Category: Nails
Midnight Mermaid
Ulta is now carrying wet n wild cosmetics – online only. There was a 20% off coupon in my email. What a time to be alive!
I was excited, because wet n wild just released a new collection – The Midnight Mermaid Collection. It’s very similar to Black Moon Cosmetics Cosmic Metals Collection – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! I picked up almost all of it. I got all 4 of the MegaLast Metallic Liquid Catsuit lipsticks ($4.99) – “Coral Crown”, “Harbor A Crush”, “Siren’s Jewel” and “Sea Seduction”. I only got one of the three MegaLiner Metallic Eyeliner ($3.99) – “Trident’s Shimmer”. I also only got one of the four Color Icon Metallic Liquid Eyeshadows ($4.99) – “Lara’s Necklace”, because DUH. I also picked up the Mermaid Highlighting Bar ($6.99).
I keep saying that I don’t like buying fragrances without smelling them first…but then I keep doing it. After reading the description of Philosophy Amazing Grace Ballet Rose, I went ahead and picked up the mini size for $18. It also came with a 4 oz. bottle of Amazing Grace Shower Gel as a free bonus! I am SO glad I picked it up – it’s now my second favorite rose scent, after Cartier Goutte de Rose.
I also picked up a little something for Lily – the China Glaze My Little Pony 6 pc Micro Mini Kit ($15). It’s a tie in to the My Little Pony movie coming out next month. Maybe the polish will get her over the pain of me refusing to sit through it in the theater. Oh – and my Variety Sampler included foilpacks of Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfecting Cream and Botanics 100% Organic Facial Oil. Meh.
This order did not push me to Platinum Status for 2018, but you know what did? Friday before last, I took the kids to get their back-to-school haircuts at Ulta and I got a cut and color. I was going for a rose gold melt, but my stylist didn’t want to make all my hair fall out by bleaching it too much, so it ended up a pinkish red. I also went ahead and signed up for the Ulta Platinum card, so I could get 20% off all our haircuts. Ulta may be an expensive place to get kids’ haircuts…but at least I ended up with $61 worth of points out of the deal.
Since Hurricane Harvey has had us housebound for several days, I decided to play around with my Midnight Mermaid stuff. On my eyes, I used “Lara’s Necklace”, the green liquid eyeshadow, and “Trident’s Shimmer”, the pewter eyeliner. I LOVED the liquid eyeshadow and may be picking up some of the other colors. I did not care for the liquid line – it was too goopy, especially on top of the liquid eyeshadow. My lips are an ombre of the blue and green lipsticks – “Sea Seduction” and “Siren’s Jewel”, with a bit of the Highlighter in the middle. The lipsticks are just as great as the other liquid catsuits, and the price cannot be beat. It’s a lot for every day (Can you say MiMi?), but just right for the middle of a hurricane.
Readie or Not
I cannot even pretend to know what the name of this polish is supposed to mean – Sinful Colors “Readie or Not”. Is it a typo? Is it a purposeful use of the old middle english spelling (Chaucer, etc.)? Who even knows how they come up with these names. I’m convinced that Sinful Colors just picks random names and phrases out of a huge bucket…I’ve said it a million times, I’d be SO much better at naming nail polishes…
In any case, “Readie or Not” is a fuchsia/eggplant foiled polish. A thin polish that applied smoothly, I got full coverage in two coats. I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and ended with “HK Girl”.
This polish was decently long lasting, with minimal chips and edge wear. Yay!
Impeccable
Impeccable, which means…not peccable? Peccable is a real word, although rarely used – at least when compared to its antonym, Impeccable. Peccable means “capable of sinning”, the opposite of which is not exactly how Impeccable is usually used today. In context, it is more likely to be interchangeable with flawless or faultless. ANYWAY…this brief lesson in etymology leads into my description of Formula X “Impeccable” – it’s a dusty blush nude, innocent and incapable of sin.
I am much happier with the shiny Formula X formulas than the mattes or glitters. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and “HK Girl”. It’s a medium consistency polish, but very full coverage without being chalky.
I need to try “Impeccable” with a gold glitter.
Redrum
Redrum…REDRUM…
Sinful Colors “Redrum” is aptly named – it looks like blood, bubbling up from…the abyss? Wherever blood bubbles from…I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and then used several different colors to contrast: Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”, “Black on Black” and “GoGo Boy”. “GoGo Boy” was a last minute addition to my plan, since Lily had just used it to paint her nails and it was sitting there on the coffee table. “HK Girl” made it super shiny.
I’ll be honest, this was my second try with “Redrum”. On my first try, I made the mistake of painting each nail and letting them dry a few minutes. I added “Redrum” and then my nails were just red. Huh? I googled to see where I went wrong and found that I needed to add “Redrum” while the first polish was still wet. I removed all my polish and started over, this time, painting each nail individually and then immediately adding “Redrum” – BINGO!
This time, I was very pleased with the result – it’s like the next level of crackle polish. I’m looking forward to trying the other four.
Hypnotic Transforming
Sometimes, you just gotta pay full price.
I had been seeing Sinful Colors‘ new collection of Hypnotic Transforming Top Coats and I had to have them all…and I was willing to pay the full price of $1.99 each. On the way back from dinner, I scammed my husband into letting me “pop” into Walgreen’s. We drove by a Walgreen’s in Richmond that I’d never been to…lo and behold, there is a pristine display of of the top coats I am looking for!
I grabbed all five: “Redrum” – red, “Rebel Rebel” – blue, “Concrete Jungle” – gray, “Purpunk” – light lavender, and “Punk the Town” – plum. These polishes appear to be a step beyond crackle top coats – they make bubbles and streaks. So excited to try them!
Ultimately, I didn’t end up paying full price for my polishes – I had $5 in Walgreen’s points from their Beauty Enthusiast program. I’d finally spent $50 on beauty products there.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find this year’s new Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor”: “Crispy Taco”, “Everything Bagel” and “Fried Green Tomatoes”. I even found my sister’s first and middle name on Coke bottles. This was a very productive trip!
Buckshot
Doesn’t this look like my hand just got hit with a load of buckshot?
Sinful Colors “Cherish Me” is from the new “Moon Metals” Collection and it is just flat out weird. It’s super sheer, which is disappointing, but I guess necessary with this tiny, tiny glitter. This is two coats (over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”) and you can barely see it. And the glitter…there isn’t much of it!
I’ll be honest, I am not in love with this polish.
Jonna Iguana
This is it – I’ve found it. Julep “Jonna” is THE GREATEST POLISH EVER MADE.
Described as an iguana green duochrome, “Jonna” is possibly the most amazing and beautiful polish ever. It shifts from a pale green to a vibrant turquoise – I don’t even know how that’s possible. Science.
“Jonna” reminds me of the iguana we used to have, “Cheech”. He was one of the most beautiful iguanas I’ve ever seen and reasonably tame. I think he thought I was his girlfriend – he mounted my arm and bit my finger once when I was hand-feeding him.
The polish went on smoothly – no brush marks like many chromed polishes. This is two coats with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and “HK Girl”.
The polish was super long-lasting as well. I was able to wear it from Thursday to Wednesday with minimal wear – a whole week!
August Julep Maven Box – Build. Blend. Your Way.
WHOA! This month’s box is all about skin. It’s called “Build. Blend. Your Way.”
The only polish that caught my eye was It Girl “Jonna” – Iguana Green Duochrome. I used 700 Jules to add it to my box, because I wanted the two new skin products: Cushion Complexion Skin Perfector in “120 – Linen” and Insta-Filter Translucent Powder. My choice was good – the Cushion Complexion works as the best under-eye concealer I’ve ever tried. I also used it to highlight – it’s a multi-tasking marvel. Insta-Filter is also the best translucent powder I’ve tried – and I’ve tried a bunch. I wore JUST these two products on my skin over the weekend and that is all I needed. That is WOW. They carry BOTH of these products at Ulta, too.
This box made me SO happy…keep it up, Julep!!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Peri-Twinkle
Ooooh…BLURPLE!
Sinful Colors “Peri-Twinkle” is a very sheer blurple shimmer. It leans more blue than purple, but the purple is definitely there. This is just two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. It was a thinner formula – very easy to apply.
“Peri-Twinkle” is from a Christmas Collection. It doesn’t feel very Christmas to me, but maybe Hanukkah? Yes, let’s say that this is a Hanukkah polish!
Cheeto Dust
My animosity towards the color orange is well known. It just isn’t my color. But for some reason, I intentionally chose this very orange polish in last month’s Julep box. Why? I do not know.
This is not Construction Paper Orange. This is not Traffic Cone Orange. This is not Tang Orange. This is not Pumpkin Orange. This is not Longhorn Orange. This is not Doritos Orange. This is…Cheeto Dust orange! Not Cheetos themselves, but that delicious dust…the best part really is the licking of the fingers, isn’t it?
This is two coats of Julep “Nadine” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”.