NAIL MAIL! Awesome Swap Package From My Friend Jen

I got a super awesome nail package last week from my good friend Jen from My Nail Polish Obsession. We have been friends and polish swap buddies for quite some time now. I love how thoughtful and creative her swap packages are. 

So here's what she sent: 

I am lucky enough to own several of these textured sand polishes. I have heard a few people ask if their are dupes for the orange shades. Here's a side by side comparison of Zoya, OPI and Julie G orange textured polishes. As  you can see, they are quite different: 

So what do you think of this swap package? Do you swap polishes with anyone? 

Pretty In Pink and Purple Mani

To see how I prep for each mani and what kinds of basecoats I use, visit my NAIL CARE PAGE at the top of my blog. 

For this mani I used: 

CND Pink Wishes 

layered with CND Pink Wishes Pearl

and an accent finger with Wet N' Wild It's All In The Cut

I used Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat over all of it

and moisturized my cuticles with oil after. 

It's hard to see the pearl effect in photos, but it's quite stunning in person. 

My CURRENT Nail Care Routine

Yes, I change products constantly. I mean...I basically use the same types of products, but like experimenting with new things. 

I use these to "exfoliate" my cuticles and clean my nails after I remove my polish and shape my nails

Here are my clean up products. 100% Acetone is all I use. I haven't had any issues with it damaging my cuticles. I get too annoyed to scrub with any other kind. I have tried a few brands, but I always end up going back to plain old acetone. 

I use polish thinner to thin my polishes if they are old or have evaporated. I used to use acetone, but since I've heard this damages the color of polish I switched to thinner instead. It's pretty inexpensive anyway and a bottle lasts you forever. 

Current favorite base and topcoats: 

• OPI Nail Envy Original Nail Strengthener: I have noticed a marked improvement in the strength of my nails since I started using this. I suggest using a trusted brand of strengthener. I like this one because I noticed a difference. Some people might. Some people might not. 
• American Classics Bridge the Ridge Ridgefiller: I follow my nourishing base coat with a coat of a ridgefiller. My nails are super ridgy and this stuff really smooths them out and the milky pigment of the polish is just enough to make my naturally dark nails look whiter. Ridgefiller also works great for smoothing nail repairs. I suggest any brand. I like this brand, Orly, Butter London Nail Foundation, or Beauty Secrets Ridgefiller. I like a certain consistency when it comes to nail foundation, but I haven't noticed that any brand is better than another. 
• Seche Vite Fast Dry Topcoat: I haven't had a problem with the polish shrinking. But let me tell you now...this topcoat dries fast but DOES NOT PROTECT. I don't intend for it to either. I put this over fresh polish and nail art for quick drying and high gloss. I've heard a lot of name dropping for Fast Dry Topcoats. So there are a lot of these to choose from and everyone has their own opinion on them. 
• American Classics Gelous Advanced Nail Gel Coat: When my polish is absolutely, positively, rock-hard dry (like I'm talking 12+ hours after application, I usually wait a full day or so), I add a nice healthy heaping of Gelous to my nails. I like that it's thick and protects well. I have also used Oh So Wet which also worked very well. I am picky about this coat. It needs to protect, it needs to shine, and it needs to be thick.
•  I use nippers on hangnails or torn cuticles. It's quick and pain-free. People discourage using these bc you could hurt yourself. But just like with Tweezers or any beauty tool...don't be a psycho with it and be careful. Easy peasy! This is a tool that must be sharp to work. 
• I use baby nail clipper to shape my nails cut the corners off of my nails as they grow. They work great for rounding my nails. They also prevent the cracking you have sometimes with the large ones.I don't like filing my nails. I do my best to avoid it because my nails peel and break more when I use them. 
• I use just about anything to push my cuticles. If my nails are long, I use my thumbnails to push my cuticles because it doesn't scratch my nails and its gentle. Orange sticks work good too. They're gentle and they clean under the nail really well. I have a metal spoon I like a lot but I really only use it on stubborn cuticles or when I'm doing someone else's nails. 
• I use a really fine grit yellow spongy nail block to buff the free edge of my nail for like a few seconds. It's specially made for natural nails. I buff just enough to remove any crust or peeling off the edge of my nail. That's as far as I go with filing. 

Ah yesss...and here she is....

My Holy Grail Of All My Nail Products

I have this product to thank for my nails getting evenly long. I used to have a lot of problems with a few, not all, of my nails peeling and breaking. This product works wonders for quick repairs. I don't follow the directions. I have my own way of using it. I don't brush the whole nail with glue. I just use the glue and powder on a problem area. I do the process twice. Brush. Dip. Smooth (right away..don't wait for it to dry or its harder to smooth out). Brush. Dip. Smooth. Everything comes in a nice user-friendly kit that's cheap and lasts forever. I think it's like $6 at Sally's. They are always have sales on it too. There is enough product to last ages. I had a problem a few months ago with the glue bottle getting stuck. The nice cashier at Sally's Beauty gave me a new kit and suggested I put some cuticle oil around the neck of bottle where the threads are. This worked perfectly. No more stuck glue bottle. I'm still waiting for Orly to hire me to sell their product since I never shut up about it. :P

And of course MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE!!!

I like using a lot of different moisturizers in various shapes, forms, consistencies and scents. It's my thing I guess. This is just the collection I have with my Helmer and in my purse. I have a whole 'nother collection in my medicine cabinet and next to my bed. I like oils for manicures, lotions for all day multi-use, and balms once a day to nourish. 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my nail care routine. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm not saying I'm wrong. And since I switch it up often, I'm ALWAYS looking for new ideas and useful hints. 

So what's your routine?? 

Got any tips???

3 Part Mani: Step 3: Nail Art: SHAMROCK POP!!!!

Ha, I skipped a step...did you notice? 

Yeah, I sat down today to do my St. Patty's Day nail art and right when I started to paint, I realized...duh...I forgot to take photos of Step 2. 

That stinks!!! Because actually it was a really awesome mani. I layered some Revlon Pineapple Fizz over my Revlon Sunshine Sparkle. It was a really nice looking combo. It looked like I dipped my nails in glistening sunshine. 

Anyway, on to the art...

For Part 2: Layering:
I used:

• 2 coats Revlon Pineapple Fizz
• 1 coat Seche Vite

I wore that look around for a day or so before I added art. 

For Part 3: Nail Art: SHAMROCK POP

I used:

• Green and Black Acrylic Paint from my local craft store 
• Dotting tool from my local craft store
• 1 coat Gelous
• 1 coat Seche Vite

Acrylic paint works pretty nicely for some nail art. The nice things about it are that 

1. It's super cheap and is sold everywhere for next to nothing
2. You get the chance to erase your designs without ruining the polish underneath. HOW?? You can just wipe acrylic paint off your fingernail with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. The alcohol will take off the acrylic paint but not your polish. Just make sure the polish you're doing art on is absolutely dry before you start drawing. 

If you can make hearts and lines pretty easily, I'm sure you can make shamrocks, and probably way better than me. I've got shaky hands. Here's the basic idea:

I loved that Revlon Pineapple Fizz so much! It was from a Revlon Summer 2011 Collection called the "Sweetly Seductive Collection. I know I probably don't have much chance of getting year old Revlons, but if anyone anywhere knows any place I could buy them or swap them...please do tell. They are officially on my BLOG WISHLIST PAGE. I know my list isn't very long but each item is something I really really pine over. 

Stash Additions and Haul

I picked these up at Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought the non-acetone remover to see if I can remove colors from my color wheels that I've purged from my stash. It's worth a try before I go converting to a new system. I had a coupon for $5 off, so I figure I'd pickup Hard as Hoof Cream and OPI Nail Envy since I needed to spend $15 to use it. 

I have been hearing a lot about Hard as Hoofs Strengthening cream. Hard as Hoofs is a popular product that is sold in several locations. It is available online at https://www.ineedbeauty.com/ . 

My Sallybeauty.com order. Only one of the Seche Vite kits is for me. The other is for my friend Juliana from Brazil. She has a blog called Nail Polish Addiction if you want to check her out. 

I liked the few Magnetix polishes I picked up last week so much that I decided to buy a few more. Actually, I have the whole collection aside from the dark purple. I didn't see the point in owning two purples. I don't even care that much for purple. One of the greens is for another friend of mine. I hope she likes it.  :)

China Glaze Cling On, Drawn to You, Attraction from the Magnetix Collection

These cuties are from a mall I went to over the weekend. I have never seen this brand before. Seeing as the first two don't have a name, I can't exactly Google them. So if you know anything about this brand, I would love to hear more! 

No name either. 

OOooooOOOooooh!!! I love these. Look at that yellow jelly! These are very new to my collection. I didn't swatch the green glitter because it is for a friend. :)