What a pretty penny!! Essie - Mirror Metallics Collection: Penny Talk

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY!!

So... I've been painting my nails on the sly every now and again... I know *hangs head* that's not exactly the best way to get my nails healthy again. Seriously though, did anyone ever believe that I could go a month or more without EVER painting my nails? Don't feel cheated though, none of my manis were noteworthy lol.

Of course when a friend of mine and fellow Beauty Blogger, Laura, from My Newest Addiction posted a picture of Essie and their new collection, Mirror Metallics, immediately I knew I had to find them. I mean yes, I have other foils or metallics, but these just didn't have the same shade or "look" of the ones I already have. These looked better... much better. Therefore... a NEED rather than a WANT formed.

Essie - Penny Talk with Julep - Chelsea accent nail

Luckily for my wallet I had just received my $5 coupon from CVS - Beauty Club Rewards program (every $50 you spend in qualifying beauty products you receive a $5 coupon to use on anything). So of course off I went in search of Penny Talk, the copper beauty from the Mirror Metallics collection. 

Unfortunately, I struck out on the first 2 stores. But the 3rd store had 2 bottles left and I happily snatched those up, informing the cashier that no, I did not need a bag lol. 

I read that the formula for these was difficult, so I was prepared when I started painting. BUT! Have no fear, in my opinion the formula is not difficult in these if you're an experienced "foil" user. Being a metallic they show brush strokes and if you're working at a slowish speed they'll pull and become ugly. My solution is to pull enough on the brush to try to do the entire nail in one brush dip or 3 paint strokes. 

***Pay attention***

These Mirror Metallics can be a one and done!

I did two coats because it's in my nature to always do 2 coats but truly I could've gotten away with 1 coat. 

In my car but also in the indirect light to show how shiny and pretty!!

I also have the blue Mirror Metallics, Blue Rhapsody, but I haven't worn it yet. I can't decide if I want to put it on next or something else... I might've gotten some Sticks n' Stones in the mail ;) so.... :D

gratuitous bottle shot :D

Thanks to all of you lovely followers and the fact that you keep coming back to check on us. Dom & I haven't forgotten all of you and believe me we have much love...  

xo, 

Purple Ombre tips with a side of matted NARS, please.

For my birthday I ordered a little bit of stuff from Sephora. Initially I was thinking of getting a couple Sephora by OPI colors but then I did some such random color search and came across the NARS Thakoon Collection. My eyeballs fell out onto my laptop. Seriously the amazingly beautiful and vibrant colors were show stoppers. Of course once I popped my eyeballs back in and rolled my tongue back up at the slightly steep $18/bottle cost my inner negative Nelly popped off with "they only look that pretty because they want you to fork over that $18! They won't be as nice in person..." She's such a bitch, I hate that damn negative Nelly... but she DID have a point...

NARS - Koliary (matte) with Ombre Purple Tips

However, let me just cut to the chase and say that I added and removed NARS - Koliary from my cart probably half a dozen times. I knew I only had so much money to spend and truly spending a decent amount on 1 bottle of polish was just kind of silly. But every time I saw the color it was like it sucked me in with it's mind control and bam! The bottle would be back in the cart!

NARS - Koliary 2 coats with base coat

Well, once my Sephora order came, my joy at finally receiving Nails Inc - Baker Street was quickly eclipsed when I saw the beautiful black NARS box. I thought "holy hell! I guess $18 buys my polish it's own little holder!" Then I opened the box... all the sounds around me faded away and I had tunnel vision. All I could see was this amazing vibrant shade of blue. I really and truly did make the bug-eyed-jaw-dropped face. The website described it as "cyan blue". My description? Happiness. Seriously if you love the blue family and all it's amazing hues this little gem will make you feel pure, unadulterated happiness.

NARS - Koliary made Matte with NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy

I wore this color for 3 different manicures in one week. No lie. I haven't done that in over 5 months. Below is one of those 3 manis. I love purple just as much as blue and thought I'd try to combine them. I still have mixed feelings about this particular mani though. I liked it but I didn't. I dunno. It's sorta like that feeling you get when falling in love with an outfit on the hanger... then you try it on and feel like some vital bit of you is hanging out in an unflattering way... but you cant FIND that bit. Yeah. THAT feeling :/

NARS - Koliary, NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy, Essie - Play Date, piCture pOlish - Wisteria,
Julep - Anne, Ulta - Celebutante, piCture pOlish - Grape

First I painted 2 coats of NARS - Koliary. Then I used NYC Color - Matte Me Crazy to turn the finish matte. Using my reinforcement circles I created a crisp edge, and from there I just used each purple polish in descending darkening shade on each nail to create the ombre tips.

My Instagram shot! Follow me @enjeliq

Hopefully you fall in love with this color like I did... and if you don't... well I guess that'll be just that many more back-ups I'll have access to! ;)

xo,

What about you? Have you ever had this love/hate feeling for a mani?

NAIL MAIL!! May's Julep Maven & Target Beauty Bag!

Hello hello hello! Sorry this post is so out dated and past due but I felt like maybe someone might still enjoy seeing it so on with the show!

May the FOURTH be with you!!! 

Yes I am a geek and proud of it! Love today, it's so corny but who cares!! Life is too short NOT to be silly in my opinion! (obviously NOT May 4th anymore but still cute :D )

I received my May "It Girl" Julep Maven subscription box came a couple days ago. Sorry I didn't post it sooner but I've been busy with Deployment stuff for my husband.

This box I wasn't that excited about initially so I actually meant to skip, but like quite a few things lately it was forgotten until I received the notification that it would be arriving soon! Imagine my face- yup... totally gobsmacked. Then of course there was the requisite look of argh from my husband.

May Julep Maven "It Girl" box L to R: Make up bag, Ashley, Nessa, and the magnetic polish, Kylie (with magnet in back by card)

At any rate... this box held a cute little black make up bag with the Julep Maven insignia sort of pressed or quilted into the fabric and three polishes. The Julep Maven subscription box is $19.99/mo, according to the website you'll receive at least $40 worth of product in your box. Each bottle of nail polish is $14ea, except for Kylie and she is $18, so the total for my polish alone is $46 plus the make up bag which retails $18 but is marked down on the site to $14.40 currently. So for the month of May my product retail cost is $60.40 if I would've bought it all without a subscription. Not too shabby!! I really like the colors this month, they're very shimmery and fun for a day out and about in the lovely spring weather.

L to R: Ashley, Nessa & Kylie with magnetic key

Index to Pinky: Ashley, Ashley, Nessa, Nessa

The magnetic Kylie is cute and a very nice shimmery and dusky lavender. The magnetic effect that I got was a sort of squiggle.

Kylie magnetic polish

I wanted to show you guys how pretty it can be as just a regular ol' polish, so my index and middle finger are not "magnetized" but my ring and pinky are. I can see this color being a nice "business" color for those that have dress code constraints.

Overall I still love the formula of the Julep polishes but for some reason this month's polishes had weird, bushy and slightly flared brushes. I checked my other Julep colors and none of them had this style of brush... so I don't know whether I should exchange them or keep them and deal with the weirdness. Unfortunately this wider brush is NOT helpful for a clean application lol I had a lot of clean up to do.

You too can try Julep Maven subscription service and if you use the code SHAREONMAY you'll receive your first box for $0.01! Yup ONE CENT! Follow the link, click join and go through the style quiz. Whether you like the results or not you can choose the box that you'd like. I honestly got a different style than the "It Girl" I receive every month but I liked the colors that are coming from that box so I chose that and started my service. However, you can change to a different box if you see something previewed in the boxes that you'd like better than the style you're signed up for... just go through the account options and click around... Any questions feel free to ask!!

Target Spring Beauty Bag!

So for those of you that weren't able to get in on the free sample beauty bag, here's a peek at what was inside! Hopefully next time they offer the beauty bag you'll be able to jump on it!

Target Beauty Bag 2012

peeky peeky inside!

L to R: Pantene Conditioner, Neutrogena Visibly Bright facial cleanser, Simple cleansing facial wipes,
L'Oreal Magin Lumi Light Infusing Primer, Nivea lotion

And the most important part of the beauty bag in my opinion.... THE COUPON BOOK!!!

$2 off with purchase of two CoverGirl items

$1 off Jergens skin care item

$1 off L'Oreal face cosmetic item (foundation or primer)

$1 off Maybelline NY Volum' Express Falsies mascara

$1 off Neutrogena facial skin care item

$3 off Nexxus Frizz Defy hair care item

$1 off Nivea body skin care item

$2 off Olay facial skin care item (moisturizer, treatment or cleanser)

$1 off with purchase of two hair care items (Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Aussie)

$2 off Pixi designer cosmetics item

$2 off Revlon cosmetics item

$1 off Sally Hansen magnetic nail polish

$1 off Simple facial skin care item

There you have it! The bag was definitely fun to get and the coupon book makes my lil heart go beep beep beep lol. All coupons are good until 5/31/2012 fyi. So if you know anyone that doesn't want there beauty bag- snap that mofo up!

Happy hunting!

First Julep Maven... Next the World!!!

So previously I posted about receiving my first Indie Nail Mail. But then today I came home to not only receiving my recent Amazon order of brushes and dotters, but my first Julep Maven box!

Let me be honest, I LOVE the idea of a beauty sample box, and I think it's ingenious but truly I only chose "It Girl" because I wanted 3 new colors. The colors that did come, Leah, Helena & Melissa, are beautiful colors and definitely colors I didn't necessarily have either. Leah was the first one I tried and is a very pretty soft green with a slight shimmer. The formula was awesomesauce too! It goes on so smooth and dries fairly quickly. So Truly that was a win and I definitely plan on wearing it alone in the future. I used it for an upcoming post as a background so be sure to look for that. Helena is a really awesome fuchsia color. I haven't worn it just yet but I plan to use it very very soon! Last but not least is Melissa. This color is definitely an effect color. It doesn't appear to be pigmented enough to stand alone but has some amazing shifts in color. Again, I haven't worn this one but I plan to. I have some ideas for it already!

Love the packaging! Cute hot pink bag with lime green ribbon and a nail file!

L to R: Melissa, Leah & Helena

I'll say this in conclusion... I signed up for a mystery spring box... so at least at this point Julep has my business enough to try a second helping of their nail mail!

FYI According to Julep Maven on Facebook their SPRING code for the Spring Mystery box is still valid! Hurry on over and give Julep Maven a whirl!