Vapid Lacquer Base Coat and Top Coat Review!!

*Purchased by me*

I've been meaning to write this review for awhile since I am totally in love with my Vapid Lacquer All About That Base and Get Your Shine On! Quick Dry Top Coat. Vapid Lacquer is having a restock this Saturday that includes these two products, so I thought I should post this now! All About That Base is a strengthening base coat that also seems to help prolong my manis. Since I started using the Vapid base coat about 5-6 weeks ago, I have noticed I have fewer peelies on my thumb nails. My thumbs always have peelies because I am a bad nail blogger and use them as tools. But the Vapid base coat is starting to help me get rid of them! I think in a few more weeks, the existing peelies I had will probably grow out and be gone. So I love this base coat just for that. But wait- there's more!!

 When I use the Vapid base coat and the Get Your Shine On! top coat for a mani, my nails still look great 4-5 days later! Above you can see my YSL Peace Green mani after 4 days of wear (including hot showers every day, dish washing, lots of hand washing after touching germy kids at dance class, etc.). There is a bit of tip wear and my right thumb had one small chip. But I have to tell you, most true quick dry top coats and I don't get along. My usual wear time with a QDTC is 1-2 days max. After that it is a hot chippy mess. So for me to get 4-5 days with a real QDTC (dry to the touch in 60 seconds!) is a serious personal victory. I also have to say that this top coat packs SERIOUS shine! The shine also lasts, it doesn't start to look dull on day 3. The Vapid base and top coat get an A+ from me!

Two more awesome Vapid things that will be available this Saturday- Chocolate Body Mousse and Nail Sauce! Chocolate Body Mousse is a delectable body cream that smells like hot chocolate or chocolate pudding. It is really nicely moisturizing, but doesn't feel too heavy or greasy. I am addicted to this now and sometimes I even open the jar just to look at it! I mean, it looks delicious, doesn't it?

Binx wanted to get in on my photo shoot, LOL!

Nail Sauce is a great cuticle product with a gel-creme hybrid consistency. It sinks right in to the nail area and makes my cuticles look so much better instantly. I bought it in two different scents- Unicorn Milk and Birthday Bitch. Unicorn Milk smells like Fruit Loops with a touch of vanilla frosting, while Birthday Bitch smells exactly like German Chocolate Cake, in my opinion. I have been using this product almost daily since purchasing and plan to order at least one more scent this Saturday. I have already nearly used up Unicorn Milk! I love this for cuticle moisturizing that seems enjoyable, rather than a chore.

The Vapid base and top coats have really made a positive difference in my nail health, as well as how often I can wear manis. Now that I can use a QDTC, I find it MUCH easier to just slap on a new mani whenever I want and not have to worry about it chipping a day later. I highly recommend all four of the products in this post.

Restock info: The restock will be at 1pm CT (Central Time) at http://vapid.mybigcommerce.com. For complete details about what will be restocked, please check out the Vapid Lacquer Facebook page.

Essie Gel Setter Top Coat Review

 *Essie Gel Setter was given to me as a gift*

I've been meaning to write a quick review of the new(ish) Essie Gel Setter top coat. Lynnderella sent this to me to try with her glitters because she really liked it and I have been loving it as well! This top coat offers a plush, extremely glossy finish. It smooths most glitters in just one coat and makes them really sparkle.  While it is not labeled as a quick dry top coat, it dries very quickly for me, pretty much as quickly as most QDTCs.  I do love the gel-like formula too, it just glides on and never feels thin or draggy.

I used Essie Gel Setter in this recent swatch of Lynnderella The Reason My Heart Beats and it looks so glossy and smooth- love it! This top coat has become my go to for swatching and also the manis I've been wearing.  You can't beat the shine or application, and it even dries fast!

Essie Gel Setter is available at a drugstore near you.

Barielle Top Coat and Fortifying Nail Builder Base Coat Reviews

*Sent for review*

Like most nail addicts, I'm always searching for a new, better base and top coat combo. I recently got to try Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder and Barielle Top Coat, and I am thrilled to say that one of them is a new HG product for me. Read on to discover which one!

I have been using Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder as a base coat/treatment for the past few weeks. I absolutely love it! My nails looks healthier and feel stronger and less dry. I have very dry nails and when I don't wear polish, the dryness sometimes really bothers me. It feels uncomfortable and I have to keep hand cream or oil on at all times. However, since I started to use this base coat, my bare nails have felt more comfortable and less brittle. I also usually have a bit of peeling on my right thumb nail, but that has almost entirely gone away now! I can hardly believe that, since I've had it for ages. I am still oiling before I apply my base coat because that really helps prolong my manis. Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder wears well as a base coat for me, about the same length of time as my last HG base coat (4 days with no chips). 

Barielle Essentials Top Coat is a good top coat, but I don't think it's my HG. For one thing, the top coat itself dries quickly, but you have to put it on dry polish or else it smears the polish. So it isn't really good for drying your whole mani. It also is a little on the thin side, so it's not the best for smoothing out glitter. On the positive side of things, I did not experience any shrinkage with this top coat and the wear time was great. I will definitely use this as my top coat for relatively quick drying cremes or shimmers that I want to wear for 4+ days.

I highly recommend Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder if you have dry, brittle nails like me. If you mostly wear cremes and shimmers and want a top coat that helps your mani last, check out the Essentials Top Coat too. Both are available at barielle.com.

Favorite Hair Product Ever!

As you all know by now, I have a deep, undying love of nail polish, make-up, and beauty products in general. You would think that I would be into hair products too and that I would have some vague idea of how to make my hair look nice. Yea, no... I don't do anything to my hair. My hair is straight. Like completely straight, no matter what I do to it. I can use any shampoo or conditioner and it still looks the same. I can use volumizing products and hair spray, and it basically still looks the same. If I use a curling iron/curlers, it looks bouncy and curly for all of 10 minutes. So, basically, I don't bother to do much with my hair because it looks the same no matter what I do.



HOWEVER, last year I was a member of Beauty Fix, one of those programs where you pay monthly and they send you a box full of beauty products. Some products were full size and others were large sample size. One of the full-size products I received was Jonathan Product IB Revitalizer Overnight Oil Treatment Spray. It took me quite awhile to even get around to trying this product. I thought hair oil was seriously unnecessary. When I finally did get around to trying this, I was SO impressed!!! I couldn't believe how shiny and soft my hair looked after using this.



I do not use this oil overnight, for fear of serious breakouts on my face in the morning. I coat my hair in this oil about an hour or so before I'm going to shower. The spray application makes it easy to coat all of your hair pretty quickly. I put my hair up in a bun when it is all coated and wait at least an hour. Then, I shampoo and condition as usual. My hair comes out looking super shiny and my ends look like they've actually had a haircut recently! I am like a hair salon's worst customer, I NEVER get haircuts as often as I should. But this hair oil makes my hair look like I kind of care about my hair. It even makes my hair color look better, but that might be because of the increased shine.

Now I know this is a nail blog, but I do like to post other products when I think they are outstanding. This hair oil is outstanding. I will never be without it again. It definitely receives a 10/10!

Jonathan Product IB Revitalizer Overnight Oil Treatment Spray is available online at Ulta.

Incoco Nail Stickers... 6 Days Later

As all of you probably know by now, I have nail polish A.D.D. I feel the need to wear something different on my nails just about every other day. Therefore, I usually leave the wear tests to other bloggers who actually have the virtue of patience.

It just so happened, though, that I applied the Incoco Nail Appliques right as I was embarking on a seriously busy couple of days. I actually managed to leave them on my nails for a grand total of 6 days!!! Check out the pictures of these babies 6 days later.

You can see some very very slight tip wear, but really wearable and not at all obnoxious. If I weren't N.A.D.D. (that's Nail Attention Deficit Disorder), I would totally leave these on for a few more days! I've heard that these last almost 2 weeks on some people, and I could definitely believe that after wearing them.



I did get a reader comment on the price of these. They are about $8.95-$10.95 for one set. When you compare that to a bottle of OPI or China Glaze, it seems silly to pay that much for one use stickers. However, I'm kind of comparing it to a professional manicure with nail art. Personally, I would only buy the nail art kind, not the regular polish kind, so I think that's a fair comparison. So if you think about it that way, the price seems OK. These definitely have great lasting power, so no worries there. After seeing the wear time, I give these a 8.5/10. I only took points off because I think they would be more popular around the $5-$6 price point.

More NARS Spring 2011- Nouveau Monde Eyeshadow Duo

Continuing with my obsession over the NARS Spring 2011 collection, I thought I'd show you some quick pictures of one of the two powder eyeshadow duos in the collection, Nouveau Monde. Nouveau Monde consists of a silvery lilac metallic shadow and a rich olive green shimmery shadow. More love for Francois, because most people would not put silvery lilac with olive green.



Both of these shadows are really pigmented and smooth. They are really easy to apply and last (on me) all day without creasing. I do have dry lids, so most shadows last pretty well on me. If you have oily lids, you may or may not need a primer. Seriously. Olive green and silvery lilac. Sorry, I can't get over how gorgeous I think this combo is. I'm wearing it right now and I can tell it will get a LOT of use this spring.



Look at the chic packaging this duo comes in (by the way, this was taken on probably the third day of me wearing Desperado, and it still looks HOT)! NARS products are maybe a little pricey, but they're sooooo worth it. This duo was $33 for 0.14oz of product, but you are getting two really nicely pigmented shadows that you can use together or with other colors.

I do plan on purchasing the eyeshadow trio, Calanque, that came out with this collection. I was hoping to wait for it to come to Sephora though. I have a Sephora gift card from Christmas that I've been saving for this very purpose. Whenever I get it, I'll definitely post it up!

NARS Nouveau Monde is available online at Sephora, or at a Sephora near you.