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The ALU Archives – Icing by Claire’s Money Talks & I Married Blue
The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.
I can’t believe that in the two and a half years I’ve been writing ALU that I’ve NEVER mentioned Icing polishes! If you’re unfamiliar, Icing is a chain of accessory stores owned by Claire’s. I honestly never shopped there until some MUA nail board girls discovered their line of nail polish. They have a wide range of colors and come out with limited edition seasonal collections quite often. AND they’re pretty cheap. You can usually find them on some kind of sale.
Unfortunately, since we moved a couple years ago I haven’t had immediate access to an Icing so it’s been a while since I added to my stash. Obviously I’m not up on the latest colors but I have a couple of my faves to show you. Check them out!
According to my bottles Icing polishes are 3-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) but I would check the labels before buying, just to be sure. The formula is on the thinner side so even dark colors usually take three coats for even coverage but it flows smoothly on the nail and dries glossy.
Money Talks is a blackened forest green shimmer with silver micro-glitter floating throughout. It was packaged in a set a couple holidays back so I’m not sure if it’s still able to be found.
I Married Blue was an open stock color I picked up during one of their sales. It’s definitely in the burple family more than navy. It has a pearl/shimmer that looks a bit magenta in the bottle that I attribute to its slight purple leaning.
I realize the bottles look VERY similar to China Glaze and I know people have wondered if they’re by the same company but I think the similarities stop at the bottle shape. Icing polishes are produced in Illinois while China Glaze is based in California.
You can only find Icing polishes at their stores and this bottle size retails for $3.50 but there’s usually some kind of deal going on. You find an Icing near you using their store locator.
Where are my Icing lovers? What are your favorite shades? Seen anything new and fun that I should make the trip out east for?
Orly Nail Rescue Saved Me. It Can Save Your Nails Too!
 I’ve told you about my DDS (Danny Devito Syndrome) in the past and it reared its ugly head just before my trip to Vegas. You see, my thumb nail split and peeled which fed into my tendency to pick at things. So of course I peeled back the split layer and made things worse. Even with a ridge filling base coat I could see the unevenness in my thumb nail. Not to mention the fact that one wrong move would have just torn that piece off. That’s when Orly Nail Rescue came into my life.
I met with a rep from Orly at Cosmoprof and we were discussing treatment products. She told me of her love for Tough Cookie (I’ll be testing it soon) and I told her about my nail issue. She immediately grabbed for a Nail Rescue kit, saying it would literally save my nail. Considering that I get these kinds of splits often, I figured it was worth a shot. See the results, after the jump! |
It’s an easy 3 step system that left my nail with a flawless surface. Included in the kit is a bottle of Nail Glue, Nail Repair Powder and a Buffer. As demonstrated in the image below you just Brush, Dip and Smooth! Step 2: Immediately dip your nail into the Nail Repair Powder. Orly’s Nail Rescue Kit is available online at OrlyBeauty.com ($9) or Head2ToeBeauty.com ($4.95) and in stores at Sally Beauty Supply ($6.99). What’s your favorite method for repairing broken nails? Have you tried Nail Rescue? Share!
As you can see in the “before” pic (left), the tear was pretty big and left me with a flimsy piece of nail that was barely hanging on. I know a lot of people use nail glue and patches or pieces of tea bag to fix breaks but Orly Nail Rescue seems much simpler to me.
Step 1: Clean the nail bed and brush the nail glue over the entire nail, avoiding cuticles. Tip - If you are fixing an uneven area, like I did, you’ll want to repeat this process using the glue on the lower section ONLY to even the nail surface.
Make sure you brush off the excess powder.
Step 3: Buff the nail surface smooth. This was my first attempt and I did repeat the steps to even out the broken layer. As you can see, it’s not a beautiful look but it’s smooth, even and ready for polish while you grow out the breakage.
You can’t even tell my nail is broken!
Removal: Soaking in acetone will remove the hardened powder which means you MUST use a non-acetone remover when taking off your polish.
The ALU Archives – OPI Cozu-Melted In The Sun
 The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.
So I’m leaving for Vegas on Saturday. If you’re my Facebook friend or follow me on Twitter you know already that I’m going for the CosmoProf show. It’s this huge convention where tons of salon brands come together to introduce their lines and new products. Needless to say I’m uber-excited. Preparing for the trip got me daydreaming of our next vacation. The Boyfriend and I decided that we’re over cruises so we talked about heading to Mexico with some friends come Winter. I know that’s a long way off but it got me thinking our last trip to Mexico and how I wore one of the OPI Mexico collection polishes, Cozu-Melted In The Sun, so I pulled it out for this week’s Archives. Take a look! |
Cozu-Melted In The Sun is one of the few polishes in my stash that The ALU Mom and I both agree on. A lover of all things metallic (bronze, silver, gold, copper, etc), she borrowed it from me and undoubtedly wanted to keep it but I’m not giving this beauty up! Cozu-Melted is a light pinky, peachy, coppery glitz bomb.
The base color is filled with silver micro-glitter that catches the light even indoors. The formula is pre-3Free so it spreads like a dream but is on the semi-sheer side. Even after three coats over a ridgefiller I can still see my tips but I love the shade enough that I can live with it.
OPI Cozu-Melted In The Sun is discontinued but TransDesign.com has it listed for sale and I saw some bottles on Amazon.com and Ebay.com as well. As always check out any seller before buying and consider emailing first to confirm availability. Some smaller sites are slow at updating inventory.
Who else has a forgotten bottle of Cozu-Melted in their stash? Or maybe not-so-forgotten? Thoughts?
The Arsenal – Zoya Remove Plus Nail Polish Remover
I get a lot of questions and comments regarding the tools and treatment products I use to keep my nails healthy and in tip top shape. Since my routine changes as I test new products, I’ve launched, The Arsenal, to share with you the items that are “must haves” in my nail kit.
If you were to take a peek at my polish room, one thing you’d notice is the numerous amount of polish remover bottles hanging out on just about every surface. I couldn’t swatch colors without them. And even though I try a bunch of different brands, my staple and nail life line is Zoya Remove+. I’m never without a bulk 32oz bottle on hand to refill my Big Flipper. If, like me, you go through a lot of remover due to constant polish changes you should seriously consider switching to Remove+.
What so fab about it, you ask. Well, the fact that it’s one of the only acetone based removers I’ve used that doesn’t dry out my nail beds like they’ve been living in the Sahara. That’s huge!! As you know, most fanatics prefer acetone because it quickly removes anything you throw at it. But acetone can be so drying and damaging. Thanks to the added Glycerine, my nails stay healthy through numerous swatching sessions.
When you’re testing polish as often as I am, you need the gentlest yet most effective remover you can find and for me, it’s Remove+. It has a pleasant lavender scent and a very simple ingredient list: 2-Propanone, Water, Glycerine, Fragrance, D&C Violet #2 (for color).
You can pick up Remove+ on the Zoya.com site. The Big Flipper retails for $9.99 and the 32oz refill bottle sells for $25.
Which nail polish remover is your favorite? Where are my fellow Remove+ fans?
The ALU Archives – China Glaze C-C-Courage
 The ALU Archives focuses on older, beloved shades from the All Lacquered Up stash.
You asked for HTF’s well you’re gonna get them. Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll last week. An overwhelming majority of you want to see some of my favorite discontinued polishes pop up in the Archives. For those of you that weren’t a fan of the idea, not to worry, you’ll still get plenty of available shades to ogle.
I decided to kick off the DC’d Archives with China Glaze C-C-Courage. Check it out after the jump! |
My WOOA shades (pictured above): C-c-courage, Cowardly Lyin’ and Dorothy Who? It’s the multi-sized glitter in these polishes that make them special. C-C-Courage has tonal shimmer and silvery light purple glitter trapped in a semi-sheer grape hued base. Though don’t let semi-sheer scare you off. This one is totally opaque in 2-3 coats. It does dry a bit flat and satiny so I am showing it with a glossy top coat. Have any of you run across the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection? Do you own any of the shades? What do you think of C-C-Courage.
C-C-Courage was released as part of the Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection. With Wizard of Oz themed names and colors the collection also included Cowardly Lyin’, Dorothy Who?, Good Witch?, The Ten Man and the lone core collection survivor Ruby Pumps. I owned Good Witch? at one point thanks to a special MUA friend but I decided she belonged with the queen of all things pink, NikkNack.
Now because this collection was released prior to AII Beauty acquiring the brand, the formulas were lost. But I have it on good authority that China Glaze has been working on re-creating the colors so if you would like to see these beauties make a triumphant return, let them know. Leave a comment here or email them directly through the contact form on the China Glaze site.
Lisa N.
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