Retro Sunday Squared - Vintage Sally Hansen Glitters!

Heyyy everyone!! I'm so excited to bring you guys another edition of Retro Sunday Squared with Polished Claws Up! For all my new followers, Retro Sunday Squared is mine and my polish BFF, Dana's, way to showcase some of our vintage gems together! Both of us have an insatiable love for old and hard-to-find polish so we've decided to team up every Sunday to show you some of the stars of our collections. Now that I'm back in the swing of things, Retro Sunday Squared returns!!

We've decided to do vintage Sally Hansen glitters today!! I am so super stoked about this because, as you have seen from my stash pics, I have a huge weakness for SH glitters and I have not swatched nearly enough of them. I chose two of the Hard as Nails Special Edition glitters for todays post because they are some of my favorites in my entire stash. I think these came out somewhere around 1999-2000 and are long discontinued so the only place to find these nowadays is blogsales or eBay. These glitters are a bit tricky because they are suspended in very sheer jelly bases so they are generally best for layering. However, I wanted to see what these bad boys could do on their own so that's what I did here today. They both took 4 coats to reach opacity, but I think it was worth it because they look pretty fantastic on their own!

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First up is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Laser. Laser is a new addition to my collection, it just arrived this week! From the moment I saw this polish, I knew that I had to do a manicure with it by itself. It truly is a stunner! Laser is a bright cherry red jelly with small holo hex glitters and small gold square glitters. This polish is unique in the Special Edition collection because most of them only have the holo glitter in it, so the little gold squares really added a special pizazz. It only needed one normal layer of topcoat, it was not gritty or hungry in the slightest.

I use the term jelly lightly to describe this polish because it is really, really sheer. It took 4 coats to reach opacity and even then you can still see a bit of VNL (visible nail line). But it was so squishy and sparkly and juicy that the 4 coats didn't bother me one bit. This being an old formula polish means that it takes longer to dry anyways and then add the need for 4 coats on top of that and you've got one that takes a looooong time to dry. It's all a matter of personal preference, I do not mind this at all but I can see how it would bother someone else.

On to the pictures! Here is 4 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Laser. Don't forget to click on the pics to enlarge, you'll want to see this one close up!

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Next up is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Sonar! Sonar was the #1 polish of this collection that I had been wanting and I was lucky enough to finally find it (along with several others) on eBay a few weeks back. Sonar is a dark teal jelly packed with small hex and teeny square holo glitters. I LOVE THIS POLISH YOU GUYS. Not only is it squishy and delicious, but it seems to have more glitters than almost all of the other polishes in this collection so it is extra amazeballs! Again, it took 4 coats to reach opacity but I'm glad I decided to do this because when I was wearing it, I could not stop staring at my nails.

Here's 4 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Sonar. Don't forget to click to enlarge! Enjoy =)

And some bottle shots of Laser and Sonar!

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Thanks for stopping by today!! Don't forget to check out Dana's post over at Polished Claws Up to see what awesome vintage Sally Hansen glitters she has in store for you today!

Stay tuned for more vintage Sally Hansen polishes here all week! See you all tomorrow =)

Retro Sunday Squared - Vintage Sally Hansen Hard as Nails

Happy Sunday everyone! Long time no see =) Today Dana and I have decided to share some vintage Sally Hansen Hard as Nails polishes with you. Don't forget to check out Dana's post over at Polished Claws Up, she has some fun ones to show you guys today!!

I've had a tough time researching these polishes, as there are so many incarnations of Hard as Nails polish still available these days so I'm not quite sure when exactly these came out. My guess is somewhere in the mid-to-late 90's but don't quote me on that. This line is known for its matching brush handles, which is probably my favorite thing about them!! If the polish is shimmery, the brush handle with be a matching shimmery color. If the polish is glitter, there will be glitter embedded in the brush handle. I think the whole matching brush trend needs to be resurrected, it makes the bottles look so pretty =)

Anyways, the first Hard as Nails polish I have for you today is Slick Frost. Of all the vintage Hard as Nails polishes I own, this is hands down my favorite. In fact, this is probably one of my top 3 favorite oranges in my entire collection. Slick Frost is an amazing, glowy bright orange. It is a bit brushstroke-y, but I really don't mind because it just enhances the glow of the polish. Old polishes like this tend to be a bit watery and sheer, so it took 3 coats to reach opacity here. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the bottle but I assure you that the brush handle is a lovely, shimmery orange that matches the Slick Frost polish. SO COOL!

Here is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Slick Frost, 3 coats with topcoat.

Next up is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Nuclear. Nuclear may be one of the oddest polishes in my collection. It is from a special edition line of glitters, and again, I have no idea when these came out. The line consists of silver holo glitter in sheer colored bases. Sounds great but in reality, they're actually not all that awesome. Nuclear is probably the ugliest of them all, a silver holo glitter in a sheer, watery yellow base. I chose it because I though that the yellow base would lend a gold-ish tinge to the glitter that would mesh nicely with Slick Frost. It definitely made the glitter appear gold, but I'm not so sure it meshed well with Slick Frost. It added a very unpleasant yellow cast and I'm not digging it. In fact, I'm not sure this polish would mesh well with much of anything! Anyways, it was an interesting experiment. The best thing about this polish is the matching glitter handle =)

Here's 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Nuclear over Slick Frost.

Hope you've enjoyed this edition of Retro Sunday Squared!!! Don't forget to check out Dana's post as well =) See you next time!

Retro Sunday Squared - Vintage Revlon Streetwear

Hi and Happy Easter everyone!!! As I see all these beautiful Easter manicures on my dash today, I bring you two very non-Easter manis =) Dana and I decided to showcase some old Revlon Streetwear polishes for you all today, so don't forget to check out her awesome Streetwears over at Polished Claws Up, as she has some fantastic ones in store for you on this edition of Retro Sunday Sqaured!

I was super excited to do this post today, because Streetwear polishes are probably some of my favorite vintage polishes that I own. Revlon introduced the Streetwear line sometime around '96-'97 as a response to the Hard Candy and Urban Decay nail polish lines that were taking the beauty world by storm. In my opinion, it turns out that Streetwear far surpassed both of those lines in terms of innovation and pure awesomeness in colors. The two polishes that I chose to show you today are probably two of the most unique in my stash and have been yet to be duped by any polish line to date. 

First on up is Streetwear Black Widow. I was going to save this polish for around Halloween, but I couldn't resist swatching it today! Black Widow is a glitter polish that has black and silver microglitter and black bar glitter in a clear base. Streetwear was famous for its use of bar glitter and this one is one of the best bar glitters they did! The black bar glitter reminds me of spider legs, it's so creepy and grungy. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's so evocative of the 90's and I am absolutely love with it. I can see my 90's self rocking Black Widow with a mini skirt and some combat boots.

For these pictures, I layered 2 coats of Streetwear Black Widow over one coat of Essence I Wear My Flying Goggles at Night, which is a greyish-taupe creme. I love the way the black and silver glitters stand out against the taupe background. Enjoy!

Next up is probably one of my top 5 polishes in all of my stash, Streetwear FX Flash (green version). FX Flash (green version) is a glitter polish that contains green-gold-blue color shifting glitter and black microglitter in a clear base. FX Flash is probably one of the first polishes that contained color shift glitter. Both the green and blue versions of FX Flash contain color shifting glitter, but the glitter in the green version is positively out of this world! The glitter shifts from green to gold to blue, and it is effing phenomenal. Truly amazing. 

I layered 2 coats of Streetwear FX Flash over a coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme here. I originally was going to layer it over a dark teal to show you the black microglitter in the polish, but let's be honest, the color shift glitter is the star in this polish and it looks the best over black. In most lighting situations, you can only really see the green and gold facets of the glitter, but I was able to get a few shots in low-light that showcased the blue flash as well. Oh and sorry for the blurry pictures, I seriously took like 100 pics and they were all blurry and gross =( Hopefully you can still see the awesomeness that is Streetwear FX Flash!

Revlon Streetwear polishes are long discontinued, but still available on online shops such as eBay and blog sales. Both of these are pretty rare but do pop up from time to time, so keep your eyes peeled! Revlon Streetwear is actually still sold in stores in India, but the shades are much more mainstream and none of the old colors remain. I wish Revlon would bring this line back into stores and re-release all the awesome colors of the past! A girl can dream, right?

Thanks for stopping by for these very out-of-season manicures today! What do you all think? Do you own any vintage Streetwears? What are your favorite colors from this line? 

Retro Sunday Squared with Polished Claws Up- Vintage Urban Decay

Hey you guys!!! Today's post is going to be uber quick because I'm currently working on baking/frosting about a million different kinds of cupcakes (and homemade ice cream) for my husband's birthday party today so I don't have too much time on my hands. Please forgive any typos/grammatical errors/confusing rambling that you find in this post today =) I'm a bit behind on blog reading as well so if you haven't heard from me for a few days, I promise I am going to catch up on all my blogs tomorrow =)

Anyways, I'm super excited about today's post! Dana and I have decided to do vintage Urban Decay for you today. Don't forget to check out her post at Polished Claws Up! as she has some excellent vintage Urban Decays for you guys =)

Urban Decay is a brand that was born in the 90's and is very near and dear to my heart because it was one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, cosmetics brand growing up. It was sold in stores such as Nordstrom and Sephora and had a grunge feel to it. It was right alongside with Hard Candy as being one of the cutting edge brands that had unusual colors and even more unusual names. Urban Decay's nail polish was one of its signature items, and I am lucky enough to have one of the polishes from Urban Decay's original line.

For some reason, hardly any polishes from UD's original line exist today. Hard Candy came out around the same time as Urban Decay and a ton of original Hard Candy still exists. My theory as to why original UD is nearly extinct is this: the bottle design did not allow for a tight enough seal. So probably the majority of old UD's dried up because the bottle is not airtight and pretty much everyone who owned one ended up tossing it out. Hard Candy bottles have a bit better of a seal on there, and even better, they had those rings around the cap to help further seal the air out.

Anyways, the original UD I have for you today is called Dude. It was released in 1998 as a special edition for the release of The Big Lebowski. I found this on etsy in a shop that recycled old cosmetics and turned them into magnets. When I saw this bottle in that shop, I almost peed myself. I never thought I would see an original bottle of Urban Decay polish in my entire life! When I first received Dude, it was completely dried up. The glitter was all stuck to the sides and there was not a drop of liquid to be found in the bottle. But with about half a bottle of Seche Restore, Dude was good as new!!

Dude is a dark seafoam green glitter in a clear base. I used 3 coats here to reach opacity, with a coat of Gelous and coat of Seche Vite on top to smooth it out. Enjoy =)

Next up is Toxin, from the 1st re-release of Urban Decay polishes. Toxin was re-released sometime around 2002 (hopefully Kaz will step in and confirm or deny that fact). Around this time, Urban Decay and Hard Candy were both acquired by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey) and both brands saw a major overhaul to include more consumer-friendly shades. Sadly, both lines lost a lot of the edge that they once had and along with that went the puke greens and mustard yellow nail polish shades in exchange for lots of pinks and reds. However, both brands still had some awesome colors and with this was Urban Decay Toxin. Toxin was actually a color available in the original UD line but I'm not sure if this was how it looked in that line as well.

I have to apologize for these pictures, folks. Toxin is WAY more awesome than I was able to capture here. Part of why Toxin is so highly sought after is because it contains the same red-to-green color shifting pigment that is in the infamous Clarins 230. I wasn't able to capture the shift very well today, so I apologize. Hopefully one day I can re-swatch Toxin when I have more time to play around with lighting situations.

Anyways, Toxin is a purple jelly polish (think melted grape popsicle) packed with the color shifting pigment that adds a phenomenal shimmer to this. These pictures are 4 coats of Toxin plus one coat of topcoat. Enjoy!

So what do you guys think? Do you own any vintage Urban Decay polishes? Did you have any back in the 90's?

Retro Sunday Squared with Polished Claws Up - Maybelline Glitters

Hi my lovely readers! I'm so excited about today's post, the first edition of Retro Sunday Squared with the lovely Dana over at Polished Claws Up! Dana and I met at a Cleveland nail bloggers meetup back in September and discovered that we are pretty much nail polish twins - we have the exact same taste in polish and always have amazing luck dusty hunting together. Since Dana and I both share an insatiable love for vintage polishes, we decided to team up every week and show you all some of the retro gems in our collections! This week, we decided to share with you some vintage Maybelline glitters, so I hope you all check out Dana's post as well to see what she has in store for you all today!

First up is Brilliant Amethyst from the Wet Shine Diamonds and Gems collection. I don't have an exact release date for this polish, but I believe it was somewhere between 2002 and 2005. Anyways, Brilliant Amethyst is an AWESOME pinky-lavender foil packed packed with tons of holo glitter! I did two coats here, the polish was a bit runny so I had to be careful not to flood my cuticles but otherwise the formula was great! One thin coat of Seche Vite smoothed out the glitter and there was no grittiness to the touch. I really love this one!! Since amethyst is my birthstone (and also happens to be in my engagement ring), I'm always a sucker for any polish with "amethyst" in the name =)

Next up is one of my most favorite reds in my entire collection - Cherry Carats! It is from the Wet Shine Diamonds collection, which I believe was released in 2003. Cherry Carats is an AMAZING cherry red jelly packed with pink microglitter. Upon my first cursory glance CC, I figured that the microglitter in it was just your standard silver, but it actually is this amazing pink glitter that shines through the jelly finish of this polish. IT IS SO AWESOME YOU GUYS! This was two super easy coats, and was a bit thicker than Brilliant Amethyst so I had no worries about flooding cuticles. I wish all polishes could have the same formula as Cherry Carats! I swatched this one second so I could do a full manicure with it and stare and my nails all day. Anyways, make sure to enlarge to pics to check out that pink glitter!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the first edition of Retro Sunday Squared! Don't forget to check out Polished Claws Up! as well!