MANICure Monday — Outta This World

Hello everyone! It's MANICure Monday again and I've got an exciting manicure for you! Remember those nail strips I told you about last week? Well I'm finally able to show them to you!

While it's perfectly possible to do a galaxy manicure yourself, sometimes you'd just rather have a pre-made one, or at least I would. These galactic nail strips are by Kiss in Sugar Rush. Now why it's called Sugar Rush is beyond me, but all the same, I really like the pattern. Some of the strips have more of the purple-y burst that gives it more of an outer space effect, as you can see on my ring finger. I wish all of them had the burst on them, but I still like them.

This set came with strips for your full nail and for a french tip, and the french tip strips look much more galactic, which I'm excited to use. Typically, I really like Kiss polish strips, but for some reason this particular set creased and bubbled a lot more than usual, which was a big bummer. Overall, I'm still happy with how they turned out, and the best part is no dry time.

Do you like nail polish strips? What is your favorite brand?


xoxo,
Caitlin.

Getting Cheeky — Maybelline Master Hi-Light Blush

Hello everyone! I've got a blush review for you today. I've been seeing the new Maybelline Master Hi-Light blushes on shelves everywhere, and I finally bought one. I was intrigued by the highlighting aspect, but really I just wanted one because they looked really cool (good job, Maybelline).

I purchased the one in nude, since I'm pretty pale and I like to underplay my blushes so I don't look like I'm having a splotchy pink skin attack. It was about $7 or $8, I can't quite remember which. I was able to rationalize this because blushes last a really, really long time. At least for me since I use them so sparingly.

Sorry it's kinda dirty. I've used it a few times already ;]

As you can see, it's a gorgeous combination of colors, and totally spring and summertime appropriate. When I got it at first, I wasn't sure if I should use it as a highlighter or as a blush, and when I swatched it I still wasn't sure how I wanted to use it. At first, I applied a very, very small amount and it added a bit of sheen to my cheeks. It was pretty, but not quite the result I was looking for. I added a bit more and I liked it a lot more.

Sorry about my face. It's finals time and I'm valuing sleep a bit more than my appearance. Haha.

It swatches really lightly and comes off more gold than pink, which I like, surprisingly. I'm hoping you can see it in the photo, I took so many pictures it's kind of ridiculous. It comes off pretty natural, but adds a nice sheen in the light. I think I'll end up layering this blush over another color to add a nice, healthy glow to my cheeks.

Overall, I like this product. I'm not sure if I'll purchase any other shades (they have bronzer too). I feel as though the gold tones in all of them will overpower the pinks, even though they do get darker as the shades increase. I MIGHT try a bronzer. If it's as shimmery as the blushes though, I'm not sure I'll like it. I prefer a slightly matte finish with my bronzers. If I try it out I'll make sure to post about it!

Have any of you tried the other shades? If so, let me know in the comments!


xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Sugar Coat

Hi everyone! It's MANICure Monday again and I've got a quick post for you all.

I went home this weekend and was too busy/lazy to do anything with my nails while I was there, so when I came back to Columbus last night I had naked nails and not a lot of time to do anything with them.

I bought some SUPER awesome nail polish strips yesterday, but I didn't want to use them quite yet (I want to save them for something special, you'll see next week) so I opted for a polish I've had for a while. I was in a bit of a time crunch, and this polish dries very quickly so it was my go to choice.

I went with Sugar Coat by Sally Hansen in the shade Lick-o-Rich. I'm not sure if this line is still available, I purchased it this summer along with the red shade in Cherry Drop. I think it adds an interesting effect to plain black nails, and the shine dulls down a bit the next day. You can get away with just one coat, but I apply two because I like to build up the texture. It does feel a little strange on the nails, but you get used to it.

If you get tired of plain old nails like me, you should check this stuff out!

xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Gilded Rose

I've got another MANICure Monday post for you guys!

You'll have to thank my sister for this one. She visited me for the weekend and her nails were insanely glittery gold. I'm not typically into gold, but I really liked this polish for some reason so I went and bought it (it's less that $3, which is awesome).

It's Maybelline Color Show in Gilded Rose. As I'm sure you can see, it's super glittery. When it's in the sunlight it's kind of ridiculous. It's a pretty opaque gold glitter base with rose gold confetti glitter scattered throughout. I had to use two coats, but that's pretty standard, and it doesn't apply blotchy like most glitter polishes. You could use it as an accent polish over another color with just one coat if you wanted to, but I'm liking it on it's own right now.

I love the color, but I think I'm almost too pale to pull it off, which is why I normally go for silver. What do you guys think?


xoxo,
Caitlin.

MANICure Monday — Nude-ittude

Hello everyone and welcome to my new weekly series MANICure Monday! I'll be posting weekly manicure updates (on Mondays, obviously) and possibly a tutorial every now and then. We'll see on that one.

I typically do my nails once a week unless I use the Fuse Gelnamel polish, which I keep on for about two weeks. I've had on Fuse since I wrote my first blog post about it, and I felt like changing it up with some regular polish. I embraced the current trend for spring, nudes. I've been seeing nude collections popping up everywhere, lipsticks, nail polishes, eye shadows, and practically everything else, so I decided to hop on the bandwagon.

Nude nails featuring an incredibly awkward fist.

I used Sinful Colors nail polish in Vacation Time (I wish) and topped it off with a Revlon topcoat in Matte. I haven't used my matte topcoat in a while and thought now was as good a time as ever. I typically wear darker colors on my nails, so I wanted to spice up this more toned down look and mattify it. It gives a much more chic finish.

I own quite a few Sinful Colors polishes and am pretty pleased with them. They are affordable and offer a wide variety of colors, which are all pretty opaque. I could have gotten away with one coat of this color, but I typically do two in case of some more transparent areas on my nails. I sealed it with Pure Ice topcoat in Clear and then added the matte coat. I've noticed the matte coat doesn't offer much in the way of shatter/chip resistance like a regular topcoat, so I'm experimenting with a regular topcoat underneath, we'll see how that goes!

xoxo,
Caitlin.