March Madness! Greens All Month - Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Chartreuse Chase

Chartreuse Chase

As far as nail polish goes, I am a firm believer that pricier doesn't always mean better.  One of my favorite polishes that I loved to draw as a shining example of this was Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.  Pigmented, creamy, smooth application.  Sally had it all right with these.......... well most of these.

I picked up Chartreuse Chase and Blue-Away, which are two new limited edition shades available at Target.  Usually Insta-Dry are nearly one coat wonders.  Chartreuse Chase was lime green mess.  It took almost four coats to get opaque coverage.  My bottle was extremely watery and thin.  Also with those extra coats came added dry time.  This manicure never seemed to dry and got dinged pretty badly.  I took it off in a matter of hours out of frustration.

I'm disappointed for two reasons: 1 - Because I really wanted this to be great.  The color is so perfect for spring.  2 - It's a smudge on the otherwise amazing track record of the Insta-Dry line.   Shame on your Chartreuse.  Shame.


 I will swatch Blue-Away soon.
 This was 3-4 coats.
Too bad this didn't work out.  Isn't this a gorgeous shade?

Is there a way to fix a bad polish?  If anyone knows let me know.

Beautyburg's Spring Giveaway! Win The China Glaze Crackle Collection And A Basket of Fun Spring Beauty!!!!

Our spring giveaway!

Hello beautiful!  Spring is almost here, so why not celebrate with a basket of beauty booty?!  Enter for a chance to win our Spring Giveaway Basket!  Marlowe arranged it himself.

To enter is easy!  Just fill in your email.  Subscribe to Beautyburg for extra chances to win this basket!  Really up your chances of winning by Liking us on Facebook or subscribing to our YouTube channel.

The Beautyburg bunny will mail this to your door!  

Win the complete China Glaze Crackle Collection and more! 

So what's in this basket of goodies?
Burt's Bees Natural Manicure Set (see below for what's in the set)
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Black Mesh
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Broken Hearted
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Cracked Concrete
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Crushed Candy
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Fault Line
China Glaze Crackle Nail Polish in Lightening Bolt
Claire's 6 Piece Mini Nail Set in Pastel
Claire's 6 Piece Mini Nail Set in Rainbow
LA Color Style + Art 3D Nail Stickers - 2 sets
Maybelline New York Express Finish in Blue Brilliance
Maybelline New York Express Finish in Lilac Luster
Revlon Scented Nail Polish in Beach
Revlon Scented Nail Polish in Ocean Breeze
Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel in Cloud
Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel in Electric
Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel in Orchid
Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Fly With Me
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Purple Pizzaz
Wet n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette in Lust
Plus some yummy Easter candy treats all in a festive spring basket.

 These colors would look cute with Crackles over them!



 





The contest ends April 15, 2011 at 11:59pm PST!  It's open to international friends, and you must be 18 or older to enter (or get permission from a parent).  Winner will be announced  the weekend of April 16th and will have 48hours to respond. 
 
Please only one entry per person!  Thank you all for participating and coming to check out Beautyburg! 

CLOSED!  THANKS FOR THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED!

Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color Grey Area - Photos and Swatches

Grey Area = purple + dark grey creme.  

Here is a new limited edition color from Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color.  Grey Area is a dark grey purple.  I would love to use this as base for Konading.  Xtreme Wear is such a pigmented formula that it also works well as the stamping color.  And if you just wanted to paint it on your nails, you can do that too.  The application was so smooth.  With two coats I had total coverage.  I love Xtreme Wear Nail Colors for the formula, the colors and most importantly the price (usually under $3 a piece!).


Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Grey Area  is $2.99 and at drugstores nationwide.

Lazy Sunday - Some Recent Posts From This Week - New Zodiac - Golden Globes Anyone?


Hi All! Sunday already?!  Such a busy week this week.  We hit a big milestone on the blog (thank you guys so much), started a YouTube channel and also found out our zodiac changed!  We are also busy moving and reorganizing our stash.  While moving, we are plan on catching some NFL play-off games (I know!  My guilty pleasure.) and seeing the Golden Globes.  I'm excited to see the outfits and the looks (at the Golden Globes, obviously, not at the Bears game).  Navy was so big at the Emmys.  I wonder if there will be pronounced trend at this award show?

So here are some posts from this week that you may have missed.  One big highlight for Beautyburg is our new YouTube channel.  We only have 1 tutorial so far, but after our move, I plan on trying to add to the channel regularly.  Leave a comment if you have a suggestion on what you would like to see.   Here is our first video.  It's a tutorial/how to on Sally Hansen Salon Effects.


I also swatched some L'Oreal HiP Shadow Duos that I recently scored from the CVS clearance sale here.

 HiP Studio Secrets Professional Concentrated Shadow Duo in Cheeky (508).
 HiP Studio Secrets Professional Concentrated Shadow Duo in Cheeky (508).

And we sniffed and swatched some scent nail polishes from Revlon.  

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!  We'll see you on Twitter when the Golden Globes are on.  I'm sure there will be some zomg! moments. :) 

Do you have any predictions for the winners?  Did your zodiac change too?  How has your week been?!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips - Laced Up - Tutorial - Our First YouTube Video!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Laced Up

New Year and new stuff at Beautyburg!  We created our first video on YouTube.  I had to create a video for Sally Hansen Salon Effects.  This is a drugstore version of nail polish strips, like Minx and Incoco.  The cost is $9.99, which is similar to other brands, but the advantage is that the distribution of Sally Hansen is much more accessable.

The reason I wanted to create a video tutorial for these was mainly because I had no idea how they worked!  I had never applied a dry nail polish strip before, so I thought that I couldn't be the only one.  I hope it's helpful!

 The box.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects come in a variety of shades and patterns.  There are neon shades, glitters and printed patterns.  Each box comes with 1 application and contains: a mini nail file, a cuticle stick and 16 nail polish strips. 

 The contents.

 
Prep: file and shape, then buff.

Wipe nails with nail polish remover.




 The finished product.

I personally found the process a little labor intensive.  For $9.99 for 1 application, you could go to a salon and get a manicure.  But I loved the funky patterns, and I received a compliment almost every where I went.  Sally Hansen claims up to 10 days of wear, but I found it was closer to 5 before tippage and peeling took over.   I would recommend this for a special occasion or if you want to try nail art without the hassle of Konading or attempting freehand. 




Watch our video here!

Do you think Sally Hansen Salon Effects are worth the effort?  Do you like patterned nail polish?  Would you like to see more videos from Beautyburg? 

Happy New Year - 2011 Will Rock - A Look Back at 2010

Peace, Love, Beauty in 2011!

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope everyone's NYE was safe, happy and  most of all FUN!  We have a lot of high hopes for 2011. 

Not to dwell on the past, but we had to mention some of our favorite things from last year.  We are looking forward to all the exciting things in the world of beauty that 2011 has to offer.  We wish everyone the best this year.  Thank you so much for helping Beautyburg get off the ground in 2010, and we know that this is just the beginning of a really exciting future.  Beautyburg's New Year's Resolution is to try to be the best blog it can be!

So... Let's just revisit some of our favorite things from 2010.

These are in no particular order, and some products shown were not launched in 2010 but new to us that year.  For more detail click on the appropriate links to the reviews.








MAC Venomous Villains



E.L.F. HD Powder


OPI Shrek Collection - Fiercely Fiona on the right



Burberry - the makeup line


What were your favorite beauty items of 2010?  What are you looking forward to in 2011?  Do you have any beauty resolutions for 2011?

Hello Kitty by Sephora Liquid Nail Art - Blueberry and Minty

Hello to cute nails!!!

Minty and Blueberry.

As part of the upcoming and highly anticipated Hello Kitty by Sephora line, here are two nail colors from the collection.  If you missed our first look, click here. Sephora had a two day private shopping event online for VIBs, and even when I got to the sale on the first day, many of the items were sold out.  I was able to grab two of the Liquid Nail Art ($10) colors in Minty, a pastel Shamrock Shake green, and Blueberry, a blurple creme, and a set of Nail Art Stickers ($5) in Classic Icons.

I was hoping that this line's products would have some substance, and it wouldn't be all about the packaging.  Generally, I steer away from bottles that are short.  The short neck leads to a short brush, short handle, meaning less control of the overall application.  I also found the formula a little thick.  I couldn't find the exact amount on the bottle, but it does seem small. 

Hello Kitty Blueberry and Orly Snowcone.

These two are similar but not a complete exact match.  Blueberry has a little bit more of a purple base.  Snowcone is just more of a straight up medium blue creme.  

Blueberry with Classic Icons Nail Art Stickers.

Nail Art Stickers in Classic Icons. 

The Nail Art Stickers come in four varieties Classic Icons, Lace, Modern Icons, and Rhinestone Flowers and are $5 each.

Hello Kitty Minty and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet.

Now these were **exact** dupes.  I swatched them on alternating fingers and could not see any difference what so ever.  I prefer the Sally Hansen however.  The application and formula are just a lot nicer.  Also a bottle is only $2.99.

 All Minty.

 Left to right: SH Mint Sorbet, HK Minty, Mint Sorbet, Minty.
Can you tell the difference?  I can't!

So is this line all about the packaging?  At $10 a polish, for not such a great polish, I would say yes. 

When does cute packaging mean more than quality product?  Or does it all have to come together?

Say Hello Palette in Super Fun coming soon!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Wet Clay - Possibly The World's Most Work Appropriate Color?

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Wet Clay

I had a meeting and wanted to wear something that was rather neutral.  But being a nail junkie, it's hard to get psyched about semi-sheer "your-nail-but-better" shades (e.g. Essie Mademoiselle).   Snoozer!

While going through my neutral shades, I came across Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Wet Clay.  I purchased this earlier this fall (see display below), but it remained untried.  This was one of the colors featured in Tracy Reese's fall runway show, but I have been slow to get to all these shades (more reviews to come).  Wet Clay is a buttery hybrid of gray, nude, mauve and pink.  Two coats and I had a sophisticated neutral mani perfect for the office, business meeting and any situation where you don't want crazy attention on your nails.

Being in a pinch, I actually ended up keeping this mani for my trip to New York.  I was impressed that I basically only suffered minimal tippage after 6 days of wear.  You go Sally Hansen!  You've definitely impressed me once again. 


 
Wet Clay (bottom row, third from the left).
Would you wear this to work?  Do you have favorite work appropriate colors?

Sally Hansen nailgrowth Miracle Nail Color - Gentle Blossom and Forbidden Fudge

 Meet Sally Hansen's latest product - nailgrowth Miracle.
This is Gentle Blossom.

The display

Sally Hansen introduces nailgrowth Miracle, a serum that promises 59% longer nails (*from their pamphlet it says "based on a fixed point nail measurement in two weeks.").  In addition to a nail serum, a nail color range supplements this new line.  I recently spotted this display at my local drugstore and decided to try a few of the shades.  

The two that caught my eye were Gentle Blossom, a soft sea foam blue green with a pearlescent shimmer finish, and Forbidden Fudge, an unfortunately named golden dark reddened brown with golden shimmer.


 Forbidden Fudge
 Aside from the moniker, there is nothing crappy about this color.  A rich beautiful dark warm brown with red tones and golden shimmer.  I found the formula to be thin, but not runny.  This was two coats.

 Gentle Blossom

This one was incredibly sheer when applied.  This was three coats to get complete opacity.  Overall, very pretty.  The brush applicator is similar to the one on the Complete Salon Manicure series.

Sally Hansen Gentle Blossom vs. Milani Dressmaker.
Not a dupe for Chanel Jade, but still pretty!

I have only worn these for swatching and can't testify to the nail growth properties, but Sally Hansen  does make claims that with this Advanced Peptide Technology should support rapid natural nail growth without brittleness.  The nail color contains Biotin, Keratin and vitamins.  There are 24 shades to pick from.

What do you think of this line?  Do you have a better name for the polish now called "Forbidden Fudge"?

Sally Hansen Xtreme Beauty Kit - Night Lights Xtreme Wear

I remember about two years ago, Scrangie had posted about being really disappointed with a gift set from Sally Hansen that she had purchased.  The photos on the box were misleading, and the contents were an epic fail.  Here is the post if you want to take a look (I would have been confused too!!). 

So back to today... almost two years later... I have avoided any Sally Hansen sets, which have been popping up for the holidays, thinking that nothing good could be inside. 

Until........ I saw this! 

Hold.The.Mother.F'ing.Phone....... IS THAT A HOLO?!

I think I did a double take in the store because these kits never have anything interesting.  I decided to buy it to check it out. 

Night Lights Xtreme Wear in this Xtreme Beauty Kit.

Night Lights is a graphite gray very sheer jelly with holographic microglitter.  After asking the Nail Board on MakeupAlley, I found out that Night Lights was an older color (not a part of the current line), hence the white bottle cap. I had seen a post on GetchaNailzDid from February 2009, where Brooke found Night Lights at her local Dollar Tree.  This kit was $7.99, but Night Lights was totally worth buying the kit for. 

 In the shade.

 Holo-y goodness.

This is 3 coats.  I might try it over 1 coat black.  See what happens.

Would you get this kit just for the polish?

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fall 2010 Colors - Metallic Momentum and Instant Coffee

Sally Hansen has really come up with some winners this season. I have reviewed a few from their Complete Salon Manicure line (click here to view Sequin Scandal, Fedora, Problem Child and Golden Ticket). The colors they have come out with feel seasonally appropriate without being completely predictable.

Here are two from Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri line from their Limited Edition Fall Display. Metallic Momentum is a taupe-y silver frost metallic. What I like about this shade is that it's not a straight-up silver. It's got some taupe-y beige to it that give it a more sophisticated and less space-age fee. Instant Coffee is more latte imo. With mauve undertones, this would be so pretty for work. The application on both polishes was amazingly smooth and the pigmentation was very good. I personally love the rounded applicator brush on this line. The display promises 1 stroke, 1 coat, done!... I would say yes that's pretty close.

Metallic Momentum and Instant Coffee

Metallic Momentum
This would be great for Konading.

Instant Coffee


The display.
Almost true to the display: 1 Stroke, 1 Coat, Done!
I would do 2 for proper application, but you could definitely get away with one!
Very impressed!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Sequin Scandal

Sequin Scandal

Yes, another post on Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Fall Limited Edition display. What can I say? There are a lot of great colors in this display.

Sequin Scandal is a dark, military olived green with golden speckles of shimmer. It's a perfect fall and winter color. This is a major color in my fashion palette for the cooler seasons, so I do have plans on being matchy-matchy with my clothes and nails.

The display.

Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure Fedora vs RBL Jane from Tudors Collection


Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Fedora, a pale taupe nude with warm champagne shimmer. This is a new (possibly LE?) shade from the same display from earlier posts featuring Problem Child and Golden Ticket. This is a great pale nude shade for most skin tones. It may not work on super pale skin tones with cooler coloring.

From the bottle, it reminded me a lot of Jane from Rescue Beauty Lounge's Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty collection. But on the nail, Jane is much paler and the shimmer is slightly more apparent in Fedora. Both are great neutrals. If you are looking for a cheaper alternative to RBL's Jane, Fedora may be a good option, but RBL is having a 50% November 1st. So if your heart is set on Jane... you could wait until then.


Fedora vs. Jane
Sally Hansen Fedora vs. Rescue Beauty Lounge Jane


Similar but Jane is much paler on the nail.

Fedora in the bottle. The shimmer.

Thanks for looking!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Problem Child


Remember those hideous movies?! Just thinking about them makes me feel ill. I think my parents took me to at least one of them in theatres (possibly because they thought it was educational?).

Here is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Problem Child. This Problem Child is a beautiful, jewel-toned, dark amethyst purple with tiny red, gold shimmer and hidden FLAKIES! Everyone knows I love *love* a good flakie. This one is subtle which makes it more alluring and mysterious. I personally really like the Complete Salon Manicure line. The chubby brush and formula make the application a cinch. Two coats and you have great coverage and color. I do find that I'm more likely to purchase at a BOGO or BOGO 50% since $7.49-ish is a little high for a single bottle. But I think for hidden flakies, it's worth it!




See the flakies in the bottle! Just gorgeous!


Here is the display.
Problem Child is bottom right.
I've already reviewed Golden Ticket from this collection and more coming soon!

I've got a Golden Ticket.... Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Golden Ticket




No I don't have Turrets (as Cartman pretends to lol).

But I do have Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Golden Ticket. A new shade launched for I assume Fall 2010? Golden Ticket is a peachy gold glitter in a sheer pink peach blossom base. Very pretty and very dense. Pictured below is only two coats.

Pretty gold glitter in a pinky peach base.


The display.
Golden Ticket is on the top left.


I purchased a few other colors from this display and will be reviewing them later. There were some very interesting shades that are perfect for fall and winter fabrics.

Thanks for looking!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mystic Lilac

Oh the ever so mythical... Mystic Lilac. Someone had posted about you months ago on MakeupAlley. I waited and waited for you to show up to my local drug store... checking week after week to see if you had arrived. Just when I'm about to give up, there you are.. and at BOGO no less. Miracles do happen people.


The display.
Previous post click here for Fireberry Red.
I will do a roundup on the colors I've purchased from this collection.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Mystic Lilac - a muted lilac with teal shimmer.
Very subtle and very pretty. Can definitely be worn to work.


Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Fireberry Red - Fall 2010

You know until very recently, I never paid much attention to Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I want to blame it on the bottle, but I think it just had to do with availability... meaning that it's always available. So with endless LEs, new collections, etc Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear was low on my priority list.

That was until I met Purple Pizazz. It's funny that it took a LE to grab my attention on the Xtreme Wear line. Shortly after trying Purple Pizazz, I thought to myself, "Hey these have amazing wear, nice pigmentation and are $2.99!" There was really nothing to not like.

Below is the display for the Fall Collection of Xtreme Wear. This collection consists of 8 gorgeous colors, 4 of which I picked up. The first one I will be posting is Fireberry Red. Fireberry Red is a gorgeous crimson shade with ruby and golden duochrome. It's jelly-ish and rich. I almost didn't get this one initially. To add to reasons why I may have looked past Xtreme Wear previously is that you can't get a good sense of the color from the bottle. The bottle is narrow and doesn't offer much "free" space (area where the label isn't visible). I'm really glad I did pick this up. It's a stunning, rich red that I'm going to have fun wearing this fall.


The display. This collection also contains Purple Gala and the ever so mystical Mystic Lilac.
I picked those up as well and will be swatching them soon.


Index, Middle - 4 coats; Ring, Pinkie - 3 coats
I think 4 is the better application. Just gives the color more depth.

I have been wearing this color for 4 days. Just barely getting tippage now.

Orly Cosmic FX - Lunar Eclipse with Comps

I am having a love affair with all of the Cosmic FX. I love staring at each bottle and watching all the duochromes change in the light. Here is Lunar Eclipse from the collection. It is a vibrant sapphire blue with purple/pink duochrome. I thought out of the entire range of the Cosmic FX collection that it would be most matchable to something I own already. I found a couple colors to comp to, but after the comparison, I think that Lunar Eclipse is worth having on its own.



Left to Right: Orly Lunar Eclipse, Sally Hansen HD Laser, Sinful Colors Femme Fatale


Left to right: 2 coats of Lunar Eclipse, 4 coats Sally Hansen HD Laser, 2 coats Sinful Colors Femme Fetale.


The Sally Hansen Laser is more similar to Lunar Eclipse in duochrome-ness and overall effect but lighter and doesn't apply as densely. The Sinful Femme Fatale is a closer shade match but doesn't have all the cool light catching, falling a trance, staring at your nails all day effect of Lunar Eclipse.


Bottle shot: Orly Lunar Eclipse is more pigmented and thicker in the bottle vs. SH HD Laser.



Bottle shot all three in daylight.


Thanks for looking.

Flakies Comparison - Part 1


Being relatively new the nails, the memory of seeing my first flakie nail polish is still fresh in my mind. I remember seeing Nfu Oh! spam on MUA and then frantically googling the words "flakie" "nail polish." That is the short story I discovered Scrangie and all the other wonderful nail blogs which I now check religiously. I stared endlessly at the irregularly shaped iridescence, and I fell in love. I will be posting more photos of other flakies in my stash, but here is a start for now.

Inglot 202, Inglot 205, Nfu Oh 40, Urban Outfitters White Sparkle 2


Nubar Opulent Pearl vs. Nubar 2010
Nubar Opulent Pearl is a sheer milky white base with rainbow colored flakies. Nubar 2010 is a red/orange iridescence.

Left to right: Urban Outfitters White Sparkle 2, Nubar Opulent Pearl, Nubar 2010, Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Nfu Oh! 40, Inglot 202, Inglot 205