Monthly Manicures - March 2014

Spring is a time of brightening up, outside and with my wardrobe, makeup, nails and accessories. For March, I have really amped up the sparkle and color. With one exception I rocked blue or glitter.

Manicure #12 Revlon Diamond Texture

This was a new purchase on March 1, 2014, and I tried it out on my nails that day in the car and then did a full manicure the next day. I called it my Oscar party manicure. 

I love the effect of this polish on the nails, it is pure glitter that comes out opaque and with a textured finish. I am not crazy about the rough texture finish, but the look of the nails is worth it. It is a mix of micro glitter and large textured glitter that has dimension and glitters gorgeously in the sun. I find myself staring at my nails when the light hits them.

I wore this manicure for a week and started to see some minimal chipping on my right hand on day 5. This was just with one coat, I was able to freshen up the look by adding some polish to the chipped nails. 

Although this polish is full of shine and sparkle, I do find it to be almost a neutral because it does not have a strong color. I feel like I can wear it for work, and honestly it was on my nails all week while I had a funeral and viewing days to attend. I didn't feel that it was so flashy to be inappropriate, although others may disagree. 

This is a new favorite polish, and I can absolutely see myself wearing this all the time, not only as an all over manicure, but also as an accent nail.

Manicure #13 China Glaze For Audrey

This is a classic spring shade for me. It is a cult favorite and is truly a gorgeous robin's egg creme shade. It has a nice opaque finish and I find that it wears well. I love this shade year round but find that I pull it out more in the spring and summer.

This polish applies beautifully and I find that I can get a solid five days of wear out of it with minimal tip wear. I have numerous aqua blue shades, and this one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite. I have gone through an entire bottle of this color, which given the number of nail polishes I have is pretty unbelievable even to me.

I know I will continue to reach for this shade over the next few months, and I am thinking of doing a gradient look with shade and other similar shades or other pastels. I think that would be really fun for Easter.

Manicure #14 Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips Blue Ice

I decided to use these nail strips again for the Big 10 Championship game between University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Unfortunately, my team lost, but I did have beautiful sparkly blue nails for the occasion to go with my other U of M details, including one of my favorite new scarves, a light weight michigan scarf from M Den that I got as a Christmas gift.

Even though this was my second attempt, there is still a learning curve. I found that I still have issues getting the edges to properly stay down and I find that they get rough around the cuticle. 

I do love the effect of these nail strips, the glitter effect without the grit. The reflection is beautiful and I will continue to practice with these.

Once again, the longevity was not very long with these strips, as it is supposed to be. I got five days wear. I did use a base coat and a top coat, and my nails were not completely chipped when I removed, but I had some substantial chipping on my right hand.

Manicure #15 Revlon Brilliant Strength Dazzle

I wore this shade for a quick weekend trip down to Florida. This is a pale jelly like pink shade with glitter flakes. I picked this shade specifically due to my previous experiences with it's wear time. I got nine days of wear out of this polish with minimal tip wear, and of course it was looking grown out from the base. I like this pink glittered and jelly like finish also for the ease of wearing it with anything without being too bland. I knew with flying down to Florida for such a short trip, with a lot packed into it, I wouldn't have time to fix my nails, or really necessarily anything to fix them with.  My mom has a condo down in Florida, that we stayed in, but I don't have a lot of nail polish, remover, etc. I also knew I wanted something that was work appropriate on Friday before I left and would still look nice when I returned on Monday am at 9am just in time for work.

I really enjoy the Brilliant Strength formula of the Revlon line. I find that they apply nicely and have great lasting power. I don't know if I notice any strengthening from the formula but I also do not find it damaging to my nails.

Manicure #16 Studio M Spring is in the Air

This polish I picked up at Meijer, a local grocery store chain, and I got it with a couple other pastel shades with equally kitschy names and springy looks. This is a nice minty green/aqua blue with some subtle shimmer. I do not know if these polishes are carried anywhere other than Meijer, but I found them on sale for about $1 or $1.50 each, and I think that it was a worthwhile purchase. While I might not actually need  any more aquas I do like this shade.