Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Ladies, ladies, ladies... chipped and messy manicures are so 5th grade. But who has the time to sit around, blowing on your hands in order to keep your freshly painted fingers perfect? No one! I'm not one to get regular manicures, so my "tool kit" at home is filled with all the latest and greatest colors, base coats, topcoats, manicure sticks, files, etc. Even thinking about the entire process of taking off polish, trimming and filing nails, doing a base coat, painting however many coats it takes, doing a topcoat, and waiting for it all to dry just EXHAUSTS me.

This little red bottle of wonderful magical goo is the answer!
Do all the manicure steps, to the extent that you normally do. Wait two minutes, then apply this topcoat over wet-ish polish. In 30 seconds, your nails are truly dry to the touch.
Like, dry to the point where I could go pee, AND unzip my jeans myself, without messing up my nails! It is actually sort of amazing, and makes the whole home-manicure process so much easier! The topcoat is very shiny, and helps the polish not to chip. I am currently wearing Chanel Black Satin on my fingers (you know how I love Chanel, but think it's absolute crap when it comes to staying power!), and have had this color on since Saturday (it's now Thursday) with no touch ups in the mean time!

My nails do not still look as perfect as day one of course, but I guarantee that without the use of the Insta-Dri topcoat, they would've been chipped by Sunday. Right now, I have no chips, just some growth at the cuticle, and they could use a little more shine.
At around $7 at the drugstore, this is TOTALLY worth it to use every time you paint your fingers or toes. It will extend the life of any polish you choose to wear and will help to keep your manicure looking better, longer!


From the Sally Hansen website:
Dries ANY Nail Color in 30 Seconds!
Keeps manicures beautiful up to 10 days!
Exclusive Acrylic Polymer Complex helps get you out of the door in a flash - just 30 seconds to set!
High gloss superior shine.
Double UV filters shield manicure from fading and discoloring.
Helps resist chipping.
Salon Tested - Dermatologist Tested.
Special Ingredients:
Exclusive Acrylic Polymer Complex, Complex UV Filters for brilliant shine and protection.

Keep being lovely!

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour

Description and photo from www.chanel.com:

**Classic and trend-defining shades from the runways of Paris. State-of-the-art formula strengthens and moisturizes nails as it delivers long-wearing, high-shine, chip-resistant colour. Applies evenly without streaking. **

OK, I love fancy. Like, a lot. Though I'm not technically a "label whore" (I have pants from Target!), I do love a good fancy-labeled item. For example, John and I are in a store, and me picking up a ridiculous looking high heel exclaims, "Oh, look! This is a Jimmy Choo!" and then it suddenly starts to look cute to me. If I were ever to buy a Louis Vuitton bag, I would get one that clearly exclaimed, "Look at me! I'm expensive!" rather than the plain leather one with a small name tag. It's just how I am. I figure, if I'm going to spend the money on it, I want people know I spent money on it. (PS: I don't own a Louis bag, by the way)

When it comes to Chanel, the whole brand intrigues me; the way it began, Karl Lagerfeld, the boucle jacket, the quilted handbag... I think my idea behind buying Chanel nail polish was that it was a way to own something of the brand, without going into debt over it. The first Chanel polish I ever bought was the color "Fire" and is, to this day, the best red-colored fingernail polish I've ever seen. It's got a certain brightness to it, without being overwhelming, and has just the right amount of both orange and pink in it.

I'll tell you this; when you're wearing Chanel fingernail polish, the world seems different. I find myself pointing to thinks, touching things, just basically being ridiculous about it all. The biggest letdown of this manicure situation was when two days into it, my nails looked horrible. The polish was wearing away at the tips of my fingernails and started chipping the next day. Now, I had done my regular base coat, then polish, then another coat of polish, then top coat, just as I always do. Still chipping!

How is it that $23 per bottle nail polish can look horrible after 2-3 days?! This just isn't fair!

I'm a sucker for original colors though, because I somehow have a collection of 10 bottles, even knowing that they are going to wear off quicker than a $3 bottle from CVS. You have to understand though, they were one of the first lines I saw to have a really great metallic gold nail polish! I can NOT say no to gold. It's a flaw, I know. Then came Black Satin, then Inattendu.... and the list goes on.

So while the new colors are great, and yes, you can have Chanel on your fingertips, if you are into staying power (which, who isn't?), then Chanel nail polish isn't the polish for you. I will continue to use mine, hoping to use them up before they get chunky (!), and I'll just know that I'll be doing my nails again before the weekend.

Ugh!