August 2015 Julep It Girl Box + Addons

I got my Julep box again because it came with a purple AND a stardust finish polish. I'm pretty sure Julep is doing this to me on purpose. -_- Anyway, it came with two polishes I couldn't resist, and then I went and spent the last of my Jules on a jelly polish because my collection is lacking a variety of jellies. The box also came with some cute decals, which I tried out and will show off at the very end of this post.

I throw away these white boxes that the polishes come in because they are a pain to open, and clutter up my polish drawers. I feel like I could spend $2 less on this box, get no pretty packaging, and be just as content haha. But enough of that, on to the polish!

First, we have Laure This is one of my favorite finishes. Shimmery texture polish is just the best. I especially like that you can add topcoat and it looks equally amazing, but in a different way. I did two thin coats here.

Next, we have Madelynn. This one instantly becomes a favorite because it's purple...actually blurple. It doesn't even have to try. I did two coats here, and the application was nice and smooth on this one.

Next up, is Lizzy. This is a good nude color for my complexion. I did two coats here, and the application was nice on this one, too.

Last, we have the add-on polish. This is Lori. I used three very thin coats here. It is a great jelly for sandwiching as it is quite thin, but applies very smoothly and builds up well.

Thank you so much for visiting today! Have a great rest of your weekend! I will be on vacation starting today (by now I have reached the coast, and am probably relaxing at the beach with my family!). I won't be back in town until next Sunday, so I have scheduled a few posts out, but will not be as active on social media. Reception/internet tends to be spotty (which I love!), so I'll respond to any emails/comments/etc. when I return. :D

Purple Smoosh Mani + Stamping

Hi everyone and happy Saturday! I have just arrived at the beautiful east coast! You won't be hearing anything from me on social media for a week (except MAYBE on ig, maybe), but I have lots of posts scheduled, so make sure you check back here once in a while to see what's new! Today, I am fulfilling the prompt for the second half of August from my stamping group on facebook. I was super excited about this one because it involves purple (YAY!), and a new to me process called "smoosh". Ooh I'm so excited. Check it out!

For this mani, I used OPI Do You Have This Color In Stock-holm?, Butter London Stroppy, Zoya Dannii, and Sally Hansen Purple Craze and then smooshed them all together using this method.


The stamping plate I used for this was CICI&SISI 24. I am actually wearing this one as my vacation mani so I have it on BOTH hands! Chances are it won't make it all the way through vacation, so I'm bringing some polishes with me in case of a nail emergency (or you know...just because I like change!).

Thank you so much for checking out today's post. Have a great day!

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Week Pick n Mix - TV

This week's prompt for the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge is TV. I decided to do a TV show that my husband and I have been re-watching on Netflix lately: Naruto! My husband and I are not necessarily anime fanatics, however we definitely do like a lot of the anime that's out there and this show is no exception. It's goofy and lighthearted for the most part, but there are some insanely sad episodes, too. I just love it when shows give me "the feels", so this one became a favorite of ours. I was super excited not to be limited by any particular color choice on this one so that I could get in some serious nail art. :)

I used Wet n Wild Tree Hugger for my base, then added my nine-tailed fox, the leaf ninja headband, and the Naruto logo using Zoya Arizona, Essie Meet Me At Sunset, Revlon First Class, Pure Ice Black Rage and SuperStar!, and Julep Dendrie.

 Here is what Wet n Wild Tree Hugger looks like on its own. It is a pale minty cream that paints on nice and smooth. I did two coats here.

Thank you so much for looking. Have a great Friday, and make sure you check out what everyone else did for this week's TV prompt!

An InLinkz Link-up

Zoya Stamping over Matte

Woo it's Wednesday! That means that I only have two more days of work and then glorious vacation for 11 whole days. Oh I cannot WAIT! So, I'm keeping this short and sweet because I have a lot to do before vacation starts and only two days to do it. This is my weekly mani that features CICI&SISI plate 23.

I started off with Zoya Charisma for my base, as the prompt this week is stamping over a matte base. I stamped using Zoya Isa. These two are so pretty together!

This is what Charisma looks like on it's own. It's a lovely bright purple matte polish that went on in three thin coats. I may have been able to get away with two, but my second coat had some dragging because I was too impatient with my polishing. Whoopsie.

Thank you so much for looking today! I have my nailart done for the 52 Week Pick n Mix, so I'll try to have that up by Friday. Then, I have lots of swatches for you for the weekend. I won't be posting while I'm on vacation, but I'll try to schedule at least one or two things to keep things active around here. Bye for now!

Rainbow Honey August Mystery Bag

Hey guys - here is my mystery bag post, late as usual! I really thought I would have enough time to get this post up last week, but it just did not happen. :) Ah well. Other things had to come first. So I got my bag about 2 weeks ago, and it came with two polishes, Red Jelly Sandals and Mr. Saturn, their base coat, bath oil, perfume, and a new product they are making called bath tea.

I tried out the perfume and it smells pretty good. It is sweet smelling, so don't wear it out to a picnic or you will be swarmed by insects haha. But it's great for the office or for your hot date with your significant other. I didn't get to try the tea or oil yet, but I am very intrigued. I'll try to remember to let you all know how it is once I finally use it.

I did swatch both polishes so that I could share those. The first one I have to show you is Red Jelly Sandals. It is just what it sounds like: a red jelly polish reminiscent of those jelly sandals that were so popular when I was a kid. For the record I never owned a pair....or if I did, I hated them because I don't remember them. Ha! I used two coats here, so you can see it is quite thin. It painted on very smoothly though and was perfect for that pond manicure I showed off a couple of days ago.

Next, is Mr. Saturn. This is a pale peachy cream with tiny flakies and shimmers throughout. I did two coats here. The polish dragged a bit as I applied it, so if you get this one, let it dry all the way before you add a second coat. It's really pretty, and I will definitely be busting this one out come winter/spring. I had a really hard time capturing the sparkle on the nail, but you can see them in my macro.

Thank you so much for looking. I will have my Julep swatches for you sometime before the end of August (I hope!).

52 Week Pick n Mix - Pale Pink + Tweed

Gah! I'm a day late on this one. I have a vacation coming up in a week (starts Friday and I can't WAIT!). Anyway, I have so much to do in preparation for that, I have not had much time for nailart. I also had the worst time trying to figure out how to do tweed, and was looking through my stamps for a different prompt, and found this one which I thought would work. It's not my best nailart ever, but I'll take it for this prompt!

For my base, I used Crabtree & Evelyn Peony. I stamped using Konad Special White with Bundle Monster BM-706, then went back over top of it with the same stamp using Zoya Lo. It came out sort of like tweed. :P

Here is what Peony looks like on its own. It's actually a really nice and smooth cream polish. I did two coats here and topcoated with Out The Door. I got this polish from my husband's step mom (thanks Karen!).

Thank you so much for looking, as always make sure you check out what the other ladies did for this week's prompt!

An InLinkz Link-up

Red Hearts Jelly Pond Manicure

Ok, so I was hoping to get my Rainbow Honey swatches done BEFORE I show off this mani, but I am terrible at deadlines. You get to see the color before I officially share the swatch because I gotta get this post in before the end of the week for the stamping plate challenge...and it's Friday! I did this mani using Rainbow Honey Red Jelly Sandals from this month's Mystery Bag.

I did two coats of Red Jelly Sandals, then stamped this heart pattern from CICI&SISI 23 using Julep Harley. I layered one more coat of Red Jelly Sandals, and then stamped the heart pattern again in white using Pure Ice SuperStar!.

It's very Valentine's-y. :P I'll have to remember I have this pretty red jelly at Christmas and again at Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for looking today! I only have a few manis left to do this month using this plate. Wish me luck!

Mickey Mouse Nail Art with Creative Cuticles Of Mice And Merlin

Hello! Oh boy I have been busy lately, so sorry about the lack of posts, but I am working on some new nail art tonight, which I will probably have posted tomorrow night or Friday morning. :) Today, I have a mani I did for a coworker who is going to Disneyland on Thursday. I had just bought this polish from Creative Cuticles when I found out she was going and told her more or less, she pretty much NEEDED it for the trip. We sat down at lunch last Friday and I painted these little sorcerer Mickeys on her ring fingers and then added two coats of Of Mice And Merlin to every other nail.

The base colors used for this are Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow and Julep Margaret. I painted Mickey using Pure Ice Black Rage and SuperStar!, Revlon First Class, and Julep Clara. Now I have my fingers crossed they last through her whole vacation!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I'm really starting to quite like doing other people's nails. It's fun and a great lunch time de-stresser. :)

Summery Pineapple Nail Art

Hey guys, here I am sliding in my challenge post for my stamping group at the last possible minute - as usual! Oh my goodness, I posted so much more than I usually do this week, and it has taken a lot out of me! The prompt for this half of the month was Yellow and Orange/Summer Treats/Decals. Oh my, that is specific, but I finally came up with something to fit the prompts.

I started off with a gradient using Julep Marjorie and Orly Sunset Peach, and then added a coat of Northern Lights topcoat for some extra sparkle.

After that, I created some decals using BM-713 with Konad Special Black, then colored in the pineapples with Zoya Pippa. I slapped those decals on top of my gradient, and then added topcoat.

Thank you so much for looking! I'll be back Monday with another mani and sometime next week, I'll share my August Rainbow Honey Mystery Bag!

52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge - Tribal + Hot Pink

Good morning! Happy almost-Friday! :D For this week's tribal and hot pink manicure, I decided to do stamping decals. Since tribal prints tend to be very geometric and full of straight lines, I opted for stamping as my tremors make straight lines very nearly impossible. Lately I have been very shaky, so I didn't want to risk the frustration that it would inevitably cause haha. Anyway, I am super happy about this bright tribal mani and my decision to use a stamp. They turned out very well!

I started off with my hot pink base using Zoya Lola. It is a lovely bright pink with a blue shimmer. I used Bundle Monster BM-406 with Konad Special Black for the stamping, then colored in the image using a detail brush with Zoya Tallulah and Konad Special White.

For the first time EVER, I didn't smear my decals when I topcoated them. Yay! Here is what Lola looks like on it's own. She's super pretty. And so bright, my camera almost couldn't handle it! I did two coats here. It has a beautiful formula like most Zoyas. It's so smooth and dried rock hard, which I love in a nailpolish.

Make sure you check out everyone else's tribal/hot pink manicures for this week. There are bound to be some really excellent ones out there knowing these ladies! Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up

Kawaii Kitty Nails for Barielle's Nailart Contest

Good evening! It's late, but I have to share with you these cute kitty nails I did tonight for a contest being held by Barielle. I took tutorial photos too, but don't have enough time to edit all of those now, so I'm just posting the mani itself, plus a swatch of the base color I used. Check this out!

Eeep! I can hardly stand my own handiwork! Seriously, every time I look at these I can't help but burst into a gigglefit over the ridiculousness/cuteness of this nailart. If you like these, I woudl be forever greatful if you VOTE for them over at the contest site!

I started off with Barielle Soul-er Powered for my base. The purple polish used for the cat is Barielle Welcome Ohm, and the pink polish is Barielle Gel-ous Lover. I used a Pure Ice Black Rage for all of the black accents.

This is what Soul-er Powered looks like on it's own. It is a shimmery, golden yellow polish and has a great formula. This is 2 coats shown below.

Thank you so much for looking. I'll edit this tomorrow night with a tutorial, and then I'll be back Friday with a new post!

Floral Stamping with SinfulColors

For this week's Stamping Plate Challenge, I decided to try blending two colors in a gradient fashion on the stamping plate. I've done this a few times before, but it's been a while, and I felt like stamping in just one solid color would be boring, so I used Fig and Daredevil over top of SinfulColors' Whiteboard polish using the same plate as last week, CICI&SISI 23.

Hooray for floral stamping! I always love it no matter what time of year it is. Also, I am super impressed with my new CICI&SISI plates. They are etched perfectly, and work great with my new Winstonia squishy stamper!

Thank you so much for looking, and as always, I appreciate you! I'll be back in a couple days with this week's Pick n Mix!