Halloween Season Nails

In recent weeks I've done a bunch of things instead of writing here as much as I intended, including patching drywall and painting an entire closet and part of a ceiling as well as packing a bunch more boxes. All the while, my nails were adorned with Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips in designs from past Halloween collections (I don't think there was one this year, which makes me wonder if they're phasing out this product line like so many others before it—Magical Nail Makeup, Nail Prisms, Lacquer Shine, to name three).

First up was Wishnets, a black on red fishnet design, a half a package of which I had hanging around, possibly from 2012 when I last wore them. This mani almost wasn't; the first two strips I tried (from a sealed pack) were so sticky and fragile that I ripped them when I removed them from the backing. I wasn't prepared for that; had assumed I could put them on in the fifteen minutes before I left for a party as I have other times, but that wasn't happening this time. I actually went out with only my thumbs adorned with the strips. No one said anything, whether because it was so dark in the party space or they were being polite, I don't know. The next day, I sat down and tried again, and lo and behold, the overnight exposure to air firmed up the strips enough that they applied as easily as I've come to expect.



Next up was Spun for You, which has black spiderwebs on a silver base. These were also leftovers, likely from 2011. Based on my experience with the Wishnets strips of similar age, I took these out of the sealed pack a few hours before I wanted to use them and they behaved fine when I applied them. I'm not sure why the strips would get more sticky over the years while sealed up but that seems to be what happens. At least now I know how to deal with it, just need to plan ahead. And given how many boxes I have in my stash, that's good to know.



I had visions of doing yet another Halloween look, but priming and painting took priority. I will be so glad when we've got the house on the market and all I have to do is keep it clean and get out when there's a showing. Maybe that'll mean more regular blogging. Maybe not. I'm not giving up regardless.

Hope those of you who celebrate had a happy Halloween!