November Empties

Hey y'all.  I know I've been a horribly bad blogger lately.  I have a few reasons for not posting, but that's not what this post is about.  I can't believe that it's already December.  It's cray cray.

No idea why, but it feels like November just flew by.  I have about 3-4 products that are so close to being empty too & I just couldn't finish them up.  That being said, I did finish a lot more this month than I have in the past few months.

Beauty Secrets Pure Acetone - This is the easiest brand for me to get and it's reasonably priced.  I actually had this 16oz. size for a while before finishing it.  I go between it and the 32oz. depending on what is on sale at the time.  Not only do I use this for cleanup, but I sometimes use it to make my own remover mixture.  Though lately, I've just found it easier to buy the pink or blue colored remover at Sally's. 

Bath & Body Works Peach Bellini Hand Soap - The smell of this is pure awesome.  Peach is one of my favorite scents and I was sad when this was finished.  I have one other BBW hand soap that is almost empty and that'll probably be it for me unless I pick some up when they do the semi-annual sale. 

Bath & Body Works Pocketbac - This one was in "I Love Cake Frosting"....yeah was SO not impressed with the scent on this.  It smelled great in the bottle, but not on skin. 

Benefit Porefessional - I have this tiny sample & decided to give it a try recently.  Not sure why, but after a few uses I had to stop.  It's still pretty full, but I started noticing red spots all over my face.  I like how it worked the few times I tried it, but not enough to keep dealing with what looked like a rash.  So it's getting tossed.

Simple Cleansing Wipes - I just feel kinda "meh" about these.  I was using them to clean the oil off of my face before applying makeup, but I don't have that problem anymore.  When I tried using them to clean makeup off at the end of the day I wasn't happy with them.  I know you're not supposed to "avoid direct contact with eyes", but I couldn't even wipe off my brows without the stuff from this migrating into my eyes or making the area burn.  Plus, they dry out pretty fast. 

Bumble & Bumble ColorMinded Styling Balm - If I had purchased this, instead of getting it from a friend, I'd have returned it.  No matter now much, or little, I used it made my hair feel like I hadn't washed any product buildup out of it & just let it get all crunchy.  Smells nice though.

Skindinavia Makeup Finishing Spray - I love using this.  Especially since sometimes trying to use mostly matte makeup can make you look overly powdery.  This helps take that down a little & makes your makeup last.  I don't know what I'd do without it. 

Clairol Flare Hair Color - The color I used is Blaze 6RR.  I purchased this months ago & finally finished up some other stuff so that I could use this.  You can see the result of this color HERE.  I did this color 3 weeks ago & it still looks amazing.  That could be because I've only used shampoo twice since & have used mostly cleansing conditioners. 

L'Oreal Curve It Curl Taming Cream - At first I didn't really care much for this.  So I put it in the cabinet & went back to it after I finished the balm above.  I really started to like this.  Especially on days where I wanted my hair curly & not all crunchy, but not frizzy either.  It's a really light creamy product & I will probably repurchase after I finish other things in my bathroom.

Herbal Essences Body Wash - This is in "Happy Go Lather".  It was part of a 3 pack that I got around this time last year.  OMG it smells great.  It's rose scented, but not too heavy & it didn't linger all day on my skin.  I would probably repurchase, but I like the coconut one better(not by much though).


So that's it.  I'm hoping to get back into the swing of posting and stuff soon. 

Hand Perfection - Part 2 - Before & Day 1

Earlier I told y'all about a new product I'm reviewing called Hand Perfection.  Now I'm going to show y'all what the stuff looks like as well as my "before" shot.

My hand/nails before using the product.  AND before cutting my nails down.

As you can see, my hands look older than I actually am.  I am religious about using sunscreen when I'm out, but I often wash my hands which removes anything I might have on them.  I'm also bad about moisturizing them.  So, my hands get neglected.  That's where this system comes in.

First up is the Nail & Cuticle pen.  The helpful ingredients in this are Olive fruit oil, evening primrose, borage oil, avocado oil, sunflower seed oil, and jojoba oil.  The pen clicks & the oil is applied using a soft, doe-foot like applicator. The treatment is non greasy and absorbs quickly.  Making me want to use it more often because I don't have to worry about leaving residue on everything I touch.

Product provided for review.

Next is the nourishing day cream.  For me, the HUGE plus on this is the SPF 15.  Active ingredients are 2% Zinc Oxide & 6% Octinoxate.  This has a TON of ingredients to add moisture to the skin and protect it.  The cream also absorbs quickly & isn't greasy like normal creams.  It also has a nice, light, fresh smell.  No sunscreen type smells here.  Again, because it absorbs quickly, there's no residue transfer after it's massaged into the skin. 

That's actually more than enough for one application.

After shortening my nails & applying the 2 products above.

 Lastly, we have the rejuvenating night cream.  This comes in a jar that you would think of for your face/eye night creams.  There is a lid inside that protects the product even more and pops right off.  I find this has the same light smell similar to the day cream and pretty much the same pro's.  It's packed with good for your skin ingredients and also absorbs quickly.

Generally when I apply my hand/cuticle products at night, I have to apply my moisture gloves over top so that the product can soak in and I don't get it all over everything.  NOT with any of these.  They go right in and get to work.  I also find that my hands haven't been dry once.  Generally, as I said earlier, I forget to apply lotions & creams & my hands look horrible.  With this, I've had it sitting in eyesight and have to make myself use it even though I don't "feel" that it's needed.  I wash my hands a LOT and they stay soft & moisturized with these.

So far, this is a HUGE deep conditioning treatment....for my hands.  And they're loving it.  I can't wait to see my results after continuous use. :D



The Hand Perfection brand

Nourishing Day Cream with SPF 15 (SRP $14.99)

Rejuvenating Night Cream (SRP $14.99)

Nail and Cuticle Treatment (SRP $9.99)

Combo pack which contains the Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night Cream
(SRP $24.99)

Introductory Promotion Pack with the Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night
Cream plus a FREE Nail and Cuticle Treatment Pen
SRP $24.99 (limited edition through March 2013).

Hand Perfection will be available in January 2013 at CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons,

Duane Reade, Harmon and other fine stores across the country. Please visit us at
www.handperfection.com and on Facebook@HandPerfection.




Disclosure: Products in this post were sent for my 100% honest opinion/review.

Hand Perfection - Part 1

Today I have an intro(or part 1) post to a product I was recently sent to review.  Later today I will show you more, and give initial thoughts on the products, but for now I want to give you some info.

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU WANT TO LOOK YOUNGER…

Don’t let your hands give your age away!

Women pull out all the stops when it comes to fighting aging: eating right, working out,
Botox, fillers, hair color, sleep – you name it. But the war against Father Time is usually
fought from the neck up. One look at a woman’s hands and all those efforts are for
naught.

You’re looking at your hands now aren’t you? Happy with what you see?

Ellen Sirot, the nation’s top hand model, not only wanted – but also needed – top quality
hand care to perfect the tools of her trade. Nothing on the market was able to provide
her with the results she demanded along with the preventative care she desired. So
Sirot set out on a mission with CCA Industries to create a new category and offer women
the most effective and affordable hand care possible.

Hand Perfection® is the only Anti-Aging Hand Care treatment line available at mass

market. The line consists of a Nourishing Day Cream and Revitalizing Night Cream

which when used together, are clinically proven to help turn back the hands of time -

guaranteed! The fragrance-free, non-greasy formulas go on smooth and absorb quickly
for an invisible, weightless feel. There is also a Nail and Cuticle Treatment which is
clinically proven to moisturize the cuticles and help improve the look and feel of the nail
bed for an overall healthy and beautiful looking hand.

“We dedicate so much time and effort to our faces, but then we totally neglect our
hands,” explains Ellen. The skin on the hands is just as delicate as the skin around the
eyes. And think of what your hands go through in a single day. It’s time to give hands
the same attention as your face and body.

Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Hand Care products have been specifically formulated
for the unique requirements of the skin on our hands. Powered by an exclusive and

proprietary “RevitaStim™ Active Complex with Olivem-1000, Peptides and Hyaluronic

Acid,” Hand Perfection visibly reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and crepiness and delivers youthful radiance, improved elasticity and fullness within just 2
weeks.

Drew Edell, EVP, R&D and Product Development explains, “A liquid crystal emulsion
contained in the Complex closely mimics and associates with the skin’s lipid barrier.
This compatibility helps to restore and maintain the skin’s natural barrier and speed
delivery of the functional ingredients to the skin for maximum performance. Additionally,
the inclusion of SPF 15 in the Day Cream helps protect the skin from further damage.
On application there is an immediate improvement in the skin’s flexibility and
appearance and within 2 weeks, signs of aging on the skin are significantly improved”.

“Just as anti-aging products revolutionized the facial care market, the Hand Perfection
collection will generate the same kind of excitement in the hand care market,” states
Dunnan Edell, CEO – President of CCA Industries.

In clinical tests, 91% of consumers were shown to have a significant improvement in the
reduction of fine lines and wrinkles, skin texture and skin smoothness in just two weeks
with noticeable results in as few as five days when using the Hand Perfection System.
88% had a significant improvement in the appearance of crepiness and there was a
greater radiance & brightness in hands. When using the Nail and Cuticle Treatment Pen,
100% of the testers were clinically proven to have more moisturized cuticles and nails.
Overall, dry, aging, damaged hands were tremendously improved after using the Hand
Perfection regimen.

Hand Perfection is the first and only hand care system available today at mass
marketers that both treats the signs of aging and works to prevent the premature aging
of hands.

Products sent for review.

The Hand Perfection brand

Nourishing Day Cream with SPF 15 (SRP $14.99)

Rejuvenating Night Cream (SRP $14.99)

Nail and Cuticle Treatment (SRP $9.99)

Combo pack which contains the Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night Cream
(SRP $24.99)

Introductory Promotion Pack with the Nourishing Day Cream and Rejuvenating Night
Cream plus a FREE Nail and Cuticle Treatment Pen
SRP $24.99 (limited edition through March 2013).

Hand Perfection will be available in January 2013 at CVS, Walgreens, Albertsons,

Duane Reade, Harmon and other fine stores across the country. Please visit us at
www.handperfection.com and on Facebook@HandPerfection.




Disclosure: Products in this post were sent for my 100% honest opinion/review.

My Private Lagoon mani

I haven't had a manicure done in a salon in at least a year, if not more.  This is going to be a bit of a ramble so if you don't want to read, just scroll.  So, yesterday I talked the SO into letting me get one and after the week I've had, I needed it.  I totally forgot how much they are not only because it's been ages, but because whenever I got one I also had a pedicure as well.  Luckily there's a nail salon right next to where we get my sons hair cut so I went in while he went to get a hair cut before school pictures are taken tomorrow. 

I walked in and looked at the selection, NO China Glaze.  They did have OPI, Color Club, Misa, and some others that I can't think of right now.  So I started looking through the OPI's to see if they had any HTF's(hard to find) to get my mani done with.  I was shocked to see Blue Moon Lagoon AND My Private Jet.  I instantly grabbed both, but couldn't decide.  What do you do when you can't decide?  USE BOTH.  I asked for BML on all my nails, with MPJ as an accent nail on my index finger. 

I sat down and let the lady go to town.  Luckily I had my nails at a good shorter length so all the had to do was file to shape them a bit as I kinda had some lopsided when I cut them down a few days ago.  She did her thing and even rubbed lotion into my hands and forearms for at least a good 5 minutes each.  A few people came in for mani-pedi's (2 couples) one of them was a Marine so she had to go take care of them while the guy came over to put my polish on. 

He had to thin MPJ down a little bit as it looked like a thick gloopy mess.  BML was extremely difficult for him to open, but he took care of it.  He put the base coat on, 2 layers of each polish, then put my hand under what I think is a UV lamp.  Let that dry a bit and put a pink OPI top coat on.  I admired my mani as I went to get a few things from the store for dinner, and to get some Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream (NOMZ). 

I took some pics and came out with this.

Anywho I got home, ate dinner, put the kiddo to bed, all that jazz.  Once I finally got ready for bed, like 5-6 hours later I notice this problem on my thumb.  I did nothing to it and this happened.  I kinda smoothed it back a little bit and this pic shows what it looked like this morning. 

Not to mention that all of my nails still felt a bit tacky to the touch. 

Here's another pic I took this morning before I took the mani off.

I didn't think I'd captured the holo-y-ness of them before I edited my pics so I asked a couple of ladies to help me out.  Below are pics from Tara at For Your Nails Only and Claire at Shatter me Claire.  You can click on their blog names to visit their pages.  Both of them are just wonderful and are nothing but nice.  Thank you ladies for helping me out with these.

Photo courtesy of Tara http://foryournailsonly.net/2011/07/it-all-ends.html

Photo courtesy of Claire http://shattermeclaire.blogspot.com/

I think it will be a while again before I go have my nails painted in a salon.  If anything, I'll just get a pedi and have them buff my nails.  Though for the mani only costing $12, I really can't complain too much. 

Also, I have some other posts I need to work on including a review and a guest post, so I may be doing a few eye looks for Football Friday for the next couple of weeks.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

You Can't See Me!!!!

I was going to save this as a draft, but I want to share.  In my house, when you wear or see something in Camo you say "I can't see it" or "You can't see me". 

This mani is brought to you by my friend Wendy.  She got her Bundle Monster plates before I did and said she saw something that looked like a camo pattern and made her think of me for some reason.  So, while watching Army Wives, I decided to give it a go.  I tried the stamp colors alone on a piece of tape first to see if they looked good.

Color Club High Society was my base color.  I used 2 coats and this is supposed to be taupe, but it looks more like a taupe/purple to me.  I dunno why.  Maybe it's just me.

Then, I used BM-222 (I hope this was the plate she was talking about) and Essie's Little Brown Dress.

CG's FF kinda messed up my pinky, so the other fingers have SV over them.

Then, since I didn't have another shade of brown, or a few different green cremes, I went with Zoya Shawn.  It makes me think Army Green.

Hunter's easter egg from school.

My dad looked at it and just shook his head.  Hunter said it looked like chocolate, before I put Shawn on, and after I put it on it looked like chocolate camo.  So, I had to grab one of his camo Easter eggs.  :D

I almost don't want to take it off, but I chipped a corner of it on my thumb while trying to open my Coastal Scents blush palette.  :(

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Stained Glass Mani

So, yesterday I decided to play around with some polishes I had.  I was originally going to try some water marbling with a few of these, but had an epic fail.  So, this is what I came up with.

Inside, Flash

Sunlight

This was really quick.  The longest part was my left thumb as it has all 9 colors.  I did my left hand last night and was going to take it off.  Rather than doing that, I just did my right hand in a matter of about 30 minutes this morning.  Seche Vite is a lifesaver.


Sinful Colors Base Coat + 2 coats of NYC French Tip White (134) on all fingers then the following below

1 coat each:
Left thumb - all colors below
Left index - Zoya Rica
Left middle - OPI DS Glamour
Left ring - Sally Hansen Hi-Res
Left pinky - Zoya Apple
Right thumb - Zoya Areej
Right Index - China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le
Right middle - China Glaze Hologram (Tronica collection)
Right ring - Color Club Uptown Girl
Right pinky - Color Club High Society

Then I took a black striper and went to town.  I wanted it to look like stained glass, so I did it around the edge of each nail as well.  This will be my 2nd entry for the Color Club nail art contest.

I think it's really cute!

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Cloud Crack!

You'll see why I thought of this name in a few.  I started out with Zoya Breezi, and of course waited at least 4 hours before going to bed.  I STILL had marks on my thumbs and a few other fingers when I woke up.  I didn't apply thick coats or anything and even used my Sinful Colors Quick Dry.  Oh well.

Here's what this looked like to begin with....

The flash makes this look way different than in person.

This is more true to color. 

I kept thinking I have seen this color somewhere else or own something this color, but couldn't figure it out.  It still annoys me to no end.  I'll figure it out when it's not important.

So, Friday night it decides to rain..........AGAIN.  Another rainy night in Georgia.  My internet kept crashing and I decided to go play with some polish.  I'd wanted to stamp over this, but couldn't find just the right color that I wanted.  So, I finished swatching my collection on my nail wheels and went through my buckets.  Then I had an idea.

I found the CoverGirl crackle in Ghost(White) that I'd purchased in a 2 pack at Dollar Tree months ago before the whole OPI Shatter/CG Crackle deal came into play.  I remember owning some crackle stuff years ago and wasn't too impressed.  So, before I did this on my nails I did it on a nail wheel and came up with this.

It almost looks like a turtle shell & while it was working looked like an Etch-A-Sketch.


I decided to put it on my nails and took pics before I put a top coat on.  I forgot to put one on and the white started flaking off shortly after, so I took this off.  BUT, i did at least get the pics.

To me, this looks a blue sky trying to peek through the clouds.

Right hand....hard to take a pic with the left hand.

Left hand.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

HOPPY EASTER NAILS!!

Today I have 2 different mani's for you.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know I'm learning how to use Seche Vite.  I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it, but I can say its fast.

Now, this first one is an entry into Color Club's Easter & Spring Nail Art Contest.  This is inspired by Easter M&M's (or as my son calls them manimanims).  I wanted to do this differently, but this is what I came up with. 

This is all freehanded.  I do not have any dotting tools.



Then, for my right hand I wanted something different.  I knew there was NO way that I could draw "M"'s on my right hand since I'm not left handed.  I just wanted to play around with some of the same colors.  This kinda reminds me of Dippin' Dots.

Whatcha think?  One of the mom's at my son's PreK thought they were both cute.  As you can tell I'm still working on my clean-up, but not doing too bad.   It's just not something I have patience for.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

Zoya Shawn + St. Paddy's mani (pic spam)

If you saw my post yesterday, you've seen the bottle pics of my new Zoya green's.  I couldn't just wear one shade, though I tried. 

So, I started with Shawn.....and I absolutely LOVE it.  I almost didn't want to sponge over it.

One coat....not bad.

2 coats......<3

LOVE IT!!!

sunlight/no flash

I probably should've left it alone, but I just had to try all 3.  This is definitely one I'll wear again & again.

Next, I sponged Suvi over 2/3 of the nail.  I didn't do any cleanup until the end.  So, ignore the mess please.

Then, Ivanka on the top 1/3 of the nail.  It's not really showing up much in pics, but it's a beautiful lighter glittery green.

after cleanup

This one, you can see Ivanka on the index & pinky fingers.  

I can't begin to say how much I <3 Zoya polishes.  Go check them out on Facebook if you haven't already & set-up an account on www.zoya.com as they're announcing a promo soon and you must already have an account.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

St. Paddy's Mani Take 1

Since rebuilding my polish collection and learning how to fauxnad, I decided to play around with some stuff.  I honestly don't care that it doesn't match all that much.  I also, shockingly, am not my usual anal self upset that it's not perfect.  I think it's different, cute, and was fun to work with. 

What I used: 
Pure Ice - Free Spirit (green)
NYC - French Tip White (white)
No named orange from a Bed, Bath, Beyond set
Nina Ultra Pro - Vintage Velvet (green with gold shimmer for stamping.  not sure if it's still available @ Sally's)
M71 plate from Born Pretty
Scotch Tape
Sinful Colors Quick Dry (love this stuff - $3.99 @ Walgreen's)

The first 2 pics were taken with my iPhone and are pretty crappy quality.  The last 2 were taken with my DSLR.  This is by no means perfect, and I was just playing around.  My cuticles look horrible and my lines are a bit messed up.  I will say that my index and middle fingers on my right hand have a crack below the nail line.  I currently have a Sally Hansen product that I absolutely do not like on those nails.  Fortunately it was on clearance when I got it.  When I take this off, I'll most likely try the "tea bag" method as seen HERE. 

left hand before I stamped the shamrocks on

Right hand.  I put the white on first

Right hand.

Left hand.

TOODLES Y'ALL!!!

My Valentine Mani

This is going to be a pic heavy post.  I used Zoya - Isla as a base & the LA Colors nail art deco polishes in Black & Silver.  I also used my SHANY fauxnad nail art stamps BM02, BM03, BM09, & BM11.  I decided to try a different stamp on each finger & after several tries, finally got the silver to work.  They're not perfect, but cute anyway.  I used one stamp multiple times on my middle finger just for something different with it.  Then I freehanded a black french tip on the top of each nail. 

I messed up with black, so I rubbed it off & re-did it with silver.

Missing part of the I, but it's cute IMO.

I didn't get all of the "stamp", but this looks kinda like a Coke logo.

thumb

index

middle

ring

pinky

upside down.

 I've only done my left hand, dunno if I'll do my right hand or not.  I may remove this soon and try another new polish!!



TOODLES Y'ALL!!