Fake Nails-Victory or a Waste of Time?

I have been tempted lately by the ultimate quick manicure fix: glue-on false nails.  My fingernails naturally grow weak, super-flexible and prone to splitting, fraying and flaking.  I use a nail treatment regularly, but still cannot grow my nails past (most of the time even to) my fingertips.  I love the look of long, vampy, pointed nails, but I don't think I can achieve it without some artificial means.  Now, the downsides; I know from experiences by myself and friends that fake nails degrade your natural fingernails, sometimes to the point that they turn strange colors or develop bumps or warped surfaces.  Also, they are high-maintenance, often popping off at inconvenient times and clinging stubbornly when you want to remove them.
Anyway, I guess what I'm really saying is that it depends on your priorities when it comes to manicures.

What do you think? Feel free to discuss in the comments.
Have a wonder-filled day!

Sparkly Silver Nails Tutorial-and Bonus FOTD

Hey everyone,
I have damaged nails.  I have a habit of occasionally picking off my nail polish instead of using polish remover, and a lot of times I forget to moisturize my cuticles until it's too late and they look all dry and kind of hurt.  So, I have had to chop them off and start over many times.  This time, at least, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel; I should only have to chop once or twice more, and then I will be able to start growing long vampy nails (mwah ha ha!).
While my nails are extra short, I try to paint them lighter colors so that their tiny size isn't so painfully obvious.  Therefore, I wanted to share with you my favorite light nail look-sparkly silver glitter.

Step 1: Clean your nails, attend to all cuticles and possible hangnails, and brush on a base coat.  To mend my nails and help them grow in better, I'm using Nail Life Nail Revitalizer in the non-formaldehyde formula.

Step 2: Paint nails with two coats of your favorite frosty or shimmery white.  Here I'm using Finger Paints Well Cultured Pearl, which is glowy and awesome.

Step 3: Top it off with two coats of a silver glitter topcoat.  I used Pure Ice Beware, which consists of a clear base with heavy amounts of small silver glitter.
Now you're done!  I added these next two pictures to show the difference in shine between direct and indirect light.

Indirect light-sparkly

Direct light-blinding! Well, to my camera, at least.

To finish, I'll leave you with a little FOTD featuring Detrivore's Lab Rat eye shadow (part of the Mad Scientist collection) and Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick in their  new shade Deepest Cherry, which I am testing and will review shortly.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonder-filled day!

SpaRitual Goodies (Pic Heavy)

This review is not sponsored in any way.  All products were bought with my own funds.

I ordered three SpaRitual nail polishes from Amazon.com, and managed to find colors I loved for $10 each with free shipping (score!).  Here are some bottle pics in natural light and an on-nail swatch of the one I'm currently wearing.

 

This is Crystal Waters, contained in the Cool Contraltos section of the SpaRitual website.  It is a fantastic, glowy aqua shimmer which is slightly more blue than green.  It is fairly thin, but not runny, dries quickly and is opaque in 2 coats.  I tried 3 to see if the color deepened, but all it did was fill in any slightly thin areas I had missed when painting the first 2 coats.  Be warned, though--use a base coat with this or it will stain your nails and cuticles.  No bueno.

Bottle shot! Soooo pretty...

 

Street Smart is an intensely black, glossy cream listed as part of the Earthy Low Notes on SpaRitual's site.  Mine was a little thick, so I added a few drops of nail polish thinner.  This color is completely opaque in two coats, and dries nearly as fast as Crystal Waters.  I have tried many black nail polishes, and this is by far the darkest, truest black I have ever seen.  It is also glossy enough on its own that I didn't even need a top coat.  This also isn't quite as stain-prone as Crystal Waters.

This picture doesn't show just how dark this color is on the nail.

 

This is Thunder Road, a medium lavender cream, part of the Cool Contraltos.  I first heard of this color, and the SpaRitual brand in general,  via Grav3yard Girl on YouTube.  I love lavenders and purples, especially in cosmetics, and have been looking for a replacement for my Planks A Lot Pirates of the Caribbean polish from OPI.  I even made a color comparison on my polish inventory cards:

 

Thunder Road is slightly lighter and brighter than Planks A Lot, but it's close enough on the nail for me to be satisfied.  Plus, the formula is pigmented, creamy, and flows well without being runny or gooey.  And now, 2 coats of Thunder Road on my nails with Beauty Secrets base coat and Rush 60 Seconds top coat.

My fingers look a little too pink here, but this was the only lighting I could find that gave an accurate representation of the color.

To finish, I am extremely satisfied with these colors.  The only problem I have now is making sure I can restrain myself from buying a whole bunch more!  They cost about twice as much as I would normally pay for a nail polish, but they can last up to 5 or 6 days, which is amazing for me, and the vegan formula is noticeably less stinky and drying than my 'regular' polishes.  Two thumbs up!  These polishes are available at Ulta, Amazon.com, and spas/salons all over the US.

All opinions are my own, and I was not solicited to do this review.