so sometimes I like falsies.

As you know, I'm part of the Influenster Voxbox program. In my most recent Voxbox I received Kiss Nails Everlasting French nails. I'm usually not the at home false nails kind of person. They don't fit, they're too long, I glue my fingers together, the usual problems of a klutz. To be honest at first I wasn't even going to try these. I was just going to skip over this product and try everything else out. I had planned to give them to my mamaw who is a false nail junkie. This is the product I received.

After looking them over and noticing they were the real short length and opening the package up I decided to give them a try. Worst that could happen, I throw them away. I measured some of them up to my fingernails and they all seemed to be pretty good matches. I only had to file the sides of some of them and only a little bit. They were very easy to file with the file that was included in the package. The Package included an orangewood stick, 28 nails, a bottle of glue, and a little nail file (as seen in the picture below).

Application was easy, although a little easier on my non-dominant hand, obviously. I did buff my nails slightly with the nail file to make the glue have something to latch onto. Just slightly though. Here's a not so great picture of me pretending to buff my fingernail no-handed. 

Voila! Here's the finished product!

Looks nice right? My right hand had some issues where I applied the glue a little messily and there was some bubbling. That was my fault. I should have paid a little more attention or possibly had my oldest do the glue for me. However, you only leave these on for seven days so I don't think it will be a big problem unless it bothers you aesthetically. I did have to file the thumb nails down. Even though the length of these nails is 'Really Short' I thought the thumb nails were much too long. I used to the blue file that was included and they filed down very easily. 

The nails lasted the whole seven days with no problems. They didn't pop off, I gave my daughter her baths, I washed dishes, I did everything I usually do and they stayed on just as strong as day one. There was no raising up no snagging on anything. They did feel like false nails but I don't think they're supposed to feel real. After 7 days they still looked like this (this is my right hand, the one I had glue issues with)

Nice, right? Suggested removal is to rough them up with the file and soak them in acetone but I just popped them off with my mouth (I know so bad!) this did make my nails a little thin but a coat of strengthening nail polish and cutting off the tips (my nails are brittle anyway so I can't grow them out) and they were their usual selves. 

All in all, I'm glad I gave these a try and in the future if I wanted pretty nails but didn't feel like polishing them I'd buy these for sure. They're available at the drug store (I saw them at CVS for sure) and much cheaper than a nail salon. If you're looking for something fast or just want to try something new without the commitment of acrylics I would definitely give Kiss Everlasting French (or any of the Kiss nails) a try. 

You can find Kiss at

Kiss USA

Faceboook

@KissProducts

I received this product complimentary from Influenster to try and report back how I felt about it. This review and all pictures are 100% my own and is not influenced by anyone. My reviews will never be influenced by outside forces, I keep it honest :)

..so at night I play spa in the bathtub. A review of the Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spas 'Glacial Clay Spa' Mask.

I've been meaning to make this post for a couple of weeks now but due to some complications with my medication, I haven't done much but cry and mope. Thankfully I'm feeling better now!

So here's the deal. As you can probably tell by now, I am part of the Influenster program. Which is an awesome program, if you didn't know. They recently did a campaign called the Violet VoxBox and I got one. In the box was the Montagne Jeunesse Glacial Clay Spa face mask. This post is about that mask.

First off: I love this mask. I'm usually a user of the Mint Julep clay mask but this one is much better. It's not just a bunch of clay that you squeeze out into your hand and make a huge mess out of. The Montagne Jeunesse mask is a fabric backed mask. Which means all you do is open the package, spread the fabric open so it looks like a creepy little peeled off face, and lay it over your face. A little adjustment so you can see, breathe, and your mouth isn't covered and you're ready to relax.

A couple of things to remember. This is still a clay mask. Clay masks dry and they tighten. Sometimes they sting. A little stinging is normal, a lot of stinging is not. If you feel a little tingle but it's bearable just go with it. If it starts to burn, sting a lot, or becomes very uncomfortable WASH IT OFF ASAP. Not everyone's skin is going to react well with every product. Know your body.

Ok, let's get technical for a second. One thing I love about Montagne Jeunesse is their products come in nice little single use packets. If you don't like it, you're not stuck with a whole tube full of product you'll never use. All ingredients are listed on the back of the package. Please check the ingredients to see if there's anything you know your skin just doesn't like! Also, no animal testing and no animal ingredients.

I decided to use my mask as part of a pretend spa night. After the kids went to bed I filled the tub up, grabbed a drink and my phone so I could read and listen to music and shut the bathroom door for the first time in who knows when.The directions say to wash your face before you apply the mask so I did that at the sink before I got into the tub. I didn't want soap or anything in the water. The mask was ridiculously easy to apply; it's a good thing the kids were asleep though, if they had seen me nightmares would have been had! Remember how in old movies kids always freaked out when they saw their mothers in their green face masks or their cold cream masks? That's how I felt LOL. A very horror movie, I stole someone's skin and am wearing it on my face, kind of look.

The mask was cold but I liked it. The smell is hard to describe. It made me miss my boyfriend. That's not a bad thing, my boyfriend smells great. After a few minutes I could feel the mask begin to do its thing. Like I said, clay masks will tighten up and they will tingle. It was nowhere near as bad as some previous clay masks I've used though. It was actually quite nice. I left the mask on a little longer than the directions said to but I didn't have any bad reactions. When I was ready, I simply peeled the mask off and tossed it. A quick rinse with some water to make sure all of the clay was off and I was ready to go. My skin was so soft and smooth. I have shiny, oily skin and it was just beautifully matte. I couldn't keep my hands off of my skin, which is awesome but BAD! I kept having to tell myself that the more I touch it, the mask will just have been a waste. Needless to say, my skin was awesome.

So, if you can't tell: I. Love. This. Mask. It has officially replaced all clay masks I used to use. Seriously, give it a try. Make sure to check the ingredients, follow the directions and relax. It's worth it.


Want more info?
Montagne Jeunesse
Montagne Jeunesse Facebook
Montagne Jeunesse on Twitter
Montagne Jeunesse on Pinterest

Disclaimer: I received this product for free as part of the Influenster VoxBox program in exchange for my review of said product. My review is just that, mine. Everything stated in this post is my opinion and mine only.

...and it didn't help when I needed it to. A review of "Not Your Mother's Clean Freak" Dry Shampoo.

Look another post! Back-to-back? Don't get used to it, I'm flaky. I had this post in mind first but didn't think it appropriate to just jump in.

Recently I was fortunate to be chosen to receive an Influenster Violet VoxBox. Let me tell you guys, I love these things. I can almost always use at least half of what they send me and there's enough for me to actually decide if I like what they send or not. None of those tiny samples that you can barely use.

Anyway, this time I'm going to tell you about something called "Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo". Now you have to understand, I have little faith in dry shampoos. They never work for me. My hair is dark, thick and coarse. They usually make it look gray no matter how much I brush or rub with a towel. The product never seems to be able to penetrate my hair all the way so there are spots that are still oily and spots that have that volume I'm looking for. So obviously I went into this skeptical.

All this experience did was back up the others. I wanted to love this product. The idea of not having to shampoo my long hair for an extra day is something I can get behind. Dry shampoo is not my answer. My boyfriend and I had a date last night. His company Christmas party. 4 hours before I have to be there, he tells me it's dressy. I flew into panic mode. I had planned to wear jeans! So I spent the next almost 3 hours trying to find shoes to match the two (yeah, I'm not a dress up kind of girl) pretty dresses I had. Did I mention they were sleeveless and it's December? Well I just did. I finally had my outfit and it was beauty time. There's no way I can shampoo my hair, dry it, and fix it in 30 minutes. So I grabbed Not Your Mother's dry shampoo. I sprayed and sprayed, brushed and brushed. I tried very hard to get it everywhere but either I missed quite a few areas, or it just didn't absorb.

I brushed, rubbed with a towel, brushed. Flipped around, sprayed some more. There's not much left in the bottle and I have to say, I wasn't impressed. My hair still looked oily and still had that grayish sheen to it. I managed to make it presentable but I worried all night that people would think I was dirty because I didn't have time to shampoo when I rushed through my shower beforehand.

Oddly enough, when I woke up the next morning my hair was full of volume and sass. It looked much better than it did when I originally fixed it. Unfortunately for the product, it's meant to be a right now fix not a tomorrow morning one.

I wish I had some pros for this product. I hate to write a review that is full of cons. I will say that if you have light, thin hair this product could possibly work very well for you. I just need to resign myself to the fact that there will never be a dry shampoo for my crazy hair and stop trying!




I received Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo through the Influenster VoxBox program which can be located at www.influenster.com. You can find more information on this product here. The product was provided free of charge for me to use and possibly review. All opinions are mine and always will be.