Two Moons Negative Space Nail Art

 Purchased by Me

Hi ladies. I'm finishing out my last days in Alaska doing lots of nail art! It's so dreary and cold here that all I want to do is stay inside. So, I guess that's good for my blog, I can stock up on some posts! We ride the Alaska Railroad on Saturday and fly out late Sunday night to visit the fiance's parents in Indiana, so I'm excited to get some family time in and of course visit with my cutie kitties Milk and Roomi. ♥ 

Today I did a two moon manicure that i've seen around recently. Chalkboard nails did a color blocking design similar to this, but I chose to do some negative space.

I freehanded each moon, the bottom is Julep Rebecca and the tip is Julep Winter. Unfortunately, I have a little bit of staining... but eh... it happens? :) This was my first negative space manicure and I don't know quite how I feel about it! I liked it a LOT more after the OPI Matte Top Coat. It was kind of fun and mod and different, but I think I'll try less "nail" next time I do negative space.

Here's a quick shot of the glossy version. Matte looked SO. Much. Better.

What are you're thoughts on negative space manicures? Let me know below :D

♥ Pooka

31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0: Day 1 Red or Orange

Purchased by Me

Wow, that's a long title. But here's the deal, I'm participating in another challenge! Last time I tried a challenge it didn't turn out so well. I lasted 8 days. D: Yikes! However, this one is a little more lenient, we're only posting two days a week: Mondays and Thursdays, so that will be 8 looks a month! For me, with my limited internet situation, this schedule will work out a lot better AND I'll be able to put more time into each look because I won't be so worried about "pumping out posts." It's called the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge 2.0. It's a spin off or "enhancement" of the 31 Day Challenge that lots of bloggers will be doing this month. You can find out all the details here at Will Paint Nails for Food. It was curated by three talented bloggers! 

You can participate too on any platform, Facebook, instagram, blogger, what ever you use. We're using the hashtag #31DC2 

Day one is Red or Orange (Full schedule listed at the end of this post!)

For this look I used Julep Myriam, black acrylic paint, and Orly Luxe. (Olry Rage's golden sister)

I just used a striping brush to create an X on my nail in black then outlined it with Luxe, pretty simple but it makes a statement! :)

What do you think of this nail art? Pretty simple right? Will you be participating in this challenge, too? Let me know in the comments so I can follow you and see your creations!

You can also see the other manicures I created for this challenge by clicking here.

♥ Pooka

Never Enough Rose Gold

Purchased by Me

I have always loved rose gold. Yes, even before it came popular. (I'm being a rose gold hipster now.) So when I found Orly Rage. I had to have it. I know it's an older color, but wow! It's just so pretty! Metallic-y, rosy, gold-y... Lovely. 

OMD2 Day3: Lavender

Purchased by Me

Hi! So on to day three of OMD2 Challenge. If you're keeping up, this means today is Lavender! What an awesome color. Also, it gave me an excuse to use two of my favorite polishes by Julep. (As if I need an excuse to use these freaking amazballs colors.)

OMD2 Day 2: Coral

Purchased by Me

Hello again! Today I have a quick post for the OMD2 challenge. The day two prompt is Coral! So yesterday and today's post would have been fine! ;) It was actually pretty hard for me to find something to do for this day. I am without nail art tools (Seriously folks, I don't even have a "real" dotting tool) or many stamping polishes (Hurry, MdU polishes, I NEED YOU!)   So I tried a water marble and it turned out okay. I was pretty pleased. :)

Julep Maven March 2014 "Rivera Collection" Review

Affiliate Link

Oh lawd. Where did the time go? Is it already the end of the month? Shame on me, I received this on the 3rd! But shh, don't tell! Better late than never right? Ok, let's not waste more time, I'm going to jump right in!

Julep Maven is a monthly nail polish and beauty subscription service. For $19.99 a month you receive three polishes/two polishes and a beauty product/two beauty products each month depending on your preferences at sign up. Each month Julep creates unique colors to go with each "style profile" so you always have fresh colors for the season. It's like getting a present each month! To be totally transparent, this is a recurring subscription service, if you don't cancel your sub before the 24th of each month, you will be charged and sent your monthly maven box. However, you can cancel at absolutely any time without a fee or penalty! There is a code for your first Maven box free at the bottom of this post!

March's collection was SO wonderful. I think I loved EVERY SINGLE POLISH! But, I could only afford my regular box...(plus two  addons >.> ) As I'm so late posting this, I only have the polish swatches and unfortunately not the picture of the box or the lip gloss that came with it. (Which was beautiful.) Each polish shown below is two coats. 

Julep Maven Rivera Collection

Delicate Doilies with Julep Carrie

Purchased by me

This is the manicure that I wore on Valentines Day (While I worked Friday night!) I thought the simple mix of pink and white with little doilies looked so feminine and dollish.

Julep Maven February 2014 "Dramatic Collection" Review

Affiliate Link

Hello ladies! It's time for another Maven box review! (Already? Didn't I just do one of these posts? Time flies!) Today I have the Dramatic collection to share. I ended up purchasing a few add-ons and a free polish came this month, so there are more than normal.

For those of you who don't know, Julep Maven is a monthly nail polish and beauty subscription service. For $19.99 a month you receive three polishes/two polishes and a beauty product/two beauty products each month depending on your preferences at sign up. Each month Julep creates unique colors to go with each "style profile" so you always have fresh colors for the season. It's like getting a present each month! To be totally transparent, this is a recurring subscription service, if you don't cancel your sub before the 24th of each month, you will be charged and sent your monthly maven box. However, you can cancel at absolutely any time without a fee! There is a code for your first Maven box free at the bottom of this post!

I hope you enjoy this months swatches!

Julep Maven Dramatic Collection

My first mani-tage! 

Mint Chevrons + Messy Mansion Plate 12 Review

Purchased by Me

The new year has begun and I have had it up to here (points to eyeballs) with the dark nail lacquers! I'm so ready for Spring. Though, isn't that the way it always goes? In the Winter I'm ready for Spring colors, in the Spring I'm bored with pastels and I want bright Summer colors and... as habit would have it, yes you've guessed by now, in the Summer I'm ready for the colors of Autumn. So here I am, mid January with pastels. I hope you can appreciate it anyways. ;)

More pictures after the jump...

Julep Maven January 2014 "The Boudoir Collection" Review

Affiliate Links

I have a very exciting post for everyone today! I recently became an affiliate with Julep and this is my first review of their products since! - More on what all that means at the end of the post. First, lets take a look at the Julep Maven January 2014 Box. 

The Boudoir Collection

Julep "Stefani" Swatch and Review

Julep "Stefani" 

Recently I purchased my first bottles of Julep nail polish. Julep has a program called "Julep Maven" and they send you 2 nail polishes a month and a full sized beauty product. This polish is part of the "American Beauty" maven package. At $14 dollars a bottle, I only bought the subscription because my first box was free! :) You can get your first box free here, with the code "freebox" it only costs shipping which is ... $4 I think. But buyers beware! It IS a subscription, so if you don't want another box or don't like the polish you have to cancel or skip. Just a warning :)

Okay, now for the swatches! Stefani is an awesome metallic gunmetal grey with gold micro glitter in it. These swatches are without a top coat, so the good news is if you don't like the "gritty look" that these pics have, a quick coat of Seche Vite smoothed the whole thing out.

I adore this shade because I think it's a more unique color. It's probably best suited for Winter or Fall, but throw caution to the wind, be cray, or whatever... I'm using it in the Summer. I'm a rebel...

This being said, I don't believe this polish was worth the (full) price. The application was less than smooth. It has a gold micro glitter and created almost a "bubble" effect, or gritty. One coat would probably have been sufficient, but I had a few bald spots and went for a second coat. It dried pretty slowly too. I had to be pretty cautious about smudges for over two hours. Yikes!

One note about the bottles. They are tall and thin and this makes it difficult to dip the brush back in the bottle while balancing it. I literally had to hold the bottle every time I needed more polish. This is just a minor annoyance. 

Application 4/5 Good. Went on decently smooth and didn't show too many brush strokes.

Pigmentation 4/5 Opaque after one coat. I used two to cover a few bald spots.

Drying Time 2/5 Slow. This polish dried much slower than I had anticipated, but probably could be reduced with three extra thin coats rather than two regular coats.

Finish 2/5 I wasn't thrilled about the "grit" from the micro glitter, but it was quickly remeidied with a top coat of Seche Vite.

Top Coat not added

Verdict 3/5 I adore the color, but I wouldn't purchase it at full price. 

If you are interested in their Maven program, I'd give it a try though. It's a good enough polish if you only have to pay shipping for the first box! :) Plus, who doesn't love to receive a package? ^^ Lastly, the links to Julep help my Maven program and I do get free boxes with two others who subscribe. When you become a Maven you can refer friends, earn points, and get free polish, too.

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start. Happy painting!

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