Category: Nails

Vogue
Strike a pose…there’s nothing to it…
Great, now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head all night…
Sinful Colors “Strike a Pose” was the first polish I grabbed from my big sale haul. It’s from the new “Luxe Fragments” Collection – a jelly base filled with glitter shards. I’m in love with glitter shards, I think. I was drawn to the black and gold…plus, it also matched the ipsy bag I just got.
Sinful Colors Base Coat and then two coats of “Strike a Pose”. I was afraid that it wouldn’t be opaque enough after the first quote, but the second coat came through for me – it sure covered up my stained green nails. “HK Girl” sealed the deal and provided a ridiculous amount of shine.
I feel like my nails are getting shorter and shorter. My unpacking and cleaning has slowed WAY down – maybe they’ll get a chance to grow without breaking and peeling?

Precious Kargo
Sinful Colors “Kargo” is just…WOW.
My nails were already stained green from “Peggy”, so I figured I would stick with the theme and go with a blue or green. I had a suspicion that “Kargo” would be a textured polish. My suspicions were correct…plus, it’s a matte glitter texture. I am loving the Sinful Colors matte formulas.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat, then two coats of “Kargo”. The formula was rather thin for a textured polish – I was quite pleased that I didn’t end up with a case of the goopies. No top coat.
“Kargo” is very, very similar to Julep “Jennine” – but a bit less glittery and iridescent. It also had better staying power – I was able to make it Sunday to Thursday before repainting my nails.

Peggy
My first grab from this month’s Julep box – Julep “Peggy”.
Again, another surprise. I was expecting a rusty brown shimmer, but “Peggy” is charcoal with rose shimmer – basically a dark grey duochrome that flashes rust and pink in the light. You can see it much better on the bottle than on my nails, but whatever. What will they think of next?
After Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, I painted two coats of “Peggy” and topped with “HK Girl”. It was one of those quick school night jobbies, but it turned out fantastic.
The most surprising thing about “Peggy” is that it stained my nails…GREEN. I was totally shocked that it stained both my cuticles and my nails a faint froggy tint. I was able to get rid of it with Julep Vanish…and trim those cuticles, too.

September Julep Maven Box – Cheers to Five Years!
Happy fifth birthday, Julep!
“Cheers to Five Years!” is this month’s theme and in addition to a whole new Wonder Maven polish collection, you could also choose curated set of three polishes, eye liners or lipsticks. I actually didn’t change a thing about my “It Girl” selection – the “Cheers to Five Years!” polish set. It included “Genevieve” – red rock chrome, “Peggy” – charcoal with rose shimmer, and “Acacia” – blue fjord chrome (it’s pining for the fjords). I debated changing up my selection, but these were the polishes for me.
No candy this month, but a new nail file was included – I can always use nail files.
November will be three years I’ve been with Julep – not counting mystery boxes and other purchases, that’s at least 108 polishes right there…WOW!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!

Konstellation Chalkboard
Okay, we get it – those Kardashians like the letter “K”.
This is Sinful Colors “Konstellation”, my first pick from the handful of Kylie Jenner polishes that I picked up on clearance at Walgreen’s. I thought it would be a shimmery duochrome charcoal, but I was wrong…it’s a matte polish! The charcoal did shift from purple to green, almost like a puddle of motor oil in the driveway – but not shiny. I know what it reminds me of – a chalkboard! Something my children will never, ever see…
This is two coats over Sinful Colors Base Coat. Like most matte polishes, it dried extremely quickly. It pulled back from the tips a bit as it dried, but it doesn’t look too bad. It did tend to stick to my skin – be careful with this polish. If might take a few strips of skin off if you try to peel it from around your fingernails.
If I had a more careful hand, I could use “Konstellation” as a background for some chalkboard themed nail art…I might have to experiment a bit to see how it works out. Or maybe I should try stamping over it…Hmmmmm….

Danica
Oooooh…another blurple!
Julep “Danica” is blue violet iridescent chrome. Blue + violet = blurple. It’s so sparkly.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. This is two coats of “Danica” topped with “HK Girl”. Another silky smooth formula – the perfect consistency. It seemed to chip more quickly than usual – but that could be yesterday’s toilet cleaning spree and several rounds of dishes.
My first thought was that “Danica” was referring to the NASCAR driver. Now that I think about it, I think “Danica” is Winnie from The Wonder Years. There’s something a bit psychedelic 60s about this polish.
My husband wants to see “Danica” on my toes. I think I can make that happen…

Vacation Time Lolita
I LOVE finding polishes that match my lippies!
At first, I was confident that Sinful Colors “Vacation Time” would be a match to Jeffree Star “Celebrity Skin”, but it wasn’t brown enough. Then I looked at “Rose Matter”, but “Vacation Time” wasn’t nearly that pink. Then I looked at Kat Von D “Lolita” – BINGO! It’s a perfect match!
After Sinful Colors Base Coat, I painted two coats of “Vacation Time”. Like most creme polishes, the first coat was streaky, but the second coat evened it out. It is a nice formula – not too thick, not too thin. I used “HK Girl” to finish.
I also did my toes – I’m not so sure how I feel about my toes looking so…normal.

Neely
Julep “Neely” was my second pick from the huge mystery box haul. I was just drawn to this sparkling cranberry full-coverage glitter…like a soccer mom is drawn to the glitter aisle at Hobby Lobby.
I started – of course – with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. “Neely” was almost full coverage in one coat, but I went for two coats. Holy shit – it’s perfect! The formula was the perfect consistency – not too thick or goopy. I didn’t get clumps of glitter – just smooth coverage. No chunky, sharp edges either. This is one of the best full coverage glitters I’ve ever used. Once I added “HK” Girl, the shine was off the charts. It was long lasting, too – I wore if through my move – nearly a whole week. It bit the dust when I started cleaning, then unpacking and washing dishes – all that Fabuloso and water made my nails start peeling and the tips got absolutely shredded. It will take my nails several months to recover from the move. It would be a tragedy if I didn’t love my new place so much.
I want everything I own to be covered in “Neely” – my phone, my car, my bed, my dog, my shoes…ESPECIALLY my shoes.