If you're a nail artist, I'm sure you've heard of the Born Pretty Store. Born Pretty is a beauty supply store based in China that sells inexpensive nail art tools and supplies. Oftentimes, they send nail art bloggers some of their products for free to test and review in order to promote their store. And I’m no exception to the wide array of bloggers who have been sent their products in return for endorsement. It’s honestly a great experience to be able to try out nail art supplies for free. Most of the time, I really do like their products. Only once have I actually not liked one of their products (I’ll get into that later though). The bottom line is: Is the Born Pretty Store worth your time?

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3 Free Polishes:

This week, I received Lise Watier's HydraForce Hydra-Protective Comforting Creme to test and review from Glam Sense (Please note that I received these products for free to test and review from Glam Sense. The following review and opinions are solely my own.). I was mostly excited to receive this product because I needed a better facial moisturizer. I'm currently using one that I like, but don't quite love. It's a basic, unscented moisturizer that does it's job: it moisturizes. But if you recall, I'm currently using the Bioré Baking Soda products for my face wash and scrub, and it does leave my skin a bit dry. I needed something more hydrating than my current facial moisturizer. So you can see why I'm really excited to try a high end facial product.

The Lise Watier HydraForce Hydra-Protective Comforting Creme (gawd, what a mouthful!) retails for $45 CAD and is a formula for normal to dry skin. Lise Watier also sells HydraForce Hydra-Protective Creme-Gel for normal to combination skin. What's interesting about these products is that they use Gaspé algae extract to combat extreme weather conditions and maintain healthily hydrated skin. According to Vanessa Craft from ELLE Canada, the Gaspé algae (also known as Laminaria saccharina) "helps to reinforce the skin's protective barrier and prevent water loss." (read her short article about this 'miracle' algae here). Craft says that the Gaspé algae is a "seaweed found along the cold northeastern part of the Atlantic coast" that "develop[s] a highly efficient system in order to survive in [extremely cold] conditions. If harvested in the fall, it contains a higher active molecule concentration than at any other time of the year." I don't know about you, but I thought that this was really neat. In addition to this 'miraculous' seaweed, according to Lise Watier, this product boasts that 100% of women claimed that their skin felt more hydrated after use (this information is based on an evaluation for 25 women after 28 days of treatment with HydraForce).

Think the algae was neat? I haven't even gotten to the most interesting part about this box. With my facial moisturizer, I received a little device that plugs into my phone's audio jack and tells me how hydrated my skin is. It's a cute little gadget with what looks like two small, silver angel wings. First, I had to download the free Hydra-Detect app by Lise Watier onto my phone, then plug the little device in. When you open the app, you have five tabs. One is the main testing page, which is followed by tabs labelled Hand, T-Zone, Cheek, and Moisture Levels. You click the tab of the area that you want to test, hold the little angel wings against your skin, and wait for your phone to buzz and tell you what your moisture levels are. The Moisture Levels tab is handy because it tells you what the percentage of hydration your skin is — ranging from Dry to Normal, Hydrated, and Exceptional.

I have tested this app several times by deleting the app and reinstalling it to clear my data and start fresh. This is why, for those of you wondering, why my results from my unboxing video and the pictures I've attached to this blog post are different.

For my hands, my levels before moisturizing were 37.5%, and after moisturizing my result was 60.7%. The first time I tried this test, my level before moisturizing was 5% (ouch!). I guess even the app realizes that I have eczema on my hands.

   

Next, I tested my T-zone, where my results were higher than I expected. During my first tests, my results pre-moisturizing were much lower. I should note that I used this device after washing my face. I felt like washing my face before taking these tests would strip my skin of its natural moisture, but compared to my first results, if anything it boosted my moisture levels.

   

Last, I tested my cheek. These are my results:

    

My moisture levels for my t-zone and cheek were surprisingly high for the pre-moisturizing tests. During my first test, my results were lower than 50%, so I feel like washing my face definitely skewed my results.

If you are interested in learning more about Lise Watier's HydraForce products and want to test your hydration levels as well, there are HydraForce events happening in several Canadian cities. If you don't live near these locations like me, you can also test your hydration levels at a point of sale near you. The cities that are participating in these events are Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and Dartmouth. If you would like to learn more about these events, click here.

Please feel free to tag me on my Instagram and Twitter (@blondiesnails) and share your HydraForce experience. Just be sure to use the hashtag #GetInTheBubble!

#BioreBakingSoda

I'm sure by now that anyone who's into nail art has seen or heard of the shattered glass nail art trend. Originating from South Korea, shattered glass nails have blown up in the nail art world. The finished designs are stunning, edgy, and downright gorgeous. To achieve this look, you cut holographic cellophane or mylar paper into tiny, jagged pieces to adhere to your nails. I've heard of some nail artists going as far as using aluminum foil on their nails to achieve the shattered glass look. However, using the right material is crucial to this look. If your glass material is too thick, it will peel off of the nail or not adhere to the slightly curved shape of your nail.

If you want to know where to get the cellophane I used to complete my shattered glass nails, click here.

Shattered glass nail art is super easy. However, it requires a lot of patience. I have tried the shattered look twice now, and it took me at least 45 minutes minimum to finish the technique on each nail. The look can be broken down into these simple steps:

1. Cut your cellophane
2. Basecoat
3. Nail colour of any choice
4. Application of the foil while polish is still tacky
5. Topcoat

For the application, you're going to want to cut your foil into really small, angular shapes. I found that triangular shapes were most preferable. And let me tell you, cutting the foil is a tedious task. It took a long time, and it's a bit of a challenge to cut the foil into such tiny shapes. With my first go at shattered glass nails, I found that the foil shards that I cut were a little too large for my liking. So if you attempt this look at home and are cutting your foil, imagine this: think your shards are the perfect size? Try cutting them smaller than that. Or at least, that's how it was for me. I cut the shards smaller than my first attempt for my second one, and I found that it worked out better for me.

When it comes to transferring your shards onto your nails, nail artists suggest using a wax pencil or a toothpick dipped into water. I tried using a toothpick dipped in water first, and good gracious, just don't do it. It was just not working for me. I don't own a wax pencil, so I substituted that with a white eyeliner pencil that I don't use very often, and it worked out great (they're kind of the same thing, right?).

I found that the finished look was absolutely stunning. However, the foil peeled on the first day of wear, several foil bits just had to be peeled off because I was so fed up with the peeling, and to top it off, I even used a gel topcoat to prevent all this and it still happened. For optimum wear, here are some tips:

• Press down on every corner of your foil shards when you apply them to keep them adhered and prevent peeling of the corners.
• Apply your topcoat as soon as you're done each nail. Don't wait for all of your nails to be done and then apply a topcoat. Applying a topcoat as soon as you're done a nail means that you're sealing in the design and not giving the foil time to start peeling.
• For the love of all that is good, use a peel-off basecoat. Removal is grating. If you don't have a peel-off basecoat, you should invest in one. New York Color has a really cheap one that is usually 2/$3 at my local Walmart. 

I am so, freaking beyond excited! TopBox started a new product review program called Glam Sense, and I was eligible for one of their first campaigns! The campaign that I was eligible for was Teeez Trend Cosmetics. To be honest, I had never heard of this brand before I joined the Glam Sense program. I did some digging around online and found out that it is an online based makeup company, and the products are often featured by TopBox and in Ipsy subscription boxes. According to Teeez's site, they were launched in 2004 and are a European brand that is high-end and focuses on self-expression and individuality.

I received my package in the mail today, and I am so stoked with the product that I got. The product arrived in a box like the one in the image above, and inside was a lipstick. I don't know about you, but I fracking LOVE lipstick. However, my boyfriend doesn't like it. I try to wear lipstick out of the house when I'm not with him whenever I can because of this.

The lipstick that I got was Teeez's Read My Lips Lipstick in the colour Roulette Red. The Read My Lips Lipstick, according to their website, retails at $22 USD which is pretty decent considering that they are considered a high-end cosmetics company. The lipstick applied surprisingly effortlessly, and had very good pigment. I was actually blown away by how easily the product could be applied for the amount of pigment that it gave. The product boasts a long lasting, 8 hour formula, a unique satin matte finish, and highly pigmented coverage. Also, according to the product page, Read My Lips Lipstick contains added coconut oil extract to nourish and hydrate your lips. Let me tell you, this product was not a let down, and I am really impressed with it.

After receiving my product, I explored the Teeez Trend Cosmetics site to try and find a link for the lipstick to share with you. However, despite my best efforts, I cannot find it. I found only one Read My Lips lipstick listed on their site, and it was not the Roulette Red that I received. Instead, I found the colour Killing Me Softly, which in and of itself is still a really beautiful coral colour. I thought that perhaps it was a new colour, hence why it isn't listed yet. However, I searched the far nether-regions of Google and have found that beauty bloggers have been discussing this product since October. I'm kind of disappointed to find that this product isn't more easily accessible to purchase. And to top off my disappointment, I looked at their shipping page only to find out that the company only ships within the continental United States. Well ain't that just peachy? I personally don't understand why TopBox chose a product for their Canadian campaigners to get excited about when we can't purchase it for ourselves, unless of course we happen to have American postal boxes.*

*Update: Teeez Cosmetics can now be purchased at Hudson's Bay which is great news for any Canadians who are interested!

I'm still really impressed with this lipstick. I'm glad to have been apart of this campaign and to have tried this product. I love this lipstick and if it ever becomes more accessible to us Canadian beauty bloggers, I'll be sure to boost this product to any lipstick lover that I cross paths with. In the mean time, if you're from the States and reading this, you're in luck! This lipstick is amazing and I envy you, your postal service, inexpensive shipping rates, and that you can have everything that I love and I can't. I hate you. JK. But seriously, why do you guys get all the good things in life? I'm seriously jealous.

Overall, I love this lipstick, and I recommend it to anyone who loves long-lasting, beautiful pigment. Thank you again to TopBox, Glam Sense, and Teeez Trend Cosmetics for letting me be a part of this campaign and for letting me try this product. I love it so much and can't wait to possibly be part of your future campaigns. #TeeezinGS

So everyone at my work has been telling me about how great the True Blue Spa 60-Second Manicure Scrub from Bath & Body Works is, and I finally decided to cave and get it for myself. It retails for $13 CAD, and the True Blue Spa and Aromatherapy selection of the store is 99% of the time Buy 2 Get 1 Free (The only time when these selections aren't for this promotion is when there is a special on these products).

This product is a sugar based scrub that helps your skin feel baby-smooth. It's a pink sugary goop that smells pleasantly like grapefruit. The website promises that the product will "make quick work of dull, dry skin and ragged cuticles to give even the most mani-deprived hands a taste of soft, smooth, spa manicure perfection- in just one minute." This product is incredibly easy to use. I start by scooping out a small dollop of the sugary goop and massage it into the skin. You'll notice the scrub start to change consistency from the sugary goop into a rich, thick white lather as you massage your hands. Be sure to pay special attention to the rough areas of your skin.


I bought this product to help repair my cuticles. This past weekend was Black Friday and my cuticles were beyond damaged from opening so many boxes of product at work (ayy, retail life!). This product made my hands feel absolutely amazing after application. Like the name of the product suggests, it is literally a 60 second manicure. I counted to 60 while massaging my hands, and at the 60 mark, all of the sugar crystals had been dissolved. After rinsing, my hands felt incredibly soft, and my cuticles looked as if they'd been repaired almost entirely after the weekend's box-opening ordeals. However, although the product creates a baby-softness for your hands, you can feel that some of the skin's moisture has been stripped away from the application. I would strongly recommend using your favourite moisturizer after this product's use. My favourite products to recommend after usage are Bath & Body Work's Ultra Shea Body Cream or True Blue Spa's "Look Ma, New Hands" Super Softening Hand Lotion. The True Blue Spa lotion is a great way to top off your perfectly pampered hands because it is formulated with paraffin, olive, avocado, and apricot oils as well as antioxidant vitamin E. This product is a fantastic scrub that effortlessly reveals hands that look and feel as though they've spent all day at the spa. Another great thing about this product is that it's not tested on animals!

If you feel as though this product is getting a little 'up-there' in price range, there are also usually coupons that you can use on top of the Buy 2 Get 1 promotion. You can get these coupons from previous purchases, through your email subscription with the store, or via their Facebook page (remember though, if you're in Canada, make sure that you are subscribed to the Canadian emails or that the coupons are from the BBW Canada Facebook page). The most common coupons that you will probably receive are $10 off a $30 purchase. Occasionally, there are also 20% off your purchase coupons. If you find that the product is a little too expensive for your taste, using the coupons is a great way to shave back some of the price and make it a little more affordable. This is an especially comforting note because the product container is only 5oz, and a recommended usage is once day. I chose to use this product sparingly and treat myself to the treatment once every couple days.

All in all, I really enjoyed this product and would highly recommend it to anyone who needs assistance in repairing damaged hands and cuticles. My hands feel soft and my cuticles look repaired! If you still need some persuading before divulging in this product, you can read the testimonies of other users here, on the Bath & Body Works product page.