Butter London Nail Lacquer in Scoundrel review

I'm a clear polish wearer most of the time, I work with my hands so much that my manicures don't last very long.  When I do wear colors on my nails, they're usually dark because I kind of like the way it looks when it does chip... the very little bit of Rock and Roll that may be a part of my appearance.  I have been lusting after the pastels of Spring this year, especially the ones from Butter LONDON.  True to my tatse, I still chose a darker pastel-y purple for my manicure this week and wanted to run a test on how long these polishes will last on a girl like me!  Scoundrel might be my favorite shade of (wearing) purple so that's what I choose.

I start with a base of their Horse Power Nail Fertilizer, which is what I usually wear as a clear nail polish because I need some serious strengthening.  P.S.  They recommend using the Horse Power on it's own for a few weeks/month to see the best results and I have done this and seen great results and less peeling, however I keep my nails very short so I didn't take before and after photos.

These nail lacquers are just a little bit thicker than an OPI polish.  I think it provides great coverage but a little less working time.  I found with my first nail, when I started from base to tip, it got a little goopy on the last strokes near the tip and I took it off to try again.  When I was in beauty school, one of my classmates had given me a few tips on how to do a pro manicure (she owned a nail salon) and I find these two gave me the best success with the Butter lacquer.

1.  Get enough color on the brush to do the whole nail, start at the top half the get coverage on the tip and then go back for a full base to tip stroke.  I seem to start in the middle, go left and then right.  If you re-dip, do so quickly... if you have too much lacquer on your brush you can always wipe a little off but I think it's better than taking the time to re-dip.

2. When using the brush, only use the tip.  If you use too much of the brush, it will tend to leave streaks, this is especially true with lighter colors.  Brush lightly and quickly with the tip and see the difference, like most things.. practice makes perfect.

I waited about 10 minutes in between coats but that may have been excessive.  The polish dries quicker than others.  I still wait another 10 minutes before applying a top coat because that's just what I do... I find rushing my manicures means they don't last even one day without chipping... no matter how fabulous the brand.

7 days of hair & dish washing, cooking, box opening.... name it...... I did it.

Here are the results:

My nails are brittle so they shred a lot at the top but the polish protected them a little, and I need a round of straight Nail Fertilizer for sure but they still look pretty darn good!  There is wear at the tips and around my cuticles but no big chips.   It's just started to lift a little at the base, catching hair a bit, so it's time for me to take it off because of my occupation but I can't wait to try the other colors!!


Happy Spring fashion !

Skinny Skinny Dry Shampoo Review

I read a whole bunch of reviews on these organic dry shampoos from Skinny Skinny and they were all so full of praise that I felt the need to know first hand.  Yep, they are wonderful!

I have ok hair, it's fine and long, layered and colored.  My natural texture is wavy but not very cute wavy and I only get a good 'natural' hair day once in a blue moon.  I have crazy colics and even if I do my blowdry at night before bed, it's a greasy, flat, tornado mess when I awake...without fail.  In the past I've tried a few different dry shampoos, some where colored (and quite awfully in my opinion), but either they were sticky or the bottle ran out after like 7 uses.  They're not cheap either.  Baby powder pretty much leaves a whiteish hue on most hair colors except white blondes (when I was one this worked pretty well).  In the case it does work for you and you don't mind the scent, I don't see a problem using baby powder.  With all of that said, I'm picking this particular dry shampoo as my favorite!

I used the Rose & Black Pepper scented one in my experiment.  The scent combo is totally my taste, but they also do a Rosemary Lavender, Grapefruit Cardamom and Jasmine.

 I found that because of my particular hair type, using the shampoo at night before I go to sleep, works the best.  I do a little touch up in the A.M. as well and maybe even a little blowdryer action depending on where I'm headed.  It makes the most sense to me to use it at night because it's preventative but decide for yourselves.  I can even get away with two days of using this stuff, but I reserve that for vacation.  Others I know can regularly go a day or 2 in between shampoos so I imagine this product will only extend that for them... luckies. It can be used morning with or without a blowdry refresher and it's a great idea to use it before or after winter hats (a hat head helper)!!  I started bringing this along when I do wedding hair, way useful for that let me tell you!

They have a 1 ounce that's good for travel but the 4.5 oz is a better deal if you're a frequent user.

Organic ingredients and Skinny Skinny Dry Shampoo is nothing but a rave!!