Favorite Nail Products!

No prices on these and kind of a random number of items...  Sorry!

1. China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
• My Holy Grail base coat!  Really does make my polish stay a thousand times better.  Slight exaggeration?  Maybe…
2. China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat
• The only top coat I use anymore.  Applies smoothly and dries in about a minute and can last up to a week.  I still wouldn't recommend not waiting for your layers to dry between coats but this certainly speeds up the process.
3. Illamasqua Nail Polish in Baptiste
• A gorgeous deep true purple with pink and purple shimmer.  As with all the Illamasqua polishes I've used, applied like a dream, opaque in one coat if you want.
4. Essie Nail Polish in Kisses and Bisses
• My favorite effect polish!  It's a sheer french manicure type polish with a strong fine pink shimmer.  I especially love it over Essie's Master Plan.
5. American Apparel Nail Polish in Neon Red
• This is not a red polish at all in my opinion but rather a VERY bright coral orange and absolutely one of my favorite spring/summer polishes.  I love looking at it on my toes and it's an excellent formula, unlike most of the other colors in the AA Neon Collection (Neon Green and Neon Yellow)
6. Essie Nail Polish in Turquoise & Caicos
• Another of my go-to spring/summer polishes!  As a New Mexican, I think I might be predisposed to love turquoise.  It's a greener and more jelly-like turquoise polish than China Glaze's Aquadelic which makes it more interesting in my opinion.
7. Essie Nail Polish in Master Plan
• While I enjoying layering Essie's Kisses and Bisses over this polish, it is wonderful alone as well.  As so many nudes look very fakey and just plain icky on me but this one actually looks great with my pale pinky skin.  It's a very cool-toned greyed taupe and is my go-to "grown-up" manicure.
8. SpaRitual Nail Polish in Sacred Ground
• I'd been looking for this polish a while when I finally found it.  Grey is one of my favorite colors and I wanted a gunmetal that wasn't despicably streaky/metallic.  This deep grey polish has tons of fine multicolored (mostly blue and gold) glitter.  It applies like a dream and stays on forever if you let it.
9. butter London Nail Varnish in Wallis
• I wish I had more occasion to wear this polish because it's so interesting!  It's basically tons of finer "old gold"  (almost greenish) colored glitter in a blackened base.  So pretty!  It was my St. Patty's mani :)
10. butter London Nail Varnish in Black Knight
• Another beautiful glittery shade.  This one is best over a black polish so you can get it opaque immediately and layer is a few times to get as much of it's blue, pink and gold glitter as possible.
11. Nails Inc. Nail Polish in Baker Street
• An amazingly vibrant true blue that is oh-so-summery.  Also has a better formula than some of the other Nails Inc. polishes I've tried.
12. Milani Nail Polish in Orchidia
• I was skeptical about Milani for the longest time but I'm a convert.  I was especially wary of this polish because I'd tried similar shades (Essie's Play Date) and was disappointed at how unflattering they were on me.  But Orchidia is a totally different story and applies without a hitch!
13. Essie Nail Polish in Licorice
• A staple.  I always keep two bottles of this polish in my drawers because I use it so often for layering and just because I love wearing black polish.  I still remember my mom's reaction when I first wore black polish…  She doesn't seem to mind anymore.
14. China Glaze Nail Polish in Ruby Red Pumps
• This polish is so perfectly named.  It is a red glitter polish and I love using it to make a gradient over black nails using a sponge.  Very fierce.
15. China Glaze Nail Polish in Haunting
• A black polish with silver glitter, like a star-lit night.  Wonderful staying power!  "Starry starry night…"
16. China Glaze Nail Polish in Go Crazy Red
• I'm not a big red wearer, probably because I find a lot of reds unflattering on me.  But, despite my misgivings, I really like this slightly warmer red shimmer polish.
17. Essie Nail Polish in Mademoiselle
• I tend to scoff when I hear someone say that something looks great on everyone.  But this color really seems to.  In fact, it's on of the only sheer pinks I've ever found flattering on my pastiness.
18. Orly Nail Polish in Lunar Eclipse
• I always hear "Devil With The Blue Dress" when I apply this true blue glitter polish.  Love it over black or navy for added depth.
19. My "Frankenstein" Polish (Pale Bright Blue)
• I decided to play with my Essie' Something Borrowed which was incredibly unflattering on me.  I added a generous amount of a cobalt blue from Revlon and a little bit of white.  Now it's considerably brighter and bluer and just plain happier!  (Which looks a look like Essie's new Bikini So Teeny)
20. Illamasqua Nail Polish in Nomad
• A newer one but already a favorite!  Not really a mint but rather a jade!  So exciting and beautiful on and, as always, amazingly formulated.  Thank you, Illamasqua!
21. American Apparel Nail Polish in Port
• There is something to be said for finding exactly the color and finish you want at a great price.  Port is a simple but lovely burgundy creme without any shimmer or glitter.  It looks sophisticated on it's own or under Essie's Shine of the Times.
22. My "Frankenstein" Polish (Sheer Lavender Pink)
• The only other sheer pink color that actually looks good on my complexion.  It was a combo of China Glaze's Inner Peace (pale sheer pink) and China Glaze's Sweet Hook (pale lavender/pink creme).
23. Milani Jewel FX Nail Lacquer in Gems
• Like a Macy's Day Parade in a bottle!  Large round multicolored glitter in various sizes and for a great price.
24. Milani Jewel FX Nail Lacquer in Lavender
• Same type of glitter as the previous but in a wonderful blue-violet shade.  Best over a navy/purple/black base.

butter London's Black Knight in natural light

Milani's Orchidia on most
Milani's Jewel FX Nail Lacquer in Lavender over American Apparel Imperial Purple on ring finger

Favorite Face Products!

1. MAC Powder Blush in Well Dressed ($20 for 0.21oz)
• My most used and versatile blush.  A beautiful pale pink color that is subtle but noticeable
2. Tarina Tarantino Dollskin Cheek Palette ($45 for 4 colors)
• A pretty palette of both warm (coral/brown) and cool blushes that wears wonderfully.  I think Tarina Tarantino's products are severely underrated.
3. YSL Anti-Cernes Multi-Action Concealer in 1 Ivory Beige ($35 for 0.07oz)
• A great concealer that applies beautifully.  Stick concealers have always been my favorites because of how easy they are to deal with but this is my favorite of those I've found.
4. LORAC Breakthrough Performance Foundation SPF 14 in SMS1 ($39 for 1.0 oz)
• One of the best foundations I've found.  Naturally it's not quite pale enough on it's own but it has one of the best formulations I've found for my drier skin.
5. Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray ($29 for 4.0oz)
• A nice solution to combat Dallas humidity.  Especially helpful for my t-zone.
6. Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in 105 ($34 for 1.0oz)
• This has been a life saver!  While I wish the formula wasn't so drying, it's what I add to every foundation I have until the shade I need.  Basically a white base.
7. Chanel Perfection Lumiere Long-Wear Flawless Fluid Makeup SPF 10 in 12 Beige Rose ($55 for 1.0oz)
• Naturally designer brands have more money and research to put into their products and this one is no exception.  Nothing buffs as seamlessly and effortlessly as this foundation.  Again, not pale enough but that wasn't a surprise.  (Even smells nice!)
8. Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque ($22 for 0.05oz)
• Something that is actually pale enough for me!  Part of me balks at the stickiness of this concealer but I can't deny how well it works under my foundation.  My flaws, most notably, my undereye circles, are perfectly covered.

(In no particular order)

My Quest...

I am one of those super white people.  You know the type.  I'm Miss Glow-In-The-Dark, Lady Paler-Than-Death's-Horse, Madame Can't-Survive-Without-SPF and if I had a Cherokee name I'm betting that it would be something like She Who Fears The Sun.  But you can just call me Sally.

Being fair in an unfair world (yea, I went there) has always been a challenge.  Finding non-icky sunscreens, looking for colors that don't wash me out but the worst?  The endless search for a perfect foundation.

Of course I realize that most makeup wearers have this conundrum, this same odyssey for their "Holy Grail" foundation.  But I feel that being far paler than is average makes things a lot more complicated.  It doesn't help that so many brands oxidize on me.

My cousin recommended Bare Minerals to me and I was thrilled to find that it was in fact my shade, among it's many other attributes.  Gone were the lines of demarcation and the nasty germy application sponges.  It was beyond a relief.  And I was very loyal up until recently.  But I got restless watching all my favorite beauty gurus wear and recommend different liquid foundations.  Not to mention my Bare Minerals wasn't sticking on my t-zone very well anymore.

I tried Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation in Fair and found it, as usual, to warm for my skin.  It ended up giving me an orange hue and it was a little drying.  Not really the foundation's fault really.  My skin is White Sands, New Mexico.  Arid and, you guessed it, WHITE!  And fuller coverage foundations tend to be drier formulas in my experience.  But it was a start.

And so the search continued…  I then tried LORAC Breakthrough Performance in SMS 1. It was a significant improvement but still not perfect in that was a slightly too yellow.  But I really liked the texture.  Then I tried Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in 110 and was pretty pleased to see something with pink undertones in it but the texture didn't stick to my skin like the LORAC foundation and it was still too dark.  So I combined the two and liked that better.  But was still not perfect yet.  My foundation still wasn't quite pale enough…  So I bought what I know to be the whitest foundation available, Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 1, and waited for it with bated breath.  My first try at mixing the three foundations was something that made even me look pastey which was actually a bit of a pleasant surprise as it's NEVER happened before.  I found that I had to be very light-handed with the Illamasqua foundation as it really is an off-white with a slight pink undertone.  It also made my foundation a bit drier but I recently corrected this with more moisturizer beforehand and adding NARS Illuminator in Copacabana to (what is now a very complicated) mixture to sheer it out, make me dewy and helps correct imperfections.

While I don't think my search for my perfect foundation is yet over I am glad to see brands making paler shades to accommodate those of us with this issue.  Might try NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia next. : p  And I wish you all luck on your journey to your perfect shade!

Here are some swatches.  I would like to remind you that I'm yet a novice and photography is not my forte!  The light's very yellow in my apartment.  Might wanna work on that...

From Left to Right:
1. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation in Fair
2. LORAC Breakthrough Performance in SMS 1
3. Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation in 110
4. Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 1
5. NARS Illuminator in Copacabana