Fall Color with Julep!

My nail polish obsession is second only to my makeup obsession. I just love it when the seasons change and I can “justify” new nail color purchases because the colors just HAVE to change, right?? RIGHT??? Well, I love all the new fall colors and that’s when I usually go for grays, browns, deep purples, deep reds as well as varying shades of nude (I mostly stick with brights in the summer). Anyway, this is why I am so glad that Juiep is in my life. A few months ago, I joined their Maven program and ever since then, I’ve only received automatic shipments of some of their beautiful nail colors (I can control the frequency of the shipments), but I’ve also been able to take advantage of some super duper sales, that are only for Mavens. This season, as I’m switching over to deeper colors, there are two Julep polishes that are my favorites. Read on for more!

Alaina

My first favorite is “Alaina,” a beautiful taupe that is so versatile, which makes it perfect as an everyday shade. Besides the usual beige and gray tones, Alaina also sometimes looks like it has the tiniest touch of lavender. This one works for me when I’m calling on bankers as well as out to dinner with my husband. It will definitely be a staple this fall.

Alaina

Alaina

Like almost all of the Julep polishes in my collection, Alaina applies smoothly and lasts well with a good basecoat and top coat.

Myrtle

Myrtle is another of my favorites for fall. Julep describes this color as “Flapper Red,” which is a great description. It’s deep and smooth and shiny and applies like a dream. I always apply two coats but it provides great coverage with just one. Myrtle shouldn’t just be relegated to special occasions---it can be worn with your favorite moto jacket, sweater set or business suit. I love a good red polish and the consistency of this one is just great!

Myrtle

Myrtle

Julep polishes retail for $14 per bottle but Mavens can purchase a single polish for $11.20 (or a greater discount). The monthly Maven boxes are charged at $19.99 and consist of two polishes and another beauty product (some boxes contain three polishes and no beauty product). Every Maven has the opportunity to opt out of a monthly box AND has the extra privilege of shopping at the Maven Secret Store, where nail polishes can be purchased for huge discounts. Signing up is easy AND the first Maven box is FREE! Click here for more information!

Have you already signed up as a Maven? What’s your Style Profile? How about your favorite colors?

I Love the Julep Maven Box!!

I first became acquainted with Julep Nail Polish this past Spring, when I purchased the color “Jennifer” at Sephora. Jennifer is a light beigey pink that is neutral and professional for the “working” side of my life. I liked it so much that I subscribed to Julep’s Maven Box program. This subscription service is customized for each member. Before shipments started, I filled out a beauty questionnaire that matched me up to one of Julep’s fun style profiles. I actually took it twice! The first time I was matched up to “Bo Ho Glam” and the second time to “Classic with a Twist.”

Each month, Julep sends me an email to tell me that my selections are ready. I can choose the box that contains my style profile or pick another one (or even opt out of a box that month). For $19.99, I receive the box of my choice and am also given the opportunity to purchase additional products at a deep discount. I’m loving this service!!!

This past month, the box contained an envelope of Forget Me Not seeds as well as my order, wrapped in the lavender paper, above. I had also purchased Julep’s Champagne Trio on the side for $14, which is a great deal! This month’s “It Girl” selections (the package I chose) included the following polishes:

Julep Fiore Nail Polish

Julep Marjorie Nail Polish

Julep Nellie Nail Polish

Fiore, Marjorie and Nellie are absolutely gorgeous colors for the summer! In fact, I’ve been very impressed with the formula and longevity of Julep polishes as well as the beautiful colors. For my money, $19.99 for three of these polishes is a great deal.

You can find Julep polishes at Sephora or on the Julep website. Check them out! You won’t be sorry!

My Favorite Red Polish: Julep’s Catherine

Earlier this summer, I decided to join Julep’s Maven beauty subscription program. For $19.99 per month, Maven’s receive a customized box with the Julep’s products of their choice. It all starts with a fun style quiz, which helps you decide on which of the curated boxes you will receive each month. I “tested” as “Classic with a Twist” and “Bo-Ho Glam” (I took the quiz twice) but, ultimately, I get to choose which collection I want each month or can choose not to receive one at all.


In my introductory Maven shipment, I received the color Catherine, a gorgeous red that is absolutely classic and perfect! Catherine is an opaque cream with a thin texture but it really packs a color punch. This is THE classic red that everyone needs! I found it to be vibrant, beautiful and long wearing. The thinner texture insured absolutely no visible brush strokes. As with all of my polishes, I covered it with Seche Vite Top Coat for a long lasting, shiny finish.


I received Catherine for $3.99 in my introductory box but right now, it’s on sale on the Julep site for $11.20 for all Mavens ($14 for non Members).
You NEED this. It’s the perfect red!
Ages of Beauty rating: *****

Summer Nails: Tie Dye

We have a nineteen year old girl living with us as she works and goes to school. A few days ago, she came to me and asked if she could use some of my nail polish to do her nails. I brought out the two, large plastic shoe boxes full of polish and she began going thru them to find the perfect color (or so I thought). Hours later, she showed me her handy work (haha!!), which resulted in her nails covered in wild designs in bright colors. At this point, I was fascinated and insisted that she show me how to do a more “age appropriate” (cough) color scheme for me.



I picked out four pastel (ish) colors that I thought would potentially be conservative enough for an old lady but fun enough for me to express my inner fifteen year old. I chose Essie’s Naughty Nautical, Boom Boom and Tart Deco and CoverGirl’s Pina Colada. The next step was to get a bowl of water, some paper towels, cellophane tape, and toothpicks. Once you’ve done that, take pieces of the tape and tape the skin around each nail. Do this BEFORE you go any further (on any nail that you want to tie dye).


Now the fun starts! The first thing to do is to drop the polish, one drop at a time, into the bowl of water. Some of the polish will immediately dissipate and form a film on the surface of the water (you can kind of see it in the picture above). Then you please more drops of the different colors, one on top of the other, until you get enough spreading out in rings. In the picture above, I first dropped a pink color, which immediately dissipated and then dropped another pink, an orange and then a yellow. Eventually it will look like this:




Once it looks like this, take a toothpick and “draw” lines from the outside of the circles to the middle, forming swirly designs. Don’t wait too long or the “film” will harden too much and make it difficult to work.





Once you’re satisfied with the design, dip your nail into the polish, making sure to get it in a section that has a good mix of colors. Then take you nail out and remove the tape. Take the toothpick and “pick up” the polish in the water. Immediately take the tape off the nail you just dipped. If you are doing more nails, repeat the entire process until you are finished.

Despite covering your skin with the tape, you’ll still have some polish around the edges. The best way to clean this up is with a small brush dipped into nail polish remover. Once you’ve cleaned up the edges, paint a coat of top coat (I use Seche Vite) and you’re set!

My nails are pretty low key compared to a lot of them that I’ve seen but I love them! They’re fun!! Now, I’m not about to wear them on a sales call, but I sure will have fun rocking them when I’m not traveling for business this summer!











Have you tried tie dye? What colors did you use?

Summer 2013 Trend: Bright Nails

Bright nails are a HUGE trend for summer and I am all over this trend! For the past couple of months I’ve been scouring the shelves of my local Target and CVS on the lookout for new colors. I also joined Julep’s Maven program (more info to come in a later post) and am looking forward to even more new colors. If you’re a nail polish junkie, it’s impossible to not be excited about all the possibilities!




It’s really amazing that drugstores these days have such high quality polishes. Back in the day, when I had to walk three miles up a hill in the snow in sub zero weather to get to a department store to buy quality polish….I digress. Anyway, brands like Cover Girl and L’Oreal have long lasting, beautifully smooth polishes available and Essie is now making many of their colors available at Target, of all places, for $7.99! I’ve died and gone to heaven! Whether you color your fingers, your toes or both, there’s something available for everyone. Here are some of my favorites.

Essie Boom Boom

        Essie Mod Square

              

Essie Naughty Nautical

Essie Peach Daiquiri

Essie Play Date

Essie Tart Deco

L’Oreal Jetset to Paris

Maybelline Green With Envy

CoverGirl Appletini

CoverGirl Pina Colada

Have you been wearing bright nails? What are your favorite colors?

Neutral Nails for Spring/Summer 2013

Bright nails were all over the runways for Spring/Summer 2013 but neutral nails also made an appearance, as did neutral makeup. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been seeing collection after collection releasing new neutral makeup palettes so I thought it made sense to share some of my favorite neutral polishes.

“Neutral” is going to be a little bit different color for everyone, depending on their skin tone. I have light, cool toned skin so most of my favorites fit that description but as the summer goes on, I often like to warm it up a little bit with slightly warmer tones in nail polish. From time to time, I will also use a self tanner so that also helps things along a bit. As I was going thru my collection, I realized I have a lot of neutral polishes and many of them are variations on another in the collection. Here are a few of my favorites.



CoverGirl Outlast Stay Brilliant nail gloss in Forever Frosted (#115) is a light, slightly pink beige polish that works well with lighter skin tones (but would provide great contrast for darker ladies). It is fairly opaque after two coats but some of the natural nail does still show through. CVS carries this brand for $5.99 and you can order it here.



Julep’s Jennifer is a light pinkish beige that is warmer than Forever Frosted. It is very, very sheer and is not at all opaque after two coats. This provides an extremely natural look and is great for days when you want to look polished but not completely covered on the nails. Jennifer is available at Sephora for $14.00.



L’Oreal’s How Romantic is a cool toned pinky beige that is a sheerer cousin to Forever Frosted and a cooler toned version of Jennifer. It is very subtle and sweet looking with it’s sheer, pink finish. It’s available at CVS for $5.99.



Essie’s Mucho Dinero is a warm tan that is slightly opaque after two coats. I really like the Essie line for their softer colors and this one is no exception. This one will look great next to tanned skin. Essie’s polishes are available for about $8.00 online and in local stores.



I reviewed Bobbi Brown’s Roza nail polish a few months ago (see the post here) and I absolutely love this polish! Roza is an opaque, pinky beige polish that is great for ladies with light skin or even darker skin that has cool undertones. I have a feeling I’m going to be wearing this one a lot this summer!



A darker, warmer neutral, OPI’s Barefoot in Barcelona is another great choice for summer neutrals. I’ve had this bottle for quite awhile and love wearing it on both fingers and toes. You can purchase this shade at Ulta for $9.00.



I’m including Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Kava Kava because it is just so darn pretty! A light golden frost, this one will look great with a tan! You can find it on the OCC Website here for $10.