OPI "Thoroughly Modern Millie" - This color is hard to describe, but I will try. It is a sheer, subtle pink that at some angles looks kind of peachy, lilac, coral or mauve-ish but it is NOT a duochrome color by any means. Iit has silver microglitter in it for some sparkle. I know that might not sound special but I'm not very good at describing colors, that's the best wordy description I can think of but it certainly does not do the color justice, nor do my pictures. Anyway, it is very sheer and not buildable to bottle color. It goes on very evenly and smooth, and it is one of my favorites. It also adds a little dimension when layered over darker colors.

OPI "Cabernet For The Lady" - This is one of my favorite red nail polishes. It is rich and deep without being too dark. It has very subtle shimmer that really stands out in the sun. Goes on very smooth and even, it is opaque with just one coat. Swatches are 2 coats only because the base coat I was using was too thick and goopey and made application less smooth than usual and I had to even out the color a bit, but with a good base coat (yes I tossed the one I used for these pictures) one coat is all you need.

OPI "Yule Love This Silver!" Glitter Top Coat - This is a clear base top coat with loads of slightly holographic silver microglitter. Goes on very smooth and even, adds sparkle to any nail polish. One coat will add a more subtle sparkle, but I've been known to apply two or three coats for a more full-on glitter flash.

OPI "Sugar Plum Yum" Glitter Top Coat - This is a very sheer pale purple jelly base top coat with silver and purple microglitter. Same properties and goodness as the Yule Love This Silver! top coat. =)

Nicole by OPI "Enchantress" - This is a sheer pink shade with flashes of blue. It is sheer enough you would not be able to build it up to bottle color, but it is a lovely shade if you like sheers. Even if you don't like sheers, the duochrome properties make it a fun polish to layer over darker colors.

These are great because they have both a brush and a pen tip applicator. The brush tip is a standard nail art polish brush:

And the pen tip is unique (to me at least) - it's a tiny little tube, and you gently squeeze the bottle to dispense the polish. Perfect for making dots or small details and lines:

I had fun playing around with these things before actually sitting down to try to work out a design that I could do. I have a folder on my computer where I save pictures of nail designs that I come across online that I like to use for inspiration or to replicate myself if I possibly can. Most times I can't replicate the designs; I'm still very new to all this nail art stuff. So I tried a couple designs from my "nail art ideas & inspiration" folder but failed miserably at both of them. So instead I settled for a funky French manicure style design. All of these pictures were taken outdoors in natural light, no flash or exposure compensation.



Though it is a simple design I like it a lot and think it's really cute and fun. I think it will be a nice look for my cousin's graduation party this weekend. =)

And once more I apologize for not cleaning up the messy edges before taking pictures. If I don't take the pictures right away I forget to do it completely, and I prefer to wait till my nails are dry before cleaning up the edges. So... I'll try to work on that but I'm not making any promises. Also, I am already aware of the Vaseline/lotion trick to prevent messy edges - I've tried it and don't really care for it. I am also apparently completely incapable of ever NOT having messy edges no matter how careful I am. So. Till I can force myself into the habit of cleaning up the edges before taking pictures, you will have to deal with messy edges in my pictures. :p

Ahh, nail polish junkie heaven... =D

I've never seen nail art pens like those before - maybe I've never looked in the right places for them but either way never seen them before. They're so cool! All the nail art pens I know of are like felt-tip markers but with a brush rather than the felt tip, and they tend to still be too large to get nice intricate designs, and if the bristles should start to splay well then it's all over. But these are different... I will have more pictures later to show exactly how they are different.

Rhinestones and other fun shaped decor... oh jeez there aren't even any words!

Right away I took off the previous polish (which was starting to look a bit worn anyway... not much, but a little; enough I could take it off and not feel bad about it) and now I'm plotting my next design with which to use my new goodies.

Thank you yet again L.L. - I really can't say it enough! *hug* =D

Pure Ice "Platinum" (2 coats) with Konad "Wine Red" roses & rhinestone accents.

I have really been having entirely too much fun with the Konad system. I can't tell you how much I love it. I kept re-painting my nails just because stamping on the designs is so much fun. But this morning I put this design on my nails with the intent to keep this design for the week. Or the majority of the week, at least. I know it's a little messy in the pictures, I didn't clean up the edges before taking the pictures. I'd have preferred some smaller rhinestones, too - but those are the smallest I have. So they just had to be good enough. :p

First of all, I have to say I am totally impressed with wowsocool.com for having the fastest shipping I've ever experienced in online shopping! I placed my order early Thursday afternoon (May 21) and it was waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home from grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon (May 23). How amazing is that?

Naturally I had to dive in and try this out immediately, after wanting to try this for literally nearly a year. I was only able to get the bare minimum to get started - one image plate, one special polish, the image plate holder and the stamper/scraper set.

This is SO easy, not to mention FUN to use. I absolutely love it, and I think it is officially the single coolest thing EVER when it comes to nail art. All you have to do is put some of the special polish (yes, you NEED the special polish, regular polish will NOT work!) over the design you want, use the scraper to go over it and remove excess polish, pick up the image with the stamper and then "roll" it onto your nails. It's really, really easy!

I have to say the only negative I have found is that the scraper really scratches up the image plate. I had read this in numerous reviews prior to purchasing, and some recommended using an old credit card to scrape the excess polish from the plates instead of the scraper. Well being me, I had to try it that way first but it didn't seem like it wanted to work. So I used the scraper that came with the stamper. After using it just ONCE to test out each design, the image plate is indeed very scratched up. So I decided to try with the old credit card again (bear in mind any cards similar to a credit card would work, like CVS Rewards cards etc. Just be sure it's one that is old or you don't use anymore. I am using my American Eagle card, since I never shop there anymore!) and it did work better the second time around, maybe because after using the scraper I had a better idea of how much pressure to apply when wiping off the excess polish. It does take a little more practice when using a credit card rather than the scraper, but it DOES work just as well once you get the hang of it, and it won't scratch up the image plate.

Beyond that, everything else about this system is fantastic and I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves nail art. It is VERY easy to use. But here are some things you should know before buying/using the first time other than the scraper/credit card stuff:

The stamper didn't want to pick up the designs at first. I tried several times but to no avail. This was something else I had read about in many reviews, so I knew what to do and didn't freak out. All you need to do is take an emery board and run it over the top of the stamper a little bit. Don't worry - it will NOT mess it up. It just gives the stamper a little texture so the polish has something to "stick" to.

Something that NOBODY seemed to mention in any of the reviews I read and I think is important to share is that other than the Konad supplies you need you should also make sure you have these items handy:

cotton pads
Q-tips
nail polish remover

Use the cotton pads to clean off the image plate and scraper with nail polish remover after each image you stamp. I also found it helpful to swipe the stamper between designs as well, to be sure it was clean so no left-over spots of polish would mess up the next design. Also, use the remover & Q-tips to either clean up any areas around your fingers if you get a bit of the design on your skin, or to wipe away any of the special polish from the stamper prior to stamping if you only want part of a design rather than the entire design.

There is a bit of a learning curve with this product; not much of one but it is there. Sometimes the stamper does not pick up the full image, or does not transfer the full image to your nail. I found it only did this when I was either trying to work too quickly (not giving the polish remover enough time to evaporate/dry completely after cleaning off the image plate and scraper) or I wasn't working quickly enough (and the special polish was starting to dry). There's a certain knack you've got to develop with this to know exactly what speed to go to get everything just right. Overall it's very easy to do though and I have not had much trouble with it at all.

Honestly, other than just raving about how simple and fun this is, there is not much more to say about this system. With the exception of that scraper issue this really is great, and totally worth the investment. Maybe they will be able to come up with something better for the scrapers that won't scratch the image plates but until then (if indeed they can come up with something) I'd really recommend using an old credit card (or as I mentioned previously a similar membership type card) instead of the scraper.

Here are a couple pictures for you. First is the image plate next to a standard CD, to give you an idea of what the size of these is like.



And these are just some of the designs stamped onto my nails while I was playing around learning to use the product.

While I was out doing the regular grocery shopping at Wal Mart I took a peek at the polish displays to see if they had any of the new items mentioned in the previous post. Of course, no. Should have known. But after I went to K Mart, K Mart has always had a far superior cosmetics department than Wal Mart. But anyway, they didn't have all the new things but they did have a couple items. They had all the Nail Art Pens but I didn't get any of them. They had most of the Quick Care items, but not the one I was most interested in (the top coat). They didn't have the HD polishes. But they DID have the Insta-Dri polishes. I picked up 3 to try out.

First order of business is swatches:

The first thing I want to say is that Uptempo Plum is not as flat as is looks in the photos - it has some shimmer to it. It caught my eye immediately in the store, and I do believe it is my favorite of the three. It does stain the nails though if you don't use a base coat (I didn't use base coats for the swatches) so if you get this color make sure you apply a good base coat first! It is also more uber dark purple than black, but it is very, very dark and "nearly black" so if you don't like super dark/black colors it's not for you.

Now. These polishes are marketed as "One Stroke. One Coat. One Minute." Meaning, it should only take one stroke to apply to the entire nail, one coat for even, pigmented coverage, and one minute to dry.

The one stroke idea of course requires a special brush. The brush in these polishes is wide and flat. Like this:






So how well does this work? Let's cover it one marketing point at a time, shall we?

1 Stroke: I have to say, I was intrigued by this point in the marketing from the moment I saw it. I knew there would be a different brush than I'm used to but I wondered exactly how they'd go about it. I have to give them credit for trying, but it's a better idea in theory than in practice. Or maybe "practice" is the operative word, and I just need more of it with these polishes to get the application down. But for the first time run through to swatch them, it was a tricky process. I found myself still having to use two or three strokes pretty frequently. I had no trouble getting my pinkies done in one stroke, but for the rest of my fingers (especially thumbs!) the brush just didn't take the color out quite far enough. Considering everyone's hands and thus nails are different sizes, coming up with a brush to suit most people had to be tricky though, so again... props for trying. (FYI my hands are pretty average in size; perhaps a tad on the smaller end of "average".)

1 Coat: Well, the swatches speak for themselves don't they? If you want opaque coverage with one coat, these polishes are not gonna do it. Maybe it's just me but I tend to want quick dry polishes especially to be opaque with one coat. These aren't it. Quick Sand and Rose-A-Go-Go are pretty enough with one coat, but Uptempo Plum NEEDS two coats to be fabulous.

1 Minute: This is where this polish really delivers! We've all bought "speed dry" polishes only to find they are not so speedy in their drying. But Insta-Dri honestly does dry in 60-90 seconds flat! (And it's an extremely humid day today, too!) But that only holds true for the first coat. If you apply a second coat, even after letting the first coat dry completely, the second coat will take about five minutes to dry. (I've always found second coats of speed dry polishes to take several minutes to dry... odd, isn't it?) But if you can find a shade you're happy with after only one coat from this line, you will LITERALLY be able to go on with your day just one little minute after painting your nails.

OVERALL: All three shades applied streaky and a bit uneven. The seriously quick dry time means you have got to be quick in painting, or it starts to get... I'm not sure how to explain it. Look closely at the swatch for Rose-A-Go-Go with 2 coats - I wasn't quite fast enough with that one on my pointer finger and you can see it made the texture of the polish kind of rough, rather than smooth. Tricky to apply and not exactly what it's advertised to be, out of 5 stars I'd give this polish 3.5. Doesn't fully meet my expectations, but definitely not the worst out there, either. It's worth giving it a try if any of the colors really grab your attention, but if you're on the fence about trying these polishes and/or none of the shades stand out to you much, it might be best to pass on these.

Sally Hansen has always been my favorite brand for nail polish and other nail care products. I know some swear by OPI or Seche or other "top brands" - but those are not readily available to me and even if they were I can't afford most of their products anyway. Sally Hansen is readily available, and far more affordable for my wallet.

Some new products from SH that I am just dying to try right now:

Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color
HD Hi-Definition Nail Color
Nail Art Pens
Quick Care Seal & Shine Top Coat
Quick Care Cuticle Treatment

I am not sure when I'll be able to try any of these things; they may not even be available in my area yet. We seem to get new things after the rest of the country. But I'll definitely take a look tomorrow when I'm out shopping to see if any of these are at the store yet. If they are, and if I can afford a little haul, I will definitely pick up a couple things and let you all know what I think.

Some other things that are not new but I have never tried and would love to get my hands on:

Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Treatment
Nail Quencher Hydrating Cuticle Creme
Nail Quencher Hydrating Base Coat
Natural Shine Instant Nail Finish
Salon Nail Lacquer

Long Lost Loves - These products from SH are things I absolutely adored, but they were discontinued:

Beyond Perfect Protein Nail Color
Fire Opal Nail Glaze
Star Opal Nail Glaze
Nail Prisms

My absolute favorite things from SH, whether discontinued or not:

Complete Care 4-in-1 Treatment
Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat
Insta-Grip Quick Drying Base Coat
Beyond Perfect Protein Nail Color
Lacquer Shine Nail Color
Star Opal Nail Glaze
Fire Opal Nail Glaze


All that said... how do YOU feel about Sally Hansen products? Do you love them, hate them, are you indifferent? What new products from SH are you eager to try? Even if they are not new to the line, what have you always wanted to try but haven't gotten to yet?  What products do you love? What did you love that was discontinued?