Stuck With Bargain Bin on a Budget?

Greetings, folks!

You're on a budget. Spending $10 to $20 for a single bottle of polish just isn't feasible. Does that mean that you're stuck with bargain bin leftovers? 

Absolutely not. 

First off, drugstore polish makers have really upped their game. Wet 'n' Wild, L.A. Colors, Pure Ice, and Sinful Colors are all polishes that you can find for less than two dollars. Between these four brands, you can find pretty much anything your heart desires (even holo!). L.A. Colors doesn't always have the best formula, but the other three are pretty safe bets. Sinful Colors has put out... what... 7 new collections this year? And Pure Ice has some amazing formulas--"Show Stopper", for example, is a two coat yellow polish. Not even OPI has mastered that yet. Not to mention Pure Ice's glitters are amazeballs.

(There's also Sally Hansen polishes for less than $3, but I'm still mad at them.)

(Yes, I can hold one hell of a grudge.)

There's also the option of buying in bulk. This is a larger investment up front, but worth it in the long run. Nabi Cosmetics (found on Amazon and Ebay) runs great deals where you can choose a bunch of polishes for a discounted price. Several years ago I purchased a set of 20 polishes for $24.00, putting each polish at $1.20 a piece. Last time I looked (last November) their polishes were even cheaper. I also bought the Seche Vite Pro Kit from head2toebeauty.com for $18.75. This kit is 4.5 ounces--the equivalent of 9 bottles. That puts each bottle at only $2.08. You can't get that deal at Sally Beauty Supply!

Another thing to look for is sales. Oftentimes Sally Beauty Supply will have "buy two get one free" sales on their polish. Zoya is also great for sales... last year their Black Friday Sale was 70% their entire site! That meant Zoya polishes for only $3 a bottle! 

Online e-tailers are also an option. These include sites such as the aforementioned head2toebeauty, 88beauty, transdesign, and holler. 

And of course it never hurts to peruse someone's destash. There's always a destash happening! Right now there are at least three that I know of: Phoebe Moon's, Alli Evette's, and Stacey's (formerly Polished Ways on YouTube). I believe Jessika and Juanita will be destashing soon as well. You can simply Google "nail polish destash" and find all sorts of goodies for great prices. Sometimes you can even snag indie brands for super cheap. 

Oops! NOT Dupes!

Greetings folks,

I have erred in my way!

In a recent haul post, I mentioned that Pure Ice "Eskimo Kisses" was basically the exact same as Pure Ice "Don't You Wish", but with a blue tinted base. I was wrong. Here's a swatch of each of them over China Glaze "Combat Blue-ts":

As you can see, they are actually a bit different. "Eskimo Kisses" is there on the left, and "Don't You Wish" is on the right. "Eskimo Kisses" has smaller, more dense glitters with a few big glitters here and there, while "Don't You Wish" has larger, more sparse glitters. The latter polish allows a bit more of the base color to show through.

I have swatched "Eskimo Kisses" on its own. Although those glitters are fairly dense and the base is lightly tinted, I don't think you could get it opaque on its own. "Don't You Wish" definitely wouldn't get opaque on its own. 

Yes, the polishes are similar, but they are not dupes as I had thought. My apologies for the error! 

Larger Haul from Walmart.com

Good evening ladies and gents!

Today I'll be going over some goodies that I purchased from Walmart.com. I'll give you a forewarning, though... this post will have a bit of ranting in it.

So my mom came to me one evening and said that she wanted to place an order online, but needed $5 worth of more stuff to get the free shipping. "Want some polish?" she asked. Well now, you know, and I know, and she knew that was a silly question.

Of course I do! So I managed to narrow the gobs of bottles down to 3 to hit that $5 mark for her.

But then I ran into a problem. I realized that I only had two spaces left in my wall rack! OH NOES! 

So what did I do to solve the problem? 

... I bought another rack. And some more polishes to fill it. 


Yes, addiction has me in its clutches.

Including the three that Mom got with her order, I ended up getting 11 polishes--it was supposed to be 12, but apparently one was on backorder so Walmart refunded me for that one.

First on the left is Pure Ice "Moonlight", which was $1.98. Here begins the rant. Online, it looked to be a deep blue with silver shimmer. It is in fact a muddy grey/brown with purple shimmer. That shimmer doesn't even show up on the nail. Thus, you're left with... mud, basically. This polish was the biggest disappointment of the bunch. I didn't even think Pure Ice could make a bad polish, but this one proved me wrong. I don't like it one bit. I'll use it, somehow, someway, because I paid for it... but I won't enjoy it.

Second comes L.A. Colors "Dimple". This is just a basic pumpkin orange creme. It's a teeeensy bit streaky on the second coat, but I think with careful application it can work. Certainly worth the $0.98.

Third up is Pure Ice "Eskimo Kisses". This looked pure white online, which would make sense given the name. It's actually a holo glitter in a slightly blue tinted base. While pretty, the base isn't tinted enough to change any base color other than white. So if you already have Pure Ice "Don't You Wish", don't bother buying this one. They're exactly the same except for that tinted base.

Next up comes Sinful Colors "Mint Apple". Online? Mint creme. In reality? Very dark mint with tons of gold shimmer. Cute, but not what I really wanted. Was it worth $1.98? Eh, sure. I'll use it.

Fifth in line comes the second biggest disappointment. I paid $2.49 for Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Royal Rage". Online it looked to be an in-your-face neon royal blue. Nope. It's a dull blue with an awful crelly formula. This one's a three-coater--there's no way to hide the streakiness on that second coat. Still, it is a blue, so it'll get used.

In the middle of the pack we have Wet 'n' Wild "Casting Call", which was $0.98. This one was actually a pleasant surprise. I thought this would be much more pink, but it turns out it's actually more of a terra cotta color. I'm in love with it! The formula is great, too. Bonus: it water marbles like a champ.

The seventh polish was a roller coaster. Online, Pure Ice "Chrome on Over" (which was only $1.55 instead of the usual $1.98 Pure Ice price, for some reason) looked to be a gunmetal color. I was upset when I received it and discovered it's more of a purple. But then I swatched it, and ohhhh my goodness. GORGEOUS! This baby is my favorite of the bunch. Oh, and she's a one coater! 

Next is Pure Ice "Dollface", which was actually true to color. She's a lovely light peach creme. I put this in a water marble with "Casting Call" and it turned out great!

Then there's Pure Ice "Teal Appeal". I had seen this one in stores for quite a while and always thought about snagging it, so I finally did. She's a little closer to navy than teal, in my opinion. There's really not a whole lot of green in there. Still a great creme polish for the price, though, and I'm glad I picked her up.

The tenth polish is Wet 'n' Wild "Who is Ultra Violet?". This is a lot more pink than it looked online, but it's still a very nice purple creme. I was very bummed when it didn't work with the next polish in a water marble. I'll have to experiment some more to see if it cooperates with other polishes. 

Last but definitely not least we have Pure Ice "Sweet Serenity". This is a lovely light lavender creme (that I am wearing right now!). She's almost opaque in one coat, but I did get a patch here and there. I do tend to be a bit heavy-handed though, so those of you who aren't so aggressive might be able to get this polish opaque in one coat. That's pretty impressive for such a light colored polish. Absolutely worth every cent of the $1.98 that I paid. 

Mini Haul from Walmart.com

Greetings folks!

Today I wanted to show you a few goodies I got online. I needed a new bottle of Pure Ice "Bottom Line" base coat, so of course I snagged that at $1.98.

Then I needed... okay, so I didn't need Color Club "Blue Skies Ahead", but after watching Moon Baby Nails review a few polishes from the Mood Changing collection, I really, really wanted to snag at least one! The one I purchased goes from a cornflower blue to a nice deep lavender in cold conditions. Be warned, though: if you put a top coat on these polishes--as most people tend to do--the polish won't react as well to temperature change. When I received the polish it came in a box labeled "gel polish", but I didn't think anything of it... Surely it was just generic packaging. Then after six days of wear and only one tiny chip and no tip wear, I began to have doubts. Would I be able to get this stuff off?!? Thankfully, it comes off just like regular polish. Whew! I did go over budget on this baby, though. $6.44... yikes! But with the cool color changing properties, the lovely color, and the longevity, I don't feel too bad for splurging. 

I also bought a body pillow case, and that brought my total to just under $35 (since when are pillow cases so damn expensive?! eeeesh). To get free shipping, I needed to put myself above that line. So what did I do? Bought more polish, of course! 

(I think I may have fallen into the "addicted" category... rutroh.)

I snagged a bottle of L.A. Colors "Aquatic" for $0.98. I'm a wee bit disappointed in this one. Online, it looked considerably more green. Like... an aqua color, which would have made sense given the name. Sadly, it's nowhere near aqua. It's much more of an ink blue color. I don't hate it, by any means. I actually have it on my toes right now. I'm just bummed it wasn't what I thought it was. But those are the troubles you run into when shopping online.

Another trouble of shopping online is that there are soooo many to choose from... Too many to choose from. 

Yep, there will be another haul post coming soon.

Pure Ice "Girl on the Run"

Greetings gals and guys!

Today we'll be going over this beauty here. This is Pure Ice "Girl on the Run". She is a quick-dry glossy top coat. I'll be discussing her pros and cons, as well as how she compares to Seche Vite.

I'm a huge fan of the Pure Ice brand. They have fun, funky colors for a great price. Every time I'm in Walmart I'm scoping out their stuff.

...But I never knew "Girl on the Run" existed. Crazy, right? Thankfully SistaChic mentioned it in her "Unpopular Opinions" YouTube video. If only that video had come out before I purchased the Seche Vite Pro Kit--the equivalent of nine bottles of Seche Vite... I had to try it, though. I had to! So here's what I think:


Pros:

• Price: "Girl on the Run" costs the same as other Pure Ice polishes--just under two dollars a bottle.
• Dry time: Pure Ice really surprised me on this one. This stuff dries within five minutes, easy.
• Shine: She's a high-shine beauty. She's got a gloss that won't fade for several days.
• Consistency: She's nice and smooth and a bit on the thinner side.
• Nail art: "Girl on the Run" has not smeared my nail art once. Sweet!

Cons:

• Wear time: Unfortunately I noticed some major tip wear after only a couple of days. After about the third day she'll start chipping like crazy. For me personally, this isn't really a huge problem since I rarely wear a mani for more than four days. However, for someone who wants longevity, this may not be the best top coat.
• Smell: "Girl on the Run" does have a bit of a funk to it. You won't be able to smell it once it's dry, but if you're sensitive to smells this might put you off.

Compared to Seche Vite:

• Price: Seche Vite retails for around eight dollars a bottle. If you get the Pro Kit, you'll pay about $2.08 per bottle plus shipping. That's a great price for Seche Vite, but it still can't beat out Pure Ice.
• Dry time: I daresay the two are pretty even on dry time. 
• Shine: Pure Ice wins out here, too. The shine on Seche Vite does tend to fade after a couple of days.
• Consistency: Again, Pure Ice is the winner. Seche Vite will get very thick and goopy once you've made it through half the bottle. With Pure Ice, you won't need to add a thinner to use the whole bottle.
• Nail art: Both top coats are great for nail art. Neither will smudge your work (if you're careful).
• Smell: Both products have a smell to them, though I would have to say that Pure Ice's is a bit worse.
• Wear time: Here's where Seche Vite wins out by quite a stretch. I once wore a water marble mani topped with Seche Vite for three weeks. I'm not sure that mani would have lasted a week with the Pure Ice. 
• Availability: You can easily find Seche Vite at any Sally Beauty Supply, as well as a few online retailers. "Girl on the Run" is only available at Walmart, and tends to sell out quickly.

So who's the winner? I think that depends on what you intend to do with your mani. If you want your manicure to last a good long while, I would say stick with Seche Vite. But if you're like me and change it up at least twice a week, Pure Ice has the upper hand--if you can find it. 

If you can find it, I'd really recommend giving "Girl on the Run" a try. She's inexpensive, and if you end up not liking her, chances are one or two (or a dozen) of your friends would be willing to buy it off you. 

I know my next top coat purchase will be another bottle of "Girl on the Run". Now I just need to get through these nine bottles of Seche Vite... 

Stamping with "Splash!"

Greetings folks!

Today I'll be doing a quick run-through of this stamped mani:



For my base coat I used Pure Ice "Bottom Line" ($1.97 @ Walmart). 

I then applied Wet 'n' Wild "Black Creme" as my base color ($0.99 @ Walgreens).

The stamping plate I used was Bundle Monster's XL-02 ($3.20 per plate @ Walmart.com). I used the jumbo clear stamper that I got from Born Pretty Store for $2.99. 

Then I broke out my Pure Ice "Splash!". Now, I honestly didn't think this would stamp, as it's a very sheer, very shimmery polish. But boy, was I wrong! It stamped like a dream. I would suggest using some kind of protective barrier, though--liquid latex, tape, etc. The shimmer did not want to let go of my skin!

As usual, I topped off the mani with Seche Vite ($2.08 @ head2toebeauty.com).

The overall look is very subtle, but when the light hits that gorgeous blue shimmer... I just heaved a dreamy sigh... it flares to life. 

It just goes to show that it never hurts to try anything and everything. Even if you think it's not going to work, it may surprise you and end up becoming a stunning manicure!

Woeful Watermarbling

Greetings folks!

Today we'll be talking about this here watermarble mani:



Actually, I'm going to interrupt myself for a minute to make a plea. Can someone please come hold my hand while I attempt cleanup??? I've watched I-don't-know-how-many videos on cleaning up your cuticles, but I just can't seem to do it right. I either don't get enough off, or I get too much off and have this huge gap that makes it look like my nails have grown out for two weeks. BLARGH! Admittedly, it has gotten a little easier since I switched from my angled paintbrush to the e.l.f. concealer brush all the nail gurus talk about. But I still need quite a bit of practice. If anyone has any tips or tricks, please feel free to let me know!

Now, you might be wondering, "Why is this watermarble so woeful?" 


The watermarble itself isn't bad. I do like how the pattern turned out, and the colors (Color Club "Grand Dame" and Nabi "Metallic Champagne") work well together. But allow me to accentuate the issue here:

Yeah... now I remember why I don't buy light pinks. They do my skin tone no favors whatsoever. 

One of the things I like about watermarbles, though, is that they last forever. This one could have lasted me a couple of weeks... if I hadn't gotten tired of it after only a few days. I think I'll stick to my hot pinks and fuchsias.

Dabbling in Dots

Greetings folks,

Today we'll be discussing this here dotticure mani:



I'm not 100% certain where I got the inspiration for this, but it was probably in one of Jenny's "Easy Nail Art For Beginners" videos.

I started with Pure Ice "Bottom Line" base coat ($1.97 at Walmart). I then put down two coats of Wet 'n' Wild "Be More Pacific" (97 to 99 cents at any drugstore).

I then used my largest dotting tool and some Nina Ultra Pro "Ink-ling" ($4.19 at Sally Beauty Supply with card--I always buy them when they're B2G1, bringing the price of each to $2.79) to lay down one or two dark grey dots on each nail. I repeated this step with some Wet 'n' Wild "French White Creme". Flipping the dotting tool over, I made smaller dots randomly around the large ones. Going back in with "Ink-ling", I placed small dots inside the large white dots. I used "Be More Pacific" to put small dots inside the dark grey dots.

I got my dotting tools for Christmas last year, so for me they were free. Woot!  However, I think I've heard Jenny mention that you can get some on Amazon for a dollar. Even if you do end up having to pay more for them, dotting tools are well worth the investment because you can do innumerable designs with them.

Materials used: Pure Ice "Bottom Line" base coat, Wet 'n' Wild
"Be More Pacific" and "French White Creme", Nina Ultra
Pro "Ink-ling", Seche Vite, dotting tool

Finally, I finished off the mani with Seche Vite ($7.99 at Sally's).

Next up? Born Pretty Bitchfest!

Glittery Golden Goodness

Good afternoon ladies and gents!

Today I'll be raving about this here polish:

This is Pure Ice "Studette". I bought it for $1.97 at Walmart.  It's a clear base with tons of gold glitter, some silver glitter, and some red glitter. And it is dense. "Studette" is so blingy, my camera had a hell of a time capturing it, as you will see. 

Below are my swatches. The nail on the left is two coats of "Studette" on its own. On the right is one coat of "Studette" over black polish. 



I'm guessing you could probably get this opaque in three coats, it's that dense. Or, you could sponge it on using a makeup sponge as I did for the manicure I'll be featuring in the next post. 

The still photos don't really do "Studette" justice, though. I tried to get video of this golden goddess's blingery, but it was just too much for my poor camera and it decided to focus on the boards of my deck instead. Hopefully you can still get an idea of how awesome this polish is.

So, do I think this glitter polish was worth the $1.97? Abso-freaking-lutely. Go get ya some!