Beauty

[Snow Owl]

Bella, I think they do give discounts, hehe! OhMyGosh, my husband stays cold and I stay hot. Yet he wanted to sit around the house with a tee shirt and jeans and turn the heat on. Early in our marriage I asked him why he didn't wear warmer clothes, he said he didn't like long sleeves. But I bought him some thermal underwear, and heavy long sleeve shirts anyway, and made him wear them. He was reluctant at first but then he realized how much warmer he was and now wears them when cold. Also, I got an electric blanket. I did get up a few minutes before him and turn the heater on, and the small extra heater in the bathroom so he wouldn't freeze and could get ready for work. We got it worked out, lol.

Hey, your mani from last year is better than the other one. You used more close to the navy color in the flag where she used a lighter blue. And this years mani, I love it so much! The colors and textures are perfect. I may just keep this one I have on, and do a white accent and blue accent. I was kinda tired last night so I just put this color on. It is an orange leaning red but would still work for that.

[Safre]

Thanks for the feedback on the Julep Plie wand. I think I am going to pass on it at least for now.

I usually stick to reds and pinks for my manis and pedis but I am seeing some great blues and yellows on this thread. I am going to have to branch out and try them!

Are the drugstore brands just as good as high end? I have some Bobbi Brown colors that are OK as far as ease of application and a few nars colors that I really like, but haven't tried Revlon in a long time.

[Snow Owl]

Safre, all brands can wear differently for everyone. One drugstore brand, Sinful Colors, works well for a lot of people. They are $2, and go on sale at Walgreens for $1 every now and then. I also find them at stores like Big Lots, Walls, and I think I saw them once at TJ Maxx.

The Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy is the best polish I've ever worn as far as tip wear and chipping. It was about day four when I got a tiny bit of tip wear. I took it off after a week and never got a chip. It comes off easily, and is one of the quickest to remove I've tried. It is $5 at Walmart.

Sally Hansen is hit and miss for me, while others love it and get great wear. Except for their polish strips, I love those and always buy as many as I can when they go on clearance at ULTA.

Be sure to check out ULTA's clearance section. Once a year they do a huge polish clearance for 97¢. I need to go back in this thread and check to see what month that was, I'm thinking September. I bought 20 in the Piggy Polish, and a bunch of others.

L'Oreal is thinner than most and I get tip wear by second day. Maybelline Color Show I've only worn for a pedicure and every polish wears well for that on me.

So my recommendations would be Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy and Sinful Colors on the lower end. But, if I see a color I love in any brand I'll get it, even if I only get one day out of it. Or I may look for a polish for occasions or holidays, doesn't matter the brand, if I want that color I'll get it.

In the more expensive polish lines, OPI is and always has been my favorite. More brands that wear well for me are Deborah Lippmann, butter LONDON, Zoya, ciate, and nails inc.

Essie doesn't last for me, but, again, others love it.

China Glaze does okay, and Sally Beauty Supply has them on clearance at all times. As well as ORLY. This past weekend they just had a half off their clearance section (with the exclusion of OPI). I would say to wait for a sale on the more expensive polish, or use an ULTA coupon, to try it out. Unless of course you see a beautiful color you can't live without.

[Snow Owl]

bella, I know right? Apparently the blogger did swatches and compared them to Diamond Cosmetics swatches. She thought they may be packaged under Diamond Cosmetics private label. But those who saw the photos thought there was a slight difference in color and probably were not DC private label.

When Ginger + Liz found out about it, instead of contacting the girl and telling her that no they weren't, they had their attorney send a Cease and Desist letter. They told her they would sue her for $200,000 if she didn't remove the posts. Which I don't think would have held up in any court (but what do I know) because that was just her opinion. And the girl lives in England so where would they have went to court? That would be England wouldn't it? Here is the other blog about this drama (I also added it to my post above).

At any rate, I'll not return these because I should have checked first. It has nothing to do with the quality of the polish so ULTA isn't responsible in any way. I will only return something if there is something wrong with it. I've made one return to ULTA in all these years. That horrible, cakey Hello Flawless powder by Benefit. By the way, if anyone uses Benefit cosmetics they have free shipping with any order in May. Code MAYSHIP

[bella-luna]

Snow - Yes...what a litigious society we have become! Why would they bully a blogger like that just because her review wasn't favorable? I don't blame you for not returning them, of course...live and learn. Thanks for the sweet comments on my manis! One of my cats smudged the dots on my left hand...of course, that's what I get for trying to brush her! haha It's kinda driving me nuts, so this mani probably won't last the whole day!

Safre - There are excellent nail polish choices at the drug store! I am a huge fan of the Wet n Wild MegaLast line, and although I only have one bottle, I really like Julie G, too (available only at Rite Aid, as far as I know). Before I went cruelty-free, I was a fan of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear as well as Revlon (Revlon has several dupes for Chanel polishes, if you're into that kinda thing).

I've got some black bean brownies in the oven, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they're good! Why am I using black beans, you might ask? I have been vegetarian for about 8 years now and I'm seriously thinking about becoming vegan, so you might say this is a little experiment to see how boxed brownies taste without using eggs (and oil). Anyway, I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day!

[juperier]

I'm so far behind with my comments that I'm just going to skip to the "current" topics...

Snow - I think the new link you added regarding Ginger & Liz is very well written and brings up several thoughts that I had when I read what little info I found online a few weeks ago. The polish you bought is a very pretty color. Enjoy it!

bella - Yes, we do live in a litigious society. We also are human and sometimes don't consider, or are totally unaware, of how our wording will be interpreted by others. We'll never know all the details. But I suspect that, as is often the case, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Changing the subject, how did your brownies turn out? Did you consider finding a recipe online and making them from scratch? A few years ago I made a carrot cake for a class I as taking. At least one person in the class was gluten intolerant and the instructor was avoiding sugar and never used artificial sweeteners. I found a couple of wonderful recipes that were every bit as good, if not better than, a traditional cake.

Safre - Have fun experimenting with different colors. Do it at a time when you don't have to go anywhere important so that you can give yourself a day or two to get used to the new color. Snow gave you a lot of great info regarding drugstore polishes. In addition to body chemistry, your nail prep and the base and top coat also affect the length of time a polish wears. It takes a bit of experimentation to find the best combination for you. Also, certain pigments and finishes affect the polish formula. You'll often hear youtubers and bloggers commenting that the formula is excellent for a yellow or pastel or neon or whatever.

[bella-luna]

jup - The brownies are actually pretty good! While I was searching for 'black bean brownies' on YouTube, I saw several recipes/techniques for vegan brownies from scratch. I had no idea how easy they would be, so next time I might try a from scratch recipe.

[juperier]

bella - I've never found it any harder to make cakes/brownies from scratch. And even tho mixes have gotten MUCH better over the years, I think the results are still worth the extra couple of minutes it takes to measure out ingredients.

[bella-luna]

Good Morning!

Man, has the weather been crazy or what?! I hope any of our friends who might be in Texas, Oklahoma or any other state that had severe weather, are all OK. We've had rain in my part of Tennessee, but nothing that has caused problems.

Today's color is one I picked up at Dollar General a while back: Wet n Wild Tahitian Pearl. It's a pretty green-leaning teal that, in the bottle, has a really pretty shimmer running through it; doesn't really transfer on the nail, though.

[Knit-Chick]

Pretty blue, bella! Your cuticles look so nice too! I've been baking much more from scratch lately. I have such a sweet tooth but really need to keep my cholesterol in shape. So I'm always making substitutions for eggs and oil. Then adding other things in like whole wheat flour, flax seed, etc. Sometimes my experiments don't always work so well

safre - drugstore brands that perform well for me are Sally Hansen Complete Manicure and Wet-n-Wild. On the other end, Lippmann and OPI are my favorites. But I just bought a new Essie color too.

Does anyone have a nice frosty white polish? For some reason I was thinking about it over the weekend and thought it would be good for summer. So I wanted to see if anyone had a favorite.