im-PRESS Press On Manicure

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I received a complimentary package of the im-PRESS Press-On Manicure (www.impressmanicure.com) as part of my Mom Vox Box from Influenster for review. I tried these press on nails myself and was impressed (no pun intended . . .  really) by a couple of things. First of all, the packaging is absolutely adorable and comes with 24 nail tips! But more importantly, these nails stuck on my nails super hard. I wore the nails for five days and 9 out of 10 of them could have lasted longer than five days. I went swimming for over three hours in a chlorinated pool while wearing these nails too! Once you find the right size, application of all 10 nails takes less than five minutes. The color I used, "Glisten Up" was a pretty raspberry color, but I was also able to paint over the im-PRESS Press-On nails quite easily for a different look.

If I had shorter nails, these would have looked very natural on my hands, but as it was, I had to file my natural nails down quite a bit to get them to work and place them a little further from my cuticles than they should have been applied. That said, I don't think that I am the target buyer for the im-PRESS Press-On Manicure. I think that they are geared more towards a woman who has much shorter nails or had a drastic nail break and wants to keep a nice looking manicure until her nails grow back out.

I will say that I wished that the nails were a bit longer. I have rather long nail beds and sometimes a nail would fit me in width, but be too short to completely cover my nail bed, so I had to use a slightly wider, longer nail. I discovered that I could trim and file down the edges of nails like that to make them fit better, but that negated a lot of the convenience of the im-PRESS Manicure. I also have four nails that needed the exact same sized im-PRESS Press-On nail, but the package comes with only two of each size.

I did find the nails a little difficult to remove, but I haven't used other press-on nails, so I can't tell you if they were more difficult than other brands.

All in all, I think these are a good product for a lady in a rush who wants a pretty manicure but doesn't have time to paint her nails or who has uneven nail lengths. I have two recommendations for use:  Each nail tip is labelled underneath from 0 to 11 to indicate their size, two of each. When fitting for the perfect size, I think it would be easier to lay out each nail in numerical order and try them like that instead of just grabbing willy-nilly from the package. My other recommendation is to squeeze the nails before applying them so that they curve quite tightly to the nail and stick with a more natural shape.

The im-PRESS Press-On Manicure retails for between $5.99 and 7.99. Does the im-PRESS Press-On Manicure seem like something you would like to try? Or if you have tried it, what did you think?

Thanks for reading.
~Alexis

Lex Cosmetics Tuileries with Stamping

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Lex Cosmetics Tuileries was part of my Mother's Day gift that I just got around to trying. I wore it to my friend's wedding and it looked elegant, just a little flashy, and super feminine. I really loved this polish even without the stamping, but I had been planning this manicure for weeks, so it was stamped.

It was also the first time that I used this particular stamping plate. To me, the grooves in this plate seemed the perfect depth. I loved the vining floral. I used Sinful Colors Folly which is a really excellent polish for stamping. Please forgive my really messy picture. I meant to take another picture once my hands were all cleaned up, but I completely forgot.

So, here is my chippy manicure, seven days later. I actually started to see the polish starting to pull up and wanting to peel on day three. I used Seche Vite topcoat, thinking that maybe if I tried it again, I would change my mind about it and love it. I still don't love it, but it was super shiny. As is always the case for me though, it began to pull the nail polish away from the nail, shrinking. I think that is why I experienced such bad chipping.


What do you think of Tuileries? Did the stamping work?

Have a great week!

~Alexis

China Glaze Surfin' for Boys

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Hi. I feel like I'm neglecting my readers, so I wanted to give you a quick post, just so you know that I haven't abandoned you.

Surfin' for Boys is unbelievable. When I first painted my nails, it was late evening and the lighting in my house is a bit dim, so I thought it wasn't that bright. I went into the office the next morning and it was like small hazard cones on my finger tips. Super bright! I felt a little self conscious wearing such a bright color at work, however it is an incredibly fun summer color. I was so busy that I never took a picture of my nails until day 4, but as you can see, it really only shows some tip wear. I was thrilled with how the polish held up and could have worn it for several more days.

Do you love the neon polishes? Do you try to avoid super vivid or bright nail polish at work?

Remember, there are only a few more days to enter my giveaway. You could win a bottle of China Glaze Surfin' for Boys among other things!

Take care.
~Alexis

Julep Audrey: the Perfect Princess Pink

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 Hello, darling readers. Wow! I have been so busy this week. I have a small list of planned blog posts, but haven't even had a chance to write them up or think about things I'd like to discuss with you after those posts. I've been enjoying the new job, but now there really are too few hours in the day.

I am going to make the time to tell you a little bit about a great polish, that makes me love sheer even though I am not normally a fan of sheer polish. This is Julep Audrey, which I wanted to love just because it is named Audrey. The first coat, I thought, "Oh, this is way too sheer. I'm not going to like this." The second coat had me changing my mind and by the third coat, I was so happy. To me, it looks like my fingernails are coated in silk taffeta. I think that the glass shimmer in this polish makes it work even though it is very sheer.

On day five I had some pretty heavy chipping, but I was in a pool for quite some time earlier that day. All in all, Julep Audrey held up very well. And it is so lovely. I really did feel like I had a princess manicure that looked elegant on a woman, but would also look pretty on a younger girl's fingers.

Are you a fan of sheer polishes or does a visible nail line drive you bonkers? What do you think of Audrey?

1. Love:  This week marks the 11th anniversary of my first date with my husband. Yes, I'm a sap who still takes a moment to celebrate our first date even though we have a wedding anniversary to celebrate each year now too. I figure that when you love someone, you should take every possible opportunity to celebrate that love.

2. Mod Cloth:  Yeah, I know that I'm really late to the party on this one, but I placed my very first order this week (need some dressier clothes for the office) and all three dresses I bought fit beautifully, which is sometimes a challenge for me. One dress in particular made my husband say, "That dress is almost too adorable to wear."

3. My new favorite drink:  While I still love my pina colada, it is not the most figure friendly beverage. I  recently enjoyed UV grape vodka with club soda. It is a really pretty light purple too and purple always puts me in a better mood.

What Bela looks like now

What Bela looked like when we got her *shudders*

4. My kitty:  I have two cats and the oldest was adopted from the SPCA. Bela had lived in a house with 24 other cats and was skinny, scared, had ear mites, and looked like Falcor from "The Neverending Story," which to me meant not cute. She was hiding in a corner. There was another cat there who was very sweet, loving on my now husband and I. But we knew that the sweet cat would have no problems getting adopted, but that poor, scared, ugly kitty in the corner may not find a home.

We brought her home and she was petrified for about a week, hiding behind the toilet and then one day, she just decided that she'd let us pet her and she loved it. I laughed so hard because in an instant she went from being completely withdrawn to completely affectionate.She wouldn't let us walk near her without running away though. It took about 6 years before she would let us slowly walk by her without running away. And just the other day, she let me pick her up and put her down several times without racing away, almost 8 years after she joined our family! I don't know exactly what happened to her in the 4 years before we found each other, but I am so glad that she seems to now feel completely safe, happy, and loved.

5.  Good books:  I normally read one book at a time, but for some reason I'm reading two right now. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a really fun to read fantasy novel. My little girl insists that I read it to her and she has listened to about half the book, no small feat for an almost 5 year old. I am almost finished reading The Decendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings too. It is a really touching look at how a father deals with the serious injury of his wife and taking over the primary parenting role. The relationships and interactions are at times terribly troubling and at other times they are so lovely.

Have a great weekend!
~Alexis

Smooth Repair of chipping polish

Pin It Hello, everyone! Before I get started, I want to apologize in advance. I probably won't be able to post or respond to comments very much for a while. As I mentioned the other day, I just started my new job and while that is awesome, I have considerably less free time than I did before. I'm sure that I'll get into the groove of things, but please forgive me if it seems like I'm neglecting you.

OK, so on to the spackling of my nail polish. I experienced some severe chipping of my manicure by day 4 of my Nfu Oh 51 over Revlon Royal manicure. It was such a pretty manicure that I didn't want to remove the polish after 4 days, so I repaired the chips. I came up with this idea while doing my watercolor manicure a few weeks ago.

I could have repainted the entire nail, but it takes longer for me to do that than to do this quick patching and to me, the patch seems to dry quicker than a completely repainted nail.

Supplies: all polishes, basecoats, and topcoats (fast-drying works best for this) used for the original manicure, acetone,a flat nail art brush, and a sheet of paper towel.

Step 1: Apply basecoat to the chipped areas.

Step 2: Using the first polish applied (for me this was Revlon Royal), wipe the brush very thoroughly because you are only painting a small portion of your nail. Dab the polish onto the chipped area. Allow the first coat to dry for a minute and then apply a second coat similarly, but overlap the edge of the chip a bit.

Step 3: Apply the fast-drying topcoat to the chipped section and slight overlap. Allow this to dry completely.

Step 4: Apply a drop of the overlay polish (for me this was Nfu Oh 51)to the chipped section. If your manicure is one color, just add a drop of your original polish.

Step 5: While the drop of polish is still wet, dip the nail art brush in acetone and very gently pat and spread the wet polish over the chipped area and over the edge of the chip to smooth it out using the flat side of the brush. Blow on your nail to evaporate the acetone if it thins the polish too much.

Step 6: Wipe the nail art brush on the paper towel and repeat step 5 if necessary, being careful not to thin the fast-drying topcoat you added in step 3, i.e. don't overdo it.

Step 7: Coat the entire nail with fast-drying topcoat and enjoy your patch job.

This was my first time attempting this method of nail polish repair and it didn't turn out completely smooth, but it was still pretty good. I think it will look better the next time I have to do it. I hope for non-chipping polish, but I live in the real world, which can sometimes be a chippy mess.

Do these instructions make sense? Does it sound do-able or do you think it would be simpler to use a different method of repairing the chipped nail?

If you try this out, let me know how it goes for you. I hope it helps.

Take care.
~Alexis

Nfu Oh 51 over Revlon Royal

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Hello, darling readers! Can I just tell you how thrilled I was with this manicure. I am also thrilled with how well the picture above showed off Nfu Oh 51. Greens and turquoise, red, copper, and gold! I love that polish; it is something beyond pretty. I wanted to layer the polish over a bold color and Revlon Royal seemed the perfect choice. It gave the purple of Nfu Oh 51 a depth, turning it almost indigo and allowed all of those irridescent flakies and shimmery bits to really pop.

In most direct lights, Nfu Oh 51 flashes just reds, pinks, and somtimes copper as you can see in the two pictures above.

Both polishes applied well. Revlon Royal required three coats for best coverage. I added one coat of Nfu Oh 51 and all of the little flakies spread evenly without me having to fiddle around with it. I topped everything with a fast-drying topcoat and the result was smooth and shiny.

This after picture is a bit of a deception. I actually had a couple of severe chips by day four, but I couldn't bring myself to remove the polish yet, so I tried out a new way of patching chipped nail polish that worked quite well. I will tell you all about that in my next post. But, by six days in, my nails looked beat! It was lovely while it lasted and definitely a look that I would like to repeat in the future.

If you enjoy reading my blog and like the look of Nfu Oh 51, you should check out my giveaway!

What do you think of this nail polish combination? What is your favorite layered polish combination?

1. Twice the fireworks:  I know that lots of folks do the "tour" of fireworks, going to fireworks displays each night of the week for Independence Day, but I never did that. However, one of my husband's good friends lives by a golf course that had fireworks on the 3rd, and he invited us over. It was so much fun and our daughter had a blast running around on the golf course. We walked over to the fireworks in our village on the 4th too. Fun!
2. I ran the 10K race:  It was a very hot, humid 4th of July morning, but I ran and ran and shuffled all 6.22 miles. Many of the wonderful people who lived along the race route were out cheering us on and some of them even put there sprinklers right by the road for a much needed cool misting.
3. I started my new job:  I know, I mentioned getting the job several weeks ago, but it was just my first day. I had to do a lot of reading and have even more reading to do. Next week the real fun begins, learning all the procedures for the study on which I'll be working.

4. Haul!!:  Yeah, I went a little crazy for grey polish. I am having a bit of a crush on grey nail polish, so cut me some slack. I got Pure Ice Silver Mercedes, Pure Ice Beware, China Glaze Elephant Walk, and these last two I'm really happy about. They are part of the Orly Dark Shadows collection and I got them on clearance. It is Mysterious Curse and Buried Alive.
5. Old friends:  One of my very dearest friends is visiting town. She lives much too far away and I really wish that Star Trek's transporter technology existed so that I could see her all the time.

4th of July Nail styles

Pin It These were a couple of very quick Independence Day manicures I tried out over the past week. Forgive them for being kind of sloppy. They were done very quickly to see what I liked the best.

Quick Fireworks Nails:  I painted all my nails with the darkest blue I own, Revlon Midnight Affair and topped it with a quick-drying topcoat. Once it was completely dry, I used a dotting tool (a toothpick would work too) a gold polish and silver polish, Revlon Gold Coin and Silver Dollar and created spots reminescent of fireworks sparks flying. I then dotted some of the silver with a red glitter polish, China Glaze Ruby Pumps. The whole manicure was topped with a fast-drying topcoat.

Red, White, & Blue Star Cut-out Nails:  For this manicure, I painted each of my nails a different color, Revlon Silver Dollar, Sinful Colors Ruby, Ruby, Revlon Royal, and I did a water marble using all those colors on my ring finger. I then topped all the nails except the water marbled nail with Julep America. I topped my nails with a quick-drying topcoat. Once it was completely dry, I added foil stars to my nails and painted 2 coats of Revlon Midnight Affair over the top. I had to use a toothpick to make sure the star stickers were completely stuck on all the corners before painting each coat. Unfortunately I was impatient and peeled off the star stickers early, but you can see what I was going for. I topped the whole manicure with another coat of fast-drying topcoat.

Stamped American Flag manicure:  I painted all my nails except my pinky with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Ruby, Ruby and then added a coat of China Glaze Ruby Pumps to my ring finger. I painted my pinky with 2 coats of Revlon Midnight Affair. Once that was dry, I used a stamping plate with stripes and and polka dots to create my stars and stripes using Revlon Silver Dollar. This manicure was inspired by a couple of the pretty manicures on the Nouveau Cheap Independence Day manicure roundup.

 Old Glory Tie Dye Nails:  You can see instructions to create this kind of manicure here.

So, what will you sport on your nails for Independence Day? Do you have great plans for the holiday?

Take care.
~Alexis

Sunday Social, Week 4

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What is your favorite store to shop at?

I want to buy tons of stuff from Shabby Apple, but that is fairly new for me. I like J. Crew too, but don't do tons of shopping.

If you could afford anything and everything, which designer brand would you covet? Most of Michael Kors runway fashions are stunning and have an ease about them, a comfortableness. I would wear dresses like that all the time if I could. (But like I said before, I would trade my entire wardrobe for the clothing Givenchy put on Audrey Hepburn).

Must have closet staple?  I love lace shawls and shawlettes from Fall to Spring and on a Summer evening. They make a simple top really stand out and can give a little warmth without covering your entire outfit with a cardigan.

Favorite kind of shoes? (brand or type) For comfort, Keens. For pretty dresses, round toed pumps with a 2-1/2 to 3 inch beautifully sculptured heel.

Best clothing deal you've ever gotten? (sale or amazing find) I found the most perfect, well-fitting bra, in my odd size for less than $20. Not the cheapest thing I've ever gotten, but the deal that has made me the happiest in the long term.

Style you'd love to try?

I'd love to get some of those airy printed scarves and wear those.