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Nail Polish & Chocolate

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Lunchtime shopping at Walgreen’s means two things – nail polish and chocolate.

I’ve been waiting and waiting for Sinful Colors to go on sale for 99 cents – finally! I showed restraint and picked up four – “Zest of Times”, “Prized Plume”, “Social Ladder” and “Star Blast Off”. I also grabbed a clearance Revlon Parfumerie “Italian Leather” for $1.69.

I also came across Lindt Chocolates for half off – Mother’s Day leftovers? Sweet Baby Jesus, these are some of the tastiest chocolates I’ve ever had.

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I couldn’t resist trying the two toppers over my current Jenna Hipp “Rose Tart”.

“Prized Plume” is on my middle finger – it is a beautiful iridescent peacock blue. “Zest of Times” is on my ring finger – it adds a glassy glimmer and makes it look like a dupe of “Forget Now”.

Which one do I play with first?

 

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Rose Tart

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Jenna Hipp “Rose Tart” is exactly the same color as the Knockout Roses along my back fence. It’s a creamy pink with a touch of red. As a matter of fact, when my husband first saw it, he said, “Bloody.” He thought it was blood red. I’d be concerned, but we constantly argue about colors.

I am quite impressed by the Jenna Hipp formula. It went on smoothly, with almost one coat coverage. I started with Orly Bonder and then painted 2 coats of “Rose Tart”, just to be sure. I topped with “HK Girl” and although I got 1-2 bubbles, it was mostly trouble free.

I am looking forward to trying the rest of the colors…

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Sephora Math

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Sometimes shopping at Sephora takes a bit of math to get the best deal.

I totally fell in love with the Tory Burch perfume I received a few weeks ago. Since they didn’t have it at Ulta, I decided to break down and order it from Sephora…but $28! Daaaaang, girl. But I also noticed that Tory Burch was one of the options in the Spray of Sunshine Perfume Sampler, which was only $24. Bingo! So I ordered the set online and it got here Friday. They were also offering a Fresh & Floral Perfume Sampler for free with each $25 purchase. So I added a $1 hair tie to my order to get more samples. (I’m pretty sure that’s what those hair ties are for…)

Also inside the Spray of Sunshine Perfume Sampler: Chloe “Love Story” (old ladyish, gardenia?); Elizabeth and James “Nirvana White” (Fuck you, Olsen Twins – although marginally better than “Nirvana Black”, it smells like a knockoff, like one of those designer impostors at the grocery store); Giorgio Armani “Si” (Spicy flowers, smells like the lobby of the Palazzo in Vegas); Marc Jacobs “Daisy Dream” (Reminds me of a Mother’s Day Bouquet – bright, but cheap); and “Stella” by Stella McCartney (Love this old fashioned rose scent – already own it). Inside the Fresh & Floral Sampler: another Tory Burch; another “Nirvana White”; another “Love Story”, Burberry “My Burberry” (smells like new leather shoes – why?); Dolce & Gabbana “Light Blue” (Douchey); philosophy “live joyously” (literally smells like nothingness); Dior “Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet” ( Citrus, but flowers – good job, Natalie Portman) and my personal favorite of the bunch – Atelier Cologne “Mandarine Glaciale” (The ultimate in unisex – like masculine & feminine at the same time – orange spray, but an underlying sexual scent that’s almost obscene). For my regular 3 samples, I picked Atelier Cologne “Orange Sanguine” (I lucked out and got 2 – I already own it, but so?); Buxom “Show Some Skin” Weightless Foundation”; and Urban Decay “Naked Skin” Ultra Definition Powder Foundation.

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I always have a trick up my sleeve. I volunteered for the monthly trip to Costco, knowing it would be a perfect opportunity to hit Ulta and Sephora first. Of course, I didn’t tell Logan this until we were almost to Ulta. Oh, the moaning! All I needed was more Zoya Remove+, but he also talked me into buying him a new eos lip balm in “Lemon Drop”. I must say, the kid’s got taste. We then zipped into Sephora to get my Tory Burch Rollerball. Nothing else caught my eye.

I was surprised that something did catch my eye at Costco – the Jenna Hipp “The New Candies” mini nail polish collection. I’ve never heard of Jenna Hipp, but it was only $7.99! It included 8 creme polishes in yummy sounding colors: “Marshmallow Fondant”, “Crème the Cantaloupe”, “Pink Lady Finger”, “Violet Éclair”, “Très Parfait”, “Thin Mint”, “Rose Tart” and “American Pie”.

So that’s Sephora Math – any questions?

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We are Living in a Material World

…and I am a Material Girl. I was totally bananas for Madonna in the 80s. Of all the accessories that I had as a kid, I wish I still had my ‘Boy Toy’ belt. Yeah, I was probably 7 or 8 at the time, singing “Like a Virgin”, wearing that ‘Boy Toy’ belt…pretty normal, I’d say.

This is Ulta “Material Girl”, a deep plum microglitter that shifts to fuchsia. (This isn’t the color I would expect for Material Girl – I would have expected a pink satin, like Madonna’s dress in the video?) I know I have enough fuchsia nail polish to paint the Astrodome, but I can’t NOT buy them. BUY ALL THE FUCHSIA!!!

I used Orly Bonder as the base coat, but I didn’t use a top coat – I can’t resist the fine, gritty texture. I find myself unconsciously stroking my fingernails throughout the day.  I wonder if I look like a psycho?

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May Julep Maven Box – Set Sail

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I received this month’s Julep box while I was at Frightmare, so either the 1st or 2nd – nice job USPS.

This month’s collection is called “Set Sail” and i just wasn’t feeling any of the polish colors. They were all cremes in nautical colors – white, red, navy blue – blah. Instead, I picked two of their new “Feels Like Velvet” eye shadow duos: “Moonlight & Starlight” (Matte lilac grey & white sand shimmer) and “Luck & Magic” (Metallic boysenberry & taupe with gold shimmer). Ooooh…and salt water taffy!

I’m hoping for some good polish colors next month.

Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a FREE Spring Welcome Box with code SPRING!

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Law of Attraction

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As much as I was sad to see The Black Lodge Redux go, it had to go – it looked like shit.

I was still pooped, so I went for something simple – a quick coat of Orly Bonder, 2 coats of Formula X “Law of Attraction” and then “HK Girl”. This is my first Formula X polish – it is a good, full coverage shimmer + glitter – not too thick, not too thin. The base is a holographic gold shimmer with different sizes of royal blue glitter.

It was worth the $2.99 clearance price, but I really can’t see paying the full price – $12.50.

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Frightmare & The Black Lodge Redux

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Didn’t I tell you that I was going to redo my Black Lodge nails for Texas Frightmare Weekend?

They turned out even better than the first time! Again, I used Sinful Colors Base Coat with Sinful Colors “No Text Red” on my thumb and pinky. I added Julep “Kirby” for a broken glass effect on my pinky. I used Jamberry “Black and White Chevrons” on my index finger and I cut letters out of “Newsprint on Neutral” for my ring finger. I then used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure “Sweet Talker” for a nude look. I used Hare Polish “The Red Room” on my middle fingers, but it chipped IMMEDIATELY, even with the “HK Girl”. It almost ruined my weekend.

Not to brag, but Jennifer Lynch LOVED my nails!

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This year’s Frightmare was the best ever – I got to meet Audrey Horne herself, Sherilyn Fenn. She is adorable!

I also got to meet Jennifer Lynch, not only the daughter of David Lynch, but she also wrote The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer. I had bought my third copy of the book for her to sign on Amazon – having lent out my previous copies, which of course, disappeared. (You know who you are.) I won’t be lending out this copy, no sirree!

I was blown a kiss by the Warlock himself, Julian Sands and told Rachel True how much I love Nowhere. All in all, a great weekend.

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Of course, we had to make a stop at Ulta. They must be planning a major reset, because all of their polish was $2 and all of their lip stuff was $4. I picked up 3 lip glosses“Toast”, “Mischief” and “Siren”. The polish was really picked over, so I just got “Material Girl” – because of the name, DUH.

I looked for a rollerball of Tory Burch, but they don’t carry it – I guess I need to hit Sephora.

Except for mistakenly asking the waiter at Outback for an Awesome Blossom instead of a Bloomin’ Onion, it was a fun and mostly stress-free trip!

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Cherry Juice

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I’ve been scared of jellies for so long, but sometimes you just have to pull up your big girl britches and do it.

I was scared of how sheer and see-through they are…and how hard they are to apply. I never should have worried about that with Zoya “Paloma”a sheer deep fuchsia-berry with a buildable jelly gloss finish. FUCHSIA! It went on smoothly, without streaks. This is two coats and you can still see the nail line. It might take 3-4 coats to get absolute coverage. My one nitpick is that the polish immediately pulled away from the tips as I put on the top coat. I used Zoya Anchor and Zoya Armor, so next time I am going to try “HK Girl” to stop the dragging.

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Did you know that Deep Woods Off! melts nail polish? I didn’t…until I found out the hard way yesterday, while wiping down my daughter and her BFF. Julep “Coretta” became all sticky and melty and I had to take it off…

This is Julep “Cassidy” from this month’s Paradise Collection. It’s almost exactly Tiffany Blue – I just need a white satin bow.

Again, I used Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and guess what? NO BUBBLES! I’m liking this base coat…I used “HK Girl” for the top coat – super smooth and shiny…I wonder how it would look with some silver glitter?

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April Beauty Box 5 – Bloom

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I totally forgot to post this month’s Beauty Box 5 – “Bloom”.

This is an…interesting…box. Inside my box – Lasting Smiles Passionfruit Mango Organic Lip Balm (Lasting Smiles funds cleft surgeries for children in the developing world); Dancin’ Goat Hula Bliss Body Lotion (Mmmm, goat’s milk lotion); Incoco (not to be confused with Nanacoco?) Nail Polish Applique Set (these don’t require heat like Jamberry, hmmmm…); Style Essentials TwinGloss (2 colors in one tube); and 3 foil packets of First Aid Beauty Facial Cleanser.

I can’t decide whether or not to keep Beauty Box 5 or not. The products are really weird and from brands I’ve never heard of. Sometimes the lotions smell off, like they’ve gone bad. Any opinions out there?