Category: Nails
Saturday Shopping Fun
Another Saturday, another shopping marathon with Lily.
First stop was Ulta. I needed another Zoya “Remove +”, because I finally created my dream nail polish remover system. Last week, I bought another up&up “nail polish remover dip-it”. I emptied it and refilled it with Zoya “Remove +” – this is the absolute best way to remove nail polish. It’s soft and gentle and doesn’t smell like Chernobyl.
I also picked up Ulta “Ultimate Brunette” Shampoo and Conditioner. I exclusively use John Frieda “Brilliant Brunette”, but I wanted to give Ulta’s version a chance – it was $4.99 and BOGO. With my $3.50 off coupon, this purchase put me at Platinum status – $400.89 to be exact. Woo hoo!
After McDonald’s, my Eye Doctor and Rack Room Shoes, we hit Bath & Body Works for my 3rd round at the Semi Annual Sale. Mini Candles were 5/$10, so I picked up “Beach Cabana”, “Pink Petal Tea Cake”, “Fresh Picked Strawberries” and 2 “Red Lava Guava”. I want to exfoliate, so I grabbed a 75% off “Apricot & Honey” Body Scrub. 3 more 50% off Hand Soaps (NOT AntiBac) – “Sea Side Bloom”, “Endless Summer” and “Honolulu Sun”. Last, I let Lily pick another travel body spray – 75% off – she chose “Tokyo Lotus & Apple Blossom”. This week’s coupon was 20% off $25, so I got all this for about $20. I’m running out of room for soap.
I did manage to go to Big Lots after that (Zone Bars!) and NOT buy any nail polish. We did look…nothing tempted us.
Pretty full shopping day and spent under $100…
Pearly Bubbles
Well damn it. Damn it all to hell.
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or if it’s just the polish…but I got those damn bubbles again. Just like “Harlow”, “Kathy” looked fine when I went to bed…but when I woke up, my fingernails were all bumpy. I used the Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat – I wonder if that’s the oxygen trying to escape? Or maybe I put on the second coat too quickly?
“Kathy” – Pearl for June is a really, really thick polish – as was “Harlow” – so I’m wondering if I need nail polish thinner? Or maybe just stick with one coat? Next time, I’ll try to stick to one coat and see what happens. I’ve never used thinner, but maybe it’s time…
Violet Flicker
After 3 Juleps in a row, I was ready for some cheap thrills.
Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis “Violet Flicker” is a sheer glitter/shimmer. The base is a deep violet, but there is an undercurrent of green, with flashes of fuchsia and blue glitter. This is 2 coats with no base coat. There are still a few sheer spots – I really could have used 3 coats.
It dried amazingly fast and dried with no defects or bubbles. It’s a perfect bedtime polish. My only complaint is the super short brush – it was a total pain in the ass to use. even so, I may try to hunt down some more Cover Girl coupons to get more colors for 99 cents…
You Shop with Me, You Shop Hard
If my husband is crazy enough to go to the grocery store with me, then it’s his own fault that he has to stand there in the makeup aisle, while I decide which polish I want.
This is Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis “Violet Flicker”. (Why such a long name for a line of nail polish?) It was a movie tie-in with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which I have not seen and will probably never see. But the colors are awesome and it was on sale for $1.99. Of course, I had a $1 off coupon, so 99 cents is a pretty good deal, even if it is the smallest polish I have ever bought. I might be able to paint my nails with it 3-4 times, tops.
I’m thinking that this will be a good polish for my toes…
Dragonfly
If Julep “Jennine” is a blue butterfly, then Julep “Harlow” is a golden dragonfly with a hint of green iridescence.
I started with Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, and then added 2 coats of “Harlow”. This may be a one coat polish. It was stunningly smooth when I went to sleep last night, but this morning the finish was riddled with tiny bubbles. So annoying!
Mother Daughter Salon Day
I don’t normally get pedicures – I’ve had maybe 2-3 in my entire life. The last time I got a pedicure, Lily was with me, too – because I was 8 months pregnant with her. But when my BFF suggested a salon day with her & her daughter and Lily & I, I jumped at the chance to have someone else scrape the dead skin off my feet.
My BFF and her daughter regularly get their nails done. I tried it once in high school and it was a horrifying experience. I slammed my thumb in a door during PE and the damn thing cracked in half, horizontally across my thumb. Never again.
I played it safe and chose OPI “You Only Live Twice” from the 2012 Skyfall Collection. It is an insane magenta/fuchsia shimmer. Lily surprised me and chose Color Club “Almost Famous” – bright yellow. The lady painting them asked if she wanted a design on her toes and of course, she picked the one thing the poor lady couldn’t do – a heart. She tried several times, but she kept having to repaint and start over. Eventually, another lady came over and did it and she had a hard time, too! NOTE TO SELF: Never tried to freehand paint a heart on a 6 year old’s toe.
My feet are as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Lily was spoiled rotten, getting to sit in a massage chair for an hour and get her toes done. We had a wonderful day.
Invisible Wiener
I hate posing my hand like this, without polishes. It looks like I am holding an invisible wiener…or sausage…or um, frankfurter…cylindrical meat product? There is just no good way to say it.
On top of Julep “Natalia”, I tried 5 different glitters to see which one looks the best – I cannot decide! They all look awesome!
Thumb – Julep “Oscar” – Multi-dimensional gold glitter
Index – essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” – Shattered pink diamond glitz lacquer
Middle – Julep “Jane” – Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter
Ring – essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones” – Disco mirror ball chaos
Pinky – Julep “Antonia” – Light pink holographic diamond glitter top coat
Priscilla & Kathy
I am loving Julep’s Birthstone Collection. They’re like Pokémon – gotta catch em all.
“Priscilla” – Emerald for May is a full-coverage Emerald glitter. It’s named for Priscilla Presley. She hardly stacks up to Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King, but they’ve got to be running out of names?
“Kathy” – Pearl for June is a pearl shimmer. It reminds me of mother-of-pearl, more than a regular pearl. It’s named for Kathy Bates, possibly the best thing about this past season of American Horror Story. I picked up 2 – one for me and one for my mother-in-law, also a “Kathy”.
I had already used my “BOGO” code, so I used “$10 off $30”.
Sinful Sickness
I couldn’t resist adding a few more Sinful Colors to my collection while they were still on sale…
“Green with Envy” doesn’t look green to me, it’s more of a teal jelly with holographic bar glitter.
“Mimosa” looks like a tasty alcoholic beverage…with red glitter floating in it.
“Nirvana” is a beigey, grayish creme. I had a poop this color once.
“Ice Dream” is ice blue and silver glitter.
I also had $1.00 of rewards on my Walgreen’s card, so my haul was $3 and tax…don’t hate the player, hate the game.
Penny, Penny, Penny
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Julep’s description of their polish “Natalia” is refined copper metallic. Well…that’s just fancy way of saying that the polish looks like a freshly minted penny.
Even more than a penny, “Natalia” reminds me of rose gold. (Rose Gold is a mix of gold and copper, usually 75%/25%.) Back in grade school, I won a $25 Zales gift certificate (Spelling Bee, I think) and picked out a rose pin made out of rose gold. At the time, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I wonder if I still have it?
Considering adding pink glitter to the rose gold…or maybe gold glitter. Or both.