My favorite cuticle oils

Hey everyone,

I need to confess something: I am not only addicted to polishing my nails and all things polish, but I am also quite obsessed with cuticle oils! 
As someone whose nails come in contact with acetone and nail polish remover almost daily, I need to take extra good care of my cuticles so they don't dry out and look gross. So over time I have accumulated quite a few different cuticle oils and after using them all for a while I thought I'd give you a little review on my current favourites.

We have a few to get through, so I'll dive right in ;)

BlissKiss Pure NailOil from NailCare HQ (@simplenailarttips on Instagram)

This one was my very first cuticle oil love! I was seeing it all over Instagram and thought I should give it a go, as everyone was raving about it - and I was not disappointed!

Container
I ordered mine ages ago, so I still have the old school glass bottle that Ana used to sell her BlissKiss oil in. She has now replaced them with plastic bottles, which are just as good and contain the same amount, but don't have the cap with the brush. 

When you order BlissKiss NailOil, you get one big bottle and one 2 ml cuticle oil filled pen. The pens are great for having in your purse and everywhere else around the house. I typically keep one on my desk at work and one in my purse. The pens are not meant to be refilled, but it can be done. I got my boyfriend to open one up for me and refilled it, sadly it doesn't quite work like it used to after putting it back together :( 

Quantity & Price
One bottle with .5fl.oz / 15ml goes a long way, this oil is never ending and that's great, as you get a lot of use out of it! You get the bottle and the pen for $19,99 / €21,77.

Scent
There are normally two scents to choose from, either the signature Crisp scent, which is very nice, or just scentless (which is technically not a scent of course ;).
I have used both and think I have to say I prefer the scentless one. Either my nose has gotten used to the Crisp scent or maybe it changes with time, but I don't like it as much as I used to. 
Sometimes Ana has limited edition scents too, so keep your eyes open for those!

Ingredients
I won't go into all the ingredients, but it's all natural and contains no kind of chemicals! You can look them all up on nailcarehq.com.

Application
When you put it on and massage it into your cuticles, it takes about 10 minutes to absorb. But you don't want to be touching too many things too soon, because your fingers might still be a bit greasy from the oil.

Does it work?
Yes! You can see lots of result pictures of using this cuticle oil on Anas Instagram page and I can also confidently say I can tell a difference when using it on a regular basis. I sometimes like to leave my nails unpolished on weekends I'm not doing anything big, so I go and give them a good soak with BlissKiss every few hours and my nails and cuticles look and feel great!

My Overall Opinion
All in all it's great stuff and I would recommend it any day! 

***

Sweet Baby by Donna (@WorkingGirlNails on Instagram)

Donna and Ana from NailCare HQ have collaborated quite a few times, as lots of people mix both cuticle oils together to get their special mixture, now officially called BabyBliss NailOil, which I think is really cool! That's how I heard about Sweet Baby by Donna and as I already knew BlissKiss, I wanted to try it on its own first.

Container
This cuticle oil comes in a taller glass bottle with a roller ball applicator and a screw on lid, which I instantly loved! I am a sucker for rollerball perfumes so I was all over this too immediately. First I wasn't sure if it would apply that well, but it's great and provides perfect dosage of the product!
I haven't refilled this one yet, so I have no idea if and how it works, but you can buy refill bottles in Donnas shop, so I assume it's possible ;)

When I opened my package I was surprised to see my bottle was red, I had thought it was only a limited edition I had seen around on Instagram and the normal containers were just clear glass, maybe I was just lucky! In any case, I really like the red bottle! :) 

Quantity
As it's not your average polish bottle size, I thought it was less product than usual, but that was only a kind of optical illusion. It is actually .37oz / 11ml and retails for $11 / €10,15. It took me countless nights in front of the TV binging on shows to use up as much of it as I have now. Again, a little goes a long way!

Scent
As I wanted something unexciting and was a bit overwhelmed at the selection of scents in the shop, I went with the non-scented version called Namaste (which I think is such a cute name!). I haven't tried any other scents up until now either, so I have nothing much to report, but there are loads of amazing sounding ones to chose from!

Ingredients
It says on Donnas Instagram page that her products are all natural, vegan, soy and gluten free, so no bad stuff in there :) They are all listed in the product description in her shop though if you want to check them out in detail.

Application
This one also takes a while to fully absorb into your nails, but when you do it in bed in front of the TV, it doesn't really matter does it? :) Apart from when you then accidentally stroke your cat and have instant Yeti hands.. I do not recommend that.

Does It Work?
It does a great job hydrating my cuticles and it's my go to nail oil to put on before bedtime because it's scentless and won't disturb me while going to sleep. 

My Overall Opinion
I especially love the container and the rollerball applicator, if you keep this in your bag you can be sure that nothing will leak out, due to the screw on lid. The red bottle looks so fancy, too! I would definitely recommend this one and next time will for sure try one of the amazing scents! :)

***

Blisspolish Cuticle Oil (@Blisspolish on Instagram)

When I was ordering my first Blisspolishes a few weeks back, I saw that Yvette also had her own cuticle oil in her shop, so as a true addict I had to get it. And I am so obsessed with it!!

Container
The oil comes in a glass vile with a doe foot applicator which I wasn't too sure about at first but now love!! The applicator is amazing because it's nice and soft when applying the oil to your nails, it just feels very luxurious and looks exactly like a lip gloss bottle! 

Quantity
It contains 5 ml, which is less than any other cuticle oil I have, but I don't mind at all and the price at $4 is absolutely fine for that amount. I am also guessing the quantity is so small because of another reason, which I'll tell you about next.

Scent
Yvette changes the scent of her cuticle oil monthly, which I think is a really cool idea! You can only buy the most recent one, so it's a total must have. When I placed my order, I thought she only had that one scent, and it was Black Raspberry Vanilla. I would have chosen the non scented one if I had had the option, but after smelling this, I am so glad it wasn't one! It is TO DIE FOR and I am constantly sniffing my nails like a freak when I have it on! 

Ingredients
There are only three ingredients, Vitamin E Oil, Argan Oil and Fragrance Oil. I love that it is so simple but still so effective! 

Application
Another fave thing about this cuticle oil is that it absorbs asap! You put it on with the smooth applicator, massage it into your cuticles and your fingers are nicely hydrated and beautiful but not greasy! 

Does It Work?
Not only does it smell amazing and absorb quickly, but it gives my cuticles a healthy and non greasy look! It's perfect for putting on before running out of the door because you don't have to worry about smeary fingers!

My Overall Opinion
This stuff is the bomb.com and I will most definitely be purchasing more, I can't wait to see what kinds of fragrances are coming up in the future! Yvette recently had a special sale where she sold a bunch of her cuticle oils in scents that had come out in the past to clear out the rest of her stock. I scored another Black Raspberry Vanilla and also one in the scent Candy Cane - woohoo! :)

***

OPI Avoplex 

This is the only big brand cuticle oil I use and although I do prefer to support small businesses, this cuticle oil is definitely worth mentioning! I picked it up at TKmaxx one day, it was just sitting there discounted and I had never heard of it before, so I thought I'd give it a go!

Container
It comes in a normal OPI bottle, only that the lid is white instead of black. 

Quantity
The bottle contains 0,5 fl oz / 15ml which is loads of product. Although it may not look like I have used it much, I really have tested it thoroughly! Here again a little goes a long way! As I picked it up at TKmaxx I didn't pay the full price and I don't remember for how much I actually got it. I looked it up online and found it for €13,99.

Scent
I don't think it has a named scent, but it does smell very plain and maybe a tiny tad citrussy, but that may only be happening in my head/nose, so I'd say it's non scented and just smells very pleasant.

Ingredients
I threw away the little box it came in which probably had all the ingredients listed, I couldn't really find them all online but it's supposed to be all natural.

Application
Like the BlissKiss, you can just brush it on to your nails with the super soft brush in the cap that it comes with. It absorbs very fast and doesn't leave you with greasy fingers, which is a big plus for me!

Does It Work?
Yes, it absorbs quickly and hydrates the nails without leaving excess product!

My opinion
Although there wasn't much to say about this cuticle oil, it is for sure a really nice product! It absorbs beautifully into the nails and hydrates them wonderfully. I would definitely recommend it!

***

So these are my four favourite cuticle oils at the moment! I hope you found my little review helpful, if you have any further questions feel free to drop me a comment! :)

Lots of Love,
Glittr

Nailart: Tropical Stamping Over Orly's Thrill Seeker

Hey everyone,

after loving Orly On The Edge so much, I had to try out Thrill Seeker as well and boy am I in love! 

I thought I was going to need a white base for this one to pop, but already after applying the first coat on to my nail, I knew this would be great even without!

This is three easy coats, it dries pretty quickly into a semi matte finish as neons tend to do. As it dried so quickly, I didn't even mind putting on three coats! Normally I'm too impatient to wait for each coat to dry to put on the next! But this was easy and fast application. You probably could have been fine with 2 coats as well, but I just did 3 because I could still see some uneven patches.

I decided to stamp over it using my MoYou London Tropical 02 plate and it worked out perfectly! I used Rica's Blackout to stamp and for once, my stamping image transferred perfectly! I'll have to find out how I did that ;D

This is my finished version with HKgirl topcoat by GlistenAndGlow. 

I decided to mattify my design with the OPI Matte Topcoat because I wanted to get a picture without glare and I love it so much! What is it with the Orlys and mattifying them that always turns out so pretty?! 

I really loved all three of my new Orly polishes I picked up. Here's a little bonus pic from my last Orly mani using On The Edge and Rage, also mattified! :)

What do you guys think about Orly polishes? I'm really starting to love them! :)

Lots of Love,

Glittr

Review: Floss Gloss

 

I finally finished my little Floss Gloss review, yay! :) As I mentioned in my polish haul blogpost, I picked up some of these while in the U.S., six in all. 

First things first: here's a little funny story on my first encounter with FlossGloss.. and let me tell you it was not pretty! :D

When in New York, I was almost all shopped out in terms of polish (what?), but then my boyfriend spotted a Ricky's (I had never heard of that store before btw - it's amazing!) and said it looked like a store I might like. 

To give you some background information: We were going to see a movie, so I was all casual in my favourite comfy jeans and flip flops (and yes of course I was wearing something on top, too). We had another half hour to spare before the movie was going to start and were standing in front of the movie theatre, the Ricky's store right across the street. So my boyfriend suggests we go in there to pass the time and when we enter the store, I see shelves freaking full of polish, so I'm immediately in heaven starting to look them through. 

I spot the Floss Gloss polishes, a brand I've been wanting to try for ages but never was brave enough to spend my money on online, not knowing if they would be any good. So I see all the gorgeous colors and start filling my hands. My palms are full to the brim, carrying 6 of them and an Essie (oh hi there!) and I decided this is enough, I can't even carry one more.

I move towards the counter ready to pay, and one of the Floss Gloss polishes (the black one, of course) that is lying on top of the pile in my hands slowly slides off... hits the tiled floor... and shatters right in front of my feet.

So I am totally humiliated, apologizing profusely to the guy and girl working the store on this tragic occurrence. They say "Don't worry, it happens all the time" in a tone that suggests this might be the case, but it's still a damn mess and they have to clean that shit up. The guy gets paper towels and polish remover and starts cleaning the floor and I'm like "can I maybe have one of those towels?" He looks at me like an alien and goes "uh, yeah... but you don't have to help, I'll do it" and I just look at him and point at my big toe, that is completely covered in black polish. His eyes nearly pop out of his head and he hands me a towel, surpressing a laugh... thanks dude.

And of course I did not only get it on my big toe, but all over my feet and on my favourite comfy jeans.. hurrah. And the best part? I didn't have time to clean myself, because we had to get to the cinema... so I had to sit through the film (Mad Max Fury Road btw, which was pretty awesome!) and then tried removing the polish off myself back at our hotel a few hours later. I had only taken a small bottle of polish remover with me on vacation and it was nearly empty too, so just quickly grabbed one at the Ricky's, which turned out to be the worst one I could have chosen. I was scrubbing my legs forever. 

And this is what I looked like from the moment it happened until I could clean myself back at the hotel.. and yeah, those jeans are ruined :( Now to be worn for wall painting jobs around the house only. Meh.
The pink polish (China Glaze Glow With The Flow) on my big toe came off when I wiped off the big blob of black that was on top of it, so I ended up walking home with this attractive look on my feet.

Of course, I picked up a new bottle of the black polish I smashed and bought that bastard, ha! 

But now, enough of my embarrassing stories, let's get into the polish review!

***

This bubblegum pink is gorgeous! But a bitch to put on. It took me three coats and I still wasn't a 100% satisfied with the end result. It's really pigmented, but it goes on a bit chalky and patchy.. in any case, the color is amazing and I don't regret buying it! 

This stunning minty turquoise had a better formula than Perf, but it was similarly chalky. It was opaque in two easy coats though and I really like it!! It looks a bit brighter in my mani a bit further down, it's more toned down in person.

First of all, this name is everything! That said, the formula was pretty good too. Two smooth coats for full opacity. Not my new go to white, but it's a good one! :)

I used all three colors in this cute watermelon mani. I was inspired to do this by my girl @melcisme on Instagram and I loved it SO MUCH I wore it longer than any other mani in the past few months! The three above mentioned colors were perfect for this design. It was so bright and fun I was really sad when it chipped badly on day four. 

I had to have this stunning glitter, you can't quite see in the pic how amazing it looks in the bottle! I was a tiny bit disappointed though, because the glitter wasn't as dense as I had hoped. I needed three coats to get it opaque enough, to make it even nicer I would have even needed a fourth one, but I was dreading the drying time.. Still gorgeous though!!

This is a pretty stunning color, it's a very pale neon orange and was so hard to capture, it's much lighter and paler in person. It's beautiful, even though again this one needed three coats for full opacity. Same hard to work with formula as Perf, but the color is kinda really worth it!

Even though we had a rough start, I gave Black Holy a fair chance and was not disappointed! A really nice, one coat black! Not much more to say about this one, apart from that I will always handle it very carefully for fear of repeating certain occurrences.. ;))

This is the second mani I did using the other three polishes, sorry for my weirdly coloured hands but Pony was so hard to photograph!!
I really love the mani though, I did something similar before with a different neon by China Glaze and I thought it was perfect to show this one off too!

***

Overall, I have to say that formula and drying time was a bit tricky, I wasn't too impressed that I needed almost four coats with some of these. Others like the black and white were great to work with!
Also I was really surprised when I saw the bottles in real life, they are tiny (5.5 ml)! I had imagined them much bigger, but they are pretty small :( What comes with small bottles of course, is a small brush. The bristles were normal length and good to work with, but the brush "stem" (?) was really short. But it was actually ok and didn't interfere with painting my nails at all. Just thought I would mention it.
The gold caps are so cool though, right? They make the whole polish look so fierce!

And the colors are amazing! They make some hard to work with formulas really worth it! I do think that you can pick up the pink and the mint/turquoise from different brands too, they are not unique shades. But Pony for example is so cool! And I haven't seen anything quite like it before!

I actually have another FlossGloss polish on the way to me, one they didn't have in store but I have been lusting after forever. I'll post it on my IG as soon as it arrives and I get to wear it! :)

Now I've tried this brand, I will definitely be using the ones I have, but I'm not sure I will be purchasing that many more. Just for blacks and whites, I think $8 for 5.5 ml is a bit too expensive, I might get weak though if I find another color that I feel is unique.

I hope you enjoyed my review of FlossGloss polishes and found my comments helpful! :)

Lots of Love,
Glittr

New York and Florida polish haul

Hey everyone,

so I went on vacation to the U.S. for two weeks and visited Florida and New York City! I had a fabulous time, as the weather was amazing and also of course I got to shop for polish that I can't find in stores in Germany ;)

I thought I'd share my haul with you here, I hope you enjoy it! :)


As I had been to the same area in Florida that we went to before, I knew there was an ULTA there. Of course I made my boyfriend go there... twice ;P I picked up a few polishes there, some even on clearance at a really good price!

As we never get the new Essie collections on time here and they are always sold out as soon as they do come, of course I was on the hunt for the summer collection. I found them at ULTA and was actually a bit disappointed, the colors didn't really stand out to me and there were not many I felt I really, really wanted. But I did pick up Peach Side Babe and Pret-A-Surfer. Although I'm not quite sure I really needed another blue.. but I'll still be trying out both and will see how I like them :)

I just had to pick up a new bottle of Essie Fiji when I saw it, it's so hard to get my hands on over here! Even though it's much darker than it used to be, I still really love it. I also got Hubby For Dessert which I am excited to try out, it even has this pretty print on the top that I don't think the European bottles have, at least I haven't seen that in pictures of swatches. I also had to get Minimalistic, which is an even lighter, slightly cooler toned pink than Fiji (at least more than the one I got here), as I had seen it on my girl @melcisme on Instagram and loved it. 

I picked up Good As Gold, as I didn't own it and you can never go wrong with a good gold polish. Can't wait to use this as an accent color!
My favourite of all my Essie purchases has to be No More Film, a gorgeous deep purple toned blue! It's just so pretty!! It was the first color I put on while I was still on holiday and I kept looking at my nails, it went straight to the top of my favourite polishes list! Sadly I didn't take any good pics while I wore it, but I am pretty sure I will be reaching for this again soon! It's a bit like a darker, more blue-ish version of Essie's Under The Twilight, which is another favourite of mine.

In The Cab-Ana was on my Want-List for a while now, so when I saw it of course I had to take it home. I don't wear teal/turquoise that often, but this one is really pretty! I just recently posted a leopard print mani using this as well as my new version of Mint Candy Apple.
I say new, because it is completely different to the one I already have! This new one is so much lighter and more blue toned than the european version of it! And even in store they had two different versions of MCA! It was so weird!

As I already had the minty version, even though I am sure it's different to the one I own, I decided to take the light blue one home with me as I don't own anything quite like it! Here is also a comparison shot of my old MCA and the new one I picked up in the U.S.:

In any case, now I have two different versions of this and I like both ;)

The last two polishes I picked up at ULTA are these; Sally Hansen Celeb City was in the clearance bin so who can say no to that? It looks like a pretty good dupe to OPI This Gown Needs A Crown too, which I will put to the test soon.
When I looked at the OPI Brights collection I was pretty unimpressed, the only one that looked remotely interesting was On Pinks And Needles, I don't have anything like it so I thought I'd give it a try! :)

I went to a Sally's Beauty Supply for the first time and my NPA heart skipped a beat when I saw the new Nail Polish Wall in person.. wowza, that was one awesome sight! Of course I browsed it brand by brand and found a few goodies to take home ;)

I don't own too many Orly polishes, but these three caught my eye and I decided to get them: Over The Edge is a deep blue toned purple which I can't wait to use (can you see a pattern with my favourite colors here?), Orly's Rage has been on my Want-List for a very long time and Thrill Seeker looked just so tempting, as I don't have anything like it in my collection yet! Excited to see how I will like these on my nails!

I would have thought that I would be buying mostly China Glaze polishes as they are one of my all time favorite brands, but when I was standing in front of the nail polish wall, I realized I already owned most of the colors that sparked my interest when looking at them all. I did get this gorgeous glitter called Pick Me Up Purple though that I had never heard of before but thought was just stunning, as well as Highlight Of My Summer because it was - surprise - another polish I had always wanted to try.


We then went into a Ricky's store, which was completely new to me. I didn't know they sold Floss Gloss polishes, so I was excited when I saw they had a small selection! I had always wanted to try these, so of course this was a sign that I should ;)

I picked up these six colors and I will have a whole separate blogpost up on these soon!

From L to R: Floss Gloss in Mrs. Tony Montana, Wavepool, Perf.

From L to R: Floss Gloss in Pony, Dimepiece, Black Holy.

I knew that Anthropology carried Ella+Mila polishes, so when I saw them in store I couldn't resist picking up one of these cute little duos they had. Even though they are "mommy and me" sets, I thought they were super cute and I love the colors! They also had a nude and blue combo but I liked this one better and even got one for my best friend too. She is already wearing the color in the bigger bottle called Just Peachy and loving it!

I am yet to try one of these, so I can't tell you quite yet how I like them. But the packaging is adorable! The smaller bottle color is called Sweet Tart and the set also comes with a little sheet of floral nail stickers which is a nice idea.


When we were at Walgreens, it was the first time I saw the reformulated Sally Hansen Pacific Blue in person. Pur-leeeaase, Sally Hansen. What is wrong with you?!

It's nothing like the original formula any more and a completely different blue! I wonder who made that decision at SH, in any case I bet he or she is feeling pretty awful after the uproar that went through the nail art community.. I'm glad I have my original one and also two back ups, it really is a gorgeous polish. This one would have never sparked my interest, not even if I hadn't know the old version.. 

Last but not least, I decided to try out the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polishes while I was in Florida! I also saw and bought these at Walgreens, I do love a good drugstore browse ;)

At home, I had painted my toenails with China Glaze Float On and topped it with Ricas Glossy Glam topcoat, but about 15 minutes after I had done this I had already ruined two toenails again.. God I hate doing my own pedicures. As it was the night before we left, I just packed the polish and didn't bother redoing them that night, but just did it the first day we arrived.

After about two days, my polish was already chipping everywhere. I don't blame it either, being at the beach and in the ocean, at and in the pool and wearing open shoes all the time is hard on polish in any case. 

When I saw the Miracle Gel polishes at Walgreens I thought why not, so I got the color Pinky Rings, which was most similar to the China Glaze color I was wearing and liked and the matching topcoat. It's a gel finish topcoat that doesn't need any special light to cure it, which I thought sounded pretty good.

The color went on a bit too thick for my taste and needed two coats, but with the topcoat I wore it for over a week with absolutely no wear at all! Was very happy with that I must say.

Then in New York I decided I wanted to try the gel topcoat over normal polish to see if it would still work as well, and it sure does. I used my new favorite neon pink, China Glaze Glow With The Flow and sealed it with the gel topcoat and voila! I am proud and also a bit embarrassed to say that I am still wearing this pedi today with no chips! 

So this concludes my American nail polish haul! I spent quite a bit, I know that, but I purposely went on a no-buy before my holiday because I knew I would be shopping like the crazy polish addict I am ;)

I hope you enjoyed this post! :)

Lots of Love,

Glittr