Review: Julep Mani Essentials

I'm going to give my review and take on the January Julep Maven Box in which I choose the Modern Beauty box that contains only beauty products, no polish. I know what you're thinking: "3 months late!" -Well, I didn't want to just show the box, when I felt these products could have an impact on manicures in a big way. I wanted to be able to test them and actually give a full on review of them.

Products from Left to Right:

• Julep "Ta Da!" Quick Dry Drops
• Julep "Vanish" Cuticle Softener & Remover
• Julep Essential Cuticle Oil

Julep Ta Da! Quick Dry Drops: I can't say enough good things about this! I was skeptical about buying these. I had heard that the OPI one was not that effective and the Sally Hansen one had iffy reviews. This might not be essential to everyone out there, but if you're like most people who do not have a lot of time to spare in today's world and value your time then you'll want to pick this up. This stuff works within 2-3 minutes. Just drop on your nail after your final coat and they're dry in about 2 minutes. Retails for $14 or $11.20 if your'e a Maven.

Julep Vanish: Of the 3 products in the box, this has been my favorite and my life saver! I have horrible cuticles that are almost callus-like from my very hands-on job and it being winter/colder. This stuff actually does diminish your cuticles from the nail and makes them easier to push down. Just 1-3 drops on each nail is all that is needed. Then just push down with your cuticle pusher and you're done! Love it and helps free up time for me! Highly recommended. This retails for $18 or $14.40 if you're a Maven.

Julep Essential Cuticle Oil: Essentially, the name of the product says it all. This is an oil for your cuticles. I really like this. It comes in a rollerball form so it's not messy. I usually use this during the week, at night, and before I go to bed. I just roll the oil over my cuticles and let it sink in. For me, this is not something that's good to use during the day when you're working or running errands, because you need to give it time to sink into the skin. It's good for a little TLC though every night or when your cuticles need some love. I had already heard such great things about this product before it came to me, so I wasn't overly worried about the performance. This retails for $18 or $14.40 if you're a Maven.

Any questions or comments, please leave them below! Let me know what you think if you have tried any of these products!

Make-Up Look: Blue Sunset

I'm bringing you a look today created by My Beauty Addiction's mineral eyeshadow from their Rainbow Bright collection.

• On the inner corner of the eye I used "Champ", which is a bright blue.
• I used "Spark" on the outter corner, which is a bright yellow.
• In the crease I used "O.J.", which is a bright orange.
• I used "Twink", a bright matte white, as the highlight color.

Side note- The liner is "Cobalt Vault" which was released from the Fergie collection by Wet N Wild. It is a limited edition liner that was released in the fall of 2013, but it re-released for the holidays later in 2013. If you're wanting to get your hands on it you may still be able to find it in some drugstores, particularly Walgreens. A lot of times, I'll see a few items stuck with the regular merchandise that haven't sold yet from limited edition collections. - The lipstick is by Maybelline from their Vivid collection and it's "#870 Shocking Coral".

Multi Purple Star Mani

I don't share my manicures very often, because I do them myself (except for like 2 times out of the year) and I do not consider myself a manicure expert. I am working at improving and hopefully you can see some improvement as time goes on from the pictures I post, but when I receive a lot of positive responses on a nail look I do then I like to share.

Today, I bring you a manicure I did using 3 different purple polishes and a silver tinsel sparkle on top! The 3 purple polishes are in the picture above.

From left to right:

• China Glaze in "#987 Crimson" (This is a limited edition color from their 2011 "Haunting Halloween" collection.)
• Wet N Wild in "Who Is Ultra Violet?" (This is a limited edition color from their "Pop Art Craze" collection from 2013.)
• SinfulColors in "#1180 Sweet Tooth" (This is a limited edition color from their "Sugar Rush" collection released in 2013.)

I apologize for the glare in the picture. I had to use the flash to get the true colors to show up. 

Here is how I painted my nails. I used "Sweet Tooth" on the thumb and pinky. I used "Who Is Ultra Violet?" on my pointer finger and ring finger. I used "Crimson" on my middle finger. (The mark on my pinky finger is actually not polish, but bleeding I had underneath the skin.)

The purples looked good on their own, but I'm the type of person who loves glitter and sparkle and I finish off most of my nail looks with glitter or some sort of a different finish. I don't know why I didn't take a bottle shot of the last polish, but I used "Stars At Night" by Nicole OPI. I'm not sure if you can see on the bottle, but this color was from the Selena Gomez collection released in 2013 which has since been discontinued. You can still find this collection around in some stores, but for the most part it has been clearanced out and discontinued.

I received a lot of compliments on this look and feel free to leave your comments below!

Review: Pacifica Mystical Supernatural Eye Palette

I'm reviewing the Pacifica "Mystical Supernatural" eye shadow palette today. I have had this for a while. I found it at Target on clearance. The price tag says it was originally $11.99 and I bought it for $8.38. I thought it was a good price and decent discount for me to try one of Pacifica's beauty products. I've always wanted to try them after trying some of their body creams (which I recommend), but all natural beauty products are a hit or miss and nobody wants to pay a medium sized amount of money for a miss. (Feel free to skip all the way to end to read the Final Verdict and skip the details.)

The box was pretty, but once you take the palette out of the box it's a little less eye catching. Some might prefer the simple look of the palette design, but I feel if you're going to have an extravagant box and you're going to name your palette "Mystical Supernatural" then you need an equally exotic palette case to match. Anyway, the palette is just a magnetic closure and is made of cardboard. The cardboard is more durable than a shoe box, but it's a little questionable how it would hold up if you are an intense traveler. We all know the wear that items receive when you travel or take things on the go with you a lot and I'm just not sure this one would hold up so well. I will say, that for an all natural company it does not surprise me that it would be in a recycled form of packaging. Another thing to note- the clear part over the shadows is just clear plastic and it's kind of on the flimsy side; I would find this really easy to puncture.

Well, the packaging is not the most important part. It's the performance of the product that matters most and here are the swatches! The shadows do not have names and while I prefer that shadows in palettes be given names (if they don't already have them), what can you do? I tried my best to line the swatches up with the shadows.

From left to right:

• The 1st shadow is a light pink iridescent. In the picture it looks beige or a light skin tone color, but in real life it is pink and in the light you will definitely see the iridescence. 
• The 2nd shadow is a pale coppery gold. It is sheer and has a nice shimmer to it.
• The 3rd shadow is a taupe color. This is a very sheer color and once applied appears as an iridescent. It takes quite a bit of layers to get the actual color you see out of it.
• The 4th color is a purplish blue. It looks more navy in the picture than it appears in real life. This has quite a bit of shimmer to it and is the boldest of the 4 colors.

Here is a look I created using all 4 colors.

• I used the Taupe color all over the lid.
• I took the Navy color and put it in the outer v and crease and then blended, which I feel really helped bring out the Taupe color.
• I used the Gold color for the brow bone & highlight, as well as the highlight underneath my eye. I feel this color went pretty well with my skin tone.
• Finally, I used the Pink color in the inner corner of the eye to brighten and extended it a little underneath the eye.

Final Verdict: I give this palette a 6/10. This palette is great if you're looking for a sheer wash of color or a very natural look, but none of the colors are really high in pigmentation or boldness. The shadows are super soft, apply easily, and blend easily. Without a primer, these shadows do not look as good, nor do they last that well with oily skin. When I used these without a primer I would say I had about 4-5 hours of decent wear, but then it started to fade and by the end of the day the oil from my skin pretty much dissolved it away. With primer, I had much better results and you can get a good day out of it. I think this palette would actually work better in-conjunction with other shadows/palettes than by itself. The the only other reason I give this a little bit of a lower rating, is because of the packaging. Like I said earlier, I think it'd be easy to puncture and damage the case and thus in the end damaging your shadows. - If you're looking for something with natural ingredients, sheer washes of color, and a natural eye look then you'll like this palette.

This palette is available at the Pacifica website for $14.99 and available at some Targets and on the Target website for $11.99.

Pink Tinsel Mani

If you read my last post, you will see my review and my nails done in the Sally Hansen Sugar Coat "#700 Cotton Candies". - I just wanted to show you my finished look with that mani. While, I didn't put a top coat on it, I did put a tinsel finish on it!

Using SinfulColors' "#1394 Pink Icicles", I made a cascade effect on my nails from the top. This polish was part of the limited edition holiday polishes released last year (2013). This polish looks just like a reddish-pink tinsel combined with black and white tinsel. 

I quite like how it turned out. Not necessarily a holiday-only look in my opinion. If anything, someone might associate more with Valentine's Day than Christmas. The tinsel polish is pretty easy to apply and dries fairly fast.