American Apparel Hassid

American Apparel Hassid is a black creme polish. Nothing fancy, no sparkles or matte effects. I would never wear this alone but it is an amazing polish if you like to do nail art! Hassid is opaque in one easily applied, quick-drying, thin coat! Woohoo! It also works great with water marbling and Konad! If you haven't found a great black creme, I strongly suggest you try American Apparel Hassid.

Disclosure: I was provided a product sample by American Apparel. This in no way affects my opinions of the product. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

Thanks for reading!
April

Latest Water Marble

I love water marbling! It's pretty easy and the results are cool. This is a base of Essie Adore-a-ball, marbled with Essie Mint Candy Apple, American Apparel Hassid & Essence Go Wild. All of these three polishes worked great for marbling!

There are lots of great tutorials around for doing a water marble, so I'll just tell you what I do differently.

I start by grabbing whatever chapstick I have around and putting that around my nails to make cleaning up my skin much easier. I've tried tape, but i thought it was annoying. Vaseline put on with a brush works great too, but the chapstick is the easiest thing I've tried so far.

I use a dish that is large enough for there to be some water surface without any polish. I then dip my finger straight down into the water without polish and bring it face-up under my favorite part of the design. I think most people put their nail face-down into the design, but I find this awkward. It works great for most people, but if you're feeling frustrated with that method, try it this way and see how it goes.

The part I would really like to improve is making designs in the polish after dropping them into the water. Does anyone have favorite links to tutorials?

explodingmary Art Wallet Giveaway! Ends 6/17.
Cream Perfume Company Review & Giveaway! Ends 6/15.

Thanks for reading!
April

P.S. I can't wait for the World Cup!!!!!! Who's the sexiest player this year?

Essie Downtown Brown & A Konad

Essie Downtown Brown looks like cherry cola! I really thought I would like this one more. Maybe it didn't do anything for me since it's not fall or winter right now. This is 3 coats.

I used American Apparel Poppy and Konad plate S6. Not a very successful color combination but I sure do love this design!

Just a few more days to enter my Zoya giveaway!

Thanks for reading!
April

American Apparel New Summer Colors!!

I love my American Apparels! Check my sidebar for the American Apparel tag to see my posts about them. They work great for all you ladies who love water marbling!

Here's the press release about the new colors.

American Apparel (Amex: APP), the vertically integrated clothing manufacturer based in downtown Los Angeles, is announcing the addition of six new colors to its successful line of nail polish. The company timed and designed the expansion of American Apparel Nail Lacquer for the upcoming summer season.

The colors continue the theme of representing the brand and the culture which surrounds it. A khaki shade called "California Trooper" alludes to the uniforms of the ubiquitous California Highway Patrol, while "Malibu Green" is inspired by the colors found near the company's store on the historic Pacific Coast Highway. Other colors
like "Summer Peach" and "Butter" are now also an available option for some of the company's classic garments, including the Pique Tennis Shirt, 4-Way Stretch Side Zipper Pants and Dov's Hoody. The line will feature the release of a base/top coat, a much-requested addition that will bring an extra layer of protection and gloss to the nail lacquer.

"The first 18 colors of our nail polish line were an experiment˜we picked colors that were beautiful and didn't set out to necessarily match them with anything. For summer, we saw an opportunity not only to add a few new colors, but also to develop some fresh shades that can coordinate with the tones of our new styles. We're proud that by listening to the feedback of our employees, customers and the online community, we were able to create a summer range that incorporates their ideas and expresses the palette we presented this season," said Marsha Brady, a creative director for American Apparel.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer has been an exciting success for the company as it has expanded its aesthetic into new areas and styles. The initial run of 18 colors and 50,000 bottles quickly sold out worldwide and developed a loyal following of fashion bloggers and polish artists. By working with a California manufacturer near its headquarters in Los Angeles, American Apparel continues its commitment to the idea of Made in USA polish and hopes the new colors will be met with the same glowing reviews.

"The public has had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to our nail polish collection and we're excited about these new additions. As we translate our basics model to fashionable pieces and new kinds of products, we remain dedicated to maintaining the same level of quality and dependability that we're known for. The colors have the potential to enhance outfits in both classic and atypical ways and we're really look forward to seeing how people wear them," Brady said.

American Apparel Nail Lacquer is priced at $6 per bottle and is available in a 3-pack for $15. It is sold at American Apparel stores worldwide as well as online. The nail polish is DBP, toluene and formaldehyde-free. The full color range, ingredients and photographs can be found in the American Apparel web store.

Thanks for reading!
April

80's Prom Fashion Show Nails or What I Did Friday Night!

My friends Lynn & Robbo put on a huge 80's Prom in Tulsa every year and this time they asked me to be in the fashion show. I'm not a big fan of the 80's as a whole, but I love Lynn & Robbo, so I agreed. It ended up being super fun! The fashion show had 4 segments based on 80's movies. Mannequin, Labyrinth, Say Anything & Lost Boys. I got to be a vampire! Yay! My outfit was over the top as you can see below and I decided to do my nails to match the stripes.

I used American Apparel Cotton & Hassid and a tip I picked up from one of my new favorite blogs, Blue Tape & Nail Tips!! I was in a hurry and nervous about how the night would go, so I wasn't very careful, but they looked great anyway. I cut strips of blue painters tape into fairly uniform strips that I then applied to my nails after the Cotton had dried. Then I just used Hassid for the black stripes. Super simple! You really have to go check out Blue Tape & Nail Tips if you haven't already. Look at her Easter nails!
I love getting dressed up! I had a great time and even got nominated Prom Queen!
Tonight's the last night to enter my Point Blank Design Print Giveaway! Here's her fantastic Dracula print!

Thanks for reading!
April

American Apparel Poppy

This is 2 coats of American Apparel Poppy. The first photo was taken on a cloudy day and the rest with full sunshine. This is a beautiful, deep orange creme that makes me think of the field of poppies in the Wizard of Oz. I won't be wearing it on it's own as it kind of washes out my skin tone, but it works great for all kinds of nail art, including marbling and Konad.


Disclosure: I was provided a product sample by American Apparel. This in no way affects my opinions of the product. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

Thanks for reading!
April

Nails to Match My New Boots

This is why I enter blog giveaways! I won this amazing pair of Sorel boots from the lovely Karen Vitt & her blog The Neat Sheet. These things have already made my life easier. I can wear them when I'm mixing my concrete and then just hose them off when I'm done instead of ruining endless pairs shoes. Thanks Karen!

Tulsa gets a lot of thunderstorms. Wally & I were outside playing the other day when the wind started up.

I decided to paint my nails to match my new boots. I used China Glaze Chocodisiac for the base, American Apparel Cotton & a Migi Nail Art Pen for the stripes.

And for all of you LOST fans out there, Sorel's logo is a polar bear!

Please remember to enter my giveaways! They are listed on the right side of my blog.

Just for the record, no one paid me to do this post. I won the prize fair and square and was so happy with it that I decided to share it with you.

Thanks for reading!
April

American Apparel Has NOT Been Recalled

Someone wrote an anonymous comment on my American Apparel post about the new line being recalled sometime last week. I couldn't find any information to support the assertion, so I chose not to publish the comment. I have since started to hear more rumblings about this but I couldn't find any information that seemed reliable. I decided to go straight to the company and ask them for the truth.

Here is American Apparel's email response.

Hey April,

Really strange about the comment and thank you for letting us know. The response to the nail lacquer completely exceeded our expectations and we sold out of the initial run almost immediately. We weren't totally pleased with some of the packaging and we worked with the manufacturer to make improvements last week. They should all be back in all the US and Canadian stores within the next week and half. It's all being bottled as we speak, but that's the reason you can't get them right now.

I'll send you some new samples when they arrive at the factory. There will be almost no discernible difference to an outsider but we obsess about quality. It's actually the reason we make all our products in the USA - so we can monitor it like this and make changes on the fly.

Thanks!

Nichole

PS: Same address?

Nichole has asked that I not post her contact information because she is not the company's official PR rep. She says she will be happy to answer any questions from my readers though!

So they have NOT been recalled. Instead they sold out of the initial production. My guess would be that they are changing the bottle a bit since some were breaking in transit.

Please pass this info along to your readers if you think they might be interested.

Thanks for reading!
April

Update: American Apparel also has this to say in response to the article on Jezebel this morning.

On another note, one thing we're taking very seriously is the disposal of the bottles we had in the stores. Even though our polish was DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde-free, we don't want our stores just tossing it in the trash. We're using our internal shipping and distribution line to arrange a pickup and removal of the polish to make sure it gets done right.

American Apparel Cotton & An American Apparel Water Marble

American Apparel sent me four of their polishes to try out.The colors from left to right are Poppy, Cotton, Manila & Hassid.

I LOVE the bottle shape! I wish flat & rectangular was the standard shape for nail polish bottles. They just stack up so nicely!

While these are not the colors I would have chosen for myself, I immediately thought that the colors looked gorgeous together.

I decided to try Cotton first. It's a soft white creme finish; the color of a nice cold glass of whole milk. This never has that stark, 'I painted my nails with white-out' look.
Cotton looks fantabulous with my skin tone! I ended up wearing it for 5 days!! I usually change my polish every day or two, but this was so nice and went with every outfit. I thought I would just leave it so I could tell you how well it lasted. I took all of these photos on day 5 and there is some minor tipwear, but NO chipping.
This took three coats and I was a little worried when I applied the first very streaky coat. The formula was a little thick so I added a couple of drops of thinner. That fixed the formula right up. I think I can do just two coats next time.

Like I said, I think the colors that American Apparel sent me look great together, so I thought I would try some nail art. I got the idea for the three stripes from this great Lacquer Laine post. I just did one nail and I didn't do nearly as nice of a job as she did, but I think her technique is very doable with a little practice. I love the result.

I also decided to try out my first water marble! I have read that the American Apparel Nail Polish line is very pigmented, so I thought they would work well for this technique. I used dixie cups and one drop each of Poppy, Manila, & Hassid for each nail. This was super easy and the result is so awesome that I can't believe I did this all by myself!

This nail is my personal favorite.

I had so much fun playing with these polishes. What do you ladies think of the American Apparel line so far? I'll be posting Poppy in a few days and tell you more of my thoughts on The American Apparel brand soon.

Thanks for reading!
April

Disclosure: I was provided a product sample by American Apparel. This in no way affects my opinions of the product. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.