Pointless Cafe's Winter Giveaway!

The Pointless Cafe is having a polish giveaway!

http://pointlesscafe.blogspot.com/2012/01/pointless-cafes-winter-giveaway.html

I am a Julep Maven

Today I received in the mail my maven box from Julep. I got my very first box from them for only $5 with a promotion that they are/were having, and the box only took 2 days to get to my mail box all the way from Washington. Inside the box was 3 colored polishes, a top coat, and 2 sample packets. One packet was a glycolic hand scrub, and the other packet is a SPF30 hand cream. I wasn't a huge fan of the hand cream. It smells just like sun screen and has a greasy after feel. The polishes as shown from left to right in the photo are the top coat, Megan, Leah, and Hayden. Megan is a shimmery blue color. Leah is a grassy green with the very smallest hint of shimmer, and Hayden is a creamy peach color.

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I started with Hayden, it was the brightest in the bunch, and drew my eye first. The formula was a little on the thick side, but applied rather well. I did mess up and pressed too hard while applying my second coat, leaving some thin spots. That was entirely user error. If I had been more careful, 2 coats would have been fine. I did have a little problem with bubbles that not even a coat of Seche Vite could smooth out. I'm not sure if it was just the thick formula, or bubbles left over from transit. Hayden did not disappoint me when it was dried. It was just as bright and creamy as it appeared in the bottle. Here are the swatches. Please forgive my sloppy application. I always have problems with heavily pigmented creams.

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Next up is Leah. I absolutely adored this color from the second I saw it. It was such a grassy green, it immediately made me smile. It also looked creamy like Hayden but when I started to apply it, there just just the tiniest hint of shimmer hidden in this polish. It was very subtle, I could have easily missed it. This polish was also a little on the thicker side, but it wet on smoothly and easily. Here are swatches for your enjoyment. 2 coats with Seche on top.

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Lastly we have Megan. I knew Megan would be a color for me right from the start. It is a lovely shimmering blue. This formula was not as thick as the other two, but went on smoothly, and still only needed two coats. Sadly, it was prone to strokes from the brush. On this polish I also tried the quick dry top coat that came with it, but was not impressed. I was spoiled by the speed of my Sech and put that on instead. On to the swatches.

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Flash at another angle to show the shimmer.

All in all, I am pleased with this box. I unfortunately have to skip next month's box because of the way their billing cycle falls, but I will continue to use this service. I suggest you give it a try as well. The service is $19.99 a month. Also, if you sign up with the link I posted above, you will be helping me earn a free box. =) Thanks for looking!

Blushing Noir is giving away a $100 gift card for Too Faced Cosmetics. Check it out!

Nail mail!

My nail mail all arrived yesterday, as well as my nail polish making supplies. I've already made my first polish. A pearly white with undertones of blue and green. It shows off best over a darker color, so I'll be needing to pick up a good black polish before I photograph it for you. But until then, we have the entire Zoya Gems and Jewels collection as well as a few China Glaze, and the flakie goodness of Shine of the Times by Essie, and ORLY Fowl Play.

TransDesign

There is a special going on over at TransDesign this month. Their Essie products are 50% off. Now, this special price is listed on the treatments page for Essie but not on the Essie polish page. However, this sale does apply to the polishes. It does not ring up automatically though, but the 50% will be refunded if you pay via paypal and don't want to wait for them to request a payment.

Haul

I have a massive amount of nail mail coming in the next week or so. I have Zoya, Essie, Orly, China Glaze, Revlon, and Wet n Wild coming to me. Expect lots of goodies. :D

Welcome!

I just wanted to welcome anyone who decided to join me from my old tumblr location. I didn't like what many people associated with tumblr, and I didn't want that kind of stigma on this blog. After all, everything here is PG13, and all about awesome nail polish. I have nail mail on the way, and will have some fantastic swatches soon.

So you don't feel like I've left you empty handed, here is a photo of today's manicure. For this I've used colors all by Santee Plus. From thumb to pinky we have Flower Pink, Neon Orange, Beach Yellow, Vikini Green, and Beach Blue.

I'm sorry again for the terrible photo quality, but my camera wasn't charged. Also, I had a cat on me, and my cell phone was handy. I love the Santee Plus creme polishes as they always go on so smooth, and most of the colors have very good pigmentation. I almost always have full coverage in 2 coats. The yellow and the orange could have used a third coat.