SWATCH & REVIEW: Julep Taylor and Julep Meryl

I have a quick post today. I just wanted to share swatches of two more Julep colors that I borrowed from Haylee. I don't think I've ever seen a Julep color that I didn't like. The formula on both of these was great, too. They both were completely opaque in 2 coats.

First is Julep Taylor:

I used this one as the base for the flower manicure I did as a guest post for Fun Size Beauty. It's such a nice, bright blue--I love using colors like this on my toes.

Next is Meryl:

Meryl is a pretty standard grey creme polish, but I really love this polish because of its great formula.

What are your favorite Julep colors? Haylee went on a spending spree and bought a bunch of Julep polishes, so I'm looking forward to playing with those when I go visit her next week!

Paint it Blue: Swatch and Review: Sally Hansen Mermaid's Tale Nail Polish

April is Autism Awareness Month and to show my support I decided to paint my nails blue.

I have helped put on my college's version of the Special Olympics the past 3 years, and so this is something that is dear to my heart. The children who come, which include autistic kids, and their friends and families go through so much, and so I always loved the day of the Special Olympics when I watched how much the children enjoyed the activities we planned for them as well as heard from parents and families who told us how much our event means to them. There's still a lot that we don't know about Autism, and awareness about Autism is the first step to learning more about this disorder.

I thought this would be a perfect time to try out Sally Hansen's Mermaid's Tale. OH MY GOODENSS. IT'S SOOO PRETTY. I fell in love with it immediately!

Mermaid's Tale is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe. This polish has blue and green hexagonal glitter in a blue jelly base. Because of the base, it would take probably around 3 or 4 coats by itself, and so here, I did one coat of it over one coat of Julep Donna, which is a dark teal/blue-green that is similar to Nicole by OPI's Khloe had a Little Lam-lam. Mermaid's Tale was really easy to use: there's a LOT of glitter in it, and the brush made it easy to get a lot of glitter onto your nail. It only took me one swipe to get the amount of glitter and color I wanted; I didn't have to try and place the glitter like you have to for some polishes.

Because it has a jelly base, it did take a while to dry, so try using it before you watch a movie or do something where you won't be moving. I used it before my boyfriend and I went out since I knew we'd be stuck in traffic for an hour, which was plenty of time for it to dry. :)

I really hope you guys like this color, because I am IN LOVE with it!!! I haven't been this excited about a polish in a LONG time!!! I definitely recommend getting it!

Hope you guys are having a great week!

xoxo,

Polka Dotted Nail Art with Milani Hot Pink + Tutorial

Happy Easter everyone!!! I got a bottle of Milani Jewel FX in Hot Pink as a part of my Spring Break shopping haul, and I used it this week to do nail art. One of my roommates said they reminded her of Easter eggs, so I thought it would be appropriate to post it today:

Nail art using Wet n Wild Tickled Pink and Milani Hot Pink

This Milani polish took some patience to use. It was nice that there was a lot of glitter in the bottle, but when I applied it, it would come on my nails in clumps. I had to put a drop in the center of my nail and then spread it on the rest of my nail.

Picture of Milani Jewel FX in Hot Pink

I did 2 coats on my accent finger and then used a toothpick to pick a few pieces of glitter out of the bottle and cover the remaining bald spots. If you're interested in how I did the polka dotted nails, see the tutorial below:

1. Paint a base coat and a coat of the color of your choice (here, I used Wet n Wild Tickled Pink).
2. Wait for the base to COMPLETELY dry. Use a toothpick to pick one glitter piece off of the stem of the brush. It's easier to avoid getting pieces that have clumps of the clear base this way.
3. I started out by making a row on the bottom of my nail. Then, I put the next set of polka dots in the spaces between my first row.
4. After making my first two rows, I lined the dots in the third row up with the ones in the first row and the ones in the fourth row with the ones in the second row. I kept doing this until I finished the nail.

I actually really liked how this turned out and may try it with some of my other glitter polishes in the future. I hope the tutorial is helpful!! Let me know if you try this! :)

Swatches & Review: Maybelline Stylish Smokes Eyeshadow Quad in Natural Smokes

Hey everyone!
Sorry Haylee Ann and I haven't posted much recently!! Haylee Ann is in Vegas for Spring Break this week, and I have a ton of school work to finish up since this is my week before Spring Break. :(

Anyway, here's a picture of the quad:

Maybelline Stylish Smokes Eyeshadow Quad in Natural Smokes

I actually bought this palette for a friend's wedding when I was a bridesmaid. The wedding had a tight budget, so we bought one or two of these palettes and had everyone do their own makeup. That's part of what makes this palette great--it looks great on a variety of skin colors: we had 2 South Asian girls and 4 Caucasian girls, and it looked great on everyone!

The shadows are good for the price. I do have some trouble with the grey: It's easier to apply it using your fingers. If I use a brush, it isn't pigmented enough. Also, the grey has quite a bit of fallout. The brown and the liner go on great with a brush or fingers. I don't use the "base" color, since that's too light for darker skin tones. However, the palette still gives a nice, pretty neutral smokey eye.

I would definitely recommend this product! It's a great palette for someone who is interested in trying out eyeshadows and doesn't want to spend too much money. You just have to play with it a little in order to learn the best way to apply it and see what you like. For example, I hated it at first and thought it looked weird on my face. I had issues with the grey ending up a lot farther on the outer edge of my eyelids than I wanted it. After playing with the color and trying different bases, I finally figured out how to get the grey color to stay put. :)

Have a good week! If you're on Spring Break and travelling, have a safe week! If not.... I feel your pain, but we'll have our turn next week!! :P

Swatch & Review: Rose Gold Nails: Color Club Put A Pin In It

I wanted to do a quick review on a polish Haylee Ann got a while back: Color Club Put a Pin in It:

The color is very foil-y, and so it was tough to get a good picture of it!! I really like the color. It was a nice neutral color. Put a Pin in It dried pretty quickly. I did have some issues with the formula: the color was not opaque at all, and so I used 3 coats. I also had issues with my brush strokes showing up. Last, you can probably see the bubbling on my pinky. :(.

Also, I'm so excited we passed the 50 follower mark!! The 50 Follower Beauty Giveaway ends in 11 days, so make sure to enter!! The prize includes a Julep nail polish, Julep Nail Revitalizing Growth Serum, and Smashbox's Try It Kit. Don't miss out :)

xoxo,

Anna