Category: Nails
November Julep Maven box – The Switch-Up Collection
Dang Julep…getting my box here on November 2nd. And in all new packaging! The shipping box is now plain cardboard with purple stripes. Gone are the white polish boxes – now they’re a shimmery dark gray. I love Julep’s new look.
“The Switch-Up Collection” is November’s theme. The beauty product is What Your Skin Needs Restorative Facial Milk – a lightweight treatment milk with olive oil, jojoba oil, argan oil, coconut oil and squalane. (I’ll save you my husband’s commentary on facial milk.) I couldn’t resist the new matte metallic polishes – I picked Boho Glam “Kerry”, fluted gold matte metallic, and Classic with a Twist “Jo”, brushed silver matte metallic. All Julep Mavens received an extra polish Shake It Up! – It Girl “Melody”, an iridescent, high gloss, glitter top coat. For a treat, there was a Tootsie Roll Caramel Apple Pop. I’m scared to eat real caramel apples, but maybe this one won’t be so bad.
Not a Julep Maven? Leave a comment and I’ll send you a referral email good for a free welcome box!
Stone Cold Says So
Sinful Colors “Stone Cold” reminds me of a granite countertop…who am I kidding? It looks like a granite HEADSTONE.
I lied – I’m still doing Halloween polishes.
“Stone Cold” is a cool slate jelly with an iridescent shimmer and black square glitter. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and underneath “HK Girl”.
Ugh…daylight savings time ended. While my body loves being back to “real time”, the early sunset doesn’t give me time after work for pictures in natural light. For now, you’ll have to enjoy the weird fluorescent lighting in my living room.
The Wicked Witch of the East
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OK – this is it – the last Halloween manicure you’ll have to see this year!
We’re that lame family that sometimes does theme costumes. Not every year, but we’ve done it more than once. This year – the theme is The Wizard of Oz. My son is a flying monkey, my husband is the Tin Man, my daughter is the Wicked Witch of the West and I am the Wicked Witch of the East. Oh yeah, the dog is Dorothy. By far, I have the easiest costume – all I needed was a witch hat, striped socks and ruby slippers. Oh…and my nails did.
I used Jamberry Stripes and Chevrons on my thumb and pinky. I used Zoya “Chyna” on my middle three fingers. (This is two coats over Zoya Armour.)
Do you like my doorstop? My little sister got it for me a few Xmases ago…
Slutty Pumpkin
If you’re a fan of How I Met Your Mother, you know all about Slutty Pumpkin. For some reason, Slutty Pumpkin is all I can think of when I look at this glittery Halloween paint job.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I painted two coats of Sally Hansen “Sweet Nectar”. By itself, it’s totally traffic cone orange – but it’s much more festive after a thick coat of Sinful Colors “Splatter Spell”. I was hoping that the orange shards would be…oranger? They are more gold than orange. I topped with a coat of “HK Girl”.
Okay enjoy, because it will probably be another year before I rock orange nail polish again…
Go Batty
Shit! It’s almost Halloween! I better show off my Halloween polishes now…
This is Sinful Colors “Go Batty” – a glow in the dark, baby blue jelly with Silver holographic half-moons. I guess those are supposed to be the bats? I love the finish of these glowing jelly polishes – the colors builds beautifully and the polish naturally fades to a clear border around the edges of the nails – no harsh edges. I did have to do a lot of fishing to get those moon out – I did a lot of shaking and rolling every few nails.
This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and sealed with “HK Girl”.
Taffeta, Darling
Yeah, I took this picture in my car – so?
I had a good reason – I just can’t remember what it was. I think I was afraid it would be raining when I got home from work (it wasn’t). Well, whatever the reason – the lighting in my car was really good today.
This is Julep “Cally” from August’s “Muse Montreal” Collection – festival fuchsia iridescent chrome. I can’t resist a fuchsia. There’s the slightest hint of an orange shimmer – it reminds me of those color shifting Taffeta Prom Dresses from the 80s/90s…I never had one, but Seventeen Magazine was full of them.
This is two coats with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and “HK Girl”. The polish is thin, but gives great coverage.
October Beauty Box 5 – Think Pink
Oh. Another Breast Cancer Pink-themed Beauty Box. *Groan* Well SHUT MY MOUTH, this Beauty Box 5 “Think Pink” box has some pretty good stuff in it…
Let’s see what we’ve got…a Happy Hands HappyFace Makeup Cleansing Cloth (it’s supposed to remove all your makeup with just water – WHAT?); a Ferro Cosmetics Pink Rhinestone Kabuki Brush (I’m in the market for a new powder brush – this one is SO soft); Styli-Style Perfect Pout Long Lasting Balm Stick in “Playful Pink”; Knotty Hair Ties (this type is so pretty, but they stretch out so easily); and a Nubar Nail Polish Mini in “Pinktober!” (Of course, it’s called that).
I will actually use all this pink stuff – thanks, Beauty Box 5!
Walker Blood
So…my sweet mother-in-law sent me a picture of bloody nails for Halloween inspiration. And then…my friend Angie did bloody nails. I had to try bloody nails!
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and a single coat of RUFFIAN “Sahara”, for a nude look. I picked Sinful Colors “Rich in Heart” for the blood. “Rich in Heart” is a deep, shimmery maroon, as opposed to the usual blood red. They look black in the picture, but you can see the red shimmer on the bottle. (I also did “Rich in Heart” on my toes.) I started off using a big dotting tool for the blood drips, but it was taking forever, so by the third nail, I just painted them with the brush – they ended up looking about the same. Next time, I might try with a paint brush to get better curves. To finish, I sealed them with “HK Girl”.
Maybe it was because I was was watching The Walking Dead while I was doing my nails, but I decided that the blood looks like Zombie Walker blood.
Teal Midnight
Oh Sinful Colors…how I love your bad puns.
This is Sinful Colors “Teal Midnight” from the “Bling it On” Collection. Although it is a HILARIOUS pun, this polish doesn’t look overly teal on my nails. The hue is almost right, but it’s not quite dark enough and a touch too blue. This is just two coats (with Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”), but maybe 5 or 6 coats would give a true teal. If I had to name the color, I’d go with aqua.
It’s not that the polish is sheer – it’s a somewhat goopy jelly, with iridescent glitter suspended in the base. It’s smooth though and not at all bumpy. I can’t wait to try the rest of the blingy polishes.
Halloween Whopper
So…I broke down and ate one of those Halloween Whoppers from Burger King – you know, the one with the black bun? Turns out, the black bun turns your poop green. Not the muted green after a tasty blue snow cone, or the dark green after a spinach salad – but GREEN – bright green. Of course, Buzzfeed is all over it.
Instead of sending poo pictures to my friends and relatives, I figured that the easiest way to communicate the effect of the Halloween Whopper is through my fingernails. Here is is folks, THIS is the color I was stuck with for two whole DAYS. It’s China Glaze “Four Leaf Clover” and it is MAGNIFICENT. Bask in the glory of my poo color.
I’ve had this polish since before I even started this site. Lily picked it out for me for Christmas one year. It’s almost as if she KNEW. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat with “HK Girl”. I got a bit of crusties – I need to be more careful. (I mean on my nails, not on my butt.)