Untried #1 of 2012: A Palate Cleanser

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve! Now we're into 2012 and I'm enjoying it so far; a 3 day weekend will do that. Hopefully 2012 will bring a lot of exciting things! I know there have already been a lot of announcements so far in the world of nail polish about new lines and collections. Lots of cool stuff ahead!

I started on my New Year's resolution of using all my untrieds today. Removing the Sally Hansen Winter Funderland design was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. The black polish just did not want to come off and the glitter didn't help either. I feel as though I've worn so much glitter / hard to remove polish lately. My poor fingernails are weak from all that pure acetone! So I've been wanting to do a mani with a nice, simple creme polish that won't demolish my nails. (Ha, see what I did there?)

So for my first manicure of the year, I chose to go with a classic: China Glaze For Audrey. It's one color that I had been looking forward to getting my hands on and I was so happy to get it for Christmas. It is definitely a "me" color, I love blues and purples. And who doesn't like a Tiffany-inspired blue?

The application was great, For Audrey covered perfectly in two coats. I used a Seche base coat and the Seche Vite top dry coat. (This nail blogger is growing up, a base and top coat?!) I absolutely love this color even if it's not the newest one on the block. I also think it will be a great base for trying out my new nail stamping kit and a perfect color for my birthday week!

Both pictures were taken inside. The top one was with flash, I believe the bottom was no flash. I was too lazy to get my lightbox set up since our Christmas tree is in the way. But see, so pretty! I'm slowly, but surely becoming a big fan of China Glaze. 

Have you tried For Audrey? Let me know!

Sally Hansen Salon Effects: Winter Funderland

I guess I can owe my rekindled nail polish addiction to Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I was introduced to them earlier in the year by friends and family. They seemed so new and innovative, an awesome manicure with patterns that doesn't smudge? Who knew?! And the patterns are adorable. Now I've found that nail strips are popping up all over the place and there's a lot of awesome ones out there, but Sally Hansen still puts out a great product. And from there, a new obsession was born.

I picked up the Winter Funderland nail strips a while ago along with Plaid About You. I used Plaid About You for my Christmas mani, alternating the nail strips with plain red polish. Now for my New Year's mani I went all out with Winter Funderland, which is a black creme-like base with silver and blue hex glitter and fine silver glitter. 

The application was a little tough with this print. The strips felt a little thicker than usual, which made it a little more difficult to get them to stick. I finally got it to work though and the manicure came out pretty well. There was some chipping, mostly at the tips of my nails. Despite the application problems, I still love this print. I can't help staring at it, it's almost like looking at the night sky. To me, black, silver and blue just scream "New Year's". I think Sally Hansen (or any brand) should put out a polish version of this nail strip.

Below are my results. I apologize for the pictures, I've been having some photography issues (lack of space for my equipment and lack of good light due to living in the Northeast), plus I was under a time crunch. My cuticles are also horrendous on my left hand.

I promise this design is 10 times better in person, but you get the idea. The other great part about these nail strips are that even though I ruined one of the tips of my index finger nail today, I just touched it up with some China Glaze Liquid Leather and was good to go. You can hardly tell that I messed it up! Now that's my kind of mani.

Are you a fan of nail strips? Do you like Sally Hansen or prefer other brands? Let me know in the comments section!