I Love Nail Subscription Boxes: Scratch Monthly Mani Box

I'm all about giving my love to beauty subscription boxes...especially when they come to nails!  I first heard of Scratch nail wraps on kickstarter and have followed them ever since. I am glad to see them blossoming as a brand and of course I was interested in their subscription manicure box...the first of which featured Nail Swag! 

 The deets on the box: $30 for your first month (because it comes with a bottle of Seche Vite) and $25 for the rest. Cancel or skip anytime and great customer service and tracking on your package. The kits come with a nail art card to help you create looks, add-ons for your nail art (in this case, four packages of neon yellow gem thingies), an extra (here I got nail glue), a nail file and orange stick, and three nail strip packages enough for two manicures each. Solid! 

 

The geometric grey and purple was a fave of mine...really cool and fun for Fall.

 

 The green and black offering was sweet and girly!

 

 

And the white and black splatter with yellow dots was funky. I loved all of the designs!

 

They are a little bit temperamental, and if you want a picture of them on...see here, but it was mainly user error. It will take me a bit of practice, but I have seen fab looks created with these, so I am excited to keep playing.

 

Overall, one of the most creative and worth it nail art subscriptions around. I highly suggest you check them out! Their September box is really cute!

 

I Love Nail Subscription Boxes: Scratch Monthly Mani Box

I'm all about giving my love to beauty subscription boxes...especially when they come to nails!   I first heard of Scratch nail wraps on kickstarter and have followed them ever since. I am glad to see them blossoming as a brand and of course I was interested in their subscription manicure box...the first of which featured Nail Swag!  

  The deets on the box: $30 for your first month (because it comes with a bottle of Seche Vite) and $25 for the rest. Cancel or skip anytime and great customer service and tracking on your package. The kits come with a nail art card to help you create looks, add-ons for your nail art (in this case, four packages of neon yellow gem thingies), an extra (here I got nail glue), a nail file and orange stick, and three nail strip packages enough for two manicures each. Solid!  

 

The geometric grey and purple was a fave of mine...really cool and fun for Fall.

 

 The green and black offering was sweet and girly!

 

 

And the white and black splatter with yellow dots was funky. I loved all of the designs!

 

They are a little bit temperamental, and if you want a picture of them on...see here, but it was mainly user error. It will take me a bit of practice, but I have seen fab looks created with these, so I am excited to keep playing.

 

Overall, one of the most creative and worth it nail art subscriptions around. I highly suggest you check them out! Their September box is really cute!

 

Guest Post: Amazing Nails by Brooke from prettyandpolisheddd

Hey everyone! Today is really special because I want to introduce you to an amazing nail artist! I've been so impressed with her work on Instagram that I wanted to feature her, so let me introduce you to Brooke! 

  Hi, my name is Brooke. I am a 20 year old college student who loves to paint nails! I started doing nails when I was young. I would take a paper plate and a toothpick and practice making flowers on it for hours. I would get my nails done and observe how nail professionals did their job. I started doing my own as well as my moms' and sisters' nails frequently and word spread quickly and soon, I had a lot of friends, and my moms' and sisters' friends coming over to get their nails done. I asked around and got all the tools to making nail art possible. As I did more nails, many people would ask if I had thought about doing nails in the future and many suggested I should start my own nail business. When I created my Instagram, it opened my eyes to the nail world and I saw all the creativeness and how far nailart can go. I have advertised, but it is hard with Instagram because not everyone is from the LA area, as I do nails from out of my home. Many of my designs are inspired by others, but all my nails are my own. I have a great ability to recreate almost any design. I am self taught so I don't do much cleaning before painting. I typically just cut and file, then get right into painting. I love doing nails, but as a college student, some extra money would be nice! I would do nails for cheap starting at 10$; the price would be based on the design and time it takes. My Instagram name is prettyandpolisheddd, so check out my nails!
The above design took 2 and a half hours!! For this design, I used regular nails polish, thin brushes and my dotting tools. I didn't do the acrylic nails however. I just painted over her acrylics. I had recreated nail decals from Etsy. 

Isn't she talented? Check out her Instagram! She's also a really awesome person in general! Thanks for showing us your skills, Brooke!  

Guest Post: Amazing Nails by Brooke from prettyandpolisheddd

Hey everyone! Today is really special because I want to introduce you to an amazing nail artist! I've been so impressed with her work on Instagram that I wanted to feature her, so let me introduce you to Brooke!  

    Hi, my name is Brooke. I am a 20 year old college student who loves to paint nails! I started doing nails when I was young. I would take a paper plate and a toothpick and practice making flowers on it for hours. I would get my nails done and observe how nail professionals did their job. I started doing my own as well as my moms' and sisters' nails frequently and word spread quickly and soon, I had a lot of friends, and my moms' and sisters' friends coming over to get their nails done. I asked around and got all the tools to making nail art possible. As I did more nails, many people would ask if I had thought about doing nails in the future and many suggested I should start my own nail business. When I created my Instagram, it opened my eyes to the nail world and I saw all the creativeness and how far nailart can go. I have advertised, but it is hard with Instagram because not everyone is from the LA area, as I do nails from out of my home. Many of my designs are inspired by others, but all my nails are my own. I have a great ability to recreate almost any design. I am self taught so I don't do much cleaning before painting. I typically just cut and file, then get right into painting. I love doing nails, but as a college student, some extra money would be nice! I would do nails for cheap starting at 10$; the price would be based on the design and time it takes. My Instagram name is prettyandpolisheddd, so check out my nails!
The above design took 2 and a half hours!! For this design, I used regular nails polish, thin brushes and my dotting tools. I didn't do the acrylic nails however. I just painted over her acrylics. I had recreated nail decals from Etsy.  

Isn't she talented? Check out her Instagram! She's also a really awesome person in general! Thanks for showing us your skills, Brooke!    

Wild Wild West Nails with Hex Nail Jewelry

I'm pretty much open to putting anything on my nails, and Hex Nail Jewelry is one of the prettiest things to adorn them lately! 

 I created this modern cowgirl look with Hex Nail Jewelry Gold Horseshoe charm, picture pOlish Tiffany, PIXEL polish Two for Tea, and O.P.I Warm and Fozzy. See more pictures at Impressionist Nails! 

Wild Wild West Nails with Hex Nail Jewelry

I'm pretty much open to putting anything on my nails, and Hex Nail Jewelry is one of the prettiest things to adorn them lately!  

  I created this modern cowgirl look with Hex Nail Jewelry Gold Horseshoe charm, picture pOlish Tiffany, PIXEL polish Two for Tea, and O.P.I Warm and Fozzy. See more pictures at Impressionist Nails!  

Nail Transformation with Butter London Tea & Toast

Hello Pandas! I wanted to try out my new Butter London nude collection polish in Tea & Toast, so I thought I would do a fun Cowgirl nail tutorial.

 

This is the lovely Butter London Tea & Toast, which is a true tan color. I am not sure if I am loving how it looks on my fingers, but the formula is excellent; smooth, self-leveling, and perfect. This is two easy coats as a base for my nail art.

 

Here is what Tea & Toast looks like in flash or bright light. A little bit lighter. The price of Butter London polishes is $15, and they can be found at Nordstroms, Ulta, and online.

 

 

I then layered one coat of Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate over Tea & Toast. I left some of the tan showing. Even this looked cute by itself.

 

 

Since I was going line dancing the night I did these nails, I decided to use a black striping polish to draw a horseshoe. I dotted it with white polish and made a little shadow with a silver striping polish.

 

What do you guys think? A fun way to use your not so flattering neutrals!

 

 

 

Nail Transformation with Butter London Tea & Toast

Hello Pandas! I wanted to try out my new Butter London nude collection polish in Tea & Toast, so I thought I would do a fun Cowgirl nail tutorial.

 

This is the lovely Butter London Tea & Toast, which is a true tan color. I am not sure if I am loving how it looks on my fingers, but the formula is excellent; smooth, self-leveling, and perfect. This is two easy coats as a base for my nail art.

 

Here is what Tea & Toast looks like in flash or bright light. A little bit lighter. The price of Butter London polishes is $15, and they can be found at Nordstroms, Ulta, and online.

 

 

I then layered one coat of Sally Hansen Haute Chocolate over Tea & Toast. I left some of the tan showing. Even this looked cute by itself.

 

 

Since I was going line dancing the night I did these nails, I decided to use a black striping polish to draw a horseshoe. I dotted it with white polish and made a little shadow with a silver striping polish.

 

What do you guys think? A fun way to use your not so flattering neutrals!

 

 

 

Revlon Expressionist Nail Polish in Monet, Monet

Hello Pandas!

More nail polish! I have to say I was very intrigued by the looks of this, as I am a Art History lover, and a sucker for anything to do with Impressionism.

 

 

 Revlon Expressionist Nail Art in Monet, Monet which can be found at CVS, Ulta, and Target. They are priced at $12, which makes sense because you are essentially getting two polishes in one little cylindrical package.

 

The colors are a muted turquoise that looks slightly dingy. This is the main polish color. The accent or nail art color is a greenish yellow is iridescent shimmer.

If you are a nail art novice, these might interest you. You basically paint the base coat to your liking and then decorate with the accent polish, which has a much thinner brush. However, I am not sure it is for everyone. Sure, I adore the Expressionist theme which plays off of Impressionism and I love the name and the others in the line (Jackson Polish, Night & Degas) but is the nail art you create worthy of a gilded frame in the Getty?

 

The best way I can describe it is by quoting Cher from "Clueless". Basically, this polish is a total 

Monet. "From far away it is OK, but up close it is a big old mess". 

 

The blue color is streaky and does not apply or dry well and the brush on the yellow-green color is too small to paint a normal nail with but too big to do neat nail art. All in all kind of worthless, and too sheer to layer over the blue, so I had to go back and do two quotes of the messy yellow.

The two colors up close                

While the idea is awesome and the colors are unique, they just don't function as I think Revlon wanted them too, which is a shame. These also chipped quite easily on the nail, and although the packaging is cool, it isn't easy to store or paint with.

 

Price: 7/10

Performance: 7/10

Color/Wearability: 8/10

Packaging: 5/10

Overall Quality: 6/10

Total: 33/50 = D = Sad Panda

Have you tried these? Love them? Hate them?

  

 

Revlon Expressionist Nail Polish in Monet, Monet

Hello Pandas!

More nail polish! I have to say I was very intrigued by the looks of this, as I am a Art History lover, and a sucker for anything to do with Impressionism.

 

 

 Revlon Expressionist Nail Art in Monet, Monet which can be found at CVS, Ulta, and Target. They are priced at $12, which makes sense because you are essentially getting two polishes in one little cylindrical package.

 

The colors are a muted turquoise that looks slightly dingy. This is the main polish color. The accent or nail art color is a greenish yellow is iridescent shimmer.

If you are a nail art novice, these might interest you. You basically paint the base coat to your liking and then decorate with the accent polish, which has a much thinner brush. However, I am not sure it is for everyone. Sure, I adore the Expressionist theme which plays off of Impressionism and I love the name and the others in the line (Jackson Polish, Night & Degas) but is the nail art you create worthy of a gilded frame in the Getty?

 

The best way I can describe it is by quoting Cher from "Clueless". Basically, this polish is a total 

Monet. "From far away it is OK, but up close it is a big old mess". 

 

The blue color is streaky and does not apply or dry well and the brush on the yellow-green color is too small to paint a normal nail with but too big to do neat nail art. All in all kind of worthless, and too sheer to layer over the blue, so I had to go back and do two quotes of the messy yellow.

The two colors up close                

While the idea is awesome and the colors are unique, they just don't function as I think Revlon wanted them too, which is a shame. These also chipped quite easily on the nail, and although the packaging is cool, it isn't easy to store or paint with.

 

Price: 7/10

Performance: 7/10

Color/Wearability: 8/10

Packaging: 5/10

Overall Quality: 6/10

Total: 33/50 = D = Sad Panda

Have you tried these? Love them? Hate them?