Kiss Nail Dress

The nail product I received in my Influenster Holiday VoxBox was Kiss Nail Dress.  I have to say, this is a product that I have mixed feelings about.  I have tried it twice in 2 different designs.  Once with great success and the second time...not so much.

The first design I tried was Boyshorts.  It applied easily and held up pretty well to the abuse I put my hands through at work everyday.  It didn't last nearly the 10 days on me like they say but I always have my hands in water so I didn't expect it to last more than a couple days.  I probably could have worn it longer but I had one nail where the sticker started to pull up so I couldn't resist peeling them all off.

This is my first try with Kiss Nail Dress in Boyshorts.  My cuticles look a little tore up, I was afraid to moisturize right after applying them!

The second time I tried Kiss Nail Dress it wasn't so pretty, which was disappointing because I really loved the design!  Here you can see how much wrinkling I had the second time.

The thumb came out great though!  Look, you can see my naked index nail!  I had already pulled the sticker off when I took this picture.  I don't think I even had em on for an hour this time!

Now that I'm looking at these pictures side by side, I realize that my nails are a bit longer the second time.  I already have pretty curved nail beds and when my nails start to grow out even a little bit, they start to curve inward quite a bit.  That could be what's causing them to wrinkle.  It could also have something to do with the designs applying differently.  I'm not 100% sure but I'd be willing to experiment!  I'd love to try other designs to see how they turn out.  I might try the leftovers from this pack on my toes or on shorter finger nails to see if I get different results!

Overall, I do like this product.  They are very sticky, easy to apply and hold on tight.  (as long as you don't have your hands dipped in water all the time like me)  The designs are really cool and they are great for a quick, no dry, fun mani!

So, that;'s about it.  Have you tried Kiss Nail Dress?  What design did you try and how did it turn out for you?

EBoost Natural Energy

I received a packet of EBOOST Natural Energy Pink Lemonade drink mix in my Influenster 2012 Holiday VoxBox.  Honestly, this is not the kind of thing I go for, I usually get my natural energy from good ol' black coffee!  However, I am always willing to try new things and I do love Pink Lemonade.

EBOOST is loaded with vitamins, green tea leaf extract, green coffee extract and a bunch of other energy giving goodness.  How about I just show you the back label?

That was SO much easier than typing all that out.

Now, what did I think of this?  Well, it wasn't terrible. I like that it has all the vitamins in it and it was drinkable but honestly, it wasn't very tasty.  I could tell that it was supposed to be pink lemonade flavor but it had that vitamin and artificial sweetener funk to it.  It did give me that energy boost but I don't think it was anything more than what I'd get from my good friend coffee.  It's not a bad product but it's really not my cup of tea.  It would definitely be good for certain people.  I can see taking this camping or hiking for that energy boost.  It would also be good for gym goers because you can mix it into your water bottle.  I will probably never buy this product but I'm still glad I got to try it!

What do you think of these kinda drink mixes?

Influenster Holiday VoxBox

In my last post I talked about Influenster, a community site where members can review and share their experiences and opinions on pretty much any product on the market.  If you're a member you also have the chance to receive and review products absolutely free!  I'm extremely pleased to say that I was selected to receive one of their 2012 Holiday VoxBoxes!

Now, my blog is mainly about nail polish, nail art and nail products but I am glad to have the chance to review non-nail products here and I hope you don't mind.  Not to worry though, my main focus here will always be nails.  Luckily they included a nail product too. 

Here is everything I received!

Included in my box was a set of Kiss Nail Dress in Babydoll, NYC Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City, A Goody Quikstyle paddle brush with microfiber bristles, a Montagne Jeunesse Deep Pore Cleansing mask in Raspberry Mango, Quaker Oats Real Medleys Oatmeal in Peach Almond, a packet of EBoost Natural Energy drink mix in Pink Lemonade AND a coupon code for $25 off my first order at Sole Society! 

I have to say I was pretty impressed with the product selection!  I'll post later about each product I received and tell you what I thought about them.  Except for the SoleSociety coupon...I thought it was a great item and SoleSociety has some really awesome shoes but I wasn't able to take advantage of the offer due to limited funds so I don't have much to say about it!  I did see this fantastic pair of bright yellow flats with a bow that I just adore but for now they are just on my wish list.

Are you a member with Influenster?  Did you receive a Holiday VoxBox as well?  If not, sign up, share your product opinions and you could have the chance to receive some great products too!

Influenster

I tend to be a pretty frugal gal.  I love trying new things but I don't have a lot of money for trial and error so I love receiving samples and products for review!  I'm more than happy to give my honest opinion on a product if I can try it out for myself. 

One program I've really wanted to get in on for a while is Influenster.  They send out various types of boxes full of products to review and I've seen some really good stuff in those boxes!  Sadly, I haven't been able to receive one yet but I'm working on it!

They just changed the site up and to me it looks pretty darn good!  It has a really clean and simple layout.  It's easy to find and access everything and over all it just looks great.  I love the color scheme.

The only thing I can really gripe about is the fact that my age was showing up as 107 and I couldn't figure out how to change it!  I doesn't really bother me, people will either assume it's wrong or think "Damn, she looks good for 107!"  Actually, now that I'm looking, it isn't even showing my "age" anymore!  I corrected my location and now the fake age is gone.  Strange...I'm sure I'll get that figured out eventually.

ANYWAY,  Right now I'm working on completing as many badges as I can because I'd really love to get a chance to try some new products and put my opinion on them out there for everyone to check out!  You should do the same, click here to  sign up for Influenster and start earning those badges!

Thanks for stopping by and check back soon for a new product review!

Beauty Minions Catch-up

What's that, brain?  Did you say joining a group which does bi-weekly assignments will help me blog more consistantly?  Well, that sounds fantastic.  Thanks, brain! 

*Cut to 7 weeks later*

WELL, that was a bust.  Thanks for the lies, brain!  Okay so it wasn't a total bust.  I'm still doing my Beauty Minions assignments I'm just not posting about them!  So I'm here in the wee hours of the morning to catch up.

The second assignment (In celebration of her 2 Year Blogversary) was to do a look inspired by the header/background of  Heather's Blog; My Husband Ate All My Ice Cream. 

Here is my interpretation!  You can see the rest of the entries for this assignment here Beauty Minions V2. I have to admit, I was really excited when I saw my mani as the first picture on the post!

For my base I used Icing - Riviera Romance. The Skull is Finger Paints - Easel Come, Easel Go!  and NYC - Black Creme.  I did the tips with french manicure strips and sprinkled loose silver glitter over clear polish. Yes, there was glitter stuck to everything for days.  Ah yes, glitter; the herpes of crafts! 


Onto assignment 3.  Theme:  HALLOWEEN!  Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it so I was really into this one and excited to see everyones creations! 

Here's mine and of course you should check out the other Minions here; Beauty Minions V3.

 

 

I had painted my nails with Revlon Just Tinted - Desire the day before and while thinking about what I wanted to do I thought about how pink is kinda left out of Halloween.  I love pink and decided that it should be included!  I also used NYC - Black Creme and Finger Paints - Easel Come, Easel Go! in this one.

 

Well, that's all for now, folks!  I'm off to make early morning grilled cheese sandwiches or as my boyfriend calls them, gorilla cheese. 

 

Thanks for reading!  See you next time. Same nail time, same nail channel!

 

 

 

 





First Beauty Minions Assignment!

I recently joined a group called Beauty Minions.  It was started by Heather from My Husband Ate All My Ice Cream.  She's giving us bi-weekly assignments, a theme for us to translate into pretty much anything beauty related.  I will obviously be doing them on my nails because it's kinda my thing.  Check out the first of the Beauty Minions post to see all of the participants entries!

The first theme was 50 Shades of Grey. Now, I have never read this book so my inspiration came solely from the title. I knew right away I would do a gradient with white, grey and black. The black didn't really come out in the end but that's okay since I was just trying to get the different shades of grey.

I was planning on doing the gradient with a sponge but it just wasn't working out.  It was pulling up the polish and making too much texture. I took that all off and decided to try a technique I've seen using a fan brush instead. It was pretty messy but I love how it turned out!  I really like how you can see the brush strokes but the transition is still so smooth.

 

 

I wish now that I had taken some picture of the process but it's pretty simple.  I just put vertical stripes of white, grey and black on some plastic and then swiped the fan brush through it (vertically) a few times to blend the colors together.  I picked up quite a bit of paint on the brush so I could cover the nail in one swipe. 

 

The hardest part was finishing the side of the nail where the brush stroke ends.  At first I kept getting a bare spot. You can kinda see on the ring and pinky finger where the brush stroke stops and I had to fill it in. I also used a little thinner on my brush to help the colors run together and make it easier to work with. 

 

 

Love the look, hate the clean up!  I made a serious mess.  The side where the brush stroke started would be fairly clean but the other side tended to pool up with polish.  I had never done this before so hopefully next time I can find a way to cut back on clean up!

 

I hope you enjoyed this weeks Beauty Minion Assignment.  Go check out the other gals work here and stay tuned for a new Beauty Minions post (and hopefully some posts in between) in a couple weeks!

 

 

Tip Top Nails Review and Swatches

Finally I get a chance to write my review on Tip Top polish!  I had been wanting to try Tip Top so when I was contacted by Joan at Tip Top Nails South Africa  asking if I would like to review some of their polish I was super excited!  The only down side to this offer is that I'm now in love with Tip Top polish and I can't get it in the US. They are only available for purchase in South Africa but I believe they are trying to find a way to sell them internationally or at least in the US as well!

Here is the wonderful selection of polish I received with my awesome polish Caboodle in the background!

L-R Peach Crisp, Melting Marshmallows, Space Cadet, Fairy Dust & Solar Flare



Onto the swatches!  I did 3 very thin coats on all but 1 of these polishes.  I could have gotten away with 2 thicker coats but it has been pretty humid and I kept getting bubbles!

Peach Crisp is a dark peach creme.  This one looks more peachy in the bottle but dries a darker more orange shade.  I think apricot rather than peach when it's dry.  This polishe gave me a new appreciation for wearing orange! 

Melting Marshmallows is a light pink creme.  For me, this is the perfect baby pink.  I have a ton of pink polish but hardly ever wear them.  I've worn this one 3 times since I got it.  It's so pretty and feminine.

Space Cadet is a dark blue jelly with silver glass flecks. The name fits, it reminds me of space and I really want to use it as the base when I do my next galaxy mani.  I only did 2 coats with this one but it was perfect.  The picture does not do it justice.  In natural light it kinda glows and you can really see the blue and shimmer from the glass flecks. The down side to this one is that it does stain.  Even with a base coat I had a bit of staining but it's a dark blue, staining was not unexpected.  Just be careful with application because cleaning up your cuticles will be a pain.  Still, totally worth it!

 



Fairy Dust is a light, kinda dusty lavender.  It's the second most used polish I have from the selection. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first (I'm more into bright, bold colors) but after wearing it I decided I really do love it!  It's another very feminine color and I do so love purple.

And last, but not least there is Solar Flare.  Perfectly named in my opinion because it's a very bold and bright red-orange creme.  This one kinda made my camera freak out.  The bright orange didn't want to photograph so I had to play with the picture a bit to try to get a good representation.  It's not perfect but it's pretty close!



I can honestly say that I love this brand!  The colors are beautiful and very pigmented.  The formula is great, went on like butta.  It was easy to do thin, even coats and dried quickly.  They also have great brushes and don't smell much at all.  I can't attest to wear time because I rarely wear polish for more than a couple days.  I wash my hands a lot at work and am not able to be very easy on them so that usually ruins my mani within 1-2 days.

The only thing I could even think to gripe about was the barcode stickers on the handle of the bottle. The ink on a couple rubbed off onto my fingers and I wish the stickers were easier to peel off. Obviously that has nothing to do with the polish itself, just a observation! Oh, and as I said before, Space Cadet does stain.  Personally I don't mind much because my nails are almost always stained!

Thank you for reading! My next post will be a review about the treatments I was sent, along with some progress pictures I've already taken. So, stay tuned!  While you wait,  go check out the Tip Top Nails South Africa page on Facebook and their website Tip Top Nails where you can check out all of their colors and products.