You're Full of Hot Air

Quite a while back, reader Ada C. sent a nail art request of a Hot Air Balloon flying in a blue sky... and I found the perfect sky blue in OPI's What's With the Cattitude?, so I had to do it!!! :) I swatched it over on the review site 'The Daily Nail Reviews, check it out!



I used OPI What's With the Cattitude? as a base with Sally Hansen All the White Stuff sponged lightly to make fluffy clouds, as well as the base for the balloon. For the balloon colors, I used American Apparel Malibu Green for the top, the red and yellow are from a set of 6 scented polishes with the 'Nerds' logo on them (which smell yum), and the blue is Pure Ice French Kiss. For the basket, I used Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme, and to outline everything, I used American Apparel Hassid. Topped everything off with 2 coats of Seche Vite top coat.

I wonder if the Wizard of Oz is in it?

The Battle of the Balms

You probably all know by now that I love Lush's Lemony Flutter and just don't know when to stop, when it comes to my constant raving about it. It isn't the only good product for cuticles out there though, so I thought I'd share my opinions about some other Cuticle balms I've tried so far. I've used cremes and oils as well, but for today the focus is on balms.

	Sally Hansen - Cuticle Massage Cream The jar says this is a cream, but I'd like to disagree. From all four this one has the sturdiest substance, it's not soft at all. Also, it doesn't really melt when you apply this on your cuticles, so absorption isn't good at all with this one. If you put this on at night, it's definitely still there in the morning. The smell isn't that strong, it smells like Apricots, which is really nice. There's also a chance Sally Hansen tests on animals, since they never bothered to reply to my email where I expressed this concern. I give this product a 4 out of 10.
	Essence - SOS Nail & Cuticle Balm Now this is such a cute jar! When you first get this, the balm looks like a swirled candy cane, a sweet mix of pink and white. Essence SOS Nail & Cuticle balm contains shea butter and almond oil. This balm applies pretty smooth, and it does melt, absorption isn't perfect but it's not as bad as with the Sally Hansen balm. The smell of this one is strong! It smells like sweet almonds, I love it. I give this product a 7 out of 10.
	Lush - Lemony Flutter Ok, my beloved Lemony Flutter. Lemony Flutter contains lots of good stuff! Among the ingredients are many different oils like soya, flaxseed, avocado, castor and many more oils. The base of this balm is shea butter with fresh lemon infusion. This one goes on the smoothest of the bunch. It also leaves my cuticles the softest. Lemony Flutter is a bit greasy though, that's why I like to apply this product at night. The smell is very strong, I've heard some people can't stand it, but I love it. It smell like fresh lemons. I give this product a 9 out of 10.
	Burt's Bees - Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream I know the opinions differentiate on this, but I think this is the next best thing to Lemony Flutter. It contains beeswax and different oils like citrus and almond oil. The substance isn't as soft as LF, but I love that it goes on quite transparent, so it isn't that noticeable. Unlike all previously mentioned balms. The smell is lovely too, it's best described as the smell of Napoleon candy! I didn't find it to be as hydrating as Lemony Flutter and that's the only reason why it isn't my favorite. It was a neck to neck race though, so: I give this product a 8 out of 10.

So these were all my opinions, please share your favorites?

ManGlaze Giveaway: The Winner!

Hi guys! My giveaway ended last night, so the last few hours were spent going through entries, sorting them out in a spreadsheet. There were so many, I was so overwhelmed, thank you ALL so much for entering and the neverending support!
I used www.random.org to determine the winner and I'm pretty sure you're very curious to see who the winner is...

... I can tell you one thing, the winner won 2 awesome nail polishes by ManGlaze: Matte is Murder and Fuggen Fugly. Second, the winner is a she, and she lives in a country where a lot of my readers come from...

...Brazil! So who is it then?! With no further ado, I present to you the lucky winner:

Congratulations Karla Scoparo! I will be e-mailing you for your address shortly :-)