#ManiMonday: The Minions

Welcome back, cupcakes! Its time for another #ManiMonday blog post! I am sorry this is going up on a Tuesday, but I started working again & having Fibromyalgia & various other auto immune diseases + 5 hours of manual labor (aka construction & demolition) + walking up & down 3 flights of stairs 20plus times makes for one sleepy Becca. But hey! At least I managed to take pictures before all the construction ruined my nails.

So on the tips this week: I needed to add undies to this look because from my Stars & Stripes mani, it stained my nails & my nails have begun to flake off. yuck! SO I used Essie Grow Stronger Base (which has a peachy hue in the bottle but goes on clear when applied). I am hoping this actually works & strengthens my nails again. Auto-immune diseases really mess up a lot - my skin, my nails... my hair! But I digress.

Now onto the rest of the tips. This weeks mani is inspired by the new Minions Movie that is coming out Friday the 10th. So lets talk about whats adorning my nails...

» Thumb, Index, & Middle: ColorClub Insta-This (this was a birchbox exclusive in 2013. I do not think you can purchase this anywhere)

» Ring Finger: As a base I used Revlon Casino Lights, let it dry & put on the bottom half of my nails ColorClub InstaThis to act as the Minions overalls. To make the little buttons, I dabbed on Nailtini Caviar Cocktail.

» Pinky Finger: Orly Purple Pleather (you know.. for the evil ones!)

As my top coat, I used Nicole by OPI Quick Dry Top Coat. I really have no opinion on this top coat... but I just grabbed a top coat off my shelf; so we will see how it holds up.

What does everyone have on their tips this week?

#ManiMonday: Stars & Stripes

On today's edition of #ManiMonday Im doing a Stars & Stripes edition. I actually took some care of the tips since I need the design to last all the way through the weekend. 

Undies: Orly Base Coat

Top Coat: Seche Vite Quick Dry Top Coat

I did 3 different colors this week. On all tips except my ring finger is a gorgeous sparkley - but not glittery - blue from the wonderful Butter London (Scallywag it is surely named). I did 3 coats of this polish... Not because 2 coats didn't work just fine but I had to do 3 coats of my accent color that I thought why not?

To accent it off, I put (as mentioned above) 3 coats of Revlon Colorstay in Calla Lilly. It's not a true white, but more of an eggshell with slight gold sheen.  The coating of this is actually pretty bad considering its in the Colorstay line. This would be better off as a thin (suuuuuuuper thin) coat to add a nice hint of iridescence- otherwise you're going to put multiple coats on to get an opaque color. 

Now, to celebrate Amaricas independence, I took Nailtinis Bloody Mary & drew a little star in the center of my ring finger. Let's just say, be glad I photographed my left hand... My right is a giant blob of a star; no where near cute or dainty. Haha. 

With 4th of July around the corner, what's on your tips? 

#ManiMonday | Revlon Meet Maybelline

Welcome back to another edition of #ManiMonday! It has been a loooooooooong while since I have done a MM so I figured I would start this off with a bright, beautiful pink (Casino Royale by Revlon) & a sweet, tealy blue (Tenacious Teal edit: Urban Utopia by Maybelline). I did 2 coats of each color - both had an amazing drying time. One coat of the Revlon woud have been okay, but I am so use to doing 2 that it is out of habit. The Maybelline nailpolish did require 2 coats but both were amazing!

Both polishes are naked with no undies (for those who have NO idea what that means: no top coat or base coat)... however I did apply a coat of Essies Apricot Nail Oil & let that soak into my nail beds for a while before applying the polishes (my nails have been so gross due to moving & generally not taking care of them)... I dont think that has anything to do with how the colors applied or their staying power, but its just a thought.

So, my gorgeous cupcakes, whats on your nails this week?

Mani Monday: spring tips & stripes

This weeks mani has come from an inspiring friends post I saw sometime last week. Here's her original post:

So gorgeous! Teal, white & black stripes adorned with a pink heart... Swooooon.  Her nails always look great. I told her I was going to steal her idea so I did!

 

My teal is a bit darker than hers & my stripes are going a different way but it's on, I still love it. :D 

On all my fingers {except my ring finger} is Wet n Wild MegaLast in Tahitian Pearl. My ring finger is Sinful Colors  in Snow Me White with Wet n Wild Wild Shine in Black Creme stripes & a heart in Nicole by OPI in Spring Break. 

Undies & Top coat are Revlon multicare base+top coat. 

What are on your nails this week? I'm excited about all these brights & pastels starting to spew all over the stores. I can't wait to pick a few up. 

Revlon Lip Butters 2013 & Update.

I have some exciting news - well, hopefully it's exciting to you. I am going to try & blog at least twice a week & have a new YouTube video 3 times a week. Aren't you excited?! I know I am! I am hoping to get more dedicated & bring you the most awesome of awesome EVER. Yep. I just went there. & now I'm going here... ↓↓↓↓↓↓

It's that time of year where all the new goodies come out! I'm so excited! Living in Oklahoma, I tend to feel that our state is the last to get all the cool new stuff. Needless to say, I was pleased to find the new Revlon 2013 Spring? Summer? Spring? {heck, I can't remember!} Lip Butters! The new collection contains 4 lip butters; a watermelon red, a vibrant pink, a coral, & nudey-pink. Lets get onto the swatches & thoughts, shall we?

LEFT TO RIGHT: "Wild Watermelon", "Sorbet", "Juicy Papaya", & "Pink Lemonade"

 The new Lip Butters have the same formulation as the full line. The pigmentation is amazing & the feeling is great as well. Let's see some swatches, yes?

"Wild Watermelon"

"Wild Watermelon" on lips

 "Wild Watermelon" is a gorgeous, well, watermelon red. It's pigmentation is buildable but even the first swipe across the lips gives a generous pay off of color. I'm not sure if my sniffer is broken but the lip butter doesn't have any sort of scent to it.. I was hoping it smelled like watermelon - you know, because it's name is watermelon? Although, I don't think any of the Lip Butters have a "scent" to them. Hmm...

"Sorbet"

"Sorbet" on lips

  "Sorbet" - despite the picture - is a gorgeous, deep pink. Pigmentation, like any Lip Butter, is superb. I wore this one to work today & noticed that it did have a tad bit of a staining power... sort of. It seemed to have migrated into the lines on my lips despite exfoliating. "Sorbet" looked gorgeous paired up with a neutral eye & bright pink blush to tie it all in.

"Juicy Papaya"

"Juicy Papaya" on lips

  I was really excited when I saw this color. I was hoping it would be a gorgeous corally color with amazing payoff like the rest the Butters. Now, don't get me wrong, the color is very pretty - at least when I swatched it on my hand - but I did not get the coral finish I wanted on my lips... then again, I did this swatch after the "Sorbet" that stained a little even after I used an exfoliating wipe to get it off. Still a gorgeous Spring or Summer color, just not the color I was hoping for.

"Pink Lemonade"

"Pink Lemonade" on lips

 Nevermind the tube picture that makes it look orange; I couldn't find the memory chip to my DSLR so I had to use my iPhone & apparently my lighting was horrible. :/  "Pink Lemonade" is actually a super pale nude pink & it seemed to have only added a shine to my lips with no real color pay off. I can see this being the perfect every day color for someone who wants that gloss finish but no color payoff.

If you can forgive the poor photography, these Butters are actually really great! The pigmentation is amazing, the feel is amazing... these definitely do NOT disappoint. Make sure you grab these while you can because they are limited edition!

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