Tag: Fingernails

I’m a Bobbi Girl
It’s been too long since FUCHSIA!!!
I put on 2 coats of Zoya “Bobbi” last night while I was watching The Soup on the DVR. I didn’t even have to use Quick Dry Drops…It dried almost immediately!
Zoya polish is so dreamy…I can’t afford to be addicted to two brands of nail polish…

Oops, I Did It Again
My inspiration for this paint job was Britney Spears’ naked rhinestone suit from the MTV Music Awards. Don’t laugh, Britney is no less a valid inspiration than The Shocker or The Rusty Trombone!
Hands down, essie luxeffects “Set in Stones” is the best glitter to use if you want to draw attention to your nails. I was unable to get a pictures of my nails that didn’t have multiple lens flares.
Underneath the glitter, I put down a single coat of Artmatic “Dusty Rose”, which is one of the oldest polishes that I own. (I don’t remember why, but Dr. Delta gave me this polish when we lived together in college…so it’s at LEAST 17 years old.) I haven’t seen Artmatic in stores in years, but according to the intertwebs, it’s still sold in Dollar Stores. I admit that I had quite a bit of Artmatic makeup in my Junior High years.
This is now my “go to” nail look. Get used to it…

Stained Glass
Pictures do not do my nails justice – they are gorgeous!
I started with a coat of Sally Hansen “Flirt” – a dark maroon. Then I added a sloppy coat of Sparitual Luminary Matte Top Effect in “Opaline”. My nails looks like stained glass. Blood-splattered stained glass!
This is my first experience with Sparitual products. The bottle says Vegan, but I bought it anyway. (At first I thought they were referring to ingredients, but then I realized they must be referring to the animal testing aspect. Feh, I put nail polish all over my dog and she’s fine.) It’s the most expensive polish I’ve ever bought at $12, but again, my nails look damn good.

Glitter to the Rescue!
The more polish that I buy, the harder it is to choose! It’s a conundrum worthy of O. Henry…
So why choose? I knew I had to do something to stop the rapid degradation of Julep “Caitlin” from my nails. Instead of picking just one…I picked 5 glitters.
From thumb to pinky, I used Sally Hansen Gem Crush “Razzle Dazzler”, wet n wild coloricon “The Crown is Mine”, Julep “Antonia”, Nicole by OPI “Rainbow in the S-Kylie” (Yes, I am guilty of contributing to the Kardashians’ empire by buying clearance nail polish at HEB – shoot me) and Julep “Betty”.
I LOVE this crazy glitter bonanza!

I’m a Barbie Girl…
…in a Barbie world. Life in plastic – it’s fantastic!
You just sang that in your head, didn’t you?
After the Traffic Cones incident, I had high hopes for the other polish from my April Julep Box. “Caitlin” is described as shocking hibiscus with gold shimmer. To me, it looks more like the Barbie pink plastic that all of my daughter’s Barbie shit is made from. It’s cheap plastic from China – so sheer that you can almost see through it….just like “Caitlin”. This time, I only applied one coat – it was the same matte finish as “Mariska”, so I topped with “Freedom Polymer”.
Unlike “Mariska”, I LOVE the color – I just hate the finish. Even with the topcoat, it’s chipping ridiculously quickly. I’m sleepy, so GLITTER TO THE RESCUE!

Traffic Cones
Do my fingernails remind you of a construction zone?
Orange is my least favorite color to begin with…but the description of Julep “Mariska” sounded inviting: juicy tangerine shimmer. I put on a thin first coat…and it dried matte. Hmmm…I put on a second coat…still matte and gross. Julep “Freedom Polymer Topcoat” to the rescue! I will admit that this top coat is awesome in a lot of ways. It dried immediately and I’m pretty sure it would make this paint job last a week without major chips…but I need to practice putting it on more thinly. It puckered around the edges and crackled. I even got an air bubble in it! Amateur mistake!
I am rarely disappointed in Julep, but I’ll admit I’m disappointed in “Mariska”. I won’t give up – I’ll try it under glitter, but I definitely do not like it alone.
I’m going to take this orange shit off my nails RIGHT NOW.

Nekkid Nails
Well technically, my nails aren’t nekkid. I’m trying out Julep’s “Oxygen Nail Treatment”.
It’s no surprise that since becoming a Julep Maven last November, my nails have been seeing a lot of action. All this painting and de-glitterfying is starting to take a toll on the health of my nails. I’m not able to let me nails grow nearly as long as I used to…they have been peeling and cracking. Oxygen Nail Treatment is supposed to fix that – read the description from Julep’s site:
Complete nail care and make-up all in one bottle. Made with a patented Hexanal formulation, nails are restructured to a stronger, thicker, and smoother condition in just one stroke. Advanced plant stem cell complex provides anti-aging benefits, while ground-breaking oxygen technology forms a nonocclusive film on the nail, proving resistant to water penetration and improving the permeability to oxygen. Results are nails that are structurally stronger, and less prone to breakage and splitting.
I was up late watching the season finale of The Walking Dead last night, so I only put one coat after I saw how long the first coat was tacky. 2-3 coats probably would have camouflaged my yellowed nails more completely, but I can’t complain about how smooth and shiny they are.
Since I got my April Julep Box today, I don’t imagine I’ll be able to NOT paint my nails tomorrow, but I’m hoping my nails will be somewhat healthier by then…

Love, Kennedy
Since my fingernails were already stained yellow from several weeks of green and blue polish, I decided it was a prime time to try out the Grey Poupon-ish “Kennedy”.
The description on Julep’s site called it “khaki crème,” and I expected to hate it…but on my fingers…I liked it! It reminded me of the butter color leather you’d imagine to be in Beyonce’s white Escalade. It’s smooooth like buttah. They should have named it “Paula” instead of “Kennedy”.
Even so, I quickly covered it up with a coat of Julep “Love.” “Love” looks totally different over a base coat than by itself. It really POPS.

Herpes or Duct Tape?
Although glitter is widely considered to be the “herpes” of the craft world…glitter is definitely the “duct tape” of the nail polish world.
Why? Because it fucking fixes everything!
I managed to take a sizable chunk out of my fingernail last night while trying to remove the plastic safety seal from a bottle of Taco Bell hot sauce. I screeched and immediately my husband ran over and said, “Did you break a nail?” I appreciate that he showed the right amount of concern AND didn’t laugh at me (too much) when I responded that I only chipped the polish.
ANYWAY…I just smeared a bunch of glitter all over the tips of my nails and they look as good as new. On top of the Julep “Tracy”, I used Sally Hansen “Shooting Star” but I couldn’t see it. So I just slapped on some wet n wild “Bow in my Presence”. It’s not bad, but still not the chunky look I was going for. A chunky silver glitter with a clear base would have looked bad ass, but I actually don’t have any chunky silver glitter. Time to go shopping…

Tracy
Two fingernail posts in a row…uh OH!
“Tracy” was one of the polishes I received in my Lucky Mystery Box. I thought it was just another sparkly blue, but “Tracy” had a surprise in store for me – it’s texture! As the first coat started to dry, I realized that “Tracy” had a sea salt texture. It’s amazing!
Two coats dried super fast, but not quite as fast as I thought it did. I screwed up one of my thumbs getting my usual mid-Walking Dead ice cream.
I’ve got an idea about how to fix that…








