Julep March It Girl Maven Box: Simone

Julep Simone (2 coats)

Hola, happy Hump Day! I'm taking the day off on Friday so today is my Thursday. Whoop! I hope your week is going well so far. My family will be here tomorrow and I am really excited! 

The last March Julep box polish I have to show is Simone which is a lilac color with blue opalescent shimmer that is really subtle. What is it with the subtle shimmer this spring? Give me shimmer! In your face shimmer! Again, like the rest of the set, the formula was pretty craptastic (thick and really streaky) so proceed with caution. 

Julep March 2013 It Girl Maven Box: Teri

Julep Teri (2 coats)

How was your Monday? It was my boss' birthday so I took him out to lunch. Oh, and the lab next door was having work done on the pipes so the maintenance workers spent the day loudly drilling next to my office. Needless to say, I spent half the day trying to be productive at the library. 

I really wish these Julep polishes applied better because they are really pretty. Tonight I have Teri which is a coral creme. I think this is my favorite out of the trio, but not in terms of application. This one actually had the worst application out of the 3. Definitely get out the thinner because this one is really thick. I know it doesn't look like it from the pictures, but trust me. 

As a side note from last month's box, I've now had the Julep Oxygen Nail Treatment for awhile, and this thing is like glue. I haven't used it in a few weeks, but when I pulled it out last night, it didn't want to budge at all. Not impressed, Julep. 

Julep March 2013 It Girl Maven Box: Shenae

Julep Shenae (2 coats)

Are you ready for Easter? It's my favorite holiday-spring is here, the flowers are blooming, Easter candy is the bomb, what isn't there to like? My family will be in town to celebrate my birthday (I'll be in Chicago for work over my birthday so we're celebrating it early) so I'm extra excited this year. 

Speaking of spring, Julep released their Maven boxes full of pastel colors just in time for Easter. Up first is Shenae, which is a mint green color with opalescent shimmer. The shimmer was much more noticeable in the bottle than on the nail unfortunately. And then there's the formula. All of these polishes were so thick and unmanageable. Definitely use a lot of thinner before attempting to use them because you will get a lot of pooling on the nail. Overall, this color is just ok in my book. 

Revlon Bubblegum Days Urban Nights: Heavenly

Revlon Heavenly (2 coats) over 2 coats ELF Python Dark Purple

Happy Saturday! When I got home from work yesterday I took a long nap. I dunno, I was just so sleepy this week. Other than that, my week was pretty alright. 

I've had Revlon Heavenly for awhile now, but don't worry, I believe it's now part of their permanent collection. I've seen it at several drugstores the past few weeks. It's an iridescent square and hexagonal glitter with multiple colors in a milky base. I first tried it over a lighter color, and I was not impressed with how it got lost in it. This one is definitely best over a dark colors where you can see some green, blue and red colors. The glitter payoff was pretty good; I thought it looked best with 2 coats which is what is shown above. In terms of the formula, it was really good for a glitter (it wasn't too thin or too thick). Overall, if you don't have anything like this, I would recommend picking it up when it's on sale at your local drugstore. 

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish: Sage All the Rage

Rimmel Sage All the Rage (2 coats)

Can you believe this is my first Rimmel review? For some reason it's just never been on my radar. I was at Walmart (ugh) looking for the new Hard Candy display (which they didn't have), so I ended up picking up Rage All the Sage which is a khaki sage green creme. Oh, did I mention this was $1.50? Heck yeah! While I think their "dries in 60 seconds" claim is ridiculous, it did dry relatively quickly without topcoat. I ended up putting a topcoat on for the picture, but that's just for continuity. Overall, I have nothing bad to say about this one, especially for its price point. 

Sinful Colors Spring 2013 Sugar Rush Collection: Unicorn

Sinful Colors Unicorn (3 coats)

Alas, we are down to the final Sinful Colors polish called Unicorn which is a pale yellow creme. You know how I've been complaining about the formula and application on most of these polishes, so you can just guess how this one was. It's yellow and it's a pastel, so it already has 2 strikes against it. I'm happy to report that while the formula wasn't great, it could have been worse. The first 2 coats had a lot of streaking, but if you use 3 thin coats, it evens out quite well. I liked this one more than I expected to be honest. I hope your week is going well; I can't believe it's Wednesday already! 

Sinful Colors Spring 2013 Sugar Rush Collection: Sweet Tooth

Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth (3 coats)

It's another manic Monday! My husband put together my Helmer last night so I need to sit down and actually get organized. Quick question: how do you organize your polishes? Brand? Color? Other? Please let me know. 

I have one more Sugar Rush polish to show tomorrow, but tonight I have Sweet Tooth which is a light lavender shimmer/creme. Yup, it has hidden shimmer that you shouldn't bother looking for. It's pretty, but not very unique and I feel other companies have similar colors. The formula was thick and streaky, so get out your thinner. I'd also leave a little extra time between coats to inhibit any dragging that can occur. 

St. Patrick's Day Manicure: Orly Monster Mash and Sinful Colors Irish Green

Sinful Colors Irish Green (3 coats)

Orly Monster Mash (2 coats) over Sinful Colors Irish Green (3 coats)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I spent the day in Charlotte going to Ikea and Trader Joe's. You know what that means...I got a new Helmer! Now I can finally put all my nail polish away. 

I was really happy with this manicure and I thought it would be the perfect green combination for St. Patrick's Day. The base is Irish Green from Sinful Colors which is a kelly green jelly. Since it is a jelly, it is a bit sheer, but it was mostly opaque with 3 coats. Despite being sheer, the formula was actually pretty great. Next, I put 2 coats of Orly Monster Mash which is a glitter bomb of green and gold glitter (hexagonal, bar and microglitter) with a sheer green base. I think this works best as a layering top coat because it would be really hard to build up the opacity. I know this post is a bit late in the evening, but I hope you had a great day and wore a green polish! 

Sinful Colors Spring 2013 Sugar Rush Collection: Sugar Rush

Sinful Colors Sugar Rush (2 coats)

Hi guys, congratulations to Denise F. for winning my KleanColor giveaway! I hope to start having more giveaways in the near future. The second order of business I have to mention is that the FTC has set new guidelines for bloggers to abide by. You can find out more information here about how to comply with these new rules. I always disclose if I receive a product for free, but now they want this information several times in the post. I know this may be annoying to read, but I don't want to get into trouble. I don't know why people would lie about this information anyway. If something is great, I want you to know. If something is crap, you have the right to know. Just because I got it for free doesn't mean it's going to get a glowing review. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what is going on in the world of bloggers (and how it is going to affect my blog). 

Now onto the good stuff! Sugar Rush is the collection namesake and is a light powder blue creme. Oh this one is so beautiful! It was also a bit more opaque than the others and only needed 2 coats instead of 3. It was still thick and gloopy, so pass me the thinner, please! You can find these right now at your local Walgreens or Rite Aide store for $1.99. 

Giveaway Ends Tonight @ Midnight (EST)

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great week. TGIF! Don't forget, my giveaway ends tonight at midnight (EST). Tomorrow I'll be determining the winner and will send out an e-mail. Good luck!

In case you're wondering, these pictures were taken in Noumea, New Caledonia, which is an island in the Pacific Ocean. I went there back in 2007 when a research cruise made a pit stop for a day. The country was beautiful and I'd love to go back.

Sinful Colors Spring 2013 Sugar Rush Collection: Cotton Candy

Sinful Colors Cotton Candy (3 coats)

Quick post today because I need to run to the bus. It was a really long day at work today. I had to get in an hour early and work 9 hours with one 15 minute break. Gotta love science. 

The second color from the Sugar Rush collection is Cotton Candy which is a cool toned medium pink with that unnecessary shimmer that you can't see. For all intensive purposes, I'd call this a cream. I think it's really pretty, but nothing terribly unique. For the price ($1.99) you just can't beat it. It (unfortunately) applied like Orange Cream which is to say not great. I had the same streaking and balding that evened out after 3 coats. 

Sinful Colors Spring 2013 Sugar Rush Collection: Orange Cream

Sinful Colors Orange Cream (3 coats)

When I put up my current giveaway, someone asked whether they could be a Twitter follower to be a "follower." Of course, any sort of following, be it Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is acceptable. There's been a pretty good response so far, so thanks to those of you who have entered! I do appreciate all of you who come and support my little blog. 

Sinful Colors has a new pastel collection out called Sugar Rush and I found it a couple weeks ago at my Walgreens. Up first is Orange Cream which is more of a peachy coral than straight on orange. There's also a bit of shimmer in there, but don't even bother looking for it. It is so hidden that I don't know why they bothered adding it. I think it's a very pretty color otherwise. I found the formula to be a bit of a pain to work with since it was really thick and was prone to dragging. A good dose of thinner will be your friend. Other blogs mentioned that the formula was great, so maybe I just have a weird bottle. 

Zoya Spring 2013 PixieDust Collection: Vespa

Zoya Vespa (3 coats)

Whoa, today was just one of those days. People are complaining it's because Daylight Savings Time was this weekend, but I think it's just because it's Monday. 

I have one polish to show from the textured Zoya PixieDust collection and it's called Vespa. It's a light sage green color with tons of sparkle and looks like sugar on the nail. I know some of you may not like the slightly rough feel on the nail, but I don't really mind it. I found it was best to let the polish dry a bit before doing more coats. It was also a bit sheer and needed 3 heavy coats for full coverage. I'm really loving these textured matte polishes and the Pixie Dusts are no exception. They are so popular that Zoya is releasing 6 new colors this summer. Are you on the textured bandwagon? 

Julep February It Girl Maven Box: Marion

Julep Marion (2 coats)

I just got home from watching Oz The Great and Powerful and I thought it was really good. I especially liked Michelle Williams as Glinda (side note, when I was a kid I went as Glinda the Good Witch for Halloween...it was my favorite). I watched The Wizard of Oz every Sunday as a kid so of course I just had to see this movie. 

Anyway, enough of my love of The Wizard of Oz and on to polish! I went to Sephora in JC Penny and they had some Illamasqua, Nails Inc. and Sephora by OPI on sale from $5-$7 so definitely check it out. I got a few colors that I'll be showing in the coming weeks. The last Julep polish from the It Girl Maven box is Marion which is a dusty blue with green shimmer. Well, I say green shimmer, but Julep says it's silver so I guess it's silver. Either way, it is really subtle so you won't really see it. The formula was a little on the thick side, but fine otherwise with full opacity in 2 coats. Overall, I thought this was a great Maven Box-probably my favorite I've ever received. 

March Giveaway: KleanColor Chunky Holo Nail Lacquer Mini Collection

Yes, finally, a new giveaway! I'm a fan of KleanColor, but they are hard to find. I found this mini collection of the popular chunky holo polishes so I thought a giveaway was in order. This set includes Chunky Holo Candy, Fuchsia, Klover, Teal, Purple, and Black. These are mini bottles with 5 ml of product. To enter, please leave a comment to this post with your e-mail address. You must be a follower in order to win (sorry, I don't have a giveaway where you can gain entries by posting and tweeting, etc...that is just way too much of a pain). And finally, this is only open to US readers! Sorry internationals, I love you, but there has been a lot of confiscated packages containing polish so I can't risk it. Please only 1 entry per person. A winner will be chosen by random on Friday, March 15, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST. The winner will be contracted and will have 72 hours to respond before another winner will be announced. Good luck everyone!

Please feel free to repost or retweet on your respective blogs, facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, etc. :-D

Julep February It Girl Maven Box: Joan

Julep Joan (2 coats)

Is it Friday yet? My husband and I have plans to go to see Oz-The Great and Powerful and perhaps go to the NC zoo since the weather is supposed to be warm this weekend. What are your plans?

Dare I say that Joan is probably my favorite Julep I own? It's a raspberry plum with gold shimmer. I think this is totally gorgeous and unique. I was also very happy with the formula and application (which I hear is pretty terrible for the pastels that came out in this month's box). 

Julep February It Girl Maven Box: Rebel

Julep Rebel (2 coats)

Apparently if you buy enough random stuff at Julep (including the Maven boxes) you earn Jules points which you can use towards a free box. I earned enough last month so I got the It Girl since I was so impressed with the colors in that box. Up first we have Rebel which is the silver version of Ginger which I showed a few weeks ago. I found this to have even less of a holo effect (if that's possible), but it's still a pretty color. The application was flawless and only needed 2 coats. Awesome!

Speaking of holo polishes, the promotional pictures for China Glaze Hologlam collection has been making the rounds. Have you seen it yet? Will you be purchasing?