Swatch/Review: Polish Your Hooves - Buttercup and In the Farmer's Garden

*Disclaimer: The polishes in this post were provided by Polish Yer Hooves for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are my own.*

Howdy folks! Boy, have I been MIA for a while! Darn you life, getting in the way of my nail-polish-ing! Hehe. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because I have a whole bunch of stuff coming up in the next few weeks to make up for it. Just you wait! 

Anyway, today I have a slightly bittersweet review for an amazing indie brand, Polish Yer Hooves. It's sweet because... the polishes you're about to see are completely gorgeous! It's bitter because yesterday, it was announced on the Polish Yer Hooves Facebook page that Leigh Anne, the owner, would no longer be making her polishes. It's a sad day in the nail polish community when an indie brand shuts down, but it's always especially rough when it's such a new, promising brand. However, her Etsy store is only in vacation mode at the moment, and not shut down, so THERE'S HOPE! We're just going to keep hoping while I write this post that maybe the store will come back eventually, because her polishes are all completely stunning, and you are definitely going to be wanting these two once you read this post.

Here's how the polishes arrived. Look at this cute packaging! If you hadn't caught on yet, Polish Yer Hooves' brand is completely centered around cows. And boy, Leigh Anne definitely goes all in for the cow theme! Cow business card, cow labels, cow tape around the polish lids, a Cow Tale (yes, you're seeing an empty wrapper in the bag, because I couldn't restrain myself long enough to take a picture before it was eaten), and even little cow-shaped confetti in the bottom of the bag. 

And onto the polishes inside the bag:

First off, we have Buttercup. Buttercup is a STUNNING bright yellow polish with a pearl finish. I was a little skeptical of this one before trying it, since I'm pretty picky about my pearl polishes, but just look at it! SO GORGEOUS! 

As you can see, one coat wasn't quite enough, but you could definitely get away with two if you wanted. 

In the next three photos, I have three coats of Buttercup with one coat of HK Girl top coat. 

Eee, isn't this so perfect for spring? I feel a little strange wearing such bright polish in the middle of Illinois' disgusting weather, but once everything warms up and the grass is no longer covered in two-week-old snow, I'll be rocking this polish all the time!

And now for the second polish, In the Farmer's Garden (which I'll be shortening to ITFG, because I'd really rather not write the entire name out every single time). ITFG is a mix of pink and lilac flower glitter, small silver hex glitter, and various shapes of small green glitter, all in a clear base.

Here I have one coat of ITFG, plus another coat of HK Girl, shown over Buttercup.

As the base was very thick, application was a teensy bit difficult, especially with getting the flower glitter to look nice, but since this really comes with the territory of larger glitters, I've got no troubles with it. Just keep it in mind when buying!

So there we have it! Let me know your thoughts on these two in the comments. It's a little strange writing a post for polishes that are no longer on sale, because I can't just refer you to the store and tell you how much I recommend buying them, but I can say that if you ever find Buttercup or ITFG in a blog sale somewhere, grab it, fast! I mean it! These colors are so sweet, spring-y, and adorable, and just plain fun to wear.

In conclusion: Cows+cute polish names+awesome application+flower glitter+happiness=Polish Yer Hooves=awesome nail polish. Yeah. Peace out.

*Disclaimer: The polishes in this post were provided by Polish Yer Hooves for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are my own.*

Review: Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, Day Five

Hey, guys!

It's the final day of my review of Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel. Wow! Time flies, huh? Today I'm going to give you the three pictures as usual, and then some extras of my final nails as well as a comparison from day one to day five.

For anyone who hasn't yet seen my previous posts:

I'm going to apply this product twice a day over my bare nails and let it dry on its own. I bought this bottle for $7.49 at Walgreens. The package says that this strength gel will make your nails stronger in five days, which is how long I'll be trying it out.

Here are the instructions on the bottle:

"Shake gently. Apply daily over bare nails or dry nail color. Massage in with applicator or finger. Reapply as needed."

My bare nails:

After applying the gel:

Ten minutes later:

Now, for my comments:
- First of all, chipping alert! My first finger really chipped overnight. It's not too bad, but kind of annoying. I'll patch it up with some nail glue later. I don't think you can see it too well in this picture, but the chipping is definitely there.

- Look! I got more bead thingies on my nails today! Aren't you proud of me?
- My nails really feel stronger. I'm usually extremely careful when I type because I don't want to break any nails but now I don't really worry about it.
- I recommend this product to anyone who has breaking nails, and I'm sure I'll be suggesting it to friends. It really moisturizes your tips and strengthens your nails.

Aren't they beautiferous? Or. er. something.

Here's the comparison of day one to day five. I feel like they really look better, even after just five days.

So I hope you enjoyed my review. You can buy Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel at Walgreens for $6.99 per bottle.

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked this review, please follow here, on Facebook, and on Twitter. If you'd like me to review another product, feel free to comment with your suggestions!

- Muffin

Review: Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, Day Four

Hello, guys! Today is day four of my testing Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel. I'm really having fun trying out this product. So here's a recap, as usual:

I'm going to apply this product twice a day over my bare nails and let it dry on its own. I bought this bottle for $7.49 at Walgreens. The package says that this strength gel will make your nails stronger in five days, which is how long I'll be trying it out.

Here are the instructions on the bottle:

"Shake gently. Apply daily over bare nails or dry nail color. Massage in with applicator or finger. Reapply as needed."

Now, for my bare nails at the start of the day:

After applying the gel:

Ten minutes later:

My comments:

- I decided to cut my nails this morning. I just didn't like dealing with them and having longer nails was kind of bothersome, so off with their heads! It's strange, because a year ago I would have thought these nails were crazy long, and now I'm calling them stubby. I didn't cut them because of breakage, though; they were almost completely chip-free (yay!).

- Look! I got some of the beads on my nails today! Hooray! You can see them in the second two pictures on my first finger. 

- My nails are really loving this gel thing. It's so wonderfully moisturizing that I don't really feel too much of a need to use Vaseline anymore- I do use it for my cuticles, still, but my nails don't need it.

- I think this product is a keeper. If you don't have it, I would definitely recommend going out and trying it. You might need to cut back on the polish use for a few days, but it's worth it, I swear.

Thanks for reading! I'll be testing out Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel for one more day. You can get it at the Walgreens Website for $6.99.

- Muffin

Review: Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, Day Three

Hey, guys! Here's my review for day three of my five-day test of Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel. You can find this product here for $6.99.

As a recap:

I'm going to apply this product twice a day over my bare nails and let it dry on its own. I bought this bottle for $7.49 at Walgreens. The package says that this strength gel will make your nails stronger in five days, which is how long I'll be trying it out.

Here are the instructions on the bottle:

"Shake gently. Apply daily over bare nails or dry nail color. Massage in with applicator or finger. Reapply as needed."

Bare nails:

My nails after applying the gel:

Ten minutes later:

And for my comments:

- I finally got a few of the beads on my nails! I'm so proud of myself. They didn't seem to do much, however;  I let them sit for a while but eventually I just washed them off- they didn't rub in or anything.

- My nails are definitely a bit stronger. I did a few tasks today that I thought would break my nails but they are all happy and whole. One nail on my left hand is experiencing some chipping, but I'm pretty sure that started before I began to use the nail gel.

I really like this product, and I think I'm going to use it whenever I have bare nails in the future (which isn't often, I admit, but it's something). I can't quite tell if this makes your nails stronger due to some special formula, or if it's just a moisturizer, but either way it seems to be working. I'll keep you all updated on my nails' progress!

Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel can be found at Walgreens Website for $6.99. I've also seen it at a bunch of chain stores.

To stay updated, please follow on my blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

-Muffin

*Note: I was not paid to review this product. All comments and opinions are my own.*

Review: Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, Day Two

Hello, all! Today is day two of my five-day journey using Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel. You can by this product here for $6.99. Here we go!

For anyone who hasn't seen my first post, here are the details:


I'm going to apply this product twice a day over my bare nails and let it dry on its own. I bought this bottle for $7.49 at Walgreens. The package says that this strength gel will make your nails stronger in five days, which is how long I'll be trying it out.

Here are the instructions on the bottle:
"Shake gently. Apply daily over bare nails or dry nail color. Massage in with applicator or finger. Reapply as needed."

Again, here are my bare nails.

This was taken directly after I applied the strength gel.

Here they are again, ten minutes after the gel was applied.

Here's a comparison from day one to day two. My lighting's a bit different in each picture, so it's not too easy to see any difference, but I think the nails are a little more opaque. Other than that, there's not much difference.

So, my comments:

- Again, I wasn't able to get any of the little beads on my nails. They may or may not do anything, but I'm beginning to think I'll never know.

- Even after washing the leftover goo off my hands, my nails are still fresh and moisturized. I don't feel any need rub in Vaseline into my nails as I usually do when they're bare. 

- It's only been two days, so I can't tell if the product is working or not. I'll just have to keep at it!

There we have it! Not much has really happened over night,  but I'll keep you all posted. 

Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel can be found at the Walgreens Website for $6.99. You can also find it in almost any store that has a nails section.

To follow the rest of my five day experiment, please follow on my blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

xoxo,
-Muffin

*Note: I was not paid to review this product. All comments and opinions are my own.*

Review: Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, Day One

Hello, all!
So for anyone out there who's ever tried to grow your nails out, you know that once nails get past a certain length, they break. A lot. My nails are no different from anyone else's, and I hate to have broken nails that aren't looking their best. I recently heard of Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel, and figured I'd try it out. I'll do whatever it takes to fix my poor, sad nails.
The package said that it would cause stronger nails in five days, which I'm not sure I quite believe, but that's how long I'll be trying this product out. I'm going to apply it twice a day over my bare nails and let it dry on its own. Those little specks you can see are what the package lables as “Micro-encapsulated vitamins.” I bought this bottle for $7.49 at Walgreens.

Here are the instructions on the bottle:
"Shake gently. Apply daily over bare nails or dry nail color. Massage in with applicator or finger. Reapply as needed."

For a reference point, here are my natural nails before applying any of the strength gel. I have nothing on them except some nail glue on my first and middle fingers.

Here are my nails right after I applied the gel.

This was taken ten minutes after the strength gel was applied. It had soaked in pretty well by that point.

Now, for my comments:
- Application was fine. The brush is more like the brush on a tube of lipgloss and less like a normal nail polish brush. My one complaint was that it was practically impossible to get the little beads (pardon me, micro-encapsulated vitamins) on the brush. As you can see from the second picture, there are none on my nail.
- The strength gel has a wonderful smell. It's not too chemical-ish at all, and I actually kind of like it.
- It dried extremely quickly, even though I didn't rub it in too much. All I had to do was apply it, and then I was able to go on with my life without smearing it on things too much.
- Maybe I'm being silly, but I swear my nails already feel stronger. I'm always nervous about breakage when my nails are bare, but they feel fine.
- It does leave a bit of a sticky residue after it's applied. Even an hour later, my nails are a bit gooey. You'll need to wash it off if you don't want your nails to feel gross all day. 
- This doesn't have much to do with anything, but I love the color. It's so fun and cheerful. It reminds me of a swimming pool or something.

There you go! I'll be posting each day to show the progress! If you'd like to buy Sally Hansen VitaSurge Strength Gel for yourself, it can be found at the Walgreens Website for $6.99 (50 cents less than I got it for, grr!)

To get updated on the rest of my experiment, please follow on my blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

-Muffin

*Note: I was not paid to review this product. All comments and opinions are my own.*

Swatch/Review: Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Scarlet

Recently I was stumbling around on Copious, and I discovered this beauty. I probably wouldn't have bought it in normal circumstances, but my credits were due to run out the next day, so I had to spend them on something. Cindy Lin has all sorts of wonderful polishes listed, so I suggest heading on over and seeing what she has to buy!

If you don't have a Copious account yet, you can sign up here. The first time you visit, you get $10 in free credits, so it's definitely worth it!

So first, I'd just like to express my love for this polish. It looked magnificent in the bottle, and on my nails I'm even more amazed by it. I've never been particularly impressed by Kleancolor, but after this polish I am devoted. I've never done a swatch before, but I thought that it was just necessary for this polish.

Chunky Holo Scarlet is, like its name suggests, a holo. At first glance the glitter seems red, but you can easily pick up on the oranges and more subtle greens and blues.

On my nails here I applied one, two, and three coats, with a base coat underneath each. One coat is almost enough, but two really makes it solid. I don't think three is necessary at all. Application was a breeze. There was no glitter clumping and the polish glided on wonderfully.

Removal was a snap, even for a glitter polish! It practically glided off for me. This is one of those polishes that is IMPOSSIBLE to get out of your cuticles, however, so avoid flooding at all costs.

The base seems red when on its own, but layer it over another color, and that glitter really gets to shine (get it? Shine? Heh...) I chose to layer it over black, and it's just stunning.

Each wonderful color does come with a setback, however, and for this polish it's the smell. I have never been so disgusted by the smell of nail polish in my life, and I'm pretty darn used to it by now. So I highly suggest using this one in a well-ventilated room, preferably with all windows open and as many fans on as possible.

Even with that small annoyance, this is no polish to pass by. It's a brilliant color that will make you gasp the first time you see it, and it gets even better once it's on your nails.

So thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my first swatch/review. I'd love some feedback on how I did, so please let me know anything I could do better! I totally forgot this time, so for my next swatch I'll try to take multiple pictures of the polish, such as one with flash and one outside. I'd also like to hear your thoughts on this polish!
If you liked this post, please follow here, on Facebook, and on Twitter!

- Muffin


Note: I wasn't paid to review this product. All opinions are my own.