Author: Lara
Silver Synchronicity
What’s it called when several people, independent of each other, all come up with a similar idea? Synchronicity!
I was in a group text with my cousins, Jess and Beth, last week, and somehow, we all had gray nails on the brain. these are MY gray nails – Sinful Colors “Silver Slivers” from the “Luxe Fragments” Collection. The base is a pewter shimmer, with bright silver shards.
This is just two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. It lasted very well.
Do you like the background? It’s the sequined makeup bag that came with the Victoria’s Secret Black Friday Tote. I’m loving the rainbow sequins – I want a polish that looks like this!
January Julep Maven Box – Future Fresh
New year, new subscription boxes! Well, technically not new…I’ve been getting Julep boxes for over three years now and I still love them as much as ever.
January’s box is “Future Fresh”. Honestly, I haven’t jumped on the oil bandwagon, but I took a chance in selecting Julep’s Boost Your Radiance Reparative Rosehip Seed Facial Oil. I’ve been using it semi-consistently for the last 5-6 days. I don’t know that I’ve noticed a difference in my skin – was already in the middle of a mid-winter skin freakout. (I’m thinking that the breakout was overcompensation from trying to combat dry, winter skin.) I don’t know that my skin is more radiant, but I do feel like the oil has a skin blurring effect. Best of all, it smells absolutely DIVINE. I am in love with the romantic rose/bergamot scent, although it is almost too hippy for me.
For polishes, I chose It Girl “Darcy” – Baja Sunrise Sheer Iridescent Shimmer – and Wonder Maven “Pacita” – Honey Ginger Sheer Iridescent Shimmer. Yup, two sheer shimmer polishes – they’re radiant. Oh, and they sent me a Tootsie Roll Pop. Ugh, all that licking.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
SO Violet
I was digging in my “untrieds” box and I pulled out Jenna Hipp “Violet Eclair” from the bottom. I thought, “Why not?”
Oh my, this polish is oh so violet. Unlike the other Jenna Hipp polishes that I have, this one isn’t a pure creme – it has a flash of blue shimmer. The polish was thin and a bit streaky, but it was barely noticeable after two coats. This is two coats of “Violet Eclair” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”.
I need more purple in my life. I tend to set aside the purples and I don’t know why – they make me so happy once they’re on my fingers.
Sephora Play! December 2016 – The Partygoers
Oops…my December Sephora Play! box got buried under a stack of shit on my counter. I could have used this stuff over the holidays…
This month’s theme is “The Partygoers”. I don’t go to many parties, but I put on a lot of makeup before I go to Target, does that count? The first thing that caught my eye…the goody bag is BLACK with rose gold printing…”I take the party with me”…It’s gorgeous. Also in this month’s box: Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (I have so many samples of this, but I’ve never tried it – I should); Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Smoothing Primer (I have the full size – good stuff); Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara; Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain in “Always Red” (been wanting to try this new product!); Drybar Bay Breeze Hydrating Shot (instructions say to spray the entire bottle on wet hair, then rinse out after 3-5 minutes – kind of a pain in the ass); and Elizabeth and James Nirvana Bourbon (smells like a Hobo’s ass crack).
A so-so box, but I’m not even mad.
If you haven’t signed up yet – you’re missing the boat! This is by far the best subscription box I get every month. Sephora Play is only $10/month. You can sign up at sephora.com/play.
New Years, New Nails
I decided to ring in the new year with totally glam nails. That…and I had no idea what I was going to wear. So I went neutral.
Julep “Judy” is moonbeam iridescent chrome. It was from one of the Mystery Boxes I got over the summer. It’s gold, but it’s silver, but it’s pearl?
After Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, I did two quick coats of “Judy” and topped with “HK Girl”. It was a good consistency and was quite smooth, even before the top coat. I love light polishes like this – they don’t show edge wear, so all that New Year’s dishwashing looks like it NEVER HAPPENED.
Whipped Pussy with Tea, Please
Jeffree is shipping fast now!
I ordered these beauties on the launch date – Monday, December 26th. I got an email notification that they had arrived on Thursday, but there was nothing in my box when I checked Friday morning. A bit of drama with USPS and it was in my mailbox when I got home Friday evening.
The peachy gold metallic is Jeffree Star Cosmetics “Pussy Whipped” and I tried it first. Except for the gaggy Root Beer scent, I am in love with it. I wore the other shade, “No Tea, No Shade” (a browny-plum), on New Year’s Eve. I dotted the finish with “Rich Bitch”, the gold shadow from the Beauty Killer Palette. That shit stayed on 12+ hours – from around noon, past midnight…that’s through ham, turkey, pie, cheesecake, drinking wassail & rum and a particularly unsettling family game of Cards Against Humanity.
More of these metallic lippies, please!
Candy Crush
So I was going for a candy cane vibe again, but more like the crushed candy canes that you find on the floorboard of your car after Xmas. Kids are fun like that.
This is not an overly original look – I did a Candy Cane Vibe last year using similar polishes. Again, I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. For the crushed look, I used Funky Fingers “Red Wedding”, which has multiple sizes of glitter, plus jagged chunks. That shit was sharp. Instead of a gradient, I did the whole nail. I sealed the deal with “HK Girl”.
I didn’t love the way this turned out. Something didn’t gel between “Tokyo Pearl” and “Red Wedding” – the surface ended up a bit pitted and cloudy, even with “HK Girl” topping it. I feel like Funky Fingers doesn’t like other polishes?
I’ve Been a Good Girl…
I’ve been so good the past few months. Sure, I’ve bought a few things here and there, but I’ve drastically curtailed my beauty shopping. I’m trying to use what I’ve already amassed, sure – but really, trying to budget around two house payments. Regardless, I cannot pass up the Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale.
I really stuck to the essentials. A $10 candle. A couple of bath poofs. 3 $3 Wallflower refills. 8 bottles of $3 Hand Soap. And NO bath gel/lotion/body spray. Zip. Nada. NONE. I’m still trying to finish off the dozen or so scents I have, but I was really tempted by Sweet Cranberry Rose. If it was 75% off, I might have cracked.
Also had a $10 off $40 coupon from the mail. SO it was a pretty economical haul.
Shitstorm
To say that 2016 was a complete and utter shitstorm is a VAST understatement. Between politics, celebrity deaths and even the fucking weather – a complete, utter shitstorm.
To commemorate that shitstorm, I created these shitty nails, which actually are not shitty at all. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of Sinful Colors “Nirvana”, the dullest, doo-doo brown I have. I topped with another two coats of Funky Fingers “Olaf” – yup, still hard to fish those snowflakes out, but I got ’em. I topped with “HK Girl”. A few of the snowflakes were still sharp and bumpy, but they all stayed down until I removed the polish.
P.S. That’s not a real turd. It’s a fake one I got from Five Below.
Here’s to hoping that 2017 is at least slightly better than 2016. It won’t take much.
December Ipsy Bag – carpe p.m.
So does “carpe p.m.” mean “Seize the Night”? Wouldn’t it have been simpler for ipsy to just theme the bag as “Seize the Night”?
This month’s bag is full of juicy finds:a MintPear Beauty Blending Sponge (I am getting quite a collection of these); Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Face Primer; mPrincess Mineral Eyeshadow in “Melting Maple”; tarte Cosmetics tartist Glossy Lip Paint in “wcw” (I tried this immediately – I am not used to the glossy look, but the deep vampy shade looked great on me…although it did NOT last through a meal like the lip liquids I’ve been using lately); and Cake Beauty Heavy Cream Intensive Hand Repair Balm.
Oh – and that hot pink crushed velvet bag – CRUSHING it.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.