Formula X System XCEL Voxbox

I received my Formula X System XCEL Voxbox this weekend from Influenster!

This system claims 4 steps for a gel-like mani with no lights, fuss or damage. It's also claims 10 day wear, chip resistance, and a new brush with a faster, smoother finish.

STEPS:
1. CLEANSE removes oils
2. PRIME base coat for stronger/longer adhesion
3. COLOR pick your own formula x color
4. SHINE  gel-like plumping top coat

The color I received is called TGIF, a bright coral pink.

I also received Delete All, their 5 finger polish remover. It's a jar with sponge inside.


WEAR TESTING

Now... I am wearing acrylic nails so my husband is testing the longevity claims for me for 5 days while he works (he's a good man!).

I polished as follows:

Pointer finger with the XCEL System

Middle one with 2 coats TGIF (no base/top) Thumb with traditional LED gel polish

  ***5 Day Wear Test Results:  The shine lasted a bit longer on the XCEL System nail but in my opinion the nail with no base or top coat at all held up just as well.  Neither held up as well as the traditional gel polish. I can almost guarantee average wear would be better than this because he strenuously tested these polishes.  He works at a vintage auto restoration shop so his hands have been tearing cars apart, covered in brake fluid etc. ***



He also tried the Delete All polish removed for me. This is 2 coats of color on each nail, glitter added for testing.  It removed most of the polish in 30 seconds or less. We did another dip for the glitter. Only complaint is he could barely fit his fingers in the holes so they would need to be cut wider.

Over all the system is really nice. I'm not generally a fan of light-less gels but I like that their's works worth any Formula X polish. I don't really like the wide brush personally, it stays fanned out a bit too much for me.  The color is beautiful but the formula was a little on the thicker side.  The delete all removed the polish very quickly so I was impressed with that.
I also LOVE their bottles, so cute and store nicely.

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for my honest review.

Orly Terra Mauve Swatch

This is Orly Terra Mauve.  This is a part of their permanent collection but it just kind of jumped out at me when I was looking fall colors.  This is a unique color, it's a muted simple creme polish but the color is hard to describe.  In some lights it's a dark pinkish mauve and in some lights it looks more like a dusty purple.  I think this color will be perfect for fall, I'm picturing pairing with taupes and champagnes :)

China Glaze Frostbite & OPI In True Stefani Fashion Swatches (and jelly sandwich!)

Today I have two swatches and a jelly sandwich for y'all!  The swatches are China Glaze Frostbite, a bright blue shimmer, and OPI In True Stefani Fashion, a silver holo glitter.  They looked so good together I decided to try Frostbite as a jelly sandwich and it worked great!


Ok first up is China Glaze Frostbite, a bright royal blue polish with a lovely metallic shimmer.  This polish applied really well, but it is definitely sheer...I used 3 coats to build opacity.  This is one of those colors that glows from within, I think due to the metallic shimmer.

Morgan Taylor Scene Queen Swatch

Today I have the most amazing polish I've ever seen, Morgan Taylor Scene Queen.  It is truly wonderful!  It looks like a silvery metallic nude and then it leans a champagne blush color. Seriously, I'm obsessed.

Orly Darkest Shadow Swatch- Smoky Collection Fall 2014

Today I have a polish from the Orly Smoky Collection (Fall 2014) called Darkest Shadow.    Same disclosure as the last one, pictures do NO justice for this polish.  I don't know why it was so hard to photograph but in real life it is gorgeous! 

Orly Smoked Out Swatch- Smoky Collection Fall 2014

Today I have polish from the Orly Smoky Collection (Fall 2014) called Smoked Out.  Let me go ahead and say that pictures do NO justice for this polish.  I don't know why it was so hard to photograph but in real life it is gorgeous!

China Glaze Don't Let The Dead Bite

Today starts the first week of (hopefully) many Halloween themed manis :) First up I have "Blood Splatter Nails".  For this I used China Glaze Don't Let the Dead Bite from the Apocalypse of Color Collection, along with China Glaze Red Satin for the accents. 

Outdoor shade, no flash

 

CG Don't Let the Dead Bite is a totally unique polish in my collection.  It is a sheer, nude jelly base with all different size red glitter.  The overall effect comes off as blood splatter, or sort of a brain type matter.  I used 3 thin coats, but could have gotten away with 2 thicker coats. 

LEFT: Shade, no flash RIGHT: Shade, Flash

I am also trying a new base and top coat, the base is Orly Bonder which I've heard great things about.  The topcoat I'm trying is Seche Ultra V UV Topcoat, which is a bit...different?  As I read in other reviews, it has an odd smell to me like very strong polish with a pepper hint as well.  It cured under a UV light but took 3 thin coats to get the same smooth coating as 2 coats of Seche Vite.  However after it fully cured it seems more gel like and is very shiny.  I am testing it by wearing the Seche Vite on my left (Cinderella) hand and the Seche Ultra V on my right (swatch) hand.

 LEFT: Shade, no flash RIGHT: Shade, Flash

LEFT: Design Macro-Shade, Flash RIGHT: Swatch Macro-Shade, Flash

 Shade, no flash

 Shade, no flash

Shade, Flash

 Bottle Shots- LEFT: Shade, Flash RIGHT: Shade, no flash

 Brush Shots- LEFT: Shade, Flash RIGHT: Shade, no flash

Close-Ups-  LEFT: Swatch, flash MIDDLE: Thumb, No Flash RIGHT: Design, Shade, no flash

TOPCOAT COMPARISON- LEFT: Seche Vite, flash RIGHT: Seche Ultra V, Flash

TOPCOAT COMPARISON- LEFT: Seche Vite, no flash RIGHT: Seche Ultra V, no flash

COLORS USED:
Base Color: China Glaze Don't Let the Dead Bite
Red Accent: China Glaze Red Satin

Coats: 3

Formula: great on all

Color: great on all

Base Coat: Orly Bonder

Top Coat: Seche Vite/ Seche Ultra V


China Glaze
Page  Facebook  Twitter  Instagram

China Glaze Seduce Me Swatch

Today I have China Glaze Seduce Me, a beautiful redish pink creme polish I grabbed at Sally's on impulse with some coupons.

Zoya Payton Swatch

This is a swatch Zoya Payton, part of the Zenith Winter Holiday 2013 Collection.

This polish is described as a "full coverage galactic cranberry polish with holographic glitter".  It has an almost-jelly finish, with a great depth and sparkle.  It immediately became one of my favorite polishes.  Two coats gave perfect full coverage.

Pure Ice Private Show

Today I have a super cheap Butter London dupe :) This is Pure Ice Private Show, with China Glaze Infra-Red on the accent nail.  Private show is an exact dupe for Butter London The Black Knight.  You can check out the comparison at OhThreeOhFour.  The best part? The Black Knight is $15.00, and Private Show is only $1.98!

China Glaze Put A Bow On It Holiglaze Collection

Hi y'all :)  Today I have a polish from the China Glaze 2013 Holiglaze Collection.  As I mentioned in my last post, I picked up 3 polishes from this collection (This is Tree-Mendous, Put A Bow On It and So Blue Without You) and all of them have been fantastic!

China Glaze This is Tree-Mendous Holiglaze Collection

Hi y'all :)  Today I have a polish from the China Glaze 2013 Holiglaze Collection.  I picked up 3 polishes from this collection and all of them have been fantastic!  I grabbed This is Tree-Mendous (green & gold micro glitter), Put A Bow On It (fuchsia micro glitter), and So Blue Without You (bright blue shimmer foil).

Indie Polish Black Duo Holo

Indie Polish Facebook
Indie Polish Etsy

Today I have a polish called Black Duo Holo from Indie Polish.  This is my first polish from this brand and I was definitely impressed!  This polish was actually purchased for me by my 21 month old son, who apparently ordered it when I left the page up and walked away from the computer.  I found out when I opened the mailbox and had a package!

OPI DS Extravagance

I have a new favorite in my collection today. I got this Monday and painted my nails as soon as I opened the box and I'm SO glad I did!  It's such an amazing color, its a dark magenta holo polish and I'm obsessed with it :)

Direct Sun

Zoya Natty Swatch

I love this color, ive been looking a good navy-ish color and this one is amazing! Great formula, this is one coat and no topcoat. Only thing is i picture it being a lighter blue because the color name makes me think of Natural Light beer :)

  *** Y'all please take a minute to also check out my jewelry page, the tab is at the top of the page, Contact me if you'd like to purchase one, and Thanks for looking :)

Zoya Kimber & Finger Paints Colorful Collage

I grabbed this Finger Paints color on a whim at Sally's this weekend and I'm so glad I did because I love it! This is some super blingy holo glitter, in nearly all lights. The display didn't have a collection name though and I can't find any swatch info online for it either.


This is one coat Zoya Kimber and 2 thin coats Finger Paints Colorful Collage.


These are a little wonky right hand pictures because I didn't have time for a full gel set and I'm healing a split on my right hand. When I first started doing gel sets I over filed trying to blend the smile line and I was left with a super sensitive, red, dented in area that's finally growing out but when it got to the tip it split so now it's very short.

 Best shot, sunlight

Pure Ice Pardon My French

Super quick mani for my husband's birthday party this past weekend, this is one coat CG Liquid Leather and one coat Pure Ice Pardon My French.

I fell in love with this color when I first got it last year and keep forgetting to wear it!  Now that I have, I love it even more :)  This is a black jelly-type polish with light pink glitters


So sorry about the blurry pictures, these were the best I could get and of course I had taken the polish off by the time I got them on the computer and saw the blur. Doh!

*** Y'all please take a minute to also check out my jewelry page, the tab is at the top of the page, Contact me if you'd like to purchase one, and thanks for looking*** 

Jindie Nails Barbie's Pink Ferrari

Hi Y'all, today I have an awesome limited edition polish from Jindie Nails called Barbie's Pink Ferarri.  There were only 35 bottles of this created and I got bottle #21 (one of my favorite numbers!)

OPI Liquid Sand- Stay The Night

So sorry it took so long to get this post up, both my son and I have been sick the past week so not much has gotten done :( I did this mani friday morning 2/22 and am posting it 2/27 so I had to touch up a bit. Anyways, here it is...

I have been incredibly uninspired this week.  So after being up ALL night trying to come up with a design/color combination, I gave up and went with a swatch.  Here is OPI Stay the Night, a liquid sand polish.  For anyone who doesn't already know , a liquid sand/texture/concrete etc polish is one that feels like a fine grade sandpaper of a gritty glitterbomb.  It doesn't pick clothes or scratch you, it's just not glossy.  You can also add topcoat but be prepared to add 2-4 coats depending on the brand.  This is two coats STN, accent nail also has two coats Gelous and one coat Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Topcoat. 

Stay the Night, Natural Light

Stay the Night, Natural Light, 6 days of wear

keep in mind this is my left, non swatching hand

and also i broke my index finger and glued it back in the dark, hence the crack

The formula was a bit thin but good, and was much more pleasing than I expected.  The roughness was definitely different but I really enjoyed it.  This polish did seem to wear quicker than a glossy polish though.  After 6 days of wear, I noticed some of the pink glitters had turned silver (which still looked good), there was some tip wear (mostly my index & middle fingers) and one TINY chip from the tip wear on my right index.  Not bad in my book for 6 days of decently rough wear (not being gentle with nails, handling a 1 year old, cleaning house, showering, opening packages etc.) with no topcoat :)


coming up i have my prize package from Spellbound Nails that I won, my Sweetheart VoxBox, and as always my weekly nails :)

 *** Y'all please take a minute to also check out my jewelry page, the tab is at the top of the page, Contact me if you'd like to purchase one, and thanks for looking***

Zoya Aurora

Today's mani is Zoya Aurora, and I'm also trying out a new treatment/basecoat.  My nail have been ridiculously soft and I keep breaking the corners.  I hate it because when I was pregnant and for a few months after, my nails were like rocks.  You seriously couldn't bend them if you tried (I tried).  I was between Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hard As Wraps Powerful Acrylic Gel and Nail-Aid Almost Gel 3 Minute Artificials.  What I'm basically looking for is a gel or acrylic base I can polish on top of, to strengthen my nails.  I've also started taking Biotin and did my first olive oil soak tonight. Per directions, I applied 2 coats of the 3 Minute Artificials (should be one if using color), 2 coats Aurora, and one coat 3 Minute Artificials as a top coat.

Sunlight

Shade

Aurora was a bit thin but no issues, two coats was fully opaque. This is a gorgeous bright purple polish, with tons of scattered holo in it. This is an amazing polish in the sun or the shade.  I love it just as much as I thought I would, I think it would be hard for anyone to not like this polish

The 3 Minute Artificials left a nice thick glaze, but not too chunky. It dries like crazy slow though, dry to the touch but still impressionable.  My nails do feel slightly stronger now, not like I imagine gel nails would and certainly not like acrylic overlay would but a definite improvement!  I love how shiny and thick this stuff is, and I really like that my nails feel stronger, although its weird that it didn't seem to work on my left hand, but worked great on my right hand.

Left: Sunlight , Right, Shade

 Sunlight, Bottle Shot, Macro

  Shade, Bottle Shot, Macro

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

MINI-HAUL

Here are two Orly's I picked up at Sally's today.  The were 4.49, BOGO.

Left: Monster Mash, Right: Right Amount of Evil

 Left: Monster Mash, Right: Right Amount of Evil


I also picked up China Glaze Liquid Leather because I needed a good black, and Gelous Topcoat.

I'm also adding Melmer pictures on my Stash Page, tab is at the top of the page!

 *** Y'all please take a minute to also check out my jewelry page, the tab is at the top of the page, Contact me if you'd like to purchase one, and Thanks for looking :)