2017 Beauty Product Collections: Nail Polish

Hey everyone!

Today I'm sharing another part of beauty collection and showing you all of my nail polishes. I used to paint my nails a ton but now I usually only pain my toenails unless I'm feeling really fancy and ambitious. I don't have a ton of polish but it's certainly more then enough for me! So here we go!

I absolutely love Essie polish- the formula is great and I love the colors they have. I currently have seven in my collection.

• In The Cabana
• First Timer
• Lapiz of Luxury
• Garden Variety
• Sew Psyched
• Cocktail Bling
• Sunday Funday

My favorite for awhile has been In The Cabana because it's just a gorgeous blue!

Covergirl nail polishes are okay, they do the job but I find they don't last as long as other formulas. I have quite a few of them though.

• Skylight
• Constant Caribbean
• Bon Bon
• Electogrow

Right now my favorite is Constant Caribbean! I love this teal color it's so tropical and beautiful!

I have gotten quite a few polishes free through PinchMe Boxes and they are always from Sinful Colors. This brand is a cheaper one but I love some of the colors and find the formula works pretty well.

• Cheshire China
• Thimbleberry
• Anemone
• Eva So Bright
• Open Seas
• Go Go Girl
• Ablaze

I currently own one OPI nail polish which I like but I don't find for the money this polish is worth it!

• I Sea You And Raise You

I also own one solo Sally Hansen Polish which I like a lot.

• Instadry Rapid Red

Avon makes a great nail polish which I am enjoying using.

• Mega Watt

I have received a few Color Club polishes in Birchboxes but I don't really care for them

• That's My Jam
• I also own a gray but the label has fallen off so I don't know what it's called!

Rimmel is super cheap and with coupons you can pick it up for just 50 cents but I wouldn't really recommend it since it chips very easily.

• Blue Eyed Girl

Another cheap brand is Wet and Wild and while I don't know the names of the polishes, these are the colors that I have

• Teal
• Red
• Green

My one Smith and Cult nail polish is my current favorite! I don't have a name for it but the color I have is beautiful.

• Rose Gold

Lastly I have four polishes that I picked up in Disney World which are minis. I'm not a huge fan of these and the colors aren't the best either.

• Pink
• Green
• Yellow
• Magenta

I do think I will be decluttering soon and you might have gotten an idea of what items may go by this post!

What nail polishes do you have in your collection and what brand is your favorite?

Have a great day everybody!

June Empties and Declutter

I am still on a mission to use up items that I have and declutter anything I know I won't use! I am not on a "no buy" because then I would just be tempted to buy stuff. I am allowed to buy things but my goal is to use what I have before buying new things. 

So here is what I used up this month!

For laundry items I finished up..

Purex Crystals in a full size and a sample which I absolutely love. I can't see paying money for this since they aren't something I really need but I love how amazing they make my clothes smell. If I find a deal on them I will definitely purchase more!

Bounce Dryer Sheets are my absolute favorite dryer sheets because they smell amazing. I have already repurchased these and will continue to.

Downy Crystals which are similar to the Purex but I didn't like them as much. The scent was not as nice and I definitely wouldn't purchase it full size but I did use up these three sample packs.

I recently switched to daily contact lenses from monthly ones and love them. I tried MyDay and Clariti and both were awesome. I picked whatever was the cheapest out of the two because they were both so amazing that I didn't see a difference. (Did you catch that pun?!)

The Macadamia Deep Repair Masque is one of my favorite products ever and I think it's in almost all my empties posts. I use this at least two times a week if not more and it's amazing. It keeps my hair super soft and keeps it from getting tangled.

Lavanila Healthy Deodorant in Pure Vanilla  is a great deodorant and I constantly reorder it from Sephora. I find this is the best natural deodorant on the market (at least for me) and keeps me smelling fresh all day.

Skintimate Strawberry Tangerine Twist is just okay. I'm not picky about shave gel and will just get Skintimate if I can get a deal on it. This scent was kinda nice too, not my favorite but still nice.

I finished up two mini lotions.

The Nivea hand cream was nice and very thick but it was a super small container so it was used up very quickly.

The Victoria's Secret Coconut Passion was an okay lotion but I find all lotions from that brand to be a little greasy. I used this at work though and definitely got my use out of it.

I wasn't able to finish the Seche Vite top coat before it got all goopy so unfortunately I have to toss it. I will definitely be buying a new one though!

I finished three amazing Cake Batter Chapsticks, although that doesn't seem like as many as I normally go through.....maybe I'm getting better at using less?!

The Loreal Infallible Eyeliner in carbon black is a great eyeliner but unfortunately mine broke apart at the end. It is definitely one I will repurchase often though because it's cheap and works great.

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Shampoo is one of my favorites. it works great and really hydrates my hair.

I liked the Pantene 3 Minute Miracle but not as much as my Macadamia Deep Repair Mask. I thought it was a really thin formula and kind of runny. I would use it again but definitely not purchase it!

The Dove Intense Repair Shampoo and Conditioner samples were nice. They made my hair feel smooth and not tangled which is what I generally look for in these products. I wouldn't necessarily pick them over other options though.

Both of these soaps were just okay.

The Method Cucumber scent was fine. The scent was nothing really special but I do really like Method products and the hand soap is no exception.

Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar was not my favorite scent and I definitely like other Bath and Body Works soaps over this one. I would rather purchase different scents from them in the future but I do love their foaming hand soaps.

Another "meh" product is Bath and Body Works Aruba Oceanside candle. This is a few years old so I'm not sure they even make it anymore but I found the scent to be overwhelming and not great. I like subtle beach scents but this was just too intense for me. 

My favorite dish soap currently is this Dawn New Zealand Springs scent which is teal and smells amazing. Since it's my favorite color and I enjoy the smell it makes doing dishes slightly more bearable.

I only use Sensodyne toothpaste and have for years because it prevents canker sores for me. I recommend it to anyone who has mouth issues!

Finally my decluttering items. All five of these are from hotels and I think they are all pretty expired at this point. No need to use them and take a chance on my hair! Time for these to get tossed! (The ones on the right are from when I went to France, which may have been 4 or 5 years ago......)

So that's what I used up and I'm tossing, what products have you used up lately?!

PopSugar Must Have Mini Box (AKA Tim let me open one of my presents early)

So Tim let me open one of my presents early! I was so excited to get the mini Pop Sugar box. Last year for our first Christmas together Tim got me a three month subscription and they always sent the best items in these boxes. I was ready to see what they would put in the mini version!

When I opened it up I saw two items inside and was immediately intrigued.

The first item is from Yellow Owl Workshop and is a festive stamp kit. I don't think I own a single stamp so I thought this was a cute idea. I can now use them when I scrapbook and also when I write cards for birthdays and other holidays- super cute! I need to get a bigger desk to hold all my crafting supplies :)

The second item is a gorgeous nail polish by Smith and Cult. It looked slightly purple but when I read the card that claimed it was rose gold and opened the bottle I could definitely see it. It's a gorgeous rose gold color and I can't wait to paint my nails with it. I am definitely using this for Christmas :)

Do you get Pop Sugar boxes? If you do, what products have you gotten that you love?

Nailpolish Declutter

I have been in the mood to declutter lately and I found a great drawer for my next session.

My nail polish collection has slowly gotten out of control. I paint my toenails pretty regularly but don't paint my nails much anymore. Most of this polish came in random Birchboxes, Pinch Me Boxes, and I picked up free couponing so it quickly filled up this drawer! 

I had gotten rid of few polishes here and there but it was time to really dive in and toss what I didn't love, what was old, and also some of it was actually separating or clumpy....yuck!

I ended up getting rid of quite a few things I was honestly impressed with myself.

This was my final get rid of pile:

27 bottles of nail polish, two nail pens, and various old nail files later we had a nice clean drawer!

Now I can see everything and my collection is more streamlined. I only use Seche Vite as my top coat so I no longer have five top coats that I'll never use. So many of my polishes were super clumpy and many were colors I received without choosing them so there were a lot of colors I didn't love anyways. Now it's so much more manageable and there is room to grow if I see any new colors I have to have!

What does your nail polish collection look like?

Project Declutter and Organize Beauty Products

Hi my name is Melissa and I am a beauty product hoarder.

The funny thing is, growing up I never had any interest in makeup, perfume, lotion, etc. I was a basic supply girl who rarely painted her nails, didn't wear makeup until high school, and had maybe three bottles of lotion in her possession. Since then a lot has changed and I hoard beauty products like they are going to never be released again. It's actually pretty gross and makes me upset.

One of my biggest fears in life is becoming a hoarder which is why I am so crazy about decluttering and getting rid of things, but it's hard for me to get rid of products because they are something you use.  I have absolutely no problem getting rid of decor items because they sit around and get in my way. I have no problem getting rid of clothes I no longer wear so it should be no different with products. Does anyone else have this problem?

So I set out to start reorganizing my beauty products and see if I could get rid of anything. I started with my huge collection of nail polish.

The problem is that I have gotten so many bottles for free, I haven't had to pay for all of them so they seem to accumulate very quickly. There are some nail polishes that are favorites of mine and ones that I choose often. Those bottles are on their way to being empty so I might as well keep them and use them up. There are plenty of polishes I have only tried once but I liked the color so I want to keep it to use in the future.

I sorted all my polish by brand and considered whether or not I wanted to keep each bottle. When I placed them back inside my Alex 9 drawer unit things looked still full, but slightly better then before.

See? Not terrible right?

I managed to toss three old bottles of Crackle nail polish which I will never use again. That fad has certainly passed. I got rid of two top coats that were discolored. I also gave my mom three nail polishes that are light pink and I never use. I prefer more color then those give off so I passed them off to my mom who loves just a tiny bit of pink on her nails.

After decluttering my nail tools I was able to get everything into just one drawer instead of two. I learned that many of my tools were old and I also need to pick up some more nail polish remover so I can get to using some more nail polish!

This was my final toss pile. Nothing too miraculous, but it feels good to declutter a little bit!

How many nail polishes do you have?

I think my tally is somewhere in the 50's. That is a LOT of polish and I hope to declutter my collection again in the near future. I also hope to use up some of my polishes and I will NOT be buying any nail polish for a very, very, very long time!

Organizing My Jewelry Armoire

I know I have shared this before, but I thought I would show an updated look at my organized jewelry armoire. 

The Hayworth Jewelry armoire was the first piece of furniture that I purchased all on my own. This item can be found here at Pier 1. It is an extremely sturdy piece of furniture and holds a TON inside! Here is a peek inside my jewelry armoire and how I organize it.

The top of the Hayworth jewelry armoire opens up and inside I like to keep all of my rings and stud earrings. I don't wear a ton of rings, but I have a few fun costume jewelry rings- including a light up ring Rachel gave me when she asked me to be her maid of honor. I also have a few rings from my grandma and other rings I have purchased- however nothing too fancy!

My stud earrings are my most-worn earrings due to my job. Since I'm flipping kids around in gymnastics and dancing around like a crazy person while I teach dance I can't wear dangly earrings. Therefore my studs allow me to change my earrings on a daily basis. I try to keep these as organized as possible- although often I have to tidy this section of my jewelry armoire up!

This is what the front looks like when the doors are open.

I keep my longer, bigger necklaces on the left side, and my smaller, delicate necklaces on the right side. I keep my necklaces to a minimum since I only wear them when I go out, and I honestly choose necklaces last- I tend to go for earrings and bracelets instead. I do enjoy having some statement necklaces to wear with certain outfits. I also have quite a few delicate necklaces with single charms that I have either received as gifts, or I purchased for a special occasion.

The top drawer contains the majority of my silver dangly earrings. This is the drawer I tend to pick from if I plan on wearing bigger earrings that day. I am totally a silver girl and I never realized why until I learned that your skin tone can have a huge part of why either gold or silver looks better on you. After taking a quick look at the color of my veins, I learned that indeed silver is the better color for my skin. Therefore my silver collection is growing! =)

The second drawer is full of my colorful earrings. I don't keep a ton of these around- but I do have quite a few colors to choose from if I need something to match my outfit!

My third drawer  holds my fun, colorful bracelets. I could definitely fit a ton more bracelets in this drawer but I like everything laid out individually. These bracelets are ones for charities and beaded bracelets.

The fourth drawer holds my nicer bracelets. I have a few fake pearl bracelets, some more delicate ones, my charm bracelet, and some bangles.

My fifth drawer holds some plain silver chains, fake pearl necklaces, my Alex and Ani bracelets and a few things from my great-grandparents. I love my Alex and Ani bracelets so I am in this drawer almost every day!

The sixth drawer is a huge one and holds all of my hair bands, hair clips, and a few curling irons.

The bottom drawer holds all of my nail polish and nail supplies. I love painting my nails and have quite the collection of nail polish.

How do you store your jewelry?

Have a great weekend everybody!

Nailpolish Organization

Recently my nail polish drawer need to be tidied up a little bit, So I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show how I store my nail polish.

Here is the before:

and the after:

My nail polish lives in the bottom drawer of my jewelry armoire (which I will be giving an updated look on soon). I have two old-Birchbox boxes holding all my nail polish in place which has proved very effective so far. I like that the boxes are protecting the bottom of the armoire drawer from any harmful chemicals the nail polish has.

In the left Birchbox you can see my nail polishes lined up neatly. I started with Essie, then transitioned into Sally Hansen Crackle, followed by Revlon, then Sally Hansen. In the second box I have my OPI nail polishes, followed by my small collections- Rimmel, Color Club, Ruffian, Disney, and then my top coat and base coat. I also have two small nail polish removers in this box. On the right hand side of the boxes I hold my small nail dryer and a container of cotton pads. You can see way back there behind the boxes, I lay all my nail files, nail clippers, and any other small nail tools I might need at any given point.

I don't have a HUGE nail polish collection, but I definitely have quite a bit and I enjoy doing my nails on a regular basis so it's important for me to have a place to store my nail polish. I know nail polish is a difficult thing to store, since you want to keep it out of the sunlight so it won't change color, so I think keeping it in a jewelry armoire drawer is the perfect solution!

How do you store your nail polish?

I know someone will probably ask, but as of right now I have 44 nail polishes, not including base or top coat, which is a little excessive, but I love to paint my nails =)