March Favorites

This is an ongoing monthly post which highlights some of my very favorites from the month past. 

Today I have my most favorite things from March. Check it out below.

Favorite Base: Bio Seaweed UV Gel Polish No Sanding Base
As you have noticed for most of the month of March I have used a UV gel as my base. Not only is it versatile in avoiding staining and adding a smooth base for chromes and holos to shine, but it also gives my nails some extra strength.

As an extra bonus it contains no formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, BHA or solvents! Five minute soak-off removal makes it a breeze to remove and it works with LED or UV lamps (I have an LED). It doesn't require any sanding, primers or bonders and is touted as strengthening for the nail and enriched with minerals and vitamins to promote natural nail growth and shine.

Manduka eKO Yoga Mat
Not only the Manduka eKO mat super grippy but it is also eco-friendly and is made from biodegradable, non-Amazon harvested, natural tree rubber. I had been looking for a new yoga mat for a while now and was hoping to get one that was more natural without icky chemicals. I didn't realize how bad my old Everlast yoga mat was before making the switch! I can hold poses better now thanks to the dense, level and grippy surface. I LOVE this thing!

Favorite Shade This Month: China Glaze Four Leaf Clover
My favorite shade of the month is the perfect bright green, perfect for spring and St. Patricks Day! What made wearing this polish even better was the fact that I avoided staining to my natural nails with the help of my Bio Seaweed Gel base. I swear I am not sponsored by them in any way, it's just a great product with minimal effort! For more information on Four Leaf Clover, check out my original post here.

Favorite On-the-Go Moisturizer: Deborah Lippmann The Cure
I have been using this off and on and have recently started packing it in my work bag to use during the commute before and after work or during work should my cuticles need some moisture. Patented raspberry cultured stem cell Extract soothes while red algae, shea butter, sodium hyaluronate and Vitamins A, C, and E hydrate and deeply penetrate the skin.

The bottles looks small but only a small amount is needed. Can we talk about the packaging for a second, because it is amazing! I love how it looks, so pretty and modern. But I guess for the hefty price tag, you are paying for it! This was gifted to me otherwise I cannot see myself spending this much for a cuticle moisturizer. However, now that I own it, I do love it.

Until next month! Finally glad to get some real spring-like temperatures. Can't wait to wear some more brights and pastels!

December Polish Haul + High End Polish for under $7!

I may have gone crossborder shopping right before the holidays and found some awesome polish... It wasn't just a polish trip, I swear! They usually aren't anyways, but I did score some great polish for some great deals!

I'll start off with the holiday collections, first up OPI 'a latest Gwen Stefani colab. From left to right, First Class Desires and Christmas Gone Plaid.

First Class Desires is a deep plum creme with golden shimmer running throughout. Two coats are shown in my swatches below.

Christmas Gone Plaid is a deep forest creme that stops right on the boarder before black, I love it! Two coats are shown in the swatches below.

I scored both of these polishes for $2.75 each at Cosmoprof along with two bottles of Nail Tek Foundation II (my favourite ridge filling base coat, not shown) for $3.75! Sweet deal! I would have picked up more of the Nail Tek's, but that was all they had left.

Moving on now to some polishes I was hunting down! I just HAD to own Mirrorball! Below left to right I have Orly Mirrorball, Bling and Halo.

Mirrorball is a silver holographic polish made up of fine glitter and speckled with some hex glitter as well. Two coats are shown in the swatches below.

Bling is similar to Mirrorball, only it's a yellow toned gold with larger pieces of glitter and it does not produce a linear holo effect. Two coats are shown in my swatches below, however three are required for full coverage.

Last, but not least, I have a polish from last years collection, Halo. This glitter is made up of various sized silver and light gold glitter. Two coats are shown below. 

I purchased all three at Ulta to take advantage of their buy two get one free promotion. I also used my 20% off coupon, I only shop at Ulta when there is at least one coupon or promotion going on!

Next I hit up Big Lots hoping to score some Sephora by OPI and Sephora X shades. Unfortunately nothing really caught my eye untill I saw a huge Sinful Colors display. I picked up a new to me shade and a long time lemming, from left to right Mint Tropics and Mint Apple.

Although these may look very similar in the photo, they are actually quite different. Mint Tropics is a bright, soft creme. It's a beautiful spearmint shade, you can see more of it in this post. Two coats are shown in the swatch below

Mint Apple has been one of those polishes I have picked up and put back down multiple times. Why exactly, I'm not too sure, but I finally decided it was time to try it out. Its a blue toned green with silver shimmer throughout. In the bottle the shimmer looks silver but in my swatch of two coats below it looks more golden.

Next up, some randoms. Orly, Smoked Out, OPI, Where's My Blanket??? and OPI, There's a Frog in My Throat.

Orly Smoked Out was an impulse sale purchase at Sally's, in hindsight the "sale" price wasn't really a sale lol. It is made up of an inky blue base with blue and green glitter which appears to be jelly in application but dries to a weird matte-ish finish. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Where's My Blanket??? it apart of OPI's 2014 Halloween offering. I was glad to see an full sized halloween collection from them this year, however this is the only polish that captured my interest. It is a matte black based glitter with pastel yellow, orange and white matte glitter in a clear base. Very candy corn!

Frog in My Throat is very familiar. I picked up both these OPI's from Marshalls, and I am 99% confident this is a rebottling of Sephora by OPI 212 which was a hard to find polish that was brought back in to stores which now again is discontinued and probably harder to find again. I own it, but I had to be sure! I may consider selling it or soemthing, no need for two in my stash. for more information on this polish check out my post on 212 here. Check out those long ass square nails!

I totally Saved the best plus a random for last.... check out Deborah Lippmann Lets go Crazy! 

...oh yeah, and Essie Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low.

So, Lets Go Crazy is the star of this haul because I found it accidentally at Marshalls and because it was $6.99.... SIX NINETY-NINE! That is bananas! I originally grabbed 4 or five different ones before calming down and narrowing it down to the one I really wanted. Lets Go Crazy is a deep plum jelly packed with multiple shades of giller in various sizes. Two coats are shown in the swatch below.

Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low is a silver based foil with flakes of gold sprinkled in there. Very pretty and shiny! Two coats are shown in my swatch below.

I finally go through this post, it was a long one! If you are still with me I appreciate it :)

Did you find any gems in your shopping before the holidays? Any other awesome Deborah Lippmann sightings at Marshalls?

Online Polish Promos!

I've noticed some great polish promos recently online, looks like some companies are clearing out older stock to make way for newer collections maybe? I have listed below the top promos I have found on the web this week.

Milani's On BeautyJoint.com

The sale section of The Beauy Joint has a small collection of reduced beauty products and implements, but what really caught my eye was Milani polishes on sale for only 99 cents! There is a great selection of colours and finishes since I last checked the site yesterday evening, to see what is available click here. To have a look at their full list of sale items click here.

Deborah Lippmann's on NailPolishCanada.com

This promo has been going in for a while now, but what is left of the polishes are up to half off! It you were holding off on picking up a shade, now if your chance to get a good discount. Since this promo had been going on for a week or two now the polishes have been picked over, however there is still a lot on sale. This includes single polishes and sets. They have mentioned that they are no longer selling Deborah Lippmann polishes which gives me hope that they are likely to be further reduced until they are sold out. Have a look at what's left for sale here.

25% off SallysBeauty.com

Sally's has an promo for Mother's Day, get 25% off your online order totalling $60 or more using promo code 555263!

Plus a little bonus to those bargain hunters that read through the whole post, here is this months $10 off $20 at Sally's Beauty. Enjoy!