WalMart and Lawtons Haul

I've been watching a lot of Parks and Recreation recently, and yesterday I decided to have a 'Treat Yo' Self' day. If you don't watch Parks & Rec, I would highly recommend it.

WalMart and Lawtons Haul

REVIEW - Sally Hansen Miracle Gel - 270 Street Flair

I cannot even describe my excitement when I saw this product on the shelf at Priceline - I definitely wasn't expecting it, and I had to have it! I threw caution to the wind and bought it.

I am, of course, talking about the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel line - I've been teased by photos of these polishes all over beauty blogs! I stumbled across these in Priceline on a random shelf, away from the rest of the range. Did I mention that Priceline had 50% off all Sally Hansen products? (You would think I'm some sort of Priceline ambassador - I'm not, I just have an addiction!).

REVIEW - Essence Metal Glam Gold Topper - 01 Steel-ing the Scene

On a whim, I walked into Priceline - my first mistake. I can't seem to go in there without being tempted to buy something. Usually, I can talk myself out of buying anything but this time, I clearly couldn't!

So here we go - Essence's 'Metal Glam' Trend Edition Gold Topper in 01 - Steeling the Scene. Here is what Essence has to say about it:

"as good as gold and totally hip! the top coat is enriched with golden flakes to complement your glamorous nail design! the particularly high concentration of flakes ensures an ultimate wow-effect."

I applied the topper over Revlon Top Speed in 570 -Vintage - a gorgeous deep rasbperry red shade. Originally, I was going to swatch it over black polish, but I thought I'd go for something a bit different. As it turns out, I love it! I will definitely try the black in the future - leave a comment below if you'd like to see the swatches.

REVIEW - Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant 300 - Vio-last

This would have to be one of my favourite polishes – it is just one that I seem to keep coming back to over and over again. This is the only Covergirl nail polish I own, which comes from the Outlast Stay Brilliant Nail Gloss collection.

According to Covergirl, you won't need a topcoat with these shades - here's what they had to say about the range:

"Dare to go topless with our new nail polish formula that combines a base coat, high gloss color, and a chip-resistant top coat in one simple step."

Covergirl Outlast Stay Brilliant – 300 vio-last is a gorgeous violet crème, which applies like a dream. You could easily get away with one coat, but I usually use two for good measure. It is also so glossy that it doesn’t really need a top coat; of course, that isn’t going to stop me from using one anyway! I can’t help it - I just love the way my nails look with that little bit of extra gloss. It does also tend to give your manicure that little bit of extra staying power.

REVIEW - Essence Studio Nails XXL Nail Thickener

I have a confession to make - I’ve never taken good care of my nails. Sure, I’ve been using nail polish for years, but only recently have I started using a base coat, nail oil, et cetera. The decision to start using nail care was quite an easy one to make. Halfway through this year, two nails on my right hand started to split and chip quite badly – it didn’t matter what I did, nothing seemed to help! In a moment of desperation, I splurged $15 AUD on a nail treatment to attempt to repair my damaged nails. Of course, I was hugely disappointed when it didn’t work.

I started looking around for cheaper alternatives, since the more expensive polish hadn’t worked for me. I searched the whole of Priceline for products that weren’t ludicrously expensive. Right at the back of the store, I found a little stand, full of cosmetics. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the prices were amazing by Australian standards; this brand, of course, is Essence.

I looked through their range of products, and settled on Essence’s Studio Nails XXL Nail Thickener. The back of the bottle says: “...this innovative nail polish instantly thickens & strengthens thin & brittle nails – resistant against chipping & cracking. For longer growing nails. Fast-drying.”