desperately seeking persistent polish

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Sally Hansen Color Therapy Bronze Reflection

October 26th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

sally hansen bronze reflection — Sally Hansen Color Therapy in Bronze Reflection ($7.99)

In the Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish series, I wear a different nail polish for seven days, and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

I keep thinking that I’m going to run into a dud one of these days from Sally Hansen Color Therapy, because, hello! — when do you EVER find a nail polish line where every. single. polish. you try consistently delivers the goods?

This week was definitely NOT that week, because Bronze Reflection was one of the best-performing shades I’ve tried from Color Therapy so far. I feel like I say that every week about Color Therapy these days (hey, Karen broken record much?), but when something’s worth raving about, I’m gonna rave about it!

Bronze Reflection, which lists for $7.99, is all the things I’d expect to find in a Chanel cult nail color (except for price, of course). It has finer-than-fine micro-glitter, and it’s startlingly complex. Just like *that*, it shifts from pinkish bronze to a cranberry tinged with rose gold to a buttery yellow brass. It’s like all of the colors of autumn leaves squeezed into a bottle. And to top it off, you can wear it sheer — and it’ll look purposefully sheer, and not patchy or poorly pigmented — or you can go completely opaque like I did in these pics. It’s SO flexible.

Here’s how it held up throughout the week:

Day 1

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Sally Hansen Color Therapy Pink and Harmony

October 15th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

sally hansen pink and harmony — Sally Hansen Color Therapy in Pink and Harmony ($7.99) is music to my nails.

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

You know, there’s one thing that working for a top kitty supermodel over the past decade has prepared me for, and that’s the wrath of a toddler. If you don’t know, now you know. Demanding diva cats are just as, if not more than, temperamental than two-year-olds, and it’s a miracle this Sally Hansen Color Therapy Pink and Harmony manicure even made it through seven days on my nails, because I had to open this Doc McStuffins mini doctors’ bag at least 50 times every day!

Allegedly, it’s a toy for children, but they had me fooled based on how hard it is to open…

(Side note: Connor uses it to store the free stickers she gets from the cashiers at Trader Joe’s. She uses them as Band-Aids for Tabs whenever she “treats him.” It’s cute but kinda gross at the same time because the backs of the stickers are covered in tabby hair when she takes them off.)

Pink and Harmony is pure awesomeness, BTW, and it lasted just as long as Falling Deep, the last Sally Hansen Color Therapy shade I wore. At the end of the seventh day, there were absolutely no major chips around the base of my nails. That’s something that’s happened, um…never with a different formula before?!

And considering how I spent most of my waking hours last week prying open that plastic Doc McStuffins toy with my nails, I’m shocked there were only a few tiny dents at the tips.

I also love the wide brush and the fairly quick-drying formula (takes about 5 minutes).

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Sally Hansen Color Therapy Falling Deep

September 27th, 2018 by Karen 13 Comments

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

I recognize that I talk a lot lately about Smith & Cult, but I have reasons! They last, and they’re super saturated, and they also have lots of colors I don’t see anyplace else, like grayish green Bitter Buddhist, an oldie but a goodie that still knocks the cat lady socks off my feet.

Problem is…Smith & Cult is well aware of their fabulousness, and they charge you like they mean it.

$18 a bottle.

But relative to Chanel ($28, wha!?) and Tom Ford ($37, OMG!), that’s a steal…except that it’s not, so what is else is out there?

Here’s something comparable that costs less than half (!) as much: I swear on Jeremy Renner’s makeup brushes that Sally Hansen Color Therapy Nail Polish is just as good as Smith & Cult.

There, I said it.

I’ve been wearing one of their new fall shades — a rich, dark reddish brown with bronze microglitter called Falling Deep.

I’ve been wearing it for the past seven days and, quite frankly, I am shocked by how well it held up. It withstood a family plague of three consecutive colds (first El Hub, then Connor and now me), typing 2,000 words in less than 48 hours, and it made it through a moms group get-together that I went to last night in which I awkwardly pretended to be an event photographer (more on this is a second).

“Sally Hansen’s Color Therapy Nail Polish gives you color that cares while you wear! Intensive nourishment for healthy looking nails and up to 10 days fade-proof, chip-resistant Wear. 9 out of 10 women experienced a noticeable improvement in their natural nails.”

— ulta.com

Falling Deep looks like a Smith & Cult or even a Chanel polish, but it’s only $7.99! And right now at Ulta the entire Color Therapy line is marked down to $4.79, which makes them a steal.

I sandwiched two layers of Falling Deep between the same Smith & Cult base coat and top coat I’ve been using throughout the “Desperately Seeking” series, and after seven days it still looks pretty good.

Day 1

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Dermelect Tribeca

September 17th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

As you know, I’m still nursing my slashed Freddy Krueger fingernails from The Great Gel Debacle of 2018 back to health, which is why I’m feeling Dermelect. They’re a line of polishes designed to help heavily damaged, brittle nails.

I haven’t seen or heard a lot about them… I feel like they’ve been on the down-low, but you can find them at Ulta.

Their formula is infused with keratin to strengthen nails, and after spending a week with this gorgeous, foggy lilac gray cream called Tribeca ($14), dare I say that my paws are looking the best they’ve looked in weeks? — especially the tips of my nails. They’re looking much healthier and stronger.

I usually avoid pastel creams because they chip like crazy on my nails (like, seriously, I’ll usually see big chunks missing at the base within a day). Plus — ugh — I’m not into layering the three or sometimes four coats it takes to boost creams up to full opacity. I’d rather spend those precious minutes of my life doing more important and pressing things…like watching people taking baths with their cats and rapping about it.

Tribeca only chipped a bit, and I only needed two coats!

I’m surprised how well it held up over the course of seven days. For the record, I used the same base and top coat I’ve been using throughout the 7 Days series.

It held up even better than my Smith & Cult rose gold glitter mani a few weeks ago, which had been the best performer in the series so far.

Tribeca is a “do” for me. Give it a whirl if you feel like a foggy, moody pastel.

Day 1

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With OPI Chills Are Multiplying!

September 10th, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

Life lesson learned last week: the greatest threat to your manicure isn’t washing dishes, or lifting heavy weights at the gym, or pounding at the keyboard like you’ve just inhaled 12 cups of coffee. The greatest threat to your manicure — the threat that spells almost certain doom — is being distracted while waxing your upper lip at home.

From this, there is almost no going back.

A minor moment of shock

Because, friend, as I smoothed some Bliss blue wax onto the forest that is my upper lip, then stared at myself in the mirror in shock and thought, “Holy sh*t, I look exactly like my brother with a blue mustache,” I momentarily misplaced that little plastic waxing wand thingamabob you use to spread the wax on your skin and accidentally sprinkled big, hot blobs of wax onto the nails on my left hand.

WHOOPS!

Just a few chunks…

But not all was lost. After recovering from the initial shock (I’ve been waxing for years and never had this happen before. Distracted waxing is dangerous, people!), I waited for the wax to dry, massaged some of the oil that comes with the kit on my nails to loosen the wax up, and carefully peeled it off.

Unfortunately, a few chunks of my polish peeled off, too…

Frankly, I’m surprised any of the polish remained because that wax removes *everything*.

Du-ra-ble!

To make a long story even longer, all of this happened on day five of this dark blue OPI manicure. Through then, it was chugging along remarkably well. Better than average, for sure! A lot of people say that OPI lasts a really long time. Well, they aren’t joking.

Like I’ve done in my last couple of “7 Days” nail polish experiments, I used Smith & Cult’s base coat and top coat, along with two layers of polish, in this case OPI Chills Are Multiplying ($10.50).

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Smith & Cult Ceremony of Secrets

August 31st, 2018 by Karen 25 Comments

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

One good thing came out of my recent gel manicure debacle. I have a new passion for finding kick-@ss non-gel long-wearing nail polishes, i.e. nail polishes that can actually handle my life!

I do my nails at home once a week now, and over the course of that week my paws take a beating. I’m typing, I’m cleaning, I’m taking care of the dual divas who room and board with me (human and otherwise), I’m gardening, I’m preparing meals (gluten-free sometimes!), I’m working out… Basically, going about my day like busy women do.

Wanted: long-lasting nail polishes

So, a few weeks ago I started a project to track down some lovely long-lasting polishes, and when I find a new contender, I follow the following process: I use the same base and top coats for consistency — Smith & Cult’s tough-as-nails (lol) The Basis of Everything and Above It All — and I paint my paws with two coats of that week’s nail polish.

Then I take some pics to document the condition of my paws over the seven days before removing the nail polish and starting all over again with something else.

Let’s get ready to rummmbllllle! In this corner, Smith & Cult Ceremony of Secrets ($18)

I put Smith & Cult’s Ceremony of Secrets, a rose gold micro glitter, through its paces a couple weeks ago, and that week, on top of the usual life things I had to do, I also spent a day at a beach on the Russian River, which meant futzing with beach umbrellas and chairs, sand, and opening and closing multiple zippered totes (those zippers man… They’re like death traps for nail polish!). I also constructed three sand castles and, of course, swam.

Also, that week I lifted heavier free weights than usual at the gym, and those dumbbells and kettle bells are rough and will totally shred a manicure like *that*.

Despite those extracurricular activities, this glittery manicure held up exceptionally well. By the end of the week, I saw some small chips at the tips of my nails, a few chunks taken out along the base of my nails, and some cracks along the sides where I could’ve done a better job with the edges and top coat, but Ceremony of Secrets held up well overall.

I’m sure I could’ve worn it at least another day.

Day 1: So fresh, so clean

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Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish: 7 Days With Smith & Cult Analog Fog

August 24th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

Desperately Seeking Persistent Polish is a series where I wear a nail polish for seven days and take before and after pics to document the condition of my paws over the course of the week!

At one point over the seven days I wore Smith & Cult Analog Fog on my paws, the weather took a decidedly dark, chilly turn…

It started to look like fall.

We closed the windows and contemplated turning on the heater.

Also, I started baking stuff in my oven again. I cranked out three lasagnas (one was even gluten-free, what-what!), two banana blueberry oatmeal bakes, a gluten-free pizza from Costco, and two batches of oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies. Really, Smith & Cult should have named this polish “When It’s Cold, Bake Your @ss Off” instead.

Taking everything I did into account, and considering how much time I spent blending, chopping and whisking while wearing this polish, my manicure held up well. It was still shiny and relatively chip-free after five days, with just a few dings around the tips of my fingers.

It jumped the shark after I made the third lasagna and washed the dishes without gloves, which was probably, um…not the greatest idea. That’s when I really started to see pieces of polish chipping at the base of a couple of my nails (granted, they weren’t big chips).

Like I did for my last seven-day nail experiment, I wore two coats of the polish atop a base of Smith & Cult Basis of Everything, and with Above It All as a top coat on top. Point being to isolate the polish to try to figure out how it holds up to real life.

Also like last time, I didn’t refresh the top coat at all over the course of the seven days, but I think if I had, like if I’d refreshed it on day three or four, I could’ve made this mani last at least one or two more days.

I think Analog Fog did great, all lasagnas considered! Plus, the color is gorge! It’s one of those mysterious, elusive purples… Ooh-la-la! It’s a cream, so there’s no shift or pearl or anything like that, but sometimes it looks like a pinkish purple. Other times, it looks like a straight-up plum.

I’ll definitely be wearing it again. ?

❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4 out of 5 hearts.

Smith & Cult Analog Fog: Day 1

Smith & Cult Analog Fog: Day 7

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