Sally Hansen Gift with Purchase

All it ever takes with me is throwing a freebie in the mix. Right now, if you spend $20 or more on Sally Hansen at Priceline, they'll throw in a gift with purchase valued at $53.30. The pack contains a No More Ridges Nail Shaper and Buffer, Diamond Strength Nail Hardener, Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat and a Complete Salon Manicure nail polish in Frutti Petutie (540). After much deliberation about what to buy, I chose two Complete Salon Manicure polishes (on sale for $10 each) in Jaded (672) and Commander in Chic (370).

It was with a previous Sally Hansen gift with purchase at Priceline that I discovered the amazingness that is Insta-Dri Top Coat and the Radiant Hands, Nails & Cuticles Creme. This time 'round, I'm not sure if I'm going to be blown away by any of the products. I haven't touched the nail shaper/buffer, as it just seems like too much work. Frutti Petutie isn't a shade that I'd set out to buy, though it could make a good pedicure colour. I have been using the Diamond Strength Nail Hardener as my base coat, and the Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat as a top coat. They're pretty similar in packaging and effect. I never used to apply a base or top coat, but they do make a huge difference to how smoothly nail polish applies and how shiny the final result is.

Frutti Petutie is a bright, medium pinkish red. Not quite orange enough to be characterised as a coral. I wish this leaned closer to a neon pink, but there's a little more red in it than I'd prefer.

Commander in Chic is one polish that I've been eyeing for a long, long time. I've seen it pop up on Michelle's blog a few times, and I would've bought it earlier had I not thought I already owned similar shades. I'm glad that I finally decided to make it mine, as I love purplish/grey/taupe colours like these. Reminds me a lot of Essie Merino Cool, and looking at swatches online, the two are very close.

I wasn't sure if I'd be disappointed in Jaded, as I have so many mint and seafoam green polishes that are similar, or have been failures. But this one surprised me in a good way. I wouldn't have anticipated how the colour looks on my nails. It has a certain sheerness to it (this one minimally needs two coats and I did three coats in the above pictures, whereas you could get away with just one for Frutti Petutie and Commander in Chic) that gives it a softness and "jelly" appearance. I feared the colour would end up a flat, unflattering green, but there's an aqua/blue tinge and a muted quality that makes Jaded much prettier than expected.

These Complete Salon Manicure polishes thoroughly impressed me with how easy they were to apply. They go on super smoothly, don't bubble, have a wide, flat paddle brush that disperses just the right amount of polish and paints the nail with as few strokes as possible. At $14.95 each, they're relatively pricey if not on sale (and with the added incentive of a gift with purchase), but at least the formula is one of the best I've tried.