October's Ipsy Bag

Here are this month's products:

This month's Ipsy bag (the bag itself) was adorable! Love it!! Anywho, in this month's bag I got a full sized Zoya nail polish, in a gorgeous sparkly purple color (Mason).  I also got a medium eyeshadow brush by Coastal Scents.  There was also a sample of La Fresh face oil-free face cleanser wipes.  There was also a sample of Bella Terra Mineral Cosmetics color in Navy.  Lastly, and last for a reason, a sample of StyleSexyHair's Spray Clay. I put this last because I, personally, am not a fan of hair products.  Ipsy could totally remove hair products from my packages and I'd be completely okay with that.  This is the second (out of four bags total) hair product I've received, and like the other, this is likely to go unused.

CVS Sale

Hey guys! So I stopped into CVS last night and thought they had some pretty decent deals.  First, all Orly nail polish was 50% off.  They were pretty cleaned out but I managed to pick up two shades (pictured below).  Also, there were many other random items mixed in that were marked with 50% off or 75% off stickers.  Additionally, for every $10 you spent on Maybelline (as well as Covergirl and Loreal),  you receive $3 in bonus bucks.  Or CVS dollars.  Or whatever they call them since I don't shop at CVS too often lol.  

Suggestions for a Good Topcoat???

Okay, so I just did my nails yesterday.  Twenty four hours ago.  And this is what they look like now (the other hand as well).  Typically I don't use a top coat on my nails because I've found that it makes them super thick and doesn't really aid in the polish lasting any longer.  Well yesterday I decided to re-ignite my past love of top coats, and this is what my nails look like.  It's not that the polish is even chipping, but it is peeling, like you could literally lift a corner up and peel it off, with ease.  I've done this polish look before with no top coat, and it gave me 3 days worth of wear.  This here, I'm probably going to redo tonight.  

So, that leaves me with asking you guys, any suggestions for a good top coat? One that won't cause my nail polish to peel, help prolong the polish wear, or make them "bumpy" after application? PLEASE comment below! LOL.  Whoever finds me one that works well, I've got a polish giveaway for you!!  FYI-I used Finger Paints top coat for these nails. 

Thanks :)

NOTD: Nail of the Day

Hi Guys, here's today's nail of the day! Excuse the extra short length of my nails...I've been breaking them left and right, down to the nub, so I decided to just cut all of them down to the same length, and grow them back out together.  I'm also thinking about changing my natural nail shape from round to square.  I'm starting to like the way it looks, so my nails also have an awkward shape right now.  Anywho, for the colors I used China Glaze's Electric Beat (the blue) and the glitter is OPI's Polka.Com (polka dot com).  

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

Check out the pics below!

Ulta Online Haul

I ordered some things from Ulta that came in the mail last night.  The Eco Tools and Real Techniques brushes were all buy one get one 50% off, and I also used the 20% off coupon.  The Eco Tools brushes were Detailed Lip brush and the Sharpen and Smudge Duo (1275 and 1245).  The Real Techniques brushes are the blush brush and powder brush. I'm super excited about these because my former brushes were Target brand brushes and of course, they sucked.  I find the Real Technique brushes to be a good value for the price!  The Ulta products were all buy one get one free, so I picked up an eyeliner brush and an eyeliner gel pencil in Peacock.  The nail polishes were $6 each. Overall I think I got a really good deal!! Oh yea, check out those free samples in the back (next to the bread) lol! Didn't open the pack, not sure what they are, but I will update...because you know I love my free samples!!

NOTD: Nail of the Day.

For today's nail I used Orly's Kiss the Bride. It's a super pretty muted pinky white color. Hence the name, it's perfect for a new bride's wedding day. Depending on the light it looks more white than pink, but in natural light it's definitely a super soft baby pink. This is one of my favorite colors that I wish I could wear more often, but I hate the application. It's super streaky and uneven and to get a true nail I find myself having to use a lot of polish, which of course causes bubbles and all type of nicks. Maybe it's not the polish and just me lol. In fact that's probably the case. But most light polishes, like white, I find myself having the same problem with application. I'm going to have to google some tricks to help me out with this. If I find some good ones ill let you guys know! 

NOTD: Revlon's Red Carpet

I thought I posted this the other day, but here was my red nail for the holiday.  I was so busy this year I'm disappointed I couldn't do my rhinestone flag, lol.  Which is so cute and done with clear, red, and blue rhinestones.  Anywho, here is Revlon's ColorStay Nail Polish in Red Carpet.  A nice clean bright red, not too shiny.  Excuse the messy nail, I was sleepy when I painted this the other day.  I must say its a pretty good formula because two entire days later and there is minimal chipping.  I'm impressed.  Not sure where this red came from, I was at my cousin's house when I painted them.  I also (sidenote) gave her a fake toe nail extension.  I'm going to detail that in a separate post later on.  I know it sounds weird but it's a great idea, especially for summer, if you have a broken toe nail.

NOTD: Nail of the Day

For today's nail I used Sally Hensen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Nail Polish in Mellow Yellow. It's a bright, true to color lemony yellow.  It retails at Ulta for 2.99, super affordable.  It's a cute color, it has grown on me in the past hour since I've had it on.  The formula is just okay, maybe even subpar.  The formula applies unevenly, which means you generally need to apply an extra couple coats, or your second coat has to be super thick.

NOTD: Nail of the Day

Today I went to one of my staples: a nice deep pink by Orly called Elsbeth's Rose. It is a beautiful color, and I like Orly's formula...this bottle is older, and its not thick or clumpy like my China Glaze polishes.  Its still new, and applies without super heavy streaking.  I know it's boring, but I was super tired tonight and True Blood premiered tonight.  MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE!!!! ERIC NORTHMAN!!!!!!!!!

NOTD: Nail of the Day

Nail of the day! Used China Glaze's Peachy Keen with a couple of rhinestones.  I love this color! It's a nice bright peach, that will compliment all skin tones!

NOTD: Nail of the Day

I used China Glaze's 'For Audrey' today. It's a really pretty blue...some would say it is sort of a Tiffany blue. Get it? For Audrey is the name of the color...Audrey...Audrey Hepburn...Breakfast at Tiffany's. Lol...it took me a while to catch that.  Don't judge my nail design lol. I know it's basic but I've got to get back in the swing of things. My designs will (hopefully) get better with practice. 

NOTD: Nail of the Day

I painted my nails using China Glaze's Dance Baby polish. It's a niec bright light pink.  I like China Glaze's polish formula, but I've noticed over time that once the polish isn't brand new and has sat for a couple months, it becomes super thick, clumpy, and stringy.  It gives me a total case of the sads considering the fact that China Glaze has a great range of colors, from neutrals to brights.  Anywho, China Glaze is available at Sally's, and it's super affordable, especially if you catch one of the buy one get one free sales or other sales that Sally often has.  I know this post isn't super interesting...but I realized I had 66 posts and I hate the number 66 so I had to hurry and do a 67 lol.  Here's a picture below (ignore the fact that I turned the bottle in the wrong direction lol...it was super late).  I promise I'll do a better nail tomorrow and post new pics.

OPI's Matte Top Coat

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. I know i'm probably late in the game with the whole "matte polish phase" but I haven't been able to find a matte topcoat.  Until today.  When I wasn't even looking.  I went to Ulta to pick up the liquid sand bond girl in Jinx (which they didn't have...boooooo) and I saw one lone matte top coat sitting in with the other polishes.  So I grabbed it and ran to the register.   Anywho, in my previous post I discussed the Loreal polishes I picked up from Target today.  I then realized that I had the matte top coat and decided to try it out.  Below is a picture of the results (as per my prior post--don't judge my nail polish job).  I LOVE this top coat.  I can just imagine all the fun things and designs you could do with it!! Can't wait to try them all out.  I mean, once I find my polish remover.  Sigh.

First is a picture pre-matte top coat. Second are pictures with the matte top coat, flash and no flash.

Loreal Nail Polish (Summer colors)

So in my Target clearance purchase today I picked up three shades of Loreal nail polish.  They retail for $4.99 and were on sale for $2.48, so I decided to pick up a couple of the clearance shades that looked "summery".  I've never tried Loreal's nail polish before either, so this was exciting! Lol.  The three shades I  picked up were: Royally Reinvented, Orange You Jealous! and Not A Cloud In Sight.  They're all gorgeous and bright in the bottle, so I knew these would work with my summer colors.  The packaging is also very pretty, love the matte gold finish. The formula was just okay for me.  The purple nail polish worked beautifully, not too thin, not too thick, and not streaky at all.  It coated very easily.  The blue shade was a bit more difficult, sort of streaky and a little thick.  The coral shade, which is probably my favorite and absolutely gorgeous gave me the hardest time.  It was very streaky and applied unevenly.  Total bummer.  But remember, I bought these polishes for half off so I don't think its a bad deal, and perhaps its just an old bottle.  The colors are gorgeous, the pics don't do it any justice.  Although admittedly the blue was just "ehh" to me, seems like a blue shade I've seen over and over and probably have a couple of similar bottles. I've attached some pics below, but don't judge me or my nail application!!! I couldn't find my polish remover so I had to apply all the polishes on one hand, so that I could try out all three colors at once.

Target and Ulta Haul

Took the day off to spend time with my daughter.  We had a great time and we mostly ran errands, bought some toys, and came home for play time.  Days like today make me miss staying at home with her, wishing I had more time to spend together.  :(.  Sidenote, we made a trip to Target for a couple things and I browsed the makeup section. They had some nice things marked down so I picked up a couple of items I've never tried (shown below). I'm excited to swatch and try these out later on!

Also I stopped in Ulta to pick up the mirror that was in this week's sale ad. Only $14.99, and it was eligible for the 3.50 off of 10.00 purchase coupon! I also got my hands on the OPI matte topcoat which I can't wait to try out!! EOS lip balms were also 2/6$ so I picked a couple extra up. They make great stocking and gift stuffers too. 

OPI Bond Girls (liquid sand) Nail Polish

I saw these polishes at Ulta two weeks ago and I picked up the blue (Tiffany Case) and pink (P___y Galore). I wore the pink last week and wasn't particularly impressed. The color was pale and with the liquid sand component it didn't look great on my skin. I tried the blue tonight and love the color!! Now I'm thinking about going back to get the black and the orange. These retail for $9 at Ulta. Not sure if its cheaper somewhere else

The formula is good, a little thicker than I expected. I found it a bit difficult to remove but then I realized I didn't follow the directions (which state apply a basecoat). Here are some pics below.