Friday Find: imPRESS

So in addition to my mix tapes, I’ve always had a special spot in my heart for press-on nails. They’re circa 1980, just like schrunchies, which makes me smile.

Luckily, I graduated from press-ons to real nail polish and then I made a brief (two-year, #shamerattle) foray into acrylics. Complete with air brush designs and gems.

I followed up with the whole gel manicure trend, but it just wasn’t for me.

Enter imPRESS. The latest innovation in press-on nails. But these aren’t the press-ons that I remember from the 80s.

Looks like real fake acrylic nails, right? Nope, just my press ons.

These are pretty easy to apply – match up the falsies to your real nails, then peel off the backs and press onto your real nails to activate the glue.

They stayed really shiny, which I like. This is day two.

What do you think? This is about day 5, while I was still learning how to type with nails at work. I wasn’t sure when I put them on that they would even last this long.

I left my nails on for about a week, and they didn’t get loose or fall off. Maybe a little loose around the edges towards the end, but never too the point where I was worried they would fall off.

I tried a different pattern a few weeks later. These were pretty sweet, except the pattern started to wear off the tips after a few days.

If you want to try your own pair – imPRESS nails cost about $7 – are sold at quality locales like Walmart and CVS, and are repped by various C-listers like Cheryl Burke and Alli Simpson.

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September Birchbox: The Good, The Bad, and the Disappointing

For the most part, I’m never disappointed with my Birchbox. It’s always filled with cool stuff and nifty new products I want to try. There have been, of course, one or two misses (sunless tanning wipes? ick.) but who can know me perfectly well all the time?

Then there was September.

You know its a rough month when my one of favorite things in the Birchbox is the teal tissue paper. (Seriously, the color is a-may-zing.)

I received face scrub, gray-black nail polish, one twistband hair tie (yes, one lonely, lonesome hair tie), aromatherapy drops, a few tea pouches, and Nexxus shampoo. There was also a coupon code and a postcard for Madewell.

I like the face scrub, and the nail polish color looks fun to try. And its cold here, so tea is good to have on hand. I’ll even forgive the aromatherapy drops. It’ll help me get in touch with my crunchy-granola side.

BUT THE NEXXUS SHAMPOO? First off, I can get these free from the Nexxus website at any time, so why am I paying to receive them in a Birchbox? Second, a beauty product that I can buy at Walmart is in no way something I would consider Birchbox-worthy. And pillow packs? Worst. Sample. Packaging. Ever. Too much shampoo for one use, but no good way to store it. Let’s not even get into how T-rex birchbox was with the one lonely hair tie. #Birchboxfail.

The saddest part? I fared better than most this month. My sister ended up with chartreuse nail polish in her Birchbox. Yuck.

I’m not writing Birchbox off quite yet – I have high hopes for October. As long as Birchbox doesn’t try to pass off candy corn as a ‘classic, luxury candy.’

Birchbox: Yes, I’m smitten.

Soooooo many who know cakerypapery in real life know that I am smitten with Birchbox. As we all know, I’m a sample fiend, so Birchbox is perfect for me.

At this point, you’re probably saying…”WTF is a freaking Birchbox?” and if you’re not saying that, you already know.

Birchbox is a monthly beauty sample subscription. (This is not as lame as it sounds.)

For $10/month, you get a delightful box of high-end beauty samples delivered to you. And not just the small pillow-pack samples. Legit regular size ones. Each box has five different things, and (with the exception of June) it’s always really good stuff. I’ve gotten everything from nail polish to headbands to the most amazing smelling perfumes.

Take this month. The Birchbox was sponsored by Glamour, which meant it was super amazing. (Sponsored BB’s always have  awesome stuff inside).

In my box, I have:

• Hair UV protector oil: Might not use this right away, but planning to save it for the next time I get my hair ombre’d.
• Stila lip gloss, full size: I already have this in a different color, so super stoked to try the darker one.
• BB cream: Need I say more?
• Granola bar: Yea..this is a bit weird, but go with the flow, right?
• Mini-skin care sample pack: There are far too many steps in this, but I’ll give it a try.
• Hot pink and blue headphones: LOVE.

The two products I am most excited for are the BB cream and the Stila lip gloss.

I’ve been wanting to test out a BB cream for a while, and I love Stila products, plus I know I love the gloss already. Given that the gloss retails for $22, I’ve definitely gotten my $10 worth out of this Birchbox.

If you want to check out Birchbox, or want to join, click here. BB is roughly the price of two lattes—and its way better than a latte.

And for the men out there, Birchbox Man is in beta–it’s $20/month, and has everything from shave creams to cashmere socks.