I am wearing today Stressed Out because I am. LOL But oh my this is just wonderful purple holo. It is the color lavender. I did not remember what the color was when I put it on so I was really surprised and wowed by it last night. Anyway here is a picture on my nails done right after top coat. This is two coats only and it went on real smooth.
Oh my what a difference in my manicure. I put an order in with Vapid But I also was able to get some Dream Polish Top Coat in one of the summer scents not being sold anymore.
So my order from Vapid was 4 items total. One was their base coat All About That Base, I have heard lots of good about it and I am backing it up now. It works I was having peeling issues with my CVS Pop base which is a 3 in 1. My polish was peeling off. Not anymore I am happy to say. This mani has now lasted 6 days no peeling or chipping and no fixing.
Polishes I bought were three from Vapids Fall release. Spider and the Fly which is the picture and Weaponized. Those were full size. Vapid also has a smeduim size and I bought Stressed Out. Heads up restock planned for end of Oct.
It is fall and I needed some new polishes for the season. I got two new ones from Exotic Lacquers the one I tried first is called Fantasy Harvest. This is the first for me once again for it is listed as a jelly copper base with green glitter and silver mircos. I can not remember what the correct listing description is but that is very close. It is coppery orange and yes you see the glitter green in it. It is a bit more textured than the other polishes I have but for one old one which is from Milan and is a glitter polish. The other is another thermal and I will do another post when I try it out.
For fall this is a great color and will go with lots of outfits. It is a first in this color spectrum for me too. I will be buying it again or another like it to replace it. My top coat this time is Sally Hansen Insta Dry. My old top coat was just not cutting it so I bought a fast fix. It works real well. I have Dream Polish top coat coming in from another person who did not want her summer scents. So Hawaiian Orchid will be here by end of week. I am not a fan of fruit scent but love my citrus fruit scents and with a mix of floral i am sure it will be just right. Unfortunately they are not carrying it right now which is why I had to wait on someone else to sell overstock from summer.
On another note I also bought Sally Hansen No More Mistakes Manicure Clean up Pen. I really like it and it comes with extra tips. I just need better lighting and better space to do my nails. Picture shows how bad a job this was with new polish. It was taken outside right after top coat applied. I have done some clean up not but need fixing since I has to work my animals and it was still damp under top coat. That Insta Dry really saved me this time.
I have another order coming in from Vapid too. Two of their Fall release and their base coat. Just a note I have had an issue with Vapid staying on my Pop arrizzi base coat. I do not blame the polish but i do blame the base coat. It is a 3 in 1 which means it really does not do any of them that well. I have not had problems with Exotic Lacquers sticking to it but every other polish I have they just peel off after a few day in one sheet. Base coat and all. So I have have on order Vapids ALL About That Base which I have heard nothing but great reviews on.
Remember this is not a good picture of this polish. Like most Indie polishes they do not truely show their beauty in photos. This was afternoon sun and before clean up.
Is it not lovely. It goes on nice and easy. This was just one coat no top coat I was waiting to do next coat. Since I was trying to figure out if I wanted to do an accent finger or not. This is dry it was right before I did next coat.
Something I have learned is room fan causes some bubbles for me. Every Mani I have done in the past month I have had bubble issues with at least one finger. Always a different one too never the same one. So I asked and was answered on one of my facebook nail groups. I have a stand room fan always going and Yes I was using it to help dry my nails some. Just as I past in in room but it was enough to cause problem. One this mani it turned out to be the thumb in this picture. It does not bubble up till next day on me. So this is after all coats are on and top coat. I still have to buy new top coat and another type of base. That is on the list for another Vapid Lacquers order at end of month.
I think next order for me will be a Nail Art mat, stamping plate and stamper. Ali express has a Fairy mat set that looks like a good start for me. My goal is Uber Chic Beauty mats , plates and stamper the XL. But that will have to wait till bills are paid I think who knows I might just splurge a little and buy a plate because I need it for work. Remember I am a pro pet groomer and so I am searching for dog nail stamp plates. I know they have one but would like a bit cheaper right now since money so tight.
There are a few thing I need to buy to do a clean manicure. Need clean up brush, more acetone plus want a dispenser in stead of bottle that way no spills. Need a cotton claw and more cotton for clean up. Right now a have scissor forceps which works OK but since it’s only hold a cotton ball in one small area you can’t scrub real well with it and don’t have good control. More on this later. Here is another picture on Wine O’Clock.
Got some new polish from Vapid, again down in Tx. Hmm those ladies down their make some real nice polish.
First a little update on Exotic manicure. I still have it on and it is still looking good. I have had a couple of chips that I repaired But I run a farm so I expected that. But nothing like the old days with salon polish. Now on to review.
Vapid I found threw Facebook and their group call Vapicorns. Here is the selling site link. Vapid
Heads up they are releasing a New Fall line on Sept 25. You can find information on their facebook sell page here Vapid Lacquer on facebook
My order was for 3 polishes a white Optimist, a black Pessimist and a red Wine O’Clock. Plus their version of latex called Cat Suit. I used both Optimist and Pessimist in a manicure and I really like them. Pessimist does not need a top coat it is that Shiny. I have a picture of it with Cat Suit on a nail. I ended up topping it with Exotic Lacquers Dragon Breath to set the thermal change to green. It is so lovely those two together. No chips at on on that as it was a ring finger.
I really like the Cat Suit. Goes on grey and dries black. No guessing there when ready. She has another Latex too in another color in case you do not like black. For me it was a cat thing LOL. But I have never used latex before that is all new to me and feels like cheating. But it is so nice to have now and make clean up easy. Watch some videos on it for if you do multiple coats you will need to change it between coats so you don’t have more taken off. Videos cover that for you.
Vapid line covers a few areas. Base and top coats and bath products too as well as nail care products. If you are like me and oil is an issue, I spill it with animals around, she has a cuticle product that is not a liquid oil called Nail Sauce. I will be getting that and some of her fall line when it comes out plus base and top coats. Base does not yellow and top does not shrink.
Packaging is really nice and you get a few gifts too. One is a small package of candy the other a little animal. I also got the angry Unicorn sticker as a first time order. She sells those on her site. Shipping this time did not take a detour so was fast. Love the way polish was packed in bubble wrap. Polish is very smooth and does coat in one coat for me. Picture of Pessimist is one coat there. One below that shows bottles which are square. Brushes are nice and tops are easy to handle.
Well, I am off to play with Wine O’clock now. Have a great day all.
They came after a visit to KY. LOL Seems Ky needed some color inspiration.
These are amazing I know I can not find anything like this in local stores here. They are just as much as the high priced polish in our stores here. $9.00 but oh so much better. The name of that green I bought is Dragons Breath. It is a green that is also a gold. It is a thermal and that means is changes color depending on temperature of my body. So main part of nail stays gold on me and if I put fingers in front of AC the tips turn green. So cool. In winter these will be all green I am sure on me outside maybe inside too. LOL I have included a picture of my very fast manicure of this polish. I had to get out the door so just slathered it on real fast. There is a fine gold glitter to this also. It really smooth to put on and too me 3 coats but as I said I rushed and probably did not mix bottle enough. It was a stand up nail paint job.
Now the packaging of these was very well done. They came in a small box with packing peanuts and each bottle was wrapped in thing Styrofoam and then put into a nice organza bag and tied with ribbon.
Oh another thing about the Dragons Breath. If you put it on a solid color base it will fix the shifting color. Give the polish a whole new look. I will be buying more of this and these polishes. Here is the link to her Etsy shop. Exotic Lacquers
Here is the picture of packing and my nails.
Well, polish has not arrived yet and that was my mistake thinking it had been shipped. So that will have to wait. But my Plexus did arrive and I have story to tell about it.
For those that have never heard of Plexus it is a vitamin and herbal company. Now I have an herbalist background threw my massage therapy schooling and later Herbalist schooling. Being as old as I am things are not working like they use too. Pain is a major factor most days and weight. So hard to loose weight when you are older no matter how you eat or exercise. I have a good diet not so good on the exercises.
But lets take this story to the start and what happened to me. Last year I was in constant double hip pain. I have a water bed so that was not the problem but even in bed my hips hurt. Made sleeping really difficult as I had hard time laying on my side. I was taking Advile nightly sometime 4 at a time just so I could sleep. Now I am overweight and do have my back issues but this was all new pain. So I spend time on facebook, who doesn’t right. and one of my dog friends, she owns the sister to my female, posted on Plexus a few times. Never really paid attention till I start looking for a probiotic.
So while playing on the net I come across her post again and start looking into this company I had not heard of before. Turns out they been around selling the At Home breast check kit. But they got contacted by one of the top pain doctors in the USA to make some formulas he came up with that are based on Vitamins.
Anyway, I got talking with my friend on facebook about Plexus and that I was looking for a probiotic. She started Plexus for her son that has some issues and it was working great with him. Tells me the Plexus probiotic has a fungal in it also. That has not been done before and was something that would be great for me. Remember I have a farm here and am a pet groomer. Always getting fungal problems as a result. BUT there is another type of fungus that lives in our bodies that I did not know about and it causes the issues of Leaky Gut syndrome not too mention bloating and gas and other digestive issues. This one feeds on sugar too, so if you eat alot of sweets your feeding it. More later on that.
Ok so I am thinking this Probiotic is one I need. Fact that it is in pill form is atractive and it is at a real nice price. Most probiotics are in refrigerated liquid type form. The good one anyway and can cost $100.00 when prescribed by a doctor. Yes, there are GNC formulas but those sitting on shelves have been there a bit and lost there power. Anyway, so I decided to give this a try along with the Cleanse. Signed up as Ambassador to get cheapest price.
These were shipped and got here in two days. That was nice to say the least. You get 60 pills in a bottle and can take up to 4 a day of the probiotic. The Cleanse is taken twice a day 2 pills each time before and in between meal. So first thing when I get up I take 2 after lunch sometime another two. Probio5 is taken at night before bed.
OK here is what makes Cleanse so important to me being in pain. Magnesium! That combined with Vitamin C is what makes this the must have pain breaker. What it also has is baking soda to help with gas and bloating. Does it work, YES. Turns out as we get older Magnesium is leached from our bodies and needs to be replaced daily. If your a soda drinker it is found that the carbonation in all those carbonated drinks can do it even faster. Now I knew of Potassium helping with muscle cramps and spasms and you need it also when older. But if you eat bananas you get it. Unfortunately, I have developed a bad banana problem thanks to Dairy Queen sundae many years back. Bananas were green and gave me some real double over gas pains. Never was able to eat them after that till now.
I had been taken potassium pills as I said do to leg cramps. I stopped drinking any alcoholic beverages because they made leg cramps much worse. Really sucked trust me. Well, after taking Cleanse and the Probio 5 for a week I was out of pain in my hips TOTALLY. I was so amazed I was pouncing on bed. LOL Just ask my husband. 🙂
Since then I have tried more of their products. I find for me that I have to have those two so I can keep hips in check and sleep at night. That has evaded me since I went threw the big M. My bloating is way way down and gas is under control too. I have lost inches and some pounds and dropped 3 pant sizes since last year. Waist was 50 it is now 45. I did Not change eating habits that much but did start the Triplex which is the two I was already taking plus the Slim in the morning.
Doing this trio will really help clean your system of backup wast in your gut. It can be shocking when detox happens and rather noisy. Lots of bathroom time and loose stools. But when that passes OMG do you feel like a new person. It is not really uncomfortable but you can’t help to notice it. When it stops you are able to feel how good you feel. Detox takes different length of times for each person. For me I went threw it more than once because I stopped taking Cleanse when it started. My bad forgot about detox symptoms. I also ran out of product and had to get more so I went threw 3 detoxes. Which was good for it was not so long but in short bursts. Otherwise it would have been two weeks I am sure.
Here is the link to MyPlexus. Please look over everything there and if you have questions please ask. It is an amazing line of combinations of vitamins and minerals and herbals. If you tried to put it together your self it would cost 3x the amount that they charge. I tried to do it myself.
There are a ton of testimonies on Youtube and a few on the site also. It has been know and documented to help with pain in the forms of RA, pulled muscles, joint, chronic ect. Plexus has helped with sleep, nerves, bloat, gas,mood and overall energy. My husband who has had toenail fungus for years finally got rid of it by taking Plexus. He is now taking Slim to help him control his weight as he is a truck driver.
What Slim is and how it works. It is an herbal in powder form that you drink once a day. What is in it the fruit extract Garcinia Combogia, chromium,green coffee bean extract plus citric acid and stevia leaf for the natural sweetener. It works by help controlling your craving for sugar. I was made to help keep blood sugar better regulated for those on sugar pills. But its now found to help in craving control which in turn helps in diet and eating right.
So you can see why these three work so well together. Each has a part in the whole on the body. You will not find this in a store or on TV. Only by the ambassadors telling you about it. It is Not a get rich quick thing. It is a way to cut back on doctor visits for many things because you are replacing what you lost threw the years. You can get off some meds as you get your body in better balance. But just like anything good it takes time and effort. I see it a year later more so than I did at the start. I lost the pain first but not any weight or inches. That took mush longer after I went threw detox. It is not a cureall. But it is a balancer and booster. I have friends taking it that have gone threw cancer treatments. They are using it to boost their systems back up after Kemo. Plexus is worth a look and try out. There is a Money back 60 day . Try it for that long see what it can do for you if you are having any of the issues I mentioned. You just order online and it is shipped direct to you from main. You do not need to ask me to order and deliver. If you have questions though Please feel free to ask. Here is my facebook link so you may reach me threw messenger Tamara FB
I can be reach easiest that way. All for now Have a great week all.
Hello Everyone,
I know it has been a year since last post but that will change as of today. I am going back to work as a pro pet groomer and will be updating this blog about products that make the cut. Grooming is a hot sweaty job loaded with dirty hair. Makeup has to make it threw the day. Which is hard for most. But today starts a Nail Polish reviews as that is now what i am looking for most.
We all have the dreaded chip nails. I will go over all the products that have helped me avoid or prevent for time that problem. Years ago I could not get polish to last past day 2 with out chipping. There was a step that I left out and is critical called Base Coat. Yes, it make that big of a difference. If you have ever gone to the salon and had your nails done for a Natural manicure you get a good view of right nail polish procedures. Three different coats go on the nail base, primary and top. These are all needed and you can’t skimp on it I have tried. Base coat helps polish adhere to your nail way better than without. Topcoat dries fast so you are less likely to smear polish but it also gives a shine. Now since I last was putting on polish some new things are out there. Gel and much better lacquers and nail wraps. I will cover alot here as the biggies for me now are the INDIE companies.
What are Indie companies you might ask. Well, they are the homemade mom shops for makeup products. Remember I posted about Meow Cosmetics that is and Indie company. Yes, I am still wearing them and love them. Now there are nail products also. I knew of the make up and soap as I make soap but did not know of the nail polish. Let me tell you these people are alchemists or chemists which ever term you prefer. Just look on Youtube on how to make your own Indie polish and you will know what I mean. I am not doing it so kudos to those that do.
So my first foray into the world of nails this time had me contacting a friend who was selling nail wraps. Which then led me to the Indie nail polish world. The wraps I will do latter this is all about Polish. So there are tons of Indie polish makers and most are 3 to 5 free of all those nasty chemicals that harm us threw commercial polishes. There is even a gal that is specializing in just the treatments of base, top and cuticle oil all scented. I know right who knew it did not have to smell nasty. That company is called Dream Polish and here is link Dream Polish . I have Not order yet from them but all reports are they are the go to for those base and top coats and oil.
Anyway, I was looking for a good deep green. Forest type as new grooming shop is using that as one of their two colors. Nothing local was to be had so I asked online on facebook. BTW there are some good facebook groups just on nail art. I also came across a couple of good nail polish reviewers on You tube. There went my data plan. But it all led me to Exotic Lacquers out of Tx. Link is her Etsy store she is on facebook too. OMG color changing nail polish that was new to me. She does it real nice too. I have ordered two of her polishes. Got the last one of her Midnight Cowboy and one of her green thermals. I will have pictures and reviews next time am waiting on them now should be here today.
If you are into Glitter, holographic, shimmer ect in nail polish Indie is the way to go for sure. I will be buying and covering those that I do here in the next couple of week so stay tuned lots more to come. Pictured below is Midnight Cowboy it is a picture of a buyer from her site. This is to be in the fall line up and was a pre release I bought.
I got my Meow Cosmetics makeup in that had a Munckin order for the Sleek Ocicat foundation plus a full size primer for oily skin. I bought some more samples also. One Siamese in Purrfect in Sleek and a Flawless Ocicat in Pampered and a Frisky Ocicat in Purrfect. I think I went to light with the Sleek because of my tanish skin. The Frisky works alot better.
I really like the Primer that Meow has for oily skin. It is a powder and seems to work alot better for me than the Cover FX primer. I wore it most of last evening with no real oily coming threw just enough to make me look good and give me a dewy look. Meow is having a sale for last days of summer. It goes to 9/30/15 here is there link Meow Cosmetics
Today it is raining which means humidity which is not my friend in house. Trying to keep makeup on with wet weather can be a challange at best for those with good skin. But for us with oily skin it is a major problem. Now we have Setting Sprays which seem to work real well. Loreal has one out that is getting some awesome reviews. I just bought it but have not yet had to try it. Might do that today.
In a future blog I will be talking about a herbal program that works real well on the inside to help clear your oily skin. So stay tuned. If you have questions please ask always willing to help out if I can.
Well, today’s post will be old information with some new. So far I am soso on the Cover FX. It is sorta of holding back oil and keeping me matt. But I am still blotting within a couple of hours. I have tried it with both my Meow foundation and my old Clinque with same result. Next will be to put it on heavier and put powder on top before foundation. If that does not work it will be a loss.
Now I was around when Retinol A came out. I was a preteen then and I remember the whole big thrill about it. Guess what I hated that stuff. I was made to take a pill and put it on my face. It did not work for me and meds upset my stomach. Stuff is just plain nasty feeling oil based that made me fill sick to put it on my skin. I am sure it was not oil based but it felt like it. My problem was not external and here is a hint Most acne is NOT external but it is internal and hormonal. I also went to a Dermatologist and was put on antibiotics. Funny thing was it was not the Dermatologist that put me on the Retinol A but another doctor. The antibiotics worked well but never stopped the oil production. Dermatologist wanted me to do a face peel, which I never did because I was in school and in sun every day. When you do a face peel you must stay out of sun. Now if you have bad acne going to a Dermatologist is the way to go. Using the stuff over the counter is really no real help in the long run and much more costly.
I did the whole Clinque skin treatment thing along with their makeup. There skin program is good in that you get into a routine and it works to a point for that reason. But what I know now is that all the chemicals in the world only go so far and then stop working BECAUSE they are Chemicals. If you want a GREAT skin cleaner not harsh get handmade soap.
Us soap makers make soap for our skin for a reason. One is works way better than anything store bought because it has less stuff in it like detergents and preservatives and more stuff than I can name. Store bought soap does not have to list ingredients so you do not know what is in them unless you do some hard research. Handmade homemade soap will list ingredients and most have about 4 and that is it. Mine does besides the goat milk. Yes, I do sell it but no this is not an add for it. But if you want to try it just ask. Now there are a few different types of handmade soap and depending on your skin will make a alot of difference on which you want to buy.
When I first started looking into handmade soap I bought from a few different people. Found out real fast not all soap is made the same and not all ingredients work for me. For those of us with oil skin Coconut oil is our friend, Olive oil is not our friend. I have bought the all veggi oil soaps from different people. For me and my skin they are the worst thing. Not too mention my bath tub since the melt fast. Now here is a fact not many know unless you are into soap. ALL soaps on the market but one have animals oils in them. That one is Castile which is Olive oil only based. One reason store bought last the way it does is because of those animal oils. But here is another little fact. Pig skin and our is about as close as it comes and their fat ( know it sounds icky but it is not) is just perfect for us in soap. Do to the fact of that closeness it makes the best soap for over active oil production skin for it does not clog our pores like Olive oil does. It also makes one super hard bar of soap. But most of the time it is one of 4 or more ingredients which is great. I wish I new this when I was a kid. It could have saved me so much money and hassle.
One thing also you should know. Flawless makeup is not our friend either. Reason is it clogs pores real bad. Yes it covers up all our acne and scaring but it will also cause more to come. Which is why cleaning skin is so important and one reason I never wore alot of makeup growing up and threw life. I wore it in the corporate world but everyday life no not unless I was going out to dinner.
Now scrubs and masks are our major friends and a must. I do both most of the time I scrub first then put a mask on for deep clean. But I do Not do this every day. Maybe 3 times a week at most more 2 times a week or less. You can over do it. But if you have scarring then scrub is your friend for it can lessen the scars. Toner is a big help too there. Which as I said the Clinque system works good but I think you can do better by piecemealing your system together. What I do now is my own homemade soap, coconut goat milk lotion, Mint Julep scrub and mask. Love this stuff It is called Queen Helene Mint Julep Scrub and then there is one made for Mask. It has been around a while but I have only been using it a short time. If you have a problem with mint try Almond or Oatmeal based products.
tamara's beauty blog 