Hello sweeties and a happy Friday to y’all! How has the winter been treating your hands? I know my hands and nails have been truly suffering. I’ve upped how often I do my Beauty Bootcamp (see my post that details my skin & nail care routine), and I make sure I try to keep my cuticles oiled. I make my own cuticle oil, and have been using a rollerball to apply. Even though I make my own, I love trying out all types of cuticle oil and ways of applying.
Ricarda from Rica recently sent me her new Heal + Fortify cuticle oil pen to try out, and I chose the Cotton Candy Dreams scent. First off, here’s what it looks like:
As you can see, it’s already gone haha! So I obviously liked it. 🙂 First, let’s talk about the scent I chose. Cotton Candy Dreams smells DIVINE! It’s like strawberry-infused cotton candy aka a sugar high on your nails. I’ll admit I caught myself smelling my hands more than once.
If Mary Katherine Gallagher’s nails smelled like Cotton Candy Dreams, I understand why she smelled her hands so much!
OK, and onto the oil itself. The ingredients:
- Jojoba oil
- Vitamin E
- Safflower seed oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Calendula flower extract
- Essential oils/ fragrance
So it’s nice and natural! When applied to the nail, it absorbs quickly without leaving a greasy residue which is so important. I really love the pen application too! This was my first time trying oil via a pen, and I gotta say – I’m not going back. You can get into the little nooks and crannies around your skin with the brush tip, and it’s easy to control how much you’re applying. I tend to go crazy with the oil, so I use 1-2 clicks per nail then massage it in.
I definitely noticed a change for the better in my nails. I used up the entirety of one cuticle oil pen, which lasted me just about 8 days. I applied it anywhere from 2-10 times a day because I really wanted to get my cuticles in check. I have to be honest, I don’t tend to see much of a difference between most cuticle oils… I think the biggest difference is in how you apply it. Most oils will have similar ingredients, so you need to shop around to find your favorite applicator, scent, and price!
I do have to say that this Rica pen is a definite winner for me! The pen contains 2 mL of oil, and it comes in 35 different scents from Lemongrass to Green Tea to Birthday Cake and even Monkey Farts (oh, and also unscented too)! It costs $4.25, which is super reasonable. If you’re not a fan of the pen applicator, you can get the oil in rollerball or polish bottle form. I hope she starts stocking refill bottles because I’d love to stock up on some of those yummy scents!
Check out Rica:
Oh and if you like what I’ve got going on with the nails in that pic, I’ll be showing you more on Monday! 🙂
Have you tried Rica’s cuticle oil? Or other pen applicators for oil? What’s your favorite cuticle oil?
great post! i need to try that cuticle oil x
just followed you on here, would be much appreciated if you followed back ❤
Thank you! The oil is great – you won’t be disappointed if you try it!
I haven’t tried hers but KBShimmer & Cirque use the brushes as well and I agree with you, it makes application sooo easy!
I’ve been wanting to try KBShimmer’s oil too. The pens are the best!
Nice review! It sounds really good. I especially like the convenient packaging to it.
Thank you! It really is great – I am loving the pen applicator!!
Great post! The Katherine reference was hilarious!!!
Thanks 🙂 Glad you liked that!
lol forever over that Mary Katherine Gallagher gif. hahahaha. YES.
Haha – I was so happy to have found that 🙂 It fit perfectly!
Omg,I love this post! Expecially Mary spelling her hands. LMAO….I love her!! She’s to funny.
Yay – so glad you liked it!! 🙂 I loved MKGallagher so much – I once went as her for Halloween in high school.
I haven’t tried this one, but I must be the only person who doesn’t like the pen applicator! LOL! I much prefer just dropping the oil on my nails or applying with a doe foot applicator. Great review!
Thanks! I love doe foot applicators as well, but I usually like those more at night. I like using the pen during the day because it doesn’t release as much oil and absorbs much quicker!
I’m always on the look out for good cuticle oil. I’ll have to give this one a try!
Yes – you definitely should! It’s amazing!!
Great review! I really have started liking the brush tipped pens too because like you say, they get in all the nooks and crannies!
Thanks! Aren’t the pens great?!
I just bought some of these too! I ordered the Toasted Marshmallow and Birthday Cake scents, and I totally agree that the scent is probably why I keep remembering to use them haha. They smell so good!
Oooh, those are the other ones I want to try out!!
The pen applicator looks so handy. I love what’s going on on your middle nail here too!
The pen really is handy! Thanks 🙂 I’ll be showing better pics of my mani on Monday, so stay tuned 😉
I love a good cuticle oil that smells nice. Trouble is, I’d probably want to lick this one off my fingers and that couldn’t be good!
Haha, I *may* have done that. And yeah, the oil smells much better than it tastes 😉
Nice review. I also like the pen applicator style oils. It gives me more control with the application. Cant wait to see your post on Monday. I have to admit I noticed the manicure first before I started reading this post. =)
Thanks! The pens are so great 🙂
I like pen applicators as well! Also because you can brush it along the underside of your nails, especially my thumbs sometimes have terrible dry skin there.
YES! My thumbs tend to get really dry along the underside of the nails as well.