A girl and her love of nail polish

Archive for August, 2012

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements

Today I’m showing you Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in Silver Elements, my first foray into the world of magnetic nail polish.

I actually don’t own this one but was able to borrow it (sorry, no bottle shot!). We were at a family gathering in Rhode Island when all of the pre-teen/barely-teen cousins started an impromptu polish party on the front porch. I of course had to check it out to see what they were doing, and what they were doing was putting on this polish, which one of their moms had purchased for them.

This was the tail end of our gathering, and all of the menfolk were champing at the bit to go home, so this was a very quick application for me. Really I just wanted to see how it worked, and I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised.

The polish went on very easily and looked great on its own (like a silver foil). But then the magnet creates darker black holographic-ish waves, eye-catching but not too flashy.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements Magnetic Nail Polish

The magnet, which comes as a separate cap over the top of the bottle, has a small guide to help you line it up at the cuticle end and not hit the top of your nail. I found it very easy to use. My trick was to turn my finger so that I was basically pointing at myself; that let me see where to place the guide and how far it was from the top of my nail so that I could make sure it was level.

I followed the instructions on the bottle: put one coat on all of your nails, apply a thick second coat to one nail and then hold the magnet over it for 10 seconds. Move onto the next nail and repeat.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements magnetic nail polish

I happened to have a small stash of polish, including my Poshe topcoat, so this is two coats of Silver Elements plus one coat of Poshe. I got a little over-confident in Poshe’s drying ability — maybe not taking into account that it was a thick second coat — so I ended up dinging my index finger in the bathroom, which is why it’s not included in these photos. *sigh*

But all in all I really liked this polish. It’s an easy way of applying “nail art” without requiring too much time, energy or skill.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color Silver Elements magnetic nail polish

I recently used my Ulta Rewards to procure a bottle of Layla Magneffect, so we’ll see how that one goes. Right off the bat, the magnet on it looks like it will be harder to use than the Sally Hansen one, but who knows. Will show you what I end up with!

What magnetic polishes have you tried? Any favorites?

Restock Radar: Week Of August 27

Here’s a look at some of the indie nail polish restocks scheduled for this week. Check back every Monday to see what’s coming up:

Monday, August 27
Tuesday, August 28
time not specified yet, but usually its 3pmET & 9pmET
Candeo Colors (On Llarowe)
Notables: small restock, colors not specified

Wednesday, August 29
8pmET
PRETTY & POLISHED (On Etsy)
Notables: Halloween set, including Candy Corn (an orange-to-yellow color shifter), Witchy Woman (shimmery purple), Blood Clot (lives up to the name!) and Them Bones (mix of hex and bar black & white glitter), plus Midnight Rider and other new color-shifters

Thursday, August 30
~7pmET
ONCE UPON A POLISH (On Etsy)
Notables: Launch of reformulated version of Ursula (purple square and and black hex and shredded glitter in a clear base)

time not specified yet, but usually its 3pmET & 9pmET
PAHLISH (On Llarowe)
Notables: Includes four colors: Slow Fade of Love (purple jelly with hex and square holographic glitter), Glittoris (sheer pink base with pink and red glitter), Prayers for Rain (blue jelly base jampacked with iridescent glitters, small blue and green hex, blue and some flakies)  and Chemical Swirl (purple base with mix of metallic and matte glitter)

time not specified
FANCHROMATIC NAILS (On Etsy)
Notables: Several new-for-fall shades, including Broken Holo Theory (holographic shards and micro glitter in a clear base) and The Man In The Moon (described as a white jelly-ish base with silver and pale blue matte glitter and white glass fleck shimmer)

*Also see below for details on a pre-restock sale.*

Friday, August 31
time not specified
MAISIE SHINE (On Etsy)
Notables: Maisie Daisy (yellow daisy glitter with pink, white and green matte glitter in a clear base, with a portion of the proceeds going to the ASPCA) and new fall colors, including Octopus’s Garden (turquoise shimmer-y base with teal and purple hex glitter)

Saturday, September 1
time not specified
KBSHIMMER (At KBShimmer.com)
Notables: New fall collection, including Oh Splat! (white base with multi-colored glitter), Quantum Leaf (yellow-gold base with red, orange and copper hex glitter), Toucan Touch This (green base with yellow, blue and red hex glitter plus bar glitter), Don’t Teal Anyone (teal base with gold and blue hex glitter plus pink hex and bar glitter), I Made A Bleu Bleu (royal blue shimmer), No Whine Left (burgundy base with blue and purple hex glitter), Witch Way? (blackish-purple base with holographic glitter) and Jack (orange hex and bar glitter in a black jelly base)

And Keep An Eye Out For …
FANCHROMATIC NAILS is running a birthday sale, 27 percent off if you use the code 27BIRTHDAY during checkout, good until 10pmET on Monday, August 27

365 DAYS OF COLOR is offering free shipping until Sept. 1; use the code FREE at checkout.

Llarowe has tentative plans for CROWSTOES and ENCHANTED POLISH restocks on Thursday, August 31, plus the launch of a new line, SABRINA SATO PASSE NATI (a Brazilian line, not an indie, but I’m throwing it in here anyway).

If you know of any planned restocks coming in the future, please let me know at polishgroupie@gmail.com. Thanks for stopping by!

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

In honor of today’s launch of the Aphrodite Lacquers Friday Night Glitter Bombs collection, here’s a look at one of Rebecca’s older polishes, RumRunner.

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner was actually the second-ever addition to my ever-growing collection of indie nail polishes, but for some reason I hadn’t swatched it yet.

RumRunner is part of Aphrodite’s The SandBar Collection, which celebrates summer-y cocktails. Genius!

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

The polish is a berry-colored jelly with dark pink and silver glitter.

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

RumRunner was a dream polish for me. It went on smooth with great application; the formula was perfect for me and it was easily removed, no staining. Plus not too many stray glitters left stranded on my skin, which is often a problem with glitter polish after removal.

This is a base coat of Gelous, two coats of RumRunner, another coat of Gelous and a coat of Poshe.

Aphrodite Lacquers RumRunner

RumRunner is currently available via the Aphrodite Lacquers shop on Etsy, along with the new Friday Night Glitter Bombs. And check out my weekly Restock Radar blog post for more indie polish launches coming this week.

Restock Radar: Week Of August 20

Here’s a look at some of the indie nail polish restocks scheduled for this week. Check back every Monday to see what’s coming up:

Monday, August 20
7pmET
NAILD’IT (On Etsy)
Notables: Use code facebook20 for a 20% discount

8pmET
THE POLISH BAR (On Etsy)
Notables: Strawberries ‘N Cream (various red, pink and white glitters in a clear base) and Lilac Blooms (green and purple glitter in a clear base)

time not specified
NAIL SAUCE (Nailsauce.com)
This one’s not a restock per se, but Nail Sauce is celebrating the grand opening of its new online home, Nailsauce.com. It has moved off of Etsy.
Notables: New fall collection, including Wine & Dine (small and medium burgundy glitter plus matte white hex glitter in a clear base) and Whoa, Nice Brass (fine copper and brass glitter with a gritty finish)

Tuesday, August 21
time not specified
TRELLY POLISH (On Etsy)
Notables: Launch of the new Movies Collection, including Hunger Games-inspired Catching Fire (orange, red, pink, black and white glitter)

Wednesday, August 22
time not specified
APHRODITE LACQUERS (On Etsy)
Notables: Launch of the new Friday Night Glitter Bombs Collection

time not specified
D&R APOTHECARY (On Etsy)
Notables: Launching several new shades in its Hit Polish line, including three limited editions and five new neons.

Thursday, August 23
8:30pmET
CHAOS & CROCODILES (On Etsy)
Notables: Several new colors, including In The Light Of the Moon (bluish-purple shimmer)

Friday, August 24
1pmET
TAKKO LACQUER (On Etsy)
Notables: shades not specified

time not specified
NAIL POTIONS (On Etsy)
Notables: Full restock

Saturday, August 25
time not specified
SONNETARIUM (On Etsy)
Notables: Shades not specified

If you know of any planned restocks coming in the future, please let me know at polishgroupie@gmail.com

KBShimmer Band Geek

I recently went away on vacation, and when I came back, I had two awesome pieces of nail mail waiting for me (best way to end a vacation!). One was a quartet of A England polishes I nabbed during their recent sale, and the other was this dark beauty, KBShimmer Band Geek.

KBShimmer Band Geek indie nail polish

Full disclosure: yes, I was in band, so of course had to get this one based on name alone. But also my old high school colors were black and gold (Go Hornets!) so it also hit fairly close to home in that regard as well. Will pause here to say that I also was a varsity cheerleader, so a bit of a weird mash-up, I know.

But back to KBShimmer Band Geek: I love, love, love it!

KBShimmer Band Geek indie nail polish

It’s a very complex, layered, deep polish with a black jelly base and gold, silver and bronze glitter. You can actually stare into it and see all of the different glitters at different levels on your nails. It’s crazy.

KBShimmer Band Geek indie nail polish

I found this very easy to apply, and it had great coverage. I’ve been trying a lot of different indies recently and have had some trouble with the formulas and glitter placement, but not with Band Geek: little to no glitter dabbing/placement needed.

KBShimmer Band Geek indie nail polish

This is two coats of KBShimmer Band Geek, one coat of Gelous and one coat of Poshe.

KBShimmer is sold on Etsy and Harlow, plus KBShimmer has a new fall collection coming out on September 1 so set some of that polish budget aside.

Restock Radar: Week Of August 13

Here’s a look at some of the indie polish restocks scheduled for this week:

Monday, August 13
time not specified
DARING DIGITS (on Etsy)
Notables: Several new shades are coming, but no details yet. Updates will be available on Facebook.

Tuesday, August 14
8pmET
NAILD’IT (on Etsy)
Notables: Farmland Collection – Brown Chicken Brown Cow; Peacock Squawk and Oinky Doink

Wednesday, August 15
between 12pmET and 5pmET
DOLLISH POLISH (on Big Cartel)
Notables: This restock will include Zombie Flesh; 3 Best Friends That Anyone Could Have; Master Chief (retiring); Team Salvatore; Heart of Glass (retiring); Expecto Patronum and a mystery shade.

11pmET
ALL THAT GLITTERS (on Etsy)
Notables: New Princess Collection

Thursday, August 16
time not specified
ELEVATION POLISH (on blog)
Notables: pre-order for Ama Dablam

Friday, August 17
time not specified
FANCHROMATIC NAILS (on Etsy)
Notables: A bunch of new colors that haven’t been previewed yet; plus get the Star Trek-inspired Spatial Anomaly while it lasts since it won’t be coming back

Saturday, August 18
time not specified
RAINBOW HONEY (on RainbowHoney.com)
Notables: debut of the Sakura Matsuri collection, including Ephemeral, Koi Pond, Sakura Matsuri Namesake, Hanami and Wistful

And Keep An Eye Out For:
D & R Apothecary Monday is having a one-day sale on full-size bottles of its Hit Polish line, $7, down from $8.50, through 11pmET.

If you know of any planned restocks coming in the future, please let me know at polishgroupie@gmail.com.

Restock Radar: More For This Weekend

A few more indie polish restocks have popped up on the radar for this week. For a look at others, see my earlier post:

Available Now
NAIL JUNKIE (on NailJunkie.com)
Notables: Recently launched Animal collection, including Bee (black matte hex glitter in a yellow shimmer base) and Flamingo (holographic and matte white hex glitter in a pink opalescent base)

HIT POLISH BY D&R APOTHECARY (on Etsy)
Notables: Four new limited edition minis, available through Aug. 14 or until they sell out, including Vintage Appeal (’70s inspired mix of mustard yellow, turquoise brown and orange glitter in a variety of shapes and sizes in a clear base) and Blarney Stone (described as emerald green glitters with small gold holographic glitters, black shards, evergreen squares, matte kelly green hex along with gold bars and small black glitters, all in a clear base).

Friday August 10
9pmET
PRETTY & POLISHED (on Etsy)
Notables: Seven brand new shades, including Day Trippin’ (a color changer that’s purple in the bottle and pink on the nail) and Clouds In My Coffee (taupe polish with light and dark blue hex glitter) See the Pretty & Polished blog for more on the new line.

Saturday, August 11
5pmET
HAPPY HANDS (on Etsy)
Notables: Flowers On The Highway (mix of spring-inspired colored and patterned! hex glitters in a clear base)

If you know of any planned restocks coming in the future, please let me know at polishgroupie@gmail.com

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