Nails

Formula X Polish First Impression

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Sorry for the delay in today’s content – I didn’t have my photos uploaded (I thought I did), so it had to wait until I could access that SD card.

Last week I shared that I received a Formula X Polish System due to winning a giveaway. I broke it out on Saturday before our Christmas party to get festive.

After shaping and gently etching the surface of your nails with a fine-grit buffer, reach for you break out the left-most bottle in the Formula X Polish System kit. This bottle contains a thin, light blue liquid – this is the Cleanse step. It is basically just a nail dehydrator similar to those used on you at the nail salon before enhancements or with in-home DIY gel nails. I twisted the cap open and heard/felt a, “snap!” only to find the squared off caps on the Formula X Polish bottles are vanity caps. You have to pull it off before you can unscrew the simpler, cylindrical cap beneath. The snap was a piece of the interior to the vanity cap snapping off. Boo.

After that, continue to the clear pink – this is your base coat; the, “Prime,” step. The Formula X Polish Prime is pretty normal base-coat as thickness goes. Here, though, the brush started to annoy me. I expected cheap bristles in the brush-on cleanser, but these bristles remind me of the thick-stranded, cheap ones that resided in Wet n Wild nailpolishes of the early-to-mid 90’s. With a base coat, it wasn’t too much of a deal, but getting my nails fully covered wasn’t as easy (and as you can see, I don’t have large nails).

Formula X Polish - CleanseFormula X Polish System

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Christian Louboutin Nail Polish

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As you may imagine, as a beauty blogger I spend a lot of time on various beauty sites to check out what it new. On one of my recent trips down the makeup-on-the-internet rabbit hole, I came across this:

Louboutin Nail Polish – Rouge

This is nail polish. The bottle looks kind of neat (in fact, the cap reminds me of Julep’s Plie wand [that I have not tried]).

Christian Louboutin Nail Polish

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October 2014 Favorites

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October 2014 FavoritesOctober 2014 Favorites
1. Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade, $18 / 2. Clarisonic Mia2, $150 /
3. Sensationail Gel Polish – Midnight Rendezvous, $9 / 4. Nivea Sensitive Body Wash, $5 /
5. Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipstick $6 / 6. Ponds Luminous Finish BB+, $11

We are well over three-quarters of the way through 2014. Holiday season is descending upon us…but in the meantime, here are my October 2014 Favorites.

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Nina Ultra Pro Nail Polish

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Nina Ultra Pro

I primarily use gel nail polish for my fingers these days, but I usually stick with traditional polishes for my toes. I was in Sally Beauty a few months ago and they had the Nina Ultra Pro brand on sale for half off or something like that, so I grabbed two bottles. Previously, I always avoided the brand – can’t actually tell you why, I never heard anything bad about them – I guess I just assumed I wouldn’t care for them.

That was dumb of me.

The consistency of both polishes, I found, was good – neither too thick or too thin, both glided on easily when I swatched them. They dried quickly (within two minutes) and removed cleanly. The brush itself is wide, reminiscent of OPI’s wide brush (do they still offer that across the board?) – I personally loved it, but people not used to working with wider brushes may have a bit of a learning curve when it comes to not getting product on their cuticles or side-walls.

I didn’t get around to using one beyond swatching until relatively recently, though. I slapped two coats of Nina Ultra Pro in Pearly Brights on my toes recently. This neon, pearlescent, matte, coral-pink is legitimately a special snowflake (in a good way); I really have not seen a color like it. Two coals was still vaguely sheer – I believe three would get you to opacity, and a quick search of Google confirmed that other wearers did in fact reach opacity at three coats. Normally, I hate having to go three coats but I am a little more lenient with neons – especially neons that come to a matte finish on their own.

To get a glossy finish and therefore properly appreciate the pearliness of the polish, I topped my two-coat Nina Ultra Pro Pearly Brights toes with a coat of Seche Vite (aka best top-coat ever) and am pleased with the result. So far, it is holding up just as well as any other polish (including ORLY, OPI, and essie) – I’ll update this post if I have any weird issues with it, but I really don’t see that happening at this point.

Like I said earlier, I had no idea why I never bothered with this brand (I’m not a brand snob or anything!) but I’m glad I tried it. It appears as if Nina Ultra Pro is on sale at Sally Beauty this week, see if they have a shade you like if you’re shopping there this week!

Stop Nail Biting

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Confession: once upon a time, many many many moons ago (really, eons), I was guilty of nail biting (ew). They weren’t cute (obviously).

Nail Biting - Image Courtesy WikipediaNail Biting

Those aren’t my nails, by the way – that picture is courtesy Wikipedia. Anyway, when you look for solutions to stop nail biting, you often see bottles of liquid that you apply to your nails or fingertips as a deterrent – usually they have a bitter or otherwise foul flavor to them. You brush it on, then when you absentmindedly go to bite, you’re met with an unpleasant flavor.

I’m not a fan of this method, as we are neither children being taught not to swear nor beasts being deterred from gnawing on things. We are civilized, we can overcome this ourselves and stop nail biting without wasting money on foul-tasting liquid that prompts us to grimace and gag.

I, “fixed,” my problem a long time ago, but since so many people are surprised to learn that I used to bite them, I figured I’d share my secret to success. It doesn’t involve weird diversions, stuff that tastes gross or makes your hands smell, weird supplements, etc.

Solution:

Paint your nails.

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July 2014 Favorites

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July 2014 Favorites

July 2014 Favorites
1. China Glaze Gelaze, $11 / 2. Maybelline Instant Age-Rewind Concealer, $8
3. Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil Light, $15 / 4. Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray, $29

Just four this month because, frankly, it was kind of a lazy month for me. I didn’t really break away from, “safe,” things in light of my wedding. Afterwards, I decided to give my skin a break, so I don’t have a ton to gush about.

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