One of the sponsors of our FL Beauty Bloggers event was Reviva Labs. One of the items they gave us was their makeup primer. I use tinted moisturizer, so I don't tend to really use a makeup primer unless I am going out at night. I have never really seen a big difference when using one. But since we received it for review I thought I would give it a shot.

According to the Reviva Labs website their makeup primer  "fills in lines, pores are concealed, excess oil is controlled. Skin so touchable, so silky smooth, you will find it hard to believe." I don't have huge pores, so I can't speak to that, but it did fill in my lines and it kept my face from getting shiny which is impressive. My skin also felt smooth to the touch. When I first put it on, I waited a few minutes before putting on my makeup. I think this is the one of the reasons I don't use primers. I'm always running late, so I avoid products that I need to let soak in before moving on to the next step. But I waited just to test it out for you guys. LOL!

I put my makeup on like I normally do from there and went on my way. I'm not one of those women who looks in the mirror obsessively throughout the day. I will look before taking a picture but that is pretty much it. I was busy packing orders when I tested it out the first day so I never even looked. I was running around working and just completely forgot I was testing it out if I'm being perfectly honest. Then at about 11pm when I was going to wash my face, I realized my makeup looked like I JUST applied it! Normally I have to use a makeup setting spray to get my makeup to last this long. Usually by the end of the day all but my eyeliner and mascara is long gone!

My makeup last night with the wind blowing my hair all over the place! I try to keep my makeup natural looking and wasn't a fan of the closeup face shots, so this is the best one that shows that I am actually wearing makeup.

I tested this again on Monday and on Tuesday I said I was going to test it again, but to be honest, I'm hooked! Yesterday I had a friends birthday dinner and when I came home I was super tired so I just went to bed. I didn't even bother taking my makeup off. I am pretty good about washing my face at night, but sometimes exhaustion just takes over. Last night was one of those nights. I woke up this morning and my hair was sticking up all over the place, I had sheet marks on my cheek, my face was a bit puffy from sleeping, but my makeup was 100% in place! I was NOT expecting that at all! I can't believe that you can get these types of results from a primer without a setting spray! I am completely hooked! Now I want to try more of their products to see if they are equally as amazing!

I wish the lighting was better this morning, but honestly I hadn't had all my coffee yet, so I wasn't about to move! If I wasn't being lazy I would have gone into the sun so you could see that not just was my eyeshadow and blush still intact, even my lipstick was still on! It was matted but still there. I could have gotten up and ready and skipped the makeup this morning!

And for those of you that care, here was my outfit of the day for yesterday. I left my sunglasses in the car, so I ended up squinting in all the pictures! It looks like I'm super posing in the right picture, but my hair was blowing everywhere, so I had no choice! LOL!

It's been a while hasn't it? I feel like I can breathe again. This last $5 sale was a great big learning experience! I am truly grateful for all of the support and love for our brand. I was overwhelmed in a good way by the response to the sale! I was not prepared. I won't bore you with, but I will say because I was not expecting the sale to go so well, I had a lot of work ahead of me, had I foreseen the amount of love, I would have been better prepared. Lessons learned for our upcoming pre-sale event!

In case you don't receive our emails, The pre-sale event begins this weekend!!

I ended up having fellow Culties Alyssa from Pretty Little Bottles and Kari from Once Bitten blog come over and help get everyone's orders out! I also had a good friend (the face of our Cult Fairy Tale promo above!) come over and help. She was in the middle of moving out of state and had a house to prepare and still took the time to come over an help! How amazing of a friend is that? She is already out of state now, so sad.

The signs getting put on our office doors while we were packing orders.

Anyway so much has been going on, I've definitely been staying busy. I attended our FL Beauty Blogger meet up last weekend which is always fun. But it went by way to fast! Our group is growing with each meet up. We had a great group of sponsors for this even and I can't wait to tell you all about the products that we received to review. I just haven't had an opportunity for pictures yet. But I will say one item we received was Reviva Labs Makeup Primer and OMG - it is the best primer I have ever tried hands down! I am not kidding, I need to get  a review of this stuff done this weekend for you guys!

Some of our group. Some were inadvertently left out of this picture. We did have a photographer there, so hopefully we will see her pictures soon and they'll be better than my phone pics!

After our blogger event my family went to Universal to unwind. My mind was on packing orders the entire time, but since the post office was closed, I guess it didn't matter. But I was still wanting to get back to work, but family time has to be just as important. Sometimes we just have to remind ourselves of that.

Ah time to get back to work! I am going to get some more Cult Nails work done this morning and then I'm taking the afternoon off so I can clean my house and do some laundry. My house was sorely let go during the sale. Oh and maybe I can fit groceries in too? It's been 2 weeks since I've done groceries! My poor kids! I just haven't had time! And a friend's birthday dinner tonight too. What? You know how I like to be kept busy! I got this! Hope you all have a great day!

Me being cheesy in front of the door sign. Still a lot more work to do, but driving up and seeing that on the door! WOW!

This photo showcases the copper shimmer. The shimmer is a bit more pronounced in person, I had a tough time capturing it.

This one showcases the actual blue color, but again in this photo you can't really see the shimmer. It is more pronounced in person. Next up is Charming. Because every Princess needs a Prince. And since my favorite Prince loves purple, I thought this one was fitting. This is a sheer purple creme with a purple metallic shimmer that can be used for layering or you can use multiple coats for an opaque look. On my index and middle finger I used two normal (for me) coats. On my ring finger I did two thinner coats and on my pinky, I did one thin coat. I know everyone has a different application method so I would say depending on your application style, how long/short your nails are, would depend on how many coats you would need for opacity. I tend to apply in not thin, but not thick coats and achieve full opaqueness in 2 coats.

This is such a beautiful vivid purple color. The shimmer is much more impressive in person. My camera just did not want to capture this one!

This is a horrible quality photo, but it showcases the shimmer and yes that does translate to the nail

Feelin' Froggy is a kelly green with a metallic green shimmer. This one is my favorite color!! When I went to the lab I showed them my favorite green polish and explained how I wanted it changed. I had zero intention of putting a shimmer in this one. I wanted a straight up creme. I wanted it similar to the polish I brought, but I wanted something brighter not so dark a bit more well kelly green. As we were there, my rep recommended that we just TRY adding some shimmer to it. I feel like the cremes with shimmer have somehow become my signature, and wanted to step away and just do some amazing cremes. But then we added the green shimmer and my heart stopped. I can't even tell you, I think I actually stopped breathing for a second, it was so magical! You can see the shimmer in this photo, but it is so much more impressive in person.

I did two normal for me coats on my index and middle finger. Two thin coats on my ring finger and one thin coat on my pinky.

Evil Queen is my all time favorite red polish for summer. I created this one when I created My Kind of Cool Aid and Quench. I was so tossed up between releasing this red or Quench. But when the sample bottle was just about empty I knew this would have to be part of the Cult collection. This is a true red, but with some pink undertones to it. I didn't want a tomato red, I wanted an in your face red that would also be soft at the same time. This is a true creme. This is 2 coats. You see why I want to do more cremes? I love super smooth, shiny cremes! Every time I wear this, I am bombarded to make this a Cult color, so since we all love this, I decided to make it happen!

What more can I say. I just love this color.

The problem with the pink undertones, was it kept photographing like this! But in person is looks like the first picture. Who knew a red could be so hard to photograph!

As you all know ever fairy tale needs a "Happy Ending", so we created that here. This is a multi colored shredded glitter in a clear base. When I went to the lab they had a room with all these colors and mix options and they had bags upon bags of shredded glitter. No one seemed to want to use them in making polishes. So of course, I jumped on the opportunity and mixed one of the bags with multiple colors in it. Of course right after I did this and ordered this, I found out someone else already made a multi colored shredded glitter polish! DOH! I debated on not releasing it, but you know what, I love this one, and I wanted it, so I went ahead with it anyway. It just feels so fun when I wear it.

Happy Ending over Evil Queen, Princess, Feelin' Froggy and Charming

So there you have it, our latest collection! I hope you all love it as much as I do!

Wow - what a sale on Saturday! We actually sold out of the Iconic we had available for the sale and were really close to selling out a few other colors. I was so not expecting that. But while the sale was an epic one for us, it was also an epic fail in what my standards for customer service are. Now I don't mean responding to questions or anything like that. I don't mind that at all. I actually like the interacting during a sale, good or bad. Call me crazy! LOL! We tried to stay on top of all the questions coming in through Facebook, Twitter and email. What I'm talking about is the check out process.

What we learned was that when you get to the first check out screen it would ask for your coupon code. Like any smart consumer, you entered the coupon code and then proceeded to checkout. This is where the issue came into play. If you selected checkout then you were instructed to enter your address and then you saw the discount right away. If you chose Paypal as a checkout method, then it brought you to the Paypal site and you would not see the coupon entered until the very last screen. Which is about 5 screens in! WTF!! I would have just stopped, if I'm being honest. And I'm sure some of you did.

Unfortunately that is just the way Paypal works with the company that provides our website and servers. But for me that is just not going to work. I was so frustrated because I couldn't change this experience for anyone. We received a lot of emails from individuals saying the code didn't work. And we responded and walked them through the process. But for those who did not email, I assure you it worked. It was just that you had to keep going to the last screen. Which to me is just not cool.

We learned a lot with this sale. and now we are on to packing everyone's orders and we will not have another sale that requires a coupon code until we can change this to a more efficient and easy to use system. (Hopefully that is possible!) I do a lot of online shopping, and I have seen better systems, so I am hoping it isn't something so crazy expensive that we can't afford to offer a better check out experience. In the meantime any sales we have we will just figure out a way to have them without the need for a coupon code. Because frankly I love sales and don't want to stop the sales, but I want to provide an awesome experience all around.

So for those of you who were having trouble with the application of the code, I sincerely apologize! Hopefully that doesn't turn you off of Cult Nails. We will work to make a better experience for all in the future. As for now I better get to packing all the orders.

How is everyone doing? I had a few cousins come into town for the weekend, and a few that live within a few hours that all came in for a reunion of sorts. One cousin that lives within a few hours of here, I haven't seen since I was a baby, the other it has been at least 25 yrs and two more live out of state. One I actually do see every few months, but it still isn't enough - she lives only an hour away! But we have kids and life tends to get in the way. So since we had two coming in from out of town, a reunion was called for. I can't tell you how fast the weekend went by! Fri, Sat & Sun were so much fun and such a blur. It felt like I blinked and it was over! I miss them all already. But I had such a great time, I didn't work at all the entire weekend! Well I think I may have glanced at FB but that was about it! LOL! It makes me wish I lived near my family though. Not enough to move back to MA, I mean it does snow there after all, but enough to want them to move here to my lovely beach life. :)

Blurry pic, but these are my beautiful cousins! Can you imagine growing up around so many beautiful women? This isn't half of them!

On top of that one daughter had her end of year dance this last weekend and the other went to prom. The other daughter refused to go to the dance. I think it's just so I wouldn't get pictures of her in a  pretty dress! LOL!

Anyway, come Monday I knew I had to get my but back to work on the office and checking FB and Twitter and responding to emails. Well I made it as far as responding to emails. I went to the office worked for about 15 minutes and just couldn't hack it. I came home with every intention of taking a nap, but then decided that would be a bad idea because then I would be up all night. Instead I layed  there perusing through my Lucky magazine, did my nails, and then layed there some more like a bump on a log. Oh I did get up long enough to get out and do groceries and ended up with a massive headache! See that's what you get for being responsible! LOL!

Today I was on fire! I was running around working on the office, responding to emails this morning and I even did a blog post that is now MIA! What the...!!! So here I sit again after painting for hours on end all achy, wanting to play on Twitter and Facebook with you guys and instead re-writing my post! DOH! (By play I totally mean work if Juan is reading this. I get to say that FB & Twitter is work! Love it!!)

SO here goes post take 2:

The sale will be here on Saturday!! One day only! Saturday! Saturday! Saturday! (I couldn't resist - make sure you read it like the car commercials say it!) So the sale is an chance for you to get 3 of our colors at the amazing price of just $5!! WAHOO! (I think I said 2 last time, but I think we should stick with 3 like last time, don't you?) The only difference is that it is a limited selection of colors that will be on sale for $5. Just the ones that sold out during the last sale that are now back in stock. The colors included in the sale are Cruisin' Nude, Living Water, Let Me Fly, Hypnotize Me and Iconic. I think I'm missing one....Enigmatic! How could I forget! So you can pick any 3 (or less or more) and we will give you $5 off of up to 3 of these colors!

But wait there's more! I planned on bringing Feel Me Up back in November with a Fall collection. Then I accidentally re-ordered it when I re-ordered these colors. You would think that when I received the polish match samples to approve, it would have been a red flag, but nope, I approved it again. Then when I received the pre-ship sample, I approved it yet again! So now I have Feel Me Up on hand! I can't possibly leave it sitting here til November! That just doesn't seem fair, so I will release it on Saturday! WAHOO! And no we are not including it in the $5 sale. (I say that now, but I know you guys are going to brow beat me until I include it in the sale! LOL!) Oh frick, OK fine, I'll include it in the sale, might as well just give you what you want and be ahead of the game! :) For those who don't know, this is a 2 (maybe 3) coat yellow, depending on how you apply polish and how long your nails are. It is a cross between a jelly and a creme. The end result is a creme yellow the color of a buttercup. (Still working on that perfect 1 coat yellow)


Not done yet... We have one more color to add to the mix. Nevermore was supposed to launch with a series of fun top coats. The top coat ingredients have been delayed by the supplier and Nevermore is ready. So I am going to add that too! A one coat true black. I can't tell you how amazing this color is. It is AMAZING! Best black ever if I do say so myself! And yes of course, I will include that in the $5 sale too!


Now the not so fun news. Iconic is a bit different. We had an ingredient go away and had to reformulate it. It is within what the lab calls a 5% visual approval. Which means to the layman there is no difference. But to those of you like me, there is. It still is amazing and beautiful, but the shimmer had to change resulting in a more intense shimmer. So all in all not a bad thing. My friend whose favorite color is Iconic said the new version looks like her original bottle. So perhaps its just me who can see it. But I doubt it. Here is a quick swatch of the two. The original will never come back, but the updated version is still amazing and really within a 5% difference, which isn't much at all. I had to grapple with the decision of just discontinuing it forever or reformulating it. I went with the reformulation option. I have debated on posting about it since the change is so minor, but I would never be able to sleep at night if I didn't mention it. So I am mentioning it. Not only that, but those of you who wanted more shimmer, you will be loving the newer version!

The new version is on the left and the original is on the right. The only change is the ingredient in the shimmer and it is much more noticeable. This is taken inside at night in regular lighting, just to give you an idea.

AND lastly... we have a new collection coming out soon! I will be posting swatches soon and pre-sale information soon, so keep an eye out for that news!

I show what I wear everyday on Instagram, but it's been a while since I've done an OOTD post, so I thought I would share one today. I wore this over the weekend. I found this top at TJMaxx and I LOVE it. I wish it was just a tiny bit smaller, but at the same time the effect it gives like this is great. It is bright orange and very drapey. I love the deep opening that doesn't really show much of anything with a tie in the back. It's that subtle sexiness I love.


 I also want to thank all of you for the amazing support and comments regarding my hair. As I sat here being bummed, the comments started pouring in. I have to say, the overwhelming support made me realize that hair or no hair, I am so fortunate and lucky to have such amazing and inspiring women around me. You guys really are the best. Every women needs you in their pockets to push them along when they are down! Those of you who shared your own stories of hair drama and issues. WOW! It is great to know I am not alone. Thank you for opening up and sharing with all of us. Still not loving the hair, but I am loving the love and support and that actually has made me feel more confident. So thank you!



Top: Not sure of the brand, but I bought it at TJ Maxx
Earrings: I can't remember, I've had them for years
Pants: Navy Linen blend pants from H&M
Shoes: Vince Camuto scored at TJ Maxx. Similar look here.

Sorry for the delay in posting the winner. I picked the winner on Monday, and went to post the winner and ended up talking about the upcoming sale instead!  Doh!

The winner is Tenerheartr/Rebecca R. WAHOO!! Email me your address and I will get your goodies out to you! My email is maria @ cult nails.com (no spaces)

Congrats girl!

I have been debating on posting about my hair. But it is inevitable, I am posting. So by now you know that I chopped all my hair off. I loved the cut. It was ALMOST everything I wanted. We went a little longer than I wanted just in case I hated it, with the option to come back and go just a little shorter. The stylist did an amazing job, I had seen photos of other similar haircuts she had done, so I was comfortable going in. I hadn't cut my hair short sooner only because I needed to find a decent stylist. How lucky did I get that this stylist posts her work on Facebook!

Well after doing my hair everyday, it became apparent that I could wear my hair down in my face, but not up because it was just a smidge too long. As well when I wore it in my face, it kept poking me in the eyeballs. At the salon I thought I would be able to just push them back, but it was just the right length to keep poking me in the eyes no matter what I did. Then just to keep the fun factor up I started getting crazy amounts of acne on my forward from my hair being down all the time. I started to pin it back, but wasn't digging that look since it felt like I was just growing out a short cut. Which OK I guess eventually I would get there anyway, but I wanted to be able to do a little faux hawk up and have it look done or wear it down when I wanted too. Then the little tail in the back kept bugging me. I felt like I was growing a mullet. It just seemed like two very minor adjustments. Trim the front and back, leave the rest alone.


You can see the back here. I just wanted it trimmed up a bit and the front hanging down. I just wanted that a tiny bit shorter! Not even an inch shorter!


So I went back and showed her pictures of exactly what I wanted to be able to do. This would require just cutting the tail off the back and shaping it and trimming the front to graze just below my eyebrows. No other big changes at all. I told her I wanted to be able to put it up or down. Even more she kept looking at the picture while cutting my hair to make sure it was right. What I ended up with is hacked up hair! Below are the pics I brought her. These are of WhippyCake on Etsy. See how the back is just a bit shorter? See how it can be worn up or down?


I can't even begin to understand what she did. It is purely hacked. I can't wear it down because it isn't even and doesn't even come to my eyebrows. Not even close. Then she cut the sides too, which she was in front of me cutting so I couldn't really see in the mirror what she was doing, so I thought she was maybe just trimming it up. When I did see what she was doing, I told her that it didn't look like the cut I wanted, that is looked too short and that it wasn't going to let me do what I wanted. She insisted it would, that the only reason it looked like that was because she had already put product in my hair. I could tell that this was not the case, but what good would arguing do? It wouldn't make my hair grow back right then and there. I thought OK maybe it's not as bad as I think. Maybe once I get home and play with it, it will look better. Sadly that is not the case. Every time I look in the mirror I want to cry. I feel the anger boiling at the service. I blame her for not doing what I asked. I blame myself for not paying more attention. I just get angry. I have been cranky since getting it cut. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything, that is how upset I am.
This is right after I came home! OMG! I want to cry! I just am so sad when I see this! it looks like I have a square fuzz ball on my head.

The best that I could come up with for doing my hair right now. From the side it's doesn't look as bad as from the front. I hate it from the front!!


I keep telling myself it's just hair. It's just hair. But really we all know that's not true. how many of you would go and chop your hair off? Shave your head? No? Then it isn't just hair. If I hear one more person tell me that, I might just grab the scissors and show them it's just hair myself! I know people are trying to be nice, but look, I'm upset. Nothing they say will make it grow back! Is that supposed to make me feel better? Or they say It doesn't look bad, it's cute! That isn't the point, the point it I hate it. Now I say that, but let me take a moment to add to my irrationality. I have had my hair this short before On purpose at that. I loved the cut when I had it. It's exactly what I wanted. That was over 14 years ago. Today, right now, it is not what I want. I don't look the same way I did 14 years ago. I am not the same person anymore. I don't want that cut anymore! So basically I feel like I am just being a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum over something so insignificant when there are so many more things going on in this world, heck in my own world that this shouldn't really matter! Yet it does.  It's so friggin' stupid! I need to get myself in check!

Or maybe I need to see if I can get extensions on this short hair! This is EXACTLY why I grew out my short hair in the first place - because so many stylists can not do short hair! When it's long and they mess it up, it can be hidden, but when it's short? There's nothing you can do! So I plaster a smile on my face along with a lot more makeup than usual and big earrings and pretend I like what I see. Fun huh? This will go on for I'm guessing the next 3 months. My hair grows at a decent pace, so I am hoping it is just 3 months.

In the meantime, I thought of not posting any pictures of myself. Not allowing anyone to take any photos. But then I thought this is so ridiculous of me! I decided I am going to keep posting away. Maybe somewhere along the way, my confidence will return. You can join me through the growing out stage to get it back to where it was. This should be fun right? Well my point is, there is no point in my being angry. There is nothing I can do. I know saying it is not going to stop how I feel, but I am going to force myself to deal with this positively. I hate negativity and I am finding myself in the negative hole. So now you can have the fun of following me along in my journey of taking this bad cut to something cute. Or at least cute enough! But I thought I would share, since I share just about everything else. Why not share the bad along with the good right? I thought writing this out would make me feel better too. So far it's not working. So far just seeing the pics makes me sad again. All this for hair. Wow do I feel vain! But seriously I wonder if I can get extensions with my hair being this short? hmmmm....