Nails of the week: Sonia Kashuk & GAP

I finally decided to switch it up. Up until yesterday I was still wearing Tauped by Sonia Kashuk. Well today's a new day! I'm still into the more 'normal' colors right now and I really liked the wearing power of Tauped so I went with the only other Sonia Kashuk polish that I have. This one is called Blank Slate. It's a deep grayish-blue. As an accent color I chose Gold Rush from GAP. I've used this color before and it is gorgeous. It has a great wide brush on it but it looks a lot better in the bottle than it does on the nail. Only because in the bottle you can see a lot of the blue's and purple's in the color, but instead on the nail its more of yellow and light green.  Nonetheless it's still a great color. Again I used Sally Hansen's Double duty as a top coat. It worked out great for me last time. 

The one complaint against Blank slate is that it's a lot more streaky than Tauped. It's almost as if going over the nail polish again with the brush less coated makes it streak and take away polish that was already there--does that make sense?. So the brush had to almost be completely soaked in polish for it to get a good coverage. But it's easy to work through and other than that no issues. I'll edit the post later to tell you how long they lasted on the nails. 

Nails of the week: Sonia Kashuk's Tauped

 

Cue awkward hand holding of the nail polish. I haven't actually painted my nails in months, and I mean months. I kept getting the worst nail polish that would chip almost instantly and that turned me off nail polish. I've had this one for a while--it got packed in Hawaii, and I love the color. When I went to paint my nails I wanted a pure nude color and this is the only neutral shade that I had so I settled. Well, settling was the best decision I've made this week because I love the color. The staying color is great as well. I used Sally Hansen's double duty for a top coat. I have been wearing it for 4 days now and I only have minimal chipping. A lot of it happens in the shower or while I am washing dishes--we have no dishwasher, yuck I know-- but if I compare it to a lot of my other nail polishes this one takes the cake. 

I have used instadri but that one creates a lot of bubbles on the nails and that just irritates me so I stopped using it near the end of the bottle, just threw it away. I won't be buying another one either. I'd say the picture is pretty close to the real thing. I love the color. It's suitable for everyday wear, pretty professional, and not off putting or too in your face. 

The one complaint I do have is the bottle is a defective one. The brush is crooked, it comes out of the lid at about a 45 degree angle. I have to force it into the bottle. I easily could of returned it to the Target I bought it from and got another, but it's not that big of a deal. It makes applying it a little awkward at times but I can still apply it pretty well.

EDIT: 1/27/2014 

I applied the polish on the 17th, and I took it off on the 26th. There were two chipped nails, and most had the top rubbed away with little teeny chip marks. So overall I'd say it did amazing. Almost 10 days without any huge chips.

What color is on your nails right now?

NOTD: Sonia Kashuk, Color Club, L'oreal

Hey guys! Today's NOTD is using L'oreal's Haute couture red(470), Sonia Kashuk's Taunting Teal (14) and Color club's Hot couture(875). How funny is that? Two polishes with almost the exact same name. I didn't even realize that!

Nail of the day!

Wet 'n Wild's tickled pink & Sally Hanson Xtreme wear in Coral Reef. 

I used the Sally Hanson Vitasurge strengthener(I would NOT recommend this if you are going to paint your nails while using, it makes the nail polish slide right off the nails), Sally Hanson Salon effects gel base coat, and Sally Hanson Insta-dry topcoat(Love this stuff).

I find that these colors worked really well together and that they are bright and eye catching. I really enjoy these colors. They both are perfect for Summer. Coral Reef I used one heavy coat, and Tickled Pink I used two coats. They're a perfect combo! :D

xoxoAlaina

Review: Trim 'The Ultimate Manicure System'

I used this tool to remove my acrylics. It was $7.20 at the NEX, but I think it retails for somewhere around 10 dollars. It's supposed to be just like the tools someone would use at the nail salon to do your nails, but it's in the quality of your own home. It runs on two AA batteries which are not included and it also comes with a little baggie to put it in. It also comes with 5 heads to use while using the tool. From Right to left the are the cuticle mover, defining shaper tool, regular shaping tool, buffer/shine, and the last one I don't remember what it's called.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Lightweight 
• Inexpensive
• Gets the job done

Cons:

• Not very high powered
• Loud
• The button needs to have the ability to just stay on, instead of only being on when you push the button
• Took awhile to see any progress

In total it took me about 3 hours to remove my nails with this tool, which includes the time I was soaking my nails in acetone to soften them up.


Recommendation:

• Would be good if you were just trying to make your natural nails look like they are professionally done, would not recommend for removing acrylics; it just took way too long.