Since Google kindly stopped letting non-Blogger users use Google Friend Connect, I’ve decided to join Bloglovin so y’all could follow me. If not you can subscribe to my RSS Feed if you use something like Google Reader or Feedburner.

Go enter my giveaway to win the Wet N Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled Collection if you haven’t already.

Thanks for looking <3

Now when you sign up to be a Maven, you take a profile quiz to see what kind of Maven you are. My quiz gave me the Bombshell profile. The other profiles are American Beauty, Boho Glam, Classic With A Twist, and It Girl. I want to change my profile to the It Girl one. You can buy the other boxes separately from your subscription, or log into your account from the 20th-24th and change your style. But you can preview what’s in the box before they send it out for the month, and if you don’t like it, just skip your month between the 20th-24th. You get charged every 27th of the month if you don’t skip or cancel. Now for the box….

The box was snugly packed with their intro cards. The polish was wrapped in the pink bag with bubble wrap wrapping the actual bottles. They threw in a nail file, but I don’t like these kind of files. I feel like they make my nails split and peel. Glass files are where it’s at.

Included was the file, their Glycolic Hand Scrub (which was amazing by the way, it really makes your hands smooth and washes the roughness out), and two polishes (Natash & Oscar).

Oscar & Natasha

I really like their bottles. Very cute packaging. The only thing I didn’t like was that the cap was so long. Since the bottle was longer too, the brush inside was long making it slightly hard to have full control. Overall though, the formula was nice, smooth, and the drying time was pretty fast. Many polishes still stay a bit tacky (my friend told me the best way to see if your polish is dry is to touch your nails against one another, if it’s a bit still sticky then it’s still wet underneath although it feels dry to your finger) after they “dry,” but this one really dried.

Natasha With Flash

Natasha With Flash

Natasha Without Flash

Natasha is more orange/tangerine in person than red. I feel like my pictures look more red. Pictured is two coats.

Oscar Over Natasha Without Flash

Oscar has a clear base with fine gold glitter particles.

I did these last night, and I’ve done a lot of house chores already including washing dishes, and there’s no tip wear! Two thumbs up, Julep.

If any of y’all are interested in signing up for a Julep Maven Box, use my referral link here, and use the code “SHAREONMAY” at checkout to receive your first box for $0.01!!! No scam. No joke. Do it haha. What do you have to lose?? If you don’t like your service, cancel or skip the month if you don’t like what box is coming out for that month. Or pass it on as a gift. Mother’s day is this week lol.

Well, that’s all for me now. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already. Head on over to the giveaway tab on the right of my blog to enter.

Thanks for looking <3

These are just my polish hauls. I’ve bought an As Seen On Stamping Kit that was at TJ Maxx and did a Michael’s run (glitter, microbeads, flocking powder, etc.) which are all coming up in a future post :)

China Glaze Magnetix

Milani Jewel FX

So when Milani first came out with their Jewel FX last year (Silver, Gold, Gems), I was devastated because Silver was only part of the special display not the regular case. But I was still okay with it because after some time the Gold FX and Gems made it’s way into the regular display racks of Milani. Fast forward a few months…I didn’t even realize Milani came out with a new Jewel FX line. I just somehow stumbled upon it, I can’t even remember where. But either way, I didn’t even bother to go hunt it down because I thought by that time it was too late and everyone probably scooped up all the polishes. Then I was out on the field for work and dropped by a drugstore. Of course, I had to check all the polishes inside, and lo and behold, the new Jewel FX line. Not on a special display case, but it was a part of the regular display rack! I immediately went crazy and got all the rest to go along with Gems and Gold FX :) Complete family. haha. Long story, sorry.

Wet N Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled

Revlon Naughty + Whimsical

Revlon Naughty is supposed to be a renamed Revlon Perplex which is supposedly a dupe for Chanel Paradoxal. Revlon Whimsical is a close dupe to Deborah Lippmann’s Glitter In The Air. I found these at Bed, Bath, & Beyond as well as Rite Aid in the regular Revlon polish display. By the way, did y’all know Bed, Bath, & Beyond has a huge beauty section chock full of polish???!!! Blew my mind lol.

CQ in Idyllic (multichrome) and Pistachio. Wet N Wild Crackle. Found at Rite Aid. They were doing a Buy One Get One 1/2 Off with the CQs so I picked some up. I had been wanting Pistachio for a while, but I didn’t like the price for the mini bottle. But after holding the bottles in my hand, they aren’t that mini as I expected.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects

Rite Aid was doing a sale on these. Valentine’s prints for their Salon Effects.

That’s it for now! Thanks for looking <3

Have y’all entered my giveaway yet? I’m giving away the Spring 2012 Wet N Wild ColorIcon Be Jeweled Collection. Go enter if you haven’t already :)

Courtesy of Birchbox.com

So I’ve been subscribed to Birchbox since February. I’ve received their Intro box, the Teen Vogue box, and this is the third box that I’ve received. Birchbox is the first beauty box subscription I’ve ever subscribed to. Frankly, I thought Birchbox was the only one that did it in the US. I know UK has Carmine and Glossybox, and Canada has Luxe Box by Loose Button. So I just figured every region had one main producer of these box subscriptions. Then, I stumbled on a beauty box blog (turns out there are quite a few), and they list all the different subscription services available. These boxes aren’t just limited to beauty products. There are some companies that make boxes just for the home, babies, pets, food, really anything you can think of. They all vary in price, but the average price seems to hit around $12-15. Now since discovering this fact, I have subscribed to other things as well which will come in future posts.

I know this has nothing to do with nails really, but I was amazed about the beauty box services, so I wanted to share. By the way, some of these beauty subscriptions aren’t just limited to makeup, they provide skin care and hair care products too. In my Teen Vogue box was this Kerastase Hair Oil, and it’s amazing! I don’t even have to condition my hair in the shower. Just put about six drops in my hands and work it through my hair. I can do this on wet hair, and so long as it’s not too humid, my hair will air dry as if I blow dried it. It’s amazing.

Anyways…on to the actual Birchbox.

Outside packaging.

Box inside a box. I repurpose these to hold all my knick knacks and odd ends.

Every month they change the color of the tissue paper.

Now for the contents inside…

Revolution Organics Freedom Glow Beauty Balm

Full size product! Retails $36

Le Palais des Thés Tea Bags

These are this month’s throw-ins/extras. In two different flavors. Retails $12.50/20 bags.

Befine Gentle Cleanser + Daily Moisturizer w/ SPF 15 Samples

My moisturizer batch was actually expired, so Birchbox swapped us for 100 points instead! Very generous, and way to go, customer service! Cleanser retails $24, and Moisturizer retails at $25.

Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Petite Cologne Absolue

Retails $55.

Olìe Biologique Huile Moderne

Retails $56.

Overall, I say Birchbox is a great way to sample premium makeup at a fraction of the price. $10/month is what I pay. I’m pretty sure that’s still the same. If you join now, you may be put on the waitlist. I was, but it took about a week before I got on the subscription list. Another great thing is that you get the chance of getting full-sized products. Last month, I received a full-size Essie As Gold As It Gets and a Tarte Lip Indulgence stick. This months was that beauty balm. I like Birchbox because it gets me to try a lot of products I would never think about picking up, even as a tester in stores. I also end up finding out about products that are awesome and I can’t believe I’ve gone without them (Kerastase Elixir). Best of all, this has opened me up to the world of box subscription services. Go to this directory..you can search based on box category or see what’s featured now.

If you want to join Birchbox, click through here. By the way, for each product you review that came in your Birchbox for the month, they reward you 10 points, and 100 points = $10!

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!!!

Thanks for looking <3

To update y’all on my life, I finished school last week! Bittersweet considering I’m happy to be done with all aspects of school (papers, tests, the dreaded group projects), but now starts the job hunt –;; I have been interviewing here and there but nothing solid yet. I did do that full time job I mentioned a few weeks ago, but I quit after two weeks. The more time I spent there, the more it all seemed like a scam (their compensation is based on a pyramid scheme I noticed…eff that). And now it’s summer! I have two tentative trips this year, Las Vegas & Houston for some family time. I plan on getting healthier, body wise. I’ve been eating better, and my goal this summer is to quit sugar. Did you know sugar is more addicting to the brain than cocaine? Yeah, and it wreaks havoc on your body. I plan on posting regularly and doing more nail art stuff than swatches. My friend wants to start a project that I’ll be helping her with, a baking blog! Overall, I just want to stay busy and productive while focusing on what makes me happy.

That’s all my rambling for now. Y’all want to get to the good stuff, the actual giveaway!

Here’s what is included:

From left to right: Born Into Privilege, Bow In My Presence, The Crown Is Mine, Jewels For Your Highness, Speak When Spoken To

I have swatched the bottles up there, but I bought new bottles just for this giveaway!

I really suck at reviewing nail polish collections. Scrangie did an awesome review on these (which is what convinced me to get them), so go check it out for all the color descriptions.

Speak When Spoken To

Jewels For Your Highness

The Crown Is Mine

Bow In My Presence

Born Into Privilege

I had a really hard time capturing the duochrome effect, so my pictures don’t represent the full extent of this collection. These retail for $2.99 and can be found at Rite Aid or CVS. I heard Walgreens may have them too. Be Jeweled is really similar to China Glaze Prismatic, so I decided to save my money and forgo China Glaze’s collection.

Click on through for the giveaway!~

RULES:
1. Open internationally.
2. Giveaway ends Saturday, June 2, 2012 @ 5:00PM Eastern Time.
3. If you win, I just ask that you respond within a reasonable amount of days after winning.
Here’s how the entries will work…
1. Each entry with a name and valid email address counts as one entry.
2. Follow my Twitter (@diynail), and that’s 2 extra entries.
3. Tweet about my giveaway (don’t forget to mention me @diynail), and that’s 1 extra entry.
4. Blog about my giveaway or add it to your sidebar/pages/etc., and that’s 1 extra entry.

Leave a suggestion for me too, please!

Just fill out the form and enter once! That’s it! Good luck!!!

China Glaze Entourage

I need to do more NOTDs with rhinestones and nail art stuff on it. I really want to learn how to make my own acrylic designs that go on top of the nail.

Anyways, that’s all for now! Thanks for looking <3

I’ve been receiving Birchboxes every month, and in the last couple days, I found out about Julep’s Maven Box! It’s perfect because, as a nail lover, Julep sends you exclusive nail/hand products. With my Birchbox, it’s a gamble every month as I tend to receive more makeup/beauty products from them instead of polish and such. So I had been debating if I should sign up for Julep’s Maven Box as it costs $19.99/month, but today, I signed up for a box and it only cost me $0.01! A penny! It’s not a scam, I really signed up for one cent today. The great thing about Julep, unlike Birchbox, is that they send you a preview of your box ahead of time, and you can choose to accept it (and pay for it) or deny it for the month (and skip out on payment for the month or mail it as a gift to a friend)! The discount code for receiving your box for $0.01 is: PENNY : when you go to checkout. I’m not sure how long this code will last, it might just be ’til the end of the month, so hurry up and sign up before the offer goes away! What do you have to lose? You can always cancel before the next box arrives, or if you like what’s in it, then keep subscribing!

Click through this link to get your own Julep Maven Box for one cent :)

Thanks for looking <3

Courtesy of The Inspiration Files

If I didn’t have to use my hands for anything vigorous, I would do this mani. I might even experiment and try my own version. But like I said, I just like practicality, and I don’t think I’d be able to do anything if I had these on all my fingers because I’d constantly be worried about the beads falling off, and then I’d get mad if they did start falling off. I’m one of those people. I even look for the best ways to keep rhinestones on as long as possible lol. Anyways, I just see this trending nowadays, and I wanted to know what everyone else thought about it?

That’s all for now

Well, on to the NOTD. It’s really simple I just used two colors and did a zebra print on some accent nails. I haven’t been polishing my own nails lately that I’m going back to being a noob at painting my non-dominant hand, so there aren’t any designs on my right hand –;; I believe this picture describes my situation perfectly…

haha. I don’t know where this meme originated from but I got it off the I Love Nail Polish Facebook Community.

Here’s the NOTD I did. I think I did this during Spring Break right before I went to Savannah, GA.

I FREAKING LOVE GOSH HOLOGRAPHIC!!! haha. It’s the only holo in my collection that really shines through when I photograph it making me love it even more. So can you imagine how shiny it is in person!

Catrice is a European brand, and they make really awesome two-coat guarantee polishes. The brush is wide

Giveaway is still on the way~ I really want to do a post on the collection I’m giving away before doing the giveaway so that’s what the delay is. If you follow my Twitter, you know what’s coming up :)

That’s all for now. Thanks for looking <3

Anyways…this is a little random, but I finally remembered this fruit snack I used to have as a kid. I couldn’t remember the name of the fruit snack for the longest time, so I’m really excited I found it haha. Ready? Do y’all remember these?
Haha throwback. Like Dunkaroos and 3D Doritos. haha. Sorry, getting a bit nostalgic here haha.

On to the NOTD…

This NOTD lasted forever and didn’t chip at all! It lasted for about two and a half weeks with barely any tip wear. My nails were growing out and the polish looked like gel nails were growing out. I used Poshe topcoat to seal it all off, but even my Poshe for other manis have never lasted that long. I was really impressed with this polish kit. I was mainly impressed with the long wear more than anything, and the color combo seemed to work. I didn’t think I’d like the colors on my nail when I first saw the kit in its packaging. I would definitely look for more of these kits and pick them up. If y’all see any of these kits around, and you happen to pick them up, I’d love to swap with you :)

That’s all for now. I bought a nail polish collection for another giveaway, which will be announced soon. If you follow my Twitter, you already know what I got for the giveaway! So stay tuned~

Thanks for looking <3