Tag: Julep
Extreme Bedroom Makeover
So….my nail polish collection has gotten a little bit out of control. I’ve been fine the last few years, storing them in a plastic caddy, but then I filled both sides and had to get another caddy for remover and tools and then even that was not enough. I’ve got polishes EVERYWHERE – on the floor, on my vanity table, still in stacked subscription boxes…not to mention scattered through the rest of the house.
It’s not just the polishes that are the problem – it’s the subscription boxes. Since I’m a hoarder, I can’t throw any of the boxes away because I NEED them. I use them to mail stuff, to put gifts in and I’ve also started covering them with fancy Duck Tape to use for storage. The problem is that I get boxes faster than I can use them. Not to mention all the samples that come in those boxes – they are stacked up everywhere as well.
Again, Angie is my inspiration. I had been really considering getting a HELMER from IKEA (the nail blogger holy grail of nail polish storage), but I don’t quite have THAT much polish. (The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Obviously, I’m not there yet.) Angie suggested getting a RÅSKOG instead – it lets you see what you’ve got. We finally made the long trek to IKEA yesterday and I picked one up – after visiting my grandparents, who are conveniently buried across the street from IKEA. (It’s like they planned it.)
I put all of my polishes into the bottom two trays – including my Julep Color Caddy. I may end up booting it if I run out of room, but it’s so pretty! I tried to clean up the lotions and other stuff on my vanity – I dusted and culled a few old bottles. What I really need to do is clean out the drawers, which are filled mostly with jewelry – important stuff I inherited from my mother and grandmother, but also stupid stuff, like my elementary school jewelry. That’s a project that would take an entire weekend…at the very least.
The vanity itself was my grandmother’s. The finish is horrible – scratched and scuffed – but I don’t have the gumption yet to refinish it like I did my other vanity. (I did a red and black crackle finish on the other one – it’s beautiful, but it was a pain in the ass.) I went ahead and put all my boxes underneath it, I don’t sit at it, so really it’s just storage.
I’m very happy with the result. I expect I’ll outgrow my RÅSKOG soon, but I’ve got room for another…
How’s Annie? How’s Annie? How’s Annie?
In honor of the recently announced return of Twin Peaks in 2016, I created a manicure inspired by the very last words in the very last episode – “How’s Annie?”
I started with the Sinful Colors Basecoat. In order to create the look of bloody glass, I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors “No Text Red” and then did a gradient with Julep “Kirby”. I smoothed the jagged glitter with NYC “Grand Central Station”.
“No Text Red” is very nearly a dupe for Zoya “Sooki”. The color match is exact and the formula is very similar. Yay!
My BFF has been vacationing in the Pacific Northwest this week and got to visit The Salish Lodge & Spa – AKA The Great Northern. So, so jealous! I definitely wanna go to Washington and check it out.
This is Halloween
It doesn’t get any Halloween-ier than this!
Sinful Colors “Mystery Moonshine” is one of those polishes that you only set to wear once a year – or maybe twice – it has a kind of Mardi Gras thing going. It’s a metallic green, purple and orange jagged glitter in a clear base. I carefully chose my solid colors to match up with their respective glitter colors – Sinful Colors “Pine Away” for the green, Sinful Colors “Amethyst” for the purple and Julep “Zoe” for the orange. (I felt naughty mixing brands, but “Zoe” was just too perfect.)
Each of these polishes looked great after a single coat over Orly Bonder. I’m weary of Sinful Colors “Pine Away” now – it stains like a sonofabitch. I had to dab the “Mystery Moonshine” a bit, but it didn’t take a lot of work to get a good glitter spread. I topped it off with NYC “Grand Central Station”. I really need to get another good top coat.
Confession…I’ve never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. I know, I know…
Flash! Ah Ahhhhh…
So I was going for a Flash Gordon, lightning type thing…it didn’t exactly turn out how I imagined.
After Orly Bonder, I did one coat of Sinful Colors “Yellow Spotted”. To get a glowy effect, I then did one coat of Julep “Casper”. In retrospect, I should have done 2 coats of the “Yellow Spotted”, because “Casper” totally obliterated the yellow and made it look like a muted gold. Oh well. I then did one coat of Sally Hansen “Star Burst” Crackle Overcoat. Crackle polishes are very unpredictable. You may get a beautiful crackle, like on my thumb nail – or you could get very little crackling, like on my ring finger. “Star Burst” was very thin and grayish, but a coat of NYC “Grand Central Station” made it dark and glossy.
I tried to get a pic of the glowing, but “Casper” doesn’t glow as brightly as Funky Fingers, but maybe that’s just because I only did one coat.
Did you know that one of my nicknames in High School was “Flash”? (My BFF started it – and yes, we’ve been BFFs THAT long.) I’ll divulge no further details, other than it wasn’t for my running speed.
Bruise Violet
I couldn’t NOT try out Julep “Logan” first.
Julep’s site describes the color as sultry aubergine shimmer – I would replace sultry with earthy. There’s a vegetable like brownish undertone – this color feels very organic.
Well, duh – aubergine is a fancy word for eggplant. It’s not as inky as “Padma” and has a subtle shimmer, but could still be mistaken for black at first glance.
I went back to the Revlon Quick Dry Base and Top Coats. There’s something about Julep polish that doesn’t mix well with base coats – bubbles, no matter what brand I try – even Julep’s own base coats. I only got 2-3 bubbles this time, but each one is like a pinprick to my soul.
I also painted my toenails with “Logan” last night…right before I broke my pinky toe, tripping over my daughter’s metal lawn chair.
(Yeah, we keep metal lawn chairs in our living room. That’s normal, right?)
I was astounded at how well the polish matched the violet bruises – I couldn’t have planned it better!
The last time I broke a toe was during Hurricane Ike, stumbling around in the dark. As clumsy as I am, that’s a pretty good record.
October Julep Maven Box – The Black Magic Collection
My BFF and I both got our boxes yesterday! Thank you mail carrier!
October brings us a spooky box – “The Black Magic Collection”. This month’s beauty product was Night Shift Sleeping Mask – a reparative moisture mask that does the heavy lifting while you’re fast asleep so you wake up to a brighter, smoother, firmer complexion. I put it on my face last night before bed, but I can’t tell if I am brighter, smoother or firmer.
For polishes, I HAD to pick Classic with a Twist “Logan” – sultry aubergine shimmer – because my son’s name is Logan. (He was SO disappointed in the color – he wanted “Logan” to be his favorite color – blood red.) I also picked It Girl “Dana” – white with electric blue sheen (black light reactive). (There is no “Dana”, only Zuul.) I added on “Casper” – glow-in-the-dark shimmer, from last October’s collection. I really don’t need another glow in the dark polish, do I? Whatever.
There was even something for my husband in the box – I gave him the little bag of candy corn.
Not a Julep Maven? CLICK HERE to join! Get a special 4 piece Welcome Box with code FREETREATS!
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping…
Well, originally, I was going for a sexy Freddy Krueger look, but what I ended up with Xmas fingers. Oh well, both of those assholes see you when you’re sleeping.
After Orly Bonder, I painted one coat of Rimmel 60 Seconds “Passion”. I painted stripes with Sinful Colors “Pine Away” and then topped it all with Julep “Shoshanna”. Since “Shoshanna” is gold with red and green highlights, I thought it was match the red and green really well – and it did, although in a very Xmas ornament type of way.
I got one final use out of my Sally Hansen Diamond Flash and then threw the bottle away. My husband asked me if I was going to “have a funeral for my dead solider.” He’s silly…but I considered it.
Unicorn Farts
Yes, Kenneth…unicorns fart glitter. What else would they fart?
I dug to the bottom of my plastic bin to find the perfect red to go underneath Funky Fingers “Unicorn Farts”. I dug out Sinful Colors “Under 18”, which I don’t think I’ve ever used before. It is a pearly tomato red and it went on smoothly without pooling in my cuticles. I did have to a bit of artful dabbing to get decent glitter coverage, but it wasn’t as bad as other beauty blogs had claimed. It certainly wasn’t as annoying as “Fruit-Ta-Ta”.
I used Orly Bonder as the base coat and Sally Hansen Diamond Flash for the top coat. (My Diamond Flash is almost empty! I don’t know whether I should buy another one or try another quick dry top coat. Probably both.) The texture of my nails is still a bit bumpy, but none of the glitter is lifting up, so I’m content.
I wanna try “Unicorn Farts” over a silver holographic polish – maybe Julep “Coretta”?
The Black Knight
I’ve been on a dark polish kick lately, I don’t know what it is.
Maybe I’m just lazy. If I know I’m going to be putting on another dark polish, I don’t have to scrub my cuticles so much. I got my absolute LAST use out of my Zoya Remove+ & Target dip-it combo. It was a soupy, maroon sludge that was starting to stain my fingers! Don’t get me wrong, it was still taking the polish off – but I had to spend too much time getting polish residue off my fingers. It lasted me exactly 3 months and was worth every penny!
I tried out Orly Bonder as the base coat. It definitely did grip the polish quite well. I then painted 2 coats of Butter London “The Black Knight”. This polish is EVERYTHING that I wanted Julep “Estelle” to be! The black is shinier and darker…and there is so much more glitteriness. Fuchsia is the predominant glitter, so you know that’s why I love it. It dried amazingly quick and I didn’t use a top coat, so I could run my fingers over the pebbly goodness.
I’m getting a few little chips along the edges, but Orly Bonder seems to be holding it on there well. We shall see how it looks tomorrow…
Citrine Embers
I couldn’t resist trying Sparitual “Citrine” Luminary Matte Top Effect over Julep “Padma”, even though I knew I’d be changing my polish tonight.
I got really good coverage on my thumb, but for some reason, it didn’t stick as well to my other nails. I think this type of polish would stick better if I didn’t already have a top coat on my nails. I seem to remember it mattifying more directly over the dark polish – remember the “Opaline”?