Sally Hansen Nail Prisms South Sea Pearl

Good morning!!  I've got a four day weekend and I woke up at my regular work time right out of the gate, but that's okay, because it's a lovely excuse to take a nap later.  Sometimes, there is nothing tastier than a midday nap. 

I thought I'd play around with another Sally Hansen Nail Prism, one that I've been kind of putting off on account of my experience with White Diamond.  This one is South Sea Pearl, one I was really excited about when I first ordered it.  I love the idea of a natural, pearlescent look on my nails, but the sheerness and difficulty of White Diamond drained my excitement for the lighter Prisms, and I figured they were all basically glorified topcoats.  South Sea Pearl is a slightly different character, though.

 

This one is very sheer, as well.  All but the holos in this collection have been, thus far, and I don't know if it's a matter of pigmentation and technology, or if true pearl finishes are just going to be incredibly sheer by nature.  I used three coats here, and honestly, I was pretty happy with it.  It's got a subtle pink, yellow, and pale green shift to it and gives my nails a lovely pearly sheen.  I almost kept it like this, but I really wanted to see it over a white base.

 I wasn't disappointed!  I used two coats of SH Xtreme Wear White On (another thick, gloppy Xtreme Wear, which seals the deal on my not buying any more from that particular line) and one coat of South Sea Pearl, and now I've got beautiful jewels on my fingers.  I love this look, and I think it would be amazing as a summer pedicure. 

South Sea Pearl takes a wickedly slow amount of time to dry, even with one coat under Out the Door, and is also the worst smelling Prism I've encountered (helloooo, Big 3!).  It is still a glorified topcoat, but a gorgeous one, and totally worth it, if you can find it. 

Have a terrific Friday, and thank you for reading! :)

Not So Pretty Things...

Good morning!!  I got a couple things accomplished last night, a wearable manicure not being one of them.  I'll start here. 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Bubblegum.  Sometimes you see things on other bloggers and they're so great that, even if they're not your style at all, you run out like a lemming and suddenly you've got a polish you really don't know what to do with.  Here's what I thought looked so awesome.  I have neither the cute little Dollish Polish topper nor the patience to acquire it, and after one horribly misguided attempt back in March to recreate it in some fashion (and a really mean comment on pinterest) I just wasn't sure I'd ever use it again.  

But you know how it is, you can't just throw something out, at least not until you've swatched it properly, so here it is.  Mission accomplished.  And I don't feel too bad about tossing it, because it had clearly leaked a little before it left the grocery store, and by last night it was a thick, gloppy mess.  Not a bad color, though; however, I won't be repurchasing.  

Anyway, I still thought it needed some jazzing up, so I thought I'd try my hand at some little black and white flowers. 

  I asked C what he thought and he said they looked like little flies.  :( :( :(   Bless his heart for being honest.  Um, freehand art is NOT as easy as the gals who do the tutorials make it out to be.  I tried to help it out with a shimmery topcoat (below.)

So, I took all that off (and two coats of that Bubblegum Pink was thiiiick) and did something else I've been meaning to do, which was swatching White Diamond over black and white.  We've all heard and seen the transformative powers of a black base (thank you Leisel for calling it to my attention) but I was curious how a shimmery, light duochrome would play out over white.  I also decided I'd actually wear this manicure, regardless of how it turned out.

I lied.  DO NOT make your middle finger the accent finger.  EVER. 

As far as the colors themselves, White Diamond looks pretty cool over black.  The duochrome went from pink and yellow on its own to purple and green.  The effect over white reminded me of classic pearls yellowed by time; really hard to see in the pictures and perceptible in real life as a yellowish, slightly dingy pearlescent.

So, a sixth of a bottle of acetone down, and disappointed in my lame attempts but grateful for the learning experiences, I'm going to wear Butter London Snog again for a couple days, because it makes me happy.  

Thanks for reading! :)

Sally Hansen Nail Prisms White Diamond and a Sweet Award

I've become slightly obsessed with the long-since discontinued line of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms as of late, and I'm on a quest to find as many as I can.  One of the easier to find colors is White Diamond.  There are next to no swatches of this one floating around, so I really didn't know what to expect.  And honestly, after the gorgeous colorbomb that is Burgundy Orchid, I'm pretty disappointed.  For starters, I'm not convinced the name applies.  All the other diamond named polishes in this collection are holographic, but this, a pink and yellow duochrome at its best, is clearly not (and to be fair, it wasn't marketed as such.)  There are a lot of pearls and opals in the 41-color collection, and I suspect this is a close duplicate of one or two of those. 

It isn't terrible, but it is basically a glorified topcoat.  I'll need to play around with it and see how it looks over a few different cremes.  I used four coats here in a desperate attempt to achieve something close to opacity, but it's a lost cause.  Three looks the same.  This took forever to set, even with Seche topcoat.  White Diamond, for its flaws, does pack a small surprise, though-- at dusk, it gives off a striking phosphorescent-like glow.  Worth it?  Hard to say.  It's one of the less expensive Prisms out there, and if you're really into these, it's still fun to have.

In other news, Tami of My Nail Polish Diary has given me the Versatile Blogger award!  Thanks for thinking of me, Tami, this is so sweet! :)

 

The rules are:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging
2. Let them know that you have nominated them.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the bloggers who have nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post.

 I'm giving it to seven bloggers, all 100 or under followers, like me (maybe I should go follow some more blogs...).  Check these great gals out and show them some love :)

 Amoki at Amoki's Corner

Pam at Nail Soup

Abby at Scarlet Nail Diaries

Ashley at One Nail to Another

Frankie at Constantly Redone

Mandy at Mandy's Polish

Nita Marie at Polished Imperfections

  

And, here are my seven facts.

1.  Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  Without Him, I don't know where I'd be.

2. I've known my husband for 16 years, been with him for 9 and a half, and married for 7.

3. I think grunge might have been the finest musical era of recent years and proudly boast Pearl Jam's 10 as my first cd.

4. I love to karaoke, and I bounce around the stage and put on a show to distract everyone from my subpar singing.

5. I have a slight perfume habit, also....  If you're aware of the genius of Richard Fraysse, Chanel No. 22, or Serge Lutens... friend, let's talk!!

6. Two loves that have stuck with me since high school are running and Led Zeppelin.  One that did not was theater.

7. Most the time, I prefer writing to talking.  

Thanks again, Tami!  This was fun. :)