Guest Post - Pink Sith pretends she knows how to apply Avon Nail Art Design Strips!

Hi! It's Elvira from The Pink Sith Blog! I'm back again to be tortured by Lisamarie with nail stickers. There is a special place in hell waiting for Lisamarie, and it's full of nail stickers that will never apply smoothly. I'm sure of it. But because she asked, and I am oh so benevolent, I agreed to do another review for nail stickers for you, her readers. I guess this is kinda how NAFTA works since I'm an American blogger doing business in Canada for a Canadian Blogger. Or maybe not. Anyway. Let's talk about Avon Nail Art Strips.

Avon Nail Art Design Strips - $10/18 strips - in 19 designs: Bedazzled, Bows For You, Catch The Wave, Check You Out, Cheetah Pink, Color Shock, Crystallized Black, Denim Stars, Dozen Roses, Hot Pink Bling, Inner Animal, Mosaic Flowers, Zebra Bling, Starstruck, Racy Lacy, Sweetly Laced, Swirled Blues, True Zebra and Red Hot Lace.

Available from your Avon rep - 1-800-265-AVON or online at www.avon.ca.

I was sent the strips in the Sweetly Laced design. This is a light pink beige color with an intricate black lace type design over it with small 3-D dots of faux pearls. 

As you can see from the instructions on the back, the nail strips have a simple application and removal - stick on, peel off. Of course, half of the directions were written in French. I was a C student in French, and even with a recent trip to Montreal, I still cannot speak or read it very well. But being an expert at all things nail stickers, I didn't need no stinkin' directions!

OK. Maybe I didn't need directions, but I totally fudged the index finger nail on this application. That one was applied on my cuticle rather than right above it...but the rest of them went on correctly. The Avon Nail Art Strips were surprisingly easy to apply, and they stayed flat very well despite the high arch of my nails. I'm a special snowflake, so many fake nails and nail strips are not arched high enough to fit my delicate princess special snowflake fingers.

I wore these nail strips for 2 days before I went slightly insane and peeled them off. I will say that they peeled off quite easily and didn't tear up my natural nails. There was a slight adhesive residue left behind on some nails, but nothing that a little acetone remover couldn't get rid of.

Before I went mental and peeled off the nail strips the only ones that lifted were the one on my index finger on my left hand because of user error (mentioned above), and the index and middle fingers on my right hand because I use my right hand more and I like to give people the finger.

I was impressed with the Avon Nail Art Strips lasting through my rigorous daily routine of...

Applying lipstick...
 

using the TV remote...

talking on the phone...

and playing Candy Crush (I'm totally addicted)!

There was some lifting that occurs as I mentioned, but that was mostly due to user error. The design looked nice and stayed looking nice the entire time, and I received compliments on my nails from myself and my 6 year old son.

Oh and just wondering...what sort of item should I send to Lisamarie to review on MY blog? I would like to start torturing her as much as she tortures me...you know, because of NAFTA and stuff.

- Elvira -

Test Driving Sally Hansen Salon InstaGel Strips with my spastic friend Sam!

Sally Hansen has a new kit that offers an easy 2 step gel manicure: Sally Hansen InstaGel Strips starter kit - $39.95 - which contains everything you need for an easy-on, easy-removal gel strip manicure including a Mini LED Lamp with Auto-Timer; Gel Top Coat; 16 Gel Polish Strips; 2 Nail Cleanser Pads; Cuticle Stick, File and Buffer. 

The strips themselves are available in 24 shades: Take the Stage, Hi Ho Silver, Sheer Ecstasy, Shell We Dance?, Pink Pong, Plums the Word, Commander in Chic, Get Juiced, Back to the Fuchsia, Rosy Outlook Punch Drunk, Red My Lips, Wine Not, Ruby Doo, Troublemaker, Pat on the Black Walk the Catwalk, Faux Real, Spot On, Amazing Lace, Perfect Poison, Pinkies Up!, Bonus Check and Pretty 'N Poppy.

With my tiny little nails I don't bother testing strips out, it just ends up being a disaster and not that Pink Sith won't test for me anymore (something about all the mocking making her cry) I had to find a new victim friend!


Enter Sam, my friend and co-worker - she has no experience with nail strips at all so this will be a good test of how "easy" this kit really is!

I thought it was weird that Lisamarie was admiring what she said were my "huge manly nails", but loving nail products, I was happy to give this Sally Hansen kit a try! The instructions were very straight forward, and many different sizes of strips were included so that you could find the size that fit each nail perfectly  and the nail lamp is totally tiny and adorable!

Pressing down the strips was easy, but when it came to filing off the ends, I ruined quite a few nails as the strip would rip and there would be a spot on my nail that wasn't covered with the strip. Maybe because this was my first time with nail stickers? Or maybe I shouldn't be allowed to handle sharp objects? (Ed. note)

The instructions said to cure under the LED lamp for 30 seconds, I did each nail for around a minute to be safe but the top coat still smeared. 

The nails that did work out looked great, but the ones missing part of the strip from filing and the smeared ones did not. I do have short nails which may have been the issue, but after spending over an hour on the process, I was not that happy with the outcome. I probably would not recommend this to someone like me who has never used nail strips before. 

Having looked at other people's results online it would seem that if you have the patience and experience then you can get a great result! 

Hopefully Lisamarie will still let me test things out even though this test drive didn't go so well!

I was prepared to mark this down to bad results due to short nails or lack of experience but another friend of mine who does lots of this kind of thing all the time and has long nails had the same crappy outcome. She did tell me that even though the strips were a wash that she has still been using the top coat and lamp to use with her regular nail polishes to get a long lasting result and said that it works beautifully!

- Sam & Lisamarie -

Test Driving CND Shellac with our guest poster Michelle!

When I found out I would be on holidays during a recent CND Shellac event I tried to think of who I could send in my place that would really be able to appreciate all the benefits of shellac and I couldn't think of anyone better then my friend Michelle who as a dental hygienist spends all day with her hands in other people's mouths - if you have to have someone's hands in your mouth they should at least look good right?! Here's Michelle's take on her CND Shellac experience:

I was so excited when Lisamarie asked me to try out a CND Shellac manicure - polish that lasts 14 days is just what I need with my job and I liked that it's the healthy manicure choice for natural nails with no surface filing. Being a health care professional I was concerned about the UV light but the professionals at CND put me at ease and explained that the UV exposure lamps are safer than natural sunlight/sunlamps. The amount of energy from a UV lamp during a typical Shellac manicure is roughly the same as the amount of UV exposure one would receive during a typical day of exposure in INDOOR fluorescent lighting. If that doesn't put you at ease throw some sunscreen on your hands prior to the manicure. Shellac should never be applied during a wet manicure, so there's no rinsing involved that would wash off your sunscreen.

Washing my hands constantly every day really takes a tole causing dryness and damage to my hands and nails. Manicures in the past haven't lasted even a day at the office, so I was intrigued to see how shellac would hold up. The color selection is endless especially now that CND has introduced the CND Additive collection of pigments and effects!

For my CND Shellac application I choose Red Baroness, with CND Additives in Red and Charcoal. Its been over a week, and I am still going strong sparkling away. What has helped keep it looking good is the SolarOil that I got to take home with me which so far has been my saving grace and is a must have for maintaining the perfect manicure. 

The professionals at CND, went above and beyond with their service and their knowledge was profound showing a true passion for the Shellac brand which had me excited about it too! A huge thanks to Christina, Erica, and Jenn for a wonderful experience!

If you're looking to do something festive for your holiday mani/pedi - check out the CND seasonal offerings: Tinsel Toast and Ruby Ritz - If you're in Toronto you can book yourself into Ritual at 789 King Street West for your shellac or check out the salon locator at cnd.com for a participating location near you.

- Michelle & Lisamarie -

Elvira from Pink Sith comes back for another go at nail stickers - this time Nail Bliss Bling Nail Appliques!

You know how some people like to harass a younger sibling or pull the wings off flies for entertainment? I've got something better, I send nail stickers to my buddy Elvira for her to review and then just sit and wait to hear her bellows of rage and frustration on this side of the border! Good time! Sadly, my efforts were thwarted this time as we seem to have finally found a brand that even Elvira is capable of applying without total frustration - Nail Bliss Bling Nail Appliques - $10.95 - they come in 12 sparkling patterns and you can find them at Trade Secrets - www.tradesecrets.ca or if you head over to Elvira's, she might have a few extras... let's see what she has to say about them!

Lisamarie sent me a package of Nail Bliss Bling Nails (http://nailbliss.com/prod_Bling.html) over a month ago…maybe 2 months. And it has taken me this long to write about them. It took me extra long to write this review because I had to re-test this on one hand again, just to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. Thankfully my extra research paid off. I am no crazier than I was before I tried the Bliss Nails Bling Appliqués!

I think you are all well aware that Lisamarie is a sadist and likes to torture me by having me test out every stinking nail sticker under the sun. However I’m also insane, because I keep doing the same reviews over and over again while expecting a different result each time. Sadly the result is usually the same. Sad warped nail stickers with folds and creases that lift off my nails after about a day of wear.

Well my little Einsteins. I have managed to beat the system. I have followed the very definition of insanity “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” And I have FINALLY achieved a different result!

Cue Fireworks, Fanfare and Confetti!

Nail Bliss has developed a product that is so easy, so foolproof even an oaf like me can apply them with relative ease and still have fantastic results.

First of all these 3-D nail appliqués are shiny and bedazzled little works of art that comes 18 to a packet. You get one excellent full manicure out of it and multiple Accent nail, nail art manicures to boot. The package is non-descript except for the design of the Nail Bling you intend to apply. I received the Black Jewels. A shiny black base with raised multi colored shapes of diamonds, squares and circles covering the base. The appliqués come in one clear plastic sheet.

This makes them easy to size to your nails without peeling them off first and it also makes for a nice sleek package. Once I had decided which appliqués went on which nail I started to gently peel the appliqué from the sheet. I noticed immediately that these appliqués were thicker than most appliqués I have used in the past. The thickness combined with the 3-D art on the nail actually made application a complete breeze! All I did was place the appliqué firmly at the base of my nail and slowly and carefully laid it down over the rest of my nail making sure to avoid creases and folds by slight stretching and maneuvering. Then I folded over the remaining edge and filed it away with my glass nail file. I pressed down firmly after each application on each nail to ensure a good bond.

Once I was finished I was left with a sparkling cute manicure of raised “stones” on my nails. You can see that I had a little trouble with the pink nail folding up by the cuticle, but I managed to smooth it out. The manicure lasted 2 full days on all of my nails but I had been typing a lot that weekend so by the third day my index fingers were starting to peel. I just applied a bit of nail polish to them to try and seal the bond. By the 4th day it was apparent it was time to take the appliqués off. They removed easily by just peeling them off. I didn’t experience any damage to my natural nail in the process of peeling them off, and any glue that remained came off quickly with some polish remover.

Overall I was seriously impressed by the ease of application, durability and design. Yup! These are the Nail Bling appliqués you are looking for!

- Elvira & Lisamarie -

Elvira from Pink Sith mangles another brand of nail stickers - this time Kiss Nail Dress!

Kiss Nail Dress - $10.99 - is the latest contender in the nail sticker world and their claim to fame is offering more nail strips per kit than any other brand. Available in 18 patterns and textures for endless combinations and the selection of designs in every package are asymmetrical for added variety so you can mix and match by cutting them up into any shape to cover tail tips, create a half-moon or any other design you can think of.

Each kit contains 28 Nail Dress strips in 14 sizes which means there is something for everyone - well practically everyone. As for myself, my nails are so small that I find kits like this an exercise in frustration - I have to cut the stickers down so much to fit that they never end up looking right so as usual, I sent them to my American twin, Elvira from Pink Sith and let her put them through their paces.

I'm beginning to wonder why though, out of the last 4 different types of nail stickers that I have sent her, she has only been successful with one of them and don't they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result, the only thing I'm not sure of is who the crazy one in this scenario is, me or her (and for that matter, who "they" actually is?)... While I ponder that,  here's Elvira!

I’m kinda getting the feeling that Lisamarie might be a complete and utter sadist. She really likes to send these nail stickers to me and I think she takes a secret joy in knowing that these nail stickers will ultimately drive me crazy. It’s very Un-Canadian behavior. You all should look into deportation for this girl. She acts too much like an American!

OK. Moving on.

You know when you get an inflamed taste bud on your tongue or burn the roof of your mouth you just can’t help but feel it with your tongue all day? Well imagine the inflamed taste bud is your Kiss Nail Dress Stickers and your tongue is the 9 other fingers you currently have and you’ve got my own private hell.

When referring to the Kiss Nail Dress Website FAQ (http://kissnaildress.com/#) one questions was: “How Long Do They Last?” The answer provided was: “It lasts up to 10 days, depending on your lifestyle.”

It had me thinking what sort of lifestyle would allow for these nail stickers to last for up to 10 days without them peeling, lifting, cracking, etc. I have come to the conclusion that the lifestyle is one of a person that:
a) Never touches water
b) Never types
c) Never does anything.

So basically a 500 pound (or 226 Kilos) person that does nothing but sit on their couch, eat and watch TV. Kinda like the mom from Gilbert Grape. She has people bring and prepare her food, she has a dialing wand because her overly fat sausage hands can’t use the buttons on the phone and she has nothing but time to make sure the Kiss Nail Dress Stickers are perfectly applied without a trace of creasing, folding or lifting. Yup. That must be the person that lasts 10 days in these things.

I, on the other hand, do wash my hands regularly, have a 5 y.o. that I have to give a bath to every night, I type, a lot. I pretty much don’t do anything, but that’s beside the point. I do have to get off my fat butt to get my own cookies from the kitchen.

So here is how loverly they looked after initial application. I properly prepped my nails for application. I made sure that I avoided any folds or gaps. But I’m sad to say these just didn’t work for me.

Approximately 10 hours after application, one shower, one hand washing and one face washing, I managed to get 6 of the 10 nails I covered to lift off. I wore them to work and most of my day was spent smoothing them down so I wouldn’t be tempted to peel them off and go bare nailed at work.

That being said, the Kiss Nail Dress Stickers looked awesome when I applied them. The retro 1960’s flower design is totally pretty and fun for Spring. They applied easily had a good thickness to the sticker so they wouldn't fold up on themselves. There were a bevy of sizes to choose from and they didn’t need a top coat once applied. Plus you could use them on your toes if you wished. I love you all too much to make you look at a picture of my feet. You're Welcome.

So can I recommend them? Not really. I mean, they look awesome, but they just don’t last all that well. At least they didn’t last all that well when I wore them. Your results may vary.

You can find more info and pictures of people who do nothing so theirs are perfect at: www.kissnaildress.com

- Elvira & Lisamarie -

Guest Post - Sephora Nail Bling - so easy even a Pink Sith can apply them!

My motives for asking my best American friend, Elvira to try out the nail stickers were only half pure, you see my nails are so small that trying this kind of thing is useless, I have to chop them up so much that there is no hope of them looking good. On the other hand, I never imagined she would be successful with them after last time so I was at least  expecting to get a bit of a laugh out of it... as it turns out the joke's on me, they look great and I'm jealous! Read on for Elvira's adventures with Sephora Nail Bling:

Hello darling readers of Beauty Crazed in Canada. I’m baaaaaack! It’s Elvira from The Pink Sith Blog with another review of a Sephora Nail product.  Back in June of 2010 I wrote about Sephora Chic Prints for Nails. It was a great experience working with Lisamarie but a terrible experience wearing those blasted nail stickers. Now it is over a year and a half later and here I sit with more nail stickers, provided by the loverly Lisamarie - am I an idiot for agreeing to do this all over again? What’s that saying? Fool me once, shame on you…Never mind, don't answer that...

I’m very pleased and very glad to say that my experience with the Sephora Nail Bling Stickers was a complete 180 from the previous experience. Not only did these stickers apply easily. They looked awesome and I received many compliments on them!

Sephora Nail Bling is a collection of nail art stickers in a range of textured bling effects. (8 designs currently) Each set contains 18 stickers in nine sizes.These easy-to-use appliqués create a dazzling 3-D nail art effect with a raised texture that you can feel.   

Lisamarie sent me the Black Rainbow set and I was so pleased when I saw the design.Tiny raised dots with all the colors of the rainbow adorn these black appliqué stickers.  

If you are a very tactile person…or live with one, then these nail stickers will either be a huge hit…or drive you crazy…or both! Mr. Sith (My Husband) and Darthypie (My almost 5 y.o. Son) are very tactile. When I applied the Sephora Nail Bling stickers to my nails both of them could NOT stop touching my nails. You know what? I kinda got obsessed with touching them as well. 

The directions to apply the Sephora Nail Bling were on the back of the package. The application was super easy. I did manage to get a crease in one nail, but that’s because I was not paying attention. Thankfully I was able to easily smooth it out.  The ends of the stickers filed off incredibly easy and I was left with perfectly shaped nail stickers that did not fold or curl or separate after filing. In fact, Sephora recommends covering the nail bling with a layer of clear polish after application. I think this helped a lot with the longevity of the wear. Please note that these Sephora Nail Bling stickers do not require you to fold over the excess sticker on the edge of the nail. I think that you could have fairly short nails and still be able to wear these!  At first the stickers felt strange on my nails but after a few minutes I was used to them and it was just like wearing regular nail polish.

More like wearing super awesome mega platinum first-class 3-D rainbow dot nail polish that is!   

I mean look at this - it’s so fun!  It’s so Disco! It’s so AWESOME! I loved wearing these Sephora Nail Bling Stickers. Not only did they last through 4 showers they lasted through multiple hand washings, buckling in and unbuckling Darthypie in his car seat, typing, typing and typing and just general wear and tear!  By day 5 they needed to come off.  The funny part was they were lifting by the cuticle and not by the tip of the nail... Shows you how well they stick on, huh?  I easily removed the stickers by soaking my fingers in warm water and then I peeled away stickers. I then used some nail polish remover to get rid of any remaining adhesive and I was happy to note that my underlying nail was not damaged at all. 

Do you NEED these? YES!  At a mere $8 CAD ($7 USD) these stickers are totally worth a night or two on the town. The 8 designs available are:
Black Flower
Black Rainbow
Gold Bubbles
Gold Leopard
Horizontal Zebra
Pink Zebra
Red Chip
White Basket Weave 
 
All are pretty and I for one am going to pick up the Black Flower nail stickers for New Years Eve!  You know, for when I sit at home watching Ryan Seacrest on TV with Mr. Sith because getting a sitter on New Year’s Eve is impossible. I asked Lisamarie to babysit but now she's not answering my calls...

- Elvira -

Dress like a celebrity on a normal person's budget!

When women are looking to achieve a personal style that fills them with excitement and confidence - they turn to my friend Lisa, the Practical Fashionista. Personally trained by Stacy London from TLC''s 'What Not to Wear', Lisa is a Personal Wardrobe Stylist and Image Consultant who not only works on-on-one with women, but also offers regular tips on fashion and style through her blog. And today she is doing just that with her guest post on how to 'Get the Celeb Look for Less'.

 

There are so many fashion posts out there showing ‘Celebrity Looks for Less’, but the one thing that always annoys me about them is they don’t always list where the pieces are from. And if they do, the items are from U.S. stores only. 

So, that’s why I decided to do a ‘Look for Less’ with one of my fave celebs, Reese Witherspoon – sporting this super funky 70’s boho meets urban cowgirl look. And of course, all of the pieces to re-create this look are available at a Canadian mall near you! Cool, eh? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!) Here's where:

Floppy Felt Hat - Old Navy - $19.94

Plaid Ruffled Blouse - Smart Set - $38.00

Buffalo David Bitton Faux Fur Vest - The Bay - $79.00

Braided Belt - Danier -  $19.99

Baby Bootcut Denim Jean - Smart Set - $56.00