Jamberry Ditsy Floral

Well I had my Jamberry party and got TONS of Jams for only like $45 or something ridiculous like that. A few of the ones I bought were retired at the end of August.  This is one of them.  I figure I might as well still share just in case they ever come back as a TBT special.

I am honestly really glad I grabbed these before they went out because a ton of floral patterns were retired and the new ones don't really do it for me.  I like the Dusty Floral and that's honestly about it. Ditsy floral is super cute and I just love the blue, pink, and green color scheme.  It is a nice spring pattern, and I get a playful yet classy vibe from them.

I really wanted to get these on because the temperature is starting to cool down and soon wearing these bright flowery Jams isn't going to be as fitting. This is probably my last summery manicure before Fall takes over. But I am totally ok with that because I have already ordered my Halloween Jams! 

Spring Watercolor Nails

This weeks manicure is a mix of polish and Jamberry! I think Jams are going to become a staple in my polish looks.  My experience with them has been great and I can see using them all the time. For this nail look I will be reviewing a Jam sample, a nail polish I got in an Ipsy bag, and a nail polish I got for free.

My Jams from last week could have lasted a few more days but I was really itching to change things up so I took them off. I had a watercolor flower patterned Jam I really wanted to try out so I paired it with a hot pink and mint colored polish.  

The Jam is Faded Bouquet and while I think its a cool design I'm not sure I'd buy it.  I was a bit sad that with the sample I got the pink flower was in the middle of the strip, meaning it didn't make it onto my nail. that was supposed to help tie in the hot pink a bit.  The nail on my other hand doesn't have any pink showing at all. Oh well.  At least I don't have to worry about it chipping for the next week or so.

The pink polish I got in my April Ipsy glam bag and it was my absolute favorite product that month! I really like this nail polish.  I almost didn't even need two coats it goes on so opaque.  The formula is also not too thick and not too thin. Its a really nice polish overall.  Its by Julie G, a branch of Jesse's Girl cosmetics, and the color is Damsel.

The mint color is by Wet n Wild from their Spoiled collection.  The color is Mar-zi-panna. My opinion of this one is the opposite, I really don't like it.  The formula is thick and more gel like which I hate in a nail polish.  It was difficult to apply neatly as the brush is huge.  It also took forever to dry....the pink was good so I started doing things and ended up botching up my pinky because even though the pink was dry...the mint wasn't :/

They definitely make a statement but in a cute and spring themed way!

Overall, I think this mani is adorable and perfect for spring!

Jamberry Reminisce (Glossy)

So my Jamberry order came! I got Reminisce (Glossy), Celebrity Status, Marsala in Bloom, and Touch of Lace.

I decided to use Reminisce first just because its so ridiculously pretty.  Also I figure if I screw up application and they peel off in a few days I can always paint the mess up nails black.  I actually think I did these really really well.  There are like 2 wrinkles total across all 10 of my nails.  I really took my time and prepped, cut, and pressed every nail.  I'm so excited how much better I'm getting at this.

I found some cute flowers to take these pictures with.  These nails are perfect for girls like me who love summer and flowers...but also love black.  Light girly flowers just do not go with my personality so I absolutely love this dark flower print.  

There are a few more flower prints that are similar to this, Sweet Nothing and Cup of Tea.  I picked Reminisce over those because Sweet Nothing had no purple and Cup of Tea was half white which makes me sad.

My last free sample lasted 8 days until I had to peel it off.  Let's see if my meticulous application pays off with this manicure!

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Alright so I waited to post this until a week had gone by.  I had taken a lot of care to apply these as carefully as possible and let me tell you it has payed off!!

I first buffed my nails then cleaned them with alcohol. I then made sure each Jam was cut to the right size of my nail and tried to get out all wrinkles with a cuticle pusher.  Well It has officially been one week and they are still hanging it There!

This has even been a very active week for me.  I soaked in a hot tub twice, ate crab legs using only my nails as tools, went camping, and washed my car.  All of these things usually destroy my nail polish but my Jams are still here! Out of all those things I think the hot tub affected them the most as it caused wrinkles to appear where they weren't before so keep that in mind if you wear Jams and hot tub frequently.  Overall I'm very happy and impressed.  :D

If you would like to purchase these and don't have a consultant consider Brandi.  she is young but very sweet and knowledgeable. 

The Jamberry 7 Day Chip Challenge

So with my free Jamberry sample came this little slip of paper describing how to take the 7 day chip challenge.  Always up for a challenge I decided to go ahead and do it! 

Basically I couldn't touch up my nail polish for 7 days to see how Jams held out over conventional polish.

And here you have it!  After seven days my nail polish was looking pretty nasty but my Smitten nail wrap still looks almost perfect.  If we go in a little  closer the wrap was not left unscathed.  It is starting to peel up on the edges but it isn't so annoying that I feel the need to take them off.  I could probably wear these for a few more days until they start catching on things and pulling up too often for my liking.  

Overall I'm happy with my Jams so far and can't wait to try them out some more!

Black and White Nail Art Featuring Jamberry's Smitten

So a few days ago my mom hosted an online Jamberry party and the hostess sent out free samples to anyone who asked.  Smitten was the sample I received so I used it to create this black and white mixed mani! I ended up buying four wraps during the online party so prepare for me to be reviewing and posting those! I'm all about this new nail wrap trend. 

The sample of Smitten I got was actually the smallest size meant for the pinky but because I have very thin nails I was able to wear it on my pointer finger.  Luckily the jams are easy to cut so its no problem trimming them down a bit to get the perfect fit on my nail. For this look I first painted all my nails with Flormar's matte nail enamel in M02 Satin Black which I picked up in Turkey.  Obviously I put top coat over it so the matte effect is lost but its my only black nail polish at the moment....I then stuck on my nail wrap.  Application went much better this time since I used the baggie method and an eraser to help apply pressure.  Finally I took my white nail art pen from Sephora's nail kit and drew on the designs.  

I'm all about this manicure and I would definitely do this again.  I can see myself using Jamberry as accents and doing my own nail art to create a mixed mani fairly often.

A Break From Makeup: I'm Loving This New Wine and Paint Party Trend!

Lately I have been seeing on Facebook that so many people are attending these classes where you basically drink wine while being taught step by step how to paint a picture.  Right from the start I was enamored by this concept as wine and paint are two things I love! Therefore when my mom asked me to go with her to a fundraiser wine and paint event I jumped at the opportunity!  I live in a very small town and the fire hall that hosted this part was PACKED.  They had to book a second class after the initial, because it filled up so fast.  Because I had such a great time I thought I'd share with you all my experience.

So here is the original image that the lesson was based on.  I think my experience was a little different than the classes at the studio because it was a fundraiser.  Usually wine is BYOB but for this event it was supplied by the hosts I'm assuming.  We bought our tickets early so we got a 2 hour paint lesson, a decorated wine glass, and two glasses of wine for $40.  Lessons at the studio are $40 and BYOB, and I'm not sure on the wine glass situation.  Anyway we all sat down at an canvas that had 3 paint brushes, an apron, a paper towel, and a cup of water.  

This is a step by step progression compilation of our paintings.  The instructor stood at the front and walked us through each step. Another employee was going around the room providing extra paint to anyone who needed it.  We all got a squirt of red, blue, yellow, brown, black, and white on a paper plate.  This meant we had to mix all colors on our own.  As you can see my mom and I deviated from the original color scheme, as did a lot of other people.  The instructor said this was fairly unusual and was pretty excited that we were all being so unique.  The instructor herself was very patient and clear in her instructions.  I didn't think her picture was that great but it is very possible that she did not do her best as to prevent making the participants feel bad about their work.

Here is a close up of my finished image.  I chose to make the vases resemble Erlenmeyer flasks because I'm nerdy and ridiculous.  I opted to not write the words as my handwriting is horrendous.  I want to go in with a sharpie and add measure lines to the vases to really drive home that science theme. Some of the details I added on my own based on the original.  For example the instructor did not explain how to do colored shading.  Instead she just had the class ad the black line down the middle of each petal and a white highlight.  She also did not have us do the black and white details on the brown background. Additionally she did not say to slant the middle of the outside flowers to create a perspective of them facing another direction.

And here is a picture of my mom and I with our paintings!  To put this in perspective, I paint from time to time but I only do portraits, this was my first time every painting a flower.  My mom has never picked up a paintbrush IN HER LIFE.  She has zero artistic ability or experience and she was still able to keep up and produce a nice painting.  Therefore do not let your lack of artistic ability deter you from giving this a try.  You might be surprised with what you create!

I hope you enjoyed my wine and paint experience.  The specific studio that taught this class was aMuse Uncorked.  I live in a pretty small town but there are at least three of these studios within a 45 minute drive of my house, therefore you should hopefully not have a problem finding one near you!

Have fun, drink wine, and get painting!