Tag: Fingernails
Vegas Recap
So…I already shared my Sephora Makeover, but I thought I would share a few other highlights from my Vegas trip.
First, I’ve gotta talk about my nails. I had no idea what I was going to wear, so I picked a neutral polish – Julep “Rachael”, graphite shimmer. I accented “Rachael” with Julep “Kirby” – silver jagged glitter top coat – on my thumb and ring finger. I had to use the Chandelier Bar at our hotel, The Cosmpolitan, as a background – it was just too perfect. I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat and ended with “HK Girl” – and my nails looked pristine the whole weekend.
Next up…I made the mistake of letting myself get pulled into a skin place at our hotel called Skins 6/2. Before I knew what was happening, some chick was putting crap all over my face. Turns out it was SNAKE VENOM and according to her, it was like all-natural botox. I’ve gotta admit, it momentarily seemed to work. Of course, they were having a one day sale on their Forever Flawless Snake Venom Serum – just $500 instead of $1,500. Really? Did she really think I was going to fall for that shit? My bullshit scam meter was on high alert, so I high-tailed it out of there. A quick google gave me this and this and this. Looks like I managed to avoid a really nasty rash at the very least. Oh…my wrinkles were back by that evening.
Fast forward to the next day…walking through the Miracle Mile shops and a girl at a kiosk tries to get my attention to sample something. I am still irritated by yesterday’s snake oil, so I ignore her and keep walking until my slightly alcohol addled brain realizes that it was a moYou kiosk. I immediately take two steps back and say, “Is this THE moYou?” Yup, it was moYou nail stamping. I’d been wanting to try nail stamping and moYou London is the Cadillac of nail stamping, but I was under the impression that it was only available in the UK. Well, not anymore – they even have a US website now.
I picked up the starter kit + french manicure kit and the saleslady even threw in a free corrector pen and black polish, all for $90. So brace yourselves…nail stamping is coming!
Gorgeosity
I have been dying to try Julep “Mila” – charcoal multi-colored glitter, an add-on to my August Julep Box. Since the base is clear, I decided to use a color underneath it. I chose Julep “Annemarie” – warm cocoa crème, a polish I picked up over a year ago from Julep’s Red Marker sale. It’s just been sitting there, waiting for me. I can’t believe I’ve let it sit there that long!
I started with Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. I did a single coat of “Annemarie” and a single coat of “Mila”. I used “HK Girl” on all my fingers, EXCEPT my ring finger. I couldn’t resist seeing what it looked like matte, so I used Zoya Matte Velvet Top Coat. My nails are the height of gorgeosity.
So my husband says that “Annemarie” is skintone. As I tried to argue that it wasn’t, he made me hold the bottle up to his arm…and it matched fairly closely. (He’s a whiteboy, but that 1/16th Cherokee comes out in his – and my kids’ – skin.) I would highly recommend “Annemarie” as a nude for olive and darker skintones.
Blurple?
Is it blue or purple? Blurple? I don’t know exactly what Sinful Colors “Let’s Talk” is. It looks more purple in artificial light, but in sunlight – it is definitely blue.
“Let’s Talk” was recommended to me by two different nail aficionados – Angie (from my Dallas crew) and Rachel (from my Work crew). Great minds definitely think alike…this is a fantastic polish! Luckily, it’s a permanent shade – I didn’t have any trouble finding it.
This is two quick coats of “Let’s Talk” over Sinful Colors Base Coat. (I was watching Impractical Jokers and only half-ass paying attention to my nails – I amazingly didn’t fuck them up.) There’s nothing like breaking open a new bottle of “HK Girl” – I just started my third one! I’m seriously going to look into buying this stuff in bulk – it’s THAT good.
Fool’s Gold
What to pick first from this month’s Julep box…such a hard decision.
I decided to try Julep Boho Glam “Lydia” first. “Lydia” is pyrite stardust. Pyrite is also known as ‘fool’s gold’, as miners would mistake it for gold. To me, it looks like sparkly doo doo mud…pretty, but potentially stinky.
I used Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat with two coats of “Lydia”. “Lydia” was rather goopy on the brush, but it went on absolutely smoothly. The texture is like an old emery board that’s been used for years – just a hint of roughness. I find that the Julep stardust polishes chip less than the Zoya Pixie Dusts, though they’re not quite as pretty. Julep microglitter though – that shit chips within an hour. I’d love to hear reader experiences with textured polishes…
Wicked x 3
I couldn’t try just ONE of my new Deborah Lippmann Wicked polishes – I had to try them ALL.
After Orly Bonder, I painted a thin coat of “Defying Gravity” on each nail. I then did a coat of “Popular” on my thumb and ring finger – who knew that green + pink = purple? I did a coat of “One Short Day” on my index and pinky. I finished my middle finger with another coat of “Defying Gravity”. I topped them all with “HK Girl” for shine.
By far, my favorite polish of the collection is “Defying Gravity”. A single coat reminded me of Jade. (I’ll be trying it with gold glitter for the full jewelry effect). After two coats, it reminded me of the green chalkboards of my grade school days – I also need to try a matte top coat with it. Speaking of chalkboards, schools don’t have them anymore – my kids will never know the horror of nails on a chalkboard. Lucky.
A Galaxy of Toppers
I couldn’t let this black manicure (Zoya “Anais”) go to waste before I took it off – I decided to play with top coats.
From left to right – Sinful Colors “Pinky Glitter”, SpaRitual “Opaline Luminary” Matte Top Effect, Zoya “Monet”, SpaRitual “Citrine Limunary” Matte Top Effect and Sinful Colors “Green Ocean”.
The 5 different polishes look very different in the bottles, huh?
I was shocked at how similar in tone and palette these polishes looked on my nails. I used those polishes in the very same order from thumb to pinky. There’s not a hint of pink in “Pinky Glitter”. I was disappointed in how subtle “Opaline Luminary” was. “Monet” took on a rainbow of colors. “Citrine Luminary” was fantastically striking. “Green Ocean” came to life with blue and greens – I’d always been unimpressed with it before.
Each fingernail is like looking into a different galaxy with different stars.
Pewtery Black
Is it me, or do all blacks look the same?
Pick your jaw up off the floor…I’m talking about NAIL POLISH. Although you can’t tell from the picture, Zoya “Anais” is not your average black. It has a pewter shimmer to it that is wholly unique. A tiny bit of that glimmer is evident on the bottle. This is just two coats of “Anais” with Zoya Anchor and “HK Girl”. (I would have used Zoya Armor, but it was 30 minutes before bedtime and I needed my nails dry immediately.)
I love the way black polish looks against my skin, but it’s so hard to apply neatly – every flaw is immensely visible. And normal edge wear appears abnormally shitty. Even so, I keep doing it.
Worth a Pretty Penne
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Penne, like Penne Pasta – oh OPI, I just can’t get enough of your stupid, puntastic polish names.
This is OPI “Worth a Pretty Penne” from The Venice Collection – I got it in this month’s Birchbox. I’ve been obsessing over Rose Gold lately (someday, those Rose Gold Tieks will be mine) – so I was happy to get this color.
After Orly Bonder, I did two clean coats of “Worth a Pretty Penne”. It went on smooth, with no bubbles after the second coat. If you look closely at the polish, you’ll notice that it’s not solid rose gold, but a fine mix of gold and copper pigments. I topped it with “HK Girl” – gotta have my quick dry shine. I have a love/hate relationship with those little sample bottles. They’re hard to hold and manipulate, but the smaller brush is perfect for painting the edges of your nails without getting polish all over your fingernails. I almost prefer them to full size!
I LOVE Orange
I thought I hated the color orange, but Julep “Laure” showed me the light and the way. I LOVE orange. “Laure” is a blazing red-orange stardust polish – it just comes alive on your fingertips. It’s somewhat similar to “Jacqueline” – but a little more orange than red.
This is two coats of “Laure” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. No top coat, because that would defeat the purpose of the stardust finish.
Orange! Orange! Orange!
Purple Pride
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Sinful Colors “Pride” has to be the most jam-packed glitter that I’ve ever come across. It’s a rainbow of glitters of all different sizes. This is just one coat of “Pride” over Sinful Colors Base Coat and two coats of OPI Sheer Tints “Don’t Violet Me Down” – I wanted a color underneath the glitter for a little pop. I feel like 2 coats of “Pride” would have been 100% full coverage.
“Pride” was a fairly smooth glitter, but I used “HK Girl” to protect it. This has to be one of the longest lasting manicures I’ve had – I did it…Wednesday night? It’s Sunday and it still looks perfect, except for a few spots on my right index finger. That being said, I’m not looking forward to taking it off – I’ll probably need a fucking jackhammer.