Nail Appliques by Mystique

Nail appliques are a great alternative to nail lacquer. Recently I had nail appliques by Mystique sent to me to try out. Much like other nail decals, the application was quite similar. Clean nails, place applique as close to cuticle as possible and smooth from side to side.

The pattern that was sent to me was Linked Purple. The notes mention that a gel topcoat can be used if desired and to prepare the applique by gently buffing. Well I don't have any "gel" topcoats but a regular clear topcoat may have sufficed and perhaps prolonged the life of this mani. I'm skeptical about any buffing though. These appliques only lasted me a day. My usual hand routines included washing my hands, showering, lotioning and typing; the norm. Too bad on day two I had to remove them. They also don't remove easily with non-acetone remover. Non-acetone removed the design only so I had to resort to my 100% acetone remover. I would try again with a topcoat with what i have left before purchasing. They have really nice designs though so check them out and see what kind of results you get. Check them out at www.nailmystique.com.

Linked Purple

Day 1

Appliques are on a clear sheet which makes sizing up to your nail easy.

Day 2

Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here with Design

So here is a simple design jazzing up my Pure Ice in Kiss Me Here. To create this I used reinforcements cut in half to get the arch and some nail art polishes with thinner brushes to make some lines and dots. To keep things fun I'm going to name my polish posts. I call this one Gray Skies.


Gray Skies

Cos Bar at Target Nail Polish

Target Cos Bar polish..Love it! Cos Bar is one of 4 specialty shops that make up Target's "The Shops at Target". The Shops are comprised of products from small businesses around the country and for a limited time we have the opportunity to sample these items. Cos Bar hails from Aspen, Colorado. The Cos Bar beauty items include nail polish, body scrubs, soaps and other beauty implements.

The polishes are $3 and wear well. I used Cos Bar's polish in lime green and left my polish on for a week and touched up on day 3 to keep nails looking fresh and experienced a minor chip on one nail on day 6. The brush is standard and works fine. I used about 3 coats to get the eye popping lime color to really stand out. The polish along my cuticles is Kleancolor in Firework.

What do you think?

Nicka Nail Enamel in Cotton Candy with Salon Style Nail Strips

This week I tried a hot pink polish courtesy of Nicka Cosmetics. The color of this enamel is Cotton Candy (#022). Nicka polishes are fairly cheap and can be found at local beauty supply stores. My 99 cent store carries these too. The nail strips I bought from Mandee. These strips come from Salon Style (themancanllc.com) and include 12 strips, a mini nail file and nail stick for application. There isn't a name for this design but it is obviously zebra. These strips were a bit tricky to apply. They are very sticky and forget it if it folds onto itself..just get a new one.

I applied a clear top coat for shine. These have some really good adhesion and I don't think they will lift from my nail at all. The price says $4 but I got these at a discount. Like most of the nail strips I buy I have an issue of finding one that will cover my entire nail on all fingers which is why I have to polish some nails instead of using the strips. To avoid all that I thought this combo would be eye catching.

mark Nailed It Trend Mini Lacquer - Water Marble

I have used Avon polishes before but this was my first mark polish purchase. They applied easy and lasted the week. There was nothing unusual to report. The colors are violet daze and tickled pink which make for a pretty combo. I decided to do a water marble with them and wear wear them alone on the pinky and thumb.

Check it out. What do you think?

If you are interested in buying these it's item #555-617

Hello Kitty Nail Enamel in Blueberry

Who can resist Hello Kitty? I mean the bottle is cute, the color is a pretty playful blue. It purred for me to pick it up. Hello Kitty polishes are sold at Sephora stores and go for $10 a pop.

A bit pricey but as a nail polish enthusiast and informer I need to be up on things and at least get one. So I did, and I must say the color was an awesome shade of periwinkle. The consistency was smooth, the coverage was opaque, the brush was standard and provided a smooth application. The polish wore for the average 7 days with normal daily activity (typing, water immersion, exposing to hair prods..yada yada).

A winner in my book! They come in 12 shades total. Check them out at Sephora.com

Jesse's Girl Polish in Julieg

This was my first time trying Jesse's Girl polish. I finally bought a bottle. Not bad. The wear was long lasting and it was priced right (2.99) at Rite Aid. The color was intense just as advertised on the packaging. I would definitely try their other colors. #goodbuy