Good morning!
Today I'm continuing on with Texture Week by showing you a polish that I've had for quite some time but that I never got around to swatching/wearing until now.
Nails Inc. Noho is one of the Leather Effect polishes and I actually purchased this back in late January when I went on a small vacation. It was one of the top things on my to-buy list and I was so excited when I arrived in Sephora and saw that there was one left. Yet now it's basically May and it's been sitting in my to-swatch bin ever since! Mo polish, mo problems. That's how the song goes, right? Sure.
Anyways, Noho comes in a kit called Bling It On: Rebel that contains the polish (obviously), a few different varieties of rhinestones and studs, four crystallized skulls, a bottle of nail glue as well as a couple of orange wood sticks. I probably could have done without the glue, sticks, rhinestones and studs, but I'm really loving the little skulls. Luckily they're reusable so you don't have to throw them out after using them in a mani.
The formula of Noho was really great, albeit a little thinner than I was expecting. And it does take a few minutes to dry down and achieve that full leather effect. Speaking of the leather effect, I think it's pretty rad looking. It's subtle, especially from a distance, but still super cool. It's designed to be worn without top coat, which is how I've shown it to you here.
Now that I've worn this, I have no idea how I've allowed it to sit in my to-swatch bin for so long. Shame on me. Shame, shame, shame. This is an awesome polish and I'm so glad that I have it in my collection. I also just added the other two Leather Effect polishes (Soho Mews and Shoreditch Lane) to my wishlist. I'll definitely need to get my hands on those asap.
As far as I know, Noho isn't sold individually, so you need to purchase the whole Bling It On: Rebel kit. The kit is available at Sephora for $25 in the US and $30 in Canada.
Well you know that I'm just smitten with this polish, and with textured polishes in general, really. What about you?
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Review - Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care System
Hey everyone!
I typically don't post on Sundays, nor do I usually post this late in the evening, but I thought I'd quickly share my thoughts on this new anti-aging hand care system that I've been testing out for the past three weeks or so.
Now I'm only 25, but that means I'm soon going to be 26, which is closing in on 30. And in my opinion it's never really too early to start using anti-aging products. So let's take a look at the Hand Perfection System.
The Nourishing Day Cream is a daily moisturizer that contains SPF 15. The SPF is a great addition to this cream because although I don't apply sunscreen a whole lot (the weather here in NL doesn't really call for it most of the year), it's good to know that my hands will be protected. The cream absorbs really quickly and leaves my hands feeling soft and moisturized.
The Rejuvenating Night Cream is actually my favourite product out of the three. I never really bothered applying hand cream before bed (until recently anyways) because I hated waiting for it to absorb so that I could finally sunggle down into my comfy bed. But this one absorbs so quickly that it's not even an issue. And my hands do feel quite moisturized afterwards.
The Nail and Cuticle Treatment is a pen-like cuticle oil. The applicator is a sponge and you just click down on the top of the pen to release the product. One click releases enough product to for all ten of my nails. I typically tend to stick more with cuticle creams than oils because I hate that greasy feeling while waiting for it to absorb, but this one absorbs quickly enough that I'm not turned off by it. I also like how convenient this is because I can just throw it in my purse.
Overall, I will say that I really like this system and that I will continue to use it. Do I see a noticeable difference in the way my hands look? No, I can't say that I do. But like I said above, I'm only 25 so my hands aren't yet suffering from many of the issues that these products claim to help. But with that said, I do feel that my hands are moisturized and healthy, which makes me happy.
The Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care System is available at CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons, Duane Reade, Harmon and other such stores in the US. The Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night Cream come in a combo pack that has a SRP of $24.99. The Nail and Cuticle Treatment is sold separately for $9.99. I haven't seen the system at any similar store in Canada yet, but I'll be keeping my eye out.
I typically don't post on Sundays, nor do I usually post this late in the evening, but I thought I'd quickly share my thoughts on this new anti-aging hand care system that I've been testing out for the past three weeks or so.
Now I'm only 25, but that means I'm soon going to be 26, which is closing in on 30. And in my opinion it's never really too early to start using anti-aging products. So let's take a look at the Hand Perfection System.
The Nourishing Day Cream is a daily moisturizer that contains SPF 15. The SPF is a great addition to this cream because although I don't apply sunscreen a whole lot (the weather here in NL doesn't really call for it most of the year), it's good to know that my hands will be protected. The cream absorbs really quickly and leaves my hands feeling soft and moisturized.
The Rejuvenating Night Cream is actually my favourite product out of the three. I never really bothered applying hand cream before bed (until recently anyways) because I hated waiting for it to absorb so that I could finally sunggle down into my comfy bed. But this one absorbs so quickly that it's not even an issue. And my hands do feel quite moisturized afterwards.
The Nail and Cuticle Treatment is a pen-like cuticle oil. The applicator is a sponge and you just click down on the top of the pen to release the product. One click releases enough product to for all ten of my nails. I typically tend to stick more with cuticle creams than oils because I hate that greasy feeling while waiting for it to absorb, but this one absorbs quickly enough that I'm not turned off by it. I also like how convenient this is because I can just throw it in my purse.
Overall, I will say that I really like this system and that I will continue to use it. Do I see a noticeable difference in the way my hands look? No, I can't say that I do. But like I said above, I'm only 25 so my hands aren't yet suffering from many of the issues that these products claim to help. But with that said, I do feel that my hands are moisturized and healthy, which makes me happy.
The Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care System is available at CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons, Duane Reade, Harmon and other such stores in the US. The Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night Cream come in a combo pack that has a SRP of $24.99. The Nail and Cuticle Treatment is sold separately for $9.99. I haven't seen the system at any similar store in Canada yet, but I'll be keeping my eye out.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Mish Mash Mint Mani
Good morning, everyone!
So how do you like that title? Alliterations are awesome. Do you see what I just did there? I like to think I'm clever. Anyways, check out today's nail art design!
This mani went through quite the evolution! It started out that I was just going to do a mint creme on most of my nails and then an accent nail of black and white chevrons. But once I applied China Glaze Re-fresh Mint, I remembered just how much I love it, so my mind started wandering and coming up with other fun designs. So, somehow I ended up with this mish mash minty skittle mani!
Let's break this down, shall we?
I've done a simple leopard print on my index nails, there's some drips on my middle nail, my ring nail features four gold studs and on my pinky nail I've drawn some gold chevrons. And since I never show my thumb in photos (I'm just not a fan of the photo aesthetic when I include my thumb), I'll just tell you that the thumb nail is a repeat of studded ring nail.
As I said above, the lovely mint creme base colour is China Glaze Re-fresh Mint. The other polishes I used include Zoya Ziv (the gold shimmery shade) and China Glaze Liquid Leather (the black creme).
I really like how nicely mint and gold go together! It's not a combination I see in nail art that often, but it's really pretty.
I'm off to do some shopping for my new nail room today! If you , you probably already know that I'm currently re-doing my nail room. I've ordered a new desk, I'm picking up a new client chair today and shopping for some new decor today as well. The desk I ordered has display shelves on one side so you know I've got to fill those shelves with some pretty things! The desk is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, so you can definitely expect to see photos of my new room some time after that!
Anyways, thanks for looking!
So how do you like that title? Alliterations are awesome. Do you see what I just did there? I like to think I'm clever. Anyways, check out today's nail art design!
This mani went through quite the evolution! It started out that I was just going to do a mint creme on most of my nails and then an accent nail of black and white chevrons. But once I applied China Glaze Re-fresh Mint, I remembered just how much I love it, so my mind started wandering and coming up with other fun designs. So, somehow I ended up with this mish mash minty skittle mani!
Let's break this down, shall we?
I've done a simple leopard print on my index nails, there's some drips on my middle nail, my ring nail features four gold studs and on my pinky nail I've drawn some gold chevrons. And since I never show my thumb in photos (I'm just not a fan of the photo aesthetic when I include my thumb), I'll just tell you that the thumb nail is a repeat of studded ring nail.
As I said above, the lovely mint creme base colour is China Glaze Re-fresh Mint. The other polishes I used include Zoya Ziv (the gold shimmery shade) and China Glaze Liquid Leather (the black creme).
I really like how nicely mint and gold go together! It's not a combination I see in nail art that often, but it's really pretty.
I'm off to do some shopping for my new nail room today! If you , you probably already know that I'm currently re-doing my nail room. I've ordered a new desk, I'm picking up a new client chair today and shopping for some new decor today as well. The desk I ordered has display shelves on one side so you know I've got to fill those shelves with some pretty things! The desk is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, so you can definitely expect to see photos of my new room some time after that!
Anyways, thanks for looking!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Review & Swatches - Hard Candy Glitteratzi Collection: Part I
Hey everyone!
Of the five new Hard Candy Collections that were recently released, I've already showed you polishes from four. Today I have Part I of the final collection called Glitteratzi, which consists of nine glitter bomb polishes. Check out four of them below!
Fire Flash consists of small coppery-orange hexes with scattered larger pink hexes. The formula was good and my swatch shows three coats.
Mermaid Magic features bright teal hex glitters with larger purple hex pieces throughout. Turquoise and purple - no surprise that this one is my favourite of the bunch. The formula was pretty easy to work with and my swatch shows three coats.
Party Lights is a mix of consistently sized blue-purple, green and gold glitters. The formula was the thickest out of all of them and I did have to go back after three coats to fill in a couple of bald spots.
So So Sequin consists of fine pink-silver and holo glitters with larger blue hex glitters throughout. This is another favourite. The formula was the best out of these four and I used three coats to get the coverage you see below.
Overall, these are really fun shades and I like that they all reach opacity on their own. One thing to beware of is removal because it's pretty rough going. I only had each of these on long enough to swatch and I still hard a hard time with removal. This is to be expected from glitter bombs like this, but I definitely suggest using the foil method of removal for these polishes.
Here's a quick recap with links to the previous Hard Candy posts:
Candy Sprinkles Collection
Crushed Chrome Collection
Itsy Glitzy Collection
Crystal Confetti Collection
The Hard Candy Crystal Confetti Collection, as well as the other four collections, are all available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each.
Of the five new Hard Candy Collections that were recently released, I've already showed you polishes from four. Today I have Part I of the final collection called Glitteratzi, which consists of nine glitter bomb polishes. Check out four of them below!
Fire Flash consists of small coppery-orange hexes with scattered larger pink hexes. The formula was good and my swatch shows three coats.
Mermaid Magic features bright teal hex glitters with larger purple hex pieces throughout. Turquoise and purple - no surprise that this one is my favourite of the bunch. The formula was pretty easy to work with and my swatch shows three coats.
Party Lights is a mix of consistently sized blue-purple, green and gold glitters. The formula was the thickest out of all of them and I did have to go back after three coats to fill in a couple of bald spots.
So So Sequin consists of fine pink-silver and holo glitters with larger blue hex glitters throughout. This is another favourite. The formula was the best out of these four and I used three coats to get the coverage you see below.
Overall, these are really fun shades and I like that they all reach opacity on their own. One thing to beware of is removal because it's pretty rough going. I only had each of these on long enough to swatch and I still hard a hard time with removal. This is to be expected from glitter bombs like this, but I definitely suggest using the foil method of removal for these polishes.
Here's a quick recap with links to the previous Hard Candy posts:
Crushed Chrome Collection
Itsy Glitzy Collection
Crystal Confetti Collection
The Hard Candy Crystal Confetti Collection, as well as the other four collections, are all available at Wal-Mart stores and each shade retails for $3.97 each.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the manufacturer or their PR in exchange for an honest review.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Review & Swatches - Jade Cremoso Collection: Part III
Hi again!
As promised, here's the third and final set of polishes from the Jade Cremoso Collection. If you missed Parts I and II, check them out here and here respectively.
Adoravel Sedutora can only be described as a classic red creme. It looks darker in the bottle than it actually is, but don't be fooled. This is just a great shade of red. The formula was really good and my swatch shows two coats.
Cappuccino is a milky chocolate brown jelly. Once again, Jade is blurring the lines between creme and jelly finishes, but I would definitely describe this one as more of a jelly finish. The formula was a little patchy and it took three coats to even everything out.
Dama da Noite is a reddened wine jelly. It dries deceptively lighter than the colour in the bottle and it has a really nice shiny finish. The formula was great and I've shown two coats below.
Rosa do Deserto is a sheer light pink. This one and Branco Absolute from my first post of swatches are the only ones in the Cremoso Collection that have white caps, so I'm assuming that means these two were designed to be used for classic french manicures. Nonetheless, I've shown you this one on its own at three coats. The formula was a little patchy, but not too bad.
Rosa Retro is a pinkish nude creme. This is probably my least favourite of the whole collection, just because it's not something I would typically reach for. It's a very work-appropriate polish, though. The formula was really good and I used two coats for full coverage.
There you have it - the entire Jade Cremoso Collection! My personal favourites are Alga Marinha, Flamingo, Pink Pop and Musa do Varao.
The Jade Cremoso Collection is available from llarowe and each 8ml shade retails for just $5. llarowe ships internationally so these are available to you no matter where you live.
As promised, here's the third and final set of polishes from the Jade Cremoso Collection. If you missed Parts I and II, check them out here and here respectively.
Adoravel Sedutora can only be described as a classic red creme. It looks darker in the bottle than it actually is, but don't be fooled. This is just a great shade of red. The formula was really good and my swatch shows two coats.
Cappuccino is a milky chocolate brown jelly. Once again, Jade is blurring the lines between creme and jelly finishes, but I would definitely describe this one as more of a jelly finish. The formula was a little patchy and it took three coats to even everything out.
Dama da Noite is a reddened wine jelly. It dries deceptively lighter than the colour in the bottle and it has a really nice shiny finish. The formula was great and I've shown two coats below.
Rosa do Deserto is a sheer light pink. This one and Branco Absolute from my first post of swatches are the only ones in the Cremoso Collection that have white caps, so I'm assuming that means these two were designed to be used for classic french manicures. Nonetheless, I've shown you this one on its own at three coats. The formula was a little patchy, but not too bad.
Rosa Retro is a pinkish nude creme. This is probably my least favourite of the whole collection, just because it's not something I would typically reach for. It's a very work-appropriate polish, though. The formula was really good and I used two coats for full coverage.
There you have it - the entire Jade Cremoso Collection! My personal favourites are Alga Marinha, Flamingo, Pink Pop and Musa do Varao.
The Jade Cremoso Collection is available from llarowe and each 8ml shade retails for just $5. llarowe ships internationally so these are available to you no matter where you live.
The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Review & Swatches - Jade Cremoso Collection: Part II
Good afternoon!
The Jade Cremoso Collection consists of fifteen shades and I've split them into three posts of five. I've already showed you Part I here and I'll actually be posting Part III later today. Let's get right to it!
D'Vino is a wine jelly. I know this collection is called Cremoso, and I suppose you could call this a creme, but only in the sense that there's no glitter or shimmer in it. But the formula and overall look is much more jelly-like. The formula was really great and my swatch shows three coats.
Licor de Amarena is a purple-leaning pink creme. The formula was really easy to work with and I used two coats to get the coverage you see below.
Maravilha is a vivid, cool-toned pink creme. I always tend to steer towards cooler shades, so I really like this one. The formula was great and my swatch shows two coats.
Musa do Verao is a coral-pink creme. I think this would make a great pedi polish! It's really pretty. The formula was really good and I've shown two coats below.
Pimenta Doce is a tomato red creme. The formula was great and I needed two coats for full coverage.
The Jade Cremoso Collection is available from llarowe and each 8ml shade retails for just $5. llarowe ships internationally so these are available to you no matter where you live.
Stay tuned for the final five Cremoso shades later today!
The Jade Cremoso Collection consists of fifteen shades and I've split them into three posts of five. I've already showed you Part I here and I'll actually be posting Part III later today. Let's get right to it!
D'Vino is a wine jelly. I know this collection is called Cremoso, and I suppose you could call this a creme, but only in the sense that there's no glitter or shimmer in it. But the formula and overall look is much more jelly-like. The formula was really great and my swatch shows three coats.
Licor de Amarena is a purple-leaning pink creme. The formula was really easy to work with and I used two coats to get the coverage you see below.
Maravilha is a vivid, cool-toned pink creme. I always tend to steer towards cooler shades, so I really like this one. The formula was great and my swatch shows two coats.
Musa do Verao is a coral-pink creme. I think this would make a great pedi polish! It's really pretty. The formula was really good and I've shown two coats below.
Pimenta Doce is a tomato red creme. The formula was great and I needed two coats for full coverage.
The Jade Cremoso Collection is available from llarowe and each 8ml shade retails for just $5. llarowe ships internationally so these are available to you no matter where you live.
Stay tuned for the final five Cremoso shades later today!
The product(s) in this post were provided by the above retailer in exchange for an honest review.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Blue Roses - OPI Euro Centrale Nail Art
Hey everyone!
Today I have another nail art design that utilizes shades from the OPI Euro Centrale Collection! I find that this collection offers a lot of great nail art options, which is why I've been playing with it a lot lately. The first design I did was a gradient polka dot one which you can see here, and today's design is a pretty blue-on-nude floral print.
I started with a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff on all of my nails. I keep talking about this shade but I just need to stress once again how much I love it. I already have one back-up bottle and I'm going back to my supply store today to see if I can grab another! I seriously need as many bottles of this as I can find.
Once that was semi-dry, I added some general round shapes using OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and a medium sized nail art brush. While those were drying, I drew on the leaves using a smaller nail art brush and OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw. Finally, I added the finishing touches to the roses by drawing a few squiggly lines inside them using OPI...Eurso Euro.
This is actually my first time doing a full graphic rose print and I'm super happy with how it turned out. My favourite thing about this print is that it looks complicated and time-consuming, but in reality it's actually pretty simple! I might even do a tutorial for this one since it's been so long since I've done a tutorial for you all.
I did post a full swatch/review post for this collection, so you can check out all the shades here.
Thanks for looking!
Today I have another nail art design that utilizes shades from the OPI Euro Centrale Collection! I find that this collection offers a lot of great nail art options, which is why I've been playing with it a lot lately. The first design I did was a gradient polka dot one which you can see here, and today's design is a pretty blue-on-nude floral print.
I started with a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff on all of my nails. I keep talking about this shade but I just need to stress once again how much I love it. I already have one back-up bottle and I'm going back to my supply store today to see if I can grab another! I seriously need as many bottles of this as I can find.
Once that was semi-dry, I added some general round shapes using OPI Can't Find My Czechbook and a medium sized nail art brush. While those were drying, I drew on the leaves using a smaller nail art brush and OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw. Finally, I added the finishing touches to the roses by drawing a few squiggly lines inside them using OPI...Eurso Euro.
This is actually my first time doing a full graphic rose print and I'm super happy with how it turned out. My favourite thing about this print is that it looks complicated and time-consuming, but in reality it's actually pretty simple! I might even do a tutorial for this one since it's been so long since I've done a tutorial for you all.
I did post a full swatch/review post for this collection, so you can check out all the shades here.
Thanks for looking!
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