Pops of Neon Mani

Today I have a cute little mani that I did not long ago on myself and my sister. This is a really simple mani to create and you don't even need to have some dotting tools to do it. You can use a few things that you may have lying around your house to create the dots, you could use a bobby pin, the tip of a pencil, or the end of one of those stick pins that have the pearl ball on the end for sewing.

For these I put down our base coats (I honestly can't remember what I used for the base coats but I think it was either my Sally Hansen nail strengthener or Zoya Anchor). Once the base coats were dry I put on 2 coats of Zoya Willa from the Holiday 2014 Wishes Collection. I love this because it is such a beautiful black cream.

When our color Willa was dry I took my little pots of acrylic neon paints and dipped my dotting tools in the colors I wanted and placed those dots around the nails as you see here. I love using acrylic paint for my nail art because it dries fast so I don't have to wait as long to apply my topcoat and worry about smudging.

For my mani I wanted to keep mine shiny so I added a topcoat of Out The Door to mine and let them dry. For my sister's I used the Sally Hansen Big Matte Topcoat to make hers a matte finish. We let our nails dry and voila!

These were so fun and easy to do that I am going to try something like this again for the summer, I just haven't figured it all out yet.

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel- Redgy

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Today I am going to share with you the most recent polishes I received from the people over at Sally Hansen. I have been wanting to try out these and I am so happy that Sally Hansen was kind enough to send one over for me to test out. This is the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish with the Topcoat. This is a 2 step system that is supposed to give you the long wear and shine of a gel manicure without the UV light and hard removal.

It is said to give you up to 14 days of color and shine with easy removal and no light needed. These are available at CVS, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta, and KMart. It is available in 45 shades. You can buy the shades and the Topcoat separately or if you are just trying this for the first time you can purchase a shade and Topcoat together in a "starter kit". They retail for roughly $7.99-$9.99 (depending on where you go). I searched online to see if I could find a price on a "starter kit" but cannot find one online, I know I have seen them at my local Walmart so you may have to search for the "starter kit" or just purchase them individually. 

This one Sally Hansen sent me is in the shade Redgy, it is a bright red that is gorgeous in person. Now with these there is no base coat required but I did because I wasn't sure if it was going to stain or not (I am currently still wearing this so I'll have to do an update and let you know how it wore or if it stained. You apply 2 coats of color, wait for it to dry, and then add one coat of the top coat. I on the other hand did not wait for my color to dry before applying the top coat (I was a little rushed) and they only issue I had was that on a couple of nails the color dragged a bit when I applied the top coat. Now had I waited for the color to dry like I was supposed to I wouldn't have had that problem.

Removal for this is the same as any other nail polish you use. You can use acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover and it easily comes off. So far after a few days of wear I can tell you that my nails are still just as shiny as when I first did them and as of yet I do not have any chips or tip wear. I didn't have any issues with application on these, they applied just like any other polish. The top coat does say in the instructions to avoid getting it on your skin but I don't think it's going to be too big of an issue if you do (I did get a little on my cuticle on one nail and it's just fine, it came off in the shower like a regular polish comes off the skin).

I am very pleased with these and I think I will be picking up a few more shades to add to my collection. I love that the shine lasts so long on these because that's one of the things I hate the most is when my top coat dulls and I have to add another coat to revive the shine. If you haven't tried these yet you should do so as soon as you can because you are going to love them, especially if you are someone who loves a gel manicure but hates the removal.

Zoya Chevron Skittle Mani

Today I just have a pretty simple skittle mani using some Zoya shades I have. I had been sick for a week with a nasty chest cold that was totally kicking my butt when I did this but I was sick of seeing my nails naked so I mustered up every ounce of energy I had to do my nails. I wanted to do something more detailed for the nail art but I couldn't stop coughing enough to get my hand to be steady enough for free hand nail art.

I started out with my base coat of Sally Hansen Maximum Growth and then put Zoya Willa from the Wishes Collection on my thumb, pointer finger, and pinky finger. I then put Zoya Purity on my middle finger and Zoya Trixie on my ring finger.

I then took my mini chevron nail vinyls that I got from Linda at Nail Vinyls. I love her stencils/nail vinyls for making some nail art so simple and easy to do. It's so easy that anyone can do it. I put the mini chevron nail vinyls on my middle finger leaving an open space in between each one so that when I remove them the white below will show through.

I then took my small striping brush and painted Willa and Trixie alternating in the open spots between the nail vinyls. As soon as I was finished painting Willa and Trixie on I removed the nail vinyls to reveal my finished look.

I waited a little bit for the colors to dry on my chevrons so that when I applied my top coat of Out The Door they would not smear.

Zoya polishes can be purchased at Ulta stores, select salons, and Zoya's site here. Regular Zoya polishes retail for $9 each and their PixieDusts retail for $10 each. I hope you liked this mani and hopefully I'll be feeling well enough soon to do some more nail art for you.

My Cuticle and Nail Care Routine

I thought that I'd do a little different type of post this time, it's still nail related but I thought I'd give you a little bit of insight as to what my nail and cuticle care routine is.

First I'm going to start off with my cuticle remover. I stumbled across this stuff based off of a suggestion by someone in one of the nail groups I belong to on Facebook. I can't remember what group it was or who suggested it because it was over a year ago. This is Blue Cross Cuticle Remover, this stuff is amazing! I bought it at Sally Beauty Supply (you can check it out here). It was like $5.99 regular price but if you are a beauty club member (the membership is $5 per year and gets you a discounted price on almost everything they carry in store and online) it is $4.99 per bottle. This bottle is huge, it's a 16oz. bottle. I took some of it and filled a small (probably like 5 or 6oz) bottle and gave it to my Mom to use. So far this has lasted us a year and as you can see, I still have a ton left (even considering I gave some to my Mom).

What I do is after I've removed my polish I take and massage some of this in to my cuticles and then take my metal cuticle pusher and push back my cuticles with some cuticle remover still on my nails. This cuticle pusher was given to me as part of a gift so I don't know where it came from or how much it cost but they are so inexpensive and you can get them anywhere that it doesn't make much of a difference on the cuticle pusher. Then once I've pushed back my cuticles I wash my hands to remove all the cuticle remover and dead skin that has come off during this process.

Then once I've dried my hands I like to slather them in some cuticle oil so that they can soak up all the goodness. I use the Sally Hansen Vitamin E cuticle oil (you can get this wherever Sally Hansen products are sold), I've been using this stuff for almost a year now and it seems to be doing very well for me. Before I got the Sally Hansen cuticle oil I used the Solar Oil cuticle oil (I believe you can also get this at Sally Beauty). I then massage the cuticle oil into my cuticles and then take my Bath & Body Works True Blue Spa Shea Butter Super Rich Hand Cream and lotion up my hands good. I let all this soak in for a few hours before I start to polish my nails (I usually do this on a day when I am just going to go with naked nails for the day so it's usually on a Saturday).

I also carry around this Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream in my purse and rub some of this into my cuticles almost daily (sometimes more than once a day) just to keep my cuticles nice and soft. I just started using this stuff about 2 months ago and I've been really pleased with it. You can get this wherever Burts Bees products are sold and I think mine was like $5.46 (or close) at Walmart. It smells really nice too, not a real strong lemon scent but nice and subtle.

I want to also note that I don't clip or trim my cuticles unless I have a hangnail or something like that. Then I only clip or nip that part off with either a finger nail clippers or my cuticle nippers (depending on where I am when it happens). I always carry a finger nail clippers in my purse along with a emery board to smooth out any snags I may get in my nails. I have a nice cuticle nippers that was also given to me as part of a gift and I keep that at home with my nail supplies.

Before I polish my nails I do any filing of my nails that I want to do, whether it is to reshape them or just file down the length of them. Then I give my nails a quick swipe of polish remover to get off any oils that may be on my nails from lotions or cuticle oils or butters. Then I give my nails a base coat of my Sally Hansen Maximum Growth nail strengthener (you can read my review on this here) to help keep them strong and healthy.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it informational. Please comment below if you have any questions or if you have any suggestions of new products for me to try. I'm always open to trying out new things for my nail and cuticle care.

Sally Hansen Color Foil polishes

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Sally Hansen also sent me a couple of polishes from their new Color Foil collection that was released this summer. This collection consists of 10 new metallic special effect polishes. I received 2 of the shades and I am very excited to show them to you. There were so many good shades in this collection that I really didn't have any that I wanted more than others.

Each shade is in a bottle that is a matching metallic color. You can't see through these bottles because they aren't clear, which makes it hard to see how much you have left in the bottle, but that's ok. They are just super cute!

First I have Purple Alloy. This is a medium purple chrome. This applied so smoothly that I was really surprised at how well it applied.

Shown in the pictures is only 1 coat of Purple Alloy and no topcoat. That's right, I said just 1 coat!!! That is how well they cover, you could do 2 coats but really you can get by with one coat. Even on their own they have a nice shine but once you apply topcoat they really shine!

Next I have Sterling Silver. This is a silver chrome. This one also applied so smoothly. It doesn't even show brush marks like what you get with a frost or some other "chromes".

Shown in the pictures is also just 1 coat of Sterling Silver and no topcoat. I just love that you can just apply one coat and if you don't want to add a topcoat you don't have to because they are somewhat shiny on their own. I haven't tried this one with a topcoat yet but I imagine it will shine just like it's bottle does.


Both of these shades are good with one coat and applied so smoothly. They also dried very fast too. I'm gonna have to start thinking of some good nail art to do with these metallics and show them to you so you can see just what these babies can do!

These are available wherever Sally Hansen products are sold.

Sally Hansen Color Frenzy polishes

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Sally Hansen was so nice and sent me a few of their newest polishes that were released this summer. I have two of the shades from the Sally Hansen Color Frenzy polishes. This is a collection of 8 new glitter toppers. Sally Hansen was nice and sent me 2 from this collection. These two that they sent me happened to be the ones I wanted most from this collection so I was really excited when I seen them in my box from Sally Hansen.

First up I have is Candy Drops. Candy Drops has small light pink matte hex glitters and micro bar glitter as well as silver holographic micro glitter in a clear base. I used 2 coats over naked nails.

This is such a girly color and I think it would look really cute over a nice brown shade. I just love brown with pink accents or pink with brown accents, lol!

Next I have is Red, White, and Hue. This is the patriotic one of the bunch and I LOVE it!!! It's so cute!!

Red, White, and Hue is a mix of red, white and blue hex glitters in a clear base. I used 2 coats of this over naked nails. I just love how these are so cute and I am trying to think of a great Labor Day mani to use this in.

Overall these were really easy to work with and I didn't have to fish around for glitter when applying. I also didn't have to manipulate it to get good glitter placement on the nail. I like that because then I don't end up with a ton of coats on or it isn't lumpy.

These can be purchased at many retailers near that sell Sally Hansen products such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc...

Sally Hansen Maximum Strength

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The lovely people sent me a nice package a little while back and inside the package was a bunch of stuff for me to review. Well since there were two different nail treatments I figured I should try each one out for a few weeks to see how they work for me.

This one is the Maximum Strength nail treatment. It is great for helping prevent nails from peeling and tearing. It also makes nails stronger and more resistant to damage. For me this was perfect since I have a couple nails that like to always peel and I have yet to find something that works for me. I couldn't wait to try this one out.

I will say that this does what it says! I used it for about 3-4 weeks and I have noticed a huge improvement in the condition of my nails. As you can see in the picture above they look amazing!! The nails that normally peel on me were definitely improved, they did peel a little bit but I think with continued use this will keep improving and I will no longer have a problem with peeling nails.

Now this is a extremely sheer pinkish color when applied so if you wanted to just apply this and go you certainly could. I used it as a base coat under all of my manicures.

I loved this product and it definitely worked for me so if you have peeling nails and want to improve them, give this a shot!! I give this product 2 thumbs up!!

Sally Hansen products can be found at most stores such as Ulta, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, and other retailers near you. You can also find more information on all Sally Hansen products here on their website. This product retails for $5.99 at Ulta so I believe it is going to be roughly the same price at other retailers.

Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment

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Along with the amazing polishes the people at Sally Hansen sent me, they also sent me 2 nail treatments and a bottle of their amazing cuticle oil. I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to try out these products.

The first product that I've decided to try out is the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Daily Nail Treatment. Now I don't really know what made me chose to use this one first but I did. Now you should also know that I do take vitamins (I just take an over the counter pre-natal vitamin, it works really well) to aid in nail growth and health.

Lately I have been having a problem though with my nails breaking and peeling. Not sure if the peeling is from changing my polish so often or just a lack of something but I was hoping this would help.

The instructions on this one says you can use it under polish but you should apply 1 coat to your nails daily. I have been using as a base coat under my polish and if I am going to be putting on a darker polish that might stain I use 2 coats of this just because. I have been using it for roughly one month now and I can't tell if it's improved my nail growth a whole lot but I do notice a slight improvement in growth. I have also noticed a huge improvement in the peeling. I do still have one nail that likes to peel but I'm thinking it's just because that one likes to curve inward on the edge.

I would say overall I would definitely recommend this product to someone who was wanting to grow their problem nails. I think for this next month I am going to try the other nail treatment they sent me and see how well that one works too.

I've also been using their Vitamin E cuticle oil. I apply this after each mani I do and every evening before bed. I apply generously the cuticle oil to around the cuticle and then massage it in. Once I've got the cuticle oil all massaged in I put on a nice thick layer of moisturizing hand cream and rub that in. As you can see, My cuticles are looking better than ever. Usually I have a big problem with hang nails and such but I am happy to report that as long as I keep up this routine of lotion and cuticle oil, I do not have a problem with my cuticles any longer.

Sally Hansen products can be purchased at your local Walmart, Target, and most drug stores. You can also find out more information about Sally Hansen products here on their website.

Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coats

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So remember how I told you that the people over at Sally Hansen sent me a box of goodies? Well, these babies were among the goodies in the box. Now I remember seeing these in the store when they came out and thinking that they wouldn't be that easy to work with or I just wouldn't like them so I never bought any of them.

First let me tell you about them. These Fuzzy Coat polishes are basically just a micro bar glitter topper that you can either layer over another color polish or you can build into a full coverage. Now I know many people have worked with glitter polishes that have bar glitter in them and are thinking what I was thinking "Ugh, that bar stuff is gonna lift and just be a pain in the butt to work with" but let me stop you right there. I thought those same things too, until I tried these.

These are very easy to work with and I think  it's because they are micro bar glitter that they are easy to work with. They did not lift and they were not rough either. I did not add a top coat to these when I took these pictures. I used just a base coat of the Sally Hansen Maximum Growth (which they sent me to try and I'll be posting about once I've tested it out for awhile) and then added 3 very thin coats of the Fuzzy Coat polishes. Again, I used no top coat. They dried pretty quickly and I continued with my day once I got the pic taken and such. They were easy to apply, dried nicely, and were smooth to the touch once they were dry.

Now on to the colors...

This one is called Fuzzy Fantasy, it is a lime green and white micro bar glitter.

This one is called Wool Knot, it is a light blue and white micro bar glitter.

And lastly this one is Tight Knit, it is a royal blue and white micro bar glitter.

Sally Hansen polishes can be purchased at just about any store such as Target, Walmart, Ulta, Walgreens, CVS, etc. You can also find more information on Sally Hansen products on their site here.

Sally Hansen Sugar Coats

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The lovely people over at Sally Hansen recently sent me a box of goodies and I am excited to share some of what I received with you today! I have to tell you, when I got that box I was like a kid on Christmas day opening presents. I was so excited and just ripping into it, lol! It was a good thing I was the only one home when I opened it because I am fairly positive my husband would have just shook his head at me and told me that there was something wrong with me. But he's a guy, what does he know, right!!?

 

 

Among the box of goodies were 4 of the Sugar Coat polishes. I don't have to remind you guys how much I love the textured polishes so you can imagine how excited I was. I was even more excited when I unwrapped the bubble wrap and seen the colors. I LOVE these colors!!! I feel that for me they are perfect for fall.

 

 

I know I've tried one of the Sugar Coat polishes before but after trying out all 4 of these I have come to the conclusion that my other bottle I tried previously was a bad batch because these 4 were all amazing in their formula! The formula was great, application was so smooth and easy. The texture once they are dry is similar the the CG textures and I LOVE those so I am in love with these. I used a base coat under these and of course no top coat. With each color I applied 2 coats of color over my base coat and then let dry. Dry time was average for textured polishes, about 3-5 minutes I think it was. I kinda lost track of the time cause I was getting ready to set the table and put supper on the table.

 

 

Now on to the colors!

 

 

The first one I have for you is a beautiful white called Sugar Fix. Who says you can't wear white after Labor Day?! I know I'm gonna!! I forsee something good for Christmas with this one in the future! :)

 

 

 

The next one is a gorgeous teal called Spare-A-Mint. I remember seeing this one in the store display and it caught my eye but for some reason I didn't pick it up that day and when I went back, they were all sold out so I'm super happy I have it now.

 

 

Next is a yummy purple called Gummy Grape. This one is going to be a fun one for me because I have many plans for this one.

 

 

Lastly I have a beautiful deep navy blue called Laughie Taffy. I have a feeling I am going to be wearing this one a lot this fall. I just love wearing dark colors in the Fall and Winter.

 

 

 

You can purchase Sally Hansen polishes at your local Target, Walmart, drugstore, Ulta, or just about any store. You can also check out their site for more information on all their products.