Category: Nails
Cherry Juice
I’ve been scared of jellies for so long, but sometimes you just have to pull up your big girl britches and do it.
I was scared of how sheer and see-through they are…and how hard they are to apply. I never should have worried about that with Zoya “Paloma” – a sheer deep fuchsia-berry with a buildable jelly gloss finish. FUCHSIA! It went on smoothly, without streaks. This is two coats and you can still see the nail line. It might take 3-4 coats to get absolute coverage. My one nitpick is that the polish immediately pulled away from the tips as I put on the top coat. I used Zoya Anchor and Zoya Armor, so next time I am going to try “HK Girl” to stop the dragging.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Did you know that Deep Woods Off! melts nail polish? I didn’t…until I found out the hard way yesterday, while wiping down my daughter and her BFF. Julep “Coretta” became all sticky and melty and I had to take it off…
This is Julep “Cassidy” from this month’s Paradise Collection. It’s almost exactly Tiffany Blue – I just need a white satin bow.
Again, I used Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and guess what? NO BUBBLES! I’m liking this base coat…I used “HK Girl” for the top coat – super smooth and shiny…I wonder how it would look with some silver glitter?
April Beauty Box 5 – Bloom
I totally forgot to post this month’s Beauty Box 5 – “Bloom”.
This is an…interesting…box. Inside my box – Lasting Smiles Passionfruit Mango Organic Lip Balm (Lasting Smiles funds cleft surgeries for children in the developing world); Dancin’ Goat Hula Bliss Body Lotion (Mmmm, goat’s milk lotion); Incoco (not to be confused with Nanacoco?) Nail Polish Applique Set (these don’t require heat like Jamberry, hmmmm…); Style Essentials TwinGloss (2 colors in one tube); and 3 foil packets of First Aid Beauty Facial Cleanser.
I can’t decide whether or not to keep Beauty Box 5 or not. The products are really weird and from brands I’ve never heard of. Sometimes the lotions smell off, like they’ve gone bad. Any opinions out there?
Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
Actually, I don’t think Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. AA batteries are a girl’s best friend, but that’s a story for another time.
This is Julep “Coretta” – Diamond for April. I’ve worn it before, but I wanted to try it again in the right month. I took the picture in full sun this time – isn’t it amazing?
I used Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat (a gimme from my BFF, since she doesn’t do her own nails) and then two coats of “Coretta”. No top coat, so I could feel the fine texture. I am hoping that Julep’s glitter polishes stick to this base coat better than what I’ve been getting with other base coats. It’s been about a day and no chips so far…
Jawbreaker
This milky, white beautifulness is Funky Fingers “Jawbreaker”. Doesn’t it look just like candy?
I started with Zoya Anchor Base Coat and then did 2 coats of “Jawbreaker”. It is a dense glitter – no fishing to get the big chunks. I topped with Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat to bring out the layers.
Ignore my little nubbin fingernails. I had to trim them all – they were starting to peel.
I think “Jawbreaker” might be a dupe of China Glaze “It’s a Trap-eze”. I need to try it out and do a comparison.
The Black Lodge
I’ve had this Twin Peaks themed manicure in my head for months…and I finally was able to test it out. This is a dry run of how I plan to do my nails in a few weeks to attend Texas Frightmare Weekend – Sherilyn Fenn and Jennifer Lynch will be there!
I did the Jamberry portion first – “Black & White Chevrons” on my index finger and I used “Newsprint on Neutral” to cut a “b” and an “r” for my ring fingers. (I know they should have been capital letters, but I couldn’t find any on the wrap.) I then did 2 coats of Sally Hansen Total Manicure “Sweet Talker” on my ring finger to seal it. I then used Sinful Colors Base Coat on the rest of my nails. I used 2 coats of Sinful Colors “No Text Red” on my thumb and pinky. I used 2 coats of Hare Polish “The Red Room” on my middle finger. I sealed all of my painted nails with “HK Girl”.
I absolutely LOVE how my nails turned out. I am going to make a few changes next time, including incorporating “How’s Annie?” into the mix.
I can’t wait for another trip!
Beauty Insider Love #2
Technically, this is my 2nd purchase using my 10% off Beauty Insider code, since I placed an online order yesterday.
I am usually annoyed by the lack of selection at the JC Penney’s Sephora, but I had to go to get their exclusive Summer Obsessions set. The main reason I wanted the set was the beautyblender. (Now I just need Loo to show me how to use it.) Also inside the coral makeup bag: Benefit “Watt’s Up”; NARS Lip Gloss in “Turkish Delight”; Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in “fearless”; Tarte lights, camera, splashes 4-in-1 waterproof mascara (the one product I’m unlikely to use); Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer; and Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (wish I would have had this when I was in New Orleans).
I also snagged a clearance bottle of Formula X Nail Polish in “Law of Attraction” for $2.99. I also got a free sample of Pink Sugar eau de toillette. It kinda smells like cotton candy.
My code is good until Monday – I’m trying to resist buying the Kat Von D Monarch palette…but I just might have to pull the trigger.
Goldfinger
Goldfiiiingaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. This is Zoya “Severine”…which confuses me, because “Severine” is from Skyfall, not Goldfinger. Whatever, Zoya. Get your Bond Girls right!
“Severine” is warm greenish gold from Peter Som’s NYFW14 show. I didn’t notice how green it was until my husband started arguing with me about it. He wins – it’s green. I got it back at the beginning of the year as a mystery trio from Zoya.
I did 2 coats of “Severine” with Zoya Anchor Base Coat and Armor Top Coat. I did get some bubbles, which is rare with Zoya, but is inevitable with foiled polishes.
Back from Hiatus
Somehow I managed to get stacked with a business trip to Dallas and a Girl’s Weekend in New Orleans within the same week.
It was like I was on another planet for over a week!
At least I had the pleasure of coming home to a nice healthy pile of boxes – Birchbox, Ipsy, Beauty Box 5 and Influenster!
I’ve managed to open them all and peek inside, but it will probably take a few days to post them all…
Since we were going to New Orleans, I had to bust out “Bitchcraft” from Delush Polish’s Scream Supreme Collection.
My nails had to look good as long as possible, so I used my best base coat – Orly Bonder – and topped it with 2 coats of Glisten & Glow “HK Girl”.
After 2 coats, my nails were as hard as rock.
Let me tell you, it was a sonuvabitch to get off – it took over 30 minutes.
We had planned on doing a full American Horror Story Coven tour, but my hangover prevented us from going on any tours. I’m not as young as I used to be – I can’t hang with the big dogs. We did, however, go find Madame LaLaurie’s mansion in the French Quarter before we started drinking too heavily. They don’t allow tours anymore, which is a bummer, but we did peek into the courtyard and look into the windows.
I guess that just means we’ll have to go back again soon to get to see the Garden District house and all of the other locations we had planned on going to see!
Smurfy
Looks like I fibbed a little bit when I said “no more purple”.
Julep “Danielle”, from this month’s Paradise Collection – is a cerulean wave duochrome – in layman’s terms that means smurf blue with a purple flash. I took like a dozen pictures and this is the best I could do to show the purple.
I am so excited – “Danielle” is a Julep polish that doesn’t bubble! Absolutely NO bubbles on any of my nails. Maybe it’s the comb I used – Orly Bonder and “HK Girl”? Or maybe they finally just perfected their formula?