Friday, May 29, 2015

Essie Rock the Boat & Silver Flowers

Happy Friday! Hope you all had a good week. I haven't worn a light blue polish in forever so I decided it was time to pull one out of my stash. This is Essie Rock the Boat, a pale sky blue with a hint of shimmer. I need to wear this one more often, it's so pretty! Those silver flower decals (#4) are from Born Pretty Store. They were super easy to apply and look absolutely beautiful.





Have a great weekend! The BF and I are having a date night on Saturday. We're getting sushi and then seeing Pitch Perfect 2, I'm so excited! See you all on Monday :)

xoxo,
   Brooke



Disclaimer: The product in this post was provided for my honest review by the Born Pretty Store. All opinions are my own.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Zoya Bobbi

Hey everyone! Did you all have a nice Memorial Day Weekend? I did so much traveling and spent so many hours in the car. On Saturday the BF and I went with his family to Corning, which is in upstate New York, to celebrate his grandparent's wedding anniversary and his grandmother's birthday. We also went to the Corning Museum and took a glass pendant making class. It was so much fun! I'll post pictures of the pendant I made when it comes in the mail. They have to finish it off after you make it and then they ship it out for free which is nice. The next day the BF and I drove out to Long Island to celebrate my grandmother's birthday with my family. After that we drove back to my house in Jersey and had a relaxing Monday. Busy busy!

For today's mani I used Zoya Bobbi, which is a bright and shimmery magenta pink. The BF's mom actually bought me this polish over the weekend when I spotted a rack of Zoya polishes in Wegman's. It was so nice of her! We also picked out a pretty blue polish for her, though I can't remember the name right now. I decided to do a funky black accent nail with some nail decorations from Born Pretty Store. I have on a silver line sticker and various sizes of round silver studs. I may have to reuse this accent nail for my next mani -- I love it!





I hope you all have a great start to the week! Especially since it's a four day week ;)

xoxo,
   Brooke


Disclaimer: The products in this post was provided for my honest review by the Born Pretty Store. All opinions are my own.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Julep Sienna & Born Pretty Store Lace Stickers

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I'm off from work today which is wonderful so I decided to give myself an extra fancy manicure.

For my base color I used Julep Sienna, a gorgeous soft, shimmery gold. Application was great in two coats and it dried super fast, making it a great canvas for these amazing white lace stickers in style #2 from Born Pretty Store. They have a bunch of different patterns and I'm definitely going to need more because I may be a little bit obsessed. They just look so fancy!




The next two I took in natural lighting so you can see how beautiful Sienna is!



I hope you all have a great weekend!

xoxo,
   Brooke



Disclaimer: The product in this post was provided for my honest review by the Born Pretty Store. All opinions are my own.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Aruba Blue & Essie On a Silver Platter

Hey everyone! Did you have a good weekend? The BF and I hit up Max Brenner (again) and I finally tried their mac & cheese. Yummmmm it was so good! I took half of it home because obviously I had to save room for dessert. I had their vanilla popsicle that came with some delicious dippers.

Tomatoes with mac & cheese was unexpectedly delicious.

I was really digging the way Essie On a Silver Platter looked over Essie Aruba Blue, so I decided to go for a mani refresh and topped all my nails with it. I literally can't stop staring at my nails, they're so sparkly! Pictures don't do this mani justice.




Hope you all have a great week! It's a short one for me, my school is having a four day Memorial Weekend. Score!

xoxo,
   Brooke

Friday, May 15, 2015

Essie Aruba Blue

Happy Friday! This week was so freakin' long. Ugh. Is it summer yet?

I've had my eye on Essie Aruba Blue, it's been sitting in my collection for a couple weeks so I finally decided to try it out. Aruba Blue is a stunning frosty sapphire blue. The formula was really nice to work with, full opacity in two coats. I really could go on all day about how much I LOVE this color! I paired it with Essie On a Silver Platter and a quick rose design using MidWest Lacquer endNF. It changes color from a frosty sheer white when warm to a bright blue in the cold. I think it really goes beautifully with Aruba Blue. And because I couldn't stop there I added a couple of little blue rhinestone from Born Pretty Store.




I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, it's gonna be a gorgeous one. Get outside if you can!

xoxo,
   Brooke

Monday, May 11, 2015

Julep Sue & Elaine

Hey everyone! Did you all have a good weekend? We had gorgeous weather for Mother's Day and took my mom to PF Chang's for dinner. I ate way too much, but it was soo good.

In honor of Mother's Day I did something special for my nails this weekend. I have two Julep polishes with the names of my mom and my grandma. Sue, my mom's name, is the color I used for the base. It is an elegant dusty rose shimmer. Elaine, my grandma's name, is the color I used for the quatrefoil accent. Elaine came in the 2014 Gem Collection, which is part of the reason why I wanted to buy the collection. It is described as a wisteria full-coverage micro glitter. I had no idea there was a color called wisteria, but basically it's a light violet color. I love this mani because every time I look at it I think of my family.

To achieve the quatrefoil effect I used the quatrefoil stencil from Vinyl It Up. All you need to do is place the stencil over your nail after you've truly allowed your base color to dry, paint over it with a thin coat of polish, and peel it up while the polish is still wet. It looks so cool!





I hope you all have a great start to the week!

xoxo,
   Brooke

Friday, May 8, 2015

MidWest Lacquer Thermal Polish Swatches

Hey everyone! Sorry for the super late post, the day kind of got away from me. I'm so excited to share with you three thermal nail polishes from MidWest Lacquer. I've never used a thermal before and I have to say this was the most fun I've ever had doing swatches.

From left to right: Cincy Sunset, endNF, Popple

The first one I swatched is Cincy Sunset. This polish is a gorgeous yellow-orange when it's warm and bright coral in the cold. It's also got pink micro flakes and gold shimmer. The transition actually looks like a sunset! I took the last photo with flash because my camera was not really picking up the coral.


The next polish is endNF, which changes from a frosty sheer white to a gorgeous bright blue. There is an aqua to pink shift with some green shimmer. A portion of the proceeds from each bottle of this polish sold will go to the Children's Tumor Foundation to help endNF. What an awesome cause!


The last polish is my favorite out of the collection. I saved the best for last! This is Popple (ugh, love that name) and it changes from bright pink to a rich purple. It is packed with purple micro flakes and pink shimmer. I'm obsessed.  


I honestly will be so distracted when I wear these colors. I'll have to show them to my kiddos at school, I think they would be amazed! I can just hear all the oohs and ahhs now.


If you're interested in trying one of these polishes (or all of them, let's be real) you can head on over to http://vinylitup.storenvy.com. You can even pick up some nail decals or cuticle oil while you're there! I hope you all have a lovely weekend. My special Mother's Day mani will be posted on Monday!

xoxo,
   Brooke

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Adovia Purifying Dead Sea Mud Mask Review

Hey everyone! I'm a big fan of face masks, so when BrandBacker reached out to me about reviewing the Adovia Dead Sea Mud Mask I couldn't resist! I've actually been to the Dead Sea in Israel so I know how amazing the mineral-rich mud makes your skin feel.



Here are some of the benefits of using the Adovia Purifying Dead Sea Mud Mask:
Pulls out toxins and unclogs pores so your skin can breathe and rejuvenate naturally
- Pulls out excess oil while putting in much needed essential minerals from the Dead Sea
- 100% natural, paraben free, no added fragrance or color
- Improves your complexion by reducing blackheads, acne blemishes and the appearance of acne 
- Supplies nutrients to maintain elasticity and a soft, even texture




All you need to do is apply a thin layer onto clean skin and let it sit for about 10-20 minutes. Once it's dry just rinse off with lukewarm water and your skin will feel nice and soft. I follow it up with my favorite moisturizer to prevent my skin from drying out.

I love knowing that this product is actually made in Israel from Dead Sea Mud and Dead Sea Salt. Definitely go check out this product on Amazon.com.

xoxo,
   Brooke

Disclaimer: This post was powered by BrandBacker. I received this product for free from goPure Naturals in exchange for my honest review. 

Monday, May 4, 2015

Essie Blossom Dandy

Happy Mani Monday! Did you all have a good weekend? We had absolutely gorgeous weather today and I'm finally getting over that nasty cold.

For polish I went with Essie Blossom Dandy, which they describe as an electrifying mint creme hydrangea. I wouldn't necessarily label this as a classic mint, maybe more of a light cool blue that has a hint of mint. It's electrifying for sure! This is such a fresh color, full of energy. I was feeling in the mood for a little floral today so I painted on some daisies. This mani screams spring!





P.S. If you haven't heard about my giveaway definitely go check it out on Instagram (@manicurediaryblog)! You could win a mini set of the 'Party Like It's 1981' collection from the awesome new indie polish brand MidWest Lacquer.

xoxo,
   Brooke

Friday, May 1, 2015

Essie Under Where?

Happy Friday! So glad the weekend is finally here because I need sleep. I came down with a terrible cold earlier in the week and it has not been fun.

To cheer myself up I decided to use a pretty spring color and a bling-y bow on my nails for the weekend. Oh and a little glitter, of course. Essie Under Where? (hehe) is a lovely light pink toned purple. I used two coats here. The glitter polish is Julep Queen Anne, which is a lilac confetti micro glitter. The adorable bow is from Born Pretty Store. I'd definitely say it's for special occasions, I can't imagine rocking it on the daily.





Hope you all have a great weekend! Get outside if you can it's supposed to be gorgeous. I'll be sleeping this cold away.

xoxo,
   Brooke



Disclaimer: The product in this post was provided for my honest review by the Born Pretty Store. All opinions are my own.