Tag: beauty

What?! A Blog Award?!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

That’s right, everyone! Thanks to Entaeyen over at Samples by Entaeyen I received my first blog award. I’m so excited! Adventures in Polishland is just continuing to grow!

Here are the rules for accepting the award:
1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging
2. Let them know that you have nominated them.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the bloggers who have nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your post
My nominations are:
  1. CraftLikeaTeen – Ashley is just getting started & is doing a great job showing her nails and jewelry.
  2. ManPolish– The husband of a fellow nail polish lover is using his creative writing abilities to poke good fun at us who are polish obsessed. So hilarious!
  3. Polish Monster – A cute name & a great blogger! She shows us many different polishes from mainstream and indie brands.
  4. Irnbb – This awesome nail blog began in March. She’s got lots of great polishes & posts already!
  5. Modest Matte – Only one month in & this proves to be a very promising blog.
  6. BeautyDaze  – Another new WordPress blog! Features everything from makeup to clothes, and the website is beautiful.
  7. Lacquer Land  – She has amazing swatches & is super friendly!
  8. Pick Your Polish – Brand new to nail blogging, but already has great stuff going on over at her blog.
  9. RaraReid – She features adorable nail art on her blog!
  10. LDN2NYC – Two lovely ladies, Tanya and Fiona, run this blog. Another beautiful webpage featuring nail polish and more.
  11. Beyond the Polish – This nail blog is very well done, and Maya is so sweet.
  12. Nail Varnish Paradise – Lots of cute nail art! She shows you great products, too.
  13. Lacquer and Lashes – Another nail blog run by two lovely ladies. They’re also so nice!
  14. Polished by Maddie – If you like swatches, Maddie’s blog is for you!  Lots of pretty ones.
  15. Frugal Polish – Just like me, she’s dedicated to nail polish on a budget.
7 Random Facts About Me:
  1. I’m obsessed with the song “Call Me Maybe” and love THIS YouTube clip of the Harvard Baseball Team.
  2. My favorite broadway show is Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which I sat in the front row for after winning the lottery with my friend Lisa.
  3. I purchased one pair of Sperrys as a splurge and now I want them all.
  4. My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
  5. I love dogs and cats, but don’t have any.
  6. I was a competitive dancer growing up in tap and jazz, and also took ballet classes.
  7. Minnie Mouse is my favorite Disney character.

Thanks again for the blog award! Stay tuned for more Adventures in Polishland.

Monthly Nail Polish Haul: June Edition

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I’ve noticed that many other nail bloggers include this type of post at the end of each month, so I decided to do the same. This June has been a very special one for me and Adventures in Polishland. Though the blog began in April, it wasn’t until this month that I really took it to the next level. I got involved with the nail blog community, created a Facebook page, and even made it to 73 followers and over 1200 page views. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful support I’ve received! With that said, I would like to show you the polishes I purchased this month, and the deals I got on all of them. Don’t forget, Adventures in Polishland is dedicated to fabulous and affordable nails!

Left to right, here are all of my June scores!

  • Jordana Glitters in LA City Nights. I purchased this for just one penny on Copious because I had $10 in credit for signing up. You can sign up HERE and read my post about the polish HERE.
  • Fabulous Nails in 104 (white). I purchased this for $2.95 on HauteLook after applying a credit I had earned. You can sign up HERE and read my post about the polish HERE.
  • Julep in Susie (a beautiful mint green) and Niecy (a creamy bright pink). I got both plus pedi creme for just one penny! Julep Maven is a monthly subscription that typically costs $19.99, but you can get your first month for a penny be entering COLOR2012 at checkout. You can always skip a month if you don’t like the selections or don’t have room in your budget. Join Julep Maven HERE. You can read all about my first Maven box HERE.
  • Revlon in Impulsive and Siren. I got these just a few days ago at CVS. Both are originally $5.99 each, but with coupons I only spent $4.98 plus I got $4 in Extra Care Bucks to spend on my next purchase. I haven’t tried out these  polishes yet, but stay tuned for them in coming posts!
  • Sally Hansen HD in Byte and Laser. These were also a CVS purchase, getting both polishes on clearance for a total of $3.47! Read my post about Sally Hansen HD HERE.

In all I purchased eight polishes and paid a grand total of $11.69! How awesome is that?! All I did was use discount websites, special sales, and coupons. That’s what I call fabulous.

What polishes did you purchase this month?!

Today’s Forecast: Cloudy

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Once again I’m sporting a mani that was inspired by Pinterest (see original HERE). The cloud trend seems to be sweeping through the nail blogs lately, and I love it! Because I”m not much of an artist, this technique allows me to have nails that look fancy yet aren’t difficult to accomplish. Just pick three of your favorite colors, make sure you’ve got time for the polish to dry, and be patient! A steady hand is extremely helpful when painting on the clouds. Here are the polishes I used– left to right we have Julep’s Niecy, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear’s Lacey Lilac, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear’s Celeb City.

I began with Niecy from Julep. It’s the first time I’ve used this polish and I LOVE it! Applied beautifully with no streaks. It also dries super fast. I accidentally bumped my hand right after I painted the second coat, and it didn’t smudge! That is some super awesome polish. Here’s a quick photo of Niecy on it’s own. Don’t forget, you can by Julep products HERE. 

I began painting the clouds with Lacey Lilac once the pink base had dried, which luckily for me was almost instantaneous! To get the cloud design, paint three strokes of polish on each nail, each one a bit shorter than the previous. You want to aim for rounded edges on each stroke to get the cloud shape, so try to start with a drop of polish, and then drag the excess up. It was definitely hard on my pinky nail (too small!!), and painting my right hand was darn scary. I have to say, I was pretty excited after Lacey Lilac was completed. Pretty good for my first try, no?! 

Lastly, I finished up with one of my all time favorite polishes, Celeb City from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I haven’t used it in a long time, so I made sure to include it in this mani. I also thought it would be a good choice to have a nice, shiny silver along with two creamy colors. I think it goes together very nicely! Plus, after doing round one of the cloud shape with the lilac, I was a pro with Celeb City. My biggest tip for this mani, besides having patience, is to make sure you let each coat dry before moving on. You don’t want the colors to blend together! This is especially important when applying your topcoat. 

I’m really pleased with the finished product! It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely awesome for my first try. Not only is this mani easy enough for those like me who aren’t good at art, but the products I used were all under $3! Talk about being fabulous AND affordable! Oh, and don’t forget about my giveaway! Go HERE to enter to win some free polish.

Love this trend! Have you rocked clouds yet?

Try it on Tuesday: LASplash Polish & Glitter

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

I recently received some products from LASplash to try out and I am very pleased with them! Today I am wearing a beautiful peachy pink color dressed up with nail glitter in One for Fun style. I had never tried this polish before, and saw it on a fellow blogger’s site. I knew I had to have some! Even though it retails for just $3.99 (go HERE to shop!), it looks and applied like a more expensive brand! The polish had a nice texture that was not streaky. It took only 2 coats to look the way I wanted it to. The brush size was also the perfect– not too big or too small. I really enjoyed the color, too. It is called Blowfish Pink and has a slight shimmer to it. I would call it more of a peach than a bright pink, so it’s very pretty.

In addition to the polish, I also got some nail art glitter. It comes in a little pot, and to apply you just dip your finger into it. Make sure your nail polish is wet so the glitter sticks. Carefully press the glitter into the polish a bit and be sure to finish with a generous layer or two of top coat. LASplash even has a special glitter top coat, but you can use any kind that you already have. The glitter I used for this mani is called Spring Fling, and is a beautiful mix of pink, blue, lime green, yellow, and clear confetti. It goes perfectly with Blowfish Pink! My tip for using the glitter is to make sure you have newspaper or wax paper on the table for easier cleanup. I didn’t experience too much runaway glitter, but it’s better to plan for a mess! 

What do you think of my mani?! I love it! LASplash is another brand that lets you have fabulous AND affordable nails! But the most exciting thing is that you can try out LASplash polish and nail glitter, too. Because I have reached 50 blog followers, I am having my first giveaway! Stay tuned for another entry today with the details.

This product was sent to me for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

First Copious Purchase: Jordana Glitters!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Thanks to fellow nail blogger Never Naked Nails, I was introduced to a great website called Copious. Similar to eBay or Etsy, users buy and sell different products on Copious. Luckily enough for me, there are lots of people selling nail polish at discounted prices. You can even find some polishes that have been discontinued! For my first purchase I chose a beautiful polish from Jordana Glitters called LA City Nights. I have never used this brand before, and I am pretty thrilled with the result! It did take 4 coats of the glitter to get the result below, but it looks so fun I can’t complain. This color includes both blue and purple glitters. The blue are larger squares, but the purple are smaller grains. 

I think next time I am going to try layering this glitter. Even though it does look good on its own, it would definitely be better with something else. I can even picture this on top of a hot pink! What do you think?! If you’d like to join Copious, simply click HERE. When you sign up today you’ll receive a $10 credit! Just an FYI, you will need to spend $0.01 of your own money, but it’s still a fabulous deal. Have you ever tried Jordana Glitters before? Let me know what you think of it!

P.S. Only 4 more blog followers until my giveaway can begin!

Make Your Neons POP!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland
Fabulous Nails Color 104

This season neon colors are definitely in. I first tried this trend out back in April (see that post HERE), but I felt as if I needed a highlighter color on my nails once again. Yesterday I received the white nail polish that I ordered from the Fabulous Nails sale at HauteLook, so I decided to do a mani using the trick my friend Eve taught me a couple years back. If you want to make your neons shine brighter, simply begin with a white polish! Believe me, you will love the result!

I began with two coats of the white. This was my first time using Fabulous Nails, and it didn’t excite me too much. The coats were quite streaky, and the color wasn’t opaque. Thankfully for this mani the white didn’t have to be perfect, because I was placing another color on top anyway. Make sure you let your white polish dry before you put on your next color, or the polishes might smudge and blend together. I decided to top the white with Did I Dye it Too Blonde? by Spoiled. I used two coats of that polish as well. Now my nails are definitely popping! Below are two pictures of my mani. The first one is without the flash, but to give you an idea of how bright my nails really are I took one with the flash as well. What do you think?

 

Julep Maven Box: My July Pick!

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Today Julep announced the Maven boxes for the month of July and I am super excited! All of the boxes are beautiful, but I decided to switch from Classic With a Twist to American Beauty. Here’s what I will be getting in my box:

Image
Source: Julep website

Stunning! The best part of July is that every Maven will receive an additional polish for FREE! You get a different polish depending on your country. I’ll be getting the gorgeous one for the U.S.A.

Image
Source: Julep Facebook Page

If you haven’t joined Julep yet, this is the perfect month to do so! Not only do you get the regular Maven box, but you will get the extra polish. Don’t forget– you can use the promo code COLOR2012 to get all of this for ONE PENNY!! People have asked me if this is a joke, but I assure you it’s not. Julep believes that once you try their products you will keep coming back for more. Remember, you can cancel your Julep subscription at any time and you can skip any month that you don’t want. Go sign up here: http://www.julep.com/?r=21760558 and become a Maven! Let me know if you join 🙂

Somewhat Failed Gradient Nails

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Well, friends, not all of my Adventures in Polishland are successful. Last night I attempted the gradient nails trend, and it was more difficult then I thought it would be! What are gradient nails? Click HERE to see what I was going for. Basically, it’s smudging two or more colors together to make them appear blended. I had looked up a few tutorials on how to achieve this effect, and tried one method. I guess it wasn’t the right one for me!

Base of Lacey Lilac from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear

I began this mani with Lacey Lilac from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I used two coats and let the polish dry completely. Then, I got to work with a makeup sponge and dabbed O.P.I’s Lourve Me Lourve Me Not along the tops of my nails. I’m not sure if it was the polish that didn’t want to cooperate, but it seemed as if the sponge was soaking up the polish instead of putting it on! In the end, I’m not too thrilled with the look I got, but I’m not going to give up. I’ll probably try this out again in a week or two. Here is a photo of my left hand, which looks so much better than my right! What do you think of my mani? Have you tried the gradient trend?

Before I end this post I wanted to announce here that once I reach 50 blog followers I will be hosting a giveaway! So if you want to score some free polish make sure you hit the follow button at the top of the page or sign up to receive updates via email. That button is in the column on the right.

P.S. We are only 20 followers away from that goal!

Brand Power: Sally Hansen HD

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Today’s brand review is inspired by a recent purchase I made at CVS where I got two Sally Hansen HD polishes for 75% off. Usually priced at almost $8, I paid only $3.74 total!  With some quick searching online, it seems like this polish is being clearanced in multiple stores. If you like what you see in this post, now is the time to get a great deal on Sally Hansen HD while you have the chance!

Left to right, the colors I own are Laser, Byte, and Blu.

Before I purchased Laser and Byte, I already owned the HD polish in Blu. To be honest, I don’t use it very often, but I loved the sparkly, holographic feel of the other HD polishes so I couldn’t resist the purchase. The one thing I really don’t like about Sally Hansen HD is that I always have to use three coats of polish before it becomes opaque. For some reason this really bugs me, perhaps because the bottles suggest otherwise. The good thing is that once three coats are on, my nails look awesome! The HD polish is really sparkly and shiny, and reflects the light. They have a metallic look to them. The polish also lasts for a while before chipping, which is great for girls on the go! Overall, it’s a great polish that can be found at any drugstore or Target.

Moreover, the mani I painted using Sally Hansen HD was inspired by Carly over at Lacquered Lover (check out her site HERE). Carly posts really cool photos so I decided to try out her manicure style and even her photo style! I think it came out really cool, especially since this was the first attempt I made at editing photos like this. Plus, this take on the One for Fun really showcases two different nail colors while still tying them together. I’ll probably use this mani more often! What do you think?!

An Ocean of Ombre

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

Two hot trends this summer are ocean hues and ombres, showcased on nails, accessories, and apparel. I decided to combine both of them on my nails using a variety of polishes from my collection. You can buy an ombre kit at Sephora right now for $22 (click HERE for details), but by using polishes I already owned, and a sheet of white scrap paper, I didn’t have to spend any cash. Plus, each of the colors I used was purchased at a drugstore and would total under $17 anyway– about $5 in savings! Here’s how I achieved the Ocean Ombre look.

My “cheat sheet” for the mani!

First, I picked out the five blue shades I was going to use. Luckily I currently have exactly five blues! To ensure that I would achieve light to dark shading, I painted two light coats of each polish on a piece of white scrap paper, cut out each sample, and rearranged the order. Once I was happy with the colors, I got painting! I started off with the lightest color on my pinky, and ended with the darkest on my thumb. Lightest to darkest, I used Empire State Blue by NYC, Blu by Sally Hansen HD, Blue Me Away! by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear, Plenty of Fish in the Sea by Spoiled, and Party Palace Blue by Confetti. Even though each of these colors was from a different brand, with some being cremes and others metallic, they all looked great together.

All of the colors I used!

What do you think of the finished product?! I received many compliments on this manicure from my coworkers and from customers at my retail job. And even though it looks fancy, it was so easy to accomplish! The ombre trend can be perfected with any color palette. If you don’t have 5 shades of one color like I did, try sunset colors– pink to red, red to orange. You could also use neutrals with white, cream, grey, and black. Or, if you’d like to stick with the ocean hues, but only have a few shades of blue, alternate the colors. The key is to use the polishes you already own in a new way. You don’t always have to spend money for a new look!

Ocean Ombre nails

Try out one (or both!) of these trends and let me know how it turned out in the comments section or on my Facebook page!