Flash! Ah Ahhhhh…
So I was going for a Flash Gordon, lightning type thing…it didn’t exactly turn out how I imagined.
After Orly Bonder, I did one coat of Sinful Colors “Yellow Spotted”. To get a glowy effect, I then did one coat of Julep “Casper”. In retrospect, I should have done 2 coats of the “Yellow Spotted”, because “Casper” totally obliterated the yellow and made it look like a muted gold. Oh well. I then did one coat of Sally Hansen “Star Burst” Crackle Overcoat. Crackle polishes are very unpredictable. You may get a beautiful crackle, like on my thumb nail – or you could get very little crackling, like on my ring finger. “Star Burst” was very thin and grayish, but a coat of NYC “Grand Central Station” made it dark and glossy.
I tried to get a pic of the glowing, but “Casper” doesn’t glow as brightly as Funky Fingers, but maybe that’s just because I only did one coat.
Did you know that one of my nicknames in High School was “Flash”? (My BFF started it – and yes, we’ve been BFFs THAT long.) I’ll divulge no further details, other than it wasn’t for my running speed.
Fall 2014 Freeman Beauty Mystery Bag
I couldn’t resist another box filled with a mystery assortment of beauty products! This one is from Freeman Beauty is only $30 for over $100 of products – and it’s STILL available on their website!
Here’s what I got in my box: Freeman Facial Creamy Scrub in “Apricot”; Freeman Facial Purifying Clay Mask in “Acai”; Freeman Vita-K Professional for Deep Facial Lines; Freeman Barefoot Moisturizing Massage Cream; Freeman Barefoot Repair! Overnight Foot Cream; Pssssst! Instant Dry Shampoo; c. Booth Milk Bath & Shower Cleanser; eclos Night Booster Fluid; eclos Daily HydraPrimer SPF 30; and a stack of 7 different samples of masks and creams. I am gonna be sooooo smooth! My only disappointment was that I didn’t get a Charcoal scrub – my little sister uses Freeman’s charcoal sugar scrub and highly recommends it…Alas and alack.
This box of goodies was finally the last straw with my husband…as I was opening it, he issued an ultimatum about all the boxes that I get in the mail…HE wants a box, too. Muahahahahaaaa….I knew he would get sucked into my evil trap…
Hemi Harlow
I found it…after trying maybe a zillion polishes…the perfect polish to match my car!
This is Zoya Matte Velvet “Harlow” – not to be confused with Julep “Harlow”. Zoya “Harlow” originally came out in Winter 2009 (along with “Veruschka” and “Savita”), but they’ve re-released them all! Zoya describes “Harlow” as a rich, saturated rose plum packed with sparkling metallic shimmer in a velvety MATTEVELVET finish. Fancy!
I didn’t read the site first – like the Pixie Dusts, you aren’t supposed to use a base coat or a top coat with the Matte Velvets. Oops. I used Orly Bonder first. It seemed to work okay – no bubbles and it dried really quickly. The site also warned that it’s not as long wearing as regular polish…Oh snap!
I can claim that this is a Halloween themed manicure, since my fingers are dressed up like my car, right? The only thing missing is the racing stripes (sorry, Dave).
I Swear…I Only Went in for a Haircut
Really! I hadn’t gotten my hair cut since February, so I figured it was time…OK, I kind of knew that I would probably buy some stuff if I actual went to the salon in Ulta to get my hair cut. Shhhh,,,
Ulta was running a special on Zoya polish – buy 2, get a free gift – “A Matte Story”, which came with Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat (I’ve been needing one!) and Whore Red Matte Velvet Lipstick. the two polishes that I got were Zoya Matte Velvet “Harlow” and Zoya “Remy”.
I went to the fragrance section to sample “Stella” by Stella McCartney. There was a placard for it, but no bottles. A clerk offered to go check the back and came back with a single bottle – saying they had discontinued carrying it. I made a split second decision to go for it and buy it…not realizing that it was the $72 50 ML size. Uhhhhhh…I got it anyway and in my excitement, I totally forgot to use my $3.50 off coupon. The blow was softened, however, by a VISA gift card I had gotten as a “thank you” from my AVP last week.
I was so excited, that I opened “Stella” in my car and started spraying. I LOVE the way it smells on me, but I was a bit disappointed in the scent’s staying power. It’s just a few hours later and I can barely smell it on me. I had read online that the new 2014 version has less staying power, so I guess I need to be on the lookout for one of the old bottles. Trader’s Village, maybe – or one of those Indian perfume places?
Bruise Violet
I couldn’t NOT try out Julep “Logan” first.
Julep’s site describes the color as sultry aubergine shimmer – I would replace sultry with earthy. There’s a vegetable like brownish undertone – this color feels very organic.
Well, duh – aubergine is a fancy word for eggplant. It’s not as inky as “Padma” and has a subtle shimmer, but could still be mistaken for black at first glance.
I went back to the Revlon Quick Dry Base and Top Coats. There’s something about Julep polish that doesn’t mix well with base coats – bubbles, no matter what brand I try – even Julep’s own base coats. I only got 2-3 bubbles this time, but each one is like a pinprick to my soul.
I also painted my toenails with “Logan” last night…right before I broke my pinky toe, tripping over my daughter’s metal lawn chair.
(Yeah, we keep metal lawn chairs in our living room. That’s normal, right?)
I was astounded at how well the polish matched the violet bruises – I couldn’t have planned it better!
The last time I broke a toe was during Hurricane Ike, stumbling around in the dark. As clumsy as I am, that’s a pretty good record.
October Julep Maven Box – The Black Magic Collection
My BFF and I both got our boxes yesterday! Thank you mail carrier!
October brings us a spooky box – “The Black Magic Collection”. This month’s beauty product was Night Shift Sleeping Mask – a reparative moisture mask that does the heavy lifting while you’re fast asleep so you wake up to a brighter, smoother, firmer complexion. I put it on my face last night before bed, but I can’t tell if I am brighter, smoother or firmer.
For polishes, I HAD to pick Classic with a Twist “Logan” – sultry aubergine shimmer – because my son’s name is Logan. (He was SO disappointed in the color – he wanted “Logan” to be his favorite color – blood red.) I also picked It Girl “Dana” – white with electric blue sheen (black light reactive). (There is no “Dana”, only Zuul.) I added on “Casper” – glow-in-the-dark shimmer, from last October’s collection. I really don’t need another glow in the dark polish, do I? Whatever.
There was even something for my husband in the box – I gave him the little bag of candy corn.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a special 4 piece Welcome Box with code FREETREATS!
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping…
Well, originally, I was going for a sexy Freddy Krueger look, but what I ended up with Xmas fingers. Oh well, both of those assholes see you when you’re sleeping.
After Orly Bonder, I painted one coat of Rimmel 60 Seconds “Passion”. I painted stripes with Sinful Colors “Pine Away” and then topped it all with Julep “Shoshanna”. Since “Shoshanna” is gold with red and green highlights, I thought it was match the red and green really well – and it did, although in a very Xmas ornament type of way.
I got one final use out of my Sally Hansen Diamond Flash and then threw the bottle away. My husband asked me if I was going to “have a funeral for my dead solider.” He’s silly…but I considered it.
I Want Dry Hair and Fleek Eyes
All I needed were bread crumbs and tortillas…and well…
I couldn’t resist the $1 off Milani Coupon – I picked up another Milani Baked Shadow in “Intermix”. It’s a shimmery copper cream color.
I also picked up a cheap Conair Shower Cap in the most old lady looking flower pattern I could find. (I heard this rumor that men find shower caps irresistible. Like if a dude sees you in a shower cap, he is overcome with a passion he cannot control…an ANIMAL, if you will.) No, seriously…I just wanted to keep my hair dry when I take a shower.
Cabana de Muertos
I wonder how suspicious we looked – my BFF and I – scurrying into the Taco Cabana Bathroom and giggling? I couldn’t help it – I was just so excited to turn the light off and show off my glow-in-the-dark nail polish!
This is Funky Fingers “Dia De Muertos”, from their Glow in the Dark Halloween collection. It’s a baby blue jelly base, with hot pink matte glitter in different sizes. There is
This is one of the bumpiest glitters I’ve ever used. Not only did I buff all of my nails first and use Orly Bonder, but I also topped with Sally Hansen Diamond Flash – and the two coats were still bumpy as all hell.
This stuff REALLY works – it glows like a sonofabitch.
I didn’t hold out much hope for getting a good “glowing in the dark” pic, but I was pleasantly surprised at the picture I was able to get inside of my closet. Of course, it doesn’t glow for very long, so I had to hold my hand up to the light, run into the closet, slam the door and try to get my camera to focus before the polish stopped glowing. So yeah, it took me 3 tries to get this pic.
Get ready for a spoooooky October. All month long, I’ll be doing Halloween-y or Fall themed nails. I don’t have all of my ideas worked out yet, so I am open to suggestions!
Unicorn Farts
Yes, Kenneth…unicorns fart glitter. What else would they fart?
I dug to the bottom of my plastic bin to find the perfect red to go underneath Funky Fingers “Unicorn Farts”. I dug out Sinful Colors “Under 18”, which I don’t think I’ve ever used before. It is a pearly tomato red and it went on smoothly without pooling in my cuticles. I did have to a bit of artful dabbing to get decent glitter coverage, but it wasn’t as bad as other beauty blogs had claimed. It certainly wasn’t as annoying as “Fruit-Ta-Ta”.
I used Orly Bonder as the base coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the top coat. (My Diamond Flash is almost empty! I don’t know whether I should buy another one or try another quick dry top coat. Probably both.) The texture of my nails is still a bit bumpy, but none of the glitter is lifting up, so I’m content.
I wanna try “Unicorn Farts” over a silver holographic polish – maybe Julep “Coretta”?