Monthly Manicures - January 2014

I decided I am going to do do collections of my manicure colors/shades on a monthly basis. Since I have updated all my nail swatches, I am doing this more so to give myself a reminder of what I wore, different polish combos and to make some quick notes on how the polishes wear.

Manicure #1 Maybelline Color Show Navy Narcissist with Revlon Radiant

Revlon Radiant is a go to color for me, it has great sparkle and variance with the multi-shaped glitters.  I wore this polish for seven days and there was minimal wear on the tips for Navy Narcissist and none with Radiant. You can see above that there is some growth at the nail bed, but no visible wear.

Manicure #2 Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Coat of Arms and Julep Harper

I wore these shades for five days.  I found that Harper showed no wear and tear after the five days, but Coat of Arms was worse for the wear. I think that metallics are not the longest wearing shades. I find that they crack with wear. There was some minimal wearing on the tips, but there was cracking throughout the nails, but no visible chipping. The color was still fully on the nail but not in good shape by the time I removed this shade.

Manicure #3 Maybelline Color Show Mint Mist and Jordana Ocean Frost

I wore Mint Mist for five days and added Jordana Ocean Frost on Day 2. I found that Mint mist chipped after day one, which is why I added the Ocean Frost, to try to disguise the chipping. After that Mint Mist did continue to have some wear issues, but Ocean Frost remained completely in tact. I really liked the shine and sheen that Ocean Frost gave. I used a different top coat on my thumb and index finger due to some smudging in application (another issue with this shade is the difficult application) and you can see the look is yellowed a bit on those fingers. I wish I had paid attention to what top coat I used on what fingers, but I did not notice the yellowing until Day 3 (when these pictures were taken).

Manicure #4 Revlon Colorstay Rainforest

I wore this manicure for five days. This shade wore with minimal chipping but I found some cracking on the nails by the time I removed the polish. I don't know if that was a result of the top coat or the polish. It did not happen on all the nails, but it did happen on my thumb. This was my first time wearing this color, I really liked it.

Manicure #5 Revlon Plum Seduction

I wore this color for five days. I saw minimal tip wear, you can see it on the middle finger in this picture, by Day 2. I saw pretty extensive tip wear by Day 4. The nice thing is it was just that, tip wear, no chips or cracking or other noticeable blemishes to my nails. I find that with tip wear, I am okay not changing my polish because its just a part of my job, working on a computer all day. I love the shine from this polish, and it lasted the entire time my nails were done. This color is amazing, and I am so happy that I picked it up on a whim recently. Its a part of the permanent Revlon nail collection.

Manicure #6 OPI Ski Teal You Drop

I wore this color for four days. This is a tried and true shade for me. Dark teal always seems like a perfect winter time color.  This shade showed tip wear on day 2 and chipping by day 4, thus necessitating the nail color change. I was disappointed in the wear time because I feel like in the past it has worn better. Regardless I love this color, and will continue to wear it.

Manicure #7 CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis in Purple Freeze

And to close out January 2014, I wore CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis in Purple Freeze. I picked this lilac shade up on clearance at Rite Aid this month, in honor of the Pantone color of the year, Radiant Orchid. I like the shine that this shade leaves, although I did top it with a top coat. I got decent wear time of 4 days with this polish, although I did see some wear and one chip on day 2.