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?