Got Nail Care Intensive Cuticle Oil Review

Hey friends! Today I thought I would share a new nail care item I've been trying out for the last few weeks. Got Nail Care is made by JayLynn aka @gotnail on Instagram. I saw she was looking for testers for her new intensive cuticle oil formula so I threw my hat in the ring. You all know I can't live without cuticle oil and while I have my tried and true, ride or die favorites, I am always willing to try new things!

Press Sample

This formula is made up of: Jojoba, Olive Oil, Coconut, Avocado, Grapeseed, Apricot, Sunflower and Rice Bran oils. The only scent she is carrying this in right now is called Candy Splash and it is delicious! Very sweet and sugary but also kinda fruity? I'm not sure what the notes are but it smells incredible.

The tube holds 8 ml and has a small doe foot applicator. This is actually my first cuticle oil with a doe foot and I like it! After extensive testing (my bottle is half gone) I have found this oil to be incredibly moisturizing. It sinks in pretty fast, allowing me to use it at work throughout the day and not end up with a greasy keyboard.

You can purchase this oil on the Got Nail Care website for $8.00 or in a 10 ml rollerball dispenser for $10. Have you tried anything from Got Nail Care? How do you feel about cuticle oil in general? I know some people prefer balms or lotions, which I like too, but oil is seriously my jam. I'll be back with some more nail polish swatches soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Nail Butter - Nail Treatment Review

Hi super friends! Today I have for you a review of a nail treatment that I've been trying and testing for about a month called Nail Butter. I had heard about this product from a few of the blogs I read and some of the folks I follow on Instagram so I was eager to try it.

Press Sample

This product is supposed to soften and fortify all types of skin. It's all-natural and contains essential oils and lanolin. Nail Butter is used to "strengthen and rejuvenate nails by enhancing growth and maintaining optimal moisture levels for your nails and skin". They say to rub on a small amount twice a day for 30 days and then once a day thereafter. It comes in a round glass jar that is classy looking and feels substantial.

I quite like the texture and consistency of this product, it really is butter-like. I was happy to find out that it sinks in relatively quickly so you aren't left greased up for more than a few minutes. The scent is very different. It's gardenia scented, which I usually like, but the mix of the other ingredients with it makes it smell odd to me and it's quite strong. I really didn't care for it at first, but found it dissipated in strength after I used it a few times.  I still wouldn't say I like the scent to be honest, but I got used to it quickly. I have heard inklings that the maker is coming out with an unscented version soon though.

I have not included before and after photos because there's not really a visible difference to show you. My nails and cuticles were in great shape before I used this product and they remain so after. I normally use cuticle oils and lotion all day long, so adding this product into my routine morning and night really just reinforced the moisture and healthy appearance of my nails and cuticles. I like the product and feel it is a luxurious and worthwhile treatment that I look forward to using. If your cuticle game needs some help, I would definitely recommend Nail Butter to help get you on track!

You can purchase this product at NailButter.com for $24 for a one-ounce jar. You only have to use a small amount for each application so it should last you a long time. You can follow Nail Butter on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest to keep up with product news. So what do you think? Have you tried this product yet or are you interested in trying it? What do you use to keep your nails and cuticles healthy and on point?

Talk to you again soon!

❤ Kellie

The products mentioned were provided for an honest review.

Best Top Coat of All Time: Cult Nails Wicked Fast

Yeah, I went there. I finally am declaring once and for all the best top coat that I have ever used. Wicked Fast by Cult Nails is pretty unbelievable. I've been searching and failing to find a top coat that works the way I want it to. Here are my expectations for a perfect top coat: dry really flippin' fast, shiny as glass if you please, no freaking tip pull or cuticle pooling, NO BUBBLES, does not thicken up like syrup, does not smell like toxic waste, smooths glitter polishes, doesn't cost a million dollars, and is easy to buy. Wicked Fast satisfies ALL these requirements.

It dries almost as fast as Seche Vite, up until now my HG in terms of drying time, but we're talking like 30 seconds difference maybe. It is as shiny as my favorite shiny top coat, Revlon Quick Dry. I have not had tip pull at all since I started using it. It is a thinner texture than most top coats but not so thin that it pools. It has stayed the same viscosity since the day I opened it, no thickening. It smells like nail polish, not better but not worse. It is thick enough to cover glitter polishes well, meaning I only need one coat of it over chunky glitters. I have never had it bubble on me, despite polishing in a warm place, cold place, and in a room with lots of fans (which are all factors that can create bubbles in my polish). And it is easily available online for $8. AND it is free of the Big 3 Chemicals that suck and free of camphor too (oops!). DAMN. I am not playing, friends, if you have not tried this, do it NOW.

Thank you to Maria for creating this amazing product, I am literally in awe of Wicked Fast!

Best Nail Treatments: Review & Swatches

I got the opportunity to try out a new brand a while ago and have been testing out the colors and top and base coats. Best Nail Treatments is a company started by a former owner of Poshe, the brand of one of my favorite top coats (easily found in Sally Beauty Supply). They have 54 polish colors right now, everything from crèmes to glitters to "effects" top coats.

First is my favorite of the colors I tried, by far. Pineapple Express is a neon yellow crème that is pretty easy to work with and has tremendous color payoff. This is three coats. Beware, though, this beezy stains like no other.

Next is a glitter called Midnight Star. The BNT glitters are just straight glitter pieces in clear polish, as far as I can tell. I typically do not like these type of polishes because they are gritty, hard to apply, hard to remove, and spread like the plague. I would say these are true to that pattern. This is a fine color, I just didn't like putting it on or taking it off, and there are a billion little pieces still stuck to my nail even after a hefty clean up job. Three coats here.

This is Baby Pink, a color that is meant to be used when doing a French manicure, but I used it on its own. This color is lovely, a tad thick and w/o much color, but yes nice and milky. Three coats here.

Next is Lemon Cello, which sounded delicious in my head haha. It's a light gold yellow frost, very different from anything else I own. It was pretty sheer, this is three coats.

This is another glitter that I had trouble with, Promiscuous. I honestly chose it for the name haha (funny enough, the label is spelled as "Permiscuous".) It's lovely enough, once I got it on. I just can't imagine wearing it again after all the clean up I had to do. Three coats.

This is a pretty color, Preston On the Creek, a blue with slight purple pearl shimmer. This one stained too, but it was very lovely and easy to work with. Two coats here.

Last of the colors is Brick, a red glitter with slight color in the base. This one was a tad easier to apply but not much. Three coats.

The Base Coat and Top Coat have a technology called "Air Cure" which means that they use the air to harden, without the use of uv light or fans or heat. It sounded wonderfully unique when I first heard about it, but really aren't most top coats and base coats like that? Oh well, that's marketing 101 for ya ;) The Base Coat is rubberized, like Orly's Bonder, flows easily and attaches to polish nicely. It didn't do much of anything for staining unfortunately. I use this for swatching sometimes, but it is a tad thick which is odd for a base coat, that adds to drying time.

Stock images from BNT

The Top Coat was one I was really excited to try out, boasting that it was significantly better than Seche Vite or other quick-dry top coats on the market. Unfortunately, after exhaustive (really, believe me) testing, I just couldn't get it to dry on me. It was thin and hard to apply in the first place, and it just stayed tacky and sticky even after an hour or more! I tried it and failed again when I read my friend Andrea's blog post about the brand, because she said it was the best top coat she'd ever used. I am a firm believer in different body chemistry affecting how polish wears from person to person, so I guess I just struck out with this one.

You can find them for $5.99 each on http://www.bestnailtreatments.com.

Products provided for review.

Cult Nails - Nail File Review

Hey folks! I wanted to let you know that my nails are almost healed and back to normal. I am just raring to go with posting, I have literally hundreds of polishes to show you still! It has been lovely having a break and showcasing the talent of my fellow bloggers that I admire and aspire to be like, but I am ready to get back on my game :) I have a few more guest posts to go but then I'll be back.

I wanted to write a quick review on my friend Maria's brand Cult Nails' nail files. I was recently privileged to meet her at CosmoProf in Las Vegas a few weeks ago and she graciously gifted me with one of her nail files that she sells from Cult Nails. It is a 5 1/2" double sided glass file with her brand name, either red or black, on the end. I love this file for several reasons, one - it is "sharper" or has a little bit more grit than most glass files I've used which makes it easier to file with and not so time consuming. Two - it is double sided, as most glass files I've used are only one sided. This increases its longevity as you don't wear it out as fast or it doesn't matter what angle you're filing from. Three - it's glass which is definitely more gentle on your nails, it is better for peeling or sensitive nails. And four - it comes with a velvet case to store it so you don't reach into your cup of tools and snag a nail on it by mistake (this happens to me with regular files all the time :P).

Image courtesy of Body and Soul Beauty

You can get these from www.shop.cultnails.com for $10 $12 each. I think I've paid that much or more for any glass file I've gotten in the past so I think it's incredibly reasonable for the best one (in my opinion) ever. Toodles kittens!

Product received as a gift.

Color Club Fractured Collection: Swatches & Review Part 1

Hola my beauties :) Today I bring you the first half of Color Club's new special effect topcoat collection, Fractured. The polish creates the effect of random jagged lines by applying to a dry base color.

I wore the white, called Clean Break, over my current mani the day I swatched these, Sephora by OPI's Hell to the No, which I reviewed earlier this week. This is definitely the best cracking white polish I've used, look at all that! It does get thick and chunky around the mouth of the bottle though so be careful.

This is the black fracture polish, Smash Hit over Color Club's own Pure Energy from their Electro Candy collection. It fractured very well, but again got a little thick on the brush and on the polish lip. I like this combination. I shall have to do a skittles mani of the entire Electro Candy collection and shatters one day :)

I should've done another neon because I'm guessing that would be epic, but I was dying to see what a holo would look like under the silver fractured polish, Broken Tokens. I chose OPI DS Extravagance. It turned out alright, not really as fab as I expected. This one "fractured" the least for me and it seemed more sheer than the other colors. To compare it to the other silver crackle polish I've tried, OPI's Silver Shatter, it is definitely lighter and less crack-y.

What is really nice about this collection is that it is super affordable. Also, this is just the first half. Three more fractures are on the way, a gold, blue and purple. Hope you liked seeing these new polishes and have a great day!

Products provided for review.

Lumos Top and Bottom Coat Review

If you are anything like me, you are always in search of the best. Especially when it comes to nails and products to put on them. I am on a, seemingly endless, search for the perfect top and base coat. I recently read a review on my girl Charlotte's blog Lipglossiping about a new top coat called Lumos High Speed that she quoted as being "better than Seche Vite", so 'natch I had to check it out.

The company that makes the Lumos duo, High Speed Top Coat and Instant Impact Bottom Coat is called Famous Names LLC run by Jim and Linda Nordstrom formerly of Creative Nail Design. Linda is really amazing to speak with and they are both ridiculously knowledgeable in the field of nail care.

I have been using this top and base coat for more than a month and have some big likes and some interesting observations. The base coat is really fabulous. It is the best stain blocking base I've ever used. I have tried all the notorious polishes that always stain my nails and this baby prevented them every time. I'm sold on this. It's not really rubberized feeling, or anything but it dries like, instantly. It also helps my polish wear longer which is lovely as I've become a little lazy on occasion these days and have been sporting a mani for days longer than usual.

The top coat is hit or miss however. I have always felt that body chemistry has a lot to do with whether nail treatments mesh with someone or not so I'm not going to completely write this off. It's much better as a nail refresher, for my personal preference. It doesn't dry as fast on me as Seche or Poshe but it does work similarly. It's applied to wet polish, and it glides nicely without dragging. Best of all-it doesn't get thick in the bottle like they do. And it lasts and lasts and lasts. It looks like I haven't used any of it yet I've been dipping into it daily since I received it. It's hard to describe the problems I had with it really, sometimes it wouldn't dry all the way and I would get sheet marks or dents. Sometimes I could see the brush marks from the topcoat which was weird because you apply it generously like Seche, also it wouldn't be shiny, like it would dry satiny? Very interesting. But other times it would be just fine and dandy and shiny as a star. So...yeah like I said, hit or miss.

I love the brush type that the products have, it's the double brush style that feels so luxe. It may seem incidental but it really does matter. A good brush is important! I recently tried out a new brand of polish and every single one of their brushes were wonky and frayed. These were really lovely and dense but not too thick or firm. The bottle cap is that lovely matte satin type, ooh la la. Kinda like Cheeky Monkey if you've tried them. I appreciate those little details, you know they took their time designing their bottles.

The Famous Names website and their partner in the UK, Sweet Squared only sell to licensed professionals. If you would like to get these in your hot little hands and you don't happen to be a professional, please ask your nail techs to use them or if you have a friend that is a licensed tech, to purchase them for you. Psst...I've also seen a few sets on Ebay. Take care friends, hope you enjoy your Thursday!

Products provided for review.

Zoya Touch Collection: Swatches & Review

Zoya has a new three piece collection called Touch, which includes three opaque, pearly nude lacquers. These shades were inspired by New York fashion runway looks and they definitely remind me of luxe fabrics and expensive threads.

First up is Minka, a beautiful, Russian sounding name eh? This is a pale beige nude with yellow undertones. Yikes, this does not look good on me. I'm sure it would be fine on another skin tone but on my olive skin it just doesn't work. This was pretty thick, but that of course helps to make it cover in fewer coats which is rare for a nude. I used a topcoat in all of these photos as they don't dry particularly shiny.

Now this is more like it. Pandora is definitely more "Kellie-friendly" haha. This is a pink beige nude with mauve undertones. I quite like this baby, it's la la lovely. This is also two coats, it was also thick but not as much as Minka. The topcoat really brings out that dash of pearl shimmer; it adds some sass to the nude look.

Shay is one that gave me some troubles applying, this is my second go at swatching it. I kept fudging up the first time so I gave up and went at it again the next day. I think the thickness is what did it, but this try was easier and as you can see, produced a nice result. This nude is peachy with orange-ish undertones, suited to warm skin tones.

Do you like this collection or is it too simple for you? I like to wear nudes every so often so I like finding a good one. The point of this collection is to find a flattering nude hue that suits you, so you don't necessarily have to have the entire collection.

You can purchase the Touch collection at Zoya.com as well as their hundreds of other colors. They retail for $8 a bottle. The best thing about Zoya? They don't discontinue their colors. GENIUS.

Products provided for review.

Mattese Elite Nail Polish

I have a new-to-me brand to show you called Mattese Elite. I was happy to find some shades that were really beautiful and wanted to show them to you!

Turks Blue is a green tinted turquoise blue crème that borders on neon, I love it! It's seriously beautiful. It's not super unique but who cares, I love colors like this :D This is three coats with topcoat.

This is Power Pink, a beautiful neon pink. This pink is a little softer and lighter than the other neon pinks that I have which makes it uncommon. These photos make it look a little brighter/more fluorescent than it actually is, but we all know cameras like to screw with neons. This is three coats with topcoat.

And finally today we have Attitude from their Ballet Colors collection. The color is so dreamy, a greyed out sky blue that reminds me of silky bedsheets. The formula is thin and squishy like Essie's jelly crèmes. This is three coats.

These polishes are sold for $5.99 each online at http://www.matteseelite.com/ or from http://www.rickysnyc.com.  They are of great quality and have a fabulous range of colors. I have a few more to show you soon so stay tuned!

Products provided for review.

Deborah Lippmann P.Y.T.

This is a Deborah Lippmann nail polish I got from Apothica. It's one that I've been wanting for a long time, but for whatever reason I put off getting it until now. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) a fabulous light creamsicle pink jelly with an equally awesome name, I can't help but sing along to the Michael Jackson song whenever I see/where it. The Glee version sung by Artie (Kevin McHale) is equally if not more dope. This is three coats.

Misa Wishes Collection

Misa came out with the Wishes collection this Spring, a seemingly typical pastel set of polishes. However, these have a special satin finish that mimics frosted glass. Very ethereal, they almost look matte but it's easily discernible that they're shiny. Très interesting. I blogged about a few of them previously but recently got the entire collection so I figured I'd review them as a whole.

Touch the Rainbow is the palest sky blue with white iridescent shimmer glaze. This is one of my favorites in the collection, super angelic. Two coats.

Whimsical Wish is a pale peach with pink iridescent shimmer glaze. I wasn't sure if I'd love this one but I ended up really liking how clean and fresh it makes my skin look. This is two coats.

Never Say Never has a bit more shimmer and almost a metallic grain look to the finish. It's a frosted glass granite grey color that is very striking while keeping in tone with the other demure colors. This is two coats.

Genie In this Bottle is a soft pinky lavender polish with a slight grey undertone and tiny flakes of red, but they're very subtle, almost undetectable. I love the pink shimmer in this one, super gorgeous. This is also two coats.

Fountain of Youth is a pale celadon green with silver shimmer. I love how spring worthy these colors are! They look like they could be colors of bridesmaid dresses *giggle* and I love it! Two coats here as well.

Last is Pixie Princess, a darker peach than Whimsical Wish with a more subtle pink shimmer. This is very pretty and even though I don't think it looks the best on me, it will definitely flatter some lighter and darker skin tones out there. Two coats here. I love the thickness of these polishes, just enough to get perfectly opaque in two coats.

What do you think of this collection? I think it's lovely to see such a different style of finish once in a while.

Products provided for review.

Cult Nails A Day at the Races Collection

Cult Nails has come out with 5 new colors to add to their growing line of nail lacquers with the release of their newest collection, A Day at the Races. This collection is seriously star-studded, and I have no doubt that you polish addicts out there will be drooling over them.

Let Me Fly is a dusty teal toned turquoise with large particle silver shimmer encased within. I used two coats here though I barely needed the second coat. The formula on this one is AMAZING. I love the name, it comes from the catch phrase by Mark Wahlberg in the movie "The Other Guys".

Captivated is my second favorite from the collection, it's a firey coral based jelly polish with simply TONS of gold and coral glitter. This one is a tad bit thick but not so much that you cannot control it, which was nice. I love that a fellow blogger and polish lover like Maria is making these polishes, because she really knows what makes a one great! This lacquer reminds me of the fire crabs in Harry Potter, hahaha :P I am totally in love with this polish! This is two coats.

Cruisin' Nude is my absolute favorite from the collection and the one polish I pre-ordered. It is a SERIOUSLY perfect nude with amazing hot pink shimmer laced throughout. I am at a loss, this one rivals Deborah Lippmann's Naked as my favorite nude of all time! This is two coats.

Always Winning is a sheerish metallic olive green with gold and holographic glitter. The metallic base on this one comes off a little frosty to me. I used it over Crusin' Nude as a base, as it is marketed as a layering polish. Unfortunately, I have to say this isn't my cup of tea. I don't care for the color and the smell of the polish was super caustic.

Devious Nature is a berry tinged pink crème that almost has a squishy jelly texture, very lovely and still a statement color. I really love this against my skin tone and can't think of a dupe. This is three coats. Another great formula!

Cult Nails lacquers are available for sale online at www.cultnails.com for $10 each. What do you think of these 5 bombshell polishes? Give a hand to Maria, she makes a truly excellent product!

Products provided for review.