Hi all! Yeah, I know, long time no see. Anywhoo, let me jump right
in lol (the 2 year old is asleep). I have a new obsession. I started a
post on this in August of 2012 but couldn't finish. I am going to
throw some pics out here and you can tell me what you think. After all
of the shellac, stencils, foils, different colors of polish, different
types of polishes (crackle, magnetic, etc) I think I am hooked
on....drumroll...Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips!!!! Yes, they
are by far the best option for me these days. They are made of real
nail polish so the removal is a breeze! You just use polish remover.
The
stickers like Kiss and some ebay ones are great (beautiful designs and
cheap!), but they leave that film that's kind of hard to get off. The
gel nail removal is too time consuming (soaking the fingertips in
acetone, covering w/foil, etc). The Essie, Revlon, L'Oreal, Jamberry,
etc nail strips are too expensive (so are Sally Hansen but hear me out).
The foils are great but don't last long. Freehand nail art (ain't
nobody got time fo dat!) lol. I could go on and on, but I won't. This
is a rushed post so you'll see pictures mixed in with frugal comments,
etc. Here are a few things I have picked up over the past 6 months so
enjoy! (Disclaimer: I am NOT a pro by any means, this is a fun hobby
for me, keep negative comments to yourself please)
Now,
the reason Sally Hansen gets my vote is because of, you guessed it,
COUPONS!!! There are always Sally Hansen coupons available and some
print out at Walgreens, CVS and Kmart. I see plenty on displays at
Kmart (I don't shop at Walmart) and I have gotten some FANTASTIC deals
on Sally Hansen strips lately. To give you an idea, I have paid an
average of less than $2 per box of Sally Hansen strips. Now, the
extreme coupon-ers out there are getting them for way cheaper but I
don't stack coupons and all of that, I just use one coupon and try to
catch the item at a good clearance price. Everything you see below is a COLLECTIVE haul, over the course of 6 months.
My nail art (or lack thereof lol):
This design is a simple pink polish bought off ebay with plain ol'white polka dots (freehand w/a dotting tool, also bought on ebay)
This is a dark green I found a Dollar Tree, $1!
This crackle by Sally Hansen, I am not a fan of. The purple one just doesn't crack over ANYTHING I have. I gave it away.
I really like this Crackle gold by Sally Hansen, it works well.
Another $1 bargain I found a Dollar Tree. It's a really pretty orange.
Another $1 find ad Dollar Tree. It's a nice dark wine/maroon color. :)
I LOVE blues so I had to have this one, another $1 find at Dollar Tree.
These were .99cents each at Kmart. Lovely!
Here are my faves...Sally Hansen Salon Effects. As you can see, these were less than $3 and if you had the $2 off coupons (any Sally Hansen nail polish or strip), they were even cheaper!
I have already used both of these, as you'll see below. I bought them last season after Spring. They were "Mad for Plaid" and "all a flutter", I think those are the names. lol.
Yes, my index finger is crooked (childhood accident w/a pocket knife, no stitches! lol). This is a leopard print made by the Kiss brand. They lasted a really long time on my hands. They were also a clearance find, they cost $1.69! With Kiss, the advantage is that they don't dry out and you get 28 strips in one box, enough for two manicures! The disadvantage is, the older the sticker gets, the more it adheres to your natural nail bed which can ruin the top layer of your nail (still not as bad as acrylic though). I wouldn't recommend leaving these on for more than 5 days.
This was my experiment with the "caviar manicure". No, I didn't buy the real stuff, I just went to Dollar Tree and found the beads in the nail area, put a color close to the beads as a base coat and sprinkled away. They were cool looking, but not functional at all. The beads were coming off everywhere, in my hair, etc.
My first experiment w/my foils. The base coat is blue and the foil is an ocean color. I really like them, they just don't last long at all.
All a Flutter (Sally Hansen) Bad lighting...
Mad for plaid (Sally Hansen)...These had been on for about a week before I took the picture, sorry!
Sally Hansen Magnetic nail polish ($1.34 on clearance at Target whoo hoo) Electric Emerald is the name. I love this!!!
L'Oreal Project Runway Queen of Hearts or something like that. Lovely design, bad sticker! Way too thick, didn't smooth well. Got them in collective ebay haul.
Not my favorite design of Sally Hansen, Fly with me, they lasted a really long time though.
Ok, due to my frugality, I had to reuse this awesome box! It's an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie box that held the frozen cookies that you buy from the kids at school fundraisers? See below!!
BAM! All of my Sally Hansen finds fit in it! I was so excited! Everything in this box cost between .49 cents and $2.89! My average cost...less than $2 bucks each!
I had to share these recent finds...These four items I paid a whopping $3 for all four! The Walgreens rep saw that some were $2.49 and some were $5. She had to get them to ring up for $2.49 because all of them were ringing up regular price $9.99! She then couldn't get one to scan so she gave it to me for free! She then pulled out her coupons from behind the jewelry counter and I got a $1.50 off each one! Yeah, she was the bomb.com. To top it off, a catalina coupon printed out for $2 off another one. I used it today at a different Walgreens (found another pedicure one on clearance for $2.49, used the coupon and got it for .49 cents!)
Another recent find, found this one at Rite Aid and used a $2 off coupon. Got it for $2.89. I just don't know if I will be able to wait until Christmas to wear it! (it's a 2011 or 2012 Holiday clearance collection one)
Okay, I have seen some not-so-good reviews on this new product by Sally Hansen, but I just couldn't pass up the deal. I already own the Sensationnail kit and I love it, but it is gel POLISH, not strips. This kit will run you anywhere from $27.97 (Walmart, where I don't shop, saw it online) to $31.99 at Walgreens. Well yesterday, I bought it at Kmart for $12.49. That's right, $12.49. It's on sale this week for $10 off ($27.49 down to $17.49) and if you go to coupons.com, you can print a $5 off coupon for the starter kit. I may end up giving it away as a gift.
Anoter $1 dollar tree find, it's a dark metal/grayish color.
These are my natural nails with a free-hand french manicure. I can't wait to take off this polish and put on some new strips!
Well, that's it's guys. That's what I have been up to lately. Hope you enjoyed!
***********UPDATE APRIL 19, 2013**************
Okay, so today was 15% off day(Family and Friends day) at Walgreens, right? You guys KNOW I love a bargain so I have to show you my finds!!!!! I am so excited!
As you can see, I RACKED UP on some nail polish. These were all in the clearance section and boy, did I hit the motherload! Okay, what you see above, I paid a total of $ 9.34 + tax!!!!
Yeah, I know you are like "Huh?" Yes, that's what I paid for all you see above. Let me tell you how I did it...
Until today, I didn't own a bottle of Essie nail polish. I have Revlon, Sally Hansen, Wet N Wild, some other cheapies. Essie is just too expensive for me. From left the right, they are "in the cab-ana" (a pretty powder-y blue), "fair game" (a grayish silver), "size matters" (a dark mauve), "beyond cozy" (a glittery gold) and "under where? " (a nice purple-ish pink). Also, I got the dark green in the top left hand corner. It is Sinful Colors in "Kissy". My fave is the 2nd one from the left on the bottom row. It's a Sally Hansen salon effects nail strip in Hisss-terical (a dark green snakeskin print). The other three you see on the bottom row are the Sally Hansen insta-gel strips (that you use w/the UV/led light, which I will probably give away to someone.
Ok, so now for the prices.
The Essie polishes retail about about $ 8 from what I have seen...these were $2 each!
The Sinful Colors is a lower-end polish and they retail for about $ 1.99...this one was $ .50!
The Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips retail for about $ 9.99...this one was $3!
The Sally Hansen Salon Insta-gel strips retail for a whopping $13.49 to $14.99! These were $3.87!
Okay, so I know you are now asking, at the prices above, how the heck did you only pay $ 9.34? Well here's the breakdown:
Essie polishes X 5 = $ 10.00
Sinful Colors X 1 = $ .50
Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips X 1 = $ 3.00
Sally Hansen Salon Insta-gel strips X 3 =
$ 11.61
Total $ 25.11
Less Coupons - $ 2.00 ($2 off any Sally Hansen polish or strip)
- $ 10.00 ( 2 X $5 dollar off insta-gel strips)
- 15% off your entire order 4-19-13
Paid out of pocket $9.34 + tax
Well that's it guys! Happy bargain hunting!!! :) :)
What you see here(clockwise from left) is a Hello Kitty purse, Easter beanie baby, sandwich holder, water bottle, set of pencils and pencil toppers and pencil case. I found the sandwich holder and water bottle at Target for $1 each and I don't know if they were seasonal but they were in the $1 section and $1 was the regular price.
