Let it snow, let it snow... Let it Go!!

Hello everyone!! It's been awfully snowy out here in the ole' SLC. So I thought a snowy cold manicure was in order. I'd like to try to enjoy the snow, but it's super hard when I crazy hate being cold!

I got to thinking... There is no 'too hot' temperature for me. It gets to like, 105F max in the summers here, and as exhausting and gross as that is, I think if you put it and freezing temperatures together to pick one, I would rather be hot. My body hurts when it shivers sooooo...
And none of this "take layers off, put layers on" Even if it's cold for just a short period of time... It's too cold.

Anyhow, rant over... NAILS!

 Texture so nice!!!

I got these super cute stickers from Born Prettty!! On the index finger I did NOT apply a topcoat over the sticker, whereas on the other two nails I did. I think I like it better without, although it's more likely to fall off faster. Win some, ya lose some. Overall, the stickers are wonderful. They peeled off the backing perfectly, and applied very smoothly. Love!

The blue is Jelep Margaret and the white is NOT Venique for once. =P The white is Julep Eileen. There is some glitters at the tips. That's a sponging of Sally Hansen Disco Ball. The chevron and ring finger start with Eileen, and then have some loose glitter sprinkled on top. Btw, I need a thousand more loose glitters. I LOVE the textured look without having to seek out a texture polish! However, it does flake off pretty easily, but at least it leaves behind a nice texture.

As always, don't forget to use my coupon code if you decide these stickers need to be in your life, or anything else from The Born Pretty Store!!

As the boyfriend said about this mani.. "Very merry, very Christmas." =D
Hope your holidays were super great!!!
♥Jo

BPS Review. Snowflake stickers sent for honest review. Please see my disclosure policy here.

All polishes and glitters were self-purchased.

Little Wrapped Presents

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas! I was inspired by a wrapping paper I have to bring you today's manicure. This is my favorite thing I've done in a long while, I can't lie!

The base color is Julep Ginger. It's a holographic polish seen on this blog before, but considering it is being covered by Venique Wing Tip White, you can't see the effect much. But that is certainly okay! There is also some Zoya Tomoko happening, but sadly, the image sort of blends that with the Ginger. Still, it's there. Like in the tip of the ring finger, near the snowflake, it's there. =) By the way, tje snowflakes are Zoya Nina. I used two stamping plates for this: BM 205 and BM 319. Finding the right plate for the white stuff was terribly difficult. Time to get more plates, right?!

Cuuute little bow! Because presents need bows! I got this bow from Lady Queen, right here. I've never used such big gemmys before! I hope it lasts a while and I don't lose it. I have a little Christmas dinner thing, so I hope it lasts through that. As everyone knows, gems in general aren't meant to last forever. Brush through your hair too much and they'll likely come off. But it's so pretty for now! The bow came without any flaws, and all of the pearls/gems are intact and where they need to be. I kind of want more, although I have no idea what to do with them! Perhaps also I should go for some smallers, yeah?

Use my coupon code to get neat Lady Queen nail art accessories! Fifteen percent off WOO!

As always, thanks for reading. Have the Merriest of Christmas-es and the Happiest of Holidays!!
♥Jo

Lady Queen Review. Pearl Bow Gem sent for honest review. Please see my disclosure policy here.

All polishes and plates were self-purchased.

Christmas Sweater

GUYS! The semester is OVER!! I had my last final today and could not be more pumped for Christmas! I got me tree up (finally) and managed to get some Christmas nails going! I haven't nailarted for so long. I miss it...

This is done using a stamping plate form Lady Queen. héhé 060, is the tag on it. It's like an ugly Christmas Sweater, other than I don't think it's ugly. =) I love this nail art using Lady Queen's plates. I have a few more to show you soon, as well. And can now because why? Oh yeah, finals are over! =3

I also used Julep Popova , Venique Wing Tip White, and Venique The Perfect Accessory.
Hello winter, too. It showed a lot over the last few days. I may have tapped a fence with my car. Aw well...

Please use my coupon code for Lady Queen if you decide you want this, or any other plates. <3

www.ladyqueen.com

Have the Merriest of Christmas' please?
♥Jo

Lady Queen Review. Stamp plate hehe060 sent for honest review. Please see my disclosure policy here.

All polishes were self-purchased.

Subtle Stamping

Hi friends! I just got brand new stamping plates! Well, new to me! They are the Pueen 2013 collection =P
I LOVED a really neat 'gradient' block effect on one of them, so I gave it a shot. I just picked the wrong colors is all! IRL, it looks pretty neat, and HEAVILY depends on lighting if you can see the stamping, or any red for that matter. No gradient look, but I used the wrong side of the image for that. Aw well.
Please enjoy! =D

Julep Caroline and Pueen48 for the irregular checker stamping. I kind of LOVE this color. omg. I wanted the black stamp to show up more so badly, but I knew what I was getting into. =P

♥Jo

Simple and Daring

Hey friends,
I often see ladies with these massive acrylics with a lot going on. Lot's of color, lots of dots, lots of lines and stripes. My thought process is usually something like, "Pretty! Well, kinda. It's a little too much... No I take that back, it's pretty!" Nail art is pretty cool regardless how it's done, or who does it. I can't judge acrylics at all, because I have done them myself and it takes skill! Don't let anyone say it's not art!

Anyway, this mani is kind of inspired by all of the liney-dotty acrylic manis you see here and there. Simple, easy, yet stunning and eye catching! And not nearly as much going on. This is mostly because the lack of long acrylic!

Also I got sunshine shots! YAY for not doing nails at midnight!

This is a Ginger, a holo by Julep. As with most holos, the pictures don't do a bit of justice to the amazing effect! I love holographic polishes!
I was speaking with someone who had made a few polishes and she said something like "I don't like to take away from the quality of my polishes by adding holographic." I mostly understand, but you can always make two! That and, holo is in. Right? I don't folow trends very well, but it is still a pretty hard to get look, so I think it's still in!

The pink is Venique Kitten Heel Slides as shown in a swatch here. It's such a pretty color, and I know I don't use it enough! The white is Venique Wingtip White.

I used a small spotter brush for the detail. I miss doing detail work. Time for a steady hand again, I think!

 This is from the shady side of the tree. The color of the julep is so pretty with or without the holo effect! For this mani, I originally wanted to use OPI DS Classic, but I apparently gifted that out. =( This Julep works just as well.

What is your opinion on holos? Do you think they are overdone? Or could this world need more?
Let me know!

Thanks for reading!!
♥Jo

I made a wooden polish rack! Also Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey everyone!!! I'm finally getting beck to you with day 21 of this challenge. Yeah, I'm not on top of it. But oh well! This day is Inspired by a Color! I just got my Julep Cupid's Mystery box, and it had some pretty reds and pinks in it. So that's what I drew the inspiration from. That, and I needed Vday nails anyway, right?

But first things first - I made a wooden polish rack!!!

 

To show you how the shelves are set up

Click the pictures for a larger size. I made this out of a hardwood 1/4 underlayment. This wood is generally used for drawer bottoms or cupboard backings and things. There was multiple kinds, and I could have gone cheaper. But I thought, why not just go all out, I'll be happier in the end! So I did.
I still have one more to make, as there is about this much polish still waiting for a home. You know, the odds and ends bottles that can't make the rainbow. So I would say what you see here is about half of my collection. I REALLY need to update my collection page. So as soon as the sencong shelf is made, I'll do a count and get that doccumented.

Here is my pretty nails!!!

All Julep, so I don't have to use multiple tags.
Red - Molly
Pink - Niecy
White - Eileen
Silver Holo - Rebel

The tiny dotting tool worked perfectly on my pinkie, then suddenly stopped working for the others. Oh well, I made the mani work, I think.

Hope you all have a great day, regardless of Valentine's or other!!!

A few missing days.

I hate this week in the challenge. I hated it last time, I still do. It's delicate print that stops me in my tracks. I don't know what that is? Anyway, here is that day, glitter, and half moon!!!

 Venique Lost in Bermuda with BM310 plate! This is day 15. Delicate print enough? Yeah it's cool. =)

What? Did I just skip tribal print? Yes. Yes I did!

Day 17 Glitter. This is great because this is 3 different bottles of glitter. Zoya Natty is the base coat, then over that, middle finger: Spoiled Use Protection (that was actually the first time I looked at the name of that. I had a good chuckle.). Ring finger: Julep Harper. Pinkie: Sinful Colors Nail Junkie. That one was actually 3 coats. The glitter isn't as dense there. I like this cheapy Spoiled brand, but I got it out of my state at a pharmacy. I can't find it here. Oh well...

Yeah, I have 3 of the same glitters.

Day 18 is Half Moons. I still find this style pretty unattractive, but I really am coming around! I liked this a lot with the hand placed glitter! This is Zoya Blu and Julie. Hand placed Venique Twinkling Glitter. I love these pretty pastels by Zoya!!!

♥

Day 9 - Rainbows!

YAY!!! I love rainbows! And gradients. So why not put them both together??

Venique The Perfect Accessory
Zoya Jancyn
Zoya Creamy
China Glaze Gaga for Green
China Glaze Holly Day
Julep Hoch
China Glaze First Mate
Zoya Toni (I didn't even know I had this one!)
Zoya Keiko.

All topped with Venique Clear is the New Sexy. I added a tiny bit of Zoya Mira to the tip of the pinkie, but you can't tell. The yellow is super bright! My rainbow selection is a bit in the lacking. I have either too dark or too bright! Gotta revamp that.

I was debating on saving this for gradient, but naw. I'll do something else cute for that one!!

Don't forget to check out Lost in Lacquer and Lacquer Lily! These two ladies are also taking this challenge and have some fantastic work!

Julep Swatches / Julep Maven

Hey friends!
I recently hopped on board with he Julep Maven thing. I have received my intro box, and my first month already! Here are swatches of the lovely colors I got!! Moore on the Maven below!

 Eileen. At first glance, I thought this was an off-white color. After having worn it, I realized it's not, it just has a cooler tone. 3 coats, and a top. Trina Turn collection.

Popova. Oh so nice! I got this one as a free add-on. Had I known that Hoch was going to be more green than blue, I might have picked another. But still pretty!! Trina Turn collection.

 Hoch. In pics on the site, I thought this was going to have more blue, less green. I still love this color though!! 2 coats. Much better consistency! Trina Turn collection.

 Clair. Aww, pretty blue! This also took 3 coats and a top..Hm.

 Morgan. This one is my least favorite, but if you know me, you know I am in love with cremes!!! So that's why. Not the formula or color, just the finish. Personal preference! Anyway, this is the one I ended up sticking with after the swatches were done. I gotta get out of my creme fantasy world. xD

 Blake. This yellow is so cute! The brightness on this pic is a little high, but the color is very true! Other than this took about 3 coats, and a top coat to get a nice, smooth look.

So about this Maven thing...Let me just tell you that I got these 6 (and a nice mascara, but you could end up with another polish!) for $20!! And one cent...

This is because of the $.01 intro deal they had when I signed up! I don't know the full rules on that, but maybe it's still going on! The code I used was MAVENINTRO! Another code that can work is PENNY. Take your pick!
You can choose your intro box, and any month box after that if you log in and change it. You also get a free add-on your first month!!


You can get your intro box for one penny, AND use the referral program!

Click here to sign up right away! =D  It's silly though, an ad for the 'social calendar' will be there. Let that change to the next add about what your style is,THEN click it!

You must stay signed up for 30 days for the referral code to work, but even 2 months is totally worth it!!

At first I thought this program was too expensive...But the quality is nice, and the sheer excitement of nail mail each month is just awesome! I will probably be sticking with it! Even though my first thought was to only have 2 months. Oh well! I recommend it, it's fun!!

<3