Melmer (aka, How I Store 326 Nail Polishes)

My husband was super nice enough to buy me a Melmer for Christmas!!  It's not really called a Melmer..it's just the Michael's version of the Ikea-made Helmer, which is a lot more expensive.  Anyway, here are some pics; the nail polishes aren't really ordered nicely, and I still need to get sticky shelf paper so they aren't sliding all over the place! I can't believe I have 326 nail polishes, and as you can see, there is room for more!!

Third drawer:


Second drawer:

First drawer:

Christmas Mani!

Just a short post to show off my Christmas mani!! I originally was going to use Trendy Wraps, in Peppermint Swirl. They were super-cute, a swirl of red and white with silver stars. But the "wraps" were very thick, and even though I used a hair dryer to help them conform a little better to my nail, they were just crappy. I did not throw them away, I guess I could just use them as stickers!!

So I decided to use one of my Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail strips in "Checker Out", a green and white plaid. I used a medium-sized dotting tool and China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" for the dots.  I think it turned out quite nicely, especially since this is the first time I've used a dotting tool!

Forever Red Exclusively at Bath & Body Works

I received this mini perfume with my VoxBox, and I was really excited. I do have a lot of perfumes, but I never seem to remember to wear them. It's also kind of hard to put them on in the morning before work since I don't want to wake my baby up!!  This mini perfume was perfect for just slipping in my purse.

Anyway, the point of this review isn't about the size of the perfume bottle!!

While I tend to like more fruity/light scents, I did really like this Forever Red.  It's a very warm scent, and is perfect for the wintertime/holidays.  It almost smells woodsy to me. The notes that are blended in this perfume are listed below. After reading through them, I can now pick out the vanilla rum! Or maybe it's just more noticeable after the fragrance spray has settled.  I can't really smell the peach or pomegranate, even though those are listed first.

I would be interested in the lotion version of this scent, and also the sugar scrub and shimmer mist!
Here is the Bath and Body Works website: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com

As listed by Bath and Body Works:

About This Product

Experience Our Most Luxurious Fragrance Ever!

Bath & Body Works' most luxurious longest lasting fragrance blends opulent notes of fiery red pomegranate and delicate peche de vigne, a rare and fleeting French peach. Soft petals of red osmanthus give way to notes of addictive velvety marshmallow and a surprising finale of rich vanilla rum that leaves an unforgettable impression.

Forever Red is available in:
Eau du Parfum
Fine Fragrance Mist
Rollerball & Lip Wand Duo
Shower Gel
Body Lotion
Triple Moisture Body Cream
Shimmer Mist
Golden Sugar Scrub

This sample of Bath and Body Works' Forever Red was provided to me by Influenster and the opinions are my own and accurate.

Gillette Venus and Olay

I received a Gillette Venus razor, with an Olay blade replacement. This baby works super great!! I saved it for my mini-vacation, and it saved me from having to pack shaving cream or gel.  I do wish there was a travel case, that would make travelling with this razor even easier.

This seemed to be the best position (in this casino shower anyway!) to help this razor to dry after using:

This razor is great in the wintertime, when skin can be really dry.  Those extra-moisturizing Olay bars are great for that extra boost of silkiness!

Also, this razor seems to be good in smaller shower spaces.  It seems in hotels/motels the shower/tub space may be smaller than what you're used to.  I didn't have the stretch-out space while on vacation last week, and with this razor, you really don't need it. You also don't need to avoid the shower spray, which will wash away any shaving cream.  Shower spray actually helps in the case of this razor!!

I don't think I captured it too well, but there are amazing little sparkles in the button that releases the razor blade. It's a tiny little enhancement that you might not even notice, but it's the little things like that that can make a razor special!

See those sparkles??

I do love that no matter which razor blade you prefer, ANY will fit with ANY Venus handle. ANY!!  How convenient! That is another great plus.

This razor/razor blade was provided to me by Influenster and the opinions are my own and accurate.

Pilot Frixion Pens

In my Influenster CosmoVoxBox, I received 2 Pilot Frixion pens, one black and one hot pink.  After using both for about 2 weeks, I would purchase these pens once these run out.  I really like these pens!
It's hard to remember though that you are using an erasable pen after using non-erasable pens and white-out for so long.  I would make a mistake, white it out, and then write over it with an erasable pen!  Not too hard to break that habit, but wasn't able to test the "eraser" out for a couple days!

There are numerous pros for these pens. Obviously, they are erasable! The eraser works extremely well. There is hardly any evidence of previous writing. I did test out drawing a big splotch with the black pen and then erasing (sorry no pic!), and there was a shadow, but it was not super noticeable.  I was quite impressed!   When erasing, the ink does not smudge or run, it is nicely erased.   The ink in the pen dries quickly and does not smudge or bleed.  Also, the ink does not bleed or pull when highlighted, which is a big plus!  The "eraser" does not appear to work like a pencil eraser, meaning that there are not eraser shavings to brush away.  The eraser stays intact after multiple uses, nor does it become discolored.
The eraser also works well for ink that is a few days old.  I tested this on ink that had been dry for 5 days, and after erasing (again, sorry no pics!) there was no ink to be seen!

These are very comfortable pens to hold; they are not too light nor too heavy.  I've used these pens all day at work (8+ hours) and never did my hand/fingers get a groove in them from writing with these pens. My hand never felt crampy from holding this pen and writing with it.

There are only two cons I could think of.  One is that the black pen is not a deep black, it's more of a charcoal or dark grey.  It was quite noticeable at first, but after using it for more than a week, I'm used to it, so it's fine. The pink is a gorgeous, vibrant pink, I absolutely love it!!  It also erases exactly like the black pen, no leftover ink.
The second con is that the eraser is on the pen body, rather than the cap.  I like to write with the cap on the end of the pen, and it does get kind of annoying to always have to take the cap off of the pen to erase.  Not sure if the eraser just attaches to the pen body better than the cap, or what, but I would like to try a version with the eraser on the cap.

Other than those 2 very minor things, I really really enjoy using both of these pens, and would definitely purchase in the future.  I would also be interested in trying out red, blue, and purple versions (if they exist).


Disclosure: These products were complimentary from Influenster, and my opinions are my own and accurate.

Awesome China Glaze Giveaway!!!

Click to enter this awesome giveaway! Also should follow on Instagram, many many lovely pics!!

http://www.loveforlacquer.com/2012/12/china-glaze-holiday-joy-giveaway.html

New Giveaway to Check Out!!

Check out this great giveaway!!

http://nakedwithoutpolish.blogspot.com/2012/12/happy-birthday-to-me.html

Mini-Vacay mani!

So here is my mani I'm wearing for my mini vacation to Atlantic City!  I thought it would look a little different, but it doesn't look too bad, should look better after a bit of clean-up! :)

This was: Orly Bonder base coat, 2 coats of Orly Star Sapphire (super old polish!), and Wet N Wild French White. On my ring finger is a no name Color Club polish.
The stamping was done Shany plates.

Cosmo VoxBox 2012

Yay I finally received my Cosmo VoxBox 2012!! I was so excited when I got the confirmation email that I'd be receiving it.  Because it was called a "Cosmo" VoxBox, I thought it would mainly be filled with beauty products. I was hoping for nail polish, but hey, it's free!! 

In the box was a nice little assortment of things I would actually use almost every day.  Here is the box shot 
and a group shot:



















A zoom on all items shows 2 FriXion pen by Pilot and a mini Forever Red by Bath and Body Works:

A Gillette Venus Embraze razor with 2 blade refills:

And finally a bar of Ghirardelli chocolate:

I think all these things are very cool, and I will definitely be using each and every one of them!!

Current Mani

Current mani: Orly Bonder base coat, 2 coats of Sally Hansen CSM Haute Chocolate, butter LONDON Hardwear PD top coat, and then a single thin coat of Orly Fowl Play.
I love Fowl Play, I have been waiting since early spring to wear this in the fall, and I finally got around to it!!

I know this pic is not very clear as far as color is concerned (and sorry for the shreddy nail skin!), but this is really my first mani pic! Hopefully future pics will be much better and clearer! :)

China Glaze: Cirque du Soleil Collection (current lemmings)

This weekend, Sally Beauty is having a 2 for $11 sale on the new China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection.
I am completely craving "Whirled Away" and "It's A Trap-eze".  How gorgeous are these??

Whirled Away  It's A Trap-eze  (image credit completely goes to The PolishAholic-gorgeous nails as always!)

Dino Lingo

I just watched this short video with my daughter. She is 14, almost 15 months old, and she was captivated by this! She knows a lot of animals, and likes to hear and see words and animals that she knows.  She actually fussed a little when it was over! I would definitely use this video series, in short amounts of time of course, to help her learn words.  Good stuff!

I love me some nail polish :)

Nail polish totally saved me from going crazy after my daughter was born. I didn't leave the house much, didn't have to get dressed up (like for work), barely put any makeup on. I just felt so blah. Then I stumbled across this website and was saved! I read this blog/looked at the wonderful pictures for almost 3 hours. Yay for 2 month old babies who sleep for that long at a stretch! I had always enjoyed painting my nails, and probably had about 30-40 nail polishes, but now it felt like I need to start collecting. At this point I have maybe 250 nail polishes.  I've definitely outgrown my snapware container, so either need to get a new one..or maybe invest in a Melmer! I've read that they can be very reasonably priced if purchased with a coupon, so I'll have to plan that out. I'm just not sure where I would put it in my house. I wish I had a whole nail polishing room, but oh well.

I also wish my nails/cuticles were nice enough to be able to post pics of different manis I do.  But even when I'm taking the very best care with them, they still are not nice looking. Oh well to that too!
Maybe I will be the very 1st nail blogger who will post swatches of just one finger!

Influenster

First blog post!

Yesterday felt like the day before Christmas for me...I was chosen to receive a Cosmo VoxBox! I cannot say how super duper pooper scooper excited I was. I haven't received it in the mail yet, but when I do, I will be posting pics and reviews! How exciting!

Please visit the link to Influenster and register. It's free and fun! What could be better than free and fun?? :)

Influenster---CLICK IT!