China Glaze Summer 2015 Electric Nights

Are you ready for summer? China Glaze has released nine enhanced neon lacquers that glow under black light and three first-of-its-kind splatter paint effect top coats in their Summer 2014 Electric Nights collection.

China Glaze Spring 2015 Road Trip

This spring, China Glaze launched their Road Trip collection - a 12 piece set that had everything for you to get ready for the road.

KBShimmer To Peach His Own

Press Sample 
I have another KBShimmer crelly from the 2015 Spring Collection today - this is To Peach His Own and is a pale peach crelly with green, gold, magenta and purple glitters ranging in small to large. 

I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and finished with KBShimmer Clearly On Top. I honestly should have used 3 coats but because this base coat is so close to my skin color, I didn't realize the opaqueness until I was done polishing. I also inverted this polish 30 minutes before application to help the glitters float to the top.

This photo was taken in my light box. You can see how the peachy base is really close to my skin tone - so I'm not totally how I feel about that. Another KBShimmer lover mentioned that it reminded her of fruity pebbles in the polish. I can see that!

Meanwhile in the sun, you can start to see a little bit of the VNL (visible nail line) especially on my pinkie.

Finally in indirect light, you have a hard time telling my skin from the polish. I can't say that I love this polish but it's most definitely unique to my collection.

KBShimmer [website] can be purchased through their website for those in the United States and through Harlow and Co for international sales. Prices range from $5.50 to $8.75. Connect with KBShimmer through their social media networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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

Oil Essentials: Lavender & Rose Hip

Press Sample 
It's been awhile since I did any type of posting on my nail care routines but this new product from Oil Essentials provided a great chance to introduce you to another way to keep your hands soft and protected! Cuticle oils have been the rage for awhile now, and I was finding myself buying more and more of them but not always using them. Either I wasn't a big fan of the smell or how they applied or how they soaked into the skin.

Oil Essentials is a collection of beauty oils that is made with natural and sustainable blends of essential oils and fortified with an advancing anti-aging Luxmeadow E Complex along with powerful yet gentle extracts. They are free from parabens, sulfatez, phthalates and synthetic colors and are safe for most people with sensitive skin.

There are currently 6 different oils out there - Seabuckthorn Berry and Borage, Omega 3/6/9 and Evening Primrose, Neroli and Avocado, Argan and Wheat Germ, Sweet Almond and Macadamia and the product I am using, Lavender and Rose Hip. Each oil helps your skin and hair in different ways.

The Lavender and Rose Hip oil is a soothing blend of lavender and rose hip oils, with the added nourishing effects of coconut, sunflower and meadowfoam seed oils.

As you can see, the bottle comes with a long eyedropper top or you can just use the oil that collects along the tube of the dropper. On top of being used for my cuticles, you can also add a drop of the oil to your favorite skin or hair-care products but I haven't gone to those lengths yet.

I took one drop of the oil and spread it on all my fingers and gently rubbed the oil into my skin. This photo was taken about 5 minutes after the oil was applied and as you can see, my hands are still super moisturized. I have absolutely nothing on my naked nails - not even base coat (and it's RARE that I don't have base coat on - this was after a swatching session). You can see that my hands appear healthy, and very moisturized. About 30 minutes after applying, the oil was completely soaked into my skin. Before that point, anything I touched left an oily residue (like my camera) so be aware of that when applying.

I have been using this oil weekly now and I'm happy to say my cuticles are pretty happy with me. The scent is very pleasing to me being a mix of lavender and rose (my two favorites) but isn't so overpowering that I get a headache. Also, you can see that this bottle is large - 50 mL. In comparison, a bottle of China Glaze is only 14 mL.

The best part for me is the price and the location to buy. Oil Essentials launched this spring in Rite Aid, Target, H-E-B and Walmart. While I don't have a Rite Aid nearby and the nearest Target is an hour away, I live within minutes from H-E-B and Walmart so I can easily go pick up another bottle when I run out, and I plan to. Then there's the price... Each bottle of Oil Essentials is only $12.99. YAY. Considering I only used one drop per oiling session, it may be awhile before I run out, but it's so great to know that it's nearby and affordable.

Oil Essentials [website] is available for $12,99 at Rite Aid, Target, H-E-B and Walmart. Join the conversation with them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

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

KBShimmer I'm So Sweet Pea

Press Sample 
How do you like your crelly? Part of the KBShimmer 2015 Spring collection was a line of crelly polishes. KBShimmer defines a crelly as a polish finish that can be layered to cover the nail line, but still has sheerness to allow glitters to show through. People have a million ways they like to wear crellies. Some like to use a base color that is similar to the crelly so they don't have to use many coats. Others like to invert their bottles upside down to allow the glitters to fall closer to the brush. Still others like to just layer coat after coat until opaque (KBShimmer recommends 3 thin coats for her crellies).

Today I have KBShimmer I'm So Sweet Pea from the Spring 2015 collection. This is a pale purple base with glitters in pink, mint, purple and turquoise. The glitter ranges in small to large. I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 3 thin coats of polish and finished with KBShimmer Clearly On Top.

I follow the "invert your bottle" train of theory so 30 minutes prior to applying, I put my bottle upside down to allow the glitters to fall towards the top of the bottle. Does it really work? Well, I'm not a scientist, but I prefer it.

So I didn't have ANY sun, so this photos is from my light box. You can see that I don't have many large glitters on my pinkie but they are showing up on the other nails. I paint my nails from pinkie to thumb so it took a bit for my brush to get loaded properly with glitter.

Outside in the shade and the light purple base really looks more milky white to me. I still like it but it's not nearly as purple as I would have preferred.

In indirect light, you can see the pale lavender base a little better. Crellies take patience, so don't just glop your polish on. I do think it's quite pretty but I may prefer for this to be more of an accent nail than a full manicure.

KBShimmer [website] can be purchased through their website for those in the United States and through Harlow and Co for international sales. Prices range from $5.50 to $8.75. Connect with KBShimmer through their social media networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

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