Last Saturday I attended the New Girl Expo in Los Angeles. The event, a one-stop shop fashion hub, was created to connect women of all styles to the trendiest beauty resources and stylish vendors. As a first-time guest, I was excited to see what kind of nail goodies I would find. I scored big time.

New Girl Expo provided me a very generous goodie bag that was stuffed with a few samples from vendors and a little extra something.

In it, was this beautiful glitter polish called, “Love Marilyn” by China Glaze ($5). This is what three coats of the polish looks like. Love Marilyn is perfect for the holidays!

At the event I was introduced to a very affordable makeup brand called City Color Cosmetics. Here is a swatch of their brown polish called Chocolate ($3).

I was able to reach a desired opacity  and a nice shine after just two coats. The polish has a sort of a slow dry time, but it’s nothing a bit of fast-dry top coat can’t fix. I’m pretty happy with the results of this low-cost polish.

Another gem I stumbled upon was Nailed Kit, an easy-to-use nail decal system.

It was a true pleasure to meet the founder behind the product, Rachel Kim. Lucky for me, my New Girl Expo goodie bag had a sample of the water slide nail art decals. I clearly got a little excited and tested the sample before taking a photo of the whole thing intact.

This was my first time ever using a nail decal of any sort. How do these work? Think of it as a temporary tattoo for your nail. Dip the decal is warm water, peal it off and apply.

I had a some slight application issues, like accidentally not cutting close enough to the image to get precise application (even though the directions instruct you to do so). That will definitely subside with some getting used to.

The best part of Nailed Kit is the adorable design you’re left to show off. How cute is this party hat?

What do you think of these nail finds? Let me know in the comments below.