Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos

 

Funky Fingers Sand and Stilettos

Sand and Stilettos consists of small, holographic silver glitter. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING in any kind of light. Below is a video so you can witness how awesome it is. My friend describes it as "like crushed diamonds". Anyway... Sand and Stilettos is dense; it's definitely not for layering. It's made to be worn on its own (and who wouldn't wear this little gem like such?). I don't know how the original formula was because I bought it from a blog sale, but it seemed like it was drying out. As a result, the polish was a little thick, but surprisingly still easy to apply. The next time I wear it, I'll put in some thinner. It dried quickly and gritty. I ended up using 3 coats of topcoat, which made it a bit lumpy to the  touch. I didn't have much clean up because I used a glue basecoat, which I will be posting about soon. Sand and Stilettos reminds me of China Glaze Glistening Snow (based on swatches online), but much chunkier and possibly more holographic.

I did some googling and, sadly, I believe the only place you can purchase Funky Fingers is at a chain discount store called "Five Below". No idea where any of the chain stores are located, but they are definitely not in the area that I live! But don't give up hope because you might be able to find it on ebay or stumble across it on a blog sale like I did! :D

I hope my glittery offering made your Monday a little better! See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Julep Gold Box

My family came up for a few days for Thanksgiving. We went to our relatives' house for a couple days and had a great break and feast. My brother and I got our very first food comas. (NOT fun!) Before we went to our relatives' house, my mom gave me an oddly-colored Julep box that was accidentally sent home, instead of the dorms. When I came back today, I got a better look at it... Turns out I won the Julep Gold Box!

Included were the 5 matte suede polishes (Minka, Amber, Hailee, Nora, and Brit), Trina, a matte topcoat, and the body scrub kit. I guess it was fate that I now have all the matte suedes (I didn't want any so I got the Maven's Choice box - Trina, a matte topcoat, and the body scrub kit - instead) and my roommate gets Trina (which she lusted over). Now onto the swatches of the matte suedes!

The following swatches have the polish without topcoat on the left and with topcoat on the right. Also, so sorry about the lighting. My camera decided to make some of the pictures show up yellow. Argh!

Minka, a reddish copper

Amber, a tarnished, antique gold

Hailee, a khaki green

Nora, a dusty eggplant

Brit, gunmetal

I liked all these matte suede polishes more than I thought I would! All polishes took 2 coats to become opaque. With the exception of Amber, the formula on all of them were very consistent. They had good formula, flowed easily, and dried quickly. You could immediately see the finish within a few seconds of applying the polishes. Amber, on the other hand, was a bit clumpy and I had to dab it a little onto a couple of my nails. You can see the clumping on my pinky best. As depicted, topcoat makes these polishes less silvery, shimmery, and pretty. I like all these shades, except for Minka. I'm just not fond of the color copper.

How was your Thanksgiving? (Or break, if you don't celebrate it.) What do you think of matte suedes?

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Essie Absolutely Shore

Essie Absolutely Shore

Absolutely Shore is a very pale seafoam green creme. It is actually a smidge greener in real life, but the white base washes it out in pictures. It took 3 coats to become opaque, which I expected because it's such a light (but very pretty!) color. The formula was good and easy to apply; I had no problem with it whatsoever. I loved how shiny it was when it dried, but the dry time was pretty average. I haven't used an Essie in a while and Absolutely Shore reminded me about how much I like their thin brushes. It makes painting my small nails so much easier and creates less of a mess! I'm so glad I decided to finally get Absolutely Shore as it was on and off my list ever since it was released. I was not disappointed!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

P.S. I hope the trademark's new placement doesn't bother you too much. I just don't want my pictures to be taken without any credit. This new placement makes it harder to crop out the blog name. (At least I hope so...)

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

Concrete Catwalk is a dark grey creme and is a great alternative to black. I used 2 coats, but it's so opaque that I almost didn't need a second coat! The formula was great and a "good" thick, just the right balance of opacity and viscosity. It flowed smoothly, almost as if it was applying itself, and dried in a reasonable amount of time. When dried, it was very shiny and darker than the bottle color. I had this on for a week and only had very little wear and minor chips. I can already tell I'll be wearing Concrete Catwalk a lot!

P.S. Sorry about the horrendous cuticles. :( I've been babying them with cuticle balm and oil, but the weather just keeps getting colder and colder!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Julep Maven September 2012 - Classic With a Twist

Look who's back! :D I'm so happy to have the time to swatch and paint my nails again! And I know, I know.  These are really late swatches, huh? I'm trying to catch up on everything so there'll be lots of collection swatches! But unfortunately, the weather has been getting colder and gloomier. There wasn't much sun when I did these swatches so I used my dental lamp and the ceiling light instead. (Also why the lighting is inconsistent... Sorry! :( )

Julep Sophie

Sophie is a cool taupe creme and is opaque in 2 coats. Depending on the lighting, it either looks dark or light (both are pictured). Though it had a good and dense formula, was easy to control, and dried with a nice shine, it did not level well. Even a top coat (I used Seche Vite) could not help it hide its imperfections. :( It's a nice color though! I'll probably wear it often regardless. I  love taupes and can never get enough of them! 

Julep Brandt

Brandt is a blue-toned black creme so it isn't actually "black". The blue-tone, which really surprised me, makes it less harsh and much easier to wear. And get this, it only took 1 coat to become opaque! I even had my roommate check to see if there were any bald spots! Anyway, the formula is thinner than the usual Julep polish, but opacity is definitely not a problem. It dried really shiny and was easy to apply. This is my surprise favorite of the bunch. I can see myself reaching for it often.

Julep Alma

Alma is a mustard creme that is opaque in 3 coats and is one of those "ugly pretty" colors I like. I had a lot of trouble trying to capture the color correctly. The best I could do was this picture and I'm really sorry that the lighting is so poor, but it was the only way to get it color-accurate. Anyway, Alma was quite disappointing. The first coat was streaky and the formula was again thinner than the average Julep polish. Its shininess and controllability are its saving graces. 

Julep Eileen

Eileen is your basic white creme and is opaque in 3 coats. Once again, the formula is thinner than the average Julep polish. I'm starting to think that either this is the new direction of Julep polishes or I just got lots of duds... Though it does have a nice shine when it dries, it doesn't level well. I think you can find a better white polish for much cheaper. I'm not sold at all. A bit off topic, but I do like how plain white nails look! I think it looks very clean and fresh, kind of pure.

Overall, I'm definitely not impressed with most of the polishes I got. The Classic With a Twist box, which I am satisfied with, came with Brandt (which I am really fond of) and Sophie (which I will pull out often regardless of the formula since I love taupes so much). I regret adding on Alma and Eileen though. I think they were a waste. :/ Sorry Julep, but no me gusta!

It's getting late and I should get back to studying again... (More midterms - and also finals - are coming soon! Ugh! At least this week is a break!) See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Princess Fuchsia

A few weekends ago, my friends and I held somewhat of a surprise party for one of our friends. We had a delicious, pretty chocolate cake that we destroyed with our poor knife-wielding/cutting skills and a nail art party while watching White Chicks (which never gets old!). I cheated with this mani because I had my friend (and, "unfortunately", roommate) do it for me. I wanted to see what she would come up with... And I loved it! It's too bad I couldn't stand the length of my nails any longer and chopped them!

My friend used:

2 coats of Love & Beauty Fuchsia (base)

1 coat of Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor (glitter topcoat)

Color Club It's a Hit! (glitter accents)

Sorry for the tip wear! The top coat I brought along for the nail art party wasn't meant to protect manis. (Lesson learned! Definitely need to bring the good stuff next time!)

What do you think? I thought the mani made me feel very pretty. :P

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle