The happenings of my hectic and eclectic life!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Nail Polish Is The New Lipstick

There’s just something about having polish on my nails. It makes me feel more put together and feminine. I think it has a way of completing your overall look and adds a finishing touch. To me, it’s kind of like putting on your makeup and then finishing with the perfect lip color.

What else is great about nail polish? It’s an easy way to try out a new trend with minimal commitment. The investment is small and nail polish is flattering to every body size and shape. As a Mom it can also be a great excuse to have “me” time or a way to bond with your daughter. You could also use it as an excuse to skip folding laundry because you can’t touch anything while your nails are wet.

In the heat of it all I truly embraced neon nails this summer. My favorites were neon pink and orange. The colors were so bright that every now and again I’d sneak a peek at my nails, forget they were painted neon and practically blind myself. It was ridiculous. But I’m over it. It’s still 100 degrees outside and I’ve moved on.

How can I tell? I’ve purchased 5 bottles of nail polish just this week! And they were all in shades perfect for fall.
While trying to decide which ones to invest in I came across a great review of the nail polish trends for fall on the Refinery 29 website. You can check it out at http://www.refinery29.com/fall-nail-trends It summarizes the great trends for falls and provides tons of options and brands.

If you can’t spend all your money on nail polish, or buy five bottles of nail polish in one week (hello, ridiculous) then let’s talk about three colors you need in your collection for fall.
1. A neutral, think gray or beige
2. A red or wine color
3. A deep color such as a navy or burgundy

Here were my picks this week!
Nail Polish Collage

I’ve used OPI polish for years. I’ve always liked it and I think they have great colors. But I’ve recently developed and deep and meaningful relationship with Essie nail polish. I think makes your at home application appear more like a professional polish job and Essie is really affordable at about $8 a bottle.

Two are missing from the picture, which leads to another addiction….gel nail polish.

It’s fantastic, the finish is beautiful, it’s more natural looking than having artificial nails BUT if you get it done at a salon every two weeks it can be an expensive habit. I do my own gel nails at home using a Nailene gel kit with an LED light that I purchased from Walmart for $50. The kit came with a LED light, gel cleanser, gel primer, gel base & top coat, lint-free wipes, double sided nail buffer, manicure stick, and instruction sheet. Everything you need to get started!

Nailene nail kit

As far as gel nail polish brands I’ve tried Shellac, OPIAxxium, OPI Gel Color and Gelish. Gelish is by far my favorite. I purchase Gelish at Sally Beauty Supply. If you’ve never been before it’s a chain store that sells professional products that anyone can purchase. You do not have to be a licensed professional to shop there. Each mini Gelish bottle is about $15. If you really want to get the most bang for your buck you can purchase a bottle of Gelish that is twice the size of the mini ones you can purchase at Sally’s on amazon.com for the same price they charge at Sally’s. So a full size bottle of nail polish for $15. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m an immediate results kinda gal, so I just pay more to purchase it at Sally’s.

You can use all the supplies in your Nailene kit with your Gelish polish. I chose to buy the Gelish mini basics starter kit at Sally’s which includes gel cleanser, gel primer, gel base & top coat, cuticle oil and nail polish soak off. (mine did not come with light as shown in the picture below)

Gelish Mini Basics Kit

It cost me about $100 to get everything I needed to do my gel nails at home. It costs about $30-$35 to get a gel manicure in a salon. Although it might be a little more of an investment to get started doing your own gel nails at home you’ll have yourself paid back in about 3 manicures! I bought my supplies 7 months ago and am still using all of my original products! I re-do my gel polish every two weeks.

Here are the gel polishes I picked for my finger nails!

Gelish Collage

I’m looking forward to creating a lot of great combinations this fall with these five colors! I plan on matching the colors on my fingers and toes or mix things up and paint a different color on my fingers than toes. And one trend from the summer I’m going to keep up is painting my ring finger a different color! You can also consider adding a pattern or sparkle to your ring finger polish for a new look. It can be a fun way to change things up!

ring finger color

The next time you paint your pucker you just might want to paint your nails to add a little more polish to your life!

3 comments:

  1. I don't know why I didn't think of ordering other gel polishes to use with my Nalene kit (which I bought thanks to you!). Makes so much sense. Good timing with your post...I was getting tired of my Nalene colors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I almost bought Stylenomics the other day. I was shopping for a teal polish and decided to purchase Exotic Encounters (unfortunate name) by China Glaze instead. I like it, but I'm still not sure I made the right choice.

    By the way, if you have not signed up for the Julep Maven monthly box, you should go check it out. I think you would love it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Have you ever had trouble with adhesion? I bought a new color and it started to peel immediately. I thought I got a bad bottle and bought a new color in a different brand. When that happened, I bought a new base coat. Still happening...maybe the light isn't working anymore?

    ReplyDelete