Subscription Review: GlitterDaze Daze of the Month September 2013

Hi guys! I just got my first Glitterdaze Daze of the Month box. 

The way it works is you choose from one of three levels ($13 to $25 per month)

Level One - Super Daze: One limited edition polish - $13

Level Two: Mega Daze: The LE polish, plus a mini polish and a hand care item - $19 

Level Three: Ultra Daze: The LE polish, the mini polish, two extras, and a $3 charitable donation to the charity of the month. 

These prices are new and have been changed recently, so if you see a discrepancy somewhere else, that's probably why. 

You fill out a questionnaire before your box ships based in your preferences, and it's pretty detailed. 

I, of course, had to get the Ultra box, and this is what I received: 

First of all, everything is wrapped up ADORABLY in pink tissue paper with white bows (not pictured). 

Secondly, you get a card explaining exactly what each item is. I love this, because I'm not a nail polish expert (yet), and I don't know how to tell the difference between jellys and crellys and that type of thing. 

Here was my full sized limited edition polish: 

Oddly enough, it's called Neon Lights, which is the exact same name my 'monthly me' polish from Glitter Guilty was for this month (although, they are two TOTALLY different polishes). 

According to the description, Neon lights is a neon glitter-bomb with black and white multiglitter in every shape and size in a pastel lavender base. There aren't just black and white glitter pieces though, there are all different colors. Some of the shapes include stars and hearts, which I didn't know until I swatched it. 

Another thing I really like about this is that the base is colored. I'm not really a fan of glitter bombs in clear nail polish, because I feel like there are going to be so many layers of polish (base coat, two regular coats, 1 to 2 glitter coats, top coat, and I like to add a coat of Gelous). A lot of times, clear glitter bombs come on thick, and the thicker/more layers of nail polish you have on, the more likely chipping/peeling is occur. It does indicate, however, on the card that this is supposed to be layered on top of white polish. 

Something I found when I was swatching this was that you don't have to go fishing for glitters and shapes, they come out easily each time you take the brush out of the bottle. 

...also...as if this polish wasn't already awesome enough, did I mention that it GLOWS IN THE DARK?!?! That's right, it glows purple in the dark. Just hold it up to the light for 10-30 seconds. It really works. This is so cool because I've been really into special effects polishes (thermo, light changing, etc) and I wanted a glow in the dark polish without having to wear that neon green/yellow color (that doesn't look so good during the day). 

Moving on...

On the right is the mini for this month, called Evermore. It's a really pretty red crelly with silver, pink and white glitters in different sizes, and some shimmer. You don't really need to put anything under it, and it becomes opaque in 2-3 coats. 

On the left is a mini super smooth base coat. The description states that it is base-strengthening, ridge filling, neutralising, and long lasting. I really wish I had this when I tried to wear Essie's No Place Like Chrome, because that polish showed every bump in my nails. It wasn't pretty. 

My two extras are a "hand fizzy" and "super holo heart cabochon- you can use it as a keychain (key ring included) or a necklace.

I looked up what a hand fizzy was (because I had no idea) and apparently you put it in warm water and soak your nails in it (the part when you're giving yourself a manicure, after you file/buff your nails). The description says that this is raspberry violet scented, flower shaped, and almost twice the size of their regular ones. I plan on breaking it into pieces so that I can use it for multiple future manicures. 

And the heart key chain...I absolutely love it. It's so me and my style. I just hope I don't break it... I have bad luck with key chains. 

Some swatches: 

I didn't layer white under like the card suggested for NL, because I wanted to see what it looked like on its own. 

Final verdict: I REALLY like this subscription so far. I think I might change my level to Mega down the line, because I don't NEED two hand care items or extras, but it makes me feel a little better knowing that my nail polish addiction is helping someone out somewhere (because of the charitable donation.) 

Technically I got 3 extras instead of two, which is also often. I am liking this a bit better than Glitter Guilty right now (which I will probably cancel after next month-I really want to see Halloween stuff!)

That's all for now!

xoxo,

Belle

Subscription Review: Glitter Guilty Pleasures Box September 2013

Hi guys!

Today I'm going to review what was in my Glitter guilty pleasures box this month. If you didn't already know, GGP Is a subscription service where, for 15.99 a month (you can also do 3 or 6 month plans) you get a full sized polish, based on your specific preferences (you fill out a questionnaire where you list polishes you like and don't like, including colors and finishes. You can be as specific as you like. You also get a mini polish, that each subscriber gets, as well as a piece of artisan chocolate (or something else during the summer). Each chocolate or other item is from an independent company, and proceeds from the boxes go to supporting small businesses. 

So here was my box this month: 

My full sized polish, based on my preferences, is a glitter bomb with iridescent microglitters and neon hex glitters in green, blue, pink, and orange, called Neon Lights. This is definitely the only polish I have like this. I don't know how I feel about glitter bombs, because I'd rather have glitter in a base color (so that there are fewer layers and less chance of peeling/chipping) but this is pretty cool. It's very similar to Party Hearty, which is listed in the site, except Neon lights has orange instead of purple. 

I definitely like this color a lot better than the one I got in my previous box. That one was a light pink creme with orange holographic microglitters, white bar glitters and magenta and silver circle glitters. I put maroon and magenta in my dislike section, so I was a little disappointed when I saw them in the bottle. It's still pretty though, and the formula is really good. 

Moving on, the monthly mini polish is called Tight End, and it's a crelly with a blue base, dark blue microglitters, and blue and white circle glitters. This one I'm kind of eh about, since last month's mini was also blue (much lighter though). It was based off of the creator's football team's colors. This is a cute idea, even if you dont really follow football. Now for some swatches:

All the way to the left is Tight End over two coats of Frost bite by China Glaze. The third to the left is 3 coats of Tight End by itself. I think it looks MUCH better with a solid color under it. Second to the left is Neon Lights over two coats of White by Kleancolor. Second to the right is NL by itself, and all the way to the right is NL over two coats of Black by Kleancolor. I don't know if I like it over white or black better, I might do a mani where every nail has a different base color. 

The last thing in the box is a cute little bottle-top magnet that says "keep calm and paint your nails."  I love this, it's adorable, i only wish it was a keychain or something so I could carry it around with me! 

This is my second box, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with for Halloween. It should be noted that Jessica, the creator, has excellent customer service. I didn't get my box by a certain day, and I emailed her (on a Saturday.) She emailed me back promptly giving me the tracking number, some information about the shipment, and told me she would call the shipping company if I didn't receive my box in the next few days. She obviously puts a lot of time and care into her products. 

That's all for now...so keep calm and paint your nails!

Update:

Here is a manicure I used with Neon Lights as a Top Coat. Underneath is My Boyfriend Scales Walls and Black Onyx by OPI. I alSo used Orly Instant Artist in Platinum to make the stripes (which you can't really see...but I used them to separate the black and white). 

xoxo,

belle

Subscription Review: Nail Art Society September 2013 Box

Hello! Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! Today I wanted to do a quick review of the new Nail Art Society subscription box for September. 

Firstly, if you aren't familiar with NAS, they send you a curated nail art kit once a month for $9.95 plus shipping, so in the U.S. (New York specifically) it comes to $14.90. 

This subscription service is pretty unique, and I haven't come across anything like it yet. Apparently they recently overhauled the site due to various issues, and this is the re-launch month. Even if you already had an account, once they re-did the site you had to create a new account. 

So here is the September kit:

It came with four ORLY Instant Artist water-based paints in jet black, true blue, platinum, and crisp white. 

Personally, I think these are awesome. The brushes are striper brushes, which makes it easy to do simple, freehand nail art designs. A while ago I bought a 40

or 50 piece set of nail art polishes from amazon, the brand is Emori, and well, they kind of suck. The colors are really nice, but if you try to use them for more than 5 minutes, the paint starts to get goopy and makes lines on your nails that you don't want. Also, you have to cut the brushes, because they all have one really long strand that makes it difficult to distribute the paint evenly.  

What's cool about the ORLY ones is that the paint is water-based, so if you make a mistake, you can wipe it off without messing up the nail polish underneath (just make sure you wait for the nail polish to dry first!)

I also like that they give you basic colors that you could probably use with any mani. They are extremely easy to use, dry fairly quickly, and they look great. 

The next set of items is Cala brand Professional Nail Arts Water Decals. The first one contains different coloured butterflies, and the second contains silver butterflies. Now, I like butterflies as much as the next girl, but I'm not in LOVE with them. I don't know why they would send TWO different sets of butterflies. I would have loved more variety on these. I associate butterflies with spring instead of fall, so that's another reason I'm not super stoked about these. However, the silver does contain a few non-butterfly decales (roses) which I used (pictured below).

 I will say that they are extremely easy to use, and they look super pretty. All you do is make sure you have a top coat (I used Out the Door fast drying top coat), tap the back of the decales with water with your finger, slide the design off, place it on your nail, and seal with two coats of top coat (I used China Glaze No Chip Top Coat). 

Other things that were included in the kit are a chevron manicure tutorial, a paper about the featured nail guru who curated this months kit, and an ORLY color guide. 

Nail Art Society is also running a contest where you use your August kit, and upload your mani to twitter or Instagram. Then you tag @nailartsociety and @orlynails and then hashtag #NASGiveaway, #welcomebackNAS, and #nailart 

(I just entered, wish me luck!)

In conclusion, I am definitely intrigued and am excited to see what NAS comes up with next. Here is the mani in which I used the jet black ORLY instant artist and one of the non-butterfly silver water decals: 

I used Play Dirty by Pistol Polish as the base color (review of Pistol Polish below)

With flash 

xoxo,

Belle

p.s. if you are reading this, can you please drop a comment in the comment section? We're just curious to see who actually reads this and what kind of an audience we have. Thanks!!

Product Review: PISTOL Polish September Duo

Hi guys! I have a review that I'm REALLY

excited to do right now! Today I received my Pistol Polish September duo. 

Pistol polish has a monthly subscription box where they send you two polishes, based on the current season's colors and trends, for $17.99 a month. 

Now, the whole idea behind pistol polish is less about promoting gun violence and more about promoting empowerment and independence for women. In fact, on their home page, it states, "A PISTOL Woman envisions who she wants to become - whatever that may be - and devotes her life to making that vision a reality. PISTOLs chase their dreams every damn day." - www.pistolpolish.com

If that's not awesome enough, I don't know what is. 

Anyway, two days ago I received an email from the company that they were sending the September due early. In fact, this is exactly what they said:

"Hi PISTOL,

 

Even though our back-to-school days are a distant memory, September still reminds us of fresh starts, exciting challenges and new adventures; that’s why it is PISTOL polish HQ’s favorite month! 

 

And… well… we were just TOO STOKED for fall and couldn’t help ourselves… your September Duo has shipped early and is already on it’s way to you!  Sorry we’re not sorry."

I was THRILLED when I saw this. I got this email on Tuesday. Today is Thursday , and my pistol box was sitting in my mail box, waiting for me for me to open it. 

So, without further ado:

This is the box that it came in. So cute!!

This is probably the cutest tape I've ever seen...

I also got a sweet little welcome note, which I didn't take a picture of because I know you really want to see the polishes and not just the packaging!

 

I'm not gonna lie, one of the main reasons why I subscribed was because of the little pistols attached to the bottles. So punk rock!

The box contains a little card that tells you the name of each polish and a description. The one on the left is called Play Dirty, and this is the description: Fall is officially here, and that means it's time to get to work. Sure, we're all for a fresh mani but earning a chipped nail can be just as fun. This gilded cherry is a deep crimson color laced with sparkling gold flecks; it combines autumn's warm burgundy hues with the final traces of summer's sun. 

The color on the right it called Fight Like a Girl, and here is the description: Put your well-polished dukes up because everyone is going to be fighting over this shade. As the pigment of the season, it's sure to illicit stares, and maybe even a tussle or two. But remember, PISTOLs always fight fair even when rocking battle colors. 

And now for some swatches:

Without flash 

With flash 

I personally think that Play Dirty is GORGEOUS. I used three coats to make these completely opaque, and the golden shimmer becomes more pronounced with each coat. I actually can't wait to rock this shade. 

Note: you probably won't need 3 coats when you put them on your actual nails, because i doubt they are bright white like the swatches. I wanted to completely cover the swatches without any of the white coming through. 

Fight Like a Girl is a deep olive green, and it looks like something I will be wearing for a Halloween mani (I'm thinking zombies). 

I also thought that it might look REALLY

cool with a matte finish, so I tried it:

And I was right! Here's one without flash and against a different background:

These colors definitely scream Fall, and I actually dont have anything like these in my collection. And that's pretty impressive...considering I have enough polish to fill three 60 polish racks...

In conclusion, there's nothing I DON'T love about this subscription. I have about 5 or 6 subscriptions, which I am trying to weed down to like 2 or 3, and this is DEFINITELY going to be one of the ones I keep. Can't wait to see what you come up with next, PISTOL!

Subscribe at www.pistolpolish.com!

xoxo,

Belle