Tips and Tricks Tuesday- DIY exfoliating lip balm!

Here's a quick DIY trick that stems from a product I'd been meaning to try for a while. I've been wanting to try out a product like the ELF Lip Exfoliator for a while. However, I never seem to get around to putting in an order with ELF, so I came up with my own version. I just softened a lip balm I wasn't hugely fond of, then opened a packet of "Sugar in the Raw" large grain sugar onto my palm.  I pressed the softened lip balm into the sugar grains, and voila! The sugar was imbedded into the balm. Once the lip balm hardened again, I used the sugared lip balm as an exfoliator.  I feel that the sugar grains in the balm are doing a great job of exfoliating my lips!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday- Cuticle Oil pen!

Make your own perfumed cuticle oil with an old perfume rollerball!

Here's a quick tip that I wanted to share because it was such a pleasant surprise to me. I recently used up my rollerball of perfume from Tattooed by Inky. Rather than throwing out the empty container, I decided to try using it for cuticle oil. I had tried the cuticle oil from Julep at Sephora, and liked the rollerball format of the packaging. So I pried the top off of my old rollerball of perfume, then filled the container to the top with olive oil. I replaced the top, and voila! I now have a new rollerball of cuticle oil.  My favorite aspect of my new cuticle oil? The remnants of perfume in the bottle have totally affected the oil in the container, so all the oil that comes out smells exactly like the Tattooed perfume. The combination of a great fragrance with being so easy to use makes this my new favorite way to moisturize my cuticles!

Inspiration Wednesday- Eva So Bright

Sinful Colors Eva So Bright with gold stripes

I’ve noticed that a there’s been quite a bit of traffic to this blog coming from people who searched for Sinful Colors Eva So Bright.  It’s  definitely an appropriate color for the summer, so I can understand the interest.  Because of being inspired by my readers, I’ve decided to post these pictures I have of  the last time I wore Eva So Bright. The quality of the pictures isn’t ideal, which is part of why I hadn’t posted  them prior to this.  A lot of them have a misty quality to them.  Hopefully you’ll still get a good idea about Eva So Bright, which is a limited edition offering from Sinful Colors.  

Sinful Colors Eva So Bright with NOPI Not a Gold Bigger stripes, shade

 I wore Eva So Bright a while ago, when I got a craving for a bright, happy coral. I decided to add some decorative stripes to Eva So Bright using Nicole by OPI Not a Gold Bigger with a striping brush.   I really like the overall look of the mani. It’s bright and fun, with a bit of added sophistication. 

How does Eva So Bright compare to the classic color, OPI Cajun Shrimp? Judge for yourself, plus check out a bonus mani, after the jump!

Inspiration Wednesday- Leopard French mani

Leopard French Manicure, featuring pastel dots over Wet n Wild 2% Milk

What do you do when you are craving pastel polish but can’t decide which color to wear? If you’re me, you decide to de a pastel leopard French manicure!  This look is totally inspired by Rebecca Likes Nails, who originally posted a neon version a couple of years ago.

Rebecca Likes Nails' original, neon, version

  Rebecca is much better at nail art than I am, but I’m still pretty happy with my results. At least you can tell what it’s supposed to be, which is not always the case with my designs.  To learn what polishes I used in this look, join me after the jump!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday-Drugstore Jellies

Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby and Sally Hansen Sheer Ecstasy, 2 drugstore jellies

A question that often comes up in the nail community is "What are some drugstore jellies?" It's not like jelly polishes are all labeled as such. Yes, there is the standard advice to find a jelly: tip a polish bottle over on its side. If you can see the mixing balls through the polish along the side of the bottle, then the polish is a jelly. However, I wanted to offer people a quick and dirty list of the jellies that I know of that can be easily found at the drugstore. 

I've compiled this totally unofficial list of drugstore jelly polishes based on my frequent visits to places like Target and Walgreens. All but one of these are a part of the core collection for their brand, so they should be easy to access. Here are the jellies I know of so far:

Wet n Wild Everybody Loves Redmond
Wet n Wild Fuchsiarama
Wet n Wild I Red a Good Book
Wet n Wild 2% MIlk
Wet n Wild Break the Ice
Spoiled by Wet n Wild Permission to Proceed (dupe for the color below, SC Irish Green)
Sinful Colors Irish Green (not a core color at any retailer, seasonally available frequently)
Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby
Sally Hansen CSM Jaded
Sally Hansen CSM Shell We Dance
Sally Hansen CSM Sheer Ecstasy
Sally Hansen CSM Almost Almond
Sally Hansen CSM Arm Candy
Revlon Just Tinted Victorian
Revlon Sheer Pink
Revlon Velvet Rope
Revlon Plum Seduction

For almost all these polishes, I don't personally own them so I confirmed their jelly nature by image searching for jelly sandwiches featuring them. Maybe I'll eventually add a link for all of them, but for now:

Sally Hansen CSM Arm Candy sandwich from Never Enough Nails
Revlon Velvet Rope sandwich from Pretty Girl Science
Revlon Plum Seduction floating stamping from SpecialGirl Nails

Do you have a blog post featuring one of these jellies? Do you know of any other good drugstore jelly polishes? Please comment below!

Zoya Dillon turns the tide on a texture

Zoya Dillon with China Glaze Teal the Tide Turns, sun

Here’s a quick post to share a NOTD I just sported recently. This manicure features Zoya Dillon on 2 fingers. Dillon is a light seafoam green with a silver shimmer.  I use China Glaze Teal the Tide Turns on the other 2 fingers. I picked up that texture glitter on clearance at Sally Beauty.  I’m not a fan of textures, but I love the mint green base color of this one as well as the greenish teal glitter in it. So I added plenty of topcoat over Teal the Tide Turns.  

 

 

 

 

 

Zoya Dillon with China Glaze Teal the Tide Turns, shade

 

Seahorsin' Around with topcoat

China Glaze Seahorsin' Around, sun

 I'm back with a quick post featuring China Glaze Seahorsin' Around. It's a textured polish feautring turquoise glitter. As you may recall, I don't like texture polishes at all, so I coujldn't wear it alone. However, I love the colors in this glitter, so I added a bunch of topcoat to it.  Here are my pics of it. 

China Glaze Seahorsin' Around, shade