Mont Bleu: Glassware

 Sent for Review

*waves lazily* Such a perfect weather for sleeping in today! The light drizzle, the cool breeze... zzzz..
So why am I up on a lazy Sunday? Well, a close friend of mine recently introduced me to World of Warcraft and gifted me with a copy of the game (yea she is awesome!!). Since I am going for a call break later this week, I figured I should start prep-ing by downloading the game and readying myself. This is my first MMORPG so I guess I need to do some homework as well heh. Hopefully I won't be a complete fumbling fool when I start playing. ;P

Anyway, while waiting for the download and installation to be done, I have some goodies from Mont Bleu to share with you today!

I stumbled upon Mont Bleu through various nail blogs that I frequent and fell in love with their beautifully decorated glass nail files. Yup! Mont Bleu Ltd Company is one of the world leading suppliers of glass nail files. Their glass nail files are made of high quality Czech glass; they are decorated by patterns, or by Swarovski crystals. Not only that, they also provide a whole range of products adorned with sparkly crystals! *turns into a magpie* Take a look!

Mont Bleu Glass Nail Files - regular and travel-sized.
I am not sure if I have ever talked about my manicure routine (it is definitely on my to-blog list but I don't think I've ever sat down to work on it >.< ) but one of my essential manicure tools is a glass nail file. They are generally of a medium-fine grit - enough to take down length without damaging your nails. I prefer glass files to the usual ones because they are built to last and don't have to be replaced - a thorough wash and quick dry makes it all ready to be used again. As such, the regular sized glass nail file is the only product that I requested to try when Mont Bleu first contacted me.

Prior to this, I had been using my trusty OPI glass file since.... way back in 2011. I was actually very happy with it until these Mont Bleu files came along and blew it out of the water. Not only are these files prettily adorned, they are surprisingly quick to take down length. That is a life-saver especially for impatient folks like me. <3

Mont Bleu Glass Foot File.
All reservations I had about my feet breaking the glass file melted away when I saw this file. It looks sturdy, feels sturdy and is sturdy. It has a coarse side and a smoother side. The coarse side is, well, coarser than the glass nail files but not too rough on the feet either. The finer side smooths everything thereafter. I love how smooth my feet feels after some filing. Definitely a keeper.

Mont Bleu Tweezer.
Tweezers are almost indispensable in my life. Apart from having one to shape my brows, I also have some tweezers lying around to pick up random things like studs/rhinestones for nail art or as a replacement for my fingers when my nails are still wet. As with most tweezers, this pair of tweezer from Mont Bleu is nicely slanted at the tips for easy shaping. It has a fairly good grip. Plus, I really like the brushed metal finish and the crystals - simple but very chic-looking.

Mont Bleu Metal Compact Mirror.
Another beautifully designed product from Mont Bleu. This is made from extremely reflective metal which I love but, unfortunately, unforgiving of the fingerprints too.

Mont Bleu Earrings.
It is not very obvious from my picture but these are quite sparkly in the sun. By now, you should know I have a soft spot for things like that - simple, elegant and sparkly. ;)

All in all, I am very impressed by these Mont Bleu products. In particular, I would highly recommend their glass files. You can take a look at the full range of Mont Bleu products here. Mont Bleu delivers its products internationally so happy shopping! ;)



**Products were provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information.**

How-to: Nail Whitening

Purchased By Me

Once in a while, I get a little crazy and I'll look at my nails and start thinking, "Hmm I feel like going naked today." But, of course, I never had the courage to do that because my nails are horribly stained from wearing polish almost everyday for more than a year! And that is the vicious cycle of polish: polish -> stained nails -> more polish to hide stains, etc.

So when I heard that Cuccio's nail whitening paste was available at a good deal at this year's BeautyAsia fair, I jumped at the chance to try it for myself. I didn't actually manage to go to the fair but the lovely Lauretta from A Lacquered Affair helped me grab a tube to try! Thank you, L!

The instructions are simple: (paraphrased below)

1. Wet a nail brush thoroughly.
2. Squeeze a generous amount of nail whitening paste on the brush.
3. Scrub like nobody's business. (Official instruction says to scrub for 1 min. Longer if your nails are very stained.)

Of course, I had to do it my own way. Since I didn't have a nail brush, I used a small toothbrush instead. I've tried putting the paste on the brush but I realized that it is quite wasteful as the paste gets smooshed deep into the bristles so I dabbed a bit of paste on each nail instead. I did follow step 3 to the T though. 

I was a little disappointed on my first try but I stuck to it and diligently scrubbed my nails everyday for 6 days and I am extremely happy to say: YES, it works! Take a look:

Before:

Yea... those orange tips make me cringe too. >.< Only the nails near the cuticles are "spared" because they are relatively new growths.

After:

Gosh, my nails grow pretty quickly, don't they? But, no more orange stains! I grabbed my sister's hands for a quick comparison and my nails still look slightly yellowish next to hers but she did comment that they look much healthier.

I paraded around with my nails naked and it sure felt good... for two days. I couldn't take it any longer and slapped on some color after that. :P
I did vow to scrub my nails at least once a week though to keep them looking healthy so I can go naked whenever I feel like it.

Do you have stained nails too? How do you whiten them?

xoxo,
mich

How-To: Clean Up Brush

I have received a few questions on how I paint my nails so neatly so I thought it would be appropriate to do a post on what brushes I use for clean-up.

For those who have not heard of clean-ups before, it is a very simple way to remove excess polish that got onto the cuticles or the sides of the nail. All you have to do is to dip a brush in your nail polish remover and run it along the sides of the nail a few times to get a clean line!

Now, I should probably put a HUGE disclaimer upfront by saying this: 

I know there had been some controversy on this topic because there are a few people who hold strong views on clean-up. For myself, I am neutral on this because I think it is just a matter of personal preference and that's all I am going to say on that matter. So let's not venture into muddy waters, shall we? Instead, this post will focus purely on the brushes that I've tried so far and the views I have on them. 

So these are the two brushes I've tried for clean up.

The battered-looking one on the left is an angled eyeliner brush that I've got from a random beauty store in the mall. It has been with me for almost a year now and suffered the ill-fate of being dropped into a bottle of nail-polish remover. Naturally I panicked and by the time I fished it out, the black paint on the brush handle is almost gone. Nevertheless, it has served me well for longer than I've expected.

Recently, I got another brush from Born Pretty Store because my eyeliner brush is a little worn out. This time I chose a round-tip brush that is probably meant for nail art but I've decided to use it for clean-up purposes anyway.

Here's a quick comparison between the brushes:

They are very different and I like them both for different reasons. I love the angled tip of the eyeliner brush because the tip rests nicely on the sides of my nail. However, I prefer the flatter end of the nail art brush because it gives a more precise clean-up and does not leave a huge gap between the polish and my cuticles.

What type of brush do you prefer?

Just in case you are wondering, you can find the nail art brush (Item ID: 219) at the Born Pretty Store here. They have a wide range of nail products and provide free worldwide shipping! Feel free to quote "HDL91" for a 10% discount when you checkout:

xoxo,

mich

**Products marked with an asterisk are provided for honest review. Please see our disclosure policy for more information**

How-To: Swatch Sticks

Towards the end of 2012, I embarked on a mission to organize my stash after I realized I no longer know what colors I have. With some 200+ polishes randomly stashed in the depths of my drawers, I must admit to being guilty of neglecting a lot of colors and not giving them the love they deserve. Not only that, it is also difficult to find matching undies for the glitter toppers I have.

My solution? Swatch sticks.
Take a look:

The model: Max Fantasy Fire (5 coats on its own)

First, I swatched the polishes on the underside of the swatch sticks. I'd tried painting the swatch sticks the way I paint my nails but I realized the top coat turns the polish matte on the swatch sticks. Thankfully, a fellow IG-er suggested painting on the underside. This way, the plastic acts as the de facto top coat on one side and I can see how the polish looks sans top coat on the underside as well. Genius!

As I swatch the polishes, I took down the names of the polishes in the order I swatch them and the corresponding number of coats it took to reach opacity. While waiting for them to dry, I create labels for my swatch sticks.
Because I know my handwriting probably can't fit onto the sticks, I decided to type them out instead. I measured the sides of the sticks and created a table in Microsoft Word, specifying the width and height of the cells (in my case I used: 0.8cm x 6cm). Then I typed the brand name (in bold and caps); the name of the polish; and the number of coats applied in brackets. In case you are wondering, I used Helvetica, 8pt to make sure the words fit comfortably in the table cells. You can see how it looks in the picture below. After printing the table, I proceeded to cut the labels one-by-one.
Of course, you can save a lot of trouble if you have those label-machines and other fancy gadgets but I didn't have those so I did everything the tedious way.

Wearing OPI Steady As She Rose on the nails...

The next step? Sticking the labels on! I used 3M's matte finish tape because I love how it looks. And the width is just enough to wrap over the edges of the swatch sticks. To make sure the tape doesn't come off any time soon, I wiped the stick clean before taping.

After labeling, all you have to do is to arrange them however you like!
I organized them by color for ease of comparison and because they look so pretty like that:

The pinks and reds...

The beiges, browns, orange, yellow and greens

The blues and purples...

The whites, greys and blacks...

The duochromes and toppers

It took me a few days to finish the swatch sticks but it is definitely worth it:

• Everything is organized neatly
• It is easy to compare colors
• You can rearrange them however and whenever you like
• You can admire the colors in your stash all at once without needing 200++ fingernails 
• It is easier to find undies for toppers too 

The only drawback is that you will have to find a place to store these sticks but I can live with that. :P

Just in case you are wondering, I organize my polish bottles by brand and name (alphabetical order) because bottles from the same brand fit better together. I will pick the color from the sticks and look for it in the drawers with the brand and name.

How do you organize your stash? :$

xoxo,

mich