Snowflake French

Happy Manicure Monday! 

I'm winter ready with this design. It's a hand painted white French tip with blue and white Konad stamped snowflakes, topped with glitter.

Krispy Kreme

What could be better than a hot doughnut?

Not much, right?

...or at least that's how my city feels. A month ago a new Krispy Kreme opened and people are acting like they've never seen a doughnut before! The drive thru line most of the time is still wrapped around the building and into the road. 

 Green dots. The logo. HOT sign.

The hot sign turned out kinda dark.

REVIEW: Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips

Happy Manicure Monday!  

I decided to give Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips  a second review. 

To read my initial review, click HERE. 

* Prep

 I took extra care this time around to prep properly and thoroughly. I removed my polish, making extra sure to remove every speck from my nails. I applied cuticle oil and pushed all my cuticles back. I made sure all the oil was removed and then I buffed with the included nail file. And used the remover one more time. Whew!

 * Application

Pretty simple. Remove backing and clear protective top layer and stick them on. However.... my nail beds are small, so this part was a pain and not so simple because I had to trim every strip. Only one strip actually separated (like ripped apart) but the gap is very small and not noticeable.The package has 16 strips that are quite long. I had the idea to get twice the strips by cutting them all in half because they are plenty big enough to cut and still have some left over. So, a process that should have been quick and easy, became a bit frustrating and time consuming. Filing them down seemed easier this time than the last time. I suppose because I knew what to expect. Although somewhat tricky to align, once I stuck them down, those little strips stuck pretty well. Some wrinkles formed but most of them I could smooth out.

  * Finished Product

I applied a top coat, even though the directions didn't say; they just felt so vulnerable, I had to top coat. The leopard print graphics are clear and better looking quality than the floral design I tried previously. The background is a glitter gold with orange-ish dots outlined in brown. The whole design is glittery. The edges showed wear on the first day but they didn't chip until day four, which really surprised me. I was expecting to chip sooner (I really think without a top coat, they would have definitely chipped, possibly the day of).

* Overall

I like them for a fun pattern occasionally. I got many compliments. If your nail beds are not as small as mine, then I'm sure you wouldn't have as much trouble. These strips could be a more budget-friendly option for a special event or a vacation instead of going by the salon. There are several designs available. I saw a French tip set out now that I would like to try, so I will at least buy one more box eventually. 

I do prefer to paint myself, though. I think I'll stick with that.

I added a gold accent nail on day 5 (no chips on this hand yet).

Have you tried these nail polish strips before?

Thanksgiving and Favorite Top Coat

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and gained three pounds!! 

Just kidding. 

This is what I painted on my nails for Thanksgiving this year. 

It's a gray nail. I stamped a white leaf french tip using Konad plate m56 and lined it with gold glitter. At first I didn't like it. I was going for a leafy, golden, autumn vibe but it reminded me more of a sweater. It grew on me though and now I think I like it. It's different.   

 

I also need to rave about my favorite top coat. I painted this design a week ago. I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat (see my original review HERE). I was in a rush and did it really quick, barely letting them dry before getting up, getting ready, and leaving. It was a thin coat and I didn't cap them and I thought for sure they would smudge or chip. They really needed a second layer. But no chips! No smudging! Currently, it's been a WEEK and a DAY since I painted them and they still look amazing. The edges didn't even start barely showing wear until Sunday, day five!


 
 The picture on the left is the day I painted them.
The picture in the middle is day 5, Sunday, just starting to wear on the edges.
The picture on the right is today, Thursday, day 9. Finally chipped today!

So, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat is my favorite top coat! 

I very highly recommend it. Again!

Matron of Honor!

My best friend got married and I forgot to upload my nails!  

NOTE: I did NOT do these myself. 

Her bachelorette thing was all the ladies in the bridal party and in the family went a salon together the day before the wedding and get all painted and pedicured. Honestly, it was hard for me to pay someone else to do this when I can do this myself, especially for the prices they charge. She even picked out my polish color for me. It was a very vibrant blue that I would probably have never picked out for myself (I know, she's the bride). 

I've only been to a nail salon four times ever in my whole life (not even for my own wedding!) so it was definitely out of my comfort zone.

The nails are acrylics, just painted plain boring blue (she didn't want designs). 

My big toes are silver glitter base with a blue-accented leopard print. 

Firecracker

Happy Fourth of July! 

A little late, I know, but I realized I forgot to post this one over the summer. My nana needed her toes painted so she could wear sandals. She liked the idea of a crackle polish so I got to try it out again. 

It's a bright red base with a coat of white crackle polish (which broke and split up beautifully, best one yet!), topped with a coat of red and blue glitter.  

 

Birthday Explosion

Happy Birthday to my friend Margaret! 

She wanted her nails painted so this is the design we came up with.

It's a white base with multi-colored streamers and swirls, topped with glitter. The accent nail is a bright blue base with three candles and rhinestone "flames."

REVIEW: JamBerry?

JamBerry nail wraps are the next
little trendy nail thing.*

I got some samples in the mail. What the heck? I'll try them. They come in lots of designs and various sizes. You get 2 manicures per sheet. Each sheet is $15+ for 18 wraps. The samples I had were a pretty floral print with a white base. 

You clean your nail. Heat half the wrap without touching it with your fingers (to avoid oils). Then you stick it on your nail and smush. Heat again and smush again, just to make sure I guess. So I didn't buy their tiny "Jamberry" heater and I don't have a hair dryer .. (I'm low maintenance haha). So heating it was a PAIN in the butt. I had to hold it next to my curling wand

without burning my fingers or getting to close to the strip in case it stuck.

I took me two hours to figure it out (after even watching the official application video three times) just for TWO NAILS and painting the other eight nails. So I put them on one night. Washed dishes. Cooked some hamburger egg rolls. Still good. The nails were too ha!

Side note: the strips were not wide enough to completely cover my nails.

All in all they lasted me ~4 days before the edges started to wear down. But once the edges wore down, they looked awful. The edges continued to wear down.

This pic was taken four days later. Note the worn edge.

 When my nail grew, there was a visible GAP. This happened relatively quickly, within a week or so, because my nails grow so fast because I take awesome vitamins. Other people may not experience a gap forming that quickly from new nail growth, but for me, it was a bit frustrating.

Note the huge gap. This was taken after about two weeks when I took off the mint polish.

This is what the edges looked like after two weeks.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how long they lasted (not the edges though). I literally left them on for a while. I was testing to see how long they would last. I removed them after two weeks, only because the edges looked so beat up and my nails grow so fast there was a gap. Also, after about a week and a half,  the edges started to peel up a bit away from my nail. But they lasted longer than I thought they would. I was very disappointed that the edges started to show wear so soon. Four days? Really? My plain polish usually lasts longer than that before chipping.

HOWEVER, it was too much trouble. I wold rather just paint my nails. It took two hours to put on TWO strips...I can base coat, paint, and top coat all my nails in two hours myself. 

I do NOT recommend JamBerry strip wrap things. 

They're just like Sally Hansen nail strips. BUT more annoying because you need heat. You can read my review of Sally Hansen nail strips by clicking HERE. I was not impressed by them either! I would much rather just paint my own nails! They would look better and last longer. 

Have you tried JamBerry? Hopefully you did have as many issues as I did! Please comment below and let me know about your experiences! 

* Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are my own. I am not affiliated with JamBerry in any way. I did not receive any compensation. I do not represent JamBerry or make money by the opinions stated here. I don't sell them, don't plan to, and don't want to sell them.