julep nail parlor's "niecy" ft. lacquistry's "a friggin circus".

i didn't take any pictures of niecy on it's own, but it is a very lovely bright pink that was perfectly opaque in two coats. julep succeeds, as always! but i decided to layer lacquistry's "a friggin circus" over it, since this batch of AFC has a light pink tint to the base.

two coats of AFC.

look at all the different colors of glitter! i don't think i can even name them all. orange, red, gold, purple, blue, silver...probably some more, too!

lacquistry polishes can be bought from her etsy shop, which is currently sold out but she restocks pretty frequently. julep polishes are available to maven members, if you're not one yet you can sign up by clicking this link, and if you use the code COLOR2012 it'll only cost ya a penny!

zoya's "salma".

first of all, i want to give a big welcome to my new followers! i think you may have found me when zoya featured my blog yesterday [HOW COOL WAS THAT YOU GUYS OH MY GOODNESS], and i hope you stick around!

i had my first hotline training class last night and took off my mani before going [i was wearing "mermaid's dream" by ms. lippmann!] because it was chipping. i planned on putting something else on but my time management skills are a bit lacking, so i ended up with naked nails! then the buses weren't running frequently so i had to walk a mile home at 10 pm >.< by the time i got home i was ready to pass out so my nails remained nude! luckily i had time before class this morning to slap something on them. i chose zoya's salma, another of the six polishes i bought a few weeks ago.

three coats of salma. it is a rich , vampy red with hints of brown, plus some nice shimmer!

 my mom stopped by the other day and gave me these flowers. aren't they so pretty?!

a mere hour ago some my lacquistry order showed up. i couldn't wait to get them on so here's one coat of "jessica rabbit" over salma.

jr has a red jelly basde and is filled with tiny red and gold glitters, as well as larger red hex glitters.

soooo pretty.

mister mowgli is not impressed with jessica rabbit, but he's a cat so who cares!

salma can be purchased from zoya.com for 8 dollars. if you use this link to make an account, you'll get a five dollar credit! lacquistry polishes are available from her etsy shop, which is currently sold out 'cause her polishes are awesome as hell. but she should be restocking soon!

zoya's "meadow".

this is one of the polishes i purchased when zoya did their buy three/get three free promo. on the website it is described as a "soft medium pinkish pink with mauve undertones and warm frosty golden shimmer. golden and flesh-toned, a sparkling nude for warm skin tones." but that's a whole lotta words so i'm just going to describe it as "pretty"!

this is three coats of meadow. two was most certainly sufficient, but i kinda messed it up so i added a third to cover up my mistakes :P.

the next two photos are in the shade:

see that beautiful shimmer? it's great!

you can meadow for 8 dollars on zoya.com, but if you click this link and create an account, you'll get a five dollar credit - making meadow only three dollars!

butter LONDON "jaffa" ft julep nail parlor "'alicia".

jaffa is my first butter london, i received it as part of my ariva order. it happened to perfectly match the shirt i was wearing that day!

when applying jaffa, i happened to look over at all my nail polishes and see that alicia looked like the perfect color for an accent nail - boy, was i right! they look lovely together.

jaffa is a lovely coral jelly. the perfect mix of orange and red!

this is three coats of jaffa. as you can see, i still have some VNL which is kind of poopy. i don't know if that could have been remedied with another coat or not. i'll definitely be doing some jelly sandwiches with this polish in the future! alicia, however, only needed one coat! how awesome is that?!

here's a shot in the sun, just for another perspective on the color.

butter LONDON is sold at ariva, sephora, and ulta, and retales for 14 dollars. alicia was from my march julep maven box, and can be purchased for 14 bucks if you're a julep maven. you can sign up for julep by using this link.

opi's "teal the cows come home" + finger paints "motley"

not much to say about this. very similar to my pheobe/nubar 2010 combo from a few days ago! TTCCH applied REALLY well, i used three coats but only because i wanted the color to really pop.

sephora by opi - betsey johnson.

i'm a big fan of betsey johnson. i'm "nontraditional" myself, so i like her funky, edgy designs and the fact that she does whatever the hell she wants. so when i saw she did a line of products with sephora, i knew i had to grab some up!

this is a picture of the minis and their packaging. so cute, am i right?! and a wide array of colors.

this is three coats of "xox betsey". it is a very pale pink creme. 

two coats of "alley cat". it is a bright, vibrant fucshia. 

two coats of "too too turq", a turquoise with a slight shimmer. this color is exclusive to the mini polish set.

three coats of "yellow my name is betsey". a nice, bright, butter yellow. this color is exclusive to the mini polish set as well.

FOUR coats of "son of a gun". i loved this color but come on, four freakin' coats for a polish THAT dark?! no me gusta. maybe it'll be good to layer over another dark polish. this one is also exclusive to the mini polish set.

finally, two coats of "pushing your luck". i was really impressed with this color - normally i have problems with reds being opaque and even but this was a dream to work with.

overall, i'm pleased with this collection. the colors are interesting and unique. if you're interested, you can buy this mini set [along with the other items in the collection] from sephora.

victoria's secret nails!

a few weeks ago i got a phone call informing me that i met the criteria for a research study victoria's secret was holding [i happen to live in the city where limited brands are headquartered, woo!] and of course i said "hell yes!", lol. i got a fifty dollar gift card for about an hour of my time. they asked me a bunch of questions about their website, it wasn't hard and i actually had fun. anyway, of course you know i needed to do cvictoria's secret inspired nails!

my favorite victoria's secret line is PINK, thanks to their bright colors, comfortable clothes, and affordable prices. so that's what inspired these fingers! the pink is sinful colors "pink forever", the letters are china glaze "stone cold" and the glitteris sally hansen "disco ball".

the thumb was inspired by their instantly recognizable bags. i wish i would have used tape instead of my dotting tool buttttt i was really tired and lazy so whatever.

just another shot! so sparkly. 

aaand here's another picture of my kitty, since people seemed to enjoy the last one so much :P. he looks so embarrassed. "MMMOOOOOOM, STOP TAKING PICTURES OF ME".

essie's "ole caliente" [featuring nubar 2010]

i'm not an essie fanatic. their colors have never really appealed to me and for 8 bucks i would rather buy an OPI polish. but i've seen a lot of awesome swatches of "ole caliente" from their "navigate her" collection, and couldn't resist picking it up when i stopped by cvs the other day - i'm so glad i did!

this is three coats of polish. i could have gotten away with two, but the light in my house kept making it look uneven and weird. application was easy and i barely needed to do any clean up.

this is a shot taken inside, with flash. and because i can't leave well enough alone, i added a coat of nubar 2010!

soooo shiny. soooo sparkly!

and here's a picture of my cat, mowgli. i thought the polish went really well with his fur :P.

essie polishes sell for 8 dollars in most drug stores [cvs, walgreens, target], or you can buy them from mbeautylounge for a little over 7 bucks.

zoya - "bekka".

this is one of the siz zoya's i got during the buy three/get three promo. someone on my facebook requested a swatch, so here you go! let me preface this by saying that i did a pretty horrible job of painting my nails for these photos, blah - but i feel like they accurately capture the color.

my pointer + ring finger just have three coats of bekka. my middle and pinkie have a base of white polish, then two coats of bekka. [my polished toes wanted to make an appearance too, apparently :P.]

i would describe this as an electric pineapple yellow. it is a absolutely beautiful and unique color, and worth applying some white polish beforehand! 

julep st. patrick's day mystery box!

it finally arrived! better late than never, right? :]. i'm so happy to have received it.

so nicely packaged [as usual!], plus some chocolates!

my products! below is a breakdown of what i received and what it cost.

julep "facial for hands" glycolic hand scrub, 1 fl oz: ~15 dollars? 3 oz sells for 32 dollars on the julep website...

julep "glow on" age defying hand brightener: ~15 dollars? same as above.

sofia nail color: 14 dollars.

january nail color: 14 dollars.

kelly nail color: 14 dollars.

base coat: 14 dollars.

crystal nail file: 6 dollars.

total retail value: 92 dollars.

considering i spent 20 dollars, i'm ecstatic! i definitely recommend getting a mystery box the next time they release one. if you aren't a julep maven yet, you can sign up here and get your first month for one penny using the code MARCHINTRO!