November 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag Plus

This month's Ipsy Glam Bag Plus was not as awesome as last month's, but had a much higher value.  I was a little upset to get the blush palette instead of the shadow palette, but all of these items are really nice, and I was very excited to try Makeup Geek, especially in a foiled lip gloss. The items I received were:

• SLMissGlam Eyeshadow Brush Trio (a $45 value)
• OFRA Rodeo Drive Highlighter (a $35 value)
• Makeup Geek Foiled Lip Gloss in Accoustic (a $12 value)
• Tarte Cosmetics Make Every Moment Count Cheek Palette (a $32 value)
• Dr. Brandt Skincare Needles No More No More Baggage Eye-Depuffing Gel (a $42 value)

All told, this $25 Ipsy Glam Bag Plus has a value of $166, $30 more than the 6 product first bag.

Affiliate Post: Sparkle Steel Blue

BellaHoot (clicking will take you to my affiliate link) has some great sparkle strips, both solid like these Sparkle Steel Blue, and with prints.  These are by far the easiest way to both apply and remove glitter nails.

Patron Spirit of Halloween

Espionage no longer has Patron Spirit of Halloween in stock, but they do have plenty of Halloween-ish wraps on sale right now!  They even have another set inspire by Tim Burton.

October 2018 Ipsy Glam Bag Plus

The first Ipsy Glam Bag Plus didn't have any nail polish in it, but I still wanted to share all its awesomeness.  Since this was a the first one, it came with a bonus item, so 6 items instead of the usual 5.  It was also the first of the quarter, so it came with a make-up bag.  The items I received were:

• Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner (a $22 value)
• Beauty by Popsugar Be Sweet Tinted Lip Balm in Blush Crush (a $20 value)
• LXMI Pure Nilotica Melt (a $28 value)
• Morphe High Impact Highlighter in Extra (a $14 value)
• Tarte Cosmetics Maneater Mascara (a $23 value)
• Smashbox Cosmetics Cover Shot Eye Palette in Bold Glitter (a $29 value)

All told, this $25 Ipsy Glam Bag Plus has a value of $136, and I will use every product.

Pink Ribbon

It's October, so time to break out the Pink Ribbon strips from Color Street.  This set is set to retire soon, but they do currently carry a Hope, Love, Cure set for childhood cancer and an Autism Awareness set with puzzle pieces.  As always, if you need a Color Street rep, drop a comment below and I'll set you us with some awesome ladies.

Bermuda Triangle

This set - Bermuda Triangle - was from Color Street's original release and has since been retired.  The base is a silvery white while the triangles are various ombres.  Very fun, but I think the newer designs are even better.  If you need a Color Street rep, comment below and I'll hook you up with some wonderful gals.

Eye Candy

I've had these Revlon Nail Art Nail Strips for a while, so I do not think this style is still available.  It is called Eye Candy and is a wonderful silver to purple ombre.  You can buy the Revlon nail strips at Walmart, but that is the only place I have seen them.

Ipsy!

OK, not a nail post, but I just have to say how much I love Ipsy.  I have tried a lot of beauty subscriptions, but I have been an Ipsy subscriber the longest (5 years) and have no intention of stopping.  As far as nail polish goes, I do get about 4 a year through them, plus they have amazing sales on some great brands, so go check them out here!

Affiliate Post: Toe Post: Cherries

These Cherries from BellaHoot (clicking will take you to my affiliate link) are so much fun!  I had worn the others in the set months ago and these have been sitting in my nail humidor since then and still went on perfectly.  The rest of my nails are actually painted with Adesse New York Parasol.

Vixen

This retired wrap is normally not my style (red nails are just to plain for me, even with a little embellishment), but it went nicely with the dress I wore to an event that night - and I got compliments on how nicely my nails matched my dress.  The more glossy Jamberry wraps I put on, the better I get at them, and I figured out how to best seal the ends by rolling my fingertips along my desk while the wraps were still warm.  As always, please let me know if you need a Jamberry/M. Network rep and I'll hook you up!

American Cheer

Seriously, Color Street makes some of the best glitters!  American Cheer is a red base with a patriotic confetti glitter that really pops.  The accent is from Liberty Land.  If you need a Color Street rep, please comment.

Bright Eyes

These Bright Eye Skinnies are currently on sale at Jamberry!  This was my first time using Skinnies on my fingers, and, as you can probably tell, I had a little trouble, especially with the solid ones.  The no-heat is very nice, but these are still thicker than other no-heat nail strips.  I'll need to play around with them a little more to figure out the best application.

Affiliate Post: Toe Post: Seashell Stripes

BellaHoot's (clicking will take you to my affiliate link) newest line is Polish Strip Minis.  These narrower and shorter wraps are perfect for pedicures or for little fingers (not recommended for children under 3).  They go on just as easy as our regular polish strips, and can last even longer when worn as a pedi depending on how hard you are on your toenails.

Swiss Dots Powder Blue & Poppy

This is a retired Jamberry wrap, but it was so popular, it was brought back, then retired again.  The powder blue is a little lighter than I would normally wear, but it makes my hands look really tan.  I did have better success than previously with glossy wraps, but still some noticeable wrinkles on my curvy nails.

Never Land

These Never Land strips were one of Espionage Cosmetics's Nexus Booster Packs.  These are exclusive wraps that you can add on to your Nexus subscription, and once that month is over, you cannot order them, but you may find one in a mystery pack.  That is how I obtained mine.

Midnight in Manhattan

I am not the biggest fan of black nail polish, but I absolutely adore this mani!  The black is Midnight in Manhattan by Color Street topped with Essie's Clearly Matte topcoat.  It give it a blackboard look.  The pink accent is Miami Beach, also from Color Street, topped with White Romance, a retired sheer wrap from Jamberry.  To me, this mani looks like a modern take on 80s rocker chic.  If you are in need of a Color Street or Jamberry rep, please comment below and I'll hook you up with some great ones.

Cut Loose

I had received these two wraps in a swap, so both are retired.  Neither one were my favorites, but I think they work well together.  Very summery.  I did, though, have trouble with Cut Loose wanting to apply smoothly, and I am not sure why.  I had no trouble with Guacamole, and they are both glossy finish.  While these two wraps are no longer available, Jamberry does have some fun current wraps that are great for summer nails.

Affiliate Post: Vinyl Sheer GeoNETric

As I mentioned in my last post, BellaHoot (clicking will take you to my affiliate link) now has four different lines of nail strips.  Our second line to be introduced was a no-heat vinyl.  As you may have guessed from other of my reviews, I am a fan of the major vinyl company, and have tried some of their no-heat strips.  I have to say, I am so far liking the BellaHoot ones better.  Aside from a little trouble getting the backing off, these went on lickety-split and have now lasted perfectly through a day of scrubbing the kitchen.  Now, I do still have some Jamberry one with these; the polish I used underneath is their High Noon lacquer.

Affiliate Post: Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support - Stripes

BellaHoot (clicking will take you to my affiliate link) now has four different lines of nail strips.  This mani is from our nail sticker line and can only be found in the Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support set.  $3 from the sale of each of these sets is donated to Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support, Inc.  This is reason enough to buy these, but also I loved how easy they went on.  These are true double-ended strips, and the end I did not use on the pinkie and ring fingers have blue stripes.
  The nail stickers are a little more fragile than our other lines, so I recommend two coats of a good quality topcoat (I like Julep Freedom).

Affiliate Post: One-Day 4th of July Sale

This sale is too good not to share!  Just click the here to be taken to my affiliate link.  And for an even better deal, join my BellaHoot VIP group (lots of fun all month long even if you decide not to buy today).

Liberty Land

Time to use another of Color Street's awesome patriotic strips!  Liberty Land is a fun red-white-and-blue glitter print that reminds me of fireworks.  I had some Freedom Calling left over from my Memorial Day mani, so I used those as accents.  I store my unused strips in a nail humidor, and some of the Color Street ones just don't hold up as well as other brands, but with a little heat, I had no trouble applying the accents, although I really did need a top coat.  If you are interested in Color Street, drop a comment below and I can hook you up with an awesome, professional consultant or two.

Toe Post: It's Tricky

I recently painted my toes with some of Jamberry's TruShine gel in Forever Young.  I love the sparkles in it and how easy it was to use the gel system.  After a week, though, I wanted to spice things up a bit, so I layered It's Tricky, one of Jamberry's Skinnies (thin, no-heat vinyl wraps), on my big toes.  I love how the colors in It's Tricky pulled out those same colors in the glitter in Forever Young, especially in the clear sections of the wrap.

Fashion Statement

I've talked about Inococo before.  If you are wanting to try their products but wanting to spend under $10, I recommend trying their Coconut line, which is sold exclusively at Walmart.  Being about half the price of their Color Street line, these are a little thinner and only come with 12 strips instead of 16.  I am currently wearing Fashion Statement.

Atlantic Mist

One of the most well-known brands of nail wraps is Jamberry.  Unlike nail strips, these wraps require heat to apply.  They come in a variety of different finishes, and some finishes are easier to apply depending on your nail shape.  These Atlantic Mist ones have a metallic finish, which is harder to put on my curvy nails, so these took a little more patience to apply.  These wraps have retired, but you can find a who slew of fun ones on their site.  Leave me a comment if you need to be hooked up with a rep.

Champagne and Lace

**Affiliate Post**

I am loving Champagne and Lace from BellaHoot (clicking will take you through my affiliate link).  This is a shimmery light gold with various black lace-like designs.  I really like how it is not the same on every finger and how the two that are angled (pinkie finger) are mirror images which is how I prefer my manicure designs to be.

Freedom Calling

Another nail strip company I like a lot is Color Street.  They are made by Incoco, one of the leaders in the nail strip game.  The Patriotic Collection was just released earlier this month, so I had to get all four.  I decided to wear Freedom Calling for Memorial Day and do an accent nail of one of my leftover Hit the Slopes strips which came out earlier this year for the Olympics.  These are especially great if you don't want to deal with trying to put on chunky glitter. (I am not linking directly to the products here because once Incoco launched Color Street, they phased out their web ordering, and now you can only order through a consultant.  If you need a consultant, I can hook you up with some good ones.)

Blood of My Blood

I mentioned in my last post how I've been using a lot of nail wraps recently.  One of my favorite brands is Espionage Cosmetics and their nerd manicures.  The one I am currently wearing came from their Nexus Literary subscription and is called Blood of My Blood featuring a design based on Outlander.  This wrap did not win the battle, but it is available for a limited time in this bundle.

I'm Back...and Now with Bella Hoot

I know it has been a while since you heard from me (two years to be exact), but a lot has happened in those two years.  I changed jobs, and more importantly, had a baby.  With a now-toddler running around, I don't have time to do my nails like I used to, so I have been relying heavily on nail strips and wraps.  If you have never tried nail strips/wraps before, they are a great way to add great designs to your nails in just minutes, with no dry time!  There are a couple brands I have been using lately, but a brand new company is launching today and I have signed up as an affiliate.  Bella Hoot is the newest name in the nail wrap game, and they have some adorable prints at unbeatable prices.  Check out my AFFILIATE LINK HERE.  Look for some great nail pics in the weeks to come!