Tag: Fingernails
From Scab to Fab
The scene of the crime was improved greatly by adding a coat of Julep “Kirby” on top of Julep “Mary Lee”. Instead of a boring pool of scabby blood, my nails now look like a shattered antique mirror…in a pool of scabby blood. Or maybe a shattered Disco Ball – Disco Bloodbath! I would totally watch a movie called Disco Bloodbath. Somebody make that happen…
Julep describes “Kirby” as silver jagged glitter top coat. There’s glitter, but also mirrored flakies. The flakies actually lie flat and don’t peel up from my nails like most other larger glitters. It’s almost a perfect top coat.
I want to put “Kirby” on top of every polish I own. You’ll definitely be seeing more of “Kirby”…
CSI: My Nails
Julep “Mary Lee” is the first Satin Finish polish that I’ve tried. Satin is somewhere between matte and shiny. To me, this polish looks like a pool of coagulating blood – like there is a skin dried on top – think a murder scene that is a few hours old. “Mary Lee” is a very sensitive polish…barely brushing my nails against the wall while drying my hands left scratches across the finish.
Julep describes the color as oxblood satin. I’ve never seen a bleeding ox, so I’ll have to take their word for it. My husband said it looks like raisinettes. I have to give it to him – that’s much more creative description than I came up with.
Even though I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I got one or two bubbles. *SIGH* Julep – what’s with all the bubbles? On the positive side, the polish dried very quickly – even without a top coat. The polish also pulled away from the tips of my nails. It isn’t chipped – it is a uniform shrinking along the free edge.
I cannot stand the lack of shiny…I need GLITTER.
God Save the Queen
If I ever have a passing thought about canceling my Julep Maven subscription, polishes like Julep “Queen Anne” make me remember why I love Julep polishes so much. I’ve never encountered another microglitter like Julep’s. No other polish has the fine glitter texture that Julep has…
“Queen Anne” is Julep’s Third Anniversary polish. It was released as part of the August Collection, but was only available in 2 special boxes outside the main collection. I was sad in August, but happy when it popped up in September as an add-on! Julep describes it as lilac microglitter, but there are a few hints of the rainbow in there, too. Again, Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, but no top coat so I could feel the rough texture.
I wonder what it would look like with “Claudia”?
Jamberry Chip Challenge
Although I excel at painting my nails, I’m not so confident when it comes to nail art. I have an art degree, yet I shy away from anything more detailed than globbing glitter on the ends of my fingernails. Jamberry Nail Wraps might be an interesting solution to that problem.
Nail Wraps have been around for quite awhile – they’re just stickers for your nails. I’ve gotten other brands, like Sally Hansen, as gifts, but I’ve never actually tried them. When my cousin, Kimberly, offered me a sample to try, I figured – why not?
The top pictures is my day one picture – a leopard Jamberry Nail Wrap on my pinky and 2 coats of China Glaze “Bat My Eyes” (with Revlon base and top coats). Notice that I had already chipped my index finger while trying to peal the plastic safety seal off of a new bottle of contact solution!
The bottom picture is my day three picture. Most of my painted nails look pretty good, but that index finger is looking pretty rough. The Jamberry finger looks exactly the same!
The sample I got was a little small for my nails – it was too small for my pinky even. I never considered myself to have large fingernails…but I AM 6’1, so maybe I do. A full pack comes with various sizes, so I don’t think that would be a problem for me.
It was easier than I expected to apply the wraps. I didn’t need any special heat lamps or tools – I was able to heat it with a hair dryer and and just press it on with my finger. I was able to get a fairly smooth edge using a regular emery board.
For what you’re getting, they aren’t overly expensive. $15 a sheet and you should be able to get 4 manicures per sheet. As much as I love to paint my nails, I cannot imagine committing to a single design for 2 weeks! I don’t foresee myself switching to wraps or even using them on a regular basis…but I can envision myself using them occasionally on an accent nail.
If you would like to find out more about Jamberry, visit Kimberly’s site – http://kimberlymoreno.jamberrynails.net/ .
Monsters Ball
Remember when I said “Don’t try all the colors!” Don’t listen to me – I was clearly wrong.
This is a combination of some of the polishes I got in my last Ulta order. I totally feel like Lady Gaga…without the pointy witch nails, of course. I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and then 2 coats of Pixel “The Midas Touch” on all my nails. The polish was much sheerer than I expected, but dried quickly – leaving only 2 or 3 bubbles. I’ve never heard of Pixel Cosmetics before, but a quick Google told me that it is a newish line, exclusive to Ulta and similar to Prestige or Essence. I used China Glaze “Boo-gie Down” on my pointer and middle. No fishing glitter out of the bottle – it went on perfectly right out of the bottle. I want to put this polish over EVERYTHING to see how it looks. My pinky got China Glaze “Bat Your Eyes”. Again, this is a beautiful polish – black with different sizes of gold glitter. Both China Glaze polishes are from the Halloween 2013 Monsters Ball Collection. I’m excited to see what Halloween polishes China Glaze releases this year – for me…every day is Halloween!
Taco Cabana Bathroom
Milani “Sugar High” reminds me of the fancy mosaic tile you sometimes see in the bathroom of a Mexican Restaurant. It’s buttercup yellow, peachy pink, baby blue and dark blue glitter in a clear base. I learned today (via Googling) that the style is really called “Talavera” – all this time, I’ve been calling it “Taco Cabana Bathroom”. I learn something new everyday!
After Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I used one coat of Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” to mask the yellow in my nail tips (it’s almost gone – yay!) It took a good three coats of “Sugar High” to match the concentration of glitter in the bottle. There a nice shine to it and it dried super fast, so I didn’t even bother with a top coat. Now I must have the whole Milani “Sugar” Collection…
Balinese Bay
Revlon “Balinese Bay” looks like that fancy speckled garage floor paint or maybe some crazy 50s linoleum that you’d find in a retro diner. Or maybe some wild colored glass in the bottom of an expensive fish tank. It’s a mix of black, silver, lavender and red glitter in a matte lavender base. It’s slightly pebbled…because it’s literally a shit-ton of glitter.
“Balinese Bay” is from Revlon’s Spring 2014 Haute Rocks Collection. Now I’ve got to search for them all – they’re spectacular. I got full coverage in just two coats. Of course I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, but I didn’t use a top coat – that would ruin the whole point of matte?
Girly Nails
Before you even say it…I know. This is girly…WAY girly – like little girly. My fingernails look like a Hello Kitty Valentine – but I like it.
Sinful Colors “Glass Pink” may be my new favorite light pink. It’s like the pink version of “Cinderella”. “Glass Pink” is sheer, but it masks my stained nails.
Sinful Colors “Decadent” may be my new favorite red glitter. I don’t say that lightly – I have at least a dozen different red glitters. I have an idea…I need to have a GLITTER-OFF! Red glitters fight to the death!
Again, I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and Top Coat – they work well with most polishes and don’t seem to cause bubbles or curtaining…
Click Your Heels
When I first heard about Julep “Martina” – Ruby for July, my first though was Martina Navratilova. That makes no sense at all, does it? “Martina” is actually named for Martina McBride…again, I am drawing a blank.
“Martina” is even more Ruby Slippers-like than Julep “Ruby Slippers” – how is that even possible? It’s a deep ruby glitter – almost matte. It’s very similar to Zoya “Chyna” – but without the texture.
Like I did with Julep “Claudia”, I started with Sally Hansen Diamond Shine and did two coats – no top coat. Next time I’ll try a top coat, because it wasn’t shiny at all.
It’s time to cut my nails – after less than 12 hours, the tips are already starting to chip. The tips of my nails have peeled too much and nothing will stick. I guess I know what I’m doing tonight…
Peridot is Not Boring
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I always used to think that Peridot was the most boring of the birthstones – just a muddy light green, nothing compared to May’s brilliant Emerald.
Julep “Claudia” – Peridot for August totally changed my mind. Just look at this glitter! The lime green glitter not only has a few emerald flecks, but fiery orange flecks as well. I cannot stand how awesome this polish is…it’s like blinding me.
I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine for the base coat, but didn’t use a top coat so I could enjoy the dusty texture. “Claudia” isn’t as textured as a pixie dust or sand polish, but you can definitely feel the glitter. FEEL THE GLITTER – that is my new motto…