Category: Nails
Jamberry Chip Challenge
[ipic id=”801498885526395030″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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!
[ipic id=”803135007776054013″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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/ .
September Julep Maven Box – The Art Walk Collection
[ipic id=”802409449798769467″ link=”1″ float=”right” size=”220″ current=”live”]
Okay, so I’m finally reaping the rewards of Julep’s change of shipping partners. I got my box today, although I was a bit envious that my BFF got her box 2 whole days ago!
September’s box is called “The Art Walk Collection”. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it was a different mix of colors than the last few summer boxes – more fall colors. The beauty product I picked was the Plush Pout Lip Crayon in “Magenta Plum”. I mixed it up with the polishes again. I picked Boho Glam “Mary Lee” – oxblood satin – and Bombshell “Kirby” – silver jagged glitter top coat. I kind of wish that I added on It Girl “Ana” – white jagged glitter top coat – but maybe I’ll get to pick it up later…
I also used some Jules to add on Julep’s 3rd anniversary polish, “Queen Anne” – lilac confetti microglitter. It’s super sweet.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a special 4 piece Welcome Box with code CITYLIGHTS!
Lunchtime Score
[ipic id=”802403814256417452″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
Over the past week, I’ve started to see Instagram posts of people snagging Kat Von D stuff for super cheap at T.J. Maxx & Marshalls. You know I had to make a quick trip during my lunch hour…
I managed to snag a Kat Von D “Triple Threat Tattoo Liner” – a set of 3 black felt tip liners with different tips. For $6.99 – why not? I also got a 3 pack of e.l.f. Hypershine lip gloss for $2.99 – it’s a knock off of stila lip glaze, but at a fifth of the price. It’s a thinner formula, but it has decent staying power for about $1 each – score! I was shocked to see a few bottles of Julep polish mixed in with the rest – I picked up a bottle of Julep “Lexie”…not for myself, but for a very special “Lexie” that I know.
While I was out, I popped in to Big Lots to get Pop-Tarts for my kids – because they WORLD WILL END if they have to eat something that is not a Pop-Tart. I couldn’t resist digging through the bins of polish…I grabbed Sinful Colors “Holiday Rebel” – green and red glitter for Xmas – and Sinful Colors “What’s Your Name” – a black jelly with blue/purple duochrome shimmer. I’m so excited about that last one.
So…I will be hitting all the Marshalls, T.J. Maxx and Ross until my eyeliner thirst is satiated…
Monsters Ball
[ipic id=”799378700917020721″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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!
Ulta Makes Me So Happy
I can’t pass up a gift with purchase…I’ll tell myself that it’s virtually the same as the last gift with purchase, but it does no good.
Ulta’s purchase requirements are go strange – $19.50 of Ulta products to get the gift. I got Ulta Oil-Free Makeup Remover, Ulta Precision Liquid Liner in “Plum” (I know, weird), and Ulta Double Duty Lipstain & Blam in “Romance”. The gift is a makeup bag filled with the usual stuff – but DIFFERENT usual stuff. I am most excited to try the Ulta Super Stretch Fiber Mascara and the eye shadow topper…which was unfortunately shattered during shipping…fuck.
I also got the two 97 cent polishes I saw on Nouveau Cheap – China Glaze Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball “Bat My Eyes” and “Boo-gie Down”.
Since I used my $3.50 off coupon, I had to find one more thing to qualify for $25 free shipping. I picked Pixel Lip Tint in “Addictive”, which also came with the choice of a free nail polish – I chose Pixel “The Midas Touch”.
Finally…my free samples. I picked the Variety Sampler again, because I am scared of the perfume samples. I got three little foil packets – Smashbox Photo Finish More Than Primer Blemish Control Salicyclic Acid Acne Treatment, The Body Shop Nutriganics “Drops of Youth” and Dermelect Cosmecuticals Timeless Anti-Aging Daily Hand Treatment. Meh.
The most exciting thing in the box was the new Ulta Catalog – for the 21 Days of Beauty that starts 9/7! So many good deals! Ulta makes me so happy…
There’s No Such Thing as a Cheap Trip to Target
[ipic id=”798520667408178082″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
After I got home from work last night, my husband informed me that I forgot to buy cat food. I offered to run to Target real quick – it will just take a few minutes to run in, grab it and get home for dinner. Yeah, right.
I can’t walk into Target for less than $100 – it’s just not possible. I only intended to grab a new “dip-it”, but then I decided to also grab the Sally Hansen “Kwik Off” to compare – it was even cheaper than the Target brand! Then I saw the Q-Tips…for anyone else, 750 Q-Tips would last 2 years, but that’s about 3 months worth for me. (Lots of eyeliner mishaps). Plus, it came with a St. Ives “Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange” travel scrub – my new favorite! Then I saw that I could get a $5 Target gift card for buying 2 Olay products, so I picked up another Olay Night Firming Cream (my go-to product when I’m not using a sample size from one of my subscriptions) and decided to try Olay’s Tone Correcting Moisturizer CC Cream. NADS facial wax strips…because…well, you know why. My last beauty purchase was a new tray to store all my single eye shadows.
Add to that…laundry detergent, fabric softener, boxer briefs for my son, My Little Pony socks for my daughter (I got berated because the pack didn’t include Apple Jack, so obviously, I’m a horrible mom) and a bunch of other miscellaneous crap. I also cashed in an Influenster ice cream coupon…but I’ll cover that in an upcoming post.
At least I remembered to get cat food. So yeah, there’s no such thing as a cheap – or a quick – trip to Target.
Taco Cabana Bathroom
[ipic id=”798045861348907620″ link=”1″ float=”right” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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
[ipic id=”796602904137702086″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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
[ipic id=”794444208259471784″ link=”1″ float=”right” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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.
[ipic id=”794439247949732139″ link=”1″ float=”right” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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
[ipic id=”794434820408875192″ link=”1″ float=”left” size=”220″ current=”live”]
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…