Tuesday, June 29, 2010

CND Shellac Day 2

This is going to be very very very quick. As I am leaving in 30 minutes to go to the airport. I'm flying out at 7pm and will be arriving in Switzerland the next day.

So last night I got my nails Shellac at a local salon where I got my haircut last night. When I walked in for my appointment I noticed a sign that they started doing the Shellac! I inquired right away and they were able to squeeze me in later that night! So last night I had my nail Shellac in Wildfire! It was the best manicure I have ever gotten. It took thirty minutes and I was able to walk out without worrying about denting my nails. This will last two weeks will not chip, dent, or smudge. It's perfect timing because with my move to Switzerland I won't have much time to do my nails.

Here is a quick picture of Day 2


Can't wait for them to start releasing more colors for this product!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

OPI Shrek Part II

Recently I wore the last two polishes I had left from the OPI Shrek Collection. They are both green based colors and are called Who the Shrek Are You? and Fiercely Fiona

First, I will show you Who the Shrek Are You? It's a very vibrant lime green creme. I personally needed three coats because like some of the other recent OPI I've bought the brush was very streaky and I was having a very hard time not missing spots on the sides.

Lastly I have Fiercely Fiona. It's a yellow-green creme that I needed three coats like above and along with the same brush problems. It's a pretty unique color but I personally hated the look on my nails and was ready to take it off by midday.


I do not know why I had so many problems with OPI's prowide brush with four of the six polishes in this collection. They kinda seemed more scraggly at the ends compared to my other OPI polishes maybe that was why I was having such poor application?

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Method to the Madness

So I'm sure this comes up often for many nail polish fanatics. How can I store my polish. I have a pretty decent system that I've been using for almost two years. I'm going to give everyone a look into how I store my polish. At current count my collection amounts to be 270 but that doesn't include a container full of really old off brand stuff that I just can't toss.

Here are all 270 polishes lined up on my coffee table. They are grouped by color as I was reorganizing my whole collection.




Right now I'm just using different types of plastic bins. Eventually when I have a more stable life I plan to get a Ikea Helmer but right now I love what I have.

This picture is the bin that holds the bulk of my polish. I can get about 70 bottles on each tier. It's from Snapware and I purchased it from Target it's 13 x 10 inches and the tiers are about 4 inches each.

The rest of my collection I use shoe box sized Sterlite bins. I have two for nail polish and another for nail accessories.


The left bin would usually be full but while organizing my collection I was also pulling out polishes I wanted to take with me for my 6 month stay in Switzerland. I think I pulled out a lot but once I'm at the end of packing I will probably not take about a third of what is shown.


This cute little box is where I keep most of my everyday manicure supplies (Top coats, base coats, drip drops, cuticle pusher, cotton balls, q tips) and I will also leave in a few colors that I plan to use during the week.


How do I keep track of everything? I sort my collection by color and have them all placed into a spread sheet.



Every polish has a corresponding number that I write on the cap and back of the bottle. I also have 21 nail wheels in which I have swatched each polish. Here are a few...




If you want to see the rest of my nail wheels you can check out my Flickr set it's about a month out of date already though. http://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonlich/sets/72157623871740863/

Hopefully someone finds this a bit interesting and it helps you create your own system.

Monday, June 14, 2010

OPI Shrek Collection (Blues and Purples)

Tonight, I would like to show you four of six colors from the OPI Shrek Collection that recently came out. I have the whole set but so far I have only worn the blues and purples and not the greens. I love the whole six color set of cremes so I pan to wear the greens very soon.

First, I will show you the blues. This is Ogre-the-Top Blue it is a very vibrant and bright blue shade. This is my favorite out of the collection and I think this one will earn a place in my suitcase for my long trip. The application on this one was magical and perfect and it only needed two coats.

What’s With the Cattitude? is a vibrant baby blue. This took three coats to become opaque for me and to get rid of brush strokes. I think some of the brush's for the lighter colors were below usual OPI standards and they caused me a lot of problems when trying to get a even coat.


Rumple’s Wiggin is a beautiful lavender color with a little bit of blue hint to it. It is a nice color for spring but for summer I am not a big fan. Like with the last light color it was a pain to apply do to the brush.


Funky Dunkey is my second favorite color of this collection I just love this shade of purple. It's just so vibrant! I only needed two coats and the application was great.


And because I cannot stop raving about the Effects line from CND I add a little bit of Sparkle to Funky Dunkey. So here is one coat of CND Raspberry Sparkle. It reminds me of a gumdrop.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

CND Polish

I never knew about this brand until after they redid their polish line. Today they have a collection that they call Colour & Effects. The Colour line are all various shades of cremes and the Effects line is various shades of sparkles and shimmers. It allows you to play mix and match with different colors and effects. I really enjoy the different effects and I have used them to change up other nail polish brands I use. I won two polishes from CND back in January I received the Colour & Effects combination of Indian Rhubarb and Copper Shimmer. Then recently I purchased Muddy Rose and Raspberry Sparkle.

First I will show you CND Indian Rhubarb. This is two coats.


Here it is with one coat of CND Copper Shimmer placed over it. I think it looks beautiful. The effect really changes the look of the polish. It's really nice to add a day after a manicure to change things up.
I also later on put a matte top coat over it.


Here is the second colour I have. This is CND Muddy Rose it's a really nice shade of mauve and this is opaque in two coats.

Here it is with one coat of Raspberry Sparkle on top.


The color went from a dusty pink mauve to a very vibrant and sparkly pink. I just love the change on this one! Overall my favorite thing about the CND polish line are the effects. I find them very useful to extend my colour an extra day as it can dramatically change the style of your manicure. The bottles are the easiest to hold out of all my polishes. The rubber cap is superb along with the brush style. CND has a new salon service called Shellac that gives you a no chip/dent manicure for two weeks that I am hoping to try in the near future!

A side note: I used CND Sticky and CND Speedy for my base and top coat and they caused horrible chipping and peeling problems. Other people rave about CND Sticky but I guess my nails disagree.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

American Apparel Nail Polish

Last fall American Apparel began selling nail polish. There isn't a store that is near me and when I do go out of town for shopping the store is way out of my way. The clothes and accessories do not fit my style but the polishes have been catching my eyes for quite some time. So last week I ended up ordering online 9 polishes... Malibu Green, Dynasty, Factory Grey, Poppy, Peacock, Hunter, Mount Royal, Passport Blue, and Berries. If your planning on making a purchase sign up for their email because in the end I received 15% off which was more then enough to pay the shipping costs. So far I have worn three but I was only able to get a shot of two.

First is Factory Grey which is a relatively light grey. It covers really nicely in two coats.


Today I wore Malibu Green which is a really pretty bright turquoise.


The formula so far is great but what kills the application is the long stem brush. It is just way to long which causes the polish to collect at the bristles. i find it to be a pain and I was ready to pull out an old OPI brush I had.