Review - Impala Cosmetics

The following two items have been on my wishlist for some time.
I have ordered them from Lady's and received them a week ago. I have been testing them since.

1. Cuticle Remover

Facts:

• has a delicate rosy scent
• dries quickly
• easily removed with orange stick
• it has tiny abrasive particles (see the little blue and red spots on the image above) 

Contains:

• Glycerin (emollient)
• Mineral particles (exfoliating)
• Muscat rose-tree oil (hydrating and regenerating)

Conclusions:

• I get the feeling that my cuticles grow slower
• cuticle don't dry out as they used to

Changes and plans for 2013

There is so much going on these days (and the past weeks), that I didn’t even have time to blog properly, even though it was a New Year’s resolution to post more in 2013 compared to 2012.

First of all there’s a massive change related to my blog (as you may have already noticed): it has been renamed from “Lililala’s Photo Nail Blog” to “NailGlaze” and it has its own domain name. From now on you can visit my blog at http://nailglaze.com. I haven’t changed the older posts, the photos are still watermarked as Lililala, but after all, they were written and posted as such, by me. They still are my “little children” J . Besides the name, I have also changed the layout of the blog. I hope this year I will make other changes to the layout, until it looks just like I imagine it.

Other facts about the blog:

• I have created a new page where I have made a summary of 2012’s manicures. You can visit the photos by clicking here.
• I have created a new page for my wish list. You can visit the wish list by clicking here. Once a wish is fulfilled, I will place a link next to it. This way it will be easier to track these dream polishes.
• It was a New Year’s resolution to complete a Challenge this year. I have chosen the 31 days Challenge. The starting date is yet unknown.

 At this moment I have 19 new polishes and nail care products to blog about. Some were brought from local stores, some were ordered onIine and some of them were a Christmas gift.  I can’t wait to try them all! :-D

My Nail Care Ritual

For me, taking care of my nails is at least as important as wearing some nice manicure. One isn't possible without the other. You can buy the best nail polishes and be a talented nail artist if your nails don't cooperate.

Today I will present to you some nail care products I use.

1. Acetone free nail polish remover
Make sure you use an acetone free remover, otherwise you will get your nails and cuticles dried out. It is true that acetone works faster but a non-acetone remover will be more gentle on your nails.
I have to admit I do use acetone based remover but only for glitter polishes and after removal I strictly follow the steps below.

After removing the polish I like to use Nail Polish Remover Pads to clean my nails. I use L.A. Colors pads. These come in various scents (I own the Peach and Grape scented), are acetone free and have an oily texture so it doesn't dry out my nails and cuticles.

2. Cuticle remover 
After removing the polish I like to remove my cuticles. For this purpose I use the Coral Cuticle Remover.

You have to apply it on your cuticles, wait 5 minutes until it dries and remove the dried cuticles with an orange stick.

3. Nail hardener
After trying lots of nail hardeners I stopped at the cheapest and surprisingly the most effective one: Farmec Treatment Expert with Vitamin B5.

Left: old formula which used to dry out cuticles
Right: new formula with keratin and calcium pantothenate. This is a much better formula compared to the first one.

4. Vitamin A and Vitamin E
To keep my nails healthy I give them some vitamins :-). I use Vitamin A and E in oily formula. Being 100%  oils they will dry pretty hard. I usually apply them before going to sleep. In the morning I will have hydrated nails and cuticles.

5. Base Coat

The best base coat I have ever used is definitely the Rimmel Stronger. This is a 2 in 1 product: base coat and nail hardener. It dries quickly (approximately 30 seconds after applied) and gives a discrete gold shimmer effect to the nails.

So...this is my nail care ritual in a nutshell :-).

I hope this post will help you keep your nails happy. Feel free to share you ritual by leaving a comment to this post.