Essie Protein Base Coat

I have issues with my nails chipping and splitting, like I'm sure most people do, so I decided to try Essie's Protein Base Coat. I've been using it for many weeks now--not always consistently--but I do use it whenever I paint my nails.

The base coat itself is a translucent milky white and it goes on clear, adding just a tinge of brightness to your nails.

Sinful Colors in "Innocent" With OPI "Silver Shatter"

A friend of mine sent this polish my way and I finally got around to using it. The formula was a little gloopy going on (which is to be expected in this humidity, I suppose) but it evened out nicely and dried quickly. I often nick or smudge my manis before they completely dry but I never had any problem with this one.

Sephora by OPI "A-Ha Moment" with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in "Shooting Star"

I did this manicure the other day when our power went out... In the dying light of the day. Haha. I hate white polish, I don't know why I ever bought white polish and I'm not entirely sure why I'm sharing this with you now but here it is. I did two coats of A-ha Moment and two coats of Shooting Star on top.

China Glaze "Life Preserver" Nail Lacquer

This is one of the gorgeous China Glaze polishes from their totally amazing Anchors Away collection. I'm about to do a little Ulta hauling and I"m seriously considering buying up the rest of the collection that I don't have. I ADORE this collection! 

Borghese "Mediterraneo Sea" Nail Lacquer

First of all I want to say how much I love how this polish LOOKS.

It's a beautiful darker teal-y blue with large multi-colored glitter.

It's a little matte-ish when it goes on so I think this gorgeous polish would benefit greatly from a shiny top coat but I was being lazy and skipped it. I'll pretend I was trying to give you guys the full effect of the actual polish :)

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in "Tree Hugger"

I love the name of this polish :) And I love green polishes.

Tree Hugger is a great springy green to wear as the weather starts to warm up.

Zoya "Reva" and "Apple" Nail Lacquers

There have been a few things going on in my life and I've neglected this blog and I've neglected my nails and both of which I'm sorry for!

Today I did a really quick manicure with Zoya's Sumshine polishes in "Apple" with "Reva" on my ring fingers.

City Color Cosmetics Nail Polish in... Who Knows What Shade?

Before I even show you this polish, I have to rant about how annoyed I am there's no name on the bottle at all. If this polish does have a name, I for one have no idea what it is. I don't like when a polish doesn't have a name... Or even a number... !

But I picked up this City Colors polish at Rite Aid a little while ago.

It's a pretty sea-green with a light sea-green shimmer. It's a springy color and I like it but I wasn't thrilled with the formula. It took a while to dry even though this was only two coats. My index finger is not pictured because by the time I took a photo, it had been smudged and then it chipped and it was just a mess. I had some chipping on my other hand too. Just not a long-lasting or a fast-drying polish in my experience.

Pretty, though. Has anyone else tried City Colors? And did I just get a bottle missing a sticker or are they really un-named?

Jesse's Girl "Glee" Nail Color

I tried my first Jesse's Girl polish yesterday and I'm in love. I went with "Glee"--a teal glitter that's gorgeous  with an equally gorgeous formula. It covered well enough with one coat--I went with two though for good measure. I thought it was going to take several coats to cover but two did very nicely and one does a nice sheerer (but not sheer) layer that looks just as nice.

Forever 21 Love & Beauty Nail Polish #9126

I picked up a few nail polishes from Forever 21. The color names are only on the wrapper and once you take that off, who knows. This one is number 9126 and it's a light, light blue with a very subtle dark blue shimmer.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Color in "Silver Sweep"

I picked up this polish just the other day. I'm not sure if it's a new one or not but it was on display with the new Sally Hansens (the ones I'm sure are new). This one is a metallic silver. It's not a forgiving polish as far as mistakes go---they are super noticeable but the formula was nice and smooth, not gloopy and went on very nicely. It dried fast and covered completely in ONE COAT. Always a plus.

I did get a chip on my right index finger shortly after they were dry, however.

Ah hell... Anyway, have a look at the swatches...

Lush Lemony Flutter

Let me start off by saying I really like Lush's Lemony Flutter cuticle butter. I also like how that rhymes. I love the kind of not-too-super sweet lemon scent but I might be alone on that. My sister smelled it and said she "wasn't thrilled with it" but also that she doesn't hate it. My mom said she liked it a lot but she tends to like everything... So take that with a grain of salt.

The tub says "Repair dry cuticles, dry elbows, toes and heels with our lemony butter."

I don't have dry skin because I'm a certified oil factory but I do like it for cuticles. I try to remember/make myself rub a little bit of this onto my cuticles before I go to bed or after I get out of the shower or before a manicure--basically whenever I think of it.

It softens my cuticles without being oily and it absorbs quickly so I'm not left waiting a long time for it to sink to the skin around my nails.

Basically it's a definite win for me... I like when I find Lush products that I really like because Lush is a company that I want to LOVE but don't tend to be blown away by very often.

I'd say get a sniff next time you're at Lush and if you like the scent, it's worth it. You only need a little bit so I know this little tub will last me a while. It might be considered a little pricy though and other, cheaper alternatives might be preferred for that reason.

You can get it at Lush.com for $14.95. (For 1.5oz).

Revlon "Pink Freeze" Nail Enamel

Today I'm showing you a Revlon polish called "Pink Freeze." Now, in the past, I've had really bad luck with Revlon polishes with chipping and application. When I come across a Revlon polish in my collection I kind of think "ugh" but I want to give it a try anyway because it's there. I guess at one point I went a little nuts buying Revlon polishes before I saw how much they don't like me.

That being said--this one is different! It went on beautifully, it covered in ONE COAT and it dried in a very timely fashion. No chips. After the first day there was a bit of tip wear but nothing major. I'm happily impressed.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream

My first thoughts when I sat down to write this was: the world is probably ending and now I'm going to review this skin cream. Hey, we need to be moisturized as we go down, right?

I've been using Yu-Be as a cuticle cream for several weeks now. I'm switching up and back between this and Lush's Lemony Flutter (review to come).

The tube says:

• Concentrated glycerin moisturizer helps hydrate, soothe and smooth rough, dry skin and treat split cuticles, chapped lips, cracked heels, calluses and burns.
• Yu-Be is safe and effective for the whole family on all dry skin areas of the body including the face.
• Non-greasy formula absorbs instantly and stays locked in for hours.

Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover

I picked up Sally Hansen's Instant Cuticle Remover because it was cheap. It's under 5 bucks at most drug stores or beauty supply shops. It's cheap but it works great. It says on the bottle that it "dissolves dry cuticles in 15 seconds."

It comes in a small plastic blue bottle and you squeeze out the product (more like squirt out the product but I didn't want to say 'squirt out' and yet now I've said it twice). Anyway, sorry, you squeeze out the product onto your cuticle and I just wait about 15-20 seconds and then push back my cuticles with manicure sticks. The dry cuticle comes free with the solution as gloopy debris which you easily can clean up/wipe away with a towel.

Deborah Lippmann Stripper Nail Polish Remover

I kept putting off writing this review because I wanted to like this product...

... But...

Deborah Lippmann's Stripper nail polish remover goes for about $18 a bottle first of all and that's an insane price to pay for nail polish remover (and yet I still paid it).

OPI "Gargantuan Green Grape" Nail Lacquer

I had a hell of a time with this color. Usually I'm very happy with OPI polishes but "Gargantuan Green Grape" was a pain in the ass.

First coat was streaky and horrible looking--okay, fine. Then on some nails this continued through second and third coats and I kinda of had to glob it on in some areas and then attempt to even it out to get full coverage. Not fun.

China Glaze "Peace on Earth" Nail Lacquer

This is my kind of polish. I love love love this shade and I'm so glad I scooped it up. Peace on Earth is part of the China Glaze Holiday 2010 collection.

I unfortunately had to cut all of my nails down after I tore both of my index finger nails. It was pretty disappointing, really. I had these babies growing for at least two months without any major catastrophes. Sigh!

Pop Beauty Nail Glam in "Grass"

I spent my morning painting my nails and catching up on my pile of magazines. I went with Pop Beauty's "grass" which is nothing even close to the color of grass but let's look...

Barry M "Red Black" Nail Paint

This is my first Barry M nail polish (one of the polishes from my Barry M haul). And I love it. Despite getting pretty horrible customer service from Barry M (I can't really say it enough because I hate bad customer service) they seem to have great polishes--if this one is any indicator.