I think I’ve got a new obsession – my nails. Ever since my nails have been in such great condition now that I’m taking Biotin daily, I’ve become more interested in trying to become more of a nail expert.
In the past I’ve had gel nails, and was happy to have my hands look good and leave the “heavy lifting” to the professional. I’ve never been very good at filing, polishing, and caring for my own nails. But things are changing.
First I eased in with the Incoco nails, which I still love and plan to use throughout the fall and winter. But when I saw how well the accent nail that I’d polished looked, I figured I should try my hand (pun intended) at old fashioned polish.
I like the idea of changing my polish as often as the mood strikes. Plus, keeping my hands busy at night, when I tend to get the craving to snack, is an added bonus. And we all know that practice makes perfect. So, I plan on making NOTD a regular feature on the blog whenever I have new polishes that I’m trying out. If you have suggestions for colors I should try, please leave them in the comments.
I’d actually gone to Target to pick up a different polish (which will be featured later) and to pick up Seche Vite, a top coat that most of the beauty bloggers I read say is their holy grail product. And I have to concur – you apply it as soon as you’re finished with the last coat of color; the instructions say not to let them dry at all. Literally as soon as I was finished putting the final top coat on the pinkie nail of my right hand, my left thumb was completely dry. I was worried that doing my nails only a couple of hours before bedtime might risk getting pillow marks on my nail, but I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to shiny, gorgeous nails. I can’t recommend this top coat more highly, but more “evidence” of why later.
Now on to the topic at hand – Purple Yourself Together by Nicole by OPI (Target). I loved the color as soon as I saw it in the bottle. It’s a perfect, subtle purple (if purples can be subtle), with tinges of gold.
I love the way the color turned out, and that it takes on different shades in differing lights, as you can see.
The yellow light of my dining room.
The bright light of my bathroom: (these shots show the shimmering properties of the polish)
Natural daylight through my bedroom window:
I love this color! It goes so well with every color in my wardrobe, and I think it looks great with my skin tone. It will take me from late summer through the fall and winter.
And to prove the staying power of not only this nail color, but especially of the Seche Vite top coat, these are my nails three days later. I spent over 3 1/2 hours cleaning my house from top to bottom, in and out of water, with all sorts of cleaners, etc. I’m not one to wear gloves, so I was amazed that they still look this good. Sorry for the dark lighting, but I think you get the idea.
So my first foray into the world of polished nails was a success. Inner health like taking my vitamins regularly have led to outer beauty. I like taking care of myself this way, and I love that my hands can look so good with me as the manicurist.
I cannot tell you how much I absolutely ADORE this color! I may have to treat myself to the same, especially since purple is my favorite color. 🙂 And you’ve totally sold me on the Seche Vite, too. I love the idea of doing your nails when you get the urge to snack. Snacking is a temporary reward with (sometimes) bad consequences and feelings of guilt; doing your nails has many rewards associated with it, and the satisfied feeling lasts for a longer period of time than snacking because you can admire something you worked hard on. I may have to steal that idea when I’m feeling snacky, too.
You are much deserving of a pat on the back! Can’t wait to check out future NOTD posts.
As far as colors go, I think it’d be fun to check out a nice tangerine, turquoise, or bright yellow color before the summer’s over. I think you’ve got the skin tone to pull it off, and it would be like carrying a little bit of sunshine with you wherever you go. Or if you like something more subdued, perhaps a dark burgundy? If you’re feeling adventurous, I would highly recommend doing ombre nails:
After I did it, I kid you not, it never failed to put a huge smile on my face every time I looked at my nails.
Have Fun! 🙂
Violet
Great ideas! I love turquoise & tangerine. Yellow’s not good on me, but it is so sunny & happy. I’ll check out that ombré nails post.
Love that purple! I bought some strips (think they’re Sally Hansen? it was the only strip polish I saw at the Walgreen’s by my house), so I’m going to give them a try one of these days based on your suggestion.
Oh, good! They’re easy to use!!
I have this color too! I use a qtip to put a little bit of vaseline on the skin around my nails. The nail polish that gets on the cuticle will just slide right off when you’re ready to clean up. Also, here’s a board of some nail styles I like – it might give you some inspiration! 🙂
Thank you so much for that great tip! As you can tell from the first photos, I need it. I’ve been waiting until the next morning and sloughing off the nail polish that got on my skin in the shower, but using vaseline is much better. And I’m about to go follow your board.