April 30, 2011

Hey all, just a quick post today... my boyfriend's sister is getting married today, so I've been a bit busy with the rehearsal dinner last night and the fact that as of Thursday I still didn't have a dress to wear to the wedding!! Don't worry though, I found one!

Just wanted to let you know that SkinCarerx.com is having a great giveaway for Mother's Day! It's for a $250 gift card and they carry a lot of great skin care brands. You can enter the Beautiful Mom Giveaway here.

OK now the important question- my dress is like a raspberry color on top and a royal blue on the bottom.... what polish colors should I wear?????? I'm wearing fuschia and gold shoes by the way. I was thinking Zoya Areej for toes-



Areej is lighter than the top of my dress. Is that too matchy kind of though?? I need SUGGESTIONS!

April 27, 2011

Julep's Spring Colors Remind Me of Flowers!

Julep Spring Collection

Julep Spring Collection

Have you ever heard of Julep nail polish? I hadn't until recently, but I'm glad we've become acquainted! Julep is a boutique nail salon with it's own brand of polish. They have a wide selection of beautiful colors (all named after women they admire) and also sell nail treatments. Julep just redesigned their website, and I quite like the look of it. They have a cool color bar on their home page and if you click anywhere on the bar, it shows you all of the Julep polishes in that color range. So if you're searching for the perfect pink, you can find it instantly! So now... let's check out their spring polish collection!

Julep Gloria

Julep Gloria (least color accurate picture)

Gloria is the first Julep nail polish I tried. Gloria is a gorgeous melon creme that is a great mix of orange and pink tones. I really just think of cantaloupe when I see this color, and I love cantaloupe, so now I'm getting hungry. This color kept showing up very orange on camera, but it's more pink, like the color you see in the bottle. Speaking of the bottle, are these the coolest bottles ever?? I love them!!! This is three coats of Gloria.

Julep Gloria

Julep Gloria

Gloria applied so smoothly, even though my jet-lagged brain was not doing a very good job of polishing. I thought my middle nail was going to come out all streaky and horrible. Instead of doing my usual three stroke application, I ended up doing about 6 strokes, yuck! But Gloria levelled itself out and looked flawless. That's the kind of polish I need. The Julep brush is very long and not stiff, so it takes a little getting used to. But, like I said, this polish fixed itself after I applied it horribly, so I guess the brush works just fine!

Julep Amy

Next up is Amy, a smokey turquoise color. This definitely has that dusty quality to it. I think it is dustier and more blue than similar colors I have seen, so I don't believe I own a dupe for this. This color would be flattering on any skin color, it looked great on my pale skin and just imagine it on dark skin! I bet it would be gorgeous! I can see myself wearing this color a lot. I think I am going to do my next full mani with Amy. This is three coats, but I would wear two if I weren't photographing.

Julep Amy

Julep Amy

When I was applying Amy, I did a really bad job again. Like seriously... I thought I was going to have to take it off and redo it to take pictures. But magically, it dried to perfection. I kind of don't even know how that happened. So if you stink at applying polish, you should try Julep! They come out looking great even when you FAIL at applying LOL. I should really try to get more sleep so I can function. But at least my nails will look great sporting Amy!

Julep Natalie

Julep Natalie

Finally I tried Natalie. Oh wow, Natalie!!! In the bottle, I thought this was going to be a pale, carnation pink creme. On the nail, however, it is MUCH brighter than I expected. Julep calls it a "chic, retro honeysuckle pink". If you're looking for a honeysuckle (Pantone color of the year, btw) polish, try Natalie. It is just beautiful. I am now debating between Natalie and Amy for my next full mani. You could also almost wear this as a one coater! It is super packed with pigment and I'm sure Never Enough Nails Mom will wear this with just one coat.

Julep Natalie

Julep Natalie

I did a slightly better job applying Natalie, and it came out looking fabulous, like the other two. I managed to stick my finger in the middle nail while the second coat was still wet and it STILL levelled out and looked great. I am really impressed with this idiot-proof formula. Natalie is nicely opaque at just two coats.

Overall, I wasn't sure of what to expect from a brand I've never heard of, but I am SO impressed. I can't wait to try more products from Julep. I'm imagining a display of all the pretty bottle lined up, maybe organized by color. I would really like to have a large collection of these. I can't stress enough how badly I applied these and yet they look amazing! Whenever I decide between Natalie and Amy for my next full mani, I will report on the wear time for these, but I have a feeling it'll be good, based on the overall performance of these colors.

Want to hear the best part of this post?? I have your chance to WIN ALL THREE OF THESE AWESOME POLISHES, courtesy of Julep!!!!!!!! Go here to enter!!!

Julep nail polishes are available online at Julep.

These polishes were sent to me for review. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.

April 25, 2011

Buy It Now: Zoya Lola



As I'm sure you all know by now, Zoya is currently holding their annual Polish Exchange (if you don't know, go here and read about it). I thought I'd show you a HOT Zoya color today called Lola. I got this in the Three Free Zoya promotion, but didn't wear it until a few days ago because I was really still rocking winter colors.



As you can see, Lola is a really summer-y type neon pink. Personally, I wear neons on my toes almost all summer long. Nothing says summer quite like a blinding polish color on your toes. Lola is the perfect neon pink for any skin tone. It has a bit of blue-ish shimmer in it that makes it different from other neon pinks I own. I got so many compliments on this polish last week, it was crazy! I decided to wear this polish because it is a very close match to one of the colors in my dancing costume and the World Championships were last week in Ireland. If you noticed the blog was a bit slow, that's because I really did not have internet access!! I think my hotel had a business centre, but I was so busy dancing and watching the dancing, I just didn't have time.



Lola applied better than many other neon polishes I own. Neons tend to be lumpy or streaky, but Lola was nice and smooth. This is three coats and you can see a little VNL, but it's meant to look like that and I don't mind it at all. Lola was completely chip free on me for 4 days, which is basically the longest that polish ever last on me. It also had very little tip wear. These four days included the day of my competition at the Worlds AND traveling all the way home from Ireland. Both of these things are usally rough on nails, so I'd say Lola passed the wear test with flying colors.



If you haven't finished picking out your 6 colors for the Polish Exchange, I definitely recommend Lola. I'll be sporting it all summer.

Also, a few apologies:
1. Sorry if this post is not well written. I got home from Ireland last night and have quite a bit of jet lag. I will be better tomorrow, I'm sure.
2. The dry ragged cuticles are not pretty, I know. That would be the 7 hour flight and airport soap. That will also be better shortly.



Zoya Lola is available online at Zoya.

April 24, 2011

Favorite Hair Product Ever!



As you all know by now, I have a deep, undying love of nail polish, make-up, and beauty products in general. You would think that I would be into hair products too and that I would have some vague idea of how to make my hair look nice. Yea, no... I don't do anything to my hair. My hair is straight. Like completely straight, no matter what I do to it. I can use any shampoo or conditioner and it still looks the same. I can use volumizing products and hair spray, and it basically still looks the same. If I use a curling iron/curlers, it looks bouncy and curly for all of 10 minutes. So, basically, I don't bother to do much with my hair because it looks the same no matter what I do.



HOWEVER, last year I was a member of Beauty Fix, one of those programs where you pay monthly and they send you a box full of beauty products. Some products were full size and others were large sample size. One of the full-size products I received was Jonathan Product IB Revitalizer Overnight Oil Treatment Spray. It took me quite awhile to even get around to trying this product. I thought hair oil was seriously unnecessary. When I finally did get around to trying this, I was SO impressed!!! I couldn't believe how shiny and soft my hair looked after using this.



I do not use this oil overnight, for fear of serious breakouts on my face in the morning. I coat my hair in this oil about an hour or so before I'm going to shower. The spray application makes it easy to coat all of your hair pretty quickly. I put my hair up in a bun when it is all coated and wait at least an hour. Then, I shampoo and condition as usual. My hair comes out looking super shiny and my ends look like they've actually had a haircut recently! I am like a hair salon's worst customer, I NEVER get haircuts as often as I should. But this hair oil makes my hair look like I kind of care about my hair. It even makes my hair color look better, but that might be because of the increased shine.

Now I know this is a nail blog, but I do like to post other products when I think they are outstanding. This hair oil is outstanding. I will never be without it again. It definitely receives a 10/10!

Jonathan Product IB Revitalizer Overnight Oil Treatment Spray is available online at Ulta.

April 22, 2011

Polish of the Week: OPI San Tan-tonio from the Texas Collection!

OPI San Tan-tonio

Mmmmmmmmmm, doesn't this look like coffee with a fair amount of cream? Yummm! The Polish of the Week is OPI San Tan-tonio from the Texas collection. This is the only polish I have from Texas right now, but I'll probably get Houston, We Have a Purple too. As a whole, the collection didn't grab me. San Tan-tonio has been calling to me ever since I saw the promo pics though!

OPI San Tan-tonio

San Tan-tonio is a very smooth tan color, I think it's like a coffee with lots of cream color. This is three coats, but I think two would suffice for daily wear. I kind of messed up applying this on one nail and thought it would be all lumpy, but it levelled itself out! Gotta love OPI!

OPI San Tan-tonio

This isn't the kind of remarkable polish I usually gush about and propose marriage to, but I think it's a great polish staple to have in your wardrobe. San Tan-tonio gets an 9/10 from me!

OPI San Tan-tonio

April 19, 2011

Zoya Sunshines Part Two, Meet My Newest Love

A couple of days ago on Twitter, @KimberlyisHere from Libby's Pink Vanity and I briefly discussed how we like to say we would "marry" a polish. Now, you know I recently said that about Zoya Dannii and then Zoya Kieko, but now I think I've changed my mind again. I have a new love... read on to find out the identity of my betrothed.

Zoya Rica

Zoya Rica

First up in this half of the Zoya Sunshine collection is Zoya Rica. What a gorgeous polish this is. It is definitely what I think of when I hear the word "coral", a mix of pink, orange, and red tones, with tons of gold sparkle. Zoya described it as a "Warm light coral with pink and orange tones and heavy gold metallic sparkle. An alternative to flat corals for when you want to shine." That last part is really an interesting point. I feel that most of the corals I own are cremes! I can't think of a single coral shimmer/sparkle polish (off the top of my head)! Coral is a huge color this summer, as I think it is every summer, and Rica is the perfect way to try out the trend.

Zoya Rica

Zoya Rica

This is three coats of Rica and I thought it covered quite nicely. You can see some VNL in direct sunlight, but it is not visible anywhere else. Nice, typical Zoya application. I really loved this color in person, and while my photos are pretty color accurate, they don't capture all of the fiery-ness of the gold sparkle.

Zoya Faye

Ummm hai... willz you marryz me?

Zoya Faye

Yes, folks, another Zoya purple has captured my heart. I'm proud to introduce you to Zoya Faye, my new wife. Zoya describes Faye as "A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with gold sparkle." This is an accurate description, but they left out words like AMAZING, LOVE, LOOKS LIKE HEAVEN, you know, little things like that. This is unlike any other purple polish I've ever seen. The gold sparkle is so strong it's almost like a duochrome effect.

Zoya Faye

Zoya Faye

This is three coats of Faye, but seriously, I would do any number of coats to get this color. But luckily, it only took three. Great application, fabulous color. I will wear this year round, no question about that. Faye has made me forget about Dannii and Kieko and has me contemplating buying a back-up. Seriously.

Zoya Faye


Zoya Kimmy

Zoya Kimmy

Finally we have Zoya Kimmy. Kimmy is the second most pigmented polish in the Sunshine collection (following Reva). This is only two coats! Zoya described Kimmy as "Gleaming metallic candy apple red brightened by gold sparkle." I think Kimmy has a good hint of orange in it though. Especially when you compare it with Reva, you can really see the orange in Kimmy. I love this color, the gold sparkle really makes it different than other shimmering reds that I already own.

Zoya Kimmy

Zoya Kimmy

Same nice smooth application in this one and like I said, nicely pigmented at two coats.

Overall, I REALLY like these three polishes. Faye is like a 45/10, and Kimmy and Rica are both 10/10. Combine that with the 8.5 I gave the first three Sunshines, and you have a nice 9.25/10 for the Zoya Sunshine collection. If you only get one of these, get Faye. I think you should just get them all though! The gold sparkle in these is SERIOUS and it sets these polishes apart from any others I own. I can't think of a single dupe. Other polishes might come close color-wise, but they lack they "crammed full of gold" effect that the Sunshine collection has.

The Zoya Sunshine collection is available online at Zoya.

These polishes were sent to me by a PR agent for Art of Beauty. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.

April 17, 2011

Zoya Sunshine Collection Lights Up My Life (Part One)

Zoya Reva

I FINALLY have the Zoya Sunshines for you! Connecticut weather has been so overcast, I just didn't think I could photograph a collection called "Sunshine" when it was raining and cloudy. Today I have Reva, Apple, and Tanzy for you and these babies are shining like the sun!

Zoya Reva

Zoya Reva (full sun)

Zoya Reva was the first Sunshine I tried and definitely a surprise. I had read that the Sunshines were not all that pigmented, so when I applied the first coat of Reva, I was shocked at how well it covered my nail. Usually, Zoya's metallic sparkles really require three coats to be opaque. This is only two!!! Zoya described Reva as "A cool toned strawberry red with glowing golden metallic sparkle." This is a good description, except that I think strawberry might not be the right fruit. It's something darker and richer, maybe almost like pomegranate! As you can see, the picture in full sunlight makes the shimmer look see-through, but it never looks this way to your naked eye. It looks like the other pictures, thank goodness!

Zoya Reva

Application was smooth and easy, and nicely opaque in two coats. I can see myself rocking Reva on toes a lot, and not just in the summer. This is a great red for any time of the year.

Zoya Apple

Zoya Apple(full sun)

Next up is Zoya Apple. Apple was a bit less pigmented than Reva, this is three coats and in pictures you can see some VNL (especially in the full sun!). I couldn't see the VNL in real life, however, so that's a good thing. I think Apple is one of the coolest greens I own. Zoya described it as a "Luminous yellow-toned apple green packed with gold metallic sparkle." They weren't joking, Apple is absolutely PACKED with gold sparkle. I think that's what makes it so different and amazing. I don't own anything like this in my extensive green collection.

Zoya Apple

Zoya Apple

Apple applied smoothly, but needed three coats. Some of you ladies with longer nails may even need four coats. I do wish it was as pigmented as Reva, but it is such a cool and unique color. I bet it would also look amazing layered over another polish.

Zoya Tanzy

Zoya Tanzy

Last in this grouping is Zoya Tanzy. Tanzy is another unique color that I can not think of a dupe/anything really similar. Zoya called it a "Light, bright tangerine orange with yellow gold metallic sparkle" and again, I think it's that gold sparkle that makes this one unique. I think this is such a pretty color, and it definitely has some peach-y tones to it. Orange is very trendy this year, but if you're afraid it won't be flattering, try Tanzy. I think Tanzy would flatter almost any skin tone due to the peachiness.

Zoya Tanzy

Zoya Tanzy

As you can see, Tanzy is more opaque than Apple, but this is still three coats. I never mind doing a third coat for such a pretty color though! Application was nice and smooth as well. I was going to wear Zoya Gemma again for my next full mani, but I'm contemplating Tanzy instead!

Overall, I am going to rate these three an 8.5/10. Reva is a 10/10 for lovely pigmentation, Tanzy rates a 9/10, but Apple was a bit lacking in the pigment department so I gave that a 7. That really averages out to an 8.67, but I thought we'd just call it an 8.5. Even though I only gave Apple a 7, I really really love the color. It's just up to you whether you can deal with a touch of VNL. Any comparision requests for these? I'm going to get to all the comparisons after Easter, I promise.

The Zoya Sunshine collection is available online at Zoya.

These polishes were sent to me by a PR agent for Art of Beauty. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.