More to come

No nail polish today, y'all.

Last night I took my sister to see Tesla at the Oregon State Fair. It was a huge night for us. Tesla is her favorite band and I've been trying to get her to see them live for TWENTY years. (Showing my age a bit but to be fair, I started this odyssey when I was thirteen.)
We had a wonderful time, the show was phenomenal and Tesla is a great band. But today I'm tired, a little hungover and I have to go back to work.

Nail polish blogging resumes Monday or Tuesday. I have one of the new Wet n' Wild Craze polishes for you as well as a review of Nailene Power Fusion Gel kit.

Now I'm off to earn some more money to feed this addiction!

Orly Sol Cabana

I adore the Orly polishes I own. They are nicely pigmented, smooth formula and quick drying.
When the Tiki Time collection was released, I was one who rushed out to get Mint Mojito. A little later on I purchased the mini 4 pack collection to try out Sol Cabana and Calypso Breeze. I gave Mint Mojito and Teeny Bikini to my sister.
I decided on Sol Cabana today since I had only worn it as a pedi. I had issues applying it then and it continued today.

Two coats, indoor light, no top coat

The pigmentation is good but it streaks more than I like and definitely calls for three coats. The dry time isn't so awesome either. I dinged my index finger trying to dig my memory card out of my camera despite letting the second coat dry for an hour. Not good.

In its favor, this dries really shiny. I couldn't figure out why my middle finger appeared to have a spot on it in pictures. I cleaned the lens, took another picture and had the same result. Then I realized it was the reflection of my camera! I can imagine how shiny that is with top coat.

I give up on doing much more. I don't know if I want to wear it so I may end up starting over again. It's really too bad because orange is one of my favorite colors and this is a great hue!

Haken Blue Crush

I love this color. It just spoke to me when I saw it on the shelf despite the soft and diffused lighting in the store. Once I got it outside, I was just floored with the many different dimensions of it!

Blue Crush isn't entirely blue. It has blue tones but appears mostly green. It also has really cool fine holo glitter. Not only that, it's a duochrome that flashes gold, bronze and pink. I have nothing like it in my collection and really haven't seen anything else like it anywhere.

The formula is lovely. It's a snotch watery but very smooth and easy. It is sheer. The first coat is streaky but it smooths out nicely. I did three coats and it matched up nicely to the bottle. It was not by any means opaque though. However, you could easily apply it over a nice white polish for an opaque look.

Blue Crush dries quickly but nearly as much as the Birthstones. The finish is a little gritty and slightly satin. Seche smooths it out and gives a glassy shine which amps up this beauty.
I adore this color and I'm hoping the other Haken lacquers have formulation this nice.
I'm hooked now so hunting down Haken is a new obsession!

Three coats, indoors natural light, no top coat

Sunlight, three coats, no top coat

Nail Magic Birthstones April

This is the last of the Nail Magic polishes I have to show you.
April is a very sheer, frosty, silver-white with silver glitter. The application is a bit tricky partly because it dries ridiculously quick. It tended to pool at the cuticles and drag to the free edge. This is VERY streaky, really not one to wear on its own. It dries gritty just like May but again this is taken care of with a simple coat of Seche.


It's a fun one to layer over another color but I think it would be an awesome color to franken with.
Which I did and shall show you momentarily!

Now on to the pics!



Partial sun, two coats, no top



Indoors, natural light, two coats, no top

My franken was very simple. I had a little more than half a bottle of CND Toughen Up so I added a little of April and a little China Glaze Fairy Dust. I did not measure exactly how much of each because the idea hit me about 20 minutes before I was to go to work. I needed something to refresh my mani of China Glaze Recycle and this sounded like a good idea.
I really need to buy some BBs for frankening, especially when using a clear and trying to mix it. However, this turned out to be a cool layering color and it works for my super lazy manicures. Be prepared for scary nails!



There ya have it!
Overall, I'm very satisfied with these Nail Magics. Now I'm curious about their nail treatment. I did need to make a trip to Sally for developer so I may have to add to my list! ;)

Nail Magic Birthstones August

Here is number two of my Nail Magic haul, August. This polish is a real puzzler. It's green, gold, it's silver. That's just the way the light hits in the bottle!

Once again the formula is very smooth. This one is full on metallic without glitter and it is very brush stroke-y. It too dries rather satiny and never quite gets glossy even with topcoat. The drying time is excellent. By the time I got to my thumb, the pinky and ring fingers were dry.

One thick coat gets opaque as does two thin coats. You definitely want to wear a ridge filler under this because it will show any and all ridges or chips.
On the nail this appears a nice light green but in different lights it flashes gold or beige-y. I'm pleased as punch with this, it's pretty and great for a quick mani in the morning before work!



Two coats, no top, full sun.





Two coats, no top, indoor natural light.

Nail Magic Birthstones May

This is one of the polishes I found at Garden of Eden Gifts in Sisters. I was so thrilled to find them just hanging out in a fountain display with a sign for one dollar each! I had to have May since that's my birth month. Plus, green has been super hot and I didn't have too many light greens.

May is a frosty, minty, metallic green with dark green glitter.


The formula is very smooth and it dries very quickly. The glitter does makes for a gritty finish but a coat of Seche smooths things out. I tried Out the Door on this as well but found that it takes two coats to smooth it perfectly. It is a little brush stroke-y but not a surprise considering it is a metallic.
No major application issues for me but I also did one thick and quick coat. I slowed down and applied thinner coats on my right hand and found that it has a little drag and some bald spots. So go on thick!
This dries in a satiny finish but shines nicely with a glossy top coat. The glitter adds a textured look and doesn't flash a lot because it is so small.

When I talk about glitter, I mean glitter. However, the Nail Magic folks claim that there is crushed gemstones in each bottle. Perhaps there is but I'm unconvinced. It looks like glitter to me.


Sunlight, not top coat.




Lefty, with top coat on middle through pinky, indoors.
I'm a fan of this for a quick and dirty mani before work and I think it could be really fun to franken with.


Not the best pictures but that's okay with me. My poor nails have been through hell for the past couple of weeks. This was not the best mani I gave myself either. I was sloppy, my nails had been in water and weren't bone dry before I applied the polish.
However, I was impressed by the small amount of chipping and tip wear.
At my job, I end up washing my hands MANY times a day. I'm a manager at a non-profit retail thrift store and it's rough on my nails!

Nail Magic Birthstones can be purchased...somewhere! The best I could do was find this link.
Best of luck!

When Family Trips Go Right

Every year my husband and I take his mother on vacation. Since I lost my job early in the spring, I knew we wouldn't be able to do it this year. Gratefully I found a job pretty quick and we are on our way to getting back on track. So we decided to take mom on a day trip to Sahalie Falls and Sisters in Central Oregon. We've been taking mom there since 2005 and it's one of her favorite places.

Sisters is a really pretty historic town and it hosts a HUGE quilt show every summer. As such, the historic downtown is rather touristy and chock full of gift shops. Normally we go to the 12 dollar store and get t-shirts to mark the occasion. This time was different because my sister-in-law came with us and she wanted to go to my favorite gift shop in town instead.

I'm glad she did. I was walking though and looking at the handcrafted soaps when I turned around and saw NAIL POLISH! I was giddy. I found a line of polish I hadn't heard of before and there were some amazing colors. I of course, had to have some! While I was trying to decide on which to purchase, my mother-in-law found even more! Seriously, it was kid in the candy store moment. Ridiculous.

Anyway, on to the polish find!


From left to right:
Haken Blue Crush, Nail Magic Birthstones in May - Emerald, April - Diamond and August - Peridot.



They are some sweet colors and the swatches are to come.
However, it's time to get to the down and dirty.

Haken and Nail Magic are sister companies based out of Sisters, OR. Haken is best known for their cuticle oils and pedicure products. The lacquers are fairly new and are only sold in salons and select retailers. I purchased mine at Garden of Eden Gifts which is owned by the Haken company.
Nail Magic is best known for their nail treatment product that can be purchased at Sally Beauty Supply and Walgreen's. The Haken cuticle oil can also be purchased at Sally.

There are no salons in my local area carrying the product so I contacted the company directly. They emailed me a pdf of their catalog which did not have the color chart or list the polish for sale. They did give me an 800 number to call to place an order but I haven't yet been able to call to find out about buying the polishes! I hope I can because driving to Sisters isn't real convenient for me. Shall post an update when I know more!

Next up is the swatches. Stay tuned!

UPDATE
So I forgot to mention that there is an official Haken blog that can be found here. I'm really excited about this brand because I love the poish I bought and I love supporting local brands and businesses.

The Madness Begins!

Once again, I start something off with the statement that I have finally have sucked it up and begun...(fill in the blank here.)First it was the Facebook account and then Twitter. Now it's the final manifestation of my nail polish addiction. Welcome to the latest incarnation of my web persona!
So let's start with some background.

I've been blogging since 2001. I used to be pretty hardcore about it until my domain host fuxxored my blog and I just lost interest. My life was in major upheaval at the time too. I got married, quit a job, went to school, got a job, lost a job and then got the best job I ever had. Throw in some family drama and it's all good times.
On the nail polish front, I've always had a mania for it. It really became a sickness when I got a job at Ed Wyse Beauty Supply.
I had access to O.P.I. and Zoya polishes not just at wholesale but below cost! I miss that. Sadly, my store fell victim to the recession and it closed last March.
All worked well for me since I found a job that I adore.

I hope to have something snazzy to add to the nail polish community. I've enjoyed reading so many of them and getting to know all of the writers a little bit. I love the diversity of our little community and the beautiful things y'all share. Here's to a new beginning!