Today I'm bringing you the second post in the Jewelry & Nail Art series, this time it's a festive manicure with a Christmasy touch. Although the holidays are behind us, I still didn't get to share my Christmas manicure with you because I was a bit late with getting this post done in time, and I guess now it's a good time as any!

For this look I got my new stacking rings from Galisfly to go along with my classy yet playful manicure for Christmas.

Happy Saturday ladies! I hope you are all having a great weekend.
I just wanted to share with you my current mani and a little funny story behind it ;)
So you already know that I really love nail polish strips, and I have reviewed several of them on the blog before and was very happy with them. I personally find the nail polish strips to be a great and easy way to do fast manicures, and I love the fact that they come in various designs and made of real nail polish.

I usually don't like going out with naked nails, and lately I find myself doing everything at the last minute, which sometimes leads to leaving home without nail polish at all (which I hate!). But - since I have a huge stock of Sally Hansen's nail polish strips at home (which I recently purchased online) I just grab one of these sets and apply them later.

The funny thing about this manicure is that I decided to apply it on the go this time. I ended up applying these strips in a low-light bus, which was of course in movemnt on bumpy roads.

I find it funny and eventually I got this perfect looking manicure despite the awkward conditions I applied them in.

I think this is the best thing about these strips and it proves how easy it is to use them, even on the go. Since it wasn't the first time I used these strips, I already knew which strips are a fit for me, so it was a bit easier and quicker, and the result is perfect as you can see.

These strips that I am wearing it this post are called Blue Ice #280, a gorgeous icy-blue toned glitter.

Sally Hansens' Salon Effects sets include a total of 16 real nail polish strips (sealed in two separate packs of 8), they also include a nail file and an orange stick, along with detailed application instructions. The strips are double sides so you can pick the best fit for your nail shape, and they are easily applied the same way that other nail polish strips are.

I took the photos the next day and the strips looked really great! They are shiny and sparkly, and staying in place for the third day now. I really love how easy and fun they are to apply, and this is defiantly my go-to manicure when I am on vacation, or when I want to get a quick (and dry!) manicure when I'm in a hurry, and even on the go! I just love the finished look, and the fact that they have so many great qualities makes me love these nail polish strips even more!

You probably already noticed that I'm really into purple nail polish lately, I just can't resist them and it seems like I've swatched / wore a lot of these lately... So today I have another gorgeous purple-plum color polish swatches to share with you ladies!

This beauty is Sally Hansen - Private I (№18) form the Diamond Strength limited collection for summer 2013, it's a gorgeous creme-jelly purple plum base with tiny magenta/gold glass flecks.
The color is so rich and pretty, and the glass flecks create a beautiful depth. It is truly a gorgeous and unique color that I know I will wear again with pleasure.

The formula was good and easy to apply, didn't streak but did have a few minor bald spots with the application of the first coat. Once I applied the second coat, it evened out and the coverage was great with just two coats for me. It dried pretty fast, the finish was quite glossy but I do prefer it with a top coat on.

For the pictures below I applied two coats of Sally Hansen - Private I and one coat of Poshe.

Hope you will like this polish and the swatch photos I took. I would love to hear any recommendations for purple colors that you like to wear :)

Thanks for reading!

Wanted to share with you another manicure I made with the Nailz Craze NC02 stamping plate, using the clouds / swirls stamp.
This one was actually fun and I really love how it turned out. I've been imagining this made with these colors since the moment I've designed the plate, and it was fun to see it as I imagined.
For this one I used Nature Angel polish, unfortunately the don't have names - but it's number 031. I've bought it on eBay along with some other colors and they are pretty nice. Haven't used them much but I found two holos among them so that was nice. You can see a swatch of a light Lilac holo in this post.

I used only one coat of Nature Angel 013, which was a great surprise. It was a generous one but still, onlly once coat. This is a deep purple glitter in suede finish, which is simply gorgeous with a glossy top coat. On the one before last photo you can see how it looks with and without the top coat (I used Poshe top). It's nice on it's own but I prefer it with a glossy top coat.

For the stamp I used Sally Hansen Color Quick in Silver Chrome, which is really great for stamping.
I took the photos before I added a top coat because I was afraid it will smear, but I was surprised to find out that I had no smears at all when applied Poshe on the stamping.

When I was editing the photos I've accidentally inverted one of them, and it turned out pretty awesome so I decided to share it with you. I was happy to find out that this design looks really good in other colors too! :)

Today's NOTD is yet another combination of a creamy base with shimmery top coat.

I used GADE Caprice (a gorgeous red with a bit of a pink tint) as a base coat, and Sally Hansen HD Byte which is some kind of shimmer combined with glass flakes. The main color is obviously pink but it has a purple / blue shimmer to it, and just try putting it over black - you will be amazed how gorgeous it is!

Byte is really sheer on it's own and it will take more than 4 layers in my opinion to get it opaque, so my best suggestion is to use it over similar color you have. I have tried it over GADE Fascination  and the color that I got in the end was pretty the same as Byte in it's bottle.

So I tried it over this red and it turned out pretty nice. I can't get used to the long nails though, this is as long as I can get with it. It's funny because for years my nails were much longer and I was ok with it, but not it actually bothers me and I always want to cut them shorter. Don't really know why, but I guess it's because I just love the shorter nails on others. :)

Since my obsession with nail polish began, I was totally jealous with all these gorgeous hands and cuticles I saw on many nail blogs, and I decided I had to have great cuticles too!

I always thought I had nice cuticles, but only when I took a closeup of my nails I saw all the flaws I wasn't aware of and I decided I want to perfect them.

I have to admit I'm a real newbie to the cuticle treatment but I would love to share with you the products I use to get nicer cuticles.

Basically for a long long time I was one of those girls who had no idea that having a manicure is much more than just paint your nails with a nail polish. I wasn't even aware of the fact that you have to use clear base coat to protect the nails from getting yellow and weak.

My nails are pretty strong and grow fast, rarely break or split, and I'm really thankful for that.

I've done my homework and looked up some products, and finally decided to purchase Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover. I've also read lots of good reviews on Burt's Bees lemon butter cuticle cream and I was about to purchase it but then Amber sent it to me along with the nail polish swap from the previous post. So I got some orange sticks online (have no idea why they called like that. It's a plane wooden stick) and I that's my beginner's cuticle treatment kit :)

I have to admit I was a bit scared to use the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover because there were some reviews I've read that said using this product got their nails weaken and split, but then I've read that they've probably didn't use it right and left it on the fingers for too long.

It is a matter of seconds I guess and so far I used it twice according to instructions and it looks ok.

When I use this I prepare a bowl of warm soapy water, a brush and an orange stick. I apply the gel on the cuticles of one hand and wait for 15 seconds. Then I push the cuticles back and remove the gel from the fingers and wash the hand in the bowl I've prepared. I repeat these steps with the second hand and when I'm finished with the cuticles I put some gel under the nails and wait again for 15 seconds and remove it. Of course I wash the nails again.

I'm just too afraid to leave it on for too long so I wash it really quickly. I find it a bit hard to push the cuticles back on the right hand, but I'm getting better.

I can't say it's a miracle, the cuticles don't instantly dissolve and disappear as I thought they would. They do get softer and it's easy to push them back and it does remove some thin skin. I guess after few more times using this products I will see more results but I'm quite happy with it so far.

The second and really wonderful product is the Burt's Bees lemon butter cuticle cream. I use it almost every night for few weeks now (there are times I'm too tired and I just forget) and I'm really pleased with the results.

I really love this product for few reasons - first it smells really good! I love that lemony scent! It's really hydrates the cuticles and the skin around the nail, and it's not too oily. I find it most useful to put it when I go to bed because I don't have to use my hands then, so that gives the cream some time to absorb into the skin and cuticles.

When I wake up I have hydrated and nice cuticles. I've noticed that when I don't use it my cuticles become a bit dry again, so I guess you kind of have to be addicted to it to have nice cuticles all the time.

This tin is pretty small and contains 8.5 g. I've already used quite a lot of it, so I guess I will buying a new tin sometime soon. There is a larger tin that contains about 17 g, so I guess that will be the smarter choice for me. Problem is, that's not a product that I can get here so I will have to buy if online for outrageous price (including shipping fee).

Overall I'm really happy with this product and I instantly got great results.

I would totally recommend these two products to anyone who's looking to keep their cuticles in a good shape. I really like them and it seems they are actually work.
I wish we could have a larger selection of these kind of nail treatment products in local drugstores here in Israel. It's not so easy getting them online either.

Do you use any of these products? Do you have another products you would recommend me to use for my cuticles? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to share it with me.

xoxo
Natalie

I know I'm really late with posting about this swap, but I decided to share it with you anyway. :)

This is my first nail polish swap I did with Amber - which is the best gal ever! She spoiled me so badly!

I gotta tell you that I was a bit bummed because we said we will be swapping for about 7 polishes, and then I got this HUGE nail mail from her with all the extras and felt kind of bad that I didn't send her as many things, but I promised to make it up for her and I have some really nice stuff that I bought for her and I will be sending them to her in few weeks.

I was soooo excited about this package, and she let me know that I should expect two things form my wishlist which was awesome! She got me Revlon Whimsical and Essie's As Gold As It Gets. I was so happy! Whimsical was impossible to get here and Essie looks so precious. 

Then of course you can see the lovely nail polishes she sent me and the goodies.

I was especially excited about the Sally Hansen color Quick pen because it is awesome for stamping and I got gorgeous results, and the black Wet n Wild nail polish is also amazingly good for stamping - but of course Amber knew that and that's why she sent me these polishes.

I also got the Burt's Bees lemon butter cuticle cream I asked for and I'm really addicted to it, I use it every night and the results are great. 

She also sent me a Konad stamping plate which is great because I'm addicted to stamping!

There's also a cute mini OPI set which I really like as well. Did you know that the minis are so adorable?! It's so tiny and cute! I don't know for how many times it will last but it's adorable! AND I love Katy Perry :P

Another surprise was Sally Hansen Byte which was simply gorgeous over black! 

I've received so many nail polish that I don't know when I will have the time to swatch it all! lol

This is the list of polishes I received in this swap:

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion

OPI The One That Got Away (mini)
OPI Teenage Dream (mini)
OPI Last Friday Night (mini)
OPI Not Like The Movies (mini)

Nubar Reclaim 

Revlon Whimsical

Essie As Gold As It Gets

Essie She's Picture Perfect

Wet N Wild Black Cream
Spoiled The Parking Meteor Expired
Sally Hansen Byte
Hard Candy Beetle

Amazing! Right? I'm so happy and grateful for this! Thank you so much Amber!

She's super nice and thoughtful and I know she has already set up for me a new swap with lots of things from my wishlist. Isn't she amazing? :D

I know it will be hard for me to top this because getting nice stuff here is really hard and the selections here is really poor, but I've got some really nice non polish stuff for her as well and I really hope she will like it :)

So that's all for my first swap. I hope you liked this post.

Wish you a great and lovely week!

xoxo

Natalie