Sula Merlot

After reading and hearing about nail polish you peel off, I went to check it out and was shocked how many different colors Sula [official website] has!  In addition to nail polish, they also carry an array of other products - I was a little upset I hadn't heard of them before, to be honest.  Granted, I'm still new to the whole polish scene but still!  They carry their products in the USA and Canada or you can purchase from their website, which is convenient.  They also seem to be carried in ULTA, which I have NEVER been to one.  In fact, at looking at their website, I see there is an ULTA in the mall that I go to every time I'm in San Antonio, so I'm going to have to check it out next time.  Rumor is that we're getting an ULTA at the mall closest to me as well (still 45 miles from home, but closer than 3 hours in San Antonio).


The directions for Sula are right on the bottle - apply 2-3 coats to clean, naked nails.  Avoid contact with hot water for 4 hours.  Peel off when desired.


Sounds like a win to me!  I was a little nervous about not using a base or top coat.  Now Sula has a "Clear Top & Base Coat" that they sell for $10 and they say that it can be peeled off up to 10 days later (the same claim that CND Shellac makes, the new hybrid nail polish that one day, I hope to review).  They also have a "Metallic Top Coat" for $9, but I didn't receive either one with my PR sample here.  Also Sula does say that with one of their top coats, you MAY need remover, but without the top coat, you just literally peel off the polish when you're done.


Now, it's been HOT here again.  I'm talking triple digits (today was 102).  I don't know how this is badly affecting my nail polish but at least one person says it's the humidity (more on that later).


I'm wondering if "I'm doing it wrong" because I started putting on my first coat, and the polish was applying weird.  You're supposed to wait a couple of minutes before putting on a second coat, and then wait a total of 30 minutes before you decide to peel off the polish.  But really, you can see what I'm talking about right here

See how it's streaky and bumpy?  I don't know what I did wrong.  Also, the problem with polish that is designed to peel off is that if you bump it and it "chips", the whole thing can be peeled off in one piece.  They do say that you can just fix "chips" with the color quickly and easily.

The steakyness was mostly seen on the ring finger - I don't know what I did wrong.  I'd like to try this again when I have long nails as nubbins just are harder to paint for me.  Merlot is a nice vampy red creme (all their polishes are cremes, can you imagine peeling off glitter?!) that I'm just so happy with the COLOR, now to get this application down.  I took a nap and about 5 hours later, went to peel off the polish.  You just chip a bit and then the whole thing pulls off like latex paint off a bucket - in one piece.


From their FAQ: 
Q: Will all the peeling ruin my nails?
A: No, the polish sits on top of the nail and it will not dry them out.


That was crucial for me since I can't stand the thought of scratching my nails up (it literally makes my skin crawl).


Overall, I'm excited about this line and want to try more of it.  I received another color for review that will be showing up here soon on Polish Galore. 


Sula is available on their website [official website] or check the "Where to find Sula products" [link] page to see what stores carry it near you.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

300 Followers Giveaway! [EVERYONE!]

Welcome to part 2 of my 300 Followers Giveaway!  This part is being done all by me, meaning I bought the products, and I will be in charge of fulfillment.  THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

1) You must be a follower of my blog.
2) You must live in a country where UPS or FedEx will deliver nail polish.
3) You must use the form at the bottom of this post (Google Form) to leave your entry.  Entries in the comments section WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

One (1) winner will receive a brand new bottle of Sally Hansen "Hidden Treasure"

One (1) winner will receive a brand new package of OPI Havana Nights Minis (Teal We Meet Again, Read My Palm, Rumba Romance, Caliente Coral)

One (1) winner will receive a brand new package of OPI Tiny Takeouts Minis from the Hong Kong Collection (Red My Fortune Cookie, Dim Sum Plum, Suzi Says Feng Shui, Rapidry Top Coat)

One (1) winner will receive a brand new package of Modern Flower minis (Handpicked for Me, It's Bouquet with Me, Iris I was Thinner, Leaf Him at the Altar).

One (1) winner will receive a brand new package of OPI Shrek minis (What's with the Cattitude, Fiercely Fiona, Rumple's Wiggin', Who the Shrek Are You?)


Whew!  Five (5) winners in all.  Here's the form - be sure to fill out your name and your email address to win!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

300 Followers Giveaway! [USA ONLY]

Thank you to Seche [official website] for sponsoring this part of my 300 Followers Giveaway!

Not only are they handling all the prizes (yay) they are EVEN handling fulfillment!  (Meaning THEY ship to you, double yay for me, as my last winner found out when I had to ship her package twice... not using USPS for International anymore, let me tell you....) 
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

1) You must be a follower of my blog.

2) You must be a USA resident.

3) You must use the form at the bottom of this post (Google Form) to leave your entry.  Entries in the comments section WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

Two (2) winners will receive a Seche Pack that contains one (1) bottle of Seche Vite Crystal Clear Top Coat, one (1) bottle of either Rebuild, Recondition or Retain (winner's choice), and one (1) bottle of Seche Restore.

Two (2) MORE winners will receive a "Secrets to the French Manicure" FULL SIZE SET.

That's four (4) total winners!  (And that's just THIS part of my giveaway.)

You may enter BOTH this giveaway, and my other part of the giveaway, and you MAY win both (although it is unlikely since I do use a number randomizer).

Instead of having comments, I'm trying out the Google Form - make sure you fill out both parts.  Entries in my comments section WILL NOT COUNT.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

300 Followers Giveaway! [Information]

First off, thank you all for reading and supporting Polish Galore.  This started as just my fun little side project, and I feel blessed that people actually take interest in reading my blog!  What better way to celebrate than with a giveaway!  Now, this giveaway is going to be separated into three posts.


This post is just the information post saying, hey, I'm having a giveaway!  Please do NOT sign up on this post (in the comments section) because your entry will NOT BE COUNTED.


Thank you again so much for your love and support!

Claire's Pre-Glued Nails

I went to a Claire's in what I'd consider an upscale shopping center about 3 hours away from me a few weeks ago, and found these.  I absolutely hate the idea of putting glue on my nails, but these "pre-glued" nails caught my eye.  The cashier said they had JUST come in, so I grabbed two packages (it was buy one, get one half off) and was waiting for nubbins to try this out.  The package of 24 nails cost $5.00 US, which was pretty awesome considering that a manicure of fake nails can be up to $30 around here.

This seemed like a simple design - a white tip French with pink and blue stamped flowers and a blue shimmer top coat over it.

First complaint.  You can see my nails underneath.  I went ahead and pointed out the painfully obvious to you with arrows.  Granted, it probably wouldn't be seen by the average person, but it annoyed me to no end.


Well, not even 10 minutes in having these nails, and I decided (not so smartly) to run my hands through my hair.  I nearly died as my nails got STUCK in my hair - the hair wrapped UNDER the nails at the cuticles and got stuck in the glue on several of them.  I wanted to die. 


At this point I wanted to rip every single one of them off, but I decided to wait and sleep on it so I could get some sun pictures.

Left Hand - This is after around 12 hours of wear (or so).  As you can see in the light, my original nails are showing, which again, irritating to me!

Right Hand - More annoying - do you see that the glue almost made a "bubble" on my middle finger?  My pointer finger cuticle is all messed up from when I had a wart removed as a kid, so that wasn't fun.  But also check out the ring finger.  I originally put that nail on my pointer finger before realizing it was WAY too big, so I tried to peel it off and put it on the ring finger.  Instead I got all those weird gross bubbles.

CHECK OUT THAT LIFT.  No wonder my hair got caught under there.  OW.

I mean seriously, this was just plain painful.

It even lifted from the sides of my nail.  The "pre-glued nails" don't have glue all the way out to the edges, so the result is that the nail is lifted on the sides.  The insert says to slightly "buff" your nails with a file to maximize adhesion, but no way was I scoring my nails with a file.


Removal wasn't too fun either.  I totally misread the instructions - you're supposed to soak your hands in warm water for 10-15 minutes and peel the nails off from the side.  Instead, I put my hands under hot water for 15 SECONDS and peeled these suckers off.  I was left with some glue because of it, but my Zoya Remove+ got rid of any excess glue.


Verdict?  If you're in a super rush for a photo shoot, totally use these.  If you're planning on keeping them more than an hour, no freaking way.  I don't feel like it was a TOTAL waste of $5, but it was close.


Claire's is available world wide or online [official website].