Layla Caviar 10 Mambo

2013 is all about texture and microbeads or "caviar" is part of that rage. The concept is fairly simple - apply beads to a wet coat of polish and seal (or don't - I didn't!).

I used a base coat of Layla Softouch 9 "Aqua Zen" which is a pretty turquoise and then I poured the C-10 "Mambo" microbeads over a small bowl to catch the extra. Layla says not to seal with a top coat, so I decided not to. The photo above is right after I applied the microbeads. I lightly pressed them down into my nail and went to bed.

Sorry for the ridiculously out of focus shot. Overnight, the beads seemed to change colors! Instead of all being teal, now some were teal and silver. You can also see the tip lost pretty much all its beads in a solid line.

This is after lunch, just going about my daily routine. Quite a bit of lost beads but hey, the patterns looks cool!

This is 12 hours later - you can see that I lost about 50% of the beads. Now my day job consists of being a mom and a front desk secretary, so... take that how you will. I'd like to try again with top coat in the future but for me, this is definitely an accent nail look - not a full manicure look. I used regular nail polish remove to take the beads and polish off which meant that they were not reusable for me.

Furthermore the price point is a little high for me. When the caviar craze first started, I bought a package of colored microbeads from JoAnn's "Reflections" for $10. It contained 6 different colors so ... 

Layla Caviar Effect ranges between $10-$13 depending on the retailer.

Layla Cosmetics is distributed to the US through the Luxcon Group who has a Facebook Page to several online websites including Ninja Polish, Zappos, AVEYOU, Brigette's Boutique, Amazon, and Drugstore.  It is also available at Ulta.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

States Looking to Deregulate Beauty Professionals

I am not a licensed cosmetologist but I have a tremendous appreciation for what they do. I don't cut my own hair, I don't wax my own eyebrows, I don't give myself manicures or pedicure... for each and every one of those services, I go to a beauty professional whether it's in a spa, a salon or a stand alone shop.

Five USA states have introduced bills to deregulate those in the beauty profession. This means that anyone can open a shop preforming beauty services, without the proper licensing and education. This is pretty appalling to me, as chemicals are being used and correct sanitation services are highly important between clients.

The five USA states are
-Indiana
-Conneticut
-South Dakota
-Utah
and my pride and joy that I call home, Texas.

Tabatha Coffey, along with the PBA are trying to get the message out to those professionals who are about to see their licenses mean literally nothing, that they can do something NOW.




You can get more information from the PBA here on how to get the word out, who to contact and how to get involved. Let's keep the professional stuff to the professionals! Nothing wrong with wanting to DIY but if I'm paying someone to do it, I want to make sure they are properly licensed!

Gelish MINI: An Experience Take 2

I was slightly skeptical but also interested to receive a Gelish MINI set from Nail and Harmony. Gelish is the professional only brand, Gelish MINI is the consumer brand (also available at Sally's Beauty Supply).

Because I wasn't ready to gel myself (haha), I decided to force my co-worker to let me do her nails. She's a tomboy who tends to chew her nails, so I didn't know how much of a challenge this would be. She told me I could paint her middle fingers.

The application booklet that came with the kit was very straight forward (which is great) and I felt pretty confident that I could do this.

First I had to prepare her nail. I applied Gelish Cleanser (the blue larger blue bottle) to a lent free wipe and wiped the nail plate. Then I pushed back her cuticle with an orange stick. Then I used the cushion file to remove the shine on her nail and used the Gelish Cleanser again to remove any dust from the nail.

Next is the Gelish pH Bond (bottle with orange writing on the right) which dries instantly on the nail. Then a thin coat of Gelish Foundation Gel was added sealing the edge. Make sure you remove any excess gel BEFORE you cure under the curing light. If there is gel on the cuticle or surrounding skin, it can cause the Gelish to lift when the excess gel is removed from the skin.

I have the LED Pro: 45 curing light so I placed her nail under for 20 seconds (manually counted). Next I applied a thin layer of Gelish Soak Off Gel Polish in June/Bride to her nail (her choice) and sealed the edge. That was cured for 45 seconds (which the lamp is made for 45 seconds so when it turned off automatically). We ended up doing 2 layers of color because it's a pink glitter that doesn't have a heavy base color.

Finally I applied Gelish Top It Off Gel Sealer and sealed the edge and let it cure for 45 seconds. After this, the nail was tacky, so it was time to remove it using the Gelish Cleanser on a lint free wipe.

She was SHOCKED that she was done - that quick! She tried to put her hands up to let the nails dry and I grabbed her hands and twisted the nails to show her that no, it's really dry.  It's DONE. (I also added some cuticle oil afterwards and rubbed her nails to show her that yes, it was really dry!)

So you can see that I got gel in BOTH cuticles on the right side of the picture but overall I was pretty proud of myself for the first time.

Now, Gelish should last up to three weeks but by the 8th day, she had peeled it off her nails (ow). She said that it came off very easily, no problems with sheeting or crumbling like I had. Will I try it again on myself? YES.

The Gelish MINI Basix Kit runs about $50 USD, and the Gelism MINI Pro 45 LED Curing Light is $70. Gelish colors runs $11-$15 per bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Sation Candylandia

When was the last time you played Candy Land? For me? It's been well over a decade but I have a young child now, so who knows! Check out this limited edition collection by Sation.

Sation sweetens the new year with Candylandia

Miss Professional Nail (Miss) has announced the launch of “Candylandia,” their Limited V nail lacquer collection. The flavored, fantasy-themed line presents 12 candy-coated colors with a mouth-watering range of confectionary names.

Candylandia was inspired by the edible escapism of Hasbro’s Candy Land board game, a classic favorite spanning six decades. Miss loved the bright, playful visuals of the swirly rainbow board, which sparked the creation of its own irresistibly sweet polish palette. This whimsical collection offers winning colors that will stir up memories of childhood imagination and endless game-playing.

Embark on a magical, manicured journey filled with fun characters and luscious lacquers. Sweeten up your new year when Candylandia hits the shelves this January.

Polish players, take your places at the Sation starting line!
AbbacaDazzle: Ta-da! You’ll go bonkers for this yummy sunflower yellow
Cast a Spill on You: A bewitching cornflower blue with a pearl sheen will hypnotize you
Chocolate Chip Resistant: A creamy cookie dough with a sugary glaze
I’m so Ogre it: Reach for this sleek steely gray for those moody mani days
Lollipop! Goes the Princess: Pucker up for this pale, pretty periwinkle
Paint Some Sugar on Me: This sparkly blue-raspberry shade will give you a sugar rush
Peppermint Pedi: Your nails will be in mint condition with this refreshing vermilion
Plenty of Frogs: A toad-ally awesome grassy green with a kiss of shimmer
Queenie in a Bottle: Blink blink blink for this royally rich pink!
Super Nail-tural Powers: A potent indigo-grape will keep your players spellbound
Unicorns are Teal: No one can clip your wings when wearing this mystical turquoise
You’re My Lacquer Charm: Cross your fingers and flash this pop-rock pink for good luck!

All Miss products are free of DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde
Miss is an MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certified company

Eyes Bright Glamour Violet Colour Contact Lenses

Image Courtesy of Eyes Bright

I've worn glasses since I was 6 and contacts since I was 15. I did go through a phase where I wore green colored contacts but the rest of it has been boring clear contacts due to my acute astigmatism. Boo.

When Eyes Bright asked if I'd like to try on some fashion lenses, I knew I couldn't say no. They offer a little something for everyone - well, if you have perfect vision that is because these are non-prescription only.  Since I have dark eyes, I chose from the Lenses for Dark Eyes selection and ultimately received the Glamour Violet Colour Contact Lenses.

These contacts come in transit liquid and MUST be soaked and stored in a Cleaning Solution before first use.

This is first thing in the morning (yikes!) and you can tell that my left eye is not happy about contacts. The color is definitely vibrant, even with my dark brown eyes.

However, because of my really bad eyesight, I had to wear my glasses all day, which slightly detract from purple eyes. No one at work noticed I had purple contacts and neither did my husband until I showed him. His only comment was "That's weird."

The contacts did feel a bit itchy when I wore them and there were times where I felt like the colored part of the lens was slipping down and I was get a slightly blurred vision.

The Glamour Violet Contact Lenses cost £14.99/$23.83 USD, free shipping when you spend over £25.00 and the shipping was less than 2 weeks turn around. I definitely think this is a fun way to spend Halloween or maybe even the occasional night out but until I can get prescription quality, I won't be wearing them too often.  You can view these and the other lenses at Eyes Bright.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.