Julep NOTD Contest

This weekend I decided to try out the two Julep polishes I hadn't used yet since I got an email saying my February Maven box is on it's way. I also figured it would be a great excuse to make a mani to enter Julep's NOTD contest on Facebook. I decided to use Julep Anne as the base color. I really like the bright blue-purple of it but it was quite thick making application a bit difficult. I think I might put some thinner in there before I use it again. I really liked the semi-matte finish and was going to leave it without top coat but then I noticed little bubbles forming so I quickly got my OTD top coat on there to force the polish to dry faster. Still a bit sad about that.

Next I took Julep Heather and, using my french tip guides (haven't used those in a while!), I created a Ruffian (yes I know, I did it backwards) then stamped the chain design from Mash plate M-08 lengthwise down each nail.

I really like how the mani turned out but I do wish my camera would take better photos of the color purple. I had to do some serious color adjusting on these (thank goodness for DSLR cameras and Photoshop). Oh and before you go, feel free to stop on over and vote for my entry in Julep's NOTD contest! You can vote once every hour if you feel inclined to. And also, don't forget to "like" my new page over on Facebook!

Adventures in Stamping: Julep Selena

I apologize in advance for my swatch photo. Having two kids that are not yet school age tends to put some dings in my manicures and unfortunately that can often happen before I get a chance to take photos. Then when I'm planning to layer over a color I sometimes don't bother to fix the dings since, unless they're quite major, the layering polish tends to cover any imperfections. That said, here is Julep Selena, two coats. I got it in my penny box along with Boris & Nicole.

Next I layered it with two coats of Finger Painted Flashy:

 Shade

Sun

Then I stamped over it with Zoya Angelique and Mash-23 and added a coat of Essie As Gold as it Gets:

My stamping is definitely getting better. Still a little crooked, but better. And yes, I'll admit it, I redid a couple of these multiple times. I read a little tip somewhere saying to put down a top coat before stamping so that you could use a bit of polish remover to remove the stamping without damaging the rest of the mani and it really works.

Stash update and my first adventures in stamping!

Wow, the holidays sure were busy! Honestly I'm kinda glad that's over with for another year. Love it when it's happening but I wouldn't want every day to be like that. One thing about Christmas though, it certainly added to my polish stash! First there were the Zoyas I ordered, then the Julep penny box, the Finger Paints Special Effects collection, the polishes I got in my stocking and my January Maven box from Julep.

And the best of all: my hubby got me the MASH stamping plate set! The worst of it was . . . HE DIDN'T GET THE STAMPER/SCRAPER SET! ACK! So there I was with my first stamping plates and no way to use them! My mother was kind enough to order the stamper/scraper though and it came in this thursday. Of course the first thing I had to do was try it out!

Since my January Julep Maven box had come in the day before I had Julep Blake on my nails, which, I must say, I'm really impressed with. A pastel yellow opaque in just two coats! I was going to stamp with black but my daughter saw me with the polish out and picked Zoya Kate instead so I went with it. I really like the color combination :)

Julep Blake

Stamped with Zoya Kate

What do you think? I definitely need to practice a lot more but I got lots of compliments on it at school <3

Julep Maven for $0.01

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