My Holiday Manicure with Essie's Leading Lady

It has been a month since I last posted on nail polish!  With the holidays, school was chaotic and I didn't have enough time to paint, take pictures, and post.  My nails have been nail polish free for about three weeks.  Even my kiddos at school were asking why my nails weren't painted.  (They know me well!)  Now that I'm on break, I had some time to get back into the swing of all things nail polish.

I recieved Essie's Leading Lady from the Winter 2012 Leading Lady collection in my Winter 2012 Luxe Box this week.  Honestly, out of all the colors, this is the one I wanted least.  I love Where's My Chauffeur and Beyond Cozy, but I won't complain about a full size polish by Essie.  I don't know that I'd wear this any time of the year besides Christmas, but it's fun.

Leading Lady was very runny for a glitter polish.  It applied really nicely.  It dries to a jelly finish with red glitter.  I hated it on the first coat, but after the second coat, it looked much better with the layering of the glitter.  Thank goodness!  I didn't want to do all red, so I did an accent nail with Butter London's West End Wonderland  It is one of my favorite polishes and I thought it would be a nice festive edition to Leading Lady.

I'm really liking this combination for Christmas!  :)  What do you think?

-polish. impress. repeat.

December 2012 Birchbox

Merry Christmas to you too Birchbox!  A great box this month!  Let me show you what was inside this "All Wrapped Up" themed box. 

The Birchbox team put this months box in a super cute striped box.  I love it!  They also included a cute little gift tag to use for this holiday season.

Included in my box is this 12 Benefits Instant Healthy Hair Treatment.  It smells good and I cannot wait to try it out.  This seems like something I would actually buy, so I hope it is as good as I think it will be.  I love protective sprays.

I got this HUGE perfume sample by Fresh called Citron De Vigne.  It was a great size and in a spray bottle!  Unfortunately, the smell wasn't for me.  My mom loved it though!  It was a nice smell, just not for me.  I'm glad someone is going to get good use out of it!

I'm also excited to try this out.  I love the pump top.  This is Ultra Hydrating Fluid from Sampar.  It sounds intriguing.  I'm assuming it is like a facial moisturizer, but a serum instead of a lotion.

While I'm not a huge fan of the picture on this product (seriously!?  Have some dignity!), I do love the packaging and the product.  The color of this blush from the Balm is stunning!  I'm excited to start using this up!

My lifestyle extra this month was a Dark Chocolate Peppermint Holiday Fortune from Emily's Chocolates.  I think I drooled a little.  I'm saving this for when I have a chocolate craving; which will probably be in an hour or so knowing me.... haha.

Lastly is this $50 off coupon from renttherunway.com.  I guess it is a website where you can rent a dress?  I probably won't be using this, but it was an interesting addition.

What was in your box?

-polish. impress. repeat.

Loose Button's Winter 2012 Luxe Box

Here is my Winter 2012 Luxe Box from Loose Button.  I'm hoping that they are able to continue this service to the United States because I really like it!  Here are the specifics:

This is the card that lists all the products I received.

 

 

The products all came packed in this silk draw string bag.  Perfect to re-use for heels when traveling.  :)

First on the list is this Eyeko Lengthening Skinny Mini Brush Mascara.  I like volumizing mascara over lengthening mascaras, but the packaging is super enticing, so I'm curious as to how this product will be.

I got Essie's Leading Lady from their Winter 2012 Leading Lady collection.  This is a red glitter in a red jelly polish.  This is the color from the collection that I like the least, but hey, it's a free full size polish.  I actually just painted my nails with this so keep an eye out for a post shortly with swatches.

This is the Eye Contour by Orlane.  I guess it is like eye cream???  All I have to say is I like the packaging. 

This is the product I am most excited for.  I've always wanted to try beach spray, but I have never purchased any.  Now I get to try this Beach Spray by Marc Anthony.  Plus, this stuff smells great.

I'm also excited to try this out.  It is Curl Defining Lotion by Marc Anthony.  I am just about out of my Paul Mitchell Round Trip, so this will be a nice change to try.

First off, how awesome is the design of this perfume sample?!  It isn't very user friendly, but it at least looks cool.  This is Woman by Donna Karan.  I honestly haven't smelled it yet, and I'm too lazy to go get it to smell it right this moment.  It is a very large sample, I just wish it was in a spray, not a little 'plug'.

Next up is a small vile of Kerastaste's Cristalluste Lumiere Liquide.  I am assuming this is like the Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum, Orofuido oil, and Amika oil that I love.  Just another goody perfect for traveling.

Last but not least was a little box with the Loose Button logo on it.  Inside was this little gem!  A mini kabuki brush.  It is really soft and seems like good quality.  I love me a good makeup brush!  

Awesome box of treats right?!?  I'm sure you can see why I hope this service continues:  great products, great sizes, great brands.  Loose Button, thank you for sharing with America!  Please stay a while.  :)

-polish. impress. repeat.

China Glaze Hunger Games - Agro

I have waited until this time of year to wear this color and I am SOOOO excited to share it with you.  I got this last year from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection, but it just didn't fit the time of year to wear.  It finally feels right and I love this color!  This is Agro and it is the polish for District 11 (Agriculture).  It is stunning.  It is a shimmery bronzy forest green.  It applied great and I am wearing two coats (per usual).  Glad I waited to open this one, because I think I love it even more than I would have.

 

- polish. impress. repeat.

Essie - Butler Please

Another gorgeous bright blue!  This has easily become my favorite color of nail polish over the last year.  Essie's "Butler Please" is from the Leading Lady Winter 2012 collection.  This is a very close dupe to my #1 polish Nails Inc. "Baker Street".  This is a little more creamier looking and a little cheaper.  I am wearing two coats here.  It was very liquidy and ran all over, but it cleaned up off my skin pretty well.

What color of nail polish do you find yourself always being drawn to?

-polish. impress. repeat.