Salon Style Real Nail Polish Strips

I know it's been forever since I posted, but the past two weeks I have been preparing for out of town guests, and it makes it near impossible to be taking time out to do my nails when I'm totally reorganized and cleaning ever square inch of my house from top to bottom (including the basement and garage). I beat up on my nails so bad, it just didn't make sense to polish them at all. They would not last 5 minutes on my none stop 2 week mad cleaning spree lol.

Since the cleaning spree is over, today I decided to try a new brand of nail polish strips. I loved the Kiss Nail Dress so much, I needed to try another brand to see how it really compared. I went on the search and found these beauties at Walgreens for a mere $ 3.99. The Sally's brand are $9.99 and the Kiss are $8.99. So when I saw the Salon Style Real Nail Polish Strips were half price, I just had to give them a try.

First the reason they are half price is that you only get 12 strips, versus 20 strips in the Kiss/Sally's designs. I am okay with that. I didn't want to apply them to my toes and once I do a pattern like this, I hate to repeat it too soon afterwards, so it was the perfect amount of strips for me . My wallet was happier too lol. But I did notice they are thinner and these would definetly need a top coat, where as the Kiss were left without the top coat.

CUTE CUTE!!!

The application was pretty much the same as the Kiss design, but since these strips were slightly thinner, a more delicate hand was needed. Nothing that I couldn't adjust to.

I love how they turned out. I'm really loving the nail polish strips lately. They are so easy to apply and there is no dry time, you just can't beat that.

Also, these designs on the Salon Style do not have that raised 3D effect that the Kiss designs had, but they still are very pretty.

I used OPI Chip Skip to prep my nails, so the stickers adhere better. Your nails should have no residue of any sort on them before applying these nail polish strips.

I will get back to you on how they wear. The Kiss Nail Dress went a full 10 days with no problems (no top coat). I was so shocked. They looked almost brand new when I peeled them off on  the 10th day. These I will have to apply a top coat too, but I'm hoping for the same type of wear.

Do any of you use nail polish strips, and if so - which brand? Let me know about them in the comments below.

Thanks for visiting.

Something a little SWEET :) ,,,Truvía® natural sweetener Product Review

This post is off the beaten path a little, but I really wanted to include a review of all the products I received from my free Influenster February Love VoxBox. If you missed my original post you can watch my unboxing video of my products HERE.

This post is a review for Truvia Sweetener. I have already reviewed my Kiss Nail Dress kit, which I LOVED, and you can see that post HERE. 

On to the Truvia

Currently I'm a Splenda user, so I was really interested in trying something new. I also love to drink tea, so this was really an exciting product to get my hands on. A big thank you goes out to Influenster for giving me the opportunity to try this.

First, I wanted to start with the packaging. It is super cute and attractive looking compared to it's competitors. I give Truvia props on excellent packaging here. Also, the individual packages have a lot of product in them, much more than your individual Splenda packages. A lot goes a long way, so you do get more product.

Next, on to the texture. I really really liked it. It almost felt like I was having real sugar (I tried it raw out of the package first). It has larger size crystals and I swore I was having real sugar, versus the more powdery texture of Splenda and Sweet n Low.  For a lot of people texture and how it feels in your mouth is really important, and think this is a big selling point for Truvia as a replacement sweetener. I feel a lot of people shy away for these substitutes because the lack of it being like real sugar. In this department Truvia wins over Splenda.

Finally, is the taste. Now this is hard to say if it's great or not, as we each have different things we like and don't like as far as taste.  I love how Splenda tastes and I prefer diet soda over regular. Regular soda actually makes me feel queasy lol. A lot of people do not like any form of diet items complaining it tastes too fake. For me I do not have that problem. It does not bother me in the least and I actually prefer that taste.

To be fair in my review I took my favorite Tea and I brewed it actually the same. In one cup I added Splenda and in another I added Truvia. I mixed them up and even doing that I could instantly tell the difference. Unfortunately to me the Truvia had a really unpleasant after taste :( I could even taste it through my strong flavored tea. The Splenda one tasted more right to me. This is coming from a person that usually likes the fake diet after taste in most other products. I just could not get past that taste. 

I read many reviews on Truvia where others say they preferred it over the taste of Splenda. I really think it's a preference thing. If you haven't tried it I would definitely suggest you give it a try. It was really interesting to do a taste comparison, and you will never know if the taste is to your liking unless you try it. Next time you are out shopping, definitely grab yourself some. I would really love to hear from you guys that do use it, and if you have done comparisons as well. 

Thanks so much for visiting and I will be reviewing my other products as I use them. 

P.S check out my Kiss Nail Dress Kit review. I know I said this a bunch, but they really are amazing!!! I'm on day two and I have beat these things up so much with cleaning, washing my hands lots and they still look perfect! I'm in Love :)

Review of Kiss Nail Dress!

I got my Kiss Nail Dress on tonight! I received this set in my complimentary Influenster Love VoxBox for February, and I was really excited about giving them a try.

I have never used anything like this on my nails before, so I couldn't wait to try them out. The pattern on this particular set is very detailed. The base colors are white, pink, purple and black with animal print. In addition, there is an awesome silver detail added on top which is 'raised' and creates an amazing impressive 3D effect. It has a foil type look to it. It's not just a flat look. This extra detail really makes these pop!

I was not sure I would enjoy something like this and the verdict is...I LOVE THEM!!

They were very simple to apply, even easier than I first assumed they would. I got lucky and found perfect fits for 8 of my nails, so I only had to cut down 2. This process of cutting down the existing decals to fit your nails was so much easier than I originally thought it would be. I have avoided these types of products in the past for fear they would be difficult to apply, and I was so very wrong!

(as you can see above there was a small area of the decal on my ring finger that was too long, but as you can see in the picture below - I easily fixed it with a quick trim).

I really love how they came out. 

They took a total of 15 minutes to apply. There was some trial and error involved in the application, but once I got the hang of it everything went smoothly. 

The only things you have to be cautious of is in the filing process. When you file off the excess on the free edge of your nail you have to be delicate. If you are too rough in the process you can damage the decal (which will give you the illusion of tip wear). Also, you have to be cautious not to apply too much pressure while filing, so you do not file down your existing nail unintentionally.  So with a little bit of caution this can all be avoided. 

I also suggest when applying these type of items, that you use a nail prep on your nail first to remove excess oils. This will help the bonding process of the decal to stick better to the nail. 

I just loved that I can do a manicure in 15 minutes and be ready to go with no drying time. Fast and fun! I will definitely be picking up a few more of these sets. They would be perfect for nights when you don't have time for drying or for easy traveling. 

At the end of this month I need to travel for a week for my nieces graduation, and these would be so perfect! I now don't have to pack liquids and tons of nail supplies for my nails to look nice during my trip. This is the perfect solution! The drive is 4 hours and I'm not the driver. As a passenger, I could do these on the drive down. How cool is that! Imagine having a flight somewhere and doing your nails during the flight. Something that is now impossible to do with fumes and smells.

I'm also traveling again in June for a week to my Lake house, and I will be bringing these along as well. Last year I had to pack a small suitcase of just nail supplies and this year I can save myself the trouble and extra packing.  A few sets of these are coming along with me :)

I can not say enough good things about these. Once I purchase more and use them I will be sure to share them with you hear.

Thanks for visiting!

*this product was sent to me for my honest review*

Influenster Love VoxBox 2012!

My Influenster 2012 Love VoxBox is Here!!!

I qualified for this months Influenster VoxBox - Yippee. If you are not familiar with Influenster it's a fun thing to do. It's free to sign up on there their website where you take surveys and earn badges. Influenster than chooses a select few to receive and test out free samples.

I was picked for this months VoxBox!!! Here are the free products that came in my February 2012 Love VoxBox...

Glilette Venus Olay Razors!

Kiss Nail Dress! (yippeee)!!

Stash Herbal Tea

Truvia Sweetener

Ghirardelli Chocolate

How FUN!!! I can not wait to use everything. I will be testing and reviewing each product on my Youtube channel, so stay tuned. I will also have an unboxing video up on my Youtube Channel before the end of the day.

Thanks for visiting!!!

200 Follower Winner!!!!

The day has come

The 200 Follower Giveaway WINNER!!!

I counted EVERYONE'S comment entry. I understand that some of you do not have blogs, but I still counted you as well.

I want to thank those that posted in your sidebars. That was VERY VERY much appreciated as I had so little followers when I first started this, and now I have surpassed 300. 

I have all of you to thank.

I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner.  I had 91 posted comments, counting double posts - there were actually 87 true comments. The winner is commenter #52.

 

The Winner is:

JEWEL and NAILS.

I will be sending her an email shortly for mailing info.

Thanks for playing and I really enjoyed all the new faces around!

The winner has 48 hours to respond. If I don't receive a response - I will draw a new winner and let you all know.