Nail Cones Review!!!

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. 
Today I have a pretty cool review for all the nail polish junkies out there like me! :) I plan on posting a couple of nail related reviews in the upcoming days as well!
Anyway! I, for one, always seem to make either a giant mess, or at least a little one whenever I do my nails. Especially when I'm painting them with my left hand. Nail cones are a brand new product that provide a SUPER easy, affordable way to remedy this problem and I'm super glad that I got to test them out to review for you! Thanks to Nail Cones and Tomoson for the opportunity.

I have some pictures to better explain what they are and how they work!!!

My favorite part of this product is that they are SUPER easy to use! You simply peel them off and place them around your nail, and then they protect the skin around your nail from any excess polish getting on them! I find these GREAT for doing designs and gradients that involve using a sponge! They're also REALLY sticky and stay on VERY well, which makes them even better! Usually I use plain old tape when I do stuff like water marbling, gradients, and nail art, and it always peels off and isn't quite tacky enough. These DEFINITELY are, but they aren't so sticky that you can't get them off either.

PLUS, did I mention they're ADORABLE?! Here's some pictures of me using these awesome little stickers from the other day!

This is how you peel off the stickers for use! They come in different sizes too, so you can pick the right one depending on what nail you need to use it on!

AND here is the top part of the package that has the super easy instructions!

And here is what they look like when you put them on! I don't have them pushed all the way down here, since it was the first time I used them and I'm not used to wearing acrylics anyway... but you can see that there is basically NO nail polish on any of my skin! Yay for no difficult cleanup! :)

Complete!!!! 

And my completed mani and my monster!! :P Not to brag or anything, but how CUTE are my butterfly nails!

If you'd like to find out more about Nail Cones, please visit their website HERE.

A sheet only costs $5.99 and they have LOTS of info on their website and even a video tutorial!! Definitely worth it! They make painting nails a breeze!

Until next time,

xX Ashley C.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Cherry Blossom Nails for Spring!!!

No serious tutorial or anything for these really, but they were WAY easier than I thought they'd be!

All you need is:
Brown Polish
Base color polish(es)
Dark Pink
Light pink
Striping brush
Dotting tool and/or pen

I used:
Julep - Fiore
Julep - Bess
Julep - Denver
Julep - Carrie
Julep - Nellie
HK Girl Topcoat
Striping Brush
Crappy old pen

Basically you just paint your nails the base colors. I used Julep Bess with Julep Denver as an accent nail although you can't really tell in the photo. Let that dry. I applied Topcoat here to make it dry faster. HK Girl is my go to for nail art because it dries crazy fast, doesn't shrink, and doesn't smear.
Then you take your brown color and paint on branches. The best part is they don't have to be perfect or anything because the flowers are going to be going on top of them. I used Julep Fiore because it's the only brownish polish I have but it's a little dark.
Then randomly on the branches make dots in the shape of flowers with your light pink color. I tired to make them not all the same size, and used Julep Carrie.
Then in the middle of those "flowers"  use your dark pink to make a dot in the middle and Voila!  Cherry Blossom Nails!!!  I used Julep Nellie for the dark pink.  It's my favorite.
Top coat again and done!!!

So there's your super easy and fast tutorial for my nails of the day and HERE THEY ARE in all their novice glory!

Xx Ashley C.

**Note this post contains affiliate links**

Birchbox Spring Forward March 2014 Unboxing!

I'm really really excited about my Birchbox this month!!! This is probably the best Birchbox I've received so far! For those of you don't don't already know, Birchbox is a subscription box that for only $10 a month bring you a box full of sample, deluxe sample, and sometimes full size beauty/skincare/makeup products! They usually send out higher end items and the boxes are always worth more than $10! If you're interested in signing up, please use my referral link HERE! They also give you 10 points for every item you review, and 100 points is equal to $10 in their store! That means every month you are basically getting $5 back of the money you spent! It's awesome! :D

Here's a first look at my box! The theme for this month is "Spring Forward".

Apparently they are advertising their point system on the inside of their boxes now.

Here's a second look at my box!

And here is what I received in my March Birchbox!

See! A great box this month!

Jergens BB Body & $2 off coupon - Full Size $10/ Sample Value $3? 

I usually like Jergens' lotions, so I was excited to see this included as a Birchbox find. I think though, that their "finds" are a lame way to make people feel like their not getting screwed by BB including a cheaper item. Some people still got 5 higher end items, and I got 4 and this. Oh well!

It seems to have a tint to it, so I'm assuming it also is a self tanner. I like Self Tanners.

Kiems Hair Care Shampoo - Full Size $9.50/Sample Value $2

This smells really nice. I like any shampoo that smells minty! I only wish it came with a matching conditioner! Hopefully this doesn't take all the color out of my hair!

Stila Lip Gloss in Raspberry Sorbet - Full Size!!! Value $8

I LOVE these lipglosses. I haven't had one in a long long time! Super excited to get this, and even more excited to get it in this pink color! :D I'm probably going to use some of my points to pick up a few more of these.

Here's what the color looks like. It's like a pretty pink smoothie. Makes me want to go to smoothie king. :P

Air Repair Rescue Balm - Full Size $12 / Sample Value $2?

This is a pretty teensy size sample, but I wanted to try it. It can be used as lip balm and cuticle balm, so I'm going to try it for both. My cuticles are a wreck. A little seems to go a long long way!

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T primer - Full Size $68/Sample Value $5

Another tiny sample, but I like fancy primers. This stuff is weird and isn't like any other primer I've ever used. It's really liquidy, and kind of burned my face. Bummer. Would never pay $68 for any primer. Ever!

SO! In conclusion, I LOVE MY BOX. Maybe I'm just over excited about getting a full size Stila lip gloss. I really want to have a million of these in my purse at all times. :) 

Box Value: About $20! Pretty good since I paid only $10 and am getting $50 points back! :D

What did you get in your Birchbox this month?! Love it? Hate it?! Don't forget to use my REFERRAL LINK HERE if you want to sign up! So worth it!

Nails later! Ipsy Tomorrow!

Xx Ashley C.

Julep Maven March 2014 Unboxing & Review!

Today I received my March Julep box! This is the first time in awhile I've been overly excited to order my Julep colors. I'm a sucker for anything bright and anything green, so I quickly knew what colors I wanted!

For those of you who don't already know, Julep is a monthly subscription service that provides the latest nailpolish colors right to your door for as low as $19.99 a month. Every month they come out with four different sets of colors and a beauty product based on your style profile, which is a quiz that allows them to decide which color you'd like best. You can either pick between these four, or opt for their Modern Beauty box, which is contains no polish and awesome beauty items instead! They also let you upgrade to get the whole collection! Sign up right now and use code FREEBOX to get your first box for only the cost of shipping!

Now on to my box!!! For March 2014, Julep brought us "The Riviera Collection"; nine beautiful bright spring colors and lipglosses. For Modern Beauty they brought us the "Buff Lip Scrub" and "Luxe Lip Conditioning Treatment". 

My style according to Julep's style profile is "Bombshell", which is the box I chose this month! Take their quiz HERE to see what yours is! :)

My March box contained:

Lilou - Lemon Chiffon Creme

Monaco - Dazzling Mariner Blue Creme (Pantone color of the year for Spring 2014)

Julep Lip Gloss in Fearless
Candy Cane Extra :)

Add ons:

Lizanne - Sea Green Shimmer
Tania - Multidimensional Mermaid Teal Glitter

Now, I usually don't get add ons, but I had to have these colors! I don't have any swatches of Lilou for you today, because I am thinking about selling or trading it, because I already have something similar, but here are the others!

I love LOVE LOVE Monaco. It's the perfect blue creme for spring and summer. I can't get enough blue polishes. And Lizanne is great too! Personally, I don't really see any "shimmer" once it is on, its more like a bright teal cream, but beautiful nonetheless! I used Tania as an accent over Lizanne.

In the bottle, Tania reminded me of Julep's Esmerelda, so I decided to do a comparison photo to see what the difference was. Esmerelda is one of my favorite Julep's I own.

The glitters in them seem to be very similar in color, but Tania has an opalescent base color that completely changes the color of the base nail polish. I'm interested to try it on it's own, but that's for another day!

Here's a swatch of the lippie I chose. It will be great for the spring and summer. It's a beautiful hot pink shimmer gloss that makes my lips shiny and fuller. I love it and can't wait to use it over a pink or red lipstick!

I love Julep's new glosses because they smell and taste super good and aren't overly sticky!

So that's my box! Like I said if you're not signed up for Julep already, definitely check them out! They have some great products as well as polish, and I'm sure you will be JUST as addicted as I am!

If you are signed up, which box did you get this month??? Love it or hate it?

Xx Ashley C.