SquareHue May 2015 Swatches, Comparisons, and Nail Art

Hi everyone! Today I’ve got the SquareHue May 2015 box to show off on the blog! This next installment in the Decades Collection is supposed to represent the 1940s, and I think this box does a really good job of it – the color scheme is strongly reminiscent of a World War II propaganda poster (like Rosie the Riveter). Overall, I got a bold, strong, and somewhat patriotic vibe from this bunch of colors, and so I did this punchy double-layered star design. It’s bold and splashy and I love it! Read on to see all the stuff!

Julep October 2014 Maven Swatches, Comparisons, and Nail Art

Hi everyone! I hope you’re ready for this because I have my biggest post EVER! My biggest work task got postponed to November/December so I had more free time to make this post amazing. Today I have a huge review post about my picks from the Julep October 2014 Maven collection (Black Magic). Like I have done in previous months (July, August, and September), I swatched all the colors, did some comparisons, and then combined all my picks into nail art. This month, I have a tutorial for my nail art as well! Julep’s October polishes were mostly dark colors with a mix of different finishes. I was most interested in the Classic with a Twist (CwT) box, but added on two polishes from the It Girl box (Shailene and Dana) because they looked intriguing. Funny enough, CwT is my default style profile, but I never picked that box for any of the months I’ve been in the Maven program…until now.

I was much more intrigued by the color choices for October than for September. If you recall, I tend to prefer other finishes than cremes because I think they allow for more diversity and originality compared to solid colors, especially when I’m buying expensive nail polish. Given the abundance of non-cremes in this collection, I was hopeful that I’d get something I was really happy with. From the online swatches Julep provided, though, I had some reservations about what some of the polishes would look like in real life. The shimmers looked a little, well, “un-shimmery” in the photos. Since I’m not interested in shimmers that basically look like cremes, I was apprehensive I wouldn’t like my choices. Thankfully, I am quite happy with most of the colors I chose, so, without further rambling, I present: my Julep October 2014 swatches!

My Favorite Things Series – Minty Star Scarf with Julep

Hi everyone! Today I’m starting a new series of nail art designs inspired by the beautiful patterns of some of my favorite things (hence the title of this post). Yesterday I was looking at my list of manicure ideas – I keep one on my phone so I don’t forget anything – and I realized that at least four of the ideas were inspired by stuff I own. So I’m making it a whole series!

The first design is based off of one of my favorite scarves, which is a bright minty/aqua green color with some metallic silver stars of various sizes scattered all over it. I bought this particular scarf at Nordstrom Rack several months ago, and I remember it being inexpensive. Not super insulating, but it helps keep me a little warmer. And, of course, it’s pretty and shiny 🙂

July 4th Manicure – Patriotic Stencil Glitter Stars

Hi everyone! I’m so excited that it’s the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day to all of my USA readers!

I really love July 4th. It’s my favorite holiday of the year because, not only is it a national holiday with nice picnic food and fireworks,  it also happens to be my birthday, which is pretty great. So of course I had to come up with a festive manicure for the occasion. I ended up with this sparkly design with a bunch of red, silver, and blue stars on a sheer background. It’s very cute, really sparkly, and quite festive. I’m so happy to have a lovely manicure on my favorite day of the year! Check it out: