Chic Couture-Bzzz Bzzz Mani

In last month's Ipsy bag I got a sample from Starrily. Starrily is an indie nail polish brand, meaning it is handmade. I received Bzzz Bzzz.... yellow and black glitters in a clear base. 

Now at first I thought, what am I gonna do with this! I'm not a bumble bee fanatic nor do I really cheer for any teams with those colors.  But I still wanted to try it and pulled out a few other polishes to see what I could come up with.  

First of all I filed my nails and used my new Vanish Cuticle Softener & Remover from Julep. I've only used it twice but am liking it so far! And then I used a base coat from Nubar.

Then I used China Glaze Champagne Bubbles on all of my fingers except my ring fingers, I used Julep's Cleopatra for those and added gold jewels.  Next, I added the Bzzz Bzzz to my middle fingers. I did 2 coats of everything.

Finally I finished with Nubar's topcoat and Julep's Ta Da Quick Dry Drops which I love!

After I was done, I thought I might should have used white underneath the Bzzz Bzzz but I still got compliments! Ha! Overall this was one fun mani for sure!

Happy Friday!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares!}

Chic Couture-Nubar Review

About 2 weeks ago Birchbox posted on their Facebook page a review of topcoats.  Someone commented on that post that they'd stick with their Nubar Diamont.  As you know, I enjoy painting my nails.  But it's hard for me to keep a manicure good for 3 days or more.  I know about Seche Vite but don't like that it has toluene.  So when I saw the comment about Nubar I searched it out and it had a lot of good reviews and was toluene free! So I bought the Diamont topcoat and their base coat from Amazon and gave it a try!

And the results were great!!

I painted my nails Saturday night before bed and they lasted until Wednesday without a chip! 4 days!! I have never got that before with Sally (sorry bout ya girl!) I've used Julep's Freedom topcoat but it hasn't lasted 4 days yet.  

This was taken on Tuesday...

And these were taken Thursday afternoon.  Wednesday evening I noticed a small chip on my right pointer but look at my ring, pinkie, and thumb fingers! They're all still pretty good! I am impressed! 

(sorry the right one is kinda blurry!....phone pics!)

Now I didn't clean house because I was waiting until today (hubby's been gone and I wanted the house to be it's cleanest for his return!)  but I did do dishes and bath time and I put a bookshelf together on Tuesday!

And once the chips got going it did come off in chunks and I found I could peel the polish right off.  I don't know if that's bad or good.  But as far as finding a topcoat that lasts longer than 2-3 days I am well pleased!  If, after using it more, anything changes I'll let ya know!

Happy Friday lovelies!!

Chic Couture-{Review} Nail Polish Stickers

A couple weeks ago I went to my local Sephora for more Urban Decay Primer Potion. Every time I go I take a gander at the clearance section.  You never know what goodies you might find! This trip I found some nail polish stickers for $3! I bought 3 packages....an animal print and 2 lacy prints.  I had never tried them before always thinking the price tag was a little much, I mean it's a sticker! So I thought 3 bucks was a good enough deal to give it a go!

{Please excuse the paper cut that I have no idea how I got!}

These were Sephora's brand and they call them 'patches', Sally calls them strips.  I don't think there's a difference.  They're all basically a sticker!

Applying, since it was my first time, was just a little tricky getting the placement just right.  You can pull it up and re-position but they are slightly delicate so you gotta be gentle. I did rip one doing this. 

The real test for me was how long they last!

Left hand

Right hand.

I applied the stickers on a Friday night, late and took the two above pics on the following Friday morning.  They started chipping about Tuesday.  I did have some lifting on one of my index fingers at the cuticle but I think it was too close to the cuticle and that's why it lifted!  Removal is just like regular nail polish.  I did try peeling them off to see if you could remove that way but that didn't really work...you would have to scrap it off.  

Overall I was very pleased with them!! My hands are in and out of water a lot with Lil' Hunkie still not potty trained and our dishwasher is a tad smaller than the norm and so I'm always having to hand wash what doesn't fit.  So I have a hard time keeping a manicure lasting a while.  I would say these strips lasted probably a full day longer than polish.  For me. I think I have about 6-8 strips left after one use so plenty more use as they would make great accent nails!

I love doing my nails so these just added some fun factor!

What's been your experience with nail polish stickers?

Happy Friday lovelies!!

Chic Couture-Spring Manicures

With the first day of Spring being this last week it got me to daydreaming about spring manicures.  I say daydreaming because we had a little bit of sleet yesterday! Brrr!  I'm tired of the cold! But at least I have pretty manicures to take my mind off the temperature! Here's some pretties I found on Pinterest....

via Margaret on Tumblr

via Small Good Things

via Heidi Klum on Aol.

via Heidi Klum on Aol.

via I Love Nail Polish

via We Heart It

via Chick-Advisor

via Racked

They make me want to bust out the nail stamper!! I do have a wedding to go to tomorrow! ☺

And speaking of stamping.....

You gotta see the Plum for today!!

4 choices in stamps! Each $3.99.

A set of 6  wooden spoons, 6 wooden knives, and 6 wooden forks for $3.99.

 

Biodegradable!

Oh my the cuteness!! I want that quatrefoil stamp so bad!! I see a splurge coming on!!

Be sure and check out Pick Your Plum today!

Click HERE or in my side bar!

Happy Friday Lovelies!

And don't forget I have a giveaway going on now too!

#ReadyDoneClean Giveaway

Chic Couture-I'm a Julep Maven!

Well I couldn't resist any longer! I became a Julep Maven!

Julep is mainly a nail polish company and offers a monthly subscription similar to Birchbox and Ipsy.  It's a little bit more flexible in that you have a 'preview' period and if you don't like what's in the box then you can skip it and not be charged! The monthly fee is a little more...$19.99...but with the option to skip and for what you get in a box I'm thinking it will be worth it.  I'll be letting you know!

To get started you take a quiz to determine your Maven style!

I happen to be Classic with a Twist!

courtesy of Julep

"CLASSIC WITH A TWIST"

"This timeless, iconic look is marked by beautiful yet simple cuts and colors. You accent your neutral palette with carefully chosen textures, patterns and splashes of color. Whatever the trends, you're uninfluenced by short-lived fads and always remain confidently in style." - Julep.com

This is pretty accurate! How about that? I at least strive to be classic with a twist! Ha!

My intro box is going to be great!

courtesy of Julep

I'll keep ya posted!!

Happy Friday!!

Chic Couture-Holiday Nails

The Holidays are the perfect time to have fun with your manicure!

Here's my recent Holiday Nails!

 I used a stamp that reminded me of poinsettias on my ring finger. 

And then I did put some clear glitter polish over it for a little sparkle.

My half moon skills are not perfect but I wanted the classic red and green in a different way.  I have Essie's  Penny Talk on my ring finger and then a fun glitter polish over that from Nailtini. 

If I have time before Christmas then I really am wanting to do a pink look with snowflakes and the hot pink glitter polish from this....

Found it on sale at Walgreen's this week! I can't wait to use them!!

Happy Holiday Nails to you!!

Chic Couture-Fall Nail Colors

There's all kinds of nail trends going on right now.  The easiest way to be 'on trend' with your nails is with color.  Nude, Deep Blue, Oxblood, Jewel tones and glitter are all what's hot for fall. So if you're not into all the art, patterns,etc then I say just stick with color!

Check out my set on Polyvore for more info on my fall picks!

Fall Nails by vintagegwen featuring lancôme

And here is my anniversary nails from last weekend:

I started with a Color Club sample exclusively for Birchbox called Put A Pin In It.  It's a pretty metallic nude color. Then I used a Bundle Monster stamping plate that had a pretty flower pattern and used black polish to stamp with.  The black said 'creme' on it so I thought it would be good for stamping but obviously it's not as solid as I was thinking it would be.  I do love how it turned out though! Reminds me of tattoos!

So which fall color will you be wearing?

Happy Friday!!

Chic Couture-Copy Cat Mani

I was strolling through Pinterest earlier this week and came across a beautiful mani that I had stuff to try!

It always makes me a little sad when you click on a pin and it takes you to "uploaded by user" or to a photo sharing site, which is where I landed when I clicked on it. I like to see the how-to! But it didn't take long for me to figure out how to do it and though it's not exactly like the original I'm still pleased with the out come!

Here's my inspiration...

via Pinterest

I love the sparkles!! And I have a perfect knockoff of it! And I recently bought a beige!

Here's what I have...

Base Coat: Avon Nail Experts Smooth Beginnings

Avon Speed Dry in Street Beige

Milani in Disco Lights

Top Coat:  Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Crystal Clear

Tape

I do my nails at night time after putting Lil' Hunkie to bed so I have a cell phone pic of how I used the tape so sorry it's poor lighting!

The only tape I had was double stick so definitely use regular tape...double stick was way tricky!!

After painting nails beige and the ring fingers all sparkly let dry. Then position tape at the base of nail to create a triangle. Then paint on the sparkles!  I did leave the tape on too long so when I removed it the sparkles came up....trail and error with this mani! I touched up as best I could!  ☺ 

I did do 2 coats of beige and 4 coats of the sparkle on the ring fingers.  

Other than leaving the tape on too long, I'm loving it! This is my first mani with an accent finger!

Fun!

So what do ya think?

Happy Friday!