MURICA!
It looks like I got into a fist fight with Uncle Sam and ripped off his testicles with my bare hands!
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. “Tokyo Pearl” is a tricky polish – It goes on smooth, but because of the pearly finish – it shows every brush stroke. I applied a thin layer of Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty” to the tips for extra silver glitter, then streaked on Julep “America”. I was going for a stripey gradient with “America”, but I don’t think I had any other choice. This is one of my oldest Julep polishes, so there’s only about a third of a bottle left and it is starting to get dry. (Time to buy some nail polish thinner and see how that goes.) I did manage to get a few star glitters, but I wasn’t particularly fishing for them.
I finished with “HK Girl”. “America is such a sharp glitter, that I can still feel the edges in a few places – all the better to scratch with.
Baby, You’re A Firework
Yeah, I referenced a Katy Perry song. Go ahead and make fun…bitch, my nails are fabulous.
The patriotism continues with Julep “Fireworks” – a red, white, and blue multidimensional glitter top coat. I used Sinful Colors “Keira Blu” (like Keira Knightley?) – a sheer, shimmery blue. I was able to get full coverage with 2 coats – I love getting full coverage out of sheer polish – it adds so much more dimension to the color.
I used Sinful Colors Base Coat (it’s almost empty!) and “HK Girl” over the glitter. I also did plain “Keira Blu” on my toenails – I’ve got another trip to Schlitterbahn coming!
Patriotic Jelly Sandwich
Once a year, it’s totally expected to wear red, white and blue fingernail polish – the week leading up to Independence Day.
This is my first successful “jelly sandwich”. I used Sinful Colors “Prized Plume” (blue) and Julep “Tiffany” (red) for the jellies. I used Sinful Colors “Star Blast Off” for the glitter, sandwiched between layers of jelly polish. This is a glitter/jelly/glitter/jelly sandwich – 4 layers…or 6 if you count the Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”.
“Star Blast Off” gave me LOTS of stars. I was very pleased that I only had to go fishing for stars a few times.
Jesus take the wheel when I actually have to get all this glitter off my nails. I am not looking forward to that…
Sparkling Water
How unexpected – I thought that Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Sparkling Water” was a microglitter, but it’s a shimmer – sparkling turquoise water with a violet shimmer. It might even be sheer enough for jelly experiments. “Sparkling Water” would also go well with “Mermaid’s Tale” – Sally really does do turquoise the best!
This is two coats of “Sparkling Water” with Orly Bonder and “HK Girl”. It’s a good, smooth polish, even though I suspect the bottle is rather old, since it was on clearance at Walgreen’s. I don’t own many Triple Shines, but I might start grabbing more on clearance – even though they’re one of Sally’s cheapest polishes, they do well.
Jelly Experiment
My Sinful Binge included several jelly polishes – so now it’s time to experiment.
Sinful Colors “Go Go Girl” is a luscious red jelly and “Mamasita” Pinata Blast is Blue, Pink, Red and White Matte Confetti Glitter. I wanted to do a “jelly sandwich” with the two. On each finger, I tried different combinations of layers of the two. “Go Go Girl” is more opaque than I expected, so it was really hard to see “Mamasita” underneath (see my ring finger). I definitely need to find a sheerer red polish for my jelly experiemnts, but I absolutely love it by itself (my pinky).
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and ended with “HK Girl”. This combination of polishes lasted the whole weekend with minimal edge wear – I LOVE Sinful Colors!
Ulta Adventure
Oh the disappointment when one opens up an online order and one of the items is damaged! I ordered 2 NYX AVANT POP palettes (BOGO50%off) – and the “Art Throb” palette was shattered. Luckily, the “Surreal My Heart Palette” was in fine shape. I also ordered a clearance Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in “Woodstock” (hot pink!) for $10 and 2 Palladio lip stains – “rose” and “mocha”.
Because my order was over $40, I got the NYX Beauty Break Set, with Love in Paris Palette in “Merci Beaucoup”, Doll Eye Mascara in “Extreme Jet Black”, Butter Gloss in “Maple Blondie” and Slide On, Glide On, Stay On & Definitely a Turn On Waterproof Extreme Shine Eye Liner. (I like this set better than what I actually paid for.) For samples, I chose skincare and got CoTZ Face Sunscreen and Garnier Nourishing Cleansing Oil.
This morning, I went on an adventure to replace the shattered palette and use my $10 off ANYTHING coupon to get another Urban Decay Naked Skin BB Cream. The Copperwood Ulta didn’t have the paletter OR the BB Cream. I did pick up another Zoya Remove+.
The Willowbrook Ulta did have the NYX palette – phew.
Lily also begged for Sally Hansen “Sweet Nectar”. It was 79 cents on the clearance aisle, so why not. It’s sickeningly orange, but you never know when it will come in handy.
It’s not Saturday without a quick trip to Bath & Body Works. I’d been jonesing to experience the Semi Annual Sale in person, since I’ve been ordering online.
It was a fairly conservative trip – 2 50% off 3-wick candles, plus a metal candle holder. Just 5 50% off Hand Soaps – I just needed enough to use my $10 off $40 coupon.
I need a nap – I am plumb tuckered out.
Sinful Binge
Father, it’s been 5 weeks since my last Sinful Colors 99 cent sale purchase.
I didn’t even know there was a sale this week, until I caught a whiff of it on Instagram. I binged and made trips to 2 different Walgreen’s to fulfill my urges. On my lunch trip, I got Sinful Colors “Baila Baila”, “Copper Pot”, “Keira Blu”, “Otaku Anime”, “Fierce Fiesta”, “Endless Blue”, and “Mamasita”. I also got Sally Hansen Triple Shine in “Sparkling Water” for $1.29. I even had $1 in Balance Rewards.
I made a second stop to look for some red jellies that I looked up online – I got “Go Go Girl” and “Ruby Glisten” – because I totally need more red polish.
I can stop any time. Really.
June Birchbox – Say Yes!
Why is Birchbox all of a sudden taking so long to get here? Is it because everyone I know gets one now?
Instead of picking this month’s curated box from “The Tig” (I was disappointed that it wasn’t curated by Tig Notaro), I went with the regular “Say Yes!” box, picking COOLA SPF Sport 50 in “Mango” (water resistant – yay!) as my sample choice. Also inside my box: Comptoir Sud Pacifique “Vanille Extreme” (not quite Atelier, but similar); Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream (I am starting to love these expensive skin care samples – my skin hasn’t looked this good since the last millennium); Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in “Mulberry”; Vasanti Cosmetics Brighten Up! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator (I got a sample of this in my last Birchbox order – LOVE it); and a SARAHPOTEMPA Darby clip – very bright and 80s.
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.
Forever Young
Someday, I’ll learn how to use white polish without getting crusty edges around my cuticles…someday.
This here, is Delush Polish “Forever Young”, from their Downton Abbey themed Collection – “Downton A-List”. I’ve never seen a second of the show, but when I caught this mini on sale, I thought it was ridiculously cute. It’s a white base with opalescent and mint glitter, with a generous helping of red hearts. There are so many hearts that I would get 1-2 on each brushful – so nice.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and topped with “HK Girl”. Next time, I’ll try not to slop it all over my cuticles.
Summer Semi Annual Sale: Online Haul
Slowly, but surely, I’m getting over the fact that there isn’t a Bath & Body Works overly close to my new office. I’m soothing my pain with online shopping…
I was disappointed by the dearth of 75% off products on the website, but I did find a few things that sparked my interest. I got 3 50% off Aromatherapy Body Wash & Foam Baths (really just the foam bath part) for my husband – 2 “Lemon Zest” and a “Tangelo Woods”. The “Lemon Zest” is absolutely the best smelling bubble bath I’ve ever smelled.
The big draw for this sale was the return of classic scents (all $3.50 each) like “Plumeria”, “Country Apple”, “White Tea & Ginger”…and “Juniper Breeze”. “Juniper Breeze” unfailingly reminds me of my mother – she wore this back when the scent was called “Juniper with Aloe”. I still have her last bottle – just days after she died, I packed up all of her body spray and bubble bath to take home with me. (My sister doesn’t use either and wanted it out – it was a massive amount.) As I slowly used up all her products, she was with me a little. 10 years later, I still cling to this nearly empty bottle of “Juniper with Aloe”. Even though I now have a whole new bottle to use, the old one will still reside on my dresser – a small, but significant reminder.