Sally Hansen Salon Effects | Trial & Review

A few weeks ago I received some French Mani Salon Effects nail polish strips in my Beauty Box. Since I am having an at home date night tonight for Valentine's day, I decided that it would be fun to test them out.

 Here's how they work:

First you have to "prep" your nails. I did this using my Butter London Scrubbers. They are 2-in-1 prep & remover pads (p.s. I love these!). I swiped each nail to make sure there was no oil or lotion or gunk on them.

After they are prepped, you begin with the tips. Since these are French Mani strips, they have an extra step, in order to give you that look. Mine are gold glitter tips.  This step was easy enough. Peel, stick, file the excess. Once you do a couple nails, this goes pretty quickly. I was left with something that looked like this:

The last step is where I got in trouble. There are clear strips that go over your entire nail, to protect the tip & subsequently give the "french manicure" look. These strips would NOT stay on. Now, I admit that I didn't realize that these were like window cling material & not actual stickers.  I tried applying them two or three different ways, on several different nails - all with the same result. In the end, I had to haul out my clear polish & paint over the tips so they won't peel off!

Verdict - While my nails look super cute, I don't think these strips work as promised & are probably not worth the $9.99. I would perhaps buy them for a special occasion, because admittedly they give a french manicured effect without too much hassle...but not really reasonable for everyday use.

**Update:  These lasted for around 7 days on me before they started to look weird/ peel off. 

What do you think of nail polish strips? Did I do something wrong? Let me know!

Cheers,
Kait

Beauty Box 5 | January 2015

So in light of the new year, I've decided to test out something new & subscribe to a box! I chose beauty box 5 because it's affordable ($12/month) & it usually has an interesting selection of products.

1. Ultraflesh Panthera Mascara ($20.00 for full-sized)
Claims dramatic, thicker lashes & at $20.00 I would consider this to be in the realm of high-end mascaras.

2. Hard Candy Take Me Out Liner in Sushi ($5.00 for full-sized)
Claims a creamy liner with powerful pigment. While this is an unusual, bluey-purple shade, it could be fun to play around with during the summer months.

3. Sally Hansen Salon Effects in French Mani ($9.99 for full-sized)
Claims a perfect manicure for up to 10 days. I'm looking forward to trying these because they seem like an interesting concept. I also lucked into a very wearable gold-tipped french manicure pack, so the style is very wearable.

4. Softsoap Nutri Serums Body Wash ($8.00 for full-sized)
Claims to contain vitamin E to hydrate & omegas 3 and 6 to retain moisture. Smells pretty good & is in the perfect size to travel with for a few days. Will be packed in my next overnight bag!

5. Hard Candy Baked Eye Shadow in 261 Make Believe ($6.00 for full-sized) 
Claims to be highly pigmented wet-dry eye colour. While I received colours that I don't wear on a regular basis, they do seem very creamy & easy to blend. My next smokey eye will certainly be attempted with these shadows.

My box included 3 full-sized products (Liner, Shadow & Nail strips) & two samples. All in all, my box is worth around $30.00 CAD, which is quite wonderful considering they are $12.00 boxes & $3.00 shipping. Of the products I received, I am most definitely going to be using the mascara, the nail strips & the body wash. I will also play around with the eye liner & shadow on occasion.

Verdict? Month One was a success!
Do you subscribe to any boxes? I'd love to hear about different ones!

Cheers,
Kait