Incoco 100% Real Nail Polish Strips in shade Make A Wish -- pics, swatches, review

Hello, Beautiful!

You all know I'm a polish lover and I change my nail polish daily, but there are certain times of the year that I need a break from doing my nails or I know I'll be busy and won't have time to do my nails. Those are the times I reach for nail polish strips and Incoco's 100% Real Nail Polish Strips are a must-have for everyone!

Today I want to show you the design Make A Wish, but I also have more Incoco designs to show you in the near future! Check out my pics, swatches, stats and review...

Incoco 100% Real Nail Polish Strips

Shade: Make A Wish

Shade Description: Bright and soft rainbow colors with glitter!

Basic stats for Incoco 100% Real Nail Polish Strips:

Formula: 100% real nail polish strips

Coverage: available in sheer to full coverage styles

Wear: average wear is up to 14 days depending on your lifestyle

Shade Info: large variety

Cost/Availability: $10.99 for the Make A Wish design; prices vary from $7.99 to $10.99 depending on style. Available on Incoco's website (www.incoco.com) 

Packaging: comes in an package to keep air out; 16 strips included

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Kisses!

Formula:

100% real nail polish in a strip! Free of all the bad stuff you don't want; no formaldehyde, DBP or Toluene!

Coverage:
Styles are available in sheer to full coverage. The shade I'm showing you today, Make A Wish, is almost full coverage; a little sheer in the close-up pics but to the naked eye it looks full coverage.


Wear:
Incoco's website states these nail strips last up to 14 days depending on your lifestyle, however, I've read reviews where people have worn these for 3 weeks and still had them looking great! I applied this design on October 25th and today, October 30th, they still look great! There is some tip wear, but nothing truly  noticeable. I was also using my hands a lot, making my son's Halloween costume. If I wasn't into changing my polish often I would have continued to leave these on even longer. I have more Incoco nail strips to review in the near future, and I'm excited to share them with you all.


Shade Info:
There is a wide variety of styles & shades available on Incoco's website. From classic french tip, to solid shades, to glitters, and to many gorgeous designs -- including limited edition holiday designs. You'll find yourself creating a long "I want it" list!


Cost/Availability:
$10.99 for the Make A Wish design; prices vary from $7.99 to $10.99 depending on style. Available on Incoco's website.


Packaging:
16-strips per package. You keep the nail strips in the package when you're not using them to prevent them from drying out.


Incoco 100% Real Nail Polish Strips Review:
I'm really loving Incoco's 100% Real Nail Polish Strips!! I knew I was going to be busy before Halloween making my son's Halloween costume so I made sure to apply my Incoco nail strips so I wouldn't have to worry about my nails.

The strips go on very easily and stretch really nice to fit your nails perfectly. One thing I should point out, because I don't think everyone knows/understands, the nails strips are about 95% dry when you take them out of the package. When you first apply them to your nails you'll feel like you could just peel them right back off; don't worry, that's normal! They'll set on your nails after about 15 to 30 minutes and then they're not going anywhere! I took the pics above right after I applied them (before they fully set), but believe me, they don't budge once set.

Since my nails are short I didn't need to use many strips at all, which means I'll get to use the same design more than once. I only used a total of 5 strips for all 10 nails! I could use them again on my nails, and possibly even an extra time on my toes!

I love the design Make A Wish because it's like a dreamy rainbow of delight. I don't know how else to describe it. The pattern varies on each nail, which I love. Some nails have more of the brighter shades of the rainbow while other nails have softer shades of the rainbow. Glitter is throughout them all, and I love glitter (I swear glitter runs in my veins!).  I also have other Incoco designs to show you in the near future.

Incoco offers solid colors, which are great for anyone who needs non-design/non-glittery options. Even though I don't really have an interest in the solid colors (only because I like the design options so much), I still think they are a fantastic item to keep on hand. Great to take on vacation, travel, to keep at your desk or in your school locker, etc. Incoco also has french tip designs - from classic to glitter tips - a beautiful option for weddings! And then there are my personal favorites, the designs! Their website offers a variety of designs to choose from, with new designs added every now and then (for holidays, as an example).

Here's a little tip/idea: Use small scissors to cut the strips into designs and apply them to your nails like nail stickers. For example, I cut out a heart from the Make A Wish Design just to test if it would work and it did! You could also cut them to make nail tips.

Overall, do I recommend these? Absolutely! Head over to Incoco's website to browse through some designs and let me know which ones you like!

Now let me know what you think...

What do you think of the shade Make A Wish? What about the brand Incoco? Do you have any of these or are they are your wish list? Discuss in the comments below.



Happy Halloween Weekend! A pic of my son's costume! Plus, an upcoming review of an amazing foundation!

Hello, Beautiful!

Happy Halloween Weekend! This is going to be a busy few days for me, so I apologize now in case I don't make another post until Monday.

Today was our mall's Halloween Trick-Or-Treat & Costume Contest (hosted by the radio station). I wasn't even sure about entering my son into the costume contest, since we came up with the idea at the last minute, but we ended up entering him... and winning! My original idea needed at least 2 weeks to really make it work, and I just didn't have the time this year. So we came up with a new idea just this past weekend and I spent most of the day Wednesday, every second I had on Thursday, and pretty much all Friday up until we had to leave, making his costume. The end result: Zombie Fisherman!

I didn't even have time to take pics of the costume yet, but I wanted to share a quick pic with you all that my husband took with his cell phone on our way out of the mall today. In the pic my son was in mid motion, talking, so he looks really odd but you'll get the general idea of the costume. I promise I'll post better pics in a few days...

He won first place in his age group!!!

I really didn't think he was going to win because there were a lot of great costumes this year, especially in his age group (6 to 8 years old), like this really cool owl that had light-up eyes. Not to mention there are pieces of my son's costume that didn't make it on; I had made "water" with fish, moss, and rocks to go all around the bottom of the boat. We plan to add it for tomorrow's costume contest, but it still looked pretty good as it is. The legs on the top are fake and he's able to walk with suspenders holding the whole boat up. There are a lot of cool details you can't see in the photo, but I'll point all that out when I take better photos over the next few days.

Anyhow...

Don't forget to enter my Coastal Scents Coat Nail Polish giveaway, which ends on Halloween. I'll pick the winner a day or two after Halloween and of course announce the winner on my blog.

Stay tuned for some awesome reviews & swatches next week... including an amazing palette from Smashbox - the Photo Op Mega Palette (sold exclusively at QVC). I am dying to use it but I want to take pics of it before I swatch.

In addition, I am really excited to share with you an amazing foundation find! The same day I ordered the Smashbox Photo Op Mega Palette I also ordered a Smashbox foundation: Smashbox Studio Skin 15 Hour Foundation with foundation brush. Let me just tell you.... this stuff is AMAZING! Without going into too much detail, I tested this foundation out today and it lasted over 9 hours (so far) without looking any different... and that is after walking through rain... yes RAIN... plus sweating a little, and just in general a stressful day. I thought for sure the moment I had to walk in the rain my face would be ruined, but my foundation stayed put! Right there I knew I was sold!

It offers medium to full coverage foundation, which is great for me, and it's really buildable so you can go more light coverage or build up to full coverage where you need it. The shade Light/Medium is a perfect match for my skin tone. The shade Light/Medium is actually shade 2.4 Natural Beige if you go by Smashbox shade names; QVC just simplifies the shade names for easier selection. I had ordered the Medium shade too, just in case, but since Light/Medium works so well I don't need to try the Medium. I'll probably swatch it before I send it back though. Sephora also sells this foundation, but they want $42 for it without the foundation brush. You get a better deal at QVC, well, only if you want a foundation brush. I like Smashbox brushes so I was more than happy to get the brush!

Smashbox said it was clinically tested/proven that after 15 hours 86% of the foundation remained on the skin. That's really great, and after testing it myself, I fully believe it!

Anyhow, I'm talking way too much about the foundation. I'll give you all the stats and a full review next week - including before and after pics.

Happy Halloween Weekend Everyone!! 

NOTD: Sephora by OPI - Good Tidings We Bling! (Holiday 2011)

Hello, Beautiful!

I know Halloween is just a couple days away, but today I want to show you one of the Sephora by OPI 2011 Holiday polishes.

During the Sephora Friends & Family Sale I picked up several Sephora by OPI Holiday polishes that I didn't already have and I wanted (I now have 7 of the 10 Holiday 2011 shades). I was most excited for the shade Good Tidings We Bling!, which is a red and green glitter polish. I like it a lot for a holiday shade. I like that it's sheer enough so I can use it as a top coat or buildable (2 to 3 coats) to use it on its own. Of course the formula is great, as are just about all the Sephora by OPI polishes (at least in my experience). You can purchase this for $9.50 on Sephora's website.

Let me know what you think of it! Check out my pics and swatches...

Sephora by OPI Nail Polish

Shade: Good Tidings We Bling! - SE H31

Shade Description: A clear base with medium red and green hex glitter, slightly smaller black hex glitter, tiny red and green hex glitter, as well as what appears to be tiny blue/gray hex glitter (which you really can't see on the nail except in close-up photos). It basically just looks red and green from the naked eye.
Details: Shown in all swatch photos using 3 coats. Base coat is Nail-Aid 3 Minute Artificials. Top coat is Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

Now let me know what you think...

What do you think of this holiday shade? Is it on your wish list or did you already purchase this? Maybe it's not for you? Discuss in the comments below.



Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel Color in Lily Pink: swatches, pics, review

Hello, Beautiful!

Happy Pink Wednesday!

Today I was out shopping for items for my son's Halloween costume and made a pit stop at Walgreen's (to check for nail polish, of course). Up high on top of a shelf I found the Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel Color. Only four shades were available (all boring shades in my opinion), but I picked the most interesting one to me, which was Lily Pink. It's a medium bright pink; a bubble gum or Barbie-like pink. Did I like it? Read my review at the end of this post to find out, and for now...

Check out my pics, swatches, stats, and review...

Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel Color

Shade: Lily Pink

Shade Description: A medium bright pink; bubble gum or Barbie-pink in description; no shimmer.





  



 



 
























Instructions/Details:

Basic stats for Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel Color:

Formula: a UV-free gel nail color

Coverage: requires two coats

Wear: ?

Shade Info: 12 shades on the Nutra Nail website

Cost/Availability: Cost varies; $10 to $14 depending where you shop. Available at drugstores and on Ulta's website.

Packaging: a 3-step system

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Kisses

Formula:

This is a 3-step, UV-Free gel nail color. Be warned: the Activator is very irritating to eyes! I'll explain more in my review below.

Coverage:
Product states it requires two coats; I would even say three coats depending on the shade or how thin you apply it (and to what you prefer).


Wear:
I'm not sure how long these will wear because I removed them right after I took the photos. I've read mixed reviews so I can only recommend you test drive them yourself before making a judgement.


Shade Info:
When I purchased these at Walgreen's there were only 4 shades, but on Nutra Nail's website there are a total of 12 shades.


Cost/Availability:
I paid nearly $15 with tax for this ($13.99 plus 5% sales tax). I had no clue how much it was because there was no price, but I kind of assumed it wouldn't be more than $10 to $12. I was wrong when I checked out and now I'm mad to see it's less at Ulta (plus I would have used my 20% off coupon, making it even cheaper). I'm returning this to Walgreen's if I'm able to. Not all that happy with the product, and seriously unhappy with the high price I paid there.


Packaging:
This is a 3-step system, which all comes packaged in a box. Includes instructions.


Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel Color Review:
I have to admit that I'm not into the whole gel nails, long-wearing color, trend. I just don't have a need for that because I like to change my nails daily or at least every other day. Sure, sometimes I need a break from doing my nails or I'm going on vacation and don't want to do my nails, but that's usually when I reach for nail strips (like Sally Hansen's Salon Effects or Incoco's nail strips). But I figured this was a great way to try it out because I wouldn't need to purchase a UV or LED light to make it work.

I was excited to try it, especially because today is Pink Wednesday. Let me first say how strong smelling this stuff is.... do your nails near an open window or at least in a well ventilated room! You might not realize how strong it smells until you're done, walk out of the room and come back in (because by the time you're done you get kind of used to it). It's strong.

Not to mention this stuff is very irritating to your eyes, at least to my eyes it was! It's the Activator that really burned them. Everyone will react differently; you may have no reaction or you may be like me and your eyes will water and you'll yell out some curse words.

This is one product where you have to work fast, but not too fast. You work one hand at a time. You apply the Activator to all nails, then go back and apply the color. You then move onto the next hand, doing the same thing, then go back to the first hand and repeat the steps again for your second coat. You also need to clean the polish brush in the brush cleaner. You just switch out the brushes (switch with the cleaner) so you can keep working. You'll need to clean your brush/switch it out every 5 nails to avoid getting it clumpy or applying streaky.

You'll want to apply the color and activator as good as you possibly can. Clean-up afterwards is a real pain in the ass. Once it hardens (which happens quickly; about 2 to 3 minutes) it will take an army of acetone to battle this stuff. Cleaning off your skin isn't too bad, but cleaning up around the nail edges is hell - especially if your polish flood the nail bed, which mine did on several nails during the first coat.

I do have to say that it does set-up really quickly, which was a nice point. It was really chip resistant and dent resistant after 5 minutes. I wasn't worried about messing them up before taking photos of them. The color was nice too; the pink went well with my skin tone and was a pink I personally like.

However, like I said, I'm just not into the whole gel nails thing. I know this isn't truly like gel nails but it's a nice  (cheaper) alternative. It's great for anyone who does like to wear the same mani for a week before changing polish. It's a fun new thing to try, if you're looking to change up your nail routine.

For the price I paid (nearly $15), was it worth it? No, not in my opinion. The amount of polish you get is so small - it's 0.17 fl oz! I mean, seriously?! And let's not even get into how the brush cleaner easily knocked over when I was trying to clean the brush and I spilled half of it. I think the application method is a bit messy, at least until I perfect the way I apply it, but I'm not going to bother with that. If I had gotten this for around $8 to $10 I would keep it and use it in the future, but right now I'm not sure I can justify $15 for a product that wasn't great to me and really irritated my eyes!

Overall I rate this product a 3 out of 5 kisses, right down the middle, because I don't hate it but it's not for me. I hope I can return mine. Anyone know the Walgreen's return policy on opened cosmetic items?

Now let me know what you think...

What do you think of this polish? Do you own this? Discuss in the comments below.