Author: Lara
September Julep Maven Box – Flawless Without the Fuss
It’s been a while since I went all polish. This month’s “Flawless Without the Fuss” promoted beauty products were the Insta-Filter Powder and Cushion Complexion, which I got last month.
I picked three shiny, earthy polishes: Wonder Maven “Lina” – lunar gold metallic, Classic with a Twist “Kay” – warm taupe with gold microshimmer – and Boho Glam “Hana” – smoked plum multidimensional shimmer. Julep did a really good job with the warm fall tones for this collection. I cannot wait to dig into these. OH, I also got a sheet of black nail diamonds.
So what happened to the candy? I haven’t gotten candy in my box in MONTHS. Sometimes, it was shitty, but sometimes it was really good candy. Mostly, I just want the option to complain about the candy. Boo.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Let Your Twilight Sparkle
Sure, I bought it for Lily…but I knew that she would insist that I borrow it.
I am fascinated by her China Glaze My Little Pony “Let Your Twilight Sparkle” nail polish. It’s truly the most unicorn-y nail polish I’ve ever found. It’s a shifting blue/purple/iridescent shimmer.
I tried out my other new base coat – Glisten & Glow Base Coat. It has a bit of stick to it, although not quite as sticky as Orly Bonder. It stuck to the polish like glue. This is two coats of “Let Your Twilight Sparkle” – still very sheer, but lots of glimmer. I finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
The two coats are very thin, since Lily has used this polish so much in the past two weeks that the little mini bottle is almost empty! She’s used it on her fingers and toes several times, then taken it to my sister’s and done her cousins with it, too. She is demanding a full size bottle…
I went ahead and put bottle in my Ulta shopping cart, so I don’t forget. It’s only $7.50, so not too ridiculous. I might pick up a few of the other shimmers in this collection – there’s a red one!
Find True Love
Mostly, I use Sinful Colors and Julep nail polishes…except when I don’t.
I decided to dig deeper into my box of untried polishes…and settled on a simple red – Makeup Revolution “Find True Love”. It’s a creamy, sweet chili pepper red – no VNL!
I tried out my new Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. It seems very similar to the Sinful Colors Base Coat – it’s a milky white liquid that dries mostly clear. It does make the nails quite smooth. The Base Coat seemed to work well with the polish – no bubbles or streaks. This is two coats of “Find True Love”, topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I’m happy with this base coat, but the real test will be how it works with Julep…
Glisten-ing and Glow-ing
My favorite top coat is/was Glisten & Glow “HK Girl”. They went through a bit of product re-naming this month and to celebrate, they offered a 15% off code. I jumped at that shit.
I went ahead and ordered a bottle of the Glisten & Glow Top Coat (previously known as “HK Girl”) with the 2 oz. refill bottle. I also decided to try the Glisten & Glow Base Coat (previously known as “Stuck on Blu Base Coat”) and their brand new Ridge Filling Base Coat. I’m looking forward to trying them both out. They’re a bit more than the Sinful Colors Base Coat ($3.99) at $6.99, but still a bargain.
My box also contained a little extra – a Cuticle Oil Pen. I couldn’t tell what scent it was by sniffing it, but it smells really nice.
Click HERE to order Glisten & Glow products. They also sell polishes, but they’re a bit pricey and I haven’t tried them out.
My Husband is Getting Annoyed…
An email with a 25% off code is rare – they’re usually either 20% or $10 off.
After a grueling drive in snarled post-Hurricane Saturday traffic, I finally made it to the second Bath & Body Works – the first one I tried was closed due to flood damage. I was looking for one specific thing, or scent rather. I wanted Wallflower Refills in “Blushing Rose Petals” – my new favorite scent after getting one a few months ago. Alas, that scent has been discontinued. I settled for “Cactus Blossom” – hoping it smells nice in my bedroom.
While I was there, I went ahead and stocked up on Bath Poofs and Scentportables for my car. And of course…more Hand Soap! They were 50% – 75% off! I wanted to try a new formula – the creamy luxe formula.
My husband said I don’t need any more soap…but he’s wrong. What if there’s another hurricane?
Kissful Coral
I know it’s September, nowhere near Valentine’s Day…but I wanted love dripping from my fingers.
I used two coats of Sinful Colors “Island Coral” to start – with Sinful Colors Base Coat, of course. I have so many flamingo pink polishes. I never pick them – they just end up in my possession, via gift with purchase or subscription boxes. This one is (obviously) more coral than pink, but it’s very flattering.
Sinful Colors “Kissful Thinking” is very fine matte glitter, either white or light, light pink – it’s hard to tell – in a clear base. And LIPS! Reddish gold lip glitter. Of course, there are maybe 12 in the whole bottle. Luckily I only did a few accent nails instead of all of them.
I finished of with Glisten & Glow “HK Girl” – I just popped open a fresh bottle and it’s so smooth and easy to work with…
Fuck You, Harvey
I had quite a bit of free time on my hands last week, while being trapped in my house with Hurricane Harvey. Lots of makeup and lots of nails…and lots of sadness as I saw what was happening to my town. While we were unscathed, several friends and family members experienced the invading waters – from just a few inches to several feet in some cases. A few even lost everything.
I decider to recreate that fucker Harvey on my nails, using the Sinful Colors Hypnotic Transforming Top Coats. I wanted to try them together, instead of starting with a regular polish. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I alternated my nails with Sinful Colors “Rebel Rebel” – a dark royal blue – and “Purpunk” – a delicate lavender. I was pleased with much more swirly, bubbly action with the two top coats reacting with each other. Each nails has a single coat of each, topped with “HK Girl.” The swirls and bubbles are lots of fun – much more fun than Harvey, anyway.
I want more than just the five shades that were released – give me more!
August Ipsy Bag – Good Vibes Only
Boo! No more gold mailer!
Yeah, I’m a bit late with my ipsy post. I feel like the ipsy mailer is most likely to get buried in the mail pail – happens every month! For the first time, I’m not excited about ANY of the products in my bag this month. The bag itself is super cute – it’s a unique shape and has a very nice lining. There were also bags that say “Wild & Free” and “Good Vibes Only” – “Peace Love Lipstick” is obviously the best one.
The products I’m not so thrilled about: JUARA Skincare Rice Facial Cleanser (okay, maybe I am a little bit interested in this one); Promise Organic Nourishing Coconut Milk Face Lotion (this brand is new to me); Firma Beauty 103 Angled Contour Brush (aren’t we done with contouring?); Make Up For Ever Excessive Lash Arresting Volume Mascara; and Steve Laurant Precision Tip Liner in “Black” (another new-to-me brand).
It’s not a horrible bag – a good variety of products – but just nothing exciting.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Ari
I done fucked up.
I didn’t realize that I was out of Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. I dipped into the bottle and I barely got a brush of thick goop. It was still within my Julep Maven window, so I figured I would just add some to my September box…but it wasn’t available to swap into my box or add to my box. Well fuck. It is still available to purchase on the site, but I really don’t know if I want to pay $14.40 for it…ugh, I’ll have to wait until I get a really good coupon.
I really wanted to try Julep “Ari” though – it reminds me of a candy apple, which I absolutely hate – but they’re pretty to look at…so I tried it out over Sinful Colors Base Coat. “Ari” is not quite a jelly, but not quite a creme – it’s somewhere in between. “Ari” did NOT play well with the Sinful Colors Base Coat. It almost seemed to bead off of it. Bah. Jellies are tricky, but they shouldn’t be this tricky. “HK Girl” got me past most of the difficulty, but THAT bottle is thickening and getting old, too. Luckily, I have a back-up that I can bring into the rotation soon.
Midnight Mermaid
Ulta is now carrying wet n wild cosmetics – online only. There was a 20% off coupon in my email. What a time to be alive!
I was excited, because wet n wild just released a new collection – The Midnight Mermaid Collection. It’s very similar to Black Moon Cosmetics Cosmic Metals Collection – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! I picked up almost all of it. I got all 4 of the MegaLast Metallic Liquid Catsuit lipsticks ($4.99) – “Coral Crown”, “Harbor A Crush”, “Siren’s Jewel” and “Sea Seduction”. I only got one of the three MegaLiner Metallic Eyeliner ($3.99) – “Trident’s Shimmer”. I also only got one of the four Color Icon Metallic Liquid Eyeshadows ($4.99) – “Lara’s Necklace”, because DUH. I also picked up the Mermaid Highlighting Bar ($6.99).
I keep saying that I don’t like buying fragrances without smelling them first…but then I keep doing it. After reading the description of Philosophy Amazing Grace Ballet Rose, I went ahead and picked up the mini size for $18. It also came with a 4 oz. bottle of Amazing Grace Shower Gel as a free bonus! I am SO glad I picked it up – it’s now my second favorite rose scent, after Cartier Goutte de Rose.
I also picked up a little something for Lily – the China Glaze My Little Pony 6 pc Micro Mini Kit ($15). It’s a tie in to the My Little Pony movie coming out next month. Maybe the polish will get her over the pain of me refusing to sit through it in the theater. Oh – and my Variety Sampler included foilpacks of Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream and Botanics 100% Organic Facial Oil. Meh.
This order did not push me to Platinum Status for 2018, but you know what did? Friday before last, I took the kids to get their back-to-school haircuts at Ulta and I got a cut and color. I was going for a rose gold melt, but my stylist didn’t want to make all my hair fall out by bleaching it too much, so it ended up a pinkish red. I also went ahead and signed up for the Ulta Platinum card, so I could get 20% off all our haircuts. Ulta may be an expensive place to get kids’ haircuts…but at least I ended up with $61 worth of points out of the deal.
Since Hurricane Harvey has had us housebound for several days, I decided to play around with my Midnight Mermaid stuff. On my eyes, I used “Lara’s Necklace”, the green liquid eyeshadow, and “Trident’s Shimmer”, the pewter eyeliner. I LOVED the liquid eyeshadow and may be picking up some of the other colors. I did not care for the liquid line – it was too goopy, especially on top of the liquid eyeshadow. My lips are an ombre of the blue and green lipsticks – “Sea Seduction” and “Siren’s Jewel”, with a bit of the Highlighter in the middle. The lipsticks are just as great as the other liquid catsuits, and the price cannot be beat. It’s a lot for every day (Can you say MiMi?), but just right for the middle of a hurricane.