Monday, May 31, 2010

Review: OPI's Start to Finish Base & Top Coat


Product:
OPI's Start to Finish Base & Top Coat
Cost: $8.00+ (Varies depending where you buy)
Rating:
10/10 (1 = horrid, 10 = love it)
Buy it: Ulta, Trade Secret, Amazon.com


I am really addicted to nail polish and I've used just about every kind of base/top coat there has been made except the "high end" stuff. I've used simple drug store brands such as Sally Hansen. A few weeks ago I broke down and decided to spend about $9.00* on OPI's Start to Finish Base & Top Coat.

*This is an estimate, I don't remember how much I bought it for at Ulta
.


As I painted my nails I decided to take some pictures of my nails with just the clear coat on, the finished product with the nail polish plus base/top coat and then finally what my nails look like today. I put the time stamp on my camera so you could see the dates. The only picture that will not contain a time stamp is the one with the clear coat on because I took it with my Blackberry.

One coat of OPI Start to Finish Base & Top coat.

Two coats of China Glaze Peachy Keen topped with Start to Finish.

What my nails look like today, 6 days later. (Right hand, left hand)



My nails are chipped from "wear 'n tear" from being a mom of two young boys. As you can see not all of my nails have chipped, some haven't even began to chip. The ones that have chipped are due to nail breaking and nail polish remover (getting marker off walls). After more than a few days my skin around my nails starts drying out and looking rather gross. So please excuse the icky dry skin.

The Bottom Line
I absolutely love this stuff. I don't think I'll ever buy another one before I use this bottle up completely. I love the fact that if I wanted to I could go a week or longer without repainting my nails. Now if only I could actually go a week without repainting my nails. I definitely recommend this stuff to anyone who paints their nails even if its just occasionally.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Review: Pop Beauty’s Petal Jams



Product: Pop Beauty's Petal Jams
Cost: $14 or £9.00
Rating: 4/10 (1 = horrid, 10 = love it)
Buy it: Ulta, Pop Beauty

Spring is definitely in bloom with Pop Beauty’s Petal Jams. This all natural lip balm isn’t your average lip balm. It contains avocado oil, Jojoba oil, Vitamin-E and crushed sugar. This product really isn’t great for dry, chapped lips as I have found out. It doesn’t heal dry, chapped lips either. However it does make a wonderful base before applying lipstick. You can also apply this to other dry areas on your body, such as your elbow or hands. Petal Jams come in 3 flavors; Blooming Orange, Budding Berry and Bursting Violet.



The Bottom Line
I don't believe this is worth buying again to just use it as a base before applying lipstick.