Dessange Oleo Miracle Replenishing Line Review

I was recently sent the Oleo Miracle Replenishing Shampoo, Conditioner, and Oil from Dessange complimentary of Influenster to test out and honestly review. 

Luckily, I am actually quite fond of it. 

I was sent this at the perfect time to give it a true test, I had just bleached the ends of my hair (and a few highlights), so it was extra damaged beyond it's usual coloring.

This super high quality cell phone photo shows the end of my hair after using the system and after bleaching and it's just as healthy looking as before I bleached. 

I think my favorite thing about the system is the oil. I love a good oil for extra moisture and protection, but my fear is that it will weigh down my fine hair, or even worse make it extra oily. This does neither of those things. My lone complaint on the oil is in the directions, it mentions adding one or two drops and this comes out in full pumps, and obviously common sense takes over here, but it's something that should have been considered.

An added bonus is the smell. I really love the sandalwood hints in it, but it's not overwhelming or enough to linger all day and compete with your perfume.

This is something I would absolutely consider purchasing in the future.

It can be purchased at Target, the shampoo and conditioner retail for $9.99 and the oil retails for $11.99 and more info can be found here.

Eylure Halloween Spooky Lashes - Caught in the Web

I tried so hard to resist these lashes, but after about my third visit to Ulta they came home with me and tonight I had to give them a try.

These guys retailed at my Ulta in Visalia, CA for $7.99, and they do qualify for any coupons, of course.

After applying some fun makeup in varying shades of red, a nod to the 'black widow' theme but not so obvious or overpowering as to not let the lashes shine, I applied the lashes.

They went on very easily and were surprisingly light. They also felt like they would last quite well.

As you can see they are actually fairly subtle. While I ADORE the out there paper lashes, they can be a bit much for some, so these are a great in between for those that might want something more than basic lashes but not something so extreme.

These would be great for a work dress up day even. A little something extra if you had to wear a uniform but wanted to have some Halloween flair. I do believe they would be comfortable and stay on well all day long. Of course, if you have a very active job, like nursing, that might be a different story.

They are certainly lovely and totally fun to play with and whether they are for a costume one had planned they are an inexpensive addition to a makeup kit for fun future looks.

The two red shadows and frosty white are all from Coastal Scents. It can be hard to find good, pigmented red shadows and these are all great.

Christmas in July - Last Look - Jewel Tones

Red and green is nice and all, but the colors I really like to see for holiday are the jewel tones. For this one I first laid down a really quick gradient, I mean really quick. Thanks to the pigmentation of the metallics, I just striped the colors across a makeup sponge and that was enough to do one hand

This is obviously a beauty on its own, and could be lovely any time of year. However, I decided to pull out my silver Color Club chrome, a great stamping polish, and lay down some snow flakes.

I decided to add a little star accent as well. This proved to be a really quick manicure thanks to the great metallic coverage.

Polishes used: Gelous base coat, Venique Retail Therapy (purple), Venique Rhinestone Stiletto (pink), the blue and green are unnamed Color Club's from a holiday scented gift set from Sally's in 2012, the silver chrome is also an unnamed Color Club.

Stained Glass Nail Art

I love jelly polishes. Love, love, love them. When I got to playing with my polishes one night I wanted to do something with them that wasn't my standby of either a glitter jelly sandwich or a stamping sandwich and that's where the stained glass idea came in.

It was surprisingly easy.

I do wish I had thought ahead a bit more with my 'random blobs', however it still worked out okay.

A few blobs here and there, let those dry and then take a liner brush and edge them with a pretty metallic, I used my fave Orly Luxe, or any polish of your choosing.

The Zoya jellies are my favorites and mostly what I used here. Paloma, Katherine, and Frida are all in play here. The orange is OPI's Y'all Come Back Ya Hear?

I did a terrible quick video tutorial on my instagram account, which can be found here.

Mint & Gold ::: Anchors & Bows

I love mint, white, and gold together. It is one of my all time favorite color combinations. Of course, that carried over to my nails. 

I decided to do a quick stamped look with Orly Luxe, my all time favorite gold polish, mixed with a mint/white ombre.

My pointer finger is two quick coats of Orly Luxe with no top coat. I used a makeup sponge to do a quick gradient with Milani White and Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet before I stamped them with Orly Luxe and a plate from Born Pretty Store, which can be found here. My pinky is two coats of Milani White and I used a dotting tool to add some dots of Orly Luxe. The stripes surrounding the bow on my ring finger were added by hand with a striping brush.

I originally had not planned on adding the stripes, but I slipped with my stamper my bow was a little off center and adding the stripes helps disguise that. Adding dots or stripes around a crooked stamp is a great trick to hide a flaw without having to completely start over.

Avengers Nail Art ::: The Lacquer Legion's July Themed Mani

If you're not familiar with The Lacquer Legion, then head on over to their Facebook page and check them out. The have an open monthly nail art challenge with a new theme each month, all tied neatly together with one universal hashtag so that it's easy to check out everyone's art.

This months theme was fandom, which is super fun as it is, but I had a hard time narrowing it down. With all of the fun Marvel stuff (my favorite) coming up and SDCC going on this weekend I figured I would go ahead and go with an Avengers themed manicure. 

While I had intended to go far more in depth with this, I just wasn't quite feeling up to it, but I still gave it my best shot.

I didn't want to do the 'usual' designs for many of these, so I tried to mix it up a bit, especially as I have done Avengers nails before.

I regret not slapping a matte top coat on my Coulson nail, as the shine hid much of the detail of the suit. I also regret the darkness of the purple on the Hawkeye nail. Ah, hindsight.

Christmas in July - Feeling Blue

Here's another holiday look, very much like the one featured on Friday, but this one featuring blues and silvers. 

This manicure is also featuring a 3D Born Pretty Store charm, found here (#16), which was applied with a few dots of nail glue.

The 3D charm can go on any nail you choose, they just happen to fit my pointer nail perfectly so that is where I always place them.

Nail polishes used: Gelous base coat, Revlon Urban, OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam, an unnamed Color Club silver, and INM Out The Door top coat.

A note on my top coat... As you can see the snowflake smeared a bit. This was one of my first times using this top coat for nail art and it smears like crazy. It's lovely for over solid colors and dries quickly, but over designs? It's a mess, so it won't be a repurchase for me.