$45 at The Body Shop for $20

Do you LOVE The Body Shop?

I do! So today I'm jumping on today's Groupon! $45 Gift certificate to The Body Shop for $20 (or $40 if you redeem after May 30th). Now imagine using the gift certifcate on sale items... I'll totally be stocking up on items for the year.

If you haven't heard of Groupon, well its this cool concept where there is one deal per day (sometimes local, but sometimes nationwide, like todays) Where you usually save around %40-%60. Ive used it before and have been VERY happy every time.

Check out Groupon Here

Free Samples of Ganier for Earth day!

Do you love Ganier? How about if it was "green"
Well both Ganier and Walmart are offering free samples today of the new Pure Clean line.

Tomorrow is Earth day! What will you be doing? I will be planting a seedling tree with my daughter.

Freebie notice

Drugstore.com and beauty.com are giving away a NARS Orgasm Illuminator($10 value) with any $10 purchase. Any purchase over $25 qualified for free shipping.

Summer fashion is upon us

I have yet to pull together my spring/summer wardrobe. A lot has been packed away, illusively hiding somewhere in my other closet. Some of it is old, outdated, and needs updating. This summer, I'm hoping to ramp things up with some little extras.

Usually I wear plain flip flops most of the summer (with my toes nicely manicured, of course). No one really notices my super casual look, or at least, they don't comment. This summer I want to get some embellished flip flops/sandals. I think the ones offered by Michael Kors are perfect!

Since beginning to wear contacts again I've also been sunglasses crazy. I bought a few really nice pairs last year, but have since lost them. I don't know how it is possible to lose so many pairs, but I suppose it happens. Cole Haan makes a pair of really cute sunglasses that I'm gaga over.

There will be fancier events this summer. Probably quite a few considering how large my family is. I will wear heels if absolutely necessary. However, I would rather put on a pair of comfy yet pretty flats. Especially for something like a wedding, where I will be dancing the night away! Stuart Weitzman offers very cute pink flats that would work well with most of my fave dresses.

What are some of the items you'll be splurging on for the summer?

OPI Swatch At Your Quebec & Call

Spring is so close, even though we had that snowstorm on April 1st. Of course, those of us in New England can almost always count on THAT April Fools joke! To boot I'm getting over the worst cold I've ever had. I almost think I had pneumonia. Through all of that I stayed with my mom for a week and helped her pack.

My in laws have been talking about a trip to Canada, so of course, I had to swatch up OPI Nail Lacquer At Your Quebec & Call. It's a bit of a mess because I split/shredded a lot of my nails while helping mom move.



This color, from the O.P.I. Canadian collection, is a beautiful dark green gold. It could work well with a black cocktail dress for a night out, or even with a nice tan in summer. The golden shimmer is so perfect.

Before even starting the application I used Mavala® Scientifique Nail Hardener
which is by far the best I've ever tried. I hadn't used it in the last month, hence all the breakage. If you're against formaldehyde I would not suggest using this, it contains quite a bit. However, it soaks right into the nail and hardens them so amazingly well without any layers of junk.




Anyways, back to the swatch. Like most O.P.I. Polishes, At Your Quebec and Call applied fairly easily. One thing I have noticed, is their shimmer polishes dry MUCH faster than the non shimmers. I was ready to go in 2 minutes. It took 2 coats for full coverage. I think the photos made it look slightly sheer, but that is not the case in real life.



All in all, it is such a lovely color. I would highly suggest it to anyone. Even with my super pink-pale skin it still looks good.

Konad Dupes - MASH Set back in stock!

Wait no longer! The MASH Set of 25 is back in stock. When I wrote about these originally they quickly went out of stock for quite awhile. You can read my original review here.

Most of the plates are good quality exact dupes of Konad. I really really love this set. It is $9.99 + shipping on Amazon. Only 5 of the plates I received were not Konad based.

I have no idea how many they have in stock, but last time they sold out fast after I wrote about it.

More amazon finds for nails!

So while waiting for the MASH kit to be back in stock... Still no word on that. Sorry ladies. I began searching for other new items out there. I love amazon, mostly because I usually have gift cards there from family.

First is the new FASH kits.. Why they have almost the same name as MASH I dont know. They offer both a Starter kitand both a 21 or 25 plate kit
. Some designs will be redundant to my collection, but thats OK.

Next is a little mini kit, although slightly higher per piece. It's offered by VkShop
and has 7 plates total plus a stamper and scraper.

MoYouoffers exact Konad dupes at a slightly easier to swallow price. They sell plates individually, and range from it seems $2.99-$4.99. However, their most interesting item is their Pro Plate 1andPro Plate 2Which are like the Konad Salon case kits, only at $39.99 ea... I Kid you not...


On the higher end of the spectrum, there is at least 1 Konad pro kit A for $100+6.99 shipping being offered by An individual seller. The kit goes for $134 ish on other websites and since Konad doesn't allow coupons much anymore, I think this is a good deal.


For people who like Konad, but can't swing the idea of the total price these are some great options!

A call to arms! Future giveaway!

My daughter is entered in a Facebook contest that relies on "Likes"
I'm asking for your help. Details:

If this goes well I hope to host my own personal giveaway. Items may include full sized luxury moisturizers, nail stamping plates, makeup. Etc

How to: login to Facebook

Go to LEDGroupBuys page http://www.facebook.com/pages/LEDGroupBuy/151449654908463

Like the page

Scroll down to the video of the adorable little girl (posted by me: Lauren) and click "Like" next to comment.

That is all! Thank you

French manicure with nail stamp

I had a huge family emergency recently. It tied me up time-wise and emotionally. This is why I haven't posted, I didn't even have the time or energy to even think about doing my nails. Obviously, family comes first. Things have settled.

My daughters birthday party is coming up and I need to sport some nice nails and toes. I finally figured out the french plates and how not to stamp all wonky. I used exact Konad Knock Offs
Konad - M45
with Nakomi m45. Im still waiting to see if these EVER get back in stock. Really ladies, I'm on pins and needles just as much as you all are.



Figuring out the french plates was a bit harder then other designs. I watched a youtube tutorial that says to angle the design upwards instead of straight. This worked relatively well. Then I began practicing on bare nails (like this design) by going slow with the stamp and following my own curvature in the nail bed. This helped me get the "feel" even better.



I later practiced (but did not snap shots) over a fully painted nail. My best advice is to not blindly stamp the french design, watch what you're doing from a side angle. This will allow for perfect curvature every time. If using Konad special polish it is still slightly pliable after application, you can push certain designs up or remove pieces of the design. Over another color polish it is harder but doable.



You can see a few areas I could've cleaned up, but I ran out of time. Although this easy french design has almost become 2nd nature I still am always on a time crunch. I'm hoping to do a french design over my nails for the party. I want to do my toes too, but the french designs are just wide enough for my thumbs and will not fit my big toe. That makes me sad because it's the reason I wanted the french set to begin with! (I love french pedicures!)

Manic Panic Collection

This post brought to you by Manic Panic Collection. All opinions are 100% mine.

In case you didn't know already, Manic Panic offers an edgy makeup and nail polish collection. Although primarily focused to punk / goth / rock crowds I think Manic Panic could be useful for any makeup or nail polish diva. I used to use manic panic crazy hair colors in my teens. The line has always been bold and out there. I wasn't "goth" by any stretch, just a bit of a free spirit. I think I gave my mom a few heart attacks. Teehee

 

They only offer 4 nail colors, but a few are quite interesting (and only $4) including a purple glitter called Blood Thirsty! Other polishes include Heavy Metal, a black with glitter and Hellfire, which is red with black glitter. I could have a lot of fun with these polishes, I wonder if they apply well? Has anyone tried them?

They have great kits with directions for very bold looks which could be used for any situation where you'd need an extremely dramatic look. When ordering online from the Creature of The Night collection you can get a free mascara with your order with coupon code : mascara 

So if you're feeling a bit daring today, you might want to check out manicpaniccollection.com

Valentines day nail art

So I had a few (literally) minutes to play around some more with my Naokomi/Mash
set. So I did a Valentines day design. It included cute little hearts. Awww.



I used Nakomi m78, which is an exact dupe of Konad m78
. The quality of the plate is superb, although some of my stamping was funky. This was due to using red konad polish and a red stamper. I couldn't tell if the image was perfect when picking it up. Usually, I check the stamper first, and if its not up to par I start over. Red on red was not a good idea.



For the base polish I used OPI Birthday Babe
(anniversary collection 2006), which really, I don't see much of a difference from Kyoto Pearl. If you already own one, I wouldn't go out of the way to purchase the other.



interestingly enough, the whole nail design was almost too big for most of my nails. Unlike some of the other knock off brands. I really enjoy this pattern and hope to sport it for the next week.

What are you doing for Valentines?

MASH Set update

I've been soo zonked the last few weeks and I'm sorry.

I did get a reply from the MASH set seller "Source Discounts" they assured me they're trying their hardest to get more inventory and should be back in stock in the next few weeks! YAY!

I'm hoping to purchase a set (or three... or four) for gifts.