Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nails. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Do You Jamberry?

I'll be honest, when I first saw something about Jamberry Nail Wraps, I was intrigued.  Intrigued enough to purchase?  I'm not so sure.  The Jamberry consultants claim the wraps are "simple to apply and remove", "last for weeks", "dry immediately after application", etc.  WELL, as a mom to an infant and toddler, "dry immediately after application" sounded  very appealing to me.  I checked out the Jamberry website and spent longer than I'd like to admit checking out all of the amazing design choices.  Did you know you can get wraps to support your favorite sports team?  If you aren't into flashy patterns, they have solid color wraps and even a classic french manicure wrap!

If you haven't heard of Jamberry, here's a brief description:
Jamberry Nail wraps are the newest trend in nail fashion and offer over 350 styles! They're beyond easy to apply and last 2-3 weeks on fingers and 4-6 weeks on toes.

* No fumes, chemicals, or mess
* No drying time, chipping or smearing
* Simple, do-it-yourself application
* MADE IN THE USA

Jamberry Nail wraps are a super thin piece of vinyl covering that can be applied directly to the nail to achieve a look not found anywhere else. The wrap is heat and pressure activated to create a waterproof bond to your nail. No chips, scuffs, or smudges for the entire life of your Jamberry manicure or pedicure!


When I went to pick out a wrap, I had such a hard time deciding.  I think what made my decision so hard was knowing that my nails could be this way for 2 weeks or more!  I decided to go with "Carmen Ombre".  It's definitely more exciting than my normal go-to pink polish, but still subtle enough that it will look fine for every day wear.  (I can imagine becoming a true Jamberry addict and changing my wraps much more frequently, though!)

Here's a look at my nails on Day 1.  The wraps were super easy to apply!  (See below for application instructions.)

Applying Your Jamberry Nail Wraps:




My Jamberry wraps got tons of comments and compliments from friends and even strangers!  I was skeptical about Jamberry's claims that the wraps will last so long, but they really did!  Here's a look at my wraps after 2 whole weeks.  Remember, this is 2 weeks of taking care of a newborn and a toddler, using cleaning products, and not being gentle with my nails.  The ONLY reason I was ready to remove the wraps is because my nail beds were exposed from normal growth.  Everything else still looked great!



Once I was ready to remove the wraps, I was a little nervous.  There are so many different methods you can use.  The method I found on Jamberry's website said to soak your nails in nailpolish remover.  I wasn't interested in soaking my fingers in straight acetone (which is all that I had) so I filled my sink up with some warm water and a splash of my acetone.  I only had to soak my nails for a few seconds before gently lifting the wrap up and peeling it off.  I only had some residual adhesive on a few nails and that was easily removed with my nail polish remover.  Another great thing about these wraps is that they do not damage your nails AT ALL (unlike gel/shellac manicures)!

If you're interested in trying out some wraps (which you totally should), you can shop here.

Check out my friend's Jamberry Instagram or Facebook to see all the latest tips, trends, and deals!


Just to give you an idea, here's a look I did with regular polish and Jamberry as an accent nail.  Obviously the polish just didn't last!


*I received this product complimentary for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

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Friday, July 19, 2013

Nails of the Week

This week I chose to do something a little different with my nails - WHITE!  I bought this white after a few of you gave me the tip to use it under my neons as a base.  I was planning on doing a neon pink, but when I got my first coat of white on, I decided to do all white with a silver glitter accent.  What do you think?  

My white is Sinful Colors' "Snow Me White" and my glitter is "Beeware" by Pure Ice.  


You may have noticed I'm not wearing my wedding ring.  Did you also notice that my finger looks all cut up?  I've been getting super dry skin around my ring lately and I can't figure out why.  Maybe I wash my hands too much?  I try to keep lotion on it but it doesn't help very much.  Any ideas/tips?  My ring is platinum.

I'm linking up today:


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Friday, June 21, 2013

Nails of the Week: Cobalt!

I've been wanting to try something new on my nails, but I wanted to get away from my standard pinks.  I wear various shades of pink all. the. time.  In the winter I get a little more adventurous with grays, silvers, reds, etc. but I wanted to do something fun and summery.  I found some fun colors in Essie's Neon 2013 collection at Target and I decided to go bold and get the blue.  I'm usually more of an OPI/Sally Hansen girl but they didn't have any colors that were comparable.  I know some of you swear by Essie but I just can't get into it.  Every time I buy a new polish, I'm disappointed!  I LOVE the color, but the quality of the polish sucks for the price.  (Scroll down to see why I feel this way.)

Here's the final product.  Like I said, I LOVE the color, it's so fun and bold!  Just not happy with the quality...  This is Essie's Bouncer, It's Me!

Here is why I'm not happy with Essie's polish.  I feel like this happens every time I buy Essie.  The picture below is after one coat.  Seriously?  It looked like I colored my nails with a crayola marker!  So many of my OPI and Sally Hansen polishes only require one coat!

This is another reason I wasn't really satisfied with this brand.  The top picture is after about 2+ coats (some nails needed 3).  It dried sort of matte and it looked really bad.  Luckily, after I added my Sally Hansen top coat, it looked amazing (bottom pic)!



I'm linking up today:




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Friday, April 5, 2013

Nails of the Week: Coral!

Happy Friday, friends!  For my nails this week I went with a shade of coral: Wet'n'Wild's Blazed.  I know it doesn't look super coral in the pictures but that's my fault for the bad lighting.  I'll post a swatch beneath my actual pictures to show the color better.  This is an older polish that I had in my stash from a year or two ago.  I'm trying to get better at re-using shades instead of doing one and done!

Here's a picture that shows the bright coral shade a little better:



I'm linking up with a couple lovely ladies today:
 

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Friday, March 15, 2013

Nails of the Week {Mint Edition}!

I'm jumping on the mint bandwagon this week! I was thinking these would be good for St. Patrick's Day but this color is definitely more of a blue than green. Either way, I kind of love it! It's so different than my typical pink. :)

The color I chose this week is "I Need a Refresh-Mint" by Wet'n'Wild. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I'm loving this brand for an affordable polish! I don't feel guilty buying "riskier" colors because it's so cheap! The brush is actually really nice!  Please ignore the fact that my rings are super loose...I was cold!






As always, I'm linking up:
   


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Friday, March 8, 2013

Nails of the Week

I'm trying to show Mother Nature that I'm ready for Spring through my nail colors, but apparently she's not getting the message!  [See my snow pictures from Wednesday!]

This week I chose a Revlon polish in "Lily".  I usually don't buy this brand, but I had a coupon so I figured I would try it out.  It goes on nice and smooth but it seems to chip pretty easily.  I probably won't buy it again unless they have a really unique color I want! :)





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Friday, March 1, 2013

Nails of the Week

This week I chose two colors by Sinful Colors.  I really like this [super affordable] line!  The brush could be better, but the color really lasts!  I actually only have one coat of the darker pink in these pictures!  This week I used "Timbleberry" for my overall color and "Easy Going" for my polka dot accent nail.  To see Easy Going as a base color, check out this post!  I used a toothpick to create my polka dots. 


As always, I'm linking up for the Nail Files:
 


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Friday, February 15, 2013

Valentine's Manicure

Happy Friday!  I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!  We had heart shaped pizza and double chocolate cake!  I wanted to share my festive Valentine's Day manicure with you all.  This week I chose Sinful Colors in "Easy Going" for my main color.  It's a VERY pale pink (almost white).  For my accent nail I used one of my favorite deep reds: OPI's "Quarter of a Cent-cherry".



In order to create my accent nail I cut a little heart out of the sticky part of a post-it note.  I used that as a template after my base color dried.  It didn't work as well as I had hoped, but it's good enough!  It bothers me that the heart is upside down in these pictures, but it bothers me more if the heart is upside down every time I look at my hands! ;)





As always, I'm linking up with Tara & Vicki:


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Friday, February 8, 2013

Nails of the Week!

This week I chose a simple, neutral pink shade for my nails.  The color I chose was OPI's 'I Think in Pink'.  I got this color as a gift and this was my first time trying it out.  I like it, but I wish it wasn't quite so subtle.  I was happily surprised with the tiny amount of shimmer the polish gives off, though!  I'm not sure how often I'll use this since it's a little too sheer for my liking.  (I only did 2 coats because any more than that and my nails feel tacky!)


I found the following picture through Google images and the color looks a lot different!  You can still tell that it's fairly sheer, but I like the shade better than how mine turned out!


As always, I'm linking up with Tara & Vicki!

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Nails of the Week & 10 Years!

I'm linking up again to share my nails for The Nail Files.  This link up really motivates me to give myself a quick little manicure each week!
 

This week I used Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear line in "Gray Area".  I love Sally Hansen polish and the Xtreme Wear line offers a lot of fun colors!  This one is a purplish gray and I love it for winter!  I did an accent nail again (so creative, I know) using Nicole by OPI in "Make Me Smile".  I really like OPI but I was disappointed in this glitter polish.  I might be too OCD but I couldn't get enough of the big sparkles to come out and when they did they moved off my nail with the brush strokes!  Any tips on that?  Maybe I should stick to finely crushed glitter from now on!

Sorry for the dark photos....painted my nails after putting Carson to bed again!


I also wanted to quickly mention that today is the 10 year anniversary of when Nick and I officially became a couple.  So basically.....we're old!  Luckily he'll always be older!  :)  We started hanging out (pretty much every day) in the fall of 2002, but we didn't make our relationship official until January 25th, 2003!  He will tell you he asked me to be his girlfriend on December 31, 2002.  Honestly though, that's New Year's Eve.  I forgot.  Maybe that's why it took him 25 days to ask again but I'm SO thankful he did!

Happy Anniversary, HBO!

Do you like Nick's new facial hair?


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Friday, January 18, 2013

Glitterazzi Nails

I'm linking up with Tara & Vicki today!  I don't have time to paint my nails much anymore so when I do, it's super exciting!  (Mom life!)  I've always loved nail polish but I'm not very risky with my color choices.  The sparkle accent nail is about as crazy as I get.  I know, I'm out of control, right?

Here's my before picture.  My heart melts.

I used Wet'n'Wild Megalast in 'Through the Grapevine' and OPI 'You Glitter Be Good to Me' for the accent. I go the Wet'n'Wild free at CVS and I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality!  I love the brush and the polish actually holds up really well for me!  Don't hate me for saying this, but I like it better than Essie.......!


Flash on the left, no flash on the right.  Sorry for the lack of natural light....I have to paint my nails when Carson is asleep at night!


Head on over to link up your manis (please no pedis)!



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