Tag: Revlon
Jamberry Chip Challenge
Although I excel at painting my nails, I’m not so confident when it comes to nail art. I have an art degree, yet I shy away from anything more detailed than globbing glitter on the ends of my fingernails. Jamberry Nail Wraps might be an interesting solution to that problem.
Nail Wraps have been around for quite awhile – they’re just stickers for your nails. I’ve gotten other brands, like Sally Hansen, as gifts, but I’ve never actually tried them. When my cousin, Kimberly, offered me a sample to try, I figured – why not?
The top pictures is my day one picture – a leopard Jamberry Nail Wrap on my pinky and 2 coats of China Glaze “Bat My Eyes” (with Revlon base and top coats). Notice that I had already chipped my index finger while trying to peal the plastic safety seal off of a new bottle of contact solution!
The bottom picture is my day three picture. Most of my painted nails look pretty good, but that index finger is looking pretty rough. The Jamberry finger looks exactly the same!
The sample I got was a little small for my nails – it was too small for my pinky even. I never considered myself to have large fingernails…but I AM 6’1, so maybe I do. A full pack comes with various sizes, so I don’t think that would be a problem for me.
It was easier than I expected to apply the wraps. I didn’t need any special heat lamps or tools – I was able to heat it with a hair dryer and and just press it on with my finger. I was able to get a fairly smooth edge using a regular emery board.
For what you’re getting, they aren’t overly expensive. $15 a sheet and you should be able to get 4 manicures per sheet. As much as I love to paint my nails, I cannot imagine committing to a single design for 2 weeks! I don’t foresee myself switching to wraps or even using them on a regular basis…but I can envision myself using them occasionally on an accent nail.
If you would like to find out more about Jamberry, visit Kimberly’s site – http://kimberlymoreno.jamberrynails.net/ .
Monsters Ball
Remember when I said “Don’t try all the colors!” Don’t listen to me – I was clearly wrong.
This is a combination of some of the polishes I got in my last Ulta order. I totally feel like Lady Gaga…without the pointy witch nails, of course. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and then 2 coats of Pixel “The Midas Touch” on all my nails. The polish was much sheerer than I expected, but dried quickly – leaving only 2 or 3 bubbles. I’ve never heard of Pixel Cosmetics before, but a quick Google told me that it is a newish line, exclusive to Ulta and similar to Prestige or Essence. I used China Glaze “Boo-gie Down” on my pointer and middle. No fishing glitter out of the bottle – it went on perfectly right out of the bottle. I want to put this polish over EVERYTHING to see how it looks. My pinky got China Glaze “Bat Your Eyes”. Again, this is a beautiful polish – black with different sizes of gold glitter. Both China Glaze polishes are from the Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball Collection. I’m excited to see what Halloween polishes China Glaze releases this year – for me…every day is Halloween!
Taco Cabana Bathroom
Milani “Sugar High” reminds me of the fancy mosaic tile you sometimes see in the bathroom of a Mexican Restaurant. It’s buttercup yellow, peachy pink, baby blue and dark blue glitter in a clear base. I learned today (via Googling) that the style is really called “Talavera” – all this time, I’ve been calling it “Taco Cabana Bathroom”. I learn something new everyday!
After Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I used one coat of Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” to mask the yellow in my nail tips (it’s almost gone – yay!) It took a good three coats of “Sugar High” to match the concentration of glitter in the bottle. There a nice shine to it and it dried super fast, so I didn’t even bother with a top coat. Now I must have the whole Milani “Sugar” Collection…
Balinese Bay
Revlon “Balinese Bay” looks like that fancy speckled garage floor paint or maybe some crazy 50s linoleum that you’d find in a retro diner. Or maybe some wild colored glass in the bottom of an expensive fish tank. It’s a mix of black, silver, lavender and red glitter in a matte lavender base. It’s slightly pebbled…because it’s literally a shit-ton of glitter.
“Balinese Bay” is from Revlon’s Spring 2014 Haute Rocks Collection. Now I’ve got to search for them all – they’re spectacular. I got full coverage in just two coats. Of course I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, but I didn’t use a top coat – that would ruin the whole point of matte?
Sunday Shopping
Lily and I usually go shopping on Saturday, but since my husband and son went to see Guardians of the Galaxy this morning, I figured why not do some shopping that doesn’t involve school supplies.
I struck out at Ulta. They were out of Zoya Remove+. I was also thinking about getting Michael Kors “Glam Jasmine” now that it’s back…but then I smelled it and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I did. That’s ok – I placed an amazing order online on Friday, so I have that to look forward to.
I fared much better at Bath & Body Works. I had a 20% off coupon, plus a free travel size. I got 2 three wick candles at 2/$22 – “Wasabi Apple” & “Turquoise Waters”. I got 11 hand soaps – 6/$24, plus “Sweet Clementine” on special for $3. I’m not going to go through all the scents I got, but I am really excited about “Brown Sugar & Carrot” – that’s just WEIRD. My total was $49.36, so I went ahead and used the $50 debit card I got from Acuvue for a contacts rebate. I know I threw away 64 cents…sigh.
HEB is becoming my favorite place to find beauty deals. They had $2 off Revlon coupons again AND $2 off Milani. Lily is a bad influence on me. I was trying to decide between 2 Revlon Quick Dry Top Coats – “Hearts of Gold FX” and “Celestial FX” – she asked why I couldn’t I just get both? So I did. I also picked up “Balinese Bay” from Revlon’s Limited Edition Haute Rocks Collection of pebbled polish. I’ve been wanting to try one.
I’ve been eyeing Milani “Sugar High” for a while, so I grabbed it…the multicolored glitter will look great over “Glass Pink”. I also decided to try out one of the Milani Baked Marble Shadows I’ve been hearing about. If they’re anything like Laura Geller Baked Shadows, I’ll love it. I picked “Green Fortune”, which I’m not exactly sure how I’ll wear – it’s green, pink and copper!
My house smells great, my hands smell great, the kids start school tomorrow and I have new polish and makeup to play with. Life is good!
Girly Nails
Before you even say it…I know. This is girly…WAY girly – like little girly. My fingernails look like a Hello Kitty Valentine – but I like it.
Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” may be my new favorite light pink. It’s like the pink version of “Cinderella”. “Glass Pink” is sheer, but it masks my stained nails.
Sinful Colors “Decadent” may be my new favorite red glitter. I don’t say that lightly – I have at least a dozen different red glitters. I have an idea…I need to have a GLITTER-OFF! Red glitters fight to the death!
Again, I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat – they work well with most polishes and don’t seem to cause bubbles or curtaining…
Cerulean City
Take me down to Cerulean City, where the grass is green and Pokémon are pretty…
You may be asking yourself, how does someone as cultured cluttered and sophisticated sophomoric as myself know about Cerulean City. When my husband and I originally shacked up together, he was a bartender. Most days before work, he watched Pokémon…so I watched Pokémon. This was before we could afford more than one TV and before we stopped being nice to each other…so as hard as I tried to ignore it, I subliminally learned a lot about Pokémon.
Flash forward 14 years and two kids later…he’s still playing Pokémon…and so is my son. I just smile and nod.
ANYWAY…Julep “India” is a Boho Glam from August’s “The Wanderlust Collection.” Even though Julep describes “India” as freshwater blue shimmer, it’s the perfect cerulean blue.
“India” didn’t like the Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat – it did not want to stick. I managed to smooth it out and it looked great by the second coat. A shiny top coat is a must – Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat is what I used. Next time, I’ll try a different base coat.
Is That All There Is?
Caribongo “City Girl” was one of my vacay finds.
Indoors, it’s a perfectly average light blue glitter in a clear base. It’s rough and goopy and for some reason, it pulled away from the edges. Even sandwiched between Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat, the surface still had a pebbled feel.
I was surprised at how much polish it took to do two coats – I feel like I used a quarter of the bottle.
The first picture was taken immediately after stepping into the sunlight.
The second picture was after standing in FULL SUN for several minutes. Even though you can see that the polish base in the bottle turned bright red, the change is barely perceptible on my nails.
What the hell? Is that all there is?
This shit cost TWICE as much as Funky Fingers and doesn’t even work half as well.
Son of a bitch.
Watermelon Improvisation
I don’t know how to describe Sparitual “Improvisation”. It’s pinkish, reddish, shimmer? The shimmer shifts from fuchsia to blue in the light, while the base shifts from red to pink. Sparitual’s website describes it as berry shimmer. Thanks…so NOT helpful.
I’ve decided that “Improvisation” is a juicy slice of ripe watermelon. The shimmer is the water oozing out of the slice.
This is a super sheer polish. After Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I had to use 3-4 coats to get decent coverage. Even after those 3-4 coats, I have VNL – VISIBLE NAIL LINE. No ma’am!
This isn’t a matte polish, but it isn’t super shiny either. Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat fixed that in 3 shakes of a lamb’s tail. (Can you tell I’m dreaming of the new Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection?)
Tramp Red
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When I described my obsession with Zoya “Sooki” to my friend Rachel, she immediately asked, “Is it TRAMP RED?” She knows me…and Sookie Stackhouse…so well!
I had a hard time picking out polish for my vacation. Since I already had “Sooki” on my toes, I figured I could paint my nails to match. Since I may not have time to paint my nails while on vacation, I did everything I could to make it last as long as possible. Although I usually only use one coat of “Sooki” on my toes, I used 2 on my fingernails to try to avoid edge wear. Those two coats were sandwiched in between Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat.
I’ll miss you…see you in a week or so!