January and February Julep Maven Boxes

Nail polish!!! Lots and lots of nail polish.  :)  That's what today's blog is all about as I catch up on my Julep maven boxes from the last couple of months.  I also try out some fun lip products and get my first ever highlighting powder.

 

Thanks for watching!

If you're interested in becoming a Julep Maven, sign up here! Once you register, they'll send you an email with a promo code for a FREE welcome box! :)  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments below.

Julep Maven November 2014 Box

Nail polish!!! :)  One of my favorite things.

Here's my light, fluffy post as promised.  :)




If you're interested in becoming a maven yourself, check it out here.  You can get your first box for free with code FREEBOX.

Also, sorry about my dog blocking half the video.  I about died laughing when I replayed it because I didn't even realize she was in the shot while I was taping.  I'm so used to her being all up in my business that it didn't even register.  Lol... my bad!

Hope you all are having a good week!

Take some time to pamper yourself and paint your nails tonight.  

Or... something else... if nail polish isn't your thing.  ;)

Day 7: Nail Polish

Today, I'm thankful for nail polish. :)

It's a little superficial, but we all have those personal vanities, right?  Nail Polish is like my time out for the day. I find it relaxing and refreshing to give myself a little manicure and I just feel so much cuter if I have cute nails.

My go to look is a solid color mani with an accent nail, usually glitter. ;)

Short and sweet today. What are you thankful for on this lovely Tuesday?

Mani Monday: My first ever Vlog!

Uh oh, she's posting a video?!?

Hehe, yep, I sure am.  Here's a look at all the goodies I got in my Julep Maven February golden box.  Enjoy!

Thoughts:

~ I sound so much different on video than I think I sound... weird

~ I'm having second thoughts about keeping my duplicate Rebel polish - I just have so many polishes already.  Maybe I should do a giveaway with it and a couple of other polishes?

~ Is it weird to paint each nail a different color if I can't decide which of these polishes to use first?

If you'd like to become a Julep Maven and score some awesome polishes like these for yourself, here's what you need to know:

Why I think you should join: 

-You get 20% off all Julep products and free shipping on every order

-Refer just 2 friends and get enough "Jules" (referral points) for a free Maven box!

-No commitment - if you don't like the month's colors or its just not in your budget this month you can easily skip the month with no charge and no penalty.  

-Did you watch my video??  :p  You get chances to win some awesome products and I ALWAYS feel like I got a great deal.

-Awesome customer service

Ok, I could go on, but I'll stop before I sound like a commercial.  I just really do love them. 

If you're interested in trying them out, I'd love it if you'd use my referral link. Sign up and get your first box for just FREE using the code FREEMAVEN.  Give it a try and tell me what you think! :) Happy Monday, Friends!

Mani Monday: Zoya Sabrina

I got new nail polish in the mail! Yayyyyy! :)

You might say I'm a nail polish addict.

I do.  *hehe*

I can hardly resist it when I see awesome nail polish sales online.  Last week, I just couldn't resist the temptation when Zoya offered a "3 for the price of shipping" deal.  Yowza that's a deal!

So of course, I had to do a new mani when they came in the mail this weekend.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the best of luck with my first polish.  I picked Sabrina, a soft, barely pink color.  I didn't realize how sheer the formula was going to be.  (I think I got too excited about the sale and forgot to read the fine print.)  Womp womp.

That's three coats of Sabrina up there.... and you can still see my natural nail through it.  :/  I think I'll still use this polish as a base coat for a natural looking french tip, but it was not quite what I was expecting.  :(

I was, however, VERY proud of how my "I <3 U" stamp came out.  Cute, right? :)  I used a bundle monster stamping plate and Smokey Brown nail polish by E.L.F. Cosmetics.

So to recap:

What I used:
- Base color: Sabrina by Zoya
- Stamp: BM02 from Bundle Monster 2010 Stamping Plate Collection
- Stamp color: Smokey Brown by E.L.F. Cosmetics
- Top coat: Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat by Butter London

I know I'm jumping the gun a little on the Valentine's Mani, but I thought this color seemed to fit the theme and I wanted to get practicing on my stamping so that they're Perfect with a capital "P" for the real deal.

I hope you all had a lovely Monday!

Linkin' up...

Mani Monday: Navy Polka Dots

I have been having a lot of fun doing my nails lately - Pinterest has gotten me addicted to trying new designs.  I decided I needed to order some dotting tools and brushes to try some of these adorable ideas.    Here is my first attempt at using the dotting tools.  :)

What I used:

Base Color: Robin by Julep

Accent Nail and Polka Dots: City Navy by Avon

Top Coat: L.A. Colors Top Coat

I signed up for my first Julep box last month and got two cute polishes.   One was a "juicy, watermelon red creme" called Rose that I used for the red in this manicure.  The other was a "Robin's egg blue creme" called Robin and is shown above.  

The box also came with some toe separators and some great smelling Pedi Creme.  I haven't been using it consistently enough to know how well it really works, but it smells wonderful and feels nice and light on my skin.  

The best news about this box is that I was able to get it for only a penny!  I tallied up the cost of these two polishes and the Pedi Creme and the total was about $50.  Yay for savings!! :)  I love getting a deal and I think this is a pretty fantastic one!  If you are interested in these kinds of savings, here's the link, and here's the code: PENNY

Happy Saving! :)

Linking up with:

PS. Have you entered my birthday giveaway yet?? Only two more days!!!!

Mani Monday: Olympic Pride

Ok, I know it's a little late in the day for this, but better late than never!  Tricia introduced me to the Mani Monday link up and I just can't wait 'til next week to join in on the fun.  :)  This was my attempt at being patriotic.  I saw a picture of some cool splatter paint nails and tried to get the same look.

What I used:

Base Coat: Blue (un-named color) from Funky Fingers

Splatter: White (#134A) by N.Y.C and Rose by Julep

Top Coat: L.A. Colors

The straw method was a little hard to get the hang of, these definitely get better with practice.  I also learned that next time I should use tape so my fingers don't get so messy in the process.  :)  But overall, I think they look pretty fun.

How are you representing your country this Olympic season?? :)

Go USA!

Linking up.... YAY! ;)

Nail: Silver Crackle

Yayyyyy!!  Avon finally has the Mosaic Nail Polish in new beautiful glittery colors!  I've been waiting patiently for these to come.  :)  

Here's my first mani with the silver.

I super love these mosaic/crackle polishes.  They are a quick, easy way to add some flare to a plain color.  I've already ordered another one in blue.  ;)  This look makes me think of some underwater.... palace?  Yea, I bet mermaids would like this color combo. ;)

Here's what I used:
Base Coat: Aqua Fantasy by Avon (new formula - now called Sea Breeze)
Mosaic: Mosaic Mica by Avon
Top Coat: L.A. Colors

Hope you enjoy!

PS.  Does anyone else find it impossible to take good pictures of their nails?  I took like 207,384 shots before I ended up with the one above.  What are your tricks!??  I need some pointers!

First official post and a tutorial! :)

First official post! Yay! :)

I took forever with this because I'm sort of a perfectionist and couldn't decide on the perfect "first post" material.  Then I finally just decided to just go with whatever I wanted so here's a fun little nail tutorial I've been planning for a while.

Simple Color Blocking

What you will need:

Three nail colors - I'm an Avon rep, so I used Avon's Nailwear Pro in Loving Lavender and Cotton Candy.  The white was Avon's Mosaic Effects top coat in White.

Top coat - All I had was cheap drug store top coat tonight.  Nothing special. :/

Scotch tape.  Good ol' Scotch. :)

1.  Paint your nails with the purple color.  Let dry and add a second coat.  

2.  Make sure nails are completely dry and then cover bottom corner of nail diagonally with scotch tape.  Press firmly.

2.5.  Apply pink color to untaped part of nail. Remove tape and let dry... for a long time. 
3.  Apply tape at same diagonal over pink and purple, covering about 2/3 of the nail. Paint untaped part of nail with the white and let dry.
4.  Apply top coat, let dry, and "voila!" :)


Variations:
-  I just wanted a tiny bit of snazz so I only did the thumb nail, but this looks cute on every nail too.  
-  Or, if you have a steady hand, you can add a white tip to the other nails and just leave the thumb as the accent.  


Some other things to remember:
-  Make sure you wait until the nail is really dry before applying tape.  If it's even a little bit tacky, the paint will come up when you take off the tape.
-  To help minimize that issue, before you put the tape on your nail, stick it to the palm of your hand so it loses a little bit of the stickiness.
-  Take the tape off as soon as you finish painting.  Don't leave it on while you dry or... you guessed it... the paint will come off with the tape.


Hope you  enjoyed it!
Happy painting :)