Mining the Past: Color Club Love 'Em Leave 'Em

When I first got into nail polish I had a terrible habit of buying Color Club collections because they were so inexpensive.

I think part of it was fandom for several great bloggers and also Ross had them for super cheap.

The bloggers have moved on, Ross seems to have as well (heck even Color Club!)

Yet I still have drawers of untrieds.

Here is one from a 2009 or 2010 Color Club Wild at Heart collection called Love 'Em Leave 'Em:

I topped it with a virtually invisible Revlon Glimmer Gloss Banana Blaze.

I couldn't catch any glass fleck pops, nor did I really get a handle on the very subtle holo flame.

I call this scattered, but it does produce a faint warm red/orange flame that is a delight.

I think in order to emulate the current indie trend of multiple layers of depth, I'd have to layer it (It's two coats, pretty dense, so not really a good direction) or add a lot more Glimmer Gloss.

Many people call this a nude, it definitely is a golden nude. I will be moving this over to my stamping polishes because it covers very well.

Polygel Notes

I'm adding this section to just pass along things I learn.

A few things in this post.

Thickness

I notice that thickness is an issue. Since this photo, I've been filing with a coarse file (not labeled, but pretty coarse, 150? Who knows I know only from sanding my deck!) It removes a lot of bulk and helps them be less "bubble" shaped.

Lifting

In the past I didn't have much lifting, but now that I am polishing my nails more, I do get it between fills. Historically I found that it never produced a problem, but about two weeks ago, I had a lot, so I soaked and removed Polygel from 5 nails (different hands) and reapplied it. It took forever. For. EVAH! I mean after 3-4 solid hours, I had to slap on a nude and just deal with reapplication the following day. I so wanted an electric drill!

Reapplied and though I have a touch of lifting, I am not seeing as much. I will play around with some super glue, though, or something that can just prevent moisture from getting under the nail.

That brings me to...

Brown Spots

Prior to Thanksgiving, I had found that the natural nail under the Polygel that was on my pinky had somehow came undone. It was firm against the nail because it was past my nail bed, so in the 1/3 inch that extended past my bed - free edge -  the nail could be pulled away and would snap back.

I thought nothing of this, but a few days later the nail was in need of replacement, and somehow was tender. I removed the Polygel and found these light brown spots that caused divits in the nail bed. I discovered it was a bacteria making a home. Yikes.

Cleaned it up, filed it down, and haven't had a problem since. This is why if I have lifting, I file/soak it off. No easy access parties for the bacteria!

That's all for now, I like the more flat profile, I think it looks better than the old ones (above), but it's still a learning curve for shaping and filing. 

Thanks for reading my nail polish journal!

Elle Elle Nude Nail Polish

I found this polish in a 9-pack at Ross. I don't know where it's sold normally, but Ross had it.

Elle Elle has these weird dupes of other polishes. This is nice, and affordable.

So, here it is:

A fairly modest polish. Perfect for day wear.

It took five coats, but dried fairly quickly, then wore like iron.

Here's my "wears like iron" test:

Drive out to the barn where my horse is boarded. No mean feat, this means schlepping gear to my car.

Arriving and donning a pair of gloves (hey, I'm not stupid)

Getting horse out of paddock, grooming him, since he's unblanketed and he is always covered in dirt
Tacking him up, working with him on the ground or riding.
Often my hands are cold, I've got to handle sub-freezing gear, I've got to get my hands wet and I need to cut up apples/carrots for a treat. Gloves either come off or get wet, are changed. No getting around it, hands get worked.

Later I will have to get home do the usual complement of chores, including cooking, washing up, laundry, etc.

I try to keep my hands moisturized, but I use a lot of water, so my hands are dry. I'm forever trying new moisturizers, but not a lot work well.

So, wearing well means it really can take a licking.

I have a soft spot for Elle nail polish.

For the holidays I wore some E.L.F. Dark red layered with gold glitter, then some Revlon Cherry Fizz. It was nice, but my camera battery was toast.
Need to update this more often. A new years resolution!

Happy New Year!

My first manicure photo! Sheer disappointment!

My first manicure!

Dunh, dunh, dunh!

A No-name sheer I found at Ross.

I love it!

While my hands are in dire straights, my nails are stained and my nails look like I filed them while I was semi-conscious, the polish itself: a winnah!

Why?
It went on like a dream.

It dried beautifully.

It also has this little opalescent shimmer, which I adore in a polish. Nothing that says "Bowling Ball" just that subtle shimmer.

It never bubbled, it never hassled.

It came in a set with three other colors: a dark charcoal shimmer, creme shimmer, and a burgundy shimmer.

This photo was taken on a hazy day using a southern facing window, which is how most of my pix will be taken.

More photos

A couple more other polishs for a round up:

A couple days later I added a couple coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "Strobe Light"

The pale rose glitter and holo glitter is very pretty. In daylight the holo is great, but the pink glitter seems a little dark.

A pretty polish. A mild nightmare removing.

A few days later I took the orange Walmartland polish pic.

My skin looks yellow. I don't smoke. Very strange.

It was $1.00 per bottle. I think, for that price, I can add some shimmer to it for next H'ween and call it good.

I don't think orange is my color!

I never wear it, now I know why.

I am now wearing a "medium red" by E.L.F. I found at Ross in a trio pack. I don't yet have the photo uploaded to flickr, but will soon. I also found some Poshe nail polish restorer, which helped because this poor thing was just starting to die off. I wonder how long it took to even get to Ross and my hands. It took a few drops of Poshe, but wow, it went on very nicely and I love it.

More later!

Thanks for reading, if you are out there!

:D