Nail Polish Haul with Swatches

I went to Trade Secrets yesterday and bought 10 new nailpolishes. All Swatches are below

Essie: Fair Game

Essie: Your hut or mine?

OPI: Don't Mess with OPI

OPI: Ink

OPI Cajun Shrimp

OPI: Mimosas for Mr. & Mrs.

OPI: Turquoise Shatter

OPI: Second Honeymoon

OPI: Malaysian Mist

OPI: Cosmo-not tonight Honey

OPI Shatter Polish

As many of you have already read the OPI shatter polishes are amazing. I tried them out on the weekend for the first time and fell in love. I currently have Shellac (on day 6 now) on my finger nails so I couldn't try the shatter polish on my fingers, but let me tell you trying it on my toe nails was worth it. I always get bored with just a regular colours and they chip and fad so quickly. The shatter polish added a little bit of excitement and I'm on day 5 with it on my toe nails and I have yet to have any chipping or fading.

I realised that if you applied the polish in a different way, the polish would shatter in different directions. most people just apply it like traditional polish. That still looks really cool but you should try applying it sideways, diagonally, even in a v-shape. The patterns that result are so interesting and amazing looking that I can't wait to try it out with more colours on my fingernails.

If you haven't tried it out yet you really should. Find a friend who has it, buy it for yourself, whatever you do you need to try it!

Shellac Nails

I've had the Shellac process done on my nails twice now. Each time they have gone over very well. I love it so much. For those of you who don't know what Shellac is, it is a nail treatment with the properties of gel polishes, but are much less harmful on the same scale as regular polishes. The process is quite quick. When I had this done I also had my eyebrows done. From the time I entered the salon to the time my nail were dry was just 45 minutes. If you think about it, it would be about 10 minutes tops for my eyebrows and then a walk to the nail area, it probably took 30 minutes for my nails to be completely ready. I'll go over the process with you quickly.

I sat down at the table and had my nails filed and shaped, and my cuticles cleaned up. After that was done (took maybe 10 minutes tops), the uv curer was pulled out. She did the base coat on my first hand and put it into the uv light for 10 seconds while doing the other hand and then they switched places. At this point she started the first coat of my white tips for my french manicure each hand cured for 2 minutes. Then she did the second coat of white and cured each hand for 2 minutes. At this point the colour coats were finished. All that was left was the top coat. Once the top coat was applied each hand was cured for 2 minutes. She then took a cotton pad soaked in alcohol and cleaned off the sticky film that was left. My nails were DRY by this point. She then took a lotion and moisturized my entire arm and hand.

Overall I love this process. It is still quite expensive with french tips, I paid 63$ CAD. I'm glad that they last 14-21 days because spending that much on a weekly basis would be horrible.

To remove all you need is nail polish remover with a high acetone concentration. What you do is you take a cotton ball soak it in the polish remover and then place it on your nail and wrap your finger and the cotton ball with tin foil to add a slight bit of heat. You leave this on for 10 mins and then rub off any excess and you should be fine.

My reccomendation to everyone is to get this process done if only for a special occasion. The only down side is that you have to be able to commit to one colour for a minimum of 2 weeks. You can also purchase the products for this process for your home as well if you really want to learn how to do it.

Have fun Shellacking!