Urban Decay XX Vault + $200 Sephora Gift Card Giveaway

Hey folks! I wanted to let you now I'm joining up with some awesome beauty bloggers for a EPIC giveaway on Instagram! You can enter to win the Urban Decay XX Vault plus a $200 gift card to Sephora! US only, 18+ years of age or parent's permission, please read all the rules before entering. Open until October 19th at 6pm EST.

Check out the giveaway photo for all the details - HERE

Good luck!

❤ Kellie

$200 Sephora Gift Card Giveaway

Hey friends! I've been out of town and a little under the weather for a few days now so sorry for my absence. I have an awesome giveaway to bring you today though, brought to you by The Beauty Blogazons. One lucky winner will receive a $200 gift card to Sephora! The giveaway is open to residents of USA and Canada, and it runs from 10/27/14 to 11/03/14. Please enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. The options are mainly instagram follows, but you can earn an entry for commenting on this blog post answering the question: What would you buy if you won this gift card??

**CLOSED**
The winner has been chosen and emailed! :) Thank you everyone for entering!
Remember to read all terms and conditions before entering and good luck!!

❤ Kellie

Formula X - Danger Zone

Hi friends! Today I wanted to show you a Formula X for Sephora polish from their Electrics group called Danger Zone. It's a crazy cool neon coral with pink sparkles. It has a very slight hint of a blueish-pink flash to it. Two coats were enough for full coverage. It dries to a satiny matte finish so I used top coat to make it shiny.

I think this is a bit more pink in photos, in person it's more orange and looks a tad lighter. Neons are hard to photograph haha! I really love this polish, it's right up my alley! You can get this and other Formula X polishes from Sephora for $10.50-$12.50 each. I love this brand and can't wait to try more! What do you think of this neon stunner?

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Formula X for Sephora - Illustrious

Hi everyone! I hope you're keeping warm out there, I hear it's pretty cold in most of the US right now! I live in northern Nevada so it's very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. This year actually hasn't been that bad winter-wise, but I almost shouldn't say that because it can always get worse haha.

Purchased by Me

I have a gorgeous color that feels perfectly suited to the chilly weather, Formula X for Sephora Illustrious. This is the first polish I have tried from this new brand, which was brought in after they phased out Sephora by OPI nail lacquers (but I believe they still sell gel polish under this brand name). Formula X colors are more expensive at $10.50 for 12 mL than the SOPI's were at $9-$9.50 for 15 mL. Right out of the gate they have a zillion colors and finishes to choose from and I have to say I'm in love with the bottle design.

Illustrious is an ice green shade with subtle metallic glaze of shimmer. On their website it's described as "pistachio pearl" and their bottle shot is way more yellow toned than it actually is.  I find it to be a beautiful pale and crisp green. It was really not a pleasant formula to work with for me. It was thick, streaky, and difficult to level out. I topped it with my favorite top coat of the minute, Glisten & Glow HK Girl, and luckily it smoothed everything over and gave it a fab shine. I love how this looks against my skin tone! This is two coats.

You can purchase Formula X from Sephora.com and Sephora stores. Have you tried this brand yet? I picked up one other color from them when I got this one that I'm excited to try out. I have high hopes for this new brand, I think I need more of them already!

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Nails Inc. - Baker Street

Hi friends! Today I have for you a polish that I got more compliments on the day I wore it than I have on one in a long time. Most people who know me tend to recognize my finger flair, but there are those who are just never going to care as much. This is one that I swear 80% of the people I came around that day asked me what I was wearing. The color is Nails Inc. Baker Street. It really was on trend this year, especially after Beyonce was seen sporting the color after the birth of her child, fittingly named Blue haha.

This one is a buttery crème that practically applies itself, in a rich jewel tone cobalt blue. And it is BRIGHT! I really adore this. I got the "Crystal Colour" version with the jeweled top because it was on sale on Sephora.com, otherwise I would've gotten the regular one. But I have to say, the glamour girl in me just ooh'd and ahh'd when I saw the crystals! This swatch is two coats. Amazing. Must have.

Guest Post by The Polishaholic: Sephora Nail Bling - Black Rainbow

Hi kittens! Please enjoy this guest post by my sista from another mista, Jen from The Polishaholic!

Hi guys!!! I am SO beyond excited to do this guest post for Kellie. Mostly because I have such a nail crush on her and she is seriously one of the sweetest girls I have had the pleasure of getting to know while blogging. I'm pretty excited for what I'm showing you guys today too so I hope you all like it as much as I do!

The other day I wandered into Sephora hoping to find some Nails Inc. polishes, I didn't find them so I ended up buying a whole bunch of other stuff instead. One of the nail things I picked up was Sephora's brand of nail decals. I believe they have a few different kinds, these ones say Nail Bling on the packaging and the design is called Black Rainbow. I have to say, I love nail decals. I fail at 99% of nail art so these work for me because they are typically very easy to use. Sephora had a bunch of different designs but I was drawn to these because they have some texture to them, the colorful dots are actually raised up, I don't think any amount of top coat would cover them. Normally I don't like texture on my nails but these are so cool, I keep feeling my nails like a big weirdo haha! Hopefully you guys can see the texture in the picture I took from the side! 

Alright so, these were super easy to apply...because of the texture they are thick which means they are easy to reposition if needed. My only issue was that the thickness also made for filing off the extra decal a pain in the butt! They were a bit ragged and scratchy at the ends (not as bad as they look though, macro is a bish). I've had these on for 2 days and they are lasting surprisingly well, even after lots of hand washing, showers and filing all day at work. I would most definitely buy these again! I got a ton of compliments on these and everyone was really loving the texture (yes, I was not the only weirdo feeling my nails haha)

Wowsa that was wordy! Thank you Kellie for the opportunity to do a fun guest post! Have a good day everyone!

Jen

Isn't she the sweetest?! I really adore Jen, meeting her in Las Vegas a few weeks ago was seriously a dream come true! We got along so well it's like I've known her my whole life! *muah* Love ya babe!

Perfect Formula - Strong Nail Daily Moisture

I'm a little cheap. What I mean is, I don't really like to spend a lot of money. Unless...it's worth it. It was pulling teeth to get me to buy my first Chanel polish and I cringed when I did. But I know now that it is occasionally worth the splurge. I never thought I would like the product I'm telling you about now as much as I do. I like it so much, that I am going to have to fork over the $29 (for two bottles) it will cost once I run out. The Perfect Formula brand hasn't impressed me in the past, but the Strong Nail Daily Moisture oil is pretty fan-freaking-tastic.

Image via Sephora.com

It boasts a formula made with Vitamin E, keratin, what makes up your nail, and jojoba oil, which is chemically close to natural skin sebum and is both anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. A lot of nail/cuticle moisturizers have mineral oil in them which can irritate some folks, including me. And dork-butt that I am, I always always have to rub my eyes when I have oil on them (a curse?) and any other brand or formula that I get in my eyes makes me want to die it hurts so bad. Don't misunderstand, I am by no means telling you to get this stuff in your eyes, but honestly it doesn't hurt mine if (when) I do. Another reason I love this stuff so much is because it penetrates and absorbs into my skin really fast, so I don't have oil slicked hands for hours after I put it on. It also has no scent, which is a huge plus for me. I really can't find any fault with this stuff except the hefty price tag. However I have barely put a dent in my bottle and I've been using it for months.

I swear my cuticles have never looked better. They say this is very helpful for dry, brittle nails, but since I don't have either, I figure that this stuff is just reinforcing my pretty tips and making my skin look fab. You are supposed to use this once a day or so, on top of dry polish or your natural nails. You can get this on The Perfect Formula website or from Sephora.

Product provided for review.

blue sapphire fantasy

i hope everyone had a fant-abu-lous 4th of july and celebrated by slugging back a brew or two or lighting up a bowl or a candle or sing a song or whatever ya do to chill out and kick back for a day of greatness.

so i got my package from sephora yesterday, i love USPS shipping. UPS sucks for the west coast seriously. i ordered the essie starry starry nights dupe, sephora sapphire blue. i la la love it! it's a jelly base with shimmery glitter and the more you layer the polish, the more the glitter shows through making it multi-dimensional (this is two coats). the pictures don't do it justice, seriously. plus, i haven't shaped my nails that well since i cut them all off cuz i'm letting them grow, so they don't look their best. but i still had to post these cuz i love this color! i was disappointed in the bottle volume, even though i knew how small it was in theory i was unprepared for the actual size. 0.16 oz is TINY for $5! and the formula is not great. i had some drag issues. oh well, i mostly ordered it so i could get the free sample of the matte bare minerals foundation, haha but i'm glad i did! i knew i'd never find essie's SSN, but hey maybe this is better!

*camera flash*

*direct sunlight*

so this next gold is pretty much the gold i was hoping for in the essie shifting power fiasco in the previous post, even though they are obviously different colors. (i'm not blind, haha i see it now) This notd is actually in the past tense, as i wore it saturday night thru monday afternoon. my sister in nevada who i went to visit over the weekend had a few polishes i hadn't tried out before and this was a little tiny guy buried in her collection that came with a halloween wood sprite costume kit, called "fantasy makers" by wet n' wild. that's the only name i could find on it. it's a super pretty shade. this is two coats, although i could've used three probably as it is a bit sheer still for my taste. the formula was like butter tho. if i ever see this again, i'm snatching it clean off the shelves! these pictures are both in direct sunlight (in the care on the ride home). remember to click to make them bigger!