Sally Hansen Diamond Strength - Fairy Tale Ivory

I seem to have an obsession with picking up nail polishes that really don't look good with my skin tone.  Even though I KNOW it won't work, I keep hoping that it will and pick it up, sometimes plunking down $$ for a polish I won't ever wear.  Case in point - OPI's Man of La Mancha.  I love it in the bottle - LOVE! - but every time I put it on, I shudder and take it off within a few minutes.  I think it's because I see things on other bloggers and it looks so great on them, it never occurs to me that I have these weird yellow/green undertones in my hands that they don't have to deal with, and so most neutrals, reds, and pinks look hideous on me!

So a few months ago I saw a blogger wearing OPI's Hollywood Blonde and my eyes bugged out of my head because it is so incredibly lovely.  I'm always on the hunt for neutrals I can wear to work (I wear whatever I want, but I'm looking for ones I can wear without guilt!) and this looked perfect - sheer, nude, but sparkly!  However, when I started looking at prices, my eyes bugged out just a bit more - $15 is the cheapest I've ever seen, and that does not include shipping!

After recently being disappointed by a number of these nudish work safe shades because they look horrible against my skin tone (Essie Demure Vixen, I'm looking at you!), I just couldn't bring myself to spend close to $20 on something that MIGHT work, but probably won't.  I started looking around for dupes and Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength in Fairy Tale Ivory caught my eye.  It seems similar... maybe even a dupe (anyone have Hollywood Blonde out there?), and the price is much more reasonable, so I decided I would get it and not feel bad if it didn't work.

I wanted to include a bottle pic here because you do lose a lot of the color when it's on your nails.  You can actually tell I've used this bottle more than once - a rarity in my collection!

I'll let you be the judge on whether it looks ok on me... but I was pleased with it.  Not enough to spend the $$ on Hollywood Blonde - I doubt I will wear it enough to justify the cost.  However, I've worn it twice now, which is not common for me, so maybe Hollywood Blonde is in my future?

I took a million pics of this, because it does have a unique shimmer that is really hard to catch.  Let me know if you want to see more - I've got 'em!

Sorry for the glare, I still haven't found time to build a light box!

In this close-up, you can see the little flecky shimmers - it looks amazing when the light hits it!

In this super-close-up, you can see all the little rainbow-y shimmers.  There's pink, green, gold - a little bit of everything!

I also wanted to include a low-light pic, because this is how it's going to look most of the time (hopefully minus the bit of yellow staining for you!).  It's still got a nice nudey-shimmer going on, but it's not all blamm-o in your face.

As for wear... this one doesn't hold up the best, however, tipwear / chips aren't all that noticeable because of the color and shimmer.  I can wear this one for 3 or 4 days and no one notices that it isn't looking its best.  It is a sheer, so you will never get it opaque - I do 3-4 coats to really show off the shimmer.  The dry time is quick and there isn't much need for clean up.  My only beef is the brush - well, actually, the crazy-long stick the brush is on.  Was that totally necessary Sally?!  :P

I'm totally sold on this one, though maybe it isn't the best match with my skin tone - I don't even care.  It's great to put on when I don't have a ton of time to do clean-up.  It's work appropriate, but it has enough going on to keep me interested.  And I love the price!  I paid $4 something at Walgreens for this one, but I saw it last night at Wal-Mart for $3, so it is definitely affordable.

I bought this in hopes to dupe Hollywood Blonde, but now, I don't really care if it's a dupe or not - it's a regular for me.  However, if you do have the OPI... let me know what you think!

Number of coats: 4

Basecoat: Gelous

Topcoat: Out the Door