Category: Nails
Ulta Birthday Trip
I had an afternoon Doctor Appointment last week and I decided not to be a lazy shit and leave the house before noon. I thought I’d hit Ulta to pick up my Birthday Gift and see what else I can pick up.
I’ve started this new habit of keeping a list of stuff I want from Ulta in my basket in the app, so I don’t forget and can compare prices. I had at least half a dozen random items and this store did not have a single one of them in stock. Really? I had a $10 off coupon burning a hole in my pocket!
I decided to finally try the NYX Liquid Suede Metallics, since they were Buy One, Get One 50% Off. I picked up “Buzzkill” (hot pink) and “Go Rogue” (black). Warning, the pink STAINS bad, as I found out today. I also grabbed a few different nail buffers. The biggest part of my purchase was a set of Hot Tools Soft Pillow Rollers for my daughter’s birthday next week – don’t worry, she doesn’t even know what Instagram is.
This quarter’s birthday gift is kind of lame – Just an Ulta Cranberry & Pomegranate Lip Oil and Mask. The rest of the year gets NARS, it Cosmetics and Lancome! I got the shaft.
Disappointed, I hit a second Ulta on the way to my appointment and again – disappointment. I actually ended up placing an online order a few days ago…I’m excited!
To VD or Not VD…
Who am I kidding? We ALWAYS VD.
I had planned on using my fancy gold rose nail decals for a VD mani, but Lily really wanted to design matching nails for us, so I decided to have some fun with her. I did decline to let her paint my nails – sorry, hun.
I was shocked that she started with Sinful Colors Base Coat. I think I am finally rubbing off on her! She selected Sinful Colors “Sugar Sugar” and “Surreally Sweet” as alternating base colors. She assured me that I had to go with one coat of “Sugar Sugar” and two coats of “Surreally Sweet”. (I knew she was wrong about “Sugar Sugar”, but I let it go. As soon as I started with the top coats, I got bald spots – easy to fix though.) She showed me how to do an ombre of the two colors on my middle nail – it worked fantastically!
She picked Sinful Colors “I’m All In”, “Kissful Thinking” and Funky Fingers “Queen of Hearts” as toppers. “Kissful Thinking” is on our middle fingers, with “I’m All In” on our thumbs and ring fingers and “Queen of Hearts” on our index fingers and pinkies.
The finishing touch was Glisten & Glow Top Coat. Oh, did I mention that we were watching The Monkees the whole time we painted? I got her hooked!
Nails aside, the REAL holiday at our house is February 15th. You know why.
We didn’t buy our kids a goddamn thing for VD. But immediately after school on the 15th, we loaded them into the truck and hit Walgreen’s. $10 each goes a long way when all the candy is 50% off!
I ended up spending more like $20 on myself, but I got the best stuff – Lindt Truffles, Russell Stover (the Elegant Collection, not the regular ones) and Godiva. This is just spoiling myself really, since my husband already brought me Bailey’s Strawberries & Cream and a bunch of European Chocolate from work. (Unfortunately, the special Loot Crate I ordered him in November hasn’t made it yet….boo.)
I was also treated to 3/$5 Sinful Colors! This store had a pitiful selection, but I did find 3 new colors – “Rorange” (red + orange?), “You Just Wait”, and “Sucker Punch”. I looked for a Sinful Colors Base Coat, but they didn’t have any…so weird.
I had amassed a $5 credit, too. I don’t even know how I did that. Who knows, but I LOVE Walgreen’s!
BBQ Sauce
Maybe because I’ve lived in Texas so long, but when I look at my nails – all I see is BBQ sauce. Spicy, sparkly, BBQ sauce.
Or maybe I’m just hungry for ribs. Right now, my favorite is the Whataburger Honey BBQ, but my husband just picked up The Jank and it’s a contender.
This is Julep “Pia”, from this month’s Maven box. Julep says it’s a spiced burgundy iridescent shimmer, but I see more of a mahogany.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and then two coats of “Pia”. I admit, it was late when I painted them and my coats were heavy around the edges of my nails. Unfortunately, this led to even heavier edges with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. It was difficult to get clean edges and my nails resemble well-done ribs, with those crispy delicious edges…
Go Eagles! (AKA Fuck Tom Brady)
Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t give a shit about the sportsball. The only interesting thing about the Super Bowl are the commercials…and that I can get away with eating an entire brick’s worth of queso by myself. I usually don’t even bother picking a team to root for…unless I can root against Tom Brady. This past week has been torture, with every media outlet continuously sucking his dick. Notwithstanding his despicable personal life, he’s a fucking cheater. What the fuck, America?
ANYWAY, stepping down off my soapbox to talk about my Philadelphia Eagles nails. Google told me that their team colors are midnight teal, silver and black. Hmmmm…of course I can make that happen.
I use Sinful Colors “Calypso” as my midnight teal. After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I did two coats of “Calypso” on my thumb, middle and pinky. I used Sinful Colors “Queen of Beauty” for the silver – two coats on my index finger. I tried a coat of Sinful Colors “Teal Midnight” on my ring finger, but it was much too sheer. I did a coat of Sinful Colors “JadeKat” and it was much better. I then went old school and busted out the crackle top coat – Sally Hansen “Star Burst”. I used a thin coat over my index and ring fingers and it crackled right up. For a finishing touch, I used a dotting tool to paint dots with “Queen of Beauty” on my middle finger and Sinful Colors “Black on Black” on my pinky. After topping then all with Glisten & Glow Top Coat, they all looked marvelous.
My only annoyance is that “Calypso” photographs so darkly – it looks black!
Go Eagles! Make Brady eat balls!
February 2018 Julep Maven Box – Eyes For You
Even thought it was just days before my surgery, I got in there and chose my polishes for February.
The new beauty product for February was an eye cream, but I don’t really fuck with eye creams, so I went for all polishes instead. I chose It Girl “Norah” – oxide red shimmer (I thought it was “Laurie” when I saw it in the box – it seems very similar); Wonder Maven “Pia” – spiced burgundy iridescent shimmer (whoa dude); and Boho Glam “Emmy” – olive ghost shimmer (it looks like rose leaves to me). I also got TWO sheets of gold rose decals – TWO! I’m really looking forward to trying all these polishes.
The candy is also back – I got a single milk chocolate heart.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Geri
Julep “Geri” is absolutely depressing. I didn’t even know that nail polish could be depressing…but yeah, it sure as fuck can. It’s not ugly depressing, it’s quite beautiful…but it feel like I’m getting ready for a funeral, or even worse – a job interview.
“Geri” is one of the Wonder Maven polishes, named for an inspiring woman…but I couldn’t find anything on Julep’s Blog about a “Geri.” Weird.
“Geri” was thicker than I like in a creme polish – this is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under Glisten Glow Base Coat. I’m gonna try it with glitter next time. Glitter is never depressing.
True Blue
I’m back! After a full mastectomy and reconstruction, I thought I’d be out of commission longer. Don’t get me wrong – I walk about as fast a turtle and can barely move – but sure can paint my fingernails.
Before I got started, I went ahead and trimmed and buffed my nails, so that I’d have a good canvas to start from. My ringer finger and pinkys were getting long, so those took the most trim.
My daughter had already picked a color for my toes, which she would be painting for me later. She chose LVX “Haitus True Blue” – a special edition polish released at Hiatus Spa + Retreat. I think one of my aunt’s gave it to her for Xmas, so I guess that’s how she ended up with it? I’d never tried LVX polishes before – this one is pretty nice. It’s a bit thicket than I’m used to, but still workable. The first coat had streaks, but the second coat leveled out and gave beautiful coverage. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and ended with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I wanna say that this blue is the same “True Blue” as the Madonna cassette. For real, I have the cassette tape underneath my bed, but I don’t have the mobility to go check. If I ask my husband to look, he’ll want to start trashing the stuff I have hidden under there. I checked Google though and Google agrees with me.
Milk Chocolate
Even though I know I have to take off all my nail polish and toenail polish tomorrow – for surgery – I had to freshen up my nails last night. I can’t not paint my nails on Friday night. It’s like I have some sort of psychosis.
Julep “Jenn” is a creamy milk chocolate polish. It’s like Willy Wonka’s chocolate river!
This is two coats of “Jenn” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Dorothy, DUH
If I was one of the Golden Girls, I would OBVIOUSLY be Dorothy. I have the fierce wit and I have the height. The only thing I don’t have is a sketchy ex-husband with a dumb mustache. (Don’t worry, honey – that’s isn’t a hint.)
Fresh Paint “Dorothy” is a fierce metallic pink. At first, I thought it was a dupe of Zoya “Bobbi”, but “Bobbie” is darker and brighter. Phew, I didn’t end up with a dupe. I’d almost call “Dorothy” a rose gold, but it’s more like a rose silver. Is rose silver even a real thing?
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, then painted two coats of “Dorothy”. I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I fixed the cuticles on my thumb and index finger with Julep Vanish! They look so much better now – color me relieved.
Snow Princess
It’s fucking cold. I feel like I can’t get warm…until I get into my car. For some reason, my car is hot. Then I’m driving and trying to take my jacket off. Dangerous, I know. This weather is going to kill me.
ANYWAY, I did Snow Princess nails. They are NOT Frozen nails, they are Snow Princess nails. There IS a difference.
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I started with two coats of Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl”. I think “Tokyo Pearl” is my most used polish – I’ve used HALF the bottle. That’s like…$1 worth of nail polish! I topped them with Sinful Colors “Flake Out”, which is a silvery microglitter, with matte blue glitter and holographic star glitters. There weren’t enough stars – I was fishing for each one. It was so fucking annoying. I only got one star per nail, before I gave up. I finished up with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
My cuticles need help. Please don’t even look at my index finger – it’s like my cuticle is taking over my whole fingernail – I need to melt and scrape it. My hands are dry, but I’m keeping them hydrated and lotioned up…but the hangnail struggle is real. I’m gonna try working on them before my next manicure…