Lacquer Lundi

In response to the last LL post, astexcat said..."Do all your colors come off without bleeding over your finger nails? I know some darker maroons tend to bleed and blues, but you never mention it in your reviews. I love the Insta-Dry Cinna Snap but hate to put it on because I know it makes such a mess coming off.

I love the Sally Hanson quick dry, but noticed that the brush is about 1/4" short of the bottom of the bottle and I'm reaching the point where I have to practically screw the top on to get to the product...any tips?"

Occasionally I will have issues with polishes leaving behind a colourful legacy on my fingers.  When I do have this issue, I mention it in my reviews (see these two reviews for discussion of bad cases of Smurf fingers brought on by blue polishes).  To avoid (or at least minimize) staining of your fingers, try the following suggestion.  Soak a cotton ball/felt pad in acetone and hold on the nail for 60 seconds to loosen the polish.  Then swipe pad down the nail toward the tip, always moving in this one direction.  Repeat if necessary.  Be sure not to swirl the pad on the nail as this just grinds the pigments into the cuticle and surrounding skin.

At the end of a bottle of top coat or base coat, it is often a problem reaching the last bit of product on the bottom of the bottle.  What I usually do to ensure that I use up every last drop of the product is purchase a new bottle and use it for a few manicures until the level of fluid in the bottle drops.  Then the remainder of the old bottle can be decanted into the new bottle.


On to the pretties:


BB Couture - Moon Over Manhattan
- purchased from overallbeauty.com for $9.00 US

Moon Over Manhattan is dusty medium blue with very subtle silver and teal micro-glitter.  This colour reminds me of faded denim.  It is an absolutely gorgeous shade that is a unique colour in my collection.

Moon Over Manhattan applied very nicely - the two coats shown flowed onto and moved around the nail extremely well.  This polish wore well, with only tip wear after two days.



Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear - Flirt
- purchased at Rexall (chain drug store) for $2.95 CDN

At first glance, Flirt appears to be a dark brown colour in the bottle.  On the nail however, it is a fantastic dark purple that leans toward burgundy.  It gets its depth from blue and red micro glitter that shimmers in sunlight, but unfortunately is lost indoors.

Flirt applied nicely (and as usual, I cannot get enough of the awesomeness that is the Xtreme Wear brush - love it!) and covered opaquely in two coats.  Flirt dried quickly.  Wear was good - only minor tip wear after one day.


Icing - Peacock
- purchased at Icing for $3.75 CDN

Peacock is such an interesting colour - a dusty medium green with a delicious purple flash.  The day I wore this, several people grabbed my hand and moved it back and forth to see the green to purple transition.

Peacock applied nicely - it was smooth and of a pleasing consistency.  t required three coats to achieve opacity and this caused the polish to dry more slowly than I would like.  The wear on this polish was mediocre - I had considerable tip wear after only one day.


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

Mulberry Street is a pretty shimmery eggshell colour that would be perfect for a traditional office environment.  The day I wore this polish, one of my more conservative friends complimented me on the colour.

Mulberry Street applied well.  NYCIAM polishes have a really great brush, wide and flat, and it makes application easy.  I used three coats for maximum coverage, as I hate that pesky visible nail line that can happen with light coloured polishes.  The wear was good - just tip wear after two days.


Sally Hansen Salon - Haute Chocolate
- purchased at Shoppers (chain drug store) for $5.99 CDN


Haute Chocolate is rich brown base with a subtle gold micro-shimmer.  It really does invoke thoughts of delicious chocolate confections.

Haute Chocolate applied well.  However, that is where the goodness ends.  I required three coats to smooth over any streakiness or bald spots.  This amount of polish than took longer than normal to dry and even after 30 minutes (and the application of a quick dry top coat), I dented a couple of nails.  The wear on this polish was also less than stellar - tip wear after a few hours and a chip on my middle finger after less than a day.