Sally Hansen, the woman herself. Via sallyhansen.com

Sally Hansen: A Life Revealed

2018-04-242018-04-24 fivezero2 Comments

I’ve long wondered about the mysterious woman named Sally Hansen whose name is used by ubiquitous drugstore nail polish brand. I’d assumed the company had been started by a Sally Hansen, but there was never any information about her online, even on Sally Hansen’s official site. There were even tidbits online mentioning that such a person never existed.

Now, I can only assume that the good folks over at Sally Hansen were just as curious as I was, because “[i]n 2014, a team of investigative journalists was hired to uncover the truth. And after months of failed leads…her story is finally ready to tell.” (sallyhansen.com)

Late last year, Sally Hansen updated us all with the story.

The mysterious first lady of drugstore nail polish is revealed to be Sally Genevieve Hansen (née Finney) of Kansas, born to a couple who also happened to own a small cosmetics company.

As a young woman, she moved to Hollywood, where she worked as an actress and a dancer, and wrote a column for the Los Angeles Times on the side. Later, she moved back to Kansas and helped her family to expand their company. This success led to additional cosmetics work with a department store, S. H. Kress & Co., and eventually Hansen moved to New York City, where started her own eponymous beauty company in 1946. The famous “Hard As Nails” line was one of her company’s first trademarks. She sold Sally Hansen Inc. in 1962, and sadly, passed away a year later.

You can read more about her here:

- Sally Hansen official site
- Refinery article (many more details)
- Wikipedia (includes additional information and sources)

I love learning bits of nail polish history!

Happy reading!

[Image: sallyhansen.com]

Sally Hansen — Soak at Sunset (Color Therapy) Swatch & Review

2017-10-302017-10-30 fivezero4 Comments

Collection: Sally Hansen 2016, Color Therapy [Launch]

Before I start, did you guys realize that Sally Hansen has changed its logo? I just noticed it when I was adding new shades to the Nail Polish Library; it’s only changed on the US site for now. The polish bottles all still seem to sport the old logo, as well.

I can see why they felt the need for an update, but the new logo reminds me a little of a hotel (or even H&M):

Anyway, when Rexall recently ran a Buy 2, Get 2 Free deal on nail polish, I decided to pick up four Sally Hansen Color Therapy polishes, since they looked so pretty in a special display of rose and coral shades. I thought they might have been new shades, but they were from the original launch in 2016.

One of the shades I picked is Soak at Sunset (300), a coral shimmer, which would have been perfect for summer. But Halloween is just upon us now, so I guess it vaguely works as an orange polish. Perhaps some people need a pretty, soft orange rather than the candy corn orange that you usually see at this time of year! (Not that there’s anything wrong with candy corn, which I adore and have to remember to go pick up at Bulk Barn today.)

This is a coral orange with a small dollop of yogurt and a good handful of golden shimmer stirred in. It goes beautifully with that rose gold cap, doesn’t it?

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic, swatch

Sally Hansen — Talk Is Chic (Complete Salon Manicure) Swatch & Review

2017-04-072017-05-22 fivezero2 Comments

Collection: Sally Hansen 2016 Complete Salon Manicure Canada Exclusives

Talk Is Chic (558), from Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure line, was released last year in a collection of fifteen Canada-exclusive shades. The whole concept is a bit odd to me! Why not release the shades for everyone?

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic

The shade is a deep, smoky plum cream. It goes on the nail quite a bit darker than how it looks in the bottle, which was a surprise. Not vampy in the bottle, vampy on the nail!

As usual, I am not a fan of the Complete Salon Manicure stem, and this shade is no exception. My particular brush seemed ever so slightly less badly-cut than some of the others, however, so I had less trouble applying Talk Is Chic.

The formula is pretty good, and I got close to full coverage with two coats: not shabby for a vampy. A third coat might be preferred, but two are OK.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic, swatch

At some point, I have to try swapping out the CSM brush with a superior one, and seeing if that changes my opinion on these polishes. This line has some gorgeous colors, but it’s so let down by a poor brush, in my opinion.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic, label

♦♦♦♦♦

Sally Hansen Color Therapy contains 0.5 US fl oz / 14.7 mL and retails for around US$7.99 / CA$9.95. The formula is free from toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).

Sally Hansen’s website states that Sally Hansen and her husband developed a Hard as Nails nail treatment in the late 1950s. (This begs to differ! How odd.) Sally Hansen, the company, was purchased by Coty Inc. in 1997 when the cosmetics giant acquired Del Laboratories, which owned brands like Sally Hansen, La Cross, and NYC (New York Color). Coty itself was founded in Paris, France in 1904; today it is headquartered in New York, NY, USA. Coty is the world’s third largest cosmetics company, with brands like OPI, Rimmel, and leading fragrances (including Calvin Klein, Chloé, and Marc Jacobs) in its portfolio.

🇺🇸Made in USA

🇺🇸Company based in USA

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pardon My Garden, swatch

Sally Hansen — Pardon My Garden (Complete Salon Manicure) Swatch & Review

2017-04-062017-05-22 fivezero3 Comments

Brand: Sally Hansen

Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure line is a funny one for me. I often find myself attracted to the well-executed, trendy colors, but there are many things about the formula and packaging that I dislike. Add to that the unreasonably high price—comparable to superior drugstore options in Essie and L’Oréal Le Vernis à l’Huile—and I’m rarely keen to purchase from this line.

Despite my misgivings, I did recently pick up a few more of these, so today’s polish is Pardon My Garden (530), a pale mint green cream with a hint of blue.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pardon My Garden

I freely admit that I mostly bought this one for the name! It’s cute, isn’t it? Plus, pale greens are nice and spring-y, aren’t they?

Sadly, a clever name and an Easter theme aren’t enough to save this polish from a scathing review.

I hate the Complete Salon Manicure brush, firstly. It’s too big, too thick, too unevenly cut (seriously? priced like Essie and you can’t provide a good brush?!), and the brush stem is very wide so it collects way too much polish. I’m constantly having to wipe down the stem on the inner bottle neck, but because the stem is flat and wide, it’s not possible to wipe a lot of the polish off on the small, round neck. So when I’m applying, there’s a constant stream of unwanted polish flowing down onto the brush.

Next, the formula is a bit too goopy. I know it’s a very whitened pastel, which normally is a pain to apply, so I am a bit more understanding here. But the brush is just so bad that it makes this polish that much harder to apply when the formula is not nice and smooth.

On the positive side, the pigmentation and coverage are good. Two coats are needed, mostly to try to smooth out the polish. As you can see in my swatches, the polish still does look a little lumpy and uneven.

With a good brush, I think this polish would have performed at least 50% better, but as it is, I really am not a fan.

Unless you really have your heart set on the color, give this one a miss.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pardon My Garden, label

♦♦♦♦♦

🇺🇸Made in USA

🇺🇸Company based in USA

Haulage! Drugstores & Cosmetic Love (Oct 2016 & Feb–Mar 2017)

2017-03-142017-09-05 fivezero16 Comments

Finally, everyone in the household is on the road to recovery! I managed to stay relatively illness-free, except for once when I think I might have given myself food poisoning and had an upset stomach for a night. We were all so overwhelmed over the last week and a half that my husband actually had to remind me that we forgot about our 17th wedding anniversary over the weekend.

I should really get my computer to remind me about stuff like this.

So, we celebrated last night with some dinner delivered and half a movie (The Nice Guys, if you’re interested—and that’s how we have to roll nowadays, early to bed). Plus, we’ll add a li’l anniversary money to our fun budgets!

Speaking of fun budgets, here’s some stuff I hauled over the last couple of months from drugstores. And I’m including some stuff I got from Cosmetic Love late last year, but totally forgot about under my desk.

All prices are what I paid, not necessarily the MSRP.

The full list:

A’Pieu Start Up Pore Primer [free sample]
Banila Co. Glam Muse Luster Lipstick in LPP 656 [US$11.52]
Bee By the Sea Sea Buckthorn Lip Balm in Vanilla [CA$3.19]
Bulgari Omnia Paraiba EDT 25 mL Purse Spray [CA$19.99]
butter LONDON 6-Piece Petite Lacquer Collection [CA$17.50]
Cargo HD Picture Perfect Concealer in Light Medium [CA$14]
Cargo HD Picture Perfect Liquid Foundation in 2N [CA$21]
Cargo OneBase Concealer + Foundation in One in 025 [CA$14]
CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion [CA$13.99]
CoverGirl Ready Set Gorgeous Fresh Complexion Oil Free Foundation in Medium Beige (210) [CA$5.99]
Crawford Street Rose Geranium 2-in-1 Soothing Cleanser [CA$11.99]
Essence The Gel Nail Polish (Soft Matt) in Va-Va-Voom [CA$2.99]
Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer Perfect Lash [US$5.74]
Gosh Nail Lacquer in Galaxy (612) [CA$4]
Green Beaver Natural Toothpaste in Frosty Mint [CA$4.63]
Innisfree The Green Tea Seed Serum [free sample]
It’s Skin Macaron Lip Balm, Holiday Edition, in Green Apple [US$4.87]
L.A. Girl HD PRO BB Cream in Light/Medium [CA$7.49]
L’Oréal Colour Riche Le Vernis à l’Huile in Coral Trianon [CA$7.49]
L’Oréal Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation in Nude Beige (203) [CA$14.99]
Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream [US$11]
Lioele Dollish Cera-V CC Cream [US$15.25]
Mizon Hyaluronic Ultra Moisturizing Cream [US$8.38]
Revlon ColorStay Makeup, Normal/Dry, Buff (150) [CA$16.99]
Revlon ColorStay Makeup, Normal/Dry, SPF 20 Nude (200) [CA$16.99]
Revlon Nail Enamel in Daydreamer [CA$8.99]
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Love Is On [CA$4.99]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Bow To the Queen [CA$7.47]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pardon My Garden [CA$7.47]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic [CA$7.47]
Wet n Wild Color Icon Au Naturel 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Bare Necessities (753A) [CA$6.39]
Wet n Wild Color Icon Au Naturel 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Nude Awakening (754A) [CA$7.99]
Wet n Wild Max Volume Plus Waterproof Mascara in Amp’d Black [CA$4.79]
Wet n Wild 1 Step WonderGel Nail Color in Left Marooned [CA$4.79]

Photos and comments:

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Black and Blue layered over Tropic Thunder, swatch

Sally Hansen — Black and Blue (Complete Salon Manicure) Swatch & Review

2016-11-142017-05-08 fivezero5 Comments

Brand: Sally Hansen

Don’t be fooled by the swatch above! Today’s shade is Black and Blue (580) from Sally Hansen’s Complete Salon Manicure line, and it’s actually a very sheer topper. The photo above shows one coat of Black and Blue over two coats of Tropic Thunder, a vampy blue cream from the same product line.

Here’s the bottle of Black and Blue. It’s a very sheer, light teal blue shimmer with purple iridescence. Gorgeous, right?

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Black and Blue.

It’s also sheer as heck, which makes it a fine topper, but don’t buy it thinking it’s going to look just like it does in the bottle. Here it is, alone, with two coats:

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Tropic Thunder (Canada exclusive), swatch

Sally Hansen — Tropic Thunder (Complete Salon Manicure) Swatch & Review

2016-11-112017-05-08 fivezero4 Comments

Brand: Sally Hansen 2016, Complete Salon Manicure Canada Exclusives

Sally Hansen’s website shows a number of new colors in their Complete Salon Manicure line that are Canada exclusives. Today’s shade is Tropic Thunder (574), one of these exclusives.