Friday, July 27, 2012

Ulta, Essie, OPI, and Sally Hansen Swatches

Kate's Nails
Today Cara and I made a trip to Ulta to pick up some polishes, and we ended up going on a bit of a nail polish spree.  To the point where the saleswoman kept walking by and laughing at us.  We're like kids in a candy store in that place.  Plus, all the Ulta brand polishes were buy one get one free! That's something to get excited about.  Now if only they would change their display so that you could see the polishes without having to sit on the floor (if you've been there, you know what I mean!).  I picked up 6 polishes, and when I got home I wanted to wear all of them.  So rather than try and come up with nail art that incorporated all of them, I decided to do swatches.  Here are 5 of the polishes I bought (I'm saving the 6th for another post, since Cara bought two polishes in the same line).

First up is Ulta brand's Maine Attraction.  Cara and I both eye up this color pretty much every time we're in the store.  We both ended up buying this polish today (buy one get one is so dangerous for me!)  The best way I can describe this color is a slate teal.  I was a bit disappointed with the formula.  It was very thin, and took three coats to fully cover. However it evened itself out well, and the end result is very pretty!

Next up is Essie's Splash of Grenadine. Oh, Essie.. you have the best colors.  I could buy pretty much any Essie polish and be happy with the color.  I wish their formula was a little thicker, though.  This was another three coater (and I'd be happier with 4 coats).  This pinky lilac is super pretty.  It's not the greatest with my skin tone, but I like it none the less!

Now on to OPI's Don't Mess with OPI. I have well over 100 polishes, and I had nothing like this in my collection.  This is a creamy forest/jungle green, and I'm in love with it!  It was in the clearance section, so I picked it up for just $4.95!  It goes on in two easy coats (although the OPI brush is too wide for my tiny nails, and I had to do a good amount of clean up).  This is a great color for fall!

Next we have Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear's Sun Kissed.  Prior to today, I only had one orange polish in my collection, and it's a pretty heinous Halloween orange.  I'm blonde, and have pale skin, so oranges have never looked good on me.  However, lately I've found that I have been needing orange polishes for various nail art.  So I bought this color, even thought I don't really care for oranges.  This is a sherbet-y orange, which is much nicer than most other oranges I've seen.  Application wasn't the greatest with this one.  Even after three coats, it's still pretty streaky.  I think it will do well for nail art, though.


Last but not least is Ulta's Blue Streak.  Blues like this are my weakness.  I can't resist a rich cobalt blue, and this is a great one.  Even though I have two other polishes in my collection that look like this, Blue Streak is a welcome addition.  Like other Ulta polishes, the formula is a bit too thin.  But with two thick coats, you end up with a gorgeous color. 
So there you have it - my nail polish shopping spree! I can't wait to use these polishes for some nail art :)



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