Nightstand Treats: Cuticle Oil

Hi there! It's been quite the while since I've posted, sorry. Stuff gets in the way of other stuff and so on.

I've been meaning to post about this marvelous little beauty, Handbag Holiday by butter LONDON for some time. I was privy to an express manicure at the butter LONDON salon at SeaTac Airport, where I made my purchase. (I took advantage of the 2 treatments for $25) The treatment retails for $18 US and can be purchased at Nordstroms, Ulta.com, butterLONDON.com, etc.

This lightweight oil, smells delicious and doesn't even need to be rubbed in to be effective. Which is terrific because, cuticle treatments past have been goopy and sticky and a pain in the rear, at least in my opinion.
I love this mineral oil free oil as my last step before I drift off to dreamland. Keeping the bottle on my nightstand is a good reminder to use it. A simple brush-brush-brush over my nail-beds and I'm set. I haven't noticed a residue on anything like my sheets or pillowcase, but I haven't been looking either.
The cuticle oil absorbs quickly, but yes it's an oil so you can't slather on a ton and rub your eyes. Less is more, and you don't need to dip back into the bottle often to get more product.
My cuticles look hydrated in the morning and I'm quite pleased with my pampering purchase!

With the holidays looming, or for an anytime present to yourself or your favorite nail enthusiast; Handbag Holiday is an easy choice.

Tinfoil: It's not just for hats anymore!

I can't remember which Pinterest link I saw that clued me into this gem of a tip. But I do fully credit Pinterest!

I saw a pin regarding glittery nail polish easily, tried it and discovered that it works with EVERY polish!

Here goes: (follow the pictures left-to-right, top to bottom)

You're going to need tinfoil, cotton balls or pads and nail polish remover. I use Acetone because it's cheap.

Pull a decent length of tinfoil, enough to make a long rectangle when folded in half length ways. Then fold end over end, creating a smaller rectangle. Tear the rectangles off, then tear them again, repeat until you've got a decent stack of tinfoil rectangles.

Soak the cotton ball in acetone, place it on your nail. Take a foil piece, start wrapping your nail, making sure you wrap as tight as you can. Sealing the foil around your finger as much as you can. I wrap once, then fold the end up, then wrap the rest around my finger. Continuing that process until your whole hand is silver tipped is awkward. But I find the appearance to be funnnnnnny, reminiscent of Family Holiday dinners where my cousins would put olives on their fingertips!

I wait 1-2 minutes, then gently pull off the tinfoil fingertip, pushing/pulling a little to make sure all the polish attaches. And Presto! No more polish! No back and forth! You're done!

So there you have it! An easy way to quickly change your polish!

WEN, it's time for Fall

I'm elated! My enormous 32oz Ginger Pumpkin WEN showed up yesterday!
Purchased from QVC.com, this warm and dreamy scented beauty debuted last year at the launch of the Seasonal Scents.
I love this hair product in the first place, but wrap it in spicy ginger and warm pumpkin and I'LL PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE WEN!

The scrumptious Fall scent just came back, but it's going to be limited release, surely. If you're a fan of WEN, then give the regular size bottle a try. QVC pricing for the 16oz bottle is $29 plus S&H and applicable tax.
Since I've already established my adoration, I jumped at the chance to get the BIG size, 32oz Ginger Pumpkin WEN for around $60 plus S&H and taxes. However when I went back to check the pricing, I couldn't find the big size! It may have sold out, I'm not surprised one bit.
I'm a big fan of Fall, and the Seasonal WEN is only adding to my fandom. :)

Color patterned!

I've been eyeing this pattern on Pinterest for months.
Working on my dotting has been painstaking. Which sounds ridiculous, but TRUE.
I purchased these China Glaze colors Traffic Jam and Elephant Walk from amazon.com and I'm really digging them.
Traffic Jam is a deep raspberry cream, no shimmer. Elephant Walk is a soft gray with the slightest hint of silvery dust.
I still need more practice, but I'M GETTING BETTER! :)

Just call me Pinky-lee!!

Ok, don't really call me that. I just looove this Pink combination!

Both are China Glaze colours. Dress Me Up is the pink I reviewed earlier. The glitter is Material Girl, and lemme tell ya, it is GLI-TTER-Y!! Multiple sizes of glitter gives a terrific saturation of the sparkly stuff. I had to use it to cover the entire accent nail because I haven't mastered the gradient glitter application look...but I'm trying!!

Both were purchased via Amazon.com because of the free shipping (you have to shop around to find it sometimes) or low shipping costs. Both were under $5 and included free shipping.

What do you think? Do you like it??

No More Arm Bumps? Awesome!

Hi everyone! It's been a busy summer hasn't it? Have you been neglecting your skin? No no, not the skin on your face, but your body??? All those scrubs and lotions and the sunblock/sunscreen I know everyone has been slathering on: well, if you're like me, you can get little bumps on your arms or legs. It's annoying.

I was first turned on to this little potion by the lovely Cora of VintageOrTacky.com (HI CORA!!!) and at the very next opportunity I rushed to the store to get myself my own bottle.

Enter in CeraVe Renewing Lotion. A body lotion with salicylic acid, ceramides and vitamin D (as per the bottle). The Salicylic Acid helps break down and improve the "slough off" factor of your skin, improving the texture slowly. Which is the real key. If you scrub and scrub and scrub your skin raw, you are going to have softness for about an hour, but then the roughness comes right back because you've scratched the surface of your skin. Literally. Breaking down the cells slowly and evenly improves the texture overall and for a longer run.

I've only been using it for about 2 weeks, every other night because frankly, I forget. It's been hot and the thought of putting anything on my skin that wasn't icy-chilled was an abysmal thought. I have noticed a reduction in the bumpies on my arms and my elbows seem to be softer, score!!

Now, this stuff does not come cheap. The 8 oz bottle (above) cost me about $16 with taxes and that's at a regular box store (Wal-Mart). Ouch. Fortunately, a little goes further than you'd think. One short pump and I was able to saturate my entire arm and it absorbs fairly quickly. 

Because it's a chemical exfoliant, using the CeraVe before bedtime is optimal. There's very little scent, so there's no real risk of offending yourself or a loved one. I'm betting you could probably layer on a nighttime lotion (your Lavenders, your Chamomile scented lotions) but I would use them sparingly. You don't want to negate the good stuff in the CeraVe.

The following day, you can use your regular lotion (I recommend Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion) but it's my opinion that you should also be adding sunscreen to your regimen. You can knock both off by using Lubriderm Daily Moisture Lotion with SPF 15.

Whatever you do, treat your skin well, it's got to last you for your life!

Anti-Frizz: When "Lightweight" is a GOOD thing.

I've been using the Frizz-Ease Sheer Solution for close to a month.
It's a bi-phasel system (two liquids in the bottle that you have to shake to activate/mix) that you use on wet or damp hair.
Here's their words: "This non-greasy, shake-to-activate formula fights frizz without weighing your hair down"
Here's my words: That's pretty accurate actually! I haven't noticed that much frizz fight, but I shower and wash my hair at night (most nights) and go to bed with it wet so no matter what I use (short of axl grease) I'm going to have some frizz in my morning hair. That being said, the texture, is extremely light and distributes quickly and as near as I can tell, evenly. I've used thick, sticky frizz fighters before with terrific results in anti-frizz but at the expense of my hair looking greasy. I'm happy that there's an alternative in the Sheer Solution. It doesn't have that heavy silicone feel the original John Frieda products have; so I would definitely recommend it for those who suffer from thin and fine locks.

This product was provided for review via BzzAgent. So I have no idea what the price point is or is going to be.

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