Sunday, July 7, 2013

Julep July Maven Box

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great Independence Day!  It has been raining here in North Florida constantly, but luckily it cleared up enough in the evening for the fireworks to go off.  We had a great waterside view of ours!

This month, I think Julep outdid themselves.  When I saw the preview for the July box I knew I had to have ALL of it!  I've never upgraded before, but am super glad I did.  The collection is called the California Coast collection.  All the colors make you think of a warm summer day chilling on the beach rolling into a cool evening relaxing with friends around a bonfire.  Of course here in Florida, you cant do bonfires on the beach, but boy I wish we could!  The collection also came with two products, which I will honestly say I am glad were not makeup.  The two products were a Sea Salt Texture Spray and Beach Tonic Dry Body Oil.

When my box arrived in the mail I was so excited to see the long heavy box, I knew there were goodies inside!  Upon opening the box I came up a pack of Facial Oil Blotting papers which I have not used yet, but am excited to use since I usually get excess oil throughout the day.  As I pulled out one polish after another I got more and more excited!  I have to say I am so in love with each polish!  There is honestly not one single polish I don't like!  They are all so beautiful!  I really wanted to paint my nails using all of the polishes, but couldn't figure out what to do.  I then decided I would do/try a half moon mani with them, having the warm colors on one hand and the cool ones on the other.  I quickly realized that that wasn't going to fly when I got to the second color.  So, I decided to do a bit of a skittle mani.  I cannot express how impressed I am with this collection, every color went on flawlessly they were practically one coaters.  I fell in love every time I brushed on a new color!  It sounds cheesy I know, but its the truth!!!  Now on to the products.  I think this is the first time I am going to state my opinion about something other than nail polish on here!  I used the sea salt spray a couple days ago and thought it was great.  I used it on damp hair, I spritzed it a few times, then ran a comb through my hair for even distribution and scrunched it a bit with my hands.  I have VERY, I am not kidding, VERY thick wavy hair that likes to frizz easily.  So, after I am done scrunching I try my best not to touch my hair for the rest of the day which is hard for me since I always am worried about how it looks!  The wave held up throughout the day and the frizz stayed at bay.  I am eager to use the product again.  As for the body oil, I just followed the instructions and enjoyed!  It smelled good and made my skin soft!  I was beyond impressed with this months Julep box and I hope they keep it coming!

















Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone!  Here in beautiful Florida, it is not so sunny...its quite rainy.  But!  Thats fine by me, I enjoyed waking up to the sound of rain and now have a mini lake outside my apartment.  Im crossing my fingers that it will clear up later, but if it doesn't I suppose I can curl up and watch the fireworks on TV.  For now though, lets check out what I've got going on for my 4th mani!  I've actually already worn another patriotic mani courtesy of Glitter Daze, but haven't shared it yet.  I also still have to put on my JINDIE-Pendence by Jindie Nails which I think I will do after writing this post!  I see I got side tracked again, so back to what I have to share now.  Currently I am wearing my Julep America and China Glaze Frostbite.  I know what your thinking; "Its summer and your wearing a polish called Frostbite?"  LOL  yes, I am.  It was the perfect blue to go with Julep America!  Its probably one of my favorite blues now that I've worn it.  I will say that both nail polish companies have greatly improved their formula/brushes since these two polishes.  I had minor issues with both polishes, each one had teeny tiny brushes that were difficult to work with.  For the China Glaze I had to use 3 coats to finally achieve its full glory, and the small brush was difficult to work with.  Now the Julep I bought last year during the fourth, was just getting into indie nail polish and never got around to wearing it.  So, it sat for a year before being touched.  I noticed it did get a bit goopy over the course of the year, but I suppose that is kind of expected with such a glitter packed nail polish.  I also noticed my brush had a few stray pieces flaring out.  Luckily both these brands have improved their quality of product since then!  I am not saying either of these polishes were horrible, but that they put up a bit of fight.  The fight was well worth it though, I love each polish and cant wait to use each one again!  Have fun celebrating tonight where ever you are!