Tag: essie

Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit – Review

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I splurged this weekend and bought myself the Sally Hansen gel manicure starter kit in Shell We Dance. It was literally like unwrapping a new toy. I had done some research on this kit and found that most everyone liked it and Sally Hansen offers a range of other gel colors that are compatible with this kit. Though part of me wants to see if I can buy the OPI and Essie gel colors and test them out in this thing. Has anyone tried this?

This kit comes with all the essentials to get started with your at-home gel kit: base coat, color, and top coat, the LED lamp, cleanser pads, acetone remover and a small nail file and cuticle stick. I read the instructions and got to work, and it was actually pretty simple. Prep your nails, make sure to use the alcohol pads on them to get your nails super dry. Then apply base coat and cure, then color and cure, color again and cure, top coat and cure x 2 (I cured twice at the end). The lamp stays on for 30 second increments. FYI: my nails were still “wet” after curing the base coat, and only the base coat. Not sure if that’s normal for this kit because I’m pretty sure the base coat always dries at the nail salon. Maybe I should have cured them twice, oh well, learnings for next time. I love the nail color “Shell We Dance” it’s very light and resembles my favorite Essie Sugar Daddy. This kit comes in two other colors a red and a fuchsia. I can’t wait to get other colors (of course!) and try out some nail art + the LED lamp. I’m interested to see what works!

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Pretty kit with all the essentials included

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Curing my first hand

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Closer look at curing

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All done!

P.S. This kit retails for $40. Don’t pay any higher. In NYC, they sell for $60 at Duane Reade and that’s very high. I purchased my kit at Bed Bath & Beyond and used a 20% off coupon. Amazon also has it for less than $40.

Go-to Nail Color

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I think we all have one. Mine is Essie’s Sugar Daddy. I barely have any left, I need to pick up another bottle. Do you have a go-to nail color? What is it? 

  

Drugstore Favorites: Summer Edition

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One of my stranger hobbies is shopping drugstore makeup aisles. Store of choice: Target, for obvious reasons. These are my new favorite drugstore products that I’ve become obsessed with. url

Essie “Sugar Daddy”– Cheeky name. Perfect color. Would work well as the base for a french manicure (do people still do french manicures?). Ok so I didn’t just pick this up randomly, I have to confess that I read an article on xovain (my current favorite beauty site) about a girl using this color for her wedding because she liked Giada De Laurentiis’ nails and this is one of the colors she apparently used. So I bought it too. url-2

eos lip balm– I think I have (self-diagnosed)  chronic chapped lips. It’s either that or I’m weirdly addicted to chapstick. Eos has now glamorized chapped lips. I have 2 of these babies: strawberry sorbet and pomegranate raspberry. I have to have one within reach at all times. Addiction at its finest.

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Maybelline’s The Colossal- I was a strictly Maybelline Falsies girl until I picked this up. I saw some magical formula on Pintrest that suggest something like 2 coats of Falsies followed by 1 coat of Colosial. Anyways, I’ve been venturing out lately in the mascara dept. and I wanted to try something new. And I was at Target. Done.

You can be a drugstore maven too. Just hit up your local Duane or CVS (they sell Katy Perry false eyelashes). Or shop at drugstore.com.

Coveting Beauty

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I’ve been surfing the internet a lot lately for new beauty products. Here are a few that I’m obsessing over:

Essie “Boom Boom Room”

This color is from the Spring 2013 collection, and has the best name of the bunch. Even outside of NYC, Boom Boom Room is an amazing name. And for those of us lucky enough to have been to the real Boom Boom Room well, we know how awesome it really is.

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MAC RiRi Woo

Available exclusively online and on her tour, RiRi Woo is a twist on MAC favorite Ruby Woo. It’s supposedly Rihanna’s favorite shade and who better to collaborate with than the creator’s of your choice lipstick?!

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Deborah Lippmann Mermaid Collection

I have an embarrassing inside joke with my friends about mermaids. Short version: I think they are cool. So the fact that DL took inspiration from the creatures is so awesome. I’ve got my eye on the blue color “Mermaid’s Eyes.”

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