Category: Nails
January 2019 Julep Box – Face the Future
Well hell, I picked an odd assortment of colors this month, didn’t I?
I skipped this month’s featured beauty product – boost your radiance Reparative Rosehip Seed Oil. I’d gotten it in the January 2017 box – I ended using it more as a lipstick remover than a facial oil. It smelled lovely, but my face doesn’t do well with oils.
It Girl “Sabina” is seashell matte glitter and Boho Glam “Zara” is oyster grey sheer holographic. Both are very bland and neutral. Boho Glam “Angelique” is dragonfly wing iridescent glitter, but it’s not from this month’s collection – it’s from a Mystery Box, but it called out to me when I was building my box. I also added a sheet of silver stripe decals – I’m not quite sure how I’m gonna use them – they are super long.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Smurf Pox
Oh no! My fingers have Smurf Pox!
I mean…look at the bottle. Is what happened to my nails what you would expect by looking at the bottle? In the bottle, it looks like blue glitter in a sheer blue base. Nope. The base is actually clear, with a slight purple shimmer. It doesn’t even camouflage my yellowy nails.
This…travesty…in Sinful Colors “Cosmotion”, from the ‘Moon Metals’ Collection. This is THREE thick coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
“Cosmotion” is not totally useless – it would make a subtle top coat? Or maybe sandwich it between some other colors of glitter?
Marleny
I cannot resist a good fuchsia nail polish. I have dozens and dozens of “Furious Fuchsia” nail polishes that match my old car – and I will continue to collect them. When I die, they can paint my coffin with it. Oh wait – I’m getting cremated…they can paint my urn with it.
This one is Julep “Marleny” from December’s Maven box. It’s got a good silver shimmer to it – it adds a depth to the polish.
This is two coats of “Marleny” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. For some reason, it seemed to wear down on my tips quickly. I don’t remember if I did some dishes or something – unlikely, but maybe.
Fairy Nails
I accidentally made fairy nails!
I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired, so I just grabbed a few polishes from my ‘untried’ basket, thinking that maybe I could make a wintry, blizzard type thing? I grabbed Pure Ice “Don’t You Wish” and…a nameless Style Essentials polish from a Beauty Box 5 almost 5 years ago!
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat (one of my faves, but almost empty). I then did two coats of “Don’t You Wish”. My nails are fairly unstained, if a bit yellowed, so I decided I could handle a sheer polish. For fun, I used the nameless polish on my thumb and ring finger. I finished with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat and was astonished at the result! The matte made the iridescence of “Don’t You Wish” turn blue, except only visible with a light shining on it. I wasn’t able to capture the effect in a picture very well, but they were amazing. I couldn’t stop looking at them.
I don’t know exactly why I decided they were fairy nails – probably because they were white and gauzy and shimmery. The reminded me of Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.
Imagine
I imagine there’s no better polish for New Year’s Eve than a flashy holographic. Even though I was on the couch with the kids all night, eating popcorn and a Swiss Colony Beef Log, while watching Ru-Paul’s Drag Race All-Stars 4 – I needed to have the right nails for the occasion.
I selected Julep “Lennon” from this month’s Julep box. Can you believe that I got full coverage in a single coat? This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat – I did two coats, just to make sure. I finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat, but I’m curious how holographic polishes look with a Matte Top Coat.
Oh, did you noticed that I fixed my thumb and index finger? I shaped them to match the rest of my nails. I feel like I have a hangnail on my middle finger though – or it is about to split from the side. I might have to cut it down to the quick to prevent a catastrophe. Pray for my fingernail, please.
Aarhus
Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark. “Aarhus” is also the name of the nail polish by Tinct Cosmetics in my ipsy bag this month. Tinct is a new brand to me, but their polish is 15 free and so, so bright. “Aaruhus” looks like a purple highlighter!
This is two coats of “Aarhus” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. I did not play with the Matte Top Coat this time. The top coat made a few baldish spots – if you squint, you can see it on my middle finger.
Looking at my nails, it’s obvious that I need to do something about my thumb and index finger. The other three nails are neat squovals, but that index finger is starting to look like a stiletto. I don’t know how or why, but it always happens that way.
Xmas Eve Nails
Waylaid by the flu, I am a wee bit late on posts. Christmas is but a memory, but here I am, sharing my Xmas Eve Nails.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of Sinful Colors “Ruby Glisten” as the background for my tree. To make my trees, I used China Glaze “For Rhinestones Only” to draw a tree shape and dipped each nail in the little pot of Grinchworthy Grinch Tinsel. Yeah, it pretty much got everywhere. For the stars on the trees, I fished them out of Sinful Colors “Star Studded”. For the decorations, I used a dotting tool dipped in Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty”. I topped it all with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. Several gloppy coats and they were still bumpy.
I think they turned out all right, but the texture was intolerable. I could not handle it for more than a day…and then it took more than an hour to scrub these trees off my nails. Do not recommend.
Alessandra
Snowflakes on my nails, but it’s in the mid 70s in South Texas right now. These snowflakes are the only thing wintery right now!
For the best contrast, I picked the darkest polish in this month’s box – Julep “Alessandra”. Julep describes it as inked berry microshimmer, but wouldn’t it be easier to just call it blackberry?
This is two coats of “Alessandra” over Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat. I then oh-so-carefully placed the snowflake decals with tweezers. I just had to see what Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat looked like over the decals, so I used it on my thumb and ring finger, while using the regular Glisten & Glow Top Coat on the rest. I was afraid the Matte Top Coat would glob up over the decals, but it didn’t. Even so, it wasn’t as pretty Matte as it was shiny. Bummer.
December 2018 Julep Box – Bliss in the Kiss
Julep’s lead product for the December Collection was lipstick, but I am REAL hesitant to get more Julep lipsticks – they go bad so quickly. I appreciate the fresh ingredients and lack of preservatives…but their products go rancid within six months! The liquid lipsticks seem to fare better, I’ll keep buying those.
I don’t remember choosing these polishes, but they look like colors I would choose, so I must have.
My selections were Wonder Maven “Marleny” – cool peony shimmer, It Girl “Lennon” – galactic holographic shimmer, and Bombshell “Alessandra” – inked berry microshimmer. I am loving all these cool-toned polishes for sweater weather. Oh, and I also got another sheet of snowflake decals. I love these intricate snowflakes!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Candy Ginger
I’ve been very vocal in the past about my discomfort with yellow nail polishes. Sinful Colors “Candy Ginger” is a Jelly Topper from this holiday’s “Jingle Jells” Collection. I fell in love with this polish – it didn’t make me look like Marge Simpson AT all.
I think the key is the matte finish – I used Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat on all my nails, except the thumb and ring finger. (I picked it up during the Black Friday sale, when I replenished my supply of the regular top coat, but I didn’t make a post about it.) Glisten & Glow is the best matte top coat I’ve tried…although admittedly, only one of two I’ve tried. The Zoya Matte Top Coat is fine, but it has a tendency to get white and crusty around the edges of my nails – Glisten & Glow does not do that, at least not yet.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and then did two coats of “Candy Ginger”. This is just two coats! I then used either Glisten & Glow Top Coat or Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat. I love, love, love the Matte ones. Matte ALL the nails!