My Best Friend Thinks I’m an Idiot
For some reason, my BFF thinks I’m an idiot…is it because I keep buying more Julep polishes? I have it on good authority that she is also expecting a Julep shipment…with 4 polishes!
I took advantage of the August 8th Magic Eightball Coupon to get 50% off these two polishes from Julep’s Birthstone Collection. “Martina” – Ruby for July is named after Martina McBride. I know she’s a country singer, but I couldn’t name one of her songs if I had a gun to my head. “Claudia” – Peridot for August is named for Claudia Schiffer, the 90s supermodel. Is she still alive?
I am Peridot-ing my fingers as soon as I click “Publish”.
Bling It On
Sometimes I feel like nail polish namers aren’t even trying. China Glaze “Bling It On” is a lovely, sparkly polish, but it hardly qualifies as “bling”. You can’t have “bling” without gold or silver or diamonds or something you would find inside of Lil Wayne’s mouth. Instead, it looks like crazy cool bathroom graffiti.
I didn’t swatch the polish before putting it on my fingers, so I wasn’t expecting a clear base. Oops…I guess you get to enjoy my yellow nail tips. This polish would look really nice with a light blue polish like Sinful Colors “Cinderella” or over a black polish.
Again, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine as the base coat and NYC “Grand Central Station” as a top coat. Good news – no curtaining!
SinFAIL
This is for all my friends with nail envy….sometimes my nails just end up looking like ASS.
I was so excited about my Sinful Colors haul, that I decided to try to use all the colors. DON’T try all the colors!
After Sally Hansen Diamond Shine, I put on 2 coats of “Let Me Go” – it’s a purplish pink with a blue tinge in the bottle, but it is much sheerer on the nail. I used “Super Star” as an accent on my thumb – royal blue jelly base with vibrant purple glitter – and “Decadent” on my ring finger – fuchsia glitter in various sizes. I topped with NYC In a New York Color Minute “Grand Central Station”. Unfortunately, I started doing stuff too quickly and the edges curtained. Curtaining occurs when the top layer is dry, but the layers underneath aren’t and the whole top layer moves on the nail and creates a wrinkled edge, like sweeping a curtain with a sash. It happens more often with cremes and I thought this shimmer would be safe. Nope.
I really like “Decadent” over “Let Me Go”, but the “Super Star” doesn’t match AT ALL. This shit has to go…
It’s Sinning Time Again
It’s that time again…99 cent Sinful Colors at Walgreen’s!
I showed amazing restraint and picked up just 4 polishes. I’m thinking that the restraint may have been because I had the whole family there…real alcoholics prefer to drink alone, don’t they?
Lily is modeling our new polishes – “Super Star” – a royal blue jelly base with vibrant purple glitter; “Let Me Go” – a color shifting iridescent pink with a hint of blue (my husband’s pick); “Decadent” – different sized fuchsia glitter in a clear base (my BFF’s favorite glitter topper and Lily’s pick); and “Glass Pink” – pale pink shimmer.
Can I control myself for the rest of the week?
Birchbox Limited Edition CEW Boxes
Every time Birchbox comes out with a Limited Edition Box…just take my money. TAKE MY MONEY, Birchbox! With the Modern Mermaid box, I acted like I might not buy it and waited a few weeks. I didn’t even bother waiting to buy the Limited Edition 2014 CEW boxes – I bought them the first day they were available – $28 for both boxes is quite a deal. All of the products were finalists in this year’s CEW Insider’s Choice Beauty Awards.
The Mass Appeal Box contains stuff you can find at any drugstore or grocery store: a travel size Dove Go Fresh Restore Body Wash; a full size Simple Protecting Light Moisturizer with SPF 15; L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara (I got one of these a while back in my Target Beauty Box, but I just opened it last week – I love it…it’s better than Urban Decay Perversion!); Vaseline Lip Therapy Rosy Lips (I hate sticking my finger in lip balm); Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Lip Gloss in “Spring Splendor”; and a full size TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Keratin Infusing Serum. What a great box!
The Prestige Headliners Box contains higher end brands: Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Crème; Josie Maran Cosmetics 100% Pure Argan Oil Light (more goat poop oil!) ; 100% Pure Creamy Nail Polish in “Seafoam”; philosophy miracle worker overnight; COOLA Environmental Repair Plus Radical Recovery After-Sun Lotion (I got this in my May Birchbox – love this stuff after a hot day at the pool); and two lifestyle extras – a pocket mirror and pedicure toe separators.
In LOATHE paying shipping, so I added something I needed to my order – another Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in “Soft Brown”. I also got 2 mystery samples that I had already gotten in boxes – a Cynthia Rowley Beauty silver eyeliner (April) and suki “Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser” (June).
Two great boxes…you gotta get these!
Trippin’ Disco Balls
First off, be assured that the pictures does not do my nails justice. I couldn’t quite capture the Disco Ball prism magic with my camera…I usually have no problem getting a nice glitter shot, but the glitter here is so fine that it’s hard to see.
This is Julep “Coretta” – Diamond for April. It’s like a Disco Ball on my fingers. Seriously…I could stare at this polish for HOURS and just watch the colors change.
I used Sally Hansen Diamond Shine for the base coat, but I didn’t use a top coat, because I wanted to keep the slightly sandy texture.
Taste the rainbow…
August Ipsy Bag – Beauty Schooled
I received my Birchbox and Ipsy Bag on Thursday and I was just overwhelmed with goodies, so I’m just now getting around to posting my Ipsy…
August’s bag theme is “Beauty Schooled” and came with a cute barrel-shaped bag. The Urban Decay Perversion Mascara saved this bag – the rest of the contents are just so-so: Glamglow Youthmud Tingleexfoliate Treatment (they sure do like making compound words); Jersey Shore Sun “Mongongo” Lip Conditioner (I was confused until I looked at the tube and it explained – Mandarin Orange Ginger…It smells awesome – I’ve been using it before I go to bed); Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil (Used this yesterday and it did a GREAT smoky eye) ; and Manna Kadar Cosmetics Sheer Glo (I have no idea what to do with this product).
I tried the Perversion Mascara…it’s good, but no better than half the mascaras I own. It didn’t clump and it was black – that’s about it.
If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my link.
August Birchbox – The Everygirl Box
This month, Birchbox was bursting with options. You could choose a special “Affordable Luxuries” Box curated by the Everygirl or the “Lighten Up” box, in which you could choose one of four samples. I went for the Everygirl Box because of one specific sample, even though some of the other products were duplicates for me…
The reason I picked the box was so I could try out Benefit “They’re Real!” Push-Up Liner. I fail at eye liner on a regular basis. For 25+ years, I have been searching for “the one”. I am hopeful that the Benefit is NOT “the one” – because a full size is $24.
Also in my box were Number 4™ Super Comb Prep & Protect (which I also received in last month’s box, but I use it several times a week, so it’s not a waste); Harvey Prince “Hello” (I received this scent in my very first Birchbox – it’s OK, but likely to give this one away); Not Soap, Radio Body Wash in “Joy Inducing” (Unfortunately, this sample leaked a little, but the lemon sugar scent was so good that I didn’t care); and Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub Sea Kelp + CGF (I LOVE a good, hard exfoliation).
Birchbox also gave sweet little compliments when addressing our boxes this month. I’m notable…or at least Birchbox says so.
If you would like to try Birchbox, click on my referral link – https://www.birchbox.com/invite/5453f – I’ll get 50 points if you join.
Dirt Mall Shopping
My kids tried to tell me that they couldn’t take a shower because they were out of soap. I had to venture out into the hot sun to Big Lots during lunch to eliminate that ridiculous excuse. My kids love cheap character soap and shampoo that’s $1 at Big Lots, so they can have their choice of smelling like Dora, My Little Pony, Monster High, Spongebob – whatever. I filled my cart.
I couldn’t resist picking up a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups lipgloss. Surely my husband would enjoy a big sloppy smackeroo that tastes like his favorite candy? Unfortunately, the cheap tube was leaky and slimy when I took it out of the package. Even worse, it smelled rancid. It was just like those Buttered Popcorn Jelly Bellies. That fucking nasty shit went right in the trash. Oh well, it was only $1.
I also stopped by the Dollar Tree next store to grab one of the Beauty Concepts Skull Polishes – I saw it on Instagram and had to have one. I need another pink polish like I need a hole in my head, but again…it was only $1.
Sari, Not Sari
Does it really matter that I have dozens of fuchsia/magenta/whatever nail polishes? I keep buying them and I keep loving each new one more than the last.
This is Julep “Neha” from August’s “Wanderlust Collection.” Julep describes it Sari Magenta Shimmer, but Sari isn’t really a color, is it? I’ve seen many Saris this color, so maybe that’s what they mean? Stereotypically Indian Magenta?
I used the last of my Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat – I got only 12 measly uses out of it! I suspect that this base coat is the source of my bubbling problem. “India” did not bubble with the Revlon, but “Neha” bubbled on this first coat! I put that second coat on as quickly as I could and then slapped Sally Hansen “Diamond Flash” on top. I managed to escape with no bubbles…phew!
My biggest disappointment is that my beloved Furious Fuchsia is in the shop after getting rear-ended last week. I have an obsessive desire to compare my polishes to my car to find the perfect match. I won’t be seeing her again until the end of the month…at the earliest. Rude.