Erica's Nails and More: nail mail

Showing posts with label nail mail. Show all posts

Saturday, 27 October 2012

Nail Mail: Nail Wheels

Howdie everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend :)

Because I went and got a mani/pedi yesterday, I decided that I would not paint my nails today to make it worthwhile, but I would work on swatching all my polishes onto nail wheels. A while back I got some nail wheels that I ordered off eBay, but never showed you as it's one of those "in the archives" things that I haven't got around to posting about yet. So I thought, what better time to do it than now!

The nail wheels came wrapped securely in bubble wrap so they didn't get broken.

For the stack of 10 nail wheels it was under $2.50 Canadian, and this included free shipping. Can't get a better deal than that (they are listed on Nail Polish Canada for $2 per wheel)! I found these on eBay.ca, so I don't know if there are any listings on eBay.com. If you are Canadian and are interested in getting yourself some, here is the link to the listing. They do take a while to get -- I ordered them September 3rd and got them September 25th, so about 3 weeks.

When I have all my polishes painted on the wheels (I just ordered more actually, I don't know if I have enough for all my polishes, lol), I will update this post with pictures of them :)

Tuesday, 23 October 2012

Free Gift from Julep

Good afternoon lovely readers! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far :)

As some of you may have seen on Facebook, a while back I received an e-mail from Julep with tracking information for an order I didn't place. I wanted to make sure there wasn't a mix-up in their system so I e-mailed to inquire about it. The lovely Shelly Neighbors let me know that it is in fact correct, but it is Julep that is sending me a surprise! I LOVE surprises, and love that Julep is taking the time to send me a little something special :D They really DO care about their Mavens!

So I waited and wondered, and dreamed about what I was receiving, and finally it came in the mail! It isn't want I expected, but that is OK :) I still love it!

It came with a lovely personalized note!

Inside was a cute little travel package with the Julep Hand Brightener, Hand Scrub and Lip Balm. I have the Lip Balm and Hand Scrub, though I'm not overly fond of the Hand Scrub (I will still use it though, winter is coming!), but have never tried the Hand Brightener. I love Julep's Lip Balm (it's my favourite of all the ones I have) and the Hand Brightener smells like fresh linen ... MMMM! I'm all about smell, if I love the smell, I will use it, and I really do love the smell of the Hand Brightener. I'm not sure it makes a difference with my own hands appearance-wise, but I don't have a lot of dark spots or wrinkles on my hands :) And I constantly use hand lotion and cuticle oil/balm.

This was a great gift to receive from Julep! Though it isn't much, it still shows that they care that their Mavens are happy and will remain Mavens :) Personally, I love getting my Julep in the mail every month, and though I will say that their sales draw me in every time and are breaking the bank, I still love them ;)

Keep up the great work Julep, you have a Maven for life with me :D

P.S. - this is one of the last "nail mail" posts I will have. The poll was taken for what my readers want to see when it comes to nails mail, and majority ruled they want quick pictures on Facebook when I receive nail mail so that will be how I show you guys what I get after I have all the posts used up from receiving nail mail so far :) I have already started this photo album on Facebook, you can see it here.

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Nail Mail: Nail Polish Canada

So there has been a lot of hype about butter LONDON polishes lately on the Facebook groups and pages I follow. A few weeks ago there was a sale on Coterie.com for 3 Butter London polishes and a top coat for $11! I personally have never used butter LONDON, and never even heard about it until it was mentioned on the Facebook groups and pages. So, being intrigued by this, I signed up, only to find out they do not ship to Canada... *sad panda*

So I went to my trusty source for everything polish (for Canadians!), Nail Polish Canada to see if they sell butter LONDON. Sure enough, they do! butter LONDON polishes are $17 per each on the site, which is a little steep for me. However, they have a kit that you can buy that contains the Nail Foundation Base Coat, Hardware Top Coat, one colour polish of your choice, a little bottle of remover and a nail file, all for $46 Canadian, and with that you get free shipping (all orders over $25 get free shipping :D )!

SOLD! LOL!

Here's what I got:

(An excessively large box for what I actually got, just my opinion...)

Filled to the brim with Styrofoam peanuts! These really are the best for packaging as they are so lightweight!

The kit before I opened it. I decided to get Slapper with my kit. I love the colour of it! It's one my my new favourites :)

When I took the package out of the box, this is what it looks like. My first thought was "wow those polishes are so tiny!" I keep thinking, judging from pictures I see, that the butter LONDON polish bottles are larger than normal bottles. Maybe it's the shape?

Let's start with the remover. It's acetone free and smells like BABY POWDER! I was so surprised by this, and it really does! I was using it and Tyler turns around from his computer and says "what smells like baby powder??" Haha! So if he can identify that it smells like baby powder without knowing what I'm doing/that it's supposed to smell like baby powder, it's really true to it's source ;) This bottle is.. small.. I was a little disappointed with how small it actually is :( This bottle retails at $5 on Nail Polish Canada.

Here is the nail polish and top and base coats side by side. You can see how little Slapper looks beside the other 2. So cute :D

The Nail Foundation is an opaque polish in the bottle. This retails for $21 on Nail Polish Canada.

While inspecting the bottles and taking pictures I found a little sticker on the lid that says "Lift to Open".. weird.. So I did and discovered that it wasn't going to be as awkward to paint my nails as I thought... though the polish bottle looks a little naked now, no?? (Simple things amuse simple minds, don't mind me ;) )

The Hardware P.D. Quick Top Coat is clear. And again with the sticker on the lid, but I was OK now, I didn't have to investigate and document it this time ;) This retails for $21 on Nail Polish Canada.

And finally, Slapper! Wow, what a colour! I absolutely love it, I knew I would before I even tried it! :D It was the colour I was most drawn to on the butter LONDON website (that's how I decided what colour I wanted in my kit). This retails for $17 on Nail Polish Canada.

I know I said that the kit also includes a nail file, but really, it's nothing to write home about, so I didn't include it in this post. I definitely prefer the Julep normal (not glass) nail files to this one from butter LONDON. It retails for $2.40 on Nail Polish Canada.

So for this kit, the retail value is $21 + $21 + $17 + $5 + $2.40 = $66.40 and I got it for $46. I think that's a pretty OK deal. If you are interested in this, check it out!

P.S. - I just checked and butter LONDON website has this same kit for $46 as well, but it's $9.95 for shipping.

Do you have any butter LONDON polishes? Were you as amused by their polish bottles as me or am I just a little whacked?? What is your favourite butter LONDON polish? I want to broaden my collection with more butter LONDON polishes so any colour recommendations are welcome :D

Friday, 5 October 2012

Elixir Lacquers Lov-a-Bully Collection

Evening everyone! I know this is a later post, but I just HAD to share this with you today. And I needed something to do while the cheesecake for tomorrow is baking (mmmmcheesecake! -- Yup, it's a word! ;) ).

Back on September 18th, Nicole at Elixir Lacquers released her "Lov-a-Bully" polish collection. When I saw this, and because I love Elixir Lacquers polish SO much, I knew I had to have the entire collection. This is the first time I have ordered an entire collection of polish, brand name or indie. I have been waiting ever so patiently for it to come in the mail, AND IT CAME TODAY!!!!!!! I was SOOOO excited, I almost danced back to my car from the mail box!

For those of you who are thinking "Erica, you are whacked!", I say to you "yes, yes I am. But that's OK!" :D

Here's what I got!

It was packaged in a Priority Mail envelope, which is great because it fit in the mail box and I didn't have to make a special trip into town (I live in the country) to the Post Office.

She sends her business card with every package :) Not that I can't get a hold of her anyways, haha!

When I pulled the polishes out, they were all wrapped in bubble wrap except for one. Red Nose didn't want to be all wrapped up, so it escaped and was free to roam around the envelope, the little rascal! ;)

And here they are all unwrapped and lined up! Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?!?! :D

Left to Right: Red Nose, Smokey Coat, Brindle, Spotted & Splotched, Forever Home, Happy Tears, Blue Coat

Let's take a closer look at them :) Descriptions come from Elixir Lacquers' site.

Red Nose was inspired by Nola, who was able to find her forever home, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Smokey Coat was inspired by Sadie, who was able to find her forever home, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Brindle was inspired by Lucy, who was able to find her forever home, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Spotted & Splotched was inspired by Bentley, who found his forever home with my amazing friends Ale and Eric, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Forever Home was inspired by the amazing and selfless Atlanta Bully Rescue.

Happy Tears was inspired by the beautiful eyes of sweet little Kieran, who found his forever home with my gorgeous friend Melissa, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Blue Coat was inspired by Norris, who was able to find his forever home, thanks to the Atlanta Bully Rescue!

Here is what Nicole says about her new Lov-a-Bully collection: "This set of seven was inspired by Bully breed dogs! 10% of each bottle sold will be donated to the Atlanta Bully Rescue, an organization that works tirelessly to reduce the number of unwanted bully breeds in Atlanta and surrounding areas.Also, if you decide to order a full set of the Lov-a-Bully collection, in addition to receiving the current secret shade, 20% of the purchase will be donated to the Atlanta Bully Rescue." I am so proud that Nicole is making this donation for the sales of these polishes! I don't have a Pit Bull, and honestly, I'm really wary of Pit Bulls and I don't think that I will ever have one. I know that it is all in the upbringing as it is with any dog or pet, I just don't know if I would feel comfortable around one in my own home. I am not scared of dogs, I love dogs with my whole heart, but there is something about the Pit Bull breed that make me uncomfortable to be around them. However, as of right now $300 has been donated to Atlanta Bully Rescue from the sales of the Lov-a-Bully Collection, how super awesome is that?!

I haven't tried these polishes yet, I had to do some other nails today, but I can't wait to swatch these for you guys! If you want to see swatches before I get to it, check out the Elixir Lacquers Facebook photo album, she has GREAT swatches of all the polishes! :D

So, because Nicole is such a sweetheart, and even though she is already donating 20% of the proceeds of my order (because I used the entire collection), when you order 7 polishes from her store she sends you Buzzworthy, a special unreleased secret shade, FOR FREE!!! So I got Buzzworthy as well cause this collection has 7 polishes, but I am featuring it separately.