Enchanted Polish Mani-palooza

Hello friends! As one can expect, the shocking lack of blog posts on PTR as of late (read: like the last year) means that I have a whole bunch of mani pics saved up. Today, I want to share some of the Enchanted Polish ones!

First up is Don't Ever Call Me Doll, a sheer holo pink base with rainbow glitter. It's been a year since I did this mani, lol, but I think I layered two coats over three coats of China Glaze Pink Plumeria, a bubblegum pink neon shimmer. I loved this mani! This was one of my first EPs, too, so it is extra special to me :)

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

 Next up is a Saran wrap marble mani! I first did two coats of Love the Way You Lilac, topcoated it, 1 coat of I'm Kind of a Big Deal, then dabbed balled up Saran wrap on the nail to create a marbled effect. Make sure to topcoat again afterwards, as this method does create some texture -- I love it though! These colors go perfectly together, and such an easy way to do such cool-looking nail art -- should definitely do it more often.

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

Next up is what I like to think of affectionately, to this day (I did this mani last August...) as my Lisa Frank mani! I started out with a skittles base using Yellow Submarine, a bright yellow holo, Disco Barbie, a hot pink holo, and Ocean Potion, an aqua/teal holo. I then used my dotting tool to draw on flowers in alternating colors. Loved this, so bright and cheerful!

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

 Lastly, I have Shrimp Cocktail, a bright pinky coral with gold and pink shimmer. I believe I used two coats here. Fantastic application and a gorgeous, super summery color!

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

Such lovely manis/polishes! I remember almost posting all of these a long time ago, but for some reason I just never got around to it... until now. Oh well, better late than never!

So... most of these pretties are DCed and likely VHTF (sorry! try looking on Storenvy/Ebay/blog sales/FB groups!) but if you'd like to check out Enchanted Polish, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~

Have a wonderful day! ♥

Happy (6th..) of July!

Hello friends! I hope all my American readers had a lovely holiday weekend. I have been so busy with family, fun, and festivities that I didn't get a chance to post my manis -- but better late than never!

At the beginning of the week, when I was first feeling in a 4th-y mood, I did a skittles mani with 2 coats each of Elevation Polish Bohai Sea, a deep sky blue creme holo, Enchanted Polish Stay Classy, San Diego, a pinkish red creme holo, and Lilypad Lacquer In the Milkyway, a whitish creme holo. I then topped it all off with Lumina Lacquer Young Americans 2.0, a red, white and blue glitter bomb! This was super fun - a great way to kick off July!

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

For the actual day, I wanted to try some fancy firework nail art. I started with Aly's Dream Polish Patriotic Blue, a blue scatter holo with glitter, Colors by Llarowe Bea Stings, a pinky red glittery holo, and China Glaze Glistening Snow, a silver holo microglitter. I then used Bea Stings and Patriotic Blue to paint on a firework design (I used my dotting tool like I do for all nail art, because nail art brushes and I don't really get along very well) and put tiny star rhinestones in the center of each firework. I finally topped everything off with Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond, a silver holo microglitter topcoat.

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

I really liked both of these manis! The glitter for the first one was the absolute perfect 4th of July glitter, and blended really well with all base colors without clashing or blending in to any of them too much. And I love trying new nail art designs, so the fireworks were really fun, even if they didn't turn out as great as I was hoping they would, lol. But I got lots of compliments on both and I definitely felt patriotic, so mission accomplished!

If you'd like to check out Aly's Dream Polish, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Elevation Polish, be sure to visit their website~
If you'd like to check out Enchanted Polish, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Colors by Llarowe, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Lilypad Lacquer, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~
If you'd like to check out Lumina Lacquer, be sure to visit their Facebook and website~

Have a fantastic day! ♥

Colors by Llarowe Beachy Summertime Dotticure

Hello hello! I have a darling mani to share with you today that is super-perfect for the summertime weather that has finally arrived here, hurray! I started out with Colors by Llarowe Read My Lips, More New Colors, a tangy bright neon orange crelly, then dabbed on Frenzy, a hot neon pink crelly, in layers. My method for this is a bit different than usual gradient methods - I crinkle up some Saran wrap, paint directly onto the Saran wrap, and then just dab it on in layers. Then, I dotted with Zoya Purity, a white creme. Finally, I topped it all off with China Glaze Fairy Dust for a bit of sparkle!

indoors, lighting + flash

So pretty! I got a ton of compliments out of this one :) This was my first nail art in a long time (over a month when I did it) and it reminded me how much I love playing nails... will definitely have to build more time to do so into my schedule, no matter how busy I get!

Have a lovely day! ♥

Influenster Go VoxBox Review

Hey friends! Today I have the Influenster Go VoxBox to share with you! As you probably know by now , Influenster is an awesome program where they send you boxes of free stuff to try and out and review. Each box is curated around a specific theme, and this one was designed with exercise on the mind! This is particularly great for me, because I have lately been a bit of an exercise fiend (never would have pictured myself the type that, like, needs to run every day, but such is life, always a mystery) so I was excited to play with this box :)

Warm-up:
First up I have several items to share with you that are more used for preparation for exercise -- or really, just to go with an overall healthy lifestyle in general. My favorite was The Vitamin Shoppe Next Step shaker. I thought the design was clever -- it's not shown, but it has a shaker inside to help make mixing the Next Step Fit n Full Protein Shakes easier, which I thought was nice. I'm not big on protein shakes, but I do like the idea in theory - super low-cal (140 for the packet which makes an 8-oz drink) and 14 grams of protein! I have said this before, but high protein is my #1 diet rule because it is the only way I can keep from being super hangry all the time. I did have a hard time mixing though... I used the Mixed Berry mix (pictured in shaker) but no matter how hard I shook, it still had a ton of unappetizing powder clumps, which made a taste test a little difficult. It smelled divine though! Perhaps I was doing something wrong, but it was a bit of a bummer because I would love a new way to cut calories without starving to death.

I was also sent Blue Diamond Blueberry Flavored Almonds, which were much less disappointing. I really like almonds, they are a great healthy snack, and the blueberry flavoring was a nice way to shake it up a little. I don't remember the exact nutrition for this packaging, but I looked online and it seems like 1oz/28g (aka about 24 almonds) is 160 calories and 5g of protein. Again, with the protein.. :) but since that is super important to me, I like that it is there. Not the highest protein bang for your buck, but much better than lots of other crunchy snacks, many of which have 0g.

Treadmill time:
Next up is my favorite and likely to be most used item of the box - the Profoot Triad Orthotic. This is an insert for your running shoes so that your foot is more cushioned to help avoid pain when walking running. It came with a tiny little adhesive to stick to the inside of your shoe, which was nice (although it was extremely sticky - I flubbed it at first and upon reposition attempt, it actually ripped out a little bit of the insert!). It is also 3/4 the length of your shoe, to prevent your foot from feeling crowded. I thought this insert worked very well. Like I said, I am currently in the routine of running on the treadmill every night, so it is important for me to make sure I prevent any pain/injuries that I can, and I thought this insert did the job nicely.

Also included was Playtex Sport Fresh Balance, which I have reviewed already here.

Cool down:
Lastly, we have what I like to think as the "spa" portion of the post -- how to get back to feeling human after working out makes you all sweaty and stinky and gross. The Profoot Pedi Rock is kind of like a stress ball -- shaped so that it is easy to grip -- and you just rub it on your heel to  reduce calluses and roughness, etc. I was surprised that after scrubbing for only a few seconds my heels did feel noticeably smoother! Also included were the Aqua Spa Bath Salts, in a lovely lavender scent. Bath salts are something that I always love to use when I find myself in possession of them, but never think to buy them for myself - so I was thrilled with these! I really love the scent especially, very relaxing.

And that is that! I really enjoyed this box -- it reminded me how much I love to belong to the exercise club, lol. And it was great that the products included encompassed not just actively-exercising time, but preparation and for afterward as well! I definitely see myself using some of these (hello, Aqua Spa bath salts) in the future.

relevant to post, I think

Have a fantastic day!

~These products were provided for an honest review by me from Influenster.

Dollish Polish Hylian Princess - Then & Now

Hello friends! It has yet again been an absurd amount of time since my last post Same old story, aka life happens: first it was finals, then I was on vacation, then BAM, my summer class and internship started. The internship has been wonderful so far and I already feel like I've learned a ton (as for my finance class, I may have learned something but it is far from wonderful, alas) but the moral of the story is that I have barely had time to breathe lately, much less play nails (booo).

However, recently I was hit heavy with the desire to start blogging again (probably was the meeting on social media I attended this week -- I miss sharing with you guys!) so I decided to look through my drafts and see if I had anything close to ready to go. And look at that, I do! This is actually a really cool post (fitting for my return after so long) -- it is a recreation of the very first mani I ever posted on PTR!

In this version, I used three coats of Colors by Llarowe The Sweetest Thing, a magically shimmery sparkly purple, followed by Dollish Polish Hylian Princess, a mix of purple, gold and white glitters inspired by Princess Zelda (this is a very popular polish among me and my fellow Zelda-obsessed friends). So pretty and sparkly! Take a look~

outdoors, sun

outdoors, shade

So purdy! I was so enamored with this mani the first time I wore it that I was inspired to finally bite the bullet and start up this blog - and after wearing again, I would have to say it really is a fantastic combo! (of course, the purple base I used back then was different, but it's the same idea).

To see how far I've come, let's take a look at that first picture (be prepared...shield your eyes)

oh, what beautiful hand positioning...

Yikes! But on the flipside, hurray from improvement! Here's to hoping that if I just keep on keeping on and don't abandon my poor little blog completely, I will continue to improve even more :)

Have a lovely day! ♥