Good As Gold

I haven't been around much because of a career change that I have been transitioning too. Now that I'm starting to settle into my new position, hopefully I will have more time to post more often.


Since I'm feeling Golden today, it will be today's nail theme for the blog.

The first polishes come from Avon. Although Avon polishes are relatively inexpensive compared to all of the big name polishes, I find them easy to apply and quick to dry. This was true for the polishes  in the Brushed Metals collection. I also really liked their finished look. The ring finger is  Brushed Gold and the other fingers are painted in Burnished Copper.:

 

My second golden look:

This next one is a picture with gold nails mixed in with with a deep, espresso brown nails and it comes from JULEP.

This brown is so dark that in certain light, it seems almost black. However, I love this dark chocolate color especially for the quickly approaching  fall and winter. It also compliments the rose gold color very well. I'm in love with all of these colors, both individually and together.
The brown is Julep's Fiore. 
The rose gold color is from Julep's Champagne Trio and it is called Reiko.
The glitter on the pointer finger is also from Julep's Champagne Trio and it is called Clio.



Are any of you having "golden moments" lately as well? Post your own golden nails and/or outfits under the comments.

Spring Pastels: March Julep Box

My nails favorite time of the month is finally here. My Julep March box arrived yesterday. This month it's all about pastels. These colors scream "SPRING" , which makes me very excited because I'm so tired of the cold and snow. This month I chose Boho Glam, which included Leila, a yellow shimmer, and Joy, a smoky purple creme. It also included a hand cream, which I can't wait to try, and a strawberry chap stick that I'm starting to get addicted to already.

PIC FROM JULEP'S BLOG:

My Swatches:


LEILA

JOY

I also received my add-on, which was Minnie.



MINNIE

My favorite this month is a toss up between Minnie and Leila. I always love a pretty pink, but Leila reminds me of the sunshine and warmth that I'm so craving.

Do you guys have a favorite Julep color this month?

January Julep: Neons & Nudes

This month's Julep box's theme was  Neons and Nudes. I wasn't too sure if I was going to skip this month or not because I'm not a fan of nudes and I already own a few neons. In the end, my love for bright colors took over and I ordered the American Beauty box with a Madison add on.

The American Beauty box came with Bethany, which is a bright orange- red creme.

This was my favorite color that I received this month from Julep. It went on smoothly, easily and it is so gorgeous.  I need to try it with a white base underneath in order to make it more neon.

The second color I received was Mindy, which is a super light pink color.

Although I usually don't like nudes, I really liked this color. I'm thinking of ways how I can incorporate this polish with bright colors, such as a bright tip. This is a color that I probably would never choose for myself, but I definietly I'm happy that I received it with my January box.

My add on was Madison, which is a hot pink. In certain lightening, it looks a bit orange, but it's definiely for fans of super bright pink polishes.

I can see myself wearing this a lot during the hot summer months.

What do you guys think about the new colors? Are you enjoying swatching all of the new neons and nudes?


Remember, if you want to begin the Julep Maven subscription box, you can do an introductory box for a penny. If you want to do this, just go to the website (Julep Link ), take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that.

Julep New Years Mystery Box: For a Glittery & Colorful Celebration

This week has been full of surprises in my mail box.

First, my December Glossybox arrived and now I have my Julep New Years Mystery Box.


Julep advertised their mystery box like this:

 

Of course, when I opened up my box, I was hoping that ipad mini was included. Unfortunately, I was not the lucky winner. However, I still received a little over $100 (retail value) of product, which made the box definitely worth the $19.99 that it cost.

The colors that I received from left to right are Eloise, Courteney, Mystery Glitter, Sandra and Matte Top Coat.

Now the only problem of getting these mystery boxes is the possibility of a dupe. Unfortunately, I have three of these colors already (Eloise, Sandra, and Matte Top Coat). No Worries! I'll just have to swap for other colors I have been coveting.

The other products I received was a Julep bag, Age Defying Hand Brightener, a silver glitter pot, 3 one step polish remover pads and 2 hand scrub samples.

This is only the second mystery box I ever purchased, but I'm happy with what I received.

Has anyone else recived their box? Did you receive something similar or were you the big winner?

Julep December's Glitter Goodness!

What is glittery, shimmery , and pretty all over? The Julep December Christmas collection.

Julep did a really great job this month. It was one of my favorite months and I was soooo tempted to upgrade and get the entire wardrobe, but I stayed strong and got the It Girl Box.

Warning- All of these colors are so much more prettier in person then in pictures. 

My favorite polishes are Ivy and Harper.


Julep's Ivy is a beautiful blue with purple shimmer. It's really pretty in the sunlight. 

Julep's Harper (index finger) is a green glitter polish that looks exactly like a mermaid's tail.

 

Since Julep was having Christmas sales, I decided to purchase Julia and Barbara as well.

Julia is a purple base with gold shimmer and Barbara (index finger)  is a bright pink glitter. 

Julia is my favorite of the two. Just like Ivy, it looks great in the sunlight.

 

I'm in Love with these polishes. I can't wait until tomorrow to find out how their January collection will look like. (^_^)

Ghoulish Glowing Green

I know I'm super late at posting my Halloween nails. I had actually done my nails a few days before Halloween, but before I was able to post them on my blog, Sandy hit and I lost power from Monday to Friday night. Luckily, I have power back and my family and I are fine.


So, back to my Halloween post. I decided to have glow in the dark nails this year and used Julep's Sofia. The only problem with Sofia is that it leans more towards being sheer, so I decided to use it as a topcoat to a more opaque color.

I decided to first use my favorite Julep green color- Leah.

This is a picture of Leah by itself:

Leah is bright, fun and pretty. I Love this color! Not only is it one of my favorite greens, it's also one of my favorite Julep colors.


This is with Sofia on top of Leah:

If I put my fingers under a lamp for a bit and then turn off the lights, it did glow in the dark.
I tried to take a picture, but none of them came out well, so I don't have any to show.

However, most importantly, it also looks great throughout the day, not only at night:

Shimmer Makes Everything Better

Today I was playing with some of my nail polishes, so I have a couple of Julep swatches for you.

The first is Julep's Mischa. It's a red orange color with shimmer.

I love this color. It's super gorgeous and easy to work with.

I also painted my nails with Julep's Maggie and Julep's Mila.

Julep's Maggie is a dark purple with shimmer. Since it's so dark, I think that the shimmer enhances the look of the polish and makes it prettier.
Julep's Mila is a full coverage glitter polish. Although it's more silvery than anything else, it also has red, green and gold glitter in it.

I used these two colors to do a sort of reverse manicure.

This is how it turned out:

What do you guys think?

I love silvery glittery with purple polishes. I think they go so well together.


By the way, if you like this nail polish and want to know more about the Maven subscription box program, you can do an introductory box for a penny. If you want to do this, just go to the website (Click Here)  take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that if you aren't satisfied with the polishes.

Hellooooo Autumn!

It's starting to get chilly outside. Summer is starting to say farewell, which means fall fashion is starting to appear. Pretty soon, we will see scarfs, cute hats with bows, sweaters and best of all the greens, deep blues and wine colors of fall.

However, since we are not completely in fall yet, I have a an awesome nail color that is a great transition from summer to fall.

I used Julep's Georgia as a base and I put Julep's O Canada over it.

 This is with natural light coming from the window:

This is inside the house:

For some reason, the red and gold sparkles remind me of the leaves feeling and it reminds me that the season is starting to change.

Georgia was one of the easiest Julep colors to put on. Some of them tend to be a bit thicker, but this one went on smoothly and easily.

Both colors are beautiful either on their own or together. 

Julep Sandra : Hot Pink Summer!

I found my hot pink color for the summer. It is Julep's Sandra, which is a magenta with a frosty finish.

Although I am a Julep Maven, I actually bought this on Hautelook because they had a brights polish set, including Robin and Daisy, on sale in July.

Julep's Sandra is the perfect pink for the summer. It's bright, beautiful and it goes on easily. 

What do you think?

If you like this nail polish and want to know more about the Maven subscription box program, you can do an introductory box for a penny. If you want to do this, just go to the website ( http://julep.com/?r=20529609), take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that.

3 Favorite Beauty Products at the Moment: Hair, Face & Skin

Lately, I have been frequently using 3 different products

One of these products is Julep's Elixir (Organic Moroccan Oil). 

Although it can be used for your skin & cuticles, I've mostly just used it on my hair. My hair is usually very frizzy and quite frankly, a hot mess. In my June Julep Mystery box, I received the Elixir. I was really excited to use it because I had read some good reviews.
Ever since I received it, I've been putting a bit of it on my hair after I shower. Since I started using it, my hair has become much more manageable and less frizzy.  Before the oil, I wouldn't even let my hair air dry because it would be so unruly, but now I do it all the time and it looks great. I have even received compliments from my boyfriend who has noticed a difference in my hair. 

The other product that I have been using is Mark's Touch & Glow Shimmer Cream Cubes All Over Face Palette. 

This is perfect as a bronzer for a shimmery summer glow. The mix of the bronze, golds and pinks gives my skin a healthy, brilliant glow that I love for these summer months.


I have also been using it as eye shadows because I love the colors so much.



The third product that I currently love is First Aid Beauty Smooth Shaving Cream.

I received a sample of this shaving cream with last month's glossybox.
It's one of the best shaving creams I have used. It makes my legs super smooth and doesn't irritate my skin. I liked the sample so much, that I want to go buy a regular size bottle now. 




Where to Find These Products:


Julep Elixer- The Julep Website- http://julep.com/?r=20529609
If you are a Julep Maven, you can get 20 percent off. If you want to know how to get your first Maven box for a penny, go to my post "Purple Bling" , which explains how to go about doing that.

Mark Touch and Glow Face Palette- You can purchase this at my E- boutique
http://sbernardes.mymarkstore.com

First Aid Beauty Shave Cream- You can get it on Amazon, Sephora's Website or even the First Aid Beauty website. 

Have you guys used any of these products? Do you love them as well?

Purple Bling

I have a formal company party this weekend. This is a fun annual event that allows everyone in the company to get together and celebrate their hard work for the year.

I have my dress, shoes and today, my nails are ready as well.

I needed a polish to match my cute purple dress.

I decided on Julep's Morgan, which I got in my June subscription box.

However, my dress not only is purple, but it also has a one shoulder strap with a bit of bling, bling on it, so I needed something sparkly on my nails as well.

I decided to put on Julep's Mila, which came in my July box.

This manicure looks perfect with my dress.

After I had put on my topcoat and finished drying, I put on Shea Terra Organics Mango whipped shea butter on my hands to moisturize them.

I got this sample with my July Glossybox and it is great. This Shea Butter has vitamins A & E and it makes my hands super smooth.

Remember if you want to begin the Julep Maven subscription box, you can do an introductory box for a penny. If you want to do this, just go to the website ( http://julep.com/?r=20529609), take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that.

America the Beautiful -July 4th Nails

I got the America nail polish for free with this month's subscription of Maven.

(If you don't know what Julep Maven is, please look at my first post here )

The America nail polish looks like this:

Yes, it's red, sparkly, vibrant and absolutely perfect for both July 4th celebrations and for the Olympics this year. It's a bottle full of glittery fireworks.

The best thing is that it went on easily and beautifully. I'm in love with this color.


I was thinking about how to incorporate this color for today's holiday.

I saw this great manicure at Finger Painting Fingers website- http://fingerpaintingfingers.blogspot.com/2012/06/julep-america.html , so  I decided to do something similar but use different colors to compliment it.

I used Sally Hanson's Red Zin and Essie's Aruba Blue.

Both are deep, rich colors that go perfectly with Julep's America.

I'm now ready for an awesome bar-b-que and an amazing fireworks show.


I hope you all have a great Fourth of July!



Remember if you want to begin the Julep Maven subscription box, you can do an introductory box for a penny. If you want to do this, just go to the website ( http://julep.com/?r=20529609), take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that.

Color & Sparkles: What Girl Can Say No?- Julep Maven Novice

What can be colorful, shiny, long, short, down right nasty or eye catching gorgeous? Your nails!

Today I wanted to share with you some information about a subscription box service for nail polishes and other mani/ pedi related products. It's called Julep Maven and you can take a look at the website here: http://julep.com/?r=20529609

Basically, this is a monthly subscription of about $20 and every month you will get a box with nail polishes.

To start out, you have to take their style quiz, which will label you as a certain style and this will correspond to specific colors. You can, of course, check out their other styles and change your colors. For example, I was considered an "American Beauty" style, but I liked the "Bombshell" colors best, so that's the one I chose.

The following months, you can always change the "style label" depending on the colors that you like for that month, or you can skip the month all together if nothing interests you. You can also cancel at any time.




I just received my box for my first month.





Instead of paying 20 bucks, I paid a penny for my first box. Yup, a total of $0.01 is what I paid. If you want to do this, just go to the website ( http://julep.com/?r=20529609), take the quiz and put in the code COLORS4ONE during checkout. This is good for only the first month though. However, you can always cancel after that.

As I wrote earlier, my box was the "bombshell box". It included a nail file, a hand scrub (Julep facial for hands), and 2 gorgeous colors.

One was an orange called NATASHA and the other is a sparkly gold called OSCAR.




Natasha is a great summer color. It's very bright and gives you a pop of color even if you are wearing boring, dark work clothes, like I usually am. It's definitely a fun color that I plan to use a lot during the sunny, summer months. The polish also went on smoothly and without dripping every which way, which is usually a problem with me because of my small nail beds.

Oscar is great for accent nails, as I have done in the picture below, or you can put a coat on top of a bright nail color and it will add a bit of shimmer to your manicure.






Please try to look past my small, chubby, old lady hands and see the cute colors. (^_^)


Other then the nail polishes, I also tried their hand scrub and loved it. My hands are usually super dry, so it was nice to get a hand scrub in the package that was able to soften my hands. It was a nice extra with the box.

I think I did pretty well for 1 cent.


I might continue this for a couple more months.

I'll see how it progresses.