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Showing posts with label Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Halloween Candy Corn Nails

  Today I have for you my version of candy corn nails - a classic Halloween candy made into a fun french-inspired mani!

Indoors, Artificial lighting
  This is an idea I have had since I first really started my polish obsession a few months ago, although I have to say I was a little afraid to try it since I have historically been somewhat bad at free-painting tips.  I think it turned out fairly well though!  This is actually my second attempt at this mani.. more to come on that story a bit later though, haha.

Indoors, natural lighting lamp
  For these nails, I used NailTek as a base coat and then added two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On for the white.  I then added a coat of Seche Vite over the white (something I decided to try after the first attempt; more to come) and over that used two coats of OPI Brights Power, the orange (and it is indeed very bright).  After another coat of Seche, I finished off with two coats of Nicole by OPI One Voice for the yellow tips, and topped it all off with a final coat of Seche!  I think these nails are fun and festive, and I got a lot of great compliments on them!


Mmm, candy corn!
  Overall I was very pleased with this (second attempt) manicure.  My lines were fairly decent and it really looks like candy corn on the nails!  There were a couple of faint streaks of color that got on the white, which I was a bit unhappy with, but nothing very noticeable in person, I think.  After a couple of days wearing these, I decided that a coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure would look pretty awesome on top, and it turns out I was totally right - in my opinion!  :)


Outdoors, partial shade - look at that shine!
  You can see that there was some tip wear, almost like the polish shrank up a bit.  I wonder if some of that is because by this point I had something like thirteen (!!) coats of polish on my tips... yikes!  But it was a really fun mani and I enjoyed it a lot.


First attempt - looks okay, but really thick
  As for the first attempt, which you can see above... I added colors in the opposite direction, starting with yellow and ending with white - since white tips are classic I thought I would try that first.  This caused some problems for me, since the yellow took three coats to be opaque, and the white was a bit thick.  By the end I had a totally gross thick goopy mess on my tips.  Also, the white tips yellowed quite a bit and there was more significant color streaking (neither of which is quite as obvious in this particular photo), which is why I decided to add the top coat in between colors.  I was debating whether to leave it a bit or try it again when I got a HUGE smudge in what I thought were fairly dry nails, and then wet polish started oozing out.. yuck.  So I took it off and switched the order and it looked great!  Much less gloopy build-up and actually, with my nail shape, I think looked a bit more like real candy corn with yellow at the tips.


  Have you ever tried a candy corn mani?  Do you even like candy corn?  I have noticed that it is one of those love it or hate it things.  My dad and I love it, and I think everybody else in my family is not such a fan.  Maybe I should take some over to my parent's house and share some of my bag with Dad, since I doubt they will buy any over there... :)  

  To see another great candy corn mani, and to see a tutorial, you can head on over to BABBLING BROOKE.


  Also just a reminder to ENTER MY GIVEAWAY if you have not yet!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Blue It + Hidden Treasure

  I was thrilled to receive the Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure that I bought online in the mail this week!  It is amazing!  I had to play with it right away.

Sally Hansen Blue It + Hidden Treasure; artificial light, no flash
  I have read that Hidden Treasure is best over a darker base color, and I had a new polish from the Xtreme Wear line that I had not yet tried out.  After a base coat of NailTek, I used two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It.  One coat was almost enough, but I used two for really full coverage.  Like most all polishes I have tried in the Xtreme Wear line, this one applied smoothly, dry time was great, and I am loving the formula as well as the bright color!  Blue It is a very rich sapphire blue in color with gorgeous microshimmer.  It looks great on its own, and I am guessing based on formula would work well for stamping or marbling (I will probably try both of these with this color at some point).  Below is a shot of Blue It by itself (no top coat).

Artificial light, no flash
  You can see on the middle finger that I am still patching up that nail.  I have had to/wanted to replace the patch with each painting to try to keep from having it break any further.  Unfortunately, I lost the length of the pinkie nail recently after it got damaged.  This was really sad for me, as the long thin pinkie nails are my favorites!  On that note, what is the best base coat/treatment that you have found?  I use NailTek I - Maintenance, but I see to be having several nail breaks lately.  I also still play with my nails a lot (at least I am not chewing/biting), so I know that weakens them, but any advice on base coat is appreciated!

  I added one coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure over the blue, and it is absolutely gorgeous!  I am seriously tempted to buy another bottle of this just to stockpile it so that I never run out (at least for a long time).  I am in love with it.  I keep staring at my hands, looking at the colors change in the light.

Artificial light, no flash

Artificial light, no flash
  I really love that HT has the ability to transform any polish into something different and unique.  It is really quite amazing - I hope that perhaps Sally Hansen will decide to bring it back at some point!  Sorry that I do not have any good sunlight pictures today; it has been raining or very cloudy and dark out almost all day today and last night.  I tried to get the best true-to-color pictures that I could.

  What is your favorite color/type/brand to use under Hidden Treasure?  Do you have another glittery/shimmery/foil top coat that you love to put over a lot of colors?  Let me know!

  Also, do not forget to enter my Follower Appreciation Giveaway if you have not yet; you can find it below or click the link on the top left sidebar.  :)