Nails Inc Magnetic Polish Tutorial

I have to say I was more intrigued than anything else when Nails Inc launched their Magnetic Polish. I was a little fearful that I would feel like Ke$ha sporting the manicure- she's a look that I don't strive for. However it got glowing reviews in a magazine recently, so I gave it a try!
There's nothing like feeling old when the instructions on how to use the polish are the size of a postage stamp that you can barely see! I actually watched a Youtube video, that's how small it was. You apply your normal base coat, then apply one coat of the polish. I selected the Trafalgar Square shade, it also comes in teal(Whitehall Teal) & purple(Houses of Parliament) shades .

The cap of the polish which houses the magnet {that creates all of these nifty effects} pops off. As you can see, there's a little rounded edge at the top of it. You apply a generous second coat of polish, then place the little lip of the cap at the top of the cuticle, facing the nail for the magnet to work its magic.

You do one nail at a time for this, since the polish needs to be wet for the particles in it to be able to move from the magnet. It's pretty easy, the trickiest part is not hitting the lid into your polish- which I ended up doing on both ring fingers. Luckily, the pattern deflects the mistake- which you can't really touch up anyway. This shot is before I removed excess polish from my cuticles, too. I must say, I like it a lot more than I expected! It's definitely a conversation starter - people can't wrap their head around the concept. Even the cashier at Target commented & said she had to go get it. What do you Beauties think?

Peace. Love. Polish. M

Bubbles and Baubles

It's time for our second annual Bubbles & Baubles Jewelry Trunk Show tonight! Shipments have been arriving all week. We have been like kids in a candy store discovering all the baubles that will be on display this evening!

I was captivated by these druzy & quartz bracelets! I'm on a druzy kick as of late & at least one of these from Mikala's Designs will be mine!

One can never have enough chandelier earrings & these from Calico Juno Designs will go with just about anything!

These initial necklaces from local jewelry designer Lotus Jewelry Studio are such classics! I have one. I gave one to my sister when she had her first baby with her & her hubby's initials + their little one's. They make the perfect bridesmaids gifts, too! Of course Medusa's Heirlooms hair baubles will making an appearance, as well as Tres Bon Bons to nosh on while sipping champagne. So if you're a Baltimore reader, we'd love to have you pop by La Papillon Spa from 5-8pm tonight! We'll see you there!

Peace. Love. Baubles. M

Philosophy Oxygen Peel

Ever have a month that makes you feel like you've aged 10 years? That's how October was for me. When I saw Philosophy's Oxygen Peel kit offered as a today's special value, I literally thought my skin could use a breath of fresh air! The kit also comes with Philosophy's best selling cleanser, Purity & a new antioxidant lotion called Oxygen Boost.

For step one of the peel, you break apart a capsule & mix with warm water in the enclosed container.

The resulting gel is like unflavored gelatin if you've ever made homemade jam!

After applying the gel, this potion is next. While the second step already feels whipped in consistency, after you layer it onto the gel it becomes a shaving cream like frothy texture.

Gorgeous shot- I know! After the peel, I noticed my skin looked lighter & a little brighter- though no real smoothing in terms of skin texture. This peel also helps with clarifying congested skin. While I think it was fun to play mad scientist in initially mixing the peel, I think the novelty might wear off & lead to inconsistency in my using it. No matter how great a product is, if you don't use it regularly- the results won't happen. This is why I rarely recommend masks to clients- unless I know they're extremely dedicated to their skincare regimens.

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Files From the Brow Whisperer

I loooovvveee first time waxing clients! As soon as they step into my treatment room, I get to work on a blank canvas & create their shape. This young teen already had strikingly fabulous brows. It was just up to me to enhance them. For me it's like unearthing buried treasure.
She & I were doing a happy dance with this 'after' shot. We left her brows strong & clean. With a stunning head of long, curly dark hair her new brows were the perfect compliment to her features! Have a great weekend girleens!

Peace. Love. Brow Whisperer M

Zoom Teeth Whitening

I guess people are trying to tell you you have a problem when two of the La Papillon Beauty Team come in one morning saying they saw a segment on the Today Show coining the term 'Bleacharexic.' So I like white teeth. So my teeth are never white enough- is it a bad thing to want pretty pearly whites? In my defense, it's not like I 'whiten' every day. In fact, I hadn't for a while. So when I saw a groupon on Zoom teeth whitening, well I jumped on it!

The Zoom whitening machine.

Here I am being prepped, wearing my awesome orange protection goggles. It's kind of hard to see, but the technician (who was super sweet) had pretty much taken the SPF 30 lipgloss & smeared it all over the lower portion of my face. Well it felt like all over my face & my neurotic esthetician self kept thinking,"That is so going to break me out."

Here I am starting to feel like Hannable Lechter with my mouth propped open. They do this for even distribution of the light.

Since it's a UV light that activates the gel, another precaution to protect the gums is taken by the technician painting a setting product that hardens over my gums. Sexy, I know- this is why I took my face out of these pictures, so no one could blackmail me at a later date!

Side shot taken by yours truly- the technician found me quite entertaining.

Speaking of entertaining, they had a tv mounted on the ceiling- so I was able to watch the Ellen show! The entire process ranges from an hour to an hour & fifteen minutes.

I have to say I was somewhat nervous about tooth sensitivity {especially since seeing an episode of Party Down- hysterical series BTW} & having had some brides say they experienced 24 hours of discomfort. But I was good to go. My bottom teeth were a little bit sensitive- totally bearable though! I didn't see a drastic amount of whitening, but the girls said I didn't need in the first place... I say one's teeth can never be too white!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

John Frieda 3 Day Straight

The quest for good hair days continues... I saw that 3 Day Straight got raves reviews in Lucky Magazine, so of course I had to try it! To most my hair appears already pretty straight, but there are certain sections that have some serious wave. I knew I had to be up at the crack of dawn for a tv segment when I first used this product the night before. Brave, you say? I just wanted to have good hair & have part of it already done since I am sooo not a morning person!

I sprayed the product generously through my hair (they suggest 15 or more sprays depending on length) the night before & blew dry my hair pretty much with my fingers. I was headed to bed so I wasn't doing a 'blow dry style.' It was straight, but not ridiculously sleek- but again I didn't use my paddle brush.

The next morning I ran my straight iron through it, with very straight & shiny results!

This is technically the third day in the morning -my hair really held it's shape even after sleeping on it, which it often doesn't. Usually part of my natural wave will pop up somewhere! I don't know how this product would perform on super curly hair. However, I think for people who don't wash their hair every day or those who aren't ready to experience a keratin treatment at a salon- this might be a no brainer to add to your regimen.

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M

Kerastase

My hair & I have a contentious relationship. Don't get me wrong- I actually love my natural hair color & it's healthy. But we both kind of do our own things. Often I swipe my glorious GHD straight iron through it to make it succumb to my will & look a little bit more polished. While skin & make-up are my area of expertise, hair is not. Enter Erin Vajda, owner of Fraiche Studio. Erin is one of those super cute {read annoyingly so} always perfectly coiffed girls. Even on her days off, her hair looks perfectly tousled, in the 'I'm not even trying to do this with my hair' way. Yup, I would want to beat her- if she wasn't so awesome.

So Erin put the fear of God in me recently. Not so much with guilt, but more of a "That's fine. I don't care if you strip the cuticles of your hair & have a frizzy mess- it's not my hair" sort of nonchalant comment. Turns out when I don't put a protective coating on my hair before passing the 400 degree iron over it, I'm roughing up my hair strands & creating a never ending cycle since I'll then always need the straight iron to smooth back down the damage. She introduced me to Kerastase's new Fibre Architecte Serum. Though the line is well known, I've often found it confusing & never knew what was right for me.

The serum was the perfect texture, not overly greasy for my somewhat oily hair. You apply it on dry hair. It smells like Heaven. Or a vacation. Or a heavenly vacation. It's a very clean scent, with some exotic citrus. The product made my hair super cooperative & sleek. It also was free from pony tails 'kinks' the next day- which it never is! It's an investment at $42, but in my cabinet full of hair potions that never deliver- I will reach for this one again & again!

Peace. Love. Lipgloss. M