Orly Color Blast True Neon Pink

Bold claim, Orly.

I apologize for my busted cuticles in this picture. They look that way because my cuticles are busted right now. Thanks.

My favorite nail polish of all time is Essie's Punchy Pink. It is the most neon pink neon pink of all time. Yes, it had a ridiculously difficult formula, but it literally made my nails glow. I once had it on my toes and my dad told me my feet looked like Miami. #goals

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find another bottle. I've been searching high and low for the past three years and nada. So whenever I see a new neon pink, I snatch it up and bring it home to compare to the dregs I have remaining of Punchy Pink. This jumped out at me while I was cruising the surprisingly lovely beauty section at Kohl's. It's from Orly's new Color Blast line, which has slightly smaller than usual bottles, as you can see. The name? True Neon Pink. How does it stack up against Punchy Pink? It's pleasingly close. Not quite as bright, but better than anything else I've found to this point. The formula is pretty good for a neon, too, I'm wearing three coats with a shiny top coat, since it dries a bit satiny matte.

But I won't stop looking for the true neon pink, Punchy Pink.

Mani Monday: Put Your (Top)Coat On

Part of being a noob at doing your nails is thinking you don't really need topcoat. I myself used to think just that way. And you know what? My nail polish didn't last for shit. If you want your manicure to stand even a snowball's chance in hell of lasting a week, ya gotta add some protection over that pretty color.

I've used a number of different topcoats in the past six years, and I'm here to give you my thoughts on them so you don't have to waste your hard-earned dough, yo.

Seche Vite
Have you heard of this one? Of course you have. This is the be-all, end-all of quick drying top coats. Super shiny, crystal clear, dries in mere minutes. No matter how many different formulas I try in search of the perfect at-home manicure, this is the one I always come back to for its incomparable ability to hit all my musts. Careful, though, this sucker tends to get super thick in the bottle once you're about halfway through, and if you apply it before you've let your color dry enough, you will get craaaaaaazy bubbling. There, I just saved you the learning curve.

Orly In a Snap
Personally, I don't think Orly gets quite enough love as a brand, especially considering how wide the range of products is. That being said, this is not my favorite topper. Yes, it does dry quickly, but that's where the buck stops. The finish tends to dull pretty quickly, and I don't notice any advantages in its ability to prevent chipping over a few days. It's good in a pinch, but instead, I think you should go for...

Orly Sec'n Dry
I greatly prefer this to any of Orly's other offerings in this category. It claims to add shine and resist chipping, all while reaching down through your layers of polish and drying them all. By and large, it makes good, although I can't speak as well to the last one because I really like to give my polish time to dry a bit between layers. It's not as shiny as the Seche Vite, but it wins the not getting weird-in-the-bottle contest.

Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat
(Not Pictured) If you wanted to spend a stupid amount of money on a topcoat, you could give this one a try. As a long time Maven, I've gotten this a couple of times in my box, and I don't hate it. Its one big drawback is that you have to cure it under either natural light or a light bulb to get it to dry. What I actually tend to do is use a quick dry top coat underneath this to make sure nothing moves while I'm trying to cure it. All told, this gives a fantastic shine and a nice hard sheet of armor to protect your precious nailsies, but the steep price keeps it at more "fun toy" than "absolute necessity."

Honorable Mention
Essie Gel Effect Top Coat
I can't offer a full recommendation of this yet, as I'm just now trying Essie's new release for the first time, but thus far, the shininess factor is undeniable. I'll keep you updated when I've made a full assessment of its pros and cons, but it looks like it might be a real winner.

Blog/Life Update

Hello, dear readers! I'm currently taking a little break from posting so that I can do some organization behind the scenes of this here blog. I've just realized that I need to be a little more on top of my game given my work schedule. Starting the first week of August, I'm going to be posting five days a week, and don't worry, there will be a variety of topics covered.

If there's anything in particular you'd like to see or products/books you'd like me to review, leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you.

Love,
Harris

What I'm Reading, Week 26

Woah, kids, we're halfway through the year! Two weeks ago, I would have said that my mission to read 100 books this year looked pretty impossible to complete. Luckily, I did quite a bit of travelling this past month, and have upped my total to 41 books read. I know, not quite halfway, but I still think I can do it! And I wouldn't be trying if I didn't enjoy reading as much as I do, so I'm keeping my hopes up.

I'm currently on Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy, which is one of my quick ebook selections I made while waiting for my eternal hold list to have mercy upon my soul. Having recently read and enjoyed A Week in Winter by the same author, I thought I might try reading more of her work in these collected stories about the residents of fictional Chestnut Street in Dublin (it is apparently dwelled upon by many of the characters in her novels). Primary descriptor: charming. And it's in nice, bite-size chunks, so you can read a little or a lot. I am much pleased by it.