This Old Mani: Thoughts on Wear Testing

Whenever I'm asked how well a polish wears, I usually don't even know.  My job doesn't let me wear fun colors, so most of what you see was on my nails for maybe 20-40 minutes.  Even if I do wear something for a while, I'll generally only mention wear as an aside or if it's usually poor.  In general, I don't feel like wear testing is worth doing for "standard" polish.  A recent-ish mani inspired me to explain why.


This is Sinful Colors Silver Solution over Beige Of Honor, after a week of wear.

Maybelline Dream Wonder Foundation

I've been on the search lately. There must be a good foundation out there for me. There must. And dammit I will find it. Today I am testing out the Dream Wonder Foundation from Maybelline. Supposedly it is a dupe for the Armani Maestro foundation, which I will never be able (or willing) to afford.

Guess Who I Met!!

If you follow us on IG, you probably already know, but this happened on Saturday...

McGee, me, and Nichole

The Planets: Saturn

It's that time again! We're still in gas giant land, and this week it is Saturn's turn in the limelight. This one is far less realisitc than my previous planets, but I think it captures the feel...at least what I think of when I look at pictures. Saturn has always reminded me of an over-boiled egg yolk, so I tried to do something with movement in that color palette.

Sinful Colors' Sneaky Shades

When most of us think of Sinful Colors we probably think first of Walgreens or Rite Aid, but they're sold in plenty of other stores too.  Target, Wal-Mart (boo hiss), and regional supermarket chains have them too...and sometimes new shades sneak their way into those stores before possibly turning up in the more usual places.  Months ago I was at our local Giant supermarket and decided to browse the cosmetics section, even though they almost never have anything new.  To my surprise there were THREE shades I'd never seen before.  I've had them since the depths of that horrible winter, but I've only just pulled them out to try now.  I've heard from others that these shades can also be found at Wal-Mart (boo hiss).  Mauvelous is showing up in the Walgreens Bright To Basics display now too.  They're standouts no matter where you find them, so let's take a look!


Ice Blue has tons of crazy light blue and purple microfleck in a sheer blue base.

I tested Ice Blue over a bare nail, but I don't see it building up to opacity.  I went with two coats over Milani Blue Print and it's a sensational topper!  Look at that sparkle!

Garden Party is an eye-catching bright green that is just completely impossible to photograph!

not color-accurate

This isn't even vaguely right!  Cameras just absolutely refuse to see it correctly.  If you've seen NYC Palm On The Beach, it's similar but a little cooler and deeper.  The best way I can describe it is as a green sister to Endless Blue.  Like that deservedly popular shade it's also a one-coater with a great formula.  I hope it makes its way to Walgreens someday, since it deserves a ton of attention.  Love it!


Mauvelous is a dark, murky gray-purple.

While it was less troublesome to photograph than Garden Party, Mauvelous confused cameras a bit too.  It's so intense and brooding that it comes off as almost greenish to my camera.  It's a fascinating color.  This is two coats and the formula's quite good.

Bottom line: If you spot these, I'd recommend all three.


He'll never see this unless I make a point of showing him, but I wanna wish The Beard a happy birthday anyway.  Today begins the few weeks per year that we're the same age, so maybe the cougar jokes will stop for a bit.  He teases me for being a whopping ten months older, but I adore this man and I hope he enjoys all of the food and presents!

Accidental Scarabs

Ever sit down to a pile of polish, and just kinda start throwing stuff together? That is what happened here. I started with a base color, then applied another, and another, and then I realized that I had beetles on my fingers and just kinda ran with it. 

Sally Hansen Camelflage

When I heard that Sally Hansen was coming out with new core shades for their Complete Salon Manicure line I rushed out to find them.  I bought On Pines And Needles first...because green.  I found it unusually thick for this line, but I took a chance and bought two more new shades anyway.  When any of my favorite brands comes out with a light, warm nude I get my hopes up.  Here's how Camelflage did on me...


Camelflage is a light honey beige cream.

I was initially a little let down that it wasn't as good a match for me as I'd hoped, but I still like it.  The Beard told me it was creepy and looked like someone else's skin.  It does have a bit of that "wrong shade of foundation" thing going on, but I think it's different enough to work.  It makes a great base for toppers too.  The trouble though?  It is THICK.  It put up almost as much of a fight as On Pines And Needles did.  I wound up doing one coat on some nails and two on others, depending on how much dragging happened.  It was rough.  The wear was affected too.  Can you see that tipwear?  This was after maybe 18 hours.  Ouch.

It got a second chance almost right away, since I often redo just these four rather than doing a whole new mani after swatching.  This time I thinned it.  Much better!

It needed two coats once it was thinned, but it was much easier to work with.


Bottom line: The name is cute and punny (quiet, Nichole) and it's a nice, distinctive neutral.  The formula was troublesome and almost unusable without thinner.  I'm hoping I just got a bad bottle, but I'm not sure.


This is one of those shades like Sinful Colors Nude that I really want to see on someone dark-skinned and warm.  If you're reading this, Nkem...hint hint!

Jupiter Ascending Palette from Pur Minerals

I'm not the hippest cat out there. I freely admit that. Apparently, this is another movie tie-in palette. From what I have read, this is a sci-fi movie...so I'll probably be watching it. I am already half in love with the makeup inspired by it.  

Pueen Encore - Part 2

If you saw Part 1 of this review, you know I had issues with the first set.  Pueen was nice enough to replace the whole thing, after a little wheedling on my part.  I was a bit stunned, since I only wanted replacements for two of them.  Today we're gonna look at the third and fourth plates and see if there's an improvement in SE01B, the big problem plate from my first set.  Let's jump right in!

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Fluid

It seems like the search for the "Holy Grail" foundation is never ending. Even when you find something you love, you keep looking. Hey, there might be an even better one right around the corner! One that lasts a little longer, covers a bit more, costs a little less. Ugh. it's exhausting. But the search goes on, and today I'm going to talk about Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Fluid.

A Cuticle Closeup

In one of those things that would seem strange to "outsiders" but is completely normal to us, I get complimented on my cuticles pretty often...along with requests for my "secret".  Like a lot of things in the nail world, persistence is a major factor.  Nails conveyor-belt their way forward at around 1mm per week and they'll drag an untended cuticle along with them.  Neglect them for long and suddenly they're a mess and your polish is probably lifting.  I've been there.  I went well over a decade without pushing mine, out of fear.  I had a very negative experience with an orange stick when I was in my teens.  Be glad that digital cameras weren't a thing yet.  It was nasty.  I slipped and gouged into the living skin behind the cuticle.  It's a lucky thing that I didn't permanently damage that nail, since that's where new cells are laid down.  I didn't overcome this fear until a few weeks after we started blogging.  Nichole's have always been gorgeous though, and she shared her method way back in the early days.  I'd had it in the back of my mind to post about mine, but then Olivia spurred me on...and here we go!

Pin Busting: DIY Makeup Remover Wipes

It has been far too long since I have ventured into the frightening world of DIY pins. I've had this one pin'd for a while, but always got distracted when it came time to do it. But lately, my house has been pretty tidy, and I've run out of excuses...so it is time for more Pin-Busting!

SFW Mini-Spam

Today was my last workday until August.  Woohoo!  My job's ok, but the dress code requires polish to be "conservative and simple".  It's limiting, but it's also a great excuse for buying tons of neutrals.  Gotta have variety, right?  Whenever I can, I wear something new I've swatched for a post, but that's not always possible.  That's when I reach into my SFW drawer.  Here's some of what I've found in there recently.

The Planets: Jupiter

It's time for science again! Well...science-lite, anyway. I've done all the inner planets, so I guess it is time to tackle the gas giants. The biggest and baddest is also the first one: Jupiter. I seriously struggled with this one, probably doing the marble about 5 times before I gave up and went with it. In the end, I think it turned out ok.

The Only White Cream I Don't Hate

White cream polishes have a bad reputation.  They usually deserve it.  They tend to be chalky, gloppy, hateful disasters...unless they're watery, streaky, patchy messes.  Somehow SinfulShine Wisp manages to be neither.  It's my eternal recommendation when NB'ers or laqueristas ask for a white that doesn't suck.  I'm not going to say it's perfect, but it's the only white cream that I've never wanted to chuck out a window.  It's about time I had a real swatch of it, aside from this one from back when I had claws.

Be warned, it looks scarybad on me.  Try to focus on the polish and not on the corpse fingers.

Wisp is a stark white cream.

Milani Lip Intense Liquid Lip Colors

Watching Youtube, you see a lot of fabulous things. Supposedly "readily available" things. And then you realize that you live in a makeup desert that never gets the new and fabulous things. (We have one Ulta in the whole county...and no real Sephora) You tend to resign yourself to never finding 90% of the shiny new things that you want...and then you stumble across them one afternoon. And it makes your day a little brighter.

Milani Blue Print

When all of Milani's polishes suddenly went on clearance at CVS, a lot of us wondered what it could mean.  Turns out they're introducing a whole new line!  Gone are the flat bottles with the skinny caps.  In their place are chunky, round, Nails Inc.-style ones.  They're a bit smaller at 0.34oz instead of the old 0.43oz, but the price has also dropped from $6-ish to $4.50-ish.  I think that works out to be a price drop, but I'm terrible at math.  I perused the whole line, polish by polish, when I tracked it down at a CVS near work, but my eyes were really only drawn to one thing.  I was pretty sure I saw a dupe for the bitterly mourned Sally Hansen Pacific Blue.  I had to buy it to put it to the test.


Blue Print is a medium blue cream.

Pinspired: Kitten in the Moonlight

It is time for another Pinspired manicure! I feel like I haven't done one of these in forever. Not that I don't cruise Pinterest looking for inspiration...I just don't see anything that grabs me as often as I used to. Until I saw this picture. I don't often do things like this, and I thought it would be a good exercise for me. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

damn you, glare!

New Summer Wet n Wild WildShine LE's

As much as I love spotting something that I didn't know existed, I really miss Nouveau Cheap!  I'm worried that G's dad is still unwell and really hope he, she, and everyone in her family is doing ok.

I was perusing the Wegmans near work on Monday when something caught my eye.  New WildShines!  There are four shades in this display, but I passed on Spitfire, a bright orange.  I just wasn't feeling it.  The display also has Megaslick glosses, but they were sold out so I have no clue what shades there might be.  Let's take a peek at what I did get...

First Look at Akira Lacquer

press sample

This might be the coolest thing I've ever been a part of, nail polish wise. (well, tied for the top anyway). I answered a call for a swatcher/tester/reviewer on instagram, and I actually got picked! For a completely new line of polishes! (You know how I love to have things no one else does, and for a couple of months, I enjoyed being in a super exclusive club.) So without further ado...or gloating...let's take a peek at Akira Lacquer!

These Aren't Jellies

I love jelly polishes.  There's something about the combination of color and depth that's...well...dreamy.  I got so excited when I heard that Sally Hansen had released a collection called Palm Beach Jellies.  Then I saw other people's reviews and swatches.  They aren't jellies.  Jellies are glassy clear, but strongly pigmented.  I bought them anyway, thinking that maybe they'd at least work as tints.  I never found the OPI Sheer Tints collection, so maybe these would scratch that itch.  Not even kinda.  They're too subtle for almost anything I can think of.  It's taken me weeks to find a way to try to make them work and actually put swatches up.

Here are my three picks over Sinful Colors Silver Solution and Beige Of Honor.

one coat

Delicate Bones

This is becoming the week of the evolving nail. I promise I'm done now. After a while, I just couldn't bear to have simple nails...so I broke out my nail art pen and added...some bones? I think they look a little like a ribcage. My daughter thinks they look like Hapshepsut's hat-thing. (she got a book about Egypt and is all aflutter.)

Pueen Encore - Part 1

I get over-excited easily.  My parents really tried to mellow me out as I was growing up, but it clearly hasn't worked.  From the moment I saw the Instagram promo images for Pueen's new Encore set, I wanted NEEDED them!  I preordered practically the moment it went up.  I was giddy when they shipped...until I saw that they were coming from China.  Their Storenvy shop does note that items will ship from either California or China, but somehow I had convinced myself that a preorder meant they'd be shipping from California.  They took just under two weeks from shipping notice to delivery.  It was also the only time I've ever been charged shipping for something coming from China.  $7 shipping.  I felt like a chump when I realized I could have gotten them sooner and cheaper if I'd waited and ordered from Amazon.  That still barely dented my enthusiasm and I almost jumped for joy when they finally arrived.  If you're wondering why I've let my nails get so long, it was in anticipation of this set.

They are brimming with possibilities....

The Planets: Mars

The fourth planet is Mars. A dusty red gem floating nearby, delighting children of all ages with its readily visible reddish tint. I remember being a kid and looking at Mars from my grandparent's porch with a pair of binoculars. I would dream that there were people and cities covering the surface, doing people-things...but like Martians. I think it is pretty obvious by now that I was an odd duck.

My Picks from Sinful Colors Practice Your Accents

I hope you like Sinful Colors.  They've put out so many new displays recently that I'm gonna be posting something from them at least once a week for a while.  I haven't wrapped up all of my summer swatches yet, but I figure new stuff is more interesting, so I'm mixing the early fall stuff in.  Practice Your Accents has a back-to-school-ish theme, which they seem to do most years.  I guess that means it's not that early, since kids in some areas will be back in school in just over a month.  All of the shades in this display are creams or crellies and the image suggests mixing and matching and...well...accenting.  There are two new neutrals and five bold colors, ideal for funky french or other nail art basics.   Beaches and Cream is too pastel for me, but I bought Beige of Honor at Walgreens.  In my review of Prime Purple (from Silk + Satin), I mentioned that I was pretty sure Tempest was back.  This display is where you'll find it.  I don't own Island Coral or Cream Pink.  Let's take a look a the four I do have...

Nomad's Dream and Moonstone

When I tried Nomad's Dream alone the other day, the only thing that made me sad was the lack of obvious shift in the pictures. And since I had a new mostly untried bottle of shift sheer polish, I decided to layer them! I really love the outcome.

LASplash Envy, Greed, and Wrath Lipsticks

Obvious confession here...I have a serious "thing" for weird colors of lipstick.  It goes back about as long as I've worn makeup.  My mom and I were talking about the photos I took for today's post and she reminded me about a sheer, shimmery periwinkle lipstick I loved as a teen.  I might have to track something like that down again, just for nostalgia's sake.  In high school the only makeup I always wore was lipstick, and it was often vivid yellow gold, white, cobalt blue, or something else out of the ordinary.  NYX's Macaron Lippies (see some on Nichole too) brought up a flood of nostalgia and desire for quirky colors, so when I saw that LASplash was putting out Limited Edition Lipsticks in an array of interesting shades...I needed them!  I missed the initial sale by a few days and pouted until I found out they were coming back.  When they did, I took extraordinary measures to guarantee I'd get the three I wanted.  It took me over two hours.  After website issues galore, multiple emails, and two phone calls, my purchase was secured.  The wait for them to ship was excruciating, but they arrived last week.  YAY!

Envy, Wrath, Greed

OPI Nomad's Dream

Here I am, bringing up old shit again. I went out in search of polishes for my Venus manicure...and found this. I could not find a single swatch that looked "right" to me. Lucky for you, I can fix that right now!

Foil Pouch Review: Matrix Biolage Exquisite Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

It's that time again, folks! Foil pouches abound! I made an Ulta order recently that got split into two separated shipments (tinyrage) so I got a bunch of little sample pouches. Normally, I don't use/review the haircare stuff. I'm pretty happy with Pureology shampoo & conditioner these days. My hair needs moisture, volume, and color care. But I've had good luck in the past with Matrix stuff, so I thought it would be worth testing out.

Silky Stamping

Not too long ago Nichole posted her first Emily de Molly polishes.  I've had my first plates from this indie brand for around the same length of time.  I'd lusted after a few of them for ages and decided I'd better hurry and order before Hayley went on maternity leave.  She's away from her store now, but I hope everything is going well and that she'll be back soon.  I bought 01, 03, and 05 and I'm loving how intricate and fine the lines are.


I used EDM01 to stamp Cult Nails Nevermore over Sinful Colors Peppered Amazon.

There's a stained glass look to this image and I want to leadlight with it sometime, but it caught my eye while I was sitting here with Peppered Amazon on.  Over such a bold color it reminds me of a silk scarf.

 I botched the stamping a little, but I am so impressed by the crispness of these plates!  The little details are the hardest to transfer yet these work beautifully!

I stamped Essie Little Brown Dress with EDM05 over Dear Rus Shade Shift 09.

I was ho-hum about Shade Shift 09 when I wore it on its own, since I didn't see much contrast between the hot and cold colors.  Then I stamped to create another scarf-inspired look and fell head-over-heels with the results.  I couldn't bring myself to remove it, so I stamped the rest of my nails and wore this as my NOTD when we went to dinner with The Beard's best friend.  I gazed at it all night.  Stamping over a thermal is something I'll have to play with more often.

I'm very impressed with this plate to.  The little Spirograph-looking thing in the middle of the image came out so sharp on most of my nails.

Any blurry spots are my fault and not the plate's.  I think after a year of stamping I still press a little too hard sometimes.  I wanna do something along these lines again, but maybe with less contrast so I can wear it to work.  It's a tough contest, but this is one of my favorite images.

I have been stamping my butt off lately.  There's a BIG plate review (well...part of one) coming soon.

Ginger+Liz Kicking and Screaming

Have you ever noticed that when you are on a mission for a particular thing, you end up finding all sorts of tempting items...that are not part of your particular mission? Yeah...that is what happened here. I was wandering around Ulta, looking for the right polish to use for my Venus manicure, and I stumbled upon a few random bottles of a brand I had never heard of before. This particular color really grabbed me, and despite the crazy price tag, I bought it home.

My Picks from Sinful Colors Silk + Satin

Looks like my hope that 2014 would be Year Of The Satins hasn't been dashed as severely as I'd thought!  Sinful Colors has just come out with two new collections that tweak the usual matte.  Silk + Satin introduces their "new" silk finish and Full Throttle highlights a rubbery look.  Silk + Satin features six silk shades, but I didn't buy Pipaya or Solar Flux when I bought the rest at Rite Aid.  The "silk" finish is similar to other brands' satins.  I am thrilled, since I adore this half-matte finish.  As usual, when Sinful Colors approaches a trend...they nailed it!

The Planets: Earth

I hope you are still enjoying this series...especially since we aren't yet halfway through. Today's offering is Earth, our own little blue marble. So far, this might be my favorite. It turned out absolutely perfect.

OPI Push And Shove Redux

It seems like OPI Push And Shove could wind up being one of those polishes that's gonna keep turning up on this blog.  You've already seen it on me and Nichole back when the collection was still new.  We both had mixed feelings about it back then.  The base coat it comes with, called Lay Down That Base, is just about useless.  It doesn't smooth the nail or prolong wear.  Results for both of us showed every flaw in our natural nails.  I expected to have the same results from Sally Hansen's new Color Foil collection.  Then someone on the Nail Board mentioned putting one of the shades on over a previous mani and getting smooth results.  It worked!  They went on so beautifully over old manis or base and topcoats without color in-between that I had to retry Push And Shove the same way.


 It works!

Bad Bitch Polish in Glacier Spray

I think this might be the last of my birthday gifts. Maybe. Almost definitely. These thoughts make me a bit sad...I need another birthday. Well, no. I need more gifts!

Dance Legend Boo

It's not often that I do what I'm told.  Just ask Nichole...or my mom.  Nail polish is sometimes an exception.  I was commanded by Liesbeth to wear Dance Legend Boo and I actually did!  It looked so great on her that it was the first polish I thought of when I needed to throw something impressive on quickly before meeting Nancy, the winner of my recent giveaway.  Turns out she lives kinda nearby and a handoff of the prize was easier than shipping.  She's great and had a really cool fireworks mani.  I was impressed, especially since I'd tried it two years in a row and failed hard.  Boo was the closest I got to anything festive.  I was gonna do some stamping that morning, but (for reasons I'll explain soon) I was grouchy about stamping.  It kinda works though.  Boo makes fireworks of its own.


Boo is a multichrome that shifts from a deep pink, through copper and gold, to acid green.

The shift is overwhelming!  When I showed Player 4, he said something like "Gold! Wait...what!?"  I did a lot of finger wiggling while wearing it, admiring the changing colors.  Luckily The Beard drove to the mall where I met up with Nancy.  Boo could make for dangerous driving!  This is two coats over black, though I just put it directly over a previous mani on the other six nails.

As entranced as I was by it, I don't think the colors look all that good on me.  It brings out a sickly purplish color in my skin.  Still gloriously shifty though!

That swipe of polish on the bottle wasn't my doing, by the way.  Dance Legend polishes seem to come to me with splotches, dots, or swipes on them.  No clue why.

Notice a hint of blue in the bottle in the photo above?  I swear I saw a hint of blue it at the extremes on my nails sometimes.  It's not the full-on blue of the bottle, but there's a blue tone to the green edge, right?  You're seeing that too, aren't you?

Liesbeth said Boo is her favorite of the Chameleons, but Celia gets my vote so far.  Still...can't argue with this shift...

I mean...really...

The shift is so intense that the angle really makes a difference.

My only complaint about the Chameleons as a whole is that they get weird little dents.  I'm not sure what causes it, but all four that I've worn so far have done this to some extent.  Odd, isn't it?

No bottom line needed!  Gorgeous!


This length is getting on my nerves.  I'll be shortening them a bit soon.  Any interest in seeing my process?  It's not revolutionary.