Lacquer Lundi

Last week, Cidell asked about my polish stash and its storage. At last count I have 213 bottles of polish from many different companies (Avon, BB Couture, China Glaze, Color Club, Finger Paints, GOSH, Misa, Nfu Oh, New York Color, NYX, OPI, Orly, Revlon, Rimmel, Sally Hansen and Wet n Wild, to name a few). At first, all my polish was stored in old shoe boxes, but it was not ideal - the boxes were not very sturdy and they were not very aesthetically pleasing.

So, I did some research and found the nail polish board at Makeup Alley. Many of the women on this board that had larger collections were using a unit from Ikea, called Helmer. It has 6 drawers, each the perfect depth for polish bottles. I have found that each drawer holds from 60 to 80 bottles, depending on the style of the bottle. At present, three drawers hold nail polish (sorted by brand) and one of the drawers holds all the implements and treatments (files, base coats, top coats, lotions, cuticle treatments, etc). The extra drawers are waiting to be put into rotation at some point.

I am very pleased with my Helmer - it's an obsessive compulsive nail polish fanatic's dream. It keeps everything neatly stored away and there's room to grow!


Now on to the pretties:

L'Oreal - Electric Blue
- purchased at Shoppers (chain drug store) for $5.99 CDN

I saw the latest L'Oreal display at my local drug store and I was pulled in by this gorgeous blue polish. It's a metallic royal blue that is absolutely ezquisite on the nail.

The application of this polsih was a bit problematic for me however. I found it to be thich-ish and difficult to move around the nail, which resulted in clumps and streaks on the first layer. With much patience I was able to even every thing out on the second layer, so I guess all's well that ends well.

I only wore Electric Blue for one day and in that time I only experienced minor tipwear. I have included two photos, one with flash and one without (left and right pictures, respectively). The photo at left shows the metallic shine better, but the photo at right is a better representation of the true colour.


New York Color in a Minute - Downtown
- purchased at Rexall (chain drug store) for $1.39

Downtown is a not a colour I normally gravitate toward, but for less then 2 bucks, I figured I'd give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did. What a beautiful colour - a deep purple-tinged wine creme that looks amazing with my skin tone.

This polish applied well (as do all the NYC polishes that I own) and covered nicely in two coats. The NYC brush is wider than most inexpensive drug store polishes and this really makes application a breeze. As promised ("color in a minute"), the polish dried very quickly (even more so with my beloved Sally Hansen Insta Dri quick drying top coat. The wear is pretty decent - just tip wear after two days.

For the price, this line of polish cannot be beat!


Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear - Ice Coffee
- purchased at Rexall for $1.52 CDN

Ice Coffee is a wineish pinkish purpley brown frost. Did ya get all that? I can't really think of any other way to describe this colour. Admittedly it is a bit of a "mom" colour - I think every mom on the PTA at my high school in 1988 had this colour polish in her medicine cabinet. However, it is quite pretty in its own way. It doesn't poke you in the eye with uniqueness, but it's a good solid shade for everyday wear.

As ususal with this line, the polish flowed on smoothly, covered well in two coats and dried quickly. Over the three days that I wore Ice Coffee, I had minor tip wear and two rather large chips.