Spring Nails! Testing Out Popular Tricks

 Welcome to Spring everyone! I'm not sure about the rest of the world but Spring has definitely sprung out here in sunny California. I've been drooling for weeks over so many of the awesome Spring inspired brightly colored ladylike nail tutorials that have swarmed Pinterest and Youtube. Those sites make it look so deceptively easy sometimes that I just wanted to try it myself and see just if it was a simple as they make it look. I photographed as I went so that I could share what worked with all of you. So let's get started.

 Here are the tools I gathered. Nothing special or professional here. Everyone probably has these things lying around there house. I used two nail polish colors (Essie Butler Please and Blanc), Essie top and base coats, cuticle stick (or a toothpick), Q-tips, scissors, tweezers, freezer bag, and polish remover.

 I started off with a base coat and two coats of Butler Please. I love this color, it's such a beautiful cobalt blue that is great on its own and reminds me of a bright blue sky. Perfect Spring color if you ask me.

 

My first design was inspired by a great little nail tutorial I saw on Youtube by Bubzbeauty who does awesome hair/makeup tutorials. I altered her design a little bit to make it look more like lace. To make the frilly shape start with one stripe of polish (I'm using Blanc) on one side of your nail. Then do a second shorter stripe right next to first followed by a third even shorter stripe next to that one. Make sure to keep the tops rounded and carefully fill in the color with a second coat if it's not opaque already. 

 To make it look more like lace go back in with your base color with a toothpick as your dotting tool and make three dots corresponding to each little hump you made in the white polish. Then making slightly smaller dots place one between each of the larger dots kind of corresponding to the points each time instead of the humps. Finally finish off with a few more small dots in line ...is that making sense? If not hopefully the pictures help :D

Ok so on to the next technique I've seen do several ways on Pinterest. It's the freezer bag technique. basically all you do is either paint your shapes onto a freezer bag or just paint a square of solid color on the bag and then cut out your shapes once the polish is dry. I opted for the second route. I will note too that you definitely should use a freezer bag not just a regular sandwich bag. The thicker plastic makes it easier to peel of your dried polish. After painting your initial swatch on the bag make sure you wait until it dries completely before trying to peel it off. It also helped that I used the cuticle pusher end of my orange stick to get under the edges of the polish and then used the tweezers to peel it all the way off. Also if you have smaller scissors use those instead of these gigantic ones like I used. They were cumbersome to work with. If you have those cool shaped hole punchers those are supposed to work pretty well too. I'll have to give those a try in the future. The way I made my heart in case your interested is I started off cutting out a diamond shape and then I cut V-shape into one of the corners making a sort of sqaured off heart shape (see photo). To finish it off I just carefully snipped away at the sharp edges to make it look more rounded. It wasn't too hard but the polish is very flimsy and easy to tear, hold it with the tweezers as much as you can too because oils from your fingers will prevent it from sticking to your nail later and will cause bubbles.

Here I am applying the heart to one of my fingers. I found it helps the polish stick if you have a layer of top coat between the sticker and the base polish. Resist the urge to press the sticker to you nail with your finger because again the oils from your finger will cause bubbling when you go to put your top coat on. Instead your your toothpick or cuticle stick to gently press the sticker down. Once you like the placement seal everything with a top coat, if you notice any edges coming up ever so gently use your toothpick again while the top coat is still pretty wet to nudge the edges down.

Now the I had meant to have a heart on each hand but I messed it up by bumping it on something while the top coat was drying and smudged it hell. So instead I thought I'd try making those cute dot flowers. I also wanted to challenge myself and give you guys the photographic evidence that this stuff can we done with your less dominant hand (LDH)! It's not that bad if you are careful and have your hands anchored to the table or you work surface. Another tip on doing fine work with your less dominate hand is to keep your less dominant hand steady and rested on a surface and instead focus on moving your dominant hand to create the design. It's not as hard as it sounds I promise! With anything practice makes perfect.

Here I'm just taking my Q-tip and some acetone polish remover to clean up my messy edges. I wanted try the lotion trick where you apply lotion to your cuticles around the nail so that polish wont stick but it wasn't as easy as it sounds since you have to keep the nail clean for the polish. This way was just easier for me.

All finished after sealing everything off with a good top coat. I love how fun these turned out! I usually wait until I have a leisure day to do this kind of stuff. A day when I want to catch up on my various TV series. I find it helps the waiting time go a lot quicker. Between each step I would sit back and watch an episode of Vampire Diaries or some other cheeseball show on Netflix while I waited for nails to dry. I would not do this in a hurry or if I didn't have a few hours to spend on it. Also invest in good top and base coats, don't let your hard work go to waste. Essie makes great top and base coats. And pull the top coat all the way over the edge of your nail to prevent chipping and even if its a fast-dry top coat really give it at least a good hour to set (or an episode of Mad Men) before doing things.

So that's it! I hope I'm not leaving anything out. Let me know if you have questions, tips, or suggestions. I'd love to try new techniques.

Please share and let's be friends! See ya later!

Julep :: March 2013

First beauty box of the month is an exciting one! It's my Julep Maven box and it's extra special this month because I've earned enough 'Jules' to receive a free upgrade and I chose their 'Luck of the Irish' set of three polishes. That is almost like getting an extra box this month. So a lot of colors to talk about and I'm loving every single one :D

Fist lets look at the colors in the box. From top to bottom I received a gorgeous pale lilacy purple called Simone which features a barely there blue shimmer. On the nail you really can't see the shimmer unless its in direct sunlight (even then you really have to be look closely to see it). Next we have a pastely peachy pink called Teri. This is a nice color for everyday spring wear and will match a lot without being in your face. It has no shimmer at all, just a basic cream polish. And on the bottom is a gorgeous mint green called Shenae which also features a slight blue shimmer (again only noticeable in sunlight, extremely subtle). 

Here's how they look on the nail. They all have great application, very smooth and only two coats needed to get them opaque. I think I will get lots of wear out of each of these colors and they are perfect for Spring.

Dupes this Month:

I wanted to start mentioning possible dupes for the polishes I receive. This box in particular I noticed that I had some pretty close dupes to all three colors. It can be considered either a good or bad thing to get colors you already own. For me I'm ok with it if they are colors I love and will use often which in this case is true. I also want to mention any dupe in case any of you are interested in color from Julep but either don't want to shell out the $14 for one, don't want to subscribe, and/or Julep just isn't available to you in your area and just maybe a dupe is. So this time around I pretty much found identical colors in Essie polishes I already owned. Starting from the right the mint green Shenea color's dupe is Essie Mint Candy Apple, a cult favorite in its own rights. Everyone freaking raves about this color on YouTube, Pineterest, and other Blogs. The only difference between them is that the Essie polish dries ever so slightly darker and does not have the blue shimmer (which honestly you can't even see anyway). In the middle, Teri's dupe is Essie Tart Deco. These are pretty close as well however Tart Deco does dry a bit darker as well. Lastly for Simone's dupe is Essie To Buy or Not to Buy, crazy name huh? The colors of these are exact matches, the Essie color even has the slight blue shimmer which is a bit more noticeable but still pretty subtle.

Moving on, I wanted to include my free add-on this month which came in a separate package from the main box but arrived at the same time. This is Julep's Luck of the Irish Trio. I am head over heels for the green and copper glittery polishes. I will definitely be wearing the green for St. Patty's day this weekend and my bit of green!

Here I painted my index and pointer fingers in the lovely, metallic champagne color called Sienna. My middle and pinkie finger I painted in the green and gold solid glitter polish appropriately called Lucky. Lastly, my thumb I painted with the coppery solid glitter polish called Jane. I really didn't expect the glitter polishes to go on so solidly in just two coats. I thought they would be glittery top coat style where you would need a polish underneath but I was presently surprised. No dupes here!

As an extra I almost forgot to mention. The March box came with a Strawberry-Mint Lip Balm. Nothing to special about this balm it applies alright, smells like fake strawberry (not so much mint), and nothing really notable about the ingredients. I like a lot of the natural/organic lip balms out today like the Botanics one in my Feb Favs and the EOS lip balms. In fact it's so forgettable I think I have already lost it :) Ooops! I have lots of good lip balms, this one would probably just have sat in my drawer only to be discovered years later and tossed out.

So yeah overall extremely satisfied with March! Let me know what you guys think? Do you like the dupes I've listed? Let me know in the comments and share you favorite spring nail colors!

Let be friends, see ya later!

February Favorites :: 2013

Alrighty time for some monthly favorites! February went by quick and I have far less favorites to share this month because I was sick most of the month and my skin was in terrible shape. I had breakouts, dry flakiness and general irritation going on. So most of my standout products center around natural, gentle skincare and blemish fighting power. So let's get started shall we?

 

 First off I've really liked this Expert Sensitive Gentle Refreshing Toner from Boots (supplied by Target). I'm loving the partnership with Boots that Target has going on. Boots is England's go to drugstore similar to a Walgreen's here in the states I believe but they seem to have a bit higher quality beauty and skincare lines than what we find at drugstores here in the States. Anywho about the toner... I haven't worn much in the way of face makeup this month just because my skin has been so crazy so since I haven't needed heavy cleansing I've been using this in the evenings and in the morning to freshen up and gently remove dirt and oil. This doesn't irritate my skin at all and doesn't leave it feeling stripped or tight like other toners can. I highly recommend it for gentle cleansing or even an extra step after cleansing a face full of makeup.

And to help fight my blemishes I've been using this awesome charcoal mask from Origins. The activated charcoal works like a sponge to extract impurities from your skin and help to prevent blemishes. I use it about once a week and as a nighttime spot treatment for especially troublesome spots. It helps dry out the pimple and clear it up. Because of that though it can be a bit drying on skin and my skin this past month has been especially dry and flaky. So to combat that see the next product.

 Another Boots/Target buy is this Botanics Organic Face Hydrating Day Cream. Gotta love something that is Organic and kicks ass! This moisturizer is just awesome. It's full of good nourishing botanical oils and extracts most notably Almond Oil. It does have nice light scent of almond which some may not like but I happen to LOVE! It's nice and thick but goes on smoothly and sinks in super quick. I've been applying this night and day and it has really helped a lot to bring my skin back under control. At $14 its not a bad price too, I've tried way more expensive creams (check out this $225 from a Glossybox!) and this one just beats them all! Another thing to note is that this soothes my blemishes and doesn't aggravate them at all or more importantly add too them. Good stuff, go buy it!

 Yup I'm loving the Botanics line. This is their Organic Lip Balm. Has a grand total of four ingredients: Olive Oil, Shea Butter, Beeswax, and Lanolin. Nothing to complain about there. It moisturizes my lips nicely and doesn't feel sticky or greasy. It has a light scent of honey probably due to the beeswax. Maybe not the absolute best I've ever tried but lately I've been trying to go for more naturally derived and organic products. Like the food we eat its I believe the stuff we put on our skin is just as important. Now I'm sure plenty of the products I use currently are full of tons of crap but it's baby steps for me. I'm going to make the effort to slowly replace those bad for me things I love with better for me things that I love just as much!

 On with that note, I've still been loving the Bare Minerals Blemish Therapy Concealer that I talked about last month. Bare Minerals is all about natural minerals and good for skin ingredients and this concealer features natural blemish fighters such as sulfur, willow bark, and tea tree oil. you can smell the sulfur but that doesn't bother me too much I think sulfur smell is one of those thing people either can't stand or don't mind at all. Since I haven't been wearing any kind of foundation or BB cream I've been relying on this to give me some coverage so I'm not too scary when I leave the house.

 And for brightening up my sallow sick face skin I've been relying on this Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer from Maybelline in the color Nude. I sweep this under my eyes to cover dark circles and just to brighten up my face. There is a bit of shimmer but not much, its barely noticeable. It's creamy to apply, non-drying, blends well, and doesn't settle into creases.

When I have worn makeup I've been reaching for my sample of Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara that I got out of a Glossybox. It's a really nice mascara. It's not clumpy, defines each lash, gives me length and volume, doesn't smudge and is easy to remove. Still not sure if I will purchase this as I do have lots of sample mascaras to get through but it's on my radar that's for sure.

 I love getting use out of my beauty box subscription samples and along with the Estee Mascara I've been using this Coastal Scents sampler from my Ipsy bag. I particularly like the shimmering gold and the olive color together. Nice and springlike and fun to play around with some different colors.

 Now this was my favorite splurge/purchase of the month. Its the newest eyeshadow palette from Nars called And God Created The Woman set. Sheesh Nars you have some crazy people in your naming department. Anywayz...I had leftover store credit from some returns I made and it was enough to purchase this palette set. I love my Naked Palette but for traveling this slim compact will make it that much easier.

The shades are some lovely natural taupe and browns and easily everything you need for a variety of natural eye or smokey eye looks. The two middle shades are matter and go well together. The top shades on sides are shimmering and so pretty on the eyes. And the bottom outside shades are matte with super fine gold flecks. The darkest shades I use for soft eyeliner looks. the lightest shimmery shade is a great inner corner and brow bone highlight. The top matte shade is a great crease color....I could go on and on about the versatility of this compact. Just awesome, I'm a happy camper with this purchase :) The set did come with a brush and a sample of the Nars eye primer but I don't really use either of those. Any eye priming I do I use my Mac Paintpot in Groundwork not to say that this Nars primer is good its just I'm happy with what I got.

While I haven't been wearing much makeup I have made up for it with my nail polishes. I loved my Julep colors this month featured in the bottom right. I also played around with the nail strips I received in my Glossybox. My favorite though has been the new nail polish french manicure strips from Sally Hansen. I am crap at DIY  French Manicures and these are so AWESOME! I'm wearing gold glittery ones in the top right picture over Peach Daiquiri by Essie. The other cool thing about the french mani strips is that it comes with full clear polish strips to lay over the top of the entire nail. I'm so excited about them I'm thinking I'll do a little tutorial on them soon. Regardless I'm going to be stocking up on some different colors and some plain old white ones. Nail art is just so much fun for me right now, I swear half my Instagram pics are of my nails!

Finally, last but not least to go along with all my manicures I've been utilizing this simple hand cream from Bliss. Bliss has a few different scents but this is there most basic one which I like. It has a fresh clean scent that is just a bit citrusy. It's a thicker cream but not as thick as some creams I've tried from L'occitane but it absorbs quickly and is not greasy like L'occitane can be. I like the Bliss brand in general. They have a great blemish clearing mask as well cleverly name No Zit Sherlock which I've used and love in the past. The only reason I haven't used it lately is because I want to use up the Origins mask first. I don't know though, now that I think about it the Bliss mask isn't as drying so maybe I should get a new box. Who know maybe you'll see it in my March Favorites ;)

And that's all I have for this month! Lot's of good stuff, my skin has been clearing up and improving slowly but surely. Getting sick can really mess you up! Drink lots of fluids everyone and wash those hands!

Until next time, share your favorites with me and let's be friends! See ya later :D

Glossybox :: February 2013

 So finally, at long last I received my February Glossybox almost a week into March. My January box was late as well so it almost feels like it's Glossybox steps up their game when it comes to shipping out these boxes on time. It makes me nervous when I'm charged for my March box before I've even received the last months box. Oh well, hopefully it was worth the wait. Shall we see?

Product List/Value for the month: Evologie - eSystem Duo Pack trial size $15.00 (travel size duo $25) Bvlgari - Eau Parfumee Au The Blanc soap approx. $10 (fl sz $30)
Da Vinci Cosmetics - Shimmer Powder in Twilight $15
Lisi - Liquid Line Eyeliner $7 
Nail Rock - Nail Wraps $8
Total Bag Worth: approx. $55.00

 Ok so first in the box we have the Evologie eSystem Duo Pack in a trial size. This is a blemish clearing system involving a serum and a daily cream. The serum is used for spot treatments and the cream is an everyday preventative. I deal with breakouts all the time and I am excited to try this system out. I looked into the ingredients and nothing to special or unique or different from any other typical acne system. There is salicylic acid, tea tree oil, and a few other plant extracts that are common in natural blemish fighting products. Hopefully this means that it will be a gentle way to clear up acne and not to harsh or drying. We shall see.

 Next we have this lovely little soap sample from Bvlgari in the scent au the blanc which I believe is a fancy jewelry maker but I think they have perfumes as well. This soap smells really nice and floral fresh with maybe a hint of muskiness. Not a scent I would use as a perfume since it is a bit of an older woman scent but for a soap its alright. I might save this for a long trip as it is a travel size bar and sometimes its easier to pack a solid bar rather than a liquid body wash for travel on a plane. I like to fit everything in a carry-on these days for obvious reasons.

 Here we have a nice little gold shimmer powder from Da Vinci Cosmetics in Twilight. This powder is really pretty in person. I don't think it comes across as nice in the photo. It's quite think on my finger there but when you blend it out it leaves your skin with a really lovely golden shimmer. This will make an excellent highlighter and eyeshadow. Very nice.

 Next we have a silver liquid eyeliner from Lisi in the color Spellbound. I've used colored eyeliners before but never silver and I'm not sure what I feel about this color. On my hand it comes of a bit watery but once it set it did not budge even after washing my hands, until I really scrubbed vigorously did it come off. So that's good I suppose. The only thing is when am I ever going to wear this? Might have to wait for Halloween or something. Its a bit too exciting for my daily life.

And lastly we have the Nail Rock Nail Wraps in Giraffe Black on Gold. These are kinda cool for a fun nail look my only problem was in their application. They didn't come sealed in any way so getting them to stick to my nail was kind of tough. I followed the directions exactly but as you can see in the lower right picture the edges were coming up. I managed to stick some of the edges down with clear nail polish but the one on my pointer finger just peeled right off. So to even it out I just peeled the one on my other hand of and painted those two nails red for accents and went on my merry way. They only lasted for about five days total before they were all peeling off around the edges and getting caught on things. Ultimately I think you are better off with the far easier to apply, longer lasting Sally Henson Nail Polish strips. I love those!

Alright and that's everything for this month! Hopefully March will arrive before April for me to review but let's not hold our breath! What do you guys think? Did anyone get anything different in their boxes? I'd love to hear from you.

Share with me and let's be friends! See ya next time!