Category: Nails
Lara!!!
I’ve been waiting over three and a half years and it’s finally here…Julep “Lara”!
Honestly, this isn’t the color I would pick to represent me (shell pink with shimmer), but it’s also possible that I don’t know myself very well. Maybe I really AM shell pink with gold shimmer? What if I’m NOT flamingo fuchsia?
This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. no fuss, no muss.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this is a glossy dupe for the matte Sinful Colors “Angelik”.
I also have Zoya “Lara” – now I just need to track down a bottle of Deborah Lippman “Lara’s Theme” and I’ll have them all…
March Julep Maven Box – Spring To It
I was a little bit heartbroken when I open this month’s Julep box and found that there was no insert describing this month’s box – “Spring to It”. I don’t really do anything with it after I read it, but I like having it. No candy either, although there were a few bonus Julep One-Step Nail Polish Remover Pads. That’s something I guess.
I got over my heartbreak as soon as I remembered what was in my box – Bombshell “Lara”, shell pink with gold shimmer. Yes, I finally got my very own Julep polish. I’m so happy I could shit! I also picked Boho Glam “Rosemary”, modern brick creme (dried blood, if you ask me). I also got Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum. I was expecting it to have a scent, but it doesn’t smell like anything. It’s much lighter than cuticle oil, and it doesn’t get all over everything.
I can’t wait to try my namesake polish!
Not a Julep Maven? Click HERE to join – I’ll get a $15 credit and you’ll get your first box free!
Pepper
Did you know that cornflowers don’t actually grow on corn plants? I never actually thought they did, but I had to google “cornflower”, because it occurred to me that I’d never seen a cornflower. My only experience with cornflower is the crayon.
My sudden fascination with cornflower sprang from Julep “Pepper” – cornflower multidimensional shimmer. It’s another polish from my big mystery box order. (I’ll get through them all eventually.) I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, two quick coats and topped with “HK Girl”. The shimmer is silver and very striking – this is a wonderful polish.
It’s already been several days and my nails still look perfect. I also did my toes, so I’ll be able to enjoy “Pepper” for quite a while.
Purple Hazed
Behold…Sinful Colors “Hazed”, not to be confused with “Purple Haze”, a polish I tried out a few years ago. To be honest, this polish has been sitting around for a few years – I bought it back in August 2015. I don’t know why I’d avoided it – it’s a lovely matte light violet polish. Actually, it’s demi-matte, not all the way matte. The formula isn’t quite as good as the newer mattes, but still decent.
I started with Sinful Colors Base Coat and did two coats of “Hazed”. It was silky smooth and I *thought* it dried quickly, but when I awoke the next day…I found sheet imprints on a few of my nails. Argh.
Put on the Red Light
Julep “Roxanne” is strictly black tie – a fancy, fancy polish. I feel like I should be more dressed up just to wear it. I did wear it to watch the Oscars, so it’s almost like I went somewhere fancy. It was another gem from my massive Julep score over the summer.
Even though it’s intended as a gold and black glitter top coat, I decided to try it on it’s own. This is two simple coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. I feel like it gives very good coverage by itself. The glitter is rather jagged and rough. A few of the edges poked through the “HK Girl” and drove me NUTS.
I need to try it over another polish…perhaps a red, to match my red dress?
February Ipsy Bag – Much Love
I’m loving the February Ipsy Bag – “Much Love”, in fact.
Inside this month’s cute little denim bag: Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in “$12 Latte” (It’s actually darker than a latte – more like $12 Mocha); NYX Butter Lipstick in “Lifeguard” (Yup, Baywatch red); BellaPierre Cosmetics Volumelash Waterproof Mascara (Ugh, hate waterproof mascara); Hikari Cosmetics Cream Pigment Eye Shadow in “Latte” (Oooooh, another latte – it’s going straight into my Z Palette…speaking of Z Palette, they’re in the middle of a controversy for being assholes on social media – I won’t be buying another one, but I already gave them my money for this one); and BeFine Food Skin Care Gentle Face Cleanser (I’m running low on cleanser samples, so this came at a good time).
Another great bag this month!
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
It’s Not Black, It’s Brown
Julep “August” is the final polish from February’s box. Much like “Maylee” – “August” looks black, but it really dark, dark brown. Julep calls it chocolate cherry ghost shimmer. The shimmer is barely there, you have to look really, REALLY hard.
This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and under “HK Girl”. Also like “Maylee”, “August” lasted a really long time – longer than I wanted it to.
My paternal grandfather’s name was August, but he died before I was born. My mom said she felt sorry for him when my grandmother hit him over the head with a frying pan…until he said she was mad at him for going “to the cathouse”.
Got Any More of Them Free Gifts with Purchase?
Been a while since I got one of these Ulta Bags – I’ve passed on the last one or two that Ulta offered. But this one looked fairly good…so when I was FINALLY getting my hair cut on Saturday, I decided to indulge.
The 12 products inside the snaky aqua bag: Amped Mascara in “Jet Black”, Full Size Matte Lipstick in “Petal” (limited edition), Full Size Brow Tint in “Medium”, Eye shadow Palette shades in “Lace”, “Charm”, “Nostalgia”, “Vintage”, “Delicate”, and “Seaside” (these shadows are the thing that drew me to the bag), Cheek Palette shades in “Fresh Glow Highlighter” and “Nude Pink Blush”, Eye Makeup Remover Pads, Full size Nude Matte Eye Shadow Primer, Lip Gloss Stain in “Treason”, Dual Eye Liner in “Majesty” and “Smoke”, Blush Brush, and a Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener. The bag also had a coupon for $5 off any $15 Ulta Beauty cosmetics or brush purchase.
So I had to spend $21.50 on Ulta products to get my free little bag – and it was easier than I thought it would be. I’d been wanting to try Ulta’s new Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” ($10) – a dupe of ABH Brow Wiz, I’m hoping. I grabbed a nail clipper for Lily, since she was using one of mine; an Ergonomic 3 Way Nail Buffer; some eyeshadow applicators and a couple of packs of Exfoliating Cotton Pads – I can always use more cotton pads.
PLUS, I had a $10 off coupon for my birthday AND a code for a deluxe sample of Benefit The POREfessional AND double points for my birthday month. All in all, I spent about $13 for all these goodies – SCORE!
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
…I’m begging of you, please don’t take my man. I’ll starve!
Julep “Jolene” – iron ore metallic – is a bombshell, just like her namesake. There’s the barest hint of gold and a rainbow of shimmer reflected in that iron ore. This might be my favorite from this month’s box.
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat, two coats of “Jolene” and finished with “HK Girl”. To be honest, it still looked pristine four days later, but I took it off just now to try something different.
Haute Koffee
Behold…Sinful Colors “Haute Koffee”. Why is this polish called “Haute Koffee”? Coffee is NOT supposed to be this color. Coffee is brown, not maroon. How about “Haute Merlot”?
Regardless of the ridiculous name, this polish is life itself. Perfectly matte, but with a touch of shimmer. This is the best yet from the Kylie “Trend Matters” Collection. I cannot believe I’ve been sitting on this polish since September.
This is two coats of “Haute Koffee” over Sinful Colors Base Coat. I could just stare at it for hours and hours…