Tag: Fingernails
Hook ’em Horns
So I’m not actually a Longhorn, but my mother was. I did, however, go to a UT system school – UTD – and as such, burnt orange was one of our school colors, along with green. Orange and Green is a winning combination…SAID NO ONE EVER. Even so, I feel that I am somewhat entitled to rock burnt orange nail polish.
This is Julep “Tatiana”. It was originally part of the September 2013 “Cityscape Collection” Boho Glam box, but I received it in my Lucky Mystery Box. Julep’s site describes it as golden burnt orange microglitter. Since I am now a base coat/top coat believer, I started with Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, 2 coats and then finished with NYC In a New York Color Minute Quick Dry in “Grand Central Station”. The results are OUTSTANDING. I may actually keep this longer than 24 hours….
It’s Not Horrible…
That’s the first thing I said to my husband when I finished painting my nails last night – “It’s not horrible…”
A few months ago, I was chatting with Dr. Goddess and she was displeased with a yellow polish that she received in one of her Julep Mystery Boxes. She challenged me to find a yellow nail polish that looks good on the lily fishbelly white, like ourselves. Yellow, like coral, usually looks amazing on dark or even very tan skin…but isn’t quite as magical on pale skin.
I purchased Sinful Colors “Yellow Spotted” a few weeks ago during one of my Walgreen’s binges. It’s a new shade from the Summer 2014 “Turn Up the Heat” Collection. It’s a very primary yellow, with a prominent shimmer. It’s almost exactly The Simpsons yellow! I started with Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, added 2 coats of “Yellow Spotted” and topped with NYC In a New York Color Minute Quick Dry in “Grand Central Station”. I got decent coverage, with just a bit of thickening towards the cuticle.
Like I said, it doesn’t look horrible, but it doesn’t look awesome with my skin tone either. Being 1/4 Chinese, I tend to have a faint yellow undertone to my skin anyway. Yellow clothes do not compliment my skin and neither does this nail polish. I do think I will use the polish again, if only with green or purple glitter. Plus, there’s always Lily – she got my husband’s olive skin and looks great in yellow polish!
Emerald
Behold…Julep “Priscilla” – Emerald for May from the Birthstone Collection.
I started with Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat and then added two coats of “Priscilla”. I didn’t add a top coat, because I wanted to feel the texture. It’s rough, like “Betty,” but I like it. Next time, I’ll try a top coat to make it deeper and shinier.
Although the base coat improves the tip wear of glitters, I just did some major dish washing…lo and behold, my left index finger is chipped. Guess what I’m doing tomorrow?
I Finally “Let It Go”
Is your house a frozen wasteland?
Are you tired of being told to “let it go”?
Do you suffer from constant demands to “build a snowman”?
Does your child run around the house with a white fuzzy blanket/cape, swirling around the room, leaving a wake of chaos?
You made be suffering from “Frozenitis”…
Yesterday, I stopped fighting it and surrendered to the “Frozenitis” – I came up with matching Elsa manicures for my daughter and I.
I used Sinful Colors “Tokyo Pearl” for the base and Sinful Colors “Ice Dream” for the glitter gradient. (It’s really hard to do a glitter gradient on a six year old’s nails, so it just looks like I did a spotty job on hers.) I used Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat on myself, but didn’t bother on Lily. I also used different top coats. I used Sally Hansen “Diamond Flash” on Lily, but before I painted my own nails, I went to HEB and happened to pick up NYC In a New York Color Minute Quick Dry in “Grand Central Station”. Angie suggested the $2 NYC topcoat when I was fretting about bubbles. “Grand Central Station” is not technically a topcoat, but I couldn’t find a Quick Dry top coat from NYC at HEB, and I had read several good reviews of “Grand Central Station” – here, here and here. I was fairly pleased with the results – very similar to the Sally Hansen Diamond Flash…maybe not quite as quick to dry, but definitely shiny and fast. For $2, I can afford to experiment…
Lily is thrilled with our matching nails – this is actually the first time we have ever had matching nails. Maybe this will become a regular thing?
Pearly Bubbles
Well damn it. Damn it all to hell.
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or if it’s just the polish…but I got those damn bubbles again. Just like “Harlow”, “Kathy” looked fine when I went to bed…but when I woke up, my fingernails were all bumpy. I used the Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat – I wonder if that’s the oxygen trying to escape? Or maybe I put on the second coat too quickly?
“Kathy” – Pearl for June is a really, really thick polish – as was “Harlow” – so I’m wondering if I need nail polish thinner? Or maybe just stick with one coat? Next time, I’ll try to stick to one coat and see what happens. I’ve never used thinner, but maybe it’s time…
Violet Flicker
After 3 Juleps in a row, I was ready for some cheap thrills.
Cover Girl Outlast Stay Brilliant Glosstinis “Violet Flicker” is a sheer glitter/shimmer. The base is a deep violet, but there is an undercurrent of green, with flashes of fuchsia and blue glitter. This is 2 coats with no base coat. There are still a few sheer spots – I really could have used 3 coats.
It dried amazingly fast and dried with no defects or bubbles. It’s a perfect bedtime polish. My only complaint is the super short brush – it was a total pain in the ass to use. even so, I may try to hunt down some more Cover Girl coupons to get more colors for 99 cents…
Dragonfly
If Julep “Jennine” is a blue butterfly, then Julep “Harlow” is a golden dragonfly with a hint of green iridescence.
I started with Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat, and then added 2 coats of “Harlow”. This may be a one coat polish. It was stunningly smooth when I went to sleep last night, but this morning the finish was riddled with tiny bubbles. So annoying!
Invisible Wiener
I hate posing my hand like this, without polishes. It looks like I am holding an invisible wiener…or sausage…or um, frankfurter…cylindrical meat product? There is just no good way to say it.
On top of Julep “Natalia”, I tried 5 different glitters to see which one looks the best – I cannot decide! They all look awesome!
Thumb – Julep “Oscar” – Multi-dimensional gold glitter
Index – essie Luxeffects “A Cut Above” – Shattered pink diamond glitz lacquer
Middle – Julep “Jane” – Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter
Ring – essie Luxeffects “Set in Stones” – Disco mirror ball chaos
Pinky – Julep “Antonia” – Light pink holographic diamond glitter top coat
Penny, Penny, Penny
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Julep’s description of their polish “Natalia” is refined copper metallic. Well…that’s just fancy way of saying that the polish looks like a freshly minted penny.
Even more than a penny, “Natalia” reminds me of rose gold. (Rose Gold is a mix of gold and copper, usually 75%/25%.) Back in grade school, I won a $25 Zales gift certificate (Spelling Bee, I think) and picked out a rose pin made out of rose gold. At the time, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I wonder if I still have it?
Considering adding pink glitter to the rose gold…or maybe gold glitter. Or both.
Morpho
Julep “Jennine” – I’m in love!
“Jennine” reminds me of a Morpho – a genus of tropical butterflies, the brilliant blue iridescent kind that you only see in Butterfly Exhibits like the one at HMNS or the Rainforest at Moody Gardens. Or maybe a the head of a horny peacock, huge tail displayed, eyes darting around for a homely brown female…In sunlight, there are flecks of gold, green and violet.
I’m in love with the stardust finish. My husband said it feels like sandpaper, but it’s smoothed quite a bit since yesterday. I definitely wouldn’t recommend wearing pantyhose with a stardust or sand polish – they’ll get shredded.
I was was actually a good girl and used the Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat. It dried quickly and gave a beautiful smooth start for my nails. It was like a coat of gesso on rough canvas. We’ll see if it prevents “Jennine” from staining my nails – blues and greens are notorious for staining…
My one complaint with stardust/sand formulas is edge creep. As it dries, it tends to retrest from the cuticles and edges of the nails. I feel like the base coat helped a lot, but I still have major chip on my right index finger. I’m going to patch it tonight before bed, but I’ve got a feeling that I’ll be seeing “Natalia” tomorrow.