Christmas Nails 2014 Nails #2 - Christmas Stripes

For my second holiday manicure this year, I wanted to go with something simple but festive. I also had to work with only the polishes I brought home with me! I think it turned out really well and I got to take a few sun-lit pictures by the Christmas tree!

Christmas 2014 Nails #1 - Redo of Christmas 2013 Nails

For one of my Christmas manicures this year, I wanted to redo my Christmas manicure from last year to see how much my skills have improved! The top picture above is from Christmas 2013, while the bottom picture is from this year. I had a lot of fun recreating this mani, and it's really encouraging to see that I have definitely made progress!

White and Gold Ruffian Nails

I've been pretty busy finishing up this semester and packing up to head home, but I found a little bit of time to do a quick mani last night. I went with something really simple and with a color scheme I wouldn't normally think of, except I just bought these polishes! I needed a new white since my old ones (NYC - French White Tip & Wet n Wild - French Lace Cream) are getting kind of goopey, and I needed a new gold because my old one (Maybelline Color Show - Bold Gold) is actually running out!

Birchbox December 2014

This review is for the Birchbox from December 2014. Birchbox is a very popular subscription box. It is $10/month for 4-5 beauty and lifestyle samples, which are personalized based on a quiz you take. They seem to stick to the quiz fairly well, though they do state that even if you "dislike" a particular product, you may still get it once a year or so. The great thing about Birchbox is its reward system. You get 10 points for every item you review from your box, as well as a point for every dollar you spend in the Birchbox shop (which includes the purchase of your actual box). You can also get points for referring friends. Every 100 points you accumulate is $10 toward a purchase from the shop, which contains full-sized items, some of which are exclusive to Birchbox. So, it's a pretty inexpensive way to try out products and then use your rewards towards buying the ones you ended up liking or something else entirely.

Sample Society December 2014

This review is for the Sample Society subscription box of December 2014. I was generously gifted a 3 month subscription to the allure Sample Society Box for my birthday (in October). The box costs $15/month + tax and is curated by allure magazine. The box includes 5 deluxe samples of makeup, skincare, hair care, and fragrance items. You also receive a $10 off of $50 coupon each month to use at BeautyBar.com, which is the umbrella company. This is my second box of the subscription.

Simple Holiday Glitter

I decided to do a very simple holiday mani using a glitter I picked up on sale after last year's holiday season. I also went back to a square nail shape with rounded edges just for a change of pace! Here is what I used for this quick, but festive manicure:

Base Coat: Orly Bonder
Polishes: China Glaze - Dandy Lyin' Around
               Sinful Colors - Holiday Rebel
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta Dri

I did 3 coats of the white China Glaze polish to make it suitably opaque, then topped with a thin coat of the Sinful Colors glitter. Easy peasy!

Matte Purple Skittle Nails

I couldn't decide on a nail art design last night, so I chose to just pick a color and do "skittles" nails where each nail has a different pattern. I chose 3 shades of purple creme polish, a purple glitter, and a silver to complement all the purple. I liked doing this because I got to practice a few of my basic nail art techniques!

Fall Star-burst Nails

It's been such a long time since I've been able to do my nails! My family came to visit for Thanksgiving, which required a lot of prep, but was a really great time! Once I got back into my routine, I was inspired by a Pinterest post and a new nail polish that I picked up from (where else?) TJ Maxx to make a star-burst type pattern using fall colors.