Category: Review

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My Nail Care Routine featuring Mont Bleu 

It’s been a really long time since I posted a nail care post, & since I’ve recently incorporated some new products I’m in love with, I thought I would share what I do for nail care. For me, I like to do my full nail care routine once a week but I obviously file & moisturizer more often than that. 

Recently I was sent some products from Mont Bleu to review. They produce Czech made crystal nail files & other nail care products. For review, I received a three piece crystal nail set, crystal cuticle pusher & cuticle scissors. I’ve always been a major fan of crystal nail files, but it wasn’t until I started using the Mont Bleu products I realized what a difference good quality product can have! 

For my nail care routine, after removing my nail polish with nail polish remover I always start off by giving my nails a good file. If I only need to tidy up my nails a little I use the medium sized filed from Mont Bleu. If I need to trim any considerable length from my nails, I prefer to use the larger size. (The mini sized file from the set I keep in my purse for potential nail emergencies!) I’ve used crystal nail files for years, but these are a step above. I find they file so easily & smoothly & leave my tips feeling much smoother. I’ve been using these files for over a month now, & they have made a huge difference in the health of my nails. They don’t leave any cracks at my tips which I’ve found can happen with other files I’ve used. Also when it comes to filing down significant length, these files do it in less than half the time of other files I’ve used. 

Next step, I used a good cuticle remover. Right now I’m loving Butter London Melt Away which I find is gentle but effective. I start by applying it along my cuticles, & then push back my cuticles gently using the Mont Bleu glass cuticle pusher before rinsing them off. This was my first time using a glass cuticle pusher & I was nervous because glass ( & the edges feel kind of sharp to the touch) but this pusher is surprisingly gentle. It doesn’t take much pressure at all to push back your cuticles, unlike using my previous rubber pusher. Also I was happy to see it cleaned & washed easily without being ruined by the product. Next, I always make sure to apply cuticle oil after using remover & pushing them back. 

Next I like to use a good hand/cuticle scrub on my nails. My Mom gave me this Mary Kay scrub years ago, & I’m still using it. I tend to concentrate on my nails/cuticles with it so I don’t end up using a lot of product. (If you have any recommendations for some good cuticle scrubs, let me know!) 

Next step of my routine is to clip off any loose skin/potential hang nails. I don’t snip my actual cuticles, but I do make sure to clip off any spots that are potential problem areas. These cuticle scissors are great because they’re sharp & precise. They’re also the perfect scissors for applying nail decals, which I’ll have a post showing soon! 

Final step? Moisturizer moisturizer moisturizer! The bottle I’m showing above is a mixture of a whole slew of creams I like including Vaseline Healthy Hands & Nails, Vaseline Intensive Care Advance Care, & even some of my sons baby cream! I make sure to always have cream on me or near me, and apply it as much as possible. 

So that’s my nail care routine! Like I said I only do the full routine about once a week but I make sure to file my nails a few times a week, & moisturize & oil my nails daily. 

If you’re looking for some quality nail care products, you should definitely check out the products offered by Mont Bleu. I thought that all crystal nail files were the same, but after using these products I know now that is definitely not true! In the month I’ve added these products to my routine, there has been a great change in my nails. On top of that, the product itself is just gorgeous! You can check out Mont Bleu by clicking the links below:

As well, you can use the code BLOG to save 20% off your purchases at their E-shop! 

What is your current nail care routine must have? Let me know in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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SWATCH POST: Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d Summer 2017

I know, it’s not Sunday. But I do have some super exciting swatches to share today featuring the new Quo by ORLY Color Amp’d colours for 2017. As you might have noticed, I’ve got quite the affinity for the whole Quo by ORLY brand so I was beyond excited when these beauties showed up at my door for me to play around with. Just look at these colours! If you’re looking for some perfect Summer neon-esque shades, that need no white undies, look no further. 

Quo by ORLY  Je T’Aime L’Ocean

Holy Moses, just look! That blinding Mint is 2 coats plus the Color Amp’d flexible sealcoat. All these Summer shades are impressively saturated, & covered the whole nail easily. The brush on the Quo bottles are my favourite–they’re so wide that it only takes a few strokes to fill my whole nail. I also just love the blinding-ness of this shade. I feel like I should be wearing sunglasses while staring at them. When I think about Summer nail polish, this is what comes to mind. 


Quo by ORLY J’adore

I’m going fine honest, my camera did not want to accurately capture this shade. At all. It’s much more Coral-y in person, but my iPhone absolutely freaked out & showed it much more pink so you’ll have to trust me. Either way, this polish only needs to easy coats & its blinding neon-ness makes me want to wear it all day, everyday. These shades are perfect for me, because they really bring out my olive undertones to make me look so tanned (or compliment my tan when deeper into Summer.) 


Quo by ORLY Summer Bisou

The first thing that comes to mind when I look at this polish is juicy, like fresh raspberries. Seriously this is the hot pink of my dreams & I love everything about it. Again all it needed was 2 coats, plus the sealcoat for this dreamy perfection & lasting power. Toes, fingers… this is definitely a great shade for the whole Summer. I usually have hot pink shades on my own toes for the Summer months, so I can see myself putting this on soon! I have a pair of sandy brown gladiators this shade would look awesome with! 

If you’re a Canadian girl & looking for some perfect Summer colours, you can find these polishes right now at your local Shoppers Drug Mart for $10.99 each. If you’re wondering my personal favourite, I think I’m going to have to go with Summer Bisou but Je T’Aime L’Ocean is definitely a close second. 

Has anyone else tried out these shades yet? Let me know your thoughts & which one is your favourite in the comments below! 

*PR SAMPLE* These items were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own. 

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Spring Essentials: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat Review 


Winter finally seems to be leaving us, the days feeling a little bit warmer, which means it’s time to refresh my nails! Bitter cold Winter days can be rough on your nails, making them brittle, so sometimes you need a little help bringing them back to life.

I was sent Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat to review, and I was excited to try out this base coat. I’ve used their Hot Coral Gel Coat Color Polish before & I was really impressed with how strong it made my nails feel! So when given the chance to try out this base coat, I couldn’t wait to see if it would give my nails some new life after a long winter!


Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat is available to buy at Sephora for $30.  It can be worn either on its own, or as a base coat under your manicure. The ingredients are designed to strengthen your nails while simultaneously protecting them from breaks. The pink tinge also brightens the nail, which can cover any discolouration.

Continue reading “Spring Essentials: Perfect Formula Pink Gel Coat Review “

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Joe Fresh Gel Look in Key Lime Pie 7 day test. 

As I teased in my last post, I wanted to test out the durability of the new Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes. They boast up to 14 day durability, so I wanted to see how long I could get the polish to last on my nails. I used to never wear my polish more than a day or two, but now that life has gotten busier I need a polish in my life that lasts between mommy mani time! 

Day one:

From my original post, Key Lime Pie on the first day. For those who don’t remember from my previous post, I used three coats for application, with no base or top coat required. 
Day two:

After a day of wear, (and many diaper changes on top of other Mummy duties!) polish still looked  the same as the day before. 
Day Four:

After four days of wear, there was minimal tip wear, most notably on my thumb and pointer finger. Also you can really notice the growth at my cuticles after four days. 
Day Seven:

After 7 days of wear there is noticeable chipping on my pointer, as well as serious tip wear on my other fingers. You can also see how much growth is at the cuticle after a week of wear. My other (dominate) hand saw similar chipping, although more. 

The chipping was enough for me that I wouldn’t want to go longer than I did (not to mention the growth at the cuticles). That’s not to say it couldn’t last longer, but for this experiment 7 days was my cut off. And for a polish that requires no base or top coat, I thought that was pretty impressive!

As mentioned in my previous post, these Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes can be found at your local Loblaws or Superstore for $5.

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SWATCH POST: Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes

Hello loves, it’s been a while!

For those who don’t follow me on Instagram, I gave birth to our son last week so I’ve been spending the last little while snuggling with little Bubs and being a Mommy (with naked nails!) But I finally got a minute for my nails, which was perfect because I just so happened to receive these brand new Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes to test out!

The colours I received for review  were Cotton Candy, Raspberry Tart and Key Lime Pie. These polishes are designed to last as well as gel polish, without requiring a UV Light, base coat or top coat. As you can see from the release that came along with my polishes, they boast that this polish can last up to 14 days! I’ll have a second post coming where I review the lasting power of the polish to see how long it lasts for me.

For my below swatches, I applied my polish as directed with no base coat and no top coat.

 

Continue reading “SWATCH POST: Joe Fresh Gel Look polishes”