Pistol Polish- February Duo Subscription Review

This is the February Duo from the Pistol Polish monthly subscription service.  As stated on their website, "Subscribe to PISTOL and every month you will receive two full-sized bottles of nail polish in colors that have been carefully selected based on the season and color trend studies. Pay either $17.99 USD per month for duration of subscription, or $199.99 USD for a one year subscription (non-renewing). Don't worry - we've got the shipping costs covered."

 

This company is based in the US, FDA approved, never tested on animals, and D4-free.  Not only that but they believe in empowering women to live their dreams; along with making amazing nail polish of course!  Let's take a look at what was in my box.

 Umm..okay first of all do you see the awesome pistol charms on these polishes?  Impressive right?! I loved them the second I saw them.

 Secondly, you have to read these description of the colors.  I love the creative wording and imagery they offer.  So fun!

 

And now the swatches...

 The first color that I wore is called Trouble Hunting.  As you can read in the description above it is their take on the Radiant Orchid Pantone color of the year.  It looks like a nice color in the bottle but I did not truly appreciate the amazingness of this color until I applied it.  This is just one coat of this polish, that when applied has a subtle shimmer that makes this color shimmer and glow on the nails.

  I love this type of color on my skin tone and with it's even, opaque application in one coat I'm going to keep this one close by.  It's a color that can be worn anytime of year but with Spring right around the corner this one will be my go-to color.

 The next one in the duo is called Coppers on the Chase.  This is a "metallurgical copper" if I ever saw one.  Okay, I had to look up metallurgical, but it is a real words that means they extraction of metals from their ores. But to me it means shimmery goodness.

 

 Do you see what I'm talking about?  This is 2 coats of the polish.  It comes out so much more bronzey on the nails than in the bottle.  Again this is a color that can be worn any time of year because it is a kind of kicked-up neutral color as they say.

I am very impressed by these polishes.  The color, formula, brush, bottle, packaging, and the company themselves are all amazing.  You can watch my video below for a few more details on the company and find links to their social media sites.  Check them out friends.  You will not be disappointed!

 

Thank you Picture Polish for the opportunity to share your products and thank you friends for stopping by!

 

 

Nail Whitening Products- Bubble White vs. Denture Tablets

If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that I love me some nail polish.  If you are new to my blog welcome, and just so you know, I love me some nail polish.  I have a nice little collection of lovely colors and it is rare that my finger tips are bare.  That being said my nails have taken some abuse with the constant polish changes.  One polish in particular left them extremely yellow after I wore it for a few days.  I didn't take a picture right away but they were nasty.  Here is what they looked like even a few weeks after I took that polish off.  You can see the nice white regrowth and the yucky yellowed tips.

I was fed up with my discolored nails so I decided to do some research on how to whiten them.  I heard good things about an affordable product called Bubble White (bought at Sally Beauty)as well as a cheaper solution using denture tablets (bought at any drugstore).  I decided to try each of these treatments out to see which one worked better at whitening my nails.  Watch the video below to find out what polish made my nails so yellow in the first place and how each of these products worked for me.  Then check out the before and after picture below as well.

Here are the results with the Bubble White

 

As you can see they are visibly brighter and less yellow.  I wouldn't call them "white" but this product did make a difference.  They recommend using it once a week and I do believe that a second treatment would have done even more whitening. 

And here are the results using the denture tablets

My nails on this hand were less yellow to start with so it is harder to tell if the denture cleaning tablets did anything.  They are a tad less yellow but that is only if you are really looking closely at some of the areas on my middle finger and pinky.  Again repeated weekly use may yield better results.

Final thoughts:  Both products were easy to use, had a pleasant smell,  and left my nails and cuticles clean and soft.  The denture tablets took longer (15 min.) but were cheaper ($1 for 16) and less effective.  The Bubble White was more expensive ($2.49) but faster to use (5 min.) and more effective with just one use.  If I ever need to use a nail whitening product again I would chose the Bubble White.

What do you think of my results?  Have you tried either of these products or any other nail whitening treatments?  Let me know in the comments here or on my video.

I'm off to paint my nails...again!

15 uses for a Spoolie aka Mascara Wand

You will never look at your mascara wand the same again!

I love finding ways to reuse and re-purpose things especially if it makes my life a little bit easier.  These tips will do just that for you in your beauty routine and around the house using an old mascara wand.  I saved my wand when my mascara was used up and cleaned it with makeup remover and soap and water.  You can buy disposable spoolies at beauty supply stores and online as well.

Watch my video below for all of the tips:

If you are like me and want to be able to jot them down for future reference here is a short list:

15 uses for a Spoolie aka Mascara Wand    

1. De-clump your mascara
2.  Remove dry mascara smudges
3. Assist in eyebrow grooming and trimming
4. Comb in brow color products
5. Tame your brows with spray or gel
6.  Exfoliate lips
7. Hair color touch ups
8. Tame fly-aways and baby hairs 
9. Cuticle remover and exfoliator
10. Nail art
11. Clean your nails
12. Jewelry cleaner
13. Clean hair dryer lint 
14. Clean tile grout and hard to reach areas around sinks, etc.
15. Clean computer keyboards and other nooks and crannies

There are probably a million more things you can do with a spoolie.  What are your ideas?

Thanks for visiting my blog and happy re-using! 

Day 31 in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge

Day 31- Recreate your favorite mani from another blogger

Phew!  I made it to the last day of the challenge!  It has been very fun but quite a bit of work as well.  I admire the people who do blogs and nail art as a living.  So for today's challenege...

 

When I first saw this nail art on Pinterest I thought it was just hilarious.  It comes from Freestyle Nails Tumbler Page. She calls this her "I Pity the Fool" nail art. 

 I watched the A-Team and Rocky III growing up and always had a strange fondness for Mr. T and his crazy hair and exorbitant amount of  gold jewelry.  I never thought of recreating this nail art though until this challenge came along. Mine came our much more cartooney but I still had fun doing it.

The colors and tools I used are OPI San-Tantonio, Rimmel Black Satin, a black striper polish, brush, dotting tool, gold chain from Born Pretty Store, and gold nail art stickers from Kiss.

Thanks for visiting my blog and joining me for this 31 Day Nail Art Challenge.  Be sure to check out all of the other looks I did in the previous challenges and follow my blog for future nails of the day, reviews, and more.

Day 30 in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge

Day 30- Inspired by a Tutorial

I have had this picture tutorial pinned on my Pinterest page for a long while now.  It is from someone named Manal S. at naildecor on Instagram.  Check out her tutorial HERE on how to create a peacock feather.  

Here is my recreation:

 The above are taken with indoor lighting and the below are taken with natural light.

I smudged the crud out of the thumb nail.  Sad face time!  That's what I get for trying to take pictures too quickly.

For colors I used similar ones to the ones she used in her tutorial.  The blue nails are OPI Fly and Essie Go Overboard.  The bronzy color is Hard Candy Beetle.  The nude base is Wet n Wild Private Viewing.  The feather is done with a matte black Salon Perfect striper and a gold one from LA Colors Art Deco.

I love me some peacock feather nails.  Super easy and cute!

See you tomorrow for the final day of the challenge.

Day 29 in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge

Day 29- Inspired by the Supernatural

This is another challenge that I have had planned since the beginning.  I pinned a cute Sugar Skull nail art design ages ago and now I get to try it for myself.  I have a crazy fondness for sugar skulls and other Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) themed things.  This holiday celebrated in Mexico is fascinating with its traditions of honoring the deceased (hence the "supernatural" element for me).  All of the colors and the flowers and the art and the music are just amazing.  And don't even get me started on the food.  I still remember the best carne asada tacos I ever had from a taco truck in Ensenada...drool!  I am pretty sure that I was Mexican in my previous life because I have such a fondness for the culture and the people.  

Anyway, as usual I am babbling so onto the nails...

 I used a white LA Colors polish, Black Pearl from Wet n Wild and a variety of striper polishes from Jordana and a nameless brand.  The dotting tools and sliced fimo cane flower wheel are from ebay.

  I absolutely adore these nails!  I love the flower eyes and the big white teeth and the little cheek dots and the colors and everything about them.  I wish that I could have this on my nails all day everyday!

Thanks for stopping by.  I may need to go get some Mexican food now with a bunch of cilantro and lime on top...

See you next time!  Only 2 days left to go in the challenge!

Day 28 in the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge

Day 28- Inspired by a Flag

Can I just say what the what with this challenge!  A flag?  Really?  I had the worst time deciding on a flag to paint on my nails.  The US flag is well overused, as are any kind of cool pirate flags, and most state flags are either lame or have way too many things going on in them.  I was at a loss until I remembered a flag that I bought for my dad a few Christmases ago.  He actually has a flag pole at his little beach bungalow and was looking for cool flags to fly there.  I have Irish heritage in my family so I got him this Irish flag that says Erin go Bragh.  It translates to something like "Ireland Forever".

 I like the simplicity of the green and gold colors on this flag.  There are several versions or drawings of the flag online.  This image came from Wikipedia and I like the cleaner drawing of the angel harp lady and the white accents in the shamrocks on this flag.  I decided to recreate the shamrocks on my nails today. And yes I took the easy way out; I had no time or energy this late in the challenge to attempt the lady, the harp, or the lettering. 

I couldn't quite find the right color of green to match the flag that didn't have shimmer in it so I just used Sinful Colors Envy and a yellow striper from Jordana.

Thank you for stopping by and
 IRELAND FOREVER!