Month: July 2014
Pink Flamingos
If Babs Johnson was going to pick a nail polish – it would be Julep “Vicki”!
Julep wasn’t kidding when they “Vicki” as pink flamingo crème – my fingers look like plastic yard flamingos! “Vicki” is a hard polish to work with. It is streaky in one coat, but two coats is too much and it pools in the cracks between my nail and finger. I was a good girl and started with Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, but it is almost empty, so it was goopy. I’m going to try to get one last use out of it, but not sure I have enough for all 10 nails. After two coats, I topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash, which I needed, because my washing machine was in the process of breaking down while I was painting my nails and I unexpectedly had to get sopping jeans out of the machine shortly after I painted them.
I like the concept of plastic pink flamingo nails, but the color is too bright for me – my nails are almost neon. Next time, I’ll try “Vicki” with a glitter or other special effect top coat to tone it down a bit.
Red Sticker Fever
Yup…I went again. I picked a different location to see what goodies they had left from the massive Ulta clearance…I was not disappointed.
I decided to try Ulta “Citrus Rose” Rejuvenating Bath & Shower Gel ($2.97 down from $9.50). I’m gonna be pissed if I love it, because I’ll never find it again. I also got a compact folding brush for my purse. I’m tired of rushing out of the house and realizing that my children look like Little Orphan Annie.
The best deals were in nail polish. I found Sparitual “Improvisation” ($2.97 down from $12), China Glaze “Bling it on” ($.97 down from $8.50), 2 China Glaze “Scattered & Tattered” ($.97 down from $8.50) – 1 for me and 1 for my BFF because it appears to be a dupe of her favorite Sinful Colors polish, Sally Hansen “Fruit-Ta-Ta” ($1.49 down from $2.99) and Ulta “Pinata Yada” ($.47). Including my $3.50 off coupon, I spent $9.53 at Ulta.
I also stopped by Big Lots to take advantage of their 20% off for members day. Besides Pop-Tarts and Veggie Sticks, I found My Beauty Spot “Lux Velvet Effect Nail Art Kit”. It is supposed to make my nails look and feel like crushed velvet. I am skeptical, yet intrigued. For $2.80, I can take a chance…
July Birchbox – Power Up
I got my Birchbox so quick this month – I just got the shipping notice yesterday!
July’s box is a collaboration with Women’s Health Magazine called “Power Up”. Look how cute the box is – no plain brown box this month! There’s even a card in my box for a free subscription to Women’s Health Magazine. I’ll probably go ahead and send it in, even though I’ll probably never read it. My kids constantly need pictures for collages at school and the only magazines I get are Consumer Reports and IKEA catalogs. Their collages have been pretty lame.
Also inside my box: Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain in “Sugar” (I got to pick the color – I love it when Birchbox does this!), Harvey Prince Singular Scentsations “Imperial Gardenia” (It smells SUPER old lady), NAOBAY Body Radiance Lotion (very mild smell, thank GAWD), Number 4 “Super Comb Prep & Protect” (yes! more tiny spray bottles of stuff for my hair), and Real Chemistry “Luminous 3 Minute Peel” (looking forward to trying it).
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Lady Deathstrike
I’ve decided that these fingernails make me Lady Deathstrike. Oh, you didn’t know that in addition to being an amateur manicurist, soap hoarder and makeup junkie…that I’m also a nerd? And a giant dork.
Julep “Braiden” is one of the new polishes that I received in July’s box – The Poolside Collection. Julep describes it as graphite stardust (textured matte glitter), but I guess adamantium is probably trademarked or something.
No base coat or top coat – just 2 coats of “Braiden”. It dried within seconds and only has minimal edge wear after 24 hours. Great formula!
Between Julep’s Stardust and Zoya’s Pixie Dust, I’m starting to really like these textured polishes.
July Julep Maven Box – The Poolside Collection
Finally…GOSH! At least Julep was nice enough to send me an email letting me know that my box had shipped late…
July brings us “The Poolside Collection”. It turns out that I did sign up for My Maven Customized boxes last month, so I chose the “Classic with a Twist” box, so I could get “Bare Body Milk”. It smells great and is cooling to the skin. I kept “Vicki” – Pink flamingo crème – but swapped out “Kelsey” for “It Girl” “Braiden” – Graphite stardust (textured matte glitter). The “treat” was a few tootsie rolls. Come on, Julep – at least Pixi Stix are REAL candy!
No add-ons or mystery items this month…
I’m so excited to try the flamingo polish!
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a special 5 piece Welcome Box with code SHIPSHAPE!
The Perfect Nude
Say hello to RUFFIAN “Sahara” from the Endless Summer Collection….the perfect nude.
Well, the perfect nude for ME anyway. It’s almost a perfect match for my skin. It’s almost freaky looking – like I don’t have any fingernails at all. It’s like that nude patent pump trend from last year – to me, it looked like the illusion of no feet. Now I have no fingernails!
After starting with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I did just one coat of “Sahara”. It was a bit streakier than “Blue Lagoon”, but since I cut my nails, I didn’t have to worry about peeling ridges. I topped with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat. These Revlons are quickly becoming my favorites!
Ipsy Redemption
The squeaky wheel gets the grease…
Actually, the saying should be that the “polite” wheel gets the grease. See, there was a bit of a debacle with last month’s Ipsy bag. The Be A Bombshell “Lash Out Mascara” was stinky. It smelled like a diaper full of burning tires. I tried it once and it didn’t make me go blind, but the smell put me off and I trashed it. Instead of posting a barrage of complaints on every social media platform (I literally saw HUNDREDS), I sent a polite note to IpsyCare through their website. Within a few days, I got a polite response and a notice that they were sending me 2 Be A Bombshell products! Now THAT’S how you do customer service.
I received a deluxe sample of “It’s So Big” Volumizing Mascara to replace the stinky mascara. It smells fine! I also received a full size tube of “Last Call Girl” lip gloss – it’s bright ass pink!
Kudos, Ipsy!
The Dude Abides…and Glitters…
This fingernail polish really pulls the room together…
Behold Funky Fingers “Gnarly, Dude”. It’s a solar polish that is supposed to change color in sunlight.
Indoors, “Gnarly, Dude” is a pink jelly with a veritable Hobby Lobby Bukkake of glitter. (I just want Hobby Lobby to be forever linked with “bukkake”, kinda like what happened with “Santorum”. Please don’t Google “bukkake”, Grandma.) There’s silver glitter, pink glitter, holographic hex glitter, black hex glitter – every kind of glitter, just globbed on my fingernails.
I suspected it was a specious claim, but “Gnarly, Dude” proved me wrong – it did EXACTLY what it was supposed to! Sunlight turned the pink jelly dark purple – almost black. In fact, this picture was taken after cloudy sun. I went outside at high noon full sun and my nails were very nearly black.
I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat in case of staining. I covered with a thick coat of Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, but it still didn’t smooth the curling edges of the hex glitter. If you like smooth nails, this is not the polish for you.
This is a great summer polish, but the hex glitters do peel off easily, leaving blank spots. Luckily, it mends easily with a little dab from the brush.
How to Ruin your Carpet
So I’ve heard about this happening with Julep polishes, but I never thought it would happen to me…
I didn’t realize that the neck of the bottle had broken in shipping. As I attempted to pop the overcap off of Julep “Sabrina” to swatch the top, it snapped off in my hand….and sprayed bright orange polish all over my leg and bedroom floor. SONOFABEEEEETCH!
So pouring half a bottle of polish remover on my carpet seemed to do the trick – I was able to get the polish out, but there is a faint orange tinge if you really look close.
Be warned! Check your Juleps…and open over a table or put a tarp down or go outside or something. At least this was a polish I had only paid $2 for….
Ulta Clearance
I held back and held back, but the call was too strong today. I had to see what was left of the Ulta clearance sale.
I found the Urban Decay 2012 “Feminine Palette” for $16. I grabbed one for me and one for my BFF. I knew there were a few duplicate shades – I already have “Skimp” and “Gunmetal” in my “Mariposa” palette, but no big deal – I can always use more!
I grabbed 3 NYX Chunky Dunk Hydrating Lippies in “Berry Mojito”, “Cherry Smash” and “Happy Buddha” for $1.59 each. I also got 2 Ulta Double Duty Lip Stain and Balm in “Drama” and “Suspense” for $4 each. My lips will be bright and well hydrated!
Of course, a $3.50 coupon – I like them so much more than the 20% off one item ones.
I was showing my husband my haul and he was shocked that there was no nail polish. Oh ye of little faith…there just wasn’t any polish cheap enough!