Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade

Hi lovelies!

I went to Sephora a couple weeks ago to pick up the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade because I had been seeing all the big “beauty gurus” on YouTube basically sucking this product’s dick so I thought I’d try it out myself and see if it was worth all the hype it’s been getting. Now, I’m not going to lie, those biggies on YouTube have fucking fuh-lawless eyebrows when they use this product, but I have discovered that I am a powder girl at heart when it comes to my brows. I think it’s partly because I have light blonde hair and my eyebrows are really “barely there” and I’m not a goddamn magician so those “Instagram eyebrows” are not something I can easily achieve.

I decided to pick up the Blonde shade and unfortunately it’s too warm for my hair color so I looked at the next darker shade which is Taupe and I felt that shade was darker than I was wanting. It’s not that I don’t like the product, I think the formula is amazing; incredibly pigmented, super long lasting, and you get a crazy generous amount of product (seriously, I’m willing to bet if you keep the lid on tight it’ll last  wayyy over a year). I just like my brows to look a pretty natural and I’m not ready for the fully sculpted brow since I get the results I like with powder. I may use it to really define the tail of my brow/underbrow and use powder for the rest because I know I like how the tails turn out when I use this.

*UPDATE* After I had written this post I returned the brow pomade to Sephora because I was sure I just wanted to be a brow powder girl and then I had a conversation with a girl on Instagram and she gave me a few tips and really inspired me to give it another try. I re-ordered the pomade in the damn Blonde shade that day and started playing around with it. I took my own advice to define the tails and bottoms of my brows with the pomade and filling the rest of my brow in with powder and I think that’s the combination that works for me. Yaaaay.

Overall, this is a great product and if you like a strong, well defined brow then this is the product for you! And I think it is in part the product for me. My brows have never been so happy.

xoxo Heather

Review: Jamberry Nail Wraps

Hello lovelies!

Today I have a review of Jamberry nail wraps and I’m super excited to let you guys know what I thought. I was cruising the Instagram explore page last month, when a picture of a super cute manicure caught my eye and I saw it was a Jamberry representative that posted the photo so I got in contact with her and she offered to send me a couple sample designs for reviewing purposes. If you want to see what I thought, keep reading! (Obviously.)

First of all, the representative I was in working with (@jamminwithxoch on Instagram) was a total babe; super nice and accommodating. She answered all the questions I had and sent me the link to a video detailing the application process of the nail wraps. She was a gem, for real. Speaking of the application process, honestly I found it to be a bit tedious, but I'm not the most patient person and the size selection for the wraps was a bit lacking for my tiny baby nails (I ended up having weirdly large sections of bare nail on either side of the nail wrap on almost every nail).

One of the half sheets I was sent for review.

Here’s what you do: before beginning the application; you shape your nails, push back your cuticles, and remove any traces of polish or oils from the nail. You then select a a wrap that fits your nail (leaning towards one that is a little too small rather than too large) and you cut the wrap in half and then heat it until the glue warms and becomes pliable. This helps get the best adhesion to the nail and equates to longer wear time. Now in the application video, they use a Jamberry portable heater, but I don’t have that so I used a hair straightener (very MacGuyver of me, I know). Maybe this fact added to the tediousness of the whole operation, but I wasn't about to purchase something that is pretty purpose specific on a product I wasn't sure I was going to love. After the glue has been thoroughly warmed, you apply the wrap to your nail starting at the base and smoothing towards the tip with a good amount of pressure with either an orange wood stick or your opposing thumb. Once you're sure there are no air bubbles between the wrap and your natural nail, apply heat again to really cure the wrap to your nails, then gently file the edges of your nail in a straight up and down motion to remove extra nail wrap. Repeat the whole process on the other 9 fingernails and you’re done. All-in-all, it took me probably 15-20 minute to complete the whole shebang, but as you get more experience,the application will take less and less time..

I got about week and a half of wear before my nails started to look super grown out and weird. I’m betting that’s because I prefer to have my nails on the shorter side and I don’t do anything that requires having my hands in hot water for long periods of time.

Now let’s talk price; they are $15.00 per sheet and there are 18 wraps on a sheet. The information provided stated that there are 2-3 applications per sheet and I have seen people that use the largest sized wraps to do a pedicure so if you think of it that way, $15.00 for two manicures and a pedicure that lasts up to two weeks on the nails and up to 4 weeks on the toenails isn't bad.

Overall, I think Jamberry seems to be a great company with a good product that just happens to not be right for me. While the amount of wear time is amazing, I just don’t like having to commit to a nail design or color for that long. I really like to switch my nails up every 4-5 days and maybe that’s because I've been wearing nail polish for so many years and I’m just used to having to do that.This whole experience has really showed me that I’m more of a nail polish person, which I already knew, but it’s totally been solidified in my mind.

I’d say, if you’re interested, you should contact the rep I worked with (I'll put her info at the end) and ask any questions you have and give them a shot, they usually have some type of sale or deal going on that really makes it worth the money.

Til next time, lovelies.

xoxo


Jamberry contact info:
www.xochitl.jamberry.net
Instagram: jamminwithxoch
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jamberrynailsxochitl