Sally Hansen Complete Salon Red Carpet Edition Swatches

*Press Sample

Hi there everyone!

Today I have the New Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Red Carpet Edition polishes to share with you.

These I had seen in the shops for a week or two before I received the samples. and honestly. this collection is the best that Sally Hansen has brought out here in Oz for a long time. Don't get me wrong I love all Sally Hansen products. The formula is 99% of the time perfect and I love the colours, but lately I have been seeing what USA Sally Hansen customers have been getting......YES.....I'M TALKING THE FOIL COLLECTION ......* Stares at Sally Hansen Australia.....*  and yup it has been disappointing that we have not been getting the same stuff. The last time I checked we were in the 21st century so I don't understand why we cannot get the same stuff as USA. It makes me sad that I don't have all these polishes in my collection :(

Anyways lets get back to this amazing colour array I have today!!!!

So all of these colours have a fantastic formula. I used 2 coats with all of them apart from the silver which needed 3 coats for full opacity.

I used a Sally Hansen base coat and their big gloss coat for TC.

Let's check them out shall we????

Sally Hansen New Miracle Gel Swatches

*Press Sample.

Hi there everyone!

Today I have 3 new Sally Hansen Miracle Gels to share with you.

Sally Hansen released last year Miracle gel polish. It is a 2 step process where you use a coloured  miracle gel polish and a second specialised top coat which is similar to gel polish except you do not need a lamp to cure it, the regular sun will do this for you. I liked the idea of this concept but there are not a lot of colours released here in Australia. Sally Hansen did release 5 new colours last month. I have Spice Age, Game of Chromes and Hunger Flames.

All of these colours I only needed 2 coats with the specialised top coat.
 The other amazing thing with this range is the brush. The polish has a super wide brush and it makes coverage a dream! I only needed one stroke with the brush to cover my pinkie it was so wide!!!
I did a wear test with spice age and managed 7 days total before having to remove it due to chipping. The packet does say up to 14 days, but I have 2 kids and a bunch of housework to do. Even regular gel polish does not last 14 days on my nails!!!

So lets check them out.......

Sally hansen OMGel packs

Hi there everyone! When your looking for last minute gifts for your stocking or even just for a friend, don't forget that some of the brands out there have all year round gift sets.

Sally Hansen have some great ideas for gifts and the one that comes to my mind is the new OMGel gift duo packs.

They come in a variety of colours and are readily available at Priceline.

Lets check out the packs on offer.......

Pretty piggie duo pack

Street Flair duo pack

 Birthday suit Duo pack

The duo packs come in a 2 pack of a colour and top coat. Their RRP is $19.95 which is a saving of $13.95 if you purchased separately.

You can purchase from places like Target and PRICELINE make sure you keep an eye out for offers as well as priceline have some great savings on a weekly basis!

Until next time......

*stock photos provided by Coty Australia

Sally Hansen Complete salon spring colour collection swatches

Hi there everyone!!!I have the me Sally Hansen Salon manicure collection to share with you today. The new spring colour collection is a range of 6 pretty creme polishes and one glitter polish.

I have to say I was very impressed with the colour choices for this collection. It really feels like spring and not a red polish in sight!

OK so the formula..... it varies from polish to polish but in general the formula was great. I will comment on it with each colour. For all the polishes I used Sally Hansen Big Shiny Top Coat.

Let's check them out shall we??

Almost Almond-  Is a sheer pale creme shimmer polish. The polish is almost peach in colour and has a frosted effect when worn. I used 4 coats for the swatches and I could still see a visible nail line. This polish is perfect if you just want a subtle shimmer on your nails. A very work appropriate colour.

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Peach of cake- Is a beautiful peach/orange colour. The polish is very opaque and only took 2 coats for full coverage on the nail. This colour also stamped really well. I used it in another mani later on in this post.

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Sheer Ecstasy- Is a really pale shade of pink. The colour is almost white. Like SH Almost almond needs many coats for opacity. I used 4 coats and I still have a VNL. once again very work appropriate.

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Pink a card- Is a pale pink creme which is opaque in 3 coats. The colour also stamped quite well due to its opacity so I was very impressed considering on how pale the colour actually is.

I created some nail art over sheer ecstasy with some nail stamping and a fuzzy unicorn vinyl.

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pink a card with holo nail studs

nail stamping with pink a card over sheer ecstasy 

nail stamping with pink a card over sheer ecstasy and snow globe accent nail

Barracuda- Is a very pale blue creme. The colour is stunning and on top of that it is very pigmented so I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. The cool colour of the polish made a perfect background for some stamping with SH water colour. such an awesome combo.

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nail stamping with SH water color

Water color- This was my favourite colour of the collection. I'm a sucker for blue at the best of times and this polish did not disappoint! The polish was almost a one coater it was so opaque! It also stamped fantastically as you have seen in the previous mani. An awesome polish all round!!!!!

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stamping with SH Peach of cake

Snow Globe- Is an amazing glitter mix of iridescent glitters. there is blue/green and orange/gold iridescent glitters. I found I only needed one coat of the glitter polish for a great coverage. 

I also found that the glitters looks great over different polish colours.

sun. over SH peach of cake

Shade. over SH Peach of cake

Sun. over black polish

Shade. SH over black polish.

The whole collection is great.  I liked the variety of colours in the collection and the fact that 1/2 of the colours stamped with ease. Also I love the glitter polish as it is very versatile.

The new collection from Sally Hansen is available from most chemists, Priceline, and Target.

They retail for $14.95 each.

Until next time........ 

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish swatches

Hi there everyone!!!! Today I have the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish. 

There has been a lot of talk about non LED curable gel polish of late, Revlon have released some, tho I am yet to give them a go. Sally Hansen have also released them and I have 5 colours to share with you today. But first what is the difference between a regular gel polish and these new gels. Well first up was the shellac or gel polish. Both are pretty much the same thing. Shellac is a brand name and not a different product really to say Gelicious. Anyways all of these Gel polishes or "hybrid"gel polishes involve you curing your polish after every coat with a UV or LED lamp. this hardens the polish and then to remove it you need to break the seal of the gel with a file and then soak off the gel with acetone for around 10 mins. This can be awesome if you want your polish to be hard and dry straight away but on the down side you have to soak the gel off and over time it can damage your nails. I know I have weakened my nails a few times with this. The new type of gel seems to be all about the top coat. From what I have read the top coat helps activate the curing of the polish by using the natural UV rays in the sun rather than the lamp. It is an interesting concept as you can still take your polish off with normal polish remover and no soaking was required.

But you should be aware,one of the things I noticed was you have to ensure your colour polish is touch dry before popping on the top coat. If you do not do this your polish will smudge. Also I found that any nail stamping or nail art you do has to be totally dry when applying the gel top coat as I found that if it was not the nail art would smudge.

Ok so wear time?? Sally Hansen says up to 14 days, and if you have acrylics or gel fakies I think you would get 14 days no dramas, but for me who has short bendy nails, 2 special needs kiddies and a household to run my mani lasted for 3 days without a chip. This may not sound long but for someone like me that is pretty good!!!! Most polish I will pop on in the night and be chipped by morning tea the next day so for 3 days wear I think that is worth it! for reference, Regular gel manis with no bonder and basic colour and top coat will only last a max of 4-5 days on my nails and 9-12 days with a bonder. I will also note I tried it on my daughters nails and it lasted for a good 7 days without chipping.

So lets look at the colours!!!

Red Eye- Is a one coater red polish. This red is really nice, and the formula was amazing. With all the miracle gels they have a super wide brush which took only 2-3 strokes to cover my nails. only one stroke for my pinkie!!!!!

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Shockwave-  Is a barbie pink creme. I had to use 3 coats for full opacity with this shade, and I ensured that each layer was touch dry before applying the next coat. This is a classic colour and on top of being pretty I used it for nail stamping as well which turned out great. Ill add a pic for you to see.

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nail art

nail stamping with shock wave

All chalked up- Is what I would call a mushroom colour with a pink hue to it. Ill be honest this was not my cup of tea, I am not really into theses shades but the application was fine with 3 coats. and the colour was even. for a work friendly neutral colour this would be a great option.

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B Girl- This is a pretty pastel mint green, very similar to Sally Hansens gel polishes jaded. THe polish took 3 coats for opacity. I really loved this colour. it was so fresh and I even think you would get away with it for a work friendly colour too. This colour also stamped ok over white polish.

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nail art

Greyfitti- Is a pale grey creme. I used 3 coats for opacity. This colour again was very pretty, tho I did find the formula a little runny for my liking and therefore I found it was no good for stamping. Saying that the polish did only need 3 coats for full coverage, which I think is fine for a polish. I also did some polka dot nail art with shock wave over Greyfitti as pink and grey work so well together.

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All of these colours are now available along with the top coat at Priceline and many different department stores like Target and Big W. They retail for $16.95 each and the top coat is $16.95. You can also pick up a starter pack at the moment for $19.95 in Priceline.

If you do not want the hassle of a gel lamp and a easy strong mani, I would give this a go. The colours are pretty and it took no time at all to apply.

Until next time........

*Press sample. for more info please read my disclosure policy.

Matte Top coat Showdown.

Hi there everyone!!!! today I am doing a Matte Top coat showdown. I have today 8 different Matte Top coats to share with you and see how they stack up to each other.

First up lets check out the Matte Top coats......

ESSIE MATTE ABOUT YOU RRP $17.95

OPI MATTE TOP COAT RRP $19.95

SALLY HANSEN BIG MATTE TOP COAT RRP $9.95

PICTURE POLISH G'DAY MATTE RRP $10.00

CULT NAILS WAX THAT RRP $12.00

MODE MATTE TOP COAT RRP $2.75

CELESTIAL COSMETICS MATTE TOP COAT RRP $7.50

DIY MATTE TOP COAT (1/4 t cornflour in 8ml polish base) RRP$0.00

 All the swatches I did in this post are over 2 coats of Ulta3 Black satin.

Ok so lets get down to the matte top coats. Each matte TC I popped on 2 coats over the black nail. I have photographed them in sun and shade so you can get a good look at the effect each polish created.

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Without a doubt from all these swatches OPI Matte Top Coat and Essie Matte About You are the best appearance wise. I would sway a little to the OPI as the formula was thinner than Essie and the brush was better quality. A close second to theses two was Picture Polish G'day matte. tho the formula of my one was a bit wishy washy and really I could have used 3 coats for overall effect. The next 2 which were very close was Sally Hansen big matte and Mode matte. the biggest difference was price. For $2.75 the Mode was great value for money but really thick formula and it did separate, but if your happy to give a bit of a shake that would be just fine. Saying that, the Sally Hansen big matte dried really quickly properly the quickest out of all the matte polishes I tried today, so If it was speed you are after Sally Hansen is the way to go.

Lastly the least matte polishes. The DIY matte was crap. I made it up as per the internet instruction, and although it did create a "matte"effect it was nothing like the other polishes. Cult nails and Celestial cosmetics were very similar. more of a wax effect which is quite nice ,but not nearly as matte as the OPI. That said I think you will find this with most indie matte top coats as i'm pretty sure most australian indies get their base from the same supplier. 

Its funny the Celestial cosmetic Matte top coat I thought was quite matte as well as the cult nails,but when you compare them with other brands they look totally different. I like the subtly of the wax look but for a pure matte effect my money is on the OPI or Essie.

I hope to acquire more matte top coats including the new Gel matte top coat by gelicious. so stay tuned for more comparisons.  

If you can think of anything you would like comparing feel free to drop me a line via email or on the comments and I will see what I can do :)

for reference if you would like to purchase any of these matte top coats you can get them at the following places - 

OPI- MYER and David Jones

Essie - Priceline

Sally Hansen- Priceline or Target

Picture polish - Picture polish

Cult Nails - Cult Nails

Mode - local chemists

Celestial cosmetics - Celestial Cosmetics

Until next time......