SUZI'S HUNGARY AGAIN for SECHE VITE (:

Hello lovelies,

In honor of my trip to Bali, I've decided to change the spirit of my nails and make them a little more spring/summer fancy with this pretty coral color! 

 Isn't this such a cute hot pink + coral color? I definitely love it <3 font="">

What do you guys think of it? 

HEHE, the name is so adorable (: 

Suzi reminds me of the little duck we used to read in pre-k!

OH & I bought the Seche Vite Top Coat!

It was my first time using it, but I already can say I love it!

MINI REVIEW

♡ DRIES FAST, like forreals, not just a myth

♡DEFINITELY VERY GLOSSY, I mean just look at that! There's no filter!!

(in fact it took me a few tries to capture because it was so glossy it was reflecting!)

I don't know if its long wearing yet since its the first day, but I'll definitely update y'all (: <3 font="">

Thanks for reading (: Hope you guys found this interesting!

Let me know what colors your wearing on your nails (:

xo,

shannon marie

:-*

[BEAUTY HAUL] WATSONS TAIWAN

[BEAUTY HAUL] WATSONS TAIWAN

HELLO LADIES & GENTS, I've been in Taiwan for about two months now, and for those of you familiar with traveling, you'll understand the need to down size, you know, all those restrictions and weight limits blah blah blah. My point is, now my supple of necessary beauty products have dwindled and diminished  and for the past few days I've been using my moms products. Her products are great products, just not right for my age, and so I finally picked up a few things to try out! I've only used these once, so this is a HAUL post, not a review! 

PRODUCTS I GOT

Cutex Nail Polish Remover, Garnier Skin Naturals Aqua Defense Refreshing Hydrating Toner, Garnier Skin Naturals Aqua Defense Non Stop Intensive Hydrating Essence, Nivea Firming Lotion, Loreal Gentle Lip & Eye Make Up Remover, Watsons Exfoliating Body Scrub.

I needed a moisturizer badly! And so I thought I'd try out Garnier's line! Its kind of weird to me since I always think of them as the shampoo brand, but I used the eye roller that's talked about wildly, and I realized they're pretty good. From what I've used so far, I like this product a good amount, I can't say its extraordinary or  holy grail material, but I'll keep using it for sure, and see how I feel about it after a while. 

 Nivea Firming Lotion: I really wanted some lotion, cause I feel like my skin isn't as smooth as they used to be, and I know its because I hadn't lotioned my body in the the whole two months that I've been over seas. Tsk Tsk for sure. This lotion immediately made a difference by the next morning after putting it on. I'm not sure if its actually firming, but hey! The moisture was great!

Watsons Exfoliating Body Scrub: The smell is great, and the exfoliating aspect is pretty good, I'm not that picky of exfoliators so to me as long as it gets some skin off, its good. I do prefer the kind thats not a scrub but exfoliates, however, this one smells amazing and moisturizes me so I'm a fan.

Loreal Lip & Eye Make Up Remover: I saw FashionRocksMySocks talk about this product in her recent video, and I had never really heard or noticed it before, and so when I saw this sitting right there at the front of the store, I had to try it out! Its descent, not my favorite though, I wanted it because Biodermas expensive and I find getting my mascara off wastes a lot of product, and so I thought an oil based remover would be much more money savvy. It gets the job done, and so I'm happy enough. However my favorite is the Up & Up knock off of the Neutrogena one!

Cutex Nail Polish Remover - Moisturizing: So I had to get this one because it spelled moisturizing wrong on the packaging. Unless its one of those multi spelled words??? If so I'm sorry for making fun of you Cutex. Anywhoo, I needed a nail polish remover, and this did the trick I can't say it feels like it was very much moisturizing but at least it got my glitter polish off without a fight. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this quick haul post (:

XO,

Shannon Marie

NAIL CARE + [MINI REVIEW] Orly Nail Defense Protein Enriched Strengthener

Hello there! As you can tell from the title, this is going to be my nail care routine post plus my little quick review on Orly's Nail Defense Protein Enriched Strengthener. Before I get started however, I have to give y'all a little run down on my nail history! Currently, my nails are in the recovery stage. During last year, (2012) I had acrylic nails and gel nails on and off up until around November where I started working at Tory Burch whom require a natural make up, hair, & nail look. Therefore, my nails aren't 100% perfect, but the fact that I got them to recover this quickly, I feel the need to thank Orly! 

[Disclaimer: Everything said here is my own opinion, I am NOT being sponsored at all by any companies to say these things. I am also not a professional, therefore, these are just tips I've gathered base off my own personal experience, and cannot guarantee 100% success] 

BEFORE                                                                                               AFTER
The first picture, the one with Hello Kitty, is just with buffing and no Orly Nail Defense, basically after step 1-4! Sorry I don't have a picture of before reshaping and stuff, for you guys to see the difference!

NAIL CARE ROUTINE.

1. Gently remove all nail polish, dirt, etc. from your nails with nail polish remover. 

Personally I prefer the "cotton pad + aluminum foil" technique, especially if your using a stronger polish such as gel (shellack) nails. Here's a link to what I mean. This is especially useful when you have glitter nail polish on because we all know what a hassle that is to remove!!

2. Wash hands with antibacterial soap, thoroughly. 

3. Cut nails to desired length, leaving a just a tid bit room for filing and reshaping. 

When cutting your nails, always leave room to cut more or at least file. You can always cut it down some more, but if you cut one nail too much, you can only cut down the other nails, you can't resurrect that nail. Its never fun to have nails too short for your liking.

4. File & shape nails as desired, then BUFF for a smoother surface, and to bring up some natural oils!

Personally I prefer my nails to be more rectangular, with a slight round around the edges. I feel like it allows my fingers to look better and longer! 

5. Apply Orly Nail Defense Protein Enriched Strengthener, or your preferred nail strengthener.

When I want to let my nails just breathe and grow, I reapply another coat and then I stop here, and allow the strengthener to dry, then apply a hand cream to rehydrate the area around my nail bed.

6. (optional) Apply a layer of base coat, especially if the nail polish color you'll be using is darker hued.

Nail polishes that are darker color have more pigments and tend to be more likely to stain your nails. YES, you have the Orly on the bottom already, but its created to strengthen your nails and not to protect your nails, so a base coat is still a good idea. I like using the OPI base coat.

7. Apply a nail color, thinly, layer by layer.

Applying the nail color in a thin layer, allows you to better control the color and how your finished look will look. You want them to look more natural and to be even amongst all ten fingers. So always keep a light hand, especially on the first layer!

8. After a few minutes of dry time, apply your preferred top coat. 

Top coat is really important, I really find that it helps maintain the life length of your manicure, if you don't apply top coat, your nails are more likely to chip faster and require reapplying, which means doing all these steps over, which means lots of chemicals to your nails ): which is bad for your health and increases your chances of cancer........ (speaking exaggeratively of course). [IF you have a matte polish, and don't wish for shiny top coat, you can always buy a matte top coat like Esse's Matte About you.]

9. (optional) Apply one more, THIN layer of Orly Nail Defense. 

I like to apply another layer, because on the bottle it says that you can apply this over nail varnish, and it asks you to apply a layer every few days! So I thought its best to start with day one. However, one thing to keep in mind is, make sure the bottom layers are semi dry before reapplying this last layer. One time I didn't wait enough time and I ended up getting little air bubbles on the surface of my nails. 

10. After your nails are completely dried, wash hands and apply a nice amount of hand cream, especially around the nail bed area. 

ORLY NAIL DEFENSE PROTEIN

ENRICHED STRENGTHENER. 

Original Picture, taken by my iPhone4s, via LINE Camera. Sorry for the sad quality, I didn't have any room in my camera, nor the time to sort through the 600+ pictures & videos. Plus I really wanted to get this post up to y'all seing as I haven't posted a post in a long time and my horoscope says that I should write this month!

Top 3 Reasons Why I Like It.

1. It is clear and can be worn as just a clear coat of nail polish when I just want my nails to breathe and regain health. It makes my nails look nicely polished and groomed, whilst helping my nails to recover from all the harsh chemicals its been through. 

2. It applies smoothly and it dries quickly. Therefore you don't have much excuse as to why your nails aren't well groomed at all times, even when there's no color on them!

3. IT REALLY ACTUALLY WORKS. I found that my nail surface, which was all scratched up, un-smooth, rigidity, and dented from all the drilling, began to smooth out more and more, and regain its healthy hydrated look. When I first stopped with acrylics, my nails were so flimsy and soft and now their healthy, stronger, and just full of color and liveliness. 

Buy ORLY NAIL DEFENSE at your local drugstore that carries Orly products! 

Hope you guys found this interesting! 

I know its nothing new, but hopefully you guys found out something new!

Until Next Time!

xoxo,

Shannon Marie

fashion-impossible.blogspot.com

DIY Deco Nails • Pink Ombre Nails

Bonjour Mademoiselles!

[et Monsieurs]

I hope this post finds you all very very well! Todays post is about my current nail polish that was actually done by yours truly, and not some asian lady that tries to haggle you! [I joke] As you can tell by the post title, its a Ombre Nail Look, which some might say is passe, since that trend hit the train and left town quite some time ago, but in my opinion, what's trending is just a guideline, if it fits your style, why not keep it and wear it proudly? [Of course certain fads are just not meant to stay, so please pick and choose with taste and class]

[these photographs are originals, and belong to fashionprepacademy.blogspot.com]

So this nail kit was picked up in America at a local Korean beauty store that sells lots of Asian beauty products such as Shiseido, Laneige, and much more. This nail kit is made by a brand called Peripera, which I had not heard of until now, but after a little bit of research, aka googling, I found that it is a quite popular Korean brand that sells the cutest make up/beauty products! [Check it out HERE]

This specific line from Peripera has a ton of different nail kits, some that create multiple looks depending on how you mix and match the nail polishes that it comes with. This specific one was in my mom and I's eye cuter and more my style, since its pink and I absolutely adore the color pink! Although I don't read Korean, the directions as you can see above, were pretty self explanatory  and all I had to do was follow the example. The nail polish is very easy to apply, has a great amount of pigment, and the glitter picks up very well! All important aspects to a good nail polish. Another aspect that I really enjoy about this nail polish is the glossy effect it has, even prior to applying the top coat, it had the perfect sheen to it, imitating the effect you get when you do a gel soak-off manicure! Which is tres awesome considering gel soak-off manicures are damaging to your nail layers and the fact that you have to stick your fingers in acetone, a damaging poisonous chemical!, for almost half an hour! To have a less damaging product that is just as pretty is just a win in my point of view!

My only complaint is not against Peripera, they did a wonderful job. The negative aspect comes in the fact that currently my nails are recovering from harsh chemicals that are used when you do acrylic, crystal, and gel nails. (All which I did the last past year). I've been treating my nails and trying to heel them for the last few months and so this is the first time I really did my nails in a while! Anyways, my point is my nails are currently cut down very short to prevent breakage, and ombre nails just don't look quite as good on short nails! Secondly, I feel like my skin tone simple does not match hot pink that well, and so it makes my hands look more olive then I'd prefer! (You can't really tell in the picture, but in person my hands look darker then they are). But really these are my only negatives, and they're more on the personal side, so I still suggest you guys try these out! Or even a different Peripera nail polish kit!

If you guys want to buy it online click RIGHT HERE to go to this Amazon Vendor!

That's all for now!

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought!

xoxo,

Shannon Marie