Nail Polish Stress Test: Sally Hansen Silver Scallop

I try to buy nail polish on sale as much as I possibly can. However, every now and then I’ll come across something that catches my eye in the store. The thought of someone else buying my polish before I can get it on sale will bother me; at that point, I’ll just go for it. That’s the story behind my buying today’s subject: Silver Scallop.

Silver Scallop is from Sally Hansen’s Pearl Crush line. The collection as a whole is pretty, but this one really stands out on the display. It’s a gray tinted base with duochrome shimmer that changes from pink to green. It also has big iridescent hex glitter and glitter shards in it.

Application is…challenging. The instructions on the bottle say to dab on one coat, wait a minute, then dab on a second coat. That makes sense in that the big honking pieces of glitter clearly aren’t coming out of that bottle without a fight. However, when I followed the instructions, I ended up with a total of three pieces of glitter on my nails, and a mani full of air bubbles.

I decided to try applying it using the traditional method. I got maybe six pieces of glitter, and the polish looked good, so I rolled with it. I used three coats, plus my usual layer of Seche Vite.

The glitter itself is fascinating. It doesn’t look like it should, but it does lay flat on the nail. Depending on how the light hits, it can either look awesome like water droplets, or super trashy.

Silver Scallop definitely won’t stamp or water marble. It’d be easy to blame it on the glitter, but the reality is it’s just too sheer.

So, how did it hold up?

It did great! Totally didn’t expect that. It lasted three days, and even then, I had to look for the damage. The color made chips hard to spot, which is always a good thing! I lost most of the glitter while I was at work, which didn’t particularly bother me.

Just for fun, I tried sponging it on to see if I could get more glitter that way. My conclusion? Don’t bother. This also makes the finish look awful, and in my opinion, more glitter doesn’t help here.

Verdict: Excellent

I didn’t expect this polish to last as long as it did! The problem here is with the glitter. Maybe if they’d used the same type but smaller, it would have worked out better. Maybe they’re going with the idea that you don’t get a fistful of pearls out of an oyster, so you get the proportionate amount of glitter here? I couldn’t tell you. I kinda wish they had the glitter in its own clear base.

With that said, even if the concept has flaws, the polish is sound.

Water Marbled Christmas Ornaments

One thing I had fun with last year, was using the technique of pouring nail polish into Christmas ornaments to make custom decorations. I wanted to do that again this year with smaller ornaments since my tree is small, but I couldn’t find any plain clear ones the right size. Then I hit on an idea. What if I water marbled them instead?

I got a couple different kinds of ornaments in the name of science. There was a set of black, white and silver ornaments at Wal-Mart I saw as blank canvasses, and I got a box of small clear ones from Michael’s that had an iridescent coating on them. 

I didn’t want to waste good polish on this, so I figured I’d try some Sally Hansen Color Foils on them. I picked up a couple when they first came out. (I should have waited.) Ocean State Job Lot has them for $2 right now, which is about the right price for party polish. When I tried water marbling with Purple Alloy, Liquid Gold and Minted Metal, I wasn’t happy with the results. However, Pink Platinum and Cobalt Chrome work great. I found I got the best results when I combined one of the great ones with one of the difficult ones. I also used a bottle of Claire’s Gold Roses, which is another reluctant to marble polish. 

I ran into some pitfalls along the way. First of all, if you’re going to try this, go easy on the polish. Don’t do this:

If you use too much,  they take forever to dry, leaving the design highly vulnerable to damage. Assuming that doesn’t happen, the dreaded air bubbles appear. Or, you get both. 

I really liked how they worked on the clear ornaments best. They made me think of blown glass.

The other ornaments worked well too, so depending on what look you want, these are totally viable options.

All in all, this is a great way to make fantastic looking ornaments. I’m totally doing this again next year!  

Nail Polish Stress Test: Sally Hansen Sun Sheen

When I first got into nail polish, I really liked the Sally Hansen brand. It always seemed to work well for me, and it was in my high school student budget. As an adult, I find I rarely buy them. I keep seeing interesting colors and promises that ultimately don’t seem to hold up well on my nails.

That being said, if I genuinely like how one looks, and if it’s cheap enough I’ll still try it. That leads me to today’s polish, Sun Sheen from Sally Hansen’s Satin Glam collection. As I write this, it’s on clearance at Walgreen’s and CVS, which puts it in the range I’m willing to spend for a brand I don’t completely trust.

Sun Sheen is a very pretty orange matte polish with orange and gold glass flecks. It looks more sparkly on the nail than it does in the bottle. I don’t know if it’s because it doesn’t have a glossy finish, or it’s just that you have to see it on the nail to appreciate it, but that’s how it is. I was worried about the durability of this one because of the satin texture. Was I justified?

 

Oh yes. One day of work destroyed it.

I know two data points aren’t a trend, but I’m getting the impression the words matte and durable can’t be used together in reference to polish. The damage doesn’t show as clearly as it did with China Glaze’s I Love Your Guts, but I’d say it was equal in severity.

Verdict: Party Polish

This is another polish that’s good for special occasions, but just won’t stand up to real life. If you’re going to get one of these, spend as little money as possible on it.