Inspiration: Barred Buds: How to Polish It on page 44 of the March/April 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Color Club Mod in Manhattan, Art Club Nail Art Duo Black, Julep Shannon and Tina, Formula X for Sephora We Are in Luck Here from the Ariel Whatca-Nail-Call-It set, Zoya Blu, China Glaze What a Pansy
Thoughts: This mani uses some of my favorite spring colors - mint, orchid, and periwinkle. What a Pansy is by far by favorite new color, but I did the rest of my fingers in Shannon because I had never tried Julep's new Silk Finish, and I have to say, I really like it for a matte - really looks like silk. The accent fingers were fun to do, but I had manis I liked better this past month.
I have never tried Fancy (clicking will take you through my referral link)before, but when I saw they had a mystery box, I knew it was time. Since Fancy sends all different kinds of products, I was not expecting any nail polish, but I got some! This China Glaze Platinum Silver is an excellent metallic and perfect for me.
What other goodies did I get? LA EX card holder, Fancy notebooks, Vinyl Impressions + Fancy "Work Hard Stay Humble" removable wall sticker.
Inspiration: Runway Nail Art How To: Go Bloom! on page 36 of the March/April 2014 issue of Nail It!
Products: Ruffian Ruffian Cire Noir and Delirium, Art Club Nail Art Duo White, Essie Jamaica Me Crazy, Finger Paints Art Nouv-Yellow and Art Hue Serious?
Thoughts: This ended up being a little easier than it looks, but I did end up not putting the final black outlines and dots on because I simply had no room. In the picture, Delirium looks blue, but it is really the most awesome royal purple. And I'm not sure why my non-accent nails turned out so bubbly. My mom was watching me paint it, and it wasn't until the end that she understood it was a flower, not a starfish, but now I'll have to try a starfish over the summer.
Inspiration: ColorProducts: Finger Paints Art Nouv-Yellow, Nubar KristalThoughts: It's spring and I was sunshine, so I put some on my toes. It is hard to see in the picture, but Kristal adds nice sparkle like rays of light.
Inspiration: Color
Products: Julep Sienna and Adele, foil in Gold
Thoughts: I got two great golds in the add-ons to my Lucky Mystery Box, so I decided to try them together with some gold foil in between. I had no clue how painting a glitter coat over the foil would work, but it did! The foil was actually super shiny, but the coat of Adele definitely tones it down to something classier. I then used my regular top coat (Formula X) and have not seen some of the problems I had last time when I used it instead of Sealer over foil.
Every month or so, Julep (clicking will take you through my referral link) will offer a mystery box. Usually they will release one item that will be in it; leaving the rest a total surprise. For St. Patricks's Day, they had four available Lucky Mystery Boxes - three each with a new color and one that was totally random. As much as I love a complete surprise, I was in need of a mint polish, so I chose the box with Shannon in it, which is a mint with a silk finish. The other polish colors I received (from bottom to top) were Tatiana, a golden burnt orange microglitter, Kennedy, a khaki creme (which I also received last month in the Mystery Pack Add-On with my Cupid Mystery Box), Blakely, a purple and green molten, Sabrina, a zesty orange shimmer crackle, and Fiore, an espresso brown creme.
Julep always offers add-ons when you check out, and this time they had not one but two mystery packs, so of course I got both. The Lucky Mystery Pack had three colors: Sienna, a sophisticated shimmery gold, Grace, a classic "go-to" light pink sheer, and Rose, a juicy watermelon red creme. The Major Mystery Pack had a Freedom Polymer Top Coat and four colors: Alaina, a driftwood taupe creme, Nicolette, an opaque French white (I got this as a gwp around Christmas and it is by far my favorite white), Ingrid, a brunt orange creme, and Adele, a golden reflective top coat.
What other goodies did I get? Gycolic Hand Scrub and Forget-Me-Not Seeds (3 packets).
Inspiration: Color
Products: Nails Inc. Bling It On in Emerald and Kensington Caviar Gel Effect Plumping Top Coat
Thoughts: What is really awesome out this glitter kit is that the tray your pour the glitter in has this nice little channel for pouring it back in the bottle. It also comes with a brush for getting the glitter off of your fingers (which, as you can see, I'm not the greatest at). I thought since I was already using a Nail Inc. product, I might as well try their top coat. This is supposed to "plump" your nails and make your regular polish look like gel polish. I'm not sure I really see any difference (top pic is without).
Inspiration: Gold Rush - Worth Its Weight on page 101 of the March/April 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Sephora by OPI Self-Maid Millionaire from the Cinderella The Perfect Shoe Can Change Your Life collection, China Glaze Lighthouse, gold striping tape, gold teardrops, gold stars
Thoughts: Why is this "Not Reall Worth Its Weight"? Because it turns out I suck at using striping tape. The Nail It! design is really awesome, but I had to motify because my striping tape was just not cooperating. And what you are seeing in the pictures is my right hand - my left hand turned out even worse. Let's just call this one a learning experience.
Inspiration: Julep Cupid Mystery BoxProducts: Julep Karen, Aphrodite, and ClaudetteThoughts:This was my first try at a real gradient and I love how it turned out! I knew these colors would look good together, but I never expected the look of a sunset. I still have not figured out how to clean my skin, though; Q-Tip and nail polish remover did not do much at all - guess I'll just have to wait until it wears off. Of this trio, Aphrodite was my favorite and I have it on my toes now, too.
Inspiration: Wedding Belles - Building Blocks on page 111 of the March/April 2014 issue of Nail It!Products: Julep Nicolette and Kennedy, Color Club Put a Pin In It, Zoya Dot, Finger Paints Wild for Art
Thoughts: So this is supposed to be a wedding mani, but I changed it up by using some not-quite pastels. I also only did an accent finger and then painted each remaining finger one of the four colors. The striping brush in the Finger Paints was fine but the formula was rather runny, so I didn't get as nice a line as I had hoped.
Inspiration: February 2014 Birchbox (clicking will take you through my referral link)Products: Ruby Wing Kitten Heels, OPI Sheer Tint Don't Violet Me DownThoughts: Due to a broken sample, I received two Birchboxes this month, and as each contained a nail color, I decided to combine them. I love how the sheet violet of Don't Violet Me Down toned down the super bright indoor hot pink of Kitten Heels. Outside, I was surprised that the color still changed (not sure if it would under a colored topcoat), but it turned into this wonderful reddish-pink.
