butter LONDON Horsepower

butter london


Well ladies and gentlemen, I bring you a month of butter LONDON Horse Power. This October, Bee Polished will be focusing on the unappreciated world of "small nail" artists. I have some guest posts coming from some of my most favorite bloggers as well as some features I'll do on other faves. I will also have some super cool art for you AND some exciting Digital Dozen news. I'm starting here, with my little "nubbins" as they're known in the nail world.  Now don't get me wrong, I love to see long perfectly polished nails as much as the next person but there's a funny thing about that; it's not reality. Most of us have jobs and responsibilities and not so perfect talons. Which is perfectly OK.  There's this weird pressure in the nail art world to have perfect nails. To have perfect nail art. To have long nails. Just like in the world of fashion which tells us that in order to be beautiful and loved we must be size zeros, there's that push to have these amazing long nails.  Now I'm not saying that bloggers who have long nails aren't beautiful too!! But I think it's important to celebrate the world of small nails too! Personally, my recent chop off was due to a lot of job interviewing and type tests. I wanted to get rid of the stained nails and keep them short and professional and ideal for speedy typing. I've never been one to go super long though. I'm quite athletic and it's just a hassle when they're long and in the way.  I love having them shorter though because I think you can really get away with crazier designs when there isn't as much of a canvas!  I'm starting off small nails month a little early and throughout the month I'm going to be updating you with pictures of how this butter LONDON Horse Power is helping my nails grow.  I've already tested Rejuvacote and Nail Envy so it seems fitting to do this one as well! For the first two weeks I'll be using it on it's own according to directions on the package. It does say you can polish over it so for the remaining two weeks I'll be using it as a base coat only. On my left hand, I'll be using no polish and no Horse Power. I forgot to take pics but what I really want to show you in the end is how wearing polish affects the health of your nails so it's sort of irrelevant. They obviously all start the same length! I can't wait for you guys to see what's in store for the next month so please stay tuned!! :)


Battle of the Boxes

beauty box

Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of Beauty Boxes. Nail polish lovers can choose from Julep, Scratch, and The Nail Art Society for monthly deliveries of polish, snack lovers can choose Graze boxes, Nature boxes, even Vegan Cuts boxes. For lovers of all things cosmetic the choices are nearly endless. There are Ipsy, Beauty Box 5, Blissmo, Beauty Army and loads more. But how do you choose a box? Are they even worth it? Which ones offer the best benefits?  Well today I'm going to break down four beauty boxes for you to help you decide!  The beauty boxes I'm comparing range various prices, options and lifestyles and each box is the August 2013 edition.  So...here we go.

We'll start with the Birch Box because it's the cheapest option on my list.  Birch Box runs you $10 a month and offers four beauty samples and a "surprise" item in each box.  Here's the August box:


Yay nail polish! I was actually quite disappointed with this months box. Only two of the samples are really 'deluxe' and sunscreen is kind of a throwaway this late in the year.  The polish has a value of about $5 and the hair oil about .36 despite it's deluxe size. So...the box wasn't very valuable. I did also get a 20% off coupon code but it's for Anne Taylor so let's face it, that's going in the trash.

Pros: I really like that Birch Box ships early in the month because that means I get August's box IN August.  I also really love the price point because it works out to .33 a day. It's basically two coffee's.  I have had some REALLY stellar boxes. I also really love the point system. Each month you can review your items for points and then you can spend the points like cash in the Birch Box store. I've gotten quite a few items for free that way.

**UPDATE**
 The Birch Box point system has changed. While you still earn points for reviews, the reviews now must be at least 20 words long and be approved by someone before points are issued. Not so in love anymore. 

Cons: Birch Box is VERY hit or miss. Some boxes, like this one, are just junk. Others are really great but there's no guarantee what you'll get. Sometimes the free gift is really silly too; more than once I've gotten a hair rubber. I also don't love their customization which asks you a lot of random questions instead of just being forthright.


So now let's move on to the Eco Emi box.  Eco Emi is $15 a month and, as the name suggests, it's an eco friendly box filled with five to ten samples of natural, organic, green, eco-friendly, cruelty free, vegan, vegetarian or Fair Trade products.. Here's my box for August:



As you can see it's filled with a whole range of items. I've even gotten laundry soap in them! This box has a value of $12.50.  Last month had a value of $25 so these really do even out and more often than not I LOVE the box and am more than happy with the cost. This box alone has cookies, walnut butter, green tea leaves, eyeshadow, soap, some super cute wooden utensils, nail polish and some samples of lotion and body oil.

Pros: If you're vegetarian or into Eco Friendly things then this is an excellent way to try out new things. Sometimes those items can be a little more pricey so it's nice to be able to try before investing. I love that I get a lot of different things like snacks and hair care and makeup; it's fun to be able to try out lots of things. I also think the price point is spot on. There are always at least 7 or 8 items in my boxes and often more.

Cons: There is zero customization. Each box is the same every month so there's no tailoring it to your wants/needs. I get a lot of eye shadows and chap sticks. They're all different and I always need those things but sometimes it's a bit much. These also ship at the end of the month so for example, August's box arrived this month around the 29th.


Next up we have the $21 Glossy Box subscription. 


So I actually cancelled my Glossy Box subscription this month and went back to Birch Box. It was meant to be for the points cause there's something that I want to buy from their shop. BUT I just learned that they have all sorts of requirements now for reviews so it's sort of a waste. I'm really kicking myself and will probably join up again before this posts!  This box is epic. It has a value of close to $70! Everything in this box was full sized and I'm really excited about the red lip pencil. The fact spray is great in the summer and with curly, thick hair I can always use masks. The nail polish is a little "meh" (all of them will be reviewed later this week!) but the face powder is amazing. I also got a little jean Guess bag in this box as an extra.

Pros: Boxes nearly always have a high value and I've never had one that didn't contain at least one full sized item. I've gotten several Tarte lip sticks as well as a few nail polishes and eye liners. But on the other hand, I've also gotten a lot of things I'll never use like gel blushes and hair sprays. HOWEVER, you'll always have that with a box subscription.

Cons: While the value outweighs the cost nearly always, $21 is a little pricey for some.  There is customization but it's fairly minimal and the Glossy Dots they offer are basically useless. 

And finally we come to a new brand of box called Wantables. Wantables runs you $36 a month and you choose whether you'd like an accessory box or a beauty box. I chose beauty:



So here's my Wantables box. This box had a lot of brands I hadn't heard of before BUT that said, they definitely lived up to their price point!! There is an eye shadow quad, two lip glosses, a NAIL POLISH (Hello!!) and a little sample of body oil. The value of this box is around $80. VERY fair for a $36 price point. These boxes really vary because of the full customization Wantables offers so I've seen boxes with very diverse contents. They also appear to work with indie makers as I saw a few boxes with Rainbow Honey polishes. 

Pros: The value is indisputable and the items are also high quality.  You can choose between accessories (and jewelry) or cosmetics. The box came in a timely manner. This is the MOST customizable box I've come across. They not only ask you what cosmetics you like but then they break them down further by asking about specifics. I chose nail polish and was then asked if I liked colors or neutrals, shimmers or sheers, cremes or glitters, etc.  My box is VERY suited to the choices I made.

Cons: They are a bit of a reach for some people at $36 a month. BUT all my cosmetics are full sized and high priced items so if you already spend a lot on makeup it could be a great deal for you. I don't believe they have a rewards program either.


All in all Glossy Box and Eco Emi will continue to be my choices. But in the future I may definitely jump on board the Wantables train. I really loved that my box was MY box. No two are the same and it's really made up just for me. If I used more makeup on a regular basis it would definitely be worth the money. My Birch Box is going to the wayside again! Which box is your favorite?

CND Vinylux

cnd vinylux
 

Today I want to share with you a fairly new product from CND.  It's called Vinylux and it's an extended wear polish system that offers the benefits of gel polish (super shine, quick dry and long wear) without the hassles (removal GRR), dangers (UV exposure) and cost of the gel systems.  If you're like me, you probably don't use gel polish at all.  In fact, until I was working in a spa I never used gel because I changed my polish so regularly that it wasn't really an issue.  Now, however, I've grown a bit out of polishing everyday and as I'm in the process of relocating to a new area, moving, changing job, and a whole slew of other things it seemed like a good time to NOT have to worry about polishing for a week or two!  It's also about HALF the cost of gel polishes. Please don't mind the kitty hair in the above photo. Aoife loves new polish too! 

So the system is easy: Buy a top coat and a polish color. There are over 62 colors to choose from (not enough for a polish addict like me BUT plenty for now and then!) and they do offer a number of finishes including cremes, shimmers, and duochromes.

 

This is the color I chose. It's called Pretty Poison.  This is an indoor shot.  It's actually a really stunning color. It's going to be perfect for fall!  The application of this is pretty easy too. They recommend no base coat and for extra long wear you can use a nail prep like Scrub Fresh or Bond Aid. I was skeptical of the dark color though so I went ahead with a base coat anyway.  One thing I didn't like was the consistency. Where gel polishes are super thin, this stuff is super thick. Like SUPER thick. You really have to wait about 2 minutes between coats or it's just going to drag away what you've already done. It looked kind of a mess when I had finished two coats but the top coat evened everything out perfectly. THEN you have to wait ten minutes for it to dry. That's the major polish to gel polish difference. BUT when you factor in the extra time it takes to cure gel polish it probably evens out the same. Now about that shine....



Hello! The shine is no joke on these. It really does mimic gel polishes and honestly, the shine is what I love most about gel!  Now I wanted to test the wear on this for you guys but the day after I put this on I was called into work for a special project and...well nothing was gonna make it through that mess. Though surprisingly, while normally these projects would demolish my polish, this time I only had a bit of tip wear. Still, I want to try it with the proper prep and with a more average amount of wear and tear. So very soon you'll see this again! What I can tell you is that removal is a BREEZE and with one coat of base I had no stains. So I feel good about it! :)  

What do you all think of Vinylux Weekly Wear polish? Would you like to see more colors?

Diamond Candles Giveaway!!

diamond candles

Today I have something a little different for you guys! If you've been following along then you know that I've just finished a CRAZY fantastic giveaway with the Digit-al Dozen.  I've passed a few milestones here and I want to give you all a little thank you for following along with me! This giveaway is also open to new followers, of course!  You can follow via Bloglovin' OR GFC, just leave your name in the box. :)

If you haven't heard of Diamond Candles then you're in for a treat. Diamond Candles are all natural soy candles. Each contains a ring valued between $10 and $5,000. Not only are these fun, but they smell AMAZING. I chose the apple scent and it really smells like a crisp, fresh, green apple. Yum.
The candles come in a variety of scents and retail for $24.95 each. It takes roughly 15 hours to burn down to your diamond ring! Here's mine:


Pretty isn't it? I've already ordered the new Pumpkin Chai scent and I can't wait to see what's inside of it!! You can enter the giveaway below! And thank you all again for following along with me! :)

Rockin' Kicks

DDSS

It's the final of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today's challenge was fashion! Last time we did fashion I had TOO many ideas! I actually had another mani planned for today too but then I came across this pic on Olivia Blois Sharpe's instagram:


and I was like, "Oh this HAS to happen on my nails!" So my fashion week mani became my Bling mani and here we are! I LOVE the way these turned out. And they were hella easy to do as well. You can catch a tutorial for them on my tutorial page! I'm sad to see the Digit-al Dozen year anniversary celebration end BUT I'm so excited for you all to see what we have planned for the next year!

Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! THERE'S ONLY ONE DAY LEFT TO ENTER!! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!

Tape Me Now...

DDSS

It's day eleven of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! There's only ONE day left after today! I can't believe it! Today's challenge was a tape mani.  Last time we did tape mani's I had a little trouble with creativity! I'm just not patient enough to do them and I prefer to just make lines myself! That said, I'm always up for a challenge and I decided to go with something I keep seeing and wanted to get around to trying anyway! It's a reverse tape gradient. I used really sparkly colors for this and I think it really helped because glitter and shimmer are much more forgiving!  I hope you love the mani as much as I do!  

Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! THERE'S ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT!! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!
Colors Used:
Zoya Aurora and Orly Luxe

The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-time

books

It's day ten of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today is book themed!  I covered a lot of my favorite books last time we did this challenge so for a change I wanted to do a book I've recently read! These nails are to represent The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time.  I actually found this book at a book store and for whatever reason started flipping through it.  It has all these little charts and pictures inside and a very unique writing style so I decided to purchase it.  Me being a little more frugal when it comes to books (I buy so many it doesn't make sense to buy them at full price), I went to my nearest half priced store and picked it up for right around $7.  It's not my usual style of book but it's very interesting and it was a good read. It was definitely worth the time and money! So the ring finger is obviously meant to represent the cover and the others represent the yard where the incident occurs, the city the main character is trying to get to and a chart of frogs he makes at some point.  I hope you all enjoy the nails!!
 
Please don't forget to enter the September Spectacular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!



Ain't about the ba-bling, ba-bling...

bling

...except today it IS! It's day nine of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today is ALL about the BLING! Last time we did bling week I was so uninspired. Don't get me wrong, I do like sparkly pretty things but I just get so overwhelmed at the amount of bling-y things I have and then I have no idea what to do with them. This time was a bit of a happy accident. I had intended to use this mani during Fashion Week but then put it aside to squeeze in another one and...well...its QUITE bling-y! This is based on a Christian Siriano design which I LOVE but wish were a bit shorter!!

 

Isn't it gorgeous?  I hope you like the design! Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! There is still a few days left to enter and win! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!

Colors Used:
OPI Skull & Glossbones
Milani Gold Gems
Orly Luxe
Zoya Raven

The Majestic Okapi...

animal. china glaze

It's day eight of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today's challenge was animals! I don't know why (although I have some theories!) but it seems that last time animal week came round I was sort of MIA. So this is my first animal design for The Digit-al Dozen!  If you know much about me, you know I am a zoo LOVER. I go to my zoo at least once a week and even in the winter. So I wanted to go a bt outside the box on this one because there are a lot of under appreciated animals with GORGEOUS coats. This is an Okapi!  Here's a picture of an actual Okapi for reference:


Isn't he pretty? Even though he has zebra like stripes he's actually related to the giraffe. Even cooler? No one really knows what his stripes are for although they might be so that their babies can find them more easily in the wild.  He's a mystery but I love him. :)  I hope you love the nails too!!

 Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!


Colors Used:
China Glaze Call of the Wild
Zoya Raven and Purity

Do not mistake coincidence for fate.

DDSS

It's day seven of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Tpday's theme was Geek!! Last time Geek Week came around I covered prettymuch all the geeky things I love! Science, The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, even Star Trek (and Star WARS!!).  I purposely had avoided this particular geeky thing I LOVE because I've already previously done a week of LOST challenges. But let's face it, it's my one true geek love and I wanted to revisit it for this week! So here it is! I based this design on Kate's mechanic jumper from her days as a 70's Dharma worker! I hope you love them as much as I do!

Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!


If love be rough with you, be rough with love...

baz luhrmann



It's day six of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! 
Today's theme is Love and Heartbreak. Last time this theme came round I used it as an opportunity to make warm, fuzzy, red and pink nail combinations and get all the lovey dovey Valentines Day cooties out. :P  THIS time I wanted to avoid all things pink, lovey and resembling anything Valentines Day! I wanted instead to do something more abstract.  So...I've done a Romeo and Juliet theme! To me, their story is sort of the epitome of love AND heartbreak and it's also one of my favorite plays so it's kind of a win/win for me.  Obviously there are MILLIONS of versions of Romeo and Juliet but I've chosen to base my nails on the version I feel is most recognizable today and that is the Baz Luhrmann 1996 film version.  So here we go:

 On my index finger I have some textured "armor" to represent our ostracized hero Romeo. On my middle, the cross which makes up the "AND" in the title and on my ring some sparkly wings to represent Juliet a la the picture you see above. In the picture you can also see that Romeo is turned, to show his arm while Juliet faces forward showing both wings. This is the imagery I was kind of going for! My pinky is almost a throwaway, I didn't want to take too much away from the other two but it's a rocky grey to represent the stone wall where Romeo recites his famous lines to Juliet under her window. I hope you enjoy my out of the box nail art for the day! 

 Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!

Death and Desire...

art

It's day four of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today's challenge was art.  Although I enjoy art as much as the next person, I'm not super artistic so last time we did art it was a bit of a challenge for me.  This time I wanted to stick with something I know I'm pretty good at and also try to recreate something.  I caught this picture of a Cy Twombly painting called "Hero and Leander" and I fell in love with it. This is actually the fourth in a series of paintings done by him. All of his work is sort of defined as calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors.


Hero and Leander were lovers in ancient Greek mythology who both drowned. The painting is an evocation of death at sea, as well as their desire for one another. I love the colors and the emotion that this particular painting evokes and it was easy for me to decide to reinvent it on my nails!

I hope you love these as much as I do!!
Please don't forget to enter the September Spectacular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!


Festival of Colors...

DDSS






It's day four of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today's theme was festive! In keeping with my orginal festive designs, I went with an Hindu holiday known as Festival Holi. Festival Holi is based off of a story in Hindu religion which I won't go into detail about but Hindus believe it is a time of enjoying spring's abundant colours and saying farewell to winter. Here is a picture of some Indian people throwing colors into the air to celebrate:


Gorgeous isn't it? It's hard not to be inspired by that! I didn't use powder for my colors because I wanted it to have a really 3D effect so I put various colors of flocking powder onto a sparkly sandy base. I hoped to imitate the bright colors on the sparkling sands of the desert. I hope you all enjoy them!

Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!


 
 This is a Replay mani! Click the icon above to see the original art!

Do You Hear the People Sing?

DDSS


It's day three of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again! Today's theme is music! Last time this theme came around I did tapes and records and other musical things but this time I wanted to do something a little different! So I did art based on one of my favorite musicals, Les Misérables!  I used my index finger to sort of represent the little pins the revolutionaries wore and then did the iconic cover art work on the other nails. I hope you enjoy these!
 
Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card!  And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!


Sugar Skulls

digit-al dozen

It's day two of the Digit-al Dozen's celebration series, The Digit-al Dozen, Does it All Again!  Today's design theme is Halloween.  Halloween is one of my most favorite times of year! I love dressing up and going to the parties and the fall weather! I can't wait for it to come around again! Today I decided to do a design based on sugar skulls.  I've seen a lot of people doing them and I haven't tried them yet so I thought now was as good a time as any! I found these super easy to do with just a simple dotting tool. I added a bit of glitter to make them more fun and sparkly but the great thing about them is that you can fancy them up any way you like!  Please don't forget to enter the September Specatcular for your chance to win a $200 gift card! And check out what my fellow Digit-al Dozener's came up with by clicking the link below!!




Colors Used: 
Zoya Purity and Raven
LA Nail Art in Gold Glitter 
Holographic Glitter Pen
Lime Crime Lavendairy and Parfait Day and Pastelchio

Blue Waterfall

butter london


It's the first day in the Digit-al Dozen's year anniversary series, The Digit-al Dozen does it all...AGAIN!  I'm really excited to relive the themes from the last year with you.  Last September we did blue as a theme and if you remember, I chose to use the Deborah Lippmann shade, Let's Hear it for the Boy as a base color and to build on it all week long. In a nod to that design I have chosen to use the same base color and to use some varying shades of blue to make a waterfall manicure! I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to check out the September Spectacular we're running right now!  You can win a $200 prize!! Check out all of the fellow Dozener's art below or check out my original blue designs by clicking here! :)



Colors used: 
Deborah Lippmann Let's Hear it for the Boy
butter LONDON Scouse, Henley Regatta, Victoriana and Blagger

The Digital Dozen does it all AGAIN!

Blog giveaway


I have something REALLY exciting to share with you guys today! As you know if you follow me on Instagram (@bee_polished), September is the month of giveaway's for Bee Polished! You'll definitely want to be following along this month because you'll have a few chances to win some super awesome stuff.  This is the first of the giveaways this month and ladies and gents, it's a doozy. :) 

I'm sure you've all been following along with my Digital Dozen monthly challenges.  Myself and 21 other gorgeous ladies, bring you one week of art based on a different theme every month.  It's our one year anniversary and to celebrate, we're bringing you a CRAZY amazing giveaway AND twelve days of art based on all the themes we've done over the past year.  This giveaway is open internationally and will end on the 15th of September. The winner will recieve a $200 gift certificate to their choice of nail polish stores!! Just think of all the nail polish that will buy you! You can enter the giveaway below, and don't forget to stay tuned over the next two weeks to see us do all the themes again!! :)
Also be sure to stick around for Octobers upcoming series on small nails BIG art.  I'm trying out a new nail growth product and want to use my nubbin time to celebrate shorter nails!

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