Polishes -OPI - Don't Touch My Tutu!
edie4711 3/31/2012 10:00:00 AM
There are precious few jellyish soft whites available in the nail polish universe. Of those few, even fewer are easy to use. *glares at Essie Marshmallow* In my experience, Don't Touch My Tutu! is by FAR the easiest-to-apply jellyish soft white available today. It is very sheer on the first coat, but with a careful hand it will not streak. In three to four coats, depending on your expertise, it will become nearly opaque, but retain its squishy, jellylike quality. Dry time was average. It dries to a high gloss as is typical with most OPI cremes and jellies. Wear time for me was great. I try not to speak to wear as I have learned to apply polish so it pretty much stays put till I want to remove it, so YMMV as far as wear is concerned. Several thin coats will wear better than fewer thick ones. It is appropriate for layering--a glitter or flake polish applied beneath a coat of DTMT! will be visible through it. I bought a backup of this one--that's how good it is, and how singular in the world of whites. If you are looking for a soft, jellyish white--not Wite-Out white, that is not what this polish is about--this is for you. Now to decide how to best dispose of my nemesis Essie Marshmallow. Bury? Run over with car? Stab with forks? It is spending its time in the corner, thinking about what it did, while I decide its fate. *rubs hands together*
14 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Nubar - Sun Gold
edie4711 3/23/2012 6:10:00 AM
Sun Gold is another phenomenal duochrome offering from Nubar. It shifts from a warm bronzey orange-gold to a truly singular warm pink, with a stop at coral in between. All the aspects of color in this polish are flattering to my warm skin tone. The formula is excellent--I achieved acceptable coverage in 2 coats but added a 3rd for absolute opacity at all angles. Duochromes tend to be on the sheer side so I was expecting more of a struggle, but this polish was so easy to apply. Bottle and brush are, as usual, excellent. The brush is easy to control, not too wide, not too narrow, fans well, has good flex and spring, and holds neither too much nor too little polish. The brush is easy to hold and the cap feels good in the hand while polishing. My office is business casual with a slight emphasis on "business". This polish is comfortable to wear in my office and, bonus, looks phenomenal in fluorescent lighting. In fact, it looks phenomenal in all lighting. No waiting for the sun to come out to enjoy this one! All in all, one of my new favorites. If you are warm-toned and desire a pink, but think you cannot wear pink, try this one. It's beautiful. Highly recommended.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Essie - Ole Caliente
edie4711 3/13/2012 5:30:00 AM
This creme polish was a pleasure to apply and to enjoy. The color is a richly-pigmented red that leans to coral; on my warm-toned skin, it seems to pull somewhat toward pink, but just somewhat. It's bright, yet somewhat muted at the same time, if that makes any sense. It looks just a little different in every light. Appropriate for any occasion, including my workplace. The formula is very nice. Easy to apply and opaque in two coats in skillful hands. (In my hands, 3 coats was the charm.) There is nothing new here in terms of the bottle and brush--it's the same tried-and-true Essie packaging--and the formula was very forgiving, self-leveling, and glided on with ease. I didn't experience any streaking and it was easy to clean up. I tend not to put too much weight on wear time in my reviews because basecoat/topcoat combos vary so widely across individuals, as does application technique and how a woman uses her hands in her daily life, but wear time is good thus far for this shade. I type all day and have experienced only minor tipwear 2 days into this manicure. All in all, I would repurchase if it became necessary. Really fun shade with spring-y overtones that will move easily into summer--I'm enjoying it!
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Top/Base Coats -Sally Hansen - SalIy Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat
edie4711 3/8/2012 6:59:00 AM
Can't believe I haven't reviewed this one already--I've been using it for months and have loved it the whole time. Product performs as per claims on the box--dry time will vary depending on how many coats you've put on, how long you've waited between, etc. but for the most part, it has dried to the touch within approx 30 seconds and results in a fully dry (change-the-sheets-on-the-bed dry) manicure within 30 minutes. What sets it apart for me: dry time aside, I appreciate that it dries super-shiny and glossy while remaining B3F, and that it has UV protectant properties. Not only does it prevent the polish itself from yellowing, it does not contain any ingredients that in themselves cause yellowing to the nail plate. I have been growing out some awful yellowing caused by the toluene contained in Seche Vite and I can see a definite line of demarcation that chronologically corresponds to when I switched from SV to this. I don't experience bubbling with this TC and find that if it gets a little thick, some B3F thinner such as that found at Sally's will thin it out perfectly and make it perform as it did when it was new. My manicures last at least 3-4 days; I have had some last longer, but I generally change at the 4-day mark or before, so I can't say with authority that each and every SH Insta-Dri manicure will last a week or whatever. I just don't wear one manicure that long. It also plays nicely with most (all?) brands of polishes, even notoriously picky brands, and does not cause shrinkage, warping or wrinkling. Overall, my HG topcoat. It's cheap and easy to find at any drugstore/variety store that sells Sally Hansen products. It's definitely worth a try, particularly if you are struggling with your current TC.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Masks -Unlisted Brand - Aspirin Mask
edie4711 2/11/2012 9:57:00 AM
I can't believe I've never reviewed this. I've been using aspirin mask for years on my face. It's a singular experience. No skin treatment has ever performed as well for me as aspirin mask. I'll let the prior reviews explain how well it works and how to use it, but I wanted to add my "new" use for it: cuticle lacerations and redness. I had a little cut from a paper clip on my cuticle and it was red, swollen and painful. One 10-minute application of aspirin mask later on the offending spot, and it was no longer swollen, no longer painful, and normally-colored. Try it if you have a painful boo-boo on your cuticle. Highly recommended for this purpose! (I bet it would be helpful with exfolation of cuticle skin, too, but I won't speak to that as I have not used it for that purpose. Yet.)
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Zoya - Rica
edie4711 1/15/2012 9:04:00 AM
Rica is a beautiful and very well-behaved polish.
I am warm-toned and generally avoid pinks, but I can wear this one. The base color is a printer-ink magenta, very sheer, as if you added water to the ink. The polish is loaded with gold shimmer particles that visually mingle to produce a coral-y, warm pink.
Rica is not a duochrome polish, but it acts like one in certain lighting--you can see the magenta on the sides, and then the gold-y warmth in the center.
It would be a bit blingy for a super-conservative office, because of the size and prominence of the gold sparkles/foily bits, but I wore mine to my middle-of-the-road business casual office and it was just fine. From a distance it just looks like a glowing coral pink.
The formula was great. Very easy to apply and dried in a reasonable amount of time. I needed three coats to reach 100% bottle color, but two coats was just fine, and that's saying something--I'm not an expert and generally need 3 coats of anything to be satisfied. The quantity and quality of the gold particles helped push this polish to opaque very quickly, but the base color was definitely not lost among them.
Lastly, I am one of those whose nails are picky about Zoya's formula. It doesn't always work for me, I often get early-onset tipwear and I sometimes struggle with Zoya dry time. This polish, though, was, as I mentioned, very well-behaved; there was no struggle at all. I was almost a little sad to be finished with my manicure, as it was such a pleasure to apply. Really nice job on this one, Zoya!
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Lip Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Lansinoh Lanolin
edie4711 1/11/2012 7:02:00 PM
Like most of the reviews below, I am reviewing Lansinoh for uses other than that for which it was intended. My review primarily focuses on cuticle repair, with a side of lips.
I have fought my crazy, dry, overgrown, unruly cuticles all my life. I have nipped. Oiled. Creamed. Sought professional help. I have run the gauntlet of price points in cuticle products. There is virtually nothing out there that I have not tried.
Then Lansinoh entered the picture.
I stumbled across this set of reviews here on MUA, and just had to try it. Let me tell you, I am so glad I did!
After just one overnight use--just one--I experienced a 90% improvement in the condition of my cuticles. After 1.5 weeks of use, approximately 2x/day including overnight, 100% improvement. The hardened skin on the sides of the nails is soft and flexible. The cuticles no longer break apart when I push them back with a washcloth. All the hard white skin I used to fight at the eponychium is gone. The skin doesn't *feel* dry any more. My cuticles are as soft as my 7-year-old son's. Even the nails, where they have grown out, are less ridged and more moisturized.
As for the lips, I apply Lansinoh to them about as often as I do my cuticles--a little goes a long way, so it's convenient to do both at one time--and my lips, which are usually cracked and flaky, are smooth and picture-perfect.
I will never bother with another balm or cuticle-moisturizing product again. I am free of the constant questing for the perfect product. I have found it.
How I apply: I squeeze a little out of the tube, less than a pea size; it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, but it's not nearly the most difficult either. I swipe a small amount into each cuticle and rub the rest into my lips, then massage the cuticles and nails for a minute or so.
To begin with, it feels sticky. It will absorb fully into the skin in a few minutes. Be patient. There is no smell to speak of, nor is there much color to worry about.
I promise you, you will not be sorry you tried it.
Lastly, I especially want you to read this excerpt from the packaging insert:
"[Lansinoh HPA Lanolin] is medical grade, bacteriostatic, and completely hypoallergenic, so you can use [it] even if you're allergic to lanolin or wool. Our unique refining process ensures that it is noticeably different from any other lanolin in terms of color, odor, and consistency...The safety and purity of [Lanisoh] is not available in any other lanolin product."
I post this from the package insert so readers will understand that this stuff is the real deal, and that this review does not speak to other products that contain lanolin. It is not going to be like the stuff you've used in the past that "contained" lanolin, or was "pure" lanolin but smelled like Old McDonald's farm (because it was not purified the way Lansinoh is), or even some kind of esoteric sheep-rubbing ritual in which you may have participated.
I am reviewing Lansinoh 100% pure HPA lanolin, and nothing else--because there is nothing else like Lansinoh. Please, for the love of all that is good and wonderful, buy a tube already and get yourself off the cuticle butter/lip balm train.
39 out of 39 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Orly - Rage
edie4711 12/24/2011 2:53:00 PM
Rage is a perfect metallic rose gold. Application is stellar; highly pigmented, it is opaque in 2 coats but does not clump or look jittery. Dries smoothly and relatively quickly to a hard finish.
I love the medium sized brush, which fans out nicely and has good flex and spring. Also love the rubbery handle which makes it easy to open and manipulate. I would totally wear this to work. The color is less startling than either a pure silver or a pure gold. Overall, just perfect in every way. And, bonus, not expensive. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Top/Base Coats -Essie - Feed Me I gave this a couple months before reviewing, just to make sure. I have thin, soft natural nails that tend to peel if I don't take care of them. They also tend to grow out with vertical ridges, which are the worst on the ring fingernails. I didn't have high hopes for this--I didn't have high hopes for anything, to be honest--but I had to try it. My nails will always be thin and soft, but the Feed Me has...fed me. They are now tough and flexible, the peeling has completely stopped, and the surface is smooth and even, almost as if I had buffed it. It even seems to have helped smooth out the ridges somewhat. At first I didn't think it was doing anything, but what really kicked things off and made it start working was when I stopped the use of pure acetone for removal. I still use it for cleanup, but now that I no longer routinely dry out my nails twice a week with harsh acetone (switched to a moisturizing acetone-based formula remover for normal use), it was like the Feed Me said "at last, I can finally shine!" It is easy to apply and it feels like a relief when on. (I know nails have no feelings but you just have to take my word for it.) Dries quickly and I don't even bother using a separate basecoat any more. It does seem to help my polish stay on. My NP doesn't chip for days and days. If this hasn't worked for you and you want to give it another try, I recommend you quit acetone removal and start moisturizing with creams and oils in conjunction with the Feed Me, then see how it goes. I really feel that if you help it along a little and don't start it out on an uphill climb with all the additional drying agents, you might have a better experience--everyone is different, but this is what made it work for me, and work very well at that. Love this.
edie4711 12/18/2011 10:11:00 AM
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Nails -Orly - Nail Rescue
edie4711 12/18/2011 9:52:00 AM
This stuff is the shizznit--I will never be without this in my arsenal.
I'm posting this review because I had a little crack in my thumbnail, horizontal, right beside the cuticle and below the quick. I repaired it with this about a month and a half ago and I Can. Not. Find. the crack now. I know for a fact it hasn't just grown off because it was pretty far back.
It has stayed on through I don't know how many manis, through removal and cleanup with acetone, through everything. It doesn't show at all, not through polish, not on my naked nail.
This is how I used it, which is a little different from the way the directions tell you to use it:
-Painted a little of the glue over just the cracked area -Sprinkled some of the powder over the glue till it was densely covered -Waited till it was fully hard and dry -Buffed off the excess with a buffing block -Continued about my manicuring business as usual
ROCK SOLID and as I said, I can't find the crack now. Get you some, just in case.
One warning, be neat about how you work with the glue and brush, because if you get the glue all over the bottle neck it will glue itself shut and you have to go buy a new box. It didn't happen to me, but it happened to someone here and unfortunately she didn't discover the problem until she really needed to use it, so be careful with the glue.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Sally Hansen - Diamond Strength 3k or More!
edie4711 12/18/2011 8:00:00 AM
This polish is a weirdo. I really like it, it's just...weird. The color is gorgeous: an extremely blingy, glittery sandy nude. I don't have anything else like it in my collection. I see gold and colorless sparkles in a beigey base. I don't know what I thought the texture was going to be like, but I wasn't expecting what I got. Its like trying to paint your nails with pancake batter in which you have put a LOT of undissolved sugar. I guess I thought it was a shimmer or a glass fleck, but it's actually a fairly gritty glitter that applies like a matte suede. It was as if there was no liquid in it, but it was not difficult to get it on; I got it opaque in 3 coats, after copious thinning. It dries like a suede, too--really fast--but other than that it does not resemble a suede. It feels like sandpaper when it's dry. A coat os Gelous and 2 coats of QDTC smoothed it out nicely. The glitter, if that's what it is, is very fine, so one I got all the clear coats on it was smooth. The brush bristles are fine--standard NP brush--but I hate the stupid fat stick they are attached to. Combined with the narrow neck of the bottle it is very difficult to wipe the stick off, so it stays coated thickly in polish and every time you redip, some polish gets on the bottle neck. I had to clean it off well when I was finished so it wouldn't glue itself shut. Dumb stick. Overall I think I'll be wearing this one a lot, particularly to work. No boss would quarrel about its appropriateness. It is definitely the blingiest, glittery-est nude in my collex and I could totally see myself repurchasing.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Essie - Wrapped in Rubies
edie4711 11/18/2011 6:20:00 AM
Agree with the other reviewers about the color, particularly the way the gold shimmer does not show on the nail but instead pushes the polish into a warmer, browned burgundy. It kind of reminds me of Dr. Pepper, not so much the soda itself but the label. It has that semi-metallic finish to it. It is work-appropriate, but sexy as well.
It dried really quickly on me, too. I had to work fast as the polish would bunch up wherever I accidentally overlapped a brushstroke.
Also wanted to comment that it looks great with an iridescent flakie layered over it.
I would repurchase this polish if I thought there was a chance I would use it up.
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Nails -Nubar - nubar 2010
edie4711 11/15/2011 6:06:00 AM
This polish is absolutely sublime--iridescent flakes that flash every color of the rainbow (depending on the lighting), suspended in a clear base. I enjoy just looking at it in the bottle--it is flipping gorgeous just sitting there, it's like a decoration--but the real magic happens when it's applied.
It is beautiful on its own, but I use it most often for layering. It makes almost every polish look better. It is most dramatic over darks--it resembles color-shifting fall leaves over black or brown--but it has a beautiful and subtle effect over lights, too. It can also save a mani that you aren't crazy about. Everything looks better with Nubar 2010 over it.
It's like...glitter for grown-ups. I work in a fairly conservative office and I can totally rock this at work.
The formula is fantastic, as with most Nubar polishes. It goes on smoothly and dries fairly quickly. Absolutely no complaints about application. One coat is usually plenty. One!
This is one of the very few polishes of which I bought a backup bottle. Incidentally, it is a dupe of Sally Hansen's long-discontinued Hidden Treasure, so if you are sad you missed that boat, this polish is for you.
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Polishes -Sally Hansen - insta-dri petal pusher
edie4711 9/24/2011 11:25:00 AM
First the good news. The color is beautiful, a nice nudey pink that doesn't lean beige or yellow. It's super-shiny, particularly for a fast-dry polish, when it dries. If it dries. Because of the color and the shininess, I feel compelled to give it a 3.
This brings me to the bad news. I have no idea what these other manis in this review stack are looking like upon completion, but I agree with the one who said this doesn't ever really dry. It doesn't matter how long I wait between coats. 18 hours doesn't seem to be enough. Two coats in the morning--in the morning!--go to bed at a decent hour, I wake up with sheet marks. This is with or without basecoat. Same results either way.
I'm more willing to put up with this nonsense from a polish that does not claim to be fast-drying. I am assuming "Insta" is short for "Instant." My concept of "instant," Sally dear, differs from yours. Did you think 'Titanic' was a short film? When your life passed before your eyes the last time you got into a fender-bender, did it take all day? Do you pick up your prints from the one-hour photo place six weeks after placing your order? With regard to application, I'm not sure whether to blame the awful brush or the formula for the streak festival this polish is. I hate that horrid brush. It is impossible to wipe off the stick part, because it's so fat, so it just stays covered in polish, which constantly runs down and re-loads the brush, which already carries too much polish to begin with. I did like the way the brush was curved/angled on one side--I appreciated being able to choose which side to use, and it did seem to help. But it's frickin' ginormous. Much too wide for my nails. I appreciate Sally's concern for my time, but it is OK with me to have to do more than one brushstroke per coat of polish. I don't have to try to coat my entire nail in one shot.
Application was a streaky mess on my wider nails, and too thick on the smaller ones. Bald right down the centers of my middle fingernails.
I am willing to go the extra mile to make this polish look nice, because the color is so appropriate for my skintone (NC20-25ish) and because it has that translucence I am after in a nude. I don't like straight-up opaque, wall-paint shades in a nude. So this is how I go the extra mile. I lay on a coat of this. Wait the ten years or so for it to dry. Then I buff it down with a rectangular buffer till the shine is gone and the surface is smooth. Lay down another coat. Wait. The kids grow up, they graduate from high school. Buff. Re-coat. Grandchildren arrive. Buff. Re-coat. I am in my hospital bed, signing the do-not-resuscitate order. Lay on a top coat. Finally, as I breathe my last, the mani is as it should be.
Thank goodness it was on sale for like $2 or I'd be really pissed.4 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -Sally Hansen - Complete Manicure Naked Ambition
edie4711 9/18/2011 5:32:00 PM
I agree with previous reviewers that this is very difficult to apply neatly. 2 tries (and 4 coats on this 2nd try) later and it's still not 100% opaque; I still have patchy areas.
I also couldn't get it to work with Seche Vite top coat--horrible shrinkage, the worst I have ever seen. I guess this is because this product is supposed to be "complete" and therefore basecoat & topcoat are not needed.
Lastly, takes forever to frickin' dry. I am not a novice with np--I know how to apply it so it eventually dries. Not this. Edited to say that I put down 4 coats over 3 hours on Sunday. Woke up to sheet marks on Tuesday. Buffed down the surface and put on 1 coat of Essie mademoiselle Tuesday morning. Spent the day walking on eggshells. Woke up on Wednesday to MORE sheet marks. (loathes this polish)
On the plus side, it's a perfect nude shade for me (NC20-25), which actually annoys me even more as I would really, really like it to work. It ALMOST does. Almost isn't going to cut it.
Expensive, too--almost $8. Repurchase? Hell to the no.
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