Deborah Lippmann Jessa

The grungy green Hannah may be the main reason I bought Deborah Lippmann's Girls set, but that doesn't mean the set doesn't have other pretties to offer! Today I've got another polish from the set to share with you: Jessa, a vampy burgundy creme. This is definitely more of a fall color, but for some reason I was really itching to wear it.

The formula was a touch streaky but otherwise it applied without a hitch. I used three coats here. (P.S. Sorry for how much of a reflection showed up on my nails in this picture. When I was going through my swatches on my camera afterwards, they pretty much all looked that way. *ragequit*)

Jessa may not be a unique color, but I couldn't help loving it. It's such a rich, perfect vamp that's effortlessly chic!

Zoya Hazel

Zoya Hazel is a blue foil with little flecks of gold. The glow on this polish is cray cray! It really jumps out at you and it's so shiny that it's almost reflective. Love it!

The formula is absolutely marvelous. I used two coats here.

To me, Hazel is kind of like the lovechild of Zoya FeiFei and Zoya Crystal. It takes the best elements from both polishes and creates something totally awesome! If you like bright, brilliant foils, then Hazel is a must-have! It's already become one of my all-time favorite Zoya's!

Review: Lush H'Suan Wen Hua

Lush H'Suan Wen Hua: I can't pronounce it, but I like it! This strengthening, ultra-nourishing hair mask is great for anyone with dry, damaged or brittle hair. H'Suan Wen Hua is a hair treatment mask that uses protein-rich organic eggs to condition and protect hair; bay leaf infusion to stimulate and tone the scalp; bananas and extra virgin olive oil to moisturize and rosemary oil to add shine.

One of the first things I noticed about this product is it smells absolutely amazing! I'd read some reviews that mentioned the smell being funky, so I was prepared for the worst, but honestly I really loved the way it smelt! It reminds me of bananas and cinnamon. If you like the scent of Lush's Sympathy For The Skin (another favorite of mine), I think you'll enjoy this as well!

So anways, back to what the mask does! But first, a bit of background on my hair: My hair is neither fine nor thick. It's naturally straight and goes a bit past my shoulders. I'm a bleach blonde, so my hair can always use some extra lovin' to keep it feeling strong and healthy, especially after I've just had a color touch-up. However, I hate anything that makes my hair feel greasy or sticky. If I'm using a conditioning product, I don't want it to be anything that weighs my hair down or leaves any type of residue behind. (I rarely use product in my hair. It's a texture thing.)

I was a little worried H'Suan Wen Hua would weigh down my hair and make it look limp--or worse, greasy--but I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased with the results! I started with by working the product through my dry hair, applying it all over. I didn't use a ton of product, just enough that my hair felt damp, but not wet. (A single pot of H'Suan Wen Hua would yield about seven or eight all-over treatments with my hair, although of course your mileage may vary depending on your hair's length and texture. You could also extend the life of your pot by just using H'Suan Wen Hua as a spot treatment on problem areas.) Then you're supposed to let it sit for at least 20 minutes. Afterwards, rinse it out, then follow with shampoo and whatever your regular hair routine is.

As soon as I rinsed it out, I could tell right away that my hair felt amazing! It was so smooth, silky and soft! Seriously, my hair has never felt this soft before, to the point that I was touching it throughout the day like a creeper because I couldn't believe how perfect it felt. I could feel it was more conditioned than usual (if that makes sense), but it wasn't heavy or greasy at all. While blowdrying, my brush slid through effortlessly and my hair looked so smooth and tamed that I would have sworn I flat ironed it if I didn't know better!

The effect lasts 2-3 days, probably longer if you don't shampoo your hair. I shampoo'd after two days and still noticed smoother, sleeker texture on the third day, then it kinda gradually dwindled off from there on out. My hair also smelled crazy good for several days. I would catch little whiffs of cinnamon here and there and I loved that!

So to sum it all up, H'Suan Wen Hua is a great multi-tasking hair mask that conditions, strengthens, smooths, softens and adds shine. I love that you get the good stuff, without any of the grease. My hair has never felt or looked as healthy as when I use this mask! Whether you want a mask to help with the regular upkeep of your hair or you're in need of a total re-set button for your locks, this stuff should do the trick!

Twinsie Tuesday: Follower Requested Mani

As you may have seen on my blog or my Instagram, this week's Twinsie Tuesday had us turning to our readers for help coming up with our manis. Each Twinsie asked their followers to come up with suggestions for manicures they would like to see us try! It was super hard to pick, because I was sent some great ideas and I wish I could have found a way to incorporate them all into this mani (cheesy but true)!

In the end, I went with a suggestion I got on Instagram from @jennas_paws: a dry brush mani. I actually did a dry brush mani for a previous TT challenge and I really enjoyed playing with that technique, so I jumped at the chance to do it again! But I figured, why stop there? I was sure I could find another follower's idea to throw into the mix!

So follower and fellow Twinsie Amanda (I'm pretty sure she was the first person to follow me on Instagram, so I'm totally counting her!) also submitted the idea of creating "a mani that Oscar the Grouch's girlfriend would wear." How could I resist such a fun prompt? Also, I spent part of Memorial Day weekend reading while lounging outside on a Sesame Street beach towel--I am only two years older than this towel, true story--so that suggestion seemed weirdly on point to me, hahaha.

Now, in my mind, the grunge-y, distressed look of a dry brush mani fits perfectly with Oscar the Grouch--I mean, he lives in a trash can, after all! I tried to pick appropriate colors: silver for his trash can, black and green for Oscar himself, then bits of pink to feminize things a touch and bring the girlfriend aspect into play.

Black: Rimmel Black Satin
Silver: Sally Hansen Celeb City
Green: China Glaze Gaga For Green
Pink: OPI Hey Baby

When I finished this mani, my first thought was, "Uh...that doesn't look very pretty." I was going to re-do it, but then I thought, Oscar the Grouch's girlfriend wouldn't wear something pretty. She'd wear something that looked kinda rough and icky, because that's how she rolls.

Out of curiosity, I looked up if the character of Oscar's girlfriend actually exists, and she does! Meet Grundgetta:

 

 

Gotta love that unibrow! So yep, I think Grundgetta would totally rock the dirty-looking mani I created. ;)

Thank you to @jennas_paws and @amandalandish for their submissions this week! And check out what my Twinsies' followers cooked up for them to try too!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

Urban Outfitters Silver Holo

The name may not be the most imaginative, but Urban Outfitters Silver Holo still kicks all kinds of ass. As you can probably guess this polish is a silver holo--and a strong, linear one too! I've been dying to try UO's holos after hearing so many good things about them. This beauty came courtesy of the wonderful Amanda and it absolutely lived up to the hype I've seen on other blogs!

I didn't do any topcoat or basecoat with this mani. But as you can see, you don't need any special base to really make the holo gleam. It's crazy strong all on its own! The formula is great--no issues with streaking or strokes--and covers in three coats. After one day of wear, I had some tipwear and a scratch or two, but no chips. Holos usually chip on me pretty quickly, especially without topcoat, so I was impressed!

I have to say, job well done to Urban Outfitters (or whatever company they license their polishes out to), because this is one of the best holos I've used! It's got a top-notch formula and a stunningly intense holo that rivals my favorite holos, Color Club's much-loved Halo Hues. If you're in the market for a strong holo, definitely look for this one next time you're in an Urban Outfitters!

Help me pick my Twinsie Tuesday manicure!

Next week's Twinsie Tuesday theme is a follower requested mani, so I want to hear what YOU would like to see me try! Shoot me an email at nailedblog90@gmail.com, hit me up on Instagram at @chelseanailed or comment below with your ideas! Whoever's idea I pick will get credit in my TT post. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

P.S. As bribery, here's a photo of one of my Corgis. :)

Orly Galaxy Girl

Remember when Orly used to make awesome FX collections, filled with all kinds of shimmery duochrome goodness? Damn do I miss those! I think the original FX Collection is the best thing Orly's ever put out. I own them all and each one is perfection!

I was feeling nostalgic so I reached for one of those original FX pretties: Galaxy Girl, a vampy deep burgundy with an incredible teal shimmer. This is not a shy, tilt-your-hand-at-the-right-angle -to-see shimmer. It's beautifully vibrant and I think it's what really makes this shade. Maybe it's just me, but the color combination in Galaxy Girl always reminds me of a bruise--in a good way!

I used three coats for this mani and the formula didn't give me any trouble. I used to buy a ton of Orly and polishes like Galaxy Girl are a prime example of why. It's honestly been a while since they put out a collection that really excited me, but if Orly brought out some more kickass shimmers like this, I'd snap them up in a hot second!

OPI Don't Burst My Bubble

OPI Don't Burst My Bubble is a sheer, pink-tinged white. Normally these types of shades aren't really my thing, but I bought this polish for two reasons: 1) it was on clearance and 2) I thought it might be a decent substitute for Essie Ballet Slippers, an all-time favorite neutral of mine and one that I am almost out of. Don't Burst My Bubble is definitely more white, whereas Ballet Slippers is more pink, but it's a good workhorse neutral to have all the same.

The formula is non-streaky and easy to work with. It wasn't tricky to build it up to opacity either. I got away with four coats here.

Y'know, I always say I don't really like neutrals, yet I've noticed that I use them more than any of my other polishes, because they're so stinkin' versatile--not necessarily for wearing alone, but for glitter layerings, nail art, etc... But I guess that's kind of the point of neutrals, right? (Duh, Chelsea.) So what I'm trying to say is that I'm finally coming around to neutrals, hahaha.

What's your favorite neutral polish? For me, it's a toss-up between the aforementioned Ballet Slippers or OPI My Vampire Is Buff.

OPI Rose of Light

OPI Rose of Light is a pink and rose gold glitterbomb complete with silver holo squares for mega sparkle! I'm kinda obsessed with rose gold so naturally I had to have this polish. Unlike its collection mate, the disappointing Blush Hour, Rose of Light looks fabulous worn either alone or layered. I opted to sport it solo here and I absolutely love how it looks!

Unfortunately I can't remember if it took three or four coats to build this up to opacity, but either way, the dabbling application method will be the quickest, easiest option if you want to wear this polish alone.

I was disappointed in the Spotlight On Glitter Collection overall (so many re-promotes!) but Rose of Light is the collection's big saving grace, if you ask me. You can't go wrong when you put metallic and holo glitter together. The end result is a polish that catches the light like crazy! It's got this sparkling, champagne-y look to it that had me staring at my hands all day long. If you're a rose gold lover, like me, this is a polish you'll want to pick up!

Twinsie Tuesday: Nail Pattern Boldness Seppuku (With A Frisbee)

This week is a first for Twinsie Tuesday in that we were allowed to pick our own theme--or, more specifically, pick a previous TT theme we especially liked and revisit it. If you read my blog on a semi-regular basis then you know it's no secret I am crazy about glitter, so guess which theme I chose? Yep, a glitter mani!

To mix things up a little bit, I went with a matte glitter: Nail Pattern Boldness Seppuku (With A Frisbee). It's a matte yellow and orange glitterbomb and it's super fun! The glitter pieces are very small (like microglitter-sized) so you could easily layer this polish, but I think it looks really cool all on its own!

Using a dabbling technique to apply, Sepukku is opaque in three coats. Even though this polish is all matte, it doesn't look flat or full at all. In fact, the orange and yellow pieces together have a lot of dimension and make for a really eye-catching combo. It's like little solar flares on your nails!

Be sure to take a look at which themes my Twinsies chose to revisit this week!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

China Glaze Ruby Pumps

When you're talking about all-time classic polishes, China Glaze Ruby Pumps has to be a part of that discussion. In my book, this is the greatest red shimmer ever! It's got that glowing, almost glassfleck-like effect that China Glaze does so well. Ruby Pumps also happens to be the very first CG polish I bought!

The formula is excellent and covers in two coats. Red polish doesn't get any better than Ruby Pumps!

Smitten Polish Huckleberry Gumdrop

Smitten Polish Huckleberry Gumdrop is a robin's egg blue crelly filled with delicate, pearlescent white flakies. I love the look of these soft, subtle flakies. I don't think I've ever tried a polish with this particular type before (all the ones I have are of the iridescent, color-changing variety), but it creates a beautiful effect that's fun yet understated. Coupled with the blue base, it almost reminds me of how you see little glints of sunlight dancing along the water during the summertime.

As I mentioned above, this is a crelly, so the formula is on the sheer side. I needed four coats to reach the level of opacity I like for photos, but if I was just wearing this polish out and about without swatching it, I probably would have stopped at three. The consistency itself is nice and workable.

Huckleberry Gumdrop is my first experience with Smitten Polish (courtesy of the wonderful Ms. Amanda) and it's already got me lusting after some of their other, equally gorgeous shades! I need their holos! You can purchase Smitten Polish from their website.

Jessica Rabbit-Inspired Nails

Today's mani is a little tribute to everyone's favorite preposterously proportioned cartoon glamour girl, Jessica Rabbit from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". I loved this movie as a kid (although watching it years later, I realized how many of the jokes must have gone over my head when I was younger) and Jessica was always my favorite character, so I thought it'd be fun to do a manicure inspired by her signature look:

If you follow Deborah Lippmann's collections, you might recall that before Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?  was released as part of DL's 2011 holiday collection, it was codenamed "Jessica Rabbit." Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? has a clear base absolutely packed with red hex glitters, most likely intended to mimic the look of Jessica's iconic red sequin gown. So I figured, what better polish to use for some Jessica-inspired nails? 

I started with a base of China Glaze Ruby Pumps, to add some extra sparkle and help fill in any gaps left by the large hexes in Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?. Then I layered Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? over top using a dabbling technique to make the glitter as dense as possible. It took three to four coats for each nail until I reached a level of opacity I was happy with, but the glowing, glittering nails it created were worth the extra effort!

 Quick 'n dirty indoor lighting shot to show off how much this combo really glowed:

I absolutely loved this mani, so much so that I wore it for five days, which is a crazy long time for me! A couple people said it reminded them of Dorothy's ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz (appropriate, given that I used Ruby Pumps as my base) so I guess you could call these Wizard of Oz-inspired nails too! :)

Twinsie Tuesday: Bubbles

So I'm late to the party with my Twinsie Tuesday mani this week, but here goes! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this week's theme is bubbles. Honestly I was a bit stumped as to how to interpret this theme, but I gave it my best shot.

I started with a base of OPI Don't Burst My Bubble (because of course) and then did an accent nail with some beads from a Born Pretty kit, with the idea that they would look like little bubbles. Originally I tried using clear beads, since I figured they would look the most bubble-like, but they looked weirdly creepy over a nude polish. Instead of bubbles, they looked like some sort of lumpy growth on my nail bed and nobody wants that! (Sorry, I didn't think to snap a picture before I went to Plan B.) So off they came and I used some lavender beads instead!

So yeah, not the greatest mani ever and I don't know if it necessarily says "bubbles" but hey, I tried! I'm curious to see what everyone else did with this theme!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

Twinsie Tuesday: Stay Tuned...

I was traveling this week to visit family and didn't get in 'til late last night, so no Twinsie Tuesday post for me this morning, but I am going to try my hardest to have something up either later tonight or early tomorrow! Sorry guys! I have a mani in mind, I just haven't had the time to do it, because I suck at time management and planning ahead. But spoiler alert: The theme is bubbles! :)

Thankfully my Twinsies are a bit more on the ball than me, so do check out their posts for today. Hopefully I'll have mine up shortly!

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Anna at Going to the Showing

Anne at Grape Fizz Nails

Casey at CaseyLane Loves Polish

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Elizabeth at Did My Nails

Erin at Paint Those Piggies

Kelly at Tuxarina

Lakeisha at Refined and Polished

Maribeth at Obsessive Cosmetic Hoarders Unite

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Rachel at Top Coat It

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Stephanie at A Little Polish

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Traci at DrinkCitra

Essie Haute In The Heat Preview

In addition to a new batch of neons, Essie has another collection launching this summer: Haute In The Heat. (I keep typing Haute As Hello, which is the name of a polish in Essie's core collection.) The collection officially launches in June but rumor has it some stores and salons are already stocking it. So here's a look at what to keep your eyes peeled for!

Haute In The Heat

Strut Your Stuff

 

Fierce, No Fear

 

Roarrrrange

Urban Jungle

Ruffles and Feathers

Some nice colors here, to be sure, but I feel like we've seen these from Essie before. Roarrrrange looks like Orange, It's Obvious!, Haute In The Heat looks like Style Hunter, Strut Your Stuff looks like a less saturated I'm Addicted... But maybe I'm just trying to convince myself I don't need anything because I'm on a no-buy til OPI Coca-Cola comes out. But I've been eyeing I'm Addicted from Essie's recent Too Taboo Collection, so I'll definitely be picking up Strut Your Stuff if I don't snag I'm Addicted!

So what do YOU think: see any must-haves or just same old, same old?

Nicole by OPI Seize The Summer Preview

Nicole by OPI's summer offering is a smaller one this year, but with so much going on lately with NOPI's big sister, the original OPI, it's hard to complain! The Seize The Summer Collection features four new shades, launching this June.

Lay it on the Lime

 

Shaved Nice

LeaPink For Joy

The Coral of the Story

LeaPink for Joy? Really, NOPI???? *sigh* It's been quite a while since I bought a NOPI polish (looking back on my blog, the last one was Just Busta Mauve from Fall 2012--incredible polish, by the way) and I don't see anything here that I think is likely to break that streak. There are some cute colors, for sure, but nothing earth-shattering to me. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on the collection in the comments section!

China Glaze Thataway

China Glaze Thataway is a soft orange with gold shimmer. This is an older China Glaze and I'm not quite sure when it was originally released, but it's still part of the core collection at Sally.

The formula is a teeny bit watery for my taste and a smidge brushstroke-y, but not bad overall. This is a polish that could have veered off into frosty territory if the formula wasn't executed well, but thankfully what you get is a glowing, shimmering shade of orange. China Glaze does shimmer so well and this polish is a great example!

When I stopped to think about it, you don't see all that many orange shimmers out there (especially not a softer orange like this one), so Thataway is a fairly unique shade and a gorgeous one, at that! If you're looking for something fun and summer-y, but maybe neons aren't your style, check out Thataway!

Deborah Lippmann Happily Ever After Preview

This spring saw several brands venture into bridal collections for the first time: Butter London and now Deborah Lippmann! DL has released a mini trio of bridal polishes called Happily Ever After, which retails for $29 and is exclusive to Sephora. All three polishes feature the matteen (satin) finish that debuted in last winter's Silk Collection. Take a look!

L To R: Going To The Chapel, Endless Love, Something Blue

The matteens can be brushstroke-y and a little frustrating to work with, but I really like the look of the finish itself. Going To The Chapel looks very similar to Pseudo Silk Kimono, which I already have, but I might pick up this set if it goes on clearance. That's how I was able to snag DL's Wicked trio so maybe I'll get lucky again!