Neon Triangles

What do you need when you're feeling down (besides chocolate)? Bright colors of course! I was stuck on what I wanted to do with my nails, then I saw these and I decided I had to do something like them!

I still need some practice with lines, but I really like how they came out! I started with a base of Julep Hayden (two coats) and then drew the triangles with Sinful Colors Dream On. Dream On dries very quickly, which was both a good and bad thing. Good because moving from one nail to another, I didn't have to worry about smudging, but bad because it was very difficult to get an even coat on my nails, which is why it looks thin in some spots. I finished by outlining the triangles with black acrylic paint.

Despite the minor difficulties I had, I really love these. I love the color combo and I like how each nail is different. :)

Funfetti

Confession: I've never had funfetti cake. Am I missing out on something here? I have had cookies that were made with funfetti cake mix, does that count?
Well anyways, I have some nail art that was intended to just be a fun experiment with dots (my favorite) and layering, but it ended up reminding me of funfetti!

With Essie Matte About You

I started with one coat of Love & Beauty Cream (a very shear white) then did three dots each of OPI Bullish on OPI, Essie Orange, It's Obvious!, Sinful Colors Pull Over, Julep Leah, and Sally Hansen Blue Me Away! on each nail. I followed that with two more coats of Cream, another round of dots, then another two coats of Cream. I kind of wish that I had done more layers of Cream between dots to make the layers really stand out, but I still love this!

Cupcakes!

Chalkboard Nails is hosting a nail art contest that has to feature a dotting tool of some sort, and I knew I wanted to do something fun for my entry! I've been wanting to do cupcake nails for a while so I figured this would be the   perfect chance to try them! Another rule was that nail art brushes could not be used so everything is done with either the nail polish brush, a toothpick, or a needle.

I have to say, it killed me not being able to use a brush, especially for the outline, but I think it still turned out pretty good with a toothpick! The base colors used, from thumb to pinky: Ulta Mint Condition, Sinful Colors Vacation Time, Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet, Sally Hansen Lacey Lilac, Julep Hayden
Other colors used: Sally Hansen Black heart, Wet n Wild French White Creme, Sinful Colors Pull Over, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!, Sinful Colors Dream On.

More details on the contest can be found here.

Julep Hayden

Hayden is the final nail polish I received in my Julep Maven box (not including the Fast Dry Topcoat). I was really excited about this one and it did not disappoint! It is simply described as "neon peach" which I think is very accurate. Hayden is a great color for spring and summer, and it makes my hands look tan (which isn't as noticeable in the pictures)!

Sunlight

This is two coats of Julep Hayden, no top coat. This formula was a bit thicker than Leah and Megan but it wasn't too difficult to work with.

Sunlight

Please excuse the shadow from the window screen in the last picture, and the fact that I smudged my index finger after I applied the matte top coat. Hayden is still pretty matte, but there's nothing really special about the matte version, unlike with Megan. Overall I really loved this color and I can't wait to wear it this summer!

Julep Hayden retails for $14 at Julep.com

Julep Megan

I meant to review all of the Julep polishes that I received one after another, but as you can tell that didn't work out the way I had planned. I've been extremely busy with theatre and I just got some time to swatch Megan and Hayden.

I'm going to start with Megan, which is described as "a playful and sultry Mediterranean aquamarine shimmer".

This is three coats of Megan with one coat of Julep Fast Dry Top Coat.

Sunlight

I absolutely loved the way Megan looked with a matte top coat! I did one coat of Essie Matte About You on my index and middle fingers.

Sunlight 

As I said before, I used three coats. You could probably get away with two but I think it looks a lot better with three. Application was great and I needed almost no cleanup. I was pleasantly surprised when I put this on because I expected not to like Megan as much as Leah and Hayden. It still isn't as unique as the other two but I can see myself wearing it with a matte top coat (just look at that last picture!). Would I buy this if I saw it in a store (especially with a $14 price tag)? Probably not, but I am glad to have it in my collection.

Julep Megan retails for $14 at Juelp.com

Julep Leah Wear Test

So when I created this blog I knew I wanted to start doing reviews of nail polish in addition to posting pictures of nail art. Reviews aren't anything special though, you can find multiple reviews of any nail polish you want, but you don't find many wear tests (at least I haven't). So in addition to doing reviews I will also post do wear tests, in order to show people how they will hold up.
I will admit that I probably should have done this for a bit longer, but I'm not one to keep the same nails for very long. My nails were painted on Monday night and I removed Leah on Friday night. My base coat was Sally Hansen Hard as Nails and my top coat was Julep Fast Dry Topcoat, and I did not reapply the top coat at all.

Day One (Tuesday)

Day Two (Wednesday)

Day Three (Thursday)

Here's my left thumb on day three

Day Three (right hand)

Day Four (Friday)

Overall I thought Leah held up nicely. There was tip wear and a few nicks (see left thumb and right index finger), but no chips. The tip wear probably would not have been so bad if I had remembered to wrap the polish. I think its also important to note that neither my base or top coat are advertised as chip resistant/long lasting. I'm also pretty tough on my nails, mostly due to theatre, which is not nail polish friendly in the slightest.

Julep Leah Review

The first polish that I've decided to wear from the Julep box that I got is Leah, which is also my favorite. Leah is described as "grass green with a hint of shimmer" which I think is a very accurate description. Leah definitely screams spring. From arms length away the shimmer isn't very noticeable, but it becomes more visible in direct light.

Close up to show the shimmer.

Shown is two coats of Leah (except for my thumb which got three) and one coat of Julep Quick Dry Top Coat.

I honestly can't get enough of this polish and I have a feeling I'll be wearing it a lot in the spring and summer. The polish applied very nicely, and was opaque in two coats. However, if you're doing thin coats (which happened on some of my fingers) you might want to do a third coat. I had no problems with bubbles with Leah, despite thick coats and not waiting for the first coat to dry before putting on a second, so that's a major plus because I seem to always have problems with bubbles. 

Overall Leah is a great color with an amazing formula. Some people have said it's a little on the thin side, but I really liked it. 

Leah retails for $14 at Julep.

Julep Maven January "It-Girl" Box

So a week or two ago a nail polish company called Julep was having a promotion where you could get one of their Maven boxes for a penny (you can find out more about Julep and their maven program at their website), so of course I had to get one! My box arrived a few days ago so I thought I'd show you guys what came in it!

It came in really cute packaging!

All of the polishes came wrapped in bubble wrap.

From left to right: Fast Dry Topcoat, Megan, Leah, Hayden

I mainly ordered this box for Leah and Hayden, as they're very pretty and original (especially Hayden, a neon peach!). Megan is pretty but it's definitely not original and I already own a polish very similar to it. I was also glad to get a topcoat because I go through topcoats pretty quickly. I also received a sample of Every Day SPF Hand Cream. Overall this box gives off a very good first impression. This shipping was quick too, I got my box in less than a week!