November 2015 Julep It Girl Box

Hello! So, I took forever to get these swatches up, but I have the November 2015 It Girl box up on my blog finally. I really have not been in the blogging mood lately. I paint my nails, and even take the pics, but then they just sit on my camera for weeks. Whoopsie. Anyway, I have 4 swatches for you from this box.

I did not swatch the shimmer topcoat because I didn't have a chance to wear it on it's own, AND I had a really bad break with a sloppy patch, so sheer polish is NOT happening right now. :)

First up, we have Sonia. This is a metallic blue that dries to a matte finish. It is super opaque, and went on in just one coat. This is without topcoat.

Next, we have Rashida. This one is the same formula as Sonia, but is a soft bronze color. It went on in one smooth coat, and this swatch is with no topcoat.

Next, is Kris. This is a gorgeous shimmery silver. It looks almost flaky, and I struggle to describe it. It has tiny holographic shimmers in it that were really hard to capture. Basically, it's sparkle-central. I did two coats here.

Last, we have Melody. Melody is a glitter topcoat. You have to shake it to get the glitters to even out in the base. This was apparently done on purpose, but it really wasn't anything special to me. It contains tiny holographic glitters, silver shimmer, and multi-colored iridescent glitter. I painted it over white, to show the color variations.

That is all I have today. I will be back Saturday with some wintery nail art for you!

Rainbow Honey October 2015 Mystery Bag

I received yet another awesome mystery bag from Rainbow Honey this month and I'm loving everything in it. It came with three polishes, a lip balm, a tube of solid perfume balm, and a tube of aloe.

I haven't tried any other products in this bag aside from the polishes, so I don't have much to say about those, but I swatched all the polish, and they are so pretty! The first one I have to show off is My Midnight Garden. This is a dark blue jelly leaning slightly teal. It is packed with tiny silvery-iridescent  shard glitters. I did two coats here with no topcoat.

Next is Magic Brix. This is a dark orange polish with loads of gold shimmer. I did two coats here as well with no topcoat.

I did some quick nail art with Magic Brix and My Midnight Garden using my Loki's Nail Vinyls. :) These two colors look pretty good together!

Last we have La Isla Morada. This polish is a purple jelly with blue iridescent shimmer, white squares, bars, and  tiny circles, and black hexes and triangles. This is two coats with no topcoat.

Thank you so much for stopping by to read my blog today! I'll be back Friday with my first Halloween mani of the season!

Rainbow Honey September 2015 Mystery Bag

I have my September mystery bag to share with everyone today! It came with more bath and body stuff than nailpolish, so I was a little sad at first, but the chocolate scented soap and the giant bottle of nail oil (giant considering this is the mini bag!) totally made up for it. :D

Two polishes came in this mystery bag. First, is Underwater World. This glitter is in a clear base and full of yellow, white, green and blue stars, tiny green squares and blue hexes, white shards, and blue iridescent shimmer. I painted two coats over Nicole by OPI Pros & Confidence. I added one coat of Out The Door topcoat to smooth it out. The formula of this glitter is awesome. No fishing was required and it painted on very smoothly for having so many glitters in it.

The other polish I received was Just Sugar Coat It! This polish is loaded with iridescent small and medium hexes, small iridescent squares, and loads of iridescent shimmer. This one makes me think of magic. Like a unicorn or something haha.I painted two coats of this one over top of Essie Play Date, then added a coat of Out The Door Topcoat. The formula on this polish was very smooth, too. No fishing was needed to get a variety of the glitters on my nail.

So, there you have it. I tried out the nail oil, too and I just love it. It smells super good. The perfume was a bit too sweet-smelling for me, so I will probably gift it to a friend. Thank you so much for stopping by! I'll be back in a few days with a fall mani, AND a tutorial!
  

Julep September 2015 It Girl Box = Purple Heaven

Ok, so you all know I am a sucker for purple. So of course, when there were 3 purple polishes in the September box, I just had to say yes and get it. XD

The box came with 3 polishes and a special add-on. The add-on is called Julep and is their signature color (the color of their marketing materials, such as their boxes, signage, etc.)

Let's take a look! First, we have Delores. This is a purple-leaning-blue holographic polish. I didn't have any sun for the swatches, but it is a scatter holo. It went on in two smooth coats and dried to a satiny finish. The second pic shows what it looked like with topcoat to add some shine.

Next, we have Zoey. This is a cool grey cream polish. The formula was nice and went on it two coats. I added one coat of Out The Door topcoat here.

Then, we have Aubrey. This is a purple frost, which is almost metallic.The formula was pretty good, but its not my favorite finish as I really don't like seeing visible brush strokes. This one will be fun to play with in manis with stamping and sponging, where streakiness doesn't matter. I did two coats here as well with one coat of Out The Door topcoat.

Last, is the add-on, Julep. This is a rich orchid shade of cream polish. The formula was really nice on this one, and it painted on in two smooth coats. I don't think I have a similar purple shade so I'm super happy to add this one to my collection. :)

Thank you so much for looking! I have my very last mani of the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge for you this week, so stay tuned. :)

Last Summer Manicure of the Year with Zoya and Ellagee

Good morning and happy Friday! I wanted to share this awesome glitter polish I picked up from Ellagee a while back and the pretty polish from Zoya I wore with it. When I was on vacation, I got the itch about halfway through to do my nails, so I removed my purple smoosh manicure and replaced it with this.

The base is Zoya Oceane (very appropriate for a beach vacation), and the lovely glitter polish I painted over it is Ellagee Rainbow Reef. Rainbow Reef is a gorgeous mix of pastel blue, pink, teal, and purple stars, pastel yellow circle glitters, tiny white circles, small white, orange, and blue hex glitters, and holographic dolphin-shaped glitters. So many glitters! It was jam packed and only required one coat.

I had no lightbox or fancy equipment with me, so I used the sun and of course picked the only overcast day for the photography, but the pictures are color accurate, just not bright.

This is what Zoya Oceane looked like on her own.  I did 2 coats here, and the formula was just perfect.

I took these earlier in the day when the sun was still out haha.
 

Thank you so much for looking! I have a fall mani for you next AND another tutorial!

Barielle Hot Chic Fall/Winter 2015 Collection

*press sample

Good morning! Today, I have swatches from Barielle's Fall/Winter 2015 collection: Hot Chic. These colors are all great for fall, and I'm really pleased with the formulas, too.

First, I have Sheer Nonsense. This one got a bit washed out in the photos, but it is a very pale nude. Much closer to cream colored than tan. It went on in two smooth coats and dried to a glossy finish. I added a coat of Out The Door Topcoat for these photos.

Next, is Secret Desire. This color is very accurate. It is a metallic-shimmery purple. This is two coats, with one coat of Out The Door topcoat. The formula was great on this polish as well. This one will be great in some Halloween manis, too. Yay purple!
 

Orange U Jealous is an orange leaning red cream filled with gold shimmer. This formula was great as well, and shown here is two coats, plus a coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one will be making an appearance for Halloween and Thanksgiving manis for sure.
 

Next, is Harley D. This is a dark chocolatey brown with bronze shimmer. I love this dark brown color for fall and winter. I did two coats here plus one coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one's formula was the same as the others.

Last, but not least is Born-2-B Naughty. This is a dark teal cream. It went on in two smooth coats and is pictured with one coat of Out The Door topcoat. This one is not a very original color, but I always love a good teal cream, so I am not complaining. ;)

Get ready to see the guys make an appearance in some fall/winter nail art in the next few weeks and months! :P Thank you so much for stopping to read my blog today. If you loved these colors, you can find them at Barielle.com, where they retail for $8 a piece. Have a happy Sunday!

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

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!).