Posted to
Health & Beauty on Jun 10, 2011 - 00:27
First lemme preface this by saying a few things: The format of this is gonna be about 10-12 polishes per post. Each swatch is going to be on a sheet of paper, with a number next to it. The number will correspond to the ones here, which is where you’ll find the name, brand, and all that fun stuff of it. I’m doing it on paper because I don’t have artificial nails to do it on, nor a nail
wheel, and I’m not going to paint my finger and toe nails ten different colors. I’ll provide better swatches from other (properly credited) sources. Their photos however will not be in this post, but I’ll provide you a link so you can go check them out directly from its owner.
Blah blah blah. Stfu, Megan and get on with the polishes. Kay, going!
Polishes 1-7
These are my (very limited selection) of handy dandy striping polishes. The first four are from Stripe Rite. They have no formal name. I got em at Sally’s for a few dollars each. I have a bright neon orange, sparkly dark pink, neon lime green, and a “sparkly” blue. It’s one of those blues that wants to have glitter and looks like it does, but it’s not quite there yet. The first three are easy to work with & very pigmented but the fourth needed some love from my nail polish thinner to get it to cooperate with me. But it’s nowhere near as terrible to work with as the Scheve Vite top coat I already spoke about in part one of this. Ugh. Anywho, moving on.
Polishes 5-7
Next up are my silver glitter, red and black striping polishes. I got them at Five Below a few months ago. They were 3 for 5 dollars. And they’re by Art Club…or Color Club, one of the two. Again, very pigmented, easy to work with…except the silver glitter. That one needed a ton of thinning out. But whatever, it was 2 dollars so I can’t complain.
Polish 8
This is Lavender Marquise by Sally Hansen. Purchased with two other polishes for one of Five Below’s 3 for $5 deals, one of which is number 12, the other will be mentioned in a later post. This is a sheer lavender color. My swatch is two coats, however. You can see a better swatch here. It’s a nice “natural” color. A suitable color for work or professional wear with giving you some color but still being on the natural train.
Polish 9
This is Sally Hansen’s Purple Potion. Probably purchased at Walmart for around 3 dollars. Better swatches here and here and oh mother of giraffes, I love this color. It’s dark purple with blue shimmer. You can see it very well with certain ways that light shines on it. I’m a sucker for any polish that has multi tones or changes colors. It’s very easy to work with and it has a flat brush, similar to the Insta Dry polishes.
Polish 10
Next up is China Glaze’s For Audrey. Purchased at Sally’s. Tiffany blue color. We all have heard of this one and seen it all over Luuux. For shits and giggles, however, here is a better swatch for it. Personally, I don’t know what all the hype about it is, besides the name and for whom it was made. Other than that, it’s nothing special and nothing you need to rush out right this second and purchase it. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the color (or else I would not have purchased it), but I don’t get what all the hype is about it.
Polish 11
This is another one of those multi toned colored polishes. It’s a sheer pink with green glitter depending on how the light shines on it. It’s Sally Hansen Star Opal Nail Glaze in Red Opal. I cannot find any other swatches online. I’m pretty sure it was discontinued but you can still buy it online. It has a flat brush, similar to the Purple Potion brush as previously stated. And this polish is an example of how you can make your polishes last for years if you take good care of em. It’s gotten goopy and such but it’s nothing a little thinner can’t fix. I’ve had this polish for like 5 years.
Polish 12
And the last polish for this post is Sally Hansen’s 24 Karat. Purchased along with Lavender Marquise; see above for price and location. Normally I’m not a fan of gold. I don’t like yellow gold jewelry but this gold polish was just too damn glittery to pass up. I can’t find any other swatches online.
This is it for this part. I’ll do the next part of this sometime next weekend maybe. I dunno if I’m gonna be around this weekend or not till it gets here.
If you have not yet read part 1 of this collection, you can do so here . :]
All photos and text in this post belong to me. Do not use without my permission. The swatches of polishes that I have provided links to belong to the webmaster of the site I directed you to.
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Jun 8, 2011 - 07:35
I don't really have a particular way in which I take care of my nails. But these are the basic products that I use for caring for my finger and toe nails, as well as what I use as a base and top coat. Also what I use to maintain my nail polishes health.
Caring for my nails
So, a few years ago, I used to wear nail polish on my fingers and toes all of the time. I'd be changing the colors
every week, only letting them rest a day or so without polish, if that. I would notice that my nails were starting to look a tad yellowish/orange and I'd paint over em. Who cares? I didn't have to see the ugly shade if it was painted over, right? Wrong. If your nails are yellowish/orange, paper thin, brittle, etc from excessive nail polish/fake nails/whatever, you need to put the nail polish down and step away for a long while. At least a month. Maybe more. So after a while, I got sick of having these disgusting excuses of finger and toe nails, so I quit with the polish and starting taking better care of my nails.
A two to three years later (yes, years.), I trim my nails like every week or so, partly because they grow a bit fast(er) and partly because I need to keep them short for my massage class. It's not really fun getting stabbed with a finger nail when getting a massage and I don't wanna scratch my classmates with long fingernails. And holy hell, I would not want to scratch someone during our practicals. (final exam type thing for the massage class.)
Anywho, after I trim em, and after I shower, I apply a tiny bit of vitamin e cream to my nails and cuticle. Yes, I know there's vitamin e oil specific for nails and cuticle, I even have the one by Sally Hansen, but I don't like it. It makes my fingers feel greasy, even after it's absorbed into my skin. I've noticed that with using the cream, my nails are growing a tad faster than without em.
If I notice any yellowing at all, I immediately stop all polish usages and apply a very thin coat of my Nonyx Nail Gel. My best friend recommended this to me and it's amazing for clearing out the disgusting yellowing of your nails. Now, the cure for your nails to not be paper thin is to let them grow out with no polish. Anyway, I'm not going to go on about this (amazing) nail gel as I already have in this post located here.
Base coat & Top coat
When I'm going to apply nail polish, I either use the Top 2 Bottom by Orly, or the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength instant nail hardener as a base coat. I do warn you of two things, however. Number 1: This instant nail hardener does not harden your nails. 2: No base coat in the world will ever prevent your nails from becoming stained/yellow/weak/brittle/thin from excessive polish. Base coats and top coats are clear nail polishes. That's it. If anything, they contribute to the yellowness and thinning of your nails with excessive wear. Anyway, I don't really have a preference as to which I use as a base coat. I just use whichever one that's easiest to grab.
Top coat wise, I do prefer the fast drying kind. You all are already well aware of the Seche Vite fast drying top coat. I used to use this one a lot until it started getting really difficult to work with. It becomes really goopy, slimey and you have to apply a ton of the product in order to get a smooth, even coating which then defeats the entire purpose of it being fast drying. The more you apply, the longer it takes to dry. Even with using nail polish thinner, it doesn't thin it. And I'm not going to go buy the restorer for it. Why should I pay sixteen dollars to use an 8 dollar top coat? It's unnecessary and a waste of money.
Lately I have been using the OPI RapiDry top coat. It dries faster than the Seche Vite top coat. I use a lot less product to do the exact same job, too. It does get a slight bit goopy, but it's no where near as difficult to work with as Seche Vite is, plus it will easily thin with a few drops of nail polish thinner. And yes I know I have a tiny little bottle of the RapiDry. I have a second tiny bottle with my other polishes. At some point I'm going to buy a normal sized bottle online or something.
Also, the other top coat in the photo is what I use for any rhinestones/nail stickers that I use. It also dries fast, which I like. I got it for free with the purchase of some nail stickers I got a while back at Sally's. It works well, I think. But I don't use it much so I cannot give an accurate opinion on it.
Caring for my nail polishes:
So as nail polish ages, with usage, if you don't tighten the bottle, or leave it open too long, the polish starts to gradually dry up. Some more than others. It's very much inevitable and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. You can, however, reverse it...kind of. Now, you can go about doing this two ways: the right way or the wrong way.
Lets start talking about the wrong way to thin your nail polishes. Nail polish remover. I know almost everyone tells you that it's okay to thin your polish with nail polish remover. This is partly true. It will thin it, but it will also severely destroy your nail polish. Nail polish remover is meant to REMOVE nail polish. It's meant to eat away nail polish from any surface to remove it from that surface. If you put nail polish remover in nail polish in hopes of thinning it, you might as well go buy a new bottle of polish because it's going to lose all of it's color and texture.
Here is an example: A long while ago, I had a bottle of one of Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms nail polishes. I think it was the turquoise opal color. It was so amazing. It was my favorite polish. Since I was using it all of the time, it started to get all goopy and whatnot and my friend told me to put nail polish remover in it. (this was before I knew that this idea was stupid) So I did and was all happy that it was restored. After a days, it went back to it's goopy consistency, but more severe. So, I decided to not use it anymore since it was a pain in the butt, so I'd just leave it where I could see it and such. Like a month or so later, all of the polish was dried up onto the brush. It was all brown and nasty and destroyed. All thanks to using nail polish remover as a thinner.
Moral of the story? Don't use nail polish remover as a thinner. It's NOT the same thing. Remover DOES NOT equal thinner.
Do. Not. Use. Nail polish remover. As. A. Nail polish thinner.
Now lets talk about the right way! Nail polish thinner. You can purchase the same bottle as I did, for 5 dollars at Sally's Beauty Supply. It's a big bottle and it will last you ages. You only need a few drops into the polish bottle to (properly) thin it out. After you have put the drops into the polish bottle, screw the top back on and roll the bottle between your hands. Once the thinner is mixed well into the polish, let the bottle sit for a few minutes to remove any air bubbles and let the product settle. Then enjoy your restored nail polish. Do note though that this will drastically reverse the consistency of the polish but depending on the severity of it, it may not completely reverse it. But it will make it better and a lot easier to work with.
So that's the basic products that I use. I call em basics because they're things everyone should have or a version of when doing their nails. The next post in this uh...series will be the beginning of my 70 some odd polishes. I'll have swatches and reviews of 12 polishes in the post, probably 10-12 per post until I've done my whole collection.
All photos and descriptions are mine unless otherwise specified. Do not use without my permission.
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Mar 22, 2011 - 07:53
So I need some recommendations for a good curling iron under 20 dollars (maybe I'd go around 30 if there's nothing but positive reviews about the tool) & figured a good place to ask for recommendations would be here. I've tried several Conair curling irons and none of them curl my hair, including the one pictured above (which is also in the source link). Not even remotely. I would just keep
picking out curling irons and try them but I have very little patience to do that. I would try the Revlon ones, but eh..I dunno.
I don't have a ton of money to be spending, hence why I'd like em to be 20 dollars and under. I'd also like to be able to purchase it in person & not online. If it helps, recommendation wise, there's a Target, Walmart, Sallys Beauty Supply and Ulta all within reasonable driving distance from my house.
So if ya have any recommendations, please feel free to leave em here. I'd really like em soon, as opposed to later because I'm going to be returning this curling iron to Target tomorrow afternoon & I don't really wanna be making more trips to the same area than I have to.
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Mar 14, 2011 - 04:15
Disclaimer: Description is mine, except for the link and photo provided, which is also in the source for proper credit of the source. Also, maybe this post will help ya'll learn a thing or two about how to properly talk about an article here, instead of straight up copying & pasting the entire article. Also, I didn't know where to put this - either fashion or health & beauty...so health it
is!
Do you carry a heavy & bulky purse that's stuffed with a huge make up bag, extra shoes, a huge wallet that's stuffed with things you've never even looked at? Or even a tote bag or big purse for school that's stuffed with your school supplies, books, plus usual purse contents? Well you shouldn't because you're doing a lot of damage to your body. The extra weight on one side of your body, essentially making that one side of your body stronger than the other side. Your posture will be altered and your weight baring joints (your hips, knees and ankles) will be irritated and aged faster than what your body would normally age them. Also the extra weight will eventually cause nerve irritation and neck strains.
The British Chiropractic Association states in this article located here that you can avoid these things from effecting your body if you distribute the weight with two bags, or using a small suitcase with wheels on it and pull it behind you.
As a student training to be a muscle/massage therapist, using two lighter bags will not avoid this from happening. It's inevitable if you're carrying remotely heavy bags. Shoulders are not weight bearing structure to begin with. A way to avoid this is, like the BCA said, to use a small, rolling suitcase.
I'm personally not a fan of huge purses. If I wanna carry an extra pair of shoes with me, the shoes stay in my car till I need them. I only carry what's necessary with me. If it can't fit in a small purse, it's not coming with me. But if I did, I'd probably go the small suitcase or laptop bag route. Screw fashion. My health is more important than being fashionable.
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Mar 13, 2011 - 21:54
Disclaimer: Photos are mine. Don't use them without my permission...or a hand transplant. Cause if you use em and you don't have the exact same hand as mine, it's pretty much a dead giveaway that you stole my photos.
Anywho, so I'm a nail polish whore, as are many of you. But wearing nail polish on your finger and toe nails 24/7, day in and day out is not healthy for your nails. They will get
yellowish orange and look beyond gross and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. Even a base coat will do absolutely nothing to prevent it. If anything, a base coat is only contributing to it because all a base coat is is clear nail polish. Just because it has no pigmentation doesn't mean it doesn't have the same chemicals.
You totally could not use nail polish of any kind and grow your nails out to get the yellowness out of them but there's a faster way to do that. And those little nail whitening packets that you put in water and soak your fingers in doesn't work either. If anything, it basically only works with the surface of the nail, not the entire nail itself.
What I use to whiten my nails when I notice they're getting a little yellow is Nonyx. It's a nail gel that's used for clearing the discoloration from your nails. The photos on their website are gross but that's basically what it does. And it works amazingly well.
The directions basically say to spread a thin coat of the gel over your nails every day after a shower/bath, because your nails will better absorb the gel. And to periodically roughen the surface of the nails with an emery board to help make the results better. I personally like to do it at night because the gel does have a slight smell to it but it's not over powering, plus to give the gel time to absorb into your nails.
It states that it'll take 3-6 weeks to notice an improvement but I think that's if your nails are absolutely horrid. When I first used it, I personally noticed results around three weeks. I just needed to use it recently and I noticed my nails clearing up after a week.
You can get it at drug stores like CVS and Walgreens, and drugstore.com and probably Amazon. I got it at Walgreens over by the pharmacy in the foot care section. It's a little expensive though, around 30 dollars but it's a 4 oz bottle and you only use a tiny bit for each nail, so it'll be lasting a while. Plus on their website, there's a 5 dollar off rebate coupon. But whatever, it's totally worth it.
Posted to
Technology on Feb 27, 2011 - 23:39
Disclaimer: The first photo is mine, of a screen shot of a screen shot I took of an amusing Yahoo Answers question. The video is not mine, nor am I claiming it as my own. The direct video link is here and the channel link is down below, for proper credit sake.
So as many of you are quite well aware of, Facebook went and fooled with their site again & implemented this horrible "theater mode"
for viewing photos.
I don't like it. You don't like it. So let's get rid of it, shall we?
I just found this video in my Youtube sub box & I thought I'd share it, to alleviate some of the frustration of viewing photos on Facebook.
The video talks about four ways you can disable the feature. Two of the ways are not permanent and two of them are but include some installation of some plugins. And it's demonstrated for Firefox and Chrome. And it's very simple & fast to do.
Have fuuuun
Posted to
Technology on Feb 15, 2011 - 08:13
So I just stumbled upon another site that I thought I'd share here & that website is GoodGuide.com.
From what I gathered, the general concept of the website is to show you the highest rated products, whether it's household cleaning items, cosmetics, skin care, pet food, paper, toys, personal items, tons of things. But the items rating is based on health (whether or not the product has
chemicals in it that raises health concerns), environment (how well, compared to other companies, the product reduces water usage & is generally good for the environment) and society (how well, compared to other companies, the product's company focuses on it's commitment to it's local community.) More about the rating system is here
Also, there is a filter option that only shows you items that are not tested on animals, for those of you who want to be proactive with not supporting animal testing.
And the website also provides a list of known chemicals often used in tons of products we use every day that pose as a health risk to us. Plus if you click on the ones listed, it will tell you the effects the chemical has on the body & which products they're found in.
But anyway, hopefully this will be of some use to someone, if you wanna shop smarter.
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Feb 1, 2011 - 11:04
Disclaimer: Photo is a screen shot of the website I am going to be discussing. I don't care if anyone uses it as anyone who knows how to take screen shots can do it.
I just stumbled upon this website that sells organic cosmetics, hair products, skin products and household products & I figured I'd share it here. They're a bit pricey in my eyes but I suppose if you're going to use brands that
don't participate in animal cruelty & are organic, I suppose ya gotta pay a pretty penny.
Anywho, the website is: http://skinbotanica.com/
Posted to
Health & Beauty on Jan 30, 2011 - 22:38
Disclaimer: Screen shot is mine of the location in which you can fill out a form to receive the foundation sample.
So if anyone is interested in trying the Fit Me foundation by Maybelline & if you're skeptical about buying it for whatever reason, you can get a free sample here: http://samples.target.com/
I'm not sure how long you can get the samples for but it's there. Of course, for you,
the selection will not be grayed out and have "requested" on the photo until you actually request it.
The prompt will ask you a few survey questions such as how often you use face make up, which brands have you used & I think for how long or something. Then it'll ask you for your name & address to send you the sample. Then 4-6 weeks of waiting.
