Birthday Dots

Hello all!!! Yesterday (Aug 6th) was my 26th birthday! Naturally I had to have some pretty spiffy nails when I went to enroll my eldest into Pre-K. (That is literally all I did for my birthday...getting old stinks.)

Summer is almost over, and I really wanted to take advantage of my bright colors before they look weird in the colder months.

Here's what I did:
1 coat Nail Magic
1 coat Growth Spurt
1 coat Gelous
2 coats Julep Alicia
And I used a small dotter to make my polka dots with Hard Candy Frenzy, Wet N Wild I Need a Refresh-mint, and Konad Special White.
 1 coat Seche Vite

I love love love this manicure. I formed a circular pattern off to the side of my nail, rather than in the middle of my nail. I think it made it look a bit more abstract. I love the color combination, and  Julep Alicia will always be one of my favorite polishes. I adore it.

Application was beautiful, and drying time wasn't that bad. It did take me like an hour to do each and every nail...but let me just say: I was 100% worth it!

As you can see, my nails are crazy short. I had them growing so nicely, then they all broke. It really stinks to have short nails, but I have faith that they will be coming back stronger and hopefully will stay longer. One of my Instagram friends suggested Nail Magic...so we shall see how well it works. This is week one for me. It says it takes up to 8 weeks for stronger nails to come in...so I am testing them!

I have been trying to get good use out of my dotting tools lately. I forget how much I really love polka dots. I must remember this!!

What do you all think of this manicure? Is it too busy? What color scheme would you do?

Also, I would love to hear from you guys about Nail Magic. Have any of you used it before? Did it work for you? I would really like some input on this base coat!!

Until next time....

Christina


Disclosure *I was not paid for this review. I was not given the polish for this review. I paid for the polish with my own money. This is purely my own opinion, thoughts, and suggestions about this polish.*

Skin/hand care

Good morning nail bloggers!!!! I want to share something pretty important to me, with you.

My skin/nail moisturizing ritual...if you will. I take keeping care of my skin and nails pretty seriously. Moisturizing your skin can keep you looking young, and makes you feel so much better. I have a few products to share with you all. I know this isn't a polish post..but I find this equally as important.

Here's what I do every day:

I use Solar Cuticle Oil every single day, several times a day. I keep it at my desk, and move it around the house so I have access to it at all times. I would like to buy another cuticle oil to keep in my purse that isn't a liquid, but I just haven't had the time to search for one. Any suggestions?

I moisturize with EOS ( evolution of smooth) nourish revitalizing care; hand and body lotion. I found this lotion at Walgreens one day. It was on sale, and I had heard great things about EOS, so I gave it a shot. I love this stuff. First, it smells amazing. I love love love the scent. I put it on all over my body every morning after showering. I wish I could find a body spray that smells exactly like this lotion. I also use it through out the day as needed. I like to have soft hands, so I tend to use a lot of lotion. 

Every night, I use Julep's glycolic hand scrub before bed. I really like this product. It exfoliates my hands but it isn't too rough. Too much exfoliation can be bad for your skin. This has the right grit to it. It is a great great product. I've had it for a little while, and I totally suggest it. It is safe enough to use for every hand washing, but I like to save my product, so I only use it once a day. At night is the best time for me. I wash with it before I put on my nightly oils and lotions.

Every night, after scrubbing with Julep's glycolic scrub, I use Creativespa massage oil. I have had this oil for a long time. It came in my Creativespa pedicure and manicure kit. The kit includes a lot of products, that I will share with you in a future post. I only use those products every other week. They're a bit harsher in the exfoliation department for me to use every day. Back to the oil, I love love love this oil. As you can see, below, I still have a lot left! I use maybe a drop or two on my hands every night before bed. It is oil, so it will make your hands feel oily, but it really does moisturize your skin very very well. When I use this oil, I skip my cuticle oil. Mainly because I don't feel like need to double oil up my hands. This oil will moisturize your cuticles as well as all of your skin. I use my EOS lotion right after the oil. I only do this at night, because I don't want to leave oil smudges all over my house. And it does make your hands slippery. Plus I like that this stuff will work while I get my beauty rest.

This is my daily routine. It has helped my skin and my cuticles so much! I really swear by all of these products. I can't promise that all of these products are available to public purchasers. My Creativespa supplies were purchased at State, back before I let my cosmetology license expire. I really should go back to school for the X amount of hours to reinstate my license...but I just don't have time right now. Maybe one day...but I do not want to work in a salon again...it just wasn't my cup o tea.

I hope this has helped all of you. If you try it and it works for you, let me know! If it doesn't work for you, let me know! But please remember, it is SO important to moisturize your skin and nails. Especially if you use 100% pure acetone!

Until next time....

Christina

Konad

Saturday I received my Konad stamper and two plates (m57 & m60) that I ordered!! I cannot explain how happy I am to finally have this awesomeness!! It is uber easy to use, fast, and it looks awesome. I will say that you do need to practice practice practice to get the stamps to look okay.

I got the double stamper, mainly because of my children and their tiny fingers. I did some dots on my daughter, Seyhan's nails last night, and it looked so awesome. The best part, it dried crazy fast. So I didn't have to worry about her little fingers getting polish all over my house.

Last night I tried out different polishes, and different designs on my nails. I will admit that I was getting very frustrated. It is hard for me to get the pattern straight onto my nail. The stamps aren't big enough for my fat thumbs, so I need to figure out what to do there. (Any suggestions?)

ALSO, I did not buy the Konad special polish. I'm thinking that I might HAVE to at least buy the white and the black. My white polish isn't goopy enough, and doesn't show up as well as I'm sure the special polish would. I was trying to avoid buying the special polish, because it is kind of expensive. $6.00 for polish that is goopy like old polish? Sheesh. So maybe I will have to goop up my black and white and see how that works.

After receiving my Julep polishes, I could not wait to use them! So here is Alicia. I think it looks great with my skins. I used a basecoat (Orly), two coats of Julep Alicia, the pattern, and a coat of Seche Vite.

Now, with my cuticles, I have been having one heck of a time getting them used to all the pampering that I have been giving them. They've been peeling and cracking. And I have been using oils, lotions, and scrubs. I think they're just like "whoa, we had no attention for years, and now all of a sudden you want to love us again???" I think they're rebelling. Typical.

For this look I used the dot pattern on my m60 plate. I think these nails turned out adorable. I will for sure be doing it again.

Until next time...

Christina

Disclosure *I was not paid for this review. I was not given the polish for this review. I paid for the polish with my own money. This is purely my own opinion, thoughts, and suggestions about this polish.*

HAPPY MAIL!

I just checked the mail, and it wasn't my Konad....but it was my Julep Maven order!!! I became a Maven, and I will be getting a box of nail goodies every month! I have been CRAZY excited about these products!! If you would like to become a Maven, go HERE. You won't regret it, I know I don't! For $19.99 a month, you can get $40.00 worth of product sent to your door! Amazing, huh??

Here is what I received today!!

Why some of my photos uploaded sideways, I will never know. I'm no computer whiz. Boo.

Any who, I received the colors Alicia and Portia. I also received a nail file, and a glycolic hand scrub. If you guys have not used glycolic products, you are missing out. Glycolic is an acid that penetrates the skin very well. It sloughs off dead skin cells, exposing new ones. Seriously, this stuff will make your hands feel like a baby's behind! ;) I am SO very excited about all of these products! I have been oohing and ahhing at Julep products for a while now, and I am FINALLY able to purchase them!! I can't wait to write a review on the polish and hand scrub!!! <3

Until next time...

Christina