As many of you know we went on a weekend cruise last weekend for Nakizzle's 15th Birthday. (A side benefit of living in FL are the cheap cruise prices we can snag!) Nakizzle didn't want to have a traditional Quinceañera party and asked if she could do a cruise instead. While I would have love to have seen her have a traditional celebration, it's her birthday, so we let her have it her way.

Right before we set sail

Nakizzle's decorated room thanks to our room steward

I was feeling so sick this night, added about a pound of makeup, pasted a smile on my face and off I went. I had been looking forward to wearing my Robert Rodriguez Target/Neiman Marcus dress since before the sale even started at Target! I so love this dress, sick or not, nothing was going to keep me from wearing this dress or attending Nakizzle's Birthday dinner!

With Juan

The Dolphin's at Atlantis

We did the dolphin encounter. I was feeling so sick that I just layed in a beach lounger sleeping under a towel. I felt so bad for everyone that I was sick, but I think everyone had a good time. You can see here no makeup vs. the pound of makeup in the picture above. At least the dolphin detracts from how I look! LOL

I woke up early the next morning so I took a walk to the LIDO deck and grabbed some hot tea and watched the sun come up

The sun starts to come up over the Bahamas while we head back to Florida

The sun is finally up as we make our way home

All in all sick or not, it was a nice time and flew by. Of course it would be my luck that I go on a cruise and get sick! LOL Darn sinuses! Fortunately it's just a head cold, but darn if this thing doesn't want to try to keep me down! (Although I am waiting to see if it is strep B since John was sick last week and found out on Monday it was Strep B all along!) I went to the office today and did my work and now I am just looking forward to bed again! I need to kick this in time for a friend's Birthday dinner tomorrow night! But of course my mind keeps working and I'm thinking Cult Cruise next year? Who's with me?

It's official! The new collection is finally here! After weeks and weeks of delays, the collection is now available for purchase! See the press release info below and get your set today!

SHOP CULT NAILS NOW!!! CULT NAILS ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL RELEASE It's our 2nd Anniversary! Grab the new 2nd Anniversary Special Release NOW! This release includes three new colors;  TEMPEST - a pure white, high gloss, creme:  BLAZE - a gold and copper glitter: and FETISH - a black polish with a wax look finish! There's also a FREE GIFTwith purchase, while supplies last!  See details below! This 2nd Anniversary Special Release collection comes with three colors:  Tempest, Blaze, and Fetish.  For a limited time (while supplies last) each bottle of Blaze purchased will come with a free gift.  The free gift will be either a pair of cubic zirconia earrings, a pair of 1/2 carat genuine diamond earrings (2 pairs will be given away), OR 1 pair of 1 carat genuine diamond earrings (1 pair will be given away).  FREE GIFT ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!  Thank you all, so much, for making this second year absolutely amazing! FREE Cult Nails                                                                            http://shop.cultnails.com

Preview pricing will be offered with the purchase of the entire collection for $30 from now through Sunday January 27th at 11:59PM EST. That is a savings of more than 15%! As part of our 2 year anniversary celebration, each bottle of Blaze will include a free gift of CZ earrings. As an added surprise three bottles will have an actual pair of real diamond earrings. 2 will be a pair of 1/2 carat diamond earrings valued at about $700 and 1 will be a pair of 1 carat diamond earrings valued at about $1600!!! I'm so excited and can't wait to see who gets a real pair of diamond earrings!! If it's you, please be sure to share the exciting news with us!

Once preview pricing ends, each polish will be available individually at the retail price of $12 per bottle. The free gift will continue until they are gone and included with each bottle of Blaze.

We have also added a clearance section on some polishes that are being discontinued. When these polishes are gone, they will be gone! So take a peek at our new clearance section and grab em while you can at an amazingly low price!

And in case that wasn't enough - we are offering free shipping on all orders $50 or more domestic & international from now through January 27th at 11:59pm EST.

Want to see some swatches?

Fetish - You guys have been waiting for this one for so long! This wax look finish has also been likened to a leather finish. It is such a stunning must have black!

Blaze - Think fiery blaze when looking at this one! It is deep copper and gold glitter that seems to dance between each one and a very small dab of silver glitter just to give it that perfect sunny glint. Is it gold? Is it copper? Well it really is both!

Tempest - This is a stunning white glossy creme. It is self leveling and non streaky. When you apply the first coat, you can actually watch it level out before you apply the second coat. Heck you may not even need a second coat! It is very highly pigmented, so medium coats work best with a light touch. This is a must have if you have been looking for a great white that can be used on the nails or for stamping and nail art. I hope you love this one as much as I do.

In December I received the Relogy Acne Treatment System to try out. I was really looking forward to trying this since it's made using natural ingredients without the drying that some other acne treatments have. It also offers a unique no rinse formula that no other acne system offers. I wanted to give this a thorough review so I used it exclusively for 30 days. Below is a breakdown of each product I used and my thoughts. 


Relogy Rinse Free Foam

Ingredients: Rinse-Free Foam Acne Treatment:  Water, Salicylic Acid (from Willow Tree Bark), Benzalkonium Chloride, Sodium Laurel Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Decyl Clycoside, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, PEG-75, Meadownfoam Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methyl Paraben, Propl Paraben, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (orange) Extract, FD&C Blue #1. 

What they say:  Relogy's Rinse-Free Foam penetrates deep into the skin's surface to start clearing acne immediately, while soothing naturals promote a healing, redness reducing, anti-inflammatory effects. Tough on acne bacteria, this product is still gentle, smells great, and feels silky on your skin.  And, it's 100% benzoyl-peroxide free! 

My thoughts: First off let's discuss the smell. I can't quite place it, but it smells kind of like a cleaning product but not really at the same time. I just can't quite describe it, because the smell isn't offensive in any way and smells clean and nice, but just not MY favorite scent. Of course this is completely subjective, so you may like it. 

Relogy states you can use the foam as a cleanser and rinse it away or you can leave it on. I found this an interesting concept, but wasn't sure how I felt about not rinsing away a cleanser. I recently started using Sulfate Free Shampoos, and the 4th ingredient in this is Sodium Laurel Sulfate. This is what makes it foamy. My hair has been so ridiculously healthy since making the switch, it makes me wonder whether I should eliminate this ingredient from all products that touch my skin. So the fact that it is one of the main ingredients in this product AND I can leave it on my skin, made me a little hesitant. But since all my other cleansers to date have SLS as an ingredient, I figured I would use it but just rinse it away. I did this for the first two weeks. And then after a particularly bad break out, I decided to not rinse it away and the results from one day to the next were rather impressive! The acne wasn't completely gone, but pretty darn good. I feel this product definitely reduced the size of the acne and reduced the redness. I am impressed! Smell aside, this is a great product, I plan on keeping on hand.


100% Natural Skin Balancing Lotion


Ingredients:  purified water, certified organic coconut oil, certified organic jojoba, emulsifying wax, glycerin, certified organic coconut milk, allantion, phenoxyethanal.  



What they say: 100% Natural Skin Balancing Lotion is the ultimate side-effect preventer, keeping your skin soft, with just the right level of hydration for smooth, healthy, glowing skin.   

My thoughts: Let's discuss the smell again. Talk about a 360 degree difference! This smells like coconuts! I'm not talking that fake coconut lotion smell (which I also love). I am talking about the real deal, break open a coconut, take a whiff and ahhh smell!  So again this is MY personal take on the scent. But OMG! I love how this smells. It makes me hungry and thirsty every time I use it, which could be a downside, but I just love it. 

How did it perform? Well I tried the Rinse Free Foam with the lotion and without so I could see if I could tell the difference between each product. I feel that the Rinse Free Foam works great with or without the balancing lotion. My skin needs moisture, so the balancing lotion was perfect. I really like how smooth it makes my skin feel and how it smells. I don't feel it added to the effectiveness of the Rinse Free Foam. It doesn't claim to be a moisturizer, but it feels just like one, so I treated it as such.  I believe that everyone should apply moisturizer at least twice a day regardless of age. So this is a great bonus product. On the downside, at 38 I am all about anti aging moisturizers and moisturizers with sun screen. This product has neither benefits to it. I would love them to add a few more products to the line that offer these benefits. But if anti aging is not a concern for you, then this is a great basic moisturizer to use. 

Targeted Spot Treatment with Seaweed Extract

Before: the photo didn't capture just how bad this is. I have about 5 spots across my forehead between my eyebrows. They were tiny and very very red. I have another on my nose and to the side of my nose. My skin is usually pretty good, so these spots become very noticeable to me.

Final Thoughts: I really liked this system. I like that it is made using natural ingredients and it is simple to use. I'm seriously impressed by the Rinse Free Foam. Side note: I recently saw another blogger who has been using the system and will be doing a review soon and I had no idea she was using this product. But she has struggled with acne and has been looking for that magic product. When I saw her, the first thing I noticed was how amazing her skin looked! her acne was clearing up and she was just glowing! I told her how great I thought her skin looked and that's when she told me she was using this product and how much she loved it. She's in her early 20's and not concerned with anti aging in her products just yet, so this is perfect for her. I'll post once her review is up so you can read about her experience.

For me, I would like to see anti aging and sunscreen in this product. I would also like to see an exfoliator. I didn't exfoliate my skin for an entire month using this product and my skin showed it. Granted if I wasn't reviewing this product, I would have exfoliated anyway, but because I wanted to give an honest review of this product, I only used Relogy for a month. I would also like to see them sell each product individually. As much as I love the smell of the Balancing Lotion, I really need something with anti aging benefits and sunscreen. 

Where to buy: Relogy is available on their site: http://www.relogynow.com and retails for $49.95 for a 60 day supply of all three products. I have been using this solely for 30 days now and I have a little more than half left of both the Rinse Free Foam and Balancing Skin Lotion. I have only used the spot treatment as needed and it still feels pretty full. I think the price point for this product is great and if you are struggling with acne flare ups, you may want to give this product a shot. I am really impressed with the overall results I have seen with this product. 

*Products were sent to me for evaluation and review. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Our January release polishes were delayed in filling at the lab. (Is there anything new here?) We plan for delays, but of course even with our planning, they are even more delayed than usual. We were expecting to have them in our hands by mid December, so we could start the photos, sending them to bloggers, getting the marketing materials ready etc... And of course that is already a bit delayed since in the "real" world of marketing these things are done about 3-4 months prior to a release. But we aren't there yet, and the rush is kind of fun. We wanted to do a big bang 2 year anniversary thing, and now our 2 year Cultiversary is here and my polishes are not! GRRR! I should have them next week though. Which means it will be a mad rush to get things done once they arrive! The joy!

So what did we have planned? Well we have a few colors that have been out of stock and should have been completed in November and were also delayed, but will finally here next week. So we wanted to do some kind of 2 year anniversary special and re-introduction on these polishes. But I will keep that under my hat for now. But as soon as we are ready we will announce it!

We are finally releasing our wax finish black lacquer called Fetish. This one was created by Juan over a year ago as a matte black. I was like, yeah yeah whatever! But I grabbed it instead of Nevermore one day and was like what is wrong with my polish? Why is it drying to this waxy looking finish? When Juan explained it was his matte, I was hanging my head for dismissing him months earlier. It was beautiful! I posted on my Facebook page and the response was overwhelming. I even received emails about that black. Finally I had the lab make me a few more and sent them out to some trusted Culties for opinions and again overwhelming response, so we decided to make it part of our line! So it is with great excitement that this one is coming out!

The one color that has been one of the hardest to accomplish is the one coat white every one wants. We are pretty darn close. By "lab standards" it is a one coat white. What that means is it passes all lab tests/requirements to be called a one coat white. (I think the lab hates me now! lol!) For me I would say it is a 1 1/2 coater. By that I mean it is self leveling, so if you paint a coat on and then just leave it while you paint your other nails, don't fuss over it, it self levels out and you actually may not need another coat. I tested this numerous times on my previous dagger length nails and tips and friends and most of the time one coat was fine, sometimes however some nails needed a second coat. My girls love it so much that in a month we are down to less than 1/2 a bottle! We tried a few that had more pigment to be one coat, but then it was just too thick and I just didn't like it. I wanted that buttery smooth consistency our cremes are known for. So I won't claim this is a one coat white, but it is so darn close and I can't tell you just how pleased I am with it! It is just absolutely amazing and I can't wait to unveil Tempest!

The last color is Blaze! It is a combination of gold and copper glitter with a teeny tiny splatter of silver glitter thrown in.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this color. I actually intended on releasing this in December of 2011 and for one reason or another it didn't make the final cut. But like so many other Cult colors, I have been using it repeatedly in mani's and finally just had to release it, since it's one of my favorites.

Then there is the Diamond earrings give away! A friend mentioned putting gemstones like diamonds, emeralds etc inside the polish and making them all fake but one. This was last year WAY before the black diamond polish that has been all over the news! Dang it why didn't I listen to her?!  I spun the idea around and around and just couldn't "ruin" a gemstone in polish. I knew I had to do something, but not sure just what. I have been working on this for about 6 months now and finally I decided we are going to do a test run with earrings on a limited edition polish in January. So basically, attached to each bottle of Blaze will be a velvet pouch. Inside the pouch will be a pair of CZ earrings. BUT inside one pouch will be a pair of 1 carat real diamond earrings valued at about $1700!! AND if that wasn't enough, 2 more bottles will have a pair of real 1/2 carat diamond earrings valued at about $700 each! So that is 3 pairs of real earrings! I am so flipping excited to give these away! We will put in the pouch which ones are real, wrap the burritos, mix them all up and who knows who will end up with the winning pairs! How cool is that? If it goes well, then future collections may feature another gem in one limited edition color! We would love to see this as a regular feature. and include more and more real stones as we go!

There will be an official announcement soon with all the details of our 2 year specials and collection announcement, but I am too excited to keep it to myself any longer! So stay tuned for more soon!

I discovered a lot of new beauty items in 2012 (or at least new to me) and there have been a handful that I continue to reach for just about every day. So I figured why not do a post on my favorite beauty products of 2012.

Mac Cosmetics Face & Body Foundation - $27

Cara Cosmetics Loose Powder - $32

Josie Maran Color Stick - $22

Stila Custom Color Blush - Pink - $20

Urban Decay Naked Palette - $50

L'oreal HiP Studio Secrets Professional Metallic Shadow Duo in Electrified - $8.25 - $8.50

Fresh Sugar - $22.50

Hey Everyone! Ready or not 2013 is here! Can you believe it? Where did the time go? You may have noticed that I've been a bit scarce these last few weeks. Sorry about that. I had some personal things I was dealing with and left me feeling a bit blah about blogging. It's weird, I know so many people who would throw themselves into work when they are worrying about things, I tend to retract and give myself the personal space I need. Ironic since I tend to over share everything else on here! But for this, I just needed it to be me. Maybe I will share one day, but for now, not so much. It's nothing serious, no need to worry, thousands deal with the same thing everyday. But even when you know others are in the same situation, it's so different when it's you. You know? Anyway, I digress, like I said no worries, I guess I just needed a little break.

Now that I am back, I am hoping 2013 shapes up to be the best year yet! Of course I'm working on polishes and our January colors are of course delayed. GRRR! So look for info on the release of our January colors coming soon! I am also working on some reviews and lots and lots of give aways! WAHOO!

Oh and some MAJOR news! If you follow me on Instagram, you already know, but I cut my nails! I'm sure many of you are sitting there thinking "Thank goodness! I don't have to see those stiletto nails anymore!" But not so fast ladies! I know it's not everyone's favorite shape, and that's fine, but I love that shape, so it probably won't be the last time you see that shape on my nails. Just warning ya now! But for now, they are back to their former shape! Let's see how long it lasts.


I'm wearing one to two coats (depending on the nail) of a grey creme. In person it's more blue leaning grey than pictured. This will be released sometime in 2013, I think. I already pushed it back from 2012, so let's see if 2013 sees this beautiful grey.