Redbook + L'Oreal Paris Happy Hour House Party package

I recently received my Redbook + L'Oreal Paris Happy Hour House Party package.  I was chosen to be a host of this party by HouseParty.com.  In order to be chosen to host a House Party, you basically have to agree that you will invite so many people to attend your party, share the contents of the party package with your guests, review the items, you agree to not sale any of the items in the package and lastly, you must take a group photo and share it on the House Party website. 

 

I had no idea that this party package would include so many great products.  It was actually shocking to see all of the great items.  (Disclaimer:  I received these items free of charge in exchange for my and my party guests reviews of the products.)

 

You can see all of the wonderful items that were included in the party package in the picture below.   

Looks pretty awesome, right?!  I will make cute gift bags with the items here and add some of my own products to make it even more fantastic.  I will do some sort of game to give the books, lip stain and eye shadows away since there are only a couple of each of those products.  Each guest also gets a free subscription to Redbook!  I personally love Redbook.  I think it is a great magazine that touches on family, food, finance, beauty, health and other topics. 

 

I will post more once I have the party.  My party will be on May 4th, and I am looking forward to it.  So, stay tuned for more pictures of my guests and I partying!  I'm sure it is going to be a fun one! 

Orchid Professional Nail Lacquer Review

I bought this Orchid brand Professional Nail Lacquer in the color (183) I Lost Your Number quite a while ago, but never used it until this past week.  I actually really like the lavender color of the polish.  It is a darker lavender rather than light, but I wouldn't call it purple.  Anyway, I polished my nails on Thursday, and unfortunately, it was already chipping and peeling off by Saturday.  I didn't really have to use a lot to get the full color, but after two coats, it was still streaking.  You can see it in the pictures below.  It isn't totally clear because of the flash, but you can see it if you really look.  At the time that I bought this color, I bought a couple of other ones, too.  I haven't used those, yet, but I don't think that I will purchase this same brand again because of the chipping and streaking.  It is pretty color though. 

I bought this at my local grocery store (HEB). I've only seen these at HEB, but you may be able to find it in drugstores such as Walgreens or CVS.  I did not find a website for Orchid.  I would encourage you to go out and buy it so that you can try it for yourself.  Maybe, it was just me that thought it was too streaky.  When I purchased several of these, they were on sale.  I think they were regularly around $5, but I got them for about $2 each. 

    

If you look closely, then you can see the streaking.

Happy Shopping!

Pictures of Maybelline Color Show #370 Shocking Seas

So, on Monday night, I took the time to sit down and polish my nails using the Maybelline Color Show #370 Shocking Seas.  The reason I took the time to do this was because I had already posted about the polish, but did not take pictures the first time around.  I also wanted to polish my nails in this color because it is one of my son's school colors and he had a football game on Tuesday evening.  I wanted to show my school spirit and use this color.  It matches his school colors perfectly.  By the way, his team won.  They went 7-0 for the regular season, and next week, they are in the playoffs for the area middle schools.  Go Pumas! 

I really like this polish and this particular color as I stated in my previous post about this polish:  http://thehouseofdiva.blogspot.com/2012/10/maybelline-color-show-nail-polish-370.html .  Below are the pictures of the color on my nails. These pictures were taken in the living room with medium light. I think the pictures depict exactly what the color looks like even in the sunlight.    

Please visit the Maybelline website for further information on their available products. 
You can also "Like" the Maybelline Facebook page. 

Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish - #370 Shocking Seas

I was recently at the grocery store picking up some items that we needed at home, but I couldn't resist going to the cosmetics aisle.  I was looking for a teal or turquoise color so that I could polish my nails for my son's football game this week.  I looked at several different brands, but ultimately went with the Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish in color #370 - Shocking Seas.  The color was just perfect and would serve my purpose.  My son's football team colors are black, teal and white.  I tried it on one nail just to see what it looked like on compared to some others.  It was the perfect shade and would go along with the school colors.  I really liked the color.  At first, I thought it was going to be a little to bold for me, but it grew on me. 

This nail polish was not streaky.  I did use 2 coats when using on my hand nails.  This made it a little darker than if you only use 1 coat.  This nail polish did take quite a while to dry.   I did not have much flaking at all.  It only started to flake after taking showers and washing dishes.  I polished my nails very quickly, so I am going to give it another go really soon.  This particular product/brand will be purchased again.  I definitely think it is worth the price.  They have a pretty big selection of colors in the type of nail polish.  My friends and family will be hearing about this product and hopefully, they will go out and get some.

I will post some pics of my nails polished in this color in the near future.  There were no pictures for me to share today because I didn't take any this time around.  Once my nails are polished in this color again, I will take some pictures immediately.  I will probably just post the pictures in another blog post separate from this one. 

Please visit the Maybelline website for additional product information. 

"Like" Maybelline's Facebook page to see what other fans have to say and to get information on new products! 

Revlon Nail Enamel - #330 Naughty



I was finally able to polish my nails using Revlon's Nail Enamel in the color #330 Naughty.  I had initially posted about the color in a previous post, but I had not had the chance to use it at that time:  http://thehouseofdiva.blogspot.com/2012/10/revlon-nail-enamels.html

Once I was able to use it, I came to the conclusion that I really like the color.  It looks really dark in a dim lit room, but out in the sunlight, it was a very pretty purple!  I only wore it for a couple of days and then changed colors.  The performance of the brand was really good.  While polishing my nails, it went on smoothly and did not get too thick and goopy.  I used two coats and it dried quickly.  Over the few days that I wore it, I did not have flaking.  It seems to be a good quality product.  Please see my pictures below to get a feel of what the color looked like.  In these pictures, it is mostly dark, but like I said, it does look lighter in the sun light. 

Please visit Revlon's product page for more information on the Nail Enamels.

Also, "Like" Revlon's Facebook page to get new information on Revlon products and to interact with other fans of the brand.  

Pretty In Pink.....for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Well, I polished my nails with my new Revlon Nail Enamel in color #271 Extravagant that I previously wrote about in the following post:  http://thehouseofdiva.blogspot.com/2012/10/revlon-nail-enamels.html      

I was looking for a pink color to use in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I would like to show my support of all of the survivors, lost loved ones and their family & friends in any way that I can.  I know this is a small way of doing so, but I think any support is better than none. The pictures that I have posted look a little purple, but it is pink. In my opinion, it is bright and stands out in a crowd. I really like the color and have had a lot of compliments on it so far and I have only been wearing it for a couple of days.  

While polishing my nails, I noticed that it was kind of thick.  When you put it on, you have to make sure that you do not put too much on the brush because it will make a blob on your nail and at that point, there is probably too much to spread evenly without streaks.  It will make for a very thick coat, and will take a long time to dry.  That is what happened to me the first time around.  That was a bit disappointing, but I polished my nails all over again, and the second time was much better.  I did it pretty fast, and that is why they look a bit sloppy, but if you take your time, then I'm sure your nails will look marvelous!    



My verdict on this particular brand and color is that it is nice, and I will wear the color again.  It is on the thick side and I will remember that when I use it again in the future so I won't make a big mess of my nails.  Revlon has a great selection of other colors, so please visit their website to see all of the colors available. 

Please visit Revlon's Facebook page and "Like" them to stay in the loop to receive product information or just to read what other fans have to say.

You can also follow Revlon on Twitter!  You can use @revlon to connect to them. 

   

Revlon Nail Enamels

Tonight, I was at the store and wanted to try to find a new nail polish by OPI.  The color I was looking for was "Every Month is Oktoberfest", but it was no where to be found.  They had just about every other color.  So, I will have to see if I can find it at another store.  I was told I could find it on Ebay, but I will keep looking at the stores around me before ordering from online.

So, since I could not find what I was looking for, I decided to keep looking at different brands and colors.  Well, I came across the Nail Enamel section of Revlon polishes, and there were coupons for $2.00 off a bottle right in front of the display.  As stated on their website, Revlon® Nail Enamel delivers gorgeous smooth, chip-resistant color to nails.  There was a big selection of colors to choose from in the Revlon collection that it was hard to choose.  I tried several colors on my nails before deciding on #330 Naughty and #271 Extravagant.  These two colors just caught my eye for some reason.  The purple gray #330 Naughty was very nice, and I think it would go good with a lot of clothes in my wardrobe.  I was looking for a pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and came across #271 Extravagant.  There were plenty of pink colored nail polish, but I really liked the way this dried on the one nail I that I test polished.

The description from the website:

• Revlon Nail Enamel gives up to 10 days of lasting color & shine*. Revlon's exclusive silk-protein shield works to instantly help even out the surface of the nail while rising above color to automatically smooth away bubbles, streaks and brush marks.
• Available in 72 shades
• *when worn with Revlon Base and Top Coat.

I have not had a chance to polish my nails in either one of these colors (I only tested one nail in each color while at the store), yet, but when I do I will post pictures so you can see how pretty they are!  Hopefully, it will be real soon! 

For further information, please visit the Revlon website (Nail Polish section)
You can also "Like" the Revlon Facebook page to gain knowledge and receive announcements regarding the Revlon brand.    

Julep Nail Color - Sienna

So, I finally tried one of the colors in my introductory Julep box.  I posted a pic of the nail color bottle in a previous post:  http://thehouseofdiva.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-first-julep-box.html.  I did a quick job of polishing my nails last night in my very dim living room.  It wasn't until I put the lights on that I saw just how sparkly and iridescent this color is.  At first glance, it looks silver, but it really is a shimmery champagne/goldish color if you ask me.  I used two coats, and it wasn't too streaky.  I liked the fact that it dried pretty quick.  That is always a plus in my book because I don't have all the time in the world to sit around and wait for it to dry.  I took several pictures because it looks a bit different in different lighting.  I really like the color.  It stands out and is quite the eye catcher!  It will definitely be great for the up coming holiday season!  I think it is a color that I would wear again and again no matter what time of year it is! 

Please visit the Julep website to become a member and browse the colors that are available.  Use the code:  COLOR2012 at check out and get your first box for $.01.  Julep is a subscription box that you receive monthly unless you skip a month or cancel.  They send you a box that has nail colors in it based on your profile/style.  Check out their website!  I look forward to my next box!  



Maybelline Color Show Nail Polish - Metal Icon

 

 

 

I just recently purchased this nail polish in a local grocery store (H.E.B.).  They had an in store coupon for $2 off, so I only paid around $2.50 for it.  I really liked the color and it has some shimmer to it.  My son said that this was a good color for me over two other colors that I was contemplating over and over.  The brand is Maybelline New York.  It is the Color Show Nail Lacquer Limited Edition in Metal Icon.

 

You definitely have to use at least two or three coats when using this polish.  Also, it does take quite a while to dry.  As soon as I thought they were dry, I was trying to take the memory card out of my camera, and I scraped my nail while doing that.  I looked at my nail and wouldn't you know it, a piece of the polish was gone from the nail.  Put all of that aside, and it is a nice color.  I am going to try it again when I have more time.  I think it is worth the price, and I will probably purchase it again because I like some of the other colors that are available. 

 

You can check out the other colors on Maybelline's website:  www.maybelline.com

 

 

 

(I did the nails really quick, so excuse me if they don't look great!  Thanks!)