Letter to Elise
I was excited to try Julep “Elise” – it’s named after one of my very favorite people!
Julep describes “Elise” as indigo with purple microshimmer. It’s yet another dark polish that is difficult to photograph. it was cloudy as hell today and rainy to boot, so this is the best pic I could get – but look at that shine! It’s almost like a comic book.
I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, then two coats of “Elise” I was gonna let it go without a top coat, but it started to bubble anyway. Well, fuck. I waited 20 minutes and went ahead and used Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. The good news is that I didn’t get any additional bubbles and it somewhat masked the ones that were already there. Maybe that’s the secret to Julep – waiting.
February Julep Maven Box – The Afterglow Collection
Julep’s shipping department is on point this month – I got my February box on January 31st!
February’s box is “The Afterglow Collection”. The star of this month’s box is Glow Highlighting Powder – a multitasking marvel designed to play up light and play down wrinkles, discoloration, and pores. (Julep’s words, not mine.) I was intrigued enough to pick it for my box. I also received Illume Face & Eye Brightener in “rise & shine” – which is not what I picked. The choices for the box were “champagne” & “pink” – I think I picked “pink”, but “rise & shine” looks like somewhere in between the two. How odd. I also used my Jules to add Bombshell “Elise” to my box. All Mavens received Classic with a Twist “Hartleigh” – red, pink and white glitter with heart glitter!
I’m excited to try the highlighter and brightener – another great box.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a FREE Valentine’s Day Welcome Box with code BEMINE!
Go Seahawks!
It’s not that I give a shit about the Super Bowl. I don’t. I don’t give a shit who wins – the Seahawks just have better team colors! Oh, and Tom Brady is a douche.
I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat (trying to finish the bottle). On my thumb, I did two coats of Julep “Michelle”. Can you see the bubbles? Someday I will find a quick dry top coat that doesn’t make Julep polishes bubble. On my index finger, I did a coat of Zoya “Remy” and a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash”. On my middle finger, I did two coats of Julep “Serena” – Sapphire for September. On my ring finger, I did a coat of Julep “Michelle” and a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash”. On my pinky, I did two coats of Butter London “Dosh”. I finished them all with a coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.
Looking forward to eating junk food and watching commercials. Hopefully, Katy Perry will have a wardrobe malfunction and my son will run out of the room screaming. He doesn’t like boobies yet.
My Sissy Loves Me
I went over to my little sister’s house yesterday to hold her new baby – a little cutie named Evelyn – and I got to open my birthday present early!
I got excited as soon as I saw the Sephora bag. The first thing I pulled out was a Peter Thomas Roth Rose Anti-Aging Kit with Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Cleansing Gel, Pink Bombshell Lip Balm, Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Gel Mask and a Signature Rose Printed Bag. She knows me so well – almost every year, she gets me something rose scented – my absolute favorite flower scent on the planet. I have never heard of Peter Thomas Roth, but I am excited to try it. I also don’t know what the deal is with plant stem cells being in every product these days. All plants have stems, right?
I reached into the bag again and pulled out the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette – I literally squealed with delight! I had wanted this one so bad…and it smells like chocolate! She doesn’t pay much attention to my beauty product obsessions, but she knows that I like chocolate.
The last thing in the bag was Zoya “Leslie”. She had gotten it in her Allure Beauty Box and knew she wouldn’t use it. I don’t get the Allure Beauty Box, but I might have to start…
She couldn’t have picked more perfect presents for me – she is so thoughtful and picked out perfect presents for me. Good thing I have 3+ months to pick out presents for her that are just as thoughtful…
Love/Hate/Ulta
My 20% at Ulta coupon expires today, so of course I had to use it – I can’t let it go to waste!
After gymnastics, I carted Lily straight to Ulta. I sat her in a stool beside me and started in with the foundation. I knew that I wanted to get Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup – I just wanted to check the colors. I had sampled 3.5, but I wanted to check the lighter colors. Ultimately, I stuck with the 3.5 I also wanted the Good Karma Optical Blurring Blush, but they were out of stock. I went ahead and picked up Naked Skin Beauty Balm in “Light” as well – even though this Ulta still doesn’t have a sample of it out. I, too, like to live dangerously. (I washed my face as soon as I got home and put it on – I like it! It’s light coverage, but blends well and doesn’t accentuate my winter dryness too badly.)
I tried out their new powder foundation – Naked Skin Ultra Definition Powder Foundation, but my skin is too dry right now for a powder foundation. I wanted to get the Naked Skin Ultra Definition Pressed Finishing Powder in “Medium Light” – but of course, that was out of stock, too. That’s what I hate about the Copperfield Ulta – they are always out of stock! They didn’t have the Vice 3 when I wanted it either!
I checked the clearance polish, but nothing jumped out at me. There was another clearance kiosk by the checkout and I couldn’t resist a Revlon Electric Chrome Super Lustrous Lipgloss in “Killer-Watt”, from the Amazing Spider-Man Collection. It rang up $1.97. I tried it this afternoon and absolutely love it.
Luckily, I received another 20% off online only coupon today, so I didn’t bother driving across town – I just ordered the rest of what I wanted off the website. Grrrrrr…the Willowbrook Ulta always has what I want. Luckily, I’m moving offices within the next few weeks and it is just barely close enough to Willowbrook to be able to bop over during my lunch hour…
HEB Enabler
I love my enabler husband. All we needed was yogurt for smoothies, but he let me meander through the cosmetics department first…just in case there was a polish I missed.
Of course there was…I found Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer “Work of Tart”. I also spied a Milani Runway Eyes wet/dry shadow in “Girls Luv Pink”. The sticker on the shadow said $3.34 – a good deal – but it rang up for $1, just like the polish. Score!
Rubberman
I bet you thought I forgot about my beautiful “Scream Supreme Collection” now that the 4th season of American Horror Story is over – nope!
This is Delush Polish “Rubberman”, inspired by the first season of American Horror Story. It’s a deep black jelly with holo glitters embedded. Instead of going slick and shiny, I decided to go matte with Zoya Matte Top Coat. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat, then two coats of “Rubberman” and then one coat of Zoya Matte. It looks amazing, except for the Zoya Matte got a little crusty around my cuticles – blah. The formula is great – the first coat was thin and I was afraid it would be streaky, but the second coat created perfect full coverage.
Only one more Delush to try out…I need buy MORE……
$1 Sucker
I was so proud of myself yesterday – I had gone to Big Lots for lunch snacks for my kids and managed to leave without any polishes…although I did dig through the buckets, I showed restraint. My restraint was gone when I stopped by HEB after work for some tasty, fresh tortillas – I passed an endcap labelled “Final Clearance”. I couldn’t resist any longer.
I got Sally Hansen Sugar Shimmer “Sugar Cloud” & “Mint Tint” (I’ve tried Sugar Coat, but not Sugar Shimmer), Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Scale Up” (is there such a thing as too many flakies?) and Nicole by Opi “Party Bus” from the Carrie Underwood Collection.
When my husband was unpacking the groceries, he took one look inside the polish bag and groaned, “Really???” Uh oh…I must have crossed some imaginary line…
Déjà vu
Imagine that – wearing a birthstone polish in the correct month!
With all the polishes I have, I guess I shouldn’t repeat – but I just had to break out Julep “Betty” – Garnet for January again. Here’s what it looked like the first time…
This time, I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat – gotta have my nails last longer than 24 hours. I can’t believe how far I’ve come in the last year – base coats, top coats, nail art. I never would have tried that stuff before I started this site!
Neither Fast, Nor Furious
So I decided to humor my husband and do the muscle car manicure that he asked me for. He wanted me to do one in green, with matte black racing stripes.
I decided to have little fun with different designs. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat. On my thumb, I did two coats of Julep “Tatum”, one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash (to make it dry quicker), then two strips of nail striping tape and then a single coat of Zoya “Dovima”. This wasn’t the best idea – it crinkled a little bit. On my other thumb, I did a single coat of “Tatum”, then “Dovima” and it worked a lot better. On my index finger, I just did two coats of “Tatum” and a coat of Diamond Flash. On my middle finger, I did two coats of “Dovima” and a single coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash” – no top coat. On my ring finger, I did two coats of “Dovima”, striping tape and a single coat of “Tatum” – no top coat. On my pinky, I did two coats of “Tatum” and a single coat of Butter London “Dosh” – no top coat.
This is not my husband’s car – but this is about what it should look like when it’s done. Right now, it’s a sickly shade of piss test yellow.
It’s a 1975 Dodge Dart Swinger. He originally said neon green, but I am pushing him towards this more sparkly Kermit green. There’s no way I’ll get another pink car, but Kermit green is the next best thing!