Quick nail post

A few months ago I remember reading on Nouveau Cheap that people had spotted the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes on clearance at various stores around the US. They're not being discontinued; they're being reformulated. They're on clearance at Rexall now, for any Canadian readers who want to score some for about $5. These are one of my favourite polish formulations ever, even if I find the colour range a bit boring. I found a bunch at Dollarama a few months ago, too.

This time around, I picked up Red Zin, thinking that it would be a good drugstore dupe for Chanel Rouge Noir based on how it looked in the bottle. It's not as dark and vampy and wine-y as I had thought it would be; it's really more of a darker true red on the nail.

Holy lightbox, Batman! I think I am finally figuring out the lightbox-and-fiancé's-fancy-camera combination. 

I ended up putting Gettin' Miss Piggy With It over Red Zin. Red Zin was really, really watery and ran all over my nail bed and cuticle. Unusually bad formula for a CSM polish.  

The above photo was, obviously, not taken in a lightbox. I like the combination, even with the difficult formula and very necessary cleanup. 

On the topic of terrible formulas, I bought Essence Jacob's Protection on a whim while at Shopper's a while ago. It's...well...kind of crap. Thick, clumpy, uneven, and frankly boring. I didn't even take a picture of the manicure. 

It just looks like a dark blue shimmer on the nail, while in the bottle it looks like it would be a sparkly blue with depth and character. It also chipped within 24h of application. It was $2, so I'm not too disappointed, and I will say that it did not stain, but overall I was not impressed - especially given the high quality of Essence polishes that I've used in the past.

 Have you had any recent disappointments?