole accent-nail-of-a-different-color thing.
I might be too old for these sorts of shenanigans.

Here's a close-up of the Salon Effects:

I'm still not sure if these things are going to hold up or not.  I haven't yet showered so, I'm a little skeptical of how they're going to look once that happens.  I've read some reviews and most people say they wear like iron, but a few people said they chipped off after a day or two.  We'll see!

They were, by the way, pretty easy to apply, so if they do wear well, that would make them pretty f'n awesome.  

Things I'm Loving

Doing my nails...

I've been really into having pretty nails lately.  I read somewhere, that during times of economic recession, women tend to treat themselves in little ways more often.  They buy more lipsticks/nail polishes, things like that, and I can see why.  It's a little thing that makes you feel pretty and it doesn't cost much.

Which leads me to thing #2 that I'm loving:
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Now if you're a nail polish freak then I'm sure you've heard of Seche Vite, but if not, listen up! This stuff is seriously cool.  It really does make your nails dry fast and it makes your manicure last, as far as I can tell, forever.  The first pic of me holding my favorite mug was taken the day after I painted may nails.  The 2nd pic is of today nearly 4 days later and there are absolutely no chips and very little tip wear. (Please ignore my sketchy lookin' cuticles.)  This is a pretty amazing change from my usual experience with the whole nail polish situation.  Usually I have at least one or two chips on day 2 and by day 4 what isn't chipped is wearing down from the tips pretty significantly.  As you can see from the somewhat blurry pic there are no chips.  None! And the tip wear is just barely starting to show.
Now I've heard that some people have a really terrible experience with this stuff.  They claim that all their polish peels off their nails one day after painting them or that it starts chipping less than 24 hours after it dries.   I'm sort of waiting to see if anything weird like that happens to me, but so far I'm wondering where this stuff has been all my life.

(BTW- The nail polish color I'm wearing is OPI-  A True Ab-Original if anyone is wondering.)

Thing #3:

I love seeing Ian all cuddled with his favorite ripple blanket and pillow.  He's actually getting too big for this blanket.
I see a new one in his future.

Glass Nail File

Last Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a glass nail file as a stocking stuffer. I had used one before at a friend's house and had just thought of it as something to use if you didn't have "real" nail file handy. I mean it seemed like something that was more decoration than functional. (I mean how precious can you get? A glass nail file. La di da.) But then I was reading an article about nail maintenance (and I'm sorry but I can't for the life of me remember what sight I was looking at) and the article basically said that to get the best and healthiest results while filing your nails, you should really invest in a glass nail file. Well, shut my mouth. So I did some research and whaddyaknow, glass nail files are amazing little things. They are significantly superior to regular nail files in several ways.

First of all, they are healthier for your nails in two ways. One, they are so gentle that they don't create the tiny little fractures at the tip of the nail that most files create causing your nails to chip or split. This means that over time you can have stronger, longer, healthier nails. Two, they are completely sanitizeable. You can boil them, run them through a dishwasher, disinfect them with alcohol or simply use hot water and soap and you will not destroy them. And if they get wet, they dry quickly and completely. So that means no more fungus or bacteria or any other thing that can easily grow in all the crevices of a regular nail file. So if someone asks to borrow your nail file, you don't have to give them a full medical exam or a lecture on hygiene. You can just wash it with soap and hot water after their finished or if you're really worried, boil it.

The second great thing about them is that they are pretty much indestructable. I mean, yeah, they can break, they are glass after all, but it's harder to break one than you might imagine, and they never wear down. Not ever. So if you buy one and you're careful, it could conceivably be the last nail file you ever buy. (Or you could get lucky and someone will give you one.) And if you buy one of the bigger pedicure files, you can also use it to slough the dead skin off of your feet and heels. And you can use them on both real and fake nails. Such a deal!

And there's one more thing that I didn't read anywhere, but I swear that it's true. It makes your manicure last longer. The tip of your nail is so smooth after using a glass file that the polish goes on to the tips more smoothly and evenly and therefore is less likely to chip!

I will admit, a glass file can be a bit expensive. I saw them at anywhere from $6 to $15, but I think it's totally worth it. AND I found a place on line that is discontinuing all their glass files, so they are super reduced. I'm not sure how long the sale will last, but I picked up a bunch to give as stocking stuffers for Christmas for about $15 for all six of them. What a great stocking stuffer, huh?

Merry Filing!


(and they're pretty, too. these are handpainted, but you can find them plain, colored, and etched as well.)

Lovin the Half Moon

So I did my non-traditional french manicure but before I could find the time to take a picture it was chipped and a mess (and really it didn't look all that great to begin with.) Must remember always ALWAYS use a base coat. I usually do, but I was out of town and had forgotten to pack it so I did it without and the results were less than fab.

Well, it all turned out OK in the end because I actually found a manicure that I liked even better. I'd seen it years ago in some advertisement or the other. They were trying to make the model for the ad look 1930ish and she had this cool manicure and I remember thinking, at the time, "I've GOT to try that someday." It's called a Half-moon manicure and it was popular in the 1930's.
Basically, back then, it was fashionable to just leave this little half-moon thingy (the lunula) at the base of your nail unpainted or painted white. In the 1920's it was actually fashionable to leave both the lunula and the tip either unpainted or white as shown below.


But really, who has time for THAT?! And I think it looks kinda dumb anyway. But I really dig the 1930's version and after some web-searching I found I was not the only one.

Apparently, Dita Von Teese is also a big fan and is helping to bring the style back. I found a few other pictures of a less traditional version.


I also saw a picture of just the lunula painted either white or black with the rest done in a clear gloss, but I can't find that picture again. I didn't much like it since the black lunula sort of looked like someone had bruised themselves somehow and the white just looked kind of blah, hardly noticeable for all the trouble it would take to do it.

So I tried my own version tonight with the half moon just left unpained then the rest of the nail in a deep purple. So far I'm really liking it. If it lasts any time at all, I'll take a picture. I'm just too lazy to do it right now.

(By the way, those french manicure tabs work just as well for the half moon manicure, too.)

To tip or not to tip...

So I'm thinking of painting my nails. "Big deal," you say, while rolling your eyes with boredom. But it kind of is for me. There was a time in my life where my nails were never seen in public unpainted. That was mostly in high school, then college life took over and I learned that you should let your nails breathe for at least 24 hours between polishing so they don't turn yellow and brittle. And 24 hours would turn into 48 then 72... and I was no longer a nail diva. Then I had a baby and it was all over for my nails. I mean between breastfeeding and sleeping and diaper changing and eating and etc, well I was lucky to get a shower in there somewhere, much less a manicure. And really if I did get some time for myself was I really going to waste it doing a manicure. I think not.
Well recently I am coming out of the mommy coma. My son is 10 months old and I can actually do a manicure after he goes to bed and be relatively sure that I can have overnight for them to dry completely.
So now comes the dilemma. I'm kind of into this non-traditional french tip idea. Not sure why, but it seems appealing to me lately. Usually I'm a sort of no non-sense, traditional nail polish kind of girl. Red, pink, tinted clear, the wackiest I usually would get would be silver, or maybe a glitter. But something about the idea of the french manicure with the non-traditional colors is calling to me.
It looks ok in the picture above, but I'm worried that if I try it, it will look too bizarre on me. I mean I'll admit that when I see weird nail styles on other people I usually think they must still be in high school, or they wish they were still in high school.

Well, I'll let you know what I decided. And I'll take pictures if I decide to go for it.