Nail Polish Investment

Some of the 2015 goals in the Murphy household include more exercise, eating healthier, more prayer time and a couple of trips together this year. While all of these goals are in progress, we are trying to find ways to cut down expenses in preparation for traveling costs. We are keeping track of spending, bringing coffees and lunches to work from home and cooking dinner instead of eating out.

One thing that I have completely halted for the past several months has been getting my nails done. Manicures and pedicures are lovely but it is definitely a money saver in the long run. A couple weeks ago, I went to paint my nails at home and realized that nearly every bottle of nail polish that I own had dried up. It was time to invest in some nice nail polish!

These OPI beauties are great because they are the mini-sized bottles. I will be able to use these up over the next year or two. Plus, I can discover my favorite colors so that when it is time to re-buy, I can purchase full-sized bottles. Both the "Neon Revolution" and "Take Ten" sets are from Amazon and cost about $2 per bottle. I found that Amazon had almost every mini-sized OPI set imaginable for anywhere from $5-$10 cheaper than the price you'd find in a beauty store and most came with free shipping. 

I started with these two since they came with many classic colors but added several to my Amazon Wish List for later. Next time, I will be looking at ordering "Shades of Love" or "Skyfall/James Bond" mini set. 

With a suggestion from one of my best friends, I also did some searching at my local Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Saks Off 5th Ave. I ended up finding some beautiful OPI, Essie and Butter nail polishes for about half of the standard cost. I will say though that most of the colors were about a season behind. I had to shift through a lot of flashy glitter polishes to find some more classic bottles.

Cajun Shrimp by OPI was the perfect manicure for Valentine's Day and I am keeping on for my birthday week! I used two coats of polish and covered it with OPI's top coat. I can already tell the quality of the polish and will share more manicures as I try more color options. Best of all, the price for ALL of these nail polishes was less than what one manicure would have cost!!