The new Influenster!

I am so in love with the new Influenster website and the Influenster program in general. If you enjoy testing products this is the program for you. The more you interact with their website and the more you use social media to be involved the more stuff you qualify to test! You can blog, tweet, post on Facebook, leave reviews on websites and on Influenster directly, all to boost your score! To get started you simply need to be invited by a current Influenster member and then start reviewing, blogging and making videos..... It is an amazing program with lots of fun and interesting products and perks.... go check it out!

www.influenster.com

imPRESS press on manicure!

I received my second set of Impress nails with this months Mom Voxbox through Influenster. I absolutely loved them the first time and the second time was just as wonderful. My only disappointment was the color, I am not a big fan of brown polish at all, and they were a brown color. This had no reflection on the product itself though, they lasted around 5 days for me both times before I had to remove them. The most recent time wearing them I had much longer nails and was still able to apply them and wear them without any damage to my natural nails, which was wonderful. The application process is fast and easy and they are very secure once applied. I didn't have any of them pop off like traditional "press-on" nails. These are wonderful, new and innovative. I highly recommend them for women who don't have the time to polish their nails several times a week and wait for a manicure to dry. With this you have instant results that look beautiful and last nearly an entire week. With a price tag of around $6 that is an excellent deal for a manicure that lasts 7 days! They also have an amazing assortment of different colors and designs to choose from, check out the website! http://impressmanicure.com/

Dish drying mat!

Even though I was lucky enough to be chosen to participate in the Mom Voxbox, I did not receive one of the dish drying mats. Which is a bummer because they look amazing! Check out the link below for details on this revolutionary product. I am planning on purchasing one to replace my dish drainer completely, I hate having a dish drainer. They are hard to clean and take up so much space on your counter! These come in four color options and absorb 4 times their own weight in water, that sounds amazing! And with a price of $4.99 each they are a TOTAL STEAL! I am going to pick up two of them immediately...



http://www.the-original-co.com/v3/item.aspx?category1id=KITCHEN

Dino Lingo!

 I learned of this program through a complimentary sample I received in my Influenster Mom Voxbox. This is something that every Mom needs to check out! It's fun, engaging and entertaining for you and the children. My son is 13 and even had fun watching it with my 4 and 6 year old cousins. If you are interested in teaching your children how to speak another language this is the way to go, you may even learn a thing or two yourself.You can check this program out by going to their youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/dinolingo/videos. Try a free lesson out here, http://dinolingo.com/languages/free_lesson.html, or you can go to www.dinolingo.com. Here you can get a sampling of all the different languages and programs available for your child to learn from. Go Check it out!

Ivory soap for makeup brush cleaning!

The newest thing in brush cleaning! I have been using baby soap for a while to clean my makeup brushes. Recently Influenster sent me the Mom VoxBox full of wonderful goodies to test. Included in the box was a bar of Ivory Soap. At first I was disappointed, until I saw a suggestion to try using it as a brush cleaner. I am HOOKED. It makes the process much quicker and easier, cleans the brushes exceptionally well and makes them smell good too, without being too terribly strong. The price is also amazingly cheap. After trying this out for my brushes I decided to test it as a face wash. I am now hooked on this as a facial cleanser as well. It's gentle and doesn't irritate my skin, while being moisturizing at the same time. I am in love with this soap. Thanks Ivory and Influenster!

Quaker Oatmeal Cookie, Influenster sample!

Isn't this the funniest picture EVER??? LOL I love it so much I used it for the wallpaper on my phone. Anyways, what he has here is a Quaker Soft Bake Oatmeal Cookie that we received from Influenster to sample. I took a small bite and gave the rest to my son. He ate it so quickly I didn't even have a chance to change my mind.

These cookies are moist, chewy and delicious. I have already purchased more and will definitely purchase them in the future. I highly recommend them, go grab a box and try them out!

Nightmare mani's. Unfortunately they happen too often.

For every beautiful manicure there is a nightmare mani around the corner. Even though I have been polishing my nails 3 - 4 times a week for about 2 years, I have at least one disaster each month. Something I think will be amazing, that ends up looking like a child painted them for me. Here is this weeks nightmare manicure. Just looking at it makes me a little sick. I had such high hopes, but this one is BAD.

I started out with two coats of white. Then I used my new favorite thing, nail foils. I decided to try the snake skin foil, at the request of my husband. Unfortunately I was impatient, didn't let the glue dry long enough and it looked terrible. So, I got out a couple of new topcoats I purchased from an indie company I found on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/LacAttack?ref=seller_info. I have the two fractured glass top coats, one in black and one in white. They are both pretty awesome, although simple. After two coats of each the mani just kept getting worse. I added two coats of Seche Vite to move along the dry time and went to bed. I didn't have the time or energy to start over so it had to stay for at least a day. Not my finest work. I can't wait to get home and get this off of my nails! Eek! Do you still have nightmare mani's? Would you

Bri's Custom Jewelry!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine contacted me and asked if I could review some of her jewelry. I have to be honest, I was immediately underwhelmed by the idea. Excited that she would consider me, but my expectations for the jewelry was not terribly high. Although I had seen pictures she posted which were beautiful, I assumed the pieces would be like any other made at home jewelry, cheap and almost disposable. Well, a few days after our initial conversation a lovely little box of wonderment arrived on my doorstep, filled with the most lovely, well crafted jewelry. I was immediately taken back by how adorably packaged it was. The box was filled with white tissue paper covered in black polka dots. Upon opening the tissue paper a lovely sent drifted out. I don't know what it was but it was nice, I really liked it. Under the tissue paper I found a Thank you card with a sweet personal note from Sabrina, thanking me for giving her stuff a try. Then came the fun part. Three pairs of earrings and two lovely bracelets. They were all in zip lock baggies, affixed to adorable glittery cards. Aren't they cute? I have gotten so many compliments on these earrings. Everyone that sees them loves them and wants a pair!

I just love everything she sent me. I was shocked at the high quality of the jewelry, and the care she took when making it. Everything was extremely well made and heavy duty. I actually bought some jewelry making supplies myself recently and opted for the cheapest materials I could find. So I know that the materials she has used here are extremely high quality, and will last the test of time. The pair shown in the first picture are my favorite, they have hearts with wings at the very bottom and are covered in the cutest little silver and pink dangle beads. They also have a row of rhinestones hanging separately. I have worn these nearly every day since I got them. The second pair shown are also freaking AWESOME! They are also dangle earrings with skull and cross bone charms dangling from chains and have pink and black feathers! If you are into the feather earring trend, you have to get a pair of these! She will custom make anything you want, all you have to do is tell her what you like. http://www.facebook.com/BrisCustomJewelry?ref=ts

This next pair just makes me happy and sad all at the same time. Another pair of dangles, with pink beads and tiny hearts, hanging next to another row of rhinestones. I wanted these to be my favorite. They are SO pretty! Unfortunately they are a little too heavy for my tender ears and I just can't wear them all day. Believe me I tried, but the only downside to high quality is the weight. I did contact Bri and ask her if they could be shortened, which she said they can. I haven't shortened them yet, but I definitely plan on it. I love these and want to wear them so badly!

Here is a pic of me wearing the first pair of earrings. This are SO adorable. Perfect size and length, I just love them! http://www.facebook.com/BrisCustomJewelry?ref=ts

Next there were two bracelets. OMG, I just adore these. I put them on and have only taken them off to shower and sleep for the last week and a half. They are lovely, heavy duty and also very well made. The beads are glass, not cheap plastic. They are also stretchy, so they can fit anyone. You can see from the pictures how amazing they are, vibrant colors and creatively strung. I will probably wear these until they fall apart. Although, I can't imagine that will be anytime soon! So, go check out her Facebook page, and if you give her my name,  you will get a 10% discount! If you are looking for quality and like to help support small indie companies, please give her stuff a look. I promise you won't be disappointed! http://www.facebook.com/BrisCustomJewelry?ref=ts

Julep Maven, nail polish subscription box!

After a crazy day yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to come home to my Julep Maven intro box! I cannot tell you how excited I was to receive this box. This is one subscription box that is right up my alley. Here is a picture, sorry I had already opened it, but it came adorably wrapped with a cute red ribbon.

I was thrilled by this box. The nail polishes were both lovely. One of them was called Charlotte, it is a beautiful purpley color. They other is called Jennifer, it is a very sheer pinkish color. I love Charlotte, it is very opaque in one coat and is a lovely color. I would have bought this color in a heart beat, I am drawn to anything pink or purple. The other polish I could do without. I am not a fan of extremely sheer polishes, especially one that takes 4 coats to be opaque. I might use it for an accent nail with a glitter topcoat, or under a crackle. I can tell you that I will never wear this polish on it's own though, it's far too much work for very little payoff. However, that has no reflection on the box itself. It isn't their fault I don't care for the polish.

The next item in my box was the Facial for Hands glycolic hand scrub. I really like this product. It is a completely new concept to me. It literally is an exfoliating facial for your hands. I tried it and love the way my hands felt after the first use. I will probably use this every day. The best thing, it's a full size!  I am in LOVE!

The service itself is priced at $19.95 per month. There are several different categories you can choose from that each have different colors and different items in them. I am classified as Classic with a Twist. Not me at all in my opinion but nonetheless the products are cool, and I am very happy. Next month I will probably choose a different category. You can opt out of a box if you aren't interested that month, or have your box sent to a friend as a gift if you want. I recommend any girl who likes nail polish that is looking for one of these sample subscription boxes to check this one out. Especially considering you can try it for as little as a penny! So, here is a link, http://julep.com/?r=19928808. Go check it out, and if you think it's for you, use the code penny during check out and you will only pay one cent to try this service and get a super cool box like mine. Let me know what you think!

Subscription sample boxes? What?

I wanted to do a blog post about all these new subscription boxes people are getting in to. I myself have two current subscriptions. One hasn't arrived yet and one has been pretty terrible so far.

The one that hasn't arrive yet is Julep Maven. I have really high hopes for this box. It is a nail polish subscription box, and it sounds amazing. More on that when it arrives. Here is a link to a video talking about the boxes and how amazing they are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RqzCBn6lXc. They have amazing coupons that allow you to sample the service for as little as a penny! The code I used was "PENNY" and I literally paid one cent! Here is a link to check them out... worth checking out for a penny, right? http://julep.com/?r=19928808 

The one I have been getting for a couple of months now, is My Glam. I had really high hopes for this one. It's only $10 a month and the concept is a great one. Basically, you pay for deluxe samples. You give them $10 a month and they are SUPPOSED to send you 3-4 deluxe sized samples and at least one full sized item. All of these items are wrapped up in an adorable little makeup bag and shipped in a pink bubble mailer once a month.

My first month's bag was late. We were told they were shipping by the 14th and mine didn't go out until the 20th. No big deal, right? Well, no, it wouldn't have been if the products inside had been worth anything to me, unfortunately they were not. My first bag arrived and contained a junior high-ish roll on shimmer from NYX (which I will NEVER use), and a bunch of ridiculously small foil samples that are useless to me because of their size. The bag was cute, pink with tiny black hearts. But definitely not worth $10.

My second month's bag was also late. Again shipped several days after they were promised. Still no big deal, right. Would have been if the stuff inside would have been as amazing as promised. Another cute bag, a bunch of foil samples and a terribly smelly pink eyeshadow blending brush that has been tossed aside and will not be used because of the odor.

I am giving them one more month. They say they are working on their process and the next months bags will be amazing. All I want is what was promised when I signed up, a couple of deluxe samples and one full size item shipped to me when they say it will ship, is that too much to ask? I don't think it is...

Holographic nail polish! OMG!

Hey everyone! I know that there has been a million blog posts about this nail polish, but I just had to do my own and share. This is the most amazingly beautiful polish I own and I have at least 150 bottles of nail polish. (Could be closer to 200 now, don't tell my Husband!)

I have been trying to get my hands on a true holo for a while now. I first heard of these from one of my very favorite YouTube guru's SayAnythingBr00ke (http://www.youtube.com/user/sayanythingbr00ke). She is a nail polish-aholic, candle lover, and makeup guru. So, when she did a video about a couple of holo's she picked up I was instantly intrigued and obsessed with finding an affordable version to try for myself. That's when I discovered the Color Club holo's. OMG, they are AMAZING! Here is a picture of my first mani with this polish, Fashion Addict by Color Club:


I will give you a moment to stare and drool like I did, LOL

The picture seems a little fuzzy now for some reason, but I assure you that is not fuzz, but the amazingness that is this sparkly beautiful holographic polish.

If you have any sort of love for nail polish, you will absolutely fall in love with these polishes. I have found a great seller on eBay that sells them for around $3 a bottle, with the $3 shipping for your first bottle and $1.50 for each additional bottle, ordering in bulk is the way to go. That makes them around $4.50 a bottle, which is an absolute steal in my opinion! Here is the link to the eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Top-nail-shop/Color-Club-Nail-Polish-/_i.html?_nkw=color+club&submit=Search&_fsub=139220013&_sid=214214503
What do you think of this amazing polish? Do you have a holographic polish that you love? Please tell me about it, I would love to try it myself! Have a wonderful day everyone!

My first blog post! My nails, how I am growing them.

I have a ridiculous obsession with Makeup, nails and just about anything fun, sparkly or girly. Lately I have found myself less concerned with makeup and more into my nails. I just started growing them, they are very long yet, but they're getting there!

I never realized how difficult it is to actually grow long nails. It seems to be quite a process and takes a lot of patience and maintenance. Here's what I have been doing:

 After doing research on nail strengtheners I purchased something called Nail Magic at my local Sally's Beauty Supply. I use this multiple times a week, under every new manicure as my base coat. It works well. Although it is a painfully slow process and seems to be taking forever to grow my nails long.

Another topic in nail growth I researched was nail files. This is one of those things that varies greatly from person to person. Everyone has a different opinion on the best way to file your nails and the best type of file to use. After doing quite a bit of research, and watching a ton of YouTube videos I have decided to use authentic crystal nail files from the Czech Republic. I have found an amazing seller on eBay, she sells them very cheap and they are authentic. Here is her link http://www.ebay.com/itm/360404745904?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649. Amazing price, fast ship and great customer service.

The crystal nail files have made an amazing difference in my nails already. With traditional sand paper type nail files I found I had a ton of peeling and cracking. The crystal nail files have completely eliminated the cracking and peeling. You do have to make sure they are authentic. The only place in the world that makes them is in the Czech Republic. If it wasn't made there, it isn't real crystal. Here is a link to a video by pinksofoxy, she sells them and does a wonderful job of explaining all the key points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7YX0_rNXGo&feature=plcp&context=C4c40f4aVDvjVQa1PpcFMthX2-g7wLEWuc-Z4DitzBF-a5mFr1VO4%3D.

I have also started using a cuticle remover, really good healing lotion (the new carmex lotion is my favorite) and cuticle oil. These things have helped the growing process. I have also placed an order for Biotin, which is a supplement that is supposed to promote nail and hair growth. We'll see how that goes.

So with this being my first blog post it is probably a little rough to read and for that I apologize. I hope to get better and more fluid with my postings as I go. Coming up will be a few different nail looks I have done recently and a brief description along with a product list. Thank you so much for reading!