Julep Maven October Boho Glam Nail Polish Box Featuring Gayle and Malin: Part 1

I knew my Julep Maven box was arriving today, so I got up this morning and promptly started stalking my mailbox for it's arrival.  If you are not familiar with Julep, you can read my first post about them here.

My style profile for Julep is "Boho Glam" and I find it to be an absolute perfect match for my taste.  I will wear any color polish at least once, but the colors in this category have been on point for the types that I will go back to time and time again.

Here is what the box looks like:

 This month's Boho Glam box includes Malin & Gayle Nail Lacquers plus Age Defying Hand Brightener (I will review that separately, but so far it seems fab):

I immediately put Gayle on!  The theme this month was "mani/pedi" but there is no way I am showing my feet, so I am going to show both on my nails :)

I was afraid that Gayle would be very similar to Essie's "Carry On" color...in the bottles there are a few similarities:

I did a quick swatch comparison, and they are nothing alike (phew!):

Here is my full manicure with Gayle:

I cannot emphasize enough how well these nail polishes apply.  You could easily get away with only one coat on this (I did 2 to smooth out some mistakes).  They are superb.

I will be reviewing Malin this weekend!

If you are interested in signing up to be a Julep Maven, you can use my referral link here and that would be way cool!  Also, they are currently running a promo, so if you use the code FB, you will get your first box for only $5 (instead of $19.99).  Great deal considering you will get 2 polishes plus a few other things!

What do you think of this color?  I love how warm it is.  It really is perfect for Fall!

**Update** I put up pictures of Malin...you can see the post here.

What I Wore Today: OPI Be Mine! Nail Polish

Here is an oldie: OPI "Be Mine!" came out back in 2006 for Valentine's Day.  This is the last "old" OPI (before the formula and brushes changed) I own since I went through a phase of "if I haven't worn this in awhile, I'm getting rid of it" (GASP!).  Nowadays, I hoard everything, even if I fully intend on never wearing it again.  I keep this one around because it is old, not because it is a particularly fantastic color.  It is a nice neutral, but nothing superbly unique. It is a shimmery light pink with a slight greenish glow:

Old OPI Labels!

There you have it.  This is what I wore today :)  Do you have any oldies you hang onto?

Sinful Colors "Love Nails" Nail Polish Plus a Pumpkin Glitter

If you've been in Rite Aid lately, you may have noticed that Sinful Colors has a collection out that looks similar to OPI's Miss Universe collection.  I think it was called "Miss Sinful Colors". I picked up the blue one and it is pretty, but nothing like the OPI.  This one is quite sheer:

Whenever I wear blue nail polish, I always think of one of my favorite movies, Coraline.  The title character not only has blue nails, but blue hair as well:

Image source

Watch "Coraline" official trailer HERE!

Such a great movie!  If you have not seen it, you need to!  Especially perfect since Halloween is right around the corner and Coraline is quite creepy.

I also picked up a nameless pumpkin shaped halloween glitter and decided to go on the color theory that blue and orange are complimentary.  It came out a little strange looking:

 Definitely a "different" combo for me.

Do you dress up for Halloween?  What are your favorite Halloween movies?

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure "Without A Stitch" Nail Polish Pictures

I picked up another Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish while grocery shopping recently (the WORST habit ;).  As a licensed Nail Tech, I tend to favor salon brands (Nubar, Essie, OPI, CND, etc) however I love the idea of an "all in one" product such as this.  This is supposed to be your base coat, nail strengthener, color, and top coat in one bottle.  I did put another (ridge filling) base coat on since my nails are a peeling mess lately, but I do think that there is little need for a topcoat since these dry nice and shiny.  I cannot comment (yet) on the nail strengthening part, but I will post on that later :)

Without A Stitch is a pale neutral- a beige with a hint of coffee:

I like my sugar with coffee and cream...

 A nice clean & pretty neutral! ( I've noticed I tend to label polishes as "clean" or "dirty"...is this strange?)

I then put one layer of CND's 24K sparkle Effect over this. Still very subtle, but I like knowing it is there:

I love the way the butterscotch flakes from 24K spice it up!  Neutral enough for a conservative work environment, but not a plain choice by far.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!!

Hardy Candy Beetle Nail Polish

Remember way back when Hard Candy was sold at Sephora?  That is probably the last time (I think it was the late 90's) that I bought anything by them.  Now the brand is available at Wal-Mart.  I usually don't shop there (because it is out of the way) but found myself there yesterday running some errands and of course I needed to get myself something fun to make the trip worth while!  Hard Candy Beetle is a crazy color changing polish.  Depending on the light, it is purple/black/olive green.  It is pretty cool....

There is a tad bit of gritty-ness from the glitter that is mixed in.

The formula on this way not my fav- I dislike metallic formulas in general since they are hard to spread evenly.  They do dry pretty fast, which is a plus.  These are only $4!  Have you tried any of them?

Maybelline Cool Couture Nail Polish For Fall

I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have never in my life owned a Maybelline Nail Polish.  Something about them just doesn't call to me.  When I noticed this color sitting on their new display, it caught my eye so I had to try it.

"Cool Couture" is a darkened teal base with turquoise shimmer throughout:

Pros: I LOVE the color!  It is super fall-ish and autumn-y.  The formula application was wonderful and easy to apply.  The brush is surprisingly great too.

Cons: I gather from the "50 Second/Express Finish" name of this polish that it is a "fast dry" formula?  Am I wrong?  Because I totally painted my nails at 8:30, didn't go to bed until almost 2a.m. and woke up with SHEET MARKS!  What the H?  Annoying.

Are you doing anything to celebrate Fall this weekend?  

Pink, Black, and Silver Glitter Layering Manicure

Here is a quick post showing you my nails today....I used OPI's "I Eat Mainely Lobster" as a base color and did one layer each of Wet N Wild's "Tangled In My Web" (I am in love with this one) and a LA Colors silver glitter that I picked up at the dollar store:

Reminds me of sparkly graffiti...

I really like how this came out.  As I mentioned about, I am in love with the Wet N Wild "Tangled In My Web" glitter...it is so different from anything else I have.

What are your thoughts?

Manicure of the Day: Leopard Print Nails

After being inspired by OPI's Facebook post on how to do a leopard print design on your nails (there is a super quick tutorial that rocks!), I decided to give it a try.  Considering it was my first attempt, I am pretty happy.  A little back story for you; I am mildly obsessed with leopard print.  It just makes me happy. My area rug in my living room is leopard, my favorite comfy Birkenstock sandals are (glitter) leopard print and the lining of my favorite purse is also, you guessed it-leopard.  But that's not to say I am over the top.  I tend to dress on the boring side (think solids in taupe, gray, pink, olive) and then *jazz* things up accessory-wise.  So on a typical day you will find me wearing a gray scoop neck tshirt with jeans, maybe a black scarf and ballerina flats or my gray Converse All Stars (they have purple glitter strips on the back!).  Kinda plain over all.  But then I will carry my sequined wristlet that looks like a disco ball and wear a giant flower shaped ring with blingy crystals in the center.  For some reason (and this comes back to nails also), I've always been obsessive with the details of what I was wearing more than the main components.  I wonder why that is?  I remember being in 2nd grade and the highlight of my day was checking out which nail polish or jewelry my teacher wore that day. Btw, she was a total b!tc&,  but I always appreciated her accessorizing abilities.
Enough rambling about that, here are my nails!  These are the polishes I used:

Here is a pic of my nails AND my rug!

I want to keep practicing and experimenting with different color combos!
Suggestions?