Nail of the Week 6/23 & 6/30

Hi guys!

Happy July 4th! I'm working today, so no exciting plans for me, though I may watch fireworks later if it doesn't rain.

Anyway, I finally got back to painting my nails after a lot of time off. I missed all my colors and my weekly ritual, so I'm glad to have it back!

Last week I was wearing Sally Hansen's XTreme Wear Marine Scene. I liked the frosted finish more than I thought I would.

This week I'm wearing Julep's Paulette which I got in my May Maven Box. I'm loving this orchid-y color so much this year. 

Both of these lasted FANTASTICALLY. Seriously. The Paulette picture was taken on Thursday after painting my nails on Sunday. Nail polish never lasts like that on me. I don't know if it's my new base coat, my new top coat, or a combination of both, but I'm loving it. Definitely a new favorite.

Nail of the Week 5/19 & 6/2

Hi guys!

I've been doing just terribly with painting my nails. I've had such a crazy past couple of weeks at work and going home that I just didn't have the time I needed to devote to myself. Thankfully, I got back on track recently.

The week I went home, I was sporting this crazy color. This is Sally Hansen's Back to the Fuschia which I got in my Sally Hansen Gift Bag from Influenster. It's funny, I never considered myself a pink girl, but after wearing this color, I kind of like it. I tend to go toward cooler colors for the most part, but I liked being sassy and girly with this one.

Last week I was wearing Zoya's Odette which I was really excited about. It's such a pretty dusty purple color (the photo really doesn't do it justice), and I loved looking at it on my nails. This came in the February ipsy bag, but I got the other color, Dot. I saw so many posts about it, though, that I had to buy it myself. Thank you Ulta gift cards!

In the next two weeks (barring everything goes as planned) I'll get to try my new LED gel light! I'm super excited about that!

Nail of the Week 4/21 & 4/28

Hi guys!

So sorry this was late. It's been a ridiculous couple of weeks. I've been so busy at work, I felt like I was going to explode!

Let's jump right in!

Last week I was wearing Nicole by OPI's Sweet Daisy from the Carrie Underwood collection with a Covergirl Seared Bronze from the Hunger Games collection accent nail. I'm all about the pinky/salmony color right now. 

This week was the long awaited arrival of my radiant orchid polish! This is the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Punch Drunk. It comes off a little more pink in this picture than it actually is. I'm totally in love with this color AND it's lasted fantastically. I took this picture yesterday evening after painting my nails on Monday. All I have is some tip wear and a little bit of corner issues on my right pointer and middle fingers. But, no major chips, and that makes me stupidly happy. I'll definitely be wearing this color again soon.

Hope you guys have an excellent weekend!

Sally Hansen Gift Bag

Hi guys! Sorry this is a little late. This weekend was crazy, and today was too. But I have something cool to talk about!

About a month ago, I received an email that I was a brand challenge winner from one of my Influenster boxes. It was a Sally Hansen challenge! They said I'd be receiving a gift bag worth $150. I was super excited because I thought it meant I would be getting a TON of nail polish.

What it ended up being was even more exciting.

Yes, I did receive a few nail polishes. I got one each from four of the lines:

XTreme Wear in Marine Scene

Insta-Dri in Racey Rouge

Complete Salon Manicure in Back to the Fuchsia

Salon Effects French Manicure Nail Polish Strips in Steel the Night

But the best part?

I got a Sally Hansen at Home Gel Polish Starter Kit!

These babies retail for upwards of $50! 

I love gel manicures, but they're too expensive to do a lot. I've been looking at the at-home gel kits, but they're fairly expensive too, so I was thrilled to find I got one for free!

Mine is in "Red my Lips" which is not the color I would've picked for myself, but I'm definitely not complaining! The kit comes with the LED light, the gel base coat, the gel top coat, the gel color an all the other accessories you'd need for a gel manicure.

In addition, I also received another gel polish in Commander in Chic.

I am seriously so excited to try this kit out. Plus, now that I have an LED light, I have even MORE nail polish I can buy because I can expand to gel polish. 

Clearly this is going to be terrible for my wallet.

But awesome for my obsession!

February Favorites

Okay, so this is late, I know, but I was using some products that I really liked in February, so I figured there was still time to share them!

Sally Hansen Cuticle Eraser and Balm

I started using this again in February because it has been a rough winter on my skin. My regular body butter wasn't cutting it for my cuticles, so I brought this back into the mix. It takes some getting used to (at least for me) in terms of having it on, but I put it on right before I go to bed and wake up with my hands looking so much better.

Faith Aromatherapy Tahitian Monoi Anti-Aging Scrub

This came in the January Ipsy bag, and even though I didn't get a sample, I used the coupon code to buy the full size. I had never used a body scrub, and I really like how exfoliating AND moisturizing it is. The only thing I'll say about it, though, is that if you're going to use it before you shave either do it a day before or invest in some razor cleaning stuff because it clogs up your razors really badly. And mine are far too expensive for that to be okay with me.

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser

I went to the dermatologist in February to try and get my skin under control, and one of the things I realized was that with my new routine, I was using way too many drying products on my face. So, I switched to Cetaphil, and I'm really liking it. It doesn't have the same excitement as my previous routine, but it gets the job done without killing my already tortured skin.

NYC In a New York Minute Top Coat

All the credit goes to Nouveau Cheap for this one. My Seche Vite just wasn't helping me out anymore, so I took a risk and tried this $1.99 top coat from NYC. And it's kind of amazing. It's nothing crazy in terms of keeping chipping at bay, but it does a better job than my more expensive brand.

Nyx Love in Paris Eyeshadow Palette in Parisian Chic

I love my neutrals, you guys. And I love this palette. Do I probably have enough neutral eyeshadows? Yes. But this one is my favorite as far as "fancy neutrals" go. I use my Pop Beauty eyeshadow trio on a daily basis, but when I'm going out and want to step it up a bit, I go for this palette.

That's everything I loved last month. I kind of had a back to basics month, and I'm totally okay with that!

Nail of the Week 2/10 & 2/17

Hi guys!

My nails for the past two weeks haven't really stuck to any kind of trend. Other than accent nails. I do what I want!

The week of Valentine's Day I finally got around to wearing my Nailtini Mai Tai, and I chose Nailtini Champagne for an accent nail. I wish Mai Tai had leaned a little more pink instead of orange, but both the polishes had excellent wear time. I liked Champagne a lot. It will definitely show up as a future accent nail color!

This week I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try some free-handed nail art, and I'm loving the results! I'm wearing Sally Hansen Grey Area and Zoya Dot as an accent color. Then I free-handed a little heart in Grey Area on the pink. And I'm seriously obsessed with it. These little hearts may start showing up in a lot of future manicures!

I'm really loving accent nails lately, so I think they may sticking around. As my best friend said, "It's kind of like the grown up version of painting all your nails different colors!"

Nail of the Week 12/22 & 12/29

Hi guys!

I'm really loving occasion nails lately, and Christmas and New Years are the perfect occasion for sparkly and beautiful polishes!

For Christmas I wore this festive combination. The red is Zoya Liz (whee!), the green is Butter London British Racing Green, and the gold is Julep Zelda. Both the BL and the Julep applied beautifully and covered in two coats. Because it's a red, the Zoya was finicky. It ended up patchy on certain nails, even after two coats.

For New Years, I took a little detour from my polish path and got a gel manicure with my sister and her best friend Jess. This is an OPI gel color that I don't know the name of, but I am obsessed with it. It's a blue/green/purple galaxy-esque holographic polish, and it's SO beautiful. There's apparently a really similar non-gel polish from Sally Hansen. It's part of the Gem Crush line and it's called Glitz Gal. It's textured, which I'm not a fan of, but just as beautiful!

Did you guys do any festive manis for the holidays?

Influenster Violet Voxbox

A few months ago, I found out that I had been approved to receive the Violet Voxbox from Influenster.

I haven't posted about Influenster before, but for maybe about a year now I've been a member. Basically you get selected based on demographics to receive items to test and review. I hadn't received a box in a while, and I was excited to get what they said was their box for "beauty queens."

Well, it came in the mail last week, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. As a "beauty queen" box, I thought it failed miserably. I've received makeup products before in my Voxboxes, and there wasn't one face, eye, or lip product in this box. There was nail polish, but even that disappointed me. Here's what I got:

Goody Athletique Headband

A headband for exercising. Nothing exciting. Nothing I'm that interested in.

Sally Hansen Triple Shine Nail Polish

Normally, I'd be totally happy with nail polish, but mine came in the color Play Koi. Not really a color I'm excited about, and others I saw received completely beautiful colors. I'll probably wear it once (because that's how I do) but I'm not dying to get it on my nails.

Soyjoy Banana

I'm not excited about the banana flavoring, but I'll give it a try. I've never had a Soyjoy, so I am interested in trying it. The banana flavor just doesn't inspire me.

Goody Quikstyle

I remember one of my favorite Youtubers talking about this brush a while back, and I was interested to see what I thought. This is the only item I've tried, and while I think it actually does help my hair dry faster, it hurts! My scalp is sensitive, and this brush has no give to it, so it's actually painful to brush the hair on my actual head with it. The other thing is that my hair is very particular, so if I don't get my curling product into it while it's still pretty wet, it won't curl well. The point of this product is something that I don't want unless I'm wearing my hair natural, which rarely ever happens.

I'll report back once I actually try some of the other things, but I think Influenster totally missed the boat with this box. It seems like a weird assortment of items, and I'm not genuinely excited about one thing.

-- I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. --