Category: Nails

Slim Pickins
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It’s been literally MONTHS (like 3!) since Sinful Colors have been on sale at Walgreens. Unfortunately, it’s the same sale as last time – $1.50…and none of the Kylie polishes are included. It’s annoying – not because I want to give money in ANY way to the KKK – but because literally 95% of the new polishes this year are Kylie-related. There are a few cute colors that look unique, but not cute enough to pay full price for.
I weeded through the regular collection and managed to find a few I hadn’t bought yet: “Rocket Out” – a ritzy 4th of July glitter with stars, “Bangin’ Blue” – a blue glitter, which I’m hoping is the blue version of “Devil’s Stare”, and “Sugar High” – a blue textured polish that my husband says is purple.
Maybe if I go to another Walgreen’s, I’ll find a few more that I don’t have yet…

Sassy Classy
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I told you I was gonna try this with silver glitter.
I used Sinful Colors Base Coat, which I feel worked better than Orly Bonder for this particular polish. After two coats of essie “Strut Your Stuff”, I used Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty” to create a gradient on the tips. It’s so shiny and beautiful and summery – everything I thought it would be.
i even did my toes (no glitter – glitter on toes is no bueno), so I can match Rachel when we go to the beach in a few weeks.

Disney Princess
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It was a heavy mail weekend – I got my replacement Julep “Regina” and Your Lip Addiction “Covet” – in separate boxes – weird. I had to try “Regina” immediately. Goodbye to Lil’s dots!
“Regina” makes me feel like a Disney Princess…specifically Rapunzel in Tangled, because it would match her dress perfectly. It’s a shimmery pink/violet chrome with a hint of blue flash.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. Two coats of “Regina” went on like a dream – perfect consistency, no bubbles. I finished with “HK Girl”.

May Ipsy Bag – Destination Chic
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For the first time…I think EVER – I will be using every single product in my “Destination Chic” ipsy bag this month.
Inside this month’s bag: Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eye Shadow Trio with “Skinny Dip”, “Crush” and “Lovely” (lovely neutrals); Hanalei Lip Treatment (I need this for my recent matte lip obsession); Formula 10.0.6 Pores Be Pure Skin-Clarifying Mud Mask (I love me some mud masks; the tube says this formula was invented in 1933 – O RLY?); Aurora Gel Effect Nail Polish in “Old School Pink” (That is fucking PINK); and Smashbox X-Rated Mascara (Maybe I’ll try this tomorrow – my Benefit Roller Lash was done and I threw it away this morning).
And the bag…so flippin’ cute. It’s not a normal zipper bag – it has a single snap – and I love the little landmarks all over the bag. Perfect for summer travel. I believe blue and purple bags were also sent out…but look how well the product colors coordinate with my bag!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.

That Lil
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After doing my daughter Lily’s nails for Field Day next week (they had to be YELLOW to match her Field Day shirt), I let her take the wheel and pick out something for my nails. She carefully picked out two of her NYX polishes (from last Xmas) – a bright pink creme and a shimmery fuchsia. (On a side note, I HATE that these tiny polishes do not have names on the bottle. In fact, they likely do not have names at all. The OCD in me cannot handle it.) She demanded that I alternate nails and then do contrasting dots…that Lil has an eye for design!
After Sally Hansen Diamond Shine for a base coat, I followed Lil’s directions. Slowly, I dotted my nails. I tried to keep them neat and geometric, but they’re not perfect. I finished with “HK Girl”. My left hand only smeared a bit on the pinky…but my right hand looks horror show – like a rain of pink and fuchsia comets. SIGH. Patience was never my strong suit.
Maybe I should let Lil pick all my polish looks?

Wilma!
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I got a lot more than I bargained for with Julep “Wilma”. I was expecting a beige shimmer, but “Wilma” is so much more.
Julep describes “Wilma” as Mojave sunrise gold chrome. Indoors, it is just gold….but when you get into sunlight, it takes on a mauve sheen. A magical duochrome!
After Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, I painted two coats of “Wilma”. It was less streaky than most chromes – a very forgiving formula. No bubbles either! I finished “Wilma” off with a thick coat of “HK Girl”. I’ve been feeling lazy lately and would like my nails to last the rest of the week.
I want to try it with a light purple or pink glitter…

May Julep Maven Box – Rainbow Bright
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I was so super excited to use all the products in this month’s Julep Maven box – “Rainbow Bright” – but unfortunately, two of the products were totally unusable. I was so bummed!
My first pick was Your Lip Addiction Tinted Lip Oil Treatment in “Covet”. I was going to wear it yesterday, but the applicator tip had fallen off into the bottle. FAIL! For polishes, I chose Bombshell “Regina” – Nebula pink iridescent chrome – and Boho Glam “Wilma” – Mojave sunrise gold chrome. Unfortunately, “Regina” was 100% dried up. Double FAIL!
What am I gonna do with the bright pink candy thing? It’s either a jawbreaker or a gumball…I’ll let Lily figure that out.
The good news is that Julep’s customer service is second to none. Within 24 hours of my email (with pictures of the FAILs), they already had replacements ordered for me. In just a few more days, I’ll get to play with “Covet” and “Regina”.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!

Diamonds and Pearls
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After a brief detour, I’m back to Prince.
I created Diamonds and Pearls with two of my favorite polishes. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I did two coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. “Tokyo Pearl” is a difficult polish to work with – every brush stroke shows and you must be very careful. I topped it with essie luxeffects “Set in Stones”. Finishing move was “HK Girl”.
The silver glitter in “Set in Stones” makes the white pearl of “Tokyo Pearl” appear silver. First it turns gold and now this – it’s a chameleon polish.

Amazon Luxury Beauty – Spring 2016
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So now Amazon is getting in on the beauty box game. They offered this luxury beauty box for FREE with a qualifying luxury purchase…or $8.99 by itself. I opted to just pay for the box.
I have never heard of most of these brands, but there are a few gems inside the box. Let’s see what I got…L’Occitane Almond Milk Concentrate Body Cream; Sabon Body Lotion in “Delicate Jasmine” (yummy); Ahava Deadsea Water Mineral Hand Cream; Toppik Hair Fattener (odd); bliss Foot Patrol; La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra Light Sunscreen Fluid; Julep It Girl “Carla” ( I don’t have this one!); Juicy Couture Malibu; Nuxe Merveillance Regenerating Night Cream; Vichy Idealia Life Serum; Lierac Mesolift Serum; Vincent Longo Sweet Melody Trio Eyeshadow (I fail to see how these colors would look good on the eye – matte violet, baby pink and mint green…uh, NO.); Shaveworks The Cool Fix (for ingrowns and razor burn – yes please); Marvis Cinnamon Mint Toothpaste; Calvin Klein Euphoria; and Catherine Malandrino Romeance de Provence.
Something in the box smells like patchouli, but I haven’t figured out what it is yet…
There was also a coupon for $10 off a $50 luxury beauty purchase…I may have to browse…

My Gecko Does Tricks
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I’d been eyeing this polish on Instagram for a while, so when I spied it on a clearance rack at Ulta for $4.99, I snapped it up.
This is OPI “My Gecko Does Tricks”, a beautiful kelly green/gold duochrome. It kind of reminds me of Julep “Tatum” and Sinful Colors “Happy Ending”.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I just did two coats. Like almost all OPI polishes, the application was flawless. I finished with “HK Girl”.
Horror of horrors, I blew a huge chip off my left index finger putting my laptop in my trunk…before I even had a chance to take a picture! I had to let it go, as pretty as it was. Such a tragedy…