More Than Just Pretty Nails

Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat

2011-09-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

I picked this up during a trip to target in an attempt to save money. I'm all time favorite top coat is Seche Vite. While I love SV it can get pretty expensive at $10 a bottle that goes pretty quickly. I've heard positive things about the Revlon top coat so I decided to give it a try. It has a high gloss finish but other than that I can't think of anything positive about this top coat. I wouldn't even remotely call it's dry time "quick". I have ruined many manicures by touching something before they dried and on several occasions there were at least 20 minutes in-between the topcoat and point of ruin. Also it chips and peels completely off very quickly. I have very thing fragile nails and it tends to make it hard for me to keep polish on for an extended amount of time. With this topcoat however I never got more than 48hours out of my manicure.

Rosebud Strawberry Lip Balm

2011-09-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

After hearing hype about Rosebud products for a really long time I decided to pick this up during my last trip to Sephora. I picked up the Strawberry Lip Balm. It's a pink tint gloss but it doesn't leave any color on the lips. It does leave a nice shine however. It's very lightweight and creamy. I need like that it's not sticky. While I do like it as a day time lip gloss I'm not sold. I picked it up thinking it was a balm and would help improve my severely dry lips. I don't really think it help too much in improving my lips condition in the long run aspect. So I'm still in search for the perfect lip product to help combat dry/chapped lips. If anyone has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it.

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation

2011-09-20T22:58:00.002-04:00

Maybelline Fit Me! foundation has been my go to foundation since it was released. As you can see I've had to purchase several different colors as the summer progressed. I'm currently using shade 125. I enjoy this foundation more than any of the other drugstore foundations I've tried. It feels very light on and is easily blended. I tend to have problem-some skin so it doesn't quite cover has much as I need it to if I'm breaking out but I use concealer for an added touch of coverage. I'm very pleased with this foundation and recommend it to anyone looking for a lightweight foundation that still has moderate coverage.

OPI Cajun Shrimp

2011-08-26T21:53:00.002-04:00

Long time, no post. Sorry I've been without internet. The manicure I have to show you today is OPI's Cajun Shrimp. It's a bright reddish/coral color. Perfect for summer. It's very similar to My Chihuahua Bites. I'm pretty sure almost everyone that's into nail polish has seen this polish before.

Crackle

2011-07-13T15:15:00.002-04:00

I haven't had any pictures to show lately of my manicures because I've been giving my nails a break but I found this picture on my phone and decided to post it. The base is China Glaze's Kiwi Cool-ada and the Crackle is OPI's Black Crackle. I really like the effect of the crackle polishes but the black is a little too much for me. I have it in sliver and I love the way it looks but I haven't used the black since this manicure. It was fun to try but not really my style.

Clarisonic Plus

2011-07-04T00:54:00.004-04:00

I made a post about the Clarisonic Plus before but I never made a full review. I must say that the Clarisonic has forever changed my life. I have very problematic skin and I feel like I broke out more than a teenager hitting puberty. At 22 that's pretty embarrassing. After regular use of the clarisonic my skin has cleared up dramatically. I use it every night in the shower to clean my face. I remove my makeup with a makeup removing wipe and then use whatever cleanser I have at the moment. I haven't found a cleanser I'm in love with yet. Any suggestions? The Clarisonic has a 60 second timer, 20 for forehead, 20 for nose and chin, and 10 for each cheek. I use the timer once as directed to make sure I get my entire face and then I use the timer again to concentrate on areas that break out more or are more prone to makeup/oil bulid-up. When I get out of the shower I make sure to clean my brush so it doesn't cause more break outs. I clean the brush with anti-bacterial soap and hot water then I do a quick spritz of alcohol. Once a month I also do a soak in boiling hot water for a few minutes. Since I've started using it I rarely have any kind of break outs and my acne scarring is clearing up some as well. The Clarisonic Plus also comes with a body brush that is bigger.
I like the use the body brush to help exfoliate around my elbows, knees, and ankles before I sunless tan and it does a really good job. I also use it to help remove left over sunless tanner that doesn't completely fade. Overall I'm very please with my Clarsonic and I'm so glad I finally decided to purchase it.

Essie Trophy Wife

2011-06-08T16:15:00.002-04:00

I picked up this Essie at target last week. It's the first Essie I've purchased from a drugstore. They are a little cheaper than the regular Essie polishes but are also a smaller bottle. I am in love with Trophy Wife!!! It's a super pretty shimmery teal color that has a green flash in the sun. I got so many compliments on this polish when I wore it and I couldn't stop staring at my nails! Unfortunately my picture doesn't really do it justice since you can't see the green flash in the pictures.

Twitter

2011-06-06T12:59:00.004-04:00

In 2011 I've decided to take a lot more interest in growing this blog and posting more so I decided to make a twitter just for this blog. My username is @morethannails. So please follow me if you'd like updates on my blog and additional tips/tricks. Also feel free to ask me any questions or leave suggestions over twitter as well!!! I also created a email address as well if you have any questions or comments you can reach me at morethanjustprettynails@gmail.com.

OPI Wallpapers

2011-06-05T14:34:00.003-04:00

I don't visit the OPI website often at all so I may be behind on the times since they've been doing this since February but I thought I'd share anyways since not everyone may know about. When you visit OPI.com they offer free 2011 desktop calendar wallpapers. They are super cute. If your obsessed with nail polishes as much as I am then you'll love these. I think it's a adorable to show off your nail polish love! You can find the link to the Wallpapers at http://www.opi.com/. Also here's a link to June's wallpaper, http://www.opi.com/calendar/June/June_1280X800.jpg

OPI Mermaid Tears

2011-06-05T14:06:00.003-04:00

Here's another polish from the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection. This is probably my favorite color of the collection. It's a some what minty green but slightly darker. I don't have any dupes for this polish in my collection. It tends to be a little more smokey and muted compared to similar polishes I own in the color range. If I could only pick one color to keep from this collection then this would probably be the one.

China Glaze Solar Power

2011-05-30T19:14:00.002-04:00

To celebrate the beginning summer I decided to paint my nails something super bright and colorful! I finally decided on neon yellow as I though it was the most appropriate ringing in the summer color. I decided on China Glaze's Solar Power because it has a nice shimmery finish that isn't too overwhelming. I used OPI Alpine Snow as a base to help bring out the color more. I do this often with pastels too. I also made sure to use a thick coat of Seche Vite and between the 2 I didn't have any problems with application or streaks. While I do like this color I'm not a huge fan of it on the nails because I am so pale yellow just doesn't work for my skin tone that well. I think this would be a fantastic color for someone with a tanner complexion.

China Glaze First Mate

2011-05-29T16:15:00.002-04:00

First Mate was released with China Glaze's spring collection Anchors Away. I've had this polish for a while now but since it's not work appropriate this if the first time I've had a chance to wear it. I really like the formula on this polish and it was very easy to work with. The color looks a tad darker in real life. I really like this color and I think it's the perfect blue. I like my fingernails to be a bit brighter in the summertime so I don't really see myself wearing this a lot now but I know once football season rolls around this is be on my nails every chance I get. It's the perfect gator's royal blue!

OPI Planks A Lot

2011-05-28T21:49:00.003-04:00

Pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite movie franchise so when I found out there was a collection of OPI helping to combine my two favorite things I couldn't wait to get my hands on them! I purchased this entire collection including the sliver shatter and from what I've tried so far I really like them. I am a little disappointed in the color range though. When I think of Pirates of the Caribbean nail colors I think of dark vampy colors and jewel tones. I don't really see how these play into the movies at all! I wish they would have taken more inspiration from the movies and released colors that went along with it. Planks A Lot however is a very pretty light purple. Application was a breeze. I feel like I have numerous colors similar to this though.

Zoya

2011-04-02T14:01:00.003-04:00

I never posted my free Zoya polishes. I couldn't narrow it down to just 3 polishes so I got additional ones. Shipping took a while but it's understandable since there was a massive amount of orders placed. I've used some of them but I haven't got a chance to try them all out yet. My work is very strict on the colors you can wear. So I'll do a more in depth review of the colors soon. These are my first Zoya polishes. I'm not a huge fan of the brush as it's a bit smaller than what I'm used to. I do however like the formula and color range on Zoya polishes. They seem to hold up to chipping well. Overall I can say I will be purchases polishes from zoya again soon!

Maybelline Mascara

2011-03-17T13:06:00.003-04:00

Maybelline Falsies and One by One are 2 of my favorite mascaras. I've been using Falsies everyday since it came out. The one in the picture is the black drama and I'm not a huge fan but I love the waterproof kind. The waterproof version doesn't flake of during the day. It makes my lashes look very full and long. I have naturally long eyelashes to begin with and since I've started wearing this mascara I've had more people ask me if my eyelashes were real than I have in my entire life. I think the falsies gives more volume to your lashes than anything else. A couple of weeks ago I was going out and didn't have time to go home so I figured I'd try Maybelline's One by One since my tube of Falsies was still good. I really like the brush on this one a lot more than the falsies. It's a plastic brush similar to Covergirl's Lash Blast, which I'm not a fan of, and it really works good and separating the lashes. This is a feature I love about this mascara. It also adds a lot of length to my lashes but doesn't make them as full as the falsies does. My favorite way to wear mascara as of late is to start with One by One to help separate my lashes and then use a light coat of falsies to make them a bit fuller.

China Glaze Anchors Away

2011-03-13T13:55:00.004-04:00

With my collection growing I've noticed that a lot of collections seem very repetitive so I haven't been purchasing a lot of polishes lately. However the China Glaze Anchors Away collection had a few polishes that were very different from what I had. The ones I purchased from this collection was Below Deck, Sea Spray, First Mate, and Ahoy! So far I've used all of them besides First Mate because I can't wear it to work. I did swatch it though and I'm going to LOVE this color for football season! I was very happy with all the colors I purchased from this collection. Surprisingly my favorite of the four so far is Below Deck. I also plan on getting my hands on Pelican Gray next time I make a polish purchase.

OPI Katy Perry

2011-03-06T14:07:00.005-05:00

I ended up only purchasing 2 colors from the OPI Katy Perry collection. The first was Teenage Dream that I purchased from Ulta. I've wore this polish once with a light pink creme base underneath and it was amazing. i love it! I'm all for pink polishes and this one is a winner. I used 2 coats of the base and 2 coats of Teenage Dream so my manicure didn't last as long as I would have liked but other than that I loved this polish. I purchased Black crackle later on transdesign.com and I haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'm not really a fan of black polish or the crackle look but I figured as many polishes as I have I need to try it out! I'll report back when I actually wear it.

Clarisonic Plus

2011-02-12T13:25:00.003-05:00

I recently purchased the Clarsonic Plus brush in Pink from Sephora. I've been using it for about a week now and I can already notices changes in the appearance of my skin. I haven't got a chance to use the face washes that came with it or the body brush but I will be trying those out soon. My face has had less break outs since I've started using it but I've noticed it seems more oily than normal. I haven't been using it long enough to notice any drastic changes in my skin. I will be posting a full review with pictures once I have used this longer and have developed a full opinion on the product.

2011-02-12T13:22:00.001-05:00

I'm in the process of moving but as soon as I am all moved in within the next couple of weeks I'll post pictures of my recent nail polish purchases and get back into updating regularly.

Product Obsessions: Viva la Juicy

2011-01-20T22:36:00.002-05:00

I want to start making post on products that I cant get enough of. The first is a Christmas gift. I received a mini gift set of Juicy Couture's Viva la Juicy. It's described as an enticing scent of wild berries and mandarins, honeysuckle, gardenia, and jasmine. To round it out, amber, caramel, vanilla, sandalwood, and praline add just the right touch of sweetness. I can not stop smelling this perfume it's so yummy. I've used it everyday since I got it and I'm in love. It's my favorite of the Juicy Couture's line of perfumes. I plan on purchasing a full sized bottle as soon as my 1oz bottle runs out. I highly recommend this perfume & have received a ton of compliments on it.

Free Zoya Nail Polish

2011-01-06T21:01:00.007-05:00

Zoya is offering 3 free bottles of nail polish for a Facebook promotion. I don't own any Zoya nail polish so this is the perfect chance for me to try this brand out because I've always wanted to try them. Today was the last day to place an order. I wish I would have known about this earlier. The polish was free but they did charge for shipping and handling fees of $6.95. I'll post a review once the polishes come in. I don't quite remember what colors I got but all were different shades of pink as I'm obsessed with pink polishes so that will give me a good base to judge Zoya polishes. I have a feeling these pinks will be very different than any pinks I have in my collection and that I am excited about.

2011 Fresh Start

2011-01-04T19:38:00.003-05:00

I wasn't very happy with the path this blog was taking so I kind of stopped putting effort into it. I want to start back though so I decided to delete all previous post and start fresh for 2011. I still haven't completely decided what kind of path I want to take with this blog but I will be sure to post regularly starting soon.