I Love My Red Carpet Manicure

MAY 2014

Is it already May??!!!  where did the time go?  holy crap.  I am excited .....  Scentsy just launched the Summer Trip Incentive and it looks like we are right on track to earn this trip.  They have made the qualification so much easier to achieve.

It's a FREE trip.  And when they say FREE they mean FREE.  Everything is .....yup you guessed it FREE!!!  lol :)  So what's the catch?  Anyone can earn this trip.  If your a Scentsy Consultant it will be fairly easy to achieve.  Contact me for more information on how you can also earn this trip.

I am also excited about this because I am hoping that my team will also earn this trip and I will be sharing Margarita's with my team on the beach!!!  Come on group!  you can do it!!!  Let's do it together!

May's Scent of the Month is "Mystery Man".  Check out the video here





The Warmer of the Month is the cute and whimsical warmer just in time for "Father's Day".
 How adorable is this???

I am booking parties for May.  So if you are thinking of having a Spring party now is the time.  You know that I always take care of my hostesses.  And I work hard to make sure you are the hostess with the mostess....rewards and free product that is!!!!  

BOOK YOUR SCENTSY PARTY NOW

BOOK YOUR GRACE ADELE PARTY NOW

Check out our Recipe of the Month! We use our fabulous fondue and delicious ingredients to make one-of-kind creations. Velata's as versatile as it is delectable! Recipe below: 

Servings: 10

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Velata Coriander Herb Artisan Rub

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 chicken breasts, boneless and sliced into 1-inch strips

1 pound fresh asparagus (ends trimmed)

2 zucchini, sliced into medallions

2 yellow squash, sliced into medallions

1 large onion (red or yellow), sliced into 1/2-inch slices

3 bell peppers (green, red, and yellow), seeded and sliced lengthwise

12 fresh button mushrooms, sliced in half

4 Roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat Velata Raclette Tabletop Grill on medium-high.

In a mixing bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, vinegar, Coriander Herb Artisan Rub, salt, and pepper and whisk until well blended.

In a separate bowl with an air-tight lid, combine chicken and 1/3 cup of marinade mixture. Cover with lid and shake to coat evenly. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl with an air-tight lid, combine sliced vegetables and remaining marinade mixture. Cover with lid and shake to coat evenly. Place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Place prepared vegetables on Racelette and cook until tender and slightly charred (approximately 10-15 minutes). Reserve leftover vegetable marinade.

Place chicken on grill and cook until golden brown and juices run clear with no pink (approximately 5-7 minutes on each side). Discard leftover chicken marinade.

In a separate large bowl, combine grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, and reserved vegetable marinade. Toss until well mixed.

Serve warm or cold.

So May also means that Scentsy Convention is just around the corner.....  I'm so excited I cannot wait to see my Scentsy family again!!  ST. LOUIS!!! here we come!!!

Happy Spring everyone!!!

Jamberry Take Two

Recently I decided to try my hand with the Jamberry Nails.  For those of you who don't know what it is, Jamberry is a Direct Selling company that makes nail wraps.  They come in fun awesome colors and designs.  Nail wraps are basically stickers that you put on top of your nails.

Visit the Jamberry site here for more info.

Jamberry however uses heat to apply the product.  You can get a Jamberry heater direct from the company or use your own.  I used both.  We have a portable heater (not Jamberry) that I used.  I do find that the blow dryer works better because you can easily direct the heat and focus on where you need it to be.

Now yes I've done this twice now.  This is my second try at Jamberry because my friend Heather and other ladies I know really love Jamberry and swear by it.

Instructions seem fairly straightforward and are pretty easy.

The first time I tried Jamberry it didn't go very well.  They didn't stick and some slid right off the day after.
There was lines and lumps everywhere and the most annoying thing was that my hair would get pulled out by it if I brushed my hair back with my hand.

The first time I used vinegar to clean my nails (like the package suggested).  This time I used just plain rubbing alcohol and it seemed to stick better.

So Heather suggested to try it again.  So back to the drawing board with a different set of nails.

I researched the best method.  I was told that using a plastic sandwich bag under the heater seals it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdAPUuyEF6s

That was the first method I tried and it left a ton of lines. Not sure if it was the method or if it was just me??   So now we're going to try to the wet face cloth method.  This seemed to work better.

I put a wet face cloth in the microwave for 2 minutes and then put it in a clear sandwich bag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1unBxZzNsw

This seemed to work really well but by the time I got to the 2nd hand the wash cloth seemed to be cold and didn't work as well.  So I might need to reheat it to get it hot again before proceeding next time.

Another thing that Heather suggested was to use a really coarse nail file.  I went out and got a new file specifically for this experiment.  Make sure when you file the nail you file it at the proper angle to just get the nail tip not the top of the nail.  I think this may be where I went wrong.

I really love the colors and designs of the Jamberry nails.  And I have to admit that this time it went a lot better.  Four out of 10 of my nails seem almost perfect.  There are no lines or bumps in them.  

However the 6 are driving me a bit crazy.  

You can see the lines at the tips here.  I think that you have to be very conscious to make sure that you stretch the wrap tight while it is warm and you have to be very diligent in pushing and smoothing down.   You need to make sure that you don't touch the adhesive a lot with your finger tips as the oil from your fingers can cause it to not stick.

In the end.  I will probably do these again.  I am obsessed with getting this down and perfected. I know it can be done as I do have 4 smooth nails!   I love all the colors and the designs and I think for a novice it doesn't look totally horrible.  I just have to figure it out!! 

If you want some fun with your nails these are definitely it.  It is time consuming but the end result can be so cool.  They say it lasts 10 days or 2 weeks, depending upon how fast your nails grow.  Let's see how long I can handle this for. 

TO ORDER JAMBERRY CLICK HERE

For your free Jamberry samples click here

I got so many compliments on my manicure yesterday.  Everyone thought it looked great and it was a lot of fun.  I even got a ring to match!!!  (ring from Grace Adele collection www.ilovehandbags.ca)

*if you have any products or ideas that you would like me to review, feel free to pop me a line*

Red Carpet Manicure - Removal

Ok after about 10 days this manicure starting to bother me.  But that's typical for me even with the professional salon Gel, or Shellac manicures.  My nails grow fast.  I can't believe how fast they grow sometimes.  And once they grow, the polish starts to peel away from the cuticle bed and drives me nuts!!

I also find that if my nail is a slight bit cracked anywhere once the polish hits the 10 day mark it seems to make the crack/chip even worst.

And the Red Carpet UV manicure was no different!  I am very impressed with how well the manicure held up.  I don't think there was a huge difference in this kit compared to that of a professional salon manicure.  I know that if I had done a better job in the first place that it would have probably looked better and maybe even lasted longer.  That is just a learning curve :)

So let's talk about the removal process................

I have no pics of that!! LOL

I bought the foil strips because I thought it would be easier and they are still on sale at London Drugs.

First I filed down the top of the nail color slightly to help loosen the polish.  Then I soaked the cotton pad part with the "Erase" removal provided in the kit.

and then I wrapped the foil around my fingers (this is why there is no pics!) LOL.  But you get the picture.  A lot like what they do at the salon.  Leave it on for 10 mins.   And then scrape with an Orange stick.  A lot of it was already off.  And didn't take a huge effort to remove.  Some of it was harder to get off and I found it easier to use my thumb to scrape it off.  All in all it was fair process to remove.

I highly recommend this product and in fact I even went back to the store and purchased some more colors!!!


*if you have any products or ideas that you would like me to review, feel free to pop me a line*

Red Carpet Manicure - UPDATE week 1

Well it will officially be one week tomorrow since I did my manicure with the Red Carpet LED kit.  I am pleasantly surprised at how well it held up.

My hands are always in water.  I count mounds of cash all day at work so I'm always washing my hands.  I have dogs in my life and I am obsessed with always having clean hands!  I type a lot and I am generally pretty hard on my nails every day.

You can see more of my nails at the cuticle beds but a lot of that is because my nails grow very fast.  A lot of this is due to growth.

From this picture on the left you can see that the polish is starting to peel away.  But truth be told I didn't do a fantastic job on this nail.  It seemed a lot thicker than the other nails.  I didn't control the amount of polish properly when I first applied the color.  The instructions state that you have to apply a thin layer.  I might have been a bit heavy handed on this one.

Another tip too is that you have to get the complete nail.  When I originally painted this I didn't apply the color nor the top coat all the way down both sides and the front/tip of the nail.

You can see from the picture (left) that it is chipping off at the tip.

The other nails where I made sure to paint the color and top quote all the way down the nail and both sides, seem to be holding up way better.

Overall I am very happy with this manicure.  It is no means done professionally and you can only tell that by the spots that I messed up on!  And the parts where the cotton remnants were stuck too!  My friend was shocked when I told her that I did it myself using a kit from the drugstore!

Let's see what happens next week!  Stay tuned!!

*if you have any products or ideas that you would like me to review, feel free to pop me a line*

Red Carpet Manicure - Gel Polish Starter Kit Review

I've been wanting to try one of these kits now for quite some time.  And now that they are on sale at London Drugs I figured now is as good of a time as any.  I got the Portable kit with the smaller LED light.  All the Red Carpet products are 20% off at London Drugs now.  The kit was regularly $80 but I got it for $64.

The cool thing about this kit is that it comes with everything that you need to do your manicure.  And the light comes with a USB plug so that if you are travelling you can plug it into your laptop and use it from there!

There are tons of good reviews online about the Red Carpet Manicure LED nail kits.  And I'm thinking this one will be no different.

So inside the kit came a nice classic red color.  Everyone that knows me knows that I love black, so yes I did purchase an extra color but I didn't have the guts to use it.  Doing dark colors on nails takes a bit of practice and I didn't quite want to take that plunge yet!!  LOL ;) so another reason I chose this brand is because there seemed to be a lot of different colors to chose from.

The first thing that you do is prepare the nails.  Push back your cuticles and trim them back.  You need to file and shape the nail as well.  I buffed the top of my nails to try to make them smoother as I have a lot of fine lines on my nails.  I wash my hands thoroughly after this to remove dust.

Step 1.  Use the  Purify Pre & Post Application Cleanser.  Soak it on a cotton pad and wipe to clean your nails.  This removes excess oil and dust.  Wait for it to dry.

Step 2.  Apply the Structure Base Coat Gel to one hand (4 fingers only) Apply a thin coat from the cuticles to the free edge and seal the front edge on the nails.  So make sure you paint the nail tip downward.  If you apply any to the skin wipe off immediately with Purify.

Now you want to "cure" the 4 nails.  Cure is what is described as putting the nails under the LED light.
Cure the nails for 1 minute.  You will need to set a timer.  The nails will be slightly sticky after curing.

Repeat this process on the other hand and cure in the LED light for 1 minute.

Next apply a thin coat to both thumbs and cure together in the light.

Step 3.  Apply the LED Nail Gel Polish.  Apply a thin coat.  Before curing use an orange stick to remove any excess color.  Cure the 4 nails under the LED light for 2 minutes.  Repeat the process on the other hand.

Don't forget to do both your thumbs.  And cure for 2 minutes.  

If you want to have the color darker or you feel its too translucent, you can do another coat of color.  Just repeat the steps above with the color.

Step 4.  Now you want to apply the Brilliance Seal and Shine Top Coat.  Again apply a thin coat.  Doing the first hand (4 fingers only) and then curing for 2 minutes.  Repeat the process on the other hand and then do both thumbs.  

We thought this process was cool as under the LED light the Brilliance turns blue!  Matt said I had zombie nails!  LOL  But you can sure tell how bad I painted outside of the lines!  And the edges that I missed!  :)

Step 5. - The Finish!  Now take a cotton pad and saturate with Purify Cleanser and wipe each nail to remove the sticky finish.  Don't worry the color won't come off!  

Then you can finish it off with the Revitalize Cuticle Oil.  This will moisturize the cuticles and the skin surrounding the nails.  

Now for my review!!!

I love the idea of doing this at home.  Sometimes I just can't find the time to visit the salon.  I love my nail girl and she only charges me $30 per manicure.  But it takes a few hours out of my day.  This kit however took me about an hour to a 1.5 hour to do.  This was the first go round so I'm sure that with time and practice it will get easier.  But I was able to hang out with my fur kids while  I did this at home in front of the tv.  The cost of the kit works out to be 2 trips to the salon. 

You need to set aside the time to do this  

And find a time where you will not be interupted.

You really have to have a steady hand and I definitely need practice at that.  Matt had to help me clean some messes that I made.  At first I thought I could use the remover (Erase) but when I grabbed the cotton pads with my tacky sticky nails I ended up getting a ton of hairs all over the top of my nails!  UGH.  Silly me!!  Now I know!!  I recommend you use Lint Free nail wipes instead! 

There was a lot of steps.  And I think I will keep my instruction manual for a while!  At least till I remember all the steps!  Make sure that you have that handy when you start.  

Huge tip.  Make sure that you don't under cure or over cure your nails.  So you will need to set a timer to get the timing perfect.  

They say that it is easy to remove and that it should last 2 weeks.  Only because your nails will start to grow and you will see more white.  They say it should not chip or peel.  

Matt's input was that the polish doesn't smell!!  He hates the smell of regular nail polish! 

I'm really liking my nails so far.  They aren't bad looking for a first go! But I do need to work on my paint job! 

I will keep you updated throughout the week and we'll see how long it really lasts. Stay tuned!!!

*if you have any products or ideas that you would like me to review, feel free to pop me a line*

April brings new blooms and new beginnings

Easy, Cheesy Potatoes

Servings: 12 servings

12 red potatoes, washed and cut in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons Velata Lemon Garlic Artisan Rub
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 container Velata Bacon Cheddar Cheese Dip
1/2 cup cooked bacon, crumbled
6 chives, sliced lengthwise and cut in half

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Slice off a little of the skin ends of the potato halves to make a flat surface.

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, olive oil, garlic, Lemon Garlic Artisan Rub, salt, and pepper. Toss until well mixed.

Place potatoes in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (flat surface down) and bake for 1 hour or until tender.

Let potatoes cool until you can safely handle them.

Heat Bacon Cheddar Cheese Dip (follow tub instructions) and place in Velata Fondue Warmer to keep warm.

Using a melon baller or small spoon, scoop out center of potato halves, making sure to leave a thick enough edge to keep potato from crumbling.

Place potato centers in a mixing bowl. Add 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of warm Bacon Cheddar Cheese Dip. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Mix until cheese is just incorporated into potatoes.

Using a teaspoon, tightly refill the hollowed potato halves with the cheese mixture.

Dip the top half of the filled potato halves in warm Bacon Cheddar Cheese Dip and place back into baking dish.

Sprinkle potatoes with crumbled bacon and broil for 3-5 minutes to reheat.

Transfer potatoes to a serving dish.

Serve warm.

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April's Scent of the Month

Scentsy introduces Sugared Blooms as the 2014 April Scent of the Month. Soft petals fresh with morning dew, sweet berries touched with a kiss of sugar evoke springtime to brighten your day.

 What is "Scent of the Month" and "warmer of the Month"? Scentsy introduces a new Scentsy fragrance and decorative Scentsy flameless candle warmer every month. All Scentsy products are available through Scentsy's network of independent consultants. Visit my site www.ilovescents.ca







About Scentsy Scentsy Fragrance is a rapidly-growing, international party-plan company, offering a variety of home and personal fragrance products. The simplicity and value of its flagship product, scented, wickless candles heated in decorative ceramic warmers, provides a better alternative to burning wicked candles. Scentsy Fragrance also offers the Scentsy Buddy, plush animals with a fragrant Scent Pak™ inside and Layers by Scentsy, a personalized fragrance experience comprised of 14 body and laundry care products. Scentsy Fragrance products are sold through a network of more than 200,000 Independent Consultants running home-based businesses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Mexico, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Poland. Visit my site www.ilovescents.ca