My Nail Routine & Update

Happy Humpday! Today on the blog I'll be showing you my simple routine for maintaining healthy, strong nails on a budget.

No, I do not have the money to be buying  a million nail hardeners, or biotin pills & whatever other unnecessary crap is on the market for your nails. There is only one thing that your nails crave, and that is moisture (and no I'm not talking about water)! The ONLY products I use are cuticle oil and lotion. The type of cuticle oil & lotion you use does not matter much, as long as you keep on applying either one or even both products when your hands feel dry.

Here are what my nails looked like at the Beginning of October (sorry I have no photos without polish). Pay attention to the shape, and length.

Here is what  my nails look like currently. Below are what my nails look like after a combination of cold weather, acetone, and hand washing. My nails are slightly stained red because of my previous manicure, but it should fade away gradually after my next manicure.

After washing my hand and letting them dry, I apply cuticle oil to my cuticles, under my free edge, and on my nail. I then massage in the oil and let it sink in for a few minutes. The cuticle oil I am currently using is Bliss Kiss.

Next I apply about a quarter sized amount of lotion to my two hands working it from my finger tips down to my wrists. I also let the lotion sink in for a while, and that's all there is too it! All of the lotions I use for my hands are from Bath and Body Works (aka my second OBSESSION) but feel free to use whatever you like, Another thing that helps my nails grow stronger and longer is polishing them. I find that my nails ALWAYS break the day I decide to go without it, so if you're not one to wear polish everyday, you can follow these steps followed by a base coat & top coat.

Here are some more tips that I think will help if you are experiencing some nail issues:

* Try avoiding having your hands in water for long periods of time if possible. Ex. If you are washing dishes, use rubber gloves! This minimizes chance of breakage
*Do not file your nails unnecessarily, and when you do, do not file them too sharply. I find that when I do this my nails get snagged on something and end up tearing
*Even if your nails do tear, DO NOT CHOP THEM OFF! As you can see from my photos from the beginning of October, all of my nails are rounded and are not equal length. When my nails break at the edge, I just round off my nails until they grow out. This saves the wait time opposed to having nubs (if you're a blogger like me) which is a lifesaver!

Hope something in this post helps someone out there that may be experiencing some problems!

Peace & Love,
--TPJ<3

Forever Polished - Bath & Body Product Review

Good morning everyone! Today I have a bunch of bath and body goodies from Forever Polished's Forever Bubble product line to show you.

The Soaps:
I received 3 beautiful soaps! Just so I don't sound repetitive, of course all the soaps "got the job done" of removing all the dirts and oils from the skin. They all made my skin soft after use and have a great smell.

The first soap, which is my favorite hands down is the Lemongrass scented bar. Do you know the smell of lemon lollipops? Well that's EXACTLY what this soap smell likes, I absolutely love it! I tested to see if the scent would fade over time, and thankfully it does not so you can smell delicious everytime!

Next up is the tie dye soap with gold glitter (as you can see). I love the look of the bar, kinda trippy :p ! I think this bar is best suited for days where you would like to pamper yourself, because I'm sure you wouldn't wanna go into work covered from head to toe in glitter (but if you do, hey go for it!).

Last is this orange and clear bar which is lemongrass and green tea scented with gold glitter. Also smells great, and would use on "spa days".

The Bubble Bombs/ Bars:
On to the bubble bath products! My bubble bar did break in transportation (but it was still good for use) so I did use the lovely photo Ashley (the owner of Forever Polished) took so you can see how it's supposed to look.

I received the Berry Bubble Bomb, and let me just tell you it smells sooo good! You drop it into your running bath water and watch it work its magic. There was loads of bubbles, and you can feel the oils in the water as you soak. When I stepped out I was softer than ever!

The Berry Bubble Bar is similar to the Berry Bubble Bomb, the main difference being (the shape obviously) & the fact that you have to break this one up under running water. The bar also comes with a cute little soap on top that you can save and use. You get the same results as you do from the bath bomb.

Photo via Forever Polished

The Body Products:
The body products I received are a face cream and a body lotion. The first thing I liked off bat about these products was the packaging & how reusable they are (obviously the full sized lotion will not come in a container like this, it will be in a bottle). You can see the comparison between the two and see that the face cream looks a bit thicker, whereas the lotion looks whipped and smoother.

 Lets start with the Honeysuckle Face Cream shall we? After I wash my face it gets really dry, more so around my nose. Most moisturizers I use make my skin look even more oily than it is. The first picture is my before any face cream, and the second is my after. This cream moisturizes my skin without making it look shiny which I really  like. Great for everyday use, especially if you wear makeup!

Next up is the Honeysuckle lotion. As you can see, I get really dry cuticles and hands after I wash them. Here are the before photos:

and here are my after photos:

This lotion, just like the face cream moisturizes without overdoing the shine. Made my hands soft to the touch, and that is always good.

Bonus:
I was surprised with this mini polish (Thanks Ashley!) and although that's not the focus of the post, of course I'm going to show it to you! I got Bubble Trouble which is a glitter topper consisting of micro blue glitters, black rectangles, lilac hexagons, and neon star glitters. I layered this polish over 2 coats of High Line Green by NYC. I love this combo!

Forever Polished bath, body, and polish products can be purchased from her bigcartel store found here. Keep in contact with Forever Polished for updates, swatches & much more through some of her social networking sites listed below:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Forever-Polished/368913789861783?fref=ts

Instagram - http://instagram.com/ashleyspolish#

Peace & Love,
--TPJ<3

*Some products sent for my honest review*