Category: Nails
Ch Ch Ch, Ah Ah Ah
I was gonna do another Valentine’s Mani, but then I was like naw – it’s Friday the 13th!
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. I used my nifty chinese dotting tools to make little hockey masks. The black is Zoya “Willa” and the red is Sinful Colors “No Text Red”. I should have used a different red, like Zoya “Sooki”, because the Sinful Colors was too thin. I topped it with Glisten & Glow “HK Girl”. They turned out a heck of a lot better than my Freddy Krueger Nails!
How about those dia de los Muertes Converse? They’re my favorite shoes right now…
On a side note, when I finished my nails last night, I grabbed my socks to show my husband while he was brushing his teeth…he nearly choked to death – because he laughed at me. Apparently, matching fingernails and socks was too much for him to handle.
So Cute I Could Puke
My nails are so cute…they make me wanna puke. Look at those hearts – gross!
After Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, I used two different polishes – Julep “Lindy” on my thumb and ring finger and Julep “Carol”. I thought you would be able to tell the difference between “Lindy” and “Carol” – “Lindy” has shimmery flakies and “Carol” is a sheer jelly – but they look almost exactly the same when topped with Julep “Hartleigh”.
Julep got it right with “Hartleigh”. I had no problem getting the hearts on my nails – the bottle was packed! I got eat least two hearts on each nail and three on a few of them. It also wasn’t all goopy like “America”.
I topped with “HK Girl” to give those hearts extra security. Those suckers aren’t coming off unless I use sandpaper.
At least this Valentine’s Day is preceded by a Friday the 13th…I have that to look forward to.
Violet Candy
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Zoya “Leslie” looks like candy to me – like a dusty violet conversation heart or maybe even a grape sweet tart. It’s hard to see in the picture, but there’s a subtle blue shimmer.
Zoya describes “Leslie” as a soft spring lavender metallic with an energizing turquoise flash.
I started with Zoya Anchor, then two coats of “Leslie” and topped with Zoya Armor. I got a little bit of crispiness around my cuticles again. Blech.
Genius Idea
So…I LOVE the “Swatch Me” stickers that come on top of Julep polishes. Those stickers make it a snap to find the polish in seconds, instead of having to dump my Color Caddy to find what I’m looking for. True – Julep does sell those stickers, but they’re hella expensive. What’s a girl to do?
A girl goes to Office Depot and spends $6.99 for a pack of 1,100 5/16 x 1/2 inch labels instead!
I really tried to find round labels, but they didn’t have any white ones that were small enough. I kind of like the rectangular ones though – they give the polish enough room to spread. They work great on the flat tops of bottles, but they don’t work so well on bottles that have a slight rounding to the top (Rimmel London). They also aren’t working great on bottles that have a raised imprint on the top of the bottle (OPI, Nicole by OPI, China Glaze, Sinful Colors), because the stickers are not sticky enough. I might have to use clear tape to keep them on.
I’ve gotten through about 200 polishes so far – a little over 2/3 done. I’ve actually never counted my polishes, so I guess that means I have 350+. I’m not stopping til I hit at least 1,000.
The Knockouts of the Double R
Another outstanding polish from Hare Polish called “The Knockouts of the Double R”. This Twin Peaks inspired polish was created to match Norma and Shelly’s uniforms at the Double R Diner.
I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat and then two coats of “Double R”. I then got to try out my new Glisten & Glow “HK Girl” Top Coat! For the last few months, I have been seeing this top coat over and over again on Instagram. I would see hands rocking the same polishes I had, but they looked so much better. Almost invariably, they would be using “HK Girl” – so I finally ordered it. It’s $6.99 + $2.50 shipping, so not too terribly pricey. I’m going to try it out for a while before giving a full review, but so far – I love it!
New Year, New Hue
I finally got my “New Year, New Hue” $15 Zoya deal in! Any three polishes for “free” with $15 shipping, plus 3 mystery minis that have never been available Retail. Zoya sure does have odd sales, but I’ll take it.
I picked out “Binx” – spicy orchid purple dappled with gold metallic and holo sparkles, “Lara” (finally, a polish with my name) – medium magenta-rose pink with subtle yellow undertone and a soft cream finish, and “Paloma” – sheer deep fuchsia-berry with a buildable jelly gloss finish. I totally pink-ed out.
My mystery minis were the Peter Som Collection from New York Fashion Week 2014 – “Anais” – black with a vein of the same warm pewter pigment running through it for a unique oil slick effect, “Severine” – warm pewter metallic, and “Charlotte” – nude.
I’m gonna have some fun!
Flakies!
Look at those flakies! Iridescent flakies AND glitter.
This is Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Scale Up” over 2 days old Julep “Elise”. The flakies seem to take on the color of the polish underneath – I should try it over a red or a pink…
One note about Julep “Elise” – it’s a staining son of a bitch. I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, so my nails were protected for the most part – except the edges and my cuticles. I managed to get most of it off with Julep Vanish, but I’ll be wearing blue and green polishes until it wears off.
Letter to Elise
I was excited to try Julep “Elise” – it’s named after one of my very favorite people!
Julep describes “Elise” as indigo with purple microshimmer. It’s yet another dark polish that is difficult to photograph. it was cloudy as hell today and rainy to boot, so this is the best pic I could get – but look at that shine! It’s almost like a comic book.
I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, then two coats of “Elise” I was gonna let it go without a top coat, but it started to bubble anyway. Well, fuck. I waited 20 minutes and went ahead and used Sally Hansen Diamond Flash. The good news is that I didn’t get any additional bubbles and it somewhat masked the ones that were already there. Maybe that’s the secret to Julep – waiting.
February Julep Maven Box – The Afterglow Collection
Julep’s shipping department is on point this month – I got my February box on January 31st!
February’s box is “The Afterglow Collection”. The star of this month’s box is Glow Highlighting Powder – a multitasking marvel designed to play up light and play down wrinkles, discoloration, and pores. (Julep’s words, not mine.) I was intrigued enough to pick it for my box. I also received Illume Face & Eye Brightener in “rise & shine” – which is not what I picked. The choices for the box were “champagne” & “pink” – I think I picked “pink”, but “rise & shine” looks like somewhere in between the two. How odd. I also used my Jules to add Bombshell “Elise” to my box. All Mavens received Classic with a Twist “Hartleigh” – red, pink and white glitter with heart glitter!
I’m excited to try the highlighter and brightener – another great box.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a FREE Valentine’s Day Welcome Box with code BEMINE!
Go Seahawks!
It’s not that I give a shit about the Super Bowl. I don’t. I don’t give a shit who wins – the Seahawks just have better team colors! Oh, and Tom Brady is a douche.
I started with Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat (trying to finish the bottle). On my thumb, I did two coats of Julep “Michelle”. Can you see the bubbles? Someday I will find a quick dry top coat that doesn’t make Julep polishes bubble. On my index finger, I did a coat of Zoya “Remy” and a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash”. On my middle finger, I did two coats of Julep “Serena” – Sapphire for September. On my ring finger, I did a coat of Julep “Michelle” and a coat of Sally Hansen Crackle “Sage Smash”. On my pinky, I did two coats of Butter London “Dosh”. I finished them all with a coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash.
Looking forward to eating junk food and watching commercials. Hopefully, Katy Perry will have a wardrobe malfunction and my son will run out of the room screaming. He doesn’t like boobies yet.