Sally Hansen Chrome Turquoise

Today I have a vintage polish to show you, Sally Hansen Chrome Turquoise. From what I've been able to glean, it seems like the Chromes were released in the late '90s/early 2000s. I was lucky enough to receive this one in a very generous swap. 

This polish is unbelievable. The formula is outstanding. I did two coats only because I'm a habitual two-coater, but the first coat looked just like this - perfect coverage with no streaks or dragging or anything.

The most incredible thing to me about this polish is how smooth it is. Usually these metallic finishes are full of brush strokes and are very difficult to get smooth. But not this one. The application was completely effortless.

It is quite beyond me why companies stop making polishes like these - and that goes for the Sally Hansen Prisms line as well. They're highly sought after, and I have to believe that even people who aren't into polish as heavily as we are would still buy them. 

The good news is that even though these are discontinued, there must be a hidden Indiana Jones warehouse with old polishes in it, because these do show up really regularly on eBay. They're mostly even reasonably priced, though some shades go for higher amounts than others, of course.

So there you have it, shiny metallic blue perfection. 

Thanks for looking!

The Many Faces of Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis

I don't have tons of time to write a post right now - I'm finally feeling better (thanks for all the well wishes, that was a truly terrible stomach bug), but of course now I'm drowning in work. So instead of babbling on and on, I'll let you entertain yourselves with way too many pictures of Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis. This is another longtime lemming of mine, finally slain by the kindness of a good friend. You know who you are! =)

All of these photos are two coats of Garnet Lapis over one coat of American Apparel Passport Blue.

Here she is in the sunshine.

And in the shade.

And in the lightbox.

Incredible, no? =)

Hope you all have had a very good week, and as always, I thank you for visiting!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Purple Pizzazz

*sigh* I wanted to get pics of this in the sun for you guys. I put the polish on, the sun went behind the clouds, it began to storm, and the sun was not to be seen here again. Then I chipped it making dinner and doing dishes, so I'm sorry that all I have is lightbox pictures. Not that they're bad, but this is a purple jelly with fine pink glitter/shimmer, and I couldn't capture the shimmer at all. This is three coats. The shimmer is probably more evident at two coats, but I can't stand visible nail line, so 3 coats it was! Very nice formula, nice squishy jelly! And a cheap thrill - I got it at Walgreen's when they were 2 for $4. Hard to beat that! Anyway, enjoy the pics, sorry about the lack of sun!

Sally Hansen Ruby Sapphire

Ruby Sapphire is part of the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms line, which was first introduced back in 2002. I have coveted these since I got back into nail polish, and this is the second one I have acquired. This one came to me via swap with a sweet nail boarder (you know who you are!)

As the name suggests, Ruby Sapphire is a duochrome (really more like a multichrome) that flashes between dark, dark blue and red, while passing through pink territory on the way to red.

If you tilt your hand, you can watch the colors shift right before your eyes. It really is amazing.

These are really sheer, so this is two coats over one coat of American Apparel Passport Blue.

I say again:  Ah-maze-ing.

And for fun, I made a little animated gif to show the colors shifting as I move my hand. =D

Sometimes I think I have way too much fun with this stuff... then I remember that that's the whole point!

Happy Friday to you, and thanks for stopping by!

Question of the Day - Can I Wear Orange??

After swatching several oranges, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Apparently there are some oranges that I can wear! (Yes, Cilucia, you were right!)

Essie Vermillionaire. This was the first one I tried. I figured if I was gonna go for orange, I'd REALLY go for orange. This is bright. This is probably the brightest polish I've ever worn. It's not as awful as I thought it would be, but it's really not me.

OPI Ecuadorable Coral. Now this is an orange I can get behind. This is love.

Sally Hansen So Poppy. I forgot I had this one. It was a swap extra, and I actually really like it!

Essie Your Hut or Mine. Okay, I know this isn't really orange, but wow, I really love this. Buying this ASAP. =D

Essie Splash of Grenadine. Yeah, this one isn't orange either! But this is the last one I borrowed from Cilucia in our swatch swap, and I absolutely adore it! I wanted to make sure I posted pics, and it didn't really fit anywhere else.

So there you have it. Within limits, I guess I can wear orange!

More Polish Jewelry!

I made some more earrings today! I love making these and I absolutely adore wearing them. The fruits of today's labors are:

Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal + American Apparel Peacock

Orly Royal Velvet

Clarins 230 + Orly Wild Wisteria

Clarins 230 + Orly Wild Wisteria

Clarins 230 + Orly Wild Wisteria

Completely. Addictive. Wow. ^_^

Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal

Sally Hansen first introduced the Nail Prisms line in 2002. I remember seeing them back then and thinking they were pretty, but I was distracted by other things, and so I didn't really realize just how incredible they are. Fast forward to 2010. I regain my love of nail polish and become active on the nail boards over at MUA. When I saw my first photograph of Turquoise Opal, my breath caught in my throat a little bit. Some polishes do that... like you just can't believe you've seen something that beautiful.

The Prisms have long since been discontinued, but they started popping up in Dollar Tree, of all places. For over a year, I checked Dollar Tree every chance I got, and never, ever saw a bottle of any of the Prisms, much less Turquoise Opal. I was just about to cave and purchase it on eBay, for a price far higher than I would have ever thought I'd pay for a single polish. Just as I was pondering the cost difference between ordering Turquoise Opal from eBay and ordering a couple of Ozotics from Australia, I got a PM from my friend Aleksandra (Nola) over at Hedonism, Ltd. She and I had done a swap/custom purchase for each other a few months ago, and it was a completely delightful experience. In this PM, she told me not to spend eBay prices on Turquoise Opal because she had an extra bottle that she wanted to send me as a gift. After I regained consciousness, I told her that I would be happy to graciously accept such an incredible gift.

It came on Saturday, and I used it for the first time this morning. It took my breath away, just as it had in the pictures I'd seen of it. I will always, always treasure this polish, not just because of the color, but because of the kindness that was shown to me receiving this incredible gift. The girls in this nail polish community of ours really are incredible. 

And if you made it through all that blah, blah, blah, here's the beauty in action. Thanks for stopping by and for indulging me in my story of this most incredible polish!

These are all two coats of Turquoise Opal over one coat of American Apparel Peacock. Enjoy!