It all started with Pink...Revisiting Orly Basketcase

I have loved the Orly brand of nail polish for years. Some of my earliest blog posts were of Orly polishes.  I have often commented on how much I loved the Orly rubberized bottle tops. Orly recently redesigned their bottles again.  My nail polish collection includes just short of 90 bottles of Orly, and in my collection I have 3 generations of bottles.  Change is often not easy but after a couple uses, I have gained an appreciation for the redesigned bottle. 

Orly Polish Family Portrait

The redesigned orlybeauty.com features video tutorials, how-to tips, and insight on color and nail trends.  I have already started making my shopping list by reviewing the true-to-life color swatches. We all seen other brands' swatches that looked nothing like the actual polish.

I've always been a history buff so the company video that Orly released explaining the history of the Orly line is very interesting to me.  An isn't quite interesting that the founder's nail is Jeff Pink.  

1st Impressions: NYX Advanced Salon Formula Nail Polish Swatches, Part 1

NYX Cosmetics has been a product line that I have loved and used for a while.  I love their lip glosses, lipsticks, blushes, lip & eye liners. I've even purchased several of the NYX Girls nail polishes, but until now I have never tried their Advanced Salon Formula Nail Polish line. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have paid several visits to my favorite beauty supply store's newest location in my town.  They have one of the largest NYX collections I've ever seen in any one location. During one of my trips to this BSS, I picked up some of my first NYX Advanced Salon Formula nail polish.

So today I'm sharing with you the first 4 that I purchased.  Any surprise that my first would be a blue?  Here is Ocean Blue. This is a light denim blue with silver shimmer. The formulation was great, almost a one-coater, but I went with two coats to achieve a full opaque finish.  But be sure to wear a good base coat because I did experience some staining, but not a lot.

CONTEST: Moroccanoil "What Gives You A Boost?" Contest

Moroccanoil Introduces New Root Boost:

A High Performance Volumizing Spray for Body and Lift

Earlier this year I started using the Moroccanoil® Treatment and the Moroccanoil® Hydrating Styling Cream and my hair loved these two products. Just based on my experiences with these products, I knew I would be trying other products in this line.  So when I received word of the introduction of a new product in the line and the opportunity for several to win Moroccanoil® Prize Packs, I had to share with my readers.

The Moroccanoil® Twitter and Instagram Contest Asks "What Gives You A Boost?" 

And offers chances to Win Moroccanoil® Volumizing Prize Packs 

What Gives You A Boost? Contest

Moroccanoil is celebrating the launch with a special contest for their Instagram and Twitter followers, asking them to upload photos that answer the question, "What Gives You A Boost?" and tag them @Moroccanoil and #BoostYourRoots.  The contest begins July 18 and ends August 15. 

 Official rules: http://www.moroccanoil.com/boostyouroots-instagram-contest-official-rules

One Grand Prize Winner will receive a unique Moroccanoil Volumizing Prize Pack containing:

One (1) Moroccanoil® Root Boost, $29 value

One (1) Moroccanoil® Volumizing Mousse, $28 value
One (1) Moroccanoil® Extra Volume Shampoo, $24 value
One (1) Moroccanoil® Extra Volume Conditioner, $25 value
One (1) Moroccanoil® Luminous Hairspray in Strong, $23 value
One (1) Moroccanoil® Treatment, $43 value

Approximate retail value of the grand prize is $171.00.

Four (4) runner-ups will receive the following prize package:

One (1) Moroccanoil® Root Boost, $29 value

One (1) Moroccanoil® Volumizing Mousse, $28 value

One (1) Moroccanoil® Treatment Light (25mL)

Approximate retail value of the runner-up prize is $57.00.

About Moroccanoil Root Boost

Moroccanoil Root Boost contains a proprietary volumizing blend of the finest quality ingredients, including Moroccanoil’s signature antioxidant-rich argan oil, which helps maintain hair’s elasticity, leaving it smooth and manageable. The latest addition to the innovative Moroccanoil line of styling products, its highly advanced formula instantly fortifies and thickens hair at the root without compromising hair’s healthy condition and shine.

How to Use:

Apply on towel-dried hair to instantly add fullness and lift to fine and medium hair textures. Lift hair in sections from the scalp and apply to the roots while blow-drying for a healthy, voluminous look. Root Boost may also be applied prior to using a straightening or curling iron.

Perfect for every hair type including fine, Moroccanoil® Root Boost:

• Fortifies and thickens at the root

• Gives a long-lasting, full-bodied effect

• Adds voluminous texture and a natural-looking finish

• Leaves hair feeling smooth, soft and touchable

• Helps control static

Moroccanoil Root Boost: MSRP: $28 / 250ml

About Moroccanoil®

Moroccanoil offers innovative, easy-to-use, performance-driven formulas that dramatically transform all hair types resulting in beautiful, healthy, natural-looking hair. As the pioneer of an all-new oil treatment hair care category, Moroccanoil has quickly become a runaway hit among fashion and beauty insiders and has generated a devoted following among top stylists and their A-list celebrity clients. Launched seven years ago, Moroccanoil products are now available in 40 countries around the globe. Famed for its weightless, residue-free quality, Moroccanoil’s extensive line of luxury hair care products addresses the needs of all hair types and features a proprietary advanced blend of the finest ingredients to deliver optimal performance and dramatic results.  Moroccanoil products are available at fine salons, spas and now online.

For more information:

Visit http://www.moroccanoil.com, 

Twitter, www.twitter.com/moroccanoil and 

Facebook, www.facebook.com/moroccanoil

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

LUSH COSMETICS: Hand & Nail Care Products Review

My campaign to have a Lush Cosmetics store open in Jacksonville started almost 3 years ago when I first started blogging. I posted my desire to have a store open here several times on their Twitter and Facebook pages. Imagine my excitement when my wish finally came true. Lush Cosmetics has entered the Jacksonville market by opening their first store here at the St. John's Town Center and to my surprise, today they announced that a 2nd store will be opening in the Avenues Mall, which even better, is only 5 minutes from my office-can you say lunch runs to Lush...  

My introduction to Lush Cosmetics was the product called "Lemony Flutter", their cuticle butter, that just about every nail blogger raved about. But back then the closest Lush Store was in Orlando, 2 1/2 hours away.  I am a touchy-feely shopper and when purchasing beauty products for the first time, I like to be able to smell them.  So, with the announcement of the 1st Jacksonville store, I has offered the opportunity to receive several of their products to try. I jumped at that chance.  I have a love for DIY Spa Nights so of course I chose exfoliants, scrubs, masks, and hand care products.  The first of these products I want to share with you are products I've been recently using in my nail & hand care regimen.

We take time to care for our facial skin but, so often neglect our hands.  As a nail blogger and one that just loves to care for my hands and nails, my nail regimen includes doing a scrub, so from the Lush line, I chose to add one of their top sellers - Ocean Salt.  This is a Face & Body Scrub, while excellent for Face & Body, I also like it as my manicure scrub. I dampen my hands and apply about a teaspoon of the Ocean Salt scrub and rub it over my hands and cuticle for a few minutes, than rinse. The consistency is almost whipped and the results are OMG!!! My hands are so soft and smooth. I can't remember the last time I touched a baby's bottom, but I would bet that my hands are even softer.  The scent is soft and fresh. Ocean Salt contains avocado and coconut for hydration and lime and vodka for their antibacterial benefits; which is great for any issues you may with with dry and cracked hands and cuticles. (4.2 oz - $21.95)

Side note: some settling of the product may occur so mix before using.

After drying my hands, I applied the Lush Handy Gurugu Hand Cream. The cream is made up of several butters and essential oils, including more than 25% shea butter. It's not overly greasy and absorbs quickly.  There is a light herbal and fresh scent. (3.5 oz - $18.95).  This is the product that I like to keep at my desk. The soap at work is so drying that only an uber hydrating hand cream revives the moisture levels.

Lastly, I was really excited to try the product that first introduced me to Lush Cosmetics, Lemony Flutter.  I have been beating the "moisturize moisturize moisturize, your cuticles" drum long before I ever started blogging.  Another part of my nail regimen is to moisturize my cuticles at least 2-3 times a day.  Lemony Flutter contains one of my favorite natural oils-avocado oil and several essential oils.  I posted my own cuticle oil mix and I expressed my appreciation of natural oils. This cuticle cream includes many of the ingredients that I include in my own oil.  The scent is a cross between Lemon Pledge and lemon cake batter.  Of course would prefer that the scent would lean more toward the lemon cake Batter, but it's not offensive. (1.5 oz - $16.95)

So this being my first experience with Lush Cosmetics, I am really anxious to visit one of the new stores and to try some of their other products.  It's great knowing that Lush does not test any of their products on animals and for those concerned, is 100% vegetarian.

For those who are already familiar with Lush Cosmetics, what are some of your favorite products and which would you recommend that I try?

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* These products were provided by the Brand or by the representing PR firm for review consideration. These however are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by this company.

Another Zoya Blue...Tallulah...

It has never been a secret that blue nail polish is my favorite. This past May I did a blog post on all my blue Zoya polishes.  Recently, during one of the many Zoya sales, I picked up a few more.  I remember, when I first started blogging, up until that point, I had never tried Zoya polish. But I saw that many other bloggers where constantly raving about the brand. So I finally gave the brand a try and my Zoya collection is quickly growing.  

One of the latest additions to my collection just may be my new favorite blue nail polish.  Today, I'm sharing with you Zoya Tallulah.  This was part of the Summer 2009 Oh-La-La collection.  Tallulah is described as a "medium electric cobalt blue with fine bright aqua shimmer."  This is one of those polishes that had me glancing at my hands all day.  If you don't have Tallulah in your collection, you are definitely missing a stunner.

Here I am wearing two coats along with my usual base coats and top coat. I already have a good number of Zoya polishes, but really need to get more; especially more of their blue polishes.

I posted a picture of this manicure earlier on Instagram and Twitter, but those office pictures really did no justice in showing the real beauty of this polish.  I still have several other Zoya shades to share with you. I recently picked up 3 of the Zoya Pixie Dust.  Anyone have any insight to the next collections to be released? 

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were bought with my own money. These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by any of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.

Barielle: Smarty Pants Pink

Ever since OPI released its Pink Friday a few seasons ago, I've been loving pink cream polishes and it appears that most brands are releasing similar shades.  I recently went though my stash and found just a few similar polishes. A recent addition to my collection comes from the Barielle brand. I received today's shade, Smarty Pants Pink, as part of the Barielle Brilliant Colors collection.  I don't know what it is about this color family, it doesn't appear to be anything really special but it is certainly a shade that needs to be in our stash.  

Here, I'm wearing 2 coats to achieve true bottle color.  The formulation was smooth with no application issues.

As I mentioned above, just about every brand has at least one shade similar. Here are those in my stash. L to R: Barielle Smarty Pants Pink, SC Cotton Candy, OPI Pink Friday, Barielle Pink Flip Flops, SC Over It, SinfulShine Yours Truly.

What are some of your favorite pink creams?

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* These products were provided by the representing PR firm. These however are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by this company.

Rimmel London Cocktail Colour Collection Swatches

Rimmel London hasn't been a brand that I really look at when it came of nail polish. For no particular reason, it just turned out that way. But earlier this Summer, while in my local Walgreens, I came across the Walgreen exclusive Rimmel London Cocktail Colour Collection. The colors screamed "Summer" so I picked up the collection. There are 5 shades in the collection. The bottle is smaller than the standard polish bottle at 0.27 fl oz (8ml) and was $2.49 each.  The formulation is very sheer and would require either several coats or an under color to achieve full opaqueness. But nonetheless, these are great for your Summer manicures and pedicures.  

The first I'd like to share is Baby Beillini. It's a deep purple with pink and red undertones. Here I'm wearing 2 coats, but would suggest at least 3 coats to achieve a more opaque finish. 

Next is Shirley Temple-a juicy orange with golden flecks.  This is my favorite of the collection.  I love orange against tanned skin tones.  Here I'm wearing 3 coats and you still have visible nail lines (VNL). But I still love it.

Apple Berry Smoothie is the blue in the collection.  This is a pretty medium blue with blue flecks.  Of the collection Apple Berry Smoothie gave me the best coverage. Here I'm wearing 3 coats and have very little VNL.

Here we have Hawaiian Punch, a red based pink with pink flecks throughout. Here I wearing 2 coats of Hawaiian Punch and the nail line is barely visible.

Lastly is Cutie Colada, by far the most sheer of the collection.  Here I'm wearing 3 coats and am no where near opaque. Honestly, I wouldn't even try to achieve full bottle color without a undercoat.  With all that being said, Cutie Colada is still a very pretty color.

Well that is it for the Rimmel London Cocktail Colour Collection. I love the colors. I love the brus and the bottle size and price are great.  Although not marketed as a limited edition, I suspect that it is, so if you are liking any of these colors, I would make a run for Walgreens.

Have you picked up any of this collection? Also, what are some of your favorite Rimmel London polishes? Any suggestions?

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were bought with my own money, unless otherwise noted. These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by any of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.

Nina Ultra Pro Matte Glitter...Limited Edition...

OPI has its Liquid Sand. Orly has its Pixel line. Zoya has the Pixie Dust and now Sally Beauty introduces the Nina Ultra Pro Limited Edition Matte Glitter.  All these line are textured and dry to a matte glitter. I was recently in my local Sally Beauty and came across this limited edition line. I was slow in adding the textured polishes to my collection but now I am really liking them. So I was quick to grab this small collection.  

There are currently 3 shades to this collection - Shooting Star, Twinkle Twinkle and Star Bright. I can only hope that they add more shades to the collection.  While pretty, I wouldn't necessarily say that they are Summer shades. But it you are like me, I wear what I like, whenever I like it. LOL!



The first in this collection is Shooting Star, a gorgeous blingy silver. This is two coats with no top coat. Silver polishes tend to scare me but this one, although bright, its not gaudy bright. I had nothing like this in my collection nor have I seen anything similar in other brands. I'm glad I own it.

Next, is the first I picked up in this collection, surprise, surprise.  This is Twinkle, Twinkle - a navy blue glitter that dries matte.

Lastly, in this collection is Star Bright, a pink matte glitter.  Surprisingly, I'm really liking this textured finish. I am normally a smooth finish girl.  But like with most of the textured polishes, a top coat isn't suggested, but if you prefer a smooth finish you can always add your favorite top coat.

As I mentioned earlier, several brands have their version of the glitter matte polishes.  When not paying attention, I purchased the Nina Ultra Pro in Star Bright and the Orly Pink Pixel.  When I got them home, I had to do a comparison.  Below you can see that the Nina Pro appears to be more textured as well as lighter in color. I wouldn't call them dupes but they are  definitely in the same color family. While I normally love the Orly line, in this case, I prefer the Nina formulation.  Again, I hope they release other shades in the Matte Glitter finish.

If you haven't tried the Nina Ultra Pro line yet, you really should.  I love the brush. It's another one of those wide brushes that pretty much covers the nail with one stroke.  Nina Ultra Pro is exclusive to Sally Beauty and sales for $4.69 a bottle for a 0.5 fl oz bottle.

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were bought with my own money, unless otherwise noted. These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by any of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.

Maybelline Color Show Polka Dot Swatches & a life update...

I know it's been well over a month since I've posted any nail polish swatches.  That doesn't mean that I haven't been shopping like a maniac. But as much as I love blogging, life happens. Fortunately, my reason for being MIA were positive reasons.  I started a new job last month and I'm having to reorganize my blogging routine.  I spent a good amount of time yesterdaty, determined to share with you some of my recent purchases.  I have several collections all ready to share with you and will try to stay on top of my blogging schedule. I really did miss sharing with you my newest lovelies. 

So today, I'm sharing with you the Maybelline Color Show Polka Dot Collection.  It is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery.  If that is true, than the Indie Polish makers should really be flattered. Many of the national and international brands have introduced finishes very similar to those finishes already known in the Indie lines.  Maybelline has recently released its Color Show Polka Dot Collection.  With the exception of Clearly Spotted, each of these polishes are in a tinted milky-jelly base, with multi-sized, & multi-shaped, black and white glitters. Although I'm wear these with no undercoat, I would like to try them as top coats also.

First, is Drops of Jade-a milky jade green jelly base with the black & white glitters. Here, I'm wearing two coats. These polishes give you that "sandwich" look that some many polish addicts wear. 

Next is Dotty, an milky orange jelly base with the black & white glitters.  I was hesitant to get this shade but I love the way it complements my skin tone.  Two coats.

This next polish is the version I believe started the trend.  This is Clearly Spotted - a clear base with the black & white glitters.  It will complement any and every color of polish. You are only limited by your imagination.  I don't know why, but worn alone, this polish reminds me of cookies n' creme...LOL!  One Coat.

Here is Pretty In Polka. This is a milky magenta-pink jelly base with the black & white glitter. Here I'm wearing two coats. While I could use an undercoat, as seen here, one isn't absolutely necessary.    

Lastly, is Blue Marks The Spot. A milky, dusty, blue base with the black & white glitters. It should be no surprise that I would love this blue.

Well that is it for the Maybelline Color Show Polka Dot collection. I'm glad that I as able to find it and will be looking to the indie lines for the latest trends. I wonder what other trends are going to rise up from the indie lines. LOL!  Have you been wanting to try this trend but was turned off by the price tag  of some of the indie brands? Well here is your chance to give them a try.

Maybelline Color Show line is readily available at many of the mass retailers and drug store chains. The Polka Dot collection was released late June, so it should still be fairly easy to find. I bought my collection at Walgreens. So be on the lookout and although they are regularly priced at less than $4.00 a bottle, remember, Walgreens and CVS often have Maybelline on sale BOGO 50% off.

Grace, Peace, & Blessings.

* FTC: These products were bought with my own money, unless otherwise noted. These are my honest opinions. I am not employed by nor was I paid by any of these companies. This is not a sponsored post.