Julep Maven November Box #1

Getting there with catching up on Julep Maven Boxes!  We are up to November, which was full of wins and losses for me.  So the first thing that happened is I got my email telling me what was in my Julep Maven box for November.  And this light mossy green creme, Selena, was included and SO not what I am in to.  So for the first month I request a new pull and asked for the Bombshell Box instead.  So disappointingly when I opened up my box - Boho was still staring me in the face?  What gives?!?!  FAIL! So I emailed Julep and within a few days they let me know they had some issues with the system for requesting new pulls and I would get another Box (the correct one this time) immediately and for free and that the Boho Box was mine to keep.  WIN!

So let's start with the first box I received, the wrong one.  It came with a Julep Maven bag, which is a black cloth bag with the Julep logo quilted into it (super cute - WIN), a plumping lip gloss in Extravagant (WIN for now, beautiful color), and Selena (FAIL! more on that too).  They also threw in more sample of their hand/skin care products which I'm not a fan of on scent alone (FAIL).

Julep Maven November - Boho

Julep Maven November Boho

So Extravagant...  I actually never got this on my lips, only my hand.  The color is actually gorgeous.  It's a pinky taupe neutral with soft gold shimmer.  It was really lovely and would have been great for work.  However when I got box number 2 I decided to try it's plumping lip gloss and subsequently found out I was very ALLERGIC to it.  The skin around my lips got red and huge.  It was so weird looking.  I wiped it off and about 40 minutes later my lips were back to normal.   So Extravagant never made it to wear, no more swollen red lips for me please.  I mean I know this is plumping, but plump my lips not my entire mouth region! FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julep Extravagant Plumping Lip Gloss

 So then I gave Selena a shot, knowing I would hate it and I was correct.  There are a lot of people that would go nuts for this polish.  It was a 1 coater, the formula was great, and the color is unique and interesting.  But it's just SO NOT ME!  So here she is, love her or hate her (FAIL) - Selena.

Julep Selena

Julep Selena

Julep Selena

So there is the November Box I wished not to get, and now you know why!  At least Julep sent me the correct box for free, so I'll show you that this week as well.  The Julep Maven program is $20 a month and you can sign up at Julep.com!  On their own, a polish like Selena will cost you $14.

What the Hubby Chose: Wet 'n Wild Back Alley Deals

I think I may have mentioned the week before last that the hubby and I were going out for our big birthday celebration with our friends.  Or maybe I didn't.  The past few weeks have been a blur, lol.  Anywho, the hubby and I have birthdays exactly a week apart (and also a few years), so we decided to celebrate them both with some of our closest friends in a big birthday dinner at P.F. Chang's.  Mmmmm...P.F. Chang's.  Since it was closer to Hubby's birthday, I let him pick out my manicure.  He originally wanted a "Saints-themed manicure," since they were playing that night (I don't even want to talk about it.), but we just couldn't really make that happen, so I had him pick something else.  Leave it to him to pick the glitteriest glitter that ever lived.

Wet 'n Wild Back Alley Deals is the queen bee of glitters.  Pardon these photos, because they're 1) not color accurate (and I tried REALLY hard to adjust them to be) and 2) not even a shadow of how awesome it is in real life.  It's a polish of smaller round purple/fuschia glitter sprinkled with larger red hexagonal glitter.  It's a really cool color combination.  The hubby said it reminded him of the Joker from Batman.  I'm totally picking up what he's throwing down.  Definitely click to enlarge these photos!  SO gorgeous!

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

All that being said, this is not going to be a completely favorable review of this polish.  It's absolutely stunning on the nail, but HOLY BAJEEZUS.  The application was HORRIBLE.  HORRIBLE.  HORRIBLE! I don't even know how I can articulate how bad it was.  I wanted to cry.  Thick, gloopy, patchy, impossible to work with.  I put up with a lot of crap for a good polish, but DAMN.  


Then, it ate top coat like a MOFO.  I kind of expected that, but what I'm showing you is TWO coats of Gelous, followed by Poshe, and the next day I had to add another coat of Gelous and Poshe, and it STILL felt gritty.  I need Lynnderella's Glitter Tamer like WHOA.


As if that still wasn't enough, THEN it chipped like crazy!  I had major chips in less than 24 hours.  That's a huge nail in the coffin for me.  I could maybe handle it with a polish that had flawless application, but not from one that I fought with so much.

So, what do you do when a polish looks SO amazing, but sucks so bad?  You look for dupes!  Luckily, Back Alley Deals has not just one, but TWO dupes!  The first is Deborah Lippmann's Flash Dance.  The bad news is that this one is a mini that comes as part of the Dance Music trio set.  It's $29, but as Jessie already showed us, Dancing in the Streets is totally worth it.  The other is Nails Inc. Bloomsbury Square.  , which is a little more accessible.  It's $9.50 and available at www.sephora.com.

While I would tell you to run FAR far away from Back Alley Deals (Ha!  Makes sense, right?  lol), I would more than recommend picking up one of the dupes!  DO IT!  ;-)

And the Winner Is...

(Sorry it took so long to get this posted.  This past week has been probably the craziest week of my life!)

Bebe!!!

Congrats, Bebe!!  All five Finger Paints flakies will be on their way to you soon!  We hope you love them!!

Thank you to everyone for participating in our 1-Year Blogaversary Giveaway!  One year really does fly by quickly, especially when you're having fun and have the support of amazing readers like YOU!  It just wouldn't be much of a blog without you, and we look forward to more fun and giveaways in the future!  Can't wait to see where we are a year from now!

Love,

Courtney & Jessie

Another look: Zoya Edyta

So one of the other polished I recieved from my polish fairy-godmother was Zoya Edyta. Courtney showed us this back in April. I'm generally not a fan of Zoya polished only because their formula doesn't seem to be too compatible with my nails. It always chips, and chips early. I do have few polished I keep though because their color alone make it worth dealing with the chips. Edyta is one of these amazing colors so I am SO happy to have it. Funny, I would have never expected liking this polish's color. It's a very dark warm toned green with tons of gold shimmer. We all know I'm not into gold, and that cool tones tend to look better. Given all that I still LOVE Edyta. She is stunning an beautiful and totally reminds me of RBL Anne. They aren't dupes, but they are cousins for sure. Edyta is a one coated to boot! She's so a keeper :). Check her out.

Here are the comparisons of Edyta and Anne. Edyta is in the middle. Anne is to the left and right. Anne looks so light next to Edyta. What do you think? Cousins?

Edyta was released as part of the Wicked collection released in Fall of 2010. All of Zoya's polishes are permanent collection so this will be easy to find if you don't have it. And for $8 each they won't kill your wallet!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

So I thought Courtney and I had seen the best of Rescue Beauty Lounge's Real Housewives of the Tudor Dynasty with Catherine and Catherine H..  Then, I got my pretty little hands on Anne.  I'd have to say that the pictures you seen of Anne online (and Jane that matter) do not do them justice.  This whole collection is impossible to accurately capture.  This is definitely due to the secret shimmer in these polishes.  I think the thing about Anne is, there is shimmer that is not secret at all, but there is still secret shimmer!  So Anne is this beautiful dirty dark olive-y green packed full of gold shimmer that is obviously in almost any light.  Then if you capture Anne is just the right light, you see this amazing purple/pink shimmer.  It's just SO beautiful. I dare to say my favorite of the four.  If you were going to splurge on just one Tudor Wife, it should be Anne.

This polish went on easy in 2 coats.  I really do think you need 2 here; 1 coat, even a thick one, would be inconsistent.  However, from a polish thickness and flow perspective, it is absolutely flawless.  No top coat is show here either.  This polish is just perfection - I don't even CARE that is has gold shimmer in it!  How about that?!?!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne

Rescue Beauty Lounge Anne in Low Indirect Sunlight

Anne is currently available at Rescue Beauty's website for $18.  If you were planning on getting this - do it now!  Don't wait!!!!  This polish will disappear forever when it's out of stock and it is a MUST have.  Honestly.  You need it.  I swear.  I'm not lying!  Go buy it :). Seriously!  Maybe we should give away a bottle of it?  That's how much I love this.  What do you think?

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

So remember when I brought you Deborah Lippmann's Girls Just Want to Have Fun?  Well I decided I might as well show you Coral by Rescue Beauty Lounge and get this comparison out of the way before I forgot about it forever.  This is another beautiful, fun, bright coral with an excellent formula.  These new swatches are just getting better and better.  This is another fantastic formula from RBL, and super shiny too. This is no top coat!  Coral is a more orange leaning coral than Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  Which I would have never know without wearing them next to each other on the nail.  This is 2 coats.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Rescue Beauty Lounge Coral

Time for the comparison.  The middle finger is Coral, the left and right are Girls Just Want to Have Fun (GJWTHF).

GJWTHF, Coral, GJWTHF

GJWTHF, Coral, GJWTHF

I have to say, formula wise I like RBL Coral better.  It's more opaque and is thinner.  Even though GJWTHF is a little squishy, its more sheer so I need more coats.  From a color perspective, the Lippmann wins all the way with me!  I'll take pink leaning over orange leaning any day :).

RBL Coral is still available on their website for $18 a bottle.  If that's a little steep for you, go with Girls Just Want to Have Fun to save a few dollars.  While they certainly aren't dupes, you likely don't need both in you life.

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

All right my friends - I bring you PolishedCasual's very first Cult Nails lacquer, which was a gift to me by an amazing lady :).  Consider her my secret nail polish fairy!  Anyway... she sent me this amazing polish called Clairvoyant, which apparently is also known by the limited edition name Unicorn Puke :).  It is a sheer blurple jelly base PACKED full of every color flakie imaginable.  I layered 2 coats of Clairvoyant here over Sinful Colors Hot Spot. I'll let these pictures (which don't even begin to do it justice) do the talking.

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

Cult Nails Clairvoyant

This one is pretty special you guys!  The creator of Cult Nails (an indie nail polish brand started by Nail blogger Maria Morrison from R3 Daily) wanted to make a polish as special as Clarins 230 (also known as Unicorn Pee).  A polish as rare as Unicorns and the excrement.

Well done Maria, well done.

I like the bottle, brush, and love the color.  The formula was a little thick, but pretty much on par with my other flakie polishes.  I guess to suspend all those flakies you gotta have some substance.  Unfortunately Clairvoyant is sold out at CultNails.com.  It would normally set you back $10, and while it's supposed to come back in stock soon, word of the street is they may have run out of Unicorn Puke supplies.  This one may be tough to find, so if I were you I'd start praying to the unicorn gods!