Product Review: Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kit

I recently purchased this nail art stamping kit from Salon Express at the Rite Aid (you should be able to find it in many drugstores) in the 'As Seen on TV' section. I was intrigued by it because it seemed simple enough to use so that I could achieve salon-quality manicures without  paying a whole lot. The whole kit should cost you about $8-$10, so for that price I considered that it would be worth a try.

The kit comes with the following items:
5 metal stamping plates with various designs (as seen in the picture below)
1 stamper
1 scraper
1 stamping plate base


This kit is fairly simple to use if you read how to do it or watch a youtube video on how it's used, but it's also pretty self-evident. You place a metal stamping plate of your choice (whichever one has a design you like and want to use) onto the stamping plate base. Then you take a nail polish (preferably opaque so it shows up better) of thicker consistency and place it on top of the design stencil stamping plate. Then you take the scraper and run the blade over the design to wipe away any excess polish. Finally, using the stamper you want to quickly pick up the design from the stamping plate by pressing it pretty thoroughly onto the design and then rolling it onto your finger nail to transfer the design.

This is a fairly simple tool to use but it can be time-consuming so if you like to spend time on intricate nail designs, this is the cheapo product for you, but if not, don't bother investing in it. However, if you are really into perfect, precise looking nail designs, you may want to invest in a better set, such as the one Konad makes. Some of the designs on the stamping plates are really thin and over-complicated and will not show up on your nails because they do not transfer properly. You also cannot use glitter nail polish for the designs or anything that isn't very opaque and in stark contrast to your base coat of nail polish because the designs won't show up at all or appear smudged. With these drawbacks in mind, I still really like this product because it is very inexpensive and with a little effort you can have really cool designs that are sure to stand out! This was my first attempt at using the stamper with their cheetah print design. I was happy with the results.

Give Yourself Galaxy Nails

If you're like me and you need something to put on your nails so you don't bite them or pick at them or just to plain strengthen them and you're sick of the same old nail polish colors in your collection, spruce up your nails with this new galaxy look! 

This nail polish application looks like it would be really difficult, right? Well, it's not, and all you need is: a pair of tweezers, a makeup sponge, toothpicks, and nail polish colors (I suggest black, navy/dark blue, rosy pink, yellow, and white).

First, apply a coat of black nail polish to your nails and let it dry. Secondly, you'll want to get the makeup sponge and rip a small piece off of it and pick it up with your tweezers and dip the sponge in white nail polish. Make sure you only use very little polish when you do this or it will look blotchy and apply in a nebula-like line or constellation over your nail, leaving some black showing on the sides. Sponge some yellow nail polish in the middle of the 'white nebula'. Next, sponge on some rosy pink polish, keeping it near the yellow you have already added to get a multi-dimensional effect. Finally, sponge on some navy or dark blue polish around the edges of the nebula so that you can create a gradient effect or fade it into the black background. You can always clean up around your nails with nail polish remover if you need.

If you use a toothpick and dab it into the white nail polish and then quickly draw little stars around your nails,  you will achieve small constellations of stars around your nebula. Dot around the nebula as you can't see as many stars inside the nebula. At the end, you can add a few larger stars. Use fine glitter polish to create even smaller stars but make sure that the glitter will  not overpower your design or completely mask it. This layer should be fairly thin! Then add a topcoat for staying power and you're done with your fabulous galaxy nails design!

You can use other colors such as orange, green and purple to your design, just make sure you keep it cohesive and you do the same thing on all of your nails so they look like a set!  Good luck and have fun experimenting with outrageous galactic nails

DIY: Braided Infinity Scarf

This is a nifty, new idea I came across and wanted to share with you all because it is an absolutely simple do-it-yourself project that can be customized in numerous ways! To bear the cold weather out there, make yourself this beautiful and practical braided infinity scarf. Viscose jersey works well in all seasons, however, it's light enough that you can wear it in the summer but if you build the scarf bulky enough it will keep you warm in the winter.

You will need to purchase jersey fabric (it is easiest to work with but you can try other types of fabric, especially once you get comfortable with the technique), enough so that you can braid the fabrics together and wrap them around your neck loosely and they fit over your head. You will probably need 1 yard of fabric per scarf you make because you can cut it with fabric shears or scissors lengthwise to make multiple pieces. If you want your scarf to look full and rich, you should use more fabric so that it hugs the neck luxuriously and doesn't look like it was made out of scraps.

All you do is make a small braid with some smaller segments of the fabric, a medium sized braid with middle-sized pieces and a large braid with larger chunks of the fabric. Then you want to leave one piece un-braided so that you can get that fuller look on the bottom. Sew your pieces together in a large infinity circle so that the seam comes to the back of the wearer's neck, make sure all of the pieces are attached to one another. If you add clip-on buttons at the back, you will be able to make one or all of the pieces interchangeable so that you can adjust your look anytime you want!

You can do this in multiple color combinations or fabric styles and patterns, be as creative as you like with this simple project. You'll have the most unique scarf and I can guarantee you that nobody will have its duplicate!

Here are some beautiful fabric recommendations that would make absolutely breathtaking DIY scarves! Happy crafting, everyone!

The best Valentine's Day gift ever!!

So obviously I have the best husband in the world, that's a given, but he chose to go above and beyond that status and surprise me with what I've always wanted this Valentine's Day: a Temptu Pro Airbrush Intro Kit!!! I never thought I was going to get one of these because he got me, as a wedding present, the Sephora edition of the at-home Temptu airbrush for dummies and that product was a whiff. The cheap plastic hose inside of the air gun broke on me about 4 times and I had to keep returning it to Sephora until I just gave up on that cruddy plastic product. But not this puppy, oh no, this one is made out of solid metal and dozens of pieces that can all be taken apart and put back together again for thorough cleaning! I got the silicone-based makeup as it lasts longer and has more staying power than water-based products. 

This intro kit includes:
- S-one compressor
- 12 S/B Foundation bottles
- 8 S/B blushes and highlighters in various colors
- S/B primer
- airbrush moisturizer
- S/B airbrush cleaner
- concealer wheel
- TEMPTU PRO Airbrushing DVD
- airbrush cleaning kit
- TEMPTU PRO SP-35 Airbrush

This kit comes with absolutely all the essentials and everything you need! The foundations range from extremely fair to dark skin tones and even if you're fair skinned you can use the darker tones for bronzing or contouring, so having all of the options to mix colors together is amazing, you can literally achieve any shade you want! The blushers and highlighters include all the colors I would ever ask for, as well. There's a pinkish hued blush and some darker reddish blushes, but you can control the amount you put on so easily that even using one of the brighter colors isn't scary, the application is smooth, sheer and flawless. I'm a huge fan of this kit and how professional I feel using it! It really isn't very difficult to use at all as long as you follow the instructional DVD before you do anything.

So back to my point: best Valentine's Day gift ever!!! Actually, make that best "any occasion" gift ever!!!

Golden Globe Fashions

For the best and worst dressed of the 2012 Golden Globes, as well as in-depth analyses of their outfits, check out www.fabsugar.com. Let's start with my most disliked outfits of the night, aside from Tilda Swinton who constantly looks like a dressed-up male, I really hated Madonna's weird square cut-and-paste project of a gown by Reem Acra.

I loved Diana Agron's Giles Deacon dress with swan cutouts, but she's a beautiful girl and the simplistic natural makeup paired with bright bold red lips was a smart decision. Her overall styling being organic and soft, she was able to pull off this insane gown.

On the other hand, her Glee co-star Lea Michele made a terrible decision with this silvery Marchesa gown that left far too little to the imagination. It reminds me of Britney Spears in her music video for Toxic in that nude body gown with well-placed jewels to cover up the naughty bits. Her styling and makeup also make her look a lot older than she really is, nude lips and smokey eyes are not Lea Michele's best look.

I'm not sure what she was doing there but Jessica Alba looked absolutely gorgeous in this pink blush-tone Gucci gown. She was glamorously accessorized with a diamond cuff, earrings, ring and pink clutch.

A lot of people loved Emma Stone's ensemble by Lanvin. I do agree that her makeup was done flawlessly, although that maroon color of the dress is really clashing with her hair color and I'm not a huge fan of the dress overall because of the bulk it adds to her rear end. She looked like she was trying to pull off a modern Grecian Goddess look, but aside from her actually just being a pretty girl, I don't think the dress was doing her any favors.

Onto another lovable redhead, Julianne Moore looks absolutely flawless, always pairing that beautiful emerald with her red hair (classic and beautiful combination, really). She obviously has a beautiful sense of style even though I question that ruffle puff on the side in this Chanel gown.

Now onto someone who did black the completely wrong way: Mila Kunis. She looked so drab, depressing, and lame in this dress. It's doing absolutely nothing for her body and her styling is all wrong. Who decided that was going to be a good choice for a hairdo? Really, Mila? I thought you knew better than this. Lame, lame, lame. I can't even believe Dior made this dress, I'm so disappointed. The whole styling and outfit makes Mila look about 10 years older than she actually is.

Nicole Kidman looked the way she normally does: fine. She was wrapped like a mummy in this tight Versace dress which has about a thousand too many studs for my taste, but overall she looked good.

Reese Witherspoon walked down the red carpet in this Zac Posen gown, which was a fairly cute gown, however it was her styling that completely let it down. Do something with your hair, woman, you look like you just fell out of bed. Also, what's with the lack of makeup? Reese isn't as young as she used to be, she needs help from her makeup artist.

Natalie Portman probably had the best overall dress and styling combination of the night for my taste. She was in this fuschia Lanvin gown which was simple with a little bit of surprise at the waist. Her makeup and hair did not detract from the dress, but rather enhanced her natural beauty and complimented the dress. Great job, Nat. Is it just me or is she even prettier now that she's a mommy?

Angelina somehow picked something out of Versace's collection that didn't have a million studs, so kudos to you Angy, this is best you've looked in awhile. She's also there to promote her directorial debut for 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' and the dress completely suited the theme of the movie. Her stylist did a great job overall, it's just too bad those oddly-placed tattoos really bring the look down a notch.

In a similar gown, by Dior this time, Charlize Theron wows the crowd. I applaud her for wearing a cute hair accessory to balance out the sexiness of this super low-plunged and high-slit gown. She really could have chosen a low plunged neckline OR the leg slit, it's a little too much sexy for a red carpet.

I love Zooey Deschanel, she's a hilarious girl, but she has absolutely no clue how to dress herself on the red carpet. She looks so clueless in this gown, I absolutely hate that she went with this stupid bouffant hairdo rather than her beautiful soft curls and she neon-green accented Prada number really does her no favors. The dress has such a strange waistline and is a complete mess from the waist down to begin with, not to mention the texture looks really unfriendly.

Eye Makeup Application Mistakes

Do you often make mistakes when applying your eyeshadow? Do you put too much on and it falls all over your eyelashes? Is your winged eyeliner a constant failure? I'm gonna share with you simple tips and tricks about how to make these mistakes work in your favor, straight from makeup artists I've worked with in the past.

What I've been told numerous times is that the more messy you are with your color application, and the more you blend it out, the better it will look. Does that mean you should apply a ton of color at once? No. It does, however, mean that you can apply whatever is on your eyeshadow brush fairly liberally without worry, as long as you're hitting your target area pretty closely (ie. if you're going for color on your eyelid, make sure you don't put the eyeshadow up to your eyebrows). This is someone anyone with basic motor skills can accomplish, but did you know how to fix your mistakes? If your color spills too much over your eyelashes, what do you do? Do you try to comb it out with a lash brush or pick it out with your fingers? You should do neither of these things because you are likely to irritate your eyes if you fidget with them too much. A simple and aesthetically pleasing thing to do is to get a good thin formula for mascara (such as Clinique or Lancome's mascaras) and apply it in thin coats over your eyelashes that have been covered in powdery eyeshadow. This seems like it would be a bad idea but it isn't because the powder will add much needed volume to your lashes, so rather than having to put on fake eyelashes, you can simply amplify your own this way. The powder will not budge once you have thoroughly coated it in mascara. Make sure not to over-apply the mascara because you don't want bulges and flakes of it.

I always apply my eyeshadow first so that I don't have fallout of whatever color I'm using (usually the darker toned colors are more problematic) on my cheeks after applying my foundation and blush. For this reason, it is always wise to do your eyeshadow first and your concealer, foundation, powder and blush last. You also want to be able to rest your hand on your face so you can anchor it steadily when applying your eyeliner as it will help with the accuracy of your application.

Do you mess up your eyeliner a lot when trying to get that winged look? My simple solution is using a q-tip dabbed in a little bit of makeup remover solution and cleanly removing it, waiting for it to dry, and re-attempting the wing. However, if you make a mistake over your eyeshadow on the eyelid portion of the eyeliner line, you are better off covering your mistake with eyeshadow and a very fine-pointed brush for precision, and then re-applying your liner in a cleaner way. I hope these simple tips helped and you will be less frustrated when making mistakes! You also shouldn't feel like you have to begin all over again because you've made one tiny mistake, there are always ways to fix it.

Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale

Full-skirted dress, sale price $95

This is an exciting sale if you're a girl that loves her cute and comfy panties and bras, as well as any of their clothes (which are remarkably good quality). Victoria's Secret is having their huge blowout semi-annual sale and you can get panties for only $2.99 a pair and bras for only $14.99.

Here are the current promos they have going on that I found at retailmenot.com, upon checkout enter the following codes so you can receive the bonuses:

Coupon Code: 299PANTY and any clearance panties will only be $2.99, expires 1/16/12
Coupon Code: VS100 for Free Shipping on order of $100, expires 1/22/12
Coupon Code: SWIM125 for Free Swim Tote with $125 purchase, expires 1/22/12
Coupon Code: 20DRESSVS for Extra 20% off already reduced styles for total savings of up to 70%

If you ever plan on getting anything from Victoria's Secret, I suggest doing so now or waiting until Black Friday comes around again this year, otherwise things are a lot more overpriced than they are now. A bunch of their dresses are on sale (almost all of them in fact) so if you're looking for something for a wedding, or a sweater dress, or a multi-way dress, you've found it on here!

Here are some of my favs:

Buckle-wrap sweaterdress, Clearance $49.99 and extra 20% off with 20DRESSVS

The Multi-way dress, Clearance 49.99 and extra 20% off with 20DRESSVS

Georgette Halter dress, Clearance $69.50