What Else Can I Do With Nail Polish?

Most people would label me as super creative and artistic, but what I really am is super cheap. If I can make it myself cheaper I'm going to figure out how to do it. I'm not paying $20 for something I can make for $5. One of the things I like to do is find new uses for things I already have, and I currently have a ton of nail polish. Obviously you can paint your finger nails and toe nails with it, but are there other things you can do with it? Of course! And I'm going to talk about a few of my favorite uses for nail polish outside of the mani/pedi box.

DIY Colored Bobby Pins

If you follow fashion or hair style blogs, you may have seen that making designs in your hair with colored bobby pins has been all the rage this summer. But have you seen the price of colored bobby pins?!? Ridiculous. I can buy a big pack of plain ones at the Dollar Store and whip up some custom colored ones from the comfort of my home for just a few pennies.

Step one is to place the bobby pins you want to color on a piece of thin cardboard or an index card. This allows me to pick them up and tilt them to get every spot and also prevents the polish from accidentally gluing it shut. I only paint the flat side since that's the only side that will show if I'm actually wearing them.

Now just take your selected polish and paint away! I found that cream finishes work best opacity wise, but obviously you can do whatever you want. I did some pastel creams to go with a specific dress I'm planning on wearing this weekend for a work event. But why stop at one color? Why not do stripes, or add some glitter polish for an extra sparkle or two? The options are limitless!

Color Coding Your Keys

I have three keys for work that look exactly the same, which means everyday I stand there trying to open a door and I never pick the correct key first. By color coding my keys I just have to grab the X colored one and tada! An opened door without the frustration.

I recommend giving your keys a quick cleaning, then lay them out on a piece of paper to catch any nail polish drips.

Then paint away. I did two oats on these, I may do a third on the orange. Wait for it to dry in between each coat, then flip over and repeat on the other side. And just like with the bobby pins you can do stripes, glitter, shapes, whatever you want. Just make sure you only do the part you hold onto, otherwise the polish may interfere with the locking mechanism.

No More Green Fingers

We all have that piece of costume jewelry we love but never wear because it turns our skin green. A quick coat or two of clear polish will seal the piece and you'll be able to wear your bling wherever you want now.

Turn Old Jewelry New Again

Do you have some chain jewelry that you'd like to wear but they are just so dated? Use nail polish to give them a brightly colored makeover. 

What unusual ways do you like to use nail polish? And do you miss Tutorial Tuesdays as much as I do? Let me know what you think down below in the comments.

Thursday Thoughts

Why hello Thursday, so good to see you. Well, maybe not this week but typically I'm happy to see Thursday. Anywho, you should know the drill by now. Time for my link up with Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her weekly Thursday Thoughts Link Up.

So, did you guys like the nice 4 day gap in posts? Basically I'm an idiot and forgot to actually queue up the posts I wrote so they'd publish while I was away on vacation. And when I tried to correct the problem Tuesday night so there'd at least be a post for Wednesday I couldn't get Blogger to work. This is not my week apparently. So I've got a bit of shuffling around of things to go to fix the nice mess I made.

Speaking of my vacation, that was well needed. Several days relaxing on the beach with my family, exactly what the doctor ordered. If you follow me on Instragram you got a behind the scenes peek into my personal life, which I think is a nice change of pace sometimes. For those wondering what's up with the whales in the picture above, those are almost life sized whale kites we saw at the beach. They were too cool not to share with people, when the wind blew they "swam".  I now want one, though I have no idea where I would store a whale sized kite. Interesting fact, I've never ever flown a kite. Is that weird?

Onto beauty stuff. Sometimes my local Dollar Store has some amazing finds and last week I found Blender dupes! For a buck I think they are pretty good, though they for sure have to be used wet. I'm going to go back at some point soon and buy up a whole bunch of them. Anybody else have an amazing Dollar Store find they'd like to share?

My Birchbox arrived right before we headed out, I feel like this was really fast shipping for once. Expect the review to be up sometime this weekend. I also placed an order Friday morning and it had already shipped out by that night. I'm hoping Birchbox has stepped up it's shipping game and this is a permanent change and not just really good luck. I hate waiting a week and a half for something to ship to me. I could literally drive across the country, pick it up, and head home in less time than that. My Birchbox order should be here Friday according to tracking, can't wait to share with you guys what I treated myself to!

The picture is just because I looked extra pretty the other day for work, so I thought I'd share. And because it remind me that I have some exciting news! I'll be doing a collaboration of sorts with Adore Me, a subscription based lingerie company. I'll share more details later but for right now know that I'm crazy excited about it and can't wait to get started on it.

And now for some maybe sad news related to this blog. I'm discontinuing my Tutorial Tuesday posts for the time being. I really want to expand over to YouTube and I'd like to do these tutorials there instead. I know many of you love my tutorials so I'm hoping once I get all my ducks in a row and the channel up you will pop over and see what I'm posting. This may change depending on how it works out, but at least for the rest of May there will be just a regular blog post on Tuesdays. If you have super strong feelings on this please let me know down below in the comments.

February 2015 Empties

Is is strange that one of my favorite posts is the one where I talk about my garbage? I love looking back at what I used up and figuring out what I actually liked and didn't like instead of just tossing it and then wondering in the store 3 weeks later which lotion gave me a horrible rash. It is also the only time you can really give a fully in depth review of a product. Sometimes that foundation you loved after a week will turn your face orange a month later. February was a decent empties pile, I think there was a day I used up like 4 or 5 items! So let's dig into this pile of garbage and see which ones were the gems in the bunch.

All total I had 19 empties, which is pretty decent I think. The breakdown came out to: 7 makeup, 5 hair care, 5 skin care, and 2 body care items. Two of my project pan items ended up in the empties pile this month, they were the lipstick and the little clear jar. And in the interest of full disclosure, two of the items are not empty, but I'll explain why they are in the pile when I get to them. And for an easy visual reference, this month all items I liked have a little heart on them while all items I disliked have a circle with a slash through it on them.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream: (Repurchased) This was a Birchbox sample that I ended up really loving. Winters in Oregon can be super hard on your skin so I used this to protect my son's face from the cold and harsh winds. I also used it on my hands to keep them from getting chaffed from the cold as well. I've already bought a full sized and will buy another one for sure once that runs out. Hands down love this item.

Victoria's Secret Delicate Petals Body Lotion: (Not Repurchasing) A gift from a LONG time ago, I don't actually know if they still sell this scent. It wasn't bad, just not one I'd repurchase. Plus I have a gallon of lotion to slog through before I buy anymore lotion.

Dove Oxygen Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner: (Not Repurchasing) These were a free sample from some program and I ended up hating them. The shampoo had little micro beads that would NOT rinse out of my long hair so I'd spend all day picking them out if they hadn't burst during shampooing. Not OK. The conditioner wasn't bad in all honestly, but I'm trying to be more conscience of the companies I support and Dove does some things I'm not personally OK with so I won't be buying their products if I can help it.

Amika Nourishing Mask: (Not Repurchasing) Another Birchbox sample, It worked OK but for the price I expected a whole lot more out of it. My $8 a tub Organix hair masks blows this out of the water. Really heavily scented too, which can get irritating sometimes.

Tresemme Naturals Shampoo: (Not Repurchasing) This was on sale for just a few bucks so I bought it. I liked it at first but the more I used it the less I liked it. Nothing horrible, just not really a great shampoo.

Psssst! Dry Shampoo: (Repurchasing) This is a constant repeat in the empties pile, I finish a can about every other month typically. This is my favorite dry shampoo, great price and works perfectly for me. Next time Ulta has them on sale I'll be stocking up, though they are only $6 normally so not a big deal to buy them not on sale.

Innarah Defense Masque: (Not Repurchasing) Another Birchbox sample, this is the crazy expensive mask from a box or two ago. A full sized is $125!! Obviously unless it made me sweat diamonds I wasn't going to buy an actual jar. It was a nice moisturizing mask, but not any better than one of my $4 Freeman masks. $125 is seriously ridiculous.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet: (Undecided) I love Caudalie, their stuff is always amazing but it can be a bit pricey. Its from France so there's all the import costs on top of being a higher end brand. This is basically fancy face lotion, but it made my skin so soft I literally could not stop touching it. I really want a full sized tube but I can't quite talk myself into shelling out almost $40 for it. Especially since I have a ton of face lotions already. If someone wants to buy me some I'd be eternally grateful though.

Dr Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner: (Undecided) Another brand I like but is a bit higher price than I want to pay. This worked pretty well and the Birchbox sample did last me a while, so I will probably eventually pick up a full sized. Sometimes Marshall's has Dr Brandt items at a discount so fingers crossed that I get luck and find a tube for $20.

Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator: (Repurchasing) Also a Birchbox sample and also a higher priced brand, this is a fancy microdermabrasion cream. It isn't quite guilt inducing expensive, so I will probably be pick up a tube for my birthday. Really helped my skin, so I consider it worth the price. Kept the winter dull skin at bay and helped even out my skin tone a bit I thought.

GlamGlow YouthCleanse Daily Exfoliating Cleanser: (Not Repurchasing) I had heard so much hype over the GlamGlow brand that when I managed to snag a free sample of their new cleanser I did a little happy dance. But I really wasn't impressed. Did it clean my skin? Yes, but that was it. Nothing remarkable there, I can buy a face cleaner for less than a Starbucks Latte so why should I pay almost $40 for one? I get that it was a sample so I won't see long term use effects, but if I'm not wowed after 2 uses why would I buy it?

Tarte Clean Slate Poreless Primer: (Not Repurchasing) I had to force myself to use all of this up, I hated it that much. It literally felt like I was putting silicone caulking on my face every time I used it. Felt so thick and heavy, this would actually peel off my face if I tried to spread it thinner. What an awful product, I'm so glad I didn't purchase this (won it in a giveaway).

Dr.Jart+ BB Cream: (Not Repurchasing) This is the second Dr.Jart+ item I've received from Birchbox and I've decided I just don't like their BB Creams. This one was a little better than the Black Label Detox one (which was a greasy mess on my face), but I really didn't like it. Never really felt like it dried, if that makes any sense. Had to be set with powder and then repowdered at least once a day to not look truly awful. I think if you have very dry skin you'd like it, but this was a no go for me.

ELF Clear Top Coat: (Not Repurchasing) This isn't actually empty but it was getting gross and would actually dissolve the nail art I was trying to protect, so out it does. Came in a bundle with some other polish I liked, so no money wasted.

Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation: (Not Repurchasing) A friend of mine sells Mary Kay product so every once in a while I'd buy stuff from her. I bought this powder quite a while ago and even though it's only halfway empty it just needs to be tossed. A good color match for me but I can't justify the price when there are powders I like for half the price.

Ulta Super Stretch Fiber Mascara: (Undecided) This came in a free gift bag with purchase that I received over the summer from Ulta. I actually really liked it, I though it did a good job lengthening my lashes without making them all clumpy. Are there mascaras I like more? Of course, but for $10 this isn't bad at all. I may repurchase in the future if I ever run out of mascaras.

Wet and Wild Eyeshadow Depotted into Jar: (Not Repurchasing) This was a Project Pan item, so I'm very happy I finished it up. It came from a Wet and Wild quad that I bought at the Dollar Store, and worked well as a neutral set to keep in my makeup bag, but at this point I have so many other eyeshadows I really don't need to be buying any more.

ELF Tinted Lip Balm in the shade Rose: (Undecided) Another Project Pan item, this was a nice and moisturizing lipstick that I actually wore all the time. I will probably repurchase it in the future, but right now I have a hoard of lip products to work through first. But I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a good tinted lip balm.

October 2014 Empties

These post have oddly enough become one of my favorites to do. I love looking back at what I've used up and seeing my empties bag fill up makes me feel super proud. Is that weird? I feel like its weird. Any ways, last month I set a goal of finishing at least 20 items and I hit it! I actually had 29 empties for the month of October, so I'm pretty pleased with myself. Since I had so many items I'll try to keep it quick.

Wow, that is an impressive pile, right? I'll divide this post up by foilies, hair, skin, and makeup to make things easier and quicker. If you want more details than what I give let me know down in the comments.

DHC Velvet Skin Primer x4: Not Purchasing I got about 3 uses out of each pack so 12 uses total and it just make me love it. And for the price I need to love it.

EVE LOM Cleanser: Not Purchasing According to Vogue this is the world's best cleaner and all I can say is what the hell is Vogue smoking. This stuff REEKED and took like 10 minutes to use. Sure, it got my face clean, but so does the non-stinky cleaner I already own that takes me a minute to use. I do like the muslin cloth that came with it so I'll be using that as my shower face scrubbing cloth till it gets gross. Did I mention this stuff smelled awful? Because it did.

Curel and Jergins Lotions: Not Purchasing Some lotion samples I wanted to use up, didn't wow me enough to actually buy.

Garnier Cleansing Oil: Not Purchasing I actually requested this sample because I was looking for a cheaper dupe of the DHC Cleansing Oil, which is amazing. This stuff sucked. Left makeup on my face, doesn't emulsify at all, and left my face feeling oily. I got about 3 uses out of the packet so I tested it out pretty well.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil: Purchasing Eventually This stuff is amazing, as I've mentioned before. I have one more foil pack and a travel sized bottle left so when those are done I'll actually buy a full sized bottle of this expensive but totally worth it cleansing oil.

Alba Botanica Acne Gel: Undecided I haven't decided it I liked it enough to actually buy one. Didn't like the other things in this line and I *think* it only comes as a set at the store I got the sample from.

Briogeo Hair Mask: Not Purchasing I got this is my last Ipsy bag and while it did make my hair soft it smelled super bad. Which meant my hair smelt super bad for the day every time I used it. Gross

Marc Anthony Sea Salt Spray: Purchase Eventually I already have an second bottle of this, this bottle is the one that got damaged in an exploding Ipsy bag. I really liked it, smelled great, and was cheap.

Feria Hair Dye and ect: Undecided I'll write more about this later probably. Like the color but I think it's fading faster than it should.

OGX Moroccan Deep Conditioner: Purchase I actually have one more tub left but I love this stuff as I've mentioned and buy several whenever it's on sale at Ulta, which seems to be every few months.

Marakesh Split Endz Mendz: Not Repurchasing Another Ipsy bag item, worked ok but made my hair smell like moldy earth. Not exaggerating at all.

Klorane Dry Shampoo: Not Repurchasing I was going to do a full post on this but long story short works really well but is SUUUUPER expensive, $20 for a regular can. And I go through a can every other month, so that would add up fast. I'll stick with my $6 Psssst! Dry shampoo.

Kirkland Facial Wipes: Purchasing I've talked about these often enough you know I like them, but I'm finally down to my last pack so I need to actually buy more. Wish they would go on sale for even better savings.

ULTA Heart Throb Body Was: ???? So I *think* this was a seasonal Valentines Day scent and isn't usually available. I got it on clearance for under a buck and actually really loved the scent. If it ever comes back I'll buy more, but it may never come back. Curse you seasonal items!

Whish Saving Cream: Not Purchasing A Birchbox item, I liked it enough to use it but not enough to spend $20 on a full sized tube. The scent was weird too.

Cotton Swabs: Purchasing I buy a pack every other month from the dollar store.

Save Tan Lotion: Not Repurchasing I'm not even going to tell you how old this was. Don't even ask. So embarrassing, but I go through lotion really slowly I noticed. This was actually bought in Hawaii to help my severely burned Husband, this stuff is like an IV for the skin. So even if I wanted more I doubt I could get more.

Up&Up Face Toner: Not Repurchasing I was actually going to buy more of this until I made my own toner and decided I liked that better. But if you are looking for this one I recommend it. It is a dupe for the Proactiv+ toner for a fraction of the price.

Mary Kay Foundation: Not Repurchasing I have a friend who sells Mary Kay so every once in a while I buy stuff from her. This foundation matched my skin tone perfectly when I bought it, but it's old enough the color is getting orangish and it smells off so I'm chucking it. Though in retrospect it is pretty old. Like older than my son...by a lot. Kind of grossed out I was still using it. These aren't bad foundations, but they are on the more expensive side and can only be purchased from a rep which can be a pain if you don't know someone who sells it.

Dr Jart+ BB Cream: Not Purchasing Another Birchbox item, this is apparently a really popular brand and this specific BB cream is really popular, but it just didn't do it for me. Color and texture were great, wasn't heavy at all. It just felt greasy on my face, like it never really dried. And it had to be applied with either a stippling brush and then buffed in or applied with my fingers for a smooth finish, which meant it took a while to do. I'm a brush fan, keeps things cleaner too.

Makeup Forever Mascara: Not Repurchasing This was part of my free birthday gift from Sephora and is apparently a nice brand but I'm not seeing it. The mascara was pretty standard, though the brush was gigantic! Just not m cup of tea.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara: Purchasing Ok, I know I typically don't buy expensive things that won't last for a while, but this mascara is AMAZING! I got this tube in an Ipsy bag and I fell it love after the first time I used it. Not the most waterproof out there, but it make my lashed look long, thick, and as black as can be. I'll treat myself to a full sized tube if I can make it through the holidays without murdering anyone any trouble.

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner: Not Repurchasing Another Ipsy item, just wasn't worth the $20 price tag. Is it better than most pencil liners? Yes. But for $20 I expect a heck of a lot more. Like not having to sharpen it every friggin time I used it. I seriously hate sharpening my eyeliners, I prefer liquid, cream, or those mechanical pencil ones. Sharpening just takes to long and I always end up breaking the tip off.

That's it for my empties, I think I did really well. For November I'm predicting a lower number, maybe around ten if I'm lucky. I've got some makeup almost finished so fingers crossed that they are in next month's post. If you keep track of your empties, how did you do?

What to Buy at the Dollar Store

You should all know by now that I love a good deal, and the dollar store is well....the king of good AND bad deals. I do a fair amount of shopping at my local Dollar Tree so I'm going to share my knowledge of what to buy and what not to buy at the dollar store.

Buys:

Bobby Pins: I don't know about you guys but I lose these suckers at a rate that would confound mathematicians. These are just as good as the ones you pay top dollar for, so why not save some money and buy them for a buck.

Children's Shampoo/Bubble Bath: Seriously, how do kids go through so much of this? We go through a bottle of bubble bath a week and a bottle of shampoo a month, for a 3 year old. Crazy right? So I buy it here and use the extra money I saved to buy him a new book once a month. He still gets his mountain of bubbles and my bank account stays happy.

Makeup: This is a category where you have to do a fair amount of looking. My favorite Dollar Tree can get really great makeup in, like Milani, Wet&Wild, Rimmel, and ELF, so I always rifle around the aisle and see what new treasure I can find. And even some of the LA Colors makeup isn't bag, like the loose eyeshadows. Stay away from any mascara and foundation and for the most part you'll be fine.

Cotton Swabs/Q-Tips/Tissues: BUY! Seriously, these are one shot items, why would you spend $5+ of something to clean your ears or wipe off boogers? I also buy bandaids here because we go through them like crazy, but I know not everybody's dollar store carries the good brands so just pay attention to what your buying.

Bar Soap: At least at my store you can get Dove, Irish Spring, Neutrogena, the works. So if you see it snag it.

Do NOT Buy:

Toilet Paper: Please don't make me explain this, it ain't a pretty story. Just....don't buy dollar store toilet paper.

Shampoo/Conditioner: If what you like is the VO5 crap that turns your hair to stray they hey, have at it. Otherwise just keep on walking.

Any sort of facial wash, scrub, cream, or makeup remover: These will not only let you down but will cause you to at the very least break out and at the worst leave you with a nasty rash or hives.

Razors: Well...these are ok for traveling when you're going to toss it after one use. But for everyday use they'll leave you with some horrible razor rash.

A general rule a thumb is if you've never heard of the brand, don't try it unless you do some research first. And always check the expiration date, sometimes that great find is two months pasts it's best buy date.