Well my sister really wanted to see how this was done, so I went ahead and did the video tonight instead of waiting till after Thanksgiving. Hope you all like! =) (I just realized you can totally see I had not yet finished cleaning off my fingers on my right hand. haha)

Colors used: Sally Hansen Beyond Perfect "Sheer White Tea" (which is only visible on one nail anyway, go figure haha); Milani "Black Magic" and LA Colors Art Deco "Gold Glitter".

I'm going to be recording a tutorial on how to achieve this kind of look soon, so if you like it be sure to stay tuned!

As some of you know, my Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is almost gone. What's left is getting a little thick, and we all know that ain't good. Apparently you can't use regular polish thinner with this, you have to get a special thinner from Seche. Anyone tried regular thinner anyway? Let me know how it turned out if you did, please. lol But anyway, since I do love the Seche for the speedy dry time it offers, but don't care for it so much because it doesn't help prevent chips as well as I'd like, I decided it try something else. There are still a couple others on my list of things to try, but I'm tackling the list one product at a time. Why? Well for one, the stuff gets thick the longer you have it and thick is no good. And beyond that, say I buy all the "quick dry" products at once, try them all once or twice and decide I love just one. Then the rest just sit around untouched, till they eventually hit the trash can. It's a waste of product and money, and I'm not in a position to be wasting money like that. Plus, if I have more products I'm less likely to focus on using just one and really getting a good feel for it. If I buy them just one at a time, I have just that one product to use until it's empty. That means I can get a feel for the product over time, learn any quirks it has or tricks to using it for better results etc. And that all adds up to better reviews for you guys to make your own purchasing decisions later down the road once I write up my review.

All that said, I do hold off on "official reviews" till I have used something enough I feel comfortable with it and my stance on it so I can give the best review possible. But there are times I like to make a post with my initial thoughts and first impressions on a new product I'm trying. Such is this post, on "In A Snap" top coat from Orly.

I bought this yesterday and while I originally planned on waiting a while longer to use it, I got bored and one thing led to another and well... I gave it a test drive last night.

First thought: it's very thin consistency. Like water. It STINKS like you wouldn't believe. And even after about 20 minutes (much longer than the 5 minutes it proclaims on the packagaing!) my nails still felt VERY tacky, not dry. And this was over 2 coats of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength nail polish and Finger Paints base coat. Base coat was allowed to dry completely, each coat of color dried for 5 minutes before I moved on to the next coat/top coat. So as for my initial thoughts.... I'm not crazy about it.

But again, bear in mind this is just the "first impressions" post. There will be a more thorough "definitive thoughts" review probably in a month or so, once I've had some time to use it several times and get a better feel for it.

One of my favorite tools in my nail polish drawer is my Cotton Claw. My sister thinks this was a silly and pointless purchase, but then she's not a nail polish addict like I am! Even so I can still see where even some nail polish addicts might not find the Cotton Claw to be a useful little tool to have in your arsenal. I, however, can't live without it.

This nifty little gadget has a very simple use. As you may have guessed, it is used to hold your cotton balls whilst removing nail polish. Just press on the top (like clicking a pen) and the "claw" emerges...

... it's prey is always easy to find, seeing as you provide it yourself so it's always ready for the claw to swoop down...

... capturing it securely.

Ok so that was probably a ridiculous way for me to explain the use of this thing but you have to admit it was entertaining, even if only a little bit. ;-) (I'm in a silly mood.)

So once you have your cotton ball held securely in the Cotton Claw, dip it in nail polish remover (or, as I do, place it over the open bottle, tip the bottle upside down, being sure to hold the cotton ball over it while doing so.) and then... well, you know the rest from here. Once you're done simply press down on the top of the claw again and the used cotton ball will be released to the trash can. (Sometimes you have to give it a little shake to get it to let go, but it WILL let go.)

Why on earth would this be handy to have? Well... one scenario is, you've already painted your fingernails and you get the urge to paint your toenails too. But *gasp* - you'd ruin your manicure trying to clean off the old polish from your tootsies to repaint them! Well, Cotton Claw to the rescue! (FYI this happens to me a lot. I don't know why, just one of my quirks I guess.) Or, perhaps a more likely situation for some of you... you're hanging out with a friend/sister/niece/daughter/etc. and they want you to do their nails for them. This means cleaning their nails off, but you don't want to mess up your own manicure in the process. Again, Cotton Claw to the rescue. =)

Ok, I'll be fair. I'll admit maybe this is a fairly silly gadget to have around. But I happen to love it and am glad to have it. I have a knack for deciding to paint my toe nails too only after finishing up with my finger nails, and I can't tell you how many times before getting the Cotton Claw I messed up my manicures for the sake of painting my toe nails too. Like all things I suppose it's not for everyone. But there are obviously enough people who like it, or they wouldn't be making and selling them. Right? ;-)

(Pictured above is 2 coats of China Glaze "Unplugged" nail polish with rhinestone flower embellishment on the ring finger, all toppped with Sally Hansen Hard As Nails & Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.)

Rhinestone flowers are probably the easiest nail art you can do, whether on someone else's nails or on your own. If you've got the following supplies (in addition to nail polish of course), you're set for some rhinestone flowers:

rhinestones

a toothpick

clear nail polish (any sticky base coat or a top coat will do just fine if you don't have clear polish)

Start by applying your base coats & desired base color of nail polish - or for something really unique just apply base coat and skip colored polish. Depending on your base coat of choice you can move on with just the base coat or you will want to add a coat of clear nail polish. (For instance, "sticky" base coats should be fine on their own, while ridge filling base coats may need a coat of clear polish.) If you use a colored polish, give it about 5 minutes to dry a bit before moving on. If you've only used base coat or clear polish, there is no need to wait before moving on.

Get your clear polish (or base/top coat) and put a small amount on the tip of the toothpick. Use the toothpick to pick up your rhinestones one at a time - make sure to touch the toothpick to the TOP of the rhinestones, not the bottom! Place the first rhinestone, which will be the center of your flower, on your nail. You will not be able to manipulate it's position much so be careful of your placement, and then gently press down on the rhinestone with the toothpick to secure it in place. (If your polish has set too much for the rhinestone to stick just put a tiny dab of clear polish where the rhinestone will be placed; no need to wait for it to dry.) Continue to pick up and place rhinestones around the center stone to make a circle of "petals" around the center - depending on the size rhinestones you're using and how much space you want between the "petals" this could be 5 or 6 rhinestones. If necessary dab some more clear polish on the tip of the toothpick so it can pick up the rhinestones.

Voila! That's really all there is to it. You can add stems and leaves to your flowers if you wish, with either more rhinestones or with nail art polishes. Top it all off with one or two coats of top coat to help seal the rhinestones to your polish and prevent them from falling off, and you've got yourself some simple and lovely nail art. =)

Have you seen any of the cute new sets available for the holidays from Sally Hansen? I don't know if they are available at other stores or not, but I found them at K Mart.

The mini sets are adorable and sold in sturdy yet flexible plastic containers designed to look like small hand bags. For $4.99 USD a piece, they're a great bargain. They would be ideal for those who are just getting into nail polish or those who don't wear polish often but like to have a couple bottles on hand for when they do want to do their nails. Also ideal for those not familiar with Sally Hansen polishes and wanting to give them a try. =)

I actually purchased the Xtreme Wear & Diamond Strength sets a few days ago, and today I went back for the French Manicure set. I just had to have them all!

Xtreme Wear Set: Contains 5 mini Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear polishes: Fuchsia Power, Purple Potion, Strobe Light, Lime Lights and Marine Scene.

Diamond Strength Set: Contains 5 mini Diamond Strength polishes: Diamonds, Brilliant Blush, Nude Shimmer, Must Have Iris and  Honeymoon Red. (Note, I am not sure on Brilliant Blush. Could also be Shining Star - the colors are very similar in the bottles. I did my best to determine which color it was but I really can't be 100% sure on that one. The rest I am sure though.)

The French Manicure set contains 5 colors that are classic French manicure worthy as well as classic French manicure with a twist ; I am not sure which line of polishes these ones are so I do not know the color names, but included are a clear top coat, a classic opaque white "tip" color, a sheer flesh tone color, sheer pale pink, and an opaque metallic silver "tip" color as well.

 I really like all three of these sets a lot. There were colors in the Xtreme Wear and Diamond Strength sets that I'd been wanting to try for a while, so now I get to try them before committing to the full-sized bottles. And I think every nail polish addict needs a good set of classic French manicure colors - after all, sometimes it's nice to go back to a classic look. I love to rock the funky French manis and all sorts of other designs but there are also a lot of times when I love the simple, understated classy look of a classic French manicure. =)

In fact I like these sets SO much, I'm holding my first contest and the prize I am offering up is a Diamond Strength set. Yep, I went out and bought a second set to give away as a prize. If I had the money I'd have bought a second of all three sets to give away the whole kit an' caboodle or to have three separate prizes to give away, but with money tight as it is just the one was all I could swing. But that's better than nothing right? I chose the Diamond Strength set because I think the colors are most suitable for such a thing (I know not everyone likes the funky colors of the Xtreme Wear line!) AND this seems to be the most popular set and it's selling out fast. In fact, I grabbed the last one today. So I thought it was the right choice for the prize for my contest. The contest post has been "stickied" up above this one, so you may have already read all about it. ;-)

I feel like I've been using this product long enough now that I can give it a fair review.

I'd heard a lot of great things about this top coat for probably a year or longer before I finally decided I'd try it out for myself. Has it lived up to the hype in my experience? Yes and no. Let me explain.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is a typical top coat boasted to help prevent chipping and extend the life of your manicure, but more than that it's also proclaimed to be among the very best in products that will help your nail polish dry faster. I've been on numerous makeup forums where many ladies have raved about this top coat doing all those things, and it being a miracle and capable of drying even several coats of nail polish in 5 minutes tops.

I don't think I'd go so far as to make such a claim as that - there are too many variables to consider. How many coats of polish were applied, how thick or thin were the coats, how much time did each coat have to dry before the next was applied, is it humid today or not... all these things affect how your nail polish will dry with or without any 'quick dry' top coat.

Based on my personal experiences with the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat:

It does NOT do a good job of preventing chips and helping a manicure last longer. I've had my polish chip the same day I painted my nails - within hours even - when the Seche is my only top coat. It is FAR from being on my list of favorites for helping nail polish to last longer.

It DOES help to speed up polish dry-time significantly, to a point. If you've applied several coats of color or thick coats of color, you will still have to spend a fair amount of time waiting for your nails to be completely dry before you can get on with your day. Especially if it's humid. I know what you might be thinking - what does humidity have to do with how long it's going to take for my nails to dry? But think about it - if you are painting any room in your house or something outside your house (like the porch for example) you always try to get the job done on a dry (ie. NOT humid) day because..... all the moisture in the air on a humid day means that the paint is going to take a long time to dry. Well it's the SAME thing with nail polish. Don't believe me? Test it some time. Pay attention to the humidity when you paint your nails, and pay attention to how long it takes your polish to dry. It'll dry faster on dry days than humid days.

Anyway, the Seche will make your polish - even several coats (or thick coats) - dry "to the touch" in about 60 to 90 seconds. What this means is that if you ever so slightly touch your nails with your fingers they will not smudge. But they're still wet. Depending on the numerous variables involved in painting your nails, your nails can be completely dry in about 5 minutes (say for just one thin coat of color) or about 15 minutes (for more/thicker coats of color) - but honestly, I still give my nails at least 20-30 minutes to dry before I get on with my day, just to be on the safe side.

Overall, I'd give the Seche 3.5 stars out of five - it's great for helping polish to dry more quickly but not so great in helping your nail polish last and preventing chips. Is it worth trying? Definitely. Is it a "can't live without it" product? Could be. There are other comprable products on the market to try that may be better or about equal to it. And, Seche is a bit on the expensive side. There are other more affordable options out there as well.

Having an 8 year old niece (who very soon will be turning 9) means, I'm exposed to more teeny boppers and tv shows I'd rather not even know about let alone become familiar with. But some of the stuff is not that bad, and some of it grows on you after a while. I'm not ashamed to say that I do in fact watch Spongebob, iCarly and other such shows.... even when my niece is not visiting.

And while I am not crazy about their music, I'm learning to appreciate the Jonas Brothers and I find their tv show very amusing and it's another on my list of "I'll watch even if my niece isn't here" shows. Joe Jonas is adorable, Kevin is hilarious, and Nick... well Nick I'm not sure about to be honest LOL but Joe and Kevin are winning my heart with time.

So while I had my niece for the day I decided to let her do a little birthday shopping, since I will probably not get to see her for her birthday. Among the things she got was a Jonas makeup kit. It came with the standard "little girl" makeup kit items while still being just a smidge more "grown up" to suit the tweens who adore the Jonas Brothers - namely body glitter and a lot of lip gloss. And nail polish. Which naturally, I HAD to try out asap before my little one went home and took the goodies with her.

Being part of a little girl's kit I did not expect much of these nail polishes. They were better than I expected. Not so much that I'd go grab another of those kits just for the polishes... but enough that I'm happy to leave my nails painted with the stuff for the next couple days till it shows enough wear to warrant taking it off.

(I know, I KNOW.... I'm still working on that whole "clean up the edges before taking pictures" thing.... I don't have the patience for that most times ok>)

The black polish (am I to assume the color is being called "Jonas Rocks" ?) required three coats for even, opaque coverage. Fairly average among black polishes, so not much of a bad thing there. It dries down to a semi-matte, satin finish and has the slightest hints of charcoal shimmer to it. It almost seemed a little gritty in texture when I was applying it, yet it still applied pretty smoothly.

The turquoise color ("Jonas" ?) is beautiful, pearly and fabulous. It looked good with two coats, but I added a third coat for good measure. It applied very smoothly but a tiny bit streaky and dried to a nice glossy finish. It's ever so softly metallic (if that makes sense?) and I really like the color a lot.

Overall, I'm impressed simply because I know the quality of "little girl" nail polishes tends to be atrocious, it's somewhere between Bon Bons and Petites nail polishes; a bit closer to the Petites range of quality. (Bear in mind that I love Petites!) I think if you're a polish snob (admit it, we can all be snobby about things sometimes!) and only use higher end polishes you'd probably be disgusted with these polishes. But if you can appreciate the "cheap" stuff then you'd probably find it suitable. And I do think it's probably perfect for little girls and tweens - a huge step up from the usual nail polishes they have included in these kinds of makeup sets! Honestly I think the brushes are probably the worst part of the polishes; if the brushes had been better the application would have probably been smoother and less streaky. Remember those stiff nail polish brushes with the blunt ends of the 80's and early 90's? That's what the brushes were like in these polishes.

Would I encourage you to go buy the set just for the polish regardless whether or not there are any little girls in your life who love Jonas? No. But if you DO have a little girl in your life who loves them and you get this set for her... I would encourage you to at least give the polish a try, even if only for fun with your little one. =)

For those who do not know, this blog has been set up as my new nail blogging home! I am currently working on getting all of my previous posts from my old blog posted here; well maybe not all of them but the most important ones. As the old blog was not on blogger and does not offer any kind of exporting that means I have to copy them one by one. There are only 50 posts there but when you're talking about copying and posting them to a new blog, that's a LOT of posts!

I plan to post-date these posts, so as to not have a ton of posts for today/tomorrow while I work on copying the posts here. All the photos up till this point will have my old blog url on them; I apologize for that but surely you can understand the time consuming hassle it would be for me to go through all my pictures and re-do the urls on them! (Especially since I am a photographer, I've got thousands of folders and hundreds of thousands of photos on my computer! lol)

Well, off to work on getting things copied here. If you're following me here from the old blog, I hope you like the new place and I'm sure you'll find it's far easier to find what you need here than it was on the old blog! And if you're new to my blog, I hope you will enjoy your visit and come back to see me again! This blog is dedicated to one of my many loves, nail polish! I post swatches, reviews, and any other random nail-related things that pop into my head. =)

This may not be exactly the same as swatches on real fingernails, but believe it or not display wheels are a very good way to accurately swatch your colors. Using the wheels to swatch also saves time, nail polish, and your cuticles from the damage of several uses of polish remover when doing multiple swatches at once. I will probably still work on getting "real" swatches done when I have the time to do them, but for now I will be doing wheel swatches only due to the fact that it's so much easier and faster while still being accurate. I use the clear wheels with 18 tips on them which are available for purchase at head2toebeauty.com.

The first photo of each wheel shows the colors as photographed in natural light (shade) with no flash or exposure compensation. The second photo is in natural light (shade) with -1 exposure compensation and fill-flash. As always, be aware that while I have done my best at providing color-accurate photos due to the variances in computer monitors the colors may not be completely accurate when you view these photos.

Colors listed are in order from 1 to 18.

1. Bath & Body Works nail polish; there is no name or number on the bottle - 3 coats

2. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms  "Ruby Diamond" - 2 coats

3. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms  "Coral Amber" - 3 coats

4. sally Hansen Nail Prisms  "Diamond" - 2 coats

5. Sally Hansen Fire Opal  "Royal Opal" - 2 coats

6. Boots No. 7 Stay Perfect  "Milan" - 2 coats

7. Wet 'N Wild Rock Solid  "Sparkling Diamonds- 3 coats

8. Milani  "Foxy Lady" - 2 coats

9. Milani  "Glitzy Glam" - 2 coats

10. Milani  "Orange Burst" - 3 coats

11. Milani "Black Magic" - 3 coats

12. Revlon Liquid Crystals  "Crystal Chic" - 3 coats

13. Maybelline Colorama Top Coat  "Give Me The Chills" - 2 coats

14. Maybelline Colorama Top Coat  "Frosty Pink" - 2 coats

15. Milani "Black Magic" - 3 coats + Maybelline Colorama Top Coat "Frosty Pink" - 2 coats

16. China Glaze "TMI" - 3 coats

17. China Glaze "Spin Me Round" - 3 coats

18. China Glaze "It's My Turn" - 3 coats

1. LA Girl "Hot Pink" - 4 coats
2. Petites "Black Amethyst" - 4 coats
3. Petites "Peach Orchid" - 3 coats
4. Nicole by OPI "Virtuous Violet" - 3 coats
5. Nicole by OPI "Enchantress" - 3 coats
6. OPI "Yule Love This Silver" Glitter Top Coat - 2 coats
7. OPI "Sugar Plum Yum" Glitter Top Coat - 4 coats
8. OPI "Cabernet For The Lady" - 2 coats
9. OPI "Thoroughly Modern Millie" - 3 coats
10. China Glaze "For Audrey" - 2 coats
11. China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" - 3 coats
12. China Glaze "Unplugged" - 2 coats
13. Finger Paints "Psychedelic Pop" - 2 coats
14. Finger Paints "Gossamer White" - 3 coats
15. Finger Paints "Pink Imagination" - 2 coats
16. Finger Paints "Art Lofty Toffee" - 2 coats
17. Finger Paints "Caramel Cape" - 2 coats
18. Finger Paints "Wine Wristlet" - 3 coats

 1. Rimmel "Princess Pink" - 3 coats
2. Rimmel "Sunny Side" - 3 coats
3. Rimmel "Stop Traffic" - 3 coats
4. Rimmel "Hard Edged" - 3 coats
5. Pure Ice "Iris" - 3 coats
6. Pure Ice "Iced Orchid" - 3 coats
7. Pure Ice "Heartbreaker" - 3 coats
8. Pure Ice "Busted" - 3 coats
9. Pure ice "Spitfire" - 3 coats
10. Cover Girl "Be My Honey" - 2 coats
11. Zoya "Zara" - 2 coats
12. Zoya "Lulu" - 4 coats
13. Zoya "Felicity" - 3 coats
14. Maybelline Express Finish "Teal Appeal" - 3 coats
15. Maybelline Express Finish "Brownie Points" - 2 coats
16. Revlon Glimmer Gloss "Strawberry Sizzle" - 3 coats
17. Revlon Glimmer Gloss "Grapefruit Glimmer" - 4 coats
18. Avon ColorLast "Baby Blue Frost" - 4 coats

1. Avon ColorLast "Lemon Ice" - 3 coats
2. Sally Hansen Chrome "Chrome Crystal" - 2 coats
3. Lacura # 104 - 2 coats
4. Theon's # 5 - 3 coats
5. Bon Bon's no name or number - 3 coats
6. Bon Bon's no name or color - 3 coats
7. Wet 'N Wild Precious Metals "14K" - 3 coats
8. Wet 'N Wild Precious Metals "Lilac Metal" - 2 coats
9. Professional Solutions no name or number - 4 coats
10. Petites "Bronze Baby" - 2 coats
11. Maybelline Express Finish "Scene Steeler" - 2 coats
12. Maybelline Express Finish "Finish Berry Best" - 2 coats
13. Pure Ice "Celestial" - 2 coats
14. Pure Ice "Silver Mercedes" - 1 coat
15. Pure Ice "Envy" - 2 coats
16. Zoya "Meadow" - 2 coats
17. Zoya "Piper" - 3 coats
18. Zoya "Deidra" - 2 coats