Category: Nails
April 2018 Ipsy Bag – Social Butterfly
LOOK at this month’s ipsy bag – rose gold butterflies! I’m dead.
The Pretty Woman Nail Polish in “Girl Boss” was the first product that caught my eye – it’s a dusty rose that matches the bag. Also in this month’s bag: Firma Beauty Angled Blender Brush; Ciate London Starstruck Double-Ended Stamp Liquid Liner (well, if I want to look like Kat Von D); Bubble T Cosmetics Lemongrass & Green Tea Stimulating Hand Cream; and Hempz Herbal Lip Balm (tee hee – hemp).
A solid bag, if a bit on the hippy side.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
Coconut and Coffee
I don’t usually share every time I go to Target, but this trip actually contained some “share-worthy” products.
I get all kinds of excited every time St. Ives comes out with a new product. I was able to use my Target Beauty Box coupon on St. Ives Energizing Coconut & Coffee Scrub. So excited to try it! But I’m making myself use up the Shea Moisture scrub before I open it…
I also tried L’Oreal Paris Pure Clay Cleanser – Exfoliate & Refine, which is a red clay as opposed to the black clay I have on my sink. Again, I’m forcing myself to use up the old one before I open the new one.
Everything else I bought was much less exciting – Axe Body Wash and Shampoo for the men, Cotton Balls, Toner, Contact Solution and a shit ton of nail polish remover.
I fucking love Target.
Mermaid Vibes
As disappointed as I was with Beach Vibes, I am really digging these Mermaid Vibes!
Julep “Maureen” is totally inspired by The Little Mermaid – it’s like a shiny version of her tail. It also matches my living room walls. I could wear it forever…
This is two coats of “Maureen” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Astros Nails
I can be a baseball fan, just for one day.
There are few sports as boring as baseball, but as soon as I found out that my son’s Junior High School Band was invited to play the National Anthem, I got uncharacteristically excited. I don’t own any Astros gear, but I do have fingernails…
I don’t normally mix brands like this, but it was necessary to get the colors just right. I started with Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat, followed by two coats of the brightest orange I own – Sally Hansen “Sweet Nectar”. I then painted a swipe pattern that my daughter had done on her own nails last week. I used Julep “Brigitte” for the white and Julep “Dyani” for the blue. I painted the swipes freehand, with the nail polish brush – so they are far from perfect. I wanted some stars, so I then topped with Sinful Colors “Star Studded”. The finishing touch was Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Since I used the brushes from the nail polish bottle, there was far too much polish pooling in the edges, by my skin. Oh well.
I was gonna hold a baseball in the pic, but I couldn’t find one around the house. I used my mom’s opal egg instead. This might be my new nail pic thingy.
Beach Vibes
Sometimes, the idea in your head just doesn’t materialize…and that’s OK. Not every nail polish look is going to be perfect.
Even though it’s not perfect, it’s not bad. It’s giving off definite Summer Beach Vibes. I wanted to try the new polish I got in one of my gazillion Target Beauty Boxes this month – Sinful Colors “Galax-sea”. But it is a glitter with a clear base, so what would I put under it, to hide my stained nails??? Sinful Colors “Coco Bae”!
Starting with Sinful Colors Base Coat, this is two coats of “Coco Bae”, one and a half coats of “Galx-sea”, and finishing up with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Sugar Flamingo
Can you believe Julep “Cadance”? It looks like pure, pink sugar.
“Cadance” is another sugar textured polish from Julep. There’s a subtle glint of gold underneath the flamingo pink – this might be the most perfect textured polish I’ve ever used.
This is two coats of “Cadance” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. Oops, I’m running low on Base Coat! I better add to my next box!
By the way, There’s a My Little Pony named Princess Cadance…but she’s light purple, not flamingo pink. There really isn’t a pony that’s this shade of pink – Pinkie Pie is a cotton candy pink. Why do I know this???
April 2018 Julep Maven Box – Bold Confection
So. Much. Polish.
April’s theme is “Bold Confection” and brings bright polishes with fun textures. I decided to go all polish. I chose Classic with a Twist “Cadance”, flamingo pink textured glitter; It Girl “Maureen”, seafoam oasis iridescent; and Bombshell “Samma”, frozen lilac iridescent microglitter. I also got a tiny roll of white nail tape. I wonder if it will be as hard to use as the nail tape I got from China…
No candy this month, but a free polish! I got Boho Glam “Della”, misted blackberry microshimmer. When I opened the box, I was sure that “Cadance” must have been the free polish – I couldn’t imagine myself choosing it…but I checked my confirmation email and choose it, I did.
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Target Beauty Boxes – April 2018
What witchcraft is this? FOUR different Target Beauty Boxes this month? (There was an extra box that dropped the last week of March, but since it was all curly hair products, I skipped it.) When it rains, it pours! The boxes have unique designs and a different coupon set-up than the usual $3 off $15 – each box has coupons for the specific products in the box.
I’ll just start with the top left and move clockwise…the “Be You(tiful)” box is the heaviest and highest value box. It includes e.l.f. Gotta Glow Up Tint in “Perfect Pink” (I suspect it’s like the Winky Lux balm); Simple Water Boost Micellular Makeup Remover Eye Pads (itty bitty!); Nexxus Keraphix Shampoo & Conditioner (ugh, the shampoo came open in the box – at least it made everything smell good); L’Oreal Pure Clay Cleanser – Detoxify and Brighten (picked this up several months ago – LOVE it); OLLY Beauty Vitamins; Sinful Colors Nail Polish in “Galac Sea” (Not a dupe!); and Honest Beauty Younger Face Deep Hydration Cream. This box included $9 in product coupons.
Next up is the “Treat Yourself” box. It includes Bodycology Free & Lovely Coconut & Rose Body Butter (smells good); Dr Teals Pink Himalayan Foaming Bath (ugh, I want a bathtub so bad); ME!Bath Bath Bomb (Ditto); Luxe by Mr. Bubble Bath Meltaway (jeez); Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in “Red Dahlia” (finally, a product I’ll use); Olay Regenerist Whip Active Moisturizer (I’ve been dying to try this); and Honest Beauty Refreshingly Clean Gel Cleanser. This box included $11 in coupons.
Directly underneath that box is the “All the Masks” box. It includes Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Gel Mask; Que Bella Multi Mask Trio; Yes to Carrots and Kale Single Use Paper Mask; Masque Bar Luminizing Charcoal Peel Off Mask; and St. Ives Soothing Oatmeal Sheet Mask (I busted this one out the night I opened the box – I’m still smooth several days later). This box only included a single $1 off St. Ives coupon.
Last, but not least, is the “Wakeup and Makeup” box. It includes Sonia Kashuk Brush Cleaning Wipes; e.l.f. Beautifully Bare Blending Brush; e.l.f. Beautifully Bare Face Palette; Dove Dry Spray Invisible Sheer Finish Deodorant; Dove Dry Shampoo in “Coconut”; CoverGirl Peacock Flare Mascara in “Extreme Black”; and Honest Beauty Refreshingly Clean Makeup Remover Wipes. This box included $5 in coupons.
So…four boxes at $7 each, AND I remembered to use my $3 off coupon. With another 5% off with my Red Card and free shipping, that’s $24.25 for the whole shebang! If I manage to use even half of the $26 in coupons, I’ll be a happy camper.
An Oldie, but Goodie
I’m still reaching deep into my stash. I had gone for a pedicure last week and picked a bold turquoise shimmer by OPI (forgot to ask the name) and wanted to go full mermaid. (ALWAYS go full mermaid.)
I dug around and came back with Sally Hansen “Mermaid’s Tale”. I did a quick search on my site – last time I wore it was 3 years ago. That’s too long for this beauty.
This is two coats of “Mermaid’s Tale” over Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. I don’t remember this polish pulling back from the tips of my nails so much – I am thinking it’s the base coat? Ugh, it’s annoying.
…and then I remembered a possible reason it’s been so long when I went to take the polish off yesterday. It took about 45 fucking minutes to take this polish off. 45. Fucking. Minutes. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!
Feeling Witchy
I don’t know why, but I’ve been having the urge to dig into my polish stash lately. I don’t know what look I was going for, I just wanted to play. No…I did kind of have an idea. I wanted something in a matte jade green…
Somehow I absolutely mis-remembered what the finish was like on the SpaRitual Luminaries – why did I remember them as matte? I dunno…I guess I could have used my matte top coat, but then I was sleepy and just wanted to go to bed.
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, and then two coats of Deborah Lippmann “Defying Gravity”. I alternated Luminaries, starting with “Citrine Luminary” on my thumb and “Opaline Luminary” on my index finger. I didn’t even use a top coat, because I kept waiting for the polishes to get more matte.
I have to say though, “Defying Gravity” might just be my favorite green polish. It’s vibrant, but muted. I don’t feel like a goddamn leprechaun when I wear it. Maybe because it’s so similar to my eye color.