Lip Savvy Gloss

I am loving this gloss.  It's cute packaging and a good product!  That's a win in my book!!

This is LipSavvy gloss!  According to the manufacturer, this product is going to be in 22 shades in 2 formulas.  ColorGlam is a creamy finish with subtle shimmer (12 shades) and Star Studded Shine is intense sparkle with multi-dimensional shine (10 shades).  They claim "Lip Savvy! glosses offer total free radical protection, multiple collagen-boosting properties, prevention and correction of lines and wrinkles, instant and long-term painless plumping, and intense hydration.  These glosses incorporate modern skincare and color technologies to give lips a fighting chance in the battle against aging."

 First off, just look at the tube!  I love, LOVE this zebra print tube!  It's unlike any other gloss I've seen.  While applying in public, I've had numerous women ask me what it is and where they can get it too!  It's definitely an eye-catcher.  It's being marketed as a limp plumper.  I'm not really in need of plumping as my lips have a good shape already, but I felt nor saw no difference when using the gloss.  But since I'm not really looking for that, I'm fine with it not working all that great.  If you're looking for a mega-plumper... keep looking.

This one shows the color a bit better.  It's called Sho Bunny and is a Star Studded Shine shade.  It's a light pink with lots of sparkle in blues and greens and gold.  It's very pretty!  It's sheer, which I happen to like for a gloss.  I am admittedly a gloss hoarder and have probably a million and one tubes in all very similar shades.  They're all sheer and pink or nude, haha.  But I love them all!!  This one is a bit thick and I wouldn't recommend it for a windy outting because it does have the hair-grabbing stickiness that some hate.  BUT it's that thick texture that keeps it on your lips and moisturizing for you for longer!  My lips felt great after a few days of using this.
  

Here is a shot of the brush which also shows the color a bit better (and closer, lol).  I'm not a fan of this style of gloss dispensing.  You click the bottom of the tube and the gloss comes out through the brush.  They're pushing it as less germ-ridden, but you're still smooshing the brush all over your lips and your germs are still waiting for you the next time.  I feel like I have no control over the amount of product I get with this style of applicator.  The first use, you have to click a million times to get the air out.  BUT subsequent times, you have to be careful with the clicks because the product is thick and comes up slowly.  So I felt like this.  I click a few times... nothing.  Click a few more times... too little.  Wait a minute... still not enough... click a few more times... WOAH too much!  A couple times it kept pumping out gloss after I closed it and there was plenty for a second application, lol.  I'd much rather have the doe-foot applicator.  I feel a lot more in-control and less wasteful with that kind.


And just because I was feeling silly... and a tad tipsy... here are some post-birthday-party shots of my and my LipSavvy....

[This product was sent to me for review.]

Cult Nails

This is an awesome brand!!  It's fairly new to the market and new to me completely, so I had to buy their entire stock of course!  Cult Nails is available online only.  It's made in the good 'ol USA by a wonderful woman named Maria who lives in FL.  She is a blogger just like me (and many of you)!  She's been very open and shares many of her thoughts about the brand and where it's going on her blog.

This is how the polish comes!  How cute is that?  A whole heap of cotton balls!!  Such a great idea!!

Each polish comes individually wrapped in paper.  So you know how much time she spends to package your polish and the care she's putting into it.

The Original Collection:

My Kind of Cool Aid, 2 coats.  This is a gorgeous greyed out pastel purple.  It has silver shimmer in it too!  It didn't show up all that well in this photo, but it's definitely there.  I love this color!

Living Water, 2 coats.  This is a dark teal-blue base with greenish silver small glitter.  You know what, the glitter might just be plain silver, but looks green because of the base, lol.  But still very lovely!

Iconic, 2 coats.  A warm reddish burgundy with gold shimmer and flakies!!  Gotta love the flakies.  They are soooooo pretty.  And with the combination of the warm darker color of the red, it's just a home run.

Quench, 2 coats.  A perfect red!  I suppose this would qualify as a jelly, but for me it's a little too opaque for that.  Maybe one coat would be more jelly like.

A Day at the Races Collection:

Let Me Fly, 2 coats.  A teal base with silver shimmer.  I LOVE teal, so this is right up my alley.  It's a darker teal, so it's not too bright and over the top.  It's just a perfect dustier teal, but without looking too muted.  Love it!

Devious Nature, 2 coats.  A great hot pink or fushia creme.  It's more pink than purple, but definitely has a hint of purple to it.  To me, it reminds me of OPI Dim Sum Plum.  I might have to swatch them together to see.

Cruisin' Nude, 2 coats.  The most perfect nude beige with a pink shimmer.  This is an amazing color.  I love it.  Words cannot express how much I love this color.  And it's nearly a mannequin hands for me!  I love it!  LOVE IT!

Captivated, 2 coats.  A coral jelly packed with gold glitter.  This one looks orange in the bottle because of the amount of glitter, but it's much pinker on the nail.  It's so amazingly beautiful!  I love it.

Always Winning, 2 coats.  A light green base with gold and holographic glitter.  Sorry about this lighting on this one, the sun took a break  :(  Figures it did that while I'm trying to show holo, right?  Ugh!  Maybe another sunny day I'll throw this one on again.  It really is much prettier when the holo is showing.

Application on all of these was amazing.  They go on nice and smooth and spread evenly without flooding.  They all have good opacity.  The brush is great and I love the bottles!  Overall I'm VERY pleased with this brand.  I would definitely buy from them again.  The service was great, the packaging was unexpectedly awesome and of course, the polish is superb!  I'm most likely going to order a backup of Cruisin' Nude.  I just LOVE that one!  What do you think?

[These polishes were all purchased by me!]

Broadway Nails Nail Dress

There is such a craze of having super detailed manis.  If you wanted to free hand something, it might take a good chunk of time and/or some practice!  But with the Broadway Nails Nail Dress, it's practically instant.  At the most, it would take as long as a regular mani to apply, but most likely even less time than that.  Let's take a look.

As far as I can tell, this design doesn't have a name.  We'll call it polka dots, shall we?  The yellow kind of freaked out the camera, so I apologize for the not-so-great pics.  These are "stick-on wraps" and to me, essentially stickers.  The Sally Hansen version is very thin, not sticky, more like nail polish.  This is thicker, like a sticker or decal, not very stretchy.  They come 14 on a sheet and each package has 2 sheets.  So essentially you get 14 sizes and 28 total wraps.  However, as with most of these products, you'll most likely only get one use out of the entire package unless you have in-between sized fingers that can fit in more than one size wrap.  Application SOUNDS really easy.  You pick a size, peel it off the sheet, apply with the round edge near the cuticle, smooth it on, file off the excess.  BUT and for me, this is a big but... (haha, butt... anyway) the sheet is opaque.  And not just like a little hard to see through, no, it's completely opaque.  So you can't put your finger under the sheet to gauge a good size to peel off.  When I am applying false nails or decals, etc, I like to size up all my fingers first and make sure I have a plan before I start.  With this, you just have to kind of wing it because you can't get a good fit by eye-balling the sticker and your finger.  Your nail is rounded and the sticker is flat, so it's just hard to match up!  That was the biggest downfall of this product.  But the rest of the application was very, very easy.  It goes on, well, like a sticker.  It comes with a 2 sided file and the one side buffs on the wrap, the other side files off the excess.  They recommend putting on a top coat for extended wear.

I put them on starting with the pinky, as they recommend.  I honestly don't see how it matters unless you are using your nails to peel off the stickers which would ruin the fingers already done I guess.  But you shouldn't be doing that because we all know we aren't supposed to use our nails as tools, right?  Right?  Stop it!  Haha.  But after I got them all on, I noticed the first few started lifting around the edges.  I had taken my prior mani off but did NOT buff my nails to take off the shine prior to application.  I think if I wore these again I would do that so they would stick a little better.  So after I got them all on and filed off the edges, I went back and made sure all the edges were good and stuck and slapped on a coat of ChG Fast Forward.  I made sure to wrap the tips since I just filed these things off on the blunt edge and wanted to keep them on.  I took these pictures the next day and you can see I already have some issues with this.  The pinky and thumb show some tip wear!

This isn't the greatest pic, a little blurry, I apologize.  I did like this mani, it's bright and fun and definitely easier to apply the sticker version than it would be to freehand.  Painting yellow dots on top of purple would be HELL.  You'd have to do white first to even get it to show up and then you'd need a nice opaque yellow of which we all know there are very few.  Not to mention how time consuming it would be if you are not very well practiced in nail art.  These are definitely much easier to apply and look "done" with very little know-how.  Apart from the issue with finding the correct size, application was very easy.  Keeping them on... not so much.  After 2 days, this index finger peeled off.  It started lifting at the tip and then caught on my hair in the shower and came right off.  I do type all day at work, so maybe that aggravated the tip wear resulting in that one coming off.  Who knows.

Basically, this is a decent product for what it is.  They come in a variety of designs and are fairly easy to apply.  It allows even the novice manicure maven to have a fun and/or sophisticated mani in little notice.  For a special occasion, these would be perfect.  However, if you're looking for long wear, I would not recommend these.  But they are very cute and look great while they last!

[This product was sent to me for review]

Nail Polish Jewelry!

I think it's pretty obvious that I LOVE nail polish.  The only downside?  When you have to take it off!  So how do we solve this dilemma?  By making nail polish into jewelry!  It's like the best invention ever.  And it's even more beautiful than you could imagine!

How beautiful are these?  The round one is a ring of GOSH Holographic with OPI Black Shatter on top.  The pendant is a water marble using China Glaze Octa-Gone Wild, OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise, OPI Ink and OPI Purple with a Purpose.  Tracey at GingerKitty Designs made these pieces.  I just picked the colors!

Look at that shimmer and holo!  LOVE!  Tracey is a genious!

Sooooooo pretty!  It's a weird angle, but it's kinda cool how it shows the colors.

Check out that holo greatness!  And it's a giant ring, I love big bold jewelry!

This is full sun.  To the naked eye, the entire ring was a giant rainbow.  But I couldn't capture it with the camera.  Weird how that happens.

I highly suggest checking out Tracey's Etsy shop and if you love nail polish, you won't be disappointed.  If you don't see something available in the shop, send her an email and she'll work with you to create something unique.  The quality is superb and the turn around time is decent.  I will admit I was a little afraid of the ring thinking it might turn my finger green, but it didn't!  I was also worried it might be flimsy since it's adjustable, but again, it's not.  The band is actually pretty thick and sturdy.  I will definitely go back in the future for more pieces.  She has an amazing selection and it's all beautiful.

Crazy Rumors Review

I am addicted to lip products.  I have a million lip gloss, balms, stains, sticks... everything!  When I got an email about Crazy Rumors, I'll admit I was skeptical.  I have one brand of lip balm that I go to again and again, it's amazing (maybe I'll do a review on that at some point).  But I put it away to try this brand... and I was impressed!

I tried Spiced Chai from the Brew Collection and Orange Creamsicle from the A La Mode Collection.  Both smell AMAZING and glide on the lips like buttah!  They make my lips soft and they stay soft and moisturized for hours.  I also love that this gives my lips a tiny bit of shine!

Yummy yummy!  I have to say, these lip balms have definitely taken the place of my old stand by.  At least for now anyway.  I love them!  And I'm going to get more!

And here's a chance for you to get some too!

Go to the Crazy Rumors website now and enter code CRKISS for a 15% discount on all purchases made now through Feb 28th!  

Give lips a HibisKISS for Valentine’s day with Crazy Rumors Lip Color.  Crazy Rumors Hibiskiss collection is all natural and vegan, made with 70% Certified Organic Ingredients, including Moisturizing Organic Shea Butter and Soothing Organic Jojoba Oil, lightly sweetened with a hint of Natural Stevia and natural minerals for a touch of color. Crazy Rumors Hibiskiss Lip Colors are available in:

[Products featured in this post were provided by the company or their PR firm for review]

China Glaze Anchors Away Part 2

This is part 2 of 2 of the Spring 2011 China Glaze collection called Anchors Away.  Click here for part 1!  It's a total of 12 new shades and they are all amazing in their own way!  Today I'm going to show Sand & Sea.  These are the 6 lighter shades of the collection.

 This is the Sand & Sea set.  They look like nice muted dusty shades.  Lets check them out!

Below Deck, 2 coats.  This is the brightest shade of the bunch.  It's a dusty purple shade.  Maybe like an eggplant, lol.  Good coverage, nice opacity.  I like this color.  It does remind me of other shades I have, but it's not quite a dupe to anything.  It's similar to that popular Chanel color that was going around not too long ago too, lol.

Knotty, 3 coats.  This is a beige or nude color glass fleck.  It's really very pretty, but I wish it wasn't so sheer.  I would have liked it better if it was more opaque.  This did have good application though.  And of course, the sparkle and shine is very very pretty.  Not that you can really tell in my photo, lol.  I blame the snow!

Pelican Gray, 2 coats.  This is a light gray creme.  It's such a great color.  I love grays recently and this one is so pretty.  It's slightly blue toned, but definitely a gray.  Application was good, nice opacity.  It reminds me a bit of a castle or something.  I guess it's stone like.  So pretty.  Love it!

White Cap, 3 coats.  Sheer white glass fleck.  It's very pretty, but very similar to a lot of whites that came out this past winter.  It does remind me of snow.  It's frosty and cool.  Application was good, but definitely needs the 3 coats unless you're going to layer.  If you hate VNL, you must layer this.

Sunset Sail, 2 coats.  This is a nude peachy subtle shimmer.  It's so beautiful!  Application was great, good coverage and opacity.  I love the color and I love the slight shimmer.  It's NOT extremely apparent, so it's really just for the wearer.  I kind of like those kinds of polishes.  It looks pretty to everyone, but there's a special aspect that only I enjoy, lol.  Is that selfish?  HAHAH.

Sea Spray, 2 coats.  Light blue creme.  This is such a pretty color.  It's a bluish gray, but way more blue than the Pelican Gray up there.  This is definitely a blue.  It reminds me of the Eyeko Rain Polish, but I don't have that to compare.  Still, it reminds me of the sky on a rainy stormy day.  It's so calming, haha.

BTW, no top coat on any of these polishes.  They are super shiny on their own!  And with them being so easy to apply, you don't really need the top coat except for staying power.  I was VERY pleased with these polishes.  I'm not a fan of all the colors, like I mentioned, but application was perfection.  Even the sheer shades went on like a dream.

Note: All items featured in this post were purchased by me.

China Glaze Anchors Away Part 1

This is part 1 of 2 of the Spring 2011 China Glaze collection called Anchors Away.  Click here for part 2!  It's a total of 12 new shades and they are all amazing in their own way!  Today I'm going to show the Knotty Nauticals.  These are the 6 brighter shades of the collection.

This is the Knotty Nauticals set.  First off, how cute is that name?  It's kind of one of those you want to face-palm on, but it's just so punny!  LOL... anyway.

Lighthouse, 3 coats.  It's sheer, but has a glass fleck to it.  It's a golden yellow, like goldenrod to me.  It's pretty, but it's just not my thing.  I like the pale yellows better.  But if you like the darker golden yellow, this is perfect for you!

Life Preserver, 2 coats.  This is listed as a "poppy creme."  I don't buy it.  This is orange.  It's not quite as orange as a real life preserver, but it's still orange.  I heard someone say it had a coral aspect to it.  It's orange.  LOL.  Now I don't have a super critical eye for color, but I don't think I'm oblivious to subtle differences either.  This is a redder orange that a real life preserver, but it's still orange.  It's too orange for me to say it's coral.  I personally do not like this shade, but I'm not a fan of orange in general.  Aside from that, it applied great, good coverage and opacity.  It's good with 2 coats, but too sheer to be a 1 coater I think.

Starboard, 2 coats.  This is a very vivid green creme.  Applied well, good opacity, but needs the 2 coats.  It's like a "kelly green."  It's grass like to me.  Again, this is not really my thing.  I don't choose these bright greens for a full mani unless I'm doing something on top of it.  Or if it's St Patty's day.  Which, I must say, is coming up... so keep this one handy girls!

First Mate, 2 coats.  Now we're talking!  This is a bright yet darker blue creme.  I LOVE IT!  It's a perfect nautical blue.  Good coverage, nice pigmentation... wow.  This is definitely in-your-face blue.  And I know for most colors I like the subtle shades, but I don't mind a bright blue and this is great!

Ahoy! 3 coats.  This is another glass fleck color in a great hot pink shade.  It's a little sheer again, like the yellow.  To me, definitely needs 3 coats unless you're layering.  It reminds me of strawberries, but it's definitely a pink, not a red.  It's a great summer color I think.  It would make a good watermelon mani, haha.  Add some Atlantis on the tips and you'll be good to go!

Hey Sailor, 2 coats.  Bright red creme.  I have to say, I thought I wouldn't like this on, but I love it.  And really, I could have gotten away with 1 coat if I'd been more careful.  This is an amazing color, great coverage, nice and opaque.  I love it.  It's a perfect red.  I'd say it's a little on the orange side, but it's pretty.

BTW, no top coat on any of these polishes.  They are super shiny on their own!  And with them being so easy to apply, you don't really need the top coat except for staying power.  I was VERY pleased with these polishes.  I'm not a fan of all these colors, like I mentioned, but application was perfection.  Even the sheer shades went on like a dream.

Note: All items featured in this post were purchased by me.

Broadway Nails: Chrome!

I have to say, these are amazing.  They look awesome in the package, but OMG!  It's like a mirror on your nails!  I got a bunch of compliments and awed looks.  Guys AND girls... everyone was noticing these nails!  If you follow me on twitter, you already saw a sneak peek of these, hehe.  I was too excited not to share!  And honestly, they came at a great time because I had just broken like 4 nails moving my stuff to a new desk at work.

This is how they come.  There are plain chrome nails and zebra prints!  The zebra print is black over the chrome, so it's still awesome.  And check that reflection!  How could you not fall in love?  The box has 24 nails in 12 sizes and comes with it's own glue and orange stick.

Once I found nails that fit, I used the included pink glue to put them all on.  The pink glue doesn't really matter for these particular nails because you can't see through them.  But I know if you have the french mani style nails that are a bit sheer, the pink glue would definitely be nice!  The glue isn't hard to use, you squeeze a few drops on and slide the nails into place.  I did not have a hard time finding nails that fit.  I had the option of chrome or zebra for every nail except my pinky.  I could have done my entire hand in zebra, but I liked the chrome too much, haha.  These nails come in medium length, but as you can see here, they are different lengths depending on the nail size.  My ring finger was noticeably shorter than my middle finger.  I liked that the nails tapered down on both ends so they were thinner at the tip and cuticle.  It made it look less like fake nails and more like pure awesomeness, haha.  I will say, I had crazy finger prints on the nails from putting them on.  It's like any chrome, it shows everything!  I had to wash my hands good and buff the nails shiny with a clean towel before taking the pic, lol.

After a day, they were just too long for me, so I filed them down some.  I was especially annoyed at the length difference between the middle and ring fingers, so I took care of that a bit.  I was afraid to file them thinking that the chrome might chip off, but I had no problems at all.  After I got them to a decent length for me, I put on a clear top coat to seal the filed edge and also to prevent those pesky fingerprints I kept getting, lol.  With so many people touching my nails, it was like a dressing room mirror... gross, lol.

For some reason I left my thumb longer than the rest, I don't know why.  I think just for the bling-tastic nature of it, haha.

Look at my reflection!  Hahaha.  I seriously could not stop staring at my hands while wearing these.  I left them on for a good 5 days and had NO chipping, NO lifting, just perfection.  People who don't do their nails couldn't tell they were fake.  People who know nails just loved the chrome!  I have to say these were amazing for every day, but if you have a party to go to... these would ROCK.  I would recommend them to everyone!  They're super easy to apply, stay on like cement, but come off easily with acetone when you're done.  And just in case you're wondering... the chrome did not even melt off when I took them off.  It just kind of peeled off in a sheet, lol.

Seriously, if you need a quick and awesome mani, keep these on hand and they will not disappoint.  I might just have to get a box to keep on hand for new years.  ;)

[This product was sent to me by the company or their PR firm for review.]