SWATCHES & REVIEW: KBShimmer Summer 2015 Collection Part Two

Giveaway Prize

I'm so so excited to post about these KBShimmer Nail Polishes. I won a giveaway that they were doing with Nail It! Magazine and got nine polishes from their Summer 2015 Collection. These were my first KBShimmer nail polishes and I already know that they won't be my last. I'm happy to swatch and review all these colors in the post.

My 5 Essential Nail Care Products

I Purchased This Press Sample Affiliate Links

Whenever anyone takes a look at my nails, they usually ask one of two things: "Are those your real nails?" and "Did you do them yourself?". They're long enough to make people wonder if they're fake but they're not thick (like they would be if they were acrylic) it makes people question if they're fake. I thought I'd share a few of the items I use to keep my nails in shape.

Crystal Nail File. Once you go crystal, you'll stop using those metal or paper nail files. They always stay sharp and file nails cleanly and quickly. I am currently using a La Vaque Crystal Nail File but I also recommend the Mont Bleu Crystal Nail Files, which get a ton of great reviews in the nail community. 

Farmhouse Fresh Whipped Honey Salt Scrub. Each week (or every manicure change), I always prep both my hands and nails with a scrub. I'm currently enjoying the Farmhouse Fresh Scrub since it doesn't leave any residue behind after I use it. It just does what it says it does and exfoliates both my hands and nails for my manicure. It comes with a wooden spoon (not pictured) so you can scoop out as much as you need. It's also vegan! You can get this at Beauty Collection online or in stores.

Farmhouse Fresh Whoopie Cream Shea Butter. Working as both a hand and body lotion, the Whoopie! Cream Shea Butter is light but moisturizing enough to work wonders. It's not too heavy and has a fabulous sweet scent. The scent reminds me of the filling of a whoopee pie. It's also packaged in a glass pump bottle so it looks fabulous on your bedside table or in your bathroom. You can get this at Beauty Collection stores.

Sunny's Body Products Intensive Cuticle Therapy. I've mentioned the wonders of this cuticle oil before I'm sure. The line comes in an incredible amount of scents so you're sure to find a scent that will suit you. It doesn't absorb too quickly so it helps keep your cuticles moisturized. I've been really happy with this and another DIY Cuticle Oil I've made (which I'll post about soon!

Sunny's Body Products Miracle Balm. Although I love cuticle oils, I'm sure there are people out there who can't stand dealing with oils. Have no fear because the Miracle Balm is here. This cuticle balm lives up to its name; it's an absolute miracle for moisturizing your cuticles and nail without dealing with the feeling of oil. Like all the other Sunny's Body Products, you can get this in the scent of your choice. I usually scrape a bit off with each nail, then rub it into my nail and cuticle.

What are your nail care essentials?

Disclosure: I purchased the Intensive Cuticle Therapy and Miracle Balm. I won the Crystal Nail File. The Salt Scrub and Whoopie Cream were sent for consideration. There are affiliate links in this post.

6 Tips for Recovering Nail Biters: Ways to Kick the Habit and Grow Your Nails Out

I Purchased This Affiliate Link

So I'll freely admit that I'm a recovering nail biter. After picking up the habit when I was a kid, I used to only be able to keep my nails long during the summer months (when I wasn't in school) since stress was usually a big trigger. I actually started out this blog as a nail blog but switched over more to makeup as my interests changed but also because I couldn't keep my nails looking nice consistently. 

I'm happy to say though that I'm slowly recovering from the habit. My right hand is still growing back (due to being right handed and having difficulty with peeling nails) but my left hand (pictured above wearing Zoya Rue) is looking long and fabulous. I know the change is being noticed because my dad actually asked me if I had gotten fake nails since he'd never seen me with such long nails before. I wanted to write this post today to give out my tips on how to control the habit and how to maintain your nails as they grow out.

Click thru to read my tips!

Sunny's Body Products Hand Care Product & Scent Review

As I started growing my nails out for keeps this summer, I started to realize how important it is to maintain well-kept cuticles and moisturized hands overall. I've tried out a few different brands and was recommended to try out Sunny's Body Products (previously 365 Days of Polish) for its extensive scent options and multiple product lines.

I purchased a sampler pack of five of their hand care products which included a full size cuticle oil, full size intensive cuticle therapy, a full size of the miracle cuticle balm, a mini of their hand scrub, and a mini of their hand butter (previously hand cream) for $17.00. It'd retail for $22.00 if you purchased them all separately. They also have a monthly subscription sampler box available too if you'd like to get a collection each month.

I'll talk about all five products separately along with the corresponding scents.

Zoya Dove + NCLA House of Hollywood Accent Nail Wrap NOTD

Gift Press Sample

Today's Nails of the Day features Zoya Dove (aptly named because it's a dove grey) paired with an accent NCLA Nail Wrap from the House of Hollywood Collection. Maybe it's because my Zoya was a mini but I thought the formula was watery and sheerish, it took four coats to get to full opacity.

The NCLA Nail Wrap was a bit of a pain to apply, mainly because it was difficult for me to figure out which size fit me best. Thankfully now I know that the wraps come in sizes small enough for my slender nails. Once applied and sealed with a top coat, I only noticed a slight wrinkle at my cuticle, and none at the free edge. It was also super easy to file off the excess. I'm going to continue wearing the nail wraps to see how long it'll last on my nails.

I've been super busy with clinic, work, and school and it's definitely taken a toll on the blog but I'm glad that doing my nails is a nice way to relax. I hope you have a great Friday/Weekend! 

Gelish Nails: One Week Later

Last Saturday I went and got Gelish nails (gel nails) done for the first time ever. If you do want to read about my experience, you can check it out over at Phyrra's blog. I hardly ever get my nails done, much less gel nails so it's been a new experience and it's almost slightly unnerving how shiny my nails have managed to stay.

Here's what my nails looked like right after I had them done

and here's what my nails look like a week later. There's been growth and no chipping near the free edge. There aren't any scuffs or dents on the nails and lots of shine left.

The only thing is that I've noticed some chipping on the sides of my nails (you can see it on my index nail, though it was also on my thumbnails).

I often like to bite down on my nails when I'm bored so I'm especially happy to see that they haven't dented or been scuffed from that. It's certainly working as a deterrent for chewing my nails. The growth to gel nail proportion isn't too obvious and I'm especially glad that they haven't badly chipped. Gelish is supposed to last three weeks on the nails but I think there would be a lot of nail growth and the Gelish will look strange on.

I'll be updating on the wear next week!

Have you ever had gel nails done? Did you like the experience?

A Poor Man's Crackle polish

I remember this MAC Antiquitease nail polish look that Christine at Temptalia featured years ago. It very much reminded me of crackle polish and so I thought I would replicate the look with Revlon's Gold Coin.

It's very easy to achieve this look, just paint your nail the color that you want and let it dry(or use a quick dry top coat) then paint another polish over it and immediately use a piece of paper towel (preferably textured) to blot over the polish.

Christine recommended to do it one nail at a time and I definitely agree. Try to only go over a section of the nail once otherwise it just smushes the polish badly

I tried it with both Revlon Gold Coin and China Glaze For Audrey and I personally like the results. I haven't experimented much in terms of method but I imagine you could get much more uneven results if you did!

This isn't a new thing but in the midst of the hullabaloo with crackle polish I thought it'd be great to rediscover some alternative methods :)

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

That's Happy New Year in Vietnamese by the way! I took some pictures of my makeup but they kept turning out blurry so here's a picture of my nails for today instead. Although I don't have any pictures, I was wearing Sugarpill's Goldilux on my eyes(red and gold are traditional colors to wear during Tết) and NYX's Natural Lip Liner with some lip balm over it on my lips.

This is Revlon's All Fired Up which is a bright gorgeous red and I had Konad's Gold Glitter top coat over my ring finger.

Edit: I just saw this piece of cha lua (a sort of sausage) in the soup we're having for dinner today and I thought it was too cute and had to be posted. The cha lua had a little star shape and flower in the middle of it.

Have a happy rest of the Lunar New Year!

Disclaimer: I got the Gold Glitter top coat as a gift

Do you really need Konad polish for stamping?

When I worked at the fair selling Konad, I was always asked about whether you REALLY needed the Konad stamping polish. Now there are some great non-Konad polishes to stamp with (I love CG Milennium for silver chrome) but White I used to say you needed it. I want to really make a comparison between several polishes that have been touted as good for stamping.

This is part 1 of how ever many white polishes I can find.

All of the images were scraped with the plastic scraper and I never changed how I scraped it.

From Pinky to Pointer; Konad White, L.A. Colors White Art Deco, Wet N Wild French White Creme, Konad White again

* :( for short nails. I bit them off because I was so bored and sleepy in physics. That makes for a dangerous combination*

I stamped it on black because I figured that it would show off the differences better.

The Wet n Wild fared better than the L.A. Colors but I still like the Konad special polish better. Maybe I just got unlucky bottles but I don't think they compare.

Zoya Charla NOTD

Giveaway reminder! My CoverFX EyePrepFX Giveaway ends in 5 days! International readers are welcome!

Just a warning, don't wear this polish if you're planning on hand feeding your tortoise, she will inevitably ignore the food you're providing and will concentrate on biting your fingers >>

The devious Tortoise in question. I'm trying to fatten her up before she hibernates for the winter which is why she has grass around her face!

I don't like Zoya's brush, it is rather small in my opinion and too thin for me even though I have small fingers/nail beds. If I had it my way, I'd combine OPI's Pro Wide Brush, China Glaze's polish, and Orly's awesome rubberized handle. I'm not too impressed with Zoya's attributes thus far. This is Charla in the shade outside

This is how it looks indoors


So so pretty, where was I when this polish came out? I wish I had been wearing this during the summer! This was 3 coats over Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler and under Seche Vite.

NYX Mini Haul+Nail stuff

A beauty supply store nearby was having an anniversary 20% off sale so I decided to stop on by and get some NYX stuff I had been eying.

NYX Eye Pencil in Teal
NYX Auto Eyebrow in Medium Brown
NYX Eyeshadow in Black
Supernail Silky Linen
Hedgehog Nail Brush (this was 99 cents and absolutely adorable, I could not resist)

Here are some swatches. The black eyeshadow is applied with a brush on the left, finger swiped on the right.
I like the texture of the eyebrow pencil but it shows up way too red on my eyebrows, so if you have dark brown hair like I do, I wouldn't get it. Also, the Black eyeshadow has an interesting feel to it. In the pot, it's quite...creamy feeling? Not powdery which is different but you must not overblend. It tends to turn grey if you overblend.

I like the teal eyeliner pencil, it is really similar to the color of this Kryolan matte eyeshadow that I have and so it makes for a great base underneath!

I got the silk linen to do silk wraps with and while they do have the adhesive ones, they looked really thick so I decided to get these ones.

It was a sad day for me because one of my favorite families from the temporary shelter I volunteer at moved out, but rather quickly so I didn't get to say goodbye. I mean it is honestly great that they're been able to move on but it was sudden :(

For Audrey Konad with M60

This is probably my most favorite polish to do a Konad over, For Audrey just looks so delicate and nice with white over it.

This is two coats of For Audrey, topped with Seche Vite and then stamped with M60 with White Stamping Polish and topped with another Seche Vite.

Someone complemented me on my nails today at school, it was awesome :D. I have learned that it is difficult explaining the concept of Konad as it is, screenprinting for nails is way better as an explanation!

Are you as weird about paying for shipping as I am?

Even if I've wanted something for ages, I'll refuse paying for it if shipping is expensive or if it's more than the item I wanted to get originally.

Anything ELF falls under the weirdness about shipping. Their Studio line of products are usually around 3-6 dollars but the shipping itself is around 7. I'm picky about the things I want from them (specifically the HD powder) so I've been refusing to buy anything until that comes in stock. It's ridiculous for me to buy a 3 dollar item and then pay 7 in shipping.

But oh my gosh, there's an amazing amount of joy I have whenever I find an item that's typically online-only in stores.

Case in point, I was perusing this beauty supply shop and found this amazing beast of a nail polish. Nubar Violet Sparkle


(As watermarked, this is Scrangie's picture because I can't manage to capture the hue on my camera! All credit goes to her and I only wish I could take a great picture like she does)

Oh my gahhh, I've been lusting after this beauty for months, ever since it came out but I've been stingy as all hell about paying for it on the Nubar site. 7.49 and shipping is 11.11?@?

No way, no freaking way. I refuse, I'll pay 18 dollars for Urban Decay's 24/7 liner but not for a nail polish.

I pick and choose my battles of course.

Am I nuts for doing this?

Swirly Purple French Tip NOTD

It got a bit messed up on my middle finger but that's okay. My nails are bare and I just stamped a french tip using M19 and then the swirly pattern from M56 on top in Purple stamping polish. Topped with a coat of Seche Vite :)

As if I needed more Konad

I ended my month long job a week ago so I stocked up on some more Konad supplies and plates.

Disclosure: I stayed late with my boss after work (until 3am!) to help her close down the booth and so she was cleaning out some of the things and gave me the Sponge Nail Art kit, Purple stamping polish and Gold Top coat for free. Everything else I bought myself.

Black, White, and Purple stamping polish along with Gold topcoat. Plates M14, S6, and M56


The purple is actually just about this color versus as blue-looking as it is in the other picture. This picture shows off how small my hands are in real life :X

I'm not sure of this really, there is a trick to getting it not too thick and not too thin and I've been practicing to get it just right.

I'll post more pictures of some nails I did with my new plates :)

Konad of the Day, Claires Wild/Calm

I've got a canker sore on my tongue and it really really hurts. I should be used to them (I had tons when I had braces plus I get them around once every month or two) but I've only had one on my tongue once before. It not good.

I really like the Claires Mood Polishes, especially Wild/Calm. It's probably the most dramatic and very shimmery. I was inspired by a manicure SayAnythingBr00ke with one of the new color changing Claires colors and a Fauxnad plate so I thought to recreate it with what I had, this is plate M3.

As it is, because of work I've been trying to do a new manicure each week so potential returning customers can see how nice it looks. One of my coworkers is actually an old customer that I had dealt with two weeks ago! She liked Konad so much she talked to my boss about selling it and then she got the job. Super super awesome but my job ends in less than 2 weeks which makes me sad :( I'll need to go job hunting again.

Claire's Mood Polish Swatches and Review

I got the whole set of Mood Polishes from Laura of Sawan's prize pack so I shall review and swatch them all today.

No luck with finding Zorro yet, but I am still looking for him. It's been over a month and I feel bad having gotten used to him not being with me.


Here is the warm picture, which is how it is normally in room temp. As you can see, the tips are slightly changing colors already from the temperature difference. The pink is a bit brighter, like pink highlighter bright.

Here is the cold picture, it is fairly accurate.

If I had to pick a favorite, it'd definitely be Wild/Calm, which is the pink/purple combo. It had the best formula and wear (This was 2 coats I believe, and I went 4 days without chipping, and oddly enough, worked really well with my Nubar Foundation base coat when my normal polishes didn't work all that well with it). I loved the sparkle and glitteryness.

The really annoying one has to be Happy/Earthy which is the green/green combo. It had such a thin formula and took maybe 4 coats? I wasn't fond of Daring/Innocent which is the yellow/grey because the yellow just made my skin looks weird and sickly. I loved the grey side of it though and wish it stayed that color.

I'm okay about the other colors, I though I'd like the Peaceful/Confident combo which was the teal/blue color more but the change wasn't dramatic enough for me, ditto for the Fabulous/Funky combo which was bright pink/pink.

If you could only have one, I say pick Wild/Calm, and since they're usually BOGO50%, I'd suggest Peaceful/Confident next.

Haken Cuticle Oil vs CND Solar Oil

I've been obsessed with taking care of my nails over the last several months and one of the first things I picked up was Haken Cuticle Oil in Mango from Sally's Beauty Supply. I didn't originally get Solar oil because I had heard Haken's was just as good.

It's not, not by a long shot.

CND's Solar oil kicks Haken's ass in terms of awesomeness. When I used Haken, I started noticing that my cuticles felt really dry, even though they were saturated with oil. They felt dehydrated despite the amount of oil I put on.

With Solar oil, I put two drops on my middle and index fingers and spread that out to all my nails and it is more than enough.

Oddly enough, Solar oil just felt more oily, Haken didn't seem all that saturated of an oil.

Haken does one up Solar oil in the many scents that it has, melon, mango, etc. I've heard Solar oil's scent described as passionfruit juice, but having never smelled a passionfruit, I can't attest to this.

Price-wise: Haken does win out, 4.99 for a 1/2 oz bottle at Sally's, a bit cheaper if you have the card I believe. Solar oil is maybe 6.99? I will say this though, if you have any sort of beauty supply store for nail techs in a nearby neighborhood (Little Saigon has plenty of them for me) then you'll definitely find them cheaper there!

So spring for the good stuff and get Solar oil!