November Birchbox

(I don't know why this didn't go up two weeks ago when I posted it, but better late than never, I suppose.)

November Birchbox is here, and just as wonderful as I was hoping for!  I saw someone on a blog get this exact box and was hoping for the same one; turns out that's what I got!  And I unlocked the Bauble Bar bracelet for earning BirchBox points back in September/October!  So happy.

This month's theme is "Getting Gifty"; gift ideas for the upcoming holiday season.

Pink and Black

I've wanted to do this mani for ages now!!  I know crackle is supposedly passe; hell black and pink is passe.  Don't care!  Love it!  Half the nails are black with pink crackle (Skin Food & Pure Ice), half pink with black crackle (Skin Food & Claire's).  And yes, I know my pinky got messed up, but it wasn't worth re-doing since I only got to wear it for 2 days.  Totally worth it, however!

Next up: This week's work-safe mani, Sinful Colors Sharons Heart.

October Birchbox: Final Review

November Birchoxes are on their way (AND I THINK THERE'S NAIL POLISH IN IT!!), so it's time to review last month's products.  This was an excellent box.

Review: Essie Fiji

Loving this color!  Have to say though, it now feels odd not to hide my pinky at work!

Essie Fiji review will be up most likely tomorrow, but in the meantime I had to share this gorgeous necklace I just bought!!  I've seen it and considered buying it several times, but tonight with the combination of my holiday discount and a gift card given to me by a generous friend, it was free!  Sparkly, long chain, and neutral color that will go with basically everything.  I don't wear a lot of jewelery, but I can't wait to don this stunner!

Happy Belated Halloween!

Colors used: OPI Alpine Snow, Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Sun Kissed and Mellow Yellow

Promised you a treat, didn't I? :)

I've received so many compliments in the 2 days I've been wearing these, from men and women alike.  And the best part is that they're so simple!  I painted the entire nail white, then covered the bottom half with yellow, just eyeballing it.  After giving that ample time to dry, I taped off the top and bottom portion of my nails with scotch tape and added the orange stripe across the middle.  And voila!  They're not razor-edge perfect if you inspect them close-up, but I'm okay with that; not many people are going to be inspecting my nails close-up besides myself anyway.

Hope you all had a fantastic Halloween, however you chose to celebrate it.  Tomorrow it's back to the grind, but this mani has been worth it for the mere 48 hours I was able to wear it.

Coming up next: Essie Fiji

Review: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure First Kiss

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been drooling over this color for quite some time.  At the end of the day it wasn't exactly what I had hoped for, but I'm still glad I made the purchase for the wear time alone.  For reference, I usually take pictures on the 3rd day or so of my mani, and by then I'm having to twist my fingers into awkward positions to hide the chips.  I'm okay with this, though - I usually buy cheaper brands of polish, and I'm not very careful with my nails.  These pictures were taken on the 5th day, and even after an afternoon of scraping my nails against concrete doing chalk art with kids at work, I still only had 2 small chips and some minor tip wear.  I think if I had added an additional layer of topcoat halfway through wearing the mani I would have fared even better.  So that alone makes me hold the Complete Salon Manicure line in very high regard; next time I'm itching for a new color I know where to look.  In fact, there was a baby blue that caught my eye last time....

CVS Mini-Haul

I keep going into CVS for random things and passing by the Sally Hansen display, where I get distracted by the Complete Salon Manicure color First Kiss.  I kept talking myself out of buying it, because I had no money and more than enough nail polish that I haven't even used yet.  But I'm finally OK financially, so I figured what better way to waste my hard-earned money?  And of course, I couldn't just stop at one bottle; I ended up walking out with 4.

So in addition to First Kiss, I picked up Essie Fiji.  I'd been planning to eventually get OPI's Mod About You, then MissGlamorazzi mentioned this color, which is extremely similar.  And at the end of the day, CVS is closer to me than Ulta, so decision made.  Lastly I discovered a whole display of different colored crackles!  Yellow, green, purple...I really wish I had my camera with me.  And they must have put it out very recently, because every slot was filled.  I did a little test on one of my fingers with the pink (Hot Coture), and it was much more opaque than the Sally Hansen Vintage Violet I've got, so I decided to go ahead and try it.  I got the pink crackle for a specific manicure that I've got in mind, then the blue (Strike a Pose) I grabbed on a whim.  Looking forward to doing that pink mani, it's one I've been thinking about for awhile now.

Next up: Sally Hansen Salon Manicure First Kiss.  Right in time for the work week to start again.

Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Emerald Express

Colors like this are what make me desperately wish I had a job that allowed me to wear whatever I want on my fingers, because only 2 days before I have to remove it?  Not enough.

Salvaged!

So this is e.l.f. Light Pink, from the previous post.  Barely recognizable anymore once I covered it with OPI Significant Other Color, then Essie Matte About You.  Not bad, huh?  A few more pics under the cut.