Converse Nails

For today’s guest nails I have this cute Converse inspired design.  We used a different color for each nail and 2-3 coats of nail polish each.  From left to right the colors used are:

Sinful Colors Purple Diamond

Pure Ice Splash

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella!

Pure Ice Strapless

Essence Nail Art Twins Bella

Rimmel Green with Envy

Sinful Colors Savage

Sinful Colors Mint Apple

and Avon Matte Violetta.  

We added a white french tip to look like the toe part of the shoe.  When that was dry we added curved black lines using N.Y.C. Black Lace Crème and a dotting tool.  I tried using a striping brush, but for some reason my brushes were frayed.  The dotting tool worked great.  We also used it to make the holes the laces go through and the white laces.   

I love the way these nails came out.  The colors looked great together.  This was an easy and fun look to create. 

Orangesicle Toes

For this pedi I started with a base coat (L.A. Colors base coat-top coat) then used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Sun Kissed.  I used two coats to help the look last longer, however this polish was thick and opaque at one coat.  For the flower petals I used a dotting tool with Love My Nails Nail Polish in White.  After creating the petals, I dotted the Sally Hansen Sun Kissed in the center of the flower.  I completed this look with a top coat (L.A. Colors base coat-top coat) to add shine and help prolong the design. 

I really love this color combination.  It reminds me of an Orangesicle Popsicle.  I think this is a fun pedi to wear during the warm summer months. 

Julep It Girl Intro Box Review with Bonus Giveaway

I recently received a Julep Intro Box to review.  Julep is a company that offers a monthly nail polish subscription service for a fee.  You can take a style quiz to see which box (American Beauty, Boho Glam, Bombshell, Classic with a Twist, and It Girl) matches your personality.  You can opt out of any month, switch boxes, and/or send your box to someone else as a gift.  These boxes are packaged so cute they would make a nice pre-wrapped gift.  My style was Bombshell; however I chose to receive the It Girl Intro Box.  This box came with three nail polish colors and a set of toe separators.

The first polish I used was Daisy.  Daisy is a yellow cream polish.  I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat, and then applied two coats of Daisy.  This is a nice bright polish that went on smoothly.  As I was painting my nails I could see little bubbles, and sure enough I ended up with little air bubbles on my nails.  This polish took a long time to dry.  When Daisy did dry, I added N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  The second coat of Daisy along with the top coat of Grand Central Station really helped reduce the appearance of the air bubbles. 

The second polish I tried was Lily.  Lily is a fuchsia cream polish.  Again I used L.A. Colors base coat-top coat to start.  I followed with two coats of Lily and a top coat of N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  As I started applying Lily, I could not believe how pretty the color was!  It reminds me of a glossy version of Dream On.  I did not have as many bubbles with Lily as I did with Daisy, and Lily dried a lot faster. 

My favorite of the three colors in the bottle was Sasha.  Sasha is a melon cream polish.  I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat followed by two coats of Sasha and a top coat of N.Y.C.’s Grand Central Station.  There was minimal bubbling with Sasha that was not visible after applying a top coat.  Drying time for Sasha was average and about what I except from most nail polishes.

The one thing I did not care for with these polishes was the bubbling.  I did not handle or use these polishes any different than I do any other nail polishes as far as shaking the bottles, painting my nails, or drying my nails go.  These polishes were packaged very well and individually wrapped in plastic coverings, so I do not think any kind of polish thinner was added to them (which I hear can cause bubbling).  I do not know why these polishes bubbled up on me.  Again, a second coat of nail polish and a top coat helped reduce and/or eliminate these bubbles.

UPDATE: I was informed by Natasha from Julep that it is recommended to roll the Julep bottles to mix them instead of shaking them like you would other nail polishes.  This is because of the unique shape of Julep nail polishes.  Rolling the bottles helps with the bubbling.
  

Overall I really like these three colors.  They applied easily.  I think they are great for the warm weather.  I stamped over Lily using Pure Ice Outrageous and Mash-28 image plate.  I really like these two colors together.  I think all of the colors in the It Girl Intro Box go well together.  I added dots of Lily and slightly smaller dots of Daisy over Sasha to create a cute and easy doticure.   

You can sign up for Julep though my referral link.  If you enter promo code “MAVENINTRO” you will get your first Maven box for just a penny!  At that price, this is definitely a polish to try!  You can win a free Julep Intro box here.  Simply fill out the Rafflecopter fields below.  The giveaway will run until July 27th.  If anyone signs up, or you are the lucky winner here, let me what you think of Julep and send me a link if you do a review.  Good luck everyone! 

(Julep products sent for review)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jersey Nails

This look was inspired by football—specifically the Miami Dolphins.  I have wanted to do something with their colors for a while now.  I mean who can resist aqua and orange?  So for this look I started with L.A. Colors base coat-top coat followed by two coats of L.A. Colors Color Craze in Atomic (BCC 564).   

I used masking tape and two coats of Sun Kissed from Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear on my middle finger to create a stripe down the middle.  After letting the orange polish dry, I peeled off the tape.  The tape did not come off as cleanly as I would have liked.  I think this was due to the thickness of the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polish.  I ended up going over the stripe again with the orange polish brush and no tape.  I then added L.A. Colors base coat-top coat and Love My Nails Nail Dryer.  The nail dryer really helped to smooth out the stripe and of course helped the polish dry faster with no smudges.  

Halloween Spider Webs

Halloween is just around the corner.  This is such a fun time of year.  It almost seems to kick off the holiday season.  To celebrate I created a Halloween spider web manicure.  Here is my inspiration.  I started with a base coat (L.A. Colors base coat-top coat).  I then sponged the tips of my nails with Pure Ice Hot Tamale.  

When the orange polish was dry, I painted over it with L.A. Colors Sassy Sparkle.  Sassy Sparkle added nice green, yellow, and blue glitter to the orange Hot Tamale.   

When this was completely dry, I used a dotting tool and N.Y.C. Black Lace Cream to create the spider webs on my thumb and ring fingers.