SSNB Tries Sinful Colors and Jewels

I've been eyeballing the Sinful Colors displays at various stores for a while, but had a hard time believing that a $1.99 nail polish could be "professional." Today, I renounce my nail polish snobbery. After a series of gorgeous swatches accompanied with glowing reviews from other bloggers, I decided I needed to give them a shot, and the colors I chose are fabulous. I now realize, however, that some shades aren't easy to find (where are you, Rainstorm???), so hoarding could become a problem.

The polishes I settled on were Endless Blue, Nice Stems (a pale mint green cream), and Rise and Shine (a teal green with subtle shimmer). I have a thing for creams- plus I think if a company can do creams well, they can probably handle other finishes. These turned out to be even better than I expected. One of the main reasons I had been lukewarm about Sinful Colors is I didn't think their colors were anything special. Once they were on, though, all three were noticeably different from other colors I have. Rise and Shine is deceptively plain in bottle, on the nail it has a very interesting shimmery quality that I'm excited about. Endless Blue is the color I settled on for today's mani, and I almost didn't buy it. Since cobalt seems to be the color of the season, through, and I don't already have one, I picked it up to mimic these fantastic bright blue manis I keep seeing. It's beeeyootiful! It's a bright, cheerful true blue. I rarely wear less than two coats, but I think I could wear this (and maybe Rise and Shine, too) as a one coater. The formula on all three is delightful, and I'm quite sure I'll be buying this brand again.


The other thing I picked up this weekend was a package of rhinestones. I got these at the craft store, and they look great on my nails. They also come in several sizes and colors. For my first attempt at gems, I chose a standard diamond in the second-to-smallest size. I love the way they look, but this has to be the most high maintenance mani I've ever worn. As I write this, I just had to re-adhere two stones. My nails are an area I'm willing to be a little fussy about, but typically I don't need a whole lot of effort through the day, and I've been reapplying these stones all...day...long. Literally since I woke up. On the up side, they are very easy to apply. I put Julep Freedom Topcoat over my design, then applied the jewels with tweezers immediately after topcoating each nail. For touch ups, a put a dab of topcoat in the crater left by the gem (very grateful for the Freedom mini bottle I recently got with an order) and dropped the gem back in. It's easy, just annoying. Until they catch on something, the hold is pretty sturdy, though. They don't fall off randomly, but if anything gets caught on them, even a little, game over.

The background design was equally simple. I started with a coat of Julep Harriet, a pink/orange depending on the light guava color, and layered one coat of Endless Blue directly over the top, leaving a sliver below to create a ruffian. Then I topcoated and placed the gem where the colors met at the lowest point of the nail shape. I love how this mani came out, but I think the gems are too much work for everyday wear. For special occasions, though, something like this would be gorgeous. If anyone has tips for getting 3D items to stay put, share in the comments, or tag me on Twitter @SecretNailBlog.