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!

Julep Maven Spring Mystery Box!

I loved my initial Julep Maven subscription box... so of course I was right on top of the SPRING MYSTERY BOX! I mean... who doesn't love going to the mail box and finding a surprise?! Ok, so it isn't exactly a true surprise because I paid for it and blah blah... but! I didn't know what would be in it and that IS a surprise! Tickle me pink because it was definitely worth the $20! (Julep Maven on Facebook listed a promo code to make the Spring Mystery box only $20) The Julep Maven website listed the Mystery box value between $60 - $200usd depending on what was included in it. After seeing some rave reviews of their St. Patrick's Day Mystery box I knew I wanted to receive a Spring Mystery box!

Well... I watched the mail like a hawk for about a week. I knew it should be coming but the anticipation was KILLING ME! I do love surprises but seriously it was getting close to tortuous levels after a week or two! My agony was finally alleviated when I checked the mail the yesterday...

My awesome Spring Mystery box!

Of course my eyeballs zoomed in on that lovely $50 gift certificate! WOOHOO!!! Yayness *does happy dance* And then the rabid search through the box started! In addition to my gift certificate I found a lovely bottle of Julep Elixir 100% Organic Argan Oil that retails for $24, nail polish Melissa, Hayden, Fast Dry Topcoat and Anne, and a cute little bag of chocolates!

Polish L to R: Melissa, Hayden, Fast Dry topcoat, Anne

I was a little bummed at receiving Melissa again and Hayden is definitely not in my normal color palette, but the Fast Dry topcoat was of course a nice addition as well as Anne. I will say this... even though the polish selection didn't knock me off my feet, I do see potential in the colors and will happily try them before attempting to swap, especially at $14 a bottle the polish is at least worth a try! Plus the formula is pretty awesome so you never know, I might decide I love the colors.

Last night I tried the fast dry topcoat and while it is definitely not a substitute for my fave, Seche Vite, it did dry quickly with a lovely shiny surface. Since that worked out pretty well I figured why not give Melissa a test run too. I will start with this, it is not a color to wear alone unless you want a verrrrrry sheer shimmer but it IS an awesome effect color. Meaning it is sheer enough to layer it on top of another color to add a lovely creamy shimmer to. Of course I removed the polish before taking a photo because I'm a total dunce like that but I promise to use Melissa as a top layer again soon and post pics so you can see what I mean.

All in all it was a great box! I loved what I received and am truly happy with my new mani additions. Total retail value of my box: $130 (gift certificate, 4 polishes and 1 bottle of Elixir)!! Not too shabby for $20! That means I'm up $110 worth of products I really like! How awesome is that?!

At this point I would definitely recommend giving Julep Maven a try. You can follow this LINK to start your Julep Maven subscription today!

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!

Easter Nail Art, A long way to go... but it's a start!

With Easter around the corner I knew I wanted to do a themed nail but hadn't quite decided what. I've seen a lot of super cute stuff in the past month and have really felt the pressure! Well with the arrival of my brushes I was anxious to give them a test drive just that much more... but the question still remained test drive them with WHAT?

It came to me in a flash... of middle finger waving angrily in my direction on Southside Blvd in Jacksonville (FL).

Yup... it was like a lightning bolt made of soft creme colors and easter grass sparkle! I wanted to have 3D grass on my nails, eggs hidden in the grass and of COURSE an Easter Bunny! Yup! So simple... yet how exactly to achieve this and with which polish and in what order. Oh the logistics lol.

I formulated my plan while moving along in the hell that is traffic on that particular road for my 40+ minute drive home and got nowhere. Really and truly nowhere. I just couldn't see it yet. It was like I was mentally constipated or something. I had the idea and I knew I had the colors but the rest was just... stuck.

I went the rest of the day like that and let me tell you it was just as uncomfortable as the real thing! I can't stand being creatively stuck it sucks sour eggs!

The end of the day bled into the end of the night and while on Skype with Dom I just started picking out colors... before I even really realized what I was picking out colors for lol. The next thing I knew I had a base coat and my background of Julep - Leah on and drying!

Dom of course was asking me what I was doing because i looked so intent. I wanted it to be a surprise so I told her nothing and beat around the bush for a bit. The next part were the eggs. Now I knew I was going to do the grass so I needed to put the eggs about mid nail, so I had to sort of imagine the grass already there when picking out space for the different eggs on the other 4 nails. Next up, the bunny!

I learned a VERY important lesson that night... White nail polish (aka Sally Hansen - White On) is just like some paints... the white will pull the color behind it! So what ends up happening (in my case) was I had a verrrrrrrry light LIME GREEN EASTER BUNNY!!! ACK! So, what do I do? I put down another coat of white. And another. And another. And another. AND ANOTHER COAT OF WHITE POLISH! Yes people, SIX COATS of white polish to get a WHITE Easter Bunny lol. Seriously I had so much polish on my middle fingernail, the pile-o-polish was this little white mound as though I had some acrylic on my nail!

Moving on... the next step was the background for grass. For that I mixed a little pile of China Glaze - Holly-Day with Sinful Colors - Happy Ending to get this darkish green shimmer color. It was actually very pretty, but a little bit darker than Julep - Leah to give some depth and what not (or some such artistic blah blah)

Once that was done I very politely asked my husband to go to Wally's and get me some green glitter. Yup, 2am my loving husband said "I will... if you REALLY want me to..." my response? "yup, thanks! Love you!" LOL He chuckled and said he'd be back. A while later I get texts with pictures where he's asking me if I want fine glitter or regular or some such caddy thing. I love that man, he cracks me up.

Pre-Glitter Grass

While Dom and I wait for the delivery of glitter goodness I decorate the little eggs. I should back up and tell you the egg colors lol. NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Loreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Shower Together. I decorated each egg with glitter since they were so small I wasn't sure that an actual design would be visible, but glitter is! I used the small holos from OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Jordana - Celebration and of course, last but certainly not least my new Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having. I saved that beautious pink confection of sparkle for the most important feature on a bunny- the pink hears and nose! I did try to do the Bunny's face in proportion but the whiskers came out bigger and thicker than I thought they were going to be so that part was poop, but I like his little blue eyes and cutesy ears!  I do  know in the pictures it won't look as though all these colors are represented but I promise they're there lol. Some got covered up with overzealous glitter glass application lol.

L to R: OPI - Servin' Up Sparkle, Jordana - Blue Bash, Dollish Polish - I'll have what she's having, Jordana - Celebration, NYC - Spring Street, Essie - Play Date, Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Wet n' Wild - Tickled Pink, L'Oreal - Tweet Me, Revlon - Indigo Night, China Glaze - Liquid Leather, China Glaze - Shower Together, China Glaze - Holly-Day, Sinful Colors, Happy Ending, Julep - Helena, Julep - Leah *not pictured Sally Hansen - White On

Alright... the piece de resistance! My glitter-grass! A coat of OPI - Top Coat was applied where I wanted my grass to stick and then copious amounts of fine green glitter applied.

Finished!

TA DA!!

I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at free-hand nail art. It was a lot of fun and while my painting skills are rusty, they're in there... just have to blow the dust off and work out the kinks!

Side note: I wanted to mention that all my photos are done inside and with my iPhone. Unfortunately my camera has been in the shop getting repaired. Hopefully I will have it back soon!